Ep16 - Post Test Clarity

This week, the boys look at Testing and the upcoming season opened at Bahrain

Who's Hot and who's not?

Are we on the Aston Martin Hype Train?

Gluing sand to the track

Will Dan's dogs bark in the background once again?

Proudly partnered with NordVPN for this episode, visit nordvpn.com/engine for your exclusive offer

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**Summary of the Podcast Episode Transcript:**

* **Introduction:**

* The hosts, Dan and Blake, welcome the audience to the first real episode of the season, which will cover testing, the upcoming season opener in Bahrain, and various Formula One-related topics.

* **Testing Roundup:**

* The hosts discuss the results and observations from pre-season testing in Bahrain.
* Red Bull is seen as the clear front-runner, with Ferrari and Mercedes following behind.
* Aston Martin has shown promising signs, while McLaren and Alpine have faced challenges.
* The hosts speculate on the potential finishing positions of teams for the upcoming season.

* **Race One Preview:**

* The hosts provide a preview of the season-opening race in Bahrain, including insights on track characteristics, potential strategies, and drivers to watch.
* They share anecdotes and stories related to the Bahrain Grand Prix.

* **New Segments:**

* Dan introduces a new segment called "Fraud Watch," where he will highlight drivers or teams suspected of sandbagging or misleading during testing.
* The hosts also discuss their "Engine Mode Good Boy Awards" for the week, recognizing individuals who have made positive contributions to the sport.

* **Other Topics:**

* The hosts discuss the controversy surrounding Lance Stroll's cycling injury and his return to testing.
* They also address the issue of sandbagging in Formula One and the difficulty in determining whether teams are genuinely holding back their true pace during testing.

* **Conclusion:**

* The hosts wrap up the episode by summarizing their key takeaways from testing and expressing their excitement for the start of the new Formula One season.

**Additional Points:**

* The hosts emphasize the importance of analyzing testing data and considering various factors, such as fuel loads and track conditions, when evaluating team performance.
* They also acknowledge the uncertainty and unpredictability of Formula One, where unexpected developments can often shake up the competitive landscape.
* The hosts engage in light-hearted banter and share personal anecdotes throughout the episode, creating a conversational and entertaining atmosphere.
* The podcast aims to provide an informative and analytical perspective on Formula One, while also injecting humor and enthusiasm into the discussions. # Formula One: The Engine Mode Podcast - Episode 1: Testing and the Upcoming Season Opener in Bahrain

**Summary:**

- The podcast begins with a discussion about NordVPN, a sponsor of the show, and its benefits.

- The hosts, Dan and Blake, then dive into the upcoming Formula One season, starting with the first race in Bahrain.

- They discuss the history of the Bahrain Grand Prix, including the 2012 race, which resulted in a change in trackside performance engineers.

- The hosts provide an overview of the Bahrain track, including its layout, tire selection, and unique characteristics, such as the gusty winds and the use of glue to secure the sand around the track.

- They also discuss the challenges teams face in setting up their cars for the race, given the different conditions during practice and qualifying sessions compared to the race itself.

- Dan and Blake then look back at the 2022 Bahrain Grand Prix, highlighting the double DNF for Red Bull and the strong performance of Ferrari and Alpha Romeo.

- They speculate on potential surprises for the upcoming race, mentioning the possibility of teams bringing upgrades and the impact of the new tire regulations.

- The hosts introduce a new segment called "Random Fandom," where they randomly select a team to support for each race and provide a school report on their performance.

- They also discuss the concept of "Fraud Watch," where they nominate teams or individuals who have underperformed during testing and can be removed from probation by demonstrating improvement.

- Dan and Blake reveal their "Engine Mode Good Boy" picks for the testing sessions, with Dan choosing Joe, Valtteri's teammate at Alfa Romeo, and Blake selecting Valtteri himself.

- The podcast concludes with a discussion about their plans for live streaming during qualifying and the race, encouraging listeners to join them on Twitch. They also remind listeners to leave positive reviews on Spotify and promote the show to their friends.

[00:00.000 -> 00:08.160] You're listening to the most fraudulent F1 podcast with Dan, aka EngineNord11.
[00:08.160 -> 00:14.240] I secretly moonlight has known what Marco race weekends and Blake, aka brake echo chambers
[00:14.240 -> 00:16.760] of farts and idiots on Twitter after races.
[00:16.760 -> 00:20.000] It's the engine breaking F1 podcast.
[00:20.000 -> 00:23.160] Oh, boom.
[00:23.160 -> 00:24.160] Get it up.
[00:24.160 -> 00:28.640] Yeah. Post test clarity. Get it in there, episode 16.
[00:28.640 -> 00:31.280] Let's go, welcome back.
[00:31.280 -> 00:36.960] And uh, yeah, big up all of our people in the cars, giving it the toot toot.
[00:36.960 -> 00:37.960] Yeah, we love it.
[00:37.960 -> 00:41.360] And if you're new to the episode, we'll tell you all about the toot toot when we get there,
[00:41.360 -> 00:43.640] but um, welcome.
[00:43.640 -> 00:44.640] Welcome.
[00:44.640 -> 00:49.440] First real episode of the season yeah and then
[00:49.440 -> 00:54.080] this is our first first season you know we started from the beginning and we're going all the way to
[00:54.080 -> 00:58.880] the end we're gonna have race previews we're gonna have race reviews we're gonna have fraudulent
[00:58.880 -> 01:04.800] guests yep um and it's probably the crappiest form of the one podcast on the internet hosted by
[01:07.000 -> 01:08.000] And it's probably the crappiest Formula One podcast on the internet hosted by two complete idiots.
[01:08.000 -> 01:09.000] Yeah.
[01:09.000 -> 01:15.960] So I apparently somehow managed to do six years in F1 as a senior systems engineer and
[01:15.960 -> 01:17.920] you did 12 years?
[01:17.920 -> 01:18.920] 10.
[01:18.920 -> 01:19.920] 10.
[01:19.920 -> 01:20.920] 10, 11.
[01:20.920 -> 01:25.760] So yeah, we have some wheel knowledge, but nothing is actually useful.
[01:25.760 -> 01:31.920] I mean, as a not Formula One engineer, I don't really know what I'm doing except for making
[01:31.920 -> 01:34.200] videos and content and trying to share some of that.
[01:34.200 -> 01:39.540] But to be fair, there's a lot of people from their very comfortable recliners, maybe not
[01:39.540 -> 01:40.540] even armchairs.
[01:40.540 -> 01:42.200] These things are fully laid back.
[01:42.200 -> 01:46.200] That will, um, yeah, they'll, they'll tell me I'm wrong and I'm I'm I'm here for it.
[01:46.200 -> 01:48.600] From their lazy boy sofas.
[01:48.600 -> 01:49.600] Yeah, exactly.
[01:49.600 -> 01:50.600] Off their phone.
[01:50.600 -> 01:51.600] That's the dream.
[01:51.600 -> 01:52.600] I love it for me.
[01:52.600 -> 01:57.400] Yeah, I know and I'm going to get a lazy boy from hours.
[01:57.400 -> 02:00.160] But anyway, welcome to the engine breaking podcast.
[02:00.160 -> 02:05.700] My name is Blake, AKA break used to be a Formula One engineer, uh, for Cindia Red Bull.
[02:05.980 -> 02:08.340] Did a bit of simulator performance engineering, a little bit of race
[02:08.460 -> 02:10.260] engineering at the track or performance engineering at the track.
[02:10.740 -> 02:12.300] With a couple of drivers you've probably heard of.
[02:12.300 -> 02:16.860] We'll talk about them later, but anyway, and then I'm joined by my co-host and
[02:16.860 -> 02:20.220] internet husband, uh, engine mode 11, AKA Dan, AKA.
[02:20.220 -> 02:20.620] Hello.
[02:21.460 -> 02:21.700] Hi.
[02:21.780 -> 02:22.900] AKA Mr.
[02:23.760 -> 02:24.300] Toot toot.
[02:28.320 -> 02:29.800] I'm going to abuse the shit out of that button this week. That is great, that is great.
[02:29.800 -> 02:36.280] Did you, listen, look the most important part, did you do any work for Paul Diresta in your
[02:36.280 -> 02:37.280] career?
[02:37.280 -> 02:40.240] I was his performance engineer for two seasons.
[02:40.240 -> 02:44.960] Automatically makes us the best podcast in the F1 space.
[02:44.960 -> 02:46.000] I'm changing the title space.
[02:47.100 -> 02:47.140] PDR hype crew.
[02:49.260 -> 02:51.340] Yep, I'm actually going to miss him on sky. I know some people aren't too crazy about him,
[02:51.340 -> 02:52.740] but I'm going to miss him on sky.
[02:52.800 -> 02:54.040] Maybe now he's available.
[02:54.040 -> 02:55.260] We can we can get him.
[02:56.040 -> 02:57.860] Maybe I'll send him a little DM.
[02:58.060 -> 02:58.860] Reach out to the man.
[02:58.900 -> 02:59.700] Yeah, let's go.
[02:59.940 -> 03:02.340] But mid gem tires midge.
[03:02.360 -> 03:05.040] Um, Shady's.
[03:05.680 -> 03:06.800] I love Paul.
[03:09.280 -> 03:10.440] But anyway, here's what you can expect if you're new to the episode, if you're new to the podcast.
[03:10.560 -> 03:11.200] Uh, welcome.
[03:11.200 -> 03:11.840] We're glad you're here.
[03:11.840 -> 03:14.160] And if you've turned it off already, you're not going to hear this, but.
[03:14.560 -> 03:17.240] Uh, we're going to look at a little bit of the news from
[03:17.240 -> 03:18.200] what's happened in the last week.
[03:18.200 -> 03:20.840] We'll do a little bit of a testing roundup, just going through what
[03:20.840 -> 03:24.560] happened quickly and what that potentially means for the start of the season.
[03:24.920 -> 03:28.320] Uh, we've got a little race one preview, which we haven't really done a proper preview before,
[03:28.320 -> 03:31.800] but I've thrown some stuff together and a couple of stories and anecdotes that you're
[03:31.800 -> 03:36.400] not going to get on any other Formula One podcast, only on the most shit one on the
[03:36.400 -> 03:37.400] internet.
[03:37.400 -> 03:42.600] We'll talk about our rain the weekend and Dan and I are going to give you our expectations
[03:42.600 -> 03:49.120] for the weekend. We got a couple of new segments that Dan's got a new one for us and we'll obviously
[03:49.120 -> 03:53.520] come back to our Fraud Watch and our Engine Mode Good Boy Awards for the week.
[03:53.520 -> 03:58.520] And these are gonna be a little bit of a persistent recurring theme that if you get on Fraud Watch,
[03:58.520 -> 04:02.960] you can you can get off the list, but you might be put on probation.
[04:02.960 -> 04:03.960] Yeah.
[04:03.960 -> 04:06.240] And before we get too far into it I
[04:06.240 -> 04:09.680] want to big up everyone that's listening to this at the moment because our last
[04:09.680 -> 04:14.720] episode of our What to Expect from Testing was our officially our most
[04:14.720 -> 04:19.520] downloaded episode yet. Oh my goodness can we get a toot toot for that brother?
[04:19.520 -> 04:26.080] We are up there we're going. Let's go. I want you to wind the window down.
[04:26.080 -> 04:28.520] I want you to find your nearest person walking past.
[04:28.520 -> 04:32.040] Or if you're on the toilet listening, I just want you to shout over the top of the cubicle,
[04:32.040 -> 04:37.040] be like, hey, I want you lot to know the boys are on the up.
[04:37.040 -> 04:40.880] Oh, right.
[04:40.880 -> 04:42.060] Let's get into it.
[04:42.060 -> 04:43.060] Let's get into it.
[04:43.060 -> 04:45.060] So as far as news goes for the week,
[04:45.060 -> 04:47.300] really I think all we've got is testing
[04:47.300 -> 04:48.620] and some byproducts of that.
[04:48.620 -> 04:52.940] But there is one thing that we can expect this weekend.
[04:52.940 -> 04:53.780] What is that?
[04:58.060 -> 05:01.060] Well, we're gonna find out who's bullshitting and who's not.
[05:02.020 -> 05:02.860] Indeed.
[05:02.860 -> 05:07.000] I don't know how you want me to break that down any further than that.
[05:07.000 -> 05:09.400] We'll just talk about sandbagging.
[05:09.400 -> 05:14.200] I don't think teams deliberately sandbag, but we're going to get into that in testing.
[05:14.200 -> 05:20.400] But Lance Stroll, everybody knows Lance Stroll had a little cycling injury, right?
[05:20.400 -> 05:22.280] That's the official line.
[05:22.280 -> 05:27.120] I think one late night he may have found something on one of
[05:27.120 -> 05:29.120] the higher numbered channels.
[05:29.120 -> 05:35.000] He got a bit hot and sweaty and he woke up with wankers whiplash.
[05:35.000 -> 05:38.280] Oh my god.
[05:38.280 -> 05:45.680] So Lance Stroll has been sandbagging and he's been spotted in the paddock with, it looked
[05:45.680 -> 05:49.160] like some small bandages and bruising on one of his wrists is all we could see.
[05:49.160 -> 05:54.460] So he's back in and they're not, there's no freaking way they're going to let Drugovich,
[05:54.460 -> 06:00.800] the reigning F2 champion that absolutely decimated the entire field, rock up and hang out with
[06:00.800 -> 06:09.960] Boinando. Nope. Nope. I, um, stroll turned up and, uh, apparently he's been in the factory
[06:10.320 -> 06:13.840] testing the simulator on like 110% force feedback.
[06:14.280 -> 06:17.280] Oh, that's like, that's like those tasks when everybody's like, Oh,
[06:17.280 -> 06:18.360] look at these guys training.
[06:18.360 -> 06:20.680] It's the video of them, like strapped into the cockpit.
[06:20.960 -> 06:28.400] They're like, you know, that one, just, just to, I hate to spoil everybody burst everybody's bubble, but that's not
[06:28.560 -> 06:32.720] training, that's basically a, a characterization test that they do to
[06:33.160 -> 06:34.760] check drivers, strength and stuff.
[06:34.760 -> 06:37.940] And, uh, yeah, they do that like once a year, once every other year.
[06:37.940 -> 06:40.920] And they film some videos cause it looks fucking cool, but yeah, that's,
[06:40.940 -> 06:42.240] they don't do that for training.
[06:42.280 -> 06:42.520] Yeah.
[06:42.520 -> 06:44.080] No, I've never seen that ever.
[06:44.520 -> 06:47.700] Um, no, they don't, they don't do it. But yeah, no, like you say he arrived
[06:48.760 -> 06:50.760] Seemed alright. He had a
[06:51.040 -> 06:57.880] Little bit of bruising a little bandage. I mean considering what we were told he'd like broke both wrists or something
[07:01.120 -> 07:02.320] Yeah
[07:02.320 -> 07:05.840] Like yeah, he's broken both wrists and fractured his skull.
[07:05.840 -> 07:06.840] It's like really?
[07:06.840 -> 07:10.120] He just probably found the high number channel like Dan said.
[07:10.120 -> 07:11.120] Yeah, yeah.
[07:11.120 -> 07:12.120] You know, it happens.
[07:12.120 -> 07:14.480] Look, we're all friends here.
[07:14.480 -> 07:17.520] We can be open and direct about it.
[07:17.520 -> 07:19.000] That's what people tune in for.
[07:19.000 -> 07:20.000] Oh my god.
[07:20.000 -> 07:21.000] There you go.
[07:21.000 -> 07:22.000] Right.
[07:22.000 -> 07:23.000] Yeah, alright, sorry.
[07:23.000 -> 07:25.000] I went on a bit of a tangent as usual. But Lance St. Oh, right. Yeah. All right.
[07:25.000 -> 07:26.000] Sorry.
[07:26.000 -> 07:28.000] I went on a bit of a tangent as usual, but so I'll stroll.
[07:28.000 -> 07:29.000] Lovely to see you.
[07:29.000 -> 07:30.000] Well done.
[07:30.000 -> 07:31.000] Good luck this weekend.
[07:31.000 -> 07:33.800] Welcome back, mate.
[07:33.800 -> 07:37.180] So let's get into a little bit of a testing roundup, like what happened and we'll keep
[07:37.180 -> 07:42.440] it short because we've got plenty to talk about this this week.
[07:42.440 -> 07:46.640] And I just did a whole entire freaking video on
[07:46.640 -> 07:51.120] that on break if one on YouTube breaking down every single team what they looked like what
[07:51.120 -> 07:55.240] they expected what you can expect from in the race where they sandbagging do they look
[07:55.240 -> 07:59.520] fast or not so you can check that out that video is actually doing absolute stonks right
[07:59.520 -> 08:06.340] now like I think 60,000 views in a day which which is kind of nutty. So if you guys have been loving that one up
[08:06.340 -> 08:08.340] Thank you guys so freaking much. I appreciate that
[08:08.880 -> 08:14.080] But let's talk about it. How much how much testing that you actually watch? Okay, right confession time. I
[08:14.760 -> 08:17.920] The plan was I was gonna stream live stream all three days it
[08:18.800 -> 08:23.780] Reality was is I think I mentioned this before but obviously in my real-life job
[08:24.600 -> 08:25.840] My team of three
[08:25.840 -> 08:31.440] has now reduced to the team of me. So I have been doing nothing but work. So do you wanna
[08:31.440 -> 08:38.240] know how much testing I watched? None of it. None of it. And my, can you hear my dogs again?
[08:38.240 -> 08:42.680] Yet another podcast episode of my fucking dogs barking in the background. For fuck's
[08:42.680 -> 08:45.120] sake. They watched plenty of testing, didn't they?
[08:45.120 -> 08:45.600] Yeah, yeah.
[08:46.880 -> 08:48.400] Yeah, so I didn't get to see any of it.
[08:48.400 -> 08:50.480] I just read some bits and pieces about it.
[08:50.480 -> 08:52.960] You've had your finger on the pulse checking Twitter
[08:53.760 -> 08:56.000] every time you went for the toilet break or cigarette, right?
[08:56.000 -> 08:57.360] I've had my finger on something.
[08:59.200 -> 09:02.080] Anyway, let's talk about it.
[09:02.080 -> 09:03.440] Like there's a couple things.
[09:03.440 -> 09:08.900] Like the front end of the field looks like it's kind of understood in the back end of the field.
[09:08.900 -> 09:09.900] I've got some.
[09:09.900 -> 09:14.780] I've got some some theories I've been cursed out on Twitter.
[09:14.780 -> 09:20.600] But we'll get back to that when I've got people been mad at me and I'm not sure why because
[09:20.600 -> 09:21.860] I don't make the data.
[09:21.860 -> 09:27.600] I just look at it and tell you what I see. Um, well, I don't care what random people on Twitter think.
[09:28.300 -> 09:33.440] What I what I want to know is from you, because you did a little video
[09:33.440 -> 09:34.960] with Autosport as well, didn't you?
[09:35.440 -> 09:35.960] Oh, I did.
[09:35.960 -> 09:36.400] Yeah.
[09:36.400 -> 09:39.000] I mean, that was really nice of someone famous chat.
[09:40.240 -> 09:43.200] That that was actually really wacky thinking it's like, you know,
[09:44.040 -> 09:45.140] that is where I go to get motorsport news. It's like, you know, that is where I go
[09:45.140 -> 09:47.920] to get motorsport news is autosport, you know?
[09:47.920 -> 09:51.340] And I had a chat with John Noble and Martin Lee
[09:51.340 -> 09:52.820] and it was just talking about testing.
[09:52.820 -> 09:55.020] So I'll give you a little recap of what was on that.
[09:55.020 -> 09:56.140] And if you haven't seen it, check it out.
[09:56.140 -> 09:59.720] And hopefully, maybe I'll be back on and invited again.
[09:59.720 -> 10:02.220] I think they didn't hate me, so that's good.
[10:02.220 -> 10:04.020] But let's talk about it.
[10:04.020 -> 10:05.640] Let's talk about the front.
[10:05.640 -> 10:08.780] What was your take on what you saw happening at the front?
[10:08.780 -> 10:10.520] Where do you think everybody's sitting right now?
[10:10.520 -> 10:11.760] Because I've looked at a bunch of data
[10:11.760 -> 10:14.660] and I've got some feelings, but from what you saw.
[10:14.660 -> 10:16.900] Yeah, so this will be,
[10:16.900 -> 10:20.620] my predictions will be based pretty much on vibes,
[10:20.620 -> 10:22.960] whereas you'll have yours and sort of data to back it up.
[10:22.960 -> 10:24.000] So this will be interesting.
[10:24.000 -> 10:24.840] So hear me out.
[10:24.840 -> 10:26.580] My top three this year,
[10:26.580 -> 10:29.720] I'm saying Red Bull are clearly in the front.
[10:29.720 -> 10:32.000] And this is my prediction for the entire year.
[10:32.000 -> 10:33.600] So this is how it's going to end, right?
[10:33.600 -> 10:34.440] Okay.
[10:34.440 -> 10:35.600] Red Bull up front.
[10:35.600 -> 10:38.100] I think Mercedes are going to go second this year.
[10:39.540 -> 10:42.520] And I think Ferrari are going to finish third
[10:42.520 -> 10:46.200] because the vibes I'm picking up is that Ferrari are
[10:46.200 -> 10:50.440] having a nightmare with degradation on their tyres yet again, which is something they struggled
[10:50.440 -> 10:56.680] with last year. So right or wrong, Blake, tell me.
[10:56.680 -> 11:05.760] You know what? I'm, I'm feeling that I think right now, maybe Red Bull clear. I'm not sure. Maybe Red Bull clear, right?
[11:05.760 -> 11:08.840] Ferrari, I don't know where they're at.
[11:08.840 -> 11:12.960] Yes, from the limited data we have in the couple of race simulations, saw that Ferrari's
[11:12.960 -> 11:17.240] degradation looked bad, very much akin to what we saw the second half of last season
[11:17.240 -> 11:22.040] for them, which they admitted they were a bit aggressive on the tires.
[11:22.040 -> 11:25.480] I think the new front tire construction that Pirelli's introduced, which we'll get into
[11:25.480 -> 11:28.040] in a minute, will make their problems even worse.
[11:28.040 -> 11:32.600] Yes, you can set up around that.
[11:32.600 -> 11:36.200] My preseason predictions put Mercedes in P2.
[11:36.200 -> 11:37.200] See?
[11:37.200 -> 11:42.240] Vibes, my vibes and your data match up.
[11:42.240 -> 11:47.820] I know, but now that I've absorbed some testing data, Mercedes don't seem that confident.
[11:47.820 -> 11:49.700] The car looks draggy again.
[11:49.700 -> 11:55.000] They've kept, you know, some flavor of the zero ish pod design.
[11:55.000 -> 11:57.740] They ran the highest downforce wing that they had at the test.
[11:57.740 -> 12:00.020] They're introducing a lower downforce for wing for the race.
[12:00.020 -> 12:01.780] We'll get into that in a minute.
[12:01.780 -> 12:06.980] I just don't know if Mercedes, I don't know if Mercedes got it.
[12:06.980 -> 12:09.760] You know, I'm just like, I'm not that confident from what I've seen.
[12:09.760 -> 12:12.880] I think Ferrari, Ferrari were much like Red Bull.
[12:12.880 -> 12:14.320] They weren't too fast during the test.
[12:14.320 -> 12:17.720] They were getting through their program and if they had a couple of tenths left in fuel,
[12:17.720 -> 12:19.200] they're not, they're not bothered.
[12:19.200 -> 12:20.200] It's not sandbagging.
[12:20.200 -> 12:21.840] It's just like, you don't need to run fumes.
[12:21.840 -> 12:22.840] Yeah.
[12:22.840 -> 12:26.560] But Mercedes is significantly better off than what they were this time last year.
[12:27.160 -> 12:27.720] Absolutely.
[12:28.520 -> 12:34.160] And you know, last year, granted some of it was Ferrari's implosion, but they
[12:34.160 -> 12:35.920] nearly could have finished P2 last year.
[12:36.580 -> 12:37.080] Certainly.
[12:37.200 -> 12:37.480] Certainly.
[12:37.480 -> 12:40.160] At the start of the year, if you said that about a W13, I'd probably
[12:40.160 -> 12:41.320] would have laughed you out of the room.
[12:41.880 -> 12:42.120] Yeah.
[12:42.120 -> 12:44.680] But at the same time, I'd have even bet my beard on it, Blake.
[12:46.760 -> 12:51.920] Ooh. probably would have laughed you out of the room. Yeah, but at the same time, I'd have even have bet my beard on it, Blake. Ooh, I just, I looking at it doesn't look that great right now.
[12:51.920 -> 12:56.240] You know, they had that, they had also on day two, Mercedes had a whole day of, they
[12:56.240 -> 12:58.000] had no idea what was going on with the car.
[12:58.000 -> 12:59.800] There was no front end, there was no balance.
[12:59.800 -> 13:03.420] They were at the back of the time sheets and they, you know, they effectively lost a day
[13:03.420 -> 13:07.820] of testing to an irrepresentative balance, but let's see.
[13:07.820 -> 13:10.580] I hope we have a three-way title fight, I just don't see it.
[13:10.580 -> 13:13.780] So I think my top three right now
[13:13.780 -> 13:16.200] is Red Bull, Ferrari, Mercedes
[13:16.200 -> 13:18.660] for the first part of the season, at least.
[13:18.660 -> 13:20.980] I think Mercedes should come good,
[13:20.980 -> 13:22.060] I think they can come good.
[13:22.060 -> 13:23.760] And if there's a team that can develop out of that,
[13:23.760 -> 13:29.520] it's them, but I still don't know if their concept and the way the road they're pushing down will pay off in
[13:29.520 -> 13:35.440] the long run. So. Hmm, and while we're on the topic of Mercedes, didn't they have a hydraulic failure
[13:35.440 -> 13:40.960] on one of the days? They did. George's, and I think they lost a couple hours on end of day two.
[13:41.600 -> 13:45.440] Uncharacteristic for a Mercedes to have a reliability problem.
[13:45.440 -> 13:50.180] It is. It is indeed. But, um, you know, it's better to have those reliability problems
[13:50.180 -> 13:54.660] and testing and, um, brings me on to, we'll come back to Aston, but brings me on to my
[13:54.660 -> 14:00.320] other point. The two teams at the bottom of the mileage charts this weekend. And I feel
[14:00.320 -> 14:07.760] like there's two stories going on here. McLaren had nothing but issues with their car.
[14:07.760 -> 14:10.740] They were lots of downtime fixing stuff on the front end.
[14:12.000 -> 14:16.400] And Alpine, they looked like they were running all the time,
[14:16.400 -> 14:18.480] but they had the second lowest mileage of any team
[14:18.480 -> 14:21.640] and their car looked like a heap of crap the entire test.
[14:21.640 -> 14:26.040] They were slow, but if you go on Twitter, if you talk to the team,
[14:26.040 -> 14:30.380] if you see the press reports coming back from the team, they're saying we were doing some
[14:30.380 -> 14:39.160] extreme setup tests. And I don't want to be that guy. But that's the same line that that
[14:39.160 -> 14:41.040] Mercedes had last year.
[14:41.040 -> 14:47.080] So I'm gonna I can't believe I'm to come into bat for Alpine, but here
[14:47.080 -> 14:52.000] we go. Go on, go on. I need this. I need this right now because I'm just like, too objective.
[14:52.000 -> 14:56.440] I can't, I can't cope with the vibes right now. So I trust your vibes, Dan, just sit
[14:56.440 -> 15:02.120] in my way. Okay. Yeah. So I've, I believe Alpine because they have an entirely new rear
[15:02.120 -> 15:05.920] suspension setup. So to me, it seems like
[15:05.920 -> 15:11.200] their testing was basically, hey, let's try and understand as much as we can about our
[15:11.200 -> 15:15.080] new rear suspension rather than out and out lap time.
[15:15.080 -> 15:20.080] Ooh. And I, I think you're right. There's something, there's something going on there
[15:20.080 -> 15:24.680] and reading in between the lines of their suspension design, I think it's twofold. I
[15:24.680 -> 15:28.280] think they've changed from pusher pull rod to one of the other, whichever, you know,
[15:28.280 -> 15:32.520] it's basically the orientation of the rod, which supports the car vertically. They've
[15:32.520 -> 15:37.840] gone from a pull rod to a push rod, I think, or vice versa. It doesn't matter to me. That
[15:37.840 -> 15:43.100] in and of itself, I don't think matters. Teams don't like whether you have pull rod or push
[15:43.100 -> 15:48.320] rod on the rear, yes, there's some structural things to deal with, but the driver doesn't know any difference.
[15:48.320 -> 15:52.160] The only thing the engineer needs to know any different is if you're taking shims out
[15:52.160 -> 15:55.640] of the push rods or pull rods or adding them to go higher or lower on ride height when
[15:55.640 -> 15:56.640] you tell the mechanics.
[15:56.640 -> 15:57.640] That's all you need to know.
[15:57.640 -> 16:00.060] Everything else should be pretty much transparent.
[16:00.060 -> 16:02.280] So I don't see it.
[16:02.280 -> 16:06.240] The other thing is, it sounds like they're working on some ride height mechanisms
[16:06.240 -> 16:08.440] to get the ride height low and the straight,
[16:08.440 -> 16:09.600] keep it high in the corners
[16:09.600 -> 16:10.720] so they can keep the load on the car,
[16:10.720 -> 16:11.600] keep it from scraping.
[16:11.600 -> 16:15.480] But honestly, man, I know what you're saying
[16:15.480 -> 16:17.800] and I wanna believe in Alpine right now,
[16:17.800 -> 16:21.440] but they literally, they did an entire test
[16:21.440 -> 16:24.240] driving a car around that looked like not ideal,
[16:24.240 -> 16:25.200] it looked really not good.
[16:25.360 -> 16:26.440] And people like, oh, don't worry.
[16:26.440 -> 16:27.080] They're just testing.
[16:27.080 -> 16:28.840] I'm like, what did you learn?
[16:29.040 -> 16:30.920] Well, that's what your simulator is for.
[16:31.040 -> 16:32.880] And they keep saying, well, our tools are well correlated.
[16:32.880 -> 16:35.600] It's like, why didn't you do all that shit work in the simulator?
[16:35.600 -> 16:38.600] Because that's what the simulator is for fucking been there, man.
[16:38.960 -> 16:44.120] I'm just, I want to, I want to say they were the only team that was
[16:44.120 -> 16:46.640] slower than their 2022 time. I want to be wrong. Honestly, I want to say they were the only team that was slower than their 2022 time.
[16:48.000 -> 16:48.840] I want to be wrong.
[16:48.920 -> 16:52.040] Honestly, I want to be wrong because I want to see Alpine up there fourth, fifth,
[16:52.300 -> 16:55.400] like they were last year, um, fighting.
[16:56.000 -> 16:59.880] But I think I don't think it's as bad as everyone's making out.
[17:00.360 -> 17:00.600] All right.
[17:00.600 -> 17:06.080] If they're not, you know, fourth row, I think they're going to finish the season fifth.
[17:06.080 -> 17:07.080] There you go.
[17:07.080 -> 17:08.080] Okay.
[17:08.080 -> 17:09.080] I think.
[17:09.080 -> 17:11.680] Ah, I, okay, let's talk about the back then.
[17:11.680 -> 17:12.680] Let's talk about the back end.
[17:12.680 -> 17:15.520] Who's, who's your back of the grid for 2023?
[17:15.520 -> 17:17.360] In the season, mid season, whatever.
[17:17.360 -> 17:19.560] Again, another hot take, right?
[17:19.560 -> 17:23.400] And it's one that's going to get me struck off the list of any future Red Bull events,
[17:23.400 -> 17:29.000] but I think AlphaTauri might finish 10th this year, you know.
[17:29.000 -> 17:30.000] I just...
[17:30.000 -> 17:33.760] I'm not, I'm not like, I'm not arguing too hard with that.
[17:33.760 -> 17:36.240] Like I think it's unlikely, but I think it's very possible.
[17:36.240 -> 17:41.000] I think if Williams bink like a P8 or something.
[17:41.000 -> 17:42.000] Yep.
[17:42.000 -> 17:43.880] Um, which they have done in the past.
[17:43.880 -> 17:46.440] I honestly think Williams, we'll put it this
[17:46.440 -> 17:50.520] way. I don't think Williams are going to finish 10th this year. I think someone else is going
[17:50.520 -> 17:58.480] to have the honor of being on the bottom. Ooh, this is going to be Alpha Tauri or maybe
[17:58.480 -> 18:02.960] Alpha Romeo. I don't know. I haven't seen much of the Alpha in testing, so I don't know
[18:02.960 -> 18:08.320] if it looked good or not. The Alpha looks like it did last year, like pretty good around Bahrain and good in the
[18:08.320 -> 18:09.320] test.
[18:09.320 -> 18:11.840] Israel topped the timesheets one day, which doesn't mean anything.
[18:11.840 -> 18:14.520] Their race pace and degradation was good as well.
[18:14.520 -> 18:18.440] So I think alpha, alpha decent.
[18:18.440 -> 18:26.720] I think back row is Williams or I think I wouldn't be surprised to see McLaren in like 8th.
[18:26.720 -> 18:32.880] Honestly, since we brought them up, they look they look horrendously down.
[18:32.880 -> 18:37.920] Their race pace, their degradation is OK with their pace was kind of shit.
[18:37.920 -> 18:40.960] So. I'm I don't know.
[18:40.960 -> 18:42.480] You know what it is, don't you?
[18:42.480 -> 18:43.520] This is testing.
[18:43.520 -> 18:44.960] It's just testing.
[18:44.960 -> 18:45.000] It's just testing.
[18:45.000 -> 18:50.280] It's those stupid Amazon Kindles that they've strapped into the headrests of the drivers.
[18:50.280 -> 18:55.240] That's what it's, you've completely ruined the weight distribution of the car.
[18:55.240 -> 18:57.480] Yeah, I don't know.
[18:57.480 -> 18:58.480] Those are kind of cool though.
[18:58.480 -> 18:59.480] They are cool, yeah.
[18:59.480 -> 19:00.480] I don't know.
[19:00.480 -> 19:01.480] I don't know.
[19:01.480 -> 19:05.080] So here's what we need to talk about.
[19:05.080 -> 19:06.520] You know, I think...
[19:06.520 -> 19:10.880] Right, so just a quick wrap up of where I think we're at with the testing.
[19:10.880 -> 19:14.400] Which does not imply where they're going to open the season.
[19:14.400 -> 19:17.200] Dan and I have obviously given our vibes and picks for the season, but
[19:17.200 -> 19:19.200] in terms of testing...
[19:20.840 -> 19:24.120] We're pinning your entire reputation on this, by the way.
[19:24.120 -> 19:34.280] I don't have one, so it doesn't matter. Haas and Alfa Romeo. They'll be boxing,
[19:34.280 -> 19:40.360] I think, comparable. The McLaren looked down horrendously bad, and I hope they can fix
[19:40.360 -> 19:44.940] it, but I don't think this is their year. And they've got freaking, they've got P. Astry
[19:44.940 -> 19:45.960] and Lando Norris.
[19:46.160 -> 19:48.080] You know, Piastry is one of the up and comers.
[19:48.240 -> 19:49.800] He looks like the real deal.
[19:49.800 -> 19:53.080] And you got Lando Norris, who's not even got to drive a good car yet.
[19:53.080 -> 19:54.880] I'm like, come on, man.
[19:54.880 -> 19:55.600] This isn't fair.
[19:56.440 -> 19:59.400] Like I like I'm not like a huge like I don't dislike Lando
[19:59.400 -> 20:02.680] or like I'm not a huge Lando fan, but like he's one of the
[20:02.880 -> 20:04.000] one of the awesome drivers.
[20:04.000 -> 20:11.840] And what is he doing driving that thing? It bums me out, man. He's getting ready to go to Red Bull
[20:11.840 -> 20:13.240] for next year.
[20:13.240 -> 20:20.000] That's my super hot take that is that's Nando's hot.
[20:20.000 -> 20:29.680] Mm spicy, because I right, let's let's talk, let's talk about the Dark Lord himself and my Dark Horse for the 2023 season based on what I've seen so far.
[20:31.520 -> 20:34.720] Is this our Lord and Savior, Fernando Alonso?
[20:35.000 -> 20:37.040] Yeah, Darkness himself.
[20:37.840 -> 20:40.920] Hello, Darkness, my old friend.
[20:40.920 -> 20:47.800] Dude, real quick, if you are listening to this podcast in your car, give us a quick
[20:47.800 -> 20:48.800] to real quick.
[20:48.800 -> 20:51.280] Yeah, give it to us.
[20:51.280 -> 20:52.280] Come on.
[20:52.280 -> 20:53.280] Come on.
[20:53.280 -> 20:56.760] And if you listen to this in the morning, you're getting ready for FP one FP two.
[20:56.760 -> 21:02.880] And I think I might tomorrow night on Twitch TV front slash BRR aka I might do a little
[21:02.880 -> 21:06.120] bit of a P1 P2 roundup performance analysis.
[21:06.120 -> 21:11.040] So are you sure regretting putting three hours in your name yet?
[21:11.040 -> 21:13.760] Nope, I'll just keep telling him.
[21:13.760 -> 21:14.760] Just keep telling him, man.
[21:14.760 -> 21:16.000] It's the three hours.
[21:16.000 -> 21:19.200] Yeah, triple arm.
[21:19.200 -> 21:20.200] So Aston Martin.
[21:20.200 -> 21:23.520] Yeah, the hype train is apparently is fully left the station.
[21:23.520 -> 21:26.380] Have you bought your tickets or are you standing on the platform?
[21:30.640 -> 21:33.720] I'm standing on a platform. Same. Okay.
[21:35.360 -> 21:40.080] They looked good, right? I mean, yes, but are they looking good?
[21:40.720 -> 21:43.960] Because some engineers are sitting on the pit wall at testing saying
[21:44.600 -> 21:46.760] Fucking hell Lawrence has put a lot of money into this.
[21:46.760 -> 21:49.560] Can we try and actually make it look like we're doing a good job, please.
[21:49.720 -> 21:51.040] Like just turn it up a little bit.
[21:52.400 -> 21:53.200] Well, here's the thing.
[21:53.520 -> 21:57.200] And here's why I think they probably didn't slash can't do that.
[21:58.120 -> 22:00.440] And I know it's, I know like there's so many caveats.
[22:00.480 -> 22:03.560] It was the end of day three, the tracks rubber, didn't everybody's doing quality
[22:03.560 -> 22:06.200] Sims and the dark Lord himself is out there
[22:06.200 -> 22:08.500] doing a race simulation.
[22:08.500 -> 22:11.200] First lap on the first set of tires.
[22:11.200 -> 22:13.000] Decent the next lap.
[22:13.000 -> 22:18.160] It's faster the next lap yet faster again and that repeats through the entire three
[22:18.160 -> 22:20.920] stints of his race simulation.
[22:20.920 -> 22:23.960] You can't fake that.
[22:23.960 -> 22:26.080] Like so so here let's put this in context.
[22:26.080 -> 22:29.000] The pace this so the first lap of each of those runs was good.
[22:29.000 -> 22:31.000] The degradation was negative.
[22:33.200 -> 22:36.320] And if you have to explain negative degradation,
[22:36.320 -> 22:39.720] because every time you say that you make me feel like the tires are magically.
[22:39.720 -> 22:40.720] Yeah, exactly.
[22:40.720 -> 22:46.160] Negative degradation is just a numerical thing, and it just says when you
[22:46.160 -> 22:49.920] look at the lap times versus the number of laps they've done, they don't get slower.
[22:49.920 -> 22:53.720] They get faster. That's all that means in a race. Typically, you're burning fuel off
[22:53.720 -> 22:59.720] every lap, so you'll gain a couple of hundreds just from losing that fuel, right? But usually
[22:59.720 -> 23:07.160] you have degradation, which is a positive number. So negative degradation means you went faster.
[23:07.160 -> 23:12.560] So that implies to me that he could have actually gone faster on that first lap yet again, which
[23:12.560 -> 23:17.640] would have been insane. I'm not. I didn't look at the if you put the whole race simulation
[23:17.640 -> 23:20.680] in the race time together and compare that to like look at what Red Bull did.
[23:20.680 -> 23:30.720] Because Red Bull looks pretty good. The race pace and egg looked good and Max is long runs. He's just banging out consistent lap times, so no deck effectively. I think
[23:30.720 -> 23:34.100] they could have a good race car. I do not think it is a great qualifying car, but in
[23:34.100 -> 23:39.160] terms of looking around through the lap, high speed performance of the car is good, solid,
[23:39.160 -> 23:44.600] you know, and it's in the mix with the upper end of the midfield slash lower end Ferrari
[23:44.600 -> 23:46.240] and Red Bull through corner
[23:46.240 -> 23:51.480] high speed, low speed, medium speed performance on top on top.
[23:51.480 -> 23:58.760] But Aston's in the mix. I think I think best the rest. Probably. Yeah. But I think also
[23:58.760 -> 24:06.000] if this W14 half pod, zero pod total car philosophy is not the one. They could be onto
[24:06.000 -> 24:11.200] something and they could race very well and be taking points off of Mercedes. But
[24:11.200 -> 24:17.140] Mercedes pace and deck looked reasonable. Let's see. I don't know man, I mean I still
[24:17.140 -> 24:27.280] think someone's got on the radio and been like, hey Lawrence has put a lot of money into this guys, can we please make sure that we don't look arse at testing so we don't all lose our jobs?
[24:28.840 -> 24:30.440] Oh, yeah.
[24:31.440 -> 24:32.920] I don't know, maybe that's Whitmarsh.
[24:33.280 -> 24:37.040] That's Whitmarsh just like, right, we're gonna go soak the tyres in diesel overnight.
[24:37.040 -> 24:38.080] So they're a bit stickier.
[24:38.080 -> 24:39.920] Is he? Whitmarsh is back-assin', isn't he?
[24:39.920 -> 24:41.280] I keep forgetting that.
[24:41.800 -> 24:44.120] Yeah, I think everybody's forgotten after he...
[24:45.040 -> 24:49.200] I still always think he was buried at the bottom of the McLaren Lake out the front.
[24:49.200 -> 24:53.880] Yeah, I reckon he possibly, potentially should have been or was attempted to get buried in
[24:53.880 -> 24:54.880] the lake.
[24:54.880 -> 24:58.800] It's like, hey, hey, Martin, we've got some cement shoes that you could try on.
[24:58.800 -> 24:59.800] Yeah.
[24:59.800 -> 25:00.800] I don't know.
[25:00.800 -> 25:01.800] I don't know.
[25:01.800 -> 25:02.800] And let's see.
[25:02.800 -> 25:09.360] But yeah, I mean, that's that's kind of everything interesting. I think Alpha Tauri don't look great. Williams look, they look
[25:09.360 -> 25:14.440] like they're towards the back. Um, McLaren, hopefully we'll recover, but like, I still
[25:14.440 -> 25:18.600] don't know what the heck Alpine we're doing and I'm, I'm gonna, I'm, I want to be wrong.
[25:18.600 -> 25:23.600] I want to be wrong about Alpine, but I don't think I am. They like our tools make sense.
[25:23.600 -> 25:25.560] They're matching. It's like, cool.
[25:26.100 -> 25:27.240] You're going to do the last.
[25:28.240 -> 25:28.540] Yeah.
[25:29.140 -> 25:31.460] You're going to do any laps where your car doesn't look like a, like, here's
[25:31.460 -> 25:35.480] to put this in perspective on day three, they would have had to remove 60 kilos
[25:35.480 -> 25:39.660] of fuel to match the front runner pace on single lap, so there's no way you're
[25:39.660 -> 25:41.440] doing an entire test at 60 kilos.
[25:41.720 -> 25:42.500] If you are.
[25:43.340 -> 25:45.000] I'd love to have a conversation
[25:45.000 -> 25:46.400] with head of engineering just to understand
[25:46.400 -> 25:47.920] because I think there might be something going on
[25:47.920 -> 25:50.560] that I've just completely missed, but I don't get it.
[25:50.560 -> 25:51.840] I don't get it at all.
[25:51.840 -> 25:52.680] I want to be wrong.
[25:52.680 -> 25:54.640] I want to be wrong, I do.
[25:54.640 -> 25:56.760] No, so I know everyone listening
[25:56.760 -> 25:59.680] is on the absolute edge of their seats
[25:59.680 -> 26:01.320] when we're talking about Martin Whitmarsh.
[26:01.320 -> 26:02.920] So he's the group CEO
[26:02.920 -> 26:05.000] of Aston Martin Performance Technologies.
[26:05.000 -> 26:12.000] Wow. He is not dead, drowned at the bottom of the McLaren Lake. He was found, they dragged
[26:12.000 -> 26:17.000] him back out and they said, Martin, do you want a job? So there you go.
[26:17.000 -> 26:22.000] I don't understand that appointment at all. But anyway, why don't we, you want to sneak
[26:22.000 -> 26:25.120] in our little word from our friends now?
[26:25.720 -> 26:29.040] Yes, I will sneak in a word from our sponsors now.
[26:29.080 -> 26:33.200] And I'm also going to say that I still haven't updated it to say 2023 yet.
[26:33.560 -> 26:36.160] So it's going to come on and it's going to say 2022.
[26:36.200 -> 26:39.160] And you're going to stop fucking messaging me about it on YouTube and on
[26:39.160 -> 26:40.600] Twitter, because I just don't care.
[26:41.680 -> 26:42.240] You do care.
[26:42.240 -> 26:43.080] You just haven't done it yet.
[26:43.080 -> 26:43.760] I know you care.
[26:44.760 -> 26:45.040] Guys hang tight for one second and we'll get right back to it and get into the don't care. You do care. You just haven't done it yet. I know you care. Right. Guys
[26:45.040 -> 26:49.960] hang tight for one second and we'll get right back to and get into the race one preview,
[26:49.960 -> 26:52.880] which I haven't done one before properly. I just waffle, but I'll put something together
[26:52.880 -> 26:59.820] for you. Hello me again. Just interrupt your podcast episode. Listen, we've been banging
[26:59.820 -> 27:03.660] on about Nord VPN for a while on the show and it's finally happened. They've reached
[27:03.660 -> 27:06.680] out to us and are offering an exclusive deal to our listeners.
[27:06.680 -> 27:09.360] If you are fed up with not being able to access F1 TV Pro
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[27:11.880 -> 27:14.280] With NordVPN, you can switch your virtual location
[27:14.280 -> 27:17.520] to a country that enables the full feature set of F1 TV Pro.
[27:17.520 -> 27:18.640] Tell me and Blake do it
[27:18.640 -> 27:21.320] and we've been happy customers of NordVPN for years.
[27:21.320 -> 27:24.180] But Dan, I've heard VPNs are great for online protection
[27:24.180 -> 27:29.900] but they slow down your internet speed. Come on now, it's 2022. I can stream a multitude of F1 TV HD
[27:29.900 -> 27:34.080] feeds while hosting a watchalong on Twitch with no issues. Furthermore, NordVPN prevents
[27:34.080 -> 27:37.800] my internet service provider from bandwidth throttling so I can actually use my internet
[27:37.800 -> 27:41.560] connection at the speeds I pay for. They have an app for smartphones that's easy to install
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[27:53.800 -> 27:57.680] Nord's 30-day money-back guarantee so give it a try and if you like it great
[27:57.680 -> 28:03.360] if you don't you can call us frauds on Twitter simple now back to the episode
[28:03.360 -> 28:13.000] go and do it so I can afford you, get paid and get some money for drugs and hard alcohol and so I can enjoy the F1 2023 season.
[28:14.000 -> 28:17.000] I'm thinking you're fully sarcastic there, but okay.
[28:17.000 -> 28:30.480] No, I'm way too laid back. If I took any narcotics, I don't think I could be anything more laid back than what I am now like I do think I do think one of maybe next week on our episode we should
[28:30.480 -> 28:34.640] have a pint then I would yeah I do like a nice ale maybe we should just get shit faced
[28:34.640 -> 28:42.040] and do a drive to survive review oh I love it let's see let's see drive drive to shit
[28:42.040 -> 28:47.200] faced oh yeah exactly maybe that's the message. Heineken won't appreciate
[28:47.200 -> 28:52.640] us doing that. Yeah they're like oh god you're banned oh my god. So let's get into the race
[28:52.640 -> 28:59.200] one preview. What do we got? You got the first part of this? We have got Bahrain. It's race
[28:59.200 -> 29:07.040] one. It was first held in 2004. Christ that seems seems ages ago. Right. That was ages ago.
[29:07.040 -> 29:09.840] But Bahrain 2012 has a story, doesn't it?
[29:09.840 -> 29:11.560] Oh yeah.
[29:11.560 -> 29:12.680] Give us a story.
[29:12.680 -> 29:19.520] Bahrain 2012 is kind of how I ended up as a trackside performance engineer.
[29:19.520 -> 29:26.880] So back in 2011-2012, I was a vehicle dynamics engineer at Force India. And there was a serious issue.
[29:26.880 -> 29:28.960] There were huge protests in Bahrain.
[29:28.960 -> 29:31.360] 2011, I think, was cancelled.
[29:31.360 -> 29:33.360] Pretty sure that's correct.
[29:33.360 -> 29:38.080] I know they had, there was like a civil, was it the Arab Spring or whatever it was, started kicking off.
[29:38.080 -> 29:43.200] Yeah, so there was a lot of unhappy people in the country and there was a protest.
[29:43.200 -> 29:44.640] They cancelled the race for a year.
[29:44.640 -> 29:45.360] And in 2012, it was back, but there were still protests and there was a protest. They cancelled the race for a year.
[29:49.360 -> 29:56.240] And in 2012 it was back, but there was still protests and shit was kicking off there. Like there was like petrol bombs, the police and armed guards were trying to sort everything out. Teams
[29:56.240 -> 30:00.800] had like, you know, private security firms escorting them to and from the track, which is
[30:00.800 -> 30:06.800] pretty, pretty wacky. But some stuff kicked off and basically the person,
[30:06.800 -> 30:09.720] there was two people from Force India that left
[30:10.580 -> 30:12.300] and flew home that night.
[30:12.300 -> 30:13.560] They're like, I'm done.
[30:13.560 -> 30:16.000] And then apparently Bernie said, you're never coming back.
[30:16.000 -> 30:18.480] So they needed a new performance engineer the next week.
[30:18.480 -> 30:20.040] So I started in Spain.
[30:20.040 -> 30:24.840] So, you know, it's not a great story,
[30:24.840 -> 30:26.680] but you know what, you gotta, it's not a, it's not a great story, but you know what, you got to be there
[30:26.680 -> 30:29.440] when a right place, right time.
[30:29.440 -> 30:30.440] You know what I'm saying?
[30:30.440 -> 30:31.520] I do know what you're saying.
[30:31.520 -> 30:36.280] So that is the story of how you ended up trackside.
[30:36.280 -> 30:39.820] And yeah, so sorry, Bahrain 57 laps.
[30:39.820 -> 30:47.680] We got three DRS zones. What's interesting about the track? What are we looking out for?
[30:47.680 -> 30:55.280] Oh, well, here's some things. We've got to talk about tires. They've got 3DRS zones.
[30:55.280 -> 30:59.380] It's a pretty like this is one of those tracks that's gone from high downforce to medium
[30:59.380 -> 31:03.360] downforce just because they're freaking flat out in a lot of places, especially when the
[31:03.360 -> 31:07.040] fuel drops. So I think you'll see some fuel saving during the race.
[31:07.580 -> 31:10.680] And tires are going to be an interesting one this weekend.
[31:10.680 -> 31:13.400] So we've got C1, C2 and C3.
[31:13.900 -> 31:16.740] That's one step away from the hardest, and it's effectively
[31:16.740 -> 31:18.840] the same allocation as last year.
[31:18.840 -> 31:21.480] However, Pirelli have decided last year's C1.
[31:22.640 -> 31:23.980] That was the hardest we ever want to go,
[31:23.980 -> 31:26.000] but we want to step between C1 and C2.
[31:26.000 -> 31:29.000] So now we've got C0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.
[31:29.000 -> 31:33.000] And so we basically have one step from the hardest selection of compounds.
[31:33.000 -> 31:37.000] The old C1 is now the C0.
[31:37.000 -> 31:38.000] So...
[31:38.000 -> 31:39.000] Enough, stop.
[31:39.000 -> 31:44.000] We need to interrupt this very important podcast to announce that Blake's cat has just entered the room.
[31:44.000 -> 31:48.160] Both of them. Both of them, and they are currently going insane in the background.
[31:49.600 -> 31:53.520] Buddies come here. They're doing that thing where cats just look calm and then all of a sudden just
[31:53.520 -> 31:58.640] go absolutely bananas. We got Barry and Sterling if you can see them on the stream they're super
[31:58.640 -> 32:04.320] cute. Give us a little toot toot for Barry and Sterling everyone. And I'm not going to tell you
[32:04.320 -> 32:06.760] what it's from but if you get that reference and you're watching
[32:06.760 -> 32:12.240] this on YouTube or listening to it, tag us on, reply to us when we share the post on
[32:12.240 -> 32:16.280] Twitter tomorrow, reply what you think Barry and Sterling, where those names come from.
[32:16.280 -> 32:21.240] And first one to get it right, I'll send you a picture of my cats.
[32:21.240 -> 32:24.960] Just drive through Milton Keynes with your windows down, screaming it out, Blake will
[32:24.960 -> 32:26.980] hear it somewhere
[32:28.640 -> 32:35.860] So you've confused everyone with c1 tires c2 tires basically don't really have changed a compound big fucking whoop
[32:36.240 -> 32:38.240] Yeah, exactly, but boring
[32:38.980 -> 32:48.880] Somebody somebody said that somebody I don't know somebody said this in the stream earlier that pearirelli claimed the new tires are 1.5 seconds faster lap I'm like I don't know
[32:48.880 -> 32:53.800] I hope nobody said that out loud because they did say that out loud we're both
[32:53.800 -> 32:57.680] wearing faces if you're not watching we're both wearing faces we're gonna get
[32:57.680 -> 33:07.360] them on the podcast and ask them yeah the new C69 tires. Yeah, exactly. I know, like someone said they're 2 kilos heavier.
[33:07.360 -> 33:12.200] I don't know if they assume like all 4 together this year are 4 kilos heavier because they
[33:12.200 -> 33:14.000] changed the construction.
[33:14.000 -> 33:18.280] They changed the construction of the fronts and they were going to drop from 798 to 796
[33:18.280 -> 33:20.920] on the minimum weight, but they're like, ah, the new tires are a little bit heavier, so
[33:20.920 -> 33:22.480] we'll just keep it at 798.
[33:22.480 -> 33:25.480] Because that's exactly what this formula needs, more weight.
[33:25.480 -> 33:26.480] Yeah, exactly.
[33:26.480 -> 33:29.400] You know what they need to do, like genuinely, from a performance point of view, if they
[33:29.400 -> 33:38.160] wanted to make this thing awesome, you would get a synthetic, sustainable synthetic fuel,
[33:38.160 -> 33:42.280] you would have a V10 engine and no batteries, if you wanted lighter, faster cars, that's
[33:42.280 -> 33:43.280] it.
[33:43.280 -> 33:45.720] Yeah, fuck off Elon Musk. Fuck off. Yeah, exactly
[33:47.920 -> 33:50.720] Anyway, if anyone listens to this in an electric car then
[33:52.560 -> 33:53.920] To to
[33:53.920 -> 34:00.320] So this is our first night race of the year, which is it presents some interesting challenges for setup, doesn't it?
[34:01.080 -> 34:03.720] Yeah, so you have your p1
[34:04.320 -> 34:07.280] Fp1 and f P three are in the day, which is
[34:07.280 -> 34:11.840] super helpful because the track temperature is completely unrepresentative of the quality
[34:11.840 -> 34:16.080] in the race, which are in the evening. Um, so yeah, have fun with the data from that
[34:16.080 -> 34:23.720] dorks. Yeah. Bono. My tires are gone. I know the track 60 degrees, Lewis shot top. No,
[34:23.720 -> 34:26.080] but seriously, like that makes it interesting
[34:26.080 -> 34:30.360] but at the end of the day like this is this track's been on the calendar for a very long
[34:30.360 -> 34:35.440] time and they're very used to doing you know P1 P3 or throwaway sessions like honestly
[34:35.440 -> 34:41.880] if your car is not sorted at the end of P2 good luck at P3 realistically because you
[34:41.880 -> 34:51.280] can't change anything once you get into qualifying you you dorks. But teams are pretty familiar with the offsets they need to do between P1, P2, maybe a little
[34:51.280 -> 34:56.440] bit of mechanical balance, obviously different flap angle, different preparation for the
[34:56.440 -> 34:57.440] tires.
[34:57.440 -> 34:58.440] But yeah.
[34:58.440 -> 35:04.440] I mean, I think in FP1, their main concern is going to be, Jesus Christ, I hope this
[35:04.440 -> 35:06.440] fucking car makes it around in one piece
[35:07.400 -> 35:09.400] Exactly talking about Alpina McLaren
[35:09.980 -> 35:14.520] Well, I mean, let's be honest all the teams because yeah, Red Bull got their double DNF. Oh
[35:16.440 -> 35:18.440] We'll get back to that in a second but uh
[35:19.520 -> 35:22.080] Some teams have already bought upgrades apparently
[35:22.880 -> 35:24.880] apparently apparently apparently
[35:24.800 -> 35:30.680] teams have already bought upgrades. Apparently, apparently, apparently. We'll come to that in a second. Other things about the track that are interesting. It's
[35:30.680 -> 35:35.680] great. And it can also be really windy. And there's a lot of discussion about some of
[35:35.680 -> 35:40.440] the teams having a not really too sure about what their wind sensitivity is like, which
[35:40.440 -> 35:48.800] is basically when it gets super windy and your rear wing starts shitting down force and the car becomes super unstable and where it used to be flat is no longer.
[35:48.800 -> 35:51.680] I believe the official driver term is gusty.
[35:51.680 -> 35:52.680] Gusty, yeah.
[35:52.680 -> 35:53.680] It's a bit blowy.
[35:53.680 -> 35:54.680] So there you go, that's Bahrain.
[35:54.680 -> 35:55.680] Why don't we-
[35:55.680 -> 35:56.680] Gusty and gusty.
[35:56.680 -> 35:57.680] Why don't we rewind?
[35:57.680 -> 35:58.680] Let's talk about last year to kind of-
[35:58.680 -> 35:59.680] I can't do that.
[35:59.680 -> 36:00.680] I don't have a rewind sound but yeah.
[36:00.680 -> 36:01.680] Just do it.
[36:01.680 -> 36:05.680] Okay. Why don't we, um, dusty and gusty. Why don't we rewind? Let's talk about last year to kind of, I can't do it.
[36:05.680 -> 36:09.360] I don't have a rewind sound, but yeah, just do it to too.
[36:09.560 -> 36:09.960] Okay.
[36:11.520 -> 36:14.240] That's that's us back to 2022.
[36:15.360 -> 36:16.440] Talk to me about last year.
[36:16.440 -> 36:21.160] Cause I want to, I want to hear it again, because if you told me this now, I wouldn't
[36:21.160 -> 36:29.140] believe you looking at the end of the season. Red Bull successfully managed to double DNF in the first race of the year and then went
[36:29.140 -> 36:36.520] on on a rampage of pure rage and aggression and smashed the competition for the rest of
[36:36.520 -> 36:37.520] the year.
[36:37.520 -> 36:38.520] Yeah.
[36:38.520 -> 36:41.000] To be fair, the first half of the season Ferrari looked very strong.
[36:41.000 -> 36:46.360] The Ferrari looked mental and the qualifying kind of played out like that. So
[36:46.360 -> 36:51.680] the clear qualified just ahead of her stop in and Hamilton all the way down in fifth.
[36:51.680 -> 36:57.920] But last year we also had Bottas in the alpha qualifying six, which is not too bad for an
[36:57.920 -> 37:07.920] alpha Romeo came back in the house P seven last year. So, uh, I think Alpha and Haas should go well here based on their testing
[37:07.920 -> 37:12.560] results. Um, and in the past they've done the same, but who knows? It's just testing.
[37:12.560 -> 37:16.480] Yeah. And it's with them. It's the same old story in that if they have a strong car to
[37:16.480 -> 37:21.960] begin with, they just end up getting out developed by everyone else. So it's not like the car
[37:21.960 -> 37:28.120] gets slower. It's just everyone else out develops them because they've got a bigger budget, better resources or whatever.
[37:28.120 -> 37:35.680] More handsome people. Yeah, you know, stuff like that. But into the race, both Red Bulls
[37:35.680 -> 37:43.160] double DNF fuel system issues. Ouch. The clear winds ahead of signs by six seconds and 10
[37:43.160 -> 37:49.220] seconds ahead of the Mercs. Yowza. that was not the race start of the season that Mercedes wanted and I have
[37:49.220 -> 37:50.220] a funny feeling.
[37:50.220 -> 37:56.160] We're going to see 10 seconds ahead of the Mercedes doesn't actually sound that bad when
[37:56.160 -> 37:59.040] you see how much fucking aggro that car was.
[37:59.040 -> 38:01.280] Yeah, was there a safety car though?
[38:01.280 -> 38:07.800] I believe the bulls from well yeah true true that true that
[38:07.800 -> 38:11.760] you know here's here's so that was last year but here's one of my favorite
[38:11.760 -> 38:16.240] things about Bahrain what's one of your favorite things about Bahrain Blake but
[38:16.240 -> 38:19.720] one of my favorite things about Bahrain is I would when I used to travel there
[38:19.720 -> 38:24.760] every other year I would get a hotel room that was a smoking room and I don't
[38:24.760 -> 38:29.000] know what it is about the Bahraini guys that smoke cigarettes in their room,
[38:29.000 -> 38:36.000] but they're rolling Marlboro Reds and they're just like blowing them into the pillowcases and bed sheets and into the walls.
[38:36.000 -> 38:39.000] They were heavy, heavy tobacco smell in some of those smoking rooms.
[38:39.000 -> 38:42.000] They are smoking on that Bahraini pack.
[38:42.000 -> 38:48.040] Yeah, exactly. But every Thursday night at the track, the
[38:48.040 -> 38:55.360] circuit puts on a barbecue of meats and mezzes and like all the little sides and breads and
[38:55.360 -> 39:00.000] it's so good and I miss it. I miss it so much like I would go back there.
[39:00.000 -> 39:08.840] Oh, you know what? Another thing, another fun thing about the track. My good buddy, Ash Vanderlei, she posted a video the other day talking about, did you
[39:08.840 -> 39:15.000] know that it looks like the track is sandy, but they actually effectively glue the sand
[39:15.000 -> 39:18.920] down around the outskirts of the track so it doesn't blow around and that shit is super
[39:18.920 -> 39:19.920] abrasive and.
[39:19.920 -> 39:25.080] I know some buddies that did some cycling around there and one of them fell off.
[39:25.080 -> 39:27.040] You don't want to fall off on that stuff.
[39:27.040 -> 39:28.040] Yeah.
[39:28.040 -> 39:33.600] That's, that's like you, you got to pick the bed sheets off of yourself in the morning.
[39:33.600 -> 39:34.760] It was bad.
[39:34.760 -> 39:35.760] That was 2017.
[39:35.760 -> 39:38.200] See, I'm not ideal.
[39:38.200 -> 39:39.200] I'm not ideal.
[39:39.200 -> 39:41.520] Perfectly safe from that because I don't exercise.
[39:41.520 -> 39:44.520] So for me, no.
[39:44.520 -> 39:45.840] Okay. because I don't exercise, so. Not a problem for me.
[39:45.840 -> 39:46.840] Oh, okay.
[39:46.840 -> 39:51.600] I just might, you know, pull, I might do a Lance Stroll as I'm busy updating Twitter
[39:51.600 -> 39:55.840] from my lazy boy and correcting all these fucking engineers that think they know something.
[39:55.840 -> 39:56.840] Yeah, exactly.
[39:56.840 -> 39:58.400] It's like, oh, channel 969.
[39:58.400 -> 40:00.760] I wonder what that one's about.
[40:00.760 -> 40:03.680] Bow, check it out.
[40:03.680 -> 40:04.680] Wow.
[40:04.680 -> 40:05.000] Wow. Oh my God.
[40:06.000 -> 40:08.480] Um. Into the weekend.
[40:08.500 -> 40:12.320] Sorry yeah into the weekend into the weekend Mercedes did bring a lower
[40:12.320 -> 40:15.480] downforce ring where they were running their big barn door the entire test.
[40:15.900 -> 40:16.780] And to me.
[40:17.560 -> 40:21.680] I don't know like that looks like they predicted that the high downforce
[40:21.680 -> 40:23.080] ring was the one they wanted to run.
[40:23.960 -> 40:26.560] They told production right, let's build that one.
[40:26.560 -> 40:26.960] Yep.
[40:26.960 -> 40:30.400] And they and they get closer to the test and update some simulations. And they're like,
[40:30.400 -> 40:34.960] you know what, lads, we should probably get that. We should get that, you know, that level four
[40:34.960 -> 40:39.200] wing coming soon because they didn't test it at all. But that's one of those things like the lower
[40:40.240 -> 40:45.160] downforce wing should be all right. And it looks like Lewis is testing that one in P1
[40:45.360 -> 40:48.240] because the car is already being built and yours is the big one on.
[40:48.520 -> 40:50.360] So they'll do a little A B comparison there.
[40:50.360 -> 40:53.080] But have we have you actually seen photos of it?
[40:53.080 -> 40:56.800] Is it like that one they did last year where they pretty much air
[40:56.800 -> 40:59.080] sawed a giant chunk out of it?
[40:59.080 -> 41:01.920] Now it's a it's a proper construction with a different shape.
[41:01.920 -> 41:05.200] It's not like it's not the Tim the Toolman special.
[41:05.200 -> 41:06.700] The Scraff heap challenge.
[41:07.000 -> 41:08.200] Yeah, no, it's none of that.
[41:08.900 -> 41:11.100] But um, that'll be that'll be interesting to see.
[41:12.100 -> 41:12.400] Why don't we?
[41:12.400 -> 41:14.500] Why don't we get into the the usual segments?
[41:14.500 -> 41:17.300] But before we do this as part of our pre-race show,
[41:17.600 -> 41:18.900] I need your top five in quali.
[41:20.100 -> 41:22.800] Well, you top fives in teams or drivers?
[41:22.900 -> 41:23.400] Drivers.
[41:23.500 -> 41:24.300] You want the grid?
[41:25.760 -> 41:27.040] Yeah, top top five grid. Okay, you know what? Let's Drivers. You want the grid? Yeah, top five. Top five grid, okay.
[41:27.040 -> 41:28.640] You know what, let's do the first two rows.
[41:28.640 -> 41:29.280] No, top five.
[41:29.280 -> 41:31.760] No, no, no, no, we're doing top five.
[41:31.760 -> 41:32.400] I've committed.
[41:32.960 -> 41:33.440] Yep, okay.
[41:33.440 -> 41:35.760] Um, right, you ready?
[41:37.280 -> 41:37.780] Max?
[41:38.880 -> 41:39.360] Which one?
[41:40.160 -> 41:41.120] What do you mean which one?
[41:41.120 -> 41:43.440] Max, how many maxes are on the grid, you fucking idiot?
[41:44.880 -> 41:46.980] Max Chilton, he's gonna magically come in
[41:48.240 -> 41:49.960] from return
[41:49.960 -> 41:56.040] Yes, right. So max was that and just to clear up. Sorry max Chilton. I don't believe you're gonna come back
[41:58.920 -> 42:00.920] I'm gonna go Perez Oh
[42:01.920 -> 42:09.080] Bias Red Bull boy is rebel. Oh my god cancel him he's biased. But because
[42:09.080 -> 42:16.140] I think Checo is going to have a much better season with this car so I think we could see
[42:16.140 -> 42:22.700] him being a little bit cheeky and being up there. So sorry yeah Max, Checo, Alonso just
[42:22.700 -> 42:25.300] for the fucking memes. Oh my God.
[42:25.300 -> 42:27.500] Just why not just fucking stick him up there.
[42:28.300 -> 42:30.200] Um, Charles Hammon.
[42:31.200 -> 42:32.500] I'm having a panic attack.
[42:32.900 -> 42:34.700] Cries and Carlos signs.
[42:34.900 -> 42:36.500] Oh, one.
[42:36.500 -> 42:37.800] Oh good.
[42:37.900 -> 42:38.200] All right.
[42:38.200 -> 42:40.500] Uh, somebody write that down for me, please.
[42:40.700 -> 42:41.800] I'm going.
[42:43.100 -> 42:53.880] Max Leclerc Perez. Signs. Russell.
[42:53.880 -> 42:59.320] See that's boring. Vanilla. It is born vanilla. It is born vanilla. No, but I think I think
[42:59.320 -> 43:06.700] yeah, I'm too. Spice up your life. Stick a bit of Alonso in it. Yeah, exactly.
[43:09.200 -> 43:09.700] Okay, podium, top three, race.
[43:10.400 -> 43:10.700] Who's the podium?
[43:11.300 -> 43:13.200] Podium.
[43:14.200 -> 43:15.900] It's going to be
[43:18.500 -> 43:20.200] Charles, Alonso,
[43:21.300 -> 43:25.520] and Lewis. Because And, Oh,
[43:26.220 -> 43:27.420] Lewis,
[43:28.220 -> 43:29.020] because
[43:32.020 -> 43:37.120] Red Bull are going to win the season this year. So they have to double DNF again. Is there a bet on the bookies for a double DNF Red Bull race one?
[43:38.420 -> 43:39.220] There should be.
[43:40.120 -> 43:45.360] Whoever, if Red Bull don't DNF, team another team double DNFs in this first race
[43:45.360 -> 43:47.400] That's it put all your money on them to win this season
[43:48.480 -> 43:51.040] Okay, my podium. I'm gonna go for
[43:52.280 -> 43:55.080] Red Bull top two steps with an Alonzo on the third step
[43:55.840 -> 44:00.240] Yes, come on Alonzo. We're all going lad. We are all on the Alonzo train
[44:00.240 -> 44:09.240] Oh my god, somebody in the twitch chat saying double DNF from Merc. No,'t think so I don't think so but anyway we've got a new segment tell us
[44:09.240 -> 44:12.300] tell us about this new segment. Or this one's a good one
[44:12.300 -> 44:17.680] strap yourself in. It ties in quite nicely to what we just said so we have been
[44:17.680 -> 44:25.000] accused unfairly of having a bit of a Red Bull bias. I say, yeah, we do,
[44:25.000 -> 44:27.240] because they fucking paid our mortgages
[44:27.240 -> 44:29.280] for like six, seven years.
[44:29.280 -> 44:31.200] So of course we've got bias towards them.
[44:31.200 -> 44:32.040] However,
[44:32.840 -> 44:33.660] thanks Christian.
[44:33.660 -> 44:34.500] We want to show everyone
[44:34.500 -> 44:36.280] that we can hate every team equally.
[44:38.040 -> 44:41.680] So I am bringing in random fandom.
[44:42.880 -> 44:48.680] So for this race and for every race in our previews, we've got a very professional
[44:48.680 -> 44:54.400] spin the wheel here. I can't show you it because it's a web page. Just trust me. And we are
[44:54.400 -> 45:00.520] going to spin and pick a team that we're going to rep for the season. Sorry, for the race,
[45:00.520 -> 45:06.000] upcoming race. Then we got to do a little school report on them on our race
[45:06.000 -> 45:07.000] review show.
[45:07.000 -> 45:10.920] Is this like one of those like blindly gassing them up after the race and just telling them
[45:10.920 -> 45:14.400] all guys it's you guys did such a good job. Great teamwork.
[45:14.400 -> 45:16.320] You can if you want to do that, you can.
[45:16.320 -> 45:18.640] I don't want to do that. It makes me sick.
[45:18.640 -> 45:23.200] You can fucking drop a nuke on them, whatever you want to do. But this is what we're going
[45:23.200 -> 45:25.680] to do. So do you want the first spin?
[45:27.720 -> 45:31.560] So do we each get do we each get one yeah, yeah one each yeah go on
[45:31.560 -> 45:35.680] Yeah, I'll take the first spin. All right, this one's you give me LP and I'm gonna punch you know
[45:36.480 -> 45:38.480] Here we go
[45:39.000 -> 45:41.000] You've got
[45:42.480 -> 45:45.240] This is I'm not joking you got Ferrari
[45:48.520 -> 45:51.640] Giving your spin. Yeah, right my spin
[45:53.500 -> 45:55.500] Spin it up, baby
[45:55.600 -> 45:57.480] Here we go
[45:57.480 -> 45:59.480] Spin me right round baby
[46:00.360 -> 46:03.240] Get in I've got out for a mayo, okay
[46:05.920 -> 46:06.920] There we go, that's not too bad. That's not too bad.
[46:06.920 -> 46:11.740] So that's going to be our homework.
[46:11.740 -> 46:15.080] We got to do ourselves a little report on them for the race review.
[46:15.080 -> 46:16.080] Deal.
[46:16.080 -> 46:19.800] Right, let's let's let's move on.
[46:19.800 -> 46:23.040] So we've I'm going to do a little report card on Ferrari and Dan's going to do Alfa Romeo.
[46:23.040 -> 46:25.000] I think those would be two good-looking scorecards.
[46:25.000 -> 46:27.800] Hopefully, neither of them cock it up too badly.
[46:27.800 -> 46:30.600] No, and I was gonna suggest maybe we make it into a little competition
[46:30.600 -> 46:33.000] of where we see who wins at the end of the year.
[46:33.000 -> 46:36.400] However, you've got Ferrari and I've got Alfa Romeo, so let's not do that.
[46:36.400 -> 46:39.000] Yeah, you're gonna get absolutely skill-gapped there, brother.
[46:39.000 -> 46:42.200] I'm just gonna change all yours to Williams for the rest of the season.
[46:42.200 -> 46:50.620] Yeah, head-ey eyes, bro. Literally. Um, that brings me to our next segment and I got to make sure
[46:50.620 -> 46:56.660] I push the right button. Hold on.
[46:56.660 -> 47:09.000] Okay. If anybody's it's back, it's back it's back and we've got another way to do this.
[47:09.000 -> 47:14.400] So when when somebody or someone goes on Fraud Watch, we'll each nominate someone there on
[47:14.400 -> 47:19.200] Fraud Watch for three races.
[47:19.200 -> 47:22.400] And there's a will get into the way that they can get off of probation.
[47:22.400 -> 47:27.260] But if you get Fraud Watch twice, you're on the naughty list and you just
[47:27.260 -> 47:28.920] go in the bin for the rest of the season.
[47:28.920 -> 47:30.840] And we don't talk about you nicely at all.
[47:31.080 -> 47:33.800] Or maybe you have to say something nasty about your team every season,
[47:33.800 -> 47:34.920] or it doesn't have to be a team.
[47:34.920 -> 47:37.200] It could be a person, a driver, a company.
[47:37.500 -> 47:38.040] It doesn't matter.
[47:38.080 -> 47:40.640] Anything related to the F1 weekend in question.
[47:41.360 -> 47:41.680] Yeah.
[47:41.780 -> 47:45.840] And if anybody says the Las Vegas sequin jackets you guys just hate America.
[47:45.840 -> 47:51.120] That's all. Mate there's nothing wrong with sequin jackets as you will know if you watched our 2022
[47:51.120 -> 47:57.440] review uh awards end of year awards show. It was hot. It was really hot. I've still got it somewhere
[47:57.440 -> 48:03.680] I don't know where it is but yeah. USA USA. All right so right each of us are going to nominate
[48:03.680 -> 48:05.400] somebody for Fraud Watch this week.
[48:05.400 -> 48:07.200] Do you want to go first since I got the first spin?
[48:07.200 -> 48:10.600] Oh right, we're doing Fraud Watch the testing, are we?
[48:10.600 -> 48:11.600] Yeah, yeah.
[48:11.600 -> 48:12.600] Let's start it off.
[48:12.600 -> 48:13.600] Alright, McLaren then, straight in.
[48:13.600 -> 48:14.600] Bang, McLaren.
[48:14.600 -> 48:15.600] Straight in.
[48:15.600 -> 48:16.600] Okay.
[48:16.600 -> 48:20.720] Zac Brown is the perfect guy I want if I'm sitting somewhere and I need someone to sell
[48:20.720 -> 48:23.720] something ice to Eskimos.
[48:23.720 -> 48:25.560] But if I want him to run a technical department
[48:25.560 -> 48:33.080] or a team to build me a car then no go home Zach.
[48:33.080 -> 48:38.160] All right I'm doubling down I've been getting it in the neck kind of politely in the French
[48:38.160 -> 48:41.600] accent in caps lock on Twitter all week.
[48:41.600 -> 48:42.600] Monge2.
[48:42.600 -> 48:43.600] Alpine.
[48:43.600 -> 48:49.040] Yeah for their questionable testing. Alpine's on
[48:49.040 -> 48:55.680] Fraud Watch for wasting three days of testing. So. Shocking. Shocking. We are now
[48:55.680 -> 49:02.120] cancelled in France. Yeah. No I like Gasly, I like Aucon, I know a lot of people
[49:02.120 -> 49:08.000] that work there I just don't know what they're doing and I haven't bothered to ask them so much can go on vibes on this one all French lineup
[49:08.000 -> 49:10.320] We're gonna get some baguette bashing this year
[49:12.840 -> 49:16.260] Let's go so because this why Lance hurt his wrist
[49:20.600 -> 49:25.240] We've got one more segment which is which is you know, I mentioned that we could, you
[49:25.240 -> 49:28.440] could be removed from Fraud Watch.
[49:28.440 -> 49:30.600] You could be removed from Fraud Watch probation by...
[49:30.600 -> 49:31.600] I do that.
[49:31.600 -> 49:34.600] Oh, you do, you do, you're a good boy.
[49:34.600 -> 49:36.600] I am, I'm a good boy.
[49:36.600 -> 49:41.760] So Engine Mode Good Boy is basically somebody trying to tell Dan that he's like...
[49:41.760 -> 49:44.040] Just more of a virtual boss.
[49:44.040 -> 49:47.200] Yeah, you were virtue signaling on Twitter when you were actually
[49:47.200 -> 49:48.680] being like, Hey, here's something really interesting.
[49:48.680 -> 49:49.800] And this is worth talking about.
[49:49.800 -> 49:51.400] And people are like, Oh, okay.
[49:51.400 -> 49:52.400] Red Bull bias.
[49:52.400 -> 49:53.400] Now he's trying to be nice.
[49:53.400 -> 49:59.680] But anyway, um, anyway, let me go first.
[49:59.680 -> 50:01.440] And where'd you boy good boy for testing.
[50:01.440 -> 50:02.840] This is tough for me, right?
[50:02.840 -> 50:03.840] Because it's very tough.
[50:03.840 -> 50:05.640] I didn't get to see a lot of testing.
[50:06.600 -> 50:12.080] However, our boy Joe top the timetables on like one of the days.
[50:12.840 -> 50:16.560] And I think he has immaculate Riz and fashion sense.
[50:16.960 -> 50:17.200] Yep.
[50:17.240 -> 50:18.400] And I'm a bit of a fan boy.
[50:18.400 -> 50:19.800] So he's my good boy.
[50:20.520 -> 50:20.880] Okay.
[50:21.840 -> 50:22.360] You know what?
[50:23.400 -> 50:24.960] Dan's got Joe.
[50:27.280 -> 50:28.840] I'm going with his teammate, man. Oh yeah, Valtteri.
[50:28.840 -> 50:30.920] The mullet, beer drinking.
[50:30.920 -> 50:33.000] Yeah, just vibes out, man.
[50:33.000 -> 50:34.960] This guy, Valtteri goes hard.
[50:34.960 -> 50:40.920] I'm looking forward to Alfermano having a good season and I just like seeing Valtteri
[50:40.920 -> 50:43.040] right now kicking ass.
[50:43.040 -> 50:44.040] Yeah.
[50:44.040 -> 50:46.000] Yeah, with the mullet and his testing helmet was so good. boxing altery right now kicking ass. Yeah. The, the, yeah,
[50:46.000 -> 50:48.000] with the mullet and his testing helmet
[50:48.000 -> 50:50.000] was so good. Yes. You know what it needed?
[50:50.000 -> 50:52.000] Ah, damn, that should have been my good boy.
[50:52.000 -> 50:54.000] But yeah, that was... It needed a little
[50:54.000 -> 50:56.000] tuft of hair, like, off the back of the helmet
[50:56.000 -> 50:58.000] for the mullet. Yeah, you know, you see them
[50:58.000 -> 51:00.000] motorcycle helmets that have got, like, the
[51:00.000 -> 51:02.000] ears on them. The marks or whatever.
[51:02.000 -> 51:04.000] Yeah, yeah, we needed a bit of that at the back.
[51:04.000 -> 51:05.600] He needs one of those. So, yeah, yeah, we need to be allowed to back.
[51:05.600 -> 51:07.040] He needs one of those.
[51:07.040 -> 51:10.280] So I think that's all we've got today.
[51:10.280 -> 51:12.840] Are you doing any streaming this weekend?
[51:12.840 -> 51:13.840] You chillin?
[51:13.840 -> 51:18.040] No, I've got a wife, two dogs and three kids.
[51:18.040 -> 51:24.760] I've committed myself to doing this podcast and anything else is just a bonus.
[51:24.760 -> 51:26.960] Right here's a little bit of a problem.
[51:26.960 -> 51:30.760] Thomas said if Valtteri gets a podium, will Blake get a mullet?
[51:30.760 -> 51:32.880] And I need a haircut desperately.
[51:32.880 -> 51:35.840] I was going to go tomorrow morning, but I'm going to go have breakfast with some mates.
[51:35.840 -> 51:39.200] That sounds weird to say I'm going to have breakfast with people.
[51:39.200 -> 51:40.200] But I don't know.
[51:40.200 -> 51:46.660] Is it weird because you're socializing and we just in our spare rooms and hot
[51:46.660 -> 51:47.800] takes of F1 all day.
[51:48.320 -> 51:49.320] Hey guys.
[51:49.680 -> 51:52.960] Um, mullet if Valtteri gets a podium.
[51:54.840 -> 51:55.400] Yeah, sure.
[51:56.160 -> 51:56.560] Whatever.
[51:57.000 -> 51:57.320] I'll do it.
[51:57.640 -> 52:01.280] It takes too long for my actual hair to grow, but my beard grows quite nicely.
[52:01.280 -> 52:03.200] So maybe I'll do it.
[52:08.320 -> 52:12.720] beard grows quite nicely. So maybe I'll do it. Maybe if Valtteri gets a podium, I will shave it down to like a Valtteri tash and keep it for a month or something.
[52:12.720 -> 52:16.040] No, let me do this. And this one's mine. This one's mine.
[52:16.040 -> 52:18.920] Okay. Yeah. Cause you can grow a fucking beard.
[52:18.920 -> 52:23.900] No I can't. I can grow a beard. I just can't grow like the sides. So anyway, um, this weekend,
[52:23.900 -> 52:25.400] if you're listening to this podcast,
[52:25.400 -> 52:26.900] I will be streaming live on Twitch.
[52:26.900 -> 52:28.500] I'll be live an hour before qualifying
[52:28.500 -> 52:29.300] an hour before the race.
[52:29.300 -> 52:30.400] And if you haven't joined in,
[52:30.700 -> 52:33.000] we've got F1 multiviewer powering our timing
[52:33.800 -> 52:35.300] and it's a very interesting
[52:35.300 -> 52:36.300] watch along experience.
[52:36.300 -> 52:37.400] Maybe it's not for everybody,
[52:37.400 -> 52:39.200] but a lot of people have said
[52:39.200 -> 52:40.600] they just mute their TVs and hang out
[52:40.600 -> 52:41.400] with us in the stream.
[52:41.400 -> 52:43.300] So I'll be talking about the race.
[52:43.300 -> 52:44.000] We'll see you there.
[52:45.280 -> 52:51.200] And if you haven't left us a nice review on Spotify. Yeah, seriously, what's wrong with you?
[52:51.840 -> 52:52.240] Pricks.
[52:54.480 -> 53:02.800] Do it. Do it. Do it now. Do it. Anyway, you guys do me a favor. And yeah,
[53:02.800 -> 53:05.160] wait, one more thing.
[53:05.160 -> 53:06.000] Oh.
[53:06.000 -> 53:07.800] Did you say you're doing a live watch along on Sunday
[53:07.800 -> 53:09.040] for the race?
[53:09.040 -> 53:09.880] What?
[53:10.840 -> 53:12.600] What, is that a yes or a no?
[53:12.600 -> 53:13.440] What?
[53:13.440 -> 53:14.260] Yes.
[53:14.260 -> 53:15.360] What's what mean?
[53:15.360 -> 53:16.180] We.
[53:16.180 -> 53:17.120] We.
[53:17.120 -> 53:20.800] Fucking Americans, never do this with an American.
[53:20.800 -> 53:22.320] I'm telling you now.
[53:22.320 -> 53:24.680] All these random fucking phrases.
[53:24.680 -> 53:26.000] But I am, I am Le French.
[53:26.000 -> 53:29.000] In and out fucking burgers and God knows what else.
[53:29.000 -> 53:31.000] In and out fries, trash.
[53:31.000 -> 53:32.000] Bleh.
[53:32.000 -> 53:33.000] Bleh.
[53:33.000 -> 53:34.000] Yeah, okay.
[53:34.000 -> 53:41.000] This Sunday I'm going to be doing that last lap live with Tom.
[53:41.000 -> 53:42.000] Ah!
[53:42.000 -> 53:44.000] Ah, you're going over to hang out with the boys.
[53:44.000 -> 53:46.560] Yeah, yeah, I'm going to go hang out in London.
[53:46.560 -> 53:47.040] I can't.
[53:47.040 -> 53:48.520] I'm done.
[53:48.520 -> 53:49.160] Oh, my.
[53:49.160 -> 53:50.920] We'll send us some pictures from the set, man.
[53:50.920 -> 53:51.680] Yeah, we'll do.
[53:51.680 -> 53:53.000] Feet pics.
[53:53.000 -> 53:53.920] No, that's good.
[53:53.920 -> 53:56.120] Unless it's near his feet.
[53:56.120 -> 53:58.280] Yeah, I think it's the first time I met him.
[53:58.960 -> 54:00.680] I've not met him before.
[54:00.920 -> 54:02.520] Oh, he was there last time, was he?
[54:02.520 -> 54:03.040] It was cow.
[54:03.040 -> 54:04.120] Oh, shoot.
[54:04.280 -> 54:04.960] Shoot.
[54:04.960 -> 54:06.540] Shoot, brother. Sweet. All right, man, we'll have a good time was he was cow shoot shoot shoot brother sweet
[54:06.540 -> 54:10.480] all right man we'll have a good time I will fuck yeah I don't need you anymore
[54:10.480 -> 54:17.440] I'm on the up dude dude everybody to the horn we'll see you guys next week for
[54:17.440 -> 54:20.920] the Bahrain race review and then the week after we'll get into a little preview
[54:20.920 -> 54:25.360] for the next one give us out to give us the toots, give us the five star reviews,
[54:25.360 -> 54:30.800] big up your nan, big up your local butcher, shout out to your local In-N-Out but don't eat the fries
[54:31.360 -> 54:37.760] and fish and chips for life. Fuck off. Yep right later jokers.