Arise, King Fernando - 2023 Sao Paulo GP Review

Max Verstappen may be running away with wins and re-writing records and history books in 2023, but there is so much more to this season than Verstappen's heroics.

Lando Norris and Fernando Alonso, two of the several others who deserved their share or praise and limelight from the 2023 Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

In this episode of the Inside Line F1 Podcast, Soumil Arora, @f1statsguru and Kunal Shah review the F1 Sprint and Grand Prix that was hosted at Interlagos. The temperature effect was at play, yet again, as we saw teams with different fortunes and outcomes through the three day weekend. Either way, Interlagos entertained.

Yes, built on land unsuitable for housing, Interlagos is definitely most-suitable for racing; irrespective of the race format. The F1 Sprint entertained, as did the Grand Prix. In fact, the last lap drag race between Alonso and Sergio Perez was super fun, too.

Are Mercedes going backwards? Did Daniel Ricciardo and Oscar Piastri's opening lap retirement and subsequent rejoining after the Red Flag expose yet another flaw in Formula 1's rule book? They joined the 2023 Sao Paulo Grand Prix a lap down...despite starting from the pit lane on the same lap.

Yuki Tsunoda was another such hero through the weekend. In the AlphaTauri, Tsunoda was battling the likes of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton. If anything, Mercedes faced a Ferrari-esque race in Sunday's Grand Prix. Usually, Mercedes go quick in race trim, but that wasn't the case at Interlagos.

Lots of narratives and fun moments from the 2023 Sao Paulo Grand Prix. Tune in and re-live most of them. 

(Season 2023, Episode 60)

Follow our hosts on Twitter: Soumil Arora, @f1statsguru and Kunal Shah

Image courtesy: Aston Martin F1 Team

# Inside Line F1 Podcast Episode 60: 2023 São Paulo Grand Prix Review

## Key Points:

1. **Exciting Racing at Interlagos:**
- Despite differing fortunes for teams, Interlagos delivered thrilling racing, both in the Sprint and Grand Prix.
- The last-lap drag race between Sergio Perez and Fernando Alonso was a highlight.

2. **Mercedes' Struggles:**
- Mercedes had a disastrous weekend, with both drivers finishing outside the top 5.
- Toto Wolff called it their worst weekend ever, citing issues with tire degradation and rear wing setup.
- The team's struggles raise concerns about their approach to the 2024 season.

3. **Aston Martin's Resurgence:**
- Sergio Perez and Lance Stroll had strong performances, finishing in the top 5.
- Aston Martin's improved pace was attributed to cooler temperatures and better tire management.
- Fernando Alonso's podium finish was a highlight for the team, his first since the Dutch Grand Prix.

4. **Daniel Ricciardo and Oscar Piastri's Lap Down Controversy:**
- Ricciardo and Piastri were lapped on the opening lap due to a pit stop during a red flag.
- They were not allowed to unlap themselves, despite the unusual circumstances.
- This decision raised questions about the consistency and flexibility of the FIA's rules.

5. **AlphaTauri's Improved Form:**
- Yuki Tsunoda impressed in the AlphaTauri, battling with Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc.
- The team's recent upgrades have helped them close the gap to Williams in the Constructors' Championship.

6. **Lando Norris' Inconsistent Starts:**
- Norris had a poor start in the Sprint but a great start in the Grand Prix.
- His inconsistent starts are a micro story to watch in the remaining races.

7. **Max Verstappen Secures Both Championships:**
- Verstappen clinched both the Drivers' and Constructors' Championships with his victory in Brazil.
- He broke Alberto Ascari's record for wins in a season with 17 victories.

## Overall Message:

The 2023 São Paulo Grand Prix showcased the excitement and unpredictability of Formula 1 racing. While Verstappen's dominance continued, there were several intriguing storylines, including the struggles of Mercedes, the resurgence of Aston Martin, and the controversies surrounding Ricciardo and Piastri's lap down situation. As the season draws to a close, the focus shifts to the remaining races in Las Vegas and Abu Dhabi, where the battles for individual and team honors will reach their climax.

[00:00.000 -> 00:07.280] Before we begin, I wanted to give a huge shout out to the folks at Amazon Music for partnering
[00:07.280 -> 00:10.800] with us on this episode of the InsideLine F1 podcast.
[00:10.800 -> 00:12.500] But more on this later.
[00:12.500 -> 00:41.840] Right then, let's get right into today's episode. Ladies and gentlemen, finally Sergio Perez and Lance Stroll are back.
[00:41.840 -> 00:45.360] We have talked about them way too much on the InsideLine F1 podcast.
[00:45.360 -> 00:49.160] I think it's fair to say we were borderline slandering them, but well-earned because of
[00:49.160 -> 00:50.160] their performances.
[00:50.160 -> 00:54.000] But we saw them in action, finally going racing.
[00:54.000 -> 00:56.000] And there's nothing more exciting than that.
[00:56.000 -> 01:01.240] Well, apart from questioning the FIA's inconsistencies, that is among the major talking points of
[01:01.240 -> 01:02.320] this episode.
[01:02.320 -> 01:08.600] About Mercedes, why they went wrong, about the races of the Aston Martin and Red Bull racing teams and why Fernando Alonso
[01:08.600 -> 01:12.400] was so good. A world of why Daniel Ricciardo and Oscar Piastri weren't
[01:12.400 -> 01:17.400] unlapped. That seriously baffles my mind and also just generally recapping the
[01:17.400 -> 01:21.040] weekend and all the little hidden things that you might have missed. This folks is
[01:21.040 -> 01:25.500] the Brazilian GP review on the Inside Line F1 podcast.
[01:25.500 -> 01:26.820] My name is Somal Arora.
[01:26.820 -> 01:31.720] I am the host of the Indian Racing League and also the voice of the Indian MotoGP Grand
[01:31.720 -> 01:32.720] Prix.
[01:32.720 -> 01:37.840] Join us always by F1 Stats crew, part of the WTF1 content creators pool, and now the official
[01:37.840 -> 01:43.080] statistician of the Indian Racing League as well, among many other major championships.
[01:43.080 -> 01:49.980] And of course, Kunal Shah, the former marketing head of the force India f1 team and an FIA accredited f1
[01:49.980 -> 01:55.000] journalist working for the via play network so very quickly folks race
[01:55.000 -> 01:59.880] results we all know exactly what happened Lando Norris won in Formula 1.5
[01:59.880 -> 02:03.280] but Fernando Alonso returning to the podium in second place
[02:03.280 -> 02:05.600] Sergio Perez got yet another F1.5
[02:05.600 -> 02:10.320] podium, finishing in third, Lance Stoll in fourth, Carlos Sainz in fifth, Gatsby sixth, Hamilton
[02:10.320 -> 02:18.000] eighth, seventh in F1.5, Sonoda ninth and then so on and so forth. But the reason why I say F1.5,
[02:18.000 -> 02:25.840] as always, because there's no competition at the top. Verstappen winning the sprint and the main race. But let's get straight
[02:25.840 -> 02:32.560] down into the major talking points. Clearly not Max, because we all know what we have seen from
[02:32.560 -> 02:38.480] him. A tremendous weekend. But I want to talk to you about racing first Kunal, because you and
[02:38.480 -> 02:42.960] Sundaram pointed out this really incredible thing in our preview, that Interlagos is the circuit
[02:42.960 -> 02:50.120] with most overtakes, but still winners only from the top two. We saw that same trend repeat, but the action, that sort
[02:50.120 -> 02:53.640] of racing clearly is why we watch the sport, isn't it?
[02:53.640 -> 02:59.440] It is. And you know, one thing which stays along with us with Interlagos is that it was
[02:59.440 -> 03:05.640] built on land that was unsuitable for housing, but it's also built on land,
[03:05.640 -> 03:08.280] or it's now one of the most suitable circuits
[03:08.280 -> 03:12.120] to go racing on, irrespective of the race format
[03:12.120 -> 03:14.160] or the session format.
[03:14.160 -> 03:16.480] I mean, I'd imagine even if you just run a marathon
[03:16.480 -> 03:18.760] at Interlagos, it'll be really fun to watch
[03:18.760 -> 03:22.240] because that's just how the circuit is.
[03:22.240 -> 03:24.480] Friday, Saturday, Sunday, all three days
[03:24.480 -> 03:28.320] were blockbuster days for Formula One.
[03:28.320 -> 03:35.920] Right. And we saw that in the qualifying, the sprint qualifying, sprint race, and then the main Grand Prix as well.
[03:35.920 -> 03:47.120] Yes, Max Verstappen ran away at the front, but P2 and below in all formats again, or at least a sprint and the Grand Prix format specifically.
[03:47.120 -> 03:50.800] We had no clue what's going to happen. I think the only prediction that I was trying to make
[03:50.800 -> 03:56.540] for Sunday's race was how much lower will the Mercedes cars finish in the top 10 because
[03:56.540 -> 04:00.640] my goodness they had a terrible race. But before we go to Mercedes there's a lot more
[04:00.640 -> 04:06.960] to talk about. Sundaram I want to speak to you about the racing because your hero Fernando
[04:06.960 -> 04:13.600] Alonso on the last lap, was your heartbeat pumping when you were watching the race again? Because I
[04:13.600 -> 04:18.080] clearly couldn't hold it and I was watching it at five o'clock in the morning, not sleeping of
[04:18.080 -> 04:25.680] course the whole night, but I was laughing out of joy because how can you not? Absolutely you know both of us
[04:25.680 -> 04:29.800] missed the race last night because we were traveling and I had put all of my
[04:29.800 -> 04:33.320] notifications off and one of my friends texted me and I just read the first line
[04:33.320 -> 04:37.240] which said what a mad race and while watching the race again today while
[04:37.240 -> 04:40.920] watching it for the first time today actually through the last I mean until
[04:40.920 -> 04:44.680] the very end I'm like okay what's the really mad factor over here until I came
[04:44.680 -> 04:48.120] to the last two laps and I'm like okay now I get what he means
[04:48.120 -> 04:53.420] and then what happened in the last lap was incredible and this is typical
[04:53.420 -> 04:58.400] Fernando Alonso using his smarts using his experience driving across different
[04:58.400 -> 05:03.040] racing lines literally toying with Sergio Perez I think that was the
[05:03.040 -> 05:05.120] highlight for me quite obviously because I'm an
[05:05.120 -> 05:10.480] Alonso fan but I think we got very very a very good example of the type of racing that you can
[05:10.480 -> 05:17.120] see at this very track and we also said this last year, Brazil gave us a blockbuster weekend
[05:17.120 -> 05:21.680] throughout even last year even in the sprint and in the Grand Prix. You know Sundaram you're a
[05:21.680 -> 05:25.680] Fernando Alonso fan and people should know this because you and Fernando
[05:25.680 -> 05:27.840] Alonso actually share the same birthday.
[05:27.840 -> 05:30.980] So you'll have some karmic connection somewhere or whatever.
[05:30.980 -> 05:36.920] But talking of Alonso and his different lines and different energy management, etc, that
[05:36.920 -> 05:42.460] he did, this was, I think, the second time in four or five years that we've seen a drag
[05:42.460 -> 05:48.000] race to the finish. At Interlagos, the last one was Pierre Gasly
[05:48.000 -> 05:52.000] in a Honda-powered Alfa Tauri, or was it called Scuderia Toro Rosso
[05:52.000 -> 05:56.000] then, who out-dragged Lewis Hamilton in the Mercedes
[05:56.000 -> 06:00.000] and that's when he got the podium. This is after he got demoted and so on.
[06:00.000 -> 06:04.000] So these drag races are also fun. Like I said, you know,
[06:04.000 -> 06:09.360] any format of racing, sprint, Grand Prix, or even drag racing is fun at Interlagos.
[06:09.360 -> 06:10.800] No, it was so good.
[06:10.800 -> 06:19.600] And the margin folks, if in case you're wondering, 0.053 seconds, which is 53,000th of a second.
[06:19.600 -> 06:22.800] I think one of the closest F1 finishes ever.
[06:22.800 -> 06:26.680] But for a second, we need to talk about how Fernando Alonso achieved this.
[06:26.960 -> 06:28.640] Because correct me if I'm wrong, Sundaram,
[06:28.680 -> 06:31.680] I don't think he's had any podium in the second half of the season. Has he?
[06:32.080 -> 06:34.520] This isn't meant to happen in any conventional way.
[06:34.720 -> 06:37.160] Oh, he did have, he did have a podium at the Dutch Grand Prix.
[06:37.640 -> 06:42.040] Um, but the sort of, yeah, that's a while ago. That's like, well, one, two,
[06:42.040 -> 06:44.400] three, four, five, six, seven races ago.
[06:44.720 -> 06:48.800] Seven races ago. Exactly. And the sort of showing that they had in the last two races,
[06:48.800 -> 06:54.240] and compare to what happened with Mercedes, Mercedes went into this race really with a
[06:54.240 -> 06:59.360] couple of good races, Aston Martin went in with a couple of terrible races. And Alonso said there
[06:59.360 -> 07:03.360] was really nothing to look forward to, really nothing to play for in the remaining races of
[07:03.360 -> 07:06.560] the season and bang, he puts the car on the podium.
[07:06.560 -> 07:10.840] Mercedes on the other hand have a terrible, terrible race which we'll talk about later
[07:10.840 -> 07:15.240] as well but that's the sort of thing, when everything really comes together, they had
[07:15.240 -> 07:19.960] a very good qualifying also because of how the weather played out towards in Q3, they
[07:19.960 -> 07:23.040] found themselves in a really good position on the grid.
[07:23.040 -> 07:26.680] I expected that, I really didn't expect them to be this strong in the race,
[07:26.680 -> 07:30.160] but clearly against Sergio Perez for the last 30 laps,
[07:30.160 -> 07:32.200] they were able to match the pace.
[07:32.200 -> 07:34.520] And that was, I think the biggest takeaway for me,
[07:34.520 -> 07:37.120] for him to be able to kind of match the race pace
[07:37.120 -> 07:38.320] with Sergio Perez.
[07:38.320 -> 07:40.680] Kunal, were they really that good
[07:40.680 -> 07:42.800] or were the other teams genuinely bad?
[07:42.800 -> 07:47.020] Because we saw Leclerc being taken off in the formation lap, which by the way, folks
[07:47.020 -> 07:51.900] will go in the Inside Line Parody Awards for a fact, it genuinely will.
[07:51.900 -> 07:53.480] But we saw that happening.
[07:53.480 -> 07:56.480] Mercedes were nothing short of atrocious this weekend.
[07:56.480 -> 07:58.280] We shall come to that in a second.
[07:58.280 -> 08:02.220] But lots of key contenders for that F1.5 victory were gone.
[08:02.220 -> 08:06.320] And suddenly, when the circumstances did come about, Alonso really,
[08:06.320 -> 08:11.200] I mean, I think this is one of the finest drives of his career, purely because of how easy it was
[08:11.200 -> 08:16.480] to overtake at Interlagos this weekend. Any other circuit would have been fine. Imola, okay, Melbourne,
[08:16.480 -> 08:21.920] you can still consider it to be an average drive. But here, considering the circumstances, that
[08:21.920 -> 08:25.080] deserves a different level of praise altogether in my opinion.
[08:25.080 -> 08:29.160] I think certain teams of course didn't perform like you just mentioned.
[08:29.160 -> 08:34.000] Also what worked in Aston's favor, apart from all that hard work and them running so many
[08:34.000 -> 08:39.000] test sessions for so many races, right, was that the temperatures were fluctuating when
[08:39.000 -> 08:44.360] it was cooler, like it was on Friday and then on Sunday, he was actually, the cars were
[08:44.360 -> 08:45.520] quick. On Saturday,
[08:45.520 -> 08:49.920] when it got warmer, we saw that it wasn't quick at all in the sprint. So, you know,
[08:49.920 -> 08:54.640] the Aston's actually messed up the sprint, which pretty much nobody cares about, but they struggled
[08:54.640 -> 08:59.440] big time. Or rather, they messed up the sprint, but they delivered extremely well in the Grand Prix
[08:59.440 -> 09:05.280] format, as we'd call it. And you mentioned, you know, Alonso's last podium was in Sunfoot.
[09:05.280 -> 09:06.900] Here's an interesting stat.
[09:06.900 -> 09:12.300] So Monza to Mexico, which is the race after Sunfoot was Monza,
[09:12.300 -> 09:14.640] and Mexico was a previous race, six races,
[09:14.640 -> 09:17.340] Fernando Alonso scored just 15 points.
[09:17.340 -> 09:21.100] But in Brazil alone, just is where
[09:21.100 -> 09:22.460] he scored those 15 points.
[09:22.460 -> 09:25.720] It's his eighth podium of 2023.
[09:25.720 -> 09:29.880] And unfortunately, Aston Martin has been outscored
[09:29.880 -> 09:34.760] by McLaren since Monza, which is since the last seven races.
[09:34.760 -> 09:38.040] So, yeah, it's gonna be interesting to see
[09:38.040 -> 09:43.040] how the whole Aston Martin story turns again, if it does.
[09:43.240 -> 10:01.880] No, I just wanna add one more point to that. Fernando Alonso has as many podiums as Sergio Perez this season. And Martin's story turns again if it does.
[10:01.880 -> 10:05.280] Actually that very conveniently brings us on to Sergio Perez.
[10:05.280 -> 10:10.080] Now, as I mentioned in the intro, Perez and Lange Troll, two of the most slandered drivers
[10:10.080 -> 10:14.540] on the Insideline F1 podcast, and dare I say for good reason, because their performances
[10:14.540 -> 10:18.280] haven't quite lived up to everything that we expect of them.
[10:18.280 -> 10:22.920] But I think this Brazilian GP has been an anti-weekend for Formula One, because apart
[10:22.920 -> 10:28.960] from Verstappen winning, all the other conventional stories have been flipped over. We have seen Perez and Lange-Stoll have good
[10:28.960 -> 10:33.440] performances. We have seen Aston Martin on the podium in the second half of the season.
[10:33.440 -> 10:38.040] The most consistent team in the second half, Mercedes, has actually not gotten any decent
[10:38.040 -> 10:43.000] points and instead of Charles Leclerc making an error on his own in a serious format, it
[10:43.000 -> 10:46.880] was the car. Something clearly is up with this weekend, Kunal.
[10:46.880 -> 10:48.600] Something really interesting is happening here.
[10:48.600 -> 10:50.920] But fair play to Sergio Perez, right?
[10:50.920 -> 10:54.800] After the race, he put his hands up and said that yes, Fernando was the better competitor
[10:54.800 -> 10:55.960] in this regard.
[10:55.960 -> 10:58.160] He was able to fight a lot better than me.
[10:58.160 -> 11:01.560] But I don't know if we should be happy or sad about his weekend.
[11:01.560 -> 11:05.120] Because in a way, it's a big step up from where he was a couple of weekends
[11:05.120 -> 11:09.040] ago but it's still not up there with Max and that's really what the benchmark is right.
[11:09.920 -> 11:16.080] I mean now the benchmark clearly is getting P2 in the drivers championship ahead of Lewis
[11:16.080 -> 11:20.720] Hamilton and that's what you know Krishnan Hona has been saying at the you know at the end of
[11:20.720 -> 11:26.280] every interview and at the end of every radio message to Checo. Great race, Checo. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
[11:26.280 -> 11:27.880] Okay, you scored more than Lewis.
[11:27.880 -> 11:36.960] So, this race and the result will give a big boost to Checo's, you know, point score gap against Lewis Hamilton.
[11:36.960 -> 11:40.560] He scored four points more than Lewis on the Saturday.
[11:40.560 -> 11:48.240] And now I think the gap is roughly 27 or 31 points, something, something rough,
[11:48.240 -> 11:50.000] something like 32 points, right?
[11:50.000 -> 11:51.320] My math was all over the place.
[11:51.320 -> 11:56.240] So now I can imagine in Las Vegas, we're going to run all the permutation combinations of
[11:56.240 -> 12:03.360] when Checo Perez, how soon can Checo Perez seal P2 in the Drivers' Championship to Lewis
[12:03.360 -> 12:09.120] Hamilton? P2 in the Drivers' Championship to Lewis Hamilton. But lots of interesting, unusual narratives,
[12:09.120 -> 12:11.800] like you pointed out yourself, Somal.
[12:11.800 -> 12:14.320] Yeah, let's talk about a few more of them
[12:14.320 -> 12:16.120] for a very, very quick second.
[12:16.120 -> 12:18.240] What would you like to bring up, Sundaram, first?
[12:18.240 -> 12:22.040] We have to talk about FIA's inconsistencies.
[12:22.040 -> 12:24.720] We have to talk about Mercedes's inconsistent weekend.
[12:24.720 -> 12:26.000] And also also Lando
[12:26.000 -> 12:27.000] Norris' starts.
[12:27.000 -> 12:28.840] You pick, we'll go to that one.
[12:28.840 -> 12:33.120] I think the most interesting questions that people have surely has to be what happened
[12:33.120 -> 12:34.120] with Mercedes' pace.
[12:34.120 -> 12:37.960] But I think we should also ask the, we should also answer the Danny Rick question after
[12:37.960 -> 12:38.960] that.
[12:38.960 -> 12:39.960] So let's start with Mercedes, shall we?
[12:39.960 -> 12:42.640] Okay, let's go to Mercedes.
[12:42.640 -> 12:43.800] Nobody has a clue.
[12:43.800 -> 12:45.080] Clearly, nobody has a clue. Clearly, nobody has a clue.
[12:45.080 -> 12:49.480] Toto Wolf has come out there in the media and said that it has been their worst weekend
[12:49.480 -> 12:50.480] ever.
[12:50.480 -> 12:51.480] Ever.
[12:51.480 -> 12:55.120] Did they not see Bahareh in 2022 in terms of pace and performance?
[12:55.120 -> 13:00.520] Sure, they got a podium out of it, but I get a feeling there is some bit of truth to it.
[13:00.520 -> 13:02.580] I think it's down to context.
[13:02.580 -> 13:06.280] This time last year, they were winners at this very circuit in a similar circumstance
[13:06.280 -> 13:07.420] with the sprint.
[13:07.420 -> 13:09.500] And what, how many points have they got this weekend?
[13:09.500 -> 13:12.820] Only a couple with Lewis Hamilton finishing in P8.
[13:12.820 -> 13:16.260] That's hardly ideal for them going into this one.
[13:16.260 -> 13:20.280] But where did it really go wrong seems to be a bit of a mystery.
[13:20.280 -> 13:22.740] Some journalists are saying rear tyre degradation.
[13:22.740 -> 13:29.200] Some journalists are saying just being in the dirty air and not having a good qualifying. It surely is a mixture of them all, but that's an
[13:29.200 -> 13:33.680] embarrassing one, isn't it Sundaram? Yeah, it's really a mixed bag in that sense because quite a
[13:33.680 -> 13:37.920] few people, even the drivers in the post-race pen, they were saying that we really have to go back
[13:37.920 -> 13:42.800] and figure where it went wrong. Sure, there's a little bit of an indication that it's probably a
[13:42.800 -> 13:46.100] little bit more tyre deck. They were really not able to match the pace.
[13:46.100 -> 13:49.980] I mean, at one point of time, when Bono was telling Hamilton that you can push right now,
[13:49.980 -> 13:54.020] Lewis goes on to say, I have been pushing for the last five laps, dude.
[13:54.020 -> 13:57.580] So no matter what Lewis or George were doing, they really didn't have the pace.
[13:57.580 -> 14:04.020] Probably it's also because they were a little conservative in running the car a little high
[14:04.020 -> 14:07.040] because of what happened in the Austin race
[14:07.040 -> 14:11.440] because of the sprint. They probably ran the car a little high, probably it was a little bit more
[14:11.440 -> 14:20.080] draggy and that's why they were literally sitting ducks across both streets. But Toto's comments of
[14:20.080 -> 14:30.800] calling it their worst weekend ever or calling it the fact that this was a miserable car to drive. I think it's slightly exaggerated for the fact that they went into this race
[14:30.800 -> 14:37.000] really looking as one of the contenders. They've won this race the last two times and they
[14:37.000 -> 14:42.960] did extremely well in the last two races as well. It really doesn't sound well for the
[14:42.960 -> 14:48.560] people who are in the factory who have been putting all that effort and trying to come up with their grades and upgrades and develop
[14:48.560 -> 14:49.820] this car.
[14:49.820 -> 14:53.020] It really doesn't sound well because it's just one bad result.
[14:53.020 -> 14:58.480] And I think it's only down to how poorly they were falling back in the in the whole running
[14:58.480 -> 15:01.920] order if you see the whole race classification.
[15:01.920 -> 15:07.880] Both Mercedes cars are the only ones that ones that fell so back from the starting positions while everyone else literally made up positions
[15:08.120 -> 15:11.600] We had because we had five or six drivers retiring. Let me put it this way
[15:12.080 -> 15:18.840] The Mercedes team actually had a very Ferrari-esque race. Do you guys agree or disagree with that statement?
[15:18.840 -> 15:19.840] Oh
[15:19.840 -> 15:22.980] You usually Mercedes has great races
[15:23.320 -> 15:27.320] But this was the time and Ferrari doesn't have great races, as we know.
[15:27.320 -> 15:30.480] I think that was a case of them just going backwards,
[15:30.480 -> 15:32.640] completely taking everyone by surprise.
[15:32.640 -> 15:35.320] They didn't have the tire degradation in control.
[15:35.320 -> 15:38.280] To bring that in control, they had a very big rear wing,
[15:38.280 -> 15:40.720] which was making them draggy on the straights.
[15:40.720 -> 15:42.840] I mean, Yuki Tsunoda was battling.
[15:42.840 -> 15:44.960] AlphaTauri, the slowest car on the grid,
[15:44.960 -> 15:45.040] was battling Lewis Hamilton andauri, you know, the slowest car on the grid was
[15:45.040 -> 15:47.200] battling Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc.
[15:47.200 -> 15:55.880] So lots of concerns at Mercedes, all of them validated by the points Sundaram has said.
[15:55.880 -> 16:00.000] Will this derail their approach into 2024?
[16:00.000 -> 16:04.120] Because remember, these upgrades they are bringing in 23 are all with a view to making
[16:04.120 -> 16:05.840] a big step forward into 24.
[16:05.840 -> 16:08.000] And Lewis Hamilton has suddenly turned around and said,
[16:08.560 -> 16:13.120] you know, the kind of advantage Red Bull has might just take more than a couple of years to lock in.
[16:13.200 -> 16:19.360] And the only interesting comment which, or at least for me, interesting comment was when Lewis said,
[16:19.840 -> 16:24.640] Brazil has some of the most beautiful women and maybe one race out here when I come, I'll find a girlfriend.
[16:26.720 -> 16:27.720] Did you guys miss that? Huh?
[16:27.720 -> 16:29.440] Does he not have one already?
[16:29.440 -> 16:30.440] I'm surprised actually.
[16:30.440 -> 16:32.800] What happened to Shakira by the way?
[16:32.800 -> 16:33.800] It's disappointing.
[16:33.800 -> 16:38.180] I mean, if you've got Shakira with you and you're spending time, it's disappointing that
[16:38.180 -> 16:40.080] you don't even give it a chance.
[16:40.080 -> 16:41.360] I'm sad about this, Lewis.
[16:41.360 -> 16:43.480] Come on, you could have done a little bit better.
[16:43.480 -> 16:46.800] I know the hips don't lie. I get a feeling he clearly is.
[16:46.800 -> 16:51.620] But we should talk about other impressive stuff about the Brazilian GP.
[16:51.620 -> 16:53.720] Some really interesting things pop up to mind.
[16:53.720 -> 16:57.100] Daniel Ricciardo being one of them.
[16:57.100 -> 16:59.400] We saw something interesting in the sprint race.
[16:59.400 -> 17:03.120] Daniel Ricciardo had a really crazy moment with the racecraft.
[17:03.120 -> 17:07.280] Now I mentioned earlier you can genuinely race here at the Interlagos circuit and Ricardo
[17:07.280 -> 17:11.720] found that out the tough way because he was battling Carlos Sainz and you know we have
[17:11.720 -> 17:15.020] DRS on the main straight and also after the center S's.
[17:15.020 -> 17:19.080] So in a way if you pass someone at turn one, you make yourself susceptible to be passed
[17:19.080 -> 17:23.660] by them at the end of turn four and that is constantly what was happening between himself
[17:23.660 -> 17:24.960] and Carlos Sainz.
[17:24.960 -> 17:29.520] So this one instance Ricardo thought okay this line clearly isn't working. I shall go to the
[17:29.520 -> 17:33.920] defensive one make sure that Carlos Sainz is on a little bit of a weird line that's an S's because
[17:33.920 -> 17:39.280] he has to protect the place and then I can attack him after that and get the position into turn 4.
[17:39.280 -> 17:43.760] Now when that didn't work because Sainz had a better exit Ricardo thought the other way around
[17:43.760 -> 17:45.760] he said okay I've tried this way.
[17:45.760 -> 17:47.620] Let's go the opposite way.
[17:47.620 -> 17:49.280] Maybe I go the conventional route.
[17:49.280 -> 17:51.480] Carlos Sainz can go the normal route as well.
[17:51.480 -> 17:55.440] And I just get a cutback, make a move heading into turn four and use the DRS.
[17:55.440 -> 17:59.840] While he did that, he was going for the more aggressive line where Oscar Piastri caught
[17:59.840 -> 18:00.840] him.
[18:00.840 -> 18:04.280] Adele and Ricardo just left scratching his head like, what am I supposed to do now?
[18:04.280 -> 18:07.360] That line didn't work. This line didn't work, where am I meant to go?
[18:07.360 -> 18:12.560] Eventually, he did pass Oscar Piastri at the end and got to Carlos Sainz, but it was too
[18:12.560 -> 18:13.720] late by then.
[18:13.720 -> 18:16.600] Because by that stage, he was just one lap short.
[18:16.600 -> 18:19.920] Because if you look at the gaps, look at the pace, I get a feeling he could have passed
[18:19.920 -> 18:23.700] Carlos Sainz for that position at the end of the sprint race.
[18:23.700 -> 18:29.080] This was like, it's so frustrating because he's got such a good car underneath him, actually
[18:29.080 -> 18:34.080] not a good car, but a car that he's making work so well in the circumstances.
[18:34.080 -> 18:38.520] But these sort of tiny little things are keeping him away or chastising him from getting a
[18:38.520 -> 18:42.920] good points finish, which is also such a fun micro story to watch.
[18:42.920 -> 18:46.340] And then we had the race.
[18:46.340 -> 18:47.960] Can you explain what happened Sundaram?
[18:47.960 -> 18:52.720] Why was Daniel Ricciardo and Oscar Piastri, rather, why were Ricciardo and Oscar Piastri
[18:52.720 -> 18:54.920] not allowed to unlap themselves?
[18:54.920 -> 18:59.000] And how does one find themselves a lap down at the end of lap one?
[18:59.000 -> 19:01.220] That's just rubbish in my opinion, honestly.
[19:01.220 -> 19:02.620] That's a very good point that you made there.
[19:02.620 -> 19:06.680] And that's, I think, one of the reasons why I'm absolutely gutted where Ricciardo and
[19:06.680 -> 19:10.740] Piastri were a lap down and they were really not able to be on the same lap
[19:10.740 -> 19:13.340] with other drivers and kind of really show the sort of pace that they had
[19:13.340 -> 19:18.580] because Norris was P2, Sunoda finished sixth in sorry, where did Sunoda finish?
[19:18.580 -> 19:23.320] Sunoda finished ninth in the race so clearly there was a little bit of pace
[19:23.320 -> 19:28.480] for both those drivers and they were not able to do that, they were not able to fight for points. But the reason why they
[19:28.480 -> 19:32.840] were a lap down was because Ricciardo and Piastri had a little bit of damage on the
[19:32.840 -> 19:37.680] opening corner of the first lap and after the first lap they went into the pits. But
[19:37.680 -> 19:42.060] by the time the red flag was called out, they were still stuck in the pits. So the rest
[19:42.060 -> 19:48.580] of the drivers, they had finished one more lap around the racetrack while Ricaro and Piastri were still in their
[19:48.580 -> 19:52.600] pit garages and that's why they were a lap down. But the fact was that usually
[19:52.600 -> 19:56.440] after a safety car you would see drivers being able to unlap themselves at least
[19:56.440 -> 20:01.340] for a lap. In this case that was not applied and my only point being is that
[20:01.340 -> 20:08.160] probably there should have been a little bit of flexibility right in this case. Sure you have your rules written down and you usually follow them to the
[20:08.160 -> 20:13.600] T but maybe a little bit of consideration about what happened in the opening corner. There was not
[20:13.600 -> 20:19.520] one full racing lap as well under green flag conditions. So probably for at least that very
[20:19.520 -> 20:24.560] reason probably Ricciardo and Piastri should have been on that very same lap as the rest of the
[20:24.560 -> 20:25.000] drivers.
[20:25.000 -> 20:31.000] We saw this in Australia as well where a couple of drivers were allowed to unlap themselves in the final couple of laps of the race.
[20:31.000 -> 20:36.000] In this case, genuinely, if you're Ricciardo or Piastri, what can you do in this circumstance?
[20:36.000 -> 20:40.000] If you've got damage already in the pit lane and the red flag is called at that moment in time,
[20:40.000 -> 20:45.280] is there anything you can do about it? Nothing in that case. You've just been forced
[20:45.280 -> 20:50.200] into it. And imagine, right, if the red flag was called in 10 seconds later, they would
[20:50.200 -> 20:53.820] have been on the same lap, which means that maybe Ricardo could have attacked if his pace
[20:53.820 -> 20:58.260] was similar to that of the Ferraris. For all we know, he could be what, P7, P6, something
[20:58.260 -> 21:03.080] like that, changing the entire fortunes of the team, who's barely only got some 15, 20
[21:03.080 -> 21:05.040] odd points in this championship so far.
[21:05.040 -> 21:10.840] So the way this has been executed really leaves me with more questions than answers about
[21:10.840 -> 21:13.440] the policy of Red Flags and the way we restart Konal.
[21:13.440 -> 21:19.560] Yeah, and you know, again, the sport itself has gotten so much more complex, that policing
[21:19.560 -> 21:23.600] the sport is becoming a challenge technically, sporting wise, etc.
[21:23.600 -> 21:25.800] And hopefully that's where we want to see the consistency.
[21:25.800 -> 21:29.500] And, you know, Ricardo was so bummed because he said I could have definitely added.
[21:29.500 -> 21:32.400] He said I was frustratingly quick today, right?
[21:32.400 -> 21:38.900] The Alpha Tauri was only... now is just 7 points behind Williams and there are just 2 races to go.
[21:38.900 -> 21:43.900] In the first 17 races of the season, Alpha Tauri scored just 4 points.
[21:43.900 -> 21:47.760] But in the last 3 races, they've scored 16 points.
[21:47.760 -> 21:51.120] So with the upgrades they brought in the last three races, suddenly they are no
[21:51.120 -> 21:53.320] longer the slowest team on the grid.
[21:53.320 -> 21:58.280] I think that's probably gone down to, to harsh, but yes, back to the point,
[21:58.320 -> 22:00.200] Alpha Tauri could have, should have done more.
[22:00.240 -> 22:02.480] It's exciting to see them battling up there.
[22:02.760 -> 22:08.720] They're going down the route of using a lot more of Red Bull's technologies that the rules allow them to use.
[22:08.720 -> 22:12.200] But clearly the rules are very complicated and complex.
[22:12.200 -> 22:14.760] So the FIA needs, actually they need help
[22:14.760 -> 22:17.480] in making sure it's inconsistently
[22:17.480 -> 22:19.400] or consistently consistent, I would say.
[22:19.400 -> 22:20.920] Because you remember in quota,
[22:20.920 -> 22:24.320] suddenly everybody thought that they were randomly
[22:24.320 -> 22:25.760] picking up cars for
[22:26.480 -> 22:31.520] plank checks, but the truth was there was method to the madness. They just never came out and said
[22:31.520 -> 22:38.160] what the method to the madness was. Dear FIA, please come out and tell us why they were a lap
[22:38.160 -> 22:43.280] down. Explain it to us like you'd explain to a five-year-old. Isn't that one of those simplest
[22:43.280 -> 22:47.220] management questions that we've all heard in meetings?
[22:47.220 -> 22:51.540] And the last thing on this, it's been a year since they should have actually clarified
[22:51.540 -> 22:52.540] this.
[22:52.540 -> 22:56.460] Because remember, this time last year, Yuki Tsunoda also was lapped in the middle of a
[22:56.460 -> 23:00.220] race randomly for this very infringement.
[23:00.220 -> 23:02.620] Funny, funny how it's worked out.
[23:02.620 -> 23:04.180] Thumbs up to that, everyone.
[23:04.180 -> 23:05.000] But one last thing that
[23:05.000 -> 23:10.200] we have to touch upon, a micro story. Lando Norris, bad start in the sprint, great start
[23:10.200 -> 23:13.960] in the main race. Let's also keep a track on him and how he starts recently because
[23:13.960 -> 23:19.240] it's been very inconsistent. Some races he's horrible, some races he's brilliant. I think
[23:19.240 -> 23:23.720] that along with Oscar Piastri's tyre management are two really interesting micro stories we
[23:23.720 -> 23:31.400] should track Kural over the season. Yes, and Lando Norris is now just three points away from Fernando Alonso in fourth place in the Drivers Championship.
[23:31.400 -> 23:36.660] And he already jumped Carlos Sainz this weekend for sixth place. So he's in fifth.
[23:37.580 -> 23:44.260] Can he sort of go up there as the season ends? I think he's just gonna be as close as possible
[23:55.360 -> 24:01.440] As the season ends, I think he's just going to be as close as possible to Lewis Hamilton with all the mega performances he's had, you know, in the second half, since the Austria upgrade that McLaren have had. One sec, Sundaram, you've realized something big. This is the last bombshell we have to end the episode on. Go ahead.
[24:01.440 -> 24:06.160] Yeah, so Max Osterhappen the constructors title of 2023 and no matter
[24:06.160 -> 24:12.720] what Mercedes do. Guys, one second, one second, one second. Celebrations, no noise, no applause.
[24:13.760 -> 24:16.800] What? He's the driver's champion and the constructors champion. Way to go.
[24:17.440 -> 24:25.520] 17 race wins in the season beating Alberto Ascari's, you know, wins percentage record.
[24:25.720 -> 24:26.960] It's mighty stuff.
[24:27.160 -> 24:29.360] Nicely done. But you were saying, Sundaram?
[24:29.560 -> 24:32.840] I was saying no matter what Mercedes do in Las Vegas and in Abu Dhabi,
[24:33.040 -> 24:37.880] he's still going to be ahead of them in that standing as well.
[24:38.080 -> 24:40.840] And on that bombshell, folks, we've got to end this episode.
[24:41.040 -> 24:42.760] Thank you so much, everyone, for listening in.
[24:42.960 -> 25:14.160] We'll be back with the Las Vegas GP preview soon so stay right here on the Inside Line F1 podcast.
[25:14.160 -> 25:18.800] Before we ended, I just wanted to say a huge thank you to Amazon Music once again
[25:18.800 -> 25:21.680] for partnering with us on this episode of the podcast.
[25:19.690 -> 25:21.370] on this episode of the podcast.