The Late Braking F1 Podcast - Verstappen and Hamilton collide again! | 2021 Italian Grand Prix Review | Episode 146

Episode Date: September 12, 2021

Just a few races removed from their Silverstone crash, Hamilton and Verstappen collide once more, this time at the Italian Grand Prix. With Daniel Ricciardo claiming McLaren's first win in over 8 years, there's plenty for Ben and Sam to discuss!JOIN our Discord: https://discord.gg/dQJdu2SbAmSUPPORT our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/latebrakingTWEET us @LBrakingSUBSCRIBE to our podcast! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This podcast is part of the Sports Social Podcast Network. Thank you for listening to the Late Breaking F1 podcast. Make sure to look out for new episodes every Thursday and Grand Prix Sundays. Hello and a very warm welcome to the late breaking F1 podcast, presented by me, Ben Hocking and Sam Sage. In typical fashion, Harry Ead is not here on the day that we get an absolute banger. I feel that's part of the course, isn't it really? Harry is living up in Ibiza, not enjoying the Italian Grand Prix, as we both did. We have a first McLaren won two in 11 years, a first McLaren win in nine years,

a first Ricardo win in three years, and just to top it all off, a Vastap and Hamilton crash. So you can imagine we're going to be really struggling to think of things to say today. Sam, I mean, you weren't here on the preview podcast, so it must be good to be back for an excitement. exciting one. Oh my God. I can't believe I missed the preview. It was so much to talk about. Bloody Russell and Botties. It's finally happened and I missed all that. Well, fortunately, in the days leading up to this eventful Grand Prix, Carrie isn't actually an Ibiza. I've just eaten him to consume extra LBness. And I've just got a mouthful of splinters now from the thanks panels that he likes to sit on.

Yeah, I can't believe Harry's missed this one. He's off in the sunny islands of Spain. And we're here living it up. We're really the ones living it up. we watch bloody a double McLaren, you know, the one, two, no Red Bulls on the podium. Oh, I wonder who's one prediction than that was. It was honestly a spectacular Grand Prix. Cannot wait to dive in to dissect all of the absolute craziness that has gone on. The Tofosi, it was an absolute treat. Also, Daniel Riccara, that little bit of a tallyan throwing it at the end there, which is lovely to hear.

Oh, God, what a spectacle. What a spectacle. I loved it. Loved every second of it. I love that a minute in, and we're already on to cannibalism. It's going to be a good one, folks. It's going to be a good one. Yeah, you shouldn't really roll that way.

We've discussed this before. Daniel Ricardo, first win in three years. We are, of course, going to discuss that with his teammate, Lando Norris, in second place. Valtry Bottas recovering from the back row of the grid to finish third. We'll be discussing that later, of course. Sergio Perez did actually finish third on track, but received a five-second penalty due to his unfair or alleged unfair overtake. We'll be discussing whether that was fair. And we also had a sprint race. I know it was only yesterday, but it feels like a lifetime ago based on what we saw today.

We'll be discussing how that one went on its second outing. But first of all, Vastappan and Hamilton, they decided they'd collide again, didn't they? Lewis Hamilton coming out of the pits after his pit stop, his one and only pit stop. Vastappen, of course, was delayed in his pit stop, which caused the two to be near each other on on circuit in the first place. Hamilton coming out of the pits. has the inside line. Vastappen, already on circuit,

has the outside line, side by side, into that first chican, and it didn't end well. It ended with both of them in the gravel, and Vastappan's car pretty much on top of Lewis Hamilton's car.

So if we take the sprint race and the points that Vostappen gained there, no points on Sunday at least for either driver, Sam. Do you lay blame at the feet of one or the other here? No, and I think you can argue from both sides entirely. I think both have justified,

both can look back through past results and past incidents that have happened at that chican, which is being home to a lot of incidents over, especially the last few years, but across the whole time that Monsor has had that corner on its track, which is essentially forever, there has always been problems with that chican. There has always been moments where cars have come together, cars have skipped over the curbing, cars have had to go through the runoff. And I think that both the Staff and Hamilton have got a very fair argument to make as to why this was one racing incident, why they felt like they did everything right. Let's go with Max Verstappen first hang, right?

He's already annoyed, you can tell, from probably the worst pit stop we've seen on the Red Bull side of things for quite some time, especially in Verstappen's favour, 11 seconds it pretty much was, which is incredibly unusual, and I think this is what the say is cheekily were hoping for when they were definitely in favour of a few small changes going in the way of having to slow down pit stops.

I think they were hoping that Red Bull might try and push themselves too far, and there might be a mistake. Well, whether that was intending on not, we've finally seen that mistake from the Red Bull Garage, who are usually pitch perfect when it comes to a pit stop, and they messed it up on the championship leader, and that caused him, of course, to scramble. So he was already frustrating, incredibly frustrating.

So I suppose when you come around the next time around, you come down pit laying, if we were to borrow a reference from our American friends, and you see your championship rival emerging from the pit laying in front of you. One, that's not ideal. Two, you've got the red mist. You're already wanting to throw the car in as fast as possible to make sure you don't lose out any more than possible. It's not about winning the race anymore for these two.

It's about beating each other. They know that they can win the championship if they finish second to third every single race from here on out. It's really not going to make too much difference for them. So, the staff and note, he has to get round the outside of Hamilton to stop the sprint result being null and void, essentially.

He puts on a pretty good move in the first part of the chican, and I can argue that, yeah, the door was shut on him going into the second part of the chican. So I think he's got a fair point to go. Can I get all four wheels on the track? You know, I didn't have the space there. What's going on? As we saw, he was fired up into the air over Hamilton's car. I think the back wheel of the Stappen, sorry, the front wheel of the Stappen,

just brushed Lewis Hamilton's helmet in that crash. Let's look at it from the other side of the Yink's, from Lewis Hamilton's point of view. The saying is, is throwing him into the pit lanes onto the medium tie, which I thought was a bit of an interesting choice, actually. I'm not sure how far the Meehanbring's would have gone at that point, but they made the call. Hamilton comes out alongside the Stapper going into that first corner. Now, where I think Hamilton believes it's going to be a racing thing is if you look at previous inkskins.

Firstly, we'll take on from the same race. The Stappen essentially left the same amount of space for Hamilton going into the second chican on the first lap. Hamilton ended up having to run wide and go over the curb, exactly like Max Verstaffan had to do in turn one. It was almost a copy and paste incident where the two cars were together, one car had to run over the curbing. Nothing was done about it. Fine. I think the crash makes it look way more dramatic than what it actually would have been, had the staff had to run over a bumpy curb.

Secondly, let's cast our minds back to when Charles LeCleur won up Monza, and we had almost an identical thing happen, again, without the dramatic crash, between Charlotte Clare and Lewis Hamilton. LeCleur got away with being able to push cars a little bit wider than probably expected. He got giving a little bit of a warning, and LeCleur ended up going on to win the race, having been a little bit elbows out, shall we say, with Hamilton going into both those chicanes.

Again, Hamilton got muscleed out on that previous occasion. I'm sure that Hamilton's gone into, the long as this time going, I'm not going to be on the back end of this incident. So that's why I think Hamilton believes this is a raising incident. And that's why I can see the incident from both sides. I don't think there is enough give on both Max Verstappen's point of view or Lewis Hamilton's point of view, who both wants to seize every single point. I don't think either should back out.

They are both champions through and throw. I know the staff hasn't technically won it, but you know he's made of champion stuff. Lewis Hamilton being, you know, the goat is going to go for it at every opportunity, and I respect him for it. They did what they both should do. I think they went a race as hard as they could and they threw the cars in and we ended up in a bit of a crash

and it's going to be a shame the worst part is that I think it will sour the race weekend a little bit for the fans. I think F1 Twitter will be a little bit poisonous with both sets of fans having a go at each other and I hope that Toto Wolf and Karen so Christian Horner

don't have a go at each other for the next two weeks on air because it's going to become very dull very, very quickly. So for me, yes, it was a big crash it looked very dramatic. Both guys walked away fine but I do think because of the reasons I've given previously, this was a racing incident.

I think letter of the law, this was a racing incident. My own view of this is that it was Hamilton's fault. I think if you don't give a car's width when someone's alongside, then you can't have too much complaint where they don't have control when they're going over the curb. Of course, they went on that, the staff went on that sausage curb at turn one. They're pretty evil things, which is why they're there in the first place to detract anyone from even trying to explore track limits. So you understand why they're there. But when you get on them, you don't have much control at all.

So if Lewis Hamilton didn't want that to happen, he should have left a bit more room. The difference between, I think, that incident and the one that happened on the first lap is that Lewis Hamilton was going for the move, going for the move, going for the move. and then at the last moment went, okay, no, going to bail out of this, not going to crash, went over the curbs instead. Vestappen still went over the curb, but he was still trying to make the move happen. He was still attempting to squeeze past Lewis Hamilton right until the point that they crashed. So I think the first one on lap one was bailout essentially. This one was more, I am committed to this move, I'm going to keep going,

regardless of what the consequences are. Now I would say from Vestappen's side, you could ask the question, regardless of whether it's his fault or not, that's almost irrelevant for this specific question. Should he have backed out? You know, should he have just lived to fight another day? Should he have let Lewis Hamilton have this one? See if he could get it back on the lap or two afterwards. I would say that because I did argue that at Silverstone. You know, at Silverstone I said Lewis Hamilton was at fault for the crash between the two drivers. But, But given Vestappen's quite large advantage in the championship at that point, I said that there was definitely a case for him to just give that one up, lose the battle, but keep winning the war. I don't think that's the same case here at Monza, and I agree with Vestappen continuing to try that move. I think at this point in time with their championship efforts,

Vestappen can afford a nil-nil, as essentially it was, if you exclude the spring race points. I think he can exclude that. I think he can, I think he can accept that because this was definitely a Mercedes track. We saw throughout practice, we saw throughout qualifying, this was Mercedes to win, not Red Bulls to win. And I think given that, a nil-nil result

is much better for Vestappen than it is for Lewis Hamilton. So I agree with Vestappen trying to make that move and given those medium tyres on Lewis Hamilton's car, I think it would have been his only opportunity. I don't think he would have had another one. so I think it's fair that he tried it. You're right in what you say, that it was interesting that Lewis Hamilton was there in the first place

in that they pit him very early, considering he was on the hard tyres to start with. He was the only guy in the top 16, I think, who started on the hard tires. So very interesting that he was in that spot to begin with. I can understand why Mercedes made the move, though, because after Vestappen's slow pit stop, they basically had the opportunity.

We can get Lewis Hamilton out ahead of Max Vastappen on better tires for now and we can beat him. You're right in what you say, Sam. It almost doesn't matter if Ricardo wins the race or if Norris wins the race. Obviously, it's not the ideal result for Mercedes, but at the same time, they can accept that. It's not damaging for their championship as long as they're ahead of Vastappen. So I understand why they did it.

And bear in mind that Lewis Hamilton's stop was slow itself. It was 4.2 seconds. So realistically, Hamilton should have been clear of Vastappen going into that first corner if it all went right for Mercedes at the pit stop. It's a very interesting one. I'm with you, Sam, in that I think I would give Hamilton a penalty for this based on my own view of what racing should be. But I think based on the regulation itself,

it should be a racing incident. But it almost for me doesn't really matter. I don't care which one it is, as long as we get a very limited or hopefully, I don't even want to say none because it's not going to happen, but I really hope that Christian Horner and Toto Wolf are not at each other's throats for the next two weeks because it's tiring. I just, it is what it is guys.

And nothing that Christian Horner now says, nothing that Toto Wolf now says is going to change that. But it ain't going to happen, is it? Driver of the day, Sam, who you going for? So yeah, before we jump into it. drive of the day. I just want to talk about one further thing, which again, maybe comes down to the mismanagement of penalties that we've seen from the Stewart's time and time again, and maybe where this will play a part in Hamilton getting a penalty or not, or the staff and getting the

result he walks out of this judgment, and that was the Ocon Sebastian Vettel moment that happened in the second chicane as well. Arguably, a couple of years ago, Charlotte Cleric is actually the same thing to Lewis Hamilton. He forced him off the track a little bit and didn't leave the cars with. Hamilton protested this massively. No penalty was given at that point. And, and LeClew went on to win the race. This time around, though, it was almost an identical collision. You know, they very slightly touched. The Staffen was able, sorry, not the Staff.

Vett was able to stay on the track. Ockon drove away in the lead of that battle to start with, but then in time was given a five-second penalty, almost an identical move. So whether Hamilton gets an issue or not, a penalty or not for this, or Verstappen gets away with anything, it's clear that the skewers cannot be consistent again around a track like this,

because we've seen within a couple of years of each other, issues continuing where penalties are not the same as it was. So I don't know how much of a given it is that one driver will walk away with or without a penalty, whether it will be a driving incident. But a final judgment in mind is it is a racing instant cue to the other instances that we've seen. Right, drive of the day. I mean, I've really been doing shoo-eys since the moment the lights were crossed. I've got a cup of tea here and it is being drunk out of my boot from the other room.

Because, of course, Dangao is the driver of the day. Man gets an electric start. gets down the start, finish straight, brilliantly well. Gets a great breaking as we've come to expect time and time again from Daniel Riccardo, and it is fantastic to see that he's still got it. As he said, you know, I'm ever left. I've just moved aside for a bit, and he's back. He's still here.

Daniel Ricardo takes the winger for me. He was drive of the day. It was a flawlessly executed run by Daniel Ricardo. He managed the safety car restart brilliantly. He got off the line brilliantly. He managed his team brilliantly, and we saw that when Norris complained about the speed, he upped it and he was able to consider. his teammate as well. Norris was fantastic as well. And Botties, big up bodies, you know,

all the way from the back row of the grid to third place. He had the car to do it, but that man was making moves like a bloody gym gas in the Olympics. I don't know. It was fantastic. The top three were all absolutely brilliant. So for me, it is Daniel Ricardo, but I think you can make a cause for a lot of people having a very good race today. Good old Darren Ricardo back on form again. And I just love the revelation in the post-race interview that he has in fact been sandbagging all year and we just didn't know about it. We knew something was up and that makes sense.

I'm actually going to say that I do have a driver of the day but I'm going to say generally speaking, I don't think there were actually any really great performances out there today. I don't think anyone was brilliant. I think there was you could put an argument against every driver as to who it should be. Now, I'm actually going to give it to Daniel Ricardo as well, but I will say that he definitely got the job done at the start,

which was the most important thing. I don't think his pace was great. I think Lando Norris probably had pace on Daniel Ricardo if he was allowed to show it. So whilst I think he did everything he needed to do, obviously, he essentially led from start to finish. So he did a great job and he is my driver at the day. think it was a flawless performance and I wouldn't put it near the top of what we've seen from

Daniel Ricardo overall. Other mentions, the ones you've given really. Valtry Bottas, I was probably going to give it to him if he made that move on Perez, but ultimately he made all those moves and fair play to him, he made short work of pretty much everyone that he overtook. That's fine. But then he got up to Perez and he needed to make that move stick and he couldn't. And ultimately, we saw Lewis Hamilton stuck behind the McLaren of Lando Norris throughout the first stint. Bottas did very well up until that point, but when he faced similar car in terms of ability like Hamilton did, it was the same result.

So I'm not saying that Bottas only did what he was supposed to do, but he could, and I know he beat Perez anyway technically, but I'd love to have seen it on track from him. The other one I want to give a shout out to actually a Charler. He had considerable pace on Carlos. signs all weekend long. Sorry, that's not really fair. In the race, you know, in qualifying was actually quite close, but in the race, Charles LeClaire definitely had a clear edge. And he played it quite well, even when he got overtaken by a couple of cars at the start of the safety

car restart, which I think it's fair, given the Ferrari, that just wasn't their track at all, even with the Munza support. He still stuck in there and actually stayed relatively close to Bottas after he got overtaken. It wasn't a Ferrari track at all. So I think a P5 and P6 is far from a bad result for them. Sorry, P5, P7, I should say. Perez did get signs. Worst driver of the day, Hugo.

Well, you just mentioned the young man's name. It's Sergio Perez. I don't think there are any ridiculously bad performances unless you look at the absolute back markers like Mazepin and Schumacher and O'Kong. Vessel was in the Wars today. But if we're going to talk about outright performances, and where they should be in comparison to their teammates.

I know that Perez was left out to dry a little bit, and it was tough to overtaking the sprint because everyone was so close together for so long. But as you said, Ben, Monsa was not a Ferrari track. I did not have the straight line speed. Bottas absolutely put them to the sword when he got up to them. And we've seen how close that Honda is in terms of the straight line speed to the Mercedes. He should be able to do this.

He should be going to make those moves and work it out. And Perez was just all over the shot. you know, I think he hasn't screwed his head on properly, and there are a few moments where Perez arguably could have not got himself a five-second penalty, for example, by actually thinking ahead of the team going, don't give it back, do give it back, don't give it back, and he maybe could have saved himself a bit of a moment. I guess it comes to expect a little bit more from him now,

and I don't think he's really delivering. And I get to this point in a season where a driver maybe isn't up to my expectations, where it starts to, the scales start to tip in the unfavorable manner. And as much as I love Sergio P, Big Sheko, he's not delivering and I don't think when your teammate before the crash

and before the terrible pit stop was able to run less than a second behind first for the entire race and you weren't able to make any moves properly stick it just doesn't look great on you so there are some other games

that had bad performances there are some ways further down the field that had some silly incidents but I think overall in terms of championship standings and how I expected you to run Sergio was my worst driver of the day I'm going to have to agree, I'm afraid.

Yeah, I'm going to go Sergio Perez as well. Bear in mind that Bottas had a lot to recover based on where he started, but it was completely fair that he was there to begin with. He did everything he could do on the Friday and the Saturday, but ultimately it was a grip penalty. There wasn't anything he could do about that grid penalty because it was based on the power unit. Whereas Sergio Perez, he had a lot of,

lot of work to do in the spring race and in the race, but that's only because he didn't qualify very well on the Friday, and that was down to him. And you could say that yes, he was used to give Vastappen a toe at parts during qualifying. Yes, he was. They both got a toe from Gassley on in Q3, and that still wasn't enough for him. And realistically, Monser is a circuit where there really shouldn't be massive differences between teammates, because there aren't many opportunities to gain time on your teammates. You are at the mercy. of your power unit for so much of the track that there are a limited number of corners

where you can theoretically get ahead of your teammate. If we look at, I mean, use McLaren as the example. Daniel Ricardo has been a long way off for most of this season. They get to Monza, and we'll discuss this more and a bit, but they get to Monza, there's not much between them. Do I think that Daniel Ricardo is at a revelation overnight?

No, I don't. I think it's Monza and the way that the track is that there isn't going to be much between teammates. And Perez, there was still a big gap between him and Vostappen on both Friday and Saturday. Get to the race. Okay, he does all right for the first half for the Grand Prix. Vastappen and Hamilton's crash helps him out a bit to gain a few more positions.

But ultimately, what did he expect to happen in that move against the club? What did he think was going to happen when he completed the move off track? Did they think the stewards were just going to ignore it? I know they're bad, but they're not that bad. that they do have eyes contrary to popular belief did they just expect that to go away?

Of course you've got to give that position back and ultimately that poor decision and I'm not necessarily saying that's completely on Perez as well because the team should have been on at him like give that position back we will be penalised but it was just poor decision making

it was a bad race for him and it seems to be something different every week he needs a two or three race stretch where it's just solid performance, solid performance, solid performance. And there's none of this. You know, we had Austria where there was the incidents with Norris, and we've had this one here. We've had bad Q3 before.

We had the Q1 elimination. There's so many things that are just adding up against Perez. He just needs a seamless weekend. And honestly, it's exactly the same thing we were saying about Albin and Gasly. Yeah, you're right. Something that's slightly outside of the Perez moment, more a red bull thing that we've seen twice now this season. the very first race at Bahrain, and now we're seeing it here in Monser, is that when a Red Bull driver appears to overtake a car off track, as Bostappen did with Hamilton in that first race, and now Perez has done with LeCler.

Do Red Bull seem to have a bit of an issue with giving a decisive order of when a car should be given back, a position should be given back. For me, it was clear. Perez should have gone round the first Lesmo, pulled to the inside line, let Lecler back through, then immediately been back on him again in the DRS zone, going down the straight towards the Ascari chicanne. feels like a very obvious choice. I know that they're moving around at 150 to 200 miles an hour. Don't get me wrong. But this is their job. They are paid to make these decisions and they are aware of these kind of implements that they need to create, as are the team, as our strategists. It feels like quite an obvious one to resolve without having to deal with this constant threat of a penalty. And then with 10 laps to go in a track where you can't pull away without tongues of fresh air in front of you, he gets a five second penalty. The same thing happened with the

staff and not when able to get the overtake redone on Hamilton after they stupid. gave the placebacking a really silly place that meant the Hamilton could just waltz off a little bit. I don't know. It seems like it might be something there and they're not used to doing this or it's a bit silly. This feels like a really simple one that they should be getting right.

Yeah, if it's 50-50, I would say fair enough. You took a gamble on it, didn't pay off, fine. It was 50-50 could have gone either way. This was such a slam dunk. I can't understand it. It's not even the only time it happened during the weekend as well. Of course, we had the same incident. or a very similar incident on Saturday as well,

which we will get into in a bit. Moment of the race. What are you going for? I think it's going to be the McLaren one, two crossing the line. I can obviously give it to the crash, but I actually think the crash is soured things a little bit for me of that Grand Prix.

I feel like we're going to hear too much about this and not about... I think McLaren we will want it anyway, so I don't think we get to hear about the McLaren success that was outright theirs this weekend. They were brilliant. And Ricardo, it did feel like a bit of a resurgence.

I know, then I agree with you, this isn't kind of like a suddenly from zero to 100%, but this does feel like he's hit the refresh button. He came back after that summer break. Spa was very solid for him. He wasn't quite there with Norris in Spa, but he was competitive. And then we come to, we come to Monsa, which again, is definitely an easier track to match your teammate, but you still got to eke out those tents and hundreds of the second.

And he did that. He was better in the sprint race as well, and then he executed it brilliantly. So it's a big of resurgence for Ricardo. Norris gets his best ever finished so far. We've got McLaren 1-2 for the first something. What, I think, as you said, then nine years or something. like that, which is absolutely astonishing. So, yeah, for me, that was a great moment.

His little speech at the end was absolutely brilliant. It was really encouraging to hear. So for me, moment of the race. Yeah, same for me. A winning Daniel Ricardo is great for Formula One, ultimately. He's such a character that not seeing him on the podium, on the top step, it isn't great for Formula One. You know, he is, he has a reputation as this fun-loving guy with a massive smile all the time.

But there are two sides to Daniel Ricardo that he is seriously competitive. There's such a motion whenever he wins a race. You remember the last time he won a race, Monaco, 2018. Like the passion that when he steps out of that car, that's what we want to see. So a winning Daniel Ricardo is great for F1. And yeah, first McLaren won two since the 2010 Canadian Grand Prix. First McLaren win full stop since 2012 Brazil. So, I mean, you've got to love it. Absolutely loved it. And we'll glance over this little topic we've got here, which I think

is to review bold predictions. So I think you were probably right. I was probably wrong. Let's move on. What a great topic that was. Hold on. Oh, don. Say those words again, Ben. Who was right and who was wrong? All right. So Sam predicted that there would not be a Red Bull on the podium. And I'm starting to think now that Sergio Perez and you might have some sort of deal to the point where he intentionally didn't finish on the podium to get that done. Oh, you know. And then my prediction actually related to the sprint race, quote unquote, qualifying, where I said that neither Ferrari would start. inside the top 12 that didn't quite go to plan. To be fair for a little while, it looked like I might be onto something

after Charles LeClaire had to bail out of FP3, sorry, FP2 quite early, and Carlos Sines crashed in the same session. So for a few hours on Saturday lunchtime, I was like, I'm on for a winner here. They then both started and they were fine. I was able to watch the sprint race live. I was at my partner's graduation, so I had to, all apps were off.

You know, I was on mute for everything. I got back and I caught up all the action. About halfway through it, I thought, how has Ben done this? How has he got this? So well nailed. And then, of course, it all came into play. And they ruined it for him, which was quite lovely. I don't remember what Harry's was.

Can you remember Ben? You've just got to written down. No, I had no idea. Who was wrong, I think. Yeah, sorry, Harry. I didn't think if you were right. No idea what it was. Yeah.

So I've learned my lesson. and don't bet against Shao Leclair, it won't end well. But well done. Bold prediction correct, Sam. Tick, love that one. Yep. Good race. Good race all round.

Daniel Ricardo, moving on to him for a bit more as well. So his first win in three years, I think the attention now turns to what does this mean for Daniel Ricardo at McLaren? Does it mean that he will get back on pace with Lando Norris on a much more consistent basis? Does that mean even more than that? Can he possibly assert his dominance here?

What do you reckon, Sam? Do you think this was a bit of a one-off in terms of a performance or the start of something else? So there was an interview done with old Danny Rick, and it's no secret. He knew it himself. There was no secret that Danny Rick was not on the pace he should be at all for the first half of this Formula One season.

I think the biggest moment was when Lando Norris was so quick at Imola that Danny Rick was asking to move out the way and within about two laps, I think Lando was about five or six seconds up the road. It was pretty drastic. And after the summer break, you know, Danny Rick had a quick interview and he said, I feel better. I've taken a reset. I feel like I've learnt what's going on and I'm improving.

And we saw that in SPAR. I know we didn't get the race, but in qualifying, he was not on the place of Landon Horace. Lando could have quite easily got himself a pole position had he not been the only person to go out at the start and put it in the wall at the Oruhe's sector. But Danny Rick was also not far off. he was definitely always going to be in that top four or five shout. I think they'll look very positive for him.

And then we come to Mungza. Now, again, we've said Mungza is tricky and Munga does reduce the gap typically between teammates. And I would argue, Ben, you've already brought this up on the podcast, that Lando, despite being behind Danny Rick, did look like across the race, he had a little more to give. He was constantly behind Ricardo quite comfortably. There was no moments where Ricardo was able to. drive off down the road and only after the VSC where you know obviously the restarts can be a little bit favourable for some drivers and unfavorable for others Ricardo managed a gap Norris by a comfortable amount and then that gap did come back down again to about 1.2 1.4 seconds so do I think

that this is the job done for Ricardo do I think he's going to be coming back now we're going to see the Ricardo evolved not just yet I don't think one victory means that you are the driver that we're used to see that that Danny Rick in you know his second series at Renault or you know when he was smashing out wings and great that drive for example in china that he put up in redball one of the best drives i've seen him ever do one of the best drives i've probably seen in the last decade you know i don't think we're seeing that just yet but there's nothing to say that positive performance and learning is gradual and there is something we've all always said on this podcast that when a driver comes to a new team for the first year you expect them to start worse than

their teammate and it will probably take a full season but you expect to see growth throughout the season you expect to see that development they need to be relatively relatively close, if not on par with their teammate by the end of the year, something Sergio Perez, for example, isn't necessarily doing. Daniel Ricardo is, let's say, on that growth path. He is evolving, he is developing, he's getting used to the car, and the gap to Norris is shrinking. It's definitely not neck and neck just yet, but it's shrinking. We've got, what, seven, eight races left. I think Ricardo could get there, and I think Ricardo and Norris for at least maybe two to three years could be a very fun, powerful, and incredibly crucial part of

for that McLaren growth and maybe a new era that they can have it. They finally got a race when they end up with a one-two, which is amazing for them. And this could be the start of something great if both drivers continue to develop and that car keeps going the right way. We go Seidel as well. Cyle as a team boss on that pit wall, is able to pull magical results. He has done in the World Endurance Championship at the likes of LeMong, and he's now doing so in Formula One with McLaren.

Of course, with Zach Brown leading them, who is creating a brilliant culture there. So yes, I think with that nurturing, that development, that time, if Ricardo is allowed it, which I think currently he should be, we will see Ricardo comfortably on pace with Norris and there'll be a very, very fun battle to watch. Do I think he's going to start achieving that race on race on race from now onwards? No, I think we come to Russia.

I will not be surprised if Ricardo is still, let's say, two, three tents behind Norris in a qualifying battle and then finishing behind him in the race. But I think he's getting there. I think it's positive. Yeah, it is positive. And it's definitely in a better position now than it was towards the beginning of the season.

So there is that growth that you've already mentioned, Sam. My view is that Lando Norris will pick up from where he was in Sochi and I think he will reassume that advantage over Daniel Ricardo. And my view is that remains the case for the rest of this year. I think Daniel Ricardo still has it. I still think he's got more than enough ability to do a great job for McLaren. I don't think that's gone at all compared to where he was in his Red Bull days. Still think he's got the ability. But I think the car that he's got at his disposal, not necessarily in terms of performance, but just the way that it handles. I don't think it suits Daniel Ricardo at all. So I don't believe that this will be a turnaround until next season when it's

a brand new car. Now, he's going to have much more input into next year's car than he did into this year's car. And of course, we know that the car's going to be completely different anyway, thanks to the regulation change. So I think Daniel Ricardo will definitely be fingers crossed that he will be on the pace with Lando Norris next season. Who knows, maybe even ahead of him. And I think either of those results are doable for him. But only when a new car comes in. I think the rest of this year is damage limitation. I think it will be a case of picking up the results where they come. But I think Lando Norris will hold that advantage for the rest of this year. I don't think this is going to be a revolutionary turnaround. I do think, as I've already mentioned, that Monzer certainly helps out teammates that aren't

necessarily doing that well versus the other guy on the team. So I think there's that element of it. But yeah, Daniel Ricardo is wily enough that he will continue to pick up points throughout the rest of this year, even if he doesn't have that pace advantage. So I don't think much changes as a result of this win. I think it all changes, or at least has the ability to change, when that new goal. cart comes in. What did you make of Lando Norris's response just to touch on that? Because he's been close, he's had a few podiums now, he's been close to his first win.

Theoretically today was his best chance yet and probably had the pace to do so. Took it seemingly pretty well. How do you think he responded? I think there is a tiny part of him behind closed doors and behind the visor when he got told to hold position that his heart will have broken just a little bit. And he said it to be fair in the interview. He said, of course, I'd love to have won that race. And I think you're not a racing driver, right, if you don't want to win the race, surely are in the wrong line of work. And so, yeah, I think there'll be a little bit of him that goes, ah, that's, you know, we've finally got the win. I've been the better driver throughout the whole season. I don't think I can argue against that, but my teammates are the one that's

picked up the victory here. That, that sucks. Yeah, it does. But, but over the radio, his attitude getting out the car, the way he performed with the team, uh, the way he was then on the podium with Dangy Rick, because soon as they both come out and said, we're not here to be friends with each other, we're here to be teammates. He was brilliant. He was so well matured. He was so gracious in what he said. He fought for the team. Very much like what Russell reacted like actually when Williams got their first points in Hungary. I know it's the way around. I know Russell scored more on Latifi or whatever, but you know, it was a real moment for the team. And he, I think Norris understands the struggle that the team have gone through, the rebuild the team

have been part of. And so he understood the bigger picture here. And I was quite proud of him. I think that is the right way to handle yourself in front of the media. And he realizes we're not in a championship fight. I can't win the championship if I win this race. So let's carry home a one-two and let's make sure that we can get done properly. And I think he reacted perfectly. That is exactly how I want my driver to act if I can magic someone up. So yeah, congrats to him. I think it was a pretty performance. And then he made himself shine in the interview afterwards. Yep, I think you're right. You know, he can say on the outside as much as he wants.

he can cheer, he can celebrate, and I think his response was absolutely spot on. You cannot convince me that he is gutted. And you can respond in kind to say he'll get plenty of opportunities in the future, you know, he might even get championship opportunities. In 10 years' time, this is going to seem really insignificant. Yes, to all of that does not matter one bit for him right now. I honestly believe it will not matter for him at all. Now, that's the correct outlook.

and I think in days that maybe will he be his outlook. But right now, he was on the cusp of victory and he didn't get it. He's a racing driver. And that response, at least internally, is perfectly acceptable. But also the way he responded externally was completely, it was perfect. You know, he's happy for the team. He knows that there was no point, at least externally, you know, complaining or moaning or, doing anything but what he did.

So I think he responded perfectly to this. I can't complain at all. There is also a tiny part. I mean, it seems incredibly unlikely of someone with Landon Norris' calibre. But what if there is never another chance? What if he commits to McLaren long term? What if McLaren don't have a poor car again

going into the new era? And let's say that because of this poor form that McLaren go on to, someone big doesn't necessarily want to sign Landon Norris in a few years' time when new talent comes through, and he's stuck in a midfield car. We've seen it happen to a lot of possibly very successful drivers that have never had that moment. What if that ends up being Landon of Horace's only chance at a victory?

He might end up absolutely kicking himself in years to come. Obviously, it's all hypothetical, but that's what racing drivers need to take their, put their hands both on inside of the trophy and lift it themselves and not let their teammate do it. But as you said, for the team's point of view, he was perfect. Yeah, I mean, nothing is guaranteed. And whilst we won't get into this right now, I expect it will be appointed at a future date.

But that's why I think Valtry Bottas, in his team spirit that we've seen for so long, if he's in with a chance of a victory, he doesn't know if he's going to get another opportunity, which definitely raises questions about how much of a team player he will be in that spot. If he knew that he was going to a great team next year and he's going to be in line for some more wins,

then maybe the attitude's different. but because nothing is guaranteed, he might respond differently. So I think that is a good point. Sergio Perez, we've already discussed him briefly about how that went. Let's look specifically at the incident where Chau LeClaire, you know, he overtook Charles LeClair off the track, so to speak. What do you make of his decision here? Because at least from an outsider's perspective, we both agree it's a bit of a slam dunk.

Do you think this is on the team or do you think this is on Perez that he didn't give the position back straight away? I think you've got to look at both sides as with all these arguments that we go through folks. Firstly, let's look at it from Sergio Perez's side, right? Sergio is under a little bit of pressure. There's no doubt that the Red Bull team,

yes, they've re-signed him for another year, but there's no doubt that you've got Pierre Gazley and that Alpha Tauri, who is one of the shining stars of the last couple of seasons of Formula One, who doesn't get along that all of Red Bull management, and if we did, it would be a slam dunk to get back in that seat, searcher press knows that his career is limited at this rebel drive so he needs to start impressing and he needs to start impressing fast to make sure that he gets as much time in that seat as possible he gets a chance to pass a Ferrari at monser you know in front of his team where he needs to start getting himself up the grid his teammate is now out of the race and he not only does he mess up the chance to get the overtake down which should be relatively simple for him you know break in the right place keep the car on the track you're going to be all right you'll make it through um

it just didn't happen for him. So I think Perez is driving that car under pressure from the team to be successful. But then when you know, you know that you've done that off track. You know, like we all saw it. The team know instantly. Sergio Perez, the driver himself must have realized that, hang on a minute. I left the track in lying with Lecler. I've come back on the track completely in front of him.

He's now behind me. That's not how Formula One works. And Charlotte Clure did the same thing to Valtry Bottas in turn one, a few laps on, right? Charlotte Clare went off the track, came back on in front of Bottas, and then immediately gave the place back, and then used it to his advantage to slingshot back past Bottas, and Bottas had to redo the move. Nothing came up about that, no one complained about it. But there was no Stuart inquiry about it. Perez surely has those race marks.

We've seen how smart Perez can be throughout a race. We've seen how careful and concise that he knows how to be in a race. But we've also seen this hot-hanging us from Perez before. When fighting against Ocon, for example, he's had some bad moments. we know that, again, actually with Austria, when it comes to fighting Norris, on the last lap, to count his front wing. We've seen Perez have silly moments, and I think this was a silly moment,

whilst under pressure from a very intense team of Red Bull. He's got the car, he's got the ability, he knows full well that he should lift off, let the clerk go through through the Lesmo, get straight back on him again, and go for him again into turn one next time around. The team also should be fully aware of those rules. They should not be chanced in their arm like this.

especially with the driver already out of the Grand Prix, and they should have someone on the wall who is confident enough in those rules sets to sit there and go, Checo, you've overtaking off track, give the position back within the next three corners. Whenever you feel is best, give that place back, or we will get a penalty.

And I think you always need to be safe rather than sorry in these positions. It's not like Perez hasn't got a race-winging car under him. It's not like Perez can't get a podium here. It's not like they're fighting for 13th place and there might be a risk of it. You are fighting for a possible place in your F1 career, and you've made another silly decision,

and the Red Ball team are uncertain. I think both sides have dropped the ball here. Both sides need to do more, and I think Perez, we need to see more from him in the car. He needs to be dictating a bit more, like Max does, like Lewis does, like we saw Bloody Carlos Sikes do, right, being the strategist on the pit wall. You need to have that ability to command from the car.

Perez isn't doing it. From us, as you've said from outside the car, it was a slam dunk, and I think from inside the Red Bull Pit garage, it should be a slam dunk of what you need to do. It wasn't really good enough from both sides. They both let themselves down. So yeah, you need to see one side or another make a clear-cut decision on that. It's going, oh, it's too late.

We've got a penalty. Cheko, can you drive as fast as you can to make sure we get out of that window, please? It's just more points lasting. It's another silly decision that the top teams seem to be making more and more as we're going through this season. I think they were just massively hamstrung by the fact that he didn't let him through straight away because they knew that Valtry Bottas was coming in very fast, would have been P5, I guess, at that point, but essentially it was Perez-Laclair battling away

with Bottas closing in very quickly on the pair of them. The second Valtry Bottas got past Leclair, Perez doesn't have the opportunity to give that place back anymore, which makes you wonder why he didn't do it in the first place, because at that point, they can't just say, well, give him the place back, because you're also then giving Bottas the place, which gives him the opportunity to go after the two McLarence

and potentially take a race win or a P2 and get more points from the race than Bottas actually did. So you're affecting the Constructors' Championship at that point. So you just have to, at that point you have to say, okay, keep the position, we'll take the five second penalty because it's better than if we let Bottas through. So that, you know, he had to let him pass straight away as a result of that and he didn't.

And as we've already referenced, it wasn't the only time something like this happened with Perez this weekend. We know he went side by side with Lance Stroll, very similar. Now, he did give the position back in that instance, but it wasn't until the Ascari Chican, and it was the same place where the actual incident happened. So it was pretty much half a lap before he gave the position back. Now, Red Bull's position on this was they wanted to investigate whether they did need to take it back, the FIA, but the regulation does say on the other hand that you have to give that position back as soon as it's safe to do so. So rather than just this specific incident, Sam, but perhaps this

sort of incident more widely, how do you think that the team should approach this? What should the regulations be? Should there be time in there so that they can investigate it with the FIA as to whether they do need to actually give the place back? No, I don't think the FIA need to do anything. It's very clear. If you complete a move off track, then you've made the move illegally. And I think that's fine. What I do think maybe there needs to be, as you've said there, is almost a time frame, a guarantee for drivers to comfortably give the move back

without panicking, without forcing themselves into a silly decision. So maybe there needs to be a, you've got one lap back to the corner where the issue happened to give that position back. That is kind of the rule set, right? So that allows Perez, one minute, 25 seconds to have a quick chat with this. team and go, was that dang off track? It was. Cool. Coming down the start, finish straight, right into the breaking zone or right before the start, finish straight going through, it's not called parabolic or panabolic or satellite dish, as it is translated to.

I believe that, you know, that would have been a sensible place to do it. Let's do it there. Cool. I don't think the FIA need to be changing this rule. It is a very clear-cut rule. It's a very old ruling Formula One. You race within lines. You, you know, overtake within those lines. You can't score in football from, you know, behind the goal because the ball's out of play at that point. It's the same with racing your car. Your car is technically out of play if you're out of bounce of the racetrack. So, no, I don't think the FAA need to do too much here. I would maybe respect them putting in a time limit, like an actual cemented time limit on when a position needs to be given back, because that stops this awkward. Have we gone over an

expected time? Are we rushing? Should there be a safe place to do this? I think that's fair. That's a fair change to make, but I don't think the FIA need to have any change in this rule for, oh, we've had a five-lap chat with the team, and actually we've realized that technically they were so wheel-to-wheel going through a chican that, oh, it's on the margin, so yes, technically he was might be ahead. No, I don't want any of that. I just want a, you've got one lap to give the position back where you think it's safest, do it. All positions should be fully made with the track limits, full in respect. And it wasn't. I thought that was quite clear. Yeah, for me, I would, I would not,

include a maximum time to allow the position back for two reasons. Firstly, I think you'd find teams would exploit that. So if they knew they had one minute to give the position back, they would do so after 55 seconds, or they would just basically pick whichever moment is best for them, and they would exploit that time. I also think that you might get a situation where there isn't actually a safe moment within that time frame, at which point the FIA would have to either give a penalty or go against their own ruling. My view is that the rule should remain completely unchanged. You give that position back as soon as it is safe to do so. And you might respond with that. You know, what if you want to investigate with the FIA? Like Jonathan Wheatley did,

what if you want to investigate with the FIA? Do we actually have to give this position back? Or was it a fair move? I would say this. Formula 1 is all about split second decisions. That is Formula 1 in a nutshell. The decision to bring a driver in or to keep him out, the decision to go for the overtake or back out and try again on the next corner, you are asking the drivers to make hundreds and hundreds of split second decisions around the track on race day. That's what you're asking the drivers to do. And for me, it should be no different for the strategists either.

It should be split second decisions. If you're unsure as to whether they should give the place back or not, you make the decision in that moment. If you're wrong, you live with the consequences. That's Formula One. If you make the wrong decision, that's fine. but I don't think that there should be this whole okay I'm just going to go over to Michael

we're going to review this do you think you should get the position back do you think he shouldn't we're not sure about this we'll keep the position until we're certain we have to I think it's a load of rubbish if you think it's an unfair overtake you let him pass straight away

if you don't you don't let him pass and you live with whatever decision the stewards make thereafter because split second decisions is Formula 1 full stop yeah I completely agree with you back I think that's a very fair shout. And this might be a development that we've seen, and so I'm going to maybe be slightly harsh on Red Bull here.

But since we've seen the input of the team to race director chat, obviously Mercedes and Red Bull do tend to get the dominance of that display. We see their communications a lot more than the rest of the teams because they are fighting for the championship. So that is fair. Hence why we hear the likes of Hamilton, the staff, and maybe moaning or being frustrated or celebrating more than everyone else. we do seem to hear Red Bull at every given occasion

and at least it's displayed at every given occasion more so than other teams it almost feels like trying to bide for time trying to buy time out of the FIA for a decision while they're trying to sort something else out on their end of things and I'm not a fan of it we know in Formula One that there are decisions to be amazing as you said

Formula One is about split second decisions they get paid a lot of money to make these calls make the call and get on with it and as you said deal with it I'm not enjoying these. Like, you gave a perfect example there then. Hi, Michael. Can we just spend some time investigating this and see what we can do?

No, sorry, I don't want any of that. I don't want those calls to be about that. That's not what calls to the FIA and the race director should be. It should be, you know your rule set, make the call, and get on with it and live with the decision. It's got a life or death situation. So for me, I'm not a fan of it. It does feel like Red Bull lead the way with this a bit,

but I might just be being harsh because we don't hear every single broadcast. Tough to tell on that. We'll move on to the sprint qualifying that we had on Saturday. It's the second time that we've had this this year. The first, of course, happened at Silverstone. We believe the third one is scheduled in for Brazil, although I'm still unsure whether we've actually got official confirmation of that. So a second outing for it, what did you make of it, Sam?

I mean, it was better than the Silverstone one, I think. But do I think we need it? I think it may be overall weekend more exciting. And obviously it's hard to say that because I can't sit there and run the two weekends side by side. I can't sit there and go, if we had normal qualifying on Saturday and normal race on Sunday, would that be a better race than the sprint qualifying on Saturday, normal qualifying on Friday and the race on Sunday? No, I can't make that decision.

But I go qualifying, especially around Monza, has always been exciting. It is a thrilling spectacle, as much as it is around the likes of Monaco. I love it. And it's always funny, it's always silly, cars don't know where they should be going, we get the silly traffic jams, and there is something interesting to talk about. It's not like it's a dull moment. And of course, you could argue, or hang on a minute, Sam, McLaren maybe wouldn't have won how we not had the sprint race, or Hamilton might not have got that awful start and put further cars up,

or Hamilton might not have crashed. No, you're right, but I mean, I don't know what might have happened in the other scenario that we've seen. Go ahead. So, yes, I think it was better than the Silverstone spin cross. and then the race that it possibly provided. Do I think it's necessary? Do I think it's more fun? Do I think we should have it for every race?

No, I'm still not convinced. I don't think it's groundbreaking. I don't think it's breathtaking. I don't think it creates a wholly spectacle. And I'll say it again, as I've said it every other time. Qualifying is not the broken part of Formula One. It is the way the cars are built that stops them being close together, which hopefully will be fixed from the new regulations.

So to me, that completely removes any need for sprint qualifying to jumble up. It just feels like an extended race. It just feels like they get more time to practice their race conditions and know what they need to do there. So for me, yeah, it was fine. Do I need it again? No. You know as well as anyone who listens this podcast.

I'm not a fan of sprint qualifying. I haven't been since the idea was first presented. And shockingly, this has not changed my mind at all. I cannot understand it whatsoever where the appeal is in this. this. Now you might say, well, having a race is better than having a third practice session. We get more time on track with these guys racing rather than practicing. Okay, where does that stop? Should we just have 10 races at a weekend? Should we have 50? It's got to stop somewhere. For me, it just dilutes away from the main race. I think it just takes away from the spectacle

of a Sunday rather than adds to it. And you're right, qualifying is not broken at all. Qualifying is fantastic. We see that every time. We saw it at Silverstone. The first. The Friday of qualifying, actual qualifying, was riveting. And then the spring, and then the spring qualifying happened and it was like, okay, sure. And I said this last time when we, when we reviewed this, and I still think the same thing, you are just adding an extra 33% of a race and just plonking it on the Saturday, but without any of the strategic elements that makes the racing a lot of fun. You're just, it's just a first stint that you're putting on a Saturday. Rather than have a 53, lap race around Monza, you're actually having a 71 lap race around Monza, you're just splitting

it over two days, but the strategy of the first stint doesn't actually affect the strategy of the second stint whatsoever. I do not understand this. And I appreciate this one splits opinions a lot, and I would say there are probably just as many who support this as go against it. I think probably the overwhelming majority like it enough to have it on a few races as it is right now, rather than have it every weekend. But I am still in the against camp here. I do not. If they were standalone events, fine.

Absolutely fine. Third drivers, young drivers, put them in the cut. Fine. Happy with any of that. But as a part of the race weekend, where they give out points for qualifying, I do not get it. I really don't get it.

Ben, do you feel like, and again, of course, we are over there on the F1 Twitter sphere. We obviously pay attention to all the news and the broadcast that goes on. Do you feel like the official partners of Formula One, those that put out the official press releases and opinions, so to speak, not fan-led ones such as ourselves, are they a little bit guilty of possibly forcing the positive opinion

of spring F1 races down people's throat? So they kind of was blanketing maybe a negative portion or the negative voice that is coming out of the Formula One community. It feels like they've overshadowed that a little bit. I've seen that thrown around quite a bit, and I don't think it's being thrown around unfairly, put it that way. I think there is certainly a case to that. I do think the opinion is mixed on it, generally speaking.

I think there are probably just as many in favour as against. I don't think there be much difference either way. However, everything that we see, you know it points to the fact that a lot of big names are focusing on the positives here and definitely driving away from the negatives a lot of interest in fan engagement yeah fan engagement sure positive and negative don't shy away from the negative of it all i i think there is a lot of building it up i appreciate they want a highlight on all three days i know that's why they put this in place in the first in the first instance but you know i it's saturday actually i had to miss the first half of

qualifying on saturday because i was i was finishing up work and you know i don't want that and i'm sure i wasn't the only one that couldn't watch all of it or couldn't watch it at all so i don't like it yeah yeah i mean on the friday when we had the stack the normal qualifying so to speak that's starting i think at five o'clock i had a work call at half-past four and i had to politely say to the people in the work call at half-past four on a Friday, which wasn't too pleasant of them anyway. So we mind if we cut this off at five to five because I've got to go and I want to go and watch this and I know it's the end of the day on a Friday. And fortunately, I work with some nice people and they said, yeah, of course, it's a Friday afternoon, you know, that's fine. There are a lot of

people who work on a Friday who get the weekends off who will not have been able to have watched that or have to have on record or have heard the spoilers on the radio on the way home. Or, you know, God forbid, someone doesn't live in the UK and they maybe have to have some other different schedule in their life on a Friday over in, you know, the Down Under or an America or something like that. And it doesn't work for them the slightest. And as we've said, qualifying is already one of the highlights of a race weekend. And you've already alluded to it, Ben. I would rather see a third driver or a young driver or a junior driver.

Or, God forbid, just let the F2 championship run succinctly with the actual F1 championship and give them a proper race on Friday and then a race on Saturday. Amazing, right? You get so much more exposure for the junior campaigns. Yeah, mind blown. The whole F1 community shocked at this revelation. We've got such a talented young driver line up in that F2. And it's so exciting to watch. And no one this year knows what's going on.

It's ruined the junior campaign because it's so convoluting and confusing. And that's your solution. It feels like right there. So maybe it will be better with the new regulations next year. But you know what? I don't want to find out. Formula One worked as it did. You just need the cars to be closer, which theoretically we will be.

So give the Juni drivers more time, put that together. That feels like an obvious solution. Yeah. And I know that there will be comments about me being reluctant to change, which isn't true. Like I said, the two young driver, third driver, fine. I'm happy for change in that respect. I'm fine with change, just not change for changes sake, where I don't think it actually adds value to a race weekend. but appreciate there are going to be very differing opinions on this and I know that there are

those that are still in favour of this. We'll have to see how it goes for the third time out. It's still a fairly small sample size, I will say. But yeah, if it happens at Brazil to see what happens there. And just to say, I think we need to, before we wrap up, we have to mention one thing here because we've had this question quite a lot in our Discord. We've had this question a lot on Twitter the last couple of days. as you will know if you've been listening to the podcast for a while now Sam Sage made a prediction earlier in the year

very early in the year actually that Valtry BOTS before a race was wrong I think yes it was you're right before a race was even run this year Sam made a prediction that Valtry Bottas will never win a race again now there are of course plenty of people asking right now BOTAS having won on Saturday he technically won a race but of course he did not win a full of on Grand Prix. People asking, does that count? Now, as much as I would absolutely love to say,

yes, it does count, because obviously at that point, I'll be right and he'll be wrong. I couldn't in good faith do that. So it is not a race win. We're not counting it. And it goes on for another week. But good news is, we've got Sotchi up next. So you don't have to wait too much longer for Sam to be wrong. Yeah, I mean, they call Mung to the Temple of Spee. Sochie's game is, of course, temple of botas so you never know that the thing with that new power unit and it feels like he's a bit bored of that new contract could in turn go up yours masegis i'm having this one for myself as well and i could be wrong and maybe we'll have to come up with some community-based forfeit if it does happen because i've been quite smug about this for the whole season long but uh but for now because

it's not an official gp wing it doesn't go down on his record uh it does move on for another week i'm annoyed though because he deserved it this weekend he did i don't like using the the d word I'm not using the deserved word, but he deserved it this weekend. He was great. He was a bit scruffy with some of the moves, but Bottas put on a great display. He did what I'm expecting. I'm going to say he could do from the back, and he delivered well. And you know what?

His qualifying and his sprint performance were bloody brilliant. If he started first this weekend, I think he could have gone on to win this race. I've got to be honest. If he started first, which I think based on his performance he deserved, I think he would have driven away. I honestly think he would, even with Vastappen and the current. I think if he led out to turn one, it'd have been gone. I agree. And I was actually a little bit delighted when I heard that he had an engine penalty because I was a bit nervous.

Yeah, well, like you say, Sochi's up next. If you dodge Sochi, I'm a bit worried. Yeah, I'm a bit worried. One more big hurdle to get over for the Bottas fandom. Because at that point, maybe he'll have to win when he goes to Alpha Romeo. If you imagine, if he doesn't win for the rest of this season, and he proves you wrong by winning at Alpha Romeo. Botti's president of F1, 2022.

Well, we'll have to see if that does happen at Sanchi. We'll, of course, be there for a preview and a review podcast on that one. And we'll be back, of course, midweek, even with outer race coming up this weekend. But Sam, if you wouldn't mind getting us out of him. Folks, it is incredibly rude of the FIA to not give us another race coming up this weekend. It means that we have to go for a two-week break, and I will spend the entire Saturday and Sunday weeping. into a Formula One piece of merchandise.

If you do want to join us, though, in between those race weekends that are not happening, unfortunately, then we are back on Wednesdays as Ben said. We're going to be talking about the general seasons, some more F1 bits and pieces, other news and whatnot. We always have a lot of fun on the non-race weekends as well. If you want to joining around those topics, and not just for the podcast, then, as we've mentioned previously, get involved in the Discord. There are well over 130 people, which baffles me every day talking about Formula One,

racing previous F1 seasons, their favourite liveries, Other bits and pieces as well, and everyone in there so far has been absolutely bloody, so thank you. Go and join it. The link is in the description. And as we've mentioned, I don't like to shill because it is a little bit lame, but we all work full-time jobs alongside this. You know, we do have to try and pay the bills. It takes a lot of our time. If you do love the podcast and you want to support it, and you've got a couple of quid that you go, oh, what do I do with this at the end of the month, and you don't want to save it for a nice holiday.

Maybe. There's a picture down in the description as well. It really costs very little, and there's a lot of great perks that we're starting to roll out with it as well. We would always appreciate that extra support. So thank you if you do even consider it. It means a lot. Also, thanks for just tearing out for giving us a listen. We love your support.

I can't believe the podcast is growing so much. I've offered on starting much. In the meantime, I've been Samuel safe. And I've been Ben Hocking. Remember, keep breaking late. Bye! This podcast is part of the Sports Social Podcast Network.