The Late Braking F1 Podcast - Making New Year's Resolutions for F1 Drivers | Episode 170

Episode Date: January 6, 2022

We're back! For our first podcast of 2022, we're making New Year's Resolutions for the drivers on the F1 grid this year, discuss the departure of Aston Martin's team principal, and play a new game...JOIN our Discord: https://discord.gg/dQJdu2SbAmSUPPORT our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/latebrakingTWEET us @LBrakingSUBSCRIBE to our podcast! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This podcast is part of the Sports Social Podcast Network. Thank you for listening to the Late Breaking F1 podcast. Make sure to tune in for new episodes every Wednesday and Grand Prix Sunday. And a very warm welcome to the late breaking F1 podcast presented by Harry Ead, Sam Sage and me, Ben Hocking. First episode of 2022, we're back. you know what I find absolutely brilliant is that we went through the whole of 2021 doing an episode a week absolutely no weeks off the entire year we take one week off at the end of December and Sam this is you put a message in our group chat and I just thought how brilliant

I chuckled at it but how brilliantly true it is that we were like oh miss the podcast you know we're we're not away all year we're away for one week and we miss it like mad it says something doesn't it Sam it does say it does say a lot of things and those lot of things are that despite hating each other endlessly, we really do love each other's company. Or maybe this is going to ask us and that is understandable. If you've happened to listen through the podcast for 2021, thank you. And welcome to 2022, the newest year since records began.

We are here to talk more about Formula One. Whether it's the off season, the old season, the middle season, whatever season it is, we are here for you. So let me to have you. If you knew, welcome to 2022. and late breaking. It didn't start until this podcast started. So congratulations.

You made it. Yeah. It's the first at January now when you listen to this. More importantly, though, new year, new fire alarm battery. It's too sad. It's too sad. He's murdering it. For those of you who are not on our Discord,

and if you want, then you should join, because it's well fun in there. Folks, I got a new battery for my fire alarm because even after three weeks of not being in my flat, it was still beeping when I came back. And I thought it was time. It was time to stop the beep. So, yeah, the beep is no more. But for people listening, I'm sure that's actually a good thing. But it's been an emotional evening.

The fire alarm was the only one working over the Christmas period out of the four of us. And you can't stop the beep. Sounds like a great record that maybe we should work on. Yeah. I think we're sure. A new jingle. We'll get cracking on that. And just to say, I mean, Harry's fire alarm did become a member of the late breaking Hall of Fame at the back end of last year. So it is slightly worrying. And I would, if I were Shaquille O'Neill or Yuki Sanoda or Dave Benson Phillips, I would be very careful about who they interact with in the coming months because apparently Harry likes to murder those who make the Hall of Fame. So, I'm going to take your batteries out, Big Shack. Watch you back. It's now in the late breaking museum. Big Jack, you could be next, sir.

Please don't sue us. It's not a real threat. Fortunately, we're not here to just talk about fire alarms. We've got plenty of Formula One stuff to talk about, even though we are firmly in the off season right now. Sam mentioned something about a new song. Well, ironic that he mentions that, because there will be a new theme song coming up later on,

because there is a new game that we are introducing for the new year. It's F1 order please. What could that possibly entail? We'll have to find out later on. We're also going to be talking about Alex Albin, who will be returning to F1 this year after a year's absence from the sport. We'll also be talking about the not quite breaking news, but it did happen before we recorded.

So many thanks to you, Ottmar Safnauer, who has left Aster Martin. We'll be discussing the ramifications of that event. But first of all, we're going to do the same thing that we did at the start of 2021. We decided that 2021 was a wildly unsuccessful year for us as per usual, so we'll start 2022 in exactly the same way. Go along with the pattern.

New Year's resolutions for Formula One drivers. We gave these out last year with some being met, some not being met. I mean, positively, Sam, you gave Mick Schumacher a New Year's resolution of absolutely destroying Nikita Mazapin. We could argue that that was true. we also gave the New Year's resolution that Max Verstappen should work well with his teammates in order to become competitive

for the championship, would say he did that. There were a few that didn't quite go as well. Sam said that a success for Sergio Perez would be him being 20 to 50 points within Max Verstappen. The final toast was 205.5 for anyone counting. And I also said that Valtrey Bottas's New Year's resolution should be him winning two races in a row.

Unfortunately, when you win only one race all season. That makes it incredibly difficult to achieve that. But we'll get on to 2022 New Year's resolutions. And we'll start with Max Verstappen. And we'll go to you for this one, Sam. He managed to make good on the one we gave him last year. So will he do the same this year? I think we've got to step it up. You know, he is the reigning world champion. I know there's a lot of people out there who won't be happy to hear that, that we're moving on with it. He is the current world champion. He can be representing with that with the number one on the car. The first time we're going to be happy. We're going to be happy. We're

seeing another one in the car for a long time as well. So that least that's exciting. That's something different. And I think that Max Verstappen, logically, his resolution, is to win the world title again. He has to go back to back. If he wants to be seeing as, you know, one of the all-time greats,

one of the ones that can stand amongst giants, they're all about 5'9, unless you're Sotil and then you're 6'7. Then, yeah, you've got to go on and win the World Championship again, or at least be competing for it, as he did this season in the 2021 season and try and take it down to the wire. Of course, a little caveat on that is the fact that we don't know the car performance.

We haven't even got to win to testing yet. But I know that the Stappen will be sat there thinking, I want to win it again. He's a racing driver in the day. He is the current world champion. I know that in an interview that came up, he said, I've not here to win multiple. I just wanted to get that one. He'll want to go on and win it again. Let's not lie to ourselves.

So Max Verstappen, New Year's Resolution, is to become a double world champion and win it in consecutive seasons. It has to be. can't be anything less for a man of his level of compulsive nature. Yeah, and I mean it would be good for him to legitimately win a championship as well, right? Oh, he's put the bait. He's put the base out. I am. Before anyone gets in the comments and massively complains

at me, I am joking when I say that. Need to make that perfectly clear. We've already ended the podcast and it's the first 10, what, 15 minutes for God's sake? seven sorry I'll take it back it's the first seven minutes that you've ended the podcast yeah sorry about that

cutting it off early this year so Max Verstappen's New Year's resolution is to go back to back win a second championship of course as you already mentioned caveat there that he actually has a car that's capable of doing so

but we'll have to wait and see on that one Harry Daniel Ricardo you got a new year's resolution for him yes I do Daniel Ricardo's New Year's resolution is that

he just needs to pretend that every race is at Monza. I don't think that's a safe idea. What happens when he's in Monaco and misses the first corner because he still thinks there's another 200 metres to go down to the first corner? Eh, it may be fine.

No, but I mean, I mean, I mean, quite literally, obviously. I mean, I mean, mentally and performance-wise, because I think Monza weekend he was on form the whole time and we've seen it before with Ricardo I think he has some really on-form races obviously this year his off-form races or less on-form races were really really not great but yeah I think he just needs to I believe Ricardo well it's year two as it was you know at Renault he came back strongly there so I think he'll be struck back strongly this year but if he if he can inspire the same form he had over that Italian GP we

because it was the Daniel Ricardo we all know and loved that weekend. Then I think it'll bode well for this year. Yeah, big year coming up for Daniel Ricardo. Interesting to see if he does follow that same pattern that he had at Renault, where, as you already mentioned, he improved quite significantly in his second year. I am going to go for George Russell, newest Mercedes driver, of course, and what he needs to do this year. My New Year's resolution for George Russell is to, and I'm not quite sure what the best way to put this is,

but I've put down forced the issue. And what I'm basically telling him to do is the same thing that Charles LeClair did versus Sebastian Vettel back in 2019. There's a lot of question marks over what sort of a role George Russell will play within Mercedes this year. Will he be right up there with Lewis Hamilton

by the end of the year? Will he be right up there straight away? Will he just be there in a supporting role? in his first year at the team. And I think even though Mercedes haven't outwardly said anything about number one or number two drivers, I think Russell just needs to force the issue and drive himself into contention. It's what Charles LeClaire did. You remember back to 2019 when Charles LeClaire was brand new into that Ferrari outfit,

he was very clearly the number two driver in that situation. Ferrari said it themselves. Vettel is number one. LeClair is number two. So what did LeClaire do? The first race at Australia, I think Vessel, finished ahead of Lecler, but Lecler was strictly told, don't overtake Vettel. He complied with that.

And then the second race came along where he was behind Vettel at Bahrain, if you remember it's the race where LeClaire very nearly won, if not for reliability issues towards the end of the race. He was told to wait behind Sebastian Vessel, don't overtake him just yet. He ignored team orders and just sent it up the insider turn one. And from that point on, he directed the narrative. He said, look, I'm not here to be a number two driver. and he let his driving do the talking, it doesn't matter if you are put into a number two position by your team.

If you're 20 seconds up the road, it doesn't matter and you force the issue that way. So I would like to see George Russell do something pretty similar, whether it's achievable or not remains to be seen, but he just needs to go in there. Don't settle for anything. Go in there and force the issue. I think that's the way he proceeds with this.

But whether he achieves it or not, you'll have to wait for prediction time, which will be... which will be coming up sooner rather than later. Yeah. Teammate wars will be making a reappearance in February. Don't you worry about that. Move on to the person that George Russell has replaced at Mercedes, Valtrey Bottas.

Now, as we already referenced in the start, he definitely did not abide by the New Year's resolution I gave him last year. So Sam, are you going to give him something slightly more achievable? I mean, he defied the prediction that I also gave him last year, if you remember famously, I said that he wouldn't with a race all season. We got very close. You know, he tipped one of what, 22, 23 boxes last season.

So come on, Bossass. You managed to make both me and Ben wrong. The most you can have done is at least prove one of us, right. Valtrey, I'm glad I get to speak on you. The first podcast of the year. My heart goes out to old Valtry to Walter. I think he just needs to be a leading

example of Alpha. He needs to be pushing that team to deliver the best result possible. And I think he needs could try and be a stronghold of the midfield. He needs to make sure that Guan Yu Zhao, who is obviously in his first season, is able to learn, is able to grow, is able to develop a lot. Bottas has essentially been taught by Hamilton the last three, four seasons. Well, now Bottas needs to transfer that knowledge to the youngster that's joining him alongside

him with the team. So I want Bottas to be a team leader. I want him to be an educator, and I want him to show what that alpha can really do. I'm hoping they have a car to deliver it, because I think Botas could do something. We saw how well he did William before he moved to Mesaics, especially in those midfield upper echelons. I'd like to see it happen again.

Let's hope you get a bit of that Bottas magic back because I feel like he's lost to get a little bit. So for me, Bottas to be a strong Alpha-Mayo leader and to guide the team for next season. Do you think that, let's say hypothetically, in 10 years time, 15 years time, however many years it is, when Alpha-Aa will want to look back

and say that they actually, you know, achieved something in F-1, and wins, championships, who knows. Are you basically suggesting that Bottas needs to play the role where he's the one that kickstarts it? He's very unlikely to be the one to see it through based on what we've seen at Mercedes. But are you suggesting that his legacy will be

that he's the one that started the culture, started it all off? Well, I think that that's what they were hoping for with Kimmy Riking, of course. You bring on a world champion. Yes, okay, they're in the latter stages of their career, but he's got a lot of experience at Ferrari. Also, you did brilliantly with Lotus and McLaren,

obviously one-guest title with Ferrari. You think realistically, if we're going to rely on a finished driver coming towards the end of their career, Kimmy Riking was possibly the person to pass on that knowledge. I think you would argue it hasn't worked that way, but Bottas does get to govern, I think is the right word, the start of a new era for the team, right? And I would hope that Alfa May have realised

that they weren't in the stronger position ever last season, so they put time and effort into the new card, any regulations. And with that, I think it's a fair assumption to hope that maybe in the next eight to to ten years, if Bottas is say there for two or three of them comfortably, that he can propel them from a back of the midfield car to a top four team. And then, who knows? One that fights for a championship.

I think, I think they will be hoping in the long run that Bottas can become a very educational and helping hang type figure. Much of what Alonso is maybe doing for LP as well. I don't think Bottas has the same. skill necessarily about him that maybe Fernando or Vettel has in their elder areas of their teams, but I would like to think that he could pass off a lot of knowledge coming from, in terms of constructors at least, the most successful team of all time in consecutive championships. So yeah, you'd like to think he can actually progress some of that knowledge to a team that's

lower down the field. I'd like to think so anyway. It was very interesting. I mean, Valdre Bortas is obviously entering his almost third stage of his career. You had the first stage at Williams where he was this up-and-coming town. you've got the Mercedes stage where he was that supporting driver to Lewis Hamilton. I'm interested in your thoughts on this, Harry. Do you think the transition from supporting driver at Mercedes to potentially a team leader, guidance sort of role at Alfa Romeo? Do you think he will take to that quite naturally?

Do you think it will come easy to him? I don't know if it's going to be something that's easy for Bottas, but I think it's definitely something he'll relish going for. before because it's going to be such a different challenge to be less i think he's just going to relish not having to go up against lewis allen's and week in week out i think that alone will be so good for valetri botas in the next couple of years um and i and i think he'll easily grow into that role i don't think it'd be necessarily something he's used to before because you know he was at williams where he was young rookie you know young gun then he was straight to that

Mercedes where he's been number two to Hamilton so this is a completely new ballgame for him but yeah I think I think he'll relish it and I think I think he will eventually get there with it and like like you've been saying I think this could be a good legacy for for Bottas to have yeah it's relish insightful commentary as ever from Sam Sage it might be a new year but you know same things same things from 2021. Yeah, I think that's an interesting one. We'll stay with you, Harry, for the next one, which is Shaul Leclair. You'll notice how I called him, Charles, because he lost his God status at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, and it's going to be a few months until he can potentially get that

back. But what do you have as his New Year's resolution, Harry? This might seem a bit harsh, but it should be to not get beaten by Carlos Hines again, because, you know, I don't think any of us, all three of us here, and most of the F-1 world, I don't think we expected Charlotte Clare to be beaten by Carlos Sines. In Carlos Sines' first season at Ferrari. And, you know, there are mitigating factors involved in that, but you've got to be in it to win it. So, yeah, I think, you know, it's not the end. I'm not going to go on Nico Rosberg on Charle-Clair here, and it's not going to be the end of his career.

But it'll be damaging. if he gets beaten by signs two years on the trot, it's not a good look. Not a good look for old ex-god Leclair, Moses Leclair. Part the red scene. Yeah, exactly. See? Ferrari, red, you know. Anyway, yeah, so I think he's got to be on top of signs this year

because signs may be surprised even Leclair himself for how quick he was. So, yeah, it's not a make or break, but I think it's an important year for the career of young Leclair. Yeah. Sam, what's your thoughts on Leclair? Do you agree with the New Year's resolution that Harry go? Well, yeah, I mean,

for me once, shame on you, for me twice, shame on me, I think comes to mind. I think you're exactly right, Harry. Carlos Sikes can't beat LeCler twice. Otherwise, what does that say? What does that say about the legacy that people believe LeCleur is going to have with Ferrari. We, we as a trio, have said very much how impressed we've been with Charlotte,

and you're right, there were very large mitigating circumstances that meant that Carlos Sainz finished in front of Charlotte, Claire last season. It wasn't every single race they both finished, and over the season, Carlos Sines beat LeCleur. But you have got to be in it to win it, and if it happens two years in a row, then it isn't just a matter of, my car, was more unreliable than your car, or I got crashed into more times, etc., etc., etc. it was, nope, two years ago, I've done it, so that, you know, I'm better than you, I'm

faster than you, and I think that is really damaging for Lecler's reputation moving forward. I don't think it stops him being a brilliant driver. I don't think it stops him being someone that people look to as, you know, a future world champion, maybe, but I do think it damages its reputation going forward. We haven't said the same thing about Lewis Hamilton or Max Verstappen, where they've been beaten multiple times in a row by a teammate, especially one who sounds harsh on Sykes, but has achieved as little as Carlos Sites. You look at who Lewis Hamilton's been up against

and possibly struggle with, Jensen, Bucson, Miko Rosberg, Friando Alonso. They're all world champions. Carlos Sites isn't even a race winner as of yet, so it wouldn't look good for Charles LeCler if it does happen. So I think it's a very fair New Year's resolution to make.

But also good on Carlos Sikes for giving it a proper going. His first year, I think even if he did get beaten by Leclair rather, when he finished behind him, it would still have been a very impressive first season of Ferrari. just happened that some things went his way and he finished him from so i think Ferrari can be happy

with the fact they've got such a strong partnership though that's definitely an upside to this yeah i think there's there are still questions remaining as to who will be the primary rival for max vastappen going forward i think when we had say 2005 when sort of alonzo came on the scene rikinen was always there very much alongside him as his as his adversary whereas max Verstappen went up one-on-one against Lewis Hamilton, but we know Lewis Hamilton is much closer to the end of his career than the start of his career. And at some point, Max Verstappen is going to have to go up against someone else. And I think that is still a bit of a vacant spot at the moment, whether it will be filled by Charler Leclair or whether the likes of Russell and Norris could maybe

leapfrog him into that spot. So I think there is a point for Leclair to prove this year. I do think he got a little bit unlucky in 2021. I do still believe he was the better of. the two drivers at Ferrari but the fact is because Carlos Seines was joining the team even with a bit of bad luck you would expect Leclair to get the job done and he didn't so you know a one-one result across two years looks much better for Leclair at 02 that that doesn't look great at all the next one I'll pick out is Guan Yu-jo I was going to start by saying his new year's resolution should be best rookie of the year however i feel like that might be slightly too easy so the latifie award the nicholas latifie memorial award always sounds like he's died i don't know i

don't know why it's a memorial very much alive he's very much we love him as much as the public or certain members of the public tried to lynch him for what happened to abby dabby he is fortunately very much still with us um guan ujo i'm going to go quite specific with this one, and this one is slightly dependent on how many races we get this year. So there is a 23 race calendar for 2022, and this is dependent on there being exactly 23 races. But I've put here, and I don't know whether this will seem a little bit too easy or not, or too difficult. I've got, he needs to out-qualify Bottas six times out of the 23 races. And I think if he does that, that would be a solid achievement for him.

Valtry Bottas, we've always had questions about his, not even his race pace, but the consistency of his race pace, the fact that it only seems to happen once every four or five race weekends. But in qualifying, he's been on the mark more times than he hasn't. People seem to forget how good he was qualifying against Felipe Massa in his Williams days. The overall total, and I am fully expecting the first stat man of the year from this, but the overall total was 41 in Bottas's favour to 80. in Masses' favour, so it's quite a big disparity.

Thank you very much. So 41. We should just get that recorded, by the way. No, it's much more fun to get you to do it every time. 4118, that's a pretty massive disparity over someone who was, you know, a couple of corners away from being a world champion. And even against Lewis Hamilton, even though Hamilton has had the edge every single season in terms of qualifying,

it has generally been closer than what the race pace has been. So I think out-qualifying Bottea six times over the course of 23 races, I think that would be absolutely fine for Guanyuio. What do you think about that one, Sam? Sorry, I've just had flashbacks of Massa's dad in the pit, Gary. He'd have to take a couple of corners away from being over there. But, you know, the Ferrari signs flying. Yeah, and then in the background, black and white camera,

Gary Jules, Magwell, Dun-d-dun-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d. The whole shirt-singer's lost it. Come on, baby, come on, baby! Screaming into the pit lane, she goes. That was a strange timing, Formula One. Grant Nussela, I think, Ben, six times to beat Valtry Bottas, who I think he's a brilliant qualifier,

is a very good challenge, it's a very tough challenge, but I think, you know, six times, let's say, 23 races, if we get them. I'll allow you to alter that if we get a massive reduction in those Grand Prix. But, yeah, I think that's a tough. tough challenge, but definitely one he should be aiming for. Mine is a little harder to quantify for Guan Nuzhou. I think he just simply needs to change the opinion of the average F1 fan that he isn't only there because of financial backing.

I think it's okay to being a Formula One seat through financial backing if you've got talent to back it up. Lance Stroll is an example of that, right? Lance Strong, he came into Formula One. There were questions around it. Should he be there? Is he just there because of Father Christmas stroll backing him up? But I think over the last couple of the last couple of things,

the seasons. Yeah, he hasn't proven he's a world champion material. He hasn't proven he should be in a world championship winning car, but he's not the worst driver on the grid, and he does a pretty all right job. He nearly beats Sebastian Vettle, you know, like he's done okay. I think Guan Yu-Zo needs to get to that level, and I think he needs to prove to fans around the world, that you know what, he's worthy of being in F1C, financially with that backing or not. Let's remember there's a lot of favorite drivers out there that also have a lot of financial backing. So, Gwen New Show I think has to just earn his place in the F1 Fang's hearts as well as actually the seat itself. So just some solid performances.

Don't make a fool of yourself. Maybe don't listen to Yuki Sango about when to hit the break going into Cornwallers. Great bit of advice there. Great bit of advice. Speaking of Alfa Tari, Pierre Gassley's next up. What's his New Year's resolutions on? Oh, Pierre. I think Pierre needs to, as a New Year's resolution, he needs to emulate.

last season. He used to walk away from the 2022 season with a decision in hand of, I'm going to drive the Red Bull car, or I'm going to leave the Red Bull family and have a seat ready to go. And I think a season such as the last one should, in my opinion,

cement that for him. He was phenomenal last season. Wasn't driver of the season level, but it was by far the best we've seen of him. I would argue he was one of the best in the NIG field by a long, long way. Probably top five drivers for me last season. Absolutely brilliant to watch. she elevated that Alpha Tauru beyond belief.

You know, he regularly pulled it up with the McLaren to the Ferrari as well, yes, Yuki Sanoda was a rookie, but was regularly qualifying Six King, 17. Can you still expect that? I know it was too early for Yuki, but you expect more when the car is really capable of it. So for me, Pierre Gassley finds himself a seat that isn't the Alpha Tauri. That's his New Year's resolution. Get himself out of that Alphotauri seat. It would be interesting to see, actually, because Yuki Sanodo had a couple more encouraging races

towards the end of the season. I don't know whether that carries on and Gazzley doesn't look as good as a result of that versus Sonoda or whether he slaps him back into place and actually just continues where he was for much of last season. Mick Schumacher, Harry.

I found this one quite tricky, but for Mick, excuse me, for Mick, he needs to get able to iron out those mistakes he was making last year, last year which were allowed it's the first year and actually kind of a for him a manzpin it was kind of a free year because that car was nothing and they could do what they wanted

I mean obviously Guttentur would be mad if he kept smashing it up which he did a few times but yeah so he needs to iron out those mistakes and then I think also he needs to show that he has good race pace and also good race pace in amongst being in the midfield which is or at least the lower end of the midfield which is where we expect at least how to be this year. You know, they might still be the back. We don't know, but they're going to be at least in amongst it again, whereas they weren't last year.

So I think a couple of things he needs to prove. He needs to prove he's got good race pace, can stick it in the midfield in terms of, you know, racecraft and iron out a few of those mistakes. So it's kind of three resolutions, but he's a tricky one to make for Mick because, you know, last year was such a weird one. We saw a couple of good quality laps.

He did absolutely smash Mazbin as we said he should do last year, so that's good. But yeah, and a tough one to make, but I think if he gets those things right, then he's on his way. I mean, the opportunities that he did get against other midfield cars, they were incredibly limited. But it was great to see when it did actually happen. I'm thinking most significantly Portugal. He had a good fight against Nicholas Latifie there. and Hungary of course, I know there was a bit of carnage that led to the spot, but him being, even racing against the damaged car that Vastappen had,

racing against some of those for the top 10 positions, that was, it was a glimpse, and we just need to see more of that, and more opportunities for him. And even if you look backwards about the opportunities, Mazepin was often so far away from him that he didn't really have the opportunity to race against his own teammate even. And even when he did, they were just trying to dive on. each other.

Exactly. Do you think they ever got bored? Just like, I was driving around here, got no one to race, can't catch people in front, I'm about a mile in front of my team mate.

I reckon they play lap bingo of going, hang on a minute, when is Hamilton slash for Stappan going to lap us this race? And whoever gets it, gets a dive-bond the other one.

Wow. Hasse games. I like to think... Just ask things. I could be wrong. I like to think that Mick Schumacher is so. wholesome that he that doesn't even cross his mind and he's just so happy to be racing an f1

i'm in an f1 car every lap yes him and him and gary are the most wholesome f1 couple if i'm ever going for a really difficult time in my life i need gary you just see me it's going to be okay everything's going to be okay we're going to put a new front wing on your bed and it'll be okay oh thanks gary cheers cheers I'll round out this round of New Year's resolutions with Lewis Hamilton. And my one for him is to prolong the new era. And I'm very directly comparing what Hamilton, the situation Hamilton's in now versus the situation that Michael Schumacher found himself in at the end of 2004.

So Schumacher wins his seventh championship at the end of 04. Alonzo comes along in 05. And it was a really, it was a defining moment in effort. when Schumacher stopped winning. It was almost the start of the new era. Alonso was the first through the door almost, but Reichen and followed on very quickly after that. And then Lewis Hamilton won the championship in 08.

Massa nearly won the championship in 08. Then you had the Vett all years. So it really felt like Alonzo beating Schumacher, Alonzo getting that championship, was the start of that new era of F1. And I think we're on the precipice of the same thing here. Max Verstappen has obviously won a championship already. If he were to go ahead and win this one again,

suddenly, it's almost like Lewis Hamilton is the last of that era still defending themselves against this crop of new drivers that are coming through. And the likes of Russell and Norris, Lecler, any others you want to add in there, they're coming. And this new era will come about. But it's Lewis Hamilton's responsibility almost to just, he can't stop it, but he can prolong it for as long. as he possibly can with a championship win this year. So that's my, that's my new year's

resolution is to just fight for the old guys, which sounds very weird saying that about Lewis Hamilton. Very weird, but that's what you should do. Do it for Kimmy. Go on Kimmy. Exactly. It is almost as if, you know, Kimmy's, you know, Kimmy's retired now, you know, Button's retired now. But that kind of era of F1 is. is definitely on its way out. And Lewis Hamilton, and potentially Fernando Alonzo, are still there,

sort of just fighting away. We won't let the new guys come through just yet. I'm sure they don't care about that as passionately as I do, but that probably implies the most things. When it comes to Lewis Hamilton, I think I have one word for the rest of the grid for their New Year's resolutions, and that is run.

I just feel like Hamilton is going to be on an absolute vengeance mission this season. I feel like if if the same is build the car, we know that they can build. I think it could be a bit scary what he's going to try and turn up and do, quite frankly. A little bit terrifying. He doesn't come back. Yeah. No. We were in the same

discussion last year because he hasn't signed the contract by this point last year. I didn't care for the discussion then. I don't care for it now. He's in F1 this year. Don't care. And if he decides that he doesn't want a race, I will go over to

his home and I will tell Tell him, you are racing. Stop it. Which one? Stop, stop it. Stop it, Lewis. Louis, come on. You're racing.

Just stand somewhere in Monaco shouting, hoping you'll stick his head over the balcony. As much as I'd love to see an Esteban Gutierrez return to F1 with him driving the Mercedes. Come on, Lewis. You're racing, man. Go on, Esky Goetz. Esty Goose. Damn. Let's move on.

Let's move on to Ommasafnauer, because he has. left Aster Martin. Join the team back in 2009, so I've been there for a dozen years, but he has left his position, no immediate knowledge of who's going to replace him, or even if they are going to immediately

put someone in there to replace him. Harry, were you surprised by this? I don't know, almost kind of in the end, because there were a few rumours last year that he was about to go off to Alpine, and maybe he does still end up at Alpine, but it's all gone quiet on that front. I have expected that maybe there would be another announcement from the people in Endstone about Otmar's whereabouts.

But so far... Whereabouts? He's lost. Yeah. But so far, as we record, there's been nothing. But, yes, I was kind of semi-surprised because I thought maybe it wasn't actually going to happen. I thought it was going to stay put. And this announcement is kind of, you know, quite close to the season.

And there were a few weeks away yet. but yeah so in that sense it did surprise me but um yeah i think maybe the writing was slightly on the wall when they brought in uh mr whitmarsh martin whitmarsh who is now asked martin as heading up that technology's department which i you know i guess he could easily switch over to team principal because he's been there before with mcclaren and maybe that's what's going to happen i don't know but um yeah i don't know it's a sad one it's almost after one bad year I don't know whether he'd be given the boot or he's walked out of himself, but it seems a bit of a shame because, you know,

that team has been consistently the best of getting the best, the most out of a small budget. And obviously last year didn't go to plan for them, but, you know, they've had one bad year in a series of pretty good years for a midfield team. So I hope he hasn't had to take the fall for anything in that sense. But yeah, he's been there for a while, so maybe he just decided to move on. to past years new, but it'll be interesting to see who they're replacing with,

because I think he's done a solid job there for quite a long time. Yeah, I have to say, I wasn't particularly shocked by this, but not necessarily because of the performance reason. I genuinely don't believe that performance has come into this, and I think it's more just a, Laurenstrol and Safinau just never clicked. I don't think it ever really worked. It always seemed to be a bit awkward,

between them. I think Othmar occasionally was forced to tow the company line and say some things, perhaps, that wouldn't naturally come to him. And I just don't think it ever really worked. And I agree with what you said in terms of Martin Wittmarsh coming in, where that was potentially a writing on the wall scenario. You have to remember that Othmar Saffna hour, just a few months before Whitmarsh was hired, actively said that Asthmarton weren't looking for a CEO position. They weren't looking for anyone. Then suddenly a few months later, Wittmarsh comes on board. Now, I don't believe for a second that Othmarsathnauer was flat out lying.

So what I think it means is that he genuinely didn't know that that's actually what they were doing, which again, I mean, that just points to the fact that he wasn't in the loop with what Lauren Stroll was doing for the company at large. I think the reality is the team, as it is in 2021, for better or for worse, well, 2022, for better or for worse, is not the same team that it was a few years ago. Maybe it is for the better. Maybe this does bring championships, but it's not the same team that it was.

And I just don't think, Ottmar Saffnauer, I don't think it's anything against him. I just don't think he is representative of what Aston Martin are trying to be. Sam, were you surprised by this? No, not shocked. I do think it was partially performance-based,

and I'll tell you one for why, folks. is because back in we're back in 2022 you know when you know opmar was

backing the team that was in O-4 India and all the iterations that has been while he's been there they were always the team that got the most

out of very very little and that was a mentality that I think he championed and I think he did very well with and I think also because of that

mentality there's very little blame I would go to say if a bad performance arose it's very hard to look down of someone

who has consistently brought out a lot out of very little and then all of a sudden the terms have tabled

and Ashton Martin and Father Christmas Stroll have delivered lots and lots and lots of money and business know how

and understanding of how to run something efficiently and I think Otmar went into this new year with the same mentality that he

had previously harboured and that doesn't work with Mr Lawrence Stroll that doesn't work with now the newly appointed

Martin Whitmarsh who have always been a part of of very, very financially capable organisations. I think because of that, the mentalities don't click. As you said, Ben, they just don't click together as to units there. And so when the results came in last season, and they were poor, I think we all need to put our hands up and admit, ask Martin, we're not good enough, especially when you look

at the fact that Sergio Perez in the racing point, which of course was another iteration of the team, that Opel led, won a race with Sergio Perez, literally races before. before the season started, boom, Outkham Aston Martin, and they were, what, the seventh fastest team? That's not really good enough when they've got that much resource, but yet such a talented team still. They didn't have a max exodus of staff. They didn't, you know, they didn't struggle to retain brilliant personnel. They still had one of the best engines in the, in the field. I think they should have delivered more. So I do think the changing mentality, the changing culture, and the poor results, which they saw on track, definitely garnered a, a least,

of Othma. And I think you're both right when you said, we're not sure if he got the boot or if it's kind of mutual. If he just shows, you know, actually this isn't for me anymore. I want to go find a different challenge in a different culture that suits me.

I think all are admirable. And I think Othma did a brilliant job over the years with those teams that he was part of. I think he can hold his head high. You know, he was relatively, he did a very successful job with such a small budget.

So I have no doubts that Othmire isn't proud of what he's achieved. But I'm also not surprised at the time this come to see a bit of a changing of the guard. And I think Lawrence troll after having his first full year you know, in charge of the team

is now going right, I'm aware of what's going on, I want to put my foot in charge, you know, I want my foot first, I want to be in charge of this. I don't want any conflicting opinions at the top of the tree.

I brought in Whitmark under my banner. Othma, you're the last of the old head. Out you go. We're in for a new culture, a new change. So I think that's possibly why those changes have gone ahead. Do you think it will hurt

Aston Martin, Harry? And do you think replacement-wise there's anyone that sticks out as they should go and get this guy? I don't think it will hurt them. You know, like I've already mentioned, they've got Martin Whitmarsh that they want to lean on him. Who else is free?

Cyril. Can we get a bit ball? A bit more? With this fresh tattoo. Yeah, no, I don't think it'll hurt them in the long run. I'm sure. Yeah, I like Sam said, not sure whether it is a boot or a mutual agreement, I think it's probably the latter.

But, yeah, I think they'll be fine, the long one. They've got enough talented people in that team there to continue. And, you know, it wasn't that long ago. It was Bob Fernley that was in charge of, I think it was when he was forced to force India. So, you know, Altman's not been in charge for the whole time he's been there. So then that team survived well enough. So I think, yeah, I think they'll be absolutely fine. as to who's replacing him, no idea.

Yeah, I think they will generally be all right, but I think it will hurt them a bit. It's a point that you've already raised, and that is that Force India, as they were, renowned for being so efficient with their money. They were pound for pound, the best team, year after year. And suddenly, we're in a budget cap era, where being pound for pound the best team

is probably going to serve you quite well. and generally efficiency is rewarded in a budget-capped sport. So losing a key member of the person that drove that, I think it is going to hurt. But I agree it's not terminal. And there are going to be some, there's going to be someone out there who is a suitable replacement. It's about how they replace it,

whether they go for the Alpine route, which is they didn't necessarily directly replace Cyril. they kind of they're Budkowski and the sort of team manager role but they almost split it into two and I wouldn't be surprised if they end up doing the same thing at Aston Martin where you've got Martin Whitmarsh overseeing a lot of the a lot of the financial stuff whereas you've got a more pure team manager whoever they decide that is so I can see the role being somewhat split out between two but as to who it is it needs to be a long-term hire and and Laurence stroll has to that's debate he has to go with one of two hiring, I don't know what the word would be, sort of hiring philosophies.

EVEAT has to hire the best person for the role and most importantly, let them get on with it. Like, they are specialists, whoever you bring in, let them get on with it and let them lead in the way they need to lead, or you bring in someone who is suitable for the way that Lawrence Stroll likes to manage his employees. If there is a very strict sort of upward chain of command, get someone who can suit that. And it has to be long term. There are long-term aspirations at Aston Martin. Whoever comes into the role has to have those similar long-term aspirations.

There's no point employing someone who wants a paycheck for a couple of years. Aston Martin want to win championships. They want to do it in X amount of time. They need to bring someone in who knows that and most importantly is on board with that and it actually aligns with what they want to do. I don't think there's an obvious name. You said Cyril, there was talk of Alpine

doing some sort of a swap deal with Budkowski, basically having them go opposite ways. I don't think that would happen. I mean, I don't know who. Vijay, he's free, and he? Vijay Malia.

Yeah. See you loud in the country. No legal problems whatsoever. He could do a job. Maybe not. Eric Boullier, there we go. There's your, there's your option. He's a boring lamb

Oh, poor Eric. What did he do? Poor little Eric. What did he do in F1? Oh, poor Eric. Moving on from Eric Bouliot, Sam. Do you think it will hurt Astor Martin? Do you have a name that you want to put forward?

Shaquille O'Neill, maybe? Eric Boulogh will be great. Eric Moodieckon, to team up and take on the role. Sorry. Late Breaking Hall of. famous Shaquille O'Neal to give him his full title. Sorry, sorry, Shikkim. The full, big chuck, the full title.

Yeah, so obviously, as you said, Ben, we're going into a budget cab, and Ombar as being around kind of a refined budget, a very low-level budget for a long time. And I think actually, having that expertise would have been very helpful and maybe asking him to step into another role. Might have been the more efficient use of his skills and his talents and his time. I think Lawrence Stroll is a very, is very understating with the way that he runs a business. I think he knows the people he walks around him,

and I think he knows that he likes to have, at the end of the day, control if it comes down to it. I think Martin Whitmarsh is also used to working in a very similar organisation, which of course, McLaren of the Norties with Ron Dennis around, was very similar. It was strict, it was, you know, disciplined, and it had direction. It wasn't the culture that we see at the moment with the likes of McLaren, or Mercedes, for example,

very, you know, team camaraderie, we want to be upbeat, and we want to build each other up all the time. You know, that's a different type of culture. It's quite new, I think, to Formula One. There are a few games that jump out at me. I think Whitmarsh definitely, it could take on the interim role, if not split it, as was already mentioned. He's got experience with the big team. The guy knows his technicality. He goes hang on runner team. He's not necessarily the most successful of all time with the role, but, you know, he's got a lot of experience. And I've got a lot of time for the man as well. Some outside choices. I do think Sir LaBeautau would be a good choice. He was doing well with Renault before he, you know, quite suddenly left. It was a bit strange that

he was something he wasn't a part of it anymore, especially as Renaud felt like they were on the up just before coming out P. An outside choice, which you haven't mentioned, and I think someone who is a bit of a marketing whiz, team management guy, you know, guru, why not Riva Bééé? Why not bring on the old Ferrari? marketing, you know, mogul, that could be a bit different. And I think that actually, if you allow him to just do the team and chutting to the cameras and whatnot and let Whitmarsh do the behind the scenes, technical stuff, that could be an interesting pairing.

Not saying it might work, but there goes, could be fun for us as a viewer. And finally, my actual serious answer, and I think it could be a very interesting change of pace, change of scene. Ashton Martin's WEC team principal, John Gore, I think his game is, very familiar with the setup, very understanding of the family, knows how the team works in a motorsport entity.

Yes, WEC is a bit different to Formula One, but racing is racing, right? And he's got the people behind him and I understand the technicalities. He goes strategy, he goes what makes a team work, he knows how to work with drivers of all different variations. It keeps it in house, and it could be quite an interesting appointment,

something that would be seeing as a little bit unusual maybe, but I wouldn't be against it. I think it could be quite a nice fit for him. Well, I mean, Weck to F1, if you want to use the most recent case study, Andreas Seidel, that worked out all right, didn't it? So, I think... Oh, well, you know, seems to be going all right.

We'll move on to Alex Albon, because as we mentioned, he will be back in Formula One in 2022 after not having a seat for 2021. It will be with Williams, but he is very strict. on loan from Red Bull. So the question is, how critical is this season for Alex Alburn? Not only in terms of his relationship with Red Bull, but also his career in F1 at large.

Sam, what's your thoughts? How critical is this season? I think this season is absolutely crucial for Alexander Album. He left on a very negative reputation, I think. I think the fans themselves like Alex. We like Alex. He's a lovely chap. He's a really nice person.

But in terms of racing a bit of in terms of the stamp he left on the track, it wasn't phenomenal, right? He did relatively well against just struggling Kyiviat, who was at the back end of his career after some tough flows in the Red Bull family, having filled every single post that Red Bull have available at one point or another. He obviously, in the early stages of career, look very promising against the likes of Ricardo, when they were both in the highest seats.

it looked, it looked strong, and then it kind of fell away from him, and he took the punishment of being demoted, then kicked out, then brought back in. That was the last time we saw Album, right? And it wasn't phenomenal there. Yeah, Dick got the job done, but it wasn't breathtaking. You know it comes off against Latifi, Latifi who is good, Latifi who is lovely, but Latifi who is not going to set the world on fire with his driving ability, as we saw against George Russell, of course, his tip to become possibly a multiple-time world champion.

I think Albonnese could deliver very similar levels of performance as to what George Russell delivered in that car. I don't care where the car sits on the grid for Albaugh to do this, but he has to absolutely demolish Latifi. He has to put his stamp on it. He has to show that he's back.

He has to show that his timeout at the likes of DTM wasn't lost because there are certain other drivers in the formula sphere in the likes of F2 who went to DTM and did incredibly well and I've almost made a bigger statement there than what Albon did.

So I'm hoping he turns up and from the get-go he's able to really put his foot down and get going. Different regulations, of course, but he's on the same foot as everyone else. Everyone else has got to adapt to this. He'll have the same testing time. He did testing for Red Bull last season. He should be prepared. I expect him to be firing on all the seven anders motivating as well to get going.

So, yeah, Albon needs to be beating Latifie comfortably over the whole season. And I think if he wants to see himself as a runner, possibly for a Red Bull family seat in the long run. he's got to prove that he can do it in another car he's got to prove that he can do it against it. Well, I would argue, one of a weaker teammates he will find himself against. So good luck Alex. I think he could do it,

but let's see what you can do. I think it's important with Alex Alburn to look at Pierre Gasley and the comparison there and to think what is our collective idea of the reputation of Pierre Gasley right now, pretty positive.

Imagine what it would have been if he was dumped by Red Bull and he didn't get back into the Toro Rossi seat and now the Alpha Tauri seat. It would be completely different to what it is now. Gassley had a terrible half season for Red Bull. If that's where his driver career ended, his reputation would be so much lower than what it would be now as a result of the year's experience that Gassley's got. So I think Albin in that respect deserves not necessarily the benefit and the doubt, but he definitely deserves the opportunity to try and do the same thing that Gassley did.

because if Gassley can do it, there is the potential at least that Albin can do it. At the very least, he deserves a chance. It's more difficult for him because it's not going to happen within the Alphi Tauri outfit, where it happened for Gassley. He's had to go outside of the Red Bull program entirely, so it's going to be more difficult for him. But as you say, Sam, Nicholas Latifi does represent, at least in Formula One terms, one of the easiest teammates you could possibly go up against.

It's not an insult to Nicholas Latifi. it just shows you the quality that's in F1 nowadays. You won't get too many more easier opportunities than this. I think that the season is crucial for Alex Alburn in terms of his red ball prospects, 100%, because if he doesn't perform this year, and I include if he has a solid year this year, that is not enough. He has got to have a brilliant year to be considered for that program going forward

because there are young drivers coming through who are ready to, or who will be ready, to take his place. Lawson and Vips already on the cusp, they probably only need one more year in F2 apiece, possibly two. Dennis Halgo won the F3 Championship last year. I imagine he's only a couple of years away

from knocking on the F1 door. So you've got those few drivers who are going to be there or thereabouts. And Alex Albin is not going to happen for him unless he has an exceptional season this year. I think in terms of his Formula 1, prospects as a whole, if he has a solid year, I could see him still being retained by Williams, but actually just as a Williams driver, if Red Bull were to drop him from the program.

Let's say he does an okay job, beats Latifi, is absolutely fine. Williams are probably settled for that and say, okay, yeah, we'll have him for the next couple of years. He's a better driver than Latifi. We haven't exactly got anyone in F2 or F3 that's going to make their mark. I think we could do much worse than Albin, and I think they would actually accept him having a solid year and take him 100% and not just on loan. But for Red Bull prospects, I think this year is crucial and it needs to be exceptional. Anything less than that? I don't think it's going to happen for him within that program at least. What do you think, Harry? Yeah, I mean, not too much more to add to that, to be honest. I agree with what he said. I think this year, he can have a,

he can have an okay year and in the Williams and still being at Williams for another couple of years. but yeah it's a huge year if he wants to be in a red bull seat again one day I think it's very telling from a red bull point of view that they've they've kept him around because I think it's almost not admitting but it's like they've they've realized they realized putting him in that red ball seat they fudged it up they did it too early and it's almost sort of they feel like to a owe it to Alex to keep him around and they also kept him in that reserve driver role for 2020 won and then I found him a seat.

So I think they're still invested in Alex Albon, but they obviously want him to deliver this year. So it'd be interesting to see how he gets on. But yeah, I think it's not a make a break on his F1 career, but it's definitely a make a break on his Red Bull prospects. It does feel like they've, Red Bull, have almost got the perfect insurance policy here, where if Albin's brilliant at Williams, great,

they can snap him back up at the end of the year. if he's terrible they can completely let him go and then potentially there is a middle ground of he's done a pretty good job but Perez has done a good job as well we don't want him in that seat you can have him for one more year Williams and they might well accept that so it does leave the options open doesn't it so somehow from from from from a position of complete rubbishness when they couldn't find a driver for their seat or a right driver they've got to a position where they have an insurance policy, which is I mean, it's not

we can complain about the ethics of the Red Bull Junior driver program, but they've snatched it from the jaws of it's not defeat, but rubbishness, I guess, in that sense because they've now got a couple of drivers they can put in that scene if they want to come 20, 23. The jaws of rubbishness sounds like an awful parody we would do of Jaws the film, where it would just be

a massive Wilkinson's being chasing you down. Yeah, because it didn't get a Hall of Fame nomination. Sorry, Wilkinson's being. Maybe next year. Hey, who knows? Already the nominations are piling up. We have to sift through all of them.

I think we've left the people waiting long enough. Sam's getting his vocal cords ready because it's time for a brand new game here in 2022. It's time for F1. Order, please. 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 Wow, that is That's quite literally the most comprehensive one you've ever done That's got a lot of effort I took six or seven minutes to write that I'm not going to lie Sam

I expected great things And you've surpassed those experts expectations. Thank you. Just everyone listening, the guys never hear these before I come out with them. So they are, you know, one-time things before this.

Sam, would you like, and this is on an air podcast, editing discussion, would you like me to just clip that and reuse it? Or do you want to sing it again? Don't bother,

just clip that. I think I've nailed it. If you could have that. All right, fine. So professional here, aren't we? I have, sorry, listeners. You just say. right should we give them some actual content rather than how we're going to edit the episode um

behind the scenes you're probably wondering what this game is and when i say you i'm actually including sam and harry in that as well so i best explain what we're doing here um you're going to take it in turns like with much of our games um and i'm going to give you four names they could be teams cars could be anything um and i'm going to ask you to order them in a particular way so for example i might say i want you to order these these four people from oldest to youngest, me, Harry, Sam and Dave Benson Phillips. And you would have to guess them in the correct order.

If you get it in the correct order, not only do you win a point, but you also get to hear former Speaker of the House of Commons, John Burko, niche British reference, saying order. This works well, folks. I promise you, I've pressed the play button, folks. I promise. Go ahead, give it to go ahead.

why I did it in the song so it would be good if you could get the noise it's not working oh no oh no oh hello this is listeners of the podcast

oh hello we got it it's working on preview mode I'm going to see if it works on live mode seamless we are good at podcasts good Lord so yes you get a point if you get them all in the correct order

However, there's a bit of a twist for this game because if you get it wrong, the other person has the chance to steal it, but there is a bit of a decision to be made because I won't tell you how many you've got right and how many you've got wrong. I would just say that's not in the right order. The other person has the chance to steal the point.

If they get it correct, they get a point. However, if you choose to steal or try to steal and get it wrong, you will lose a point. So there is the potential... Oh, it's an actual... game. There is the potential to finish on minus points in this game, so I'm sure what of you will get there. Can't wait until I get minus four. What you're basically saying to me, Ben, is we're playing two 50-50 game choices here that I have to choose from, and I can also

get minus points when I get the inevitable 50-50s wrong. Sam, this is designed for you to lose, buddy. Oh, well, at least I get to do the theme song. That's always nice. So there are six overall. so I'll ask you to choose between numbers one and six. Harry, you can go first on this one. I'll go for three, please. Number three. I want you to name these four people from oldest to youngest. And there's four for every category.

Yarno Trilly, Eddie Irvine, one Pablo Montoya, and Mika Hakenen, from oldest to youngest. Mika Hacconin. As the oldest. Old Mika, so they call him. Who is your last one? Hang on.

Eddie Irvine. Yeah, I should have written that. Eddie Irvine will be the second one. So Hakenen, Irvine, and then you've got Trilly and Montoya. Which way around are they going? Montoya, then Trilly. All right. So Hackan, Irvine, Montoya and Trilly, from oldest to youngest.

Yeah. That's incorrect. Sam, would you like to try and steal this? I have to. I need to end on minus points, so yes, I will steal this. All right. How do you want to change his answer? I will go, Mika Hacking is the oldest. Yeah. Which is, would be the bit that's now wrong. Eddie Irvine next. Then Yarno Trulli, then Mr. Chunky.

Well, Sam, you very correctly managed to switch around Trulley. and Montoya. The problem is Eddie Irvine is older than Mika Hakenen. So Sam, you are on minus one point to kick us off. Yes! It's happened. The 150-50 I couldn't

if that was wrong. I could just get all of mine wrong, but then let Sam get mine wrong too. Your end on zero. I'll end on minus four. For those of you keeping score at home, Eddie Irvine is the oldest at 56 years old. Mika Hakenan

is then 53 Yarno Trilly 47 and one Pablo Montoya Mr Chunky He's 46 So

Pablo Juan Toya That's the guy All right Sam Can you get yourself out of the hole And manage to get yourself Back to no points What number would you like? If me and Harry were stood next to each other

On some grass I'd now be in an inch of dirt He'd just be stood on the grass I would like number six, please. All right, number six. I'm going to give you four drivers and I want you to put them in order from most race wins to least race wins.

Oh, they can have like three each. That doesn't make sense. They can't have three each. No, that's not a very good game, is it? Here are the drivers on this one. You've got Nigel Mansell, Dr. Dr. Nige. One Manuel Fangio.

Max Vastappen and Damon Hill Okay I'm going to say that Dr. Geyge has the least Fangio has the third least Hill second least Max Verstappen

known as the most when you put them at the top fourth least Let me just So are you saying that Max Verstappen has the most wins of that lot? Just to clarify. Yes. Okay, so Max Verstaffin, then Hill, then Fangio, then Mansell. It's incorrect.

Maxel was too busy saving lives. Oh, Harry, steal it. Harry, do you want to try and steal this? Nah. He's staying on to. Sam, I'm not going to give you a minus point, but I really should, because you've managed to get the right order if I asked for least to most. Oh.

You've literally got it the exact wrong way round. I thought Mustafa had more wings at that. Nigel Mansell has 31. He's the lot of the most. Followed by Fangio at 24, Damon Hill at 22, and Max Westappen at 20. That is impressive.

Is Stappen even a real world champion? Well, questions to be asked. Minus one remains your score, I'm afraid, Sam. Harry, what number would you like next? One, two, four or five. Number one, please. So I want you to name these four drivers from most appearances with Red Bull

to least appearances with Red Bull. Okay. David Coulthard, Max Verstappen, Daniel Ricardo, and Mark Weber. Oh, where's Chris Cleon? Okay.

I will go for, oh, I'll lie me. Yeah, it's the wrong way around. DC at the bottom, yeah. And then Daniel Ricardo. Oh, no, have I got this wrong. No, Daniel Ricardo, second from bottom. Yeah. Mark or Max? Mark.

How many is where we're doing? This is the third least position. Mark Vastappen. O-9. 10, 11, 12, 13. Vastappen's done. 16, 17, 18, 19, 19, 20. All right.

Weber, then Vastappen. All right, so you're going. Max Vastappen, Weber, Ricardo, Kulthard. Yeah. Incorrect. Oh. Sam. Can you steal?

Do you want to steal? On my mission to have the last. lowest points tally of all time i will steal i think i think you can get this one how are you changing it i'm doing a swap cool tard and ricardo so ricardo least then coulterd then weber then bestappen bestappen weber cullfard ricardo is your final answer yes i can't help that my brain does this the wrong way around that's quite right yes um you did the wrong way around anyway you did need to make one switch. It's the wrong switch.

And you made the wrong switch. Oh my God. Harry was very close. If you had put Mark Weber and Max Mustappen the other way around, you would have been right. Really? Yeah.

Oh, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13. That's five seasons. Vastappans then 16, 17. Yeah, 20 was only half a season. Oh, balls. And the only joined, they only joined

Red Bull halfway through Yeah, that's very good point. Wasn't Weber at Red Bull in 08?

Oh, of course it was. 08. And 07. Anyway, I'm enjoying my life on

minus two so Harry can literally not get one right and he still win. Well, you've got your

one next Sam to try and get yourself back to minus one. 2, 4 or 5. Well, I'm on

minus 2, so let's go for number 2. All right. I mean, Solid logic. Number two, I want you to name

these drivers, how many teams they've raced for from most to least. Carlos Sines, Mika Hakenan, Felipe Masa and Nikki Lauder.

Hold on, I've got to write them down. I'm actually going to put thought into this one, so Sites, Lauder, Hakenan, and Massa. And it was the other one. Massa, thank you.

Okay, so some silence, folks, I'm talking and there will be silence, it's got to do it in my head, because I can't have to give Harry any answers. Genuinely silence, by the way. Ben, how should we interlude this? A bit of music,

elevator music would be great. Right. Dun, dun, dun. Dittl-dil-d-d-dil-da-dil-dil-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d- Wait. Alternativelyly, I'm sure you are a bit of an editing whiz, so you know I could edit this out couldn't I

you could do it's going to be a bit embarrassing if you leave this in now because we're going to stay in here we go don't want Sam I'm still doing it in my air dear dun dun dun dun dun

do okay all right folks we're back after the break and I feel like I have I've got an answer. It was louder that was confusing me.

Okay, so from least to most or most to least? Most to least. Most to least. Okay, I think most to least. So louder, most, science, second, masser third, Hacking and last. Okay.

Louder, signs, masser, and then Hakenham. Yes. Oh, dear. John Burko is going wild in the crowd. Sam has got himself back to minus one. Nicky Louder, raced for five teams, Carlos Sines for four,

Massa for three, and Hakenen just for two. Well done. Oh, it's so good to not be wrong. She'd also say Hackanin's raced for two as of 2022. Of course, there'll be more around the corner when he comes back from his sabbatical.

At least for now. At 53. 53 years on, as we all now know. All right, so it's minus 1 to Sam, it's zero to Harry. The scores are off the charts, folks. Number four or number five, how would you like to round off your selection, Harry? I'll go after number four, please. Number four.

I'm going to give you four teams. I just want you to tell me, from most to least, how many races they've entered as a team. Okay. So you've got Renault. Force India Minardi and Toyota This isn't a fun question

folks No this is rubbish Does Renault have been in now All the time I'll go for Renaud Toyota Minardi Or Force India

Forcingia They were what 07 No 8 280 to 17 I'll go for the most as Renno

then Menardi Then Then Then Toy God damn 4 India 8, 09 10, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 15, 16, 17 17

Oh damn That's quite well, years. Toyota, 2002, 0, 4, 05, 06, 07, 08, oh, here, 9.

See, this is why I did this in my head, because I wasn't giving anything away. No. I'll go for the next one will be Bors India, and then it'll be Toyota last. All right, so Renaudi, Mennardi,

Force India, and Toyota in that order. Correctamundo. Order! He's done it. Thank you, John. Renno, 400, Menardi at 340, Force India, 212, Toyota, 139.

Well done. Good a point. So, um... Oh, now I'm two behind again. It does mean that you can't win now, Sam, because this is the last one and you're two points away. But a bit of pride, maybe. It has answered the question we already knew at the start of the competition,

So that's fine. All right, I've got four circuits here. And I want you to tell me, from oldest to newest to newest, when they made their debut as an F-1 track. Okay. Hockenheim. Hungara Ring.

I'll write them down. Zandvort. And the circuit to Catalonia. Hocken? Hungara. The Ben Hockenheim. The Ben Hockenheim. Oh!

Catalonia Zanzhort Yes And when they made their debut And I assume this means In any alteration of the layout Correct, yeah Okay I'm gonna go

Oldest Hockenheim Then Hagarra Ring Then Catalonia then Zambor That's the newest It's incorrect Harry, would you like to try and steal this one? Say your order again, Sam. Hockenheim, Zandvorengarang.

Catalonia, Zangvort. Okay, I'll go Hockenheim, Zanvort, Hungarian, Catalina. You were closer, but not correct. So, Harry, you've lost your one point, and you go about to zero. But you still win by zero to minus one. Congratulations. It was basically Sam's order, but Zanvort at the front rather than the back. So it was Zanvort first in 1952, then came along Hockenheim, 1970.

Hungara Ring was 1986, and then Catalonia was last, 1991. I didn't know Zanvort was older. I had a sneaky suspicion that Ben and Chucked it in is a bit of a trick, and I fell for it. Yeah, the old Dutch for impray Goes back quite away Oh well Well done Harry Would you do any better listeners?

Probably Yeah, very interesting One or no points So Yeah So in terms of the 22 quiz leaderboard Harry is 1-0 up

For the only time this year Yeah How does it feel to be right Harry? I feel like it's sick Actually I mean to be fair Consider you got zero points I'm not quite sure

How I can say you were right but you were better than minus one, so there's that. Right, and bide, I got zero. Sam, if you wouldn't mind, sing us out, please. 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.

And that's going to do it for the first episode of 2022. as I'm sure you've been able to gather. We are still as moronic as we were in 2021. We don't plan on stopping any time soon. So be with us again next week. Why not? Sam, if you wouldn't mind, getting us out of here, we've got plenty going on

in the Discord right now. Yeah, I was going to say proving, if you want to come and prove that you know more than us about Formula One, which is quite evident considering that we scored minus 1 and 0 on a game. Come on let us know your thoughts on the Asken Martin appointment that has got to happen, of course.

album makes his return this season what you think about all of that going on um big scenes happening of course this season new regulations we've got so much to talk about join us in the discord join us on twitter at all breaking we're we're gonna do a little bit of a revamp of instagram as well so if you want to hang over to like breaking on instagram as well be nice to see you over there uh we're quite new and rubbish all of that stuff but hey we're trying it just like this podcast milarchy um thank you for turning up for a new start to the new year share it with your nan or someone else who likes formula one it's always nice to share the love um um And in the meantime, I think San Joseon.

I've been Ben Hawking. And I have been snatched on the jaws of rubbishness. And remember, keep breaking late. Would you like a can of Coca-Cola or a lovely cheese, though? Find more great shows or join the team at sport-ssocial.com.com. Past is part of the Sport Social Podcast Network.