Formula 1 Azerbaijan GP Preview & The New F1 Sprint Weekend Format is Much Better | Grid Walk April 27, 2023

Before diving into the usual Grid Walk fun, Briana and Nicole start this week’s episode addressing the most recent allegations against current FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem. After an incredibly long break, Formula 1 is FINALLY racing again this weekend at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. The Baku City Circuit will have plenty of guaranteed excitement. Not only does the Azerbaijan Grand Prix involve a Sprint Race but there is a brand new format for the entire race weekend involving Sprint Shootout. Briana and Nicole go over everything you need to know about a Formula 1 Sprint Race and the new Sprint Shootout.The new Sprint Race format inspired another round of Red Flags! Briana presents Nicole with several chaotic changes that could occur to a Formula 1 race weekend. Nicole has to decide how many changes she can handle before throwing a “back in my day” type temper tantrum. Will Nicole continue to “Push This Lap” or will the changes to grand prix weekends lead her to “Box Box Box”?Briana is jumping out of her seat to discuss all the technical upgrades that are coming to the Formula 1 grid at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Are we still going to see Mclaren F1 Team’s B-Spec car like they originally stated? Why are BWT Alpine F1 Team and Mclaren F1 Team bridging new floors to Baku? Is there anything happening when it comes to upgrades at Scuderia Ferrari?Briana and Nicole continue their season long competition and share their predictions for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix Predictions. Did Briana and Nicole pick a Oracle Red Bull Racing driver, Max Verstappen or Sergio Perez, to take P1 at the Baku City Circuit? Which Formula 1 Team at the back of the grid will score the most points amongst BWT Alpine F1 Team, MoneyGram Haas F1 Team, Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake, Scuderia AlphaTauri, and Williams Racing?It is officially race week for the brand new F1 Academy! The all-female single-seater racing series will kick off its season this weekend in Spielberg, Austria at Red Bull Ring. Can anyone at Formula 1 let us know where we can watch F1 Academy or why broadcasting hasn’t been addressed?Grid Walk is a weekly Formula 1 show that releases every Thursday. For daily F1 content follow @gridwalkshow on all social media platforms.

1. **Shayla-Ann Rowe's Experience:**
- Shayla-Ann Rowe, the Interim Secretary General for Motorsports at the FIA, faced significant bullying and sexism during her tenure.
- She formally outlined her experiences in a letter to FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem and the head of the Senate.
- The FIA's bylaws should have triggered a review of Ben Sulayem's behavior, but no such review was conducted.

2. **Systemic Issues:**
- The lack of an internal review highlights systemic issues within the FIA.
- The Telegraph's report focuses on the absence of an investigation into the allegations against Ben Sulayem.
- The FIA's failure to address these concerns perpetuates a culture of impunity for sexist behavior.

3. **Accountability and Higher Standards:**
- Women often hesitate to report sexism due to fear of being dismissed or retaliated against.
- It is crucial to start with belief and understanding when addressing such allegations.
- The FIA and F1 need to hold their leaders accountable to higher standards of conduct.
- Simply replacing individuals with similar attitudes and behaviors does not solve the underlying problem.

**Additional Points:**

- The Telegraph's report has prompted discussions about sexism and misogyny in Formula One and beyond.
- The hosts emphasize the importance of public backing from other parties involved in the sport, such as FOM and the teams.
- The hosts also discuss the need for a clear and transparent process for addressing complaints and allegations of misconduct.
- They acknowledge that some fans may disagree with their perspective but encourage open-mindedness and a willingness to consider different viewpoints.
- The hosts express their frustration with the lack of consequences for sexist behavior in Formula One and call for meaningful action to address these issues.
- They highlight the importance of supporting women in the sport and creating a more inclusive environment for all.

The hypothetical changes discussed include:

1. Implementing a separate qualifying and race for the six sprint races, effectively eliminating the sprint shootout.

2. Introducing a reverse grid element into some of the sprint and Grand Prix races, potentially disrupting the traditional qualifying order.

3. Awarding points for free practice sessions, potentially altering the significance of these sessions.

4. Eliminating qualifying altogether and lining up drivers in reverse championship order for all races, creating a unique and unpredictable grid.

5. Transforming F1 into a spec series, where all teams use identical cars, potentially leveling the playing field and enhancing competition.

The hosts provide their perspectives on each proposed change, considering factors such as fairness, excitement, and the overall health of the sport. They acknowledge that some changes might be met with resistance from fans and teams, but they also recognize the potential for innovation and improvement.

The discussion highlights the dynamic nature of F1 and the willingness of the sport's governing body to consider changes to enhance the spectacle and appeal of the races. The hosts emphasize the importance of maintaining a balance between tradition and innovation, ensuring that any changes align with the core values and principles of Formula One.

* **F1 Garage:**
* Sustainable Fuel for 2026: F1 released an informative video highlighting their sustainable fuel initiative for the 2026 engine regulations.
* Conflicting Reports on Daniel Ricciardo: Some reports suggest Ricciardo's simulation performance at Red Bull was impressive, while others indicate he's still struggling to match Sergio Perez's pace.
* Aston Martin's TikTok Success: Fernando Alonso continues to captivate fans with his engaging TikTok content, showcasing the team's creative approach to social media.
* Lewis Hamilton's Merch Line: Hamilton teased the return of his limited-edition clothing line, Plus44, with a potential drop in Miami.
* Charlotte Clare's Song Release: Esteban Ocon praised F1 Academy driver Bianca Bustamante for her dedication and work ethic, highlighting the challenges women face in the sport.
* McLaren's Development Driver Program: McLaren officially announced its revamped development driver program, providing opportunities for young talents to progress in the sport.
* Williams Pop-Up in Miami: Williams is hosting a pop-up event in Miami during the race weekend, offering fans an immersive experience with the team.
* Gunther Steiner's Book and Joe Saward's Jewelry: Steiner released his book on April 20th, coinciding with the 420 holiday, while Saward showcased his stunning Dior jewelry collection on Instagram.
* Yuki Tsunoda's Support for Sebastian Vettel: Tsunoda expressed his support for Vettel potentially taking over Helmut Marko's position at Red Bull, suggesting a positive reception for such a move.

* **Yellow Sector Notes:**
* Nicole Katz commends Briana L. Klein's quick delivery of the news, comparing it to a sprint shootout rather than a gridwalk.
* Encouragement for Listeners: The hosts remind listeners to enable auto downloads, rate and review the podcast, especially on Apple Podcasts, as it significantly impacts their motivation and success.
* Social Media Engagement: Briana and Nicole emphasize the importance of following them on various social media platforms to stay connected with the latest updates.

[00:00.000 -> 00:05.800] Cold and ground are lined up on the grid, it's lights out, and away we go, this week's
[00:05.800 -> 00:06.800] Grid Vlog.
[00:06.800 -> 00:09.960] I don't know how to start this.
[00:09.960 -> 00:12.080] It's just like, this is no fun.
[00:12.080 -> 00:17.880] I think literally the way of like, before we get into fun, there is some no fun that
[00:17.880 -> 00:18.880] we-
[00:18.880 -> 00:22.760] So we're generally, Fun Goofy Silly Podcast.
[00:22.760 -> 00:25.200] Today we get to start with not a lot of fun.
[00:26.400 -> 00:31.760] So some context. This week we're recording on Tuesday, April 25th. The news we're about to
[00:31.760 -> 00:38.960] discuss was published by The Telegraph today, Tuesday, April 25th. This podcast comes out
[00:38.960 -> 00:47.480] Thursday, April 27th. If there's some big news that needs to be filled in, hi, editing Grianna, she will probably insert herself at some point.
[00:47.480 -> 00:51.500] If not, just so you know where we are
[00:51.500 -> 00:55.720] when everything I'm about to say is what I'm about to say.
[00:55.720 -> 01:00.720] I wrote out the main points here that I am gonna read out
[01:00.800 -> 01:02.920] of both what is being reported
[01:02.920 -> 01:04.600] and then some initial first thoughts.
[01:04.600 -> 01:05.540] And then Nicole and I are gonna have
[01:05.540 -> 01:08.040] a more casual discussion about it.
[01:08.040 -> 01:09.880] But we both thought that we didn't wanna miss
[01:09.880 -> 01:13.540] any crucial points about how we were feeling
[01:13.540 -> 01:15.740] because this stuff makes us want to scream.
[01:17.080 -> 01:18.480] Just a little bit.
[01:19.480 -> 01:22.580] Shayla Ann Rowe was the Interim Secretary General
[01:22.580 -> 01:25.040] for Motorsports at the FIA for about six months
[01:25.040 -> 01:29.360] last year. She started in June and then they announced that she was going to be leaving
[01:29.360 -> 01:34.640] the role at the end of the year. The announcement came in November and she left mid to late
[01:34.640 -> 01:39.200] December. While it was an interim role, it was noted at the time from Paddock Insiders that
[01:39.200 -> 01:44.000] this departure felt sudden and much earlier than expected. You don't bring someone on in a role
[01:44.960 -> 01:51.720] felt sudden and much earlier than expected. You don't bring someone on in a role like this, such a big role, for six months. She did formally work for Mercedes, but before
[01:51.720 -> 01:57.760] that she did work and have a long career in the FIA. I will also point out that everyone
[01:57.760 -> 02:01.600] who works for the FIA for the most part has worked for a team at some point. It's very
[02:01.600 -> 02:06.400] well integrated. She was victim to a pretty well done Red Bull
[02:06.400 -> 02:12.800] PR campaign last year. To blame her for leaking that they went over the cost cap because she did
[02:12.800 -> 02:20.560] formally work for Mercedes and was close to Toto while working there. Sidebar, saying that it was
[02:20.560 -> 02:25.080] leaked by someone you did not like doesn't mean you're innocent.
[02:25.080 -> 02:29.360] It actually means that you're guilty and you're just mad it got leaked.
[02:29.360 -> 02:36.800] Just a past tense general FYI to anyone who was very happy to jump on a woman instead
[02:36.800 -> 02:41.680] of being upset at your own favorite team for cheating.
[02:41.680 -> 02:48.360] Many people equated her sudden departure in the role at the FIA with that Red Bull PR
[02:48.360 -> 02:50.800] campaign being true.
[02:50.800 -> 02:55.160] The reality now, based on the Telegraph's reporting, seems much worse than that.
[02:55.160 -> 02:59.000] The Telegraph has reported that she faced significant bullying and sexism from the current
[02:59.000 -> 03:01.200] FIA president during his tenure.
[03:01.200 -> 03:07.520] It is alleged that she formally outlined this behavior in a letter in December before leaving her position and
[03:07.680 -> 03:13.100] then delivered that letter to Muhammad himself and the head of the Senate in the FIA.
[03:14.040 -> 03:22.320] The telegraph outlines that the FIA's bylaws should have automatically triggered a review of Muhammad, but that doesn't happen. And the article
[03:22.920 -> 03:24.920] primarily focuses on the fact that
[03:26.080 -> 03:32.320] that doesn't happen. And the article primarily focuses on the fact that whether or not this happened, there has been no internal review of the contents of the letter. So there has
[03:32.320 -> 03:39.760] been no attempt to even determine if the letter was reality and what to do of it.
[03:39.760 -> 03:47.640] Now before we move on to more of a casual discussion about this and some admittedly really fun
[03:47.640 -> 03:51.800] topics we do have for the show to get into today, I have three main points I want to
[03:51.800 -> 03:52.800] hit.
[03:52.800 -> 03:58.000] One, if you're listening to this or have read this article and your immediate gut reaction
[03:58.000 -> 04:03.440] is to jump to the conclusion that this cannot be true, please take a pause.
[04:03.440 -> 04:07.600] Women do not report things because of that behavior.
[04:07.600 -> 04:12.600] They're immediately just assume they're going to be told they're wrong or shown the door,
[04:12.600 -> 04:19.400] which seems like what is what has happened in this case. We must start with belief and
[04:19.400 -> 04:26.000] understanding if anything is going to change in the world as a whole. And take that message and apply that to anything like this
[04:26.000 -> 04:28.640] that comes out in every aspect of your life.
[04:29.920 -> 04:30.760] Number two,
[04:33.240 -> 04:36.480] these are simply additional accusations
[04:36.480 -> 04:39.320] of a man who is heavily reported
[04:39.320 -> 04:42.160] to be incredibly sexist at this point.
[04:42.160 -> 04:43.480] This is nothing new.
[04:43.480 -> 04:45.960] Nothing in this article feels outlandish
[04:45.960 -> 04:52.160] or shocking based on all the pre-existing knowledge that we publicly have of this man.
[04:52.160 -> 04:56.840] And I will say publicly have of this man. Imagine what is not public if this is what
[04:56.840 -> 05:06.760] we know. My third point is it's very natural to jump to reactions such as, the FIA and F1 has always been this way.
[05:06.760 -> 05:10.600] Yes, congratulations, you have outlined the fact
[05:10.600 -> 05:13.760] and the exact problem that we're looking to solve here.
[05:13.760 -> 05:18.160] We want better, we don't want the way it's always been.
[05:18.160 -> 05:22.380] Just because he may not be any worse than his predecessors
[05:22.380 -> 05:24.640] does not mean we cannot hold him accountable
[05:24.640 -> 05:25.440] to a higher
[05:25.440 -> 05:31.200] standard. We must continue to request more out of the heads of organizations, organizations
[05:31.200 -> 05:36.960] globally, not just sports, but we must continue to request more out of the heads of organizations
[05:36.960 -> 05:47.360] we devote our time and money to. He may be no worse, but I expect much, much greater. I'm tired. And I said it last time, I'm tired. I just, I don't
[05:48.240 -> 05:55.280] know what other way, I mean, I know a thousand other ways of like condemning this behavior and
[05:55.280 -> 06:02.160] it's an actual consequence. And there just hasn't been like any actual consequence besides just
[06:02.160 -> 06:06.880] statements of, oh, none of this is true or, Oh, this is not how he currently feels.
[06:06.880 -> 06:10.480] And like, it's again, none of it is, it's not enough.
[06:11.520 -> 06:15.320] We don't need to keep reiterating the strength of the female fan base in this
[06:15.320 -> 06:19.680] sport now, because you, if you're new here, go back, listen to some episodes.
[06:19.720 -> 06:23.840] It's there. The numbers are there. This is ridiculous.
[06:24.120 -> 06:27.760] It is pathetic as a fan. It is pathetic as a female fan
[06:28.880 -> 06:38.000] for this to just continuously be not only ongoing, but ongoing with no sign of a consequence,
[06:38.000 -> 06:46.720] an investigation. It's like a spit in the face of like, yep, doesn't matter, doesn't matter
[06:46.720 -> 06:48.720] because we're making enough money about it.
[06:49.880 -> 06:56.880] Yeah, I'm admittedly very tired as well.
[06:56.880 -> 06:59.080] And not just because of this,
[06:59.080 -> 07:01.640] it feels like every other day,
[07:01.640 -> 07:03.560] I get hit in the face right now
[07:03.560 -> 07:07.640] with some misogynistic belief act.
[07:07.640 -> 07:13.640] Like, and yeah, we spend a lot of time in the F1 fan base, and it's incredibly prevalent
[07:13.640 -> 07:16.120] here, but it's just everywhere right now.
[07:16.120 -> 07:23.920] And it's this way of thinking is so rampant and so toxic everywhere.
[07:23.920 -> 07:28.700] So I do sometimes feel like, what more can I say?
[07:28.700 -> 07:29.680] Like what?
[07:30.720 -> 07:35.720] And that's why I had to write this out.
[07:35.980 -> 07:38.360] And admittedly, everything you heard me say
[07:38.360 -> 07:43.100] that I wrote out took me a long time to write
[07:43.100 -> 07:45.960] because I just kept rewriting it and figuring out, oh, well, I could say
[07:45.960 -> 07:51.480] it better this way, or I could add, like, I could write paragraphs and essays about
[07:51.480 -> 07:57.960] this topic. I was like, okay, how do I get this point as succinctly as possible and communicate
[07:57.960 -> 08:02.680] it directly? But the reality is, if you're listening to this podcast, you probably agree
[08:02.680 -> 08:05.840] with us. I hope, I hope so.
[08:05.840 -> 08:12.480] I mean if you're having any sort of disagreement then listen harder. Normally if you
[08:14.000 -> 08:22.480] will watch a sports podcast run by two women, generally speaking that means that you do not,
[08:22.480 -> 08:25.600] you are on our side with things like this.
[08:25.600 -> 08:29.800] But that doesn't mean saying them don't have as much power.
[08:29.800 -> 08:31.800] Like, they're still powerful.
[08:31.800 -> 08:37.200] There are two things I'm left with big picture for F1.
[08:37.200 -> 08:46.440] So like, existentially, as a world society, I'm stressed for the amount of misogyny everywhere.
[08:46.440 -> 08:49.960] But I can't take everything on.
[08:49.960 -> 08:56.200] Looking directly at F1, there are two things that I fundamentally believe in this.
[08:56.200 -> 09:03.440] One, I would love public confirmation from the other parties involved.
[09:03.440 -> 09:07.600] So refresher, the people involved in running the sport.
[09:07.600 -> 09:09.600] You have the FIA, which is in-
[09:09.600 -> 09:12.240] which does the stewarding and the safety.
[09:12.240 -> 09:16.640] You have FOM, which is in charge of marketing and media.
[09:16.640 -> 09:18.640] And then you have the teams.
[09:18.640 -> 09:20.640] That do what we all know the teams do.
[09:20.640 -> 09:30.560] The FIA has been such a stain on this sport for so long now. I would love some public backing
[09:31.360 -> 09:36.320] from the other two parties that they're not okay with this because they must be smart enough to
[09:36.320 -> 09:42.640] know, even if they agree with him, even if they have just as backwards awful beliefs,
[09:42.640 -> 09:45.520] they must know that this is bad for their sport, right?
[09:46.080 -> 09:51.120] That this, that every single week we're coming and doing this podcast, either
[09:51.120 -> 09:58.200] talking about Mohammed bin Salaam being sexist or awful in some way, or the fact
[09:58.200 -> 10:00.160] that they can't run a race correctly.
[10:00.160 -> 10:02.080] Like this is not good.
[10:02.160 -> 10:03.560] This is not healthy.
[10:04.000 -> 10:07.920] After going on a whole, like, I would like to see some kind of, like, consequence, everything
[10:07.920 -> 10:12.800] like that, i don't need anyone else to tell me, like, well, muhammad doesn't oversee
[10:12.800 -> 10:16.080] the daily operations of f1 anymore.
[10:18.480 -> 10:23.440] okay, great. he's still in a position of power, and if this is how he treats people,
[10:23.440 -> 10:25.440] you think he only does this in F1?
[10:25.440 -> 10:26.440] No.
[10:26.440 -> 10:27.880] That's how a person acts.
[10:27.880 -> 10:29.960] That's how a person is going to act.
[10:29.960 -> 10:34.820] And also, every single report anywhere that talked about the change of him no longer seeing
[10:34.820 -> 10:39.360] over the daily operations of F1 was, this was a planned transition of powers.
[10:39.360 -> 10:40.360] Whatever!
[10:40.360 -> 10:43.160] I don't need to hear it, so just don't feel the need to tell me about it.
[10:43.160 -> 10:45.040] If it's planned, it's not a consequence
[10:45.040 -> 10:51.220] Aha, thank you. Thank you. It's not enough is all I'm saying. Yeah, so when
[10:52.000 -> 10:58.760] going through this whole process and the telegraph was describing that this letter was sent and that it should have immediately if the official process
[10:58.760 -> 11:01.100] Of all of it is that a letter a complaint
[11:01.280 -> 11:04.840] This was being submitted and then it should have automatically
[11:05.760 -> 11:10.540] a letter, a complaint, this was being submitted. And then it should have automatically kickstarted an entire review within the ethics committee. And then all of those finding that investigations
[11:10.540 -> 11:17.780] would have gone to where? The president. There's such shady business going around. And it's
[11:17.780 -> 11:24.360] clear that if this is their system of checks and balances set up, it is my assumption that
[11:24.360 -> 11:27.160] I'm sure Mohammed saw it coming in or was
[11:27.160 -> 11:34.680] just kind of like, no, there was ways to put out the fire before it was really catching.
[11:34.680 -> 11:38.320] And we've seen it before in other scenarios. And it's the time and time again story of
[11:38.320 -> 11:44.320] why women, females, people in general do not come forward about this type of thing because
[11:44.320 -> 11:48.860] they're forced out of a position. They're embarrassed, they're humiliated if people don't believe
[11:48.860 -> 11:54.140] them and even if people do believe them, a lot of the time they end up out of their job.
[11:54.140 -> 11:59.360] You have to start with belief because we're going to continue to have situations where
[11:59.360 -> 12:05.140] people don't report and then people like this remain in power. And I know that there's,
[12:07.500 -> 12:10.680] I will say this very clearly,
[12:12.620 -> 12:14.620] sexism, racism,
[12:16.240 -> 12:17.380] any kind of ism,
[12:18.480 -> 12:22.520] any kind of discriminatory action is not culture, period.
[12:23.880 -> 12:26.340] Putting down, thinking of other people less than is not culture, period. Putting down, thinking of other people less than
[12:26.340 -> 12:27.640] is not culture.
[12:28.740 -> 12:32.200] Totally, you can have different beliefs than me,
[12:32.200 -> 12:34.920] we can grow up in different parts of the world.
[12:34.920 -> 12:37.280] That doesn't mean you can think I am less than,
[12:39.640 -> 12:41.700] just because I have tits.
[12:46.040 -> 12:47.760] And this applies to our own country.
[12:47.760 -> 12:50.480] I want to be completely like, frank,
[12:50.480 -> 12:54.480] like we have a lot of crap going on here too.
[12:54.480 -> 12:57.840] But I'm seeing a lot of, well, we can't,
[12:58.720 -> 13:00.800] like everything he's doing is okay
[13:00.800 -> 13:02.400] because that's his culture.
[13:02.400 -> 13:07.760] Well, if your culture is being sexist and bullying
[13:07.760 -> 13:15.760] and just being a crappy person to 51% of the population, I'm not okay with that culture
[13:15.760 -> 13:21.280] then. And you should not be in a position of power like that.
[13:21.280 -> 13:26.040] Right. And it's a lot of the articles discussing
[13:26.040 -> 13:30.240] of like the fine line of what's a cultural value.
[13:30.240 -> 13:32.000] And like, there's like an air,
[13:32.000 -> 13:35.240] there's like the gray area where a lot of, you know,
[13:35.240 -> 13:38.280] the sponsors of NF1 have a certain cultural background
[13:38.280 -> 13:42.320] that feels a certain way about LGBTQIA plus rights.
[13:42.320 -> 13:46.600] And when it comes to gender and everything in that way.
[13:46.600 -> 13:50.320] And they also understand that there's a line that they need to allow some of it to happen
[13:50.320 -> 13:56.500] because they need it in terms of marketing and money, but they'll only let it be so much
[13:56.500 -> 13:58.800] and it's not going to change operations.
[13:58.800 -> 14:04.880] And like it's, it's solely and enough that it doesn't change the cashflow.
[14:04.880 -> 14:06.080] And like, that's what they're okay with
[14:06.080 -> 14:08.160] because they're thinking a lot about their pockets and money
[14:08.160 -> 14:10.160] but I, yeah, I don't-
[14:10.160 -> 14:12.320] And this is so bad for that,
[14:12.320 -> 14:14.340] which is what I'm gonna keep coming back to,
[14:14.340 -> 14:18.760] which is even those people who probably agree with him
[14:18.760 -> 14:21.520] and his beliefs and his treating of women this way,
[14:21.520 -> 14:22.520] which is wrong,
[14:23.480 -> 14:26.180] 100% understand that this is bad for the bottom line.
[14:27.320 -> 14:28.860] So why is no one stopping him?
[14:28.860 -> 14:31.780] Cause this is bad for everyone involved.
[14:32.680 -> 14:35.660] I can't make sense of it in my head.
[14:35.660 -> 14:38.500] It's just so, this is the way it's built.
[14:38.500 -> 14:39.800] This is the way it's been.
[14:41.020 -> 14:42.580] That's it.
[14:42.580 -> 14:47.720] And like not wanting to like look and change the flaw of like, and just continuing
[14:47.720 -> 14:51.600] to be hurtful and bullying.
[14:51.600 -> 14:54.840] They're not even being quiet about it anymore. That's what's wild. It's like you have this
[14:54.840 -> 15:05.000] giant young female fan base, do it quietly. Like the whole thing is just dumb. It's just, but I do like every single man
[15:05.860 -> 15:10.620] on like my social spear that I see
[15:10.620 -> 15:14.640] that has said something publicly about how awful this is
[15:14.640 -> 15:16.660] and are publicly supporting women,
[15:16.660 -> 15:20.420] not just with this stuff, but every single week.
[15:20.420 -> 15:22.620] I won't even get into the last couple of weeks
[15:22.620 -> 15:24.940] and all the drama in the podcasting space,
[15:24.940 -> 15:25.000] but there is something every single day right now I won't even get into the last couple weeks and all the drama in the podcasting space,
[15:25.000 -> 15:29.860] but there is something every single day right now, and every single male who chooses to
[15:29.860 -> 15:36.940] get up and stand with us publicly and support women, it is 100% acknowledged, we really
[15:36.940 -> 15:45.000] appreciate you, because it makes it feel like less, like we're screaming into a void. Because when it's only women talking up, it really feels like like we're screaming into a void.
[15:45.280 -> 15:48.040] Like, cause when it's only women talking up,
[15:48.040 -> 15:49.560] it really feels like we're just screaming
[15:49.560 -> 15:50.720] into an echo chamber.
[15:50.720 -> 15:53.200] So thank you.
[15:53.200 -> 15:54.680] Thank you, thank you, thank you.
[15:54.680 -> 15:55.500] Yes.
[15:55.500 -> 15:57.320] So thank you for supporting us
[15:57.320 -> 16:00.280] and to the rest of males in that,
[16:00.280 -> 16:02.160] that maybe aren't doing the same way.
[16:02.160 -> 16:04.600] Just know that we watch races
[16:04.600 -> 16:06.200] and we know what DRS stands for.
[16:06.200 -> 16:06.700] So.
[16:08.700 -> 16:10.300] Expect more out of people.
[16:12.000 -> 16:13.500] You can have higher standards.
[16:13.800 -> 16:14.300] Right.
[16:14.300 -> 16:15.500] Set higher standards.
[16:15.500 -> 16:17.600] And again, you said it perfectly.
[16:17.600 -> 16:21.100] Like, just expect them to be greater.
[16:21.100 -> 16:22.500] Expect them to be better.
[16:23.800 -> 16:26.280] Because you can. It's
[16:26.280 -> 16:33.440] not that hard. Just be nice. I mean, it's a lot bigger than
[16:33.440 -> 16:39.560] that. But that's all. Treat people like humans. Treat others
[16:39.560 -> 16:42.160] the way you want to be treated. Do we all need to go back to
[16:42.160 -> 16:44.600] kindergarten? Because like, we can.
[16:45.840 -> 16:52.360] Someone said to me at some point that we needed to update that statement to, we need to treat
[16:52.360 -> 16:57.120] others the way they would like to be treated, which I thought was a really nice way to put
[16:57.120 -> 17:01.640] it because there are so many people in the world who hate themselves so much. And then
[17:01.640 -> 17:05.040] they project that hate on other people and they do think
[17:05.040 -> 17:07.880] they're treating others the way they should be treated. I wish I could credit
[17:07.880 -> 17:12.280] whoever it is, I don't remember who said this to me, this was years ago, and I just
[17:12.280 -> 17:16.200] thought it was really impactful. I was like, yeah, because I want to treat you,
[17:16.200 -> 17:21.800] Nicole, the way you want to be treated. And like it goes to things like pronouns.
[17:21.800 -> 17:26.200] Like if you were like, hey, I want to change my pronouns. I'd be like, cool, that's what you
[17:26.200 -> 17:28.500] want to be called. Like, I want to treat you the way you want to
[17:28.500 -> 17:32.280] be treated. So I just thought having like a live like, re
[17:32.300 -> 17:37.120] like, like, wow, my kindergarten teacher is suddenly like, that's
[17:37.120 -> 17:42.080] a golden rule to that, you know, you didn't learn 23 years ago.
[17:43.400 -> 17:47.560] Evolution of the kid. I don't know, it just, it really like, my
[17:47.560 -> 17:52.040] brain went and fizzled when I was like, oh my gosh, that's such a great update to that.
[17:52.040 -> 17:56.320] No, that is a really good perspective. And that's definitely ways that I can, that's
[17:56.320 -> 18:00.120] definitely something that I want to take in because especially like, and we don't need
[18:00.120 -> 18:04.220] to get into like, discourse that's been occurring over the internet over like days and weeks
[18:04.220 -> 18:10.720] about everything. But like, I was gonna get into F1 Academy, but I was tweeting just like, how do you watch?
[18:10.720 -> 18:17.240] And got not positive response. And I was very able to tell that this person was like, they
[18:17.240 -> 18:22.520] want to be treated in an argument. And what I'm not going to do is that.
[18:22.520 -> 18:25.040] Right. They want to have an argument.
[18:25.040 -> 18:27.920] I don't care that that's how they want to be treated.
[18:27.920 -> 18:30.280] I don't want you to yell at me over the internet
[18:30.280 -> 18:32.680] because I want to support women, you know?
[18:32.680 -> 18:33.960] Yeah, yeah.
[18:33.960 -> 18:36.480] I was just like, listen, in this answer,
[18:36.480 -> 18:38.040] I know you want me to treat you in the way
[18:38.040 -> 18:39.960] that you want me to be like this, this, this,
[18:39.960 -> 18:44.440] and I'm going to be like, nope, I'm not going to do that.
[18:44.440 -> 18:46.240] I'm not going to give you the satisfaction
[18:46.240 -> 18:47.920] and I feel great for it.
[18:47.920 -> 18:52.920] So, but it was a heavy way to start the episode.
[18:54.760 -> 18:56.400] And we do have a lot of fun in store,
[18:56.400 -> 18:58.700] but it was definitely really important for us
[18:58.700 -> 19:01.680] to acknowledge this before we get into any of that,
[19:01.680 -> 19:03.000] because this is really important.
[19:03.000 -> 19:05.860] And hopefully our listeners take a second
[19:05.860 -> 19:07.900] just to like reflect on that
[19:07.900 -> 19:09.720] and just be better people in the world.
[19:09.720 -> 19:12.460] And if you need a place to scream into the void,
[19:12.460 -> 19:14.380] our DMs are open because-
[19:14.380 -> 19:15.740] We love the void.
[19:15.740 -> 19:16.900] The amount of voice notes
[19:16.900 -> 19:18.740] that you and I have sent each other today
[19:18.740 -> 19:20.740] that are just mostly screaming,
[19:20.740 -> 19:22.460] because we say a point
[19:22.460 -> 19:24.180] and then we're frustrated and we scream.
[19:24.180 -> 19:25.320] So just know that like, we're here, like we're frustrated and we scream. So just know
[19:25.320 -> 19:30.280] that like, like we're here, like we're all supporting each other in this, like come scream
[19:30.280 -> 19:32.280] into the hopefully non-void.
[19:32.280 -> 19:36.960] Come scream into the void. In the non-void. Yeah, scream, scream into our DMs because
[19:36.960 -> 19:38.840] it's not a void. You will listen.
[19:38.840 -> 19:44.380] No, we'll listen, we'll respond, we'll vent with you because it's good to have a community
[19:44.380 -> 19:46.000] when you're feeling frustrated
[19:46.000 -> 19:55.120] like this. I stand by my TikTok that F1 should always take a spring break around Coachella so
[19:55.120 -> 20:00.880] Lewis Hamilton can go to Coachella. But I was really regretting that like last week when I
[20:00.880 -> 20:05.400] was dragging my feet. I was like, okay, car's on track, car's on track.
[20:08.720 -> 20:09.160] And that was after you already went to IndyCar.
[20:09.660 -> 20:09.760] Yes.
[20:10.260 -> 20:10.840] Yes.
[20:11.600 -> 20:12.000] It's all the same.
[20:17.160 -> 20:22.480] Like they're different series, like as much, you know, but F1 really cut it close and announced today, Tuesday morning, that they're completely
[20:22.480 -> 20:24.080] changing the formats of sprints.
[20:24.200 -> 20:32.080] Cause we do have a sprint this weekend. And yes, that is cutting it close. We've also had this rumor
[20:32.080 -> 20:35.360] for about a month and a half, and I think it was just officially confirmed enough that
[20:35.360 -> 20:39.320] they could announce it, but it was one of those, like, highly reputable people have
[20:39.320 -> 20:46.560] told us that this is going to happen, And it did! Yay! Big announcement! Oh, we knew this already.
[20:46.960 -> 20:53.240] Right. I... on some off-race week pot, we'll do a whole dive
[20:53.240 -> 20:56.040] into F1's PR strategy and why it's confusing.
[20:56.960 -> 20:59.680] I feel like we do that every week already.
[21:00.440 -> 21:04.560] I know, but we could do it better. But this weekend, they've
[21:04.560 -> 21:06.440] changed the way sprints work.
[21:06.440 -> 21:12.480] I think we can all let out a collective cheer and celebration that the sprint will no longer
[21:12.480 -> 21:24.520] set the GP's grid on Sunday.
[21:24.520 -> 21:29.280] I think no matter how you feel about the sprint race, I think collectively everyone went,
[21:29.280 -> 21:34.080] well this is a little silly, and it just made everything confusing, and it made the sprint
[21:34.080 -> 21:38.880] less important, actually, because none of the drivers actually wanted to do anything,
[21:38.880 -> 21:44.520] so we just got to watch them go around in a circle for a short period of time.
[21:44.520 -> 21:45.140] So how's this
[21:45.140 -> 21:50.780] weekend going to work? Friday is going to be one free practice session, then
[21:50.780 -> 21:57.460] qualifying, normal qualifying for Sunday's race. Then Saturday is Sprint
[21:57.460 -> 22:08.000] Saturday Sprint Shootout! Yeah, which starts in session, the first session of the day is the Sprint
[22:08.000 -> 22:17.360] Shootout! I love this name. It's so ridiculous that I can only like scream it out loud every
[22:17.360 -> 22:28.560] single time I say Sprint Shootout! Like it just, it's that feeling. It's just yeah yeah you need to jazz hands with it.
[22:28.560 -> 22:35.040] The sprint shootout is essentially a shortened version of a normal qualifying
[22:35.040 -> 22:39.760] and when I say a shortened version I mean q1 is normally 18 minutes it's now
[22:39.760 -> 22:46.320] 12 minutes so six minutes shorter q2 is going to be 10 minutes instead of 15 minutes so five minutes shorter and then Q2 is going to be 10 minutes instead of 15 minutes, so
[22:46.320 -> 22:51.440] 5 minutes shorter. And then Q3 is going to be 8 minutes instead of 12 minutes, which
[22:51.440 -> 22:55.780] is 4 minutes shorter. Yes, that doesn't make sense. And no, I don't have a good way to
[22:55.780 -> 23:00.080] explain it to you. It just seems arbitrary and confusing. Uh-huh.
[23:00.080 -> 23:05.800] Even numbers. Even numbers. That's all I can see. I don't know.
[23:05.800 -> 23:07.520] I don't understand this.
[23:07.520 -> 23:08.520] It's so arbitrary.
[23:08.520 -> 23:15.160] To make it all better, though, in my opinion, is that on all the schedules, both the normal
[23:15.160 -> 23:20.000] Friday qualifying and the sprint shootout!
[23:20.000 -> 23:24.480] Nicole's like a live sounder board right now for us.
[23:24.480 -> 23:27.600] I love screaming sprint shootout.
[23:27.600 -> 23:32.720] I don't know why this was literally discovered right before the episode when I was like sprint
[23:32.720 -> 23:36.480] shootout and I'm just like I can't just say it normally.
[23:36.480 -> 23:37.480] I don't know.
[23:37.480 -> 23:38.480] I'm not sorry.
[23:38.480 -> 23:39.480] No, don't apologize.
[23:39.480 -> 23:42.240] This is incredible.
[23:42.240 -> 23:46.360] They're both slated in TV slots to take an hour,
[23:46.360 -> 23:51.020] which means that their pitch shorter qualifying session
[23:51.020 -> 23:52.840] on like if as a normal person
[23:52.840 -> 23:54.780] just looks like the same length.
[23:56.680 -> 24:00.980] Then moving on Saturday afternoon is the sprint race,
[24:00.980 -> 24:03.080] which this week is 17 laps.
[24:03.080 -> 24:08.400] And then Sunday is the Grand Prix, but set by Friday's qualifying.
[24:09.360 -> 24:18.160] Right, because the sprint shootout does not affect placement in the Sunday race at all.
[24:19.360 -> 24:24.640] They also released a bunch of nuance about what happens if you get a penalty in certain instances,
[24:24.640 -> 24:28.500] I'm not going to get into the minutiae of that, but there is something for us to reference
[24:28.500 -> 24:33.360] when inevitably something confusing happens this weekend, and we need to figure out, did
[24:33.360 -> 24:37.160] the FIA follow their own rules or not? Because that's the world we live in with this right
[24:37.160 -> 24:46.320] now. But they did outline things. Also with this came, since there's going to be more racing, they've upped the allocation
[24:46.320 -> 24:52.320] for a bunch of power unit components for the year because there are six sprints this year,
[24:52.320 -> 24:56.640] so they're adding six additional qualifying sessions that weren't originally scheduled
[24:56.640 -> 24:57.720] to happen.
[24:57.720 -> 25:03.240] So that extra PU before a penalty should mean we get the same amount of grid penalties as
[25:03.240 -> 25:06.240] last year, essentially.
[25:06.480 -> 25:07.200] Right.
[25:08.240 -> 25:10.240] Give or take a Ferrari.
[25:15.120 -> 25:22.880] So just to, I mean, again, if we haven't noticed that my favorite part of this weekend is the sprint shootout. The name doesn't make sense. Like, obviously, it's my favorite part. That
[25:22.880 -> 25:28.800] doesn't like, and there was speculation of like, what the changes for the sprint's going to be,
[25:28.800 -> 25:35.280] and is it just going to be like each driver does one crazy fast lap, and they just go all out,
[25:35.280 -> 25:51.040] and they see the best time that they can. And in my brain, that's what a sprint shootout should be and not a meticulously 12, 10, 8 minutes. Like, that's in what world
[25:51.040 -> 25:53.040] is that a sprint shootout? Like, it's-
[25:53.040 -> 25:55.600] It feels like a long time, enough time for-
[25:55.600 -> 26:04.080] It does not feel like a sprint or a shootout. Like, none of that really feels like anything.
[26:04.640 -> 26:08.800] It felt like they came up with the name first and then decided on the format.
[26:08.800 -> 26:12.240] And they were like, well, the name's too good. And I agree. I think the name is too good
[26:12.240 -> 26:16.160] for them to have moved away from it. So I don't want to complain about that for too long.
[26:16.720 -> 26:22.800] 100% no. We need Sprint Shootout! Like that name stays no matter what.
[26:24.240 -> 26:28.960] As someone who's been relatively critical of the sprint format, and by relatively critical,
[26:28.960 -> 26:34.240] I mean, I find the sprint races really boring and don't add anything to a race weekend.
[26:34.240 -> 26:36.440] So pretty critical.
[26:36.440 -> 26:41.240] I'm glad that F1 has finally figured out that the best part of an F1 weekend is qualifying.
[26:41.240 -> 26:42.800] So you want more qualifying.
[26:42.800 -> 26:46.080] The point of having a sprint race is that you can have
[26:46.080 -> 26:52.960] another qualifying session. So I thank God, glad we got there. This is great. I'm so excited for
[26:52.960 -> 26:59.040] more quali. Even if it's just a randomly shortened version of normal quali, great. Give me more F1
[26:59.040 -> 27:08.160] quali. It's the best, best part of the weekend. It's quali with a fun name. Yes! Nicole, what is that name? Sprint
[27:08.160 -> 27:16.720] Shootout! Um, no, if everyone really wants to fix the sprints, I can tell you how to do it.
[27:16.720 -> 27:26.960] And it's, they just need to be long enough that tire degradation is a thing and that you sit on the edge between two different tire compounds.
[27:26.960 -> 27:32.400] Like, the teams don't know if going soft or medium or medium or hard is the better option.
[27:33.600 -> 27:39.120] But I can tell you right now that 17 laps at Baku, that's not gonna be the case.
[27:40.880 -> 27:46.280] And, or mandate a pit stop. You're making too much sense.
[27:46.280 -> 27:49.200] You are making too much sense for the sport.
[27:49.200 -> 27:53.800] You have to stop because the sprint shootout does not allow common sense.
[27:53.800 -> 27:59.200] No, sprint shootout is the most sense they've had about the sprint weekend format in a long
[27:59.200 -> 28:00.200] time.
[28:00.200 -> 28:03.200] I'm so excited for the sprint shootout, which just happens to be my thing.
[28:03.200 -> 28:04.200] Sprint shootout, oh, I'm tensecious.
[28:04.200 -> 28:09.000] Everyone, this is, I can't wait for like Will Buxton just to be like the sprint shootout! Sprint shootout! Everyone, I can't wait for Will Buxton to be like, sprint shootout!
[28:09.000 -> 28:15.000] In summary from my side, happy there's more quali, please fix the length of the sprint race.
[28:15.000 -> 28:20.000] That's kind of my general takeaway. Where are you landing on this?
[28:20.000 -> 28:28.160] I mean, I'm hyped, if that's not like unbelievably clear. I think as a fan, I've come to terms with
[28:28.160 -> 28:34.000] like, they're going to find a way of like making sprint races work in the schedule in some way,
[28:34.000 -> 28:41.040] shape or form, because apparently this is like F1's found solution of like potentially making
[28:41.040 -> 28:51.920] race weekends more exciting and get more people to tune in on Saturdays. And I'm just like, hi, quali is so fun. What do you mean? So I'm excited. I mean, I'm willing to
[28:51.920 -> 28:58.320] give anything a shot, especially with like the sprint shootout. Like, yeah, I'm gonna watch,
[28:58.320 -> 29:04.800] like I wasn't gonna do it anyway. So I'm willing to give it a chance just to see if it like spices
[29:04.800 -> 29:05.640] up the calendar a
[29:05.640 -> 29:06.640] little bit.
[29:06.640 -> 29:11.440] I would love if everyone went in with an open mind too and didn't immediately just want
[29:11.440 -> 29:14.840] to be like, this is bad, we're trying to ruin the sport.
[29:14.840 -> 29:17.560] Because sometimes you have to spice things up a little bit.
[29:17.560 -> 29:21.220] And I'm sure that's just what everyone's trying to do.
[29:21.220 -> 29:27.600] So I'm open-minded, but right but right now very happy about the name. So that is not having anything to do with
[29:27.600 -> 29:31.880] the race. But until Saturday, that will pull me through and
[29:31.880 -> 29:35.840] then we'll see how it goes. But I also love quali I'm hyped to
[29:35.840 -> 29:41.160] basically get one and a half like to one with like a mini
[29:41.160 -> 29:46.560] quali. And then just right, right. It'll be very interesting to see if there
[29:46.560 -> 29:52.800] is some kind of penalty thing that happens and what the rules say and then what actually happens
[29:52.800 -> 29:58.240] and vice versa. So I'm really just kind of hoping at least for the first one we don't get there and
[29:58.240 -> 30:07.040] it's like, right, just get to do some good old car racing. But I'm excited just to like maybe see something different. And who knows,
[30:07.040 -> 30:10.960] it could be really exciting, could be really great. Maybe drivers will hopefully at least
[30:10.960 -> 30:16.080] enjoy this format more than like the previous. I can just see this making a little bit more sense
[30:16.080 -> 30:23.200] for the initial purpose of the sprint race than like the last format. Yes, I agree. This is a
[30:23.200 -> 30:25.080] step in the right direction.
[30:25.080 -> 30:26.120] I stand by that.
[30:26.120 -> 30:28.120] I personally just like the normal
[30:28.120 -> 30:31.000] Grand Prix weekend format the best.
[30:31.000 -> 30:32.680] Like nothing's convinced me that we need
[30:32.680 -> 30:34.680] to permanently go away from that.
[30:34.680 -> 30:39.400] But as a viewer of sports that don't ever change,
[30:39.400 -> 30:43.520] like I have watched baseball fall away in America
[30:43.520 -> 30:46.480] because the MLB refused to change any rules
[30:46.480 -> 30:52.580] until this year. And the rules this year that baseball has finally implemented
[30:52.580 -> 30:57.720] are so great and really exciting and made the game so much shorter and fast
[30:57.720 -> 31:02.640] paced and people are actually hitting again. There are hits in baseball which
[31:02.640 -> 31:05.760] if you don't watch baseball you no one's been able to hit
[31:05.760 -> 31:14.160] for years. It's been so boring as a sport. And their inability to change has caused them to
[31:14.160 -> 31:19.680] lose viewership, and it might be a little too little too late now. So as much as I don't love
[31:19.680 -> 31:25.600] the sprint race, I will always be happy that F1 seems willing to try things out and change.
[31:25.600 -> 31:29.080] Because they probably won't get in a baseball situation.
[31:29.080 -> 31:36.840] But that being said, F1 is willing to try a lot of things and change.
[31:36.840 -> 31:42.080] So I thought we'd bring back a game that we played before called Red Flags.
[31:42.080 -> 31:43.080] Ha ha ha!
[31:43.080 -> 31:45.160] We love causing me stress.
[31:45.560 -> 31:51.880] Yes. So when we played this game before, I posed to Nicole a
[31:51.880 -> 31:56.080] bunch of theoretical questions as if she was Charlotte Clare
[31:56.120 -> 32:00.040] or Lando Norris, and what would it take? What would be the
[32:00.040 -> 32:04.920] tipping point for them to leave their current teams? Because big
[32:04.920 -> 32:05.680] headlines like
[32:05.680 -> 32:09.120] will he leave Ferrari will he leave McLaren because they they want to win a
[32:09.120 -> 32:13.080] championship this time I'm gonna make it a little more personal you're not
[32:13.080 -> 32:30.480] acting as a driver you're acting as you yourself I'm good at that and what you're determining is how many changes can F1 make to a Grand Prix weekend format
[32:30.480 -> 32:36.240] until you decide, nope, that's it, I'm coming on the pod, I'm going to scream and rant and
[32:36.240 -> 32:43.280] just cause general havoc because this is not the F1 you want.
[32:43.280 -> 32:47.320] Essentially a good old- back in my day rant.
[32:47.320 -> 32:49.560] Back in my day, yeah, I love,
[32:49.560 -> 32:52.140] yeah, we love a good public temper tantrum.
[32:52.140 -> 32:56.400] So I have nine things here.
[32:56.400 -> 32:59.200] They all will stack on top of each other.
[32:59.200 -> 33:01.840] So once you say, you know what,
[33:01.840 -> 33:04.820] I'm not having the public temper tantrum yet,
[33:06.560 -> 33:11.480] the next thing stacks on top of that. We'll just get further and further away from the three practices
[33:11.480 -> 33:14.520] qualifying and race situation.
[33:14.520 -> 33:21.000] So it's like, it would be like, they change the name of the sprint shootout to Lame Race
[33:21.000 -> 33:25.200] 1, and then next week they change it. And
[33:25.200 -> 33:29.280] it's lame race. Yeah, yeah. It's like everything happens
[33:29.280 -> 33:33.080] together. Like it's all one thing happens and the next
[33:33.080 -> 33:36.240] thing happens. It's not or and the thing after that and the
[33:36.240 -> 33:39.120] thing after that we're basically piling on top of you.
[33:39.520 -> 33:44.000] And it's a basically I push this lap or box box box.
[33:44.040 -> 33:48.560] Exactly. And once you box, it's time for you to come in and give a good, good rant.
[33:49.840 -> 33:54.640] Great. I can't wait to have a rant about something completely fictional.
[33:55.200 -> 34:00.560] Yes. Which you don't actually have to rant about right now, but I will hear why you boxed.
[34:02.000 -> 34:07.120] I will say also, if Nicole boxes early or earlier than the end, I will tell you the other
[34:07.120 -> 34:14.160] ones. And I purposely had these get more and more unhinged. So they start very rational and then get
[34:14.160 -> 34:20.080] a little crazier and a little loopier at the end. But not as loopy as Nicole is right now in this
[34:20.080 -> 34:27.120] recording session. But... Great shootout! Some of the things at the beginning I think are more likely to happen.
[34:27.120 -> 34:31.400] So for a starting base point, this weekend's change.
[34:31.400 -> 34:36.040] For the six sprint races, we're having a separate quali and race.
[34:36.040 -> 34:38.040] What are you after this week?
[34:38.040 -> 34:39.600] Push the slaps!
[34:39.600 -> 34:40.600] Sprint shootout!
[34:40.600 -> 34:41.600] Let's go!
[34:41.600 -> 34:42.600] I'm hyped!
[34:42.600 -> 34:46.000] Let's keep it going!
[35:08.600 -> 35:13.900] Okay, change number two that gets layered on top it in words and didn't like, I realized it
[35:13.900 -> 35:19.600] halfway through shootout and like my brain was like, this isn't right.
[35:19.600 -> 35:27.680] So it would just really take away the gem of sprint, shootout!
[35:27.680 -> 35:31.440] But I'm not gonna have a full rant about it.
[35:31.440 -> 35:36.240] It's just gonna make everyone infuriated a lot more.
[35:36.240 -> 35:38.480] No meltdown, but I agree.
[35:38.480 -> 35:41.400] I wouldn't- It's killing the bit!
[35:41.400 -> 35:42.840] It'll kill the bit.
[35:42.840 -> 35:45.080] Right. All right.
[35:45.080 -> 35:47.320] So at this point, we have this weekend,
[35:47.320 -> 35:50.480] but every weekend is this weekend.
[35:50.480 -> 35:54.480] The third change is that they move into the IndyCar model,
[35:54.480 -> 35:58.240] where IndyCar has three champions at the end of the year.
[35:58.240 -> 36:00.360] They have their overall driver's champion,
[36:00.360 -> 36:02.240] but then they also have their oval champion
[36:02.240 -> 36:03.520] and their street course champion.
[36:03.520 -> 36:06.000] So F1 announces that they're going to have
[36:06.000 -> 36:07.440] their overall drivers champion,
[36:07.440 -> 36:09.280] but they're also going to make a big deal
[36:09.280 -> 36:11.880] out of their Grand Prix Sunday champion
[36:11.880 -> 36:13.420] and their sprint race champion.
[36:13.420 -> 36:15.420] So there's gonna be a new championship.
[36:20.000 -> 36:20.840] Oh, I don't like that.
[36:20.840 -> 36:22.600] It's really just a marketing change.
[36:22.600 -> 36:26.080] I don't like that at It's really just a marketing change. I don't like that at all.
[36:26.080 -> 36:28.040] I really don't.
[36:28.040 -> 36:31.120] Oh my God, I'm now just imagining like K-Mag
[36:31.120 -> 36:32.440] is like champion!
[36:35.200 -> 36:36.840] I just like the idea that you think
[36:36.840 -> 36:38.720] it's gonna be a different person in F1.
[36:38.720 -> 36:41.080] No, but I mean, I literally was just trying to think
[36:41.080 -> 36:42.760] of like big moments last year
[36:42.760 -> 36:44.760] and I'm suddenly just remembering,
[36:44.760 -> 36:48.800] and I guess it wouldn't have worked in this fashion and it would just be another
[36:48.800 -> 36:53.520] thing I'd have to hear about. Oh, this is a fine line. This is teetering.
[36:56.400 -> 36:57.120] And it's really...
[37:01.040 -> 37:04.560] So here's the thing. I know for me that I would come on and be like, this is dumb.
[37:04.560 -> 37:07.840] This is a stupid marketing ploy, don't like it.
[37:07.840 -> 37:10.160] I don't think it would, like...
[37:10.160 -> 37:17.200] But I don't think back in my day, like, full on rage, like, this is stupid rant, I don't
[37:17.200 -> 37:18.200] know if I...
[37:18.200 -> 37:19.200] Right.
[37:19.200 -> 37:26.120] I see this being like corrected quickly of like, ha, it was fun for a year. So I'm not, I disagree with it,
[37:26.120 -> 37:29.740] but this would not be what would cause me to like,
[37:29.740 -> 37:31.520] go on like a big rant, just like,
[37:31.520 -> 37:32.920] this is dumb, this is dumb.
[37:32.920 -> 37:34.000] Yeah.
[37:34.000 -> 37:36.360] I think we would all just really ignore it.
[37:36.360 -> 37:38.520] Yeah, cause it just wouldn't matter.
[37:38.520 -> 37:39.360] Yeah.
[37:39.360 -> 37:42.080] This feels like a raw Creek situation
[37:42.080 -> 37:43.680] where we just like make fun of F1
[37:43.680 -> 37:45.200] because it's like really? Right.
[37:45.200 -> 37:45.440] Really?
[37:45.440 -> 37:46.240] Right. Yeah.
[37:47.840 -> 37:53.680] All right. Fourth thing. So as a reminder, we have this kind of sprint weekend every weekend,
[37:53.680 -> 37:58.080] and they're now crowning a sprint race champion. The fourth thing added to that
[37:58.800 -> 38:02.240] is that they take Grand Prix weekends down to only two days.
[38:02.800 -> 38:07.200] They, it's the same six sessions, but it all happens on Saturday and Sunday.
[38:11.280 -> 38:18.280] How like, wait a second. Oh, well, depending on the race,
[38:18.280 -> 38:22.240] which would be depending on if I enjoyed that early. Whoa.
[38:22.480 -> 38:26.280] Yeah, three sessions on Saturday. two on Sunday, I think that would
[38:26.280 -> 38:31.160] be? No. Three on Sunday? Or something like that. Yeah, I don't know. I'm not here to
[38:31.160 -> 38:37.800] actually pitch this. I think this is an awful idea. I hate this. I think this is an awful
[38:37.800 -> 38:53.060] idea. Oh, I do not enjoy this idea. This makes, I can't even find a reasoning. Like, all, no. I'm box box. This is, no. There's
[38:53.060 -> 38:57.860] so many reasons that I already want to be like, this is dumb. You're going to make less
[38:57.860 -> 39:02.860] money. I, no. I, no way could I ever make that make sense.
[39:02.860 -> 39:06.200] Yeah. In hindsight, I should have known
[39:06.200 -> 39:07.840] that you would have boxed there,
[39:07.840 -> 39:09.600] but I had some fun ones coming up.
[39:09.600 -> 39:13.880] So here's where you boxed before stacking onto.
[39:13.880 -> 39:16.720] The next one was implement a reverse grid element
[39:16.720 -> 39:19.260] into some of the sprint races.
[39:20.720 -> 39:23.680] Then the next one was implement a reverse grid element
[39:23.680 -> 39:26.480] in some of the Grand Prix races.
[39:26.480 -> 39:27.480] In what world?
[39:27.480 -> 39:32.960] Is that like, were they, like, in who would they- could you- I can't even make a sentence
[39:32.960 -> 39:36.840] of what kind of, like, that's just like, we hate the sport.
[39:36.840 -> 39:39.880] My goal was to get you to box.
[39:39.880 -> 39:46.000] So then my next one was start offering points for free practice.
[39:49.840 -> 39:50.560] Then my next one after that, see, we didn't even get to the unhinged ones.
[39:54.040 -> 39:56.440] My stack number eight is remove qualifying, always line up in reverse championship order.
[39:59.440 -> 40:01.760] But there are four races.
[40:01.800 -> 40:05.400] So instead of it being two qualies, two races, there's four races and Max,
[40:05.400 -> 40:09.440] essentially, this season would always start P20. Like, gotta come through the whole grid.
[40:09.440 -> 40:11.520] That's so enticing to me.
[40:11.520 -> 40:20.480] What? No, it's P20. I'm like, it's fine, we're at two days, no one's sleeping, but Max is in P20. So this is great.
[40:21.360 -> 40:27.840] And then my last one is, uh, was turn F1 into a spec series.
[40:27.840 -> 40:28.840] Oh my god!
[40:28.840 -> 40:33.600] Make all the team members use the same card to improve on track overtake numbers because
[40:33.600 -> 40:37.320] we know that the most crucial important thing is the overtake numbers.
[40:37.320 -> 40:39.120] Alright, box, box.
[40:39.120 -> 40:44.320] My eyes were twitching and I just was infuriated at that.
[40:44.320 -> 40:47.120] As on my car ride home today I was trying to explain to my dad
[40:47.120 -> 40:48.160] the difference between...
[40:48.160 -> 40:48.960] Well, because not...
[40:49.760 -> 40:51.680] He asked and I was trying to explain.
[40:51.680 -> 40:53.440] He's like, so how is it different than IndyCar?
[40:53.440 -> 40:54.640] And I was just like, wow!
[40:55.920 -> 40:58.880] That's my favorite can of worms.
[40:58.880 -> 41:02.640] So when someone's like, oh, well, I know about the American racing series IndyCar,
[41:02.640 -> 41:03.600] like, how is this different?
[41:03.600 -> 41:07.040] And then I get to talk to them about how F1 is the greatest science project.
[41:07.400 -> 41:10.880] And it really is just this big, like engineering solution.
[41:10.880 -> 41:12.240] And that's what makes it so exciting.
[41:12.240 -> 41:14.000] And then they look at me and they go, you're a nerd.
[41:14.000 -> 41:16.400] And I'm like, I know it's great. Right.
[41:16.400 -> 41:20.320] Yeah. His follow up question was then like, are they like race cars?
[41:20.320 -> 41:21.880] Do they look like street cars?
[41:21.880 -> 41:24.880] And I'm like, well, I think you think race cars look like street cars.
[41:24.880 -> 41:27.360] So I'm going to say that they don't look like street cars. And I'm like, well, I think you think race cars look like street cars. So I'm going to say that they don't look like street cars.
[41:29.480 -> 41:31.400] That was after getting into spec series.
[41:31.800 -> 41:36.200] But yeah, I, I feel I already felt really gross about like
[41:36.560 -> 41:38.640] a lot of the things that I had let past.
[41:38.640 -> 41:40.120] I but I could not.
[41:40.120 -> 41:41.160] I can't.
[41:41.160 -> 41:44.800] I two day race weekend is too short.
[41:47.360 -> 41:54.520] Don't like would make me too stressed. I need my weekends to do something slightly besides F1 and that would not give that.
[41:54.520 -> 41:55.720] And they would also make less money.
[41:55.720 -> 41:58.960] I don't, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,
[41:58.960 -> 42:01.260] I love my free practice.
[42:01.260 -> 42:02.600] I love my qualifying.
[42:02.600 -> 42:05.480] I couldn't even, the fact that you even like the getting
[42:05.480 -> 42:10.800] the writ of qualifying and I'm just like, no, we need, we need.
[42:10.800 -> 42:15.980] I put the Grand Prix weekends down to two days line there because right now there are
[42:15.980 -> 42:20.760] a decent amount of drivers that are asking for the weekends to be shorter.
[42:20.760 -> 42:21.880] Right.
[42:21.880 -> 42:29.160] And I get why they want that. Of course, but guess what? No, because what they would
[42:29.160 -> 42:36.520] do is not make your weekend shorter. They're going to make your two days start at the crack
[42:36.520 -> 42:41.920] of dawn and go until nighttime, so you're going to be more exhausted. Like, it's not...
[42:41.920 -> 42:46.720] And this is my perspective as a normal person that drives a Hyundai Sonata and not a Formula
[42:46.720 -> 42:54.040] One car and would be a horrible F1 driver but loves the sport, I don't think that they
[42:54.040 -> 42:58.960] would receive what they want out of a two-day race.
[42:58.960 -> 43:08.000] I think it all comes from a place of wanting to do less media, which I get is taxing on their weekends. But I don't
[43:08.000 -> 43:12.080] think making two days on track will result in less media. I think it's actually gonna
[43:12.080 -> 43:16.440] result in a lot more media on Thursday and Friday.
[43:16.440 -> 43:22.680] More media days! More media- longer media days! Longer media days, longer race time,
[43:22.680 -> 43:28.000] sprint shootout! That's all it is.
[43:31.280 -> 43:34.720] Well, I think this is a perfect transition to lead us into talking about we do have a race this week that is a what kind of race, Nicole?
[43:35.360 -> 43:38.800] Well, it's a sprint race that has a sprint shootout!
[43:40.000 -> 43:41.680] I didn't tee you up for that well.
[43:42.640 -> 43:46.000] Talking to me about the Errors Tour is like talking to you about upgrades.
[43:46.000 -> 43:52.000] It's been so long, because at the end of the season people don't bring upgrades,
[43:52.000 -> 43:55.000] so it was like a long drought at the end of last year,
[43:55.000 -> 43:59.000] like Koda Mercedes slot gap front wing was like Christmas,
[43:59.000 -> 44:01.000] it was like, oh we haven't seen things in so long.
[44:01.000 -> 44:03.000] Yeah, it was, it was like...
[44:03.000 -> 44:05.000] And then nothing happens.
[44:05.000 -> 44:08.000] Yeah, and now it's legal.
[44:08.000 -> 44:11.000] But I can't dive down that rabbit hole.
[44:11.000 -> 44:13.000] Nope, nope, don't do it. Don't waste your energy.
[44:13.000 -> 44:15.000] So there's been three races.
[44:15.000 -> 44:20.000] This is the first relatively close to European bases race we get of the season.
[44:20.000 -> 44:22.000] And there's been this long spring break.
[44:22.000 -> 44:27.960] So essentially, there's been a lot of time for teams to figure out what happened that
[44:27.960 -> 44:32.880] was bad at Baku, or what happened that was bad at Bahrain, and then bring a bunch of
[44:32.880 -> 44:35.980] upgrades to Baku.
[44:35.980 -> 44:40.440] This is the weekend where we were supposed to get the McLaren B-Spec, but now apparently
[44:40.440 -> 44:42.880] we're not getting the McLaren B-Spec.
[44:42.880 -> 44:43.880] But-
[44:43.880 -> 44:49.280] Wow! No one could have predicted that happening!
[44:50.560 -> 44:53.760] They also keep saying, oh, we told you Imola, what are you talking about? I'm like, uh-huh,
[44:53.760 -> 45:01.280] okay, sure. But we are getting a new McLaren and new Alpine floors. This is the Alpine floor that
[45:01.280 -> 45:06.460] they keep saying they're going to gain six-tenths on their competitors. And I went, mm-hmm, okay.
[45:06.460 -> 45:09.460] Normally when you hear numbers like that, don't trust them,
[45:09.460 -> 45:14.860] because who's telling you those numbers and it's assuming that no one else moves forward as well?
[45:15.360 -> 45:18.460] But, okay! Congratulations with your magic floor.
[45:18.860 -> 45:20.960] McLaren is bringing their new floor.
[45:20.960 -> 45:26.400] McLaren, apparently what they got wrong in their whole process that caused them to
[45:26.400 -> 45:30.800] like freeze and just have this car that we have right now while they're developing their B-spec
[45:30.800 -> 45:38.240] car is that they got the floor edges completely wrong. So McLaren is bringing a new floor.
[45:39.040 -> 45:46.560] So we should see if they, what they thought they got wrong wrong they now got right or in a right direction which is
[45:46.560 -> 45:52.720] exciting. Mercedes will bring some stuff but their big upgrade is definitely coming in Imola and like
[45:52.720 -> 45:58.720] I felt all season in my notes I wrote Ferrari with multiple question marks because why haven't we heard
[45:58.720 -> 46:12.080] what's going on with Ferrari when are they bringing upgrades they need to go faster. But yet we've heard nothing. Yeah, Ferrari's been a terrifying ghost town of just like nothing. And it's like, of a
[46:13.160 -> 46:29.040] media that is so active and of yet nothing like the all we've gotten from Ferrari like this entire break has kind of been just like Carlos's penalty stuff. And like, it's
[46:29.080 -> 46:38.200] and Charles's musical career. We don't have time for that right now. But yeah, it's it's strange,
[46:38.880 -> 46:41.720] like to get nothing from Ferrari.
[46:42.440 -> 46:46.480] So what I think is really interesting about this weekend, besides the
[46:46.480 -> 46:51.680] fact that I'm just going to nerd out all weekend, you'll probably, if you follow us over at
[46:51.680 -> 46:56.520] Gridwalk Show on all of our social media channels, there'll probably be a video or two of just
[46:56.520 -> 47:00.600] me freaking out and telling you about all the cool things on the cars, is this is the
[47:00.600 -> 47:05.600] first real opportunity to bring big upgrades to the car, but there's only one free practice session.
[47:06.400 -> 47:07.600] So if...
[47:07.600 -> 47:10.800] So McLaren and Alpine are bringing these giant floor upgrades,
[47:10.800 -> 47:13.000] so they need to test that that floor is working
[47:13.000 -> 47:17.000] and get the car set up for a sprint and a race and two qualifying openings
[47:17.600 -> 47:19.600] and one free practice.
[47:19.600 -> 47:20.600] No.
[47:21.800 -> 47:24.200] Oh no!
[47:24.800 -> 47:30.600] So all the teams are definitely balancing a, okay, we want to put this more performance
[47:30.600 -> 47:34.880] on the car, but is it worth putting on it now?
[47:34.880 -> 47:38.720] And it's a flyaway to Miami after Baku.
[47:38.720 -> 47:44.200] So it's really, they're making decisions of, do we put it on now and just roll the dice
[47:44.200 -> 47:49.840] with this one free practice session and because we are convinced that this is going to be faster and we're going
[47:49.840 -> 47:57.360] to figure it out or do you essentially wait two races and put it on the car in Imola?
[47:59.200 -> 48:03.360] And you could bring it to Miami but teams don't really like to bring big upgrades to
[48:03.360 -> 48:09.680] fly away races just because the logistics of it normally. I'm not saying, I'm not guaranteeing anything,
[48:09.680 -> 48:14.000] I'm just saying historically normally that's the case. I think it's really fascinating that we,
[48:14.560 -> 48:19.200] like Mercedes might have more changes than we end up seeing ready for the car, but they're,
[48:19.840 -> 48:24.400] they also don't want to throw away two races worth of points. So they might put some upgrades on the
[48:24.400 -> 48:26.960] car and then that's why we're getting the big upgrade in Imola.
[48:26.960 -> 48:29.760] Or logistically, we were only going to get the big upgrade in Imola.
[48:29.760 -> 48:32.480] Basically, I could talk about this and ramble about all the different, like,
[48:32.480 -> 48:34.440] permutations of what we could see for a long time.
[48:34.440 -> 48:37.560] So I'm going to hush and let you say words.
[48:37.560 -> 48:38.960] Sprint shootout!
[48:40.720 -> 48:42.760] Sudden alpha change.
[48:42.760 -> 48:46.000] By alpha change, I mean by this lovely post-it on my forehead. It
[48:46.000 -> 48:51.960] is time for us to do our picks and predictions for Baku this weekend. We are doing basically
[48:51.960 -> 48:58.120] a season-long competition between Burana and I, where we pick the winner of each race,
[48:58.120 -> 49:07.200] P4, P7, P10, and the highest scoring team of the remaining, basically like the bottom of the standings
[49:07.200 -> 49:10.020] and we'll like go through each of these.
[49:10.020 -> 49:14.300] And then we also have special sprint picks for this week.
[49:14.300 -> 49:21.560] But currently Brianna is in the lead of our full or not our, our half season competition
[49:21.560 -> 49:22.760] because that's silly season.
[49:22.760 -> 49:27.360] We will be seeing who is in the lead and whoever is losing has to record a podcast segment
[49:27.720 -> 49:29.480] from a Peloton.
[49:29.480 -> 49:36.000] And whoever is losing in points for picks throughout the season has to basically be doing
[49:36.000 -> 49:41.280] something embarrassing. So right now, if you are not a cool cat watching on YouTube, I
[49:41.280 -> 49:44.920] have a post on my forehead that says Brianna is better at picks than me.
[49:45.680 -> 49:50.440] on YouTube, I have a post on my forehead that says, Brianna is better at picks than me. And again, last race, she got like one right.
[49:50.440 -> 49:51.520] And that's all I'm going to say.
[49:51.520 -> 49:52.520] And now I'm here.
[49:52.520 -> 49:57.080] I predicted that Yugi was going to get P10.
[49:57.080 -> 49:59.960] And that was three additional points.
[49:59.960 -> 50:04.800] Really I'm a hit right now because I've gotten lucky that I got P10 right twice.
[50:04.800 -> 50:07.600] Like this is this is luck when you get P10 right.
[50:07.640 -> 50:11.400] Right, right. And that's fine. Because-
[50:11.400 -> 50:12.240] But I like winning.
[50:12.600 -> 50:21.120] Right. We all love winning. And I hate losing. And this post it is not the most ridiculous part of my outfit. So-
[50:23.080 -> 50:27.080] That is a tease to go over to YouTube if I've ever heard one, because I think I've been
[50:27.080 -> 50:28.440] just as ridiculous of an outfit.
[50:28.440 -> 50:32.440] We're really not addressing these shirts that we're wearing, and that's enough for me.
[50:32.440 -> 50:33.440] Don't say anything.
[50:33.440 -> 50:34.440] Nope.
[50:34.440 -> 50:40.080] We're going to do our normal Grand Prix Sunday predictions first, and then we'll do the special
[50:40.080 -> 50:43.480] sprint ones, even though that's out of order for the schedule, but we're just having fun
[50:43.480 -> 50:44.480] here.
[50:44.480 -> 50:48.320] So Nicole, in the most shocking pick of the weekend, who'd you pick at P1?
[50:49.520 -> 50:58.320] No one sees it coming at all because it's not like it's happened ever. I picked Max versus Stappen.
[51:00.000 -> 51:06.880] Yeah, me too. Yeah. Yep. One of these weeks we'll pick someone else, but not yet. Not yet.
[51:09.200 -> 51:15.680] Okay, so for next we pick P4. So that's just missing the podium. Who do you have?
[51:16.640 -> 51:22.960] All right. I went with Fernando because I don't think there's going to be an Aston Martin on the
[51:22.960 -> 51:28.720] podium this week. And that's just because I don't think he can continue to be on the podium every week.
[51:28.720 -> 51:32.880] Something's going to happen at some point. So P4, just missing the podium,
[51:32.880 -> 51:36.320] Fernando Malanso. What about you? All right, that's cool. We can manifest that.
[51:37.360 -> 51:41.040] Oh, big disclaimer, I wanted to put at the beginning of this. Brianna did not give me
[51:41.040 -> 51:46.880] any of her upgrade. Like, Brianna is my tech guru, like, breaks everything
[51:46.880 -> 51:51.480] down very simple for me in voice notes. I didn't get any of the upgrade pieces before
[51:51.480 -> 52:02.600] this. Mild on research, but my P4 is Charles. And that is just fate that the universe will
[52:02.600 -> 52:05.400] be kind to him this week?
[52:05.400 -> 52:08.400] I think there'll be a Ferrari on the podium this week.
[52:08.400 -> 52:14.100] So there'll be one hopefully just missing the podium and hopefully
[52:14.100 -> 52:16.700] it's Charles and hopefully I get points.
[52:16.700 -> 52:23.900] My biggest thing this week is that Baku is a rear limited circuit.
[52:23.900 -> 52:27.200] So it's closer to Bahrain than it is to Australia.
[52:27.200 -> 52:30.360] So I'm predicting that it's not going to be a great Mercedes weekend.
[52:30.360 -> 52:35.320] And as long as Ferrari's engine doesn't explode, they should have a better weekend.
[52:35.320 -> 52:41.080] And this year, the Baku race is much earlier in the year, so it's not going to be as hot
[52:41.080 -> 52:52.660] and tire degradation isn't going to be as bad, which is also why 17 laps for a sprint race is silly. So essentially, technically, the Ferrari Power Unit shouldn't both blow
[52:52.660 -> 52:58.340] up on Grand Prix day because it's so hot and it's just having a rough time.
[52:58.340 -> 53:03.780] And you would know all of this if you follow us on TikTok, because this is Tech Tidbits.
[53:03.780 -> 53:06.640] We've gotten about Bakken Bach before or about Bahrain
[53:06.640 -> 53:13.440] before. Yep. Yep. Yeah. James Allison, which we haven't talked at all about the Mercedes shake-up,
[53:14.720 -> 53:20.640] just like the whole thing, but James Allison on the F1 Nation podcast this week essentially said
[53:20.640 -> 53:27.620] that Mercedes for right now is like, if it's a rear limited circuit, we're not, we don't think we'll do great. If it's a front limited circuit we're not we don't think we'll do great if it's a front limited circuit we think we'll do
[53:27.620 -> 53:30.480] pretty well that's why we did well in Australia that's why we didn't do well
[53:30.480 -> 53:35.660] in Bahrain and I'm like great I'm gonna apply that tidbit to be the one guiding
[53:35.660 -> 53:41.840] principle in my predictions this week because again it is Tuesday as a
[53:41.840 -> 53:47.600] reminder when we're recording this we've seen no on-track action we really have no idea what the upgrades are, what they're going to look like.
[53:47.600 -> 53:49.200] They just told us what the format was.
[53:49.200 -> 53:52.400] For a while, we thought we were going to have to do these predictions without even knowing
[53:52.400 -> 53:54.080] what the weekend format was going to be.
[53:55.200 -> 53:59.120] So, sorry, that was my aside that you led me into.
[54:00.080 -> 54:02.080] But who did you pick for P7?
[54:02.080 -> 54:04.400] Who's the best of the rest, essentially?
[54:04.560 -> 54:04.920] But who did you pick for P7? Who's the best of the rest, essentially?
[54:09.960 -> 54:10.680] I have Señor L'Enstral in my P7.
[54:11.200 -> 54:11.680] Yeah, me too.
[54:17.240 -> 54:17.280] Wow. Oh my gosh. I was not anticipating that. I always get nervous every time we have, like,
[54:21.280 -> 54:23.080] similar team picks. It's like, then what's the point? But yeah, What was it? Saudi Arabia?
[54:23.240 -> 54:25.000] Yeah, Saudi Arabia. We were just like, um, whoops.
[54:25.000 -> 54:30.000] And we think we, yeah, it was like the Battle of the Alpines is basically what happened.
[54:30.000 -> 54:31.000] Yes, in P-10.
[54:31.000 -> 54:32.000] Uh-huh.
[54:32.000 -> 54:35.000] And we both ended the week with zero points.
[54:35.000 -> 54:38.000] Yeah, both, both pick plants.
[54:38.000 -> 54:39.000] Okay.
[54:39.000 -> 54:42.000] Well, he had a rough race here last year.
[54:42.000 -> 54:43.000] Yeah.
[54:43.000 -> 54:49.040] So I don't, I clear, it's so hard to predict DNFs when I do this.
[54:49.040 -> 54:53.760] So I don't really, normally I'll factor in something mentally, this is giving you too
[54:53.760 -> 54:57.680] much information, but to the people listening, maybe Nicole could black this out of her brain,
[54:57.680 -> 55:07.320] I'll like factor in like, I think a Ferrari is going to DNF or something like that. And then I'll just, if I flip a coin, which one?
[55:07.320 -> 55:09.160] Which one it is.
[55:09.160 -> 55:13.620] Or it's a weighted, weighted coin to Charles.
[55:15.200 -> 55:17.000] Yes, yes.
[55:17.000 -> 55:18.680] Which Charles fans don't get mad at me.
[55:18.680 -> 55:20.280] I really just want Ferrari to do well,
[55:20.280 -> 55:21.900] but I do root for Carlos.
[55:23.160 -> 55:25.000] But he would not be last in the points.
[55:25.000 -> 55:28.000] And that is our pick for P10.
[55:28.000 -> 55:30.000] Who is your P10?
[55:30.000 -> 55:33.000] Okay, I really struggled with this one.
[55:33.000 -> 55:37.000] And I decided to go with what I wanted to root for and manifest.
[55:37.000 -> 55:39.000] I want Alex back in the points.
[55:39.000 -> 55:42.000] So I'm going Alex Albon P10.
[55:42.000 -> 55:44.000] What about you?
[55:44.000 -> 55:45.200] That's so nice. And I don't want you to win. Alex Albon P10. What about you?
[55:45.200 -> 55:50.840] That's so nice and I don't want you to win so I'm not going to say that I do want that
[55:50.840 -> 56:00.240] to happen. I have Pierre in my P10. And I'm not necessarily rooting for it, but it felt
[56:00.240 -> 56:05.760] safe and I need to not lose.
[56:12.720 -> 56:16.920] I have my P8 and P9 as this tier of Lando and both the Alpines, and I just don't believe that all three of them will get to the finish line, and I wanted to root for Alex Albon
[56:16.920 -> 56:30.880] in the points. So I think you have the better pick. I think I just wanted to root for Alex. Fair. Very fair. Hey, I've had Alex as my P10 last points pick, like, at least once, if not twice this year
[56:30.880 -> 56:33.360] already and again, we're only at race four.
[56:33.360 -> 56:35.360] So there you go.
[56:35.360 -> 56:38.840] It's just such a good feeling story.
[56:38.840 -> 56:45.000] All right, the last thing we pick here is basically the best of the bottom.
[56:45.000 -> 56:50.520] So the bottom five teams that we had to pick from are Alpine Haas, Alpha Romeo, Alpha Tauri,
[56:50.520 -> 56:51.880] and Williams.
[56:51.880 -> 56:56.160] And we need to pick who of those five teams will score the most points this week.
[56:56.160 -> 57:00.800] So Nicole, who of those teams did you choose to score the most points this week?
[57:00.800 -> 57:02.660] Alpine, let's go!
[57:02.660 -> 57:07.160] And I do have, I mean, not that I wrote out all of my rankings, but if I do have
[57:07.160 -> 57:15.360] Pierre in P10, I want SD Bestie to beat him, even if it's P9. But I have Alpine.
[57:16.520 -> 57:21.400] I also have Alpine. It felt like the easy pick. They should not be P6 in the championship right
[57:21.400 -> 57:25.360] now. Maybe Pierre should focus on not taking out his teammate.
[57:25.360 -> 57:32.480] So sprint, this is our first sprint weekend. Because sprint races are worth half the points,
[57:32.480 -> 57:39.000] instead of every pick here being 2 or 3 points like our normal points giving system, all
[57:39.000 -> 57:43.920] these are worth 1 point. As an additional bonus. We're going to pick 3 different things.
[57:43.920 -> 57:46.960] The first one is what team is gonna score the most points
[57:46.960 -> 57:49.100] over the course of the sprint race?
[57:50.200 -> 57:53.660] And I think neither of our selection here is shocking.
[57:54.640 -> 57:55.640] And I assume-
[57:55.640 -> 57:56.720] I love points.
[57:56.720 -> 57:58.600] I picked Red Bull.
[57:58.600 -> 57:59.440] Yeah, me too.
[57:59.440 -> 58:00.280] Okay.
[58:00.280 -> 58:02.840] So quickly moving on from that,
[58:02.840 -> 58:09.000] we're also going to select who we think is P3 and going to be P8 in the sprint.
[58:09.000 -> 58:10.800] So Nicole, who do you pick for P3?
[58:12.800 -> 58:14.200] I picked Carlos.
[58:15.100 -> 58:16.200] I picked Charles.
[58:18.400 -> 58:25.140] This is where my, my, I had to silence my hope alarm and I'm like, I'm gonna pull Lewis! And I didn't.
[58:25.140 -> 58:26.080] I did not.
[58:27.140 -> 58:28.040] I really wanted to,
[58:28.040 -> 58:30.800] but I just don't think Mercedes is gonna have a good weekend.
[58:30.800 -> 58:31.640] I don't.
[58:31.640 -> 58:34.980] I literally just, I can just hear you saying,
[58:34.980 -> 58:36.880] just I'm worried about the straight.
[58:36.880 -> 58:37.920] I'm worried about the straight.
[58:37.920 -> 58:39.440] I'm worried about the straight.
[58:39.440 -> 58:42.440] Yeah. Like I just like, I don't know.
[58:42.440 -> 58:47.840] So I figured I put Charles just missing podium in my first picks. So then I was like, I don't know. So I, I, I figured I put Charles just missing podium in my first
[58:47.840 -> 58:52.080] picks. So then I was like, all right, we'll give Carlos some love in the sprint picks.
[58:52.960 -> 59:00.880] Yeah. I just think that something good needs to happen to him. And I think that even though I'm
[59:00.880 -> 59:07.520] pretty sure one of them won't make it to the end of the race. 17 laps is not a lot.
[59:07.520 -> 59:15.600] They should be able to finish and be fast for the sprint. That's kind of my belief. Like this car is
[59:15.600 -> 59:23.200] not dreadfully slow and it was really it was pretty good in Bahrain. It was pretty solidly
[59:23.200 -> 59:27.200] on quali pace, the second fastest car, but then it fell
[59:27.200 -> 59:30.960] back because of tire degradation. And you know, what's not going to matter during the sprint race?
[59:30.960 -> 59:37.520] Tires. So I think we're, I honestly think one of us will get points there.
[59:38.080 -> 59:46.080] I hope so. And then the last that we're picking for our sprint race picks is P8, which is technically
[59:46.080 -> 59:49.280] less than the points for the sprint race.
[59:49.280 -> 59:53.460] Who do you have sitting comfortably at P8?
[59:53.460 -> 59:59.880] So I went full rooting interest here, and I went with Esteban Oca.
[59:59.880 -> 01:00:04.560] I also put Estebesti for my P8.
[01:00:04.560 -> 01:00:05.360] Good! We can both just happily root for him to be in the points. Right. I also put Esti Bestie for my P8.
[01:00:05.720 -> 01:00:05.760] Good.
[01:00:08.400 -> 01:00:08.520] We can both just happily root for him to be in the points.
[01:00:08.880 -> 01:00:08.920] Right.
[01:00:14.680 -> 01:00:17.920] I want him in the points so badly and I want him in higher points than Pierre.
[01:00:22.880 -> 01:00:24.840] Best of no luck to you, except for the ones that we both have the same.
[01:00:25.040 -> 01:00:27.480] About the F1 Academy starting this weekend.
[01:00:27.480 -> 01:00:30.240] There are five teams that are all F2 and F3 teams.
[01:00:30.240 -> 01:00:32.480] They're all fielding three drivers.
[01:00:32.480 -> 01:00:37.080] The idea is that these teams are going to get to know these women, be more likely to
[01:00:37.080 -> 01:00:43.200] pull them up into F3 and F2, have them more connected to the F1 paddock, should be getting
[01:00:43.200 -> 01:00:46.760] some way to watch it. So there's been a lot of promo,
[01:00:46.760 -> 01:00:49.920] particularly today and yesterday from F1 Academy
[01:00:49.920 -> 01:00:53.280] and from the F1 account with the trailer of like,
[01:00:53.280 -> 01:00:55.640] ah, F1 Academy is here and it's happening.
[01:00:55.640 -> 01:01:00.320] And here's how you can look at live timing.
[01:01:00.320 -> 01:01:06.800] And I'm like, okay, where can I watch F1 Academy?
[01:01:06.800 -> 01:01:14.480] And I was very happy to see that a lot of like, the comments on Twitter and places were
[01:01:14.480 -> 01:01:16.980] a lot of like, awesome, where can I watch?
[01:01:16.980 -> 01:01:17.980] How can I watch?
[01:01:17.980 -> 01:01:18.980] Is on F1 TV?
[01:01:18.980 -> 01:01:19.980] Is it going to be on ESPN?
[01:01:19.980 -> 01:01:21.400] Like all these places.
[01:01:21.400 -> 01:01:23.520] And there's been like no acknowledgement of it.
[01:01:23.520 -> 01:01:25.840] We've had like a lot of like rants today,
[01:01:25.840 -> 01:01:31.440] so like we're really not gonna go like in an intense rant about this because also again it's
[01:01:31.440 -> 01:01:36.720] Tuesday of the week of all of this. Maybe this news could change by the time that this pod comes
[01:01:36.720 -> 01:01:39.840] out or by the time that you're listening to this and I would kind of be a little bit happy about
[01:01:39.840 -> 01:01:46.040] that. At Gridwalk we're going to be covering this in a very similar way that we cover F1, because
[01:01:46.040 -> 01:01:49.180] this is a cause that's really important to us.
[01:01:49.180 -> 01:01:53.640] We want to get more women on track and just more women in F1.
[01:01:53.640 -> 01:01:57.280] And if you're the most visible people are the people on track.
[01:01:57.280 -> 01:02:00.520] So the more female drivers there are, the more it becomes normalized that there's a
[01:02:00.520 -> 01:02:07.360] woman engineer or a woman mechanic and all it just becomes so normal. So definitely
[01:02:07.360 -> 01:02:11.920] follow us at Gridwalk Show. We're going to be doing short form content, breaking down the live
[01:02:11.920 -> 01:02:18.240] timing the way I do with F1 live timing, talking about any exciting things that happen on track,
[01:02:18.880 -> 01:02:22.560] and then post every F1 Academy race, we'll be talking about it here on the pod.
[01:02:23.600 -> 01:02:25.120] Welcome back to Yellow Sector Notes, not the fastest lap around F1, but, we'll be talking about it here on the pod. Welcome back to Yellow Sector Notes,
[01:02:25.120 -> 01:02:30.720] not the fastest lap around F1, but we will make sure we end the pod hitting every F1 team.
[01:02:32.080 -> 01:02:36.720] Garage is what I normally say, but that's okay. Starting today with the F1 Garage, I thought it
[01:02:36.720 -> 01:02:40.400] was really interesting that they put out an informational video about their sustainable fuel
[01:02:40.400 -> 01:02:48.120] for the 2026 engine regulations on Earth Day this year. I'm going to be looking forward to when we get the written version of those regulations
[01:02:48.120 -> 01:02:50.840] and get to dig through them because I think it's one of the coolest things that F1 is
[01:02:50.840 -> 01:02:51.840] working on right now.
[01:02:51.840 -> 01:02:56.560] We had conflicting reports this week, which is my favorite kind of report, if I'm being
[01:02:56.560 -> 01:02:57.720] honest.
[01:02:57.720 -> 01:03:03.240] We had reports that Daniel Ricciardo was instantly faster than Sergio Perez in the simulation,
[01:03:03.240 -> 01:03:06.000] and then we also had reports that he wasn't anywhere close and
[01:03:06.000 -> 01:03:09.000] Red Bull's helping him get back to his pre-McLaren self.
[01:03:09.000 -> 01:03:13.000] I think it's hysterical when they're just so opposite.
[01:03:13.000 -> 01:03:16.000] But either way, I'm not seeing any reporting that he's anywhere close to Max.
[01:03:16.000 -> 01:03:19.000] And I think that would be the valuable reporting in all of this.
[01:03:19.000 -> 01:03:26.200] Moving on to Aston Martin, Alonzo continues to have the best TikTok account on the grid
[01:03:26.200 -> 01:03:28.220] despite being the oldest driver.
[01:03:28.220 -> 01:03:32.940] Thank you Aston Martin admin, we know who you are, you are doing a great job.
[01:03:32.940 -> 01:03:34.780] Keep it up, please.
[01:03:34.780 -> 01:03:36.620] It's fantastic.
[01:03:36.620 -> 01:03:40.000] Lewis has teased the return of his merch line, Plus44.
[01:03:40.000 -> 01:03:43.340] They do limited edition drops at various races last year.
[01:03:43.340 -> 01:03:45.360] I'm excited to see what I'm assuming is
[01:03:45.360 -> 01:03:53.040] going to be a Miami drop next week. It looks cool. Charlotte Clare released a song. Esteban
[01:03:53.040 -> 01:03:58.080] Ocon was the first F1 driver to give very public attention to the F1 Academy this week.
[01:03:58.080 -> 01:04:03.520] He went on a podcast and was very complimentary of F1 Academy driver Bianca Bustamante,
[01:04:03.520 -> 01:04:05.600] saying that she was the first one in, the last one out.
[01:04:05.600 -> 01:04:09.960] I also just really liked the conversation both these men were having about how much harder women
[01:04:09.960 -> 01:04:15.440] have to work in spaces like this to get to these opportunities. Love to see it. I can't wait to
[01:04:15.440 -> 01:04:21.240] see what additional attention other F1 drivers, F1 teams, and just notable personalities continue
[01:04:21.240 -> 01:04:28.520] to give to this series. McLaren has officially announced and revamped its development driver program.
[01:04:28.520 -> 01:04:31.280] It hasn't had anything official for many years now.
[01:04:31.280 -> 01:04:34.400] Williams, their pop-up in Miami is next week.
[01:04:34.400 -> 01:04:37.760] I know this has already been a note, but this is my reminder to you that if you're going
[01:04:37.760 -> 01:04:42.640] to be in Miami, even if you're not attending the race, go, go, go to the Williams pop-up.
[01:04:42.640 -> 01:04:43.640] You will not regret it.
[01:04:43.640 -> 01:04:49.680] When we went in Kota, it was one of my favorite things we did the entire time. So, you don't feel like you have to
[01:04:49.680 -> 01:04:56.160] be going to the Grand Prix. Gunther released his book on 420. Joe released some jewelry
[01:04:56.160 -> 01:05:02.240] glamour shots that were just incredible. He was wearing like this beautiful Dior jewelry.
[01:05:02.240 -> 01:05:05.680] He just looked fantastic on his Instagram.
[01:05:11.760 -> 01:05:17.680] And last but not least, Yuki was interviewed in the past week where he was very supportive of Seb taking over Helmut Marko's position or just taking over the future of Red Bull as a whole.
[01:05:17.680 -> 01:05:21.840] I think many of us would agree with Yuki's assessment and there definitely seems to be
[01:05:21.840 -> 01:05:30.160] some general traction for this even more than there was at the end of last year, more people talking about it. I would just be happy
[01:05:30.160 -> 01:05:34.240] to have Sebastian Bettle back in the paddock in any capacity, even if it means working
[01:05:34.240 -> 01:05:40.760] at Red Bull. Yes! So that's it. Those are my Yellow Sector notes for April 27th, 2023.
[01:05:40.760 -> 01:05:48.320] How was my sector time today, Nicole? It was fast, but not as fast as we decided we needed these shirts in our lives.
[01:05:49.440 -> 01:05:55.680] As always, we have to give a big, big thank you to voiceover man, Nick Miller,
[01:05:56.240 -> 01:06:05.880] and our four-legged executive producers. Make sure that you have auto downloads turned on on whenever
[01:06:05.880 -> 01:06:10.960] you listen to your podcast. Make sure that you rate and review the pod. Take like two
[01:06:10.960 -> 01:06:17.360] seconds out of your day to make our literal week and month, probably year, if you left
[01:06:17.360 -> 01:06:20.840] us a really, really nice review about what you love about our podcast, especially if
[01:06:20.840 -> 01:06:25.240] you're on Apple podcast, it'll take you two seconds and it'll really, really mean a lot to us.
[01:06:25.240 -> 01:06:26.520] Make sure you follow us
[01:06:26.520 -> 01:06:29.380] on whatever social media platforms you use.
[01:06:29.380 -> 01:06:32.200] You use it, we're on it at gridwalkshow.
[01:06:32.200 -> 01:06:34.380] You can join us for your daily gridwalks,
[01:06:34.380 -> 01:06:36.860] but of course we'll be back every Thursday
[01:06:36.860 -> 01:06:39.360] and we hope that you join us.
[01:06:39.360 -> 01:06:42.760] But today really felt like a sprint shootout
[01:06:42.760 -> 01:06:45.920] and not a gridwalk.