The Late Braking F1 Podcast - Is 2026 make or break for Leclerc at Ferrari?

Episode Date: January 22, 2026

Ben, Sam and Harry chat through the Audi and Haas launches, debate whether it’s now or never for Leclerc at Ferrari (and where he could go next), and wrap up with a game of Higher or Lower. Want more Late Braking? Support the show on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and get: Ad-free listening Full-length bonus episodes Power Rankings after every race Historical race reviews & more exclusive extras! Connect with Late Braking: You can find us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠X (Twitter)⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Come hang out with us and thousands of fellow F1 fans in our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Discord⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ server and get involved in lively everyday & race weekend chats! Get in touch any time at [e-mail] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Visit medcan.com slash moments to get started. Thank you for listening to the Late Breaking F1 podcast. Make sure to check out new episodes every Wednesday and every Sunday. Welcome to the late breaking F1 podcast presented by Harry Ead, Sam Sage, and me, Ben Hocking. We are back on a midweek. Wednesday. Cars are being launched, left, right and centre. Sam, it's a good time to be an F1 fan.

I'm like I love car launch season. I get excited. It's like Christmas. You know how you get like an advent calendar? For me, that's what this is. It's like opening a new day. Every time it's like new. car behind it. Very exciting. Some let you down, you know, like life. Some days are a real

disappointment. I got into that. I got to say it's, and I know it's because of the fact that it's new regulations, we've got an early shakedown, but obviously no one can see. But the fact that we had F1 racing last month and we are already into launches and shakedown for the new season, that's unprecedented, but I'm here for it. So January is six months long, so that's partially why. This is true. But it's nice to have F-1 launches happening already. It is, gives us plenty to talk about.

We've already covered off the launches of Red Bull and Racing Bulls last week on Sunday's episode. We've got two more to review today. I think three more coming on Sunday as well. So they are coming thick and fast. We're going to be looking at both the Audi and Hasse launch today. A bit on Charles LeCler as well. and a game of F1 higher and lower. And that's not even the main event.

We've got the return of question of the week coming up later on in the episode. But let's start with, let's give Audi the honors on today's episode, given that they are something of a brand new team. Audi have kicked off their first ever season as a Formula One team with a launch event at Craftwork Berlin on Tuesday evening. The German manufacturer who first announced their intention to enter F1 back in August of 2022 will make their Grand Prix debut in Australia with a machine that will be powered by their inaugural F1 power unit.

The car is being kept under wraps for now, but the livery was revealed, and it strikes a cutting resemblance to their demo livery that they showed off last year. But that doesn't necessarily mean we're a fan or not a fan of this livery. Sam, the livery, officiano, we return to you, of course. You were relatively complimentary about the two that were launched last week. Does that continue here? Look, Audi, you've built up a lot of hyper expectation when you launched that livery a few years ago

that had that neon day glow orange trim all around the bottom, the wings with that colour, have those funky stripes all and over the body. Really cool, really, really cool. This is like you've turned on F1 manager for the first time and you've used your template. It is so bad. You've cut the car in half and gone grey, red.

Will we calling it red? I don't even know what colour that is. Orange? It's different to the suit colour. Why? I don't know. But it is. And then there's a green BP logo at the back.

Now, I'm pretty certain that Revolute, Mr Manager, you decided to have a little pop at the champs of bad liveries, which is Ferrari with their HP logo. You've gone... BigP. B.P. Oh, see, tins. Because green famously goes with orange, grey and black.

You know, that well-known colour. combination. I'm not a fan. The more I'm looking at it, the less fan of it I become. That colour is so nice on it. So I really like that kind of bright orangey red color. I don't know what we're classifying it as orange. But it's nice, okay?

Enjoy that. Everything else around it, you've ruined it. You have ruined it for me. I'm really disappointed. Well, we're going to have the opportunity to wrap up all of these liveries when they've all been launched. I take it some that's probably not going to be towards the top. of your list.

Look, I like to build up surprises on the show, as we know. I never give away anything too soon. But there might be a hinting what I've just said. Yeah. Harry, are you a fan of this livery? You know how often liveries can grow on you as time progresses? Aldi is doing the Benjamin Button equivalent of this. It's going the wrong way.

And I... Because when I first saw it, I know, aside from the fact that it's basically... what we've already seen without, you know, a couple of months ago without any sponsors. I was, I was kind of all right with it. I'm, I'm here for something that's quite like solid and striking in that sense. And I didn't mind it. Every time I look at it, I'm like, oh, no, it's getting worse every time.

And it annoys me more every time. And you're right, Sam. I'd forgotten about the, the demo one. I think when they first announced they were coming back with that, like, the day-glown trim. That's cool. They need more of that colour. And then some of the sponsor placements and colouring, it does look like it's their first time in F1

with what they've done with that. The BP thing is as bad as the HP thing, the Ferrari thing. Big poop. That bad? That bad. I think it's that bad. Ferrari is still, they're coming. We don't know what they're cooking up yet.

I can't like fritz me half blue. Red shrimp. It's just the Audi but in their red white dollars and blow But yeah So the BP placement is terrible And the ref

I think what annoys me more though It's the black Revolut on the grey silver Because you can't read it It's not good If I was Revolute of Sando Spent a lot of money To be this title sponsor

With this new F1 team I'd be furious Put that in that orange colour Or just extend the orange And have it on black on that that would look really good. Whoa. So many good ideas on this show.

So yeah, it's just, it's annoyed me more and more as we've gone on. I wasn't that a, I wouldn't say it was my favourite in the world, but I was all right with it when it launched. After all those people, I walked up the stairs. What was that about? Yeah. It's getting worse every time I look, so I'm going to have to stop looking.

So, Audi, you didn't exist to me this year. Hmm That's going to make things After complaining for so many years That there aren't enough teams in F1 Harry's still got 10 teams for this year That's great He's going to lose team,

what was again We'll not pick Of the four livery so far And again we'll get on to Hass later on in the show This for me has been the trickiest one To gather my thoughts on Because I know I don't love it. I know I don't hate it, but I, there's parts of me that are like thinking one thing

about it and then parts of me that think something else. So like part of me is a bit let down. Like I was expecting something better and bigger than this. And then another part of me saying, well, what were you expecting? And I go, actually, I don't really know. They've kind of, it's almost been like a box ticking exercise. Like they've got, well, we need this color. We need this color and this color, we need to show off all of this. And they've kind of just ticked it all off, which isn't the way to make a livery, I don't think. I will try and get some positives in here for some balance. I am glad they've gone with silver as the primary, which is going to sound strange coming from someone who is far lower in their estimation of the old McLaren chrome liveries

than the average person. But I don't mind them going with the silver as the primary just based on red was kind of a no-go just based on Ferrari. Hasse have gone away from the grey and more to the white in the last couple of years. So I understand why they are focusing mostly on silver. It does feel, you look at it and it does feel representative of Audi at least. I'll give them that. I think the front of the car looks pretty clean. And I will say this about, I think just these cars in general, the front wings are so much better.

So nice. They are. So nice. They just look aggressive. That's just cool. Again, they look 2007-esque, right? They look of that era. They're great.

And I don't have much of a problem in terms of the carbon fiber on this car compared to the first couple that we reviewed. The main negative for me, and this is a big one, it doesn't make me feel anything. And a livery, a good livery should make you feel something. It should be dynamic. It should make you excited. it should, even if it doesn't drive quick, it should look quick.

And it just doesn't do anything for me. That's the biggest problem I've got with this livery. The red or orange discussion might well rage on for a bit. And I also had written down the BP logo just looking out of place. And also the Revolut logo after giving it big guns about HP, then having a logo you can't read on the car, which is just, I almost mark them up for that because that's just funny. But yeah, this isn't going to be one of my face.

favourite's what it's all said and done. I can assure you of that. I think that McLaren livery weirdly has spoilt the party because in an ideal world, they would have had that orange front wing and a orange rear wing. Say that with a speech champagne, but that is tough. And obviously, I think they've gone, I think it looks too close to the McLaren of 0708, that era. And so they've gone, we can't do that because we don't look like we're directly related to that brand. So that's why I think it's cost to them and interesting. Because I'm choice, which is a shame because I think it will be really cool. Away from the livery, Audi say that they are ahead of the game by running the car on track

before their rivals. I forget the date exactly, but they went a week before Cadillac did and before any other team did. Is that as a positive sign as they're making it out to be, Harry? It's definitely a positive sign. I think, you know, we've seen that new teams are, I know that we're saying new team, the obviously are, you know, the remains of Salba are still there. But they are still a new outfit effectively.

And we've seen a lot of new teams in the past not being able to do testing, even sometimes not even making it to the practice sessions of the first race, HRT. So yeah, they're in a much better, much better place. It's obviously a statement thing trying to get out in front of everyone else. I don't think it really means anything. but it's a positive sign nonetheless they are they are up and running. Obviously there's been a few shakedowns happening with other teams as well this week. So good to see the Audi are in the mix of those.

Yeah, I give them credit for following through on their ambition, which is they wanted to fire up the car in mid-December. They achieved that. They wanted to shake down the car early in January. They achieved that. And fair play to them. Congrats to them for hitting their targets. I think they've successfully established that they are somewhat new on the grid,

and therefore it would make more sense for them to get track references sooner than these other teams. They've executed their plans, so fair play to them. What I don't understand is the comparison versus other teams, like we're ahead of the game. I mean, not really. Like, every team's going to have their own timelines. Like, Racing Bulls wanted to go the week after. Cadillac went a week after Audi did. you really think like Mercedes and McLaren are sat there at home, like quaking in their boots.

Like, Audi, they've done their shakedown already. Oh, no. Like, they've got their own timelines. They're not worried. So fair play to them, but I don't really see this as much of an advantage. Also, as part of this launch, down, we had Audi confirm that their target is to compete for championships by 2030. So that's five seasons from now. Is that a fair target for them?

think they are being tactically humble in their estimations here. It's a target that I think a lot of people who are committed to Formula One but not proper F1 heads. What hardcore fans will go new team, which I do think they're milking a little bit, call themselves a new team. You really, you know, can't like get that one. You have bought it.

New power unit, less so on the new team. Yeah, yeah. But by 2030, it makes you feel, like it's sensible, achievable and sensible. I think internally they will be looking to be challenging, at least having raised wins by 28, I think will be the goal that you can give it two seasons to really fully settling, make sure the power you get is comfy, they've gone through any loopholes that Mercedes, Red Bull, whoever it might be, have managed to ascertain in this early season.

And they're kind of on a level playing field when it comes to raw horsepower. I think then they'll look to try and build out on the aerodynamic side and really start to challenge. So I think they've been modest. I think they've been calm. I think they've, you know, played it safe. And I don't disrespect them for doing such a thing. But I think they'll want to be fighting at the front before we get to a new set of regulations, which is estimated to be, of course, around 2030. It's a safe target. Yeah. And I would have questioned if they've gone any further than 2030, like further into the future than that, because at that point, I think you are maybe bordering on unambitious. But, um, I understand why they're going through, why they've sort of estimated 2030 on this. They're kind of almost in the opposite position of Hasse when they launched,

because Hasse when they come into the sport, new team, but existing power unit. And I guess Cadillac are in the same spot again. That kind of new power unit, but existing team, at least in some form. Drawing a comparison, I think, is tough. But I kind of look towards Honda as a new power unit,

of a returning power unit in 2015 and to determine if five years is a realistic target or not. Now, Honda was, if you weren't an F1 fan at the time, folks, Honda rejoining F1 was a disaster to start with. First couple of years, Fernando Alonzo, just ask him, not good. But by year seven, not year five, year seven, when they were with Red Bull rather than McLaren, that's when they first won a title, 2021.

But in theory, I think by year 5, 2019, the engine was probably ready to win. They didn't have any mechanical DNFs that year relating to the engine. And I think it was more a case of Red Bull not quite being ready to win in 2019. So if you say, well, Honda, maybe they were ready to win in five years. They were actually one year late in getting into a regulation cycle. And it was an unmitigated disaster to start things off. maybe Audi of being a bit conservative by saying five years. Then again, Red Bull versus the Ashes of Salba probably isn't a fair comparison either.

On balance, I think it's maybe about fair. Harry, did you have any thoughts on the launch itself? I loved it. Did you? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Look, it's all part of launch season, in it? I love it. It's kooky.

It's crazy. It's all just a bit weird and interesting. and interesting. So I'm not going to criticize him that much for it, but yeah, the stair thing was real old. You might not.

I'm going to criticize them. Yeah, I don't know. I don't know what was going on there. But yeah, part and parcel of the journey that is F1 launch season and I'm glad we're not doing at the F1 7502 event

for lots of reasons. But I missed. for the most part I missed the fact that we get these these cokey weird weird events it's just it's just funny I mean there are others

do you know what it's because they didn't get it last year a lot of them are trying to get out of that system Honda by the way anyway I'm talking about that a minute yeah well I was my favourite event at the world it's probably some time I could have done

something more interesting but you know it's their first try Yeah, you could tell it was their first try, both on the livery and on the launch. If you're going to do a live stream, commit to the media, right? Commit to it. It really feels like they had planned an in-person event and then someone 24 hours before when, hang on, should we live stream this as well? And thought, all right, then.

Because the first half of it just didn't work for a live stream. Like they had Naomi Schiff who was hosting the event on those stairs with the Audi CEO and a quick chat there. And then they welcomed everyone up the stairs into this immersive experience. That wasn't all that immersive because we weren't there in person to see it. And you just had like 10 minutes. It felt like three hours. You had 10 minutes of people just walking upstairs. That's not what you want for your first launch.

Let alone, like they didn't really advertise this very well, I thought. I struggled to find it. It was just on the website. It wasn't anywhere else as far as I'm aware. It was not on their social media at all. I just thought that if they'd started the event by the time everyone had gone up the stairs and it was just that other stage on the top floor, they just started with the countdown there.

Fine? The first half of this was just a waste of time. I think you'll actually find it in the tape modern next year actually as an exhibit for walk up the Audi stairs. I will give them credit. The one thing I thought was kind of cool that was a bit different was they got the video of Holkenberg pulling the sheet back. I just thought it was like three seconds of the whole show. But I thought it was well done and I liked it.

And there was a rap as well about Audi, which... I've moved on from that mentally. I don't know if you want to revisit that ever again. I'm a fan of a lot of things. Rap is including in that. But I've had to say... Howdy rap is the... Yeah, I'm not sure of that.

That's a separate genre. I've moved away from the album run. I can't think of a better way to go into our first break. On the other side, we're going to be chatting Charlerc at his future. Thank you, everyone, to the second part of today's episode. We'll get on to Charlotte, Claire, in a moment. But I did forget that Sam, you wanted a quick chat about the Honda launch, which they could have just done that with Astor Martin.

why have they had their own separate launch? Why is Honda having its own moment with like a cut and the engine just on display on its own with Lawrence Stroll stood there? You're supplying one team. What? I mean, you're technically not even new to F1.

You know, you're big about a while, son. You know, you aren't new, you've got world titles under your belt. You're pretty established. Hello, Enging and Lawrence Stroll together on stage. And then it's weird that you're seeing the engine all over social media. Usually these teams are coveting this information, they are hiding it like anything.

It was a very odd moment. I thought, oh, if Aston Martin gone earlier, if I not realized that the launch is happening? No, no, no, no, no, no. Just Honda doing a completely separate launch. Not even on the same day as the Aston Martin launch. It was very odd. Not in the same month as the Aston Martin launch. That's a February one, in it?

Harry, any insider info? None at all. But I enjoyed the translators all stood behind each individual. remember that was on stage as well, kind of kind of creepy away. Yeah, very, very interesting. Like I said, I feel like they didn't get to do anything last year, and they're really trying to get it all out of their system now. They did blur some of the engine, so that's obviously the secret part that's good.

The rest of the engine can't be, because they're just show in the world, which is encouraging. The same as a civic, I imagine, the bit that they kept on below. Yeah, yeah. Mule car. It's a mule engine. It's a civic one. Yeah, this is the Prius. It's the famous.

Fulando Alonso's new car. Orlando just rocking around on the jazz test in the engine. Oh, I would love Fulando along sewing a jazz. The net wouldn't fit in the boot. I know I sent this through, but my favorite comment on this was someone just going, that looks quick. It's a plain engine.

I really hope it's sarcasm because... Oh, hello's good that. Yeah. I guess I'd have to get that out of my system. No. What's going on with that? I don't know. It's Japan for it as well.

Like, come on. Turn the air miles. Kill the planet for this. Oh, boy. We'll get on to our third launch that we'll be talking about later on, which is Hasse. Before we do that, though, let's chat Charles LeClaire, because he is entering...

I can't believe this is true, but I've written it down, so I guess it must be. He's entering his ninth season in F1. He was debuting yesterday, which means it's his eighth year with Ferrari. He's already third on the all-time list for Ferrari in terms of races completed.

And by the end of 2026, he'll be just six off the record of Michael Schumacher, unfortunately for Charles LeCler, whereas Shaul-Lacler has eight wins. That's only one more win than Schumacher has championships. in this sport. So that's where the comparison ends, I'm afraid. Harry, are we finally getting to a now or never situation when it comes to LeCleur and Ferrari? I appreciate that there are more races in F or now, but that's a disgusting fact. Horrific statistic.

Yeah, that is gross. It has to be now or never. And Ferrari, you know, Fred Fusser must know this about Charles LeClaire. So if they can't deliver this year, then there's a real strong possibility that LeClaire pulls the plug. And they have to deliver properly. I don't think it can be another year of some wins and a potential championship challenge.

I think even if he had, I don't know, even if he had 2022, as again repeated that sort of form, I still don't know whether it would be enough. The problem is it might be, you know, too late by the time he realizes. But it has to be, it has to be a good year for Ferrari. Otherwise, I think they really do risk.

Really do risk Lecler running away. And that's a big asset. They'll be losing in that case. So it's now and ever. Time to be good, Ferrari. I mean, trusting in Ferrari is a dangerous game, but I mean, LeCler's been doing it for eight seasons now. Yeah, that's true.

The 22 comparison is an interesting one because do you think the way in which the season pans out matters here in that he picked up a few wins in 2022, but so many of them were confined to the beginning of the season and Ferrari really deteriorated throughout the year? Do you think that it's just a case of a few wins won't be enough no matter what? or do you think if they ended the year well versus how they started it, would that be enough to convince him to stay another year? I think Ferrari need to come out of the blocks well. If they tear off towards the end, I think that's better than the other way around because if they come up the blocks well,

LeCler gets some wins, say it's the first half of the season. I think he commits and he stays. And also the opportunities to go elsewhere might have already closed up before these. if theoretically Ferrari get worse. If they, Ferrari start off poorly, I think LeClaire's window shopping immediately.

Like I think it's, if it's round two and the car's terrible, I genuinely think you will be looking around. So, yeah, I guess it depends where his options lie. And if there aren't any, but we don't know yet. But there may be a few floating about Aston Martin, maybe comes to mind.

But who knows? But like I said, I think Ferrari, don't try and run that. Don't be good for a bit, Ferrari. Just be good in general. It's a lot to ask for that, too. Yeah, for a whole year. They've not done that for a long time.

And we'll get on to possible destinations if Lecler isn't happy at Ferrari in a little bit in this segment. In terms of LeCleu and Ferrari, Sam, I always said LeCler versus Ferrari, which, to be honest, is more accurate. He's been there a while. He's had to endure a lot, but we know that the relationship between LeCleur and Ferrari

goes beyond just that standard driver and team combination. There is a almost romantic, nostalgic element to this. Does that mean that it's still not now or never? Or is LeCleur's patients finally going to wear out if it doesn't happen this year? If you flip through the dictionary and you want a modern interpretation of what the phrase Stockholm syndrome actually means, Charles LeCleur at Ferrari is pretty darn accurate. Yeah, you get treated this.

You get machinery this poor, you get seasons this inconsistent with communication, this atrocious. Most drivers would, of his quality, would dust their hands of it. They'd wiping away. But we spoke about this in a recent episode, the almost storytelling of LeCleur and Ferrari and the way that he's linked, I think it was like a Patreon episode, the way that he's linked to Bianchi and there's a Ferrari relationship there, the way that he tells his father he's got the Ferrari drive before he passes away,

despite lying, of course, and then, you know, does get the Ferrari drive. The way he picks up those first few wings, the second one being in Monsor, and it's so poetic. He is Ferrari through and through, and that's a real problem that Claire's going to have to get out of his own head. He's going to have to almost separate his love and adoration.

He's fanship of the team for his own career's sake. And I feel like Lewis Hamilton recently had to do this with Mercedes. He had to essentially cut time. from the family that he's been with since before. The late 90s, right? He was a kid where he got signed by Mercedes and he's being a Mercedes partner and family member, as they called him, all the way until the most recent season.

It's a huge changing his career. Now, of course, the Clare is slightly less on that time scale, but it's still a huge bug of his life, a huge part of that commitment, and to drive in that red. You heard what Lewis Hamilton said when he moved over. It's so romanticised by drivers in Formula One to be successful in Ferrari. it's the ultimate goal in Formula One.

But the fact they've not even had a driver's title, that I'm a constructor since 2007 with Reichen, and that came in the last couple of races of the season. And before that, it was Schumacher, of course, when he did the five in a row. They are going through one of their, when I say Ferrari, because only Ferrari could do this, one of their generational streaks of not winning something.

And they've done this a few times in their history when they've gone 15, 20 years, and they have not picked up a victory in terms of a championship. They're doing it now. The worrying thing is if they start this season badly, it could be easily be another five years before another chance comes their way. Charlotte Clare has to be aware that this driver market is stacked, is absolutely stuck to the brim of talent and seats that are going to get snapped up so quickly.

So if he's not willing to pull the plug, race three or four, as you say, Harry, he's going to be stuck in this seventh level of hell for at least the next half a decade. Well, I am doing on the fly math here, but I think they've won six Drivers' Championships since the year 1980. I mean, Red Bull have won eight since 2010. Like, it's been a while. And five of those came, as you say, one after the other. Outside of that, you really do just have that Kimmy Rikin and Drivers' Championship. We're not entirely certain on Charlotte Clare's contract situation.

We know that he signed a deal at the end of 2023 for multiple. all seasons. So what that means exactly is unknown. Some speculating at the time, it might have been another sort of five-year contract, as that was at the end of when he'd done his first five years at the team, in which case, that wouldn't mean he's out of contract at the end of this year, or even at the end of next year. That would be the end of 28.

But he did sign that deal, again, at the end of 2023. So he definitely didn't sign that based on recent success. In 20203 was not a good year for LeClaire or Ferrari. He was winless that year. In fact, everyone not named a Red Bull driver or Carlos Seins was winless that year. And he'd scored 102 points fewer than he had in 2022. In theory, he would have been negotiating from a position of strength at the end of 2023. They needed him far more than he needed them.

In which case, you would have hoped he'd have put clauses in his contract at that point to say, if you're not hitting targets by 2026, 2027, I can go early. We don't know what those might be, but you would at least hope based on that timeline, something is in place to let him go if he wants to. I don't necessarily think he needs to win a title this year, but I think at the absolute minimum, he needs multiple wins throughout the season on pure pace. Like I don't think, for example, if he took three wins throughout the year and two of them were kind of inherited wins after DNFs, I don't know if that's enough.

If he wins like four or five races outright on pace throughout the year, even if he's not quite in the driver's championship fight, I think that might be enough to keep him for one more year. But who knows, I'd be worried if I was Ferrari. I'd be worried if I was LeClaire. When we talk about LeClaire, we always think, when he's got time, right, he's got plenty of years ahead of him, which is true. That's not always going to be true. With each passing year that goes by, that becomes less and less true. Michael Schumacher had won two championships by the time he was 26. The Stappen has won four by the time he's 27.

Vessel won four by the time he's 26. Leclair is now 28 years old. So it's going to have to happen as well, I say it's going to have to happen. It might not. But he needs to make sure he's, I'm sure he's not, in a mentality of it'll happen at some point. You can't bank on that. In terms of possible destinations, Harry,

you mentioned Aston Martin as a maybe. Are there other maybes out there? Who should be interested in Leclair and who should Declare be interested in? Yeah, Aston Martin, I've got to be one. I mean, it depends or, I think depends on what Fernando Alonzo decides to do whether he will ever retire, which is, you know, unlikely. That's it.

So, yeah, that's one option. Red Bull, I think, is another of maybe if Vastappen goes, but even if Vestappen doesn't go, Vestappen, LeCler line up. So much, yeah. Seth, he's still by beating hot. If I was Lauren Meckes and the Ferrari is bad this year, I would be ringing LeCleur's agent.

I hope I believe he's Nicholas Tot, isn't it? Is that still correct? Oh, I think that might be true, yeah. So I think those two options. Mercedes don't know because if they're not going for the staff and I think they keep who they have now. So I don't think that's an option. But, you know, Toto likes to flirt around, doesn't they?

There's a big hat. Cheeky little flirt. Pizza and cakes. And so, yeah, I think those are realistic. You know, outside chances are those teams. that might come good with the new regulations, but I think that's going to have to be one. If, you know, as we go through the year,

if the likes of an Audi or a Cadillac spring of surprise, even like a Williams reunite the Clare and signs, I think they're quite doubtful. So it's going to be one of the top ones. It's going to have to lure him away. I've declared Astermarton that. But, you know what I mean? They've also got a lot of potential there.

So, yeah, I think that Aston Martin, and Red Bull the two likely candidates for me. Sam, I don't think there's a team on the grid that should have zero interest in Lecler. Am I wrong for saying that? For me, if you can't get Vastappan, you get Charles LeCler. So if you're out there in the market

looking for a driver and you've gone for Max Vastaping and he's told you know, that's who you go for. You go for Charle-Cleur. So pretty much Mercedes, I think of the only ones off the cars because I rate George Russell

pretty much the same level as I rate Charle clerk. And if they can't get Max for stabbing, there's no point trying to splash that much cash to replace Russell with the clerk, because it's almost a like-for-like swap. And anything else Ellie's your long-term bill. He's the person you're putting your years behind. Doesn't make sense at that point, unless you really want to do a Russell-le-lecler team, which, hey, I'm here for it if it happens. But, you know, if Austin Martin sang around and they go, Max, we'll come over, he goes, no, thank you. We go, right, Charles, do you want to come over? We'll give you the money. If Audi rock up and they're really good after a year, and Holkenberg's

starts to get a little bit worse for wears due to age, possibly. You go get Shauna Clare. Cadillac's exactly the same. You've got two Asian drivers. You go get Shaan McClure. Williams is an interesting one. Because if we've said this before, if Albuoy and Sikes can actually produce a full season together of top quality,

you might think we're building something here. I don't think you can turn him down. I know. I'm with you. I think from a outsider's point of view, I think we're right. But I think vows, I think he'll have his loyalty. I think also have his long-term wants and needs. On the other side, you've got teams that Charlotte Clare

would tell to royally bugger off. Alping, sorry, you ain't got a chance. Hars, sorry. Imagine if he leaves Ferrari goes to Hars. I think I'm going to be up Alp. Obviously, you can write off R-B. It's not going to happen. So, realistically, there's a good four or five teams

that if they can't get Max Verstappen, you go, Charlotte, Claire. Yeah, I say, I don't think there's a team on the grid that should have just zero interest in Chau-Laclur. I think they should all be keeping tabs on him for different reasons. Even if you think some teams are unlikely to want to move on, I still think it's worth paying attention to what he's doing. So if you look at Mercedes, again, George Russell, I don't think they'd switch Russell for LeCler. But Antonelli is less certain. In an ideal world, they've spent a lot of time and energy on.

developing him through the junior formulae into F1, it would be a bit silly to get rid of him just before, in theory, he gets to his best. But if they have a really good car and it's not working with him, you've got to be quite cut for it with these decisions. So I wouldn't completely rule out a Lecler and Russell partnership at Mercedes if there was a possibility of that in the future. For whatever reason, I've got nothing scientific to back this up.

Leclair plus Red Bull to me, for some reason, I can't picture it. I just can't there's something that's even with the stop and gone I just it doesn't he's too red he's too red

Is it the thought of Charlerclair having to go to Milton Keynes What do you think of Milton Keynes I'll also go to Milton Kings if that happens that's the problem imagine going from the Lowe's hairpin

to Milton Keynes round about seven like cheese I'll argue they're both pretty iconic I would argue against that but you do whatever you want. If it's not working for Ferrari this year, I do sincerely hope he thinks about leaving. Just, I know we get the sass over the team radio with Brian

and we have a laugh and a joke about it. And it's good for the M-A's, but at some point, we need to get this amount of title. Come on. I think they're in trouble because if they are, If they made a terrible car, Hamilton's not around much longer either. If they lose both of them in the next 24 months,

what's going on? What happens? Vesir will get sacks as well. They'll be driving. Oh, please, please anyone. You know, Bearman will think he's the king of the world because he'll be their only hope for anything. Maybe it'll be Ocock and Bearman,

promote the Bonser for Ferrari. I'm there for that. What a timeline that would be. And John Elker would be like, well, we've got a great car, so what's the problem? A Commonwealth Chap, 27. The plan. Manifest it.

Right, let's take our second break on this episode. On the other side, we're back to launch chat. This time it's Hass. Back everyone to the third part of today's episode. Before we chat, Hass, if you just want a little bit more late-breaking, I happen to know where you can go. The late-breaking Patreon.

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So make sure you close messages. Yeah, sorry. Come on. Incorrectly labeled. Hall of Famer, the Father Christmas of birthdays. Have we got any, and I was away for a few weeks? Have we employed any bin men in the city? or is it still the...

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I called you a Benny Bin Man. We love the people of Patreon, so we're willing to do that. Please join us in spite of everything we've said in the last two minutes. Haas, let's move on to them, because Haas on Monday revealed the first images of their 2026 car, including the new livery. The car itself is the one they'll be using for the season, albeit with significant design changes before the start of the year. The car's livery features much more prominent branding from Japanese manufacturer Toyota

through its Gazoo Racing brand. Toyota returned to F1 in a technical collaboration with Hass in 2024, and the team will be officially known this year as TGR HASS F1. Again, let's start with the livery, Sam. Do you like this one more than you like the Audi one? The other day, I called you both, I think, colourblind for your rating of last year's liveries. All right, that is.

Well, it's a banger. So, but this year, thank the Lord that Toyota have stepped in because this is a beauty. G.Rs on the back for Tony the Tyne. because it's great. No, that's the end of the episode. We're not moving on from that. I love it.

It's so clean. The shark thing, that's back, by the way, and it looks so good with the livery on there. The colours are spot on. And there's weird, silly, grey blackness going on. It's so good. Big fan. They're clearly not going to go anywhere quickly

because that is a gorgeous bat-marker livery that we're going to see there. And I respect it. And when we look at the back, it's going to look good. But it's so much better than last years and all the other years. It's by far their best delivery they've ever produced. This year's grid looking sexy.

Harry, you were more positive about the HASS of last year. So do you think this one lives up to your expectations? I really like this livery. Has have delivered once again, once again, which is rare given most of their track record in their time in F1. But it's not as good as last year. And I'll stand by it. Are you having a laugh?

It's not as good. Expand. It's just not. I really like it. I really do. But I saw a comparison of the two next to each other and I was like, I just love last year's livery. I've decided I'm wrong. How are you?

It's still superb. And look, it's pretty close because I really like this livery. I think if they'd gone more down the red route, a bit more red Toyota style. Maybe it would have swung it for me, but I, they obviously didn't. Again, I'm caveatting for all people or Hasse fans or fans of this livery. I really like this livery. I just don't think it was quite as good as good as last year. But last year was my favourite one.

So a tough bar, tough bar to beat. But yeah, well don't. House delivery designers. Another good effort. Now, deliver a good car. Yeah, we'll see about that second bit. But even though, even if it is a slight downgrade for you, still in the conversation probably is one of the best.

I know we're fairly early on in this season, but... Yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I still... The best one we've seen so far, I think, yes. Oh, don't give you thinking away, man. Sure. But you certainly how much you hated the Audi one.

I might be bluffing. It's a bluff. Come on. She'll bait and switch. I love the Audi one. Phoebe. A plus. I don't like it.

I love it. I'll wait for that. that. Just to hide that line. Yeah, that's fair. I really liked the Hasse livery of 2024. I've, again, I've been very complimentary about the Hasse liverys for the last few years. I think they've been, for me, the best team on the grid for liveries in the last three or four years.

And I didn't, I wasn't sure if they were going to top that in 2025. And I love the 2025 one even more. They essentially just inverted the black and the white, but I felt it worked even better last year and I thought, is there any chance they can top this in 2026? And my answer is an authoritative yes, they can top it in 2026. This is incredible. I love this livery so much. And again, as I've done with the other three that we've reviewed so far, I've tried to break it down into positives and negatives. The first positive I've written down for this livery is just look at it. Look at it. Look at it. It's glorious. Solid feedback. It's dynamic. It's striking. Everything works in unison.

I think the front of the car again looks really aggressive, looks great. I love the use of those bold numbers. I think, again, they've just inverted the colour on that one this year. I think it looks even better than it did in 2025. The Gazoo Racing sponsorship, so much better than Moneygram. It's a real improvement there. Everything that's the black on the white looks, really good. The side of the car, the Hass logo, is really well spaced out. You've got the back of the car, I think with that strike that you were talking about, Sam, that looks really good. I haven't got any problem with the carbon fiber on this car. I found it difficult to, I found it difficult to come up with negatives on this one. If I had to come up with any,

it would be, where are the numbers going on the rear of the car? Have they just forgotten? No, they are just numbered GRR now. George Russell. That's great. I will tell you that as an answer. I still contend that having the... I'm just going to annoy like half the audience here. I think having the American flag on the front is a bit lame.

Like, I'm not against it, but commit... If you're going to do something flag-wise, commit to it, or it just feels like we're still America's team, even though Cadillacs here, here's the American flag, just small on the front. It's flagging. It's big for... goodness me

it goes against everything we know about the size of American flag when we visited exactly it should be that size it should be draping the car over there didn't they

don't make them small yeah you can tell this car wasn't made in Texas the other thing as well is the play and go sponsorship that's got that blue it still stands out a little bit

I don't love that but this will as far as the the 2026 liveries go, this will take some beating. I don't know if another livery is going to come out that's better than this one. If there are, we've had a very good year. I think this is one of the best liveries

in the last 10 years in F1. I think it's phenomenal. I, my only griping is not with the livery, but it's of the renders that they released. Why are the front tires? Yeah. The rear tires on the front of the car. Someone's played a prank, haven't they?

But it's a render. It's not like they've accidentally put the wrong way around. It's a render. Someone's rendered it that way. It's because they've done the back of the car render and they've just gone copy and paste in the front of the car. Control C, control. Yeah.

No one noticed. Everyone noticed that. We're going to be really surprised when the hasp pulls up to the grid first race of the season that actually puts it in reverse. That's how Kamatsu cooked. Does that help park in a minute. It's actually terrible. very.

Put it in reverse, Terry. Actually a monster truck. That's how big its wheels will be for next season. I don't mind that. Iocamatsu, of course, team principal of Hasse going into his third year as team principal. He stressed as part of this, well, they didn't really do a proper launch, but he stressed in statements that they are the smallest team on the grid still and that the challenge is greater as a result of that.

Do you find that worrying in any way, Sam? Yeah, I do find no worrying that these are excuses that he's coming out with. It's all looking rosy for Haast at the moment. There's a cost cap involved. There's an engine cost cap involved. They're well-backed now by a technical partner that has gone to wing so many things in the motorsport world and arguably are the biggest car manufacturer on the planet in Toyota. Their Gazoo Racing Department is phenomenal with both rally, hot hatches, endurance racing.

They produce brilliant race cars. and this partnership is growing further. Jing Haas, I imagine, probably hasn't spoken to a soul in about four years, and yet, hey, that might be a good thing. It's just, it worries me that they seem to be coming up with excuses before the seasons even started about how it's going to be so much harder. When for a team like Haas, it maybe could be better time to be Formula One right now. So I was a little disappointed to hear that,

especially when I feel they've taken a good step forward over the last couple of years. It does feel like each team so far. is lining up their team-specific excuse because you've got Haas saying, well, we're the smallest team on the grid. You've got Cadillac said, well, we're a brand-new team on the grid. And you've got Audi saying, we're a brand-new power manufacturer. You've got Red Bull said, well, this is the first time we've ever done a full independent engine. It's like everyone's got their line lined up ready for this year.

What do you think, Harry? Is it worrying that he's coming out with this so early in the year? again like we said the other day with the Red Bull statements I think we're going to hear a lot of these sort of lines as you say Ben I think the deal with has hasn't changed and it's something we spoke about

when they got rid of Gunter Steiner there's only so much I think the team principle can do and I think I came out to as we say he'd be cooking but I think there's only a certain amount that kitchen ball let him cook shall we say. It's only disposable barbecue on Carline Bay

it's Kamatsu. God, Chris! Go on, then! Try to do a cat of sausages down there. Or the wings flowing. It's not easy. Oh, wow. No one knows what we're talking about.

Even with the Toyota investment, which, you know, has helped and they've, I think it was only last year. It was the first year that they did this, what they got TPC? I can remember what that's called something. Testing your previous cars. Yes.

And that's been allowed by the fact that I've got this investment by by Toyota. But I think that again, there's a limit to what that could fully allow them to do. And as has always been the case with Hass. And they're never going to have, I don't think, unless things ever change and maybe Toyota buy them out or Gene Hass

has leaves his own team, unlikely. But I don't think they're ever going to have the right budget or investment to do this fully properly. And as I say, as much as I think Icomatzi is doing a great job, I think it is still limited by the things that are at his disposal. I think there's reason for Hass to look around at their rivals and be a little bit nervous ahead of this year and indeed future years. Like they can, if they just look around, not even at the top couple of teams on the grid, just look around and say, well, Audi, they've got pretty big ambitions in this sport. Cadillac, they're not here to make up the numbers. They've got pretty big ambitions, even if they are a few years into the future.

If Mercedes and Red Bull have got this compression tactic working at the beginning of this season, or that's Racing Balls, Alpine and Williams, who will all benefit from that. Aston Martin again, like Gene Hasse isn't opening his wallet to the same level that Lauren stroll is, that's nearly all of your rivals. There's a bit, there is reason to be concerned. And I do wonder to your last point, Harry, they are the smallest team. And it does feel inevitable whilst they remain that way, they do have a ceiling. That's maybe where Toyota comes in and we see an expansion of this partnership to either Toyota fully buying the team out or because that's their easiest path to growth is by using the Toyota partnership.

I don't know. If this season doesn't start particularly well for them, maybe they start to look down that path more. Do you think the American flag grows the bigger the team they get on the grid? Oh. Yeah, it's like a pixel for each employee. Yeah. I like to think that when they become like the sixth biggest team, it will just be like one third of the car or being American flag. Oh.

It's incentive. Okay, I'm not against that. Incensive. To be more American. Yeah, you know, back in the base, there'll be wanting the car to be a full American flag. You need to get up the grid if you want that. More on the drivers, though,

because Esteban Ockon, as part of this, said, the drivers will need to forget what they've learned since carting to drive these 2026 cars, which feels like a rather dramatic statement, Sam. But we do often see with these new, eras, this new set of regulations, that it can provide a bit of shake-up, not only in terms of the teams, but which drivers really suit that particular era. Do those comments align with the fact that we might see that again this year? Look, Ockon, as a man who is not dramatic in any way

and never ever exaggerates, that statement is ridiculous to say that you need to forget everything you've learned since casting. That means that the three of us can get into a Formula One car and be as good as Eskabang Ockle in theory. So, you know, give us a trial. You can go how it might go. Could be great. Anyway, my point here is that's silly. That's too much.

But then you are right to suggest that with new regulations does come a slightly new style, adaptive way of driving the car, the mum system that we've got going on with them. I have to start saying it. They've renamed that, haven't they? No, that's what I'm calling it forever. Mummy. So, I love it.

The moving system bit and boost. There's a lot to learn. There's a lot to manage. And with these moving parts, it's a lot to get your head around. And I do think that the way that the aerodynamics is going to apply on track,

following might be different. We saw with the ground effect cars at the way that those slightly older drivers had to really adapt to struggle. Ricardo, for example, struggled so much that he's bowed out of the sport.

Hamilton has gone through his least successful period across his entire career. even Alonso, who is probably still the most thriving of the old guards, still not the best he's ever been, despite throwing out some great performances. So you do need to adapt and adapt quickly, and it'll be interesting to see what drivers gel with this kind of new regulation in the way the cars need to be driven over those who maybe we see is, you know, Charlotte and George Russell, I'm using this as an example,

could now be the 10th of 11 best drivers on the grid. In theory, it's possible. Very unlikely. But in theory, it's possible. And so it's not even just in Formula One, I guess, with these regulation changes of moving different series, like you can never quite tell exactly how it will pan out. And I think some of those examples that you mentioned there are very valid, particularly, you know, the likes of Daniel Ricardo, who was so good.

Like, he beat Sebastian Vettel in his first year at Red Bull, in the 2014 era of cars, really struggled at McLaren, not even 10 years later. I mean, look at just even like junior formula, for example, like moving up to F1, you can never truly tell which drivers are going to click with F1 and which ones aren't. Like, for example, you just go back to 2020 in Formula 3. You had one driver winner championship in the same team

and same car as the second driver. The first driver won by four points with the second driver retiring from the last race of the season. they were born within four months of each other. You would think based on those stats, okay, those two drivers are going to do equally well in F1. Well, driver one is Oscar Piastri. Driver two is Logan Sargent.

You cannot fully tell with these sets of regulations who's going to click with what. It's the way it goes. Any thoughts, Harry, on Ocon's comment here? Yeah, he's a bit dramatic, isn't he? A little bit of dramatic, Esteban. I think the point he's trying to make here. but you know they still have four wheels

aren't they one steering wheel a right pedal that makes you go faster left color that makes he go slow knock on's car I don't know I mean the tires are the way right around but no I understand the point he's making I think there's definitely a shift from what they have been used to

but you know the formula the formula has changed I think what maybe not as dramatically, potentially as it's going to this year. But, you know, the ground effect cars may drive its drive in a different way than they did in the previous generation. And then the previous generation to that, when we didn't have hybrids and et cetera. So it's just the way it goes.

I don't think they need to forget everything they've learned in their time. And it is going to be about who adapts best. I think, you know, there are certain drivers on the grid that will be better out of than others. I'm thinking, that's just happened, for example. He'll just as good, whatever car you put him in. I may reference Alonzo, but again, he's had a good mix of not just F1, but, you know, Weck, Dakar, IndyCar, etc. So there's a lot to, there's a lot to see who's going to adapt to these the best

and those that can adapt the quickest are going to do well. So yeah, I take a point, but calm down, Esteban, come on. Well, if you're not tired of F1 car and livery launch season, good news. We've got more to review on Sunday. The big three are launching towards the end of this week. Mercedes, Ferrari and Alpine, all three of them. So, yeah, we'll be giving our thoughts on whatever they choose to share with us. We'll take our final break on this episode. On the other side, it's F1 higher or lower. Thank everyone to the final part of today's episode. We've got a little bit more time though. We've got time for F1 higher or lower. Is F1 higher? Is F1 lower?

Is sad faster? Is Harry slower? F1 higher. F1 lower. F1. You know, the Sam faster Harry slower line has literally no relevant. in the way the game is played. Many of the lyrics in any

you must have any relevance, but... I don't know, cans of Coca-Cola, lump of cheese, yeah, yeah. You know, that's pretty relevant. Heights of their knees. Sides of their knees, please. What's the height of your knees, sir? I've got a freeing cheese.

F1, higher or lower, six questions. All of these questions have a numeric answer. The guys will take it in terms to have a guess at each question. If they get it spot on, they get two points. But if they can't get it spot on, the other person will have the opportunity to say higher or lower than that guess. If they get it right, they get a point.

But if they get it wrong, the person who guessed first is the one that gets the point. And we'll start with Sam. What number would you like? I'll have number four, please, Ben. Number four. If you were to add together the driver numbers for each team this year, what is the smallest total? Red Bull.

But what's the number? It's nine. It is nine. A very good start for Sam. Two points. Three for Max for Stappen and six for Isaac Adjar. I'll play the game correctly at the start then. Higher or lower than Red Bull, Harry.

Yeah, I very quickly answered as well. I didn't know if you were going to have to take some time to run through the team. No, it's Red Bull. I have a very specific type of autism, Ben. With that, Harry, it's your turn. Number two, please, Ben. Number two. Not including the upcoming season,

how many seasons has the Cadillac lineup done before? Oh. Oh, no. So a number of seasons done by Bottas, plus number of seasons done by Perez for anyone wondering. hands are out folks okay use your fingers

put him away Christian so 26 now he's got incentive to do it again next time because he is absolutely right

it is 26 yeah did you also have the calculation as 14 for Perez and 12 for Bottas yes imagine if I was like

no 25 for yes your logic and your answer is absolutely spot on. Not a lot of hiring and lowering going on yet, folks, but it's too all. Give it time. Sam, back to you.

I think I'll have number three. There it is. How many drivers scored at least 20 points last year? I'm going to go with 18. The spot on guesses continue, folks. It is exactly 18 drivers that scored at least 20 points. The only three that didn't were Franco Colopinto, Jack Duan and Gabriel Bortoletto.

Which means it's four. I've never known such a high-scoring higher and lower. It's four-two. And, Harry, it's back to you. Number six. Number six, how many drivers on the 20-26 grid have 1,000 career points. And to be clear, at least at 1,000, otherwise the answer is probably zero.

Exactly, 1,000. I don't know, 5. It's not 5. Higher or lower sum. Said that with so much speed. I hadn't even given it any thought myself. The fingers are out. 7, higher.

That's the game. Higher. In order, wrong, right. It is higher. That's the correct part of your answer, which is the most important bit. You get the point for that. It's not seven, it's nine drivers that have at least 1,000 career points. So Lewis Hamilton is over 5,000 at this point.

Verstappen is on about 3.5,000. Then you've also got Alonzo, Bottas, Leclair, Perez, Norris, Sines and Russell, all nine of those drivers, at least 1K. Harry, we're back to you? No, we're not. We're back to Sam, aren't we? Yes. This has gone well this game.

higher or lower. I'll have number one, please, Ben. Number one, excluding Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen. How many wins does the rest of the 2026 grid have combined? Ah. If you managed to get three spot on, like exact, with this question. The fix is being called in. I'm being, uh, I'm being investigated at that point, I think. 89. It is not 89, higher or lower, Harry?

Higher. It is not higher, it is lower. A very good guess. 87 is the right answer. So, Sam, you've got this one wrapped up, but we still have one more question to go. Harry, that is number. One?

He doesn't have the pen and paper. Four. three, five. This is the Simpsons movie scene where he wants him to pick number three, isn't it? Yeah. Double it. Take one. Right.

Number five, how many races did Michael Schumacher win for Ferrari? Oh, 72. Oh, all right? Yes. Very good. Very good. No, neither. This is exceptional work.

What is the new year done to you both? I have to make my questions harder. What have you got? Spot on. I think that makes it six, four? That's just ten whole points and a higher or lower. That is wild. Yeah, 72.

If you were to add together second through sixth on the list, you would get 64. So, yeah, Schumack has got quite a lead at the front. It's quite good, isn't he? Well, I don't know about you. I enjoyed that game of higher or lower, but... But... There's a return afoot. A return of the greatest segment.

In all of podcasting, it is the... I'll be question of the week. Oh, it feels good. Question of the week was relating to Huss. We very much like the livery, as we discussed earlier on, but the problem is they've been neglecting something else. What have they been neglecting by making this livery so damn good? They kick off with Meat Man, Mike, the Bridgeford,

who simply said the part where the car goes fast. Alex on Instagram said, Op-Mast children, so you have that book for the end. Oh, good to Adam. Another year of that. This isn't an answer, but can we just get this one out the way? Have you both seen the argument between late barking and the microwave? Yes.

The back and forth woof ping. I was going to refuse to read them. Yeah, but we have our suspicions that that's run by the same person, so you're a complete mad person if you're doing that. You're talking to yourself. And it's Kirstie. Yes. Yeah, we might need to have a chap.

Yeah, I just needed to get that. That one out there. An actual answer from Jackson. I forgot to sort any friends out for Gene Hasse. That's classic. That's good, bad thing. I've gone with Treat Yourself Automotive. I bet you, if I've just rang out of that for your business,

then lucky you. The pursuit of Bristol leaves mum and spaghetti dinger lady to join Kamatsu in the kitchen. Ryan on Instagram says a good supply of heck sausages. Hell yes. Again, still not sponsored by them. Because so much free advertising. So much free advertising. Never going to pay that part of it.

I do have to give, I'll go with Jesus Castillo here because there were a few who said this as well. But this was almost the reason I put the question together. They put the rear tires on the front of the car. Look how wide they are. They clearly were neglecting the render of this, hopefully the render and not the actual car. I'm going to read this one just because it sounds like an Instagram account

that my dad would make up and it's called finger up my nose which is such a Simon Sage it is actually a count name a strategy for Ocom

yeah strategy is just long two or lap 53 and that's it Michael on Instagram says no floor reserve driver

Fred Flintstone good might have to be done that right hey they'll go it'll go quicker than the ties they have on the car at the moment at least. So V's gone with penalty training for Ocon,

which I appreciate that's an age-old meme at this point. It might need to just transfer to Behrman though, because that's where most of the penalties come from nowadays. I think it's funnier if Ocon doesn't get any penalty. He still says it's O'Conn's penalty. Who's this? Shane Watson has said, they forgot to watch Shrette, so they wouldn't be disappointed. C&C Machinist, by the way,

right in 610 we know just getting lower that number in it just good I said we may get to zero this year last one for me just to blow up the whole internet was from Matthew

their medal for Trump for piece in F1 last one from me which comes from our friend norm you just know the hospitality tank is going to be cold cans of soda ham and cheese sandwiches

and someone's Spotify DJing has set the mood. I don't know why that's such a bad thing. That just sounds like a norm submission on a live show. Yeah. And I'm all right with that. You don't know where it's going, but it's going to have some references in there.

And some hammond cheese sandwiches. Why not? Any last one from you, Harry? No, I'm satisfied, actually. I'm glad to hear that, mate. A great first question of the week of 2026. There'll be, of course, plenty, plenty. more. We're going to be back on Sunday, Sam, again, with some more launches.

We are indeed. I hope that we have left you exploding with happening us after this episode, because it's been a really joyful one, full of launches, Charlotte Clare, and Question of the Week. So do you get any right on the game more than us, less than us, let us know. I was reading all the Spotify comments. Love those, by the way. So thank you for getting involved. Really nice to see the community, just commenting having a laugh, replying to each other. So please do. Keep commenting down there. It's great to see it. If you want to chat more, Discord. Join it. Links in the description.

It's ever growing from around the world. We're in there as well. It's always fun things happening. We love to see you in there, and that's how you do your submission. So it comes to race time. Patreon, of course, is available, and you can follow us on social media. Late Breaking F1 everywhere. In the meantime, I've been Samuel Sage.

I've been Ben Hocking. And I've been putting in reverse there. I'll remember. Keep breaking late.