F1 Explained: Driver Silly Season (with Steve Slater)

What is the 'driver silly season' and why is it called that? The legendary Steve Slater joins us in this episode of the F1 Explained series to share his perspectives on 'Piasco' and other driver-contract stories over the years.

This is an episode you don't want to miss! Steve's stories include Michael Schumacher, Jenson Button, Kimi Raikkonen and others. 

Join our race watchalong sessions with the legendary Steve Slater! On the live stream, you can discuss with Steve & the hosts of the Inside Line F1 Podcast various race-related topics - strategies, performances, insights & more. Enhance your real-time race viewing experience by joining our experts!

Link to purchase tickets: Paytm Insider & Inside Line F1 Podcast - Race Watchalong with Steve Slater.

(Season 2022, Episode 49)

Follow our hosts: Sundaram Ramaswami, Soumil Arora and Kunal Shah

Image courtesy: Mercedes

**Navigating the Formula One Silly Season**

- The "silly season" in Formula One refers to the period when driver contracts and team lineups are finalized for the upcoming season, often coinciding with the summer break.
- This period is known for its intense negotiations, unexpected announcements, and occasional controversies.

**Key Factors Influencing Driver Decisions:**

- Consistency: Teams prioritize stability and continuity in their driver lineup to optimize car performance and engineering strategies.
- Driver Adaptability: Teams consider whether a driver's style and preferences align with the car's characteristics to maximize performance.
- Financial Considerations: Drivers and teams negotiate contracts involving salaries, bonuses, and sponsorship opportunities.
- Team Dynamics: Drivers assess the team's infrastructure, resources, and overall competitiveness before making a decision.
- Personal Preferences: Drivers may prioritize factors such as location, proximity to family, and opportunities for personal growth.

**Recent Notable Driver Market Developments:**

- Fernando Alonso's move from Alpine to Aston Martin, creating a vacancy at Alpine.
- Oscar Piastri's expected move to Alpine, subject to contractual agreements.
- Daniel Ricciardo's uncertain future, with rumors of a potential return to McLaren or a move to Haas.
- Mick Schumacher's limited options, considering his current situation with the Ferrari Driver Academy.

**Historical Anecdotes and Controversies:**

- Michael Schumacher's controversial move from Jordan to Benetton in 1991, highlighting the complexities of driver contracts.
- Jenson Button's desire to leave Honda in 2005, leading to a contract dispute and eventual resolution with BAR.
- Kimi Raikkonen's unique career path, including his sabbatical from Formula One and ventures into NASCAR and rallying.

**Expert Insights from Steve Slater:**

- Teams conduct thorough due diligence, including simulator sessions, before finalizing driver contracts.
- Kimi Raikkonen's reputation for delivering consistent performances despite his reserved personality.
- The significance of the Belgian Grand Prix as a pivotal moment in the silly season.
- Ferrari's ongoing struggles with reliability and strategy, despite having a competitive car and talented drivers.

**Upcoming Belgian Grand Prix:**

- Weather conditions are a crucial factor, with heavy rain potentially disrupting the race as seen in 2021.
- Ferrari's chances at Spa, considering the track's characteristics and their recent performance.
- The potential for Mercedes to regain form and challenge for victory.
- Matteo Binotto's stance on maintaining Ferrari's current approach despite their difficulties.

**Interactive Watch-Along Sessions:**

- Listeners are encouraged to join live watch-along sessions with Steve Slater and the Inside Line F1 Podcast team.
- These sessions offer live commentary, insights, polls, and quizzes during the Belgian Grand Prix.

[00:00.000 -> 00:26.040] Hi there folks, welcome to this special episode of F1 Explained on the Inside Line F1 Podcast.
[00:26.040 -> 00:30.160] You might be wondering, normally it's Mithila who starts off these episodes, but unfortunately
[00:30.160 -> 00:32.160] she's not going to be a part of this one.
[00:32.160 -> 00:36.920] But don't you worry, I've got a lot of fun stories that I want to share with you.
[00:36.920 -> 00:39.800] And trust me, we've got the perfect guest to do just that.
[00:39.800 -> 00:44.760] Now in the world of Formula 1, one might expect it to be pretty dull at this particular stage
[00:44.760 -> 00:45.360] of the year. But just like the airfields in the UK, the skies one might expect it to be pretty dull at this particular stage of the year.
[00:45.360 -> 00:50.320] But just like the airfields in the UK, the skies are eventually turning out to be pretty busy.
[00:50.320 -> 00:53.120] And speaking of the airfields, speaking of Formula One,
[00:53.120 -> 00:57.280] here's the perfect guest to bring along for this episode of F1 Explained.
[00:57.280 -> 01:01.440] Folks, please welcome Steve Slater, the voice of Formula One in Asia,
[01:01.440 -> 01:09.760] and at this stage as well, kind of one of the voices of the Inside Learn F1 podcast as well, considering how often we've had him on. But sir, firstly, welcome along
[01:09.760 -> 01:15.840] and I want to ask you one major question. Silly season? I mean, what sort of a silly name is silly
[01:15.840 -> 01:23.120] season? How did it even come about? It's that time where decisions defy logic sometimes. I mean,
[01:23.120 -> 01:26.360] you can't get much sillier than a four
[01:26.360 -> 01:29.920] times world champion announcing his retirement just at the start of the
[01:29.920 -> 01:34.320] summer break, unlocking the driver market while everybody's away on holiday. You
[01:34.320 -> 01:38.440] can imagine the running around behind the scenes can't you? You know we've had
[01:38.440 -> 01:42.880] some real silly ones in the past. Williams used to have a reputation for
[01:42.880 -> 01:45.000] taking a driver to the World Championship and then
[01:45.000 -> 01:50.800] releasing them, you know, with Damon Hill and Nigel Mansell.
[01:50.800 -> 01:54.940] We've seen some bizarre decisions in the past and we've seen some bizarre decisions which
[01:54.940 -> 01:55.940] have worked out.
[01:55.940 -> 01:59.720] I mean, who would have thought bringing a 16-year-old Max Verstappen, whose dad had
[01:59.720 -> 02:03.440] to drive into the circuit because he hadn't got a driver's license, who would have thought
[02:03.440 -> 02:09.520] about bringing him into Formula One? He's done rather well since though, hasn't he? He has, yeah, and the team he's
[02:09.520 -> 02:14.560] kind of working for these days has had a crazy amount of stories to talk about in the silly
[02:14.560 -> 02:21.280] season itself. I mean, I remember, sir, there was a time back in 2017 where Toro Rosso had six drivers
[02:21.280 -> 02:25.520] in their team for one year. And it's not MotoGP where you constantly have wild
[02:25.520 -> 02:30.240] car drivers coming in and out but it's just crazy how many things happen at this time of the year.
[02:30.240 -> 02:34.400] Well it is, Toro Rosso of course had a special reason for doing that, they were effectively the
[02:34.400 -> 02:41.200] Red Bull Junior team and Helmut Marko had a task of bringing through new driver talent,
[02:41.200 -> 02:46.040] funding driver talent through the Junior formulas for Formula 3, Formula 2,
[02:46.040 -> 02:48.040] and GP2 as it used to be,
[02:48.040 -> 02:50.400] and getting them seats in F1 cars.
[02:50.400 -> 02:53.440] And bluntly, he worked on the light bulb principle.
[02:53.440 -> 02:55.480] If you screwed the light bulb in and it didn't go on,
[02:55.480 -> 02:57.920] you threw it away and put a new one in.
[02:57.920 -> 03:01.020] It was a tough, a very tough proving ground
[03:01.020 -> 03:02.320] for a lot of drivers,
[03:02.320 -> 03:05.520] but we have seen some really good Red Bull racing
[03:05.520 -> 03:09.600] drivers come through that system and have come to the fore. People like Mark
[03:09.600 -> 03:14.340] Webber who really didn't have the money to you know to go and start finding big
[03:14.340 -> 03:17.840] sponsorship and big seats and it's quite interesting now in the midst of the
[03:17.840 -> 03:20.960] latest driver silly season guess who's there behind the scenes as one of the
[03:20.960 -> 03:25.120] drivers managers? One Mark Webber. Exactly that and I'd love to know
[03:25.120 -> 03:30.400] your take on that in a second but first I've got to ask you about the timing of it, just how does
[03:30.400 -> 03:36.160] it always end up happening at the Belgian GP? Now we know for a fact that the Storm can brew
[03:36.160 -> 03:41.440] around quite a fair bit on Spa-Francorchamps but it's just as intense on the track as it is offered
[03:41.440 -> 03:48.160] at this time of the year. It is, this of course will be the first Grand Prix after the month-long season break where
[03:48.160 -> 03:52.880] it's compulsory for the teams to allow their staff and particularly their engineering and
[03:52.880 -> 03:59.360] research staff to stand down. And that is a reflection now of the extended Formula One
[03:59.360 -> 04:07.520] season which almost goes from sort of February to November. So it's a way of allowing the teams to regroup
[04:07.520 -> 04:08.800] while all that is going on,
[04:08.800 -> 04:11.080] the commercial guys are working behind the scenes.
[04:11.080 -> 04:12.800] You know, they're trying to put the money together
[04:12.800 -> 04:13.680] for next year.
[04:13.680 -> 04:16.260] And you're talking an organization now
[04:16.260 -> 04:19.600] which maybe has to raise 50 to $100 million
[04:19.600 -> 04:22.000] in order to be able to be out on the starting group
[04:22.000 -> 04:23.160] for the next year.
[04:23.160 -> 04:24.600] That's a big budget.
[04:24.600 -> 04:25.080] And even with budget caps and everything else, you don't get those decisions made overnight. to be able to be out on the starting grid for the next year. That's a big budget. And
[04:25.080 -> 04:29.440] even with budget caps and everything else, you don't get those decisions made overnight.
[04:29.440 -> 04:32.140] You know, they'll have been working on them for a year, but this is the time where those
[04:32.140 -> 04:35.660] decisions start to come through. And that reflects on the driver market.
[04:35.660 -> 04:40.240] And in the case of drivers, just how early do you think the talks actually begin? Is
[04:40.240 -> 04:43.940] it just starting around at this stage? Or are things actually almost done at this stage
[04:43.940 -> 04:51.040] most years? A lot of teams of course have already confirmed their driver lineups and consistency
[04:51.040 -> 04:58.240] is key these days. It's a real challenge to any F1 team when you change a driver over. The systems
[04:58.240 -> 05:03.680] within the car, the engineering within the car, the research that goes into that engineering is
[05:03.680 -> 05:05.820] incredibly complicated.
[05:05.820 -> 05:09.720] And these days the driver, as well as being a talented driver, also has to be a systems
[05:09.720 -> 05:10.720] manager.
[05:10.720 -> 05:15.160] They have to be able to handle, with big mental dexterity actually, a lot of stuff going on
[05:15.160 -> 05:16.160] in the car.
[05:16.160 -> 05:19.000] You listen to the instructions going backwards and forwards to Max Verstappen to turn this
[05:19.000 -> 05:25.720] up, turn this down, adjust this, tweak that, all being done in the car manually or semi manually and
[05:25.720 -> 05:29.200] that's a requirement of the rules of course. The guys on the pit lane can't
[05:29.200 -> 05:33.600] make those changes and that is very important. Yeah, interesting stuff you
[05:33.600 -> 05:37.480] mentioned over there about consistency being key and how McLaren actually want
[05:37.480 -> 05:41.920] to change that and I want to get your opinion on that but I'll do so after a
[05:41.920 -> 05:49.280] short break. So stay right here folks on the Inside Line of Fun Podcast. There's a lot of fun stuff to talk about, the present fiasco and what could
[05:49.280 -> 05:54.560] happen with Daniel Ricciardo and also some crazy F1 contract situations over the years.
[05:54.560 -> 06:00.040] So be right back. Hey folks, welcome back into the Inside Line F1 Podcast. We were chatting
[06:00.040 -> 06:06.720] with the voice of F1, Steve Slater, about the driver's silly season and on the matter of consistency
[06:06.720 -> 06:11.680] Alpine have just gone out there and have shaken the entire ground. They've ended up losing not
[06:11.680 -> 06:16.720] just their number one driver now officially they might not be having a number one number two status
[06:16.720 -> 06:20.720] but we all know who's the number one in Alpine right now but they've lost him they've lost
[06:20.720 -> 06:28.760] Fernando Alonso and they've ended up losing one of the most promising talents in Formula One in a matter of 48 hours. So firstly how do
[06:28.760 -> 06:32.600] you look at this entire situation and just where do we go from here? How does
[06:32.600 -> 06:36.000] Formula One progress from this situation? Well let's go back to the very beginning
[06:36.000 -> 06:39.320] of course. This was opened up by Sebastian Vettel announcing his
[06:39.320 -> 06:43.080] retirement from Formula One and we've almost forgotten Sebastian, he's a
[06:43.080 -> 06:46.720] four-times world champion for heaven's sake, he should be remembered and noted.
[06:46.720 -> 06:49.520] So, he'll be stepping down from Aston Martin.
[06:49.520 -> 06:56.880] Alonso very quickly said that he was going to move from Alpine to Aston Martin, he obviously
[06:56.880 -> 07:04.080] sees a bigger chance or a bigger payroll, you decide which it's going to be.
[07:04.080 -> 07:05.440] Which is quite surprising because he
[07:05.440 -> 07:09.640] fitted in well with Alpine, he has a good history, it is the old Benetton team
[07:09.640 -> 07:15.480] actually in all but name. So Alonso moved on to Aston Martin, Alpine then
[07:15.480 -> 07:20.880] announced that Oscar Piastri was going to join them, you know the Formula 3
[07:20.880 -> 07:29.200] champion two years ago, Formula 2 champion last year. He's been a part of the Renault driver academy with Joe Gagnon, in fact,
[07:29.200 -> 07:35.000] and everybody expected that he would seamlessly move across because he's tested for Renault,
[07:35.000 -> 07:38.000] he knows how the systems work and everything else.
[07:38.000 -> 07:40.700] But then, and he's actually managed by Mark Webber, who, of course,
[07:40.700 -> 07:45.000] has a history with the Enstone-based team in his own right. Mae'n ddiddorol bod y tîm yn ymwneud â'r tîm yn ei hun.
[07:45.000 -> 07:50.000] Mark wedi gweld bod yna ddwy o'r cymhwysterau,
[07:50.000 -> 07:54.000] yw McLaren ac Daniel Ricciardo.
[07:54.000 -> 07:57.000] Dydw i ddim yn dweud nad yw'r tîm wedi cymryd gwrthdaro gyda Daniel Ricciardo,
[07:57.000 -> 07:59.000] ond nad yw Ricciardo wedi cymryd gwrthdaro gyda'r ffordd y mae'r car hwnnw'n ei wneud.
[07:59.000 -> 08:01.000] Nid yw'n ymddangos yn y styl hwnnw.
[08:01.000 -> 08:03.000] Mae'n ddiddorol bod McLaren wedi gwneud y penderfyniad
[08:03.000 -> 08:08.100] i ddod o'r un Osbyn ac i ddod o'r un arall. Byddai hyn yn y ffyndd o Oscar Piastri. style at all and it appears that McLaren have made the decision to stand down one Aussie and bring another one in and that it would be in the shape of Oscar
[08:08.100 -> 08:12.840] Piastri. Of course whether the whole deal survives the contact with the lawyers is
[08:12.840 -> 08:18.120] another story but I'm pretty sure that Piastri's management team have come to
[08:18.120 -> 08:24.120] some form of agreement. Alpine of course are very upset about this and it does
[08:24.120 -> 08:25.560] leave a vacancy next to Esteban
[08:25.560 -> 08:29.480] Ocon and it's going to be interesting to see who moves up there next.
[08:29.480 -> 08:34.440] If I might just remind you, there was a guy at the Enstone based team a few years ago
[08:34.440 -> 08:39.840] who came in under slightly controversial circumstances as well because he was poached from Jordan.
[08:39.840 -> 08:41.000] His name was Michael Schumacher.
[08:41.000 -> 08:42.920] I wonder where Mick's going?
[08:42.920 -> 08:49.120] Which is one of the questions I wanted to ask you because at this point in time, perhaps staying with the Ferrari Driver Academy might not
[08:49.120 -> 08:54.480] be the wisest of moves, but that's just also such a big conundrum for other drivers as well.
[08:54.480 -> 08:59.840] Similarly for Daniel Ricciardo, who might end up going back in a similar fold with Haas. Now,
[08:59.840 -> 09:03.440] I want to talk about both of them and actually it's also bringing Mick in this conversation
[09:03.440 -> 09:07.080] because for Mick, there's only places to gain right now,
[09:07.080 -> 09:08.640] but the options are limited.
[09:08.640 -> 09:10.320] For Daniel Rekha and Alpine,
[09:10.320 -> 09:12.760] it's like they have both ended up being the sole losers
[09:12.760 -> 09:14.800] and they all have to just kind of look
[09:14.800 -> 09:15.840] for alternative options
[09:15.840 -> 09:17.600] that aren't quite their first priority.
[09:17.600 -> 09:19.880] So where do they go in this case?
[09:19.880 -> 09:22.120] Because if they come back together,
[09:22.120 -> 09:24.720] it'll kind of be like two divorcees
[09:24.720 -> 09:26.680] starting to live with each other once again.
[09:26.680 -> 09:29.440] Not really that they want to, but it's a marriage born
[09:29.440 -> 09:30.360] out of necessity.
[09:30.360 -> 09:32.760] So that will be an uncomfortable situation, no?
[09:32.760 -> 09:34.120] Perhaps the best for both of them?
[09:34.120 -> 09:35.720] We're dealing with professionals here.
[09:35.720 -> 09:39.520] This is a professional sport.
[09:39.520 -> 09:42.360] I'm sure Daniel Ricciardo will go where the best option takes
[09:42.360 -> 09:45.000] him, and that may not even be within Formula One. You could see Daniel Ricciardo will go where the best option takes him. And that may not even be within Formula One.
[09:45.000 -> 09:46.680] You know, you could see Daniel Ricciardo
[09:46.680 -> 09:49.760] racing at Indianapolis or racing at Le Mans.
[09:49.760 -> 09:51.400] He'd be hugely successful in either.
[09:51.400 -> 09:52.960] Could you imagine the crowds in Australia
[09:52.960 -> 09:56.320] if he went to the Australian Touring Car Championship?
[09:56.320 -> 09:57.600] You know, that would be something else
[09:57.600 -> 09:58.920] seeing him on the mountain.
[10:00.160 -> 10:04.600] But I would say at this stage, let's wait and see.
[10:04.600 -> 10:06.240] There are options out there both in Formula
[10:06.240 -> 10:11.760] One and outside F1. Is Formula One finished with Daniel Ricciardo? In a way, I hope not.
[10:11.760 -> 10:15.840] But it's pretty clear that Daniel is not comfortable with the car he's been driving
[10:15.840 -> 10:22.080] at McLaren. It might be a cause of source of mutual relief if if Daniel finished the season and went
[10:22.080 -> 10:26.800] to somewhere else. And if he actually got paid 21 million US dollars for that as well.
[10:26.800 -> 10:29.120] That helps, that definitely helps for sure.
[10:29.120 -> 10:30.680] But on the subject of Ricardo
[10:30.680 -> 10:32.800] not being able to match up with his car,
[10:32.800 -> 10:35.640] we've recently seen a lot of debate about teams.
[10:35.640 -> 10:38.360] And we've been told on social media at least,
[10:38.360 -> 10:41.360] people saying, okay, the team should perhaps choose drivers
[10:41.360 -> 10:43.820] that fit in with their car a little bit better.
[10:43.820 -> 10:50.240] Now, how much of a factor is that drivers adapt into a particular car style and you reckon teams can actually identify that
[10:50.240 -> 10:55.200] before they sign them on because if they could that would be such a big boon in the driver market
[10:55.200 -> 10:58.880] right because they know exactly who they're targeting in that case. I think they do that
[10:58.880 -> 11:06.720] already and they certainly give drivers simulator time long before they finalize a contract.
[11:06.720 -> 11:10.320] These teams are, as you say, spending tens of millions of pounds on these drivers.
[11:10.320 -> 11:12.120] They do the due diligence.
[11:12.120 -> 11:15.600] So I have no doubt about that bit of it.
[11:15.600 -> 11:19.320] Of course, some of the challenges this year have been because we've moved back to a ground
[11:19.320 -> 11:25.000] effect car, and some of the teams have responded, particularly Mercedes, better than others.
[11:25.000 -> 11:29.000] But equally, we'll see where it takes us.
[11:29.000 -> 11:32.000] There is another scenario with Daniel Ricciardo, of course.
[11:32.000 -> 11:34.000] It's the Kimi Raikkonen scenario.
[11:34.000 -> 11:37.000] Do you remember in 2018 when Kimi Raikkonen stood down from...
[11:37.000 -> 11:50.720] What was it, 2008? I'm losing the plot. He stood down from Ferrari to make room for a certain Charles Leclerc in 2018
[11:50.720 -> 11:55.440] and Kimi didn't race for a couple of years because he was being paid money by Ferrari
[11:55.440 -> 12:02.320] not to race. So there could be that scenario as well, we don't know. That is all done by
[12:02.320 -> 12:06.360] lawyers, people in the commercial section of the team behind closed doors.
[12:06.360 -> 12:08.060] But we'll get to see the end result when
[12:08.060 -> 12:09.280] they get out on the racetrack.
[12:09.280 -> 12:11.360] Just keep an eye on the color of the crash helmet.
[12:11.360 -> 12:14.880] And that year was 2009, at the end of 2009.
[12:14.880 -> 12:17.080] And Kimi, I wouldn't say he sat home.
[12:17.080 -> 12:20.000] He just graduated to Nascar trucks.
[12:20.000 -> 12:22.000] Again, that's the peak of motorsport, isn't it?
[12:22.000 -> 12:23.560] We all know that it is.
[12:23.560 -> 12:25.880] But on the subject of Kimi, on the subject of Tamsin.
[12:25.880 -> 12:27.080] You can't even describe them.
[12:27.080 -> 12:29.200] Any nearly one-ton pickup truck that
[12:29.200 -> 12:31.560] can do the best part of 200 miles an hour,
[12:31.560 -> 12:33.720] that's got to be fun to drive.
[12:33.720 -> 12:36.680] They're actually more powerful than the NASCAR stock cars.
[12:36.680 -> 12:38.640] And they're ridiculously crazy to manage.
[12:38.640 -> 12:40.600] But that's not the only thing that Kimi drove,
[12:40.600 -> 12:42.080] because he went to rallies.
[12:42.080 -> 12:44.280] And there's this iconic image of Kimi Raikkonen
[12:44.280 -> 12:46.720] standing atop of a split rally car saying,
[12:46.720 -> 12:48.000] yeah, man, it just happened.
[12:48.000 -> 12:51.160] And that's the kind of stuff that we really love.
[12:51.160 -> 12:55.120] But Kimi's been on the subject of a lot of crazy contract
[12:55.120 -> 12:57.520] stories in Formula One that happened in the city season.
[12:57.520 -> 13:00.960] Case in point, one that isn't quite 100% relevant,
[13:00.960 -> 13:03.880] but is really fun to bring out, his scenario with Lotus.
[13:03.880 -> 13:05.200] Do you remember that?
[13:05.200 -> 13:09.200] When he actually ended up performing so well that he bankrupted his own team.
[13:09.200 -> 13:17.240] Well, I really wouldn't comment on that one, but I do know that the thing with Kimi is
[13:17.240 -> 13:21.600] he may not be the great one for making speeches, but he, you put him in a race car, you're
[13:21.600 -> 13:25.200] going to get a 100% Kimi Raikkonen drive. And that's what we all love about Kimi.
[13:25.600 -> 13:27.480] Uh, I did love it earlier this week.
[13:27.560 -> 13:30.760] Uh, he posted an image on Facebook and there's a picture of him sitting in
[13:30.760 -> 13:36.080] a NASCAR with just a one word caption being typically Kimi hashtag NASCAR.
[13:36.680 -> 13:37.320] There's a hint.
[13:39.920 -> 13:40.680] Exactly.
[13:40.800 -> 13:42.600] Uh, Kimi is just so Kimi.
[13:43.200 -> 13:45.800] And I want to talk to you specifically
[13:45.800 -> 13:48.040] about one thing you mentioned early in the episode.
[13:48.040 -> 13:51.280] You said Michael Schumacher's story with Jordan.
[13:51.280 -> 13:53.640] Now, that's caught my eye once again,
[13:53.640 -> 13:56.120] or caught my ear in a way, because we're doing a podcast.
[13:56.120 -> 13:57.960] But whatever, you get the point, right?
[13:57.960 -> 14:00.680] The point is, that is one of the really fun stories that
[14:00.680 -> 14:04.360] kind of manipulated, that's not the word I'm looking for,
[14:04.360 -> 14:05.840] but manifested itself
[14:05.840 -> 14:10.680] in the middle of a season. And that is, isn't that very similar to what we're seeing with
[14:10.680 -> 14:15.960] Oscar Piastri, isn't it? But this is of course, a situation where Piastri hasn't quite driven
[14:15.960 -> 14:26.200] a race, but Michael in that case did. And for us, yeah, that was the most busy time. Well, that was Belgian Grand Prix, what was it?
[14:26.200 -> 14:29.760] It must have been 91, I can't remember, 90.
[14:29.760 -> 14:31.800] I can't remember the specific date.
[14:31.800 -> 14:35.160] Basically, though, the Jordan team had a problem.
[14:35.160 -> 14:38.000] One of their drivers, Bertrand Gachot,
[14:38.000 -> 14:42.440] was convicted of a driving offense, a criminal offense,
[14:42.440 -> 14:45.160] and was banned from racing in Formula One.
[14:45.160 -> 14:53.160] So that left a seat going for the Bosun Grand Prix. There was this very bright young guy called Michael Schumacher who had been
[14:54.120 -> 15:00.560] effortlessly quick in the GP2 and before that in Formula Three, a little bit like Oskar Piastri.
[15:01.480 -> 15:02.640] And
[15:02.640 -> 15:07.320] Gary Anderson and Eddie Jordan at the Jordan F1 team brought him in for a
[15:07.320 -> 15:12.420] test on a section, just a shortened section, the South Circuit at Silverstone and within
[15:12.420 -> 15:18.060] four laps Michael was close to the track record, on the fifth lap he went faster than the track
[15:18.060 -> 15:22.000] record and they were on the radio to him saying Michael slow down, you're overdoing it and
[15:22.000 -> 15:28.820] Michael said I'm not trying yet. So they brought him in, had a debrief and Michael was
[15:28.820 -> 15:29.800] utterly at home in the car.
[15:30.080 -> 15:33.800] They, they put him in the car for the Bozhen Grand Prix qualifying.
[15:33.800 -> 15:35.400] He's, I think he qualified sixth.
[15:35.780 -> 15:40.920] Sadly, in those days, manual clutch, uh, the car, he slipped the clutch a little
[15:40.920 -> 15:42.680] bit too much at the start and burned the clutch.
[15:42.680 -> 15:44.760] So he retired in the early stages of the lap.
[15:45.320 -> 15:46.840] Eddie knew he'd found a star.
[15:47.200 -> 15:52.060] Um, the bad news was that Flavia Briatore had jumped in and got offered him a
[15:52.060 -> 15:53.840] contract with the Benetton F1 team.
[15:54.520 -> 15:59.420] And, uh, history, as they say, tells its own story in 92 and 95, Michael
[15:59.420 -> 16:00.640] was world champion for Benetton.
[16:01.320 -> 16:05.760] And the interesting part of the contract was that he signed a deal with Eddie to
[16:06.480 -> 16:14.640] I think to a race or to sign up for the team for a test or maybe a session but not the session or
[16:14.640 -> 16:17.360] something like that. There's some wording that actually got me really confused that
[16:19.600 -> 16:24.160] yeah well I couldn't possibly comment on it because I can't afford the lawyers
[16:27.040 -> 16:31.280] Well, I couldn't possibly comment on it because I can't afford the lawyers, but my belief would be that being Eddie, Eddie wouldn't sign somebody up for a year that he didn't
[16:31.280 -> 16:35.720] know, he'd have done it on a one race contract and Brea Torrey got a sniff of it and jumped
[16:35.720 -> 16:41.560] in and offered Michael a longer term contract and probably a bit more money as well, because
[16:41.560 -> 16:45.680] Eddie was never known for being overly generous with his drivers.
[16:45.680 -> 16:51.960] So, all's fair in love, war and Formula 1 contracts.
[16:51.960 -> 16:56.480] And as I say, the end story is that Michael won his first two World Championships with
[16:56.480 -> 16:57.480] Benetton.
[16:57.480 -> 17:00.560] Exactly, and do you see how it actually works?
[17:00.560 -> 17:06.000] He won two Belgian Grands Prix in 92 and 95 as well with the Benetton team so you know
[17:07.120 -> 17:11.920] that really does sort of say it all really. Exactly and I've just googled and I found out
[17:11.920 -> 17:17.840] that the wording was that Michael said that he will sign the agreement and the ambiguous element
[17:17.840 -> 17:23.440] no he said he'll sign a agreement or a agreement in a way but then of course the lawyers kind of
[17:23.440 -> 17:27.720] use that to their advantage. But you have to remember that he had some of he had two of he was
[17:27.720 -> 17:33.780] working alongside two or three of the most astute contract makers and breakers
[17:33.780 -> 17:40.220] in in Formula One of the time there was Willy Weber his manager who is was and
[17:40.220 -> 17:48.440] is a fearsome force Eddie Jordan who was and is a fearsome force and Flavio
[17:48.440 -> 17:53.960] Brittori who was and is a fearsome force. So Michael was surrounded by the
[17:53.960 -> 17:59.400] aristocracy of Formula One from the moment he made his debut. Exactly a kind
[17:59.400 -> 18:03.920] of a bit like Piastri but raised to an extreme level and I love the fact that
[18:03.920 -> 18:05.440] these extreme stories can
[18:05.440 -> 18:09.600] also be not extreme stories, but these fun stories will also be shared on the live watch along that
[18:09.600 -> 18:14.240] we're going to have starting from the Belgian GP. So folks, if you haven't registered yet,
[18:14.240 -> 18:18.240] check out the link in the description and it'll be myself, Steve Slater, of course,
[18:18.240 -> 18:22.480] as you can listen to him right now on this episode and F1 stats crew that we're always going to have
[18:22.480 -> 18:25.200] on that particular watch along. So join in, join us.
[18:25.200 -> 18:26.960] There are going to be more of those stories
[18:26.960 -> 18:29.520] and also live interactions for the Grand Prix.
[18:29.520 -> 18:32.640] But I also want to talk about another fun story.
[18:32.640 -> 18:34.800] Jenson Button had a similar saga where
[18:34.800 -> 18:38.600] he was stuck between two teams, one that he wanted to drive for
[18:38.600 -> 18:41.520] but one that he was contracted to drive for in 2005.
[18:41.520 -> 18:43.280] And that story has always confused me.
[18:43.280 -> 18:44.860] Can you tell me a bit more about that?
[18:44.860 -> 18:45.520] Because I suppose
[18:46.160 -> 18:50.560] it was right in the middle of your of your time working in Formula One as one of the top
[18:50.560 -> 18:58.720] commentators over there. It was and I really hesitate to say too much about that one because
[18:58.720 -> 19:11.680] I really don't know the detail of it. You know Jensen basically I'm in Honda, get me out of here, was one element of it. But
[19:11.680 -> 19:19.560] it all came good for Jensen in the end. He was left stuck at BIR stroke Honda. And of
[19:19.560 -> 19:31.700] course, the team came in with a certain Ross Braun as the white knight, became Braun GP. They had the other Honda teams, Super Aguri if I remember rightly, had come up with this
[19:31.700 -> 19:33.920] idea of a double diffuser.
[19:33.920 -> 19:39.640] Ross Braun and his team took it to a new level with the first Braun GP car and Jenson Button
[19:39.640 -> 19:42.040] dominated the World Championship.
[19:42.040 -> 19:46.800] So it has to be said that it all came good for
[19:46.800 -> 19:50.200] Jenson in the end and he still remains one of the good guys of
[19:50.200 -> 19:59.440] Formula One and a very good pit lane pundit for Sky Sports and ESPN etc.
[19:59.440 -> 20:06.600] to this day. The one claim to fame I have with Jenson Button
[20:06.600 -> 20:14.040] is that when he was racing in Formula 3 in about 1996 I seem to recollect I was
[20:14.040 -> 20:17.840] actually living in Belgium spending a lot of time as far as a commentator for
[20:17.840 -> 20:22.360] other races and at the Euro Race race series we introduced Jenson Button to
[20:22.360 -> 20:25.200] into eating Belgian waffles. Never heard of him before. So Jenson Button to eating Bolgian waffles, never heard of him
[20:25.200 -> 20:31.200] before. So Jenson and his dad sat in the paddock with us at the picnic table eating eating
[20:31.200 -> 20:37.520] Liege waffles. And little did you know at that time that you would end up having waffles
[20:37.520 -> 20:45.000] with the Formula One world champion so casually. And I suppose even his Well, his muscles have had less effect on his stomach than on mine.
[20:45.000 -> 20:48.000] There's that.
[20:48.000 -> 20:52.000] Crazy how Formula One drivers are so well built physically.
[20:52.000 -> 20:58.000] But on the subject of Jenson, I think even he didn't know at that time that this would end up being his best mistake in a way.
[20:58.000 -> 21:05.960] Because let's be honest, it was sort of accidental that he ended up staying at BER because he really wanted to
[21:05.960 -> 21:06.960] go to Williams didn't he?
[21:06.960 -> 21:11.040] I mean he made a proper fuss about it, told the entire party about it, all the media,
[21:11.040 -> 21:12.040] all the interviews.
[21:12.040 -> 21:17.120] I remember listening to so many episodes on the radio as well about that and that just
[21:17.120 -> 21:21.240] didn't happen, best mistake ever, but just what went wrong in that case I still never
[21:21.240 -> 21:22.840] quite realised.
[21:22.840 -> 21:27.200] I think Honda had a very good contract and Jensen eventually got persuaded that it was
[21:27.200 -> 21:30.800] worth staying on because something good was coming around the corner.
[21:30.800 -> 21:36.440] You have to remember that was the year where the Honda car was so bad that I think it was
[21:36.440 -> 21:42.480] at Monza, the race after Spa that year, where Rubens Barrichello got hauled in for a technical
[21:42.480 -> 21:45.060] infringement and was told that do you realise
[21:45.060 -> 21:49.200] the gravity of this infringement you might be excluded from the race and Rubens looked
[21:49.200 -> 21:54.680] at the stewards in the eye and said actually would you mind banning me for the rest of
[21:54.680 -> 21:55.680] the season.
[21:55.680 -> 22:09.600] Oh man, they were a pitiful team back in the day. But it's when the pit crew manager has to say to the guys,
[22:09.600 -> 22:12.000] no guys, the big wheels go on the back.
[22:12.000 -> 22:13.480] You know something's gone a bit wrong.
[22:16.200 -> 22:17.040] Exactly.
[22:17.040 -> 22:20.480] But I wonder what's going to go wrong for Ferrari in Spa.
[22:20.480 -> 22:22.800] That's the fun thing that we've got to discuss as well.
[22:22.800 -> 22:28.960] Because of course, we're going to have a watch along next week for the Belgian Grand Prix. We're so so excited to have you on but
[22:28.960 -> 22:32.800] just for a brief preview of Spa, I just want to know what you're looking forward to because
[22:32.800 -> 22:37.760] personally for me, me and Kunal have been having a bit of a competition where we try to just predict
[22:37.760 -> 22:42.000] what sort of new dumb retirement or a dumb way to lose the race will Ferrari come up with.
[22:42.000 -> 22:45.280] Is that one of the things of things on your list for Belgium?
[22:49.840 -> 22:50.480] Well, the first thing on my list in Belgium is we're a thousand metres up in the mountains
[22:56.240 -> 22:56.880] above Liège on the German-Belgian border. Let's not have any rain like we had last year. I mean,
[23:01.760 -> 23:06.440] Britain and Europe over the last two to three weeks have been suffering almost drought conditions, exceptionally high temperatures, and sadly, in some areas in France and Spain,
[23:06.440 -> 23:08.760] we've had desperate forest fires.
[23:08.760 -> 23:11.160] And we certainly don't want those to continue,
[23:11.160 -> 23:12.920] but I do not want the cloud bursts
[23:12.920 -> 23:16.120] that we had in the 2021 Belgian Grand Prix.
[23:16.120 -> 23:18.240] In fact, I hesitate to even call it a Grand Prix.
[23:18.240 -> 23:19.920] Four laps behind a safety car
[23:19.920 -> 23:21.960] and then call Max Verstappen the winner
[23:21.960 -> 23:24.280] is not a Grand Prix in my book.
[23:26.400 -> 23:33.080] I'm still amazed at the cynicism that allowed that race to be run. But so let's first of all say fair weather
[23:33.080 -> 23:37.680] or the odd shower that will make things interesting but let's not have the downpours that we had
[23:37.680 -> 23:46.800] last year. Next thing after that is Ferrari. It's a track that can work for Ferrari 2018 Vettel won for them here
[23:46.800 -> 23:53.080] Charles Leclerc won in 2019 it probably plays to the strength of the Ferrari
[23:53.080 -> 23:59.120] it's a track that you don't need huge amounts of downforce but it's got
[23:59.120 -> 24:04.680] slow medium and slow corners as well as the really long straights and it could
[24:04.680 -> 24:07.680] be a track where Mercedes could recover their form as well.
[24:07.680 -> 24:12.480] But Ferrari is just so frustrating because we know they've got a car that can win races
[24:12.480 -> 24:19.120] and it's almost as if a combination of reliability and strategy sometimes just they shoot themselves
[24:19.120 -> 24:20.760] in the foot.
[24:20.760 -> 24:26.300] And I really do, I mean at the moment they've demonstrated they've got a car and drivers that can win individual
[24:26.300 -> 24:33.200] Grand Prixs, but they yet don't have an infrastructure to go head to head with Mercedes or a Red
[24:33.200 -> 24:37.400] Bull and fight for a world championship, which is a great pity because I think Max now, I
[24:37.400 -> 24:41.080] wouldn't say he's home and dry, but it would have to be a disaster for Red Bull for Max
[24:41.080 -> 24:45.120] Verstappen not to be world champion this year.
[24:45.120 -> 24:49.440] Exactly and the interesting part is that Matteo Binotto says that no change in approach might be
[24:49.440 -> 24:55.600] needed. Now we'll watch how that plays out on our live watch alongs on Insider starting off with the
[24:55.600 -> 24:59.840] Belgian Grand Prix and once again folks you might be saying yeah you're hopping on about it too much
[24:59.840 -> 25:05.200] but we get to do a live watch along with the legend Steve Slater consistently for three
[25:05.200 -> 25:06.200] or four times this year.
[25:06.200 -> 25:08.360] So that will definitely get me excited.
[25:08.360 -> 25:10.680] And I hope it does make you excited as well.
[25:10.680 -> 25:15.360] Because if it does, you can, of course, join in by checking out the link in our description.
[25:15.360 -> 25:20.440] And imagine watching the race live, hearing his opinions and his insights on the race,
[25:20.440 -> 25:24.200] while, of course, understanding how the race strategy works out and taking part in polls
[25:24.200 -> 25:29.600] and quizzes. It's just going to be a g gala so don't forget to join in over there but folks thank
[25:29.600 -> 25:34.080] you for listening to this one so thank you for joining on this particular episode and we'll be
[25:34.080 -> None] back with a Belgian Grand Prix preview very very soon so thanks guys bye you