2021 Azerbaijan GP Race Discussion

Visit us at f1fanfiction.comWell done Baku! Yet another amazing race at Azerbaijan GP!In this episode we discuss:Pirelli Tire debacleMax writes a strongly worded letterRedemption time for the RejectedF1 gets some PERVET GASRed Bull finally has the winning formula?Aston Martin on point with strategyGasly gets some wings.BOT driving a Williams now?Mercedes cracks under pressureHAM has a Mazepin momentFerrari climbing up the ladderJoin us at Socials:Twitter: @f1fanfictionInstagram: @f1fanfictionF1 Fantasy Code: c3f7a33139Music:Intro: Howling (Sting) - Gunnar OlsenOutro: Your Intro by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Artist: http://audionautix.com/FanFiction By Anirudh Mendiratta @MontanaDesi on Twitter

**Race Recap:**

* **Pirelli Tire Debacle:** A series of tire failures, including those experienced by Lance Stroll and Max Verstappen, raised concerns about driver safety. Pirelli initially suggested debris as a possible cause, but the blame game quickly ensued.

* **Max Verstappen's Letter:** Verstappen penned a strongly worded letter to Pirelli expressing his dissatisfaction with the tire issues.

* **Redemption for the "Rejected":** Sergio Perez, Sebastian Vettel, and Pierre Gasly, all drivers who had faced challenges in recent seasons, found redemption with strong performances in Baku.

* **Red Bull's Winning Formula:** Red Bull's decision to advocate for a red flag after the tire failures demonstrated their commitment to driver safety and ultimately contributed to their success in the race.

* **Aston Martin's Strategic Prowess:** Aston Martin's strategic calls, including an early pit stop for Vettel, proved to be instrumental in their podium finish.

* **Gasly's Resurgence:** Gasly's impressive performance, including his battles with Vettel and Charles Leclerc, showcased his growing confidence and skill.

* **Bottas's Struggles:** Valtteri Bottas endured a difficult race, struggling to maintain position and even being overtaken by Alfa Romeo drivers Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi.

* **Mercedes Under Pressure:** Mercedes, accustomed to dominance in recent years, appeared to be feeling the pressure from Red Bull's strong start to the season.

* **Hamilton's Error:** Lewis Hamilton made an uncharacteristic mistake at the restart, locking up his brakes and running straight, costing him valuable positions.

* **Ferrari's Progress:** Ferrari showed signs of improvement with Charles Leclerc finishing in the points and Carlos Sainz Jr. also performing well.

**Key Points:**

* The Baku race was marred by tire failures, leading to safety concerns and finger-pointing.

* Perez, Vettel, and Gasly delivered strong performances, demonstrating their resilience and talent.

* Red Bull's strategic decisions and commitment to safety contributed to their success.

* Aston Martin's strategy paid off, resulting in a podium finish for Vettel.

* Gasly's impressive drives highlighted his growing confidence and skill.

* Bottas faced difficulties, struggling to maintain position and being overtaken by Alfa Romeo drivers.

* Mercedes appeared to be feeling the pressure from Red Bull's strong start to the season.

* Hamilton made an uncharacteristic error at the restart, costing him valuable positions.

* Ferrari showed signs of improvement with Leclerc and Sainz performing well.

**Pirelli Tire Debacle**

* The hosts discuss the controversy surrounding Pirelli's tires, which experienced several failures during the race, leading to concerns about driver safety.

**Max Verstappen's Letter**

* Max Verstappen's strongly worded letter to Pirelli is mentioned, in which he expressed his frustration and demanded improvements to ensure driver safety.

**Redemption Time for the Rejected**

* The podcast highlights the impressive performances of drivers who had been previously criticized or overlooked, such as Pierre Gasly and George Russell, who showcased their skills in the race.

**Formula One Gets PERVET GAS**

* The hosts discuss the introduction of a new fuel, PERVET GAS, in Formula One, and its potential impact on the sport.

**Red Bull's Winning Formula**

* The podcast analyzes Red Bull's recent success, attributing it to their strong strategy and car performance, which has resulted in a series of victories.

**Aston Martin's Strategic Prowess**

* Aston Martin's strategic decisions during the race are praised, as they enabled Sebastian Vettel to secure a podium finish.

**Pierre Gasly's Resurgence**

* Pierre Gasly's impressive performance in the race is highlighted, with the hosts noting his ability to overcome challenges and secure a strong result.

**Bottas' Struggles**

* Valtteri Bottas' struggles in the race are discussed, with the hosts speculating on the reasons behind his poor performance.

**Mercedes Under Pressure**

* The podcast examines the pressure faced by Mercedes, as they continue to trail Red Bull in the championship standings.

**Hamilton's Error**

* Lewis Hamilton's mistake during the race, which resulted in a collision with Esteban Ocon, is analyzed, with the hosts discussing its potential impact on his championship hopes.

**Ferrari's Progress**

* The podcast acknowledges Ferrari's recent improvement in performance, as they secured a double points finish in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

**Conclusion**

* The podcast concludes with the hosts looking ahead to the upcoming races, expressing anticipation for more exciting and unpredictable Formula One action.

[00:00.000 -> 00:07.000] It was Perez's nice rear that also kept him in front of Hamilton, I think.
[00:07.760 -> 00:13.560] Yeah, I heard Hamilton praising Perez's rear on radio.
[00:13.800 -> 00:15.240] I don't know what that was about.
[00:15.360 -> 00:17.040] Maybe he should get his number or something.
[00:23.080 -> 00:30.480] Hello and welcome back to another episode with F1 Fan Fiction. I promise you this episode
[00:30.480 -> 00:36.240] is going to be just way way way more amazing than the race that was just too amazing. We
[00:36.240 -> 00:44.680] are your hosts. I am Akash. And I'm Sarang. And let's get into it. What a blasting race.
[00:44.680 -> 00:46.720] What a blistering and blasting race.
[00:46.720 -> 00:48.840] And I say that for a reason, Sarang. You know that.
[00:48.840 -> 00:53.040] Oh, yeah. Obviously, Pirelli was having a blast yesterday, right?
[00:53.040 -> 01:00.000] Yeah. And I see that the blame games have already begun.
[01:00.000 -> 01:06.080] So here's more entertainment for you once the blasting race is over.
[01:07.360 -> 01:07.880] Exactly.
[01:07.880 -> 01:13.000] You know, F1 wants to ensure that even after you turn off the TV, you're still entertained.
[01:15.520 -> 01:19.240] I'm sure Bernie must be like jumping with joy right now.
[01:21.360 -> 01:27.520] Oh man, but that, speaking of Bernie, that just keeps reminding me how this new management
[01:27.520 -> 01:28.520] change with FIA.
[01:28.520 -> 01:32.520] And this is not the first time we are, you know, bringing FIA into the picture of our
[01:32.520 -> 01:39.080] discussions because we have spoken about what the FIA is doing for episodes and episodes
[01:39.080 -> 01:40.080] again.
[01:40.080 -> 01:46.280] This time, not so much FIA, but yes, FIA because of because of hey what's happening with Pirelli and you
[01:46.280 -> 01:49.240] know you're supposed to manage that better.
[01:49.240 -> 01:52.780] So yeah what's happening with Pirelli and FIA?
[01:52.780 -> 01:58.760] Yeah it's like quite concerning actually I mean concerning in the sense that the way
[01:58.760 -> 02:08.480] the tires kind of just disintegrated for stroll as well as for max and you know at Baku especially with such
[02:08.480 -> 02:13.720] a long straight they basically go and it's not exactly a straight it's actually quite
[02:13.720 -> 02:19.800] a you know bendy straight so yeah they are going at some 300 kilometers per hour through
[02:19.800 -> 02:27.000] those and if they cannot rely on the tires I I think that's a very dangerous game we are playing here.
[02:27.000 -> 02:34.000] Totally. What was more interesting for me was, I think Pirelli came back with a statement that,
[02:34.000 -> 02:42.000] yeah, we cannot rule out debris. I think it was still debris because there were other cars driving on the same track
[02:42.000 -> 02:45.000] under similar conditions with the same number of laps
[02:45.000 -> 02:50.140] and that to me sounds so stupid because with that logic Mazepin should be able
[02:50.140 -> 02:56.260] to overtake Hamilton because Hamilton's tires are always gone like that logic is
[02:56.260 -> 03:00.980] so flawed yeah that's right I mean it's it's pretty straightforward you know
[03:00.980 -> 03:05.280] like this is bad publicity for Pirelli. They know what
[03:05.280 -> 03:09.040] all the headlines are gonna be like so you know they're trying to just get
[03:09.040 -> 03:14.320] ahead of the story and you know point fingers so that people don't blame them.
[03:14.320 -> 03:18.160] Totally, totally. I think there was something similar that happened back in
[03:18.160 -> 03:21.960] the years with older retired partnerships too. I think Goodyear,
[03:21.960 -> 03:25.280] Michelin, what was it? I don't really remember this.
[03:25.280 -> 03:28.400] Yeah, I don't exactly remember what year this was,
[03:28.400 -> 03:30.440] but this was quite some time ago.
[03:30.440 -> 03:34.240] This was, you know, Schumacher's Ferrari era.
[03:34.240 -> 03:38.400] Basically, I think there was a race at Indy,
[03:38.400 -> 03:43.280] and that time I think we had two tire manufacturers,
[03:43.280 -> 03:47.400] and one of them, which is Michelin, did not have,
[03:47.400 -> 03:49.520] or rather had a softer compound
[03:49.520 -> 03:52.520] and they had recently resurfaced the track at Indy
[03:53.400 -> 03:57.120] and because of which the surface was really abrasive.
[03:57.120 -> 04:01.000] And basically what happened is all the teams
[04:01.000 -> 04:04.280] that were using Michelin tires were not able to participate
[04:04.280 -> 04:06.640] and the race started with just six people.
[04:06.640 -> 04:10.400] Obviously, all the crowd was pissed off.
[04:10.400 -> 04:12.480] And they were asking for a refund.
[04:12.480 -> 04:14.240] Cops were not able to handle the crowd.
[04:14.240 -> 04:16.480] And yeah, shit went down.
[04:16.480 -> 04:19.760] It's US, probably gunfires too here and there.
[04:19.760 -> 04:20.400] I don't know.
[04:20.400 -> 04:22.800] Yeah, precisely.
[04:22.800 -> 04:46.080] But yeah, yesterday was rather interesting because to be honest my first thought was stroll loses balance something goes wrong there probably there was debris I mean because as you said those speeds are so high on that you know somewhat of a straight that yes even the slightest of something
[04:46.080 -> 04:53.440] can just cause huge damage similar stuff happened with Max but I I want to bring
[04:53.440 -> 05:00.640] in Red Bull as a team here because kudos to them they were on a winning like
[05:00.640 -> 05:05.460] three laps to go they were gonna going to win with Perez there.
[05:07.960 -> 05:08.460] They could have just finished on the safety car.
[05:12.920 -> 05:13.220] But Red Bull coming on to radio talking to Michael Messi, F1 director,
[05:16.360 -> 05:17.900] explaining that, hey, it's totally unsafe to continue. Let's red flag.
[05:17.900 -> 05:20.860] Just just too much kudos to Red Bull there.
[05:21.400 -> 05:22.300] Oh, yeah, definitely.
[05:22.300 -> 05:25.200] I mean, like hats off to them that they put driver safety ahead
[05:25.200 -> 05:31.760] of everything else and that was the right call to make and I'm glad they red flagged it because
[05:31.760 -> 05:38.080] yeah it's quite dangerous right. I mean these things should not you know there should be
[05:38.080 -> 05:45.680] no debate over these things where safety is involved and essentially considering the fact that we recently lost Jason
[05:46.560 -> 05:53.360] Dupasquier from MotoGP, you know safety should always be the of highest priority among everything
[05:53.360 -> 06:01.520] else. Totally, I mean it's no doubt a miracle or something less than a miracle that we actually saw
[06:02.160 -> 06:06.880] both of these drivers walk out of their car because that high
[06:06.880 -> 06:16.800] speed, you know, losing control, this could have gone in any direction. But well, the good part was
[06:16.800 -> 06:40.280] it was it was not more than a heartbreak. But yeah, I could have totally been a subject to a strong heartbeat study yesterday and someone could have studied my heart rate and you know, come to some sort of conclusion that someone can live with such huge fluctuations in two hours.
[06:41.480 -> 06:43.520] Yeah, my Fitbit was just going crazy, you know.
[06:47.320 -> 06:48.840] Yeah, my Fitbit was just going crazy, you know. Do you have a medical emergency?
[06:48.840 -> 06:51.240] Well, I might.
[06:51.240 -> 06:52.240] Give me five seconds.
[06:52.240 -> 06:53.240] Yeah, I don't.
[06:53.240 -> 06:54.240] Oh, man.
[06:54.240 -> 07:06.060] Yeah, I mean, that pretty much, you know, I think Max must be writing a very strongly worded letter to
[07:06.060 -> 07:16.260] Pirelli right now. But to be very honest I will come back to what happened after
[07:16.260 -> 07:31.560] that but eventually what ended up happening and whoever was on the podium. Yeah, in that sense, who was on the constructor podium made sense, because all three podium
[07:31.560 -> 07:35.600] finishes were related to the guy standing on the constructor.
[07:35.600 -> 07:38.040] Yeah, that's right.
[07:38.040 -> 07:41.240] That was quite weird to see, right?
[07:41.240 -> 07:48.080] Like, all three of them are essentially from the Red Bull Junior program. And yeah,
[07:48.080 -> 07:54.160] that's awesome. I mean, it goes to show how much like Red Bull has contributed to the sport.
[07:55.360 -> 08:01.520] Think about, I mean, pretty much you see the podium today. I mean, all of them are, you know,
[08:01.520 -> 08:11.480] people found by Red Bull. So yeah. Plus, obviously, I mean, the other half of the sport is also some of those famous Red Bull Academy drivers.
[08:11.480 -> 08:16.400] Sunoda, Riccardo, just amazing drivers.
[08:16.400 -> 08:28.280] But yesterday's podium, I think only probably Hamilton fans are gonna be sad from yesterday but I feel like the
[08:28.280 -> 08:35.880] entire F1 community and fans communities is just too satisfied and happy to see
[08:35.880 -> 08:41.920] the podium the way it was yesterday. Yeah, I just my weekend was such a roller
[08:41.920 -> 08:47.000] coaster ride but seeing that podium I, okay, it's been an excellent weekend.
[08:48.520 -> 08:53.920] Yeah, I mean, I was a little sad that, you know, we were robbed of a very good qualification shootout.
[08:54.880 -> 08:58.080] But yeah, the race like completely made up for it.
[08:58.080 -> 09:06.240] And especially the result that we got was, I think it basically was the day of the underdogs, kind of, and like, you know,
[09:06.240 -> 09:12.560] it was their redemption day as such. I mean, as you know, Perez, who was kicked out of
[09:12.560 -> 09:13.560] Racing Point.
[09:13.560 -> 09:20.400] Who fit the seat of who was kicked out of a different team.
[09:20.400 -> 09:34.760] Exactly. Vettel who was kicked off from Ferrari, who kicked off Perez, who basically replaced the other guy on the podium who was kicked off from the team. That's Pierre.
[09:34.760 -> 09:49.600] Oh man, domino effect finally taking its place on the podium. But these guys have started to get finally get used to the cars Perez and Vettel in their new cars.
[09:49.640 -> 10:10.000] They're getting way too comfy. We can see that. I think what it was free practice to Vettel Perez top the charts and you know that just I'm pretty sure Christian Horner is finally thanking his stars that after three failed attempts and two ruined careers, we have a driver.
[10:10.000 -> 10:22.000] I think he probably considers the two ruined careers as sacrifices to the F1 gods which delivered Perez to him.
[10:22.000 -> 10:27.440] Oh man, rituals at every year end. Exactly.
[10:27.440 -> 10:29.920] Oh man.
[10:29.920 -> 10:34.160] Yeah, but I mean, I think Red Bull is now in a strong position as such with, you know,
[10:34.160 -> 10:40.000] Perez being there because I think they finally have, you know, the right formula to win the
[10:40.000 -> 10:47.440] championship. I mean, it definitely will be difficult because Moser is strong, still strong, even though
[10:47.440 -> 10:51.680] the results are contradictory, I understand.
[10:51.680 -> 10:54.880] But yeah, I'm pretty sure Merck is going to come stronger.
[10:54.880 -> 11:01.520] But yeah, anyways, talking about podium finishers, the next person Vettel, I mean, wow, I think
[11:01.520 -> 11:07.760] majority of the FN community kind of cried out in joy to see him on T2.
[11:07.760 -> 11:14.560] After all the struggles that we have seen from him from last year, I think it was, yeah, it was kind of...
[11:14.560 -> 11:26.240] Yeah, I feel like Papa Stroll probably was in mixed emotions yesterday because his car was on podium but then Baby Stroll was almost gonna get injured heavily.
[11:26.600 -> 11:29.840] So there's mixed emotions going through Papa Stroll at this point.
[11:31.600 -> 11:37.280] Yeah, I'm pretty sure Papa Stroll is super proud because yeah, Stroll also did an incredible job.
[11:37.280 -> 11:38.120] Oh yeah, what a drive.
[11:38.120 -> 11:40.320] I mean, P19 to P6.
[11:40.360 -> 11:41.880] I think he was around P6, right?
[11:41.880 -> 11:42.800] Yeah, yeah, yeah, totally.
[11:42.800 -> 11:44.440] He was way up there.
[11:44.400 -> 11:50.400] I think he was around P6. Yeah, yeah, yeah, totally. He was way up there. What I don't know is I don't know if he had stopped before the incident.
[11:50.400 -> 11:55.200] But irrespective, I think he was flying through.
[11:55.200 -> 12:01.000] Aston Martin overall felt very comfortable on that track yesterday.
[12:01.000 -> 12:09.400] And yeah, overall a good weekend from Aston Martin by both the drivers. Obviously, Vettel on the podium, but Stroll as well.
[12:09.400 -> 12:26.640] Yeah. Yep, yep, yep, definitely. I mean, talking about Vettel, you know, I'm kind of really glad toakwa as well. I think he ended up P4, P5.
[12:26.640 -> 12:34.400] And yeah, again, P2. And that's really great. I really hope he kind of carries this form ahead.
[12:34.400 -> 12:45.240] What's become interesting is how Vettel and Gasly have just been, you know, with each other since the past two races.
[12:45.240 -> 12:53.800] Because even last race, Vettel coming out of the pit lane and we got strolled and everyone got strolled and we never got to see it.
[12:54.240 -> 12:56.040] But this race too, right?
[12:56.040 -> 13:05.520] Like right after both the restarts, Vettel jumping and fighting that position with Gasly, eventually being able to overtake that position in P2.
[13:05.520 -> 13:10.900] So I think Gasly and Vettel, the fight since the last two races have been amazing.
[13:10.900 -> 13:13.560] And I hope just this keeps climbing the ladder.
[13:13.560 -> 13:17.040] Yeah, that's super awesome.
[13:17.040 -> 13:22.160] I mean, that also kind of shows that Ashton Martin and Alfredo Tauri are kind of like
[13:22.160 -> 13:25.520] quite close together in terms of performance. Because
[13:25.520 -> 13:30.960] yeah, now we are seeing them fighting each other a lot more. Yeah. As compared to others. So,
[13:31.520 -> 14:05.400] yeah, I think I'm quite sure both the teams are, you know, eyeing that upper midfield slot right F1 Fan Fiction already had. You can follow us on all the social media platforms that are there.
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[15:11.400 -> 15:18.120] I mean talking of Gasly's not just from a from a Alfred Tauri point of view but as a driver also the last three lap restart it was so nail-biting with him
[15:18.120 -> 15:27.000] and Charles Leclerc in Ferrari because it was just like Gasly overtakes Charles, Charles overtakes Gasly, Gasly takes it back.
[15:27.000 -> 15:38.000] And that was that was pure driver skill and you know just those two young colleagues going back to back with each other.
[15:38.000 -> 15:39.000] Just just too amazing.
[15:40.000 -> 15:47.620] Yeah, I mean what we saw today is what I love at the state of F1, you know, currently,
[15:47.620 -> 15:51.920] because like, these are the young guns in the sport, and they are going to be pretty
[15:51.920 -> 15:54.600] much like the future champions.
[15:54.600 -> 16:00.720] And this is the, you know, legendary fights that we'll remember later on.
[16:00.720 -> 16:13.080] I remember the day when Pierre and Charles were battling it out. I'm pretty sure this is just going to get even more as the season proceeds.
[16:13.080 -> 16:19.360] Totally. And speaking of young drivers too, I think Sonoda is also finding his foot into that tyre towering.
[16:19.360 -> 16:24.320] Also, although I think he needs some lesson on radio communication.
[16:24.320 -> 16:26.520] Because what was that?
[16:26.520 -> 16:28.800] I am doing shut up.
[16:28.800 -> 16:32.080] And I'm like, dude, calm down on the radio.
[16:32.080 -> 16:33.080] Hit the gas.
[16:33.080 -> 16:43.000] Sunoda, I think he, people kind of discounted him a little when he came in, like in the
[16:43.000 -> 16:47.040] first few races that, yeah, that's fine. Like, you know, he is a little hot he came in like in the first few races that yeah that's fine like you know he is
[16:47.040 -> 16:52.560] a little hot-tempered but I think it's kind of getting annoying the way he you know keeps
[16:52.560 -> 16:58.720] shouting at his engineers. Right, exactly. During the race I'm pretty sure the engineer must be kind
[16:58.720 -> 17:05.400] of pissed about it. But yeah nonetheless he had a good race. At least he's finding his footing there.
[17:05.400 -> 17:13.920] But I wanna, before we move on to the next section, I wanna come back to Perez and Red Bull.
[17:13.920 -> 17:20.680] Because I think what we have been waiting to see and obviously more than us Christian owners
[17:20.680 -> 17:25.440] been waiting to see for all these races so far is Perez become the
[17:25.440 -> 17:27.120] botas for Red Bull.
[17:27.640 -> 17:35.200] And yesterday was just so spectacular watching him, you know, block Hamilton and not
[17:35.200 -> 17:39.920] just block and slow him down, but like also fight for his own P2 and let Max fly.
[17:40.400 -> 17:41.680] Yep. Yep. Yeah.
[17:41.680 -> 17:46.680] I mean, that's pretty much, you know, what Red Bull wanted from their
[17:46.680 -> 17:53.920] second driver and Perez is completely delivering it because given if Perez wasn't there, I'm
[17:53.920 -> 18:01.640] sure like, Verstappen wouldn't have such a breeze of a race in general. He would have
[18:01.640 -> 18:09.960] a lot of trouble from Hamilton. And yeah, that's what is putting Red Bull in that strong position now.
[18:09.960 -> 18:16.140] Because now they have the second driver. But it kind of seems like Mercedes is losing their second driver.
[18:16.140 -> 18:25.400] I think Botas is trying to find ways on how, yeah, you sabotage me. Let's see how I can pull the whole team down.
[18:25.400 -> 18:37.400] But beyond Red Bull I think like it was Perez's nice rear that also kept him in front of Hamilton.
[18:37.400 -> 18:46.400] Yeah I heard Hamilton praising Perez's rear and on. I don't know what that was about.
[18:46.400 -> 18:49.600] Maybe you should get his number or something.
[18:49.600 -> 18:54.800] That radio communication back and forth was just amazing.
[18:54.800 -> 18:59.600] Because it was like, and think totally in terms of innuendos.
[18:59.600 -> 19:05.440] So Perez comes on to radio saying, he's just too fast on straights.
[19:05.440 -> 19:07.280] I can't keep up with him.
[19:07.480 -> 19:16.560] And then Hamilton comes on to the radio saying, the rare is so better on the Red Bull that I just can't catch him on the middle sectors.
[19:18.120 -> 19:21.880] And just in pure in terms of innuendos, what's happening there?
[19:22.000 -> 19:23.600] windows, what's happening there.
[19:28.620 -> 19:28.660] Yeah, it was, it was quite, uh, you know, quite entertaining, uh,
[19:32.980 -> 19:37.300] that the radio messages were adding some spice to the race in general. I think there were a lot of good moments on radio throughout, uh, today's days.
[19:37.760 -> 19:40.840] You know, one that we discussed earlier about, uh, you know, Red Bull
[19:40.840 -> 19:44.580] talking with Michael Massey that just, I'm quite kind of quite glad that
[19:44.620 -> 19:46.400] we started to see this new insight.
[19:46.400 -> 19:55.400] And did you also notice at the end of the race where Vettel got a radio from some journalist, I don't know who she was,
[19:55.400 -> 20:07.800] but basically informing him that he got the driver of the day and obviously Vettel being Vettel, asked, who gave you my number?
[20:09.600 -> 20:16.480] Yeah, he basically shunned her off. But I think Vettel just wanted to enjoy the moment rather than have any other glory.
[20:16.480 -> 20:19.520] I think P2 for him was just a dungeon at that point.
[20:20.000 -> 20:20.280] Yeah.
[20:21.240 -> 20:23.760] But yeah, good radios overall.
[20:24.080 -> 20:26.560] Hamilton, as usual usual started complaining.
[20:26.560 -> 20:30.720] But there is something happening at Mercedes to be very honest.
[20:30.720 -> 20:38.600] I feel like they are now seriously feeling that brunt and that pressure coming from Red Bull.
[20:38.600 -> 20:46.600] We've not just seen that from Hamilton's radio, but like the overall way how the team's been
[20:46.600 -> 20:53.800] performing with Botaz, with Hamilton and, you know, just the last two races, for example.
[20:53.800 -> 21:02.080] Yeah, I mean, Merck, it kind of feels that we are finally seeing cracks in, you know,
[21:02.080 -> 21:11.600] their fortress as such. Until now, Mercedes has always been this institution which felt like, you know, was infallible.
[21:11.600 -> 21:18.480] And all of a sudden, you know, it seems like they're all over the place.
[21:18.480 -> 21:25.460] It kind of, it's quite evident that they are not as prepared to be the second fastest car on
[21:25.460 -> 21:31.200] the track as they were while they were the fastest car on the track. Totally,
[21:31.200 -> 21:35.480] totally. I mean everything's easy going when you are leading but now as soon as
[21:35.480 -> 21:39.480] you start facing that challenge you are absolutely right you start seeing those
[21:39.480 -> 21:48.040] cracks. What a poor day poor Botas was having. Gio overtook him. Nonetheless a good
[21:48.040 -> 21:55.600] overtake. But I want to pause here and bring this thing into notice
[21:55.600 -> 22:01.040] where we were like I think lap 22 or something Botas's engineers came on to
[22:01.040 -> 22:06.540] the radio and told Botas we are gonna target top 5 and I
[22:06.540 -> 22:13.060] actually started laughing watching the TV like what parallel dimension is this
[22:13.060 -> 22:18.980] gonna happen in. Yeah it completely felt like they were delusional and you know
[22:18.980 -> 22:25.120] probably they were just trying to you know like up his morale like when the kid is
[22:25.120 -> 22:33.120] crying and his mother is like you know hey kid don't worry you'll win it. I'll make sure that you win it.
[22:35.520 -> 22:40.960] Oh man there was no way that was happening. I mean nonetheless he got a good pit stop
[22:40.960 -> 22:48.940] but as soon as that that that happened yeah the crash and then what Raikkonen
[22:48.940 -> 22:55.220] overtook him, Gio Nazzi overtook him and I'm like no man this is not gonna happen for you.
[22:55.220 -> 23:03.060] I mean it was just sad to watch I mean it actually I thought that
[23:03.060 -> 23:08.960] probably after the you know the second standing start after changing tires and everything, you know,
[23:08.960 -> 23:13.080] he might be able to get some positions. I think because before that he was at,
[23:13.920 -> 23:17.040] something like P8, he was within points. He was P10, I think.
[23:17.440 -> 23:18.800] He started somewhere there.
[23:19.040 -> 23:22.760] Yeah. And yeah, he just lost two positions after that.
[23:22.840 -> 23:25.600] I just couldn't get a grasp of what's happening.
[23:26.160 -> 23:29.880] Uh, Kimi and Gio both overtook him.
[23:30.000 -> 23:35.400] And it was funny to see Alfa Romeo, which is literally a team which has two
[23:35.400 -> 23:37.120] points on the table.
[23:38.880 -> 23:40.400] Overtake a damn Mercedes.
[23:42.360 -> 23:45.520] Oh, dude, that was so fun yesterday.
[23:45.520 -> 23:51.880] The other thing that cracked me up was something that happened after the race which was on
[23:51.880 -> 23:55.940] that second restart and let's come to this.
[23:55.940 -> 24:04.360] First of all, my emotional state at that point was serendipity at its best again for Hamilton.
[24:04.360 -> 24:05.400] You know, amazing.
[24:05.520 -> 24:12.080] He, if you notice, if you notice, he had a crack on his front wing and because of the red flag and the whole stop,
[24:12.360 -> 24:15.360] they replaced us. So he basically had a brand new car.
[24:15.360 -> 24:20.320] And I was like, OK, now he's it's just a matter of time before he overtakes Perez and it's done.
[24:21.200 -> 24:30.000] But as we are saying this again, like they have started cracking under pressure, which is exactly what happened yesterday.
[24:30.000 -> 24:34.000] And again, there was a big spike in my heartbeat there.
[24:34.000 -> 24:46.080] Yeah, you know, one thing I noticed is I've noticed this a lot of times during races, like, especially whenever Hamilton does a restart, generally he's always at the front
[24:46.080 -> 24:47.240] of the grid.
[24:47.240 -> 24:52.720] And so what ends up happening is he sits on that grid for a long time till the rest of
[24:52.720 -> 24:54.140] the grid forms.
[24:54.140 -> 24:59.200] And a lot of times he overheats his brakes on purpose while doing the formation lap so
[24:59.200 -> 25:05.620] that while he's sitting on the grid, his kind of brakes cool down and you know, at turn one, he gets
[25:05.620 -> 25:11.780] the optimal like, you know, brake temperature. But this time, if you noticed, during the
[25:11.780 -> 25:18.680] start his brakes were really literally smoking. Yeah. And I think he probably overcooked them
[25:18.680 -> 25:25.360] a little. And I think he kind of forgot that Azabaizan is basically just a straight at the end.
[25:25.360 -> 25:27.600] And the grid formation is quite quick.
[25:27.600 -> 25:30.480] And I think that was his feeling.
[25:30.480 -> 25:33.960] And because since his brakes were overheated, he was not able to...
[25:33.960 -> 25:35.680] You know, he just overshoot.
[25:35.680 -> 25:40.840] Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, what he said after the race as a post-interview was,
[25:40.840 -> 25:46.780] when the race started, he accidentally nudged a button on his
[25:46.780 -> 25:51.100] left hand and that just probably locked I don't know the exact but like it
[25:51.100 -> 25:55.420] locked up the rears and and that's how he just ended up going straight so it
[25:55.420 -> 26:07.940] was literally him fumbling into that situation so he had a Mazepin moment right? Yeah, although Mazepin didn't have a Mazepin moment at
[26:07.940 -> 26:15.380] Baku. I think that was a cheeky radio by him during qualification of free practice I
[26:15.380 -> 26:20.520] think when his engineer gave him some complicated instruction and he was like
[26:20.520 -> 26:24.960] you know yeah this is in Monaco I did it.
[26:24.960 -> 26:25.600] Oh man, but speaking of Mazepin because I know we're not gonna come back to And he was like, you know, yeah, this is in Monaco. I did it.
[26:26.300 -> 26:26.800] Oh, man.
[26:30.700 -> 26:31.100] But speaking of Mazepin, because I know we're not going to come back to him again.
[26:34.700 -> 26:35.200] What he was, he was being Satan yesterday and trying to kill three people. I hear.
[26:37.000 -> 26:37.700] Yeah.
[26:38.000 -> 26:40.700] First of all, like, where was he driving his car?
[26:40.900 -> 26:45.080] Throughout the race, I saw he was like some 50 seconds behind Schumacher.
[26:45.080 -> 26:50.760] I'm like what? Why are you driving the same car, right? At one moment I actually
[26:50.760 -> 26:56.560] thought that Mick might you know lap him but I was really hoping that happens but
[26:56.560 -> 27:00.400] unfortunately that didn't happen. Though during the end of the race he I think
[27:00.400 -> 27:08.000] almost took out Shumi because yeah he did this weird twitch just as Shumi was about to overtake.
[27:08.000 -> 27:09.360] So unsafe, yeah.
[27:10.800 -> 27:15.280] Maybe, I think he was just slow maybe because he went somewhere else considering he thought
[27:15.280 -> 27:19.520] Azerbaijan close to Russia, let me just take a detour somewhere.
[27:19.840 -> 27:20.800] I'll come back.
[27:21.640 -> 27:23.120] But no, he was just being slow.
[27:23.760 -> 27:26.440] Anyways, anyways, coming back to Mercedes
[27:26.440 -> 27:31.080] there's some unlucky stuff happening with Mercedes yesterday as well because
[27:31.080 -> 27:37.040] that that Hamilton pit stop 4.6 seconds or some was somewhat unfortunate not
[27:37.040 -> 27:41.120] although completely their mistake they had to wait for I think it was Gasly
[27:41.120 -> 27:46.640] passing by in the pits and I think even Botas was slightly slower than usual.
[27:46.640 -> 27:50.240] Just overall unlucky there.
[27:50.240 -> 27:54.880] I think like obviously Hamilton was super pissed off after that.
[27:54.880 -> 27:59.200] You know because he saw Verstappen pitting and coming ahead of him.
[27:59.200 -> 28:02.240] And then Perez pitting. He also you know ending up ahead of him.
[28:02.240 -> 28:04.640] And he was like you know what the hell is going on?
[28:04.640 -> 28:07.400] How are they coming up ahead of him. And he was like, you know, what the hell is going on? Why are they, how are they, you know, coming out ahead of me?
[28:12.400 -> 28:17.600] Yeah, just an unfortunate day for Mercedes since the last race.
[28:17.600 -> 28:19.800] Because even the last race was a bit unfortunate.
[28:20.000 -> 28:27.760] But overall, I think there was some other interesting battles happening in the grid.
[28:28.160 -> 28:38.440] Not much credit to Leclerc, but I think still much credit to Leclerc too, because he's truly showing that Ferrari space, which wasn't visible earlier.
[28:38.840 -> 28:45.600] Although ended up technically P6 if Max and Hamilton were there, but P4 eventually not bad starting
[28:45.600 -> 28:46.600] from P1.
[28:46.600 -> 28:49.720] Science, I wanna, you know, what about science?
[28:49.720 -> 28:55.600] Because smooth operator, we saw some smooth moves from him too yesterday.
[28:55.600 -> 29:00.800] Yeah but at the same time you were also seeing him, you know, overshooting corners everywhere.
[29:00.800 -> 29:06.000] Just reversing onto tracks and doing all kinds of.
[29:06.000 -> 29:07.320] That was so unsafe.
[29:07.320 -> 29:08.320] Yeah.
[29:08.320 -> 29:10.720] Was it Gio behind him?
[29:10.720 -> 29:14.040] Someone else was behind him and I was like, oh man, that's so unsafe.
[29:14.040 -> 29:15.040] Yep.
[29:15.040 -> 29:16.040] Yep.
[29:16.040 -> 29:17.040] Yeah.
[29:17.040 -> 29:21.880] I think though for this track, at least I think some of them have to reverse.
[29:21.880 -> 29:26.880] That always reminds me of the Ricardo crash with Kvyat, where he reversed into him.
[29:28.640 -> 29:35.840] But because these runoff areas are so narrow, there isn't enough space to turn around.
[29:36.800 -> 29:44.240] They can always just do a donut, like half a donut and get back. I saw two moments,
[29:44.240 -> 29:45.600] I think, during qualification,
[29:45.600 -> 29:46.440] which were really cool.
[29:46.440 -> 29:49.600] One by Botas and one by Stroll,
[29:49.600 -> 29:53.360] where they did a quick 180 turn.
[29:53.360 -> 29:55.640] That was pretty cool to see.
[29:55.640 -> 29:58.440] Yeah, yep, yep, yep, totally.
[29:58.440 -> 30:02.240] Yeah, though Ferrari, I think, has really upped their game.
[30:02.240 -> 30:07.680] I'm quite glad to see them fighting McLaren for that P3 position.
[30:07.680 -> 30:18.080] Charles, as you mentioned, just amazing performance. He is really great at extracting the very last
[30:18.080 -> 30:25.920] drop out of the car. Because Ferrari at P1 didn't make sense at Azerbaijan at all because you know they have a shit engine
[30:25.920 -> 30:26.920] right now.
[30:26.920 -> 30:27.920] Yeah.
[30:27.920 -> 30:33.640] Yeah, it's just awesome that he was able to do that.
[30:33.640 -> 30:36.280] Yeah, totally.
[30:36.280 -> 30:41.120] There was this moment where I think even Latifi had some unfortunate incident.
[30:41.120 -> 30:51.160] I can't totally remember but I think he eventually ended up getting some grid penalty because of that or a 10-second stop and go. Williams was
[30:51.160 -> 30:56.000] having something funny happening. First of all I think if it was Latifi there
[30:56.000 -> 31:01.520] was some radio message that he was late. It was totally team's fault. He was late to
[31:01.520 -> 31:08.040] hear and was late to communicate and on on the red flag, he had to probably just go around the whole lap and come back.
[31:08.040 -> 31:14.960] But that race restart, I noticed Russell had sort of like quit DNF, something like that.
[31:14.960 -> 31:17.120] Or one of the Williams was out.
[31:17.120 -> 31:28.840] Yeah, that's right. I think George Russell had a very, you know, weird moment during the race restart. I saw that, you know, right after everybody was, you know, forming the grid,
[31:29.320 -> 31:31.080] he was going into the pits.
[31:33.080 -> 31:36.240] And he had kind of stopped there as well. He wasn't really going in.
[31:36.280 -> 31:37.600] He basically blocked the pits.
[31:37.880 -> 31:42.280] And also I remember I saw that message from race control that a pit lane is
[31:42.280 -> 31:44.840] closed because he was basically blocking it.
[31:44.760 -> 31:46.360] from race control that pit lane is closed because he was basically blocking it.
[31:49.080 -> 31:50.040] Turns out it was some gearbox failure that they had.
[31:50.360 -> 31:50.400] Yeah.
[31:51.600 -> 31:52.200] They just had to retire the car.
[32:00.360 -> 32:00.400] And talking about retiring their cars, the race leader, Sergio Perez might had,
[32:02.800 -> 32:02.840] you know, ended up just before the finish line.
[32:06.000 -> 32:11.840] If you know, there was even one or two laps more. Totally. I mean, I saw, I didn't know about this until he pulled over right after the
[32:11.840 -> 32:15.840] chequered flag and I was like, wait, why is he here? Dude, move your car or else you're
[32:15.840 -> 32:21.520] going to get some sort of penalty because you know, they do that. But I think I found
[32:21.520 -> 32:32.100] out very later and I didn't know about the hydraulic until right now, but which is good to know in the sense that if there would have been a lap or two more, Vettel would have been P1.
[32:32.100 -> 32:39.380] Yeah, that would have been awesome, right? Just imagine Vettel, Pierre and Charles on the podium.
[32:39.380 -> 32:48.560] Yeah, I don't mind that. Both Red Bull getting zero points and Mercedes getting zero points. Sure, I can live with that.
[32:48.560 -> 32:56.960] That's right. As long as Murgh doesn't get ahead of Red Bull, I'm fine with it. I want this competition to stay spicy till the very end.
[32:56.960 -> 33:09.420] I agree. I so agree to that. It should be like back and forth, back and forth all the way to the end. Yep. You know, I'm quite glad that Baku was added
[33:09.420 -> 33:12.860] to F1 calendar since I think 2016, right?
[33:12.860 -> 33:17.860] I mean, every year Baku has delivered good races.
[33:18.160 -> 33:21.620] And it's a very unique track to think about it
[33:21.620 -> 33:24.220] with it being a street circuit,
[33:24.220 -> 33:28.640] it has those wide streets and good
[33:28.640 -> 33:33.960] overtaking opportunities as well as you know, test the drivers, you know, skill at these
[33:33.960 -> 33:36.600] 90 degree corners and the gas section.
[33:36.600 -> 33:39.440] Yeah, the gas section, which is so narrow, right?
[33:39.440 -> 33:40.440] That's insane.
[33:40.440 -> 33:47.000] I mean, just try driving an F1 car on a sim, you know, simulator on that track. It's almost impossible.
[33:47.000 -> 33:49.000] Yeah, yeah.
[33:49.000 -> 33:59.000] So I'm quite glad to see Baku again. It is one of the most underrated tracks I feel and I look forward to it every season.
[33:59.000 -> 34:02.000] Totally, especially with the newer street circuits.
[34:02.000 -> 34:04.000] Saudi.
[34:04.000 -> 34:09.820] Vietnam. This is definitely one that pleases everyone.
[34:11.300 -> 34:13.880] So totally, totally agree with you.
[34:13.880 -> 34:16.740] Well, with that, I think it's been a splendid,
[34:16.740 -> 34:19.720] wonderful, blistering, blasting weekend.
[34:20.880 -> 34:28.480] We hope to see more fighting, more midfield drama, more exciting races like this.
[34:28.480 -> 34:32.320] You know, hopefully people are not trying to kill each other on the track.
[34:32.320 -> 34:39.160] But yeah, we'll be back again with yet another race.
[34:39.160 -> 34:41.120] I think the next one is French Grand Prix.
[34:41.120 -> 34:42.560] So stay tuned for that.
[34:42.560 -> 34:49.280] We may be having something coming next week something cold probably brewing so you'll have a surprise
[34:49.280 -> 34:53.320] episode coming next week until then these are your hosts signing off
[34:53.320 -> 35:00.840] bye