The Late Braking F1 Podcast - Should Leclerc and Sainz stay at Ferrari beyond 2024?

Episode Date: November 8, 2023

Following a tricky season for Ferrari, Ben & Sam discuss what their driver pairing should look to set up for beyond 2024 when their current contracts expire. They also discuss Haas' bid to review the US GP over track limits, Norris' claim that the end of stints is the main reason for McLaren's lack of pace vs Red Bull, and Interlagos' contract extension to 2030. They finish with a brand new game of F1: Fact or Crap.. 🌎Get Exclusive NordVPN deal here ↣ https://nordvpn.com/lbf1 It’s risk-free with Nord’s 30-day money back guarantee! 👍 FOLLOW us on socials! You can find us on YouTube, Instagram, X (Twitter) and TikTok SUPPORT our Patreon for bonus episodes JOIN our Discord community JOIN our F1 Fantasy League BUY our Merch EMAIL us at [e-mail]   & SUBSCRIBE to our podcast! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Hello and a very warm welcome to the late breaking F1 podcast presented by Sam Sage and me, Ben Hocking. No race coming up this weekend, which feels a weird thing to say after a triple header, but Sam, the marketing effort for Las Vegas. is already in full swing. Oh, I'm asking me, I'm a little bit relieved that there's no race for one weekend. On a triple header,

especially with the times, it's so hard being a European fan in racing when they're all in the Americas. It makes life so difficult, but, you know, the devil works hard, but the Las Vegas F1 Grand Prix marketers, they doth work harder. I've never seen such efforts

put behind advertising one thing. We brought this up on the Brazil review show that the podium hadn't even happened yet on, you know, the actual race. And if you went onto their Instagram, they had uploaded an F1 story on their Instagram, and it was advertising the Las Vegas Grand Prix. We hadn't actually even finished the event we were currently at, and they were like, it's next. Las Vegas is coming.

So I imagine it's going to be for long, you know, balls to the walls, Las Vegas. Indeed, it will. I mean, this is a very visual reference. but a bit of devastating news before we start with our normal proceedings. I brought up a, I brought up a Tukin bar to eat before we started recording and I've forgotten to. Tukemeat.

I'm devastated. The Audi's version of a Penguin bar, but here we are. Right. What have we got coming up? We've got a new game coming up as our last topic today. So I'll leave the suspense until a little bit later on. Indeed. The Brazilian Grand Prix has renewed its contract until 2030, so our reaction to that news,

Lando Norris and his theory as to why McLaren are struggling versus Red Bull, a bit on Hass and their review of the United States Grand Prix. You might be thinking, that happened a few weeks ago. It doesn't matter for Hass, but we're going to start with Ferrari contracts. Now, we know Carlos Sines and Charles Clar are both out of contract at the end of 2024, but the question now turns to, what are they going to both do and what are Ferrari going to do? There have been a few rumours recently that Charles LeClerc might now be in contract negotiation with the team, but nothing really substantiated by anyone at this point.

So we'll start with Leclair and we'll look at signs just after that. From LeCleur's perspective, Sam, what's the play? What does he do here? Well, before we dive into the specifics of be the driver, my first pet peeve when it comes to driving negotiations, especially with these top-end drivers, you know, the ones that we consider permanent drivers, they're not at risk of losing their seat, they're not a risk of being booting out the sport, is they often have such a rush to seem, seemingly to solidify what their next contract looks like. And it's not just for, you know, a one-year extension a lot of the time. A lot of time, we're seeing it more and more frequently now. You're, you know, we joke about the likes of

Eskaban-Ockong, Pierre Gasby, Norris, who have these contracts extended until I'm 87 years old. And remember, I'm only seven now. So that is a. very long time that they've decided to be at that one team. And they seem to give no thought to the fact of, I'm quite good at my job, I'm quite good at driving, I'm quite good at the F1. You can wait. You can give it a, you know, a few months and chill out. They're not going to replace you at Suntaneously.

Charles LeCleur, the Ferrari are not going to go, sort of signing a contract by December of the year before, we're going to replace your sunshine. Ferrari won't do it. The only good, consistent thing they have in their roster at Ferrari are their drivers. It's the only thing that continuously performs for them. And Charle of Claire is a talent for a long time to come. We're getting on to Science, so don't worry, folks, if you're a science fan. But Charlotte Clare is a generational talent.

He's probably slightly unfortunate that Max Verstappen has appeared on the bloody stage at exactly the same time as him, because realistically, he probably has the ability to be a multi-time world champion, but he's fighting against the perfect partnership of Red Bull and Max Verstappen. So he doesn't need to rush this decision to start with. He does not need to sign a contract. In November 2023, as we record this, when he's got another whole season left. For me, if I'm Joel, Clair, this is what I do.

I tell Big Frilly Vass verbally, I'm happy, but I want to start seeing X, Y, and Z, and I'm not going to be signing a contract until summer, 2024. And then you get the chance to evaluate the card. Then you understand what the potential of the team is moving forward. And if we're taking Skeps closer, if we're growing, if we're moving on from the weakness is that Ferrari have displayed time and time again over the last couple of years, because Charlerclair would be a man in demand. On the flip side for Charlerclair, the difficult thing for him is if he doesn't resign for Ferrari,

where is it that he goes? Look at the viable options. McLaren, the first one is a viable option, a possibility. Well, Piazcri and Norris are going to be there for the long haul. We know that they're a foundation that is locked in. They're not going anywhere anytime soon unless Norris makes some kind of shock move somewhere else. Red Bull. Shell LeCler is more than good enough to drive

Exa Max for Stappen at Red Bull, and it'll be a great line-up if they got them both, but realistically, if you're Shell-Lacl, do you want to be Max Verstappen's teammate? Do you want to play second fiddle? I think that Vastappen would beat Shell-Laclure would they be in the same machinery. So does that seem like the regional option?

Not really. Mercedes is another option? Well, is it no, because George Russell and Lewis Hamilton are actually two of the only drivers really on the whole grid whose contracts don't expire in 2024. so that seat isn't going anywhere either. And Askin Martin comes the other one. Well, Fernando Alonkso, we know we'll get the Askin Martin seat whether he walks it or not because he is the goat.

And Lance Strull physically could not lose the seat if he tried. If he threw it off of a bridge, the water underneath would somehow bring it straight back to his front door and go express delivery. You're Askin Martin's seat, Scalia, and Lawrence would wrap it up in a nice bow, I'm sure. So out of all the options available, it would, yeah, like a holy... Here it is, Lance. you shouldn't have thrown that away, mate. I'll give it to you for another year. So realistically, out of all the good seats that are properly viable,

that can I get you podiums or race wings in the near future, there aren't really any available for him as it is. So this is why I say to him, you need to play a little bit of hard ball and make sure that you're getting the car that you want to get. But at the same time, Freddie Vass and his team are not idiots and they go forward that they'll look around the rest of the paddock. They'll look at the options available

and go, where is you going to go? Audi, maybe, if they come up with something brilliant and they want a shock line up, they have to promise him something good. The other option being, it's a huge risk. Ferrari are not guaranteed, as we know, to be successful, but they're surely closer than Audi are at the moment. And the other option, if it even comes close to happening,

is Andretti. And they're not even guaranteed to coming. And that might be an even bigger risk than Audi because they even got a team that they're moving into staff. So as much as it pains me, and as much as we're going to release free LeCler merch in time for Christmas, I can't see him viably being anywhere else. But I will still play hardball. I will still take my time. I will still make sure that the car that's being built lives up to standard. And it puts a little bit of pressure on those, on those engineers and mechanics

and scientists to work out what's wrong and to deliver something that you can win races in. But I think Charlotte-Cle is a bit of a secret romantic. I think he's so in love with the maring and the Ferrari Red and the Tofosi, that I think they could be eighth or night to the championship, and I think he'd skill want to live out his days there. So for me, if I'm LeClaire, I'm signing, but I'm going to wait until at least three May, June time next year.

Yeah, I wholeheartedly agree with the argument that drivers, particularly great drivers, are too hasty in putting these contract negotiations together to put these contract extensions together. there isn't a lot of sense to this. And my assessment on Charles LeCler's situation is that he should wait this out. And I think he should wait longer than May or June. I think he should wait until the summer break really at a minimum because I don't see what Ferrari are going to do otherwise.

Charles LeClaire's next contract, regardless of whether it's at Ferrari or whether it's somewhere else, whether it's short term, long term. I think it's an important one. I think it's a really important one because we are starting to get to the point now. where 2024, the end, the 2024 will be Charles LeClau's seventh season in F1. Like he's not, he's not a rookie anymore. He's not been here a couple of years, seven years next year. And you start to look at some of his peers.

What did Max Vestappen do in his seventh year? He won the title. That was his first title year of 2021. So suddenly you have this comparison with Charles LeClau, who probably believes rightly or wrongly, that he is in the same category as Vestan, and should be having the same success as Vostappen, he can look at him and say, well, my 2024 is the equivalent of his 2021.

And if I'm not achieving the same result as him in that year, which is incredibly likely, he's behind. And it's not just Max Vastappen. If you look at Lewis Hamilton after seven years, he'd already won a title, and he was on the precipice of a second and third very soon after that. Fernando Alonzo had already won two championships by the end of year five. So suddenly, Charlotte Club will think, well, look at all of those names and think, I belong in that group. But when you're able to tally up what he's actually achieved, it's not going to stack up at the end of seven years, more than likely.

So I think it's important that he gets the next one right. What has he got to show for the last six years? Five wins, which I don't want to diminish it as a failure because it's absolutely not that, but versus his potential, it could and should. have been a lot more than five wins. I think perhaps the biggest evidence of this is we played F1 back and forth last week on the Brazil preview. And the question was, name the top 19 drivers in terms of race wins who haven't gone on to win a championship.

I believe Harry's first answer was Charles LeClerc. And it's understandable because you think of Charles, and do you think he will definitely be on that list? He wasn't. he hasn't had enough wins to get on that list. The likes of Perez and Bottas and Ricardo all have. Leclair hasn't. He might have a lot of poll positions to his name.

He might have a good number of podiums, but five wins in the space of six years is not what he will feel his potential is deserving of. And I think you're right as well, that he is a hopeless romantic. Is that how you put it? Yes, yeah. It might be the right phrase,

because I think he is along that line. It's understandable. Nearly all of these drivers will have grown up looking at Ferrari, looking at the iconic heritage, and wanting to drive and wanting to win for them. That's completely understandable. And if you look at, let's say, the last 20 years, let's just say this century,

how many drivers have left Ferrari, as in they have made the decision? They've left Ferrari for a better career elsewhere. Alonzo, and it didn't work. That's it. I cannot think of a second name. We've had drivers leave Ferrari, but I don't think he,

I'm not sure he's leaving for a better opportunity. I think he might have been pushed a little bit. Yeah, yeah, fair. I, you know, and there have been other instances where drivers have left, but in most instances, I don't think it's on their own decision

to go and achieve something better elsewhere. And so it is difficult. It is difficult. And I would absolutely take it down to the wire. I know you went through all of the different teams that may not present an opportunity right now. It does often take just one random thing to happen and then suddenly the entire market does open up.

It is weird that way. All it takes is Daniel Ricardo unexpectedly signing for Renault or Sebastian Vettel unexpectedly announcing his retirement. It can often be just one thing that can take a seemingly boring market and completely turn it on its head. So I think it does make sense for LeClau just to hold out to see if something like that does happen. And I don't think the Red Bull play is a mad one.

If you're Red Bull, I think you consider that. Depending on how Perez does next year and how Ricardo does next year, I think they would ideally like to hire internally. but also if LeClau's there doing a great job and is interested, I think at the very least you think about it and you probably do a bit more than that. What about Science?

Yeah, Science is a bit of a different question, a different force and this might be slightly insulting to Science here because in all tense of purposes, he's having a pretty good season for how average the car has been. He's outscoring Charlotte Clerk, Now, let's not act like a gang, that's all on absolutely pure pace. He's, he's hang on maybe a slightly more fortunate season in terms of reliability, in terms of DNFs that have been caused and did not start,

as we know that Lecleras adds to and a disqualification, which Science hasn't had. But on the other side, Syntz is also the only race winner of a main feature race that isn't Max Verstappin or Sergio Perez, of course, Piastrian winning the sprint race. So, you know, he's doing his own bit. And now, I think as teammates, they're won all, right? LeCleur's won a season, Sykes has won a season.

And the first time that Sites won the season and the first season that they were together, it was impressive. But again, the same scenario took place where LeCleur had an unfortunate few rounds that brought the points to be a lot closer than actually, I think they probably would have been had they finished the same amount of races.

So with Sites, I don't think he has the same ceiling that Lecler has. I think LeCleur's ceiling is a couple of stories. stories higher than what Science is. And that's not to say that Carlos Science is not a fantastic Formula One driver because he has pulled out some stellar performances over the last two or three seasons with Ferrari. But I do think that with Carlos Science, Ferrari is the best it's going to get. And I think that if LeCler is uning and Raring, if LeCleur has got other options, if LeCler could go to Red Bulls, we just discussed, then science needs to embed himself as the Ferrari

man. He needs to embed himself. as the man they can look to, the guy that's going to be with them for years to come, and the guy who could develop them long term and be a solid state for Ferrari. Now, being what I just say, as it may, again, I don't believe that that means that Carlos Sainz should be signing on the dotted line

right this very second. But I do think he needs to be very witty and very wily, a bit of a wily fox of what LeClaire is doing, what the market is doing. And I think he needs to make sure that Inns could go, negotiations, he is on either an equal footing to LeCler or he gets in the door first and goes, I want to be the focus of this team.

It's not just Charles LeCler. I am important. I'm here for the long term. But I like Sainz, unlike LeCler, sorry, who I do think has got just a bit more in terms of potential. I don't think Carlos Sites could be a world champion, for example. I just think he could be a multi-race winner, whereas I think LeCler could be a world champ. I think science is stability. He's moved around quite a bit over the last few years.

obviously to Orosso to Renault, to McLaren, to Ferrari. He needs to make sure that he's got a bit of a home and he's not going to be seeing as a team jumper, you know, one to another. And I don't think science is at the point in his career yet where he needs a project where he needs to go and sit in an Audi car or an Andretti car in the last four or five years of his career. So for me, it's more likely that science should just pick up the pen and sign a Ferrari. But that doesn't mean he needs to rush that decision.

Yeah. Yeah, I would agree with that. And I think to your point as well, Carlos Sines, the way I've always seen Sines versus LeClerler is, the better the car is, the bigger the gap between LeClair and Sines becomes. In that whenever they have a midfield car, there isn't too much to separate.

But as we saw with the beginning of last season, as soon as that Ferrari was race-winning potential, that's where LeCler separated himself from Sines. And I think until Sines gets back in that sort of a seat and proves that's no longer the case, there will always be those question marks on, okay, in a good car, signs is good. Is Sines great in a great car? And I don't think he's quite shown that yet. But equally, he does have an impressive record that I think he's going to be valuable to Ferrari

and indeed anyone else he goes to. Bear in mind that at the end of this season and taking on board your points about, sometimes the points don't tell the full story, there is a good chance at the end of this year he will be able to say across the last five years he has partnered Lando Norris for two years and Charles LeCler for three years and he's four and one against them collectively.

That's pretty good. That is a good thing told you hat on. And yeah, there might be mitigating circumstances about Norris not being as good as he is now and Leclair having bad luck in their first year at Ferrari together. but the records will say that, and that's something good that he can hold his hat on. I think, given his eight,

I mean, he's 29 years old now. He'll be 30 when we get to the end of next season. It becomes a little bit more important, I think, for signs to make the right decision. And I agree. I think if he is able to embed himself at Ferrari, that would make a lot of sense. What works really well in signs's favor

and indeed LeClau's favor is that with Ferrari, there just isn't any sort of succession plan, at least as far as I can see, are not an immediate succession plan. But you know that if, let's say over the summer break, over the winter break, sorry,

let's say Perez announces a shock retirement. They have Ricardo good to go. They could put Sonoda in the car. They could put Lawson in the car. They could put another driver outside of the system who'd probably jump at the opportunity to get in there. If, let's reverse that and say, shock,

Charles Clair has announced his retirement over the winter, who gets in that seat? Like, who jumps in that seat? Is it Antonio Giovanni? Is it, do they try and get one of the Alpine drivers away? Do they go with Olli Baerman as a massive risk? Do they go with Bottas or Holkenberg as having that experience in one of the other Ferrari-powered engines? You might think some of these suggestions are crazy, but equally, it might need to be a crazy suggestion because there isn't an obvious one. there. I don't know what you think. I think it might be Giovannazzi if they needed someone straight away. I actually would take a risk

on a junior, I go Schwarzen-M or Behrman, and that is a silly risk. Yeah. But I think Fari will have to concede that it's either someone who we know isn't good enough for Formula One, which I would rather have someone who's got untapped potential. But me, I think we've said this before. I'd rather the raw speed and the mistakes rather than no speed and consistency, because I'd rather have, you know, three races out of six, you crash, but the other three, you're second or winning, than a guy who can be fifth every single time. I'd rather nurture someone at that point.

But you're right, I think the succession at Ferrari is non-existent. Giovanni, for me, is not a viable option. You have to go for a junior. And that is a massive scare if, like you said, even if Carlos Sikes goes, I'm starting with Audi, I'm 30, I want one team that I could build until the end of my career. This is who it's going to be. and they go, ah, bugger, who we put in that car?

What do we do now? Northern Ferrari. Exactly, yeah. No, it would be really difficult. And yeah, I just think that they are in, contract negotiations are as much about what you would leave behind as what you bring to the table. We've caught a lot of signs like he brings a good amount to the table

and that will help him in his negotiations. But what I think will help him more is turning around and saying, okay, if I leave, what have you got left? Because it's not a lot. It's a bad hand if you're Ferrari, so I think that's going to help him out. We will take our first quick break. On the other side, we're going to be discussing HASS and their review into the United States GP. See you in a minute.

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We are recording on a Wednesday evening, folks. They decided to postpone it to tomorrow. So we don't know exactly what the FIA are going to say. Hasse themselves have obviously been summoned as a result of raising the issue in the first place, but representatives from Red Bull, Williams and Aston Martin will also be there. The main purpose of this from Hass's perspective is that they are calling into question Alex Albin, who finished P9 in the Grand Prix. He was initially investigated for track limits at turn 6 at Cota. The stewards decided not to do anything with this based on a lack of evidence.

Hass believed they have some more evidence that has come to light that is going to help them make a decision. Of course, this is relevant for Hass because Nika Holkenberg finished that race in 11th and only three seconds behind Alex Albin, who finished ninth. Now, obviously, the main penalty for track limits is five seconds. So that is going to benefit Hasse by giving them one solitary point. Do you think they have a case here, Sam? Honestly, when I first heard the story, I thought Hars were that slow, that they're going to just cross the finish line.

And that's why they are asking for some kind of review, not the fact that we're, what, two and a half weeks gone now from the US Grand Prix, three weeks? Yeah, the rules allow you to do it. So currently, I think fair. Hars have done the right thing. And I respect the Beg, Borough and Steal approach at every turn to get yourself World Championship points, especially when a team like Alpha Tauri have turned up in the last three races

and suddenly become a regular point scoring team. You know, Harts ship, literal rocket ships. Hars want money. They want to, you know, to go ahead and. wing championship money. They want places in the championship. They don't want to be fighting for last. And there is a risk that they could be very much finishing in last place if things don't go to plan. So whilst it's within the rules, fair enough. Get yourself that extra point. If they feel the evidence they've got is completely viable and fair. Now, from the FIA's

point of view, from F1's point of view, I think this is incredibly silly, absolutely ridiculous, rambunctious behaviour to be able to review a sporting event and potentially change the results three weeks after it's happened and then delay it. You've delayed it, which is even more funny. Realistically, this is the wrong way of handling things when you are trying to encourage new fans into the sport. You're trying to educate fans on how the sport works. You're trying to make the sport accessible and exciting

and in the moment and produce moments that are, memorable. I'll tell you what isn't memorable. Changing ninth place to 11th and elevating 11th to 10th on paper three weeks after the race and then announcing it on Twitter and hoping that everyone sees it and understands. Because even us...

They will. Oh, I can't wait for Brad Pitt to star in that one as Steve Sunday. But honestly... Joe Bach. Honestly, how is this a viable option? I'm going to take English. English football, soccer, as an example here, because they are currently going through a crisis

with the VAR, which is a form of refereeing that is done by the computer, much like how we record trap limits, right? It's done by cameras and by computers, and it's not doing very well. The reputation is very bad. But when a mistake is made and it's brought to like after a match, they don't alter everything because there's so many other circumstances that could depend on that. They issue an apology, they do extra training, they go away and learn and they try and improve the system. If we change the result, this, you know, post race, this far ahead, what's to say that, you know, they have gone, well, if you could give an album of the penalty at the time, we've told Albon that he needs to drive faster, or we have used Logan Sargent to back up the

house behind him to create more of a gap. And our entire race would have changed based on this five-second penalty that we don't have. So it's not fair either. And we thought we were in the rules because you said we were on the rules the first time. And I do think that William to have a very fair case to go, well, we got told we also got a penalty and we're responding appropriately. Why is it now, suddenly, against the law? You're the appropriators of the rules

and the holes of the race. It should be up to you if something has been broken or not. We're up to Hars, two weeks later. So whilst again, within the rules, hars have every right to do it, and I believe they're going after the points, and that's fine. I do think this is a very silly concept,

a very silly way of appropriating the rules. And I just think that realistically, it makes a bit of a mockery, of the sport. Ben, what are your thoughts? Yeah, it's difficult to say whether they have a case or not, because we don't exactly know what the evidence is that Hasse are presenting here. It's always the case with these rights to review where they have to present something that wasn't available to the stewards at the time, and it's got to be unique, it's got to be something that is uncovered that separates it

from what has already been presented. This might just be hash trying their luck. They might have actually stumbled across something that makes a lot of sense. It's difficult to say. But I agree with your point there in that no one wants this. And I'm not talking about this incident specifically. I'm just talking about it generally where the whole point of sport is that you can live moments, right? You can live as they're happening. And it's what VAR, as you've referenced has taken away to an extent where you've got crowds of fans, not 100% sure if they should celebrate based on it might be being stripped away because of a dodgy call. And it's the same with any other sport, really.

And we don't want things to be decided in a courtroom on Twitter, in a steward's inquiry, weeks after event. We want to see it happen live. We want to be able to react live. And that's ultimately why sport exists. So I'm not necessarily saying that if some injustice has happened, it should be completely ignored. But I'm far more of the mindset that it's learning for next time rather than changing results retrospectively. If the stewards have missed something here, let's work on why have they missed it and make sure it's fixed.

That's what I'm concerned about rather than we need to change this result. because who cares? Who honestly cares? And this is over one point. This isn't even over a championship. We've got the same situation going on with Felipe Massa in the 2008 championship at the moment. Let's say that goes MASS's way.

Let's say Masa is officially the champion. No one was able to enjoy it at the time. Nobody's going to have wild off-the-cuff celebrations about it when it comes through. for Felipe Massa, fair enough. I'm not even saying it's the right or wrong decision, but it can't be enjoyed. It's a lot of the time with college football is another sport as well.

You get, I don't know, whole season stricken off the record for things that happened years ago. Okay, again, I'm not saying that they shouldn't be punished for it, but also everyone enjoyed it in the moment. you can't strip away those memories if that championship no longer exists let's say for example and we'll use a live example

we went to the United States Grand Prix if you didn't hear folks we enjoyed it all let's say this investigation actually means that the whole race is rendered obsolete and there are no points given will that affect our enjoyment

of the event in any way no because we still loved it and lived it as it happened So I, yeah, I don't know what they're going to present here. And I don't even think Williams is their target. I guess indirectly it is. But what they're looking at is Alpha Romeo. Because I think even if Hasse doubled the number of points that they've got,

they're not catching up to Williams. So I don't think it's necessarily Williams that they're looking at here in taking points away from them. I think they're looking to bolster their own tally with Alpha Romeo four points ahead of them and thinking maybe we can get something in the last two races. Maybe, hey, maybe Las Vegas is the one because I tell you what, if they are able to overheat their tires at Las Vegas, I will be impressed.

I know they've managed it everywhere else this year. But if they're able to in eight degree temperatures still overheat their tires, they might as well just fold as a team at that point. One thing that really is concerning me about this whole conversation, which you kind of raising your point just then is that Hars have got some kind of magic data that is completely new to the race stewards and to the race director.

How many other rule breaks are we seeing that the race stewards and the adjudicators are not able to measure, but somehow the teams are. And that worries me that there are, having multiple track extensions across the season or seasons or people are getting away with things because they know it's not being tracked. I just don't understand how,

the team can have data on a different team that is arguably confidential that the race stewards can't have or don't have access to. That confuses me, worries me a little bit. I'm interested to know how that's occurred. Definitely. Right. I'll tell you what, before we go to our next break,

F1 Fantasy. There you go, Beef. I've remembered. I've remembered for you. Yes. I'm not sure she'll be happy about me remembering it actually because beef has actually stopped saying where she is now because it's just not going

very well. Bottom beef. Bottom beef. I think Harry might be safe. But what's happening elsewhere? We've got a new leader. Time to call Jean is now lead. Hass are winning something.

Not in the courtroom, not on the track, but they're winning in our F1 Fantasy League, which is the only place that matters. 6,231 points to time to call Jean. The winner for the week, so the winner for the Brazilian Grand Prix was Grizzly Racing, so congratulations to you with 467 points. And then the three of us. So if you were paying attention in our preview for Brazil, you'll know myself and Sam were separated by just one position.

It's extended out a little bit, but boy, it's still. be nervous times. It'd be close. It'd still be very close. I'm 115th. Sam is 124th, so now nine positions and just 29 points separating the two of us.

Harry's 264th, so he's well out of it. Who cares about that guy? It's close. It is close. I've also throwing out all the tactics for the last two Grand Prix being. I've been checking the teams, I've been keeping up to date.

I'm actually trying, usually at this point, I'll have thrown the team in the Bing and I've just settled for whatever I was getting, but I did not expect such a meteorite rise. You can remember, I was only about 20 points of places away from Harry about 10 races ago, so I'm coming for your butt. Nah, I'm all right. I am going to hack Sam's laptop and I am going to copy Sam's team exactly. So there is no way he can get a better score than me. It's a great tactic, to be fair. All right. We'll We'll ignore the fact that I definitely don't have the technical expertise to even think about doing that. But I'm going to go with that as an option.

Right. We'll take our next short break. On the other side, we're going to be discussing Lando Norris and McLaren. Hack the holidays with the PC Holiday Insiders Report. Try this PC porquetta. Crackling, craveworthy. You're going to eat that? Who are you? I'm the voice for the next ad. Car commercial. But I noticed that show-stopping roast and... Help yourself. Mmm. Designed for indulgence. Precision crafted to navigate every corner of my mouth, all for just $18.

Okay, okay. Try the season's hottest flavors from the PC Holiday Insiders Report. Please feast responsibly. Whether it's a pair of running shoes or a new car. You check how well something performs before you buy it. Why should investing be any different? At Fidelity, we get that performance matters most. With sound financial advice and quality investment products,

we're here to help with accelerating your dreams. chat with your advisor or visit fidelity.ca.ca slash performance to learn more. Commissions fees and expenses may apply. Read the funds or ETFs prospectus before investing. Funds and ETFs are not guaranteed. Their values change and past performance may not be repeated. Okay, moving on to Lando Norris and McLaren. He had some comments following the Brazilian Grand Prix,

reflecting on his second place finish. He's now had six second place finishes in the last 11 Grand Prix. he's got more than everyone else put together in that stretch, which surely a wins around the corner for him. Anyway, what he was saying was, it was similar to what we saw yesterday in the sprint regarding his overall performance. He thinks he's not far behind for the first 10, 15, 17 laps

versus Max Verstappen, but in the final phase of a stint, he just drops off a bit too much. He said, I don't know if it's just that we're a bit slower and I'm pushing a bit more to try to keep up and then I pay the price, or it's just a little bit of our tire degradation is not quite as good,

and we suffer in the slow speed. What are your thoughts, Sam? Why do you think this is? And should this be McLaren's, I don't know, focus in terms of catching up to Red Bull? Firstly, I want to give my excuses to Landon Norris, because I think this is absolutely fantastic analysis. He is exactly right,

that this is where McLaren are seemingly struggling against Red Bull, who are, I think they're close. competitors, usually weeking, week out. That is, even if you think to the Brazilian Grand Prix, Landon Norris was maybe between two and four seconds of Max Verstappen for a good 15, 16 laps, and then it got to the pit window, which I think was around lap 24, 25.

And the gap had suddenly opened up to maybe eight or nine seconds, so it's more than doubled in half the laps. And it's just that he is right either. Red Bull are just kind of on their tide, and the car is overall fast because the Max Verstappen doesn't have to push to the point, where the tires wear off, he's able to save the tires a little bit more, meaning that he can be more consistent on pace. Or the exact opposite is happening where McLaren chews through its tires at the end of

skinks and landing horse is trying to compensate for the slight lack of pace at the McLaren. It does clearly have. The car clearly isn't as quick naturally as the Red Bull. And so he's trying to overdrive the car, meaning that when the tires do get to that fine margin area where it's kind of, you know, you're driving around on essentially completely warm rubber slicks, you know, as they almost roll right down to, Max Verstappen's still got tread on his tyres and he's able to pull away comfortably. It's almost like it's a waiting game.

He's kind of holding him at arm's reach. Landon Norris in the boxing ring has tied himself out, and Max Verstappen are going for the big swing because Norris is out of breath. And I think he's absolutely hit the nail on the head. Now, in terms of focus for McLaren, I really think that this is an area that so many teams are struggling with, and that is understanding the Pirelli rubber and how that is working.

And you know, you can list the teams quite comfortably. Ferrari have no idea how to keep those ties working over long term. Masei in Brazil alone have said that the tyres are of black magic and they don't know out what the perfect operating window is. And if they can't get the ties, they even get close to the window they need, they rapidly decline in pace. Hars have absolutely chewed through their ties time and time and time again this season. And they're not the only ones.

There are other examples that could be seen very, very clearly. McLaren believe that they're adding to that list. So they are a group of teams that once they do crack the Pirelli code, much like the Da Vinci code, I'm sure that you'll have to go to Rome, fight a monk. And then I imagine once you do talk to the guy that plays Woody Tom Hanks with long hair, then you'll understand what Porelli really means to drive around the track. Then they might be able to fight Red Bull. But I think that McLaren understand their weaknesses.

think that they've built out their internal team well enough that they've got experts in the right places. And we've seen their meteoric rise. That doesn't come out of luck. They understand where they're going and they understand what the problems are. So I think Norris is bang on with that analytic, which is fantastic to see from a driver that he's so aware of that. And at the same time, it's a tough fix because you're essentially trying to counteract a product that you don't make yourself. So it's very difficult to sit there and work on it over time and sculpt it and change it. But that is where they need to nail it. And once they nail the tyres,

then they can work on the key areas of the car that is entirely themselves. So, you know, straight-line speed was a problem for them at the start of the year. That's now, I think, of the past. I imagine that it's actually through the corners that Red Bull are so much faster. Traction zones, especially,

seems to be where they have a very key advantage. So I think not... That was incredible. It's incredible how they can pull out through those slower corners. So I imagine, again, that's part of the tyres and how downfalls works. that Norris knows where the weaknesses are

and that tells me that the team back at Woking know exactly what their weaknesses are which allows me to think that there's a bit of hope there that they're developing a car that counteracts those weaknesses going into 2024. It feels very sound as a foundation. I'm just hoping they can actually bring it from theory into practice

and we see that kind of shown and displayed in the 2024 season. Yeah, I tend to think that everyone and everything in the world, has weaknesses. And the successes in life come from those who are able to acknowledge them and work on them. Those who pretend they don't exist or don't go looking for them, they're the ones that struggle. So in that respect, I am actually encouraged by this, because I agree with you. I think Landon Norris is correct in his assessment of what's going on here. It certainly wasn't just the

Brazilian Grand Prix where we've seen McClaren tail off just a little bit. It's not even that much, but tail off a little bit towards the end of stints, which is causing their competitiveness to struggle. I think it is difficult to tell. Is it because of the fundamental differences between the cars, or is it because of the positions that they're forced into in that Vestappen has clean air and doesn't have to worry about cars in front of him?

Lando Norris needs to worry about keeping up with Vestappen and running in dirty air. What are the differences, what is causing, the difference in tyre where it can be difficult to assess. I think Vastappan right now is in a very, I was going to say a very privileged position, but that's probably not the right word because that makes it sound like it's not his own doing,

because it is his own doing. But he's putting himself in the privileged position where he doesn't have to beat other drivers. He races to beat himself almost. He races to beat the clock. He will run every single Grand Prix, or nearly every single Grand Prix, with the idea of,

What is the fastest time I can get to the check and flag? Now, other drivers aren't as fortunate to be in that position. There's a reason that you go for undercuts, laps before you'd actually ideally once come into the pits because track position becomes important in beating your rivals. Vestappen's in such a position where his advantage means he's going to beat them anyway. So it doesn't really matter. He doesn't have to respond to other drivers and their strategic calls.

He can run his own race. It's a very good position to be in. and it makes the likes of tire wear very difficult, sorry, very easy to manage. Also, track limits is another good example. You remember the Qatar Grand Prix where so many drivers struggled with track limits. One driver who didn't struggle at all,

Max Verstappen. Why? Because he was able to run his own Grand Prix at the front and leave a percentage point or two off, knowing that he'd be able to get away with not committing any tie. any track limit violations. So Vastappan is in a very good spot, basically.

And it would be really interesting to see, actually. I don't think the other teams need to catch up all that much to at least give Red Bull something to think about. I think there's a difference between Red Bull winning Grand Prix and Red Bull winning Grand Prix, but at least having to make strategic compromise. in order to get that done. If Lando Norris and McLaren can even get a little bit closer to the point where

undercuts become a possibility, or at least the threat of the undercut becomes a possibility, suddenly Red Bull have to adapt. They have to come up with more strategies than what they're doing at the moment. They have to apply more strategies than they do at the moment. So yes, I think it is a weakness. I think it is something that they should predominantly work on throughout the winter break. And maybe, maybe they can at least give Vastap and some headaches going into next year. It's always tough to tell, even with not much changing regulation-wise,

where the teams will stack up next year. But if it is at least a little bit closer, I think that gives them someone to think about. Let's have a look at Interlagos, because the circuit was actually under threat a couple of years ago, if you remember, there was a lot of talk about a race in Rio replacing the Sao Paulo Grand Prix. That seemed that completely subsided. And now Interlagos has extended its contract until 2030. That news came out over the weekend. So we've got at least another seven years of Interlagos, Sam.

I'm assuming you think this is good. I mean, in terms of just the pure racing and the racetrack, I think it's absolutely fantastic. We are in a world where street races and new circuits and new countries are coming to Formula One and removing historic, essentially historic racing, I would argue that Interlagos now qualifies as one of those more historic classic tracks. I mean, it's been on there significantly less time than Silverstone, Monsa Spa. But I think it's up there now with those tracks. And I'm glad it's staying because whilst we didn't have an absolute classic,

an absolute banner in the 2023 Brazilian Grand Prix, I do feel like nine times at a 10, it delivers something. He even still delivered something on that race, right? We've got the brilliant moment between Perez and Alonso up to the line. And whilst the race wasn't super thrilling, that was still a historic moment. We still loved that. And so it would be a shame to see Interlagos disappear from the calendar.

Now, what concerns me about Interlagos, again, as I've mentioned, is not the track itself, it's not the racing. It's the management. It's the understanding of facilities. It's the funding. And it's the way. that that facility is being run as a whole. You know, we've seen

footage of the roof coming off of the grandstand that fans are sitting in. We've seen fans jumping over the fences around the track and invading the track perimeter. That is incredibly dangerous. It's so worrying that that was able to happen. You don't see it anywhere else really happening, not on a

regular basis. I think the last time I can remember track in Vegas was Silverstone where the just-stop oil protesters got onto the track and before that, then I can't remember either. So I want to make sure that Brazil, Interlagos, look after Formula One, but also they make sure that the people are safe, that the finance is assorted, and that it is a completely sound area for Grand Prix to take place moving forward. So, love that it's here. I just want to make sure that the support

is given to Interlagos to build it into a really safe structure that's going to be around for a very long time and everyone can be safe and happy and they're doing so. Yeah, I fundamentally think that this is a good thing for F1 because, I mean, ignore the pedestrian race that we had this time out. Because more often than not, let's say 90% of the time, it does deliver at least a good race, if not a great race. And I'm sure Brazil and these Sao Paulo Grand Prix organizers probably aren't delighted that on the weekend where they put together this announcement that the track will be sticking around for another seven years delivered not a. classic. But overall, it is absolutely a good thing for F1. One thing I absolutely love about the track

is the passion of the Brazilian fans, which is all the more remarkable when you consider the lack of success and the lack of drivers that Brazil have had in recent times, at least versus what was the case many years ago. It was always sort of the case that there would be at least one great Brazilian driver on the grid, really dating back to the the early 1970s when this race was originated. This race has been around since, I believe, 1973. Emerson Fittipaldi was one of the first great Brazilian drivers. And then as soon as he started to go off into his later years and have less success, that's where Nelson Piquet came along. And then of course, Et and Sena came along. So you've kind of got Fittipaldi to Sena.

You've got 20 years of consistent success. And then, of course, the likes of Felipe Massa, Rubens Barracello, followed on very soon after that. You consistently had a great Brazilian driver for decades at a time. But it's been a far more difficult time for Brazilian national drivers as of late. In that Felipe Massa has now been gone six years. He retired in 2017. Rubens Barakello was the last Brazilian driver to win a race, which was in 2009. it's been a long time.

It's nearly 15 years since the last time we had a Brazilian winner. And of course, 2008 was the last time, Felipe Massa, that we had a Brazilian contender for a world championship. Outside of Felipe Nasser in that time as well, that there has not been a massive influx of Brazilian drivers. And yet, the point being, their passion remains, even in spite of that,

we've seen other tracks, Germany, for example, that's really fallen off in terms of interest. And I think some of that is going to be related to a great German driver not necessarily being there, as has been the case in previous years. That hasn't been the case of Brazil. So I'm excited that it's sticking around. Sam, do you think that we should find a way to get this to be the finale once again? I would adore Brazil to be the finale. I don't want money to pay for a finale. I don't want fabricated drama that tries to make it exciting.

And you'll remember that when Abu Dhabi, Yas, Marina became the track at the end of the season, they tried to jazz it up with the double points phenomenon because they knew it wasn't going to, yeah, vomit-inducing quite literally. they knew it wasn't going to be as exciting as Brazil. So they tried to give it almost double jeopardy. They tried to fabricate something to make it more fun. Brazil is just great as a series finale. You know, you can name two or three occasions in the last decade

where it was thrilling at Brazil, where it was or could have been the title decided Grand Prix. So 100% bring it back. That passion you spoke about is always there. I do think Lewis Hamilton on the grid helps. of course, he has got adoptive nationality, you know, at Brazil, which I do think motivates them a little bit. But Brazilians are so full of passion, they're so full of love, they're so full of energy. And they showcase that with their joy for Formula One, the way that it was pouring down in that rain, in that storm, and they're out there waving their flags, having such a great time

on a qualifying day as well. It's not even for the race was absolutely fantastic. And that was in 2023 when the season is done and none of their possible drivers that even relate to Brazil are near the top. Yes, make it the finale. I think we can have an electric time at that race. Put Vegas in before it. Put Abu Dhabi in with the Migalisi Grand Prix along when we have the likes of Saudi and Bahrain. It doesn't need to have its own special spot at the end. Brazil for me is the natural conclusion to a Formula One season and I will always love it and think of it in that way. So if it's possible, do it.

But when money is money talks and money makes a very comprehensive argument for those that are very interested in it. So unfortunately, I can't see it coming back anytime soon. But in my world, I would love it to do so. So myself and Laura yesterday we're talking about cowpole.

I love cowpole. I used to drink it all the time as a kid. Now, I'm not quite sure where cowpole stretches two in the world. But cowpole, you might be thinking, oh, that's a nice drink. It's a medicine. By the way, I promise this will make sense in a bit. This isn't just a random story. We were talking about cowpole. And you know how like the first like under however many years old cowpole, like the purple, tasted great. Oh, really tasted great. And then you've got like the next one on from that, which is like for slightly older kids

and it tastes not as good, but it still tastes all right, but not quite as good as the first one. And then you get old enough and you start taking ibuprofen and paracetamol. Point being, Laura's theory about the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix is that with Formula One fans

having to deal with a couple of months of no F1 whatsoever, it's F1's way of weaning you off the season. in the same way you have that middle ground cowpole where it's still an F1 race, but also it eases you into the time where you won't have any races at all. Where if the Brazilian Grand Prix is the finale, it's such a massive come down from there. Now, do I subscribe to this theory? No, it's money, but I like the idea of it.

I'm not even necessarily tied to Brazil being the last race of the season, but it would be good to have something with a little bit more spice than Abu Dhabi. Not very spicy. As we might say. Absolute cormer of a race is Abu Dhabi. That's really got me. That's really tickle me.

Yeah, so I would love to see Brazil as the finale once again. I can't lie, but just anything that adds a little more. variety than Abi-Dabby. I really want some cowpull now. Yeah, I know, I know. We have thrilling conversations here in this household.

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that frees you from the mundane so you can focus on more meaningful work. Workday, moving business forever forward. Or crap. Get it out. Facts. Fact or crap. Fact or crap. Facts or crap. Okay, folks, if you are a Patreon subscriber on our top tier, thank you. If you're not, what are you doing? Harry's here. Just had to get a Harry reference in. If you are on that tier, you will have watched beer were breaking when we were in Austin. And we played a game called fact or crap, which is kind of, as you would, expect. There are some factual questions or non-factual questions. We have to tell whether they're real or not. So in the spirit, we've created a game called fact or crap, where we will say a few

opinions, not necessarily held by myself or Sam, and it will be our job to say whether they're fact or crap. You'll get the gist of it very soon. So here's one that I kind of already know the answer to this because I've seen a tweet from Mr. Sage, but I'm going to give him the opportunity to say it on the podcast anyway. Fernando Alonzo had his best race ever at the Brazilian Grand Prix last time out. Is that fact or crap, sir? That sir is a load of crap. Honestly, it is the biggest overreaction to a drive I've seen in a long time. It was a great drive from Fernando Alonso and he deserves praise for it. Did very, very, very, very good job. But to claim that Fernando Alonso, a two-time world champion that's been in the sport since 2001,

that drive to a third place against Sergio Perez, who was being in a flagging Reg Bull, is his best ever drive, is genuinely insulting. I could think of numerous Grand Prix that I think Fernando Alonkso has been bettering. 2012, Malaysia, same year for Valencia, 2001. He had a couple absolute banners, I think, either the Spanish Grand Prix or the Japanese Japanese Grand Prix was fantastic. The 2005 San Marino Grand Prix was phenomenal. You know, this man, I would argue,

has at least 10, if not 20 races better than that Grand Prix. I mean, Philando also is one of the greatest to ever do it, but to suggest that that Brazilian Grand Prix was the best he's ever had, go brush upon your history, sunshine. You're showing your rookie status. Yeah, it's difficult to disagree with that. I am also saying this is crap. It's not his best race ever.

I don't even know if it's his best race this season. Now, as a moment, it's definitely up there. As a one-on-one battle with Perez and in terms of pure entertainment, yeah, I'll listen to it. But best race ever, absolutely not. Imola O5 is actually the one that I immediately defaulted to, but I don't disagree with the other ones that you've listed there as well. I mean this with the greatest respect to Landstrol, who had a very good race at the Brazilian Grand Prix,

but you cannot convince me that someone's greatest ever drive when they're a two-time world champion, you can't convince me that their greatest race ever is where they finish six seconds clear of Landstrol. He's probably beaten Lance Stroll by 30 seconds, multiple dimes this year. I'm not buying it, so crap from me as well. Here's the next one.

An eighth place finish in the Constructors Championship would be a disappointment for Williams. Fact or crap? Oh, that's a good question. I think it would be a disappointment. And only because they had been through such hardship the last few years, right? They have been last several times over the last decade now.

and this feels like the first time that they have a car that is properly and regularly scoring points fighting in the midfield they are not the proper backmarker that we've seen over the last four or five seasons Alex Albonne deserves a lot more than the you know they have worked hard is my point for this position in the championship I think they would be very disappointed I don't think they admit it I think they say it's still good progress and it would be still good progress, but I do think that it would hurt them a little bit to get this close and to then let it slip away. So I think it's, did you say it would be a disappointment? It would be a disappointment. I think fact, it would be a disappointment.

I'm also saying fact on this. I think this is an instance where two things can be true in that has it been a step forward this season? Yes. Has it been encouraging this season? Yes. Would it be a disappointment? Yes, it would, because I think they do have the potential and should finish seventh. They're currently six or seven points clear of Al-Fatari, but as we've already mentioned, Al-Fatari have apparently developed a rocket ship in the second half of the season, and that lead is looking very precarious indeed,

particularly if Hasse come along and decide to take a point away from them as a result of this US GP review. Yeah, it would be a disappointment because we've seen what the car is capable of under Alex Albin. And quite honestly, it just hasn't been replicated on the other side of the garage. And it would be certainly

where they were mid-season. I think this would be a disappointment because I think Williams kind of peaked late summer, I would say, mid-to-late summer. And I don't think they've ever quite got back on that level again

in the later parts of this year. I know they picked up, at least at the moment, three points at the US Grand Prix, but a lot of that was things happening to weather driving. It wasn't, they weren't there on pure pace. Felt the last time. Yeah, it's, it's been a while.

So I think it would be a disappointment. So I'm going to go fact. And the last one, I've decided to just go full on crazy with this. Good. I can't wait for the comments. Max Verstappen is now a top five driver of all time. Fact or crap. I'd like to abstain from giving a fact or crap

and just... We don't do abstaining on fact or crap. That's the number one rule that I've just invented. It's either a fact or it's a crap. You don't get to say either way. Harry would hate this game. He would hate it. Oh, yeah.

I can't wait to play it with him. Yeah, it'd be like the toilet brush. That's got an option, Harry. Anyway, I'm going to come out to say early on that this is crap, but it's not the biggest crap in the world. You know, he is a three-time world champion. He has been incredibly dominant.

He has got the most race wins in the season. But I believe there are caveats to those records that are starting to get picked up. And I think that could be said with Lewis Hamilton as well, who also dominates a lot of records still. With the amount of races, the amount of laps that they lead, with the amount of points that we now have given out in the Grand Prix in comparison to historic moments,

I don't feel like these records alone just because they're being beaten, they're toppling quite quickly, can determine whether someone is a top five of all time or not. I think he's inside the top 10 now. I think that's a fair conversation. But do I think he beats out Schumacher yet? No. Do I think he beats out Fangio yet? No.

Do I think he beats out Hamilton? No. Senna? No. Prost. No. Clark. No.

you know, and then you get into to me the debatable. So, along so. Yeah, I'd listen to you. If you were going to put up an argument with that one, Vettel. Yeah, I'd listen to your conversation. But do I think he's comfortable inside that top five? Not yet. Cut the titles.

And he's well in that debate. But right now, I think it's crap. Yes, I'm also going crap. And I think it is a case of him continuing doing what he's doing for a couple more years. before he gets there. And I think he is knocking on the door. Don't get me wrong. I think it's close.

But yeah, just a couple more seasons worth. I actually agree with the list of names that you would put ahead of him. They are the same six names that I currently have ahead of him. And then I would put him in a debate for seventh with Jackie Stewart personally. At this point, I would say he's clear of Vettel

and I would say he's clear of Alonzo as well. Fair enough. But yeah, I think he's just, just a little bit short of, obviously, Schumacher and Hamilton have the titles, as does Fangio by a couple of titles on him at the moment. Senna and Prost have the advantage of having raced each other, so they've, they've raced against the teammate who is an all-time great. That really helps both of their cases, and we know how great Jim Clark was as well. So I think, I think Vestappen is knocking on that door. I'd just like to see it for a little bit longer.

but having said that, if you were to say to me, put together the best three-year stretch by a driver in F1 history, and you were to say Vastappen from 21 to 23? Maybe. I don't know. Like, it's up there. But obviously his career is longer than that, and we still need to see a bit more from him, I think. You've witnessed history, folks.

The first ever episode of fact or crap, you will work out whether we think it's fact or crap, depending on if there's another one that ever exists again. This is a one-time thing. You've enjoyed it. Let us know, folks. Is the game factually good? Or is it crap?

Spotify questions are just like, crap, crap, crap, crap, crap. Please don't leave reviews like that. Please, no. No. That was the first time we've ever done that segment. But I think we should do a segment that it's definitely not the first time that we've ever done. And in fact, I'm going to come out and say it.

It's the greatest segment in all of Formula One podcasting. It is the... LB Question of the Week. No, how are you? So I suggest it up. Yeah, no, that's fair. I appreciate that. Question of the week.

We put out the question. Name something that will happen before we hit 10K subscribers. on the old yubby T's YouTube for people who want our age. Do you want to kick us off with some? Yeah, can I just say that when we first started doing question of the week, we would get maybe 20 to 30 responses. We now clear over 100 to 150 every single time.

So love that you're getting involved. Absolutely love it. Keep turning up every single week because we love to hear it. And there'll be some great ones for this as well. So McKenzie on Instagram and Seg, one of you will get a bold prediction right. God forbid it's McKenzie, I hope that I get a bold prediction right before then.

That's ridiculous. That's ridiculous. That one is crap. And then MNL King on Instagram and Seg, Felipe Massa will win the 2008 World Championship, which I love to anyone else, you'll go, how does that work? But to a Formula One fan, it makes total sense,

which I absolutely love. Mika Hacking returns from the Sebastical. That's from CMB. Hang out, it's a classic joke. Coprolite Lando finally gets a win. I mean, who knows? It might have... Captain Moss says, have a baby.

I'd rather not think about that any time soon. I'm a big enough baby as it is. I don't disagree. What about yourself, Ben? Any favourites that are popping out to you? Yeah, I'll have a scroll through Twitter to see some answers on there. John Boy, all of the women Othma got pregnant,

will have given birth all nine months. of them. Playoff. A couple of Alpine responses that have always made me chuckle. Dan says, we'll find out what Alpine were so smug about

in preseason testing. We're still waiting. And Liam Baker saying that Alpine will complete their 100 race plan. This is a funny one based on what we were talking about then in Austin

from Taylor, which is Kimi Raikungeng enjoying and participating in an interview, which is funny when you hear about the interviews from that specific video, a bit of a inside joke.

There's many things that Kimmy Rykenen can do in that time, and I'm not going to name all of them. Master of the Sun says, 10,000, that's too many. It's actually not enough by a long way, so please subscribe. By the way, slow clap for everyone that said you'll reach 9,999 subscribers. Oh, oh. You thought you were original. There were like 10 of you said the same thing. You're so clever. That's how numbers work, in it? Oh, funny. Get a life.

Thank you for commenting. Yeah, also, you're thank you for the engagement for listening. We love you very much. Yeah, appreciate it. Landau Norris will win his first race. That's from Isaac on Twitter again. Ferrari will get a strategy right from Jorge on Twitter. Again, let's not be silly.

Like, let's act within the realms of realisticness. Yeah, come on. I mean, we had loads that were talking about Harry turning up to a certain a number of podcasts, which is ironic because he hadn't turned up to this one. Yeah. I love how a question to be it. It doesn't matter what the question is. It will somehow come back around on Harry.

Yeah. Yeah. There's also mentions of him cooking gammon as well, which again, I've never thought that Harry would be known as some form of gammon hero to the world, but he is. Final one, Amara said, Sam will on how to correctly pronounce John Pierre Jabui. I wrong you pronounce it correctly. I don't know what you're talking about. So really great answers.

Honestly, we could sit here for another 20 minutes, really going out because some of them made me laugh. But honestly, it will just be, you might get a bit bored. It might be a three-hour long podcast. I'm sure you've got better things to do with your life. Yeah, really appreciate all of the responses. As you've already mentioned, Sam, there are so many these days. So naturally we can only fit a certain percentage on the podcast,

but we do find all of them funny, even the ones that don't make it on air. And get ready for next week. might be a Las Vegas theme coming up for you. But we won't give any more spoilers other than that. Sam, would you mind getting us out of here? Yeah, if you could go and subscribe to Yub Tubbs. This video has been recorded and you don't understand how bad my internet is. I have to upload my footage all night long.

Thank you, Lionel Ritchie, to... No, Lyle. There he is, Lionel Benchi, to get this online. All right. I go through a lot of pain for you, for you. Anyway, please subscribe. Love you all. Please also leave a five-star review.

Harry's not here. You can write anything you want with it. Say, in your review, I love Sam and Ben. Let's play, where's Harry? And we can all search for him on a big map together. That sounds like a fun game. Like a game of risk, but we call it a game of Harry. Also, we're on social media, late-breaking F-1.

We're on X, formerly Twitter, whatever you're going to call it. We're on Instagram. We're on TikTok. Over a thousand followers on TikTok. We're doing it. We're down with the kids. We're down with the kids. Can't believe it.

Honestly, can't believe it. Thank you to everyone over there. That's growing faster than YouTube, which worries me greatly. Patreon's available. Links in the description, as is Discord on Patreon. Two extra episodes every month. Every episode that we do goes on there as well, add free. You get birthday shoutouts if it is your relevant month.

We're in the top tier. Beer with Breaking and Gaming Nights, which is happening tomorrow, Thursday, at 10pm GMT, Greenwich, meantime. And we'll be playing some former. one, open lobbies. So you can come and chat to us in the Discord and we just do some silly stuff and do some racing and have a laugh for an hour.

So, you know, you're still welcome to come and join over there as well if you get involved in the Patreon. Thanks for listening. We appreciate you. We're back on Sunday, as always, even though there's not a race. And then we're back again midweek afterwards for our Las Vegas preview. So why don't you put all your money on us delivering a stellar podcast on Sunday

because you're getting it all back. It's a sure thing. In the meantime, I've been Samuel Sage. And I've been Ben Hocking. Keep breaking late. Ooh, I love that. Podcast is part of the Sports Social Podcast Network.