The Late Braking F1 Podcast - Have McLaren left it TOO LATE for team orders?

Episode Date: September 5, 2024

Ben, Sam and Harry are back as a trio discussing how McLaren should manage their well-matched drivers and whether team orders should be implemented as both title fights draw ever closer to conclusion. They also discuss the confirmation of Antonelli to Mercedes in 2025, Magnussen's controversial upcoming race ban, and Vowles' "not special" Schumacher comment. They finish with a game of Higher or Lower... FOLLOW us on socials! You can find us on YouTube, Instagram, X (Twitter) and TikTok SUPPORT our Patreon for bonus episodes JOIN our Discord community JOIN our F1 Fantasy League BUY our Merch EMAIL us at [e-mail]   & SUBSCRIBE to our podcast! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Welcome to the Late Breaking F1 podcast presented by Harry Ead. Sam Sage and me, Ben Hocking. No race coming up this weekend, but we are back for another episode, Sam. I mean, we've been talking for like 10 hours, but at this point, but how are you? I mean, I'm good. Secret late breaking project is well and truly underway. you won't know anything about this, you'll forget all about this. Look at my eyes, look around the eyes, you're under.

You'll have forgotten all about this conversation momentarily. But we've been talking a long time, and we've been begging to get on this episode. So we're here, no racing, but plenty of F1 drama to bring to you. And we're a threesome, pariute. Are we? We always have been. Yeah, hello, everyone. Nice to be back once again.

How was Italy? It was hot. It was hot. Because you were there? There's my... Yeah, it's called down. I would pay for you to do the weather, by the way. Yeah, yeah.

Like brick tamling. Sure. Well, apart from Italy, we've got plenty to talk about on this episode. We've got some comments from James Vowes coming up later on. Kevin Magnuson set to miss the next race in Baku. Antonelli finally confirmed at Mercedes. But we're going to start with McLaren because team orders has been something of a question mark over the last few races.

and some comments from Andreas Stella after the Italian Grand Prix, caught our eye. So what did he have to say? We need to be better at capitalising on the opportunities that Red Bull at the moment seem to offer by not being in the usual possibility of competing for podiums. We are fighting Max Verstappen, so I think if we want to give support to one driver, we definitely have to pick the one that is in the best position. And also, Lando, he's been doing very well,

like pole position in Zambor, pole position here in Monza, If anything with Lando, we need to adjust some little racing things which may help him and may help us capitalize on a pole position like we had here in Monser. I think if you look at his first lap, while we review it together, we might see that there were a couple of things that we could have done slightly better. So Vestappen is now 62 points clear of Lando Norris in the Drivers' Championship. This is something that we spoke about a little bit on the race review episode, Sam, a couple of days ago.

With eight races and three sprints still to go, should McLaren start to adjust their strategy, should they have already done it? It's a really tricky one. I can totally understand why a lot of people are frustrated. A lot of McLaren fans are very frustrated right now. This is the first time they've had a chance at winning a title since Hamilton alongside so are in the car, really, which is nigh on 16 seasons ago at this point. It's been a long run for that scene, much like Ferrari, right?

Almost exactly the same time period where they won their last title. So I can totally understand why you're hearing the voices shout, give it to one driver, focus on one driver. We're throwing it away because we're too busy trying to play happy cats where everyone's best mates. It's not the way forward for a title. Formula One is a ruthless sport. You need to put all your eggs in one basket and gun for it. Zach Brown, I think, is very much trying to play the, oh, everyone's having a good time at McLaren. That's how we do things around here.

We're all good mates. No, the time has come for decision. Decision needs to be made. Now, unfortunately for Landon Norris, over the last five Grand Prix, Landon Norris, Nostokin Pastry have scored exactly the same amount of points, and they are first and second in points scored across the entire grid. No one has scored more than them than those who drivers, and they are equal. So someone that's going after a title fire after someone like Max Verstappen,

who is notoriously good now at battling through hardships, holding onto leagues, maintaining a championship lead. You need every single thing in your arsenal to take someone like that down. Max Verstappen is. ruthless. And that is almost a brilliant perk to have when being a championship leader. We've seen it when Hamilton went up against the likes of Rosberg. We saw it when Michael Schumacher was winning world

titles. We saw it when Sebastian Vessel was beating Mark Weber. He is so good at that. And something that McLaren are missing is that ruthless nature where they're going, you know what, Oscar, you're having a sensational season, but it's a little bit too late. You know, you've missed the boat on this one. If we're going to win both titles, we've got to put all our eggs in Landers' basket. We've got to work out

why he's missing these starts, why he's letting points go off the start here and we've got to push him forward because realistically Oscar can't win the title. I can't see it happening. So, Zach Brown is trying to play Mr. Happy Go Lucky in the public. He's trying to speak to the cameras as if,

you know, we're working through this. The culture's all so good. No, no. Come on now. You know, the buck stops here. Get the job done. Landon Norris needs to be the guy you put your money behind.

And at the same time, I respect that Zach Brown is trying to defend. his driver is trying to advocate for the fact that this is a team thing. Now, we're going through some difficulties. Landon Norris is perfectly capable of delivering. He's not, and he needs to run up to that and deliver on that aspect as well. Go away, learn where you're missing and deliver where your weaknesses are. Much up we've seen with maybe Hamilton in the past, he has worked on his weaknesses.

That needs to come from both sides, but I think now is the time. You put all your money behind Landon Norris and you deliver to take both titles. Monza, did they play it wrong and Hungary in hindsight did they play that wrong? You can see how in Hungary they play it wrong by giving Piastri preceding the results and then you can see how coming through

in Monza, Piastri running away with the results to even take second place over Landau despite it being Landau's fault that he didn't get clear of Piastri. Team orders, if we're going to claim this papaya rule situation that we've all come to loathe, it needs to go down the route of Norris even when he hasn't essentially, I don't know,

that victory sounds harsh to say, because he's done a very good job, but being first on paper the whole way through the Grand Prix, you've got to maximise every single point. So in the aspect of a championship, yes, McLaren played it wrong. They should have focused on one. I don't think Oscar Piastri would have absolutely thrown the toys out the pram and gone,

that's it. I'm adding off to you later in the space of 18 months of being at the team. Harry, since you weren't on the review episode on Sunday, my first question to you has to be, what do you think of the buyer rules? Oh, come on, Harry. Give us the load down. He's a fan.

I can see it. Oh, I can see it. Glee on his face. What? Okay. You know how, back in the days of Ron Dennis running McLaren,

everything had his own. Can you imagine Ron Dennis to have the fire rules? It just, I actually think, can me check he's still alive? because I think he might have exploded after that.

I think he might have died. Why are you making this more complicated? Ridiculous McLaren. Papaya rules is stupid. No one seems to know what it actually means, but anyway, we'll go into that later. Zach Brown explained what it meant. He actually explained it,

and he said it was something along the lines of, you know, don't make contact and leave each other room. And it's just basically racing. Right. So every team has papaya rules then. Exactly. rules set with how you treat your team, mate. So you got red rules for Ferrari,

blue rules for Red Bull, Mercedes a silver rule. This stupid concept. Anyway, was there a follow-up question? Oh, the actual question about Norris and Piastri. The actual question is, what should McLaren do from this point onwards

in terms of their strategy? I think, yeah, if they want a challenge for this title, they're going to have to throw it behind their way behind Norris. Piastri is, in their way, that Perez has never proved this to be an issue with Red Bull because he's never that close to Vestappen.

Piafri is proving a bit of an issue for McLaren because it's great for constructed to the point of view when they're so equally matched at points during a race weekend. But for natural driver's championship, it's not helping because Piaastri is quite good. And as I said in my power rankings, he pulled Norris's pants down on that point in Monza. And Norris can't afford for that to happen.

McLaren can do as much as they can to. throw their way behind Lando to help get the championship. But Norris is, as you said, Sam, Norris is also going to help himself. Like, you can't be doing that because if Vestappen had a car that was slightly more competitive, as we've seen, I think he'd pull Norris's pants down as well in those sorts of situations. So, yes, the interteam battling is not helping. And Norris and McLaren missed out in terms of gaining more on Vastappen in the Monza.

But at the same time, I almost don't blame them because the pace of which McLaren have become a championship contender, I almost don't blame them because they're still in like this period of they're in the good times because they were in the bad times so much for so long. These are the good times. And it's almost like, well, they want to, they don't want to like jeopardize the good times by telling one driver to back off and let the other one through for a championship because it's been so long since they've even been challenging for race wins, let alone championship. So I can understand the hesitancy behind that.

But if they are serious about challenging for a driver's, they're going to have to throw it behind Norris, but I do think it's going to be, I'm not saying Piastri is going to refuse to because he's very early in his career and there'll be more chances for him. But it's going to be a difficult one to try and rein him in because he's proving he can be quicker, you know, as quick or quicker than Norris. Statistically speaking, first of all, it's a no-brainer from this point onwards to help Lando Norris rather than Oscar Piastri. And if we're looking at probabilities, they absolutely should have done it at Monza and they absolutely should have done it at Hungary. But therein lies a slight issue because if we are just looking at probabilities, I think that's a

problem. Let me just pose a situation that didn't happen, but let's just say it did. Race one of the season, Bahrain this year, Max Verstappen gets pole, Perez gets second and Perez takes the lead on the first lap. Should Perez have to give up that position on lap two? No. No, it's absurd. They're nil-nil. But if we're talking probabilities, Vastappen has won you the championship the last couple of years.

He is so much more likely going to need those seven points at the end of the year than Perez is. Based on history, probability-wise, you should make that move. Alternating question to challenge your point of view. That's not my point of view, by the way. No, no, but a point that may be far more similar to where McLaren are. First race of the season. Lewis Hamilton takes pole Niko Rosberg is second. At the end of lap two, Nika Rosberg has taken a lead,

but Hamilton is wanting the title of the last two years. Would you swap them over? Because I feel like that's far more a closer relationship than at McLaren than what we're seeing with Verstappen and Perez, right? That's probability. And again, you would still make that move because Hamilton has done it the last couple of times and you'd end up being wrong.

And by the way, I'm saying you should definitely not do that because that's ridiculous. But at the same time, if you're looking at probability, yeah, Vastappen's far more likely going to need those seven points. And if by the end of the year, Vestappen loses the championship, by five points, people could rightly say, well, first race of the season, if they switch positions, he wins the driver's championship. And that's why I think it's just, it's an issue

just to look at that probability, because we are, I think, in very unusual circumstances with Norris and Piastri, to the points you've made, there's not a gap between them. Pretty much every instance of like team orders that we've seen consistently used over modern F1 times has been between Schumacher and Barakello or Bottas and Hamilton or Perez and Vestappen, where there is a clear advantage for one driver over the other, that's not the case. Last nine races, which is a fair sample size, Piastri, no one has scored more points than him. Nine races. Piastri leads the way. And the racing fan in me can't help but think there's something a bit wrong with if McLaren need to start using team orders so frequently.

And I'll probably burn the internet to the ground. But if they need to start using team orders, let's say once every two or three races, does that devalue the championship? I think it does. I think if you are needing that much help to go ahead and win, which, let's face it, Hungary, he would have needed help in that,

yeah, he got by when Piastri didn't have the right of a pit stop when he should have done. obviously here in Monza, he would have needed to get by as well. That's two of the last four races. If that continues on, I think that does tarnish a driver's championship just a little bit. And Norris fully deserves to whenever he wins that first championship, whether it's this year, next year, five years from now, he deserves to win that championship knowing that he was the absolute best driver and he didn't need help to do it. I completely get team orders. Abou dabby, 2021, completely get Perez helping out Vostappen. But that was a very different situation.

to what we've currently got here. So, again, statistically, I cannot argue if McLaren used team orders from this point onwards because it makes complete sense. But I think in terms of what the driver's championship is there for, I think there's at least a rebuttal to it. Yeah, you're right. If the next six of eight Grand Prix work out the same as Monser,

but at the end of the rage, they go swap the cars round and Norris ends up bringing the championship, everyone is going to go. he won because the team let him win. I think you're very right to say that. And it's this in the world of Michael Schumacher at Ferrari where Barrichello was told to side along out the way occasionally. This would be a, well, actually,

if you count back the amount of races throughout the season, Piashri would have beaten Norris across more races than he didn't beat him, and probably should be the one fighting for the title across the whole season. Also, just a quick note to McLaren, because I know McLaren definitely listen to this podcast, they're big fans.

Do not lose sight of that construction. Championship because they haven't won a Constructors' Championship since 1998. It has been a very long time since they've won that title. And I feel like people are already moving on from it, like almost, even though they haven't got the lead yet, it's almost like that's a foregone conclusion. They're going to have the Constructors' Championship. And now our attention turns to the drivers to see if Lando Norris can win that one as

well. That's, it's not over. It's not over in the immortal words of the Claxons. Like, it's, interesting. You really need to pay attention to both Ferrari and Red Bull because Red Bull, we've seen weirder things than if they were to recover from this weird slump. Ferrari are not that far behind.

They need to ensure that whatever they do, driver's championship-wise, it doesn't impact what they've done to this point, which is eat into a sizable gap in that constructors title. Would you choose to take the constructors over the drivers right now as McLaren? Would you go? Yeah, yeah.

Million percent. That's where all the prize money comes from. They don't get anything from a driver's championship. They would love both, obviously. But if you've got to pick one or the other as a team, instructors. Ben, you made this point on the review podcast, Piaastri and McLaren,

they were focusing too much on Sunday on the other McLaren and lost the race. Like, if they do that again and again and again, they could fluff the constructors. So, yeah, watch out for Ferrari and Red Bull. Are you confident, Sam, that Piastri will be fully compliant or mostly compliant with whatever he's asked

to do. Do you know what? Yeah, I am. The kid is so built for this industry. He's so cool-headed. He's so, he's like a sponge when it comes to pressure. What was it, Alan Shearer said during the Eurozone? Pressure. What pressure? What pressure. Pressure for tires. That is so relevant to Oscar Piaschi right now. He doesn't feel pressure. Pressure's for tires. The kid soaks it up. And I think he would happily sit there and say, I'm good enough. He is not. And this is no disrespect to these drivers. He is not a Rubens Barakello. He is not a Mark Weber.

He is not Shankalo Fisicella. You know, it comes up to these greats of Formula One that Norris could be eventually. He knows, all right, I'm still learning. I'm 18 months into my F1 career here. Norris can take this one and I'll work with him to get it. But on an even playing field, when we have got the car to win, you bet your bottom dollar that from race one, I will be snatching that first place off you. As I dig in Monser, and I will take it from the start.

And I think for now, he's very happy to get, I'll get the constructors hang on my belt, that's a wing, good for me, and now I go on. I really do think out of all the secondary drivers in Formula One. He is the kid you want on your side. Harry, do you see Piastri playing the team player role if he's asked to do so from now on?

I think he will. I think he will do it, but I think he'll be reluctant. He'll show some reluctance in that. Because I think he already knows he's a match. he's a he's a he's a mutton for norris um and you know he's only year two into his career so i'm not saying he he will he won't play ball because i think he will and he's he's sensible his his his manager mr mark weber's very sensible and he hasn't got any experience of this no none at all he's

actually whilst it's all happening weber's just like rocking in the corner got PTSD war flashbacks um that contract is eye and clap because he's there. Alty 21, echoing his brain. It's actually just Seb behind him, whispering at all times.

Torturing him from the past. He's enjoying retirement, Seb. Torturing Mark Weber. Just lives in the spare room of Weber's house. Whispering to the air conditioning bed. Malti turned to 12.

20, for a while title. Every night before he goes to bed, smashes the glass down. Good, I have no idea what the rest of my part. it was now. Anyway, no, I think he will play.

He's got sensible people around him. You know, it's, as I said, just now, he's, he's, he's early daughters in his career. So if he, if he is sensible, which I think he is, then he'll play the team game now. I'm less convinced. Oh, really? I think so. I think, like, later in the season, if it unfolds that Piastri has no shot at the championship and Norris still does, I believe 100% he'll do whatever he needs to do.

Right now? I don't know. I think at the very least it's what Harry said in that it will be with reluctance. But I do, Parmy thinks right now that Piastri, even though he's a long way back in the driver's championship and it's pretty unlikely he'll feature in that battle, I think until he thinks that he can't,

I don't know. And I appreciate that he might get another opportunity next year and years, he should do. You never know. It's Formula One. These things happen. It slips a while. There's an opportunity.

Even if it's a slight one, there's an opportunity in front of Piastri right now, and there is no guarantee he will get that again, even if he should get another opportunity. Separately about Piastri, I've just been so impressed by, he's like I robot. The speed this robot learns new skills is mind-blowing.

Because at the start of the season, we were saying, he's not a match for Norris yet. Okay, he's getting better at qualifying, brilliant. He's there as a great second driver. And it hit kind of Spain level. And almost all of a sudden he became, all right, you're right there with him.

You're feeling pretty good. And then we got to 100. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's a fair shout. And then suddenly, his race pace, which was almost the weakest thing, the tire management, the ability to go the full hog, the full 100% of a race at the same level as Norris,

vanished. And he just could. He could just keep up with him. And I had been so impressed with the way that Oscar Piastri has gone from being a rookie 18 months ago. Like so much shone. learn, promising, but so much to learn to, I'm

keeping up Orlando Norris, who so many people think is like the next prodigy of Formula One, and he's almost regularly beating him now. It's, it's so impressive. Imagine saying... There's so many people after you're saying that he's regularly beating him.

Am I wrong? Come up for you, boy. Come from you, boy. I fight you all. Sam's had three uproles, folks, all right? He's getting feisty. Come out of me. I've got a beer, I'll smash you. Click that, Kirstie.

Imagine saying like around China or Australia of this year when Norris was comfortably beating Piastri, imagine saying at that point, damn, if only Piastri was a bit better right now, it wouldn't cost him in the driver's championship, like for a driver's championship, like the win. Because, like, realistically, if he starts the year better, of his first five races or so this year were better,

he'd be right there. Australia is the notable one for me. If he was in that fight with the Ferrari's properly and beat one of them at least, obviously science won the Grand Prix, but with a sapping out, you think he finishes on the podium? That's another eight, nine points that go his way.

Yeah, China, he was nowhere near Norris. It's just like there were a number of races to start this year where Piastri was quite comfortably off the pace of Norris. And at the time, you were thinking, well, for his own sake, he needs to get back in the fight with Norris, but no one at that point was thinking, wow, only he picked up some more points.

He'd be right in that driver's championship battle when we get out of Monza. That would have sounded ridiculous, but here we are. And now he scored the most points out of anyone over the last seven, eight races. Yeah, pretty crazy. All right, we'll take our first break on this episode. On the other side, we're chatting Kimmy Antonelli. Ontario, the wait is over. The gold standard of online casinos has arrived.

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so you can transform tomorrow. Workday, moving business forever forward. It's the Nissan Black Friday event where you can... Wait, wait, wait. Isn't it like a month long now? Nissan Blackfri Month? Does that work? It's the Nissan Blackfri-Mond event. On remaining 2025 Rogan Centra,

get 0% financing. Plus, get $1,000 Nissan bonus on Kix models. This Black Friday, you've got a whole month to catch all the exclusive online. offers waiting for you. See your local Nissan dealer or Nissan.ca for details. Conditions apply. At long last, the worst kept secret in F1 history has finally been announced. Andrea Kimmy Antonelli, the 18-year-old prodigy, has been announced at Mercedes for 2025. Antonelli said, reaching F1 is a dream I've had since I was a small boy. I want to thank

that he's still a small boy. What's he talking about? I want to thank the team for the support they've given me in my career so far and the faith they've shown in me i am still learning a lot but i feel ready for the opportunity i'll be focused on getting better and delivering the best possible results for the team and then toto wolf said we're excited about what george and kimmie bring to the team both as individual drivers but also as a partnership our next our new lineup is perfect to open the next chapter in our story it is also a testament to the strength of our junior program and our belief in homegrown talent harry ead firstly i've got to give you credit back in april were the only one of the three of us that predicted this was going to happen.

So well done. Did they make the right call? I predicted it right. Excellent. You did? You did? Yeah. Let's go with the answer.

I don't know. I think, yes, this is the right call. Oh, no. Wait a second. Carla Sines still exist. No. Oh. I don't know.

I probably would have gone for, I know. I didn't predict that, but I would have gone for signs. Oh, that's a staffer, mate. He's not going anywhere. Toto Wolf still thinks he is. He's ringing it every day. He's running it every day. He's sure.

You sure, Max? Sorry, Max. I've got a new kick on the block. Are you sure? Also, I saw Nika Rosby would like, George, watch he see, mate, because he still wants Verstappen. I'm like, that's savage. Anyway, it might also not be wrong. We just spread a rumours like bloody a sprinkler right now.

You take all the rumors. Is it the right call? Yeah, I think, given the, what they have. He's, apparently, Toto said he decided on this five minutes after Lewis Hamilton, handed his notice, which is absolute horseman, yeah. Oh, what a load of bull. Shut up. I think, and it was a funny quote, he more meant like he could see it as a possible, like he

could see that as their future rather than it was definitely what that he wanted to do. Sure. Sure. Look, it's a bold call for Mercedes. They have, since they've rejoined in 2010, never done this. have they ever had a rookie? No. They've been the only team,

not the only team, I guess, but very steadfast in, they have always picked experienced drivers. For the, you know, since they began, they've always had a, well,

a seven times or a future seven times world champion. They've always had a world champion in their team. This will be the first time they've not. And it's a bold course. So I guess that shows the trust they're putting in Antonelli here. There's no doubt about his talent, but there's going to bring a different, a different dynamic to the Mercedes,

the Mercedes way of doing F1 and not to criticism on Antonelli, but he will be a rookie and there'll be rookie mistakes and they're going to have to accept that. My worry is they get into next year, which I guess, you know, they may not be challenging, but given the progress they've made this year,

they could have a title fight in 2025. They might regret if Antonelli judging by his parabolic antics in FP1, which again is excusable, because he's a rookie, it could cost him. I might, I might be wrong on that, obviously, but he is a rookie. And it's like, it's forgivable for Antenelli.

Obviously, don't throw it at all the wall at every opportunity, but it's forgivable. If he is that, you know, quick, but slightly hot-headed or occasionally crashing, that's fine because he's going to be in his first year of F1. But if they are in a title fight, which Mercedes could be next year, I mean, they're not that far off. This one, let's be real, but it's less realistic. then Antenelli might be

a bit of a concern on that front but they've he has the faith clearly he's invested George Russell must be thinking what the frack that I do three years in a Williams for Antonetti gets a street a seat straight away yeah

didn't have an ex-Messathe's man leading the team now they do and there's not Abling yeah sure anyway but yeah so So, yeah, Josh should be hard done by that. But yeah, I think overall the right call, I think they're just going to have to be,

the approach they're going to have is going to be very different. It's going to be a different team. George is going to be their team leader, which is a different dynamic for him. It's going to be interesting to see how it pans out, but there's no doubt he has the speed and commitment, as we saw an FP1. He just needs to, already, he just needs to start toning that down a little bit.

Not every lap has to be Q3 last 13. seconds. Commitment. Yeah, I don't think you're short of that. Simmer down is Harry Ede's advice to Kimmy Antonelli. It's an interesting point about how, yes, they're not in a championship battle this season, but they are far more competitive than when Lewis Hamilton decided to leave the team sandwich, although I think is interesting.

Do you still think this is the right call even with that? Or, as Harry mentions, should they have gone for someone with more experience? Yeah, look, before they made this. call when they rejoined Formula One up until the end of this season. As a total, they all have had 15 world titles driving for them, right? Seven for Schumacher, seven for Hamilton, one for Rosberg. Going into the 2025 season, with both of their drivers, they will have a combined two Grand Prix victories.

That is a ginormous exchange of experience, talent. It's a huge transition between raw young ability and this kind of level-headed long-term Formula One knowledge. And what I think Mercedes are doing correctly, what they're doing well, is I think even if they are with the car ready to go for a constructors title in 2025, I think they are, I think quite rightly, almost exchanging a one-year approach for 2025 for the hope that from 26-26-onwards, they might end up doing a hybrid season again, essentially.

They might end up doing a, right, we'll give up 20-25, and then 26, 27, 28, 3, that's where we focus. We give up the championship for one year at the end of one transitional season and then we dominate. With Kimi-Urini having a season on his belt, he can make those mistakes. He could be a rookie.

He can put it in the wall at Paraboliker again if he wants to because he's trying to impress desperately. George Russell could get his leadership boots on. He could shout a few crikes over the radio. And then once we get into 2026, boom, we've got a team with experience. We are ready to go with a really developed car that can win us titles year after year after year.

if you're going to transition between almost undeniably unbeatable experience in Lewis Hamilton to this pure rookie with George Russell as your team leader, now is the time to do it. They're not there at the top of the tables. They're not willing races regularly. Give it a year. Let Kimmy develop. Then going to 2026 with both feet on the ground running towards the goal that you want to achieve. Yeah, I'm going to selfishly just piggyback on really both of the points that both of you

have just made because I also had written down as to, how their lineup doesn't change a lot and they do go for experienced drivers. Kimmy Antonelli, since Mercedes returned to the sport in 2010, Kimi Antonelli will be their sixth driver. That's it. It's amazing. Which in what will be their 16th season back. For reference,

that's the same number of drivers that McLaren have used in IndyCar this year. Which might say more about McLaren than it does Mercedes. But yeah, they're all experienced. Rosberg, 70 races before. He went to Mercedes. Michael Schumacher, seven championships and 249 races. Hamilton 110, Bottas 77. George Russell was previously the most inexperienced driver to race for Mercedes.

He did 59 races before he joined Mercedes full-time. And here's Kimmy Antonelli with none whatsoever. So it's bold. It's bold. And to be honest, in a time where F1 teams often don't go for the bold pick, I'm all right with it. actually I'm with Sam's line of thinking on this in that as their competitiveness has evolved this year, it would have been, it's become increasingly easy for them to back out of this and say,

2025, if McLaren and Red Bull are too focused on 2026, it's been a horrible sort of era for us. Maybe we can end it with a bang. Maybe we could win one championship. And I think it would have been a bit of a trap. And I think they're right to focus on 2026 onwards by giving Antonelli 2025. as his rookie year as it should be. So yeah, I agreed with that point. We obviously saw his crash, Harry, and FP1.

Is any concerns from that, or is this just going to be a case of he's a rookie? He hadn't driven an F1 car before. There is the element of he should have, he is a rookie. That's fair. It does feel like there's a bit of hot-headedness in that given. Not hot, that's pretty bit unfair. but, you know, it was his home race in terms of... Eagerness.

Home track. Eagerness. Eagerness to prove. But given that it was a contract that we knew that was coming and evidence by the fact he was announced like the next day, he must have already signed this. Nothing was riding on this FP1 appearance. I don't know. There's a bit of me.

It's just a bit, I would just be, again, take it with a pinch of salt. He's a rookie. These things happen. And it was quite a slippery new surface. There's a few factors involved there. but you don't need to prove to the world that you are the next Ayrton Center incarnate during FP1 in Monza for the first time you've driven an F1 car on a competitive session. I just, if I was total, I'd just be like, I know he said, don't worry, it's all good,

but if I was total, I'd just be like, chill, my boy, everything as well. You don't need to go and do that, because that could come back to biting me. that's the sort of, that's as, again, as you say, commitment, you cannot fault it whatsoever. Boy, he was committed. Definitely not. I've watched the onboard through Parabot, through Ascari before that corner, he is committed. As I said, his Q3. Exactly.

He's like, he thinks it's the last lap in Q3 and it's not, it's the third lap in FP1. So you cannot fault it, but he's not going to get very far enough if, if you do that. And it's better to be fast. We always say it's better to be faster. and have that to them be slow because you can't really teach people to get faster but you can tame that sort of eagerness out of them

as long as they are already fast. So yeah, I think it was a bit silly. I think he could have eased into it a bit more but there wasn't really much riding on it in the end so I don't think it matters too much. I am more confident after his crash than I was before it, genuinely more confident after he,

crashed that car, which sounds completely backwards. But that told me that kid is comfortable and he is confident within the environment. And right now, I don't think anything's more important than that for Antonelli. He did. He went out there and he fully committed. And he made an error. He's 18. He made an error. He's going to make more errors next year. But do you know who kept making errors four years into their F1 career? Max was that happened. They have hired him. because he has God-given pace behind a wheel of a car, right? He is so good. And that's, but that's why they hired him.

I would have been way more worried if he went out there with the attitude of, this is my first FP1 session. I just need to make sure I get every minute under my belt. I can't possibly, I don't know, destroy George Russell's weekend. I just need to make sure that I get around in one piece. I'd have been more worried if that was his approach. he went all out and yes,

they'll need to refine his approach, definitely. And that will come with time. But the way he attacked that race circuit just made me think, boy, this guy, he knows it's okay to make errors early in his career. And I'm looking forward to seeing him attacks him all race circuits next year

because, let's face it, the best do that. They attack the race circuit. And yeah, weirdly, I was more confident after he crushed it. Just me that blames Mercedes for what happened. You've got a rookie, FP1, it's Lewis Hamilton, the car is running well.

They put them on fresh softs on a completely green track. They clearly put him on a low fuel load and they get him to push like Magnus knowing they're going to do an announcement between practice sessions. So he obviously in his mind, subconsciously and goes, I won't impress. And I have no issue that he crashed at all. But there are a lot of people out there that go,

what a Muppet. Why does he put that in the wall? What a silly boy. And we know that actually raw pace is more a perk than consistency. Like we've just said there, your only career, I'd rather you win one race and crush out of three

than finish P6 for three races in a row because that shows that you've got pace to harness and to really driving. But I do think Mercedes maybe said, we're going to make this a moment at your home Grand Prix. And they amped him up. And I kind of blame them for what happened.

They don't blame him. He's for every right to go out there enjoy driving a bloody Formula One car at full pelt around his home grand prix. Awesome moment. Incredible for him. I think they put a little bit too much excitement in him. I think they bigged him up too much.

And actually, I hope that this crash is gone, he's not perfect, he's got a lot to learn. And everyone can I take a deep breath and take a step back and actually it might calm some people down. Weirdly, I think again, for me it comes back to the same point of Mercedes had the confidence in him

to have that run. And Antonelli had the confidence, forget the result for one moment, but the team had the confidence in him and he has the confidence in himself because the team has confidence in him. And I think that will help him in time. It's not always going to go perfectly

and in some instances it's going to go horribly. But at least they have the trust in this guy that they are willing to let him do that sort of run. I think it's actually a net positive. Did you see what was clearly the largest lump in the world in George Russell's throat? as he saw his car fly straight into the wall. That man...

Russell agrees, yeah. He was worried, boy. Panicking. And, well, not a discussion for today, but I know Rosberg did joke about it. I don't think he joked. Rosberg would probably be very serious about the Stappen and Toto Wolf still trying to chase him.

But, you know, if Antonelli matches Russell next year or it's pretty close, Russell's third in the pecking order, let's face it. Ooh, okay, that's another topic for a guy. other day. Okay, before we go to our second break, it's time for F1 fantasy update, of course. Yay!

You can always tell by Sam's reaction as to how well he's done in a week. Worst poker player in the world, but... I really am terrible at poker. Before we get to the four of us, congratulations to Hyrule, who won this week with 345 points. That's too many. Yes, far too many. The top three overall, it's still, it's all borne wrong, leading the way.

But despite the fact that it wasn't a great weekend for the papayas on track, it was a great weekend for the sweet papyrs, they're back to second, which means the Fiat is back down to third. Oh, Fiat 500, Twitter again, I'll be livid. The panders in jeopardy. Pupyar rules! But how are we doing? I thought I'd done pretty horribly this week,

but I have actually made a bit of progress. I've gone up 20 positions to 213th. Lovely. Kirsty after making a lot of progress at the Dutch Grand Prix, absolutely foot nowhere near the break because another 31 positions gained up to 319th. Despite the fact that in both of our teams, by the way, Logan Sargent is just sat there doing nothing.

That's so funny. But the thing is, he's so cheap, I might just keep him there. I genuinely might keep him there. Yeah, exactly. Sam, you had a bit of a bounceback week. 51 positions gained up to 393rd. I love that. So I've gained positions,

Kirsty's game positions, Sam's gain positions. Oh, hello, Harry. Oh, hello there. You nearly get it. You only went down six this week, which, to be fair, that's probably the best in like 10 races. Yeah, that's half the amount of positions I dropped last week.

that we before. Sorry, like eight people behind you shortly. Yeah. By the end of this season, you might be gaining a position or two. If you're interested, 1,530th. That's not bad. No, it is. Again, well, yeah, no, it wasn't great.

If your team name next year could just be the green toaster, that would be great. I had, I had Holkenberg in my team, didn't help. Shocker. I put Colopinto being in my team as well. I did all right. Some good points from that, yeah. I think I just looked at the little graph. That's the best race of her for a long time.

I still lost six. Good stuff. Anyway, let us know how you're doing an F1 fantasy, of course. Are you beating all four of us? Are you beating three of us? Are you beating one of us? I think it would be quite a lot of people in that final group. But let us know how you're doing.

On the other side of this break, we're going to be chatting through Kevin Magnuson's band from the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Okay, everyone, welcome back. Kevin Magnerson, not a great Italian Grand Prix for one reason. One point, one ban, I think he put in, or something to that effect in an Instagram post, which is very true. If you missed it, Kevin Magnerson has been banned from the next round of the World Championship after incurring 12 penalty points on his racing license. He'd collected 10 points in just the first five races of

this year. He avoided any further penalties for the next nine Grand Prix, but his collision with Pierre Gazley at Monza earned him two penalty points, which takes him him to 12. Interestingly enough, Pierre Gassley has said that he hopes that they can revert on it because he didn't really lose any time from the incident. It doesn't seem as if that will be the case. And it looks like the FIA might actually go through with something, Sam. Are they right to?

Yeah, our King Gassley there, sticking up for a real legend in Kevin Magnuson. You love to see it, right? The most unlikely partnership in F1 history. The FIA versus Gassley and Magnuson. I think it's going to be a tag team, Macnison. in the ring. Yeah, no, honestly, I love that from Gasley. Absolutely love that.

Ow, I absolutely need to the table. I'm so sorry. That's a massive disruption to the show. Good. I think we need to have, again, we've discussed this so many times on the show, a standardisation of what deserves a penalty in a race, what is a five second,

what is a 10 second, what is a drive-through, they don't exist anymore. You know, what is a stop-go? They don't exist anymore. but also what deserves penalty points. This is a five second, 10 second penalty, right, that came out of the situation.

It felt extreme at the time. Gasolid has come out himself and said, I didn't really lose anything from this incident. I wasn't really massively affected. It was just a bit clumsy, a bit silly, which I think is quite admirable of gasoline because a lot of drivers will happily sit there and be quiet and go, you hit me, you know, that's on you.

But I do think we need to have a very clear, divide here on what causes the separation between an in-race penalisation, whatever secondary amount that might be, and what warrants penalty points of a licence? Right, because they are very separate, they are very serious in one situation, one is very momentary in terms of the race situation. So the FIA do need to come out and be clear here that if they revert on this, if they do change their direction in how they penalise Kevin Magnuson and therefore reverse the race ban, of course, they need to make sure that this is upheld everywhere.

This is consistent that points in future are not given for penalties on their license for rather just in the race. We need to make sure that we are giving penalties on the license for really dangerous driving and not just, you hit another driver, but it was a mistake, five seconds, 10 seconds, whatever it might be. I just think they need to, again, be very clear with their ruling and how the rules are amissed moving forward. sorry Kevin I've got no sympathy whatsoever

he knows the rules they've been in place for a while now and look if this sort of thing happens like let's say three times a season where a driver is banned maybe at that point we should look and say you know what it's probably too easy to collect these points but to remind everyone

this has never happened in F1 never happened the last time someone was banned was Roman Grosjean that was 12 years ago and that was before this system existed if it was so frequent, we'd have drivers all over the place getting banned. We haven't. Kevin Magnuson has known at every single Grand Prix this season

exactly what the rules are. He knew that going into Saudi Arabia when he drove the way he did. He knew that going into Miami when I think he picked up five points at Miami alone. He knew that. And I cannot believe, and they probably won't now, I can't believe that the FIA are actually going through with this. Like, we have a system in place and we're going to use it. sorry, Kevin. Again, I'm happy to have discussions about whether things should be tweaked in the system.

Sure, all aboard that. But equally, you know the rules, Kevin. And despite that, you know, I appreciate Gassley saying that, you know, it didn't cost me any time. But hey, I mean, that's luck. That could have very easily caused Gisley to retire, in which case should the penalty be different? My answer is no. It should have been a 10 second penalty either way. So again, I don't think it dissuade. from racing. Again, he is the only driver this is ever affected. And I think he deserves a ban for it. Harry? I'm with Sam. I think I think that in this, in the current rules, I agree with you, Ben.

Yes, he deserves a ban. But I think the weighting needs to change in terms of what is a deserve penalty. What's deserving of penalty points of what isn't because there are some things that KMA has done. Yes, penalty points very much deserved. But what he got for Sunday's antics. It doesn't really feel fair. I don't know it's, you know, that's the thing that gets in bad.

It's obviously not because there's an accumulation. But, and as you say, Ben, he knows the rules. He's got to play by them. So I, in that sense,

I agree with it, but it does feel a little bit savage that some incidents that are way less deliberate or even thought about get the same amount of penalty points as ones that are very much, you know, minimal in their impact.

So I think it needs some refining, but within the current rules, I can't really argue, can't really argue with the ban. It's also a lot of banter. Yeah, I actually kind of love a bang for the banter, the banter. You know, I'm enjoying it. Just to throw another question in there, let's say Kevin Magnuson does that exact move on Gassley once every four races. Should he be banned?

No. So then your answer is no, because that's, you know, he got two points for that. He needs 12 overall. So if he does that every four races, that would over the course of a year give him 12 points. This is the point that I'm, this is the point that I'm making of. Some penalties should just be race applied. Some are not malicious. Some are not dangerous in racing. accidents will happen. Cars will come together. And you can get a five or a take a penalty. Penalty points should be severe. They should be worrying moments within driving. Lank Stroll or whatever it was down the back. So when Fernando O'Lonkso, I think it was driving to the back of someone and flipping going down Cota, right, down the back straight of Cota a couple of years ago.

That was a worrying moment where someone moved underbreaking. It was his future teammate. Good. It was strong. Glad I thought of that correctly. And that moment you think they go, whoa, that is scary. You cause, you've nearly lost cost on their life at that point because you have drove erratically. This was not that.

Magison made a mistake, I agree with. He was at fault, but it was not anything. over the top more than it should be a race penalty. It's not been confirmed yet, but assuming this will be Behrman's subbing in, I appreciate Kamatsu when he was asked about it at the weekend, couldn't confirm it because at least at this point, he's not a hash driver and he does need confirmation from Ferrari

that they can go ahead with this, but Harry, I'm assuming that it's the only sensible option, right? Yeah, why wouldn't you? And for Behrman, I know he's already had one this year, but this is like a free, another free weekend of F1 before he actually does it properly it doesn't really matter what he does he was obviously very impressive in Saudi for Ferrari

but this is a nice opportunity to do a race weekend with the team in a slower car in a slower car but do a race again with a team that he's going to drive for next year like there are not many rookies that get that opportunity Nick to freeze is one that springs to wind two in one season that's crazy

yeah that is crazy Nico Hoggberg style so again Hobbler was probably like, I'll do it, boss. No, no, Nico. But you have a team. You are already in this team. You can't drive both cars, Nico.

I'll do it, Ores for Hass. But yeah, we were blanking only, Nico. Cheers. Please. Very valuable opportunity for Berman. Yeah. Anything to say on Berman, Sam? There you go, call up Enzo Fitapaldi, are they? Come on.

Probably not. Put something in the car that's actually going to deliver, and Berman has. Pietro would be, I guess, more appropriate given he was the one that raised the Hass, right? How old is Pietro now? Late 20s, he's as long as I am, is he? He's 52. As long as his father.

So, yes, he's as old as you, yeah. Right, let's move on to James Vowles. There was enough going on at the weekend, and he decided I'm just going to make some spicy comments that everyone's going to talk about. About barbecue out, didn't he? Exactly. There's quite a lot of quote, I think it's fair to mention all the quotes on this one. he was speaking in the media day that they have before the weekend and he said the following about Mick Schumacher. Mick has improved a lot from where he was in Hasse. There was no doubt

about it. He's a competent driver that I know he had his time. But he has done incredible work with Alpine, with Mercedes and with McLaren in the meantime. And all advocates if you speak to them will tell you where he's adapted and where he's changed. So it becomes a decision about what they were going to do with the William's seat. Do we invest in the future or do we invest in someone else as a result of it. I think both would fall into the category of not special. I think we have to be straightforward about this. Mick isn't special. He would have just been good. Toto Wolf basically said, he says things too straightforwardly sometimes does our James. That was a statement he could have done without. And just to mention as well that James Vales later in the weekend did clarify his

comments to say that he's not here to put McDown. And when he was using the word special, he was using it in the context of multiple world champions like Senna and Hamilton, and he said it was a foolish thing to do because that's the comparison. Interesting comments, son. Yeah, it was spicy. And F1 Twitter took this one out of context and absolutely ran the full hundred yards with it. It was a poor comment. It was a poor comment.

And in the world where things get chopped and skipped and change, he must have known that this was not going to reflect well on him. At the same time, there's not a single word I disagree with from Jones vows in that sentiment. Nick Schumacher is good. That's all he is. Better than I'll ever be driving a bloody car. He is a F2 champion.

He is going to be a very standard and solid racing driver for the rest of his career. Is he the same level as his dad? No, not even close. And that's no disrespect. 99.99% of racing drivers are not the same level. level as his father. It was almost impossible that he ever would be.

I understand that most drivers, X or current, do not get this kind of comment in the media. So it's going to be tough to take. And I understand why those have rushed to defend him. It makes sense. Was it poorly worded? Yeah.

Okay, sure. But was he wrong? No. No. Mick Schumacher is just good. He's not good enough to be leading a team in F1. And I think that he hitting an out on the head. But in the world that we're living, things get blowing out of proportion.

Any problem with his comments, Harry? He was a bit savage with him, but I don't think he's incorrect. More of my problem was not the Mick thing. It's more just, James, you don't need to justify your decisions quite so much as you, as you're trying to hear. Everyone, everyone's aware. Do you think that's almost not good for Colapinto to see James, James Wells having to defend the decision so much. Yeah, I mean, maybe.

And I guess we would have, we would have gone for someone slightly more experiences as we spoke about in Colin Pinto, like, what's the gain here? And it does feel like James Vals had to justify it slightly. Obviously, Mick was named as a potential replacement, whether they actually considered it. I guess it must have done,

but whether they actually got that far with it, I don't know. But, yeah, it's more, it's more, yeah, it seems to be James overcompensating a little bit on this decision. to take Colopinto. So I don't think he's incorrect. Could have done it and could have said things in a slightly softer way. And, you know, for Mick's sake, it's not, you know,

he's not going to make many friends there. Schumack has done a very good job in what he's done in terms of reserve driver for Mercedes. He's obviously in work now. He is also F2 and F3 champion. Let's not forget. You don't do those things without being a very talented driver. but I think what James Wales is trying to say is he's not a Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen a Michael Schumacher

or an Ayrton Centre in the sense that he doesn't have that extra level and there are many drivers in F1 who also do not have that level it's just a fact so he's correct in what he's saying I think he said it maybe not quite the way he meant to and was overcompensating a little bit about his decision for Colopinto yeah similar points to you guys I've seen a lot of outrage about the comments. I don't think I've seen one person say he was wrong.

He's not wrong. He's absolutely right in what he's saying. But it was just a slip up. It's just a messily worded sentence more than anything. But it is what it is. And in reality, yes, he should have just focused more on the benefits of Colopinto and the benefits of hiring from the academy rather than focusing on the alternative of Mick Schumacher. You could have just worded it ever so slightly different, but I don't think it's

all that important. Again, I've barely seen anyone come out here and say what James Vowse said was incorrect. And that includes Toto Wolf. Toto Wolf's response did not say James Vows is wrong. He just said he could have done without saying the statement. That's quite telling. So I think it was right. And, you know, overall, despite the fact that I think this was not very well worded, if this is the sort of thing that we have to deal with, let's say, once a year, like one badly worded sentence from James Vow's for his approach. Like if his approach gives us this every so often, fine, I'll take that. But what he gives us in terms of commentary when he does on the Skyd Pitwall sort of stuff,

he's very open, he's very honest. And I think it's something that we don't see. from all team principles. If occasionally that style gives us one of these sentences, yeah, fine. Can I just say there are other team principles slash members in other teams that are so far worse. So let's get over it, guys.

Flavio Briotore has probably said about 10 things worse since the beginning of this podcast. Helma Marco, there you go, there's a loads of them. I invite this. I invite this. Formula One is so polished. Formula One is so media trained. James Val said nothing incorrect.

His phrasing might have been harsh, sure. but I welcome these more brash, honest statements. As long as they are correct and based on analytics, which I think this was, I welcome it. Be more open, be more, you know, take a side. I love this from Formula One. Pick up James Vowers. Also, we've got a topic out of it.

Cheers, James. Cheers, James. We're going to take a final break. On the other side, higher or lower. Everyone's the final part of today's episode, and it comes to higher and lower. that fast. F1, higher or lower. I've got six questions in front of me.

Sam and Harry will take it in turns, picking a question and all of the answers are numeric. If they get it right, they get two points, but if they get it wrong, the other person has an opportunity to say higher or lower than the guess. If they're right, they get a point, but if they're wrong, the person who guessed first gets the point. Sam, what are you like?

Three. Wow. The early three. Off the back. sung heard of. Yeah, you've picked the horrible one, sorry. If you get this right, by the way, I'm even going to be incredibly impressed

or you are just flat out cheating because this is ridiculous. There is a part of me sometimes that I think, I pick three every time. I wonder if you ever curate the three question. I can honestly say I don't. All right, cool. How many laps has Fernando Alonzo done in his career?

I would even go out a shoot with this. I would even go out of Google. Surely this isn't a Googleable stat. Did you add these up? No, this is, I've got my sources. Got my sources, yeah, ketchup on HP, mate. Hey, come on. And we lap, just laps in total.

Got lead or anything? Just lap. Total lapse completed in F1. Wow. Okay. I'm going to go with, I've got to think, hang on. I got to think of a.

realistic answer here. That's the hardest part. I won't get a gag, but a realistic game. Why? Say an answer. 11,473. You know what? It's not correct.

Lower. You want to go higher or you're going to go lower? Lower. Well, maybe all of that time thinking has actually helped Sam because he gets the point here. Come on. You were only out by about 10,000. Oh my God.

21,411 laps in F1, Fernando Walonzo. Oh, I mean. Madness. My brain went like 600 laps a season, early days, and I just times it by about 11. And then just, yeah, he decided to come back and do some more, didn't he? Do a lot more, yeah, of course.

Harry, what number would you like? Number two, please. Number two. How many pole positions did Michael Schumacher have in his career? Oh, he knows this. He knows the stat. I don't know the exact number. Yes, you do.

You do know it. It's in there. And this happens all the time with Harry. It's in there. He'll go. It's boiling. It's coming to the boil, isn't it? 66.

66, he said. Yeah. It's not 66. No. Crap. Higher or lower than that, Sam. I'm going to go higher. A good guess, but two out.

68. So it is higher. I was because he would have had 69 if, If one of go counted. Damn it. $6.9. I don't even know how to react to that one. 2.0 in the favour of Sam.

And it's back to you, Sam. What question would you like? I'll continue the countdown. Number one. Number one. Bad news for fans of countdown. That will be the last one, I'm afraid. How many wins has Lewis Hamilton had

in years where he's won the driver's championship? Oh, I thought you were just going to stop. there and I thought, oh, I think I could get this. He's won the championship. Yes. Okay, so, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20. That's why help me. So that's good.

I'm going to say, 83. It's not 83. Harry, higher or lower? Higher. It's not higher, it's lower. In fact, it's the same answer as the last one, 68.

Oh, wow. 60. I don't think we've ever had a same answer, have we? So he's, yeah, he averages just over nine race wins in seasons where he wins the title. So 68. It feels quite low. Yeah, I guess 2008, obviously only won like four or five that year. And most of his other seasons, he's won.

I think he's got around the 11 mark. So kind of averages back out. This is consistent, right? Yeah, yeah. So 3-0, Sam. Over to you, Harry. Number four. Number four.

How many points did Sebastian Vettel win the 2013 championship buy? 68. I understand the logic. No, it's not 68. Higher or lower than 68, Sam. Higher, hopefully it's 69. Yeah, he pretty much crushed that year. 155.

Oh, no. that's not 169. No, it is not. You're right. Clean sweet, potentially on the cards here. Don't put that pressure on me. I always don't put that pressure being for tyres, but I am definitely the tire.

Pressure? What pressure? It's on me. Five or six, Sam. Five. Okay, number five. How many race winners were there in 2003? Okay, Harry's there burning.

I'm going to go with five. There weren't five. Higher or lower, Harry. Harry's counted them on his fingers if you can't see. Folks, you can watch us on YouTube, like Breaking F1, and you can see him counting on seg fingers. Higher.

Out of interest, you're right. How many? Like, seven, Michael Schumacher, Ralph Schumacher, Barrichello, Cawthard, Montoya, Reichen,

Physicella. Oh, no, Alonzo. Aides is correct, yes. Well done, Harry Ead. Impressive as always. Thank you. She says form one down. Mate, I'm going to be a humble gentleman.

I've lost a lot in my time. Number six or number six, Harry? Number six, please. Good answer. How many points did Max Verstappen get in 2020? Not enough. Statistically, yes. true, 168.

Again, appreciate the logic. No. I roll over some. They're about, they're at least 18 Grand Prix. He regularly finished third. For third place, you get 15 points. I'm going to say higher. It is higher.

I'm not sure how many races there were in 2020 in the end, but I don't think we quite hit 18. 17. 17. So around that, wasn't it? It was around that. anyway, it is higher. He had 214.

That's 69. You are absolutely right. Harry, you've been obliterated there, mate. I've lost that one. Take that one on the shing. I've lost so many. We go again. We go again.

And Diama. And Diama together. Well, if that segment wasn't to your liking, I've got another one prepared for you. And it just so happens to be the greatest segment. in all of podcasting. It is the Alby question of the week.

Beautiful. Thank you for being quick. Our question of the week was what does papyar rules actually mean? Barry's just come in there with the wrong number one of papyrals we don't speak about papyrals. I'm glad that got in there.

Except we all speak. about papyrals constantly. Jay Hammerwood, they eat papires, which I can't like. Yeah, that's brilliant. Daniel says, Piacri always passes and you are angry. It's an acronym.

Honestly, sensational answer. I thought that was very clever. Well done. Well done, Daniel. Wandering Carlwood, it's a nickname for Barry Manilow. Here he comes again with the Copacabana. Oh, papyrals.

Oh, God. his sweet papires. Jackson here says, I understand that. Without my agreement, McLaren thinks that Landooris is fighting for a World Driver's Championship,

which is just a great play on him turning down a contract from Alping. I like the answer from Annette, which is they're not actually rules. It's a cheerleading chant. Papaya rules. It is from Billy Magison, right?

And it is, oh, Doyle rules! And that is what it reminds me of every time that someone has said it. Matt Ruse says you can't play a plus four on a reverse or skip, and that's a great Uno reference. We had Uno and Monopoly references, because I think Nick said,

do not pass the start line, do not collect a driver's championship. Correct. If I'm not reading that one, it means that Harry will say, and I've been papaya rules at the end of the episode, which is good. Which you've guaranteed he's not going to say that.

I'm not doing that now. Well done. Have you got one lined up already? I do. It's not actually from this episode, but don't worry about it. I always wonder when one clocks for you. Sometimes it happens during the episode. Sometimes I forget that I do it each Wednesday

and then I have to quickly think of one during this part of the episode. Right. It's like a behind the scenes from your POV of when this happens. Behind my brain. I've got one last answer from Scott, which is it means they'll be asking the drivers what they think about, strategies at 250 kilometers an hour instead of using the data in front of them to make the call.

Oof. Oof. Which might be the most accurate answer out there. Yeah, I've got to get this one. Any last ones? Yeah, this is from Burn It All Down. Otmar's nine keys. Can only eat the pies for the week after a McLaren wing.

You've got to get an Otmar joke in there. It's not a question of the week without that. It's saying Otmar of the week. It genuinely doesn't matter what the question is. Otmar's nine kids will somehow find a way to feature. Yeah. Yeah. I absolutely love it.

Thanks again. So many funny answers. There are, honestly, every week we get more and more and more, literally hundreds at that point, and they're always so good. Yep.

Make sure you stay tuned to Instagram and Twitter. That's where they always appear, usually on a Monday evening here in Britain, so Monday afternoon in the US. And comment away. And we'll read some out on next week's episode. Who knows what that question will be? Sam, we're back on Sunday.

Get us out of here. We are back on Sunday for another standard episode because, of course, there's not going to be a preview until next week when we do the Baku preview and we'll see if Kevin Magnuson has a drive. If you want some more content, you think, God, I'm lacking some F1 content. Harry, they can go on Patreon.

How much would you pay for Patreon? I'd pay a reasonable, like, £12 or something. How much is that amount? It's actually £9. Oh, my God, $9. $12. But I have heard that there's a man. Doesn't understand the exchange rate.

There's a man next to you, I can see. How much will he pay for Patreon? Oh, hi, yeah. I'm Harry's mate. It does. That is terrible. The effort put into that. Your voice.

He doesn't change voice. He's never changed voice. He's the talking of thing I ever seen. Which is a donkey reference. I started doing a good voice with him. People would know it's not him. How much training pay? I reckon for that amount of content,

it's at least $7,000 a month. Yeah, you'd be pretty accurate. If you want to give $7,000 a month, you're so welcome. We would appreciate it. It's not. It's £9, $11, $12, whatever it is. Yeah, you get beer breaking,

classic race. You get your shout-outs for your birthday on your month. You get power rankings. You get two extra episodes. Everything. Ag free. which is always lovely as well. So check it out.

It helps us out massively discourse. The links in the description. For us on social media, late breaking F1 everywhere. You can watch this on YouTube, Late Breaking F1, and I stream on Twitch for the races, so late breaking podcast on there as well.

Thanks for joining us. We've had a lap to eat lovely time. This is very, very late for us. So, you know, sorry, it's going to go out a little bit late. Kerski is going to have to stay up forever to egg at this one. In the meantime, I've been Samuel Sage. I've been Ben Hocking.

I've been a Beanie's legend. And remember, Gotta join the Patreon Break in late The songish This podcast is part of the Sports Social Podcast Network