The Late Braking F1 Podcast - Who will REPLACE Hamilton at Mercedes?

Episode Date: February 4, 2024

Sam, Ben & Harry discuss the most likely candidates to replace Hamilton at Mercedes from 2025, as well as whether his race engineer Bono may make the move to Ferrari alongside him. They also cover the announcement that Suzuka will remain in the calendar until 2029, and F2 driver Ollie Bearman securing the Haas reserve driver role. They finish with a brand new game... FOLLOW us on socials! You can find us on YouTube, Instagram, X (Twitter) and TikTok SUPPORT our Patreon for bonus episodes, historic race reviews & more! JOIN our Discord community JOIN our F1 Fantasy League: Link to SIGN UP & create your team Link to JOIN our league (join code: C3PHEQHPU04) BUY our Merch EMAIL us at [e-mail]   & SUBSCRIBE to our podcast! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This podcast is part of the Sports Social Podcast Network. Thank you for listening to the Late Breaking F1 podcast. Make sure to check out new episodes every Wednesday and every Sunday. And a very one welcome to the Late Breaking F1 podcast presented by Harry Ead, Sam Sage, and me, Ben Hocking. It's been a real quiet week, Sam. I've heard many people refer to it as a real smack in the face by a map in Oxford. Yeah, folks, if you haven't heard this story, because this is, definitely the first time we've tried to record this.

I was walking around Oxford the other day, and much like the news with Lewis Hamilton that came out earlier, you know, strolling down the road, a bit of a blustery day, and a poor gentleman is touring the city in front of me. The wing sweeps up his map. Bam, it's caught on his face and he can't get it off. It's a real comical moment, and I laughed right at him.

I'm sure he was really happy with that. But equally, that's how I felt when Lewis Hamilton announced that he was leaving Mercedes for Ferrari. And you can go and check out our emergency episode. It's the one before this on the recording. Harry, you weren't there. Are you doing all right, mate? Yeah. Sorry for this on Thursday, everyone. Lewis Hamilton, stop releasing news on Thursdays as a rule.

Good stuff. But also, it was big news. So thank you, Lewis. Yeah, it's, thank you for joining us today, Mr. Harry Ead. We are today, unfortunately, not at the mercy of our usual soundboard. So we'll see how well this goes over the next hour or so. I'm sure it will go really smooth, given, you know, this is the same. second time we've tried to do this already. Coming up on today's episode,

better news though, brand new game, brand new game that I will let you know about a little bit later on in the episode. Suzuki is staying on the F1 calendar for a further five years until 2029, so our thoughts on that. Should Lewis Hamilton try and take Pete Bonington with him to Ferrari?

But let's start with this. A lot of different contenders for this very question. Who should Lewis Hamilton and be replaced by at Mercedes in 2025. Sam, starts off. Right. Who's kicking off the Mercedes seat? There's a lot of options.

There's a lot of different variations of what you can look for, I think, throughout the grid. And Toto Wolf has come out and said already in a comment that it gives him the opportunity to do something bold, which, you know, I love that from Toto and Mercedes. I love that they're looking at options that aren't super safe, super easy, that just, you know, walk the line for. and George Russell could be the main man. I do think that George is going to have a bit more of a difficult time being number one than he expects.

First option that comes to mind, and I tweeting about this, and there's been rumours flying around already, is the menace himself, Fernando Alonso, of course. And why does his name get thrown into that? Well, firstly, Fernando Alonso will run and jump across any breach that he's previously burnt down to ensure that he can get the best drive known to man. And I imagine that George Russell, Fernando Alonso partnership at the saying is under Toto Wolfe, who I think is such a strong manager could, maybe wrangle hole Fernando Alonso,

could be a really potent pairing for a couple of years. The other reason it works so well is because it's only going to be for a couple of years, I think, until maybe the start of 2026, potentially 2027. Alonso is getting on a little bit. He's not going to want to be here for, I don't think, anyway, seven, eight years,

like someone else who's younger might expect. So Alonksson have a couple of glory years at Mercedes, and you never know. If the car does work, and Lewis Hamilton has judged this horribly, he could be underway for an absolute winner. On the flip side, totally on the flip side, if you're going to look at the much younger scale of things,

the other name that's been bounding around by F1 Twitter, journalists and the like, and us included, is potentially Alex Albon. Alex Albon, who has been so passionate and expressive about finding a home at Williams, James Vowles, has very openly said that they want to build a team around him.

It's a long-term journey. They're building to success over time. Albon, though, has flourishing. massively in an environment that suits him. When he is able to be comfortable, to be him, to be looked after, to be nurtured, then Alex Albon thrives. And it shows just how much challenge he's got. He's also got the time behind him to continue to develop.

And if he's placed in a car that suits his driving style, the management, arguably should be very similar to Williams because, of course, James Vowles is ex-Messides and very much of the Toto Wolf Camp, then the transition between those two teams, I don't think, would actually be too extreme. I think Albon could very easily nestle into a Mercedes team. Of course, not going to be that easy to pry away. As much as Williams and Mercedes sit almost on other ends of the grid in terms of points and where they tend to finish,

I think Williams is such an exciting project. And I think that if you've got faith in it and confidence in it, I don't think it'll be too long until Williams are up there, fighting for semi-regular maybe podiums or very strong points. You never know the lucky win of a season could happen. So it's possible. I think that Albon isn't as obvious a choice as some people would think. And the final one, which I think is absolutely audacious,

as an initial name being thrown in the mix, because I personally and Ben, I think you might probably get onto this. I'm putting Ockon to one side, and I'm going to put Schumacher to one side. I actually think we've got more chart. Well, we'll get on to that later, mate. Keep them waiting.

I do think that, that, I'll Kimi Ann Singella, I think he might be the riskiest move, but genuinely in the actual mix here, I really think that just because he, using F2, they've got a year to sort him out. I think under the watchful eye of Toto, the Mercedes team, and obviously you can rely on George Russell,

if the car isn't perfect and they've got time to bed him in, it could be a brilliant choice. It could absolutely fall on its face, but equally it could be a brilliant choice. So I think Fernando is probably the most likely option, and I will absolutely pay money to see it. Albon to me makes sense as a long-term, sensible option that could grow and develop.

The youngster in F2 is part of the Mercedes driver program, it's bold, cotton, and we do not know how it's going to play out for them. So we'll have to just wait to see. So I guess you've kind of got three options there that are very different. And you've got the established two-time World Champ, very good driver, Fernando Alonzo. At the other end, you've got Kimmy Antonelli, who is unknown at this point and would be a massive risk, I guess.

And then somewhere in the middle, you've got a somewhat of a long-term option, an Alex album, but you've kind of got three very different experience levels there, which is interesting to see. Harry, from your side, who do you think they should be looking at?

Noreen, Cartagane, do you reckon? Go on back of the century. Do you remember, not the last time Mercedes had this up for grabs, but maybe the time before, I think maybe when Bottas was brought in, Camui Kobayashi sent across his CV.

course he did cause he did I do remember that yeah look this is I guess an opportunity that Mercedes didn't really expect to have here

so they didn't and I don't have to rush into it are they but there are a lot of options all the ones you've mentioned Sam I think are viable even if it's not a long term one I think signs

has got to be on their radar here but yeah it's as you say it's what they it's what Mercedes want to do. Alonzo would be that's a great PR story. It'd be he's proven in the past year that he's

still got it and Mercedes could probably plunk him in that seat and he'd do a great job. But if they want to invest in a future which they kind of have been doing for the past few years, obviously we've bought us and then with Russell, they like to build up their drivers

into a long term a long term prospect. And that's not going to be Fernando as much as we all think he will stick around until 2046. He probably won't. But it could be a nice, it could be a nice buffer for them for a couple of years

whilst they build up the lights of Kimmy Antonelli, for example, because I just don't see them. George Russell had to do three years in a, three years, two years, two years. Yeah, three years in a Williams. And he's George Russell. Like he's, he's one of the top guys. and he had to do his time in Williams, as did Bottas.

I just don't see them plonking a rookie into that Mercedes seat. So having Fernando in there for a year or two may give him that time to build up, build up Kimmy's skills and confidence, etc. in a different team. Albon, I think, is a great shout. I know there's been rumours about him a Red Bull, but he's kind of got that link now with Williams. So, yeah, why wouldn't he be on their radar?

But yeah, and as I say, I think signs is also another shout. I do wonder if Lando Norris is a little bit annoyed about signing like two days beforehand. Or dear. Or no. Because he surely is on their radar. We asked that question on the emergency episode. And both myself and Sam eventually came to the conclusion that he might well have signed for McLaren anyway, even knowing this news. Would you agree with that?

Or do you think he might well have gone for this? To be honest, I probably agree with that. I just think it would, and maybe it was done, well, maybe Zach Brown did it with that intention, got it over the line before it, you know, that came out. But it could well be that he would have signed anywhere. I just think if he didn't know, he probably maybe would have liked to have kept his options open for a year or so. One thing I promised on the emergency episode is that today I would run through my top 10 drivers, who I think should be considered by Mercedes.

10. So here I go. Top 10. I'll breeze through them. But obviously the ones towards the back end of the list, I don't think they should really be considered. Only the top couple I would actually go for. But I'll run you through these options

because as you've said, there are so many options they could go for with this seat. So firstly, number 10, Mick Schumacher. Don't think you should be considered really. I appreciate his reserve driver at the team. I appreciate his F2 champ, but I think he should have got an extra year at Hasse, but getting a seat at Mercedes is a completely different prospect. He hasn't shown much in F1 terms.

I don't think they should consider him. Number nine on the list, Daniel Ricardo. I know that Helmut Marco has come out and said, yeah, that's not happening, but I don't know. If they wanted it to happen, I think they can get it done. If this was a few years ago, I think he might be number one on this list. But of course, even though he does have the experience, it would be a question. markers to would he be able to adapt to the team? Last time he tried that, didn't work.

Number eight on my list, Andrea Kimmy Antonelli, that you've already mentioned, massive risk, but he is their driver of the future. So, you know, if it worked out, that would, they'd be looking very, very smart. And as you said, Toto Wolf said, I can maybe do something bold with this, which kind of takes you down that path. Of course, as you've mentioned, though, Harry, generally speaking, Mercedes drivers do not come in as rookies. They don't come in as inexperienced drivers. George Russell, in his three years at Williams, that's the least experience the driver has been

before racing for Mercedes. So it wouldn't be in keeping with the team and what they generally do, so I don't think they are or should go for it. Number seven on the list, Sergio Perez. Short-term option, I don't think it's a bad idea. If you are looking to keep the seat warm for someone like

Andrea Kimi-Antenelli, Here's a guy who's had experience at Red Bull. Here's a guy who's had experience in top teams. He's been a solid driver for a decade or so. I don't think it's the worst direction they could possibly go in. Having said that, he struggled last year. His form is arguably worse than pretty much everyone else on this list. So that would be the risk with that choice.

Number six, Valtry Bottas. He'd be the easiest transition back into the team. He's been there before. He knows what they're all about. There is a reason they got rid of him, which is definitely the main con here. but having said that, if they do, again, just want someone to fill the seat for a year, I don't think, I don't know, Bottas might be the right guy for that.

Number five, Alex Albon. I don't think they should do it. I don't think they should get Alex Albon. I'm too concerned by number one. We're basing this off one solid season from him, and his season was very good last year, but I don't think there's enough evidence there to make me think that Mercedes should go for this. And we know what happened the last time he was in a top team. Yes, it might be different this time around.

but it's still a massive risk. So I would have him at five. And I think there are four drivers I would consider more than him for this role. Number four, Pierre Gasley. Similar sort of idea to Alex Albin. The only difference is I think Gasly's done it over a few seasons, his like consistency since 2020 as opposed to Alex Albin. Number three, the war mode, Esteban Ockon.

The only reason I put Ockon ahead of Gasly here is he does have those previous Mercedes links. So I think that would benefit him. Otherwise, it's pretty neck and neck. but actually I think my top two are the ones that I would absolutely look to make this happen for. Fernando Alonzo at number two, I think he's the best short-term option. If you think, it depends on your confidence in Antonelli, right? If you think he's going to, if it's going to work with him, get Alonzo in the car for a year or two,

allow the fireworks to happen and then go from there. Obviously, the main con is it's Alonzo. It might just blow up, but I'd love to see it. But my number one is Carlos Sines. I think he is probably the right person for this job. He's been great the last five years. He has top team experience in Ferrari. The con, I guess, and the risk of this is, would Carlos Sines want this?

So would he be worried that he would be filling a seat for a few years in the same way that he's apparently done at Ferrari? Whereas we know that there are rumors about him and Audi. Is that a better option? You know, if he goes to Audi, there's a good chance he will be. be the number one core man at that team. He probably won't get that at Mercedes. He might not get that long-term security based on other drivers. So that's the risk there. That's my top 10. Not in terms of what I think will happen, but what I think should happen. I think that's fair. I think you've gone quite bold with the Alpine duo, which I was surprised to see just how high up

the list they were. I guess it's because you make a list of 10, I suppose, that why they seem so much higher then probably they would be if you just have like a top five or something. But I just think Ocon and Gassi are a little bit past yet. I think if you're going to go for that caliber of driver, if it's all in Mercedes power, that is. That's why you go for someone like Sykes, but I think you're right in the point you made that this is a 50-50 decision, of course, driver and team have to agree.

For Mercedes, science is a great fit for two or three seasons. But for Science, does he want to be a stop bit gap that allows them to basically build up their rookie driver to a steady state and then go, Cheers, Carlos, what you're doing at Ferrari's, what's happening again here at Mercedes, and you're out of here. Thanks, buddy.

I think he wants to be at a team that are going to look after him and care for him and actually build something up around him. So if it was all in Mercedes power, yeah, makes sense. But I think I just want to see those Fernando alongside fireworks. I want to see it go, Kaboom, and I want to see the him of George Russell in the club, big fat cigars, celebrating everything at the end, like nothing has ever been better in life because those two together are wonderful. I would say as well with the Alpine duo, it's a case of they're both 27 years old and so is Alex Albin.

So I think if you're considering Albin, then the other two would be in consideration as well. And the only, like last year, I think Albin was the best of those three. But if we're looking at the last five years as an average or last three years as an average, I think Gasly and Ocon are marginally better. So I think I would go with one of those two just about over Ocon. sorry, just about over album. But having said that, my top two are the standouts. It's Alon signs for me.

I just love Spain. Harry, what are your thoughts on Andrea Kimi Antonelli for this? Because it would be an outrageous risk, but we do know he is coming into F2 this year with such high prospects. We saw with the likes of Lecler only needing one season at Salba, Alpha Romeo before going to Ferrari. That has worked out quite well. Should a move like that entice Mercedes to be really bold with this?

This is definitely not the second time that I've said this, but I am not sure that it's just not the Mercedes way. As I said earlier, I don't think Toto is a bit risk-averse when it comes to this. And even if Kimi has the best year ever seen in Formula 2 next year, or this year, I should say, I still think they try and put him in a seat there's not a Mercedes to just build him up to being ready for Formula One. I just can't see it happening.

I mean, Ferrari putting LeClerone was an anomaly in my view. They don't do that sort of thing, and I don't think Mercedes do that sort of thing, given what they've done with their drivers in the past. So if they were desperate for drivers, as in there were no other options, maybe this could happen. but there are lots of other options here as we've already gone through.

So I just don't see that happening for 2025. But I didn't see Lewis Hamilton signing for Ferrari. So who knows anymore? I've got a clue. Great point. That's a very good point. Something that Harry touched on a little bit earlier on, Sam, was how quickly they might want to make this decision,

you know, whether they want to get it over and done with before the season or very early in the season or whether they're just going to wait it out, towards the end of this year. Do you have an inkling on which way they're likely to go? So often on the show, we've talked about how drivers have so much power in their hand, especially the top performers.

And yet recently, they're not really using it. You know, why would the Claire sign on until 2029 or something at Ferrari when he's high performing and the team love him, for example? Or why would, you know, Landon Norris jump to extend his contract when, hey, he's got another year on his deal and they're not going to get rid of him by choice. So, you know, why would he go through that point? But in this occasion, I really do think that the Mercedes team hold all the cars. I think they have all the power at their disposal.

And because they have so many options, as we've already iterated on the show, it just tells you that even if one were to go, realistically, their second option or their third option, is still going to be a very solid choice. They're still going to get strong results out of them. It's going to go well. So I think I would be shocked if they make a decision that gets revealed before the summer break at the absolute earliest. I think they've got time to see if form is a temporary or permanent thing with certain drivers. I think they can evaluate, you know, young Kimmy and Tinelli in F2 and see if, hey, if he's losing the championship in the summer break, they might go, right, short term option two years maximum for someone, then he's our option.

But they might go, he's not finished better than 12th. He's crashed out in three of the Grand Prix and he's struggling to even get the car going. We go, right, we look at someone like a Gazley, an Okon, an album that will sign on for. for maybe four or five years over a certain period of contracts, and that's where we go with our direction. So I think it would be sensible and smart from Mercedes who just bide their time on this one and to wait to see what the cars present to them

because realistically, the power is with them. As we see on social media every time that a Mercedes seat becomes available, everyone in their cat and their gang calls up Toto Wolf and goes, I'll have a go, let me do it. So it's not like they can't turn around to somewhere, go fancy your seat sunshine in your pop there will be someone decent available rushing i think would be the worst thing they could do do you think they run the risk at all of obviously red bull have a seat available next year do they run the risk at all that red bull might get in their first and get

their first pick essentially um and Mercedes maybe it's album maybe it's someone else and Mercedes would then have to choose someone else i mean yes in theory it's a possibility um what i think is very different between Mercedes and between Red Bull is so rarely do Red Bull step out of their family alignment in terms of progressive drivers that have got some attachment to the overall Red Bull family. Obviously, it's not impossible. We saw it with Perez, for example. But that move for Perez was the first move for a driver outside of the Red Bull family since, and if I'm casting my mind back, Daniel Ricardo, where he moved from, Um,

Hispanic, was it, Hispanic racing? I can't read the like, yeah. Even he like, yeah,

even he was like Toro Rosso up to Red Bull. Right. And Sevy Vet went, of course, from BMW into Toro Rosso at the time and then moved into Red Bull again.

So the chances of them stepping outside of this family alignment and they do put so much faith and time into their junior program. And I just think that it would be stupid of them not to continue with that

with how much attention. they're being given, how much investment is being giving, how much emphasis they're putting on making them. Big point scorers this year, it will be silly got to use that platform. And that's where I think Mercedes can have some quiet confidence, that realistically, as long as their number one target isn't,

Daniel Ricardo, Liam Lawson, Yuki Sonoda, and maybe Alex Albon being the toughest one there, they've got a pretty good spot of getting someone in the car that isn't going to end up in the Red Bull seat. So I think they could probably still buy their time and not rush to a conclusion before Red Bull tried to snap something up. Okay, we're going to take our first break. We hope you enjoyed that 20-minute segment that took us two hours to film.

Right after this. Okay, we're sticking with the Lewis Hamilton news a little bit longer. We covered off a number of points on the Thursday episode, but naturally there's so much that comes out of this, that there's still some things to talk about that we didn't get around to. And I guess one of the main questions that people have got is, what are the implications of the Hamilton deal in terms of people working at Mercedes, particularly relating to Pete Bonington.

Of course, Pete Bonington has been race engineer for Lewis Hamilton for a number of years at the team. They formed a great partnership, a winning partnership together. So, Harry, do you think that they should be looking to, do you think Hamilton should be looking to take Bonington with him, essentially? Well, I mean, firstly, this morning I saw a picture of Bono, with Christian Horner and Jerry Halliwell a horse race yesterday. Oh God.

The great Pete Bonington bidding war. Love it. Bono! Bidding Bono! Bidding Bono! The Bono auction. It's I, yeah, there's already been talk about this, and I'm sure I saw something about Toto Wolf

saying they'll discuss this. I think it's blindsided Bono a bit because apparently when Toto told him he was like, is it April 1st? So Bono clearly not in the no. No, February, mate. Bono clearly not in the no on that one before Hamilton announced it to the team. But I would be shocked if he didn't try and get him to come with him because they are in the same way that Vastappen and GP are a team together.

Bono and Hamilton have been a team. but they've been a team for 11 years now or whatever it is. And I think it's often underestimated how important the race engineers are to drivers. And obviously some drivers move teams quite a bit. But the ones that are successful and have stuck around at the same team have this relationship with their race engineer. They don't want to give that up. So I'm sure those talks will happen. But yeah, for Pete Bollington, it's a lot because he may not have imagined having to move to Italy next year.

But it may be that he has to or he chooses. He doesn't have to, obviously. But, you know, for his career and for Hamilton's prospects, maybe he will. I just can't imagine. I can't imagine anyone else race engineering Lewis Hamilton. It would be really odd. Imagine, even though it has happened. It has happened, obviously.

It has happened in the past. Yeah. But is Zavvy the one from Ferrari does LeClair? Like, we are checking, Lewis. No, not happening. Not happening. I think it's something of a compliment to Pete Bonington in that he's obviously been in that race engineer spot with Hamilton for so long.

And obviously, don't know the ins and outs of Mercedes and their organizational structure and the like. But similar with like Red Bull and Rocky, who used to be Sebastian Vettel with race engineer, Obviously, he moved out of that position eventually because of a promotion that he got. And I tend to think, could be wrong, that Pete Bonito could well have moved up the organisation into a different role if he had wanted to. But I almost think that the fact that he stayed in that role for so long proves how valuable both Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton find him in that spot, which maybe implies that Hamilton would

want this to happen. What are your thoughts, Sam? I think that Lewis Hamilton looked at this contract and went, historical, historic, romantic, Ferrari, the Red, Italy, end of my career. And then he didn't just use his first sense of his eyes. He used his ears and he listened to the radio messages that Carlos Sites and Charlerc have received while they have been at Ferrari and went, Bono, get to Marinello immediately.

You cannot, I cannot be there without you, Bono. I think he's gasped. Northern Lewis Hamilton there. Correct. very, bono. Here, bongol, man. The tires have gone. Not, no, no, no.

As you can see, folks, I've donned my Ferrari hats in celebration of this historic move. Honestly, yeah, the partnership works brilliantly. They have a fantastic relationship. I don't think Lewis Hamilton is an easy person to be close to, not because he's some horrible bloke. I think he's really. closed off. I think he's a very guarding individual. And I think he has a very small inner circle

that he takes very seriously and has a very trusting group. And Bono has managed to be like a name stay in that group. He has been like a guiding hand for Lewis. He has been the voice that has been heard through the absolute highs of Lewis Hamilton's career and the most crushing lows of Lewis Hamilton's career. And they have stuck together. Now, on the flip side, whilst Lewis Hamilton is going, please, I need, it's like a nice warm cup of tea after a cold day. Bono is that lovely little warm blanket. You go, okay, Italy's a bit new.

There's a lot going on. I don't speak Italian yet. You know, what do I need? I need me warm cup of tea at the end of the day. Bono, talk some sense to me. Mercedes on the flip side, I think, are going, we've got a new driver coming in. We've got someone that might be, you know,

not very experienced or might need to settle. Bongo's an immense job at helping someone as good as Lewis Hamilton get to where he is which you not want to give that gift to someone like Kimi Antinelli who goes, I know what I'm doing. I need some help.

You know, I need to learn, I need to grow, I need to develop. And you have someone like Bongo working with him from the start in theory, that's a very reliable and limited and rare resource to have in Formula One. So I think both sides will be vying for his attention. I think contracts could be thrown around.

And if the rumours are true, that he's having a bidding war with Christian Horner as well, then Bono might just become the most in-demand man in Formula One. Who knows? But, yeah, Hamilton should 100% take Bono with him. It makes a long of sense. Who knows? Maybe Bono can move up in the Ferrari world

because they need some bloody order in those team tactics that they've got going on there, that's for sure. I've got images now of Lewis Hamilton drinking out of a Bono mug. It's up there. The little blanket on at the end of the day. Bono merch is absolutely the next big move for this podcast. This is Bono's world. We're just allowed to live in it.

The era of Bonarello. I love that of Ferrari. Let's make it happen. But I think you're right. I think Samuel point on Hamilton having that almost in a circle that he trusts is very true. I think Angela Cullen is a great example of that. You know, when he really trusts someone, that's when his, greatest partnerships form and Bono's absolutely part of that club. And we know that, look,

Lewis Hamilton is great. He is not going to solve Ferrari's issues. Ferrari have issues, definitely. Driver lineup historically isn't one of them. Now, they've bolstered their lineup. Absolutely. Getting Lewis Hamilton on side is a positive, but there are so many things that needs to be addressed at that team that Hamilton is not responsible for. One of them, communication. As you say, Harry, we are checking, Lewis, that ain't going to fly, that ain't going to work. They really need, I mean, we basically created an LB award off of their incompetence, which usually involves their communication. So Bono would be definitely a help in that regard.

And I think Ferrari need to be almost self-aware enough to know that that is an issue they need to solve. so many times we've seen that the lack of communication between race engineer and driver has cost them. And Carlos Sides and Sebastian Vettel before him often decided to override decisions made by the team because they had a better feeling for it. And it's worked out okay for them. Again, that can't possibly fly when Lewis Hamilton is there. So regardless of whether it is via their internal practices getting better and Bono isn't involved, that fine, but I think actually getting Bono involved, someone who's been so successful for so many years at Mercedes, that would be a real help for that team. One other thing that is being

discussed, that we didn't get into too much depth on on Thursday as well, was this clause, I guess, in the contract, because when we first spoke about this, it would have been autumn last year when the decision was made that Russell and Hamilton would be staying on, but until 2025. Sam, what do you think, what do you think is, is it just that that 20, 25 year was an option? And in that case, he hasn't really had the opportunity to see whether he wants to take that option. What do you make the timing of all this? It's interesting. Yeah, the timing is the strangest part. The fact that they had, you know, a contract signed sealed and delivered a few months ago. And it all was for, you know, Rosie at Mercedes, the fact that they had signed both Hamilton and George

at exactly the same time as well. I wonder how different. their contracts is despite them being announced at exactly the same time. And usually drivers get their own little moment. But the fact that Mercedes were able to announce both of their drivers, who are hot property across Formula One at the same time, almost gave off this aura of unification, very much that they were all aligned on the direction they were going down. And I think Toto Wolf has come out and expressed exactly that.

He said, you know, going into the Christmas break, I thought myself and Lewis were very much aligned of the direction where the car should be going and what the journey is going to be. Now, I don't think this clause is anything performance-based. I don't think this is kind of a, you know, we have to be sitting at seeing X amount of performance or the car should be doing X, Y and Z. I do not think it sits in those lines. I think this is a, Lewis Hamilton is in the twilight of his career.

You know, let's face it. And I think Mercedes put in a clause that said both ourselves as Mercedes and you as Lewis Hamilton, the driver are able to, if wanted, to make this a one-year deal rather than a two-year deal, should you feel comfortable to do so? And I think he'd probably had a limiting amount of time to exercise said clause. I imagine that come, I don't know, June, as we approached the summer break, it will have been a, no, you can't pull out of this contract now. We're too close to the new season.

So I think the Ferrari opportunity came up. He was probably approached by Freddie Vass at Ferrari and was told about the plans and it fell into the timeline nicely. And then Lewis Hamilton said, I can exercise the clause that says I don't have to stay for the extra year. And I think that's all it was. I think Toto Wolves even come out and said, as a quote, we knew there was a risk in the clauses that we put into Lewis Hamilton's contract that if he wanted to, he could walk away early. But equally, he's come out and said, us as Mercedes, we were unsure how many years we wanted

to give to our current lineup. So this also allowed us to exercise this option, should we want to. I think it was simply leaving doors open for people to walk through. Should it be appropriate for that to happen? Lewis Hamilton wants a new challenge and it allows Toto Wolf to go and do something very, very new after a very long-term partnership. What do you think on that, Harry? Yeah, the, it's been a, the, the clause is a surprise because it was obviously a condition for him wanting to sign, but maybe this is a, I feel like maybe Hamilton's kind of played Mercedes a bit here because there's been a few bits floating about that he wanted a longer

contract with Mercedes plus like an ambassador role after he retired. which, you know, it might not be that far away. And there was something that was allegedly, this isn't confirmed, but allegedly turned down. So I do wonder whether, and obviously Ferrari have offered that more multi-year contract deal, and I think this ambassador role is also including than that. I do wonder whether he, Hamilton signs the,

because it's only August last year, right? He signs that extension of Mercedes with this break clause in, but maybe he was just like, that's just buying time. because that's not actually what he wanted and then the Ferrari thing starts from there. So, yeah, maybe it's Hamilton playing Mercedes. Maybe it's Mercedes slightly underestimating how much he wanted to stay. I don't think it's all based on being an ambassador or having more years,

because I think, you know, first and foremost, he just wants to win more championships. But I think there's definitely something in that. He's thinking the long term for his career. and also his career beyond F1. And yeah, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, he's pretty, probably, probably taking them aback a bit that he's activated this quite so soon. Like, say, Sam, I'm sure there was pretty a limit on when he could.

Um, but doing it now was probably earlier than he, they probably thought he would. So, yeah, it's interesting, it's interesting, isn't it? I do feel like maybe Mercedes have sat back on this. a tiny bit and let him go. It is an interesting one. The timings initially sort of confused me, but it's kind of led me to believe that this is really a decision that Hamilton has taken because it is something he wants to do and it is a sort of heart-led move more than anything.

Again, I'm not saying that he hasn't, he's going there because he wants to and no other reason. But, you know, the reason options are usually in place is because you can figure out, okay, is the team going in the right direction, which has. Hamilton hasn't given any time to work that out. I guess the theory would be Carlos Sines is already locked in for 2024. That can't happen, but 2025 can happen. Because of that, Hamilton signs a one-year deal with a one-year option. And then a few races into the 2024 season, he can go,

Mercedes looking pretty good here, I'm a stick around, or Mercedes not looking very good here, I'll go to Ferrari next year. But of course, if the whole point of the deal was based on his confidence in performance, I think that's what he would have done. But of course, he hasn't done that. He's made that decision before Mercedes-Vosvenies even got out on the track, which just makes me think that this is something he wants to do fundamentally more than anything. Okay, we're going to take our second break here on the other side.

We're actually not going to talk about Lewis Hamilton for once. We're going to talk about Suzuki instead. Okay, there's been a lot of calendar talk recently. and most of it directed towards street circuits. But news this week, Suzuki has received a contract extension, so Suzuki will be on the Air Force until at least 2029.

Sam, your thoughts? Yeah, I mean, firstly, it's relieving to hear that contract negotiations are going on with some of the more classic tracks that hold a lot of soul for Formula One fans and the legacy of Formula One. And that is, I think, an important thing to know, the essence of Formula One. What is Formula One as a sport?

What's its direction? What is its image? And I think we are not a street racing brand. We're not, you know, the sport that turns up city to city and only races down your main high street around the back of boots, past a waitrose, takes a right past the dominoes and then flies through the cost of coffee car park. You know, that's not what we do here at Formula One. It might be a one off novelty sometimes. Street racing is not the key.

So when you hear this, right, well, we'll get on to name it later on. Okay, we'll name it in the next episode, sick around. My point here on Kosovo, is that when Suzuki gets a renewal, it shows that, okay, Liberty are hopefully listening to the audience. And I'm hoping that this might be a bit of a domino effect. I'm hoping that we might see a transition from street race talk into classic track talk, because tracks like Suzuki, which I think if we're being fair and honest and realistic, has not produced the best Grand Prix racing over the last decade.

But I do think with the new era of cars and their ground force effect downforce and how they can follow, and the track is still sensation or as a driver's track. It is improving. I think it's on the up. And Suzuki is such a fan favorite for everyone. All three of us really like it. So many of you listening, we really enjoy Suzuki. the Japanese fans and Japanese races alike are sensational.

It has such history, such heritage. You look back at historic moments that have happened at Suzuki. It has earned its place in Formula One. So it's wonderful to know that we're going to be going there for a few years later. And I really do hope that this gets the ball rolling for many of the other tracks that are still proper race tracks that are on our calendar. Because I don't want to see that 50-50 split. A few street tracks are a fun novelty and can produce. something a bit different, but we don't need every other race track to be that case. So big up,

Suzuki, got it's staying. Well done. Liberty. This was, this was good. In all the chaos that you've been going through, especially with the Andretti move that we spoke about, this is a good news for them. Yeah, do you think they actually signed the contract extension in like November, but F1 have just kept it in the back pocket until this Andretti news, like, but here's Suzuki, there you go. You like that, right? Una reverse. Yeah. Well played F1. Well played, Stefan. What are your thoughts on this, Harry? Yeah, thank God,

because I can't hear about another street track potentially happening or not happening. It is encouraging. And again, like Sam says, I'm an agreement that Suzuki doesn't necessarily produce the best racing anymore. And I don't think that's a Suzuki problem.

I think it's more an F1 problem in terms of the cars are so bloody big for that track now. But it's still one of my face. and I would be, you know, be devastated if they came off the calendar. So, yeah, I'm glad it's staying. And also, more generally, it's encouraging that, yeah, they're not just being these classic tracks or these great racing circuits

are not just being shunned for more street tracks. I guess the worry is it does seem like we're just going to get more. Like, we're not replacing tracks. We're just getting more of everything, which is a problem in itself. but I'm happy that at least those conversations are ongoing and it's good for, it's encouraging for the likes of others like Spar, Silverson, etc. And the fact is a multi-year for Suzuki,

because we've seen recently a lot of more classic circuits like Spar, for example, have only had like one-year extensions or two-year extensions. This is a commitment. So that's good to see. And hopefully it remains the same for the other classic tracks we have because they need to stay. So yeah, it's positive news.

You're right, Ben. Maybe they did sign this in October last year, but just thought, we'll save that for when we've got some bad news for everyone. Keep that one of the wraps. Love it. Obviously, one thing we haven't mentioned, not that it's necessarily relevant

to the contract talk per se, but Japanese Grand Prix, of course, is happening in April this year. So first time that it won't be later in the season, thanks to F1's adjusting and trying to get a bit more location-based and grouping races together. It looks like it will be earlier in the calendar for the coming years. Yeah, this is obviously great news.

I'm delighted for this. And I agree with your point, Harry, that even though Suzuki hasn't necessarily delivered bangers in the last 10 years, I think the main reason for that is down to F1 rather than the track itself. You speak to so many drivers say this is their favorite track, so many do, which is good. They'll be happy that this is around and the fans are great. I think in terms of Japanese motorsport as a whole, of course, Yuki Sonoda is still in the sport. How many years he'll be in the sport is a bit of a question mark.

But, you know, this news plus maybe Sonoda sticking around for a few more years is good news. overall. If to remember, the Suzuki contract is essentially owned by Honda. The contract is owned by mobility land, but mobility is owned by Honda. And we know Honda's obviously sticking around in F1, or no, sorry, they're re-entering F1 technically with Aston in a couple of years' time. So yeah, I think overall it's almost like just a positive outlook for Japanese motorsport as a whole. We know there are some upcoming drivers in terms of like Yuma Owasa as well. Retomi Miata is an interesting one as well. He's racing an F2 this year and he's won Super Formula before.

I think he's like 24 years old, so he's coming in quite late to F2, but equally has very good pedigree going into it. So I'm interested to see how he does this year. Yeah, I think overall it's good news and much needed good news at this time. should we move on to Olly Beerman he's been announced as as well as being Ferrari

reserve driver this year he's also going to be Hasse Reserve Driver this year and with that he will be participating in six free practice one sessions starting at Imola

and ending at Abu Dhabi so essentially a quarter of races this year we can expect to see Berman in FP1 he did two outings last year as well and impressed in both of those Sam it's rare that we see a rookie driver like, Ben,

and get six outings in a season? Does this show you that Ferrari really mean business with this guy? He must have impressed. He's caught the eye of someone up top because, like you said, Ben, six is a rarity. The fact he's already done two the previous year means it's going to get eight

FP1 sessions, which is a lot. You know, you break that down into a year total of races, and that's a third of the season over kind of a year and a half that he's had driving that F1 car. So he should be really, up to speed. And you imagine if he were to get a Formula One seat going into 2025,

that he would then get the testing days of course at the start of the season, the full practice sessions of the first race of the season. He would be very well prepared for a kick-starting Formula One career from whatever team he might wind up in. I really do think that teams should take a leaf out of Ferrari Slash Hart's book here on how to bring up a youngster, a rookie to possibly star in their team moving forward. forward, when you have the faith in someone, when someone's in Presqueue, you give them the time,

give them the nurturing environment that they need, get them every single bit of experience that they can to get hands on with the car. And I assure you that the more time they've had with the car, the better they're likely to be when they come into the sport. A big complaint that Lewis Hamilton always gets given for some bizarre reason was that when he entered in his rookie year, a lot of people say, well, he had thousands of hours behind the Formula One car before he actually entering his season. Oh, well, who cares? The guy put it to the use and it worked out. It makes sense. Give everyone that much time. And I think Mercedes, should they not go for Kimmy Antigella, who's been mentioned a lot on this podcast, they should be chucking him in every single

FP1 session that they can get their hands on for the chap so he can actually be prepared should the time come around that he does enter Formula 1 if he does impress. So yeah, I think this is a very good move. I do think it's nice to see a step away from using FP1 sessions or the rookie testing session that comes at the end of the year as well. Sometimes it gets used a bit for marketing props. I know that McLaren do that a lot. They've got 853 drivers contracted to their team. And Zach Brown does like to give each of them one lap in a car

to be kind of good exposure for the team. And I don't like that. So, yeah, I think this is right. I think Bam, getting as much time in the car as possible is right. I think other teams should look to do it also. What do you think, Harry, do you think this is Ferrari and Hass really lining him up for a 25 seat? Yeah, cute Lewis Hamilton on his toes this year, you know. Don't want to get too comfy.

Behrman's behind you, mate. Yeah, watch out, Luz. I think it's encouraging for Berman that, yeah, this is happening. Whether they're, I don't think they're landing him up for a Ferrari seat, but maybe he has a seat in the future. And I guess the Ferrari-Hass relationship really confuses me. Are you friends or not friends? I don't know.

They're just sort of make it up as they go along. But clearly they've got some influence over over Berman getting these six FP1 run. So yeah, it's got to be encouraging. And I think it's probably a second point here, but it's good to see him getting that many in one season because I think it's fairly unusual for that to happen. A lot of the time, you know, a rookie might get two sessions.

And then you've seen before, you know, the car breaks down in one of them. And they've had, then they'd basically get an hour out of a year. Like how are you supposed to judge anything on that? So having six over the course of the year, I think it's going to give them a proper indicator of what he can do, or at least give him the time to experience it properly and, you know, get a really, a good feel for what it's like to drive an F1 car.

So, yeah, very encouraging for Ollie Berman, for sure. Well, I think it was the case with Porsche last season. It might have been Mexico. I don't quite remember, but he essentially didn't do FP1 because of issues with the car. It's like, well, he only did two sessions the whole year, so that's 50% of his time, just knocked away immediately. You're suddenly derisking yourself if one of these six doesn't go well for him. You've got five others to lean on.

I know that I and Hassam, I think everyone, was very impressed by Bearman's appearances in FP1's last year. Particularly as Mexico one, I think his Mexico session, he was right there with either Magnuson or Halkenberg. It might have been Magnuson. But there was barely nothing to choose between them. And I appreciate his FP1, but even so, usually you see a sizable gap between rookies and the

established drivers. And there wasn't really that gap when they went around Mexico. So that would be one of the tracks he's back at again this year. But you know, he's doing Imola, Spain, Silverstone, Hungary. So he's got a good run as well of like European races where you're not

having to, I don't know, jump in a car and then the next time you're in a car will be eight months later, there's good consistency with this. I would at this point be absolutely shocked if he's not in a Hassan 25. And I appreciate that they've been burned before by putting two rookies in a car together. But this is going to blow your mind, Hass. You don't have to do that. You can have one experienced driver and then one rookie driver. And then you got, you got, you got what we like to call in the business balance. Yeah, but he's a new employee. He won't be allowed in.

Oh, no. Gene Haas doesn't like, he doesn't go in. He doesn't go in. Honest, Gene Haas is fuming at these six sessions. Who is this guy? I probably won't like him. We're putting a bear in a race car? Who is this bear man?

Ali Bear Man? So, yeah, maybe this won't happen. after all, but I think it's a good idea. And it's something that the team should probably utilize a lot more. Bermann is going to be racing an F2, which kind of proves that you can, any other F2 driver would be able to do the same sort of schedule and it would work. So I think it's something they should utilize a lot more. But like I say, I would be surprised at this point if he wasn't in a Hasse seat in 25.

It just seems, I don't know, I mean, you're not, shortly not giving someone six FP1 sessions to then not take him. I also think that this is a negotiating tactic, isn't it, from Gene? We know that Gene's a little bit on the tight on the purse strings, and he doesn't like to spend or he doesn't need to. So if he could say to Ferrari, sure, we'll put your youngster in the car for practice sessions and potentially the seat for a couple of years,

but you give me your engines at a massive discount, and we get to buy your parts at a massive discount. It means that we can run our little shop of horrors at a much cheaper rate for the next few seasons. Exactly. Exactly. Right. We're going to take our final break of this episode. On the other side, we've got a brand new game. Okay, welcome back, everyone. Brand new game that I have to say on the original schedule that I sent over to everyone, I put TBC on a name because I didn't have one at the time. But Harry's inspired me with his catchphrase of, show me the evidence. So this is our new game, and it's called Show Me the Options. Do a jingle, Sam.

Right now. No, go on. No. This might be, you might be witnessing late breaking history, folks, because this might be the one and only time you ever hear this game if it goes down like a lead balloon. But we will soon find out. It's like F and Alphabeti.

That's stuck around for a little while. No, it's head. But it stuck around for a little while. Right. I've got eight questions. And Harry and Sam will take it in turns, giving it a go. Essentially, you have got an option here. I will ask you the question. If you answer it correctly, you get two points. If you don't answer it correctly, you get no points. However,

you can say those four magic words, show me the options, at which point I will give you three possible answers for that question. If you then get it right at that point, you get one point. So essentially it's a game of risk. Do you want to try and answer the question without any options, or do you want me to help you a little bit with three possible ones? That makes a lot more sense, because I thought you were going to start revealing option ties to us over the camera, and I thought this is not going to work well as a podcast format.

Ah, yeah. That's a good idea for a game, though. Show me the Ultrasofts. Right. Harry, you can start any number between one eight please. Number seven, please. Number seven.

In what position did Jensen Button start when he won his first race at the Hungarian Grand Prix? Already I'm loving this game because I feel like I might know the answer but I'm not confident. Is it 14th?

He's risked it. And he's got it right. Well done. Fourteenth. was right. It's a good start. Two-nil. Over to you, Sam. Um, I'm not used to these higher numbers in our quiz. I know, right? Eight, yeah. Eight. What's that all about? When Harry said seven, I was confused, lost, and alone. Um, I'll go for number two, please, bang. I'm going to keep it where I'm safe. Which corner did Ayrton Senna crash up when leading the 1988,

Monaco Grand Prix? Do I have to give the exact one? Can I just vaguely describe it? Monaco. Yeah. Someone between turn one and turn 20. Was it? Casino.

It was not casino, I'm afraid. The correct answer. Any ideas, Harry? It's a Portier. What's Portier? Yeah, well done. Well done. No stealing in this game, though, so I'm lucky.

Back to you, Harry. Okay. I'll go for number eight so Sam doesn't have a meltdown. Oh, thank God. You managed to put the other question that's about the Monaco Grand Prix. The Monaco Grand Prix was created by which man he has a corner named after him? Mr. Monaco. Yeah.

Mr. DeLondon. Sam's all your points, I'm afraid. Yeah, it's actually Mr. Monaco, yeah. Mr. Mirabow. Well, I can only think of one corner that's named after a person. Is it Anthony Knows? No. It is.

Yeah, you're right. Oh. Hello, I'm Anthony Nose. I don't think it's... No, no, that's not how you say it. I just said it like an idiot. Welcome to my world. Oh, dear.

All right, back to you, Sam. You only have numbers that you can deal with now. I will now succeed, clearly, as I always have done in these games that we play. I will have number five, please, Ben. Question number five. Who or what owns Silverstone? I'm just trying to think of the right anagram thing.

It's the British Drive. Association thing, club thing. That's good thing. I think I forget. You know what I'm saying? I'll give you it, yeah. The British Racing Drivers Club, BRDC. That's the one. I was thinking it was like BDC.

That's what I meant. I mean, you said the BDA. It was the British Drivers Association, but that's close enough. They'll do. I think we'll shut you up in a minute, Mr. Reed. There were some.

some right words in there somewhere. Which means the score is now four points to two. Let me go back to Harry. Number six. Number six. After Max Verstappen, who had the most podiums in 2023? Oh, well, given we've not done this yet, and I feel like it's the point of the game, show me the options, Ben.

Nice one, Harry. Way! The options are, A, Sergio Perez, B, Lewis Hamilton, or C, Charle-Cler. Oh, Sergio Perez. It is Sergio Perez. Perez had nine podiums last season, both of the other drivers had six, which means Harry gets one point, because he did say those four magic words, showing me the options, to make this five, two. back to you, Sam.

Show me the options. Okay. Is that a point? I second. Yeah, all you got to say the words. You don't actually have to do anything else. I love number three. Three.

Who won the first two races of the 2018 Formula One season? Was it Valtrey Bottas? Was not? Valdry Bortas. He was actually one of the three options I would have given you, if that's any consolation, because he was gone for him for one point instead.

But Sebastian Vettel was the correct answer. Sabi Vett, you've let me down. Fake Ferrari fan over there. Come on. Hey, I'm a Ferrari fan of the earlier ears. Take your cap off. This is anything I could do with him. This is for Rubens.

It starts crying. He was famously sponsored by. Decker. It's actually got shoot like a signature, literally on the helm, off my hat. One or four, Harry.

Number one, please. Mark Weber took a surprise fifth place on debut at the Australian Grand Prix in 2002. Which team was he racing for? Menardi. He was racing for Minardi.

Yeah, you're right. That's great. And it's good to see as well that the Menardi name is back on. on the F1 grid this year. That is great news. Which means, Sam, what number do you want? What have I got left? I've forgotten.

You can have four or four? Show me the options. Well, I've got a four, please, Ben. Who was the last driver from the United States to win a Grand Prix? Well, in the spirit of the game, show me the options. The options are, Dan Gurney, Mario Andretti and Eddie Cheever.

Oh, blimey on a stick. I'm going to go with Eddie Cheever. Eddie Cheever never won a race, I'm afraid. More recent than Andretti, but didn't win. Mario Andretti was the correct answer. That's a good day for games. Eddie, geez, you're rubbish. I'm guessing, Sam, you probably don't want that one to return ever again.

I actually like it for the camaraderie of showing me the options. I think I'm going to do more of those in future. There's a jingle in there somewhere. Yeah, there's definitely a jingle in there. Come on, there's definitely a jingle in there. Yeah, Harry, I reckon we can maybe do a, like, an expected gadget style theme or something there with that. Nice. All right, we'll work on that.

Yeah. And so ends, possibly, not for you listening, but for us, the longest podcast in all of F1 history. Sam, would you mind getting us out of here once and forth? Oh, folks, you don't realize the absolute marathon we've dragged ourselves through to get to the end here, but we've made it. And thank you if you did also make it to the end. Please go and check out our Patreon on the links in the description. I promise you, the content on there is far more put together. and well-organised than what this show has been.

You get loads of benefits, depending on the tier that you're on, like two extra episodes every month. Everything on there is ad-free, regardless of the tier that you're in. You get early access to events that we're going to be running. You'll get access to our new history series that we're planning and our power-ranking episodes that we're going to be doing after the races and other such brilliant perks as well. So, you know, give it a look.

It really helps the show to continue to grow and prosper if you go over there and just help us out. Some of the tiers are like the cost of a cup of coffee over a month, so it massively helps. Discourse in the link in the description. Follows on social media, late breaking F1 everywhere. And if you didn't know already, you can watch this in visual format with your eyes on YouTube, which 10K by Silverstone X year inserted here, we're coming for you, baby. Other than that, absolute success.

Well done, Harry, who's absolutely broken something in the background. In the meantime, I've been Samuel Sage. I've been Ben Hocking and I've been Harry Ead and remember keep breaking late. Bloody hell. Podcast is part of the Sports Social Podcast Network.