Winners & Losers of Formula 1 in 2023 | F1 Season Review | Grid Walk Dec 21, 2023

This is the second of the three Grid Walk F1 2023 Season review episodes! This week Briana and Nicole breakdown the performance of the F1 teams by looking at qualifying data from the season.

It was a surprise to no one Red Bull was the best. Did Red Bull build the most dominant F1 car ever?

Rewind to the beginning, Aston Martin seemed like the F1 team that could compete with Red Bull. When it came to qualifying, was the Aston Martin or Ferrari F1 team the (second) fastest?

Then F1 teams begin to introduce upgrades. Mercedes abandoned the “no sidepods” concept but did it help? Where did Mclaren really begin to pick up pace? How did things get better for Williams?

That the end of the F1 season had plenty of chaos. Lewis Hamilton worked his magic and Mercedes had some good moments. How does Alpine see the consequences of firing everyone?

Grid Walk talks about the stories across the entire F1 grid. Looking at the back of the grid (Haas, Alfa Romeo, Alpha Tauri, Williams), which car was the worst? How many times were these F1 teams the slowest car on the grid?

Briana and Nicole give an overview of the F1 grid’s performance. What F1 teams were the most surprising? What F1 teams are going into 2024 with the best vibes?

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00:00 Formation Lap

04:38 Red Bull

08:48 Blooper

08:59 Data Overview

11:24 Beginning of the F1 Season

24:12 Upgrade Season

36:15 End of the F1 Season

41:50 Blooper

42:11 Season Overview

42:29 Mercedes

43:26 Ferrari

45:44 Mclaren

46:43 Aston Martin

48:23 Alpine

50:59 Worst F1 Car of 2023

58:35 Biggest Surprise of 2023

01:04:43 Best Vibes Going Into 2024

**Dominance of Red Bull**

* Red Bull's dominance in the 2023 Formula One season was unprecedented, with the team winning 17 out of 22 races and securing both the Drivers' and Constructors' Championships.
* Their car was perfectly suited to the new regulations, emphasizing race pace and minimizing the impact of qualifying.
* Red Bull's pit stops were flawless, and their strategy decisions were generally spot-on, allowing them to overcome any potential setbacks.
* The team's reliability was also exceptional, with no DNFs throughout the entire season.

**Team Performance Analysis**

* To evaluate team performance, the podcast hosts analyzed qualifying data, dividing the season into three stages: pre-Spain, upgrade season, and the final seven races.

**Stage 1: Pre-Spain (Races 1-6)**

* Aston Martin, Ferrari, and Alpine emerged as the surprise performers in the early stages of the season.
* Aston Martin's strong start was particularly notable, with the team briefly challenging Red Bull for supremacy.
* Ferrari's qualifying pace was impressive, despite their struggles on race day.
* Mercedes had a mixed start, showing glimpses of speed but also experiencing setbacks.
* McLaren and Williams struggled in the early races, with McLaren suffering from reliability issues and Williams languishing at the back of the grid.

**Stage 2: Upgrade Season (Races 7-12)**

* Williams made a significant leap forward during upgrade season, moving from the 10th-slowest team to the sixth-fastest.
* McLaren also showed marked improvement, jumping from seventh to second in terms of average qualifying position.
* Alpine maintained their solid form, while Aston Martin experienced a slight decline.
* Mercedes continued to struggle, failing to capitalize on their upgrades.

**Stage 3: Final Seven Races (Races 13-22)**

* McLaren's strong form continued in the final part of the season, with the team consistently challenging for podium finishes.
* Aston Martin's struggles persisted, with the team dropping out of contention for regular podiums.
* Alpine's performance remained stable, with the team securing a few more podiums.
* Mercedes showed signs of improvement, but they were still unable to match the pace of Red Bull and Ferrari.

**Overall Team Performance Summary**

* Red Bull: Unmatched dominance throughout the season, with a car that was perfectly suited to the new regulations.
* Ferrari: Strong qualifying pace, but struggled to translate it into race-day success.
* Mercedes: A disappointing season, with the team failing to challenge Red Bull and Ferrari consistently.
* McLaren: A remarkable turnaround after a poor start, with the team emerging as a regular podium contender.
* Alpine: Solid and consistent performance throughout the season, with the team securing several podium finishes.
* Aston Martin: A promising start faded away, with the team struggling to maintain their early-season form.
* Williams: A significant improvement from the previous season, with the team scoring points regularly and even challenging for podiums on occasion.

**Upgrade Season Performance Analysis**

* Aston Martin:
* Early drop in pace after technical directive in Spain
* Upgrade struggles and decline in performance
* Rapid drop from 3rd to 8th fastest team

* Mercedes:
* Consistent increase in pace throughout upgrade season
* About a race behind in bringing upgrades
* Positive trajectory despite being overshadowed by McLaren

* McLaren:
* Dramatic improvement in upgrade season
* Overshadowed by Aston Martin's narrative
* Positive progression and impressive performance

* Alpha Tauri and Alfa Romeo:
* Fade to the back during upgrade season
* Consistent non-existence in terms of performance

**End of Season Trends**

* Red Bull dominance continues, leading to decreased motivation for upgrades
* General sense of chaos and unpredictability
* Mercedes improves, jumping ahead of McLaren in average qualifying pace
* Aston Martin's further decline, matching Alpha Tauri's average qualifying pace
* McLaren's drop-off, raising questions about maintaining momentum
* Ferrari catches up to Red Bull in qualifying pace
* Alpha Tauri's resurgence and impressive turnaround

**Team Performance Takeaways**

* Mercedes:
* Surprising P2 finish despite never averaging above 3.6 in any season phase
* Lewis Hamilton's exceptional race-day performance
* Ferrari:
* Closing the gap to Red Bull in qualifying
* Positive signs despite reliability and strategic issues
* Need for consistent strategic success
* McLaren:
* Drop-off in performance at the end of the season
* Uncertainty about maintaining momentum in the next season
* Aston Martin:
* Decline worse than expected, despite highlights in Brazil and Qatar
* Overestimation of improvement
* Alpine:
* Underwhelming performance as a works team
* Inability to act like a top team
* Frustrating lack of progress
* Williams, Alpha Tauri, Alfa Romeo, and Haas:
* Analysis of qualifying performance and comparison
* Alfa Romeo deemed the worst car of the season

**Surprises of the 2023 Season**

* McLaren's resurgence and impressive performance
* Aston Martin's rapid decline
* Ferrari's improvement in qualifying pace

**Prevailing Vibes in the 2023 Formula One Season and Anticipation for 2024**

**Surprise of the Season:**

* Fred Vasseur's impact on Ferrari's operations was noticeable, showcasing his ability to bring about positive changes in a relatively short period.

* Ferrari's Improved Operations and Team Dynamics: Despite not competing for the championship, Ferrari showed remarkable progress in their operational efficiency and decision-making. The team's pit stops were significantly cleaner and quicker, leading to reduced instances of strategic blunders. The team's overall communication and cohesion seemed to improve under the leadership of Fred Vasseur.

**Team with the Best Vibes Heading into 2024:**

* McLaren: McLaren's PR and marketing team has skillfully managed the team's narrative, creating a positive perception despite their on-track performance. The team's charismatic drivers and a strong administrative team contribute to the positive atmosphere within the team.

* Mercedes: Mercedes is showing signs of change and determination, with Toto Wolff, Lewis Hamilton, and George Russell expressing frustration and a desire for improvement. The team's commitment to addressing issues and introducing a significantly different car for the upcoming season generates optimism.

[00:00.000 -> 00:05.840] My mom brought over like coffee she was given yesterday, but she doesn't drink non...
[00:05.840 -> 00:09.040] She doesn't drink caffeinated coffee, she can only drink decaf.
[00:09.040 -> 00:16.000] And knowing what you know about my mom, like she would be on the roof if she had any like extreme caffeine.
[00:16.000 -> 00:20.240] And it's coconut infused coffee?
[00:21.600 -> 00:22.560] Huh.
[00:22.560 -> 00:27.840] And I can't figure out if I like it. Yeah, I don't think I would vibe with that.
[00:27.840 -> 00:28.840] Yeah.
[00:28.840 -> 00:35.320] I didn't love it black, like when it was just like this extra hint of coconut, but then
[00:35.320 -> 00:40.360] I used my pumpkin creamer, so now it's like coconut pumpkin cinnamon?
[00:40.360 -> 00:41.360] Pumpkin?
[00:41.360 -> 00:42.360] I don't know.
[00:42.360 -> 00:43.360] I mean, it's coffee.
[00:43.360 -> 00:44.360] Like, I'm happy to have coffee.
[00:44.360 -> 00:45.000] I'm going to finish I mean, it's coffee. I'm happy to have coffee.
[00:45.000 -> 00:47.640] I'm going to finish the coffee, but...
[00:47.640 -> 00:53.120] I just associate coconut flavored beverages with, like, piña coladas.
[00:53.120 -> 00:54.120] I need to...
[00:54.120 -> 00:57.760] It usually has alcohol, and I'm usually at a beach.
[00:57.760 -> 01:03.320] So that associating with coffee just doesn't click at all.
[01:03.320 -> 01:05.140] In my brain, it worked better than my
[01:05.140 -> 01:09.000] peppermint creamer. Those are my only two options in my fridge. Where I was like
[01:09.000 -> 01:13.020] if you put coconut on a pumpkin pie like it kind of works like I could see that
[01:13.020 -> 01:18.280] working. Like a coconut milk in a yeah I could yeah you made the right choice.
[01:18.280 -> 01:25.000] Pepp-mint no. Yeah peppermint and coconut coffee didn't sound great.
[01:26.600 -> 01:29.000] I just need like a normal vanilla creamer
[01:29.000 -> 01:30.800] to try it next time.
[01:30.800 -> 01:32.680] Just need so much coffee all the time,
[01:32.680 -> 01:35.360] especially when we're trying to wrap up
[01:35.360 -> 01:38.380] an entire season of Circus of the Sport.
[01:39.240 -> 01:40.340] Oh my goodness.
[01:40.340 -> 01:42.840] Going through all the prep work we did
[01:42.840 -> 01:44.920] for all three of our season review episodes,
[01:44.920 -> 01:47.600] there were so many things that I forgot happened.
[01:47.600 -> 01:53.120] And even like major things, like I forgot that Imola was cancelled at some point.
[01:53.120 -> 01:55.600] And then I was reminded of that.
[01:55.600 -> 01:59.280] I thought it was last season that Otmar was fired from Alpine,
[01:59.280 -> 02:03.760] but no, no, no, that was actually this season.
[02:03.760 -> 02:05.160] Too much happened.
[02:05.160 -> 02:10.380] Too much to wrap up, which is why we're doing three season review episodes.
[02:10.380 -> 02:15.200] So in case you missed it, our first season review episode was everything driver standing.
[02:15.200 -> 02:20.880] So we talked teammate battles, we talked Oscar Piastri's fantastic rookie season and so much
[02:20.880 -> 02:21.880] more.
[02:21.880 -> 02:26.080] This episode, we're going gonna talk everything team performance.
[02:26.080 -> 02:30.160] So it is hard, cars are different every single weekend.
[02:30.160 -> 02:32.000] So we're gonna break things down
[02:32.000 -> 02:33.880] in the most digestible way possible
[02:33.880 -> 02:37.300] to try to determine what surprised us the most,
[02:37.300 -> 02:41.320] what teams not named Red Bull outperformed their car,
[02:41.320 -> 02:44.160] and who was actually the worst car on the grid.
[02:44.160 -> 02:46.480] We're gonna discuss all of this in
[02:46.480 -> 02:52.800] this episode and then depending on when you're listening to this either next week or already live
[02:52.800 -> 02:58.000] there is a third season review episode where we're going to talk everything about the popularity
[02:58.000 -> 03:03.360] business and pop culture of F1. Basically everything surrounding the circus on track.
[03:03.360 -> 03:05.360] The circus surrounding the circus
[03:05.360 -> 03:09.080] is what's going to be our third episode.
[03:09.080 -> 03:10.200] Also during all of this,
[03:10.200 -> 03:12.320] make sure you head over to our social media channels
[03:12.320 -> 03:13.600] and our YouTube shorts.
[03:13.600 -> 03:15.880] We're doing 23 days of,
[03:15.880 -> 03:18.480] we're doing 23 podiums over 23 days
[03:18.480 -> 03:21.280] wrapping up the 2023 Formula One season.
[03:21.280 -> 03:23.160] Yep, we did all those 20, 20,
[03:23.160 -> 03:28.800] we did all those 23s because it would be fun, but now it's just a mouthful that I struggle to say every time I have to say it on the podcast.
[03:29.680 -> 03:33.200] But we're giving you our podiums for our favorite things like liveries, helmets,
[03:33.200 -> 03:39.840] pop culture moments, shockers, race weekends, etc. So there's so much season wrap up and review
[03:39.840 -> 03:45.200] going on. That wraps up the Formation Lab for episode 48 of Gridwalk, a weekly Formula
[03:45.200 -> 03:50.560] One podcast that believes there are fascinating stories to discuss across the entire F1 grid.
[03:50.560 -> 03:55.040] And it is a weekly podcast even in the off season, so stick around, you're going to get
[03:55.040 -> 03:58.740] episodes every single week. Don't forget to like and subscribe if you're watching us
[03:58.740 -> 04:02.800] on YouTube. Please leave us a comment down below with both, tell me what car impressed
[04:02.800 -> 04:11.680] you the most over the course of the season, and also because it's ambiguous, what car was the slowest overall? See if you agree with our
[04:11.680 -> 04:15.600] assessment. If you're listening on any audio platform, please hit the follow button, turn on
[04:15.600 -> 04:21.040] auto downloads, and leave us a review. We ask for all of this stuff. Every podcast you probably
[04:21.040 -> 04:24.560] listen to asks for all of this stuff, and that's because it really helps push our show out through
[04:24.560 -> 04:28.240] the algorithm and find other listeners just like you. So if you do one
[04:28.240 -> 04:33.280] or all of these things we greatly appreciate it. Cooling down our wind up of the grid,
[04:33.280 -> 04:41.440] it's lights out and away we go this week's grid walk. Well we can't have a wrap-up review show
[04:41.440 -> 04:46.000] about teams without talking about Red Bull absolutely dominating the season.
[04:47.840 -> 04:48.640] Oh, shocker!
[04:48.640 -> 04:54.960] Oh, to no one! Wow, did you know? Did you know? Who would have guessed?
[04:54.960 -> 04:58.240] Isn't it such a surprise? Said no one ever.
[04:59.680 -> 05:03.920] Yeah, I think that's why originally on our original outline for the show, so behind the
[05:03.920 -> 05:05.840] scenes, we didn't even have this on there.
[05:06.040 -> 05:08.280] And I went and finished the rest of the outline.
[05:08.280 -> 05:11.840] And I was like, it feels weird to do this entire episode without like stopping
[05:11.840 -> 05:16.240] at the beginning and acknowledging this was probably the most dominant car ever
[05:16.240 -> 05:20.520] in Formula One. Not only was it dominant, but it was perfectly built
[05:20.520 -> 05:23.800] for this regulation set where you can actually pass better.
[05:24.000 -> 05:30.160] So they emphasize great race pace and were fine by the end of the season
[05:30.160 -> 05:32.800] when Ferrari caught up in qualifying, it didn't matter.
[05:33.520 -> 05:36.880] It also, this is a team that ran on all cylinders.
[05:36.880 -> 05:38.240] Their pit stops were still perfect.
[05:39.040 -> 05:40.960] Like, I mean, that's not new for Red Bull.
[05:41.840 -> 05:45.380] Almost every strategy decision they made,
[05:48.900 -> 05:50.360] like they had the leeway to make bad strategy decisions and just make up for it on pace.
[05:50.360 -> 05:52.740] But I couldn't find a single time all season
[05:52.740 -> 05:54.580] that they messed up.
[05:54.580 -> 05:55.900] And on top of that,
[05:55.900 -> 05:58.060] they had some of the most incredible reliability
[05:58.060 -> 05:58.900] we've ever seen.
[06:00.580 -> 06:04.320] I just, it was a team and a car that was magic.
[06:04.320 -> 06:06.300] Like they couldn't have DNF'd once
[06:06.300 -> 06:08.300] to create some excitement for us.
[06:08.300 -> 06:09.140] Nope.
[06:10.540 -> 06:13.300] Yeah, it's really baffling.
[06:13.300 -> 06:17.220] And again, we knew that they were going to be dominant.
[06:17.220 -> 06:19.880] The part that I think every week we were continuing to say
[06:19.880 -> 06:24.180] is like, we don't even know like what the full potential is
[06:24.180 -> 06:25.740] because like they don't have to.
[06:25.740 -> 06:31.300] And to the point of making, they could go crazy with strategy decisions and they just
[06:31.300 -> 06:37.900] like didn't have to make any kind of silly mistakes because everything just worked.
[06:37.900 -> 06:39.700] It was like, great, cool.
[06:39.700 -> 06:40.700] Okay.
[06:40.700 -> 06:44.740] Like, okay, yeah, we know Singapore happened, but that's like a blip in the radar, a blip
[06:44.740 -> 06:54.480] in the probability of such and things. I'm surprised by as dominant as it was. It was
[06:54.480 -> 06:57.440] crazy going into every week. I mean, we didn't predict P1 for a reason.
[06:58.880 -> 07:04.240] And there were 22 races. Should have been 23, but 22, well, actually should have been 24,
[07:04.240 -> 07:05.840] but there were 22 races so
[07:05.840 -> 07:12.800] this wasn't like f1 years past where they needed to be on top of it and perfect for 15 races they
[07:12.800 -> 07:23.200] need 22 race weekends six sprint races there was so much more racing than any prior year
[07:26.880 -> 07:26.900] much more racing than any prior year. And it was it was
[07:29.840 -> 07:33.840] incredible perfection to see please don't do it again next year. I'm going to cry. I'm gonna be so bored. But if the
[07:33.840 -> 07:36.120] car was that dominant, but like, imagine if they just like the
[07:36.120 -> 07:39.440] Honda engine exploded every once in a while, like, you know,
[07:39.440 -> 07:41.720] just, just a little bit of excitement.
[07:41.720 -> 07:44.600] Back to the beginning of 2022 for like a little bit. You need
[07:44.600 -> 07:50.200] it. We need like that little bit of excitement. You just really go back to the beginning of 2022 for a little bit. You needed that little bit of a window of just like, Charles and this and Ferrari or
[07:50.200 -> 07:53.920] Aston Martin and those types of things because it's just a fun, exciting thing.
[07:53.920 -> 07:55.400] No, it never happened.
[07:55.400 -> 07:56.840] Never happened.
[07:56.840 -> 08:01.240] Even when there was a major grid penalty or something, the conversation was just, all
[08:01.240 -> 08:03.720] right, so how many laps until Max is at the front of the race?
[08:03.720 -> 08:08.560] It was not like, stinks, tough like really puts an end to their race
[08:08.560 -> 08:12.320] weekend the conversation is all right how many laps is taken to jump 12 spots
[08:12.320 -> 08:18.960] it's crazy you and I were doing like on the side bets like you know over under
[08:18.960 -> 08:29.900] 12 laps and then then it would be like eight laps and we both be like, we were off even with our extremely crazy estimate for him to get
[08:29.900 -> 08:31.600] from basically the back of the grid to the front.
[08:31.600 -> 08:33.200] Yeah, it was.
[08:34.300 -> 08:35.900] It was very impressive.
[08:35.900 -> 08:37.700] Congratulations, Red Bull.
[08:37.700 -> 08:39.800] Can we go talk about more interesting things now?
[08:39.800 -> 08:41.400] Yes, way to go.
[08:41.400 -> 08:42.100] Do the thing.
[08:42.100 -> 08:42.900] Yeah.
[08:42.900 -> 08:43.800] Congratulations.
[08:43.800 -> 08:44.300] Good job.
[08:44.300 -> 08:48.000] Right now. We'll check. I'm still here. We'll see if that will remain.
[08:48.000 -> 08:53.000] I really... I was on a roll and then I like wasn't.
[08:53.000 -> 08:55.000] And then it just all flew out the door.
[08:55.000 -> 08:59.000] You gave me a compliment, but I was like, f***, my brain needs to go back to not working.
[08:59.000 -> 09:00.000] Oh no!
[09:00.000 -> 09:03.000] Same disclaimer as all the team data.
[09:03.000 -> 09:07.300] It would be incredibly hard to pull very intricate race pace data.
[09:07.300 -> 09:10.900] I have a full-time job outside of this podcast, but you know what I can pull?
[09:10.900 -> 09:12.200] I can pull quali data.
[09:12.200 -> 09:16.900] So we even said in our congratulations to Red Bull that we know Red Bull
[09:16.900 -> 09:20.200] kind of slipped in qualifying performance towards the end of the season,
[09:20.200 -> 09:24.400] but they really didn't upgrade their car in a sense like maybe race 6.
[09:24.400 -> 09:27.800] I don't remember the exact race they last upgraded their car.
[09:29.200 -> 09:34.400] But looking at quali pace gives us at least a easy snapshot into team
[09:34.400 -> 09:35.000] performance.
[09:35.000 -> 09:39.300] So we're going to look at all the teams, how they ranked race by race
[09:39.300 -> 09:40.400] in quali pace.
[09:40.400 -> 09:48.400] We've split the data into three sections of the season. So the first section is the beginning
[09:48.400 -> 09:54.080] of the season that I'm calling pre-Spain. So it's the first six races of the season that takes you
[09:54.080 -> 10:05.000] from Bahrain to... there we go, Bahrain to Monaco. Then what I'm calling upgrade season.
[10:05.000 -> 10:08.400] So it's when the bulk of the upgrades were coming.
[10:08.400 -> 10:10.000] They were coming the most frequently.
[10:10.000 -> 10:13.760] Of course, some teams upgraded before this, some teams upgraded after this, and it was
[10:13.760 -> 10:19.200] the six races between the Spanish GP and the Dutch GP.
[10:19.200 -> 10:26.080] Then you have the, what I'm calling the final seven, but it's really the final eight races of the season
[10:26.080 -> 10:33.360] of Singapore to Abu Dhabi but Singapore was such an anomaly that for any of the averages I did I
[10:33.360 -> 10:38.240] pulled Singapore out of it because we all know that Red Bull was the fastest team of the season
[10:38.240 -> 10:44.480] and if you put that P8 ranking in from Singapore they become a midfield car right so
[10:44.360 -> 10:48.000] ranking in from Singapore, they become a midfield car, right? So it's just removed from the averages.
[10:48.000 -> 10:50.280] You have the final seven of the season,
[10:50.280 -> 10:52.800] and we can all just reflect nostalgically
[10:52.800 -> 10:57.600] about the one outlier that was Singapore.
[10:57.600 -> 10:59.440] It's the asterisk on the data.
[10:59.440 -> 11:03.280] So we're going to go through the three stages of the season,
[11:03.280 -> 11:06.560] talk about the winners and losers of those stages,
[11:06.560 -> 11:13.040] and then wrap things up with an overview for each team of how do we summarize their performance
[11:13.040 -> 11:18.320] collectively for the season. All of them can be summarized under Not Red Bull,
[11:18.960 -> 11:23.520] but we're gonna look a little deeper than that. It's the tears underneath.
[11:23.600 -> 11:25.100] look a little deeper than that. It's the tears underneath.
[11:28.700 -> 11:31.100] Oh, remember at the start of the season when like Aston Martin was like the greatest thing since sliced bread.
[11:32.200 -> 11:34.900] Yeah, it basically just seemed it was like, oh my god.
[11:34.900 -> 11:36.400] It's like a green Red Bull.
[11:37.800 -> 11:40.600] Yeah, it seemed like we were going to be talking a lot about
[11:40.600 -> 11:43.400] Aston Martin all season and
[11:48.160 -> 11:49.760] didn't pan out exactly as I was expecting in these first seven races.
[11:49.760 -> 11:51.760] Yeah, yeah.
[11:51.760 -> 11:59.360] Aston was one of the teams upon re-looking back at all of this data that I was shocked
[11:59.360 -> 12:06.000] at how not as crazy their performance was, is kind of how I would put it.
[12:06.000 -> 12:10.000] So quick disclaimer, if you're listening on audio, we are going to verbally talk about everything,
[12:10.000 -> 12:13.000] but there are visual examples if you head over to our YouTube channel.
[12:13.000 -> 12:17.000] There's some graphs and stuff we're going to pull up that we're looking at and we're talking about.
[12:17.000 -> 12:23.000] So my clear winners of pre-Spain, not Red Bull included,
[12:23.000 -> 12:27.000] are Aston Ferrari and Alpine, actually, for this section.
[12:27.000 -> 12:34.680] It stunned me how much better Ferrari was at the beginning of the season in qualifying trim
[12:34.680 -> 12:42.520] than I had remembered. And I blamed Ferrari for this, because Ferrari came into the season,
[12:42.520 -> 12:48.400] and do you remember in their car launch, they were talking all about how much they're going to compete with Red Bull this season and how they think they're
[12:48.400 -> 12:56.240] going to win races and despite the fact that they definitely averaged their average over in the pre
[12:56.240 -> 13:03.200] Spain part of the season they averaged this 2.3 which means the second fastest team on the grid
[13:04.240 -> 13:07.000] but my memory of the coverage of this was,
[13:07.000 -> 13:09.000] oh, it was definitely Aston Martin.
[13:09.000 -> 13:12.000] No, Aston Martin was the third fastest team on average
[13:12.000 -> 13:15.000] in the beginning, in qualifying trim,
[13:15.000 -> 13:18.000] but we only judge Ferrari based on whether or not
[13:18.000 -> 13:20.000] they could compete with Red Bull.
[13:20.000 -> 13:23.000] But Aston Martin, Fernando was just like dancing
[13:23.000 -> 13:25.280] and doing a bunch of like, woo, yay stuff.
[13:25.280 -> 13:29.920] And we were like, blinded by the fact that Aston Martin jumped up so high.
[13:29.920 -> 13:36.600] Yeah, I think, and we had conversations about how, you know, Ferrari is able to like figure
[13:36.600 -> 13:40.480] things out on Saturdays and then like Sundays, things just don't pan out.
[13:40.480 -> 13:42.880] And you can really start to see this here.
[13:42.880 -> 13:45.120] But that is such a surprise to me to
[13:45.120 -> 13:49.880] see it visually because I do reflect on that time and it's all about Aston Martin and this
[13:49.880 -> 13:54.840] and maybe it's because, you know, everyone was so jazzed to see Alonso returning to podium
[13:54.840 -> 14:00.720] conversations that it just overshadows any sort of like Ferrari success in any type of
[14:00.720 -> 14:06.560] way. So it's, it's hard to believe that this is a factual thing
[14:06.840 -> 14:08.920] that we lived through because it just didn't seem
[14:08.920 -> 14:12.200] like that's where Ferrari ever panned out to really be.
[14:13.960 -> 14:17.920] Yeah, and I think that we're always gonna be more inclined
[14:17.920 -> 14:20.400] to judge things based on what happens on Sunday.
[14:20.400 -> 14:23.800] So Ferrari was sliding back,
[14:23.800 -> 14:27.260] Fernando was the man ending up on the podium. So I
[14:27.260 -> 14:35.240] don't think the assessment was incorrect at the time. But just upon reflection, Aston
[14:35.240 -> 14:41.240] Martin was the third fastest team for four of the races. They were the second fastest
[14:41.240 -> 14:45.600] team in Monaco, and they were the fourth fastest team in Baku.
[14:46.720 -> 14:53.520] So that averages out to being the third fastest team over the course of this. So it just, it
[14:53.520 -> 14:59.360] shocked me. And then Ferrari got pull at Baku. They were the second fastest team for three of
[14:59.360 -> 15:06.040] the races. They were the fourth fastest team in Australia. I remember how painful that race was. And they were the third fastest team in Monaco.
[15:06.980 -> 15:11.920] And I think just we judge Ferrari on this other scale.
[15:12.500 -> 15:16.520] And as soon as Aston was elevated to that scale, I think as soon as Aston
[15:16.520 -> 15:21.200] really blundered in Monaco and was unable to win that race for Fernando.
[15:21.680 -> 15:26.240] Uh, because of the poor pit stops, we all started to judge them in a similar way
[15:26.240 -> 15:28.320] we judge Ferrari and Mercedes, which we'll
[15:28.320 -> 15:33.920] talk about in a moment, that put them on a different scale.
[15:33.920 -> 15:37.600] But these first six races were fun to pretend.
[15:37.600 -> 15:42.440] No, yeah, to your point, Ferrari is always an exception,
[15:42.440 -> 15:44.360] not exception to the rule, but there's always
[15:44.360 -> 15:50.560] an additional lens just because it is Ferrari and the expectation. I think Aston coming in this
[15:50.560 -> 15:54.000] season, it was like this murmurings of like, oh, there's going to be something that's going to be
[15:54.000 -> 15:59.520] good, but no one expected it to be exactly what it was. And then it felt like we were starting to get
[15:59.520 -> 16:03.360] used to seeing like, they're going to be the ones to compete. They're really going to be the ones to
[16:03.360 -> 16:05.040] be next to Red Bull.
[16:05.040 -> 16:08.080] And then Monaco, it just didn't happen.
[16:08.080 -> 16:09.800] And then it kind of like popped the bubble.
[16:09.800 -> 16:13.600] It burst the bubble of everyone's kind of like, oh, OK.
[16:13.600 -> 16:16.360] So the rose-colored glasses come off.
[16:16.360 -> 16:18.840] Everything isn't as it necessarily seems
[16:18.840 -> 16:22.240] and is as magical as we all hoped for,
[16:22.240 -> 16:25.340] which continues on.
[16:27.680 -> 16:28.220] So I think we should talk about Mercedes here,
[16:33.020 -> 16:36.280] because Mercedes and McLaren were my teams with bad vibes at the beginning of the season, but for different reasons in different places.
[16:36.280 -> 16:38.260] So let's start with Mercedes.
[16:38.260 -> 16:42.900] So in this time period, Mercedes averaged out to four point two.
[16:43.360 -> 16:47.520] So they were the fourth fastest car on the grid on average over
[16:47.520 -> 16:52.640] these first six races of the season. They had their peak in Australia where they were the second
[16:52.640 -> 16:58.080] fastest team, and they had their worst race in Miami where they were the seventh fastest team.
[16:58.080 -> 17:04.960] But then everything else was 4, 4, 3, 5. So averaging out to fourth fastest team overall.
[17:01.540 -> 17:05.860] 4.35. So averaging out to fourth fastest team overall.
[17:05.860 -> 17:08.400] And I think this goes to the conversation
[17:08.400 -> 17:13.020] that we were just having about Aston Martin and about Ferrari.
[17:13.020 -> 17:15.900] Where Mercedes, if they're not competing with Red Bull,
[17:15.900 -> 17:17.900] we're just upset.
[17:17.900 -> 17:18.980] We're just upset.
[17:18.980 -> 17:21.360] So it doesn't matter that they were the second fastest team
[17:21.360 -> 17:21.900] in Australia.
[17:21.900 -> 17:23.320] They didn't compete with Red Bull.
[17:23.320 -> 17:29.840] I remember that race being very frustrating. Yeah, I was frustrated in P2. I was devastated.
[17:29.840 -> 17:36.640] I was frustrated with the second fastest pace in Australia. And then I was devastated with
[17:36.640 -> 17:48.500] the seventh, what, fourth world numbers. Oh my God, Miami. Yeah, it's a different level of pain, but it is all still just you're not competing
[17:48.500 -> 17:54.440] with Red Bull. So like, what's the point? We're just gonna be sad about it.
[17:54.440 -> 18:04.080] I think that Mercedes had the most all over the place in their, they had the least consistent
[18:04.080 -> 18:06.120] performance of the ones that we've talked
[18:06.120 -> 18:13.080] about right now in the early stages of the season, because they were 4-4, 2-3, 7-5.
[18:13.080 -> 18:17.600] They felt so all over the place in the early stages of the season, and there was all the
[18:17.600 -> 18:22.680] talk about Aston Martin jumping them, that the vibes were bad.
[18:22.680 -> 18:25.040] There was no other way to say it than the vibes were bad.
[18:25.040 -> 18:27.520] And they were the fourth fastest team on average.
[18:27.520 -> 18:31.600] And it felt like they were the fourth fastest team on average at this stage.
[18:32.320 -> 18:38.160] Yeah, and it felt like an epic letdown because I remember with the preseason launches and the W14
[18:38.160 -> 18:39.760] and it's black and blah blah blah.
[18:39.760 -> 18:46.280] And when it didn't come out, blazing down just every straight, every turn, it was like,
[18:46.280 -> 18:49.440] oh no, are we really gonna be in for another thing?
[18:49.440 -> 18:50.480] And then it's like, well, you know,
[18:50.480 -> 18:52.080] there's not really any porpoising.
[18:52.080 -> 18:55.060] And it's like, okay, but at what cost?
[18:55.060 -> 18:56.600] Like, is everything really better?
[18:56.600 -> 19:00.520] No, everything's fine and the world's on fire.
[19:03.800 -> 19:07.800] There are two teams in this phase that I want to point out where you can see the beginning
[19:07.800 -> 19:14.100] of a positive trend for them in what could be positive for those teams.
[19:14.100 -> 19:15.860] So one of them is Alpine.
[19:15.860 -> 19:21.700] In this phase, Alpine averaged at 5.3, so they were the fifth fastest team on the grid.
[19:21.700 -> 19:26.480] But their trend goes sixth, fifth, sixth, seventh, but then they get two fourth
[19:26.480 -> 19:30.880] fastest teams when Mercedes head down weekends in Miami and Monaco.
[19:30.880 -> 19:37.520] So you start seeing this positive trend, ST Besti's on the podium in Monaco, baby, and
[19:37.520 -> 19:42.920] you see that, you feel that things maybe aren't doom and gloom, even though they didn't start
[19:42.920 -> 19:46.640] out great, they got kind of muddled and things start to get a little better.
[19:46.640 -> 19:53.500] Similarly, Williams had a very positive trajectory for them, and you see the beginnings of what's
[19:53.500 -> 19:58.160] going to be a very positive upgrade season for them, where they started out 10th and
[19:58.160 -> 20:01.080] 10th, and then went 7th, 8th, 8th, 8th.
[20:01.080 -> 20:08.560] And they averaged out to 8.5, which was the slowest in this phase but looking at the trend line here you see where
[20:08.560 -> 20:14.320] things are coming and where they're going and they end the pre-Spain phase of the season
[20:14.320 -> 20:16.160] definitely not as the slowest team.
[20:16.160 -> 20:18.880] Yes, they ended not the slowest.
[20:18.880 -> 20:25.680] It's really funny seeing this now because just reflecting back on Monaco and remembering just celebrating
[20:25.680 -> 20:31.600] S.E. Basti on the podium and also Alex Albon's performance that weekend felt like such a magical
[20:31.600 -> 20:37.200] thing to be happening. So it's funny to be now kind of seeing like this trend up as it's going
[20:37.200 -> 20:41.680] with you know off weekends for other teams and kind of seeing where it could go. I remember
[20:41.680 -> 20:45.920] feeling so incredibly hopeful for Alpine at this point in
[20:45.920 -> 20:51.520] time and it was like, well you know what, things aren't so great for Mercedes, but like Alpine's
[20:51.520 -> 21:02.880] really making strides. Little did we know, but yeah I think overall the, I feel like F1 does a
[21:02.880 -> 21:07.200] great job establishing the storylines early in the season.
[21:07.200 -> 21:10.960] It doesn't do a great job adjusting those storylines when something happens,
[21:10.960 -> 21:16.240] but upon reflection, like, Aston Martin wasn't quite as fast as I remembered.
[21:17.200 -> 21:21.920] Ferrari was faster than I remembered. Mercedes was just as painful as I remembered.
[21:22.480 -> 21:24.080] Are we going to talk about McLaren here?
[21:22.700 -> 21:25.100] just as painful as I remembered. Are we going to talk about McLaren here?
[21:25.100 -> 21:26.180] Oh, yeah.
[21:26.180 -> 21:28.140] I totally forgot about McLaren.
[21:28.140 -> 21:31.500] McLaren had, obviously, a very bad start to the season.
[21:31.500 -> 21:33.740] They averaged at 7.3.
[21:33.740 -> 21:37.900] But what was shocking to me is how
[21:37.900 -> 21:41.860] it was inconsistent and not as dreadful as I remembered.
[21:41.860 -> 21:46.780] Because early on, they were DNFing in so many races that their
[21:46.780 -> 21:49.900] points were actually worse than their pace.
[21:49.900 -> 21:55.520] The reality is they were like the seventh fastest team on average, and the media coverage
[21:55.520 -> 21:59.180] made it seem like they were the slowest because they had zero points for so long.
[21:59.180 -> 22:03.160] Like, they weren't finishing any races.
[22:03.160 -> 22:06.840] But their trend was 7, 6, 9, 5, 10, 7.
[22:07.180 -> 22:11.400] So if you pull out the 9 and 10 finishes, and if you told me at the beginning of
[22:11.400 -> 22:17.220] the season, their pace was 7, 6, 5, 7, like I really wouldn't be that worried about them.
[22:17.260 -> 22:20.220] I'd be like, yeah, I mean, like they didn't bring a great car to start, but
[22:20.420 -> 22:24.100] if you're telling me they're finishing behind all the works teams and then
[22:24.180 -> 22:26.320] this miraculous Aston jump,
[22:26.320 -> 22:28.040] that would feel right to me.
[22:28.040 -> 22:29.920] And that's kind of where they are.
[22:29.920 -> 22:32.040] Like, were the vibes really bad?
[22:32.040 -> 22:32.720] Yes.
[22:32.720 -> 22:38.160] Was that car as dreadful as everyone was pretending it was?
[22:38.160 -> 22:38.720] No.
[22:38.720 -> 22:42.280] It was not the Williams that we remembered from last year.
[22:42.280 -> 22:46.640] It's not the Haas. but it's definitely bad vibes.
[22:46.640 -> 22:53.560] Yeah, definitely not ideal, but it was not as devastating, I guess, as I remember it
[22:53.560 -> 22:59.360] feeling emotionally, just like watching it. But Sundays were hard, Saturdays not as rough,
[22:59.360 -> 23:03.080] and I guess things just got a lot better for Papaya.
[23:03.080 -> 23:10.320] There were three teams on the grid who had lower averages in the pre-Spain part of the season
[23:10.320 -> 23:16.400] in qualifying position. And that was AlphaTauri, AlphaRomeo, and Williams were all slower on
[23:16.400 -> 23:23.600] average in qualifying than McLaren over this time period. Now, again, them being on par with Haas
[23:23.600 -> 23:27.480] for their average is not where McLaren should strive to be.
[23:27.480 -> 23:29.240] Like, I'm not trying to sit here and convince you
[23:29.240 -> 23:30.960] that they had a good start to the season.
[23:30.960 -> 23:33.720] It's just, I'm just trying to show that the data
[23:35.600 -> 23:39.360] isn't as dramatic as the emotion behind what we're doing.
[23:39.360 -> 23:42.200] Everything's not as bad as it feels.
[23:42.200 -> 23:44.180] Right, and I think that's important context
[23:44.180 -> 23:45.560] going to upgrade season.
[23:45.560 -> 23:50.520] It's the jump is impressive, and none of this data
[23:50.520 -> 23:52.320] makes it less impressive.
[23:52.320 -> 23:55.680] But they weren't going from P10 to P2.
[23:55.680 -> 24:00.680] The P7 to P2, which is kind of where it ends up being,
[24:00.680 -> 24:03.320] is a much more reasonable jump, considering
[24:03.320 -> 24:05.000] how compacted this field is
[24:05.000 -> 24:09.000] than slowest car on the field to the ones competing with Red Bull
[24:09.000 -> 24:13.000] which is what some of the media coverage made this seem like.
[24:14.000 -> 24:16.000] Upgrade season!
[24:16.000 -> 24:19.000] Where more Mercedes hopes go to die!
[24:19.000 -> 24:23.000] Yay! Boo! But you know, hopefulness.
[24:23.000 -> 24:30.640] No, I mean, they got rid of those zero side pods, but it did not immediately help anything.
[24:30.640 -> 24:35.000] I called that car Frankenstein's Monster all season and it is accurate.
[24:35.000 -> 24:36.000] Yep.
[24:36.000 -> 24:43.560] All right, but upgrade season, Spain through the Netherlands is where the bulk of the upgrades
[24:43.560 -> 24:45.000] came for these cars.
[24:47.340 -> 24:49.960] Should we start with bad vibes or winners, Nicole?
[24:50.940 -> 24:53.860] Let's start with winners and then we'll go,
[24:53.860 -> 24:56.080] we'll end on the bad vibes.
[24:56.080 -> 24:58.380] Cool, because I want to talk about Williams.
[24:59.260 -> 25:01.060] Williams, Williams, Williams.
[25:01.060 -> 25:02.860] That's exactly what I see this jump.
[25:02.860 -> 25:04.980] And I said, no, we're going to start with winners here
[25:04.980 -> 25:10.320] because we got to get here. I saw the jump of Williams on this beautiful graph and
[25:10.320 -> 25:17.600] so I was like oh no we're gonna be talking some Williams energy first. So I think I should
[25:17.600 -> 25:26.780] point out here that my data is all about the fastest lap put in qualifying, not necessarily who got pole.
[25:26.780 -> 25:32.660] Canada had the weird qualifying where the fastest laps actually came in Q2 because Q3
[25:32.660 -> 25:39.340] was wet, and Alex Albon put an incredible lap in that made him the fastest lap done
[25:39.340 -> 25:45.720] in Canada, but obviously he was P10 on the grid because Max got Poland Q3 on the wets.
[25:45.720 -> 25:50.120] So I just think that's an important caveat. So it is a weird race and it is weird to see
[25:50.120 -> 25:55.360] the Williams line and the graph we're all looking at go from P10 to P1, back up to P8.
[25:55.360 -> 26:08.540] So there's the caveat there. That being said, Williams made the jump from being the 10th slowest average in the pre-Spain to an
[26:08.540 -> 26:12.880] upgrade season, they were the sixth fastest team. They actually had a better
[26:12.880 -> 26:20.120] average than Alpine over this the course of this six race stretch. Now some of
[26:20.120 -> 26:27.600] that is the benefit of that P1 they get for Canada, but this is when the part
[26:27.600 -> 26:34.560] of the season that things started to go really well, including that P4 at the Dutch GP.
[26:34.560 -> 26:41.060] Yeah, again, it was after that magical Monaco weekend for Alex Albon that I feel like my
[26:41.060 -> 26:45.640] bit of Alex Albon and the points really started to take off.
[26:45.640 -> 26:49.840] And you can see this in numerical form.
[26:49.840 -> 26:56.040] And kind of seeing in the relationship of how they're averaging out higher than Alpine,
[26:56.040 -> 27:02.200] that sentence even now sounds really weird, even knowing how everything ended for Alpine.
[27:02.200 -> 27:05.000] But Canada was a wild back and forth weekend.
[27:06.920 -> 27:09.760] It's funny how all of that seemed like such a big deal
[27:09.760 -> 27:12.240] and it was so easy to have forgotten about it.
[27:12.240 -> 27:13.080] Great.
[27:14.520 -> 27:18.720] Yeah, I think that my overall story for Williams' season
[27:18.720 -> 27:21.220] is their highs were super high and they were able
[27:21.220 -> 27:24.120] to capitalize when their highs were high.
[27:24.120 -> 27:28.040] And their lows might be low, but I think we all expect that of Williams.
[27:28.300 -> 27:32.700] And more than any other back of the grid team, they were able to capitalize
[27:32.700 -> 27:36.220] in the points when the car was able to do so with Alex Alba, which is actually
[27:36.220 -> 27:39.380] why I was so frustrated a couple of weeks ago when we were talking about
[27:39.380 -> 27:43.940] Logan Sargent returning, because, you know, if the car is capable of a couple
[27:43.940 -> 27:45.840] weekends a year year putting in performances
[27:45.840 -> 27:52.960] like Alex can, get another driver in that car. It's just impressive of what he can do with the
[27:52.960 -> 27:56.960] car. I know we've already passed Monaco, but talking about how that was the weekend where we
[27:56.960 -> 28:03.200] started to see cars flying and the floors of cars. And then eventually in this season, I think around
[28:03.200 -> 28:09.920] upgrade season might've been after, but when we saw the floor of the Williams and even they were like, what do we have to hide?
[28:09.920 -> 28:15.480] It's just flat and nothing, you know, it's so being able to get kind of anything with that.
[28:15.480 -> 28:26.960] Absolutely. Like just wonderful. So the other story of upgrade season was, of course, the McLaren pace jump.
[28:26.960 -> 28:30.640] So they averaged at 7.3 in pre-Spain in upgrade season.
[28:30.640 -> 28:35.400] They were the second fastest team averaging at 2.8.
[28:35.400 -> 28:40.560] Their story on the graph here is third fastest team, third fastest team, third fastest team,
[28:40.560 -> 28:42.880] second, fourth, second.
[28:42.880 -> 28:47.160] So they had a really strong upgrade season. I don't think there's
[28:47.160 -> 28:53.840] much more that we need to say about it than hasn't already been said throughout it. I
[28:53.840 -> 28:59.800] will always point out the fact that Ferrari and Mercedes should be, there was always a
[28:59.800 -> 29:05.520] Ferrari and Mercedes size gap between Red Bull and whoever was P2 this season.
[29:06.400 -> 29:11.200] You know, whether that was Aston Martin or turned into McLaren, like you could
[29:11.200 -> 29:15.560] see the gap of the other teams that should be performing at Red Bull's level.
[29:16.080 -> 29:20.800] Um, but that doesn't mean that it's not impressive that McLaren could get
[29:20.800 -> 29:23.040] a mid season upgrade this right.
[29:23.520 -> 29:23.880] Yeah.
[29:23.900 -> 29:28.720] If anything, I feel more impressed about how at the start of the season,
[29:28.720 -> 29:32.720] Zac Brown and everyone at McLaren was like, we just feel really good about our upgrades.
[29:32.720 -> 29:36.880] Which like automatically everyone's like, that feels not good that you're just in this space
[29:36.880 -> 29:39.600] of the car that we have right now, we just like don't really vibe with and whatever.
[29:40.320 -> 29:46.800] And then for it to work and like be like, oh wow, you said things and it worked out
[29:46.800 -> 29:49.300] and it reflects your quotes and things.
[29:50.440 -> 29:52.720] So that I would, again, very surprised
[29:52.720 -> 29:55.420] of any sort of jump like that, very impressive.
[29:55.420 -> 29:57.780] But yeah, the gap to Red Bull was just so huge
[29:57.780 -> 30:00.300] that it still just wasn't enough.
[30:02.840 -> 30:03.840] Bad vibes.
[30:11.680 -> 30:18.680] So Aston Martin over the course of upgrade season, and earlier than I remember happening, they dropped from their pre-Spain average being 3 to their upgrade season average
[30:18.680 -> 30:26.560] being 5.2. And their positions were 6, 4, 5, 6-5-5 over the course of the season.
[30:26.560 -> 30:31.400] So I didn't realize how early on their pace dropped off.
[30:31.400 -> 30:34.040] It was quick.
[30:34.040 -> 30:40.600] And I still think them ending the season where they ended and even them being the fifth fastest team,
[30:40.600 -> 30:44.200] considering they were the slowest for a lot of last year, is still really impressive.
[30:44.200 -> 30:49.040] But you immediately see the drop of, they were not able to upgrade that car.
[30:49.040 -> 30:56.280] Yeah, wow. It also very much, it feels like it was not as long ago as it was. Again, I
[30:56.280 -> 31:02.480] think we were so infected by like the narrative of Aston Martin is gonna be the ones and to
[31:02.480 -> 31:05.520] compete with Red Bull and things that it just felt so much longer than
[31:05.520 -> 31:11.920] it actually was. When, now my brain is like beeping out and I can't, when was the technical
[31:11.920 -> 31:17.200] directive in place? Like how, like was that, that seems like it was really recent.
[31:20.080 -> 31:25.840] Um, the technical directive was somewhere between Spain and Austria.
[31:25.840 -> 31:27.840] I can't remember.
[31:27.840 -> 31:31.520] All I know is this P6 in Spain, I don't think was because...
[31:31.520 -> 31:34.200] Like, we hadn't seen the technical directive yet,
[31:34.200 -> 31:38.480] but that doesn't mean the teams hadn't
[31:38.480 -> 31:41.800] received notice that they need to change yet.
[31:41.800 -> 31:44.760] Because, yeah, it really went from
[31:44.760 -> 31:45.760] Aston being the second
[31:45.760 -> 31:53.320] fastest team in Monaco to the sixth fastest in Spain, like pretty dramatically fast. But
[31:53.320 -> 31:57.960] we don't know exactly when the teams were told about the technical directive.
[31:57.960 -> 32:00.820] Right, so they could have started to make those changes because they just knew they
[32:00.820 -> 32:05.120] already had to and then like could have. But obviously more things
[32:05.120 -> 32:10.320] put in play than just like the one technical directive is going to cause things to dramatically
[32:10.320 -> 32:16.560] like shatter. I also, if I remember, this is really pulling on the strings of my brain that
[32:16.560 -> 32:21.200] I don't trust so much, but the technical directive mostly talked about the front wing.
[32:21.200 -> 32:35.940] And we know for these regulations, the front wing is not the most crucial part of car performance. So, you being the ethereal you, are telling me
[32:35.940 -> 32:40.900] that the reason Aston Martin dropped from the third fastest team to the fifth fastest
[32:40.900 -> 32:46.720] team in spoiler alert to like the eighth to sixth fastest team at
[32:46.720 -> 32:49.560] the end of the season was because of a front wing.
[32:49.560 -> 32:53.320] Like there's bigger issues in them not being able to develop the rest of the car.
[32:53.320 -> 32:55.320] Oh yeah, big red flag.
[32:55.320 -> 32:59.240] We can see the early signs of that here since this is upgrade season.
[32:59.240 -> 33:03.700] So we can see other teams bringing performance and putting performance on the car.
[33:03.700 -> 33:10.620] And as Aston slips back, you're seeing other people bring performance to the car and get better. And one of those
[33:10.620 -> 33:15.300] teams is Mercedes. So I think as a Mercedes fan, this upgrade season, even though it didn't
[33:15.300 -> 33:22.480] feel I think it was shaded by the dramatic change of McLaren, you can see the improved
[33:22.480 -> 33:26.720] performance and the trend line of Mercedes here where they were
[33:26.720 -> 33:29.280] 5th, 6th, 4th, 4th, 3rd, 3rd.
[33:29.280 -> 33:35.680] Like they had a pretty consistent increase in their place in how fast their car was relative
[33:35.680 -> 33:39.520] to others throughout upgrade season.
[33:39.520 -> 33:46.000] In hindsight, they were about a race behind in bringing upgrades to most cars.
[33:46.000 -> 33:50.000] So they brought their first upgrade at Great Britain, they needed to understand it,
[33:50.000 -> 33:54.000] and then were the third fastest team for Belgium and the Netherlands,
[33:54.000 -> 34:00.000] particularly post-summer break, where McLaren was bringing it faster
[34:00.000 -> 34:06.540] by giving it to Lando a race first. And that was improving their performance overall faster.
[34:06.540 -> 34:08.820] So it always just felt like Mercedes was a step behind,
[34:08.820 -> 34:10.920] but they did have a positive trajectory
[34:10.920 -> 34:14.960] through this whole stage of the season.
[34:14.960 -> 34:17.200] Yeah, I did feel like numerous times throughout the season
[34:17.200 -> 34:18.800] when I saw McLaren doing something well,
[34:18.800 -> 34:21.520] I was like, okay, so why, hello, Mercedes,
[34:21.520 -> 34:23.200] can we fast forward to when they kind of like
[34:23.200 -> 34:24.600] figured that out?
[34:24.600 -> 34:30.320] And to the point of the McLaren narrative, like overshadowing Mercedes,
[34:30.320 -> 34:33.720] like progression, positive progression, a hundred percent.
[34:33.740 -> 34:38.680] I mean, it's easy because the Oscar piastri story is so loud and like
[34:38.680 -> 34:41.040] exciting and we were jazzed about it too.
[34:41.040 -> 34:44.040] So that of course is what's going to be what commentators run on.
[34:44.040 -> 34:45.860] And, you know, he's, he was the frontline rookie when, you know, other jazzed about it too, so that of course is what's going to be what commentators run on.
[34:45.860 -> 34:51.500] He was the frontline rookie when other rookies of the season were definitely not being anywhere
[34:51.500 -> 34:57.400] close to max in a sprint race, let alone in a quali lap, anything like that at all.
[34:57.400 -> 35:05.000] So it definitely was the story that was not Red Bull, Red Bull, Red Bull,
[35:05.100 -> 35:07.500] and like Opportunity of the Future
[35:07.500 -> 35:09.120] with the rookie and McLaren,
[35:09.120 -> 35:12.300] it was checked a lot of the boxes for it to be so loud.
[35:14.320 -> 35:15.160] I agree.
[35:15.160 -> 35:18.160] The last main point I wanna make in upgrade season
[35:18.160 -> 35:21.860] is you see the disappearing act of the two alphas,
[35:21.860 -> 35:26.440] Alpha Tari and Alpha Romeo really fade to the back here. So in
[35:26.440 -> 35:34.840] pre-Spain, Alpha Romeo averaged 8.3. In this, they were the worst car at a 9. And
[35:34.840 -> 35:40.460] then Alpha Tauri averaged a 7.7 in the first page, and they faded to very close
[35:40.460 -> 35:45.000] to the back with 8.8 as their average place.
[35:45.000 -> 35:46.560] And you can see that in the trend here.
[35:46.560 -> 35:49.880] With the exception of Spa and AlphaTauri
[35:49.880 -> 35:54.040] having a positive result there, they really just
[35:54.040 -> 35:56.640] were non-existent in this phase.
[35:56.640 -> 35:58.400] And I think particularly with Alpha Romeo,
[35:58.400 -> 35:59.820] that's pretty consistent with what
[35:59.820 -> 36:02.000] we've seen with this car year in and year out.
[36:02.000 -> 36:04.120] Their performance, if they can get some points
[36:04.120 -> 36:07.200] at the beginning of the season, great. And then we just know they're going to fade to the back.
[36:09.600 -> 36:16.080] Yeah, I got my only comment. Ouch. That's it. I got nothing else but ouch for the alphas.
[36:17.200 -> 36:28.880] For those of you watching on YouTube, I give you chaos. The other two graphs, there was trends you could easily identify. The end of the season was
[36:28.880 -> 36:33.520] none of us are going to waste any money upgrading this car because Red Bull has already won.
[36:34.880 -> 36:40.080] Let's just see what happens. And there was a good amount of I don't know what's going on.
[36:40.080 -> 36:47.000] Everyone was all over the place. It's hard to, like, get a good grip on things.
[36:47.700 -> 36:51.800] So I think at this stage, like, I'm gonna give you some winners
[36:51.800 -> 36:54.600] and bad vibes really quickly, and then let's go look at the
[36:54.600 -> 36:59.000] average quality pace ranking for all of them to get to digest
[36:59.000 -> 36:59.900] some of it.
[37:00.600 -> 37:05.000] Lewis Hamilton had a fantastic final stage of the season.
[37:05.700 -> 37:07.360] We know this.
[37:07.360 -> 37:12.240] So Mercedes had some higher highs during this time.
[37:13.160 -> 37:17.000] Ferrari caught up to Red Bull in qualifying pace
[37:17.000 -> 37:22.000] and Alfa Tauri had some good peaks at this point.
[37:22.160 -> 37:27.800] Bad vibes, Aston Martin got worse, Alpine just, guess what, if you fire
[37:27.800 -> 37:35.000] everyone it's hard to make your car better. It's kind of the general gist of Alpine here.
[37:35.000 -> 37:40.640] And then Red Bull did a lot of attempting to trick us into thinking things are competitive
[37:40.640 -> 37:46.400] at this stage in the season by not getting pole for absolutely every final race of the season.
[37:46.960 -> 37:53.760] And for that I somewhat thank them. And we haven't talked about Haas once, but we'll get to them in
[37:53.760 -> 38:01.040] like the wrap-up of everything. Such chaos. Yeah, that's what the inside of my brain looks like on
[38:01.040 -> 38:05.840] a Sunday. But Mercedes did improve. Like, let's narrow in on Mercedes.
[38:06.560 -> 38:11.920] So if you're on YouTube, you're now looking at this is the average quali place for
[38:14.240 -> 38:18.800] all the teams over the three phases of the season we've been talking about.
[38:18.800 -> 38:27.200] So Mercedes was the fourth fastest team, the fourth fastest team, and then the final stretch, they were the third fastest team.
[38:27.200 -> 38:29.060] They jumped McLaren, which I actually
[38:29.060 -> 38:31.920] think is underreported, that by the end of the season,
[38:31.920 -> 38:35.720] Mercedes was faster than the McLaren in quality trim
[38:35.720 -> 38:37.300] on average.
[38:37.300 -> 38:40.480] You can see Ferrari start out the second,
[38:40.480 -> 38:43.760] dip behind McLaren a little bit in upgrade season, which
[38:43.760 -> 38:45.440] we all felt, and then
[38:45.440 -> 38:49.000] really improve. And a lot of that improvement came from what we talked about in our first
[38:49.000 -> 38:54.560] season review, which is Charles, who is so great at qualifying, started putting in fantastic
[38:54.560 -> 39:00.280] qualifying performances. And then you see poor Aston dip back.
[39:00.280 -> 39:06.720] It feels like seeing the McLaren jump, I would never have anticipated. I think if you had asked
[39:06.720 -> 39:12.320] me what the vibes felt like, it definitely did not feel like Mercedes was in that top three,
[39:12.320 -> 39:18.560] and it definitely felt like in terms of pace that it was still McLaren. So it's interesting to see
[39:18.560 -> 39:27.040] how... I use how much McLaren dropped off loosely. That feels like too much of a term. And, like,
[39:27.040 -> 39:32.720] the growth of Mercedes definitely felt, but I, as watching it happen live, it didn't feel like
[39:32.720 -> 39:37.360] that was enough. It didn't feel like enough of a switch that that's how it all played out.
[39:37.360 -> 39:42.000] And Aston Martin, that is exactly kind of what that felt like. It felt like it was front
[39:42.000 -> 39:47.840] in my face all the time, and then it was, whoo, goodbye. That's a good representation.
[39:49.200 -> 39:55.840] Yeah. In the final stretch, the average qualifying place for Aston Martin was 6.4,
[39:55.840 -> 39:59.040] which is the same average qualifying place as Alpha Tauri.
[40:02.000 -> 40:12.000] And that's also including like the magic random qualies that, you know, Dani, Rick, and Liam, and Yuki, you were able to be getting here.
[40:12.000 -> 40:21.000] They averaged out Aston in Alphatari, because they were the same, averaged out behind Alpine.
[40:21.000 -> 40:26.640] And we all know how poorly a lot of this season went for Alpine in the final stretch.
[40:27.760 -> 40:34.480] But we do get like four consistent tiers in the final stretch when we look at the average
[40:34.480 -> 40:41.360] qualifying ranking. So Ferrari did catch up in qualifying to Red Bull, again in qualifying,
[40:41.360 -> 40:46.240] we know what happens in the race. Then McLaren and Mercedes ended
[40:46.240 -> 40:51.280] up in a tier together. And then there's a decent chunk back where you get Aston Martin,
[40:51.280 -> 40:56.500] Alpine, and Alfa Tauri, and it is really impressive that Alfa Tauri was able to turn things around.
[40:56.500 -> 41:06.480] And then we have the back tier where Williams actually ended the season as the slowest car. But they're right there with the Alfa Romeo and the Haas.
[41:07.360 -> 41:13.920] So the end of the season, I think it's the freshest in our brain. None of that is that
[41:13.920 -> 41:25.600] shocking. But, you know, Aston really slid. Alpine was never able to make the jump they wanted to, considering they're a works team. And
[41:27.120 -> 41:34.720] I think the vibes are pretty positive for McLaren, Mercedes, and Ferrari going into the off-season.
[41:34.720 -> 41:39.200] As positive as they can be. Yeah, as positive as it can be in the Red Bull dominance.
[41:39.200 -> 41:43.520] It feels weird to be looking at this and it screams such positivity for Ferrari,
[41:45.840 -> 41:51.360] to be looking at this and it screamed such positivity for Ferrari because it didn't necessarily feel like that. But look at that! Hope for Ferrari fans! That's the takeaway, everyone!
[41:53.120 -> 41:59.200] You know what? My brain works so much better earlier in the morning. This is like my prime
[41:59.200 -> 42:07.000] time of day. We normally record in the evening and my brain is such mush that...
[42:07.000 -> 42:09.000] We're in rare form.
[42:09.000 -> 42:13.000] Yeah, this is the best it's gonna get and I still f***ed up.
[42:14.000 -> 42:18.000] We've been talking through a lot of data about these three different stages of the season.
[42:18.000 -> 42:23.000] I thought we should do a wrap-up of one major point that each team should take away
[42:23.000 -> 42:26.520] after I sifted through the qualifying performance
[42:26.520 -> 42:27.940] of all of these teams.
[42:29.040 -> 42:32.320] Starting, and I did this in constructor's order,
[42:32.320 -> 42:33.700] starting with Mercedes,
[42:33.700 -> 42:36.100] I can't believe Mercedes got P2
[42:36.100 -> 42:39.440] despite never averaging above 3.6
[42:39.440 -> 42:41.240] in any phase of the season.
[42:41.240 -> 42:44.580] Mercedes basically was on average the fourth fastest team
[42:44.580 -> 42:45.280] over the course of the
[42:45.280 -> 42:55.620] season and somehow got P2. That's incredible. Wow. Full agreement. Sounds fake. Again, I'm happy
[42:55.620 -> 43:05.000] about it. It doesn't feel deserving. I just, I still feel, I'm like, yay, gay.
[43:07.500 -> 43:09.340] But the math is nothing, I guess.
[43:09.340 -> 43:11.480] I mean, right.
[43:11.480 -> 43:13.880] Lewis Hamilton is incredible on race day.
[43:13.880 -> 43:17.520] We all knew that, but like this data just shows
[43:17.520 -> 43:19.600] that he is taking the fourth fastest car
[43:19.600 -> 43:23.120] and somehow got, was the fastest non-Red Bull driver
[43:23.120 -> 43:26.320] or the highest scoring non-Red Bull driver of the season.
[43:26.320 -> 43:28.400] Like, I don't, okay.
[43:29.960 -> 43:33.000] Ferrari was able to close the gap to Red Bull
[43:33.000 -> 43:36.000] more than I actually assumed in real time.
[43:36.000 -> 43:39.360] Like I experienced them getting pole
[43:39.360 -> 43:41.240] and winning that one race
[43:41.240 -> 43:48.100] and Red Bull not seeming super unbeatable on a Saturday.
[43:48.100 -> 43:53.220] But looking at the hard data, the vibes are better than I thought for Ferrari.
[43:53.220 -> 44:01.700] I feel like the vibes still look okay, but then I just am stuck with the curse of a Sunday,
[44:01.700 -> 44:07.040] being able to follow through, the just reliability of Ferrari as a
[44:07.040 -> 44:12.000] whole. And I don't even mean just like a technicality speak that even seeing the numbers,
[44:12.000 -> 44:18.800] I still just, it's another place that falls like, I yeah. Okay. You're, you're, you're right there
[44:18.800 -> 44:24.000] kind of, but I don't know. It doesn't, I still feel like there's such a reliability piece here
[44:24.000 -> 44:27.180] that they haven't figured out in terms of like strategy wise
[44:27.180 -> 44:31.820] that I need a longevity of consistent strategic success
[44:31.820 -> 44:34.420] with Ferrari, that sounds like an oxymoron
[44:34.420 -> 44:36.500] as I'm saying it as a sentence,
[44:36.500 -> 44:39.140] but I feel like I still need some more like
[44:39.140 -> 44:41.380] continuous strategic success
[44:41.380 -> 44:45.000] before I am fully like believing in this.
[44:47.900 -> 44:49.840] Yeah. Ferrari didn't have a lot of pressure on it.
[44:50.240 -> 44:51.900] So for most of the season, I mean,
[44:51.900 -> 44:54.080] they have the normal baseline of Ferrari pressure,
[44:54.100 -> 44:58.420] but they weren't put in the championship ringer this season.
[44:58.420 -> 45:01.520] So we do need to see them do it under pressure. Uh,
[45:01.600 -> 45:04.200] but if you had even asked me a week ago,
[45:05.440 -> 45:08.240] what my takeaway for Ferrari was, it probably wouldn't be as positive
[45:08.240 -> 45:12.080] as I feel about it right now, despite the fact that they want
[45:12.080 -> 45:14.480] to race. They're the only other team that can say that this
[45:14.480 -> 45:14.920] season.
[45:15.520 -> 45:20.280] And if they can have every race kind of be similar to Vegas in
[45:20.280 -> 45:24.440] terms of like Sunday, and Parker's a very big Ferrari fan
[45:24.440 -> 45:25.520] who if you hear him barking in the
[45:25.520 -> 45:29.200] background really needs to make this vocalized that he'll defend Ferrari till the end so he
[45:29.200 -> 45:37.200] gets mad when I say negative things. If you have you know the race like with Charles and Checo like
[45:37.200 -> 45:43.200] in Vegas it can it's possible it's there but just needs to consistently be able to do it or else
[45:46.320 -> 45:53.200] but just needs to consistently be able to do it or else what are we what's the point? The main takeaway for McLaren is they dropped back while they had this incredible rise
[45:53.200 -> 45:57.360] through upgrade season they dropped back more than I thought at the end of the season
[45:57.360 -> 46:03.280] and I'm going to be intrigued if they can start out next season not on the back foot again.
[46:03.440 -> 46:10.280] start out next season not on the back foot again. Yeah, that they can maintain that momentum that they had, especially since they lost
[46:10.280 -> 46:11.280] a little bit.
[46:11.280 -> 46:14.960] Or is it going to be another season where they come in of, we felt really good, kind
[46:14.960 -> 46:16.220] of where we were headed.
[46:16.220 -> 46:17.220] We still feel really good.
[46:17.220 -> 46:20.400] We made some changes, not feeling too great, but don't worry, upgrades are going to come
[46:20.400 -> 46:25.360] and it'll be like another vicious cycle of it all.
[46:25.360 -> 46:30.160] And I will point out that next season is, I believe, to be the first time the full car
[46:30.160 -> 46:35.380] is going to be built in their new wind tunnel. So McLaren no longer has the excuse that their
[46:35.380 -> 46:40.120] facilities are behind. So like next year is going to be the real test. And looking at
[46:40.120 -> 46:44.160] this data, that's kind of how I felt. Next year will be the real test. You got to play
[46:44.160 -> 46:49.600] with house money this year. I'm glad you had fun. Overall takeaway for Aston Martin is
[46:49.600 -> 46:54.640] while their decline was well documented, it really got a lot worse than I thought at the
[46:54.640 -> 46:59.740] end of the season. Because they did have these highlights in Brazil and Qatar that I thought
[46:59.740 -> 47:10.680] things were getting better and I might have overestimated how much better things were getting because yeah, not, not good. Bad. Real worse than I expected.
[47:10.680 -> 47:17.140] Brazil also definitely skewed my perception of how Ashton finished because I definitely
[47:17.140 -> 47:23.880] didn't expect them to have slid back again as far as I did, but the power of the narrative
[47:23.880 -> 47:25.120] at the start of the season just
[47:25.120 -> 47:29.480] really sticks with you as it goes on.
[47:29.480 -> 47:35.820] Brazil actually skewed my perception of how a lot of teams finished. McLaren was the fastest
[47:35.820 -> 47:42.020] car in Brazil, then, well, fastest on Red Bull, then Aston, then Ferrari, then Mercedes,
[47:42.020 -> 47:45.360] and having to live through that as a Mercedes fan and Ferrari
[47:45.360 -> 47:52.080] not having the most fantastic Saturday either, like, it really skewed so much of my emotional
[47:52.080 -> 47:57.360] reaction to things. Where, like, Aston and McLaren were a lot worse than I expected when actually
[47:57.360 -> 48:00.960] looking at all the hard data at the end of the season, when Mercedes and Ferrari overall were
[48:00.960 -> 48:10.320] actually much better and did a good job ending their season strong. It's the emotional effect of being a Ferrari and a Mercedes fan that we just have such a negative
[48:10.320 -> 48:15.760] reflection and of just like how it felt in the moment of it all, especially with Brazil for
[48:15.760 -> 48:19.920] Mercedes, just felt so unbelievably hopeful that this could be it, this could be a good weekend,
[48:19.920 -> 48:25.480] a Lewis Hamilton home race, and we're going to just like go out strong. That didn't happen.
[48:25.480 -> 48:28.680] So the complete story for Alpine
[48:28.940 -> 48:30.880] is you are a works team.
[48:30.880 -> 48:34.680] Can you start acting like it?
[48:34.680 -> 48:38.480] That whole chunk right in the middle of like, wait in the back.
[48:38.500 -> 48:41.240] It's just yeah, what is happening here?
[48:41.240 -> 48:44.380] I mean, they fired everybody in like what's going on inside.
[48:44.380 -> 48:44.840] I don't know.
[48:44.840 -> 48:45.440] Bring in Ryan Reynolds, tell him to like, you know, order from people around and figure it out. What is happening here? I mean, they fired everybody and what's going on inside? I don't know.
[48:45.440 -> 48:46.440] Bring in Ryan Reynolds.
[48:46.440 -> 48:49.840] Tell him to order some people around and figure it out.
[48:49.840 -> 48:51.700] But it's terrifying.
[48:51.700 -> 48:53.260] It's worse than expected.
[48:53.260 -> 48:59.600] We talked about in our teammate battles about everyone was anticipating a lot of the dumpster
[48:59.600 -> 49:03.720] fire at Alpine to be with Esteban and Pierre.
[49:03.720 -> 49:04.720] And you know what?
[49:04.720 -> 49:05.760] I think just all of the energy
[49:05.760 -> 49:09.040] in that garage was sucked up behind the scenes that like, we got to be on our best behavior
[49:09.040 -> 49:16.280] as much as we can because, you know, it's just a mess everywhere else.
[49:16.280 -> 49:20.840] I'm a firm believer in modern F1 that you can only win a championship if you are a works
[49:20.840 -> 49:31.440] team. Like if you are not developing your own engine, like, you have a certain ceiling. And we only have so many works teams, and Alpine being one of them, and their
[49:31.440 -> 49:39.040] inability to act like it, is, will forever frustrate me. I want them to be good. And I like,
[49:40.000 -> 49:46.640] I just, ahhh. Like, they don't, maybe, maybe not like Mercedes Ferrari Red Bull good up
[49:46.640 -> 49:53.600] there, but like close. I just, ah, it's such a mess. It's a mess. I'm sorry, Alpine fans.
[49:53.600 -> 49:55.120] I don't have positive vibes for you.
[49:56.480 -> 50:01.680] Haven't proven it yet. Haven't proven it yet. It's still, we don't know team principal. So
[50:01.680 -> 50:05.680] many things still up in the air there that it just bad vibes all around.
[50:05.680 -> 50:10.080] Oh my gosh, you're right. We don't even know who's gonna be their team principal next year.
[50:10.080 -> 50:15.840] Yeah, Atmar still Atmar Bye Bye was this year. I mean, we had the whole like murmurings around
[50:15.840 -> 50:16.840] the pad.
[50:16.840 -> 50:17.840] We have a temporary route.
[50:17.840 -> 50:23.120] Yeah, and like Matija maybe coming whatever all of that coming in still but it's been
[50:23.120 -> 50:27.840] very quiet. It's going to be my one of my most anticipated pieces of news for
[50:27.840 -> 50:32.520] 2024 is just the administration as a whole at Alpine.
[50:33.840 -> 50:35.920] I can't believe that they haven't announced their
[50:35.920 -> 50:40.280] permanent team principal. I completely forgot about that. I
[50:40.280 -> 50:46.880] can't believe I forgot about that. I'm... Oh my gosh. I'm so sorry, Alpine fans.
[50:46.880 -> 50:51.280] A works team cast a win... to your point of a works team is most likely to be able to win
[50:51.280 -> 50:55.120] the constructors, and they just hear you say that and they're like, hold my beer!
[50:55.120 -> 51:00.880] Hold my non-alcoholic Heineken! And like, here we go! Like, oh my god.
[51:02.240 -> 51:06.880] You know, when we say that we believe that there are stories up and down the entire Formula
[51:06.880 -> 51:09.080] One grid, we really mean it.
[51:09.080 -> 51:12.400] So now we're going to take a quick on look at the back.
[51:12.400 -> 51:17.800] Yeah, there are four teams we haven't wrapped up yet, and that's because I'm going to make
[51:17.800 -> 51:23.760] the argument for which of the four teams between Williams, Alfatari, Alfa Romeo, and Haas was
[51:23.760 -> 51:25.920] the slowest car overall.
[51:25.920 -> 51:32.160] For starters, for these four teams, I polled how many times was their qualifying pace in the top
[51:32.160 -> 51:39.840] five on the grid. Williams was in the top five three times, Alfatari three times, Haas three
[51:39.840 -> 51:48.480] times, Alfa Romeo only one time. And that one time was Miami, by the way, just as a sidebar.
[51:48.480 -> 51:51.640] They were only in the top five once.
[51:51.640 -> 51:53.160] That don't make sense.
[51:53.160 -> 51:56.240] A reminder to this, there's 22 races
[51:56.240 -> 51:59.720] that were raced this season, so three times is also not
[51:59.720 -> 52:02.320] very impressive for the other teams
[52:02.320 -> 52:04.520] that they were a top five fastest car.
[52:04.520 -> 52:06.000] Three times is bad and one time
[52:06.000 -> 52:12.800] was worse. So then I looked at the opposite. How many times were they the slowest car on the grid?
[52:13.760 -> 52:18.960] Alfa Tauri was only the slowest car on the grid three times across the season. So despite not
[52:18.960 -> 52:35.840] having a lot of peaks in their performance, they also didn't have a lot of like, you are the dumpster of this race. Haas was also only P10 in qualifying three times. Alfa Romeo was the slowest team five times,
[52:35.840 -> 52:40.960] and Williams was the slowest team six times over the course of the season.
[52:40.960 -> 52:45.680] That feels right. That feels right with the Nick DeVries
[52:45.680 -> 52:48.860] and Logan Sargents of it all, you know?
[52:49.960 -> 52:53.400] Well, yeah, but it's actually would be Alex Albon.
[52:53.400 -> 52:54.560] Oh, geez.
[52:54.560 -> 52:57.160] So I took the fastest time.
[52:57.160 -> 52:58.000] Right.
[52:58.000 -> 53:00.040] So like I took every team's fastest time.
[53:00.040 -> 53:04.460] So even Alex's fastest time was the slowest fastest time.
[53:05.440 -> 53:08.560] Yep, still makes sense in terms of what they were dealing with.
[53:09.080 -> 53:10.440] Yes. No, that does make sense.
[53:10.440 -> 53:14.280] But my brain just automatically looks at going into the back.
[53:14.280 -> 53:16.960] And I and I categorize my drivers.
[53:17.080 -> 53:18.520] Yes. Looking at even with the fast.
[53:18.520 -> 53:20.000] Well, you know, it's what he's working with.
[53:20.000 -> 53:23.680] And Alpha Tari was such a flip flop back and forth.
[53:23.680 -> 53:28.160] And yeah, Alpha Romeo, just just ouch just super ouch.
[53:29.840 -> 53:34.720] There were so many times this season that Yuki was on the fringe of points where you could tell
[53:34.720 -> 53:40.160] that that wasn't necessarily the slowest car on the grid but they just couldn't get points
[53:40.160 -> 53:46.560] for for whatever reason or their qualifying wasn't just good enough.
[53:46.560 -> 53:55.000] So then I looked at how many times did any of these four teams out qualify the Alpine,
[53:55.000 -> 53:59.440] the slowest of our works teams.
[53:59.440 -> 54:09.000] So Alphatari and Haas both outpaced Alpine five times this season.
[54:09.000 -> 54:17.840] Williams outpaced Alpine three times this season, but unfortunately for Alfa Romeo,
[54:17.840 -> 54:23.520] they were never able to be faster than an Alpine, which really was the difference between
[54:23.520 -> 54:25.120] points and no points this season.
[54:25.120 -> 54:31.520] I'm really trying to figure out like who is the biggest like dig at here is it Alpine
[54:31.520 -> 54:45.600] or is it Alfa Romeo and I kind of think it's yeah yeah but Alpine do better. Oh, man.
[54:47.840 -> 54:49.040] All right, well, to wrap this up, I'm gonna run through this really fast,
[54:49.040 -> 54:50.020] and then, Nicole, you'll tell me
[54:50.020 -> 54:52.440] if you agree with my assessment.
[54:52.440 -> 54:54.160] Williams had the highest highs,
[54:54.160 -> 54:55.860] and they were just able to capitalize
[54:55.860 -> 54:58.560] on what seems to be fewer opportunities,
[54:58.560 -> 55:01.540] but they really maximized those fewer opportunities.
[55:01.540 -> 55:04.240] Haas had no race pace, so none of this really matters.
[55:10.560 -> 55:15.940] Turmoil at Al-Fatahri meant that even though they had more opportunities to maximize on good pace, they didn't do that often. Whether it was because Daniel Ricciardo broke his
[55:15.940 -> 55:21.640] wrists and Liam Lawson was in the car, or just general chaos of their team principal
[55:21.640 -> 55:26.840] retiring, Nick DeVries getting pushed out of his seat,
[55:26.840 -> 55:33.920] so much happened, they didn't maximize their weekends. But the Alfa Romeo is my
[55:33.920 -> 55:39.120] vote for the worst car of the year. Despite it not always being the worst
[55:39.120 -> 55:48.760] car every weekend, it averaged out to never being better than the Alpine, it was the second most, P10
[55:48.760 -> 55:54.480] the second most amount of times, and their pace was only in the top five of the ten cars
[55:54.480 -> 55:56.480] one time over the course of the season.
[55:56.480 -> 56:03.520] So that is why Alfa Romeo, to me, gets the crown for the worst car of the 2023 Formula
[56:03.520 -> 56:14.400] One season. Yeah, I think, firmly agree to the point of Williams highs and high and lows were low.
[56:14.400 -> 56:18.800] And, but I feel there's a glimmer of hope there moving forward for them. You know, things
[56:18.800 -> 56:22.480] can work. I'd rather like a little bit of a roller coaster with highs and lows than
[56:22.480 -> 56:25.360] just kind of like in the trenches.
[56:29.920 -> 56:36.320] Haas, I've always had the struggle of people getting amped about them on Saturday because, you know, Kevin Magnussen is P1 in the sprin and or Nico Hulkenberg just is for some reason always
[56:36.320 -> 56:41.200] there and qualifying and everyone gets really excited of, you know, being a Mr. Saturday type
[56:41.200 -> 56:51.560] thing, but they can't follow through on Sundays and that I think. So it's always, I knew it was going to come down to the alphas.
[56:51.560 -> 56:56.200] With the amount of inconsistencies that happened with AlphaTauri across just everywhere, I
[56:56.200 -> 57:01.140] mean you listed everything that went on, the few glimmers of incredibleness that were able
[57:01.140 -> 57:04.360] to occur on track or even more impressive in that way, especially with everything that
[57:04.360 -> 57:08.920] like Liam was able to do with the car, that was me being like, yay, Danny Ricardo. Got
[57:08.920 -> 57:15.760] to admit what Liam can do. So I do kind of agree just based on the... Alfa Romeo had
[57:15.760 -> 57:24.080] what should have been the most consistent workspace in terms of in their garage. Everything
[57:24.080 -> 57:25.760] should have been such an ebbs and flows
[57:25.760 -> 57:29.200] where like it doesn't seem like so many things should be influencing from the off track like
[57:29.760 -> 57:37.120] the Alphatari was dealing with. So Alpha Romeo just flopped, continuous flop time and time again,
[57:37.120 -> 57:43.600] when they just never figured it out, nothing ever worked, and yeah, it's painful to watch.
[57:44.160 -> 57:45.680] And there's just a lot of things that I feel
[57:45.680 -> 57:53.520] like they were just like shrugging at or but it it was biggest disappointment I think of the season
[57:53.520 -> 57:59.920] I agree I don't have any feelings anymore yes I don't have any feelings anymore I don't have
[57:59.920 -> 58:05.280] any feelings anymore I lost them like earlier on in the year. What surprised you most about 2023?
[58:05.280 -> 58:07.840] I don't know. I don't have any feelings anymore.
[58:10.560 -> 58:13.920] You know what didn't surprise me the most about 2024? Is this.
[58:17.040 -> 58:19.600] I don't even like podcasts. They make me fall asleep.
[58:21.120 -> 58:26.000] Max Verstappen not getting the joke felt really spot on for 2023.
[58:26.000 -> 58:32.000] Yep, but the Max Verstappen podcast still continued, even if he didn't get it.
[58:32.000 -> 58:37.000] They make me fall asleep.
[58:37.000 -> 58:50.160] Alright, Nicole, what surprised you the most about team performance in 2023? Okay, so this was something I never like to eat my words and I never like to say like
[58:50.160 -> 58:54.760] they were wrong, but I'm going to be a big girl and I'm going to do it.
[58:54.760 -> 58:59.240] The start of the season, I felt like in one of our episodes, we were talking about our
[58:59.240 -> 59:03.920] hot takes for the season, and as it was going on, and I did not believe that McLaren was
[59:03.920 -> 59:04.920] going to pull through.
[59:04.920 -> 59:05.400] I didn't.
[59:05.440 -> 59:09.760] I thought that it was a bunch of PR mumbo jumbo and that they were just kind of
[59:10.160 -> 59:13.120] throwing quotes around about, you know,
[59:13.920 -> 59:17.320] trying to appease their fans and stakeholders really.
[59:17.840 -> 59:21.480] But they surprised me and they figured out their upgrades and no,
[59:21.480 -> 59:25.120] I think they ended up falling back more than we all eventually thought they would
[59:25.120 -> 59:27.080] have, but they were there.
[59:27.080 -> 59:28.480] They were a big part of the conversation.
[59:28.480 -> 59:33.520] I would say over the summer, they were basically the narrative and, uh, they proved me wrong
[59:33.520 -> 59:35.720] and they figured some stuff out.
[59:35.720 -> 59:39.060] So I'll be intrigued to see if they can continue it next year.
[59:39.060 -> 59:44.000] But I definitely, at the start of this season would not have anticipated McLaren being as
[59:44.000 -> 59:46.160] part of the conversation and
[59:46.160 -> 59:51.200] discussion. I don't want to say competition because, you know, Red Bull, but just the
[59:51.200 -> 59:57.440] narrative that they were. You don't have to take the complete fall for that because I think we were
[59:57.440 -> 01:00:03.600] both ringing the alarm bells of, yeah, we've heard this before, like, literally announcing your car
[01:00:03.600 -> 01:00:06.520] and telling everyone that it's not going to be good
[01:00:06.520 -> 01:00:08.880] is not normally a good sign for a season.
[01:00:08.880 -> 01:00:11.140] And both of us post car launch were like,
[01:00:11.140 -> 01:00:14.160] hmm, yep, don't need to see it to believe it.
[01:00:15.140 -> 01:00:17.200] So that was definitely a shocker.
[01:00:17.200 -> 01:00:19.040] And I think they could have improved,
[01:00:19.040 -> 01:00:23.900] but didn't the jump they took was shocking.
[01:00:23.900 -> 01:00:29.000] Like it's not that there was a jump, but it was, you know,
[01:00:29.440 -> 01:00:32.340] everything that was the British GP was shocking.
[01:00:32.340 -> 01:00:33.180] Yeah.
[01:00:35.840 -> 01:00:38.720] What surprised me the most in 2023,
[01:00:38.720 -> 01:00:41.080] I originally started with Aston Martin
[01:00:42.120 -> 01:00:44.360] and then I kind of was like,
[01:00:44.360 -> 01:00:46.480] I think Aston Martin as a season as a whole
[01:00:46.480 -> 01:00:55.520] kind of was expected, despite their highs being so high. And I landed on, I think Ferrari
[01:00:55.520 -> 01:01:02.960] is what surprised me the most about 2023. Despite the fact that they weren't fighting
[01:01:02.960 -> 01:01:06.800] for a championship, I felt like their operations,
[01:01:06.800 -> 01:01:12.780] their decision-making, their pit stops, was so much cleaner and smoother than anything
[01:01:12.780 -> 01:01:14.120] we saw last year.
[01:01:14.120 -> 01:01:20.300] I was very skeptical early on that Fred Vasseur was going to be able to come in and make any
[01:01:20.300 -> 01:01:26.160] kind of immediate change that we all felt. And I felt over the course of the season,
[01:01:26.160 -> 01:01:28.600] you could feel the effect
[01:01:28.600 -> 01:01:32.200] of some of the operational changes they were making.
[01:01:32.200 -> 01:01:34.520] I'm not trying to say that any of it was perfect
[01:01:34.520 -> 01:01:37.000] and they don't have room to grow,
[01:01:37.000 -> 01:01:41.060] but the amount of clown memes I saw this season
[01:01:41.060 -> 01:01:43.320] was greatly reduced.
[01:01:43.320 -> 01:01:48.400] Overall, their pit stops were so, so much better. Like,
[01:01:48.400 -> 01:01:53.280] we all moved on to making fun of the fact that Mercedes can't do good, consistent pit stops
[01:01:53.280 -> 01:02:00.320] instead of Ferrari because they were that clean and consistent. And yes, they definitely seem like
[01:02:00.320 -> 01:02:05.840] they have some communication with their drivers things to clean up still, but all in all it
[01:02:05.840 -> 01:02:11.320] felt like their decision making was consistent and quick and you could feel the effect that
[01:02:11.320 -> 01:02:16.300] Fred Visser had so much more than I said. I said we would need to wait well over a year
[01:02:16.300 -> 01:02:18.920] and I could feel it this year.
[01:02:18.920 -> 01:02:23.640] Slowly but surely it could happen. Yeah, those quotes, I remember laughing at Fred's quotes
[01:02:23.640 -> 01:02:25.120] of just, you need communication
[01:02:25.120 -> 01:02:30.780] You just need people to talk to each other and it's like that's it. That's what you really think and in some areas
[01:02:30.780 -> 01:02:35.820] Maybe yes, maybe people really weren't communicating to each other in the garage. It's
[01:02:36.740 -> 01:02:40.880] Fred I think is definitely I do feel the right person for the role. I
[01:02:41.920 -> 01:02:49.280] Just want to see a little bit more consistency with it and there's still things to figure out. But there was clearly a lot of issues going on. I mean,
[01:02:49.280 -> 01:02:56.280] that's why Matia left. So, has someone to you?
[01:02:56.280 -> 01:03:02.040] Yeah, with Ferrari, it's always going to be like, is he given the space and power to make
[01:03:02.040 -> 01:03:05.720] the changes that need to be made. And at least for year one,
[01:03:06.000 -> 01:03:10.960] Fred Risser was my team principal of the year probably because it felt like no
[01:03:10.960 -> 01:03:12.960] matter how low the lows got,
[01:03:14.720 -> 01:03:16.400] the vibes weren't bad.
[01:03:17.360 -> 01:03:22.360] Like it felt like the Ferrari vibes didn't turn into spiraling chaos as much as
[01:03:22.420 -> 01:03:26.800] they very much easily could have this year. Like yes, did both drivers
[01:03:26.800 -> 01:03:32.320] get sad at different points in the season? 100%! Was the Italian media still the Italian media?
[01:03:32.320 -> 01:03:37.200] Of course! Were Ferrari fans fighting online constantly? Yeah! But all of those things are
[01:03:37.200 -> 01:03:43.760] out of Fred's control. And I felt like the things he could control, he really kept a lid on all of
[01:03:43.760 -> 01:03:45.520] it. It felt like both of his drivers really
[01:03:45.520 -> 01:03:52.240] respected his way of handling things and it just... Keeping the vibes up in Ferrari seems difficult
[01:03:52.240 -> 01:03:59.040] and I was impressed. Yes, even still, you know, none of his quotes were ever as like,
[01:03:59.760 -> 01:04:05.540] it seemed like end of the world, like Toto's were necessarily sometimes.
[01:04:05.540 -> 01:04:09.760] But also Toto says, but my brain was thinking, so I'm not saying that he shouldn't be saying
[01:04:09.760 -> 01:04:10.760] those things.
[01:04:10.760 -> 01:04:13.020] But Fred never let that lapse.
[01:04:13.020 -> 01:04:18.800] He always seemed like the excited, supportive family member that's like, we're going to
[01:04:18.800 -> 01:04:19.800] figure it out.
[01:04:19.800 -> 01:04:20.800] We're going to do it.
[01:04:20.800 -> 01:04:21.800] And yeah.
[01:04:21.800 -> 01:04:26.000] He never made any promises that they couldn't keep. Mm-hmm.
[01:04:26.000 -> 01:04:31.000] Like, they would interview him, like, how's Ferrari gonna do this weekend?
[01:04:31.000 -> 01:04:34.000] And if he didn't want to say something negative, he would just say, we'll see.
[01:04:34.000 -> 01:04:36.000] And like, is that a boring quote? Yes.
[01:04:36.000 -> 01:04:40.000] Is that crucial to being a good leader and keeping the vibes high? Yes.
[01:04:40.000 -> 01:04:44.000] It's honest. I appreciate the honesty, Fred.
[01:04:44.000 -> 01:04:47.000] Just continue it and keep doing what you're
[01:04:47.000 -> 01:04:48.000] doing.
[01:04:48.000 -> 01:04:56.960] So we've talked about what was our surprise of the 2023 season. Now, leaving 2023, headed
[01:04:56.960 -> 01:05:03.240] into 2024, where we're feeling the best vibes are. And when we say best vibes, we're not
[01:05:03.240 -> 01:05:10.480] talking about like, oh, who's going to win? Like, okay, Red Bull, duh, dominance is there. It's happening. Doesn't necessarily seem
[01:05:10.480 -> 01:05:18.240] like it's going anywhere. So where are you falling in teams with the best vibes at the moment that
[01:05:18.240 -> 01:05:25.320] you're, we'd say hopeful for next year that you seem like, yeah, it would make sense if they come out really blazing first race.
[01:05:28.600 -> 01:05:31.000] Not answering the question you just asked,
[01:05:31.000 -> 01:05:34.480] I realized that someone needs to count how many times
[01:05:34.480 -> 01:05:39.160] we both have said vibes in this entire recording,
[01:05:39.160 -> 01:05:41.360] this entire episode, who are just like,
[01:05:41.360 -> 01:05:44.680] if we have no other way of saying things are going well,
[01:05:44.680 -> 01:05:45.840] then like vibes are good.
[01:05:45.840 -> 01:05:47.340] So.
[01:05:47.340 -> 01:05:49.840] Take a sip every time.
[01:05:49.840 -> 01:05:52.040] Like.
[01:05:52.040 -> 01:05:52.840] One of us.
[01:05:52.840 -> 01:05:53.840] Exactly.
[01:05:53.840 -> 01:05:55.040] Yeah.
[01:05:55.040 -> 01:05:56.040] Okay.
[01:05:56.040 -> 01:05:58.040] Now, actually answering the question you said.
[01:05:58.040 -> 01:06:03.880] So I think the team that has been able to generate the most
[01:06:03.880 -> 01:06:08.300] positive vibes going into 2024 is McLaren.
[01:06:08.540 -> 01:06:10.940] So, and I actually don't think any of it has to do
[01:06:10.940 -> 01:06:13.360] with the on-track performance.
[01:06:13.360 -> 01:06:17.820] Like the PR wheel that Zach Brown
[01:06:17.820 -> 01:06:21.860] and his PR and marketing team has been able to spin
[01:06:21.860 -> 01:06:28.260] of this entire season has been a masterclass in public relations and marketing.
[01:06:28.260 -> 01:06:30.620] So much so that I had no idea
[01:06:30.620 -> 01:06:32.680] they dipped at the end of the season.
[01:06:32.680 -> 01:06:34.780] Like I, my brain, I was like,
[01:06:34.780 -> 01:06:37.100] they're the second fastest car for sure.
[01:06:37.100 -> 01:06:42.100] And so much of that has to do like with what their PR team
[01:06:42.660 -> 01:06:48.440] has been able to build out and make us feel going into 2024.
[01:06:50.640 -> 01:06:55.080] Like vibes are an intangible measurement, right?
[01:06:55.080 -> 01:06:58.800] It's genuinely how good are we feeling about a team?
[01:06:58.800 -> 01:07:03.800] And I am so impressed with how good McLaren
[01:07:04.160 -> 01:07:06.000] has made everyone feel
[01:07:06.000 -> 01:07:09.360] about their season and their hopes for next year.
[01:07:09.360 -> 01:07:14.720] And so much so that me, Miss, no one, if you are not a works
[01:07:14.720 -> 01:07:16.360] team, you cannot win.
[01:07:16.360 -> 01:07:18.880] I'm still feeling good about McLaren for next year.
[01:07:18.880 -> 01:07:21.560] Now, again, I don't think anyone can compete with Red Bull
[01:07:21.560 -> 01:07:22.400] next year.
[01:07:22.400 -> 01:07:23.800] But I'm feeling good about them.
[01:07:23.800 -> 01:07:28.480] And I just, I think it's worth of all the teams going to 2024 with the best vibes, like,
[01:07:28.480 -> 01:07:34.320] hats off to McLaren for that marketing PR masterclass you've put on this season. Like,
[01:07:34.320 -> 01:07:42.240] round of applause. Yeah, I think almost everyone can agree. Vibes at McLaren right now are
[01:07:42.240 -> 01:07:47.800] immaculately high. It's no surprise they are consistently marketing masters
[01:07:47.800 -> 01:07:49.320] and able to spin their stories.
[01:07:49.320 -> 01:07:51.960] They have two drivers that are incredibly charismatic,
[01:07:51.960 -> 01:07:53.840] and they have an administrative team that also
[01:07:53.840 -> 01:07:56.000] knows the importance of marketing and the statements
[01:07:56.000 -> 01:07:57.240] that are released.
[01:07:57.240 -> 01:08:01.920] And it's almost, you could say, that they met expectations.
[01:08:01.920 -> 01:08:04.120] We're just talking about how Fred, for Ferrari,
[01:08:04.120 -> 01:08:08.640] doesn't necessarily make promises when asked questions about things and to the point of Zach Brown saying that
[01:08:08.640 -> 01:08:11.720] they, you know, certain upgrades are coming and they don't feel too hopeful right now
[01:08:11.720 -> 01:08:18.320] and then they prove that. So it's gives you hope for the following year and they definitely
[01:08:18.320 -> 01:08:35.000] turned a good story out of it. So that's definitely, definitely you can say that. Now going into my teams of best vibes, and it may manifest, it may seem a little crazy,
[01:08:35.000 -> 01:08:38.640] but it actually isn't so crazy because we just looked at all of this data.
[01:08:38.640 -> 01:08:40.360] I'm going with Mercedes.
[01:08:40.360 -> 01:08:43.880] I feel good about Mercedes going into next year.
[01:08:43.880 -> 01:08:47.840] I kind of feel similarly, this sounds weird,
[01:08:47.840 -> 01:08:50.000] but similar to where I was last year,
[01:08:50.000 -> 01:08:52.800] that everyone feels like something needs to change.
[01:08:52.800 -> 01:08:55.680] Toto's quotes are fed up, Lewis's quotes are fed up.
[01:08:55.680 -> 01:08:57.640] George, I think is a little bit more frustrated this year
[01:08:57.640 -> 01:08:58.480] than he was last year,
[01:08:58.480 -> 01:09:00.720] where people want things to work differently
[01:09:00.720 -> 01:09:02.160] and they need to happen.
[01:09:02.160 -> 01:09:05.040] So I feel like we're going to be going into next season
[01:09:05.680 -> 01:09:10.880] willing to try different things. I have not lost all hope. I still continue to just see this fire
[01:09:10.880 -> 01:09:16.480] grow within Lewis and Lewis's and Toto's quotes continuously talking about wanting to give Lewis
[01:09:16.480 -> 01:09:23.520] that, you know, ninth championship that he deserves. And I believe it can happen. I do.
[01:09:23.240 -> 01:09:25.680] And I believe it can happen. I do, the only piece I really,
[01:09:25.680 -> 01:09:29.600] that like can grind down my hope, Mercedes pit stops.
[01:09:29.600 -> 01:09:31.280] So just, you know, off season,
[01:09:31.280 -> 01:09:32.960] let's get some practice going.
[01:09:32.960 -> 01:09:34.120] Really, you can do it.
[01:09:34.120 -> 01:09:35.680] If Brianna and I can, you know,
[01:09:35.680 -> 01:09:38.320] go practice some pit stops, you can too.
[01:09:39.840 -> 01:09:41.440] So I'm going with Mercedes,
[01:09:41.440 -> 01:09:42.980] especially given where they finished.
[01:09:42.980 -> 01:09:51.600] I mean, numbers don't lie for a reason. and we look at data and seeing where Mercedes finished gives me hope moving forward.
[01:09:54.320 -> 01:10:00.960] I am unrealistically positive about Mercedes next season for all the reasons you outlined,
[01:10:01.520 -> 01:10:10.860] and who knows if it will manifest, but I think your assessment was really spot on, that it feels like everyone now understands and have already taken steps
[01:10:10.860 -> 01:10:13.840] to make things different for next year.
[01:10:13.840 -> 01:10:18.840] Because this time last year, they still hadn't moved away from the zero pod, they got overly
[01:10:18.840 -> 01:10:24.880] confident with the Brazil win, they weren't listening to Lewis Hamilton, and no one was
[01:10:24.880 -> 01:10:27.520] this angry yet, right? Like I think
[01:10:27.520 -> 01:10:33.280] they were all a little overconfident and they've now since said that the targets they set for
[01:10:33.280 -> 01:10:39.600] themselves going into this year were not extreme enough. They didn't set high enough pace targets
[01:10:39.600 -> 01:10:45.680] for the car and that's why we saw what we saw. We know that the car coming next year is going to be
[01:10:45.680 -> 01:10:49.440] completely different. Every single piece is going to be different. There's a new technical director
[01:10:49.440 -> 01:10:55.280] in place which is already going to just change things from that perspective. And then I agree
[01:10:55.280 -> 01:11:01.200] that like all the angry quotes coming from Toto and Lewis and like there's a very different Lewis
[01:11:01.200 -> 01:11:06.360] Hamilton right now. Like Lewis Hamilton in 2022 was in a crap car
[01:11:06.360 -> 01:11:09.240] recovering from the sport, cheating him out of something.
[01:11:09.240 -> 01:11:13.980] This year was Lewis regaining his force of nature
[01:11:13.980 -> 01:11:18.200] and just being fed up, but fed up, not in a defeated way,
[01:11:18.200 -> 01:11:21.000] fed up in a get me a good car now kind of way.
[01:11:21.000 -> 01:11:23.720] And that's a different sense of motivation
[01:11:23.720 -> 01:11:27.920] than I think we saw at this time last year.
[01:11:27.920 -> 01:11:32.960] So there is enough change happening at Mercedes
[01:11:32.960 -> 01:11:34.800] that if that car just gets a little better,
[01:11:34.800 -> 01:11:37.440] like we saw they were the fourth fastest car all season
[01:11:37.440 -> 01:11:39.240] and managed to get P2.
[01:11:39.240 -> 01:11:41.520] Like imagine if they had the third fastest car.
[01:11:41.520 -> 01:11:43.280] They might actually be competitive.
[01:11:43.280 -> 01:11:45.120] Like that car doesn't need to be
[01:11:45.120 -> 01:11:50.480] that much better for drivers like lewis and george to be competitive on track with it
[01:11:50.480 -> 01:11:57.440] so it's just i think the vibes are really good i'm feeling great about it and i'm living that
[01:11:57.440 -> 01:12:03.520] dilulu land until i see that car on track next season so no one in the comments burst my bubble
[01:12:03.600 -> 01:12:04.320] I see that car on track next season, so no one in the comments burst my bubble.
[01:12:07.120 -> 01:12:08.640] I agree. No bubble bursting. Good vibes only.
[01:12:14.640 -> 01:12:18.480] Thank you so much to our voiceover man, to Lewis Hamilton for liking our Instagram post. We're never going to get over this and we'll like be yelling about it for months and months and years
[01:12:18.480 -> 01:12:26.440] to come. And thank you to our four-legged executive producers. Again, this is one of our three season reviews
[01:12:26.440 -> 01:12:28.320] of the F1 2023 season.
[01:12:28.320 -> 01:12:30.000] So once you finish listening to this one,
[01:12:30.000 -> 01:12:31.480] make sure you go catch the other two
[01:12:31.480 -> 01:12:33.360] if you haven't listened to them already.
[01:12:33.360 -> 01:12:34.720] If you are watching on YouTube,
[01:12:34.720 -> 01:12:36.400] sound off in the comments your favorite moment
[01:12:36.400 -> 01:12:38.280] from the F1 2023 season.
[01:12:38.280 -> 01:12:39.400] What things surprised you?
[01:12:39.400 -> 01:12:41.080] What things did you completely expect?
[01:12:41.080 -> 01:12:42.980] And what are you hyped for in 2024?
[01:12:42.980 -> 01:12:44.820] Anything like that, we're really, really curious
[01:12:44.820 -> 01:12:49.080] of what you're thinking and where your vibes are at the end of this season.
[01:12:49.080 -> 01:12:53.640] So subscribe, like the video, interact in whatever way you can. Audio listeners, don't
[01:12:53.640 -> 01:12:57.640] forget to follow. Turn on auto downloads, rate and review the pod. All of these things
[01:12:57.640 -> 01:13:03.760] make us incredibly happy and really help other wonderful people just like yourself find our
[01:13:03.760 -> 01:13:07.880] podcast. You can join us for daily grid walks on all social media platforms.
[01:13:07.880 -> 01:13:11.920] You can follow us at Gridwalk Show on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and Threads.
[01:13:12.080 -> 01:13:15.680] We are doing 23 podiums to wrap up the F1 2023 season.
[01:13:15.920 -> 01:13:20.360] So if you haven't gotten enough F1 2023 season wrap up content from us,
[01:13:20.360 -> 01:13:23.260] check out our socials for all of our podiums that you have.
[01:13:23.360 -> 01:13:27.360] You can check out and see of our favorite things of the entire year.
[01:13:27.560 -> 01:13:30.480] And we will be back to walk the Formula One grid every Thursday,
[01:13:30.480 -> 01:13:32.000] including in the offseason.
[01:13:32.000 -> 01:13:34.480] And we sincerely hope you join us.
[01:13:34.640 -> 01:13:38.600] But this is all feeling like a big grid wrap up and not a grid walk.
[01:13:42.230 -> 01:13:44.230] you