The Late Braking F1 Podcast - Hamilton dominates in Hungary! | 2020 Hungarian GP Review | Episode 60

Episode Date: July 19, 2020

Lewis Hamilton takes the lead in the 2020 F1 championship with a dominant win - the boys break down all the talking points from a mixed conditions race in Hungary!Make sure to SUBSCRIBE! 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 Formula One podcast. My name is Ben Hocking, alongside me, Samuel Sage and Harry E, to review the Hungarian Grand Prix round three of the 2020 Championship. There's another win for Lewis Hamilton. his eighth win at the Hungara Ring,

matching a record by Michael Schumacher for most on three victories at an individual circuit. He takes the championship lead back as a result of that. Guys, Sam, I'll start with you on this one. Mercedes is an unbeaten season based on what we've seen today in the first two races. Is it feasible? This car is ridiculously dominant.

I mean, I take my cap off to Maxwell Stapplin, And even though he managed to bin it before the race began, the man drove his absolute socks off, didn't he really took it to the top guys. He's still far off Lewis Hamilton. But with Valtrey Bottas struggling like that, I think the Mercedes can do the whole season unbeaten. It's more if reliability stays in check, which usually for Mercedes' sake, it does. And if the drivers don't make any further mistakes,

if Botas has a couple more doggy races, maybe that lets red ball back in the door. Hamilton realistically has looked pretty unbeatable during race conditions. Of course, that one slip-up in Austria at the start wasn't really enough to dampen the fact that he now leads the championship. And as you just said, then matches Schumacher's record for most wins at a single track. Honestly, this Mercedes is possibly one of the best Formula One cars we have ever seen. And that sounds a lot when a team has dominated for as many years as Mercedes have. But this could be the absolute creme de la creme of Formula One race cars. It's highly possible. I almost kind of love to see it happen just because breathtaking, incredible record to see what a moment in history. We already know they're going to go wings and why not set a record in the meantime. Yeah, it could definitely happen.

Yeah, to me, you've kind of got two stages of Mercedes and Hamilton in the hybrid era. And the 2014 to 2016 stretch, the Rosberg years, you could say, they were so dominant in those years. Arguably Hamilton. is even better now than he was then and doesn't quite have the teammate or get on to Valdry Bottas a bit later on. Arguably right now doesn't have the teammate that he once did with Nico Rosberg, of course, taking a championship away from him. Harry, do you think the combination of the might of this car

and also how Hamilton's driving at the moment, do you see there being any possible response from someone outside of Mercedes? I mean, based on performance, and you need a really solid car to be good around Hungary. That car just doesn't even look like anyone's going to touch it. Red Bull are still kind of somehow the closest, but that may have been down more to Max on the car.

Yeah, it's going to take some issues during a race, either reliability or an incident for, I think, anyone to come close. I mean, yeah, it's just bonkers. It is that almost 2014 levels of domination again. So, yeah, I'm not like Sam. I do not want to see it. I want someone else to challenge them. But, yeah, I mean, you can only admire it.

That car is just ridiculous. I mean, watching it and qualifying yesterday, there was just nothing close, apart from last year's Mercedes. But, yeah, so it's just an insane car. So I don't think on performance alone, and particularly the way Hamilton's driving, I don't think is anyone going to touch them,

which is damn depressing. thing. But how well? Honestly, Lewis Hamilton going through turn four in qualifying, I still haven't quite got over that. The absolute commitment and the car just glued to the circuit through that corner, which when you compare it to the other cars going through there, not that it was unimpressive from the other cars, not by any stretch of the imagination, but Lewis Hamilton, that Mercedes is going through turn four was something to behold. And it speaks volumes. that the racing point, sorry, the Mercedes of last year, also known as the racing point,

would have got pole position against everyone else in the field. That just speaks volumes as to how much Mercedes, what position Mercedes are in. And to that point, Sam, do you think that Mercedes are at all being flattered by Red Bull and Ferrari, not only not really improving on last year, but arguably not going backwards, perhaps. I think we need to stop saying Mercedes used to be humble, they need to be flattered. That team of engineers and designers and aerodynamic capabilities

is unfathomably good. And people are moaning and moaning and moaning, oh, it's another Hamilton season, oh, it's another Mercedes season. Get good, rest of the grid. It's not their fault that they are absolutely dominating. the field. It is incredible. The engineering feat that Mercedes are put together. Red Bull, I've always claimed to be the Aerodynamic Masters, and Hamilton was nigh on half a Grand Prix faster by the time that he pitted three laps

from the end. 30 seconds was essentially the gap, and that track's only a one minute 17 lap. It was halfway around the track before the staff had managed across the line, for goodness sake. The difference is not flattering for Mercedes at all. They deserve to be where they are. It's almost embarrassing for the likes of Red Bull, for the likes of Ferrari, for the rest of the big field team, to not have had at least a similar level of development between the two seasons. I cannot believe the jump the Seagis are made on top of the car that was already so much better. The fact that the 2019 Mercedes, if you literally just picked it up and put it in the 2020 season,

which racing point almost have done, but literally with the Hamilton and whatnot, would have still got pole today over Red Bull, over Ferrari, over Racing Point, over the Crown, whatever you want to say, is incredible. And the rest of the grid need to improve we to stop having a go at Mercedes or saying, oh, you know,

they're only good because the rest of the Griggs back. No, they are just that much better. And the rest of the Grig needs to improve. It's almost a little bit embarrassing that the amount of money that some teams throw into the sport.

They can't even remotely keep up is just bizarre. I don't remember the last time we saw such motorsport dominance from one team. I don't know if it's happened to this level in any motorsport. I'm sure someone in the comments

on Twitter, or tell me that because I'm not an all-seeing eye, but my God, this is historic, I think. Harry, do you think that Mercedes are being made to look slightly better than what they are because of the shortcomings of Red Bull and Ferrari? Yeah, I'm kind of with Sam.

It's not making them look better. They are just that good. And, you know, the likes of Red Bull and Ferrari have, well, yeah, maybe even Ferrari, especially in Ferrari's case, have gone backwards since last year. And maybe even Red Bull, if you looked at their quality performance yesterday,

So, yeah, so it's not a case of, oh, well, they look even better than they are because the others are bad. Well, the others shouldn't be bad. They should be better, and they should be closer. So, yeah, they've just been mighty. Mercedes just been, they've come out of the box. Well, I say out of the box, they had half a year off as everyone did. But, yeah, they've just been unbeatable for these first three races. And I don't really see it stopping any time soon as we go to Silverstone next for two races.

that car is going to be ridiculous around there. So, yeah, it's just them being good. Sorry, folks. Yes, sorry indeed. Going back to the original point of can Mercedes be faultless throughout the year, can they do the unthinkable and go unbeaten, something that hasn't been achieved before, I think the only team that can stop Mercedes are Mercedes,

and that's not more shade on racing point. I literally mean Mercedes are the only team. You can stop Mercedes. They're just too good. They're too quick. And I think it would come down to them stopping each other, a la Spain 2016, when obviously Vastappan took his first victory in Formula One.

It only came as a result of Rosberg and Hamilton taking each other out on the first lap. And if we don't see something like that or something reliability focused, and as you've already alluded to, Sam, that very rarely happens with the Mirk guys. I can't see anyone on pure pace beating them or perhaps some sort of chaotic race where someone can out-stratage them. Again, Mercedes is very difficult to out-stratageage. We know Red Bull are fairly good in that department.

On pure pace alone, I can't see anyone stopping them. And that might seem a bit of a phrase to say in the moment, focusing maybe on recency buyers. I really don't think that's the case based on we've seen them at three races, two different races, is two different racetracks that are completely different in terms of the characteristics. And the only thing that's stopping them so far has been a penalty applied for Lewis Hamilton and the frailty with the gearbox in Austria.

In terms of pure pace, no one's got close. No one's got anywhere near. So, yeah, I think this is Mercedes to lose. And we know that, OK, Bottas's performance today wasn't very good. We know he can be a bit up and down, Hamilton a bit more consistent. if Botas can fill in for the very off occasion where Hamilton isn't there like he did in the first race, then I think they'll cover each other to victory again and again. Just remarkable what they're able to do here.

Okay. As I was saying, Valtry Bottas didn't quite deliver the performance we were expecting from him today. He started P2, had the jumpstart that wasn't ultimately penalised. We will get on to that. in actual fact he was pretty much penalised himself because he was down to about p6 or p7 he worked his way back up to p3 but ultimately couldn't get past max for stab but p2 sam i highly doubt you'll be anything but critical here but valdre bottas what did you make of his p3 today i think valdre bottas finished the race and literally drove

his car straight into a massive furnace and on the top it was titled sam's fire to burn. You know, Sam walks to burn, Botas's career currently. What are you doing? What are you doing? One, you are leading the championship. After two races, you are the championship leader. You're starting on the front row of the grid. You've got the best Formula One car ever created, ever created, and you're up against a six-time potentially now, seven-time world champion, and you're jumping the start. not only you jumping to start, that when you finally recover around a track that is a little difficult

to overtake on, the Monaco, without boats, as Crofty, he said 4,300 times at this Grand Prix, you know, you get back up into third place, but Staffen's gacked you by 20 seconds almost, and then you get put on this perfect tie who's at faster slap after,

faster slap after fastest lap, and you still can't catch back to Staffan, who's had to have its old front end change 20 seconds from all the race is about to start. Now, not only is that, I think, poor from bottom. ass again for another week in a row, I have to give full credit

to Red Bull and Max Verstappen. Max Verstappen once again showed why he is in a class of his own where it comes to not being in that top car. You've got Hamilton and Hamilton is by far the goat of the field at the moment, right? He is a whole league ahead. But if you look at the rest of the field, Max Verstappen is clearing away

the next best driver on the grid. And the results show when you look at Albon Vestappen, Gasly Vestappen, Ferrari against Vastappen, the rest of the grid against Vastappen, The man is driving around on 30-lap-old tires, and Bottas, who has got the fastest car on the grid, and lap after lap after lap, still can't catch him with 20 laps to go.

It's just not good. I'm disappointed. I'm tired of saying it's not good enough from Bottas, because it isn't. Yes, he's doing enough to get Mercedes the Constructors title. It's kind of not hard to get Mercedes to construct a title right now. I feel like you could put almost any driver on the grid into that second Mercedes.

And as long as they were keeping it on the track, They'd be scoring enough points to ensure that the Sees are staying in front. They don't need a driver that can potentially challenge for the title right now because Hamilton is doing just fine in leading races and being as dominant as ever. But as if he wants to challenge for the title,

if he wants to have his own glory, he needs to be doing better. It just simply isn't good enough from a car and a driver that supposedly meant to be that good. I pray that it comes to Silverstone and he can challenge Hamilton, which is tough to do because Hamilton around Silverstone is again incredibly dominant.

So I hope you gets it together. I hope we see a challenge for the rest of the season because Bottas does deserve a bit of glory. If you can just become more consistent. And I'm just still baffled by the fact we haven't been looked into the jump start. I've watched a video on it. It's clearly a jump start. He leaves his box before the lights go green. But we'll get into it a bit.

But for me, it's not enough for Bottas. Again, sorry. And this goes back to 2014 to 2016 Mercedes again, because I really do believe that this Mercedes that they've developed for 2020. is the strongest, at least in comparison to the rest of the field, since that 2016 season, if not even the 2015 or 14 season. And whenever Rosberg and Hamilton did not finish 1-2 in those three years, you immediately go, okay, why have they not finished 1-2?

What has happened? Is it reliability, in which case, fair enough, that occasionally happens? Is it because of strategy, in which case Mercedes, as in the team themselves, need to look at themselves in the mirror. But if it isn't those two reasons, which it wasn't today, then you have to question the driver. And Bottas really flattered to the, he just wasn't good enough. He wasn't good enough out there. And we're focusing here on the Vestappan versus Botas incident because he did get up to the back of Vastappan twice and failed to overtake him on both occasions. And those two alone is really poor. But when you factor in, the same thing happened

with Lance Stroll as well, and it's only because Mercedes had the wear-withal to pit Bottas before Stroll that he was able to run the cut him. Bottas couldn't get the job done on Stroll on track either. Bottas was hold up about one to one and a half seconds behind Lance Stroll for a long time and couldn't get any closer than that, which was very disappointing. And he had to rely on the strategy to get past him. He then was given a lifeline when he couldn't pass for Staff on the first time in terms of the strategy, pretty much the same strategy. pretty much the same strategy they put Hamilton on last year to overtake the Stapun, gets the end of the race, and he still can't get the job done. And he had the time.

And it's, as I said earlier, if there is no reason why they should be one and two, if strategy and reliability are completely cancelled out of the equation. On pure pace, they should be won two every single time. Bottas was disappointing. Yes, he did recover to a podium, so it's far from a disaster as a result. The Constructors' Championship is. is going to be won by Mercedes. And it's going to be won by Mercedes regardless of whether Botas has a good season or not.

If Bottas has an OK season or even a below average season, I still think Mercedes are going to win the title because they're that good. So from Bottas's perspective, it's all about the driver's championship. The Constructed Championship, for me, is a done deal already, which seems strange to say three races in, but I really do think it's a done deal. So it's down to Bottas. Do you want that driver's championship? Can you do it?

and the, it's his racecraft. We know in terms of, on a Saturday, Hamilton's one of the best qualifiers of all time, and Bottas can match him. Botas can beat him. We've seen him beat him in qualifying on plenty of occasions. That's not the issue with Bottas, and it never has been. It's on consistency, and it's on racecraft where the issue comes in, because Bottas can't get away with only beating Hamilton once every three races.

it's what we always go back to. On his day, Bottas is good enough to win races and beat Hamilton. And he's done it before, and he'll continue to do it. The issue is he doesn't do it often enough. He does it one every three or four races rather than three every four races. And this is again proving the point. Great result, the first race of the season. Next two races, he comes back and he isn't good enough to beat Hamilton.

And if he continues at that, Hamilton will beat him overall. Poor Botas. Are you going to be honest to him, Harry? going to actually sympathise with that performance today? No, no, I can't. Yeah, I agree with all of all of what you have both said. It's just

the same thing we've seen from Bottas. He can be mighty quick, but yeah, his racecraft isn't amazing. I feel like I'm starting to realise that. I thought he was a better overtaker, but he's not quite as decisive as, say, Hamilton or the Stappen. and yeah and once he you know if he has a bad start or bad quality and then ben you made this point last week if it was hamilton you'd still trust him to get back onto the you know maybe the top step with botas you

you know you're not confident he can do that so um yeah it's disappointing especially if he were hoping for a title fight he's got he's got to step it up because it's between those two in that car so um plus botas don't let hamilton win the championship by belgium uh i mean there's only three point between them. Silverstone up next. They both done well around Silverstone. I mean, but what was surprising for me was the attitude of Bottas when he got out of that car. When he, you know, it was head down. It was, Helmut was not coming off and he was doing everything over by the, you know, the watch and the hat area. When he had his interview, it was so negative. The first was out of his mouth. That was a terrible Grand Prix for me. Like, come on, mate. You've just got to get it together. You've had

enough time now at the top of this sport to pull it together and your consistency is not enough. And let's hope that he, as a week off, gets his mojo back, as Hamilton has now, and can really take it to the top man at Silverstone. At his home grand prix, it's going to be tough. I think Bottas can do it if he finds that groove again. I'm actually going to disagree with one of those points in there. And that is that I was actually quite relieved by Bottas's interview after the race. I was quite worried that when he got out the car, he would give the very typical interview of,

it was a great race for the team, double poe. podium, well done and Lewis for getting the win, bloody, bloody, blah, blah. Increase constructions championship lead, all the rest of it. I was quite glad that he was really disappointed of how that Grand Prix went for him and that he knew that his performance wasn't good enough. That at least tells me that he knows he's not up to standard and he knows that he can do something about it. If he was relatively content after that Grand Prix, at that point, I'd be seriously worried.

Yeah, that's a very fair point. But again, Silverstone in two weeks time, doubleheader. Have they got a different tyre compound going on for each race at Silverstone? They do. Yes. That could play a huge part. We've seen tyres are already an issue in today's race. No one really know what tyre was the best tyre to be on, which is always really interesting.

So you never know. One might suit, one driving, one might suit another. Who knows? It could be really exciting. And just to stress the point as well, I don't enjoy going in on Valtrow-Botass at all. so I do think he is a quality driver. The fact that he's right there with Lewis Hamilton in the championship, it does speak volumes.

He is a great driver. It's just that he's so close to that next step, and he can't seem to get there. I find that I'm less frustrated by, let's say, Alex Albin, because he's nowhere near as quick as Max Verstappen. And Albin can put everything into a race. He can put everything into that problem. He isn't ever going to be quicker than Max Verstappen.

So I'm not frustrated by it. With Valdry Bottas, I know he's right on the precipice. That's why I'm critical about him. Yeah, just to clarify, I know it's a bit of a meme at the moment. I don't hate Valtrey. I just want so much more from him. I think, you know, when he was at Williams, he was groundbreakingly good.

He was fantastic in a car that shouldn't have been there. And I hoped that he would step up and challenge. I hoped that we see a title fight, you know, a real mammoth between like, you know, the current great and the newcomer to the team. he just hasn't really ever delivered that. The fact, he went a whole season without winging and that the saying is it's all these are atrocious. So I'm hoping that he can start delivering from now.

We've got, what, seven races to go? So it's without any more confirmed currently, yeah. So there's still time. There's only three points. There is still time. There is. There is. And I'm sure he'll turn up Porridge Bosch version 67.4.

And just wipe the floor clean of everyone. Know that about it. So with that in mind, driver of the day, worst driver of the day, let's get on to it. Harry, who's your driver of the day? I mean, you can't look past Hamilton again. He actually wiped the floor with everyone. Just dying, sorry. I'm so impressed by Hamilton.

I'm dying. I'm choking. I'm going to give it to, though, despite the fact that he binned it before the race even started. No, actually, can I give it to the Red Bull Mechanics? Does that count? Sure. We'll allow it. Max Verstappen's Red Bull Mechanics, not Alex Album's ones with a leaf blower.

No, I seriously, I think I'm going to give it to Razap. Oh my God. Verstappen. It's so good. I'm choking again. Wow. Before I die, I'm going to give it to Forstappen, and I'm just going to go die in a heap. Bye-bye. Well, if there's a way you'd like to exit this world, it is by giving Vassap and Driver of the Day.

So, no complaints from that front. Sam, who have you got for Driver of the Day? So it's hard to look away from the top two. Hamilton's pure dominance all weekend was unnatched. Always had controlling in qualifying. And then brought that to the race, you know, even though slightly dodgy conditions, he had a three and a half second lead by lap one. It was breathtakingly good.

and that's why he's won there eight times, which is fantastic. Harry, of course, has mentioned Verstaffin and those engineers who did a fantastic job. What a great first lap from Verstappen. Got himself up to second place, and they managed to hold off the best F-Gran car we've ever seen on very old tyres. And he showed why he's in a league of his own when it comes to drivers that Aunt Lewis Hamilton, essentially. The guy will be a world champion one day, should the car just be that little bit better, no doubt. I also would like to point out Lance Stroll and Kevin Magnus. I think those two doing an absolutely brilliant job.

KMAG with the absolute strategy swap, goat strategy at Haas, you know, went from the full wets, which was just a bizarre choice, to coming on the formation lap, putting on the slick tires. And, hello, Haas are third and fourth. Brilliant, brilliant choice by Haas.

Maguson makes it work. Grojeung was almost the barrier to get him there, but unless I'm wrong, he did get his first championship points today in Hungary. I think Strull did a fantastic job as well. I mean, yes, okay, he wasn't on the podium. But he was fourth place. He beat everyone else but those top three guys

who I think had the best chance of being on the podium. Fair play to Lank Strull. I'm going to give it to Lewis Hamilton just because of the absolute sheer dominance. But those other guys were 100% deserve a big mention. Let's flash back to our last podcast. The preview podcast for the Hungarian Grand Prix. Oh, I know where this is going.

Yeah, can we mute? Of you who know, we often do bold predictions. Celebratory music is indeed required. Because my bowl prediction going into the race was that

Kevin Magnuson would score points for the first time this season. And boy, did he do so. There was no strategic element involved. He was there on pure pace alone, because he is box office Magnuson. He brought it out. He responded.

He knew that I had him in the points for my bold predictions. And I know I have to respond for him. I have to do this. I have to do this for late breaking and for Ben Hocking to prove those other two morons wrong. And he did so. So well done, Kevin Magnuson. He is my driver of the day. He still did finish about six positions higher than Roman Grosjean and about half a minute two.

So Kevin Magnuson, great performance. thank you so much. One-0-0. Bring it on. I feel like I've got Jeremy Clark's smug face literally erupting from my PC monitor at the moment. Yeah, it's horrendous, isn't it? To be fair, I agree with Ben on this one. Magnuson, that was a goat strategy,

but Magnuson made it work in a way that Grosjean didn't. So fair play. Yeah, I mean, Magnuson once again showed why he should be the lead driver at Haas, and I think Groson just doesn't have that last bit of pace. And the strategy was fantastic. magazine did a brilliant job to hold off a lot of cars basket on that horse.

All right, from the very best to the very worst. Harry, who have you got for worst driver of the day? A couple of contenders here. One, we've already spoken about, Mr. Bottas, because that car should have been at least second. And the other one is the other Mercedes. No, no, not Louis Hamilton. Sergio Perez, he should have been higher up too, to be honest.

So I, do you know what? I'll give it to Perez because we've hated on Bottas enough. And I know Sam's probably going to pick him anyway. So I'll come on Kurt from Perez here. But both of those drivers should have been higher up considering their cars. All right, Sam, why is Bottas your worst driver of the day? I'll get to that in a minute. There's a few horrible mentions, but he is the worst driver of the day.

Nicholas Latifie was up in 10th place at the start And they literally had me drive from hell For the rest of that race Pointless again Russell Don't happen to him at the start Pointless which is a shame

Because I was really rooting for him Perez rightfully called out by Harry You were out drove by Lark Stroll man By a massive portion as well Lark Stroll proved his goat stroll And that person all the haters to bed. Sebastian Vetter will take your spot now, Perez, because you've had one

terrible race. But the worst driver of the day is Valtry Bottas. I've explained it why. I don't need to go into it again. He needs to get good, son. Thank you. He needs to get good son. Thank you. Wow, that rounded off that point. I'm not going to pick Valtry Bottas on this occasion, although I can't deny he is a contender for it. I'm going to agree with you, Harry. I'm going to go with Sergio Perez. I was really disappointed. I was really disappointed. pointed that he couldn't offer more in this Grand Prix and indeed in qualifying as well. We know that Sergio Perez more often than not does get the better of Lance Stroll in qualifying. In fact, I think since they've been teammates, Landstrol's only outqualified in maybe three times,

of which twice has been in the last two weeks. He just didn't respond. It was a really poor qualifying performance. And it's not as if he was ahead in Q1 and Q2 and then Stroll pipped him to the post in Q3. Strull had the advantage over him in pretty much all the qualifying sessions throughout the weekend. So it was disappointing Saturday and Sunday didn't get much better for him. He had a really poor start to the Grand Prix. We know that's obviously not great in any race, but at a race such as Hungary where overtaking is particularly difficult,

the start does become ever more important. And Perez just didn't respond to that. And much like Bottas kind of faded as they went into turn one, he did at least fight back and get a few positions. but seemed to be on the end of a train for much of the Grand Prix and didn't make much of an impression on the drivers ahead, such as Betel and Albin. So, yeah, I'm going to give it to Sergio Perez here. I obviously had him down as a podium going into the race,

and based on the pace that the car had, that was definitely achievable, and he didn't achieve it, and wasn't really that close to achieving it either. So Perez for me. So Perez Perez-Perez-Bottas, for worst driver of the day. We'll move on, and we'll move on

to the Max Verstappen incident. So it's not something we really comment on very often, because it doesn't happen very often. Max Verstappen, on his lap to the grid, binned it at turn 12, if I think it might have been a comment on the exact corner. It was went off into the barriers. The Red Bull mechanics somehow managed to get that car

in a position to race in about 10 minutes. Impressive stuff from them, but not so impressive from Vastepin himself. a really surprising one. Harry, what did you make of the incident? Bizarre. You don't see that very often. The last time we saw it was Grosjean, I think, Brazil, 2016,

and that was pouring down with rain. Very rarely this happens. It was just a strange one. He seemed to be really pushing. You know, it's Max. He's trying to find the grip where we can on those laps of the grid. But there was a shot of him going through the chican as well where he'd almost lost it.

it and then we'll see further on. And he knows the limitations of that car at the moment. It's a bit snappy from what we've seen this weekend. So, yeah, just a bit of a bit of a rookie one for Max. We don't see him make too many mistakes like that these days. So he is a lucky, lucky boy that his Red Bull mechanics couldn't fix a car that quickly. And he was lucky the way it went into the barrier. It only damaged the wing and broke a pushrod, I think, in the suspension,

which apparently are easily fixable, as it seems. teams. Yeah, strange one. Very lucky boy, because, you know, I think most of us thought he was already out of the race. So, yeah, he won't be doing that again, that's for sure. Yeah, he, well, his mechanics managed to save him from any embarrassment, coupled with Stappan himself saving himself from embarrassment by putting together a good Grand Prix. But looking at that incident in isolation, Sam, it was a bit uncharacteristic, I guess you could say. Yeah, of all the drivers on the grid, he's pretty much up there with the driver I expect to not make that mistake ever in his career. The guy is pinpoint brilliant when it comes to driving an F1 car, but Redford mechanics show why they are the mechanics of one of the best teams of any sports in the world, right?

They turned around a Formula One car under 10 minutes got it on the grid and ready, and it was lovely to see not only vocally Max Westappen paying a tribute to those engineers at the start of the grid, but when he finished as well, it was kind of, you know, great job to hear everyone. wrong, it wouldn't have been done without you. And it really wouldn't have been done without them after a bit of a silly mistake. It's not much more I can say on it. Silly mistake, but turns around and gets a P2. And weirdly, it looked like the car was actually slightly easier to drive because that red ball looks like it's been a real handful for both drivers over the last weekend. So good for him.

Well done. Great performance. And well done to the team. Yeah, I mean, the absolute effort that they managed to get this turn around in time is just madness. I honestly thought he was done for. It was a really, yeah, uncharacteristic is the word that I used. And I think that's probably the right one because he didn't even hit the barriers with, it wasn't a light tap.

He went right into it. And if this happens at an absolutely wet streaming monaco and you just lose it and you go into one of the barriers, you say, okay, that's a pretty awful error. but at the same time you can understand how it's happened. I know the barriers are miles away and hungry. I know it's not a Cota or a Sochi track, but it's not as if the barriers are right there by the apex. They're still a fair distance away.

So if I must happen to go into that corner with such speed to make that error, yeah, it's a real rookie error from him. And fortunately for him, he was allowed the opportunity to go out there and make it back for the team. And fortunately for him, he did so. And he put together a great first lap that put him on his way. And the rest of the race was impressive from him as well. But a bit lucky, a bit lucky.

I have no doubt that if it was another team, maybe slightly lower down the grid, they wouldn't have been able to get that car to turn around in time. So he can be very thankful. And he might want to make a purchase to Moe very quickly. and send out some champagne because, yeah, he can be fortunate that his team is as good as what it is. And going through onto another incident. So, Sam, this is one you've already brought up.

Bottas did jump the start. He wasn't penalized for it. In fact, I don't think he was even investigated, which seemed bizarre. He cost himself, really, because of the stop-start element of that start. And I think he lost about five positions in what happened. but Sam, were you surprised that not only it wasn't a penalty, but the fact that it wasn't even noted by the Stilitz. Yeah, I mean, I'm a little tired of the stewards.

The inconsistency and incidences is becoming right. Yeah, laughing up, because that's what they are at the moment. They are laughable. That was a clear incident. And even if it just came up on the screen, as stewards have noted a possible jump start from Valtry Bottas, no further investigation required, fine, fine. At least you look to get,

you've shown the viewer that you've looked at it. it, but the commentators of the whole race baffled, absolutely baffled by what's going on. We don't know anything. There's no answer. There's no end result. It's almost like the stewards put a blindfold on for the start and went, oh, Bottas is five places back. That's fine.

No, no other looking at it. He's like a bad stout. And it's once again, a classic case of the stewards only investigating something where there's actually not a direct correlation in the result. If Bottas had jumped the start and staying the second place, I reckon 95% sure they're

have looked into it. But because Bustaceh down and lost five places, they went, that's fine, punish yourself. And that shouldn't be the case. The FIA, the stewards, are constantly giving out penalties only when the end result is negative. The point is, if you have an unsafe

release and you don't cause contact, that's just about having an unsafe release and causing contact. The issue is the unsafe release, not whether you cause contact or not. So you penalise both equally. And we did the same Latifi thing when he hit signs. But But Bossos jumps the start, not even warranted, not even looked at.

And this isn't the first time he's jumped to start either. You know, he got lightly close in Austria last year, I think it was, in the year before. Fantastic. Well done him. But he's also done it in Russia. And he actually jumped the start. And he was penalised for it.

And why is this not any different? I'm literally watching a clip right now. Stop's over his line. Lights go green. Then he carries on. That is a jump start. I don't know what the FIA are playing. I don't know what the stewards are playing at.

Getting it together is trying to. be as good as he can on the start to get a hang of Hamilton. It hasn't worked. Again, you expect better from a driver of his quality. What are the skewers doing? Be more consistent.

I think we should have a more open board of regular skewers where things have to be voted on. I don't know. Something needs to change because it's not going well enough. If you jump to start, you should be penalised,

regardless of what he does after that start. Because something like the ex-fax. Yes. You get a golden buzzer. Wow. I'd pay to see that. And we've discussed stewarding multiple times in various podcasts over the past year or so,

and saying that then really does need to be a change at some point. What that change entails is another matter, but it's not working in its current format. Harry, the most recent incident I can think of, which was similar to this, was Sebastian Vessel in Japan last year, where he wasn't penalised as well. So I guess there is some sort of consistency in that.

Were you surprised that the stewards didn't want to take a further look into this? Yeah, it's a strange one, isn't it? So it's a very similar incident to Vetta, where they jumped forward and then stopped and then went, and both of them lost places as a result. So you've got to think maybe that's why they've not looked into it, but I think the reasoning behind not even looking into it

is because it didn't trigger whatever sensor there is in the grid box, which is that sensor is, you know, it's not very sensitive. is it? Because it clearly moves forward. Yeah, as Vettel did last year in Suzuki. So I think they've got to maybe rethink that ruling on whether they investigate a jumpstart. Because if the censor should be there for, you know, things we can't see with the naked eye. We can clearly see that he moved forward. And it doesn't matter if he lost positions off it.

That's his own fault. So, yeah, there needs to be a rethink on that one, I think, because everyone can see it. Yeah, Sam said, you know, the commentators were baffled by the fact that not even investigated, didn't even look at it. So something needs to change there. And this isn't because it's Bottas. This isn't the we hate Valtry Botas podcast. But, yeah, he probably deserves a penalty for that one. Yeah, it's a jump start.

If you jump to start, you have started before the race has started. That is not allowed. You get a penalty for it. I really think this is clear as day. and I completely agree with you, Sam, and I know this one splits opinion, that the consequences of an action should not be the basis for whether a penalty is applied and how much of a penalty is applied. I think that is absolute nonsense, and I know a lot of people disagree with that.

I think David Coultham, possibly Martin Brundel as well, have often said about an incident. There's no reason to penalise them because they've already penalised themselves because they've spun around or they're now at the back of the grid because of the incident that they've got involved with. And I completely disagree with it. Everything should be done based on merit. And if you crash into someone and you get, it's supposed to be a 10 second time penalty,

you give that 10 second time penalty, regardless of which car has got off better or worse, or if both cars are in, you know, at the back of the grid, it doesn't matter that should be applied equally. And the same matters here. It doesn't matter if Bottas ended up the last place after what he did on that first corner. if he has jumped the start, he still gets a penalty. And you wouldn't see this in any other sport.

And I know comparisons directly, sports to sport, are dangerous and aren't always 100% accurate. But you would never get in a situation where in a football match, one team is 4-0 ahead. The team that is 4-0 ahead, somebody commits an awful challenge that's worthy of a red card. And the referee goes, you know what, there's no point sending you off. It's 4-0 with 5 minutes to go. It's not going to matter. you would never get that. You wouldn't get that in any other sport.

Yet apparently, it applies in motorsport that if you have, you know, penalised yourself to some degree, then another penalty isn't required. There needs to be a change in this from my view. The stewarding needs to improve first and foremost, but the actual ways in which penalties are dealt, I don't think is correct at the moment. Another thing, just on this,

I think, Sebastu, Vettling, Japan, did exactly the same thing that Bossas did. jump start stopped, went again, outside of his pit box, was penalised. Pretty quickly within the race as well,

is even a drive-through penalty, I believe. I don't think he was. I don't think he was. Was he not? Was he let go again? Yeah, was last year. So, jumping the start,

apparently, only if you go full out, does that mean that you get penalised? That means that you could inch forward four or six times, really, one for every red light. As long as you stop again before the light goes green. Doesn't matter where you are on the track.

F-I-A you're sorting out. It's not good enough. It's a yoke. Cars will hopping down the track before the green light goes. Oh dear. Also, I would like to see at some point where Bottas does what he does in Hungary or Vettel does what he does in Japan. I would just love to see them go, well, I'm going to get a penalty for this anyway, and just take off and just be like 10 seconds ahead of everyone else by the first corner. That would be good.

to see it. Yeah. If you're going to take the penalty anyway, you might as well take advantage of what you've done. But I guess if you know there is a possibility you won't get that penalty, then it's not worth it. So we'll move on from that. And the last sort of incident we want to look at is the Albin one, where he, we don't know if he's going to be penalized or if the team's going to be penalized after the race because of the team drying his grid spot. What do you make of this, Sam? Obviously, we don't know that penalty yet, but it seems like a slam dunk.

Well, they've been called to the Stewards Office. I've seen on Twitter, you know, the official posting of the complaint. They have been called for 20 minutes' time after we're recording this, which is classic late breaking. Honestly, the rule simply stakes you are not allowed to manipulate the track in any sense. It's as simple as that. The wording is that vague, which you're not allowed to do it in any way. I don't know why they felt the real need to do that. They know their cars better.

Get better driving and car creation. If you are that worried that you can't beat the teams around you, why are you using hairdriers to dry track? Everyone's got to go through it. Everyone's got to deal with that. What gives you the right to be the exception to that rule? It's a stupid result. Because Albon, okay, he started ridiculously out of position.

But he fought back. He had a good Grand Prix. He did well. You know, this is a good finish for Albaugh, considering where he started. Although, in terms of a Red Bull, when the staff had finished, it's still once again a really poor result for the second driver.

But at least you recover to some good points. He's now going to probably have that taking away from him. And I think it's an outright disqualification if you get caught for this, although it's not something we see very often, which is really unfair. Because I reckon Alba wasn't the guy that turned you out, went, Steve, get your air dry, just stick it around my tyres, will you?

So it's dry. Cheers. I imagine he had no saying the matter. And Red Bull had probably cost themselves another chunk of points, putting them even further away from the saying he's not that it matters. But still, they did it. It's stupid. He's going to be as qualified. Ridiculous.

I could be wrong on this, but I thought the ruling was made fairly clear a few years back. So with that in mind, Harry, do you think this is Red Bull just being a bit stupid? Or do you think that they have a loophole in mind that they know is a get out of jail free card? Yeah, it's a strange one on this, isn't it? Because if it's such a clear rule,

and I can't, you know, not one I've really thought about because you've never really heard about it before. I've never really heard a team do it. So, you know, Rebel have done plenty of wet races. And have they not thought of this before? If they're completely oblivious to the rule, which I would find unusual. Yeah, it's a very strange one. And like Sam said, shame for Albon, if it is a slam dunk,

which, you know, if it's caught on camera, it appears it's going to be a slam dunk penalty or disqualification, even worse. because he had a good race after a pretty disastrous qualifying. So, yeah, strange one from Red Bull, whether it was just a breakdown in communication, because it doesn't seem that they were doing it for Max's car, although they were busy trying to fix his car at the time, I guess. But, yeah, an odd one from Red Bull. And if they have found a loophole, I'm sure that will cause arguments as well.

So can't wait. I'm trying to work this one out. And I keep coming back to the same conclusion if they must have an out here. Because I can't get behind the theory that they are stupid enough to think that they could get away with this and not have a plan as to how to get out of it. The rule, as I say, I'm pretty sure is down the, you know, it's straightforward. I don't think it's too complicated to understand that you're not allowed to do this. So either Red Bull has been absolutely moronic and gone ahead with this, even with that knowledge, or they don't know it, in which case, why don't they?

I can't get behind either of those theories. And the only one I can get behind is that they did this for Albin's car. They would have done it for Vestappen's car if he hadn't put it in the wall. And they have some sort of out. When the FIA come at them and say, hey, look at this regulation. You can't do that. They are going to have a counter to say, yeah, but it does say this. So that's the only thing I can think of.

That's the only thing I can think of. A really bizarre one. And like you say, Sam, it will take a good number of points away from Albin. who really needed a result today. And Red Bull themselves needed a result too. So it would be very disappointing from their perspective if they're taking points away from themselves, not as if Mercedes are doing that as it is.

In terms of Albin's performance today, Harry, what did you make of it? It was encouraging. Like Sam says, it wasn't on the Verstappan level, which is obviously where we want it to be. But I think he, after such a disappointing, qualifying yesterday. You know, he definitely

fought back and yeah, I don't know whether the rebel had better pace in the race and it just didn't qualify. But yeah, he definitely looked more racy than he did yesterday, that's for sure. And he just needs to be just a bit more consistent. There was clearly something wrong with that car yesterday because Vastappen was only seventh.

But yeah, I was, you know, it wasn't amazing. I was pleased that he, you know, at least he got a result out of it, got a P5, because, you know, even after yesterday, people were talking about whether he deserved that driver Red Bull. So for his sake, I'm glad that some decent haul of points came out of it. Yeah, it remains to be seen whether they stay or not. But in terms of Alex Albin's performance, he knows that he was worthy of the P5 at least, regardless of whether it gets taken away or not. I can't He was still a minute behind Vostappan

I think it was over a minute It might have been a minute, ten seconds And if it was anyone else on the grid We'd be talking about this as if it was a terrible performance That he is that far away from his teammate But the fact that he qualified so poorly I know the Red Bull wasn't in a great shape on Saturday But he didn't make Q3

Whereas Vestappen did You know six positions between the two drivers at the end of qualifying. I can't get behind the idea that this was a great race or even a good race for him. He did make progress, I'll give him that, but it's over a minute to a guy driving the same thing as you, who, by the way, had a collision before the race started. Not saying that that wasn't Verstappen's fault, of course, but come on. I really need to see more from Alex Helben.

I really do. And I've been fairly vocal on the fact that people are inflating his performances. The two near podiums he's had have been as a result of strategic decisions and safety cars rather than pace alone. I need to see a race where he qualifies up there with Verstappen and finishes within, let's say, 10 seconds of him, where they are on the same strategy and it's on pure pace alone. Because if I don't see that, I can't get behind him being there long term to be put. perfectly honest. I don't like to go in on drivers.

We've seen that many times before. I'm usually very kind to those struggling long. Okay. Honestly, it's not an excuse to say, well, you've got the staffing as your teammate. It's not an excuse to say you've got Hamilton as your teammate. If anything, it's a good thing that you've got the best or the second best driver on the grid as your teammate,

because if you turn up and you beat them, you've beaten the best or the second best driver on the grid. Good for you. You're proving yourself. You've got a future in this sport. Albon, despite how bad that Red Bull is, should have been into Q3. The Staffin was in it and struggling, but he was still into Q3 and Albaughan should have been closer. Ben's right. You don't get to finish a minute or so behind your teammate. The Staffan, who is struggling all the way through the race in terms of pace compared to the Seiz is, is still the one that's putting Hamilton under pressure.

There was still conversations on lap 64, where the Mercedes engineers are going, Hamilton, you're going to have to push the gap a little bit, just so we're safe from the Stappen, because you don't know what's going to happen. If we make a mistake, the Stauffin gets us. Can Alba get us, Lewis asks? No, no chance. No, he's literally nowhere to be seen in this race

because, once again, he's just a midfield driver driving the second best car. It's not good enough, Malban. The only type of he is consistently competitive at the top is when a safety car comes out and he gets played into the strategy, usually because he's got 30 seconds in front of him and 30 seconds behind him, so he gets a free pit stop.

And then moans that he's too aggressive because he's gone for the first opportunity possible, and there's another accident. The guy throws away any opportunity he gets, and then he isn't good enough, and he's actually got to create his own opportunity himself. Fifth place is a bad result still for that Red Ball. He should have been putting Bottas under pressure, so Bottas can't make that stop onto the hard tires. If Bottas makes that stop and comes out behind Albon, there's a real chance that Red Bull

could have scored 2-3 in this race, not 2-5. It's just not good enough. We had Gassley who struggled, and we have Albon, who is now struggling. I don't think they're any better or worse than each other. Yes, they're both significantly worse than the Staffing. The Staffings in a league of his own. And he's always said, you don't need two of the Staffings in that car.

You just need a second driver that can follow him up. That can be within eight to ten seconds. So make sure that strategies don't play a horrid part in terms of how the race is going to unfold. There's something to do whatever they want. Every single race. Pick now? Nah, give it two laps. Pit now? We'll do it in five laps time.

Now, we'll wait to what Verstappen does. Not a problem. They'll always come out on top. I'm disappointed in Albon. I'm losing faith in Album's ability as a top level driver. I think he could be a midfield driver. I don't know if he's really ready for that top level. But who do they put in there?

They outright buy someone. They hope that their young driver program comes through because it hasn't. Vastappen and Betel, the only two to really make a real impact. Riccano did well. Science has potential, but it's a young driver program. obviously now no longer in there, going to Ferrari arrival. What do they do? I don't know what they do. Albon is currently not setting the world on fire

and I don't know how long will be there for if they continue to have the results that they're having. Well, before we hate on any other drivers, I think it's probably a good idea to get out of here. Sam, if you wouldn't mind wrapping up this podcast. Folks, if you've enjoyed the podcast, the discussions we've had, either share the podcast, getting a review, chat to us on at Lbreaking

on Twitter. We'd love to hear your thoughts about the race. We are always active, always chatting. It's been great to have you along, of course. We will be doing a normal podcast next week, and then the week after we'll be back for a Silverstone preview, where we're back for the British Grand Prix double header in race four and five. We're very excited to be there. In the meantime, I've been Sang to say.

I've been Ben Harking. And I've been Harry Ead. And remember, keep breaking late. Podcast is part of the Sports Social Podcast Network.