The Late Braking F1 Podcast - Is Red Bull's dominance RUINING F1 for fans?

Episode Date: April 16, 2023

Ben, Sam and Harry share their biggest takeaways from the 2023 season so far, and discuss the impact of Red Bull's dominance on the F1 fanbase. They also consider whether more should be done to address the surging ticket prices for attending races, before finishing off with a game of F1: Order Please. SUPPORT our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/latebraking JOIN our Discord: https://discord.gg/dQJdu2SbAm JOIN our F1 Fantasy League: https://fantasy.formula1.com/en/leagues/join/C3CCEW8P704 TWEET us @LBraking BUY our merch: https://late-braking-f1-podcast.creator-spring.com/ EMAIL us at [e-mail] SUBSCRIBE to our podcast! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This podcast is part of the Sports Social Podcast Network. Thank you for listening to the Late Breaking F1 podcast. Make sure to check out new episodes every Wednesday and every Sunday. And a very warm welcome to the late breaking F1 podcast presented by Harry Eid, Sam Sage, and me, Ben Hocking. It's a very special episode. Unbelievably the first episode after we won Best Motorsports Podcast. at the Sports Podcast Awards. What the frack happened.

I mean, I thought Ben was going to intro with. Welcome to the award-winning, late-breaking F-1 podcast. It's how you should have kicked off the show today. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Every day. Every day. I'll put it in my Instagram bio. I have.

Hold on, folks. I'll show you. I'm going to put it up on the screen, which won't go anywhere. I'm looking at wedding photos, which is irrelevant. Yeah. Look at this.

Co-host of the award-winning late breaking podcast. It's backwards. I guess it'll work. It's backwards. No mind. That's terrible. Thank God this is a podcast. The fact that it's backwards is not the thing that's stopping it being pointless. It's on a podcast. Ah, I did just say that. Yes. Anyway, we won an award, folks. And it's all because of you, listeners. Oh, honestly, thank you so much to everyone who voted. That was completely unexpected. You know how, you know how usually like when someone wins an award and they're like, I can't believe I won this.

You were the bookie's favorite. Shut up. You knew you were going to win. We really didn't think we were going to win this. We beat the BBC. And blown away. We beat the BBC. Yes.

The entire BBC. And as three, to be serious, I know we're not often, but to be serious, we're three guys who all still work full-time jobs and do this because we want it to be our career and our life. And you, lovely people, in your groves, went out and voted for us to be the best one.

And that genuinely, I was a little bit of moche. And the funny thing was, you and me were talking about it when we found out. And Ben was in the car driving home. Then I had no idea. So he found out about 20 minutes late. And he was like, what? We've won. We're all very shocked.

Yes. And but we all know the real reason is that you want us to do. The special episode. The special episode where we all do it as each other. So we will. Thank you. We will do it. We definitely will.

It's coming. gosh. Yes. As a reminder, I will be Sam. Sam will be Harry and Harry will be me in that exclusive one-off episode at some point in the not too distant future. But again, thank you so much for everyone who voted for us. And even to be nominated in that was such an honour.

So thank you for allowing us to win. Amazing stuff. Let's move on. We've got a busy show as per usual. F1 Order Please is being played later on. favorite game of all. Come on. We're going to be talking about whether Red Bull domination is pulling away avid fans from

F1. But we're going to start with our top three takeaways from 2023 so far. Now, I'm fully expecting, almost guaranteeing that Sam is going to make some sort of joke here about a fast food takeaway restaurant. But I'll let him get to that. He's looking like, no, I didn't even think about that. We put money on it, folks. but our top three takeaways from the first three Grand Prix of the season.

This could literally be anything, just what stood out to us. So, Sam, do you want to give us one to start us off? You know, I think there'll be some listeners who are thinking that this was going to be the impersonation episode. But Ben, it's nice to know that you've been rehearsing already by thinking about weird analogies that could come into play at any point. So I actually wasn't going to do a takeaway. I had crossed my mind, but I thought, you know what, I'll try and keep it somewhat

on the straight and narrow. The first one that came to mind is what's, the point of Alfred Tauri. That's being fully cementing in my mind at the start of this season. I know that sounds harsh. Two episodes in a row. Yeah. No, but I'm a big fan of Alphotauri and what was Tora Rosso.

I think their liveries have been pretty cool and they have had some brilliant success stories. You look at obviously for Stappen. You look at where Ricardo filtering in from. You look at how science went through. You look at some drivers that are now outside of Formula One that have gone through that junior program process. But it only benefits Red Bull.

And what it doesn't benefit really is the viewer. And I'm just a little bit, when we've had all this controversy about who should be a new team on the grid, you know, Sean Andretti coming, this formula equality team or whatever it might be, you know, for better or for worse. Pollock Racing. Pollock Racing is what they should be called. I believe. No more Pollock Racing. I believe that they just fill a spot which they realistically shouldn't have.

It's like having, you know, 10 people on a podcast and one of them. isn't ever allowed to say or do anything original. You just have to copy one of the other nine people, specifically one other person on the podcast every time you do something, and you're never allowed to be first to it. You're pointless. In a non-offensive, horrible way,

you are filling a space for a competitor, which I think is unfair and frustrating. And this season, especially how slow they really are, is really backfired for me on what they're achieving. And there's now stories coming out that they're going to take even more parts, rather, from Red Bull, which I think, you know, they just, it's very frustrating.

I'd like to have 10 teams that are all independent and can drive forward independently and create something special and they're in a very, very valuable slot. And I would like to see that changing. I think the first three races is really, something that I thought a lot last season, but the first three races of how poor they've been

has really cemented that for me. Yeah, certainly when they were featured a bit more in sixth and seventh place in the championship, there was at least that to go with. But where their ninth or might even end up 10th, that that's taken away. I'll kick off by saying my first takeaway here is that great drivers, I think, need to have more confidence in themselves. So we've seen particularly this. So drivers who have the opportunity to claim a long-term deal have in the past couple of years just snap them up

straight away. So sometimes it makes sense to do it if you don't know what else is coming on the horizon in terms of an F1 deal, and you want that security, because at that point you can either, one, see out your contract or two, you can have what Daniel Ricardo had happened to him, and you get a boatload of cash for being paid out early, right? So you do have that security. But certainly where you've got great drivers, I don't think it makes sense, and we're seeing that this season.

So the two that spring to mind are LeClaire and Norris here that are seriously struggling, and quite frankly, they are in long-term deals and cars that are failing them. We've had Chau LeClaire, beginning of 2021. He signed an extension until the end of next year, 2024. So a long-term extension at the beginning of 2021. He did that on the back of 2020, which if you remember, for a Ferrari's sake, was an awful year. Why didn't he have the confidence in himself to not go ahead with that deal at that time? And we're seeing the repercussions of it this year because it doesn't look like Ferrari are going to give him. the tools to achieve what he will feel he can. Similarly with Lando Norris, beginning of 2021,

he signs a deal to keep him there until the end of 2025. And now if you're Lando Norris and you've still got three years left on that deal, you're probably sat there thinking, is this team ever going to get me in a position to win races, let alone win a championship? Again, he's going to feel like that is potentially on the horizon if he gets a car that's worthy of his talent. So, yeah, I think overall, for Lecler and for Norris, in particular, the start of the season has just highlighted that these long-term deals for drivers that are good enough and should have more confidence in themselves that they can be a bit more flexible and fluid,

it's not working out. Harry, do you have a first takeaway? Yes, my first takeaway is that we need Mercedes. Hmm. Sound like March. We being the sport. You sound like March. Good.

Yeah, we being the sport. Markey. Sorry, that's awful. That was terrible. That's so bad. That was terrible. Get on your point. Yeah, because for any sort of championship fight,

we need Mercedes. And we saw in Australia, I know they wouldn't have had the pace to keep the stabbing behind, but just to have them involved, you just had more confidence in Hamilton and even Russell to be able to mix it up and for Mercedes not to balls up the strategy.

I know they got lucky with Russell, but it would have been interesting had they had not had the red flag where he would have come out. So, yeah, Mercedes, please, please get your act together. Please. For the sake of a championship battle because, I mean, Ferrari aren't even there?

What's the point? Yeah. So, yeah, that's my first one. Mercedes plus come back. Please. Yes. Plus. Exactly.

Great. Love that. Sam, back to you. Another one. So I'm going to paraphrase what the point is. It's quite similar actually to what Harry just raised, but Formula One needs Fernando Alonso. Now, the reason why I say this is not actually specifically just Fernando Alonso, but we need

big outspoken. personalities who are not afraid to step outside of the classic media trained point of view, both around the track, on the radio, on social media. For me, those drivers throughout history that have been willing to speak their minds to be a little bit chaotic and a bit brazen with the way they speak, a bit brash with how they treat maybe their other drivers up and down the grid, they are the ones that historically stand out. They create a story. They create a following.

a movement within Formula One. And you remember Hamilton and Rosberg, right, the sass that we constantly saw between them? That was a storyline in itself that we all wanted to see. Everyone loved it. Back when Vettel used to, you know, call people cucumbers and swear out of his car and whatnot,

that is phenomenal levels of sassy, sassy, sly sleigh. That's a phrase I've never thought I'd ever say. Oh, Bob, man. I don't know what, that's... Sassy Sleigh Slay Slay Slay. Don't what it meant. Anyway, my point is, Formula One, I believe, has become too media refined and coached.

And I am missing the sass. I'm missing the fun. I'm missing the taking the Mickey out of each other and having a go out of each other. And I think that's a key part of sport in Formula One that we are losing. But someone like Fernando Alonkso is very much keeping alive with his, bye-bye. Bye-bye. Like that.

I conic already. Brilliant. Already. And it's so good to see him on top because he will deliver those brilliant moments that I think. sport like Formula One needs hyper-competitive. It needs those characters to step out into the limelight.

And because Maxis are staffing sailing off into the future, and literally that's how fast the red ball is, he's in 2043, when we don't get his sassy comments over the radio, which he's quite famous for as well. So I want more personalities

in the sport. That's a takeaway. There aren't enough of them at the moment. Don't really disagree with that at all. My second takeaway from the first three Grand Prix of this season is that I think we are halfway there, 50% of the way there to the parity that we're looking for from these cost cap regulations. So if we're looking prior to cost cap, I think there was a very clear three-tier system within F1.

It was the front of the field, the midfield and the back of the field. I think we've got to a point now where the last two, the bottom of the field and the midfield, are kind of one. There isn't much separating those that are 10th and 9th compared to those that are sort of fifth and sixth, which I think is a good thing. I think we have actually reached a situation now where heading into any given Grand Prix, you feel like there is the potential that anyone could score a point. Like, you wouldn't bet against, so you wouldn't be surprised if anyone on that grid

scored a point at any given race, which I think is brilliant. So I think we've reached it in terms of like the midfield and the back of the field kind emerging into one. The reason we're only 50% of the way there is we're still missing out in terms of the front of the grid and the midfield, because, as already referenced, Red Bulls 10 years ahead of everyone else. And even if you look at Mercedes, Ferrari and Aston Martin, there's still quite a gap between those teams and then the rest of the midfield as well. So I feel like in terms of bringing the field together, we are certainly getting there. And, you know, maybe later this year or next year, we'll make even more strides. But it's the, the, the,

upper end of the field at the moment is letting it down. Harry, the second one from you. This one is designed to rattle Ben. Oh, yes. I'm so excited. It's not actually designed by thinking of it. Alpine will never be better than this. Ooh.

And, I mean, I don't disagree with you. Well, they go. You know where Big Shack eats the spicy wings and he goes, ooh! That is that meme right there. After that statement. Yes. but like look at the look at the evidence

this is and I'm talking Alpine slash they were obviously Renault a couple years ago a couple of years ago I just I don't get the feeling that they're ever going to be better than where they are now they might gain a couple of places

you know with Ricardo they're challenging for a couple of podiums and obviously Ocon did have a win in Hungary but it's a very circumstantial, not taking away from his drive there, but other than that, what have they done since they came back in as Renault in 2016? And this is another, it seems like another year of the same. Yes, they might be that sixth, seventh or whatever place in the top ten, but is that it? I just, that's it again. That's where they, it's where they kind of were last year. So,

I don't have any confidence that they're ever going to be better than where they are now. Do you think that Alpine are suffering from what I'm going to call the Ferrariisms, where culturally, something internally is not allowing them to take a step forward? Because Ferrari have been what since Rykingen won that title. They've not achieved anything. I mean, they've come close a couple of times. They've not achieved anything now for what Nion, 15, 16 years. a long time. Renho of essentially done the same thing, right? They won the season before that

and they haven't achieved anything since Alonkso was there the first time round in now 16, 17 years. A long time. I feel like culturally something is holding them back. I don't know if it's a willingness to adapting new techniques or bring people in from outside, but it's also screams similarities in the sinks. Obviously, Ferrari are very Italian-based and they pride themselves on that culturally, Alpine, very French-based, they pride themselves on that culturally. I wonder if they are refusing to open their doors to outside mines, which can allow them to excel up the grid. I mean, potentially.

I don't know. I just don't know where they... Good take, though. Thanks. I know where they go from there or from here even. I'd love to see it, but just I don't have any evidence. So they're going to do better. So sorry, Laplaine.

Laplan is absolutely in the mud, and I hate it. But I mean, I actually think you're spot on because if you think of 2017 to now, obviously that encompasses Renno and Alpine. But 2017, they finished sixth. 2018, I think they finished fourth. 2019 and 2020 and 2021. They finished fifth in all those seasons, I think. And then last year they finished fourth. So that's like six years of standing still.

Like there's no progress at all So I think you're pretty much spot on We'll get to our final takeaways now Sam your third one Do you know what then reminds me of when he was running through those results thing I'll have fish And I'll have fish and I'll have fish and for lunch I'll have fish

That's what he reminded me of of running through the results That is Alpine That is Reno and Alpine All they eat fish and rice cakes That's it fish is fifth place Rice cakes Six place Fourth place

Let's go back and forth. My final takeaway. This is going to, oh, don't start. This is going to rattle. Maybe both of you, actually. Oh, God. Because it's a classic sabism, this is. I am, I have 100% putting my foot down that the FIA need to make a change to

team's brandings to allow them to stand out properly. Because three out of three races, I've been watching the telly, and the hearse has come around the corner, and I've gone, that's an alpha towering. And I've gone, oh wait, wait, no, it's the other white and off black car that's on the track. And they look almost identical from a head on point of view. And there are too many cars that have got a slightly... The alpha-o-mayo looks like an off-brand Ferrari at the moment.

They're all too similar. And I am deciding now, right now, everyone, that the FIA should put an order in place where you have to have a specific bit of branding that sets you apart from every other team on the grid. It's too similar. Fair, I mean fair. Thank you. Less carbon fibre, please. Yep, 100%.

Bang it. No, don't bang it. We do need it. Just loads of pay. I agree with that. Definitely agree with that. All right, my final takeaway, I don't know if this will rattle anyone.

We'll see. Not even a baby. Lansstrol is going to cost Astor Martin at least one position in the championship, the Constructors Championship, because we knew going into the season. So when we did our preseason predictions, are already absolutely again in the mud.

I remember making the point that is Landstrol going to be the weak link in a battle for say fourth place? Because if we were comparing them to Alpine and Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon and of course Alonzo his teammate, there was a question around would Landstrol be the weak link of those four and actually cost them a place? The reality is good for Aston Martin in that

they're not battling Alpine and they're battling better teams but also we're not comparing Lance Stroll to West Van O'Connor and Pierre Gassley now. We're comparing him to even better drivers. Can you honestly, out of these six drivers in that fight for second place, we've got Carlos Seins, Charles, Fierle, Fernando Alonzo, George Russell, Lewis Hamilton and Lance Stroll. It's not even just a weak link. It's such an obvious weaklink of those six. Like, it's not even close.

The gap between Lance Stroll in sixth and whoever you want to put in fifth out of those five is way bigger than the gap between fifth and first of those group of drivers, right? It's like all five of them made the jump over the Grand Canyon and Lark Strull doesn't go out to get to the other side and that's the gap between them. He's, he's, uh, Homer trying to get over the, trying to get over the canyon and then he, on the back and then just, just, just a way straight into the middle. Yes. Sorry, Lance.

I don't know. It just feels like, stroll is okay enough. like he's competent, don't get me wrong, but also we thought he was going to be compared to drivers that are worse than the ones that I'm talking about here. But instead, if we're looking at the Ferrari duo and we're looking at the Mercedes duo, Stroll can't compare with those guys, right?

So I feel like if it gets close at the end of the season, it might be the deciding factor. I don't know why I feel so adamant to give him a chance. Who lands? Yeah, he's had enough chances. And yet there I am going, Oh, he might get it right. It might do well.

He's been around like longer than Lewis Hamilton, I think, at this point. I mean, to be fair to him. Longer than Fernando. He hasn't taken his teammate out of a race yet unlike Pierre Gasly. True. So he's got one up there. He'd give it, giving a good go. He's giving it a try, but he has failed.

He's also got less risks. He also did it a coter last year just in preparation for this year. Like, you know. Doesn't care. Yeah, have some of them, apples. Yeah, I get one out the way now. Yeah. And it'll be mediocre this time.

Unless there are apples in space. I don't think he's getting any. I think it's got a bad save being, unfortunately. I do want to give him a chance, and it's his first time in a properly competitive car. Another chance. What? Another chance. Another one is.

Don't take him back. Oh, but he's really nice. That's what I'm doing with Lank Stroll right now. If we're in the business of giving chances, let's get Sergei Sauruccan in that car. That's what I say. Well, exactly. Take a Lansan. me. I'm still free.

I'm in a weird mood today. It's the coffee. Oh, God. Oh, God. I'm like a child. Harry, you have like the opportunity to see us out with these takeaways. So this better be the boldest, biggest one yet. It's not.

So I'm very sorry. Okay, good. Yeah. It's probably quite an obvious one, but, you know, we still talked about it, you know, the possibility of it. but my takeaway is that Sergio Perez won't ever be well champion. Sorry, Checo.

Mexico hates you. I think we should give him another chance. Another one. Take a long song, me. Like, Checo has, he is a really great driver. And we've seen some actually really exceptional performances from him. Some in Red Bull,

but some before that at racing point as well and forced India back in the day. But he doesn't, you know, when he had Saudi, And he was really good in Saudi, really quite impressive, holding off the stab. And he thought, oh, it's like Valerie Bottas all over again. It's like, oh, maybe we'll, maybe we'll have a championship fight here. And then Q1, he spins into the gravel in Australia.

And you're like, okay. Oh, never mind. Never mind. Never mind. So I'm sure he can still get a few more wins this year, but I just don't think he'll be there consistently enough for a championship fight, which is, you know, it's sad. But not, not, I don't, this isn't even that much of a criticism of Perez. I think it's more about how good for Stappen is.

But, yeah, I just don't think he would, he's there enough. You look at the likes of Barichello, right? Like, Barrequello was a very good driver. And on his day, brilliant. Yeah, same with Bottas, fantastic driver, but you're going up against the greatest, you know. And when you're up against Hamilton, Vestappen, Schumacher. It's harder. If you need to be on your absolute A game

to even have a chance of beating them, I think it's a fair shout. Sorry, Jekko. I was also, I was going to say something and now I don't know if I'm going to regret saying it. This is irrelevant to Cheko, by the way. So... This is worrying.

I know. I was going to say that I might keep growing my moustache either until the end of the season or stroll gets a podium, whatever comes first. Sure. Right. Don't know, though.

I haven't made my mind it. He's just throwing that one out. Maybe. Now it's out there. No. you've got to commit to it now. Let me know the discourse. Let me know over 100,000 people are downloading this right now.

This award-winning podcast. I just talked about my mustache. Good. Well, it's nice to know that we've finished the takeaways on an extremely serious note, as we always do. We're going to take a short break now. We're going to be talking about Domenicali comments right after this. You and your crew to the big shows with Go Transit. Go connects to all the main concert venues like TD Coliseum and Hamilton.

and Scotia Bank Arena in Toronto, and Go makes it affordable with special e-ticket fares. A one-day weekend pass offers unlimited travel across the network on any weekend day or holiday for just $10. And a weekday group pass offers the same weekday travel flexibility from $30 for two people and up to $60 for five by yours at gotransit.com slash tickets. So this feels like a sort of biweekly occurrence at this point, but Stefano de Manicali's had something to say and we're going to react to it. So he was. Speaking to F1 investors at a Liberty Media conference, which I've just realized for my own notes,

I've actually written it down as a cobbference, which I'd like to think is a conference for Corn on the Cobb. Call on the Conference. Yeah, exactly. I believe it was just a regular conference, though. And what he said was, what's interesting to see in the new markets when the new audience is coming in,

that Red Bull's dominant is not a real important factor. It's more for the avid fans that if you see a car, that is dominant that's creating a level of less interest. For the new market, for the new fans that are coming to the business, this is not really very important. Sam, what are your thoughts on these comments? Do you think that Red Bull's dominance is only driving away more avid fans compared to newer ones?

I'm going to title this point, Domenicali's downfall. Because what is this rubbish that Domenicali has come out with? If you think that avid fans who have been around for, Let's say I don't have at least a decade, at least a decade. At that point, if they're still watching, they've been through, what, two total dominations, the initial Red Bull one and the Mercedes one. If you've been a longer term fan, like the three of us have, we've been around, what,

four total dominations, if we've got five, and fans older than us and longer than us have been around multiple. It happens. It's part of Formula One where a team get it right in new regulations, and they will lead for a few seasons. and avid vangs that have sat through that time and time again I'm not the ones all of a sudden being driven off by the fact that Red Bull and the Stappan are the ones now dominant is entirely the opposite. I'm very confused by where he's got these findings from,

maybe himself in the mirror. Just vibes. Just vibes. I'm just vibing today, guys. And I feel like... Good show. I feel like new fans love Red Bull domination. How's that one feeling?

Yeah, I'm feeling that. You're wrong, Stefano. Basically, hey? You're wrong. Sunshine. Stefano Sunshine, basically new fans expect competition. New fans expect excitement.

And do you know why? Because Drive to Survive hypes them the absolute poop out of here. Well done. Thank you. They get some pumped. You've got this great music. You've got fast-paced, high-octane action.

And you're expecting exhilarating fun every time you watch Formula One. And then cut to the race weekend. And Max Verstapp and Wings for the fifth grand bringing a row by 27 seconds and we haven't had a fight up front. Now, we're aware that that is Formula One and it happens all the time. We saw it with Lewis Hamilton. We saw it with Schumacher.

We've seen it with the likes of, you know, Prost. You're seeing it now with the Stappen or Vettel. Or everyone will put in that name. It's happened time and time again. For us, older fans, it's not a problem. We get used to it. We enjoy other parts of the sport. For newer fans who expect to fight and expect a lot of fun and competitive action,

I think this will drive newer fans off quicker than many other changes that could be made in Formula One. And I'm not saying you should stop Red Bull. They've done a great job. They deserve to be out the front. But for newer fans, I think this is a problem, not for avid long-term watches of the sport. So essentially what you're saying,

if it's the opposite, if anything. It's said, or Domenalikali saying, it's just the complete opposite. He's wrong. Harry, what do you think? Yeah, I agree with Sam. It's literally the opposite. Why? We are avid F1 fans.

Got a podcast. Well, evidently. A war-going. Good. As avid F1 fans, we've sat through some rubbish. This podcast. And obviously people are listening at F1 fans because they sit through the rubbish every week by listening to us. So we enjoy the racing here.

Oh. I'm just saying we enjoy the race. I got a tea, I can sip. Just sipping my coffee. Topical. Topical burn. Anyway, I, yeah, this is, this is complete horse poo. I don't know, I don't know what Steve Sunday is, is talking about.

Because, yeah, but we, we sat through knockout elimination qualifying in 2016 and we still came back, yeah? Oh, no, no, no. Double points? Double points in Abu Dhabi. We still came back and watched the next year. Delanoid at that. Yeah, that's ridiculous.

Just one time and one time only. Abu Dhabi, 2014 is worth double every other race. During the hypersoft tire. We, exactly. We had eight different tire compounds. The hard tie was orange at one point. Yeah, and pink was hypersoft. Yeah.

Hyper soft. Sounds good, though. It does sound good. So, look, my point is, it's because we love F1 so much that we sit through the rubbish, because we know there is a, there's a good sport under there. The new, the new F1 fans who, as you say, watched it on trying to survive or or indeed just knew because they caught it with,

they got caught up with 2021. So how a lot of fans got involved now. Yeah, they're going to be, they are going to be put off. There's no other way to say it. So I don't know, I don't really know what he's trying to, I don't know what point he's trying to get at because I know he's trying to say like,

no, F1 fans aren't being put off. It's the, it's, it's that, sorry to go back to the Simpsons again. It's that, Skinner meme,

where he's like, am I the problem? No, it's the children. And it's just like, no, it's the older F1 fan. So, yeah, I don't really quite understand this point here. And yeah, I don't think necessarily new at F1 fans are being put off straight away now. Yes, it's not quite the same as it was in 2021. But I think F1's in a healthy enough state at the moment that they still stick around.

So, I had. Why does he keep saying things like this? I'm just taking notes of how you're ending at this point because he is going on. I don't really have an end to this point. Of course you don't, because you're Harry Eid. Keep going. Just keep murmuring a little bit.

I don't know. I just try not to cough. You did a great job. Well back. I'm also trying to scoons. Good. In conclusion, stop, Steve Sunday. Correct.

All right. So we've had two conclusions, which are, you're wrong. and shut up Steve Sunday. So, okay, good stuff. Yeah, I was reading the article on this, and I must have been there for like 10 minutes straight, just staring at it,

and then not really knowing how to respond, and then afterwards just kind of being like, sure about that, pal? Are you sure? Are you sure? I just, it doesn't make any sense, does it? On the service, it makes no sense whatsoever. To your point that,

avid F1 fans and long time F1 fans have had to sit through a lot of dominance. I mean, what do 2022, 2020, 2019, 2018, 17, 15, 13, 13, 11, 09, 05, 04, 02, 01, 95, 93, 92. I didn't go back any further than that, but what do all those have in common? They were all dominant seasons. So either, either Steve Sunday here is telling a bit of a porky pie and it's not actually true. A little piggy. Or, I'm not going to call him piggy. Or the alternative to that is he is telling the truth, in which case, F1 has a massive problem.

Because if all of those years didn't drive away avid fans, yet this one is, why? Because like I said, we've had so many years. of dominance. So if what you're saying is true, Steve Sunday, why is it only happening now under your watch? I don't think it's quite the thing you were intending to say. I think you've kind of self-burned yourself or you're lying, which neither's great for you. I appreciate that when it comes to investors and surprisingly, folks, I'm not an effort when it comes to investing. You would think so, but definitely not. I feel like if you you're talking to your investors, you probably need to strike a balance between, you want to keep

things mostly positive because, hey, they're investing in your product. But also, you probably don't want to, there's a fine line because if you're saying everything is 100% positive. If you were an investor, you'd probably look at that cynically and say, are you sure? I feel like there's something going on beneath the surface. So I understand why you're trying to strike a balance. but yeah, you would just think that the newer generation of F1 fan is more likely to be turned off based on this due to potentially unrealistic expectations of what the sport is, rather than, I just want to know what's your source.

Like, where are you getting this information from? Because if you can tell me, and I can go away and look at it, and whether it's based on data or surveys or whatever, great, then I'll believe you. Until you do that, it just doesn't sound like it can be right. I bet it's ranch. But that's his source. You bet it's what?

Ranch. Ranch. Rant. Oh, ranch sauce. Yeah. We don't have it in the UK, do we? Thank you. Good.

Go try someone. We go to Texas. Yeah. I was thinking about getting a Texas-based tattoo when we go to commemorate. Oh, God. I even, what, stop making all these promises on a podcast. I've been serious. I spoke about it at home the other day when we were on.

off here and I said that I might get a yee and a ha with like a little cowboy hat in the middle or like my leg or something. And a mustache. And a mustache. Not tattooed. Real one. Right. This is all on you.

We're not getting involved with this. I've got a great time. It's a lovely time. I am genuinely not going anywhere near you on this trip. Yeah. You have to literally live with me. We're flying there together and back. I'm actually, I'm going to fly the plane so I don't have to say next to you now.

Guess I'm not going anymore. That's my trip ruined. well I'll be there, folks. A daylight and a dollar short. Hey! Oh, we're on it. Oh, war-wanging my ass. You know what?

That should be the title of this episode. Which bit? Award winning my ass. Yes, exactly. Because that's the way this is heading very quickly. We'll take another short break. We'll be discussing ticket prices after this. Okay, truth be told, we were initially going to chat about this.

on Wednesday's episode, but we blabbed on for so long about other things that we didn't quite get around to it. I mean, we spoke a lot on that episode. So apologies, but we're here now. Question is about ticket prices and ensuring the regular fans, I don't know what the right term is, can still afford these events because we know the F1 events are very quickly being sold out. Nowadays, the interest is incredibly high. And as a result of that, ticket prices are steadily increasing year on year. The reason most specifically this topic came up, I think it's relevant all year round,

but why this has come out now, is that Silverstone ahead of the British Grand Prix this summer has announced the price of its pit lane entry price, which is on the Thursday before the race. Now, a couple of years ago, I believe this was completely free. Last year, it was just £29. And they decided to put a one in front of it this year to make it £129, which, if you do the maths,

something along the lines of stonking increase, I reckon. Real big thing. Stunks. Stunks. Yes. Harry, what needs to be done, what should be done, what can be done about this? Make it cheaper. Oh.

There you go. Oh, topic over. Cheers, mate. Let's go home. Yeah, look, this is purely, I think Silverston is in a weird position because a lot of circuits are they get help from like their governments and stuff

whereas Silverston as far as I'm aware doesn't so it's all sort of on its own and it's always had this issue basically you know the big circuits in the Middle East and stuff they all get government backing so it's pretty quite cheap to get a ticket there Silverson doesn't have this so it's almost its own little unique problem

but this pit lane entry walk thing, that's just, you're just trying to make money out of people. You don't need to charge. Why? Like what for? They're already paying to be there. And it's not cheap anyway.

No. And Silverston's ridiculously expensive these days. And you, you know, we've already had a problem with Silverston this year because it's, I mean, sold out now, isn't it?

But they were doing that thing where... Adaptive pricing was... Yeah, as demand, went up, the price went up. That's right word. Thank you, Ben. Yeah, which is, I mean, disgusting.

But, um, I just, I get, I get, I get civil son needs to perhaps charge a bit more because of the way it's funded. Like, fair enough. And if that's,

if it needs to, then, and to keep it on the calendar, then yes, you know, I, I'm going, but I'll be willing to pay a bit more.

If I want us to go. For that sake. Um, but doing this is just, if you're just trying to mug, mong off F1. fans and I don't like it at all. I've always thought Sylvedon's been pretty fair on how they've priced stuff before but now they just seem to be cashing in on the popularity of F1 and the fact

that this as you say Ben two years ago was a free a free thing to do or at last year went up to 30 quid which you know it's still not great but it's only 30 faredable isn't it if you're going out for an event that was 130 quid jog on correct jog on is it's not on is it Oh. Yeah, I sincerely hope. I mean, I've seen lots of things on Twitter that people say you can go to fly to Hungary, as in to Budapest, buy a ticket for the F1 race and all of that and still be cheaper than in a Silverstone weekend, which is, you know,

and that's going from the UKAMs, I should say, but that's ridiculous. That shouldn't be the way. So sort it out, Silverston, because you'll lose F1 fans from your event. Well, I say that. They keep coming. They will still keep coming, so maybe they won't. But there's got to be something done because you're pricing people out.

They deserve to be able to go and watch your sport. Exactly. So sort it out. Yeah. And whilst, you know, you can say inflation is a thing. I don't think inflation is at 400% at the moment. I don't think they can justify it based on inflation either. Yeah, the problem is that.

If kind of to the last point you were making there, Harry, that if they can charge these prices and still get the same amount of people through the doors, there's nothing stopping them from doing so. You know, everyone who is a stakeholder in this is going to be concerned with the same thing. So what, you know, shareholders, what are they concerned about their return money? What's the circuit need? Money. What does F1 want?

Money. What does the FIA want money? What do the sponsors? us want, they want money. So there's, there's no one on the inside who's going to fight for the fan here, because everyone's interest for once are pretty much aligned in they want to make the most revenue they possibly can from this event. And they know that if they can charge 50% higher prices and get away with it and they'll still get the same amount of people through the door, they're going to do that. There's no one there to tell them not to, which is

incredibly disappointing. But I think it's probably the reality of the situation that. we're in and we need to work. I think finding a solution is a case of not ignoring that, but almost knowing that and working around it. So I feel like, and feel free to shoot me down if you don't think this is a good idea at all. Maybe we can get something in place here where circuits can get like sponsorship and subsidies from a big time corporate partner or a big time sponsor and they can provide a set of discounted tickets on the back of that. So the sponsorship opportunity would need to be great for whoever the sponsor is. Certainly from a PR point of view as well, that's kind of covered off. So you'd get those in. Obviously, whatever the sponsorship

money included there is would need to offset whatever the ticket income loss would be from from charging cheaper tickets. But if you can find a way to make the numbers work there, maybe that's a route to help out because it's difficult. Who steps in? Who's, I don't know who's in otherwise. But maybe this is a way that you can get cheaper tickets, but there's a massive sponsorship opportunity for a company to come in and do this

and actually look good doing it. What do you reckon, Sam? I think at the very base of it, Formula One has a huge fundamental problem with cash, with money. And it needs a huge change. It won't change. And the key reason it won't change is greed. It is greed. And there are a lot of very, very, very wealthy people at the very top who benefit off of where Formula One is going and how it's always been going.

And why would you, like, understand it. Why would you want to see that change? Your pockets are being filled. your bank account's ticking up. You don't want to do that slower or you don't want to take money out of that. I understand that. We all want to make money.

We all want to be comfortable. They're very comfy. They're comfy than I'll ever be in a million years. But realistically, Formula One and Liberty need to create a better program where the dissemination of funds is far more spread. And they need to put almost a mandate in place

to each track where they receive more money to start with because they clearly don't get more funding. A lot of Grand Prix remember have to pay to be on the grid. So apart from ticket sales, on the calendar, rather, so apart from ticket sales, they don't get money from Liberty or anything like that. It doesn't get taken down from the multi,

multi-billion dollar company that has all that revenue that is Liberty. Remember that. They're still paying to be on that calendar. So they're not receiving any of those funds, but they should. They need to. And then that funding should be mandated to go into lessening ticket prices so the cracks can still make some profit,

goes into, you know, track maintenance, goes into entertainment that isn't just on the grid, all that kind of stuff. And then alongside that, you have a real problem where someone like Silverstone, which most tracks look to because of how long it's been on the calendar, how much it's respected by drivers, by fangs, by press and sponsors. You see a project like this happen where they go from having a free experience, which is an amazing thing. I've done a pit walk, and I've been lucky enough to look at the cars up close

and speak to drivers of other sports as well. And it really is a brilliant experience. Could I pay? And I'm, you know, I'm quite a privileged person. I have a good income. I work hard at another job. We have this. And, you know, we are huge F1 fans.

Could I really justify a hundred and thirty quig to walk down a pit lane on a Thursday after I've already spent hundreds of pounds on another ticket? No, I couldn't. I couldn't afford it. So this is aimed at high earning influencer type people that are already very, very wealthy, that get extra opportunities.

And other tracks who are maybe new to the calendar, will look at Silverstone as an example and go, well, they're getting away with it. They're having a good time with it. People are still buying it. That's more money. Let's go and do it. And in that, it compounds the problem.

And people who maybe are big fans of Formula One but want a good photo opportunity, who know they've got extra cash just sat in the bank. Go, I'll go, that's fun. I'll stand next to a Ferrari and have my photo taken. I'll go see Charlotte Claire and get my photo taken. That will sit on my 100,000 followed Instagram page. But the three of us, maybe you lot listening,

who are just sat at home, I don't know with a family or you've just got a normal, job and you're trying to just get by in life, you miss out on that experience because you're not cared for in a way that you should be by this global multi-billion dollar corporation. And you've dedicated a lot of time and love to a sport that you are very passionate about and you deserve to be able to walk down a pit lane, see your favourite car and go, that was cool. I really enjoyed that, especially after you spent 400, 50 quid, on a bloody race ticket, where you're only getting a general standing area and you've got to sit on some grass for a weekend.

You don't even get a chair. So, God forbid, that you should walk down a pit lane for free once on a Thursday. Quite frankly, Liberty need to learn to disseminate their funds, as I said. They need to learn to support these tracks. So the average Joe, like the three of us, sorry to Uncle Joe, I'm sure you're not average, can go and actually enjoy a race weekend properly and not have to remortgage their home to go and do it. It's always the little guy that takes the blow and they have more than enough money

that they can still make a very, very, very healthy profit and help. their actual fans turning up to these tracks. It's sad. It's a sad story. Not nothing that we can change, and I wish they would go and change it. What you're saying is this sort of thing is aimed at people who just don't care about racing. Yeah, massively, yeah.

They want to fill their pockets, and they want a photo opportunity doing it. Classic. My apologies, because I don't know who actually put this together, so I'd like to be able to credit them, but I don't know who did it. The maths behind going to every single Indycut race and the price for doing that versus going to an F1 Grand Prix,

staggering. Absolutely. Is it really? I haven't seen it. I don't know if this is true, but you can go to a good chunk of them, or maybe all of them. I don't know for.

Plus of one? All of them, yeah. Is it for the price of one, Silverston, Ticket? I thought it was something just over, maybe just over $1,000 to get to every single race. Not in terms of the travel costs, but in terms of the ticket prices. Yeah, I've moved to America.

No. Sorry, Americans. I knew. There's other things apart from racing, which I'm not going to go into the podcast. Oh, God. We'll move on. I'll be in bed. I'll move to America. Okay. Bye. Bye-bye.

Well, before we move, should we play a game of F1 order please after this short break? Yes. Let's do it. All right, here we go. F1, order please. Oh, yes, me. Play the jingle. Oh, God. I hope this is that. Yeah, go on, mate. Whether it's a can of Coca-Cola or a lump of cheese,

or we're ordering drivers by the size of their knees. This game is full of facts, just you wait and see. This is Formula One. Order, order, please. French, I always do think you sound French. I think it's a good impression, but I do definitely dip into a little bit of a la francaise. Or dare.

Yes. Good stuff. For order, please. so Harry versus Sam in the game where I will give them a category. There are four answers within the category and they need to order them based on some sort of system. Could be oldest to youngest, could be most wins to least wins, all different examples of what they can be. They have to go ahead and order them, as I say, if they get it right, they will hear, well, I mean, this doesn't work anymore because I can't do the, I can't give you the, the John Burko ordered when you're right.

Oh, I don't think I've loaded that one. I'll do it live. Okay, fine. But I don't know if they're right, so I'll just do it for my question. Well, that's more of the point in that I'm telling you if they're right or not. I don't want to hear it from Ben. Maybe you do it live, Ben. Maybe you just go, order.

But you might be able to do it live then. You might be able to still play it on here. I want to see him do it live. All right, fine. Good. Yeah, I'll do it live. It doesn't happen all that often anyway. So if they get it right, they get a point and they have ordered it correctly.

If they don't get it right, it gives the other person the opportunity to steal the point. But there is risk involved in that because they will get a point if they steal it correctly. But if they also get it wrong, they will lose a point, which means minuses are in the offering, folks. So numbers one through to six. Sam, what number would you like to kick us off? I'll have number one, please, Ben. Number one. So I'm going to give you four sponsors of McLaren. That's funny.

Yeah, a bit of a different one. I want you to tell me from when they first join the team to when they last join the team. So who was a sponsor of McLaren first through to last? Okay. So you've got Dell. Yep. Hilton. Right.

The best sponsor name in the world, Splunk. Yeah. And Google. This is tough. Because gang of them are also really title sponsors. I thought you're going to be like West. Mulbra. Mulbra.

All of these are still sponsors now. Yeah. Oh, I'm aware. It's just in terms of when they first joined. Okay. In terms of oldest to newest, I'm going to go with. Yeah. Dell oldest, Hilton second oldest, Google, Splice.

Blank. Great name. Great name. Not right on this. Ah, Shuck. Do you want the opportunity to steal? Oh, have it, mate? No. I don't blame you. I probably wouldn't have been anywhere near this one. The oldest sponsor of McLaren is Hilton. That goes back all the way to 2005. So that one was the oldest. Then it's Dell, 2018. They joined the team. Then it's Splunk 2020. And then Google was new for last year, so 2022. So that would have been the correct order. It could have been the wrong, really. You get a single one in the right place.

Oh, well. That's quite a talent. You could have had Google first. That's true. Maybe I should have used Google to get it right. I'll have number two, please, Ben. Good. Good stuff. First win. So four drivers here, I'll give you, I want you to say when they had their first win from earliest to latest.

So you've got one Pablo Montoya. It's chunky. Rubens Barrakello. Mr. Cry. I can't wait to hear what the next two are going to be. Kimmy Reikinen. Mr. Icy. And Ralph Schumacher.

Mr. Malfy. I knew that was coming. Oh, Harry's coughing. He's gone. Okay. I think Barakallo is the first. Ralphie Malfi. Ralphie the Malfi.

Ralphie the Mouthi. Ralphie. second, then, then Montoya, then Reichen. Oh, that is so hilarious. Well done. Thank you. Yeah, well done. Bruns Barakello was first, Germany 2000 on that one.

Then it was Ralph Schumacher who, I didn't even set this up with this, the intention of this, but it's actually the anniversary of that win today, San Marino 2001. Today? Yeah, on this day. It's a Saturday. 20 years ago, yeah. Yeah, but the dates move. Oh, yeah, that is how time works,

isn't it? You know what? That's a good shout, in it? Yeah. In all that, everyone. I haven't said that. It's a Saturday. No, don't do it.

Montoya was Monzao 1, and then Reichenham was Malaysia 03. So Harry is on the board. All done. Sam, back to you. I'll have number six, please. number six. I'm going to give you four drivers

who all won the GP2 championship. I want you to tell me from earliest to latest when they won that championship. I don't like that watch the racing. So you've got three in one episode. That's enough. Emo Glock.

Roman Grosjean. The Phoenix. Davidey Valsacki and Nico Ullgenberg. Um, okay. I think

Glock was first. Um, I think then it was Valseki, then Holkenberg, then Grosjean. That is not the correct order. Oh, we're all so shocked. You think you're so big, don't you, Ben?

I'm not taking it. I've got no idea. Sorry. you were you you had the right start timo glock 2007 he won the GP2 championship it was then Nico Holcomberg in 2009 roman grojean in 2011 because weirdly he actually raced an f1 then went back to GP2 and won the title and then Valseki won in 2012 Valsaki was my outlier I wasn't sure where to put him yeah he was part of a group like three or so GP2 champions that just never made it to F1 respect for Fabio Limer.

Okay, we stay at 1-0. Harry, back to you. Number four, please. Number four. Four drivers, from most to least, how many points did they get in 2020? Now, that's the season you forget exists. I do.

I genuinely do. I forgot about that. Every time you forget 2020 exists. Yeah. COVID- Sergio Perez, Alex Albon, and Esteban O'Con.

It's a tough one. That is tough. You'll guess it right, though. From least to most, or most to least? It doesn't really matter. Most to least. Most to least. Most, I'll go for Lando Norris.

Then I'll go for... I forgot only two of them up. Albon wasn't very good, but he did have a Red Bull. Strong logic, yeah. That's like saying, Sam's a idiot. He has got £100 million. Yeah. One of those things is true.

Yeah, I am very rich. So Norris Perez Albon Ockon. It's not the correct answer. Oh. Bated me then. Sam, do you want to try and level things up at one all by stealing? I mean, I am a little, little crim, little criminal. So, yeah.

A burglary. I'm coming in the night. I'm taking your points. George Russell over here. Cricy. I randomly was watching some highlights of the 2018 Chinese GP the other day.

Okay. And Martin, it's when Ricardo wins. Yeah. And Martin Brundall calls him a burglar. Yes. It's a race win. It came up on my feed this morning, weirdly.

That's weird. You've stolen it, you little burglary. You're such a burglary. Yeah, I'll still let it get it wrong though. So I like a good minus point. So do I? It's good fun. So yeah, I'll steal.

Go on, then what order you want? I'd steal. They'd just not say the answer. Yeah, I can't remember what you sing anything else That's going to go. I'll give the same arts as you just did. I'm going to go with Norris Top, Perez, O'Kong, Albon. Yeah, you managed to get further away, I'm afraid.

Oh, that's classic, mate. Further away from winging as well now. We really, really hate album, I think. I think we may... I just thought he was... And you know what? One of my takeaways out he was going to be, he put some respect on his aim.

Yeah, I agree. Well, one person you need to put some respect on their name is Sergio Perez, because he was the first of Zinclet group, 125 points. Then it was Alex Alburn on 105. Lando Norris, 97, and then Esteban Ockon was last, was 62. That racing point would be crazy. I really thought Norris had a better year than that. So you go.

I thought that McLaren was good that year. Yeah, I mean, it was, but I mean, then racing point was good as well. Is that the year he won all the way from the back? Yeah. Yeah. He was quite good that race. that somehow is like his 27th best race in F1 apparently, according to people.

Literally second. Literally second best race. Okay, so you both have one point. Unfortunately, one of you does have a minus in front of that one. I'll take it. We carry on. I'm on fire. We've got two to go, which means it's back to Sam.

Number three or number five? I'm number five, please. Yeah, I was going to say you probably made the right call, but you probably won't like either of these. So here we are. He knows me too well. Four drivers. Pick number three, my lord.

Oh, saying it, a minute. I'd want you to name these four drivers, list them in terms of when they first won a title. So you've got Mike Hawthorne. Yeah. Phil Hill. Yeah. Good old pill.

Escari. Yeah. And Fangio. From the oldest to winging the title, the first person to do it to most recent. Yeah. I'm going to go, Ascari

Fangio Hawthorne Big Pill I love that it's not the correct answer Is it not? Is that what you thought as well?

I thought you'd nailed it as well I was quite smug On that basis I'm not stealing it I think pill and Hawthorne on the wrong way around then The other one The other two are the other way around

So Fangio first won a title In 1951 Alberto Ascari first won a title In 1952 I'm even researching that My Corporn first won in 1958 and Hill, Hill was 1961. I thought Fangio was 53. I thought a scar, who won the first ever championship in 50?

Therine. Farina. Even though I knew that. So it's okay, you're winning. It was Farina, then Fangio, then Ascari won two, and then Fangio won the other four in a row. Scarry's so good, isn't he? Best corner of all, of all time. Two-time War Chalfroom.

He was doing the dance back in 1953 He's the OG of the dance Number three, please Pick number three, me lord Yeah, number three Four corners at Spa When they first appear on the lap To when they last appear

Stablot The lap, please Stablot It's making it up It's not, it's called Stavalo Not Stablo Wasn't that on the top get a track? Stablo

It's the Cockney version Yeah Good. All right. The first corner, Stavello. Poole for air, campus,

and Brazil. Oh, what, call for air after this podcast? It's on the current circuit. They're all lies. Yes. This is not like the old one.

I didn't know any of this. Why can't this without Monser? We're going to nailed it. Oskari. There's only two corners at Momsa. Exactly. All on the current circuit I would get this wrong

I am going to get this wrong Now we won't I forgot Paul What they? Stavelo Paul Freer campus and Campe Brussels

Brussels I genuinely don't know It's Brazil I think Paul Frere Stavelo Brussels campus Brussels sprouts I've got no idea

That's not the correct order. Sam, would you like to try and steal this? Bear in mind, there is literally nothing on the line. Yes, I will steal it. Okay. I've forgotten all of the corgates apart from Stavlo. Paul Freire. Right. Frere Roshay.

Russell Spouts, University Campus and then Savlo. So, okay, what's my order? I'm going to go for Stavlo first, Brussels, campus Paul Frey please be right

no I think you might have been closer than Harry but that's probably not saying I thought if Harry you got the other the last two the other way around you literally would have got it

in the opposite order wow well done Bruce L is first then campus then Stamolo then Paul Freer and Sam did at least

get Paul Freer in the right place I can't I'm having a mind black I literally hang up picture any of those corners. Yeah, what are the corners? Where are they? I don't know, mate.

You've, you're a quiz. You've done the quiz. Yeah, I don't need to know any more than whether you're right or wrong. I can't wait to you. I'll tell you what, I do know where they are. They're at spa. You're an idiot. Yeah, big idiot.

I'm back wearing the same room. Are we all dressed the same? Sorry, I've just realized you're also wearing a dark blue jumper. The grey boys. We're so glad. That's our personality. What kind of trousers have you got on? Green.

Can you go put some black ones on and all be the same? Yeah, hang on. Bear with me, folks. Ben actually, genuinely had to pause and look down. He did. I know what I'm wearing.

He's a green. Green. Well, no, I knew what, okay, I knew what trousers I was wearing. I didn't know whether I should call them green or khaki. It's khaki for a stuff. It's an important distinction.

Where's he from? Oh, khaki and stabolo. I'm a lounge breakout since badly. What's doing? What I'm here for? I read out Keke Rosberg's name only because I was watching up. Because obviously they've released the IndyCar McLaren line up. And I, like, in my head called him Kiki.

And I had to, I had to tell myself, that's not how you say it's going. Kiki. No. Kiki. Uh, right, I'm proper done with this now. Yeah. It does go. This is flown by, in it?

Yeah. Folks, because we're now an award-winning podcast after that episode, baffled to me. we will be doing the reverse episode where we're all impersonating each other. And we will not be breaking character. So the aim will be to start the whole episode as Harry as Harry as Harry as Harry as we will end it like that. There will be no character breaking, trying very hard to giggle the whole way through and still providing great Formula One insight. Great's a stretch.

Do we have any idea when that might be? Is that going to be next weekend? Is that going to be coming up? Because it should be soon, right? We should do it very soon. Well, you're both missing episodes coming up, aren't you? So we're going to have to find one when we're all... We are all together.

That's true. This coming week we're all together. We'll sort of something out, weren't we? Yeah, we'll... It's come out very soon. We will not be forgetting. We will 100% be doing it. Thank you so much again for everyone that took the time to vote for us.

We understand how much of a bit of a finicky process that was. Do Americans say finicky? Let us know. Do now? Well, it's a great word. Start using it. It's when it's something a bit fiddly, a bit difficult. It was finicky.

And you still smash. Ashkit, we beat some incredible competition, some really talented podcast for nominating in that category. So, again, we are so humbled and so thankful. If you'd like to carry on being part of the community, join the Discord. You can have a chat there over 18, 100 people chatting away, which is super incredible to see. We also have a Patreon where you can get extra episodes, extras, as I'm calling them, to a month.

The first one is already out. We'll be recording the second one very, very soon. And you also get, if you go to the top tier, beer with breaking, a once-a-month video, we're all a little bit tipsy and discussing life, Formula One and silly things about each other and topics that you suggest. Next week. Well, it's next week. Again, we're all together.

So it'll be recorded then. How are you used to order a new cable? Oh, good. Yeah, cheers. Right, for the mics. And then, also, you get Ag-Free podcast, which is always nice. That's great as well. Also, we've got a gaming night coming up on the 18th.

Is it the 18th? Maybe the 19th. You'll find it on Patreon, folks. It'll be posted there. and we're going to do a little bit of Formula One. I don't really go ahead and say it up. So that's going to be a fun journey. And that's everything.

Join us on social media. We're really thriving over there. Not surviving? Thriving. Thrive to drive. That's good. Anyway, in the meantime, I've been Samuel Sage. I've been Ben Hawking. I've been stabbelo.

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