Ricciardo's perfect audition for Perez's seat - 2023 Mexico GP Review

The irony of it...! Daniel Ricciardo's perfect audition for Sergio Perez's seat at Red Bull Racing came at Perez's home race! A race in which Perez made an audaciously overambitious move at Turn 1 of the opening lap; a move that he thought would make him win the race. Instead, he found himself launched mid-air after colliding with Charles Leclerc's Ferrari. 

In this episode of the Inside Line F1 Podcast, Soumil Arora and Kunal Shah review the 2023 Mexican Grand Prix. Max Verstappen won both the races in Mexico - with rocket-like starts, to start with. Lewis Hamilton finished second to Verstappen again, only that this time around, his Mercedes W14 was legal. Yes, it passed all post-race scrutineering.

After clinching yet another pole position, Charles Leclerc finished 3rd for Ferrari. From 1-2 at the start, Ferrari settled for 3-4 at the chequered flag. Did Ferrari's strategy for Carlos Sainz make sense to you? They let Lewis Hamilton undercut him in the pit stops. And of course, Ferrari's mis-reading of the crossover between the  medium & hard tyre - a crucial choice they made the restart.

Did we witness 'Hammer Time' by Hamilton in Mexico? He drove a solid race on the medium tyre while his team-mate George Russell had yet another lacklustre outing. Russell only just fended off a resurgent Daniel Ricciardo in the AlphaTauri.

Ricciardo's six points helped AlphaTauri jump two places in the Constructors' Championship. But did it also propel Ricciardo's chances at Red Bull Racing? Poor races from Perez only make the case to replace him stronger.

Esteban Ocon and Nico Hulkenberg's tussle for 10th, Yuki Tsunoda's missed opportunity and of course, Lando Norris' recovery from a Q1 exit to 5th place at the chequered flag. Yes, Norris finished 12 places higher than his start position but he ended his 4-race podium finishing streak thanks to his errors in qualifying.

A lot happened in the 2023 Mexican Grand Prix, including a fan brawl in the stands. Tune in!

(Season 2023, Episode 58)

Follow our hosts on Twitter: Soumil Arora and Kunal Shah

Image courtesy: Red Bull Content Pool

I'm sorry, I'm unable to extract the requested data from the provided context. The information you seek is not available in the given transcript. Therefore, I cannot fulfill your request to provide a summary of the podcast episode transcript. # Inside Line F1 Podcast: Episode 58 - Mexican Grand Prix Review

The Inside Line F1 Podcast delves into the thrilling 2023 Mexican Grand Prix, where Max Verstappen dominated with rocket-like starts, securing another victory. Lewis Hamilton, this time in a legal Mercedes W14, finished second, while Charles Leclerc settled for third after starting from pole position.

The podcast hosts, Soumil Arora and Kunal Shah, dissect Ferrari's puzzling strategy for Carlos Sainz, who was undercut by Hamilton in the pit stops. They also analyze Ferrari's misreading of the crossover between the medium and hard tires, a crucial decision during the restart.

The episode highlights Daniel Ricciardo's solid performance in the AlphaTauri, earning six points and helping the team move up in the Constructors' Championship. His impressive showing raises questions about his potential return to Red Bull Racing, given Sergio Perez's lackluster races.

Other notable moments discussed include Esteban Ocon and Nico Hulkenberg's tussle for 10th place, Yuki Tsunoda's missed opportunity, and Lando Norris' remarkable recovery from a Q1 exit to finish fifth, despite his qualifying errors.

The podcast also touches upon the fan brawl in the stands, adding to the eventful nature of the Mexican Grand Prix.

Overall, the episode provides an engaging and informative review of the race, offering insights into key moments, driver performances, and team strategies. The hosts' analysis sheds light on the intricacies of Formula One racing, making it an insightful listen for fans of the sport.

[00:00.000 -> 00:07.280] Before we begin, I wanted to give a huge shout out to the folks at Amazon Music for partnering
[00:07.280 -> 00:10.800] with us on this episode of the InsideLine F1 podcast.
[00:10.800 -> 00:12.500] But more on this later.
[00:12.500 -> 00:40.680] Right then, let's get right into today's episode. Hi there folks and welcome to the Mexican GP review on the InsideLine F1 podcast.
[00:40.680 -> 00:49.360] Now we had somewhat of a Mexican GP in a way. It was a race for a few seconds until Sergio Perez crashed out and eliminated all hopes
[00:49.360 -> 00:54.260] of A, a Ferrari win and B, somewhat of a special Sergio Perez performance.
[00:54.260 -> 00:57.840] But that's not going to be the main story that we discuss on this episode.
[00:57.840 -> 00:59.240] We've got a lot to talk about.
[00:59.240 -> 01:01.760] We're going to be talking a lot about Sergio Perez's start.
[01:01.760 -> 01:09.360] We're going to be talking a lot about Daniel Ricicardo waiting in the wings and his phenomenal weekend, a lot more on Lando Norris's recovery and asking the
[01:09.360 -> 01:14.480] question that is he making far too many mistakes in qualifying, then of course we need to talk a
[01:14.480 -> 01:19.280] lot more about Mercedes, about their upgrades, about it potentially not working as well as we'd
[01:19.280 -> 01:26.400] imagined it would and eventually talking about the underrated drivers from this race because I get a feeling
[01:26.400 -> 01:30.120] a couple of the good performances have really gone unnoticed.
[01:30.120 -> 01:32.720] So let's dive right into it.
[01:32.720 -> 01:34.480] Firstly, my name is Somal Arora.
[01:34.480 -> 01:38.880] I'm the host of the MotoGP Indian Grand Prix right here at the Buddhists National Circuit
[01:38.880 -> 01:43.720] and also I'm the host and voice and commentator of the Indian Racing League of Star Sports.
[01:43.720 -> 01:48.780] Joined as always by Kunal Shah, the former marketing head of the Sahara Force India Formula One team, along
[01:48.780 -> 01:54.460] with being an FIA accredited Formula One journalist for the Viaplay Network in Norway.
[01:54.460 -> 02:01.660] Now this race Kunal, what do I say? I firstly, I mean, it happened at what an ungodly hour
[02:01.660 -> 02:05.280] in India, like it started at 1.30amm and then 1 30 a.m in the night which
[02:05.280 -> 02:10.080] means that it's already tricky to stay awake but after the crash after all that we had eventually
[02:10.080 -> 02:16.080] after seeing that max was just in clear air it made it very tricky to enjoy it did you have fun
[02:16.080 -> 02:20.960] watching really well actually you said we had somewhat of a race but actually we had two
[02:21.920 -> 02:25.080] Mexican Grand Prix's happening because literally around the halfway
[02:25.080 -> 02:27.000] mark there was a red flag.
[02:27.000 -> 02:31.300] There were two starts and the opening lap, the start is great fun.
[02:31.300 -> 02:38.000] I think the Mexican Grand Prix in very different ways again had interesting narratives.
[02:38.000 -> 02:43.880] Yes, Max Verstappen won, but he won against, he won in a way that we all pretty much didn't
[02:43.880 -> 02:44.880] think he would.
[02:44.880 -> 02:47.600] You know, we thought the Ferraris would challenge him.
[02:47.600 -> 02:51.100] They would have, you know, gamesmanship going into turn one.
[02:51.100 -> 02:52.300] They would block him.
[02:52.300 -> 02:55.500] Two reds against two Red Bulls, etc.
[02:55.500 -> 02:58.000] You know, the usual stuff, but none of that happened.
[02:58.000 -> 02:59.500] You know, Max Verstappen won.
[02:59.500 -> 03:06.560] Literally, you know, meters after the start, he found a gap between the two Ferraris and he went for it saying, you know what?
[03:06.840 -> 03:12.960] No slipstream doesn't matter. I'm just gonna go for it. He made a dash. He won 16th race win in a season
[03:13.880 -> 03:17.800] 51st race win in his Formula One career
[03:18.720 -> 03:20.720] equaling Alan Prost
[03:21.160 -> 03:26.200] Incredible incredible stuff and you know, I don't know should we just read out the
[03:26.200 -> 03:30.720] race results so people know what the race was like who eventually finished
[03:30.720 -> 03:36.040] where because thankfully there were no post race penalties which sort of
[03:36.040 -> 03:40.280] cleared up the final race results somehow. Yeah so in P1 of course we had
[03:40.280 -> 03:43.720] Lewis Hamilton we had then Charles Leclerc finishing second so redemption
[03:43.720 -> 03:46.360] for both of them after disqualifications last time out.
[03:46.360 -> 03:47.760] Carlos Sainz on the podium.
[03:47.760 -> 03:48.760] Incredible stuff.
[03:48.760 -> 03:50.680] And you might be saying, what do you mean?
[03:50.680 -> 03:56.000] Well, we're talking about Formula 1.5 because when we had our race preview, we spoke about
[03:56.000 -> 03:58.920] how we had, what was it?
[03:58.920 -> 04:02.080] Four different Formula 1.5 winners in the last six races.
[04:02.080 -> 04:04.920] I think we've added another one with Lewis Hamilton in there.
[04:04.920 -> 04:05.040] I mean, by all conventional means, it's a boring season, but when you see the chaos 5 winners in the last 6 races. I think we've added another one with Lewis Hamilton in there.
[04:05.040 -> 04:09.520] I mean, by all conventional means, it's a boring season, but when you see the chaos happening over
[04:09.520 -> 04:14.640] there, incredible stuff. But no, the legitimate, legitimate race results, we're slapping P1,
[04:14.640 -> 04:19.760] Hamilton second, Leclerc third, Carlos Sainz eventually ending up in fourth. But the big
[04:19.760 -> 04:24.640] performer, the one that we'll really spend a lot of time on is Lando Norris in P5,
[04:24.640 -> 04:25.520] with George Russell
[04:25.520 -> 04:30.560] in 6th, Daniel Ricciardo finally getting some great points. I think beating Alfa D'Auri's
[04:30.560 -> 04:36.880] entire season haul in one race by getting P7 eventually. Oscar Piastri in 8th, Alexander
[04:36.880 -> 04:42.640] Albarn again in the points. Incredible result P9 and Esteban Ocon finishing 10th, followed by Gasly
[04:42.640 -> 04:46.800] 11th, Sonora 12th. Sonora lovesth, Niko Halkenberg 13th in
[04:46.800 -> 04:52.880] his 200th start, Jogwane 14th, Bottas 15th, Sargent and Lance Stroll along with Alonso,
[04:52.880 -> 04:56.760] Magnusson Perez all not classified.
[04:56.760 -> 04:59.960] That's the race story in the table.
[04:59.960 -> 05:02.080] What point do we attack first Kunal?
[05:02.080 -> 05:06.320] Because okay, let's attack the start first. Do we
[05:06.320 -> 05:09.800] talk about the driver going underneath the sponsorship first or we talk about
[05:09.800 -> 05:12.960] the driver going underneath his level of performance? Do we talk about Leclerc or
[05:12.960 -> 05:19.720] Perez? I think we should talk about Perez because there was so much hope. He was
[05:19.720 -> 05:31.120] literally leading just by maybe a few millimeters or centimeters at the entry of turn one on the
[05:31.120 -> 05:39.200] outside on the ideal line. Got very overambitious, not little, went for nationalistic pride,
[05:39.200 -> 05:46.280] wanting to win at the first corner. He said, I wanted to win for the fans, but hey,
[05:46.280 -> 05:49.640] he's been in the sport long enough to remember two things.
[05:49.640 -> 05:52.040] To finish first, you need to first finish.
[05:52.040 -> 05:55.660] And then the second, the race is never won
[05:55.660 -> 05:57.640] at the turn one of the opening lap,
[05:57.640 -> 05:59.480] but it can often be lost there.
[05:59.480 -> 06:01.680] And that's what happened to Jaco Perez.
[06:01.680 -> 06:04.200] It would seem like a very emotional move, clearly, right?
[06:04.200 -> 06:08.200] And sure, you can't quite, how do I put it this way?
[06:08.200 -> 06:10.040] Sergio Perez came out in the post-race interview,
[06:10.040 -> 06:12.120] and he said that he was proud of the move
[06:12.120 -> 06:14.760] and proud of his thought process of making it.
[06:14.760 -> 06:16.520] I agree with the thought process part,
[06:16.520 -> 06:18.480] because sure, you've got to go and make big risks, right?
[06:18.480 -> 06:19.920] You've got to take all your chances,
[06:19.920 -> 06:22.000] but that's such a carbon copy
[06:22.000 -> 06:24.240] of what Hamilton had in Qatar, in a way.
[06:24.240 -> 06:28.960] And sure, the racing incident flag was waved all the way through to make sure that we didn't
[06:28.960 -> 06:29.960] get any penalties.
[06:29.960 -> 06:30.960] Fair enough.
[06:30.960 -> 06:32.640] But how can you be proud of a move like that, Kunal?
[06:32.640 -> 06:34.120] It just doesn't add up to me.
[06:34.120 -> 06:39.920] It feels like the rational decision making of Sergio Perez, which we all love him for,
[06:39.920 -> 06:44.160] by the way, which is what we all became Sergio Perez fans for in the first place.
[06:44.160 -> 06:45.760] I don't see that with that
[06:45.760 -> 06:50.720] particular move. It feels like the emotions are getting to him which I know it's an easy thing
[06:50.720 -> 06:55.280] to say sitting on the outside. We never really know what's going on in the mind but I mean when
[06:55.280 -> 06:59.120] you see a racing driver make a move like that you can tell they're not thinking 100% clearly of
[06:59.120 -> 07:06.200] everything. Unfortunately yes that's possibly the truth. Again, no judgments, but we've seen racing long enough.
[07:06.200 -> 07:08.600] We've commentated on racing long enough.
[07:08.600 -> 07:11.700] We've shared our opinions on racing long enough
[07:11.700 -> 07:14.700] to be able to say this, that it is all in the head,
[07:14.700 -> 07:16.900] which probably where it went wrong in the first place.
[07:16.900 -> 07:19.700] All the emotions, pent up emotions, mind you,
[07:19.700 -> 07:21.000] given that he's struggling.
[07:21.000 -> 07:22.900] And you know, Samuel, the funny thing is,
[07:22.900 -> 07:27.500] Perez has usually never struggled in midfield calls
[07:27.500 -> 07:31.640] so much mentally, because maybe when you're in the midfield,
[07:31.640 -> 07:34.400] the pressure and the focus and the attention isn't so much.
[07:34.400 -> 07:37.480] Scoring points, maybe an odd podium is good enough,
[07:37.480 -> 07:41.520] but here in the Red Bull, the pressure is just so much higher.
[07:41.520 -> 07:43.480] It's either a win, or you have to definitely
[07:43.480 -> 07:44.200] be on the podium.
[07:44.200 -> 07:50.880] So that's probably where it went. And, you know, one second, sorry, I just have to bring it in.
[07:50.880 -> 07:54.720] Are you just basically saying Helmut Marko's next news interview is going to be that Sergio
[07:54.720 -> 07:59.520] Perez is a midfield driver, not a top driver? Is he not? Because is he not a midfield driver
[07:59.520 -> 08:04.720] in the Red Bull this year? He's been more in the midfield than at the top of the field. I mean,
[08:04.720 -> 08:05.440] in an ideal world scenario, let's assume than at the top of the field. I mean, in an ideal world
[08:05.440 -> 08:10.000] scenario, let's assume he was a top of the field driver, which is what he's been hired for. He
[08:10.000 -> 08:15.120] would have had more second place finishes than he's had. He would have had more wins if he's had,
[08:15.120 -> 08:21.280] I would say. So in my view, he's been a midfield driver in a top field car. And he's what, had two
[08:21.280 -> 08:27.400] DNFs in the last four races. Lewis Hamilton in a car which has not always
[08:27.400 -> 08:30.440] been a second place car or second fastest car,
[08:30.440 -> 08:33.560] in a car which almost didn't have a sideboard for the first 10
[08:33.560 -> 08:36.520] races of the season, is just 20 points away
[08:36.520 -> 08:39.920] from the most dominant car in history, which is what,
[08:39.920 -> 08:41.760] by the way, Checo Perez is driving.
[08:41.760 -> 08:46.000] I think, and I know we shouldn't be spending far too much time
[08:46.000 -> 08:50.160] raining down on this parade Kunal because home race, probably the worst result you can imagine
[08:50.160 -> 08:56.000] over here. But do you see a way back from here? Now, I'm not saying the Red Bull are going to
[08:56.000 -> 09:01.040] sack him tomorrow. But in terms of confidence, right, I think that's the thing that's missing
[09:01.040 -> 09:09.520] out. Because we all say that, hey, lots of terrible results in a great car but why is it happening? Why is he not getting the results? And looking at the onboards, looking at
[09:09.520 -> 09:13.760] the way he's driving, looking at all the media reports and all that he's been saying to the
[09:13.760 -> 09:18.640] press, it seems like he's lost confidence in that car and confidence is such a hard thing to regain
[09:18.640 -> 09:23.680] in the spotlight and maybe for Sergio Perez the better thing will just be to walk away from Red
[09:23.680 -> 09:28.880] Bull, maybe find another seat and do something away from the limelight. Just bring back his confidence as a
[09:28.880 -> 09:33.120] racing driver, because clearly he's been out in the media saying that he isn't feeling the same as a
[09:33.120 -> 09:38.000] person and also as a racing driver. So probably the best thing for Sergio Perez as a person,
[09:38.000 -> 09:42.640] at least looking from the outside, would be to just take time off from Red Bull, maybe for himself,
[09:42.640 -> 09:47.200] because you want to be doing this for a longer period of time, right, not just until they sack you.
[09:47.200 -> 09:50.480] But that's the thing, right, Soman, we are humans after all, the psychology will tell
[09:50.480 -> 09:56.240] you that maybe taking a break, maybe the offseason would help, but giving up on a Red Bull seat,
[09:56.240 -> 10:02.560] which is the one team that has dominated throughout the season, you giving up on the car, on that
[10:02.560 -> 10:07.320] seat, on an Adrian Newey designed RB20 would be just so difficult.
[10:07.320 -> 10:09.240] And that's where you back yourself.
[10:09.240 -> 10:10.880] That's where all these years of conditioning,
[10:10.880 -> 10:13.840] all these years of winning in lower formula,
[10:13.840 -> 10:16.280] literally winning with a midfield team,
[10:16.280 -> 10:17.960] make you back yourself that,
[10:17.960 -> 10:20.400] no, I will make it work the next time I do this.
[10:20.400 -> 10:23.080] And that's where probably the off-season break would work.
[10:23.080 -> 10:30.220] But I would also say that when last was Red Bull just so very patient with a driver?
[10:30.220 -> 10:33.040] We saw that with Alexander Albin and with Pierre Gasly.
[10:33.040 -> 10:37.920] They had one-tenth the patience with Albin and Gasly than they've had with Perez.
[10:37.920 -> 10:42.640] And like I've said before, like I said this on Why I Play this weekend as well, that Red
[10:42.640 -> 10:45.120] Bull's contract with Checo Perez has a lot of commercial
[10:45.120 -> 10:50.480] implications as well, which is why maybe they are forced to be as patient with him because letting
[10:50.480 -> 10:57.040] go of Perez prematurely would probably cost them a lot of money in the sponsorships. And you know,
[10:57.040 -> 11:00.480] some of these contracts are even more watertight when sponsorships are involved.
[11:00.480 -> 11:08.360] And very clearly, Kunal, they're not losing any money now, are they? Because they're P1 in the championship constructors which is where all the money mostly comes
[11:08.360 -> 11:13.720] from. Yes, the points bonus thing, what more could you ask for? Seriously, Red Bull are
[11:13.720 -> 11:19.120] dominating. So it doesn't hurt them financially as much to have a bad Sergio Perez, but I
[11:19.120 -> 11:22.420] don't think we're far away from the day when McLaren probably will be up there with both
[11:22.420 -> 11:29.200] cars. Hopefully, I'm assuming that'll happen next year and that is where it will sting a lot more. So financially, it just doesn't
[11:29.200 -> 11:35.760] make sense to sack Sergio and, I don't know, upset a few sponsors, ruin a few contracts. It's fine for
[11:35.760 -> 11:41.440] now until it isn't. And the reason why they weren't so patient, I suppose, with Alex and Pierre was
[11:41.440 -> 11:47.440] because at that point it was hurting because if they had two drivers maybe they would have been closer to Mercedes at some point maybe
[11:47.440 -> 11:50.520] two drivers pulling in the same direction if the deficit wasn't 200
[11:50.520 -> 11:54.920] points would at least be I don't know 150? Conjecture at the end of the day I
[11:54.920 -> 11:59.220] would I would turn around and say that Red Bull are planning for 24 which is
[11:59.220 -> 12:04.960] why Daniel Ricciardo has been put in the Alpha Tauri has been given time in the
[12:04.960 -> 12:06.400] Alpha Tauri next year we saw different Daniel Ricciardo has been put in the Alpha Tauri, has been given time in the Alpha Tauri next year.
[12:06.400 -> 12:08.760] We saw different Daniel Ricciardo this weekend.
[12:08.760 -> 12:11.560] We'll come to Daniel, but just one last point on Perez
[12:11.560 -> 12:16.000] is that him finishing second or not
[12:16.000 -> 12:19.280] is not the only thing Red Bull want to retain him for 24.
[12:19.280 -> 12:22.040] They are already thinking 2024 with the car,
[12:22.040 -> 12:25.460] so why won't they think 2024 with the driver, right?
[12:25.460 -> 12:27.780] And at the end of the day, like you're saying,
[12:27.780 -> 12:30.080] the minute the Constructors' Championship is closer,
[12:30.080 -> 12:33.320] and mind you, that's where the money is.
[12:34.280 -> 12:36.480] And you see Aston Martin,
[12:36.480 -> 12:38.240] they've been fighting with one driver, and what happened?
[12:38.240 -> 12:40.840] They eventually went from second to now fifth
[12:40.840 -> 12:42.380] or wherever they are, right?
[12:42.380 -> 12:45.000] So Red Bull will have this in their mind,
[12:45.000 -> 12:45.840] but it's incredible.
[12:45.840 -> 12:49.280] I think Perez's, I read some stat on social media,
[12:49.280 -> 12:50.280] I haven't verified it,
[12:50.280 -> 12:55.280] but Perez's contribution to Red Bull's total is 0.1% less.
[12:55.560 -> 13:00.560] It was 32.9% from, you know, in 2020 with Alexander Albin.
[13:00.720 -> 13:04.040] In 2023, Perez is 32.8%.
[13:04.040 -> 13:07.180] Again, social media stat, I didn't really verify it.
[13:07.180 -> 13:09.460] I intend to verify it before Brazil.
[13:09.460 -> 13:10.740] But when you read such stats,
[13:10.740 -> 13:12.720] when you read the number of Q1 eliminations he's had,
[13:12.720 -> 13:14.740] when you read the number of times he's crashed
[13:14.740 -> 13:16.900] and he's finding it difficult to, you know,
[13:16.900 -> 13:20.860] sort of keep up into P2 in such a dominant car,
[13:20.860 -> 13:23.900] you have to ask, what will it take to get Perez there?
[13:23.900 -> 13:25.840] And will it even get him there
[13:25.840 -> 13:30.480] eventually because it's such a big question mark that race after race, race after race,
[13:30.480 -> 13:36.240] he's not been able to get there and that's just unfair and imagine Daniel Ricciardo in an alpha
[13:36.240 -> 13:42.400] towry out qualified him this weekend even though Perez was less than three turns away from
[13:42.400 -> 13:45.100] Maxwell Stappen, Daniel Ricciardo in the slowest
[13:45.100 -> 13:51.180] car on the grid out qualified Checo Perez who's driving the most dominant cars in history
[13:51.180 -> 13:57.980] of Formula One in qualifying on Saturday Mexican Grand Prix. I think that's what a fresh mind
[13:57.980 -> 14:02.740] does to you because Ricciardo took some time off again got some more time off unfortunately
[14:02.740 -> 14:07.040] with the broken hand. It doesn't seem to have affected him in any way in terms of driving which is
[14:07.040 -> 14:12.100] great but you can tell that this guy is fresh it's not like a burnt piece of
[14:12.100 -> 14:15.520] rope you can hold on to it for a longer period of time it feels like Checo's
[14:15.520 -> 14:20.400] hand is suddenly like if he's like it's got blisters on it he can't hold on to
[14:20.400 -> 14:24.680] it for that much longer similar to what we had done a Ricardo in at this point
[14:24.680 -> 14:25.040] last year,
[14:25.040 -> 14:29.760] remember? This very Mexican GP, I remember he was making the most terrible of errors,
[14:29.760 -> 14:34.960] a sign of a racing driver who's absolutely done for. But six months away, and it makes all the
[14:34.960 -> 14:39.440] difference in the world. That qualifying performance Kunal, honestly, woke up in the
[14:39.440 -> 14:45.440] morning, 11 o'clock, I was like, what on earth happened last night? Because you don't see an Alfa Tauri in P4,
[14:45.680 -> 14:50.540] not less Daniel Ricciardo. I was like, wait a minute. Is it, is it 2016 all over again?
[14:50.880 -> 14:54.300] That's, that's super impressive. And honestly, as I mentioned early on,
[14:54.300 -> 15:00.460] I think he's probably scored the same amount of points that Alfa Tauri have in the entire season so far, in just one race.
[15:00.580 -> 15:03.920] Which, which speaks volume considering, what, I think he's the least
[15:04.100 -> 15:05.200] experienced driver in that
[15:05.200 -> 15:08.720] car out of the four of them that have actually done races in the Alfa Tauri. Yeah I'll just
[15:09.680 -> 15:14.960] slightly correct the math. Alfa Tauri had 10 points, Daniel Ricciardo scored 6 so they're
[15:14.960 -> 15:23.120] now up to 16. They went from last to 8th place so they jumped Haas and Alfa Romeo
[15:24.480 -> 15:26.300] and they're tied with Alpha Romeo,
[15:26.300 -> 15:27.760] but points count back,
[15:27.760 -> 15:29.840] which means Alpha Romeo's down, whatever.
[15:29.840 -> 15:34.680] Anyway, so imagine Daniel Ricardo's just earned
[15:34.680 -> 15:37.280] Alpha Tauri at least $20 million more,
[15:37.280 -> 15:39.880] given that we don't know what the actual Concord Agreement
[15:39.880 -> 15:40.720] finishing points are,
[15:40.720 -> 15:43.160] but the usual metric is at every point,
[15:43.160 -> 15:44.720] every position you finish higher,
[15:44.720 -> 15:49.640] you're earning 10 or $12 million more adjusted for inflation from the central Liberty
[15:49.640 -> 15:54.960] Media part. Imagine he's actually done that. He scored 60% of the team's point in just
[15:54.960 -> 15:59.920] one race. And again, on merit, it's not that he's benefited from anything. He just came
[15:59.920 -> 16:05.520] in, he got the toe from Yuki Sonoda in Q1 and Q2, he made the most of it to get into
[16:05.520 -> 16:06.520] Q3.
[16:06.520 -> 16:10.720] Q3, he made it work in the race, he made it work two races, he made it work.
[16:10.720 -> 16:17.120] Daniel Ricciardo, if he is able to continue doing this, and Checo Perez is also continuing
[16:17.120 -> 16:22.560] to do this, and you guys know, we've just had a 15-minute chat on Perez, maybe a swap
[16:22.560 -> 16:29.640] is happening, because there's no other reason they're trying Daniel Ricardo out. You know, Daniel Ricardo is not in Alpha Tauri, so he goes and races for Mercedes
[16:29.640 -> 16:34.200] or McLaren or Ferrari in the next few years. He's there so that he is ready to race for
[16:34.200 -> 16:38.120] Red Bull. Yeah, he's not an Alpine Academy driver. He's actually going to race for the
[16:38.120 -> 16:43.720] team he's intended to race for. That's just the way things are. Letting that slide in
[16:43.720 -> 16:45.840] there. Let's talk about Max Verstappen for a very
[16:45.840 -> 16:51.360] quick second right. We have one minute for Max always. Every episode should be dedicated to that.
[16:51.360 -> 16:56.720] It's good that we're doing it in minute 14 or something that it might be. Great. Incredible
[16:56.720 -> 17:06.520] result. 16 wins in a year. And I love that post-race segment where Jenson Button asked him, Max, 16 race wins. What's next? 17.
[17:08.520 -> 17:11.360] I think he's going to end this season by being,
[17:11.360 -> 17:16.200] by entering the top three most wins by a driver in Formula One.
[17:16.560 -> 17:20.880] After Hamilton, Michael Schumacher, and then it's going to be Max Verstappen.
[17:21.240 -> 17:23.480] That's clearly just a progression of what's going to happen.
[17:23.480 -> 17:27.840] Either way, whether or not it happens this season or next, doesn't matter.
[17:27.840 -> 17:29.360] It's just going to happen.
[17:29.600 -> 17:31.640] What I really loved was, you know, this whole thing.
[17:31.640 -> 17:33.640] There were two Mexican Grand Prixs, by the way, right?
[17:33.680 -> 17:41.960] Like I said, the first one, he went from P3 and he took the lead at the opening lap, like he did in 2021 with the Mercedes car.
[17:41.960 -> 17:42.640] So that was out.
[17:43.080 -> 17:45.480] Then when he had the restart, and I loved the restart
[17:45.480 -> 17:48.040] because everybody was wondering what tires to go on,
[17:48.040 -> 17:49.920] and that's what made the second part of the race
[17:49.920 -> 17:52.160] or the second race interesting, right?
[17:52.160 -> 17:55.360] Max Verstappen took on the hard tire
[17:55.360 -> 17:58.440] because he was the only driver with two sets of hards,
[17:58.440 -> 18:00.320] everybody had one, et cetera,
[18:00.320 -> 18:02.960] lots of pre-race tire strategy implications.
[18:02.960 -> 18:06.000] But the most important thing is he nailed that start.
[18:06.000 -> 18:08.540] Nobody from behind him could actually
[18:08.540 -> 18:12.680] jump him despite that whole long straight, slip stream,
[18:12.680 -> 18:14.920] et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, that we all
[18:14.920 -> 18:17.400] know comes into play when there's
[18:17.400 -> 18:19.680] a start at the Mexican Grand Prix.
[18:19.680 -> 18:21.400] So great stuff for him.
[18:21.400 -> 18:24.400] He finished, I think, 13, 14 seconds ahead
[18:24.400 -> 18:25.140] in the second race
[18:25.140 -> 18:29.180] which means whoever would have been in P2 who would have probably been you know
[18:29.180 -> 18:34.680] 30-40 seconds ahead either way. So easy win for him but well deserved from
[18:34.680 -> 18:38.960] Axel Schneppern I would say. I've got to add two points on that. If you've seen a
[18:38.960 -> 18:47.440] lot of MotoGP this year as well, you kind of get that hint of how champions perform. And a great trait in champions
[18:47.440 -> 18:53.200] is the ability not to get flustered by not having a good performance on Friday or Saturday. Like
[18:53.200 -> 18:57.840] with Max Verstappen, qualifying wasn't fantastic. Clearly, right, he's used to being on pole all the
[18:57.840 -> 19:02.400] time. Seeing that wasn't quite the best in the world. Same for Pekka Bagnaia and Ducati. He's
[19:02.400 -> 19:06.440] really getting knocked out of Q1 in MotoGP and they have only till Q2.
[19:06.440 -> 19:07.840] So that's not as bad as Formula 1.
[19:07.840 -> 19:12.160] But still, the fact of the matter is, these two champions of the sport canal, they don't
[19:12.160 -> 19:13.160] get flustered.
[19:13.160 -> 19:16.240] They don't lose their mental stability if they have a bad start.
[19:16.240 -> 19:20.880] Like Peko in MotoGP always drops down a couple of positions because he's leading the championship,
[19:20.880 -> 19:22.120] doesn't need to push hard.
[19:22.120 -> 19:23.960] With Max, terrible qualifying.
[19:23.960 -> 19:28.320] I thought, I thought maybe just maybe there'll be a hint of nervousness like that hunger of
[19:28.320 -> 19:32.120] trying to push extra hard to win it. He didn't have to. It's all under control.
[19:32.120 -> 19:35.960] They are so confident in their abilities that they don't get nervous. They don't
[19:35.960 -> 19:41.080] do something extra to make things happen. It's just flowing for them and that's
[19:41.080 -> 19:45.560] fantastic. That's the sign really of a champion, which you can see from the aura
[19:45.560 -> 19:46.960] that Verstappen is carrying these days.
[19:46.960 -> 19:49.440] Like amazing, amazing stuff
[19:49.440 -> 19:51.080] to see what Max is doing right now.
[19:51.080 -> 19:53.260] But as is always the case,
[19:53.260 -> 19:55.000] when you have Max Verstappen,
[19:55.000 -> 19:56.480] he often leaves you speechless.
[19:56.480 -> 19:58.960] And at this stage, we are speechless for a second.
[19:58.960 -> 20:00.720] Guys and girls, it's time for a quick break.
[20:00.720 -> 20:02.600] We'll be back in a second.
[20:02.600 -> 20:10.200] Welcome back in folks to the InsideLineF1 podcast and our Mexican GP review. We all love to talk about Lando Norris. I think
[20:10.200 -> 20:15.200] today we have more than one reason to. A terrible qualifier, yes, but he's one
[20:15.200 -> 20:18.480] person who genuinely gave us some entertainment in that race. It was
[20:18.480 -> 20:22.800] phenomenal. I mean apart from all the fighting fans in the stands, Lando Norris
[20:22.800 -> 20:26.880] was the one person who added the most drama in the race, undoubtedly.
[20:26.880 -> 20:32.380] So let's talk about that one, Kunal, because I am confused in my head, which one of his
[20:32.380 -> 20:34.360] overtakes was better.
[20:34.360 -> 20:38.840] I think the one he had on Sonona, that's a good one.
[20:38.840 -> 20:41.000] I would pick the one on George Russell.
[20:41.000 -> 20:45.360] I love it when drivers are able to make overtakes in slower sequence of corners,
[20:45.360 -> 20:51.120] which is what he did on George Russell's, you know, the switcheroo, as we say, switch and switch back,
[20:51.680 -> 20:56.400] use the traction of better tires, better car, make the move, go on the inside. I think it was
[20:56.400 -> 21:01.520] brilliant. And especially when McLaren does it to Mercedes, you know, McLaren over the years has
[21:01.520 -> 21:08.000] always been the more good of the two, you know, customer team of Mercedes and so on.
[21:08.000 -> 21:13.000] But great, great drive, great teamsmanship. Again, they did the swap.
[21:13.000 -> 21:18.000] You know, Lando Norris was just chasing anybody and everybody. Finished 12 positions higher in the race.
[21:18.000 -> 21:23.000] But the question has to be asked. And is he making too many mistakes and qualifying?
[21:23.000 -> 21:29.000] I mean, they messed up qualifying or he messed up the first run, second run, you know, Fernando Alonso spun,
[21:29.000 -> 21:31.400] gave him the yellow flag, knocked out of Q1.
[21:32.000 -> 21:37.340] Lando Norris was suddenly doing all the catch-up. Very honest, you know, very humble, accepted.
[21:37.340 -> 21:46.680] He made the mistake. But, you know, now that the car is there, these mistakes need to stop. Because I think he's made a couple of mistakes
[21:46.680 -> 21:47.680] in the last few races.
[21:47.680 -> 21:49.800] Again, armchair critic, you call me what you want,
[21:49.800 -> 21:52.160] but I'm just calling what I see on TV.
[21:52.160 -> 21:53.200] I love that driver.
[21:53.200 -> 21:56.480] I love the personality, the childlike personality,
[21:56.480 -> 21:59.080] which is so fresh in Formula One.
[21:59.080 -> 22:02.680] But Samuel, you've commented on millions and millions
[22:02.680 -> 22:05.720] of kilometers of racing, thousands and thousands
[22:05.720 -> 22:08.120] of drivers as well through your iRacing network
[22:08.120 -> 22:11.160] and the Indian Racing League, MotoGP, and the stuff.
[22:11.160 -> 22:14.440] At a point, at what point do you actually realize and say,
[22:14.440 -> 22:17.840] yes, great driver, but needs to stop making mistakes,
[22:17.840 -> 22:21.080] especially when the machinery is suddenly or finally there?
[22:21.080 -> 22:24.240] Oh, that's such a tricky one, right?
[22:24.240 -> 22:25.720] I think with the
[22:25.720 -> 22:30.800] best of the best I think they realize it before you do to be very honest with you
[22:30.800 -> 22:36.440] because you only see part of it right there are so many micro things that go
[22:36.440 -> 22:39.960] on things like a really fun insight actually that I got at the Indian
[22:39.960 -> 22:43.000] Racing League test and that's actually happening right now as I speak we're
[22:43.000 -> 22:46.560] gonna be there in what six hours in the morning after that.
[22:46.560 -> 22:47.200] Going to be a lot of fun.
[22:47.200 -> 22:51.280] But one of the engineers who's actually worked with a lot of the top,
[22:51.280 -> 22:54.760] top drivers in sports car racing and Formula One as well, some of them.
[22:54.760 -> 22:57.400] Can't name who they are, can't name who the engineer is as well, privacy.
[22:57.400 -> 23:02.880] But he told me that drivers really check out things like brake pressure bar as well.
[23:02.880 -> 23:04.480] Like how hard are they braking?
[23:04.480 -> 23:06.800] Are they braking at 40 bar or 42 bar,
[23:06.800 -> 23:08.560] which their teammate might be braking at?
[23:08.560 -> 23:10.240] And even these sort of things,
[23:10.240 -> 23:12.640] they look at micro mistakes like that,
[23:12.640 -> 23:13.840] and the drivers themselves know
[23:13.840 -> 23:14.720] that they're not doing the best thing
[23:14.720 -> 23:15.840] that they possibly are.
[23:15.840 -> 23:17.440] So more than we see it,
[23:17.440 -> 23:18.880] I think the drivers know better
[23:18.880 -> 23:20.560] about when they are making the mistakes.
[23:20.560 -> 23:23.600] So firstly, there's that internal level of realization
[23:23.600 -> 23:29.120] that, hey, I'm probably not being at that same level that I should ideally be at. And then it creeps in because
[23:29.120 -> 23:34.760] it's a matter of, for some, it could be a matter of under confidence. For Lando, I suppose
[23:34.760 -> 23:40.220] it's a lot more that since he's in that groove, in that stripe, he's potentially maybe so
[23:40.220 -> 23:46.000] confident that he's missing out on some parts of his game, like track limits in Qatar. I mean,
[23:46.000 -> 23:49.680] that's a painful one, right? Seriously, when you're so at one with the car, putting in a lap
[23:49.680 -> 23:53.920] time like that one, and having such a good qualifying, that must be hitting you like a
[23:53.920 -> 23:59.360] dagger in your heart. So for Lando, I suppose, from what I can tell, from my judgment, it seems
[23:59.360 -> 24:04.480] like a lot more of that. But to answer your question, I think firstly, the drivers know,
[24:04.480 -> 24:05.280] and then it's a matter
[24:05.280 -> 24:09.360] of analyzing at what stage of the career are they. Is it under confidence, over confidence? For Lando
[24:09.360 -> 24:17.760] it seems more of the, I can't say over confidence but I can't even say lack of focus or lack of
[24:17.760 -> 24:22.000] attention to detail. It's just that some things tend to slip out. Lack of concentration maybe,
[24:22.000 -> 24:28.660] I don't know what. You can't label it as something in a way but yeah that's what it is. And Lando himself said if he
[24:28.660 -> 24:31.300] started up, I mean he said after qualifying I should have been on pole
[24:31.300 -> 24:35.060] today and he himself said I would have probably been in the top three if
[24:35.060 -> 24:40.160] nothing else. He said it hurts but hopefully it's hurt him enough for him
[24:40.160 -> 24:43.760] to turn around and say I will make sure I don't make these mistakes again and I
[24:43.760 -> 24:50.720] say this because I am a big fan of who he is as a driver and as a personality as well. But
[24:50.720 -> 24:57.200] you know, talking of driver and personalities, Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton, second place, are
[24:57.200 -> 25:02.080] the upgrades finally working? Does seem like it. They finished on the medium, they finished
[25:02.080 -> 25:07.640] 14 seconds behind Max Verstappen, who was on the hard, but that's a comparison with Max.
[25:07.640 -> 25:10.440] The big question, and I love Toto Wolff, he said,
[25:10.440 -> 25:12.880] we've been hearing Lewis's complaints on the radio
[25:12.880 -> 25:15.560] for the last 12 years, saying the tires won't last,
[25:15.560 -> 25:17.640] but they actually do, which was great,
[25:17.640 -> 25:20.560] because we actually saw Hammer Time for second place,
[25:20.560 -> 25:22.400] which I thought was fun.
[25:22.400 -> 25:23.480] And we also-
[25:23.480 -> 25:24.320] First place.
[25:24.320 -> 25:25.360] Okay, first place. First place. OK, first place.
[25:25.360 -> 25:25.860] First place.
[25:25.860 -> 25:29.880] Yes, if someone is a Formula 1.5 fan, we can do that.
[25:29.880 -> 25:33.120] Also, Mercedes, after their slow pit stops in Kota,
[25:33.120 -> 25:35.160] said we are going to try and do them quick
[25:35.160 -> 25:36.840] and try and at least match Red Bull.
[25:36.840 -> 25:39.360] And they actually gave 2.5 second pit
[25:39.360 -> 25:42.200] stops for both their drivers, which is pretty good,
[25:42.200 -> 25:42.960] I would say.
[25:42.960 -> 25:45.680] And my final thing about the whole
[25:45.680 -> 25:52.240] Mercedes thing was their upgrades are working. They didn't have a side part till several races
[25:52.240 -> 25:59.520] ago. Now they have a side part. They are the most consistent car in P2. And that's what we probably
[25:59.520 -> 26:09.840] saw this weekend in Mexico as well. Lewis loves Mexico. He's won two of his world titles in Mexico, his fifth and sixth, if I remember correctly. And probably the only thing that's, you know,
[26:09.840 -> 26:16.480] struggling to fire in Mercedes is George Russell. I don't even know, honestly, it gets lost under
[26:16.480 -> 26:23.120] that Verstappen limelight. But imagine if it was just Formula 1.5. I think we'd be speculating
[26:23.120 -> 26:25.080] about Russell's lack of performance
[26:25.080 -> 26:27.800] just as much as we are doing for Sergio Perez.
[26:27.800 -> 26:31.080] But I don't think, I don't know.
[26:31.080 -> 26:35.320] Have you found, have you found, how do I put it?
[26:35.320 -> 26:38.720] It's so confusing that I forget how to articulate my words.
[26:38.720 -> 26:40.140] It's interesting how that happens.
[26:40.140 -> 26:43.400] But have you found an answer to why that is the case?
[26:43.400 -> 26:46.640] Or even like a rough idea to roughly what it might be?
[26:46.720 -> 26:52.160] Because it's strange, isn't it Kunal? When Russell's performing, Hamilton isn't. When Hamilton is performing, Russell isn't.
[26:52.560 -> 26:58.720] I don't remember one weekend where both the cars have genuinely been at a fighting pace, gunning for two podium places.
[26:59.360 -> 27:03.120] It's always been either one up one down and it's been inconsistent.
[27:03.120 -> 27:10.400] Maybe one has a bad qualifying once, maybe the other one has a bad setup once it's all very random stuff but have you been
[27:10.400 -> 27:14.400] able to get down to the bottom of what really has gone wrong actually the one race i remember
[27:14.400 -> 27:21.120] was singapore but then russell had that had that gap moment over there so it's confusing isn't it
[27:21.120 -> 27:25.800] what's really going on there i haven't been able to find one good article
[27:25.800 -> 27:29.440] from any paddock source, or one word from any driver,
[27:29.440 -> 27:31.480] or one word from any Mercedes engineer,
[27:31.480 -> 27:33.720] or any of the people who we know in the paddock,
[27:33.720 -> 27:35.360] getting a concrete answer of that.
[27:35.360 -> 27:36.640] I don't think even they know for the matter.
[27:36.640 -> 27:38.320] I think that's a brilliant observation.
[27:38.320 -> 27:40.640] It's either of the two drivers firing,
[27:40.640 -> 27:42.360] not both of them, most races,
[27:42.360 -> 27:44.440] or for a large part of the races.
[27:44.440 -> 27:48.260] And maybe it's down to the team just trying too much,
[27:48.260 -> 27:50.180] testing too much, experimenting too much.
[27:50.180 -> 27:51.540] We've seen that before.
[27:51.540 -> 27:53.440] Maybe they realize that we will be P2.
[27:53.440 -> 27:55.200] Let's just keep testing, testing, testing,
[27:55.200 -> 27:57.160] keep accumulating data, doing different things.
[27:57.160 -> 28:00.340] That could be one of them, I guess.
[28:00.340 -> 28:01.740] But we have to talk.
[28:01.740 -> 28:03.940] We have to commend Lewis Hamilton for his overtake
[28:03.940 -> 28:05.080] on Charles Leclerc
[28:05.080 -> 28:07.280] when he was put on the grass, committed,
[28:07.280 -> 28:09.080] he went for it, made it happen.
[28:09.960 -> 28:11.440] I kind of like that.
[28:11.440 -> 28:14.920] The big question in this whole Hamilton-Leclerc thing was,
[28:14.920 -> 28:19.920] why did Ferrari let Hamilton undercut Carlos Sainz?
[28:20.320 -> 28:21.160] That's one question.
[28:21.160 -> 28:22.040] Just Ferrari things?
[28:22.040 -> 28:23.900] I don't think they have an answer either.
[28:23.900 -> 28:28.680] Maybe they just wanted Sainz to meddle in Lewis's place so Charles could finish ahead
[28:28.680 -> 28:29.680] of Lewis.
[28:29.680 -> 28:32.820] That's my only assumption that would have happened, right?
[28:32.820 -> 28:37.000] Because Ferrari went from one, two at the start to, I think, three, four at the finish,
[28:37.000 -> 28:38.000] which was weird.
[28:38.000 -> 28:40.280] But again, just Ferrari things.
[28:40.280 -> 28:46.560] And you know, talking of teams and preparations and stuff, Lewis, he always complains about tires.
[28:46.560 -> 28:49.680] And then suddenly, we call that as hammer time post-race,
[28:49.680 -> 28:52.480] which means he's eked out more from the tires
[28:52.480 -> 28:55.840] than the simulation data would have suggested or whatever.
[28:55.840 -> 28:58.320] He's just managed his tires really well
[28:58.320 -> 28:59.480] while keeping up pace.
[28:59.480 -> 29:02.880] That's what the definition of hammer time is.
[29:02.880 -> 29:05.360] When it comes to Ferrari, why is it
[29:05.360 -> 29:09.920] that they are the one team that reads tires wrong more
[29:09.920 -> 29:11.280] than anyone else in the top?
[29:11.280 -> 29:14.960] Because if you remember, Chauvy came onto the radio to Leclerc
[29:14.960 -> 29:18.320] and said, we think that the hard will be the faster
[29:18.320 -> 29:23.160] tire in five laps, and that those five laps never came.
[29:23.160 -> 29:27.440] That crossover effect was predicted so wrong
[29:27.440 -> 29:30.000] that the Ferrari chose the hard tire
[29:30.000 -> 29:32.880] for those 36 odd laps that were remaining,
[29:32.880 -> 29:35.120] but it just wasn't meant to be.
[29:35.120 -> 29:36.920] I can't explain it, honestly.
[29:36.920 -> 29:41.920] That seemed like a very grayish call in a way.
[29:42.000 -> 29:43.880] That was a bit of a weird thing.
[29:43.880 -> 29:46.720] But before we end out, i think it's a really
[29:46.720 -> 29:53.600] really fun time to pick a few underrated drivers from this entire weekend very quickly Kunal oh
[29:53.600 -> 29:58.880] i really enjoyed watching Alex Albon great to see him in the points it's phenomenal the way things
[29:58.880 -> 30:04.000] went out as well uh we have spoken about Landon Norris his drive was amazing Ricardo's also been
[30:04.000 -> 30:05.240] given all the laurels.
[30:05.240 -> 30:08.480] Do you think Esteban Ocon's drive was underrated in a way?
[30:08.480 -> 30:13.560] Because the red flag really helped him a lot, like gaining 20 seconds immediately after
[30:13.560 -> 30:14.560] having let that restart.
[30:14.560 -> 30:18.640] But nevertheless, what he did in the second half of the race was also quite, quite solid
[30:18.640 -> 30:19.640] actually I think.
[30:19.640 -> 30:30.400] Yeah, I mean, great recovery for Esteban, especially after having, he had, you know, a Q1 elimination, as we remember, which was very, very strange.
[30:30.400 -> 30:40.800] So, great for him because he actually finished how many positions I had from Q1 to some position. The position counter got reset at that time.
[30:40.800 -> 30:45.120] But anyway, for Ocon, I loved his radio message saying, I've seen too much of that
[30:45.120 -> 30:50.000] Haas, just tell them I'm going to go for it. And then Nico Halkenberg saying, you loved my rear
[30:50.000 -> 30:53.600] too much, you spent too much time trying to overtake me rather than actually overtaking me.
[30:53.600 -> 30:59.680] But that actually tells me my most underrated driver was Nico Halkenberg, who held up what I
[30:59.680 -> 31:04.160] would call is the Halkenberg DRS train, although he didn't have the DRS, it was just the Haas
[31:04.720 -> 31:05.040] straight line speed that kept him ahead. Something we've seen with the Williams before as well. call as the Halkenberg DRS train, although he didn't have the DRS, it was just the harsh
[31:05.040 -> 31:10.040] straight line speed that kept him ahead. Something we've seen with the Williams before as well.
[31:10.040 -> 31:15.160] But the minute his tires gave up, he just fell down the order and then just couldn't
[31:15.160 -> 31:20.880] recover from there. But that's just the story of Nico Halkenberg, I would say. Who is my
[31:20.880 -> 31:29.880] choice for the most underrated driver? I was a little disappointed and just talking just one last, you know, disappointing driver another one from the Red Bull Stables Yuki Sonoda
[31:29.880 -> 31:33.280] I thought he had the pace to make a solid recovery
[31:33.280 -> 31:37.400] He was doing really well, and then he made one of those Checo Perez Zisk
[31:38.480 -> 31:41.000] over ambitious moves again into turn one
[31:41.760 -> 31:47.160] Spun himself out, got mad at his engineer and then just went downhill from there to finish 12th.
[31:47.160 -> 31:48.160] Calm down, Yuki.
[31:48.160 -> 31:52.040] You were turning out to be so well in the last few races.
[31:52.040 -> 31:52.880] Relax.
[31:52.880 -> 31:53.800] Take it easy.
[31:53.800 -> 31:56.600] I think emotions run high, right, at times.
[31:56.600 -> 31:59.280] And we saw that so much with Sergio Perez this time,
[31:59.280 -> 32:00.680] with Yuki Tsunoda as well.
[32:00.680 -> 32:03.000] Hopefully, firstly, hoping that Sergio Perez gets back
[32:03.000 -> 32:09.040] in the right frame of mind as a person, then we know the better performances are coming and same you can also say for someone
[32:09.040 -> 32:14.400] like Yuki Tsunoda as well. But they'll have another opportunity in Brazil and that comes up
[32:14.400 -> 32:19.760] next week, believe it or not. So the end of the triple header at last and join us for our pre-race
[32:19.760 -> 32:53.840] preview for that folks this coming Thursday. That'll be on the InsideLine F1 podcast on all platforms. So make sure that you're subscribing to us everywhere so that you're in touch with the meant when he said that this Manderson crash wasn't meant to be a red flag. I don't get it. You have good time to think. Bye-bye folks.
[33:13.760 -> 33:19.080] Thank you so much for tuning in to this episode of the Inside Line F1 podcast. Before we ended, I just wanted to say a huge thank you to Amazon Music once again for partnering
[33:19.080 -> 33:21.160] with us on this episode of the podcast.
[33:19.270 -> 33:20.590] episode of the podcast.