The Late Braking F1 Podcast - Should we be worried about Williams yet?

Episode Date: February 5, 2026

The boys break down Williams’ livery launch and Vowles' response to missing testing. They also explore best- and worst-case scenarios for a handful of drivers, dig into the Horner and Alpine rumours, and finish with a special edition of a much loved game... Want more Late Braking? Support the show on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and get: Ad-free listening Full-length bonus episodes Power Rankings after every race Historical race reviews & more exclusive extras! Don't forget! You can also gift a Late Braking Patreon subscription—perfect for loved ones or your own wish list. Choose anything from 1 month up to a full year of top-notch F1 content: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/latebrakingf1/gift⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Connect with Late Braking: You can find us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠X (Twitter)⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Come hang out with us and thousands of fellow F1 fans in our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Discord⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ server and get involved in lively everyday & race weekend chats! Get in touch any time at [e-mail] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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CBC News. Thank you for listening to the late-breaking F-1 podcast. Make sure to check out new episodes every Wednesday and every Sunday. Welcome to the late-breaking F-1 podcast presented by Harry Ead, Sam Sage, and me, Ben Hocking. Back with another mid-week episode, the first mid-week episode of February. Can you believe it, there will be F-1 cars competitively going around tracks next month. But we've still got plenty of episodes between now and then Sam and we have something to live up to really.

With Sunday's intro, we had a message from our good friend Beef on Discord about this because Spotify and its automatic chapters always kicks up a few surprises. Sunday's intro was listed as hosts introduce the show and share a ridiculous toaster story. Was it wrong thing? Was it inaccurate? That's just the podcast right there in a sentence. Welcome to Formula One podcasting 101.

That's how we do it. Yeah, it's still not fixed. I've been making hot crossbungs in the air fryer for the last week. And let me tell you. They taste just good. The last week is Tuesday. This was Saturday. Is that how long it's big?

How many hot cross buns have you been having, man? Oh, the earth turns so slowly. But you know what? I'm excited. It's another show. Ben Hocking, Harry, because I live, breathe. It's good to have us back together on another podcast once again. Harry, excited. Excited, always. I'm excited, mate. We've got another car reveal. He's excited to get into that one.

And as you say, Ben, F1 is getting ever, ever nearer. And we might even be able to, like, watch the next bit that are on track action. I don't know. There's some rumours that maybe not. It won't be through a tree, but it'll be very much highlights. Through some sand. My favorite bit is the commentary, so I can't wait. That's a lie. As Harry mentions, we do have another, I say another car. It's not really another car. It's another livery to review a little bit later on in the show. But we're going to start with a bit of best case, worst case scenario for a few drivers

coming into this 2026 season. So we've picked out six drivers that maybe we haven't spoken about as much as some of the other drivers and teams to this point in the year. And we're just going to run through what we think is the best case scenario for this season. and then what's the worst case? What could possibly go wrong for them? So, Sam, kick us off and kick us off with Gabriel Bortoletto, please. Yeah, Gabriel Borteletto, previous F2 champion, of course, came into that rookie year with a lot of strong rookies

as that reigning champion went up against the likes of Hajjar, Berm and Sinelli, a lot of big games coming into the sport. And some would say that others have kicked on a little better than he has, which has been tricky because, of course, he was driving that sour-well, which is very much at the back of the grid for a lot of the season. So this year, as Audi, it's a real opportunity for him to demonstrate what maybe he's capable of doing and what we missed last season while Hajar and Antingali and the Mike were picking up podiums

and then we're being voted rookie at the season. Now, best case scenario, it does depend on how good the Audi actually is. But I think if we're being realistic about the situation, a podium at some point throughout the season would be a real joyous moment for him. It would be emulating what Holkenberg was able to do last season, of course, far more experienced. And I think overall across the season, if you can maybe out-qualify Holgerberg across the year,

even marginally, and they beat him very marginally on points, it shows that he is taking a solid step forward year-on-year against a very experienced, well-respected driver up and down the season. But worst-case scenario, if the Audi even still is that respectable, they have that mid-table, up a mid-table, who knows, then if he ends up being one of those drivers like he was last year that scored zero points alongside the likes of Colopinto and Jack Dewan, being the only other two, it's going to look like a real failure of a season,

especially if Holgerberg is able to basically do what he did last year and regularly find himself inside the top 10. So it could be a little bit of a make or break, but it does depend on how good the Audi is. And we know he's got a lot of raw talent there, so hopefully he's able to deliver. There is, I agree that there's a bit of a risk that he could fall behind some of his peers. And as you mentioned, he beat all of those names in F2.

and we just don't know what that Audi is going to be like this year. I tend to feel like it's not a massively important year, I don't think, for Bortoletto versus some other drivers. But with, and it's the same with a few drivers on the grid. It's almost like this season is going to tell us what the next few might look like. Because if that Audi comes out, the gates a bit slow, Bortoletto might be looking at the next few years, thinking, oh, have I picked the wrong horse here? But it could be the other way around.

We'll stay on that one. Harry, Liam Lawson. Liam Lawson, yes. Best case scenario for Liam Lawson this year is the racing balls is as good as it was last year. I think it's fair to say it was a pretty decent midfield car. I think it would be maybe unwise to expect much more than that. But it's as good as it was last year. Lawson has a great year.

He easily beats Limblad. He doesn't have this sort of up and down form that will be sort of. saw in 2025. And at the end of the year, it puts him in contention for a promotion elsewhere. I don't want to name Red Bull because I don't think it's going to happen. My only caveat was, I think it wouldn't have happened in the Christian Horn and Helmut Marco days.

We no longer are in those days. So it could, it could well be a promotion back to Red Bull. I still think unlikely. The other one I had listed was somewhere like Alpine, which I don't know. You said promotion, mate. Why, yeah, I know.

At the end of this year, it could be seen as a promotion. As Gazley did, it gets him out of the Red Bulls system if he's had a good year. So I think that's best case scenario for Orson. Worst case scenario for Lawson, pretty easy. He's terrible. Limblatt beats him and he's got no see at the end of the year. Yeah, I think that one's a pretty straightforward. My follow-up question was essentially what you've already answered in that, you know,

is he purely advertising for other teams rather than the senior team at Red Bulls? Do you think the fact that he did just two races, of course, at the beginning of last season and under a slightly different regime? Does it almost count to the point of he hasn't had a Red Bull stint? Like, will they look at it that way? And this is why I was slightly, I slightly caveated that it could still be Red Bull because it was such an odd scenario that he did only do two races. As we pointed out, I think unfairly dumped after.

after what was one wet race than a spring weekend. And a spring weekend. So yeah, and as you say, as we've already said, the regime is certainly different then. So that is why Red Bull could still be an option. You know, and you look at Laura Mecky's work with Lawson already at racing bulls. And he knows the talent he has in Liam Lawson.

So if he's, is also no there's no sort of embarrassment on his side if Red Bull have him back because it wasn't his decision to take him out the team in the first place so I don't need as any sort of whereas Red Bull in the past

wouldn't have taken back an Alex Albon or Pierre Ghazdi because they're trying to say face a lot I think it's different now so there is still a possibility and it could happen but that obviously relies on an outgoing Max Vestappel

or Isaac Hadjar having the worst year were a second season of a F1 driver's career. Yeah. I'll introduce Franco Colopinto to the fray. And can we just pause for a second to say, what a great winter. That guy knows how to winter, honestly. I promise you, it's been amazing.

If you ever need a shooter of winter, go to him. It's such a, can we do a special, like, one-off episode just looking at his winter because it's inspirational stuff. I think we should get him on. Let's get him on. That's Sunday's episode, isn't it? Looking back at the winter of Franco Colopinto. Groundbreaking.

Seven hour special. I heard they carved him into the snow across the Icelandic hills. That's how incredibly it was. Beautiful, man. Anyway, best case scenario is summer is half as good as that winter. It's actually beats Pierre Gasley. Gassley's record versus teammates is pretty damn good. Like, he lost to Max Verstappen.

when they, I say a full season, they only had half a season together at Red Bull. But outside of that, his record versus teammates is flawless. Like he beat Ockon two years in a row. He beat Sonoda two years in a row. It's not bad given he's now been in this sport for, this will be his 10th year, I think.

He's been in the sport nine years and only lost to Max for Stappen as a teammate. And Ghazley might now be in his prime, which is particularly harrowing, given he's having to spend part of his prime in an Alpine. But that might be where. he is in terms of his journey as a driver. It makes him tough to be, but if Colopinto can achieve that, it not only secures his

sea at Alpine, I think, for a year or two. It probably secures a more longer term spot in F1, maybe elsewhere to Alpine. I said on Sunday's episode that we might be, I said a lot of the things about Colopinto that are maybe too bold, but I said that he might be someone who was sleeping on a little bit, just based on what he did in that first season against Alex Albin Williams. His record against Gasley last year wasn't too shambolic either,

given the car was pretty awful. And he's never had a preseason before, which can be quite important for build up into a new year. So I'm interested to see how that goes. Worst case scenario is that, well, he might as well just call it Flavio Briatore is his worst case scenario. Yeah, Colopinto's new contract,

you know, that he got last year, it kind of felt like it didn't come with glowing praise from Priotori. It was more of a case of we don't have much else going on. So if he gets six races into this year, it might seem ridiculous, but he literally did it last year. It could be curtained. Like he needs to impress from the off to avoid them doing something silly. You might say that this time last year we were already talking about Colopinto being or putting doing under pressure. And there's not that same person this year. But even so, it's Brito or he might just chuck in at Paul Aaron or Gabrielle Minnie. It wouldn't shock you, would it?

So, yeah, that's worst case scenario. It looks like Colopinto is giving Argentina a real motorsport boost. Because he really talks and bringing Brugaceres back into the calendar, which is amazing that he's, without sounding disrespectful, achieve nothing in this sport so far and they're already looking to bring you know what I mean that rudely you have achieved nothing driven a Formula One car of the points

as many times as I have okay it's that simple so Brother Sarah's back on the calendar as possible maybe maybe Sam will go back to you for a name that's already popped up Colopinto's teammate in 2024 Alex Albon

yeah Albon he could have a really really interesting year And again, much like with Carr, we don't know whether Williams is going to sit. But I'm going to phrase it as if Williams are doing well in 2026. I think that's the best way to look here. That's what we're all hoping for, a positive Williams year. And if it does go well, not only does he beat Carlos Sykes, but he becomes a real force to be reckoned with beating the rest of the midfield

and actually fighting further into the top four or five, potentially if Williams are utilising that and saying his engine, they have got an aerodynamic package that's actually potting up. upper front and they're able to actually exist alongside their other Mercedes engine users such as the works team itself. McLaren of course, I assume they'll be beating LP but hey, you never know. It could be that bad. If this is the case, there could be numerous poliums on the cars, even potentially a wing. Now, Carlos Sites was able to pick up two podiums last season, of course, they were far inferior, inferior car. So hopefully, Alex Al will start the season strong as he did last year,

but go one step further and pick up multiple podiums. And like I said, potentially, a wing. Now, if it goes badly, worst-case scenario, weirdly, I think a lot of people might go down the path of the car would have to be bad. I actually think it would look far worse for Alex Albuhrie. If the car is good and Carlos Sainz is absolutely out there flying, but Alex Album is being demolished by Carver's science. You know, if we're seeing science frequently finishing type of stop six or seven, an Album is struggling to pick up points,

almost like a sign older for Stapen scenario just not to the same extreme, where one of them is finishing 14, 15 place. and struggling to reach that kind of Q3 top 10, that science is regularly finishing in that top seven or eight. I just think that would be so damaging to his reputation, to his career for the first time to have a competitive car since being in Red Bull essentially. And the moment it happens, the teammate comes along and thrashes him.

I think that's far more damaging than finishing 18th in Williams. It's got no ability. Just got to hope for his say he doesn't put too much pressure on himself because he has been with Williams since 2022 when he scored a grand total of four points. that year and he's been on that journey ever since. And if he wasn't then the driver to take advantage of a better Williams maybe, that would be pretty gutting.

So it's crazy. He's going to become Williams' most experienced driver. Isn't that mad? Isn't that crazy? Also, science has been getting a lot of praise at the press from James Vow's about struggles they've been having with aerode development. And apparently science has been turning up, offering any help you can at any time of day or night.

Please. Please. I will help you. And Clay's Valce turned to go, you came from Ferrari. I'm not sure what you could do. So, yeah. Like a praise for science. If I'm going to be in this godforsaken, cold, miserable, wet country,

I'm going to make the most of it. That is Carlos Sines. So confusing, disorientating every time there's a photo of him outside Grove. Yes. Why am I here again? It's so cold and wet. Estabanochon, Harry. Espan, Gordon.

Best case scenario for Ocon, he regains some of the, he regains the form that was sometimes lost, sometimes absent in 2025, more back to sort of 23, 24, for one I'm thinking. The Hasse team also build a good, solid car. Again, like racing balls, I'm not suggesting, I think it's unlikely to suggest

they're going to stop me podium challenges this year. but a good car like they had for a good juggler last year he can compete for points and he he beats his teammate Olly Behrman more comfortably I think that's his best case scenario which sounds quite bleak for Ocon right now but I don't really know where else he goes

so that's his best case oh and also they give him like normal strategies but Ockley doesn't think what the pit lane looks like between lap 2 and lap 49. Yeah, so I put that, but again, that's real best case. Keep going.

Worst case for Ockon is, it's a similar year to last year, and actually Berman beats him because I think that really lowers his stock as a driver. Again, like I said, with his best case, I'm just not entirely sure where Asterbein Ockon goes. For Berman,

he's obviously, this is, only year two for him. You can see there's potential he could go on. He could push on. For Ockon, this has could be it. And that's not saying it's the worst place in the world to be, because, you know, Alpine exists.

But it's also not the best. It's not the greatest. So, yeah, being beaten by Berman this year would be pretty disastrous, I think, if he ever wanted to move anywhere else on the grid again. Yeah. I think it could be the difference between being seen as a driver that just has never had that chance in a top team.

And if you give him a go, he might be a solid contributor for a top team. It could be the difference between that being his reputation moving forward and also just he's a solid midfield driver and that's all he'll ever be. I think this season could determine which of those two become reality almost. Last one is Arvid Lindblad and I'm saying best case scenario for him. It's a difficult one to phrase, but I've gone with, he has the opportunity to make errors and learn from them. He comes into this team so young and so inexperienced.

Like he only turned 18 last August. And there are naturally going to be quite a few comparisons between his first year and Hadjar's first year last year. Same team, both quite young. But there is quite a notable difference between them. And that is that going into F1, Isaac Hadjar had six full seasons of, junior racing, somewhere between F4 and F2.

Linblat's had three. Like, he is really coming into this season in experience. So he needs to learn as much as he can as quickly as he can, quite honestly. And to your point about Lawson, Harry, it's can racing balls give him the car to just be in the mix, to do what Hachar did last year and get to some Q3s, fight for some points. And he'll make some errors along the way, no doubt, but you'd rather he made them this year. than in a couple of years time because he hasn't been exposed to these situations enough.

So I think that's the best case scenario. Worst case is he's not ready. And the other drivers around him all have pretty solid seasons. So, you know, if Hadjar has a pretty good first season for a second driver at Red Bull and Lawson is pretty dependable in that other racing ball seat, and maybe you've got Nicola Solov, who's a Red Bull junior driver in F2,

Like, if he has a pretty good year, then suddenly Limbub might be the odd one out and looking over his shoulder. And I'm not sure how much of a factor you want to place on this, but he was a Helmut Marco higher. And Helmut Marco is, of course, gone from the program now. If someone is coming in and trying to stamp their authority on that Red Bull junior team, and they want a young driver to almost hold their hat on as like, that's my guy, I don't know if it will be limp blood because it was never their decision for him to make it to F1. So again, you might not read too much into that last bit, but it might be worth thinking about. Okay, well, that's going to do it for best case, worst case scenario.

For those six drivers, let us know if you disagree with any of that at all, or if you agree with that. We actually like people agree with us sometimes, believe it or not. We're going to take a short break. And on the other side, we're getting into the Williams reveal. Come back, everyone. Williams has become the latest team to reveal their 2026 livery that will be featured on its FW48 Challenger. Initially intended as a physical event,

the livery was revealed online on Tuesday following a tough preseason. The car has yet to be seen with the team being the only one not to run at all during that Barcelona test last week. Now, Sam Williams showed off as part of this. It's new Barclays sponsorship, which features on the car. And I've seen this one again, split opinion quite a lot. Are you a fan of it? Yeah, if you were hoping that Barclays would allow Williams to bank on having a great livery,

then I think it's time to withdraw your funds. You're making me double dab over here, Sam. Oh, fine. Double dipping. Come on. Yeah, hang it. I hate it. Sorry.

The joke? No joke. Someone in the comments. I'm looking at the camera. because I'm talking to you specifically. You said that I was being too negative about livery season. Release a good livery, and it will change. This is terrible.

I tweeted that this is like a corporate presentation on an F1 car. The way that the liveries are weirdly segmented in this kind of like tri-qu quadrant, you've got, tric quadrant, by the way, it's just being three, four sides. That's right. There's 12 sides of this way of's livery. At least I call myself out for this, honestly. But you know what I'm saying? It's got like this weird borderline between.

these three sponsors on the side of the car. If they had made the whole Williams that Barclays blue, I actually would have been quite into it. And I think it might have resembled the Benetton from the 90s a little bit. And then it would have actually delivered on the retro 90s appeal that they were planning on with this whole rebrand with the new Williams logo. It delivers none of this. The front and back wings are horrible.

They're black club, much like the Ferrari. It doesn't work. I just don't think it's contrasting in a good way. the livery delivers an odd contrast with these blues and the blacks across the side they try to keep their old proper blue with this blue, Barclay's blue, I don't like the way that it sits next to each other.

It's no fade or anything, it's just two blues against each other. And I do think that the sponsors, as much as it's great to see, that Williams have really built up a great independent base of sponsors and they're not relying on drivers anymore, much like they were with Latifia only a few years ago,

and Kibica. I don't think it's benefiting them cosmetically. Now, I'm sure they would rather have the ugly's current degree to all of the money, fair enough. But my eyes hurt and I don't get any of the money, so I don't like it. Great quote. My eyes hurt and I don't get any of the money. Harry, are you more positive about this one? No, it's pretty rank.

Look, firstly, can I just say, look at the state of where Williams were four or five years ago. said with Latifi, et cetera. They had no sponsors. And this journey reminds me of where McLaren were, in terms of 2018 McLaren was just orange with Fernando Alonzo, sat in it. And by the time we got to, well, where they are now, but, you know, 2022 vibes,

that car, McLaren, 22, with the blue and the orange and the black and all the sponsors, hell. But again, they had a lot of sponsors then. So I will give them credit for the fact that they have so many. but goodness me please find a better way to present them because like you said Sam hers my eyes there are so many different

colours on this car with the light blue the blue of the Williams the white then the golf orange then you've got the keeper logo with a yellow bit then Claude from the apprentice is

sponsored on the side is your little orange bit there as well. And then the terrible, terrible, which I still hate, that like... Here we go. On the wheels.

Hate that. What's that called? The wheel cover? Yeah. No, no, what's the actual design? What's it supposed to be? Oh, the poker.

Yeah, yeah. It's not poker, though. I know what you mean. Ruletti, doesn't it? Blet. Me and Harry are the two biggest morons in the world. That is horrible. That is so tacky,

that roulette wheel. Yeah, it's, it's hell. but have you seen the airbox because they've got the Jerusalem battery on there which actually is a really nice just a sticker of the logo or no no no it's they made the airbox look like a look like a battery

which is it like the shape yeah yeah yeah unbelievable save you know they blurred see it in those photos the other day the airbox is because of that they didn't want to get

innovative idea one day it'll be over one day Jerusalem stopped sponsoring them one day I won't have to deal with this. What is working? One day it'll be over. This is the first day that it's existed.

What are you on about? Terry Eam's favourite joke. Brand new marketing material. What are you talking about? Man, fair play to Williams. They've got that out of the park. If you were going to fund my recharge, that'll be great. Depleted.

Right. I haven't been a massive fan of Williams liverys for the last few years, I'll admit. And as soon as I heard about the bar. please news because that came out a little bit before the livery did. I was pretty excited because that is a really like distinct blue, like a baby blue sort of color, right? It's quite shiny at the same time. Yeah.

And I was excited about that and maybe slightly to do with Premier League nostalgia thinking we get like a Premier League themed car here. But I was quite excited about this. Overall, I prefer it to the last couple of, of years, I still don't like it. I think it's okay. There are a lot of things about it I like and a lot of things I dislike. And it kind of, it's a bit similar to the Mercedes one, I think, where it feels like three or so good concepts that have been rolled into one to make an okay concept. I do think the individual components all look pretty good. Like, I don't mind the

sort of Kumatsu, not Io, being in sort of whites. And I like that Barclays Blue Man, it's going to look good on track, I think. But the problem is, as you've already said, guys, like all of this combination of sponsors just doesn't quite work together. Like the golf one in particular is just, it's the logo on a random bit of carbon fiber on the back of the car. It just doesn't merge with anything else. And whilst I know we joke about the juror sell sponsorship, by itself, it's quite a nice touch. Like, but when you put it with everything else, it kind of just doesn't really work. You've got the purple of the cracking.

You've got the, um, that's what was that other one, the one with the yellow? I can't even remember what it's cool now. Keeper. Keeper, right. That doesn't really fit either. Um, and it just, it doesn't quite meld together in the way that I wanted to. But honestly, this is the most negative I could ever have towards delivery because the negative is you've got too much money.

Like, fair play to you. To your point, like, if you go back to, let's say the 2023 livery, not if you're driving folks, but if you're at home and you're able to, have a look at the 2023 livery and come back because it is bare. There's nothing on there.

To see it go from that to this in the space of three years, it's pretty good going, but you'll write about the worst thing of this livery being those God, all, purple roulette style wheel rims, like the wheel covers. It might be the worst single thing done on a livery so far, apart from maybe Alpine cutting off its own BWT sponsorship. It's a close one between those two at the moment.

I don't know. That 2020-23 livery looks really good now looking at it again. I was never a fan of that livery, but like... It does only have one and a half sponsors on it, but it looks really good. There's nothing on it, right? That's just brawling 09, and that has no responses on it too. Do you remember the unraced 2020 rocket Colgate? I looked this up as a result of researching this, yeah.

No. I love that livery. It was colourful. I've given that. We'll see they never used it. No. It disappeared. And then they replaced it with a really bland, like the Sphina one, wasn't it?

Like a really bland livery that came after that. But sorry, we need to bring up, where's the vintage Williams that they were basically advertising? The whole point of having this whole throwback to their cool era, late 80s, early 90s. It's just not there. They've done this whole new logo rebrand. None of it exists. There's no element of it on the car at all. It is not cool and retro and interesting.

It's the same color as last year with some ugly bits on the side. That's what this car is. I was surprised by that. Does it, they haven't got, as far as I can see, do they have the logo on the car. I don't think they do. Right. But I mean, where would it go?

What's what I mean? They've run out of space. Like, Atlassian is still the title sponsor. And I don't know if you'd guess that because it doesn't have that much prominence over everything else on there. It's on the side, but you're right. Barclays and Kamatsu are almost the same side. Right.

Yeah. You just wouldn't like, go, okay, that's the title sponsor right there. Have you seen that they've also got an AI partner now? And they announce it by saying, welcome to whatever the name is. Our new team's thinker. And I thought, this is not good, guys. This is not good. And then someone quote tweeting it said,

Red Buller going to draw a fake tunnel on the wall on one on the roads. And the AI is going to tell the drivers to drive through it, which I appreciate it. Seems about right. I mean my problem with any Williams livery is that it's not the one that they did at Austin last year. Yeah. And it should be. It should be.

Just bring back the canon livery. I don't care if you haven't got canon on the car. Just do the livery. I don't care that canon is, you know, in liquidation or whatever. Like, get on the car. Got no idea. It's going to have gone on a canon nowadays. It just feels like a company that should have been in liquidation.

We're actually very successful. Can't believe you're going to get sued by Canon because Ben thinks they've gone bust. Just, can be clear. I'm a fan of your product. So you're a great company. Ignore what he said. It's just a name. to do.

Just the name I associate with like 2000s, like brands, like Woolworths and Dixons, you know? Big on Dixon. I've heard that for a while. All right. Sure. Oh, good. Outside of just the delivery chat, Sam, Vowels sort of referenced the missed test and said how it was painful to miss that test, but said that they have absolutely pushed the boundaries on certain areas of this car, including the front suspension. whilst he's admitted it's not quite as extreme as what Adrian Newey has come up with.

It should be something quite different from some of the other teams and what they've done. Is that kind of reasoning in any way encouraging to what they've got going on this year? It would have been if it was genuinely pushing the boundaries and he really hasn't had to scale back because Adrian Newey's managed to do more in less time. That's the problem. Adrian Newey came out and gave a real interesting interview as to why they were laid to the shape down because the wind tunnel was only available from March.

She only joined from April. They essentially put together a car in 10 months. And he explained really well that a lot of the cars were rolling out their 2026 development car into the wind tunnel in January when the testing ban was lifted. So they were four months behind. You can understand that that timeline is very plausible and understandable. And yet they've still got a car out to do a day and a half for testing. It still looks mean as your worst nightmare. And I still think if the engine works, it could be a really exciting car.

I still haven't seen a Williams. It hasn't even driven out of a garage yet. So having a livery that looks that bad that you couldn't even display on a real-life model because you can't seem to show the car anywhere, I think it's a failure. I'm genuinely worried. And on top of all that, they've lost Jensen Button.

I know where he is. He's with Aston Martin. But how have they lost him as well? What's going on there? That should have been the lead topic on this show. How odd earth are Williams going to recover from Jensen Button going as an ambassador? That breaks everything.

Also, just a great deal of banter that it happened like the day before Williams were announcing their car. Good timing. By the way, your biggest ambassador has left for a direct capacitor. Harry, who are they going to get to replace Denton button? Jacques Villeneuve. Dang it a catrick, obviously. What do you make of this, Harry?

Do you think that the reasoning that James Vowes is giving out here is fair? does it give you more encouragement than you had before he opened his mouth? I don't know. I'm, it's hard, it's hard to, to be, it's,

look, James Vals can convince a lot of people, he convinced Carlos Nines to come to this team. He sells dreams. He sells dreams every Saturday down the market. But, uh, so he's a very believable,

convincing person when he speaks. But the proof is in the pudding. And as he says, Sam, Aston Martin, well, Aston Martin got that, as you say, Adrian News mentioned the delay they had. Cadillac, for example,

they've got that. I just, proof is in the pudding. So, yeah, I'll, look, I still believe in James Vals. I think you can still cook. Just they've lowered the heat back a little bit on the hob. Simmering away. It's simmering, yeah, yeah, yeah.

It's not boiling, just simmering. Bees some seasoning in there, James. Yeah. A little bit of salt and pepper. A bit of paprika. That'll do me nicely. So I'm too much here. I'm a white boy from the UK.

I don't need too much. A little bit of herb. A little bit. How you spell in herb, Sam? Well, apostrophe E, I'll be. There's. There we go. A bit of sage, if you might like.

Hey, there we go. Yes. Yeah, we'll wait and see as to how costly the mist test is honestly we don't know. We've still got two tests left. If they have held back a bit as a result of doing something more aggressive, then maybe it will work out for them.

The good news for them is the Mercedes engine has done so many miles around Barcelona from the other teams in the Mercedes pool that they've kind of gone away with it in that regard and they're only really losing out in terms of their own sort of chassis and arrow and testing everything there. And the way that it's being viewed, and I understand why,

but to an extent it's a case of, let's take Mercedes, Aston Martin and Williams, and the narrative is, well, Mercedes made the test, Astin Martin made the test, Williams didn't. So two successes and one failure. In reality, Aster Martin, again, it's just an example, they are far closer in terms of mileage to what Williams have done than what Mercedes have done so far. So it's maybe not completely black and white.

and we'll just, when we get to Bahrain, I think we'll have a better understanding as to whether James Vowles has actually cooked. He's just left it in the oven for five, too many minutes or if it is just raw. Gordon. Two questions. Harry, is the Astermire and going to be yellow with Brightling?

Come on, break the news. I have no idea. Okay, that's a lie. Number two, I'm going to shout out to my favourite people in the world internet commenters again. There was one guy who got really excited by the Williams render that came out and all capitals replied,

push Rod, pull Rod, no Rod, what's James Vals cooking? My guy is the most basic render of a Formula One car. Do not to choose what they have done via this render, please. The sensationalism is ridiculous. Hashtag no Rod. Hashtag no Rod.

That's the worst kind. Who's your favourite Rod? I'm trying to think of one. it's not Stuart. Hot Rod, which is all. Yeah. Rod Harrington for your Darts fans out there.

I was going to say that, but you've taken it in that. You know what? That's probably enough for this segment. We'll take a short break. You're not from I really Falls a Gorses? Yeah. Rod knee?

Who's your favorite? Rodney, yeah. I was not saying who's your favorite Sam? I've got to say Samuel. It's fine. All right. This episode doesn't end with, and I've been Rodney, I swear to God. Let's take a quick break.

On the other side, Christian Horner and Alpine, question mark. You might be tempted to let Taco Bell's new Lux value menu go to your head. Because 10 indulgences for $5 or less makes you feel fancy. Like you might think you need cloth napkins. Well, you don't. Just use the ones that come in the bag. Don't let the Lux go to your head. With Amex Platinum, you have access to over 1,400 airport lounges worldwide.

So your experience before takeoff is a taste of what's to come. That's the powerful backing of Amex. Conditions apply. Welcome back, everyone. A quick note, before we get into Christian Horner and Alpine and the rumors that are going on there, are you a member of our Patreon yet? Because if you're not, I would seriously suggest it. And you might think, well, you're probably biased, Ben,

because you financially benefit from that. But honestly, even if I didn't, I would think that's a great idea. In all seriousness, we've got some great content going on on Patreon in the next couple of months on the lead up to the season. Of course, power rankings returning is right around the corner. And something that a few people did in the lead up to Christmas that is if you're really stuck for a gift idea for birthday or if you're really calling it late for Valentine's Day,

you can gift a subscription to our Patreon. So if you have a loved one, if you have a friend who likes the podcast, would enjoy a Patreon membership, you can get on that as well. That is available to you. But we do massively appreciate all of you that have already subscribed to Patreon,

even over the winter period. There's been a high take-up for the various bits of content that we have on there. And we are, we're all very humbled by us. So thank you very much indeed. Phrase it this way. For Valentine's Day, my darling,

I've gifted you three hunky, British men. You'll have hours of entertainment. Why are all these refunds coming through? Nothing says I love you like a subscription to the late breaking podcast, Patreon. Hey, the electricity is free. The bins are being collected. I like you, Birmingham. Hey, fix it.

The bin deal has fallen through. Don't mention the bits. Oh, no. I'll get on the streets. Yeah, we need to work that out again. Christian Horner and Alpine If Christian Horner is... Hey! Come on! If you're still looking for a job, Christian,

we don't have anything going, I'm afraid. But former Red Bull boss, Christian Horner, is among a group of investors interested in purchasing a stake in Alpine. The French team has confirmed. A statement from Alpine said the group of potential investors linked to Horner was among multiple interested parties to have discussed a potential investment with the team. Harry, first question on this is, is there any chance this happens?

I could realistically see this happening. Christian Horn is the type of man who likes to be petty, would like... No. And I sense that he would have relished the opportunity to try and turn around. I'll say Alpine, in quotation marks here, because I would imagine it may not be Alpine anymore. but in a way this would almost be history repeating itself. Christian Horner, obviously not with the backing of Red Bull,

but Christian Horner taking over when a big manufacturer left like Jaguar did in 2004. So I could see it happening. Flavio can't be team principal, not in name forever. And as we've said, he was brought in to sort of assess the team and I think basically get it ready to sell, which we've mentioned a few times here. So, yeah, Christian Horner being brought in

would seem like a very sensible option. Whether you like or loathe him, he is quite good at what he did, does. Do what he do. He'd be good at what he do. So I think he's a very, you know, very tantalizing prospect. I think for someone like Flavio, I'm not sure they can coexist in a team.

I'm very sure they can't coexist. But like I said, I feel like Flavio, I don't think Flavio's got that much more in him at Alpine. He's been doing this for a while. I think if he can sell up and get a little bit of money for his retirement fund, then he will. And selling to Christian Horner and investors, I think would be a pretty sensible option.

Yeah, I definitely think this could happen. For reference at the moment, the Renault group holds a 76% share in the Alpine team, whereas the other 24% is assigned to Ocho Capital. They bought that in 2023, and that's the group that includes the celebrity investors like Patrick Mahomes and Brian Reynolds. They around? Well, Trent's still on the front left tire, but yeah. But that's the group that holds essentially the extra quarter of. of the team. And I think whilst that 76% of the Renault hold might well be up for grabs at some

point. Again, we've referenced that a few times. I think it's likely this 24% that they're going after at the moment because they have, I mean, they've said that they've had talks, preliminary talks to sell that stake. And that outro capital group would have a very good chance of claiming some decent profit because in 2020, they bought that stake for 171 million, which is based on the team being valued at around 700 million pounds. Forbes last year estimated that Alpine is now worth about 1.8 billion, which is two and a half times more than in 2023,

which tells you, firstly, it's pretty valuable to be in F1, if you can be as bad as Alpina vim for the last couple of years and still be more valuable as a result of it. And secondly, these investors will make a very valuable. very good profit on what they've done. So I could see it happening. Sam? Yeah, I can definitely see it happening. That 24% is, I think, I mean, potentially throwing around quite a lot.

And I actually wouldn't be surprised if Horner and said investors, depending on who the group might end up being, look to try and bringing a further percentage stake from Renault to try and increase that 24% to something like a 40, 45%. I think they'll want to, over time, claim the full team. because realistically, if Renault don't have the majority stake, what's the point in them even being involved in the sport? They're currently running Al-Ping's marketing program

to try and make sure that Al-Pin become a more prominent manufacturer-based car across Europe, right? They're trying to mix it up with BMW, Porsche, Aston Martin, motors who are owned by China. So, you know, there's loads of those kind of mid-sized sports cars on the road. Al-Pin are trying to be Renault's version of a mid-size, expensive sports car. And I think that realistically, if they lose the opportunity, opportunity to present our Pee as a product in Formula One, what's the point of being in Formula One at all anyway?

So I don't think these two can coexist long term. If Christian Hornet does come in, I don't think it will be a Horner and Rengo, you know, 20 year partnership that we see into the future. If Horner and investors do get in, I think within a few years, there will be a full buyout, maybe with another manufacturer anyway,

and we say goodbye to Renault, unfortunately, because they are a very historic and long-term partner of the sport. Harry, Christian Horner is reportedly only interested in returning to F1 if he can have full control of a team, maybe similar to what he had at Red Bull. He wants something, though, more senior than just being team principal. He wants an ownership stake, a significant ownership stake as well. Can Alpine make that work? And I guess, more importantly, should they?

I mean, they certainly can. It's whether they would be Alpine anymore. And again, I think this is the question, whether the Renner group, as you mentioned, are they still interested in having that Alpine brand presence in Formula One? Whether it's actually doing anything for them, the fact that they're obviously not making their own engines anymore, they're just on Mercedes engines,

and the things that Flavio has mentioned previously, to me, signals that they're not looking to be around in it for the long term. Renner have done this before, by the way. They did it with Lotus back in, you know, 2010, 2011. So they've got form, and they'll probably come back again in a few years. But I think it's doable. Whether it will be in the near future,

if Christian Horner, you know, a deal was done, would they immediately sell up and no longer be Alpine in a new team? I don't know. I could see it being where Christian Horner's running it and it's still Alpine or something like that. I don't know. But it depends on the whim of the people, Renaud group, whether they still want to do this anymore.

And as I said, they change their mind quite often, to be honest. They do indeed. Yeah, I'm intrigued to see if he could make them genuinely competitive again. Because I know at Red Bull, it wasn't all on him. but there's a reason he was in charge and they won as many championships as they did. He had great people around him, but part of his job was to make sure he had those great people around them and they all stayed. And for the most part, that's what happened.

It ended horribly, of course, but for a large number of years, that is exactly what happened. Like you look at just Adrian Newey as an example. He spent five or six years at Williams and then spent eight or nine years at McLaren. We spent more time at Red Bull than those other two teams combined. It was like 18 years. Like that's, I don't know what to say that's again, all on Christian Horner, but knowing how to keep those very valuable members of staff is part of his job. He needed timing.

He needed an ambitious Red Bull long-term F1 plan. And we know 26 Alpine is not the same in many regards. So there's no guarantee it would work. but we see that occasionally when you do put power into the hands of someone like Christian Hall or like Red Bull did, it can work. And you could argue there are some teams on the grid that could benefit from having more of that. Like look at Ferrari, for example.

Like they have, I think, been hampered a lot if you look at the last few team principles because they don't have enough autonomy to go ahead and do their job. I mean, we joke about it all the time, but these John Elkin comments, they represent something far more serious. is the team principal was not trusted to just get on with their job. If they did hand the reins over to Christian Horner, again, not saying it would absolutely work, there are risks attached to it. But maybe he would be the difference.

Maybe he'd be the character, that personality that Bruno Famine wasn't. And Olly Oaks tragically never had the chance to be. Trashically? Well, I think he would have gone down as the best team principle of all time. you know, not done what he did. Just let Othma get to 100, man. But you're that memes. You're that meme of like the world

if Ombar got to 100 races and it's like three high for cars. That's what would happen. Did you see that Omba was in Cornwall? No. What was he? Where was he? On his Instagram.

It was in for maybe December time. What's he doing down there? Where was he? I don't know. I didn't recollect it. It looked like maybe. Watergate Bay, to be honest, but Otmar at Watergate Bay?

Yeah, it pleases me knowing that Othmar has probably been down the 8th 30. I know, it's January, a January day in Cornwall, there you go. I can see it. Yeah, there he is. For our Cornish listeners, aren't there, of which they're about two. I love that. Otma, you should have mentioned.

We could have done a meetup. The state of his Instagram, by the way. I love the consistency of those angled selfies. It's superb. He might be the best influencer of all time. enjoy anyone on Instagram who has a trademark, so Ockmar belongs to that. It's like John Sina, who will only post like random photos that have no context whatsoever. Like, if you've got a niche on Instagram, I appreciate that. It's pretty hard to see John Sanger in his photos,

though. You ever found that? He's in all of them and you just don't know. Oh, okay. Well, that's going to do it for this segment of the podcast. On the other side, though, we're playing back and forth. So what do you think's going to happen? Bitcoin is sort of inevitable at this point. I think it would come down to precious metals. I hope we don't go cashless. I would say land is a safe investment.

Technology companies, solar energy. Robotic pollinators might be a thing. A wrestler to face a robot? That will have to happen. So whatever you think is going to happen in the future, you can invest in it at WealthSimple. Start now at WealthSimple.com. It won't take long to tell you to tell you

take long to tell you neutral's ingredients. Vodka, soda, natural flavors. So, what should we talk about? No sugar added? Neutral. Refreshingly simple. Welcome back, everyone, to the final part of today's episode, and we've got time for a game of back and forth.

Oh, it's even got a jazzy tune, F1, back and forth. We're going back, we're going back. going forth in F1. Wow. I'm being so much for that, Sam. I teed it up perfectly for you and you knocked it out of the path. Hang on.

Maybe it's like junior league softball. All right. So this is how you play F1 back. I've never been more obviously ignored in my entire line. Is that the OG? Not quite the OG. But that was a live rendition

of back and forth. Wow. Unbelievably. F1 back and forth. Wow. Harry versus Sam. Yeah, right. Harry versus Sam,

they'll keep going back and forth on answers, correct answers to this question until one of them gives an incorrect answer or can't think of an answer. But there's a twist because they've already played this game.

Oh. More accurately. I knew you were going to do this one day. One day. You are an ass, Benjamin. Correct. Correct, I'm big ass. More accurately, they played this game

on the 26th of March, 2020, nearly six years ago. Oh man, it was COVID. Give us a break. I was going through a very stressful time. I have to say, Sam, I obviously listened to this full segment back

and that intro is the exact one that you did for this game. We were trying to gee you up beforehand, Sam, because you weren't very confident that you could beat Harry, which I just get to play it. You can do it. Well, exactly.

Today is your day. You can do it. All right. Avocados from Mexico. Oh, it's good to hear an avocados from Mexico. It just has no relevance. How are any of you suck around from that point? I know.

Go ahead and Ben's played two clips now. And my only input was playing the avocados from Mexico. You know what? Perfect. So you as well. If I've got no better and say, six years. I've peaked right there. We've had to take the sound board off here. You were unconfident going into the game, Sam, but you actually took the victory in this one.

So we'll see how it goes the second time around. It's quite a simple back and forth. I want you to list every single F1 world champion. Oh. And we're going to keep in what the rules were at the time. I didn't give you. you any strikes back then. I was much more horrible. So we're going to play with those rules. No strikes at all. And also, there were 33 correct answers back then. So we know Lando Norris and Max Verstappen have more recently won a championship, but they weren't correct answers at the time. So you're looking for the other 33 answers. And much like we did in that

game, we'll start with Sam. Oh, Lando Norris. Well, I've given you Norris and Verstappen. You can have Can I have that one for free? Well, Harry would then just save a stapper, so there's not much point. Oh, I'll have that one then. Then you'll just say Norris. I think he might reverse. I was hoping you'd say that again. Can you discolify him immediately?

Lewis Hamilton. Lewis Hamilton is a correct answer. Interestingly, not the one you started with last time, but Lewis Hamilton is a correct answer. Harry. Nico Rosberg. Nico Rosberg is a correct answer and weirdly at that point

he was the latest new champion which just shows you how long ago this was Sam Sebastian Vettel Sebastian Vettel is a correct answer Harry Jensen Button Jensen Button

Ambassador for Aston Martin is a correct answer Sam Kimi Reichen Kimi Reichen is a correct answer. Harry back to you. Fernando Alonso. Fernando Alonzo's correct answer. Going nicely here. Sam. Michael Schumacher. That's the answer you led off with last time. Correct answer indeed. You were so keen to start as well. You were... You know what? Still am. Yeah. Still am. Give me that first go. Harry.

Mika Hackern. Mika Hackan is a correct answer? Oh, mentioned earlier in the show, Shack Vilnav. It is a correct answer, although you haven't quite addressed him properly. To address him properly is Harry Ead. Undeserved a champion

Shaqvilnov. Good. That could have been six years ago, that could have been right now. You'll never know, folks. Apart from the audio quality, you'll never know. The audio stank, but yes. Stank and paper cups with wire between us.

So that was sorry, that was Sam's answer. Harry. Oh, sorry, I was confused. I was like, I just said I would have nodding. Pass me did. Damon Hill. Damon Hill is a correct answer. You called him Dill in that episode, but it is a correct answer.

Love you, Dill. Cheers, Dill. Dr. Nige. Dr. Nige is a correct dance. And we have another audio clip for this one. Nigel Mansell. Good old Nigel. You want to say Nigel, you moustache-loving wheel.

We're enjoying the Australian Grand Prix, Nigel. I had no idea what the reference for that was, so I had to look it up. And it is. Of course, this was, again, March 2020, so we're talking the beginning of COVID, and the Australian GP was set to happen and then didn't. Like, people turned up at the gates on the... turned up at the gates on free practice one, but the whole thing was shut down. Nigel Mansell, though, must have scheduled to tweet ahead of time, which said,

Australia used to be our last round. Now it's the opener. It will be a brilliant start to an exciting year. This takes me back to my comeback and win in 1994. Great memories. Who's looking forward to this weekend? Which is, funny enough by itself, because the race didn't, of course, happen. Even more hilariously, he actually did it for the wrong week.

weekend anyway, so it was the weekend after it was supposed to take place. Well, I'm Doge. He really gave you some grief for that. Really did. Harry, back to you. Alan Prost. Alam Prost is a correct answer. Sam.

Erton Sena. Unbelievably, only one name was missed when we played this game the first time, and it was Erton Senna. My God. So we haven't fallen in the same trap again. Harry. Nelson P.K. Nelson P.K. Senior.

As you stipulated last time. Nelson P.K. Senior is a correct answer. That's sick of me. Yeah. Kekke Rosberg. Kekir Rosberg is a correct answer. Nicky Lauder. Say it louder.

Mack. Mickey Louder is a correct answer. This is terrible. The pugs have definitely not cost better. No. Proud to say that. Sam, that's you. Jogi Schechter.

Jody Schechter is a correct answer. Harry. Alan Jones. Alan Jones is a correct dancer. Sam. Andretti. Andretti. Mario.

Mario. Andrety is a correct dancer. Harry? Jackie Stewart. Jackie Stewart is a correct answer. Sam? James Hunt. James Hunt, the one and only?

Yep. Can you sing, man? He did? He didn't know. Emerson Fitipaldi. Yep, Emerson Fitzhabildi is a correct answer. Sam? Sorry, I'm more, I've got names. It's because I'm more trying to keep to some.

what of an order that we've been going in, which I know we've got been perfect, but I think we've been pretty close. Yock and Rint? Yon Rint is a correct answer, yeah. And I think you have kept your order. Harry? Jim Clark.

Jim Clark is a correct answer. Surtees. Serties is a correct answer as well, yeah. Graham Hill. Graham. Will you? Some gentle comedy. Gentle is correct.

His brother from a down-under mother, Phil Hill. Yeah, not in any way related whatsoever. Phil Hill is a correct answer. Oh gosh. Fangio. Fangio is a correct answer. Did we say Jenny? Has he been mentioning?

No. Didn't Horm? No. I've mentioned Denny Horm is a correct answer. You've only got four left. Oh. My Cawthorne.

My Cawthorne is a correct answer. Sam. The birth of the greatest corner in Formula One. Ascari. Sweat. My favourite corner in Formula One, Alberto Ascari. Nothing is true.

Just to clarify the dead body of Alberto Ascari Christ! No one thought that. Good. Harry. Wow. Owen Wilson on the end. Harry's,

once again, creating great content. Wow. What a great sound ball we used to have. You're wasting, man. Harry on Zencast are unmatched. much comedic timing as well. Yeah.

That's great. Two left. Can you name them? When are they, Ben? Come on. You can get these two. They both won titles in the 50s. That's true.

In the 50s. One didn't exclusively win titles in the 50s. Oh, no? Always forgotten. The thing is, I actually got the answer. I can laugh at the joke. Always forgotten. He's always forgotten in this game.

He's forgotten. Unless you Sebastian Vessel, he'll never forget you. Was Bruce McLaren champion? He wasn't, no. Right time period. Teammate to him. Teammate to him? Yeah, I think so.

He's lost to, I think. Well, yeah. Rules of the game you've lost. What's like? Hello. Yeah. Do you know who the other two are? Brabham.

Oh, God. Only chat, Brabab. And Farina. And Farina was the first, or to give him his proper title, Giuseppe, Wollard. Was that you? Yeah. Giuseppe.

What's that? Like you're down in alleyway somewhere. Wollard. Jay, Giuseppe. I don't let us spend. I don't pat ourselves on the bat very often, but, man, we be better than 2020. Are you sure? Apart from Ascaria.

the same thing six years later. You make a lot of the same jokes. Yeah. Which means... I think we're missing Ellen Wilson saying, well, on the end of random bits of audio.

Personally. I'm not sure we are. I think we are. I miss Al-A-Carras from Mexico. That is one of my favourites forever. Yeah. Again, no real reason it was on there, but love it.

Sam, you've managed to defend your win from 2020, and I am looking forward to seeing whether you can win this again in 2032. We've got so many more in hopefully world champions to add onto that list. 2032. My favourite corner. His dead body is not the corner.

You need to clarify these things. I hope you enjoyed that sort of flashback episode of back and forth. But I don't think you'll enjoy it quite as much as this next segment that we have prepared. because it is the greatest segment in all of podcasting. It is the LB question of the week. Beautiful. Nothing better than the first Ferrari-themed question of the week. We're so back.

We are so back. So we asked the question, why and how, were they quickest at the shakedown test in Barcelona, setting that brilliant lap? on Friday afternoon. Any answers you like, Sam? One that you replied to, which I thought was sensational. They removed the Ferrari logo from the steering wheel.

Yeah. It's the reason. Like waiting. They weren't driving a Ferrari. The second one you replied to Ben, which was from Kyle on Instagram, there was no one there to talk to so the drivers could just drive. And to which you rightly responded, Best question why they weren't so dominant in 2020.

They shouldn't have won every race. Sorry, the part of that conversation is that Lewis has replied with a gift from Key and Pill, I wish I were high on pot on use. Yeah. I didn't get that. And I love the clip. And this is very comedic, but why there? Please.

You know, sometimes you think you just don't understand and you, you're being, okay, I'm glad. It's all of us. older on Instagram has said, just said, Kim Kardashian. Why would they say that? If we say Kim Kardashian enough, maybe we'll move up the search, changing optimization. Kim Kardashian, Kim Kardashian, Kim Kardashian, Kim Kardashian. That's how it works. Kardashian, Kim Kardashian, Lewis Hamilton and Kim Kardashian.

Do you know who Kim Kardashian is, do you know who she knows? Taylor Swift. Oh, yes. I've also heard that Beyonce may be involved in this situation. Yes. Good. This answer made me laugh a lot. No lifting and coasting from DG,

which is really funny because it's come out from Ocon that the fastest way to drive these cars is to lift and coast. Yeah, right. Because it rebuilds the battery so much faster. They won't lift a coast at all this year. They've got the opposite problem. Yeah. I enjoyed comment from Trey, our good friend,

Trey, of course, that we've met. They were actually trying to sandbag and go slowest to deceive the competition, but they couldn't even get that one right. Oh, Trey, that is great. Banta. Let's know how the Winnie 500 goes. Oh my my money's on Trey. He's got it. Trey's going to win it at all.

Trey, do it for us. Do it for us. And mention us on the TV, please. Where, I'll carry our picture onto the podium, please. I don't know how we got a phone with the podcast on the spring. Good. Josh Davies on Instagram I said, Joe, faster than the other drivers,

which can't argue with. Yeah. Yeah. I like that. Good work. one more from me is from Dakota on Twitter I don't even know anymore Twitter X whatever you'd call it Yeah Respected the beauty of turn one

That's how they went quickest What's going on to say one It's just the most beautiful corner In all the motorsport In all of motorsport But maybe not for much longer mate as well What are you going to do It's the best turn one

If it wasn't for that turn one That's in like Austria or the Czech Republic Do you know the one I'm talking about talking about, it is a piece of commentary about a turn one in like Germany or off dream. Brungo is a getting Czech Republic. Is that the one? It's stupidly tight.

It's turn one when they all crashed to go wide. The commentators like whoever designed this corner needs to be taken outside and shot. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I think it's, which is spelled, I think BRNO, I think that's the cool. Brunner. Brunger. Really hard for someone that, unlike James Vowels, I need them, said foreign words.

this one I think is a reference to a previous podcast which we always enjoy from Samantha who said who cares, we're winging it all! Which is what every Ferrari comment said once that was posted. Final one from me highlighted by producer Kirstie, Clayton, Mr. Tot

Sent them a parcel of chocolate buttons and a letter that said, there's more of that came from. He's got a big reserve and then Chucky Buttons I'll tell you what, Tom. There's more where that came from is a top 10 white guy phrase.

That isn't good. No, sweat on the brow. There's more than what that came from. Oh, that came wrong. I guess I'd have the idea that he's perfectly feeding Ferrari-related person out and buttons.

Please, Mr. Todd, more cookie buttons. I never thought I'd get to say that twice on a podcast? Yeah, here we are. Sadly, here we are. Sure. Everyone's coming back soon, folks.

That is going to do it for this episode, Sam. Until Sunday, if you wouldn't mind, getting us out of here. Until Sunday, indeed. And if you fancy hearing a little more of the late-breaking podcast in between, then, like we said earlier on, check out the Patreon. Don't cost a lot of money, maybe a cup of coffee, and you get a lot of content, all backlog, everything, everything's out free. Top tier, you get a birthday shout-up from the Father Christmas of birthdays.

And honestly, I was going to say that's a present that you can't buy, but you quite literally can buy it. buy it. Join the guest story as well if you'll get involved in a lot of good chats with us and many other lovely F1 fans

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to bring me joy even if you don't watch any of the videos but you can also watch them that'll be great in the meantime I'll be Samuel Sage I've been Ben Hocking and I've been Rodney

I remember keep breaking late You know,