The Late Braking F1 Podcast - Perez wins crazy race in Bahrain! | 2020 Sakhir GP Review | Episode 93

Episode Date: December 6, 2020

Sergio Perez secured his first ever F1 win in an incident-strewn Sakhir GP - the LB trio rate the race, give their thoughts on Russell's Mercedes debut, and play Pump The Brakes.Make sure to SUBSCRIBE! 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 look out for new episodes every Thursday and Grand Prix Sundays. Hello and a very well welcome to the late breaking F1 podcast. My name's Ben Hocking. I'm not sure what we were expecting from this secure Grand Prix, but I'm not sure anyone in the world predicted that. Sergio Perez on his 190 of the first.

Race start, the race winner for the first time in his career. Esteban Ockon finishing P2, his first podium and Lance Stroll finding a way to the podium as well, a double podium for racing point, really helping out their case for P3 in the championship. No Mercedes on the podium, despite George Russell's best efforts leading for over half of the race. Sam, Harry, good evening. What was that? That was banter. I mean,

Avocados from Mexico. There you go, folks. If you want to put any money into stocks on exports this year, avocados from Mexico have just gone through the roof. They have. Well, thanks for the confirmation on that, Harry. Yeah, so understandably, we have got a lot to discuss. We're going to be discussing Russell and Bottas,

how Russell performed, narrowly missed out on pole, took the race lead, at the start and held it for the majority of the Grand Prix. We're going to be playing Pump the Break, something we introduced a few weeks back, so stick around for that one later in the podcast. But we will start with Sergio Perez. Like I said, 190th race start. He finally claims his first race win in what could be his penultimate race in Formula One,

at least for the foreseeable future, still uncertain as to whether Red Bull will opt to pick him for the second seat or not. Harry, I mean, it's been a long, long time since Perez debuted and finally he's got that elusive first win. I know. It's a crazy one and they said it in commentary. He's had so many disappointments in his career as Checo. And yeah, finally, it's so fitting. I mean, it's bittersweet because, you know, he might not have a drive come next year, although I'm sure that race may have. got the attention of Helmut Marco. I don't know. But yeah, he's deserved that race win for a long time.

You know, ever since he almost caught up and overtook Fernando Alonzo and Malaysia back in 2012, he's kind of been destined to be there. And this year he's been so solid, despite missing two races because he was positive with COVID. Yeah, just, I mean, even without the win, it was going to be an outstanding driving. him because let's not forget he was backwards on lap one and last and made a pit stop. And even, you know, I text you both in the middle of it, not in the middle of it, 10 laps in when he'd restarted and he was somehow like already in 10th place. I just don't know how he does that.

He did it in Porta Mall. He's done it again. So, yeah, even without the win, it was set to be another classic Perez race. And then Mercedes decided that they didn't want to be good for a while. and that really helped him. So, yeah, I mean, so happy for Perez, gutted for Russell, but, you know, he's got wins coming in the future anyway. So, yeah, just, there's not anyone who's not happy for Perez.

It was the same with Gazley. Drivers who have been through a lot in their career and really deserved a win. So, yeah, just happy people all round. Yeah, and, yeah, you allude to Pierre Gasley winning his first race this year and Perez doing the same. Obviously, similar emotion, but for different reasons, almost,

in that Perez has been in in Formula One for so long and finally got to the top of the mountain. Pierre Gasly went through such a torrid time at Red Bull and how he recovered. And that arc, if you like. Sam, how do you react to that win today? I mean, gentlemen, a short look into the past, Eddie Jordan, the legend of late breaking

and sporting achievement everywhere, started an iconic team. My favourite car in Formula One of all time, that yellow and black Jordan, absolutely gorgeous. And they have had moments throughout history. And now we get to 2020, where a man does not have a seat anymore.

They're about to be taken over by Ashton Martin and a billionaire, a four-time world champion who's having the worst season of his career, is stepping into his seat. And Perez doesn't get a seat. And you know what? He goes, okay, I'm going to a wing.

I'm going to wing and what a bloody wing it was Sergei Perez from last on the grid at one point he had a damaged car I remember you know he was part of that contact with Leclair Leclair drove into the side of him and the fact that Checo has taken the top spot

I've got to be honest folks I wanted this more than Russell to win at all Russell's got a great career ahead of him he will get to have another going that Mercedes at some point whether it be next week if Hamilton doesn't recover or on a couple of seasons time Russell's got wing in his future.

But Checo Perez, for all we know, and it would be a shame if it was the case, this could be his last ever Formula One Grand Prix. So I love it. It's what I wanted to see. I was so happy for him and the team. They deserve it. He's deserved it all season.

One of the drivers of the season, if not the driver of the season at the moment. I'm related. I absolutely loved it. He's been through so much. He deserves it more than anyone that I can think of. Russell, you'll get your chance. But this for me,

this was the result that. that is better than anything else. And I'm glad you brought up Malaysia, actually, in your opening salvo, Harry, because you can draw sort of comparisons with the Nico Holkenberg story almost, in that Nico Holkenberg, same year 2012, had that great opportunity to finish on the podium

and ultimately didn't do so, Brazil, that year. And there were questions over, when would that next opportunity come? And we think pretty much eight years, down the line and that next opportunity did never come for him. And whilst we're not talking about podiums here and we're talking about race wins instead, it's essentially the same situation with that Malaysia performance. He's in P2, he's closing on Alonzo. He gets a, what I think to be a foolish message over the radio to say that P2 would be really important for us in the championship, which

I know would have been the case for Salva back then, but seem to put him off his game. He makes the error and he doesn't win that race. And then the questions asked, because it was a pretty crazy start to 2012, of course, when would that next opportunity come for him? There must have been many who thought that will come up McLaren when he made the move there. It didn't. He moves on to Force India, who, you know, whilst they're competitive, have never really produced a race-winning car over the last six or seven years.

So there must have been a lot of doubters, particularly with Perez not seemingly racing next year, or at least the chance of not racing next year, When would that first win come? Would there be another opportunity after Malaysia 2012? And it's so good to see that about eight and a half years down the line, he's finally had that opportunity to go right to the top step and take a race victory. And for the team as well, this is obviously a great win for Perez himself. You could tell how emotional he was after the Grand Prix.

Someone who's usually quite rock solid when it comes to his emotions. He was really emotional at the end. But this is a team victory as well. I have to bear in mind that this is the first race victory for the team in 17 years. In Brazil 2003, Giancarlo Fizakela, the last time they took a victory, of course, in the Jordan guys at that point in time. And since that point, and you have to remember as well, they didn't exactly have the opportunity to celebrate that victory at the circuit because it was Kimi Reikinen, who was awarded the race win. And it was Fizichela who was awarded it afterwards. But, you know, 17 years in that time, the team's been sold.

It became Midland. It became a spiker. It became Force India for a long time. It's become racing point now. There are going to be people within that team who have been there throughout that entire journey. And finally, after all those years, they're able to taste victory again. So, you know, fair play to Perez. What a performance.

You know, the win itself, I don't think Perez would have been picky about. how he took a race win, but what a way to do it. As he says, such an incredible run back through the field from last place. I remember saying at the time, like, oh, Perez podium guaranteed. Clearly, I wasn't being optimistic enough and the win was on the cards. But, yeah, what a performance from Perez. Great for the team in terms of P3 and the championship as well. After such a difficult race last time out, they've come here and claimed 40 points.

So, yeah, it seems if they have a very good chance to securing P3. and the championship. Well done to them all. And I mean, looking at the rest of the podium as well, because you've got Esteban Ockon as the first time podium for him, I guess his achievement has been somewhat overshadowed by the Perez debacle, the Russell debacle as well. Sam, is this, what a moment for Esteban Ockon, and do you think this goes some way to helping his season overall versus Daniel Riccardo? It hasn't been plain sailing the entire time.

100%. We have regularly said that Ricardo is out Sean Ocon throughout the season. Ricardo's picked up two podiums, both third place is mind. And O'Con is bettered that today. Yes, it took something of a bit of a dramatic race. But that doesn't take away the position. They don't take the final result away. There doesn't stop the fact that Ricardo theoretically could have been that driver right there in second place. And he wasn't.

O'Con was a bit under the radar, I think, for a long of this Grand Prix. Hell's consistent pace, makes some good moves. did well to hold of flanks stroll in a race winning cars we've just seen and came home for second place and it was a little overshadowed. And I think actually, Ocon has slowly grown throughout the season. And I still don't think that Ongong is going to be a world champion. I still don't think that Ong is going to be one of the all-time greats. But I think this does show that Ocong is able to hold his own. It does show that Ocong is able to be a good, consistent driver for a strong team. And I think when Fernando comes back into the team next season, Ocun will have had that year back under

his belt again, will be more comfortable. I don't think it'll be as much of a walkover as maybe a few people have thought it would be. Ockon did a great job here today and should be giving all the applause it's for it because he outshone his teammate today. In what was a hectic race, a one where Daniel Ricardo regularly is the one picking up the piecing is able to cut through the field in such a race, O'Con was the man that was there. So, you know, round applause for him, deserves that second place. And I really hope he gets some credit because it was a great drive. what did you make of o'con's performance hurry yeah i mean easily his best his best race this year

um yeah has been slightly overshadowed by peres um yeah i mean his move on stroll when he came out the pits was was i think the most decisive we've seen uh honby all year on track and um i i think you know he he did benefit from the vsc call when they brought signs and Ricardo in and maybe we'll see Kaffia as well, I can't remember. But he still held on and made the strategy he was on work.

And yeah, held off as Sam said, held off stroll in a car that won the race and probably should have been in front of him anyway. So yeah, this is a much more encouraging a drive from Ocon and as a DC said when he was interviewing him afterwards,

it's a nice way to stamp his authority before a certain two times world champion rocks up in 2021. So, yeah, I'm happy for Ocon because we know he's a solid driver and he's not had a bad year. He's just, you know, Ricardo's had a better year and has certainly kind of showed O'Hon the way. So yeah, yeah, I'm pleased to see O'Conn up there. It was a good podium all round, if I were being honest, wasn't it? Yeah, I think from O'Conn's perspective, I would agree that he's had an okay year.

I don't think he's been great, but at the same time, I do sympathise with his position coming into the team against someone who's got a year experience within the team and a decades worth of experience in the sport. It wasn't easy for Ocon coming into that spot at Renault. So I don't think he's had a bad season by any stretch of the imagination. I would say I think he has benefited from the circumstances here. Ultimately, I think he has benefited from not having a good qualifying session. His rivals, Daniel Ricardo, his teammate, obviously, Carlos Sines, the two Alpha Tauri's

the likes of Landstrol, they all got through to Q3, had to start on the soft tire, and with Landstrol the exception, a lot of them came into the pits early on. Ockon was able to commit to a one-stop strategy, and I think that helped him out. So I think he's actually benefited from not putting together a great qualifying session. Having said that, he still needed to execute it, and it would have been very easy for him in his spot to feel the pressure and lose spots at the end of that Grand Prix. you know, the strategy that he was on, it could well have opened the door for Lanch Stroll

and indeed a lot of the other guys behind who were on the two-stop and on much fresher, on much fresher tires. And he didn't, he didn't wilt under the pressure. You know, he didn't keep up with Sergio Perez, but I think that was completely unrealistic to expect that to happen. And yeah, it would have been very easy for him to have been overtaken by cars behind. He didn't have the benefit of DRS, you know, from pretty much the safety car ending onwards. So, yeah, I give him full credit.

I think he's deserved a podium at some point in his F1 career, considering the pace he had at Force India back in 17 and 18. So it was coming at some point. And, yeah, I'm glad to see that he's finally got there. It's been a little bit overshadowed. But, yeah, I don't think it's his best performance of the season, quite frankly, even though he has finished on the podium. But, yeah, it does do something for when Alonzo comes into the team

that he's going to be there alongside. somebody who has been on the podium rather than someone who is still waiting for the opportunity to do so. And then just a moment for Lanchstrol as well, because this is a pretty similar Grand Prix Prix to the one in Monza where he was able to take advantage of some carnage and end up in the top three. Sam, what did you make of his performance? Of course, not the leading racing point despite finishing third.

Amazingly, if you were to say that Lankstrol was finishing in third placing a race before we kicked off, I'd have gone, Lanskstrol. Roll, congratulations. Brilliant Grand Prix from you. But the fact that his teammate was the wrong way around, has damage, was last after lap one, and was able to get all the way through the field. I know that we've had stoppages, we have restarts, but overtakes still has been made. Tire conservation still had to be done. Strategies still had to be employed. And Luxorl had such an advantage all of that, pretty much after. He went, what, 48 laps on soft tires for crying out now, which is brilliant, by the way. I still don't think that's good enough. Perez won the race. Lark Stroll has every opportunity to exactly the same thing. He even said it himself when he go out of the car. David Kortuck asked how he feels being on the podium again. And Lank said, good, not great, because I could have won this race.

And he's right. He could have won this race. I think it's great to see Larns on the podium. I think it's great that he was still able to turn out a strong result. I think it's great that they've got the redemption from last time where he was upside down and Perez, of course, his engine didn't make it to the end. They now get a double podium to put them straight back into that fight for 30. in the constructors.

But I do think that Lance himself would be expecting more for the position he was in, especially on his teammate one. And if you're looking at logically, I think we can all expect maybe a little bit more

to come from Lance when the car that he's in wings and he was in front of his teammate by at one point, about 11 to 12 places. So it was good from Strull. It was good. It's still promising for the future.

It just wasn't good enough, I don't think. I think it still shows the deficit between Perez and Strull. And I'm hoping that Strull can pull that together because now he goes up think it's Vettel. And Vettel could be on the beach and Stroll could look amazing or Vettel could turn out the performances that Perez is currently doing and again be beaten by someone else. So good from Stroll,

but he could do more. Yeah, and I can't believe this is actually the question, but Landstrol, who finished on the podium, Harry, do you think he did enough? It's bizarre, isn't it? I mean, to be honest, if he wasn't going to win, because I think we generally accept that Perez is a quicker, a more well-rounded driver than Stroll, then on the basis that Perez won the race, then Stroll should have been in second. And Ocon, you know, as we said, probably shouldn't have been in second.

He probably should have been behind the car that was faster. So, yeah, it's a weird one. And to be honest, you know, at least Stroll recognized that. He, you know, he said he thought he could have won the race. But, yeah, he probably should have been in second, which, yeah, that's a bizarre thing to say after a double podium for the team

that's absolutely launched them into third place, in the Constructedist Championship after, I mean, last weekend, he was literally on his head after the restart. So, yeah, it's a weird one. But yeah, in all honesty, he probably should have done a tiny bit more and at least been in P2, not P3. Yeah, and I think it's worth bearing in mind as well, because there was obviously the safety car that completely changed the narrative of the Grand Prix. But one thing it didn't change was that Perez was very very, very likely going to beat Landstrol anyway, even without that

safety car, which should make you, people sit up and respect Perez's performance. I'm sure there will be more than a few who look at the Grand Prix and said he was just advantageous to the situation. And whilst I think that is true,

I think that discredits what he actually did before the safety car came out. He was still on for a podium regardless, or at least very likely to finish on the podium, What I will say about Lanchdrault, and I'm going to be quite complimentary here, because I'd like to compare Lanchrole not only to Sergio Perez, where he doesn't look particularly favourable, but I think he deserves to be compared to the guys around him as well. The likes of Carlos Sines, the likes of Daniel Ricardo, the two Alfa Taurys, who he was in direct battle

with at the beginning of the Grand Prix. Everyone was on the soft tire at that moment in time. And Sam, you mentioned how long he went on those soft tires, and he went well into the 40s. in terms of the laps that he did. Just bear in mind that the likes of Lando Norris went 21 laps on the soft tires and pretty much everyone else went about 28, 29 laps on that first stint. So Lansdrol hasn't just extended that first stint. He's extended it by an absolute mile and he deserves a lot of credit for that. And it's something I've been quite critical of him in the past, actually,

is his inability to manage tyres. So he's done a very good job with that today and he deserves a lot of recognition. And on that second stint, he was put on the medium tire for that second stint rather than the hard tire. He did a very good job, I think, as well at the end of the Grand Prix, considering there were those behind him, such as signs, such as Ricardo, who were on fresher rubber and couldn't get the advantage over him. So I think Stroll did a good Grand Prix today. I think if you compare him to Perez, which he deserves to be, he doesn't look too favorably, but he also should be compared to the likes of the Renaos and the McLarence, in which case,

I think he did a pretty good job. driver of the day Sam, who've you got? Sergio Sergio Right, that'll be Jack Aitken then Yeah Well, maybe we'll hear about

Jack Aitken later on Sergio I know that again Safety cars playing into it But you have to run the race You have to take advantage You of everything You make your own luck

A lot of time in Formula 1 Unless you're Valkerry Bottas And Sergio did absolutely everything If possibly could When you lose those top three cars the Stappen, Bottas, usually Hamilton, but this time Russell, someone like Alexander Albon

should have been there picking out the pieces, but it was Sergio Perez, from last place on the grid, the man deserves driver of the day, and I'm giving it to him. Harry, driver in the day? Yeah, it's hard to argue past Sergio Perez, but for the sake of variety,

I'm going to give it to George Russell because he should have been John William's this weekend, and he wasn't. and he was thrown into a Mercedes and he, to be honest, he, yeah, he shouldn't have been anywhere near Bottas and he smashed it for most of the race. So, yeah, I absolutely agree with what Sam said with Checo,

but for the sake of variety, I will give it to Georgie Russ, the Russell Hustle, which is the best thing Crofty's ever said, if we're being completely honest. Yeah, we're doing the Russell Hustle in our bustle. That actually might be my favourite thing he's ever uttered. Also, can we, this completely side note, why did Crofti and Bronel have so much difficulty recognising who Mercedes team radio was which?

That has some real issues with that. Like, they thought Bottas had a puncher. No, that was Bono. Like, come on, man. Yeah,

it really threw me when they ran out something else. I thought for a second, the, oh, don't have we got it all wrong and Bottasquez has more luck but then Russell came in. Also,

I do love, just to get on the commentary, but Crofty will just waff along. He'll say about a million words in about two minutes. And at the end, Brundel just goes, absolutely. I just ignores everything that Croftly said. He's like, okay, moving on, it's hilarious, and I love it.

Anyway, sorry, Ben. Drive me the other day for you, mate. No, fair enough. Yeah, I'm going to give it to Sergio Perez, and I don't think it's really close, to be perfectly honest. I think George Russell did a very good job, and we'll come on to him in a little bit, what kind of a performance he put in.

But Sergio Perez was last under the safety car, and yes, considering the power of the racing point and the Merck engine that powers it, yes, he should have got past the likes of the Alphas and the Williams fairly quickly on that first stint, which he did do. But we saw actually that overtaking wasn't particularly easy despite the layout of the circuit. We saw these DRS trains form, particularly with the likes of signs and Ricardo, the Alpha Tauri's Landstrol and the first stint. there wasn't actually a lot of overtaking that happened between these guys. It's not as if they were switching positions every two seconds like we saw in the Formula 2 race. So I think Perez's job of cutting

his way through the field is not going under the radar, but it really shouldn't be underappreciated what he was able to do. And like I said before, if the safety car doesn't make an appearance, he finishes P3 behind the two Mercedes, in which case I'm still giving him driver at the day, because he's managed to get a podium after being last at one point in the Grand Prix. And the most ironic thing is, and we give Perez a lot of credit for his tire management, he said afterwards in that post-race interview that he actually locked up massively under that first safety car and really struggled with vibrations on those first set of medium tyres, that he still managed to take about four years.

If it was anyone else, they probably would have come into the pits after about five laps. So Sergio Perez, sensational job from him, driver of the day for me, without a shadow of a doubt. Worst driver of the day, Sam. I mean, the usual culprits are going to get a mention. Botask was completely outclassed. I'm going to talk about the bits before he got hit by some bad luck because he did get hit by some bad luck. I mean, the tire change was an absolute mess for both cars, but it did really hurt Bossass. fact that he was on those,

on the same set of hard tires. They got taking off. They all had a coffee and then went, oh, put the ties back on. And he got the same ones, which is really fair. But Bottas wasn't good enough anyway. He lost the start.

He lost the league off the start. And a tank slapper was then swamped by the guys behind him while George Russell had already driven to Aberdabia back again. It wasn't good enough from the guy that realistically should be thrashing a rookie into the team. You know, everyone's saying at the start of this weekend, If Russell could finish fourth or fifth, without any incident, which he did have, then great job from Russell.

Well done, Russell. That wasn't the case. Russell was the better driver out of the two Mercedes drivers, pretty much the entire race weekend. So, yeah, Bottas is up there. Albon, I think he benefited massively from everything that went around him. He should be the one mopping up the pieces, like I said already. I'm not getting worse driving the day because he did manage to get himself up to sixth place from 12th, but he shouldn't be starting that far back anyway.

And I don't think, unfortunately, rookie Jack Aitken had a great time of it. Had one of the most hilarious rookie crashes I've seen in a long time. Ironic that he is in the car that Russell left for the race and that caused Russell's downfall. So I'm going to just give it to Bottas, but there were a few guys about that were not good enough. Are we adding Jack Aiken to the list of Driver Sam hates?

I don't hate him. Well, Harry, do you hate Aitken as much as Sam clearly does, or if you've got someone else in mind? I mean, I agree. The spin from Aitken was a rookie era, and the irony is very strong that it kind of caused the complete chaos and the Mercedes stops. I am going to give it to, despite his God status from qualifying yesterday, I'm going to have to give him to Chuck Linger. No, no! I am because, you know, yesterday was absolutely incredible. I don't know how he put that car in fourth place, ridiculous scenes.

Like, absolutely ridiculous. And they threw it all away. And I know it's the first lap. But, you know, last weekend we heard Seb complaining. And I'm not saying that Seb was justified in that, but we've seen it on first laps before with Leclair. He is so good. He's so quick. but sometimes, I know he's still young,

but sometimes he does make these rash moves, and the one where he sent out of the inside was, was rash to say the least. You know, he almost took out the race winner. I don't have been sad. But yeah, I'm going to give it to DeClaire just because, you know, yesterday, it was such a downfall from yesterday.

Yeah, I also agree that Bottas wasn't particularly great, but for me, Charles Leclair, you're still a god, but just, Stop doing that. Honestly. I mean, God Leclair is something I like to call that. I was going to say call that man, but call that God a lot of the time. Because he does produce some of these epic laps.

And that lap on Saturday was sensational. But you're right. That first lap incident was poor. So I'm actually not going to completely revoke his God status. But for the foreseeable future, he will be godlike Leclair. He's not quite. Yeah. Yeah, Jesus Leclair, he will be known as for the foreseeable future until he does gain back his status, which I'm sure he will.

But just see this as a bit of a warning, Shal. I'm sure he will. Anyway, worst driver of the day for me. I'm going to go with Orlando Norris, someone I've given Driver of the Day to a few times this year. But it was just a bad weekend for him. His qualifying performance was off. You know, we saw him out in Q2, which is not something we see very often. done at all. And in the Grand Prix, he got the start that he needed in that he started 19th place,

and by the time of that safety car, he was 10th. He couldn't have had a more perfect first lap if he tried. So why wasn't he able to make the progress from there? He was on the same tire. He was on that soft tire, much like Signs and Ricardo and everyone else was. So really, you should have been able to keep up with that group and go, you know, and do something valuable in this Grand Prix. but he had to bail out on his strategy very early on. He came into the pits after 21 laps. I don't think anyone else made a pit stop until about lap 28th. So he did a really poor job on those tyres in his first stint.

And he never really looked like threatening thereafter. He got a bit lucky with the safety car coming back into contention. But he was strangely off the pace compared to Carlos signs, not something we see very often. So I'll give it to Landon Norris. Moment of the race, Sam. Oh, I mean, There were a lot of moments.

That's a good summation of the race. Thank you. Move up. If I would like to put that as a quote on Sky Sports Highlight, there were a lot of moments. It's already there. I think, honestly, Sergio Perez crying over the radio. It showed how much it meant to him.

He has actually, I just looked up, taking the record for most race starts before getting his first wing with 190 to get away from Mark Weber. and that was brilliant. And I think if anything says, get Albon out of that seat and put me in it, I don't know what does. I don't know what more he could physically do to get himself a Formula One drive for next season.

So for me, that really was like a, come on, look at me. Are you not entertained? I'm Sergio Perez. And he deserves every second of the glory. I'd love Sergio to quote that. Are you not entertained? I'm Sergio Perez. Harry, what's your moment of the day?

Um, I'm going to go for, I, again, agree with Sam. That was a great, a great moment. I'll go for, uh, Russell going around the outside of, of Bottas. Um, because that was... That was spicy. Play the meme. Oh, hang on, hang on, hang on. That was... You like it a little bit spicy. Oh, yes. Yeah, boy. Yeah, boy. Yeah, thank you, Aindley, Harriet. I'm sorry if there are people who are listening to this, who have no idea who Aangley-Harray is. You should look him up. I'm sorry that they don't know who he is.

That's a horrible way to level life. Yeah, that is true. That is a, that's, yeah, please look him up. Yeah, I'll go for Russell around the outside of Bottas. I know Bottas was on older tyres and he completely, he felt like a stone at the end. But, yeah, he made the mistake which allowed Russell to get close. and I think there are so many drivers, good, quick drivers out there who would have thought twice about doing that move. It's so dusty around the outside there. I know we saw a couple of drivers do it in F2, but yeah, kudos to him.

So I'll give that a moment of the race. I'll just go for Perez crossing the line as the winner. Yeah, epic moment in what has been just a season full of epic moments. I know we haven't had a championship challenge like we would have hoped, and that's been the case for the last few years. But, I mean, take the races individually. This has been an epic season. So much has happened.

And Perez winning a Grand Prix for the first time really topped it all off. You say that if Red Bull hadn't been taking notice before and they're taking notice, now if that win had to be the thing that got their attention, you're idiots, because you should have been paying attention to him long before this. race win, just because this is the one where he's taken race victory, he's been putting together epic performances all year, but this might have been the most epic. So good to see, particularly when it has been such a journey for him. If you think back to when he was classified as a pay driver, completely unfairly, by the way, you think of the season he had at McClare. And at

that point after 2013, there was a question as to whether he would even come back at that point. Force India decided to give him a chance. And finally, after six, seven years with the team, he's given them a race win. So, epic moment. I mean, George Russell needed a PowerPoint. That was Sergio Perez's PowerPoint. Powerpoint on the bloody top step of the race. Also, hilarious that Netflix are following George Russell. Netflix should go no-ending Mercedes because it just ruins them every single time. Yeah, I mean, they didn't do

the first series. I can't see them doing series four. Not after this. Run away. Run far. I mean, I know obviously

Russell was involved this weekend, but surely if Netflix being around causes bad things for Mercedes, they should follow them every weekend.

Oh, I agree. Yeah. I'd be up for that. Might actually get a championship challenge, who knows. We'll move on to Mercedes.

because Russell versus Bottas was definitely the most talked about thing going into the Grand Prix weekend. Qualifying very, very close. Botas managed to clinch pole position, but it was the finest of margins in which he did so. Not a good start for Valdry Bottas. George Russell took the lead into turn one. He actually built up a few second advantage even before the safety car made an appearance. George Russell did a fine job at the safety car restart, held the lead even after he got a bit of a bit of, a bit of an advantage in the pit stops with Bottas pitting a few laps afterwards. Then obviously the safety car and what happened, that was the start of the derailing process. We're still not sure at this point in time whether he's going to be disqualified from the Grand Prix for using Bottas's set of tires. We'll see what happens on that one.

But in terms of his performance, Sam, what did you make of it? Russell or Bottas? Because I got a little bit lost. Thank you. I got a little bit lost for your intro there. is to listen to. Russell was phenomenal.

He was phenomenal. If you were turning up to Formula One for the first time, I wouldn't blame you for thinking that Russell was normally driving that car. He showed Bottas up, and I think Bottas needs to be

a little bit nervous because the thing is, Russell's never gone to-to-to-to-to-all with Hamilton, so we can't do that same comparison. Who knows? Maybe if Bottas got, unfortunately got COVID or got on illness, and Russell had to step into Bottas' seat against Hamilton.

For all we know, Russell could have done the same thing. But we don't know that. It's hypothetical. What we do know is that Russell in qualifying was less than half of one tenth away. And in the race, at one point, he was 11 seconds clear of Valtrey Bottas. The man that has picked up race wings, pole positions, has been seconded in the championship. And he ruined him. He ruined him.

If that race ran to the end, without that final safety car, Russell would have crossed that line comfortably well in front of Altery Bottas. Bottas was shown up today, and this was always going to be a bad case with Bottas, regardless of what happened. We said this in our race preview.

We said that Bottas had to decimate George Russell. It needed to be kind of a 15, 20, 25 second wing for Bottas to even look good in this situation. It do even look good. It didn't even look all right. Bottas looks bad here, and I think that this will turn heads. We all know that George Russell was going to be moving to Mesaigis anyway at some point.

The guy deserves it. He's a great racer. We know that he's showing it now, right? We know that we've all talked about how Norris, right, has had time to fight in the midfield to prove that he's quick or if Russell's been stuck in that Willems, we don't know what he's up to. He's throwing away chances to get points. None of that was his fault today.

And he was going to win this race had the strategy basically gone his way. He was by far the better of the two in that team. And I do think that Blossess now is to start looking over his shoulder. I think he's got less than a year to start putting him some absolute stellar performances. Basically, if Bossett doesn't win the championship in 2021, I don't think he drives him for Saga's after the next season. Because Russell's drive was concise, it was controlled, he was aware of where he was losing time,

where he could make up time, he pushed it just to the edge. The overtake, the overtake was stunning around the outside. The guy was just on it. A car that doesn't fit him properly. He shoes that are too small. It was brilliant. He was absolutely brilliant. excited to see him when he gets to the front because I think he could be a world champion

very, very soon. It was a great drive from Russell and Bottas devastatingly bad in comparison. What did you make of his performance? George Russell, that is, Harry? Yeah, I agree with Sam. I'm, I didn't, I don't know, I didn't, I didn't expect him to be so close in qualifying and I did not expect him to lead the majority of the race. today and lead it quite so convincingly. Look, we said before the weekend started that it's a difficult, it seemed difficult for Bottas to come out this weekend looking good

even if he did win. And, yeah, he's not come out looking great because Russell's just been, I think the way his attitude towards it as well has been, you know, pretty impressive and he definitely talks more than Hamilton does, but, you know, no one's going to blame him for him asking more questions. I think what really struck me was how normal it seemed watching lap one and the rest of the laps or, you know, first half of the Grand Prix,

how normal it seemed for the other Mercedes to be overtaking Bottas at the start and for that Mercedes to pull away and have a, you know, a sodded gap, you know, and the tyres were fine. Although, to be honest, to be noticed when he said the tyres were good, I don't think Bono knew what to do with themselves. You mean you don't have a problem with the ties? What do you mean? Your ties aren't gone.

Good. What does that mean? Bono. My ties are all right, actually. Yeah, they're fine. Don't worry about it, mate. Yeah, that's what, but, you know, my point is, it just seemed so, I'm not, look, if anyone jumps down my throat, I'm not saying he's as good as Hamilton,

but it was that kind of Hamilton-esque style. It's what you did, you would come to, be used to with Helmton if he doesn't get proposition. He often jumps Botas at the start and then Bottas doesn't ever have a chance for the rest of the race. So I think that's what really struck me there. So yeah, I don't know what Bottas has to do. Maybe it is a championship next year to do anything to secure a drive because it's got a really hurt Botas for his future prospects of Mercedes that today has.

So just to clarify the conclusion from that is that Harry thinks, that Russell is better than Hamilton. Yeah, tweeting it now. By a long way, I think he might have mentioned as well. But, unconfirmed. So, George Russell, you know, we did reference this on the preview podcast, that George Russell can't lose and Valdry Bottas can only lose from this weekend. George Russell is a brilliant talent.

And Valdry Blossass knows that. And anyone who knows anything about Formula One knows that, considering what he was able to do in Formula 2. GP3, as it was at the time, and what he's been able to do at Williams as well. People know how good he is. And even though he was stepping into a car that isn't his own, Bottas has been driving that car all season long and been with Mercedes since 2017, it was always going to be a challenge for Bottas against Russell to come out looking good.

I think in qualifying, people were critical of Bottas from qualifying, even though he did get pole position because it was by a slender margin. I will, I'll give Bottas credit for qualifying because it would have been really, really easy for him to crumble under the pressure. It would have been so easy for him to concede that pole position and he didn't. He just about pulled it out the bag and I think realistically he had another 10 or 2 in there. So I think he had him covered in qualifying. And just to say as well, Bottas is on the pace with Hamilton in qualifying. We've referenced this all year.

Bottas is fine on Saturdays. Yes, Hamilton just about edges it, I don't know, 60% of the time. But, you know, Hamilton's a great qualifier. He's one of the best of all time. So there's no disrespect to Bottas in that whatsoever. So actually, I think if Hamilton was in that car alongside Russell, there's every chance that Russell would have outqualified Hamilton. I think it's more likely that Hamilton would have outqualified Russell by a small margin.

But because Russell got so close to Bottas, I think there's every chance that Russell would have also got close to Hamilton if not beaten him. However, in the race, and you allude, to this just a moment ago. If you were to replace the bar on the left-hand side, the tower, as they call it, that has all the timings, if you were to replace Russell's name with Hamilton, would you have thought anything was out of place in that Grand Prix, at least up until the safety car happened? No, not at all.

You would have assumed that that was absolutely fine, because that was the stock Mercedes race, where Bottas, you know, he's claimed pole positions quite a few times. year, Hamilton has regularly got ahead of him early on, and then Hamilton has built out a few second gap and maintained it. There didn't seem any problem whatsoever in that first stint with Russell holding that lead over Valtrey Bottas. I think it was about 1.8 seconds after 10 laps. After 23 laps, it was 1.8 seconds. It literally didn't change. I think up until the pit stop, it was about three seconds. So it was, it never really got outside about a 1.2 second gap between the closest between the two guys and the furthest away. Russell was controlling it.

There didn't seem any problem whatsoever. It was such a mature performance from someone not only so young, but so inexperienced for the position that he was in. And Valdry Boss says, yes, it did seem as if he was clawing back some of that advantage after the pit stop. It would have been fascinating to see whether he would have carried that on. He did get his regular spout of bad luck, obviously. But I do want to mention this because I think this is being blown out way out of proportion as to what actually happened because he went out on the hard tyres that he pitted onto. So he's essentially on old hard tires compared to Russell on fresh mediums. And yes, as a result of that, Russell should have the advantage over Bottas.

But there is no excuse whatsoever for Bottas not holding the advantage against a lot of other guys out there. Bear in mind that those hard tyres were not that old. They were fresher than the tyres than all of the top three had on. So why was he dropping positions to guys behind him, whereas the likes of Ocon and Perez and Stroll were carrying on absolutely fine? I feel as if the commentary team were making it out that Bottas had these tyres on that had gone through three World Wars and done 200,000 miles. They'd only done about 30 laps. They should have been absolutely fine, yet he still dropped position. For me, that was the most disappointing part of Valtrey Bottas's race.

And a big question. I'm not even sure whether it would be achievable. But Sam, do you think that Mercedes should explore the possibility of getting George Russell in that car alongside Lewis Hamilton? Or is that an overreaction? I mean, it's tough because if you're going to just look at raw pace of drivers, Russell seems to already have the edge of Bottas. I mean, I would like to see them on a track that's a bit more. tricket, maybe. Maybe let's go back to the Nürberg

ring, or let's go to a track that suits Bottas, like Russia, and see what the performance is there. We've looked at it on a one race basis, and we've seen Hamilton. You know, Hamilton's been beaten by Bossass before. That doesn't mean that Bossas is suddenly better than Hamilton, right? You can't base your entire career of one

race. I think that helps Bottas's case right now. Also, what helps Bottas's case is, and it's been said by the team publicly multiple times, we've never had a more cohesive, positive, enjoyable environment in our garage. Hamilton and Bottas work brilliantly together. They like each other a lot.

They don't fret about things behind the scenes. They don't clash heads. They work as a team. And who comes out on top gets a handshaking a pat on the back from the other guy and goes, well done, you drove better than me. I need to work on it. That suits a world champion winning team. They need one driver in first,

and he's another driver in second. Russell, on the other hand, that guy is going to take over from Hamilton. It just depends whether you want to get him in here now and let Hamilton and Russell fight it out and let Hamilton maybe coach Russell for a little while to even improve him even further. But you know what?

Sorry Russell. I can't believe I'm saying this. It makes sense to keep boss us in that seat for longer while Hamilton is in the sport. The moment that Hamilton leaves the sport, whether it be this season, you know, whether he gets the end of his virus it's going through

and he feels unwell and it doesn't go right for him, which is horrible to say. And he says, okay, I'm done. Then put rustling, yes. but I don't think we've seen enough from Russell across a long period of time to go yeah, boss us out rustling. I need to see a few more races to really know that

they're good to go because currently what Mercedes doing wrong? They've won everything and both their drivers are first and second. So for me, it's not enough to swap it out after just one result. But don't be wrong, Russell showed World Championship winning signs. He will be in that car soon and he will be a race winner. I have no doubt about it.

It's just not just yet. Are you on that line of thinking, Harry? I mean, fortunately, for the sake of Jeopardy and our podcast, I actually disagree with Sam. But I do absolutely see his points about Mercedes and, you know, it's so cohesive and it's not going on. It's worked for them for the past, you know, how many years? Bot has been there now three, no, four years.

This is year four. So, yeah, I absolutely take that point. Why mess with that? But I think what Mercedes needs to be careful of, and I don't know whether I put Russell in the car next year or not, but I think we need to be careful of getting absolutely slapped in the face when Hamilton does decide to call it a day. And if for whatever reason Russell isn't available or gets taken up

and they're left with Bottas and another driver, who that is, I don't know, they may struggle because you may get situations like today when you've got Bottas, you know, who can't make his way up through the field again. And I know on a normal day, he'd still be in a chance of winning. But, yeah, it's definitely giving them a headache, that is for sure. Yeah, it kind of all depends on Lewis, doesn't it? Which is really tricky because, yeah,

it depends how long he's going to stick around for. But, yeah, it's got to be at the back of Toto and everyone who's in charge of Mercedes. it's got to be at the back of their, back of their minds, because, like I say, I think there will be in danger of losing out if they don't get Russell in sooner rather than later. I think I do think he'll be in the car in 22 to put, no matter what happens. But I'm also wrong a lot of the time. I mean, you predicted Perez would get a podium and you were right about that. So maybe, maybe not.

One step, but it was on the podium. It still can't. I'm going to say here that there should be that crossover opportunity. I think it would make sense for Mercedes. And the part of the problem is they might not know when Hamilton wants to call it a day. They don't know whether it is going to be at the end of potentially this season, whether it's going to be the end of next season, or whether he's going to go for another five years.

There's no way of them knowing that for sure. However, if they can work with him and they can do some guests work or maybe even Hamilton can just tell them outright, they can put together some sort of plan to get Russell in that car long term. And I think if I would like to see that crossover year, so I would like to see Hamilton and Russell in the same car for one year before Hamilton calls it a day to get that coaching aspect, as you referenced Sam. Because, and as you referenced, Harry, I don't think they want that situation

where Hamilton calls it a date and they are caught off guard because whilst the likes of George Russell are, I don't want to say wasting time in Williams, but treading water almost, you've got the likes of Leclair and Vestappen who are in, you know, positions to, well, we're not LeClaire this year, but positions to win races and game podiums and get stuck in the front of the grid. And Russell, apart from this weekend, isn't getting that opportunity at the moment. They don't want to be caught out like that if they can help it. For George Russell this weekend, the result doesn't matter at all. Obviously, it would have been great to see George Russell get a win. It would have been great to see him get a podium.

But to be honest, doesn't matter at all. Because all that mattered this weekend was the performance and showing Mercedes what he can do. And he said this quite a lot of times with Williams, with the results obviously not coming in for the team. He knows that the people who matter most to his career know what a job he is doing. So it's the same thing today. Didn't get the result he wanted, but he got the performance he needed to show. And this is something I referenced in the preview podcast. This was a glimpse into the future.

Lewis Hamilton is not going to be around forever. At some point, he is going to leave the sport, and they are going to be left to build a dynasty with someone else. And who is that person going to be? This weekend, we got a glimpse as to whether Valtrey Bottas can be that number one driver when they need him to be so. The answer was conclusively, no, he can't be. And I'm a big fan of Valdri Bortas and I've stuck up for him a lot of times. And I'll continue to do so because I think he is a great driver and he is a great second driver. But for me, this weekend confirmed

that when Hamilton steps aside, Valdry Bottas cannot be the lead driver going forward because they will not carry on in that same vein. And whether it is George Russell, which I think it should be, or whether it's someone else, they need to plan for that. This was a big weekend for Valtrey Bottas. Did he pass the test? For me, the answer? Definitely. No, he didn't.

Oh, pretty savage, lads. Love you, Walter. Yeah, I do. I mean... I mean... I mean, the amount of times I've stuck up for him this year as well. I just... He needed to show more.

I think he'd be nice to him the last few races. I know. It's been weird. Really weird. talking about weird, let's bring on the next segment. We're going to round things off today with Pump the brakes. Pump the brakes! The most elegant of all intros to a segment.

So, pump the brakes. We've played this a couple of weeks back. We're each going to take it in turns to give a statement, probably relating to the race, but I guess we can go off piece if we want to. The other two people will have to say whether they have a point and they should keep on going with that opinion. they've got a right to believe that.

Or if they think they're wrong, the other two people can say, pump the brakes. If the two people are in agreement, they will hear this noise. Oh, we kill me off guard then. Gungerlund. It's the gungerlund. And the person who gave that opinion will be virtually gunged.

If we ever get the funding people, by the way, we'll do a real-life version of this on TV or on YouTube or something. If you want to see it, let us know. Absolutely. So, Harry, kick off a view on this one. Give us an opinion. The Bahrain outer loop is definitely not better than the Bahrain normal track. 100%.

Could I agree with you more, sir. Carry on with that opinion, please. Yeah, I just, you know, I feel like everyone was hoping it up a lot. And, you know, I enjoyed it. Not saying I didn't enjoy it at all, it was lovely to see something different. loved the bumpy section we had in the middle of the course

all for more of that but it yeah I don't know I didn't think it was any better for racing compared to Bahrain normally all the overtakes that happened

happened in the same places they normally happened and yeah a short lap don't know how I feel about it lapsed under a minute in F1 don't know doesn't sit well. Maybe I'm just being an old man. But yeah, there you go. Sorry if everyone hates that

opinion, but you're wrong. This is a, this is a bit of a nerdy Mario car comment, but it feels very baby park. It's like, wow, wow. Nice. Anyway, I agree with you. 100% Harry. So you do not get virtually gunged on that. You can keep going with that. No red show was going your way, mate. Thank you. Sam, are you going to be virtually gunged? What's yours? Possibly. I feel like Sergio Perez, if the driver lineups went the right way, has the talent to be a multiple-time world champion. Ooh. I'm going to pump the brakes because I don't think multiple. I think he could be like a Jensen button and I think he could get a championship. I don't think he would.

I don't think he'd win more than one. But Ben, prove me wrong. I mean, you know I'm a massive Perez fan. But I'm going to tell you to pump the brakes. Oh, no, get under the table! They begs and Phillips going to gunge me! Sorry, Sergio, I've tried to stick up with you, and now I'm covered in gunging, you'll drink his champagne.

What is this life? Yeah, like Harry, if you went with one championship, I'd have said all right, but multiple. too far for me. Oh, I hate this land. Ironically, my one is actually also relating to Sergio Perez, and this is going to sound like something of an impulsive comment. However, I think he's actually been close to this mark, and it's this race that's

tipped it over the edge. But I think that Perez has been the second best driver this season. Who's your first at this point? Latifie. Jackie. Lewis Hamilton. as he's sometimes known as well. I'm going to take a pump the break, sir.

Max Verstappen is doing a fantastic job, and I think that he has just beaten. But I think with this, Perez has moved comfortably into a strong third place for me. Yeah, I might pump the brakes as well. I think the only thing maybe that does it for me is quality. Sometimes his quality performances are a little bit off. whereas Max, he's always on it in qualifying.

That's difficult, though. For me, I might have to put joint second between the two of them because, you know, Czech has been brilliant this year. Yeah, I think if we had like two or three more races in the season and Perez continued with this level of performance, I'll say to win every race, but, you know, the level of drive, I think you'd be right, it would tip it, but Max has been pretty stellar.

Yeah, don't know. Ben coming. Dave's happy. lovely for the record i didn't just like pluck that out of the air by the way i do ratings across the whole season for the viewers this is but you know i vespan has been p2 pretty much the whole season for me but the last two or three races have actually just put it in peres's favor but i'm i'm talking like minuscule advantage i think that that crash kadee was nothing to do with vestappen i don't think that was his fault oh yeah of course yeah of course yeah

To me, he loses no ranking throughout the season for me on that one. It's so weird that all the crazy races we've had this year, where you'd expect Max to pick something out of it, he's just not been involved. He had this one, we've had Turkey, we've had Monza, Mugelo. Yeah, just none of them. He's weird. Anyway.

It's a bit crazy that Bottas and Vestappen have one more win than Gazzli and Perez have this. year. Yeah, that is absolute. And then there is Hamilton, swung out about. Yeah, he's picked up a few, isn't he? Yeah, he's not too bad that, bloke. Yeah, he's right.

All right. Well, I think we'll leave that one there. Then we'll be back for our next podcast, which might be a day late, so it might well appear on Saturday morning. We'll be a day early. Obviously. Oh, yeah, sorry, yeah. We're recording it early.

We're not recording it late. So you might well get it. You'll be all right. get it on Thursday as per usual. It'll be the preview for the final race of the season, of course, Abidabby, Yasmarina Circuit. We'll see you then. But Sam, if you wouldn't mind, getting us out of here for now. Yeah, of course. I've got to tell you all that we were joined by David Croft. You just can't get things right at the end of that podcast. Folks, if you've enjoyed the podcast, share it, subscribe to it. We're growing on Spotify, which is amazing. So please carry on

showing that support. It genuinely means the world to us. Join us over on YouTube. We've got videos coming out. We've got a very silly one where we play Formula One drunk and blindfolded. is going to be out this week as well and that is just a silliness gone mad for late breaking. So give that a watch as well. We really appreciate the support over there. Hope you've enjoyed the race. Let us know what you're talking about on Twitter on Instagram at late breaking, at all breaking.

We can't wait until what you think. In the meantime, I think Sam your say. I've been Ben Hawking. And I've been Harry Eats. And remember, keep breaking late. The podcast is part of the Sports Social Podcast Network.