The Late Braking F1 Podcast - Has Norris been star of the season so far? Ranking F1 drivers in 2021 | Episode 138

Episode Date: August 4, 2021

We're at the halfway point of the 2021 season (pretty much), so it's time for some half term grades! The LB boys give their thoughts on each driver's performance up to the summer break - do you agree?JOIN our Discord: https://discord.gg/fKJgADfzTWEET us @LBrakingSUBSCRIBE to our podcast! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This podcast is part of the Sports Social Podcast Network. This podcast is part of the Sports Social Podcast Network. Thank you for listening to the Late Breaking F1 podcast. Make sure to look out for new episodes every Thursday and Grand Prix Sundays. Hello and a very warm welcome to the late breaking F1 podcast. I'm back, everyone. Don't do, don't you worry. I'm back.

My name is Ben Hocking, Harry Eden, Sam, Sam, Sage, of course, as well. me. I mean, we're a bit sick breaking at the moment, aren't we? I've just about recovered enough for this podcast. Sam's down with a throat infection. We are literally proving the point that we do not help each other up. We just keep each other down. We really do, we really do operate in that way. Sam, are you doing okay? And I'm really hoping that we're not going to see a reduced Sam's age, because I don't know what that's like. I mean, the sickness has been brought up by having to carry. the weight of this podcast after you decided to bunk off for your sickness birthday on the weekend over there. I can't believe the liberty you had to leave us.

And I've had to stress myself out to the point of sickness and health. But no, I will push through the pain and I will shout and scream and annoy everyone that listens for the next hour long. So don't you worry, folks. I will do it for you. Folks, are anyone wondering, it's 1-0 to my immune system compared to Sam Bens. I'm fine. I'm sure it's going to come and get me. But I mean, I say it's coming and coming. We don't live with each other or even near each other. So I don't know how that would work, but it's coming. It's coming.

I mean, we had a discussion on a podcast episode not that long ago asking which three of us would live longest. And Harry, I think you've taken a lead in that respect. So maybe it will be Harry E that lives longest. All right. Revenge for you guys saying I was going to go first. Yeah. This is just calmer, isn't it? Yeah. This justice, fair enough. Can't argue with that. I will say, thank you very much to the two of you

for doing such a stellar job in my absence. However, there was just one thing. There was one thing that didn't quite satisfy my need. It wasn't quite good enough for me. So you glossed over the fact that my bold prediction might have been correct from the weekend. And you said, very wrongly, that I wouldn't have the opportunity to gloat.

Um, bad news. I'm going to glow. George Russell didn't make it out of Q1. So, um, if I'd queued up the celebration music on the, um, on the soundboard, I would play it now. Unfortunately, I haven't prepared it. But I did want to get that in there before we start. I mean, well, we've mentioned this. It almost worked.

I guess it kind of worked because then he's good points. So, but you reverse curse paid off. I very much hope that. the money is in the post, Mr. Russell. I just, my internet just seems to be so bad, Ben, that I can't seem to hear you gloating, I'm afraid. I think Sky, Sky? Oh, they've filtered it out.

So I guess we'll just have to get on with the rest of the podcast, I suppose. Yeah, mind, there's another time for it. Yeah, I mean, Sam, you're practically robotic at this point, which, it might be the throat infection. I don't really know if that's how it's effective. did you, but it's somewhat robotic at this point. We'll see how we get on because we've got a very exciting podcast for you. Just one thing we're going to look at, but it's a fairly big thing.

We're looking at mid-school term reports, you know, pretty much halfway through the year, obviously coming into the summer break now, everyone cries. We're going to look at every single driver on every single team and give them a mark between A plus and F. so I'm sure you'd have been used to some sort of scoring metric from your school days. And that's how we're going to do this. A plus down to F. Harry might even make a conclusion about one or two of them.

We don't know. That's left to be decided later on. We'll kick off with the Mercedes duo. Surprisingly leading the championships. I don't think we would have been expecting to say that just a few races ago. Lewis Hamilton leading the driver's championship. I can't believe that is somewhat of a surprise. What would you give him from A plus to F, Harry?

Yeah, it is a surprise, isn't it? A couple of weeks ago, we would not be saying that. But for Lewis Hamilton, I'm going to give him an A-minus because he's not been perfect. Unusually not perfect for Lewis Hamilton standards, but he's still, you know, as first half of seasons go, still pretty good because he's still leading the championship, even though it looked like at one point

he was going to be well behind by the time he got to the summer break. So, yeah, I'll give him an A-minus because he's still driven well. He's made a couple of errors, uncharacteristic errors, we would say. You know, the falling off the road in Imola. Yeah, so it's not been a blemish-free

first half of the season, but still pretty good from Louis Hampton, so A-minus from me. I think A-minus, by the last. Hamilton's standards might actually be something close to a D or an F, which is, if anything, that's a compliment based on that, you know, he doesn't usually make these mistakes. But A-minus from Harry Yead in that respect. Lewis Hamilton for you, Sam.

I mean, I've got no idea if you or the world or anyone listening can hear me or if I'm simply the future now and I've become one of the Terminator robot brigade. But I'm actually going to go lower than what Harry gave. I'm going to give Lewis Hamilton a B-plus. there have been mistakes, there have been issues at his own, his will-to-will combat has not been perfect. Yes, he's leading the championship, yes, he's doing a stellar job, he's leading that team well.

But I think there are numerous occasions throughout the season so far that show that Hamilton maybe could have been doing more than what he has done. The magic, in secret with Baku is the one that stands out. That was a real human error caused entirely by himself. I think that was really silly. I think it cost him a race wing. Of course, we go back to Imola as well. That was a problem.

People obviously would blame Hamilton for the dive up the inside of the Stappen as well. That was maybe a little bit of a tarnish record there. So for me, this can't warrant a A, and that's shocking, I think, for Hamilton's standing. Yeah, he still leaves the championship. So, yeah, Hamilton, B-plus, the guy is still absolutely incredible, of course, but I still think there's more he could do. I'm going to say that Sam has been a bit too harsh, although I do agree with some of those points that you make there, Sam. I'm actually going to go more in line with Harry.

I was borderline A or A minus on this one. I ended up going for A. There have been some uncharacteristic errors. Baku definitely one of them. If you think of Imala, he got a bit fortunate to get back on to the podium in that race. And you think of Silverstone as well, obviously, he took the win there when it was a judge to be his fault in the incident between him and Max Verstappen. So it's been far from a faultless season and much less consistent than we're expecting,

which is why I think it's a borderline A minus. have been some pretty great drives in there as well. The recovery in Hungary, as we saw last time out, was very good. He's had a couple of other really impressive performances. I thought Portemal was fantastic from him. Bahrain, of course, as he came out to win there. So I think for the most part, it's been a season of very high highs and just a few lows as well that have dampened it somewhat.

But he is leading the championship. That can be denied. So I'm going to go with an A, but only just ahead of an A-minus. on the other side of the garage i can imagine this will be similarly complementary i don't think there will be too much in the way of difference here i'm expecting a's uh and a pluses particularly from mr sage valtery botas what are you going for harry i i found this one actually trickier than i thought it's going to be um i've gone for d plus um which i i i think maybe i'm I don't know if I'm being too harsh.

I'm sure Sam's going to give him an F. Yeah, D-plus, because, look, it's been Botas' worst start with Mercedes season he's ever had. You know, his first lap, his very amateurish first-lap crash on Sunday's the first-lap incident apparently he's ever had, which is a pretty astonishing stat. So, yeah, it's been, by no. means a great first half of the season.

I think he's, you know, Mercedes is still now leading the Constructed Championship, and that can all be done by Hamilton, so there's some argument for Bottas there, but, you know, apart from that, I don't think, I don't see what else. Bortas can be too pleased about this, this year. Has he even had a poll?

I can't think if he has. I don't think he has, is he? I thought he had one. Is it a poll? Spain. You've got polls, yeah. Yeah. Botas had Paul in Spain

Yeah And then he decided That he wouldn't I think he did And then he decided he wouldn't Oh well B plus in Valcher I'm being mad of you No

Fine But anyway Yeah I'll stick with D plus It's been a It's not been a great First half of the year For poor Walter Bossass

What are you going for Sam Any more complimentary than that I can't be more complimentary but I don't think I'm going to be as harsh as what everyone thinks I'm going to be. I actually don't know if this grade exists in the English scoring system. So, folks, if it does elsewhere in the world, let us know. I'm going to go for an E.

I don't know anyone else that ever got an E in their grades. Let me know if I'm just... That bloody brilliant at all my subjects that I've ever sunk so low. Valdry Botas gets an e-god of arrogance on my face. It's really artholely. Sorry, everyone. Sorry, that was a really, oh sorry, made myself cringe. Yeah, Bottas E. And there's a reason why, Harry, you made a very good point in the fact that this has been his worst ever season so far on the season.

He has had some poor ones previously. Not a single wing so far when Eskavan Okong has now got a win to his name. And I made the prediction at the start of the season that Valtry Bottas will never win again. And it is still coming true, folks. We're halfway through the season. And I'm still right. rookie mistakes at the breaking that we've seen there we've seen silly contact

we've seen poor moments will to wheel it's just not with it the fact that he has led less lapsing off on across the whole season the fact that he's behind Landon Norris in the championship you know it's not good enough the only redeeming feature is that he hasn't been bad enough

that when the opportunity arose to give Mercedes the top spot once again and the constructors technically there's been enough to put them back on top And that was all done by Hamilton in his final race, but, you know, Bottas' points do count to a degree. So, yeah, it's not been great. It's not being a total F, but it's definitely technically a fail still,

if you look at the scoring system. So, Yang E for Vautry Bottas. I'm going the same as Harry D-plus. For the record, I'm using the scoring that I do throughout the season as sort of basis for what I'm giving these drivers. and it isn't looking too good if you're a Valtrey Bottas fan because there's only about three drivers that are currently lower than him. Yeah, it's not been very good.

And I've actually defended Valtry Bottas quite a bit in the past, particularly if you look at his 2018 season where he didn't pick up a win that year. Hamilton, I think, picked up something like 11 wins that year. So on the face of it, it really doesn't look good from Valtry Bottas's perspective. I defended him that year a lot because I felt he had a lot of bad luck that led to the position he was in. I don't think he's having that bad luck this year, though.

I really think this is his worst year in a Mercedes by quite a long way. It's just not happening for him. And what he's previously been able to hold on to is the fact that he is, he's a very different driver to the likes of Max Verstappen. He is very cautious, and that's not even necessarily an insult. It's actually a compliment in some ways that he doesn't really get involved in many incidents at all. The problem is we're now seeing things like Hungary, where even that is starting to go away from him. I think he's a great driver.

I think he just needs a new environment. I think he needs a completely different situation to get involved in. It's not working from at the moment, though. So D-plus. Let's go on to Red Bull. Max Verstappen has been leading the championship for quite a while, but that turned around this weekend at Hungary. Even so, you would say it's been a fairly good year.

I don't want to put words in your mouth, though. So, Harry, what are you going to rank him? I'm going to give him full marks. going to give him an A plus Yeah I thought about this And I really struggled to find Anything really wrong with his year this year

I think Being picky He should have made the move stick in Bahrain Against Hamilton There's arguments around You know He could have left slightly more space It's going through cops

But we've spoken about that at length But you know That could be counted as some sort of error And then he crashed in practicing backer, I think. And then apart from that, I really can't think much else Maxa happens done wrong all year. And he's been on it.

He's been level-headed. You know, I was so, I don't know, impressed is the right word, but so almost shocked that he was so calm on the radio in Sunday. He just, there was no, obviously when the crash happened, he was a bit frustrated, but there was no, you know, moaning down the radio about his how badly, these races going he had no right handside barge board and still managed to get his in the points so i was quite impressed with that drive as well so yeah i think this is easily his best year in

f1 so far and you know he's risen to the he's finally been able to challenge challenge for a championship so far he's risen to the occasion and been unlucky in parts as well because without without Baku, without necessarily the Silson incident, he probably still would be leading championship, so yeah, it's been a fab year for old Maxi Vastapso A-plus for me. Sam? See, I am torn, so I

feel like Maxwell Staphn is having one of the unluckiest years a championship contender has had in quite some time. I feel like the only luck that Vostapung has had that is not completely carved out of his own doing, is that Lewis Hamilton has not been able to capitalize on the points that Vastappen has lost as much as I thought he would. Let's take backy, for example, right? The Stappen goes out through a tire failure

that is not his own fault in any way, shape or form. Hamilton somehow manages to screw it up himself. It still doesn't get the 25 points. You know, that's pretty unheard of in Lewis Hamilton's strike. So I think that's the only luck that Vestappen's had. And because of that, and I'm convincing myself, I am also going to join Harry and give Max an A plus. The guy's being incredibly harsh but fair, if you know,

I mean when it comes to a wheel toward racing, he's pushed Hamilton to the absolute limit. He's pulled the sheer nuts and bolts off of that Red Bull are driven it to its absolute hellish extent. The fact that you compare where Perez is and where the Stappan is and how much pace he's extracting from that car is absolutely formidable. It's been dominant.

I really do feel like he'd be comfortably in this championship if it wasn't for the bad luck that he's had. The biggest negative that I would state about the stepping season so far is the poor overtake maneuver opportunity in Bahrain in that first race. He could have had that race win, should have had that race win realistically. He let himself down a bit, in my opinion. But that's not really even a massive negative. You know, it's something that you'd expect anyone to make an occasional mistake,

and that was his. So I'm not going to judge him too harsh you for it. So, yeah, it's a big old A-plus for Mustafa. Yep, I'll join you in terms of A pluses. This was a fairly easy one for me. If you look, we're a dozen races into the season or so. And yes, as you've already mentioned, that Bahrain error was probably the biggest mistake he's made all year. But if you're having to look through a period of about 12 races or so,

and you are looking for what is this person's second biggest error, and I don't even know what it really is, maybe you would go to, maybe you would say the Silverstone crash. Again, it was Hamilton's fault. Could Vastapen had left a bit more space, potentially, yes. But if you're counting that as his second biggest error, it must have been a pretty good half-season. He's been excellent.

The things that have gone wrong in his season have not been his fault by large. Baku, obviously, Hungary, another one. Silverstone, again, was the judge to be Hamilton's error. And without luck going against him, I think he would be quite comfortably clear in the champion. bitch it right now. So, yep, A-plus. And there are a few as well in our Discord channel. Get involved if you're not already. The link will be in the description. We've got a few in there who were giving their opinions before we started recording. LLG, James B, both going with A-pluses

for Vastappen as well. So really interesting one there. But what about the other side of the Red Bull garage, Sergio Perez in his first year at the team? Harry, what are you going for? I'm going for C plus for Old Checo and I was you know if you look at seasons compared to Valtry Botas I think the main difference is that Perez has had a win but it's been as rocky as Bottas is

but you know he only started driving that car in February and Bottas has been in that team since 2017 so I think that's the big difference here I think Perez has had a better first half of the season compared to Bottas which is why he warrants a higher grade. Yeah, look, it's been up and down to say the list,

but there's definitely been some encouraging races from Czechos. He was unlucky in Hungary, as was Vastappen. But, you know, he was there when it counted to pick up the win in Baku. He had a really strong race in Paul Ricard as well. So, yeah, it's starting to come together. So it was, I think, encouraging. towards the latter half of this latter half of this first half

of the season. So yeah, see you close. Higher or lower than that one, Sam? Lower. If we're kind of lower folks. Another game that we like to play on the show with another great theme song. Hopefully that will make it appearance soon.

I'm not going lower by much. I am going lower. I'm going to go C minus. And I feel like Perez has really had a bit of a topsy-turvy season. And I'm a big supporter of Checo. I think he deserves another year in that seat. I think he's doing well in that seat, but not well enough currently.

I think his wing in Baku might be the biggest luck into a win that I've seen for some time, where do two championship protagonists take themselves out of the championship fight without any doing with anyone else? For Stafford, with a random tyre blowout, Anne Hamilton by pressing a magic button on the back of his steering wheel for too long. All he had to do was just drive around the last lap. It looks a lot better than I think it is for Perez. He was never going to win that race otherwise.

Even if Hamilton got off the start normally, I think Hamilton would have got the win for that race. So I think it was pretty lucky. He put himself, yes, in the top three. That's where he should be anyway. So I think he got a little bit lucky on that one. He's also had some poor moments, for example, when we look at Imola, for example.

He was all over the shot. He was off the track many times. It was not good for him. I expect a little bit more consistency when you've got the best car on the grid. but he's also had some fantastic moments. Bahrain, for example, the car didn't make it round the bloody formation lap,

and look what he managed to do. Fantastic result. His qualifying has improved throughout the season. He is now regularly matching the other three in that top four group, and he's always there to follow up Max, rather. He did relatively well in terms of overall positioning in the Austria Grand Prix, but he's nowhere near the pace of Max in that car,

and he needs to close that up. Otherwise, if Bottas suddenly improves over the summer or that Mercedes simply gets better, you're going to have real issues. Perez will just be fourth. So, for me, it's a C-minus. There is definitely proper room to improve for Perez. But it's not a misery business. He is doing a good job, just not a great job. I don't like how much I'm agreeing with Harry here, because I am once again going to go exactly the same.

It's because you're real, mate. It must be. you must be. You'll both be wrong. Yeah, exactly. Well, I always know that if I'm siding with Harry, there's a very good chance that I'm not right. C plus is probably, I think C plus is fair here.

It hasn't been perfect. It's been a long way from perfect. There have been some bright sparks in there. Baku, as you mentioned. I do agree with the points you made about Baku, Sam, looking better than what it was. At the same time, I think Red Bull need him to win when Vastappen doesn't win.

So I think he fulfilled. his job role almost in that situation. So I think he did a good job there. France was another one that you've already mentioned. So yeah, I think he's got a long way to go. Whether he bridges that gap in the second half of the year, remains to be seen. But I think it's been a passing grade, at least for the first half of the year.

Six to C plus, for me. Let's move on to McLaren. So one of the drivers, of course, Lando Norris. I'll keep you doing quite a bit better than the other one at the moment. so Lando Norris currently doing very well in the driver's championship. Harry, is this going to be close to the A-plus? It's my second A-plus of the evening and it's going to Lando Norris. Yeah, it's the same as Vestappen.

You sit down and think about what's Lando Norris done wrong all year. And I think there's even less than Vestappen had, which is pretty ridiculous. I honestly can't think of any real major mistake that means that he doesn't. doesn't warrant full marks again. So, yeah, Norris has been, you know, if not one of, with Vestappen, the star of this first half of the season. You know, is he still sat in third? He must be, I think, in the championship,

which is an insane stat, you know, because that McLaren has improved a lot, but it's not third worthy, is it? So, yeah, yeah, I think it's the easiest A plus to give, pretty easier than Vestappans, actually. so yeah Norris has been mega this year

and you know was unlucky not to continue a streak of scoring points in Hungary so second A plus of the big of it being given out by Harry

Sam A plus or not sorry it's just the phone ringing Hello is that the AQA examination board or I'm allowed to give out an A plus plus Okay good because I know Norris is getting Oh, Godham!

Thank you, GCSE. For those who are in America, again, this was niche British reference, AQAR examination board, which mark our school grades, essentially. And I've just been off the phone to them, and they've allowed me to give an A-plus-plus to star pupil, Landon Norris,

because the man has been perfect. The only, the only blemish on that record that I can think of is the invalidated lap in Q3 of, which caused him to fall slightly further down the grid, but it was massively redeemed by the brilliant stout defence that he put up against Hamilton for a massive portion of the race on Hamilton's charged back through the field. Norris has been a cut above the rest.

He has been absolutely fantastic. I'm so annoyed that Ben chose this year for Norris to be the best he's going to be at the moment because he's absolutely nailed it and it frustrates me every waking moment of my life. But Landon Norris has been stellar. any big team. I know McClearing is a big team, but I'm talking to say he's a Red Bull here. We want to take a real risk and sign someone outside of the loop. Norris is the man to do so.

Good God. That man has been fantastic this season. I can't wait to see what he brings after the summer break. I'm excited to see how well he'll do. Hopefully it's not down. Honestly, AQA, OCR Club forever. All about OCR. Yeah, this is A plus. Easy one. really add anything else here because you've basically covered it all. He's just been exceptional from start to finish. And I don't really want to listen to anyone who suggests that Vastappan and Norris haven't been the top two drivers this year. It seems so obvious to me that it's those two as a cut above the rest this year. Yeah, he's been exceptional. If he continues that for the second half of the year, it's going to be a utterly remarkable season. Daniel Ricardo on the other side of the garage, Harry, what are you going for here?

I've gone for Oh Now I disagreeing with what I've written down But, no, I'll stick with it I can go for C-minus He's been obviously nowhere near Land Norris on pace Because as we've already mentioned

Lanner's been ridiculously good this year I think there's still been some glimpses of encouragement particularly in race trim and even in qualifying sometimes he's been close not not every time there's been some shockers but sometimes so yeah it's not like Perez where there's been you know more more encouraging signs but there's been a couple of times this year when when it's looked better for Danny Rick sometimes when it's looked awful so yeah he's not gonna did you see the video of him getting out the car on Sunday yeah that I mean that's save the pay

hurts my soul. I think that's more about what Sunday could have been for Ricardo because he had a cracking start and anything could have gone. When Bottas and Lando were having their crash, he was almost up to what, you know, third or second or whatever. So anyway, yeah.

So it's not been a great first half of the season for Ricardo. I think it would get better. But it's a C-minus from me. What are you going to say on this one, Sam? So for those who've been paying attention to the F1 social media world over the last couple of days, of course, there's been a hungry test on the new Pirelli Tides that are going to be around for next season. Landon Norris did some laps, and Daniel Ricardo decided to be the pit board man for Landon Norris on this day.

And instead of putting out how many laps Lando's done or what time he's set, Daniel Riccote, stuck out a sign that said, Penn is in penalty, 1-5. Now I'm going to let you work out what Penn-1-5 on a board spells out. and for that reason alone, Daniel Ricardo has moved up an entire half a grade. So for me, he gets a D. He gets a D, which is actually quite relevant to the board marking, so it will also give him out. Ricardo, for what we know he's capable of, for what we know the man could do, the late break in the moves, which of course we sign off on every single time.

He's a race winner. He's a pole sitter. The man has gone to three different teams now. We know it took a little while to settling for Reno, but then he absolutely smashed it. and at Red Bull, of course, he was consistently. He beat Sebastian Vessel in his first year in that team. I expect more from him. I do expect more, especially with the expertise to the experience that he's got now under his belt.

I expect more. There was an occasion where at one point Landon Norris qualified, I think, in the top five, and Daniel Ricardo got knocked out in Q1. There's been too many moments that just have not been up to standard, and I think he's fully aware of that. And on a moment such as what happened in Hungary, where I think the opportunity for him to score, massive points was there and he was then a victim of course of the second part of the crash

was super unlucky you can see how much that hurt him after the race he really struggled that entire race um i know daniel can get better i believe he will get better but this first half of the season just simply has not been good enough for a danier ricardo season it's not this is by far his worst season i believe so far since he joined that red ball team so uh what was your answer Harry. C-minus. Let me just get my Control C button.

I'm going to keep doing this. Control V, copy-paste. Right, I'm going to go with C-minus. This is cheating. I mean, I appreciate your point, Sam, on him getting some extra marks because of the work that he did

Philando Norris at the tire test. I don't remember the last time the FIA gave out a 15-second penalty, but I guess you know, that's available to them. want to do that. Yeah, it hasn't been very good. It has not been very good from the start. I've been very surprised at how he just hasn't been able to adjust because Renault wasn't perfect in 2019, but it wasn't this bad. He got there sooner rather than later, whereas it's just not happening for him. And it's not helped by Lando Norris doing an incredible job in the other seat, but he just

seems to be a long way off form. And it's as if the car that he's driving, is just completely against his usual style. And it's very difficult to adapt your style when you've been racing as long as Ricardo has. So what the way out for this is? I don't know. Does it come in a slightly redeveloped car for next year? Maybe. But it's not going very well at the moment.

So C-minus for me. Let's move on to Ferrari. Let's give, first of all, the pit crew at Ferrari. Well done. F-minus. But we'll rate the drivers as well. Charles Leclair, God Leclair, as we like to call him, of course. What are you saying, Harry?

I've given him Leclair an A-minus. I think Leclair has been... Ben, are you laughing because it's the same as you? God's sake. What's the point of Ben coming back? Harry could have spoken for him the entire time? Anyway, right, so A-minus for Jack the Claire. He has been excellent this season,

you know, there's been more mistakes in his season than the likes of Vestappen and, and Norris has been on a par with Hamilton, to be honest. You know, the pole in Monaco, the lap he did was great, and then he binned it. I think his performance of Silveston probably bumped him up an entire grade anyway on, you know, on that performance alone, which was pretty stunning. Yeah, he's had a really, I mean, just a very sharp clear year, I think. he's dragging that Ferrari sometimes into places it shouldn't be, even though it hasn't proved. So, yeah, A-minus for me.

Well, I think you already know what my grade's going to be. So, Sam, are you joining us on the A-minus train? No, because I see Sengs. I'm not bumping everyone's grades up, like they're all my favorite students over there. Leclera's had, I just love them all. Lecleras, you know, had some brilliant moments. And that Silverstone moment is such a standout, you know. He's been really, really fantastic in that race.

He made that race exciting after that incident happened, essentially. And it was fantastic to see him like that. But when you have moments like the Monaco Grand Prix, where you stick it on pole and then you reg flag yourself, it's just, I know, I know, I know, a bit amateur. He's had some poor moments just throughout, like Austria, for example, he just forgets that his car isn't actually six meters wide and tries to ram multiple people off the blimming track.

So the grade that I'm giving, Charles LeClaire, is it's still a high grey. He still deserves a very high grey. He's still God LeCleur, but it's only going to be a B plus for me. Yeah, so I am actually going to go for an A-minus, surprisingly on this one. I think he has been very, very good this year.

You're right in what you say, that the consistency isn't quite there yet. And when I say it's not quite there, I mean amongst the top couple. So really, he is doing very, very well. I think with Charles LeCler He's actually where Max Verstappen was two years ago I think which is not a bad trajectory to be on at all

And bear in mind that Max Verstappen debuted an F1 Like three years before Charles Lecler did That bodes pretty well for Leclair's future If he continues on that same path The moments of brilliance are there The qualifying laps are there Silverstone was brilliant He just needs to tidy up these errors

And I think it will come in time Just not quite yet So A minus for me. On the other side of the garage, Carlos Sines first year with the scooteria. Harry, what grade are you and me going for? I've gone for a B plus for Carlos Sines, Ben. I'll reveal it at the end. Okay, fine.

Yeah, I'll go for B plus Carlyne's. He has had a really solid first half of the year. considering this is a brand new team. If you look at all the people that have joined a new team for 2021, I think he's the one who's adapted the quickest. Again, not been blemish-free. He's crashed a couple of times of qualifying for some reason. But, yeah, it's been a really, and, you know, he's given,

he's given Sean and Claire a run for his money on a couple of occasions, not all the time, but on a few occasions he has. and he picked on the podium in Monaco whereas LeCler didn't because he bended it, so yeah I think it's been a really solid year or first half of the year for Carlos Sainz and Junior.

Sam, what grade are you going for? I don't believe this, but I'm going to agree with Harry. It's a B-plus. The man and Shail LeClair, this is the closest team will get for me. Carlos Sites is ahead of Shale-Lacler in the points table. Carlos Sikes has had two podiums already

in the first half of his season. He picked up the Monaco mistake where LeClair couldn't. The biggest issue I think he had was he crashed in Baku, of course, causing the other red flag, which was quite comical that that happened to,

races in a row. Carlos Sikes has been so consistent. He's been really, really good. The man is doing exactly what Ferrari needs. He's immediately been the rear gunner. But so much so, there are several points

in the campaign so far. Carlos Sites has led the way. And he's calm, he's directing the strategy, Angie Wall. I am so impressed with Carlos Sainz. I expect bid things from Sherlock and the Ferrari. I didn't just get from Carlos, but he's already delivering for me. He's already on that right playing level. The guy is guessing the points where it's needed, and he's currently the top points score for Ferrari. You know, good luck or blacklock regardless. You make

your own luck sometimes. And Carlos Sites Jr., not senior, sorry, is delivering. So B plus. So I was toying with this one between B and B plus. And you'll be delighted to know I've gone for B plus. So I am the same as Harry, but also Sam on this occasion. Yeah, he's done an exceptional job in his first year with the team. And whilst I do believe Leclair has been marginally better, even if the points tally doesn't quite line up with that, I still think Sines has done a fantastic job for his first year in the team,

far better than most of the other drivers have done in their first year at new teams. One thing I will just add to what you two have already said. let's say and signs might be at Ferrari for a long time you might be there for the next decade we'll wait to see on that one but let's say for example that Ferrari do go in another direction in two years time what he has done at Ferrari is going to help him out so much when he comes to try to find another seat because other teams needed to make decisions about drivers are going to look at Carlos signs as a potential option and say we don't need to wait a year for him to hit the ground running and know that a championship push could be a very very much. in the following year. If you're bringing sides on board, you can look at him and say, well, actually, based on what he's done at Ferrari, he could be right on pace straight away. So that fact has taken away from that decision making, which is going to really help him out. He might be with Ferrari for a long time.

We'll wait to see. But really good so far, B-plus. Let's go on to Astin Martin. So, Sebi Vett and Lancy S, as they are very kind. commonly referred to us. Let's start with, let's start with Layance. Brad! Oh, poor Brad.

Harry, what are you going with for Lajdra? I'm giving Lance a C for his first half of 2021. Ben has not agreed with me because he's cheering. Or he has agreed with me. No, I'm different than you. Oh, thank God. I'm different than you.

Yeah, I'm going to go for a C. I think Lance, it was particularly at the start of the year. He had some, a couple of stellar drives. Bahrain is the one that sticks out in my head entirely because that car, I think, has come on more throughout the season. But the beginning of the year was not a top 10 car. It was probably bottom half of the top 15. So, yeah, I think it had a really good race there.

But, you know, it's been marred with some mistakes along the world. hungry bowling ball time being one of the bigger ones. Yeah, it's been very up and down for Lance and Brad. But, yeah, so it's a C from me. What do you reckon, Sam? I'm going for a Brad plus for my grade for Lant Stroll. Quite simply, the only memorable thing about Lantz Stroll is that he turned into a bowling ball at one point,

and then he complains to his wonderful engineer who must be so done with his crap because my God Lank Stroll likes to have a go at his engineer poor old Brad On serious side Lank Stroll has been so topsy-turvy's been so up and down He's had some really good moments

But then all of a sudden Where Sebastian Vetter was picked up two podiums Well, was two It's now one, sorry One and a half Favreux, yeah apologies Lant Stroll has essentially bing himself out of things

you know, it's not look good. I mean, obviously in Baku, he had the same entire failure that Vettel, not Vettel, the Stappan had, which of course is unfortunate. The hungry thing, on the other hand, was entirely his own fault, and, you know, I guess essentially set up his teammate

to possibly have taken home a podium, which thing was taking away from him, cruelly due to running past a Portaloo. Yeah, I'm, you know, Brad Plas feels like the fair grade. If I have to go by standing AQA measurements, though, I'm going to give him a C-minus. I just realized he's also been a meme, a massive meme after one ago, which... Oh, yeah, Lanchstrol!

Which wasn't even his fault, so I don't know we can mark him down for that, but... Fortunately, this is audio, so we know that it's not going to cut to Lanchstrol. Harry, if you find a way to somehow editing Lanchstrol at this point, I'll be very impressed. I said, obviously, at the beginning of this, that I haven't agreed with Harry Ead, who gave a C-grade, but I've actually disagreed in the different direction to Sam. I've gone C plus. I think he's been fairly solid overall. It hasn't been great in a few areas.

Another one that I don't think you mentioned was Porta Mao. That was not a great race for him. There have been races where he's been off the mark. I think generally, I think, yeah, you said it, Harry. There are just a few races that have actually gone under the radar for him where he's actually displayed some pretty solid pace. And his qualifying pace is getting there as well. It used to be a pretty terrible side to his racing, but it's getting there now.

So still a lot of work to do, but I'll give a C-plus. Sebastian Vessel, his first year at the team. What are you saying, Harry? I've given a Sibi VET a B-minus. Similar kind of story in terms of the Lantz, because it's been very up and down. But for Seb, the ups have been much more up than Lange. have been, you know, one slash two podiums. I mean, he's had other good, Monaco was a great performance from him, but the two

podiums he's had, you know, I think are reminders of why Otmar, Astrid Martin for, you know, racing point, that whole team, why they went for Sebastian Beto. I'm not saying that Czechos wouldn't have picked up those podiums, but it's kind of the reason why they've got him there. So, yeah, it's been very up and down. He's had some horrendous weekend. Silverstone was, well,

up until the race was all right, but then it went pretty badly in the race. He had a bad race in Bahrain. I think Portemau, again, wasn't great for him, for either of them. But, yeah, at least he's,

he's had some higher, higher moments than the Lance has. So B minus for me. Sam? I, I think we've never as we had tag teams on this because I've now swapped over. Now, I'm agreeing with Harry on everything he says,

which I bloody hate. Yeah, I'm going to go for. For a B-minus, I'm going to credit two podiums, because theoretically he did finish on the podium. And Matt Ongslaught of Ocon was relentless. 70 laps of being a second behind something around Hungary is incredible persistence, especially with the heat, with the wear that you get, the guy drove brilliantly. And the same again, of course, with Baku.

He really managed to pull something out of the bag there. And again, it was a little bit lucky, but same with Perez, I suppose. You have to be in the right place at the right time to take advantage of these moments. And he was. He really took it home. was fantastic. Silverstone was an absolute shambles, the fact that he's alongside a long-so, and then it looks like me turning the assists off on a Formula One game, and he just spings it into the shadow realm on the outside of the crack all on his own. He's a little bit embarrassing

to still be happening for him, but, you know, these things happen. Also, he's the world's kindest man, and he goes around picking up litter. So that also gets another stamp in my book. That is equally as good as Daniel Ricardo's 15-second penalty sign for Landon Norris. Yeah, I'm going to go with a B-minus. He's definitely settling well. It's improving as the season goes on. I reckon by the time we get to the end of the year, he'll be really representing that team higher up the points more consistently.

So, I apparently, me and Harry, just lost our connection completely now. So I'm not agreeing with you anymore, Harry. I've given that responsibility over to Mr. Sage. I'm actually going for a C-plus again. I've given the Aston Martin drivers the same grade here. I don't think there's been much in it. I think Stroll, in comparison to Vettel, has actually suffered from what I like to call the Niko Holkenberg effect,

which is always having your good races where no one in front of you retires and ended up finishing, you know, like P6 and P7 in your good races. Whereas I think Vettel, he did a good job at Hungary, no doubt about that. Was he, and to be fair, Ocon, fortunate to be in that position in the first place? Yes, I don't think that can be denied. Monaco, yes, you're right, it was a good performance for him there. Baku, similar to Hungary. I think there has been more bad than good, but not by much. So I've actually got, and I like I say, I base these off my season rankings.

There's currently one point separating those two, the Astarmacian drivers in my rankings at the moment. So I agree with what you say. I think there's a good chance for Vettel to sort of properly put his foot down within the team and lead the team in the second half of this year. So I think he's been solid enough to this point. Don't let him put his foot down too fast, though, because he will end up facing the wrong way. Yeah, and I didn't apply any grade increase for the recycling

because I just hate the planet. Yeah, I'm easily bribed. I'm easily bribed. That is a very big joke. But I decided I'd leave it to just, I'd leave it to just racing exploits here. Alpha Tauri. Pierre Gazley let's have a look at him first of all. What are you going for here, Harry?

I've given P. Gazol and a B plus, sorry, I was really in the wrong one. Gasley has, I actually think maybe I'm being a bit harsh, but he's driving so well, but he has been unlucky and there have been in occasions where he's kind of just dropped off the ball for the weekend, but I don't know whether his performances has been slightly heightened sometimes by Sonoda,

but his qualifying in Hungary was absolutely stellar. Yeah, he's had some great weekends this year, and he's like a 200-mile-an-hour billboard for a driver who should be in a top scene, and he's not. It's just like an advert going around the track every weekend, and everyone's pretending not to see it for some reason. Yeah, so B-plus. I think I am being harsh,

I'm just judging it on judging it on some of the bad races he's had. But yeah, it's been a very good as was last year, a very good first half of the season for P. Gazel. What are you saying, Sam, going B plus as well or higher?

I'm going to go higher. P. Gazil. If Max Verstappan and Lanzangoristing exists, P. Gazel would be my driver of the season. The man gets a very strong A, bordering on A plus. He has put that Alpha Tauri into the top six in qualifying seven times so far this half of the season,

which is, I don't care what Yuki-Snow is doing. That is spectacular when you've got the McLaren's around, you've got the Ferraris around, you've got both Red Bulls, both Mercedes taking part. The Alpha Tauri shouldn't be appearing in that top six as many times it is, and it's not just sixth place. He's also hit fifth and fourth as well, which is incredible stuff. Pierre Gassley, as you said, though, is a moving billboard for, should have a better drive. He thoroughly deserves to be moving up in the world of F1.

The guy is scoring so many more points for that team. You know, he is just spectacular at the moment. It must be a cultural thing. It must be an understanding thing because obviously he wasn't able to deliver that progression in Red Bull, nor do I feel like he was given the time to deliver that attempted progression. But Pierre Gassel, he has almost, in my opinion,

been faultless. So when he has had a bad race, a lot of it can be attributed to poor strategy calls. Imola again stands out as a main one. where he was simply just left out forever, it felt like. It feels like he's still driving around there now. We might pick him up again in 2022, and the tyre strategy just didn't work for him.

But for the most part, I think he's been pretty darn faultless. He even did well-in-hung-hungary, even with all the sitting there. He was not too clean out of that crash, so I've been incredibly impressed with how well he's driven. So, yeah, very, very strong A for me. Yeah, well, I see where you're sitting in terms of your A, Sam. I see where you're sitting in terms of your B-plus, Harry. and I think I will just plunk myself right in the middle,

a minus for me. Yeah, he's been brilliant this year. And one of the things that I would say here is that I think a lot of his performances go massively under the radar. I would pick up with what you said, Simon, in terms of his strategy calls, often not being great. And generally speaking,

I can't remember the race off the top of my head, but generally speaking, when he's on a poor strategy and there are a few others on a poor strategy, he's generally the only one that makes a race of it. And actually another one of that, Hungary, I wasn't on the podcast, obviously. I very nearly gave him driver of the day, which might seem a bit crazy in a race where Alonzo did what he did and Ockon won the race. Bear in mind that Gazzley had pretty awful luck at the start and had to make his way back through the field in order to then beat Sonoda by such a distance who wasn't really affected to the point where he could pit and have a fastest lap attempt at the end and get it as well.

so he has been exceptional I've given him an A minus in all I was almost I was almost an A with you son to be honest and I think with the exception of I've got him as my fifth best driver of the season so far but I think he's really not far off third for me either

so he's been really great Yuki Sanoda on the other side of the garage Harry I've given Yuki Sanoda a D plus and caveating it with he's a year too early

which is not his fault but it's just Red Bull doing Red Bull things you know he and you know he had such a such a solid first race absolutely planted one on Fernando Alonzo which not many people do as we saw the weekend even Lewis Hamilton struggled

and then since then he's just decided to back it into most of the Armco barriers he sees each weekend he's like oh there we go I'll back into this one yeah which is all part of the rookie learning experience and you know I don't think they're going to get rid of him or anything and as I said I think it was a year too early but for that reason I've got to give him a D plus because even when he's not been backing it in as well his quality quality performances in general have been it's been a bit slow but I feel like I'm being harsh on him

I don't think it's necessarily it is his fault obviously but you know he's he's still got a long way to go so It's not necessarily a bad reflection on him. He's just got a lot of learning to do. So a D plus for me. Sam, I'm interested to know what your one is on this, bearing in mind that so far you've managed to create a grade of an A plus plus. You've given a Brad plus and you've given an E. So who knows what this is going to be, right?

I mean, Yuki Sengoga is deciding to take the rocket ship, Spaceship Sengoda, up to the upper echelons of the grades. and he's managed to find himself a big old D out there in the stratosphere and I hope he holds onto that big old D and trades it in maybe for a better grade next year. Yuki, I've never seen someone be almost so negatively affected by having such a good first race.

To plant one around the outside of Fernando alongside of Fernando also is stellar. I don't, you know, not many people, as you've said, not many people get to do that and it worked brilliantly for him. And since then, again, as you've said, Harry, it's almost like he walks to go and do a checkerboard like one of the football sticker books that you get where he's going to go a fist bump a barrier at every single trap like yeah mark that one off yeah not that one oh limited edition that one

is it a Baku oh i get that one too because he can break for that corner did he the guy has got a lot more to come in terms of learning but his raw pace is fantastic he has shown moments of raw pace hungry helped him you know finishing the position behind gasley didn't help him over time but it looks okay in terms of results. The guy's improving, but yes, he's here a year too early. I reckon give him another 12 months, give him another season.

He'll be all right. He'll get to grips with it fully. Plus, he's so sweary and fiery, and, you know, folks, you don't understand how much I hold back swearing on this podcast. It's quite ridiculous. So, yeah, I'm rooting for Yuki, but he does need to step it up. So it's a big old D. I am going to agree with Harry.

on that one, folks. D plus. Don't worry. I have returned to you, Mr. Reed. Dplus, for the reasons that you said, it's a year too early, plain and simple. His qualifying pace is concerning, because it really isn't that great,

considering the amount of times that Gassley is getting inside that top six, the amount of Q1 and Q2 eliminations that Sunoda's had this year. And apologies to whoever said this on our Discord channel, because I can't remember exactly who said it, but I agree completely with the point they made.

And that was that that first race in Bahrain was the absolute worst thing that could have happened to. And I agree with that, because do you remember some of the comments that came out after that performance? People saying that he was the most exciting rookie since, I can't remember what name they gave, like Hamilton. Come on, he's had one race.

Even if he is going to be like that, don't put that on his shoulders. Come on. He's got a long way to go. He should. have been an F2 this year. But I think there are only a few, but there are a few bright sparks for him to build on. Let's move on to Alpine after a very good race that they had last time out, of course,

with Ocon taking their first win and Fernando Alonzo just finishing off the podium. Sorry, Fernando Bonso, as we should probably now call him. Harry, let's go with Ocon first. What are you rating him? I'm going to give Ocon a B He has been Not as up and down as some But he had a very good start through the year

And I don't know whether that was exaggerated Because Alonzo didn't have a great start And you know he was When you're outpacing Fernando Alonzo You look pretty good It doesn't matter what you do He still look pretty good So yeah he had a great start

And then he signed a contract And then fell asleep for a few races not entirely sure what happened and then he won. So, yeah, overall up and down a bit, but I know he said he was fortunate, Ben and I agree at the weekend, but he still, his race pace was pretty incredible, and he had Sebastian Vettel just on his gearbox for 70 laps, which is, you know, even around hungry, it's not easy to do.

So, yeah, I'm going to give him a B because it's an absolute marked improvement on last year. It's still a bit up and down, but he's been really solid. So a beef from you, Harry. Sam, from you? I'm going to drop down slightly. I'm going to give Esquang Okon will be minus. I think that race wing really flatters Eskvano Kong. And, you know, he lucked into being in that top spot.

The amount of events that occurred that allowed him to lead is quite ridiculous at that point. But he did have to keep a four-time world champion off of his gearbox for 70 laps, essentially, which is incredibly brilliant, you know, well done here. But after about the second or third race, we were all singing his braises. We're all saying that Ocon was the surprise package of the season, how he was absolutely brilliant. And then he did nothing for about eight races consistently.

It was so bad for so many races. Alonkso was cramcing him constantly. Alongso was the man to look at, and I was really quite disappointed. And if he didn't get this wing, let's say that O'Con finished fifth or sixth here after the events that took place at Hungary, for me it could have been a C minus maybe even a D plus

but I think that race in Hungary really has elevating him and I think it does flatter him so I'm going to go a B minus he's still got room to improve he can still have a better season in my opinion but it's definitely being good good not great I think I hope this win kicks him on so I mean Harry started off on a B Sam's gone down one step to a B minus I'm going to go down one more step to find myself at a C plus on this one so I'm being the harsh one of the three of us here First of all, Hungary, agree with the points you made.

The good, first of all, the fact that he was able to hold off Vettel for so long is impressive, and I was impressed at how he held his nerve. I do disagree with the point on his race pace, though. Bear in mind that Nicholas Latifi was in third place and created a massive gap between Ocon and Vettel and the rest of the field. The fact that Alonzo was so close to Ocon at the end of the race, even with that maybe 15, 22nd gap that Latifi created, I don't think that's a great look for Ocon. So I don't necessarily agree with the race pace point of that. But I do think he held his nerve quite well.

First few races of the season, yeah, he was on form. But really, after he signed that contract, I said at the time, I didn't agree with the long-term contract that he got. I still don't agree with it now. He performed very poorly for a number of races. And the wind doesn't really change much for me. It doesn't change my view on Ocon. and it's not, I think he is going to be a Nika Holkenberg type character,

which is perfectly acceptable. He's got a long career in F1 if he wants it, but it's not in the upper echelons of F1. I just think that's the reality of it. This win doesn't really change much for me in that respect. Even so, it's been an okay year. If you look at the first few races, it was probably a B plus. If you look at the middle lot of races, it was probably a D-minus,

but he works out around a C-plus. Fernando. Oh, sorry, gone. So, Nika Hoglebe would kill to have a win. Yeah, but, you know, he's a sexy man, so he doesn't need win. Reliably sexy. Reliably sexy and sexually reliable. Moving on to Fernando Alonzo, our loved two-time world champ at 40 years of age now, of course.

Harry, what are you giving him? It's a big old snap. I'm giving him a bee as well. it's two Bs for the Alpine team he didn't have a very good start to his year and it was very on Fernando Alonzo and I think a lot of us were questioning whether he was ever going to be back

to what you know the Fernando Alonzo we knew but it's taking it a little while but I think now he's performing at that same level a couple of races Porta Mao he was pretty solid there at the end and obviously his def I'm still

not quite over. I know I am, you know, King of the fan, Fernando Onza fan club, but not quite over that defence defensive driving he was doing in Hungary. It was, memorable, say the least. So, yeah, I'm going to give Fernando Lanzer B. It's been,

like you said, Ben, maybe the last few races have been up there as maybe an A minus, but the first few were down as a C, C, D plus, maybe something of that, so it balances out, maybe as a B. so yeah it's the same same old B for Fernando Ansoe Sam we go with I mean two-time world champs screaming his helmet like a madman

oh it's good to have him back because as you're saying Harry that defensive manoeuvre the driving the ability to turn himself into an actual human roadblock around the Hungara ring was absolutely spectacular to watch it was some of the best wheels wheel racing I think we've seen all season if not for a long time It was brilliant stuff from Fernando. And, of course, he is sexually reliable. If you're going to look at a man being reliably sexy and sexually reliable,

Fernando also ticks both of those boxes, very much so at the ripe old age of 40. I also think he's going to get a B. I think that I'm a little bit more complimentary at the start of the season, though, then Harry. I think that he deserves a bigger time to get back into it. It does take a lot to get yourself back into a Formula 1 car after a good couple of years. You've got to adjust to a lot. I'm very much looking forward to seeing the Amazon show that's coming out with Fernando, involved in it as well, new season of that.

I think he's done really, really well, and I think it's on the upward trajectory, and I would not be surprised if he carries on with this momentum, if he becomes one of the top six or seven drivers of the season, at the end of the season, if he manages to carry this on. Because I think he won that race for Alpine. I really think it might have changed the whole game, Hanging just let Hamilton right through,

and I do think that means a lot, actually. I think that shows the difference between Ocon's pace and alongside's ability. So, yeah, a long so a firm bead for me. and I will complete the set. I'll go with a B as well. Yeah, I think, and I don't like saying this at all, but even with the B, I don't think it is going to be the Fernando Alonzo of old ever again.

I think what we've got right now is a very good Fernando Alonzo. I don't think the elite Fernando Alonzo that we loved back in 2012 and such is ever going to come back. That's the takeaway that I've had from the first half of this year. But what we do have is still a very entertaining racer. Hungary, even though you two have already said about it, I just wanted to speak about it as well because I didn't get a chance to on the Sunday

and I was so disappointed because it was absolutely epic what he did. That one corner where going into turn one and Alonzo, Alonzo's defending the position, Hamilton's like, ha ha, ha, and I'm just going to do the up and under. Your toast, mate, 95% of drivers are going to overtaken there. Alonzo's like, all right, where's the brake,

medal. B, right, you're not getting fast. I absolutely loved it. Alonzo going about four miles an hour around that corner was my favorite moment of the race. And it worked. So he held him up enough. And, you know, even if Hamilton had maybe two more laps, he might well have got Ockons. So really impressive from him.

But generally across the season, it's got better as it's gone on. So I'll give him a B overall. We're getting down to the basement, the basement guys. now the bottom three teams let's go off there fresh off their points and well ended up being quite a few of them in the end didn't it uh nicholas letifie and george russell picked up 10 points Williams they picked up 10 points i can't wait to see when they're going to be disqualified from this event but no what are you saying harry um give us give us both of them nicholas and tuffy and george russell what are your grades for the pair of them uh george russell i'm giving

A, you know, he has been almost as stellar as in those top drivers we talked about. I think there's a fairly big blow admission on his CV for this year, and that's him and Bottas trying to wipe out half of Imala town with their crash. You know, both are at fault there, but, you know, George probably could let that one go at that point. But yeah, he's been, I mean, in qualifying, as they love to call him on Sky, he missed a Saturday. but you know his qualifying performances have been absolutely supreme and he struggled to keep it in the races because that car doesn't deserve to be where he's qualifying it so um yeah george's jorge has been pretty supreme this year and it's just being another advert for another driver who's just a walking advert to be in a top team and then next of the tfi i've given a c um again i think his performances are made to look worse than they perhaps are there they're there have been some bad ones, you know, when Mixing Maca did him in Portemau, because I don't think that hash

would be anywhere near the Williams, to be honest. But it has some encouraging races too, some encouraging qualifying performances, but yeah, it's a C for me. Sam, what about your ratings for those two? I'm going to be slightly less generous than one, slightly more generous on the other. George Russell is going to get an A-miss for me. Again, he's been absolutely stellar. I don't think he's being of the same

upper restaurant as Pierre Gere. Ghazni, Max Verstappen, Alando Norris, but I do think he's been absolutely sensational this season. He's qualifying, Mr. Saskees-Croftly loves to declare. He has been brilliant.

I do think he has really flattered that Williams. And I think the biggest unlucky point was maybe that second racing Austria where he was running around in P7P8. Legitimately,

the car was legitimately against a score point without any problems. And of course, he then suffered that major failure which caused him to fall out the points and pit every five laps or so. He deserves to be no longer fighting for maybe one point every 30 races anymore. He deserves a good shot at the top.

Nicholas Latifie, on the hand, I'm going to give a B-minus. I think that he has been made to look slightly worse than he has been by George Russell. When those two have both not finished in the points, it's actually been relatively close on a lot of occasions. Latifi has also finished in front of Russell on a few occasions, just outside of the points as well. But, of course, it isn't really monitored. You know, Latifie is driving that Williams well, just nowhere near as well as what George Russell is on several of the key races that it matters. And of course, George Russell's had the epic crash with Valtrey Bottas,

which I think blemishes the record slightly. So, yeah, it's an A minus for Russell, a B minus for Latifi. Wow, I'd be very harsh on these two, apparently. So George Russell are going to give a B plus. I think overall, his qualifying is absolutely epic. I think his race pace could do with just a little bit of work, but that could be a bit difficult to judge based on him being in that, Williams. but the most important thing he needs to do is he needs to grab his phone,

he needs to go to his contacts, he needs to scroll through, and then he needs to get to the letter L. Because at that point, he can give Lance Stroll a call, and he can ask him the question, how do you start an F1 car? Because for whatever reason, Lance Stroll is great at it, and for whatever reason, George Russell can't start. I don't know what it is,

but it seems if he'll always drop about three or four positions on the first lap of races, when he gets that sorted, he is going to be very, very dangerous. So I'll give him a B plus. I cannot believe the B minus for Nicholas Latifi. I'm going D plus here. I really don't think he's done anything. Yes, he scored six points, obviously,

at the Hungarian Grand Prix. Bear in mind that the gap between Latifie and Russell was about 15 seconds at one point. I think it ended up maybe less than five possibly. So Russell clearly had superior race pace to him. And obviously Latifi was in a much better position after the first lap shenanigans. I don't know. I just haven't really seen anything from Latifi that makes me think he's delivered anything.

It was probably going to be a D rather than a D plus if it weren't for Hungary where he delivered a good performance. But as much as I really do like Nicholas Latifi. I don't like to play favourites, but he is probably one of my favourite guys on the grid right now. But I think the reality is he's just not quite good enough for F1. And clearly former Williams development driver might well agree with me on that, but I'm allowed to say it and he's not. The man turned up to a race in a tank, Benjamin, that warrants at least three extra marks.

Yeah, that has given him three extra marks. He was on a U-plus before. I've been kidding. You, sunshine. Got me there. Yeah, so I'm going to give me with that. Let's go to the Alpha Romeo duo, Kimi Rikinen and Antonio Javanazzi. Of course, Kimi Rikinen is very interested to hear what our ratings of him are going to be.

He's going to be first on this podcast listening. So, Harry, what ratings are you going for here? I've given them both C's. Rikinen has been okay. Giovanni's been all right. Sees. Great summary. That might be the most

succinct commentary you've ever given, Harry. I was fully expecting you to come in with a final sentence there of, but it could be a different letter. Sam, what are you going for? I'm not going to agree with Mr. Reed. I'm going to give Antonio Giovanniorese a big fat B because the man is having a stellar season so far.

He's really out-driving what I expected from him. He's regularly achieving points, if not close to points. He is boosting that team up more than I think he should, and he thoroughly deserves another year in that car. Whereas on the other side of the garage, the Iceman, I don't get what the hype's about. Is that one, if not too, all right performances? He absolutely tarnished any good performance at Austria

by destroying a certain individual at the end of the race. Kimmy, for me, gets a D. It's just not being particularly great. And like I said, he's having some okay moments. That's why he's in any lower than that. But yeah, bloody hell. I think Kimmy Riking should kind of put his boots in a bag and sing him over his hook and he can swung off to Finland and enjoy retirement very nicely with his lovely family

because I think Formula One maybe is no longer a hobby or a pastime for him. He should watch it on the telly. I'm a little bit done with Kimmy taking up a seat. So, yeah, Giovanni A B, Kimmy, Adi. I'm going with the same as Harry Ead, C's for both. I think in terms of qualifying trim, Giovannazzi's got an edge there over Reikinen. In terms of race pace, I think Reikening's still got a minor edge over Giovannazzi. Reikinen, it seems like every weekend he turns up and he starts in 18th place and he makes a good recovery up to about 12th.

And you think, oh, well done, Kimmy, you've done a really good job there to make up six places from where you started. Make sure you qualify better next time. The next time he qualifies P19. So if he sorts out his qualifying, you might actually make some progress up to the lower points. So I still think race pace-paced-wise, Reikinen has got something. to offer. But yeah, I think both of them sees, I don't think there's a bit much in it, really.

And then lastly, Hass, who have given their two drivers an absolute beast of a car. And it's fair to say that they have under-delivered on the car that they have available to them. But let's see what the guys think.

Schumacher, Mazapin, where are you going for, Harry? Schumacher, I've given a C-minus. and Mazepin have given a D-minus. Yeah, Schumacher, I think, could have been higher, potentially, but he's written off a couple of cars so far this year. Yeah, he missed a couple of qualifiers due to FP3 crashes,

but he's had some good pace despite how tricky that car is to drive and a couple of great races as well. Mazapin, you know, jokes aside, he has spun a lot. Admittedly, that car is pretty hard to drive for someone who's an egg. But, no, all seriousness is a difficult car to drive. But the thing that lets him down is he's just slow, like all the time, slow. And it's not even compared to the rest of the field, it's compared to Schumacher. And it has got better as the season has gone on.

But my God. He's been slow and even in quality it's got better but in the race he's still uh you know we watch he has a little dive bomb one of them has a dive one on each other they have a little tussle and then you look back again 10 laps later and mazapins about 30 seconds behind in schumacher for some reason so um yeah it's a d-maness for him i love how his issue as a racing driver is that he's slow it's like that guy over there yeah he's a human but he has a real problem living yeah it's a real difficult one for him. It's a quite a key component of the overall what it takes to be a racing driver, be it quick or slow. That's an issue, that might be an issue. Sam, what are you going for?

Well, you speak about humans requiring to live. Well, that's exactly what Mazurping isn't. You know, he is a boiled egg in a driving seat. And I'm still surprised that Guntus Steiner is willing to let this man, this man egg, Humpty Dumpty perhaps, getting some. like a Formula One car every, a Meg, every single weekend. Um, at one point, Mick Schumacher was driving around quite nicely, and you look at the timing screen and it's been, what, 58 laps? And then you look at the time of screen and Eggman Mazepin was about 58 seconds behind. How are you a seconder lap slower than your teammate?

Every single lap, has there no improvement, is there no development? The man gets an F. The man gets frown. The man should be eating up on a bit of toast And doesn't deserve an F1 seat anymore He is not good enough I'm sorry, he's the lowest grade of the season Nikita Mazaping sir

You have been cracked under pressure And you should be out of that seat Let's be on to Mick Schumacher Lovely man Also gives us the feels That's the issue That there's a real emotional attachment To Mitch Schumacher

He gets a C plus The Hars has been bloody terrible He has had some negative moments He's been in the car a couple of times he's been off the pace regularly but then at the same time when he does get a chance as we saw in Hungary

he is so happy to get his elbows out he is so happy to go wheel to wheel the likes of Ricardo and the staff and there was contact and he didn't even shy away from it he was straight back there the next corner

and I bloody love that fight from Mick Schumacher I really see a future he's coming a lot stronger than I thought he was going to I wasn't entirely sure if he was ready despite being the F2 champ

so yeah Mick Schumacher a C plus and heita Mataping fried and then put on a slice of toast. Wow. Sometimes I look into the future and see us being respected

as a solid F1 podcast. And then Sam calls one of the drivers, literally calls one of the drivers humpdy dumpty and that just completely shatters everything. Sorry. Wow.

Anyway, I'll start with Mazepin. And it's fair to say that your commentary of him was maybe not complimentary. That might be understatement of the year. So I will give two compliments to Mazapin here. Number one, he beat McSumacher at Silverstone. Well done. Number two, he is not crashing the car now as much as he was at the beginning of the year. It's getting better. So I'll give him that as well. There isn't that much more I can give him, for those two reasons I haven't gone for an F I've gone for an F plus um that's got a thing I'm not taking lectures on what grades are and aren't from you sound after you have literally

given him Brad plus isn't that what be thanks for if he said Brad plus and they gave him a seed didn't you yeah ah well oh I'll have the government body on the board on the phone. All right. I am going for an F plus for the Mazapin here. And the other one, Mick Schumacher. So I'm going to go in the middle of you. I'm going to go with a C. Definitely his performance in Hungary raised his stock. It was great to see him just having the ability to race with other drivers. And I think overall he held himself up pretty well. I think a lot of the battling that he did actually took away from his tyre. So towards the end of that first thing, he was really falling off the point.

pace but it was just great to see him go side by side. You know, when you, when you come into F1, as he has, he's had to go like a dozen races without really racing anyone apart from Mazapin when he decides to dive up the inside of, you know. That's not battling though. That's literally jumping out of the way. She's like, okay. So apart from those experiences, he hasn't really had, at least outside of his own team,

doesn't really have much to do. So it's good to see that overall. Yeah, too many crashes to get anything more than the sea, but hopefully for his sake, he has a car that he can do something with next year. Because we don't like seeing uncompetitive teams on the grid. It's not good for anyone. Well, that was a marathon and a half, wasn't it? Yeah, I'm exhausted.

I'm interested to know all of your thoughts, as usual, as you listen to the podcast. I'm not expecting everyone to come in with every single one of their drivers with a great, but if you want to, feel free. We'll definitely give it a look. Fill your boots. Fill your boots indeed. Right. After all of that, which I think must be our longest podcast ever,

so well done if you made it to this point. We will be back again next week, of course. We are keeping up the recording sessions throughout this dreaded summer break. We're still going to be going weekly with these, so you'll at least have a weekly fix of Formula One chat. Who knows what we'll talk about next week? You'll have to listen to find out.

but Sam if you wouldn't mind in the meantime getting us out of here yes folks grade your drivers and let us know of course who's got an A who's got a Brad Plus and who's getting fried maybe Dave Benz and Phillips can get involved with a good gunging

and what would you grade us you know I'm definitely the A star student Harry's definitely sat in the middle on a big fat C because he's got no idea what he's doing and Ben is just a big fat F just because he's smug at the start of the podcast folks of course as Ben said we're back get involved over on the Discord

the links in the description. Join us on Twitter as well at Elbrake, and we can't wait to have you. And thank you so much for your support. Do hit subscribe, do hit follow, whatever the correct button is, we appreciate it. May be great, the podcast. Only A's allowed, they'll delete anything else.

In the meantime, I've been Samuel Sage. I've been Ben Hockey. And I've been Brad Plus. And remember, keep breaking late. Brad! Find more great shows or join the team at sport-s social.com. podcast is part of the sports social podcast network.