The Late Braking F1 Podcast - Verstappen wins at Silverstone! | 2020 70th Anniversary GP Review | Episode 65

Episode Date: August 9, 2020

The boys break down another dramatic race at Silverstone as Max Verstappen takes the win! Make sure to SUBSCRIBE! 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 everyone and welcome along to the late breaking Formula One podcast. Reviewing the 70th anniversary Grand Prix, the first one in 2020, where a Mercedes has not won. Max Verstappen, starting in fourth place today, taking the victory for Red Bull.

My name's Ben Hocking, joining me to review the race. As always, Harry and Samuel Sage. Guys, what do you make of that one? Spicy. Love the tire wear. Bring on more tire issues, please. Two stops. Rule!

Two stops is the name of the podcast now. We are no longer late breaking. We are called two stops. Correct. Just going to check trademarks on that one before we confirm that decision. But yes, two stops rule. Can't disagree with that. whatsoever. So Max Vastappen, like I say, taking the victory after starting on the hard

tires, he led home a Mercedes 2-3. Hamilton ahead of Bottas, we'll be debating that in a little bit. Of course, Bottas starting from pole position. Charler-Clair for Ferrari finishing fourth, the only Ferrari in the points today. Alex Albin in fifth. Lanchdroll and Nico Holcomburg, sixth and seventh for racing point, Ocon in eighth after starting outside the top 10. And Norris and Danny Kavilla rounded out the point scorers. Sam, I'll start with you on this. one starting at the top. Max Vestappen, managing to beat Mercedes. We did ask the question in our preview, would softer tyres give Vastappen the edge? Apparently, the answer to that was yes. What did you make of his performance? I mean, come on, Max Vastappen. That was one hell of a drive.

Look at the entire Griggs struggling with that tire. I think Charlotte Clare is the only other man that was realistically having an absolute breeze out there. What a drive from that Red Bull team. What a drive from Max Vastappen. He kept it calm, told you to his, is engineer that he doesn't want him out like a granny, so he's going to strike while the iron is hot. The saying is absolutely struggling. As we've seen through hotter conditions, it really is their cryptonite.

Max pulled out an absolute blinder. I am so impressed Max is staffing here today, and it shows why he really is going to be a world driver's champion at some point in the future. It might even be this season. Who knows, depending on temperatures, if things carry on going this way, and maybe we have some more tire interventions that crop up.

But that guy has got real talent. I mean, I saw a stat before we came on air. Max has won eight Grand Prix since 2017. Bottas has won eight grand prix since 2017. It's a little shocking, considering how good that Mercedes has been. Just hats off. Absolutely hats off. He's managed those tyres brilliantly.

It's almost like Sergio Perez was behind the wheel of that car, and they swapped over on the last lap or something. Brilliant drive from Max of Staffen. You love to see it. We want more of it. Ironically, just on the point of Sergio Perez, how gutted would he be to miss out on these two races that have been a dictated? by tire wear goodness um max for stappen harry what did you make of that performance out there

yeah it was it was kind of classic max for stappen and i don't know you you got the sense early on from that very much about um uh grandmas and not driving like one that he he was just kind of on one today like he he had the sniff of victory early on when he was keeping me up with the two Mercedes early on in the race um and yeah he was just i just absolutely on one it was great to see and just great to see someone else challenged a Mercedes and even with that dominant pace in qualifying, they still they're still beatable at some point. So that's great to see as well.

But yeah, Max was mighty. I think that first in particular was just mega. It seemingly everyone else on the grid was falling away. He was the only one who could manage his tires properly. Well, absolutely. And I think that first stint was the difference maker really because it seemed as if when Bottas and Hamilton came in for their first stops, immediately you think, OK, Vastappan's been on those tyres for quite a while now.

These are completely fresh on the cards of Bottas and Hamilton. And suddenly, Vestappen is not only matching the Mercedes, he's continuing to outpace them on tires that are much, much older. And I think Bottas and Hamilton both struggling is an indication that it's perhaps more car-related than it is the two of those drivers being poor at managing them. We know Hamilton's been very good at that throughout his career. So I think it's more down to the Red Bull rather than the individual drivers themselves, but taking nothing away.

That first stint opened up the strategy for him, which was the key. I know throughout the first few points of the race, it was a case of, okay, if Vastappan can one stop this, he could be within a chance. That first stint enabled him to not only have that as a viable strategy, but it also then gave him a two-stop as a viable strategy too. So, yeah, just opening the door for both, really. And even though Vestappen was essentially left to fight on his own against the two Mercedes, but not having a rear gunner in that fight,

that pace was so good that it didn't end up mattering. So really impressive from the Mercedes guys. Sam, were you disappointed that the Merks couldn't keep up in terms of tyreware? Well, yeah, I am, but at the same time, I'm not. We see the Merks keep up with everything. Every other race of every other year. Tick's I can remember almost watching Formula One at this point now. It's been that long.

So, you know what? Have a race where you find it difficult, lads. And it was good to see Mercedes actually try and have to dig deep and do something a bit different and counteract and grow and come up with different strategy elements and try and pitch off the drivers against each other. It was really exciting to watch them have to go down that rabbit hole and come up with something new. So no, full props for Red Bull. You took advantage of a really difficult situation. Your car works better in that scenario. Well, Max's car works better in that scenario.

And well done. Well done for taking advantage of it. And you know what Mercedes? You've been brilliant at 99.9% of all Formula 1 related things for the last, God knows how many years. I guess it's time to step up and try and do this one as well. And they probably will. If we get the same tire compounds coming in for the rest of the season,

because Pirelli fancy it. Then don't be shocked. If within a race or so, Toto has turned the whole thing around and we've got a whole new look Mercedes that works perfectly with those ties. Those engineers, they are fantastic and they will come back fighting. But no, full hats off to Red Bull. I'm more excited by Red Bull's ability to mask that difficult strategy

than I am about Mercedes failure. They lost one place technically across the whole thing. And still finishing one, two, they finish two, three. So for me, it's still a good race for Macbosers. They still grow their constructors' campaigns. partnership points. They can still technically walk away happy. Bottas might not, but Mercedes will. Yeah. Harry, do you think with Spain coming up next week, Spain in August, and then Italy and Belgium coming up as well, still in the summertime,

do you think that Mercedes need to almost weather this storm and get back to a point where temperatures start to go down again and they're back in their comfort zone? Yeah, it's an interesting one, isn't it? Because we might be, due a couple of hot races still, Spain particularly, they do have to watch out for Vostappen. You know, he's already jumped up to second place in the championship. Yeah, I mean, not to say they should be really worried. That car is still clearly the quickest car on the grid.

But if they have a few more races like today, we know that Max is going to be there to pick up the spoils. So, yeah, they obviously will want to weather this storm and hope that cooler temperatures return pretty quickly because they're not going to want too many repeats of today. One off or a couple is okay. But yeah, it's going to be fascinating. Red Bull are going to be doing, what's the opposite to a rain dance?

A hot dance, I don't know, every race they want to be really, really hot temperatures so they can have a challenge to the Mercedes cars. Yeah, I think these cars are so complex that even with the, of Mercedes, there's always going to be one weakness about a car, at least one weakness, that is. You can't build an indestructible car. And we've found, really, that it is the high temperatures, that is this Mercedes floor. And it's not completely out of character. It's something they've been poor at compared to their rivals in previous years. And it seems as if that has been

exacerbated this year. And it's disappointing, really, because, you know, Mercedes are so good in every other area. But like I say, it's very difficult to cover off absolutely everything and ensure you are perfect in absolutely every aspect. So yet, they'll be disappointed. I think what Mercedes do pretty well is when the situation isn't going their way. They still manage to limit the damage pretty well. Ultimately, they've taken 34 points out of the race today, which is only one fewer than Red Bull did. So it's far from a disaster from their perspective. Sam, do you think it was an oversight from the Mercedes guys to not try and qualify on the hard tire? 100%.

Why would you not try and split that stretch? You know that both your cars are going to be, I mean, even on a bad day, top four. So what harm have you got by going, you know what? Lewis, you've gone on the hard tire, voucherily you got on the medium. Why not give it a go? If you've seen that the staff and manage to get through on that harder tie, when you saw what happened to tyres in the race last time out, why not have a crack at it?

I mean, it was fantastic that we saw such a changing tire compound choice and not a single car starting on the softest compound. That's the first time ever since Pirelli took over from the league manufacturer of tires of Formula One. I mean, give it a go. You saw how, I mean, to be fair, would it have made much of a difference? Mercedes tore through those hard tires so quickly.

Something is clearly up with that car when it came to those tireware. It was not working for them. But I think it was definitely worth a split in that strategy, try and combat Red Bull. But once again, Mercedes had the upper hand because Alex Albon is just a little bit too far back so maybe they thought they got on away with it but we'll get on to that a little later yeah give it a go why not what harm have you really got you didn't win the race so you may have

done this time and I mean this is something of a prelude to the discussion we'll get into in just a little bit but splitting the strategy between mediums and hards and which driver goes on to which Sam how would you how would you mitigate that how would you decide who gets what call yeah I honestly don't know This is why I'm not Toto. This is why I don't get paid lots and lots of money. And I live in a two-bedroom flat in Croydon. You know, it could be a lot better.

But honestly, that's a tough choice to make. You have to realistically go with, I guess, put Lewis on the hard tires. He's the championship leader. So maybe it's the first say. He's technically first drive. I'm going to say he don't really lean that way, but that is the case. And we know that Lewis is a little better at saving his tires over Valtry. So maybe you swap it then.

Maybe you give Lewis the meet. because it's better on the longer runs on the tire wear, so you give Valtry the harder compound to manage for longer, because it's easier to run on. There's a load of different differential reasons that you can pick up and put down as to why someone should do this and someone should do that. I don't know how they'd manage that one, but they managed to do it with a staffing album,

and there was no real complaints there, so I'm sure they could do it at Mercedes. Harry, were you surprised not only in terms of Mercedes, actually, but also with other cars that there was no attempt to start on the hard tire? Yeah, I guess it's a little bit surprising. Maybe they just weren't confident enough to get it through Q2. I mean, I think that maybe when I flew under the radar slightly was how good Max's lap was in Q2 to get it through. Although, to be fair, I guess the hard this week was last week's medium.

So they did that as well. So, yeah, maybe it is slightly surprising. But that's all I can put it down to is that they were just concerned they wouldn't have made it through. and maybe it was just an oversight too that they thought well the soft tire that we're not definitely not going to start on that so we'll go for the medium when in fact the medium was just as susceptible to wear so yeah it's a strange one just shows that you know red bull are have always and i guess will always be just you know on top of their strategy game you know they're always the ones to do something different and and this this week is paid off and i think the the weakness of the medium tire was really evident in the race in Max Verstappen's strategy. I think if they had complete control over the strategy and there wasn't a mandatory tire rule, I think Red Bull would have done 26 laps on the hard tire, come in for some more hard tires and done the other 26. I don't think they'd have bothered with the medium tire.

And I think on hindsight, pretty much everyone would have agreed with that. Red Bull put those mediums on the Stappen's car for, I can't remember how many laps it was, but it felt like just a few. It was almost as if it was obligatory. They had to do it. But if they didn't have to do it, they wouldn't have done. And I am a bit surprised that Mercedes didn't at least try something. It's a point that Paul de Rester made at the end of commentary that these guys all qualified

on this tire last week because it was last week's medium. So, you know, the Merck's qualified on it. And I'm surprised someone didn't, I'm surprised they didn't at least go out. out there and try it. You know, they even went out on the soft tire as a kind of dummy run at the end of Q2, which was never going to happen. They saw the stop and do it. You know, it was fairly evident from early on in the session.

So it's not as if they had no time to react to it either. You know, if it didn't work out, though, we would be saying Mercedes have the fastest car. Why did they need, why did they feel the need to risk anything? So it is the benefit of hindsight here. But I think it speaks more to Red Bull's strategic strengths rather than Mercedes strategic weaknesses that they were able to see that this was a viable option. You know, I was quite critical of Red Bull last time out in their decision to pit Vastappen late in the race.

But I think nine times out of ten, the Red Bull strategic team, you know, I think Hannah Schmitz is the best in the game in that respect. and she and they proved it today. That was remarkable what they were able to achieve. Moving on to Bottas versus Hamilton. So of course, Bottas got pole position away from Lewis Hamilton on Saturday, but it's Hamilton who ended up ahead. Hamilton remaining in his grid spot of second place, Bottas down two positions to third.

Harry, what did you make of the strategic difference between the two drivers? Yeah, it's a tricky one. for Mercedes because they don't want to be seen to be favouring anyone and technically they had the same strategy just that they pitted Hamilton and Bottas at different times.

If I was, well we saw Bottas after the race he was pretty miffed about what had happened. Yeah, I don't know what else they could have done. I don't know whether they could have brought Bottas in again to cover off Hamilton but I don't think that would have worked and they were obviously trying to get the win And for Mercedes as a team, it doesn't matter which way they get the win,

as long as they get the win. And they tried it both ways. They tried with Bottas, bringing him in the relatively same time as Max, and they tried it with leaving Lewis out. So they threw, you know, as Mercedes always did, they threw everything at it. And they tried alternate strategies, which they're able to do pretty often because normally both cars are in that fight.

Yeah, I just think it was luck of the draw, and it was just unlucky for Bottas on this one. He does, he didn't have the tires left to fight Hamilton at the end. and it was pretty close in terms of time between both those strategies. So, yeah, I feel bad for Bottas. You know, he was pretty quicker than Hamilton for most of the race. Just his strategy didn't work out for him. Yeah, Sam, what did you make of the strategic difference?

Do you feel sorry for Bottas here? Yeah, I'm very much in the same line of thinking what Harry's going to say. So I won't echo it too much. My only maybe difference in point would be that that Mercedes in terms of raw pace. and we've seen that strong place with Bottas, he beat Hamilton to Pole, is faster than Max for Stappen, especially on the same tyre. Bottas was stuck at around two seconds behind Max for the entire stint until maybe the last 10 laps.

I would maybe have hoped that Bottas would have really gone for it. Even if it causes those tyres to shred, you're then going to push Max to defend, to fight, to have a go. And that could then cause the strategy to change again because you might tear up the Stappings tires along with it. For me, it's a case of Bottas not being aggressive enough. I know he's struggling around on those difficult ties, but they came out the pit lane at the same time,

and Bottas did not close up on Max at all. Max went straight past Bottas, and there was no fight at all there after that, after they were on the same ties. They were on the same time of laps. And we saw that when Hamilton came out that pit lane, he was two seconds a lap faster. That shows that the Mercedes always still had that pace.

Yes, okay, they were tough on the tires. But I just think that Bottas needs to do a little bit more again. Yeah, he was unlucky with the strategy call. Yes, it did benefit Lewis Hamilton more than it benefited Valtrey Bottas. I do think there was an extra 5 or 10% that Bottas could have given to really kind of mitigate the circumstance and stop maybe Hamilton coming past him, or even more so cause a fight between himself and the Staffan up front.

So for me, that's the difference maker there. Lewis did exactly what he used to do and played it into the Championship point system. He wasn't bothering about meeting the Staffing. He only needed to beat Bottas to mitigate any issues. And Bottas now, because of the lack of aggressiveness and the stretching not going his way, falls into third place in the championship,

which is a legal embarrassing with how incredibly good that car is. I think with the first pit stop where Bottas came in first, obviously he had priority as he was the lead car. I've got no problem with that, obviously. Hamilton came in straight afterwards. No problem with that at all. It's a real shame because I agree with what you said, Harry. I think Bottas was the quicker of the two drivers out.

there today. That first stint, I think Bottas had the edge. I think he was even slightly better in terms of tire management early on in the Grand Prix. And I think it is just really bad luck that the strategy ended up not being the best one. And not to say that Hamilton didn't do a great job after he came out of the pits. He did have that tire advantage, which he was able to, which he was able to take advantage of. But yeah, I think Bottas has just got really unlucky here. And I don't think it's Mercedes fault for what they did. If it had worked the other way round, and Hamilton had pit at the same time as Vastappen,

and it was Bottas that had gone about eight or nine laps longer, and it hadn't worked out. Bottas would complain, rightfully so, saying that they'd left him out to dry, which was looking like what was going to happen. And I think in normal circumstances, the best strategy is to basically split it, as Bottas did.

his race was relatively well split between the stints. With Hamilton, he did a longest second stint and a much shorter last stint, only about 10 laps or so. So, yeah, I think from Bottas's perspective, I can understand why he's gutted, you know, through strategy, he has ended up behind his teammate. But again, it's the power of hindsight. If you had to, you know, if you had to guess beforehand which one was going to be the better

strategy, you don't know. Mercedes were absolutely in the right with the two-on-one advantage to split them. They had to do it. If they didn't do it, we'd be rightfully going after Mercedes right now saying that they didn't do everything they could to win this Grand Prix. Bottas and Hamilton, one of them had to stay out longer and see if that was the right strategy. And one of them had to cover off Max and see if they could make an impression on him. As it happened, Hamilton was the one that was on the better strategy.

And Bottas, yeah, unfortunately slipped the third in the champion. in a race where, after qualifying at least, he must have thought that he can eat into that lead somewhat. And as it happens, he's lost three points. So disappointing from Bartas' perspective, but I'm not going to go after Mercedes on this one. Should we move on to Driver of the Day? Harry, who are you going to go for on this one? Difficult to look past Max, isn't it? To be honest, he was pretty mighty. I'm going to give it to Max because I get to go first, which. which is nice.

But other notable mention for me would be Charterclair again. Like last week, he outdrove that Ferrari. Didn't deserve to be in fourth place. Shouldn't have beaten either racing point in my view, to be honest. So, yeah, Max for me, Charlotte Claire, another strong, strong weekend. All right. And Sam, who are you going for? Pretty much all the same games that are mentioned there.

Max was stabbing. If Harry Hanger picked him, I definitely would have gone for him. I know it's not the rule that we have to have someone different, but it is always nice. Again, Shola Claire, fantastic drive from him. It's hard to look at the difference between Lecler and Vetter and just be like,

Lecler is out driving that car. He is dragging that car up. I think that car, realistically, should be finishing somewhere between 7th and 10th each race. And Lecler, multiple occasions now, has put it in the top four, and good on him for doing so. He's really proving his worth in that Ferrari.

So I'm going to give it to Lecler, but I would like to also give a notable mention to Danny Caviatt, who came from 16th on the grid, I think, finished in the points, being his teammate who finished, I think, in P8. Quite a quiet Grand Prix, but it all works out well for him, and he scores points.

So also a really good drive. And the same from Ocon as well. Ocang, a really good drive as well. So a lot of good drive from the Bigfield bunch. Yeah, I would pick out those three drivers as well, to be honest with you. It and that being Vestappen, Leclair and Kavilla. You know, Vestappen was sensational, and I am going to give my vote to him.

But, yeah, Charles LeClaude definitely deserves a mention, finishing eight positions at about 40 seconds ahead of his teammates. And again, yeah, Danny Kaviat, after being knocked out in QVAT yesterday, he had work to do. And the most impressive thing from Kaviat's perspective is he did it on a two-stop strategy. So, you know, Kaviat was on a two-stop. Behind him, signs was two-stopping. Ghazli, Vettel. they all two stopped as well.

So it's not as if Kaviyat was able to get there on the basis of a one-stop like Ocon did. So, but yeah, fair place, Danny Kaviat, but my vote does go to Maxfuss Dapen. And worst driver of the day, Harry, who's your pick on this one? I sense a certain German driver in red is going to be mentioned a lot. He wasn't great on that first lap. Of course, I mean Sebastian Vettel. But for me, I'm going to go for. Daniel Ricardo, just another

rookie era similar to Bethel just sort of dropped it on his own in a car that, well, Occoni, you know, finished eighth, I think, and Ricardo started fifth, yeah, and was having a good race into that mistake. So I'll go with Ricardo, because I think Vettel's probably going to be mentioned anyway.

And we will get onto the contrast between the Ferrari drivers in a later topic. Sam, what are you going for here? Oh, this is really difficult. Yeah, Betel does deserve to be mentioned. You can tell that the car is driving feels like an absolute pig, and he's tugging at each ear to go left and right at the moment.

And you feel sorry from it. We saw, and we'll get on to it. But you saw it for the first time ever that realistically, Betel told his team, you just weren't good enough. I'll fend up a bit. Danny Ricardo is another great shout. We love Danny Rick, and it's hard to see him drop it like that.

But both Vett and Ricardo, two very experienced guys, dropping it on their own is just a little bit embarrassing. when you've got drivers like Latifi, Russell, guys at the back who were scrapping out so hard who were putting in perfect races time after time after time. And Latifie beat Russell, didn't he? Or did he pit right at the end? He was leading Russell for a lot of the race.

I know that anyway. So I think Latifi doing well. Yeah, I'm going to have to just give it to Sebi Vett. But I think there's some mitigating factors in there, but it's still not good enough when your teammates in fourth place. Yeah, I'm going to go with Sebastian Vettel, and I won't waste too much time on this one. Eight positions lower than your team, mate, isn't acceptable.

Neither is being 30 seconds off the pace. You know, Vettel started on that same strategy as Max Verstappen, so theoretically he had something to work with there, and it just didn't happen for him. Yeah, that first corner spin is just, on the one hand, it's amateurist, and it's, the worst thing is it's not a surprise. That's the worst thing for me

is that someone who has so many achievements in Formula One so many accolades has done so much for the sport has such a rookie spin on the first corner of the first lap and it's not surprising at all because it's what we've become accustomed to see so yeah Sebastian Fessel he is the worst driver of the day for me we will move on now to Alex Albon

so Alex Albin has come under he's come under some scrutiny in the last few races. Starting ninth place today, ended up finishing four positions ahead of that in fifth place, came through the field after being the first guy in the field to make a pit stop. Sam, what did you make of his race? So, for those listening on the podcast, you'll have just heard that Ben was not happy

with battle finishing 30, 40 seconds behind his teammate. There's a lot of praise on Twitter for Alexander Albon, And yes, he's a lovely guy. So that, I mean, that doesn't mean you can't be critical of someone just because they're lovely. I too think Alexander Alvong is lovely. He's a very nice chap. But he's finished 40 seconds behind his teammate in the car that has won the race. The guy not only starts and struggles for the first little bit of the race, you know, can't get through traffic.

His teammates jump to car and he's now fighting them. He's all the way back there in ninth place, fighting around on the preliminary points positions. Your teammate goes on and wings by 10 seconds. over one of the most dominant cars we've ever seen in Formula One. It's, yeah, he puts some good overtakes in. Good for him. He should be putting good overtakes in a car that is destroying the rest of the field that race.

People are praising these moves right and centre. I'm glad he's getting them done. That's what I expect of the second seat in Red Bull. You should be getting those moves done in a car that should be first and second. If he was up to the Stappen's pace, not better, just able to be close to him. They would have hang on one, two, today, because Red Bull were on. it. Rebel had that ability today. And Albon let that slip again

and you look at the points table. His teammate has moved into second place and he's got even close to the top four. It's not good enough from Albon. I'm sorry. I've tried to be polite about it. A lot of people get frustrated about it. But he needs to be doing more. That one, that pace on a Saturday is what

Gassley's doing. He was beaten by Gassley. I mean, as was for Stafford, but I can forgive the Staffen with the performances he puts it on the Sunday. Albon doesn't even climb back up to anywhere near as close. So Albon needs to get it together. I'm glad they're giving him time. I'm glad that they're letting him have that time.

I'm hoping it comes together for him. But if he does another whole season of this, then what more can Red Bull do? It's a really difficult situation to be in. But Albon, again, for me, despite all the overtakes, not really doing enough. Harry, what do you reckon? Were you impressed by some of the moves

that Album put out there today? Quite a few go into cops. Yeah, I mean, Ben, we spoke about this before we started recording, and you made the point that it's classic Albon that it would be at the most dangerous point to make an overtake around the outside of cops, not just once, about four or five times.

I think he had, I agree with Sam. He should not be so far behind Max. But I do think he had a relatively good race in terms of climbing back up. I think where it's really letting him down is qualifying currently. He's sort of nowhere in comparison to Max when it comes to qualifying.

I do think maybe if he can pick up his qualifying pace and be closer to Max there, then there might benefit him during the race. He made a slightly different strategy work well. In the end, he finished P5. Yeah, he's obviously got to be closer to Max to keep that seat. But I still think that Red Bull, if he continues to, you know, make places up in the race, be slightly impressive, making those moves,

I do think they'll still keep him, to be honest. he did beat Ghazley, which is obviously the minimum. He should be beating Ghazly. Shouldn't be being outqualified by Gasly. But yeah, it was a good recovery. It's not, you know, I'm not like, as Sam said, the people on Twitter, you know, bleating on about how amazing it was that he finished fifth because he should be, he should be.

Max needs a rear gunner in that fight against Mercedes. More often than not, he loses out to a Mercedes fight because he's got to deal with two of them. So he needs someone else there so Red Bull can do something else with the strategies. So yeah, he's got to be closer. I think it was slightly more encouraging today.

But still more work to do for Alex. Yeah, I think fortunately enough for Alburn's perspective and indeed Red Bull's perspective is that if Hamilton had been just that bit quicker on that last stint and he ended up overtaking Max Verstappen and winning the Grand Prix,

the spotlight would be a lot heavier on Alex Albin saying, well, if Alex Alvin was in the picture, maybe that strategy can't happen, and Vastappen wins the race. Fortunately, from his side, that didn't happen and Max was able to cover both of them, but there are going to be plenty more races where that isn't the case. And Max Verstappen does need someone. He needs that protection. I'll be positive about Albin to start with, because it's not going to end positive. The moves that he made in isolation, were very good out there. He made a couple of belting moves into cops,

made a couple around the outside of Stowe. He was effective with those moves. He was a fish and the one on Kimmy Reichenham was absolutely fantastic. Belting, absolutely, absolutely. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And I think Albin, when it doesn't all go wrong, can make these incredible overtakes. And it's one of the main areas of criticism of Pierre Gasley

when he was at Red Bull is that he wasn't making these types of moves. And Albin did make those moves, so fair play to him. And to say, actually, to defend him slightly in qualifying as well, because he was a few temps off the mark. And whilst I don't think that's necessarily acceptable, I think that difference is being highlighted in a way that wasn't the case with Gassley last season as well, in that the Red Bull last season,

Alex Albin could afford to be three or four temps slower the Max Verstappen and still claim a comfortable sixth place. The problem is now that the Red Bull, in terms of qualifying is very similar to the racing point, to the McLaren, to the Ferrari, to the Renault, to the Alphotauri this weekend. So three temps is now not responsible for one place. It's often responsible for three or four places, and that's extra moves he needs to make in the race. So from that, I'd just say on that point, you know, for fairness to put that in there.

The problem is, going back to those overtaking moves, shouldn't have to make them. that's the problem. Max Vostappen went out there and won. He didn't have to make all of these moves because he was already ahead of the people that Alex Albin was making moves on. It's almost being like the best football team at scoring equalizing goals.

It's like great, but you're losing in the first place. That's not good. You don't want to need to score equalizing goals. You want to be winning anyway. And that's the problem with Alex Albin here is that moves on Kimmy Rikin and are great, but when Vostafafin, happens 40 seconds up the field and needing help in a fight against Mercedes, it's no good.

He just, and I think I said this at the end of the last race, really. He just needs a weekend where he is within a 10th or two on qualifying and finishes within, I'll say 10 seconds. I'll extend to 15 seconds at the end of the race. I think that's more than fair enough to expect someone to finish within 15 seconds of a teammate. He needs a consistent weekend where he proves himself in that respect. because these flashy moves are brilliant and they need to be made in the position that he's in, but don't be in that position in the first place.

Sorry, Alex, I do love you. Skaidding. I do mean that as well. Alex is one of my favorite drivers on the grid. So it does hurt that you have to say things like that. But there's no point in masking the truth here. You know, the results don't lie. The timing sheets don't lie.

He's 40 seconds behind his tip. our feedback comes from a place of constructive criticism because just how much we like album that that really is the truth between between the lot of us we are big fans of his and it is difficult to see someone who has so much potential get praise for being mediocre at times yeah and ultimately the criticism would be the same regardless of whether it was the other way around whether it was two other random drivers on the grid you can only look at it based on based on the facts rather than the personalities. That's how you have to look at it.

Moving on to Ferrari, because this is another case where one driver was quite a long way up the road than the other. So Charlotte-Claire finishing P4, Spastien Vettel, I think about 30 seconds or so behind, out of the points again in P-12. Harry, is this again a worrying sign for Vettel? Yeah, undoubtedly. I know there's been talk of maybe there's something wrong with his car, like they might change his chassis, but I just think it's mentally,

I don't think he's checked out. I just don't think he's there in the team, and he needs, I don't know who tweeted it, someone said he desperately needs a control, alt reset, control or delete reset, which I think he does. I think he needs a different environment.

And there was a pretty punchy radio message from Seb about the strategy. they've plonked me back out in behind that queue of the two renaos and mcclaren and something at a house or something and he wasn't happy about it and he said you've messed up well we don't i don't think i've ever heard seb you know publicly call out his team like that before um so i just think it's a messy divorce they're going through now he he's clearly annoyed at the at the team for for dumping him so unceremoniously. And I just don't think his confidence is there. I mean, we've seen him spin before, but never like that on, you know, the first

corner where it was just a very rookie, rookie mistake from Seb. Yeah, it's not good enough. And, well, it's not confirmed if he's going to racing point. I think the rumours are that it's likely he will. I just pray that that is the reset he needs. It's the, like he had in 2014 when he left Red Bull pretty, you know, pretty low and went to Ferrari and was, you know, rejuvenated and ended up winning the second race. I just hope that's what's happening here.

And we're not witnessing the slow decline of a great driver. Sam, what did you make of the gap between the Ferrari drivers, that there? Well, I can't say one thing about Album of the Staffman and not say the other about Vessel LeClerc. It wasn't good enough. Sorry, Vessel Spings like an absolute rookie on the first corner of a race. what we always said, you can't win a race on the first corner, on the first lap. It doesn't really often happen.

And what's he trying to do? He's in the big field. He's stuck his car where it doesn't really belong at that point after his teammate looks up in front of him, runs fully onto the grass, spings it, every other car lucky to not collect him at that point. And then it's tough, right? So he's obviously frustrating at that point. And then he comes onto the radio after he's been stuck in traffic and goes, this is your fault.

This is, and how rarely do you hear an F-100? driver, literally blame a team like that for a fault like this. This is your fault. Not like what we're doing? Like what's the next step? Like how do we fix this? What's going on? You've done this. You've messed up. And Harry was right and saying it is a messy divorce. This is wrong. But if you don't sping, Seb, you probably don't lose the good 10, 15 seconds that you put you back in that traffic for a start. That won't help. Um, so that that will be great, really. And then, you know, even with like, science hanging issue in the pit stop, he was held up and also had a slightly issue with tie he's still behind him as well so if you don't

spin you're in front of that room you're finishing in the point said you're costing yourself points there or having another rookie spin and we used to take the mickey a little bit out of you know sebastian bettling it became a bit of a joke you know he could perform under pressure with wheel to wheel racing and he'd lose the back end a little bit but now it's becoming like a regular thing he's facing the wrong way around like one every three or four races he's a four-time world champion. The man, if Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton didn't exist, would be the highest race winner of all time. And look at him. He's becoming a Formula One meme. I, I want Sebastian Beto to be the best that he can be. The man is lightning quick when he is what he can do,

you know, but you're comparing him against a two-time winner, a rookie essentially. He's only bringing into sport for two and a half years. And Charlotte Clare is driving the absolute nuts and bolts of that Ferrari. And yes, I know that a team can set up a car in terms of development. The focus is slightly more on one drive than the other. We're seeing it with Red Bull. And now we're seeing it with Ferrari. Understandably, they're getting a focus more on what the Claire wants.

But I'm shocked to see a 30 to 40 second gap across a race distance with a four-time world champion. Get him to a different team. Get him doing something new. The man needs to have a smile on his face because this is horrible to watch. I'd be shocked if he makes it to the end of the season driving that Ferrari car, because it is appalling stuff. I mean, Charles LeClaire, 57 points, Sebastian Vettel, 10 points.

That speaks volumes as to what's been happening this season. And Charles LeClair, in the five races we've had, has finished in the top four on three occasions, none for Sebastian Bettle to this point. You know, Charles LeClaire today scored more points than Spastien Bettle has scored all season. And that 30 second gap, it's unacceptable. And the spin we've already gone through is not, is unbecoming of someone of his stature and of his achievements.

And it's not something you'd expect from an F2 driver, that alone a four-time world champion in Formula One. And Charles LeClaire's walking away with this. I think for me, the most frustrating thing about this is because that strategy put him in a good place to succeed. We saw that Charles LeClair was able to, go, I can't remember how many laps it was exactly, but Charles LeClaire was able to pull off a one-stop race after starting on the medium tyre. We saw how good Max Verstappen was on the hard tire starting

on that compound. And Sebastian Vessel had the scope to do the same thing. He was on that hard tire starting in 11th place. Now, I mean, theoretically, I actually think that is a better position than some of the guys who started on medium tyres in about 7th and 8th. I think he's, I think he's, a really good opportunity to go very long on that first stint, which he didn't really. And then, you know, switch to the medium of tyres and go to the end. Again, they decided to pit him. And, yeah, I don't think the team of blame us here, because they decided to put him for hard tires, basically writing off the one-stop strategy straight away.

You know, you at least keep that option open. Even if it's not open to you, I mean, it might still appear open to others. prompting different strategic calls that are not the best for the other teams. So I think this is a messy divorce. It's the right phrase to use here because the team are letting Sebastian Vessel down. Sebastian Vessel is letting the team down. Neither side is getting what they want here. And Sebastian Vetter, I mean, it's embarrassing.

It is really embarrassing. And I mean, moving on to what to expect from him next, because we have seen those rumours about him going to racing point. They've accelerated quite a bit in the last few weeks. Harry, how concerned should racing point be that this is not environment-related? And this is related purely to his driving skill? I don't buy that. I think it is environment-related.

I just think, Seb, he's not lost it. He's not forgotten how to drive a car quickly. I mean, it was, you know, it was only a year ago he was getting a poll in Canada. He won in Singapore. I don't think that he's forgotten. I just think he, as a driver, his head has got to be in the right place. So I think we saw it at Red Bull in 2014. And he just needs a different environment.

Whether racing point is the right environment, I don't know. I'm sure, you know, the guys a racing point are maybe concerned. about this potential new driver, he's not very quick at the moment. But I just think, yeah, Vettel with a reset will be just a different driver to who he is now. And I guess once you're in that rut of lack of confidence, it's very difficult to drag yourself out of it, no matter how good a driver you are. Yeah, I do think a new environment at racing point will change Seb. Yeah.

Sam, do you think that racing point have any reason to be concerned here about the decision that they take? I'm going to go with no, and I'm going to agree with Harry. You don't suddenly lose the ability to be a four-time world champion. I think history has shown to repeat itself, and this is a classic case where when a team was formed around Sebastian Vettel in the world of Red Bull, he thrived. He was on top of the world. That man could do anything with a race car. He could beat the very best.

Mark Weaver wasn't happy about it, but he was a number two driver, and the focus was never wrong, Mark Weber. Not bad for a number two driver, as Crofty said, 8,312 times across this race weekend. Thank you. It's so painful. But Vessel absolutely thrived.

And then Weber retires, and they bring in Daniel Ricardo, a young up-and-coming guy who has got pace to burn, and in his first season, beat Sebastian Betta, because it's not the status quo for Sebi Vets. He's no longer got a race swinging car in terms of taking the championship. And all of a sudden, he's got a youngster who's dragging performance out of that car.

And he beats him. And Sebastian Vettel doesn't like it, leaves, goes to Ferrari. Whereas then up against Kimmy Reichen, the man that has not had pace to burn, to use the same expression, for what feels like seven to eight years now. You know, he's gone. He's just a man who could deliver a consistent race. And again, the team formed entirely around Sebastian Vessel. They build the car that he wants.

And Kimmy's not a complaining, really. Kimmy just gets on with a job. And they allow that focus to be around Vettel. And Vettel must seem like Ferrari's savior for a while. And again, he always had that championship for him until he did fluff it at the end. I think, what, 2018. And then, as Harry just mentioned, he gets a poll in Canada. Should possibly have rightly got the win in Canada.

He gets the winning Singapore. You know, was possibly going to get the win in Russia before all chaos formed. He's going to do great in Brazil. ill. He had talent to burn at the end of last season. He had brilliance coming out of that car last season. But Lecler beats him

and Ferrari have a change of heart and they see a new focus. They see a new future. A new hope, to quote Star Wars. And then it's gone again. It's gone again for him. The new youngster has taken kind of the head of the team. He isn't the focus anymore.

The car isn't built to his liking 100%. And we see it drop. But this drop is meteoric in comparison to what happened at Red Bull. He would still have that, almost like that fight in him. But here, it's like the Ferrari dream has been crushed for him. And this was his dream in Formula One was to win championships with Ferrari. And it's not going to happen for him. And I think that's hurting him even more in terms of morale.

So LeCler is the focus. Vetto is like the old, you know, the mentor who is so brilliant, but he's just got nothing left to give to quote Ian Beals. A lot of quotes come out. Wow. This is a mega quote. Collective. Heavy explanation.

But I think that's it. I think going to racing point to be Ashton Martin, the focus will be around him. Lank Stroll will learn from Sebastian Vetter, and yes, it will be Lankstrol, who is his team, who is his team, mate? They will learn from him. They will build the car on him for a couple of seasons.

Vetter will then retire. Lank Stroll will then for his take the helm or they'll get something else in, who knows? I can't predict the future, I wish I could. And I reckon it'll be good for him. I don't know if we'll ever see Sebastian Vetter will win a race ever again. But I do hope that we see him able to fight

competitively. where his car's performance actually belongs? I think racing point would be foolish to be anything but a little bit concerned. I think they rightfully would have concerns at this point because I could see this going both ways. I could very easily see it going the way of he needs to get out of that Ferrari environment and then when he gets into the racing point slash Aston Martin environment, it works for him and he's able to get back to the old Seb. again, wouldn't be surprised if it was the other way around.

I wouldn't be surprised if he goes to racing point, continues to make these errors. And suddenly, they're looking at Sergio Perez not being in that seat anymore, although I still think there is a chance that it will be Perez and Bethel. They'll look at that seat and think, wow, we had Sergio Perez, who is not error-free, but has done a really good job for the team for so long. And they're going to look at that and say, you know, if Seb continues to make errors, they're going to regret the decision. And maybe it doesn't end up.

I'm not sure, but I could see both happening. That's the point. And they should have their concerns and they should really think about this decision. I stand by. I don't think Vettel could go into that seat and do a better job than Perez. I really don't.

And Sebastian Vessel, if this was a one-off, like if 2020 was a complete anomaly, fair enough. The problem is this has been going on for a few years now. You know, 2017 was a pretty good year for Seb. I'll leave that one out.

But 2018, he was in the championship fight. He was quick, don't get me wrong, but he made errors. He made a lot of errors that year. 2019, he was, I think, fewer errors in overall, but he was beaten by a rookie teammate. And, you know, the environment at that point, Vettel still got his future ahead of him at Ferrari. He's got no idea that the contract isn't going to be offered to him.

He's got no idea that Leclair is going to be the future. and that there's no space for Vettel whatsoever. At that point in time, coming off a year where they had a car to win a championship, there's still plenty of optimism there, and he still couldn't beat Chau LeClau. It's only really this year where the environment's gone sour due to the situation contractually between Vettel and Ferrari.

So I don't think this is completely down to environment, and I think this is somewhat down to Seb's driving. You know, you're right in what you say. You don't forget how to drive overnight. So I think there is some environmental play in that. However, I just don't believe that's 100% of the issue of play here. Whether Sebastian Vettel is regressing very early in his career, it would be extraordinarily early considering what Hamilton is able to do

at three years older than him. Whether it's, whether it is environment, I don't know. But it's not happening for him. And I think Racing Point would at least be foolish to not consider keeping Perez ahead of him. can't wait for Vettel to win the championship next year. I will do something ridiculous if that happens. No, I don't promise that. No, but the fans can name it.

The listeners, name it. I mean, if it's going to cause me harm, I'm not going to do it. I guess there's a lot of people out there that would like to cause me harm. But anything silly, I'll do it. All right. So that is confirmed if Sebastian Vettel does win the championship next year, the year, Sam will be getting Grazie Ragazzi on his arm as a tattoo. Thank you for confirming that, Sam.

I'm pretty sure all the listeners did hear that. Yep. Yep. They're all saying yes. Good stuff. Can't wait. Please don't do it. Don't do it.

Oh, please don't do it. All right. Well, on that, I don't even know what to call that note. I think we should get out of here. Sam, if you wouldn't mind, get any honest. Well, folks, we'd love to know what you think about the vessel situation, about the albano situation, and of course, all the results from the race. Get over and contact us on Twitter at Elbroking. We're always talking about Elfano. Great to have you on every platform. Share the podcast if you liked it. Let us know what you thought. And, of course, we will be back for the preview of the Spanish Grand Prix later on in the week. In the meantime, I've been Samuel St. I've been Ben Harkin. And I've been Harry Ead. And remember, keep breaking late. Social Podcast Network.