The Late Braking F1 Podcast - Pierre Gasly wins crazy Italian GP! | Episode 72

Episode Date: September 6, 2020

The boys break down a crazy race from Monza as Pierre Gasly takes a memorable first win for the Alpha Tauri team!Make sure to SUBSCRIBE! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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This is your What the Hell Was That Grand Prix? Also known as the 2020 Italian Grand Prix. Pierre Gasly takes his first Grand Prix victory ahead of Carlos Sines in the McLaren and Landstrol in the racing point, all three claiming their second podium. No Mercedes or Red Bull in sight. Pierre Ghazli taking Alpha Tauri's second victory in F1, technically speaking. Their first one, of course, coming from Sebastian Vetter, at the same circuit 12 years ago. Absolute elation, jubilation for Ghazley.

And guys, Harry, Sam Sage, are you still with me? Are you still breathing? That's going to, Croisdon are going to hate that in a minute. I'm having a great time. I said to Sam before he came on air, getting out on you and start recording, the last 10 laps, I was stood up in front and Sam said he was doing the same.

I just stood up watching the race and didn't realise it until we got to the end. I was like, why am I standing? Yeah, why have I left the sofa? Why am I three foot away from the TV intently staring at it with my hands in the air, not really going what I'm doing? Wonderful, wonderful scenes at Mong Zell.

Thank you, Monza. Thank you, Monza, indeed. You overtake Baku in the thanking circuit. What a race, particularly after it looked like it was going to be a fairly standard win for Lewis Hamilton, that safety car. Like you said, Sam, definitely on the Christmas card list is Kevin Magnuson for causing the safety car. And then Charles LeCler for causing the red flag. Absolutely epic Grand Prix. And it's appropriate that you started to sing the National Anthembourg.

Sam, because we tweeted out before the race at El Breaking, if you want to get involved there, we tweeted out that at the beginning of the race when they were doing the Italian Grand Prix, that that would definitely be the last time that that would be included in today's affairs. Apparently not, of course, with Alpha Tauri finishing first place, it played on the podium afterwards. We're going to, of course, be discussing what on earth that podium was, but as well as that, we'll be looking at Mercedes race. So, Hamilton ending up recovering to P-7 after taking his...

stop and go penalty. Botas, only P5 in a race where Hamilton couldn't finish on the podium. Alex Albin couldn't even get past the Williams guys and he ends up finishing P15 and he drops two positions in the championship as a result of that. And of course, Ferrari at their home race, pure and utter embarrassment for them, two retirements for the team. But first, we will discuss the race review. What an absolutely epic Grand Prix. Pierre Gasly taking the victory. Pierre Gazley, taking the victory. Sam, if you wouldn't mind, just taking us through your emotions as we were entering the end of that race. Well, honestly, what were you doing here? Or if I got out in the street, like it's the World Cup a couple of years ago driving around screaming the anthem of Italy out

my car and saying the British one. That was, honestly, one of the best moments I've seen in racing for a very, very long time. So many reasons for happiness. Alpherson. Sauri, 100% deserved. Their car was set up brilliantly today. They played the strategy, blindingly well. Of course, you don't know there's going to be a red flag, but they started and pitted at the perfect time, brilliantly done from Pierre Gadsley and the team. Carlos Sainz, you know, good for him, getting a second place and goat stroll, rounding out the podium. I don't think I've had that reaction to a race then, maybe since we have, maybe since before Germany, actually. I don't think even Germany with that craziness

gave me the same reaction as what that did. Gazile's had such a strange, like, character arc whilst being in Formula One. He's like such a strange development, you know, coming in, impressing massively at Toro Rosso when it was Toro Rosso, getting moved up to Red Bull. The absolute stick that, yeah, we gave him, the rest of the F1 community gave him, everyone, including his own team, gave him, shunned him back down. And now, Pierre Gazley has won as many races as Red Bull had this season. Just open the door, I'll just, oh, there's a sink.

Let that one in there. because you need to second a little bit at how good Pierre Gazley has been this season. It's been pretty much my drive of the season so far. I think I'm from Hamilton. The staffing's up there.

But my God, has Ghazi really turned a performance in that car? The fact that we obviously lost Antonio Hubert was incredibly close to Ghazley, one of his closest friends. And how he gets to go and do this.

At Mongsau, with the Italian team, obviously the scenes are just wonderful. I am ecstatic. It's like the rest of the F1 coming. community said, can we have a race where Hamilton boss off the step and on at the podium? And Mungsa went, okay, and it happened. And it was brilliant. And we loved it. And I won it every

week. Thank you very much. Brilliant. Do it again. Yeah. And that that redemption arc for Pierre Gassley is quite incredible. You have to consider a year ago, he's dropped by, he's dropped by the Red Bull team after a very difficult first half of the season. Antoine who Bair dies at the very weekend that he appears for the first time for Toro Rosso and now Alfa Tauri. And since that point, he's enjoyed not only his first podium and is now enjoying his first win, just an incredible comeback story. Harry, what did you make of that Grand Prix? I would like to cast your minds back to the 2001 Italian GP. No McLaren finished. The highest Jordan was a 70-year-old man called Jean Alacey in a Jordan.

And then the highest Menardi was 13th and last by some unknown Spanish driver called Fernando Alonzo. And then today, all three of them were on the bloody podium. What on earth has just happened? I mean, it's not even Alvati's first time on that top step of Monza. They obviously just love it there. But, yeah, Martin Brondon said a lot at the end of the race. It's the sort of race F1 neat. And it's right, because sometimes we do have to endure slightly dull races.

but then it's absolutely worth it for races like those because that is literally what F1 is all about. It's those underdog David Beats Goliath moments, which this was. And it wasn't even just like one person on the phone. The whole, I mean McLaren underdogs, they've had a couple of podiums now, but still they've had a tough few years. So this is another great result for them.

And the same for racing point too. That's a completely midfield podium, which you'd love to see. I would just like to send out my personal thanks to Kevin Magnuson, because without him, none of this could have happened. You know, we did our preview video and podcast, as we always do. And I remember saying in that when we were predicting our poll, one, two, three, that I went a little bit too bold at Belgium. So I'm just going to tone it back for Italy because it will surely just revert back to Hamilton, Mustafa and Bottas. And that will be that.

I've never been more happy to be completely and utterly wrong. Goodness me, that was such an epic Grand Prix. I don't even know how to respond to it. Pierre Gasly, of course he did get slightly fortunate due to the strategy. He pitted on the very lap that he needed to just before that safety car came out. But at that point, you still have to execute it. And he did. He managed that gap to Carlos Signs.

so spectacularly well. And just, I mean, shout out for Carlos Sines, because he must be going through what can only be a whirlwind of emotions right now because he's ended up with his best finish in Formula One history. He's going to a team next year where he might not have a chance at a podium.

At least that's how the lay of the land is looking at the moment. And he can't be jubilant about it because he was so close to getting that first place. It was his first real opportunity. opportunities. So yeah, great. And Landstrol, obviously, rounding out the podium. I was thinking back, and I'll be interesting to learn what you think about this, and indeed people, you know, listening along and watching along on YouTube. I think this might be the worst car to win a Grand Prix since Giancarlo Fizacela won for Jordan back in 2003. I know obviously TOR also won in 2008, but the car was

pretty handy. I think it was slightly better then than what the Alpha Tauri car is now. I think this could be the worst car to win a Grand Prix in about 17 years. It was just, yeah, and I'll be addressed to know if somebody thinks a worse car has won since that point. But what an epic race. What an epic race. And the ironic thing is it was looking like it was going to be a bit of a dull procession after about 10, 15 laps. So, yeah, well done to Pierre Gasly. And enjoy the moment. I'm sure he will. I'm sure he will.

I mean, Sam, what did you? About Lance Stroll here, because he ended up on the podium. It's his second career podium. But arguably, when he was starting from second place on that restart, and he got away with not having to take a regulation pit stop, we know how good he is at starts. Do you think this is a win thrown away for him? Oh, I mean, the racing point, okay, is not as strong as we thought it was.

Let's get that out there. Yes, the car is definitely better than it has been in previous seasons, but it is not a regular polio finishing car that we said it was going to be after maybe the second or third race of the season. The car is good. And Lark Stroll at starts is one of the best in the field. I mean, I can't believe that Goatstroll is actually one of the best at something, but he genuinely is one of the best starters in the field.

And if you were ever going to have a perfect start, that was really the time to make it happen. And it fell away from him. Now, the car, we saw with Sergio Perez, you could barely say in front of Hamilton, he didn't even finish inside, you know, the top seven, whereas Stroll was the one up there fighting. I take my hat off to Stroll for a very strong drive,

and I think we've overestimated just how strong that car actually is, but it's not like the Alpha Tower is much better anyway. Yes, in a straight line, it seems to just be a little bit of a rocket for some reason, but Gassley did what he had to do. Sikes got a shifty on and did the right thing at the right time, and the radio came over at the McLaren team being like, you know, take your time, take your time. And he's like, no, I've got to get past straw.

I got a challenge to front and he did the right thing because Strong never really got close. I was hoping that Strull could have been closer to really make it spicy out, the top three there. I did expect a little bit more from racing point, but at the same time, this is their highest finish in that current branding, in that current racing point team. This is their current highest finish.

So, yeah, yes, they definitely had the chance to win it, but I'm not going to be too arsh on them. Lark Strull's really come a long way. He's scored the only podium they've got so far this season. He beat Sergei Perez-Cadee. So, yeah, I am happy with how raising point turned out. Yeah, and obviously, Lance Stroll, deciding that the breaking point going into the Variante de la Rojia

is actually two metres after the corner happens, which was interesting, but he at least recovered from that. Honestly, yeah. I think the breaking point is just a little bit before where you think it is, Lance. P3, Harry, for Lanchdrol, do you think that's a bit of a disappointment considering the position he was in? I think he said he was a little bit disappointed with it.

I don't think the racing pub was particularly competitive this weekend. I know Checo qualified P4, but at races, what we've seen in the past, so they have been really competitive, like high-speed tracks like Spa and Monza. This new pink massays, whatever we want to call it, it doesn't seem to be quite as good. Yeah, I was so,

I thought, because Stroll is so good at starts, I was convinced he was going to mug Hamilton off the line when he was literally lined up on the front row. So I think he'll be annoyed at the fact he didn't make the most of that. But look, I mean, he can't be too upset. It's not often that a podium comes around. And do you understand? I think that racing point should have been on the podium sooner this year.

So I think that's still happily take P3. And I don't think, I think the McLaren had the edge over them, hence why Saunders is in front. but he was faster than Norris in that second half of the race. So I don't think Strohl can be too disappointed with it, to be honest. It's a tough one because it's likely going to depend how much he regrets this is going to be dependent on how good that racing point is going to become and what Alaston Martin are like next season,

providing he is there at the team racing. I think it will be largely dependent on how many more opportunities he gets to win races because you don't get many of them. You know, if you're in Hamilton's position or in Vastappans or Bottas's position, yes, you get regular opportunities. But if you don't find yourself in one of those teams, then these shock victories, they only come around once in the blue moon. You know, we don't know how the careers of Stroll and Gassley and Sines will pan out,

but it wouldn't shock me if for at least one of those three, this proves to be the only chance they ever get. So, you know, if Lange Stroll gets another race like this later in the season, and takes a victory, it doesn't really matter that much. And even if that happens next season, it doesn't matter that much. But if it turns out that the Aston Martin isn't as good as what they would hope it is next year. And if, you know, the cost cap doesn't have the benefit that Racing Point and Aston Martin will hope, then maybe Lance Stroll ruse this day, because I really think he should have won this race.

He had a great opportunity. He was somewhat fortunate that he was the only car that didn't pit. And if that was a call, by the way, by the racing point strategist, that is the best strategy call we've had in years. I have no idea if that's the case or not. But he was left in a great position. Like we've already said, his starts are so, so good. And he really needed to take advantage of that when he had the opportunity. And rather than he could have just held position and that would have been fine because obviously Lewis Hamilton's coming in at the end of that lap anyway.

But conceding that position to Gassley and then conceding the position to sign. as well as a result of the error. And I think he understands as well. He's under no illusion that this is on him. This could have been his various victory. Hopefully for his sake, he doesn't end up regretting it for a long time because it was a massive opportunity.

I mean, such a chaotic race, it's almost very difficult to pick a driver of the day and worse driver of the day, but we're going to do it anyway. Sam, driver of the day. Who are you going for? Well, Pierre Gazzley gets the driver of the day, but I don't need to explain why the man made my heart sore today.

It was genuinely wonderful seeing him stand on the top spot. It was such a lovely redemption moment for him. Such a nice tribute to Antoine Aver and a great moment for Formula One fan. Second place to that. Lewis Hamilton, absolutely dominated throughout the first half of the race. The red flag came. It was a mixture of himself and a team called that got himself a penalty, which is a tricky one.

You got caught out on that one. But then he proved that that car can over it. take. He proved that he could take it to the rest of the field and get through them. You know, he was on a warpath and every single chance he got to make the move, he made the move and he got his way up there. And because of that, BOTAS is still 47 points behind Lewis Hamilton. He gained 13 seconds to Bottas since the red flag period stopped after taking a penalty that cost him 31 seconds.

Honestly, that was a fantastic turnaround, I think. I think that he is once again made the most of a terrible situation. but of course, Gadsley for me takes the top spot. Harry, what about you, Drive, over the day? Yeah, I kind of look past Gadsley. Yeah, they struck a bit of luck with when they pitied and when the red flag and the safe cards came out. But, you know, they beautifully executed the hand of cards they were dealt.

And they could have easily, he could have easily dropped back and not won that race. But he did. I think there were potentially faster cars behind him. that he didn't let pass. So yeah, it's got to be Ghazley for me. I'm as epic as Gasley obviously was. I'm going to disagree. I'm going to go Carlos Sines as a driver of the day, even though he

couldn't get that last overtake done. Just because Carlos Sines did a wonderful job before the red flag and before the safety car period, I think he would have finished P2, regardless of whether that came out or not. He did a great job at the start of the race to get ahead of Valtry Bottas. and he was comfortably quicker than Lando Norris in both stints. He opened up that gap.

Lando Norris was consistently defending from behind. Carlos Sines was able to open up a few second gap. Like I said, I think he would have finished quite comfortably P2 if it weren't for the red flag. Obviously, he has to contend with it anyway. He goes down to, I think, about P6 or P7. He ends up making progress. He gets past Kimi Reichenen and he gets past Lance Stroll. He was very clinical on both occasions.

and he did a good job of eating into that gap that Pierre Gazley had. Ultimately, not quite there, but he did a good job of narrowing that down from four seconds to just a few tenths at the flag. So as good as Gasly was, and I'll probably put him second place here, I'm going to say signs was driver of the day. And worst driver of the day, Sam.

This is tough. This is tough. So many great performances. It's hard to look past two people, and it's a two people I seem to always be bringing up. and it is Bottas and Albon. Albon, who managed to hold off Lewis Hamilton for the longest amount of time out of all the cars that he cut through,

which shows that that Red Bull did have some pace was then stuck behind the Williams cars for the entirety of the second half of that race. He finished 15th. The only person behind him was Giovanni who couldn't catch him due to the stop-go penalty and would have finished in front of him. So the Staffan retired,

Albon theoretically, he finished last because the only reason Gere was behind was due to a penalty. Botas. Yeah, he might have had a little bit of damage, but it just shows to me that he hasn't got that racing prowess to make something work. You need to capitalize. This is the kind of race that we literally discussed in our race preview. Louis Hamilton does not have a bad race often. And he didn't even have a bad race could day. He was dealt a crap hand due to a penalty on a ruling that is really hard to follow. And it was a mistake by both himself and the team. And that is when you need to look at this and go, we are faster than every single car in front of us. Lewis Hamilton is in last, last, place. How often do you hear the words? Lewis Hamilton is last and he's driving the car. He's still in the race. It's last and you can't even finish on the podium. That was your time to get back in this championship

fight and you didn't make it work. So I'm going to say because his car was broken that Bottas isn't just the worst driver of the day and Albonne is, but those two, they need to up their game. What say you, Harry, worst driver of the day? I'm pretty much

an agreement with sound that. I think Brody Bottas gets it for me. yeah i i feel like his head just dropped after that start and it was an appalling start again all down to him and and and uh he was just kind of out of position and just got knocked about by all the other cars around him but even then he still has the fastest car on that track uh he should have got his head down i know they have cooling issues in that murk but yeah he can't help what hamilton does behind him on his on his you know come back through the field but on the evidence of hamilton that car can still cut through traffic.

So Botas should have been able to do the same. And, yeah, Samson should have capitalised on a day when Hamilton didn't score many points. Yeah, Botard didn't score many points either. And, yeah, that lead is only 47 instead of 50 now. Yeah, it's got to be Bottas. I just think his head dropped too much at the start of the race. And he never reset from it. Yeah, I'm actually going to go for someone else.

I think the worst driver of the day was Shell Leclair. The first stint, he struggled with tyreware. First of all, he lost a position to Kimmy Reichen and couldn't keep up with him, which was disappointing. He then struggles with tireware. As far as I'm aware, no one else did, really. And he has to come into the pits very early.

And then he drops it when he was in a reasonable spot. And yeah, it was a pure driver error on Parabolica to go straight into the barrier. Obviously, great news that he ended up okay because it was an almighty hit. But Charles Leclair, yeah, struggle to manage the tyres on that first st and then have the crash. So I'm going to pick him.

What about, well, moment of the race, I guess it's difficult to look past one moment here. But Sam, what did you think of a moment of the race? Well, yeah, you say that. It's hard to look past that moment where Kevin Magnuson blocks the pit lane. I mean, but equally, the moment with

with Charle-le-le-cler hitting the barrier is as important because if we didn't have that red flag a lot of those drivers will be in the place that they were regardless

we have had a safety car yes but the likes of Gassley would not be where they were at the start of that race the likes of Strull would not be where they were

at the start of that race they would have been passed by people and because of that Lecler moment he hits the wall Hamilton has to serve his penalty

the moment that the race restarts and he's got no time behind him if he had managed to have a normal safety car period. They got going for a couple of laps, and then he'd been given that penalty,

and then he's got another couple laps before he can serve it. He might be able to rack out a 10-second lead. He might have only fallen back to maybe 7th or 8th, and he could have possibly come back through, overtaken Bottas and begin to the top 4 or 5. Those two incidents there. It shows you how incredible it could be

when just something sparks off a little something else. And now the biggest thing, I think, actually, is when the commentators, Croft, D, Brundle, or whatever, were saying, we want a qualifying race, a reverse qualifying race. I think they got themselves a little bit hyped up, but if it could create something as exciting as that,

then I'm willing to give it a go, whether it does, I don't know, but there's no harm in trying something different. No doubt we'll be having a discussion on that at some point. Moment of the race for you, Harry. Yeah, I can't really look past KMAG breaking down on the pit entry. That kind of changed the face of the race. And I know, as Sam said, obviously, Charlotte Flesch crash and the red flag changed again. but that was the catalyst for the complete carnage that ensued after that.

So yeah, as I've said already today, Kevin, thank you very much. You brought the box office to this race, as you always do. Yeah, box office Magnuson proving his worth there. I'm going to slightly cheat because I'm going to pick a moment that happened just after the race finished. But for me, the moment of the Grand Prix was when Pierre Gazley got out of his car. with his team members, and then the amount of drivers that came over and celebrated with him, the likes of Roman Grosjean and Shao LeClair all going over just to sort of offer their congratulations. I just thought that was a really epic moment.

So I'm going to pick that. And Sam, I mean, you've touched on Valtrey Bottas already in terms of it being something of a wasted opportunity with Lewis Hamilton only finishing P7 and picking up seven points in the process. Botas gains points, but it's only three points that he gains overall. Yeah, do you think this was a massive wasted opportunity, Sam? It might be one of the most wasted opportunities we've seen in Formula One in this era, I think. When you know your car is that dominant and your teammate who is the best driver on the grid currently and one of the best drivers in the history of the sport gets relegated to the back of the pack

with no advantage coming his way, where it's proven to be a. a little tricky to get past some cars. Well, it was proven until he turned up and overtook everyone. This is the point where boss asking is to pick that head back up and go, another minute. Christa Redeemer, you look it down on me here. Have you blessed me? Because this is the moment. You had that awful, awful start.

His head dropped. And he gets that brake. He gets a red flag. He gets a moment to pull himself back together again. And he can go for it here. They replaced parts on his car. He got fresh tires. It was all going his way.

That was the catalyst that you need to then kickstart your race again. And he didn't move up. up a single place other than Kimmy Riking who dropped pretty much outside the points. So it's not good enough from Bossass. The fact that going into Monza, Hamilton was 47 points clear of Max Verstappen, leaving Monza, Hamilton is 47 points clear of just a different driver. It doesn't mean anything. Nothing's changed at the top. Hamilton is as comfortable, it's as likely to win the championship as he was before this race. Hamilton's dancing around in his little pit garage. Hey, look at me. I'm going to win again.

And Bottas is crying into his porridge, version minus 3.217. Botas is ruined any chance on an absolute championship fight. I mean, it was gone, but this was the one chance he could have taken, and he didn't take it, and it's ruined it for everyone. Well done, Bottas. The son's crying, and we're having a bad time. But get something else in that car. I'm not having half with him.

Well, that went as well as I expected it to. Harry, what do you think? Was this a massive opportunity wasted for Botas? Yeah, I mean, I don't know if I can express my feelings as strongly as sound. But yeah, Bottas is going to rule this race as a... He had a massive opportunity to gain some points on Hamilton. Once that penalty came in, and he, I said it already, he just didn't reset. He didn't reset in that red flag period.

he didn't reset after he dropped the spots of the start. Yeah, and, you know, I think the championship's probably already a foregone conclusion, but, yeah, Botas isn't helping his chances in any way, shape, or form. Yeah, I feel sorry for Bottas, and I shouldn't, because the man's got the fast car in the field. I just, you know, he's a, He's a bloody quick driver, and he can, he's always on the wrong side of Hamilton and

Kuali, but it's only by the smallest margins for a lot of the time. And there aren't many people in the world that can do that. They can push Gilleshampton that close over a single lap, but just a lot of the time in the race. In a race where he isn't on pole, I don't know, what has ever won a race not from pole? I don't think he has. Yeah, he just seems to fall apart, and he doesn't have the pace, or if he gets. get stuck in traffic light that he did today, he doesn't seem to be able to make his way through.

And I don't know why, because we've seen him do it, you know, back in his Williams days, and now he's got the quickest car out there. So, yeah, it's a big wasted option for Walter, I'm afraid. Yeah, I think any championship hopes that were left have now disintegrated as quickly as that Ferrari brake did today on Vettles' car. I do want to feel sorry for Valdry Bottas here, but he's making it very difficult to do so.

You know, the bad start, it happens sometimes. You get bad starts. I can accept that. He lost out to Carlos Sines. It was proven to be one of the very best when it comes to race starts this season. But then he drops more positions. He really should have reset after turn one. And theoretically, he had a decent line going out of turn one and turn two.

So he shouldn't have lost any more positions. that going wide at the second lesmo that was a disastrous uh disastrous uh disastrous moment for him as well as he lost another position and really that you know the mercedes helped him out here because he didn't make any positions on track apart from that kimmy rikinen move but in all that mele in the pits he got ahead of ricardo and he got ahead of sergio peres as well um and it gave him a decent buffer to max vastappen so he was definitely helped out by the crew in the pits um and it still didn't matter because once it passed Reichen and again, he was just stuck behind the car in front.

And in that first inning, he was more vulnerable to Vestappen than he was looking like he was going to make that move to go up a position. So that was certainly worrying. And I know that the Mercedes is not designed for this kind of racing. And I understand why that should be the case. The Mercedes is so quick. They might as well set it up to assume that they're going to be one and two in racing.

because nine times out of ten, that's what happens. So they'd be foolish to do anything else, and they just have to take it on the chin that won every ten times, something like this happens. And up until about halfway through the Grand Prix, I'd certainly had a certain sympathy for Bottas because you could see him pulling out of the slipstream

in order to cool the car. You could tell that he wasn't happy, the car wasn't happy. If that had been the rest of the race, we could be sat here saying, well, it just wasn't set up that way, and that's that. The problem is what Botas wanted is also not what Bottas wanted,

because what Bottas wanted was for Hamilton to run into issues, which he did. The problem is that showed what the Mercedes could do that Bossass wasn't doing. So that kind of outed him in that respect. Hamilton, okay, I mean, the first few overtakes were on the likes of the Williams and the Hass cars, which doesn't prove a great deal because the cars that Bottas was trying to pass were much quicker than that. But Hamilton didn't stop there. even after taking a lot out of his tires as a result of getting ahead of those guys, he still had the likes of Sergio Perez to overtake. He had Danny Kviat to overtake and

Esteban Ocon to overtake and he managed to get past all three. Bear in mind that Bottas couldn't get past Ricardo, who was in the same car as Esteban Ocon, who Hamilton got passed. So what Hamilton was able to prove to the world is not in the best interest of Bottas because that kind of just showed, okay, he didn't get the maximum amount of that car. Okay, it wasn't perfectly designed to be in the slipstream of others. But Hamilton managed to find a way. Why couldn't he? So, disappointed for Bottas.

This generally only happens maybe once or twice a season where Hamilton runs into issues, either through his own fault or through the team's fault or just bad luck. It happens once or twice a year. And to beat Hamilton across a season, you have to take that opportunity when it comes. He didn't. Simple as well.

Going on to maybe another disappointing result was Alex Albon. If you'd have said to him before the race that Vastappen, Bottas and Hamilton, none of those three are going to finish on the podium. But guess what? You're not going to either. It'd have been pretty disappointed. But that's how it went. And that's it went today.

P-15 overall, there was a five-second penalty in that as well. Sam, what did you make of that? Is this really gutting that he's now looking at Pierre Gasly in his old seat and he's got one win and one other podium since Albon's moved and Albon's got nothing. I want to start this by saying, acknowledging that there's been a lot of talk around Albon not having the same parts

as Max Verstappen on their car that's come out in the last week or so. Now, while that is true, I don't think that that changes the difference in quality of driving that Albon is displayed in comparison to his teammate. Albon, yes, okay, that might show why he's not being as quick as Max,

but I still think that that car is more than capable of being regularly finishing, you know, in the top four every race, which Almond doesn't do on a regular occasion at all. And I think once again, it was proven. You're right. He looks at, Gassley, the man that he swapped with. He got the big call up to the big team. And I've just read Lewis Hamilton's Instagram post and he explicitly says to go from being dropped by Red Bull to then beating the team that you were dropped by explicitly. Like, those are harsh, harsh words from Lewis Hamilton to say to Red Bull. But well done to be a Gasley. Yeah, that's got to be really, really harsh for Alex Album.

And Alex Alba was under a lot of stick from both fans, from other drivers, such as Lewis Hamilton, and of course the media. The pressure is still there. The pressure is still mounting. And for me, Alba once again shows that he doesn't do enough. I mean, Albaugh's starting in, what, P10, I believe. And Max didn't exactly stick it in the top two or three like he has done previously,

but he was still well in front of that. I just expecting a little bit more. Like, the fact that he was able to hold off Hamilton for a few laps, shows that that Red Bull didn't have too bad pace. The fact that he's got the same engine in his car that Pierre Gazley has, who wins the race, shows that they've got good straight-line speed capabilities. To me, it's a combination of the car not being developed

to where it needs to be on his car, but Maxis has. So it's an odd one there strategically for Red Bull to not give the same parts. Secondly, I don't think Albon is doing what he needs to do. I'm not going to go into any further because I talk about it every single bloody week that Albon is not doing enough. But once again, he hasn't done enough, and he finished essentially last place, which is pretty demoralising

when the guy you swap with is taking the big W. Well, if we take the actual individuals out of the equation here, and we take Pierre Gazley out of this, and we take Alex Albin out of this, Harry, do you think that Red Bull seriously need to start asking questions about themselves because it wasn't working for Gasly at Red Bull? He goes back to Alphatari, and it definitely is. Albin does a reasonable job at Alpha Tauri.

he gets promoted, it's not happening for him. Do you think a lot of the blame here, or at least they need to ask questions, whether the blame is directed at Red Bull? I think Red Bull do. I think it's becoming an issue because they're sending drivers back to their junior team and, you know, and they're performing better. I mean, in Kaffaer's case, they sent him back, he did badly, and then they brought him back again.

so yeah I think just because I think they are just slightly too Vastappan focused and you know we had it it's not an unusual thing for them to do they had it with Vettel and it obviously worked for them back in the day but I don't know if it's working now I don't know whether that environment is well I mean maybe evidently it's not because they've had two young promising young drivers come up and Gazzley really suffered and now he's driving so well, took the big dubia, has sound so eloquently said just now. And now our one's really struggling. So, I mean, the driver's got to, you know, deal with it. You know, it doesn't matter where, it's going to be tough, whatever thing you go into, and it's going to be tough going against Match for Stappen. But at the same time, maybe Red Bull do need to look in the mirror and go,

I'll look at a problem. Yeah, it's quite possible. but I don't think that is the full excuse for Albon or Gassley not doing well at that team. But yeah, I think questions do need to be asked of the style because I just think Marker. Helmut Marco is just scary. I think he's terrified. I think you terrified. Cue that meme where a thingy from the poop show turns around and says,

are we the baddies? I was literally going to say the same thing. That's crazy. Yeah. I agree with your assessment there, Harry, that it can't be wholly placed on either party. And, you know, Gazley and Albin themselves can't blame just Red Bull for the situation. But I think at the same time, Red Bull need to have a look at this because it's too much of a coincidence that both of these drivers and indeed other drivers have prospered at Toro or also an Alfa Tauri. And it just hasn't worked when they've gone up to Red Bull.

And, you know, it was very much a case of Red Bull being vettled. dominated when he was there, but it worked. You know, Vettel was good enough to take advantage of a car that was good enough, which they don't have right now. And Weber was good enough to support in that second driver role. And I think Red Bull did have that in Daniel Ricardo. I think Daniel Ricardo was good enough to overcome any preferential treatment that was going to another driver.

But they just didn't have the car at the time they had that partnership. and it might just be the case that Albin and Gassley need more support than what has been given to them. But I think there is a definite case to say that they need to look in the mirror at least and work out what's going on here. In terms of Albin's performance out there today, I think you've got pretty unlucky on that first corner where he had to go past term one, he didn't do term one because of what happened with Pierre Gassley. I think the stewards assessed that correctly. There was nothing either driver could really do there. And then he gets hit with that penalty due to the incident with Roman Grosion.

That was a bit sloppy. But yeah, Albin, if we just take that second half of the race in isolation, he should be able to make moves. Maybe he doesn't make enough moves to get back into the points. Hamilton was able to do that. But, you know, that Mercedes is better than the Red Bull. So I'm not saying that Albin should have followed Hamilton through the field, but he should have been good enough to make some positions.

No doubt about that. A head of Album was the Williams of Russell, the Alpha Romeo of Reichen, the Hass of Grosjean, and then the Williams of Latifie. And he couldn't overtake any of those four drivers. He's got to make those moves. It's not like he was trying to overtake a McLaren or a Renault. He was trying to overtake cars that are the worst on the grid in what should be the second best car on the grid,

even if that isn't the case at Monza specifically. He had to make moves and he didn't. And it was disappointing that he couldn't. And Hamilton, who overtook Albon for that penultimate position, ended up 20 seconds and eight positions ahead. The progress made from Hamilton was always going to be better than the progress made by Albin, but it shouldn't have been that large.

Definitely shouldn't have been that large. Going on to, our final segment of the day. So the first of three Italian Grand Prix, I guess you could say, this weekend for Ferrari. I'm sure this would definitely be the year that they would pick to have three home races. They both retired.

I just said that and thought, oh God, that's so bad. They've got to do this twice more yet. So after what was a dismal performance at Spa, Neither car was able to get into the top 10 in qualifying the first time that happened since the mid-80s at their home race. And the race was somehow even worse. Both cars retired. Vettles suffering from break issues that saw him go straight through the polystyrene just past turn one.

Lecler's race ending even more spectacularly, an error from him into Parabolica saw him go straight into the barrier. No points. Two retirements. Pure embarrassment. And in all of this during the week, Bonotto was given reassurance by Ferrari's CEO that he has got time in his position. So based on these results, Harry, do you think that Bonotto has been given this backing incorrectly? I am of the opinion that you shouldn't just fire bosses for a bad streak. And there's no denying that this is a truly, truly awful streak.

it's a tough tie it's not just bad it's really bad but Brundle and Button the two Bs spoke to Braun the three Bs on the grid and he made an interesting comment about

how they don't need to be distracted and how I think some stability is probably the way forward and you know he was there in a days when Jean-Tot took over and the results weren't there and they didn't get rid of him and what if they had got rid of them?

Who'd have known what would have happened? So I think, yeah, I don't, you know, Bonotto shouldn't just relax and be like, oh, it's fine. You know, my job's safe. But at the same time, I don't think they should get rid of them straight away because Ferrari have done that a lot over the past couple of years. They got rid of Domenicali when I don't think they should have done. Well, what was the guy in between?

I don't know. The guy from fear. I can't remember his name anymore. before Arriva Bene. They got rid of a Ruva Benet, pardon? Yeah, Macchiangy. Yes, him.

Yeah, and then they got rid of a Reva Benet. So I think they do just need some stability. This is only Bonotto's second year in charge. You know, last year they had a few wins. It wasn't a championship challenging car. This year is a complete poo box of a car. But, yeah, I don't think, I don't think it will help their situation.

by bringing in another person to run that team. So, yep, it's going to take time, but I think that stability is key. Otherwise, then, you know, and if it doesn't happen further down the line, then they do have to reconsider who's in charge. But for now, I think Bonotto is safe. What do you reckon, Sam?

Well, the buck does stop with the boss, right? But I am inclined to agree with Mr. Reg when you say, shouldn't just be dispatching team bosses for having a bad run. I mean, let's weigh up the year so far, because I think there are equal number of positives and negatives, and not all of these lie directly on the shoulders of Bonotto, the hanging of the vessel situation, for example. Terrible.

Literally one of the worst driving negotiations and managements that we've seen for a long, long time. That, I believe solely is with Benito. He is in charge of that line up. He messed up big time. That was not the correct way to do it. And that immediately puts a negative spin. on the attitude towards Ferrari for the season going forward.

But Lecler has two podiums this season. A car that we've seen is terrible. Bloody terrible. You know, that car is as good as the Alpha Romeo. It's as good as the, you know, the Renault. It's not worse. It's, you know, it's racing along with the Williams team. The harsh guys are sometimes in front of them.

It's got two podiums. So, you know, there's got to be some positives. take away there. That's really good. And then you come into a race like Monser where, yeah, the car is bad. And they were clearly running an illegal engine last time out in terms of last season. And so they're having to run with less power, which again is tough. And the car design isn't really up to him. He's not their lead designer, but he does employ that person. And then one car goes out with a brake failure, which can happen to any team. That is not a bonotto problem. That is not a one person at the team's fault. That's your brakes failing. That

but that happens. That does happen to any car at any given moment. You know, anyone can have that from Hamilton all the way down to Latifie. Yenong can have a break failure. So it happened to Grosjean 80 through time to the last four weeks. And on the other side of things, LeCleur just dropped it. That was entirely on Charle-le-Cleur. The man that's won two races, the man that Ferrari placed in their hopes and dreams into,

just dropped it. That was a rookie mistake from Charle-Cleur, binned it right into the wall under his own doing without any of a cent. Yeah, and he wore the tires down fast. than anyone else. Again, that's on him. It's entirely on him. So, I don't think this result is down to Benotto at all. I think stability is good. I think if Ferrari needs to rebuild, they need to do what Mercedes are doing, they need to what Red Bull have always done and stick with someone at the top. You know, Christian Horner hasn't exactly been successful over the last few years. Look how that's

going. He's been there for God goes how long now? What was the last time he won a championship? Oh, wait, when Vetta was last there. So they haven't fired him, and that team is consistently fighting at the top. So I think it's the right choice to keep Bonotto, keeping for at least maybe until the end of the current era and see who they are. You might have to have great ideas going into the new 2020 regs now it is. You never know. But for me, it will be silly to get another two races in. I've have another couple of bad results and go, move on, on to the next one, the waste paper been over there filled with Ferrari coloured bits of paper with each of their name on it. It would just be a bit silly. So I think it's the right call. Vagotto is clearly a very intelligent man and he can be

very good at his job. Let's see where it goes. There should always be a goal to every decision. That's relating to firings, hirings, strategic decisions, everything. You know, if your, if your goal is to get ahead of the car in front, the decision might be to undercut them. You know, there should always be a very clear path as to what you want to achieve and how you plan to achieve it. So if the goal at Ferrari is to get themselves out of this hole in terms of performance, the decision should not be to fire Bonotto because that's not going to achieve the goal. It doesn't matter what you do with that role right now. It doesn't matter if you bring Jean-Top back to be in that role. It doesn't matter if you put Kermit the Frog in that role.

It doesn't matter. They're not going to improve or improve that much. They are stuck with a bad car and that will probably be the case next year as well. There's not going to be a great deal they can do about it. So if your goal is to improve that performance, there's no point in fire in Bonotto because the results will be pretty much identical. Whether Bonotto should be in that role or not should be dependent on a few things.

First of all, they need to work out. Has he identified what the issues are? And that's issues plural. because Ferrari have got a number of issues. Has he identified those? And secondly, does he know how to sort them out? Because if he ticks both of those boxes, then he should stay. If he doesn't tick those two boxes, he should go.

Because Ferrari, right now, it would be very easy for Ferrari to say that they have got a power unit that is not on par with the other three out there, which is true. But it's very easy to fall into the trap that that is the only problem with the team, which is a long, long way from the truth. And if Bonotto thinks right now, once we get a power unit back, we'll be absolutely fine. If that's his line of thinking, he should go and he should be gone tomorrow because that is not the case. Even if that power unit does recover to what it once was, they will still be in a position where they are strategically poor compared to Red Bull and Mercedes. So he needs to understand that there are personnel changes that need to happen within the team.

He needs to understand that the reliability needs to improve the communication between the drive. the communication between the drivers and the strategist during the race, that needs to improve. There are a number of areas where Ferrari need to be better. If he is able to identify those and he has got a plan for how to fix that, regardless of whether that will happen now or in a year's time, that's absolutely fine. If he doesn't understand the problems, he needs to go.

You look at Arriva Bene, you know, he, I understand why they got rid of him. Ferrari were close to winning that championship, but they couldn't quite get there. Their goal was to topple Mercedes and they believed that the decision to get there was to replace Eriva Benet. And, you know, I can at least understand the logic there if they believe that Bonotto was the last piece of the puzzle.

Here, if they're just looking to improve performances, there's no worth in getting rid of Bonotto. The only worth in getting rid of him is if he doesn't understand long-term strategy because that's where the focus needs to be. Ooh, good dissection, lads. Good news, Ferrari fans. It's Mugello up next.

Another home Grand Prix. Can't wait. Hold on, is that literally next week as well? Yeah. I love it. I mean, sorry, Ferrari. I love it. Come on, another race weekend.

Yes. Bringing them on. This season, despite all the horror that a pandemic has brought on, has just been so exciting and so brilliant. great to watch. I'm so glad we get this many races. So, yeah, keep it coming. Keep it coming, indeed. I think we'll leave it there for our Italian Grand Prix review.

Pierre Gassley, a first Grand Prix victory for him after what was an epic Grand Prix. Sam, if you want to mind, getting us out of it. Well, folks, if you've enjoyed the review, if enjoyed the Grand Prix, if enjoyed the silliness that we brought you, all the drama that's happened today, please think about, you know, subscribing to the podcast on Spotify, every you listen. Download it, share it. It's really helpful. Come and comment and chat to us on late at-late breaking out, L-breaking on Twitter or on YouTube.

It would be great to have you. Think like joining the rest of the Ares as well. We love having you along. And of course, we will be going to give you a preview at the review of Bouguelo, where Ferrari will have cried pure Penge. But in the meantime, I've been Sanchez. I've been Ben Hawking. And I've been Harry Ead.

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