Belgian GP 2023 F1 Race Review

Spanners and Trumpets are joined by Chris ‘Comms’ Stevens and Danish TV journo Kristian ‘Chaos’ Pedersen as they forecast all the weather for the Belgian Grand Prix. From wild weather to suspicious squeezes from Red Bull’s romp to the midfield maelstrom, no wet weather spray pattern goes unanalyzed in this, the latest episode of Missed Apex Podcast. 

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Matt Trumpets mattpt55 (@mattpt55)

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Comer here for the wit and wisdom of Joe Saward A Virtual Audience with Joe: Friday 4th August 8pm (UK TIME/BST) | Missed Apex Podcast

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**Transcript Summary**

* The Belgian Grand Prix weekend featured a sprint qualifying race, which was ultimately won by Max Verstappen.
* The weather conditions during the weekend were challenging, with rain affecting both the qualifying and race sessions.
* Ferrari's Carlos Sainz and McLaren's Oscar Piastri collided in the first corner of the race, resulting in a heated debate over who was at fault.
* The return of the Australian Grand Prix to the Formula One calendar was welcomed by fans and drivers alike.
* Ferrari appeared to have a strong package at Spa, with Charles Leclerc taking pole position and Sainz finishing second in the race.
* Mercedes showed signs of improvement with their car, with Lewis Hamilton finishing fourth and George Russell fifth.
* The legality of the Red Bull car's design continues to be a topic of discussion, with some teams questioning whether it adheres to the regulations.

**Key Insights and Perspectives**

* The sprint qualifying format provided an exciting addition to the weekend, offering a unique format for determining the grid for the main race.
* The wet weather conditions added an element of unpredictability to the race, leading to several incidents and retirements.
* The collision between Sainz and Piastri highlighted the difficulty in determining fault in racing incidents, with both drivers holding different perspectives on the matter.
* The return of the Australian Grand Prix was a positive development for Formula One, bringing the sport to a new audience and providing a thrilling race.
* Ferrari's strong performance at Spa suggests that they are genuine contenders for the championship, while Mercedes' improved pace indicates that they may be able to challenge for race wins in the second half of the season.
* The ongoing debate over the legality of the Red Bull car's design could have significant implications for the championship battle, as it could potentially lead to penalties or even disqualification for the team.

**Controversies and Particularly Insightful Moments**

* The collision between Sainz and Piastri sparked a heated debate among fans and pundits, with strong opinions on both sides regarding who was at fault.
* The legality of the Red Bull car's design has been a contentious issue throughout the season, with several teams expressing concerns about its compliance with the regulations.

**Overall Message and Takeaway**

The Belgian Grand Prix weekend provided plenty of drama and excitement, with the sprint qualifying format, challenging weather conditions, and several notable incidents keeping fans engaged throughout. The return of the Australian Grand Prix was a welcome addition to the calendar, and the strong performances from Ferrari and Mercedes suggest that the championship battle is far from over. However, the ongoing controversy surrounding the legality of the Red Bull car's design could potentially overshadow the remainder of the season and have a significant impact on the outcome of the championship. # Missed Apex Podcast Episode 81: Belgian Grand Prix Review

## Episode Summary

In this episode of the Missed Apex Podcast, hosts Spanners, Matt, Chris Stevens, and Kristian Pedersen provide an in-depth analysis of the Belgian Grand Prix. They discuss the unpredictable weather conditions, controversial penalties, and the overall performances of the drivers and teams.

## Key Points and Arguments

- **Wet Weather Strategies:** The podcasters highlight the strategic decisions made by teams and drivers in response to the changing weather conditions. They discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using wet tires versus intermediate tires, and how these choices impacted the race outcomes.

- **Controversial Penalties:** The panel examines the penalties imposed during the race, particularly the penalty given to Lewis Hamilton for a collision with Sergio Perez. They debate the fairness of the penalty and whether it was justified based on the circumstances of the incident.

- **Driver Performances:** The hosts analyze the performances of individual drivers, focusing on Max Verstappen, Sergio Perez, and Lewis Hamilton. They discuss Verstappen's dominant victory, Perez's struggles, and Hamilton's recovery drive after receiving a grid penalty.

- **Team Strategies:** The podcasters evaluate the strategies employed by the different teams, including Red Bull, Mercedes, and Ferrari. They discuss the effectiveness of these strategies and how they contributed to the final race results.

- **Midfield Battle:** The panel also delves into the intense midfield battle, highlighting the performances of drivers such as Fernando Alonso, Lando Norris, and George Russell. They discuss the impact of the midfield battle on the overall excitement and competitiveness of the race.

## Notable Quotes

- "It was a bit long, but I enjoyed it." - Spanners, on the lengthy debate about the Hamilton-Perez penalty.

- "I think it's ruining Formula One, basically." - Christian Pedersen, on the increasing use of VAR and the penalization of consequences over actual incidents.

- "It's the same as saying, okay, you overtake a car, here's a black and white flag." - Christian Pedersen, comparing the penalty system to a simplistic black-and-white approach.

- "I think there's 10 drivers on the grid have that moment and end up in the wall." - Matt, emphasizing the difficulty of Verstappen's save at Eau Rouge.

- "This weekend there was a marked change and I have to say, like Chris, you know I'm not a Verstappen fan. But everything about his social media, his bounce, his spring in his step, every interview, there was a wink and a smile. He was charming." - Matt, on Verstappen's positive attitude and demeanor during the race weekend.

## Overall Message

The overall message of the podcast is that the Belgian Grand Prix was a thrilling and unpredictable race, characterized by strategic decisions, controversial penalties, and impressive driver performances. The podcasters provide a comprehensive analysis of the race, offering insights into the challenges faced by the drivers and teams, and the factors that contributed to the final results. **Summary of the Missed Apex Podcast Episode on the Belgian Grand Prix**

**Key Insights, Perspectives, and Controversies:**

* **Controversy surrounding Sergio Perez's aggressive driving:**
* Perez's maneuvers were widely criticized as being overly aggressive and potentially dangerous.
* Some commentators felt that Perez's actions were justified given his position in the race and the need to make up ground.
* Others argued that Perez's driving was reckless and put other drivers at unnecessary risk.

* **Ferrari's resurgence:**
* Ferrari showed strong pace and competitiveness at Spa, with Charles Leclerc taking pole position and finishing second in the race.
* This performance marked a significant improvement for Ferrari, which had struggled for much of the season.
* Some experts believe that Ferrari's resurgence may be a sign of things to come and that the team could challenge for the championship in the remaining races.

* **Mercedes' struggles:**
* Mercedes continued to struggle for pace and competitiveness at Spa, with Lewis Hamilton finishing fourth and George Russell finishing sixth.
* This result was particularly disappointing for Mercedes, given that the team had brought a significant number of upgrades to its car for the race.
* Some analysts believe that Mercedes may need to make more fundamental changes to its car in order to be competitive with Red Bull and Ferrari.

* **McLaren's mixed weekend:**
* McLaren had a strong start to the weekend, with Lando Norris qualifying in the top three and showing good pace in the sprint race.
* However, the team's performance dropped off in the main race, with Norris finishing seventh and Daniel Ricciardo finishing 15th.
* Some experts believe that McLaren's struggles in the race were due to the team's decision to run a high-downforce setup, which was not ideal for the dry conditions.

* **Aston Martin's inconsistent performance:**
* Aston Martin had a mixed weekend at Spa, with Sebastian Vettel finishing eighth and Lance Stroll finishing 10th.
* Vettel's performance was particularly impressive, given that he had started the race from the back of the grid due to a penalty.
* However, Stroll's result was disappointing, as he had been running in the top five for much of the race before making a mistake and dropping down the order.

* **Daniel Ricciardo's struggles:**
* Ricciardo had a difficult weekend at Spa, finishing 15th in the race.
* This result continued a disappointing season for Ricciardo, who has struggled to adapt to the McLaren car.
* Some experts believe that Ricciardo may need to consider a move to another team in order to revive his career.

**Important Quotes and Statements:**

* "Sergio is having to think his way around making these tires work, making this car work, and Max does not. It's that simple." - Matt

* "It was really surprising to me was the fact that the Mercedes still couldn't seem to match the race pace. Like even their tire deg was worse than what the Ferrari is, which is supposedly, you know, terrible." - Christian

* "I think for me as well, putting it on the front row and ending up on pole for sure helped. But what was really surprising to me was the fact that the Mercedes still couldn't seem to match the race pace." - Kristian

* "I have nothing to add to that, Matt. I agree. You have left Christian speechless." - Chris

* "It was good to see Ferrari, as you say, back up at the front." - Christian

* "I think Alonso absolutely lucked into his result because everybody who he passed was absolutely scuppered by Piastri coming out of turn one." - Matt

* "Norris, for instance, he was just nowhere. Then, at one point, Alonso pitted and came out of the same spot. I mean, sometimes I just couldn't follow with all the times and all, but eventually I think it was a really, really grown-up drive from Lando Norris, this one." - Matt

* "This is the thing, he was so fast. He made up all that time he lost because he put him on the right tire at the right time." - Matt

* "Aston Martin made the kind of opposite choice and were a little bit flattered today when you look at the scheme of the overall pace." - Matt

* "But for Mercedes, I'm impressed. They were nowhere. They brought a beast back to a car that can't take it, can't fully go where they want it to go to work, and they continue to bring things that make the car faster." - Matt

* "I think they still struggle in the high speed on the straights, but I have every certainty that they will continue to whittle that down and be even more competitive as the season carries on." - Matt

* "Mercedes, I think they had a rough weekend in Hungary and I was quite critical in the Hungarian Grand Prix race review. There's still some things like throughout the course of the weekend here where the communication to the drivers didn't seem good." - Chris

* "I think when they get it together, they could easily come back and dominate that second best car spot." - Chris

* "I completely agree. I think there have been too many operational errors from Mercedes so far this season and that's what has been hurting them more I think because the car is the car at this point." - Chris

* "They really just have to make the best out of what they've got and we're seeing all these errors that are creeping in that you didn't see when they were dominating." - Chris

* "But I like how you don't see any bad publicity, any bad PR when you have a thing like Hamilton and Russell doing a thing in SQ3." - Matt

* "It's so far off that they finished third on Saturday and Alcon came from 14th and finished 8th. Organizationally, not like, okay, so look, if you want to point to results, you're good at this, but if you want to point to like, yes, a weekend where there was, there was lots of teams with different approaches to the weekend, which mixed things up a bit, fine. It wasn't a disaster. And again, Matt, I feel like this has always been our argument when it comes to Renault slash Alpine, which is that your bar for success for them is a lot lower than mine." - Chris

* "This is a works team with one of the biggest car manufacturers in the universe. They should be way, way higher, but for their lack of commitment organizationally, this has now been exposed as a disaster." - Matt

* "But the reality is, the problem here, I don't think, is the Formula One team. I think the problem here is Viri. I think it's their power unit, and I think it's the people running it, and I think it's the inability of the people running it to actually get their act together and properly work with the Formula One team to make a car that would really be competitive." - Matt

* "So Renault as an engine manufacturer, power unit supplier, whatever, has produced an underpowered engine slash power unit since the dawn of time." - Matt

* "I don't know if anyone heard the interview with the new, what's his role? I think he's Fabian's interim team principal." - Matt

* "Bruno Famin. He's the new team principal. He's the new Otmar, right? That was, I don't think I've in the last 10 years heard anyone say anything that sounded the alarms more than what he said." - Chris

* "You can't remove Alan Perlman and Ottmar and Pat Fry from the same team. I mean, their five-year plan can start in a couple of years when the team has gotten its form again. And that's seven years from now." - Chris

* "I just find it so amateurish that not from the Formula One team side, but from the CEO boardroom kind of side." - Matt

* "The engine problems are coming from inside the factory." - Matt

* "Russell really has had a nightmare this weekend. Well done for rallying back and getting it together. But the gap in pace, the gap in ability is starting to stretch out to the point where I'm starting to suspect that they've developed towards Lewis Hamilton's demands." - Matt

* "So in slight defence of Russell, he was on the higher downforce set up which I think we can all agree was the wrong way to go." - Chris

**Awards:**

* **Driver of the Day:** Charles Leclerc
* **Overtake of the Race:** Fernando Alonso on Esteban Ocon
* **Team of the Day:** Ferrari
* **Disappointment of the Day:** Mercedes
* **Controversy of the Day:** Sergio Perez's aggressive driving - **Missed Apex Belgian Grand Prix Podcast Highlights:**

- **Christian "Comms" Stevens and Danish TV journalist Kristian "Chaos" Pedersen join the podcast.**

- **The trio discusses the wild weather, Red Bull's dominance, and the midfield maelstrom at the Belgian Grand Prix.**

- **Key Takeaways:**

- **Lewis Hamilton's struggles continue, leading to speculation that Mercedes' development direction may have moved away from his preferences.**

- **Aston Martin had a mixed weekend, with both Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll crashing during qualifying.**

- **Yuki Tsunoda secured a surprise victory for Alpha Tauri, while Daniel Ricciardo showed promising signs of improvement at McLaren.**

- **Sergio Perez joins Max Verstappen on the podium, with Ferrari securing a rare third place finish.**

- **The Formula One TV Pro crew is praised for their professionalism and dedication.**

- **Alpine's handling of the Piastri-Ocon driver situation is criticized as a "disaster."**

- **Haas' underwhelming performance raises questions about Kevin Magnussen's future with the team.**

- **Nick DeVries' impressive performance in the Williams is acknowledged, but the hosts refrain from making jokes due to the recent death of his father.**

- **Overall Message:**

- **The Belgian Grand Prix provided excitement and drama, with several teams and drivers making headlines for both positive and negative reasons.** ## Missed Apex Belgian Grand Prix Review

### Race Recap and Analysis

- The Belgian Grand Prix was held in wet conditions, leading to a chaotic and unpredictable race.
- Max Verstappen dominated the race, winning by over 17 seconds despite starting from 14th on the grid.
- Sergio Perez finished second, followed by Carlos Sainz Jr. in third.
- George Russell, Fernando Alonso, and Lewis Hamilton rounded out the top six.
- Several drivers, including Lando Norris and Sebastian Vettel, crashed out of the race due to the wet conditions.

### Team Performances

- Red Bull Racing continued their dominance, with Verstappen and Perez securing a 1-2 finish.
- Ferrari struggled in the wet conditions, with Sainz Jr. the only driver to finish in the top three.
- Mercedes showed improved pace, with Russell and Hamilton finishing in the top six.
- McLaren had a disappointing race, with Norris crashing out and Daniel Ricciardo finishing outside the points.
- Aston Martin also had a poor weekend, with both Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso crashing out.

### Missed Apex Awards

- **Missed Apex of the Race:** Aston Martin's pit call to send Lance Stroll out on slick tires in changing conditions, which resulted in him crashing out of the race.
- **Missed Apex Team of the Race:** Red Bull Racing for their dominant performance in the wet conditions.
- **Missed Apex Driver of the Race:** Max Verstappen for his commanding victory from 14th on the grid.

### Overall

- The Belgian Grand Prix was a thrilling and unpredictable race, with Verstappen taking a dominant victory in wet conditions.
- Red Bull Racing continued their dominance, while Ferrari and Mercedes showed mixed results.
- Several teams and drivers had disappointing weekends, including McLaren and Aston Martin.

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[01:33.080 -> 01:36.040] You are listening to missed apex podcast.
[01:36.680 -> 01:56.360] We live at one. Welcome to Missed Apex Podcast. The title of today's show is Raging Bull Radio. Thanks
[01:56.360 -> 02:02.760] to Derek Woodard for that on Twitter. I'm your host Richard Ready, but my friends call
[02:02.760 -> 02:06.080] me Spanners. So let's be friends. Welcome to our
[02:06.080 -> 02:13.520] Belgian Grand Prix race review. In my opinion that was the best sprint weekend ever which is a bit
[02:13.520 -> 02:19.360] like saying your left hand is the best one to break but I did enjoy the weekend's action. I
[02:19.360 -> 02:26.320] threw myself into a full sprint weekend schedule and I must say I didn't enjoy the vast majority of it.
[02:26.320 -> 02:31.520] So coming up we'll discuss the return of Australia to Formula One,
[02:31.520 -> 02:35.840] Ferrari on the front foot and on the front left of a McLaren,
[02:35.840 -> 02:39.040] have Mercedes finally got a package that they can go racing with
[02:39.040 -> 02:42.800] and does anyone actually know the rules of Formula One.
[02:42.800 -> 02:46.040] We'll also discuss whose fault was it, that crash
[02:46.040 -> 02:50.680] that signs caused, whose fault was that, and we'll discuss much, much more on this pretty
[02:50.680 -> 02:54.960] ordinary episode of Missed Apex Podcast. We are an independent podcast produced in the
[02:54.960 -> 02:58.980] podcasting shed with the kind permission of our better halves. We aim to bring you a race
[02:58.980 -> 03:25.720] review before your Monday morning commute. We might be wrong, but we're first. their weekend. Here on the podcast I'm joined by birthday boy Matt. Two rumpets!
[03:25.720 -> 03:31.120] Happy birthday Matt! Oh thank you! Give me side pods or give me death.
[03:31.120 -> 03:36.000] Well I choose side pods then and I choose Chris Stevens. How's it going Chris?
[03:36.000 -> 03:41.960] Hey Spanners. You know it was lovely when I went to Spa back in May. Just saying.
[03:41.960 -> 03:45.920] Oh because I'm just the kind of guy who goes and does work stuff at
[03:45.920 -> 03:51.920] racetracks. Yeah, yeah, that's how it be. And it wasn't raining. No, it was lovely, but it was too
[03:51.920 -> 03:55.680] hot if anything. But okay, well, we'll discuss that because I think the weather was just the
[03:55.680 -> 04:00.640] right side of interesting. And we've got from Denmark, our resident Viking, Christian Pedersen.
[04:00.640 -> 04:08.820] Hey, Christian. Good evening. And I can tell you it was the exact same weather when I went to spa. Was it 21 years ago?
[04:08.820 -> 04:09.820] Basically.
[04:09.820 -> 04:13.340] OK, but what time of year did you go? I think that would be more relevant to the conversation.
[04:13.340 -> 04:16.380] Christian Pedersen No, I think it was. I went to the race in
[04:16.380 -> 04:22.140] spa and I think it was around the same time, 2002, I think it was.
[04:22.140 -> 04:28.520] Robert Billings Yeah. well, there's a lot of discussion around whether this is the correct time of year to
[04:28.520 -> 04:33.800] go to Spa for the weather. I don't actually think, Matt, that the weather played too much
[04:33.800 -> 04:39.460] of a spoiler for this weekend. And a lot of talk has been around, does Spa have a place
[04:39.460 -> 04:42.880] on the weekend? There's a lot of discussion around the safety. There's a lot of discussion,
[04:42.880 -> 04:49.760] obviously, about the inclement nature of this time of year in Spa-Francorchamps. But to me, this is one of the
[04:49.760 -> 04:55.120] iconic race tracks in Formula One. It's unthinkable that we would not have F1 here.
[04:55.120 -> 05:01.520] Well, yeah, especially because it leads to such very, very good racing in a very wide variety
[05:01.520 -> 05:05.600] of conditions. And there are a lot of tracks that will be good when it's hot or when it's raining.
[05:06.000 -> 05:13.080] Spa, if the weather regardless, is the kind of track and especially I think with this
[05:13.440 -> 05:18.520] regulation set it works very well. You have a couple of big braking zones where drivers can make the difference.
[05:18.520 -> 05:20.640] You have a slipstream that can help
[05:21.160 -> 05:28.320] dragier cars still make overtakes. And it's a huge and difficult compromise for the engineers,
[05:28.320 -> 05:33.040] which we very clearly saw the tale of several different teammates
[05:33.040 -> 05:36.080] across the weekend as the weather went from wet to dry.
[05:36.080 -> 05:39.760] For me, Spa is the ultimate driver's circuit.
[05:39.760 -> 05:42.080] It's one of my favorite Grand Prix to watch on TV.
[05:42.640 -> 05:45.920] But the difference and the reason why it's under threat
[05:45.920 -> 05:48.200] is because it doesn't make enough money.
[05:48.200 -> 05:51.480] And that is a very boring reason.
[05:51.480 -> 05:54.840] And I think if anything, the max Verstappen hype
[05:54.840 -> 05:57.040] at the moment might be the thing that saves this Grand Prix
[05:57.040 -> 05:59.000] because you get an awful lot of Dutch fans
[05:59.000 -> 06:03.000] that make the pilgrimage over to Belgium,
[06:03.000 -> 06:05.040] especially because it's also like his second home race because he
[06:05.040 -> 06:10.320] was born in Belgium. So I think if they can cash in on that, there might still be a chance that
[06:10.320 -> 06:16.560] this Grand Prix can be saved. Christian? I just want to add that a lot of Danes go to Spa. I know
[06:16.560 -> 06:29.360] Danes are not the majority of people watching Formula 1 races. I think maybe Spa or Sandford is the closest races, at least getting there.
[06:29.360 -> 06:37.960] But those races that hold that heritage and can combine both dry track, wet track and
[06:37.960 -> 06:43.680] still give us good racing, it just shows us why it's so important to have races like Spa
[06:43.680 -> 06:50.840] on the calendar, I think. Look, this is, for me though, it's not just, you know, any of the fan considerations.
[06:50.840 -> 06:55.560] I would want it with or without Max Verstappen or Belgian representation.
[06:55.560 -> 06:58.080] It's just a good racetrack.
[06:58.080 -> 07:00.800] You've got a big long straight, the Kemmel straight, obviously,
[07:00.800 -> 07:10.320] what the iconic Eau Rouge-Radionon complex and then a beautiful straight down to that amazing Lecombe section and every single part I could just talk through
[07:10.320 -> 07:15.120] the track all the way down to the bus stop and you've got iconic corners that provide
[07:15.120 -> 07:20.720] a good driver challenge and good racing you know the turn eight uh what's turn eight before
[07:20.720 -> 07:25.440] no name Chris? Oh Rivage. Rivage revi like elves depending on which map you're looking at
[07:25.440 -> 07:32.080] like revage is and i'm a bit of a hairpin fan you know i'm a chicane hater but like revage is as good
[07:32.080 -> 07:39.680] a hairpin as luffield also it is not no name even before it was sort of unofficially renamed jackie
[07:39.680 -> 07:48.720] x it was often referred to as speaker's corner and i will die on this hill. Okay, don't die. Can you die at 10 when the recording is finished though?
[07:48.720 -> 07:50.400] Okay, fine, but I'm not happy about it.
[07:50.400 -> 07:54.160] Okay, good. But it's an iconic track. I mean, just for the racing, Christian.
[07:54.160 -> 07:58.000] Like, I think this always provides interest and drama, you know.
[07:58.000 -> 08:02.480] It's like Baku has that long straight into turn one and that's like the one thing it's got.
[08:03.040 -> 08:06.720] It's like that, but then with a marvellous racetrack afterwards as well.
[08:07.840 -> 08:12.480] Thinking of Formula 1 as a sport that's gaining a lot of new fans, viewers,
[08:13.200 -> 08:18.240] just general interest. I think we hear a lot of this, classic corners or
[08:19.200 -> 08:27.340] this and this happened in 1992. And I don't really think the new group can use that for anything because
[08:27.340 -> 08:32.400] everything's new. The way Formula 1 works today is completely different from 20 years
[08:32.400 -> 08:41.160] ago, but still, Spa just works. You see, for instance, just after Puhong, I was watching
[08:41.160 -> 08:47.840] during the race and you saw Ricciardo was gaining on someone in front
[08:47.840 -> 08:48.840] of him.
[08:48.840 -> 08:51.840] You can just see how they went into the same corner in different lines.
[08:51.840 -> 08:56.680] One went in there with a lot of speed to maybe gain an advantage mid-corner and the other
[08:56.680 -> 08:58.540] one was just going apex.
[08:58.540 -> 09:02.240] That is what you can do on classic tracks like Spa.
[09:02.240 -> 09:05.880] You get another kind of racing and that is if you have a heavier car, a smaller
[09:05.880 -> 09:12.720] car, whatever, it just works and the weather spices it up. So I think this was, some might
[09:12.720 -> 09:16.960] find the race today a little bit boring because there was no explosions or whatever.
[09:16.960 -> 09:18.160] Oh, okay. Sorry about that.
[09:18.160 -> 09:22.680] But it did deliver everything a race should deliver, didn't it? If you really look for
[09:22.680 -> 09:23.680] the racing.
[09:23.680 -> 09:27.920] There's another example of, you know, different setups culminating in a corner. I think it was Albon
[09:27.920 -> 09:34.160] versus Gasly. And you could see that the Alpines just had that bit more downforce and grip,
[09:34.160 -> 09:37.280] not compared to the rest of the field, but compared to the Williams. And the Williams
[09:37.280 -> 09:41.440] was catching it down the straight. Then as soon as you got to Lecom, the difference becomes
[09:41.440 -> 09:49.520] immediately obvious where Gasly was able to get the grip and get away. But that's brilliant, Matt, isn't it? You can get different teams taking different approaches.
[09:49.520 -> 09:56.640] I feel like that used to happen more in the 2010, 2011, 2012, where teams could take a
[09:57.440 -> 10:05.680] radically different approach to downforce and then see which one works. Because, you know, Red Bull always went like more down force, less high speed.
[10:06.680 -> 10:13.440] Well, yeah, I mean, Spa is a track where inherently you have to compromise.
[10:13.440 -> 10:18.160] You either compromise your time in the middle sector and you're fast on the
[10:18.160 -> 10:22.640] straights or you compromise your time on the straights and you're fast in the
[10:22.640 -> 10:24.920] middle sector and all the teams.
[10:24.920 -> 10:26.240] And I think for some, and I think for
[10:26.240 -> 10:31.440] some, like I believe for Hamilton and Russell, they made different choices about the total level
[10:31.440 -> 10:36.160] of downforce they were going to use. I don't know if it's team-driven or driver-driven,
[10:36.160 -> 10:42.400] but it's irrelevant. What's nice about Spa is it's so well-balanced as a track. You can go
[10:42.400 -> 10:45.840] one way or the other, and your overall lap time is very,
[10:45.840 -> 10:51.920] very close. And then the track itself has the width and the setup and the different
[10:51.920 -> 10:57.600] lines into corners to allow you to fight that battle. So we have a track that lets drivers
[10:57.600 -> 11:03.600] be the difference, not just the cars. And what's great about it as well is that
[11:03.600 -> 11:07.000] they play into different strengths versus qualifying and the race.
[11:07.000 -> 11:14.000] So in qualifying, probably the higher downforce setup is more preferred, particularly because you have DRS down the camel straight as well,
[11:14.000 -> 11:19.000] which negates a little bit of the disadvantage of running more downforce.
[11:19.000 -> 11:25.040] Of course, there's no DRS out of, you know, Curve Paul Frere through Blanchimont and on the run up to the bus stop, Chicane.
[11:25.040 -> 11:26.600] So you still lose out a little bit there.
[11:26.600 -> 11:27.600] That's the last bit.
[11:27.600 -> 11:30.040] Yeah, the last sector, right?
[11:30.040 -> 11:33.680] But then obviously you've got that big barn door on the rear wing and you get compromised
[11:33.680 -> 11:40.560] in the race and you see, like, Lando Norris was a complete sitting duck on the straight.
[11:40.560 -> 11:45.320] If you watch the times during the spring, the qualifying and the sprint itself,
[11:45.320 -> 11:48.480] I know the track was wet, dry, wet, dry, whatever.
[11:48.800 -> 11:51.760] That will, of course, make a big difference on
[11:51.760 -> 11:53.960] are you going straight or are you going through a lot of corners.
[11:54.320 -> 11:58.240] Hamilton was consistently one second faster
[11:58.240 -> 12:01.120] than the McLarens in Sector 1.
[12:01.280 -> 12:04.080] Sector 2, Piastri was just on it.
[12:04.080 -> 12:06.960] Sometimes he was 1.7, 1.8
[12:06.960 -> 12:10.880] second faster than Hamilton during the mid sector and then Hamilton caught him
[12:10.880 -> 12:15.240] by maybe half a second in the last sector. That is a lot and it also says a
[12:15.240 -> 12:20.240] lot about the McLaren by the way. Yeah well we know from from interviews that
[12:20.240 -> 12:25.120] the McLaren was always going to be compromised at this race because they're behind
[12:25.120 -> 12:31.960] on producing the more specialized rear wings for different downforce levels because they
[12:31.960 -> 12:35.780] were so busy just making the whole car that they put on.
[12:35.780 -> 12:39.280] But what's interesting to me, and you bring up the sprint qualifying, I think that's perfect,
[12:39.280 -> 12:43.900] is that safety car that came out for Alonso, I believe, which happy birthday, Fernando,
[12:43.900 -> 12:48.120] you and I, almost the same except for the world championships and about 15 years.
[12:48.120 -> 12:49.120] 15 years, yeah.
[12:49.120 -> 12:52.480] Besides that, you're almost the same.
[12:52.480 -> 12:53.480] Almost the same.
[12:53.480 -> 12:54.480] Yeah.
[12:54.480 -> 12:55.480] And the hair color and the eye color, but okay.
[12:55.480 -> 12:56.480] All right, fine.
[12:56.480 -> 12:57.560] We're not really the same at all.
[12:57.560 -> 12:59.960] Thank you, Christian.
[12:59.960 -> 13:00.960] Was that-
[13:00.960 -> 13:02.240] I like you better, Matt.
[13:02.240 -> 13:03.400] I appreciate that.
[13:03.400 -> 13:06.880] Was it Piastri's lead with absolutely destroyed by
[13:06.880 -> 13:13.040] the safety car his big advantage in that race was in sector two but he was forced to restart
[13:13.040 -> 13:19.040] the race with max right behind him uh coming coming into the last sector where he was never
[13:19.040 -> 13:23.120] going to be able to defend in the sprint qualifying and I think it just makes Christian's point very
[13:23.120 -> 13:25.120] well about how
[13:29.920 -> 13:34.320] the cars can be so differently balanced over a lap and have such close lap times. See this is why I'm about to defend sprint weekends but this is why it's rubbish. You just said sprint
[13:34.320 -> 13:39.040] qualifying where it's not sprint qualifying anymore, that was last season, it is now a sprint
[13:39.040 -> 13:47.400] race on its own. So I still, I prefer this, I prefer the qualifying is it's, the sprint is its own thing on a Saturday.
[13:47.400 -> 13:54.200] So I watched Saturday the sprint quali and then the sprint race, I watched that as its own entity and that's fine.
[13:54.200 -> 13:57.920] I was still annoyed that having enjoyed the qualifying on Friday,
[13:57.920 -> 14:06.460] so oh my, it's another two sleeps before we've got to, before we've got to, you know, to see the conclusion of that. And I sat down to the race today
[14:06.460 -> 14:11.800] with my son and my brother-in-law, who both follow F1, yet they both didn't understand
[14:11.800 -> 14:16.720] why the grid was different to yesterday or how they finished. And it just hasn't been
[14:16.720 -> 14:21.760] communicated well, I don't think, like how it's come across. However, that said, look,
[14:21.760 -> 14:27.680] there's a few flaws with how they went racing on Saturday. Mucking
[14:27.680 -> 14:32.880] around with the rain, you know, why on a sprint race do we have to be silly with fuel? If
[14:32.880 -> 14:38.480] it's 14 laps, why can't they put 20 laps of fuel in? Is that the biggest, most critical
[14:38.480 -> 14:42.000] thing? And then while they're going around clearing the water in the rain, it was very
[14:42.000 -> 14:49.680] predictable that there was going to be some water, that there was going to be formation laps. Would it have been so bad to mandate
[14:49.680 -> 14:54.840] a certain amount of fuel to go in and therefore get four racing laps? Because 15 was already
[14:54.840 -> 15:00.440] short and then what did we get in the end? Eight racing laps in the end after an uncharacteristic
[15:00.440 -> 15:05.520] Fernando Alonso Bin into no name. I was thinking the exact same.
[15:05.520 -> 15:12.320] And maybe we should consider having, I mean, the amount of fuel we're talking these days
[15:12.320 -> 15:15.040] is it's so little.
[15:15.040 -> 15:21.400] So maybe we should have a buffer of always 10 laps of extra fuel in each car to counter
[15:21.400 -> 15:25.120] safety cars, whatever, especially the formation laps.
[15:25.120 -> 15:29.280] And the formation laps on the official timer, it doesn't count.
[15:29.280 -> 15:31.920] So it's like, did something happen here?
[15:31.920 -> 15:36.440] It just said lap one, lap one, and then suddenly lap five or whatever.
[15:36.440 -> 15:40.080] By the way, five laps behind the safety car, that was just too much, wasn't it?
[15:40.080 -> 15:44.040] And I was watching it on the Sky Feed, very experienced commentary team, of course,
[15:44.040 -> 15:46.520] and they didn't know what was happening.
[15:46.520 -> 15:51.120] And we had to find out from the Slack group here, patron Slack group, who found out from
[15:51.120 -> 15:53.360] F1 TV or other sources.
[15:53.360 -> 15:58.160] So yeah, that aside, I mean, Formula E have a good system where they can extend if there's
[15:58.160 -> 15:59.200] safety cars.
[15:59.200 -> 16:04.880] So that was my only kind of minor quibble, Chris, with Saturday, because we were just
[16:04.880 -> 16:06.320] sat around for a long
[16:06.320 -> 16:11.280] time and, you know, it's the normal faff with rain these days. But apart from that, the
[16:11.280 -> 16:16.680] sprint quali worked well and the sprint race was pretty good. I still don't see the point
[16:16.680 -> 16:27.200] but it was pretty good. Yeah, I think the issue with the weather as well is that because of the delay to the spring qualifying
[16:27.200 -> 16:33.900] or shootout, whatever they want to call it, they missed the good weather window as well.
[16:33.900 -> 16:39.600] And what we end up getting in both sessions, I think, as well, was the fact that we kept
[16:39.600 -> 16:46.680] going until it was intermediate conditions and not using the wet weather tire pretty much at all.
[16:46.680 -> 16:49.480] And we're back in this position again
[16:49.480 -> 16:51.340] where the wet tire is basically useless.
[16:51.340 -> 16:52.440] There's no point in having it
[16:52.440 -> 16:54.020] because we're never gonna run in conditions
[16:54.020 -> 16:55.340] where you need a wet tire.
[16:55.340 -> 16:57.640] And it's probably not so much an aquaplaning thing,
[16:57.640 -> 16:59.860] it's a visibility issue.
[16:59.860 -> 17:02.080] Well, you must know it's my birthday
[17:02.080 -> 17:04.280] because not only do I get to talk about regulations
[17:04.280 -> 17:09.080] no one cares about, but me and three other people on the internet, but also tires here
[17:09.080 -> 17:15.960] I believe there's a set period of time that has to elapse between the end of the sprint
[17:16.320 -> 17:19.240] Shootout which is qualifying for the sprint race now
[17:19.640 -> 17:25.160] Just to keep everybody up to date on how they've changed the language, and the actual start of the sprint.
[17:25.160 -> 17:29.800] And you're right, the lack of flexibility there meant that they got stuck with the bad
[17:29.800 -> 17:32.600] weather and meant everything took a lot, lot longer.
[17:32.600 -> 17:37.880] But interestingly, none other than Mario Isola agrees with you.
[17:37.880 -> 17:42.960] He's like, if this is how it's going to be, we have a new tread pattern for what we call
[17:42.960 -> 17:46.160] a super intermediate, let's just ditch the wet
[17:46.160 -> 17:51.120] tire entirely so we don't have to make them, agree that it's going to be like this, and we'll give
[17:51.120 -> 17:55.600] you a tire that you can start out behind the safety car and not need to switch to enters,
[17:55.600 -> 18:00.240] which frankly he thought was ridiculous. Although a pit stop in a sprint race did make it more
[18:00.240 -> 18:06.560] interesting. Let's agree. Yeah, well, yeah it did, even though it was a little bit farcical in nature. But look,
[18:06.560 -> 18:12.400] everyone, we have started off, we've had 15 minutes or so, talking about spa, the conditions
[18:12.400 -> 18:16.020] and the general theme of the weekend. And I just want to say that is Matt's choice.
[18:16.020 -> 18:20.360] So you can say to Matt, well done Matt, that was a good choice for an opening topic. I
[18:20.360 -> 18:24.780] said, let's talk about the crashes first. And I've had to wait 15 minutes to do so.
[18:24.780 -> 18:25.520] But now it's my time as we play... said let's talk about the crashes first and I've had to wait 15 minutes to do so but now
[18:25.520 -> 18:35.280] it's my time as we play... whose fault is it? fault is it? okay this is my favorite game ever so
[18:35.280 -> 18:42.160] in Formula One one of the most interesting things is when two cars come together obviously overtakes
[18:42.160 -> 18:53.040] are fun but when there is an incident where there is a disagreement over which car can exist in a certain plane of the temporal time-space field, then the
[18:53.040 -> 18:58.080] cars come together and there's often disagreement about whose fault it is because both drivers think
[18:58.080 -> 19:04.240] they're not at fault. But to me this is the core of the sport and I love analysing it because you
[19:04.240 -> 19:05.780] get to pause it and you get
[19:05.780 -> 19:11.160] to play we are the steward and it would be much easier if F1 had a coherent set of rules
[19:11.160 -> 19:15.620] around where you can and can't be in a corner but I don't think they do and I think we can
[19:15.620 -> 19:20.220] argue about what interpretations of the rules we think have come around but to me this is
[19:20.220 -> 19:27.120] where the soul of the sport of motor racing exists. When there is that clash, when there is a disagreement,
[19:27.120 -> 19:28.960] when things go wrong in a corner,
[19:28.960 -> 19:31.960] we can argue about whose fault it is.
[19:31.960 -> 19:34.640] And the first one we're gonna go for today is
[19:34.640 -> 19:38.460] Carlos Sainz versus Oscar Piastri
[19:38.460 -> 19:41.200] into turn one of the Grand Prix on Sunday.
[19:41.200 -> 19:44.160] And Chris, I would love to let you go first.
[19:44.160 -> 19:46.000] I would love to. I would love to as you go first I would love to love to as
[19:46.000 -> 19:49.920] well but I have a feeling we're actually on the same page here because you and I are both correct
[19:49.920 -> 19:57.040] in this yeah Matt came to us with a take so hot it's melted my eyes exactly that's why Matt has
[19:57.040 -> 20:02.640] to go first when someone's this wrong about a racing incident then they they get to go first
[20:02.640 -> 20:06.000] so Matt please tell us why this was in fact Oscar
[20:06.000 -> 20:07.000] Piastri's fault.
[20:07.000 -> 20:12.480] No, because I don't think it was Piastri's fault. I think he exercised exceedingly poor
[20:12.480 -> 20:13.480] judgment.
[20:13.480 -> 20:17.280] Oh, then that's his fault.
[20:17.280 -> 20:23.720] I would say, in my humble opinion, if there was anyone about totally blameless in the
[20:23.720 -> 20:25.760] matter, it has to be Carlos Sainz.
[20:27.440 -> 20:31.840] Oh my goodness! I knew I would melt everybody's brains. No, no, Chris, Chris, we're in the...
[20:31.840 -> 20:35.600] Chris, we'll listen. We'll listen. We'll listen. Go on, Matt. No, please. Whose fault was it,
[20:35.600 -> 20:41.760] really? And this is where I have to preface this by saying, and I'm sure all of you, much like me,
[20:41.760 -> 20:46.480] went back and obsessively watched both the onboards and the start, including
[20:46.480 -> 20:52.720] taking pictures with my camera to make sure I could photographically document my chain of evidence
[20:52.720 -> 21:00.080] here. But causally speaking, it starts with Perez, but it is doubly, and we get accused of being a
[21:00.080 -> 21:05.360] fanboy here, but I'm definitely not, it was doubly Lewis Hamilton's fault the entire thing.
[21:05.360 -> 21:10.000] Okay, no, I'm listening. I'm listening. I'm listening with mirth, but go on. No, it's fine.
[21:10.000 -> 21:15.520] Ruin the reputation of the show. Do continue. Oh, no, no, no. I'm going to be, because I know
[21:15.520 -> 21:18.960] now what's going to happen. Anyone with access to replays is going to be heading back to say,
[21:18.960 -> 21:23.920] like, wait, what? How is he going to defend this? And this is how it happened. Perez,
[21:23.920 -> 21:29.300] starting on the outside, swoops over, probably trying to squeeze Leclerc, but he
[21:29.300 -> 21:33.760] got too good of a getaway, and instead gets directly in front of Hamilton.
[21:33.760 -> 21:36.940] And Hamilton, seeing this, has a choice.
[21:36.940 -> 21:40.200] Follow Perez, but he thinks he's got a better getaway.
[21:40.200 -> 21:45.920] So he swoops out wide, and there he picks up Carlos Sainz, who was coming to the middle to
[21:45.920 -> 21:50.400] just make a sensible, I'm going to go through the turn and leave lots of room on every side,
[21:50.400 -> 21:57.600] because I know how crazy turn one at spot is. And he goes wide and takes Carlos with him. Carlos
[21:58.320 -> 22:04.480] gets right behind Luis, and this is where it all goes wrong. Luis, seeing where Perez is,
[22:08.360 -> 22:11.680] and knowing his car characteristics, thinks to himself, I'm going to go for the cutback, I'm going to get on throttle early, and I'm going to
[22:11.680 -> 22:15.800] be chasing him up into Eau Rouge and down the straight, I'm going to use the slipstream
[22:15.800 -> 22:17.420] to get around him.
[22:17.420 -> 22:22.880] Problem is, because of him taking Carlos wide, Carlos is already almost in his diffuser,
[22:22.880 -> 22:26.240] so the moment Lewis lifts, Carlos has to hit the brakes
[22:26.240 -> 22:31.840] hard, and that's what caused the lockup. And furthermore, that wasn't enough to stop him.
[22:31.840 -> 22:40.240] He had to steer inside of Lewis. So now you have the two of them, side by side, going into the
[22:40.240 -> 22:46.400] first turn, while Piastri was about five car widths inside, watching all of this happen.
[22:46.960 -> 22:54.560] By the time he gets even with Sainz's rear wheel, Sainz is well set on his path to the apex,
[22:54.560 -> 23:00.160] and Piastri knows the direction he's headed. And then, and this is why I say it's, ah,
[23:00.160 -> 23:06.800] this is doubly Louis's fault, Louis totally squeezes Carlos in the first turn, and that
[23:06.800 -> 23:14.000] leaves no room at all for Carlos to give Piastri any, any, any extra room. And even at that,
[23:14.000 -> 23:17.160] he almost did! So that's why it's Lewis's fault.
[23:17.160 -> 23:19.000] The floor is yours, Chris.
[23:19.000 -> 23:26.240] I feel like that's conjecture at best. Because Lewis... How can he possibly see-
[23:26.240 -> 23:27.240] I have pictures!
[23:27.240 -> 23:30.440] How can he possibly see that Piastri is also alongside him?
[23:30.440 -> 23:34.240] For me, the move from Piastri was a thousand percent on.
[23:34.240 -> 23:35.760] He was alongside.
[23:35.760 -> 23:37.280] He absolutely was.
[23:37.280 -> 23:38.280] And it is...
[23:38.280 -> 23:44.520] Science getting too hot in on the breaks, and deciding to go inside on Lewis, he makes
[23:44.520 -> 23:46.500] that a three-wide situation
[23:46.500 -> 23:48.260] because he locked up.
[23:48.260 -> 23:55.220] Whatever happened to Lewis and Sainz was racing start things, and they went out of T1 and
[23:55.220 -> 23:57.500] drove on down to Ursh.
[23:57.500 -> 24:06.960] But Piastri went for, yeah, he was halfway up the side of science, but he went for a gap that's just not there
[24:06.960 -> 24:10.400] in SPAR-T1, that doesn't exist.
[24:10.400 -> 24:15.960] And I think he will be looking at it and saying to himself, I shouldn't have done that.
[24:15.960 -> 24:17.000] I disagree.
[24:17.000 -> 24:19.920] I disagree very, very strongly, which is fine, I guess.
[24:19.920 -> 24:23.560] I think you've made an eloquent case, Matt, and you've introduced some factors I hadn't
[24:23.560 -> 24:29.160] thought of, but if you go to my account, the last tweet I think I did was screen grabs
[24:29.160 -> 24:31.960] of this in succession, so at Spanners Ready.
[24:31.960 -> 24:34.040] Not tweet, ex-post, sorry about that.
[24:34.040 -> 24:37.000] So you look at the gap in front of Piastri.
[24:37.000 -> 24:41.640] So before even saying it's Sainz's fault, I just want to absolve Piastri of any blame
[24:41.640 -> 24:45.840] because he's got four cars ahead of him. Lewis and Carlos are over to the
[24:45.840 -> 24:54.320] left-hand side and then Leclerc and Perez are way up the road towards turn one. He's got this huge
[24:54.320 -> 25:00.480] gap in front of him so normally you have to account for the concertina effect, brake earlier
[25:00.480 -> 25:03.680] and just understand that there's things going on in front of you and be ready for that and the
[25:03.680 -> 25:08.080] further back you are the more allowance you have to make but if you're fifth and then you
[25:08.080 -> 25:12.960] suddenly look ahead and the next car is actually p1 you've got this massive gap in front of you
[25:12.960 -> 25:20.560] and anyone even in karting or sim racing at any level of racing no driver wouldn't go ah okay i
[25:20.560 -> 25:25.320] don't have to brake as early as i was planning to because there is a massive gap in front of me now."
[25:25.320 -> 25:29.700] So he went into the gap that Sainz and Lewis Hamilton had vacated to the left.
[25:29.700 -> 25:35.200] So Sainz had started on the left, come into the middle, got all the way over to the left again, and had come extreme left,
[25:35.200 -> 25:39.200] cut across Lewis's wash, lost some downforce, hit the brakes,
[25:39.800 -> 25:42.300] relatively moved forward in relation to
[25:42.880 -> 25:46.600] Hamilton and Piastri, and gone all the way from the left all the way
[25:46.600 -> 25:53.080] onto the apex leaving no room for the car that was now there that had the right to be there. So Chris
[25:53.080 -> 26:00.320] I I'm it's a valiant defense but I cannot find any defense for for Carlos Sainz just literally
[26:00.320 -> 26:05.120] cutting across the whole width of the track and wiping out Piastri.
[26:05.120 -> 26:07.160] At the end of the day, there was only one car
[26:07.160 -> 26:08.960] that was locking up and out of control
[26:08.960 -> 26:11.520] going into that corner, and it was Carlos Sainz.
[26:11.520 -> 26:12.360] Malcolm.
[26:12.360 -> 26:16.200] And he's jumped on social media and in interviews saying,
[26:16.200 -> 26:18.000] oh, it's 100% Piastri's fault.
[26:18.000 -> 26:20.800] And this, this is the difference between
[26:20.800 -> 26:23.600] a driver like Carlos Sainz and a driver like Charles Leclerc.
[26:23.600 -> 26:28.800] Because if Charles Leclerc had done that, he would have been beating himself up about it and saying, you know,
[26:28.800 -> 26:32.200] because you know how hard he is on himself. Oh, idiot, idiot, Charles, you shouldn't have
[26:32.200 -> 26:36.200] done that. And then Carlos has just washed his hands of this whole thing.
[26:36.200 -> 26:41.280] Last one on you there, Matt. Make it, make it, make a final last stand. Come on, Custer.
[26:41.280 -> 26:45.000] Well, it's really simple and it goes back to experience.
[26:45.000 -> 26:49.680] I think any experienced driver does not leave his nose in that situation.
[26:49.680 -> 26:55.880] But very simply, as you eloquently put it, they were three wide into that corner, and
[26:55.880 -> 27:00.800] if you look at the picture right on the apex, you have signs in Hamilton, front axle to
[27:00.800 -> 27:03.720] front axle, rear axle to rear axle.
[27:03.720 -> 27:05.280] Three quarters of the way back, you have Piastri. He's the one who chose to make it three wide. No, no axle to rear axle, three quarters of the way back you have
[27:05.280 -> 27:06.280] Piastri.
[27:06.280 -> 27:08.480] He's the one who chose to make it three wide.
[27:08.480 -> 27:09.800] No, no, Matt, wrong, wrong.
[27:09.800 -> 27:10.800] And that's...
[27:10.800 -> 27:12.320] Let me make the case here, because it's wrong.
[27:12.320 -> 27:17.120] Because Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz were nose to tail.
[27:17.120 -> 27:19.760] So Sainz was in Hamilton's gearbox.
[27:19.760 -> 27:22.160] Yes, he absolutely was on the approach.
[27:22.160 -> 27:24.460] Then he locked up and then he went alongside.
[27:24.460 -> 27:27.480] The only reason he was three wide was because he locked up and went deep.
[27:27.480 -> 27:29.840] This is this isn't controversial.
[27:29.840 -> 27:34.640] He locked up because he expected Hamilton to stay outside and stay on the throttle.
[27:34.640 -> 27:39.360] Hamilton lifted to get the cut back and he had to lock up and steer inside to avoid it.
[27:39.360 -> 27:41.000] I just I just want to make one thing.
[27:41.000 -> 27:42.000] Yeah, yeah.
[27:42.000 -> 27:43.400] I want to make one thing clear here.
[27:43.400 -> 27:47.880] Piastri didn't make it three wide and S Sines was the one that locked off and made it three
[27:47.880 -> 27:48.880] wide.
[27:48.880 -> 27:50.280] Go look at the picture on the Apex.
[27:50.280 -> 27:54.800] I'll put it on what used to be Twitter later on.
[27:54.800 -> 27:59.620] Go look at the picture on the Apex and you'll see that Hamilton and Sines, no room in between
[27:59.620 -> 28:02.280] them and Piastri three quarters of the way back.
[28:02.280 -> 28:04.920] It was Piastri's choice to make that three wide.
[28:04.920 -> 28:09.520] He expected Carlos to know he was there, but any experienced driver would be like,
[28:09.520 -> 28:14.960] that's a risky bet, and he lost it. The only reason they were three wide
[28:14.960 -> 28:18.480] is because Sainz had locked up and gone 100% to the corner. That is the only reason.
[28:18.480 -> 28:21.680] I think that's the simplest thing. No, it was Hamilton lifting early.
[28:21.680 -> 28:25.600] That's why he locked up. Or maybe Ocon was somehow involved.
[28:25.600 -> 28:28.400] Yeah. Look, I think, look, that's good.
[28:28.400 -> 28:33.840] That is my favorite debate we've done in a long time because I think you're doing God's work,
[28:33.840 -> 28:36.000] to be honest, Matt, in making that case.
[28:36.000 -> 28:40.240] I think it's a losing argument, but it's certainly given me a lot to think about.
[28:40.240 -> 28:43.120] And the panel is split and I respect the panel and we will have...
[28:43.120 -> 28:47.760] That's important, Matt. I just want, just for notice, it's a 50-50 split.
[28:47.760 -> 28:52.000] I know, I know. Right, we've got to start having... maybe one of us should get two votes.
[28:52.000 -> 28:53.000] I don't know.
[28:53.000 -> 28:54.240] I used to respect you, Christian.
[28:54.240 -> 28:56.000] What is this, the F1 commission?
[28:56.000 -> 29:00.320] Oh yeah, no, look, let's just go to the panel of stewards. Hang on a minute. Panel of stewards...
[29:00.320 -> 29:01.920] Spanners gets 10 votes.
[29:01.920 -> 29:05.000] Yeah, yeah, yeah. Randomly, let's see, random stewards say,
[29:05.000 -> 29:07.000] oh no, they say it was Scientist's fault.
[29:07.000 -> 29:09.000] Oh no, time to move on.
[29:12.000 -> 29:13.000] Now that was quality.
[29:13.000 -> 29:14.000] I do, I enjoy that debate.
[29:14.000 -> 29:16.000] It was a bit long, but I enjoyed it.
[29:16.000 -> 29:18.000] There's one more, whose fault is it?
[29:18.000 -> 29:22.000] Which is Lewis Hamilton versus Sergio Perez.
[29:22.000 -> 29:24.000] Okay, so quick show of hands then,
[29:24.000 -> 29:28.360] who thought the penalty was justified? I think there's two different things here. Who thought the penalty was justified?
[29:28.360 -> 29:30.980] No one's putting their hand up. Not in the slightest. Who thinks it was predominantly
[29:30.980 -> 29:36.480] Lewis Hamilton's fault for the contact? Okay, Chris, but you're kind of going, ehh. So we've
[29:36.480 -> 29:46.280] got Chris and Christian going, ehh. Go on, Chris, break it down. It's so marginal. It's like 55-45.
[29:46.280 -> 29:54.680] Because Lewis did understeer into Perez, but there is 1000% more that both drivers could
[29:54.680 -> 30:00.240] have done to avoid that contact, and I think Perez more so as well, because he had room
[30:00.240 -> 30:06.080] on the left-hand side to give, knowing that Lewis is on a more acute line through the corner
[30:06.080 -> 30:12.480] and is likely to understeer and I think this is a classic case of penalising the outcome rather
[30:12.480 -> 30:19.280] than the crime. So it's similar to what we said in Silverstone 2021, it's actually a relatively
[30:19.280 -> 30:26.180] similar incident but at the time in Silverstone, we said both drivers consented to a potential
[30:26.180 -> 30:28.560] crash and that is absolutely fair.
[30:28.560 -> 30:33.320] And in this situation as well, both drivers consented to a potential crash.
[30:33.320 -> 30:36.000] And these are my two favorite drivers in Formula One.
[30:36.000 -> 30:40.960] So as soon as the contact happened, I went, oh no, I don't know who to be biased towards
[30:40.960 -> 30:42.120] or against.
[30:42.120 -> 30:45.080] So this is a good one for me because I can in my head, I can
[30:45.080 -> 30:50.640] switch if it was the other way around, you know, how would I feel? So, you know, I think
[30:50.640 -> 30:56.040] the point you made there, Chris, is Hamilton was left just enough room to get onto the
[30:56.040 -> 31:01.600] apex, but Paris didn't jump out of his way to go to the exit. So it's a kind of a case
[31:01.600 -> 31:06.000] of trying to establish what you're supposed to do. And that's really hard to pick apart, Christian.
[31:06.000 -> 31:11.000] And this is where we get into the kind of the murky depths of what on earth are the rules here.
[31:11.000 -> 31:14.000] There's one thing we never talk about. That is intent.
[31:14.000 -> 31:19.000] And sometimes you can just… Let me give an example from football.
[31:19.000 -> 31:23.000] When VAR was introduced, it was really cool for off-siding
[31:23.000 -> 31:26.680] because you could just say it's offside or it's not offside, that's it.
[31:27.160 -> 31:30.520] But you could also show intent in free kicks if someone did
[31:30.520 -> 31:31.960] something behind the judge's back.
[31:32.440 -> 31:39.320] But in Formula One, we have had VAR all the time, but it's just not black and white.
[31:39.760 -> 31:44.720] And intent is so difficult to show, and in this race, in this incident, as with
[31:44.760 -> 31:45.440] Piastri and
[31:45.440 -> 31:48.520] science at the beginning, there was no intent to hurt anyone.
[31:48.520 -> 31:51.600] It was a racing hidden.
[31:51.600 -> 31:53.200] I think it's ruining.
[31:53.200 -> 31:57.360] Basically, it's the same as saying, okay, you overtake a car, here's a black and white
[31:57.360 -> 31:58.360] flag.
[31:58.360 -> 32:04.840] It's the same when you take that intent factor out of the equation.
[32:04.840 -> 32:07.000] I think when you have machines doing this,
[32:07.000 -> 32:11.000] according to some textbook from a remote center in England,
[32:11.000 -> 32:14.920] and people not with the Charlie Whiting kind of spirit
[32:14.920 -> 32:18.040] or overview, you will get this.
[32:18.040 -> 32:20.200] Yeah, I think, look, I think the stewarding
[32:20.200 -> 32:21.920] seemed weird to me.
[32:21.920 -> 32:26.540] So when it first happened, it seemed fairly innocuous. I think we can all agree, it seemed fairly to me. So when it first happened it seemed fairly innocuous. I
[32:26.540 -> 32:30.860] think we can all agree it seemed fairly innocuous and Perez really unlucky to
[32:30.860 -> 32:34.740] have that amount of damage and that amount of disadvantage from that contact
[32:34.740 -> 32:39.580] but it wasn't until he retired that suddenly the penalty got
[32:39.580 -> 32:43.500] investigated and then and issued out. So you know Red Bull for sure, Red Bull was
[32:43.500 -> 32:50.400] lobbying for that, angry that Perez had been been taken out. So you know Red Bull for sure, Red Bull was lobbying for that, angry that Perez had been taken out. So, you know, this is once again penalising consequences
[32:50.400 -> 32:57.520] over what actually happened. But even as a Perez fan, I can cite two examples of where he has
[32:57.520 -> 33:09.520] done this exact same thing. So he did it in Austria 2022 as well, which is he messed up on a corner and allowed Russell in Austria and Hamilton in this case to go into a gap.
[33:09.520 -> 33:16.320] And I don't think Hamilton really was planning to make any kind of overtake into that corner.
[33:16.320 -> 33:20.560] You know, because Perez had made the mistake, had struggled then on traction and had gone a little bit wide,
[33:20.720 -> 33:25.600] the gap is there. Hamilton isn't going to stop and park and say, oh Sergio, please
[33:25.600 -> 33:31.280] gather yourself together, we'll battle at the bus stop instead. So then he's kind of forced alongside
[33:31.280 -> 33:36.560] and Perez, instead of moving to the exit and hoping that Hamilton leaves him at car's width
[33:36.560 -> 33:42.880] and doesn't shove him off or yield, Perez aims for the centre of the straight. And I think that,
[33:42.880 -> 33:48.640] that Chris, is where I struggle with the rules. So Perez, he's squeezed him onto the apex, and I think that's perfectly fair.
[33:48.640 -> 33:53.520] But then as we get to the apex, we'll let Matt get in, sorry Matt. As he gets to where
[33:53.520 -> 33:58.240] you'd normally drift to the apex, he holds quite a tight line. And it was my understanding
[33:58.240 -> 34:06.560] that last year, if the car on the inside had won the corner by being alongside at the apex, the outside car had
[34:06.560 -> 34:10.720] a responsibility to not then get collected by the inside car.
[34:10.720 -> 34:13.880] Well, you would think that would be the case.
[34:13.880 -> 34:20.220] And I made the point in the Piastri argument about experience mattering a lot in these.
[34:20.220 -> 34:21.220] And I just...
[34:21.220 -> 34:25.600] Do you remember that point in the race where it was raining, in the race race,
[34:25.600 -> 34:31.120] and Max is headed up Eau Rouge, and he puts his wheels on the kerb, which is the standard racing
[34:31.120 -> 34:35.120] line, and he just about loses the car. Yes, that was good. That was great from Max,
[34:35.120 -> 34:39.520] actually. That was a hell of a save. That was about a half meter from being a way more
[34:39.520 -> 34:43.520] interesting race, but I digress. I think there's 10 drivers on the grid
[34:43.520 -> 34:45.040] have that moment and end up
[34:45.040 -> 34:50.560] in the wall. So that is, you know, Verstappen, that was top level driving. But my point being
[34:50.560 -> 34:56.800] any experienced driver has a really good idea of what's going to happen if you force someone onto
[34:56.800 -> 35:03.120] a wet curb. You're going to destabilize the car and the car's performance and handling. So if I'm
[35:03.120 -> 35:06.660] Perez and I squeeze Hamilton on that entry,
[35:06.660 -> 35:09.700] well, as you said, I think that's an entirely fair maneuver.
[35:09.700 -> 35:12.800] In the dry, we wouldn't even be having this discussion
[35:12.800 -> 35:15.280] because that contact never would have happened.
[35:15.280 -> 35:18.800] But coming off of that curb, the car,
[35:18.800 -> 35:21.760] although everyone has said it understeers,
[35:21.760 -> 35:23.860] if you watch Hamilton's hands closely,
[35:23.860 -> 35:25.040] there's a little bobble there.
[35:25.040 -> 35:31.440] I think he momentarily spun the wheels, changed his line a little bit, and Perez at the same time
[35:31.440 -> 35:38.000] was trying to tighten the line to compromise his exit. And I think you're right. If you squeeze
[35:38.000 -> 35:42.880] on the way in, you have to allow some maneuverability for the other car on the way out,
[35:42.880 -> 35:49.120] especially in wet conditions. Or you're gambling that they're going to back out. So this is it. So at Silverstone,
[35:49.120 -> 35:54.520] the snap and squeeze, he's hoping that discourages Hamilton from continuing that.
[35:54.520 -> 35:58.280] And here as well, I think, you know, Perez is going, right, if I keep it tight,
[35:58.280 -> 36:01.520] you have to disappear. And I just don't see the point where he would disappear.
[36:01.520 -> 36:07.440] Look, I don't think this one's too controversial because a lot of people were saying that the penalty was
[36:07.440 -> 36:13.120] madness. If you want to apportion blame and who was more responsible you have to
[36:13.120 -> 36:17.400] really have a better grasp and understanding of the rules. And so the
[36:17.400 -> 36:21.200] the source I'll go to is was James Allison. So obviously it's not great
[36:21.200 -> 36:24.720] because he's Mercedes but he was speaking in 2022 about these rules and
[36:24.720 -> 36:30.680] he was told that it was their understanding that once the inside car was significantly alongside,
[36:30.680 -> 36:34.880] and I think Hamilton was inarguably alongside, they own the corner.
[36:34.880 -> 36:38.880] And that then means that the car on the outside doesn't have to give up,
[36:38.880 -> 36:43.960] but you are then responsible for not being collected and hit by the car.
[36:43.960 -> 36:45.600] So if that's not true,
[36:49.200 -> 36:53.840] let me know. If there's a regulation you can point to where that's not the rule, let me know. But how on earth are stewards giving a penalty when that was the understanding of the rules last season?
[36:53.840 -> 36:59.440] Sorry, Chris, then Matt, and then we'll move on. Yeah, so obviously he has to leave Lewis a space
[36:59.440 -> 37:08.760] and he's technically done that. But what he hasn't done, he's given the space, assuming that Lewis has got perfect grip,
[37:08.760 -> 37:13.920] and is not gonna slide at all, and is gonna keep it tight on the exit as well, which,
[37:13.920 -> 37:14.920] why would he do that?
[37:14.920 -> 37:15.920] JUSTIN Yeah, why would you?
[37:15.920 -> 37:16.920] No one does that.
[37:16.920 -> 37:17.920] Yeah.
[37:17.920 -> 37:21.000] ALICE Exactly, it goes against the laws of driving,
[37:21.000 -> 37:22.000] and physics.
[37:22.000 -> 37:27.000] So, that's why for me, there's more Perez could have done to avoid that contact.
[37:27.000 -> 37:29.560] CURTIS Yeah, and I like that.
[37:29.560 -> 37:34.920] I like the marker being, who could have done more to avoid it, if it's gonna be that 50-50,
[37:34.920 -> 37:37.000] and they're gonna insist on giving a penalty.
[37:37.000 -> 37:39.240] Personally, I don't think a penalty should have been given.
[37:39.240 -> 37:44.160] I think they penalized the damage to Perez, and not the actual incident itself, and I
[37:44.160 -> 37:46.700] think that is incredibly wrong, and foolish, and will not the actual incident itself. And I think that is incredibly wrong and foolish
[37:46.800 -> 37:49.140] and will make the sport look silly.
[37:49.240 -> 37:52.040] But if you are in a we-must-punish-all-contact
[37:52.140 -> 37:56.640] mode, then the answer needs to be who did the most
[37:56.740 -> 37:58.720] or who did the least to avoid it.
[37:58.820 -> 38:02.280] And in this case, there was more room for Perez to be in
[38:02.620 -> 38:03.920] than there was for Hamilton.
[38:04.320 -> 38:09.280] ♪ ♪ was more room for Perez to be in than there was for Hamilton.
[38:09.280 -> 38:11.480] I think that's a good order to go in.
[38:11.480 -> 38:16.200] I think we talked about the generalities of the race weekend, Matt.
[38:16.200 -> 38:21.740] Does it peek behind the curtain, let everyone in on our thinking, and then I like the arguments.
[38:21.740 -> 38:24.920] So even though I think those weren't the most significant things of the weekend, I'm glad
[38:24.920 -> 38:27.520] we had those arguments because those arguments are fun.
[38:27.520 -> 38:29.680] Yes, and now we get to the good stuff.
[38:29.680 -> 38:34.640] Yeah, well yeah, but you know, this is a good time to ask people to perhaps support us on
[38:34.640 -> 38:38.920] Patreon because it's Matt's birthday. How are you going to not support us on Patreon
[38:38.920 -> 38:40.900] when it's Matt's birthday?
[38:40.900 -> 38:41.900] Look at this face.
[38:41.900 -> 38:43.640] Yeah, well, if you're an audio listener.
[38:43.640 -> 38:46.000] It needs all the help it can get.
[38:46.000 -> 38:48.000] Listen to this face if you're an audio listener.
[38:48.000 -> 38:50.000] But look how lean and skinny he is.
[38:50.000 -> 38:52.000] Contribute to Matt affording some potatoes.
[38:52.000 -> 38:54.000] Patreon.com forward slash missed apex.
[38:54.000 -> 38:56.000] The links are always in the show notes below.
[38:56.000 -> 38:58.000] And you'll get some extra Friday previews.
[38:58.000 -> 39:00.000] And also an ad free feed.
[39:00.000 -> 39:02.000] So please consider doing that.
[39:02.000 -> 39:04.000] Okay, the first driver to talk about is Max Verstappen.
[39:04.000 -> 39:07.900] And I have to say, Max Verstappen,
[39:07.900 -> 39:11.200] and I have to say, Max Verstappen, of late,
[39:11.200 -> 39:13.500] there was a period where he was just talking about,
[39:13.500 -> 39:16.500] ah, do you know what, at some point I'm going to want to go off
[39:16.500 -> 39:19.000] and be the TiddlyWinks champion, you know,
[39:19.000 -> 39:22.100] I just want to restore the glory of TiddlyWinks back to the Netherlands,
[39:22.100 -> 39:29.600] and I'm probably going to do that in about 10 minutes, if, making you know threats if they do these these sprint weekends or whatever I'll
[39:29.600 -> 39:34.160] leave F1. He just seemed really down in the dumps about it and when you've got a runaway champion
[39:34.800 -> 39:40.560] I think that was contributing to that ah there's a bit of an inevitability about the race weekend
[39:40.560 -> 39:45.960] it's not very exciting he wins he's not very happy about it. This weekend there
[39:45.960 -> 39:50.960] was a marked change and I have to say, like Chris, you know I'm not a Verstappen fan.
[39:50.960 -> 39:55.960] But everything about his social media, his bounce, his spring in his step, every interview,
[39:55.960 -> 40:00.960] there was a wink and a smile. He was charming. I don't generally think he's charming. He
[40:00.960 -> 40:06.480] was a charming champion this weekend and somehow that just changed my whole mood around him winning.
[40:06.480 -> 40:12.800] I was less annoyed about him winning easily just because something just seemed different.
[40:12.800 -> 40:16.400] Well, I think the fact that he knew how to fight for it this weekend.
[40:16.400 -> 40:21.200] Obviously, he was fastest in qualifying but going into this weekend with a gearbox penalty.
[40:22.000 -> 40:25.880] And it's actually like, it's the first time for years that we've come to
[40:25.880 -> 40:31.480] Spa and the grid wasn't looking like anything like it did in qualifying
[40:31.480 -> 40:36.120] because everyone's taking 50 place grid penalties for component changes. We
[40:36.120 -> 40:42.000] actually had a representative grid for the first time in years and but the only
[40:42.000 -> 40:47.300] difference being Max starting in sixth place and knowing he would have to pick cars off and he really
[40:47.560 -> 40:51.680] bided his time and for me that was a real mark of confidence in his own
[40:51.880 -> 40:56.780] speed and ability because he knew Perez was leading and he had two cars in front of him and
[40:57.480 -> 41:01.440] He just sort of bided his time. I know it's a little bit of a train.
[41:01.440 -> 41:02.400] Bow did his time?
[41:02.400 -> 41:02.900] Bided.
[41:02.900 -> 41:03.400] Bidded?
[41:03.400 -> 41:03.900] Bidded.
[41:03.900 -> 41:04.400] Bidded.
[41:04.400 -> 41:04.900] Bideded.
[41:04.900 -> 41:06.720] Okay. Bideded. Bideded his time. Christian. Christian's Bo did his time? I did. Bididid? Bididid. Okay. I did it. I did it his
[41:06.720 -> 41:12.000] time. Christian's bididid his time and he'll be next. Okay yes but I just said yeah he was in a
[41:12.000 -> 41:16.720] bit of a DRS train with Lewis and and and Charles but you see he just he didn't go for anything
[41:16.720 -> 41:20.880] crazy because he knew that Perez also wasn't pulling away you know so Charles and Lewis were
[41:20.880 -> 41:24.480] holding sort of that two second gap but the the thing that really made the difference for me was
[41:24.480 -> 41:26.080] after that first round of pit stops,
[41:26.080 -> 41:32.320] and he took two seconds out of Perez in a single lap and was on his tail almost as soon as the
[41:32.320 -> 41:36.000] outlap was over. That was astonishing. Christian?
[41:36.640 -> 41:45.000] We often talk about the greats of the sport being not necessarily seconds faster than the not-so-greats,
[41:45.000 -> 41:46.500] but they're consistent.
[41:46.500 -> 41:48.500] They are always delivering.
[41:48.500 -> 41:52.000] And what I find amazing about Verstappen this year is,
[41:52.000 -> 41:56.500] I mean, he wobbles the car into Eau Rouge on a half-width track.
[41:56.500 -> 42:01.000] He drives the red tires off on lap one.
[42:01.000 -> 42:05.320] He does all the wrong things, yet he's just so consistent. I mean, I was exaggerating. He does all the wrong things, yet he's just so consistent.
[42:05.320 -> 42:06.880] I mean, I was exaggerating.
[42:06.880 -> 42:08.640] He does all the right things.
[42:08.640 -> 42:10.800] But he also does the small mistakes
[42:10.800 -> 42:13.960] that would normally cost you something.
[42:13.960 -> 42:15.160] It doesn't cost him anything.
[42:15.160 -> 42:18.640] He's so beyond everything and anyone.
[42:18.640 -> 42:22.000] And I would really have a difficult time
[42:22.000 -> 42:23.920] finding the motivation to get into the car
[42:23.920 -> 42:25.660] if I was Sergio Perez,
[42:25.660 -> 42:29.700] because what is he, I mean, today, what is he driving for?
[42:29.700 -> 42:31.540] Oh, we'll get to Perez, we'll get to Perez,
[42:31.540 -> 42:33.860] but let's stick on Verstappen for a minute, Matt,
[42:33.860 -> 42:35.780] because I think when it's slightly challenging,
[42:35.780 -> 42:37.820] no, that's okay, Christian, it's fine,
[42:37.820 -> 42:39.220] I'm just sticking to my plan,
[42:39.220 -> 42:43.140] and as usual, delaying the inevitable Perez chat, okay?
[42:43.140 -> 42:47.440] So, Verstappen in a weekend where there was lots
[42:47.440 -> 42:53.880] of different things to chunk through, lots of challenging conditions. We often say, we just
[42:53.880 -> 42:58.280] don't know how well he did. These kinds of scenarios give you much more of an insight to go,
[42:58.280 -> 43:00.840] yes, he really did manage that rocket ship very well.
[43:00.840 -> 43:05.320] Well, yeah. I mean, it was interesting to me. I don't know.
[43:05.320 -> 43:09.580] And this has nothing to do with my massive investment in the tinfoil industry.
[43:09.580 -> 43:14.540] But I did notice that Perez got an awfully slow stop first time through the pits when
[43:14.540 -> 43:15.940] he was ahead.
[43:15.940 -> 43:16.940] Yeah.
[43:16.940 -> 43:25.240] But but what I enjoyed most about Max this weekend, and I have the feeling that this might have been discussed a little bit
[43:25.240 -> 43:33.120] in advance, was the dramatic radio narrative of the whole weekend between him and Jean-Pierre
[43:33.120 -> 43:39.780] Lambiez, his race engineer, that culminated in Max saying, well, I know you have an idea
[43:39.780 -> 43:44.760] about what the tires are up to, but let me tell you, I'm the one with my rear end in
[43:44.760 -> 43:45.200] the seat
[43:45.200 -> 43:46.880] and I know exactly what they can do.
[43:46.880 -> 43:52.240] It was really interesting because the dynamic between those guys, it clearly seems like
[43:52.240 -> 43:56.960] there's a lot of mutual respect there. They both very much fight their corner. But the
[43:56.960 -> 44:07.120] line that really got me, where I kind of went, oh, hang on, is this, how much is this banter and how much of this is stress is when uh Juan Piero
[44:07.120 -> 44:12.880] Lambasi said here we go just looking for it uh but you know what you tell me what you want to do in
[44:12.880 -> 44:19.840] in q3 and we'll do it let me know sets fuel wrong plan just do whatever you want the last time i
[44:19.840 -> 44:25.600] heard an engineer like that and i don't know the name of the engineer but it was to Paul di Resta I think
[44:25.600 -> 44:31.200] in 2013 and Paul di Resta had been like kicking off I think in Canada about tactics and the race
[44:31.200 -> 44:36.720] engineer just said do you know what when you think it's time for tyres you let us know what tyres
[44:36.720 -> 44:41.120] you want and which tyres you want and we'll just do that and he was gone I think at the end of
[44:41.120 -> 44:46.720] that season so that's the only one Chris that made me made me go, ooh, is that, are they okay?
[44:46.720 -> 44:50.080] Can I, I would not recommend Gianpiero Lambiasi
[44:50.080 -> 44:52.120] take on a career in Formula E
[44:52.120 -> 44:56.960] because those drivers are horrible to their engineers
[44:56.960 -> 44:57.800] most of the time.
[44:57.800 -> 44:58.640] That is mad, yeah.
[44:58.640 -> 45:01.640] They speak so abhorrently to their engineers,
[45:01.640 -> 45:05.000] but the one for me was the,
[45:05.320 -> 45:07.040] oh, I'm sure that was a good idea.
[45:07.040 -> 45:08.240] Are you sure?
[45:08.240 -> 45:10.560] Are we using our brain cell today, Max?
[45:10.560 -> 45:11.600] Yeah, exactly.
[45:11.600 -> 45:13.920] And like, you will listen to my instructions.
[45:13.920 -> 45:17.960] I don't know how much of this is just GP,
[45:17.960 -> 45:20.800] like I've had enough, like we're doing this now.
[45:20.800 -> 45:22.520] But it could just be the way they communicate, Matt.
[45:22.520 -> 45:24.680] I mean, if you listened and you have done,
[45:24.680 -> 45:28.160] if you've listened to me and my wife ever communicate with each other,
[45:28.160 -> 45:31.120] you might not necessarily know that we were a loving couple immediately.
[45:31.920 -> 45:36.560] Yeah, and I think that is probably a large part of it. They've had a long working relationship,
[45:36.560 -> 45:42.320] but I think the quote you're going for is, well, and tell me, Max, when you got to the last lap,
[45:42.320 -> 45:45.440] where the track was two seconds faster and you had no energy,
[45:45.440 -> 45:50.720] how would that have been? It was very passive-aggressive, Christian. You'd never talk to
[45:50.720 -> 45:57.040] me this way, Christian, would you? Would you, Christian? KB? Well, sometimes I write on WhatsApp
[45:57.040 -> 46:01.840] and then I delete it again. I wait for the next day and read it in the morning. I'm glad I didn't
[46:01.840 -> 46:05.320] send that. That's why that happens. Okay.
[46:09.480 -> 46:09.640] In a couple of races, he's going to be a three-time world champion, right?
[46:09.840 -> 46:11.680] Yeah. I mean, that is already setting.
[46:11.880 -> 46:12.840] Everyone knows it.
[46:12.960 -> 46:16.880] I mean, he could drive blindfolded for the next races and still win it.
[46:16.880 -> 46:17.640] Oh, it's a show-in.
[46:17.640 -> 46:18.040] It's done.
[46:18.040 -> 46:18.360] It's done.
[46:18.360 -> 46:18.520] Yeah.
[46:18.680 -> 46:19.040] Yeah.
[46:19.040 -> 46:22.720] And that takes away something within the team.
[46:22.720 -> 46:26.740] And I mean, maybe he's just a little bit relaxed already.
[46:26.740 -> 46:29.120] I would be if I was Verstappen.
[46:29.120 -> 46:32.360] And I think maybe, yeah, come on, whatever.
[46:32.360 -> 46:34.120] Well, I'll just do whatever I can.
[46:34.120 -> 46:36.520] I'll just drive the car as fast as I can.
[46:36.520 -> 46:37.360] Yeah.
[46:37.360 -> 46:38.180] What you're saying is that-
[46:38.180 -> 46:40.280] Don't you think that's what I'm saying?
[46:40.280 -> 46:43.640] I'm seeing more like a guy just, okay, it's done.
[46:43.640 -> 46:47.400] So Verstappen is basically, he's doing the last day of term at school, but he's doing
[46:47.400 -> 46:49.600] that in February.
[46:49.600 -> 46:53.040] And so everyone's trying to get on with the algebra and taking it very seriously.
[46:53.040 -> 46:57.040] And he's already brought in like mousetrap and he's setting up.
[46:57.040 -> 46:58.640] He's entitled to it, don't you think?
[46:58.640 -> 46:59.740] Yeah, it's done.
[46:59.740 -> 47:01.080] The job is all but done, Chris.
[47:01.080 -> 47:02.080] It is.
[47:02.080 -> 47:05.440] No, no, I kind of disagree on that slightly because he's
[47:05.440 -> 47:11.040] won going into this weekend seven Grand Prix in a row. Why would you change the formula
[47:11.040 -> 47:18.520] that's led you to that success? If it's yielding you success, don't change the attitude. This
[47:18.520 -> 47:25.920] is what happens. So many drivers have gotten too complacent and they fall off this massive cliff because they fall
[47:25.920 -> 47:33.800] out of habit or they forget the things that... little innocuous things that end up building
[47:33.800 -> 47:34.800] to big successes.
[47:34.800 -> 47:39.600] Oh my god, oh my god, the patrons, are they messing with me?
[47:39.600 -> 47:40.600] Was Juan Piero Lambasi...
[47:40.600 -> 47:41.800] Quite possibly not.
[47:41.800 -> 47:44.800] Was he also Paul Diresta's engineer, the one I was describing?
[47:44.800 -> 47:45.520] No way, GP! So that, the one I was describing? No way, GP!
[47:46.080 -> 47:48.960] So the engineer I was describing that pulled the same-
[47:48.960 -> 47:51.600] According to Wikipedia, the answer is yes.
[47:51.600 -> 47:57.440] And according to Mateus and Karen as well. Oh my god, so that memory I had of Paul Diresta
[47:57.440 -> 48:05.680] getting snarked by his engineer in exactly this way was the same race engineer. That has made my day.
[48:06.240 -> 48:11.040] How long has GP been in Formula 1? Dude looks way too young to have been a race engineer for 10
[48:11.040 -> 48:16.000] years. Oh wow, okay, well that is absolutely incredible. So look, this guy then has a long
[48:16.000 -> 48:22.560] history of taking absolutely no crap, Matt. Yeah, and what's interesting to me about Max
[48:25.440 -> 48:25.840] What's interesting to me about Max and the tires in this whole situation is
[48:28.880 -> 48:29.440] he was very upset because he wanted a
[48:35.240 -> 48:39.920] Faster lap to keep the tires in the window and but from an energy management point of view he wasn't going to have the energy when the track was at its fastest and the team did the numbers and said
[48:40.280 -> 48:51.560] You'll get through if you do it our way. He wasn't happy and And I understand that. I think from a driver's point of view, but it also brings out just how good Max is at
[48:51.560 -> 48:52.560] the tires.
[48:52.560 -> 48:54.800] Do you remember what he said about Piastri in the sprint race?
[48:54.800 -> 48:56.080] I don't.
[48:56.080 -> 49:00.440] He was like, oh, his tires aren't going to last the way he's drifting around the corners.
[49:00.440 -> 49:12.520] And if we look at any teammate pairing where there's a better and a worse Almost always the worst is they just can't manage the tires as well as the better and max is just a master at it
[49:12.520 -> 49:19.000] All right Perez then okay how in a race where Perez has finished second he is getting so much
[49:19.360 -> 49:23.680] Heat and grief because when he was sort of you know piddling around
[49:24.040 -> 49:25.200] At the back on
[49:25.200 -> 49:29.400] these great recovery drives getting driver of the day somehow he got less
[49:29.400 -> 49:35.640] grief than today when he secured a solid second place it has almost highlighted
[49:35.640 -> 49:40.240] the gap so now he's back up in second place it's highlighted the performance
[49:40.240 -> 49:46.200] gap and Chris I think on average once Verstappen overtook him, the apparent gap between these
[49:46.200 -> 49:50.920] drivers and we don't know who was pushing, who was saving or whatever, but on paper,
[49:50.920 -> 49:58.000] Verstappen was on race fuel around a second a lap faster than Sergio Perez. That is huge.
[49:58.000 -> 50:04.000] Yeah, well, look, the reason that Perez wasn't getting the grief on the recovery drives is
[50:04.000 -> 50:08.480] because we'd already given him all the grief on Saturday for not even getting out of Q1
[50:09.120 -> 50:16.960] sometimes for whatever reason, right? So when did he pass Checo? Like lap 12 or something?
[50:17.920 -> 50:25.040] Or 13, 14, whatever it was. 44 lap race, you're looking at about three quarters of a second to pull what was a 22
[50:25.040 -> 50:31.440] second gap. And you're right, it's absolutely highlighted just how far off Sergio Perez
[50:31.440 -> 50:35.960] is because this was probably the closest to a straight fight we've had between the two
[50:35.960 -> 50:42.560] of them since maybe Miami when Max had to come back up through the field from like 15th
[50:42.560 -> 50:45.200] or whatever it was. And they went toe to toe then.
[50:45.200 -> 50:48.560] JED I mean, is it as bad as it looks?
[50:48.560 -> 50:49.360] ALICE Yes.
[50:49.360 -> 50:51.280] JED Okay. Well, okay.
[50:51.280 -> 50:54.960] ALICE I see where you're going.
[50:54.960 -> 50:56.880] JED I was mid-sentence!
[50:56.880 -> 50:59.680] LIAM Oh, that's just so mean!
[50:59.680 -> 51:06.900] ALICE I think the reason is... Okay, so there's one of two things happening.
[51:06.900 -> 51:10.520] The first is that Max is just unbelievable, which is probably...
[51:10.520 -> 51:12.160] Yeah, I think that's fair.
[51:12.160 -> 51:13.600] It's a contributing factor.
[51:13.600 -> 51:21.800] But also, what is Perez doing that is leading him either in the wrong direction, or not
[51:21.800 -> 51:32.960] being able to do the things that Max can do. Because we know that Max has this inane ability to drive around problems with the car, but the car seems to
[51:32.960 -> 51:39.680] be absolutely amazing in every way, shape or form. I know that the drivers will still get out and say
[51:39.680 -> 51:50.720] oh yeah it doesn't quite do this perfectly because there's no such thing as a perfect car. But that can't just be it. It's either like Perez is just taking Max's setups and trying to do what
[51:50.720 -> 51:56.800] he can do and can't use that same setup because it's too aggressive or it's not to his liking or
[51:56.800 -> 52:00.560] something like that, or he's just not finding the same things that Max is doing. Christian.
[52:01.680 -> 52:07.860] I mean, the perfect scenario to show if you actually can beat your teammate is to be allowed
[52:07.860 -> 52:12.400] to start at the front and your teammate like five cars back down.
[52:12.400 -> 52:18.680] Then you get to the front, you pass the car in front of you, you have the straight, you
[52:18.680 -> 52:27.480] build the gap away from the DRS, your teammate has to catch up and overtake four cars before he catches you.
[52:27.480 -> 52:31.960] That is the perfect scenario to show you can actually beat your teammate.
[52:31.960 -> 52:37.840] In spa, I mean, what better conditions can you ever get to show you can beat your teammate?
[52:37.840 -> 52:41.040] And he was, what, 30 seconds behind at the end?
[52:41.040 -> 52:42.040] Yep.
[52:42.040 -> 52:47.040] Okay, so it's clearly time for some hopium and copium corner with good
[52:47.040 -> 52:52.240] old Uncle Trump. Is that for me? Is that hopium and copium for me as a Perez fan? Absolutely.
[52:52.240 -> 52:58.240] I'm here for it. I'm here for it. Yes, please. Inject it. I'm going to be real here and point
[52:58.240 -> 53:07.440] out that John P. in our chat has said that Max is the absolute tire warm-up master. And we do know that Perez has
[53:07.440 -> 53:11.840] always been the tire whisperer, getting them to go long, but you get them to go long by being
[53:11.840 -> 53:16.160] very gentle on them. And when you're gentle on them, one thing you're not doing is getting them
[53:16.160 -> 53:22.800] to warm up rapidly. And we know that Red Bull has a car that is very, very gentle on the tires.
[53:22.800 -> 53:28.960] So I think what you saw going onto the medium tire, which wasn't as good
[53:28.960 -> 53:34.960] in these weather conditions as the soft tire was in terms of performance, I think you saw mainly
[53:34.960 -> 53:40.560] the difference between Max's ability to very rapidly get that tire under the window and Perez
[53:40.560 -> 53:48.540] struggling a little bit to get it there. Once Max was passed and Perez knows he's not coming back.
[53:48.920 -> 53:52.820] If I have any brains at all, I'm like, how much of this, and we've
[53:52.820 -> 53:54.120] heard Lewis make this call too.
[53:54.260 -> 53:55.340] Can I turn the engine down?
[53:55.460 -> 54:01.060] How much of this performance can I save for when I might need it later on?
[54:01.120 -> 54:04.500] Max has already taken a new gearbox Perez has not.
[54:04.760 -> 54:06.800] So if he's being clever, he's
[54:06.800 -> 54:11.600] saving performance in this engine for some time later when it might benefit him more.
[54:11.600 -> 54:19.640] This was also a high-deg race as well. Spa is characteristically tough on tires. The
[54:19.640 -> 54:25.740] soft tire was a very popular choice because A, they had an abundance of them, because they had
[54:25.740 -> 54:32.220] no dry running, pretty much, up until that point, but also, they only had FP1 before
[54:32.220 -> 54:37.900] Park Ferme was locked in, and that was a washout, and because it had been a washout all weekend,
[54:37.900 -> 54:41.500] there's no rubber laid down on the track, so we had a lot of graining.
[54:41.500 -> 54:48.880] And I know I'm kind of stealing Matt's thunder here by talking about what's happening with the tires this weekend. Everybody knows about graining by now.
[54:48.880 -> 54:52.800] Exactly, yes, exactly. It's the cheese rolling thing that Ted Kravitz keeps talking about.
[54:54.080 -> 54:59.920] But for me, that was also where Max seemed to excel, because he's being so smooth. Like when
[54:59.920 -> 55:05.340] you watch his onboards, he looks like he's cruising. He doesn't look like he's pushing whatsoever.
[55:05.340 -> 55:07.120] He looks like he's on a cool down lap.
[55:07.120 -> 55:12.780] It's so smooth and eloquent and unrushed.
[55:12.780 -> 55:16.640] He's in two higher gear than he needs to be to save fuel.
[55:16.640 -> 55:18.660] Very smooth on the steering wheel.
[55:18.660 -> 55:19.660] Nice and gentle.
[55:19.660 -> 55:23.700] Every time we saw the throttle application on the Halo graphic, very, very smooth as
[55:23.700 -> 55:24.700] well.
[55:24.700 -> 55:26.620] Okay, but I think we're in the Slate and Perez bit now.
[55:27.140 -> 55:30.560] Well, yeah, probably because he can't do what Max can do.
[55:30.900 -> 55:31.580] Not a lot of people.
[55:33.900 -> 55:34.980] Matt, why can't he?
[55:35.460 -> 55:37.180] Well, okay.
[55:37.180 -> 55:43.100] If we fundamentally, no, fundamentally the era that Perez was best with tires
[55:43.100 -> 55:45.440] and aerodynamically and everything else,
[55:45.440 -> 55:51.120] the tires were different and the cars were different. So what you're seeing
[55:51.120 -> 55:57.760] here is a carryover of that style that was so successful for him as Pirelli
[55:57.760 -> 56:03.520] have made more robust tires actually starting to work against him. Now in
[56:03.520 -> 56:05.760] Formula One, a half a second lap
[56:05.760 -> 56:11.600] is a pretty small margin. You're well under 1%. You're like a tenth of a percent. So if I said,
[56:11.600 -> 56:15.760] I'm a tenth of a percent better, you'd go, that's not a lot. But in Formula One, that's like the
[56:15.760 -> 56:26.720] difference between Max and Perez here. And what's happening is Perez just is having to think too much about what he needs to do.
[56:26.720 -> 56:29.840] And Max is being able to do it automatically.
[56:29.840 -> 56:32.200] And that's where this margin is coming from.
[56:32.200 -> 56:39.480] Max is, Max, excuse me, Sergio is having to think his way around making these tires work,
[56:39.480 -> 56:42.400] making this car work, and Max does not.
[56:42.400 -> 56:43.400] It's that simple.
[56:43.400 -> 56:44.400] All right.
[56:44.400 -> 57:12.320] Well, sad. All right. I can get over it. It's that simple. I don't know if this is going to be as satisfying. Why don't I leave you to it, Matt, given that they had an element of success. So signs aside for that crash that he entirely caused, as was voted for by
[57:12.320 -> 57:21.120] an overwhelming majority actually earlier of 11 to 2. But as far as Leclerc goes, he actually had,
[57:21.120 -> 57:25.800] you know, they had good performance and Ferrari have been a bit kind of nowhere,
[57:25.800 -> 57:30.520] and then suddenly they have the audacity to turn up and be quite good at Spa.
[57:30.520 -> 57:38.480] Well, they did, and it all really started with Leclerc being so good in qualifying,
[57:38.480 -> 57:47.960] because one of the big Achilles heels of the Ferrari car is that it has been terrible on its tires, especially in traffic,
[57:47.960 -> 57:54.520] and being at the front gave him a chance to not be in traffic for a change, and we finally got
[57:54.520 -> 58:02.360] to see what an unleashed Ferrari might be capable of. I think for me as well, putting it on the
[58:02.360 -> 58:05.920] front row and ending up on pole for sure helped.
[58:05.920 -> 58:11.600] But what was really surprising to me was the fact that the Mercedes still couldn't seem to match the
[58:11.600 -> 58:17.360] race pace. Like even their tyre deg was worse than what the Ferrari is, which is supposedly, you know,
[58:17.360 -> 58:27.560] terrible. So either Mercedes made a step back, maybe because of Lewis's lower downforce setup on that car,
[58:27.560 -> 58:30.680] or Ferrari have made a step forward, or maybe a combination of the two.
[58:30.680 -> 58:31.680] Christian?
[58:31.680 -> 58:36.320] I just find it better races when Ferrari are front, right?
[58:36.320 -> 58:42.360] I mean, just something happens when Ferrari are in the mix, and I'm happy to see Leclerc
[58:42.360 -> 58:45.660] being more or less on pace with the Mercedes.
[58:45.660 -> 58:48.220] At least we can get some racing up there.
[58:48.220 -> 58:51.940] I mean, he had to really punch a hole for Perez, though,
[58:51.940 -> 58:52.540] didn't he?
[58:52.540 -> 58:55.500] It was really inevitable.
[58:55.500 -> 59:00.420] It's like Schaal didn't do anything to try and keep
[59:00.420 -> 59:03.620] the lead at some point.
[59:03.620 -> 59:06.780] Remember when Hamilton and Vettel were racing a few years ago for the lead at some point. Remember when Hamilton and Vettel were racing
[59:07.220 -> 59:10.860] a few years ago for the lead. Friar was monster down the straight and
[59:11.100 -> 59:15.940] Lewis is backing out before a rouge so that Vettel is too close and has to back out as well.
[59:15.940 -> 59:22.740] I mean, I was commentating on a race at Spa in the Euro Formula Open where the pole sitter literally gave up the lead
[59:23.300 -> 59:26.800] into La Source deliberately so that he could
[59:26.800 -> 59:31.440] tow him back and get him into Lake Combe a few seconds later.
[59:32.000 -> 59:37.280] They just know that, don't play with the Red Bulls, I'm just gonna use my tires,
[59:37.280 -> 59:40.880] I'm just gonna wait for the next guy. And that is kind of sad.
[59:41.440 -> 59:46.360] Well, the interesting thing to me to note about the Ferrari is that if you watched it
[59:46.360 -> 59:52.400] closely, it is still, I think, one of the best cars on acceleration.
[59:52.400 -> 59:58.800] But I don't think Leclerc had any real way to defend from Perez at the end of the first
[59:58.800 -> 01:00:03.440] straight, given the advantage and efficiency the Red Bull had.
[01:00:03.440 -> 01:00:06.660] I have nothing to add to that, Matt.
[01:00:06.660 -> 01:00:07.660] I agree.
[01:00:07.660 -> 01:00:10.460] You have left Christian speechless.
[01:00:10.460 -> 01:00:11.460] Amazing.
[01:00:11.460 -> 01:00:16.940] No, but it was good to see Ferrari, as you say, back up at the front.
[01:00:16.940 -> 01:00:23.620] And they have just about caught Aston in the World Constructors' Championship.
[01:00:23.620 -> 01:00:30.340] I think they're about five points back at this point. so this is going to be an interesting thing to watch is ascent are claiming.
[01:00:30.600 -> 01:00:34.000] That they know what the problem is and they can fix it but you know who's.
[01:00:34.180 -> 01:00:52.360] Yeah i'm sorry just a fernando alonso was saying after the race in like oh we made a step forward like you think we know where we're going now it felt like a much better car and i feel like that was represented in the results. I know we had Piastri and Sainz out, so probably would have been maybe sixth without
[01:00:52.360 -> 01:00:57.760] that, but still, you know, fifth place, good result. It's a marked improvement on the last
[01:00:57.760 -> 01:01:04.320] few races. Opposite can be said for McLaren as well, who've made like three podiums in
[01:01:04.320 -> 01:01:06.640] three races, including the sprint, and then
[01:01:06.640 -> 01:01:12.400] absolutely nowhere in the Grand Prix today. I see. Now, I think Alonso absolutely lucked
[01:01:12.400 -> 01:01:18.640] into his result because everybody who he passed was absolutely scuppered by Piastri coming out
[01:01:18.640 -> 01:01:25.880] of turn one. We can talk about that later. But we should, you're right, we should talk about McLaren, because they started out the
[01:01:25.880 -> 01:01:32.520] weekend promising us so very, very much, and they ended up with Norris being like, I have
[01:01:32.520 -> 01:01:35.600] no idea how we wound up seventh, because we were dead last.
[01:01:35.600 -> 01:01:37.200] I don't understand it either.
[01:01:37.200 -> 01:01:42.880] He was so far back, and he had no answer, and it seemed like the tires, they were on
[01:01:42.880 -> 01:01:47.560] because they started on the mediums, and it just wasn't working for them at all.
[01:01:47.560 -> 01:01:50.520] Which is surprising, because what
[01:01:50.520 -> 01:01:53.680] was so impressive about Norris' podium at Silverstone
[01:01:53.680 -> 01:01:57.000] was the fact that they were able to fire up the hard tire so
[01:01:57.000 -> 01:01:59.240] quickly after the safety car restart,
[01:01:59.240 -> 01:02:00.700] compared to what you would normally
[01:02:00.700 -> 01:02:03.880] expect a hard tire to take to warm up and compete
[01:02:03.880 -> 01:02:05.380] with a car on a softer
[01:02:05.380 -> 01:02:11.160] compound as Hamilton was in that situation. So why have they got no pace on that medium
[01:02:11.160 -> 01:02:16.920] tyre in the first stint of this race? But obviously McLaren's major problem, and Landon
[01:02:16.920 -> 01:02:21.840] Norris admitted this, even before the race, they had too much downforce on the car. And
[01:02:21.840 -> 01:02:25.080] they're just nowhere on the straights because they were gambling, I think, for a
[01:02:25.080 -> 01:02:26.680] wet race.
[01:02:26.680 -> 01:02:32.840] And you see, because it was great in the wet qualifying, it was great in the wet sprint,
[01:02:32.840 -> 01:02:36.160] but as soon as it dried out, it was a massive struggle.
[01:02:36.160 -> 01:02:39.680] I think that is what you saw on the Alfa Tauris as well.
[01:02:39.680 -> 01:02:46.960] Some of the cars was just set up for Friday, Saturday. That is probably why the race today was...
[01:02:48.080 -> 01:02:52.160] There was a strange period, like one-third into the race,
[01:02:52.240 -> 01:02:54.920] where all of a sudden, pace was falling.
[01:02:55.360 -> 01:02:58.200] Norris, for instance, he was just nowhere.
[01:02:58.280 -> 01:03:01.480] Then, at one point, Alonso pitted and came out of the same spot.
[01:03:01.560 -> 01:03:10.560] I mean, sometimes I just couldn't follow with all the times and all, but eventually I think it was a really, really grown-up drive from
[01:03:10.560 -> 01:03:17.120] Lando Norris, this one. Well, and this is where it really gets into the area that I love so much,
[01:03:17.120 -> 01:03:24.160] which is that, number one, McLaren is the first one to admit they didn't have the correct rear wing
[01:03:27.600 -> 01:03:32.320] is the first one to admit they didn't have the correct rear wing for Spa. They went full-on high downforce, crossed their fingers that it would get wet enough that they could make it work.
[01:03:32.960 -> 01:03:38.880] That didn't work. And what they did do that was absolutely correct, I think the hard tire for
[01:03:38.880 -> 01:03:44.240] Norris was like a terrible choice, put him all the way at the back, he had no pace at all.
[01:03:44.240 -> 01:03:45.600] But what they did do absolutely correctly was they guessed the way at the back, he had no pace at all. But what they did do
[01:03:45.600 -> 01:03:50.240] absolutely correctly was they guessed the intensity of the rain, and when they pitted him
[01:03:50.240 -> 01:03:55.120] as it had started raining, and put him on the soft tire, I for one was like,
[01:03:55.120 -> 01:03:59.600] that's dumb. Why are they doing that? What kind of a choice is that? That's a disaster.
[01:03:59.600 -> 01:04:05.640] Yeah, from my sofa, that looked like an awful decision, but I think at one point he was four seconds faster
[01:04:05.640 -> 01:04:06.840] than Verstappen.
[01:04:06.840 -> 01:04:09.400] This is the thing, he was so fast.
[01:04:09.400 -> 01:04:11.560] He made up all that time he lost
[01:04:11.560 -> 01:04:14.680] because he put him on the right tire at the right time.
[01:04:14.680 -> 01:04:16.000] Yeah, yeah.
[01:04:16.000 -> 01:04:20.760] And that's it, I think their pace was probably disguised
[01:04:20.760 -> 01:04:23.880] a little bit this weekend because people had to make
[01:04:23.880 -> 01:04:30.080] a choice and they made a choice that didn't suit today. Aston Martin made the kind of opposite choice and were
[01:04:30.080 -> 01:04:35.520] a little bit flattered today when you look at the scheme of the overall pace. And then
[01:04:35.520 -> 01:04:39.240] we've just discussed Ferrari and the next one to discuss is Mercedes because you've
[01:04:39.240 -> 01:04:45.920] got four teams there where the order is really fluid and it's incredibly exciting to kind of,
[01:04:45.920 -> 01:04:50.560] you turn up at the weekend, if you've got skin in the game and you're looking at, you know,
[01:04:50.560 -> 01:04:55.840] your team, so out of those four I'm sort of hoping for Mercedes to do better because I'm a Lewis
[01:04:55.840 -> 01:05:05.260] Hamilton fan, so Mercedes are kind of consistently being the second or third team with Ferrari, Aston Martin, less so now,
[01:05:05.440 -> 01:05:08.400] but then also Mercedes kind of taking turns in
[01:05:09.300 -> 01:05:12.880] jumping in and around and there's some joy to be found around that Matt and
[01:05:13.200 -> 01:05:18.260] mind you like I know we're sort of you know a bit f1 obsessed we'll always look in a season for
[01:05:18.620 -> 01:05:20.520] where is that battle, where is that fun?
[01:05:20.520 -> 01:05:29.040] But I think genuinely outside of the the Red Bulls, let's say they're 1-2 for the rest of the season, it's a good fight. It's a great entertaining fight between these guys.
[01:05:29.840 -> 01:05:37.760] And all the way down to 10th. I mean, we saw so much unbelievable racing, even from people outside
[01:05:37.760 -> 01:05:43.440] the top 10. Albon and Gasly making ridiculous overtakes at various times during the race.
[01:05:44.120 -> 01:05:47.200] making ridiculous overtakes at various times during the race. How close the cars are has been one thing
[01:05:47.200 -> 01:05:51.280] that, outside of Max, and sometimes Perez,
[01:05:51.280 -> 01:05:53.960] but definitely outside of Max, how close these cars are
[01:05:53.960 -> 01:05:58.680] and how difficult this battle is for all of the drivers
[01:05:58.680 -> 01:06:00.120] and teams has been one of the things
[01:06:00.120 -> 01:06:02.800] they've really gotten right about this regulation set,
[01:06:02.800 -> 01:06:03.480] I would think.
[01:06:03.480 -> 01:06:03.980] OK.
[01:06:03.980 -> 01:06:06.160] But for... Yeah.
[01:06:14.000 -> 01:06:19.760] But you want to talk about Mercedes, I'm impressed. They were nowhere. They brought a beast back to a car that can't take it, can't fully go where they want it to go to work, and they continue
[01:06:19.760 -> 01:06:25.840] to bring things that make the car faster. I think they still struggle in the high speed on the straights,
[01:06:25.840 -> 01:06:32.760] but I have every certainty that they will continue to whittle that down and be even
[01:06:32.760 -> 01:06:38.200] more competitive as the season carries on. So one of my favorite things about the sprint
[01:06:38.200 -> 01:06:45.000] weekends is the lack of testing practice.
[01:06:48.800 -> 01:06:48.900] Coming into this weekend, there was basically no practice
[01:06:50.700 -> 01:06:50.900] with the weather being as it was.
[01:06:55.700 -> 01:06:57.200] Basically, Mercedes just pulled up with two new cars,
[01:07:01.900 -> 01:07:02.200] pretty decent difference from the older spec,
[01:07:06.840 -> 01:07:09.800] and still quite amazed with how Hamilton just was on it during the sprint day and during qualifying as well. He could have
[01:07:09.800 -> 01:07:14.640] qualified a bit better I think actually. So don't forget that they had a
[01:07:14.640 -> 01:07:18.600] car not set up for anything, not tested or anything. From that perspective I
[01:07:18.600 -> 01:07:23.360] think Mercedes had a really good weekend and Russell coming in at sixth was
[01:07:23.360 -> 01:07:45.840] amazing. Yeah he got it together towards the end of the weekend. projection for a wide variety of stats and place your entry. It's as easy as that. If you have the
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[01:08:32.880 -> 01:08:38.640] Mercedes, I think they had a rough weekend in Hungary and I was quite critical in the
[01:08:38.640 -> 01:08:42.280] Hungarian Grand Prix race review. There's still some things like throughout the course
[01:08:42.280 -> 01:08:46.080] of the weekend here where the communication to the drivers didn't seem good
[01:08:46.320 -> 01:08:51.900] Russell was a little bit of a weapon in the sprint qualifying when he went off and then well
[01:08:51.900 -> 01:08:55.520] well, he overtook Hamilton in the the queue to
[01:08:56.240 -> 01:09:03.480] Start the the the fast lap then Friday qualifying the Friday. No this was um no this was the sprint qualifying
[01:09:03.480 -> 01:09:05.000] This was the sprint shootout qualifying.
[01:09:05.000 -> 01:09:06.000] Oh the shootout, okay.
[01:09:06.000 -> 01:09:15.000] Yeah, so, and this was in the SQ3, and then he went wide into turn one, and Hamilton kind of had to slow to make sure that he didn't hit his own teammate,
[01:09:15.000 -> 01:09:25.220] and then Russell just kept his foot in, and then actually made Hamilton then lift again on the Kemmel straight, and that, and Hamilton was thinking, oh, I could have been top two qualifying there.
[01:09:25.220 -> 01:09:27.620] Top three seemed on, but instead,
[01:09:27.620 -> 01:09:32.620] he got stuck behind Russell and ended up in P7.
[01:09:33.020 -> 01:09:36.100] So there's a lot of kind of organizational things.
[01:09:36.100 -> 01:09:37.860] We talked about the pit stops as well.
[01:09:37.860 -> 01:09:41.420] And it just feels like Mercedes need a bit of a spa retreat
[01:09:41.420 -> 01:09:44.980] as a company, and there's thousands of them.
[01:09:44.980 -> 01:09:45.680] So you need a pretty big
[01:09:45.680 -> 01:09:50.240] spa and then kind of come back a little bit afresh. It's almost like they've twisted themselves
[01:09:50.240 -> 01:09:54.920] up in knots chasing this performance. And they kind of have it. I think Christian's
[01:09:54.920 -> 01:10:00.420] right. The update that they came with, it's a good car to go racing with, but over the
[01:10:00.420 -> 01:10:05.520] last three weekends, their upgrades have been kind of disguised by just little areas
[01:10:05.520 -> 01:10:09.280] missing here and there. And I have no idea because obviously we're not in the garage,
[01:10:09.280 -> 01:10:15.040] but that's how it seems from the outside, Chris. So I think when they get it together,
[01:10:15.920 -> 01:10:20.240] they could easily come back and dominate that second best car spot.
[01:10:20.240 -> 01:10:26.320] I completely agree. I think there have been too many operational errors from Mercedes so far
[01:10:26.320 -> 01:10:35.120] this season and that's what has been hurting them more I think because the car is the car
[01:10:35.120 -> 01:10:39.200] at this point. There's not a lot they're going to be able to do to kind of turn that around.
[01:10:39.200 -> 01:10:43.120] They really just have to make the best out of what they've got and we're seeing all these errors that
[01:10:43.120 -> 01:10:47.480] are creeping in that you didn't see when they were dominating.
[01:10:47.480 -> 01:10:49.140] Now, either those mistakes were happening
[01:10:49.140 -> 01:10:52.160] and the car was so fast that it didn't matter,
[01:10:52.160 -> 01:10:54.680] and we never saw them.
[01:10:54.680 -> 01:10:57.240] Or there were incidents like Monza
[01:10:57.240 -> 01:10:59.320] when they bring Lewis in with the closed pit lane
[01:10:59.320 -> 01:11:00.520] that were a bit more obvious.
[01:11:00.520 -> 01:11:03.480] But they're going to be able to hide now,
[01:11:03.480 -> 01:11:05.680] and they're much more under the microscope now.
[01:11:05.680 -> 01:11:07.960] So they need to eliminate these errors.
[01:11:08.960 -> 01:11:13.160] But I like how you don't see any bad publicity,
[01:11:13.160 -> 01:11:15.560] any bad PR when you have a thing like Hamilton
[01:11:15.560 -> 01:11:18.280] and Russell doing a thing in SQ3.
[01:11:18.280 -> 01:11:21.520] I like how they are still able to keep a good vibe.
[01:11:21.520 -> 01:11:22.360] Nearly, hang on.
[01:11:22.360 -> 01:11:25.440] Even though this is like a seven time world champion
[01:11:25.440 -> 01:11:27.680] and he's still, oh, it's my track.
[01:11:27.680 -> 01:11:29.520] Did you see the interviews?
[01:11:29.520 -> 01:11:31.600] Did you see the media pen?
[01:11:31.600 -> 01:11:33.720] And Chris will love this from a PR point of view.
[01:11:33.720 -> 01:11:36.080] You know, Hamilton, he's trying to say everything
[01:11:36.080 -> 01:11:39.400] in the world except Russell absolutely screwed my lap.
[01:11:39.400 -> 01:11:40.240] And then when they go,
[01:11:40.240 -> 01:11:41.800] did Russell absolutely screw your lap?
[01:11:41.800 -> 01:11:46.960] And he went, uh, oh, it doesn't, it doesn't matter.
[01:11:46.960 -> 01:11:51.120] I'm more, I'm all right. It doesn't matter. Chris, do you reckon there was like a PR person just
[01:11:51.120 -> 01:11:56.160] prodding him in the back? Oh, of course, he would have been completely briefed on what to say there.
[01:11:56.160 -> 01:12:00.960] But the thing is, you know, the teams obviously come out and said, that was our fault. We didn't
[01:12:00.960 -> 01:12:07.840] communicate it properly to the drivers. Unlike say Alpine for example who decided it was
[01:12:07.840 -> 01:12:14.880] a good idea to announce two senior members of the team leaving on a Friday afternoon when they are
[01:12:14.880 -> 01:12:22.720] surrounded by media and giving them a golden opportunity to just slam the brand. Okay we're
[01:12:22.720 -> 01:12:29.200] going to come back to Russell don't worry but Matt, you, you and I have argued about the Renault return,
[01:12:29.200 -> 01:12:34.480] and I've said to you that that is a disaster from start to finish,
[01:12:34.480 -> 01:12:37.760] and you've always had faith in that Renault outfit.
[01:12:37.760 -> 01:12:40.320] But it's falling apart now, the wheels are off.
[01:12:41.200 -> 01:12:48.000] It's so far off that they finished third on Saturday and Alcon came from 14th and finished
[01:12:48.000 -> 01:12:54.560] 8th. Organizationally, not like, okay, so look, if you want to point to results, you're
[01:12:54.560 -> 01:12:59.640] good at this, but if you want to point to like, yes, a weekend where there was, there
[01:12:59.640 -> 01:13:02.840] was lots of teams with different approaches to the weekend, which mixed things up a bit,
[01:13:02.840 -> 01:13:07.880] fine. It wasn't a disaster. And again, I again, Matt, I feel like this has always been our argument when it comes to Renault
[01:13:07.880 -> 01:13:13.140] slash Alpine, which is that your bar for success for them is a lot lower than mine.
[01:13:13.140 -> 01:13:17.540] This is a works team with one of the biggest car manufacturers in the universe.
[01:13:17.540 -> 01:13:23.520] They should be way, way higher, but for their lack of commitment organizationally, this
[01:13:23.520 -> 01:13:26.000] has now been exposed as a disaster.
[01:13:26.000 -> 01:13:30.000] Okay, so there's like 97 things I need to unpick.
[01:13:30.000 -> 01:13:31.000] Okay, just pick two.
[01:13:31.000 -> 01:13:37.000] But I'm going to rapidly go to the same thing that James Vowles said about Williams.
[01:13:37.000 -> 01:13:41.000] When they needed the investment in the modern tools before the cost gap,
[01:13:41.000 -> 01:13:45.400] they were not getting it, even though they're now fully funded,
[01:13:45.600 -> 01:13:48.600] it's far too late without an expansion of the CapEx,
[01:13:48.700 -> 01:13:51.800] the capital expenditure, for them to really catch up.
[01:13:51.900 -> 01:13:55.400] But honestly, I was having this chat with Chris,
[01:13:55.500 -> 01:13:58.200] and we were both laughing at the fact that Alpine misplaced
[01:13:58.300 -> 01:14:00.100] Ocon's front wing and qualifying.
[01:14:00.200 -> 01:14:03.200] It couldn't find it in time. That was hilarious.
[01:14:03.600 -> 01:14:09.700] But the reality is, the problem here, I don't think, is the Formula One team.
[01:14:09.700 -> 01:14:12.540] I think the problem here is Viri.
[01:14:12.540 -> 01:14:16.380] I think it's their power unit, and I think it's the people running it, and I think it's
[01:14:16.380 -> 01:14:21.960] the inability of the people running it to actually get their act together and properly
[01:14:21.960 -> 01:14:26.400] work with the Formula One team to make a car that would
[01:14:26.400 -> 01:14:32.640] really be competitive. So Renault as an engine manufacturer, power unit supplier, whatever,
[01:14:32.640 -> 01:14:39.040] has produced an underpowered engine slash power unit since the dawn of time. Even back in the V8
[01:14:39.040 -> 01:14:43.440] days, it was underpowered compared to say the Mercedes, for example. Oh yeah, Red Bull used
[01:14:43.440 -> 01:14:45.200] to give them loads of grief.
[01:14:45.200 -> 01:14:46.400] Yeah, yeah, exactly.
[01:14:46.400 -> 01:14:47.400] This is my point.
[01:14:47.400 -> 01:14:49.800] Even when they were winning championships with them, right?
[01:14:49.800 -> 01:14:51.400] You're agreeing with me now, Chris.
[01:14:51.400 -> 01:14:52.000] Do better.
[01:14:52.000 -> 01:14:52.600] No, no, no.
[01:14:52.600 -> 01:14:53.600] So they're banging on about-
[01:14:53.600 -> 01:14:55.400] It's not a Renault, it's a Tag Heuer.
[01:14:55.400 -> 01:14:56.000] Yeah.
[01:14:56.000 -> 01:14:58.800] They're banging on about this 25 brake horsepower
[01:14:58.800 -> 01:15:00.200] that needs to be equalized.
[01:15:00.200 -> 01:15:02.400] So they're asking help from Formula One
[01:15:02.400 -> 01:15:04.000] to get an extra 25 brake horsepower,
[01:15:04.000 -> 01:15:05.020] which is
[01:15:08.360 -> 01:15:11.460] embarrassing, but for me everything that's going on at the moment it just shows to me that they've got so
[01:15:11.760 -> 01:15:17.920] many bigger problems that they have to deal with and just I know the result on track was good today, Matt
[01:15:17.920 -> 01:15:24.040] but also Roman Grosjean finished third in the Team Endstone car while there were bailiffs at the factory
[01:15:24.040 -> 01:15:25.640] so it doesn't mean they don't have problems.
[01:15:25.640 -> 01:15:32.120] I don't know if anyone heard the interview with the new, what's his role?
[01:15:32.120 -> 01:15:34.880] I think he's Fabian's interim team principal.
[01:15:34.880 -> 01:15:35.880] Bruno Famin.
[01:15:35.880 -> 01:15:36.880] He's the new team principal.
[01:15:36.880 -> 01:15:39.440] He's the new Otmar, right?
[01:15:39.440 -> 01:15:45.000] That was, I don't think I've in the last 10 years heard anyone say anything that
[01:15:45.000 -> 01:15:47.800] sounded the alarms more than what he said.
[01:15:47.800 -> 01:15:55.800] You can't remove Alan Perlman and Ottmar and Pat Fry from the same team.
[01:15:55.800 -> 01:15:59.500] I mean, their five-year plan can start in a couple of years when
[01:15:59.500 -> 01:16:01.700] the team has gotten its form again.
[01:16:01.700 -> 01:16:03.200] And that's seven years from now.
[01:16:03.200 -> 01:16:06.840] I just find it so amateurish that not
[01:16:06.840 -> 01:16:12.440] from the Formula One team side, but from the CEO boardroom kind of side.
[01:16:12.440 -> 01:16:18.520] And this is kind of the point I was making. It's very easy to get distracted by the Formula One
[01:16:18.520 -> 01:16:27.780] team. Oh, you know, they had a race where they got a bunch of penalties. Ah, they're terrible. But they have fired the CEO of Alpine, who was running it.
[01:16:27.780 -> 01:16:33.820] They put somebody new in there, and now they've fired Atmar, Alan Permain, and Pat Fry is
[01:16:33.820 -> 01:16:34.820] going.
[01:16:34.820 -> 01:16:39.020] But the reality is, as Chris points out, you can go back to the first engine freeze, where
[01:16:39.020 -> 01:16:43.620] the engines had parity, and a year later, Renault walks in the door and says to the
[01:16:43.620 -> 01:16:45.520] FIA, we need help, we're behind.
[01:16:45.520 -> 01:16:49.960] You can look at 2014, where they had an engine that couldn't go two laps without bursting
[01:16:49.960 -> 01:16:50.960] into flames.
[01:16:50.960 -> 01:16:51.960] That was funny.
[01:16:51.960 -> 01:16:55.440] And then you come here, and I begin to think that the people at Renault and the corporate
[01:16:55.440 -> 01:16:59.600] leadership are looking in the wrong place for the real problem.
[01:16:59.600 -> 01:17:03.480] I don't think it's Atmar, I don't think it's Alan Permain, I don't think it's Pat Fry.
[01:17:03.480 -> 01:17:10.400] I think the problem is coming from elsewhere, and they really are going to have to clean house there before anything gets
[01:17:10.400 -> 01:17:17.200] that much better. The engine problems are coming from inside the factory. All right look a couple
[01:17:17.200 -> 01:17:21.840] more things I need to cover. It's been a long race review but it's been a long race weekend as well
[01:17:21.840 -> 01:17:26.900] so quickly going to touch on on Russell, incidents for both the Aston Martin drivers and then
[01:17:26.900 -> 01:17:29.440] Daniel Ricciardo and then we'll get on to our awards.
[01:17:29.440 -> 01:17:32.500] So Russell really has had a nightmare this weekend.
[01:17:32.500 -> 01:17:36.240] Well done for rallying back and getting it together.
[01:17:36.240 -> 01:17:43.460] But the gap in pace, the gap in ability is starting to stretch out to the point where
[01:17:43.460 -> 01:17:45.680] I'm starting to suspect that they've developed
[01:17:45.680 -> 01:17:48.840] towards Lewis Hamilton's demands. Chris.
[01:17:48.840 -> 01:17:58.520] So in slight defence of Russell, he was on the higher downforce set up which I think
[01:17:58.520 -> 01:18:00.800] we can all agree was the wrong way to go.
[01:18:00.800 -> 01:18:05.600] Okay, but that wasn't the wrong way to go necessarily when it was wetter during
[01:18:05.600 -> 01:18:10.120] the sprint and during sprint qualifying and during Friday qualifying and he really didn't
[01:18:10.120 -> 01:18:15.040] look at ease there and he hasn't really looked at ease in any race except Silverstone where
[01:18:15.040 -> 01:18:19.680] there was no tyre wear. I can give you that, I can give you that 100%. So what does he
[01:18:19.680 -> 01:18:30.160] do? New car, new Roswell, is what I'm saying. Look, as much as people go on about the Red Bull being developed around Red Bull, I think
[01:18:30.160 -> 01:18:35.720] the focus of Mercedes is Lewis Hamilton at the moment. So if he's struggling that much
[01:18:35.720 -> 01:18:40.000] to even get to the level he wants to be, I'm just wondering if the development of the car
[01:18:40.000 -> 01:18:50.240] has gone away from him. I have no insight into whether it has, but when you have a very capable driver like that, who yes, has been a little bit behind Lewis Hamilton, he's looking
[01:18:50.240 -> 01:18:55.960] increasingly behind Lewis Hamilton. I don't think the old dog Lewis, sorry, Lewis, at
[01:18:55.960 -> 01:19:02.480] 37 is finding bags more pace, but he has been lobbying very, very hard for a particular
[01:19:02.480 -> 01:19:09.960] type of car, and I think for a particular type of setup, so it's very possible that they've been developing towards Lewis Hamilton. So
[01:19:09.960 -> 01:19:14.440] I would not want to judge George Russell too harshly, but fair play, he did put his hand
[01:19:14.440 -> 01:19:18.200] up and go, I'm just, you know, I'm not getting to grips with this car.
[01:19:18.200 -> 01:19:23.040] Aston Martin had a very mixed weekend before this race. A couple of things to point out.
[01:19:23.040 -> 01:19:25.620] Firstly, quite a rare mistake from Alonso.
[01:19:25.620 -> 01:19:28.240] Like we don't often see Alonso in the wall.
[01:19:28.240 -> 01:19:30.200] So that was quite odd.
[01:19:30.200 -> 01:19:33.180] And when we saw the Aston Martin, be honest now,
[01:19:33.180 -> 01:19:35.600] did anybody assume anything other than,
[01:19:35.600 -> 01:19:38.000] oh no, Lance Stroll has gone into the wall?
[01:19:38.000 -> 01:19:38.840] No, of course.
[01:19:38.840 -> 01:19:41.360] Yeah, everyone went, oh Lance Stroll.
[01:19:41.360 -> 01:19:42.720] It's a safe bet normally.
[01:19:42.720 -> 01:19:45.800] And I couldn't believe when Crofty was saying
[01:19:45.800 -> 01:19:49.760] it's Fernando Alonso, I was like, no. I had to wait for the graphic to pop up before I
[01:19:49.760 -> 01:19:55.320] believed it. And then obviously Lance Stroll did have his own incident too, but this one,
[01:19:55.320 -> 01:19:59.400] and I'm going to defend Lance Stroll here, I just, I couldn't believe it. They made,
[01:19:59.400 -> 01:20:06.640] they made the call to go on to slicks in changeable conditions during the qualifying session and he told the team it's
[01:20:06.640 -> 01:20:13.040] too early and they said well we're committed now go for it he crashes into the wall and that not
[01:20:13.040 -> 01:20:20.480] only takes him out but also denies Fernando Alonso the chance to progress. Big boo-boo from Aston
[01:20:20.480 -> 01:20:26.120] Martin there because they must have realized there was a high risk of Lance ending up in the wall.
[01:20:26.120 -> 01:20:27.920] That is not a comment on his ability,
[01:20:27.920 -> 01:20:31.000] it is a fact of being on slicks on a drying track.
[01:20:31.000 -> 01:20:31.920] I'm not blaming him.
[01:20:31.920 -> 01:20:34.920] Every, the Slack forum, the WhatsApp groups,
[01:20:34.920 -> 01:20:38.920] everyone went, oh no, no, no, this is bad.
[01:20:38.920 -> 01:20:41.400] Right, and why would you take that risk
[01:20:41.400 -> 01:20:44.800] when Alonso, your number one, is still in the drop zone,
[01:20:44.800 -> 01:20:50.400] knowing that Lance could well bring out bare minimum a yellow and ruin Fernando's lap?
[01:20:51.280 -> 01:20:53.760] But he could have been the star of qualifying.
[01:20:54.320 -> 01:20:54.880] Don't forget that.
[01:20:54.880 -> 01:20:58.240] It was only Q2.
[01:20:58.240 -> 01:20:59.440] It was Q2.
[01:20:59.440 -> 01:21:00.000] I don't care.
[01:21:00.000 -> 01:21:02.320] I didn't watch the T2, T3 numbers.
[01:21:02.320 -> 01:21:03.520] But it was a hail Mary.
[01:21:03.520 -> 01:21:04.160] That was the thing.
[01:21:04.160 -> 01:21:08.000] It was a hail Mary to get Lance into SQ3 or whatever it was.
[01:21:08.000 -> 01:21:09.600] It was actually Q3.
[01:21:09.600 -> 01:21:10.320] Oh, it was actually...
[01:21:10.320 -> 01:21:13.920] Yeah, it was Friday. This is why it's hard to remember all the details.
[01:21:13.920 -> 01:21:16.720] I hate the calendar so much!
[01:21:16.720 -> 01:21:19.520] I can't remember anything that's happened this year.
[01:21:19.520 -> 01:21:23.440] The only thing they did wrong, actually, was not securing Alonso first.
[01:21:23.440 -> 01:21:25.040] They should have secured Alonso
[01:21:25.040 -> 01:21:31.280] and then sent him out if that was possible. But you know, time, there's some... The definition
[01:21:31.280 -> 01:21:36.480] of time is it ends eventually. Oh, no? Yeah, well.
[01:21:37.200 -> 01:21:42.960] But those are the details. That's the separation between a team like Red Bull, a team like
[01:21:42.960 -> 01:21:47.100] Mercedes, not so much a team like Ferrari, and a team like Aston.
[01:21:47.100 -> 01:21:51.480] It's those little tiny details having been thought about
[01:21:51.480 -> 01:21:55.280] ahead of time so that they're correct in the moment.
[01:21:55.580 -> 01:22:00.060] They'd sent out Lance earlier, so he had more laps on that tire.
[01:22:00.060 -> 01:22:04.360] He would have been probably fine if they'd sent him out after Alonso.
[01:22:04.700 -> 01:22:05.760] They would have been probably fine. If they'd sent him out after Alonso, they would have also been
[01:22:05.760 -> 01:22:12.080] fine. But that fundamental error of not saying, what if, and I don't even want to blame the
[01:22:12.080 -> 01:22:17.840] strategist, I certainly wouldn't have thought of it. But at a certain point, that is where the
[01:22:17.840 -> 01:22:24.080] responsibility lies. At the team level, you have to be able to take that broader view when you're
[01:22:24.080 -> 01:22:25.520] looking at everything.
[01:22:25.520 -> 01:22:29.980] And as it is, I personally think they got very lucky with the people, everyone pretty
[01:22:29.980 -> 01:22:34.940] much ahead of Alonso, having a problem on the first lap, put him into fifth place, and
[01:22:34.940 -> 01:22:36.180] then they just kept him there.
[01:22:36.180 -> 01:22:37.180] Oh, right.
[01:22:37.180 -> 01:22:41.580] And then finally, before the awards, I just want to say, Yuki wins!
[01:22:41.580 -> 01:22:42.580] Perfect!
[01:22:42.580 -> 01:22:43.900] Yeah, come on!
[01:22:43.900 -> 01:22:45.240] That's a big win, right?
[01:22:51.320 -> 01:22:56.160] Ricardo was washed. Okay, firstly, that's not true. So I was, I'm a Sonoda fan and I've never really been a Daniel Riccardo fan. So when it comes to those two teamed up, yes
[01:22:56.160 -> 01:23:02.200] I'm hoping that Sonoda will do better. So I was watching their lap times specifically. Riccardo had a lap time deleted in on
[01:23:02.760 -> 01:23:04.760] Friday in Q1
[01:23:08.480 -> 01:23:14.160] Ricciardo had a lap time deleted in on Friday in Q1 and he was, but that lap time it put him up to like fifth and then it got deleted and then he's out of Q1. And then when I was watching the lap
[01:23:14.160 -> 01:23:20.720] times today, I was watching it in the hopes that it would show a terrible race pace from Ricciardo
[01:23:20.720 -> 01:23:29.040] and that I could do a bit more of an ecstatic Yuki wins. But actually, Chris, Ricciardo's lap times were pretty good. They seemed well matched.
[01:23:29.600 -> 01:23:34.880] I think Abayuki's were better, no? And like, what a great result for Alfa Tauri.
[01:23:34.880 -> 01:23:35.040] Yeah.
[01:23:35.040 -> 01:23:39.360] Because that car has been in the points only the third time this season.
[01:23:39.360 -> 01:23:40.000] Yeah, but 11th.
[01:23:40.000 -> 01:23:42.080] And all in like 10th place.
[01:23:42.080 -> 01:23:45.160] Yeah, and a lot of 11th as well. Yeah, I mean, they're still
[01:23:45.160 -> 01:23:54.920] way behind the, what's the next car? The Alfa Romeo? Salvo. Yeah, yeah, the Alfa Romeo Salvo,
[01:23:54.920 -> 01:23:58.960] which is still like 10 points ahead of them or something like this. So I think it's still
[01:23:58.960 -> 01:24:01.960] safe to say it's probably the worst car in the field.
[01:24:01.960 -> 01:24:06.280] Given the Alfa Romeo, it was a good race. And I think, yeah, Snowden's, I hate the term, but yeah,
[01:24:06.280 -> 01:24:09.240] he's been maximizing what you can get out of that car.
[01:24:09.240 -> 01:24:12.960] Just a quick kind of petition, because Alfa Romeo's kind
[01:24:12.960 -> 01:24:15.920] of done in F1 now, and it's going to be Sauber next year
[01:24:15.920 -> 01:24:19.240] and then Audi, and it's always been stupid allowing
[01:24:19.240 -> 01:24:22.160] two Alfa's named teams.
[01:24:22.160 -> 01:24:24.400] And I think Alfa Tauri is getting rebranded at some point
[01:24:24.400 -> 01:24:24.900] as well.
[01:24:24.900 -> 01:24:30.400] For next year, yeah, by another big fashion brand.
[01:24:30.400 -> 01:24:32.000] Okay, do we know which one?
[01:24:32.000 -> 01:24:33.320] Oh, you know!
[01:24:33.320 -> 01:24:35.040] Okay, so when I mention it...
[01:24:35.040 -> 01:24:38.600] This is Chris with his smug face on for those of you who are just listening.
[01:24:38.600 -> 01:24:42.440] This is Chris on, oh I'm not allowed to say because of a contract he's on.
[01:24:42.440 -> 01:24:43.440] But when I...
[01:24:43.440 -> 01:24:44.440] It's not a clue, Chris.
[01:24:44.440 -> 01:24:48.100] A clue, just... to say because of a contract he's on. But when I reveal it on a future show, I didn't
[01:24:48.100 -> 01:24:52.060] hear it from Chris. So just want to make that completely clear.
[01:24:52.060 -> 01:24:54.860] It's getting hot in here.
[01:24:54.860 -> 01:25:00.260] So we have no alphas at all. So I petition that we do call Alfa Romeo Salba now because
[01:25:00.260 -> 01:25:01.460] it will be Salba next year.
[01:25:01.460 -> 01:25:02.940] It's always been Salba to me anyway.
[01:25:02.940 -> 01:25:08.800] Of course it has always been Salba. But and then it's going to be air quotes Audi going forward from that. Christian,
[01:25:08.800 -> 01:25:15.280] sorry, your point on Ricciardo. Yeah, we need to big up Ricciardo. I mean, I think a month ago on
[01:25:15.280 -> 01:25:21.280] this podcast, I was, let's get Ricciardo back and he was like, whatever, the thing, he's drunk again.
[01:25:21.280 -> 01:25:25.000] Yeah, he's fighting people, he's on mushrooms. He's wearing three pounds of spanners.
[01:25:25.000 -> 01:25:26.000] Yeah.
[01:25:26.000 -> 01:25:30.040] Listen, he's driven two races in this car and it's not the fastest car.
[01:25:30.040 -> 01:25:31.680] It's a strange car to drive.
[01:25:31.680 -> 01:25:35.160] I watched him during the race today.
[01:25:35.160 -> 01:25:38.200] He did have a really good first part of the race.
[01:25:38.200 -> 01:25:41.360] Second part of the race, he was just stuck behind Magnussen.
[01:25:41.360 -> 01:25:45.840] And even though he was within DRS range of Magnussen, he couldn't
[01:25:45.840 -> 01:25:48.480] overtake him on the straight every lap.
[01:25:48.560 -> 01:25:50.360] And that says a lot about the car.
[01:25:50.360 -> 01:25:54.880] If you have DRS on a horse on the straight in Spa and you still can't
[01:25:54.880 -> 01:25:57.520] overtake lap after lap, that is the car.
[01:25:58.000 -> 01:26:02.200] And I think we should take hats off for this guy who was six months ago,
[01:26:02.200 -> 01:26:03.680] everyone's like, the guy's done.
[01:26:04.240 -> 01:26:05.080] He's not a racer.
[01:26:05.080 -> 01:26:06.840] He's forgotten to race.
[01:26:06.840 -> 01:26:10.080] And now he's back and he's actually been out racing
[01:26:10.080 -> 01:26:12.320] Sonoda for the last couple of races,
[01:26:12.320 -> 01:26:14.760] except for the race today.
[01:26:14.760 -> 01:26:16.680] Fine. That's what I'll say.
[01:26:16.680 -> 01:26:18.080] No, it's not just fine.
[01:26:18.080 -> 01:26:21.520] He's been doing way better than anyone expected.
[01:26:21.520 -> 01:26:25.760] So it does depend on where you see Sunoda's performance. So I'm
[01:26:25.760 -> 01:26:30.940] rating Sunoda quite highly, so I think if Ricciardo does as well as Sunoda, he's
[01:26:30.940 -> 01:26:34.880] doing well. And I think if he's not quite on pace immediately, that's not the end
[01:26:34.880 -> 01:26:38.840] of the world. But honestly, you know, I'm sat there looking lap after lap and it's
[01:26:38.840 -> 01:26:43.820] a dog of a car. He was really unlucky in qualifying and he was
[01:26:43.820 -> 01:26:45.640] pedaling around fine. It was fine
[01:26:45.640 -> 01:26:51.720] I honestly think it was fine. If you're a Riccardo fan, don't be too downhearted by today is what I would say
[01:26:52.280 -> 01:26:58.020] Most of it was just down to where he started. Honestly, if you looked at their lap times, they weren't very dissimilar at all
[01:26:58.120 -> 01:27:06.760] So nearly good luck in qualifying and then he made as much of it as he could. All right, it's time for the podium. Champagne was popped.
[01:27:06.960 -> 01:27:12.120] Sergio Perez joins Max Verstappen on the podium and vows that that is where he will
[01:27:12.320 -> 01:27:17.480] stay and there is a somewhat rare Ferrari podium as well.
[01:27:17.480 -> 01:27:19.000] Where will the rest of the season go?
[01:27:19.200 -> 01:27:19.880] I don't know.
[01:27:20.000 -> 01:27:22.440] Well, we know that Verstappen has got it wrapped up.
[01:27:22.640 -> 01:27:24.880] I think it's genuinely open for second
[01:27:26.120 -> 01:27:26.240] in the Drivers' Championship.
[01:27:31.680 -> 01:27:34.920] And there's genuinely a huge four-way fight for the next four positions. There's a lot to look after, to look forward to after the summer break.
[01:27:35.120 -> 01:27:38.840] It's going to be three weeks, three Sundays without Formula One.
[01:27:38.840 -> 01:27:41.080] But we've got some great stuff lined up for you.
[01:27:41.080 -> 01:27:48.800] We're going to be talking about the US races coming up with Magnus, who's going to come and join us again. Mike Caulfield is coming on to join us next
[01:27:48.800 -> 01:27:55.680] week. We have mailbag emails piled up in our folder, but please do email us feedback at
[01:27:55.680 -> 01:28:00.240] missedapex.net and we're going to get Antonio to jump in and do a mailbag episode while
[01:28:00.240 -> 01:28:07.920] I go on a holiday. That's right, Matt. I'm going to go on holiday. Yeah, and as we all know, if you're a dad with a family,
[01:28:07.920 -> 01:28:10.960] a holiday is something that you need when you get back from your holiday.
[01:28:10.960 -> 01:28:15.840] No, I am assured by the family that it will be very relaxing for me as well,
[01:28:15.840 -> 01:28:17.040] to the point that I can...
[01:28:17.040 -> 01:28:19.120] No, and you're still young enough to believe that, okay.
[01:28:19.120 -> 01:28:22.720] To the point where I can have a phones off, it's going to be a phone off holiday,
[01:28:22.720 -> 01:28:30.260] where I don't need to contact anyone, the mailbag will happen without me knowing and it will be majestical and magical.
[01:28:30.260 -> 01:28:31.260] Alright then.
[01:28:31.260 -> 01:28:32.260] Alright then.
[01:28:32.260 -> 01:28:36.260] Okay, well let's go for that and of course we'll come up with some interesting stuff
[01:28:36.260 -> 01:28:38.720] to keep you occupied during the summer break.
[01:28:38.720 -> 01:28:41.820] But now it's time for some awards.
[01:28:41.820 -> 01:28:45.160] One thing that will keep you occupied during the summer break is next
[01:28:45.160 -> 01:28:50.440] Friday, for those of you interested, there's a virtual live audience with Joe Sayward.
[01:28:50.440 -> 01:28:56.000] So you can jump on a 50 person Zoom call and the conversation with Joe is driven by your
[01:28:56.000 -> 01:29:02.280] questions. Joe has been a journalist in F1 since 1988 and he's been to every Grand Prix
[01:29:02.280 -> 01:29:09.960] since then. So there's very little he doesn't know about the history of F1 or what's going on now, particularly in the business side, the
[01:29:09.960 -> 01:29:14.820] political side. He's friends with pretty much everyone who's wandering around the F1 paddock.
[01:29:14.820 -> 01:29:20.160] So a live virtual audience with Joe on Friday, go and search. Well, no, the link is in the
[01:29:20.160 -> 01:29:24.120] show notes, but it's mistapexpodcast.com forward slash Joe.
[01:29:24.120 -> 01:29:25.200] Oh, and the last thing I
[01:29:25.200 -> 01:29:30.760] want to advertise is do you think this podcast is produced well? If so, perhaps you would
[01:29:30.760 -> 01:29:35.620] like to consider us for producing your podcast for your company or you as an individual.
[01:29:35.620 -> 01:29:40.940] You can email me spanners at mistapex.net. We'll give you a quote, we'll give you all
[01:29:40.940 -> 01:29:49.520] the advice you need to get yourself set up with good quality. We front load quality and production. This starts about half past eight and you've got
[01:29:49.520 -> 01:29:53.440] a full podcast put out on the internet at half past ten. That's because we bake the
[01:29:53.440 -> 01:29:58.520] quality in at the front end. So when it comes to editing, we can pretty much just push it
[01:29:58.520 -> 01:30:04.560] out. So email me spanners at msapex.net if you think we could do a podcast service for
[01:30:04.560 -> 01:30:05.720] you. So let's get
[01:30:05.720 -> 01:30:09.760] into the awards. It's the good thing first.
[01:30:13.480 -> 01:30:18.680] All right, Christian, you beacon of positivity, what's your thing of the
[01:30:18.680 -> 01:30:23.680] weekend? I'm gonna... actually I'm gonna pick a thing that could be picked any
[01:30:23.680 -> 01:30:25.200] weekend during the calendar,
[01:30:25.200 -> 01:30:30.960] but I don't think we get enough praise to the Formula One TV Pro crew.
[01:30:33.280 -> 01:30:38.560] What I've been working with mostly are big live shows, one-off shows,
[01:30:38.560 -> 01:30:41.160] one and a half hour Grammys, things like that.
[01:30:42.280 -> 01:30:45.200] Putting together a production team that just works, that you can see in their eyes, they like each other, there's a good vibe and stuff like that. And putting together like a production team that just works,
[01:30:45.200 -> 01:30:47.720] that you can see in their eyes, they like each other,
[01:30:47.720 -> 01:30:49.120] there's a good vibe and stuff like that,
[01:30:49.120 -> 01:30:51.960] it's just one of the most difficult things ever.
[01:30:51.960 -> 01:30:56.760] And that Laura Wintour, Sam Collins, Will Buxton too,
[01:30:56.760 -> 01:31:00.400] I mean, he was back from maternity,
[01:31:00.400 -> 01:31:03.320] they just put on a brilliant show.
[01:31:03.320 -> 01:31:06.720] It's very professional and you can tell they love what they're doing.
[01:31:06.720 -> 01:31:08.680] And I thought that should get some praise.
[01:31:08.680 -> 01:31:10.000] Ah, that's nice.
[01:31:10.000 -> 01:31:13.000] Alright, Chris Stevens, what was your thing of the weekend?
[01:31:13.000 -> 01:31:19.000] Yeah, so I'm going to try and match Christian's level of positivity here as I've been scrambling
[01:31:19.000 -> 01:31:24.280] for the last 45 seconds trying to think of something I enjoyed this weekend.
[01:31:24.280 -> 01:31:26.480] You're too young to talk like that.
[01:31:26.480 -> 01:31:30.800] I know, right? It's bad, but I got my hair cut today and there was an awful lot of grey in there.
[01:31:31.760 -> 01:31:39.920] I would probably say Charlie, because I like seeing Charlie do well, and it's nice seeing
[01:31:39.920 -> 01:31:43.360] Ferrari back up at the top, and I think they've made a bit of progress.
[01:31:43.360 -> 01:31:46.360] Mmm, that's good. Matt, what's your thing of the weekend?
[01:31:46.360 -> 01:31:52.080] Well, you know, you'd think it would be me saying Arkon, gaining more places than
[01:31:52.080 -> 01:31:58.120] anyone in the race and finishing 8th, along with Gasly, 3rd, came under attack.
[01:31:58.120 -> 01:32:02.680] The fact of the matter is, I've always had a bit of a soft spot for Otmar.
[01:32:02.680 -> 01:32:08.880] And at the risk of provoking a reaction, his quote, that you can't get nine women pregnant
[01:32:08.880 -> 01:32:14.360] and expect a baby next month when they asked him about being fired, is pretty much my thing
[01:32:14.360 -> 01:32:15.360] of the week.
[01:32:15.360 -> 01:32:16.360] All right.
[01:32:16.360 -> 01:32:17.360] Okay, good.
[01:32:17.360 -> 01:32:19.480] I did not hear that quote.
[01:32:19.480 -> 01:32:20.480] That's fantastic.
[01:32:20.480 -> 01:32:22.760] So that leaves me with Oscar Piastri.
[01:32:22.760 -> 01:32:23.760] Wow.
[01:32:23.760 -> 01:32:26.400] Oscar Piastri is taking the fight to his much more
[01:32:26.400 -> 01:32:32.960] experienced teammate and he will be seeing Lando Norris as his first obstacle on the path to
[01:32:32.960 -> 01:32:37.760] greatness. But this weekend he's been giving us little clues. So Silverstone could have been a
[01:32:37.760 -> 01:32:46.280] lot better for Piastri. This weekend he has just basically yelled at F1, I'm here mate, you can't ignore me now.
[01:32:46.280 -> 01:32:51.080] And that's how he speaks, which is a flaw, but it was a great weekend from Piastri.
[01:32:51.080 -> 01:32:53.840] I'm now expecting great things.
[01:32:53.840 -> 01:32:56.360] My expectations could not be higher.
[01:32:56.360 -> 01:32:58.480] All right, let's be negative.
[01:32:58.480 -> 01:33:02.680] Oh no, you missed the apex.
[01:33:02.680 -> 01:33:06.000] Who missed the apex for you, Christian Patterson?
[01:33:06.000 -> 01:33:11.000] Definitely Alpine. The way they handled this during a weekend.
[01:33:11.000 -> 01:33:17.000] I mean, I'm amazed that you can have companies at this level,
[01:33:17.000 -> 01:33:21.000] using this amount of money, for this many years,
[01:33:21.000 -> 01:33:24.000] have so little insight into how not to do it.
[01:33:24.000 -> 01:33:28.000] And this could have been done
[01:33:28.000 -> 01:33:34.640] in the summer break. So much easier. I mean, the PR, I mean, just I'm a little bit shell
[01:33:34.640 -> 01:33:36.000] shocked by it, actually.
[01:33:36.000 -> 01:33:41.120] It smacks of a fallout that just couldn't wait. That's what it smacks of, because it
[01:33:41.120 -> 01:33:45.800] sounds like, you know, Pat Fry was confirmed to have left for Williams and
[01:33:45.800 -> 01:33:52.120] then did, did, did Otmar Schaffnauer and, and, and Alan Permain just go, you know, well
[01:33:52.120 -> 01:33:56.520] then we're off too and just like throw the, it sounds like there was a heated battle.
[01:33:56.520 -> 01:34:03.480] Lauren Rossi obviously left under heated circumstances. Alan Prost openly comes out and says that
[01:34:03.480 -> 01:34:07.000] Lauren Rossi is like the, the like the, what did he say?
[01:34:07.000 -> 01:34:13.600] He said he's the biggest example of the Dunning-Kruger effect in F1, like just fully out and just
[01:34:13.600 -> 01:34:17.400] fully saying that about a guy who's still working at Renault.
[01:34:17.400 -> 01:34:18.920] The whole thing is a disaster.
[01:34:18.920 -> 01:34:22.200] They definitely, they had a bad night out or something.
[01:34:22.200 -> 01:34:27.680] They couldn't, they couldn't agree how to split split the bill or something. And they all just went.
[01:34:27.680 -> 01:34:35.680] This is post Cyril Audible, right? Oh my goodness. And we thought that was aggressive.
[01:34:35.680 -> 01:34:40.240] It couldn't wait much like how Piastri's driver announcement couldn't wait either. I love
[01:34:40.240 -> 01:34:46.280] it because he also, Prost also said like, his incompetence is only matched by his arrogance,
[01:34:46.280 -> 01:34:47.120] or something like this.
[01:34:47.120 -> 01:34:48.400] It's absolutely brilliant.
[01:34:48.400 -> 01:34:50.440] And Omar also basically said,
[01:34:50.440 -> 01:34:53.120] I love this idea, they're gonna be winning races in 26.
[01:34:53.120 -> 01:34:54.000] Nonsense!
[01:34:54.000 -> 01:34:54.840] I love it.
[01:34:54.840 -> 01:34:55.660] Well, you, Chris Stevens,
[01:34:55.660 -> 01:34:59.960] your handsomeness is only matched by your commentary talent.
[01:34:59.960 -> 01:35:02.200] And people should, I have to say it,
[01:35:02.200 -> 01:35:05.040] it's like a showbiz thing to pretend to be you know
[01:35:05.040 -> 01:35:08.720] oh Chris is so brilliant and then I slag you off behind your back.
[01:35:08.720 -> 01:35:11.040] So you get to take the credit for this as well.
[01:35:11.040 -> 01:35:14.240] Why? Because oh because I've brought you on because I'm your podcast
[01:35:14.240 -> 01:35:16.160] slightly older brother as you often say.
[01:35:16.800 -> 01:35:18.240] Yes my podcasting dad.
[01:35:18.960 -> 01:35:23.680] No that's so much older god damn it okay so follow Chris at Chris on Racing all his
[01:35:23.680 -> 01:35:25.600] links are in the show notes below
[01:35:25.600 -> 01:35:32.720] even though i hate him now okay so i mean the apex for you oh right so i have so many to choose from
[01:35:32.720 -> 01:35:40.800] uh but for me it's gonna be haas and uh matt's gonna be upset that was mine yes oh dang it i'm
[01:35:40.800 -> 01:35:50.880] sorry man but i think literally the only thing i heard about Haas all weekend is Oh Hulkenberg hasn't made it to the line in time in qualifying and then the same thing happened the day after
[01:35:51.720 -> 01:35:59.200] Someone actually earlier in the chat said how come you haven't mentioned Haas and one of our Danish patrons said shh don't tell them
[01:35:59.800 -> 01:36:01.720] Because they don't want it mentioned
[01:36:01.720 -> 01:36:08.520] But yeah, they're underwhelming for sure at the moment and and it't actually look that good for Magnussen. His contract is up at the end
[01:36:08.520 -> 01:36:13.280] of the season and all the talk is of renewing Hulkenberg's contract.
[01:36:13.280 -> 01:36:19.240] I had to write a report after the Grand Prix. I looked at the championship standings. I
[01:36:19.240 -> 01:36:24.920] couldn't believe this. Kevin has not scored a point all season. I couldn't believe this.
[01:36:24.920 -> 01:36:25.680] That's the end of my point. All season. I couldn't believe this. That's the end of my point.
[01:36:25.680 -> 01:36:30.880] I'm just gonna stall as well, because I know Matt, I can see the steam coming out of Matt's
[01:36:30.880 -> 01:36:32.160] head as he tries to think of a-
[01:36:32.160 -> 01:36:34.400] Well, how many has Hulkenberg scored?
[01:36:34.400 -> 01:36:36.360] I mean, more than none.
[01:36:36.360 -> 01:36:37.360] More than zero.
[01:36:37.360 -> 01:36:38.360] Okay.
[01:36:38.360 -> 01:36:39.360] Hang on, let me look it up real quick.
[01:36:39.360 -> 01:36:40.360] Magnussen scored two points.
[01:36:40.360 -> 01:36:41.360] Nonsense.
[01:36:41.360 -> 01:36:42.360] What?
[01:36:42.360 -> 01:36:43.360] Oh, the page I was looking at was wrong then.
[01:36:43.360 -> 01:36:47.000] So does that mean your report that you just submitted was wrong as well?
[01:36:47.000 -> 01:36:49.000] No, no, no, it didn't have that in it.
[01:36:49.000 -> 01:36:56.000] Look, Magnussen is a dad with multiple kids, and being a dad with multiple kids is terrible and very distracting.
[01:36:56.000 -> 01:36:59.000] Same thing happened to Vettel, no massive surprise there.
[01:36:59.000 -> 01:37:03.000] Alright, cool. So, Matt, who missed the apex for you?
[01:37:03.000 -> 01:37:06.360] Nick DeVries. Oh wait, that's not going to work, is it?
[01:37:06.360 -> 01:37:07.360] Too soon.
[01:37:07.360 -> 01:37:14.920] No, I think, honestly, if there's a team that underperformed, it would have to be Alpha
[01:37:14.920 -> 01:37:16.280] Romeo.
[01:37:16.280 -> 01:37:22.920] And I think as bad as Alpha Tauri is, I'm not convinced that they're all that much
[01:37:22.920 -> 01:37:24.320] better.
[01:37:24.320 -> 01:37:28.140] And the one shot they had was Hungary, and they blew it.
[01:37:28.580 -> 01:37:31.180] And you can see it in the results here.
[01:37:31.440 -> 01:37:33.580] They just, they don't have the car.
[01:37:33.920 -> 01:37:35.880] And they've had the whole season,
[01:37:35.980 -> 01:37:38.520] and maybe it's, you know, where they're headed,
[01:37:38.620 -> 01:37:41.720] and everyone's sort of already written this year off.
[01:37:42.060 -> 01:37:44.120] But it was disappointing. I mean, at the beginning
[01:37:44.220 -> 01:37:48.440] of the race, Joe was trying, you know, like he was fighting with Ocon for that
[01:37:48.440 -> 01:37:53.280] spot. And Botas too was like looking like he might be in the points. But they don't
[01:37:53.280 -> 01:37:57.040] have the car, and I don't think they're going to have the car. And that's a real
[01:37:57.040 -> 01:38:00.520] disappointment, because that's a team that should, I think, be doing better.
[01:38:00.520 -> 01:38:04.640] Well, a team that should be doing better gets my missed apex as well, which is
[01:38:04.640 -> 01:38:10.120] Aston Martin. And I don't mean doing better developmentally. I think developmentally
[01:38:10.120 -> 01:38:14.400] they took a pretty good tactic, which was front load everything to the start of the
[01:38:14.400 -> 01:38:20.160] season and hang on as long as they can. But for that pit call and sending Lance Stroll
[01:38:20.160 -> 01:38:25.640] out when he didn't seem confident in changing conditions on slick tyres for obviously Stroll out when he didn't seem confident in changing conditions on slick tyres. Obviously
[01:38:25.640 -> 01:38:31.160] Stroll then ended up in a wall, which yeah, it's not his fault as much as the pit crew,
[01:38:31.160 -> 01:38:35.840] but Alonso also going in the wall. And really they saved their weekend a little bit with
[01:38:35.840 -> 01:38:41.680] Alonso's result on the Sunday, but the whole weekend just seemed a little bit off. And
[01:38:41.680 -> 01:38:45.600] as a midfield team, they are kind of, they're under-fuelling
[01:38:45.600 -> 01:38:49.880] for every race, it looks like, and it looks like they're sort of buttoning it. They're
[01:38:49.880 -> 01:38:54.480] going for the alternate tactics, which is what you do from the midfield, not a team
[01:38:54.480 -> 01:39:00.520] that is purportedly, you know, having ambitions to be fighting for world titles at some point.
[01:39:00.520 -> 01:39:08.000] Excellent. Thank you very much, guys, for joining us. Follow us in the show notes below. So at MattPT55, at ChrisOnRacing.
[01:39:08.000 -> 01:39:13.000] Christian's just noped out of social media again, but we'll bully him back onto it at some point.
[01:39:13.000 -> 01:39:18.000] But we're all in our patron Slack group. Support us at Patreon.com forward slash MissedApex.
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