FIA-sco for Max Verstappen's F1 title again - 2022 Japan GP Review

Congratulations to Max Verstappen & Red Bull Racing! 

But did the FIA mess up another title-winning race & season for Max Verstappen? It seems that only the FIA knew what rules were in play, which apparently, seem to have been a loophole they didn't know they had written!

What does Max Verstappen need to do to win a title cleanly? WHAT IF the 2022 Japanese GP was a title-deciding race between Verstappen and Charles Leclerc? Oh yes, LEC made a mistake under pressure, lest we forget.

Other topics in this episode - Esteban Ocon vs. Lewis Hamilton, why could Hamilton not overtake? And why this battle is what Formula 1 should be like. Why was Fernando Alonso displeased despite a strong race full of overtaking moves on track? Also, welcome to the points for Nicholas Latifi. Tune in!

(Season 2022, Episode 61)

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

Image courtesy: Red Bull Content Pool

* **Introduction:**

- Max Verstappen is the newly crowned Formula One World Champion.
- However, the FIA's handling of the Japanese Grand Prix led to confusion and controversy.
- Verstappen was awarded the championship title prematurely, causing disappointment among fans.
- The race was also marred by safety concerns, including a tractor on the track during a red flag period.

* **Key Points:**

1. **FIA's Handling of the Race:**

- The FIA's communication regarding the awarding of points was unclear, leading to confusion among teams and fans.
- The rulebook contained a loophole that allowed for full points to be awarded despite the race not reaching the required distance.
- The FIA's decision to start the race under wet conditions and their subsequent delay in suspending the race were also questioned.

2. **Verstappen's Championship Title:**

- Verstappen's championship win was anticlimactic due to the confusion surrounding the points allocation.
- The premature announcement of his title victory by Johnny Herbert added to the disappointment.
- Verstappen's dominance throughout the season was overshadowed by the controversy surrounding the Japanese Grand Prix.

3. **Safety Concerns:**

- The presence of a tractor on the track during a red flag period posed a significant safety risk to drivers.
- The incident brought back memories of Jules Bianchi's fatal accident at the same circuit in 2014.
- The FIA received criticism for allowing such a dangerous situation to occur.

4. **Other Race Highlights:**

- Esteban Ocon's impressive defense against Lewis Hamilton, preventing him from overtaking.
- Fernando Alonso's strong performance, making several overtaking moves before finishing in the points.
- Nicholas Latifi's first-ever points finish in Formula One.

* **Conclusion:**

- The Japanese Grand Prix was a chaotic and controversial race, marred by the FIA's handling of the event and safety concerns.
- Max Verstappen's championship win was overshadowed by the confusion and disappointment surrounding the race.
- The incident with the tractor on the track served as a stark reminder of the importance of safety in Formula One.

**2022 Japanese Grand Prix Debrief: Controversy, Pandemonium, and Confusion**

The 2022 Japanese Grand Prix was a chaotic and controversial race, marred by confusion over the rules and regulations. Max Verstappen secured his second Formula One World Championship title, but the race's conclusion left a sour taste in many fans' mouths.

One of the main issues was the FIA's handling of the safety car procedure. After Carlos Sainz Jr.'s retirement, the safety car was deployed, and the race was red-flagged due to heavy rain. However, when the race resumed, only the cars that had lapped the safety car were allowed to un-lap themselves, leading to confusion and frustration among the drivers and fans.

Another point of contention was the decision to award full points despite the race being stopped before the 75% mark. This decision benefited Verstappen, who was leading the race at the time of the stoppage, but it was seen as unfair to other drivers who had been battling for positions.

The race also saw several exciting battles, particularly between Esteban Ocon and Lewis Hamilton. Ocon, in the Alpine, defended his position against Hamilton in the Mercedes, showcasing the wheel-to-wheel action that many fans crave. Fernando Alonso also had a strong race, making several overtaking moves before expressing his frustration with Alpine's strategy.

In the end, the Japanese Grand Prix was a bittersweet moment for Formula One. While Verstappen's title win was a significant achievement, the controversies and confusion surrounding the race overshadowed the celebration. The FIA's handling of the situation has raised questions about the consistency and fairness of the sport's regulations.

**Key Points:**

- Controversy over FIA's handling of safety car procedure and awarding of full points.
- Exciting battles between Esteban Ocon and Lewis Hamilton, and Fernando Alonso's strong performance.
- Confusion over rules and regulations, leading to frustration among drivers and fans.
- Questions raised about the consistency and fairness of Formula One's regulations.
- Overall, a bittersweet moment for Formula One, with Verstappen's title win overshadowed by controversies.

[00:00.000 -> 00:25.520] Max Verstappen's world champion. Yeah. It's so anticlimactic the way Johnny Herbert presented it today,
[00:25.520 -> 00:31.040] the way it happened all everything just feels a little bit absurd today. It's just a weird
[00:31.040 -> 00:37.360] weekend all around. But weird does not mean less fun because my word we have so many things
[00:37.360 -> 00:44.280] to dissect from this Japanese GP from dangerous tractors on a track to a small little duckling
[00:44.280 -> 00:45.200] diving under the water
[00:45.200 -> 00:47.920] and disappearing, to Japanese fans having Lego hats
[00:47.920 -> 00:49.520] and Sean Leclerc getting a penalty,
[00:49.520 -> 00:51.840] which Ferrari accepted for a change.
[00:51.840 -> 00:53.840] There's just so much wacky and weird stuff
[00:53.840 -> 00:56.240] from this Japanese GP that we should talk about,
[00:56.240 -> 00:59.080] including not least,
[00:59.080 -> 01:00.840] I mean, one of the most important things this weekend
[01:00.840 -> 01:03.440] also happened, that was Nicholas Satifi scoring points.
[01:03.440 -> 01:04.680] That is also one of the other things
[01:04.680 -> 01:07.440] that we're gonna dissect as a part of this Japanese GP review
[01:07.440 -> 01:12.880] episode on the Inside Line F1 podcast. But let's actually get rid of all the anti-climax that Johnny
[01:12.880 -> 01:18.080] Herbert started out earlier on today. And let's get on with the excitement because folks, this is
[01:18.080 -> 01:30.320] the Inside Line F1 podcast. My name is Somal Adora. I'm the host of The Driving Force on Disney Plus Hotstar. And joining me as always are firstly F1 Stats Guru, the legendary, I don't want to say legendary,
[01:30.320 -> 01:35.600] but on his way to become legendary F1 statistician all over social media. And then we've got Kunal
[01:35.600 -> 01:41.120] Shah, the former marketing head of the Force India F1 team, who's also an FIA accredited journalist
[01:41.120 -> 01:47.600] at the Viaplay Network in Norway. Now, firstly firstly Sundaram, I am confused. Where did that little duckling on the
[01:47.600 -> 01:53.040] broadcast go? We saw it dive down, it never came back.
[01:53.040 -> 01:56.080] We just didn't get a climax to that story. We got a climax for Max winning the
[01:56.080 -> 01:57.760] World Championship. We knew it was coming but
[01:57.760 -> 02:01.200] that has been left a little bit unanswered. I think that
[02:01.200 -> 02:08.800] went a little unnoticed by me. I probably didn't see that but you've got me even more confused, I have to admit. You've caught me off-guard here.
[02:08.800 -> 02:12.800] Did Verstappen win the championship today? Because I thought it was going to Austin.
[02:12.800 -> 02:15.800] Did something happen post-race?
[02:15.800 -> 02:22.200] Yeah. Were they apparently not supposed to award points for full races?
[02:22.200 -> 02:26.880] No, because I switched off the television after Verstappen crossed the finish line,
[02:26.880 -> 02:29.240] and the classification looked very obvious to me.
[02:29.240 -> 02:32.040] So you're telling me he did win the championship today?
[02:32.040 -> 02:33.200] Yeah, apparently he did.
[02:33.200 -> 02:36.480] He just got handed to it by Johnny Herbert, who said,
[02:36.480 -> 02:37.920] Max, you're world champion.
[02:37.920 -> 02:38.520] No big deal.
[02:38.520 -> 02:40.320] I can tell you guys what happened.
[02:40.320 -> 02:42.280] I can clear all the confusion, because there's
[02:42.280 -> 02:43.560] a lot of confusion.
[02:43.560 -> 02:50.000] Fiasco is what happened one more time for Max Verstappen's title win.
[02:50.000 -> 02:54.000] It was so unfortunate the way the whole thing was handled.
[02:54.000 -> 03:02.000] And you know, it's not a surprise that there is a section of fans who believe that F1 is fixed
[03:02.000 -> 03:06.620] or F1 is favoring one team or one driver over the other
[03:06.620 -> 03:14.460] and whatever else, not that I subscribe to any of that, but when acts like these repeat,
[03:14.460 -> 03:18.300] you know, and when I say acts like these, I'll explain myself, you know, when acts like
[03:18.300 -> 03:27.180] these repeat, one is compelled to probably question like what on earth is happening with Formula One?
[03:27.180 -> 03:31.140] Why is there so much fiasco over a rule book,
[03:31.140 -> 03:32.280] which all the teams have agreed,
[03:32.280 -> 03:33.560] all the teams have voted upon.
[03:33.560 -> 03:37.880] And, you know, just the way we will remember Abu Dhabi 2021
[03:37.880 -> 03:39.200] for eternity,
[03:39.200 -> 03:41.700] I have a feeling the 2022 Japanese Grand Prix
[03:41.700 -> 03:44.440] will also be remembered for eternity.
[03:44.440 -> 03:47.160] And it's down to one simple thing.
[03:47.160 -> 03:50.080] And I think that's what I'm going to call race control, right?
[03:50.080 -> 03:52.920] And race control keeps sending us all these messages.
[03:52.920 -> 03:56.520] And when I say all these, yes, we get to know who's got a blue flag or a yellow
[03:56.520 -> 03:59.280] flag in which sector, is it a VSC or whatever.
[03:59.280 -> 04:03.640] There are times you also get to hear slippery conditions on track.
[04:03.680 -> 04:05.560] I mean, something as obvious,
[04:05.560 -> 04:08.360] but you still race controls belief is that,
[04:08.360 -> 04:11.040] hey, we need to inform teams, drivers,
[04:11.040 -> 04:12.680] and hence the viewers as well, right?
[04:12.680 -> 04:15.440] Sometimes they say pink padding material
[04:15.440 -> 04:16.680] mandatory for drivers.
[04:16.680 -> 04:17.520] I mean, I'm serious.
[04:17.520 -> 04:19.480] These are the race control messages.
[04:19.480 -> 04:23.840] Why couldn't race control say it all along, right?
[04:23.840 -> 04:27.960] That after the race resumes, irrespective of whether it's
[04:27.960 -> 04:31.360] one lap, two laps, 25 laps, or whatever laps,
[04:31.360 -> 04:32.840] we will award full points.
[04:32.840 -> 04:34.880] Because it seems that they knew all along,
[04:34.880 -> 04:38.000] just that none of us knew all along.
[04:38.000 -> 04:41.000] And just that they should have just communicated it,
[04:41.000 -> 04:43.840] saying irrespective of the result,
[04:43.840 -> 04:45.640] there's going to be a world champion crown,
[04:45.640 -> 04:49.160] should there be the eight points being outscored.
[04:49.160 -> 04:51.080] And imagine had they said that, we
[04:51.080 -> 04:54.440] would have crowned Max Verstappen's final lap.
[04:54.440 -> 04:57.080] We would have cheered.
[04:57.080 -> 04:59.520] The Perez versus Leclerc battle would
[04:59.520 -> 05:02.600] have had just another dimension to it altogether.
[05:02.600 -> 05:06.440] I mean, Checo Perez has now helped Max
[05:06.440 -> 05:09.560] win two titles last year with Lewis in Turkey
[05:09.560 -> 05:10.440] and then Abu Dhabi.
[05:10.440 -> 05:14.120] This year he pushed Leclerc into a mistake and whatever.
[05:14.120 -> 05:17.400] But just so many things would have been more hyped up,
[05:17.400 -> 05:20.340] which weren't because there were probably five or seven
[05:20.340 -> 05:21.920] or 11 people sitting somewhere.
[05:21.920 -> 05:24.000] And I don't know why I just picked odd numbers,
[05:24.000 -> 05:26.120] but there was some number of people sitting
[05:26.120 -> 05:28.600] who knew exactly what they were doing,
[05:28.600 -> 05:30.880] just that none of us were informed.
[05:30.880 -> 05:32.060] Where is the race?
[05:32.060 -> 05:33.600] Where is the control, Sundaram?
[05:33.600 -> 05:36.080] You know, that's a very interesting point
[05:36.080 -> 05:38.000] that Kunal mentioned, that little moment
[05:38.000 -> 05:39.720] where we were able to,
[05:39.720 -> 05:42.480] we would have been able to celebrate Max Verstappen's win.
[05:42.480 -> 05:44.440] And I think that's a very important part
[05:44.440 -> 05:45.520] of sport in
[05:45.520 -> 05:51.840] general. We've seen Roger Federer, the way he celebrates after he wins the Wimbledon, or the
[05:51.840 -> 05:58.800] way MS Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh celebrated after MS Dhoni smashed that ball for a six in the stands.
[05:58.800 -> 06:04.160] And that small little moment is something that I think we were robbed of yet again when it comes
[06:04.160 -> 06:10.240] to Max Verstappen winning the championship. And last year and this year as well, we've had the season ending in a way
[06:10.240 -> 06:14.800] where there's a lot of controversy, there's a lot of confusion. And the funny thing is,
[06:14.800 -> 06:19.840] when Johnny Herbert, he announced Max Verstappen as the world champion in a very,
[06:19.840 -> 06:23.280] I would say, emotionless way or something that lacked emotion or excitement,
[06:24.000 -> 06:25.840] he at that point did not know what to say.
[06:25.840 -> 06:27.320] He was absolutely shocked.
[06:27.560 -> 06:31.160] He did go on and celebrate with the rest of the team, but what transpired after
[06:31.160 -> 06:35.040] that in the cool down room was even more funny because he was telling Perez, I'm
[06:35.040 -> 06:38.880] not the world champion, he was actually questioning, am I the world champion?
[06:38.920 -> 06:39.560] Did it happen?
[06:39.960 -> 06:43.280] And then they had to tell him again that, yes, you are the world champion.
[06:43.280 -> 06:43.680] You've won it.
[06:43.680 -> 06:46.000] He looked visibly very, very confused.
[06:46.000 -> 06:49.000] And it's kind of sad that it's come up to this.
[06:50.800 -> 06:53.840] Hey folks, I've got a small message for you that I'd love to share out.
[06:54.240 -> 06:58.000] Thank you so much for tuning into the InsideLineF1 podcast so consistently.
[06:58.480 -> 07:02.200] And in case you're liking what you're listening to, don't forget to leave a
[07:02.200 -> 07:07.400] good rating or a review on whatever app or platform that you're listening to us on and we would love to interact with
[07:07.400 -> 07:11.040] you on our social media handles. So don't forget to follow us over there as well.
[07:11.040 -> 07:14.640] We're so grateful to have you on listening to us in every single episode
[07:14.640 -> 07:18.420] and in case you've got any questions on the world of Formula One, send them in on
[07:18.420 -> 07:21.380] our social media handles as well. We would love to answer them on the show.
[07:21.380 -> 07:29.800] Now back to the episode. And just to add to what you're saying, and this is of course pent up emotions, expectations,
[07:29.800 -> 07:34.840] notes as well, lots of notes all pointed and directed towards the FIA, at least in my notebook
[07:34.840 -> 07:42.560] is as soon as Max was announced world champion by Johnny Herbert in his, I'm sure, I mean
[07:42.560 -> 07:46.920] nothing against Herbert, but he was confused as well saying, Oh wow, wow, oh, I got to claim he's world champion?
[07:46.920 -> 07:48.880] Wow, that's, let me claim it.
[07:48.880 -> 07:51.920] We, when I say we, I mean via play in Norway,
[07:51.920 -> 07:56.240] we had Christian Horner exactly at that second
[07:56.240 -> 07:59.300] being interviewed by one of our Dutch reporters.
[07:59.300 -> 08:00.880] And Christian was like, congratulations,
[08:00.880 -> 08:02.320] Max has just been made world champion,
[08:02.320 -> 08:03.140] what do you feel?
[08:03.140 -> 08:05.520] He's like, no, I think there's a calculation error.
[08:05.520 -> 08:07.760] We are not world champion just yet.
[08:07.760 -> 08:12.880] And every single person thought that there was one more point he needed to score
[08:12.880 -> 08:15.360] and that the title battle would go down to America,
[08:15.360 -> 08:17.520] which would have been another great thing for Liberty Media,
[08:17.520 -> 08:21.200] Formula One for the American fans, for all the passion they bring to Formula One, etc.
[08:21.200 -> 08:25.800] But the way in which it's happened, the way in which it happened at Abu Dhabi,
[08:25.800 -> 08:28.400] the way in which it happened at Japan,
[08:28.400 -> 08:31.000] let me add another twist to it, okay?
[08:31.000 -> 08:34.800] We are in a season where Max could have won last race,
[08:34.800 -> 08:36.040] he could win the next race,
[08:36.040 -> 08:38.160] and there is no way Leclerc is gonna take it
[08:38.160 -> 08:40.160] or even Checo Perez is gonna take it.
[08:40.160 -> 08:42.040] But let's put that in the mix.
[08:42.040 -> 08:44.720] What if this was the last race of the season?
[08:44.720 -> 08:47.640] What if Leclerc was in the mix to win
[08:47.640 -> 08:50.040] and Leclerc had to finish either second or third
[08:50.040 -> 08:52.520] and whatever sort of what happened.
[08:52.520 -> 08:56.160] And this would have been another title deciding final race
[08:56.160 -> 08:59.880] of the season and the FI messed it up the way they did.
[09:00.920 -> 09:07.680] Two back-to-back seasons of questionable decision-making in title-settling races.
[09:07.680 -> 09:12.240] And we question, Max, do you have the nerves to handle the title going down to the last lap
[09:12.240 -> 09:15.760] and the last race and the last corner of the season?
[09:15.760 -> 09:22.400] The question is, does the FIA have the nerves to handle a race where a title is going to be decided?
[09:22.400 -> 09:25.620] And it's just so many questions
[09:25.620 -> 09:28.420] and so many things where there were errors first,
[09:28.420 -> 09:32.440] and I'm gonna sort of move on from there.
[09:33.880 -> 09:36.880] The first question is, there is this whole thing
[09:36.880 -> 09:38.980] that there is a countdown clock that comes up,
[09:38.980 -> 09:40.220] which doesn't tell you, hey,
[09:40.220 -> 09:43.160] how many laps of the race have been completed.
[09:43.160 -> 09:47.520] Maybe they need to figure with all the graphics they do with AWS or not to tell us actually how many laps of the race have been completed? Maybe they need to figure with all the graphics they do with AWS or not
[09:47.520 -> 09:50.440] to tell us actually how many laps were done because eventually
[09:50.440 -> 09:55.440] the end of lap 27 is 50% of the race was done.
[09:55.440 -> 10:00.640] And that's where you enter the category where 50% of the race is done, but not 75%.
[10:00.640 -> 10:06.180] So hence, 75% of the points would be given, right?
[10:06.180 -> 10:14.200] And it so happens that the wording has a loophole, which the FIA used, despite the teams and
[10:14.200 -> 10:18.440] the FIA inadvertently admitting that they didn't know the loophole existed.
[10:18.440 -> 10:29.560] And that loophole was that if there is a race that starts and is suspended and is resumed, that whole 25%, 50%, 75% rulebook
[10:29.560 -> 10:35.600] is out of the window because it could have been that we would have done those three laps
[10:35.600 -> 10:40.920] in the Japanese Grand Prix, then had the stoppage and done another one or two or three laps,
[10:40.920 -> 10:44.840] the FI would have called the race on safety grounds and still full points could have been
[10:44.840 -> 10:45.760] given.
[10:45.760 -> 10:50.480] So it was a rule to protect us from what happened in the Belgian Grand Prix last year.
[10:50.800 -> 10:58.160] Only that it makes F1 look sillier despite the Belgian Grand Prix and hence the rules that have been in place.
[10:58.160 -> 11:03.240] And I realized I've hogged 90 percent of our 10 minutes of airtime already.
[11:03.360 -> 11:04.920] 90% of our 10 minutes of airtime already.
[11:09.680 -> 11:11.840] Yeah, so, I mean, to add to that, I have two points to mention to this.
[11:11.840 -> 11:15.160] The first one is that I think the FIA was absolutely clear
[11:15.160 -> 11:17.840] about how the point system was implemented
[11:17.840 -> 11:19.840] because what I could see on the feed
[11:19.840 -> 11:22.320] was only the countdown timer.
[11:22.320 -> 11:25.280] The laps were never mentioned or never displayed.
[11:25.280 -> 11:28.240] And it was only Crofty who was time and time again
[11:28.240 -> 11:29.560] mentioning how many laps were done.
[11:29.560 -> 11:31.160] And for us, we seemed confused
[11:31.160 -> 11:33.720] because that was important information for us
[11:33.720 -> 11:35.640] because either 50 points were gonna be,
[11:35.640 -> 11:37.560] 50% of points were gonna be avoided
[11:37.560 -> 11:39.520] or 75% of points were gonna be avoided.
[11:39.520 -> 11:42.480] So firstly, the number of laps was not displayed.
[11:42.480 -> 11:45.240] And secondly, like you mentioned, the wording of it.
[11:45.240 -> 11:48.500] So I think it rides on the fact that if a driver
[11:48.500 -> 11:50.300] sees the checkered flag or not,
[11:50.300 -> 11:52.380] because this is how the sequence of events were.
[11:52.380 -> 11:55.480] So the red flag happened and we finished 28 laps
[11:55.480 -> 11:57.400] and they were able to see the checkered flag.
[11:57.400 -> 11:59.780] So due to that, full points are awarded.
[11:59.780 -> 12:01.960] But if you swap that around a little,
[12:01.960 -> 12:07.240] what if we had 28 laps first and then a red flag stoppage and the race never resumes,
[12:07.240 -> 12:08.500] and you don't see the checkered flag,
[12:08.500 -> 12:10.800] so then you get reduced points.
[12:10.800 -> 12:13.120] I really don't understand how the points
[12:13.120 -> 12:14.320] are being applied in this way,
[12:14.320 -> 12:16.960] and I think ultimately it should be in a case
[12:16.960 -> 12:20.720] where how much of the race distance is completed.
[12:20.720 -> 12:22.400] Yeah, that's right, and imagine this,
[12:22.400 -> 12:25.640] you would have actually gotten only 50% of the
[12:25.640 -> 12:30.560] points for the situation that you just described, Sundaram, right?
[12:30.560 -> 12:37.520] So it's strange. I mean, Binotto, Andrea Seidel, Christian Horner and pretty much every team
[12:37.520 -> 12:44.480] principal actually said, hey, we really don't know what happened. This is not how the points
[12:44.480 -> 12:45.960] should have been given away
[12:45.960 -> 12:48.360] the way they were literally given away, right?
[12:48.360 -> 12:49.480] So that's just where we are.
[12:49.480 -> 12:52.840] And to also expand a little more,
[12:52.840 -> 12:54.640] some more questions around the FIA.
[12:54.640 -> 12:57.280] Should the race have been started when it was
[12:57.280 -> 13:00.800] and should the FIA have said it's compulsory
[13:00.800 -> 13:03.560] to put the extreme wet tires, right?
[13:03.560 -> 13:07.240] At the first start, it was said there's a free choice
[13:07.240 -> 13:08.840] of tires and all the teams, of course,
[13:08.840 -> 13:11.480] will go for the Inters, which is always known
[13:11.480 -> 13:13.680] to be the better tire because Lewis Hamilton believes
[13:13.680 -> 13:16.960] that had they gone on the extremes
[13:16.960 -> 13:19.440] in the very first instance, they could have probably
[13:19.440 -> 13:21.420] not seen the delay that they saw there.
[13:21.420 -> 13:22.760] So that was one thing.
[13:22.760 -> 13:24.820] The other thing was this whole belief
[13:24.820 -> 13:27.080] that there was one racing lap less,
[13:27.080 -> 13:30.440] because there were five seconds left, apparently,
[13:30.440 -> 13:35.000] when Max Verstappen crossed the start-finish line
[13:35.000 -> 13:37.000] on his penultimate lap or whatever.
[13:37.000 -> 13:37.960] So that's what happened.
[13:37.960 -> 13:39.440] And why did we miss seeing that?
[13:39.440 -> 13:42.760] Because like you said, nobody was literally
[13:42.760 -> 13:46.560] focused on Max's run at the front, which was extremely dominant.
[13:46.560 -> 13:52.720] He pulled a second a lap on Charles, almost a second a lap on Charles. So, there was one
[13:52.720 -> 13:59.360] racing lap less. And then TV direction, another big challenge that which is not in the FI's purview,
[13:59.360 -> 14:05.760] but is in FOM or Liberty Media's purview. There was the Fettel Alonzo battle all along, which was actually
[14:05.760 -> 14:12.800] more wheel-to-wheel than Leclerc and Perez. And because they were focusing on Leclerc and Perez,
[14:12.800 -> 14:18.880] they actually almost didn't show us Max crossing the chequered flag. And when they did, you could
[14:18.880 -> 14:29.520] barely see the chequered flag. It could have been just another lap that Max was crossing the line for. And imagine this, and I was on the radio feed like I am for every race.
[14:29.520 -> 14:35.080] The Aston Martins, the Alfa Romeo guys, Alpines,
[14:35.080 -> 14:39.200] all of them were asking the drivers or the teams, was that the checkered flag?
[14:39.200 -> 14:39.720] Is it ended?
[14:39.720 -> 14:44.520] I mean, to repeat one of the funniest radio messages I heard was Esteban Ocon.
[14:44.520 -> 14:46.320] He says, is that the chequered flag?
[14:46.320 -> 14:49.200] And Alpine said, yes, that's the chequered flag.
[14:49.200 -> 14:51.520] He says, can you please tell Louis,
[14:51.520 -> 14:53.580] he's keeping on pushing.
[14:53.580 -> 14:55.300] And then Alpine said, okay, please,
[14:55.300 -> 14:56.480] you keep pushing as well.
[14:56.480 -> 14:58.040] So they didn't know what was the chequered,
[14:58.040 -> 15:00.080] whether that was the flag or not.
[15:00.080 -> 15:02.880] Similarly with Fetl, even though he finished
[15:02.880 -> 15:11.960] just a hundredth up on Alonzo, and similarly with Stroll and just so so much confusion for what we call is a motor race.
[15:12.240 -> 15:14.560] Just absolute confusion throughout the race.
[15:14.560 -> 15:15.920] This is just very bizarre.
[15:17.240 -> 15:18.080] I don't get it.
[15:18.080 -> 15:19.240] I really don't.
[15:19.320 -> 15:25.160] Where, where, where can all the things go wrong? I think this weekend we saw a terrible way
[15:25.160 -> 15:29.400] to crown a champion, not in terms of the way itself but just the way it was
[15:29.400 -> 15:34.040] presented. A shoddy little throne as well in a tiny little room reserved
[15:34.040 -> 15:37.520] for world champions. I didn't even get that. I mean it said reserved for world
[15:37.520 -> 15:40.640] champion but the Jensen button was right there so could he actually enter because
[15:40.640 -> 15:44.040] he's a world champion too? It didn't even say 2022 world champion so that's another
[15:44.040 -> 15:50.320] thing they messed up but on a more serious note, the presentation was bad and they absolutely missed
[15:50.320 -> 15:56.320] that Vettel versus Alonzo battle as you guys mentioned, which is, I can't use the word
[15:56.320 -> 16:00.720] criminal because I mean lots of experts and journalists throw it away like, oh it's criminal
[16:00.720 -> 16:10.000] to do that but it's really not. But it's almost criminal if you can put it that way. It feels terrible that the element that really makes up Formula One that is wheel-to-wheel racing
[16:10.000 -> 16:14.800] on the final lap between two world champions who've done it time and time again and I mean can
[16:14.800 -> 16:19.680] you believe it? Vettel and Alonso have been on the grid together since 2007. They've only really had
[16:19.680 -> 16:27.120] four of these battles including this one. Singapore 2010, we've had Monster 2011, UK 2014 and now this one
[16:27.120 -> 16:31.760] and they missed it. Only four battles between these two world champions and they missed it.
[16:31.760 -> 16:37.280] The only place where you get to watch it, if of course you don't use Twitter, is maybe if you
[16:37.280 -> 16:42.160] subscribe to F1DV Pro which also is not available in most countries. So that's just ridiculous that
[16:42.160 -> 16:47.960] this happened as well and 16 minutes into this episode I have to talk about the big elephant in the room or the big
[16:47.960 -> 16:51.500] tractor in the room because that was perhaps an even bigger thing that they
[16:51.500 -> 16:56.520] end up messing up. Now I say it with the tone of humor in mind but this should
[16:56.520 -> 17:01.000] not be funny because Pierre Gasly was speeding past. If you've seen Lewis
[17:01.000 -> 17:07.040] Hamilton's on board he was running through that area. And if you look at the onboards in a more detailed manner Kunal,
[17:08.000 -> 17:12.160] we had the tractor on when the red flag wasn't called, it was still green.
[17:12.800 -> 17:18.160] That is, as Jules Bianchi's father posted on Instagram, that is an utter disrespect of all
[17:18.160 -> 17:23.760] the incidents that have gone past. And there's no respect for the safety of the drivers, no regard.
[17:23.760 -> 17:27.480] Now, I'm sure it's not the tractor drivers fault because they might have just been given a command but
[17:27.480 -> 17:32.080] who gave that command at the end of the day and how is it allowed to happen even
[17:32.080 -> 17:36.880] though we've seen an eerily similar incident back in the past as well. At
[17:36.880 -> 17:43.480] Suzuka under the same conditions with another French or Monaco driver I can't
[17:43.480 -> 17:48.640] remember his I think he was French Juleschi, but I'll put it this way,
[17:48.640 -> 17:51.280] that first things first,
[17:51.280 -> 17:53.720] I understand why Pierre Gasly has been given a penalty
[17:53.720 -> 17:55.960] and I'll come to that later, but first things first,
[17:55.960 -> 17:58.840] and something we've seen every driver tweet,
[17:58.840 -> 18:02.440] that there should never be a tractor on the circuit
[18:02.440 -> 18:04.480] ever again when there are cars,
[18:04.480 -> 18:06.080] whether they are at racing speeds
[18:06.080 -> 18:13.360] or at safety car speeds or anything, there should not be a tractor on the circuit, okay? And I think
[18:13.360 -> 18:20.960] that's what the drivers will keep emphasizing when they meet next and they have the driver's briefing
[18:20.960 -> 18:25.340] and so on, right? But coming to Pierre Gasly, right?
[18:25.340 -> 18:28.400] So what has happened, and this is my view of the onboard,
[18:28.400 -> 18:31.920] maybe I'm wrong, but after he pitted and he went out,
[18:31.920 -> 18:34.680] the safety car lights were flashing, right?
[18:34.680 -> 18:37.480] On the, I mean, you see on the circuit messaging board
[18:37.480 -> 18:41.160] system, and which means that you are allowed to drive
[18:41.160 -> 18:43.840] at a pace that you're comfortable at to catch up
[18:43.840 -> 18:46.720] with the rest of the pack that is ahead of you.
[18:46.720 -> 18:47.760] So at that time,
[18:47.760 -> 18:50.560] Pierre Gasly was right in doing what he was doing.
[18:50.560 -> 18:53.360] I think it was after turn 10 or turn 11
[18:53.360 -> 18:56.560] when the safety car lights actually switched
[18:56.560 -> 18:59.640] to being a red flag right.
[18:59.640 -> 19:03.500] And that is where I believe Gasly probably didn't see it
[19:03.500 -> 19:06.660] or just out of, you know, just some brain fade
[19:06.660 -> 19:10.420] or vision fade or visibility, and I'm not blaming him,
[19:10.420 -> 19:12.540] but he was actually very quick.
[19:12.540 -> 19:15.340] And you can see just before he crosses a tractor
[19:15.340 -> 19:17.040] that there are red lights out there.
[19:17.040 -> 19:21.060] So yes, it is the FIA's mistake to send out the tractor
[19:21.060 -> 19:27.840] there when there was a car on track, not denying that, but I believe,
[19:27.840 -> 19:32.000] at least in hindsight, maybe Ghazali would sit down and say, wow, there was a red flag and I
[19:32.000 -> 19:37.120] hadn't controlled or checked my speed when I should have actually done that. So that's my
[19:37.120 -> 19:43.520] reading of the whole scenario. But before anything else, never ever a tractor on the track should
[19:43.520 -> 19:46.140] appear, especially when there are cars.
[19:46.140 -> 19:48.980] And that to going reverse direction and so many things,
[19:48.980 -> 19:49.820] that was one thing.
[19:49.820 -> 19:52.380] Of course, the other thing which happened at racing speeds,
[19:52.380 -> 19:54.260] what Carlos signs when he spun,
[19:54.260 -> 19:56.940] literally every car was darting,
[19:56.940 -> 20:01.420] half a meter away from him while he was laying,
[20:01.420 -> 20:02.340] sitting in his car,
[20:02.340 -> 20:05.240] his car was of course know, resting on track.
[20:05.240 -> 20:10.200] It reminded me of South Korea when Mark Webber actually went out, came back onto the grid
[20:10.200 -> 20:11.960] and then had a couple of other cars hit him.
[20:11.960 -> 20:17.760] So these are natural incidents in motorsport, especially when such conditions happen.
[20:17.760 -> 20:20.120] But yes, never again a tractor on track.
[20:20.120 -> 20:22.080] I really hope so.
[20:22.080 -> 20:25.120] And perhaps even Antoine Hubert's accident as well, when you have a car
[20:25.120 -> 20:30.400] bounce back and come back straight on the track, that's also too scary to watch. It's just a
[20:30.400 -> 20:36.240] calamity this way, the way this race proceeded in all possible angles, because firstly, okay,
[20:36.240 -> 20:40.960] it's great that we got a race in, but there were so many things that went wrong. And also, on the
[20:40.960 -> 20:48.360] safety element, there's that, but also on the subject of why we couldn't go racing early on, because we saw the cars go ahead.
[20:48.360 -> 20:52.620] Yes, because of the competition, they're kind of hard pressed to start on the intermediate
[20:52.620 -> 20:57.160] Sundaram and not on the wets because obviously they're a bit slower and whatnot.
[20:57.160 -> 21:02.320] But the hour and 20 minute delay kind of seemed unnecessary, at least on TV, they might have
[21:02.320 -> 21:09.760] made a better judgment knowing the conditions on the track. But why are the wets even traveling with the Formula One Parag in the first place I mean
[21:09.760 -> 21:14.560] if you don't have to use them why bother carrying them along because it's just a logistical nightmare
[21:14.560 -> 21:20.320] if we've made it certain that while it's raining we will not go racing why bother because not much
[21:20.320 -> 21:46.200] changed weather-wise when we restarted again with 40 minutes left to go. Hamilton did have the time to post it on social media that, hey, let's just start and let's see how it goes from there.
[21:46.200 -> 21:50.120] So perhaps once again, they should have started earlier.
[21:50.120 -> 21:52.840] They should have at least given it a try,
[21:52.840 -> 21:54.960] a couple of laps with the wet tires on,
[21:54.960 -> 21:56.920] and then see based on driver's feedback.
[21:56.920 -> 21:58.360] And I think that's why you should be taking
[21:58.360 -> 22:00.520] the driver's word with a little bit,
[22:00.520 -> 22:02.400] I should be listening a little bit more
[22:02.400 -> 22:03.320] to what the drivers say,
[22:03.320 -> 22:09.040] because they are the ones who are racing each other, and they are the ones who can give a good feedback when it comes to
[22:09.040 -> 22:14.000] visibility. On the subject of Johnny Herbert, I think he mentioned it very well on the Sky broadcast
[22:14.000 -> 22:18.640] that back in the day we didn't have the same level of technology, the same quality of visors,
[22:18.640 -> 22:24.720] the same drainage systems, the same technology available with the Marshalls and yet the drivers
[22:24.720 -> 22:29.720] and the teams went racing oh and also not as not the same quality of cars as well in terms
[22:29.720 -> 22:33.900] of the safety equipment or tracks that were as equipped to save the drivers or manage
[22:33.900 -> 22:40.320] the impacts as we have right now. Yet, we are so conservative Kunal. I don't understand
[22:40.320 -> 22:44.920] a little bit. Is it just an effort to try and minimize crashes or minimize any sorts
[22:44.920 -> 22:48.220] of damage? But if that is the case that kind of defeats the whole purpose
[22:48.220 -> 22:51.520] because I'm not saying Formula One should be dashing cars but that's
[22:51.520 -> 22:55.040] racing right? It's a game of skill at the end of the day. The most skillful
[22:55.040 -> 22:58.600] drivers will kind of go on track and at the start as well. It's not like 12 cars
[22:58.600 -> 23:01.660] crashed out, only two did. Well let's put a couple of things in
[23:01.660 -> 23:07.080] perspective. For Singapore I definitely agree there could have been an earlier start if possible.
[23:07.080 -> 23:09.680] The problem with Japan was not necessarily
[23:09.680 -> 23:13.360] the tires or the circuit surface, the wet surface
[23:13.360 -> 23:14.160] in the first place.
[23:14.160 -> 23:16.800] It was the visibility that was the challenge.
[23:16.800 -> 23:19.480] And then the FIA realized that even with the two cars that
[23:19.480 -> 23:23.360] went off, recovering those cars with low visibility
[23:23.360 -> 23:26.560] was a safety hazard, which is why we actually didn't have the race.
[23:26.560 -> 23:33.080] But yes, the question should be asked, we have wet tires, why don't we actually use them?
[23:33.080 -> 23:37.480] And we all know that it's never going to come out in the public because Pirelli pays millions of dollars for this.
[23:37.480 -> 23:43.240] But the Pirelli wet tires are absolutely not something that drivers and teams want to race on,
[23:43.240 -> 23:45.260] which is why when at the start,
[23:45.260 -> 23:46.740] a free choice of tires were given,
[23:46.740 -> 23:50.900] every team chose the intermediate tire, right?
[23:50.900 -> 23:53.420] And talking of Pirelli, yes,
[23:53.420 -> 23:55.580] there were 30 minutes of extra free practice
[23:55.580 -> 24:00.420] to time allotted, but as ironic and as strange
[24:00.420 -> 24:01.700] and funny as it may sound,
[24:01.700 -> 24:04.580] F1, which relies so much on advanced technologies
[24:04.580 -> 24:06.240] and weather forecasts,
[24:06.240 -> 24:10.340] couldn't really foresee that Pirelli's taken
[24:10.340 -> 24:13.660] all the dry weather tires they want to test for 2023,
[24:13.660 -> 24:17.620] only to know that Japan, Suzuka, October,
[24:17.620 -> 24:19.540] there are more chances of rain than not.
[24:19.540 -> 24:22.900] So not only are they carrying wet weather tires
[24:22.900 -> 24:26.080] that didn't get used, they carried the regular set of
[24:26.960 -> 24:32.800] dry weather tires and an extra set of dry weather tires to test, none of which actually got used.
[24:32.800 -> 24:40.400] And guess what? Japan is probably one of the farthest circuits away from Pirelli's base in
[24:40.400 -> 24:46.480] Italy. So, hey, net zero carbon, whatever 2030 is still some years away, let's just
[24:47.120 -> 24:53.280] underwrite the carbon footprint or overspend on the carbon footprint for this season if we have
[24:53.280 -> 25:00.880] to. But I think that's, for me, at least enough of the FIA, I hope so, fiasco on lots of grounds.
[25:00.880 -> 25:09.200] And I think we should probably focus on the race. What do you guys think about that?
[25:09.200 -> 25:13.280] You remember we had a race there even though it was cut short, even though there were only a few
[25:13.280 -> 25:19.280] things happened but you know a few standout drives for me Esteban Ocon kept Lewis Hamilton at bay.
[25:20.000 -> 25:25.200] We of course discussed Alonso and Vettel. I believe Mick Schumacher should have had a good result,
[25:25.200 -> 25:31.280] but Haas did a, I don't know if I can say Haas did a Ferrari or something, but something
[25:31.280 -> 25:37.760] happened with Haas' strategy as well. And then Alpine, much as they had pace and they've now
[25:37.760 -> 25:46.040] again overtaken McLaren for P4 in the championship, they had an announcement this weekend. So two more seats actually ended up
[25:46.040 -> 25:51.240] getting filled at 2 AM on, was it Saturday night or Sunday
[25:51.240 -> 25:51.720] morning?
[25:51.720 -> 25:52.440] I can't remember.
[25:52.440 -> 25:53.440] But something, yeah.
[25:53.440 -> 25:54.960] All the time zones, there was actually
[25:54.960 -> 25:56.120] an announcement that happened.
[25:56.120 -> 25:58.880] It just feels like the kitchen is about to get burned down.
[25:58.880 -> 26:01.280] Two French drivers and a French team together.
[26:01.280 -> 26:03.240] The last time that happened, OK, well,
[26:03.240 -> 26:05.280] as F1 stats crew Sundaram pointed out on your social media page, Sundaram, that the last time it happened okay well as F1 stats guru Sundaram pointed out on
[26:05.280 -> 26:09.520] your social media page Sundaram that the last time it happened it was really absurd scenario
[26:09.520 -> 26:14.240] because it was a very brief one but when you think of the bigger examples it's almost like putting in
[26:15.280 -> 26:20.320] garlic and oil and ghee and butter all together and then the next thing you know the kitchen is
[26:20.320 -> 26:31.040] on fire and nobody knows what to do. This just really doesn't work out. No, it's a very interesting way of referring to it because what we've seen is that, what we've
[26:31.040 -> 26:37.680] heard at least is that Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly don't really get along as much because
[26:37.680 -> 26:43.280] they've had some sort of rivalry in the junior days as well. But it's a very interesting
[26:43.280 -> 26:45.780] combination and we're having a whole all-French
[26:45.780 -> 26:50.560] lineup something that's probably not happened in the last 30 years, close to 30 years. It's
[26:50.560 -> 26:56.640] a very interesting lineup and I'm very curious to see how this pans out next year, the whole
[26:56.640 -> 27:01.640] combination I would say. And with that I think we should speak about some other almost French
[27:01.640 -> 27:05.520] drivers as well, Leclerc for a second. I felt it was almost symbolic Kunal
[27:05.520 -> 27:10.880] that Leclerc at the end got the time penalty for cutting a corner and made a mistake on his own.
[27:10.880 -> 27:15.280] That kind of awarded Max the world championship because I mean if you look at it this way that's
[27:15.280 -> 27:20.800] what the 2022 season was all about. Max dominating almost a second away from the competition. Anyone
[27:20.800 -> 27:28.240] who was close enough faded away very quickly and kind of hurt themselves on the foot and that's how they eventually lost it. Silly how it all
[27:28.240 -> 27:32.080] played out but what's even more silly to me is the fact that Lewis Hamilton just
[27:32.080 -> 27:37.080] could not get past Esteban Ocon and that Mercedes just suddenly seems to be like
[27:37.080 -> 27:39.960] the Mercedes of Jeddah all over again where there is just barely any straight
[27:39.960 -> 27:44.520] line speed. Yes it must be setup dependent but how frustrating was that
[27:44.520 -> 27:45.600] to watch? Because
[27:45.600 -> 27:51.200] at the end of the day, you watch Formula One for overtakes and the cars of course are not
[27:51.200 -> 27:55.040] to blame in this case. They were chasing each other so well, but there's barely any room,
[27:55.040 -> 27:59.520] barely any chance. And that was as frustrating as it was exciting in a way.
[27:59.520 -> 28:06.000] Yes, it was. I have to, before I discuss Hamilton and tell you what my reading is of that, just one word on Leclerc.
[28:06.000 -> 28:08.000] He was absolutely under no pressure,
[28:08.000 -> 28:10.000] especially when it comes to the title and whatever.
[28:10.000 -> 28:14.000] Now, whether he finishes on more podiums or not, doesn't matter.
[28:14.000 -> 28:20.000] 2022 is gone from his, you know, gone from his grasp, right?
[28:20.000 -> 28:22.000] He's not going to get the title.
[28:22.000 -> 28:24.000] Despite that, he actually made a mistake.
[28:24.000 -> 28:30.220] Yes, his tires were short and he complained about them and whatever, but he made a mistake
[28:30.680 -> 28:33.280] No pressure and you know, you may put it this way
[28:34.460 -> 28:39.120] He was under pressure from Checo Perez and not Max Verstappen in battle. Anyway, so
[28:39.760 -> 28:42.480] That's the Leclerc part talking of Hamilton
[28:41.560 -> 28:45.000] That's the Leclerc part. Talking of Hamilton, the Mercedes,
[28:45.000 -> 28:47.520] keeping rain and tire degradation in mind
[28:47.520 -> 28:48.560] after Friday running,
[28:48.560 -> 28:51.840] decided to have more wing on their car.
[28:51.840 -> 28:55.040] And they knew all along that battling the Alpines
[28:55.040 -> 28:58.240] that are really quick in the straight line speeds
[28:58.240 -> 28:59.520] would be a massive challenge.
[28:59.520 -> 29:00.920] And that's actually what happened to be.
[29:00.920 -> 29:04.560] And Samuel, yes, people watch Formula One to see overtakes,
[29:04.560 -> 29:05.280] but that's probably
[29:05.280 -> 29:12.320] your generation. The generation I come from likes to watch wheel-to-wheel action. I wouldn't have
[29:12.320 -> 29:18.000] cared who would have overtaken whom, okay, or whom would have overtaken who. My English is out of the
[29:18.000 -> 29:28.060] window right now, I've been up since three in the morning, okay,'t I wouldn't care who actually is ahead on track. All I really wanted was a wheel to wheel battle. And
[29:28.060 -> 29:38.120] that's what we got with a seven times world champion with Mercedes chasing a one time Grand Prix winner who actually was
[29:38.120 -> 29:46.840] discarded by Mercedes. Right. So I loved the whole battle. That's what Formula One should focus on, allowing people to fight,
[29:46.840 -> 29:49.920] rather than giving them a gimmick like a DRS,
[29:49.920 -> 29:52.400] where imagine this, if it was a dry race,
[29:52.400 -> 29:55.120] Alonso, sorry, Ocon actually had the pace
[29:55.120 -> 29:58.100] to be ahead of Lewis,
[29:58.100 -> 30:00.080] but just because Lewis would have had DRS,
[30:00.080 -> 30:01.960] he would have just driven past Ocon,
[30:01.960 -> 30:05.640] and then we would have been robbed off an iconic battle
[30:05.640 -> 30:06.680] that we saw on track.
[30:06.680 -> 30:08.920] And, you know, Lewis was complaining all the time,
[30:08.920 -> 30:10.040] give me more power,
[30:10.040 -> 30:11.840] or they're just so quick on the straights.
[30:11.840 -> 30:14.360] And we would have had none of that, right?
[30:14.360 -> 30:18.240] And sticking to Ocon and hence Alpine and now to Alonso,
[30:18.240 -> 30:22.560] very brave of him to be chasing Vettel, not have the pace.
[30:22.560 -> 30:25.200] He apparently claims he was asking Alpine
[30:25.200 -> 30:27.920] for the fresh set of inters a couple of laps
[30:27.920 -> 30:29.240] before he actually caught them.
[30:29.240 -> 30:31.920] So, you know, after the race, he went onto the radio
[30:31.920 -> 30:33.960] to actually yell at the team saying,
[30:33.960 -> 30:36.520] strategically, that was a disaster, right?
[30:36.520 -> 30:38.800] So he went, he dropped down to 10th place
[30:38.800 -> 30:42.360] and he actually found himself almost in sixth place.
[30:42.360 -> 30:46.480] And he of course finished 7th, 0.011 second off Sebastian Vettel. So the
[30:46.480 -> 30:51.840] Alpines were really quick, maybe they just didn't end up maximizing their result and
[30:51.840 -> 30:56.960] I'm just looking at it this way, imagine if Alonso would have pitted earlier and Alonso
[30:56.960 -> 31:01.680] would have cleared Vettel, we would have had an Alonso Hamilton in almost equal
[31:02.240 -> 31:06.320] machinery given conditions and we were probably robbed of that as well.
[31:06.320 -> 31:09.840] But it's outstanding the racing we got this weekend. It's frustrating when you think of it
[31:09.840 -> 31:16.240] from a fan perspective and but on the whole, rarely do you ever get to see such an action-packed 40
[31:16.240 -> 31:21.520] minutes of racing at the very very end and rarely do you ever get to see Nicholas Latifi score
[31:21.520 -> 31:25.000] points as well, Sandram. That happened. Now, he's no longer
[31:25.000 -> 31:31.000] the 21st driver in a 20-driver championship. So I think we should celebrate that. But jokes
[31:31.000 -> 31:37.640] aside, in all honesty, I think they lost the way in FP1, but they really found it back
[31:37.640 -> 31:42.200] in the race. That well-timed pit stop on the intermediates really got the game going for
[31:42.200 -> 31:50.480] them. And both him and Sebastian Vettel were able to execute the race so well because essentially jumped the gun which I don't think is of course
[31:50.480 -> 31:54.000] it's a slightly lucky part as well given their position because if anyone was in the top
[31:54.000 -> 31:58.720] 10 at that point it would have been far too risky for them to do that but given the circumstances
[31:58.720 -> 32:03.520] I think they really maximized whatever they had in their hand at that point. Yeah absolutely and
[32:03.520 -> 32:09.800] credit where credit's due. Nicholas Latifi, after being in that position of probably scoring points,
[32:09.800 -> 32:15.600] he did quite well for the remainder of the 25 laps that we got to see after the stoppage.
[32:15.600 -> 32:20.300] And, like I said, it's first mover's advantage.
[32:20.300 -> 32:26.240] After the race resumed, Vettel and Nicholas Latifi did take the risk of switching
[32:26.240 -> 32:30.440] to inters and that's probably something you don't see the frontrunners doing because they
[32:30.440 -> 32:34.120] tend to lose out more in terms of position and in terms of points.
[32:34.120 -> 32:39.220] And obviously, drivers like Vettel or Nicholas Latifi would have been the guinea pigs, similarly
[32:39.220 -> 32:42.120] to how we saw George Russell at Singapore.
[32:42.120 -> 32:45.960] Based on how their pace goes on, the rest decide if they
[32:45.960 -> 32:47.500] need to pit or not.
[32:47.500 -> 32:48.500] And they did brilliantly.
[32:48.500 -> 32:49.800] They did extremely well.
[32:49.800 -> 32:53.600] Vettel being in P6 and Nicholas Latifi in P8.
[32:53.600 -> 32:55.800] I really have to appreciate the fact.
[32:55.800 -> 32:57.800] I mean, we've really taken…
[32:57.800 -> 33:02.400] We've really cracked a lot of jokes on Latifi, but I really have to appreciate the fact that
[33:02.400 -> 33:08.160] he really clung on to that position and was able to score two points. And yes, he's not 21st in the standings anymore.
[33:08.880 -> 33:15.840] He's got the same number of points as Nick DeVries, despite having 18 more attempts or
[33:15.840 -> 33:20.960] something than Nick DeVries, right? But yeah, I mean, for all the flack that he got for forgetting
[33:20.960 -> 33:25.240] the layout of Suzuka, it's great that he could manage to score that point.
[33:25.240 -> 33:27.620] And talking of Sebastian Vettel,
[33:27.620 -> 33:31.200] can you imagine what a sheer driver's circuit can do
[33:31.200 -> 33:35.380] to somebody who's been lackluster or lacking motivation
[33:35.380 -> 33:37.600] for large part of the season, right?
[33:37.600 -> 33:39.980] Vettel was so excited about every lap
[33:39.980 -> 33:41.780] he was driving around Suzuka,
[33:41.780 -> 33:44.180] that he was going on the radio,
[33:45.160 -> 33:47.600] expressing the joy he was having.
[33:47.600 -> 33:51.200] And that's sort of what propelled his performance.
[33:51.200 -> 33:55.480] I mean, Aston Martin, OK, till Monza,
[33:55.480 -> 34:00.640] which was a couple of races ago, had scored just 25 points
[34:00.640 -> 34:01.560] in total.
[34:01.560 -> 34:05.360] In Singapore and Japan, they have scored 20 points, right?
[34:05.360 -> 34:10.120] And they are now suddenly chasing Alpha Romeo.
[34:10.120 -> 34:13.280] I think there's a seven point gap if I'm not mistaken.
[34:13.280 -> 34:17.000] So fantastic to see Fetal do what he's doing.
[34:17.000 -> 34:19.080] And I really hope that in the future,
[34:19.080 -> 34:22.760] he makes a one-off race return for any team
[34:22.760 -> 34:24.320] just to race at Suzuka,
[34:24.320 -> 34:25.680] because that's what he said he would
[34:25.680 -> 34:28.960] seriously consider if the chance came his way.
[34:28.960 -> 34:33.720] No, absolutely. And you could see the excitement and the joy he had. I think we really need
[34:33.720 -> 34:39.920] more circuits like this one. If anything, just this detractor incident kind of dampens
[34:39.920 -> 34:45.040] the circuit circuit per se, but otherwise, it was so amazing to see the kind of action we got including
[34:45.040 -> 34:51.200] a move by Kevin Magnuson on I think one of the Williams it was I think Alex Salbon on the first
[34:51.200 -> 34:56.640] lap on on the Degners as well it kind of proves that given the conditions you can really get to
[34:56.640 -> 35:00.960] see great racing anywhere and Suzuka is a great circuit that sometimes comes out of criticism
[35:00.960 -> 35:08.580] that oh you can't really close by or get get a move done because at some certain instances it's a bit too tight but no not really it's
[35:08.580 -> 35:13.920] really amazing to watch racing at this circuit but guys when we have to look at
[35:13.920 -> 35:18.140] this entire weekend as a whole just what would you use to what word would you use
[35:18.140 -> 35:24.120] to describe it in general because for me I just can't think beyond pandemonium
[35:24.120 -> 35:26.100] but sweet pandemonium at the end
[35:26.100 -> 35:29.780] considering the quality of the racing. What about you Kunal? We'll go to you
[35:29.780 -> 35:35.840] first and then we'll come to Sundaram. It has to be fiasco for me. I mean we are
[35:35.840 -> 35:42.800] gonna remember Japan, Suzuka, Max's first and second title in so much negative
[35:42.800 -> 35:47.040] light that it doesn't do justice to his talent and to the
[35:47.040 -> 35:53.040] dominance that Red Bull have had this season specifically, despite also being in battle last
[35:53.040 -> 36:00.080] season. And guess what? Tomorrow, which is the Monday after Japan, is when the cost cap result
[36:00.080 -> 36:06.720] or compliance certificates are going to come out. And that's going to give fans, or at least a massive section of fans,
[36:06.720 -> 36:08.880] another chance to just poke holes
[36:08.880 -> 36:13.320] and question the credibility of Max's world titles
[36:13.320 -> 36:14.840] and Red Bull's way of working,
[36:14.840 -> 36:16.960] which, again, has to be heralded
[36:16.960 -> 36:21.200] because they have beaten two of the most iconic
[36:21.200 -> 36:23.360] car manufacturers in the world,
[36:23.360 -> 36:24.760] two back-to-back seasons
[36:24.760 -> 36:25.020] over two different eras of regulation. So helmets off to them, of the most iconic car manufacturers in the world. Two back-to-back seasons
[36:25.020 -> 36:27.920] over two different eras of regulation.
[36:27.920 -> 36:29.220] So helmets off to them,
[36:29.220 -> 36:32.040] but we're not gonna remember it for any of the good.
[36:32.040 -> 36:33.600] It's only the negative stuff
[36:33.600 -> 36:37.460] that's gonna keep on playing up for a long, long time.
[36:37.460 -> 36:39.780] Yeah, I think my word is gonna be confusing
[36:39.780 -> 36:43.320] because yet again, we are confused
[36:43.320 -> 36:46.360] over what the race classification is or even sometimes
[36:46.360 -> 36:51.200] like how we saw very recently what the starting grade is and Formula One is
[36:51.200 -> 36:55.320] already a very difficult sport to understand for all of its technology
[36:55.320 -> 36:59.960] that goes into it but since we have a lot of new fans who are just coming
[36:59.960 -> 37:03.960] into Formula One ideally it should be a lot more easier for them to consume and
[37:03.960 -> 37:05.200] understand and if we constantly have so many differently worded, I mean into Formula One, ideally it should be a lot more easier for them to consume and understand.
[37:05.200 -> 37:11.920] If we constantly have so many differently worded, I mean, way of looking at certain regulations,
[37:11.920 -> 37:16.800] it just adds to more confusion. I think that's how it is, how it has been.
[37:17.520 -> 37:22.000] Yeah, and I think the one note that I would like to end this episode on is the fact that
[37:22.000 -> 37:26.080] we need to highlight moments. As Sundaram you mentioned early
[37:26.080 -> 37:30.800] on when you win a championship, when you win a trophy, when you win a race it may seem a bit
[37:30.800 -> 37:34.800] odd to look at it from this perspective but you need to glorify them. Let the moment breathe in
[37:34.800 -> 37:40.560] a way and we didn't quite do that in any light and even that silly throne didn't add anything to it
[37:40.560 -> 37:43.840] at the end of the day. I know I might sound a little bit too critical it was just an attempt
[37:43.840 -> 37:47.920] to make it look cool but it didn't feel like a world championship win and when that's
[37:47.920 -> 37:52.160] your most important moment of the season, the whole thing that you're working towards for the
[37:52.160 -> 37:57.200] entire year should feel a little bit a little bit more heavier, a little bit more intense, a little
[37:57.200 -> 38:02.480] bit more important, let's put it that way. But I think we're going to do a Formula One, this episode
[38:02.480 -> 38:07.760] is over. See you. Nah, it's not really. I've got to say goodbye in a proper way. I can't do a Formula One.
[38:07.760 -> 38:11.760] Thank you for listening, folks. Thank you for watching this episode. And I hope you leave a
[38:11.760 -> 38:16.080] really good recommendation if you enjoyed this particular episode. We'll be back with more
[38:16.080 -> 38:22.080] rather soon. We've got the US GP coming up. And we've got some really special episodes in store
[38:22.080 -> 38:28.080] for you. One from Peter Winsor on the stillbornborn US F1 team and one from Bob Barsha.
[38:28.080 -> 38:31.040] Remember him? The voice of Formula 1 in the USA?
[38:31.040 -> 38:32.960] He's going to be on the show very soon as well.
[38:32.960 -> 38:35.840] Thanks for listening folks. Have a good time and see you rather soon.
[38:35.840 -> None] Bye-bye. you