The Late Braking F1 Podcast - Our Top 10 drivers of the season so far!

Episode Date: June 8, 2025

The LB boys are back in studio! They each share their top 10 most impressive F1 drivers of 2025 so far, discuss Red Bull’s push for a superlicense exemption for Arvid Lindblad, and react to Alonso��s complaints about Aston Martin’s straight-line speed. Plus, they wrap up with a round of Formula Fortunes... FOLLOW us on socials! You can find us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠X (Twitter)⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ SUPPORT our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for bonus episodes JOIN our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Discord⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ community JOIN our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠F1 Fantasy League⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ EMAIL us at [e-mail]   & SUBSCRIBE to our podcast! TIDE: Save more, earn more—up to 4.22% AER (variable). Interest rates are tiered, with the top rate for balances over £1M. Each tiered rate applies to the portion within that range. New Tide members get these rates free for 6 months; after that, your Tide plan’s rates apply. For full offer T&Cs visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠tide.co/savings⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. 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. Welcome to the late breaking F1 podcast presented by Harry Ead, Sam Sage, and me, Ben Hocking. In one place, we're in studio today. It's always nice when we get to be in there. I've done it again. I literally said before we start recording that I keep dipping my head down to talk to the microphone.

And I've immediately done, I'm like a chicken. I was a pigeon. Yeah, we're saying in five years of podcasting, we haven't worked out that microphones can pick up your voice. From more than one centimetre each. Impossible. Nope. Doesn't work like that.

Nope. No, F1 today. But today is a special day in the history of F1 because someone claimed their one and only win today on this day. Pasca Maldana. No. Jean Alet. No.

But you're thinking the right race. Canada. But Jean Lacey won that race. Robert Kibetzer. Robic. It's one and only race. Love this on this day. 17 years ago today.

I don't love this. I'll never get one right. So that puts you 1-0 up for 40. No, this is not a new game I can lose that. Come on. Coming up on today's episode, a little bit on Arvid Lindblad. That's his name. A common name he's referred to, yes.

Yep. And Red Bull asking for a super license exemption. But we're going to start today's episode with our top 10 drivers of 2025 so far. We're nine races into the season. We've had a couple of sprints as well. Leaves us in a good position to judge how the drivers are doing. So we're going to be positive today and just look at those that are really excelling. The top 10 of the, I was going to say 20, just over 20 drivers that we've seen so far this season.

We'll do 10 to 6 in this first half. We'll do 5 to 1 after a short break. So what we'll do if we just reveal who we've got from 10 to 6 and then we'll get into some of the discussion points. So Sam, what does 10 to 6? look like for you? You should have a dinner. I know. That's your fault.

You walked straight in. Yeah, come on. You even knew you. That's going to happen. You should know better. Come on. Yeah, but it's a banner and it. It's funny.

That's funny, isn't it? I can't wait for five to one later as well. Right, ten. I've got Gasly in 10th, Ockon 9th, Hulk 8th, Albon 7th, and Russell 6th. Harry. I've got Olly Bearman in 10th, Holkenberg 9th, Ghazly 8th, Alonzo 7th, and Isaac Hadjar 6th.

I've got Nika Holkenberg in 10th, Fernando Alonzo in 9th, Esteban O'Conn 8th, Isaac Hadjar 7th, and Alex Albin in 6th. We've got a completely different list. Yeah. I think I forgot about the Williams drivers. Opsie. Did you forget they exist? A little bit.

That's fine. We move. We move. They're 12th and 11 for you. Yep. Should we start with the hash drivers? Let's start with Oliver Beerman particularly because he was in contention for my list

but didn't quite make it. He didn't quite make yours either, Sam. But he has correct the top 10 for you, Harry. Why does he have such a good season? There have been a couple of occasions where Olly Beerman hasn't performed, but they have been rare. And when the car is on good form,

which for Hasse seems like a bit of a bit of a bit. enigma at the moment as to when that's going to be. But when it is on good form, Beerman has delivered. There's another rookie feather at the list because I think they've, agile's been better. But I think

Beerman has been very impressive this year. And I think the reason he's on my list or he's 10th is because of the, I'm not saying a headache, he's given Ocon, but he's challenged Ocon more than I thought he was going to go into this year given the experience O'Conn has.

Now obviously there's the argument to say that Ocon's new to the team. I know so is Berman, but at least he had a couple of races last year to get used to them. But I've been surprised in how well Berman has fared against Ockon because as we know, an Alpine don't. Ocon's a really good driver. And, yeah, Berman has showed his quality.

So I've been suitably impressed by Ockon by Berman this year. I think, yeah, like I said, there have been moments where he's not had the pace, but again, he's also a rookie. so yeah, that's why he's number 10 for me. His teammate Ocon has made your list. When did he go out, sorry, was it ninth? He was in ninth, just ahead of gasoline on my list.

Why has he made your list? Whenever Ocon has been given a car that actually cooperates with the racetrack, because that horse is so topsy-turvy, it seems unable to actually deliver any consistency. It's really difficult to know what the strengths are for the horse and where they actually prevail and where they fall short. But the moment O'Cong is given a car that actually works, he pulls a result out the bag. I've got those results here.

Please hold call us. He's gone from 13th, 5th, 18th, 8th, 14th, 12th, ignore the DNF, 7th, 16th. So it feels like he's either right at the back of the field where the car is just struggling, or he's delivering really, really good points. I actually think that the further into the season we get, that horse and that alpine are basically trading places

for the slowest car, and the salber is there or thereabout. So the fact that he has scored so many points and is so far up the driver's title is what has surprised me the most. And Ocon's a really consistent driver. It's really brilliant on what he does. Alpin didn't know what they had. And I think Hars are reaping the benefit of having him in their car

because you lose Hulk, you go, wow, a bit of a hole in the team. O'Con is filling that hole really well and doing what they need to from an experienced driver's point of view. I have been impressed with what O'Kong is able to do in that Hars. Yeah, ex-Alpine drivers are quite prominent in our lists. We've got O'Con, we've got Ghazli in these lists. We've got Piastri, if we want to include him as well.

Speaking of, did you see a photo the other day where it's those three drivers for when they were all at Alpine? I can't even remember what they're doing. It's some sort of promo photo. It just doesn't look real. It looks like they're Photoshop. AI created. But that's the lineup that Alpine once had. I completely agree with you on the Ocon inclusion. Three really standout performances so far this year. The Chinese GP where he was able to hold off Alex Albin and Antonelli in what I would have called quicker cars at that. point. Bahrain as well, he was able to hold off Yuki Sonoda for a good length of time. And then Monaco took advantage of what was a really great lap in qualifying and then used the way that race panned out to score some good points again. And the fact that he is, I think, just about in the top 10 in the championship, that has, I'm not convinced, it's very good. It is very inconsistent, as you say. And almost his inconsistency is maybe

the reason he's not a little bit higher. He's been knocked out in Q1 more times than he hasn't. this year. He's been knocked out in Q1 five times. But the half one that place is really poor. You see where Baerman regularly sits at the back of the grid, right? And it just so happens, like, sometimes they make the most out of it, like Bayerman did in Japan and Ockon did in Monaco. And yeah, I think he's absolutely deserving of a place on this list. Someone who I think made all three of our lists was Nico Holkenberg. So he was, it was 10th for me, but I think I might have had him the lowest of the three. Harry, you had him 9th?

How are you eight? You had a mate. Kick us off, Sam. Why is Holkenberg deserving of a place? That car started the season as an actual toaster, but not like your really nice shiny ones, you get down John Lewis, but like the ones that you find that you've had for like 15 years have been put at the back of the cupboard and I've got crumbs, caesaring them. Yeah, exactly. And the knobs are a bit sticky where they've been around the deep fat fire for a bit. You're like, oh, I don't want this. And that's what Holt's driving right now. It's a risk for everyone involved and no one wants to be near it. And yet somehow the guy is regularly scoring points and qualifying in strong Q2 positions, troubling Q2 positions, troubling Q through on a regular basis.

this, causing drivers in much faster cars to be under pressure. And what tipped over the egg for me was that Spanish performance, where he qualified behind his teammate, strategy was brilliant, executed pace when he shouldn't have been, and then did the dirty on Lewis Hamilton and absolutely pulled his pants down. And that was in a Ferrari, it just shows you that this Hulk fella, who's been around a little while if you haven't noticed him, is really quite good at the F1.

And the fact that he hasn't got a podium or anything like that, you know, you can blame him for it and you should. but it's almost a shock that he hasn't had a performance that has got him higher than a fourth place in a race before. The way he's elevated that Salbert really shows what he's made of. Audi have done a really good job at investing in both that experienced driver and then the rookie of Bortoletto, I think is a great pairing. He is delivering the results where stake need it earlier on

where they haven't got the car that is consistently in that point scoring field. I've been so impressed with him. He had a slightly shaky start after Australia where we kind of put teammate walls to bed and it kind of fell down a little bit as the cast settled. And in recent performances, he's excelled again. I've been so impressed with him. It does feel like the experience that Holt brings is really proving valuable for

stake in a season that's, let's face it, not very important. But the fact that he has managed to on two occasions score considerable points with Australia and obviously last time out in Spain, it speaks to how valuable his presence is with the team. A quick question for all three of us, the performance that he had at the Spanish GP. Is it the best performance of the season so far? Oh, no. No, but I am struggling to think of what actually might be 100% in front of it at the same time. So come back to me. I can't say it is right now. Harry? Potentially. I'm trying to think if one of the Verstappan drives. Yeah, Vestappen in Japan. Yeah, or Imala.

Or Imola. It's got, it's got good argument to say that it is. given. I know the car had some improvements, but it's still not. As we said, it's now a two-slice toaster. Maybe it's slightly shinier from, John Lewis. Also, Piastri in Miami was pretty impressive. Yeah. I was having a look at our power ranking scores before this. And if you're not already subscribed to the top tier on Patreon, make sure you do so. Power rankings after every single Grand Prix. And we obviously give scores out of 10. Only three performances so far this year have received a perfect 30 out of 30 from the three of us. Holkenberg's performance in Spain is one of them.

The other two, Max in Imola and Piastri in Bahrain, the other two. But I think it's right there. It's definitely in contention of something else. It really is in contention of driving the season so far. Fernando Alonzo, so I've got him ninth. Harry, you had him a little bit higher up, seventh. Did he feature? Didn't feature on your list.

I don't know how he could feature in your list. I'm actually shocked that he's in both your lists. when he has been on track, apart from one performance. Average pace. What? Yeah, he's been fine, but only recently

has that pace started to develop. He had a great Spanish Grand Prix. Really impressive Spanish Grand Prix. What about all the, I know Australia was bad, but the ones before that? He made mistakes in Saudi, and then the car wasn't there fully.

Did he? Yeah, it wasn't fantastic. Obviously, he broke down. Where was the race as well that he made, he spang? Hater when he breaks down. That's his fault. Well, no, but I mean,

I can't elevate him. him. I can't put him in a top 10 position if he's not on the racetrack. Carl breaking down, oh, no. I guess I'm shot. I think that's a little bit of a long-sown fan favouritism that's gone there. I must admit. The points don't tell you everything. I think he's been very good. The performance in Spain, I don't think he's, like, is one of his top four performances of the season? I thought he was pretty poor. I think it was okay, but my point is like, the race that he got his two points out, I wouldn't actually put as his best race. Monaco, he was on track for a great point score, did a great job there and only because the car broke down that

he didn't score. Imala, I thought he was brilliant. And if strategically they'd gone a different way, I think he'd have scored good points there. Japan, you know, there wasn't a lot of attrition at Japan and he finished P11. If he'd got a slightly different race where, like Australia or Spain, where there were some DNFs, I think he'd have scored well there. He wasn't ever in contention from my like top five or six, but he was, he was in contention for the top ten. In your list, sorry, who have you got below him? Who's your, you say who's in eight? Hulk's 10. Oh, sorry, who's above him?

No, sorry, who's like, where have you got him? You had him an eighth on your list, was it? He's nine. No, so was it Hulk, just Hulk that's behind him? Yes, Hulk's 10. See, I would have elevate, I did elevate Hulk, and I would still say way above a long term this season. Harry, you had him a little bit higher again than me.

Yeah, I, Australia was poor from him. The performance in Spain, which I've said already out of the past three races, I don't think was the one that was deserving of points, but obviously it was the one he did get points out. But in between that, he has been pretty good and has just been unlikely with not getting the results. You mentioned the one in Japan. I don't think that car should have been anywhere near 11th, let alone.

I know we almost got points, but the Afton Martin at the start of the year was that bad that I know Lansstra obviously got got some good points scores earlier on but that was with Australia and the mixed conditions there and I will mark Alonzo down for that because it was his mistake gravel or no gravel

but since then and maybe up until you know the corner he went off in Spain he's been putting performances out on that car for the solidly and it's obviously just not reflected it in the results whereas whether it's breakdown strategy calls and it's not worked out for him.

But his personal performance, I think, has been pretty stellar in that gap of races. If you take Spain and Australia away, then I'd put him higher, but they were not good. So, yeah. I wouldn't say this is a massive reason for Alonzo being in the top 10 either, but he's been perfect against Stroll this season qualifying. I don't think he's been outqualified. Isn't it like 21-0? Yeah. It's going back.

I mean, again, it's Strz. He did a better job against Vettel, to be fair. He was closer to Vettel. Isaac Hager, let's focus on him. So he's on my list in seventh. And he was sick for you, Harry?

He was. And has he appeared for you, Sam? Not yet. Not yet. Not yet. Okay, so we'll start with Harry then in sixth place. So I'm going to assume

we've all got a fairly similar similar position, except, you know, we haven't, unless Sam's going first. Imagine you. It feels like in terms of both qualifying trim and in terms of tire wear over a full stint, he's getting better and better as the season goes on. I've been really impressed by what he's been able to do in Muller, Spain, like tracks where it wasn't easy to manage the tyres, yet he's just, he's done a job on long stints to, ultimately, you know, get him higher up the grid. I know he's finished well in Spain as well,

but he probably would have finished even higher without that safety. He was unlucky. The cool damaged his race performance. He probably could have been there with Hulk and Hamilton right at the end, had the tires gone the right way. His lowest finishing position this season is 13th. Yeah. I mean, he's been out the points three times. Yeah. But two of those are 11 plays. Yeah. Like he has been outside of the top 11 once. Hasn't been knocked out in Q1 once. The consistency has been... At every track that we go to. You bring something else.

And Harry, impressed you enough to make the top ten. Yeah. Without Australia, and look, I think there's very... It was his mistake, but this was race one for Hajar, and it was difficult conditions. So, you know, you can't be too critical, but he did still drop it on the formation lap. But without Australia, I think he's got a great claim

to be very near the top of this list. because other than that, I think he's been stellar. I think you said this, maybe been on the moniker review that he doesn't feel like a rookie compared to the other ones. He's driving knots like a rookie

and I mean that in the most complimentary way possible. Yeah, he's been super impressive. And as you say, he gets more impressive. It seems as every race goes by as he's learning more about tireware, etc. That, yeah, he's been my, if we were doing a surprise of the season. He's been my surprise of the season

so far because not that I didn't, didn't expect good things, but I didn't expect these such good things versus, well, Sonoda and then obviously now Lawson, who he's who I think is comfortably, he's been better than this year. So, yeah, very impressed with Hajat and as I say,

if it wasn't for Australia, I think he'd be even higher up the list. That's how our lists look 10 through to six after the break, five down to one. Welcome back, everyone. I don't know how you found this. like the top part of this list. It gets close.

I found it very close between these top five in particular, but let's find out who's there. Sam, five, four, three, two, one. Five, four, three, two, one. Vastapeng in five, Hajar fourth, Norris third, Lecler, second, Piastri first. Hadjahs had a better season than Max Verstaffin.

Considering my expectations of them both, yes. Oh, God. rest in peace, sausage. The last time I slated for staffing, the abuse really rolled in, so I've doubled down. Harry, save us. In fifth, I've got George Russell, fourth we've got Landon Norris, third, Max Verstappen, second, Charles LeClaire, and first, Oscar Piastri. And I've got Shao LeCler in fifth, Lando Norris in fourth, George Russell in third,

Max Verstappen in second, Oscar Piastri in first. A consensus. on first. Unbelievable. He's league in the championship and... Man whose first is best. He has made one mistake all season

pretty much and that was Australia and even that I kind of forgiven for. It was pretty tough and his teammate did the same thing. Monaco was probably the only other time of being a little bit disappointed. I think that was his worst weekend this season. And even then, he got a podium.

Yes, not bad, is it? Not too shabby. Yeah, I would agree that Monaco has probably been his worst at P3 for 15 points. He is one small error in Australia away from it being a 26 point lead. He's been my surprise at the season.

I mean, I rated Piazky highly. I know in teammate, as I said he'd be Norris, but I didn't think he'd be this competent and this quick, this soon in the season. I thought it would take a bit more time to really develop, and then he will start to have more of an impact. But he is blowing out the water.

He's been amazing. Blown you out of the water. Yeah. He has, he's won more races than he's not. He's won five of nine races so far this season. And if you look at the two third place finishes, sorry, the three third place finishes he's had, put Monaco to one side.

Japan, he was right there with Norris and Bastapen. And the other one was Imala, which, let's face it was a bit more strategy driven than anything else. It's the consistency for me, Harry. wherever we've gone, he has, apart from Monaco, been at a minimum on the pace of his teammate. Yeah. The consistency has been easily his biggest redeeming quality this year.

Something he lacked a little bit, something he lacked definitely in 2023, a little bit more in 24, but not all the time. It was clearly working on it. And he's, you know, coming to 2025. And like I said, there's not one, I suppose. Not one race, Monaco being one of them. But apart from that is not one race where you'd go, yeah,

he was a bit slow this weekend. And even then, as you said, Monaco wasn't that slow. Like he was still pretty good. So yeah, that, you know,

we've seen it with Vastappen before. The consistency is key, but being consistently quick, I see that's even better. So, yeah, that is something that I think, obviously we've spoken about,

then Norris has found maybe slightly tricky to, not to deal with, but to replicate and to also, be the consistently quick everywhere out the gate. And I'm not saying Norris has been slow, but he's definitely not had quite the same consistency across these first line races that his teammates had. So Piastri, yeah, he's not quite my surprise of the season,

but he'd be up there for it. He's been very, very good. Let's talk about Piastri's teammate a little bit more. So I had him in fourth. You, Sam had him fourth, fourth and fourth. we've agreed on fourth. Oh no, sorry, I'm third. I've promoted akeg.

I won too many times. British bias. Oh God. Sorry, mate. Sorry. Even so, like, none of us have got him in second right behind his teammate.

Devil's advocate might say only 10 points between them. Shouldn't Norris be directly behind Piastri? Why not? Yeah, no, you mentioned at the start of this segment how close this was, and it really is that close. I had to go down to the bare bones

to really work out why I didn't want a certain driver to be somewhere else. and it's the inability to win where Piastri has been able to. You know, it's been the small mistakes in the starts that have cost him where I've thought, like take Spain, the most recent race we've just had, for example, there's every chance he should have gone to win that race. But because Piastri was able to get away so cleanly, he got such a brilliant start,

then managed his tyres so well, and the stapping gets in front of Lando Norris, that costs you a wing immediately. Equally, he won at Monaco, but he won at the race track where you can't overtake. And the same can be said for Suzuki, right, right, with Max Verstappen. He won at the one race track where actually, if overtaking was realistic, would they have gone to win that race? Don't know. The qualifying was what sold it from Max Verstappen

there. And the same thing happened with Lando Norris in Monaco. But that's the other thing that hasn't really gone Lando Norris's way is qualifying. He hasn't been as strong as what we previously would have seen in comparison to Piastri, his teammate, where Piastri seemed to learn at every stage. His tire wear has gone way better. His race management is hugely improved. His qualifying record is a massive step forward from the previous year. Norris feels like he's plateaued. Still incredibly good, but I'm seeing the same Norris from last year that I'm seeing from this year. And I don't think I've seen any massive developments in Norris's ability, whereas I've seen Piastri come on leaps and bounds. And so that's why in the best car, he's only fourth, because I don't think

like he's overachieved. I don't feel like he's wowed me. I think he's doing a good job. I've been impressed with him, but equally, yes, I don't think he has made the same progress year to year that say Oscar Piastri has. He has still been incredibly consistent. He has been in the top two in seven of the nine races we've had so far this year. And his worst result, his only non-podium was fourth. So he has found a way to always be involved. And I was very impressed with both of the wins that he put together, Australia and Monaco. I think he showed us something in both of Australia, the conditions were really tough and he was able to get that win. And then Monaco, we know the unique challenge it brings. And ironically, given his biggest question

mark this season has been qualifying, he nailed the weekend where you need to put qualifying together. So both of those were excellent. Similar to you, Sam, the reason I don't have him, a touch higher is qualifying. And the fact that he is having to recover to positions a little bit more than Piastri is, you know, you think of Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, probably the two main ones. And, you know, I know it's if butts and maybes, but if a team, like Ferrari, Mercedes Red Bull can get a little bit closer to McLaren

in the second half of the season, those sorts of errors will be magnified because he might not be able to cut through the traffic like he's been able to in the early part of this season. So the good news is, like,

it's not unfixable. Like if he can, and it's not every race either. Like, if he can qualify more consistently, he's shown he's got the pace to lead and to win races. So, and as you've already mentioned as well, it's very close in this top five.

but that's why I've got him fourth. The Mercedes with George Russell, so I had him third. Sixth. You had him sixth and fifth for Harry. Sixth place, not quite cracking the top five. He was bumped out essentially by Isaac Hadgera, surprising me so much. He started the season so well. We called him the burglar for a reason.

He had that consistent round performances where he was the only driver to have every single result, was inside the top five up until Imala, I think it was. Yeah, sure. Yeah, and that was a great start to the season. And that Mercedes was seeing as a bit of a jack of all trades. And his performances have slipped off since the car has somewhat slipped off the front a little bit. But it was the driving into the Stapham, for example, in Spain that has aged him out a little bit for me. It's a couple of those silly mistakes where I think...

The first one. That's to be clear. The first one. In turn one, to be really specifically clear. Second one's debatable. Oh, okay. And I'm not getting involved. So it really was that close again that I just think there's a couple of moments where George Russell

Miami again, the pace wasn't 100% there, but does really, really well because of the way the safety car comes out, gets to go and I'm lucky with the way that the race unfolds. Pace is good. I just, we're talking the top five, and it is that close together that he's just been bumped out slightly for me. So I had Russell third, and to be honest, I think Russell Vestappen and LeCler are all very similar. I think they're all doing sort of the same job of they don't have the fastest car and they're just trying to maximize every result that they can. I will say this about George Russell and I think it's maybe the biggest reason for him being quite high on my list.

Has he had a bad performance? I know Monaco the result was bad, but equally he qualifies where he qualifies because of the car and I maintain that I don't think any driver in the position Russell was in would have got points. I just think the race, the way it unfolded, there was nothing he could do. I think maybe Saudi Arabia has been his worst race

even then he's beating his teammate quite comfortably. I think his consistency has been quite impressive. To get 111 points in that car, pretty good. And it does seem as if maybe Mercedes haven't solved the issue with hot temperatures in the way that maybe they had hoped they have. We've seen a couple of performances where he's not on the podium as he has been in other races. But I still think overall nine races in, he's probably maximised five or six of them. So again, it's close, but that's why I had him so high.

Charles LeCler, Harry, for you. Free that man. Free him. Look, you're right when you were saying earlier on that we could interchange any of these positions, I think, in the top five, maybe Bar Piaastri. Especially Hager, all the way to the top. Boom. But, yeah, so I think any of these could interchange.

But I just think the Claire has been doing things with that. A, doing things of that Ferrari that his very illustrious, most successful of all-time teammate hasn't been able to do. But getting results out of that car that I just don't think the Ferrari even deserves. Like, it just, I know that I say there's something in there and I still believe it. It's brewing. I think there's something in Charlotte-Claught. Maybe that's what it is.

That dog, singing. It's got a dog in it. Roo-roo-roo-roo. but yeah whilst the car isn't there I think he's dragging results out of it that it just doesn't quite frankly deserve and I think he's been super impressive this year and I just think it's mainly

sort of flown under the radar somewhat because it's never really the you know big results he's picking up and he's had a couple of podiums which obviously been great but even three podiums even the ones where he's not at podiums I think they've been super impressive just given where the car is or relative performance

deserve one in Bahrain probably he probably should have a shot at one in Imola as well but he was shafted by his strategy and then obviously Hamilton gets in front of him they play around with it in Miami as well yeah Miami just been more on Miami just being idiots you know you look at his performances I've got him second of course fourth you can't overtake there's a brilliant job at holding on to

that and being comfortably better than everyone behind him barang deserves one Saudi Arabia gets one Miami should have been far closer but strategy was stupid Imola shafted by safety car and then that strategy as well Monaco second and then Spain third I mean obviously benefits from the Vastappan penalty but he's there to take it and he puts a brilliant move on him

after the mistake that Vastappan made on the safety car restart so I think he's been almost almost flawless Australia wasn't great you know eighth place at the start of the season wasn't brilliant other than that China was good got to squalified got his fault

I think good that was good got to scolified yeah but he was good in that race. It's not his fault when it went that way. I think he's, I think he's been absolutely sensational in that Ferrari that's been a real part of poop. The whole Ferrari dynamic has been really unusual, I think, because when we were heading into the season, particularly looking at LeClau versus Hamilton, I think we were asking the question, okay, could LeClaire get a really good start to the season before Hamilton gets up to speed? And it kind of worked out completely the opposite way,

because I feel like LeCleur's worst two races, and they're not that bad, but his worst two races were the first two. If we look at Australia, he was down in eight. Even by China main race, he caught on. Sprint was not good. That's the point. Yeah, like Lewis Hamilton wins the sprint,

and LeClaire is fifth or something like that. But I think we were expecting maybe it would almost be the other way around where LeClau would be incredibly strong and then maybe Hamilton would catch up. Instead, since China, the only race where Hamilton has beaten Leclair, is Imala, and as we've already said, tough to compare that one because of the strategic differences between the two. He's been very impressive. I don't think we can avoid the subject anymore because

Max Verstappen, Sam, you hate the guy now. It's called me Panicking Skywalker. The force is not with me. Hazel, Yoda. Yeah, don't come from me, please. It's just, I have such high expectations of Max for Staphampton. And again, there is, you know, a bit of paper between all five of these. That's how close they actually are. But with Max, it's little things, right? It's the move on Piastri, turn one of Saudi, which I think that costs him because, you know, the penalty gets applied.

And that means that there's a race difference gone there. Bahrain, the car, okay, wasn't perfect, but I don't think it was that bad. It wasn't too much. It was too different there. And he hangs up moaning and shouting over the radio and he's finishing to what, P6 there. spaying as well. You can't just drive into another driver. I'm not going to go on about the point,

but you can't just use your car to drive into another driver. It's not acceptable. People will disagree with that. And they will. Yeah. And they have. They have disagreed with me on that, which is hilarious.

He drops it on the safety car restart. That's entirely on him, whether you're going to ignore that. You can still later wrong or not. So again, I'm really picking hairs. It's really, really tiny differences here. But I have such high expectations for Max Verstappen, who is the best driver in Formula One and has been,

for a while now. And that's why someone like Hajjar for me is above him because I had no expectations. Hadja was a rookie. And the biggest call-what you could give a rookies by saying they're driving like they're not a rookie. He's surprised me at every single Grand Prix we've gone to. And I've been occasionally a little bit let down by Max for Stafford, despite some brilliant moments such as Japan qualifying and then the race wing. That qualifying, that was one of the best qualifying laps I've ever seen in a time I've actively watched Formula One. It was sublime. It was so good. But then there's just been some moments that have let him down and I'm picking hands as I've said

but that's why he's fifth for me you're not first, second, third. Harry, you had him a little bit higher. Had him in third. Without Spain, he could be first, quite frankly. I was thinking the same. If you had done this before Spain, I might have had him first.

It made my decision much easier, Spain. Really, above Piastri still. You really were going to put him above Piastri. Because I think the things he's been doing with that Red Bull Japan qualifying, yes, Saudi qualifying. That first sector was absolutely, it was so dirty, it was rancid. Stunk.

It stunk in a good way. And then, yeah, there's Imola and I think, yeah, some of the other performances he's had this year. I mean, Australia, for example, I don't think that car really deserved to be where it was. And Max Verstappen was doing Max Verstappen things. I think he's been dragging so many good results out of it. It's so hard to know where that Red Bull actually sit. Is it a good car? I'm not saying it's as terrible as Lawson or Sonoda on occasions have made it,

but it's not as good as Vastappan is making it look. I see the point. I see your point. Like Sonoda is no scrub. Or a pancake. Sonoda and Lawson, the fact that they collectively are behind like Salba. They're behind Hajar by a long way. Yeah.

They're not double digits. I am now. Boom. Like even, and I think I've made this point before, but like 2012 Ferrari, obviously Alonzo, we make a lot of that season. And I'm not saying like Sonoda and Massa are completely comparable,

but Massa was still scoring good points. Yeah, valid. That second Red Bull has provided nothing. We'll get onto a topic after the break about Arving Lingblad. And that is going to be an interesting conversation because that second C is horrible. It's horrible.

I do think it is outside of a lot of the driver's ability. I don't think it's on them for a lot of it. Similar to what you said, Harry, about Vastappen and where he ranks, I was thinking about first until Spain because, again, regardless of whether you think the penalty was fair or if you think it should have been more, it was still stupid. Like, it was still, it cost him at a time, where the field was very condensed

because of the safety car, brought him all the way down to 10th. He cost himself a lot of points that day. But the rest of the season, again, I think what he's doing is similar to what Russell and LeClerre is doing. The reason I have him a little bit above the two of them is Russell and Leclerc have found their ways to thirds and occasionally seconds. Vestappen has found his way to two wins and two seconds.

So it's almost, Vestappen is the same number of podiums as Russell. and he's only got one more than Naclur. The difference is when Vastappen's been in contention, he's taken advantage with either a win or a second place. So that's why I've got him a little bit higher. But yeah, without Spain, the fact that he's still somewhat in that championship fight

is pretty impressive, I think. Okay, that's what our 10 to 1 lists look like. But as always, we're very interested to hear what yours sound like as well. So let us know in the comments, 10 to 1, and what would your list look like. Who have we missed out completely that deserve to be there? Welcome back, everyone. Red Bull has requested a super license exemption

for junior driver, Arvid Lindblad, who is currently racing in Formula 2 and meets all criteria except age. He turns 18 later this year. The FIA will apparently discuss the request at next week's World Motorsport Council meeting in Macau. Following Mercedes similar move for Andrea Kimi Antonelli last year, the FIA revised its rules to allow 17-year-olds to be granted a license at their discretion

if they show exceptional talent and maturity. It should be noted that Red Bull's request was submitted before Max Verstappen received penalty points in Spain with potential of a race ban looming, of course, but this was already in motion before that. Sam, to start with you, what's the motivation here? Yeah, it's an interesting one because I think without that context about the happening, before Max Verstappen getting those penalty points. You could very easily say they're trying and cover themselves so they've got four drivers available and ready to go that they trust

and they're willing to put in the car. But it was already emotion. That's a really pivotal piece of information. This is very much a story similar to Kimmy Antingetti that we had last season where he had, well, he was 17 years old, and 13th, yeah, and Mercedes had requested that he'd be giving his super license early because there was conversations that he might go into the Williams who replaced Logan Sargent halfway through the season, of course.

Now that never materialised. and this might be the same case. It might simply be they are covering all bases, making sure that they are organized and that they're happy and they're going to be caught short-handed. And that's definitely the possibility here. But I swear to God, if they take Sangover out of that car

and they put my boy Hajjar in there and they promote Limblad early and Hajjar struggles in that car, they're just repeating their same cycle again and then not learning from their mistakes because I think that's where they're actually looking. I think there are anything. I think the option.

is remove Lawson, drop Sangaoga back down, put Limblad in the racing ball, put Hajar in the in the Red Bull, at earliest summer transfer window, if it keeps going the way it's going. Sangaura is not delivering, we're aware of this, but I think we're all now aligned and understand that that that second seat is set up in such a way that only Max Verstappen could drive that car competitively, as we just saw from our 10 to 1 rankings, that no one in that second seat is even close to being inside the top thing. I imagine for all three of us, they were probably out of contention in the first four games if you're going to do 20 to 16. They were all probably sitting in that region.

And that tells you just how bad the car is that if two drivers in one season can't do anything with it, and they're both talented young men, Hajjar's not going to do anything with it either. He's not going to have to excel suddenly where Max Verstapp and Kang. So I'm really nervous that Hajar's early career where it's excelled so well is going to end up going down the drain. And Limblad will be put in that seat and almost expected to follow the same journey and go through the same cycle and Red Bull go, oh, I don't understand. Why does it keep going so wrong for everyone we have in this car? I just, they got learning from their mistakes.

Harry, what do you think they're looking to do here? Is it to cover bases with Sonoda? I think they've got their like big bucket of hope. They're just scooping it up and just throwing it at the wall and seeing what sticks. Oh, by hope you. Is there a lot in that bucket anymore? No, they're trying to throw in so much of the wall that there's like a little bit of drags left in the bucket.

draggy bucket. Yeah, this just is starting to smell, starting to wreak a bit of desperation from Red Bull's side because if they're seeking that exemption, forgive me if I'm wrong, he will be, when it turns 18, right, the exemption doesn't matter anymore, correct? Correct, yeah, he's already, he's got the necessary super license. Exactly, which is later this year.

So you're that desperate that you're now asking for this exemption for something that you will change anyway this year. It's not like it's a year or two down the line. So I know, yes, I'm sure they are just covering their bases and I get it. But where is the strategy behind this now? Because you can't just keep throwing drivers at this seat and hoping it will get better. Because as you said, I don't think, we don't think collectively. And I think most people now realize it's not the, it's not the driver. because he's had three consecutive drivers now,

Perez, Lawson, and Sonoda. And let's point out of, Perez is looking better out of this than he was at the end of 2020. He's been chuckling since the start of the year. He's laughing. Sat there all his Kit Katz. And cash.

Kit Katz and Cash. Keep seeing he, I still follow him on Instagram. He's just like doing public speeches and stuff. I'm like, yeah, you go, Sergio. You go, Chekhan. You get that dollar. Yeah, boy. But, yeah, three consecutive drivers

that have struggled now in this. this Red Bull seat, this second Red Bull seat. It's not the driver that's the issue. I think they need to have a word with themselves, Red Bull, Helmut Marker, Christian Horner, etc. And look at what they're doing to these drivers and try harder to nurture and, you know, put their arm around them a little bit. As we see the Mercedes do with Anthony Lee, for example.

Calpiastri's come along in McLaren. Correct. He wasn't the perfect driver in year one. They could have got rid of him there and then. Yeah. And they didn't. So they need to, they need to. There needs to be a rework of that because they just can't.

And this is obviously, you know, it's preliminary. It's nothing's confirmed or anything. But that surely is what they're thinking right now is we'll do this just in case we have to get Sonoda out as well. The only thing is, Limbaugh is not even some kind of prodigy. He's obviously a fantastic young driver, but he's not destroying the F2 field. He's not obliterating people around him. He's third currently in the standings. He's got what, two sprint wings, I think so far this season?

A sprint and a feature win. Thank you. And, you know, that's great. That is really good. And he's doing better than the likes of Birmingham and Antigley were in their F2 season. That might be down to the premier and how it was performing. But sure, he's having a good season. He's not setting the world on fire.

Is it really so good that you think, yeah, we're going to take him out of that championship early, drop him into F1, right at the deep end and let's see if he can swim. Is that really a risk that they need to take? It's running two careers as well, isn't it? Because you do that to him and you take Hajjah, as you already mentioned, out of the racing Bulls and potentially ruin his career too. And then you've just obliterated your young driver lineup immediately. You've got nothing left.

And then you're in a Sergio Perez 2021 situation. Who's we bringing? Should we get Botas now who's out of the sea or elsewhere? Or bring Carlos Sikes back or something like that. It's just, it becomes a silly, silly cycle. I think there is a slightly more, I don't know, self-destructing thought process that he might be going down, which is just that they're looking to get him in for some practice sessions, which I know sounds a bit crazy, but for those of you don't know,

the rule around rookie practice sessions changed a little bit this year. So last year, anyone who's not a rookie had to give up one FP1 session for a rookie driver. This year, that increased two. So if you look at Red Bull and Racing Bulls as two different teams, Red Bulls so far this year, obviously Sonoda and Vastappen, neither of them are rookies. OAS has come in once at Bahrain, but they still have to do three more across the two seats. Racing Bulls, Hadjar doesn't need to give up his seat at all because he's a rookie, but Lawson is not classified as a rookie,

so he needs to give up his seat twice. So that's five FP1 sessions that they have to deal with for the rest of this year. You may think, well, the calendar's massive, so there's not going to be any problem with that. But it's not quite as easy as that because once you get rid of sprint weekends where you're not going to want to give up an FP1 session

because that's your only practice session. You're down to 18. Start to knock off a few others where, like Monaco, for example, you don't want to do that. And there's... Singapore, another one. Singapore, yeah, I would definitely put that in there. Abu Dhabi, like, if you've got a championship fight, you probably want to keep that one three.

So that's only 14, 15 out. And again, we need to put five in there. And looking at the calendar and what's coming up, so Lindblad turns 18 on August 8th, so a couple months away. And we've got three weekends. We've actually got four weekends between now and then where F2 is racing at the same weekend as F1. I say three slash four because one of them is spa, which is a sprint weekend. so we can probably discount that one. But Austria, Silverstone and Hungary

might all be opportunities to get Limblad in that car. And they might just want to take that advantage. The other more nefarious approaches that they are looking at their driver lineup is very interesting how both of you kind of jump to Hadger's going to Red Bull and Sonoda might be in trouble.

I didn't go there. I immediately thought straight swap with Lawson. I mean, understandably, he's still not performing. he has gotten better his pace has improved but the kids are wrecking ball he's a magnet for trouble either damage or a collision

almost every single Grand Prix or a penalty comes his way the guy's a bit of a he's got great raw pace and you look at him outside of Formula One Fort Junior formulas when he went to Japan of course he was fantastic there as well

when he even did DTM he was brilliant there as well the guy is a brilliant racer He's got great skill, which isn't translated to Formula One. I totally understand that if they have going on, you know, this hasn't worked out. We put all the eggs in one basket. It's not worked out. Get rid of them as soon as possible.

And I guess, like, they would probably look to make a move, regardless of which one it is. If they wanted to make a move, they'd lean towards it being at the summer break, because unlike Hal Paine, they probably won't do it three days before a new race. But Limblab would be 18 by the summer break. But I'm sure it would help their decision if they saw him in a couple of practice sessions. So it feels to me at least that, Harry, that this will happen. Like, he will get the exemption. If Antonelli got it last year, I'd be surprised if Limblad doesn't get it this year. Yeah, I think so. You know, the FIA is there for a reason, the ruling on age, but this is

probably one of the more sensible things. The FIA has done is to, you know, take it by case by case scenario he's done enough to you know get that license so i think the exemption will come through um just like you say it came through for anton early so i don't see why not if it was some random youngster that had done no races in f2 before or had any success then he'd say maybe not but this one yeah probably going to happen i think on their side on the red bull side as well is the fact that limblad finished fourth in f3 last year whereas if you look at before F2, Antonelli won Frecker, but Frecker isn't part of the FIA total pole, right?

Like, whereas F3 definitely is, I think they'll look at that P4 just as well, if not better than the win in Freca. And of course, as you say, he's third this season. He's got a foreshore in front of him in the standings of the shorries. He's like 50. He's the oldest man in the world to ever racing after. He's a good driver.

I was saying he will. so he can't be that next year, please. Just get rid of him now. He's solid, but yeah, he is doing a good job as well. It's a bit crazy because I was having a look at the junior drivers in F2 and F3. He's the youngest driver in F2 this year, Liblad. He's younger than everyone in F3 as well. My boy, makes me feel very old.

Yes, born in 2007. Oh. Oh. I thought birth stopped at 2000. I thought they forgot how to do it. That man. That man has not been alive for a Vanano Alonso Championship win.

He's going to get onto the crew to go, who's this guy? Who's this old man? God damn it. Oh, um, bear with me. Please hold callers. Topic change. That's slick.

Speaking of the old man that Limblag wasn't actually around for, Ben. That's what we're moving on to, right? Yeah, it is indeed. What a lovely segue that I definitely should have used, well, though. Moving on.

Fernando Alonzo once asked the Martin to sort out its lack of straight line speed in F1 so that he can stop, he can stop needing to invent

bold places to overtake. He was reflecting on his Spanish GP where he scored his first points of the season and Alonzo said, we had a lot of front tire degradation,

so the front left was done by seven laps into the stint. And then we lacked top speed. So on the straits, we were losing a lot. I didn't make a single overtake on the DRS.

They were all made in turn three on the outside, which is not a normal place to overtake. But we have to invent these kind of moves. Also, in Imola, it was out of turn seven where I made like three overtakes in the last few laps. We need to solve this situation and start overtaking on the straight with the DRS like everyone else. Sure. Sure. I mean, Astor Martin must absolutely love Rupall. because that car is drag

draggy as anything honestly how can you be so slow when you've got a Mercedes engine in there and McLaren are winning the whole gosh-down thing obviously McLaren have learned how to not have drag on their car

and Samaritan have much of shop it And what connects those two teams some? I don't know what connects them Benjamin I'm sure Fernando Alonzo knows the answer they have the same engine There you go

I'm sure he's looking forward to regrouping with his GP2 engine next season as well. I actually think he's the problem because his neck's so big. It's so heavy. It brings it back, yeah.

The drag on that neck with his gorgeous hair flopping around as well. Oh dear. It's like a sale. I mean, I don't think he's wrong. The Aston's been draggy for a while now.

Last year it was too. It was 20-3. Yeah. And he's right. Imola and Spain where we were having to make overtakes in places where basically no one else was.

No one else in Spain did it around turn three. I think that was just the lawns of being called. Thank you for mine for that because they were great overtakes. The Hulkaberg were. So good. So good.

And same for Imola because he was doing cars out of the hairpin. Again, both on fresh ties. But because even on fresh ties, he couldn't, he wasn't able to get them done in the straight line. So I don't think he's wrong on this. I think they do have a draginess issue, which I'm sure Mr. Newey keeps looking at and trying to solve. But it's certainly not going to help them being that slow in a straight line. line and yeah they have been for a while so um i don't really know why that new windtow was going to come in a salt though oh goodness me because i love that thing oh yeah i'm not sure why they suffer

with it so much but alonzo must be fed up of cars that go slow in a straight line it's all he's ever had now yeah 17th and 18 from the speed traps in spain whereas mcclaren were leading the way again they have the same engine but but the thing is it's like yeah i know we're joking but it's a genuine you you are slow in the speed traps then to compensate they'll take downforce soft. So then you have a son in the corner. And then you get new degradation on your tires. Well, that's what, that's what McLaren have done quite well so far this year is that we've seen them

at certain circuits be the fastest in a straight line. There are others where they've been the slowest. But they have, with them, it's strategy. Like it's working out what's the, it's almost like what's the minimum top speed you can get away with in order to be as quick as possible through corners. And as Alonzo says, if he's having to make overtakes around turn three

in Spain, that is going to take a lot out of the tyres and throughout the long stints. Like, that's going to be costly, particularly when like Pirelli are bringing soft the tyres and then defending becomes much harder because once you've worn out your tyres, you haven't got the grip to push off the exit faster, it means that cars behind you that are not in a dragging car and hang actually maximise their straight line speed or just fly straight past you again with the DRS. The thing is this year as well, obviously they've got the reference point of Williams and Mercedes having Mercedes engines as well. They're not going to have that next. year. They need to be careful, and Alonzo will pretty be the most careful person about this

in the world, but they need to be careful not to fall in the same trap as McLaren did maybe 10 years ago, where they didn't have a reference point on their engine and probably put too much emphasis on the engine being the problem when they had a lot of other problems. You swap the engine, but the results are exactly the same. I think that Astromy will need to guard against that next year just to, I don't know, keep on top. They've got Adrian Newey. and again, Alonzo is not going to that can't happen to Alonzo twice Harry, anything else

on this one? Do you think I mean with Aston Martin they seem to be making a bit of progress so far this year if they're able to sort this DRS overtakes very helpful in the modern age. Could they start to feature in the points a little more regularly?

I genuinely, I do think if they can get on top of it they could, it would be in more competitive car. I don't think there's any way how that would make it worse. So it's already more competitive with the upgrades they brought in, in Imola. And yeah, if they get some top speed in that car, then who knows what could happen? Because, yeah, like I said, it's like a domino effect of problems when you're trying to take down force off. And then that obviously doesn't help you tie tie degradation, etc. So, yeah, it'd be interesting. The problem is they've just, they've had this problem for quite a while.

So how will they go in to solve it on this year's car? I love for Adrian Nui is just like on his lunch break. And he's like, just shots out. Use that. He doesn't eat, does he? Not for a free, it's air. Yeah. He only goes in.

The fastest way to intake all food without maximum help. Yes, he only goes into the canteen to speak to them. He doesn't go for food. Walks and goes, change that. See you in another week. It goes into that dark room again, into his cave. I feel like we've asked the Martin. obviously they're not having a standout season

and I don't think we expected them too. They're still competitively quite a way off where they were in 2023. But I feel like the upgrade at Imala working is probably the most notable thing that's happened this season because that has not been a given. Of all the teams, they've had the most failed upgrades.

Every time they talk up bringing a new package, a whole new chassis, a new set of aero ability, it just doesn't work. They seem to sit at the back of the grid or it goes backwards. Or what we see is then bring a whole set of upgrades to do a practice session, put them all on, go one car or the other, and then suddenly both cars will start in the pit laying,

and they've gone back to the original setup that they had five races ago, and it's just as quick as it was before any upgrades were brought. And that is a huge issue for us and Martin. And finally, it looks like the team are using that new wind tunnel, using data that they've started to bring together, and results are starting to be positive. Now, if they can transfer that to 2026, they might actually be competitive. Okay, let's take our final break on this episode, on the other side.

Formula Fortunes. Welcome back, everyone. It's time for Formula Fortunes. Now, six questions. I've brought it down from eight. Sorry, if those disappointed. I'm disappointed. Okay, I might feel away, am I?

Yeah, well, let's got end the episode. I figured that's what he'd say. Six questions. What is Harry's response when Ben says we're going to drop it from eight to six? I'm going home. Well, 100% I'm going home. We have polled the people of discourse. This is the third time I think we've played this game.

And essentially everyone of Discord who answers just has to answer with their opinion on each of these questions. I tally up everyone scores. And then you're looking for the top answer. So how well can you read the Discord? We're looking for – so there are four answers that will give you points. If you get the top answer, you get four points and then three, two, and one. If you get the second, third or fourth most popular answer, then by the end of the game, we should have a winner. And I'm sure now I've said that, it will be a tie.

Right. Question number one. And play along at home as well. This is an easy one to play along with. Who is the best driver on the current grid in wet weather conditions? Ben's writing it. Oh, I'm the same. Don't worry.

I'm half holding my whiteboard. Okay. Sam, what have you got? Maxi Vastappen. Maxi Vastap. With two X's, I might disqualify that. And Harry's also gone with Max Verstappen. Yeah.

Last word. Thanks. Honestly, this is the most wonderful. inside question we've ever had. One point, Charles LeCler. Sure. He had three votes. That's good enough

for fourth. Two points, four votes. Landstrom. Hey, there's probably a good claim to that. In terms of like performing above your dry standard. Sure. Three points. Lewis Hamilton.

Still not double figures. Nine votes. That was my other vote. But four points, 112 votes. Max Verstappen, well done. So Max for Stappen to have more votes combined than all the other people in the poll. I'm going to note that down, though,

because in a future version of this game, I'm definitely going to ask best wet weather driver of all time, because that might be closer. Lance Charles going to win. Yeah, and he'll get more points on the all-time one, sure. Of course. Question number two,

which former team would you like to bring back to the sport? That takes a bit more. And this one was definitely closer. Yeah. Okay. Okay. All right. Sam,

what have you got? Jordan. Two answers to Jordan. We need to do different answers. That's how the game works. Just going back. There was a tie for fourth place. So you can have one point if you had BMW or Toyota,

eight votes each. Okay. Nine votes for Braun. Yeah, I did consider Braun. So two points if you got Braw? Born or Braw. 30 votes, three points. Jordan.

Oh, can you guess what the number one answer was? Jaguar. No. Far's India? No. Manner. No. H.R.T.

I do have to shout out. There were two votes for USF-1. We know you're listening. You can't return something you were never, you know, never a part of. But no, the number one answer with 36 votes was Lotus. Oh, all right. Lotus rang out, I assume.

I know Lotus. Which one? Scooping Formula One. So, given you've answered the same for both of the first two, it is a draw. We're at seven all. Let's do it again. Question number three, if you could, on the current calendar, have any circuit as a reverse track, which one would it be?

Oh, baby. That's fun. Doing a track backwards. Of course, a feature of the new F1 game for at least a couple of steps. Have you played it yet? I did a couple of laps around Silverstone backwards. I haven't done it yet. It looks fun, though.

I was like, why am I breaking here? This should have... I'm going to disqualify myself and not being able to write. That's okay. Wow. Thank you for taking this out. Don't have to bother with the last three questions. That's fine.

Harry, what have you got? Spa. Sam, you have. I went for the game. It's inspired. Okay. For one point, nine votes, Austin, Cota. That would be something to do backwards. That first corner, well, the last corner.

Last corner, yeah. Yeah, fair. You don't get a lot of downhills than F-1. No, I'm a big fan of that. Yeah. Two points, 11 votes, Silverstone. Yeah. Three points, 29 votes for Monaco. Really?

I don't know how that would work, but okay. But four points, 38 votes, I think the allure of doing O'Rouge backwards. No point. Might have got this one, so spar four points. I don't know how to say poise, so I said Neil points. Looks a little bit like Neil Pino's. Right. Right.

It's like Neil Pino. Sorry to everyone, I'm calling that. Nice to meet you, I'm Neil. I just go by Neil Pee. What's a P sample? Neil P might be worse, actually. Hey, Neil P.

Right, question number four. Speaking of Aston Martin, we just spoke about them, of course. How many races will Aston Martin win in 2026? Is Adrian Newey cooking? Sam None Harry three

For one point four votes six Wow You are hopeful For two points Two

Okay 14 votes three points One race win 18 votes but with 72 votes No wins

whatsoever cooking at all. No cooking at all. Which means we are back level again. Eleven or one. We could do it. Two to go. Question number five.

Which driver on the current grid has the best racecraft? Oh. Neil penis. Probably not. Sam. What have you got? Oscar Piastri. Harry?

Oscar Piaastri. We are going to be level. into the last round. For one points, 13 votes, Fernando Alonzo. Fair. Final point. Yeah, good shout. Two points, 23 votes. Charlerler. Yeah, also fair. Three points, 26 votes. Max Verstappen. Yeah. Okay, but that's certainly an answer. I've done that. But the top answer were 58 votes.

Oscar Piastri, well played, which means very good scores, 15 all going into the last round. And it's possibly the most difficult one of the lots because this had the most answers. I want you to tell me who will be the next Alpine team principal. Oh, gosh. And remember our listeners,

because there were some varied answers to this question. I think this could be literally anything. like the masses. Right, let's see what you've got. I've just said, Othmah. Othmars Saffdauer for Sam. It's times out by nine. Harri's gone for Othma's nine children.

Just to run through some names that got votes but didn't get any points. Brad Pitt, would have got you a point. We had Beef got a vote. Yeah. Angposta Coglu got a vote. He's looking for a job now. Bristol Liam's mum got a vote. She can park it right there.

Dave Benton Phillips. Big up, Dave. Elon Musk. No. Emmanuel Macron. Gordon Ramsey. Gaston from Disney. Jacques Villeneuve, Jeremy Clarkson,

one man well fangio, Lance Stroll. Logan Sargent. Michael Andretti, Mickey Mouse, Mr. Bean, Northern George, Oly Oaks,

Postman Fat, and Roman Grosjon. Oh, and Santa Claus. So those would have got you, those all got a vote, unbelievably. But no actual points. No.

For one point, it was actually a three-way tie between three very similar individuals. Six votes each for Sam, Mohammed Ben Suleim and Flavio Brio Tori. Put us all over a great time. Yeah. Seven votes.

Current team principle, Christian Horner. Would have got you two points. Wow. For three points, 13 votes, me. Oh. But the top answer...

Bempton cocking. Yeah. And no one actually spelt it that way, although there were a few interesting votes. But the current... The top answer, and I'm... giving you both, this is correct for you both, because I just rounded up Othmar and Othmaa's nine children

for 27 overall. It's a time. And it is a time. We wasted all your time. There was Othma, Othmaa and his nine children, Otmar's nine children, one of Othma's nine children.

I got to the point where I'm adding them. Anything with the word Othmar in the case. Yeah, pretty much. Well, don't you both. And his nine children, ten of them all in the pit wall. We're also under the age of one year old. How would they sit? On top of each other.

They have the little seats that have a tables, the high chairs. Like on top of the table, baby. Well done to anyone who managed to advance on 19 points scored by both Harry and Sam. Unfortunately, we're going to be out of the studio again for our next record. But the good news, Sam, is that you're drawing. I'm drawing Patreon City. Oh, nice. If you gave me more time,

I would have had a really good little display there. But I'm drawing it because you should visit. And, you know, our... Why should you visit, Sam? Because electricity for a start is free and rent is very, very cheap. But you get unreal content for such a low, low... Parking free. Yes, mate.

The parking is free. Folks, thanks for listening. If you've enjoyed the show and you want to get more content before the next score on pre comes around and we do our preview and review and qualifying everything, join our Patreon. Give it a go. You can do a month at a time. It can cost you as little as a couple of...

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I've been Samuel Sage. I've been Ben Hawking and I've been Harry Ead. And remember, keep breaking late. This podcast is part of the Sports Social Podcast Network.