Podcast: F1 Fanfiction
Published Date:
Tue, 22 Jun 2021 07:07:26 +0000
Duration:
2761
Explicit:
False
Guests:
""
MP3 Audio:
Please note that the summary is generated based on the transcript and may not capture all the nuances or details discussed in the podcast episode.
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Who would had thunk that the most nail biting race which had no DNFs or any shenanigans would be French GP?
In this episode we discuss:
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Music:
Intro: Howling (Sting) - Gunnar Olsen
Outro: Your Intro by Audionautix
## **French Grand Prix Recap**
* Despite the lack of DNFs or drama, the French Grand Prix was an entertaining and thrilling race.
* Max Verstappen made a mistake on the first lap, allowing Lewis Hamilton to take the lead.
* Verstappen fought back and overtook Hamilton on lap 20, but Hamilton retook the lead on lap 32.
* Verstappen pitted for a second time on lap 44, and Hamilton followed suit on the next lap.
* Verstappen emerged from the pits ahead of Hamilton and held on to win the race.
* Sergio Perez finished third, ahead of Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz.
* Charles Leclerc had a disappointing race, finishing in 16th place.
* McLaren and Ferrari are battling for third place in the Constructors' Championship.
* Toto Wolff, the team principal of Mercedes, has been criticized for his handling of the team's recent struggles.
* Lance Stroll and Sebastian Vettel had strong races for Aston Martin, finishing in the points.
* Yuki Tsunoda had a difficult weekend, crashing in qualifying and struggling in the race.
* Michael Masi, the race director, defended his decision to penalize Nikita Mazepin for impeding Fernando Alonso.
* AlphaTauri is Aston Martin's closest competitor in the Constructors' Championship.
* Sergio Perez is proving to be a valuable asset to Red Bull, delivering consistent performances and helping the team to close the gap to Mercedes.
* The new "halo celebration" that Max Verstappen has been doing after his wins has been met with mixed reactions.
* The red and blue stripes on the Paul Ricard circuit may have interfered with radio communications during the race.
* Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo had a good race for McLaren, working together to overtake several cars.
* Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc had a disappointing race for Ferrari, with Leclerc finishing outside the points.
* Toto Wolff has been criticized for his treatment of Valtteri Bottas, who has been struggling for form this season.
* Lewis Hamilton showed his hunger and competitiveness despite the challenges he faced during the race.
* George Russell had a strong race for Williams, finishing in 12th place.
* Aston Martin is a team to watch in the future, especially with the new budget regulations coming into effect next year.
* Yuki Tsunoda needs to find his form if AlphaTauri wants to challenge Aston Martin for third place in the Constructors' Championship.
- The French Grand Prix, despite having no DNFs or incidents, delivered an unexpectedly entertaining race.
**McLaren Duo's Strong Performance:**
- Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo had a solid race, with Norris battling for a podium finish and Ricciardo securing a points-paying position.
**Max Verstappen's Adjustments:**
- Verstappen made adjustments to his microphone during the race, highlighting the intense and demanding nature of Formula One racing.
**Lewis Hamilton's Adaptation:**
- Hamilton demonstrated his adaptability by making the most of his situation, despite not having the fastest car, and pushing Verstappen to the limit.
**Mercedes' Treatment of Valtteri Bottas:**
- The podcast criticizes Mercedes' treatment of Bottas, suggesting that the team does not always prioritize his success.
**Formula Toto:**
- The term "Formula Toto" is used to describe the influence and control that Toto Wolff, the Mercedes team principal, has over the sport.
**Lance Stroll's Comeback:**
- Stroll had a remarkable comeback, moving from the back of the grid to finish in the points, showcasing his resilience and determination.
**Tsunoda's Car Control:**
- Yuki Tsunoda displayed impressive car control, demonstrating his adaptability and skill in handling the challenging conditions of the race.
**Michael Masi's Assertiveness:**
- Race director Michael Masi exhibited assertiveness in dealing with teams' complaints, emphasizing the importance of adhering to track limits.
**Nikita Mazepin's Controversial Behavior:**
- The podcast expresses frustration with Nikita Mazepin's behavior, suggesting that he is not a deserving driver and should be replaced by someone more deserving.
**Appreciation for Alfa Romeo:**
- Alfa Romeo's performance is acknowledged, with Giovinazzi having a strong race and overtaking Charles Leclerc. The team's overall improvement is noted.
**Driver and Team of the Day:**
- Max Verstappen is chosen as the driver of the day for his relentless pursuit of Hamilton, while Red Bull is recognized as the team of the day for their strategic brilliance.
**Overall Takeaways:**
- The French Grand Prix provided exciting racing despite the lack of incidents.
- Several teams demonstrated strategic prowess, leading to intriguing battles throughout the race.
- The podcast highlights the importance of learning from mistakes and adapting to changing circumstances in Formula One.
[00:00.000 -> 00:04.720] Someone that is, I don't think he's able to tune in is probably Toto Wolf.
[00:05.080 -> 00:06.920] And it's not going to come from me.
[00:07.080 -> 00:10.440] Let's, let's Sarang explain why he's not tuning in yet.
[00:11.440 -> 00:16.840] Yeah, I mean, I need to get this out of my system, you know, like fuck Toto Wolf.
[00:23.760 -> 00:30.720] Hello and welcome back to yet another episode with F1 Fan Fiction. This is a podcast where
[00:30.720 -> 00:37.600] we take the race weekend and pour in our thoughts and just have fun about it. Before we begin,
[00:37.600 -> 00:46.860] if you've not checked us out yet, I don't know what you're doing in life so go check us out we are f1 fan
[00:46.860 -> 00:52.760] fiction if you are new to the sport we've got an interesting f101 episode
[00:52.760 -> 00:57.340] for you where you can learn everything about the sport there is to to dive in
[00:57.340 -> 01:03.220] to the weekends with us and if you want to go back and visit the other episodes
[01:03.220 -> 01:08.520] and the other weekends in a more fun way than the weekends were already,
[01:08.920 -> 01:11.360] check out all the other episodes as well.
[01:11.640 -> 01:13.520] And now into French GP.
[01:13.720 -> 01:14.720] We are your hosts.
[01:14.840 -> 01:15.720] I am Akash.
[01:16.400 -> 01:17.120] And I'm Sarang.
[01:18.000 -> 01:18.920] Let's get into it.
[01:20.400 -> 01:22.800] First of all, French GP.
[01:23.240 -> 01:30.600] Everyone knows it's the lamest track or actually the lamest weekend, if you will, on the calendar.
[01:30.600 -> 01:37.320] No one's expecting any fun. To be honest, I was also going to switch off my TV, knowing it was French GP.
[01:37.320 -> 01:40.640] But what a weekend, what a weekend we've had.
[01:50.120 -> 01:56.920] we've had. Yeah, I mean, who would have thunk, right? Like one of the only races in the history of F1 without any DNFs and anything and yet having, you know, so much entertainment, so
[01:56.920 -> 02:05.240] much excitement. Being a French GP is just unthinkable. I mean, wow, what a race. A nail-biting finisher too right
[02:05.240 -> 02:15.000] like I was bored in some segments and you know how you have those AWS showing
[02:15.000 -> 02:20.040] insights that hey it's gonna catch up in this time and this is what's gonna
[02:20.040 -> 02:23.920] happen and even then it showed like it's gonna the race is probably gonna end a
[02:23.920 -> 02:28.520] few laps before the the final few but it came down to the last bit man I
[02:28.520 -> 02:37.560] was like oh what a nail-biting finish yeah I mean like honestly as soon as the
[02:37.560 -> 02:45.760] first mistake that Max made in the first lap I was almost convinced that this is the final result
[02:45.760 -> 02:53.480] of the race and I was about to turn off my TV. Yeah. So, I was like, there goes Max,
[02:53.480 -> 02:59.000] you know, making a mistake at a very critical moment and you know, now he's
[02:59.000 -> 03:02.800] gonna take it away. And it seemed like Hamilton just flew past because you know,
[03:02.800 -> 03:06.080] he had a nice two seconds gap right off the bat.
[03:06.440 -> 03:13.800] But you know what, before we go there, I want to point out something about French GP, which is,
[03:13.840 -> 03:19.920] I think this is one of the only tracks that I don't like seeing on TV from a helicopter point of view.
[03:20.640 -> 03:23.920] Because those stripes, dude, they make me feel trippy.
[03:24.000 -> 03:27.020] I'm glad I haven't smoked
[03:27.020 -> 03:31.500] anything up before this, these races but like those stripes are trippy.
[03:31.500 -> 03:37.480] Yeah, they're really hypnotizing. Like the first time I was seeing French GP, like I
[03:37.480 -> 03:42.460] think that was three years ago, I think when it was reintroduced and I was like
[03:42.460 -> 03:48.000] wait, what the hell is going on? on you know like are they trying to hypnotize
[03:48.000 -> 03:52.080] everybody and yeah it's it's it's pretty it's pretty interesting actually and like
[03:53.440 -> 04:01.280] like you know they are basically there to improve safety and yet you know replace gravel traps like
[04:01.280 -> 04:07.160] I think we recently just posted a short video about it on our socials
[04:07.160 -> 04:11.200] on Instagram and TikTok. So yeah, give us a follow and check it out.
[04:11.200 -> 04:15.720] But yeah, coming back to that race start, right, like that, that restart was quite brilliant.
[04:15.720 -> 04:28.160] I think like Max has really gotten a good hang on his impulse response and then hitting the gas exactly at the right time to take that lead.
[04:28.160 -> 04:35.360] So, I think I'm pretty convinced that if he's on pole, he's definite and to that matter even P2 at qualifying,
[04:35.760 -> 04:40.800] he's gotten that advantage on himself to push that car to that lead.
[04:41.080 -> 04:46.480] But it felt like he was missing the race line as he was getting into that left turn
[04:46.480 -> 04:50.160] because he was right in the middle of the track rather than being on the curve on the right.
[04:51.200 -> 04:56.400] Yeah, I think that's where the experience shows you that Hamilton has because basically I think
[04:56.400 -> 05:02.000] what happened was and I think even in post interviews Max said this that the mistake was
[05:02.000 -> 05:05.660] majorly because of like a gust of wind that came by
[05:11.900 -> 05:11.980] towards the turn one and it's kind of common for you know, the track is you know
[05:17.680 -> 05:18.240] The layout is such that usually there is a tailwind there and kind of makes the tail end a little wobbly
[05:23.020 -> 05:29.960] But yeah, I mean Hamilton had no issues there and Max did. So, yeah, many, many, I think almost everyone complained about the wind in the, in the start of the race.
[05:29.960 -> 05:33.640] And it was, it was throwing off almost all drivers there.
[05:34.400 -> 05:37.880] But yeah, the impactful one was with Max, right?
[05:37.880 -> 05:40.360] So, yeah, I think it had rained, right?
[05:40.760 -> 05:45.080] In the F2 race, some hours ago,, it did? Yeah, it did rain.
[05:45.080 -> 05:47.560] The track was wet, but I think it dried up pretty quick.
[05:47.560 -> 05:53.520] But if you like saw during lap one and like there was some clouds looming around, but
[05:53.520 -> 05:55.440] yeah, it wasn't exactly interesting.
[05:55.440 -> 05:56.440] Yeah.
[05:56.440 -> 05:57.440] Yeah.
[05:57.440 -> 06:00.280] Greening then, but the track had dried up, but there was some rain earlier.
[06:00.280 -> 06:01.280] Okay.
[06:01.280 -> 06:09.840] That probably explains why the temperatures were still like 30 degrees Celsius when it was like overcast and felt hot to me.
[06:09.840 -> 06:10.840] Interesting.
[06:10.840 -> 06:13.340] Yeah, it felt like home to me.
[06:13.340 -> 06:19.000] Yeah, Seattle definitely has that weather year round.
[06:19.000 -> 06:27.300] But I feel like it was such a brilliant weekend for Red Bull, man.
[06:27.300 -> 06:35.500] Like, Perez has finally found his calling, his place at Red Bull, his easiness with his car.
[06:35.500 -> 06:39.880] He's just proving again and again.
[06:39.880 -> 06:48.640] Like, I can now see why, you know, we were all being hard on Red Bull for, you know, dumping the two drivers.
[06:48.640 -> 06:55.920] But I feel like it was somewhere those drivers, Pierre probably got cocky or whatever, but it was the drivers.
[06:55.920 -> 07:00.560] Because we can now see Perez actually delivering what the car can deliver.
[07:00.560 -> 07:05.360] Yeah, definitely. And again, you know know Perez is an experienced driver on
[07:05.360 -> 07:11.100] the track and he has this you know magical ability of you know managing
[07:11.100 -> 07:17.440] tires and he's just too brilliant with it. I mean he always goes long and you
[07:17.440 -> 07:26.400] know still get somehow you know still regains all the time. I really appreciate Paris for that.
[07:26.400 -> 07:36.200] Yeah, totally. That and Max and all of that combined with Red Bull's strategy, I think it was a bang on weekend for them.
[07:36.200 -> 07:42.720] Which definitely showed in post-race celebrations with everyone being so cheerful.
[07:42.720 -> 07:47.800] You prepare for an exam and then you ace it and like everything's going your way.
[07:47.800 -> 07:54.280] It was just that weekend. It felt like Mercedes in Barcelona but I don't want to give credit to Mercedes in Barcelona.
[07:54.280 -> 08:09.720] That's a track where you can expect red flags. French GP not really. I mean you've already had red flags in qualifying, you can't expect more. Yeah. And, and, you know, I really want to give a shout out to the new celebration
[08:09.720 -> 08:14.520] photo thingy that Max is doing with where he basically sits on the halo of his car.
[08:15.000 -> 08:19.440] I don't know why it always looks to me like he's, you know, like shitting on like his
[08:19.440 -> 08:20.440] opponents.
[08:23.680 -> 08:25.000] He's taking a dump on them.
[08:25.000 -> 08:28.000] Actually, yeah, that's how it feels like, right?
[08:28.000 -> 08:30.000] Yeah.
[08:30.000 -> 08:35.000] And it pretty matched up with the trophy as well, I think, right?
[08:35.000 -> 08:39.000] Like the gorilla trophy with their hands right up.
[08:39.000 -> 08:50.000] It looked pretty similar to how Max was sitting on the guy. Yeah, it also... yeah, I think I just started to slowly become a fan of this guy.
[08:50.000 -> 08:55.400] We're seeing less of, you know, just random anger.
[08:55.400 -> 09:03.400] It's still there, but it's more... whenever it is showing up, it's more genuine in the sense like, yes, there is an issue
[09:03.400 -> 09:08.720] and I'm angry about it but it's not like the random bursts of nonsense anger that he used to
[09:08.720 -> 09:16.520] have like maybe four years back so I really like him now. Brazil, Ocon, do you remember?
[09:16.520 -> 09:28.400] I probably think like if that was happen, he'd still be the same. Maybe not push the guy now, but he's equally frustrated.
[09:31.280 -> 09:34.120] But yeah, he is really matured. Right. I mean,
[09:34.560 -> 09:37.000] I say that like it says brilliance.
[09:37.280 -> 09:40.840] Red Bull put him up with a very good strategy, but at the end of the day,
[09:41.120 -> 09:48.000] they were only able to, you know, claw back the first position later on was because of his driving, because I mean,
[09:48.000 -> 09:52.040] he was hunting Hamilton. It's not an easy task. Hamilton is, you know,
[09:52.040 -> 09:55.840] he doesn't let anyone buy ever like, and he doesn't make mistakes.
[09:55.840 -> 09:57.600] Like that's just a fact.
[09:58.960 -> 10:03.520] Seven times world champion consistently winning that consistency is sure.
[10:04.360 -> 10:09.000] Yeah, exactly. So yeah, you know, kudos to Max for that brilliant drive,
[10:09.000 -> 10:12.000] the outlap that he made after the first pitch top.
[10:12.000 -> 10:16.000] That was brilliant because he gained I think around four seconds on Hamilton in there.
[10:16.000 -> 10:19.000] And that's just insane. And yeah.
[10:21.000 -> 10:26.400] Yeah, I think like Max, talk about like learning from your mistakes, right?
[10:26.400 -> 10:34.760] Like, because I think this is exactly what they knew could go down coming out of Barcelona three races backish.
[10:34.760 -> 10:48.240] And I think it was brilliant to figure out what went wrong there, come back on a stronger weekend today or yesterday. And I think he would have probably used up all of his ERS
[10:48.240 -> 10:52.360] knowing that Ham was in the pit and, you know, probably his race engineer saying,
[10:52.440 -> 10:56.960] yeah, if we push now, there is that opportunity where we may come in front of it
[10:56.960 -> 11:00.160] and the undercut might just work. And it did. It did.
[11:00.160 -> 11:02.480] I mean, it was such a brilliant
[11:02.960 -> 11:07.000] sync tune of the engineer and the driver at that point.
[11:07.000 -> 11:08.000] Yep.
[11:08.000 -> 11:12.400] And another thing, you know, if you notice like there were these moments where they were
[11:12.400 -> 11:18.720] having some like very terrible radio issues, where basically at times it was just Max and
[11:18.720 -> 11:19.720] mumble, mumble, mumble.
[11:19.720 -> 11:24.600] And like the engineer being like, no, I don't know what you're talking about.
[11:24.600 -> 11:29.240] And it's insane that, you know, even with all these issues that they had, they pulled off this really
[11:29.240 -> 11:30.920] good strategy.
[11:30.920 -> 11:37.320] And so that kind of shows that how much of a well-oiled machine Red Bull seems like at
[11:37.320 -> 11:44.320] the moment, which always, it seemed like Mercedes was that way, right?
[11:44.320 -> 11:45.300] Just right up after last year
[11:45.300 -> 11:54.580] and I think it kind of shows that when you have a fast car you know any decision
[11:54.580 -> 11:59.180] that you make kind of works in your favor and then you look like a genius
[11:59.180 -> 12:06.680] when under pressure things start falling off right here. That radio message was a funny bit though. I feel like,
[12:07.360 -> 12:11.960] compare that with, uh, and I go back to Nikita in Monaco,
[12:12.440 -> 12:16.400] because when they were speaking in alien language,
[12:16.960 -> 12:20.880] I think their race engineer was like, Oh yeah, move that, uh,
[12:20.880 -> 12:22.520] aux cable or whatever it was like,
[12:22.520 -> 12:25.280] move that aux cable around when you get
[12:25.280 -> 12:29.300] an opportunity and I'm like dude he's going at 200 miles an hour this is one
[12:29.300 -> 12:33.980] of the faster tracks how do you expect him to wiggle things around in the
[12:33.980 -> 12:39.320] cockpit at that at that thing and he's chasing on Hamilton nonetheless.
[12:39.320 -> 12:41.320] That was incredible.
[12:41.320 -> 12:45.840] You were mentioning this there's some theory, like why that radio started and it
[12:45.840 -> 12:50.880] wasn't just Max, I think like even for Mercedes that there was something funny happening.
[12:50.880 -> 12:55.960] Yeah I think it was basically that like these red and blue stripes have like tungsten and
[12:55.960 -> 13:03.200] asphalt you know mixed in to increase traction and you know basically improve their braking
[13:03.200 -> 13:07.240] power yeah during like when they go off in these runoff areas.
[13:07.240 -> 13:12.220] But since they have this tungsten there, it kind of interferes with the
[13:12.220 -> 13:17.820] radiocom and I think like that's what people were speculating. It's not like
[13:17.820 -> 13:22.140] clear exactly why that was but yeah that's what most plausible theory seems
[13:22.140 -> 13:25.800] like. Interesting, Interesting. Huh.
[13:25.800 -> 13:29.320] Yeah, that, I mean, scientifically, that theory sounds right.
[13:29.320 -> 13:30.320] But who knows?
[13:30.320 -> 13:36.360] Max was probably able to wiggle something around at 200 miles per hour.
[13:36.360 -> 13:40.720] There are fixed things, I guess.
[13:40.720 -> 13:52.500] But it was brilliant to see how that hunt began down, right? Like with that second pitch stop, it became pretty evident that he's gonna chase both of these down.
[13:52.500 -> 13:56.200] Fingers were crossed, obviously, that he is able to.
[13:56.200 -> 13:59.600] But yeah, it worked out for them in the end. So, that's good.
[13:59.600 -> 14:08.500] Speaking about chases, there was some duo magic happening yesterday at McLaren.
[14:08.500 -> 14:13.200] It was such a pleasant watch seeing both of those drivers working in tandem.
[14:13.200 -> 14:16.100] Yeah, it was pretty weird.
[14:16.100 -> 14:19.800] Like, earlier, you know, Ricardo was having a blast.
[14:19.800 -> 14:24.500] He was overtaking left and right and Lando, I think he overtook Lando as well, right?
[14:24.500 -> 14:25.520] Right after the start.
[14:25.520 -> 14:26.020] Yeah.
[14:26.020 -> 14:32.960] And he was flying and I think his first victim was Alonso or someone. He overtook many people.
[14:32.960 -> 14:34.400] It's difficult to remember.
[14:34.400 -> 14:34.900] Yeah.
[14:34.900 -> 14:42.160] But there was this moment where Ricardo overtook Alonso and Norris was just behind and he's like,
[14:42.160 -> 14:46.200] yeah, thank you, sir. I will just move past you here.
[14:46.200 -> 14:49.360] Yeah. And that went on for everyone, right?
[14:49.360 -> 14:57.480] Yeah, yeah. They were just driving in a pair and you know, like, just cutting through the field.
[14:57.480 -> 15:01.460] Pretty fun. I mean, they are having a very good time, it seems.
[15:01.460 -> 15:11.520] And there was a little friction, I think. There was this one video message where message where Lando was like you know Ricardo is trying to push me off the track. Oh interesting. Yeah
[15:12.160 -> 15:20.080] but so I think it we'll have more and more of this because you know as teammates start to battle out
[15:20.080 -> 15:25.400] on the field you know all the brotherly love goes away.
[15:26.120 -> 15:28.040] Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
[15:28.040 -> 15:32.400] And I was hoping to see some waving also in terms of like the brotherly love going
[15:32.400 -> 15:37.360] away between Lando and Carlos, because it was a bit
[15:37.920 -> 15:42.080] comic timing by the camera folks as well, because as soon as he was
[15:42.520 -> 15:46.640] overtaking from the right, they panned into the cockpit
[15:46.640 -> 15:52.480] camera and was just waiting to see if he actually waves because it was a smooth overtake. It wasn't
[15:52.480 -> 15:59.840] like a left-hand turn or inside overtake. But yeah, that would have been just too cocky for Lando.
[16:08.360 -> 16:10.720] But again, yet again, Lando finished P5, brilliant drive. The strategy worked out for him.
[16:10.720 -> 16:16.400] He did well on his tyres in the first stint and then in the second stint, just flew through
[16:16.400 -> 16:17.400] the field.
[16:17.400 -> 16:20.920] He had to overtake a lot of people and I think he overtook Ricardo Azul.
[16:20.920 -> 16:26.080] But I think that was more of a strategy move rather than an overtake.
[16:27.200 -> 16:33.440] And yeah brilliant like McLaren are right up there. I think Ferrari and McLaren are gonna
[16:33.440 -> 16:38.640] battle this out till the end for the third position right yeah. Yeah P3 is definitely
[16:38.640 -> 16:43.680] gonna be between those two for sure. Yeah not a good weekend for Ferrari though but
[16:44.800 -> 16:46.200] more so for Charles dude.
[16:46.200 -> 16:51.920] I feel like where did he end? I think he ended up. Oh, yeah, P16, man. Oh, that's going to be rough.
[16:51.920 -> 16:58.000] Yeah, I don't know. No points for Ferrari, like Carlos is 11th and then this guy is 16.
[16:58.520 -> 17:08.440] So zero points for Ferrari this weekend. Yeah, not a good day. Yeah, I feel like there is a different camaraderie and bromance brewing up in Red Bull though.
[17:08.440 -> 17:17.120] Because there was this short radio message where Perez let Max buy in. Just a quick one where Max was like, thank you.
[17:17.120 -> 17:29.800] And they hugged it out so well at the end. So, it feels like either Perez is trying to do a very calm and steady move where he is like,
[17:29.800 -> 17:36.000] okay, now I am comfortable in the car. Let Max take the lead. Once I have a new contract for three more years,
[17:36.000 -> 17:38.800] is when I am going to start challenging.
[17:38.800 -> 17:46.800] That's what it seems like. I mean, definitely, it makes sense, right? Like, you are new to the team, you're just trying to, you know, learn the ropes.
[17:46.800 -> 17:51.680] And it's always it makes sense to, you know, do well with your teammate, do well with your team,
[17:52.400 -> 17:56.400] learn everything and then yeah, try to push for it.
[17:56.400 -> 17:59.920] So, yeah, I think this is the year where he just get tunes in.
[18:01.760 -> 18:02.260] True.
[18:10.020 -> 18:16.020] so true tuning in something someone that is I don't think he's able to tune in is probably to to wolf not a driver but folks listen to the wolf and and it's
[18:16.020 -> 18:21.420] not gonna come from me let's let's sorry I'll explain why he's not tuning in yet
[18:21.420 -> 18:25.840] yeah I mean I I need to get this out of my system.
[18:25.840 -> 18:30.800] You know, like fuck Toto Wolf, that guy, like, have you seen him, how he wears
[18:30.800 -> 18:35.560] the mask? Like, are you an idiot? It's been an year now. Have you no sense that
[18:35.560 -> 18:41.200] the mask goes over your nose? Rules for thee, not for me. You know, it's just
[18:41.200 -> 18:45.400] a typical elitist bullshit. Yeah.
[18:45.700 -> 18:49.560] I don't know. I, I, the more I learn about this guy, I've like, disliked him even more, you
[18:49.560 -> 18:54.600] know, thinking about like how much Western interest he has in like conflicting teams
[18:54.600 -> 18:57.540] and like he's the manager of multiple drivers and everything.
[18:57.540 -> 18:59.800] It all seems a lot fishy, you know?
[19:00.360 -> 19:05.000] Uh, I mean, people idealize him way too much is what I feel.
[19:05.620 -> 19:07.960] I mean, yeah, he has been at the helm
[19:07.960 -> 19:09.520] since Merc has been winning,
[19:09.520 -> 19:13.720] but honestly in like recent times,
[19:13.720 -> 19:15.440] I have realized this that,
[19:15.440 -> 19:17.160] or at least that's my opinion that
[19:18.360 -> 19:21.000] the reason Merc has been winning these championships
[19:21.000 -> 19:22.760] is solely because of Hamilton.
[19:22.760 -> 19:24.720] I mean, yes, they built a brilliant car,
[19:24.720 -> 19:27.120] but in all honesty,
[19:27.280 -> 19:31.600] Mercedes did kind of inherit this good car from,
[19:32.040 -> 19:35.000] what was the previous team that they had?
[19:37.640 -> 19:43.000] Braun GP, which was essentially the Honda team,
[19:43.000 -> 19:48.000] but I think they had to, you know, get out of the project because of the financial crisis
[19:48.000 -> 19:53.600] and they sold it off to Braun and then they sold it off to Merc. So, I mean, yeah, they built a
[19:53.600 -> 20:01.280] brilliant car, but Mercedes has had their share of making mistakes and doing wrong strategy and
[20:01.280 -> 20:07.800] still coming out ahead. And if you remember literally last year, we had Hamilton winning a race on three tires.
[20:07.800 -> 20:15.600] So, you know, I feel it's Hamilton's brilliance and dedication, you know, and relentlessness that gets Mercedes there.
[20:15.680 -> 20:17.680] And it's not really Mercedes who does it.
[20:19.120 -> 20:30.000] Yeah. And what sort of puts me off also for Toto is like, you know, this is a sport where you actually learn from your mistakes and come back.
[20:30.000 -> 20:36.000] But this is probably like the fourth race where you see in Mercedes continuously make mistake.
[20:36.000 -> 20:42.000] And at the end of the race tell Hamilton, yeah, this one's on us, you know, we'll come back stronger.
[20:42.000 -> 20:48.600] I don't see you guys coming back stronger. And this just shows that when you don't have competition,
[20:49.280 -> 20:59.000] everything seems good, right? Even from the outside, you start idealizing people and you know, you feel like, oh, this is the best.
[20:59.360 -> 21:06.840] But as soon as there's the slightest push, you're seeing all of these cracks all over again within
[21:06.840 -> 21:10.040] Mercedes and it's so evident since the past four races.
[21:10.040 -> 21:15.760] Yeah, definitely. And I think even like relationships within the team are soaring for sure. You
[21:15.760 -> 21:20.840] can clearly see that. Botas is not having a good time. Like it really feels like a repeat
[21:20.840 -> 21:25.000] of what Vettel had with Ferrari last year, where the team seems to
[21:25.000 -> 21:32.800] have pretty much abandoned him and they don't feel any shame in throwing him under the bus.
[21:32.800 -> 21:38.440] It's just pretty weird. It was pretty clear that they sacrificed Botas's race today to
[21:38.440 -> 21:48.500] try and protect Hamilton's position because it completely made sense that they should had pitted Botas as well to cover for Verstappen and
[21:48.500 -> 21:56.000] try and give Botas that opportunity to get the win but they backed their horse which is Hamilton and were like,
[21:56.000 -> 22:08.520] you are the second driver, be in your place kind of thing. I feel like so it all started off as a meme where the nut not coming out
[22:08.520 -> 22:16.720] in Monaco was blamed on on Botas. It's stupid because you were able to remove
[22:16.720 -> 22:26.800] three nuts for wherever he stopped. But what it's come down to is, it's sadly that that meme sort of caught on in a realistic way.
[22:26.800 -> 22:32.120] And Bhotas is being blamed for everything.
[22:32.120 -> 22:42.520] Like, even yesterday, I think like, the way he wasn't able to fend Max off was just put on him.
[22:42.520 -> 22:45.840] Like, he didn't hold Max off for Hamilton.
[22:45.840 -> 22:51.760] And I'm like, when Max reached Hamilton, he just gave away the position.
[22:51.760 -> 22:52.640] That's right.
[22:52.640 -> 22:57.040] And that's justified because Hamilton in post-interview says,
[22:57.040 -> 23:02.480] post-race interview says that, yeah, there were already linings in the tyre.
[23:02.480 -> 23:08.320] And at that point, if I wouldn't, if I would have blocked off Max on that straight,
[23:08.320 -> 23:11.720] he would have gotten me on the next straight because of DRS.
[23:11.720 -> 23:13.120] So it was just a matter of time.
[23:13.120 -> 23:19.520] And I'm like, if we agree to Hamilton, why don't we agree to what Botas is saying?
[23:19.520 -> 23:25.000] Why is he being treated as a meme versus Ham is at the helm.
[23:26.080 -> 23:30.960] Yep. For sure. I mean, yeah, I, yeah, that's what I feel like, you know,
[23:30.960 -> 23:34.960] my respect for Hamilton has gone up recently and my respect for Mercedes as a team
[23:34.960 -> 23:39.920] has gone down by a lot recently. And yeah, same goes with Botas. I mean, yeah,
[23:39.920 -> 23:42.160] he is not the best driver. I wouldn't say that,
[23:42.160 -> 23:49.160] but he's still a pretty good driver and I feel that he deserves more respect within the team than what they give him.
[23:50.160 -> 23:59.160] I think probably this is a rare opportunity for folks listening where, you know, I'm going to defend Hamilton for as much as I actually hate him.
[23:59.160 -> 24:10.800] And for our regular listeners, you know how much I bitch about Hamilton. But yesterday's race actually showed his hunger for, you know, just being competitive.
[24:10.800 -> 24:14.000] Not just that P1 podium position, but just being competitive.
[24:14.000 -> 24:19.440] Because he really makes do with the situation that's thrown at him.
[24:19.440 -> 24:24.240] He knew he was going to run into that fight with Max towards the end.
[24:26.000 -> 24:31.080] He knew where his tires were. He knew he was you know one stop and you could still see him sort of
[24:31.080 -> 24:38.160] trying to fight as much as he could. Sure he let Max by in that overtake which was
[24:38.160 -> 24:49.200] a smooth overtake but given the conditions it was just a matter of time. But it's the brilliance of Hamilton as an experienced driver
[24:49.640 -> 24:53.640] that still put him in the position that he was yesterday.
[24:55.520 -> 25:01.800] As compared to Botas, the amount of defend that I tried to do for him,
[25:02.200 -> 25:06.240] he surely, surely fumbled when Perez tried to overtake him.
[25:06.240 -> 25:09.320] And he was all over the place, which is just so evident.
[25:09.320 -> 25:27.280] And not just that, if you notice, there was this moment after the first pitch stop where Hamilton was right behind Verstappen and Botas was also right behind Hamilton and I think for a little while, Verstappen kind of flew past
[25:27.280 -> 25:32.800] outside the range of DRS from Hamilton and Botas had DRS but Hamilton did not and I really felt
[25:32.800 -> 25:39.040] that this was a moment that Botas was trying to kind of overtake Hamilton and try and challenge
[25:39.040 -> 25:50.100] for that lead. He had that opportunity, he was not able to cash in on that, right? Yeah, yeah, that's where you know, that's what separates legends from yeah, you know, like good drivers
[25:50.380 -> 25:55.220] there was actually a radio moment between De Resta and Brundle as well where they were like
[25:55.960 -> 26:02.480] Bottas has gotten a faster pace on Hamilton and it will be interesting to see how this pans out when he's in firing range
[26:03.040 -> 26:05.440] It never happened happened right? I
[26:05.440 -> 26:11.560] agree that everything that's going on in the Mercedes camp sort of messes your
[26:11.560 -> 26:17.440] brain and puts you in a different mental state but at the end of the day the
[26:17.440 -> 26:22.360] redefinition that we are seeing for Botas and waiting for five years or I
[26:22.360 -> 26:25.520] can't even remember if it's a decade now.
[26:29.760 -> 26:30.880] That's never happening on the track. It's just not showing.
[26:36.160 -> 26:36.960] Yeah, that's it. And I think with the amazing performance that George Russell had today
[26:40.000 -> 26:42.000] at P12, you know, and Williams, I mean, wow.
[26:46.440 -> 26:54.760] Episode one, where we spoke about what's a crazy thing that you think will happen and I said Williams might get a point. I think it might happen.
[26:54.760 -> 26:59.920] I think there's a possibility of that happening for sure.
[26:59.920 -> 27:04.240] With all the cracks that we're seeing between Botas and Mercedes, it
[27:04.240 -> 27:11.220] feels to me like George is going to be the person who probably might be there joining Hamilton in 2021.
[27:11.500 -> 27:12.360] So 2022.
[27:12.580 -> 27:25.540] Yeah. But, you know, it's gotten weird because of all the discussions we've had in the past few minutes, I feel like if there are going to be like cracks opening up at Mercedes I wonder
[27:25.540 -> 27:32.620] if it's gonna be like a you know a gamble on a career for Russell because
[27:32.620 -> 27:38.060] it was what a Red Bull dominance era then a Merck dominance era are we gonna
[27:38.060 -> 27:49.160] go back and see a Vettel 2.0 and Max for the next few years. And then it's just a lost cause for Russell where it now feels like Williams
[27:49.160 -> 27:53.920] is starting to have a better car with budget regulations coming next
[27:53.920 -> 27:57.120] year. It's going to be a more level playing field.
[27:57.120 -> 28:00.120] So I'm in two minds to be honest.
[28:02.080 -> 28:09.000] Yeah. I mean, who knows, you know, after all, Toto is George Russell's manager.
[28:09.000 -> 28:11.800] I don't think that can happen.
[28:11.800 -> 28:14.240] More vested investor.
[28:14.240 -> 28:17.400] Talking about Toto's investments, let's talk about Aston Martin.
[28:17.400 -> 28:20.400] His other team, yeah, Aston Martin.
[28:20.400 -> 28:28.000] It's going to be an episode of almost Toto at 75% of the teams that we end up talking about today.
[28:28.000 -> 28:31.000] Sooner or later, you know Formula Toto.
[28:31.000 -> 28:37.000] That's gonna be another t-shirt Formula Toto.
[28:37.000 -> 28:47.040] But yeah, Aston Martin, man, that was another team with a pairing overtaking strategy. I
[28:47.040 -> 28:56.220] don't think they bring too many tires to the paddock. It seems like you know yeah
[28:56.220 -> 29:00.440] I don't know what they just never pit that's it like that's that's the strategy
[29:00.440 -> 29:08.560] never pit. It was funny in the sense that I think it
[29:08.560 -> 29:14.120] was lap 35 or something max has already pitted twice and these guys are like I
[29:14.120 -> 29:22.520] think P3 and P4 or P4 and P5 both still going strong on their first set. Yeah and
[29:22.520 -> 29:27.200] they are consistently pulling off the strategy, you know, weekend after weekend,
[29:27.200 -> 29:32.280] like they did the same in Monaco, they did the same last race in Azerbaijan.
[29:32.280 -> 29:33.880] It's just working out for them.
[29:33.880 -> 29:36.680] And Lance Stroll, I am becoming a fan of this guy.
[29:36.680 -> 29:41.760] I mean, he's pretty much, I would call him the comeback king, because like he starts
[29:41.760 -> 29:45.680] at the very end of the grid and always somehow just reaches
[29:45.680 -> 29:50.800] that you know within points sometimes winning the race or whatever you know he's just too good at
[29:50.800 -> 29:57.120] making these recovery drives as such. Yeah yeah yeah he's I think about Bakuo he was also like
[29:57.120 -> 30:06.720] he didn't have a pit stop sure but like he was still he was still up from 19th to like 6th or something when he crashed and that's crazy man like
[30:06.720 -> 30:13.360] how much overtaking is he doing given he wouldn't have crashed maybe a pit stop there you would
[30:13.360 -> 30:15.560] have definitely finished in points again.
[30:15.560 -> 30:21.560] Yep for sure and yeah I mean Vettel too right like again it seems like he is finally there
[30:21.560 -> 30:30.960] he is in his groove now he seems a lot more happier. Visibly, you can see that he is in a good and better state of mind as compared to last year.
[30:31.360 -> 30:36.880] Because, yeah, again, consistently ending in points, getting on the podium last time.
[30:37.000 -> 30:50.880] And yeah, I think like both of these drivers are definitely happy in the sense like every overtake and every position gained is a dopamine blast to their head and as drivers that's that's the best thing you
[30:50.880 -> 30:55.360] can get right like you're climbing what was yesterday you're climbing at one
[30:55.360 -> 31:01.800] point I think yeah stroll came back again like p90 into p10 and where did
[31:01.800 -> 31:07.360] you finish oh yeah he finished p10 same for Vettel. Again, yeah, into the points P9.
[31:07.360 -> 31:13.760] Definitely seeing that dopamine blast. They are happy. Everything is working out.
[31:13.760 -> 31:18.960] I'd wanna see how budget caps next year again work out for this team.
[31:18.960 -> 31:30.280] Because the way they are driving, yeah, it's gonna be a tough fight. Yeah, I feel Aston Martin is going to be a force to reckon with next
[31:30.280 -> 31:33.600] year with regulations changing. They seem like a very tight team. They have
[31:33.600 -> 31:36.840] always been a tight team. I mean ever since they were force India, like they
[31:36.840 -> 31:40.760] used to punch way above their weight. They have always been that way. The team is
[31:40.760 -> 31:46.800] brilliant at you know spending very little money and still extracting the maximum out of what they have.
[31:46.800 -> 31:52.800] And yeah, again, they had a hiccup at the start of the season. But I think they are slowly getting there.
[31:52.800 -> 32:00.360] Who do you say is Aston Martin's biggest competitor on the track at this point?
[32:00.360 -> 32:14.000] I think at least looking at the leaderboard, it's Alpha Tauri. And the funny thing is, you know, what you would notice is like, generally in Alpha Tauri, they have only one driver who performs really well.
[32:14.000 -> 32:25.920] And in Aston Martin, they have two drivers who perform like decently, like at least in terms of the leaderboard. And yeah, it's really funny how those two teams are competing.
[32:27.360 -> 32:35.600] Yeah, I think Sunoda needs to find his mojo, man. I think he crashed into the barriers on
[32:35.600 -> 32:41.280] qualifying. It's quite a funny day with all those wiggle-wiggle memes for his era.
[32:42.080 -> 32:47.000] That was really funny, man. I loved it. I saw a lot of memes with that.
[32:47.000 -> 32:52.080] Have you seen one of those famous ones where it's like a shack I think or yeah I think
[32:52.080 -> 32:56.400] it's shack who does like a head shake and then there is a cat who does a head shake
[32:56.400 -> 33:07.680] wiggle wiggle and then they show Sunodas rear end of the car doing. I haven't seen that one but yeah that totally makes sense.
[33:09.760 -> 33:14.880] But yeah I think like Yuki needs to bring his aggression onto that ride can just not the radio.
[33:16.080 -> 33:30.300] Yeah and you know his his teammate is doing brilliantly Gasly is like on fire pretty much. I am pretty sure he is gonna, you know, end up somewhere like P5, P6, something like that.
[33:30.300 -> 33:31.600] He is doing brilliantly.
[33:31.600 -> 33:37.900] Yeah, because right now, it's like, obviously, the first two are sorted. It's gonna be Max and Hamilton.
[33:37.900 -> 33:48.040] P3, Perez took the lead. But then there's Perez and Lando battling that out. Botaz is way down, I think like P6 or something.
[33:48.320 -> 33:56.560] That fifth spot is a tricky spot because whoever ends up being that P3, P4 between
[33:56.560 -> 34:00.520] Perez and Lando, the P3, P4 is still sorted out there.
[34:00.520 -> 34:06.920] Leclerc is still trying to find his mojo, but Ferrari seems quite inconsistent.
[34:06.920 -> 34:16.480] And then Pierre, given his battles, places himself right there at P5 of the drivers championship.
[34:16.480 -> 34:22.120] Yep. I mean, there's a uphill battle for him. There are a lot of people ahead of him right
[34:22.120 -> 34:27.320] now, but it's a long season, you know, and it's just the start of the season. And generally like, you know,
[34:27.360 -> 34:31.800] most drivers are kind of, I mean, even though they are used to driving these cars,
[34:31.820 -> 34:35.840] they are significantly different because there are a lot of aero improvements and
[34:35.840 -> 34:37.000] things like that. So, you know,
[34:37.040 -> 34:39.000] each driver is kind of still learning the car.
[34:39.400 -> 34:44.240] And I think by now like most drivers have become comfortable
[34:44.240 -> 34:46.560] with their cars and are showing their true pace.
[34:46.560 -> 34:54.520] Totally. And Pierre's sort of curve since race one has also been increasing like we saw and we
[34:54.520 -> 34:59.440] spoke about it like first few races he was probably still getting cocky from all the
[34:59.440 -> 35:08.800] attention from last year. But since then and the podium last weekend, yeah, since then he's shown that now, yeah, he can drive that car.
[35:08.800 -> 35:09.300] Yep.
[35:09.300 -> 35:16.000] Make sure, Mackers, P14 to, what, last? Second last. Oh, yeah, last is always Nikit Vasari.
[35:16.000 -> 35:29.840] But that was a lucky red flag, again, with all the memes that, yeah, I think it's like in mix learning exactly the ropes of filling into
[35:29.840 -> 35:31.560] Ferrari and those memes fitted well,
[35:31.560 -> 35:36.480] like you just get a red flag crash your car and get a better
[35:36.500 -> 35:37.760] position into quali.
[35:39.640 -> 35:42.040] Yeah. Right. I mean that, that, that's what it felt like.
[35:42.040 -> 35:46.560] I'd heard that Michael Massey was kind of proposing this idea
[35:46.560 -> 35:54.240] that we should probably cancel the lap of the person who crashes in quali and brings out a red flag
[35:55.600 -> 36:08.680] because there is a possibility of people exploiting this loophole where you just crash a car and that's it right and stop others from putting
[36:08.680 -> 36:09.680] in a good lap.
[36:09.680 -> 36:16.480] But I mean that was just like informal chat with journalists but yeah I wouldn't be too
[36:16.480 -> 36:20.080] surprised if that's like if they really implement this rule.
[36:20.080 -> 36:27.500] No it's I didn't know about this but it feels right to be honest because it can
[36:27.500 -> 36:35.460] fall under the the law the clause of running track limits and you get like
[36:35.460 -> 36:38.780] it's not like race where you get warnings before you get five-second
[36:38.780 -> 36:44.420] penalty if you cross track limits your session like your lap times deleted this
[36:44.420 -> 36:49.280] is exactly that like whatever reason you slipped whatever you still yeah cross track
[36:49.280 -> 36:53.120] limits unfortunately you crashed but if you would have recovered the car you
[36:53.120 -> 36:56.800] would have come back and your tracks your time would have been deleted yeah
[36:56.800 -> 37:04.160] this is a very interesting point I like it yep yep yeah I mean yeah and you're
[37:04.160 -> 37:08.160] talking about Michael Massey, do you recall all the
[37:08.160 -> 37:13.000] radio chatter that went around during qualification between Mercedes and Red Bull and Michael
[37:13.000 -> 37:14.000] Massey?
[37:14.000 -> 37:16.480] No, I don't know about this one. What's happening here?
[37:16.480 -> 37:22.160] Basically, there was this curve on turn two, which was, which was always there, actually,
[37:22.160 -> 37:26.960] it's not a new curve, but just that the characteristics of the car are such this time that
[37:27.640 -> 37:33.440] they carry more speed in turn 2. Is this the quick left to the right turn 2?
[37:37.320 -> 37:39.320] Yeah, that's right.
[37:39.840 -> 37:42.220] And generally cars go a little wide there.
[37:42.960 -> 37:44.520] So,
[37:44.520 -> 37:45.520] basically, I think,
[37:45.520 -> 37:46.720] or I think it was in free practice,
[37:46.720 -> 37:48.920] not during qualification, my bad,
[37:48.920 -> 37:51.800] that Mercedes came on the radio and was like,
[37:51.800 -> 37:54.200] you know, these curbs are nonsense.
[37:54.200 -> 37:56.400] This is going to cost us like thousands of dollars.
[37:56.400 -> 37:58.760] And you know, this is disproportionate.
[37:58.760 -> 38:01.720] And you know, a small mistake shouldn't,
[38:01.720 -> 38:04.040] you know, cost you thousands of dollars in damages.
[38:04.040 -> 38:08.080] And Michael Massey was basically like, you know, then don't go there.
[38:08.080 -> 38:10.960] That thing is three meters away from the curb.
[38:11.400 -> 38:13.280] Why is your car there in the first place?
[38:21.160 -> 38:23.360] I mean, not in these words, but you know, that's what,
[38:23.360 -> 38:27.920] that was pretty much the gist of what he said.
[38:27.920 -> 38:30.080] And the same thing happened with Red Bull as well.
[38:30.080 -> 38:36.040] I think in FP3 where Max also kind of knocked off his front wing at the same curve and they
[38:36.040 -> 38:37.920] started complaining as well.
[38:37.920 -> 38:43.160] And yeah, they kind of said, he kind of said a similar thing to them as well.
[38:43.160 -> 38:44.160] So yeah.
[38:44.160 -> 38:45.840] I guess fair point.
[38:45.840 -> 38:49.960] It's not always right to submit to the whining child.
[38:50.240 -> 38:51.080] Yeah, definitely.
[38:51.360 -> 38:52.520] So fair point.
[38:53.320 -> 38:56.600] I mean, I completely agree to that. Like think about Monaco, right?
[38:56.640 -> 39:00.200] Like, are you going to say the same thing when you're in the wall, right?
[39:00.240 -> 39:03.840] Like you can't, you can't treat the limits as optional. They are not,
[39:03.880 -> 39:05.040] they are there for a reason.
[39:05.040 -> 39:05.680] Don't go.
[39:05.680 -> 39:10.080] This turn 11 building is going to take us down with millions of dollars.
[39:10.080 -> 39:11.440] Let's take the building down.
[39:12.240 -> 39:13.440] Yep, exactly.
[39:16.160 -> 39:19.840] So yeah, I don't have any sympathy for both teams.
[39:19.840 -> 39:22.160] Like, it's just bickering.
[39:22.720 -> 39:23.280] True that.
[39:24.640 -> 39:30.320] We're coming back to Haas, I don't like talking about Nikita.
[39:30.320 -> 39:32.920] But then, what is he doing there, man?
[39:32.920 -> 39:37.240] I feel like he is that rotten apple in a bag of good apples.
[39:37.240 -> 39:38.680] No one likes him.
[39:38.680 -> 39:42.400] They just try to put up with him because he is on the paddock.
[39:42.400 -> 39:48.480] This weekend was also no different than the other ones
[39:48.480 -> 39:50.160] again.
[39:50.160 -> 39:51.360] Yeah.
[39:51.360 -> 39:54.880] I mean, yeah, I hate to see him on the screen.
[39:54.880 -> 39:57.760] I really feel like a more deserving driver
[39:57.760 -> 40:00.960] should have it, somebody who's not a complete prick.
[40:00.960 -> 40:04.760] And I really hope one day I see him
[40:04.760 -> 40:07.320] failing to meet the 107% requirement
[40:07.320 -> 40:13.960] and qualification on getting disqualified from the race. I would love to see that happen.
[40:13.960 -> 40:23.560] If I really saw an angry Makeshwamakar, I mean, still not angry but you can
[40:23.560 -> 40:31.440] sense the tone where I think what in early part of the race where he tried to, he was actually pushed off by Nikita.
[40:31.440 -> 40:34.000] And he's like, why is this guy like this?
[40:34.000 -> 40:38.200] And people have complained so much about him in free practices and qualifying as well.
[40:38.200 -> 40:41.040] I don't know what goes on in Nikita's head.
[40:41.040 -> 40:42.960] Either, one of two things.
[40:42.960 -> 40:50.100] Either he thinks he owns everything and he's just gonna drive as he owns FIA or two he thinks he's being
[40:50.100 -> 40:59.880] competitive whereas he's just yeah I don't know what's anyways let's move on I don't want to take him a lot of limelight
[40:59.880 -> 41:06.320] I wanna talk about Gio, Gio Venazzi. I mean, it's interesting that we never speak about him.
[41:06.720 -> 41:12.880] And I sort of see why we never spoke about him because there was so much more
[41:12.880 -> 41:15.400] happening. And he was just that other driver at Alfa.
[41:16.040 -> 41:20.720] But he was having a good weekend yesterday overtaking the Ferrari, Charles.
[41:20.720 -> 41:23.520] And yeah, lovely weekend from him.
[41:24.240 -> 41:27.880] Yeah. And also, I think he ended up pretty well in qualification as well.
[41:27.880 -> 41:32.760] Right. He started, I guess, somewhere around, what was it?
[41:32.760 -> 41:34.680] I think 13, P13.
[41:34.840 -> 41:36.400] And yeah, pretty awesome.
[41:36.400 -> 41:42.240] Like for Alpha, I feel Alpha is underappreciated a lot.
[41:42.800 -> 41:46.000] They were pretty much at the bottom of the table last year.
[41:46.000 -> 41:53.200] And they have made a very good comeback. It's unfortunate that there are a lot more teams who have become a lot competitive as well,
[41:53.200 -> 42:02.120] and which is why they're not able to gain as many points. So the points table doesn't really, you know, give a true indicator of where alpha are
[42:02.120 -> 42:05.160] in terms of performance, but they just missed the bar
[42:05.160 -> 42:14.880] somehow. Well wrapping this up who was your driver of the day?
[42:14.880 -> 42:22.120] Driver of the day I think has to go to Max. That's the fact that you know
[42:22.120 -> 42:27.280] hunting down Hamilton is not an easy task. My respect for him has really
[42:27.280 -> 42:33.600] gone up because it was not just a comfortable race. I mean Red Bull was not the clear faster
[42:33.600 -> 42:39.520] car. That was not the case. I feel Mercedes and Red Bull were pretty much were at par and
[42:40.800 -> 42:45.320] yeah he made mistakes but he made up for those mistakes as well later on in the race.
[42:45.320 -> 42:50.480] And yeah, brilliant drive.
[42:50.480 -> 42:56.800] For me, this might be a shocker, but I think I'm gonna go with Hamilton.
[42:56.800 -> 43:09.280] I know, I know this might sound like a shocker but I think the way he tried to fend him off with a one stop,
[43:09.840 -> 43:14.080] taking it all the way to the end. In a similar setting in Barcelona, we saw
[43:14.640 -> 43:21.040] Albeit Perez wasn't there to slow Hamilton down for maybe two laps-ish. But even given those two
[43:21.040 -> 43:25.200] laps-ish, he overtook Max very comfortably,
[43:27.160 -> 43:31.640] versus this was all the way to the end. And to be honest, at one point I thought that Hamilton just might have had his way.
[43:33.280 -> 43:36.640] Just purely on those reasons, I want to say him.
[43:37.360 -> 43:39.160] For once, I did hear him.
[43:39.240 -> 43:46.040] I mean, he did whine about the tires, but at some point he did say on the radio that he feels
[43:46.040 -> 43:53.640] comfortable with the tires. I think that's probably when his tires were actually bad.
[43:53.640 -> 44:03.640] Probably, I want to ask you this too, like in terms of strategy I think we saw
[44:03.640 -> 44:05.120] Red Bull having a brilliant strategy,, like in terms of strategy, I think we saw Red Bull having
[44:05.120 -> 44:11.640] a brilliant strategy, McLaren having a brilliant strategy, Alpine having a brilliant strategy
[44:11.640 -> 44:13.960] and Aston Martin having a brilliant strategy.
[44:13.960 -> 44:17.840] Who's your favorite there from yesterday's strategy games?
[44:17.840 -> 44:20.520] Difficult to say.
[44:20.520 -> 44:31.360] I would say either it would be either between Aston Martin or Red Bull because both of them were just brilliant because I think they're the
[44:31.360 -> 44:35.840] only team who got brilliant results from both the drivers at the same time using
[44:35.840 -> 44:42.160] the same kind of a similar strategy. Yeah. And yeah pretty awesome. For me it would
[44:42.160 -> 44:45.760] have to be Red Bull because I think primarily because,
[44:45.760 -> 44:49.800] you know, learning from mistakes is implemented in a brilliant way.
[44:49.800 -> 44:53.040] And then you can see that coming back.
[44:54.040 -> 44:58.280] And do you remember like earlier in an episode, we had said this, that, you know,
[44:58.480 -> 45:02.760] Red Bull was lacking at these small, tiny moments, which they are missing out.
[45:02.760 -> 45:04.440] And that's where they have closed this gap.
[45:04.440 -> 45:09.080] Yes. There's some very good post-race analysis and then you know learnings
[45:09.080 -> 45:17.320] coming out of those. Well on that note I think it's been a lovely episode you
[45:17.320 -> 45:23.480] know for a GP that was expected to be too dry. We've got a lovely triple
[45:23.480 -> 45:27.280] header coming this week with the challenges.
[45:27.280 -> 45:34.600] Double header now. Oh yeah, one's down, two more to go. But it's an action-packed weekend nonetheless,
[45:34.600 -> 45:41.120] up until summer break in August. So there's just back-to-back races and it's gonna be a thriller
[45:41.120 -> 45:46.360] of a season while we see where Max and Hamilton land up with
[45:46.360 -> 45:50.240] those amazing battles at P3, P4, P5 as well.
[45:50.240 -> 45:55.000] So until the next episode, these are your hosts signing off.
[45:55.000 -> 45:55.600] Bye-bye.
[45:55.930 -> 45:57.990] you