The Late Braking F1 Podcast - Has Hamilton CHECKED OUT at Mercedes?

Episode Date: June 17, 2024

Ben and Sam are here this non-race weekend discussing the rising tension between Hamilton and Mercedes, who might replace Ocon next season at Alpine, Red Bull's technical issue, and Harry makes a special appearance to weigh in on Jacques Villeneuve's damning criticism of Ricciardo. They finish with naming their Top 5 performances of the year so far... LONDON LIVE SHOW! Join us as we preview the British GP live in London on 2 July, full event info + tickets HERE FOLLOW us on socials! You can find us on YouTube, Instagram, X (Twitter) and TikTok SUPPORT our Patreon for bonus episodes, historic race reviews & more! JOIN our Discord community JOIN our F1 Fantasy League: SIGN UP & create your team, and JOIN our league (join code: C3PHEQHPU04) BUY our Merch SEND us something! We have a brand new PO box - address: Late Braking Podcast, PO Box 821, TRURO TR1 9PE EMAIL us at [e-mail] & SUBSCRIBE to our podcast! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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on this non-race Sunday, the worst kind of Sunday, but we're here nonetheless, Sam. We've got a lot to talk through anyway. Loans could chat through, and you'll upset everyone that isn't just a fan of F1, because obviously LeMong has been happening in this weekend. So when you're saying on race Sunday, we definitely just meeting on F1 race Sunday. We promise that there is other things to watch about F1. Well, I would have called it a race Sunday, but both of my Alpine teams are already out because they can't do any form of racing.

So it's not a race weekend anymore. Well, mate, it's just you and Frank Alexander Argoe, building the cars. He's playing for England. He can't do it in. He's playing for England. That's why the car's not working. Either of you two are actually working properly. Yeah.

Oh, well, never mind. Back to F1 next week. obligatory shout-out, of course, at this moment in time, we are just a couple weeks away from our live show in the United Kingdom in London, previewing the British Grand Prix. For those of you that have already bought tickets, thank you so much. For anyone who's thinking of coming along, obviously you don't have too much longer. So, as usual, the link is in the description.

All the details that you need are there. And we look forward to seeing as many of you as possible. That we do. We have a lot to talk through, though. We're going to run through later on in the show, our top five performances of the season so far from any driver at any race. So it'd be interesting to see how our lists compare on that one. Jacques Villeneuve's made some interesting comments at Daniel Ricardo.

We're finally getting to that. And don't worry, just because Harry Ede isn't here today. It doesn't mean he might not have a few things to say about that one. We're going to run through potential Alpine replacements for Esteban Ockon for 2025. but we're going to start with the focus on Lewis Hamilton. So P4 in Canada, after nearly getting his first podium of the year, that's now 12 races without one for him. He went on to call it one of his worst races of all time.

Post-race, Toto Wolf came over the team radio, said, and I'm not going to do the accent, Lewis, the positive is the car is back in performance, and we get on from here. And this was met by silence from. Lewis Hamilton. So are you concerned at this point in the season, Sam, because we still have a long way to go in this relationship. Yeah, not just silence, but when camera was on Lewis, we see him shaking his head as the message came over the radio from Toto. And if Lewis Hamilton is calling

this one of his worst performances of all time and he finished in fourth, then God forbid what he thinks every other driver might have been up to in his career, because fourth plays for most drivers would be a bloody great day. So Lewis Hamilton Declare, I mean, he's maybe he's his own hushist critic, and we've seen that before. He does hold himself to an incredibly high standard, as you should. When you're a seven-time world champion,

you know, you've got to make sure that you absolutely reach for the best that you could possibly achieve out of everyone. So I guess it makes sense. But what is worrying here, I think, is the dynamic between team and driver. Obviously, this announcement has come so early on in the year that it means that the sayis have,

I think it'd be rude to say, checked out of one side of the relationship. But it's very clear that there is a priority to George, and that's totally acceptable. You know, you've got a driver that's committed to you long term. He is your future at this point. One of your drivers is leaving. And as how much you've achieved with that driver, there's always going to be one that is, like I take precedence.

And it makes sense to favour the guy that's sticking around that is committing himself loyally to you for another year. The other one is going to a rival, like a long-term rival at that. But equally, it must be so frustrating for Lewis Hamilton to sit there and think, I've given so much to this team. We've won so much together. We've got such a history together. And now I've got to sit here through 24 races of the car's rubbish.

My teammate gets priority. That's how it seems from his point of view, I think, at least. Yep, Greg could go to George first. He's beating me in every qualifying and almost every Grand Prix. Even though the points tally is actually quite small between him. I think it's only about 15 points between them. You know, he is, George is outright beating him in almost every turn here. I can see why Lewis is maybe feeling a little bit frustrating

and a bit disgruntled at how the season is going so far but he's got a real challenge on his hands and he's an environment that isn't a hundred percent built around him for the first time in a long time and he's not performing at his best. I think that's very clear to see. He believes he's not performing at his best. So I don't think it's just the relationship between himself

and the saying he's estranged. I do think he's probably no longer at the peak of his powers. I think that's quite clear. So those two things combined, I'm sure are causing him some slight frustrations. And we've all been in jobs before when you think, God, I've had enough of this.

I've just got a fresh start. I'm just going to go somewhere else. I need a different manager. I need a different co-worker. You know, I want a different environment. And it refreshes you and it perks you back up again. Maybe that's what Lewis is looking for and he's struggling with that.

And he just needs to get his head around the rest of this season. And we might see him revitalise. But I don't know if it's going to be a shoe in that Hamilton turns up to Ferrari. And he's, you know, 2019, Lewis Hamilton, Hamilton, all over again. I do think he's just where he is right now. What do you think, Ben? Am I concerned for the rest of this season? Many are. I'm not. I'm not overly concerned for the

rest of this season because Hamilton has always, always, and I mean from 2007, the start of his F1 career, dealt in what I would refer to as hyperbolic comments and statements. He has always exaggerated when it comes to being in the car over team radio to people. Bonington, whether it's in the media pen after races. And it's completely understandable as well. I don't hold it against him. He's not the only one who does it, but he might be the worst offender of that,

where he says it's his worst race of all time. I think he knows deep down it wasn't. I'm not saying it was one of his best, but equally he's had far worse than the one we had in Canada. But I tend to think that if he wasn't being hyperbolic, like he was in his championship, winning years, that would be more concerning than him actually being like he was when he was winning everything. If he came out after the Canadian Grand Prix and said, right, P4, best result of the season,

happy with that, and that was it, I would have been concerned because that's not Lewis Hamilton. That is someone who is settling for a fourth place finish. That's someone who is content with where they are. And if that was the case, that does worry me with a long way to go in the season. The fact that he was unhappy with P4, the fact that, you know, he felt that he clearly felt like there was more in that weekend, which I think is true. And I think I said this in the review after the Canadian race, that if he had started from Paul, and not saying this would have happened, but he would have backed himself to have won that race, I think.

And even if he didn't, I think a top three finish would have been on the cards for him. So for him to, at the end of this Grand Prix, know that there was more on the table, gives me confidence that actually for the rest of this season he is going to push on and where there are opportunities for this car and this team, he will do everything he can to, he will do everything he can to take advantage of that. And you're absolutely right. His year to this point has been, I would say,

average by normal standards and poor by Hamilton standards. Compared with last year as well, right? Yes, absolutely. Hamilton was top five performer last year, I would say, maybe even top three. Like he was right up there. This year, as our power rankings would indicate, and if you're not part of the Patreon,

you can go ahead in the link and listen to our Power Rankings episodes after every single Grand Prix. You'll notice that he hasn't scored particularly well throughout the whole of this season. Yet despite all of that, and only at qualifying George Russell won so far, as you said, it's 14 points.

14 points separates George Russell and Lewis Hamilton, which isn't too bad at all. given it probably could and should be more than that. I think what is going to separate Hamilton and Russell because I think your point is right in that they will favour Russell from here on out and they should do. It makes 100% sense at this stage in both of their careers and who's staying at the team.

I think Hamilton's motivation might well be more race to race, if that makes sense. I think if the car gives him something to work with, he'll be fully motivated if he doesn't, there's not too much for him to fight for, whereas George Russell's motivation is probably a little more big picture longer term because he knows championship-wise it's not going to happen this year, but maybe in future years it could do.

So, yeah, I'm not as concerned as quite a lot of others are. I think Hamilton has still got a lot to give this team, and I think he will give his best. But like I said, I think it could be, and I'm interested to know your thoughts on this, so I think it could be a little bit more dependent on the car. we've seen Mercedes at Canada show a little bit more than what they have done in previous races.

If they can show that similar level of pace at other Grand Prix throughout the rest of this year, I'm more encouraged. If they go back to where they were, I don't know, any other race where there might be the fifth fastest team, then I'm a little bit more concerned. I think for me, the division is, is he checked out of Formula One in racing right now and needs the move to Ferrari to revitalise both his passion for the sport and, and his talent, you know, because obviously you perform well when you're in a comfortable, happy place, or is he just simply checked out of Masegu's Benz and the relationship that he's got

there at the moment? And there's a lot of LH fans out there on social media who have been very passionately commenting on the Meseg's social media posts that, you know, Lewis is regularly being ignored. They forgot his second place in the sprint race at China when they were talking about George Russell's third place in Canada, saying that it was the only single. still aware that they picked up so far this year and everyone else went, wait a minute. Lewis has already picked up a plaque in China. Never respected Mercedes more than me. Discount spreads.

Go on, Burke. I knew you loved it. I knew you loved it. But equally, Mercedes fans and LH fans are dividing. And I wonder if there is a bit of a friction there that we're seeing. And I'm not sure whether I'm on board with it or not. But it's very interesting that it's becoming a bit of a social narrative that Mercedes are also trying to distance themselves from Lewis Hamilton.

And it does make sense because he's such a powerhouse, right? He's such a character. He's an aura within Formula One. Many people have said that Lewis Hamilton is bigger than Formula One itself. And I'm right or wrong. It's what an argument I would look at you and go, you're an absolute idiot for saying that. I can understand your argument there.

So it kind of makes sense that a brand as big as Mercedes, which has been so tied in to Lewis Hamilton's brand for so long, needs to slowly stretch themselves away and go, we're a bigger brand than that. We're about, you know, George Russell, the new driver that's coming on, so To Wolf, the team within the car that we're building, we're not just Lewis Hamilton.

So from that point, it makes sense. But on the track, I do think we're starting to see those cracks form with that relationship. I do think that the internal workings and the culture that's forming around Lewis Hamilton leaving is causing some tension, it's causing some difficulties. I imagine that Lewis isn't getting the most,

out of his car and his setups because he's not as comfortable with going out there and being part of the team. Despite him and George racing very, very hard, you can see that he didn't want to let George pass, right? You can see that he, you know, it wasn't put for the team. He wanted to stay in front there.

So whilst I don't think he's checked out of Formula One, I think he will be revitalised at Ferrari. I do think this is just going to be a bit of a sloggy here for him. I do think it's going to be a bit of a head down. If the car's right, cool. I can do what Lewis Hamilton does. If it's not, oh, well, have a crap time and it's going to be a difficult end of the year and I'll just get on with it,

which is a shame to end such an iconic partnership as Hamilton and Mercedes, almost what feels like a bit of a downbeat. Yeah. And it's important to bear in mind as well, that the Hamilton Mercedes relationship, most people would consider to go back just over 10 years to 2013 when he came on board. Bear in mind that throughout all of his McLaren days and all of his junior, the relationship with Mercedes pretty much goes back to the turn of the century. Yeah, it's about at least 20 years old, I would. Yeah, so it might even go back to like the late 90s. It's that long.

So, yeah, it is a big relationship that is going and it is going to be odd. I think the one thing that Mercedes can take solace from is that regardless of whether Hamilton is on 10 out of 10 form this season, 6 out of 10 form or somewhere in the middle, he's not going to win them a championship. He's not going to cost them a championship. That's not happening. that car has not been anywhere near quick enough and won't be. And I think even if the way that the current regulations are working, Mercedes are very much focused on winning and winning only. They can't do that this year.

So, you know, whether they finish, let's say they have a great end of the season, they catch McLaren for third, or they have a terrible end to the season and they lose out to Astor Martin, a fifth or something like that, it kind of doesn't matter too much. because if they, the worst they end up, the more wind tunnel time they get next year. And if Mercedes aren't that bothered about whether it ends up being third, fourth or fifth, then maybe that's not the worst thing in the world. So I think Mercedes have a little bit of a luxury in that regard where they can be,

I'm not saying they want to give away finishing positions, of course. I'm just saying that it's not massively costly if they do. On the flip side to that, if they were to turn up to Spain, I mean, it's Spain, so maybe that's the outline, but for the rest of the season and have a car equal to Reg Bull, I know that Lewis Hamilton would turn it back on. I still have full faith that he will go,

wait, I can win races here, and he will deliver, almost the Lewis Hamilton we saw in Singapore last year, right, where he was on the tail of the league as the entire race. George Russell makes the mistake. Hamilton capitalises. I genuinely think that if the car was there,

he would still be motivating enough to go for it. But it's different when you're a seven-time world champion to go, well, what's the point? You know, I don't need to put in 100%. I can still be frustrating at the season. We're not winning anything regardless. So when I've won that much, what's the point in doing my absolute all? But I do think he'd turn it on immediately if a race winning car was given to him. Yeah, I think that's entirely plausible. And it can be very a driver going race to race can be very entertaining in terms of going out for race wins, because we know that if Hamilton, or indeed some of these other drivers, were in that spot,

they know there's not a championship on the line. You know, you could argue that if something goes really right or really wrong for Red Bull, then maybe one of those, one of the Ferraris or McClaren's could pose a challenge. I think it's unlikely, but it's not the most unlikely thing in the world. But Mercedes, it's just not going to happen.

So where Lewis Hamilton is at in his Mercedes career, he knows he can go out there, all guns blazing. The other drivers around him might not necessarily be in that same spot. So that could, again, it's reliant on Mercedes actually performing well outside of just two Grand Prix a year. You know, that could present some interesting opportunities. Agreed. Okay, let's take our first break on this episode.

On the other side, we're going to try and work out who might replace Esteban Okon at Alpine. Oh, bloody hell. Me. Okay, it's seemingly a every episode occurrence at this point, but Alpine are back on the schedule again. we did promise when Esteban Ockon the news came out that he would not be resigning for Alpine in 2025 that we would at some point discuss who might his replacement be. So in the first instance, I think we'll just list out who we think are the contenders and what are the pros and cons for each of those.

And then a little bit later in the segment, we'll reveal who we think should get it and who we think will get it. But let's just run through the contenders in the first instance. Who do you think is a possibility at this state, Sam? Jack Dewan is the first name that springs to mind. Obviously, the current reserve driver, Fralp. He's had time in the practice sessions. He's being a long-standing servant of the French team now.

And he's a fairly reliable driver as a pro for him. You know, he's relatively consistent. But Kong's being got the outright fastest. He's aged a little bit. I know that sounds awful because he's still so young. by 21. It's horrible. Closer to 30,

much closer to 30. But, you know, when you look at the drivers that are being spoken about for other teams, he is older. He is an older driver now, which is awful.

You know, so that doesn't help. And his junior career isn't shining with trophies and, you know, it's not a glittering cabinet there unlike some other rivals he might go up against.

But for me, the first name that does bring to my, there's an easy option for helping is Jack Dillon. Yeah, he's on my contender. list as well for the reasons that you gave. Obviously, he's, like you say, he's been the reserve driver at the team for 2024 and 2023, but he's been with the academy since 2021 as well, which is highly important. I do think he's a solid overtaker. And I think similar to, he's always had a trait very similar to what Mick Schumacher, who might well come up in this discussion a little bit

later on, where he gets better as years go on, he gets better as championships go on. So if we think about F2, for example, he has a fairly good record in F2. He's P6 in his first year, which is best rookie. And then he was P3 last year. But in both instances,

he was better at the end of the season than the start. In fact, last year, he won three of the last five feature races, which is an impressive achievement given the amount of quality that we see in F2. but you're absolutely right with the weaknesses in that he's not outright the best driver he's not outright the fastest driver he has had an okay junior record without ever being brilliant and out the box pace I think you can probably call it is a bit of a concern if you look back and I appreciate we're going about to F3 here but his first season in F3 was a real struggle he didn't score any points which his teammate I think

think it was Jay Hughes at the time. He had over 100. And I know Jake Hughes was more experienced. I know Jack Dewin was far younger, but to score no points in an F3 campaign is a worry. And similarly, when he got to F2, it didn't click right away. I'm not saying that it does for every driver, and it's always the same thing. But those are probably the main concerns about Jack doing. Out of interest, if it was Jack Dewin, they've got a lot of free practice sessions to play with for the rest of this year. How many do they utilize for him? Every single one. Every one.

Why give Eskang Okon the third one? I mean, maybe for Sprint Weekends, put Okon in the free practice one because he's going to have to take place, of course, during the actual race. That'd be so cool. Eskabang, you're still not getting the practice, jumping for qualifying, mate. I'm sure he'd be very happy with that. But no, apart from the sprint weekends, I'd be sticking. I would get him as comfortable as possible with how the cars are functioning.

The differences between the current years, cars and next year's cars are very, very minor. So it will allow him to have essentially, what, we've got 16 races left of the season. He would have 16 hours in a Formula One car on real tracks that he's going to be going to next year and he can perform all sorts of race pace, qualifying runs. You know, they could do a whole session for him every single time. It would make a lot of sense to really settle him in and allow him to come fully comfortable. And he's got the luxury and the privilege of having that opportunity.

He's not with another team at the moment. He's got direct access to all the data and all the understanding. He really could embed himself properly. And he should be, you know, nipping at the hills of that to go, put me in more. What's the harm? You're getting rid of that guy anyway. Put me in the team now. I would use that as a selling point if I was Jack doing.

Who do you think are some of the other contenders outside of doing? I think the other one that was also part, which we've spoken about previously as well, which is part of the Alpine driver program is Joe Guan Yu. Joe Guangu, of course, ex-Alpine driver program. Currently in Formula One, of course, with Salba steak becoming Audi. it looks like he's unlikely to join Nico Holgerberg as the driver alongside them when they go into the Audi seat.

They're still indecision of that, but there's a lot of drivers in contention for that secondary salversy, and I must admit that Joe, other than the sponsorship opportunities, does not shine at the very top of that. His form has been worse than Bottas consistently. He's never kicked on from his first season,

and I would argue he is a bottom five Formula One driver right now, but his appeal, of course, outside of Formula One is the China. Chinese market and Renault have been incredibly open in their sale of cars saying that they would love to break into the Chinese market. They believe it's an absolute goldmine. Fair enough. It quite possibly is.

It makes sense to access a market. So rich and deeping in people and size. So I think it makes sense to rekindle that relationship for Alpine and for Joe. He's a relatively safe pair of hands. I don't think he'd rock the boat with Gasly as his teammate. He's a pretty nice guy to get along with. and I also think he brings opportunities outside of the car. If helping have a car that suddenly can compete for wings,

that's where Joe lets you down. If they've got a car that's racing where it is now, gasoline will pick up the points. Joe will be in there behind him and there's no competition in the order there either. So it's a relatively nice and complying option for them that I think it has outside benefits. Yes, I'd agree with Joe as a contender.

Obviously, he's got recent F1 experience. You forget that this is his third full season. So compared to some, some of the other options. Not only does he have F1 experience, but he has current F1 experience, both of which very handy. And I do think he would get up to speed relatively quickly, based on what we saw in the Alpha Romeo in his first season. He was, he was right there really from Bahrain in terms of like his level. Now, of course, that leads on to one of the weaknesses, which is we haven't really seen anything beyond that, which year three compared to year one,

you've got to see improvement and there hasn't been a lot of it. And if there isn't, which I don't think that has been, you're unlikely, I think, to see change between year three and year five. So the fact that he's ex-Alpine Academy, the Chinese market, are both definite positives for him. But like you say, it's just pure pace-wise, he's not the best option out there. He is a definite downgrade from Esteban Ocon in that regard. And like you say, if Alpine would get into, the issue would be if the car was quick and could compete for wins. So what we're essentially saying here is if the car does its job, we have a problem.

That is not, that's not what you want. So that's definitely his weakness. It's not like any other team is massively interested in him, right, including his own team. I don't think he's above third in the packing order there. I think that's the problem that Alpin have at the moment anyway, all these drivers that we're going to list through. And I think there's a few more that we can go through. None of them are particularly groundbreaking superstars. None of them are bloody high quality assets that other teams are all nipping at the hills to get hold of, right? And that almost gives an appealing feature for someone like Jack doing, for example, who goes, yeah, okay, these are all current F1 drivers. But what have they achieved?

What are they going for? At least I'm a fresh pair of eyes, I could do something different. You don't know what I'm capable of. It might be an argument for him. Yes, for sure. I'll add, I'll add Mick Schumacher into the mix here. I think he's probably unlikelyer, but I think he is worth a shout. Obviously, he has that Alpine link. He drives for them in the World Endurance Championship when the car is working, which is very rarely. I still list him being an F2 champion as a strength. He has shown in Junior Formula that he has got the ability to get that done. And there were sparks in 2022. 2021 is almost a complete write-off based on how poor the car was. 2022, I'm not saying it was a good year by any stretch. He was the slower of the two-hash

drivers alongside Magnuson. But there were a couple of races in there that showed that there might be something there. But the weaknesses, of course, are there's a reason that Has got rid of him. Very plainly put. He will have had two years out of F1 at that point, which isn't the end of the world, but equally isn't always easy to pick up again straight away. And he was expensive at his time at Hass in terms of, breaking the car. So yeah, I think it's an unlikely a shell. I agree. Mick Schumacher is definitely

a name that should be mentioned on this list, but he would be one of the lowest names on this list for me, which is a shame because, you know, it was almost a nice romantic story to always have you know, Michael's son in the sport and possibly going to achieve something. But he's a good race driver. Just don't know if he's Formula One capable. Another name I want to mention, maybe a bit of an outside option, but there's a certain Visa Cash app are, seat that's not been signed on yet and that driver used to race for Renault. If he doesn't get signed up, that is Daniel Ricardo for another year at the junior program. He has got previous ties with the French outfit that was of course Renno,

now Alpine. It will allow them to have a bit of a superstar signing. It will give them some personality. It might allow them to build up some of their image. With that superstar, Hollywood investment that they've got, it might be quite an appealing option for them. Daniel Ricardo is loved and adored and pretty much every market he ever walks into. especially in North America. It could be an outside option that if he doesn't grab that seat and wants to remain in Formula One,

it might be an option for him. Yeah, I didn't have Ricardo on my list, but I can't not that logic. At the moment, it seems a little more likely than not he will stay with V-Carb, V-Carb, but yeah, it's still very much in the... I mean, Liam Lawson is still there,

so there is still a decision to be made. the last name on, so I had four names on my list, doing Joe Schumacher. The last name, as I think is a possibility. And I think this might be a little bit of an outsider. I've got Valtry Bottas on this list. I think he is of all the names that I've said there. And Daniel Riccardo, if he was a contender,

is a bit of an unknown. But I think Bottas is the only possible replacement that could match Estabano on in terms of pace. And of course, experience-wise, botas has been in F-1 for over 10 years. So there's not too many drivers that can boast that. In terms of, and I don't even know if I want to call this a weakness.

Well, he's not a driver for the future. That is known. The other potential, I'm pretty certain that Bottas wants a multi-year deal. Do Alpine give that to him? That could also be a strength because if we're putting it, let's be honest, if Valtry Bottas is putting together his list of,

I want these teams, Salber and Williams might be one and two. Alpine's probably number three. I'm not certain if the other two teams would give him a multi-year deal. If Alpine are willing to give him a two-year deal, that might open the door for them. Spottas is such an intriguing one, because he's got all the talents to pick up a big drive, right? He's a race winner. He's a pole sitter.

He's helped wing constructors' titles. He's battled alongside arguably the greatest driver of all time in Lewis Hamilton, and has beat him outright at times. but he's also been driving around in an absolute trash can for the last couple of years and it's very difficult to display any kind of form or any success story when you're so far down the grid but we've seen it's gone under the radar and I argue that means that if he seems should have seen it that botas is driving well I think a problem for botas right now with a driver who's also on the market that is not going to go to alp in I don't think is that

carlos sites is also available and I think wherever botas could go Carlos sites could also so go and provide more. He's younger. He's more on his prime at the moment. He's coming from Ferrari directly. He's very desirable. So someone like Williams, for example, if Bottas is available,

well, why isn't it science available? Right? If they can pick up sites instead, that pushes Bottas out. And that's the risk that we're currently seeing in the driver market. The final game, Ben, which I'm shocks that you haven't mentioned,

is Teo Porcher. It's not going to happen. It's never going to get to do, no. There's obviously a link there. being that they're both French and Alpin loved to have a patriotic line up despite

kicking one of them straight to the curb and he's doing all right in Indycar and he did very well in the junior formula and Ben you've been flying his flag since Dawn existed since God was a boy you were waving the Teo Porcher flag but I do think it's an outside choice

I'd argue that if you had to pick between Jack Dewin and Teo Poichere I might take a punt on Poir over Jack Dewing just because of the Junior Formula record and now he's in indie battling some really great drivers. But yeah, it's all up in the air on that one. Three youngest F2 champions of all time. George Russell, Charles, Claire, and Tayu Portia.

Get him in the sport. Two of them got in straight away. One of them has never been in F1. Make it make sense. Yeah, the only reason I didn't have him on my list is I just don't think they'll do it because it makes sense. Who should they go for? I don't. The worst part is I don't know. I put that list together. Harry? Literally, I know. He's

taken over my mind and soul. I am Harry Ead for a moment. It's good to see you, Harry. I actually don't know. I think this where lies the issue for LP and this is the point I was making earlier that no one is a superstar. I think Daniel Ricardo has the option who might be the best PR move is past it. I love him, but he is in his current cars and not able to produce the previous form he had and we're going to move on to Jack Villeneuve's comments shortly and you will hear from Harrodh. Valtrey Bottas age-wise is ticking on a little bit and I don't know what longevity he offers to Alpine and I love him. Everyone knows I love the bodies, right? He's amazing but I don't know what he gives Alpine to build something around. Show Guangyu, okay, the market is great. As a race

car driver, I don't think he's good enough for Alpine. Jack Duhun, I don't think he's good enough for Alpine, although he might be loyal to you long term. Taylor-Poor shares a bit of a risk. You know, it's awkward to choose on that side. I just don't know if there's a Mick Schumacher, we've already talked about the issues that. I don't know if there's a real fit there for them. Everything feels like a bit of a stock gap solution.

Ben, do you have an answer? Do you think it's one they definitely should go for? I don't think it's necessarily one great answer. I think it's, like you said, there's nothing really that fits. So you go with the best of the bad. I don't want to say bad options, but best of the OK options. The best option is keeping Esteban Okon, but we've already mentioned that.

Sign botas. Signed Bottas. And if he wants a two-year deal, fine. I don't love it, but I would sign Bottas to a two-year deal over the other options just because I think it's the only one they've got that could, again, replace Esteban Okon, like for like. I think pace-wise, they are fairly similar. I would still take Okon in all honesty.

But I think Bottas. could be a match for Pierre Gasly in a way that I don't think any of the other drivers could do. And actually, if they want Valtrey Bottas, and again, it seems as if it's unlikely, they need to make that move, in my opinion, as soon as possible. And this relates back to what you mentioned about signs and how he is essentially a younger, slightly better version of Bottas, which I don't think is unfair. The thing is, you've got Salba and Williams. there is a very realistic situation where those two teams fight it out over Carlos Sines.

Carlos Sines picks the winner and the consolation prize for the other team is Valtry Bottas. That is very like, I don't know which way around, but that's very likely. An Alpine at that point will be like, ah, okay, well, guess it's Jack doing then, which might be what they want to do anyway. But if they do want to seriously consider Bottas, they need to make a move now. and I do think the key is offering two years because if it's one year, I don't think he considers it. Poor Bossas has just had continual one year deal

thrown at him. Exactly. Yeah, I know. That's why he's so desperate. Give him some love. I think you're right. I think Bossas is 35 in August, right? So he's probably into his final half a decade

at most of Formula One racing. Because he's not the, Alonso, he's not Lewis Hamilton. He hasn't got that top level ceiling. So take him now or don't take him at all. is yeah, the right vibe. I think they will take doing. I think doing is what will happen.

I think it's a safe and logical move to take doing, right? He's got the loyalty. He knows the team, he's embedding. If they've got, they could do with doing what they should have done with Piastri, right, and get him in and build a team around him and grow a team with him there. Don't throw this one away as well. Because doing isn't a bad choice. He's just not electric.

It just doesn't get you super excited. And the thing, I completely, would completely understand promoting Jack Dewan. And the reason is not necessarily regarding Dewan himself. It's more relating to the junior program as a whole. Because like you say, we know what happened with Piastri. They would have hired him, but he went elsewhere. But actually, if you look back at Alpine Academy and before it, the Renault Driver Academy, it's a very limited list of those that have been promoted. In fact, and this is a quiz question of I've ever heard one, The last graduate to Renault in F1,

Romang Groson in 2009. Crickey, I was going to say Jolian Palmer, but he was Masegues, wasn't he? Yeah, I mean, they've taken their chances on a few, like, inexperienced drivers, but in terms of, like, being promoted purely from the Academy, I think you have to go all the way back to the middle of 2009 when they replaced Nelson P.K. Jr., which is a story in its own, right?

But I'm not saying they've had a wealth of talent since then, but if you don't promote Jack Dew and now, what message does that send to any driver in F3 and F2 that might consider joining your program? Because Joe Guan Yu went elsewhere. He was in the Alpine Academy or the Renaud Academy. Christian Lungard never got the opportunity. Jack Aiken, I'm not saying he deserved to be an F1,

but he was Renault's reserve driver for two years. his opportunity in F1 came via Williams. They're not promoting their talent. So what indication do you? It's a poorly run team that aren't very competitive and don't give a chance to young drivers. That doesn't, that's not a great advertisement. Yeah, what have you got going for you?

You know, you need one thing. And the one thing you act was your driver line up, which is solid. And then you threw it away. Well, there we go. We come back to that again. We'll take our second break on this episode, on the other side.

We're getting into it. it, Shatfieldnerf's comments about Daniel Ricardo. Okay, everyone, welcome back. We finally got to it, which is Shatfieldnerves controversial comments on Sky F1 over the Canadian Grand Prix weekend directed towards Daniel Ricardo. Here's what he had to say. Why is he still in F1? We are hearing the same thing now for the last four or five years.

We have to make the car better for him. Poor him. Sorry, it's been five years of that. No, you are in F1. Maybe you make that effort for Lewis Hamilton, who has won multiple championships. You don't make that effort for a driver that can't cut it. If you can't cut it, go home, there's someone else to take your place. That's how it's always been in racing.

It's the pinnacle of the sport. There's no reason to keep going and to keep finding excuses. You all talk about that first season or first two seasons. He was beating a Vettel that was burnt out that was trying to invent things with the car to go and win and just making a mess of his weekends. then he was beating for half a season Vastappen when Vastappen was 18 years old just starting.

Then that was it. He stopped beating anyone after that. It's quite a lot in there, Sam, to digest. But your thoughts on his comments. I have to applaud his rant, really. It was amusing. It was very entertaining, factually not correct in multiple occasions.

But funny. And I always enjoy it. You know what, as we said this, and I'm sure Harry will get into his rant properly, and I'll let him. It's an all-timer, folks. It's an all-timer. I'm going to let Harry E do a lot of talking then

because Harry doesn't get annoyed about a lot, but that's going to be good. Yeah, the whole beat in the teammates thing, you know, he beats Sebastian Vetto after coming off of a four-year winning streak. He's not burnt out. Sebastian Vetter was the reigning world champion. He turns up in year one and his senior team beats him.

And he was so good. He beats him. Max Verstappen was good from the, moment he was born. The guy was better at everything that I've ever tried to do from the moment he could walk and talk. And Daniel Ricardo held his own comfortably against Max for Staff. He did a fantastic job. Some of the race wings that Daniel Ricardo put together in the team years during the hybrid period were some of the best from that period. China always springs to mind just how good that was for him. And in a car that was not the best car at all, he delivered fantastically. And then

he goes to Renault, took him about a season, starts beating Holkerberg. Hulkeberg is no slouch whatsoever at all. And then, okay, goes to McLaren, it doesn't work out well for him. And I agree with a tiny portion of what he's saying, that we can't keep having comments like we've got to make the car better for him, especially when the teammate in the same car is delivering, right? You look at what Yuki Snog has been able to do this season so far. He has been better than Daniel Ricardo.

And I do think that the current ground effect cars do not suit Daniel Ricardo's driving style. Okay, that's fine. He's maybe not perfectly placed anymore. But that does not mean that Daniel Ricardo is crap. It doesn't mean he needs to go home. It doesn't mean that he's absolutely washed. Daniel Ricardo was an absolute talent. And in 10, 15 years time, he might be one of those drivers that we say, car, drivers that we're surprised, never won a world title or never won more races. Daniel Ricardo will be one of those names that comes up, I think, more frequently than you expect. But Jacques Villeneuve, mate, pack it in. Why don't you neck in, mate? You've absolutely been gone off on a Jackville and overrun.

And that, you know, you shouldn't be surprised that he's come out with something like this. But amusing as it was, I disagree with a lot of it. I do think that Daniel Ricardo's off his peak and we should stop treating him as if he is one of the best drivers in Formula One because I don't think he is anymore. But I do not want to discredit what he got up to in the last decade of his career,

which is better than what so many racing drivers could ever even imagine achieving. He was phenomenal and deserves the credit for doing so. Ben, I shall hand it over to you. I think it's somewhat of a mixed bag what he said here. So I think some of it is fair. And when I say fair, I'm not necessarily saying I fully agree with him or fully disagree with it. I'm just saying it is fair for him to have an opinion.

It's completely bad. His opinion is as valid as anyone else is. So some of it, I think, is completely fair, what he's saying. Some of it is not quite so fair. So his overall point of asking why he's in F1 and it's been the same thing, for the last four or five years. Four or five years might be a stretch, but fine. Okay, that is a point that not only he is making,

many others have also made the same point, that he has had a lot of opportunities in the last couple of years that he's not taking advantage of. I think that is absolutely fine. You know, even the point on him beating Vettel and why he was beating him, I 100% disagree with him on that, and I agree with you that he deserves a lot more credit

for what he did in 20, than what Villeneuve is giving him here. But again, it is an opinion. There's no way of fully knowing what the reasons were. It was a new era. You know, Vettel had just won four world championships. Red Bull's dominance had gone. Mercedes dominance was in.

There was a lot going on in that season. If he thinks that's the reason, okay, I can't disprove it. So I'm okay with that opinion. What I do have a problem with, and it's the same thing you have a problem with Sam, is that he is presenting some lies as facts, and that I can't stand for. He was beating Vestappen for half the season is not true.

You know, Vestappen made his debut for Red Bull at the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix. So Ricardo and Vestappen, at least in 2016, had three quarters of a season, two thirds of a season together as teammates. Ricardo scored more points. They came back and were teammates again in 2017. Ricardo scored more points. until 2018 when Vastappen beat Ricardo. And if he had made the point that Vestappen was only 18 years old,

he was only just getting into the sport, therefore I think this achievement holds less value, I would say, okay, fine. Again, I wouldn't necessarily agree with it, but I don't have to. But the fact that he's misrepresenting what happened, I have a problem with. And the same thing about him beating no one since.

Holkenberg and Ocon are two very good drivers that he beat quite convincingly in his Renault days and he deserves far more credit for what he did at Renault than what he gets. The podiums were crazy that he pulled out of that car. He was very good in that car. Very good. Sure, and everything since then has been a disappointment.

I don't think many would disagree with that. And if you think he's not worthy of a seat in F1 because it's a case of what have you done for me lately, okay, I haven't got a problem with it. The only thing I do have a problem with is where you are making a case with outright lies. It is interesting, though, that we're about to hear from Harry Ead about a man that he is despised since he was one years old, about a man that he has loved since he knew he existed.

So it really is a passionate moment for Harry Ead. Yes, we'll hand over to him now. This one goes a few minutes, folks. Good, okay. It's good fun. Hello, everyone. I'm not supposed to be on this podcast but Sam and Ben thought it'd be really funny

if I recorded something about Jacques Villeneuve because they like to see me suffer. Look, for the overall point, I guess the Jack Villan of is getting at here, I can sort of get on board with in terms of Daniel Ricardo and where he sits in the sport now. And I agree he's not necessarily the driver he once was

and does he still deserve a seat? I think it's up for discussion. However, however, his comparison, his analogy for why Daniel Ricardo shouldn't be an F1 hurts me to my core because it's rubbish. It's flawed logic because up until a couple of years ago, Daniel Ricardo made a living out of beating teammates. Is the reason I always used to pick him with teammate was because any teammate, he'd beat. And I'm sad he doesn't do that anymore. But come on. 2012 he doesn't beat jev fine so this first year 2013 he beats jev 2014 he beats sebastian

betel 15 he only just leaves out to kufia but the red bull and 15 was there was crap so i'm not counting that 16 he beats kifia he beats festapen 17 he beats fastappen 18 he doesn't but quite frankly the red bull could just kept blowing up in him in 18 he was the better driver that year so i'm counting that as a win uh then 19 he goes off to reno nico hougnberg who don't know because he wasn't there this year, that year, apparently. He beats him. 2020, Estabana Ockin comes along. Nope.

No, he doesn't because Ricardo beats him convincingly in 2020. And it's only until 2021 where you start to go downhill. But quite frankly, 21, I maintain it's still not as bad as everyone makes out for Ricardo. He does lose out to Norris. But we know Norris is a top quality driver and that is not by much. Then he gets 22 at 22 onwards and fine. We'll start to question things. But that analogy of not, you know, barely beating Vestappen and not beating Vestappen,

he's max for Stappen. He's just won 60 races. For goodness sake, Jack, you're talking about a man who could possibly be one of the greatest of all time. Daniel Ricardo beats him over multiple seasons. What's your record? Oh, you lost out to Jensen Button

in his first year as teammates. Oh, you lost out to Felipe Massa and Nick Heifeld. Oh, my God! He infuriates me. I know he does this to get a rise and it's worked. Oh, I need a lie down.

Thank you for that, Sam, Ben. That was horrible. Aw, scathing. I've never heard Harry Ead, more convinced about something in my life. No, no, it made me sink into my seat. If you watch on YouTube, I fully slumped.

It was, I felt embarrassed for Jacques at that point. I don't think he'll ever recover. No, I think that's the only scolding Harry has in him and he's used it well. He's got one card on him, and he's played it perfectly. Well, respect to you, Harry Yead. We'll move on before we lose any members of our team to just blood pressure related reasons.

Vastappen, Red Bull, had a bit more, I say a difficult time recently. There's still winning races, at least comparatively, struggling a little bit regarding curb riding. Vastappen believes that Red Bull can fix this issue without compromising the RB20s overwhelming brillianness in nearly every area. what do you think? Do you think it's achievable? How important is it than they get on top of that issue? I mean,

curbs are a pretty integral part of a racetrack. Most of them. They feature pretty much everywhere. So being able to use them, which every other team is able to do, quite crucial to going fast. You know, the only time you don't really want to be touching the curves too much

is an absolute torrential downpour because they, boy, they'd be slippy. Yeah, I think it's Red Bull. And they've got some of the best physicists, aerodynamicsists, or whatever they're called, in the world, and chassis builders in the world. So if anyone can fix this issue, I think they can. My only concern here is that they will have,

I think they will have to compromise on something. And now it's very interesting that they were brilliant. At the start of this also season, they were brilliant. Something changed, and now they're having a real issue with this curb riding system. So either they need to remove an upgrade, and I use quotation marks, upgrade, because arguably it's caused them a problem, to go back to a previous spec of car that didn't have the curb riding problems. But then there must be a previous issue that they were trying to resolve that they then have to deal with or they need to compromise something moving forward in their design. So I do think the solution is available. I do think they can make this happen.

It's obviously possible. It's just whether the adjustments to the car that they're going to make are actually benefiting. official and actually give them the gap to the field that they previously had. I don't think it's buildable again. I don't think the Red Bull are going to be able to come along before the turn of the new regulations in 2026 to restore their half a second lead that they previously had. I think the gap is much closer now. I think that McLaren understand where they're going.

Ferrari, we're going to ignore Canada, understand where they're going. And seemingly, Toto Wolf and the Saves feel like they're going down the right path as well now. and this always happens as you get to the end of regulations. Everything starts to close up. You remember 2019, 2020 and of course, 2021, that, you know, we had a lot of teams starting to nick race wings off of Mercedes and then eventually, obviously, we had Red Bull take the fight all the way to them. And it's happening now.

We're getting that closing up of the regulations again. And I wonder if Red Bull are also kind of going, we've got the edge, shall we focus on the new stuff, rather than what's happening right this very second to take another step. forward in the new regulations, it's possible. But I think they'll find a solution. I just don't think they're going to retake the advantage that they once had. What do you think, Ben?

I can say this because I would be very, very happy if I was wrong about this. So I kind of win either way. I do think Red Bull will establish maybe not completely what they once had, but I think they will establish more of an advantage than what they've had in the last couple of Grand Prix, just because I do think this curb riding issue has been, not completely specific to these tracks, but as Vostappen has kind of alluded to before, this isn't a brand new issue. This is an issue they've had for a long time. It's just that it hasn't been enough of a factor at certain races for it to make an impact. And I feel like as

we get into some of these summer races, they might have less of an impact than what we saw at Monaco and what we saw at Canada quite specifically. So I think they might have a little bit of time to try and fix this in terms of later in the season when I think it will properly become an issue again. I'm not saying it won't be an issue from now on. It certainly will be. It's just I think race to race, depending on the track, will just depend on how much it will hurt them.

I think the next couple of races, it might not hurt them as much as we... I don't want to say we want it to hurt them, but we want it to be close, naturally. Yeah, if that's the factor that's bringing the chance, championship together, then I want that to carry on because I want a closed championship. What have we got coming up? We've got Spain up next. So that's not

a massively curb heavy track. No, we've got Spain, Austria and Silverstone, right? Silverstone, probably the most out of those three where you use a bit of curbing, but even then it's not massive. We're not talking street circuit level here, are we? Yeah, I think maybe Zhangvoort might be

the next big one. Yeah, that's probably fair. Yeah. It's a while away. So you're right. They've got a few months, a couple of months to really work. this out and suck it out. But in reality, what they need to do is not solve it for Vestappen's sake, because Vastappen is just about doing enough. They need to solve it for Perez's sake, if he is indeed being impacted as much as, because we haven't heard much from Perez on this. We've heard more from Vestappan, but presumably it's impacting both drivers, but clearly in terms of pure results, it's hurting

Perez a lot more than Vastappen. So they really need to solve it for his sake because this Constructed's Championship, I don't think he's done and dusted. Yeah. I think there could be a fight. But the only way there isn't a fight is if Perez ups his performances. Yeah, making him comfortable in the car again. So he's able to at least pick up regular top four finishes and beat, you know, one of the McLaren's, one of the Ferraris at least, while Vastappen goes on winning races is the way

that they feel comfy and happy at the front of the championship. If they can't do that, they may be panicking. Maybe so. we're going to take our final break on this episode. On the other side, something a bit different. We're going to give our Quick Fire top five for best performances of the season so far. I struggle. Okay, everyone, welcome back, as promised, something a little bit different to round out this episode.

We've got our top five performances of the season so far. We're going to see how our lists compare, but more importantly, we're interested to know what you think as well. If you think there are some great performances that have happened so far this year that maybe have gone under the radar that we haven't included here, let us know how wrong we are. I'm going to, I'll start off. I'll start off with, uh, I'll start with my number five.

Ranking five on my list is the only Lando Norris performance on this top five. But it's not his win in Miami. That's interesting. I do think that was a great performance. Don't get me wrong. But I actually think there's a number. performance that was ever so slightly better than it. So my fifth best performance of the year so far,

Lando Norris's second place finish at China. Now, he was a very distant second to Max Vastappen on that day, but that Red Bull and Vestappen were on a different planet. He beat Perez by five and a half seconds. He beat Charles LeClaire, the next closest non-red Bull by 10 seconds. His teammate was all the way down in eighth place, and that was pre-upgrade. That was before this mega Miami update came into play,

and he was far more competitive. This was before all of that. So I think it was a highly impressive second place finish. Yeah, I'm quite surprised that, I mean, it was a fantastic. It just missed out for me. I've got it a sixth or seventh. Funny enough, my number five is Landon Norris's win at Miami. So, and it is my only Landon Norris feature on the top five.

And we saw, I think the safety cards are playing into it, but we all say it on the review, just how there was a real chance that he could have won that race without the safety car. The pace was so extreme. was leaps and bounds ahead of everyone else so that he was around him. He kept Paris behind brilliantly. His tyre saving was fantastic. I really think he was a threat the whole way through that Grand Prix. So even without the safety car, which allowed him to go on a wing anyway. And then when the safety car comes out, he pulls away effortlessly from Max Verstappen.

So nine seconds? Nine, ten seconds, something like that. So to see that kind of domination over someone like Max Verstappen was brilliant. And I, you know, he deserves a lot of ployance. I think I gave him a 10 on our power rankings for that race weekend because it's so deserved. fourth place for you, Sam. Fourth place for me. A bit of a rogue one. I've got Yuki Sanoda at Japan. Okay.

Yeah, I think that this was a really underrated drive across the grid. And there's a brilliant Reddit page, folks. If you know about, you've got about Reddit. I sound so old. Have you heard of Reddit? Can you get that via face Twitter? Do you know this media like social? I'm sorry, hang on, that's America.

I'm doing that awful. When I Snapchat that? Yeah. Yuki, anyway, there's a great page on Reddit, which is Formula 1.5. And they document the winner of Formula 1.5 after every race, which is 10th place.

I think Yuki won this. But I think he won it through dealing with a lot of traffic. There were a lot of incitations where he had to make a lot of big overtakes to make it work. And he really held his own. Do you remember when about six cars all went into the pit lane at once? And they, you know, R.B. managed to pull him out of there,

did a fantastic pit stop. I guess it was one of those drives. Obviously, it's his home grand prix, which is lovely as well, that really made him shine this season as a, I'm actually better. I'm good. I'm doing a great job. And that for me has tipped him up there as he really deserves his place to F1 at the moment.

So for me, that really stood out. That was number four. That was a great performance. I haven't got that in my top five. The only reason is Bottas should have been there. But it was still a great performance. I'm pretty sure I gave that like an 8 out of something on power rankings. My number four, so in the same vein as Lando Norris was fifth place, that was his only placement on this list, and it wasn't his win.

In fourth, I've got Shao-le-Cler, his only placement on this list, but again, not his win. As good as his Monaco Grand Prix win was, I still think his second place at Saudi Arabia was better. Sorry, his third place at Saudi Arabia was better. He got second place on the grid that day, or the day before. He beat Sergio Perez, which, you know, at this point in the season doesn't sound like much. Back then, when that Red Bull was as good as it was, that was an impressive achievement. He lost out to both Red Bulls in the race. They were far too good.

But whereas all of the attention that weekend was understandably on his rookie teammate, Oliver Berman, his performance was, I think, flawless. He gets the fastest lap. He finished his third place, which is basically a win based on where that Ferrari was. He's 14 seconds clear of Oscar Piastrian 4th, so he has no competition from anyone else. I think it was, I remember thinking about this race and going, what could he have done more? Nope, I really don't think there was anything.

So I've got that forth. Yeah, I think that's a really good shout. It's one of those ones that I was so unsure about with where I wanted to place it because I actually agree. I looked at Charlotte-Clau's performances and I looked at Monaco and I think I looked at Imola as well. And I looked at Saudi and I went one of these deserves to be on here. funny enough, I actually agree with you in third place. I had Charlotte.

Yeah, so for me, I have Charlotte from Saudi because I genuinely believe he could do nothing else. I've been not. Unless a DNF happened in front of him, I don't think there was a single point on the table that he was unable to grab and he got everything available to him. So, yeah, for me, Charles is third for that one.

My third place finisher is Carlos Sines for his win in Australia. Now, I appreciate this one. might be a tad controversial because Vostappan did retire so early on in that Grand Prix. I know he retired, but I genuinely think signs might have won that one anyway. And actually, I think the most recent races, I know this was pre-upgrade for the likes of Ferrari and McLaren, but I think the most recent races of Canada and Monaco and the curb riding issue that Red Bull have had proved that that might well have happened, because I don't think they were

that good heading into that race, Red Bull, compared to other races around that time. I think signs would have had a chance to win it anyway. But let's discount that for a second. He still needed to beat his teammate and two very fast McLarence. He was not in any danger. I appreciate he didn't like run off with it. But at no point did you think he was in any danger of being overtaken by those three drivers? He never looked in trouble. And I think even though the Singapore win he had last year was very different. He had to, it was a great, defensive display. In terms of his outright best

winning F1, I think Australia takes it. I think he was so assured on that day. So yeah, I've got that fair. Yeah, I think that's a great shout. The only reason I included it on my list is because of the omission of Vastappen. Yes, fair. Yes. But I do think, I mean, I remember looking through my

ratings, I've rated him a 10 before this. He was brilliant and he thoroughly deserved to win that Grand Prix, but because Vastan wasn't in it, I just don't know if I will put it at the ultimate drive. So my second place. Hold on. I've got written down here. Here it is. Yes. Fernando Alonso in China is my second place. Obviously, he had to kill himself, but other than that. Right. Nearly died. Also took out Carlos Sites in, I think, the sprint race, right? But then ends up getting seventh place in the

feature race, gets the fastest lap as well. He outdrove that astermot at that time as well. He comfortably beats the likes of piastries right on the back of the Mercedes as well. It was just vintage along sewing what we love to go and see. So I just think that that is pure a long-so out-driving the car, scoring points where he shouldn't be scoring points. It was just a great drive all around from him. And I really think it went under the radar a little bit just how good he was around China. Second place for me, same race, different driver.

I've got Vestappen's win in China in second place. He won by 13 seconds, despite the fact that there was a safety car pretty much dead in the middle of this race. And at the point the safety car came out, a massive advantage. I have no idea what the gap would have been if there wasn't a safety car, but he probably, I think he would have been a, a pit stop and a half ahead of everyone else. That's how dominant he was that race. And of course, he only lost the fastest lap because of Alonzo's pit stop, which even with that, his, the consistency that he was turning in like one minute

38, one minute 39 laps was pretty phenomenal. So even by the Staffen standards, I thought that race was very impressive from him. Well, I'm not going to build any suspense because that was my number one. Yeah, Vastappan at China was on another planet. Even for Vastappen's level, it was a pure world champions drive. The pace that he displayed lap after lap was phenomenal. He was unchallenged. Obviously, the sprint race wasn't as simple, but he still managed to claw that one back.

It was just a brilliant, brilliant moment for him. It really highlighted just what Max Vastappen could do when him and Kara in unison. So yeah, that was number one. but there's, Ben, something new, I imagine, from you then. It is. It's a different Vestappan win. It's the win. It's his first win of the season, Bahrain.

Oh, Bahrain, I think. He had a grand slam that race. So he got pole positioned by, I think about two tenths of a second, led every lap, had the fastest lap, one by 22 seconds, which round Barrein, that's about a pit stop. Yeah, try and poke holes in that. Like, there's not much you can do. That is literally everything you can do on a race weekend.

and he was just, he was in no danger whatsoever from anyone. Yeah, totally fair. It was up there in my, and that top five for me is very, very close. Like there's four or five drives that should have, should have, if I had, you know, more numbers to fill, would have been on this list.

You know, some of my mentions like Albaan in Monaco, for example, Gassley in Miami. It also deserves a bit of a shout with a couple of Botas drives where he was fantastic, he deserves more. So, you know, there were loads of drives around that I thought, Bloody hell, they were good, and they'd be stout because of it. Okay, that's our top five performances of the season so far.

Let us know in the comments. If you're on Spotify, you can answer the poll that's always there. Let us know, firstly, did you enjoy that as a segment? And secondly, if you want it to come back, what should we do next? We're very interested to know different categories. YouTube as well, please. YouTube as well, yeah, 100%. Let us know.

If you hated it, just let us know you hated it, and we won't bring it back. but um no more ranking lists say that yes uh before we try something else um so i hope you enjoyed that's going to do it for today's episode so we're back in preview mode on wednesday we are back in preview mode on wednesday ben is there going to be a question of the week on uh social media tomorrow yeah there should be we're not recording outcries for it did we we did we had a few people message going why is there no question of the week this week i see if If we have to record early in a week on a Monday as we did last week, then it's difficult to get a question of the week out.

But when we record, as we normally do on a Wednesday, which we are this week, there's no reason why you won't get a question of the week. So there will be something. We just have to think of one. Question of the week. Why wasn't there a question of the week last week? That actually might be a good one.

Well, we'll hold on to that. Folks, thanks for listening, as always. We always appreciate your support on the non-race weekends because it is just general F1 chat. So it means even more that you turn up for these ones. We're streaming now, go and follow our Twitch, Late Breaking Podcasts on there. This is on YouTube, Late Breaking F1.

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seeing you all in person. Thank you for your support. I think that's everything. So we'll see you midweek. And of course, if you're on the Patreon, make sure you check out the content. Beware breaking, just gone live as well. It's a really good one this month.

Thanks again, in the meantime. I've been Samuel Sage. And I've been Ben Hocking. And remember, keep breaking late. This podcast is part of the Sports Social Podcast Network.