The Late Braking F1 Podcast - Our 2025 Driver Lineup Predictions

Episode Date: March 31, 2024

The LB trio share their predictions for how the driver lineup will shake up for next season. They also discuss the promised properties of the next-gen 2026 cars and how positive these changes may be for the sport, before finishing with a game of F1: Order Please... FOLLOW us on socials! You can find us on YouTube, Instagram, X (Twitter) and TikTok SUPPORT our Patreon for bonus episodes, historic race reviews & more! JOIN our Discord community JOIN our F1 Fantasy League: SIGN UP & create your team, and JOIN our league (join code: C3PHEQHPU04) BUY our Merch SEND us something! We have a brand new PO box - address: Late Braking Podcast, PO Box 821, TRURO TR1 9PE 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 Ead, Sam Sage, and me Ben Hocking on today's Sunday episode. I've very nearly got that wrong because Harry's unusually sat next to me and Sam isn't. So I almost said all of our names at the same time and also none of our names. It's a good start.

Very Sage is back. Barry Sage is here. Barry Sage never goes away. Nope. He's a constant. He will never die. That's a story for another day. But we've got an exciting episode because whilst there's no F1 race this weekend, sad noises,

we do have 2025 driver line-up predictions. And there are a lot of seats to predict. So I am hoping, now I'm definitely saying this so it won't happen, but I'm hoping we're going to have some big differences in opinion here. As we said before recording, there are 13 options available that aren't guaranteed for 2025. So if all three of us have picked exactly the same options, if anything, maybe now is that time to go out and pick lottery numbers because the chances are very slim that we get

this exactly the same. Precisely. Also coming up on today's episode, we've got order please and a little bit on the 20, 26 regulations, but the bulk of our episode today is going to be predicting this 2025 driver lineup. As Sam has already correctly identified, seven drivers are locked in for next season, which leaves 13 seats available. So we're going to go through it team by team. Before we start with the teams that actually have positions open, is anyone going to shock the world and say that McLaren and Ferrari, which are the only two teams that have both drivers locked in,

are actually going to do something different? Well, you won't believe this. But I'm not going to say anything silly, no. No. I don't think so. Good. Right, that's settled then. So Ferrari is definitely going to be Lewis Hamilton and Charlotte Claire.

McLaren is going to be Lando Norris and Oscar Pia Street, and that's going to be really funny when that's not true for some weird reason. Ferrari turn around and go, nah, Lewis, we didn't mean it really. Get back to work. It got been very good, actually. Carlos, stay. Carlos one race.

Lewis, not. Carlos stay is his new name. How many races is Carlos won? Carlos won? Carlos signs one in the past two years versus Lewis Hamilton. Ooh. Oh, that's a good point, that.

And Carlos goes through to score his second. Carlos two, Hamilton, Nell. Okay, so those two teams are sorted, but as we've identified eight other teams that have at least one opening and many five overall that have two openings. So let's start with the championship leaders, the championship winner from last year, that being Red Bull.

Of course, Max Verstappen is one of those drivers that is, quote, unquote, locked in, provided Helmut Marco doesn't go anywhere. But Sergio Perez is out of contract at the end of this season. So, Sam, kick us off. Who's driving for Red Bull next year? Yeah, the obvious one, Max Verstappen, I think is staying. I know there are plenty of rumours and conversation points, especially around Toto Wolf that believes that he can maybe lure Max Verstappen away,

all the politics going on. don't think it's going to happen. I think Max Stappen is comfortably in that spot. Alongside him is kind of the big debate, and there are so many options and avenues that you could go down for the second Red Bull seat. Some of the options that I ran through and putting out my list are, of course,

Carlos Sites, who I said there's maybe a seven or eight out of ten chance that he is a proper favourite for this seat. You've got the guys that are already in the Monabie, which is Ricardo, Yuki Sanoda, Lawson is outside Shout Landon. Norris has always been part of that group, but we've just agreed as a team that really McLaren is likely to stay exactly the same. And of course, Perez is already there and doing a pretty standard job at the moment.

So what direction of ICON? I've kept it as boring as could be. And I've actually believed that Sergio Perez will still be in that seat. I think you'll get a one-year extension and the line will be exactly the same as what we see it is today. Good stuff. Should have clarified before we started. But this is very much a prediction of what we think at the moment is going to happen, rather than what we think should happen, two very different things.

But I've actually agreed with you on Red Bulls. So Max Vestappen, I'm with you. I still think it's a play by the Vestappans from the non-Christian Horner side of Red Bull. The Vestappen might be tempted away by Mercedes. I personally don't see it happening. So I think he carries on with the team. And I've also gone with Sergio Perez alongside. I still do think it's in his hands.

I wouldn't be surprised if they went in a different direction, but like you, I'm going with that one-year contract extension. I don't believe Red Bull will find themselves in a position again to make what I think was a mistake in giving Perez a multi-year deal. I think the Valtry Bottas one-year deal, sort of that type of deal is probably going to be best suited for Red Bull for Perez going forward. But I think for the sake of if it ain't bro,

don't fix it too much. If Perez does enough this year, I think he'll stay around. Agreed. Harry? I think they're going to go for carloff science. Oh, okay, here we go. Here we go.

Here we go. I agree with all your points about Perez, but I don't, I just think maybe they're looking for a bit of a change at Red Bull. And I'm not saying this is because Perez is doing a terrible job because he's not, but he's doing a fine job. As you said, Sam, a standard job,

which I think is actually quite a fair way to determine this. It's standard. You are standard. He's exactly as expected. Yeah, standard Perez. But I think maybe they're just going to look elsewhere. And Carlos Synes being a free man, as he's going to be by the end of 2024,

could be a nice option. It's a nice little fairy tale for him as well, given that he was in the Red Bull program, and then it wasn't. And, you know, he left and then went to Rayla, and then went to McLaren, now is it Ferrari. and ends up finally at Red Bull. Could be a nice little ferretel

feral ending. But yeah, I don't know. I just got a... I know this is not a lot to base it off. But when Christian Horner starts saying things like... When he starts looking, he's looking at... It was the same when we had this with Peres. You're like, oh...

Christian Horner doesn't say things without there being some underlying reason for it. Exactly. So that just made me think maybe this is why. So, yeah, I'm going to mix it. I'm going to say it's for stop and signs in 20. I think that is by far the most logical argument against keeping Sergio Perez. I've seen a lot of people, including the official F1 channel,

go down the route where they put Ricardo in that seat still, which currently I don't see there's any reason why they would choose to have Ricardo alongside Bostappen. But science, on form, guy can drive, already knows the Red Bull family. He's free, so there's no buyout clause there. Surgery process contract does come to the end of this year. It feels very logical. I do think that that is by far the most sensible. route if they don't go for Perez again. Yeah, there's not many occasions where there is a free agent

out there like Carlos Sines. And it's very rare that the market is as open as it is right now. So if they don't take the opportunity this year, is that same opportunity going to be there next year for a driver of Sines's caliber? That's a real question mark. So I wouldn't be surprised at all if they went down that path. Could you imagine if Since gets booting out of a Ferrari and technically ends up finding himself in an upgrade? That would be... what Perez did, right? Yeah, yeah, exactly. It's an audacious move, but it would be,

I would argue that the upgrade that Perez got is not to the same standard of upgrade that Science is going to get. Peres had to wait for a relatively strong race-winging car. Science had to walk into the most dominant era of a team ever, just because he's unemployed. Also, I mean, very random point. What would that say to the likes of Pierre Gazley and Alex Albin,

where the last two drivers that have left the Red Bull program on their own accord of Carlos Sines and Daniel Ricardo and they've both just ended up going back there we'll see you in a few years Alex yeah exactly

talking 26 rolls around it'll be there okay so that's Red Bull then myself and Sam going with Perez staying alongside Vestapp and Harry going with signs joining Vestappan as always with all of these

we'd love to know your thoughts and how they differ to our own let's go to Mercedes as of course Lewis Hamilton is leaving the team at the end of this season George Russell will be sticking around so the question is who's going to partner him, Sam?

Yeah, of course, Russell is going to be, well, he hopes he's going to be the leader. I don't know how long that's going to last with this man coming alongside him because I've gone further two-time, well, champ Fernando Alonso. He's doing the dance. He's doing the dance. Yeah, big, big Fonz is moving into that seat, and I think it ticks a lot of boxes. Lewis Hamilton is absolutely giant normal shoes to feel. Metaphorically, I think he's got quite normal size fit in the real world.

but you need a marketing personality that can drive your unit forward. And you also need someone who is incredibly quick and reliable in a seat. I think with how Mercedes are going through their development cycle and the way that the culture is changing and the way the team is building, you can't go for a risk like Antonelli, for example, who is another name in the mix, where it's another risk to add into the mix. What happens if Antingale graduates into Formula One straight into a Mercedes? and he flops. I'm not going to say the same thing

that I said in the last episode, but he absolutely flops, and it takes three or four seasons for him to even get up to a standard that's considered good, not saying what happened, but it is a possibility. And you saw how Mercedes

gently ease George Russell into the world of Formula One by that relationship that they had with Williams, and I think it did him a lot of good. Arguably, he was there a season too long, but overall, it was a very positive experience for Russell to gain that experience towards the back of the grid,

and then to take that step up into the Mercedes family. A longso is a great stop gap. He's a great filler for a very short time period. And now I know that I've still got Carlos Sites floating around, for example, as an option. And the reason why I don't have science in that seat is because I genuinely think he's too much of a long-term option to fill this seat. I think they want to make sure they get Antingelli in that seat within the next two or three seasons. I think they give a long-so a two-year deal. They see how it goes and they've got a replacement lined up should it fall apart,

Sherlock so burned down the world, should he decide to retire. You never know with Fernando, but I think this allows them to cover off all their bases. So the Fong's, two seasons, I reckon, in Mercedes, and then they re-evaluate. What are you going for, Harry? I'm going for Antonelli.

Oh, okay. All right. I'm going to be risky today. I love it. I think they, I think Mercedes might struggle to convince Alonzo to come over. It's a fair shout. It's a fair shout. because

because, cause balance right now. Just given where Mercedes are, is Alonso gaining much

by going to Mercedes next year? I mean, in terms of pure pace as it is at the moment, no.

No, nothing. And maybe there's potential, but then you can say there's potential with Aston Martin given where

their new trajectory of that team and where it's been, they obviously got the Honda relationship coming in in 26,

but yeah, I think that's what they'll struggle to do. I think they might, which is unusual, it's not only Alonzo is knocking on

everyone's door for a drive. But I just feel like they might struggle. And also, I agree with what you say with Russell, you know, when putting him in the Williams for a few years, they did the same with Bottas. This is when Mercedes were a dominant or at least fighting for a championship team. I don't see them being that for the next couple of years anyway. So what's the harm in putting Antonelli in your car?

He can learn that way instead. And then when they do get back to the. top, which I'm sure they will at some point, but I don't see it being next year, quite frankly, then at least he'll be ready. So I'm, yeah, going to go with Antonelli. I know it is a risk for Mercedes. It's not something they've done before, but I just, I think it'll, the circumstances mean it'll be worth it. Harry, are you feeling all right, mate? Because this is very sound reason came here to play. Yeah, and usually it's all a bit, you know, never so sure, but you're, you've seen concrete. Yeah, it's a cordish air down here. I've absolutely lost my mind.

decided to get out the frying pan and start cooking. Not be cooked. I am cooking. I'm here for it. I'm absolutely here for it. Chef Ead. Oh man. I'm sticking with Sam at the moment. I'm also going with the Fons alongside George Russell. You know, Toto Wolf has identified four drivers at the moment as drivers that he would like to consider. Antonelli is one of them. So I don't think it's right to completely discard him. I just feel like they might get to crunch time and go, I can't do it. I feel like if the new power unit regulations were coming in in, say, 2027,

just one year later, I think it'd be more likely. The reason I'm a bit doubtful is if Mirk get that right, and they are ready in 2026, that's only one year of Antonelli having experience. Is that enough? I don't know. Maybe, maybe not. You know, you could, let's just compare to, say, Oscar Pia. Let's say McLaren were in a position to win right now.

Is Piastri in the second year of his development there yet? I would argue no. And obviously he came in with far more experience and older than Antonelli. So that's the reason I'm a bit skeptical about that option. Toto Wolf still wants Verstappen as the number one priority for him. Again, don't think it's going to happen, in which case for me it does come down to Alonzo in signs. And I went with Alonzo for largely the same reason to you said, Sam.

I think as well that, I mean, there is, you would say, you were saying Antonelli to Mercedes would be very different compared to what they've done before. They've never had a line up since their return that hasn't had a world champion in it, let alone a race winner. I mean, that's, yeah, they've found a point. Schumacher, Hamilton, if they don't sign Fernando Alonzo, or let's say, Max Verstappen, this would be the first year that they would ever have where there wasn't a world champion. as Sam said, a big boots to fill in Lewis Hamilton, and I feel like Alonzo might be the only driver out there that's capable of doing that. More from a, not just driving,

but from a character point of view as well. So yeah, I've gone for Alonzo. If you're going to hear more about our Max for Saffington, and Masegi's thoughts, we're going to be discussing it very soon on a Patreon episode. So make sure you check out the link in the discreppy, subscribe, you get way more episodes, way more content and power rankings

after every single Grand Prix as well. I tell you what, I didn't realize we were doing the podcast with Carlis. I was smooth operator. Yeah, smooth operator over there. I've learned from the best. Ben Hawkins been teaching me. Goodness me.

He's a natural. He's been plugging nose in like an electrician. Okay, ruined it. Never mind. Every time. Okay. So Red Bull and Mercedes have been decided. Myself and Sam have gone relatively sensible.

Harry's burning the ground, burning everything to the ground. It's not an insult. I love it. Let's go to a team. that has two drivers. Astor Martin. Has two drivers, good. Sorry, has two drivers that are out of contract.

Confidence. Have people. Oh, God. So, Aston Martin, obviously, at the moment, have Lansdrol and Fernando Alonzo. Fernando Alonzo is out of contract at the end of this year. Lansdrol probably is as well. His contract situation is always a little bit weird. double change, Sam.

Is Stroll staying there? Obviously, we know based on your predictions Alonzo won't be, so what are you saying? Yeah, I was reading up on some rumours, some new stories when creating my list, and there are currently the rumours around Aramco being salvably backed looking to buy out Lawrence Stroll's steak in Aston Martin,

and that would, I would argue, shake things up for Askin Martin. Lance Stroll would no longer be a needy part of this as due to the only ship of Lawrence Stroll departing. So in theory, if that were to happen, two seats would definitely be available. But I am basing this list on probability and lightningness not on what I want to happen or what I believe will happen. But what I think is just how it's going to work at the moment. He's not going anywhere right now while these contracts are being sorting out.

So I think Stroll stays. I think seat one, stays with Stroll for now. For how long? I don't know. Time will have to come where he will have to be moved on. But I don't think that's right this second. In the second seat, the man's name that's being pushed around more than anything is Carlos Sines, and this is where I think he's going. I think Carlos Sines is snubbing the potential Audi rumours.

I've already said that I don't think he gets into the Mercedes seat or the other Red Bulls seat right now. And this feels like a good building block for him. He's not going to the back of the grid. He's not taking a risk on Audi being terrible. They might come in and really struggle. Aston Martin are a known quantity. He can create that team around. him, Lantz Stroll is just another cog in the machine that isn't really able to do much about it.

And you've seen what Alonkis has been able to do there. I think Carlos Sight at the time on his side would be able to turn that into an empire of his own. And also, if there was to be a takeover and with the Honda relationship growing, what's to say that he cannot be a team leader for when maybe someone like Yuki Sengover in a couple of years, maybe moves over there if Lankstrol were to depart. So it feels sensible, feels safe, which is very not up my avenue. But, yeah, I'm going for a stroll and science pairing at Aston-Marie. Now in theory, Harry, you could go for an unchanged lineup, are you?

In the big game of stick and twist, Aston Martin are stickier than a stick insect living in Stick City. Stick City, yeah. B word? Yeah. Yeah, I don't think he's going to change. I think Alonzo could only be tempted to a Red Bull seat. I don't think Red Bull are going to have him.

And, yeah, stroll, his dad runs the place. He's not going anywhere, I don't think. Yeah, so big help in it. I know there are the rumours about Ramco, but again, I'd not sure I see that happening, or if it does, it won't be next year. So as long as Lawrence owns it, I don't think Lance is going to go on it.

I really enjoy every time we get to a new season, they're like, Aston Martin, or even when they're at racing point, it's like, before the season, you know, looking forward to, oh, and by the way, Lance Joel signed for another year. Like, yeah, yeah, we know. Forgot to let you know, yeah.

Cheers, guys. You're never leaving. Yeah, so anyway, Frasian, but yeah, I don't think it's going to change. Yeah, I can understand that. I think with Landstrol, see, I always go back to the decision they had between Vettel and Perez.

I was convinced at the time that Lauren Stroll was going to pull the plug and put Perez alongside Vettel, and he didn't. And that has scarred me for any Asthma Master Martin predictions forever now because I will not believe until it happens,

the Landstrol will leave that team. because for me that was such a no-brainer that they didn't go through on, to the point where even now you could say, all Spanish lineup, signs and Alonzo, that could be very, very strong. Don't see it happening because I just don't think

Lonstrol is going to be leaving that team. So he is, yeah, I think he'll stay. And I promise I'm not copying Sam, but I've also got Carlos Sines in the other seat. I think if Fernando Alonzo were to leave, essentially because my Perez prediction to Red Bull,

I think the situation is whoever is alongside Landstrel will be the loser or the winner of Signs versus Alonzo. If Alonzo wants to go to Mercedes, I think Signs will go into Aston Martin. If Alonzo wants to stay at Aston Martin, I think Signs goes to Mercedes.

In this scenario, I think Mercedes can prime away, in which case Carlos Sines quite naturally fits in there. And I think Aston Martin, if Alonzo were to leave, I think they would really need this Signs deal to go forward. because if it weren't signs, I don't know who it would be. So.

It looks like a very weak line up very quickly. Drogovich and Stroll. No, thanks. That's got eighth place of the championship written all over it. Yeah. So I've got them securing the services of Carlos signs. Well, that makes it a good place to take a quick break, but we've still got some more teams to decide on the other side.

Okay, welcome back. So we've sorted out the top of the order. We're now going to look at the bottom five teams in the championship. Admittedly, I haven't really written these down in any particular order. So I've got Alpine next on the list. I mean, they were sick for last year, to be fair to them. Not quite this year, though. Gasly and Ocon, both up for contract at the end of this year.

Sam, do you see them staying with those two drivers, or does someone else find their way in here? This one was surprisingly really tricky. it's harder as well because there's no one in Alpine to run the contract negotiations anyway. So it is down to Gasling. I'm actually doing it just, you can see on camera here. I've got my pen and paper. Harry probably thinks I'm doing something relating to the podcast.

I'm actually just writing out some contracts. Brilliant. Good. Yeah, Pierre's waiting for a call from Mr. Hocking. Has no idea he actually is. It's since I met him in the Alfa Tauri clothing reveal that they've gone late breaking or our management, apparently. Yeah, so I think that the French Joe actually are going to stay exactly where they are. I just think there's so much uncertainty at Alpine,

but Alpine are so lucky that they've got two drivers that are completely capable, completely confident in their own abilities. They can achieve, they can out-drive a car as we're seeing so far this season. And I think luckily for Alpine, there's nowhere logical for the both to go right now. I think it will be a one-year extension for both of them, and I think that's entirely driven by the drive. I do not think that the team would want a one-year extension for both drivers because that just pushes the problem back 12 months. If I'm honest, I think either Ocon or Gassley will be looking

at this Audi deal that's coming in and one of them will go seats up the table, not looking promising. But Audi could be a giant, get my foot in the door. That could be three or four years minimum of a really good portion of my career. And you know how many times we've stated on the podcast, have some faith in yourself, believe in yourself. These are two drivers. that can afford to take their time with this contract negotiation. I don't think there's anyone waiting in the wings that is good enough to snatch these seats away. I've heard rumours of Jack Dewan potentially coming into an LPC. Don't agree with it.

I don't think it's going to happen. Whilst I think he's a guy with great abilities, I do not think he's F1 capable, not over these two anyway. And so they've got the entire chance to make the decision themselves. And so, yeah, one-year extension for both. It will stay as it is, and then we'll have to have this whole conversation, this time next year, all over again. Yeah, I very nearly put Gasly in Salba slash Audi, because I think there is an opportunity for one of these two drivers to be the spearhead of that, even if the results aren't going to be there straight away.

If it's not going to be Carlos Sines going to that team, then In theory it does open up a lead driver role maybe for one of these two. In the end, the way I've worked things out hasn't quite gone that way, in which case I have said they will both stay at the team. Like you say, I mean, there's not outside of that Audi prospect, there's not too many directions that they could go both of these drivers. I think they are at the moment a better lineup than the team deserves based on where the car is at. I wouldn't be surprised if they do get Jack Dewan. I think if either of them goes, I think they would go with Jack Dewan as a rookie driver, who I think has done fine in junior formally. I wouldn't be completely against him getting a seat in F1 at the same time. I don't think his record means that it's a crime that he hasn't got one. So I've stuck with the same two drivers.

Harry? Yeah, same. For the points of you raised, Sam, Alpine, the problems do not lie with their driver line up. And for the two drivers, where else do they go? I know you mentioned Sal was probably the only other, prospect and that's more from a long-term point of view. That's not for next year.

So they're in a bit of a stuff between a rock and a hard place. They can't really go anywhere. And Alpine, why would Alpine get rid of them? That's, it's a good, it's a good lineup. Ocona Ghazly, why would you get rid of that? So I think they're staying sadly. Well then.

They're just praying on 2026. Please, please give us a power unit. that goes quicker than 50 miles an hour. Please. Okay, so no change at Alpine then, other than maybe we'll get some more staff members in. I'm trying my best, I promise, but it takes a long time to go through Indeed and LinkedIn

when you've got everything else to do. I'll give Keith a call for you, mate, from where I used to live. He's a handy, man. He'll be up to something. Thanks, Sam. Appreciate that. All right. Do I get in for the tune?

Let's go to Williams next. So Alex Albin is in a deal through the end of 2025. So that should be no question marks over that seat. But Logan Sargent doesn't have a contract for next year. Sam, what direction are Williams going in? Yeah,

I don't think anyone prize Albaughan away out of this deal early as well. I think that James Vowals has actually changed his ankle to Albon's ankle. It's only letting him free when it's time to sit in the race car. You're not leaving. I think he's James Vow's POV right now. And that's fair. Whilst I don't think Albon is the absolute top dog on this Formula One grid, he's a great prospect for a team like Williams to have hold of and to finally have someone who wants to stick around at Williams long term and isn't using it as a bit of a stepping stone to a bigger side or a more top tier team. In the other seat, though, I do not think Logan Sarg is getting that contract renewed.

I just think that he brings some great marketing money. He opens up the market of North America, of course. he's just not hitting the track in the way that brings home the points. And regardless of what goes on with marketing money or your market, you're opening, points mean prizes in Formula One and you need harker or cash. So unless he can absolutely chalk up that, I don't know, let's say, $15 million that they might lose out on if you get to the wrong position because he hasn't scored any points. Maybe you can.

I'm not that wealthy. Don't know. I do think they're going to go in a different direction. And I think, as I alluded to you earlier, I think of driving is to be put in a lower-down side to gain more experience. I think it's going to be an Albon and Tonelli line up for Williams next season. I think this will be a bit of a friendship moment between Toto and James Vowls. I think they'll probably get some discounts, which Williams needs to make sure that they can catch up in other areas.

I think it's a very sensible play. And it means that that relationship between Masek and Williams grows to be more strong again, which I think we saw recently. It kind of fell apart a little bit. It kind of went from having a rookie driver there constantly to, you know, he picked up a Red Bull rookie driver. or a rookie's kind to Albon. An ex-driver there, of course, and there was talks that they might have even had two at one point.

So for me, Antonelli sits alongside Albon. I don't know how long that lasts for, but I do believe that Mosegars will try to use that as the growth area for Antegett to go into Mercedes in a year or two's time. Now, unless Antonelli is pulling double duty here, there will be a difference in what you say versus what Harry's about to say.

If I can imagine, imagine I was like, yeah, Antonelli. That would be classic, would it? I forgot. Yeah. No, I think this is another one. I know I was burning everything to the ground earlier, but it's another one that's going to stay the same.

And I don't think I don't agree with it. But I think Sergeant might just end up doing enough this year to get another year in 2025. And then we'll see, it's a bit like a Nicholas Latifie situation here, but he probably gets one year too many. But I just think that's the way, just the way it's going to go.

For James Vowles and for Williams, they've got a lot of things they've got to sort out and I just feel like maybe they'll keep the driver line up the same for now just to concentrate on everything else, everything else they've got to sort. So like building shatties. Overrated. More than two shatties. More than two shatties. There's only two drivers. Why do you need three? Exactly. Yeah, I just get that feeling. And again, like I said, I think it's the wrong choice, but I just think that's the way it's going to go. Now I'm excited because my option is not the same as

Harry's option, and it's not the same as Sam's option. Finally! Finally! Complete difference in opinion here. So I am going with Alex Albin. I don't think, like you say, Sam, I don't think he will be pried away by another team. I was very tempted to say Kimmy Antonelli, and I wouldn't be surprised if it does happen.

But I'm going with in Vowles we trust in that if James Vals wants to put his money where his mouth is and he claims like I am long term. I am pushing this team back to greatness. I don't think loaning a driver is in line with that. I think Kimi Antonelli, if Fernando Alonso, let's say, was in the second Mercedes seat, you might only be there for a year. You might be there for two years. In which case, you're just stuck in the same position that you were like five years ago with George Russell, where, okay, he's doing a good job, but you know at some point, you know, Papatoteau, you know, is going to come along and just go, nah, I want him back now.

And I'm trusting that Vowals won't go down that direction. I think Toto Wolf will bank on Williams taking on Antonelli, and then James Vowels will, like, I don't know, just go, no. Nah. I've gone with Albon and a return to Williams for Valtry Bottas. Okay, I'm enjoying the spice today. I still think Valtry Bottas has something to give. give F1.

Honestly, if he could just have a working pit crew, that's the only reasonable move. Yeah. Guys, I've done here. I want a pit stop that's less than 50 seconds. Wait, your will guns, put the tires on? I know. I am in.

It's madness. I don't think he will stick around for the Salba, well, not by his own choice, but I don't think he'll stick around for the Salba Audi transition. I think they'll go with someone else there, in which case I think he becomes a free agent. and I think Williams go, hey, that is a good driver who's done good things for us before. And he's an improvement over Logan Sargent.

So, yeah, I'm going to go with Bottas. Nice little line up that, botas album. Yeah. Yeah, good experience, good marketing. Works. Okay, from Williams, we will now go to Salba slash Audi slash whatever they're going to be called next year. It just changes every year, doesn't it really at this point? Changes every race, yeah.

Vegan sausage roll. Vegan sausage. There we go. So both of their drivers, Joe Guan Yu and Valtry Bottas, are out of contract at the end of this season. So Sam, what are you going for here? I think the team is in a very difficult position with this transition into Audi. I think steak, sausage roll, you know, cheese and big melt are struggling with creating a working Formula One team. And I imagine there are a lot of staff members whose eyes are very much on the future and not on the present, which I can understand, makes sense, whether it's right or right.

fine. But I think because of that, whilst we've had a discussion multiple times on whether both Joe and Bottas should go, I think that Bottas is doing enough to come to without showing Joe Guang you right now. So I think Joe goes, I think Bottas stays. It keeps consistency. I think Audi like the idea of someone like Bottas as well. He's got experience in the game. He's used to the team. He knows what's going on with a development in that sense. So yeah, Bottas stays. I think alongside BOTAS, and this will change the answers for another team we haven't discussed yet, comes in

Daniel Ricardo at Salba. I think they take one final risk. And I think the stake partnership being all about marketing and showing things off and going as big as they can, Ricardo ticks all of those

boxes. And this is Daniel Ricardo's last dance. I think he gets this one last try and if he impresses enough that Audi go, sure, then maybe he might be around for a couple more years. But Ricardo's on the thing ice at the moment. He's not impressed coming back to Menardi. He's not impressed where he was previously at McLaren. And he didn't do a fantastic job, even when he was at Rengo, apart from the last few bits that he had where he didn't decide to leave a place that he was doing very well at, very confusingly. So I think this is his last chance.

And I think he will want to succeed. And he's going to have to push for another tough year in a that's probably not very good in the hope that the golden gates of Audi will open and he will be rewarded with a team that could drive him upwards again. But yeah, Ricardo and Bottas, the two Aussies, wink, wink, will be taking the helm of this sausage bean and cheese melt. Good stuff. Well, you know that I've got Valtrey Bottas moving away to Williams in my predictions, and I don't think they keep Zhoguan Yew.

So I'm going for a double, double, change, change. You have to get that jingle worked on. Yep. So I think they want two things from their driver lineup. I think they would like a German driver racing for them. And I think they would like their driver of the future sorted. And I don't think they've got either of them sorted. I toyed with the idea of popping Sebastian.

I was. I this is a discussion for another day I think he comes back at some point he's got a little witch hasn't he? A little witch he's scratching with that Porsche Porsche hypercar test

I don't think it's here but I think he's coming back at some point anyway so naturally the other German driver who is currently in Formula 1 Nikolkberg I think he goes to the team and then alongside him

I think at long last last, Teo Porchere does get an opportunity in F1. Great junior record. Never going to happen. They're never going to give a risk. No, true. Banging that drum, six before drums were invented. He's still part of the Selba Driver Academy,

Formula 2 champion. I think he's done what is necessary and that if they want a driver to take them into the next five, ten years, that Porsche could be that guy. So I've gone with a double change, Hulk and Berger and Porsche. Double, double change. Change, change, change. Holgerberg was the one that I really,

I had this spot of Ricardo or Hulk open for a long time. And that, I just happened to tip the other way. But I think Hulk is a very six. Didn't they try and sign him last year? It wasn't there conversations between the two of them that he might have ended up going to Sauba and then obviously didn't. So I think it's very plausible, very realistic. So, yeah, I almost went with, you know,

Niko Rosberg and Spastin Vettel, double German world champion lineup. Could you imagine? You do you imagine. I'm here for it. That'd be spicy. So that's four different drivers the two of us have put in those seats.

Who are you going with? They're keeping Valtri Bottas. As long as he finds his form. No, I'm joking. He's actually, he's been okay this year. Bottas is back, baby. But in the second seat is a driver I've not mentioned on my list yet,

who currently in my world is out of a seat. Sergio Perez. Oh, okay. All right. Back to where it all started. Yeah, it's a good point. Because if he is, as I think he's going to be out of the seat, a Red Bull, this is a nice little retirement plan. Go to Salba, which will become Audi.

You might have some success there and then spot off onto the sunset with the tequila in hand and sombrero on. I'm joking. It's a lot of stereotypes going on. But no, I think for both parties, I mean for Salba at the moment, but Audi, I think sensible moot, that's a solid. I'm not saying that this is the line up. Audi will have...

I don't think Bottas ends up, but Audi, spoiler alert. But Perez and A, another driver, probably a German one, as he say. Perez and Holkenberg, get the 2014-India duo back together. I was about to say, we have collectively put together like the 2014 All-Star underrated.

Like, Perez, Bossas, Ricardo. And Holmberg. That is 2015 non-race winners assemble. But yeah, so for next year, I think Perez could take up that second seat. And that's a Bates Perez lineup. It's all right. Yeah, Salber have got the best driver line up on the grid in our world,

depending on what year it is. Yeah. Say, if you could pick those games out of a hat, any of those, you go, oh yeah, I'm all right with that. Yeah. Just two teams left then. We'll go to Minardi. So Yuki Sonoda currently there out of contract.

We know Daniel Ricardo won't be racing there according to Sam. so what are you going for? Yeah, I think Liam Lawson has already basically been promised a seat so unless promises mean nothing in the words of Helmut Marco and hey, I'm not going to put it past him, maybe they do.

But I think Liam Lawson's there and you know what? He should be called Liam Alsom because he was awesome in his spot four-racing. He was so good in that stint that he had last season and he really showed me that whilst his junior record was very solid,

it wasn't kind of the shining candidate for a Formula One drive, but I think he proved that maybe he's one of those that could drive a Formula One car better than he drove a Formula 2 car. He was great. So I think Lawson's in that seat. Alongside, I just don't think they've got an option ready to go. So I think Sanoa stays. I think they're keeping for a year, literally one year.

They roll it on for another deal. I'm a little bit sorry for Sondola because he's in this world where it's a bit of limbo. He's kind of what Gassali was before. where Gassi ending up just being there year after year with no premise of a step up to Red Bull, but he's good enough that he doesn't get evicted from the Formula One grid altogether. And a team like Ascomarty with the Honda relationship

seems like a really ideal place for him to go, but science and also are better and more desired, and Lance Stroll isn't leaving. So it's kind of struggling to fit into anywhere comfortably, but I think they keep him for one more year. So a Lawson-Sinoda-Mongardi line up for me next year. Harry? I'm going to Sonoda as well

and I'm all going for Lawson so I'm agreeing with Sam I just don't think Ricardo was going to do enough this year as much as it pains me to say and Sonoda apparently is now a goad up in 2020s Goatnoe yeah goat Noda

but yeah he's having a stellar year so far I know we're only three races in but as I just kind of see the way it's going already and you think, oh, okay, this might be it for Ricardo. So, yeah, we're going for a Sonoda Lawson lineup. Like you say, Sam, for Sonoda, yeah, so what another year at Monardi, Alfortari, Toroso. But where else he's going to go anyway, so, yeah, Sonoda, Lawson. Before I say what I think will happen, Daniel Ricardo, please don't make me look like an idiot

for picking you in teammate wars, because at the moment, and that's what you're doing. Yeah, same, Daniel. You are making us collectively look bad, which trust me, is fairly easy to do. But stop it. Did we all go for Ricardo? I think we did.

We all went for exactly the same thing other than Al Payton. Oh, God. And people said at the time as well, like, you're overrating Daniel Ricardo, like, you're going to look stupid at the end of the year, and they're right at the moment.

And that was just our mums. Yeah. He got me worried. Boy, he'd be worried. I've actually gone the same as both. you hear you're Sonoda and Lawson um Lawson did enough in his couple of races

that he was with the team um to the point where I think that that will happen Sonoda from his perspective he's in a he's in a good spot it's funny how quickly things change in F1 because he was not necessarily on the chopping block a year or so ago but his position was far more vulnerable than what it is now and part of that is due to Sonoda's own performances but also all the turmoil around him

It's like, Vestappen, will he or won't he leave? Perez is out of contract at the end of this season. Ricardo isn't operating on the same level he was in his last int at the team. Lawson has only done a couple of races. They don't have a great junior program at the moment. And Sonoda's just there like, yeah, I'll keep doing my job then. And it's working for him because he's kind of their constant at the moment. So, yeah, I've gone Sonoda and Lawson as well.

And to round out, we've got Hass. So Nika Holkenberg and Kevin Magnuson, at least in the seats at the moment. Does Sam, any change there? Yeah, we have got some slight change. I've already mentioned how I was so close to placing Holkenberg in the Salber seat. And I actually think that that will happen in a year's time. I think he's going to have a one-year deal to extend at Huss. I think it's Kevin Magnuson that will have to step aside.

And I think it's a bit harsh on KMAG. But out of the two, Hulk's just more consistent in delivering those results. is just getting the job done more often than not. And I do agree with the conversation we had a little while ago that if KMAG and Hulk keep proving to be a consistent and strong team together that worked together nicely and do bring home results, it is a big argument in favour of this duo remaining. But I think the deal with Ferrari to put Olly Behrman in the place

can be financially a little bit too tempting for a team like harsh that could deal with some cost cutting elsewhere in terms of buying an engine, for example, or buying certain parts. If Frig Vassco's, you take Bairman, and we do a 50% price deal on everything else, you go, that's good development money. You know, that could buy us X, Y and Z. And they're off. They're going to have off everything.

Hey, yeah. Stop back. Woo! Big Friday brought. And I think, I do think that is partly what goes on with these contracts are putting kind of a rookie on loan at these teams. So, yeah, I think it's going to be a Hulk bearman line up. But what I think is the problem here for Hasses is that is so temporary.

that does not give them any long-term security. And that is the case for Haas. We've seen that time and time again, what they've switched and been swapped and big all over the place of what they're doing. And I think this continues. I think Hulk will probably end up leaving within a year or so,

probably for Audi. And I think Behrman, if all goes to plan, will take over Lewis Hamilton's seat at Ferrari within a couple of years. So it's worrying times. I'm talking about Haas, weirdly, are on the move up. Harry?

I'm going for Hulk and Bergen-Berman. Hath, listen up. You can have one experienced driver. No. And one rookie. No. It's can't happen. It's allowed.

Airman and Porsche. Halkenberg and Trulley. Trilly, bring back the Trulli. Can you imagine Yano Trulli's coming back? Good Lord. What is he? What is Yano Trilly doing these days? Just to win Monaco.

That's all it comes back for. It just leaves, walks straight off the track into his car and goes. Swims away. to the Sanse. So long. Good. Yeah, Holkenberg and Berman, I think, out of the two, Holgerberg, Manganstein, I think Holgerberg will still have the better year.

Magnuson appears to be a bit more on top of it than he was last year, but, you know, it's his second time. This is his third comeback to F1, Magnuson. Maybe he'll just sit out 2025 so he can come back in 2020. I'm back. I'm back. I come back, but do, because it's all I do in my life.

Yeah, so I just think they'll go for Holkenberg over, over Manxen and Behrman, as he said, I think has done enough and we'll do enough this year to secure a seat for next year. And obviously that Ferrari relationship you mentioned already, Sam, helps that cause. So I don't think that's a bad line up at all. Yeah, I think Behrman will be in that seat. And then Hasse will be left with a difficult decision

as to whether they go with Holkenberg or Magnuson. in my scenario, Salma come along and say, hey, you don't have to make that decision. We'll take Holkneberg, in which case, I think Hush just stick with Magnuson. I think if the choice is between the two of them, they will go for Holkenberg,

but just the way that's gone in mind where Holcomberg's gone elsewhere, Magnuson's kind of happy with that, and he'll just slot himself into the other seat. So, yep, that's my line up. Great stuff. We did it. Yes.

I'm trying to think who hasn't, even had a shout, really. So obviously, no, Mick Schumacher doesn't get a shout. Sorry, Mick. Drogovich. Nope. Anyone else who is in consideration? We didn't really elevate any other F2 drivers other than Antonelli.

And Behrman. And Berman. Yeah, but no one else gets a shout from that line up. And arguably, neither of those who are near the top of the points table at the moment. Yeah, I mean, Zane Maloney is currently leading the championship in F2, who I think is actually. Red Bull because I think he was in the Red Bull Junior Program. I don't think he's there anymore.

Yeah, last year he was, wasn't he? Yes. What about Ralph Bosch on? Man's out with me. Okay, so I'm going with Roy Nassani. Okay. Anyway, so yeah, that's exactly how it's not going to go. This is going to be a really fun one to look back at in, you know, 12 months time,

and you can laugh at us a lot at that point. But yeah, that's how the lineups aren't going to go for 2025. We'll take our next break on the other side, got a bit of chat on the 2026 regulations. Okay, welcome back. A little bit of chat now on 26 regs because F1's chief technical officer, that being Pat Simmons, has revealed new details of regulation changes starting in 26. So it looks as if the cars will have over 1,000 horsepower and more of that coming from electric power than was previous. And there is a current aim for far less downforce and weight.

I don't think this is groundbreaking news, but obviously this coming from Pat Simmons. Is it encouraging, Harry? Is that the 1980s calling? Ring, ring, ring. That's where we're going. Yeah, we're on Ben Samborte, so we don't have all the jingles lined up.

Yeah, sorry. Had to hit the phone jingle there. Yeah, sign me up. Yep, I'm happy with this. Again, there are lots of things I'd change about F1, but, and one of them being not the turbo-hybrid electrical engines, just don't think they need them. But if they're going to be cars that are lighter,

tick, like massive tick, cars that are lighter, smaller, second massive tick, because these absolute chungest boats we've got at the moment are just too big. I randomly was watching some old drive to survives last night. It was from like 2020, 2019. and even those cars look nimble compared to what we have now. We've just got too big.

So even a slight reduction, I think, will be good. There's only a good thing. And then couple that with less downforce and more power. That's going to be a spicy little combination. I mean, every time we get rid of downforce, the teams make it back up. But at least in the short term, I think that's a great solution.

It's a great win in my book. Because I think there'll be trickier cars to drive. at the moment, during a race, F-1 drivers are just, they're chilling. They are not, I mean, qualifying totally different. In a race set up, they're just chilling around making the tyres last. Yeah. That's just dull. They are seconds and seconds off at all pace.

So, yeah, there are more things in these change tyres is another thing. But, yeah, at least on the face of it, that looks like, to me sounds like a promising prospect. I think it's promising too. I think somewhat Pat Simmons suffers with the anti-toto Wolf issue in that he promises 100 and delivers 90. And if he just promised 80 and delivered 90, people would probably view it slightly differently because there is a lot of criticism about the current regulations and the budget cap. And for the most part, I do think they have worked.

But I think the problem was, at least in terms of the 2022 regs coming in, was we were promised like 1 million percent less dirty air. And it hasn't materialized like that. It's still way better. But it's not materialized like it was somewhat promised. And I hope we're not in the same position here where what he's saying is absolutely spot on. I just hope it is actually seen through. I think at the moment, F1's, it's really positive. in the way that, you know, Audi have clearly had interest in these 2026 regs and, you know, Ford are somewhat on board, Cadillac want to be on board. They're doing a good job in terms of making these power units less sophisticated and more accessible for new constructors and new manufacturers that want to come into the sport, which I think is the absolute right thing to have done. And that's all really positive. It's just, and they just need to extend that to the teams now, Andretti. So I think it's all really positive. The real question is always the case, and you've already somewhat brought it up, is how can

you make those rule changes sustainable in that we're already seeing dirty air now is way more than it was two years ago. How can, and teams will always naturally find ways to keep cars behind them and to enhance the downforce. How can they at least prolong that as long as they possibly can and just make race. as good in 2029 as it is in 2026. That's always been the question mark. There's always been the troublesome point, but I'd like to hear from them how they might plan on doing that. Did you have any thoughts on this one, Sam? Yeah, I hate it. I think it's absolutely rubbish. I don't think it's

far enough at all. It's all nice language that they're using this press conference or whatever that's coming out in, but we need to move away from this hybrid technology. It's been a failure in terms of Formula One's point of view. Marketing-wise, it doesn't work. The car's become far too heavy, complicated, expensive to build. And the fact that Sebastian Vetto is putting around on his own in racetracks just as as quick as Formula One cars in a biofuel that works perfectly, tells you there is a solution. We can go another way. Engines can be these high-powered, full horsepower, screaming machines and still be effective

in an environmental sense. I don't know why we're not exploring it, and I think it is entirely viable. The fact also that, you know, your general car market is struggling. with the electric market in a sense tells me that long term is electric power battery cars going to be a sustainable format lithium is struggling to be mined across the world i know this is getting a bit political but you have to look at this long term i feel like yes we're catering for a current audience but are we being pying ears in this fuel and engine makeup that is going to last for what the next 50 to 100 years i just think formula one are pandering a little bit and i don't think

they're being exciting and being masters of their own destiny in terms of the whole horsepower though. Yeah, great. I love a 1,000 horsepower screaming carbon fiber machine. Great. But you need the engine that is, I think, this opposite version to power that 1,000 horsepower thing. Lighter, less down force. Yes, all correct. Not light enough, not small enough, not difficult enough to drive. And these new regulations, I don't think go far enough in allowing that to happen. I want the calves to be as small as they were in like 08, 07, 06. That's how small I think the car should be. I think I would go smaller if you could, just with the same safety requirements around them. But I know that's hard. I know that's a lot of changes. But for me, it's not enough

and we're not going far enough. So glad that we're moving in that direction. But if I was talking about a step being taken forward, it's like a baby ant has taken that one step forward. And you've got to get the microscope out to work out just how close we got to the actual solution. Same with the downforce. I don't think we're there. And I think a lot of changes need to be understood and made there's so many smart people in this field that could implement some really interesting alternations

to Formula One and they're not. So, yeah, I was a bit disappointed. I don't think it goes far enough. I think more could be done to make Formula One a much more wheel-to-wheel, hyper-competitive space that they're just not focusing on. How small is a baby aunt? Small.

Question of the week. Yeah, exactly. People just educate. us with question of the week now. What do you think is the answer? Because they, clearly they've been down this, this hybrid path for a, for a long time. I'm starting in 2014, but the 2026 regs have been set for a little while now. Do you think that they are making the most of the situation they've got themselves into right now? And actually, the focus should then go towards 2030, when it looks like these regulations would change again. Did the issue come from the decision?

in the first place. I guess I'm trying to understand, like, what can they do now based on where they're at with, you know, manufacturers agreeing to join based on the regulations being a certain way? Yeah, of course. And you can't make these snap changes. You can't go, oh, this hasn't worked. So starting next season, we're going to have biofueled engine cars and no hybrid technology and the cars are going to be half the size.

In many other sports that don't have this many moving parts, you can make those changes where you go. from next season, this whole system's going to be in place. Like football put VAR in place over a season. I'm not saying it's been successful, but that's an example of a rule change coming in over time. Stop VAR, chat. God.

Oh, gosh, we're not doing that on this podcast. But my point is, because of the technical implications of Formula One, because it is a tech-leg sport, because manufacturers such as Mercedes, Audi, you see the likes of Cadillac wanting to join. Other teams like Askin Martin and McLaren, of course, make road cars. this technology is investigating heavily. Hundreds of millions of dollars get put into this technology.

It can't be a, oh, by the way, that 400 million in the background that you put into marketing and into the development of your road cars that pay with a Formula One car, you can't just snap your fingers and go, stop that now, we're going to do this instead. It does not work like that. So I think they make a bad decision at the start of this whole system. I think they followed the global market in creating more electric hybrid power with battery-led cars. And fine, you can't predict 15 years into the future. You have to be a really, really smart person

or have the Almanac from back to the future to understand how that's going to work. And we don't have those things. So, yeah, okay, they made a mistake. And I do think that they're trying to cover up a little bit of how much of a failure this has been. Formula One has been overall as a sport. Fun, sure.

But if you gave the results to a neutral and you looked at the total dominance, you still looked at the gaps that we're seeing from the back of the field to the front of the field, If you look at the money spent by every single team, there are still some glaring competitive holes in our sport. And I do think that some more radical changes need to be made to alter that and allow change to happen on the grid.

And hopefully those changes will be succinct with what actual automotive makers are wanting to do with their vehicles on the road as well. Because that is a key part of having teams like Mercedes, Ferrari, whatever, join the sport. They need to be able to see the benefit. in their roadcars, in their marketing, not just on a race track. I know you, as you've already stated,

not a fan of the hybrid power units as they are right now. Boo. Quote, unquote, Harry Ead. Get out of the papers. What do you think? Yeah, they've bought themselves and took on a little bit. Because like you said, I'm with Sam in the, what Pat Simpson's saying isn't enough, isn't perfect.

I think for where they are, where they are now, they've got to do the best of a, of what is a bad situation. That seems quite extreme, but they're going to work with what they've got. But yes, in an ideal world, I'm in total agreement with Sam, let's go, it's an, Formula One is an entertainment sport. I know it should be pioneering in terms of technology, but the sustainable fuels and things like that means it would be. and that's a more feasible way forward

for the world of automotive anyway, I think, then electrical power. So, yeah, let's please start working on this now so we can bring it in, because I would be with you, Sam, I'd bring it in now for the next regulations, but it's not a feasible thing. And as you say, other teams have signed up on the basis of what we've got

or what we're going to have in 2026. But, yeah, let's start working on this now, please. Call up, Sebastian. Hello, Seb. All right, Seb, what are you doing? Nothing. Racing for rowdy. Part of racing for rowdy.

Yeah, what you're doing? Do you want to help us bring back loud engines? Yeah, okay, fine. Yeah, I'm with you on that. It's F1 has to be at the absolute forefront of these conversations and have to be on the pulse. Like on the pulse, they need to be before the pulse because they are making decisions. years and years into the future. So, you know, if these regulations were starting to form a few years ago, you need to have 2029 in mind, right? Because what's relevant, I mean, we're talking about

hybrid power, and we're debating and questioning, is it relevant now? We're going to be using these in five years' time. In theory, that's only going to become less relevant by the day. So I'm with Yeah, I think they probably made, I think they made an error at the direction they went with this. And it's difficult to get it back just with the way that F1's development cycles go. It's why it's so important for them to be on it. I think what frustrates me the most about this is twofold. If Formula One could prove that they could run an entire season every single Grand Prix on a sustainable fuel base, that's a big tick for any manufacturer.

It could be done, right? These cars are way more demanding than your standard road car. My mini-cooper outside, in theory, should last for 10, 15 years. years before it needs to be scrapped. The Formula One card does a season. In theory, it's completely achievable. On the other side, you have already got a racing class that is trying to race entirely on electric power, Formula E.

Has it been a roaring success? No. A lot of people are already saying that actually, it's past its peak of relativity because the battery power isn't needed anymore. And when we are going through a case that the reason we moved away from petrol or diesel is due to, one, the pollution that it causes, and two, the fact that you're having to dig up a raw resource, which is running out, it's finite.

That's what's happening with the materials to create these hybrid engines. The lithium that's a key source for making a battery-powered engine will also run out. So if Formula One decided to make the decision to be the pioneering force on a completely renewable system that runs entirely off of a biofuel, which has proved to be plausible,

they really would be paving the way for manufacturers to come in and go, this was like a great place to experiment with it. We should put $140 million every year into Formula One, build a race team, get some marketing out of it, but also we get to refine this biofueling an engine that works. There's a lot of benefits. I do think they've missed the boat on being the first there. Hopefully they see Sanks and we can see some changes.

Okay, let's take our final break on the other side. We're playing F1 Order Please. Okay, everyone. Welcome back. We've got F1 Order Please coming up now. Top right if you can, Harry. 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

Okay, F1 order please so there are six questions and there are four answers within each question All the guys have to do very simply is order them correctly based on a certain category if they get it right, they get a point. And they get to hear John Burko telling them that they've got the order right. There's a treating store for you, folks. Good Lord. You've got to get one right. Please get it.

We've got to get one right. We just have to get one right. There is risk involved in this game, though, because if the person gets it wrong, the opportunity to steal the point goes to the other person. But if they also get the order wrong in a different way, they lose a point. So minuses are not only possible. they're probable. So, Harry, which number do you want on this pad here?

Yeah, number one. I like to clarify folks. I know I'm sat next to Ben, but we all know his handwriting's out terrible. I couldn't even try and look at the answers. Yeah. But I'll go for number one, please. Obviously, the answer could be anything in the world.

Okay, so I'll go first, rabbits, second, square, third, brown, and fourth, money. literally and you could go correct, you've read it off the page Yeah, yeah Okay, so number one Yes Four drivers

I want you to order them based on how many wins they had in 2010 Okay So you've got Mark Weber Yeah Fernando Alonzo Louis Hamilton

and Jensen Button They all have the same I don't know Yeah, that's it That's the order It's not a trick question From most to least? Most to least, yeah.

The most, I'll go for Fernando Alonzo. Yep. Then Mark Weber. Yeah. Then, oh, Hamilton Button? So Alonzo Weber Hamilton Button. Yeah. Come on, please.

Hit that. Yes. Thank God, folks. Get the volume right, please. Oh, it's so good. It's the John Berko Order remix there. But yes, you're actually good spot on. Fernando Alonzo won five times.

Mark Weber won four times. Hamilton won three times. Button won twice. I couldn't think any button only had two. Hamilton's three. Yeah. Canada. Spa.

Yeah, I don't know the last one. Where's the third one? Spank, where are you? No. I don't know. I know. I know. Anyway, yeah, you've got the point.

Well done. Cheers, mate. Sam, what number would you like? Number five, please, Ben. Number five. Four circuits, I want you to name from most to least how many races they've held. Why can it be how many corners they have? Sorry about that, yeah.

So you've got Cota. Right, yeah. Yes, Marina. Yas. Sepang. Yep. And Scandinavian Raceway. Where is that?

Well, obviously, where is it? Australia. What part of Scandinavia is that in? It's in Sweden. I feel like this is unfair. This is Kirstie's racetrack. This is where it is. Yeah.

Sorry, Kirsty Raceway. Good. Okay. So we've got Sapan, Kota, Yasmarina, Scandinavian Raceway. Great. I'm going to say, most is

Yasmarina, then Kota, then Sampanding Svangangayvian, which is a trick question and I feel like I've been mucked off, but fine.

It's not correct. You don't want to try and stay? Absolutely not. Or even for the jingle. But I wouldn't get it anyway, so with no chance of the jingle. It wasn't a trick question. question. You actually had Scandinavian

Raceway correctly in last. The problem was the rest of it. Sapang was first with 19 races held. Then it was Yasmarina with 15. Cota's been 11 times and then the Scandinavian Raceway, the Swedish Grand Prix was held six times.

Yeah, it was just, I couldn't remember if Sapang was around for the longer era of the whole Yass Marina section or less. And I knew had the other three. I thought I did. Yeah. I think Sopang would have been, what, 99 until about 2017? Sopang.

Sopan. Five minutes. What was Louis Hamilton's third 2010 victory? I can't think. I really don't know. I'm driving me insane. I'm going to look it out. Please do.

Meanwhile, what number would you like? Number four. Number four. Four drivers, I'd like you to order them from best to worst in terms of their average grid position in 24 so far sure so you've got

Alex Albon okay Lance Stroll Yuki Sunoda Nico Ulgenberg Uh First Sonoda

then Ulkenberg Who was the other one Albin and who Strohl Stroll Stroll Oh

then Strull, then, Albon. It's not so correct. Sam, will you just try and steal? Turkey, what's the other one? Turkey. Sorry, I was too busy looking that up, and I didn't pay any attention.

So average finishing position for 2024. I'm sorry, average grid position, Cawley. Oh, starting position? Yeah. Okay, I'm going to write them down because I am so bad at this. Okay, so we had, what, Sonoda?

Yeah, Sonoda, Stroll, Albon, Holcomberg. Yeah, I'll try and steal All right Just because I want to hear the jingle But I won't get it right Come on, that's fair You know me I'm a minuses kind of guy

Okay, so average starting position Stroll's got into Q3 Every time So I'm going to say Stroll, Sonoda Holcomberg Albon

We got minuses boy Oh well I thought about to say play the jingle I'm afraid not. He never says play the jingo-win-its-Hawgap plays, and I play one. So Yuki Sunoda was first,

so he's had an average starting position of 9.3 so far this year. Then it was Landstrol at 10.3. Then it's Alex Alburn at 12.3. And then Holkenberg's last at the moment with 13.67. Probably would have been higher, but obviously Saudi Arabia, he had the issue in qualifying that he started 15th and was knocked out in Q1,

Australia. So, started well. No, no points on that one. We need to hear that chinkle once. Come on. Come on.

Two, three or six. I will go for three. Three. I got told off the other day for doing that. I got told that someone was sick of it. Who said that? Someone I live with. Was it Ian?

Ian the cat, yes. Four drivers. Four drivers. I'd like you to list them from oldest to youngest. Okay. I'm going to play this one. So you've got, I'm going to phone a friend. You've got Schumacher's greatest rival, David Coulthard.

David Coulthard. This is his birthday, yesterday, yesterday, everybody. It was, he was 107. You're probably not going to get this right. Takumasato. Yeah. One Pablo Montoya. Yeah.

And Timo Glock. Okay, so Coulthard, Sartar, J-P-M, Glock. Okay, I'm going to start with Coulthard oldest. Oh, I feel like the other two are really close and good, though. I think Glock's the youngest. I'm going to say, right, Coulthard, Montoya. Sato Glock just because

Matoia's really got grey hair You've just gone with the four drivers in terms of how grey they are Yes, that's the order I've done things in Is it right? It's good logic, yeah That is filthy That is worth it Yeah, Sam is back to zero points

David Coulthard was born As you say, recently his birthday 27th of March 1971. Then it was Montoya, 20th of September, 1975. Zato, 28th for January, 1977. And then Timo Glock is the youngest 18th for March, 1982. Ireland's best race at that. Islands? Yeah, Tim O'Glock. Oh man, I didn't know where you were going to be with that. Come on, good stuff. I'm not giving it a laugh. No, I can respect that. Two or six. Number six, please. That's not funny. I'm sorry.

Four drivers, from most to least, consecutive race entries in F1. Okay, go on then. Sebastian Vettel, Valtry Bottas, Fernando Alonzo, Lewis Hamilton. Oh, Lord. Well, Alonso first, the most.

Consective race. When you say race entry, does that mean... How many in a row? actually started. But is it started? Like they've actually started the race or entered. Entered. So any did not start a fine.

But they were there. They turned up for the race weekend. Yeah. Right. Alonzo. He missed a few. Kept crashing and doing stupid things, didn't he? Kept pressure and doing stupid things.

Hmm. No, I'll keep Alonzo first. Then Hamilton. Oh. this is a... Now I'm going to change. I'm going to go with Hamilton. Why do I think...

Why do I think this? I'll go down myself. Hamilton Vessel Alonzo. What was that one? Borthas. Yeah, bought us. Not correct. Oh, damn it.

I think about second guess myself here. I will steal for the try at the jingle. I'm going to go with Alonso Hamilton. when did Vettel retire two years ago? Yes, Vettel Bottas. Also not right, I'm afraid. Back down in the minuses, boy. I don't care.

It's for the jingle, I'm doing it. The minuses mean nothing to me now. So this is an interesting one. So Sebastian Vettel was first, 280 races consecutively. Hamilton is then second on 265. Would have been in first if it weren't for Sequea 2020, of course.

COVID, yeah. Where he missed the race. Yeah, yeah, that's why I was... But Hamilton started before Vettel in 07. I'm not doubting you, I'm just saying it. He broke the streak when Sequeer happened. Okay, carry him. I see a point.

That's what consecutive means. Then Bottas is third, 226 and counting. And Alonzo 219. I thought because once I've been here since the door of man, that would have counted enough. Yeah, I was going to feel like his... his, oh, three to whenever it was. O three to, yeah.

17 or 16, whenever it was, he stepped down. Well, yeah, but then like 15, he'd missed the first race of the season, didn't he? Ah, yes. So, I thought O3 to 15 might have. Yeah. I know, clearly not. No, not quite.

Anyway, no mind. It was worth it for a go at the jingle. Yeah, that's fair enough. That just leaves number two. famously said like that. Four teams. Very simple. Constructors, driver's titles.

So, driver's titles won by constructors, if that makes sense. Oh, that's okay, yes. From mostly. Yeah, I get it, okay. Merck Williams, Ferrari, McLaren. Merck Williams, Ferrari, McLaren. We'd have to write them down because my brain is so bad. Merck Williams, Ferrari, McLaren.

Okay, most to least, I'm going to say Ferrari most. I'm then going to say McLaren's second, Merck third, Williams fourth. He's back out of the minuses again. After all that, one no. I'll take it. We got the jingle three times. I love that. Sam, you managed to get two right and score zero points.

I end up losing by scoring more direct answers. Exactly. There we go. That's order, please. Sam, if you wouldn't mind getting us out of here on this one. Can we do it one more time? Go on then. Play us out.

I'm obsessed. I mean, if you want to go and look it up, that's only eight seconds of what I think was an over one-minute video. Oh, hell yes. I'll do that later. That's the biggest teaser we've ever given. Thank you, folks. Let us know your 2025 lineups, what you think is going to happen. Join us midweek where we have our Japan preview and there's loads of content going out over Patreon

as well. We've got a kind of Patreon episodes coming out already planned for April. There's going to be a beer breaking. Of course, there'll be power rankings after every Grand Prix and it helps us out more than you know. And of course, we definitely didn't forget to do the birthday shoutouts through the lovely Patreon people who were born in March and we didn't just have a moment of realisation while recording the first Patreon episode for April. So anyway, we're going to run through it now. Happy birthday to all those lovely patron people that are on our top tier that are born in March. South of Dawn, March 1st, happy birthday.

All the way down at the start of the month. You've then got Dexter, March 13th. Happy birthday. Catherine Walker, March 16th. Happy birthday. Katie Apgar, March 96th, happy birthday. Josh Dunkley, March 20th. Happy birthday.

And we had a last minute change for one individual who desperately wanted to. wanted to be told. Actually, happy birthday to Tyson the Pug on March 23. The Pugster gets a birthday. Big up, Tyson. Anyway, that's it. We promise we did that correctly. And also, happy birthday to me, your host, Sam Sage. What a great month we had. Check this out on YouTube as well. Subscribe, like the videos, comment down below. We're growing that platform and that really helps us as well. Follow us everyone on social media at late breaking F1. Or you can follow us individually on your chosen platforms and Discord. The link's in the description.

Or if you really fancy it, send us something in our new PO box. Please. We'll try and please, if you want to, and make it nice. And it may put a little note in there as well. We'll try and put the address down below. If not, there's a post on Patreon that has it

and it's singing a couple other episodes that we've done it as well. I think that's everything. Thanks for sticking with us. It's been a good old fun episode and you've got a new jingle to sing along to in the meantime. I've been Samuel Sage. I've been Ben Hocking.

And I've been Harry Ead. And remember, keep burning. Breaking late. Ah, see you later, guys. The cast is part of the Sports Social Podcast Network.