The Late Braking F1 Podcast - Why don't F1 teams want Andretti in F1?

Episode Date: August 17, 2022

Sam and Ben are back for another summer break filler episode! This week the boys discuss their top 10 drivers in F1 right now, talk about the Andretti/F1 situation and the leaked Las Vegas race date... JOIN our Discord: https://discord.gg/dQJdu2SbAm SUPPORT our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/latebraking TWEET us @LBraking BUY our merch: https://late-braking-f1-podcast.creator-spring.com/ SUBSCRIBE to our podcast! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This podcast is part of the Sports Social Podcast Network. Yee-ha. Hello, everyone. It's late breaking light here again. Sorry, this isn't Ben. Ben will be here in a second. Just putting this in the intro because for the second podcast in as many weeks, I think I'm not on it again.

Just to apologise to all of you, normal service will be resumed soon. It's, you know, summer break and we're busy doing summer things. although this time is actually Sam's age's fault because he's busy on the normal recording day and I wasn't but let's be real you'd rather have Sam on the podcast than me so and I'm okay with that I'll accept it so anyway enjoy the podcast I've got no idea what these two Muppets have said um probably rubbish and I'll hand over to Mr Benjamin Hawking Ben welcome us all thank you for listening to the late breaking F1 podcast make sure to tune in for new

episodes every Wednesday and Grand Prix Sunday. Hello and a very warm welcome to the late-breaking F-1 podcast presented by Sam Sage and me, Ben Hocking. There's no Harry Ead again this week. Again. Check this out for an excuse. His partner's birthday? What?

What are you playing at? I tell you what, your wedding day isn't going to fall on a podcast recording day. is it? The podcast recording comes first. I mean, the only partners that Mr. L. B. Like, as you love to doff him,

Benjamin, has got is us. Partnership of LB. Lifelong partners. Who did you know first? That lovely lady, who is your partner? Or us,

morons. It was us. So I'll let you off this one time. But when the wedding comes along, whatever that may be, in years to come, it doesn't go on a Sunday,

and it doesn't go on a Wednesday. You can have it on a Monday, or a Friday. And that's all I'm allowing. Yeah. Also, happy birthday, Lauren. Happy birthday, you lovely lady. We digest, as we often do on this podcast.

The summer season continues. F1 is not too far around the corner now. We are getting there towards the second half of this season, but we still have a lot to debate tonight. We're actually going to be positive to close out the show. That sounds mad, considering how negative nancy's we usually are. But we are going to list one thing that each team can be positive about

based on the first half of this season. We're going to be talking about the Las Vegas leaked date for next season. We're also going to be discussing Andretti and why F1 teams seem reluctant about them becoming the 11th team in Formula One. But we're going to kick off tonight with something incredibly controversial. It is without a doubt going to, make everyone mad because we are going to rank our top 10 drivers in Formula One right now. If you do disagree with anything on our list, someone is too high, someone is not on it,

someone's too low, just remember, do get in touch with any feedback. It's at Harry Ead F1 and we will answer everything you might say there. But it's not specifically about this season. It's just who we think are the top 10 drivers in F1 right now. The way that we'll do this is that Sam will give 10 through 6. I'll give 10 through 6 and we'll debate to see what our differences are, what our similarities are. And then we'll do 5 to 1 and we'll do the same thing. I have no idea what Sam's list is. Sam has no idea what my list is.

So there is a good chance that we are going to completely shock each other. There is a good chance that we have exactly the same list and this is going to be the shortest podcast of all time. But which one will it be? Let's find now. 10 through six for you, Sam. Oh, this is really tricky. We have a chat everyone before we start the podcast. Usually, you know, a few topics that we run through. We're all good with everything.

And I brought up how much I was struggling with this list. And we both agree that, you know, the top three or four kind of rights itself. And the bottom lot could end up absolutely anywhere. And I feel like we could be absolutely crucified by the form. one and one community at this very moment. So in 10th place, I have got, oh, here we go. I've got Fungando Alonkso.

The scoundrel, the cheeky devil, the man who creates all the summer chaos in a 10. Harry's going to cut you off now. I know. I'm sorry, Harry. The guy is still fantastic, right? He's still rightfully deserves to be in the sport. I love the chaos he creates at the moment.

but big boy Alonso in a in a 10 at 9th place oh this is where I think 9th and 8th was where I was really struggling and in ninth place I'm going for Alex Albon I think the chap is oh I know I think that's going on and I've done this maybe I've done this wrong Ben and maybe you're going to tell me off here but I've done this base on also potential left I'm not saying that Alon will ever be a better driver than what a longso was ever in his career, but I'm talking about over the next 12 months, I can see

Albon being a faster, all-rounded driving a long-sol, he's declined. That is going to be really controversial, and I'm already sorry. I love it. I'm here for it. In eighth place, Valtrey Bottas, I think the guy still absolutely has that, that raw speed. He's never obviously world champion material, but I think he's still one of the better drivers on the grid by a country He's leading the Alfa Mayo team, but they're having a bit of a tough spell at the moment. And look at how he displayed himself as a second driver at Mercedes, right? The reason why they won semi-constructors is because of Bottas. He brought it home for them.

So, yeah, Bottas and eighth. And seventh, I've got Pierre Gazley, having a tough season so far this season, but I do think he's really turned himself out since being demoting from Red Bull. I think he's been pretty phenomenal. And sixth place, of course, before we go over to Ben, I've got Carlos. science in its sixth. Of course, having his transfer from McLaren to Ferrari last season, beat LeClerc, arguably by a few technicalities and a few duff results for LeCleur, which probably his fault, but he did in his first season, struggling a bit more now.

But I do think that science is skill up there as one of their very best on the grid currently. So yeah, there's my 10 to 6. Sorry, Fernando Alonsofans. I love him dearly, but I do get sick where he's mentally, he's better than everyone. But actually, the overall package is just past. good news I'm always a bit worried that we'll end up with similar lists

guess what folks our lists look very very different oh good I love it and you apologise to Fernando Alonzo I feel like you're going to be apologising if I'm writing these down as I go and I'm seeing where I've got someone

and who might be in the top five I feel like you're going to have to apologize to someone else very soon I'll leave that for for now, because I feel like... Who have I forgotten? Whether you've forgotten this person or intentionally put him outside the top 10, I do not know, but very interesting indeed.

So I'll run through my 10 to 6 and see where that compares. At 10th, I do not have Fernando Alonzo. I instead have Fernando Alonzo's teammate. I have Esteban Ocon in 10th. Now, I found it pretty difficult. So I think Ockon is in 10th, and that's about as high as I could. possibly rank him, and there were a few on the outside that won't reveal quite yet that were very close to getting the nod over Ocon. But I ended up giving Ockon the edge here.

He has scored in 14 of the last 17 races. I feel like Ocon has almost replaced Nico Holcomberg in that role, in the midfield dependable role. Now, obviously, the massive difference is, not only does Ocon have a podium, sorry Hulk, but Ocon also has a win. So the comparison doesn't quite go the full way, but I think as a reliable, dependable, midfield driver, he is that guy. And he's not part of the elite. We thought, some people thought, I didn't, but some people thought that when he was in the running for a Mercedes, he had the potential for more than this.

And I feel like he is kind of where he deserves to be. his ceiling isn't amongst the elite of F1, but certainly he is a very good driver, a very dependable driver, and he is currently beating Fernando Alonzo in the standings. I don't think it's a true reflection of their pace, but he's there at the moment. And I think Alpine,

whilst they probably shouldn't have assigned him to a 27-year deal, him being there long term is not the end of the world. Fair. So you didn't have Ocon on your list. So that's our first, I guess, disagreement. The second name, we both do have on our list. So you had him eighth. I've got him ninth.

That's faltering Bottas. It's not a fantastic look what Russell's doing versus Hamilton this year for him. Because what Bottas could not do in five years, Russell has been able to do in half a season. Arguably, Russell was able to do it after about three or four races. Bottas on his day could beat Lewis Hamilton. The problem is that day came once every seven or eight races, which just isn't enough if you want to compete for a championship. You're right, Sam. He was there for Mercedes. He got them constructors' championships. And I feel like his strengths and weaknesses are well established. And they've continued on to Alpha Romeo in that he's still

lightning on a Saturday. He can put together a qualifying run that's up there with not far off the best in the sport. His race pace is a bit touch and go sometimes. And I think he's doing a job over Joe Guan Yu that we thought he would. I think he's met expectations. And I think he is enjoying that role as a a team leader. So I've got him ninth. I feel that's about fair. You've got him eight. Fairly similar there. Eighth, I'm guessing, is the driver that you will be apologising for not having in the top ten. But I don't know. Is Sergio Perez? No, he's in my top ten. Oh, actually, in that case, I have actually forgotten him. Yeah, you're right. I have forgotten him. Sorry, Sergio. I did forget you existed. I'm making this list.

Never mind. Anyway, Sergio Perez, I thought I was going to be quite harsh with putting him eighth, but apparently, you know, I've put him very high on this list. I forgot he existed. Sorry, Sergio, Sam forgot you existed. He is, again, very similar in the... He's almost the opposite of Bottas, but in the same way. When I say that, he is a reliable number two driver in the same way that Bottas was,

but all of Perez's strengths seem to be Bottas's weaknesses and vice versa. Qualifying is a bit touch and go with Sergio Perez some of the time. Race pace is usually pretty good and ultimately Red Bull everything is clicking for them where it hasn't in the past. It's always been the car hasn't been right and then when the car was about right, they didn't have a good second driver. Now all of the pieces are together and Sergio Perez is that second driver they were looking for for a long time.

You know, I struggled to put him any higher than this just based on his teammate is winning week in and week out and Perez in a very good car in a season and a half has won twice. One of those two times was when Zappa retired from the lead. So he hasn't got the pace to compete with the best of the best in F1, but certainly he's had a step forward from last year and he is that reliable number two. Red Bull need him to be. In seventh, I've got him three places higher than what Sam had him. I've got Fernando Alonzo in seventh.

He's not that explosive Alonzo he once was, and that's fine. But I think it is, you know, you've got a team like Aston Martin who have very big plans in F1. They're not being realized at the moment, but they have very big plans. And yet they have given a over 40-year-old, a multi-year deal. That speaks volumes as to how good Fernando Alonso still is that you're willing to give someone at that age, relatively speaking to the F-1 grid, a multi-year deal. Race-paced-wise, I still think he's not far off his best. He's not. quite there, but he's not far off. He hasn't got that, like I say, he hasn't got that electric pace that he once had, but he should be, I think, pace-wise ahead of Ocon in the standings this

year, and he's been reliable ever since he's come back to F-1 in terms of his performances. And then our first agreement, Carlos Sines, I've got him in sixth. Put it this way. I've got a bit of a spoiler. I've got two drivers ahead of him, Lando Norris and Charles Leclair. In three consecutive, years, he beat those two drivers. He beat Landon Norris and then Landon Norris again and then beat Charles LeCler. That's pretty impressive. Now, I think this season has somewhat held him back a bit in this standings because it's almost proven that given the championship car or given the near championship car, he can't quite take pole positions and wins at the same rate as someone like

Charles LeCler cam. Science has had one win this year and let's be honest if Ferrari don't mess up LeColette's strategy has no wins. So I don't think he has elite pace, but certainly he has the potential to be the number two driver that Ferrari need him to be. Now, Ferrari just need to get it together because they've got the lineup. And signs is, yeah, he is competing

with those guys that are ahead of him. So there's my 10 through 6. It's a very fair list. It's a very fair list. I agree with all of them. And to rectify my awful mistake of forgetting Perez, I actually realize I have him written down where Al-Bong's name is and then scribbled out and then written down again and then scribbled

out. So you know what, folks, I'm going to have him in ninth and not Al-Bong. But I have said it. So if you want to crucify me still, you're welcome to. We all make mistakes in life, you know. I tell you, I will pick out one thing that we do disagree on quite a lot, actually, is Pierre Gasly. So Pierre Gasly's not in my top 10. He was very close, nearly put him 10th ahead of Ocon, but I wouldn't have put him any higher than that. You've got him in seventh. Why? Do you think that, obviously, this season hasn't gone perfectly to plan,

but do you think his previous seasons are enough indication of what a driver he is that he war into place in this top ten? Last season for Gassley was phenomenal. He was one of the best performers across the season. And that is when we had the quality of Vastappan versus Hamilton going on. Gassley still stood out as a bit of a shining star. I think in my opinion, Ghazly was the next best driver,

maybe fighting out with Landau Norris. I think. Like, that was how good Gassie was. And I think that despite the car being worse, despite him having some bad fortune on the track, he's still outscoring Yuki Tsingoda currently. And he seems so demotivated,

so locked into a pointless position. And yet he still seems to be higher up the standings than a teammate that should be fully firing and motivated. So for me, I just think he's lost a bit of motivation in that car. Arguably, he should use him being stuck there to motivate him further. But I do feel like last year demonstrated to me just how good Pierre Gassley can actually be. And I do think, I don't think he's got the elite pace of the next group that we're going to talk about.

But do I think that he can mix it next to Carlos Sikes if they were both put an equal machinery? Yeah, quite comfortably. I think it will be very, very close across the whole season if him and Carlos Sites are put in the same team. Interesting, yeah. Yeah, I was a bit torn on where to put him because I think if I was looking, if I had done this list at the end of last year, I think I probably would have had him about eighth or so.

But it has been a tough year for him. And I guess the only way we'll find out the answer to the question is whether he actually manages to get out of the program or not. And if he can go to another team and get motivated again and show what he can do, in which case, you know, if he does that, then suddenly me not putting him in the top 10 looks a bit silly. Or, you know, if Gassely ended up going to Alpine and doing a job on Ocon,

that makes my list look a bit silly as well. So it's tough to say. It's been a really difficult year for him. And is it the demotivation? Is it the new cars? Maybe it's just he doesn't suit the new style of car. I don't know until we have something else to go on. I guess we'll be stabbing in the dark a little bit.

Did you have anyone else that nearly made your top 10, son? You've already mentioned Ocon. He was right on the border as well, very much considered for that area. And I actually think that you're right in the saying that Alonso may be unfairly is behind O'Cong in the points. But I don't think it would be by a lot of difference if you were to rectify where those things happened. I think O'Cong thoroughly deserves to be put against Elokso at the moment this season. And there is a name neither of us have mentioned that I had to apologize for Perez. I think we have to apologise even more for this one,

especially if you don't have it in your top five because I don't, and that is Daniel Ricardo, does not make it into my top 10 list at all, and was probably maybe 12th or 13th from my list at the moment. I found that really tough, because I agree with you. I did at least float the name, because how long does a driver have to underperform

before you think it's not doable anymore? I've reached that point. I reached that point a little while ago with Sebastian Vettel, for instance, where I didn't think it was a blip anymore, and it was just a trend, and it was where he is. Same with Ricardo. You know, he was great in 2020 with Renault. He did a fantastic job, but how long, yeah,

how long does it take for that to be not factored or not factored as much? And maybe we have reached that point based on neither of us having him in the top 10. if he can get back to the old Daniel Ricardo, you feel like, yeah, he's probably about fifth or sixth, right? If he is the proper Daniel Ricardo, but is that driver there anymore? It's a question mark. Yeah, big time, big time. Should we move on to our top five? Yes, we'll move on to our top five.

We're going to take a short break before we do. Who do we have number one? Find out. All right, Sam. Fifth through the first. Okay, so I feel like all the first. the games pitched themselves, but the order of those games was a little bit tricky, especially three through to five. So for me, in fifth place, I have Daniel Ricardo's teammate, Lando Norris.

And this is for a couple of factors, really. I think he outshines everyone that we've already mentioned. He's out driving Matt McClare, and he has done for a couple of seasons in a row now. He is destroying Daniel Ricardo. It pains me to say it, but he is. There's no competition there at the moment. I'd love to see Daniel from his last year at Red Bull or his second year at Renho come back and fight back against Lando. But we've even heard quotes such as, I'm giving Daniel more help than I would normally a teammate. And that's coming from such a young driver. Like, it's almost patronising. It's a little bit embarrassing to hear that. So the fact that he's got this much experience, this much knowledge on his shoulders, and he's able to apply it so consistently. He's so far away

from the rest of the midfield in the point scoring positions at the moment. He's clearly a bit of a league of his own from F1.5, as we call it. So, Norris and fifth, the reason he's not higher is because I don't think he's had the ability to show what more he could do at the moment. And that's not his fault. McLauron haven't given him a car that I think could give him regular race wings. And the one opportunity where you can go back a race wing, Russia, he fluffed it himself. So that's where he's let himself down a little bit there.

Fourth place, I've got the driver that everyone compares him to due to coming up around the same time, but has had more time now to prove himself in a better car over this season. George Russell. Georgie Russ has been somewhat close to phenomenal this season. He is being incredibly impressive in almost every single Grand Prix. The only one not really too impressive, I would argue, is of course Silverstone, where he did cause the huge crash with Zhoguan Yu, Mr. Consistent, as they love to call him. And what cementing it for me is going well above Norris there was that incredible pole position lap in Hungary. Being able to pull that out of nowhere was absolutely spectacular.

So rustling fourth. And then I thought the top three, maybe we're a little bit clear. Charlercler is third. And this is because it's been shown to me that whilst he has elite raw pace, it is the consistency in delivering that elite raw pace that he is lacking currently. and I think he needs another season in an actual title fight, like he's getting now, to be able to harness all that ability and utilise it properly across the entire season.

So, Lecler is third. Second place is still Lewis Hamilton. Despite having a really tricky start to the season, he was clearly out of a bit of morale. He was still struggling with a bit of confidence after what happened in Abu Dhabi. The new cars were obviously a huge change to him, spending his entire career in very similar cars beforehand.

I understand that's a lot of variables. and it came out as well that he was the one running all the experimental setups, which I can understand also held him back, plus a bit of bad luck here and there. But seeing those consistent results over the last, what, five, six Grand Prix, third, third, third, third, second, second. And again, that performance in Hungary, where he tore through the rest of the grid. If Vastappen was only, what, eight seconds up the road, and it looked like if the race had gone on another 10 laps,

Hamilton potentially could have gone to win that Grand Prix. It shows that Hamilton is still very much. there despite being, I think, well off his peak now. I would argue Hamilton's maybe about 90%, 85% Lewis Hamilton. And to me, that is still better than every single other person on the grid comfortably other than one. And that is the top driver on the grid currently is Max Vastappen. The kid is what Hamilton was in his, you know, coming into his peak. He's what Schumacher was when he started to come into his peak. It is that ability to deliver consistent excellence week after week after week.

And if there is a setback, the ability to overcome it so effortlessly. And I use Hungary because it's fresh in the mind. But even him having a rare mistake on his own with that spin, the fact that he got past and stuck in traffic and then was able to carve his way back through a gang and win a gang over everyone but Hamilton by over 10 seconds, yes, the car is fantastic. But look where Perez has been. the man is delivering spectacular results

and it is what we expect from that top 0.1% in Formula One throughout history Sena would have done it, Prost will have done it, Schumacher will have done it, Hamilton has done it and Stappen is now doing it I think the Stappen is quite comfortably other than Hamilton above everyone else on this grid. All right, that's the five then.

So the five from my side. I'll start at fifth, which is for me Lando Norris as well. same as Sam. He's developed so well over the last couple of years. And it's easy to forget how young he still is and how many years he's got ahead of him. But what has been recognisable is how much better he was in year two versus year one, how much better he was in year three versus year two. And I'd argue he's taken that step again in year four. There's going to get to a point where he can't progress that much more based on how good he already is. And,

And yet, you are right in terms of why he can't be higher is because he hasn't had the challenge of a championship. He hasn't had a challenge of a car that is able to win races or consistently get podiums. It's difficult to say. And, you know, Daniel Ricardo, it's tough to say how much of an achievement it is on paper. It's a massive achievement to destroy a driver who beat Sebastian Vettel in his first year at Red Bull and did such a good job at Alpine and really took it to Max Verstappen

for the few years they were teammates. You know, where do you place that in terms of an achievement? How much is that Ricardo not getting used to them, Karen? How much of it is Norris just being excellent? Tough to say, but I think he's a worthy fifth here. And some might argue, you know,

you've got Carlos Sines below Lando Norris, despite the fact that the two years they were teammates, signs beat him, which is fair. I just think Lando Norris has progressed on from that point where I think if they were teammates now, Lando Norris would be Carlos Sines. Hashtag, British bias. It's back.

Speaking of British bias, I've got another agreement in terms of who's fourth, George Russell. Give me until the end of the year on this one, because honestly, if I do this again at the end of the year and he keeps up what he's done, he could even be higher than this. I feel like it's somewhat undervalued what he's doing here. He is taking it to a driver who most would say, or he at least has a very good claim on being the greatest driver of all time. I know Russell has that Mercedes connection and has done for a number of years, but let's not make any mistake about this.

This is a driver freshly coming into a team competing against a driver who has been at that team for nearly 10 years and is a seven-time champion of the world. And not only is he competing with Lewis Hamilton, as of recording right now, he's beating him. That's a phenomenal achievement. The Hungary lap was incredible, but it is the consistency that is the most impressive thing about this season so far from George Russell.

And, you know, we talk a lot about the second half of the year. Is he going to be able to keep it up? Will Hamilton eventually beat him? Putting my prediction to one side, please, George, putting that to one side, it doesn't really matter if he beats Lewis Hamilton or not, right? Like in the context of what he's doing, let's say he loses to him by 10 points.

We're not going to slam him for that, right? He's still had a phenomenal year. So, you know, I don't know. See how the rest of this season goes and maybe he deserves one or two further up than that. Number three, Charlotte Clare, same as Sam again. if you had to say your life depends on it, you get to pick one driver over one lap on the current grid. Who am I taking?

God, Leclerc. I wouldn't take Vestappen. I wouldn't take Hamilton. I wouldn't take even George Russell. I would take Charles Lecler over anyone else because he has electric pace on a Saturday. And don't let diminish from what he can do on a Sunday as well because he has phenomenal race pace. And I think as he has a championship contender this year, it's proving how good he can be given the car that is worthy of his talents. Now, all that Ferrari need to do is work out how to be an F1 team,

and he might be in contention for a championship at some point. Or he'll leave, and it'll be in contention that way. Maybe that's more likely. But the point is, he's good enough as an individual to win. The reason he's not amongst the top two, in my opinion, is the same as what you've said, Sam, in that the mistakes are still a little too frequent versus those two in front. So the Imala mistake and the France mistake this year are the ones that come to mind. And it sounds like massive nitpicking because that's two races out of like 13 we've had this year, right? But you have to nitpick when you're talking about the top couple because the likes of Max Verstapp and Lewis Hamilton make mistakes even less frequently than that. So he is just one

step behind those two in my opinion. And you'll be delighted to know, Sam. We have exactly the same top five because I have got Lewis Hamilton in second as well. If I was to do this list a year ago, and I think I probably did, I had Lewis Hamilton first. I think Max Verstappen has now overtaken him in that respect. I feel like there's one one indicator of one clear indicator of this. If you go back to say 2016, you remember 2016, the Brazil Grand Prix, wet weather race, Max Verstappen has a phenomenal drop. It's often talked about, often with a lot of nostalgia for something that happened just six years ago, but it's often touted as one of his best drives.

And I feel like one of the main reasons it's gone back to so often and it received such praise is because we weren't expecting it. We only had flashes of brilliance from Vastappen at that point, but it was a real standout performance. I think that one of the true signs of greatness is doing exceptional things and no one being surprised about it. And I think Vostappen has reached that point now. Hungary is a prime example.

He starts P10 at a track where it's difficult to overtake. He has a spin halfway through the race, and he still goes on to dominate and win. If that happened five years ago, it would be talked about non-stop. But because it's 20-22 Max Verstappen, where we've seen him take nearly 30 wins in his career now, it's just expected.

Like, yeah, he can do that. He's Max for Stappen. And that's for me the sign that, yeah, this guy's this guy's made it this guy's made it as one of the absolute best to the point where you can win and you can win without any shock whatsoever from a fan base i'm exactly the same i mean it says it says a lot though didn't it a feel of it dirty as stupid as you know control c control v yeah when it when it's when it's when it's copying sam say i understand why you might want to run out of a shower after that one it's not a

is it? With those two naughty kids in the class, like very clearly copied each other. Harry hasn't turned up to class because, of course, he hasn't. You know, it really is vintage LB. We have never changed in the seven years that we've done this scupid LB thing. So painfully true. So those are our top tens. Obviously, a bit of disagreement in the lower positions,

but the same top five from both of us, but we know that your opinions are going to be different. So do get in touch with us. Discord, Twitter, at Elbreaking, both very good places. Let us know what your top 10 is, maybe your top five if you don't want to do a full top 10. How does it differ from us? Where do you agree and disagree?

We're always very interested to know what you think. We'll be back with our second topic of this podcast right after this. So the Andretti rumours in terms of going into Formula One as its 11th team have been around for quite a while now. It seemed very close to happening a few months ago, and then it died down and picked up again. It died down. But it seems as if there is some reluctance

from nearly all of the teams about having Andretti in the sport. Why do you think that is so? On face value, I couldn't tell you. To me, it doesn't make a lot of sense on face value, why they would be so hostile towards the idea of Andretti joining. And it doesn't seem like they're hostile to other teams joining. For example, Porsche have come along and bought a large stake in Red Bull, right?

And they, in theory, we're going to assume that maybe that will become Porsche racing. And Red Bull might just be a title sponsor down the line. And there's obviously been rumours of Audi, possibly coming as a team of its own, or possibly buying a large stake of Williams. That has also been rumoured. And you've not heard the grumblings of Toto Wolf, what not going, ah, don't want that. And it seems to be the big statement,

and Toto Wolf does appear to be the main spokesperson for this, is if a team is to join the Formula One grid, what do they bring to their sport? What are they bringing to the sport that allows Formula One to prosper, to grow, to develop? And it feels like Toto Wolf's criteria, and I'm being speculative, I haven't sat down with the chat. He's a friend of the podcast, but he's not got the time to speak to me.

Why not? I know. It's disgusting. I'm very, very much disappointing him, Toto. It feels to me that basically, with obviously Toto being a large representative of Mercedes and of course having a stake in Aston Martin himself, to him, a new team must essentially be a manufacturer at this point. And is there a little bit of bias towards maybe European-based manufacturers as well? Possibly. I'm not going to start putting words in Toto's mouth, but you can pick up that.

you know, possibility from there. But in my opinion, there isn't just manufacturers to gain from this. You know, you aren't just gaining knowledge in the track world or knowledge in the car world or the ability to sell more cars across the world that maybe Toto Wolf could buy shares in like he has done already. For me, there is a much larger area to gaining with Formula One. And that is, of course, and many of you are listening from this area, the US audience, the US region. Now, Gene Haas, of course, has set up Haas. And you'd argue that as much as it's been great to have Haas in the sport, they've not achieved what I think Gene Haas was hoping to achieve.

He hasn't been able to reproduce his stateside success. That's very hard for a man with a list to say. There's a lot of essays in there. And because of that, maybe it's a little bit under the radar. But I know that a lot of our listeners in Discord and whatnot, much root for Haas, maybe not as their main team, but they have a soft spot for them because they're US-based. Now, Andretti, and this is no, you know, disdain on to Haas, Andretti is a global name, which originates from America. And of course, already has history in Formula One. Now, if you want to

maximize and expand the growth that you're having over on the US soil, then I would argue that if I had to swap one for the other, I would take an Andretti-I-I-I-South tag-team kind of deal here. And I imagine that the revenue shares and the TV production quality and the sponsorship and the eyes on the sport in one of its largest growing markets would be huge if you were to bringing Andretti. And I'm sure that Andretti would want to possibly look at bringing in an American driver as well, which I honestly think Formula One is crying out for, screaming out for. screaming out for an American-based driver.

So I think that teams are a bit nervous about sharing prize money. I think they're a little bit nervous about, oh, it's not European anymore. And I think they don't want a big American powerhouse to come along, steal a bit of the limelight and jump on the bandwagon that is, of course, what will be three US Grand Prix. And it sounds like it could be more in the near future for all we know. And I think that's holding them back for voting it in. And quite frankly, I think it's ridiculous.

I think it's unfair. I think it's stupid and I would welcome Andretti into the sport with open arms. And I would love more teams, 11, 12, 13 teams to come into the sport. And Gretti would be a welcome addition to that. So for me, I think it's very ridiculous. I think the reasons that they're disagree with it are a bit frugal and silly. And basically, they're looking after their own pockets. And I think Angretti should come in and take a piece of that pie.

Because I think it'll have more than it ends up taking. Yeah, I certainly agree with one of your latter points there in terms of there is a bit of smoke and mirrors, about why teams don't want this to happen. When the bottom line is they are trying to protect their pockets and nothing else. There are a few things that have been thrown out that don't quite make sense to me. I'll run through those here. The number one issue that team has seemed to have, so it looks like nine of the ten teams at the moment don't want this to happen.

And the biggest issue is there isn't enough value for the reason that you gave Sam, in that it's not an engine manufacturer, it's not Audi, it's not Porsche, it is just a team in that it's Andretti Global or Andretti also sport. In a time of boom in the USA, as you mentioned, I don't understand how you could view Andretti coming into the sport as not being big value. It feels like massive value. And you're right with what you say in terms of the Hass comparison. Has is a recognized name, but it's not.

Andretti. You know, and it's not just Michael Andretti himself. It's the Andretti surname that is being brought here. Obviously, Mario is one of the most respected drivers in America ever, Formula One world champion. You know, Michael himself raced in Formula One. You've had so many Andretti's race in various categories, Marco, Jeff, everyone. It is that global name and it is that very recognized name in America. And Hasse, I picked out three reasons why I think Andretti can do more for F1 than

Has can. And you actually named two of them, Sam, in that they're more likely to bring on a US driver. Certainly Colton Herta is an Andretti driver, so there's the potential there. And also, pure name value is bigger for Andretti. I'd also throw, and I'm not quite sure how to quantify this, but I'd just throw in there as well, is that Hasse have never really taken to being America's team. It always feels, not to put any disdain on what has to do, but you wouldn't really know they're an American company based on liverys, how they are. Obviously, when you take into account like the deals we've had with Dallara

and the like and the fact that they are based in the UK, it does strip a lot of that out. but I don't know whether Andretti could do more to almost capitalize on this new audience that's coming in. And I know a lot of opposing teams here to this are saying that basically the argument is F1 is booming in the US without Andretti. Why should we add Andretti? It's already going very well. To which I would just say, dream bigger. Dream bigger. Yes, you've done a good job of breaking into America, F1. and you're continuing to do so, but they're still so far you could and should go with this. Bear in mind this, okay? Last season, F1 in America averaged about, I think, 700,000 viewers per race.

The first six races of this season, the average was 1.4 million. So they've essentially doubled their audience year on year, which is incredible to hear and is really encouraging. But actually, 1.4 million average per race, that's still 2.3 million.3.5. 3 million less than the average NASCAR gets. Now, NASCAR is obviously much more rooted in America, and I'm not saying you're going to be able to compete with that overnight. But that just proves the fact that you can still go more.

You can still build on that even further. And a name like Andretti would really help you in that respect. And to not make this just an F1 versus NASCAR thing, take into account like the NFL that brings in like 15 to 17 million per game. game on any given week. Again, that's 10, 15 times more than what you're doing at the moment. They're still so far F1 can go. So I don't want them to just rest on their laurels.

They can provide value. I heard from it was, Freddie Vassar gave a comment on this, which I really disagreed with. He said two years ago, teams were in massive trouble in the pandemic. So they don't want to be, they don't want to go too far out because they don't know what the situation is going to be in two or three years time. They might go back into a period where they're finding it difficult. But honestly, if you use that kind of logic when developing a brand, developing a business, you're going to go nowhere. You're just going to be static. It's going to be paralysis, right? You can't make a decision based on it might be trickier in the future.

Sure, put provisions in place to make sure that you're protected. But, you know, it's booming. Capitalize on that. Don't be so defensive about it. And as I mentioned at the beginning, this is them protecting their position. At the moment, at least 2021, the team's got one billion pounds collectively in terms of performance payout, which averages out 100 million per team. It doesn't quite work out as that for everyone, because there's performance enhancers and Ferrari get paid for being Ferrari and some other stupid payments as well. So it doesn't quite work out as a complete average. But let's just say 100 million per team. They are saying, essentially, can Andretti bring in 100,000 US dollars worth of revenue

in order to keep our share and hopefully advance it? I think the answer is yes. Maybe not in the short term, but that's what the 200 million entry fees for is to make sure that they don't need to be able to add that value within the first two years. There are discussions as to whether that figure should be higher. Fine, put it a bit higher if you want. Andretti is serious about that. this, they'll pay it. I'm pretty certain they'll pay it. So just get on with it, get it done, and I think overall play the long-term game. Having Andretti in Formula One would help the brand, no end. Think later, think bigger, is what I would say. What also really baffles me about that Andretti thing is they're not coming in with a manufacturer, right? They're not bringing in a Chevy or

Ford, right? So surely if you're, if you're a Toto and you're going, well, our relationship with Williams is starting to degrade. Why not supply Angretti with Mercedes engines and create a huge American-based campaign for your outlet of cars? Or do the same for Ferrari. Or do the same for outpying. And make Reno the bloody face of America

for crying out now for all you might be able to do. It just feels like you're looking at, oh, this is my pile of money. Do I want someone to add to my pile of money while it's slowly growing? Or do I want them to have their own pile of money that doesn't touch my pile of money? You know what? I like my pile of money the size it is. And you're not looking at the big frame of mind. It just for a very small time considering how clever all these business people are. Why aren't you looking five, ten years into the future? Why are you looking for don't touch my prize money? But you're not annoyed at the Ferrari legacy payments. You're bothered more about Andretti who will bring in so much revenue to the sport. You'd be stupid to be that closed minds if you think that they won't. And right into the contract, if you go out of business in the first five years, you don't get to touch any of our

cash or something like that. Like you said, Ben, and Dretti big enough, they'll pay it, they'll be here for the long run, get them involved. Yeah. I appreciate it's,

it can be difficult. I'm saying this as if I've done this, but I appreciate it can be difficult to convince shareholders. You know, as me and Sam know, with our incredibly important jobs that we have to do that at the time, you know, it can be difficult.

But that's your job. Like, you've got to sell that long term. You've got to convince them that, yeah, maybe it doesn't bring in the immediate yield, but also it will do in the long term. And again, that's why the $200 million entry fee exists to prove that these teams are serious. Which is already ridiculous. That is already a ridiculous entry fee. I mean, again, like $200 million is one fifth of what was paid out to all of the teams combined last year.

And I mean, we're seeing what the operating process. offer is that F1 have pulled out from the first two quarters of this year. That one billion figure, it ain't going down. It ain't going down this year, folks. So, come on. I get it done. Get it done is what we would say. Did you see Mario Andretti have a few comments? Well, he seemed to like a post or like an article that indicated total authors too much power. It has been rumoured, hasn't it? And I think the Andretti family are maybe exercising that community viewpoint that maybe the FIA in Liberty should be the ones agreeing if teams coming and maybe other teams shouldn't get a say on who enters the grid because you wouldn't hear the 20 Premier League teams in football go no we don't

want Derby don't we don't agree Darby no no if you meet the requirements to enter aka getting promoted yeah sorry Darby I think you should be in if you get promoted from the championship You're in. You don't go, oh look, we met all the requirements. We're in, right? No, sorry.

Actually, Brentford said, we don't want you here, so you can't come. No. Brentford. They met the rules. I know,

it's always bloody Brentford. Sorry to run your Brentford fans. They met the rules. They get in. Andretti meant the requirements. They get in. What's the point of having an entry fee? If you pay the entry fee,

everyone else goes, ah, actually, still no. Thanks. Makes no sense. They shouldn't get a say in my opinion. Just like NFL teams won't mind when we bring forward our own late breaking team into the NFL, right? It's going to happen.

Exactly. I will play the one that does the throwing over the top of all those doing the knee, that's it, all the kneeling down, when they're like, hot, 45, and then they get the ball and the one that looks like an egg, and then they throw it at that run running. And that could be you being. You can be the one doing the running. name really quick and you can do like a backflip to catch it in the area that it's called. Touchdown. In Sam's world, in Sam's world, the guy who throws the football, what is that position called?

Please, please. What is that position called? Is it not the quarterback? It is. All right. Yeah. Well, though. Ha!

Try to mock me. I know American football. I thought you'd come up with a really funny name for the position, like, throw. handler. Egg thrower. The egg tosser. Oh no, that's wrong. Oh, you know what?

No. As well, this is very off topic. Sorry, folks. But in the Discord, I kind of said that we do this. They've got an NFL fantasy league going on, which I'm not a part of and I understand it. But the job is closed as soon. There you go.

So if you're interested in beating your bang, which you hopefully will, get into the Discord, join it. It looks like a good laugh. I'm not going to play it because I couldn't name one player. McCaffrey. Is he one or is that How do you know

McCaffrey? That's very random. Isn't McCaffrey also a virus protection service for computers? Or is that McCaffrey? That's McCaffrey. Hey, I'm there. We've got it. Like you say, we've got a fantasy league going. We still need a few spaces filled. So if you want to get involved, we're in the Discord there. And like I say, you can beat me.

Sam wants me to pick all the Dallas Cowboys players. I'm not going to. because I want to win. Sorry, Dallas. We're going to be staying in America for our next topic. We're going to be discussing about the Las Vegas Grand Prix right after this. So it has been heavily rumored that the Las Vegas Grand Prix that is going to take place in 2023 for the first time,

it's going to take place as the penultimate race of the season. So it's going to be a back-to-back finale with Las Vegas and then following into Abu Dhabi, which has been the traditional end-of-season race for 15 years now, unbelievably. Sam, what do you make of this rumor? What do you make of Las Vegas of occupying that spot on the Gellon?

I mean, it shows you, firstly, the power that Abu Dhabi must have in the negotiation area. I don't know whether it's the amount of money they're paying or what they promise liberty, but they clearly have all holding power to not only override Brazil, as the fan favourite end of season

racetrack. Everyone wants it to be Brazil. I've never spoken to a single person who said, I don't want it to be Brazil, I want it to be Abu Dhabi. No one. He's never said it to me. Right, good. I'm glad you're on the podcast today. Harry, come back. And then, right, not only

is Brazil having overrism for the second, the penultimate, it's now third. Right? So Brazil's just being kicked back into the midlands of Formula One races and now Las Vegas is here. So to me, The glitz and the glam of the new monaco, this is what it's called New Monaco, is clearly a bigger draw, a bigger appeal to Formula One fans, apparently, where it is to Liberty and the banks that

they are depositing their cash into, then what Brazil provides for them, which says a lot. It also says that Liberty are fully aware of that American market that they're trying to expose and grow. But what I absolutely hate about Las Vegas being the Penaultimate Grand Prix is It has no prestige. It has no proper history. You know, of course, we were in the car park, but that didn't exactly go down too well. Hey, hey, Caesar's Palace. Caesar's Palace. I'm actually going to Caesar's Palace this year, folks. So I'll let you know how it is.

The car park I have heard looks nice. But to me, it's not earned that spot, right? Abidab doesn't deserve to be the last race on the calendar. It doesn't deserve beyond the calendar, but it's the last race. It doesn't deserve to be there either. Now, something else is really irritating me about Las Vegas being on the penultimate spot is it once again is going against this green rule that Formula One are trying to put into place. They've just literally, before we came online to do this, announced the new 2026 engine regulations, which is all about being green, having the ability for more recyclability. The fuel can now go into road cars, though, any issue.

It's all renewable, right? It's all about CO2 emissions, reducing that, making. the sport, a 0% emission sport. That's great. It's not great when you still are unable to localise your calendars and we are jumping around continents in such a farcical and silly way. For example, we have Canada, I think what race six, and we go back to Monaco, and then we have Miami is what race three, and then we went to Spain. And then Cota is in October or something like that, November time. And then now we have to jump around North America, South America, and forth and over to the Middle East. It just is farcical and you need to group your

continental tracks into set areas. We have such a strong North American group now with Canada, Cota, Florida and Las Vegas. That's four races all in one continent, and Mexico as well, which is on that lovely middle part of America. Right. You could create such a giant portion of your calendar in one really nice way that suits engineers, the team, the team members having to fly to these places, the drivers were jet lag. I read somewhere that it's a 12-hour red eye from Las Vegas to the Middle East and that they will end up having such poor jet lag that they're going to end up being something like a day and a half behind where they should be. Is that not dangerous as well? Is that not error proving? We're not going to possibly

see some serious issues. You may as well give all the drivers a beer and go, drink drive, because you'll be just as tired and possibly delusional and confused and unaware, it's unsafe. So I think the placement of Las Vegas as the second, both of the penultimate race on the calendar here, is farcical, it's poor and it is entirely driven by how much revenue can be made as could this be a title deciding race. I don't like it. Either move all the American Grand Prix, Continental Grand Prix, to the end of the calendar so that all in one go or slugly. Las Vegas down next to one of the pre-existing North American Grand Prix that are already on the calendar. And then group them all together that way.

But for me, it's not really good enough. I'm not really pleased with it. I'm looking forward to the Grand Prix itself, but I don't like what they're doing with it. I mean, it's fairly clear that they're trying to make this race a real premier event, which they did do for the majority in terms of Miami, but I think this will completely blitz even that. I wouldn't be surprised if, I don't think it will happen for next year now,

but certainly for 2024 onwards. If this hasn't happened already, I think it probably will. I think F1 will try and pay off the organisers of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix to get Las Vegas as the last race of the year. Ooh, Ting hats song, everyone, Ting hats. I think they will do everything they can. As long as the price is right, I think they will try and do that

because they want to make this event the most special, possibly most special event they have on the calendar, right? And I mean, the fact that they're doing it on a Saturday, the first Saturday F1 race in a very long time, proves that. It will still be, at least for us European folk, it will still be Sunday morning,

so it would be the equivalent of us watching an Australian GP, I guess. but yeah, I can see them doing that in future years. But you are right in what you say, the location in terms of how it fits in with the rest of the calendar, is utter stupidity. And it's very annoying in the first things because we don't think it should happen for all of the reasons you state to Sam. So I won't go into them, but for obvious reasons regarding carbon emissions, it shouldn't happen. But what's even more infuriating about this is that they have publicly committed to it. They have publicly committed to trying to put together a calendar that is regionalized, as you mentioned,

and goes through almost like that. They've had ideas about how they can do like, I don't know what they'd call them, but like mini titles for like being the winner of a certain region almost. they've come out and said this themselves. It's one thing for us to question the FIA and F1 for doing something. It's another thing for us to question something that they have very openly and publicly committed to doing themselves. And apparently are just flying in the face of that.

It's like, nah, it doesn't matter anymore. It's Las Vegas. Come on. That's not right. It's obviously not the way that they should go about this. some of the back and forths that you've already mentioned, they just don't work. And you do have enough races in North America now to start banning them together.

I know they already do that with Cota and Mexico, of course, but there's potential to do more, given where Canada is and Miami. The races are there to get something together. So, yeah, I don't agree with the way in which they've done this. It doesn't work as a back-to-back. I know you get essentially the extra day because they're doing this on the Saturday instead, but it's still halfway across the world. Come on, F1.

We're going to end tonight's podcast with positivity. Yay! Positive breaking, as I'm literally calling this segment massively improvised. Positive breaking. So we are going to take all 10 teams, and we're going to give one fairly quick and short and snappy answer as to why they should feel positive about this season so far. Now, as you can imagine, this is going to be far easier for some teams than it will be for others. There are a few teams on here that we, I'm sure Sam will agree, we've had to really scrape the barrel, but we've done it.

Yeah, maybe. We've done it. So we'll start, we'll make it, we'll make it difficult on ourselves. We'll start with the easy lot. So we'll go in reverse championship border. So we'll go from first, sorry, we'll go in championship order from first down to 10th. So we will be scraping the barrel at the end of this segment. But what reason do you think Red Bull have to be positive about this season so far? Bloody I can say almost everything, right? Like everything is a positive reason. I get a bit one that is maybe a bit niche because I think there's all the obvious ones that you can run through, right?

The staff is ability, the fact that power trains working well, the fact that they're on top of things. I'm going to go with marketability. Red Bull have turned themselves into an income powerhouse when it comes to Formula One. They signed the largest sponsorship deal of all time for any Formula One team with their stupid Bitcoin, techno currency, whatever it's called. And then they are growing as a huge brand and the consistency of the Red Bull Power Train, to sign on the Porsche deal, you know, the fact that they've managed to stay on top with the change of regulations. That is all compounding to what Formula One is all about for a lot of these businesses.

making money. And they are doing that more so than they ever have. So I think Red Bull can be very happy about their budgets and their profitability and their sheets because they're clearly very much in the black when it comes to those things. So well done Red Bull. Yeah, I'll go with kind of an obvious one, which is just for the first time in a long time, all of the pieces have fallen together. There's always been something not quite right in terms of the car just hasn't been quick enough, or the Honda power unit hasn't been reliable enough, or Vastappen was making too many errors back in 2018, or Albin or Gassley weren't performing up to standard, or last year it was Perez wasn't quite up to speed with the car yet, and I feel

like this is the first season where everything is fallen together. Mercedes haven't got the car to compete, Ferrari don't have the brains to compete, Perez is doing better than he was last year, Vastappen's still excellent. They've got the best strategy team on the grid. The power unit's fine. They're reliable after a bit of a shaky start. Everything is working in unison. Simple as that.

I've got to be positive about Ferrari. I've just realised that. Come on. You can do it. Okay. I'll kick off with Ferrari. What can Ferrari be positive about? They can be positive about the fact that they've got a great car for this era, right? They are set for this era now.

And they have stepped forward versus where they were, certainly two years ago, but also last year. They were really two years ago. It was awful. They were in the midfield, the lower midfield at certain points in the year. They know if they can get strategically better, I know it's a massive if, if they can do that, they know that the car and indeed the lineup is good enough to help them succeed. So I think they can be encouraged that they've got the.

the regulations right, quite frankly. What's your positive for Ferrari? Oh, you picked my one, Ben. That was the only obvious one that I could choose. The other one is going to be Charlotte Claire. They have a phenomenal driver at their disposal. Whilst he's still, as we spoke about earlier, and he's to have that final bit of development

in the consistency area. He is a driver for the future. He is a, I'm going to say, a world champion to come. He will be one. I'd be shocked if he wasn't. It will be Ferrari's fault if he's not. but they know that they've got a safe pair of hangs and a man that can lead that team.

Charlotte Claire is a blessing to steal for them. And I think they're a little bit lucky that he is committed to them because otherwise he could definitely walk into pretty much any other team he wanted to. Nah, he wouldn't get in Williams. They'd turn him down. Oh, yeah, big old Latifie there.

Just holding down the fort. Go, Tifi. Moving on, so we've got Mercedes up next. What can they be positive about, Sam? despite the fact that it's been a bit of a tricky start to the year versus previous seasons? I'm going to run down the same theme as Ferrari, and I'm going to say George Russell. He is everything they wanted and needed him to be. Lewis Hamilton is obviously falling off the peak.

He will be retiring. He's already setting an interview last week. He will retire with gas in the tank, to quote Lewis Hamilton. So that means he's not going to be here like Fernando a long so forever. And he will probably retire in the next maybe two or three seasons, we're going to assume. Russell is the real deal. Russell is delivering what they need to. Russell can lead that team when Hamilton departs.

He's doing everything and more already. So for me, Russell is the big tick that they were hoping for after Hamilton's era is coming to an end. Yep, I have written down George Russell is the real deal. It was always going to be a bit of a question, Mark, because as good as he was at Williams, this is the first season he's raced in Formula One where his teammate hasn't been,

Nicholas Latifie or Robert Kubitsa. and no shade to either of those drivers, and particularly to Robert Kubitsa in terms of what he was as a driver before his accident, but both of those guys are not on the same level as Lewis Hamilton, to state the obvious. So when George Russell gets into a Mercedes team, can he match Valtrey Bottas?

Is he a shade behind? We don't know for sure until it happens. And the fact is I think he's exceeded pretty much everyone's expectations, apart from my own, because obviously I'm very smart. please beat Lewis Hamilton. Not because I don't like Lewis Hamilton,

but I just want to be right. Please, George, please. Yeah, he's done a great job, right? He has been great. And I think they know that the team's in safe hands. As soon as Lewis Hamilton calls it a day, we always have that question mark, right? What if Lewis Hamilton retired before the start of the 2021 season?

They've got Valtry Bottas and a rookie. That's a bit dodgy. But now they know that Lewis Hamilton could do a Nico Rosberg, could surprise them at any moment and actually they'd probably be all right because George Russell he can he can take it on Alpine um my positive from Alpine is it sounds a bit simple but they've got two drivers doing a good job now I know they don't have too much too many positives to focus on over the last couple of weeks and certainly this positive could have been different if they knew how contracts worked.

But I think they have got a reliable team and they are ahead of where they were last year. And Ocon and Alonzo, Hungary aside where they didn't work very well together, they're both capable of delivering a good performance and they're both consistent and neither makes that many errors. The way I see the McLaren versus Alpine battle

in the midfield is McLaren are going to have to beat Alpine. Alpine won't beat themselves. they are not going to crumble. They're not going to suddenly go on a four-race stretch where they have three retire. I can't see that happening. So they've got a very solid and consistent lineup. That's what I would go with.

What's your positive for Alpina? Quite simply, the engine, the progression that the Renault engine has made, we regularly called it the slowest engine on the grid. Honda came and went in terms of that performance comparison. But I think that Reno's engine, Alpine's engine, is very much firmly in line now with the other providers, and it seems to be having quite strong reliability. So at least every race weekend they turn up,

they can rely on that engine to get them there. And good God, have we seen it go rapidly in a straight line. Fanda Alonkso is a rocket when it comes to long straights. Yeah, Magic Alonkso with his 350 million KPH engine, just flying down the road. Anyway, it's working well. So that's good. Well done, you.

Let's round out the top five. Maca, positive from the first half of the season, Sam. This is the hardest one because I don't want to be boring and just picking another driver, but Landon Norris is pretty much the only thing that is positive. Maca have had maybe more issues than literally every other team on the grid. Their brakes can work at the start of the season. Daniel Ricardo has been nigh on average to bad for most of the season. Their management doesn't understand how many drivers are required in a Formula One.

seat nor when contracts are meant to end either. They don't have to. Don't worry. Apparently, one for every eight laps or something. Quite frankly, who knows what's going on there. But Landon Norris is the Stegfast individual, right? He's the anchor. He's the one that's holding it all together.

Somehow they can rely on Mr. Norris. And he's delivering fantastically well. So they need Landau. They need to keep him around. I know he signed that long deal, but it doesn't mean it can't be brought out by a high-earning team. But he is there. their diamond. Don't let that go because he is delivering under all forms of pressure.

I'm going to be quite specific on my one and I'm going to say that Bahrain was a one-off. It hasn't been fantastic for Bahrain. Sorry, it hasn't been fantastic for McLaren based on Bahrain. It could have been way worse, is the point here. You know, they turned up at Bahrain and I know there was Ricardo who had COVID coming into that and Norris had issues in preseason tests. so they were pretty woefully underprepared. But when Bahrain practice and qualifying starts to unfold, it appeared, okay, they're probably quicker than Williams. And that's kind of it, which is not where they want to be

based on the fact that they were well in the fight for third last year. And there was hopes they might even be better off than that this year. So it hasn't been fantastic. certainly from Ricardo's side as well. But if we took Bahrain, if that carried on, they'd probably be at the back of Williams, which they're not. So just look at it that way, McCarron. We're being positive.

And it's going to be even more difficult to keep positive as we get down to the teams that don't have as many points. Alfa Romeo. Oh, Alpha Romeo, I'm going to go with longevity of this driver partnership. Joe Guan Yu has surprised. He is better than I thought he would ever be already. He's continued to improve.

I think he's got quite unlucky in a lot of circumstances. And Valtry Bottas is doing exactly what Valtry Bottas needed to do when he went to a midfield team and what Alfa needed him to do. He's leading them. He is showing off the good results. He is qualifying as well as ever. And he is, I think, maybe slightly outdriving that car when it does all go well. So that partnership will last.

In theory, they should be there for a little while. obviously it's not all signed and dotted, but I think it can go to the distance for a bit, and I think they should be in solid ground for at least a couple of seasons. Yeah, I've got Joe Guan Yu is better than most expected, in brackets, me. I didn't think it'd be this good.

Yeah, I didn't think it'd be this good. Not to say he's great, but I thought he was going to be Latifi level, and he's not. So that is encouraging for Alfa Mayo, and I agree with what you say, I still would place replace Joe Guan Yu tomorrow with Teo Porcère, to be perfectly honest. But he's done a very

solid job so far, Joe Guan Yu. And he's up there with Alonzo in terms of the unluckiest drivers as well. He deserves more points than what he has. He has not been that far off Bottas in a lot of races. And certainly, you know, the likes of Austria, really unlucky. Miami, he retired very early on. So, yeah, I think he can put some more points on the board in the second half of the year. they can be optimistic about his progress. Hasse, I'm going to go here with, I'll read verbatim from my notes, folks. The pain was worth it. Obviously, they put everything into these new regulations.

And it was absolutely the right thing to do because I think Williams right now are probably regretting they didn't do it more because Williams are struggling for any points whatsoever, whereas Hasse, they're consistently scoring. It's not as consistent as it could be, which is why they're not head of Alfa Romeo and maybe not in the fight for fourth. But certainly pace-wise, they are far better than they were last year

and have been for a few years. So if it didn't work out this year, that that team would be in massive trouble, but the pain was worth it because they are now solidly back in that field. What did you say, Sam? Whilst I completely agree with the point you made and I was going to put the point you made,

I'm going to go with the return of box office. K-Mag has come along. He's not in box office anymore. No, I know. He's calmed himself down. He's actually going, you know what? I'd rather score regular good points and have a good drive.

I know. He's settled down. I mean, when are the days gone where he would just literally turn into someone and just take them straight off the track or late break through a gap and then just fall off the track.

But you know what? He's still delivering for Hasse. And I don't think anyone maybe thought that he would come back and be as strong as he is so quickly after the time out that he was having. But he's been brilliant for them. And I think he deserves a lot of recognition for it. Three teams to go. Alpha Tauri, who are currently in eighth in the championship, step back versus where they were last year. But can you find a positive from this first half of the year, son?

This actually might be the hardest one for me. because I can't really. Have you got one, Ben? Well, I think. I do have one. And it's just that Yuki Sonoda is showing signs of improvement. And it's not all there because he's still very inconsistent. It's either points or last, it seems, with Sonoda at the moment.

and it's last far too many times. But certainly there are some performances in there that indicate he could be given another year where that was a real doubt at the beginning of this season. So it's progressing a bit, but I agree. I will give it to French toast because that man is brilliant at nurturing talent and holding down that team.

and I think he's also really nice. So keep him around. Good stuff. Two teams to go. Aston Martin, obviously a long way further back than they would have wanted to be. But I can find you a positive, Astin Martin. Don't you worry. And that is because, quite frankly, their plans can outdo everyone around them.

Like they have plans for continued investment. They have plans for this whole brand new infrastructure. structure, it's all there, and it might not lead to success, but it gives you a much better chance of doing so than William Salvatorei, probably Haas, Alfa Romeo. So all of the teams that are in and around you at the moment, they don't have the capability or the financial capability to keep up with you. It's not paying off yet, but it might do in the future. The plans are what Benz spoke about. I think the plans are going to be really, really specific within the plans and that is the capture of Fernando Alonso.

You have got obviously a historically world-class driver on your hands now. Lank Stroll isn't going to achieve anything magical and he's not going anywhere. So you have to give it all to one person. I will probably give it to Fernando Alonkso to be able to pull something out of that crazy, rich magic hat that is Ashton Martin. And he was clearly convinced by the journey that Ashton Martin are going on. and that either tells me one of two things. Either once again,

Fernando Alonso has made one of the worst career decisions going, which sounds a lot like Fernando Alonkso, or Aston Martin could be a contender for the title next season. Who knows? But you got him, and if they're good enough, Fernando O'Lonkso will take that opportunity if given to him. So he's a good one.

Remember that, folks, when Aston Martin are ninth for next year, or if they're competing for the title, and then Sam will just replay this over and over again. Forever. Forever. Have you got one for the last place team, Williams? It's Alex Albon.

Everyone thought he was going to be pretty mediocre when he came back after his year out. He's been very good. He's got them their only points so far. He's really leading that team and he's building it around him. It looks like they could have a future with Albon as a lead driver.

That is the only positive. Yeah, I would disagree with you if there was a second one. There isn't Alex. but is the right answer. Yeah. And they've locked him up for multiple years, which is fantastic for the team.

And they know that they're set with a good driver in the same way that they had with Russell, a good young driver for years to come. So yeah, he's exceeded what I thought he would do there. The problem is they haven't given him much of a car to be able to do that as often as he'd like. But we're positive. We're being positive braking.

new us positive well look at us go sam you've uh you've got a special episode for us coming up later in the week as we record it right now yeah um we we promise sunday uploads even without a race we have a week off because you know it is the summer break but sorry we have done worse over this before sorry um our billionaire is back who was going to be an al billionaire bum, bam, bam, bam. That's the weakest link thing. We'll work on it. Anne Robinson's not going to be here.

Goodbye. Harry will now be Ann Robinson if he was signing off later on, but he's not here. Folks, there's going to be a, go and watch what to be a million air. It's a Formula One basic version. There will be multiple choice. There will be lifelines,

and the boys will team up to see if they can win L billion dollars, which actually doesn't exist, because we don't have any money. But it's all fun. I'm still waiting for last time's payment, to be honest. It was your own money, Ben. You put your own money on the table.

You got it back. Oh, yeah. I forgot about that. What more do you want? Yeah. Anyway, one final thing is, one of the lifelongs is ask the Discord. Now, those listening, we'll see a question pop up if they choose the lifeline, ask the Discord.

And you will have to try and choose the correct answer that they might have to pick. So if you want to get involved, join the Discord. The links of the description that will be coming up later. to wrong in the week on Sunday, I believe. So look out for it. Yeah. Full disclosure, we have no idea when on Sunday we're going to record. So just for those in the Discord, just be active all day. Don't leave until we've done it. Like a weird social prison. That is essentially what our Discord is, if you want to join. It is a weird social prison that apparently we've managed to lock up more than 1,100 people now.

So get involved. I appreciate it. probably haven't advertised this fantastically well, but hey, 1,100 people are in there and they haven't left and they do have free will to. Join. Wink, wink, wink. We are the Alcatraz of podcasting. Wink, wink. No, no, we're not. Oh, my. Get us out of here. No, no, no more comparisons. Okay. Sorry. Join the discussion. which is definitely not the Alcatraz of podcasting. If you'd like to meet lots of lovely people that all love Formula One. You might not have any

friends that like F1. There's a lot of that. So join, have a chat, meet some people. They're lovely. We also on Twitter at all breaking. The late breaking F1 podcast on Instagram and because when the kids come knocking, we go TikToking with the late breaking F1 podcast on TikTok because we are down with the kids. We have merchandise available.

So I have the link in the description for that also. And we've got Patreon, which has got a whole new set of benefits. You can get merch, discounts. You can get and free podcast. You get access to giveaways. Ben is waving his fingers at me. Patreon. Patreon, yeah. We're doing our first listener exclusive, Patreon exclusive topic. Doesn't affect what we do in terms of the podcast here. You still get exactly the same thing, but we do an extra topic for Patreon. And the first one of those will be next week as this

is being recorded. So enjoy. There you go. That's very good. So yes, once a month, Patreon users will get extra content, on this content that you normal, lovely people who turn up every week, thank you for doing that, won't get to hear. But if you do want to hear us talk for even more time about a specific Patreon topic, that could be anything, F on related, they get involved, have a little looking. It massively helps us out more than any other way of supporting us. So thank you to those that already do.

This has gone far too long. If you make it to this point, tweet us saying, I love corn beef. because why not? In the meantime, I'm Samuel Sage and Ben gets out of it. And I've been Ben Hawking. And remember, keep breaking late.

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