The Late Braking F1 Podcast - OVER and UNDER-performing drivers of the year so far?

Episode Date: August 11, 2024

The LB trio discuss their top choices for drivers who have exceeded expectations so far this season, as well as those who have fallen short. They also discuss Domenicali's recent comments on regulation changes and Liberty Media's run-ins with the US Department of Justice, before finishing with a game of Higher or Lower... Reminder! Tickets for our Austin TX LIVE SHOW on OCT 17 are available NOW for those on our Patreon on 'Friend of the Podcast' or 'Hall of Fame' tiers (you can join with the link below!) Any remaining tickets will go on general sale at 6pm BST on AUG 18. FOLLOW us on socials! You can find us on YouTube, Instagram, X (Twitter) and TikTok SUPPORT our Patreon for bonus episodes, historic race reviews & more! JOIN our Discord community JOIN our F1 Fantasy League: SIGN UP & create your team, and JOIN our league (join code: C3PHEQHPU04) BUY our Merch SEND us something! We have a brand new PO box - address: Late Braking Podcast, PO Box 821, TRURO TR1 9PE EMAIL us at [e-mail] & SUBSCRIBE to our podcast! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This podcast is part of the Sports Social Podcast Network. Thank you for listening to the Late Breaking F1 podcast. Make sure to check out new episodes every Wednesday and every Sunday. Very warm, welcome to the late breaking F1 podcast presented by Harry Ead, Sam Sage, and me, Ben Hocking. And what is a non-race Sunday, Sam, I have promised you not to comment on your appearance, of course, today. So something else, insert that here. Good. Great. Insert that here at the start of the show. Folks, I'm wearing a knitting vest with nothing else.

It's not my usual attire. It's 30 degrees. And I've decided to make a casserole on a Sunday. It's a bad choice. Okay. I'm aware of my failings. All right. I now have to commit to it. It's going to be delicious. But I will be beading with sweat the entire time. I'm eating a full mashed potato with sausage casserole on the side. Socy cassie cass is a throwback, isn't it? Socy cass is up there with my utmost favorite dinners.

I was really excited for it and then I saw the weather and now I immediately regret it. It's a big, I mean, it's a lovely vest, but knitwear in this this climate. It's very breathable, mate. It's very breathable. I understand.

I understand. Just wait until I see you next weekend. I'll be all knitware. I don't know. That cassero might see you off, mate. I cannot get any saucy on the knitware. That's the issue. Please report back.

I'll take photos. I'll document. Good. We've hit the most important topics first as usual on the podcast. If you didn't listen to our Wednesday episode where we discussed how the teams are midway through the season,

we had an announcement that we will be going back to Austin. We will be doing another live show. So we said all the details there, but essentially the Thursday before the United States Grand Prix, it's on sale now for Patreon. We've already had a bigger uptake on Patreon pre-sail than we did last year. So you've got another, as we record this,

pretty much dead on a week until it goes on general sales. So if you want to take advantage of that, you're already a Patreon subscriber or you want to become a Patreon subscriber. You can do so now, get your tickets. And then any remaining, of course, will go and sell in one week's time. Let's crack on with the show. We've got F1 higher and lower coming up later on. More on Liberty Media and Andretti because that's not going away anytime soon.

Some comments from Domenicali on the regulations. but we're going to start with, we're going to look at teams midweek. We're going to look at drivers a bit more today. So we've each picked out two drivers that we think have exceeded expectations so far this year and two drivers that maybe have fallen short. So we're going to look at, we're going to start with the positive. We're going to exceed expectations on this first topic. And then the second topic will go into those that have fallen a bit short.

So Sam, kick us off, a driver that has surprised you this year in a good way. well you guys can see it that you or YouTube cannot I've angled the camera for demonetisation reasons but there is a man with his bottom on my wall and he is the first that I believe has exceeding expectations both physically with his bottom and reform thank goodness you thought about that because that wouldn't have even come to my head

well I think Nugatee just playing in the background of my video would maybe not be the best for YouTube so I have slightly angled it I was curious who I'm talking about it's Valkri Bottas I have his calendar on the wall didn't know you're talking about that Yeah, I know it was Briss Gay, you know, could it have been Oscar Piastry, could it be Lewis Hamilton? No, it's Bottas, of course.

I think he's a bit of an unsung hero so far this season. I think last season as well, he slumped a little in form. I'm not saying he did badly. I guess it was a very much all right year for Bottas and a car that wasn't particularly great. And the year before that, I think Joe kind of stood up with him and did all right, really. But this year, I really do think he has got back into the groove. A little bit of almost Williams days of old where he was really blowing people like matter out the water. I know it was a prime time master,

but he comfortably had the better of him, I think. And it kind of what led up to him impressing so much. He, of course, got that Mercedes drive when Rosberg retired in 16. So I think a lot of his performances have warranted points. I think he has really dragged the green mouldy toaster all the way to almost

points multiple times. And time and time again, the team and the car have let him down. I really do think he's a bit of an understanding here of this season. So for me, the first drive at really exceeding expectations. Big old bodies. How important do you think the second half of the season is for him? Because obviously he doesn't have a contract for his existing team or indeed any team for next year.

Do you think it is an important second half of the year to try and secure that second salber seat? Or is it going to be a case of advertising elsewhere? What do you think? I wish it wasn't important. I wish he'd already done enough. But we know what the world of Formula One is like. And there is so much, you know, hype bias and recency bias. And he doesn't, he can't get the hype bias anymore, right?

He's not a young upcoming talent. He's not at the front of the grid, someone like Piastri, who's young enough that you think, oh, okay, maybe he's a bit more higher than expectations right now than I expected. He's not Kimi Antonelli, who isn't in the sport yet. He's been around. He's got race wings. He's got his poles. He's the old dog now, right? He's the old guy at the back of the grid who's trying to keep going, much like Ryking was when he first moved to Alpha Mayo, which was sound of that thing.

I think he needs to keep up the solo performances. And he shouldn't. I think he's being exemplary for, you know, the first 13, 14 races of the season. I don't think he needs to do much more. but because of how Formula One works and there's so many exciting young prospects around to get a final seat, even if it is for one more year so he can impress again next year,

I do think he's going to have to deliver almost every Grand Prix and hope that the team don't absolutely mince him when it comes to any chance of points. I'm going to jump on that point because Valtry Bottas was one of the two drivers I picked out as well and it's unusual because

he has scored no points. He is, I believe, last place. He's last. He is last. He is last. He is last. last place in the driver's championship, but I do agree with you that I think he deserves respect for what he's done so far this season. And you can very much point at that green moldy toaster as the reason why he is last in the driver's championship and not his own abilities and what he's done. As I kind of mentioned on Salba's review midweek, there have been not many, but a couple

of missed opportunities for Valtribotas. And I don't think you can realistically point the finger in his direction to say it was his fault that he couldn't capitalize. If you look at, you know, China, they were actually weirdly okay. The car decides, no, not going to work anymore. And he DNFs. That might have been. It was only DNF of the year as well, which is, I think, I think it is, which would be incredibly annoying for him. So he had a half opportunity there. Japan, we've already spoken about numerous times on this podcast where there was a bit of a scrap for, albeit one point, that Yuki Sanoda eventually won. But Valtrey Bottas was very much in that fight until they couldn't do a pit stop. And of course, last time out in Belgium, he was very much in that mix,

trying to do that one stop that the likes of Alonzo and Russell did. And then Salber decided, no, you can't do that. We're going to do a pit stop for no reason. So there have been a few missed opportunities. And your point on how he's compared to Joe, I think is accurate as well. I think Joe was okay out of the blocks in his first year. But as we get into his third year and the third year of their partnership, you know, Valtrey-Bortas has very much cemented himself as that lead driver. At least to this point in the season, qualifying-wise, Valtrey Bottas is 12-2 up on Joe Guan Yu.

And you might say, well, you know, Joe isn't the greatest competition when it comes to qualifying. But if you were to look at 2022, Joe out-qualified him nine times. 2023, it was seven times. Again, we're on two at the moment. It's probably not going to be more than about four, I would guess. Six if he has a great turnaround.

Yeah, he has to essentially go 50-50 with Bottas for the rest of this year to get to seven. I think he has upped his game versus his teammate and I know it doesn't sound like much but he has made Q2 six times out of 14 so far this year which I think is a fairly solid effort particularly of late he's had a few 12th 13th place births on the grid which I think is pretty good going

for how slow that car is so I am also going to give respect to Botteys Harry someone from you I'm going for Charles Leclair which he's trying to bless him in he free him free that man but it seems it sounds i guess not basically like a odd one to go for because our expectation for charlerclair are pretty high because he's god leclair um but the fact that he's only 20 points off lando norris in what we think at the moment is the fastest car is actually outrageous that shouldn't be possible because the Ferrari was only good once and it was around monaco

and obviously lecler won that but the rest of the time australia maybe aside it's actually been red tractor and he's just been dragging it around and picking up points everywhere. Apart from when Ferrari put him onto the wrong tyres, that was a good time for him. If he hadn't had those couple of races, he could be like level with Norris. He's actually mad. Yeah, I know. Up until was it the Canadian Grand Prix, I think he was like top five in every single race to that point.

It was an unbelievable consistency. It's carried on afterwards as well. So, yeah, Leclair is my pick because as you said, Ben, he really is trying. He's giving it his best. And I don't think he deserves, sorry, I don't think the car deserves to be in, you know, P3 in the championship and that close to P2, quite frankly.

So he's my first pick. Question for you. Obviously, we're only 14 out of 24 races into the season. Is this shaping up to be, and it sounds weird to say, is it shaping up to be LeClau's best season ever? I mean, if it carries on that consistently, then yes, but that's also mad.

Yeah. I was mulling it over because I think, I do think his 2020 season was very impressive because that car was even worse than the one he's got now. And I would argue 2019 was maybe his most impressive season in that going up against Vettel, who was very much the number one driver there. That was incredibly impressive in his first year.

But in terms of like out and out, how good has he been? It's got to be up there, right? I think so. Because I don't think you can point to much. he's done wrong. Ferrari have done a couple of things wrong, but actually Charlotte Clare himself. We pointed to some mistakes he's made in the past 23,

2022, especially. There's a lot in 22, right? Like, a lot of it was on him. But like in 2023, where he was really trying to drag that car to places didn't want to go and he'd end up crashing, whereas this year...

Miami qualifying, that sort of thing. Miami qualifying. As a Baku as... Yeah, Baku as well, maybe in qualifying. Whereas this year, he's he's ironed that that album just gone for the consistent approach and it's paying off so yeah

Sherlock Claire before we move on to the next driver Sam just any thoughts on whether this is actually the Claire's shaping up to be at least his best season ever I think it's on route to be again not because of outright point scores not because of outright results gained but I do think that he is driving on

we compliment Lewis Hamilton for this factor a lot throughout his period when he was winning world titles that if he wasn't winning the race he was always second, second, second, second. And I think this is what LeClero is doing. He's forever putting the car. It feels like one place higher than the car ever should be.

Now, that might not be podiums. That might, you know, Smar, for example, right, he was fourth. He got lucky, it elevated him to a podium. The car should get him being forth in the first place. There were at least three cars behind him that should have beating him. And he held them off brilliantly.

He is demonstrating a real maturity in his driving, a real consistency, as you've both already mentioned. And it is starting to be rewarded in the points, Talley. You're seeing crashes between the likes of Norris, for Stappen, failure to capitalize with the drivers that are around him. I'm saying he's only coming into fruition. His teammate Science can't get the best of the car.

He's the guy that is always there. I think it's very, very impressive. If he continues his fourth and against 10 races, I think we can knock this one on the head as our top season for LeClau. I think science is evidence of how well LeCla is doing it as well, because Science is having a fine season. Like, he's doing a pretty good job. And as you kind of mentioned there,

I think Science is getting the car to where it deserves to be. Leclair on occasions is just one or two positions ahead of that, which it probably doesn't deserve to be there. So, yeah, I think Lecler is a very good shout. A second driver from you, Sam. My second driver is someone I've technically really mentioned, jokingly, but I've gone with Oscar Pastery. I do think as much as we are seeing, almost expected brilliant work from him, I do think

he's gone above and beyond at this point. The start of the season as well, I think, some angst that even further. The first four or five races were very shaky. falling off the track, making mistakes on his own, even up to the likes of Austria, where qualifying was starting to get a little bit delicate. He wasn't capitalising. And we said, you know, if he didn't bottle qualifying in Austria,

he probably would have gone to win there, would be the crash that goes on between Norris and Gestappen. We saw multiple times where his own mistakes cost him. And then, yet we look at the last seven or eight Grand Prix now, and he's not only outscoring his teammate, he's one of the top scorer for the entire grid so far. And I think getting that wing, yes, okay, there was a bit of a kerfuffle with what was going on with the team.

He's earned it. And I just think he's been so brilliantly at the top of the game, the top of the grid. It's not just like he's better than Norris at the moment. I think he's very much at the pointy end of grid performances over the last eight or nine races. I always knew he was going to be very, very good. But for me, this is exceeding very, very good now.

This is into a, he's having a top season. He's a competitor. And if McClaron keep driving the way they're going for the second half of the season, is he a title contender? And I didn't think I'd be asking about Oscar Piastri. If you said to me at the start of the season, at the summer break, do you think Piastri could be a title contender based on both car and his ability. I thought probably not ready, probably not

there yet, but he is exceeding that for me. Given when he came out of his junior career and he did the very rare feat of winning F3 and F2 at the first opportunity back to back years, I think coming out of those junior formerly seasons, we had an opinion that he's probably a future world champion. And you say that maybe he can get into that mix this year. But we know that even if he doesn't, he's still, he's in year two. It's still very much he's in development. Has your opinion changed at all? Do you still see him as a future world champion? Future, yeah. I think, again, my surprise here is that I genuinely believe he is a current contender to be a current world champion. When I say future, I mean, two or three years time, maybe when the regulation is changing 26 or when McLaren get together with 27, you know, he might have a good shot if the car's all right.

But the fact that within 10 races time, I think there's a really good chance that he could be fighting for the world. World Championship at the end of this season. That is what surprised me. That's what's really blown me away with Piastri. I did not think we'd be having this conversation at this point so early in his career. Second driver from you, Harry, that has exceeded expectations. Copy and paste. Oscar Piastri.

I, yeah, he did have a shaky starts of the year, but I think it was a shaky start by what has become Oscar Piastri standards, because I don't think it was truly terrible. and again we say this every time but he is in year two of his F1 career and he's 18 months old he's a newborn he's that young he's in nursery

it's and you know you've got to be fortunate enough to have the car to allow you to get the good results and he has this year in a way that sometimes other rookie driver or new drivers don't but you also have to liver on that and you know hungry was a prime example of that so um yeah exceeding expectations because i i knew he was going to be good i just didn't really think he was going to be this good

this quickly like he's he's prove it and we commented a lot on you know the back end of his races in terms of how he's looking after the tides and stuff i think norris is probably still quicker but he's he's he's learning so quickly like it's rapid how quickly he's learning how to iron those things out that that's a little bit well i've always i've always been Norris, I'd be a tiny bit worried about how well Piastri's coming along already as a driver because there aren't many chinks in his armour. There weren't many to begin with. So once he irons them all out, then he's going to be a force to be reckoned with.

So, yeah, Piastri's been very impressive this year so far. And Norris should be worried because Piastri's doing this. He doesn't have any ribs. He's got a fracture, isn't he? No ribs. Love it. It's like summer break, ribs are happy. I'm like, good for you, mate.

Rescue ribs. It's the most Piahtri way of just announcing it as well. I've broken my rib cage. Yeah. I don't disagree. I think Pastery has done a better job than I thought he was going to do so far this year. I have gone for someone else as my second driver, though. And I've gone for George Russell because I think, you know, he came into Mercedes in 2022.

And he, I think he exceeded everyone's expectations, apart from me, because I picked him in teammate wars that year. if you don't remember. That was a good moment for me. That's when my life peaked. Anyway, less about me. George Russell, yeah, he had a great 2022. He beat Lewis Hamilton quite convincingly.

He won by 35 points that year. He took a race win. Hamilton didn't. He took a couple of polls that year. Hamilton didn't. And then, of course, 2023 was, I think, something of a reality check for George Russell

in that Lewis Hamilton was far better. He moved away from, I'm just going to experiment with my setup every single weekend to try and see if that does something. And Hamilton won quite convincingly. George Russell didn't have a, he didn't have a second place all season, let alone a first place. And he only beat Lewis Hamilton seven times in races last year.

Well, at the summer break this year, he's already beaten that. He's beaten Lewis Hamilton eight times in races so far this year. So it's an eight six record. And I know people will say, well, Lewis Hamilton is 34 points ahead. I don't care. Russell's been better for my opinion. I think Russell has had not by much, but I think Russell has been the better of the two Mercedes drivers to this point. He's been far better in qualifying.

And of course, Belgium and Silverstone really do alter where George Russell would be in the championship. So in the same way that Russell had a lot of the luck back in 2022. I think this year it's probably going against him in a similar fashion. But I think he's done a very good job nonetheless. I think he can look back. You remember back to like Abu Dhabi last year when he had a very good result there in a podium. and we said that needs to be the springboard for 2024. I think it has been.

Do you think that with potentially Vastappan coming or Kimi Antigli coming in, right, we don't know who it's going to be, rather rookie or world champion, do you think he's done enough to maintain that and be the team leader of the saying is going forward with Hamilton leading, leaving rather? Well, I think if Vestappan comes in, that's another matter because Vestappen is a generational talent in a way that George Russell isn't. And that's no disrespect to George Russell because you could probably count on one hand

the amount of generational talents there have been on the level of Max for Stappen. But certainly if Antonelli, who is expected to be the driver, comes in to partner George Russell. I certainly think early on, George Russell will be able to assert his authority. It's going to be tough early on,

I think for Antonelli as talented as he is. But certainly this year has, I think it's helped him more than it's hindered him. And again, I don't, At this point, I don't care that he's losing to Hamilton in the championship. Hamilton's had a very good last couple of Grand Prix. Won't deny that. And I think Hamilton's been okay.

But I do think Russell has been a little bit better than him. Right, that's enough positivity for one episode. So we're going to take a quick break. And on the other side, we're going to be detailing who we think has underachieved so far this year. Welcome back, everyone, from positive to negative. We now need to pick out two drivers who have not exceeded expectations. In fact, they've fallen short. of our expectations so far this year.

And I'm going to pick Harry as the person who will get all the hate so he can go first. I mean, surely this person is on all of our list, but Sergio Perez. How can you say that? I can't believe you put that name in my mouth. Oh, Harry really hates Perth. I would never have said that. Hang on a second. I think that's a line, a genius line, an underrated genius line.

I can't believe you put that name in my mouth. Move on swiftly. I can't believe you've done this. I won't ever say such a name. Yeah, so Sam now has to say that name because I've put that name in his mouth. Anyway, Sergio Perez, if you're the second Red Bull driver

given the position of Red Bull with over the past couple of years, where you sit at the championship with the amount of crashes and poor races you've had, the expectation of that second driver, i.e. Sergio Perez, they're not being met. they're nowhere near being met

it's I don't want to it's an obvious one to go for so I'm not going to go on a Sergio Perez dig here but you know he's clearly not meeting expectations by any shape or form and as we've already commented I'm shocked shocked the rebel have kept him for the rest of the year given what they are the year have history

of doing so yeah Sergio Perez I know it's an easy cheap shot if you two don't go for him now I swear to God, but anyway, Sergio Perez is my first pick. Full disclosure, I don't have him on my two. And the only reason is I knew you or both of you would. And I just wanted some variety in this topic. So I don't disagree with Perez as a shout there.

But that's the reason I don't have him on my list. But also, I like Sergio Perez and Harry really hates him. Famously. Shut up. I think it will take a lot. of it will take a lot after the summer break to convince people that it was the right decision to give him like such a long-term contract extension. But Harry, do you think that what does he need to do at the gates to at least prove to people that it was right to stick by him for the rest of

this season? He needs to pick up the form he had at the start of the year. I appreciate the Red Ball's not in the same position it was performance-wise, but he was in terms of closer to Max Vostapp and I think he was closer somewhat at the start of the year. than he has been. And when that drop-off started to happen, I think we, ourselves commented that it was, if the others catch up,

it's going to be a problem for them because that gap to Vastappen was too much. When it was the Red Bull running away out in front, it didn't make a difference because they could afford for him to be that far back. So he needs to be,

he just needs to be getting closer to Vastapen. I'm not saying he needs to be, even on the podium, podiums regularly, I think, because even Vastappen is sometimes struggling to get on the podium. He's Max Vastappen. So I think just that gap performance-wise to Vestappen needs to come down.

That's what Perez needs to do. Yes, I think there were some races where he was definitely closer. There were also some races where I think if they happened now, it certainly wouldn't be the same result just based on how some of those other cars have caught up. So the one that immediately springs to mind is China where Perez finished third in that Grand Prix, but he was miles behind Vastappen that weekend. If that happens again now, I'm pretty sure it's eighth at best, but just based on how McLaren, Mercedes and Ferrari to an extent, have caught up.

Was Sergio Perez on your list, some? No. Wow. Harry, how could you say that? He can't be on my list when my expectations are on the floor. So there you go. I don't think he's going to recover from that. No, I think he's down.

hang out for the count. Well, give us another name then. I, you know, the lean green toasting machine gets another shout out here because I've gone for Joe Guangyu. And you might be thinking we all thought it's pretty mediocre anyway. And I'd still think he's pretty mediocre. But his form has been on a downward trajectory since he debuted in this sport. And I think this season is a whole new low.

The amount of times that we as a team in our power rankings, as our reviews, have commented, where was Joe? What was wrong with Joe's car? Why is Joe 18 seconds behind absolutely everyone else? And that has become a running theme. It's a real, it's not just he's behind Bottas, multiple times. He has been the back of the grid

and 15 seconds off the pace of everyone else. We've got drivers like Logan Sargut driving around him. We all know isn't really fit for purpose when it comes to Formula One, right? There are cars that are struggling, not as much as that salver, but Bottas is regularly beating drivers racing, race out.

Joe isn't boss, but Joe shouldn't be this bad. And it's got to that point where I think that seat's still open, but time is up for Joe Guan Yu. And I don't really, unless he's bringing a massive, massive sponsorship money that will help development, I don't see why he is really entitled to a Formula One seat anymore. He's really let himself down, I think, this season. And I've been quite surprised at just how far off the pace he's been.

It feels like to me that, obviously, Sergeant and Joe, I think, a 20th and 19th in terms of the current drivers. The issue is, I think the gap between 19th and whoever 18th is, it's quite large. I just think those two stand out quite a lot. There are other drivers that I don't necessarily, I wouldn't mind if they moved on from F1. I don't think there'd be massive misses to the sport, but they can, you know, they can,

they can hang. But these two, it's quite distant, at least in my view. So I agree with highlighting Joe as, as well. one of the two drivers. My first one I'm going to pick out is the Hass of Kevin Magnuson. I think he started the year okay. And there were various reasons as to why he started the year okay. So for example, Saudi Arabia, he didn't necessarily have a great individual performance,

but he certainly helped his team get a point or two points, whatever it was on that day. I think first, yeah, three or four races, he was okay. The problem is since then, there's not been much there. And he is, look, he was worse than Holkenberg last year, definitely, but not by this much. Like, the gap has increased, in my opinion, between Holkenberg and Magnuson. So if you think last year, Holkenberg had nine points, Magnuson had three. Holkenberg has gone on to 22 this year so far. Magnuson has up his by a grand total of two points to five. Like, it's, he hasn't increased his

points tally in the same way that Holcomberg has. Qualifying, he outqualified. He outqualified, Holkenberg eight times last year. It's only three so far this year. But in races might be the worst thing because they're head to head last year, 39 to Holklenberg. So whilst Holkneberg won, not that far different, this year so far, it's 12.2. He's only beaten Holkenberg twice in Grand Prix this year. So even though my expectation of to Magnuson were not sky high going into this year, and I felt like a gap, a similar gap to what happened to Holkenberg last year was probable.

I didn't think he'd fall back and I think he has. Harry, a second name for you. It's a copy and paste again. Kevin Maglinson. Like I said, my expectations were like extremely high but versus what he should be able to do against Holkenberg.

And last year was a, you know, was the house couldn't do any races. so it didn't matter that Holkenberg was qualifying so well because he'd end up with Magnetton anyway in the end they'd have the same race. That was the running joke, wasn't it? Yeah, whereas now Holcomburg can stay where he's qualifying so well and KMAG is still continuing to qualify worse than him

and then staying in that position for most of the time. So you'd expect those two are very solid, you know, solid drivers. You'd expect them to be there about most of the time where and they're not, you know, Holcombberg's well ahead. So KMAG's been a disappointment. I think most of it is he's been checked out. I don't think he wants to be here. Obviously, he's not going to be next year.

But, you know, I think that's a contribution. But still, he's not, he's not met what we expect of KMA, I don't think. Who was the second name on your list, Sam? Now, I need us all to remember that the phrase that we're discussing is not exceeding expectations

or falling below expectations. It doesn't mean they're terrible. It doesn't mean that the world's going to end. Pick forks away. Landon Norris is my second pick. Mr. Give it all the biggin. If I had Lewis Hamilton's car, I'd be a multiple time world champion, slagging him off, chatting about how if he could go up against Max,

he'd beat him. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. You know, the guy talks a big talk. And I chose, I thought, all right, I'm going to cash in, Lando. You've got me. I'm here. You get the best car. And what are you doing with it?

Deciding not to go forward at the start of races. Putting the car in the wrong place. Not winning multiple times when you definitely have the chance to do so. Having as many wins as your team, mate, less than Lewis Hamilton, doesn't sit right with me. I really think that there's a lot more land than Norris could have been doing multiple times throughout this season that means that maybe he won't be leading this championship because that Red Bull was mighty the first four Grand Prix.

But for example, I think the McLaren was on par with Ferrari when we were in Australia. Couldn't take that win off science. Same in Imola. I think he probably got closer to Verstappen. I think the win was on the cards there in Austria. He should have got it down a lot more ruthlessly. The move should have been made. Spa can't get past Max Verstappen to make the move change.

He extends his championship lead and many other occasions where, you know, Hungary. The wing should have been his. But because he pratted about at the start again and mucked it up, If you actually got the jump, the team mucked it up, and whilst he respected team orders, eventually, it means he doesn't get the win. But it should have been his in the first place. I just think that I have incredibly high expectations for Landon Norris.

He's still second in the world championship. He's still fighting for the title. He might get it. But I think he should be a hell of a lot closer. And I think he's probably letting himself down his own very high expectations. He talks a big talk, but I don't think he's walking the big walk. There's your title, Kirstie. Landon Norris, walking the big walk.

What do you think about that, Harry? Gosh, I don't want to be slated as well. Thanks, mate. You can't have, make me do Sojay Peres and Landin Ois. I think, I think sometimes Lando can say less, but... Stop talking. Say less, my guy. but yeah it's

I often think with Lando that sometimes the things he says he doesn't even mean how they come out like he says them and you go oh that sounds like kind of annoying and a bit bratty don't say that my yeah that's

don't say that but yeah I think it's unfortunate that he you know the on track I mean there's on track performances for what he should be doing I guess don't back up necessarily what he has said I think there are opportunities that he's missed out on for sure.

That's the enemy trying to be as diplomatic as possible. You really, thanks that for that one. Well done. In terms of like the off-track comments, I agree. I understand why they would rub people the wrong way. Certainly, I think some of those, some of the things he says off-track don't come across all that well. I think on track, I think he's probably been the second best driver,

far this year. And I didn't think it'd be the first best driver, which is why I think he's matched expectations. I don't think he's necessarily exceeded them. I don't think you're wrong about any of the near misses he's had and the opportunities he's given himself. What I would counter that with is I think he's done a good job to get himself into those opportunities to mess them up. Of course, that's the next step, Lando Norris. But I think overall, whilst he has been, I would say, comfortably off of Vastappen. I think with the exception of maybe Charles Leclerc,

I think he's had everyone else covered so far this year, so I would probably go, I'd probably go matched. I see, I'm fighting this fight on my own. Yes, yes, you are. Because I've got a different fight. Here we go, who's to go for? Hello, haters. It's me.

Going with Daniel Ricardo, aren't I? Come on! Three different walls for the LB boys. He has. He hasn't met expectations. And that's a compliment because my expectations were higher than what he's been able to deliver. I still think he can give us something in F1. But it hasn't been up to what I thought the standard would be.

Now, there were a couple of performances at the end of last season, when you have to remember, he didn't do most of last season. He gets into a car, gets injured, gets back into a car. But he does a couple of all right performances. And I thought that might be the springboard to beat Yuki Sonoda. and he might still do, but at this point, obviously, he's not. And the start of the year was rough. Like, it wasn't a good start to the year.

He, if you think, like, I know Miami, he actually had a very good sprint race, but the actual race itself wasn't very good. He had that first lap crash in Japan as well. And, you know, if you look at everything in total, like he's got fewer points than Yuki Sonoda. He's only made Q3 three times so far this year. Sonoda, eight times. Like, it's not very close.

I just think it has been better of late, so I'll end it on a positive. It has been better of late. I think Belgium was good. I think Austria was very good. And actually, even though he didn't score any points at this race, because they messed up their upgrades, Spain was very good as well. So he has had three pretty good performances more recently in the season. But that first part of the season for me just, I think Ricardo could have been in the

Red Bull now if he had met the expectations. I had for him to start this year. The floor though, right, mate. Just got to change the floor. Yeah, sure. Crack chassis. I think we are, we are idiots because as three ex-history students,

we learn a lot about not fighting wars on multiple fronts, and that's exactly what we've done. Let me tell you what I probably did in this scenario. No, we just deployed our three great generals to fight off in different directions. Right. Sure.

First, he's like the commander back at home base, and then we're just like fighting. I think Cursky's fled to the rival side immediately, actually. I understand. Cursed is Italy. Which rival side? There's three of them. Whatever one is closest.

You're pick. Okay, good. We've started some wars then. I suppose we better plan some strategy during this break. And then on the other side, we'll discuss Stefano Domenicali. Oh, it's a natural progression. Yeah, it really is, isn't it? Stefano Domenicali has been hinting at some longer time between regulation changes.

We obviously know that the next set of regulation changes, the next big set of regulation changes is set to come in in 2006, with the power units obviously changing the most that it has since 2014. We've seen, Harry, that sometimes at the end of regulation cycles, that it can get much more competitive between the teams leads to some interesting season, some interesting Grand Prix. And then sometimes teams really figure out the regulations better than everyone else. and we get maybe a more dominant season to kick off new regs. Do you think it's a good idea to extend regulations where it can be done? If you'd ask me this question a year ago, I'd have said, yes, let's please extend regulations. Now I'm less sure because it's actually only taken,

I mean, the first year of these current regs were still, and a Red Bull walked away with it towards the end, but they were competitive at the start. For I were in that championship fight. But 2023 was a Red Bull year, no doubt about it. And the start of this year was Red Bull, but it's very quickly converged. Now we go into each race weekend with, well, I don't know who's going to be quicker. So there's no real could it be Red Bull, could it be Ferrari, could it be Mercedes, could it be McLaren.

There are four different teams currently that could go into a race weekend and win it, which is an excellent place to be. And not some of what was the last time we had four? The last time we had three was moved like 2018, 2019, potentially, four different teams. you have to go back to the early teams like 2012 I guess but so I feel like we don't necessarily need to extend

because teams can catch up I feel like the anomaly in this example is what we had from the start of the hybrid era it just took so long for everyone to catch Mercedes in that hybrid era that the only championship fight we got was the last year of it like that's how long it took I mean we had

2017 2018 with Ferrari but again, they never lasted the entirety of a season. Whereas now I feel like, yeah, he's only taken a couple of years and we've got a championship fight. So I'm not necessarily against another change in the near future with 2026, but also if it does allow for close to challenging fights, then I'm happy for rules to carry on.

And to be honest, this is actually quite a short period for this rule set, given it only came in in 2022 and by 206. are going to be different again. That's not a very long period for this generation of cars to exist. So maybe they will. But often, raw changes do bring a shakeup in form. And that's sometimes needed.

So I mean, classic, I don't particularly know where I stand. I think, as I said a year ago, if you'd ask me, I'd have said, let's definitely change these or keep these rulesets for longer to allow time to catch up. But given how quickly cars teams have caught up

to Red Bull in this era, then I don't know, to be honest. What do you think, Sam? I hear everything you are saying, Harry, and I completely disagree with you. I mean, fair enough. Yeah. That's really interesting, given he's on the fence.

I know. I'm also on the non-warial effects. I'm just on a different fence. I'm under the fence. I am the fence. Get off me. No, I just think that this current rule change and the way that the grid has equalized so quickly,

I think he's very much the anomaly in overall regulation change and form book, as we've seen it throughout history. And we all know on this podcast, new or old, I am not historically the guy that comes with the facts and the figures. And I've got all the teams and the names up here in this brain. It's a very small brain. It's just full of really bad jokes. But it does feel like there's a form swing that historically, a longer teams take over for at least two or three seasons. And actually, Red Bull's dominant year last year was very much an exception. You know, Mercedes, Red Bull has still been the dominant team.

Okay, it was a bit closer, but they've still been the dominant team. Mercedes were the dominant team before that. And then you've had periods where when formulas, when regulations have changed, a team gets at least three or four years. Remember Williams, of course, with the hydraulic suspension change, where that was a movable car part. They were obviously very strong there, had to be taking away.

Historically, you do get these runs for teams where they get a real grip on it. And I like the idea of keeping the regulation change is quite simple, allowing teams to understand fully and then lengthening how long they're around for. So even the teams with less spend can eventually catch up a bit and they might have a chance

at some driver making the difference, so to speak. What I don't love about it, it sounds really stupid, is if I don't like the regulation, I don't want the regulation to stay for a long time. For example, I'm a bit done with DRS. I would like a system where DRS is no longer the governing factor for overtakes.

So I don't want the regulation of DRS to be around for 10 years if it means close racing because I think the close racing we have with DRS is not enjoyable. So it's very hard to say, yeah, extend regulation changes. You know, only one per decade, for example, because if I hate them, then I want it to change the next season. So you can see my predicament. But I think for the form book, longer gaps between regulation changes is probably more beneficial to entire calendar length fighting between teams up and down the grid.

rather than swapping and changing every two or three years where money and development knowledge is far more impactful, I think. Yeah, I certainly agree with the point that we have seen it plenty of times in F1 history where a team just simply will understand the regulations far quicker and better than other teams. If you look at, yeah, certainly the beginning of the hybrid era when Mercedes 2014 to 2016, there was no chance for any other team. We recently did a historic race review of the 2014 Bahrain Grand Prix very early in the regulations. The advantage Mercedes has in that race is phenomenal.

And 20s, you know, it really took four years, 2017 and 2018. And I know Ferrari didn't sustain the challenge throughout the full course of that year. I do maintain that's more on Ferrari and Sebastian Vettel than it is on the regulations. I think Mercedes were more vulnerable in those years than maybe the final standings looked. But that's not the only example. We've had 2009 with the double diffuser for Braun. Obviously, they nail the regulation straight away.

But by the end of that season, Red Bull were probably the fastest team, right? And really, Braun were hanging on by the end of that year. And obviously now we go into the current regulations where we are seeing something similar again, where it's taking, I appreciate Ferrari weren't too bad out the blocks in 2022, but for nearly everyone else it's taken halfway through the third season of these regs. I'm generally more in favour of leaving regulations for longer. I do think one thing that's maybe slightly overplayed, I appreciate it.

There is relevancy in this, but how relevant the cars are to on road. I know it's something that does need to be facted in. sometimes it's a bit overplayed though. I don't think people look at F1 and go, wow, that's my car. Two years time, right? Yeah, I think it is relevant, but it's not the be all and end all. So I'm up for extending regulations where it makes sense. Do you think, Harry, more could or should be done to avoid, again, going back to like dominant teams coming fresh out of a new era in F1. Can anything be done there? I mean, firstly, I don't think anything

really, unless you want to really control the formula, but then you become you become IndyCar, which I'm not saying that's a bad thing, because love IndyCar, but it's not, I don't think that's what the DNA Formula One is. It's not a Formula One, right? Yeah. So I don't think, I don't think you can control it. You could only could control it if you did that sort of one make, or more towards a one make formula. And that's not one. I just think it's the

nature of F1 that sometimes out of the out of the blocks um one team gets it right and the others are left catching up and that's just that's just the way it is sometimes I think there are other things that can be done within the way that F1 operates in terms of resource and we've had we have the budget cap now but there's more that can be definitely done in terms of that to bring all the teams closer together in terms of what they're able to do um so yeah I think trying to limit teams from, you know, innovating and inventing new ways to make the rule changes suit their car better. I don't want them to stop that because that's a part of Formula One. Yeah, I agree with the point on the budget cap because the whole point in a budget cap is that

dominance isn't impossible, but it should be very tricky to achieve. No disrespect to teams before the budget cap, but certainly when you look back, again, I'll use Mercedes at the beginning of the hybrid era as an example. What they did was phenomenal, but they didn't really beat 10 teams on the grid. They beat two, because no one else outside of probably Ferrari and maybe Red Bull,

no one was going to spend the amount of money that Mercedes did at that point in time to get the results. So in theory, I'm not saying the others are a non-factor, but they kind of are in the championship. Whereas now everyone is, and I know it's not personal, Like if the budget cap is working as it should do, as a perfect system, it should be 10 teams,

it should be 11 teams, on a level playing field who then, you know, that's when these, you know, upgrades and making sure they work straight away. Driver performance, that's when these other factors become incredibly important. So I've got no problem with a team dominating a set of regulations at the beginning of that time period. If they've worked it out and other teams haven't, fair play to them. I'm absolutely okay with that. It should just be the budget cap operating in a way where it makes it very, very difficult. And that just makes the achievement even greater.

What do you think, Sam? Yeah, you've already mentioned it as the first key point. Budget cap is really, really important. I think for these next set of regulations, we might actually see that coming to full fruition. Of course, there was still, it's only really coming into play not too long before the regulations were changing, right? So we didn't have a budget cap like 10 years before the 2022 regulations came in. for a couple of years

but now it's going to be fully in place. What I think is more important alongside the budget cap is one, Harry, I think you allude to this, is parity of resources and equipment. So we've regularly heard Williams talk about the fact their wind tunnel is severely outdated

and lacks a lot of the technology that someone like Red Bull and now Aston Martin might have who have a brand new one. And McLaren have just got a brand new one. So they're going to struggle further there. The other thing I think is really important is the timeline

that the teams are given the finalised and full set of regulations that they have to comply to. And I think that should be drastically shortened. I think realistically, at most, you should get nine to 12 months maximum of legal, active research, experimentation, and testing for a new regulation set.

I think that way, if you really crack it in nine months, fair play, well done you, you've really nailed it. If you crack it in four years, right, then you like a lot of time to working out. And realistically, yes, you've still stood out in the crowd, but you've had a lot of time, a lot of resource, a lot of money. I do think if you shorten it, it allows those even with a lower budget to be a little bit more of it, to excel. They haven't got to make thousands and thousands of mistakes to go

this to cost us like money. We can't afford to do this. It allows it to be very snappy and different. So I think longer times between these regulations, but a lot less time to research the new regulations could pose quite an interesting challenge. Okay, let's move on to the United States Department of Justice, because it is notified Sure. I love it. Sure, why not? The DOJ, let's bring them into it. They have notified F1 owner's Liberty Media that it has begun an antitrust investigation following its decision not to approve Andretti's prospective entry into F1. Greg Maffay, who is the Liberty Media CEO, confirmed that this was the case, and he had the following to say.

Our determination, F1's determination, was in compliance with all applicable U.S. antitrust laws and we've detailed the rationale for our decision regarding Andretti in prior statements. We are certainly not against the idea that any expansion is wrong. There is a methodology for expansion that requires approval of the FIA and F1. We're certainly open to new entrants making applications and potentially being approved if those requirements are met. It's a lot of banter, isn't it, Sam? What reasoning did they give? Actual sound, concrete reasoning, with facts and figures behind it that you can understand and analyse.

There was a strong and concise methodology behind it. Of course, course. And if you say that, it makes it true. Yeah, the government will go, oh yeah, sure. Yeah, yeah, sure. Okay, far enough. Trust is back in play. No antitrust here.

They just said no to every criteria, right? They're like, could you be competitive? No. So you bring value to F1? No. Like, what do you mean? What do you mean? No, what are you basing it on?

You know, can they eat more Freddos than Mercedes? Don't know. We don't have the test. So, don't know, right? Can they win races? Who knows? They got in Formula One yet? Have they one elsewhere?

Yes. Can they bring money in? Oh, I don't know. I've got in Formula One yet, but they have done elsewhere. I don't understand the logical but reasoning behind how F1 are regretting. I've said it so many times. I've said it so many times as a very matter-of-fact person who works a lot, in black and white, when something is good and something is bad, I do understand this weird

grey space that they're working with where they've laid out rules, the rules have all been abided by and met, criteria is fully met, and at the end of the process, they've gone, no, I just don't get it. I don't get, it's like your parent when you prove them wrong at every step and you go, well, why can't I stay up past nine o'clock thing? And they go, because I said so. I'm like, oh, that's not, that's not reason, is it? That's just cute.

Papa Sage has got you there. That is absolutely happy. Sent me for a bag, sent me back to bed with a bag of chips at half of state. Still daylight outside. Honestly. Munching on your chips in bed at half a stay.

Oh, it's on 8 o'clock to watch stock here. It's on 8 o'clock to that point doesn't work. You missed half of it. Miss half of it. You missed half of it. Dave plus one. Thank God for days.

My point here is the DO Jake and I rip him a new one. Because there's no sound logic behind the it is and they've got released it to the public. So if they're weirdly hiding it, if it's that sound, you've released it. You're told everyone because if you want to expand, you let everyone know what the

criteria is they need to meet and why someone hasn't met it. But you didn't, because they haven't, because they should have. You're wrong. Wow. I don't know how you follow that, Harry, but give it a go. I, when the the Andretti News first, first bro,

I believe there's a real on our Instagram travel, go follow us. It's either me or Sam, someone's saying it, but basically the point was F1, you don't look good now. I stand, but I reiterate that point, you really

don't look good now. The United States Defense, the Department of Justice is investigating you. That's terrible. Bad, bad. That's not a good look at all. So, as to

whether it changes anything, again, this gets into legal terms, so I don't know what if say... Disclam, we are not lawyers. None of us are lawyers, okay? Very much not lawyers. The least needed disclaimer of all time. No legal advice here. But if the DAJ say it was unlawful or I don't know, I don't know, but I guess they may have to change something.

But it just from a reputation point of view, a PR point of view, this is a bad look for F1 because I can't imagine I know they just said no to everything and it's money's the main issue here for why they didn't let Andrewetti in but there are clever people who work out of who must have done a game plan for how this might play out when they do say no

I'm not sure the DOJ investigating them would have been on their game plan I don't think this was part of the plan so you know that when they did it they did it just before before or after the Hamilton used. It got buried in the Lewis Hamilton to Ferrari used, didn't it? literally about a week before and Hamilton came out. Which I think was very much part of their plan

to get it just swept under the rug but this is not being swept under the rug and Andretti continuing to do some absolute poo-housery by just continuing as if they are an actual team employing people that's not helping their case either. So yeah the pressure on F1 to reverse the decision just continues to grow

I don't think this is this immediately is going to change anything but it's going to it's going to I don't see this ending that well for them. Yeah, now I've just got an image of actually Andretti being swept under a rug and the Department of Justice is just there waiting for them. You're right, it's probably not part of their plan to be investigated by the Department of Justice. That's my, like, again, you have to say it out loud because it sounds so crazy.

I have no idea whether this will change anything because, as Sam very rightly said, we are not and it's a good thing lawyers. I got a U in A-level law. I didn't even do law, so there you go. I dropped out immediately and did another year at college for that reason. And that's why this podcast exists. And that's why we met.

And that is actually true. The problem is, I know Greg here, Big Greg, has turned around and said, we've got this methodology. The problem is they don't. Like they they strictly don't have a methodology. Or if they do have a methodology, it is so like loose and just like there's nothing quantitative behind it at all because we all remember when Andretti were rejected.

There was nothing in there that was specific. There was nothing in there to say like you needed to be this and you are this. It was all based on we think that the brand isn't going to be enough for F1 and we'll give you more than you'll give us and oh the reputational damage of being a customer like there was nothing concrete that you could point to and that's why i think f1 has a chance of getting away with this is that they left their reasoning so loose that you might actually find it difficult to poke holes in it because a lot of it is so opinion based and we've all got the same opinion that is it's ridiculous and they should have been allowed in f1 can though based on their own methodology

turn around and say, yeah, but based on what we've got, we think it was a reasonable plan to say no to them. The irony, of course, and you're right, Harry, but F1 does not look good from this, is that they spent so much time in that statement focusing on the fact that a customer team would be bad for the brand. It would be bad for our look. The irony, of course, now is that one of their non-customer teams wants to be a customer team voluntarily. Alpine. And secondly, there is a very realistic chance that the Constructors Championship this year will be won by a customer. And I don't think anyone's going to turn around at the end of this year and go, damn, McLaren have won. Bad look for F1. Yeah,

I'm sure that it'll be a really bad look when all viewing figures are up because F1's more competitive and a customer. Who cares that a customer team has won? Like, it's just ridiculous. What's also ridiculous is it would only have been a temporary measure anyway. Cadillac will be there two years time. I don't know whether it will change anything, but it's not a good look for F1. I think if I had to predict how it might go from here, I think they will actually be eventually let in, but I think F1 will have to, F1 will be keen to save face before that happens. So it could be something like they enter F1 at the same time that Cadillac are ready, in which case F1 can turn around and say, well, yeah, we rejected it in the first place because they didn't have that.

But now they do, so it's fine. Like they can appear to be reasonable, even though they're not. I think it will take something like that, maybe. I think the other issue that whatever is name is Greg McMuffing has is that he is going to be pinkson and even by the DOJ and by their supposedly brother-in-arms, the FIA, who are very much championing wanting Andretti to come on in. And it's like a sibling rivalry, right? like you've got your brother over there who's, oh, we have rows, but we're family.

I think brother is going to turn to mum and dad and go, I said they should come in. We said they should come in. And we're going to give you whatever we need. And I think the pressure is going to be applied from both sides for Liberty Media. I think they're not very much on their own with this one. Do we think Ben Suleum has stopped laughing yet? No. No.

I think that's fair. I think he might have actually kept laughing ever since this Nooms came out. Keeps trying to say hello to Lewis Hamilton in the races. God, not last very long. Oh, no, no. A team, you're going to go, no. Anyway, as mentioned, at the beginning of this topic, this probably isn't going to be the last time we hear of this.

I'm sure we're going to have plenty more discussions on this when developments happen. We'll take our final break on this episode, but on the other side, we're playing F1, higher or lower. Welcome back, everyone. Before we get into F1, high or lower, very quick mention that our midweek episode coming up on Wednesday is going to be a special Q&A episode. So we will make sure that there's a place across social media, of course, but also

in our Discord. So if you're not in our Discord, we'll use the, we use the submissions channel, make sure you get any and all questions to us. It can be F1 related. It can be non-F1 related if you want to. Whatever you have that you really need to ask us, let us know. Audio text, Either's fine. But make sure it's either in that channel or across social media when you see it. Or you can now reply to this episode. Or that will work with questions if you're on Spotify as well. That's another new option. So it helps us massively well as well because it's interaction with the episode. And again, look out for social media posts where we will be asking for questions.

Indeed. And Harry will be on hand to answer why he hates Sergio Perez so much. That will be the only question we'll answer. Great. will be two of us on a Wednesday. Right, F1, higher or lower time. It's F1 higher, is F1 lower, is sad faster,

is Harry slower, F1 higher, F1 lower, F1. Oh, boy, that last F1 never gets told. It slaps every time, doesn't it? It really hits you. Every single time. F1, high or lower.

and Sam will take it in turns. There are six questions in front of me. All of those questions have a numeric answer. They'll take it in terms to have a guess at what that number is. If they get it right, they get two points. But if they get it wrong, there'll be one point on offer. And the other person then has to say whether it's higher or lower than the guess. If they get that right, they get a point.

But if they get it wrong, the person who guessed in the first place gets the point. So, Sam, what number would you like? Three. Oh, the early three. I've rarely seen. Damn. Okay, I want you to tell me the number of drivers

that have scored more career points than the person you hate Lando Norris. Oh. How many drivers in F1 history have scored more points than him? Well, I'm going to go at least several.

That's not quite out how this game works. Damn it. Okay. 23. It is not 23. Harry, higher or lower? Higher? It's not higher, it's lower,

which means Sam gets the point. Only 15 drivers have scored more career points than Lando Norris. Crickey, the guy is going to be one of the greatest of all time, with only one victory at this point. Stop it. Oh, my God. Right, so Sam will get the first point and it's over to Harry. Number four, please, Ben.

Number four. How many nations have won an F1 Grand Prix? 27. It is not 27. Higher or lower, Sam? Lower. Yeah, it's actually what your guess was for the last question. 23.

So 27 is not a bad guess at all, but Sam does pick up the point because 23, not as many as 27. Quick maths. Gosh. Back to you, sir. I think number five, please, Ben. Number five. Going back to the 2005 season here. Great.

What was Fernando Alonzo's margin of victory in the championship at the end of that season? Oh, have a day off. I'm going to go, oh, was it? 12 points. Not 12. Harry, higher or lower? Higher.

Just flip those numbers the other way around. 21. It's 9 plus 10. You stupid. Down that. That's a mean, but no one will go. Which means Harry's back in the game at 2-1. And it's Harry's question next.

Number six. Number six. Lovely going in order. How many podiums did Lewis Hamilton have in his debut season? 10 no why did you have to pick such a middling number that's so crafty

higher or lower Sam I'm going to say lower which means we're level at two all because it is higher than 10 at 12 he was quite good wouldn't he was quite good wouldn't he

quite annoyingly good yeah it's all to play for two questions to go and it's back to Sam number two please Ben. Number two. How many consecutive races has Vestappen held the driver's championship lead for?

Okay. When did he take the lead of the championship? Good Lord. I feel like I could work this one out. I also, for the record, I think this is actually the record as well of everyone. Right. Okay. I'm going to say 47 races.

Not 47. Harry, higher or lower? Oh, I think that's quite a good guess. I'll go for higher. It is higher, but you're also right. It was a pretty good guess, 53. It's in the ballpark. Yeah.

Which means it's three, two, to Harry, with one question to go. And of course, that leaves you with... Number one. Yay! He's getting better of this. I didn't have any cheers on the soundboard ready to go. I should have done. Your cheers.

enough for me, Ben. That means so much to me, thanks. Good. How many races have McLaren done in F1? Several. Lower. They have done 600. They have not done exactly 600 races.

Such a lovely round number. I wouldn't have heard about that. For the draw, Sam. or lower than 600. Not a 50-50 for the draw. Yeah. I'm going to go higher. You can take the 600, Harry,

and add another 360 onto it. It is higher 960 races for McLaren. That's quite a lot of races, that? Yeah. So we end three, all this game is pointless. Thank you for coming. We end as we start out.

Hey, don't put down the rest of the book. The whole podcast was pointless, Harry. Don't just limit it to this segment. The only bit that wasn't pointless was the guy that left us a review, Ben, that you pointed out, which is the entire first scene of the B movie. When I said that you could write anything, that is exactly what we had in mind.

Five star plus B movie. Challenge time, who could be weirder? If you could be weirder than that, I'll be impressed because... Get weird. I couldn't quite work out, like, initially what I was looking at, and then I saw Barry B. Benson. Oh, okay, that's all we got.

going for here. Final point. If you start, farts, ha! If you start, that's funny. If you manage to get a fart

into a review, that is weird. If you start writing fangfic about this podcast, you've gone too far, delete it and move on. Nothing about knitted, knitted vest in there,

please. I think that's sausage casserole and knitted vests. No, no. We give far too many innuendos for people to do that. Oh no. Great. Can't wait to read that now next week. That'll do it for this episode. Sam, if you

wouldn't mind getting us out of here, if you haven't got tickets already, make sure you get them for Austin. There you go. Patreon is available. Thank you to those who have already signed up in the last week and got themselves a ticket. We are starting to plow through them and the support is already massively appreciated. So thank you again. Join us in Discord if you'd like to get chik-chat room, you get your Q&A questions in there as well as social media, which is late breaking F on everywhere you are. This has been recorded. So watch us on YouTube. We're also going to be having a party

without you guys because I rang out of things to say. Wow. Obviously, you just make up at this point. Suck it, you guys. Yeah. I'm having fun without you. Yeah. We've got to invite everyone now.

It's really awkward. I'll make mashed potato for everyone. Anyway, thanks for listening. I don't know what that means. Don't go where this is going. End it. Yeah. Bye.

I've been the meantime. I've been Samuel Sage. I've been Ben Hocking. And I've been Harry Ead. And remember, keep breaking late. God's sake. This podcast is part of the Sports Social Podcast Network.