We CAN Race (But Not As One) - 2022 Saudi Arabian GP Review

What a race! What battles! And what strategy - after a double DNF in Bahrain, Red Bull Racing came prepared to take the fight to Ferrari and fight they did. Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc battled for victory - and for many, just watching them battle for laps at end mattered more than who the eventual winner was! 

(Okay, that last statement is true only for Kunal, maybe!)

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In this episode of the Inside Line F1 Podcast, Soumil and Kunal dissect Red Bull Racing vs. Ferrari - and how Round 2 of Leclerc vs. Verstappen was dictated by car setups and team strategy. And of course, how on earth could Red Bull Racing fall so easily for Ferrari's dummy (ref: Sergio Perez's unlucky pit stop).

The battle between the Alpines, Lewis Hamilton's P10 (resultant radio + stats), a retirement for each power unit manufacturer and more. 

Tune in!

(Season 2022, Episode 16)

Follow our hosts on Twitter: Soumil Arora and Kunal Shah

Image courtesy: Ferrari

**Race Highlights:**

* Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc engaged in an intense battle for victory, characterized by strategic car setups and team strategies.
* Red Bull Racing fell victim to Ferrari's dummy pit stop, costing Sergio Perez a potential race win.
* The midfield provided thrilling racing, with battles between the Alpines, Lewis Hamilton's unexpected P10 finish, and retirements from each power unit manufacturer.

**Detailed Discussion:**

* Verstappen and Leclerc's battle was dictated by their car setups, with Red Bull opting for lower downforce for straightaway speed, while Ferrari focused on cornering ability.
* Verstappen's strategic overtaking of Leclerc showcased his racing psychology and ability to adapt to changing circumstances.
* The Alpine battle, involving Fernando Alonso, Esteban Ocon, Valtteri Bottas, and Kevin Magnussen, highlighted the competitiveness of the midfield.
* Hamilton's poor performance and Mercedes' struggles raised questions about their current pace and power unit performance.
* Reliability concerns emerged as several cars, including those from Red Bull, Alpine, McLaren, and AlphaTauri, experienced issues during the race.
* The safety car period, triggered by Nicholas Latifi's crash, played a significant role in the race outcome, affecting pit stop strategies and tire management.

**Controversies and Insights:**

* The effectiveness of the new regulations in promoting exciting racing was debated, with some expressing optimism and others calling for caution due to the small sample size.
* Lance Stroll's continued struggles against Nico Hulkenberg, despite the latter's limited practice, highlighted Hulkenberg's talent and potential.
* Lewis Hamilton's comments about the value of a P10 finish sparked discussions about Mercedes' current position and the challenges they face.
* The ongoing debate about Formula One's return to Saudi Arabia in light of human rights concerns and the missile attack near the circuit was mentioned.

**Overall Message:**

The Saudi Arabian Grand Prix showcased the potential of the new regulations to deliver exciting and strategic racing, with Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc delivering a captivating battle for victory. However, reliability concerns and the ongoing discussions about Formula One's presence in Saudi Arabia provided a backdrop of uncertainty and controversy.

[00:00.000 -> 00:22.000] Hey folks, welcome to the Inside Line F1 Podcast.
[00:22.000 -> 00:23.000] Samuel Arora here.
[00:23.000 -> 00:29.200] I'm the host of the Driving Force on Disney Plus Hotstar, joined by Kunal Shah, the former marketing head of the Force Line F1 Podcast. Samuel Arora here. I'm the host of the Driving Force on Disney Plus Hotstar joined by Kunal Shah, the former marketing head of the Force India F1 team.
[00:29.200 -> 00:32.640] There's only one question on our minds today. There's only one question on our minds for the
[00:32.640 -> 00:40.960] last 24 hours and it's all just about how good was this race? Ah Kunal, just how good was this race?
[00:40.960 -> 00:47.560] I have been thinking so much about it and there's no other thought that comes to my head. It's crazy that this is just what peak Formula One
[00:47.560 -> 00:51.440] can look like. Two stalwarts of the game just fighting it out against each other
[00:51.440 -> 00:55.680] using proper racing psychology. There's no ifs or buts to it, no stewards, no
[00:55.680 -> 00:59.160] penalties, nothing like that. Just fun racing. This is what it should all be about.
[00:59.160 -> 01:07.000] It should be fun racing also not too much about tire management, not too much about race strategy,
[01:07.000 -> 01:11.000] although there were lots of things happening in the back, which we shall talk about.
[01:11.000 -> 01:18.000] But what an opening week for Formula One, week and one day, because we had a double header, right?
[01:18.000 -> 01:29.120] Such interesting narratives and stories coming out of Bahrain and now Saudi Arabia. And to me, Somal, the race was, you know, literally say three or four
[01:29.120 -> 01:33.280] really highlight points, which we will look about, but maybe we should go
[01:33.320 -> 01:39.240] get talking about the start and the safety car period and the dummy that
[01:39.240 -> 01:42.720] Ferrari threw and Red Bull caught up, you know, because I thought
[01:42.960 -> 01:44.680] Checo Perez had a fantastic start.
[01:44.680 -> 01:49.920] I thought he was in control. I thought, wow, here's a race. He's going to win on merit.
[01:50.480 -> 01:55.280] Okay. Because he got his pole on merit, which was a fantastic pole lap. You know,
[01:55.280 -> 02:02.000] he waited like 216 odd races to get his first pole position. But yeah, can you believe Red Bull
[02:02.000 -> 02:05.320] racing of all the teams fell for that dummy?
[02:06.560 -> 02:08.200] I mean, it's so crazy, right?
[02:08.200 -> 02:15.160] They're the ones who often used to do it back in the day, where we used to have the pit crew coming out with the Sebastian Vettel times and Ferrari used to always fall for it.
[02:15.160 -> 02:16.680] The tide has changed so badly.
[02:16.960 -> 02:21.920] But after that as well, Kunal, even when Perez fell off, we weren't short of any action at all.
[02:22.200 -> 02:29.040] Because the way these guys were able to follow that was just outstanding that I think all the way from the safety car to the very end, Verstappen and Leclerc
[02:29.040 -> 02:33.440] were always just within a couple of seconds of each other which when you think about it is such
[02:33.440 -> 02:41.600] a major upgrade from last year. It's a it's such a major upgrade Sommel that literally every driver
[02:41.600 -> 02:45.920] interview I heard after the race was you you know, they were, they were
[02:45.920 -> 02:47.080] even though they had a bad race.
[02:47.080 -> 02:50.600] So for example, let's take Daniel Ricciardo, even though he had a really
[02:50.600 -> 02:55.180] bad race, he had a retirement and the only highlight of his race literally was
[02:55.180 -> 02:59.280] that he had the fastest pit stop for the second race in succession.
[02:59.280 -> 02:59.580] Right.
[02:59.820 -> 03:01.160] But he said, Oh my God.
[03:01.160 -> 03:01.480] Wow.
[03:01.480 -> 03:03.640] Look at Leclerc, look at Verstappen.
[03:04.000 -> 03:07.960] I can't believe that they can continue to fight for laps at end.
[03:07.960 -> 03:10.040] He's like, I know we have the tools.
[03:10.040 -> 03:11.880] I know these cars can race each other.
[03:11.880 -> 03:15.280] I'll, I'll personally take a step forward saying, I know the tires
[03:15.280 -> 03:19.200] supported the racing in, in Saudi Arabia and drivers like, you know,
[03:19.360 -> 03:22.120] Ricardo were saying, I can't wait to join the fight.
[03:22.520 -> 03:25.840] I can't wait to have the tools to join that fight.
[03:25.840 -> 03:27.640] And hats off to Formula One.
[03:27.640 -> 03:29.920] Hats off to FIA.
[03:29.920 -> 03:32.720] Hats off to people who actually believed
[03:32.720 -> 03:35.320] in writing these regulations.
[03:35.320 -> 03:37.560] Now I know it's only two races, a sample,
[03:37.560 -> 03:38.680] that we are looking at.
[03:38.680 -> 03:40.600] It's a very short sample.
[03:40.600 -> 03:44.360] It could be argued that high-speed circuit, DRS-enabled,
[03:44.360 -> 03:45.700] safety car-enabled stuff.
[03:45.700 -> 03:52.700] But the fact is, two drivers could go head-to-head in varied setups.
[03:52.700 -> 03:57.200] You know, that Ferrari and that Red Bull were differently set up.
[03:57.200 -> 04:00.700] So again, I don't want to be the ones who will say,
[04:00.700 -> 04:02.100] yeah, wow, these rules are working.
[04:02.100 -> 04:04.300] But I can say whatever we've seen up until now,
[04:04.300 -> 04:08.560] it's time we be more positive about what's going to come ahead for the season.
[04:10.160 -> 04:14.240] Yeah and look look at Vestappat as well right give them a good car to battle and give them
[04:14.240 -> 04:18.800] cars that can follow and they will just paint a masterpiece as they have done so many times
[04:18.800 -> 04:24.000] before and this was just another classic with the racing psychology of the DRS zone which is crazy
[04:24.000 -> 04:29.080] right because in Formula One you expect to be the person who wants to always be ahead it's crazy right
[04:29.080 -> 04:32.760] now that over here we've seen two consecutive races but the drivers don't want to be the
[04:32.760 -> 04:36.920] one ahead up first it's crazy that how the whole pehle aap kind of philosophy that we
[04:36.920 -> 04:42.240] have here in India has come up into the racing but that joke aside it's fun that when Sapan
[04:42.240 -> 04:45.880] won on track on merit with that amazing pass at the very end.
[04:45.880 -> 04:48.200] It was like a crescendo that was building up for such a long time.
[04:48.680 -> 04:50.120] Why do you think he actually won at Konal?
[04:50.120 -> 04:53.000] Because pace wise, the two of them seem so similar.
[04:54.840 -> 04:58.120] I think he won it down to his car setup.
[04:58.400 -> 05:02.920] Not to say he won it down to his racing psychology, as you said, his ability to
[05:02.920 -> 05:06.320] figure what Charles was doing and to react to
[05:06.320 -> 05:12.640] it and this is how I saw it. First part of the battle when what we saw in Bahrain as well
[05:12.640 -> 05:18.640] where Charles was playing with Max that started to happen in Saudi Arabia as well. Charles
[05:18.640 -> 05:25.040] was breaking earlier into the final corner, letting Max go, taking the RS. You know, he was, he was playing that game.
[05:31.460 -> 05:34.320] And for once, I actually loved to watch Max Verstappen being played by a driver, because that's not usually we get to see that.
[05:34.420 -> 05:34.840] Okay.
[05:35.080 -> 05:38.820] So here's Max, who of course races very differently against a Charles
[05:38.820 -> 05:40.520] compared to say a Lewis Hamilton.
[05:41.040 -> 05:44.600] He was being played and he, he realized, Oh my God, I'm being played here.
[05:44.600 -> 05:45.480] And then guess what? He played back. And it was what you said, Somaly, it was about played and he realized, Oh my God, I'm being played here. And then guess what?
[05:45.480 -> 05:46.380] He played back.
[05:46.720 -> 05:49.360] And it was what you said, Somaly, it was about, you know, that whole
[05:49.360 -> 05:54.660] psychology of, or, you know, ladies first as, as they would say, or, or not,
[05:54.720 -> 05:58.480] not literal translation, but it's, you know, why don't you take the, why don't
[05:58.480 -> 06:03.000] you go first, you know, that, that, that gentlemanliness I would say, right.
[06:03.440 -> 06:07.080] And that gave us such, such an exciting, exciting battle.
[06:07.080 -> 06:11.760] And I think the one place where Max really won it was down to setup.
[06:12.320 -> 06:17.040] The Red Bulls were set up with a lower downforce.
[06:17.040 -> 06:21.680] So they were like a rocket ship on, on the straits.
[06:21.720 -> 06:24.280] And that's what Max probably knew as well.
[06:24.280 -> 06:26.760] I need to just get ahead of Charles
[06:26.760 -> 06:31.040] and then get that, you know, Red Bull power train unit
[06:31.040 -> 06:33.600] to just give me the power that I need
[06:33.600 -> 06:35.720] and then my setup will aid me to just pull away
[06:35.720 -> 06:36.960] and that's exactly what happened.
[06:36.960 -> 06:41.000] And that's what Charles was trying to not let Max go as well
[06:41.000 -> 06:42.080] because all along the weekend,
[06:42.080 -> 06:44.960] we knew that the Ferraris were faster in the corners,
[06:44.960 -> 06:47.160] whereas the Red Bulls were quicker in the straights
[06:48.120 -> 06:48.620] Yeah
[06:48.620 -> 06:53.160] And this sort of helps you to follow right because if you know that the car is better in the straights
[06:53.160 -> 06:56.120] We just hope that you can stay along with the other car in the corners
[06:56.120 -> 07:00.520] Which we've seen so often in MotoGP because their bikes they don't really have that wake problem
[07:00.520 -> 07:03.760] So you often end up seeing this between a Ducati and a Yamaha where they just
[07:03.960 -> 07:08.060] Always and the Ducati's job is just to stay with the Yamaha on the corners and then when the
[07:08.060 -> 07:10.000] straight comes up, it is blast fast.
[07:10.000 -> 07:13.320] This is just a simple rule of racing, one car faster on the straights, one car faster
[07:13.320 -> 07:16.120] on the corners, the recipe is always going to be fun.
[07:16.120 -> 07:20.560] But we also saw something very similar like this with the Alpines Kunal.
[07:20.560 -> 07:28.640] And I know it's not in terms of the order of it, not the next thing we should ideally talk about because Alpine's finished a way down and Alonso didn't really finish at all.
[07:28.640 -> 07:34.680] But come on, come on, that just kind of feeds into the whole argument that these cars can race.
[07:34.680 -> 07:37.240] I mean, sometimes even cars that belong to the same team.
[07:37.240 -> 07:38.800] That got too hairy for me.
[07:40.360 -> 07:44.120] It was too hairy, I can only imagine what Otmar was going through as well.
[07:44.120 -> 07:46.200] I love it when you know
[07:46.200 -> 07:48.200] He was breaking his head literally
[07:48.700 -> 07:56.700] Yeah, and he's faced Ocon before he was you know at Ocon at when he was a team principal at Racing Point
[07:57.080 -> 08:02.940] Where and Force India when Ocon was racing there. He knows Ocon can be a tough teammate as well
[08:02.940 -> 08:06.540] We saw all those battles between Ocon and Perez when they came together.
[08:07.000 -> 08:08.660] I'm glad they kept it clean.
[08:08.660 -> 08:13.000] It was so good to see Fernando Alonso in the battle as well.
[08:13.340 -> 08:18.540] The impression we all have is Alonso is like the best, the most complete
[08:18.540 -> 08:22.900] driver, but Ocon is standing his guard as we speak, right?
[08:22.900 -> 08:27.320] Of course, Alonso had the retirement had the retirement in the race, but I
[08:27.320 -> 08:31.280] love the fact that they were able to fight, you know, I think the, I
[08:31.280 -> 08:34.100] mentioned that the race was of, you know, three or four highlight points.
[08:34.100 -> 08:39.080] And one of the highlight points was Alpine's battling and then Botas
[08:39.120 -> 08:43.600] and then Kevin Malknuson joining that battle as well, because at that
[08:43.600 -> 08:45.600] point of time, you know Perez was running
[08:45.600 -> 08:50.880] away, the top four were just literally waiting to see what could happen like Christian Hornos
[08:50.880 -> 08:56.240] said post-race, you know Max was looking after his tires for attacking in the later half of the race
[08:56.240 -> 09:01.680] and that's exactly what happened. So in the first half it was the midfield that was entertaining us
[09:01.680 -> 09:09.620] and I think they did a cracker of a job. mean there is so little to choose from them there are almost three or four teams up there
[09:09.620 -> 09:14.320] fighting all along some it was like every lap there were positions just
[09:14.320 -> 09:19.060] changing and think of it different cars different design philosophies they've
[09:19.060 -> 09:22.260] all worked in the winter to just design something that's totally different and
[09:22.260 -> 09:27.800] still they're all so closely bunched up between Haas, between Alfa Romeo, between dare I say
[09:27.800 -> 09:30.680] Alpine and Mercedes as well now considering Hamilton and his
[09:30.680 -> 09:35.000] performances but let's really talk about that because that was a shocker Kunal.
[09:35.000 -> 09:39.640] I for once couldn't believe that this was the same Hamilton and that lady who
[09:39.640 -> 09:43.720] came on the F1 broadcast was kind of put on and made world famous totally
[09:43.720 -> 09:47.960] agreed that that expression just summed up everyone's expression. What was it? I
[09:47.960 -> 09:52.600] suppose it has to be set up right because Lewis Hamilton can't be that far
[09:52.600 -> 09:56.360] back to Georgia. If it is what kind of a shocker day has he had? I mean what did
[09:56.360 -> 10:02.360] he have for breakfast? So you know maybe the wrong set of porridge maybe
[10:02.360 -> 10:06.720] maybe the porridge that Bottas kept up last night but it wasn't quite you know, maybe the wrong set of porridge, maybe, maybe the porridge that bought us kept up last night, but it wasn't quite, you know, fresh enough.
[10:07.280 -> 10:08.000] Stale porridge.
[10:08.120 -> 10:12.600] It was from Saudi Arabia last, you know, this reminds me, I remember South Korea,
[10:13.160 -> 10:16.920] when Formula One teams went back the next year, the fridges still had the
[10:16.920 -> 10:18.840] sandwiches from the year before.
[10:19.000 -> 10:19.320] Right.
[10:19.640 -> 10:21.600] And it's a great time to bring up South Korea.
[10:21.880 -> 10:25.000] Yeah, that's, that was, that was, that's what they found at that time.
[10:25.000 -> 10:25.280] Right.
[10:25.580 -> 10:29.120] So the track was literally not accessed, not used whatsoever
[10:29.120 -> 10:30.360] for that one year period.
[10:30.360 -> 10:34.800] But anyway, this could be just hearsay or something, but, uh, uh,
[10:35.560 -> 10:37.000] but this is a story I was told.
[10:37.000 -> 10:38.320] So that's why I'm narrating it anyway.
[10:38.320 -> 10:47.120] So talking about South Korea, the last time Lewis Hamilton scored just a single point, a solitary point from a Grand Prix on merit
[10:47.120 -> 10:51.200] was 2010 South Korean Grand Prix.
[10:51.200 -> 10:54.800] This stat is, of course, courtesy F1 stats guru,
[10:54.800 -> 10:55.640] which is Sundaram.
[10:55.640 -> 10:57.840] He's fantastic with his stats.
[10:57.840 -> 10:59.960] He also has turned up and said, this
[10:59.960 -> 11:10.760] is Hamilton's worst start to a season ever. And contrastingly, 2021 was the best start
[11:10.760 -> 11:13.980] to Hamilton's season in Formula 1 ever.
[11:13.980 -> 11:15.360] So that's it.
[11:15.360 -> 11:16.160] That's the stats.
[11:16.160 -> 11:17.960] Now, this is what, again, I picked up
[11:17.960 -> 11:20.240] during the race broadcasts.
[11:20.240 -> 11:23.240] Initially, when qualifying happened,
[11:23.240 -> 11:27.520] Mercedes, of course, said on the F1 app
[11:27.520 -> 11:32.320] that, you know, neither of the drivers had too many different setups.
[11:32.320 -> 11:36.520] In fact, the drivers were probably running very similar setups is what they said.
[11:37.240 -> 11:41.120] After qualifying, Toto-Wulf turned around and said, we were trying something
[11:41.120 -> 11:44.220] radical with Lewis's car and it did not work.
[11:44.220 -> 11:48.320] And one doesn't know what the truth is but you know is this the team coming up and
[11:48.320 -> 11:52.800] just backing the driver saying we tried something different or is it just
[11:52.800 -> 11:58.080] that you know Lewis had a bad day which you know everybody is you know is
[11:58.080 -> 12:03.000] everybody can have a bad day because if you guys remember in Bahrain qualifying
[12:03.000 -> 12:09.680] it was George Russell who had tried something radical at that time and then he of course had a bad qualifying session as well. So
[12:10.240 -> 12:17.920] truth be told lots to dig, lots to unheard from Mercedes's package and Mercedes's design philosophy
[12:19.200 -> 12:27.120] and also you know down to is their power unit not up to the mark compared to the Alpines and even the Honda and the Ferrari power
[12:27.120 -> 12:33.000] units, because we had a drag race between Alpine and Lando
[12:33.000 -> 12:35.000] Norris, so the Alpine, the Renault-powered Alpine
[12:35.000 -> 12:35.880] of Esteban Ocon.
[12:35.880 -> 12:39.800] And then the Mercedes-powered McLaren of Lando Norris
[12:39.800 -> 12:42.480] on the final straight on the last lap.
[12:42.480 -> 12:47.540] And Ocon actually pipped Lando Norris to that position.
[12:47.540 -> 12:50.140] And questions.
[12:50.140 -> 12:53.180] This, of course, reminded me of when Pierre Gasly outdragged
[12:53.180 -> 12:56.060] Lewis Hamilton in Brazil a couple of years ago as well.
[12:56.060 -> 12:58.220] So interesting times ahead.
[12:58.220 -> 13:00.740] We've seen Charles and Max.
[13:00.740 -> 13:02.900] They belong to the same generation.
[13:02.900 -> 13:06.980] It would be one hell of a challenge for Formula One
[13:07.500 -> 13:09.460] To try and see how
[13:09.460 -> 13:14.660] Lewis can join that battle as well because Lewis you know always says I want to show these young guns
[13:14.660 -> 13:16.500] I still have it in me and
[13:16.500 -> 13:21.580] If we have a three-way fight it would be epic summer line this goes to what you said
[13:21.580 -> 13:29.240] You know and when we were preparing there are actually four drivers capable of fighting for you know race wins at this
[13:29.240 -> 13:34.600] moment in the 2022 Formula One season. Yeah you're right because Sergio Perez
[13:34.600 -> 13:38.160] if you come to think of it he didn't really have a bad day on his own right
[13:38.160 -> 13:41.880] his performance was super especially on Saturday when you come to think of how
[13:41.880 -> 13:50.000] many races it's been since he's actually taking pole position that must be say over 200 because maybe sometime in his junior career 215 is the exact
[13:50.000 -> 13:54.800] number in F1 but there must be a few races before in his junior career as well so ridiculous to see
[13:54.800 -> 14:01.040] how that happened but again Paris had the pace Carlos Saenz has always been there or thereabouts
[14:01.040 -> 14:06.540] so maybe we just were looking for him to just kind of step up to the next level. But it's fantastic that we have four cars.
[14:06.540 -> 14:08.320] And it's fantastic in the midfield as well
[14:08.320 -> 14:11.720] that there are so many teams fighting in, constantly just
[14:11.720 -> 14:14.200] going head to head and putting up these amazing shows,
[14:14.200 -> 14:16.440] just like the one that we discussed earlier on,
[14:16.440 -> 14:18.160] like the final lap battle.
[14:18.160 -> 14:21.120] But Mick Schumacher also, Kunal, let's just quickly mention him.
[14:21.120 -> 14:23.700] Because now that we've spoken about Saturday and Sergio Perez,
[14:23.700 -> 14:29.120] great to see him fit, great to see him all right and kind of fair that cars decided not to race him because of
[14:29.120 -> 14:33.520] course they have to look for the long run right and Melbourne is going to be their focus but
[14:33.520 -> 14:39.840] otherwise apart from Mick as well there are so many other big stories and reliability I am just
[14:40.400 -> 14:46.120] confused why did we see almost every car in the midfield fail in that and also
[14:46.120 -> 14:49.720] just within five minutes. We were all just shocked. Is this the three or four
[14:49.720 -> 14:54.440] cars gone within a couple of minutes here and there. Yeah it was you know every
[14:54.440 -> 14:59.320] power unit manufacturer had one car failure at least. So I think Red Bull
[14:59.320 -> 15:07.920] have decided either we have cars retire on the sighting lap or the reconnaissance lap of the race, or in the last
[15:07.920 -> 15:12.080] couple of laps of the race, we cannot have cars retire in the middle of the race, right? Because
[15:12.080 -> 15:17.120] that's what happened to poor Yuki Tsunoda, I would say. Then we saw Fernando Alonso have a problem,
[15:17.120 -> 15:22.480] Valtteri Bottas have a problem, and then Daniel Ricciardo have a problem. So reliability is still
[15:22.480 -> 15:26.180] a challenge. I'm glad that both the Red Bulls could finish the race.
[15:26.180 -> 15:31.260] And, you know, it's of course my heart just goes out to Checo Perez.
[15:31.280 -> 15:34.820] I, you know, I know we, we spoke about it before.
[15:34.820 -> 15:38.040] I know we spoke about the dummy, but here's one piece of data,
[15:38.040 -> 15:39.840] which I'm digging with Sundaram.
[15:40.320 -> 15:45.920] And the puzzling part of Perez's pit stop was, of course,
[15:45.920 -> 15:48.040] first he had bad luck during the safety car,
[15:48.040 -> 15:49.580] and you can't do anything about that.
[15:49.580 -> 15:52.320] But the puzzling part is, and there are two points here.
[15:52.320 -> 15:57.360] First is his lap times were not any drastically slower
[15:57.360 -> 15:59.520] than his lap times before he pitted.
[15:59.520 -> 16:01.760] So when you count five or six laps before he pitted,
[16:01.760 -> 16:03.340] of course, there was a downward trend,
[16:03.340 -> 16:05.120] but it wasn't a nose dive.
[16:09.700 -> 16:10.800] In fact, Charles Leclerc similarly had slower laps as well. So that's point number one.
[16:11.240 -> 16:14.240] Point number two, that it is Checo Perez.
[16:14.240 -> 16:16.700] He's the master of tire management.
[16:17.040 -> 16:17.540] Okay.
[16:17.880 -> 16:23.520] And it just puzzles me that Red Bull, it seemed like they almost had no plan
[16:23.920 -> 16:26.200] in place if Checo literally
[16:26.200 -> 16:29.900] kept the lead and kept running the way he did and you know lead the race on
[16:29.900 -> 16:34.960] merit. Yeah but that's that's kind of strange to think about it isn't it
[16:34.960 -> 16:40.560] because we all know that Max is the primary main gun but I thought that
[16:40.560 -> 16:43.800] Red Bull would respond maybe a bit more proactively if that's the case right
[16:43.800 -> 16:47.920] because I mean of course they did get kind of robbed in a way
[16:47.920 -> 16:50.500] because of the safety car with Sergio Perez that is but I thought perhaps that
[16:50.500 -> 16:54.040] maybe Sergio could do something different and do something else in the
[16:54.040 -> 16:57.440] other part of the race but that's strange to see how things have just
[16:57.440 -> 17:01.940] piled up for him but at least we know that he can race and that is maybe a
[17:01.940 -> 17:08.520] very very encouraging sign all the way through right to see that this can potentially happen and the way the race has shaped
[17:08.520 -> 17:12.360] up right the safety car and this is running joke that's going wrong about
[17:12.360 -> 17:16.280] Nicholas Latifi and how he's just become the wild card in the world of Formula 1
[17:16.280 -> 17:19.440] that whatever you need some sort of drama just just throw in a Nicholas Latifi
[17:19.440 -> 17:23.200] crash kind of similar to what we saw in qualifying as well didn't we because Q1
[17:23.200 -> 17:29.200] was getting slightly dull oh yeah we want fun why don't we throw a Nicholas O'Fafey crash just i don't even know what's
[17:29.200 -> 17:35.120] happening he is uh not even fast unfortunately because of the Williams but he's also being
[17:35.120 -> 17:42.560] outclassed by his teammate but also messy so tough luck for him. Did you just really say
[17:42.560 -> 17:45.880] he's not fast really because of the Williams?
[17:47.920 -> 17:48.960] Uh, I was trying to keep it subtle.
[17:53.360 -> 17:54.740] Yeah, I realized, you know, Ralf Schumacher said Lance Stroll is like a hobby driver. He should go pick another hobby.
[17:55.220 -> 18:00.320] Maybe there should be another driver that, uh, you know, we should add to that list
[18:00.320 -> 18:02.200] as well, which would be Nicholas Latifi.
[18:02.200 -> 18:07.960] Again, the number of miles he's had in the Formula One car in test and now in
[18:08.240 -> 18:13.920] race trim as well, just doesn't do any merit to what he's able to pull out as
[18:13.920 -> 18:14.800] results, right?
[18:15.160 -> 18:21.200] And yes, he's become a meme now that if you want Max Verstappen to win the race
[18:21.200 -> 18:24.960] under a safety car on the final lap of the race or something, just get Nicholas
[18:24.960 -> 18:28.720] Latifi to do some of his off-track antics. But no, on a
[18:28.720 -> 18:33.280] serious note, it just seems that he ran out of talent. I know you're being
[18:33.280 -> 18:37.860] subtle and I know I'm not. But that's also the amount of air time I'd like to
[18:37.860 -> 18:42.300] give Latifi on our show. I think we should just move on. Thank you for the
[18:42.300 -> 18:45.920] entertainment but oh my god what are you doing with that opportunity?
[18:45.920 -> 18:46.920] You've got my back.
[18:46.920 -> 18:51.540] Okay, let's do something similar to another similar driver.
[18:51.540 -> 18:53.720] Lance Stroll, I know you were very interested
[18:53.720 -> 18:54.600] in discussing this point,
[18:54.600 -> 18:57.380] but he got beat by Nico Halkenberg again.
[18:58.920 -> 19:01.660] I mean, it's not like it's a surprise, but come on.
[19:02.680 -> 19:03.680] Can you believe it?
[19:03.680 -> 19:06.040] In Bahrain, I think Hulkenberg beat him in
[19:06.040 -> 19:11.640] qualifying and in Saudi Arabia Hulkenberg beat him in the race and
[19:11.640 -> 19:17.000] this mind you of course you know the safety car that came out came out at
[19:17.000 -> 19:22.780] such a bad time that drivers like Hulkenberg and I think it was also Lewis
[19:22.780 -> 19:25.240] Hamilton the ones who started on the hards
[19:25.240 -> 19:29.880] actually got done in because you know they just didn't end up pitting during
[19:29.880 -> 19:34.720] the safety car period while others did. Anyway that's the point is Hulkenberg
[19:34.720 -> 19:38.680] actually said I had a clean race I'm happy with what happened even though he
[19:38.680 -> 19:41.760] didn't score a point because you know races like these keep showing why he
[19:41.760 -> 19:48.080] should be in Formula One. Exactly man man. The thing with him is you never know when it's going to be the last race, right? And
[19:48.080 -> 19:52.320] that's going to be a bit of a stinger. Who knows, he might just come back. But yeah, if this is the
[19:52.320 -> 19:58.160] last performance, kind of represented it, right? That he ended up beating someone with barely any
[19:58.160 -> 20:02.160] practice. So that's just the talent of the man, all things considered. But otherwise, as well,
[20:02.160 -> 20:09.120] in the midfield, you know, Peter Gasly apparently was having a very very very very bad day. I mean I just realized now
[20:09.120 -> 20:13.760] before recording when he told me that he had some intestinal, intestinal, if that's
[20:13.760 -> 20:17.160] even a thing, issues with his intestine and and that's not like the
[20:17.160 -> 20:21.240] intestine of the car, that's like his own intestine, that's just scary to think
[20:21.240 -> 20:26.300] about it. Yeah he actually said the toughest race of his career
[20:26.300 -> 20:31.400] yet because you know last 10-12 laps he had some pain in his intestines is what
[20:31.400 -> 20:36.500] he said and then he was just holding on to sort of make sure he gets through to
[20:36.500 -> 20:40.880] the finish so hats off to him for pulling through that one as well. I'm
[20:40.880 -> 20:48.340] sure this race is also physically very tough on the drivers. The walls are closed, it's high speed and so on.
[20:48.340 -> 20:52.280] So it's good that, because I still remember Charles Leclerc last year said,
[20:52.640 -> 20:53.580] I feel dizzy.
[20:53.620 -> 20:56.780] This is what he said some point of time through the middle of the race.
[20:56.780 -> 21:03.220] But the good thing is that at least it's, we know that it didn't lead to
[21:03.220 -> 21:05.800] anything major and that he was sort
[21:05.800 -> 21:11.880] of okay when when things came calling towards the checkered flag Somal. Yeah
[21:11.880 -> 21:15.200] exactly that could have been scary right I mean imagine if you've got so much of
[21:15.200 -> 21:18.720] pain and you end up crashing and all that stuff that's that's not very good
[21:18.720 -> 21:22.840] to think about but finally Gunal we have to discuss this one really crazy thing
[21:22.840 -> 21:27.040] as well Hamilton, Hamilton finishing P10 I't know, I still can't digest it properly
[21:27.040 -> 21:32.760] because of all that happened eventually. I mean I think he really didn't say is
[21:32.760 -> 21:36.600] there even a point for P10, didn't he? Something along those lines, right?
[21:36.600 -> 21:43.200] He actually said is there even a point that we get for finishing P10 which I
[21:43.200 -> 21:46.380] know he was being sarcastic, but I think
[21:46.380 -> 21:51.920] that's a little too harsh with what happened, you know, with Mercedes, because
[21:51.920 -> 21:56.840] all things said and done, if George Russell could finish best of the rest,
[21:56.840 -> 22:01.640] I'm sure Hamilton could have done that at least or a little more. And you know,
[22:01.640 -> 22:08.320] Mercedes are off the pace. They finished 30 seconds down on the lead pair
[22:08.320 -> 22:14.720] about 20 seconds ahead of the next best. So there's again in that whole Red Bull area where
[22:14.720 -> 22:19.840] Red Bull was a few years ago when Ferrari and Mercedes were sort of fighting I would say.
[22:19.840 -> 22:28.920] So a little unfortunate that they're down where they are. But Lewis's message was definitely, it seemed to me more than sarcasm.
[22:28.920 -> 22:33.160] It seemed a little, little brutal, a little too blunt, I would say.
[22:34.920 -> 22:36.200] Should F1 really go back here?
[22:36.360 -> 22:40.240] I mean, they said that they will focus on a more sustainable option, but
[22:41.920 -> 22:42.480] don't think they will.
[22:42.480 -> 22:44.400] WWE came back when they were held hostage.
[22:44.400 -> 22:44.600] So.
[22:45.120 -> 22:45.320] Yeah.
[22:45.320 -> 22:47.080] Well, money talks, cash is king.
[22:47.080 -> 22:52.000] As Lewis Hamilton said, the key point here in the whole missile thing and the
[22:52.000 -> 22:56.560] drivers having a four hour plus meeting, understanding what their options were is
[22:57.000 -> 23:07.320] if the return of Formula One team personnel was actually at stake or the safe return was not possible, then
[23:07.320 -> 23:12.760] it's a very scary place to be in the first place. Then you're literally a
[23:12.760 -> 23:20.120] slave to the money that's being paid and knowing the values, the
[23:20.120 -> 23:24.720] ethos that Formula One operates on and the environment it operates on.
[23:24.720 -> 23:29.360] I'm not really sure that's what a lot of drivers would be comfortable with.
[23:29.360 -> 23:35.040] So even if Formula One comes back, I don't know how the drivers would
[23:35.400 -> 23:38.640] like to be told that, Hey, if you go there, you cannot get out
[23:38.640 -> 23:40.360] till you finish the race on Sunday.
[23:40.800 -> 23:49.000] And, the way I put it is unfortunately, that's just what could happen in a country that's a kingdom.
[23:49.000 -> 23:52.000] And there is, I'm not going to finish the statement.
[23:52.000 -> 23:52.500] Okay.
[23:52.500 -> 23:54.000] You get the gist.
[23:54.000 -> 23:57.000] Oh man.
[23:57.000 -> 23:59.000] But what are your thoughts, folks?
[23:59.000 -> 24:02.000] What are your thoughts on this whole situation should F1 race?
[24:02.000 -> 24:04.000] And what are your thoughts on the weekend as a whole?
[24:04.000 -> 24:09.800] We've expressed ours, and I hope you enjoyed listening to this episode because that's all we've got for you here today
[24:10.120 -> 24:11.720] But thank you for listening folks
[24:11.720 -> 24:15.040] Thank you for watching and in case you want to share your thoughts with us
[24:15.040 -> 24:17.520] Which we'll be glad to listen to just follow us on social media
[24:17.520 -> 24:22.800] Check out the links in the description below and we can keep that conversation going all the way through. Thanks for watching
[24:22.800 -> 24:27.420] Thanks for listening and see you for the Melbourne GP preview in a couple of weeks. Bye-bye.
[24:43.090 -> 24:45.090] you