The Late Braking F1 Podcast - Hamilton wins Championship No.7! | 2020 Turkish GP Review | Episode 88

Episode Date: November 15, 2020

Lewis Hamilton seals a record-equalling 7th World Championship after a crazy Turkish GP! The boys break down all the talking points.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 well welcome to the late breaking F1 podcast. Recording after Lewis Hamilton won the Turkish Grand Prix and in the process winning his seventh world championship title. Although leaving the description at that would probably be doing a massive disservice to the race. itself, slippery conditions, wreaking havoc, causing great entertainment.

And it led to a podium for Sergio Perez and Sebastian Vettel for the first time this season. Finally, Harry, your prediction of a Sergio Perez has come true. Time to bring in, Harry and Samuel Sage. There it is. The avocados from Mexico. What a bloody race, wasn't it? Wasn't that just supreme? I mean, yeah.

It was, honestly, if it is. And they said this in commentary. This is an advert for giving F1 cars less grip, because it's just better. Yeah, it's hard to argue against that, particularly after the race that we just saw. Absolute chaos. Like we say, Lewis Hamilton,

claiming the race win, although that was far from a certainty for much of the Grand Prix, particularly the first half. Sergio Perez finished second, Spastien Vettel, third, Leclair and Sines rounding out the top five. Max Verstappen in sixth place after starting from second

would have been heavily fancied there. Alex Albin's seventh. Lando Norris 8th. Lance Stroll after claiming pole position was just ninth. Daniel Ricardo finished 10th. So that's the point scorers from the Grand Prix. But plenty to run through. We're going to be focusing on Sergio Perez.

Of course, he doesn't have a seat next year. Did he prove to racing point today that they made an error in not choosing him for next season? Red Bull did Max Verstappen throw away his best chance at a victory since his one and only win of the season back at Silverstone. But first, we will look at Lewis Hamilton, of course, matching the record of Michael Schumacher, a seventh championship win,

and what a way to do it. Sam, where does this one rank amongst Hamilton's best victories and a four one? It's hard. It's hard to rank them, but he's been bloody incredible, isn't he? And I'm not going to lie, lads. I have a little bit of a cry. when he crossed the line. When you follow someone from their junior career.

Yeah, correct. Call me what you want. When you follow someone from their junior career and you watch them achieve so much and you think, Sheemacher is, you know, is set a pedestal that no one will ever meet and then you get to watch it live happening

and seeing that emotional response from Lewis, you know, hearing him cry over the radio. It is one of those things you don't think you'll get to see in the sport that you love. And we've seen it twice in the space of 20 years. It was just incredible scenes. And this is up there, you know, that that that drive today, that the race on its own was up there, I think, in some of his best drives of all time.

I think that is, was an incredible performance from him. One of the few people to not make a single error all race long, Perez, pretty much the other person. I think they both made the same era going deep into turn nine. they had to run over the off-road bit and go around the bollard. But that was pretty much it. He is being spectacular this season. Bottas will get onto the race performance,

but this season has been a bit unlucky at times, but also just again, not up to the consistent standard that Lewis Hamilton puts down. And he said in his post-race interview, I feel like I'm just getting started. And I feel like I'm just getting better and better, which for the years of the rest of the grid, must be absolutely terrifying and heartbreaking all in one go.

Because are you ever going to get a chance? championship while this man is on the grid. It was incredible. And I think this really does rate highly on the championships he's won. There's been some real treacherous conditions all season long. He's had to really come over things mentally, politically, culturally and on the track.

And he's done it. He's conquered it once again and proving why he should be, in terms of accolades now, the most successful Formula One driver of all time, and joint with Michael Schumacher on the World Championships. It is just brilliant to witness. I am really quite happy that we get to say, that we were there in the moment when it happened.

It was wonderful. Harry, where do you think this one ranks amongst his best races and just as a season as a whole? How do you think Hamilton's cope with 2020? He's, right, this says a lot about his performances. I don't think it's his best, but that says a lot because I think he's had even better than that, which is just ridiculous,

because today was another example of just how good he, is. I don't think the Mercedes, all weekend it didn't look like a car that was going to trouble, maybe even the podium. Even on the dry ties in Friday practice, they didn't seem to have the pace. But yeah, you never rule him out. I think we said this on the preview podcast. You can't rule out, you know, Lewis Hamilton ever. And today was another example of this. As for the season, you know, is it his best season? That's tough. That's a difficult one. It's quite possibly.

I think last year it also rivals it. But as Sam said, there's been so much else going on this year. So for him to stay as focused and as committed as he has been, is impressive. There's no other word for it. And, you know, deep down my Schumacher fanboy in me, it hurts. It hurts a lot. All I can do is, you know, you just respect to the match.

give it to the man because he's just that good. And, you know, if Schumacher was around to speak to other people, then, you know, I'm sure he would say the same. So you can't be mad at all. So, yeah, congrats Mr. LH. Yeah, I think this, it was an epic performance. And I think those that argue against that are probably looking at it the wrong way. It wasn't a faultless race.

So I don't think it was his best race of all time. I certainly would still go back to Silverstone 08 in that respect. But it was a great result. There were a few errors in there, obviously going, you know, running two on lap one, left the circuit, had a lost positions as well against Albin when he went too deep into the corner trying to overtake Sebastian Vettel. That was a bit of a silly move. So it wasn't faultless from Lewis Hamilton.

But by and large, this was a race where the keys to victory were patience, consistency and avoiding big errors. And he, you know, he ticked all three in that respect. And, you know, with Lewis Hamilton, we often see with Mercedes, obviously, the dominant position that they're in, there can quite often be occasions where he's not able to perhaps showcase his talents in a way where he doesn't have to overtake cars. You know, there are races where he starts from pole position and he dominates the race from there. And it can occasionally make people question, okay, when conditions aren't right,

can he still get the job done? Because it's not something he has to do very regularly. But races like this prove that the answer is yes, he definitely still can get it done because this win was in, not just in jeopardy, this win was very unlikely for the first half of the race. And Hamilton had to show something different. He had to show that he can, he can be patient. He can wait behind these cars. And he can, he knows that the race is. going to come to him in the second half, and ultimately it did. So, fair play to him. Tire management proof key, and we know that he's won a Hamilton strength. I think it says a lot that Hamilton and Perez finished one and two. I don't think that's a coincidence in the

slightest tire management was definitely of the highest order. And Hamilton did a great job making those tires last all the way from, I think it was lap eight that he made his one and only pit stop. We saw the tire condition at the end of the Grand Prix. He was practically running on slicks. So he did a very good job of managing those tires, deserves a lot of respect. And yeah, he was able to, he was able to make it count when he needed to, which is the mark of all great champions. I think what was very interesting about this Grand Prix was how we had a mixture of guys who were quick in full wet conditions, but not quite there in the changeable damp conditions and vice versa. So as an example, the Mercedes were not there.

in terms of the full wet conditions, but by the time we got to intermediate conditions and more dry conditions, they were on it again. And that seemed to be the case for the McLaren as well. It was very interesting to see the mixture because you also had racing point, and I would say Red Bull, possibly Alpha Romeo as well, who were very strong in the wet conditions, but once it started to dry out, they just couldn't compete. You know, we saw that Lance Stroll finished well over a minute off the pace of Lewis Hamilton where you wouldn't have predicted that halfway through the Grand Prix. So he let the conditions come to him, didn't make any stupid errors prior to that, and he

deserves a lot of respect. It's been a great year as well. From first race to last, you know, Bottas had a plan. Not sure what that plan is now. Perhaps he's going down the Trump route and going to try and challenge it in court or something because that's the only way Bottas has got a chance now. But yeah, consistency. That's been Hamilton's last three years.

That's what he's made him so good. Just look forward ahead when we go back to Australia next season. Botas wins it. He seems to often do on the regia the moment he crosses the line. Stop the count! Stop the count! You know, that'll be it. That'll be the moment where Bossas six has claimed the title.

That'll only do what I do. 23 races. Hey, thank you. I'll have the one. That's the only way you can do it. Volv III Bottas wins the Formula One season with 25 points. It's going to be groundbreaking in 21, guys. Speaking of 21, we did have Mark Weber's conversation with Lewis Hamilton on the podium about what his future holds. We've already

brought up the statement that he said that he feels like he's only starting to get there, which is quite frankly terrifying. We had a discussion earlier on in the week as to whether we think there is a chance he could move out of Formula One, leave on top. Harry, do you think there's any chance of that now or is Hamilton well in his groove? I don't know. I watched that thing with Mark Weber and I was a bit, well, the first bit when he said, you know, just getting started, I was like, oh yeah, here we go. Incoming three-year contract with Mercedes.

But then the stuff they were saying afterwards about being within the sport and changing the sport and there are lots of other things he, you know, wants to achieve. And none of that mentioned driving. And that's not to say he wouldn't still be driving at the same time. I just thought it was interesting. I still think he will be there next year. But I think I echo what I say last time when I think there are other things maybe on Hamilton's mind now.

And maybe he will remain an F-1 but just not driving a car. Who knows? I doubt it. I think he will be driving because that's the thing he loves doing the most. And why would he want to stop when he's being so good at it? So yeah, but it was definitely an interesting conversation with old Mac Weber. So, yeah, I don't know. I still, I think it would be surprising,

but there's a part of me that wouldn't be entirely shocked if he did call it a day, but I think he will be there in 21. So I think if he retired now, there'd be no doubt whatsoever that his reputation would be completely intact. He would be retiring on the top of his game. just and there would be questions forever as to what he could have achieved. Sam, do you think that his conversation with Weber, what he's achieved today, do you think that swayed it one way or the other? I mean, I think the thing about, the thing with Lewis, I think he's set out as a driver.

He's achieved as a driver what you want to achieve. He is, if you're going to look at records broken and numbers, he is the greatest of all time, right? If you're going to only take numbers into account, he has the records to back him up now. The only one he's now equal to is Schumacher with the championships and all the other accolades theoretically put him in front of Schumacher. But I think Hamilton wants to achieve more. I think now Hamilton wants a legacy. And I think he almost spoke it into realization right at that moment with Mark Weber. Mark asked him, you know, would there be an eighth, the ninth, the tenth, 11th? And Hamilton replied with, I want to make F1 carbon neutral. I want to improve the sport. I want

to help the diversity. You know, you hear me speaking up at every single Grand Prix. I want to be a voice in this sport. I don't think he'd say all these things so publicly if he was willing to just depart at the end of this season. Unless he was going to stick around as a mainstay face off the grid, but be in the paddock as part of the Mercedes team, I can't see him doing that when he's in the form of his life still.

The fact that he's still growing as a driver. We're still seeing him produce breathtaking performances. He's still creating things. I don't think drivers at the absolute best of their careers will be able to create. I can't see him going anywhere. I think he will be here for at least one more season. And with the way he's speaking,

I'd be shocked if he retires anytime soon. I would love to see him have a go in these new cars in the 2022 regs to see if he's able to do it again. I really would be surprised now if he announces some kind of retirement. There has to be something that really sways him to change what he's doing. to not be in that seat for next season.

Yeah, I mean, just to look at it from the impact that he wants to make in terms of change, in terms of human rights, in terms of making F1 carbon neutral, I think this definitely does form a very significant part of his agenda. And I think it's something that he does want to push. I don't think it's something that he's just saying for face. The question is, how does he achieve these things? And honestly, I think his voice is most powerful when he is well, champion. And he could transition into something else. He could transition into a role that is

outside of a driver. We know he's already doing that in terms of extreme E. But I think in terms of Formula One and that atmosphere, him leading the way as a driver, him being the world champion, being the representative of the sport, I don't think there is a better position that he could be in to express his views, to have his voice be heard, to be so influential. So, I think he stays in F1 from that front. In terms of performance, to look back at a few of the other greats and when they decided to walk away, or in a few cases when they were forced to walk away, I guess, if you're to look back at, say, Alan Prost, he retired as a world champion.

You were to look back at the centre, of course, not his choice whatsoever, but he went out on top. He was still at his peak at the time that he unfortunately departed the sport. But then if you were to look at a more modern example, Michael Schumacher, of course, we saw what happened with Michael Schumacher that he, I don't want to say he stayed in F1 too long, but his legacy, I don't think it was completely tarnished, not far from it, but he came back and he wasn't the same Michael Schumacher. He could still bring it.

He still brought Mercedes plenty of points, but he wasn't the same driver that won all those championships. And I feel as if that would be in the back of Hamilton's mind. If he overstays his welcome, maybe that could happen to him. It will happen to him if he stays in F1 for long enough. You know, age, no one's ever beaten it. And Hamilton's no different in that respect. So there has to be a right time for him to pack it in. But using Schumacher again as that comparison point when he walked away for the first time at

the end of 06, I feel as if at that time, 05, 06, yeah, the Ferrari wasn't quite on the same pace that it wasn't a few years ago, but Schumacher was already regressing somewhat. He was still an excellent driver at the end of 06, but he wasn't quite at the peak of his powers. So I think he picked a very good time to walk away the first point in his career. But if we're to look at Lewis Hamilton, I would argue that his best seasons in F1 have been his last three seasons in F1. I don't think at the moment, there is any sign of regression whatsoever. So I don't think there's any reason for him to stop until at least there are a few signs

that it's going to go downhill sooner rather than later. I don't think those signs are there yet. So I think he will stay an F1. I think he'll be an F1 for the next couple of years. He does have ambitions outside of Formula 1. But inside Formula 1, if he wants to direct change, which I believe he does, best place for him to do that while still winning at the same time is being a driver. let's move back on to the race itself then driver of the day who have you got for this award harry

a lot of contenders i've got to say hamilton unobvious one checo because he's finally done what i've been asking him to do for ten races got a podium uh i'm going to give it to sebi vet because i've got a fond fond place for sebi vet in my heart and that that is undoubtedly his best drive of bloody hell i don't know when was the last time we drove that well probably's win last year in in singapore um it's yeah he a rocket launch start and you know he i think that frari had more paces weekend as we saw because lecler was fourth in the end although that could have been the other way around um i do think the frari had more pace on the slippy slippery surface but they had some they had some good pace and he held off hamilton for a long time in the in the middle part of the race

And yeah, I'm going to give it to him because good old step you there on the podium. You love to see it. But yeah, like I said, the top three, definitely your contenders and Lecler, to be honest, because he came from the depths of the grid to come forth and probably should have been third anyway. So, yeah, that's all for me. Who have you got, Sam? It's the same three for me. Checo Perez is so good to see that man standing on the podium.

And in second as well, so regularly, when he has been on that podium, we see him in third. He's just kind of picking up the scraps, you know, being opportunistic, making the most of it. And he's been so good at that over his career. But it's so nice to, you know what? I started in the front three, and I've finished in the funk three. And I made up a place. And he deserves that second place. And he deserves a seat in our sport next season.

And if no one signs him, then what a calamity. What an absolute clangor someone's had if they don't pick up Sergio Perez. Because he's showing once again that he is so worried. of being on the grid. He's so much better than so many drivers we have. They're all brilliant, but Perez is up there with the cream of the crop at the moment. It's so good. So Perez is up there for drive of the day. Hamilton, he was under pressure, but got under pressure at the same time. At one point, he was 25 seconds behind the race leader, and then won the race by 25 seconds. It was just breathtaking. So I think Hamilton gets driving the day for me, but as Harry said,

And Sebastian Betel holds a very, very warm and special place in my heart. He's become this lovely, charming, funny guy. And to see him on the podium after what has been his drive of the season so far, and to see him just turn something around and to get one up on Charles the Clare, who was a bit silly at the end, and probably I get, went for the last gaffe. And I admire before it, but also threw it away a little bit. It was good to see him on there. And he really deserves it.

And maybe this might give him a little bit of a boost for the end of the season. Maybe it allows him just to smile his way through to raising a point. I don't know. But it was absolutely great to see the Ferrari of Sebastian bet on that podium, probably, for the last time. So, yeah, those three were just a league above. But, you know, there were other great performances throughout Charlotte Clare being one.

But for me, those three were really up there. Yeah, I'll give a quick shout out to Carlos Sines. I think he had a really good race as well. He came from 14th on the grid, I believe. Didn't make any errors, at least that we saw. on camera. He went through the field with relative ease, patience, and he was right in there with those guys up in P2 at the very end of the Grand Prix. So I think he deserves respect for that as well. I would agree with the names that you suggested. Perez kept his call throughout the

Grand Prix, excellent tire management as we have become so accustomed to seeing. Sebastian Vettel, electric start. I don't think he had the pace of Leclair throughout the Grand Prix, but that start was so crucial because with the way in which the field ended up essentially the gaps were massive after just a few laps and Sebastian Vessel took real advantage of that great star. Charles Leclair so disappointed that he couldn't secure P2 at the end there because it was an incredible race from him. God Leclair, I'm not going to renounce his God title at least today, even with that poor finish with the last few corners.

because of how excellent he was prior to that. Not his best moment, but he retains the Godlerclair title for now. Sebastian, yeah, and he should have been in Sebastian Vessel. Of course, he didn't. Lewis Hamilton claims it for me. As I said in the first few minutes of this podcast, it wasn't faultless, did make a few errors, but crucially avoided any serious errors,

as was the case with the likes of Max Verstappen. So, yeah, Lewis Hamilton for me, he won by over a pit stop. when at a time he was behind the race leader by a pit stop. That's pretty incredible regardless of what car you're in. Hamilton for me. Worst driver of the day. I feel like this could be a clean sweep,

but we will see. Sam, who have you got? Well, I'm going to shout out someone before we go into the depths, the dark, dark depths. Max Verstappen, mate. You threw that away. That was 100% your... to wing, you had supreme pace.

Your qualifying was just amazing until the goat scroll came in, put you in the bings, Sonny. Obviously, that was like Max's heaven, and he turned it into an absolute living hell for himself. He spang around more times than I can remember. Albon was better on the track than Max, not faster, but better in their conditions. And I know my bold prediction was that Albon would beat the staffing on raw pace,

but I think Albuhr held himself up today. I still think it was bad that he finished behind Max after Max spun 3,000 times. But, you know, come on, Max. That was not good from you. It was rash. The first thing with Perez was poor. It was a silly, silly, silly, silly,

immature move, which you could have had on the next run if you just nifted slightly. I expect better from Max Verstappen now in his career. But the worst driver of day is championship rival. The man that I think finished in, what, 14th or 50th place, He spang at turn one more times than I've spang on my office chair while being bored at work.

Valtry Bottas, mate, what are you doing? The fact that he wasn't even getting out of the way of Lewis Hamilton when he was getting lapped. It's actually lapped by his championship rival teammate, who then finish his 25 seconds clear of everyone else. Oh, God, Valtrey. I mean, I know there was nothing more that you could do, but surely there must have been something. Your teammates, will you by that margin. You are God awful today. Botas was so bad.

So yeah, Blotas, by far the worst driver of the day. Unfortunately, Sam, you've brought up bold predictions, which is something I forgot about, because as I remember and do correct me if I am wrong here, but I'm pretty sure someone predicted that both Alfa Romeo's would make you too. Like, people want to hear your worst drive of a day. giving a ball, everyone.

I just thought I would bring that up. But again, I can't remember who made that prediction. Mind of me. Worst driver of the day, Harry, who have you got? You. Completely fair. No, there's no looking past Walter. I'm afraid he...

Yeah, I don't know. Don't know what happened. You know, before the start, Martin Brundle was like, oh yeah, people who drive... on ice, like, and did rally. Like, Botas and Reichenen. And they were both awful. Yeah, I don't know.

I don't know. It's like his head dropped after the first spin, and then he decided he didn't do enough. Maybe he thought, well, that's championship gone. And now I'm going to do my Felipe Massa impression. I don't know. Not sure. It was very good. Yeah, it was close. I said this to Ben before we started recording. He almost got the right amount. I think it was one short in the end of a Massa 08, but never mind. Yeah, it was, it was poor.

And, you know, he also wasn't enjoying himself because they said four laps to go, and he said, I wish it was less. And I'm sure he will just want to forget that race. But I also agree with Sam on the Vestappen point. It was just frustrating because he clearly had the pace. He had the run, just filing behind through the one-line corner in the wet, and wait until you get into a breaking zone max what are you doing man also i would have poop myself if i'd had that spin but fair enough that he didn't you know he wasn't screaming still because i would

be that was terrifying everyone's car was brown for the mud but i wonder if maxis was a different colour for another reason it's quite dirty out there and then when he's pulling back on the track like over the crest i was like oh oh no anyway um yeah botas was by far on away the worst of the day. Yeah, as expected, clean sweep on this one. And we brought up the Felipe Massa Silverstone 2008 comparison fairly early for anyone who's unaware Felipe Massa had an absolutely atrocious race when Lewis Hamilton won that Grand Prix spun countless times.

We made that prediction, well, we didn't make the prediction, but we made that assessment fairly early. Oh, he's going for this, he's going for Massa's record. But as the race unfolded, the more and more accurate it appeared, because, it just wasn't happening for him. Really confusing as to why, because, like Martin Brundall did say, about 264 times, he does have that experience of racing in these low grip conditions, and he just couldn't bring it in a Formula One car.

And it's not as if those conditions changed massively from what we saw in qualifying. And in qualifying, at least until the final run in Q3, as is usually the case, Valtry Bottas was on an identical pace to Lewis Hamilton, and in fact, I would say he was actually slightly better. He was marginally, every time you saw the two of them complete laps, it was Bottas a few temps ahead. Yet when it came to today's race, we saw at one point when Valtry stuck on new intermediate tyres

versus Lewis Hamilton's tires that had been going since 2003, that it was Lewis Hamilton, who was not only faster, it's not as if Lewis Hamilton, or he's just pipped it by a few temps. There was one point where Lewis Hamilton was lapping six seconds faster. Like, it's two different worlds. Valtry, this wasn't just the worst drive of the day. This might have been the worst drive of his career. If anyone can think of one that went worse, please do let me know.

But yeah, no points whatsoever. And yeah, the question of whether he could keep the championship running for one more week, very conclusively answered. Three out of three of the worst driver of the day. I've got breaking news. He did it. He spun six times. Oh.

Congratulations, Walter. You've won the Philippine Matarweida Award. There you go. At least he won something. That's what the interviewer said at the end, when he did rock paper scissors with Ricardo. That was so savage. He walked up after doing rock paper scissors with Ricardo,

and she went, well, at least you won that. How savage is that? There's always next year. There's always next year. Oh dear. We say hopefully. Moment of the race. Sam, what have you got?

By far, Lewis Hamilton crossing the line. Hearing him almost feels like, you know, crying his crash helmet with his team, giving him the applaud its. It was a special moment you get to watch and it won't come around very often. So for me, that was definitely the moment of the race. It was a wonderful, wonderful moment in history that will be remembered. among Formula One fans and he deserves every second of the price he gets.

Harry moment at the race. Sam, I see your historic moment in F-1 history and I raise you a F-16 fighter jet scaring the living pretenses out of every driver on the grid. I love that shot.

That is great. Such a good shot. Yeah, no, hard to argue with what Sam said. Another moment for me, I've already said it, is Vettel's star. I watched it on board just now, and it's Kimmy Rikin and Portemal-esque, but he did it within about a corner. So, yeah, that's another top one for me.

And I'll go, just to offer up something different, I will say, Perez versus Leclair versus the other one. Vettel. I can remember his name for him. Wow. He's only won four championships. What are you doing by that for? Did anyone else notice the Mexican and German flag was the wrong way around, by the way, on the podium? Maxie Vet and Jeremy Perez. Jeremy Perez. I mean, he has been this year for being honest.

He had been a long time ago, right? Yeah, I'll go with that battle. I thought for a moment that Lewis Hamilton crossing the line and winning the championship was going to mean that they weren't going to show it whatsoever because that is a very F1 director thing to do. But fortunately, they did actually decide to show some on-track action, unbelievably, which is great.

Yeah, Leclair obviously not particularly happy about it, but it was excellent to watch. Well, should we move on to Sergio Perez? Because we have been saying for pretty much all season that he is deserving of a podium. He's finished pretty much every position in the points other than the top three. Coming into this Grand Prix, he had the five places ahead of him, all had podiums. The five places below him all had podiums. Harry's been predicting it for about four years. And finally, it happened, finishing P2 after doing the one-stop, very similar to Lewis Hamilton,

showing his tire management skills. Sam, do you think that this went some way to prove that racing point have made a bit of a boo-boo here? Perez didn't need to prove that they've made a boo-boo. If you've been watching Formula One long enough, and I will get a bit judgmental here, if you are incapable of seeing how good Perez is up until this point, then I don't know how much I value your opinion on the sport. Socio Perez is a real talent and has been for a long time. And he's almost like Lewis Hamilton in the sense that he just continued to get stronger

and stronger season after season. And I would argue that this has been one of his best seasons of his career. And I'm amazed it's taken this long for him to get the poem because he deserves it more than so many others. I really do feel that he, you know, and I'm glad that he's fourth in the championship now because he really deserves the praise, the Lord. And if people don't sit there and go, that guy should be in our car.

You know, he's free. Why are we not putting him in our team next season? Then you're asking yourselves the wrong question. If this is what Albon had to do to solidify that red ball seat, then I personally don't think it was enough. And they should be looking at Perez in these conditions and this capability to hold off the Ferraris to, you know, look at where Stroll ending up and where Perez managed to,

finish, Perez is absolutely everything and so much more. And the fact that he could be walking away from this season without a seat absolutely baffles me. Yeah, racing point. If Vettel muxing up next season, if he's on the beach now for the rest of his career, then they will regret this big time. And I really hope that he gets to go into that Red Bull seat next to Max because I think he'll be such a solid driver in that team. What do you reckon, Harry, do you think?

this was just more evidence that Perez deserves a seat somewhere and perhaps should have been in that Aston Martin next year? Yeah, as Sam said, he didn't need to do any more to prove it, I don't think, but today definitely solidified that. And I don't know, I don't want to, because Stroll, we've got to give it to Stroll. He, until that final pit stop, he'd been mightily impressive this weekend. He'd been better than Perez, let's put it out there until that point and then he just couldn't handle those new inters, his head dropped and then it was all over.

But he was, you know, mightily impressive. So, you know, that's not to say Stroud doesn't necessarily deserve a seat next year. I think he's also proved he has, he's a good enough driver to be in that seat. But yeah, Peres is just quality. And will he be getting a phone call from Austria this week?

Quite possibly. Not sure. I think for Stappen's bad race, actually, you know, made Albon's race look better. Does that make sense? Because, yeah, I think if Vestappen had a bit, you know, hadn't had his spins, and he's still finishing in front of Albon, so that's still bad, but it wasn't by much. So Albon doesn't quite look as bad. They were equally, not quite equally, but they both had their issues during the race.

So, yeah, whether that saves him, I don't know. But, yeah, it's a crime because Perrids is a quality driver. and, you know, it was him and Hamilton. I know Hamilton still beat him by 20 seconds, but different cars, probably different class of driver as well, you'd have to say. Perez and Hamilton, with anyone that could make those intermediates slash slicks go all the way.

And that's just, that's hugely impressive. And like we said before, there's only, what was the stat that him and Hamilton? Oh, they scored in every race. There's no, there's not much more you can say about Perez. he definitely deserves to see I don't know if I want him in the Red Bull or not. Maybe, maybe for a year.

I don't know. But yeah, undoubtedly he deserves to see an F1 next year. I mean, for me, this is how I see it. Imagine someone coming up to your door, knocking on the door, you open the door and he stood there, this guy and he's got 100 chocolate bars and says, here, you can have them all. Closes the door, fine.

He knocks two minutes later and says, oh, actually, here's one more. That's what that race was. It wasn't necessary to prove anything more than he already had. The deal's done. Perez is an unbelievable driver. This was just a little bit more evidence to show that he is a quality driver. Because like you say, Sam, if you don't think he is a quality driver,

you haven't been paying attention or you have been paying attention and you're a moron, one or the other. I think coming back to Belgium, actually, on this, where you remember Ocon versus Perez and Ocon's a decent driver, don't get me wrong. Remember when Ocon, he qualified P3 on the grid, a lot was made of it, got a lot of headlines from it. Do you remember who finished ahead in the race? It was Sergio Perez. And this is just, this just comes back to it again.

Lance Stroll, very good in wet conditions, can't argue with that whatsoever. I think Lance Roll is a decent driver. But when it comes to consistency in the race, there are very few that match Sergio Perez. And Perez isn't overly flashy in the car. He's not a, he's not a Ricardo. He's not a Vastappen in the car. car and that's absolutely fine. It's two different driving styles. And I think that's why he doesn't necessarily get the plaudits of someone like Ricardo, who I think is a very similar ability to

Sergio Perez. Sergio Perez just gets on with his business. He's a very patient driver. He's very good at managing his tires. Ultimately, they both worked in his favour out there. We have to remember as well, Lance Drol is, we know how good he is in wet conditions. We saw Italy a few years ago. when he qualified on the front row of the grid, and we've seen it a couple of times since then. Sergio Perez is not a good wet weather racer, at least comparatively to the rest of his abilities. It is one big weakness, I would say, which just goes to show what a quality driver he is, that he was able to hold his own in those conditions, in what I would say are stroll's best conditions and Perez's worst conditions. And then obviously by the time it changed to more damp

conditions, the rain stopped, intermediate tires, Perez had the clear advantage. So he's not not flashy at all. Doesn't have to be. He's a quality driver and any team would be lucky to have him. Honestly, he definitely deserves that second Red Bullse. I think, I've made it perfectly clear. I think that they should put Albin back in the Alphiataoari alongside Gassley and that the line-up should be a Perez-Vestappan lineup.

But I think Racing Point slash Asthmartan made a massive error. This guy who has had, what, six years of experience at the team, counts for a lot. He's an experienced driver overall. He's quality. He's been their leading scorer for a number of years now. I think you have to go back to the first season he was there alongside Nika Holkenberg the last time that Sergio Perez was not the leading point scorer for that team. And I think they made a mistake getting rid of him. And when I say that, I don't just mean they've made a mistake in terms of getting rid of Perez and keeping struggle. They've made an error regardless of which driver you compare him to. Perez versus

Vessel. I take Perez. I really do. I think this season has been proof. I think last season, Vessel losing to Leclair was proof. Paris has been quality for a number of years. I think they've made a big error in getting rid of him. Maybe in terms of Red Bull, they can be the ones to show them that they were wrong. While you were saying that being an all incredibly valid points, I got a knock on the front door and I opened it and 101 chocolate bars fell through my door. and on top of that, my book of analogies fell through there as well. Did you post it back? Because I couldn't find that.

You must have knit that one last time we were together because that was brilliant. I've written down all the good ones. Didn't take me too long to do that, to be fair. But I'm going to use them for the next few if that's all right. Yeah, of course, of course. Get Sergio Perez, I can see, ASAP. Sergio Perez is a chocolate bar confirmed. moving on to...

Hang on, hang on, hang on, hang on. That's the conclusion from this. You can't make so many valid points and then concluding with Sergio Perez is a chocolate bar. That's like breaking, baby. That's how we roll. Anyway, if Sergio Perez was a chocolate bar,

what chocolate bar do you think it'd be? Derry milk caramel. Oh, interesting. Because, like, who doesn't really like a dairy milk caramel? It always performs. It's never the top of the pile. is never the one that you always run into to ASTA or Tesco

or whatever your preferred supermarket is and pick off the shelf. But if maybe, I don't know, your favourite double decker is missing or maybe you fancy a Snickers wrong. But if you like a Snickers and it's not there, you might go, oh, but there is a dairy milk caramel there.

I'm going to have that one. And that's Sergio Perez. Well, get in touch with us at El Breaking. What chocolate bar is Sergio Perez and why? Ladies and gentlemen, that is how you round out the segment. Moving on to Red Bull. Alex Albin and Max Verstappen

finished next to each other on track, which Red Bull must have been hoping at the beginning of the day. That would be a very good thing and that they could come home one too, considering Mercedes shortcomings and qualifying and in practice. As it happened, they were next to each other on track,

but that made it P6 and P7, not exactly what they were looking for. Max Verstappen started on the front row of the grid, got a terrible start, would have definitely been hoping for the race, given his pace and qualifying yesterday. Sam, let me go to you on this one.

Max Verstappen, massive opportunity missed? Oh, boy, was that a massive opportunity missed? I mean, I don't think I've seen someone who's probably more of a favourite for a race wing throwing away like Max Verstappen did. I can't fault the start. We've seen throughout the season that Red Bull have not been great on the start.

I'm surprised that he wasn't a little bit Ben, I do think some driver skill played into that, and he bogged. But the car has also got been great. But, okay, we'll exclude that. The difference in place is that the staff and hangover, the rest of the field for the majority of qualifying. And I think for a long of the race, when he was up and running, was enough that I think he should have been able to find his way back to the front and fight for the victory. But instead, he decided he wanted to audition for the local circus in Istanbul and do a lot of pirouettes.

Maybe the ballets in town, I don't know. but he threw that away and that was entirely on Max Verstappen and that was one of the worst drives we've seen from him in quite a long time and that tells you a lot which we'll get on to about Alex Albon about the fact that he didn't spin it

and he's still finished behind Max Verstappen. What did you make of Vestappan's race? Harry, do you think it was a massive missed opportunity as well? Yeah, we've always said about this why I didn't wait to make that move on Perez just a tiny bit longer and it's kind of the frustration that bored over from yesterday basically

from losing out on pole, which looked like a cert for the entirety of qualifying. Yeah, it's just too impatient. And, you know, I think sounds right. There was a bit of skill at the start because if you look at the replays of the start, Max is definitely starting in first gear. And if you look at the ones that got a good start, like Ricardo and Vettel, they didn't. They started in second.

So definitely some skill in there. They also realized it was going to be too slippy. Max thought he could get away with it in first. first and he couldn't. I don't know whether that was a, maybe both, I haven't seen Albon start, but maybe both Red Bull drivers decided that first was going to be better, but it clearly wasn't.

So, yeah, it's normally these races, you know, if you look at these kind of races where they're a bit crazy, Germany 2019, Brazil 2019, Max is normally the one that picks up the pieces, but this year it hasn't been the case. The only one he has won was a fairly straightforward race, and the crazy ones, he's either been out or not a part of it. So, yeah, definitely another missed opportunity for this happen.

Yeah, I think, honestly, and this might sound harsh, I think it proves he's not there yet in terms of his peak. Obviously, he's one of the best driver, to say the second best driver in F1, and he's really come a long way in the last few years. Already, he's one of the best drivers of this century. And I'm sure when his career is all done, he will be looked at as one of the greats. Where he ranks on that remains to be seen,

but there's no doubt about his ability whatsoever. But I think today just proves that there is still more to be done there. There's still ways for him to improve, because this was a massive opportunity missed. And it's a real shame because the pace that he showed in qualifying was mesmerizing. He was seconds faster than everyone else. And obviously the conditions changed in a way that didn't favour Red Bull. The intermediate tyres they, for whatever reason, didn't get on with in the same way that they did the wet tires.

But there was still a real opportunity for him to, at the very least, get a podium. But really, I think this was for Stappan's race to lose. For me, the big turning point for him was the start. I think if he gets a good start, if he gets a good start and he overtakes Stroll into term one, I think he wins this race. Because it seems to go downhill from there. We saw Lanchstrol carve out about a day. 10 second advantage out front, which, you know, the advantage of visibility and such will allow you to do regardless really of what car you're in as long as it's reasonably pace. Max for

for stopping for me, if he's in that position, I think he carves out of 20 second leave, if not more. We saw what pace he had in the way yesterday. I think he would have been seconds faster than everyone else. And that advantage might well have given him the race win, even if the likes of Hamilton came back into the race later on. I think he would have built up enough of a buffer. As it happens, he had work to do. He was stuck behind Vettel for a significant amount of the race and that move on Perez was ill-advised and that's probably putting it kindly. There was just no value to it whatsoever. It was so soon in the race. It's a long race and patience is key in races like that. And Vestappen proved that that's not one of his, that's not one of his skills at the moment,

which is a massive shame. He had a real opportunity and he threw it away. So yeah, I, I don't think it was... I think he'd have won this race if he got P1, into term 1, but we'll never know. I thought he can say he would have won this race if he got P1. Another stunning... Try on.

...rifics are sponsored by AWS. Hey, well, you might well see more late-breaking graphics in the not-too-distant future in tint. Cheeky. Anyway, Alex Alvin finished only one play. behind Max Verstappen. I think it was a few seconds or so at the flag, which by recent standards is practically a win. Sam, how did you view Albin's race? Do you think Vastappen made it look better than what it was? I think people who aren't people like us, you know, who make

podcasts and videos and a real F1 nerds who analyze the race starts to finish and every driver on it and how that race went. We'll look at that result on, you know, just out of the cusp of their sleeve even go, oh, album one place behind Max and only a few seconds in it. Good, good race, Albon. And I think that is the complete opposite of what you need to take away from this race. And I think throughout the race, my brain went through a real kind of hurdle race going on. I was sat there being like, this is good from Albon. Album's keeping it together.

Albums are not spinning. Album's overtaking people. Albon is still behind Max for Stappen, even though he spun three times. Albaugh is still behind Max Verstaffel, even though these flats brought his ties and have to come into pit again. Albu he's overtaken by Max Verstappen. You know, it's...

When Max Verstaffing is having one of his worst races for quite a long time, and then you're still behind your teammate, that says a lot. That was Albuhr's race to win at one point. He was about three seconds behind the league's role and less than a second behind Perez. And it just fell away.

it just lost all ability, at all pace. He quickly got caught back up again by Bethel and Hamilton. A pit stop phase happened. He fell even further back. Album, mate. Come on. That was a real chance to shine and to put your foot down. I said in our race preview,

earlier on the last podcast we did, I said, this is the race where Albuhr was going to turn up and he's going to show that he deserves that seat. I think he's got to fire it up under him. And at the start of that race, I thought, I actually might be right here and I turned out to be very, very, very wrong. Albon was atrocious, really.

The only good thing he did was generally keep it on the track. But he did that with such a minimal pace that his teammate he was having a nightmare day still finished in sixth place in front of him and shows us how good match of stuffing is even on his worst day that he finished that high up and look where Bottas was.

I'll get one of his worst day. So, I mean, Albon, sorry. I think you need to go back to Alfa Tauri for at least to see you. season and give Perez at least that drive until the end of the 2021 season, because for me, that that was the final nail in the coffin. You could have had a podium. You could have had a race win.

The Red Bull was definitely capable of achieving so much more. And the fact that the pair of them finished that far down the order, when the both Ferraris came from outside the points as well, and we're seeing what Ferrari been up to this season. I mean, it's not good enough from either of the album. For me, that is you haven't got the other results to back it up. I like Max, who we know, is brilliant, 95% of it. the time. What did you make of Albon today, Harry?

Yeah, well, I said from the outside, like Anna, as Sam just said, and Vestappen's bad race made Albon look a bit better because, you know, he's only finished two seconds behind. But I've just realized Vistappen did an extra stop. You stopped three times. Al Bonn stopped twice. So, right. Yeah, it's not great, is it?

And, yeah, and, you know, Vestabin had that. ridiculous spin, you know, however, 150 miles an hour down a straight. So, yeah, if you just look into it, even just a tiny bit, it's not great. And it's weird because at one stage, Albon was the fastest go on the track. Once the Stappen had fallen off the track, it was the other redboard that was picking up the pieces on the pace. And he was up there challenging Perez. And then his, his tyres just fell off.

And then he was kind of nowhere. They pit him for the new inters. And he still wasn't really any. anywhere. So, yeah, not great. Sorry, Alex. I actually thought it was slightly better than it was, and I've looked into it a bit, and it was terrible. So, yeah, again, maybe Paris will be getting a phone call from Austria this week. Yeah, I think from my perspective and how I see it, I don't think there's anything Alex Albin can do in the last few races of this season that would convince me he should be there in the Red Bull Seat next year.

I think outside of him winning the last three races consecutively, I don't think there's anything he could do. Even if he won one of the three races left, wouldn't change my mind. I think the decision should be made already. But to look at this race in isolation, it is a tough one to analyze. Because I actually think, you know, the first half of the race, he was pretty solid, you know, at least in comparison to what he's shown us the last few races, which granted isn't a huge amount.

but I think he was solid in the first half of the race. You're right, he was one of the quicker drivers at one point. I think he did take too much out of his tires in the process of being that quick, but there was at least a few signs there that he was there. But as the race unfolded, there are still some startling things to take away. Yeah, like Max Verstappen he pit one more time, still beat him, had two spins. I mean, Max Verstappen had an awful race, and this doesn't work in Albin's favour, because up until this point, Max Verstappen this season has been pretty much faultless.

You know, apart from one or two races, he's been there or thereabout. He's had a few unlucky retirements, but he's been on the podium every other time other than those occasions. So Max Verstappen has had a great season. And when Alex Helmand isn't on his pace, you can at least point to the fact that, oh, well, Vestappen's had a brilliant race. Albin wasn't that bad. Vastappen was just unbelievable.

He can't use that excuse here. And that might be the first race where he can't use that excuse. Because Vastappen had a howler, but he still beat him. So it really doesn't look good that on Vestappen's worst day, he can still beat Alex Albin, who, you know, by all accounts, I think he did have one of his more solid races this season. And despite that, he still couldn't beat him. Qualifying as well was a bit of a bit of a mirage as well, because you had Vestappen only two positions ahead of him, Albin in the top four as, you know, we've been wanting him to be all season.

But I think there was about two and a half seconds actually separating their times. So it looked a lot better than what it was. Yeah, like I said, I think I think their decision should be made already. I think they should be getting Perez in the car. I still think Alex Albin's got a career in F1 ahead of him. But I think Red Bull have to have to admit here that with Gasly and with Albin, they've just promoted these drivers too early. They're not ready for it.

Such a shame. at one point it did look as if he could get a podium and he could maybe even get the win, but spiraled quite a bit after that point. Let's leave that one there then. Istanbul, well done. No Baku to say well done to this year. So is Istanbul in its place, its location not too far away. So we'll give it to you this year.

And who knows? Maybe it can make an appearance in 21. We still do have that TBC. For this podcast, Sam, if you wouldn't mind, getting us out of here. Folks, it's been a historic Grand Prix weekend. It's been a moment that we'll go down in history as the time where six Grand Prix drivers all nearly pooped themselves

when an F-16 flew over the top. Oh, and Lewis Hamilton match Michael Schumacher's record. Let us know what you think about the race. Let us know what is Lewis Hamilton's best moment. Let us know if Parade should go in that seat and single album or where album should go. Should you go back to Raffertrater? It'll go out completely.

We'll be too hard. It'll be very interested to hear what you think. Videos on YouTube will be out, comment down there on your points of view, or get over to Twitter. at El Brayton, it'll be great to always hear from you. In the meantime, I'll be Sam to say. I've been Ben Harking.

I'm in Harry Ead. And remember, keep breaking light. This podcast is part of the Sports Social Podcast Network.