The Late Braking F1 Podcast - Should Gasly leave the Red Bull family? | Episode 111

Episode Date: April 7, 2021

After comments made by Helmut Marko concerning Pierre Gasly this week, the LB trio discuss whether the French driver's future lies outside the Red Bull programme.Get involved at @LBraking on Twitter!Make sure to SUBSCRIBE! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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What are you talking about? There was an F1 driver called Hocking. We call him the B-Hawk. Bokking. I can't remember, but it's real. There's a South African driver in the 60s. Gary, possibly. Gary Hocking.

Is there a real man called Gary Hocking? in F-1. Look it up. Look it out. He's South African guy. He raced in the 60s. Garry, Skuett Hocking,

was a Grand Prix Motorcycle Racing World Champion who competed in the 1980s and 1980s based in Rhodesia. How did he do? Not very well, I think. No points. Mille Pua.

All right, then. Should we podcast? Thank you for listening to the late-breaking F-1 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. Back at full strength this week.

My name's Ben Hocking. Harry Eads in the house. And so is the returning Sam Sage. I have to say we did miss our usual Bottas Lander. So welcome back, Sam. Well, we're back tagging again with the Bottas slander. So more BOTTs coming your way, folks. I'm back. I hope you'll miss me. I miss you. I was moving house.

I live in another part of London now. All you weirdos were treking me down. I saw you out there on the streets of Croydon. I don't live there anymore. Anyway, let's talk about Formula One. Great idea. Couldn't agree more. We've got a really great show for you tonight. Thanks so much for dropping by. Today we'll be talking about Toto Wolf and Mercedes. He sees areas of bias. Do we see the same thing? could McLaren versus Ferrari be the rivalry to look out for this season? And it's the return of F1 higher, F1 lower. It's been a fair while since we played that one. So that one's going to make a return later on in the show.

But first of all, Helmut Marco, everyone's favourite, nothing. He's decided to open his mouth again, unfortunately. Regarding Pierre Gazley, Marco believes that if Max Rustappen was in the Alpha Tauri during Bahrain qualifying. He would have outqualified Ghazli, who himself was P5, by two or three tenths of a second. Sam, your thoughts on this one?

How about Marco? It's amazing, the amount of times that he will fall into the, how I put this politely, not a nice person category. That's for if children are watching. Where does he come up with these statistics? There's no factual.

proof of how well Max Verstappen will have driven that car. Let's not get it wrong. Max Verstappen is a brilliant driver, as we have seen over the last few races and seasons. Pierre Gasley has come a long way. The Gasman is one of the best drivers on the grid at the moment and one of the drivers to look out for. And I don't see where you're getting that intrinsic data. It just feels like Red Bull, the senior team at Helmut Marco Christian Horwell specifically,

are just the Max Verstappan fan club. It's just like Max Verstappan propaganda. Everything they could do to make it sound like no one else gets anything. praise apart from Max Verstappen. And it's a bit tiring. It's a bit boring to listen to now. You've got two great teams. I think Red Bulls line up now is the strongest

Rebel's line up has ever been in terms of the Junior team and the senior team. I think Yuki and Pierre in the junior team are a fantastic lineup, one of the best, if you can carry on these performances. And they should deserve the praise that they get. We don't need to compare Max Verstappen all the time to people inside and outside of that team. Helmut Marco is a delusional, silly old man.

I'm not getting invited to only rebel events at the moment because I've said that. But he is. He's a Muppet. He's a Muppet. He's a Muppet. Do you reckon the reason that he wins so many Driver of the Day awards is because Helmut is literally there like voting, like phone, like a conveyor belt kind of thing. He's bought one of those Chinese like farms that you can buy, which are illegal.

And he's gone $1 million for you all to vote Max for Staff and Drive the Day. Yeah, I mean, we can't confirm it, but it's probably true. Harry, what are your thoughts on Helmut Marco's latest comments? I mean, first of all, what is the point? What are you gaining from saying this? Who's gaining out of this exchange of words? And unfortunately, it's like really low on the list of annoying slash mean slash stupid things that Hamer Marco said, unfortunately,

because we all remember Corona Camp. Yeah, I don't see, I don't get what he's trying to prove by saying this. And as Sam said, it's kind of like the Max Verstappan fan club, which we've seen, you know, they've had to bring in Perez from outside the Rebel program. It's not serving them that well. We know Max is a terrific driver, but it's not encouraging or helping their other driver in the team to be any good. And Daniel Riccala left because he saw the writing was on the wall.

And I think increasingly so, we're seeing that Ricardo was right to do that. So, yeah, I don't know, maybe Gansley's offended him. I don't know, didn't turn up to his birthday party. I have no idea what he's going against Gatsley. But yeah, especially considering how well Gatsday has recovered. If Gadsden had gone back to Alvartari and has been doing rubbish, then I'd get it. But I wouldn't get it. But I don't understand more than that.

other than now because Cassie's doing a terrific job. So, yeah, don't understand. It's a weird, weird obsession they have with Max. Say he does leave, what are they going to do then? He's going to, Helmut's going to be crying into his golden graham's. No idea what he's going to do. Come back, Alex. I'm sorry.

Come back, Daniel and Alex. Yeah, that'll be the team. Hello, is that David Coulthard? Should we drive? You know he would. DC would come back. Yeah. You just know, like, in 30 years time,

Alfatari's still going to exist, and they're going to have fired their 126 driver, and he's going to get on the phone. Daniel, yeah, am I up again? Yeah, come on. Daniel's there, like 50 years old, like, oh, yeah, but back on it. Yeah, I think Helmut Marco has actually done

what I like to refer to as a Harry Yead. in that he, I think he's actually right, but he's managed to find a way to be wrong even when he is right. That is very me. Because I don't, I don't necessarily think what he's saying is inconceivable. There's also, as you say, Sam, absolutely no way to prove it one way or the other. But, you know, theoretically, if he was in the Alpha Tauri, is a two and a half temp's gap with the stab and a head?

is that unfeasible? Not really. You know, it could well have gone down that way. But the problem is you've got no way of proving it. And secondly, to Harry's point, why are you saying it? It doesn't benefit anyone in this situation whatsoever. And bear in mind that, you know, two and a half tense gap between Gasley and Bastapen. If that was the case when they were teammates at Red Bull, Red Bull would have been pretty happy with that. I don't even think it's that much of an insult to say that Gazley would finish two and a half terms behind Vastappen in a qualifying effort, because, to be honest, I don't think many drivers could do that. So even though I don't actually think the statement is in itself all that insulting, you still don't want to hear as a racing driver,

nice job, but that guy would have beaten you, regardless of whether it's one tenth, two tenths, or a full second. Yeah, to go back to what you said, Harry, you know, Max Vastappen is the only one who even slightly theoretically would benefit from this. And he isn't going to care, is he? Like, he's not going to build Vestappen's confidence to hear those words. And he's not in need of his confidence being built whatsoever, particularly with comments like this. So it doesn't really benefit Vastappen, him saying this.

It definitely doesn't benefit Pierre Gassley because, well, I mean, he's hearing that another driver would comfortably beat him. So why are you making the statement? Who are you serving here? the only thing you're serving to do is create an even greater wedge between Pierre Gasly and the full Red Bull team and you're ruining any chance of him being in that seat in the future really. I mean, at the moment, Perez and Vestappen, obviously Perez is a bit of an unknown at the

moment. He's only done one race at the team. Vistappen, of course, has been there for a while and continues to do a great job. But because of Albin's poor performances since he went into the role and because of Sino, odors in experience, you would have to say that Pierre Gazley is currently in that third driver role, even if he isn't officially there. You know, he's probably the third best driver at the moment in that team, in that program, I should say. So if something does happen to Perez or Vastappen, then he might be the one to step up. So why are you driving a wedge between

that guy? He's one of your drivers. You're not supposed to put that. This really shouldn't have to be said. You don't put down your own drivers. Come on. I mean, for me, this is just giving Gasly more reason to leave. And, you know, hopefully for their sake, it works out with Perez, but I'm sure Ghazli, if he does move away and they find that doesn't work out, if Verstappen moves to Mercedes or something ridiculous like that, you could imagine that Gasly's going to be sat there with a bit of a smirk on his face. Do you think that Gazley needs to get out of the programme, Sam? Yeah, I don't see how he fits in.

I think as much as you're right, and I think that Gazley is probably the third best driver in the programme. I think he is better currently than Albin. Albin obviously now losing experience having not been in the sport at all. Perez is still getting up to speed with things, but overall I think he's probably still a more consistent driver

across the season than Gasly, give it another couple of years, that will most likely change. But for now, Gasoli is kind of a big asset for Redbourne. They really take that for granted. And for me, Gatsley has every ability to be a top driver.

I don't know if he'll be a world champion. But I think Yuki Sunoda is definitely the favorite for them. You know, if anything were to go wrong, I think they'd take another punt on a youngster and put Yuki in a couple of years' time. So it makes sense for Gassley to think, my chances are up, I'm filling a seat,

it's not going anywhere. Alpha Tari will never be a championship winning team. That's just the way it is. The chances are incredibly unlikely that that's ever going to happen. So if Gazzley's in with any chance of being a regular race winner, regular podium sitter, if he wants to fight with the big boys, he's not going to get a permanent chance at Red Bull. And why would he want that chance anyway?

They've been nothing but horrible and miserable with him. Constant digs, constant slander, constant shucking his name around in the press. If you've watched Drive to Survive, you see that clip of Gassley in the car where they talk about how Alba was being treated. Oh, we're supporting him. You know, we're all behind him. And he literally turns around and goes, oh, F off are they? and he's shocked at that that behaviour as he knows it's not true

Gassi doesn't want to be there Gassi is there because currently he knows it keeps him in Formula One and he's proving himself to be a great driver. The moment Alonso or Ocon or something like that goes, he'll move into Alpine to make that French connection with a youngster from F2 maybe.

That feels like where he's destined to go. I think he'd be a good asset for a very strong team and give it a couple of seasons I think he'll be there. I reckon by the end of 2022 I'd be shocked if he's still at Alford Towery. Why would you want to stay? What do you reckon, Harry, do you think that Gassley needs to move on?

Yeah, I agree with Sam. I think it's if Alfordari for Gassley now is just a just a proving ground to show off his skills, isn't it? And it's a decent little car. Don't get me wrong, but yeah, I don't see why A, I don't see why he'd want to go back to Red Bull, to be honest. I know for all these reasons could be a race-winning team.

but that environment, as proved by this comment by Marco, that it's not healthy. Let me rephrase, why do you want to go back to Red Bull while Vostappen's there? If that changes, then maybe he would. So that makes that decision trickier. But I think, you know, Vostappen is unlikely to go anywhere else anytime soon. So, yeah, I think it's got to move elsewhere. Go to Alpine once.

Alonza retires or if they get rid of Valkon. Yeah, he just needs to. get out that. It's like a toxic relationship, isn't it? You need to break up and move on. Because I think even if Vazap and did leave Red Bull and there was a seat free, I think there's a good chance Gatsley could get it,

but I wouldn't put it against Red Bull to make the wrong decision again and put the younger driver in. So, yeah, I think it's, I think he needs to go. I think one more year at Alphatari and hopefully it opens up at Alpine for Gassie, because, as we've seen for signs, it's worked out well.

I know he's at Ferrari, which isn't necessarily the best move at the moment, but his career has gone on an upward trajectory since he left the Red Bull program. So it can be done. So I think it'll be the right move for Gasly. Yeah, I think, you know, comments like what Marco said, because this isn't an isolated incident in terms of comments like this towards Pierre Gasly. I think it just proves the point that,

they don't see him having a long-term future in the in the red ball program um in which case you know if they don't see that then then really what what are they doing from galsley's perspective i can understand why he would want to stay there as long as he needs to in order to up his reputation ultimately if you look at where he was midway through the 2019 season would you you know, his reputation, his prestige in the sport was fairly low after what happened at Red Bull. And you have to say if he left the program at that time, who would have realistically taken him up? It would have been a punt for a team to do so, hoping that he'd turn it around. Now he's had the opportunity to show that he can turn it around, thanks to his last 18 months or two years almost now.

He's been able to show it. And now there are other teams that theoretically, if a space opened up, they really should go for him if he's available. So it has been, as you say, a proving ground. And he should continue to use that until the seat comes up. You know, we've seen with the likes of Esteban Ockon taking a year out, Alex Albin now taking a year out for Red Bull. It's far better to have a seat in F1 than it is not to have a seat in F1. Even if that isn't your intended goal or your intended destination,

it's still a proving ground. You can still show what you can do week in, week out. Albin and Ocom was last year, they're just sat on the sidelines and watching other people essentially overtake them and being able to show what they can do. So Gazli should just milk Calcuttaire for what it's worth and just completely use them to the point where a seat at,

I think Alpine is probably the number one destination, but if somewhere else comes available as well, just keep using it until that comes around. But in terms of a long-term future, I don't think Red Bulls see it happening, regardless of how well he performs. at Alphatari. I think he could go out there

and have a great season again and I'm pretty sure he will. I don't think it will matter at all to them. Hear me out on this one. Landon or Orestanga Ricardo stick it out at McLaren they do really well.

Botass gets booting out for Russell. Hamilton retires. Gassley and the Mercedes next to Russell sounds quite spicy, I think. There's your video title

right there. Gassley for Mercedes? I'd love see it, that'd be spicy. I think that'll be a pretty great partnership. If he carries on the form that he's got now, of course, that is if he continues that trajectory that he is on. Because he's doing brilliantly.

He's one of my drivers of the grid at the moment in terms of the best ability. I mean, I would like that to happen just for if there was a moment where Gazley won the title and he could just like, from the podium, just like wave down to helmet, like Hello.

I'd love him to drive past Max and wave out the copy. it like, oh, I've overtaking you again. In fairness, if Gassley did that to Marco, I'm not entirely sure it would be a hand wave that he would get. All right, let's move on to Toto Wolf. Big Tots as we like to, as we like to call him all this. We always call him that, right? He blesses the reins across the Serengeti.

He does. He does. Thank you, Toto, for your service to F1 and indeed. lead Africa. But anyway, there is a point in this. Toto Wolf has made some comments. And he believes that there is bias against Mercedes following some of the rule changes that have happened over the last few years.

So most notably, I guess, would be the aerodynamic changes that have come into force this year. Das, that was obviously stripped away this year. And remember, special qualifying modes no longer exist. They tended to help Mercedes. a lot. So do you think that there is a bias when it comes to stopping Mercedes, Sam? Yeah, I mean, I get it. I get that there is a bias. But at the same time, it's not personal. I know that sounds weird, but like I don't think this is direct specifically at Mercedes.

I think if it was any team at the top, let's say, harsh, or all of a sudden, the best team in the world and dig it for four years straight, the FIA and Liberty of the Stewards would start. being like, how do we make cars worse? Because the rest of the field just can't seem to do it. Put matterping in both cars and then you'll get there. And I think what's happened here is, sorry, folks. Can't have two eggs in a car. I mean, you get six and a carting, so they've got backups. Sorry, you can't get two eggs in a car.

It's my favorite quote ever. Brilliant. Oh, it's good to be back this week. Um, honestly, what are we doing it? Um, I've lost all trade of thought. Right, the same is you to take it in a compliment. He says, he's like, no, we can't take more than one, I'm only one goes in the car.

You can't put more than two. Right. The saying you should take it as a compliment. And as much as I would like to see, um, the rest of the grid, deliver their car, develop it, spend the money. They don't have as much money. They don't have as much money. don't have as much time. Regulations are changing in the long term.

If you're exciting close racing, unfortunately, the easier way of doing things is to penalise the top rather than dragging up the other nine teams to get there. I think we'll see that even more so the next couple of years with the fact we've had the engine freeze, of course. We've got the new ground-based aerodynamics coming in for the 2022 car, which I am stoked for. Stokes, it's not a word I use often, folks. I'm a very, very white man. but increasingly excited. Honestly, yeah, it sucks from Mercedes, but I walk close racing.

So either the rest of the grid gets good now, or we have to stop Mercedes being as good, which is a shame. And they're still proving they can be on top, even with the difficulties, which makes them even better, in my opinion. But, yeah, yeah, the big film either have to do more or the FIA have to stop Mercedes doing more

and bringing the field together. So I get it. It's the lesser evil. what do you reckon harry do you think that there is some sort of bias against mercedes i think bias is a strong word by big totes as i'd like to call him um yeah i mean mercedes are clearly they've been the fastest car for forever it seems like now but you know for the entirety of the hybrid era um maybe this year is the first time they're not but they're still won the first race.

It's not, this isn't the first time it's happened. It happened to Ferrari when they were dominating. There were rules brought in there to stop them. You know, we had 2005, we literally weren't allowed to change ties in a race, and that was all basically to stop Ferrari from winning. And it worked. We had a renner winning. Go back to the 90s, you've got what's called active suspension that was banned,

because Williams were just smashing everyone by back to you. seconds. So it's happened before and it's the duty of the FIA F1 etc to make it a close sport because we we respect and admire what Mercedes have done and continue to do. But as Sam said, we want close racing much more than just respecting how well Mercedes are good at being an F1 team. So, yeah, I think, you know, I can see where TOTA's coming from. It just seems like they're being targeted. But it's because they've won every championship since 2014. So it was going to happen.

And they keep being very clever with DOS, etc. So, yeah, he's right. I guess it is biased, but it's not because everyone hates Mercedes. It's because F1 needs to be close to sport. So, yeah, sorry, Big Tote's. but it was it was bound to happen. This is what happens when harsh suck, Toad's. Yeah.

The FIA need to make them better. Blame Gunther. No, don't blame Gunther. No. Don't do that. But yeah. Sorry, Toto, but you're still winning. So what does it matter?

We took away your rear downforce. You still won. So, who cares? Who cares? I love that as a summary. Yeah. I think Toto Wolf has definitely got a point here. I would echo what you two have said, though,

in that this isn't picking on Mercedes specifically because they are Mercedes. This is picking on Mercedes because they are first. And regardless of which team it was that was first, they would be making these same changes rightly or wrongly, regardless of what team that is. And I think the couple of examples that you brought up there, Harry is spot on, that it has happened over the last few decades. for different teams that were dominating at their respective times.

So this isn't new, but yes, I would argue that at least a couple of the changes that have happened in the last few years have been primarily brought in to stop Mercedes, at least as a secondary reason, but I think in a few cases the primary reason. You know, DAS, I think DAS was an incredible bit of technical innovation that they brought to the table. stopping that. I think that, yeah, I think that is very much based at Mercedes because they work within the confines of the rules.

So they had to move the goalposts in order to appease the other teams apparently. The quality modes that they used to use so effectively, they were stripped away. My view is that use everything you have at your disposal in a qualifying lap, use whatever

engine mode you like. And I think they should have kept it. And I think the reason they took it away was because, again, Mercedes were dominating with it. The aerodynamic changes this year is like a third example. I think that one is perhaps the one I wouldn't necessarily agree with quite as much. I don't think that one was necessarily brought in to stop Mercedes, but could be wrong on that one.

What I would say, I think this is a slightly wider debate about what role the FIA plays in terms of parity and in terms of allowing the sport to be, I don't say a fair, but an equal sport, because, you know, do we want to achieve parity? Is that what we want? And then secondly, how do we want to achieve that? And, you know, it's my view that the FIA shouldn't necessarily play the role of pegging teams back. I don't think it should be their responsibility personally. And I think it's the responsibility of the other teams to catch up.

I think the FIA, it's their prerogative to create an even playing field to an extent in terms of financial fairness. You know, we've seen Mercedes and Ferrari just constantly outspend everyone else. Of course, they're going to beat them every year. Well, at least Mercedes will. Come on, Ferrari. Yeah, I don't necessarily think, from a regulation standpoint, it is the FIA's job. to allow the other teams to catch up. Formula One is really unique in terms of sport.

I'd say motorsport is very unique in terms of overall sport because if you look at other sports, the games, they don't really change much. You know, there are occasionally these rule changes, but football is essentially now what it was decades ago. Yes, the games evolved, but they've evolved within the confines of what the overarching game is. Formula One changes.

You know, what makes a good team and what, you know, the tires, everything, everything on the car. The regulations change so much that it is really a moving goalpost. And the FIA have control over changing the sport so frequently and by as much as what they do. So, you know, I think there is a responsibility on them to make sure that they're not unfair on certain teams. And I think Toto, I think he's got a point here. But I would agree with what you said that I don't think this is personal towards Mercedes specifically because of who they are rather than where they are. Should we move on to Ferrari and McLaren because they enjoyed a good little duel in Bahrain and it leads to the question whether this will continue on for the rest of the season or not? So, Harry, do you think that Ferrari versus McLaren is something we haven't seen the last of?

Well, I sincerely hope so. it's nice to see that battle reignited. It's a different context as to what we used to, I guess. And it's little strange because McLaren have had to crawl the way back from the back of the grid, effectively.

Ferrari were at the front and they've fallen down a bit, so they've kind of met almost in the middle. But it's great. And I think, you know, a sign of thing to come. It would be great if it's also, you know, next year onwards it's for a win. for podiums, etc. Man who's to say,

it would be some podiums this year, but yeah, McLaren versus Ferrari just sounds right, doesn't it? It sounds like, it's like throw Williams into the mix. All sounds good, sounds right.

So, yeah, it'll be good to see those two great teams actually battling for some decent positions for once. Yeah, looking forward to it. And I think, you know, the mix of those four drivers,

Norris Ricardo, Leclair, signs, there's going to be some tasty battles I anticipate this year. So, yeah, looking forward to that one, I think it's going to be nice. Yeah, a lot of history in this battle. Obviously, most of that history comes from a bit further up the grid, but they still both theoretically have a chance to finish at the top of the midfield. So, Sam, do you think that this will continue on for the rest of the year?

I hope so. I mean, we'll always love the midfield. The big field always generates absolute banter. when it comes to action on the grid. It always gets left in a bit of a sour taste in my mouth at the moment though because as I've just described

it's in the midfield. They're fighting to be top of the midfield. I want Ferrari McLaren battling it out, last lap. You know, who's going to take that victory? Where is Ferrari versus McLaren go back to? Oh, is that Glock?

Hamilton, Massa. What an incredible moment in history that was. That's Ferrari. That's McLaren. That is an incredible moment in time. And I want Ferrari Maclaren doing that again. I want them up there with the Sages. I want them up there a Red Bull. As Harry said, Williams be up there as well. All the teams

up there, that's what we want. We want that close racing. We want seven different winners in seven different races. It can happen. It has happened. I want it again. So, yes, they will be great to watch. Yes, their lineups are spectacular. Some of the strongest that we've seen for a long time in Formula One. But I can't help but be slightly disappointed that the chances are they can be be fighting for third or fourth place in the constructors. And they are leaps and bounds away from Red Bull and the Sengis in first and second. It's a little bit sad.

So it's going to be great to watch. I'm going to love watching it. I'm just a bit gutting. It isn't for the very tough spot with a few other teams around them. Yeah, I think there's a lot of interesting duels between the four drivers here that are on the cards.

And I wouldn't be surprised if this does continue on for the rest of the year. For me, Leclair and Ricardo, you've got there, I think, two of the best four drivers in Formula One alongside Vestappen and Hamilton. So you've got the quarter. quality, no doubt about that.

You know, Lando Norris, I think he is where one of my predictions preseason is that he's going to really have a great year and he's going to improve further. And I still believe that to be the case. And Carlos Seins, I think his first race at Ferrari gave me a lot of optimism that he might be closer to LeCler than I thought he might be. Because even though he did lose out in both qualifying and the race, he was certainly not a mile behind. And as, you know, Vettel really proved last year, keeping up with LeCard,

is no mean feat. So it was great to see signs, at least within that same sort of bracket as Leclair in just his first race at the team. So I think all four of these guys have something to bring to the table and they can battle, you know, between the four of them. And, you know, I mean, according to Drive to Survive, Norris versus Science is the biggest rivalry on the grid. So I'm looking forward to those two.

Those two locking horns throughout the year, you know, could get very nasty. But yeah. And, you know, based on my predictions as well, I've got Ferrari and McLaren sort of finishing next to each other in the championship. So I wouldn't be surprised if this does continue on for the rest of the year. And I think probably what's most encouraging for Ferrari here is that what happened at Bahrain, because of course, McLaren beat Ferrari at Bahrain. Norris finished ahead of Leclair and Ricardo finished ahead of signs.

But the good news is that it happened at. Bahrain, a circuit that is very reliant on top speed, which we know was a massive flaw of Ferrari last season. I think that would give them confidence going into some of these next few races, particularly Imala coming up, that Ferrari can actually get the better of McLaren. So I think it was really, I think it was encouraging for both teams what they saw in Bahrain. From Ferrari's perspective, remember where they were last time we were in Bahrain in 2020? I mean, I think, I can't confirm this, but I think at one point they were actually going backwards down the main straight.

They were that slow. I've heard the rumours. I'm pretty sure I remember Charles Leclair breaking into turn one and two minutes later, he was actually alongside Jack Aitken's crash like half a mile back. So you tell me if he was going

backwards or not. And it was great to see them be competitive this time around. So, yeah, I think this is a battle that will continue on for the year. Yeah, like you say, Sam, would have been great if it was for race wins and such and maybe we'll get there in the future. But for now, I'm happy to at least see those two teams close to each other on track.

All right. Here we go. It's the big one. F1 higher, F1 lower. Is F1 higher? Is F1 lower? Is Sam faster? Is Harry slower? F1 higher? F1 lower. F1. Okay, so we have not played this one in quite a while. So it's a fairly simple concept. I will give a category. I'll say a number of something.

It will become clear very soon. And you have to say whether it's higher or lower. There was a famous card game, Bruce Forsy've hosted it. I hate Bruce Forsy. Wow. He's dead, man. He can't hate it, then. There's a lot of people that are dead, but I hate.

Yeah, but for valid reasons, not Bruce. For reasons that should be really obvious, we're going to move on from people that we hate that are dead. We'll go on to H. So here's what I've got for you this time around. I'm going to say a year, and I'm going to say a driver. So let's take 2018 Lewis Hamilton as an example.

and then I'll give another one. And you'll have to say whether they finished higher or lower in the championship. So, for example, with... Please give me talking 18, Lewis Hamilton. You're not going to get 2018, but using that as the example, Lewis Hamilton, of course, finished first in 2018. Really? He doesn't really...

He did, yeah. Yeah. Thanks to Vessel and his spinning top. But yeah, regardless of what I said, let's just say, you know, Rio Haryanto, in whenever he was around. You would obviously say lower in the championship. So that's how this will work. It's getting easy.

We encourage, yeah, they might be a bit harder than that. They're the only option. Just to put that disclaimer in that. Yeah. As ever, definitely play along at home, see if you can beat these two guys. I'm sure you can give them a run for the money. We haven't got. Harry, do you want to go first this week, Harry?

Yeah, go on in. Do you want set A or set B? Set A, please. Oh, math class. Terrible choice. Okay, here we go. So we're going to start with 2015 Daniel Ricardo. Any idea where he might have finished?

It was pretty low. Red Bull in 2015, it's rubbish. Seventh. No, he finished eighth, so it's a pretty good guess. So 8th, Daniel Ricardo, 2015, higher or lower, will start with 2004. or Jensen Button. Jensen Button was higher. He was higher.

He was higher. Had a great year. He finished third that year. Should also say at this point, you'll be very glad to know that none of these exit the 21st century. So you don't need historical knowledge for this one. Hallelujah. Sam, I've never seen you look so happy.

I'm still going to get the second one wrong. All right. Good first one, Harry. So 2004, Jensen Button, he finished third. Higher or lower? 2013 Nico Rosberg Oh

Shablam Shablam Shablam I'm going to go for lower He was lower He finished 6th in 2013

What Yeah, two wins Yeah It was all fairly close The Mercedes The Mercedes was pretty good In qualifying them But they didn't quite

Didn't quite get the race pace Until the next year Classic Mercedes They found it. They found it. Oh, I sit in the glove box. There it is. Bono on me piece. Hold on the glove box.

All right. 2013 Nika Rosberg P6. Higher or lower, 2005, Mark Weber. You can't see this, but Harry's face there was pure agony. It shouldn't have been because he's dead right. on that one. P-10 for Mark Weather in 2005. Moving on to 2017, Kevin Magnuson.

Oh, lower than that 10th place. Sorry, is that an actual question? Lower? Lower? P-14. I can remember if it was... I thought. I could remember it 18 or 17. They had a good car. There must be 18.

Yeah, it was... Yeah, the following year, they were all right. So P-14 for Kevin Magnuson in 2017. Higher or lower, Adrian Suttle in 2009. Oh, my God. That is a tough one. I'll go for higher. It's not a higher.

P-17. He didn't have a great year. That is a subtle loss. It's a pretty good effort, though. You've got four, right? just to run you had another two to go so

Sutil 17th in 2009 higher or lower Kazuki Nakachima the legend 2008 at Williams He didn't he crappier didn't they I go higher though

He was higher just about 16th and then 2017 Fernando Alonzo higher or lower than 16 Oh Retire.

Yeah, lower? It was just higher, 15th. It wasn't a good year, but it was just about better than that. That's upsetting, isn't it? Four correct. Four correct for Mr. Reed. So, Sam, do you want set B or set B? I'll say B, please, Ben.

Good choice, good choice. We're going to start with 2003 Giancarlo Fizichella, Do you know where he might have finished? Sorry, I'm just defending it. Some thin air over here. I'm going to say that he finished in ninth place. He was a little worse off. He was 12th.

Oh, that's not too bad. Yeah. He managed to do the incredible thing of win a race in a season, still finish 12. That's impressive. I'm busy. Yeah. That's actually, I don't remember if it was today or yesterday

that we had the anniversary of that Brazilian Grand Prix win that he had. but yeah, 12th place for Physickella that year. So first one, higher or lower. 2018, Nico Holcomberg. I'm going to say higher. Higher is correct. You haven't fallen at the first hurdle. Yes!

It was a good year for Renault. He was seventh place that year. I forgot what team he was with, so that tells you a lot about my knowledge. All right. 2018, Nico Holcombberg. place, higher or lower, the wall, Vitaly Petrov, 2010. Oh, he is the devil.

I would say, he's not. He looks like it. Well, you can't call him the devil anymore because he's giving you that one right. He was lower. He was 13th place. Come on. Higher or lower, 2007, Heakey Kovalainen. Baby face.

You just don't know, no. He was 2007. Ooh, can'ta. I guess he was higher. He was higher at a good year just before he went to Macca. He finished seventh place that year. Higher or lower than seventh place, 2016 Max Verstappen.

Oh, that was the year he moved to Red Bull, wasn't it? 2016. I'm going to say higher. Was higher, which pulls your level with the amount that Harry got right.

That's fine. I'm all right with that. Yeah, I'm achieving, everyone. He was fifth that year. What? Good job, Max.

So higher or lower than fifth place, 2001, Rubens Barichello. Oh, cry for me, Rubens. Well, is it going to be a trick question? There's a lot of...

Right, hold on, everyone. Schumacher, Hakenen, the legend that is David Cautard. I'm going to say it was higher than fifth. It was higher than fifth. Well done. He was third that year behind the legend, D.C., and, of course, Schumacher, who won the championship.

So, yeah, that's your fifth. one right, you've got another two to go to complete the set. Oh my God. Third place, 2001, Ruben Sparacallo, higher or lower, 2006, Kimmy Reichenham. Oh, this was the year before he won the championship, because he won that in 2007, and the final race. Folks, I know that because there's a top ten title decided to sign a figure that I put out about a month ago from there, watch it.

Plug. Plug, please go watch. I'm going to say that he finished. Oh, this is so difficult. This is so difficult. Third place, right? Yeah, I'll know the third. I'm going to say it was higher.

Oh, unlucky. It wasn't a great year for Maca in 06. He finished fifth, but not quite as good as the year. Did Mr. Chunky beat him? No, Mr. Chunky was like, now I'm out of here. see you let, lads. Oh, we went to America, didn't he? It was not bad enough of this F1 stuff.

The land does the good food. How wonder he got chunky. Um, and so you do win some. Well done. Yes, I won something. The last one in the set was going to be 2006, Kimi Rikin, fifth place, higher or lower,

2008, Nick Hydefeld. Oh, quick Nick. I'm going to say it was lower. It was lower. It was a quick year for Quick Nick, but not quick enough to get fifth. He got six. Averagely fast. Oh, go, Quick Nick. Oh, we do love Quentin.

That's been F1 higher and lower. It's F1 higher, is F1 lower? Is Sam faster? Is Harry slower? F1 higher, F1 lower. F1 If you care about the Nick games that I have for drivers

maybe we'll do a full video of it because there's someone for everyone There are no bounds to Sam's mind I can confirm that to be the case Al-a-Swaringan Al-Gaswarii that's a good one Don't blame me Don't blame me

We'll get onto it another video folks, you'll hear it, let's go It's a bit silly Just a bit I think before we get any more ridiculous, if that is indeed possible, we might as well get out of here for this one. So Sam, if you wouldn't mind, do any on us. Folks, you've heard me triumph today.

It's something that is something of a rarity. So consider subscribing, because it might happen again, and you'll be here to hear it. Also, F1 Susan's big gang, it was absolute cracker. We're hoping some more crackers, just like Christmas. The F1 season is much like Christmas, so subscribe. You'll get Christmas every weekend. A late break.

Yay. Stick around for us on content. We love it. It's over on YouTube as well. Over on Twitter at Elbreaking. Please stick around for the rest of the season. We absolutely love it. In the meantime, I've been Sammy Save.

I've been Ben Hawking. I've been Harry Ead. And remember, keep breaking like. Oh, my God. This podcast is part of the Sports Social Podcast Network.