The Late Braking F1 Podcast - Our first take on F1's new regulations

Episode Date: March 22, 2026

The LB boys react to Audi’s shock team principal exit, share their first impressions of F1’s new regulations, weigh in on Antonelli’s title chances, and dissect McLaren’s rough start, plus a game of Guess the Year to finish! Get involved in F1 Fantasy this season! ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Join the Late Braking league⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and see if you can beat us... LEAGUE CODE: C6Y6R4ZUY02 Want more Late Braking? Support the show on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and get: Ad-free listening Full-length bonus episodes Power Rankings after every race Historical race reviews & more exclusive extras! Don't forget! You can also gift a Late Braking Patreon subscription—perfect for loved ones or your own wish list. Choose anything from 1 month up to a full year of top-notch F1 content: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/latebrakingf1/gift⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Connect with Late Braking: You can find us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠X (Twitter)⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Come hang out with us and thousands of fellow F1 fans in our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Discord⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ server and get involved in lively everyday & race weekend chats! Join our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠F1 Fantasy League⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and see if you can beat us! Get in touch any time at [e-mail] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Martha listens to her favorite band all the time. In the car? Jim. Even sleeping. So when they finally went on tour, Martha bundled her flight and hotel on Expedia to see them live. She saved so much she got a seat close enough to actually see and hear them. Sort of.

You were made to scream from the front row. We were made to quietly save you more. Expedia, made to travel. Savings vary and subject to availability. No script, no filter, just one of the funniest people on the planet sharing her unique take on modern life. Don't miss Fran Libowitz. May 8th, Roy Thompson Hall.

It's the most fun you'll have listening to someone complain. Tickets at Roy Thompson Hall.com. Thank you for listening to the Late Breaking F1 podcast. Make sure to check out new episodes every Wednesday and every Sunday. Hello and a very warm welcome to the late breaking F1 podcast presented by Harry Ead, Sam Sage, and me, Ben Hockey. One of our most unusual intros, I would say, because, well, first and foremost, this is surely the first time I've ever done anything late breaking wise in my badminton kit.

Yeah, that's true. While you'll be batting about Shuttle Cocks later on, let's bat about some F1 news that's come out, because we've got some big topics in a scarce. Right. We have got some breaking news that isn't at all breaking when it's coming out, but it is for us at least, which is that Jonathan Wheatley is leaving Audi. where is he going to go? Nobody knows, Astor Martin.

But right now, the only thing that's confirmed is that he has left Audi due to personal reasons. It means that Matea Bonato will take on essentially the full responsibilities left by Wheatley as the team principal on top of what he's already doing. So going back to a bit more of a traditional

one man at the top model. Sam, this kind of came out yesterday that this might be a thing that someone might be looking towards an Aston Martin role, again, that bit's not confirmed, but Jonathan Wheatley's just done two races for Audi. Yeah, two races for Audi after what felt like a really good start to the Audi journey. You know, he was part of the key transition from Stake Salber into what became Audi. He seemed to be really working well with both drivers, engine supplier and Bonotto,

who of course was kind of the managing director, CEO style role that was going on there at Audi. and yet apparently there's being an announcement put out by Aston Martin where they don't follow the traditional understanding of what a team principle is. I ain't about this fluent team principle nonsense. What is that all about? Anyway, you know, I wouldn't say it's a coincidence because a lot of things happen for a reason, but it's very odd that this announcement's come out

and Jonathan Wheatley has decided to leave one of the biggest names in motorsport globally to go to a job that might or might not be open. It seems very, very coincident. incidental. I'm shocked that he would leave yourself to sue races. How fat is that paycheck, Aston Martin? Let me know. He's not

going to another job. He's going because of personal circumstances. Did you not read their press release? Is that how big the pay pack it is? Is that his personal circumstances? I have a personal circumstance. It's a massive check. I have bigger bills to pay. Yeah, that sounds about right. I have to say, by the way, I love Aster Martin's

approach to this, which is specifically saying they don't comment on speculation by commenting on speculation. So that's a great way to assure you are not commenting on speculation, is to literally comment on the speculation. Doesn't feel like the right way. They love a press release on social media this season. The amount of text pages they're sticking out on their social media

is getting a bit ridiculous. The most of it's writing novel at this point, Aston Martin's 26th season, The Disaster. It is a bit of a disaster, though, Aston Martin, isn't it? Because we said when Adrian Nui steps into this role, is he fit for management? Is he the right guy to really lead a whole team? He's such an aerodynamic superstar

when it comes to building these F1 cars. What's his team management like? He's a partner now, Aston Martin. They've had what? This will be their fifth team principle in five years from Othmar, Mike Crack, Andy Cowell and Adrian Newey. It's a lot of names to go through very, very quickly.

It doesn't feel me with confidence. Harry, I know you're all about bringing Mike Crack back, right? Bring the crack back. that's my motto yeah um i mean you don't have to bring the crack back the crack is still there just not forget he's just been he's positioned he's crack side so let's not let's not forget that um the yeah the i feel that they should not should never have uh made new ears team principal role because i think they always had the intention of it being temporary and i've given the honda disaster that's unfolded the timing of when he was made

team principal makes more sense now. But they should have just left it until they got to the start of this year. I guess they thought they weren't going to get a replacement quite so soon and then you might have to do a year like this, but they've got actually his a couple of months. Is it just like they were worried of the message that it sends to shareholders that they couldn't just say

he's there on a temporary basis? I don't know. again, I think maybe they thought this might have to go on for over a year, so we'll make him team principal, but given the circumstances, because it's unlikely that you can nab and exist. It's unlikely to replace your team principal mid-season. It's unlikely to replace him with an existing team principal. Like, I assume they didn't see that one coming,

so Lawrence has had to reach into his deep pockets and grab some more cash. Yeah, I mean, it leaves Audi in a really tough position. Fortunately for them, they already have Bonotto, who had a very successful stint, of course, at Ferrari as team principals. So he can pick up the reins of where that successful venture left off. But it does put them in a tough spot. It's just so weird that Audi have, you know, come into F1 with such a reputation of being successful elsewhere in motorsport. This is a big project, one that's not likely to end in any championships in the first couple of years. but this was always supposed to be, if you're taking this on, you're there for the long haul.

And instead, Jonathan Wheatley has lasted two races. Sam, this has got to be detrimental to the factory team there in Germany. Oh, massively. Massively. You brought in Jonathan Wheatley. You gave him that step up from where he was at Red Bull. He's now a team leader. He looks like he's won in that move for a long time.

And suddenly he's gone from having no team leader role to potentially having two in the space of about six months. That's two of the world's biggest names when it comes to cars. If I'm Audi, I'm thinking as if, as if you've thrown us under the blimperbibial bus that quickly, that we're going to end up with no team principle after we thought we were really settling in quite well. If I'm the drivers, I'd look a little bit shaky, wouldn't feel too confident going that the leadership's that quick to leave. If I'm shareholders, I'd be going, what are we doing? How does this suddenly come about? Equally, if I'm begotto, I'm going, what will we do for a replacement?

This is to come out of nowhere. What is the immediate replacement opportunity? Side off. I'm going all in an element,ish. He was hiring, as their development opportunity, like driving development program leader. And I do think that if we could get Alan McNishing as a F-1-2 principle, I'm all for it. That will be the perfect circumstance. Yes, because it would involve Alan McNish.

That would, of course, be the perfect circumstance. Life is better when you Alan McNish. I think it's, we don't know what the gardening leave is going to be like for Jonathan Wheatley, regardless of whether he goes to Aston Martin or elsewhere. But you would imagine, I mean, Aldi don't really have a reason not to be super strict about it. And F1 don't really have a reason either. Like this guy has been in that program for a good few months, has learned a lot about Audi. And we're at that crucial point in the regulations where knowledge is really valuable because not everyone has it right now.

I'm not saying gardening leaves unimportant when you get to the end of a set of regulations. But for the most part, everyone kind of knows what's going on at that stage. That is not the case right now. So I can't see him taking on the role of team principal anywhere this year. I'd be shocked if it isn't at least 12 months. Depends how long you races, we've got to postpone. Well, that's very true. Yeah, I think Audi can feel quite aggrieved by this.

And I think in terms of the cost cap as well, it's another indictment that the cost cap isn't quite working as it should do, which I appreciate it sounds like a weird pivot on this story. But also, we know that the top three employees of any team are not included under the cost cap whatsoever. And it does seem as if Aston Martin have been able to throw as much money as possible at Jonathan Wheatley, and Wheatley's gone, right, I'll leave then.

And the whole point of the cost cap regulations are to, I don't know, bring parity into the sport a little bit more. And it still seems like we're in a position where a team that's really struggling in Aston Martin could just go, here's a paycheck, come on over. It's like they're playing the Sims and they've used the hack where you get all of that money to build the dream house. But then the architect building the house is like a one-year-old baby

because they seemingly can't build anything regardless of how much money they want to throw at this problem. They've got a super team. They've built a super team. And the technology they've got behind it is groundbreaking. And yet they are nowhere, absolutely nowhere. Outside of the rumors of how much he might get paid if he does go to Astavart and Harry, I guess it's not a bad position for him to be in if he does make that move.

because at least we're Astamara right now, it can't really get worse. He will make an impact. There is no doubt. And that's a good place to be in. So, yeah, it's a win-win for Jonathan Wheatley. He's had a nice few months in Switzerland. I think he's enjoyed his time.

But now he's going to move back home, just a few miles from where he was previously in Milton Keynes. He's just there for ski season. Yeah, he's had a love, that's what I made. Lovely little holiday there. picked up a few points along the way with Audi and now he's now he's done so and Salba I guess as well so yeah it's a it's a win-win he's obviously getting a fat paycheck he can make them any success from whenever he joins that is any success he can just be that

but I am excellent look at me because it it will look like it's all down to him whether it is or not so yeah it's going to be an interesting one I think he's proven already he's got his head screwed on properly for a team principal role. And I would imagine that Adrian Newey has had a bit of a say in this, given that they used to work together at Red Bull. We know that him and Christian Horn and were getting on towards the end. So this seems like he's gone for the next sensible option down for, who did I like when I left still?

Oh, yes, Jonathan Wheatley. So, yeah, it's a very interesting one. Just rebuilding the Red Bull team minus Christian Horner. I, this is very raw reaction, so I might go back on this, but it feels a little bit short-sighted, I think, from Jonathan Wheatley. And that's not to say that it can't work at Aston Martin, but I feel like he had the opportunity at Audi, and I know it's not at the exact same circumstance

because we're talking massive German manufacturer and Austrian drinks company. I feel like he had the opportunity to do what Christian Horner did. Like Christian Horner essentially took over that team when it was brand new, and he was there for 20 years. and he oversaw everything, like in terms of the development of the team going on to win championships. I feel like the team principal at Aldi had a chance to do that here, and he's passed up that chance.

Like someone else might now come in and oversee Audi going from where they are now to winning a championship in, say, four years' time, and they might at that point be very well established in that team, almost synonymous with that team. Wheatley's decided, I'm not going to go for that approach. I'm going to try something else, which it might work out, but it feels risky. Both are bold, though, right? Realistically, the success of the next person that comes to at Audi leading the way to do what you just said is also potentially unlikely if it doesn't go to plan.

So on both sides of the coin here, he's not a tricky road to go down to success. It's not going to be easy regardless. Yeah, I just think when he signed for Audi, he kind of knew what he was getting into, right? You signed for the project? Yeah. Where Audi are now is probably where we thought Audi would be. this time last year. I thought they would be.

Yeah, quite possibly. But yeah, we'll see what happens in terms of Jonathan Wheatley and if he does go to Aston Martin or elsewhere, but at least for now we know he will not be at Audi anymore. And Matea Bonotto, we're going to get all the memes again, aren't we? I hope so. All the phone call memes.

2019 was a good time. I just remember that weird awful clown drawing with the nose and the multicolored hair. Yeah, that one. Yeah. Did you think my team Bannotto's like, I really don't want to be this. Stop.

I think he's so good at what he does, just not being a team principal. Yeah, but they've lost two now and he's like, stop, I don't want to do this. The one man that doesn't want to lead a nation. And yet he always does. The perfect storyline. Yeah, we'll discuss this on the podcast as well

if we get any further updates on this story. We're going to take a quick break. And on the other side, we're going to be getting into the 2026 regulation. What are the positives? What are the negatives? Our thoughts after this. At Desjardin Insurance,

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Find an agent today at Dejardin.com slash business coverage. Welcome back, everyone, to what is definitely the second part of today's episode. And at no point was it the first part of today's episode. No time traveling done whatsoever. We're going to get into the 2026 regulations now. Run through what we like and what we don't like. In three, two, one, we'll all change clothes.

And my hair will grow. Something that was announced just after the change. Chinese GP, which is F1, will delay any major changes to the 2026 regulations until at least the Miami Grand Prix. After reviewing the rules during the Chinese GP weekend, teams and series bosses agreed there's no need for rush decisions. While some concerns remain, they're not significant enough to justify immediate changes. A planned meeting of team principals will still take place, but focus will shift to a technical working group shortly after the Japanese GP. This will allow for a more thorough evaluation with any updates finalised in time for Miami.

Sam, are you surprised that they're not, I don't know, making any changes now? Are you surprised that they're taking the time a little bit? I'm surprised they've announced that there's no changes so soon. I thought there might be at least another week or so where teams, FIA, will have come together to have a conversation about maybe anything that does need to change if there's complete unhappiness across the board at one specific moment. For example, there's been a lot of unrest about the start. drivers are regularly spoken about their distaste for the super clipping, as have fans.

It's been well documented that it's not being shown properly on social media must to hide negative criticism of this part of the sport now. So I am surprised that there isn't kind of a focus group to at least discuss the issues before they've decided we're not going to go any further. On the flip side, I do think they're right to not be rash about what's going on. I think it's sensible to let it play out a little longer. I imagine they've seen there's been a lot of conversation online. It's getting a lot of attention.

Some will be good. Some will be bad. And at the end of the day, I'm sure there are numerous things that maybe don't feel perfect at the start. The once giving a bigger time to settle, end up being very positive. The introduction of Kerr's was a splitter in opinion. So it's DRS.

And I think this will be the same case here for a little while. So whilst there are some things in the sport, which we'll get onto, that definitely do think you're adjusting sooner rather than later, I can see why they're willing to, to let it rest and to give it a bit of time. Harry, is there a lack of surprise from your side as well that at least after two Grand Prix,

they're not making anything in terms of a sweeping change? Yeah, I'm not too surprised by this. I think if, I think off the back of testing, because I mean, there was talk about this sort of pre-Australia, and I think off the back of that, I can understand why they were saying, well, look, we'll sit down and have a discussion after China but we've had two races since then

and whilst it's by no means perfect there are definitely things that need to be changed I think it's not like emergency stations for F1 on the moment there's no real issues that mean either from like a safety point of view I know this starts in Australia was a little bit dodgy but the one in China was the ones we had in China were much better bar a couple of cars

so I think there's nothing necessarily pressing that means they need to make a drastic change right now. And I think that being the case, it's more sensible for them to wait this out a bit and just see how the next race goes and then the next race goes. And just do it by race by race cases at the moment.

And to be honest, we said this when we talked about the, you know, the cancellation of the two Middle East GPs. They've got a good four-week gap now after Japan to make any discussion or have any discussions and making any decision. So it seems more sensible to just postpone this for a bit for a week or two, see how Japan goes, because you've got three relatively different circuits that you've had a testing ground on, plus we had the Bahrain test. So they'll have got a bit more data to make some more informed decisions.

So not too surprised. I think it's right cool. Like I said, I think if there were some real, real issues from a safety point of view, especially, then they would have jumped into this, but I don't think there's a need to right away. I concur with you both in that I'm not overly surprised by this and I do think if the reaction to the regulations was overwhelmingly negative after two Grand Prix they might have done something about it.

It's not something they've shied away from in the past. If you think back to the elimination qualifying that we had just over 10 years ago, that went, was it too, that was two Grand Prix, wasn't it? And then that was in the bin. It was eliminated. It was very ironically eliminated. But I think that was a fairly unanimous opinion held by everyone in F1, that that was a rubbish idea.

Whereas this has massively split opinion, there'll be some who are saying, we absolutely need change straight away. There are plenty on the other side as well saying that these new regulations are great, and then a whole host of people in the middle of the two. So I'm not surprised they haven't done anything, any knee-jerk reaction to this. And it is a small sample size. We have just had two races. And to your point, Harry, they are.

two pretty different races. You know, the Australian GP, far tougher to recover energy. China is probably just about in the top 10 easier to recover if we're looking at the calendar as a whole. And Suzuki is likely going to be somewhere in the middle of those two. So I'm not surprised they've been prudent here to see how another race will go. And then they can use rather sensibly that four-week gap to either do something about this or not do something about this,

or at least consider this going forward. I feel like I probably know the answer to this one, Harry, but do you expect politics will be at play when they do eventually meet? Of course, some teams far happier with how things are going than others. 100%. There will be vested interest from all sides of the grid.

I think I read today, again, there was discussions about should the start procedure be changed slightly again in Fred Fusser's like, nah, no, no, no, no, no. I'm with Freddie on this. I'm sorry, with Freddy. It's fine. I know there are a couple of cars that have struggled,

that's just happened, to get off the line, but for the most part, I think we're in a good place, certainly way better than we were in, you know, after the first test in Bahrain. So I'm with them all that. But exactly the point, you know, there are teams that are saying this still isn't fair,

but those teams have, you have to, you have to draw, line at some point, you know, we can't just keep changing the rules because some teams haven't got this right. And those teams will catch up eventually. I still think there are things that can be done. But what was that? I don't know. I don't know. Say it like a grandfather clock again. Dong. The clock strikeeth one. That's actually my alarm clock for the podcast. Just going off. Late as always. 8.38 minutes late. That seems appropriate. Yeah, exactly. But yeah, I, I, I,

think there'll be there'll be teams here who you know the likes of astin martin and red bull people like that who will want changes that ferrari and mercedes etc will not so it's it's going to be tricky i i think the you know the f1 the fia the people that are running this meeting with those teams need to be firm uh obviously listen to what they're going to say but they can't just be completely swayed by what the teams have to say they have to draw you know draw a line on the sand at some point. So it'd be interesting to see where we get out of this. Whether there's any unanimous opinion, you know, decision, I fear that unlikely. It's, it always seems less likely than more likely when it comes to unanimous changes in F1. I've seen a lot of comments from, from fans that

are unsurprisingly quite, quite toxic about who, who this benefits, who this doesn't benefit. And you'll get some say, well, Mercedes are being in. potentially quiet about this because it's all going their way and they're not thinking about the health of the sport. It's like, you're right. They're not thinking about the health of the sport. That's not their job. And then you'll have others say, well, you know, Red Bull were very quiet during the sort of porpoising era because they were the ones that were massively benefiting from this where Mercedes weren't. And now they're unhappy because they're not at the top. And that's how F1 teams operate. It's not overly complex. Like they are always going to do whatever is best

for them. Right now, Mercedes are in an era that seems to suit them, they're probably going to remain quite quiet on this. Red Bull, McLaren, they might be a little bit noisier. It's kind of how it goes. Sam, we've had a lot of comments about what our opinions are of these new regulations, and we've tried our best to sort of weave those into race weekend conversations where possible, but now we have a week in between two races. We've got a bit more time to digest what we've seen so far this year. If we're starting on the more positive side of the spectrum here, what have you liked so far from the regs?

I might be, out of the three of us, the one that's maybe come around the most. I realized after China, excuse you. So as a quick clear of the throat. I realize after China that I quite like it. I quite like a lot of what's going on. I enjoy the fact that we've got cars sticking to the back of other cars

that can be followed. We've got overtakes happening in corgars that aren't normal. You can re-attack after you defend. There's a lot of what I do. We've been asking for this for years, for 20 years. You know, I remember watching Formula One in the mid-naughties being the most procession thing going. You'd have drivers who were just, you know, car 10 seconds,

car 10 seconds. And they just couldn't get near each other at all. People asked for refueling back. Why? Did you watch Formula One back then? It was so boring. I enjoy overtakes in the pits, actually. Oh, good.

Yeah, good. Okay. That'll ruffle some feathers, won't it? Oh! Back in my, don't. No, it's not always better because it happened beforehand. I miss the noise, yes. I miss the flat out in qualifying.

That needs to be a thing, I fully agree. But actually, when it comes to the racing element of it, I thoroughly enjoyed what I saw when I came to China. I thought it was exciting. I saw cars go wheel to wheel. or five or six battling at once, and that lasted multiple laps. There was always threat of an overtake.

These are things that I've been asking for for Formula One for a long time. And I'm not going to succumb to the pressure of someone like Max Verstappen saying, if you like this, you've done what real racing is. I think that's a harsh line. And racing is racing. You go wheel to wheel with someone, whoever comes out on top wings. I get why it isn't people's favorite thing.

But I'm starting to enjoy it. There are elements I don't like, but I am starting to enjoy it. I, if Ferrari weren't here, I think it would look worse as my only, because yes, there were other battles, but they, for the they are the headlines from the first two races, basically, whether they were against Mercedes or against each other. But I think that's normal for a new set of regulations. You know, we had the same in 2014, which then by the end of 2021,

we had one of the closest championships we've ever seen. It's not the regulations fault that some kind of. are unable to develop in the same way. Can I say as well, we are well ahead of start 2014 regs? Like, that was terrible. I would agree with that. Awful. Like, I don't know,

with the Mercedes, again, we were saved by Mercedes in that sense because then they're allowed to battle each other, then it was the only thing they could watch. So. Yes, Hamilton delivering an exciting on-track action for two. Just forever. Just forever. I also agree as much as I am a

V-10 Nauties fanboy, it was not better. You watched some of those mid-naughties races and if it was put on today, there would be massive complaints. If you didn't love Michael Schumacher, you watch that and you go, what am I watching?

I mean, there's been various clips going around, but I saw one that was of the, it was of Reikinen and Barrackallo battling at the 2003 British GP, which is a belter of a race, by the way. And everyone's like, oh, I missed this. But watch the rest of the season because it wasn't always,

like this one race in the year. People love to cherry pick history. They love to pick one moment that is defines them. And Sebastian Vetter has shown, you know, with the Williams that he owns, that you can put sustainable fuel in it and that will work. I get that point of view. And I agree with that point of view. I love those cars.

I love the sounds. I would rather they sound like a hairdry and we see wheel to wheel action for a whole Grand Prix. Sound is amazing. I miss it. But I would rather see cars next to each other. I agree with what you said about it being. less processional in that being a good thing. And, you know, the drivers are having to

properly think about their overtakes, which I've, I've long wanted to see more of when it comes to F1. Like, they are having to be, cleverness is rewarded and strategy is rewarded and knowing, and we are seeing overtakes happen in more unfamiliar positions. And I, I think that is a good thing. Russell versus LeCleur was fascinating, I think, at the first race of the year. Lecler versus Hamilton was great in China. We saw pretty much two-thirds of a lap, the two them side by side, which was brilliant. And even if you look further back to the midfield, like what happened after the safety car restart, even if most of it was in a small box in the corner, that was fascinating as well. So I think we are, we're not in an awful spot here.

And if you think about China as well in terms of energy saving, again, it was far better than what Melbourne is, depending on what sort of rankings you're looking at, the one I was looking at, has China about ninth place on the list of easiest to most difficult to recuperate that, that energy and therefore, in theory, less lifting coast. So we've still got quite a few tracks on this calendar that should in theory be even better than what we had in Shanghai. There is one that I'm really terrified for, though. Well, the one that you should probably be most terrified for, I'm going to assume we've got the other one here, but Australia's 23rd out of 24 on the list. The only one that's

worse than it, we probably won't go to anymore, which is Jeddah. Ah, I thought Qatar would be blooming awful. They barely break around that race track. Yeah, wasn't listed at the bottom. I think it was probably one of the lower ones, but... It's heavier breaking at Jeddah. I'll be surprised if Qatar isn't worse, but we might not go there either. No.

Harry, my main negative is qualifying. It feels like it's lost something. Would you agree with that? Yeah, I'd agree. I haven't watched a qualifying life so far this year. I've only seen it on replay. But I've come to it both times with, obviously it already happened,

but seeing the commentary of it. Do you know the result before you watched it? Australia, I didn't. I think Chaddard did. But I think it has lost its, but it's just a bit soulless. It's lost its bark, especially when you get to Q3.

I think. So that needs addressing for sure. And the thing I was going to say earlier on, if you took someone who'd never seen F1 before, or, you know, was not an F1 fan, plunked them in front of just the Australian race and the Chinese GP race,

said, watch that, what do you think? I think they're saying, this is excellent. The qualifiers that have gone alongside it have skewed the opinion, I think, somewhat. And I get that because it's, F1 is a whole package. you can't just ignore qualifying or ignore the race, for example.

But it, yeah, qualifying is harming, harming the product of F1 on the moment because it's just not exciting to watch a car run out of steam on a qualifying lap. It just, bleh, not good. Sam, I'm going to ask you about the negatives as well. We'll take a quick break and we'll wrap up this discussion on the other side. Well, my opinion is that great. People are going to be waiting. Better be bloody good now, mate.

Welcome back, everyone. Everyone has been on the edge of their seat, Sam. What are your thoughts on the more negative side of these new regs, including maybe qualifying if you agree with Harry's point? I do agree with Harry's point. Qualifying is definitely a bit of a damp squib at the moment, but I think that's equally again, new regulations means cars are further afield from each other. So the fight for pole position is not as exhilarating as it was last season,

where we regularly had four or five cars challenging or finishing within, you know, a tenth of each other, a tenth of a half of each other. Last season, we had the closest ever qualified ever, right? And it's really tough to go from that tiny gap of 20 cars to this gap where one car is four-tenths clear of the next car. And then the car at the back is six seconds back. Now, these gaps are going to appear with new regulations. So whilst I hate the fact they run out of steam on long straight, I do think part of the

negativity is the fact that the field is spread. The field is further apart than we would normally expect it to be. With time, I think that will condense. It will get more exciting. But I do absolutely hate superclipping. I despise losing speed going down atop straight. I despise having to shift down to make sure your battery recharges. I hate not seeing these cars go absolutely full beans with anger into a heavy braking zone.

They're speed masters. What are you talking about? They are lies. They are Alpine. like happening on the speedmaskers. It's propaganda, if I'm totally honest with you. They're using it to gain better opinion to show that these cars can go quick in a straight line.

And they can. They're very quicking a straight line for about three seconds. And then they have to stop very slowly down a long straight. And that's not exciting. That bit isn't fun. And I'm really happy to be opening and honest and say that I really do like some bits. But that is God awful, watching them lift off like 300 meters for the braking zone.

What horrible noise that these cars make as they start to regain their batteries. So unpleasant. It's not exciting. So the best things. The thing that made this podcast was breaking late into a call on a video game because it was exhilarating to do so. It was silly and fun and cool. Don't do that anymore. And I miss that.

And that is something I would definitely change. I'd change the way the battery charges or something to stop it. But it's not good. It's really not good. lifting and coasting and qualifying is a sin. Like, it's so bad. And if I was going to pick anything about these regulations to fix, that would be my number one thing. Because it's not even just the speed as well. Like if you go back to 2005, and whilst we have actually spoken a bit on the mid-naughties and how it wasn't as great as maybe you think it was, they looked

dynamic these cars, particularly in a qualifying lap. And you saw a few years ago with Fernando Alonzo driving his old Renaos, 2005 Reno at Abu Dhabi, and it looks so good. In China specifically, Alonzo, again, actually had the pole position in 2005, and he was two seconds slower than the poll time that Kimmy Antonelli had in China in 2026. But if you asked me, which lap would I rather see? I would 100% tell you the 2005 lab. And that's not just noise. That's just they look far more aggressive through the corners and they're not having to lift and coast. So I don't mind if there is some part of the regulation that's tweaked that in theory slows these cars down a little bit. If it means they're at 100% the entire time,

I will take that trade off. Because right now, the likes of Charles LeCler, who we have become accustomed to seeing in qualifying, be on the ragged edge and absolutely go for it, is being punished for doing so. He has said before, like, I've tried to be on the edge in qualifying, it makes me slower. That should not be a thing unless he spins off and crashes into a war which sometimes happened with LeClau. But this is,

this should be unfroling, it should be exhilarating. And right now, I just don't think it is. I think F1 need to realize as well that they, you don't need, there's obviously we joke about

the world's fastest race we had last year. You can't joke about that, man. That's serious. That's legitness. Anyway, but I think Air Force need to get away from that I know, you know, F will prize itself with speed

but like you said, Ben, we are far beyond where we were in 2005, for example, but we don't necessarily need to be for it to be exciting. We're still the fastest sport even if you do knock a couple of seconds off. It would be fine. The fact that we've got the luxury to do that tells you just how quick this sport is.

Yeah, so it's all relative as well. Like, these cars could be quicker. Like, they could be the 2020 beasts that we had, but we've voluntarily gone away from that because we felt it was better for the sport not to be like that. That was when the cars were basically stuck to the ground and we realized that overtakes are incredibly difficult, following is very difficult. So we pivoted away. It was true. They were really excited to watch go through corgars at full speed.

I loved how they could fly through turns. Didn't make for good racing. No, not all the time. That's for sure. The other thing I wanted to mention is that I know it's two races. tire wear seems incredibly low right now, which could be related to the fact that these cars aren't being pushed through the corners as they have been in previous years.

But we've seen now, I know Mercedes have been relatively unchallenged, but they're setting fastest laps well into stints towards the end of the Grand Prix, which I'm not a massive fan of. So whether there's a change to the tyres to start bringing softer compounds again or not, I don't know. but I feel like they need to be the two races we've had so far have been so easy one-stops,

even with such an early safety car really at both races so far. The excuse could be a cliff on this tyreware. They need to hit a point where in theory, yeah, you could get this tyre to the end. Because I get it. As much as punches are exciting, and I said very recently,

not seeing a puncturing a while, and they are excited when it happens. You'd like to not have a race completely ruined because someone's tie has just gone bang out of nowhere. But what we do need is a tireware cliff where in theory, you can push that tire all the way to the end, but you might be four seconds a lap slower

because you haven't got the outright grip to get home. You'll be able to get the car home, but you might not be willing in the race. And I really do want to see Pirelli bring back the option of just, you know, you've done 30 laps on the hard tire. It could do another 10, but you will be a pit stop behind if you keep trying to run this. And I want the option of an aggressive free stop

versus a long-lasting one stop. I want that to be a real thing. And we have, as a group, complained about tyres for what? a decade at this point. It's been a painful topic that hasn't ever really got back to what it was in 2012, 2013, will we have this? Yeah, I think that's the holy grail. That's what we need to get to. But right now, it just seems that these cars aren't pushed enough through the corners to make that a factor. Harry, the last thing I wanted to say on this was really a little bit of maybe of a warning to the FIA because they might well look to fix some things, they might well not.

But there is a danger, I think, that they could be focusing on what F1 is now and not what F1 could be. So when I say that, I'm talking about F1 right now has high unpredictability in terms of reliability mainly because it's the start of a new regulation. Cars can follow better right now. And the teams are still learning when it comes to overtakes and energy management. In theory, all three of those things are likely to. to get worse as we go through the regulation.

Like, it's not in the team's interest to create a car that is easy to follow. These teams will learn with each passing week how to tackle each of these tracks. If F1, I think, isn't careful and these sorts of things are eroded a little bit, and they're left with maybe the second half of Grand Prix that we've had in both China and Australia, maybe there is a bit of a risk. It becomes less entertaining. Yeah, and I think that's probably why they are cautious. on this, you know, having this, any rule changes or any discussion around rule changes

straight away because we are only a couple of our races in. And as you said, we saw this, take the last generation of cars, 2022, those cars could at the start of the season, remember the Vestappen-Lacquay battles, they could follow way easier than they could by the end of last year. So teams will, as you said, will make up that long. No, that barely lasted a couple of years, let's be honest. So they'll make up the deficit because they are very clever people, all of them. So any, no changes should be rash or made rashly. And that's what everyone needs to be careful of.

And I think they are with, you know, we're not doing anything straight away. As mentioned, I think at the top of this conversation, we've had a wide variety of comments from listeners to say that they're loving these regulations, they're hating these regulations and everything in between. So keep on letting us know what you think and be specific about what it is in particular you like and don't like because it's always interesting

to hear from you on this. Let's move on to Kimmy Antonelli and Mercedes because two races into the new season, Mercedes are won a piece in terms of Grand Prix victories. Russell leads the championship thanks to his sprint win in China, but the margin is just four points.

So after two Grand Prix, pretty narrow one. I know he briefly touched on this Sam in the race review, but do you think it's too early to say that Antonelli could win a championship

or at least compete for one? No, no, not at all. Not at all. When you enter new regulations like this and you are in the car that is dominating, this is your opportunity. You've got to go out there

and give it all your worth. And it was showing him race to immediately that Kimmy Antekelly is able to give it everything that he's got. He had such a tricky Australian Grand Prix. You know, you got to remember that was only his first race

of a second season ever. He's still only 19 years old. And he crashed it. to put the car back together. You know, he went out really late for his run. Skellins on the front row. You know, he's still second place overall in the Grand Prix against George Russell, who is what,

nine seasons in now, something like that in his Formula One career. The guy's been around a long time. He's an incredible driver as George Russell. But the fact that Kimmy Antingelli was barely four seconds away from him in Melbourne after all that. And then we get to China and he has a tough start and he has to cut through again. And then he gets to the main race.

He's got pole position. He aces to start. He gets past Lewis Hamilton. to efficiently and pulls away from George Russell a way that he couldn't. The kid is learning so, so quickly. I really think that George Russell needs to be careful. He needs to keep kind of one eye looking over his shoulder because I think Kimmy Antigelli is more that famous expression.

Because Kimmy Antingelli has got more than what it takes to sneak up and grab a world title. If he's not putting this to bed, you know, if he's not, if he's not being cut through it with the points and the wings, I think the competition is only going to get harder for George Russell because Kimi Ancinglli will learn. He will develop. He will learn and he will get better and better. And, you know, Russell will grow, but there's only so much room for Russell to grow. He's already so far into his career.

Kimmy's got so much more to give, I think. So, yeah, I think if the car is able to stay dominant, there's absolutely no reason at all why Kimi Antigali cannot challenge for a world title in only his second season. Yeah, I don't think it's crazy to say at this stage. And that doesn't mean it's likely or that it's definitely going to happen, just to be clear to all of those who will clip this and think that is what we're saying here. But what Antonelli's win showed us, if he can carry that on, there's no reason to believe he can't challenge for the championship. It's not like that win that he had in China was a

fortunate one where he benefited from a safety car or he had the right end of the strategy at Mercedes. He went 1v1 versus George Russell and was the deserved winner. He was quicker in Q2 in qualifying, converted that into a pole in Q3, and then went and won from pole by over five seconds in the main Grand Prix. That was a real statement dominant victory from him. And if you go back to the last seven races, so we'll take the first two of this year and the last five, where Antonelli made real progress at the end of 2025, Antonelli's four three up in the last seven races. So he is starting to present far more of a challenge to George Russell. We do need to see far more of this before I'm willing to commit anything here. But I think a quite important thing for

Antonelli right now is that his first win has come and gone in that it hasn't become much of a narrative. It hasn't been a discussion. He's just gone and won his first race. Whereas if you compare that to his teammate, for example, he had to spend a number of years at Williams, had that one opportunity in 2020 when he sat in for Lewis Hamilton. And then he joins Mercedes and then they're not at their dominant best. And I think it was at that point a question, when is he going to win that first Grand Prix? Look at Lando Norris as an example. He had 15 podiums before he finally took that first victory. Antonelli's kind of just come along and got it done. Like, it hasn't become much of a thing at all, which could help him as he goes throughout the year. What do you think,

Harry? Yeah, I think he definitely could be a contender. And I think, like you said, Sam, this is going to be a wake-up call for Russell. Um, whilst Australia, was pretty, you know, plain sending a bit of a dream start for Russell. China had some ups and downs in it. And when there was a down, Antonelli, you know, seize the opportunity and took that win off him.

So I think that will be a wake-up call. And, you know, whilst I don't think it was his strongest weekend at all from Russell, and he had some issues, like you said, but I think, Ben, it was dominant. He went and ran up ran up the road. So yeah, it's early days and, you know, over a season,

what I still put my money on Russell over Antinelli, I think, yes, just given the experience, you know, experienced differences between them. But Antenelli could be giving him a bit of a bit of a headache this year, maybe more so than he was perhaps thinking, especially off the back of 2025. So yeah, Russell needs to, he used to, whilst they have this advantage as well, because who knows where it would be, you know, second half of the year, if the Ferrari's, you know, McLaren's and, dare I say, Red Bulls even get involved. Getting a point advantage over your teammate now could be crucial.

Russell's not going to be sat there thinking, I've got time throughout this season, like no chance at all. Like, he's going to take any opportunity he gets. I've just lost two races as well where that actually works for them. Valid point, for sure. George Russell's going to be a tough, tough man to beat, Sam. So what does Antonelli need to focus on? What does he need to improve over the course of this year?

Focus is exactly what he did between the sprint race at China and the main race at China. If he sees a weakness, he's got to learn, he's got to learn quick. The start affected him twice. He had a bad start in Melbourne. He had a bag start in the spring. Third time I've asked him, no bad start. He was right there. Also, his efficiency and overtaking, I thought, was spectacular.

He hasn't had to do a lot of it. But when getting through the traffic early on at Melbourne, quick and efficient, right up to the back of the Ferraris again. And then when it came to get past Lewis Hamilton, did the job, no problem. Something that Kimi Antigone needs to work on is his consistency. We saw already when he was leading that Grand Prix, the mistake that saw him run wide in the hairpin,

double lock up. Of much more experienced, a wiser driver, a race winner, would have just been bringing that home? Only 70% in the car. Let the car do the management, bring it in nice and easy, take the wing.

It doesn't matter if you win by half a second, or if you win by five or ten. you win. And I do think George Russell was he was in that position. I don't think we're seeing him. I don't think they can put the camera on him until he basically crossed the line because he's able to manage a race. And I think Kimi Antenny's got to do a lot of managing races this season. If he is to be fighting out the front and not double locking up your tires or running off, lucky that there was just run off and not grass or gravel or a wall, he was able to recover and get back on. But if he is going to challenge, he will be spending a lot of time out the front

on his own. And it's really important that he doesn't fall asleep at the wheel. throw a mistake in there, which could give George Russell the inn to take advantage. Yeah, consistency is the key word, no doubt, because we've seen, I almost said, Reichen and then, man. Jeez. Oh, that's okay. Yeah, that's fine. Chinese announced, did it?

Yeah, it'll be all right. We've seen him at his best so far this year, which was no doubt the main race in China, but we have also seen some real chinks in his armour. Like we've seen what happened in Australia with that FP3 crash, for example. if the Mercedes mechanics are like five minutes slower with that, then he doesn't qualify, which if he's starting 20, if he might have got back to like four for third,

but he might not go back to second. So that might have costing points there. It seems obvious to say, but like George Russell is at a level now where you, it sounds like a cliche because it is, but he's going to need to beat George Russell. Russell's not going to hand it to him. Russell will make a few errors throughout the year, no doubt.

It's going to write that one, though, mate. Beat George Russell. Beats my team, mate. I don't see Russell making a lot of errors throughout the year. And he'll need to capitalize on the very few that do happen. But, yeah, consistency is the key word that you already raised, Sam, no doubt. Harry, will Russell see Antonelli as his biggest threat at this point? At this point, yes.

But like I said earlier on, I think. that could just be temporary and you might have Sir Lewis Hamilton and Mr. Lecler coming after him very sooner, maybe the McLaren drivers and and, you know, Vastappen. But

for now, yes, he's his biggest rival because Mercedes do have this advantage over the field. So he needs to act on that whilst he can because I don't think that advantage is going to last forever. Yeah, I think you might well be right on that one.

Sam, how do you think the relationship between Antonelli and Russell would survive a season in which they are going for the championship? I mentioned this recently, but Mercedes almost need to let them do their talking on the racetrack and keep them separate if it's going to start becoming a little bit negative. We saw the way that George Russell reacted with Max Verstappen after they came together in Spain. It was immediately quite aggressive from both parties. It came across as angry, and neither of them held back. And I think Russell was kind of being up against a big challenge.

He faced Lewis Hamilton. He went up against, you know, Vestappen. He's dealt with the likes of Norris and Piastri. At this point, he's been around the block a bit. But Claire, as well, he's gone up against him comfortably. Kimi Antigeli hasn't really had to go up against anyone. He was kind of allowed time to get used to things last season. And Formula One is as much about your mentality as it is about what you could do on the racetrack.

And I do worry a little bit that he could be thrown to the wolves. Speaking of, have you seen this wolf partnership that the sayings have done with the jackets? Go looking up. This is very niche. You know the par market. No! They look a bit like that. Oh, no.

Anyway. A wolf fleece. It's not a fleece, but it's close enough. George Russell is a par market, man. It needs to be looked after by Bono. It needs to be looked after by Toto. They just need to make sure. And remember that this kid could be.

in their team for 10, 15, 20 years of Formula One. That's how young he is. That big theory, in the year 2046, if he's good enough, he could still be a Mercedes driver. And you don't want to spoil that or sunny that only one year in because he's like a forward out with George Russell, Juta, wanting to win a world title. I can't be commentating on Kimmy Antonelli when I'm 50 years old. That can't happen. Well, I don't like that.

might. No, not a fan. I'm just going to, if we're still going at that point and he's still going, I'm talking about every other driver and pretending he's not there. If I'm still having to work two jobs

to do this at 51, I'm going to be really annoyed. Spoiler, you're going to be working three jobs at that point. Oh, no, the economy's really got to me. Yeah. Just to pay for a tang of petrol. Go!

Let's take our next break on this episode. on the other side, we're chatting McLaren. Welcome back, everyone. Let's chat McLaren because they've, of course, have come off the back of back-to-back Constructors Championships. Lando Norris won the Drivers' Championship last year as well. Two races in, they are 80 points behind the leaders' Mercedes.

Reliability, of course, has been a pretty big issue for them so far this year, Sam. Is it just the case of two races in, small sample size? It's quite bad luck, or is there a bigger issue at play here? I mean, I don't know if they can see what's going on through the tears, because I will just be crying at this point. I'll be all what I do? It's a really...

What do I do? Good to be not running an F-1 team. Very lucky. Can't imagine they'll be calling me up anytime soon. What do we do, boss? What are you? What are you? It's a disaster. It's actually only FP2.

Anyway, it must be so frustrating to go from being on such a height and not even being close to fighting for victory, not even being close to pole position. If it was at the highlight of their season was a sprint qualifying so far where they were kind of sandwich around Ferrari. It's not good when a spring qualified session did your highlight. It's not great. One of your drivers has only done 19 racing laps as well. It's being really tricky. I think they can take a little bit of hope for the fact that Red Bull are also going through a really tricky period. It's not just them languishing behind. The fact that, The midfield are very bunched together, so give it two or three races.

They'll be back out in front of that group, I think. They clearly have some proper raw speed, and they're using them to Saga's engine that clearly has a lot of capability to it. They won't be challenging for a championship. I'll be shocked if they can get their answer together enough. I think it's game over already for that. At best, it's going to be third. But nonetheless, that's okay, because if they can now use this season to get it together

and then come back in 2027 and be genuinely an attacking force and fight for a title, it will all be worth it. The sacrifice will be worth it. For us as fans, that's going to suck, because we're going to watch them all year, and they're not going to be fighting for something, I don't think. They might get a win on a lucky day. But genuinely, it's going to be difficult to watch someone like McLaren,

once again be nowhere near the front. What's going on, Harry? Three DNSes in two races. I don't know, Jeff. I was hoping you'd know. They don't know. So I thought you might. McClaren will be asking some questions.

questions. Obviously, the DNS in Australia was more down to Piastri than it was the car. But they've had a lot. They had reliability issues during that weekend as a whole anyway. Given how dominant that Mercedes car is and minus the breakdown, well, sort of breakdown for Russell in Q3, it's been pretty bulletproof that car as well. Why McLaren are having so many issues?

and also Williams, because Albon didn't start China either. We spoke about this before with Andrea Stella and James Vowles asking questions of what they're being given and told about that Mercedes car. Does stack up a little bit with what we're seeing. So, yeah, I think McLaren will be asking questions of that. Obviously, it's not all just, you know, it can't be like, well, it's Mercedes fault because these teams have to, you know, put the engines in the cars themselves.

and that's where the difference lies here. But they've got to be hoping for a bit more support on that, I think, because it seems to be that that's where the issues are lying at the moment for McLaren especially. So not only is the car not, the car's relatively good over a quality lap, it seems, because as you mentioned, sprint quality, but also qualifying in Australia, they got ahead of the Ferrari. They're both head of the Ferraris, I think, in Australia. So they can do it quality lap, right?

But that's it. Alpine are just going, mate. Apart from Alpini, who are the speed masters and go-shed. I did want to ask a question or sort of make a point on Al-Pine, because there's been a lot of reliability issues for, as you've just mentioned, Williams and McLaren, and even Mercedes have had some as well. Like, they got fortunate with the whole Russell qualifying issue

that rectified itself just in time. But Alpine, this season, a theme of the most, like, reliable team on the grid? Have we actually said anything bad about their own? reliability. It's beginning it's luck, mate. It's just beginning it's luck. I've got a theory.

Yeah, they hit us with it. They never shut down the engine factory. And they've just put Mercedes badges over the top. Okay. I need to ask, what point being that? That's a fair question, man. Because Flavio thinks they've got Mercedes engine. Right.

Oh, I get enough. It congs Fabio. Yeah, yeah. They're like, when they finish the meeting, Flavio got up, off after they made the Mercedes decision. Everyone stayed in the room and were like, we're not doing that. We're going to call it Mercedes.

I was going to say it would be the most Alpine thing of all time to finally get good at something and intentionally not give themselves credit for it. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, give another team the credit. What's on us. Generally, though, I joked about Virginia's luck. I think because they've never worked with the Mercedes team before, it kind of feels like actually they've just come back it from a completely fresh pair of eyes. And they have.

Yeah. Oh yeah. Come on. What recently is what I mean. 20, 50. But yeah, they have technically. So maybe they just, they've learned how to do it. I just wonder if they've gone, we're going to have to, you know, like, we're going to look at the instructions.

And we're going to build it with the instructions. And McLeod and like, dang it. They've built loads of these. Chuck it all together. It worked fine. And then they realize that half the car's falling off. Maybe so. I, I don't want to.

make this one bigger than it is. I actually think McLaren have been slightly unlucky this year with the timing of what's happening with their reliability issues. And that's not to say it's not a problem, but I think we'd be talking about this less if they had a double DNS for the sprint and then they had finished, I don't know, fourth and fifth in the main Grand Prix or something like that, fifth and sixth. Again, it would still be an issue, but it seems as if whatever has happened to them has just happened at the wrong time, which is either Piastri on the way to the or in China, both of them before the start of the Grand Prix. If they had any of these issues in free practice,

where they've been relatively all right. I know Norris had a few issues in FP1 in Australia, but otherwise they've been solid enough through qualifying sessions and free practice as well. It would look a little bit better. So I do think maybe bad luck is a little bit at play here. Stella did call it, he didn't use the word, unprecedented, exceptional, I think he used,

as the sort of set of circumstances where he has two Mercedes-related power train issues before a Grand Prix and neither of them seem to correlate with each other at all. It is a bit of a strange one. In terms of the McLaren and Mercedes connection, I think McLaren are just in a position where they have to crack on. Like, they'll get as much as they can from Mercedes, but they are aware that they're not going to be at 100% knowledge of the power unit versus the factory team.

That's what you sign on. as when you're a customer team, right? So I don't think they need to get as much as they can, but equally don't spend too much time on this because if Mercedes-I just don't want to share something with you, they ain't going to share it with you, simple as that. I called this last year. McLaren this year should go out and get themselves their own engine.

I understand the argument, and it could well be a right idea. May I present to you, Aston Martin? I don't know what you're saying, but that's almost, I'd rather it be fresh. I'd rather do five years with... I don't think that's in my word. Well, I think Honda said they were doing it fresh, and they weren't. Honda over the moon.

Honda went with 5, 70% of the team, and we built you an engine. It's terrible. I think they need to almost do it how Kagalak have done it, where they are building their own engine, but they're using Ferrari for four or five years, and then they will bring their own engine in with experience and research and the standing. If we're crowing out and got a bloody Porsche

in the back of the car, but they work with Mercedes for the next four seasons. I think that would, McLaur are big enough. I think that would be right to stand on their own two legs and not be buying of someone else now. Do you think rightly or wrongly they're banking on this set of regulations working in the same way as the previous regulations where power unit's very important for the first few years and then they're either frozen at some point or they become less important in the second half of the set of regulations. Are they hoping the same thing happens here where they might have to go through a couple of years of trickier times to then get something better towards the end? Yeah, it will

make sense to think that. The thing is, I don't think they'd be really worse off if they had any other engine on the green in their car either. I think you're right in saying that they've been unlucky. I think if this is the only two really bad races that they have, that's fine. They go for another 22, maybe 20, Grand Prix this season. And if they've only got the F-s shooter crashes, for example. Well, it's got all right, then, isn't it? It's really got that bad, but I think it's just kicked off the season so badly, two in a row.

The first two, I do think from like a public perspective, it feels pretty dire. One of the biggest turnaround stories we've had in F1 in, say, the last 10 years, has been what happened with McLaren in 2023 and 2024. Harry, is there any chance they can replicate that at some point, whether it is this year or maybe next year? I think there is, but they've also got way less to do it. than they did in that time because where they were coming from

which was what with the Honda Engine 17 figure DNAF oh I see sorry I meant before I mean you're going even earlier yeah yeah well the the infrastructure that they had to rebuild in that team they don't

it's all there they are a championship winning team once again two years you know in a row they they don't need to come as far as they did last time So I think that should give them some confidence that they know they can do it, which that sounds stupid, but they do. They know they can literally do this now with the team they have. So I think it will be easier for them to rebuild.

And they're not going to challenge Fred Championship this year. I'm with Sam, but they can win a race or two. And Norris has said similar comments that he thinks towards the end of this year that might be possible. So no pressure whatsoever on McLaren there. Andrea Stella was quite cautious when comparing this to 20203 and 2024 because that turnaround was based on quite a radical design change in that they knew they were going in the wrong direction with the car, decided to pivot completely and then what they produced, I'm sure

it was something of a risk, but it worked and it worked very quickly. Here, they are quite happy with the concept, at least the long-term forecast of the direction they're going, which means there's, I think maybe a best. better chance they will get to the front, but there's no guarantee it's going to happen very quickly. And whilst there are some gaps in the knowledge in terms of the power unit, downforce is another big issue. Like, they aren't on the same level as the likes of Mercedes right now. So that is something they need to target with upgrades as we go throughout the year. They're likely to have some quite big upgrades coming in Miami later in the year, or next month, I should say,

two months time. But reality is, I think nearly everyone will target Miami as a place. to introduce upgrades as well. So whilst they're on track to improve, the question for them is, can they improve at a quicker rate than their competitors? But it does sound at least as if they are happy with that base concept, and they've got my man, Rob Marshall.

He's hard at work. He knows. Speaking of bringing upgrades, sorry, this is not off the topic of McLarenow. You see those little weird things that Ferrari attach to their halo? Yeah, and they were told no. You know why they were.

told no. No. They claimed it was a wing shield. Sure. It was two bits of plastic. Come on now. Come on. A windshield.

Apparently so, which of course is you're allowed a little tiny bit of plastic around your halo if you want it. But yeah, that's a wing shield. I can believe that. Oh, okay. Yeah. I'll put it on your Fiat later. I'll take out your glass one and I'll put that on the front. They'll do the same thing.

Yeah, all right. Sure. I'll sing a minute, mate. Okay. Well, whilst Sam makes his way over here, we're going to take a short break, and on the other side, we're playing Guess the Year. Welcome back, everyone.

It's time for F-1, Guess the Year. It's F-1, guess the year! Still think it might be the worst jingle. No, the best. It's the way the late-breaking podcast works. If something's a contender for worst jingle, it's also a contender for the best one. So, Guess the Year.

Don't play this one all that often, but there are six questions in front of me and three clues attached to each question. I'll read them out and Sam and Harry will take it in turns and essentially guess the year that I'm referring to. This is going to be interesting because full disclosure, folks, I actually wrote this one for a Patreon episode and we didn't end up playing it on that Patreon episode. So I didn't write this one today or yesterday and I wrote these clues down with even my version of bad handwriting. So this is going to be fun. Oh, for a minute.

I thought you were going to say like a historic event changed. Oh, God, yeah, can you imagine? Harry, kick us off. What number would you like? Number two, please. Number two. The eventual world champion didn't... What the...

Oh, no. Didn't score in two of the first three races. That might be true. The top five in the championship were five different nationalities, driver's championship, of course. And Charlotte Claire achieved nine pole positions. What year am I talking about?

Nine pole positions? What was the first clue, sorry? The eventual world champion didn't score in two of the first three races. Is it 22? It is 22. Well done. Yeah, Vestappen didn't finish the Bahrain Grand Prix and the Australian Grand Prix in 2022. And of course, went on to win the title.

top five were five different nationalities and Lecler achieved the most poll positions that year which I'm sure he's delighted about with nine. Kerski, is that the Australian GPU were there for? What was that later? It's 24, wasn't it? 24, okay. That is the summary of the 2022 championship,

which is, Charles Leclair gets my compositions. Vastappen loses 50 points on him in the first three races and Vastappen still wins the championship. It's also the famous scene of Leclair in the Wall of France is going No! It's also, it's not just that he wins the championship

after losing those 50 points. It's not close. He wings it before the last Grand Prix, did he? Yeah, yeah. He met him Suzuki. Do you remember the chair they made him sit in? Oh, my. The champion's chair!

Champions chair! Oh, man. Good times. Bring that back. What number would you like, Sam? Not like number five, please, Ben. Number five. Williams achieved one podium

but were beaten to fourth place by Force India two drivers did exactly one race but both of them retired and Valtrey Bottas was not runner up in the championship Oh I'm torn between two So you can guarantee he has a 50-50

There we go Is it 2017 Oh he's improving at these 50-50s Yes it is 2017 Yeah, Williams did get a podium via Lanch Stroll at Azerbaijan, but Force India beat them to fourth place in the championship that year. Both Paul de Rester and Jensen Button did exactly one race as substitutes, but they both retired from those races,

and Valtry Bottas was not runner up in the championship that year. Harry, back to you, great start. Number four. Number four. A driver secured pole position on the, debut, a race ended with just three drivers on the lead lap, and Giancarlo Fisichella is in his first F1 season, Martin Brundle, is in his last. 96.

It is 96. I didn't realize until this that they just about crossed over PhysiCella and Brundle. I didn't know 96th this first year. Yeah. That's where his hatred of PhysiClekella comes from. But yes, unfortunately for you, Harry, the driver that scored pole position on debut, with Jack Philnerve. They need to win it, though.

No. And the Monaco GP was the race that only three drivers finished, one that we have reviewed on our Patreon, if you want to check that out. Sam, back to you. I think I'll have number three. There it is. The eventual champion started. started the year with nine consecutive podiums. Lewis Hamilton won three races.

And the season did not end in Abu Dhabi. Oh. Well, speak around a while on, Abu Dhabi. Ooh. Yeah. What was the first one again? Sorry? The eventual champions started the year with nine consecutive podiums.

Was it 2009? Not 2009. Any ideas, Harry? Was it 11? It was 2011, yeah. So Vettel started that year with nine consecutive podiums. Hamilton and McLaren not having the best of years, scoring just three wins.

And the season didn't end in Abu Dhabi that year. Probably brought about from Fernando Alonzo, not liking Abu Dhabi anymore. Probably. That makes sense. No. But Olly Oaks did have a great seat as he watched the rest. still there

Harry back to you can you make it three out of three number one number one both the drivers and constructors championships were won in Europe Yarno Trilly had

his only season with multiple pole positions and one Pablo Montoya wins the Brazilian Grand Prix 2004 he's not too shabby at this game, is he? That is three out of three for you, yes. Ferrari was so good, Michael Schumacher was so good that they won the title in Europe. Disgusting. In Europe. Remember that

folks, because what we talked about earlier, for those regulations. Yeah. Remember that? Yano truly had two pole positions, one of which led to his one and only win at Monaco, and Montoya did win the last race of that season, the Brazilian GP. which means, Sam, that leaves you with. Number six? It does indeed. A team won 15 races this year. Nigel Mansell finished just two races this year.

And Ferrari won their home Grand Prix. Oh, I don't know. That sounds like a you problem. Well, it is a main problem. It is a main problem. You could resolve my issue. You. Sounds like a used solution. Oh, I like that.

Uno reverse card. Yeah, exactly. I actually, I don't have a clue. I do have a clue. It just won't be good enough to get me the right answer. So, 1988. He's nailed it. He's nailed it.

Right, googly-moogly! You actually get the point taken off you for saying great googly, boogley. Damn you, George Russell! Yeah, Macarum were quite good this year. they won 15 of the 16 races. The only one they didn't win was the Italian Grand Prix, won by Ferrari,

which was the final clue. And Nigel Mansell finishes two races out of the 16 this year, and he finishes second both times. And he just retires for every other race. That's Dr. Nige for you. That is Dr. Nige for you. A very good effort from you, Sam,

with two out of three, but Harry, perfect marks, three out of three. Well done. Can't beat the goat where it comes to guest a year. Harry's going to lobby for that game to come back like twice a week. Every, every podcast.

I may stop attending. Well, hopefully that doesn't happen, Sam. But if you wouldn't mind getting us out of here until the next time. Folks, hope you've enjoyed listening to quite hopefully interesting discussion on the regulations. Let us know your thoughts on it. You know, keep it open, keep it nice and constructive. We know it's a divisive subject. But we really do want to hear your thoughts on what you like, what you don't like,

Like, is it the worst thing ever? Does it ruin the DNA of the sport? Or actually, is it quite interesting to watch? Follow us on social media, late breaking F1, where you'll see some clips come from the show and some of the fun bits as well as they come out and hopefully you enjoy the concept we put out there. We appreciate the support on there.

Follow us on YouTube, late breaking F1. And make sure you go and subscribe to Patreon. Patreon, Patreon City, the perfect place to live. Because there's no threat from any outside observation. Oh, God. And to the electricity, those lights are on. You make sure you come on in, folks. Anyway, don't where that's gone.

In the meantime, I've been Samuel Zake. I've been Ben Hocking. I've been Harry Ead. And remember, keep breaking late.