The Late Braking F1 Podcast - Verstappen dominates Mexican GP, after Lap 1 chaos! | 2021 Mexican GP Review | Episode 158

Episode Date: November 7, 2021

Not the most thrilling race in Mexico as Max Verstappen dominated to take victory ahead of Lewis Hamilton and home favourite Sergio Perez. Ben, Sam and Harry are here to review all the talking points after another good weekend for Red Bull in the championship.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. 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 Sam Sage. Harry Ead and me, Ben Hocking, Mexican Grand Prix review coming up. for you today. An absolute classic, one that will go down in, long in the memory, I am sure.

But it was Max Verstappen who I'm sure won't have any complaints as to how that Grand Prix went, taking the victory and extending his championship advantage to 20 points. So looking pretty good for him at the moment. It was a double Red Bull podium for the president of Mexico, Sergio Perez, as I believe he has just been referred to as with Lewis Hamilton. in between them in P2. I mean, Sam, one of the things that we get asked a lot is how do you get into Formula One? How do you find a job in F1?

And I feel like there might be something on the horizon if you want to be Daniel Ricardo's bodyguard, because I'm pretty sure Valtrey Bottas is actually going to try and kill him. Yeah, I mean, rumours say that Vowardri Bottas is still attempted to get past Daniel Ricardo, but in all wakes of life, you know, at the airport, Daniel, excuse me, try to get back to his hotel room. Daniel, why are you in front of me in this corridor? Please get out of the way at the breakfast queue. Daniel! Daniel! I imagine that Valtry Bottas is slowly losing the wheel to live

stuck behind the smiliest man in motorsport. Yeah, I mean, it's quite a technique, I guess, quite a strapped for Ricardo to get in front of Mercedes. T-bone them at T-1. Hold them up for the rest of the race. Jobs are good. Good stuff. Yeah, well on.

And now I've just got this image in my mind. of Valtry Bottas trying to get a Kit Kat from a vending machine but Daniel Ricardo just sat there and won't move. I can see that being reality. Do you have Bottas down as a kick cat, man? Oh, good question.

What chocolate bar would Valtry Bottas get from a vending machine answers in the Discord, please? Probably a brunch bar because it's good. It would explain a lot if he did go for a brunch bar because he is distinctly average. I'm joking. I am joking.

I am joking, Valtry. I'm joking. I'm not joking when it comes to the brunch bars, though. I am staying with that line of thinking. Ben Hopkins has ended that man's whole career in one line. Daniel Ricardo did it for me. I'm just kicking a man while he's down. Don't blame me for sending him there in the first place.

You're just harsh at the start of this podcast. Maybe it's because we're going to struggle for things to chat about. Who knows? We will never, ever. ever, ever, ever struggle for things to talk about whilst you're in the room, Sam. You would create something out of nothing, and I'm sure of that. But we do have some actual topics lined up. The Constructors Championship, just one point separate Mercedes and Red Bull now,

so heading into the last few races of the season. Who is the favourite to claim that one? And our thoughts as well on the Yuki Sonoda qualifying incident and also Red Bull's reaction to that. That's coming up later on, but first of all, we will look at the Mexican Grand Prix. So Mercedes did a very good job in qualifying, seemingly out of nowhere. Valtry Botas claimed pole position. Lewis Hamilton lined up second with the Red Bulls on the second row.

Max Verstappen got the start of his dreams, managed to go from P3 to P1 in one move going into turn 1. So Sam, the question here, after a very comfortable win for Vastappen, did turn 1 decide it or would Vestappen have got there anyway? if the race was won by let's say two three seconds turn one would have been the decider but when you have someone that goes out of wings by almost a full pit stop and hamilton hasn't had anyone else in front of him for the entire grand prix then it's hard to say that one move at turn one was going to be the deciding factor that red bull absolutely poppy cocked itself right up in qualifying and made it a lot harder than it should have been really because it's very clear very clear from the sunday performance, both Checo and Max Verstappen, lightning fast, that that rebel was more than capable

of going on to dominate this Grand Prix. And Max Verstappen absolutely did exactly that. He was so dominant, he was so calm. And that move running outside was, you know, I'm not going to put it down. It was a spectacular breaking maneuver to go around the outside of not one, but two, Mercedes Grand Prix cars, one of them being driven by a seven-time world champion, one of them being driven by a man stuck behind a vending machine with an Australian person. You know, some more challenging than others, we'll argue.

Yeah, so Vastafn, classy, absolutely classy. But nonetheless, whether that move was made turn 1, corner 1, or that one, or it was made on lap 47 on turn 12. I think Max Vastappen in that car, at the moment, are more than capable of dominating the Nasegi's around a trap like Mexico. It's their backguarding at the moment, you know, they're very, very strong here. They proved it once again. They chopped themselves in the foot for qualifying,

and made things look a little closer, and I think it actually was. And I think that was demonstrated by the end of the race. Harry, do you think turn one was the decider? I don't think it was necessarily a completely done deal because we saw how, you know, how difficult was for Peres to try and get Bass Hamilton. He didn't.

He was sat there all race, really. I don't know Peres and Vastapner, slightly different drivers, but yeah I don't think it would have been a done deal if he was still behind to be honest you know some strategy probably would have come into play and maybe the undercut and he still gets in front but yeah it was clear that Red Bull was the quicker car today but I think how difficult it was to overtake it around that track you know Hamilton could in my view could it could have held him off so yeah I don't think it's a done deal that move is

filth, to be honest. Lap one. We've seen many a driver on lap one just skid across the grass trying to do that and Verstappen completely nailed it. Yeah, a complete filth. One of the highlight, if not the highlight of the race, probably, we'll be going to that.

But yeah, I don't think it was a done deal. I think the Steppen will have still found it hard to get past Hamilton on track and maybe strategy would have been their best play if people were still behind at the exit of T3, I think. I mean, the absolute confidence of Max Verstappen going into term one,

it was sensational. He was so much later on the brakes than the other two Mercedes drivers. And in fairness, he did have the best angle into the corner. Valtrey Bottas and Lewis Hamilton could not have broke as late as Max Verstappen could. Max Wistappen had more space at his disposal. But you've still got to have that confidence because if Hamilton or Bottas break at a very similar distance to where Vastapen, Then suddenly Vostappen has run out of room, essentially, and he has to take to the grass.

So he has to have absolute confidence in his ability to outbreak the two Mercedes drivers. And that's exactly what he did. I doubted it. As the move was happening, I thought, no, this isn't going to happen. This is going to be a Lewis Hamilton when he goes across the grass against Nico Rosberg moment. He's not going to make the corner. And he did. He did barely, but he did.

and he judged it absolutely perfectly. Now, I think Mercedes really messed up the start in all honesty, because you've got Valtrey Bottas in the middle of the track, and I know questions were asked, did he break too early into turn one? Honestly, as we saw with the Esteban-Ockon incident, basically at the same corner, it's really difficult when you're stuck between two cars left and right.

The issue was that he didn't cover the left-hand side, and maybe he didn't do that because of Lewis Hamilton and his intention to actually let Lewis Hamilton buy into the first corner. But, you know, Max Verstappen was gifted it as the commentary referenced. He was gifted the best line into the first corner, which you cannot do when you've seized the initiative in qualifying. You know, they did the hard work on the Saturday to get the one too. And realistically, in hindsight, we know that their only chance, really,

was to keep the lead after term one. And as good as that Max Verstappen move was, looking back at it now, we can honestly say it probably took away most of the race's excitement, the fact that it did happen that early on. I'm with you, Harry, that I don't know whether Max Westappen would have got passed, when he would have got passed, but at least it would have made it interesting. Because I think Lewis Hamilton, with that straight line advantage that he had, I think he could have held off Max Verstappen on track. Now, what Max Verstappen was able to do when he was in the lead was create such a gap that undercuts, overcuts, they didn't matter.

Max Verstappen could essentially pit in response to Mercedes. I think realistically, Vestappen would have been able to keep close enough to Lewis Hamilton that he could have got into the undercut window, at which point he might have got the lead that way. But on track at least, I don't know if Vestappen would have made that work. We saw what happened when Perez caught up to Lewis Hamilton. So maybe Vestappen hits that same scenario. Except for instances where a car was much, much quicker than another, there wasn't a great deal of overtaking out there.

So they might well have lost this on the first corner. And you could say Bottas is slightly to blame for not going far enough left at the start. You can blame Lewis Hamilton for not claiming pole position on Saturday in the first place. But Max Verstappen, you know, he took the advantage. And from there, he didn't break a sweat. You know, he really didn't need to worry after he got that first. He was like two seconds clear after two laps. It was almost a Sebastian Vettel job.

when he was back in Red Bull, you know, just getting that advantage and never looking in any peril whatsoever of losing that race lead. Realistically, yeah, Red Bull, they have the faster car out there. No disrespect to Sergio Perez, who was definitely helped by the support of the home crowd. If Perez and Hamilton are very similar in terms of pace, that probably means the Red Bulls the better car. Again, no disrespect to Perez, but Hamilton will generally outperform any driver. other than maybe a few if he has the better car. So I think realistically the Red Bull was faster. But yeah, Mercedes, they really gifted it on a silver platter going into that first quarter.

Disappointing, really, because not only did it cost themselves, but it probably cost us a more exciting race. Oh, it was a bit sleepy, wasn't it? I'm quite tired, you see, folks. I was out on a rather late one last night. And I thought, you know what? Lad. Oh, Ludd, Ludd, Ludd.

Good bit of... Oh, oh, you're all. I've had a beer. Wait, we're having fun with friends that aren't me and Ben. I was just a family function, so I wouldn't necessarily have. That makes more sense. A family function. Are you 50?

Well, all I know was that the entire event, Malchie Botas was stuck behind me, so you tell me. I was telling you Ricardo there, didn't we? Yeah, yeah, he was in the middle of us. maybe a conversation for another day but maybe positions like P3 get too much of a good start at Grand Prix we've seen it a few times in the last few years

where P3 is considering Russia being one of them the favourable position I think that showed here I think the staff and even said I think I'd rather be in P3 starting the race which is such a weird statement for a sport where being at the front is meant to be the most favourable

choice so interesting got to be said that the last time that P3 didn't actually get the lead, I think, was only 2019, and it was Ferrari who managed to execute the one-two off the star, which is seemingly unbelievable. Ferrari executed something. It's because there's no strategy needed for a start to first corner. It's just all driver-related, that's fine. Exactly. I was half expecting the Ferrari guys to somehow orchestrate signs and LeClaire crashing into each other, but.

But somehow they managed to avoid that. So fair play to them. They've made some advances in their strategic department, maybe. We do need to, unfortunately for his sake, but fortunately for Sam's sake, talk a bit more on Valtrey Bottas because he did the job on Saturday. He claimed pole position, put out a bit of a belter of a lap,

and then it all unraveled very quickly. Spun around by Daniel Ricardo into the first corner. Any hopes of a recovery drive were completely dashed because he was stuck behind Daniel Ricardo, and then they decided to pit him 63 times in order to get the fastest lap, which in fairness, he did, which means is the only reason why Mercedes is still just about have the Constructors' Championship advantage.

So, Sam, do you think this was, was there anything more Bottas could do in terms of a recovery drive? It's really tough. I don't think Bossas drove bagging. Of course, the actual incident was nothing. to do with him. It wasn't his fault at all. You can't, you know, discredit Bottas for that, that incident. I'm surprised at Dangar Ricardo. It didn't even come up with it being investigated. I know it's a lap one incident, but he did properly take him off. And I know he lost

his front wing, but that doesn't really feel like suitable punishment. So, you know, Bottas was stuck behind one of the fastest cars in a straight line, ironically powered by their power unit. The McLaren is an absolute rocket. So when there's only kind of two places to overtake around the track, unless you are really nifty, in certain areas, it's very difficult to make sure you get a move done on the likes of Daniel Ricardo, Mr. Late Breaking himself and huge friend of the podcast, although it doesn't quite know it's yet. No. No idea.

No clue. No idea. But, I mean, I don't know what Bottas King of done. He was trying to follow Ricardo through for the rest of the race. Ricardo only moved up so far as well. It showed how difficult it was to follow round this track. There was turbulent air going everywhere. Overheating was becoming a real problem.

I think Mexico really displayed a lot of its weaknesses as a race track, not the whole nation, by the way, folks, just the Mexico City racetrack, displayed some serious weaknesses in producing and entertaining Grand Prix. So we know how bad Mercedes is it following. Bottas showed that in all of its aces today. It was a real troublemaker. In the sense, it didn't actually cause any trouble,

only just for Bossas. It was tough for him. I can't actually blame. him too much for where he ended up being because it was quite clear from a lot of battles going on up and down the track that overtaking was very difficult unless you had a significantly difference in speed so it was tough it was rubbish they had 43 pit stops i don't really think it's his fault all right i've term one incident this needs to be said and i'm going to pick one fairly recent but not completely random incident here can someone please explain to me in plain english why that

incident out there today did not warrant a penalty, but the Ghazley one, Turkey did. Do you know the, you know, like, the office meme where Pam's holding up the two images and they're actually the same image? Yeah. That feels like the incidents that occurred there, because Daniel Ricardo, to be honest, the Ricardo one's probably worse, because Daniel Ricardo actually locked up on his own volition, just went straight into Valtry Bottas. Gasly was, as he referenced, in a bit of a sandwich, which Ricardo wasn't, but apparently the Gasly one is worth five seconds, this one isn't worth anything. Completely, actually, no, it doesn't completely baffle me because it's the stewards, but if they had any brains or sense about them, it would baffle me.

How? How do you make that decision? But moving on from that, the actual race that unfolded from Bottas' perspective, You know, he was actually ahead of Ricardo after the pit stops because Bottas came in for the change of tyres, but it was Ricardo that needed the new front wing. So it was actually Ricardo that overtook Bottas immediately after the restart. He was probably thinking, ah, that's all right, I'll get that position back.

Not quite, buddy. 60 laps later, and he's still behind him. But, yeah, that's probably what cost him here. And the later it got on into the Grand Prix, the more it was like, well, you're not going to finish in the points anyway. Actually, your best use right now, Valtrey, is being in the race with a few laps to go, so you have a chance at the fastest lap. That might sound harsh, but as it was getting closer to the end, it was fairly apparent, you know,

P10 isn't even happening. So the only way you're going to prove useful to the Mercedes championship efforts is by taking the fastest lap off Max Verstappen. And that's what he did. So I can't blame him too much for not taking a really. risk later on in the Grand Prix. Earlier on, there were a few opportunities where you would just like, go on, go on, send it, go on, give it a go.

But you can't be disappointed with him because that's who Bottas is. We've got used to it by now. Bottas has many strengths, but he has some weaknesses. And one of those is he's just not aggressive enough in those sorts of situations. Hamilton, I believe, would have got past him. I believe the Staffen would have done. Bottas didn't do. but you know you can't be if you're Mercedes you can't be disappointed because you've you've had this

for years you know what he is by now every time you renew his contract for a year you know what you're getting with voucher botas and what you're not getting and you're not getting a guy who is fantastic at overtakes compared to some of the other drivers on the grid so yeah i think the later on in the grand prix it got valetri botas was fairly blameless and of course the first corner incident there was nothing he could do about that you know you could argue he should have broke slightly later into the first corner

but I think you're nitpicking at that point but he did at least do his job towards the end of the Grand Prix he got the fastest lap

he did it by quite a margin as well I think it was well over a second so you know just the I can't imagine what he was going

through his mind as he was coming into the pits to do a fastest lap getting caught up with Vastappen being hauled back into the pits

again building a gap something happened with Russell but I'm not quite sure what in terms of the gap there so he was probably told to to just get basically get a little bit of space

to actually execute this fastest lap and he's probably thinking alright I'm not even not even gaining a point for myself now I'm literally just taking a point off Maximus Zappen but he did his job at least so fair play to him real gut punch though

because I thought his qualifying lap was absolutely quality on Saturday it was a really good lap It's so easy, and this was mentioned quite a few times in qualifying, it's so easy to overdo a lap in qualifying and not have enough tyres by the end of the lap to get pole or get where you should be. Bottas is qualifying lap on board.

He is so smooth on all entries, on all exits all the way through the lap to the point where the last few corners, he's still nailing it. So it's even more of a gut punch that it was such a good lap. So real tough one for him. What are you views on it, Harry? Well, I think if an alien landed on Earth and said, came up to us and said, oh, well, first of all, we'd be like, well, that's an alien. But second of all, what he said. Don't you worry.

If an alien said, what is, please can you sum up Valtrey Bottas's career at Mercedes, what I would do is, I'd show them this weekend. Because it's like his whole career in one go. he can be blindingly fast and ben i'm actually with you on that collie lap that was it was sublime because we talked a lot of what we'll get on to red bull's troubles in quality but he he haven't qualified hamilton which i guess mercedes didn't necessarily want but he he nailed him so yeah blindly fast and then and then he just has like some some really bad luck and then doesn't really help himself much further and then just stop off his troubles he has like some more bad luck from his team,

like some slow stops, not really putting him in and back out on the right place, having to get out of the way again. So, yeah, it just felt like a real summation of his time at Mercedes, which is, you know, maybe what could have been for poor Valtrey. But, yeah, I'm entirely with you. He's completely blameless for the lap one thing.

Pretty shocked that it wasn't even noted. Was it even noted about Daniel Ricard? I was noted. No, I was noted. confused me with you nodding your head sorry yeah I wasn't even noted which seems completely bizarre to be honest

and I know they relaxed things at T1 just for the race but surely they didn't mean you can T-boat in someone that's too relaxed I think yeah and then after that it just all went downhill I don't understand why he lost out of the start we didn't restart with Ricardo we didn't really see that but

yeah it was all downhill from there and like said Ben I think there are a couple of opportunities when he could have at least tried to send one. You know, into turn one, if it doesn't work out, he's bouncing across the grass and he rejoins again, has to let him through. I don't know what he risks by that point. But, you know, that's, like I said, I think that's just not in Botas's nature. He's just, he's more of a driver who plays it safe, which sometimes works, but more often than not, it doesn't really work for him. So, yeah, I just feel sorry for the guy that was a pretty, pretty shocking.

race for him after what was a really good Saturday. I reckon he got a little bit too happy with clearly winging the best prize already of the weekend, which was Fangio's helmet, goggles. He clearly went, there's nothing better that I can take home this weekend. So hit me, Ricardo,

hit me and spin me right round, baby right round, you little Ozzy, you beauty. Your little whippersnipper. Your little whippersnipper. That's all he's gone for. He just wants to look at Ricardo's wing. his big wang for a whole race Who doesn't want to look at his big wang?

Wow. This segment got strange. Yeah, now you've said it, Harry, I think you're actually spot on that this weekend was Vouchy Bottas in a nutshell. Let's do it bit by bit. Fastest in a practice session, pole position,

gets taken out in turn one, can't overtake cars, slow pit stop, and has to do the fastest lap at the end to help his team. It's so vouchery. That's botas bingo, isn't it? Good game.

Yeah. If anyone could write out a botas bingo card and let us know, again, get in the Discord and send us that, we'd be excited to play that. Just a few more races before he's done. If anyone else would like to join me in the new game hashtag Wangwatch We'll start that up

Alright No I don't think we want Play botas bingo Play botas bingo Not Wang watch Please I was gonna say this is really late night

Late breaking but I mean It's half past nine guys This is this is I know sounds tired here But this is This is party ridiculous for half ass nine Oh God Where's it going

Should we move on to a really feel-good moment? Because Sergio Perez got a podium at his home Grand Prix. And it was absolutely, in the baseball stadium of the circuit, it was utterly electric at the end of the Grand Prix. You could, you know, the guys doing the interviews could barely hear each other. The crowd going absolutely crazy for him. Finished third place, very nearly took P2 from Lewis Hamilton. So Sam, another podium, do you think he should be happy with his performance here?

He's definitely helped them out in terms of the Constructors Championship, or do you think there will be just a tinge disappointment at not getting P2? I think there will be. I think there will be a couple of percent of him that sits there and thinks, oh, it could have been the one-two. He even said it in his post-race interview. He said, I'm a bit disappointed, but I couldn't take it one step further and get the team of one-two. And I think that's the racer in him, right?

He's so proud to be on the podium in his home race. The first Mexican to ever get a podium at their home Grand Prix. incredibly well deserved, which is amazing to see. But yeah, of course, the racer in him wants to drive further, wants to go faster, wants to overtake the person in front, the person being the title challenger, and the seven-time world reigning champion, Lewis Hamilton. That will just make it a little bit sweeter for him, but it didn't happen. And I also don't think he should be too harsh on himself.

I think after the Bottas, ink, again, third place as a minimum was a musk for Sergio Perez. I think if you drop back any further than that, then questions should be asked, because that Red Bull this weekend was electrically fast. I like unprecedentedly quick. It was so dominant. So third place was a minimum, I think. But he did achieve that. And he really put pressure on Lewis Hamilton.

I think he could be happy if you look back at all the other battles and one we've already talked about, Bottas v. Ricardo. And it shows how hard it was to actually pass when you got close. If you do not have a two, two and a half second advantage, it felt like it was almost impossible to really mount a, proper challenge against your opponent. So when Perez did come up against Lewis Hamilton in those last few laps, the gap sat about nine-tenths to a second.

It was very much like what we saw with Hamilton and Perez, actually in USA. You got Perez, not Perez, the staff in the USA. They got to the gap. The gap came down. You're thinking, hang on, we can have a fight here, and then it just came back out again due to dirty air and overheating. So, yes, Perez will be a little bit disappointed. But do I think that we should look at that as disappointing for him?

No, I don't. I think he had a very good weekend. I think he's doing exactly what Red Bull needs and I'm really happy that we saw him on the plug in this race weekend. It was a strong performance from Perez. Harry, do you think that he should be in any way disappointed that he didn't get P2? Yeah, I agree with what Sam said in terms of

there will be a tinged disappointment here. But, you know, like I said earlier, I think if a Stappenget is stuck behind Hamilton, I think for him it's tricky to overtake with that straight line advantage that the Mercedes had. So, you know, they tried, he executed that strategy. They sort of gave him pretty perfectly. He, you know, he took those tires longer than pretty much anyone else,

I think, those medium tires. And then hunted, Hampton down fairly quickly and was on his gearbox for the last 10 laps of the race. But obviously then in that dirty air, couldn't get past. But, you know, I think he was still going to be pleased being on the podium at his home GP. And I think, arguably,

I think he might be in the form of his life at the moment. I don't think, I think this last run I know is difficult to tell because he was obviously a team that wasn't on the podium, couldn't really fight for regular podiums. But in terms of consistency, and certainly this year, it's the best we've seen from Perez.

So I think from that he can be pleased. And he has really turned up. I know he's struggled earlier on the year, but I think for Red Bull, he's turned up. pretty much at the perfect time for them because without, I know Bottas was taken out today, but I think without

him, you know, life would be more difficult for the Stappen than it already is with the fight with Hamilton. So in terms of Red Bulls, both constructors, but also for the drivers, I think Perez being in this form is really good for them. Yeah, I think

Perez should be a bit disappointed that he didn't get P2 for a couple of reasons. Firstly, I think he had the car to finish P2, So if you're finishing P3 and you've got the fastest car on the day, there's got to be some sort of disappointment there. But I actually think the disappointment should be directed at the team rather than himself. I think he actually did qualifying aside on the Sunday at least. I think he did everything he could do. But I don't think the team actually played it right in keeping him out there longer.

It was a bit of a marginal decision. I'll give them that. But when Lewis Hamilton came into the pits, we had the 8.000. AWS graphic. First of all, actually, before I say that, the AWS graphic that managed to change the striking distance laps by five laps just in a corner. First of all, what's up with that? But that's an aside.

The AWS graphic that came up, which said the percentage chance that he would, Perez would manage to get the overtake on Lewis Hamilton. It was basically a 50-50 chance. I think it even extended to about 54% if I remember correctly that Perez would get the overtake on Lewis Hamilton. That was the literally the lap directly after Lewis Hamilton pit. And they decided not to pit Perez the lap after. So the question you've got to ask yourself at that point is if Perez has got a 54% chance of getting the overtake done, is that percentage chance higher or lower to go with one of our great games? Is one of the, is the percentage of

him getting the overtake later on in the race? We saw that overtakes were so difficult, even when you know, tire life was better on some cars. We know the Mercedes was incredibly fast in a straight line. So I think realistically, it was very optimistic to think that Sergio Perez was going to get that overtake done on Lewis Hamilton. He was able to catch up, of course, but getting an overtake done on a seven-time world champion who has a very quick car on a straight line on a track where not many overtakes are happening, I would say that's less of a chance.

I would trust the Red Bull pit crew more than I would trust Perez. get an overtake done even with a tire advantage on Lewis Hamilton. So I think they should have gambled, brought him into the pits the lap after Lewis Hamilton, let the Red Bull crew do a classic 2.2 second pit stop and see if they can beat Hamilton out the pits. Because I think that would have given a better chance of an overtake than actually waiting and seeing if it could be done later on in the Grand Prix. It wasn't working for anyone else.

So I don't think there was any reason to believe that it would happen for him as well. I agree with what you... Sorry, go on. No, go ahead. I thought you finished. Carry on. No, I was going to say, I think Sergio Perez should be happy.

You know, he did have a very good race. And I would say he is in the, as Harry you've mentioned, he is in the best form, definitely of the season. You know, he's been far better the last few races than he was towards the beginning of the year. I would add a slight caveat to that in that. I think Red Bull and Mercedes have actually distanced themselves from the midfield a bit in the second half of the year. I think McLaren in particular were much stronger in the first.

half of the year to the point where they can mix it up with Perez a bit more. So I think that has helped, but even so, Perez has been very solid the last few races and he should be happy with his performance out there. He was closer to Max Verstappen than he was in Austin as well. So fair play to him for that. What I was going to say is speaking exactly what you both say about the form that he's currently in with the results that he's been picking up. He's closed the gaps of Alchibottas down to 20 points, I believe it is, which is when we were in and after the first five or six races, of the year. We thought that's it.

You know, Perez is definitely going to be the bottom of these. Like, he was behind Norris. We even had that conversation, I'm sure you'll both remember where we said, can Perez actually get past Norris in the points table by the end of the season? And now, if he carries on with the form he's in, there's every chance he beats Valtrey Bossas in the driver's championship. And you have to say that that surely would be the deciding factor for Red Bull

picking up the Constructors' Championship as well. So arguably, Sergio Perez doing absolutely everything that Red Bull need their second driver to be doing. You have to say. So, yeah, no, he's really pulling out the results. Speaking of Sergio Perez, he won the vote for Driver of the Day by the fans, but the question is, will he win it in the eyes of us three? Sam, driver of the day. Max for Staffen, hangs down.

Sorry, the move around the outside was absolutely, and to honour a new F3 driver. Saucy, saucy, saucy. It was so saucy, so smooth. I loved it. It was, as Harry described it earlier, filth. Yeah, really, really enjoyable. And then he absolutely dominated the rest of the Grand Prix.

Max Verstappen did literally every single thing he needed to do to win this Grand Prix. If he had a tick box is ticked right now, Max Verstappen has tried the day and thoroughly deserves it. Harry, driver the day. I agree with the Vastappan one. He was, that's probably one of, if not his most emphatic wins of the year. but I want to give a shout out to F1 retirement home, otherwise known as P7 to P9,

which was Sebastian Betel, Kimmy Reiklin and Fernando Alonzo. There's how many championships is there between those two? Seven. Seven more championships. So a Lewis Hamilton covering that. That's what seven is going on. One Lewis Hamilton, please. One Lewis Hamilton. But yeah, all stellar races from them.

and I'm going to give it, and this is probably me being sentimental, but I'm going to give it to Kimmy Reichenen because he finally was in a good position and he didn't somehow bottom it in the last few laps. So going to give it to Kimster. All three of those, Fernando Alonzo avoiding the chaos at T1.

I think Vettel as well had to avoid some carnage too. But I think all three of those actually had some stellar races. So yeah, but I'm going to give it to Kimmy. I was so ready for it to. do a cut to Kimmy Ryken and going across the grass after turn one and it didn't happen well done Kimmy you know he finally managed to go past the 95% mark of a Grand Prix and still drive like a normal racing driver like like an effort one or champion well done Kimmy I am going to agree 100% with Sam max for Staffen was the driver in the day he completely dominated proceedings after that

term one it term one overtake you know the overtake by itself was fantastic But he just, every time he was on the team radio, he was so fully aware of everything that was happening that was outside of his control, outside of his Grand Prix. It showed how in control he actually was and really wasn't worried about losing this Grand Prix. So, yeah, I'd go for him as driver of the day.

I'll also give a shout out, but I'll give the shout out to the man in the middle, Pierre Gasly. You know, he was just, again, you can't ask for anything more than that, right? He was in a world of his own. Carlos Sines did temporarily try to catch him, didn't really work. Yeah, he was just in a world of his own.

Probably a very boring Grand Prix from his side, but I'm sure he'll take the points. He's the man in the middle. That's who he was actually singing about, old MJ. He was singing about Pierre Gasly some years before he was even born. A bit of a visionary was Michael Jackson. Let's move on from MJ swiftly. Worst driver in the day

Who've you got some? I'm going to have to give it to My old Maple Man Lunt Strull I'm afraid You know The guy tried to Just cut out three corners At one point

By not breaking Decided to forget That that pedal was He also finished I think a good seven I think it was seven places Behind his teammate But that was after

Bottas are pitting For the 86th time So Should be eight places behind his teammate even with all the carnage that went on didn't really get anything out of it when we saw Juvenatsi in sixth place

even Mazurpin I think was in 11th or 12th in lap 1 stroll struggling he was just not there this race weekend it was a tough one for him and he never really pulled anything out of the bag so for me Lankstrol worst driver today

If Lansstrol is me old Maple man what does that make Nicholas Latifie the old maple man isn't he natal you cannot have two me old maple then Sam that's not how it works isn't everyone from Canada me old maple man

oh god that's the equivalent of mate or buddy yeah when you walk down the road alright me old mate well met and that's Australian I can't do a Canadian accent oh my god

good good god eat me old meeple man that was more Scandie. Ah, yes, the old Jorny Canadians, yes. Canada, I'm sorry. I don't usually offend Canada. No, no, you decided to mix it up there.

Sorry. Worst driver in the day for you, Harry. Well, not to rub salt into the old Canada wound here, but I'm going to have to give it to that. Yeah, no, I'm still unsure if he has decided to break for turn four yet, I think not quite um but yeah it wasn't a solid race for lance he seemed to be in the pits quite a lot not quite as much as botas um but yeah even then he was only one place ahead of botas and botas was backwards at turn one so um it wasn't wasn't a great i wasn't a great weekend for him i know he was

already starting at the back but he absolutely wrecked his car in a in quality and then just didn't have a particularly stellar race so sorry lance well my philosophy is if daniel ricardo isn't going to be punished by the stewards. It's going to be even worse for him. He's going to be punished by Ben Hocking. He's going to be gutted. Worst driver of the day for Daniel Ricardo. This was a really important race for him,

mainly because the Ferraris looked pretty good. I don't think they had the best qualifying session in the world collectively, but they look very good throughout practice. And you kind of knew if nothing happened for the two of them, they were going to get solid points. And we also knew that Lando Norris was going to start from the back of the grid, which made Daniel Ricardo's race even more important

and it lasted all of about one corner. You know, the recovery drive itself was fine enough. You know, he did okay in that respect, but really in a race where Ferrari were able to claim 18 points and McLaren were ultimately only able to claim one, that's pretty disappointing from Ricardo's perspective, considering the guy who started at the back of the grid was the guy who gave them the one.

So, yeah, the situation. called for a much better performance and it just proved that you can't win the race in term one but you can certainly lose it and I feel like that needs to go on a t-shirt there you go, new merch idea we never got any yet

so well hey let's get it organised moment of the race some it's got to be where Espan Okon decided to do two rookies one corner and he was sat there with all the car is going on

and manage to simultaneously take out Yuki Tsingoda and Mick Schoenak. It wasn't his fault, by the way, folks. But all of a sudden it was, boing, there goes Mick, there he goes Yuki, both out of the race. Thank you very much. See you in the next Grand Prix.

I just found it quite amusing. I'm playing everyone was very safe, very healthy when they got out of the car, all good. But it was very funny on board of Ocon to go see these two people just bounce over his tires.

There weren't many other moments of the race. It was quite boring. So that one. Complete murder, wasn't it? A little bit, yeah. I might have to change my section of moment of the race and actually rename it to Ferrari Team Radio moment of the race

because it goes to the Ferrari guys yet again. Charles LeClaire wondering, is a two-stop doable, Ferrari coming back with the ever words of wisdom? Yeah, but you'll lose some spots. it. Cheers, Cheers strategists. From the guys that brought you,

if you don't let P2 pass, you'll win the race. Good Lord. What a sequel. Honestly, if there ever becomes another Ferrari seat available, when they put out the job description, they better put out in bullet points

like needs to be quick, you know, needs to understand. stand car set up and then just a really important bullet point needs to be able to direct his own race because we cannot do it. That's not what are we going at? I mean, on that, and sorry, this is not my moment, but on that, when they asked LeCler to swap over and all he came back was with, you found that?

Yeah, going through a tunnel. Go through a tunnel. Can't hear you. To be fair, the going. going through a tunnel technique probably would have worked with Ferrari. Where is he? Go for a tunnel. Is there a tunnel around Mexico?

Yeah, definitely. He wouldn't lie. Oh, man. I'm excited. What is your actual mover of the race, Harry? One, this isn't, again, sorry, I'll stop naming things that aren't my moment of the race. But I shout out to just the general at Moss when the Chekker got his podium. And considering where he was this time last year, which was without.

to drive. It was very lovely to see, especially with all his family there and his little kid and his, you know, the most enthusiastic father in the world,

I think. But my actual moment, yeah, my actual, he loves it. It was like Czech-Od won the race, wasn't it? It was ridiculous.

But my actual moment of the race, and we've already spoken about this, is Mercedes-slash-Botas, trying to get fastest lap, being behind Vestan, then being in front of Vestappen, but then getting a blue flag because they happened to let Vestappen,

back past again, so having to pit him again for the 50 third time, then holding him, and then, as you say, Ben, something happened with Russell as well, like, just a fast-goal end to what was a terrible race, but so I'll give that one to get that one to BOTTs. So, yeah, there were a few bright sparks in terms of moments in this Grand Prix. You just have to look a little bit harder than usual. We've, I'm sorry, we've padded out, I say padded. We don't pad out, Harry. We don't know that.

43 minutes in? Oh my God. We've only just done the first section of our little planet. This is amazing. It's like the race was epic. There are TV episodes that are shorter than this, with adverts included. Look at the content we bring. We should start doing our own adverts.

That's a good idea. Pat out the time a bit more. Like fake advert. Yeah. Yeah, what we could be like, we could sell fake things that we're related to. Like break in brunch bars. Yeah, because that's going to end well, isn't it? No lawsuit for Capri's coming to a bust.

No, I think they could be, they have a green filling, and then they could be black. I'm just trying to discover why this is actually 44 minutes now. We've only talked about F1 for about six minutes of this. Wangwatch is still available. Oh, geez. Right, moving on. As you referenced, we have already, we've only got to moment of the race and we still got a bit to cover yet. So looking at the championship effort, I'm going to talk about the Constructors' Championship effort here.

Mercedes, one point clear of Red Bull with just a few races to go. Sam, I'm going to give you a pound. It's not mine. I've nicked it off Dave Benton Phillips, so don't worry. Oh, that's all of his money. Sorry, Dave. I'm giving you the pound. At this point in time, you have to put the bet on either Red Bull or Mercedes to win the

instructors, who you're going for? Dave. Yeah, you can come out. Who, who we going for? Red Bull. You're going for Red Bull. Red Bull is. Dave's, at his moment, he said Red Bull.

And I don't want to make that bet without Dave. He struggles with that quid. Is this slander? Are we in trouble? Honestly, Red Bull are by far the favourists. Rebel are by far the better car, it feels like. Max Verstappen. He's not a momentum driver.

He said this multiple times, but he is on fantastic. form. He's not buckling under the pressure. He's not folding when he needs to. You know, the guy is delivering time after time. No mistakes, it feels like, from Max Verstappen. And now, Sergio Perez has turned up. We had the summer break. He realized that matching Max's car set up isn't how it works for him. So he started doing his own thing, and it's working. He's getting performances out of that car. No, he's not winging race after race, but podiums are starting to flood in. This is great. It is really, really good. Red Bull have needed this, and they're finally getting it. And I think now that the Honda engine relatively matches Mosegis,

the aerodynamic package with that strategy team that they've got working there is fantastic. They have got the full package this season and they are delivering it. Five races, four races going out? Five races to go? Four. It's four. We just had the five race to go. They are by far, I think, the favourites. I think Mercedes actually are quite big underdogs, which I never thought I'd say that with four races to go. But I really do think that the Msegis have got a lot of work to do has any chance that they pull this back. Harry, I'm giving you a pound as well. Don't worry, I've taken another pound off Dave Benza Phillips.

Dave's in debt. Hashtag Dave in debt, but... Which are the teams the more confidence in? See, this is very similar to how our preview podcast went on this sort of subject. I still don't think I could call it. I think even, you know, I agree with what Sam said in terms of, you know, Red Bull currently, you have to judge by the last few races, they look like the stronger package. But we saw yesterday and Colley how easily it can go wrong.

I don't know ultimately it went well for them today. But another track where they don't have that turn one, you know, long round down to turn one, just do Red Bull stay third and fourth? and, you know, I think it can turn so easily this year. The form book, I don't think, exist. There isn't a book. They've not written it. Or they're throwing it in the bin.

I don't know. Either way, yeah, I just think it's still too close to cool. But I agree with what I'm saying in terms of Red Bull look like a pretty strong package. And it's going to be tough from Mercedes because they're behind in one and only just ahead of it in the other championship. So it's going to be intriguing. but I don't think I would want to call it either way, which I know is just typical me. Not wanting to call anything,

make a decision or conclusion, but I just think it's too tight. So in conclusion, either Red Bull or Mercedes will win the Constructors' Championship, or is that still like too much, you know, not on the fence or not? The one with the most points will win, I think. Do you work for Ferrari?

You get a job somewhere, I know. Yeah. McClure would love you. He really would. I think at this point, you know, if, and I'm going to take another pound off Dave Benson Phillips to give my own bet on this, Dave in debt continues,

but I'm going to say, I'll put the money on Red Bull at this point. You know, Mercedes did have that healthy buffer in the Constructors Championship, which they never really had in the drivers, but you're right in what you say, Harry. Either result wouldn't shock me because of how one incident, one BNF, one crash,

how much that can swing things one way or the other, and there's still the potential for that to happen to the benefit of both parties. So, you know, I wouldn't want to put, you know, full confidence in one or the other at this point. But, yeah, if I had to pick one or the other, it would have to be Red Bull, just because Perez is starting to come into his own now

where I think he and Bottas are pretty evenly matched. I know Bottas had a tough one today, but actually generally speaking, Bottas has had a good last sort of five, six races or so. So I think they cancel each other out. And I think Vestappan and Hamilton in terms of performance, I've kind of said this all year. I think they cancel each other out. I think they are the two best drivers in Formula One and that they're both sensational.

So really, at that point, if you do think the drivers cancel each other out, it kind of turns to strategy, it comes down to pit stops, it comes down to who you think has the best car. And honestly, on all three fronts, I would trust Red Bull more. I think they've got the better car at the moment. I think in terms of pit stops, they've been unmatched for a long, long time. And in terms of strategy as well, I'd say it's a bit closer. But actually, Mercedes have appeared a bit more vulnerable this year than Red Bull have, in my view.

So if Red Bull are ahead on all three fronts, then it would only be right to trust them a little bit more. But I agree with what you say, Harry. one incident, one small incident could completely change it one way or the other. And of course, Hasse could just turn this around, yeah. Could nick it, yeah, they could nick it. I reckon a Mazapin dive bomb in Saudi Arabia

could turn the tides. Well, I mean, if grid penalties keep going the way they are, he might actually start like P5 or something, so he might be in a position to go for the lead. I've got to say this year in particular I know it's a you know we've got a longer season

but this we've had so many grid penalties I feel like we're back in like 2014 and 15 when we first got these engines it's been it's been a bit ridiculous I know some have been tactical it's been a bit ridiculous on the old penalty front I'm going to say

I'm not quite sure on this but the allocation is it any different because obviously last year it was a shortened calendar yeah I think it's the same, isn't it? They have the same allocation. Yeah, it's the same. And it, well, I mean, we're obviously growing in terms of the number of races we have year

on year. By 2030, I think we might be on to 50 races. So at some point, they're going to have do up the allocation, right? One a week. Eventually, there's going to be one race a day. Bring it on. Even Snetterton might stand a chance. We might make enough money to buy some dinner. 365 podcast a year for us which may be exhausting. To be honest. To be honest, I'm up for that. I'll do it.

We'll move on to our final topic of today, which is actually looking at what happened yesterday as we record this in qualifying. Red Bull, it didn't go very well for them. I guess it all ends well from a Red Bull perspective. But in terms of qualifying, it definitely didn't go their way. Vestappen qualified P3, Perez qualified P4, and it seems as if they had the advantage going into the session. Now, something happened towards the end of the second runs in Q3,

where Yuki Sonoda trying to get out of the way of Sergio Perez going off the track, kicked up a bit of dust. Sergio Perez essentially followed Yuki Sonoda off the track and also disrupted Max Vestappen, who was coming along behind. So neither of the two Red Bull drivers were able to get in a better better effort on their second runs. So looking at the incident itself and also in terms of Red Bull's response to this,

what do you make of it, son? I don't really know what more Yuki could do. He didn't get a penalty for a reason. He wasn't brought into the stewards for a reason. He got out of the way. You know, Perez literally following a driver straight off the track is bizarre. That just seems like a bad call from the driver.

You're on a hot lap. Stay on the racetrack. He's out the way. And then Max Verstappenpping. you're also separate from this. I think Max was already down on his time, actually, in comparison to what Bottas had already done. So he wasn't looking like he was going to be snatching pole position

unless something miraculous happened. So in terms of the actual long-track action, can't blame Yuki, in my opinion at all. I think this is just a real mess from the Red Bull, the senior team, the two lead drivers at Red Bull. I think it's really, really farcical that they did this. And then afterwards, so I miss qualifying. I've had to catch up with it,

because obviously I was out at a family function. I caught up on the action and I saw a lot of the press releases come out before I saw qualifying one of them being said by Christian Horner the quote was I believe I think we got synoded now it doesn't have the best media

attacked as Christian Horner he's not always been the most savvy in front of the camera he likes to just say what's on his mind but what a way to possibly destroy your young driver's motivation your young driver's relationship with the team

for feeling like your part of of the family for building that long-term contract prospect. Just take the fact that you didn't do a very good job. It was a silly mistake. Take a deep breath and get the job done, as Max was staffing and Sergio Perez did on Sunday. The media handing at Red Bull is so toxic, especially towards their younger drivers.

And I felt really sorry for Yuki. The fact that I think I saw the Mercedes F1 Twitter admin reply to Yuki's post on Twitter saying, don't worry, mate, keep your head up, these things happen. can do it. Why is that coming from the rival team? Why are they giving the pep talk to the junior driver of their championship rival? That makes no sense. That's bizarre. So for me, it's been pretty badly handled by Red Bull, both on track and off track. You expect more from those key drivers. They're better than that. They should go where their traffic is. They go hanged to deliver a lap when it counts.

There's only 10 cars on the track. They should be able to do that. And then I expect more from the likes of Christian Horner, who is trying to nurture and develop drivers for the future. and he absolutely destroyed any confidence that Yuki might have had. It's a real shame that Yuki didn't get the chance to race today, probably either, because of the crash with Esk and Okong. He couldn't turn that confidence around, so maybe he's got to go another week now before he can restore that. So, yeah, I thought it was pretty tough, pretty harsh.

Harry, could Sonoda have done anything about the incident and what did you make of Red Bull's response to it? Look, he could have gone. He was out on the track just giving people, he was giving Gazley a toe, wasn't he? So theoretically, he could have pulled him behind Gasly and then just gone a bit quicker to the pits. But he wasn't in any one's way.

The getting off the track thing, I get how it's distracting. Perez obviously made a mistake and then followed him off. And then Vastappen, like Sam, was already down, but lost more time theoretically because he thought there was going to be a yellow flag. It was just a complete mess, to be honest. But I don't think you can blame Sonoda. Yeah, like I say, I think the only thing he could have done is gone faster on his in-lap, but as long as you're not getting in the way, then I don't see why.

As for how it was handled, I don't want to blame everyone at Red Bull because I don't think it is everyone at Red Bull. I think it is two people at Red Bull. It's Mr. Horner, as Sam's already mentioned, and then also Helmer Marco. It's just, I don't know what, I don't know it's heat of the moment things, but what they thought they were achieving by, you know, fair enough if it's a George Russell, or it's a, you know, another Mercedes driver, or if it's anyone that's not in your Red Bull family,

you can sling a blame at them, you know, in the media afterwards on SkyF1, but what's the point in trying to take down your own, one of your own? I just don't, do not understand it. so yeah that was just handled completely poorly and it is indicative of a problem that rebel have with their junior program we've seen it so many times we spoke about it so many times that they're not particularly good at nurturing their young drivers they are they have so many drivers on the grid

that are in the red bull program but a lot of them a lot of them found a tough being in that program. So yeah, it's a shame to see. And I don't, I don't really blame you to be honest. It just seems quite unfair on his part. And like Sam said, it's unfortunate he didn't get to show his pace today because actually I think he was having quite a good weekend. Yeah, I think in terms of the incident itself, I'm not quite sure what they expected him to do, just disappear. I agree with what you said, Harry, that maybe he could have gone quicker on his in-lap and, you know, not met anyone in what was really the worst part of the circuit to meet another car. I agree with what you said, but in my view, he is at the discretion of his team on an in-lap

in terms of managing the gaps to guys coming behind. I think he is completely at the whim of his team and I don't think he needs to be the one to manage his pace to determine where he's, because he hasn't got perspective on that, whereas the team do. So if there was something you could do in that respect, it would have only come from orders from the team. And honestly, he got off the track. What's he supposed to do? Like, he either stays on the track, goes a bit faster and still potentially meets Perez,

or he jumps off the track and, you know, quote unquote distracts him. You know, he can't do anything in that scenario. So I don't lay any blame at Sonoda's feet whatsoever. And you're right, I don't think it would have made any difference anyway. I don't actually think Vostapen or Perez were on the cards in terms of getting pole position. I think Red Bull just needed a scapegoat. And Red Bull decided to pick a scapegoat within their own team because that's what they do. And it's really sad that they would do that.

Probably the saddest thing is I'm not even surprised they've done this. And it really should do because it's a disgusting thing that they did have to qualify in terms of laying the blame at Sonoda. And it's completely counterproductive, as you've already mentioned, because this is actually. a guy you want to build up. This isn't a rival driver. This isn't a driver you have no vested interest in. This is a driver that you would like to, according to the junior program and why it exists. This is a guy you would like to be racing for the main team at one point. So everything you do, everything you say, should be with that in mind. I can't believe. I can't believe you would go out after qualifying. It makes no sense to me whatsoever and come out with a comment such as we got sonoded.

Firstly, Yuki Sonoda, he's had a really tough season, like a really tough season. But the last few races have probably been the brightest sparks in the season so far. And you're right in what you say, Harry. In terms of practice, Sonoda was probably closer to Gasly on pace than he has been maybe since, maybe all year, possibly. So there have been a few signs that he's starting to get there. And then you just completely break his confidence by going out and saying something like this. you might well have seen the interview that Sonoda had afterwards, and he's basically second-guessing himself as to whether he could have done anything.

And you can see he's actually, he mentioned he was worried about the conversation that he would have with Red Bull about what happened here. You might have just undone a few, like all years worth of effort to try and get him up to the speed he needs to be at by completely shattering his confidence after building it up for so long. Why would you do? And the real kicker for me is this. And someone mentioned this to me. And it really got me thinking.

Could you imagine any scenario where this would happen with Mercedes? Could you imagine this happening where George Russell is in Yuki Sonodas position? And it's Lewis Hamilton and Valtrey Bottas. Would anyone in that team have gone out and said, we got rustled out there? It would have sounded ridiculous. not only because we got rustled sounds a bit weird, but because they wouldn't say that. And rightfully so.

Honestly, I think the way they handled this was, not only was it disgusting, it was stupidly disgusting because it's not even as if there was any benefit to them doing that and it will only hurt them in the long run. And then, to make themselves look even more stupid, didn't even matter, did it? You're a feel But Christian

Hoolers are like Oh, we actually won the race in the end Yeah Probably didn't even need to say anything, did I? Actually close the gap to one point Ah well, just destroyed a young man's confidence For fun, really I'm sure a helmet's out there

Giggling behind the camera Just do it for the banter So bet he's got with him Go on, go out there, right And say, we got Seng Oden I dare you, I dare you can do it Is this the anti-deck scenario? That classic.

Yeah, that's exactly it. Now I'll pick up a banana and pretend it's a phone. Now do the chicken dance. Oh, we got them. Oh, good. And at one hour and three minutes, I think we should call it a day. A day that has consisted,

of Botas Bingo. What was your one again, Sam? Oh my God. Hashtag Wangwatch. Wangwatch, that's the one. I think that's probably enough for one evening. It is late night, late breaking, which usually does cause carnage and has done here again. So Sam, please do us the honours until our next podcast. Get us out of here. I'm going to keep asking this until someone actually pipes up. if anyone in the entertainment industry or a millionaire wants to sponsor the program and get late night, late breaking as its own show somewhere with us with actual wages.

We're open for it. Actual wages. Oh my God, we can pay ourselves to do this. And all that self-indulgency, folks. Folks, if you want to get involved in hashtag Wangwatch or Bottas Bingo, then do get in touch. We're going to be back in the midweek, of course, for the Brazilian Grand Prix preview when there's going to be another spring break.

race. Yay! We're all pumped for those extra three points. You can ever go to who that's going to go to. And then the race will be back, of course, for the review of the Grand Prix next weekend as well. Hopefully it'll be an absolute cracker. Hopefully we'll see some fireworks on the track, not necessarily in the sky. I'm sure it's all going to be lovely. We'll miss you. Until then. Love you always. In the meantime, I've been Samson. I've been Ben Hopping. I've been Harry Leeds. And remember, keep breaking late. One watch. Find more great shows or join the team at sport-ssocial.com.

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