The Late Braking F1 Podcast - Russell vs Bottas - who was in the wrong? | Episode 114

Episode Date: April 21, 2021

In episode 114, the LB trio discuss the fall out from the Russell/Bottas incident in Imola, discuss the announcement of a new race in Miami, and play another round of Pump The Brakes!Tweet us at @LBrakingMake sure to SUBSCRIBE! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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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 warm welcome to the late breaking F1 podcast. This is episode 114, unbelievably. Whether this is your first podcast that you're listening to or whether you've been with us this entire time. Thank you for coming along as ever. My name's Ben Hocking, joined by Harried and Sam Say. of course. Sam, it's been four days since our Imala review, and I still can't get over,

Valtry Bottas not being your worst driver of the day, two races in a row. This must be a record. It'll never happen again. I'm sure he'll do something absolutely ridiculous, like before, seconds behind Lewis Hamilton and the next racing. I'll just claim him to be the worst driver of the day because it's sporadic, you know, it's as the mood takes me. But while I'm gibbering on, classic F1 rubbish, I'll say something nice. We're almost got a thousand followers on the podcast, firstly, which is absolutely crazy that enough of you decide to stick around to listen to us three morons. And we've also gone over 20,000 streams in under a year, it feels like, because we already started really doing this properly, like in June last year. So the fact that we've hit 20,000 streams, there's going to be a thousand of you that turn up every single week is astonishing. So thank you. I don't understand it, but it's quite possibly the best thing in England. my entire life. So please keep doing it. It really does mean a heck of a lot. That's not a joke. That is genuinely sincere. It means the world to us. Please keep doing it. Thank you very much.

Yeah, absolutely. I mean... Sorry, Ben. I like the idea that someone has entered this podcast at episode 114. You know that GIF where that person enters the room with the pizzas and everything's on fire and it's all chaos? I feel like that's what it would be like entering a podcast episode. said 114. So if that is you... But with a thousand other people in the room. Yeah. Yeah.

All on fire. Oh, it started well to gate. Yeah. I mean, 20,000. That's, uh, yeah, it's mind blowing. And it's still over 1,000 if you take away all of our, all of our parents. Because, I mean, that's where nearly all of the this has come from. But, you know, thank you to the rest of you as well.

Yeah. Big respect. Um, but coming up on today's podcast. Alpha Tauri. Are they currently wasting a good car? That's what we're going to be asking after two races of the season thus far. Welcome to Miami. Miami is hitting the F1 calendar, 2022.

So we'll be discussing that one. And we're bringing back pump the brakes. So some big opinions coming your way later on the show. But first, we're going to be looking at one of the biggest talking points of the weekend, if not the biggest one of all, Valtry Bottas and George Russell colliding. Both are pretty angry about it at the time. Russell's suggesting that Bottas would not have made that move on a different rival. Interesting.

Russell has since apologised for that and indeed his entire conduct from the weekend. But Sam, what be your thoughts on this claim from old George? I'm amazed that Bottas is recovered enough from the Russell bonking that he was given, that he was able to kind of come away from the weekend. That's it more severe. Yes, folk, you heard it right. that's in more severe than the accident itself. On more serious terms, I wasn't pleased.

I know that they just come together at 200 miles an hour. I know that that must be one of the scariest encounters you can have where you are involved in any kind of sport, where you're aware of the consequences. It happened on that corner. It's a very, you know, emotional part of it. Any racetrack for any Formula One fan is that corner. You know, it means a lot to a lot of people, understandably.

And they came together at 200 miles an hour. That gets the agreement. in pumping. I can't imagine experiencing that level of an impact. It would definitely get my blood pumping. I'd be kind of, am I right? Am I, am I good? Am I still here? The fact that he then walked over and absolutely took a swat of Bottas's head after that, I get it, but I don't get it. It's not excusable to start with it. I'm talking about the violent before I get onto the statement. I understand why he did it. Does it make it okay? No. Botas flipped him the bird, and I think that's fine. We're allowed to have a swear, all allowed to have a shout.

And I think that's completely fine for someone to go, you've annoyed me. But to then walk over and smack someone on the head is it shows I think Russell's got a bit of a way to come when it comes to growing up a little bit, controlling his emotions, understanding the situation. And the same can then be said for that statement that he put on social media. He was the first person out the gate to think there's a motive behind this. There's a reason why you defended dirtily against me. You tried to take us both out the race. Botas has never been like that as a driver, regardless of who he's raising. He could have done back to Lewis Hamilton multiple times, and he hasn't.

When those who have ever had any issues, you know, come on, it's a scuffle. Bottas has never been malicious to anyone on that track. It makes a few mistakes, yes, but he will always try and beat you fair and square and irk his place. I think Bottas is a very proud bloke and is earning of his spot and wants to show that he's got his spot on merit. So I think he was a bit rude. I think it was a bit inconsiderate.

it was a bit immature of George Russell to come out saying, you're only defending against me because he doesn't want me to have his seat, it wants me to look bad. It's essentially the gist of what he was going on. And I disagree with it. I think it's a bit silly. And I'm glad George owned up to it. I think someone whispered in his ear and went,

that's probably not the best thing to do, mate. So I'm glad to come to that conclusion. Botas has come out looking better, in my opinion, on this subject. But we live and we learn. We all made mistakes. You know, I remember Lewis Hamilton saying a couple of brash silly things. So he was in the first few years of his career. And now look where he is.

He helped out. on the track. It happens, we move on, we accept the apology, and George Russell will grow. Not in height, he's already very tall. But mentally, emotionally, is so tall. George Russell will grow. So it came to the right conclusion. What do you thoughts on that one, Harry? Do you think it was proper conduct from Russell or is he right to apologize about what happened? yeah I feel like the apology he made was quite severe and yeah I think it's clear someone's spoken to him essentially total I guess I think it was perhaps more severe than it needed but yeah

I don't think he could say we've already spoken about this we it's clear there was a racing incident it was just conditions a very narrow track they're doing a gazillion miles an hour these things sometimes happen. So I don't know there's any intent there from Bottas and you can actually see he moves back over to the left once he realizes but what's happening. Yes, George, it was the heat of the moment he shouldn't have said it.

And I think it speaks volumes as to where his mentality is at because he spent two years in that Williams now, he had the chance in the Mercedes. He showed he can spank Bottas over a race weekend if he wants to. And yet he's still not got that top seat and he's stuck trudging around in a Williams struggling to get points. So yeah, I think that that's the main takeaway I have from it.

Like Sam said, he's young, F1 drivers have all said stupid things about one another when they were young. Yeah, there are worse things that could have happened, But yeah, it's, it'll live and he'll learn. He'll grow, as Sam said, not in height, but he'll grow. Yeah. In terms of the crash itself we've discussed, and whether it was a racing incident or whose fault it was,

we've discussed the crash itself, but just looking at the aftermath of the crash, I would echo what Sam said in that words that come directly after a crash like that, I think a completely fair game. And I've got no, I've got no problem with, with the words that come out of these guys' mouths directly after.

I think if you're, you know, besides obvious language that absolutely isn't acceptable, this outpour of emotion from both of them, I've got no problem with it whatsoever because, you know, these guys are putting themselves in life-threatening situations. You know, it can't be argued.

These are situations where their well-being is at least somewhat in jeopardy. So when they come together like that, you know, there is an element of trust amongst the 20 drivers that they will do everything they can to keep each other safe whilst remaining in that competitive environment. You know, when that is compromised in any way, I think it's perfectly acceptable two seconds after the crash to snap about it. I've got no problem with that at all. and even George Russell going over and the little scuffle they had,

it wasn't quite P.K. and Salazar, but I've got, I've got no issue with that either, actually. It is straight after the crash. It's an outpour of emotion. If it had happened after the race, then I would have had a problem with it, because by that point, you've had a bit of time to calm down about it. There was a very raw reaction from both of the parties involved here. I think the follow-up comments regarding Botas treating him differently because of who he is,

I think it was foolish and I think it was completely unnecessary from George Russell because it doesn't matter whether it's right or not. It doesn't matter whether Bottas did treat him differently or didn't treat him differently because first of all, there's absolutely no way to prove it unless Bottas literally comes out and says, I treat him differently because of who he is, and we know that would never happen. So if there's no way to prove it one way or the other, there's no real point in saying it.

And secondly, it's just completely irrelevant anyway because, you know, they are rivals. You know, he might be part of the Mercedes Junior program, but the way I see it is it's two different constructors. No different to if it's Aston Martin and Alpine or Alfa Romeo and. and Ferrari or Ferrari and a lawnmower. I can't make Ferrari jokes anymore.

They're too good now. God, painful. The point is, yeah, exactly. Yeah, the point is, like, all of these 10 teams are independent constructors, and there is a bit of a problem about how independent some of them are. But, you know, I don't see that the Mercedes affiliation, I think, means nothing when you get on track. I think all of this boils down to Russell being, frustrated and being impatient somewhat. I mean, the frustration is understandable.

You know, this is his third year at Williams and he has a grand total of zero points, at least at Williams, to show for it. And he had a serious chance here to do something about that. He almost definitely would have ended up in the points if he finished that race. Bear in my disorder, so the second consecutive year at Imola where he's had the chance to do that. So I can understand why he was frustrated in the position that he was in, that he couldn't convert that into any points. And he knows how good he is. And the points just don't show that at all. There's got to be some frustration there.

And if anything, I would actually, I'd actually praise his patience that the first sign of a snap of any kind has actually happened in his third year at this awful team. To put it bluntly, you know, this is a team that can't give him any opportunities to score points. and it's taking him this long for this sort of an episode. I actually think that's, I think other drivers might have snapped well before he had. So, you know, there is that to consider as well. And he did show what he could do at Bahrain, which is another source of frustration because he had one opportunity.

He knocked it out of the park, and there's nothing he can do about it, at least for now. What I would say to all of that is that the frustration is understandable, but George Russell should probably heed his own advice here, that he has said quite a few times over the last few years, and that is that the points, whilst they don't mean nothing, they're also pretty irrelevant for whether he gets the Mercedes seat or not.

He knows that the right people know what a good driver he is and what a good job he's doing. The right people know that. If anyone comes forward and says that George Russell is not a good driver because he hasn't scored any points at Williams, their opinion is not worth listening to. And that opinion is not going to be shared by the people who might consider hiring him at Mercedes.

Take that advice on board, literally his own advice there, and just remember that. He's doing more than enough in that seat to warrant a chance. He's just got to keep going. He might not be in the Mercedes seat, but he is in the driving seat in that situation.

He is in that Bottas versus Russell. I think he is in the driving seat. He's just got to keep doing what he's doing. He's not the one under pressure. And needless comments like this, they don't help his course. He's just got to. I'd keep doing what he's doing on track. The fact that he was battling Valtry Bottas in the first place

is more than enough of a statement. Even if he wasn't battling him, he doesn't need to. So, you know, he's doing more than enough in the role. And he knows, and I think this is something I've said before, that Valtry Bottas is not safe within that seat. And I think what's keeping Bottas there is the fact that he's a reliable constant, reliable constant, whereas Lewis Hamilton isn't that at the moment. Lewis Hamilton, I think the second Lewis Hamilton decides his future one way or the other, whether he stays or goes, that's going to decide Valdry Bottas's long-term plans for him. But until that happens, you can't risk getting rid of him. So I think George Russell needs to keep being patient.

I know it's a tough situation. I know he has aspirations that he can't yet achieve. It will happen. He just needs to stay calm. And I think the apology, you know, it was sincere. And I will be the third to say he will grow. It's great, isn't he a giant. Honestly, if anyone else weighs on this point, he's going to be about 10 foot tall.

I'm already sure. I don't need another person taller than me. Thank you. Think of Sam. Come on, George. Think of Sam. Completely serious point to end on there. We'll move on to Alfa Tauri.

They currently sit in fifth place in the driver's championship, although they are 26 points behind fourth place Ferrari. Gasly and Sonoda both had pretty dramatic races at both circuits that we've gone to so far. So, Harry, do you think that they are somewhat underperforming on what that car's potential is? Yeah, I think a little bit. They probably will look back at these first three races, I think especially Imola, where they looked very tidy in practice and quality. Yeah, the little bucket is a lost opportunity.

Obviously, Sunoda bindi in Quali, which hampered his progress. Well, I mean, he got back into the points in the race and then spun again. So that's obviously disappointing, and they decided that they liked the Germany 2018 tactic for Pierre Gasly and left him out of wet tires until it was dry for some reason. They love that. What's that about? I completely forgot about that race. Yeah.

Yeah, I don't know why they're... Poor P.Gas. Anyway, yeah, I think... Because that weird, I think it's, you know, why they recognise that guy is... It's quick, and it could have been up there fighting with, you know, potentially Norris and the two Ferraris

for that podium, particularly in Gassley's hands. So, yeah, that'll definitely look back as it, but look back as a missed opportunity. That Honda engines to clearly perform me well in the back of the Red Bull so that it's going to be doing well on the back of the Alphitarie. So yeah I think they'll take at least some

confidence in the knowledge that it's a quick car and it seems to be a quick car at different types of tracks. At least someone's we've gone to so far so yeah they just got to put together a whole weekend and just calm

little Yuki Snowda down just a teeny bit. We love it. It's a teeny bit. other than that, it's all fine. I'm not subscribing to that. Don't calm down. Don't calm down, Yuki. I mean, what do you think, Sam? Do you think that the number of points that they have

is reflective of the pace of that car? Firstly, don't ever calm little Yuki down. Yuki's a little thigh cracker. He can stay that way for life, as far as I'm concerned. It's a tough one. Actually, I scrap that. It's not a tough one at all. I know exactly my heart, so I had time to think about it or how he was talking. I completely disagree with Harry

in the sense that P Gazzle, in his first race in Bahrain, that is the only mess-up, I think, is a genuine right-off mess-up that I expected more from in that scenario. Pee Gazzle broke his front wing on the first lap. He's got the experience now to negotiate a first lap of fuffle.

It does happen to every driver by expecting a little bit more. He's been performing very well when he has had the chance. In Imola, his team left him out for too long. It was a bad strategy call that is not entirely dependable on that driver. Little Yuki's had two races.

I think if everyone told me that Yuki Sanoa didn't do enough in that opening race in Bahrain, I would not respect their F1 opinion again. He digger bloody sold it around the outside of bloody Fernando Alonkso from four years back. It was an incredible move. He scored great points. He flew through the field. And Yuki Snowden made a mistake at a track where a seven-time world champion made an even worse mistake. I expect mistakes from rookies.

I expect mistakes from youngsters coming through. Yuki's getting them out of his system. He's had one great race. He's had one slightly silly mistake and another one. It's fine. Unfortunately, that's the whole point of Alva Tauri, is development, is for growth. They're not expected to be a top side team.

Yes, they have got a fast car. Yes, I think as the season continues, they will be able to extract more and more performance and more points out of that car. I hope so anyway, because it's a great team, and I really would like to. to see them fighting up there at the top of the big field. So do I think they should have had more points?

If you're just looking at the car, yeah, they could have had more points. If you're looking at the drivers they have in the car, you're looking at the team's decisions, and you're looking at the two drivers they have whittles. So the pace of that car, I think they're doing just fine, and there is no need to worry.

The only mistake, as I said, was Pierre Gazette taking off that front wing in Bahrain, give it two or three more races. I think that both of them will be really settled and will have a very competitive team. I am not worried by them in the slightest. I think they're doing great. It's like the supportive auntie.

You're doing great, sweetie. You're doing great, sweetie. You're doing fantastic. Yeah, my view on this is, if you took FP1, FP2, FP3 from Bahrain, showed that to Alpha Tauri, didn't show them anything else from the weekend, and they did exactly the same for him, Mimela, and you told them that at the end of those two races, they are going to have a grand total of eight points. They would be massively disappointed, and with good reason, because I do believe this car

is much, much better than the eight points suggests that it is. And I don't believe there's one specific reason as to why. I think there are quite a few that are working in tandem. Firstly, the lineup, you know, Ghazly, yeah, Ghazley messed up in Bahrain, no doubt about that, that would have got him, you know, 10, 12 points, however much it might have been. It definitely would have been a good point score if it had held on. But it's not just that. Teams decision at I'm will have definitely cost them.

Yuki Sonoda, it's only realistic to expect him to make errors. He's a rookie. That's what happens. So there are multiple factors that are coming together here, which explain why it is just eight points for Alfred Tauri. And I know this is a really difficult thing to do. but if you did have Carlos Sines and Charles Leclair in the Alphatowry, would they be third in the championship? Maybe.

I think it's completely plausible. And, you know, when you do hire a rookie like Sonoda, who has done a good job thus far, and I'm sure he'll iron out the mistakes as he goes on, but it's only realistic to expect these errors. We've seen it from all three rookies this year, and bar one or two, we pretty much see them from every rookie that comes into Formula One.

So, you know, they had to anticipate, that to some degree. But in terms of the car itself, it does appear like a rocket. And from their perspective, they should be able to do something about it as the season goes on. One thing I would say with the Imola strategy for Gazzley,

I really think it was a poor call from the team. And this might be quite defensive sounding in that if it was the right strategy, he was leading that race. He was the lead car on the wet tire. It was only the Hask guys. and Ocon who was about five positions behind him. Those were the only guys who were on the wet tires.

So if it ends up being correct, Ghazly is theoretically in a really good spot, maybe in a spot to win, who knows. So I can understand why you would want to go for it. At the same time, given what happened to him in Bahrain, they almost weren't in a position to gamble with it because they didn't have the points in the bag like they really should have done at the end of Bahrain.

and ultimately I think they just needed a consistent point score to really get in the groove of the season and go with the field in terms of what the... Other teams it might have made more sense to strategize. Ockon going for the wet tires at the beginning of that race, completely support. It didn't work out, but completely understand why he did it. Ghazley, I feel as if he had more to lose in his spot

for going for this strategy that goes against the grain. So I don't think it was a good call from him. And Sonoda, yeah, Sonoda's pace has been good thus far. I think it will get better. He just needs to, yeah, I mean, he just needs to not crash into a wall in qualifying. That's one on the house for you there, Yuki. No worries at all. It is funny, though, because Alfa Tauri finished seventh last year.

So they're technically two positions ahead of where they were last year, although they are a mile away from fourth place. It's a bit weird. They're doing better in terms of championship position, but yeah, they've got Ferrari and McLaren already building up a bit of a gap. It'd be interesting to see what happens with that as the season goes on. I mean, we're going to move on now to a saga that actually goes back to 2016, believe it or not. F1 has finally been able to secure a race in Miami.

It's been something that they've wanted to do for a long time, a lot of obstacles in the way for them to overcome. The race is going to be held at Hard Rock Stadium in 2022, possibly June, although that's to be confirmed. It will be the first time since 1959 that Formula One is racing in Florida, and the first time since 1984 that there will be two races in the US in the same year. So, Sam, do you think that this move is going to make a difference to F1's appeal in the States? Polly in the city where the heat is on, oh, no, I've got the rinks in the breakers.

I mean, we're going to Miami, folks. I'm buzzing just for the shirts alone. Daniel Ricardo, Daniel Rick, the Honeybatche, could bring his entire line-up of Hawaiian shirts and I'll be satisfied enough. That should bring the American viewers flooding in my opinion. More sport in a country tends to bring more fans, more awareness. You know, Miami feels like F-1 City.

You know, can you imagine Lewis Hamilton scoot-scoot in his way down the boulevard along the seafront with Rosco? It's like, you know, the old. spray guy on the skateboard. It's that level of iconic. It just, it kind of just fits. Although, have you seen the track layout? It looks like someone drew the

interlagos track with their eyes closed. And it's a bit like, it's a bit spread out. And the chicanes are a bit of a funny place. So I'm yet to see a track freebie. But I love the fact that we're going to America again. America has many great tracks. It's a shame not using any of them. But let's generally see if Miami could bring it.

It could be historic. I think Miami is a great, Miami, America, the whole continent is a market that I don't think has been tapped into enough. And I'm not shocked at liberty of wanting to expose that further. It's the same with the Far East and parts of Asia, the likes of China, far eastern Russia, areas of that part of the world, you know, the careers, that kind of places where large population, key areas of money to be involved. They like sport in those parts of the world. Why can't we exploit it more? and I think it's exactly the same with America.

I think it's a big enough country. They clearly like motorsport. NASCAR and IndyCar are pretty much all that actually succeeds there. And IndyCar is no near as big as a lot of people think it is in the States. It's a big market, but it is dwarfed in the size of NASCAR. So I think F1 have got an option there to skip themselves in and be one of the biggest sports in terms of motorsport in the States. And this is the right way to go about it.

Make it an absolute festival. Make it a show. Make it an event that people all year ago. know, can't wait for F1 to come to Miami again. I'm going to go down there. I'm going to go on a holiday to Miami to see it. I think it could be brilliant. I really think it can work.

Do you think this is going to have a substantial impact, Harry? I think it's the start, isn't it? It's the beginning of what hopefully will be finally F1's proper venture into the US. You know, I saw a couple of people complain saying, but why can we have the number? I mean, I love the nerve-burg ring, obviously. Don't be going to be wrong. But I think it was, might have been Tommy, Tommy from WTF1.

Don't listen to their podcast, listen to ours. To make this point, the like spa and the Nuremberg ring about two hours apart. Whereas Miami and Cirque of the Americas is like 18 hours apart because the USA is big. Have that one for free as well. So, yeah, look, I think. There's so much. potential in this US market and I think you know Liberty are the right ones to be doing this they're I think they're doing like F1 drive-ins this year for for people

who have cars associated with F-1 so if you've reaching got a Ferrari you can go and watch F-1 driving cinema type thing yeah I think there's going to be a big push for like Sam said I think it's going to be like a party atmosphere everyone will be excited to go to Miami so yeah I think it can only be a good thing again as Sam said slight reservations on what the circuit looks like how it will be but it's hard to judge on

a mocked up simulation of the circuit so let's at least wait until we get there but yeah it's only a good thing and I thought I saw it would might sacrifice Spain did I make that up I thought I read that if that's the case we're going to my amy like back off catalonia see you later adios signore i don't ever want to see it again yeah so

there you go it could be a positive after all but yeah all good from my point of view yeah i whether this will have a big impact or not is really tough to say i i have quite a few doubts as to whether it will because i think whilst it it gets to one part of the issue as to why this hasn't really worked in the US substantially yet. It doesn't cover all of it. I think more races and having two races, considering what the US is in terms of size, I think was absolutely the first right step to go ahead with because it is, as you rightfully say, you know, it's a big old place.

But probably more substantial to that is not only is it a very big place, it is a pretty different place depending on where you are in that, you know, Formula One of pretty much tried in all corners of the US at some point. You know, Formula One was, you know, went to Watkins Glen a lot in the 70s, you know, in the New York kind of area. They've tried various street circuits at Detroit and Dallas and Phoenix. They tried California with Long Beach, almost lost me there. You know, Indianapolis, they've been there regularly.

Texas. They've been all over the play. They even tried a damn car park. in the early 80s. They have tried everything when it comes to the States. And pretty much, apart from the one-off race they had in 59 at Subring, they've never really done much in the kind of Florida's or southeast area of the country. So, you know, they've tried this before. Maybe this is the key. Who knows? But I would say, first of all, like, why is, they need to understand, first of all, why isn't F1 as big in the States as they would like it to be?

Because you are right when you say it is a massive untapped mark. I don't want to say completely untapped because there are a lot of F1 fans in the US, but at least in comparison to what it could be, it's nothing. You know, you need to understand why that hasn't been the case up until now and how you then counteract that. So, I mean, first of all, whilst Formula One is a global sport, we can't deny that it's Europe-centric. It's still Europe-centric in the bulk of races happen,

not only in Europe, but in a European convenient time. You know, even races such as Bahrain, Abu Dhabi, Singapore, where it's not in Europe, they're still adjusted times to fit in with the 1, 2, 3 o'clock range for Europe and, you know, the UK and mainland Europe. So, you know, it's still a very Europe-centric. sport, which means it's a lot easier to be a casual fan of Formula One in Europe than it is in America or really anywhere else. If you were to say, you know, if you've got someone who is partially

interested in Formula One, but maybe isn't massively into it, might not be doing anything at 2 o'clock on a Sunday afternoon, stick F1 on for a couple of hours and enjoy yourself. In the States, and, you know, my timings might be a bit off here, but if you're, say, if you're living in California, the majority of races are not going to start after about seven o'clock in the morning. I mean, I think the average European race would be about seven, eight o'clock in the morning, which means you're very, you're less likely to stumble across it. And really, you have to make a dedicated plan to go and watch that. And ultimately, with IndyCar and NASCAR, you've got two series there that are going to be

at a much more convenient time for these people. You have to make a value proposition that your series is, worth watching more than something that is more convenient to you. So you really need to have, you know, there needs to be a clear benefit for someone watching Formula One over someone picking something more convenient. I think that's one reason why Formula One hasn't necessarily done well. And link to that, a second point is that NASCAR and IndyCar, stock car racing particularly, is so well embedded within the rich motorsport history that the US has. Could you imagine, let's reverse this. Could you imagine that NASCAR trying to make a big push in Europe and what would happen?

You could very easily foresee it not working very well. Hey, hey guys, here's NASCAR, we're going to try and push it to you people in Europe. By the way, it's pretty much always going to be on an inconvenient time. We're still very American-centric, and we don't care that you've got Formula One anymore. We don't care that you've got Formula One, you should still watch NASCAR. It's a hard pitch. So it shouldn't really be any different from what they're doing here with the US. Because outside of the US and the Mexican Grand Prix, really,

there aren't any other races that would happen at prime time for the US audience. The other thing as well, just to add another difficulty for the US market, is there aren't any US drivers. If you were to put together a list of the best US drivers in F1 history, you'd probably look at Scott Speed, But after you've considered Scott Speed, you'd probably look at Mario Andretti. You'd look at Dan Gurney and you'd look at Phil Hill, all of which raced in the 60s, the 70s, or in Andretti's case, the early 80s when he retired. So, you know, there hasn't been, correct me if I'm wrong, I can't think of more than two US drivers this century.

You know, the Alex Rossi experiment probably should have worked and he did a good job. with a very limited time he had in that manner car, but that didn't come through. Scott Speed, the less said, the better. Before that, yeah, you have to go back a long way to find a successful US driver. I mean, Eddie Cheever is arguably the one that you'd go to as the most recent.

And that isn't exactly recent. And theoretically, if your intention of having F1 in the US is to encourage the next generation. When we last had two races in the US back in the 80s, did that inspire a generation? Because surely that would have led to loads of US drivers coming through in the late 90s or the early naughties.

Didn't happen. So if it didn't happen then, there's got to be a reason as to why it would happen now. I really hope this works out. And I think it could be a really exciting venue. I hope the locals get behind the event and that they embrace it because if they do, I think it could be spectacular, very Melbourne-esque possibly.

You know, Melbourne, I'm not a massive fan of the track, but the event itself is very successful. Could see something like that. And I really hope that this does work and this does help towards a more, you know, dedicated push to the US market. Liberty Media have wanted it for years. Now they just have to execute it. Oh, I think it's time.

I think it's time to pump some brakes. Pump the brakes Love it Yeah so pump the brakes If you haven't watched this segment before Listen to this segment before We give an opinion Anything in the world of Formula One really

And then the other two of us have to say Whether you're all good That's a good opinion No problem with that at all Keep going sir Or whether you should pump the brakes Because you've been an idiot Turn back around reverse reverse

And of course if you If both of us say that you need to pump the brakes. That's where Dave Benson Phillips comes in, who is, as we know, a late breaking legend. National hero, Dave Benson Phillips. So, pump the brakes. I am going to let you have the start, Sam.

Well, I've got two, but I'll kick off with the easy one first. When we do go to Miami, Jean-Top will rock the best Hawaiian shirt you've ever seen and be crowned for Dancing King. Yeah, fine. Got no issues with that. Perfect. Right.

We'll move on to the, there's more difficult one. Right, yeah. I'd like to know how he wins the title. Like, is it a competition? Or is he going up against Fernando Alonzo's two-time World Champ Dance? You got to see my head in the camera.

That's hilarious. I was just dancing for everyone on the podcast. I was rocking down, Fernando Alonso's two-time World Champ in the Rengo outfit. We'll sure know that AF1 throws were doing like a line dance one day. It'd be like Gavin and Stacey

for Gwen's birthday. Well, as usual, I'm glad we haven't gone away from the topic and we haven't gone into niche British references. To all of our American-Eskins, who is about 50% sorry.

My actual one, my serious opinion, is that Valtry Bottas will never wing another race. Harry? Well, I'm going to have to say pump the brakes. That, yeah, no.

Yeah, stop it. With Max Verstaffing and Lewis Hamilton being on his equal footing, the fact that this could be his last year, I don't think he'll have the chance. I think they'll always be one of them in front of him. I mean, if he used to be an imola, then you may be, but I don't see him being there every time.

because he was so close in Bahrain. The guy, he has 21 opportunities in that Mercedes. I can't, I can't believe he doesn't convert once. Out of 21, I... He's not been able to convert twice in a row over the last four years. I don't need him to convert twice in a row. I just need to convert once. That tells you how little I think he's won.

I don't think he's going to win again. But Dave, Gunge me brother Yeah, sorry about that Sam, both of us disagree with your point there I enjoy it No, fair enough, it's bold Harry, what's your one?

Single lap qualifying Is better than the current format Correct Oh You have stumped me here I mean, have I avoided a gunge I mean, whilst you think about that time I will add the caveat

at that it needs to be done correctly because I think qualifying at its most pure and at its best is when you have one chance and if you mess it up, get to the back of the grid sun. Or in the case of Takuma Sato recover enough to beat a terrible car.

Ben, I was referring to 2005 qualifying, obviously. Oh, that's my favourite. Oh, no. I mean it in its purest form, obviously. aggregate qualifying or elimination qualifying is like when you've done the washing up in the evening and then you've got to fish out the bits of food

out of the sink and you're like, oh, it was so tasty and now it's all wet and gross. What way does that make any sense? It's just a bit gross. It makes me feel of room. I'm telling you you pump the brakes. I love the anticipation that it builds. I love the fact that we've got all these laps happening at once.

I love the fact that these track conditions, when you have one shot only qualifying, and especially if it's a large careers, you know, we've got a lot of people who are very close together, and maybe those crack conditions change before we get to the last person's lap. I feel like you then lose a lot of that anticipation. I feel like the way we have qualified now

should just not be changed. It makes sense, it works. Every qualifying session is so exciting. I know that a Saturday is going to be absolutely breathtaking. And I don't remember the last time that that was not the case. I love it. If I didn't love it so much, and you might have a point, but I'm going to take upon the brakes.

But you avoid the gunging because Ben agrees with it. I avoided Dave. Yeah. Well, of course we all know the ideal is just to do away with qualifying completely and just have sprint races. Oh, yeah. Let's do that. Stupid.

Pick up my sarcasm a second. Good God. on the floor. Postk it to Liberty. I've got a treat for you. I've got a double whammy. You can have two opinions for the price of one. Come on, John Todd.

To be clear, they're not paying anything to hear my opinions. That would be quite ridiculous. Which one should I start with? I will start with this. Rather than DRS in its current format, F1 should implement a push-to-pass system similar to what Indy car have. yes

goddammit ben i agree i was did a dRS as well only because i saw a very good tweet at the weekend which said how dull would the end of the 2005 samarino gp

had been if there's the IRS like sure you know we'd got back them straight away and yeah push the pass all occurs I know they've got energy deployment but that kind of system more than a dRS

we have it That's what Engchee deployment is. It is a push-chipass. You store it up, you use it on a set part of the track, use it to defend or attack. We have push-to-passes. The cars currently don't work close enough that it's a good enough system.

You need to improve the cars, not the deployment system, because we have it. I love it. So for me, I think you've stated opinion on something that already exists. I don't think it really does.

It's not, it doesn't make much of an impact? It bloody does. Have you seen how much Laird on the was able to stay in front without any effective DRS

down the back, than the start, finish straight of Inverly because he saved his ERS for the entire lap round against an engine that was around the same level but with ERS assistance

and DRS behind him that should have been a sure pass for the Ferrari but because of good traction, good deployment of ERS he was able to defend down a straight line and hold a position.

I think we have it already. It's the cars that need to change. Does that mean Leclair and Sines gave up the position because they weren't good enough in terms of their ERS deployment. It's because the power unit, surely. Yeah, the car isn't good enough, but also the cars, they can't overtake anywhere else. If you have push-Kar's a bullet in a strike-line. Because they also have push-k-a-pass.

But the Ferraris have it. That's what I'm saying. You all have pushed to pass. So you can deploy it to defend as well as you can attack. what I want is Simon Pagino with no push to pass overtaking everyone with push to pass. Oh, I mean, that is such a good race. I love that.

I mean, you have to commend the effort there, the ability. Yeah. Oh, yeah, that's a good race, isn't it? That's a good race. And I did promise the second one as well, which is... We should put DRS in the race. No, because that's something that already exists. Oh, God.

Max Vastappan and Sergio Perez will be teammates until at least the end of 2023. Pop the brakes, Benjamin. We aren't redwood alike. They are the most drastic and ridiculous team in Formula One at the moment, and they will take any chance

to make more revenue, grow a market, go outrageous, and I think they won't want to lose you. You can't. If you continue on the drive that he's on they won't want to lose him

so I'm going to take a part of the breaks I'd love to see it but I don't think it will happen

that that would be very harsh of them to sack Max Vestappan for that reason but you know

I'm I'm going to hide from Netherlands now I I I yeah there's

got bad form haven't they I'm going to agree though I think I think maybe they have

started to learn their lessons. That's famous last words, isn't it? Yeah. If we gone next week. But I think even hiring Checo in the first place is a sign that they realized what they were doing was not the right thing.

And I don't see Gatsley coming back. And Yuki, he's not... You know, I'll agree. He's definitely going next week, but never mind. Sorry, too. Yeah. Just a stop. spinning, Perez, if that's all right.

That would help the prediction. A great deal. Yes. Nice one. Anyway, that has been Pump the brakes. Dave Benson Phillips, glad to get his weekly gunging. Loves it. Me and Dave do it privately, you know.

That's enough of that. I'll start the day with a gunging. A private gunger with Dave. That sounds like my autobiography. Samuel Sage, your private going through with Dave. And more. Right. Sam, if you wouldn't mind getting this out of here

before I literally drive up to London and turn your laptop off for you. Oh, well, folks, we, I can't believe this. The podcast has crowed to the book where a thousand of you sit and listen to a back twaddle of a week-by-week basis. Of course, we'll be back for more race preview most reviews,

sitting us and more big ears over on YouTube. Thank you again for the support. I know you all turn off at this point but thank you

it really does mean the absolute world and Dave if you're listening out there I'm up for a charity gunch so hit me up in the meantime I have been San Jose

I've been Ben Hocking I've been signing Paginé and remember keep breaking late keep push passing boy keep back

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