Podcast: F1 Fanfiction
Published Date:
Fri, 12 Mar 2021 22:10:51 +0000
Duration:
3707
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.
In this very first episode, we talk through the constructor's championship table for the F1 calendar year 2020. We talk about our memories, opinions on the unusual year that 2020 was or wasn't.Topics included in this podcast:Hopes from the Year 2020Thoughts when the season wasn’t/was going to happenThe (so called) title fight between Mercedes and Redbull RacingThe surprising Mclaren(T)Racing point aka Pink MercedesRenault’s ComebackTroubles at FerrariAlphaTauri – Peirre Gasly’s redemptionAlfaRomeo’s WoesUnfortunate HaasWilliams bring WilliamsOutro
**2020 Formula One Season Review**
* **Pre-Season:**
* Mercedes dominated testing with their DAS (Dual-Axis Steering) system.
* Ferrari's struggles continued, with rumors of cheating and engine power reduction.
* Expectations were high for Red Bull to challenge Mercedes.
* **Season Start:**
* COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancellation of the Australian Grand Prix.
* Revised calendar featured 22 races, including several classic tracks like Imola and Mugello.
* **Mercedes Dominance:**
* Mercedes continued their dominance, winning both the Drivers' and Constructors' Championships.
* Lewis Hamilton secured his seventh world title, equaling Michael Schumacher's record.
* Valtteri Bottas played a crucial role as Hamilton's teammate, securing podium finishes.
* **Red Bull's Challenge:**
* Red Bull emerged as the closest challenger to Mercedes.
* Max Verstappen showed impressive consistency and racecraft, winning two races.
* Alex Albon struggled to match Verstappen's pace, leading to his replacement by Sergio Perez for 2021.
* **McLaren's Resurgence:**
* McLaren had a remarkable season, finishing third in the Constructors' Championship.
* Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz Jr. both contributed to the team's success with consistent performances.
* **Racing Point's Controversies:**
* Racing Point faced accusations of copying Mercedes' car design, resulting in a 15-point deduction.
* Sergio Perez and Lance Stroll delivered strong performances, helping the team finish fourth.
* **Renault's Comeback:**
* Renault showed signs of improvement, finishing fifth in the Constructors' Championship.
* Daniel Ricciardo joined the team and secured two podium finishes.
* **Ferrari's Struggles:**
* Ferrari had a disappointing season, finishing sixth in the Constructors' Championship.
* Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc failed to challenge for wins consistently.
* **AlphaTauri's Redemption:**
* AlphaTauri, formerly known as Toro Rosso, had a strong season, finishing seventh in the Constructors' Championship.
* Pierre Gasly secured his first Formula One win at the Italian Grand Prix.
* **Alfa Romeo's Woes:**
* Alfa Romeo endured a difficult season, finishing eighth in the Constructors' Championship.
* Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi struggled to score points consistently.
* **Haas' Unfortunate Season:**
* Haas had a disappointing season, finishing ninth in the Constructors' Championship.
* Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen failed to score points in the majority of races.
* **Williams' Struggles:**
* Williams endured another challenging season, finishing last in the Constructors' Championship.
* George Russell and Nicholas Latifi failed to score any points.
## **Mercedes Dominance and Title Fight**
Mercedes continued its dominance in the 2020 season, with Lewis Hamilton securing his seventh World Drivers' Championship and the team claiming its seventh consecutive Constructors' Championship. The podcast discusses the factors contributing to Mercedes' success, including their superior car design and Hamilton's exceptional driving skills. While Red Bull Racing posed a challenge at times, Mercedes' consistency and reliability ultimately proved too much for their rivals.
## **McLaren's Resurgence**
McLaren made a significant leap forward in 2020, finishing third in the Constructors' Championship. The podcast highlights the contributions of Carlos Sainz Jr. and Lando Norris, who consistently outperformed their car and scored impressive results. The team's resurgence is attributed to a combination of strategic decisions, driver talent, and improved car performance.
## **Racing Point's Controversial Performance**
Racing Point, also known as the "Pink Mercedes," drew attention for its car's striking resemblance to the 2019 Mercedes. The podcast examines the controversy surrounding the team's performance, including allegations of copying Mercedes' design. While Racing Point ultimately avoided serious penalties, the incident sparked debates about intellectual property and fair competition in Formula One.
## **Renault's Comeback and Daniel Ricciardo's Move**
Renault experienced a resurgence in 2020, finishing fifth in the Constructors' Championship. The podcast praises the team's progress and the consistent performances of drivers Daniel Ricciardo and Esteban Ocon. Ricciardo's move to McLaren for the 2021 season is also discussed, with the hosts expressing optimism about his future prospects.
## **Ferrari's Struggles and Vettel's Departure**
Ferrari endured a challenging season, finishing sixth in the Constructors' Championship. The podcast analyzes the team's struggles, including car performance issues and driver errors. The departure of Sebastian Vettel, who moved to Aston Martin for 2021, is also examined, with the hosts reflecting on his legacy at Ferrari.
## **AlphaTauri's Redemption and Pierre Gasly's Success**
AlphaTauri, formerly known as Toro Rosso, enjoyed a successful season, with Pierre Gasly claiming a surprise victory at the Italian Grand Prix. The podcast applauds Gasly's remarkable turnaround after his struggles at Red Bull and highlights the team's overall improvement.
## **Alfa Romeo's Woes**
Alfa Romeo endured a disappointing season, finishing eighth in the Constructors' Championship. The podcast discusses the team's lack of competitiveness and the challenges faced by drivers Kimi Räikkönen and Antonio Giovinazzi.
## **Haas' Financial Troubles and Driver Changes**
Haas faced financial difficulties in 2020, leading to the departure of drivers Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen. The podcast examines the team's struggles and the impact of the budget cap on smaller teams.
## **Williams' Ownership Change and Hopes for Improvement**
Williams underwent a change of ownership in 2020, with the team being acquired by Dorilton Capital. The podcast discusses the potential implications of this change and expresses hope for Williams' improvement in the upcoming seasons.
## **Overall Season Rating and Expectations for 2021**
The hosts provide their personal ratings for the 2020 Formula One season, considering both the excitement of the races and the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. They also discuss their expectations for the 2021 season, including potential title contenders and teams to watch.
[00:00.000 -> 00:14.600] Welcome to the podcast. This is episode one of a series on F1 2021.
[00:14.600 -> 00:23.100] Today's episode we talk about F1 2020, the season that was a bit unusual and fun and dramatic
[00:23.100 -> 00:26.840] and oh my god, there was so much happening in that year.
[00:26.840 -> 00:33.200] The year itself was a bit unusual so we'll talk about the whole year itself F1 2020.
[00:33.200 -> 00:35.400] We are your hosts I am Akash.
[00:35.400 -> 00:37.920] Hi, I'm Sarang.
[00:37.920 -> 00:42.040] And we'll just share our thoughts and talk about things here.
[00:42.040 -> 00:46.000] It started off very interesting right I? I mean, the livery started coming up.
[00:46.000 -> 00:48.000] There was Ocon who came back.
[00:48.000 -> 00:50.000] The liveries were
[00:50.000 -> 00:52.000] fun, amazing.
[00:52.000 -> 00:54.000] More came back with the brand Black.
[00:54.000 -> 00:56.000] Not really.
[00:56.000 -> 00:58.000] They didn't come out with Black.
[00:58.000 -> 01:00.000] They had come out with Silver, if you remember.
[01:00.000 -> 01:02.000] I know it has been a very long
[01:02.000 -> 01:04.000] year.
[01:04.000 -> 01:11.000] But they came out with Silver. and then they changed in between before the season actually started.
[01:11.000 -> 01:20.000] Because of all the BLM protests that were going on and Hamilton's support for them and with the whole We Race As One initiative.
[01:20.000 -> 01:22.500] That's when they switched to black.
[01:22.500 -> 01:31.000] That's true. That's black. That's true. That's true. But before that, like coming out of 2019, what were your hopes and expectations on 2020?
[01:31.000 -> 01:37.000] 2020, I wasn't really very hopeful about 2020 season to be honest.
[01:37.000 -> 01:48.020] Mainly because I think towards the end of 2019, it was quite clear that Ferrari is not going to be the top dog
[01:48.020 -> 01:49.760] in 2020.
[01:49.760 -> 01:58.080] It was clear, I think right from Austin in 2019, where things started going bad for them.
[01:58.080 -> 02:03.400] There were rumors about them cheating with the engine.
[02:03.400 -> 02:09.840] They had to reduce their power and yeah I remember that
[02:09.840 -> 02:18.000] so yeah honestly I was under the impression that Mercedes is going to dominate which we
[02:18.000 -> 02:28.700] all know what happened Red Bull would be second exactly what what happened. Though, third and fourth is what surprises me a lot.
[02:28.700 -> 02:38.460] And I think, apart from the first two teams, everything I had expected, like, didn't come out to be true at all.
[02:38.460 -> 02:41.020] Yeah, right. Like, the last season was so...
[02:41.020 -> 02:43.300] Every race was so thrilling.
[02:43.300 -> 02:51.480] We had, again, I am not sure here but like 15 out of the 20 drivers taking podium, which was such an amazing thing to see.
[02:51.480 -> 03:06.660] At the same time, obviously, our right-mark dominance has continued. The thing that flipped for me, for Ferrari was, I think, Italy 2019, where up until that mid-season, Vettel was in good contention.
[03:06.660 -> 03:10.340] And then, things just went south from there.
[03:10.340 -> 03:15.340] Pre-testing season, Merck comes out with a DAS system.
[03:15.340 -> 03:20.380] And to be honest, that was pre-COVID time.
[03:20.380 -> 03:25.840] So, I was like, yeah, this again, there is no doubt here, this team is gonna dominate.
[03:25.840 -> 03:30.960] To that extent that even other teams were surprised and shocked with what they've produced.
[03:30.960 -> 03:35.240] It was like, it's, yeah, they're gonna be at the top. Now, let the rest fight.
[03:35.240 -> 03:37.320] Yup. Yup. Yup.
[03:37.320 -> 03:50.920] I remember when Das had come out, FIA was ready with the rule to ban DAS in 2021. So most cities pretty much knew
[03:50.920 -> 03:57.600] that DAS was going to be legal only in 2020. Because from what I've heard, they
[03:57.600 -> 04:04.240] kind of do work with FIA while coming up with these innovations. Because you know
[04:04.240 -> 04:10.200] they don't want to spend millions on a new technology which is going to be illegal.
[04:10.200 -> 04:16.480] They do kind of share details with FIA and try to confirm that it's legal.
[04:16.480 -> 04:35.720] So, they knew that 2020 is the only year that they can use it. But to me, it is the past few years have created the stable platform for Mercedes, for them to push the boundaries as much as they can.
[04:35.720 -> 04:39.240] And they don't care. Like, you can just take the risk.
[04:39.240 -> 04:47.480] Yeah, I mean, you're absolutely bang on there, right? Like, you've achieved so much that at this point, it's just point for innovation.
[04:47.480 -> 04:49.000] Win, don't win.
[04:49.520 -> 04:51.120] It's just points for innovation.
[04:51.840 -> 04:54.520] And that at least, I was awestruck by it.
[04:54.520 -> 04:56.440] Because like, oh, my God.
[04:58.440 -> 05:04.520] Well, when you're about more than a hundred points, 150 points ahead of the second bestee.
[05:08.240 -> 05:09.600] Yeah, you can take a few risks.
[05:15.920 -> 05:22.080] Right. I mean, at least two spots out of the three on that podium are always fixed. But pre-testing has been interesting because all throughout the pre-testing time, it was clear that Ferrari is
[05:22.080 -> 05:26.580] not doing good. There are potential issues in there, as you also said.
[05:27.080 -> 05:31.080] What's interesting is they had a management shift right before,
[05:31.080 -> 05:34.160] like I think 2019 is when they had a management shift.
[05:35.120 -> 05:38.300] The season started off fine and it's been south since then.
[05:38.300 -> 05:38.500] Yep.
[05:39.680 -> 05:43.380] Though the managers changed for Ferrari in 2019,
[05:43.380 -> 05:47.040] I don't really attribute their failures to the new management
[05:47.600 -> 05:53.880] because from many reports it has been kind of evident that all the
[05:55.400 -> 06:01.440] Cheating that they were doing was under development for a couple of years now and
[06:04.560 -> 06:09.280] The previous team principal, I forget what his name was.
[06:09.280 -> 06:12.000] Oh, Maurizio. Yeah.
[06:12.000 -> 06:29.520] So I don't really attribute the failures to Matija, because when he took the helm at the team. He was inherited this issue which he had to deal with.
[06:29.520 -> 06:38.360] And he kind of knew that once this is exposed and they lose some horsepowers from their engine,
[06:38.360 -> 06:40.680] they are going to be in this situation.
[06:40.680 -> 06:43.680] That's interesting. So, they had this long time coming.
[06:43.680 -> 06:45.800] That's what. So, they had this long time coming. That's what people say.
[06:45.800 -> 06:52.740] But yeah, moving on from the pre-season testing to the actual season, right?
[06:52.740 -> 07:01.380] So, at least I was in mixed reactions because we waited 3-4 long months for that first race.
[07:01.380 -> 07:06.600] In a parallel world. COVID struck.
[07:06.600 -> 07:09.800] Unfortunately, people are dying, and countries
[07:09.800 -> 07:11.480] are going into lockdown.
[07:11.480 -> 07:13.520] But then there is this silver lining
[07:13.520 -> 07:18.080] where everyone has already assembled in Melbourne City
[07:18.080 -> 07:20.360] Park, and the race is going to happen.
[07:20.360 -> 07:22.080] And then you have your first case
[07:22.080 -> 07:30.300] with someone in McLaren, which makes FIA and Australian GPC go,
[07:30.300 -> 07:33.820] yeah, alright, pack your bags. We are going to lock this down.
[07:33.820 -> 07:37.400] What were your thoughts then? What was going through your mind?
[07:37.400 -> 07:44.160] I still remember, the lockdown was on. Obviously, everybody was bored out of their minds.
[07:44.160 -> 07:46.520] F1 was something that I was
[07:46.520 -> 07:53.180] looking forward to and I woke up in the morning on the day of the race. I opened
[07:53.180 -> 08:00.760] Reddit and I see the headline the race is cancelled and I'm like seriously?
[08:00.760 -> 08:06.720] I mean you were there right? You could have just finished it. Anyways, no,
[08:06.720 -> 08:11.880] lives were at stake so that was the right thing to do. Yeah, I was a little worried
[08:11.880 -> 08:22.360] at that time whether we'll have a 2020 season but I'm glad that they got a new calendar,
[08:22.360 -> 08:33.840] managed all the logistics and got the season going with a lot of testing, following all guidelines and they did it really well.
[08:33.840 -> 08:43.260] I mean, considering how much they travel around, the number of cases were not that bad within their F1 bubble as such.
[08:43.260 -> 08:48.400] Yeah, I mean, amazing health regulations that came in as soon as they came back to the season, right?
[08:48.400 -> 09:07.280] After what was like a heartbreak for millions of fans, I think, the redemption part was, they brought back older tracks or as we call it, vintage tracks to both F1 fans amusement and I think the drivers loved it right like after every vintage track
[09:07.280 -> 09:12.480] race I think we've heard each and every driver say why don't we race more on these
[09:15.120 -> 09:22.560] F1 season started again with 22 track calendar within the short amount of time that they had
[09:22.560 -> 09:25.360] which itself is a very great feat.
[09:32.800 -> 09:40.160] Few things that were like really interesting about the season were some of these older legacy tracks which came back. Tracks like Portimao, Imola, Mugelo and Nürburgring. All of these tracks
[09:40.960 -> 09:48.080] have featured on the F1 calendar not in the past couple of years but have
[09:48.080 -> 09:53.320] featured in many F1 calendars and are one of the fan favorites. I'm glad they
[09:53.320 -> 10:00.880] got an opportunity because me being a relatively a new fan of F1 I have not
[10:00.880 -> 10:07.680] seen any of these tracks before. Now All the tracks from my memory are the tracks that have
[10:07.680 -> 10:15.600] come along in the past few years. Most of the tracks are good that F1 always visits, but
[10:16.240 -> 10:22.800] I'm glad we got a couple different tracks because that really gave... that threw off all these teams.
[10:27.400 -> 10:34.200] gave, that threw off all these teams, right? I feel that like since all of the tracks are repeated year after year, these teams have perfected their laps around these tracks so
[10:34.200 -> 10:41.200] well, they have so much data about it. That's why you see the same standings everywhere.
[10:41.200 -> 10:54.000] Yeah, I mean, you're right. And on that note, everything you are saying is so visible because teams came to these new tracks, Mugello, Nurburgring, Imola.
[10:54.000 -> 11:00.000] And it was visible in the practice sessions itself that they are learning these tracks.
[11:00.000 -> 11:05.000] They were spinning off, they were trying to understand what works best for the team.
[11:05.000 -> 11:14.000] In sort of like a computer science way, it felt like these cars were hard-coded for the 21 tracks or the 20 tracks that were on the calendar.
[11:14.000 -> 11:18.000] And then this is just a new test case that was thrown at them.
[11:18.000 -> 11:28.000] And everyone's trying to figure out how to pass these tests. And interestingly, we saw a few incidents come up in these, right?
[11:28.000 -> 11:33.000] Like Mugello had an horrendous crash on what they had two restarts.
[11:33.640 -> 11:37.120] And then the second restart was just quite scary.
[11:38.200 -> 11:42.200] So, yeah. And not just that, if you remember,
[11:43.080 -> 11:45.640] when is the last time you remember a race getting
[11:45.640 -> 11:54.640] black flagged? Before 2020? I don't remember any year when races got black flagged. I had
[11:54.640 -> 12:00.640] almost forgotten that there was a flag for that. I had forgotten that there were restarts,
[12:00.640 -> 12:05.560] restarts, which were standing starts. This was a very crazy year.
[12:05.840 -> 12:06.840] And I'm...
[12:06.840 -> 12:08.920] And two of them in a single race that too, right?
[12:10.120 -> 12:11.640] Yeah, yeah, that's true.
[12:11.680 -> 12:13.200] Yes. Wow.
[12:13.200 -> 12:14.240] That was Portimao, right?
[12:14.280 -> 12:15.400] I think it was Portimao.
[12:15.440 -> 12:18.200] Yeah, Portimao or Mugello, one of those two.
[12:18.800 -> 12:20.880] All of these tracks really delivered.
[12:21.000 -> 12:22.640] All of these new tracks delivered.
[12:22.640 -> 12:25.440] And I think going forward F1
[12:25.440 -> 12:29.320] should learn a lesson from this. I understand the reason why they keep
[12:29.320 -> 12:34.600] visiting the same tracks, obviously it's all got to do with money. After all F1 is
[12:34.600 -> 12:39.760] a business, I understand they have to maximize their their profits and that's
[12:39.760 -> 12:45.360] why they visit the places which offer the most amount of money. But at the end of the day,
[12:45.360 -> 12:53.120] they should remember that this is a sport and the entertainment value is just as important as the
[12:53.120 -> 12:59.720] money is. You're not gonna make money if people are not gonna watch your races. And if you want
[12:59.720 -> 13:06.080] to keep things interesting, especially given the most re of these dominance that has been in
[13:06.080 -> 13:11.080] the past years they have to mix things up what they I feel they should be doing
[13:11.080 -> 13:18.160] is they should have one or two slots each race I mean each year and those
[13:18.160 -> 13:26.080] should be on a rotating track basis and they should keep changing those because that will add a new dimension
[13:26.880 -> 13:28.120] and
[13:28.120 -> 13:32.720] As you said, you know teams can't hard-code their cars to tracks that way
[13:33.360 -> 13:40.000] Coming back to the entire season, right? I mean we we started off with the expectation that Merck was gonna dominate
[13:40.000 -> 13:48.160] I mean we knew that from pre-testing the interesting part, we had some hunch that Red Bull was gonna be close second.
[13:48.160 -> 13:51.720] It wasn't close but it was still second.
[13:51.720 -> 13:56.360] The interesting part were all the teams after that.
[13:56.360 -> 14:02.440] Like, the midfield already started getting better since 2019 and it just came so close in 2020.
[14:02.440 -> 14:06.800] So, like, going off each team, Merck, right?
[14:06.960 -> 14:08.520] Hamilton, Botas.
[14:08.960 -> 14:12.560] Botas starts off 2020 the same way he does 2019.
[14:12.560 -> 14:16.040] Wins the first race and then is on podium.
[14:16.040 -> 14:18.520] So that's a win for Mercedes.
[14:18.520 -> 14:22.400] But it didn't work out quite the way he wanted.
[14:22.560 -> 14:31.120] Botas, I feel Botas every year comes in, he finishes the first race and he's like,
[14:31.120 -> 14:33.920] yes, my job here is done and I can just rest now.
[14:34.800 -> 14:36.080] And the season's done for me.
[14:37.680 -> 14:41.360] I mean, he is a good racer.
[14:41.360 -> 14:42.320] He is talented.
[14:42.320 -> 14:43.760] I don't deny that.
[14:43.760 -> 14:49.420] I mean, Hamilton is Hamilton and it's not easy to be his teammate.
[14:49.420 -> 14:58.420] But, I don't know man. I am tired of Hamilton not having any competition.
[14:58.420 -> 15:06.080] No, bang on there. I mean, the fun on this sport and we can see that in McLaren is, the drivers challenge each other, right? To push each other.
[15:06.080 -> 15:17.900] Here, I feel Hamilton is motivated by either matching up with Schumacher or being number one and being that greatest driver of all time.
[15:17.900 -> 15:25.000] That's his motivating factor. And maybe a few percentages with Botas pushing.
[15:25.000 -> 15:27.600] But I don't quite see that on the track.
[15:27.600 -> 15:35.000] Like, there isn't much Botas vs. Hamilton rivalry that we have seen with Hamilton and others in the past.
[15:35.000 -> 15:37.640] Yeah. I wish there was something like Rosberg right now.
[15:37.640 -> 15:42.800] Or Alonso vs. Hamilton too. I would love to see that.
[15:42.800 -> 15:53.920] I agree. Well, Potas, I think he had a decent season. I mean, he was in the best car. He
[15:53.920 -> 16:01.320] delivered the podiums that Merck needed. And he did a good enough job that Mercedes is
[16:01.320 -> 16:06.000] not gonna replace him. They're not gonna, you know, break the winning formula.
[16:06.480 -> 16:08.720] They don't want to add spice to their curry right now.
[16:09.320 -> 16:14.960] That's a very interesting point because what Bottas does for Mercedes
[16:14.960 -> 16:19.280] enables Mercedes to be that constructor champion that they continue being.
[16:19.840 -> 16:26.960] And we've seen an example of this with Red Bull, where it's completely dominated by Max Verstappen.
[16:27.440 -> 16:32.620] Have they had their second driver also on podiums contesting?
[16:32.960 -> 16:37.000] While Max is contesting, Hamilton have the second driver contest, Bottas.
[16:37.480 -> 16:43.760] There could have been a, if not for, you know, drivers championships, at least for constructors championships,
[16:43.800 -> 16:49.840] we would have seen 2020 have a good competition between Mercedes and Red Bull. But thoughts on Red
[16:49.840 -> 16:56.840] Bull, they've, they've continuous in the past two years, they've changed their second driver.
[16:56.840 -> 17:07.040] What do you think about Red Bull? Yeah, I think Red Bull is fully invested into Max. That's very clear. Red Bull is Max Verstappen,
[17:07.040 -> 17:13.200] I would say. And I would say it makes sense from their perspective in a way.
[17:14.400 -> 17:22.480] Okay, so, Pierre Gasly, let's talk about him just a little bit. Pierre Gasly wasn't Red Bull. He
[17:22.480 -> 17:25.780] obviously wasn't able to match up with Max.
[17:25.780 -> 17:28.760] He was not able to get his arms out.
[17:28.760 -> 17:32.360] He was not able to defend his positions.
[17:32.360 -> 17:34.280] And that's why he got the boot.
[17:34.280 -> 17:35.280] Albon came in.
[17:35.280 -> 17:38.780] He seemed promising at the start.
[17:38.780 -> 17:44.640] If I remember the first race, I think he was punted out by Hamilton.
[17:44.640 -> 17:52.200] I think Max was... That happened twice Hamilton. I think Max had some engine problems or something
[17:52.200 -> 18:00.160] in the first race and Albon was on the path of winning the race and then he got punted
[18:00.160 -> 18:07.200] out. After that, I think things just kept going south for him. He got a couple
[18:07.200 -> 18:14.040] podiums but it just wasn't enough I think. And what happens is for Max,
[18:14.040 -> 18:23.160] Hamilton say for example, he has this teammate who helps him to stay
[18:23.160 -> 18:26.900] ahead in the sense that people have to go through boat as
[18:26.900 -> 18:33.600] first to reach Hamilton and that does help you a lot because you don't have to
[18:33.600 -> 18:41.000] constantly worry about you know getting undercut or overcut during your
[18:41.000 -> 18:46.880] during your pit stop. There's somebody else who is going to defend the position for you on the track.
[18:46.880 -> 18:52.600] And that peace of mind, I think, really helps Hamilton push even more.
[18:52.600 -> 18:53.920] Which Max doesn't get.
[18:53.920 -> 18:57.760] Because he does not have the same stability on his side.
[18:57.760 -> 19:02.040] Right. And then, I mean, Max himself, right?
[19:02.040 -> 19:04.880] While we talk about these things,
[19:04.880 -> 19:13.280] and him being hot-headed and you know, previous season, whatever aggression and every other driver spoken about him.
[19:13.280 -> 19:28.720] But he does show promising results. I mean, he has been as consistent, if not more, as Hamilton or Bottasas to that matter. He's been on that podium way too many times in 2020 as well.
[19:28.720 -> 19:35.280] Barring either technical issues or any incidents that would have happened. But I mean, he's been consistent.
[19:35.280 -> 19:48.160] And we are right. I mean, Alex Albon, poor guy. I mean, he missed out on two podiums for whatever reasons. He did get his redemption, but overall, there doesn't
[19:48.160 -> 19:53.840] seem that promising factor that you would expect from Driver 2 at a team like Red Bull.
[19:54.800 -> 20:01.840] Yep, I would agree. Okay, so actually, I don't want to skip over Hamilton since we went on to
[20:01.840 -> 20:06.100] Red Bull because he is the champion of 2020 and I do want to
[20:06.100 -> 20:12.060] talk a little bit about him before we move ahead. This season is honestly where
[20:12.060 -> 20:18.060] Hamilton possibly won me over. I have been a critic of Hamilton for a while. I
[20:18.060 -> 20:29.200] still am but I mean yes I always did kind of respect his dedication because Lewis Hamilton is nothing if he is not dedicated.
[20:29.200 -> 20:37.500] And the race which he outshone everyone else on the field was Turkey.
[20:37.500 -> 20:47.600] Odds were completely stacked against him. He did not have a good strategy. Mosonese was not good on that track at all. I remember,
[20:47.600 -> 20:57.120] I think both Botas and Hamilton were far behind in the field when the restarted and the call
[20:57.120 -> 21:05.000] that he made of not switching from inters to to dries and skipping that pit stop
[21:06.400 -> 21:11.400] and wearing out his tires just enough
[21:11.920 -> 21:16.920] to have those hybrid inter and dry tires
[21:17.120 -> 21:20.000] that he kind of managed to keep those at,
[21:20.000 -> 21:22.160] where he had the advantage of the inters
[21:22.160 -> 21:23.760] with the grooves on the sides
[21:23.760 -> 21:26.160] and the flat spots in the center of the tire.
[21:26.160 -> 21:29.280] He really shone in that race and he won that race.
[21:29.280 -> 21:38.480] That's where I was fully convinced that, okay, he does deserve the respect that is given to him.
[21:38.480 -> 21:50.620] Yeah, and to add to that crown, I mean, that's the race where he got his 7th title too, right? So, that was a true mark of someone who knows his stuff.
[21:50.620 -> 21:54.780] Because it's not easy to be that consistent.
[21:54.780 -> 22:07.400] And that shows experience in the sport when everything is against you but you are still taking calls against probably your team principal and your team engineers.
[22:07.400 -> 22:10.840] And you know your car more than they do because you are in that cockpit.
[22:10.840 -> 22:16.760] And that shirt. That shirt, right? Like, him getting that 7th title. That shirt.
[22:16.760 -> 22:25.000] Yup. Yup. I mean, he could have won that title by even being seventh in the race.
[22:26.360 -> 22:29.440] That's the thing. That's what I appreciate about him.
[22:29.440 -> 22:34.280] His dedication is insane. He always wants to win no matter what.
[22:34.720 -> 22:39.200] A lot of times he comes off as whiny, I would say,
[22:39.840 -> 22:44.840] in his super focus of winning the race always.
[22:45.680 -> 22:48.360] But yeah, that's Hamilton for you.
[22:48.360 -> 22:51.040] Yeah. Yeah, I agree with you.
[22:51.040 -> 22:55.000] I mean, I've also had my share of criticism for that guy.
[22:55.000 -> 23:01.080] But yeah, his consistency and dedication sort of shows, right?
[23:01.080 -> 23:03.560] And that changes your perspective about him.
[23:03.560 -> 23:05.360] Because that race, I mean, Saturday,
[23:05.360 -> 23:12.640] what Racing Point, Stroll Jr. on the pole, he's probably going to win this. He's also leading the
[23:12.640 -> 23:18.000] race. And then, as you said, Hamilton taking the call for not switching the tires when
[23:18.560 -> 23:23.040] the team was telling him, whereas Stroll did. Yeah, that was the turning.
[23:23.040 -> 23:29.320] One quick thing about that race. If you noticed, the people who gained the most in that race
[23:29.640 -> 23:31.720] were the people who were able to manage their tires.
[23:31.720 -> 23:34.400] Yeah. Peres, Peres was one person.
[23:34.400 -> 23:36.840] He came in second, second or third, I forget.
[23:37.520 -> 23:39.840] But he made the best out of it.
[23:39.840 -> 23:42.640] He was not supposed to be on the podium in that race.
[23:42.640 -> 23:47.200] I think he was somewhere seventh or eighth throughout the race.
[23:47.200 -> 23:52.200] And then he made the call of not pitting and he managed to start us through the end in
[23:52.200 -> 23:57.400] a similar way with what Hamilton did and dividends paid off for him.
[23:57.400 -> 23:58.400] All right.
[23:58.400 -> 23:59.400] Okay.
[23:59.400 -> 24:00.720] Let's get back to Red Bull.
[24:00.720 -> 24:02.960] I think we discussed about Albon.
[24:02.960 -> 24:04.440] We discussed about Max.
[24:04.440 -> 24:06.720] Do you have anything to add about Max?
[24:06.720 -> 24:08.160] Otherwise, we could move on.
[24:08.160 -> 24:15.360] No. I genuinely want to see that guy win more podiums. I do find him hot-headed. But I like it.
[24:15.360 -> 24:25.680] I mean, he's pushing the team that's dominating. And that's what I like to see. that's the competition that keeps me continue watching.
[24:25.680 -> 24:32.000] Otherwise, if more questions doing and it was everyone else playing, it lacks that own
[24:32.000 -> 24:34.040] factor of why are you watching this board?
[24:34.040 -> 24:35.520] Are you watching it for everyone else?
[24:35.520 -> 24:37.440] Yep, I completely agree.
[24:37.440 -> 24:50.880] And one more thing which I really want to credit Max for is up until 2019 I think, oh no 2018. Max always has had this image, as you've
[24:50.880 -> 24:54.920] also called him a lot of times today, hot-headed. That's what you always
[24:54.920 -> 24:59.280] remember when you think about Max. And he's always had this image among
[24:59.280 -> 25:06.760] everyone that he is hot-headed. But if you notice something, ever since the crash that he had with Okon,
[25:06.760 -> 25:14.260] after that incident, you will see a changed Max. He has changed so much after that. He
[25:14.260 -> 25:20.800] has kept his head cool in every single race that he has been. The only place where I saw
[25:20.800 -> 25:27.500] him lose his patience again was at Portimaoo when he was on the path of getting the lead of the race.
[25:27.500 -> 25:31.000] And then he spun out while trying to overtake Perez.
[25:31.000 -> 25:32.000] Yeah. Yeah.
[25:32.000 -> 25:42.000] Now, if we are talking about Hamilton's consistency, there is a visible evolution in terms of how Max has progressed in his career, right?
[25:42.000 -> 25:46.840] Like joining in F1 and as I've called him a couple of times, hot-headed.
[25:46.840 -> 25:52.720] But since then, we've seen his hot-headedness convert to aggression,
[25:52.720 -> 26:00.120] convert to wins, then being like that consistent winner for Red Bull that he is now.
[26:00.120 -> 26:06.780] And I see him there for a long time, unless someone tries to buy him off of Red Bull.
[26:06.780 -> 26:14.000] But regardless in his career, I do see him winning those World Championships, hopefully in the near future.
[26:14.000 -> 26:25.000] But talking of young drivers, moving down the list, we've got McLaren, which to my surprise was just so amazing last season.
[26:25.000 -> 26:30.000] Boat driver is just amazing, Lando Norris, signs, just amazing.
[26:30.000 -> 26:34.000] Absolutely. McLaren, when they started the season off,
[26:34.000 -> 26:38.000] I did not expect them to be on number three at all.
[26:38.000 -> 26:46.340] They are one of the teams who, if you think about all the races except for the
[26:46.340 -> 26:52.360] one obviously where Pierre Gasly won and I think Sainz was second but apart from
[26:52.360 -> 26:59.300] that you can't think of McLaren being in a very dominant position throughout the
[26:59.300 -> 27:11.500] season but just by completing races having both the drivers within points and having that consistency got them on the third place.
[27:11.500 -> 27:14.200] Yeah, and that race, what a race, right?
[27:14.200 -> 27:19.200] I so felt that science emotion when that chequered flag went up.
[27:19.200 -> 27:23.800] I was like, one more or maximum of two more laps and he would have had it.
[27:23.800 -> 27:26.240] It was so there.
[27:26.240 -> 27:31.640] What I like is, what we have been talking about is missing from the other two teams where
[27:31.640 -> 27:38.280] we have got Lando and Sainz have that chemistry and that push.
[27:38.280 -> 27:44.200] It's not that we have seen one or the other dominant during the season.
[27:44.200 -> 27:48.480] It's been so much that both of them have been pushing each other.
[27:48.480 -> 27:51.280] We've seen Lando finish 4th.
[27:51.280 -> 27:55.600] Carlos has obviously gone on to be on the podium as well.
[27:55.600 -> 27:58.640] But it's just been amazing at McLaren.
[27:58.640 -> 27:59.680] Oh yeah, definitely.
[27:59.680 -> 28:04.240] Yeah, I'm just trying to look for the driver standings from 2020.
[28:04.240 -> 28:05.920] And I'm going to take a look.
[28:05.920 -> 28:08.880] I want to see where Sainz ended up.
[28:09.840 -> 28:11.040] Sixth, okay.
[28:11.040 -> 28:12.480] And Lando was ninth.
[28:13.120 -> 28:20.960] Sainz obviously has the advantage of winning podiums and second place got him all the points
[28:20.960 -> 28:22.880] that he needed to like jump forward.
[28:23.600 -> 28:25.360] That's the surprising thing, right? Like
[28:25.360 -> 28:32.160] if you see Sergio Perez was fourth, yet Racing Point is not the third team. They are on number
[28:32.160 -> 28:39.920] four and that shows where consistency is so important in the sport. It's not just about
[28:39.920 -> 28:48.000] being on the podium. At the end of the day, winning races doesn't earn you money. The Constructors' Championship earns you money.
[28:48.000 -> 28:55.420] And getting your team up there is so important for the next season because that is going to help your development for the next season.
[28:55.420 -> 29:09.360] Just a small correction there. I thought Landa was 4th but there was a time penalty to Hamilton on that Austrian race, which made him leapfrog to the podium.
[29:09.360 -> 29:13.900] So, both the drivers have had podium with consistent performance.
[29:13.900 -> 29:21.220] And that has paid off, right? Like, to everyone's surprise, we've seen McLaren come back so strong.
[29:21.220 -> 29:26.400] To what it was, right? Two years back back when Alonso was on the team.
[29:26.400 -> 29:29.160] GP2 engine.
[29:29.160 -> 29:32.760] We all remember those radio messages.
[29:32.760 -> 29:37.160] A little bit to his credit, Alonso was helping McLaren build up again
[29:37.160 -> 29:40.240] from where they've come.
[29:40.240 -> 29:41.880] And it shows.
[29:41.880 -> 29:48.120] With both these drivers just performing amazing. Brown at
[29:48.120 -> 29:56.360] the helm of it also pushing these drivers. And also the very fact that they hired the
[29:56.360 -> 30:09.120] ex-Porsche boss from the WEC Seidel, he I, has played a pivotal role in the team. He has been a superstar at Persia.
[30:09.120 -> 30:17.480] I am sure he is doing the same over here as well. And I am actually quite excited to see what McLaren does in the coming season.
[30:17.480 -> 30:25.520] Because, yeah, the past few seasons have been spectacular for them. Let's find out. Hey, the banter is going to continue, right?
[30:25.520 -> 30:30.240] We'll, we'll probably talk more about this in a future episode too, but the banter is
[30:30.240 -> 30:34.240] going to continue with Ricardo who replaces Science.
[30:35.360 -> 30:39.280] Yeah, we'll get to that too in a future episode.
[30:40.000 -> 30:41.360] No, actually I'm not too sure.
[30:41.600 -> 30:49.160] So one thing I've noticed is that every team usually has one funny guy and one serious guy.
[30:49.160 -> 30:53.160] And I think this is breaking that balance
[30:53.160 -> 30:57.520] because now you have two immature guys in the same team
[30:57.520 -> 31:00.080] and I don't know what's gonna happen with that.
[31:00.080 -> 31:02.360] And then some team's gonna have two mature guys
[31:02.360 -> 31:03.960] and it's gonna be a serious team.
[31:06.880 -> 31:07.680] Yeah, that's right.
[31:09.680 -> 31:14.760] All right. Anyways, let's move on to the next team on the 2020 constructors.
[31:14.760 -> 31:23.640] That is Racing Point. Racing Point has been a topic of discussion for a couple of seasons now.
[31:26.280 -> 31:33.280] a topic of discussion for a couple of seasons now. All that went down with changes in ownership, the team going into administration, Perez helping the team to
[31:33.280 -> 31:38.960] you know not going bankrupt, making the deal go through with Stroll and
[31:38.960 -> 31:43.040] everything. Perez has been a very integral part of this team for a while
[31:43.040 -> 31:51.280] now. Yeah that too and then the other controversy of them being Murc too, using Murc engines directly.
[31:51.280 -> 31:58.320] So, yeah, I mean, in and off of F1, they've just been in discussions quite a lot.
[31:58.320 -> 32:01.520] Oh, yeah, yeah, for sure.
[32:01.520 -> 32:05.720] Racing Point, as people used to call them.
[32:12.140 -> 32:12.820] Yeah, RacingPoint has had its own set of controversies, but regardless of that
[32:15.960 -> 32:16.760] they have been pretty good through the years.
[32:19.480 -> 32:20.140] RacingPoint has always been known to have,
[32:28.400 -> 32:33.600] you know, being a small team and having very limited resources, they have achieved a lot in the past years. And you can see that as they are rising through the Constructors.
[32:33.600 -> 32:38.800] Now, I think this season they had a couple of freaks of bad luck with Lance,
[32:38.800 -> 32:45.800] especially they had a couple of mechanical issues because of which I feel they fell short on the
[32:45.800 -> 32:52.400] Constructor Series and lost out. Also I think they had to... oh yeah one more
[32:52.400 -> 32:57.040] important thing I think the point about racing point that you said if you
[32:57.040 -> 33:03.640] remember they were fined in terms of points and they had to forego a couple
[33:03.640 -> 33:05.200] points for the start
[33:05.200 -> 33:10.080] thing few races if I remember correctly and that lost them a couple spots on the table.
[33:10.640 -> 33:19.280] I think that's because it was uncovered that they had copied the design of the rear brake ducts or
[33:19.280 -> 33:28.000] something like that and those parts are not visible so that kind of proved that they had some exchange of information with Mercedes.
[33:28.000 -> 33:39.000] Yeah, you're bang on. I mean, besides like a $500,000 fine, there was also like deducting 15 points-ish from the Constructor Champion.
[33:39.000 -> 33:44.000] How much was the difference between the spot ahead?
[33:44.000 -> 33:46.600] From what I see, it was 14 points.
[33:46.600 -> 33:48.160] So, yes, definitely.
[33:48.160 -> 33:49.880] That could have gotten them.
[33:49.880 -> 33:50.880] That's exactly what lost them.
[33:50.880 -> 33:52.920] Yeah, that's right.
[33:52.920 -> 33:55.200] They could have been 196.
[33:55.200 -> 34:07.360] Perez himself also has had his share of turbulence, if you will, in the season, right? The quitting in court session saw Perez in the limelight
[34:08.440 -> 34:11.680] after all the shuffling that went about and
[34:12.080 -> 34:19.180] I don't know if that gave him the kick or what was it, but we've just seen that guy change mid-season
[34:19.720 -> 34:21.720] Yep, I think Perez has
[34:21.800 -> 34:29.360] always been that guy who's there when the pieces are falling and he's always there to catch those pieces.
[34:29.800 -> 34:32.880] He never loses the opportunity when it knocks on his door.
[34:33.160 -> 34:40.680] And that guy has many a times been on the podium when he has no place on the podium at all.
[34:41.800 -> 34:42.800] I really appreciate that.
[34:43.120 -> 34:55.900] So, yeah, I mean, racing points just being spectacular. We have seen that consistency and that fire from both Stroll Jr. and Perez that we have seen them either contest and even win some podiums.
[34:55.900 -> 35:05.600] Perez going on to win his first ever podium. Everyone was emotional. Just spectacular performance from Perez.
[35:05.600 -> 35:10.600] And everyone starting to talk about, hey, let's have this guy in 2021.
[35:10.600 -> 35:14.880] And, you know, I had my fingers crossed until the news came out.
[35:14.880 -> 35:23.840] But talking about racing points, spectacular performance, we cannot overshadow Reynolds bouncing back, right?
[35:23.840 -> 35:29.640] Reynolds has been... Ricardo is just trying to push that team and lift that team so much.
[35:29.640 -> 35:30.640] It's visible.
[35:30.640 -> 35:34.480] And Ocon, I feel like that guy has been in the shadow.
[35:34.480 -> 35:35.800] Oh, yeah.
[35:35.800 -> 35:36.800] Sake.
[35:36.800 -> 35:37.800] Sake Gnonpi.
[35:37.800 -> 35:38.800] He was second.
[35:38.800 -> 35:39.800] Perez was first.
[35:39.800 -> 35:40.800] Ocon was second.
[35:40.800 -> 35:41.800] Lance Struhl was third.
[35:41.800 -> 35:42.800] Okay.
[35:42.800 -> 35:43.800] Interesting.
[35:43.800 -> 35:44.800] And Daniel was fifth in that race.
[35:44.800 -> 35:47.160] And Perez won the race by a margin of 0 was third. Okay, interesting. And Daniel was
[35:47.160 -> 35:51.760] fifth on that race. And Perez won the race by a large margin, by the way. He won the
[35:51.760 -> 35:56.920] race by 10 seconds. That is Hamilton level.
[35:56.920 -> 36:13.000] Would you have imagined a Renault car coming second? No, not at all. I mean, the season that Renauld has had before, I did not imagine Renauld to be 5th this season.
[36:13.000 -> 36:20.720] Exactly. I mean, 2019 and then pre-season testing. I was like, yeah, Renauld is gonna have a similar season.
[36:20.720 -> 36:27.880] Poor Ricardo, he switched from Red Bull to Renault with super high hopes, but only to see
[36:27.880 -> 36:34.920] that yes, that teams just kept surprising and both their drivers have again been very consistent.
[36:34.920 -> 36:45.000] Every time when somebody talks about Ricardo crying about going from Red Bull to Renault.
[36:45.640 -> 36:48.920] I think about that meme, if you remember,
[36:48.920 -> 36:51.300] that guy lying on the floor and
[36:51.300 -> 36:54.000] wiping his tears off his bank notes.
[36:54.000 -> 36:58.040] And that's exactly Ricardo with his $20 million paycheck
[36:58.040 -> 37:00.040] that he got from Renault.
[37:01.800 -> 37:03.840] He does not care a damn.
[37:13.360 -> 37:27.680] He does not care a damn. His account is more than enough for offset all the races he did not win. I think Renault was a very good, what do you say, transition team for him. McLaren is going to be a very good place for him. And I definitely see Ricciardo doing good in the coming season.
[37:28.960 -> 37:32.160] And yeah, obviously, he did do great in Renault, but still.
[37:32.160 -> 37:39.040] With the way Renault's progressing, but then the other way where how McLaren's been progressing,
[37:40.800 -> 37:43.840] it's evident in the way he jumped, right?
[37:43.840 -> 37:52.800] As soon as Vettel exited and Sainz jumped the gun on Ferrari, you could see Ricardo like, yeah, I'm moving to McLaren.
[37:52.800 -> 38:06.960] Bye. Yes, I remember the whole dominoes that was going on when, you know, as soon as the news for signs broke then the news for the
[38:06.960 -> 38:12.000] corridor broke and very soon I think everybody was pretty much sure what was
[38:12.000 -> 38:15.760] going to be the next news that was better placing Paris and that's exactly
[38:15.760 -> 38:30.320] what happened talking about talking about a wet let's move on to Ferrari, which had an underwhelming season and they
[38:30.320 -> 38:39.040] started off very bad and then they slowly were kind of creeping up the table. I'm glad
[38:39.040 -> 38:47.840] they at least reached sixth and they didn't reach, I mean, they were not beat by their B teams.
[38:47.840 -> 38:50.480] So that's working in their favor.
[38:51.400 -> 38:53.080] What are your thoughts about Ferrari's season?
[38:53.640 -> 38:54.440] That's true.
[38:54.440 -> 38:57.760] It was quite an underwhelming performance.
[38:58.800 -> 39:09.840] Somewhat of a film following a trailer from that pre-season testing where again, it was somewhat evident that they have some internal issues.
[39:09.840 -> 39:21.120] Again, I don't know how true it is but it's somewhat visible that there is driver favoritism happening between Leclerc and Vettel.
[39:21.120 -> 39:25.600] I mean, benefit of doubt to Ferrari because it's not that one driver is better
[39:25.600 -> 39:26.600] than the other.
[39:26.600 -> 39:29.480] Leclerc's proved himself time and again.
[39:29.480 -> 39:35.400] He's been a self-critic of himself, sometime overly so, but he's been a self-critic of
[39:35.400 -> 39:40.160] himself, pushing Vettel to the limit, pushing Ferrari to the limit.
[39:40.160 -> 39:44.480] And on the other side, Vettel doing the same because he knows he wants to win that title
[39:44.480 -> 39:45.200] championship fight with Hamilton. And on the other side, Vettel doing the same, because he knows he wants to win that title championship
[39:45.200 -> 39:47.000] fight with Hamilton.
[39:47.000 -> 39:51.600] Good part for Ferrari with some of the incidents
[39:51.600 -> 39:53.840] that did happen during some of the races,
[39:53.840 -> 39:57.640] they were able to creep up to fourth places,
[39:57.640 -> 40:01.600] sometimes even third with Vettel winning one of those races.
[40:01.600 -> 40:07.440] So overall, there were quite a lot of positive movements. Vettel saw it coming,
[40:07.440 -> 40:14.320] his contract was ending, chose to leave, which was also somewhere expected by fans. And yeah,
[40:14.320 -> 40:21.000] until he had a place to go, it was all fingers crossed. Let's get this guy a team.
[40:21.000 -> 40:27.840] Yeah, definitely. And it was very evident that Vettel was not having a good time at
[40:27.840 -> 40:34.360] Ferrari. I could see it in his interviews, the way he talked, the way he behaved. It
[40:34.360 -> 40:40.160] was very evident that the relationship between the driver and the team had turned sour and
[40:40.160 -> 40:45.720] they pretty much were just tolerating each other at that point.
[40:45.720 -> 40:52.040] And I'm kind of glad for both Ferrari and Vettel's sake that they parted ways, because
[40:52.040 -> 40:57.200] I feel both of them will come out better out of this.
[40:57.200 -> 41:02.160] So one thing which I really wanted to talk about was Leclerc.
[41:02.160 -> 41:07.400] Very similar to Hamilton, I've not been a fan of Leclerc
[41:07.400 -> 41:13.440] ever since he's joined Ferrari. A lot of times, yeah I mean he is a great driver
[41:13.440 -> 41:27.880] but in a similar vein to Hamilton. Due to his constant need of being number one in things, he comes off as being whiny a lot of times.
[41:27.880 -> 41:32.400] I appreciate the fact that he is really self-critical,
[41:33.480 -> 41:39.040] but sometimes, as you said, right, sometimes he sounds really overly self-critical.
[41:39.040 -> 41:47.400] And at that point, for me, it feels like it's that he's being disingenuous about it.
[41:47.400 -> 41:55.100] He is trying to put up a face in front of people of being self-critical.
[41:55.600 -> 42:02.600] But regardless, I think through the season, he has proved himself as the number one driver for Ferrari.
[42:02.600 -> 42:07.320] He has taken those opportunities. He has been
[42:07.320 -> 42:11.640] on podiums when he shouldn't have been when clearly Ferrari were not doing good and he
[42:11.640 -> 42:17.400] still somehow was there taking picking up those third positions, fourth positions, fifth
[42:17.400 -> 42:27.040] positions and that shows right that shows on the driver's standings. He came up, where was, where was Luckluck? I forget. Let me see.
[42:28.160 -> 42:30.880] I mean, most of the races he's finished ahead of Vettel.
[42:32.000 -> 42:35.040] I think Luckluck was 8th. Wow. Okay.
[42:35.600 -> 42:36.560] Yeah. That's not bad.
[42:36.560 -> 42:37.600] Props to him.
[42:37.600 -> 42:38.100] Yep.
[42:40.080 -> 42:47.600] The only heartfelt feeling that goes out for Vettel here is, I remember an interview where Hamilton was like,
[42:47.600 -> 42:54.800] every driver's got some other thing working for them outside of the racetrack.
[42:54.800 -> 43:09.220] And for all the years that I've known Vettel, all he knows is cars and F1 and Reesing. And that banter was sort of visible when you could see Vettel and Raikkonen
[43:09.220 -> 43:13.280] just fooling around with each other.
[43:13.280 -> 43:19.660] And then as soon as Raikkonen moves, it's like one of your siblings just goes away.
[43:19.660 -> 43:29.360] And you can see Vettel and Leclerc not being the right of their teammates.
[43:29.360 -> 43:33.840] But nonetheless, there were some amazing moments for Ferrari.
[43:33.840 -> 43:37.400] Reddits got to troll him quite a lot with Sabinella.
[43:37.400 -> 43:39.800] I am pretty sure I am pronouncing that wrong.
[43:39.800 -> 43:42.920] That's continued.
[43:42.920 -> 43:43.920] Spinella.
[43:43.920 -> 43:45.520] That's the one, yes.
[43:45.520 -> 43:50.920] That's continued, so we've seen that old Vettel not getting lost in 2020.
[43:50.920 -> 43:59.560] And yeah, the guy shifting to Racing Point, which is now at Aston Martin.
[43:59.560 -> 44:02.920] I'm just excited to see him back on racetrack and not going home.
[44:02.920 -> 44:06.800] Down the list we have Alpha Tauri.
[44:09.040 -> 44:12.200] Ghazli. Ghazli has been fantastic.
[44:12.320 -> 44:16.040] I have, he is the driver of the season for me.
[44:16.440 -> 44:21.200] My heart goes out to him. He has struggled so much. Have he,
[44:21.240 -> 44:26.960] okay. So this is podcast that F1 does with beyond the grid. I heard
[44:26.960 -> 44:33.280] this episode of Gasly on it. I've heard his life story and the struggles that he's been
[44:33.280 -> 44:40.400] through. I'm glad this guy made it. He has had a horrible time at Red Bull. He didn't
[44:40.400 -> 44:50.400] even get to complete the season in Red Bull which was really bad. And I can't even get to complete the season in Red Bull, which was really bad. And I can't even imagine getting kicked out of a team in the middle of the season
[44:50.400 -> 44:55.760] and still coming up, back up the next season and giving your 100%.
[44:56.320 -> 44:58.800] And he did that. And it shows.
[44:59.840 -> 45:04.080] He beat Kvyat almost every single race.
[45:09.980 -> 45:14.320] And yeah, it was just 10 out of 10, I think, from him. Yeah, bang on. I mean, I think he is found home at Alpha Tauri.
[45:14.320 -> 45:19.720] And that showed as soon as times for contractor annuals came.
[45:19.720 -> 45:26.400] I think he was the… He didn't even blink an eye and there was news that Gasly is going to continue at Alpha Tauri.
[45:26.400 -> 45:30.240] Which I think is the right decision at this point in his career.
[45:30.240 -> 45:34.960] Because he has had the other side of the experience not working out good for him.
[45:34.960 -> 45:40.440] Coming back and then, you know, getting that P2 in 2019.
[45:40.440 -> 45:43.720] And coming back stronger with a P1.
[45:43.720 -> 45:48.800] Everyone cheering that French win after a long, long time.
[45:48.800 -> 45:52.840] Yeah, he had it long coming and I am happy for him.
[45:52.840 -> 45:59.000] Oh yeah, definitely. Moving on to Daniel Kvyat.
[45:59.000 -> 46:10.000] I don't think 2020 was his season. He was constantly somewhere around near Gasly but never beating him.
[46:10.000 -> 46:17.000] Nothing spectacular, no podiums, nowhere was he close to podiums.
[46:17.000 -> 46:25.840] And that pretty much showed, I mean, Yuki replaced him. So, yeah, there it goes.
[46:25.840 -> 46:29.840] Yeah, I don't have a lot to say about him.
[46:29.840 -> 46:32.800] Yeah, there isn't much to add for Danik.
[46:32.800 -> 46:37.360] Only Russian on the grid. I would have loved to see him fight a lot.
[46:37.360 -> 46:42.080] But, well, I guess 2020 wasn't his year.
[46:42.080 -> 46:49.000] Yeah, well, moving on down the list to Alpha Romeo.
[46:49.000 -> 46:55.000] My favorite man in the squad is in this team.
[46:55.000 -> 46:57.000] Man, I love this guy.
[46:59.000 -> 47:01.000] The Iceman.
[47:01.000 -> 47:03.000] Kimi Raikkonen. What to say about him?
[47:03.000 -> 47:08.160] He has been with, I think this is the second
[47:08.160 -> 47:12.960] year with Alpha for him, right? Yeah. Yeah. Yes, correct. Yep. Yep. It's the second year
[47:12.960 -> 47:21.020] with Alpha. He comes on the track, he does his job, he goes home. And he does his job
[47:21.020 -> 47:27.640] as well as he can with the card that's given to him. Alpha has been struggling this season.
[47:27.640 -> 47:30.500] They have constantly been at the back of the grid.
[47:30.500 -> 47:36.440] Though, somehow, I have seen Kimi somehow make it till Q2 a lot of times.
[47:36.440 -> 47:40.600] And I think, once he reached Q3, I think so.
[47:40.600 -> 47:43.800] I don't recall exactly. I think once he did reach Q3.
[47:43.800 -> 47:46.000] I remember that as well.
[47:46.000 -> 47:48.000] Let me pull this.
[47:48.000 -> 47:56.000] Yeah, and even in one of the races, I don't recall which, where in the first starting lap,
[47:56.000 -> 48:00.000] Kimi made up some 10 positions or something.
[48:00.000 -> 48:06.120] And obviously he lost all those positions soon because he was driving Alpha.
[48:06.120 -> 48:09.160] But yeah, the best part about that race.
[48:09.160 -> 48:10.400] Oh my God.
[48:10.400 -> 48:13.900] After that race comes this post race interview.
[48:13.900 -> 48:17.520] And then he's driving, he's gaining these positions.
[48:17.520 -> 48:20.440] And he says, what were the other drivers doing?
[48:20.440 -> 48:22.560] And everyone's struggling for this grip.
[48:22.560 -> 48:24.400] Oh, yes.
[48:24.400 -> 48:28.000] I also remember Vastapan talking about this after the race.
[48:28.000 -> 48:36.000] So I think he was having, I think he was second or third on the track that day.
[48:36.000 -> 48:38.000] And he had a poor start, I think he had some engine problems.
[48:38.000 -> 48:48.000] So what he said was that just after getting off the start, going through the first few corners, he was looking into the rear-view mirror.
[48:48.000 -> 48:56.000] And I think Kimi was 6th or 7th at that point. And he saw Kimi in his rear-view and he thought to himself,
[48:56.000 -> 49:00.500] how bad am I doing that I can see Kimi in my rear-view mirror?
[49:00.500 -> 49:06.660] What's that Alpha doing there? That was a hilarious start to that.
[49:06.660 -> 49:08.580] I think it was Portugal-Gropri.
[49:08.580 -> 49:13.420] Everyone struggling with modulations on such...
[49:13.420 -> 49:17.880] I mean, he has got a silent company with Giovinazzi too, right?
[49:17.880 -> 49:22.000] He has got some good silent company with Giovinazzi.
[49:22.000 -> 49:26.720] I think, there isn't much public banter between the two.
[49:26.720 -> 49:30.800] But there is some good teamwork happening there.
[49:30.800 -> 49:47.760] Yeah, for sure. I think they are good teammates in the sense that I think they have kind of similar personalities in a way. Jivanath Si does come off a little shy, I would say, and he, I think, likes to
[49:47.760 -> 49:53.720] keep to himself a little as compared to other drivers that I've seen. But one thing which
[49:53.720 -> 50:00.280] I really want to note about Jivanath Si is that he has really proven his place at the
[50:00.280 -> 50:06.540] team in the season. I was not quite sure how well he is doing in 2019.
[50:06.540 -> 50:14.520] But, 2020, I think he has been a lot closer to Kimmy. Even beating Kimmy a couple of times in qualification.
[50:14.520 -> 50:28.800] And they ended up with the same number of points. So, yeah, I think kudos to him for earning his place for 2021 as well. Now, he's definitely improved quite a lot coming out of 2019.
[50:28.800 -> 50:33.500] And you're absolutely right about him being in the shadows in 2019.
[50:33.500 -> 50:37.500] As like, yeah, there is a second driver, someone's driving that other Alpha.
[50:37.500 -> 50:42.500] But now, you know, there's Kimi and Jiyonatsu out there, right?
[50:42.500 -> 50:46.240] Yeah. Yeah, so alpha overall didn't have
[50:46.240 -> 50:51.920] that good a season I think most of their issues were attributed to the Ferrari
[50:51.920 -> 50:56.480] engine and as you can see in the driver standing all the Ferrari B teams
[50:56.480 -> 51:06.800] suffered a lot and definitely Haas was the second B team, which were having just a terrible, terrible time.
[51:06.800 -> 51:14.000] Haas has been having other issues too, right? Like the consequences of budgeting and finance
[51:14.000 -> 51:21.760] issues, we've seen them lose their drivers. Some might say that Haas has not been doing
[51:21.760 -> 51:31.200] good and their drivers aren't that good, given given their engineering budgets and how they've been managing I think the team's
[51:31.200 -> 51:38.680] been doing good. Sure, Grosjean's coined as the incident man on the track but I
[51:38.680 -> 51:45.880] think he's had his fair share of being at the wrong place at the wrong time. The unfortunate incident was probably
[51:45.880 -> 51:47.720] his mistake.
[51:47.720 -> 52:00.360] But yeah, no, Grosjean, I think he, I'm always very conflicted about this guy. I've seen
[52:00.360 -> 52:08.440] him do very bad at times. Where we had the meme going on of Crash John on
[52:08.440 -> 52:16.220] reddit where he used to crash so many in so many races but he has had his shining
[52:16.220 -> 52:28.040] moments but I think Haas wasn't a good car and Grosjean, I rate him as a B-grade driver compared to all other
[52:28.040 -> 52:37.160] drivers and yeah, I am not too surprised that he somewhat lost his place in the team.
[52:37.160 -> 52:43.480] But I don't think he would have lost it if it wasn't for the budgeting issues. I think
[52:43.480 -> 52:45.360] they would have still continued with their duo.
[52:45.360 -> 52:54.920] While it may not reflect on the track, I still feel he's got the fire in him that he wants to still keep fighting for those places and get us somewhere.
[52:54.920 -> 53:01.280] But it's just unfortunate with that guy because he's had just so many incidents after incidents.
[53:01.280 -> 53:06.000] Either him being part of a chain reaction or him causing one.
[53:07.840 -> 53:16.920] Yeah, he may not be at the top of the first half of the driver's standing in terms of competency.
[53:16.920 -> 53:26.480] But I mean, he's survived there long enough to show that he's still at least got it somewhere to survive at F1.
[53:26.480 -> 53:34.960] And Magnuson, I feel like he's that counter-juvenile guy where Magnuson is always the quieter one.
[53:34.960 -> 53:40.160] He's away from media. What do you think about Magnuson?
[53:40.160 -> 53:48.040] Magnuson, I've really never been able to get a gauge on that guy. He, yeah, sometimes
[53:48.040 -> 53:54.120] he seems like a very good guy. Sometimes he seems like an absolute twat. I don't understand
[53:54.120 -> 53:59.160] that guy. He, I've seen him perform really well sometimes, and sometimes he is beyond
[53:59.160 -> 54:10.800] terrible. So I honestly cannot get a gauge on him at all. In the years that I have watched, I have always been ambivalent about him.
[54:10.800 -> 54:15.440] And yeah, I don't know whether I like him or not, honestly.
[54:15.440 -> 54:27.100] Well, you don't get to see him anymore. So, I guess Haas is gonna definitely miss him and folks on that track are gonna miss him.
[54:27.100 -> 54:35.500] But as an F1 follower, I never knew much about him. Same like you. So, yeah. No one replaced him.
[54:35.500 -> 54:42.600] Alright. Let's move on to the last team on the Constructors' table. That's Williams.
[54:42.600 -> 54:48.460] And no surprises there. Williams in the 10th position here.
[54:48.460 -> 54:53.460] I'm kind of glad that they finally have changed ownership
[54:56.440 -> 55:00.940] from Clare family and moved on to,
[55:11.840 -> 55:21.400] and moved on to Darlington Capital as the new owners because I feel that Williams has had a very long legacy in the sport and definitely they were doing great right up till 2016,
[55:21.400 -> 55:28.280] I think, or 2015, something like that. And And from there it just went downhill for them.
[55:28.280 -> 55:30.000] I wouldn't blame one person
[55:30.000 -> 55:33.880] but basically everything went against them
[55:33.880 -> 55:37.320] and I'm somewhat glad that they're changing ownership
[55:37.320 -> 55:42.320] and I hope that this gives the impetus that they need
[55:42.440 -> 55:48.800] to gain those points and get ahead on the table.
[55:49.920 -> 55:57.760] Yeah, I mean, the fire's there, definitely. The drive to succeed is what made Claire still hold on.
[55:58.400 -> 56:06.840] But I think she saw that it was time this needed to go. and I'm hoping that with the new ownership
[56:06.840 -> 56:13.380] at Darlington there's more budget, there is more engineering resources that come
[56:13.380 -> 56:19.360] in and with Russell there and Latifi I mean there's a good chance of them sort
[56:19.360 -> 56:26.000] of bouncing back. So it was unfortunate. When did they lose? I think they lost one of their
[56:26.000 -> 56:31.480] engineering principals, right? They'd hired one and...
[56:31.480 -> 56:39.120] I think some shenanigans went by for that. But I think they basically made their team
[56:39.120 -> 56:49.920] principal step down. That's what I think happened. Basically, I think Darlington Capital wanted a more hands-on approach and they wanted their guys at the helm and they basically
[56:49.920 -> 56:56.520] wanted to porch out all the traces of the older management and management
[56:56.520 -> 57:01.400] styles. So I think it definitely makes sense with changing the team principles
[57:01.400 -> 57:06.000] especially when you're changing owners, Especially if the team is doing really bad.
[57:06.000 -> 57:10.000] I mean, I understand if Williams were somewhere 4th or 5th on the table
[57:10.000 -> 57:15.000] and they changed owners and at that point, they shouldn't change the team principle.
[57:15.000 -> 57:18.000] But what, I mean, they have nothing to lose at this point.
[57:18.000 -> 57:29.200] In terms of drivers, Russell's got that very consistent driving record of being at least ahead of Latifi every single race.
[57:29.200 -> 57:34.560] Heart goes out for the guy when he got that opportunity to drive for a Mercedes.
[57:34.560 -> 57:39.280] Just, ah, he would have just loved... I mean, he was this close, right?
[57:39.280 -> 57:45.280] Oh, man, that overtake on Botas was like, is Hamilton in that car?
[57:45.280 -> 57:49.640] Cause that, one of those overtakes was just so brilliant.
[57:49.640 -> 57:53.760] So yeah, that guy's got quite a good career ahead of him.
[57:53.760 -> 57:56.600] I think all the memes are justified where,
[57:56.600 -> 57:58.960] you know, it's like him sitting and just watching
[57:58.960 -> 58:02.200] who's retiring at Mercedes so he can go and fill that place.
[58:02.200 -> 58:05.000] All those memes get to me.
[58:05.000 -> 58:10.000] Though, I really hope that he does get an opportunity at Mercedes.
[58:10.000 -> 58:20.000] Because if Hamilton doesn't retire in the coming years, I am pretty sure there are other teams who are wanting to get George.
[58:20.000 -> 58:25.140] Especially after his performance back in Sakhir ground.
[58:25.140 -> 58:33.440] So, yeah, I hope that George does well and he does get an opportunity at Mercedes because he does deserve it for sure.
[58:33.440 -> 58:35.000] He has proven that by now.
[58:35.000 -> 58:39.080] Yeah, I mean, in benefit of doubt to Latifi there too as his teammate.
[58:39.080 -> 58:51.240] Coming in new, he is still getting his feet wet. With new management, new team, new cars, I'm hoping he'll have an amazing season this year.
[58:51.240 -> 58:53.700] But 2020 for him was...
[58:53.700 -> 58:56.120] He was there.
[58:56.120 -> 58:57.460] He was there.
[58:57.460 -> 58:59.620] He was the second driver.
[58:59.620 -> 59:06.780] But yeah, I mean, overall, 2020 has been quite filled with news.
[59:06.780 -> 59:14.860] It's been an unusual, surprising, fun, sometimes a bit monotonous.
[59:14.860 -> 59:17.860] Everything. Everything that you can hope for that season.
[59:17.860 -> 59:23.600] Let's do this. I wanna know what's your rating on 2020.
[59:23.600 -> 59:25.760] Out of 10, 10 being the maximum.
[59:25.760 -> 59:28.640] Like 10 being you had so much fun
[59:28.640 -> 59:31.000] that you couldn't have hoped for anything else.
[59:31.000 -> 59:36.000] Okay, I think I'll go with a rating of eight for me,
[59:39.200 -> 59:44.200] especially considering how terrible of an year 2020 was,
[59:44.640 -> 59:46.680] the difficulties that people have faced,
[59:47.880 -> 59:52.280] all the crappiness of staying at home and everything,
[59:52.280 -> 59:55.880] F1 has been one of the, you know,
[59:55.880 -> 59:58.060] things to look forward to pretty much
[59:58.060 -> 01:00:00.280] for any F1 fan through this year.
[01:00:00.280 -> 01:00:03.640] And the type of races that F1 has delivered
[01:00:04.800 -> 01:00:06.400] was really awesome.
[01:00:06.400 -> 01:00:13.400] Some of the races obviously were boring, but then if you take a look at the past 5 seasons,
[01:00:13.400 -> 01:00:18.100] that's pretty much majority of the races in those seasons.
[01:00:18.100 -> 01:00:23.600] And if you do a relative comparison of 2020 as compared to the past 5 seasons,
[01:00:23.600 -> 01:00:25.600] I definitely think highly of
[01:00:25.600 -> 01:00:28.440] 2020 and I would give it a rating of 8 out of 10.
[01:00:28.440 -> 01:00:34.240] Yeah, I agree. I mean, I think I'm going to go with a 7 though, where two of my points
[01:00:34.240 -> 01:00:42.400] go away with that Merck dominance. It gets to me. One's been because of the year that
[01:00:42.400 -> 01:00:47.520] it was, but then all seven to contrary to how the year's been, right?
[01:00:47.520 -> 01:00:57.360] It's just been amazing. It was like the undulating track that they had and it's been a rollercoaster of emotions.
[01:00:57.360 -> 01:01:05.000] Seeing so many folks on podium, dramatic side crashes, bouncing back from them.
[01:01:05.000 -> 01:01:09.000] Yeah, it's been an exciting year.
[01:01:09.000 -> 01:01:13.000] I hope to see more fight at the top going ahead.
[01:01:13.000 -> 01:01:18.000] So yeah, there's some hopes out of 2021.
[01:01:18.000 -> 01:01:20.000] Yep, I'm pretty excited for 2021.
[01:01:20.000 -> 01:01:23.000] With that, we're going to end this episode, folks.
[01:01:23.000 -> 01:01:31.200] We'll come back in the next episode talking about 2021, the new libraries that are out,
[01:01:31.200 -> 01:01:37.900] how the teams think they're going to do, what's the news and expectations from 2021.
[01:01:37.900 -> 01:01:39.900] And we'll see you all in the next episode.
[01:01:39.900 -> 01:01:40.800] Goodbye.
[01:01:41.510 -> 01:01:43.510] Goodbye!