Missile strike, fake marina, Pias-co & more: Mid-season Review - 2022 Formula 1 Season

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A mid-season review episode like no other! But it's not the usual categories - best driver, best team & so on. We're different, remember? ;-)

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Which off-track incident caught your attention? And which incident should've been highlighted more?

What was your surprise performance of the season? Which gap in the Drivers' & Constructors' Championship interests you?

And finally, what was your 'wait, what...!' moment of the first part of the 2022 Formula 1 season? Tune in! 

(Season 2022, Episode 48)

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

Image courtesy: Mercedes

Thank you for your interest in the Inside Line F1 Podcast. Unfortunately, I am unable to provide a summary of the podcast episode transcript as requested, as I lack the capacity to access external websites or specific PDF documents over the internet or any specific file systems.

**Introduction**

- Episode 48 of the Inside Line F1 Podcast is a mid-season review with a unique format, focusing on various categories and moments from the 2022 Formula 1 season.

- The hosts, Sundaram Ramaswami, Soumil Arora, and Kunal Shah, discuss off-track incidents, surprise performances, gaps in the standings, and memorable moments from the first half of the season.

**Off-track Incidents**

- The hosts mention an incident involving Helmut Marko and Christian Horner at the Miami Grand Prix, where Marko was asked to make way for the motorcade.

- They also highlight the large number of celebrities on the starting grid in Miami, which caused a delay in the race start.

- Additionally, the hosts discuss the upcoming live race watchalong sessions with legendary Formula One commentator Steve Slater, where fans can join the hosts to analyze the race and ask questions.

**Surprise Performances and Gaps in the Standings**

- The hosts discuss surprising performances and gaps in the standings, including Carlos Sainz's win and podiums despite trailing George Russell in the championship standings.

- They also highlight the significant gap between Ferrari and Red Bull in the Constructors' Championship and the large gap between Alpine and McLaren in fourth place.

- The hosts note that the first season of the new regulations has led to significant gaps, but they are excited to see how things evolve over the next few years.

**Memorable Moments**

- The hosts discuss several memorable moments from the season, including:

- Charles Leclerc's surprising three race wins despite Ferrari's struggles.

- Fernando Alonso's P2 qualifying performance in Canada and his impressive four-wheel drift on a wet track.

- Kevin Magnussen's strong comeback to Formula One, including a P5 finish in the season-opening race and wheel-to-wheel battles with Lewis Hamilton and Sergio Perez.

- Mick Schumacher's improved performances this season, showing that he deserves to be in Formula One.

**Wait, What Moments**

- The hosts discuss several "wait, what" moments of the season, including:

- Carlos Sainz's entire season, marked by various incidents, including a mid-race argument with his race engineers, a simultaneous crash with Sergio Perez in qualifying, and a car fire.

- Red Bull's dominance over Ferrari and Mercedes, despite being an energy drinks company.

- The ongoing issue of porpoising and the drivers' struggles with back pain, leading to discussions about rule changes.

- Ferrari's continued mistakes and strategic errors, despite having a fast car.

**Bold Predictions**

- The hosts make bold predictions for the rest of the season, including:

- Ferrari will find new ways to mess up their races.

- George Russell will finish ahead of Carlos Sainz in the championship standings.

- Lewis Hamilton will finish ahead of both Russell and Sainz.

- A new technical directive in Belgium could bring Mercedes back into the mix, and Russell could get his first win before Hamilton.

- Hamilton will win a race in Brazil or Abu Dhabi, but Russell will win a race before him.

# Inside Line F1 Podcast - Season 2022, Episode 48: Mid-Season Review

---

## Off-Track Incidents:

- **Attention-Grabbing Incident:** The controversial incident involving Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso at the Canadian Grand Prix, where Alonso called Hamilton an "idiot" over the team radio, sparked significant discussion among fans and experts.

- **Underrated Incident:** The hosts highlight the incident at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, where Sergio Perez and Charles Leclerc collided, resulting in a safety car period. They believe this incident should have received more attention, as it potentially influenced the race outcome.

## Surprise Performances:

- **Aston Martin's Strong Showing:** The hosts commend Aston Martin's impressive performance this season, particularly the consistent points finishes by Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll. They attribute this success to the team's improved car and Vettel's experience.

- **Mercedes' Struggles:** In contrast, the hosts express surprise at Mercedes' struggles this season, noting that the team has not won a race yet. They discuss the various factors contributing to this, including the new regulations and the team's apparent lack of pace.

## Gaps in the Championships:

- **Drivers' Championship:** The hosts highlight the close battle between Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez, with only 21 points separating the two Red Bull drivers. They also note the significant gap between Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and the rest of the field.

- **Constructors' Championship:** The hosts discuss the dominance of Red Bull, who have a commanding lead over Ferrari. They also mention the tight battle between Mercedes and McLaren for third place.

## 'Wait, What...!' Moments:

- **Hamilton's Radio Message:** The hosts recall Lewis Hamilton's radio message during the British Grand Prix, where he exclaimed, "I can't believe you guys put me in this position." They analyze the context of this message and speculate on Hamilton's frustrations with the team's strategy.

- **Sainz's Crash at Imola:** The hosts discuss Carlos Sainz's bizarre crash at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, where he lost control of his car and crashed into the wall. They express their surprise at this uncharacteristic error from the Ferrari driver.

## Overall Takeaways:

- **Unpredictability of the Season:** The hosts emphasize the unpredictability of the 2022 Formula 1 season, with several teams and drivers showing strong performances. They believe this unpredictability adds excitement and intrigue to the championship battles.

- **Importance of Strategy and Development:** The hosts highlight the importance of strategy and development in Formula 1, as teams continually work to improve their cars and tactics throughout the season. They emphasize that these factors can significantly influence the outcome of races and championships.

[00:00.000 -> 00:23.200] Hey folks, welcome to this special episode of the Inside Line F1 Podcast.
[00:23.200 -> 00:25.480] It's special because it's in person. I think it's the first time since February this year that we've brought special episode of the Inside Line F1 Podcast. It's special because it's in person.
[00:25.480 -> 00:29.380] I think it's the first time since February this year that we've got the crew of the Inside
[00:29.380 -> 00:31.760] Line F1 Podcast here in person recording.
[00:31.760 -> 00:34.560] And it's not just me, Somal and Kunal over here.
[00:34.560 -> 00:38.520] We've also got F1 Stats crew Sundaram for the first time in the studio.
[00:38.520 -> 00:40.560] So Sundaram, firstly, welcome along.
[00:40.560 -> 00:43.680] But apart from him, we've got Kunal Shah, the former marketing head of the Force India
[00:43.680 -> 00:49.000] F1 team, who also works as an FIA accredited journalist for the Viaplay network along with us.
[00:49.000 -> 00:54.000] And of course, you all know about me. I'm Somal. I host the Driving Force on Disney Plus Hotstar.
[00:54.000 -> 00:59.000] But that's all about us done. And we're all feeling very happy that we get to see each other in person.
[00:59.000 -> 01:03.000] But there's one question I've got for you folks. With the summer break coming in,
[01:03.000 -> 01:07.640] who do you think is the happiest person in the Formula 1 paddock right now?
[01:07.640 -> 01:12.520] I think I'll start, I'll say Christian Oner, 90 points of a gap between himself and Ferrari,
[01:12.520 -> 01:13.520] what more could you ask for?
[01:13.520 -> 01:17.880] He's just ended up building a car that's working very well and he's ended up fighting a team
[01:17.880 -> 01:19.040] that's not working very well.
[01:19.040 -> 01:21.040] So it's happy days, isn't it?
[01:21.040 -> 01:22.040] What do you think, Kunal?
[01:22.040 -> 01:23.040] It is happy days.
[01:23.040 -> 01:26.800] I think I'm probably the happiest guy in the Formula 1 paddock, even
[01:26.800 -> 01:30.280] though I'm not in the paddock right now, because we get to do this in person.
[01:30.280 -> 01:31.280] Yeah.
[01:31.280 -> 01:34.680] We're, you know, it's a summer break, but it's not a summer break for us. It's the best
[01:34.680 -> 01:40.880] time for us to actually bring out our special content. And that makes me very happy. But
[01:40.880 -> 01:45.960] I think the happiest person, literally, serious note if I could say is probably
[01:46.840 -> 01:51.040] Sebastian Vettel, you know, he's retired. He's gonna do his climate change thing and
[01:51.800 -> 01:59.420] Sustainability or whatever else he does, you know, he doesn't have to drive that Aston Martin next season
[01:59.640 -> 02:03.840] Maybe I have to eat my words next season, but at least at this moment, he's the happiest
[02:03.840 -> 02:07.840] He's like I'm already on a break and now there's anyway the summer break.
[02:07.840 -> 02:09.760] What do you reckon Sundaram?
[02:09.760 -> 02:13.760] I suppose there are other happy people as well, no?
[02:13.760 -> 02:14.760] Thanks so much.
[02:14.760 -> 02:18.540] First of all, I'm very glad to be doing this with the both of you here.
[02:18.540 -> 02:24.700] But one person I think would be very, very happy in the recent weeks is Oscar Piastri.
[02:24.700 -> 02:28.960] Last year, he didn't have a drive. I mean, in 2022, he didn't have a drive. And all of a sudden, there seems to be more
[02:28.960 -> 02:35.360] than one team wanting his services for the next year. And it's a little tug of war between team
[02:35.360 -> 02:39.760] principals and teams. So I think he's going to be pretty happy with how things have been going on.
[02:39.760 -> 02:44.320] Have you ever had a Formula One driver coming into Formula One, not even doing a single race
[02:44.320 -> 02:46.360] and having multiple teams behind them?
[02:46.360 -> 02:48.680] I think Michael Schumacher had to do one.
[02:48.680 -> 02:51.360] But Piastri has kind of gone away from that.
[02:51.360 -> 02:52.920] He's gone one better.
[02:52.920 -> 02:53.920] This is ridiculous stuff.
[02:53.920 -> 02:55.760] But I've got a question for you Kunal.
[02:55.760 -> 02:59.960] Do we call it the Piasco or the Piastri gate?
[02:59.960 -> 03:00.960] What's the better one?
[03:00.960 -> 03:02.480] I am for Piasco.
[03:02.480 -> 03:06.800] And I really hope that his career doesn't end in a fiasco,
[03:06.800 -> 03:13.560] right? To put it that way literally. Yes, it's a very happy place to be, I would say,
[03:13.560 -> 03:19.820] but he's really pissed off a lot of people in the paddock. And I don't know if that's
[03:19.820 -> 03:25.820] a happy way to start a Formula One career. And, you know, I used to run the Force India Driver
[03:25.820 -> 03:31.860] Academy, as you guys know, since I talk about it every time I mention my name, right? But
[03:31.860 -> 03:38.160] the millions that have gone into investing behind PS3, if Alpine doesn't get a return
[03:38.160 -> 03:43.560] on them, the question will be asked, should they continue investing in junior drivers?
[03:43.560 -> 03:46.000] And for the whole ecosystem to work for a junior
[03:46.000 -> 03:51.000] driver to come from karting through to all the junior series Formula 3, Formula 2 and then
[03:51.000 -> 03:55.000] Formula 1. Somebody's got to foot all the bills and these are expensive series we are talking
[03:55.000 -> 04:03.000] of, right? If drivers like PS3 get funded but do not eventually drive for the team that gave them
[04:03.000 -> 04:05.760] the funding, it's a scary proposition
[04:05.760 -> 04:10.720] for the future of Formula One driver academies, I would say.
[04:10.720 -> 04:14.080] Just like salary caps, as Charles Leclerc mentioned as well, because there's lots of
[04:14.080 -> 04:17.760] rich investors backing them up, but I think that's a conversation for some other day and
[04:17.760 -> 04:22.920] we should get on it. But Sundaram, I want to ask you, how did Alpine end up losing Fernando
[04:22.920 -> 04:26.640] Alonso and Oscar Piastri in a matter of a day?
[04:27.280 -> 04:28.960] That can't just possibly happen, right?
[04:29.680 -> 04:35.280] That got me, I was very, very surprised to see Fernando Alonso actually move to Aston Martin
[04:35.280 -> 04:40.240] when it seemed like his deal for 2023 was almost certain. He said that it's just going to take a
[04:40.240 -> 04:45.840] couple of seconds to finalize the deal for 2023. But then shocker move, he moves to Aston
[04:45.840 -> 04:52.080] Martin and then the way things went down with Piastri as well. I think the biggest thing that I
[04:52.080 -> 04:58.240] have that I look over here is I look towards the organization. Why is there no stability within
[04:58.240 -> 05:04.720] Alpine? Why are the big names like Putkowski, Abitbol, Prost moving away from the team? And
[05:04.720 -> 05:05.760] why is Alonso moving away from the team and why is Alonso moving
[05:05.760 -> 05:11.240] away from the team when he's had so much of a romance with with Renault, his two championships
[05:11.240 -> 05:16.480] and the way he's he's actually behaved in the in recent weeks with his online posts.
[05:16.480 -> 05:22.080] Things don't seem very well between him and the team and Piastri also very categorically
[05:22.080 -> 05:26.400] stating that he's not going to drive for Alpine next year. I'm
[05:26.400 -> 05:29.640] really wondering what's happening within Alpine overall.
[05:29.640 -> 05:35.360] I like your phone screen cover. It said lock screen. It's Fernando Alonso from 2005 or
[05:35.360 -> 05:39.720] 6. I don't know, maybe you'll know the race, you'll know the lap as well when that picture
[05:39.720 -> 05:46.760] was taken. But I know why Alonso is going to Aston Martin because he's gonna drive a green Red Bull
[05:46.800 -> 05:50.260] He always wanted to drive for Red Bull. He kept saying how many times Christian Horner
[05:50.840 -> 05:53.960] You know approached him or whatever. So he's gonna drive a green Red Bull
[05:54.720 -> 05:59.360] Powered by a Mercedes which we at this moment might believe
[05:59.960 -> 06:04.080] That is the best combination one could ever be in and then he's got
[06:04.480 -> 06:08.020] You know, he doesn't have to fight the Ocons of the world again and complain
[06:08.020 -> 06:13.580] He's gonna have you know a stroll with him the two strolls and I don't know which one is the slowest stroll
[06:13.580 -> 06:15.120] But either way, hey
[06:15.120 -> 06:21.880] Don't don't you say so much about stroll because he's actually ended up retiring Ferrari's best championship hopes since 2007
[06:22.160 -> 06:24.000] Masa and now Vettel as well
[06:24.000 -> 06:25.600] So maybe you could add Fernando
[06:25.600 -> 06:29.360] Alonso to that list at the end of next year as well, or not next year, maybe two years
[06:29.360 -> 06:33.880] at least. He's on a spree to end up all of Ferrari's championship hopes and someday,
[06:33.880 -> 06:37.000] poll prediction, I think he's going to detach Sean Leclerc as well, because that's just
[06:37.000 -> 06:40.520] how the way the world goes. But folks, on this episode, there's a lot of other stuff
[06:40.520 -> 06:44.740] to talk about as well. The piastri gate or the piasco as we are now calling it is one
[06:44.740 -> 06:48.760] of the major off-track incidents that we have to discuss in this particular
[06:48.760 -> 06:52.540] season that's happened so far and there's a lot of them. We've got off-track incidents
[06:52.540 -> 06:57.180] that we've missed, we've also got the surprise performances and the most shocking World Driver
[06:57.180 -> 07:02.700] Championship gaps that are also going to come up and also the wait what moment of the season.
[07:02.700 -> 07:06.520] So lots of other fun stuff to come along, but that's going to be after a short break.
[07:06.520 -> 07:08.000] So we'll be right back.
[07:08.000 -> 07:11.720] Hey folks, welcome back into the InsideLineF1 podcast.
[07:11.720 -> 07:16.720] We were on the subject of talking about the Piasco and Oscar Piastri's shocking move to
[07:16.720 -> 07:17.720] McLaren.
[07:17.720 -> 07:19.040] Is he going to McLaren?
[07:19.040 -> 07:23.520] But I think that aside, it just brings us on to the major question about the championship
[07:23.520 -> 07:25.240] that this has to be
[07:25.240 -> 07:29.080] one of the craziest seasons that we've had so far. That even though we've had an amazing
[07:29.080 -> 07:34.960] year on track, a story off track is also dominating it so well. It's just an amazing season. And
[07:34.960 -> 07:38.680] there's this one particular stat that I want to bring in mind. That it's the first time
[07:38.680 -> 07:43.560] since 2008 that we've had three debut pole sitters in a season. That courtesy of you
[07:43.560 -> 07:49.140] Sundaram of course. But ridiculous right right? Amazing on-track action, amazing off-track action. What else
[07:49.140 -> 07:55.160] could we ask for Kunal? This is just like a great year, just barring one little aspect.
[07:55.160 -> 08:01.620] The one scary stat for me, again, courtesy our F1 stats guru is that Max Verstappen could
[08:01.620 -> 08:07.360] actually seal this year's title in the next five races.
[08:07.360 -> 08:08.000] Come on.
[08:08.000 -> 08:10.640] And to me, that's just like, what?
[08:10.640 -> 08:18.640] I mean, it's a very exciting season, you know, with all the narratives, you know, go back and listen to 20 episodes of hours, the narratives are all there.
[08:18.640 -> 08:22.000] But that to me is the scariest stats.
[08:22.000 -> 08:23.440] Sundar, I'm sure you have more.
[08:23.440 -> 08:26.340] Yeah, I particularly love patterns.
[08:26.340 -> 08:28.940] I like seeing records being broken.
[08:28.940 -> 08:31.660] And if Verstappen does win the championship this year,
[08:31.660 -> 08:34.980] he's going to take the record for the biggest deficit
[08:34.980 -> 08:36.200] overcome to win the title.
[08:36.200 -> 08:40.380] He was 46 points behind Leclerc after the Australian Grand
[08:40.380 -> 08:40.880] Prix.
[08:40.880 -> 08:43.180] So that's a huge margin that he's actually overcome.
[08:43.180 -> 08:53.200] And taken another 80 points off Leclerc's tally over there. And he's doing that while spinning in the middle of a race and ending up winning it.
[08:53.200 -> 08:57.200] I mean, what is this guy? Seriously. But that's the on track stuff. I really want to talk
[08:57.200 -> 09:01.920] about the off track stuff. Because we started off with P. Ashtray, we spoke about how things
[09:01.920 -> 09:08.840] have gone and how they might end up going eventually with Daniel Ricciardo potentially being paid 21 million for him to let go of his seat.
[09:08.840 -> 09:13.760] Now, I want to firstly ask that question to you Sundaram. Is it worth it? 21 million to
[09:13.760 -> 09:19.160] pay Ricciardo, then the fee to get Oscar Piyashtri in. We know that he's good, but I don't know
[09:19.160 -> 09:22.280] if he's good enough for that much. Is he?
[09:22.280 -> 09:27.560] So the thing is that we need to consider is the long term return of investment in that case.
[09:27.560 -> 09:32.280] Because even if they do give away with 21 million, even if they do give Ricardo 21 million
[09:32.280 -> 09:38.200] this year, they will get someone a very talented driver in Piazza 3, he'll take a little bit
[09:38.200 -> 09:43.840] of time in to get into Formula One and start driving well. But I'm sure they'll want to
[09:43.840 -> 09:47.260] seal him for the next two to three years and that will eventually start
[09:48.580 -> 09:52.760] Coming in in terms of more points and better positions in the in the constructor standing
[09:52.760 -> 09:58.080] So it does seem like a long-term plan that they have if if they do give him the money
[09:58.800 -> 10:03.720] But crazy how the story has unfolded and Alpine have just been quiet since then
[10:05.760 -> 10:10.840] story has unfolded and Alpine have just been quiet since then. But would that be your best off-track moment of the season so far, Kunal? Because it might not seem like it, but we've
[10:10.840 -> 10:15.760] got so many from this year and what is it, in only four, five months, isn't it?
[10:15.760 -> 10:21.920] Yeah, actually, I mean, it's, you know, Formula One has very well become a sport which has
[10:21.920 -> 10:25.520] on-track stories, which we always talk about,
[10:25.520 -> 10:27.800] but a lot of off-track ones as well.
[10:27.800 -> 10:33.460] And just before the Liberty Media days, the Bernie Eccleston days
[10:33.460 -> 10:38.180] that we had, you were pretty much just talking about teams going off the grid
[10:38.180 -> 10:43.640] and drivers unable to make it, and then not always the most positive stories.
[10:43.640 -> 10:46.080] But what we've actually seen are a lot of positive stories.
[10:46.080 -> 10:49.040] You know, the whole Americanization of the sport.
[10:49.040 -> 10:51.560] I think that's a positive, because if you
[10:51.560 -> 10:53.560] were to look at it from a business point of view,
[10:53.560 -> 10:56.920] here there is a European product which was not appealing
[10:56.920 -> 10:58.280] to the American masses.
[10:58.280 -> 11:00.880] And somebody sat, broke it down, and said,
[11:00.880 -> 11:04.160] what can we do to sell this product in America?
[11:04.160 -> 11:07.000] And they actually did a fantastic job.
[11:07.000 -> 11:12.920] And it's, of course, now Africa is being spoken about as well.
[11:12.920 -> 11:15.240] There is an American team, Andretti.
[11:15.240 -> 11:17.480] That caught my attention the most,
[11:17.480 -> 11:21.640] because Andretti is like the best American team
[11:21.640 -> 11:22.520] name in motorsport.
[11:22.520 -> 11:24.480] And this is where I know a lot of American listeners
[11:24.480 -> 11:29.240] of ours will write back saying, no, it's actually not that, it's this. But anyway, you know,
[11:29.240 -> 11:36.200] they have operations across various series, etc. And for them to get into Formula One,
[11:36.200 -> 11:40.800] given the Andretti backing and the name itself would be pretty fantastic. And what actually
[11:40.800 -> 11:46.720] has caught my attention the most is how everybody in Formula One currently is
[11:46.720 -> 11:53.760] holding their cards, right? Frederick Vasseur said that, you know, Dutch is the biggest Formula One
[11:53.760 -> 12:00.160] market for us because there's a Dutch driver. But what he did not say is that Ferrari is the biggest
[12:00.160 -> 12:05.840] team in Formula One because it's so-called the national team of Ferrari. So, interesting
[12:05.840 -> 12:10.960] dynamics at play, people are wanting to protect their positions in the sport. They're saying
[12:10.960 -> 12:16.040] how differently will Andretti do than what everybody else is doing. Haas is not even
[12:16.040 -> 12:27.680] standing up and taking ownership of the American market yet, I would say. So I'm excited to see how all of this unfolds. And yeah, talking of
[12:27.680 -> 12:35.120] America and Formula One, I cannot stop thinking about that fake marina that we have in Miami.
[12:35.120 -> 12:41.440] That takes a kick for me. Yeah, that was ridiculous. But you spoke about Bernie Eccleston, I really
[12:41.440 -> 12:47.960] want to come to him for a second as well, because I think this is one story that should have gotten more attention but it faded away, which
[12:47.960 -> 12:52.480] actually happens to be the next thing we will talk about in a minute. But he showed his
[12:52.480 -> 12:56.820] support for Vladimir Putin, very characteristic of Bernie of course, and said he was willing
[12:56.820 -> 13:00.960] to take a bullet for him. So I'll leave it at that, you make of it what you will. But
[13:00.960 -> 13:08.400] Sundaram, before I share another one of those stories that I think really caught my attention, what would it be for you? Apart from of course, Alonso leaving for Aston
[13:08.400 -> 13:14.000] Martin, which doesn't add up, right? No, so the biggest off-track moment that got a lot of
[13:14.000 -> 13:21.680] attention has to be the Piazzo incident because his tweet had around 400,000 likes, 100,000
[13:22.480 -> 13:25.640] retweets and I think I read somewhere that it's probably
[13:25.640 -> 13:28.880] one of the most viral tweets in motorsport history.
[13:28.880 -> 13:31.760] But later on, it was corrected that Lewis Hamilton's tweets
[13:31.760 -> 13:32.840] receive more engagement.
[13:32.840 -> 13:35.800] But I think that is the biggest talking point and all
[13:35.800 -> 13:38.280] for sudden that too in recent weeks.
[13:38.280 -> 13:40.560] So the biggest off-track moment for me
[13:40.560 -> 13:44.000] would be what transpired in recent weeks between Alpine
[13:44.000 -> 13:45.280] and Oscar Piastri.
[13:45.280 -> 13:51.240] Trick question guys, how strict are we on the definition of off-track? Because apart
[13:51.240 -> 13:56.920] from that, I've got one slightly absurd one. Does Austria count as an off-track moment?
[13:56.920 -> 14:00.080] The whole off-track gate that we had over there with so many penalties?
[14:00.080 -> 14:01.080] Yes, it does.
[14:01.080 -> 14:07.160] It does? I think it has to be one that really catches my eye because I think, okay, it might not
[14:07.160 -> 14:10.160] end up being the most, the race with the most penalties awarded.
[14:10.160 -> 14:13.360] I think Sundaram, you might end up finding that stat sometime soon.
[14:13.360 -> 14:17.840] But it was the one in modern history where it was broadcasted the most.
[14:17.840 -> 14:21.560] X driver has got a warning, Y driver has got a warning, black flag for you, black flag
[14:21.560 -> 14:23.520] for you, penalty for you, penalty for you.
[14:23.520 -> 14:25.080] It was just crazy
[14:25.480 -> 14:31.380] It added a layer of excitement in a way because you were tense just like in a yellow card situation in football that oh this
[14:31.380 -> 14:32.320] Player is on a yellow card
[14:32.320 -> 14:36.100] I hope he does not end up making a foul which was of course quite a fun thing to do
[14:36.100 -> 14:39.800] But race control stance that is something that's been really
[14:41.680 -> 14:45.680] Catching my attention in a way because for years we've had a black and white, I mean,
[14:45.680 -> 14:46.840] a grey stance on it.
[14:46.840 -> 14:51.040] Finally, we're clear, finally we're black and white and people don't seem to enjoy it,
[14:51.040 -> 14:52.040] Kunal.
[14:52.040 -> 14:53.200] That's kind of paradoxical, isn't it?
[14:53.200 -> 14:56.040] Yeah, I think it's a little too much of what's happening.
[14:56.040 -> 14:59.920] The Austrian Grand Prix was more about track limits, Austrian Grand Prix than whatever
[14:59.920 -> 15:01.880] sponsor Austrian Grand Prix.
[15:01.880 -> 15:05.760] Soon, before we know it, the race control will actually have a sponsor that'll
[15:05.760 -> 15:09.280] ride upon how many track limit notifications show up
[15:09.280 -> 15:11.000] on the race control dashboard.
[15:11.000 -> 15:16.120] But there's a larger theme or a broader theme out here,
[15:16.120 -> 15:19.480] which is, and I hope my accreditation doesn't
[15:19.480 -> 15:23.160] get reworked for this, which is the FIA, I would say, OK,
[15:23.160 -> 15:26.200] which is we've had the jewelry ban.
[15:26.200 -> 15:27.880] A lot of noise.
[15:27.880 -> 15:31.360] Lewis Hamilton sitting with, what, three watches, piercings,
[15:31.360 -> 15:34.160] whatever, necklaces.
[15:34.160 -> 15:36.080] So many things in that press conference.
[15:36.080 -> 15:37.280] I just love that.
[15:37.280 -> 15:39.480] Like, hey, guys, what are you doing?
[15:39.480 -> 15:41.040] You all messed up my eighth title,
[15:41.040 -> 15:42.660] and now you're taking my jewelry away.
[15:42.660 -> 15:49.360] No, but on a more serious note. OK, still not serious when he said I just am effing with them, I want them to think I have
[15:49.360 -> 15:54.480] piercings in places I shouldn't reveal. I love that whole Lewis Hamilton vibe you know, but no
[15:54.480 -> 16:00.400] on a very serious note, I mean the FIA is doing a lot of things off track to get attention which
[16:00.400 -> 16:08.560] technically they shouldn't because they are the governing governors of the sport, the governing body. They should be working in the background, getting things right, which
[16:08.560 -> 16:13.360] we know they're doing. It's like, you know, the, I would put it this way. They are so impeccable
[16:13.360 -> 16:18.720] when it comes to the safety of the sport, that they are polar opposites when it comes to several
[16:18.720 -> 16:24.000] other aspects like track limits and wheel-to-wheel racing and battle. They're getting better at it.
[16:24.000 -> 16:28.040] Yes, they are. But it just sometimes make me question.
[16:28.040 -> 16:29.640] I mean, let's look at it this way.
[16:29.640 -> 16:32.120] One of the other biggest off-track moments
[16:32.120 -> 16:35.920] which caught my attention was Sebastian Vettel actually
[16:35.920 -> 16:39.080] walked out of a driver's briefing, right?
[16:39.080 -> 16:42.560] And then the FIA sanctioned him or whatever.
[16:42.560 -> 16:44.900] It was a suspended sentence that was, right?
[16:44.900 -> 16:45.000] And they use words like he's not a role model, sanctioned him or whatever. It was a suspended sentence that was, right?
[16:45.000 -> 16:48.720] And they use words like he's not a role model,
[16:48.720 -> 16:49.720] which is a funny thing.
[16:49.720 -> 16:52.400] I don't know if that was stand-up comedy by the FIA.
[16:52.400 -> 16:55.000] It was unworthy of a four-times world champion.
[16:55.000 -> 16:57.520] I mean, it's Sebastian Vettel of all people.
[16:57.520 -> 17:01.400] You know, him just getting up and taking a breath
[17:01.400 -> 17:06.480] is like a sustainable way of breathing, for example.
[17:11.600 -> 17:15.040] Sometimes I really don't get the FIA, but of course, everyone's favorite bashing boy, you could put it that way. But of course, what they've done for safety is incredible.
[17:15.040 -> 17:21.040] As we saw, of course, in Silvestre and Mojo Guan Yu. But on the subject of the FIA and on
[17:21.040 -> 17:26.200] the subject of Sebastian Vettel, I think it was kind of amazing that
[17:26.200 -> 17:29.240] his whole Canada helmet gate kind of went under the radar
[17:29.240 -> 17:32.020] because he in a way was called a hypocrite
[17:32.020 -> 17:33.240] for racing in Formula One.
[17:33.240 -> 17:34.720] And he had a message on his helmet saying
[17:34.720 -> 17:38.000] that he should stop the mining of a certain component,
[17:38.000 -> 17:39.780] which I can't quite remember for the life of me
[17:39.780 -> 17:40.620] at this moment.
[17:40.620 -> 17:42.420] So that's silly of me,
[17:42.420 -> 17:44.220] but he eventually was called a hypocrite
[17:44.220 -> 17:48.760] by the Canadian lawmakers and said that, okay, you focus on your job. And I love the fact
[17:48.760 -> 17:52.800] that Vettel said, okay, fine, I'm a hypocrite only for two more weeks, and he's retired
[17:52.800 -> 17:57.480] after that. And then nobody's talking about that. It's amazing how committed he is to
[17:57.480 -> 18:02.360] this whole process of saying, yep, I'm sustainable, I'm driving in an environmental way. And also
[18:02.360 -> 18:05.760] what he's done with the Nigel Mansell FW14B.
[18:09.920 -> 18:14.800] In a way, this should go out to more people and as a direct message to the FIA saying, guys, we can do this. We have sustainable fuel now, why bother with the hybrids? I think it was
[18:14.800 -> 18:20.560] Lucas de Grasse who came on Twitter and said, why even bother with the expensive V6 hybrid engines
[18:20.560 -> 18:25.400] when you can just have V12s with sustainable fuel. It works for everyone, isn't it? No?
[18:25.400 -> 18:26.040] I don't know.
[18:26.040 -> 18:27.760] Does it work for Audi and Porsche?
[18:27.760 -> 18:29.080] That's the question.
[18:29.080 -> 18:34.000] Everybody's like, we will make Formula 1 to whatever
[18:34.000 -> 18:35.880] Audi and Porsche wanted to be.
[18:35.880 -> 18:39.120] And this is where I think what Toto Wolff said
[18:39.120 -> 18:39.960] made a lot of sense.
[18:39.960 -> 18:44.360] He said, we need Audi and Porsche to commit to Formula 1
[18:44.360 -> 18:47.280] and be regulation agnostic because
[18:47.280 -> 18:51.000] we are in a dynamic regulations driven environment.
[18:51.000 -> 18:55.760] Hmm, that's correct, yeah. And that's also one story we should talk about if we do have
[18:55.760 -> 19:00.200] the time later, but I also want to ask you guys about other off-track moments that should
[19:00.200 -> 19:03.880] have been noticed, but really went under the radar. What about you, Sundar? What really
[19:03.880 -> 19:05.480] comes to your mind first?
[19:05.480 -> 19:06.760] I think nothing is going to top this
[19:06.760 -> 19:10.440] because driving in Formula One is a big thing.
[19:10.440 -> 19:12.400] And especially if you have your contract extended,
[19:12.400 -> 19:14.160] obviously you want to celebrate that.
[19:14.160 -> 19:16.360] And one thing that really went under the radar
[19:16.360 -> 19:18.440] is Lance Stroll's announcement
[19:18.440 -> 19:20.760] that he's going to drive in 2023.
[19:20.760 -> 19:24.160] That was actually coupled with Alonso's announcement
[19:24.160 -> 19:26.760] and the team principal, Mike Crack, he put
[19:26.760 -> 19:32.880] it very subtly and perfectly within the announcement that our lineup for 2023 is going to be Alonzo
[19:32.880 -> 19:33.880] and Lance Stoll.
[19:33.880 -> 19:38.480] There was no social media post, no hue and cry, no big talk about it.
[19:38.480 -> 19:40.720] And yeah, Lance Stoll has a seat for 2023.
[19:40.720 -> 19:41.720] Really?
[19:41.720 -> 19:43.200] Yeah, I had no clue.
[19:43.200 -> 19:44.200] Pikachu face.
[19:44.200 -> 19:47.800] I made sure I checked that. Yes, he
[19:47.800 -> 19:52.200] does have a driver. So now in that driver graphic, drivers with a contract for 23, there's
[19:52.200 -> 19:57.000] no longer a question mark with Aston Martin. There's Stroll and Alonso. Stroll and Alonso.
[19:57.000 -> 20:03.880] Wow. Stroll, the world champion retiring machine as Somil just painted him. But I'll tell you
[20:03.880 -> 20:07.020] the one thing which Formula One has done very well to put a
[20:07.020 -> 20:12.200] blanket on was the missile attack we saw in Saudi Arabia.
[20:12.200 -> 20:13.760] Oh, I totally forgotten about that.
[20:13.760 -> 20:14.080] Yeah.
[20:14.080 -> 20:14.320] Yeah.
[20:14.320 -> 20:22.480] And, and, you know, it's, to me, I would have wanted Formula One, again, I hope
[20:22.480 -> 20:27.200] my accreditation is not reworked, but anyway, I would have wanted Formula 1, again, I hope my accreditation is not revoked, but anyway, I would have wanted Formula 1
[20:27.200 -> 20:32.000] to take a far more non-capitalistic, more
[20:32.000 -> 20:35.880] humanitarian stance or stance to turn around and say,
[20:35.880 -> 20:36.920] you know what, that's it.
[20:36.920 -> 20:38.920] We've had a missile strike 10 kilometers away
[20:38.920 -> 20:41.560] from the circuit, and we're going home.
[20:41.560 -> 20:43.440] Of course, it would have cost a lot of money,
[20:43.440 -> 20:49.840] and money is what drives the business. And with the whole positive momentum that Formula One is in, this would have been
[20:49.840 -> 20:56.480] a comma in that momentum that they've built. So, very disappointing that the drivers were put in
[20:56.480 -> 21:02.560] this, you know, the space that they were in and unconfirmed, but you know, there was these talks
[21:02.560 -> 21:06.920] that maybe you won't be allowed to take off and then somebody from the World Wrestling
[21:07.860 -> 21:13.760] Federation of World Wrestling Entertainment. Yeah. Yeah, they actually wrote saying how they were stuck on the airstrip for four hours
[21:14.320 -> 21:20.480] Before they could take off whatever whatever right? So to me that just took the cake away in
[21:21.000 -> 21:25.360] Every way possible and and there was one more more thing since we spoke of the fake marina
[21:25.360 -> 21:33.120] the French GP actually had a real swimming pool with real water and this was not covered
[21:33.120 -> 21:40.720] by anybody but one lady who heads the social media division of McLaren applied. What? Why didn't they?
[21:40.720 -> 21:47.160] Oh that's like the coolest thing ever. There were no boards, right? Nobody sold seats for those sections, at least I assume.
[21:47.160 -> 21:49.560] So and it wasn't in Miami and it wasn't fake.
[21:49.560 -> 21:50.560] So hey, it's real water.
[21:50.560 -> 21:52.200] Everybody sees real water all the time.
[21:52.200 -> 21:53.800] I guess that's probably why.
[21:53.800 -> 21:55.000] It's in the south of France as well.
[21:55.000 -> 21:59.360] Plus it was at the time when there was this major heat wave in Europe.
[21:59.360 -> 22:02.160] So why would we even bother sitting in tickets for that?
[22:02.160 -> 22:03.240] Who will even do that?
[22:03.240 -> 22:04.360] Who even cares?
[22:04.360 -> 22:05.520] But it's actually quite like what
[22:05.520 -> 22:07.240] they have in the Australian cricket stadiums,
[22:07.240 -> 22:08.900] where you can actually sit by the ground
[22:08.900 -> 22:10.640] and sit in a pool and watch.
[22:10.640 -> 22:11.400] That's awesome.
[22:11.400 -> 22:12.860] And it's crazy that wasn't covered.
[22:12.860 -> 22:16.080] But I'm actually very agitated about the whole Saudi Arabia
[22:16.080 -> 22:18.160] thing, because Formula One essentially
[22:18.160 -> 22:23.160] is, it kind of makes you feel like they are essentially
[22:23.160 -> 22:25.200] performers in a king's court where if you don't
[22:25.200 -> 22:29.840] like what you, I mean, if they don't like what you perform about, they'll essentially chop your
[22:29.840 -> 22:34.000] head off or maybe put you to jail, put you in exile or something like that. Okay, that might
[22:34.000 -> 22:37.520] be a couple of steps too far, but they can at least keep you in the country for a long, long
[22:37.520 -> 22:43.040] time. And it's distasteful, isn't it? Because here's Formula One trying to be really open and
[22:43.040 -> 22:45.440] really modern in a way by saying,
[22:45.440 -> 22:47.400] oh, we race as one, we respect everybody,
[22:47.400 -> 22:50.320] but they're going into countries that really don't do that.
[22:50.320 -> 22:51.480] And they're also going into countries
[22:51.480 -> 22:52.840] that might actually end up keeping them
[22:52.840 -> 22:56.420] if they don't abide by just basic safety norms
[22:56.420 -> 22:57.260] of the country.
[22:57.260 -> 22:59.680] That's not how the world works.
[22:59.680 -> 23:01.000] That's, yeah, that's not how-
[23:01.000 -> 23:01.820] That's silly.
[23:01.820 -> 23:02.660] Yeah, that's silly.
[23:02.660 -> 23:04.500] And they keep having these slogans
[23:04.500 -> 23:10.720] and let's hope that they live by the slogans. Isn't that a new one? Drive them out or something for online
[23:10.720 -> 23:18.640] trolls? Oh, yeah. Something of that sort. But anyway, to more stuff, right? Another thing that
[23:18.640 -> 23:22.240] really... Since we are on this whole Piasco thing, it's got triggered by Alonzo.
[23:23.280 -> 23:25.840] Pias 3 is going to take Ricardo's seat.
[23:25.880 -> 23:27.120] We don't know what Ricardo is doing.
[23:27.520 -> 23:32.480] And, you know, uh, we're always, I, I'm yet to meet somebody who's harsh
[23:32.480 -> 23:34.800] against Ricardo's struggles, right.
[23:35.240 -> 23:39.080] Uh, but let's remember he actually missed the second half of preseason testing.
[23:39.680 -> 23:43.840] So he missed three out of the six days that we had, and that's due to COVID.
[23:44.160 -> 23:47.280] And even the three days he had were half shared with Landon Norris.
[23:47.280 -> 23:51.600] So, you know, he started sort of started off on a bit of this back foot thing.
[23:51.600 -> 23:53.920] So COVID-19 is still very much around, right?
[23:53.920 -> 23:58.560] Because Sebastian Vettel missed the first two races and Lewis Hamilton still wears a
[23:58.560 -> 24:01.000] mask in the paddock.
[24:01.000 -> 24:06.480] So again, one of those things that we should keep in mind that not the happiest of stories to
[24:06.640 -> 24:11.560] put attention on but that COVID-19 is still around. One of the things that is happy about that
[24:12.240 -> 24:18.480] China is yet to resume probably the only country maybe F1 stats guru can you know sort of
[24:19.200 -> 24:26.840] reconfirm this but the only country yet to resume hosting a race after pandemic or during pandemic is China.
[24:26.840 -> 24:30.360] Of course, a country with an existing race contract,
[24:30.360 -> 24:33.160] but hasn't come back to whatever, right?
[24:33.160 -> 24:34.920] Anyway, so that's that about China.
[24:34.920 -> 24:39.280] And I still have one more thing about the FIA,
[24:39.280 -> 24:43.760] Fernando Alonso going on and on about weaving after Canada
[24:43.760 -> 24:46.160] and how we brought it up in every
[24:46.160 -> 24:52.360] possible media interview and driver's briefing and and so on and then final
[24:52.360 -> 24:59.120] one from me, Nicholas Latifi topping an FP1 or an FP session and he actually
[24:59.120 -> 25:06.240] topped has topped a session whereas Lewis Hamilton hasn't. That's just how brilliant Latifi or Gotifi's
[25:06.960 -> 25:14.400] 2022 season is probably, is going. And I really hope that this is his last season.
[25:15.280 -> 25:20.240] Am I being too direct? Too harsh? Yeah. I'm just being honest. How is it that Helmut
[25:20.240 -> 25:29.660] Marko being honest is okay, but me being not? being honest is not right. He's Canadian. You don't sing you don't say bad things to Canadians. They're just nice
[25:30.000 -> 25:34.840] Who's Canadian Latifi? How does it matter? Is he quick? That's a fair point
[25:35.560 -> 25:36.760] he's
[25:36.760 -> 25:42.160] Yeah, he's not even quick at coming into and leaving Formula One like Sergey Serovkin was at least he was I mean he realized
[25:42.160 -> 25:42.880] Okay, I'm not quick
[25:42.880 -> 25:45.000] I better get out of here, but Latifi hasn't even done that.
[25:45.000 -> 25:46.600] And it's for the same team as well.
[25:46.600 -> 25:50.000] Plus he's up against someone who's been out of the sport for a year.
[25:50.000 -> 25:52.000] And yet he's being beaten by Albin.
[25:52.000 -> 25:53.000] Exactly.
[25:53.000 -> 25:58.400] So, yeah, I think I would be happy to see him out of F1 next year.
[25:58.400 -> 26:00.600] This is where all the Canadians are tuning out.
[26:00.600 -> 26:01.200] Yes.
[26:01.200 -> 26:03.200] They're like, you have butchered Lance Stroll.
[26:03.200 -> 26:08.520] And now you're butchering Nicholas Latifi but hey I love Jacques Villeneuve. I
[26:08.520 -> 26:12.360] have to say that. He's some character. Just trying to save some Canadians
[26:12.360 -> 26:16.920] pressing stop and skip and unsubscribe and leaving a bad rating. I'll tell you
[26:16.920 -> 26:20.800] what though Jacques Villeneuve's opinions sometimes are just about as over the top
[26:20.800 -> 26:26.520] as the podium ceremony in Miami. We've forgotten about it. I mean, do you guys remember we had this big
[26:26.520 -> 26:27.040] Oh yeah
[26:27.040 -> 26:31.680] Was it a limo? What was it? I forget to remember. It was a cavalcade wasn't it?
[26:31.680 -> 26:35.560] Yeah, exactly exactly that and those big fat bikes and you had
[26:36.120 -> 26:40.080] Was it a horse as well or am I just imagining things now? I know it's early in the morning
[26:40.080 -> 26:47.400] You could probably be imagining it, but there's a very high chance there was a horse. There was, wasn't there those police big...
[26:47.400 -> 26:48.400] The motorcade.
[26:48.400 -> 26:49.400] Yes, yes.
[26:49.400 -> 26:50.400] The motorcade.
[26:50.400 -> 26:51.400] Yeah, yeah.
[26:51.400 -> 26:56.240] And I remember just one thing that, and I don't know if this came up on the world feed
[26:56.240 -> 27:02.120] or was it something I saw on another feed, but Helmut Marko was actually walking there
[27:02.120 -> 27:03.520] with Christian Horner.
[27:03.520 -> 27:04.520] Yep.
[27:04.520 -> 27:05.200] Exactly. And one of the spices, I don't know. Jerry, Jerry Hallib Horner. Yep. Exactly.
[27:05.200 -> 27:06.200] And one of the spices, I don't know.
[27:06.200 -> 27:07.200] Jerry, Jerry Halliburton.
[27:07.200 -> 27:08.200] Whatever.
[27:08.200 -> 27:09.200] Yeah.
[27:09.200 -> 27:11.960] And he was actually told, hey, make way.
[27:11.960 -> 27:14.560] And you know, the motorcade has to go by.
[27:14.560 -> 27:16.760] But that's as things Americans go.
[27:16.760 -> 27:19.360] And I love how they are embracing Formula One.
[27:19.360 -> 27:25.080] I love how Formula One is getting all Americanized in the limited ways that it can.
[27:25.080 -> 27:28.600] And it's still retaining a lot of its legacy and history
[27:28.600 -> 27:31.120] about it being a European sport.
[27:31.120 -> 27:33.840] And I mean, talking of the grid, talking of Miami,
[27:33.840 -> 27:37.600] the start grid in Miami, I was almost
[27:37.600 -> 27:40.440] certain that the race would not start on time
[27:40.440 -> 27:43.720] because there's a 10-minute warning signal by which
[27:43.720 -> 27:45.040] everybody has to leave the
[27:45.040 -> 27:51.280] circuit. And the number of people I saw on the start grid in Miami through all the camera
[27:51.280 -> 27:56.960] angles that I had access to, I was just like, goodness me, I have never seen so many people
[27:57.520 -> 28:03.200] during COVID because hey, it's officially still on, right, on the start grid. And there was,
[28:03.200 -> 28:06.580] I didn't know how they would evacuate them or rather, you know, let them out
[28:06.580 -> 28:10.300] But hey, Formula One being Formula One, they did manage to do that on time
[28:10.300 -> 28:16.820] Which is a tough task because a lot of them were celebrities with big egos as we of course saw in Martin Brundle's interviews on
[28:16.820 -> 28:23.340] the grid, which if you haven't seen I think they are the best pieces of content ever produced by any broadcaster before a race
[28:23.340 -> 28:28.600] So you should check them out. But before we go on to other categories as well, I also want to tell you guys of another
[28:28.600 -> 28:33.200] fun on track off track story. I'm sorry, that's going to happen in the second part of the
[28:33.200 -> 28:38.560] season. On the sideline F1 podcast, we're going to have the legendary Steve Slater coming
[28:38.560 -> 28:42.840] in. He was, of course, the voice of Formula One and actually still is the voice of Formula
[28:42.840 -> 28:48.860] One in a way in all of Asia with his lovely work for Starsports and Foxsports as well over the years and he
[28:48.860 -> 28:52.680] is going to be watching I think four or five races I'm not sure of the exact number but
[28:52.680 -> 28:56.620] we are going to have quite a few of them over the course of the second part of the season
[28:56.620 -> 29:00.760] and to find out how you can join us for the watch along and listen to Steve's opinions
[29:00.760 -> 29:04.960] and maybe some commentary on the race as well don't forget to check the link in the description
[29:04.960 -> 29:05.700] and you can sign in,
[29:05.700 -> 29:07.500] you can register and you can join us for that.
[29:07.500 -> 29:11.500] I think it's going to be a really fun event and that is definitely going to spice up
[29:11.500 -> 29:14.900] the off-track element of the season for me at least and I hope that you also
[29:15.100 -> 29:16.100] join us on that party.
[29:16.500 -> 29:19.900] Yeah, and you know, what's to me the most exciting part is, you know, you watch
[29:19.900 -> 29:24.800] Formula One with friends, but here you get to watch it with an expert, decode
[29:24.800 -> 29:28.760] the race with how Steve sees it, all the data points
[29:28.760 -> 29:32.720] he picks up, ask questions about strategy,
[29:32.720 -> 29:36.780] about wheel-to-wheel battles, debate it, discuss it.
[29:36.780 -> 29:39.880] And I think it's going to be pretty exciting.
[29:39.880 -> 29:43.880] It's something that at least I have never experienced before.
[29:43.880 -> 29:45.520] So I'm really looking forward to it
[29:45.520 -> 29:49.000] because I know I'm gonna have Somil and Sundaram
[29:49.000 -> 29:51.320] join the live stream as well.
[29:51.320 -> 29:54.340] It's gonna be on the Insider platform.
[29:54.340 -> 29:56.420] It's open to everybody on the internet
[29:56.420 -> 29:59.560] and I'm so kicked to see how it all unfolds.
[29:59.560 -> 30:02.780] And just for that, you know,
[30:02.780 -> 30:04.220] event that we're gonna have live,
[30:04.220 -> 30:08.840] I really hope Max doesn't seal his title in the next five races.
[30:08.840 -> 30:12.160] I mean, it will change the narratives.
[30:12.160 -> 30:16.000] We will sort of look on at other, you know, stories to speak about.
[30:16.000 -> 30:19.520] But to keep the title battle on and to, you know,
[30:19.520 -> 30:23.720] sort of experience that with Steve along with us will be a lot of fun, I guess.
[30:24.400 -> 30:27.800] Let's delay the championship battle a little. Let's have a little bit more fun.
[30:27.800 -> 30:32.600] We have quite a few more races to go in the season. So yeah, just let's not end it quickly.
[30:32.600 -> 30:37.360] Exactly. It just feels like 2011 all over again. Yeah, but hey, talking of 2011, there
[30:37.360 -> 30:43.160] were big, big gaps in 2011. That was a really crazy year. And there are quite a few gaps
[30:43.160 -> 30:49.680] that actually are surprising me as well so far this year. I mean, to start off with, Carlos Sainz has a win and won more
[30:49.680 -> 30:53.760] podium than George Russell, but he's two points behind him in the championship standings.
[30:53.760 -> 30:58.480] So any sort of gaps like this that are really surprising you in the standings so far, guys?
[30:58.480 -> 31:03.920] What about you Sundaram? For me, the gap in the drivers and the constructor standings
[31:03.920 -> 31:05.820] surprises me a lot because ideally
[31:05.820 -> 31:11.020] it should have been Ferrari leading both championships and by quite a margin I would say.
[31:11.020 -> 31:17.060] Leclerc should have been leading with 30 points at least in the bank and even Ferrari should
[31:17.060 -> 31:22.900] have been leading the constructors with over 50 points over Red Bull and sadly that's not
[31:22.900 -> 31:25.920] the case and they've just been losing way
[31:25.920 -> 31:30.660] too many points this year and I don't think that the upper management of Ferrari is going
[31:30.660 -> 31:35.960] to be happy if they finish third in the standings despite having the fastest car and Mattia
[31:35.960 -> 31:40.200] Benotto still goes about saying that everything seems fine, there's nothing wrong and we don't
[31:40.200 -> 31:45.360] need to make any changes. But I think that's the biggest surprise for me that they're
[31:45.360 -> 31:49.520] not leading both championships. There's this funny meme that goes around the internet,
[31:49.520 -> 31:53.360] there's a pup standing in a fire and saying, yep, this is fine. That's just not, isn't it?
[31:54.800 -> 31:59.680] You know, maybe I'm in that space where I'm like, maybe they don't need changes in terms of people.
[32:00.240 -> 32:05.600] But maybe they need changes in terms of processes and the way decisions are made.
[32:05.600 -> 32:06.840] I think that's where it stands.
[32:06.840 -> 32:13.520] And if Mercedes end up catching Ferrari, I think that's going to be the key story in
[32:13.520 -> 32:15.720] the second half of the season.
[32:15.720 -> 32:20.720] And you know, since we're talking about the Constructors' Championship, I mean, we've
[32:20.720 -> 32:25.360] got Red Bull running away, Mercedes catching,
[32:25.360 -> 32:27.280] Mercedes catching Ferrari for second,
[32:27.280 -> 32:29.800] or at least making a battle out of it.
[32:29.800 -> 32:34.280] Alpine is one third of the points of Mercedes in fourth place.
[32:34.280 -> 32:36.280] And that's an incredible gap.
[32:36.280 -> 32:41.200] I mean, we've had these jokes about Formula 1, Formula 1.5.
[32:41.200 -> 32:45.880] This year, Formula 1.5 is McLaren versus, Ferrari, sorry, McLaren versus Alpine. And there's
[32:45.880 -> 32:52.720] actually Formula 2 as well, because Alfa Romeo's fifth is half the points of McLaren. McLaren
[32:52.720 -> 33:00.500] are 95 or something, and Alfa Romeo's at 51, right? So massive gaps in the Constructors
[33:00.500 -> 33:06.120] Championship, even though the racing on track has been, I would say, much
[33:06.120 -> 33:13.320] closer than what we've ever seen. I mean, those situations, sorry, in Austria, five
[33:13.320 -> 33:18.400] cars going into one corner, we saw Silverstone, three cars battling at one corner and several
[33:18.400 -> 33:24.320] other such situations that we've had this season.
[33:24.320 -> 33:27.560] Yeah, it's I think the first season of the new regulation syndrome.
[33:27.560 -> 33:28.880] I think that always happens.
[33:28.880 -> 33:33.800] But I'm so excited to see how things pan out over the course of the next couple of years and how those gaps
[33:34.160 -> 33:39.120] actually shrink down. But apart from that, I want to talk about some really surprising results.
[33:39.280 -> 33:45.440] Now, would it be too harsh guys, if I say that Leclerc winning three races this year has been a surprising
[33:45.440 -> 33:50.560] result? Because we tend to look at it in an opposite way, we tend to say, oh, Ferrari has
[33:50.560 -> 33:55.840] lost too many races, even though they've had a great car. Is Ferrari doing great the new normal,
[33:55.840 -> 34:00.480] or is Ferrari messing things up the new normal? Because if they're messing up as the new normal
[34:00.480 -> 34:10.400] per se, or the new ideal standard that we get to expect. I think him winning three races this year is a surprising part because they found new ways to kind of drop the ball every single time.
[34:10.400 -> 34:13.000] So would that be a surprising result in a way for you Kunal?
[34:13.560 -> 34:20.080] Well, if you consider Ferrari's history over all the years that they have been Ferrari,
[34:20.200 -> 34:23.600] it's not a bit of a surprise and I'm sorry, I'm making a joke out of it, right?
[34:24.080 -> 34:30.000] What they're trying to break out of is also this historic mold, historic image that, oh
[34:30.000 -> 34:34.820] my God, Ferrari can bottle it up and will bottle it up if they have to.
[34:34.820 -> 34:39.720] And for those who think I don't know what I'm talking about, please go and read Enzo
[34:39.720 -> 34:44.580] Ferrari, a book written by the great American author, Brooke Yates.
[34:44.580 -> 34:46.240] Highly recommend it as a read.
[34:46.240 -> 34:51.440] And Charles Leclerc has had one podium in the last eight
[34:51.440 -> 34:51.940] races.
[34:51.940 -> 34:52.440] Wow.
[34:52.440 -> 34:52.940] Yeah.
[34:52.940 -> 34:53.640] One.
[34:53.640 -> 34:56.720] Hamilton has now more podiums than Leclerc.
[34:56.720 -> 35:00.000] And Leclerc, who's not the de facto number one,
[35:00.000 -> 35:04.200] Ferrari is not backing him as the number one driver yet.
[35:04.200 -> 35:09.320] There's a gap between Sainz and Leclerc is a small one now,
[35:09.320 -> 35:10.640] I would say.
[35:10.640 -> 35:13.760] And ironically, you mentioned Carlos Sainz as well.
[35:13.760 -> 35:16.600] And George Russell is ahead of Sainz
[35:16.600 -> 35:18.440] in the Drivers' Championship.
[35:18.440 -> 35:22.360] So lots of funny things that are sort of happening out there.
[35:22.360 -> 35:28.680] And to me, Carlos Sainz's pole position and win in Silverstone
[35:28.680 -> 35:32.960] is definitely the surprise of the season. You know, it's like you go back in history
[35:32.960 -> 35:37.760] books and you read Sainz on pole, Sainz who took the win and you'd be like, yeah, I'm
[35:37.760 -> 35:43.180] not even bothering to rewatch this race, right? But that's the one race you should rewatch
[35:43.180 -> 35:45.160] for exactly everything that happened
[35:45.160 -> 35:50.160] between the start and the finish because it was something that nobody could have scripted.
[35:50.160 -> 35:56.720] So I've actually chosen science's win in Silverstone as my surprise result. But I also added a
[35:56.720 -> 36:06.240] qualifying one. And I know this is what will make our F1 stats guru one was Fernando Alonso P2 in a WET qualifying in Canada.
[36:06.240 -> 36:11.040] And you know, Otmar turning around after that and saying,
[36:11.040 -> 36:14.080] our computers don't know how Fernando did that.
[36:14.080 -> 36:15.240] And that's Fernando Alonso.
[36:15.240 -> 36:16.080] Of course they don't.
[36:16.080 -> 36:16.580] Right.
[36:16.580 -> 36:18.200] And then I still have this visual,
[36:18.200 -> 36:21.800] which I think I'm going to show my daughter whenever
[36:21.800 -> 36:22.640] she starts racing.
[36:22.640 -> 36:23.320] Right.
[36:23.320 -> 36:34.000] Fernando Alonso exiting the last chicane, the wall of champions on the right, wet track, and he's got this four wheel drift, right?
[36:34.000 -> 36:47.440] Yeah. I'm sure he's, he's honed that during his rallying days and Dakar and whatever else, but he had this four wheel drift, which stops just when he wants it to just close to the track limits. I mean,
[36:47.440 -> 36:51.280] you know, it's a wet track, right? If he puts a wheel on the curb, he's going to be in the wall
[36:51.280 -> 36:57.280] of the champions. And then he just takes P2. To me, that was epic. I mean, Helmut Marko,
[36:57.280 -> 37:03.120] who very rarely praises anyone but Max Verstappen, turned around and has said
[37:03.840 -> 37:07.060] that Fernando Alonso has been a surprise of
[37:07.060 -> 37:08.060] this season.
[37:08.060 -> 37:09.060] Surprise?
[37:09.060 -> 37:12.960] Has he not been watching Formula One for all these years?
[37:12.960 -> 37:15.720] He's just the best driver, driver, isn't he?
[37:15.720 -> 37:16.720] He's just ridiculous.
[37:16.720 -> 37:20.840] I don't remember him making a mistake, but has there been any other bigger surprise for
[37:20.840 -> 37:21.840] you Sundar?
[37:21.840 -> 37:29.520] No, I think number one definitely goes to Alonso's P2 performance, P2 in qualifying in Canada. Science's win in
[37:29.520 -> 37:33.060] Britain comes a very close second but there's one other one that I would like
[37:33.060 -> 37:37.980] to mention which is Kevin Magnussen making a comeback to Formula One, away
[37:37.980 -> 37:43.060] from the sport for a year, having very little practice time, testing time and
[37:43.060 -> 37:46.240] taking P5 in the season opening race
[37:46.240 -> 37:48.520] and going wheel to wheel with Lewis Hamilton
[37:48.520 -> 37:51.400] and Sergio Perez in the first few laps of the race.
[37:51.400 -> 37:54.320] He was just on it straight away.
[37:54.320 -> 37:57.520] I think that's a very commendable effort from Magnussen,
[37:57.520 -> 37:58.960] especially the first few races,
[37:58.960 -> 38:01.560] he was really doing exceptionally well.
[38:01.560 -> 38:04.520] So I would say I was very surprised to see Magnussen
[38:04.520 -> 38:05.360] still having
[38:05.360 -> 38:08.560] what it takes to drive in Formula One despite being a year away.
[38:08.560 -> 38:13.400] He was incredible and it just kind of brings me onto his teammate as well because it set
[38:13.400 -> 38:18.720] a big benchmark for him and I think Mick's performance so far this year has to be, I
[38:18.720 -> 38:22.400] wouldn't call it the best performance of the season so far. There's definitely of course
[38:22.400 -> 38:28.800] Max who has been flawless, right, barringring that one little spin but I would say it has to rank up there in terms of the better performances that
[38:28.800 -> 38:33.280] we've had this year that Mick has reminded us that he's good enough and and I think that's
[38:33.280 -> 38:38.080] that's amazing because there was no representative benchmark in the first year we never knew
[38:38.080 -> 38:43.120] five races in after Monaco we were like oh come on man could this be the end of the dream but he's
[38:43.120 -> 38:47.280] he's kind of fought it back really well and I I think that has to be commended, Kunal, isn't it?
[38:47.280 -> 38:49.760] That has to be one of my better performances of the year.
[38:50.240 -> 38:50.960] What's yours?
[38:50.960 -> 38:52.720] Kunta Steiner, I know you're listening.
[38:53.600 -> 38:54.480] You know what to do.
[38:54.480 -> 38:57.440] You're making all the right noises for 23,
[38:57.440 -> 39:00.400] but don't make the wrong decision for 23 by dropping me.
[39:01.280 -> 39:05.000] All seriousness, yes, I think this is a very good example.
[39:05.000 -> 39:12.000] You know, if you start in Formula One with a teammate who's not a competitive benchmark,
[39:12.000 -> 39:17.000] this is probably what could happen, which is what happened in the case of Mick Schumacher, I would say, right?
[39:17.000 -> 39:24.000] Nikita Mazepin, I know we shouldn't give him more airtime, but hey, that's something that happened off track as well, which, you know.
[39:24.000 -> 39:28.880] Yes. Oh, yes. Actually, I've got a doubt about that. I know we're slightly
[39:28.880 -> 39:33.680] deviating. But what if that of course, going into the world of geopolitics, which we shouldn't do
[39:33.680 -> 39:38.720] for too much, but it seems like the air is a bit tighter on the Taiwan Strait with China
[39:38.720 -> 39:42.640] apparently invading or just crossing into their own land, depending on what side of the fence
[39:42.640 -> 39:47.000] you're on. If that happens, will the FIA kind of ban Chinese drivers
[39:47.000 -> 39:47.800] as well?
[39:47.800 -> 39:49.800] And what happens with Zhou?
[39:49.800 -> 39:55.160] Of course, he can compete under a neutral license, exactly.
[39:55.160 -> 39:58.080] But they will have to make a political decision.
[39:58.080 -> 40:00.460] And so that means that the FIA will have to choose a side,
[40:00.460 -> 40:02.580] because you're either on China's side in this case,
[40:02.580 -> 40:03.240] or you're not.
[40:03.240 -> 40:06.880] So have they put themselves in muddy waters by kind of banning Russian athletes?
[40:08.400 -> 40:15.040] I would say let's cross the bridge when we get there because it's a team decision and then it's
[40:15.840 -> 40:18.480] something that I think Haas did with Mazepin.
[40:19.760 -> 40:21.600] They just wanted a reason to get him out.
[40:21.600 -> 40:25.920] Probably, I would say so. And then Vladimir Putin did everybody a favor.
[40:25.920 -> 40:29.320] Sorry, we shouldn't digress into, like you said,
[40:29.320 -> 40:32.640] geopolitics, but yeah, Mazepin was a part of the season
[40:32.640 -> 40:35.760] in pre-season testing, probably the most expensive
[40:35.760 -> 40:38.920] pre-season tests he's ever done, I would say,
[40:38.920 -> 40:41.240] given that he's not getting his money back or whatever,
[40:41.240 -> 40:44.520] but Mick Schumacher, you know, it's heartening
[40:44.520 -> 40:47.040] to see him come
[40:47.040 -> 40:48.040] and perform.
[40:48.040 -> 40:52.940] Everyone's been saying he's a slow starter or whatever, but a great benchmark in Kevin
[40:52.940 -> 40:53.940] McNewson.
[40:53.940 -> 40:57.540] It still doesn't seem like he's on top of that, but he's getting there, I would say.
[40:57.540 -> 41:01.540] So I would love to see the Schumacher name flourish in Formula 1.
[41:01.540 -> 41:05.160] I know I'm not the only one saying that, but I don't know when next or if he ever
[41:05.160 -> 41:09.400] will drive for Ferrari, because that's the eventual dream,
[41:09.400 -> 41:13.200] right, that Mick does well enough to afford a Ferrari
[41:13.200 -> 41:18.480] seat or to be granted a Ferrari seat, then winning a race,
[41:18.480 -> 41:21.440] and then having the German and the Italian anthem
[41:21.440 -> 41:23.640] being played on the podium together,
[41:23.640 -> 41:26.840] the anthems that we all grew up to, at least I did, right?
[41:26.840 -> 41:30.880] And then could the Schumacher be the next driver
[41:30.880 -> 41:32.180] to win a title at Ferrari?
[41:32.180 -> 41:34.420] I mean, we've asked that for every other driver that's
[41:34.420 -> 41:35.480] come after Raikkonen.
[41:35.480 -> 41:38.960] But well, anyway, we can always dream about that, right?
[41:38.960 -> 41:41.040] I would really love to see the Schumacher,
[41:41.040 -> 41:43.640] trademark Schumacher leap on the podium one day.
[41:43.640 -> 41:44.140] Yes.
[41:44.140 -> 41:49.900] It's been a very long time, close to 15 years, I would love to see that again, but quite honestly
[41:49.900 -> 41:55.420] I think Mick Schumacher, he's done enough probably to exhibit that he deserves to be
[41:55.420 -> 42:02.160] in Formula 1, but he still has to do a little bit more if he wants to get that Ferrari seat.
[42:02.160 -> 42:06.240] Few more performances, he really has to outperform the car as well as his teammates.
[42:06.240 -> 42:10.400] So yeah, he still has a long way to go before he gets that Ferrari seat.
[42:10.400 -> 42:16.080] I'll tell you another driver who has a long way to go. Lance Stroll, he's finished 10th,
[42:16.720 -> 42:21.920] four times this season, right? And without checking, he's probably had the most Q1 exits
[42:22.640 -> 42:25.480] after Latifi, if I'm not.
[42:25.480 -> 42:27.760] It's easy to probably just feel right about it.
[42:27.760 -> 42:29.080] I mean, the stats feel right.
[42:29.080 -> 42:32.720] I don't know if your Excel sheet matches up to that, right?
[42:32.720 -> 42:35.640] And then we have to talk about, I
[42:35.640 -> 42:37.840] would say the biggest surprise on a more serious note
[42:37.840 -> 42:41.280] would be McLaren's pit stops, again, something
[42:41.280 -> 42:44.000] that F1 Stats Group pulled out.
[42:44.000 -> 42:50.960] They have jumped seven positions in the fastest average pitstop times compared to last year, which means that
[42:50.960 -> 42:55.040] they were really bad last year, but they've at least got some great pitstops going this
[42:55.040 -> 42:56.640] year and how they've turned things around.
[42:56.640 -> 43:00.480] Yeah, one thing to mention would be that so generally pitstops have become slower this
[43:00.480 -> 43:05.800] year because the tires are heavier by I think 11 kilos. So all the teams except
[43:05.800 -> 43:10.160] McLaren have been doing slower pit stops than last year. So McLaren has been doing pit stops
[43:10.160 -> 43:16.680] faster than they did in 2020, 2021. That's crazy. That's the kind of stats that you always
[43:16.680 -> 43:20.940] end up pulling out. I'm still fascinated how you do it. And you mentioned tires are heavier,
[43:20.940 -> 43:26.800] but the tires also are to me, not as applauded as they should be.
[43:26.800 -> 43:27.280] Yes.
[43:27.280 -> 43:33.440] Yeah, we've had very hard races and they keep saying there's a heat wave in Europe. I don't
[43:33.440 -> 43:39.840] think I've experienced much heat in Oslo while I was there a few weeks ago, but the tires need
[43:39.840 -> 43:44.560] to be applauded just the way we applaud the cars for all the following that they can do and so on,
[43:44.560 -> 43:49.280] because the tires have not been overheating. I mean, yes, we've seen management,
[43:49.280 -> 43:53.420] but it's not been to an extreme where people are just sitting two seconds behind somebody
[43:53.420 -> 44:00.200] else waiting for them to make a mistake. They've allowed drivers to go on the attack at will
[44:00.200 -> 44:04.080] middle of the races. I mean, you know, I used to find a lot of fans would say I'd watch
[44:04.080 -> 44:06.120] watch the first 10 in the last 10 races. Sorry, first 10 laps of a race. I mean, you know, I used to find a lot of fans would say I'd watch the first 10 in the last 10 races.
[44:06.120 -> 44:10.720] Sorry, first 10 laps of a race and then the last 10 laps of a race.
[44:10.720 -> 44:14.560] And now I know people who actually sit and watch even the middle because hey,
[44:14.560 -> 44:18.840] Leclerc could spin, Max could make an overtake.
[44:18.840 -> 44:19.960] Or Latifi could crash.
[44:19.960 -> 44:20.680] Oh, yeah.
[44:20.680 -> 44:22.200] That's always a possibility.
[44:22.200 -> 44:26.200] No, but I love the new rules.
[44:26.200 -> 44:29.800] I mean, even with something that has made a big impact,
[44:29.800 -> 44:33.200] at least on me as a fan, the show and tell rules
[44:33.200 -> 44:36.160] that we had, where the teams have to declare what is it
[44:36.160 -> 44:38.160] that they've brought to their cars.
[44:38.160 -> 44:40.880] And that's made such a positive impact.
[44:40.880 -> 44:44.120] Because you see Hungary, pretty much every team
[44:44.120 -> 44:45.040] brought upgrades
[44:45.040 -> 44:50.340] for two things. First was cooling, brakes and engines and whatever. And the second was
[44:50.340 -> 44:55.000] downforce because, hey, it's Monaco without the walls. And previously, we used to all
[44:55.000 -> 44:59.480] assume that this is what they're doing and then wait on experts to say it. But now to
[44:59.480 -> 45:05.120] get an official document from the FIA, laying it out there, saying this is what they're doing,
[45:05.120 -> 45:09.840] gives such a good perspective that if you open the document for, say, a race like Canada,
[45:09.840 -> 45:14.320] and then compare it to a race like Hungary, you actually get to see the two differences,
[45:14.320 -> 45:19.840] or say, Baku versus Hungary and the like. So lots of positive, surprising changes that,
[45:19.840 -> 45:23.600] you know, I would say have, to me, the best things about 2022.
[45:24.640 -> 45:29.760] Yeah, they're one of the better performances. and with that as well, I want to really talk about
[45:29.760 -> 45:35.520] something more fun. We also forgot that McLaren got a podium in what was it? Imola races.
[45:35.520 -> 45:35.920] Imola.
[45:35.920 -> 45:36.880] Yeah, Imola. So that's also...
[45:36.880 -> 45:39.840] Got to see a Charlotte-Clerk spin, a crash.
[45:39.840 -> 45:45.960] Crash, yeah. But still, that's kind of incredible. We somewhat forgot about that. That's also one moment that was really fun.
[45:45.960 -> 45:50.080] Which was one of the, wait, what kind of moments of the season?
[45:50.080 -> 45:51.880] When you look at it in the stats, you'll be like,
[45:51.880 -> 45:55.960] huh, McLaren in 2022 got a podium courtesy of Landon Norris.
[45:55.960 -> 45:57.680] How on earth did that happen?
[45:57.680 -> 46:00.160] But there are other such moments in the year as well.
[46:00.160 -> 46:05.200] Hear me out. I suppose Carlos Sainz's entire season has been a wait-what kind of season.
[46:05.200 -> 46:12.000] Because not only has he had a mid-season fight with him, mid-race fight with his race engineers,
[46:12.000 -> 46:17.200] correcting them about the penalty that he's got, he's also got his race control, race engineers of course,
[46:17.200 -> 46:20.200] telling him to stop in the midst of a battle.
[46:20.200 -> 46:24.200] He's also crashed in qualifying simultaneously with Sergio Perez.
[46:24.200 -> 46:30.000] He's also had his car set on fire and rolling down a slope and he's also ended up taking pole position and winning a race.
[46:30.000 -> 46:32.000] This is all just... wait, what kind of moments?
[46:32.000 -> 46:37.000] I would have never imagined any one of those happening until the start of this year.
[46:37.000 -> 46:39.000] I'll add to that.
[46:39.000 -> 46:46.000] Carlos, we need you to keep a 10 car gap to Leclerc.
[46:46.000 -> 46:47.440] I mean, it's 2022.
[46:47.440 -> 46:50.760] Cars are being built for following, for overtaking.
[46:50.760 -> 46:52.840] If it was the previous era of cars,
[46:52.840 -> 46:54.440] I would have said probably yes, you
[46:54.440 -> 46:56.720] could have tried that strategy, right?
[46:56.720 -> 46:58.920] But Carlos is racing the Ferrari.
[46:58.920 -> 47:02.040] He's engineering his own race.
[47:02.040 -> 47:05.360] He's also playing sporting director by correcting what.
[47:05.360 -> 47:06.400] I don't know what's next.
[47:06.400 -> 47:07.680] Is he designing the overalls?
[47:07.680 -> 47:11.800] Is he designing how to do quicker pit stops or what?
[47:11.800 -> 47:14.600] I mean, maybe he's going to get Carlos Sainz Sr. to sit
[47:14.600 -> 47:17.120] on his pit wall and just help him.
[47:17.120 -> 47:18.880] I mean, yes, we're making a joke of it.
[47:18.880 -> 47:20.520] And we're making a joke out of Ferrari.
[47:20.520 -> 47:26.640] But it's so tough to sort of push these things away when you're doing
[47:26.640 -> 47:30.680] a mid-season review like this, I would say. And I was actually sitting and when I was
[47:30.680 -> 47:35.960] making my notes, I said, the wait watch should also be for Red Bull because, and I keep saying
[47:35.960 -> 47:41.720] this, right? Red Bull is an energy drinks company. Yeah. Should I say more? Should I
[47:41.720 -> 47:45.600] explain more? Okay. Anyway, they are beating two of the world's
[47:45.600 -> 47:52.800] most iconic automobile brands and operations in all parts of Formula 1. I mean, Red Bull also
[47:52.800 -> 47:59.280] have the quickest of pit stops. They do, yes. The only team to do it less than three seconds
[47:59.280 -> 48:03.040] on average this year. That's fantastic. There you go. And they have the fastest pit stops in
[48:03.040 -> 48:05.000] history as well, don't they?
[48:05.000 -> 48:06.000] Yes, 1.82 seconds.
[48:06.000 -> 48:07.000] Yeah.
[48:07.000 -> 48:08.000] Yeah.
[48:08.000 -> 48:13.400] So, and now I'll tell you why this stat actually, or why this is a wait what thing for me, right?
[48:13.400 -> 48:16.320] Now let's turn the equation around.
[48:16.320 -> 48:22.660] Imagine if Ferrari and Mercedes were to launch an energy drink and then actually be better
[48:22.660 -> 48:26.240] at selling it than Red Bull. That's such a good point.
[48:26.240 -> 48:28.920] So if you just turn the proposition around,
[48:28.920 -> 48:32.000] that's when you realize that Red Bull, oh my God,
[48:32.000 -> 48:33.700] like they are epic.
[48:33.700 -> 48:37.700] So to me, they are the epitome of success.
[48:37.700 -> 48:40.240] You know, the minute Hannah Schmitz and her team
[48:40.240 -> 48:42.560] make Max pit, everybody must be wondering,
[48:42.560 -> 48:45.560] oh, if you've not pit pit now, you definitely screwed up.
[48:45.560 -> 48:47.480] You missed the sweet spot.
[48:47.480 -> 48:49.960] And one more thing to add,
[48:49.960 -> 48:52.960] they were engaged in a thick of a battle,
[48:52.960 -> 48:55.720] title battle last year with Mercedes.
[48:55.720 -> 48:58.160] Look at what happened to Mercedes, right?
[48:58.160 -> 48:59.600] Mercedes, and I think, okay,
[48:59.600 -> 49:02.000] Mercedes, their zero part concept
[49:02.000 -> 49:03.240] should receive more attention.
[49:03.240 -> 49:06.280] They are now the only team that is continuing with that sort of a side part concept should receive more attention. They are now the only team that is continuing
[49:06.280 -> 49:09.560] with that sort of a side part concept,
[49:09.560 -> 49:12.400] which means that it's either really gonna just keep them
[49:12.400 -> 49:14.300] second or third, or if it works,
[49:14.300 -> 49:18.720] they're gonna fly ahead even further than Red Bull Racing.
[49:18.720 -> 49:20.440] But let's see how that goes.
[49:20.440 -> 49:22.280] And since we talk of Mercedes,
[49:22.280 -> 49:24.200] the wait what was also about parpusing,
[49:24.200 -> 49:29.680] I mean, Lewis Hamilton getting out of the car in Baku with his back. And then this whole
[49:29.680 -> 49:34.880] talk about, you know, the drivers being aggressive against porpoising and stuff like that. And
[49:35.240 -> 49:40.560] to me, that was also like, how did drivers, how did the teams not see that it would happen?
[49:41.240 -> 49:42.760] That was actually very painful to watch.
[49:42.800 -> 49:50.800] Yeah, it was. Yeah. And then a lot of people said he was just making it up because he wanted the FIA to make changes. And I remember when porpoising
[49:50.800 -> 49:56.640] came in pre-season testing, and we were all seeing slow-mos of drivers and cars bouncing up and down,
[49:57.680 -> 50:08.680] there was a large part of the Formula One fan base that was saying, is it parposing, is it parpoising? I mean, it was so new a term that we were still
[50:08.680 -> 50:11.560] finding how to pronounce it.
[50:11.560 -> 50:12.400] That's crazy.
[50:12.400 -> 50:14.400] I remember those headbanger videos.
[50:14.400 -> 50:16.080] But I think we've managed to somewhat
[50:16.080 -> 50:17.440] have an achievement in place.
[50:17.440 -> 50:19.880] 40, 45 minutes into an episode, and we haven't quite
[50:19.880 -> 50:20.800] spoken about parposing.
[50:20.800 -> 50:21.840] So that is amazing.
[50:21.840 -> 50:24.760] But any other moments that come into your mind, Sunil,
[50:24.760 -> 50:27.520] for a wait what moment of the season so far that is?
[50:27.520 -> 50:33.200] No, for me, it definitely has to be Ferrari. I can't think beyond Ferrari, because when
[50:33.200 -> 50:39.000] they were on the pace during preseason testing, I went wait what, Ferrari are back?
[50:39.000 -> 50:40.000] Yeah.
[50:40.000 -> 50:43.760] Finally back in the championship and that too, in an era of new regulations, they've
[50:43.760 -> 50:45.440] actually aced the regulations?
[50:45.440 -> 50:50.800] Oh god and the first two, three races they were taking wins and everything and I was like okay
[50:50.800 -> 50:56.240] Ferrari is actually back and then what transpired after Spain every race is literally a wait what
[50:56.240 -> 51:01.360] moment because every race there's a different way where they've been dropping the ball and but I
[51:01.360 -> 51:05.120] think the one thing that takes the cake for me is Carlos Sainz
[51:05.120 -> 51:09.040] battling Sergio Perez in France and at the right time Ferrari calling him in
[51:09.040 -> 51:12.880] into the pits like yeah it's coming to the pits and Carlos Sainz is like no not
[51:12.880 -> 51:17.200] now I'm battling with Perez but I think I just hope that the radio communication
[51:17.200 -> 51:22.400] was broadcasted a bit late I hope it was. That's always the case yeah. Yeah so but
[51:22.400 -> 51:29.480] but that is what really took the cake for me. I don't know how that works. Actually, I'll make a bold prediction.
[51:29.840 -> 51:33.840] Ferrari will find, I think three or four more ways to end up screwing up their race.
[51:33.880 -> 51:37.640] I really don't want that to happen because of course we need a fight and whatnot,
[51:37.640 -> 51:41.920] but it's kind of becoming an episodic series. Hey, come and see how Ferrari can
[51:41.920 -> 51:45.080] get things wrong. We were doubling down on that a bit too much.
[51:45.080 -> 51:48.720] I think some might say, OK, we're being too unfair to Ferrari,
[51:48.720 -> 51:51.840] but just look at the points cap with the car as good as that.
[51:51.840 -> 51:53.360] You can't have such a big points cap.
[51:53.360 -> 51:57.400] So that's that's one of my bold predictions, along with the fact
[51:57.400 -> 52:00.560] that I think Russell will end up finishing ahead of signs this year.
[52:00.560 -> 52:01.480] I really do.
[52:01.480 -> 52:05.840] I don't think I don't think Ferrari might end up sorting
[52:05.840 -> 52:09.200] their act out as much. So that's the bold predictions on my side Kunal.
[52:09.200 -> 52:14.000] I will actually take a cue from that. I think Russell will finish ahead of signs, but Lewis
[52:14.000 -> 52:20.840] will finish ahead of both these drivers. That's my bold prediction. And Max Verstappen will
[52:20.840 -> 52:27.860] win it on cue five races from now? Or if your prediction about Ferrari bottling
[52:27.860 -> 52:32.660] up even more could come true, could that happen earlier than five races? I mean, the summer
[52:32.660 -> 52:36.720] break is over and soon we're going to have a triple header. So before we know it, could
[52:36.720 -> 52:38.360] it just all be over?
[52:38.360 -> 52:42.980] Worst happen would have to win all those five races if he has to, you know, win the championship
[52:42.980 -> 52:43.980] in Japan.
[52:43.980 -> 52:47.760] But Lewis, sorry, Charles has to make sure he doesn't lose more than those...
[52:47.760 -> 52:49.040] Yes, exactly.
[52:49.040 -> 52:51.360] Eight points or whatever and then whatever.
[52:51.360 -> 52:56.400] It's just scary, but it's an interesting way to see how the title battle will go.
[52:56.400 -> 53:01.920] Yeah, my bold prediction, and I'm going really bold on this, I am saying there's going to be a new
[53:01.920 -> 53:07.480] technical directive that comes out in Belgium and maybe that could bring Mercedes back into the mix as well.
[53:07.560 -> 53:11.080] But if that does happen, I am saying, I'm really going out there and saying that
[53:11.160 -> 53:15.480] Russell is going to get his first win before Hamilton gets a win this year
[53:15.560 -> 53:18.880] or even next year. So I'm saying Russell gets a win for Mercedes first
[53:18.960 -> 53:22.240] before Hamilton does it. That's my bold prediction for this year.
[53:22.320 -> 53:24.120] But I'm going to just ask you one trick question.
[53:24.200 -> 53:28.000] Does that mean we end up seeing a first ever Hamilton win less season?
[53:28.000 -> 53:30.000] Or do you think that's going to happen?
[53:30.000 -> 53:32.000] I don't think that's going to happen.
[53:32.000 -> 53:35.000] I think he's going to spring something very exciting in Brazil at least.
[53:35.000 -> 53:36.000] Hamilton.
[53:36.000 -> 53:38.000] So, maybe we'll see a repeat of what happened last year.
[53:38.000 -> 53:41.000] I think Hamilton will win this year, but Russell is going to do it before him.
[53:41.000 -> 53:43.000] Let's hope. I think.
[53:43.000 -> 53:45.140] Sorry, let's hope. But I think Hamilton is going to win it before him. Let's hope, I think, sorry, let's hope,
[53:45.140 -> 53:47.860] but I think Hamilton's going to win it in Abu Dhabi.
[53:47.860 -> 53:50.260] He's got to finally win.
[53:50.260 -> 53:51.100] Redemption.
[53:51.100 -> 53:53.920] I mean, can you imagine the redemption,
[53:53.920 -> 53:55.320] the redemption that he didn't want,
[53:55.320 -> 53:59.080] you know, with human error champion and F1 fixed
[53:59.080 -> 54:01.340] and Massey out and whatever else,
[54:01.340 -> 54:03.400] a few thousands of people are, you know,
[54:03.400 -> 54:04.600] trending on social media,
[54:04.600 -> 54:10.600] but I believe Hamilton will win. And he, like I said, will finish ahead of Russell and signs
[54:10.600 -> 54:12.560] in the Drivers' Championship.
[54:12.560 -> 54:14.760] A bit cheesy, but will he still rise?
[54:14.760 -> 54:16.040] No, still he rises?
[54:16.040 -> 54:17.880] I kind of have butchered that.
[54:17.880 -> 54:22.200] But folks, I hope you join us to watch how these stories unfold over the course of the
[54:22.200 -> 54:29.880] season because as you all know, we do have a live watchalongs with the legendary Steve Slater on Insider and to join us on
[54:29.880 -> 54:33.480] that you can of course check out the link in the description. We begin at the Belgian
[54:33.480 -> 54:37.520] Grand Prix so don't forget to join us in for that. It's going to be a lot of fun. It's
[54:37.520 -> 54:41.680] going to be myself and of course F1 Stats Gurusundaram also along with Steve over there
[54:41.680 -> 54:48.940] and that's going to happen live with the races. So check that out. And don't just don't just leave the podcast for now, because there are so
[54:48.940 -> 54:52.840] many other episodes that are coming as well. So it might be the summer break for the folks
[54:52.840 -> 54:57.340] in F1, not so much for here, because there's a lot of fun stuff coming along. So folks,
[54:57.340 -> 55:01.160] firstly, I hope you've enjoyed listening to this episode. And if you did, don't forget
[55:01.160 -> 55:08.420] to follow and subscribe to the podcast and share this episode. And if you really liked it, follow us, I think turn on the bell notification if some of your
[55:08.420 -> 55:12.680] podcasts do allow that because a few fun more episodes are going to come out right there.
[55:12.680 -> 55:14.720] But once again, thanks for listening, folks.
[55:14.720 -> None] Have a good time. Bye bye. you