Bahrain F1 Race Review 2023

Spanners and Trumpets are joined  by the voice of the London ePrix, PR meister Chris Stevens and driver analyst Alex ‘Jeansy’ Vangeen as the teams turn over all their cards at the Bahrain GP. From remarkable Red Bull to amazing Aston, from Mercedes’ maelstrom to Williams’ wild ride, no aggregate roughness goes unmeasured in this, the latest episode of Missed Apex Podcast. 

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## Missed Apex Podcast Episode Transcript Review

**Title:** How Hard Can It Be? A McLaren Story

**Summary:**

1. **Aston Martin's Impressive Start:**
- Aston Martin's remarkable performance, securing a podium finish and challenging Mercedes, exceeded pre-season expectations.
- The team's progress is attributed to the recruitment of skilled personnel, particularly Dan Fallows, who brought valuable aerodynamic insights.
- However, questions remain regarding Aston Martin's adherence to the cost cap and the sustainability of their strong start throughout the season.

2. **Fernando Alonso's Podium Finish:**
- Fernando Alonso's podium finish was a highlight of the race, showcasing his exceptional racing skills and ability to compete with top drivers.
- His clean and skillful overtaking moves, particularly against Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz, were praised by the hosts.
- Alonso's performance demonstrated that, despite his age, he remains one of the best drivers on the grid.

3. **Lance Stroll's Performance:**
- Lance Stroll's effort in the race was commendable, considering his recent injuries and lack of practice.
- He drove flawlessly after a minor incident with his teammate and managed to split the Mercedes cars.
- However, concerns were raised about Stroll's awareness and the potential consequences if his actions had caused a major accident.

4. **Mercedes' Struggles:**
- Mercedes faced difficulties in the race, with Lewis Hamilton expressing dissatisfaction with the car's performance and downforce.
- The team's strategic decision to pit Hamilton early to countercut Alonso backfired, as Alonso gained an advantage with fresher tires.
- Mercedes' overall messaging appeared muddled, with Toto Wolff acknowledging the need for improvements while also downplaying the significance of the team's struggles.

5. **McLaren's Brief Appearance:**
- McLaren's race was short-lived, with both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri retiring due to technical issues.
- The team's poor start to the season has led to disappointment among fans, who had hoped for a stronger performance.

6. **Williams' Positive Step:**
- Williams showed signs of improvement, with Alex Albon finishing in the points and Nicholas Latifi showing promise.
- The team's progress is attributed to the leadership of James Vowles, who joined from Mercedes.

**Overall:**
The Bahrain Grand Prix provided excitement and intrigue, with Aston Martin's strong start, Fernando Alonso's podium finish, and Mercedes' struggles being key talking points. McLaren's disappointing performance and Williams' positive step also garnered attention. The hosts engaged in lively discussions, providing insightful analysis and engaging commentary throughout the episode. # Missed Apex Podcast Episode 115 Transcript: Bahrain Takeaways

## Introduction

- Spanners, Trumpets, Chris Stevens, and Alex Vangeen join the podcast to discuss the Bahrain Grand Prix.
- The team analyzes the remarkable Red Bull performance, Aston Martin's impressive podium finish, Mercedes' struggles, and Williams' wild ride.

## Red Bull's Dominance

- Max Verstappen dominates the race, leading from start to finish and setting a new lap record.
- Sergio Perez also has a strong race, finishing third behind Charles Leclerc.
- Red Bull's RB19 proves to be the class of the field, with superior pace and tire management.

## Aston Martin's Resurgence

- Aston Martin secures a podium finish with Fernando Alonso, their first since 2021.
- The team's AMR23 shows strong pace and consistency, suggesting they could be a contender for regular top-six finishes.
- Lance Stroll also has a solid race, finishing in the points.

## Mercedes' Struggles

- Mercedes endures a difficult weekend, with Lewis Hamilton finishing fifth and George Russell retiring due to a hydraulic issue.
- The team's W14 car suffers from porpoising and lacks pace compared to Red Bull and Ferrari.
- Toto Wolff admits that Mercedes needs to change their car concept, but this will require a significant redesign.

## Williams' Wild Ride

- Williams shows signs of improvement with Alex Albon finishing in the points and Logan Sargeant impressing on his Formula 1 debut.
- The team's FW45 car appears to be more competitive than in previous seasons.

## Other Notable Moments

- Carlos Sainz retires from the race due to a reliability issue with his Ferrari.
- Kevin Magnussen scores points for Haas, continuing their strong start to the season.
- Nyck de Vries impresses on his AlphaTauri debut, finishing ninth.

## Overall

- Red Bull emerges as the clear favorite for the 2023 championship.
- Aston Martin and Williams show signs of improvement, while Mercedes faces an uphill battle to catch up.
- The midfield battle promises to be intense, with several teams capable of challenging for points. Sure, here is a summary of the podcast episode transcript:

**Race Recap:**

* Red Bull dominated the race, with Max Verstappen winning and Sergio Perez finishing second.
* Aston Martin had a strong showing, with Fernando Alonso finishing fifth and Lance Stroll finishing eighth.
* Mercedes struggled, with Lewis Hamilton finishing ninth and George Russell finishing fourth.
* Williams had a solid race, with Alex Albon finishing tenth and Logan Sargeant finishing twelfth.
* Valtteri Bottas finished eighth in the Alfa Romeo.

**Key Points:**

* Mercedes' W14 car has fundamental problems that will take time to fix.
* Aston Martin's AMR23 car is a significant improvement over last year's car.
* Williams' FW45 car is a step forward for the team.
* Valtteri Bottas is settling in well at Alfa Romeo.
* Esteban Ocon had a disastrous race, receiving multiple penalties.

**Insights and Controversies:**

* There was some debate among the hosts about whether Mercedes should abandon development of the W14 car and focus on the 2024 car.
* There was also some discussion about whether Aston Martin's performance is sustainable or if it was just a one-off.
* The hosts praised Williams' progress and expressed optimism for the team's future.
* There was some criticism of Ocon's driving and the Alpine team's strategy.

**Overall Message:**

The first race of the 2023 Formula One season provided plenty of surprises and talking points. Red Bull and Aston Martin look strong, while Mercedes and Ferrari have work to do. The midfield is also shaping up to be competitive, with several teams showing promise. * **Thing of the Weekend:**
* Matt: Pierre Gasly's 11-place gain and points finish for Alpine.
* Alex: Lance Stroll's performance considering his injuries.
* Chris: Fernando Alonso's post-race interview and comments about the new aero testing regulations.
* **Bad Thing Award:**
* Matt: McLaren's poor performance and reliability issues.
* Chris: Esteban Ocon's grid box and speed limiter line errors, as well as Alpine's stopwatch malfunction.
* Alex: Mercedes' PR messaging and negative comments about their car's concept.
* **Missed Apex Award:**
* Alex: Carlos Sainz's performance, falling behind teammate Charles Leclerc. ## Missed Apex Podcast: Bahrain GP Review

**Key Points:**

* The Bahrain GP featured remarkable performances from Red Bull, Aston Martin, and Williams, while Mercedes faced challenges and Ferrari struggled on a track not suited to their car.
* Red Bull's dominance continued with Max Verstappen securing pole position and the race win, while Sergio Perez finished second.
* Aston Martin surprised with Fernando Alonso finishing fifth and Lance Stroll in tenth place, demonstrating the team's progress.
* Williams had a strong race with Alex Albon finishing ninth and Logan Sargeant in twelfth, showing signs of improvement for the team.
* Mercedes encountered difficulties with Lewis Hamilton finishing fifth and George Russell ninth, highlighting the team's ongoing struggles.
* Ferrari had a disappointing weekend with Carlos Sainz finishing sixth and Charles Leclerc retiring due to a mechanical issue, showcasing the team's vulnerability on certain tracks.

**Insights and Perspectives:**

* Alex Vangeen, driver analyst, emphasized the importance of track characteristics in determining team performance, highlighting Ferrari's struggles on tracks that don't favor their car.
* Chris Stevens, PR meister, discussed the impact of the new regulations on the pecking order of teams, leading to closer competition and unexpected results.

**Controversies and Insightful Moments:**

* The podcast acknowledged the controversy surrounding the FIA's handling of the 2021 Abu Dhabi GP, recognizing the need for improved decision-making and consistency in race officiating.
* The discussion highlighted the impressive performance of Aston Martin, particularly Fernando Alonso's strong race, showcasing the team's potential for further improvement.

**Overall Message:**

The Bahrain GP provided a glimpse into the evolving dynamics of the 2023 Formula One season, with Red Bull maintaining its dominance, Aston Martin making strides, Williams showing signs of progress, Mercedes facing difficulties, and Ferrari facing challenges on certain tracks. The podcast emphasized the influence of track characteristics on team performance and the impact of the new regulations on the competitive landscape.

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[00:55.760 -> 01:10.560] fantasy sports made easy. You are listening to missed apex podcast we live at one
[01:24.560 -> 01:30.240] welcome to miss apex podcast I'm your host Richard Ready, but my friends call me Spanners,
[01:30.240 -> 01:31.960] so let's be friends.
[01:31.960 -> 01:35.680] Welcome to our Bahrain Grand Prix race review.
[01:35.680 -> 01:41.480] All the pre-season predictions disappear into the ether as the cars hit the track for the
[01:41.480 -> 01:44.280] first competitive race of the season.
[01:44.280 -> 01:46.640] Literally every prediction ever made
[01:46.640 -> 01:51.680] in the off-season is forgotten. No one can remember who said who would be where or what
[01:51.680 -> 01:57.520] car would be in what position and any attempt to remember that is for the birds. It's a long season
[01:57.520 -> 02:06.660] ahead. I don't think my predictions are beaten quite yet. Lots of the fans are delighted, i.e. Fernando Alonso fans, and fans of Super
[02:06.660 -> 02:12.920] Mux Mux Mux, and some fans are not angry but are disappointed. Those fans are dressed in
[02:12.920 -> 02:18.580] red. There's some pretty glum-looking McLaren fans and some disappointed-looking Lewis Hamilton
[02:18.580 -> 02:26.880] fans and some people have declared the season over. But look, it's never over. It is perfectly normal in Formula One for one team
[02:26.880 -> 02:31.520] to dominate for a little while. In fact, I would say it is more common for a team to dominate a
[02:31.520 -> 02:38.080] season for that not to be the case. The reward in Formula One is sticking with it when the ebbs and
[02:38.080 -> 02:47.120] the flows bring them together. That might be next season, but it could be in this season as well. You don't know. I would say, relax, enjoy the season.
[02:47.440 -> 02:50.600] The ships roll in and the ships roll away again.
[02:50.600 -> 02:54.720] So coming up, we'll discuss Alonso's explosive start to the season.
[02:55.120 -> 02:57.040] Red Bull's continued dominance.
[02:57.440 -> 02:59.680] Williams taking a big step.
[02:59.680 -> 03:02.560] McLaren attending the Grand Prix briefly.
[03:02.800 -> 03:05.400] And the somewhat muddled Mercedes messaging.
[03:05.400 -> 03:07.240] I'm your host, Richard Ready.
[03:07.240 -> 03:11.040] We are an independent podcast produced in the podcasting shed with the kind permission
[03:11.040 -> 03:12.040] of our better halves.
[03:12.040 -> 03:15.240] We aim to bring you a race review before your Monday morning commute.
[03:15.240 -> 03:21.880] We might be wrong, but we're first.
[03:21.880 -> 03:24.880] I'm joined in the shed by Matt to Rumpets.
[03:24.880 -> 03:28.120] How's it going, Matt? For want of some downforce,
[03:28.120 -> 03:34.000] a kingdom was lost. That's certainly Lewis Hamilton. Again, it was echoes of 2014, no
[03:34.000 -> 03:38.640] 2013 when he first joined Mercedes, said it's a good car. I just want more downforce. He
[03:38.640 -> 03:43.000] managed to get the team to do that then. Maybe he will this time too. We're also joined in
[03:43.000 -> 03:45.120] the shed by Chris Stevens. How's it going, Chris?
[03:45.120 -> 03:50.480] Hey Spanners, three shows in one week for me. I hope you're not fed up with me yet.
[03:50.480 -> 03:51.960] That was you on before.
[03:51.960 -> 03:54.040] It was, I know.
[03:54.040 -> 03:57.000] I get you and Stuffy and Jono all mixed up.
[03:57.000 -> 03:58.160] Yeah, thanks man.
[03:58.160 -> 04:03.000] And we're also joined by someone unmistakable, Alex Jeansy Van Jean. How's it going, Alex?
[04:03.000 -> 04:09.380] My least favourite team won and my least favorite driver had a really good weekend
[04:09.380 -> 04:14.280] So I'm well looking forward to this one. Look Formula One is more about the drivers you like
[04:14.940 -> 04:15.540] You know
[04:15.540 -> 04:20.640] It's more than just the teams that you want to win you have to enjoy it as a sport and I think I am genuinely the
[04:20.640 -> 04:24.080] one sad thing that I think I've seen from the influx of fans
[04:24.440 -> 04:25.000] That have come in in the last few years is that I think I've seen from the influx of fans that have
[04:25.000 -> 04:29.540] come in in the last few years is that I think if certain drivers retire, particularly Max
[04:29.540 -> 04:33.800] and also Lewis Hamilton as well, that that will trigger an exodus from the sport.
[04:33.800 -> 04:38.960] So if you're one of the people out there that is so emotionally invested in one team or
[04:38.960 -> 04:48.100] one driver that you can't watch unless they're successful, I would beg you to pick people all up and down the grid that you'd like to see fighting because you
[04:48.100 -> 04:51.820] know despite it being pretty clear up front Alex there was some good racing
[04:51.820 -> 04:57.020] today. Well it's alright thanks to a very reliable lie detector test Lewis isn't
[04:57.020 -> 05:00.660] leaving the sport until he gets eight world titles I think they'll have to
[05:00.660 -> 05:06.480] wait until he can't get out of a race car like Lance Stroll. And of course it would
[05:06.480 -> 05:11.120] be remiss of me to not tell you the show title. The title of today's show supplied by Michael
[05:11.120 -> 05:18.160] Brown was How Hard Can It Be? A McLaren Story. Harsh! There are definitely winners and losers
[05:18.160 -> 05:26.960] from today's Grand Prix but the big ticket item has to be, the big news absolutely has to be, Fernando Alonso on the podium.
[05:29.120 -> 05:30.640] Big Dirty News
[05:36.560 -> 05:42.160] So clearly I made my pre-season guesses and predictions and they were fun and I definitely
[05:42.160 -> 05:45.680] did not see Aston Martin getting this high up the finishing
[05:45.680 -> 05:50.960] order in Bahrain or getting up the grid. But I'm still pretty happy with my working out and a few
[05:50.960 -> 05:56.880] of you have quite rightly given me the odd dig for my predictions and I think that's fair enough.
[05:56.880 -> 06:02.000] As a wannabe pundit, you stick your best guesses out there on the line for the sake of discussion
[06:02.000 -> 06:08.680] and just to put a little bit of skin in the game. And I stand by my thinking, whether they turn out to be right or not. And I was
[06:08.680 -> 06:13.820] clear, though, I think my doubts with Aston Martin were based on the scale of the claims.
[06:13.820 -> 06:19.400] For them to come from seventh and to do incredible things and to end up third, if they do, would
[06:19.400 -> 06:25.760] be the most amazing off-season performance of a team I can remember mid-regulation. And I was clear as well
[06:25.760 -> 06:30.240] that my predictions were through the whole season, so there's a whole season for us to keep arguing
[06:30.240 -> 06:36.400] about this. But they have undeniably made an amazing start, but the season does still need
[06:36.400 -> 06:51.200] to play out. So for them, Mercedes were completely gettable if they didn't land it and they didn't. But they still were a fair way off the top team. So yes, the title contender hype that people were throwing
[06:51.200 -> 06:55.760] around about Aston Martin, that was way, way off. But the sensible hype about them
[06:55.760 -> 07:00.780] taking a big step forward is undeniably true and if they can take a genuine shot
[07:00.780 -> 07:04.960] at that third spot then that will spell success. And I'll tell you what Matt,
[07:04.960 -> 07:09.480] Laurence Stroll, straight after the race, described this not as a sign they're
[07:09.480 -> 07:13.080] going to take the title. He said, it's a sign that they will be able to fight for the
[07:13.080 -> 07:18.200] title in the next five years, and they've made a big step forward. And I think that
[07:18.200 -> 07:21.040] adds a little context to what we saw today.
[07:21.040 -> 07:27.260] Yeah, and I think we even saw Alonzo trying to walk back a little bit.
[07:27.260 -> 07:35.180] Some of the excitement the team had been experiencing since testing, and their amazing-looking,
[07:35.180 -> 07:38.620] and now obviously in real life, results.
[07:38.620 -> 07:42.780] Although I am happy that you've already given me the chance to pedantically correct you
[07:42.780 -> 07:48.960] first thing in the season, as right now Aston are actually second in the Constructors' Championship after today's race.
[07:48.960 -> 07:53.360] So, okay, so obviously like the points shake out how they shake out and there was retirements,
[07:53.360 -> 07:57.200] but definitely like all of our pre-season chat was about who's going to come out with,
[07:57.200 -> 08:01.520] you know, the order of the competitive cars. And from today, you know, they are very much
[08:01.520 -> 08:07.180] in that battle third or fourth, but it is because Mercedes have fallen back.
[08:07.180 -> 08:08.180] They've made a good step.
[08:08.180 -> 08:12.560] They're clearly at the head of the best of the rest, although we can kind of tear that
[08:12.560 -> 08:13.560] up now.
[08:13.560 -> 08:16.040] There's like a mini league now, like a top 3.5.
[08:16.040 -> 08:21.960] Yeah, well, I mean, no one's going to blame you for thinking a zebra is a horse, which
[08:21.960 -> 08:25.680] is what everyone was saying about Aston, but no, they're an actual zebra.
[08:25.680 -> 08:32.160] And I'd say that there's a top four now, which includes both Mercedes and Aston,
[08:32.160 -> 08:35.760] and then there's the midfield, and that's going to be a different story.
[08:35.760 -> 08:40.960] We can definitely argue about that. I think I'm seeing it as a top two,
[08:40.960 -> 08:44.960] and then there's a two behind that could challenge a bit later. Chris?
[08:41.640 -> 08:44.800] there's a top two, and then there's a two behind that could challenge a bit later.
[08:44.800 -> 08:46.080] Chris.
[08:46.080 -> 08:50.440] I think Aston Martin has proved that they can challenge Ferrari
[08:50.440 -> 08:53.960] as well, given that Carlos Sainz, particularly
[08:53.960 -> 08:56.200] in the races, because the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz
[08:56.200 -> 08:58.960] was struggling with the deg a little bit more
[08:58.960 -> 09:00.720] than I think Leclerc was.
[09:00.720 -> 09:03.040] So if that car's not operating at 100%,
[09:03.040 -> 09:06.440] which it doesn't seem to be doing right now then Aston can very much challenge
[09:06.960 -> 09:12.700] Ferrari to be that last step on the podium at the moment and they are most definitely in the mix with Mercedes
[09:12.700 -> 09:15.000] It's a huge relief to see a midfield team
[09:15.640 -> 09:22.680] That claims it can eventually start fighting for wins and championships actually start to come good on that claim
[09:22.800 -> 09:26.640] Which brings me to Alex van Jeen. A great day
[09:26.640 -> 09:31.960] for you. I know how much you love both Verstappen and Fernando Alonso so them
[09:31.960 -> 09:37.560] taking all the plaudits must have just been wonderful. So despite my feelings of
[09:37.560 -> 09:49.440] how they are as people, something I've never shied away from is the fact that Alonso and Max are fabulous racing drivers.
[09:49.440 -> 09:57.520] What Alonso proved today for me, where he is not only a great racing driver, he's also a very fair racing driver.
[09:57.520 -> 10:06.120] The moves, the racing that he did with Lewis and the racing he did with Carlos was fair, clean, left just enough space, but there
[10:06.120 -> 10:08.500] was no running people off the circuits and things
[10:08.500 -> 10:11.480] like that, which just showed a massive amount of respect,
[10:11.480 -> 10:13.860] which may have been lacking from the guy who didn't
[10:13.860 -> 10:16.320] have to do any racing today.
[10:16.320 -> 10:18.640] Just let's just make it about Fernando Alonso.
[10:18.640 -> 10:20.840] We don't have to do that, Chris.
[10:20.840 -> 10:24.680] Well, we've had glimpses of this Alonso in recent years
[10:24.680 -> 10:27.080] when Alpine has had a competitive
[10:27.080 -> 10:33.140] car at the occasional race. But now I think we're going to see on a much more regular
[10:33.140 -> 10:39.920] basis. And that's because, you know, Spanners, this car has made such a huge leap forward
[10:39.920 -> 10:44.600] that car in qualifying was some two and a half seconds quicker than it was this time
[10:44.600 -> 10:45.440] last year.
[10:45.440 -> 10:47.600] And that's not just the development over the season.
[10:47.600 -> 10:49.100] That is all the off-season work that
[10:49.100 -> 10:52.520] has been done by all the new recruits that
[10:52.520 -> 10:55.800] seem to have been announced and made like years ago.
[10:55.800 -> 10:57.520] But of course, there was gardening leave.
[10:57.520 -> 10:58.680] There was NDAs to sign.
[10:58.680 -> 11:00.480] There was you have to finish up this contract,
[11:00.480 -> 11:01.480] and then you're not allowed to go and work
[11:01.480 -> 11:03.100] for this team for this amount of time.
[11:03.100 -> 11:05.760] Suddenly, all these new recruits have arrived,
[11:05.760 -> 11:09.680] and they are definitely having an impact already on this car.
[11:09.680 -> 11:12.200] And I don't think this is even final form Aston Martin,
[11:12.200 -> 11:15.800] because they are moving into their new factory,
[11:15.800 -> 11:18.000] the new big thing that they've been working on,
[11:18.000 -> 11:20.480] the smart factory, I think they're calling it,
[11:20.480 -> 11:21.600] the first of its kind.
[11:21.600 -> 11:23.480] And they're going to be moving into that just
[11:23.480 -> 11:24.760] after the Spanish Grand Prix.
[11:24.760 -> 11:25.600] So that could even
[11:26.600 -> 11:29.440] help keep them in this position throughout the season.
[11:30.120 -> 11:32.720] This to me just shows that the prophecy that
[11:33.160 -> 11:40.480] you made Spanners when Aston first came into it, when Lawrence Stroll first came into the sport, that he is building a team to make
[11:40.480 -> 11:41.560] Lance a world champion.
[11:41.560 -> 11:45.600] I mean, it depends on how long Alonso wants to stand around
[11:45.600 -> 11:52.480] stay around and get in the way but it really looks like that they have the ability to move forward.
[11:52.480 -> 11:56.160] Are they going to win the championship this year? No. Are they going to pick up podiums this year?
[11:56.160 -> 12:01.680] Absolutely. We've already seen one today. Are they going to pick up wins? Possibly. You know we don't
[12:01.680 -> 12:11.840] know how dominant that red ball is going to be but there is definitely the opportunity for Aston Martin. This is such a great first proper step into jumping into that
[12:11.840 -> 12:17.760] echelon of being a top team in Formula One. Go on Chris, quick one. And they did tease us
[12:17.760 -> 12:23.680] didn't they throughout Friday because I think the Red Bull was not running at its complete optimum,
[12:23.680 -> 12:25.300] they seemed to be lacking a little bit of pace.
[12:25.300 -> 12:30.400] A lot of confidence was lost after what was a very good testing for them.
[12:30.400 -> 12:32.800] And maybe Aston were running in higher power modes
[12:32.800 -> 12:37.000] or running slightly lighter on the fuel and distorting the image a little bit
[12:37.000 -> 12:40.400] to the point that when Alonso was fifth in qualifying, we were disappointed.
[12:40.400 -> 12:44.300] But that just goes to show the step forward that they've made.
[12:44.300 -> 12:48.440] But absolutely, I do think they're going to be in contention on a lot this season.
[12:49.160 -> 12:52.680] Well, you say employees, I say employee.
[12:53.120 -> 12:56.480] And we all know that we're really talking about Dan Fallows here, who was
[12:56.480 -> 12:59.440] a chief aerodynamicist at Red Bull.
[13:00.040 -> 13:07.280] And I think I should also mention there was a lawsuit that we forgot to say about when
[13:07.280 -> 13:08.640] fallows could actually start.
[13:08.760 -> 13:16.080] And I'm just thinking that he brought more than just aerodynamic information in his head.
[13:16.280 -> 13:21.360] Now, there were allegations never proven, but if I look at the Aston and I look at the
[13:21.360 -> 13:26.720] Red Bull, they share characteristics that I see in no other car on the
[13:26.720 -> 13:33.600] grid and that's fantastic for them. That's a big part of their success and entirely allowable under
[13:33.600 -> 13:38.160] the rules of Formula One, but they seem to have an advantage that no other team has been able to
[13:38.160 -> 13:42.720] crack. Helmut Marko did say that he felt there was nothing wrong with Dan Fallows' memory.
[13:43.680 -> 13:48.200] Yeah, so Dan Fallows obviously had a big impact on this car,
[13:48.200 -> 13:49.780] but so have all the other recruits.
[13:49.780 -> 13:52.600] A Formula One team is so much more than just one person
[13:52.600 -> 13:53.440] in the same way.
[13:53.440 -> 13:54.820] It's not just about the driver.
[13:54.820 -> 13:57.240] There's been a big collective effort.
[13:57.240 -> 14:00.720] We don't say that Adrian Newey is responsible solely
[14:00.720 -> 14:03.380] for the success of Red Bull as well.
[14:03.380 -> 14:04.540] It's a huge team effort.
[14:04.540 -> 14:10.440] Okay, I really don't want to get too carried away with a victory party and a milk float
[14:10.440 -> 14:15.560] and a parade when it's just, you know, it's one race and they did do well and Mercedes
[14:15.560 -> 14:20.840] slipped back and signs seemed absolutely nowhere and Leclerc had an engine failure. But you
[14:20.840 -> 14:25.360] know what? Aston Martin didn't have an engine failure and Alonso didn't fall
[14:25.360 -> 14:30.480] back on the tired egg and Aston Martin didn't drop the ball on their concept. So they have
[14:30.480 -> 14:36.720] absolutely earned this race so I want to remember that it is a race review and I think we'll have a
[14:36.720 -> 14:42.800] couple of weeks to try and dissect how sustainable their push is over the course of the season. Alex.
[14:46.780 -> 14:54.160] their pushes over the course of the season. Alex? I mean how long now until all of a sudden Aston start having engine niggles and we're not getting power from
[14:54.160 -> 15:00.520] the engine. I mean Joe Sayward has told us for years that a manufacturer team
[15:00.520 -> 15:07.200] will not be beaten by a customer so So how do Mercedes engineer that one?
[15:07.200 -> 15:11.600] I also want to know how badly Aston Martin have broken
[15:11.600 -> 15:13.280] the cost cap to get to this point.
[15:13.280 -> 15:16.240] Happy to take a DQ for this year to be in amazing shape
[15:16.240 -> 15:17.200] for next year.
[15:17.200 -> 15:20.440] I mean, their catering budget must be awesome.
[15:20.440 -> 15:24.280] Again, you've just accused Mercedes of sabotage,
[15:24.280 -> 15:26.640] Aston Martin of financial misconduct.
[15:26.640 -> 15:32.000] That is all the opinions of Alex Van Gene. Go and follow him and his projects in the show notes below.
[15:32.000 -> 15:34.000] We'll link to those all.
[15:34.000 -> 15:38.320] They weren't opinions, they weren't accusations, they were questions.
[15:38.320 -> 15:47.000] Okay, so Alex Van Gene was questioning whether they would become saboteurs and financial criminals. I don't
[15:47.000 -> 15:50.760] think that they will be, but there is a big question mark over how much of the budget
[15:50.760 -> 15:55.300] cap has Aston Martin put, how much have they front-loaded their season, and those are questions
[15:55.300 -> 15:59.480] that won't get answered until it evolves over the next few races.
[15:59.480 -> 16:09.720] But for now, I think we really do enjoy the fact that we've got Fernando Alonso Scrapping with the top teams and the top characters in Formula One seeing him fighting wheel-to-wheel
[16:10.200 -> 16:14.680] With Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz today was an absolute delight
[16:15.200 -> 16:21.160] And I tell you what Chris as as Alex was pointed out like it doesn't feel like anything's faded
[16:21.200 -> 16:26.720] He raced clean. He raced hard, he raced skillfully, he was
[16:27.360 -> 16:33.520] on the edge, like the back end was sliding out when he was fighting Sainz, oh and Hamilton as
[16:33.520 -> 16:38.720] well. So he was on that limit and some of the overtaking moves he pulled off were just incredible.
[16:38.720 -> 16:43.200] The impossible one down the inside of Lewis Hamilton, well you thought, well okay he's made
[16:43.200 -> 16:48.720] that move but now you're going to be painting 11s down the track and there's going to be a chance for a cutback
[16:48.720 -> 16:54.080] nailed it yeah i mean he's lost absolutely none of it not since he lost both at one both his world
[16:54.080 -> 16:59.600] titles since he was fighting for world championships at Ferrari and you know he's been really wasted
[16:59.600 -> 17:06.320] since he left Ferrari in in Formula One when he was driving for a very uncompetitive McLaren
[17:06.320 -> 17:11.720] Honda team when he was driving for Alpine as well. It's so great to see him fighting
[17:11.720 -> 17:15.960] towards the front of the field again in a competitive car where he can properly demonstrate
[17:15.960 -> 17:23.000] those skills because he is one of the best drivers on the grid. He is up there with Hamilton,
[17:23.000 -> 17:27.280] with Vestappen, despite his age uh and uh it's just great
[17:27.280 -> 17:31.200] it's just great to see him back at the back of the front okay steady on with the age he's a very
[17:31.200 -> 17:36.800] young man alex for a formula one driver um the interesting thing he was interviewed after the
[17:36.800 -> 17:43.840] race about that move uh on lewis and on science uh into turn 10 now turn 10 is a very horrible
[17:43.840 -> 17:46.400] corner it's downhill, off camber,
[17:46.400 -> 17:51.080] while turning and braking, the things you do not want to do when driving a racing car because it
[17:51.080 -> 17:58.320] just induces lock-ups as we saw plenty of during the race and practice and qualifying. Alonso said
[17:58.320 -> 18:08.640] that first of all he had superior grip to both Sainz and Hamilton But the problem is he trusted Lewis enough not to cut across him
[18:08.640 -> 18:14.720] as he made a lunge and he managed to get it stopped. But even if Lewis did come across to
[18:14.720 -> 18:18.880] defend himself, if they hadn't have hit each other he'd have messed himself up for the following
[18:18.880 -> 18:26.200] corner. So Alonso was well aware that he could have pulled the move off then or on the subsequent
[18:26.200 -> 18:27.360] on the subsequent strike.
[18:27.360 -> 18:34.240] But that just shows such foresight when you're racing somebody to understand what's coming.
[18:34.240 -> 18:35.840] And that's what makes a great overtake.
[18:35.840 -> 18:39.120] Lots of people have, you know, people talk about dive bombs and things like that.
[18:39.120 -> 18:40.960] Most of the time it's all planned.
[18:40.960 -> 18:42.560] And that's what the great racing drivers do.
[18:42.560 -> 18:45.000] They plan ahead and they know when they're going to pounce and how
[18:45.000 -> 18:47.640] they're going to make that move work. And it was beautifully
[18:47.640 -> 18:48.760] executed by Fernando.
[18:48.800 -> 18:49.160] Matt.
[18:50.080 -> 18:52.880] Well, one of the things that I like most about this is that
[18:52.880 -> 18:58.080] both Hamilton and Alonso come to us from a slightly older era of
[18:58.080 -> 19:01.360] Formula One racing when cars were much more fragile when
[19:01.360 -> 19:06.560] things broke more often, and they were frankly not nearly as safe as they are
[19:07.440 -> 19:16.560] in today's currency units. And I think that might explain some of the real dance that we got between
[19:16.560 -> 19:22.400] the two of them, but I do feel like I have to point out real quick that this all started when
[19:22.400 -> 19:28.820] Alonzo and his first stint caught up to Hamilton and got within undercut range and Mercedes actually
[19:28.960 -> 19:32.620] Cut short Hamilton stint. He would complain. He's like my tires for a good
[19:32.620 -> 19:37.260] Why am I coming in and they're like undercut from Alonso Alonso got an overcut
[19:37.640 -> 19:45.160] Lost a few tenths a lap put on fresher tires and caught back up to him. So it was not just an on-track battle. This
[19:45.160 -> 19:49.340] was also a strategic battle that Aston did a very good job with.
[19:49.340 -> 19:55.120] And I'll tell you where else they both come from as well, Matt. They come from a pre-DRS,
[19:55.120 -> 20:01.860] pre-KERS background, when you had to race the old-fashioned way by offsetting the driver
[20:01.860 -> 20:05.360] ahead's lines into a corner, making them make a little mistake
[20:05.360 -> 20:09.160] on the exit of a corner that will get you a run. And if you think about the move, especially
[20:09.160 -> 20:14.880] the move on Hamilton into Turn 10 as well, no assistance from any kind of overtaking
[20:14.880 -> 20:18.760] aid whatsoever. It was just good, proper, old-fashioned racing. And you saw it in the
[20:18.760 -> 20:24.720] moment when he was battling Lewis into Turn 4 as well, when they sort of almost collided.
[20:24.720 -> 20:26.320] Alonso had that big swapper
[20:26.320 -> 20:31.760] and Lewis came back underneath him when Lewis very nearly had his entire car off the circuit
[20:31.760 -> 20:35.920] trying to get the undercut on him because Alonso was, you know, tied to the inside to
[20:35.920 -> 20:42.200] stop Lewis making that undercut maneuver to come back at him. And that's the kind of thing
[20:42.200 -> 20:47.440] that these kind of drivers will think about because that's how they had to do it back in the day.
[20:47.440 -> 20:52.640] So I don't, I definitely, I'm not trying to pick on Stroll here, but Alex, we've, we've
[20:52.640 -> 20:57.360] talked about Stroll's like awareness in his mirrors and he has turned in on an awful lot
[20:57.360 -> 21:02.960] of cars. So in a turn 10 like that, where Lewis Hamilton took the line that you have
[21:02.960 -> 21:11.440] to take to get the best exit and if he'd have defended defended he's compromising the exit. If Alonso's behind Stroll, he's
[21:11.440 -> 21:14.280] not necessarily going to send it down the inside because you're not going to trust that
[21:14.280 -> 21:20.680] someone doesn't just come across it and clatter it. But surely this shows that if F1 really
[21:20.680 -> 21:26.480] focuses on the fundamentals of racing, like on drivers being there, fully on merit,
[21:26.480 -> 21:31.760] a big talented field, room for young talent to also be there with more cars at the back of the
[21:31.760 -> 21:37.680] grid and bringing in the spec-ness and the similarity of the cars just a little, that's
[21:37.680 -> 21:47.280] the kind of racing we can get with real experienced top class racers. Yeah Yeah I agree. I'm gonna have to do something else today
[21:47.280 -> 21:52.240] I really don't want to do, that I really don't like doing, which is where I'm gonna have
[21:52.240 -> 21:56.640] to give some praise to Lance Stroll as well. Alright let's move on. The guy has two
[21:56.640 -> 22:08.640] broken wrists and a busted toe, had no practice, no testing in the car and was there and did the job. I mean, okay, at turn four on
[22:08.640 -> 22:16.400] the first lap he nearly wiped out his teammate, but after that he was flawless and he drove
[22:16.400 -> 22:22.240] brilliantly well. He split the Mercedes and I think you couldn't, Lance couldn't have done
[22:22.240 -> 22:25.280] a better job today. I thought he did an absolutely outstanding
[22:25.280 -> 22:30.160] job and you know how much this hurts me to say. I know, I know, I know, I'm not trying to like get
[22:30.160 -> 22:36.400] at the guy but it's a bit of a strange caveat to say after the things that went wrong went wrong,
[22:36.400 -> 22:42.400] he was fine. So like on the on the out lap to the formation lap to the grid, he didn't make it,
[22:42.400 -> 22:45.760] he went off and he went off in the way that you would go off if
[22:45.760 -> 22:49.920] you weren't quite confident in your wrists and your steering and you go oh no something is going
[22:49.920 -> 22:55.040] to happen here and frankly Alex as much as you want to praise the performance afterwards he sent
[22:55.040 -> 22:59.040] it down the inside of George Russell without awareness of what was going on up ahead hit his
[22:59.040 -> 23:06.720] teammate in the rear tyre with a very hard pointy carbon fibre wing. This could be a very different race review today,
[23:06.720 -> 23:09.040] where we could be talking about whose fault is it,
[23:09.040 -> 23:12.560] where Fernando Alonso's greatest chance of a podium
[23:12.560 -> 23:14.800] and success has been ended by Lance Stroll
[23:14.800 -> 23:16.600] puncturing his rear tyre.
[23:16.600 -> 23:19.520] However, what we would have seen is an explosion
[23:19.520 -> 23:22.480] from Fernando Alonso and the Aston Martin relationship
[23:22.480 -> 23:25.580] ending very, very quickly. Damn I wish
[23:25.580 -> 23:30.980] Lancer did him harder. Actually my understanding is he actually hit him with the nose of
[23:30.980 -> 23:35.940] the car. Which is why it didn't first of all damage Lancer's front wing and didn't
[23:35.940 -> 23:41.140] cause more damage to Fernando. He was a very lucky boy. That's even luckier and I'm still
[23:41.140 -> 23:48.600] pretty sure from what I've heard that even if Lance Stroll had wiped out Fernando Alonso, after the race, he would have said, at first, I want to pay
[23:48.600 -> 23:52.760] tribute to my teammate for making it to the grid today, because he said that about four
[23:52.760 -> 23:57.360] times. And yes, you're absolutely right, Alex. It was a monumental effort to get back and
[23:57.360 -> 24:03.360] fit, but he clearly wasn't 100%. I can't imagine many other drivers who I think would have
[24:03.360 -> 24:06.400] made that. I think there's definitely a political will
[24:06.400 -> 24:07.840] and effort to get him onto the grid.
[24:07.840 -> 24:10.720] But look, I think personally, we got lucky.
[24:10.720 -> 24:13.520] We had a very obviously injured driver on the grid.
[24:13.520 -> 24:16.660] And I think just because it didn't cause a major problem
[24:16.660 -> 24:20.360] this time, I don't think that makes it a correct decision.
[24:20.360 -> 24:24.480] Do we wanna talk about him having to be assisted
[24:24.480 -> 24:25.480] out of the car?
[24:25.480 -> 24:30.640] And would he have, should he have been driving?
[24:30.640 -> 24:31.720] Chris?
[24:31.720 -> 24:33.280] Well, I'm no medical expert.
[24:33.280 -> 24:34.840] Sure.
[24:34.840 -> 24:37.600] And I haven't really seen the extraction test.
[24:37.600 -> 24:41.560] I mean, for my money, if the doctors say he's OK to race,
[24:41.560 -> 24:43.160] then I think he's OK to race.
[24:43.160 -> 24:51.280] But just on that collision that very nearly ruined what would have been a magical weekend
[24:51.280 -> 24:56.400] for Aston Martin. And this is not a defensive stroll. This is just kind of an added context
[24:56.400 -> 25:00.520] to the scenario. Because Alonso was kind of checking up in that corner because he wanted
[25:00.520 -> 25:07.840] to cut underneath the car in front of him. I forget who it was. So he was deliberately slow into that corner to try and get the better exit.
[25:07.840 -> 25:12.960] And while Lance is simultaneously steaming into a corner to try and get up the inside
[25:12.960 -> 25:14.080] of somebody.
[25:14.080 -> 25:16.080] I don't think that's the defence.
[25:16.080 -> 25:16.640] I don't, okay.
[25:16.640 -> 25:18.160] No, it's not a defence.
[25:18.160 -> 25:18.880] Yeah, but yeah.
[25:18.880 -> 25:20.160] It's not a defence, it's just a fact.
[25:20.160 -> 25:22.800] You've got to expect racing on lap one.
[25:22.800 -> 25:25.200] And part of your job is not to go steaming into
[25:25.200 -> 25:26.200] any battles ahead.
[25:26.200 -> 25:32.680] And he was very, very, very lucky that Alonso did not come away with a puncture, because
[25:32.680 -> 25:36.960] he took a couple of whacks on that car, and it was built pretty strongly.
[25:36.960 -> 25:38.840] Trumpets.
[25:38.840 -> 25:42.400] I just wanted to add that I think the point you're making here is a good one.
[25:42.400 -> 25:48.260] It very much looked like Stroll, whether on purpose or by accident, changed lanes, so
[25:48.260 -> 25:50.980] to speak, on the exit of turn one.
[25:50.980 -> 25:55.360] And that is never a great idea at the start of a race, because you have so much going
[25:55.360 -> 25:56.360] on.
[25:56.360 -> 26:00.240] But I also want to bring up the fact that he had a bit of a moment on the way to the
[26:00.240 -> 26:08.880] grid, and it's possible that either his brakes were slightly glazed, and he may
[26:08.880 -> 26:15.680] not have had them functioning as he expected them to on the way into turn one. So it's
[26:15.680 -> 26:20.560] a little bit hard to know exactly how much we should blame him for this, especially if
[26:20.560 -> 26:24.040] it was more of a mechanical technical problem for him.
[26:24.040 -> 26:29.000] They didn't tell Alonso either that it was Lance that hit him.
[26:29.000 -> 26:32.000] He would have gone off on one and apparently he was asking,
[26:32.000 -> 26:34.000] did that guy get a penalty? Did that guy get a penalty?
[26:34.000 -> 26:36.000] He thought it was George.
[26:36.000 -> 26:43.000] Yeah, and so they didn't tell him until after the race when it was all good.
[26:43.000 -> 26:47.520] So perhaps the driver of the day today could well have a strong case
[26:47.520 -> 26:53.040] and that it goes to the recruiting staff Aston Martin because obviously not only have they got
[26:53.040 -> 26:57.600] Dan Fallows and their new crew in there and they're driving forward with development of their
[26:57.600 -> 27:05.040] facilities but the hire of Fernando Alonso on the evidence of one race today is starting to look really inspired.
[27:05.040 -> 27:13.200] I love Sebastian Vettel. Okay, let me just preface this. But I do not think that he could have done
[27:13.200 -> 27:23.920] today what Fernando Alonso did. I think Sebastian Vettel was in his sunset era where he was not
[27:23.920 -> 27:27.120] always performing in the way that we used to see him during
[27:27.120 -> 27:33.240] the Red Bull glory days, or even when he was at Ferrari. Meanwhile, Fernando Alonso is
[27:33.240 -> 27:37.960] not even close to sunset. It's not even dusk. It's still midday.
[27:37.960 -> 27:41.440] Quick argument, quick diversion for an argument, because I think Alex is going to disagree
[27:41.440 -> 27:48.560] with you. I'll back you up a little bit, because I remember in the Vettel Red Bull days, people did used to get critical that his overtaking
[27:48.560 -> 27:52.160] and getting through the pack actually wasn't that hot. And if he ever did have a good race
[27:52.160 -> 27:56.720] getting through the pack, and it did happen every now and then, of course, on commentary and
[27:57.680 -> 28:02.640] the socials, people would go, see, see all that criticism is unfounded because he did well this
[28:02.640 -> 28:05.200] one time at it. I don't think
[28:11.440 -> 28:12.080] Sebastian Vettel was at the level of Fernando Alonso, which is a very, very high bar in wheel-to-wheel
[28:16.640 -> 28:20.320] combat like we saw today. Alex, go on, you're going to defend him. It's not really an attack. It's not really an attack on Vettel. We're just talking about how good Alonso is.
[28:20.320 -> 28:25.540] I'm not going on a staunch defense, but what I think was in the last few years
[28:29.480 -> 28:32.080] He kind of got fed up and I think that's part of the reason he retired He's like I'm not gonna get back into a top team
[28:32.080 -> 28:38.260] I'm not gonna get back into any car that can give me any form of winning or even a sniff of a podium
[28:38.960 -> 28:40.960] on a regular basis
[28:41.720 -> 28:43.560] Oh, he's dying
[28:43.560 -> 28:45.440] Some people knew something like my
[28:45.440 -> 28:47.880] Corona's getting caught in my throat. Some people when they're
[28:47.880 -> 28:48.720] dying, but up to you.
[28:48.960 -> 28:53.520] Artistic drone of a drink the drink. I'm not ill. I'm fine.
[28:54.800 -> 28:59.000] But I think if you put him in that car in testing, and all of
[28:59.000 -> 29:02.720] a sudden for that, Sebastian Vettel had a sniff of a
[29:02.720 -> 29:06.520] potential charge. I think you'd see that switch turn
[29:06.520 -> 29:07.520] back on.
[29:07.520 -> 29:11.960] Because you do with drivers, and we all know he's capable when it's there, and I think
[29:11.960 -> 29:13.200] he could turn that switch on.
[29:13.200 -> 29:14.200] Matt.
[29:14.200 -> 29:18.520] Yeah, well, I mean, I think just to sort of wrap up the endless Vettel speculation that
[29:18.520 -> 29:22.120] will never be proved one way or the other, because of course he's retired.
[29:22.120 -> 29:25.200] I think we saw that when he was in, we saw him in Hungary
[29:25.200 -> 29:30.920] give a great race. I think it could be argued that on a single day, he might have been able
[29:30.920 -> 29:35.840] to do similar things that we saw Alonso today. But what's very clear is that over the course
[29:35.840 -> 29:40.440] of this season, he no longer had the appetite for it, which is why he's at home with his
[29:40.440 -> 29:54.640] kids and his solar-powered house. And Alonzo is racing in Aston.
[29:54.640 -> 29:59.200] Well all the focus is on the champagne popping in the Aston Martin garage and I hope they
[29:59.200 -> 30:06.720] are having a wonderful celebration, a completely deserved podium and a victory in terms of their step
[30:06.720 -> 30:11.880] up the grid. And now they have something, they have a prize, they have a goal, and I
[30:11.880 -> 30:19.040] hope they can stay up there. I hope they can cling on and not have this fade away, as some
[30:19.040 -> 30:23.000] teams do when they have a good start from the midfield. But right now, you'd have to
[30:23.000 -> 30:30.880] say they're the third fastest package, and that is an incredible achievement. So, they didn't win. We have to go to the
[30:30.880 -> 30:36.080] teams that actually won. And again, Alex Van Geend, celebrating, massive Max Verstappen
[30:36.080 -> 30:41.520] fan. And I'll tell you what, George Russell has given it. He's given it to Verstappen
[30:41.520 -> 30:45.520] already. George Russell has said Max Verstappen is going to win every single race this
[30:45.520 -> 30:53.120] season. I wouldn't put it past him. I mean the performance they had today was incredible. We
[30:53.120 -> 30:59.440] haven't seen a gap of more than 10 seconds at Bahrain since 2016. At the front. And then to
[31:00.240 -> 31:11.040] in front as a winning margin and you have to go back I think I saw as far as 2010 to go that as well so you normally see quite close gaps at least within
[31:11.040 -> 31:16.560] five six seconds at Bahrain and that's not what we got today and I am 90%
[31:16.560 -> 31:21.400] certain that after the first pit stop Max was just strolling I think we heard
[31:21.400 -> 31:25.280] at one point Alonso said I'm at mode seven, I can turn it up
[31:25.280 -> 31:29.680] if you need to. I think Max was probably on mode three or four. So yeah, Leclerc said something
[31:29.680 -> 31:36.080] like, oh we're a second a lap off of Red Bull and my first thought was, you don't know how far you
[31:36.080 -> 31:44.240] are off Red Bull. That wasn't them with the wick turned up going for it. So that 2010 margin,
[31:42.000 -> 31:49.240] turned up going for it. So that 2010 margin, that ended up being one of the best seasons the sport has ever seen
[31:49.240 -> 31:51.160] with a five-way title battle.
[31:51.160 -> 31:55.920] So let's not put all our eggs in the Max Verstappen basket just yet, because I've seen a lot of
[31:55.920 -> 32:01.040] comments, oh, the season's over, Max Verstappen 2023 champion confirmed, same people probably
[32:01.040 -> 32:04.160] who said it after testing as well.
[32:04.160 -> 32:06.320] This is one race of 23.
[32:06.320 -> 32:07.680] There is an awfully long way to go.
[32:07.680 -> 32:11.040] Now that being said, we cannot deny the Red Bull
[32:11.040 -> 32:15.160] was an unstoppable force this weekend.
[32:15.160 -> 32:17.680] Max straight out the blocks,
[32:17.680 -> 32:20.360] about a second lap quicker than anyone else
[32:20.360 -> 32:23.760] in the first few laps, established that gap.
[32:23.760 -> 32:26.360] And so we know it's got great qualifying pace
[32:26.360 -> 32:27.920] because they locked out the front row,
[32:27.920 -> 32:32.920] albeit not with a proper challenge from Mercedes or Ferrari,
[32:33.200 -> 32:38.200] but they were able to extend their stints massively
[32:38.680 -> 32:40.080] to the point where they were able to run
[32:40.080 -> 32:41.560] another set of soft tires,
[32:41.560 -> 32:45.760] which just extended their margin and their advantage going further
[32:45.760 -> 32:51.020] on the softs than Ferrari managed to do on the hard tyres. Now they are a car it seems
[32:51.020 -> 32:56.960] to be that is quite tough on its tyres during the race particularly this weekend. Bahrain
[32:56.960 -> 33:01.600] is a circuit where you normally see incredibly high tyre degradation not just because of
[33:01.600 -> 33:05.520] the heat but because of the super abrasive surface as well.
[33:05.520 -> 33:10.240] But it seems to have all the hallmarks of a great race car as well.
[33:11.040 -> 33:12.800] So Chris likes it, Matt?
[33:14.240 -> 33:22.480] Well, this is very interesting. In race pace, I think Red Bull is right now untouchable. I mean,
[33:22.480 -> 33:26.800] the fact that they went soft, soft, hard. They're just pretty
[33:26.800 -> 33:34.160] much telling everybody. Explain, explain why that's that signal. The degradation, their ability
[33:34.160 -> 33:41.200] to control the tire degradation for the softest tire at this race was double anybody else's and
[33:41.200 -> 33:50.120] that includes Aston's. So they were able to put on a soft tire and another soft tire and then just use the hard to finish up and be well well
[33:50.120 -> 33:55.840] ahead of every other team. It was a massive show of confidence in this
[33:55.840 -> 34:01.600] platform from the team and from the drivers as well. What was interesting
[34:01.600 -> 34:06.440] about today was the fact that had Leclerc not been able to
[34:06.440 -> 34:12.960] get in front of Perez at the start, we might have seen a much closer race at the front
[34:12.960 -> 34:13.960] for the win.
[34:13.960 -> 34:20.280] Because we don't really know, benchmark-wise, where Perez and Verstappen are, because Max,
[34:20.280 -> 34:25.640] as you point out rightly, was driving in clean air with very little to worry about.
[34:25.640 -> 34:31.840] So his lap times aren't usable for a good comparison.
[34:31.840 -> 34:37.800] And we did see that Sergio was able to go longer than Max still on those soft tires
[34:37.800 -> 34:41.480] because Checo is traditionally very good on his tires.
[34:41.480 -> 34:44.600] What he's known for is how he managed to get all those good podium finishes when he was
[34:44.600 -> 34:45.200] racing for
[34:45.200 -> 34:48.900] Force India in the midfield back in the day.
[34:48.900 -> 34:55.300] So I would be very interested to see how he gets on if he'd have been able to beat Leclerc off the line.
[34:55.300 -> 34:57.300] Matt.
[34:57.300 -> 35:02.300] So to get back to the question, will Max win every race? I have a one-word response.
[35:02.300 -> 35:04.300] Monaco.
[35:04.300 -> 35:07.680] Go on Chris and then Genesy.
[35:07.680 -> 35:12.240] What was really interesting to me as well was during that first day, we really saw a
[35:12.240 -> 35:18.360] management phase, which we kind of didn't get last year because supposedly the tires
[35:18.360 -> 35:26.640] were better for following closely behind and you weren't gonna get that thermal degradation
[35:26.640 -> 35:28.920] or that overheat surface overheating
[35:28.920 -> 35:30.720] that means that as soon as you get close to anyone
[35:30.720 -> 35:32.120] you have to drop back.
[35:32.120 -> 35:35.520] Whereas we really saw a lot of management today,
[35:35.520 -> 35:38.920] which doesn't fill me with a great deal of confidence
[35:38.920 -> 35:42.240] for the racing, but we'll see as the season goes on.
[35:42.240 -> 35:43.080] Alex.
[35:43.080 -> 35:44.080] Oh yeah, we talk about Red Bull
[35:44.080 -> 35:45.360] being very good on the soft tyre
[35:45.360 -> 35:49.200] and obviously Sergio able to go much, much longer than Max. Is that because he was going much,
[35:49.200 -> 35:55.360] much slower than Max? Yeah, look, look, I would love to make the case myself that yeah, Perez
[35:55.360 -> 35:58.640] could have done so much more if he'd have made a good start. Well, do you know what? There's a
[35:58.640 -> 36:03.760] couple of things, which is that it, that, that mega monster fighting star isn't in Perez's
[36:03.760 -> 36:05.280] arsenal. It doesn't seem to be.
[36:05.280 -> 36:14.160] He much prefers to survive and get through, and that's probably how you survive and thrive and get great results in the midfield.
[36:14.160 -> 36:19.120] You know, a few cars around you ding their endplanes, break a nose, have a crash,
[36:19.120 -> 36:28.560] and then you can choose your strategy, make the tyres work, and then suddenly pop up in third place and get a great podium. At the front, you need to be a little bit more fighty. So
[36:28.560 -> 36:32.880] that's number one, is, well, he didn't get that kind of start and go up behind him. And
[36:32.880 -> 36:37.800] secondly, when they did have clear air between them, there wasn't really any evidence that
[36:37.800 -> 36:42.360] Perez was going to claw that gap back. So if Perez does prove to have some race pace
[36:42.360 -> 36:46.960] in future races, that's fine, but I'm not necessarily
[36:46.960 -> 36:51.280] thinking that there's any... there's no suggestion is there Alex that this was anything other than
[36:51.280 -> 36:57.200] Verstappen dominance? Oh absolutely. I mean if Perez wants any chance of actually having
[36:57.200 -> 37:05.840] an opportunity to beat Max in a race, he needs to get to Turn 1 in first place. If he doesn't do that, he's never going to come
[37:05.840 -> 37:11.980] back and beat Max. It's a bit like Bottas, a bit like when Bottas would only have an
[37:11.980 -> 37:17.480] opportunity to beat Lewis properly when he was ahead at the start and then could manage
[37:17.480 -> 37:31.200] the tires and manage the strategy. Otherwise, the other driver just came through. So you say there's no evidence, but I will point out, if you look at the gap between Perez
[37:31.760 -> 37:37.680] to Verstappen and qualifying, I kind of think there is evidence that he is much more on top
[37:37.680 -> 37:46.560] of this car than he was on last year's car. And the other thing I want to say regarding my one-word answer Monaco,
[37:47.200 -> 37:53.840] is that Ferrari are also not very far off of qualifying pace. So at any race where qualifying
[37:53.840 -> 38:00.720] matters, which I think is pretty much Monaco, Red Bull do actually, as it stands now,
[38:00.720 -> 38:09.200] look to have a greater task ahead of them. I'm over qualifying though. I'm over it. I'm overseeing that as a barometer of who's fast.
[38:09.200 -> 38:14.160] I'm actually over anyone getting excited over the Saturday result as well. Because Max Verstappen
[38:14.160 -> 38:19.160] could have qualified 10th today and would have cantered and been in first place by the
[38:19.160 -> 38:25.840] halfway point, by the second stop. Long have we been saying, Valtteri Bottas could overcome and beat Lewis
[38:25.840 -> 38:30.600] Hamilton because they've got similar qualifying pace. It is. It's all about race pace. It's
[38:30.600 -> 38:35.760] all about Sunday. And as much as, yes, it's good that Perez isn't qualifying eighth at
[38:35.760 -> 38:41.400] the moment, and I say this as a Perez fan, that doesn't bode. It doesn't mean that just
[38:41.400 -> 38:47.280] because he's closed up the gap in qualifying, he's then going to match Max on race pace. Sorry, Chris, then Alex.
[38:47.280 -> 38:53.360] Well, Checo was very, very quick at certain circuits, including Jeddah last year, which is
[38:53.360 -> 38:58.960] where we're going to next. So maybe we will see a slight resurgence from him. But it seems like for
[38:58.960 -> 39:03.600] the early part of the season anyway, it needs to be Checo because do you remember when Lewis was
[39:03.600 -> 39:07.040] winning all those races? And we used to say, thank God for Max Verstappen
[39:07.040 -> 39:11.800] for making races somewhat interesting by fighting
[39:11.800 -> 39:13.200] with Bottas, at least?
[39:13.200 -> 39:15.360] I think now we're going to be saying, thank goodness
[39:15.360 -> 39:17.720] for Fernando Alonso.
[39:17.720 -> 39:19.280] Well, perhaps, yeah.
[39:19.280 -> 39:19.960] Alex.
[39:19.960 -> 39:22.200] I'm going to agree with you, Spanners, on qualifying
[39:22.200 -> 39:23.880] is not much of a barometer anymore,
[39:23.880 -> 39:25.840] especially because if Ferrari are
[39:25.840 -> 39:28.720] having to compromise their race performance
[39:28.720 -> 39:31.880] to put in a qualifying performance to be up the grid,
[39:31.880 -> 39:35.480] they can just continue to melt their tires, which
[39:35.480 -> 39:36.440] is what they did today.
[39:36.440 -> 39:40.120] We saw signs get gobbled up by Fernando Alonso,
[39:40.120 -> 39:43.560] and Hamilton wasn't too far off either,
[39:43.560 -> 39:46.480] when that car should have been well down the road before
[39:47.200 -> 39:53.680] the Ferrari broke down. But also one thing we've forgotten about is that Red Bull wasn't bullet
[39:53.680 -> 40:00.160] proof today. Max was complaining about rear locking on downshifts. Now that could be some
[40:00.160 -> 40:05.280] form of gearbox issue, that could be an engine management management issue so you know and also it makes a
[40:05.280 -> 40:09.840] drivability issue because if you have rear locking coming into heavy braking corners it's quite easy
[40:09.840 -> 40:14.080] to lose the car hence the reason i think we saw Matt's got and kind of go right i'm gonna back
[40:14.080 -> 40:18.560] off now and just bring this home. Isn't rear locking usually something to do with engine
[40:18.560 -> 40:27.120] recovery or energy recovery Matt? Yeah it can be The right. So the braking on a Formula 1 car is kind
[40:27.120 -> 40:33.360] of complicated. It's not just like your road car, but a big cause of rear locking could
[40:33.360 -> 40:40.180] either be the brake migration being wrong or getting caught out a little bit by recovery
[40:40.180 -> 40:44.080] at the rear axle, which is the only place you're allowed to recover energy from. I was
[40:44.080 -> 40:47.040] going to say persistent rear locking, because obviously if it was just brake bias,
[40:47.040 -> 40:48.720] they'd quickly dial that out, wouldn't they?
[40:49.360 -> 40:53.280] Yeah, yeah. So there's brake my... there's a gross adjustment of brake bias,
[40:53.280 -> 40:57.840] and then there's also a brake migration, and that has, I think, five different maps,
[40:57.840 -> 41:03.920] and I don't know how many other settings. But yeah, I mean, to be honest, Red Bull weren't
[41:03.920 -> 41:06.300] super happy with the car when it showed up
[41:06.300 -> 41:09.080] Friday after being very happy with it and testing.
[41:09.080 -> 41:15.940] So they look imperturbable, they look on top of it, but you know, I still remember Brazil
[41:15.940 -> 41:19.960] when they should have been on top of it and just absolutely got it wrong.
[41:19.960 -> 41:21.500] They're still human beings.
[41:21.500 -> 41:23.340] Things can still go wrong.
[41:23.340 -> 41:28.720] And if you want any real indication of Verstappen's dominance today, we just spent five minutes
[41:28.720 -> 41:33.480] talking about whether there was a slight niggle on the downshift, which they very casually
[41:33.480 -> 41:38.960] discussed and had an engineering meeting on the team radio, which really shows how comfortable
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[43:51.800 -> 43:53.800] Hey Tifosi, how you feeling?
[43:53.800 -> 43:55.160] How you feeling buds?
[43:55.160 -> 43:57.520] All right, we're getting down the grid a little bit now.
[43:57.520 -> 43:59.960] And there's a few sadder fans listening to this.
[43:59.960 -> 44:03.800] Don't worry, you're a resilient crew, the Ferrari fans.
[44:03.800 -> 44:06.220] You're used to this, you didn't
[44:06.220 -> 44:11.560] spend time getting your hopes up, did you, during testing? And to be fair to Ferrari,
[44:11.560 -> 44:16.080] they didn't do their normal thing of just disappearing off into the distance and doing
[44:16.080 -> 44:21.840] glory laps, but Leclerc, on the gridwalk, said to one of the roving reporters, yeah
[44:21.840 -> 44:26.960] no, we would have done if we could, we just couldn't do it. And I hope we have more on race pace.
[44:26.960 -> 44:30.680] Now, my opinion is they've picked a driver,
[44:30.680 -> 44:33.080] they've developed towards Leclerc.
[44:33.080 -> 44:35.160] The rumors that signs would be more comfortable
[44:35.160 -> 44:38.480] with that car don't seem to have come to pass.
[44:38.480 -> 44:42.200] They have, in the form of Leclerc,
[44:42.200 -> 44:44.480] got a package, a driver and car package,
[44:44.480 -> 44:45.620] that can be somewhat
[44:45.620 -> 44:52.840] competitive. And that is the one car, that one car driver package that I have some hope
[44:52.840 -> 45:00.080] can deliver some good, genuine results. However, the gremlin of reliability came up again.
[45:00.080 -> 45:04.800] And this is an issue I want to address with Matt first, to get this out of the way. The
[45:04.800 -> 45:07.200] retirement of Charles Leclerc.
[45:07.200 -> 45:11.360] We've had this argument lots and lots that they were right, I think you said it, they
[45:11.360 -> 45:15.920] were right to pursue performance and sort the reliability out later because that was
[45:15.920 -> 45:19.240] the only thing that could be changed under the engine freeze.
[45:19.240 -> 45:21.040] Improvements for reliability.
[45:21.040 -> 45:25.480] I think they've got reliability, unreliability baked in.
[45:25.480 -> 45:31.060] And I think that is the reflection of maybe a general engineering attitude of, let's make
[45:31.060 -> 45:34.000] it as good as we can and then sort the rest out later.
[45:34.000 -> 45:37.360] Well, now it's later, and they've just lost out on a podium.
[45:37.360 -> 45:40.680] Well, I'm not sure I would entirely agree with you.
[45:40.680 -> 45:46.960] I think the regulation set forces teams that are not at the front to choose,
[45:47.520 -> 45:52.800] you know, choose your poison, so to speak. The failure, as I understand it to be, was with the
[45:52.800 -> 45:59.680] control electronics in the energy store. Now, I will point out that prior to the race, they replaced
[45:59.680 -> 46:07.020] both of those items. So we could be looking at a slightly fumbled fingered Derek not
[46:07.020 -> 46:12.060] connecting something properly as much as a major reliability concern for Ferrari
[46:12.060 -> 46:17.100] again with a single data point it's hard to know I don't want to extrapolate to
[46:17.100 -> 46:21.180] too much here all the failures we saw last time but I'm happy to extrapolate
[46:21.180 -> 46:25.520] it's a it's an endemic sign of decreased reliability
[46:25.520 -> 46:28.240] and that's gonna take them out of the game, Chris.
[46:28.240 -> 46:30.880] Well, of course, one of their goals,
[46:30.880 -> 46:34.800] acknowledged weaknesses from last season
[46:34.800 -> 46:37.520] was that they didn't have enough reliability.
[46:37.520 -> 46:39.400] And supposedly that's one of the things
[46:39.400 -> 46:42.740] that they tried to solve during the off season.
[46:42.740 -> 46:46.400] And to have a failure like this in the first race,
[46:46.400 -> 46:51.840] the fact that it was related to the two components that were changed right before the start of the
[46:51.840 -> 46:59.120] race would suggest that it was something to do with that. But it's not a great early sign,
[46:59.120 -> 47:06.400] particularly to have that on the one car that actually seemed anywhere near capable of being able to challenge Red Bull
[47:06.400 -> 47:10.320] at any point because it wasn't on Carlos's side of the garage. He was really struggling.
[47:10.320 -> 47:13.840] So Alex is going to take us away from tech for a moment. I just want to say,
[47:13.840 -> 47:17.840] I do have experience with fault finding. So if there's something wrong with a bit and then you
[47:17.840 -> 47:22.720] change it and then that bit fails again, you either A, did a finger fault like Matt suggested,
[47:22.720 -> 47:25.500] and the fault is because you fitted it wrong,
[47:25.500 -> 47:27.420] or you've got a bad batch,
[47:27.420 -> 47:28.420] so they could have, you know,
[47:28.420 -> 47:30.900] that the part they replaced is also faulty,
[47:30.900 -> 47:32.680] or you've misdiagnosed it,
[47:32.680 -> 47:34.460] and there's say a different component
[47:34.460 -> 47:36.280] that's blowing up your two things,
[47:36.280 -> 47:38.100] and it doesn't matter how many things you put on there,
[47:38.100 -> 47:40.420] I've had that before, it can drive you absolutely crazy.
[47:40.420 -> 47:43.960] So that was just a quick fault finding tangent with spanners.
[47:43.960 -> 47:46.360] Alex, take us away from this tech hell.
[47:46.360 -> 47:52.360] The other thing that Ferrari have set out to improve this season is their strategy.
[47:52.360 -> 47:56.520] And they move their main strategy person away from the team and he's now working back at
[47:56.520 -> 48:00.400] the factory and they have new people working on strategy. And we know the strategy was
[48:00.400 -> 48:06.800] better today because when they came on to tell Charles what plan he was on
[48:06.800 -> 48:11.840] he was still on plan A this was like 10 laps into the race they're normally on plan G or
[48:11.840 -> 48:17.000] Z by this point of the race so I was just impressed that they managed to actually stick
[48:17.000 -> 48:20.200] to their strategy. Well did you did you see the pictures of the Ferrari garage they were
[48:20.200 -> 48:26.240] all just like looking around for someone who remembers the last time they did plan A and what plan A was and where they kept plan A.
[48:26.240 -> 48:27.240] Matt.
[48:27.240 -> 48:30.280] Yeah, well, I mean, you have to love it.
[48:30.280 -> 48:33.520] It was clearly their strategy to split the Red Bulls.
[48:33.520 -> 48:34.520] They achieved this.
[48:34.520 -> 48:40.440] Leclerc was in what seemed to be a reasonable position for a podium, thanks to Stroll, you
[48:40.440 -> 48:44.480] know, hitting Alonso, whether or not on purpose, that remains to be seen.
[48:44.480 -> 48:47.320] Oh wow, what are we doing? Why are we casting those kind of allegations?
[48:47.320 -> 48:51.560] I'm just being hyperbolic for the sheer enjoyment of it.
[48:51.560 -> 48:52.120] I think you're right.
[48:52.120 -> 48:55.680] Oh, hang on, I can have a dig at Lance Stroll. He's not good enough to do that by accident.
[48:55.680 -> 48:57.240] Oh my god. Okay, great.
[48:57.240 -> 49:02.240] We are never gonna get those Aston Martin dinners where we then come out saying
[49:02.240 -> 49:07.080] Lawrence Stroll is brilliant and Lance Stroll is a future world champion, with this kind of attitude.
[49:07.080 -> 49:11.820] So we need to tighten it up until we get that invite, and then we all come out praising
[49:11.820 -> 49:12.820] Lawrence Stroll.
[49:12.820 -> 49:14.520] Get with the program, Trumpets.
[49:14.520 -> 49:19.980] Yeah, so Ferrari, having made some changes, were looking good on the strategic front until
[49:19.980 -> 49:21.900] they lost Leclerc.
[49:21.900 -> 49:27.920] And then we got to see, in the form of a Carlos Sainz, the issues that they were
[49:27.920 -> 49:34.720] certainly going to have with the tires here. And this is where I gotta point out. First of all,
[49:35.280 -> 49:40.800] they suffered more on the rear axle with degradation than on the front axle last season.
[49:40.800 -> 49:44.800] – Everywhere. – Bahrain is a rear-limited circuit,
[49:48.740 -> 49:53.500] last season. Bahrain is a rear-limited circuit, and that's going to make it worse. And they've gone skinnier. They're faster now, but now they have less downforce to help with that.
[49:53.500 -> 49:57.860] And the thing that no one talked about, but I do want to bring up, is don't forget, Pirelli
[49:57.860 -> 50:03.340] brought new front tires to this race to help the front be stronger. And if you're making
[50:03.340 -> 50:10.720] the front stronger, guess where you're putting more strain now? The back of the car. So in some ways, this is possibly the worst
[50:10.720 -> 50:17.600] combination for Ferrari to start the year out with, because it's going to put the most stress
[50:17.600 -> 50:22.400] on the place where they have the most problem. Jetta is a different animal, and I'll be curious
[50:22.400 -> 50:25.840] to see if their degradation is better at Jetta
[50:25.840 -> 50:29.360] than it was here, relative to their competitors.
[50:29.360 -> 50:36.080] So I've criticized the early calendar, certainly last season, because I felt like the second,
[50:36.080 -> 50:39.560] the last two thirds of the calendar are filled with tracks that I like, Matt.
[50:39.560 -> 50:45.160] You know, I feel like proper Grand Prix tracks, the big tilk-a-dromes. Whereas what we're starting
[50:45.160 -> 50:50.720] with now, we've got Bahrain, so that's obviously, I like Bahrain, I consider that a nice modern
[50:50.720 -> 50:56.560] track for Formula One cars. Then we've got Jeddah, Australian Grand Prix, haven't we
[50:56.560 -> 51:02.040] after that? And then where do we kick off into the Baku? So that's rear limited again,
[51:02.040 -> 51:05.920] isn't it? So it could be a bit of a rough start for Ferrari, to be honest.
[51:07.200 -> 51:12.320] Yeah, it's a bit down to track characteristics, but this is the I think this is like the,
[51:12.320 -> 51:16.240] I want what you call the worst possible combination for them to start with.
[51:16.240 -> 51:19.280] It's going to make them look as bad as possible.
[51:19.280 -> 51:22.800] We might see some improvement as we go to different tracks, but you're right.
[51:22.800 -> 51:31.120] We're not really going to understand how the cars are running until we get to some... like Jetta, like this circuit, Borain, has no
[51:31.120 -> 51:35.040] what are considered to be high-speed corners. So if you're good in high-speed corners,
[51:35.680 -> 51:40.560] today is not your day no matter what. And it might be that some teams that are really good in the
[51:40.560 -> 51:46.160] medium-slow corners are terrible in high-speed speed corners and we could see things shifting as a result.
[51:46.160 -> 51:50.560] The trouble is the vast majority of circuits are rear limited.
[51:50.560 -> 51:53.280] So if there is an issue where...
[51:53.280 -> 51:54.680] Chris, citation needed.
[51:54.680 -> 51:55.680] No, no, no.
[51:55.680 -> 51:57.200] They kind of are.
[51:57.200 -> 51:58.200] No.
[51:58.200 -> 52:00.200] I will just disagree with you.
[52:00.200 -> 52:02.200] We can talk about it later if you want.
[52:02.200 -> 52:03.760] You can if you want, but they just are.
[52:03.760 -> 52:06.640] And the vast majority of circuits is the rear tyres that are going to go first.
[52:07.360 -> 52:11.440] Uh we should have we should clarify that in midweek then and we'll uh we'll have an internal
[52:11.440 -> 52:15.760] argument no in fact you two don't discuss it again we'll come on midweek and we'll have a just a
[52:15.760 -> 52:21.040] focused proper debate about that i don't want to get bogged down in it but certainly different tracks
[52:21.040 -> 52:28.780] will have this different characteristics another reason really not to just give up on the season. We could turn up in Jeddah and Australia
[52:28.780 -> 52:32.220] and you could have two different winners. Red Bull could be plagued with
[52:32.220 -> 52:35.780] unreliability or Perez could rise like a... no that's probably not gonna happen.
[52:35.780 -> 52:41.500] But I don't think people should just give up on the season.
[52:50.240 -> 52:55.380] Or we could do what we normally do and just let our live chat decide. So our patrons are now in our live chat because they're in our patron slack group and they
[52:55.380 -> 53:00.240] basically sit here and criticise us, point us out any problems, tell us who's right or
[53:00.240 -> 53:04.080] wrong in arguments and give us pithy and hilarious things to say.
[53:04.080 -> 53:08.760] Like was it Mike Stoner who said, Ferraris plan A is let Max win? So little things
[53:08.760 -> 53:12.840] like that. So if you ever see the panel gently losing it over the video that's
[53:12.840 -> 53:15.480] because they've read comments from the live chat. If you want to be a patron
[53:15.480 -> 53:19.800] patreon.com forward slash missed apex we can offer you the slack group and the
[53:19.800 -> 53:27.120] live chat we can offer an ad free feed we can offer an ad-free feed, we can offer an extra patron podcast where we go a little bit
[53:27.120 -> 53:33.600] more relaxed and off topic as well, and also our latest addition is a Friday preview on a race
[53:33.600 -> 53:39.120] weekend where me and Matt will hit record for half an hour and we'll just have a gut reaction
[53:39.120 -> 53:46.160] response to what we've seen on Friday practice. Like this Friday it was just me and Matt and I was sulking
[53:46.160 -> 53:49.960] about how all the people I liked weren't doing very well and all the people I didn't like
[53:49.960 -> 53:54.800] were doing really, really well and Matt was trying to talk me down off a cliff. So you
[53:54.800 -> 54:01.780] can check that out, patreon.com forward slash missed apex. Now then, onto the midfield.
[54:01.780 -> 54:05.680] That might be harsh, but let's talk about Mercedes, who at the moment are the
[54:05.680 -> 54:10.560] best of the rest behind the top three. Alex, that's the facts. That is the facts at the
[54:10.560 -> 54:16.280] moment, which is if you look at those three cars, Mercedes are lining up fourth on race
[54:16.280 -> 54:19.000] pace, which is all I care about.
[54:19.000 -> 54:21.280] Lewis finished fifth. That's not midfield.
[54:21.280 -> 54:23.280] That's quite good.
[54:23.280 -> 54:26.000] Listen, there's not much to be said about Merck.
[54:26.060 -> 54:29.720] They seem in a complete disarray inside the, inside the business.
[54:30.120 -> 54:34.480] Um, Toto has been saying they need to convey now need to change their
[54:34.480 -> 54:38.520] concept after practice after a testing session, a practice session, a race.
[54:38.680 -> 54:39.320] He's gone, right.
[54:39.400 -> 54:40.280] The concept's dead.
[54:40.320 -> 54:49.200] We said after qualifying Alex, they're basically giving up on this this concept already. And is it right? Is it wrong? I
[54:49.200 -> 54:53.200] don't know. What I know is it's rubbish. For everyone who's a
[54:53.200 -> 54:56.120] Mercedes fan. And I mean, to be fair, I don't feel bad for
[54:56.120 -> 54:59.800] Lewis. I feel bad for George, because George busted his
[54:59.800 -> 55:02.720] backside. You know, Williams pulling out performances that
[55:02.720 -> 55:06.000] he that were incredible, went to Mercedes
[55:06.000 -> 55:11.920] to go fight for championships, and he's not been allowed to do that.
[55:11.920 -> 55:14.640] I would love to see Mercedes back fighting the front.
[55:14.640 -> 55:16.760] It's not going to be this season.
[55:16.760 -> 55:21.760] And yeah, they've got there, they're going to have a big fight for third with the Astons.
[55:21.760 -> 55:24.800] Oh, Chris, look how sad Alex looks.
[55:24.800 -> 55:26.640] Look at his little face. cheer him up right now.
[55:27.760 -> 55:38.080] I can't because Toto also described today as one of their worst days in racing and it's not looking
[55:38.080 -> 55:46.320] like it's going to get solved anytime soon because this change of concept, because it basically requires an entirely new chassis,
[55:46.320 -> 55:54.640] a W14B so to speak, they can't do that mid-season, not in a cost cap era. So this is going to be 2024
[55:54.640 -> 56:00.480] at the best and you can see why they're looking at the concept overall because the Mercedes doesn't
[56:00.480 -> 56:05.720] look like any other car on the grid. I've got some hope that I can,
[56:06.640 -> 56:07.960] if you need some hope,
[56:07.960 -> 56:11.120] I can inject a little bit of hope into some people's veins
[56:11.120 -> 56:14.640] because I think there's been some internal wranglings
[56:14.640 -> 56:15.840] and I've got some clues.
[56:15.840 -> 56:17.640] I'm picking apart the psychology
[56:17.640 -> 56:18.920] from listening to the interviews.
[56:18.920 -> 56:21.440] Now, Toto Wolf came out on Saturday
[56:21.440 -> 56:24.540] and he said after one competitive session
[56:24.540 -> 56:26.800] where they qualified 6th
[56:26.800 -> 56:32.120] and 7th and they didn't get to do a second run and neither driver nailed the lap, so
[56:32.120 -> 56:36.120] they could have gone a little bit higher up that grid, he came out and he delivered what
[56:36.120 -> 56:41.320] looked like an internal and giant I told you so. Because he had been saying pre-season
[56:41.320 -> 56:47.080] he said I walked into the testing thing and it looked the same and I was horrified and I was assured, no, no, no,
[56:47.080 -> 56:49.440] it is going to be a faster car, don't worry.
[56:49.440 -> 56:52.800] I think in the winter, it's been Toto Wolff saying, no,
[56:52.800 -> 56:54.480] why have you gone down that path?
[56:54.480 -> 56:57.640] And I think that the team behind that concept have gone,
[56:57.640 -> 56:58.600] you've got to give it a chance,
[56:58.600 -> 57:00.360] you've got to give it a chance, Mr. Wolff,
[57:00.360 -> 57:02.440] because it's gonna nail it, you'll see,
[57:02.440 -> 57:04.500] come qualifying, you'll see.
[57:04.500 -> 57:07.560] And then it's turned up and it's not quite delivered.
[57:07.560 -> 57:12.640] For who knows, for whatever reason, and they've not quite had the race pace to be up with the front two,
[57:12.640 -> 57:17.280] and it doesn't look like they're on top of the tired egg, and Toto Wolff has come out and gone,
[57:17.280 -> 57:22.440] Ah, it's awful. Yeah, it's awful. We've got to scrap it. Lewis Hamilton seems a little weirdly chipper.
[57:22.680 -> 57:25.400] George Russell is just completely looks to have
[57:25.400 -> 57:28.800] just given up on the car but I wonder whether they're going to get back to the
[57:28.800 -> 57:32.360] factory. There's going to be another meeting and I believe it's going to be
[57:32.360 -> 57:36.240] maybe Mike Elliott who seems to be fronting a lot of the talk about the
[57:36.240 -> 57:39.800] Mercedes concept is going to get them round a table and go now I know this
[57:39.800 -> 57:44.360] didn't look good Toto but before you set fire to the whole concept let me just
[57:44.360 -> 57:48.960] present some evidence that it deserves another chance and that we should go with our upgrade package.
[57:48.960 -> 57:56.640] So my one bit of hope for Mercedes as a neutral is that actually today is a bad weekend,
[57:56.640 -> 58:00.080] is a bit of an overreaction. They're going to sit down and they're going to see where
[58:00.080 -> 58:04.720] they might be able to make something work. Or they just put it in the bonfire.
[58:05.480 -> 58:09.760] where they might be able to make something work, or they just put it in the bonfire. Yeah, so this is the crux for Mercedes.
[58:09.760 -> 58:14.480] They showed up, they were six tenths faster than last year, they solved the porpoising
[58:14.480 -> 58:19.760] problem and they can finally get a good read on those magical wind tunnel numbers that
[58:19.760 -> 58:26.720] sucked them down this path, if you'll pardon that usage of the word in the context of aerodynamics,
[58:28.400 -> 58:34.880] and they finally get a read on it, and it's not what they had hoped. And they know that their
[58:34.880 -> 58:39.520] update package, what they expected to bring, is not going to make them competitive. Red Bull
[58:39.520 -> 58:47.120] gained a second, Aston gained 2.4. Clearly, they are struggling to make this work and give them
[58:47.120 -> 58:52.220] what they want. Granted, this might not be the best track for evaluating it, but when
[58:52.220 -> 58:57.800] Toto Wolff talks about that, he's saying, can we make this car competitive by the end
[58:57.800 -> 59:07.480] of the season? And the answer is no. And therefore, the question becomes, do we need to go down a different track? To me, the real question is,
[59:07.480 -> 59:10.680] what resources is Mercedes ultimately going to point
[59:10.680 -> 59:13.240] at this car that's on track right now?
[59:13.240 -> 59:14.760] Are they gonna give it enough resources
[59:14.760 -> 59:17.060] for maybe a driver to win?
[59:17.060 -> 59:19.160] Are they gonna give it enough to maybe chase third
[59:19.160 -> 59:21.360] if they're close to Aston?
[59:21.360 -> 59:22.280] Or are they just gonna say,
[59:22.280 -> 59:25.040] we're bringing our next update and it's 2024 or bust.
[59:25.040 -> 59:31.760] So Matt you've said that this isn't the best track to evaluate the car really and I agree
[59:31.760 -> 59:37.240] with you it's a heavy abrasive circuit it's not really a high downforce high aero circuit. So
[59:37.240 -> 59:43.240] normally we say Spain but Spain is actually ages away there's like five or six races before we get
[59:43.240 -> 59:45.040] to Spain. What track do you
[59:45.040 -> 59:51.040] think between now and Spain will be a good evaluation of it? Or are they all just rubbishy
[59:51.040 -> 59:52.480] street shacks like Miami?
[59:52.480 -> 59:59.080] Well, when I say that, I would say that a circuit that lets them play to their strengths.
[59:59.080 -> 01:00:03.560] I mean, their strengths right now are their tire degradation. They were similar to Aston,
[01:00:03.560 -> 01:00:05.200] just slower in lap time.
[01:00:09.840 -> 01:00:11.600] Maybe they're better at fast speed corners, and we'll find that out at Jetta or Baku.
[01:00:18.320 -> 01:00:23.520] And beyond that, it's going to be a bit of a Frankenstein for the engineers at Mercedes to figure out where they really think they are in the pecking order. But as I said, with a cost cap,
[01:00:26.160 -> 01:00:33.840] think they are in the pecking order. But as I said, with a cost cap, with wind tunnel restriction, with CFD restriction, the big issue for Mercedes is how far do I chase third place, and how much
[01:00:33.840 -> 01:00:38.720] effort do I put into getting some wins for the drivers if we think that's even in the cards?
[01:00:38.720 -> 01:00:42.320] These are the bigger issues, and I think they'll be answered over the next couple of races.
[01:00:43.200 -> 01:00:46.160] It's worth pointing out that Jetta is just such a totally
[01:00:46.160 -> 01:00:47.560] different challenge.
[01:00:47.560 -> 01:00:51.160] And a lot of the races in the early part of the season
[01:00:51.160 -> 01:00:52.960] are incredibly different circuits.
[01:00:52.960 -> 01:00:55.480] And it's really great because you
[01:00:55.480 -> 01:00:57.200] start to understand which cars have which
[01:00:57.200 -> 01:00:58.200] certain characteristics.
[01:00:58.200 -> 01:01:01.480] But when you present them with very different challenges
[01:01:01.480 -> 01:01:03.440] consecutively towards the start of the season,
[01:01:03.440 -> 01:01:09.040] it can keep things on their toes a little bit, Bahrain is more about slow speed corners, incredibly
[01:01:09.040 -> 01:01:14.080] abrasive circuit, lots of straights, which Jeddah also has, but it's also about the high speed
[01:01:14.880 -> 01:01:20.000] corners. There's really only one or two slow speed corners on that whole lap. And of course,
[01:01:20.000 -> 01:01:27.680] the surface is pretty perfect. It's really fresh. It's not 20 years old like the surface at Bahrain
[01:01:27.680 -> 01:01:34.560] and it's super high grip as well. So question from the chat from Paddy, okay so did Mercedes
[01:01:34.560 -> 01:01:42.240] solve the porpoising or have the new regs solved the porpoising for them? I think they solved the
[01:01:42.240 -> 01:01:45.520] porpoising because it had mostly gone away by the end of last season.
[01:01:45.520 -> 01:01:49.520] Okay, well great question and definitely Matt we need to get someone's on here to get a
[01:01:49.520 -> 01:01:53.840] first look. Matthew Summerfield from motorsport.com. We'll hook up a Tech Time show whenever
[01:01:53.840 -> 01:01:58.400] we can get hold of him if we can drag him off the golf course for an hour and we'll find out what
[01:01:58.400 -> 01:02:11.600] he thinks of the cars that have come out from a purely technical point of view, but from a racing point of view, Lewis Hamilton seemed hungry. I think watching the battle, Matt, I think you pointed out when
[01:02:11.600 -> 01:02:17.840] we were talking about Alonso, they are both really aware of tyre strategy. But what was
[01:02:17.840 -> 01:02:22.720] interesting was you've got to think that Alonso was more pushy. So he was saying,
[01:02:22.720 -> 01:02:26.160] you know, I know we're managing our tyres, but let's put pressure on Lewis Hamilton.
[01:02:26.160 -> 01:02:28.960] Let's see if we can make him burn his tires up
[01:02:28.960 -> 01:02:30.440] or even if he can,
[01:02:30.440 -> 01:02:33.300] because I like those tire saving battles in a way,
[01:02:33.300 -> 01:02:34.860] because that is a bit of chess.
[01:02:34.860 -> 01:02:36.960] Everything you do has repercussions
[01:02:36.960 -> 01:02:39.920] for 40 laps into the future.
[01:02:39.920 -> 01:02:42.520] Yeah, and it's maximum driver's skill.
[01:02:42.520 -> 01:02:45.840] If you've ever listened to a race engineer trying to coach a
[01:02:45.840 -> 01:02:51.680] driver through not burning up their tires, you understand just exactly how tragically difficult
[01:02:51.680 -> 01:02:58.080] and the fine margins they play with for the driver who makes that soft last 20 laps instead of 16,
[01:02:58.080 -> 01:03:06.160] for example. And I remember Wolf saying that it was turns, what was it, turns 5 through 7, turns 5 through 8.
[01:03:06.160 -> 01:03:10.880] They lost all of their time in just this one tiny sector of the track, and beyond that,
[01:03:10.880 -> 01:03:14.960] they were more or less on pace with the people they wanted to be on pace with. So,
[01:03:15.520 -> 01:03:19.360] I don't know, I think Mercedes did normal development, they brought a normal car,
[01:03:19.360 -> 01:03:25.440] they got outclassed by Red Bull, and they got utterly demolished, as did the rest of the field,
[01:03:25.440 -> 01:03:31.600] by Aston in terms of how much they brought to this season. And we don't really know
[01:03:32.640 -> 01:03:38.320] whether Aston's car over a wide variety of track will really be faster than Mercedes yet. So,
[01:03:38.320 -> 01:03:43.600] if you're a Mercedes fan, just give it a little time. Let's see. We've just, if we were playing
[01:03:43.600 -> 01:03:45.920] Texas Hold'em, we've just turned over the first card.
[01:03:45.960 -> 01:03:52.160] Maybe you want to wait until we get closer to the river before you start throwing all your eggs in the next year's basket.
[01:03:52.160 -> 01:03:56.800] Just hang on in there and they might get back to where they were at the end of last season.
[01:03:56.800 -> 01:03:59.360] If you just, if you just wish hard enough.
[01:03:59.680 -> 01:04:01.160] But look, let's get back to racing.
[01:04:01.240 -> 01:04:01.600] Alex.
[01:04:02.280 -> 01:04:05.120] The other thing you saw obviously was George Russell at
[01:04:05.120 -> 01:04:12.400] the beginning of the early stages of the race behind Lewis asking over the radio can Lewis go
[01:04:12.400 -> 01:04:20.240] faster because I can. Yeah. Then he was told that Lewis was struggling then George ran wide at turn
[01:04:20.240 -> 01:04:26.640] 10 and then Lewis proceeded to outpace him until the pit stops. So I don't blame
[01:04:26.640 -> 01:04:33.420] George at all for trying to get a hurry up or insinuate a switch between the two drivers
[01:04:33.420 -> 01:04:39.800] because it's exactly what I would do. Exactly what any other driver on the group would do.
[01:04:39.800 -> 01:04:43.740] But I always love those when that's said, he's told he's struggling and then Lewis has
[01:04:43.740 -> 01:04:48.160] obviously been told George wants to go past. Lewis has gone, uh-uh, and turned it up.
[01:04:48.160 -> 01:04:51.120] I don't think it's even that, I think the team just understand what's happening is they were
[01:04:51.120 -> 01:04:55.600] both trying to tyre save but also they were both starting to struggle and it was going away. So
[01:04:55.600 -> 01:05:00.320] Russell would have known that his tyres were going away but he's trying to put on a front to his team
[01:05:00.320 -> 01:05:05.680] and be like, oh no, my tyres are fine, I need to get by if he's struggling and then
[01:05:05.680 -> 01:05:07.320] goes off track at turn 10.
[01:05:07.320 -> 01:05:09.760] My tires are so fine I can't stay on the track.
[01:05:09.760 -> 01:05:11.760] Yeah, no, exactly.
[01:05:11.760 -> 01:05:17.960] But the team would have known that both those guys were tire saving, so they presumably
[01:05:17.960 -> 01:05:19.400] said no.
[01:05:19.400 -> 01:05:23.920] But why it was so important was Russell could see what was coming next, which was Fernando
[01:05:23.920 -> 01:05:25.040] Alonso in the rear
[01:05:25.040 -> 01:05:30.080] mirrors. So Russell desperately wanted to be the car ahead. I think Mercedes are pretty fair with
[01:05:30.080 -> 01:05:35.120] the car ahead will get that first strategy call and then Lewis Hamilton got it. So whilst Russell
[01:05:35.120 -> 01:05:39.920] was then screaming to be let into the pits, Hamilton was being told to box and he had to
[01:05:39.920 -> 01:05:46.000] lose more time fighting Fernando Alonso. So I think Russell really, he only made one mistake
[01:05:46.000 -> 01:05:51.920] which was not a perfect start and lost out to Lewis Hamilton. But the punishment there
[01:05:51.920 -> 01:05:57.360] was exacerbated to then being stuck behind your teammate, then not getting the preferential
[01:05:57.360 -> 01:06:01.920] strategy, getting sucked into the battle with the car behind, and I think he got a slow
[01:06:01.920 -> 01:06:05.360] pit stop as well. So he got massively over-penalised
[01:06:05.360 -> 01:06:10.920] for a slightly poor start, which is why at that end of the grid the start is super, super
[01:06:10.920 -> 01:06:16.960] important. But overall I think that result doesn't do George Russell any justice. I think
[01:06:16.960 -> 01:06:22.320] he was pretty quick today, he looked quick on the lap times, and yes, I think Hamilton
[01:06:22.320 -> 01:06:26.320] had used up tyres fighting Fernando Alonso and trying
[01:06:26.320 -> 01:06:29.320] to stay close, but Russell was catching him towards the end as well.
[01:06:29.320 -> 01:06:34.800] So yeah, I think he can be pretty happy, unless anyone wants to poo-poo that and put him down,
[01:06:34.800 -> 01:06:35.800] Matt.
[01:06:35.800 -> 01:06:39.920] No, I wouldn't poo-poo him, but I'm just thinking of a Hamilton comment saying that,
[01:06:39.920 -> 01:06:45.680] oh, at the start they dialed so much understeer, they'd taken so much off his front wing that he had
[01:06:45.680 -> 01:06:49.920] massive, massive understeer at the start of the race and was just really struggling to get the
[01:06:49.920 -> 01:06:55.760] car to turn in. So a lot of times, sort of what we look at is the outcome can be determined by
[01:06:55.760 -> 01:07:00.720] Mercedes saying, oh we need to take this much off the front wing for the start, and then them just
[01:07:00.720 -> 01:07:10.800] being a little bit wrong about it and the driver just having to cope. So, Russell looked good, Hamilton looked good, they're very clearly well matched, but I wouldn't, again,
[01:07:10.800 -> 01:07:15.840] draw conclusions about one person being super faster or better than the other based on this
[01:07:15.840 -> 01:07:21.120] single race. Which is, honestly, when I looked at the show notes I thought, you know what my job is
[01:07:21.120 -> 01:07:28.080] today? Convince everyone that this is just the first race, and there's 22 more to come, and we don't really know everything quite yet.
[01:07:28.720 -> 01:07:32.400] Or you could, of course, fly into a blind panic.
[01:07:37.200 -> 01:07:41.680] Which is, by the way, what I've seen a lot of Mercedes fans doing. And it's gone really over
[01:07:41.680 -> 01:07:48.600] the top on social media. My fault for reading it far too much. But you know, there's people calling for management's heads to roll.
[01:07:48.600 -> 01:07:54.360] Don't be Ferrari-ish about it. If you're a Mercedes fan, and I guess if
[01:07:54.360 -> 01:08:00.440] you've been a Mercedes fan post 2013-2014, you've probably only known, you know,
[01:08:00.440 -> 01:08:05.600] glory or near to it. It is perfectly normal for teams to have, you know, little dips
[01:08:05.600 -> 01:08:10.800] and teams do have to make decisions several years out sometimes and that recovery can take time.
[01:08:10.800 -> 01:08:16.400] Sometimes they do have to make an aim point of, okay, we do have aims for this season,
[01:08:16.400 -> 01:08:22.720] but really we're looking ahead and we know if we sacrifice here, we can go to 2024. I don't
[01:08:22.720 -> 01:08:25.600] think there's the patience for that in a lot of the Mercedes
[01:08:25.600 -> 01:08:30.640] fan base. Yes, things went wrong last season. You were patient last season, but the fact is
[01:08:30.640 -> 01:08:35.600] they didn't fix it and they could be kind of permanently a year behind for a little while.
[01:08:35.600 -> 01:08:38.080] Sorry, Matt, I was going to move on, but if you've got a point on that.
[01:08:38.080 -> 01:08:43.680] No, the point I want to make is just hypothetically, let's remove Aston Martin and their
[01:08:43.680 -> 01:08:46.200] massive improvement from this equation.
[01:08:46.200 -> 01:08:51.120] If you're looking at Mercedes, you're like, oh, they're about where they were last season,
[01:08:51.120 -> 01:08:57.440] or maybe a little closer to Ferrari. So you would actually be like, okay, we have a base to work
[01:08:57.440 -> 01:09:06.780] with. What's really messed everybody up is the fact that Aston made what I consider to be the biggest single jump from end of
[01:09:06.780 -> 01:09:11.360] season to start of season I have seen since I've been watching the sport.
[01:09:11.360 -> 01:09:18.320] And so, full credit to them, but don't let that affect your thinking about your team's
[01:09:18.320 -> 01:09:19.320] own improvement.
[01:09:19.320 -> 01:09:20.720] That's what I would say.
[01:09:20.720 -> 01:09:23.040] Oh, team's improving, you say.
[01:09:23.040 -> 01:09:27.840] My team's improving, you say. Oh, teams improving you say? My teams improving you say? Well my original team from 18
[01:09:27.840 -> 01:09:36.160] Dickedy 7, Williams, the team of Nigel Mansell, of Damon Hill, Ayrton Senna and Prost I guess.
[01:09:36.160 -> 01:09:41.840] But Coulthard, Rika Häkkinen, all these absolute greats, they should be up at the top of the field
[01:09:41.840 -> 01:09:45.040] and and today they did at least sneak into the top half
[01:09:45.480 -> 01:09:51.660] Christopher Stevens at chrison racing on Twitter Alex Albon. Where did he finish in the end p9?
[01:09:53.320 -> 01:10:00.540] P10 no that'll do p10. That'll do Williams in the points not that many retirements. They're back
[01:10:01.520 -> 01:10:04.680] Because it didn't happen a lot last year. It didn't did it and
[01:10:10.080 -> 01:10:12.720] that VSC for Leclerc's stricken Ferrari really gave some of those guys just outside the top 10.
[01:10:12.720 -> 01:10:13.760] Oh, don't ruin it.
[01:10:13.760 -> 01:10:14.320] No, no, no.
[01:10:14.320 -> 01:10:16.560] I'm saying it's a good thing, because Albon
[01:10:16.560 -> 01:10:20.200] was in that fight the whole race.
[01:10:20.200 -> 01:10:22.000] But what made the real difference
[01:10:22.000 -> 01:10:24.640] was the fact that a lot of them were able to come in
[01:10:24.640 -> 01:10:32.720] for soft tires under that VSC and suddenly were then able to make up a bit of ground. Like, don't get me
[01:10:32.720 -> 01:10:37.760] wrong, Albon was there the whole way through that race, but that's what kind of made the difference.
[01:10:37.760 -> 01:10:43.040] And certainly had they not made that decision, then he would have been left exposed to a bunch
[01:10:43.040 -> 01:10:49.800] of other drivers who did the same thing, like the Alpha Tauris behind him. I think that the Haas guys came in as
[01:10:49.800 -> 01:10:53.960] well. Gasly as well, because he was coming up from last on the grid all the way up to
[01:10:53.960 -> 01:10:59.000] P9 as well, cracking drive from him. But yeah, for Williams, it's a really good start to
[01:10:59.000 -> 01:11:06.920] the season. They're not just propping up the grid anymore. And Logan Sargent, on his debut,
[01:11:06.920 -> 01:11:15.520] was in the ballpark, you know, he was doing a respectable job. Not, you know, not on Albon's
[01:11:15.520 -> 01:11:19.080] gearbox the whole race, but a good, a good distance away.
[01:11:19.080 -> 01:11:23.100] Did you see Albon's post race interviews at all, Matt? It honestly did look like someone
[01:11:23.100 -> 01:11:27.760] had put 50p in him and wound him up and set him off. He looked high as a kite.
[01:11:27.760 -> 01:11:34.880] It was delightful. I mean, he talked about the challenges of having to be like Q3 for Q1 in
[01:11:34.880 -> 01:11:41.760] Williams to get through. And to sing his praises, I mean, yes, he came in with everybody else and
[01:11:41.760 -> 01:11:50.640] got the soft tires. To finish in the points with the Williams at the first race is testament, I think, a lot to his skill as a driver. Sergeant
[01:11:50.640 -> 01:11:58.160] finished 12th. Two places back. He tied Norris' time to the thousandth in qualifying.
[01:11:59.200 -> 01:12:03.680] Williams have a legitimate second driver now as a rookie.
[01:12:03.680 -> 01:12:04.240] Ooh, that's a bit previous.
[01:12:04.240 -> 01:12:06.240] And we should make an acknowledgement of that.
[01:12:06.240 -> 01:12:11.360] That's a bit previous. He's had a good race. That's right. You're crowning him. Okay. It's
[01:12:11.360 -> 01:12:14.720] a positive step forward. Just saw Chris die in the eyes when you said that.
[01:12:15.680 -> 01:12:22.320] I love Latifi as a person and as a driver. I'm delighted he got the chance, but it's hard to
[01:12:22.320 -> 01:12:25.200] argue that Sargent hasn't shown up and
[01:12:25.200 -> 01:12:27.520] done a pretty good job from the off.
[01:12:27.520 -> 01:12:34.280] I hope so, because this could be actually a step up in overall grid quality than what
[01:12:34.280 -> 01:12:36.880] we've had, say, two or three years ago.
[01:12:36.880 -> 01:12:37.880] Yes.
[01:12:37.880 -> 01:12:43.120] But if we're going to talk about the midfield, who we really need to mention is former Lewis
[01:12:43.120 -> 01:12:46.000] Hamilton teammate Valtteri Bottas finishing eighth!
[01:12:46.000 -> 01:12:51.880] A stealthy eighth in an alpha that nobody thought could get there,
[01:12:51.880 -> 01:12:56.560] they made an excellent strategy call at the beginning of the race and there he was.
[01:12:56.560 -> 01:13:03.040] Holy 2022, Batman. Isn't this what we said last season? And three races in,
[01:13:03.040 -> 01:13:07.760] as teams start developing, they just completely fell away.
[01:13:07.760 -> 01:13:14.800] I think it's suspicious that the Ocon fan does not want to talk about the various Ocon
[01:13:14.800 -> 01:13:15.800] penalties that were applied.
[01:13:15.800 -> 01:13:16.800] Do it now, Chris!
[01:13:16.800 -> 01:13:17.800] Do it now!
[01:13:17.800 -> 01:13:18.800] That was incredible!
[01:13:18.800 -> 01:13:20.680] Bring it, as they say, on.
[01:13:20.680 -> 01:13:24.000] Chris is going to describe all the Ocon penalties, which means, guys, we have a little bit of
[01:13:24.000 -> 01:13:25.000] time. Do we have enough time? Yeah, we have a little bit of time.
[01:13:25.000 -> 01:13:26.000] Do we have enough time?
[01:13:26.000 -> 01:13:27.000] Yeah, we have enough time.
[01:13:27.000 -> 01:13:28.000] We have time to go and get a drink.
[01:13:28.000 -> 01:13:29.000] Do you want to take a 10 minute break?
[01:13:29.000 -> 01:13:30.000] Go for it, mate.
[01:13:30.000 -> 01:13:31.000] Go for it.
[01:13:31.000 -> 01:13:32.680] Let me just put it out there, right?
[01:13:32.680 -> 01:13:40.420] This whole disaster of a race all came about because Ocon didn't park it on the grid correctly.
[01:13:40.420 -> 01:13:46.100] So you can sit there, Matt, and defend him with his Alpine were the ones who screwed up the initial penalty
[01:13:46.200 -> 01:13:51.320] He shouldn't have got that penalty in the first place and hang on and the pit lane speeding obviously
[01:13:51.320 -> 01:13:53.920] That's that's a knock on shoulders as well. Yeah, that's yeah
[01:13:53.920 -> 01:13:54.880] That's his fault as well
[01:13:54.880 -> 01:13:57.140] And then there was a another penalty on top of that
[01:13:57.160 -> 01:14:03.080] But I'd lost count and interest to be fair by then by then I was too busy watching them trying to pump up McClatt the
[01:14:05.840 -> 01:14:08.200] By then I was too busy watching them trying to pump up the Lando Norris's inflatable car or whatever was going on there.
[01:14:08.200 -> 01:14:10.480] Was there another penalty, Matt?
[01:14:10.480 -> 01:14:15.600] So there was the grid one, the penalty for not doing the penalty right, and the speeding
[01:14:15.600 -> 01:14:16.600] penalty, right?
[01:14:16.600 -> 01:14:17.600] Oh wow.
[01:14:17.600 -> 01:14:18.600] Yeah, you're correct.
[01:14:18.600 -> 01:14:20.640] So let's be very clear about this.
[01:14:20.640 -> 01:14:27.360] The penalty that Falcon got was for not parking within the painted yellow lines
[01:14:28.240 -> 01:14:33.040] that they put around the white lines that you're actually supposed to park in. And when they looked
[01:14:33.040 -> 01:14:38.000] at it on video, the commentators were like, well, I, whatever. But eventually if you saw,
[01:14:38.000 -> 01:14:42.800] and from a front shot, you could see that he was a little bit off to the right. Now I do need to
[01:14:42.800 -> 01:14:45.280] point out that he, and at least one
[01:14:45.280 -> 01:14:51.200] other person, did the same thing in Brazil and did not get penalized for it because it turns out
[01:14:51.200 -> 01:14:56.640] he painted the yellow lines a little too small. But if you looked at it from the front and you
[01:14:56.640 -> 01:15:01.680] asked yourself, did he gain an advantage from this? I'd say, and pretty much everyone else says,
[01:15:01.680 -> 01:15:05.280] well, no, not really, but fair play. He was outside the rules.
[01:15:05.280 -> 01:15:07.360] He got a five second penalty.
[01:15:07.360 -> 01:15:14.880] He comes in to serve his penalty and the team, because this is now on the team, start work
[01:15:14.880 -> 01:15:22.560] an unbelievable, gross violation of the rules a whole 0.4 seconds before they're supposed
[01:15:22.560 -> 01:15:25.380] to according to the FIA which went in afterwards
[01:15:25.380 -> 01:15:31.480] Oh and look that it very very very very carefully again fair play and then this point four seconds is still more
[01:15:31.520 -> 01:15:37.960] That's still too early. So now he's got a second five-second penalty, which you know, you're really gonna say isn't his fault
[01:15:38.960 -> 01:15:49.360] But because that was on the mechanics that started 0.4 seconds too early. And then, I guess, either coming in to serve the penalty or when he came back in to serve
[01:15:49.360 -> 01:15:58.680] the penalty, he committed the grievous error of speeding in the pit lane by 0.1 kilometers
[01:15:58.680 -> 01:15:59.680] per hour.
[01:15:59.680 -> 01:16:04.160] Now, maybe it's just me as a USCN, where you're not going to get done for speeding unless
[01:16:04.160 -> 01:16:11.280] you're like 16 kilometers per hour over the speed limit, but I'm asking some questions about 0.1.
[01:16:12.400 -> 01:16:17.760] So what you're saying there, Matt, is that he broke the rules, but he only broke them a little
[01:16:17.760 -> 01:16:21.840] bit. Why don't you just let him off? We've never heard that before. Oh, the red- the red-bull
[01:16:21.840 -> 01:16:32.320] defense. We've never heard that before. They've broken the rules just a little bit. Please, please, please. Play back my audio and point
[01:16:32.320 -> 01:16:37.960] out to me where I said he shouldn't have been penalized for any of that. Okay. And I said
[01:16:37.960 -> 01:16:43.120] that, Hey, look, let's be aware when someone's upset, that was a very bad day for, for Ocon
[01:16:43.120 -> 01:16:45.280] and it kind of rendered that whole race pointless.
[01:16:45.680 -> 01:16:50.240] Presumably his flight got delayed as well, and they lost his luggage and all this afterwards.
[01:16:52.080 -> 01:16:58.640] You know, I mean, I'm old enough to have had bad days. My favorite bad days started with floods,
[01:16:58.640 -> 01:17:04.720] included a truck fire, a plane crash and a reroute and a breakdown on the way to the airport. But
[01:17:06.640 -> 01:17:12.320] a plane crash and a break down on the way to the airport. But when bad things happen, they sometimes just come like coin flips in a sequence. So I think pretty much Alpine's going
[01:17:12.320 -> 01:17:18.560] to write this off. If there's good news for Ocon, he did a good job in qualifying. And if I looked
[01:17:18.560 -> 01:17:24.080] at the Alpine lap times, they're within two tenths of each other. I think they have a decent car.
[01:17:22.800 -> 01:17:30.240] They're within, you know, two tenths of each other. I think they have a decent car, and barring the operational issues, it's going to be,
[01:17:30.240 -> 01:17:34.640] barring the operational issues, it's going to be a good season for them overall, because
[01:17:34.640 -> 01:17:39.560] they really do look to be around ninth or tenth on pace.
[01:17:39.560 -> 01:17:44.480] Christopher Fonseca in our live chat says Ockham was one penalty away from being Esther
[01:17:44.480 -> 01:17:46.040] Bannanned from the
[01:17:46.040 -> 01:17:51.160] next race. Good spot there, Alex. And I'll go to Alex, actually, for our next team. McLaren,
[01:17:51.160 -> 01:17:56.240] yeah, like I said, it did look like the concept was an inflatable car that they just had to
[01:17:56.240 -> 01:18:01.040] keep pumping up every few laps or so. And I'm not saying that's a bad idea or that they
[01:18:01.040 -> 01:18:06.240] should go to the B-specs straight away but oh what a horrible day and
[01:18:06.240 -> 01:18:11.520] what kills me did you see how happy and optimistic Lando Norris was before the race he was like full
[01:18:11.520 -> 01:18:17.360] of guys it is not he turned up as if it had all been like a big sandbag and they were all they
[01:18:17.360 -> 01:18:23.680] were on top of it he was doing well as well until the car started breaking down i i i don't have
[01:18:23.680 -> 01:18:25.280] words for McLaren, which isn't
[01:18:25.280 -> 01:18:31.680] good in a podcast, but McLaren have been my favourite team as long as I've been watching
[01:18:31.680 -> 01:18:38.520] F1, and to see them in the doldrums that they're in, when I thought this year, with a new hot
[01:18:38.520 -> 01:18:43.400] shot driver coming in, with them understanding the regulations a little bit more, with them
[01:18:43.400 -> 01:18:46.040] having so much adversity last year
[01:18:46.040 -> 01:18:48.360] that they could hit the ground running this year
[01:18:48.360 -> 01:18:51.360] and do something for Lando.
[01:18:51.360 -> 01:18:55.200] For crying out, Lando is one of the best drivers on the grid
[01:18:55.200 -> 01:18:58.720] and he's seeing all his mates up there,
[01:18:58.720 -> 01:19:00.560] you know, he's seeing Max winning championships,
[01:19:00.560 -> 01:19:02.040] he's seeing George finally win a race,
[01:19:02.040 -> 01:19:04.640] he's seeing Carlos Sainz winning a race,
[01:19:04.640 -> 01:19:08.000] and he still just occasionally scrapes the podium
[01:19:08.000 -> 01:19:10.360] when four cars screw up.
[01:19:10.360 -> 01:19:12.800] And he's so much better than that,
[01:19:12.800 -> 01:19:15.600] and he deserves so much more than that.
[01:19:15.600 -> 01:19:18.320] For me, the question is how much more can he take
[01:19:18.320 -> 01:19:22.720] before he jumps ship and ends up at, I don't know,
[01:19:22.720 -> 01:19:26.320] Mercedes, or if Lewis decides he's had enough,
[01:19:26.320 -> 01:19:30.400] or possibly at whatever's gonna become Aldi
[01:19:30.400 -> 01:19:31.760] from the sale of that outfit.
[01:19:31.760 -> 01:19:35.040] They did a lie detector test on Lewis Hamilton on Sky,
[01:19:35.040 -> 01:19:37.440] and he said he was gonna stay till he won a championship,
[01:19:37.440 -> 01:19:39.920] and lie detectors are definitely real,
[01:19:39.920 -> 01:19:42.320] and work, and are fun, and aren't pretend.
[01:19:42.320 -> 01:19:43.240] Okay, Chris.
[01:19:43.240 -> 01:19:44.840] Did he say he was gonna stay at Mercedes, though?
[01:19:44.840 -> 01:19:48.000] No, no, he didn't. He's gonna win it. He's gonna win it with them with Aston Martin.
[01:19:48.000 -> 01:19:52.320] Aston Martin. Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso at Aston Martin.
[01:19:52.320 -> 01:19:54.480] There you go. Heard it. Heard it here first.
[01:19:54.480 -> 01:19:56.800] I mean, it won't happen because that means Stroll's not driving.
[01:19:56.800 -> 01:20:03.600] On the positive side, wasn't Lando Norris like catching Hamilton and Alonso at one point?
[01:20:03.600 -> 01:20:03.920] Yeah.
[01:20:03.920 -> 01:20:04.320] So there's not-
[01:20:04.320 -> 01:20:06.000] Different tyres and whatnot.
[01:20:06.000 -> 01:20:07.600] But there's not nothing there.
[01:20:07.600 -> 01:20:08.800] And he was a lap down.
[01:20:08.800 -> 01:20:12.320] So, yeah, but he was looking like he might briefly un-lap himself.
[01:20:12.320 -> 01:20:14.640] So there might be something in the car, Chris.
[01:20:14.640 -> 01:20:15.680] Race one, race one.
[01:20:15.680 -> 01:20:16.720] Yeah, yeah.
[01:20:16.720 -> 01:20:21.040] But potentially it's tough to read into that end of the race there,
[01:20:21.040 -> 01:20:30.860] because I think he was constantly getting new tyres every time he got his car topped up, whereas obviously the front runners weren't doing that. It's such a shame
[01:20:30.860 -> 01:20:36.840] because both of those drivers have incredible potential and I think it's really cruel on
[01:20:36.840 -> 01:20:44.140] Piastri as well for him to finally come into Formula One and he's right now not even getting
[01:20:44.140 -> 01:20:47.160] a shot at it. But it's also cruel on Nauris as well as Alex was pointing out and he's right now not even getting a shot at it. But it's also cruel
[01:20:47.160 -> 01:20:51.820] on Norris as well as Alex was pointing out because he's kind of served his time now.
[01:20:51.820 -> 01:20:55.160] He deserves a front-running car.
[01:20:55.160 -> 01:21:00.960] I mean, Piastri could have been sitting in that Alpine seat finishing in the points today.
[01:21:00.960 -> 01:21:07.600] Is he supposed to have a crystal ball in his negotiations when he knew full well that Alpine
[01:21:07.600 -> 01:21:11.200] was just going to sign Alonso, so he went ahead and found his own team?
[01:21:11.200 -> 01:21:16.560] I still think those two teams are going to end up overtaking the likes of Alpha and the
[01:21:16.560 -> 01:21:17.560] other Alpha.
[01:21:17.560 -> 01:21:18.560] Oh, gotcha.
[01:21:18.560 -> 01:21:19.560] And Williams and all that.
[01:21:19.560 -> 01:21:20.560] Yeah, 100%.
[01:21:20.560 -> 01:21:23.960] And I don't know if it got to mention, but the actual problem was with the pneumatic
[01:21:23.960 -> 01:21:25.280] system on the car, and that's why they had to keep stopping and filling it up while they And I don't know if it got to mention, but the actual problem was with the pneumatic system
[01:21:30.560 -> 01:21:34.800] on the car, and that's why they had to keep stopping and filling it up. It wasn't actually an inflatable car concept, although that was pretty funny.
[01:21:34.800 -> 01:21:37.360] And what was it, gearbox for Piastrino?
[01:21:38.080 -> 01:21:40.560] Yeah, eventually, maybe a hydraulics thing, I don't know.
[01:21:40.560 -> 01:21:43.600] Okay, so I think actually we've done pretty well here. We've covered pretty much every team,
[01:21:43.600 -> 01:21:49.120] I think, except Haas, who, just imagining the factory tour when Hülkenberg
[01:21:49.120 -> 01:21:55.760] turned up and they said, okay, can you just show Nico Hülkenberg around please? And they, and
[01:21:55.760 -> 01:21:59.360] Magnussen's like, yeah, this is the rear wing, here's the steering wheel, there's the end plates,
[01:21:59.360 -> 01:22:02.960] you don't need them. And then straight away, Magnussen just goes out and just gets rid of
[01:22:02.960 -> 01:22:10.400] his end plate. That reminds me, because it was Ocon, wasn't it, who had a flappy front wing
[01:22:10.400 -> 01:22:14.880] and it never got the black and orange flag and Gunther Sainer must have been sat on that wall
[01:22:14.880 -> 01:22:21.920] seething because his car got that like 72 times last year but they just let Ocon get away with
[01:22:21.920 -> 01:22:26.120] it. But how did Hülkenberg go from starting inside the top 10
[01:22:26.120 -> 01:22:27.760] with that brilliant qualifying
[01:22:27.760 -> 01:22:31.080] to then just nothing in the race?
[01:22:31.080 -> 01:22:33.720] Unlike Mick Schumacher, he just crashed into things
[01:22:33.720 -> 01:22:35.760] at the start of the race, not qualifying.
[01:22:37.760 -> 01:22:38.600] Sigh.
[01:22:38.600 -> 01:22:39.600] Totally justified.
[01:22:40.640 -> 01:22:41.480] You're welcome.
[01:22:41.480 -> 01:22:42.920] The decision to get rid of Schumacher was totally justified
[01:22:42.920 -> 01:22:44.200] as soon as Hulkenberg put it in Q2.
[01:22:44.200 -> 01:22:52.880] Yeah, it looks good. I couldn't resist. You've spent the whole off season sympathizing rid of Schumacher was totally justified as soon as Hulkenberg put it in Q3. Yeah, it looks good. You've spent the whole off-season sympathizing with Mick Schumacher and making memes about him going to Mercedes.
[01:22:52.880 -> 01:22:54.480] I didn't make memes about it.
[01:22:54.480 -> 01:22:59.120] You did, you did the whole sad one about him seeing him in a Mercedes outfit.
[01:22:59.120 -> 01:23:01.280] I said it was great seeing him in a Mercedes outfit.
[01:23:01.280 -> 01:23:03.840] Look, look, look, don't take it personally from Alex.
[01:23:03.840 -> 01:23:08.880] Just a month ago he was still calling them memes but we have definitely reached the podium
[01:23:16.880 -> 01:23:23.520] the beginning of the season has begun and I think that's the most we can say about that race it
[01:23:23.520 -> 01:23:26.120] didn't pop in a strategic way the field spread
[01:23:26.760 -> 01:23:31.400] Wasn't quite what we were hoping and what we felt might be happening on Friday
[01:23:31.440 -> 01:23:33.680] It did look quite spaced out
[01:23:33.680 -> 01:23:39.600] I think that might be more due to some teams not quite quite hitting the ground running like they wanted to
[01:23:39.640 -> 01:23:42.140] Let's see if Mercedes can iron out a few niggles
[01:23:42.140 -> 01:23:48.260] Let's give Alpine and McLaren a chance to make the midfield even more competitive than
[01:23:48.260 -> 01:23:49.260] it looks at the moment.
[01:23:49.260 -> 01:23:53.520] I really do think we've got some fantastic racing ahead, and we really don't know the
[01:23:53.520 -> 01:23:54.640] way the season's going to go.
[01:23:54.640 -> 01:23:59.360] The amount of times you've tipped up to an opening race, say, at Australia, and you see
[01:23:59.360 -> 01:24:03.440] Kevin Magnussen suddenly appear and get a second place, and you go, oh my goodness,
[01:24:03.440 -> 01:24:08.300] we've got a new wunderkind on the scene Magnusson's gonna dominate the front of
[01:24:08.300 -> 01:24:14.100] Formula One and it just doesn't happen so often opening races are a false dawn
[01:24:14.100 -> 01:24:17.940] so let's take this as a watching brief and look forward to the next race in two
[01:24:17.940 -> 01:24:20.860] weeks time we've got some great interviews coming up we're gonna still
[01:24:20.860 -> 01:24:24.840] try and catch up with Mike Caulfield, Uncle Joe, Joe Sayward's gonna catch up
[01:24:24.840 -> 01:24:29.280] with us we're gonna have a Formula E boss come and join us, who
[01:24:29.280 -> 01:24:34.800] we worked at Super Aguri. So we'll keep our hat under when that's quite coming out. And
[01:24:34.800 -> 01:24:39.000] of course, we'll do a little bit of a news roundup and try and pick up some of the stuff
[01:24:39.000 -> 01:24:49.440] that we missed and do all the Patreon reviews and Patreon live streams that we've got planned. And you know, Spanners, 70%, only 70%
[01:24:49.440 -> 01:24:51.160] of the people watching us on YouTube
[01:24:51.160 -> 01:24:53.320] are subscribed to this channel.
[01:24:53.320 -> 01:24:56.480] So I would say to you remaining 30%,
[01:24:56.480 -> 01:24:57.560] you should just hit that bell
[01:24:57.560 -> 01:25:00.240] so that you don't miss all that lovely, lovely content
[01:25:00.240 -> 01:25:02.560] that Spanners just listed off there.
[01:25:02.560 -> 01:25:04.720] We do neglect saying that.
[01:25:04.720 -> 01:25:07.880] Yes, please do like and subscribe to all the stuff.
[01:25:07.880 -> 01:25:08.700] Did I say that right?
[01:25:08.700 -> 01:25:11.040] And there's a bell and you can get a thing.
[01:25:11.040 -> 01:25:15.320] But also on your internet podcast thing, on your app,
[01:25:15.320 -> 01:25:17.060] like subscribe on there as well.
[01:25:17.060 -> 01:25:18.880] Don't just keep finding it from the webpage.
[01:25:18.880 -> 01:25:21.160] And the number one thing you can really do to help us,
[01:25:21.160 -> 01:25:26.520] there's been about 18 brand new massive F1 podcasts that have launched,
[01:25:26.520 -> 01:25:30.560] which is great because more people come into the niche, but when they go looking for more
[01:25:30.560 -> 01:25:35.840] content just suggest Missed Apex Podcast to your friends if they say, oh, we've just caught
[01:25:35.840 -> 01:25:41.760] up with those new big podcasts and we're into podcasts now. MissedApex.net gives them everything
[01:25:41.760 -> 01:25:45.400] they need to see. But what we need to see now is who is going to win the awards.
[01:25:45.400 -> 01:25:46.600] So we've got our first award.
[01:25:46.600 -> 01:25:49.900] The Thing of the Weekend.
[01:25:49.900 -> 01:25:52.400] That's a bit loud.
[01:25:52.400 -> 01:25:57.300] Right, Matt, who gets your Thing of the Weekend?
[01:25:57.300 -> 01:26:01.600] Okay, don't hold it against me, Revcon fans.
[01:26:01.600 -> 01:26:06.560] I think Max and Checo and the car are amazing. And don't hold it
[01:26:06.560 -> 01:26:12.960] against me Alonzo fans, because I have never said he was a bad driver. But my thing of
[01:26:12.960 -> 01:26:18.640] the weekend? Gotta be Pierre Gasly getting 11 places in the race, finishing in the points
[01:26:18.640 -> 01:26:28.360] and keeping Alpine from having a truly, truly catastrophic day. Interesting, the Ocon fan choosing Ghazalie as his thing.
[01:26:28.360 -> 01:26:29.840] Do you know what, I'm not buying that.
[01:26:29.840 -> 01:26:30.840] I'm not buying that.
[01:26:30.840 -> 01:26:31.840] I'm not buying that.
[01:26:31.840 -> 01:26:32.840] I know what he's doing.
[01:26:32.840 -> 01:26:36.800] He's buying himself some credit so that when he is biased towards Ocon, he can let it go.
[01:26:36.800 -> 01:26:39.280] But I gave Ghazalie that award that one time.
[01:26:39.280 -> 01:26:44.280] Ah, well, you can look at it however you like, my friend, but I'm going to say an 11 place
[01:26:44.280 -> 01:26:48.320] gain first race for Alpine in the points is a pretty good thing for Pierre Gasly.
[01:26:48.320 -> 01:26:51.600] I only know that tactic because that's why I was praising Russell earlier.
[01:26:51.600 -> 01:26:52.600] Alex Van Jeen.
[01:26:52.600 -> 01:26:53.600] Alex Van Jeen.
[01:26:53.600 -> 01:26:54.600] Alex Van Jeen.
[01:26:54.600 -> 01:26:55.600] Alex Van Jeen.
[01:26:55.600 -> 01:26:56.600] Alex Van Jeen.
[01:26:56.600 -> 01:26:57.600] Alex Van Jeen.
[01:26:57.600 -> 01:26:58.600] Alex Van Jeen.
[01:26:58.600 -> 01:26:59.600] Alex Van Jeen.
[01:26:59.600 -> 01:27:00.600] Alex Van Jeen.
[01:27:00.600 -> 01:27:01.600] Alex Van Jeen.
[01:27:01.600 -> 01:27:02.600] Alex Van Jeen.
[01:27:02.600 -> 01:27:03.600] Alex Van Jeen.
[01:27:03.600 -> 01:27:04.600] Alex Van Jeen.
[01:27:04.600 -> 01:27:07.480] Alex Van Jeen. Alex Van Jeen. Alex Van hear more from Alex and see more from Alex, go and follow him.
[01:27:07.480 -> 01:27:10.080] His Twitter link will be there, with a link to his side projects.
[01:27:10.080 -> 01:27:14.840] Now Alex, what would be your thing of the weekend?
[01:27:14.840 -> 01:27:20.920] So I have three potentials, and they're all things that I normally slag off.
[01:27:20.920 -> 01:27:24.000] You are that person in line that doesn't make up their mind until they get to the counter
[01:27:24.000 -> 01:27:26.800] I hate you. Really? How many comments a the week are we going to get this afternoon?
[01:27:26.800 -> 01:27:29.680] 18. This evening. Just pick the donut and sit at the table.
[01:27:32.080 -> 01:27:38.240] And I'm going to have to give it, and this hurts, to Lance Stroll. And the reason I'm giving it to
[01:27:38.240 -> 01:27:45.760] Lance is the guy has two broken wrists and a broken toe, turned up and did a really good performance.
[01:27:45.760 -> 01:27:49.080] If you take away his two niggles.
[01:27:49.080 -> 01:27:56.040] But considering the very, very, very, very, very low base that I give Lance Stroll, I
[01:27:56.040 -> 01:27:57.040] was impressed with him this weekend.
[01:27:57.040 -> 01:27:58.040] It's such a low bar.
[01:27:58.040 -> 01:27:59.040] You've just given him...
[01:27:59.040 -> 01:28:03.840] I thought he did a really good job and I really don't want to give it to the other two people
[01:28:03.840 -> 01:28:04.840] who also did that.
[01:28:04.840 -> 01:28:08.880] You've just given him thing of the weekend for turning up and not quite taking out his
[01:28:08.880 -> 01:28:10.600] teammate. That's what you've given him.
[01:28:10.600 -> 01:28:12.320] You try to do anything with broken wrists.
[01:28:12.320 -> 01:28:16.800] Well I would have taken the week off, that's what I would have done. And maybe, you know,
[01:28:16.800 -> 01:28:18.480] take it easy like right before pre-season.
[01:28:18.480 -> 01:28:23.360] Everyone tells me off for taking the piss out of Slavoj, strolling time, so I'm going
[01:28:23.360 -> 01:28:24.360] to give it to him.
[01:28:24.360 -> 01:28:27.920] And what you've done is you've triggered me and now I'm gonna get the email. So Christopher
[01:28:27.920 -> 01:28:33.200] at Chris on Racing, known by his friends as Christopher. That's how he prefers to be.
[01:28:33.200 -> 01:28:34.640] No, you've got to stop doing that, man.
[01:28:34.640 -> 01:28:38.560] Never respond to a nickname, that's the rules of the playground. Just stay quiet and take it,
[01:28:38.560 -> 01:28:40.240] now everyone knows you hate it. Anyway-
[01:28:40.240 -> 01:28:42.480] It's not a nickname though, it's just my name.
[01:28:42.480 -> 01:28:42.720] Anyway-
[01:28:42.720 -> 01:28:43.680] And it's awful.
[01:28:43.680 -> 01:28:46.480] Christopher Stevens, who's your thing of the weekend?
[01:28:46.480 -> 01:28:50.280] Right, unlike my colleague, I've got to the ticket barrier at the train station.
[01:28:50.280 -> 01:28:51.640] I've got my damn ticket ready.
[01:28:51.640 -> 01:28:53.440] I'm not fumbling around for it.
[01:28:53.440 -> 01:28:55.000] I hate those people.
[01:28:55.000 -> 01:29:00.000] Anyway, mine is Alonzo Sass.
[01:29:00.000 -> 01:29:04.080] Because those team radios, when he would make one of those awesome moves, was just great
[01:29:04.080 -> 01:29:10.320] to listen to. But the best one was the post-race interview and he gets asked did the uh you know the rules about the uh
[01:29:10.320 -> 01:29:14.800] the aero testing you guys get more aero because you were lower in the championship does that help
[01:29:14.800 -> 01:29:20.000] you this year and he says next year we won't have a lot so that does that mean it's gone to me and
[01:29:20.000 -> 01:29:25.280] nobody's said fernando alonso yet well i put I said Alonso Sass doesn't that count?
[01:29:25.280 -> 01:29:30.880] Yeah well I thought you'd yeah well let's make it a snub then. It's just too obvious isn't it?
[01:29:30.880 -> 01:29:36.240] Good in that case my thing of the weekend because of how happy he was and I was unhappy with him
[01:29:36.240 -> 01:29:40.240] when he got his first podium and it seemed like a nothing to him like he took it for granted and I
[01:29:40.240 -> 01:29:45.680] didn't like it but this point that Alex Albon got today looked like a treasured jewel
[01:29:45.680 -> 01:29:50.080] and that's how it should be, a world championship point, and he seemed to really be embracing it
[01:29:50.080 -> 01:29:55.200] into his heart. I think he might have even pushed it into his heart and turned from a green island
[01:29:55.200 -> 01:30:02.080] into a demi-goddess. I watched Moana recently. So now we move on to our Bad Thing Award.
[01:30:02.320 -> 01:30:03.180] Now we move on to our bad thing award.
[01:30:05.860 -> 01:30:08.960] Oh no, you missed the Apex. Make way, make way for missing the Apex,
[01:30:08.960 -> 01:30:12.420] Matt Two Rumpets, who missed the Apex for you.
[01:30:13.240 -> 01:30:14.840] Oh my goodness.
[01:30:15.120 -> 01:30:18.000] There are a plethora of candidates.
[01:30:18.000 -> 01:30:20.380] But because this is a weekend award,
[01:30:20.380 -> 01:30:22.260] and not just a race award,
[01:30:23.100 -> 01:30:24.420] I'm gonna say McLaren,
[01:30:24.420 -> 01:30:27.000] because they did not only miss the apex.
[01:30:27.000 -> 01:30:30.000] They missed pretty much the whole darn race if you're asking me,
[01:30:30.000 -> 01:30:36.000] including having to retire their, well, highly touted recruit
[01:30:36.000 -> 01:30:40.000] after less than half the race when he desperately needs those laps
[01:30:40.000 -> 01:30:41.000] to get up to speed.
[01:30:41.000 -> 01:30:44.000] So, yeah, along with all the other McLaren fans,
[01:30:44.000 -> 01:30:45.520] I'm looking forward to that
[01:30:45.520 -> 01:30:50.800] update when it finally shows up. So that e-ink sponsor board thing that they had, I mean that
[01:30:50.800 -> 01:30:55.840] worked really well, but maybe they could have the status of the car on there as well. So if there's
[01:30:55.840 -> 01:31:00.400] a blank space, one bit it could be like, oh, buy Android, and then the next bit could be a bit of
[01:31:00.400 -> 01:31:05.120] a frowny face, because there's a pneumatic issue that needs sorting out.
[01:31:05.120 -> 01:31:07.980] So when they put, you know, they pull up and then when that's sorted, it goes to a smiley
[01:31:07.980 -> 01:31:09.980] face and he pulls away.
[01:31:09.980 -> 01:31:13.840] But I think McLaren would have been better off just retiring Lando Norris just for the
[01:31:13.840 -> 01:31:17.480] sake of PR, which is very important to McLaren.
[01:31:17.480 -> 01:31:19.720] You're a PR guy, Chris, wouldn't you?
[01:31:19.720 -> 01:31:23.360] After losing Piastri and already being lapsed down, there's got to come a point where you
[01:31:23.360 -> 01:31:24.360] just park it.
[01:31:24.360 -> 01:31:29.440] Yeah, but you also need mileage this early in the season as well.
[01:31:29.440 -> 01:31:34.960] So also, I think I'm pretty sure it's, um, it is against the rules to just say, oh, we're
[01:31:34.960 -> 01:31:36.200] not going to get anything.
[01:31:36.200 -> 01:31:37.920] So we're just going to park the car.
[01:31:37.920 -> 01:31:41.720] You have to provide some sort of, yeah, you've got to invent a reason, but surely we all
[01:31:41.720 -> 01:31:48.560] remember Fernando Alonso in the days when he wasn't, when he'd be like 12 and he'd go oh no there's some sort of problem with the car what is it?
[01:31:49.680 -> 01:31:53.520] The pedal, there is a vibration. Yeah it was dangerous, can't possibly finish and he just
[01:31:53.520 -> 01:31:57.600] sacked it, he sacked it. Who was he driving for when that was, when it was that? It wasn't McLaren
[01:31:57.600 -> 01:32:03.200] was it? It was McLaren. Jenson Button called him out on it recently, he said yeah Alonso just used
[01:32:03.200 -> 01:32:09.840] to park the car because he couldn't be bothered to not finish in the points. I don't think we even let's not even say allegedly let's
[01:32:09.840 -> 01:32:16.800] bring on the lawsuits. Chris who missed the apex for you? So my uh submission for this didn't
[01:32:16.800 -> 01:32:26.040] necessarily miss the apex but they did miss their grid box and also a a speed limiter line.
[01:32:26.040 -> 01:32:30.660] Maybe he needs one of those parking sensors, but you know it's going to be Esteban Ocon
[01:32:30.660 -> 01:32:32.880] and the chain of events that he set off.
[01:32:32.880 -> 01:32:35.520] Yeah, but look, you're right, you're right, Chris.
[01:32:35.520 -> 01:32:38.280] It was pure fluff territory from him.
[01:32:38.280 -> 01:32:50.240] Unfortunate, narrow margins, unlucky, but it's mostly on him. And the speeding in the pit lane, that seems to me like, you know, you've tilted, you've
[01:32:50.240 -> 01:32:52.400] gone, the rage has clicked.
[01:32:52.400 -> 01:32:56.720] If you want me to make it fair as well, I'll also give it to Alpine's stopwatch.
[01:32:56.720 -> 01:33:01.320] I would just throw in 10 kilometers, that's a tilt.
[01:33:01.320 -> 01:33:03.680] 0.1, yeah, whatever.
[01:33:03.680 -> 01:33:09.220] Rules is rules is rules. rules you know except for me I don't mind
[01:33:09.220 -> 01:33:16.340] Alex hi you're right hi missed apex hi missed apex award is going to go to
[01:33:16.340 -> 01:33:21.380] Mercedes PR I think they've been a mess this weekend mix messaging isn't it
[01:33:21.380 -> 01:33:25.840] because they could have just gone we're gonna fight
[01:33:25.840 -> 01:33:29.280] hard for this this season we're gonna push but they don't we don't they don't
[01:33:29.280 -> 01:33:35.480] need to tell us that the concept has failed and all it just adds negative
[01:33:35.480 -> 01:33:39.800] feelings into everything that is around Mercedes they just need to say right
[01:33:39.800 -> 01:33:42.560] we're gonna keep our head down for this year we're gonna work as hard as we can
[01:33:42.560 -> 01:33:45.240] and we're gonna try and're going to try and improve because
[01:33:45.340 -> 01:33:46.620] that's what they are going to do.
[01:33:46.740 -> 01:33:50.420] But to come out and say for Toto to come out and say the concept is wrong.
[01:33:50.560 -> 01:33:55.180] Lewis also questioning the concept, George saying, Oh, well, doesn't matter.
[01:33:55.180 -> 01:33:57.700] Red Bull going to go win every single race this season.
[01:33:58.100 -> 01:33:58.260] Yeah.
[01:33:58.260 -> 01:33:58.660] Cheer up.
[01:33:58.660 -> 01:33:59.200] Cheer up.
[01:33:59.980 -> 01:34:02.500] It's they need to be more positive.
[01:34:02.740 -> 01:34:05.320] And I think they are responsible
[01:34:05.320 -> 01:34:06.820] for the backlash from the fans
[01:34:06.820 -> 01:34:09.280] who are trying to get heads to roll.
[01:34:09.280 -> 01:34:10.840] Right, well, I would so much rather,
[01:34:10.840 -> 01:34:12.420] and this is one of the things I've always respected
[01:34:12.420 -> 01:34:16.360] about Mercedes is how honest they tend to be.
[01:34:16.360 -> 01:34:18.000] And what is there to be positive about?
[01:34:18.000 -> 01:34:19.640] I would so much rather listen
[01:34:19.640 -> 01:34:21.960] to them acknowledging the faults
[01:34:21.960 -> 01:34:27.360] than rather try and, you know, put a fire out with one of those like
[01:34:27.360 -> 01:34:31.280] little spray things that you use on your plants because it's just not going to work.
[01:34:31.280 -> 01:34:35.920] There's being honest and there's being honest to a fault where it damages yourself. And they could
[01:34:35.920 -> 01:34:39.200] have been honest and said at the moment we haven't got this nailed down but we're going to work on it,
[01:34:39.200 -> 01:34:43.760] which is what they're going to do. You know, they might be, they don't need to tell us the
[01:34:43.760 -> 01:34:48.680] specifics. I don't want to know the specifics because it's sad and makes me unhappy.
[01:34:48.680 -> 01:34:55.000] But Mercedes are in this unique position where they've rewritten the record books in Formula
[01:34:55.000 -> 01:34:59.640] One. It doesn't matter if they have two, three bad years in Formula One because they're always
[01:34:59.640 -> 01:35:00.640] going to be remembered.
[01:35:00.640 -> 01:35:02.480] Tell the fans that. Tell the diehards that.
[01:35:02.480 -> 01:35:10.600] Yeah, to be honest, if anyone from Mercedes is listening and can get a message to the Mercedes PR admin and Toto Wolff, sugarcoat it. I'm with you
[01:35:10.600 -> 01:35:15.840] Van Gene. Just give us a nice, nice slathering of icing. It doesn't matter, so long as, you
[01:35:15.840 -> 01:35:21.400] know, they're keeping the sponsors on, which it sounds like they are. And you know, it's
[01:35:21.400 -> 01:35:26.200] refreshing. We always keep complaining that teams and drivers
[01:35:26.200 -> 01:35:28.120] are robots and they keep saying the same thing,
[01:35:28.120 -> 01:35:30.520] but every time somebody says something different,
[01:35:30.520 -> 01:35:32.720] we complain about it.
[01:35:32.720 -> 01:35:34.800] Okay, and for my Myst Apex,
[01:35:34.800 -> 01:35:36.500] before I do my Myst Apex award,
[01:35:36.500 -> 01:35:39.080] I just want to pay tribute to my teammate
[01:35:39.080 -> 01:35:41.360] who did really well to get here and make,
[01:35:41.360 -> 01:35:43.400] oh no, that's Alonso's notes, sorry.
[01:35:43.400 -> 01:35:46.080] My Myst Apex award is going to go to
[01:35:46.080 -> 01:35:51.920] Sainz because he's turned up and he looks more than half a click off of the back of Leclerc and
[01:35:51.920 -> 01:35:57.840] I think there was a lot of Carlos Sainz fans or certainly fans of his hair who were hoping
[01:35:57.840 -> 01:36:01.840] that he could be a little bit closer but he looked an awful, an awful long way off.
[01:36:03.120 -> 01:36:06.520] He was looking promising and testing he was looking
[01:36:06.520 -> 01:36:10.680] promising and qualifying he topped Q1 if I remember rightly so I was like oh
[01:36:10.680 -> 01:36:15.520] we've got Carlos Sainz on song and then he just vanished in the race and then
[01:36:15.520 -> 01:36:20.520] all of a sudden I was incredibly surprised to see Lewis and Alonso
[01:36:20.520 -> 01:36:24.560] bearing down on him. While fighting, while fighting as well. Exactly.
[01:36:24.560 -> 01:36:25.360] Oh go on Alex, Matt is gonna make fighting as well. Exactly. Oh, Alex,
[01:36:25.360 -> 01:36:30.640] Matt, who's going to make this all better? I'm just going to say once again, this is
[01:36:30.640 -> 01:36:36.320] the worst possible track for Ferrari in my estimation. So let's see where they are.
[01:36:36.320 -> 01:36:41.840] They won it last year. They've actually won it quite a lot. You two, you two, by the way,
[01:36:41.840 -> 01:36:45.320] on screen now, Chris and Matt, you owe me a 15 minute segment for a
[01:36:45.320 -> 01:36:50.960] magazine show breaking down all the tracks and why they're front and or rear limited.
[01:36:50.960 -> 01:36:52.320] So I look forward to that.
[01:36:52.320 -> 01:36:53.800] Yeah, get someone to do it.
[01:36:53.800 -> 01:36:56.240] He'll do it so much better than I will.
[01:36:56.240 -> 01:36:57.240] It was you.
[01:36:57.240 -> 01:36:58.840] That's easy, then I can just say you're wrong.
[01:36:58.840 -> 01:37:01.040] Exactly, that's Chris's argument.
[01:37:01.040 -> 01:37:05.200] Follow these two idiots, Matt Two Rumpets, links in the show notes below.
[01:37:05.200 -> 01:37:10.760] Chris Stevens and this one, Alex Jeansy Van Jeen. And follow me, Spanners Ready on Twitter
[01:37:10.760 -> 01:37:15.240] and Richard Ready on Facebook. I'm the best one. Follow me. Consider supporting us on
[01:37:15.240 -> 01:37:20.760] Patreon, patreon.com forward slash missed apex. And also, please just tell your friends,
[01:37:20.760 -> 01:37:26.240] give Missed Apex podcast a try. If you're into F1. They're fine. Until we see you
[01:37:26.240 -> 01:37:50.000] next, work hard, be kind, and have fun. This was Myst Apex Podcast. ♪♪
[01:37:50.000 -> 01:38:00.020] ♪♪
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