F1 Off-Season News Ticker 4/12/22

Spanners and Trumpets are joined by the voice of the London ePrix Chris Stevens and video editor extraordinaire Steve Amey as they read all the off season tea leaves. From Ferrari’s foreshadowing to a tempest in an active aero teapot, from Williams latest wins to Jamie Chadwick’s choice, no Magic 8 Ball goes unshaken in this, the latest episode of Missed Apex Podcast.

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The provided transcript does not contain information about a podcast episode. Kindly provide the correct transcript to generate an accurate summary. **Podcast Episode Summary: Missed Apex Podcast - Episode 95**

**Segment 1: Active Aero Controversy**

- Speculation and rumors about Formula One considering the reintroduction of active aerodynamics to enhance overtaking opportunities.
- Chris Stevens, the voice of the London ePrix, expresses skepticism and concerns about the potential impact on the sport's excitement and the integrity of competition.
- Matt Trumpets highlights the current use of DRS as a form of active aerodynamics and its limitations in addressing the underlying issues with overtaking.
- Steve Amey delves into the history of active aerodynamics in Formula One, particularly during the 1990s, and explains how it was banned due to safety concerns and the perception of it being a movable aerodynamic device.
- Discussion about the potential benefits and drawbacks of implementing active aerodynamics, including the possibility of using adjustable ride heights to mitigate porpoising.
- The hosts emphasize the need for stable regulations to ensure fair competition and avoid frequent rule changes that disrupt the development of teams' cars.

**Segment 2: The Future of Women in Motorsport**

- The hosts discuss the ongoing debate about the future of women in motorsport and the challenges they face in pursuing a career in racing.
- Chris Stevens highlights the physical strength requirement in junior series, particularly with the use of non-power-assisted steering, which can be a barrier for women.
- Matt Trumpets emphasizes the importance of making junior series cars more accessible to women by incorporating power-assisted steering and addressing other physical limitations in the equipment and design.
- The hosts acknowledge the progress made by women in various forms of racing, including Tatiana Calderon's success in IndyCar, but recognize the need for further efforts to remove barriers and create a more inclusive environment.
- They discuss the importance of designing cars and equipment that accommodate the physical differences between men and women to ensure a level playing field.
- The hosts also touch on the issue of affordability in junior series and the need to address the high costs that can hinder aspiring drivers, regardless of gender.

**Segment 3: Williams' Recent Wins and Jamie Chadwick's Choice**

- The hosts discuss Williams' recent resurgence in Formula One, with Alex Albon securing a podium finish at the 2023 Australian Grand Prix and Logan Sargeant scoring points in his debut race.
- They attribute Williams' success to a combination of factors, including strong leadership, a talented driver lineup, and a competitive car.
- The hosts also mention Jamie Chadwick's decision to leave the W Series and pursue a career in Indy NXT, highlighting the significance of her move and the opportunities it presents for her racing future.

**Overall Message:**

The podcast episode delves into various topics related to Formula One, including the controversy surrounding the potential reintroduction of active aerodynamics, the challenges faced by women in motorsport, and the recent successes of Williams and Jamie Chadwick. The hosts provide insightful perspectives and engage in thought-provoking discussions, while also highlighting the importance of inclusivity, fair competition, and the pursuit of excellence in the sport. ## Summary of Missed Apex Podcast Episode:

### Introduction of the Podcast:
- Hosts: Spanners, Matt Trumpets, Chris Stevens, and Steve Amey.
- Discussion of the off-season news and rumors in Formula One.

### Key Topics Discussed:

1. **Women in Formula One:**
- New initiatives to promote and support women in racing, including bespoke setups to accommodate their needs.
- Jamie Chadwick's success in W Series and the ongoing debate about the lack of female representation in F1.
- The introduction of the F1 Academy and its focus on younger female drivers.

2. **Williams Racing's Revival:**
- New ownership under Dorilton Capital and its impact on the team's fortunes.
- The arrival of Logan Sargent as a driver and the team's financial stability under the cost cap.
- Williams' potential to return to competitiveness and challenge for points.

3. **Active Aero Controversy:**
- Discussion of the legality of active aero devices in Formula One.
- Mercedes' alleged use of a flexible front wing and the subsequent investigation by the FIA.
- The potential implications for Mercedes and the impact on the championship battle.

4. **Team Principal Carousel:**
- The recent changes in team principals across several Formula One teams.
- The departures of Mattia Binotto from Ferrari, Andreas Seidl from McLaren, and Cyril Abiteboul from Alpine.
- The arrival of new team principals and their potential impact on their respective teams.

### Conclusion:
- The podcast hosts wrap up the discussion by highlighting the key takeaways and insights from the episode.
- They emphasize the importance of promoting diversity and inclusion in Formula One and the potential for Williams Racing to make a comeback.
- The episode ends with a reminder to listeners to follow the hosts on social media and support the podcast through Patreon. **Missed Apex Podcast Episode Summary**

In this episode of the Missed Apex Podcast, the hosts and special guests engage in a lively discussion about various topics related to Formula One racing. They delve into the latest news, rumors, and controversies surrounding the sport, offering their insights and perspectives.

**Key Points:**

* The podcast begins with a discussion about Ferrari's recent comments regarding their 2023 car, with the hosts speculating on what these statements might reveal about the team's strategy and expectations.

* The conversation then shifts to the ongoing debate surrounding active aero devices in Formula One, with the hosts examining the pros and cons of this technology and its potential impact on the sport.

* The hosts also discuss the recent success of the Williams team, highlighting the impressive performances of Alex Albon and Logan Sargeant. They speculate on whether Williams can maintain this momentum and challenge for podium finishes in the upcoming season.

* The podcast also features a segment on Jamie Chadwick's decision to join the Indy NXT series, with the hosts analyzing the factors that may have influenced her choice and the implications for her racing career.

* The episode concludes with a discussion about the upcoming Missed Apex iRacing championship, with the hosts inviting listeners to watch the races and support the podcast.

**Overall Takeaway:**

This episode of the Missed Apex Podcast provides an entertaining and informative overview of various topics related to Formula One racing. The hosts engage in insightful discussions, offering their perspectives on the latest news, controversies, and developments in the sport. The podcast also highlights the upcoming Missed Apex iRacing championship, inviting listeners to join the excitement and support the podcast.

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[01:14.000 -> 01:14.200] You are listening to Missed Apex Podcast.
[01:17.840 -> 01:23.520] We live F1.
[01:29.600 -> 01:36.080] Welcome to Missed Apex Podcast, I'm your host Richard Ready, but my friends call me Spanners, so let's be friends. The off-season is getting settled in now, but the news ticker has not
[01:36.080 -> 01:41.840] stopped ticking. Ferrari kick off our news this week. There's a change at the very top
[01:41.840 -> 01:47.040] as they confirm the departure or resignation of Mattia Bernato.
[01:47.040 -> 01:53.440] We'll talk about the proposed success ballast from Ross Brawn that might be introduced from 2026
[01:53.440 -> 01:59.520] where the lead cars might get nerfed with jars of jelly and marmalade thrown in front of them
[01:59.520 -> 02:06.960] to slow them down. We'll be talking about whether the top single-seater junior series cars should
[02:06.960 -> 02:12.840] be adapted for women drivers and is there a chance that Williams could be in the ascendancy
[02:12.840 -> 02:18.360] from here on in with their new owners and a new driver. We are an independent podcast
[02:18.360 -> 02:22.320] though, produced in the podcasting shed with the kind permission of our better halves.
[02:22.320 -> 02:27.760] We aim to bring you a race review before your Monday morning commute. We might be wrong, but we're first.
[02:32.480 -> 02:40.160] I'm joined from America-land by Matt to Rompiz. How's your off-season so far, Matt?
[02:41.040 -> 02:43.760] Nothing new under the sun is what I would say to that.
[02:43.760 -> 02:59.560] Oh, are you going to give us all toys ever thus Ferrari again on their cycle of boom and bust. Active Aero. Nothing is new in Formula One. Maybe. But what is new to this planet is very young map baby Chris Stevens. Hello, Chris.
[03:04.400 -> 03:08.320] Hey Spanners, map baby, really? I've been doing this for about six or seven years now. I know, but when you started I think you were 17, so I think you'll always be
[03:08.320 -> 03:12.400] the missed Apex baby, even though we've got three younger panellists than you now.
[03:12.960 -> 03:14.080] Yeah, probably.
[03:14.080 -> 03:16.800] Sorry about that. And on the very other end of the scale, no offence,
[03:16.800 -> 03:20.560] is our video producer, Uncle Steve from Australia. Hey, hey Steve.
[03:21.680 -> 03:29.600] Hey Spanners, I'm looking forward to being aerodynamically disadvantaged for a totally fatuous PR reason.
[03:29.600 -> 03:35.040] Okay, but look, actually we are going to get to that, but I realize you are going to come
[03:35.040 -> 03:40.280] in with a very different perspective, because I think Matt wasn't actively watching F1
[03:40.280 -> 03:45.100] in the 80s in the same way I was quite young in the 80s, and Chris didn't exist at all in the 80s in the same way I was quite young in the 80s and Chris didn't exist
[03:45.100 -> 03:48.700] at all in the 80s so you're probably going to be the one to give us that
[03:48.700 -> 03:53.500] really good insight into what it was like the last time there was there was
[03:53.500 -> 03:57.340] actually active suspension on Formula One cars and with the sort of
[03:57.340 -> 04:01.900] rollercoaster Williams. But I think the place to start with actually Steve is
[04:01.900 -> 04:09.720] Ferrari. What do you make of the change at the top with Matteo Bonotto apparently resigning? That's the official line they
[04:09.720 -> 04:18.080] have parted company. Yeah well I don't understand the thinking behind this. Sure
[04:18.080 -> 04:22.240] they didn't win the championship but this year they won four, they got 12
[04:22.240 -> 04:27.360] poles, they had 20 podiums, they were second in both championships
[04:27.360 -> 04:31.920] and that's better than the year before for sure.
[04:31.920 -> 04:39.520] In 2020 they had a really bad engine, power unit, this year the power unit at the start
[04:39.520 -> 04:45.760] of the season particularly was very good, sure they didn't develop it, you know, for whatever reason,
[04:45.760 -> 04:52.160] didn't develop it as well as Red Bull, but they did reasonably well, I thought,
[04:52.160 -> 04:58.160] and to suddenly get rid of Bonotto now, when I think that he's probably sitting on the edge of,
[05:00.000 -> 05:07.600] it takes time to put together the team and the infrastructure and the sort of corporate mentality
[05:07.600 -> 05:11.840] to make a winning team. And I think he was sitting right on the edge of it and anybody else would
[05:11.840 -> 05:17.840] have seen that. But I guess it's, you know, the management didn't have any confidence in him.
[05:17.840 -> 05:22.960] I wonder if the early success of the season built up expectations to the point where
[05:22.960 -> 05:26.300] the fall off made his departure inevitable.
[05:26.300 -> 05:31.540] So I'm wondering whether had they made a more modest start and then picked up those four
[05:31.540 -> 05:39.420] wins mid-season as this third-place team and then overcame Mercedes for second place, he
[05:39.420 -> 05:44.780] might be seen as a bit of a hero now and Ferrari being seen in the ascendancy, but it was such
[05:44.780 -> 05:51.360] a dramatic fall from title contention. Yeah it certainly was and I think that you may be right
[05:51.360 -> 05:56.000] if they hadn't started quite so strong then perhaps it would be seen differently at the
[05:56.000 -> 06:07.400] end of the season but unfortunately he's gone. Chris Stevens? I'm inclined to disagree with that slightly because Ferrari practically gave up on the
[06:07.400 -> 06:15.480] World Championship five races in because there were already reports and quotes from the higher
[06:15.480 -> 06:21.800] up saying, well, we've done what we targeted for, which was to improve on last season and
[06:21.800 -> 06:23.520] have a race winning car.
[06:23.520 -> 06:24.520] That's good enough for us.
[06:24.520 -> 06:25.280] It's almost as if they just
[06:25.280 -> 06:31.400] gave up on this idea of fighting for the World Championship pretty early on and I don't know
[06:31.400 -> 06:39.240] how much longer Ferrari can go on like this, by just replacing the guys at the top because they've
[06:39.240 -> 06:45.920] been shedding through team principals over the last 10 years or so between Stefano Domenicali,
[06:48.960 -> 06:52.960] Riva Bene, Marco Matiaci, that was one I was trying to think of, and then of course
[06:54.400 -> 06:58.480] Mattia Bonotto now and whoever comes next. They've really been burning through them and there is
[06:58.480 -> 07:04.320] clearly a more systemic issue at Ferrari that is stopping them winning world championships.
[07:04.320 -> 07:09.640] In that time we've had all these team principal changes, they finished second in the championship
[07:09.640 -> 07:16.720] quite a lot and I think we realised that this season, their core issue was the operational
[07:16.720 -> 07:22.060] and the strategic side of things because they kept making mistake after mistake after mistake.
[07:22.060 -> 07:25.840] If you take out the tail end of the season where
[07:25.840 -> 07:32.200] they had to dim the power down quite dramatically for reliability reasons, the operational side
[07:32.200 -> 07:36.720] of things has been their key weakness. That's where they need to be making changes.
[07:36.720 -> 07:44.800] Another general, Matt, disposed of, essentially, the team principle, if you like, at Ferrari,
[07:44.800 -> 07:47.000] I don't think isn't the real kind of power.
[07:47.000 -> 07:49.000] There's a power behind the power.
[07:49.000 -> 07:54.000] You sense with Mercedes that Toto Wolff really is kind of, you know, the top guy.
[07:54.000 -> 08:01.000] I think there's a more transparent power structure at Red Bull, but really that team revolves around Christian Horner.
[08:01.000 -> 08:05.640] Whereas, yeah, it's kind of a dispensable position, isn't it,
[08:05.640 -> 08:07.040] to be Ferrari team principal?
[08:07.040 -> 08:12.320] Well, it's interesting to remember that Bonato was not just the team principal, but also
[08:12.320 -> 08:15.320] their chief technical officer.
[08:15.320 -> 08:21.280] And the thing, in looking at this topic, the thing that I was reminded of was that Bonato
[08:21.280 -> 08:27.080] is not a creature of the current management, John Alcan and Benedetto Vigna.
[08:27.080 -> 08:32.480] Instead, he came on with Camilleri, who departed in 2020.
[08:32.480 -> 08:38.480] So there may be some aspect of, it's not our guy in the shop,
[08:38.480 -> 08:42.320] in the sense that he was a holdover from a previous regime.
[08:42.320 -> 08:46.360] But that said, I tend to agree with Chris. I mean, they fixed, they
[08:46.360 -> 08:52.400] found and fixed the problem with the power unit before the end of the season. They showed
[08:52.400 -> 08:59.000] up to brand new regulations with a race-winning car, one of only two teams to do that, and
[08:59.000 -> 09:03.120] it was a clear step forward from last season. Red Bull was the other one, of course.
[09:03.120 -> 09:05.080] You're taking away George Russell's win?
[09:05.080 -> 09:05.680] Peter Bellis Are you?
[09:05.680 -> 09:06.400] Jason Vale – Showed up with.
[09:06.400 -> 09:07.600] Jason Vale – Oh, okay, fair enough.
[09:07.600 -> 09:08.240] Peter Bellis – Showed up with.
[09:08.240 -> 09:13.360] Jason Vale – Yeah, yeah, no, you're right there. And also, you kind of think, well, okay,
[09:13.360 -> 09:20.960] it's an unsuccessful campaign, but Bonotto didn't preside over the alleged fuel gate problems.
[09:20.960 -> 09:25.600] The last Ferrari failure, if you like, was Vettel not really taking that challenge
[09:25.600 -> 09:32.560] in 2017 and 2018 all the way to the line, but that wasn't Benotto. Benotto came in
[09:32.560 -> 09:36.980] after that, and he's been on this recovery curve, and like Steve was saying, it seems
[09:36.980 -> 09:42.320] weird to be dumping a team principal when they're essentially still on the up.
[09:42.320 -> 09:47.560] Yeah, so basically P6, P3, P2, hey, let's fire em.
[09:47.560 -> 09:48.560] Yeah.
[09:48.560 -> 09:51.640] That's a good point, it's mad when you look at it like that.
[09:51.640 -> 09:52.640] Chris.
[09:52.640 -> 09:57.640] What has been quite a significant change in the way the team has run since Arriva Bene,
[09:57.640 -> 10:04.480] who quite famously ruled with an iron fist, and there was very much the blame culture
[10:04.480 -> 10:06.800] at the team back then, which they seem to
[10:06.800 -> 10:09.160] have moved away from now.
[10:09.160 -> 10:13.640] So the fact that that team is making progress and they decide to make such a big change
[10:13.640 -> 10:15.840] like this does seem crazy to me.
[10:15.840 -> 10:24.000] So, Mattia Bonotto on the outside seems quite nice, and he seems like his loyalty to his
[10:24.000 -> 10:25.940] crew is very high. I mean he's
[10:25.940 -> 10:30.500] defended the indefensible at times he's made some you know really when we've
[10:30.500 -> 10:34.180] seen what's happened and then he's gone oh no no no no that wasn't a mistake at
[10:34.180 -> 10:39.300] all there was simply a dog with a fluffy tail that distracted the engineers and
[10:39.300 -> 10:43.740] then even like when Mercedes made one strategic error he came out and said
[10:43.740 -> 10:50.720] well how come they don't get the same level of grief and abuse for strategic errors as we do for consistently
[10:50.720 -> 10:57.480] doing it over many seasons? So he's very clearly quite loyal to his team and his crew,
[10:57.480 -> 11:02.180] but I do wonder whether he's kind of almost too inbuilt into the system. He's been promoted
[11:02.180 -> 11:09.180] from within and say, for example, in a military military regiment if you go from corporal to sergeant a lot of times
[11:09.180 -> 11:14.960] you'll get promoted out of your regiment because the the grunts on the ground see
[11:14.960 -> 11:19.600] you as you know one of the guys and what you really need to do is come in from
[11:19.600 -> 11:25.680] the outside Chris and be like okay I I'm the new sheriff in town. Maybe Bonotto didn't really
[11:25.680 -> 11:28.160] get to do that, to be that.
[11:28.160 -> 11:36.160] Well, who is the first name associated as his replacement? Fred Vasseur, who runs an
[11:36.160 -> 11:43.520] incredible operation at the Sauber team, the Sauber group in general, and he would be a
[11:43.520 -> 11:46.080] fantastic replacement for Bonotto I think.
[11:46.080 -> 11:53.920] I think that Bonotto was trying to take a leaf out of Toto Wolff's kind of
[11:53.920 -> 11:59.520] management style. I think he was trying to give people you know no blame it's an
[11:59.520 -> 12:09.880] inclusion you know kind of an atmosphere at the team. But, Ferrari has never been run that way.
[12:09.880 -> 12:14.680] It's always been, you know, an upfront kind of Italian loud,
[12:14.680 -> 12:17.880] a team that talks with its hands, if you know what I mean.
[12:17.880 -> 12:20.680] Yeah, where it wears its heart on its mouth, exactly.
[12:20.680 -> 12:26.720] Yes, and I think that he was so different from all of the others that it
[12:26.720 -> 12:33.720] made Elkin and Vigne feel uncomfortable because you know that they're children
[12:33.720 -> 12:38.480] of that kind of you know loud Italian management style just say those names
[12:38.480 -> 12:41.480] for me again and explain who those individuals are
[12:41.480 -> 12:48.580] Elkin is the chairman of Ferrari and Vigne is the CEO I believe.
[12:48.580 -> 12:52.700] Okay we don't hear a lot from them or see a lot from them. No except when
[12:52.700 -> 12:58.540] they're interfering in you know their team. Well yeah completely and the
[12:58.540 -> 13:02.140] question to be asked here is are we going to see a reversion to the Ferrari
[13:02.140 -> 13:06.100] mean with a new team principal coming in,
[13:06.100 -> 13:10.500] or whether the person coming in will continue to sort of shepherd the changes that Bonato
[13:10.500 -> 13:13.700] has started all the way to bear fruit?
[13:13.700 -> 13:17.900] And based on that, you will see success or failure, I predict.
[13:17.900 -> 13:23.380] Well, who just retired from working in Formula One?
[13:23.380 -> 13:25.360] It can't be Ross Brawn, surely.
[13:25.360 -> 13:28.400] No, it won't be Ross Brawn.
[13:28.400 -> 13:30.800] But wouldn't that be quite something, wouldn't it?
[13:30.800 -> 13:32.560] A return to the glory days.
[13:32.560 -> 13:36.440] And of course, John Todd, he's not doing anything at the FIA anymore.
[13:36.440 -> 13:38.000] He's available.
[13:38.000 -> 13:39.000] You have a memory.
[13:39.000 -> 13:43.520] Was he not mentioned in regards to a consultancy there?
[13:43.520 -> 13:44.520] Maybe he was.
[13:44.520 -> 13:45.280] Uncle Steve? You must have looked that up. in regards to a consultancy there? Maybe he was.
[13:45.280 -> 13:46.120] Uncle Steve?
[13:46.120 -> 13:47.280] Must have looked that up.
[13:47.280 -> 13:48.440] Oh no, I was just gonna say,
[13:48.440 -> 13:51.640] yes, he's got a consultancy role with Ferrari
[13:51.640 -> 13:54.200] as far as I knew, although how much consulting he does,
[13:54.200 -> 13:56.000] no one has any idea.
[13:56.000 -> 13:57.800] So I think with any other team,
[13:57.800 -> 13:59.600] you'd go, oh, it's a conflict of interest,
[13:59.600 -> 14:01.400] all these people who've come from the FIA
[14:01.400 -> 14:03.960] now going back into Ferrari.
[14:03.960 -> 14:07.040] I'm sort of not worried because Ferrari,
[14:08.000 -> 14:12.560] you're right, there is something kind of systemic and I very much doubt that getting rid of Bonotto
[14:12.560 -> 14:17.920] is going to cure that. And at the beginning of the season, as someone who has quite openly,
[14:17.920 -> 14:24.560] in a sporting sense, quote-unquote hated Ferrari as the pantomime villain, I was quite pleased
[14:24.560 -> 14:25.920] for them to have like a proper
[14:25.920 -> 14:31.680] resurgence, be winning races, be challenging for the title, because what kind of death star are
[14:31.680 -> 14:37.280] they without challenging for the title? I almost wanted them to win a title so I could have a
[14:37.280 -> 14:45.640] reason to hate them again, Chris. Well, I know it's like the cliché at this point, but I think everybody enjoys seeing
[14:45.640 -> 14:53.240] Ferrari do well, because every kid who enjoys Formula 1 or cars in general has a poster
[14:53.240 -> 15:00.800] of a Ferrari on their bedroom wall, and it's the most iconic racing brand in the world.
[15:00.800 -> 15:05.000] And I think when Ferrari does well, it's great for Formula One.
[15:05.000 -> 15:13.000] I think people who are new to the sport have got to kind of understand that before 2000,
[15:13.000 -> 15:18.720] when they started winning again, there had been a roughly 20-year period where Ferrari
[15:18.720 -> 15:26.080] were nowhere. They were running down near the bottom of the field. I think the best that they had in that 20 years,
[15:26.080 -> 15:28.180] I think, was a third place position
[15:28.180 -> 15:30.760] on the Constructors' Championship.
[15:30.760 -> 15:33.120] So having them at the top of the field
[15:33.120 -> 15:37.480] is not one of the historic things of Formula One.
[15:37.480 -> 15:38.600] It's something that has happened
[15:38.600 -> 15:40.760] in the last 10 or 15 years.
[15:40.760 -> 15:44.200] I wonder if there's an American equivalent to this,
[15:44.200 -> 15:45.400] but they are kind of
[15:45.400 -> 15:50.400] like the Liverpool Football Club of Formula One in that they do well enough
[15:50.400 -> 15:56.440] you know for eras to inspire a generation of fans to be their fans so a
[15:56.440 -> 16:00.000] lot of kids my age are Liverpool fans because they were dominant in the 80s
[16:00.000 -> 16:06.000] and then there was like 20 years of just abject misery before they came back to the top again.
[16:06.000 -> 16:10.560] And I think there's also, there's a lot of Ferrari fans from the Schumacher era as well,
[16:10.560 -> 16:16.880] who have just been long suffering since those glory days came to an end and having to endure
[16:16.880 -> 16:26.880] Massa, Raikkonen, the Alonso failed years, the aborted Vettel attempt and and kind of the the non it's like a failure to launch
[16:26.880 -> 16:33.280] really this Leclerc era so there's a generation of Ferrari fans just waiting for that glory and
[16:33.280 -> 16:38.560] success again but I'm sure there's an equivalent in American sports as well is there a sleeping
[16:38.560 -> 16:45.120] giant? Well there are multiple equivalents. Boston waited forever for a championship.
[16:45.120 -> 16:48.840] The New York Mets are famously either successful
[16:48.840 -> 16:50.960] or miserable in failure.
[16:50.960 -> 16:53.680] So yeah, we have our fair share of teams like that.
[16:53.680 -> 16:55.720] One of the interesting names that was touted,
[16:55.720 -> 16:58.040] which I very much doubt there's any legs to,
[16:58.040 -> 16:59.800] I think we're all very much married
[16:59.800 -> 17:02.880] to the Fred Vasseur rumors,
[17:02.880 -> 17:06.400] but Christian Horner was a name that for some reason was being
[17:06.400 -> 17:12.160] floated around. Now, I don't think that that would happen, but would that be a good move
[17:12.160 -> 17:17.200] for Christian Horner if you want to say, or Steve say no? But if you think like reputationally,
[17:17.200 -> 17:21.360] a lot of drivers have thought, I'm going to go to Ferrari, I'm going to fix Ferrari,
[17:21.360 -> 17:24.400] and I'm going to be the one, you know, I'm going to be the next Schumacher.
[17:24.400 -> 17:29.000] Could Horner get his reputation as a miracle worker by going and doing it at Ferrari?
[17:29.000 -> 17:36.000] Well, of course, the number one sort of complaint about multiple drivers champions is that they tend to do it with one team.
[17:36.000 -> 17:40.000] And they say, oh, you have to do it with another team to prove that you're actually amazing.
[17:40.000 -> 17:43.000] Should we apply the same thing to team principals?
[17:43.000 -> 17:48.000] Yeah, Horner, you're nothing, Christian Hor Horner unless you go and win a title with Ferrari.
[17:48.000 -> 17:51.000] Exactly, your five world titles mean absolutely nothing.
[17:51.000 -> 17:52.000] Six?
[17:52.000 -> 17:53.000] Six, yeah, six.
[17:53.000 -> 17:54.000] Five, no, Constructors, five.
[17:54.000 -> 17:56.000] Six Driver and five Constructors.
[17:56.000 -> 17:57.000] Yeah.
[17:57.000 -> 17:58.000] Uncle Steve?
[17:58.000 -> 18:03.000] I think the only reason that Horner would go to Ferrari is to escape the uncertainty
[18:03.000 -> 18:05.120] about the future of Red Bull
[18:05.120 -> 18:12.960] that's going to happen in the next few years. I really think that that would be a good move for him actually.
[18:12.960 -> 18:18.480] Okay, well obviously we've not talked about this on the show and obviously with the passing of
[18:19.520 -> 18:30.520] Dieter Mascherschitz, and I really hope I've said that name correctly, that does put a little bit of doubt into the ongoing funding of Formula One because it was
[18:30.520 -> 18:36.280] very much his child and I believe it was a kind of a 50-50 split with
[18:36.280 -> 18:40.240] another owner at Red Bull. You can tell I don't read like inside business or
[18:40.240 -> 18:45.760] whatever, but I don't think the other party at Red Bull had a particular interest in funding Formula One.
[18:45.760 -> 18:49.840] Steve But Matterschutz's replacement at the top
[18:49.840 -> 18:54.240] of the Red Bull hierarchy is three different people.
[18:54.240 -> 18:59.600] And we often see this, you get one figure who's so powerful and influential within the
[18:59.600 -> 19:06.880] company and they do so much that when they go for whatever reason, then they need to get multiple people to
[19:06.880 -> 19:11.600] plug all the holes that they were filling. And that's what's happening at Red Bull. I think it
[19:11.600 -> 19:18.960] would be stupid to assume that nothing is going to change because Massachusetts was so influential in
[19:20.080 -> 19:25.040] not just Red Bull's Formula One team, but all the sort of extreme sports they do in general,
[19:25.040 -> 19:32.880] because it is just an advertising and marketing campaign for Red Bull. So I do definitely think
[19:32.880 -> 19:39.920] there is going to be some kind of change about the team, and of course Red Bull powertrains
[19:39.920 -> 19:45.600] as well and Red Bull Technologies. Red Bull powertraades, okay. No, no, I'll hold my Sniggers till the end.
[19:48.000 -> 19:54.880] Look, I think I've done a little bit of reading about what might happen to Red Bull as a result.
[19:56.240 -> 20:02.800] None of the three that have stepped in to replace Matasich, except for his son perhaps,
[20:02.800 -> 20:05.280] and even he doesn't have a big interest, are
[20:05.280 -> 20:07.880] really Formula One fans.
[20:07.880 -> 20:15.240] The other thing that is interesting to note is that the Thai side of the business, the
[20:15.240 -> 20:23.160] Thai family, now have 52% of the shares so that they can do what they like whenever they
[20:23.160 -> 20:24.160] like.
[20:24.160 -> 20:29.480] And the other thing is, the one difference between F1 and all the other sports that Red
[20:29.480 -> 20:35.540] Bull are involved in is that in all of those other sports, Red Bull are sponsors.
[20:35.540 -> 20:37.600] They don't own the team.
[20:37.600 -> 20:41.640] In Formula One, they own the team and that has all of the baggage that goes with owning
[20:41.640 -> 20:44.000] a team and running a team.
[20:44.000 -> 20:49.560] And the people, the three people that are now running Red Bull come from marketing backgrounds
[20:49.560 -> 20:59.840] primarily and they may have the, you know, the thing of we can get just as much advantage
[20:59.840 -> 21:04.480] in terms of marketing by just being a major sponsor to a team and we don't have to go
[21:04.480 -> 21:08.000] through the political garbage of actually running one
[21:08.000 -> 21:09.660] and owning one.
[21:09.660 -> 21:13.120] And I wonder Matt, whether actually all the stuff
[21:13.120 -> 21:17.420] with the cost cap and the kind of slightly mucky
[21:17.420 -> 21:21.060] 2021 campaign, if you are in marketing
[21:21.060 -> 21:23.000] or owning that business, you go, well, yeah,
[21:23.000 -> 21:27.520] like Steve says, we could just be the fun sponsor put on all those events
[21:27.520 -> 21:29.840] and not have to go through the politics of it.
[21:29.840 -> 21:34.080] So did the negative press, or will the negative press
[21:34.080 -> 21:37.560] have an impact on the decisions of the Red Bull board?
[21:38.800 -> 21:41.760] Only to the extent that the people doing the marketing
[21:41.760 -> 21:44.360] can manage it, can measure it.
[21:45.520 -> 21:47.840] So if I'm a marketer,
[21:47.840 -> 21:51.040] I'm interested in people's eyeballs looking at my thing.
[21:51.040 -> 21:53.160] Formula One is owned by them
[21:53.160 -> 21:55.760] because it is amongst the most efficient
[21:55.760 -> 21:59.680] and widely viewed platform on a global basis.
[21:59.680 -> 22:02.320] So if you look at like, for example, Mercedes,
[22:02.320 -> 22:05.580] they'll talk about, you'll talk about how much brand exposure
[22:05.580 -> 22:08.040] and what that converts to in terms of dollars
[22:08.040 -> 22:11.200] or euros or pounds or whatever you're measuring in.
[22:11.200 -> 22:13.720] And so that's what Red Bull will be looking at.
[22:13.720 -> 22:16.820] What do we think we're getting back out of this?
[22:16.820 -> 22:19.100] And only to the extent they can look at polling
[22:19.100 -> 22:20.160] about their brand and say,
[22:20.160 -> 22:21.440] people think less of our brand
[22:21.440 -> 22:22.980] because of these controversies,
[22:22.980 -> 22:26.600] will they even be the least bit concerned about it? Chris?
[22:26.600 -> 22:32.360] Of course, as long as they're still making money out of Formula One, then it should be
[22:32.360 -> 22:37.020] all good. And I think Red Bull is actually one of the few teams that regularly at least
[22:37.020 -> 22:41.760] breaks even or even turns a profit at the end of the year. Most of the time. What is
[22:41.760 -> 22:46.080] crucial to remember is Dietrich Mateschitz was described as the most
[22:46.080 -> 22:54.000] influential man in Formula One because under his wing he had two teams, a Grand Prix and a fleet
[22:54.000 -> 23:01.440] of young drivers. That would be a huge hole to fill if Red Bull decided to pull the plug.
[23:01.440 -> 23:04.240] A flock of Red Bull Junior drivers. Steve?
[23:06.800 -> 23:14.560] decided to pull the plug. A flock of Red Bull junior drivers. Steve. I agree with what they've said about Red Bull gain advantage from their involvement in Formula
[23:14.560 -> 23:23.000] 1, but they may maintain exactly the same advantage without having to own a team. Now
[23:23.000 -> 23:26.680] Matt, you said that they're one of the few teams that actually make a profit.
[23:26.680 -> 23:28.560] Where do they make a profit from?
[23:28.560 -> 23:35.680] They don't have the huge swathe of sponsors like McLaren perhaps has.
[23:35.680 -> 23:40.080] So where do they – I mean, they have Oracle and they have a couple of other reasonable
[23:40.080 -> 23:43.440] ones, but whereabouts do they get their sponsorship money from?
[23:43.440 -> 23:46.840] I'd suggest that most of the money that goes into Red Bull is
[23:47.280 -> 23:52.520] Actually, you know Red Bull promotional money not sponsorship. That was not a stand to make well
[23:54.840 -> 24:01.320] Well, if you count Red Bull well Red Bull will look at the money they spend and then look at the return on it
[24:03.480 -> 24:07.200] So just in marketing terms if I spent a hundred million and I get
[24:07.200 -> 24:13.440] $400 million worth of TV visibility out of it, that's a decent return on my money. That's an
[24:13.440 -> 24:19.600] example, not an actual figure. So I think from Red Bull's point of view, that's what they're
[24:19.600 -> 24:26.640] looking at. And as long as the team can argue, they get more out of owning the team, more exposure
[24:26.640 -> 24:30.800] out of owning the team than they would as a sponsor, then as long as they can make that
[24:30.800 -> 24:36.720] argument with, you know, with, with figures and data, then it's set. But don't forget,
[24:36.720 -> 24:43.680] Red Bull also operate a technology center that does things that aren't just F1. And much like
[24:43.680 -> 24:45.800] Williams, I suspect they make a fair
[24:45.800 -> 24:51.880] piece of money doing projects for other people and selling off intellectual property that
[24:51.880 -> 24:53.680] they don't need for Formula One as well.
[24:53.680 -> 24:58.320] The patrons in the live chats, they're just pointing out that the cost cap will make the
[24:58.320 -> 25:03.720] team more profitable. Mercedes reported to be turning a profit of 60 million from the
[25:03.720 -> 25:05.360] racing team, might be similar
[25:05.360 -> 25:10.120] for Red Bull. And I do wonder if the team kind of considers the revenue from Red Bull
[25:10.120 -> 25:16.640] to be income in some sort of strange way. And as long as Red Bull are, like Matt says,
[25:16.640 -> 25:21.400] getting value out of that investment, I guess the books can kind of still balance like that.
[25:21.400 -> 25:27.420] I know it seems weird that it's like your parents giving you money and you're considering that income I guess.
[25:27.420 -> 25:37.720] Sure, but if you can get the same value, you know, we spent a hundred million dollars,
[25:37.720 -> 25:42.440] you know, as the sponsor of a team and we get our four hundred million dollars back,
[25:42.440 -> 25:47.360] you know, as a return, but we don't have to go through the garbage
[25:47.360 -> 25:54.080] of running a team, putting up with the, you know, the bad media that people like Horner
[25:54.080 -> 25:57.600] and Marco have bought this.
[25:57.600 -> 26:04.000] Wow. I've got no strong opinions on that at all. But yes, someone here in the chat room,
[26:04.000 -> 26:05.480] Stuart, is saying Oracle sponsorship
[26:05.480 -> 26:08.480] is worth 500 million. And I think we're kind of getting in...
[26:08.480 -> 26:11.200] Well, that's quite a lot, isn't it? We're getting into the... I think we're getting
[26:11.200 -> 26:15.300] to the edge of our knowledge on that particular subject. But actually, I really appreciate
[26:15.300 -> 26:19.120] you sending us down that path, Steve, because that is interesting. But where it leads us
[26:19.120 -> 26:28.840] back to is, yes, perhaps Horner doesn't know exactly where his job is. And to me, he has certainly seemed like a different person, a different team principal
[26:28.840 -> 26:30.440] since 2020-21.
[26:30.440 -> 26:34.380] So we don't know kind of what pressures and what strains he has been under because he
[26:34.380 -> 26:38.440] has been absolutely just ferocious.
[26:38.440 -> 26:43.200] It's a change from the Sebastian Vettel era, Christian Horner, for sure.
[26:43.200 -> 26:45.360] And I think it coincides a little bit
[26:45.360 -> 26:51.220] with him becoming a drive to survive Netflix star also. So maybe it's a...we don't know
[26:51.220 -> 26:55.920] the pressures of being that famous and that in the spotlight. There definitely has been
[26:55.920 -> 27:01.480] a change in the outward persona of Christian Horner. So maybe there is a lot of pressure
[27:01.480 -> 27:07.920] going on behind the scenes and he would like another challenge and to enhance his reputation.
[27:07.920 -> 27:12.320] One thing is for sure, I don't think we can really argue this too much, is that he does
[27:12.320 -> 27:18.320] seem like a very good person at running a Formula 1 team or a racing team in general.
[27:18.320 -> 27:27.480] So Ferrari could do worse than throw a lot of money at a Christian Horner type and say right you bring your
[27:27.480 -> 27:33.400] six drivers titles and five constructors titles worth of experience we'll give
[27:33.400 -> 27:39.160] you the full keys to the castle at Maranello do your thing it would be a
[27:39.160 -> 27:44.080] good move for Ferrari I think it's hard to argue that the Horn is not a good
[27:44.080 -> 27:45.000] team principal when he's
[27:45.000 -> 27:52.560] won championships over two eras with a big gap in the middle. That's beyond flute, Chris.
[27:52.560 -> 27:59.280] Yeah, I mean, for sure. And he's certainly proved himself over the years. Remember, there
[27:59.280 -> 28:02.600] were a lot of people when he and Red Bull first arrived, they were thinking, well, you've
[28:02.600 -> 28:08.480] got this, effectively, a child in there. I can't remember how old he was, but he was the youngest team principal in Formula
[28:08.480 -> 28:13.680] One at the time. And everyone said, well, he has no experience. He's just a failed racing driver
[28:13.680 -> 28:19.040] and couldn't possibly run this team. And of course, Red Bull were the party team at the time.
[28:19.040 -> 28:27.000] No one really took him seriously until 2009 when they suddenly showed up and started winning races. Yeah, and nearly won that title as well.
[28:27.000 -> 28:32.000] Okay, well look, we'll certainly keep an eye on the Ferrari's vacant seat
[28:32.000 -> 28:36.000] and see who gets crowned the new General of the Death Star.
[28:43.000 -> 28:47.600] That's mad, isn't it? I know there's some newer fans there going, how are Ferrari the
[28:47.600 -> 28:52.800] Death Star? Surely Mercedes are the Death Star? It's an argument for another day. But
[28:52.800 -> 28:58.800] when teams are successful, should we hold them back? Should there be some kind of in-season
[28:58.800 -> 29:04.200] ballast? Well, there is, because you get less wind tunnel time if you win a championship.
[29:04.200 -> 29:05.760] So Red Bull will get the least
[29:05.760 -> 29:11.120] wind tunnel time plus of course their penalty for breaching the cost cap and then Ferrari will get
[29:11.120 -> 29:16.640] the the second least amount of wind tunnel time, then Mercedes and so on. So we do have some
[29:16.640 -> 29:23.120] success ballast in Formula One as well but I think the whole F1 community was taken a little bit by
[29:23.120 -> 29:26.320] surprise by an article in I think I saw it in the
[29:26.320 -> 29:34.200] race.com and in Autosport, so widely reported, that Ross Brawn was talking about Active Aero
[29:34.200 -> 29:48.240] in 2026 nerfing, is that a common term? Handicapping, adding some disadvantage to cars during a race if they're leading a race in order to hold
[29:48.240 -> 29:58.480] them back. So active aero, I can only think this means either a reduction in wings or an increase
[29:58.480 -> 30:05.780] in drag in real time from race control. Do they press a button and then suddenly a big sail goes
[30:05.780 -> 30:10.420] up on Verstappen's car and allows the rest of the pack to catch up. And when they do
[30:10.420 -> 30:15.580] catch up, presumably that disadvantage gets taken away and they get to drive off again
[30:15.580 -> 30:16.580] into the distance.
[30:16.580 -> 30:22.740] I think it's fair to say that this news did not go down very well. I'm struggling to find
[30:22.740 -> 30:25.980] anybody who had anything good to say about it. So,
[30:25.980 -> 30:32.600] my panel. Active aero, for a start, that's one topic. But I think that the core principle
[30:32.600 -> 30:38.600] of it is, should there be something in the race where you can make it harder for a lead
[30:38.600 -> 30:45.600] car, like in a video game, like in Porsche Challenge on PS1 in 1997, should there be something in
[30:45.600 -> 30:51.480] the race that Race Control could do to slow down a leading car?
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[31:55.680 -> 32:07.400] It sounds fraught with difficulty. How on earth you would even begin to implement that into a race so that it automatically,
[32:07.400 -> 32:12.680] say in the corners, takes away the downforce and then on the straights it adds more downforce
[32:12.680 -> 32:13.840] on to slow them down.
[32:13.840 -> 32:19.240] Of course there are a lot of other ideas like this in other championships.
[32:19.240 -> 32:23.200] The British Touring Car Championship used to have a success ballast and now it has a
[32:23.200 -> 32:26.640] hybrid boost reduction.
[32:26.640 -> 32:33.680] There are GT championships that use success time penalties, which are all sort of quite
[32:33.680 -> 32:38.840] plastic for Formula One, I think. And you know, I don't like DRS already. I'm not a
[32:38.840 -> 32:47.240] huge fan of it. I kind of accept that it's a necessity in modern Formula 1, which seems to be having just endless issues
[32:47.240 -> 32:53.440] with actually making the racing exciting because they keep feeling the need to come up with
[32:53.440 -> 32:56.280] ideas like this.
[32:56.280 -> 32:59.360] So I'm really not sure where I stand.
[32:59.360 -> 33:05.680] If they could implement it so that drivers wouldn't want to be leading a race, for example, if
[33:05.680 -> 33:11.440] it was like an oval race, like the Indy 500. You don't want to be leading the Indy 500
[33:11.440 -> 33:16.000] normally because you use more fuel and you don't have a slipstream, and so you're more
[33:16.000 -> 33:21.160] encouraged to leave it to the last possible moment to make a break for it. Would that
[33:21.160 -> 33:24.640] result in more exciting racing, or would it just result in people not wanting to race
[33:24.640 -> 33:25.320] each other? Wow. That lots to unpack from Chris's comment there. Yeah, I was trying to decide, would that result in more exciting racing or would it just result in people not wanting to race each other?
[33:25.320 -> 33:27.880] Wow, that lots to unpack from Chris's comment there.
[33:27.880 -> 33:31.840] Yeah, I was trying to decide would you strip aero to make it harder in the corners or add
[33:31.840 -> 33:35.560] drag but yeah, they could do both if they've got buttons, they can sit and do both and
[33:35.560 -> 33:37.520] I didn't even think about the fuel.
[33:37.520 -> 33:41.480] If you're adding a sail to the front car, obviously he's going to use more fuel.
[33:41.480 -> 33:42.480] Matt?
[33:42.480 -> 33:45.960] Well, I mean, far be it for me to point out that Formula One
[33:45.960 -> 33:49.960] actually already does this with DRS. If I'm the leading car, I
[33:49.960 -> 33:54.080] don't get to use DRS. But if I'm catching you and I get close
[33:54.080 -> 33:58.480] enough, I do indeed get to use DRS. So already, a leading car
[33:58.520 -> 34:02.920] is handicapped by not being able to use active aerodynamics.
[34:02.920 -> 34:06.860] Okay, let's see what Steve says on that, because I slightly want to caveat that.
[34:06.860 -> 34:11.860] Yeah, well, my point is that in that situation,
[34:12.240 -> 34:17.240] the lead car is not being physically disadvantaged.
[34:17.560 -> 34:22.560] Sure, the car behind has been given a little boost
[34:22.560 -> 34:27.120] to try and catch up to the leading car, but the leading car
[34:27.120 -> 34:30.480] is not being physically held back.
[34:30.480 -> 34:33.600] And I think that's just a crazy thing.
[34:33.600 -> 34:39.480] On behalf of most of the fans, we joined to watch Formula One because it was the highest
[34:39.480 -> 34:45.200] grade of technology available with four wheels or not that went fast.
[34:45.200 -> 34:46.200] Yeah.
[34:46.200 -> 34:50.860] And I think that we should be finding ways to help those that aren't going quite as fast
[34:50.860 -> 34:56.380] rather than looking for ways to impede those that are going fast.
[34:56.380 -> 35:03.200] With respect to Matt's point there, DRS isn't about closing the field up.
[35:03.200 -> 35:05.920] DRS is about solving the specific issue
[35:06.640 -> 35:13.200] that overtaking was becoming harder as the aerodynamics increased. So DRS helps a car
[35:13.200 -> 35:21.440] that's already fast enough to catch up and keep up, make that pass and overtake. DRS won't help
[35:22.640 -> 35:26.240] with Verstappen 30 seconds down the road.
[35:26.240 -> 35:32.040] So I think there is a slight difference, but yes, we effectively have active aero to manipulate
[35:32.040 -> 35:33.680] a situation in the sport.
[35:33.680 -> 35:37.320] But Chris, but first, let's get Matt to kind of defend his point, if you like.
[35:37.320 -> 35:39.680] Chris Brennan Well, I'll happily defend my point by going
[35:39.680 -> 35:41.440] slightly historical.
[35:41.440 -> 35:46.120] As we all are quite well aware, the FIA has actually had Active Aero
[35:46.120 -> 35:51.240] before and it was the height, according to people who study the technical stuff, it was
[35:51.240 -> 35:56.440] the height of technical development of Formula 1 cars because they banned it and afterwards,
[35:56.440 -> 36:02.280] you know, road cars have it, we don't in Formula 1. But I will just simply pose a trivia question.
[36:02.280 -> 36:05.600] Do you know the lap time loss when they simply took
[36:05.600 -> 36:07.160] away active aerodynamics?
[36:07.160 -> 36:08.160] 85 seconds.
[36:08.160 -> 36:13.480] It was something ridiculous, like two or three seconds a lap, wasn't it?
[36:13.480 -> 36:14.480] Steve? Four seconds.
[36:14.480 -> 36:17.480] It was four seconds, and that was in 1994.
[36:17.480 -> 36:18.480] Four seconds a lap.
[36:18.480 -> 36:21.200] Yeah, when they ended after 94.
[36:21.200 -> 36:27.600] So if we gave the teams active aerodynamics, but said that if you are in the lead you don't get
[36:27.600 -> 36:33.440] to use them anymore, you've solved that problem with, I mean you've simply said much like DRS,
[36:33.440 -> 36:38.080] you don't have a tool you can use to go faster but we're not going to make you any slower than
[36:38.080 -> 36:43.840] the actual rest of the car that you have designed. Okay but that is not like a copy and paste of what
[36:43.840 -> 36:46.000] we had in 1994.
[36:46.000 -> 36:49.440] That was when teams were developing how to make their cars go as quick as possible using
[36:49.440 -> 36:53.420] the latest technologies available, and if it weren't banned by the FIA, they would still
[36:53.420 -> 36:54.420] be using it.
[36:54.420 -> 36:57.880] We're talking about hindering a car for doing well.
[36:57.880 -> 37:04.600] And let's be honest, DRS in itself is already, at most circuits, so overpowered that there
[37:04.600 -> 37:05.700] is no skill in
[37:05.700 -> 37:10.560] overtaking at certain tracks. All you do is you sit, press a button, and let the
[37:10.560 -> 37:14.520] technology do the work for you, which is exactly why they banned Active Aero,
[37:14.520 -> 37:18.280] because it just took away any amount of skill. You just put your right foot down
[37:18.280 -> 37:23.360] and went as fast as possible, and now you want to hamper the car in front as well?
[37:23.360 -> 37:28.080] You don't want to advantage the car in front. First of all, second of all,
[37:28.080 -> 37:32.640] I know we are talking about it like success ballast and hindering the car in front
[37:32.640 -> 37:37.200] but the fact of the matter is this is a reporter who asked Ross Braun a question about
[37:37.640 -> 37:43.920] Active Aero and he mentioned all the possible things that could be done with it. This being amongst them and particularly
[37:44.280 -> 37:48.880] headline-worthy because here we are sitting talking about it. But last of all, they actually banned
[37:48.880 -> 37:54.560] Active Aero, one, because they deemed it a movable aerodynamic device. And let's be clear,
[37:54.560 -> 37:59.200] the Aero we're talking about here was simply ride height control. Why is that interesting? Because
[37:59.200 -> 38:08.000] that would stop porpoising pretty much entirely and make the cars more raceable with this current aerodynamic regulation set.
[38:08.000 -> 38:09.000] And last of all...
[38:09.000 -> 38:13.000] Sorry, just to stop you on that point, because it's really techy, just because some people will be thinking, how?
[38:13.000 -> 38:28.480] So I'm imagining that basically in the corners you'd be as low as possible, whereas on the straight you could give yourself a little bit of lift to get rid of the ground effect, so raise up a bit? Well, the way Williams used it back in the 90s was essentially like that.
[38:28.480 -> 38:33.080] They would lower the rear on the straights to do the same thing that our flexy rear wings
[38:33.080 -> 38:34.080] do now.
[38:34.080 -> 38:38.160] You know, they would bend backwards, stall the rear wing, reduce drag, and then they
[38:38.160 -> 38:42.000] would lower the nose to get better traction in the corners.
[38:42.000 -> 38:45.480] But what they would also do is they would counter pitch and roll
[38:45.480 -> 38:51.400] around corners so that your aerodynamic platform was always stable. Now this is something Mercedes
[38:51.400 -> 38:58.520] tried to recreate with its Frick system and did a pretty good job of, and essentially teams have
[38:58.520 -> 39:10.240] been trying to recreate that ability. And it got to the point with Williams where they could actually dial out under and oversteer in the track at certain spots for the drivers. The system became so
[39:10.240 -> 39:14.960] sophisticated. But it was deemed a safety hazard ultimately because there were several
[39:14.960 -> 39:21.360] big crashes in 94. And so they called it movable aerodynamics and got rid of it.
[39:21.360 -> 39:28.840] I forgot it was in the 90s, Steve. I thought it was in the 80s. This is what I was talking about. They started in the 80s.
[39:28.840 -> 39:33.340] Hang on, give us a history lesson Uncle Steve. Was it just
[39:33.340 -> 39:41.200] Williams using the active aero? No, I think it was Lotus that started in the mid 80s.
[39:41.200 -> 40:07.020] 77 was when they first started. Oh really, that's far back. Okay, I thought it was sort of 84 or something like that, that those are, but they were developing those systems through the 80s. And it got to its pinnacle in the in 94. And what was what was developing was the use of computers to actually control all this stuff. And in 94, the reason it was so successful for Williams, and they won most of the races that year, and the races that came after that, they were all this stuff. In 94 the reason it was so successful for Williams and
[40:07.020 -> 40:12.080] they won most of the races that year and the racing was really very boring was
[40:12.080 -> 40:16.960] because they had got the system to the point where they could pre-program the
[40:16.960 -> 40:22.840] rise and fall and the pitch and yaw of the floor of the car for each corner and
[40:22.840 -> 40:25.760] they had an engineer sitting there so that if the driver said,
[40:25.760 -> 40:29.880] oh, I need a little bit more going into corner five,
[40:29.880 -> 40:33.440] they just dialed in a bit more for corner five.
[40:33.440 -> 40:35.200] The driver didn't have to do anything
[40:35.200 -> 40:38.100] except put his foot down as hard as he could
[40:38.100 -> 40:40.920] and use the brake as little as he could.
[40:40.920 -> 40:43.880] And he had a stable platform all the way around.
[40:43.880 -> 40:47.840] And Williams was so far ahead in 94 that
[40:47.840 -> 40:52.640] everybody else got quite upset. And so they banned it, not because it wasn't successful,
[40:52.640 -> 40:57.280] but because no one else could get to that level. Yeah. And a lot of times in Formula One,
[40:57.280 -> 41:02.720] they nerf stuff because they go, right, well, that's going to spiral costs. So I think that's
[41:02.720 -> 41:10.960] always been a consideration. You go, well, yes, we've got two options. We either let everyone develop this double diffuser,
[41:10.960 -> 41:16.560] or we ban, say, the Frick system. So that's the two options for the governing body.
[41:16.560 -> 41:20.160] When there's an innovation, you say, well done, you've got your head start,
[41:20.160 -> 41:24.400] but everyone else is going to do it. Or we go, okay, well done, use it for this season,
[41:24.400 -> 41:29.240] it will be banned next season. And we're spending a lot of time kind of deciding how you would
[41:29.240 -> 41:35.800] do something like this. Obviously the question is should you? And I think no. Jason in the
[41:35.800 -> 41:40.300] live chat has just quite simply said surely the best way to have better racing is to have
[41:40.300 -> 41:48.740] stable regulations. You're very much preaching to the choir here. We've seen quite a few regulation sets where the teams start to catch up and it's looking
[41:48.740 -> 41:52.980] very close and then suddenly there's a new era of regulations and it spreads
[41:52.980 -> 42:01.260] the field out again. I think the Williams aero push came to a sort of
[42:01.260 -> 42:11.080] head around 92-93 didn't it when Mansell won his title in 92 and was doing like records that were very
[42:11.080 -> 42:14.880] similar to what Mercedes were doing, where they almost got every single pole.
[42:15.080 -> 42:17.080] They almost got every single win.
[42:17.280 -> 42:19.080] That was the height of Mansell mania.
[42:19.280 -> 42:21.920] And then Prost was the following year, wasn't he?
[42:22.120 -> 42:24.720] That was his fourth world title.
[42:25.840 -> 42:28.080] Frost was the following year, wasn't he? That was his fourth world title. Neither of them were
[42:33.600 -> 42:36.320] young stars at the time, shall we say. They were geriatric in Formula One terms. Matthew Fraser Yeah, well, yeah, yeah. Mansell was,
[42:36.800 -> 42:41.040] yeah, that was at the end of his natural career, if you like. Matt?
[42:41.040 -> 42:45.440] Chris Yeah, well, and let's all remember that the reason they are
[42:45.440 -> 42:51.120] looking at this, and I believe that, you know, DRS technically is a movable aerodynamic device
[42:51.120 -> 42:56.960] that is allowed, that opens and closes the wing. What most likely they're looking at is using
[42:56.960 -> 43:02.800] adjustable ride heights at the corners to help the teams with purposing. We're already seeing
[43:02.800 -> 43:07.960] another regulation change. We're seeing the floor edges raised by 15 millimeters
[43:07.960 -> 43:08.800] to help with this.
[43:08.800 -> 43:12.040] But the fundamental issue with any ground effect car
[43:12.040 -> 43:16.880] is that the prospect of porpoising always exists
[43:16.880 -> 43:20.320] if you can't control the ride height sufficiently.
[43:20.320 -> 43:24.440] And one easy and inexpensive way to do it now
[43:24.440 -> 43:26.640] is by allowing teams to mechanically,
[43:26.640 -> 43:31.000] hydraulically control that right height, which amounts to movable aerodynamics.
[43:31.000 -> 43:37.760] So before we get too crazy, let's see what they're actually really talking about would be the only
[43:37.760 -> 43:38.320] thing I'd say.
[43:38.320 -> 43:39.960] No, let's react to the headlines.
[43:39.960 -> 43:41.720] I didn't even click on any of the articles.
[43:41.720 -> 43:46.240] I literally just looked at the headlines and then the outraged comments in all the replies
[43:46.240 -> 43:47.440] on Twitter.
[43:47.440 -> 43:54.160] So the last one of how would you do this before the should you do it, the how you would do
[43:54.160 -> 43:58.200] it, surely movable aero is the most complicated way.
[43:58.200 -> 44:02.680] Isn't just knocking out an engine cylinder or something, isn't that an easier way to
[44:02.680 -> 44:03.680] do it?
[44:03.680 -> 44:10.320] Just like cut down on the revs, reduce a bit of horsepower what was it flow fuel flow that's right and no team has
[44:10.320 -> 44:18.160] ever got around fuel flow restrictions so that'll be fine steve um i read in um motorsport.com that
[44:19.200 -> 44:24.960] when they first started to think about bringing this system back in it was to actually help
[44:26.640 -> 44:30.360] started to think about bringing this system back in, it was to actually help reduce the fuel usage of the cars during a race.
[44:30.360 -> 44:37.320] And I've just got to say, what an absolute complete stupidity that thought is.
[44:37.320 -> 44:46.920] They're buggerising around trying to save three or four litres of fuel per car, when in fact, you know, it's
[44:46.920 -> 44:52.840] all part of their, you know, green philosophy and carbon neutral philosophy, when in fact,
[44:52.840 -> 45:01.200] I did some calculations between the flying and the boats this year, they did 200,000
[45:01.200 -> 45:07.240] miles around this planet getting teams and equipment to the various
[45:07.240 -> 45:08.240] venues.
[45:08.240 -> 45:14.080] Surely, they can, you know, if they want to save petrol, they should be looking at their
[45:14.080 -> 45:18.040] scheduling, not at bringing in another piece of technology stuff to save three or four
[45:18.040 -> 45:21.480] liters of fuel on a car.
[45:21.480 -> 45:25.320] I just love your inventiveness coming up with a word that Spanners isn't sure if he's going
[45:25.320 -> 45:26.320] to have to bleep.
[45:26.320 -> 45:29.560] Yeah, I'm googling it right now.
[45:29.560 -> 45:30.560] That's beautiful.
[45:30.560 -> 45:34.440] The Aussies and the Danes, man, they are so free with their language.
[45:34.440 -> 45:35.440] Indeed.
[45:35.440 -> 45:43.880] But the reason they want to use less fuel in the race is because it makes the cars lighter.
[45:43.880 -> 45:47.480] The reason they are looking at biofuels and synthetic fuels
[45:47.480 -> 45:54.840] is they're trying to reduce carbon footprint and they are a laboratory that can be used to explore
[45:54.840 -> 46:02.600] before wider adoption of technology. So I get your point. We'd save a lot of fuel if Formula
[46:02.600 -> 46:05.000] One only raced at Silverstone, for example.
[46:05.000 -> 46:08.600] Because all the stuff would be there all the time and we wouldn't have to ship it anywhere,
[46:08.600 -> 46:09.600] would we?
[46:09.600 -> 46:19.080] But the reality is that it's a bit of propaganda, but there's also a bit of realism in it too.
[46:19.080 -> 46:25.000] If they're going to do this, and they definitely shouldn't, then I like my engine nerfing idea.
[46:25.000 -> 46:31.000] So you just reduce the power a little bit, somehow, and you wouldn't have to reduce it like a dangerous amount,
[46:31.000 -> 46:36.000] just enough to let people catch up a bit and then you click the button off and they disappear off again,
[46:36.000 -> 46:41.000] rendering the whole exercise somewhat pointless, because it's kind of what the teams do anyway,
[46:41.000 -> 46:45.240] because they're afraid of safety cars. Teams don't burn up their tyres
[46:45.240 -> 46:50.480] and burn fuel building up a 50 second lead anymore like Schumacher used to because if
[46:50.480 -> 46:54.080] there's a safety car it all gets wiped out, you've got old tyres or you have to pit again
[46:54.080 -> 47:00.560] and you've used more fuel. So the whole exercise does feel a little pointless but if you're
[47:00.560 -> 47:08.480] going to do it, which you shouldn't, then do the engine thing. And then also add sensors and monitors electronically around the track limits of
[47:08.480 -> 47:12.560] every single track that you're going to. And then every time you go off track,
[47:13.120 -> 47:18.960] you reduce the power a very small percentage for a few laps. And that is your punishment
[47:18.960 -> 47:22.400] baked in. And it's only going to reduce you to the point of, say,
[47:23.200 -> 47:25.600] I don't know, three cars down the grid,
[47:25.600 -> 47:30.880] slower car, so I don't see a safety issue. You put all four wheels off, suddenly you're not a
[47:30.880 -> 47:36.880] Ferrari anymore, you're a Haas for a few laps up front and that's your punishment. Good! I feel
[47:36.880 -> 47:42.320] like we've solved a lot here, Matt, to be honest. Yeah, well, you know, it's all speculative
[47:42.320 -> 47:46.720] anyway, so that's what makes it so much fun. Oh, more speculation coming up right now.
[47:54.720 -> 48:07.360] Okay, one interesting topic that always gets you and me debating, Matt, is the future of women in motorsport. So you and I have had a fierce debate.
[48:07.360 -> 48:11.280] I think we agree probably on 95% of things.
[48:11.280 -> 48:14.800] I think the thing we agree with more than anything
[48:14.800 -> 48:19.120] is that women who want to pursue motorsport
[48:19.120 -> 48:24.120] should have as fair a shake of the stick at it as men do.
[48:26.880 -> 48:32.520] But so there's a few things that have kind of come out recently, and I think it was prompted by the FIA saying that perhaps they should
[48:32.520 -> 48:38.320] move to power-assisted steering in F2 and F3, in much the same way that Formula 1 has
[48:38.320 -> 48:42.240] power-assisted steering. One of the really interesting comments that's come out in the
[48:42.240 -> 48:48.480] last couple of years was Alonso describing how his steering he found it too loose so he had to stiffen it up and
[48:48.480 -> 48:52.600] they can just choose the amount of strength and feedback they want in their
[48:52.600 -> 48:58.200] wheel. Reikonen had this famously issue as did I think Ericsson too, very
[48:58.200 -> 49:02.240] sensitive to the feel of the steering and in Formula One because it is power
[49:02.240 -> 49:06.520] steering, a lot more goes into engineering
[49:06.520 -> 49:11.080] it to be the way the driver, to give the driver the feedback they are seeking.
[49:11.080 -> 49:15.500] And all sim racers will have that same feeling because obviously there's no real force in
[49:15.500 -> 49:18.320] your wheel, it's all artificially manufactured.
[49:18.320 -> 49:22.520] So you choose the amount of feedback, the amount of strength in the wheel that lets
[49:22.520 -> 49:25.440] you detect the oversteer, the understeer
[49:25.440 -> 49:31.840] and gives you that feeling in your hands. So whilst Formula 1 at the pinnacle of motorsport
[49:31.840 -> 49:36.640] has this option to pick the difficultness of turning the wheel, the Junior Series cars
[49:36.640 -> 49:42.480] don't. And Chris, you're more of a Junior Series expert than I. It does seem weird that
[49:42.480 -> 49:47.160] kids come out from karts into these cars with very stiff mechanical
[49:47.160 -> 49:50.560] steering then you go to the pinnacle of motorsport and you've got power assist.
[49:50.560 -> 49:55.800] Well Formula One is obviously the pinnacle of motoring technology as well whereas the
[49:55.800 -> 50:07.260] racing ladder is designed to be a bit more old-school, a bit more mechanical, a bit more pure, quote unquote, and a bit more just, just a bit more
[50:07.260 -> 50:08.260] basic.
[50:08.260 -> 50:13.780] Um, so the, the focus is fundamentally on driving skill.
[50:13.780 -> 50:20.380] Uh, and that is obviously the point of it being a spec series and using spec engines
[50:20.380 -> 50:23.820] and spec tires and spec chassis and things like that.
[50:23.820 -> 50:26.000] So that really the only
[50:26.000 -> 50:29.800] difference the teams can make is in the setup and in the strategy so that most of the focus
[50:29.800 -> 50:35.960] goes on the actual driving, because that's what we're trying to develop in these junior
[50:35.960 -> 50:52.160] single-seaters. is in the junior series a physical strength requirement. So there is that. Statistically,
[50:52.160 -> 50:58.100] the thousandth strongest man in Colchester is going to be stronger than the thousandth
[50:58.100 -> 51:08.160] strongest woman in Colchester. So that bar is harder to achieve for women. So I think like most post-pubescent athletic men
[51:08.160 -> 51:13.680] will be able to crank a wheel in a junior series, even if only for a little bit. But we've had Brad
[51:13.680 -> 51:21.040] say that in F4, he found that physically demanding in his 20s and he's a fairly fit, strong,
[51:21.040 -> 51:27.280] athletic driver. So obviously fewer women will pass that bar for strength.
[51:27.280 -> 51:34.080] And so it seems strange to have that limit when the point of it in F1 wouldn't have that
[51:34.080 -> 51:39.920] same physical limit. So that's the disconnect for me, Matt. And I just saw a lot of people
[51:39.920 -> 51:48.240] saying that they shouldn't do it and that if you can't handle it kind of kind of kind of tough that's a bit of a filter and I could accept that I think
[51:48.240 -> 51:52.040] if Formula One had this specific strength limitation obviously got to be
[51:52.040 -> 51:55.360] fit and you've got to be conditioned for the sport but it almost seems like if
[51:55.360 -> 52:00.560] you can do it I think it's money is the main issue if you can do it not doing it
[52:00.560 -> 52:07.600] is creating an artificial barrier for for women in motorsport. Yeah and've not even talked about the fact that the tire size has changed,
[52:07.600 -> 52:12.560] which has made the problem worse in terms of the amount of strength required, because the tires
[52:12.560 -> 52:17.680] are bigger and heavier, and it takes more strength, therefore, to turn the wheel. And,
[52:17.680 -> 52:22.880] interestingly, so anyone who wants to argue, oh, it should be, you know, you should have to be
[52:22.880 -> 52:25.880] tough enough to do that in order to get to Formula One.
[52:25.880 -> 52:33.780] Well, we've seen women in IndyCar, for example, which does not have power steering, be successful.
[52:33.780 -> 52:41.240] And in fact, Tatiana Calderon actually did some races before her sponsorship rocket fell
[52:41.240 -> 52:47.320] through, which we'll talk about a bit later when we get to Williams.
[52:47.320 -> 52:55.720] But there's no reason, and especially maybe F3, the cars are lighter, and so presumably
[52:55.720 -> 53:01.160] less strength is required, but certainly F2 being the precursor to F1 should be as similar
[53:01.160 -> 53:02.440] as possible.
[53:02.440 -> 53:08.560] I don't see any argument there other than just them not wanting to swallow the cost, but given what they charge the drivers, I think
[53:08.560 -> 53:11.760] they should just suck it up and go ahead and add the system.
[53:11.760 -> 53:16.760] I think also just to be clear, obviously there are women that have been successful in many
[53:16.760 -> 53:21.880] forms of racing. So clearly a woman can do that and there are some women who have that
[53:21.880 -> 53:25.840] physical strength. My concern, if you like,
[53:25.840 -> 53:31.440] is just that a woman would have to be in a higher percentile overall in terms of just
[53:31.440 -> 53:37.520] pure physical strength than a guy would be. So it's a barrier to overcome that women have
[53:37.520 -> 53:46.180] that most men won't have. So I don't see the argument against it, Chris, unless you want to say, well, we'll keep everything
[53:46.180 -> 53:47.700] separate and segregate it.
[53:47.700 -> 53:52.420] So in the W Series, they used a lighter steering rack, I believe.
[53:52.420 -> 53:56.920] And it was Jamie Chadwick's comments, the W Series champion, that I can't remember the
[53:56.920 -> 54:01.360] quote exactly, but she was saying that it was a concern going up the ladder, that the
[54:01.360 -> 54:11.440] physicality of some of those cars would hold some women back. And of course, there are, I think, more inherent issues with the equipment that is used in
[54:11.440 -> 54:19.360] motorsport that has never really been designed with women in mind. And so when they say,
[54:19.360 -> 54:31.240] oh, let's make this fit for the average racing driver, they're going to picture a man. So there's something in the chassis design and in the overalls they wear as well that
[54:31.240 -> 54:38.780] have been cited by women racing drivers that is uncomfortable to them and is stopping them,
[54:38.780 -> 54:48.040] you know, being in their optimal condition for them to race hard and get the most of their ability out
[54:48.040 -> 54:50.600] of what they are given.
[54:50.600 -> 54:54.440] And when you consider, as well, you mentioned it earlier, the price that they're paying
[54:54.440 -> 54:59.080] to get into these junior single-seaters, it's a pretty penny.
[54:59.080 -> 55:02.200] And we can sit here and talk about spec this and spec whatever.
[55:02.200 -> 55:08.640] It's a conversation we've had before on this podcast about how the junior formulas are ridiculously expensive at the moment.
[55:08.640 -> 55:12.160] Jason Vale Let's hear from another old white man about
[55:12.160 -> 55:18.400] this topic. No, look, somebody said yes, there's a panel of men. Missed Apex in 2022 has had more
[55:18.400 -> 55:24.000] hours of women on the panel than we've ever had. And that is something we will continue to work on.
[55:24.000 -> 55:27.840] It just so happens that this panel is, yes, populated with us
[55:27.840 -> 55:32.520] gentlemen. Sorry, Steve, please continue. I'd just like to point out that these
[55:32.520 -> 55:37.820] days Formula One has a stated interest in developing technologies and using
[55:37.820 -> 55:42.240] technologies that are directly relatable to streetcars, you know, with power units
[55:42.240 -> 55:45.920] and all of those things. Can anybody tell me one
[55:47.120 -> 55:52.240] modern streetcar that doesn't have power steering? There isn't any as far as I know,
[55:52.240 -> 55:58.000] so in this case, all open-wheel cars should have power steering. End of story.
[55:58.720 -> 56:06.640] So Formula 2 is actually saying that the next generation car, which is coming in 2024, I think, is
[56:06.640 -> 56:13.600] going to be more tailored to women in that they're going to design it for both men and
[56:13.600 -> 56:16.040] women racing drivers.
[56:16.040 -> 56:20.240] So it's not like, oh, we're going to suit it for women and the men have to struggle.
[56:20.240 -> 56:22.280] It will be designed for both.
[56:22.280 -> 56:32.160] And of course, Jamie Chadwick, who made the comments in the quote that you cited there, is going to Indy NXT next season, which used to be Indy Lights,
[56:32.160 -> 56:37.360] sort of like the Fiend series, to IndyCar. Thank you for explaining that. I've been too afraid to
[56:37.360 -> 56:40.400] ask a week, like, I should know what that is. So that is IndyLight. Okay, right.
[56:40.400 -> 56:45.120] It's like this weird rebrand they just did, where it has to sound more extreme, like NXT.
[56:45.120 -> 56:46.840] I don't know why.
[56:46.840 -> 56:49.040] But is NXT a sponsor?
[56:49.040 -> 56:50.040] I have no idea.
[56:50.040 -> 56:53.160] And that, of course, does not have power steering.
[56:53.160 -> 56:56.880] So it'll be interesting to see how she gets on there.
[56:56.880 -> 56:59.920] Okay, well, Matt, I think we just head off one thing quickly.
[56:59.920 -> 57:06.040] John says, I don't buy that the obstacles in the cars are built without women in mind.
[57:06.040 -> 57:10.080] And I think this is actually a really important point to note. I don't think that there was
[57:10.080 -> 57:15.200] a kind of an active, like, let's make sure that women can't drive these cars. It's just
[57:15.200 -> 57:20.080] been that there's been this natural default for so long that there was just no reason
[57:20.080 -> 57:25.920] to consider the physicality of women in general, or to design it around women.
[57:25.920 -> 57:33.760] Same in the astronaut program. Women in NASA found that there was no space suits that fit
[57:33.760 -> 57:38.000] women's needs. So now I think it's just a little bit about changing that default and going,
[57:38.000 -> 57:43.920] okay, instead of going, let's design this around the default demographic that we've had for so
[57:43.920 -> 57:49.120] long, let's just design this around humans to allow as many humans as possible to go racing.
[57:50.240 -> 57:53.360] I think I have a good analogy for that, if you'll permit me,
[57:53.360 -> 58:12.000] thanks to my wife's clothing background. Have you ever seen a woman try to put on a pair of men's jeans. No, okay. It's a difficult thing for them because certain aspects of their body are different,
[58:12.000 -> 58:13.960] fundamentally, to men.
[58:13.960 -> 58:18.760] And so when we say the car is built for men, what we mean is the spec chassis,
[58:18.760 -> 58:27.840] which all the teams have to use, was designed around putting a guy in that cockpit, and not designed around the idea
[58:27.840 -> 58:37.040] that either sex might wind up in that cockpit. And Tatiana Calderon, who is the only woman,
[58:37.040 -> 58:39.920] I think, to ever race F2, possibly —
[58:39.920 -> 58:41.360] The modern era of F2.
[58:41.360 -> 58:46.640] In the modern era — had specifically made that complaint. Things like they couldn't get the
[58:46.640 -> 58:51.280] pedals to the point where she could get the leverage she needed to get the force on the
[58:51.280 -> 58:56.320] brake pedal to stop the car properly. And that when you're talking about tenths of a second,
[58:56.320 -> 59:02.560] between first and tenth, or tenth and twentieth, then those little details really do start to
[59:02.560 -> 59:07.280] matter. And it's a bit of a disadvantage if they can't get the stuff where you need it
[59:07.280 -> 59:08.220] to make it work right.
[59:08.220 -> 59:11.140] Yeah, and look, yeah, there are some things
[59:11.140 -> 59:13.280] that are inflexible, even in karting,
[59:13.280 -> 59:16.340] and I, okay, I will share this,
[59:16.340 -> 59:18.740] is that when I go karting, right,
[59:18.740 -> 59:20.260] the seat moves and the pedals move,
[59:20.260 -> 59:21.980] but the steering column doesn't,
[59:21.980 -> 59:24.660] and because I've got disproportionately short,
[59:24.660 -> 59:25.680] like, T-Rex arms,
[59:25.680 -> 59:31.240] I can only have the furthest forward setting on the seat, which means that I have kind of a baked
[59:31.240 -> 59:36.720] in oversteer every time because the other way is more forward. So yeah, but before we fix all the
[59:36.720 -> 59:41.320] stuff with women, can we make steering columns adjustable on rental carts as well? That would
[59:41.320 -> 59:46.720] be... let's make that the priority. Steve?
[59:50.400 -> 59:51.280] When we're talking about other things that are disadvantages for women,
[59:59.440 -> 01:00:05.840] are modern open-wheel chassis and cockpits wide enough to be able to accommodate? I mean, women have slightly wider hips than men. Is there enough room in a modern cockpit to be able to, you
[01:00:05.840 -> 01:00:13.720] know, mold wider seats that more suit a woman's physical requirements?
[01:00:13.720 -> 01:00:17.940] I think this is one of the complaints, is that much like getting George Russell into
[01:00:17.940 -> 01:00:25.000] the previous year's Mercedes, it was a challenge because of who it was designed around,
[01:00:26.040 -> 01:00:30.880] that all of these, the pedals, the steering, everything,
[01:00:30.880 -> 01:00:32.800] there's not enough adjustability
[01:00:32.800 -> 01:00:36.280] within the size of the cockpit to allow women and men
[01:00:36.280 -> 01:00:39.540] to have the same bespoke setup.
[01:00:39.540 -> 01:00:40.380] How about that?
[01:00:40.380 -> 01:00:43.080] It's just amazing from a man's perspective.
[01:00:43.080 -> 01:00:46.000] It's stuff that we have not had to think about my whole time
[01:00:46.540 -> 01:00:52.000] watching F1 and being into motorsport and it just feels like it's a really positive step forward.
[01:00:52.000 -> 01:00:54.860] It's an issue that we had not even considered.
[01:00:54.860 -> 01:00:57.600] I don't think this has come up really before on Miss Apex either.
[01:00:57.960 -> 01:01:01.040] So the fact that they're taking that initiative and I think it is inspired,
[01:01:01.040 -> 01:01:04.720] I think W Series has done a lot of work showing that there's a lot of
[01:01:04.160 -> 01:01:08.920] and I think it is inspired. I think W Series has done a lot of work showing that there's a lot of women who are really good racers. Jamie Chadwick turning into a little bit of
[01:01:08.920 -> 01:01:15.400] a star and the outcry that there's not this baked in ready seat for her has made people
[01:01:15.400 -> 01:01:19.280] start to think about it and just remove some of those defaults. And I think we're probably
[01:01:19.280 -> 01:01:26.480] never going to have a grid of a 50-50 and you can argue about the societal reasons for that. I think the
[01:01:26.480 -> 01:01:32.160] pool of people who want to be racing drivers will probably always be higher on the men's
[01:01:32.160 -> 01:01:39.060] side. But to just remove barriers to make it so that when you do get women who are talented
[01:01:39.060 -> 01:01:48.880] in racing, they don't have any obstacles that men wouldn't have. So they're not given obstacles simply by the fact that they're women.
[01:01:48.880 -> 01:01:50.760] Chris, end the topic for us.
[01:01:50.760 -> 01:01:52.880] Chris Baber, MPH Yeah, so of course, the other thing that
[01:01:52.880 -> 01:01:57.640] Formula One has announced was of course the F1 Academy, which was aimed at a slightly
[01:01:57.640 -> 01:02:04.720] younger demographic than what W Series was able to graft, and a little bit more entry
[01:02:04.720 -> 01:02:07.920] level with Formula 4 style machinery.
[01:02:08.560 -> 01:02:17.760] And from what I understand, there is no shortage of funds for that, which was obviously an issue
[01:02:17.760 -> 01:02:23.120] that W Series has faced this year. Good news. Well, a team that has been short of funds
[01:02:23.120 -> 01:02:26.720] in the past was Williams as they were spiralling
[01:02:26.720 -> 01:02:34.160] on their decline towards the end of the Williams family era. But are they finally on their way up?
[01:02:34.160 -> 01:02:41.520] So, they have relatively new owners in the form of De Rolton, who are... I don't know anything
[01:02:41.520 -> 01:02:49.380] about them, so one of my panel can tell me everything about Darolton and remind me. I'm going to assume that's probably Chris. And then someone can
[01:02:49.380 -> 01:02:54.940] tell me all about their brand new racing driver from America land. And in the most racist
[01:02:54.940 -> 01:02:59.260] way possible, I'm just going to assume that that's Matt, who will tell me all about that.
[01:02:59.260 -> 01:03:07.000] So, Chris, well, kick us off, kick us off. Williams, money, success, prizes?
[01:03:07.000 -> 01:03:14.000] Yes, well, of course, McDoraldson, as you mentioned, big investment company, making quite an investment in Formula 1.
[01:03:14.000 -> 01:03:26.040] What are they like? Because, of course, the last big faceless investment company that came into Formula 1 was probably Genie, Genie with Lotus.
[01:03:26.640 -> 01:03:28.000] Genie.
[01:03:28.080 -> 01:03:28.400] Yeah.
[01:03:28.440 -> 01:03:29.680] With Lotus.
[01:03:29.680 -> 01:03:33.960] And that was obviously headed up by Matthew Carter, as the front
[01:03:33.960 -> 01:03:35.600] man turned team principal.
[01:03:36.040 -> 01:03:40.440] But this is the first time we've seen kind of an investment company come in.
[01:03:40.840 -> 01:03:41.640] So who's behind them?
[01:03:41.640 -> 01:03:44.720] Is there a shady mastermind pulling the strings?
[01:03:45.360 -> 01:03:49.440] Oh, I forget, but wasn't Jos Capito quite a senior figure in
[01:03:50.640 -> 01:03:55.600] Doralton at some point? I might be way off the mark and it was just someone with a similar name,
[01:03:56.320 -> 01:04:08.400] because of course he was running rally teams as well. But Doralton, they're not just treating this as a just pick up and go, there's proper
[01:04:08.400 -> 01:04:14.080] investment in that team now. And of course, they've been riding the back of Nikola Satiefy's
[01:04:14.080 -> 01:04:19.280] money, Roy Nisani's money as well. So they haven't been short on funds. And of course,
[01:04:19.280 -> 01:04:25.000] they've just landed a few mil with this Rocket Court deal.
[01:04:25.680 -> 01:04:26.520] Okay, who's that?
[01:04:26.520 -> 01:04:27.640] Who are Rocket?
[01:04:27.640 -> 01:04:30.840] Rocket, well, you may know Rocket from sponsoring
[01:04:30.840 -> 01:04:33.040] a lot of other different championships.
[01:04:33.040 -> 01:04:35.200] They've been the title sponsor
[01:04:35.200 -> 01:04:38.400] of the Venturi Formula E team, now Maserati.
[01:04:38.400 -> 01:04:42.360] They are a big sponsor of Nicholas Hamilton as well,
[01:04:42.360 -> 01:04:43.400] Lewis Hamilton's brother
[01:04:43.400 -> 01:04:45.100] in the British Touring Car Championship.
[01:04:45.100 -> 01:04:47.360] And they do just about everything.
[01:04:47.360 -> 01:04:48.360] A lot of eSports stuff.
[01:04:48.360 -> 01:04:51.560] Have you ever watched any of the races eSports stuff?
[01:04:51.560 -> 01:04:54.200] They're a major sponsor in that as well.
[01:04:54.200 -> 01:04:58.260] You can't go into a motorsport series now without seeing something sponsored by Rocket.
[01:04:58.260 -> 01:05:03.960] And of course, they had a title sponsorship deal with Williams for the 2020 season, which
[01:05:03.960 -> 01:05:06.380] ended rather abruptly before the season even
[01:05:06.380 -> 01:05:08.580] started and they got rid of the sponsorship before.
[01:05:08.580 -> 01:05:12.140] Obviously, it was a delayed start to the season back then, so this all happened during the
[01:05:12.140 -> 01:05:16.700] COVID lockdowns and they took him to court for breaching their contract.
[01:05:16.700 -> 01:05:22.380] Off the top of your head, does anyone know how much a BTCC season is?
[01:05:22.380 -> 01:05:23.380] Ballpark?
[01:05:23.380 -> 01:05:27.160] Oh, I had a big... Tens of millions? Ballpark? Um, oh, I had a figure for the business.
[01:05:27.160 -> 01:05:28.160] Tens of millions?
[01:05:28.160 -> 01:05:30.360] Millions? No, no, no, no, no.
[01:05:30.360 -> 01:05:31.360] Oh, okay.
[01:05:31.360 -> 01:05:32.360] Tens of thousands.
[01:05:32.360 -> 01:05:36.880] Okay, well the reason I ask, I say that is because I just googled Lewis Hamilton's net
[01:05:36.880 -> 01:05:42.560] worth and this is probably always underreporting, 285 million. Why does his little brother need
[01:05:42.560 -> 01:05:45.320] a sponsor? I'd like to think I'd chuck my
[01:05:45.320 -> 01:05:50.120] little brother a mere few tens of grand to racing.
[01:05:50.120 -> 01:05:51.680] Maybe he doesn't want it.
[01:05:51.680 -> 01:05:58.720] Maybe. Maybe you're right. Okay, so does that spell success and glory? Why have they got
[01:05:58.720 -> 01:06:07.760] then what I understand to be a pay driver coming in. Why don't they? Jason Vale Well, Logan Sargent is not a pay driver in
[01:06:07.760 -> 01:06:12.960] the traditional sense, is he? Because he finished fourth in his maiden season in Formula Two.
[01:06:12.960 -> 01:06:14.400] So he's a good pay driver.
[01:06:14.400 -> 01:06:17.600] He's a very good driver, don't get me wrong.
[01:06:17.600 -> 01:06:19.760] Is he paying for his Williams seat?
[01:06:20.560 -> 01:06:26.840] Um, I mean, well, everyone is bringing every bit of money they have to the team, so no, I don't
[01:06:26.840 -> 01:06:34.200] think he's buying his way into the seat in, let's say, the same way Nicholas Latifi was.
[01:06:34.200 -> 01:06:40.640] One thing they did want to do, of course, was hire from their own driver academy, which
[01:06:40.640 -> 01:06:46.000] Logan Sargent was a part of, bearing in mind that a lot of options for them suddenly
[01:06:46.000 -> 01:06:50.280] disappeared when Fernando Alonso decided he was going to jump ship from Alpine,
[01:06:50.280 -> 01:06:55.000] because they lost a potential deal with Oscar Piastri.
[01:06:55.000 -> 01:07:05.000] Yeah, and I would agree. The interesting thing to me about Dorylton is the way they try to put their other clients together
[01:07:05.520 -> 01:07:09.600] with the teams so that they get deals
[01:07:09.600 -> 01:07:12.500] with like cloud computing, with things that you need
[01:07:12.500 -> 01:07:14.300] for modern Formula One teams.
[01:07:14.300 -> 01:07:17.260] And to my memory, there was definitely someone
[01:07:17.260 -> 01:07:20.900] who was formerly from Pirelli that was part of Doralton
[01:07:20.900 -> 01:07:23.220] and may have been one of the reasons
[01:07:23.220 -> 01:07:24.860] they were looking at Williams.
[01:07:24.860 -> 01:07:29.160] But I think Sargent, I mean, we'll see how he does.
[01:07:29.160 -> 01:07:31.560] But clearly he's there on merit.
[01:07:31.560 -> 01:07:33.960] He's earned the points for his super license.
[01:07:33.960 -> 01:07:38.760] Williams needs a driver and he qualifies and is part of the driver academy.
[01:07:38.760 -> 01:07:48.800] What I'm really interested in is the fact that I think Williams is going to be running fully funded because you know that's not an insignificant amount of money to a
[01:07:48.800 -> 01:07:55.480] team 26 million pounds which is I think the judgment that that they got against
[01:07:55.480 -> 01:08:01.400] rocket in the end but that they are running close to fully funded under the
[01:08:01.400 -> 01:08:05.440] cost cap and we've seen them make progress this year in terms
[01:08:05.440 -> 01:08:10.040] of scoring points. I'm not sure we're going to see them winning like they were back in
[01:08:10.040 -> 01:08:17.680] the 90s just yet, but I'm very curious to see where Capito and his team take them now
[01:08:17.680 -> 01:08:22.480] that they have the money to start being a real Formula One team again.
[01:08:22.480 -> 01:08:25.920] Hang on, sorry, do they have enough to max out the cost
[01:08:25.920 -> 01:08:31.600] cap? Because that's the key, they do, okay. I'm pretty sure Haas was the only team this year that
[01:08:31.600 -> 01:08:38.560] wasn't able to actually meet the budget cap, but apparently they've got a title sponsor for next
[01:08:38.560 -> 01:08:45.080] year that is going to bring them up to the cost cap. But of course, there's so much outside of the cost cap that you can
[01:08:45.080 -> 01:08:50.560] still spend money on that equates to performance. So it's not just a case of
[01:08:50.560 -> 01:08:52.720] oh well they're running at the budget cap therefore there's nothing to improve.
[01:08:52.720 -> 01:08:56.720] There's a lot to improve evidently because Williams has been sort of
[01:08:56.720 -> 01:09:03.960] tail-ending the field for some time now and I think having two quite strong
[01:09:03.960 -> 01:09:08.160] drivers there, yes Logan is going to be a rookie
[01:09:08.160 -> 01:09:13.360] but I think you can learn a lot from Alex Albon and can learn a lot from the team as well there's
[01:09:13.360 -> 01:09:19.360] clearly a wealth of experience there that he's going into and I do think that he has
[01:09:20.400 -> 01:09:26.480] the raw talent there they obviously have spotted something in him they like.
[01:09:26.480 -> 01:09:32.880] His speed, I don't think is anything to be snuffed at.
[01:09:32.880 -> 01:09:38.160] And it's going to be about smoothing out the edges, so to speak.
[01:09:38.160 -> 01:09:44.800] A bit like Red Bull's policy where, so long as you're fast, we can do something about the rest of it.
[01:09:44.800 -> 01:09:45.000] You can be super smooth and consistent, but if you're not fast, we can do something about the rest of it.
[01:09:45.280 -> 01:09:45.560] Yeah.
[01:09:48.020 -> 01:09:51.440] You can be like super smooth and consistent, but if you're not fast, we can't add lap time to you or take that time away as it were.
[01:09:52.200 -> 01:09:57.520] Well, the thing that I find most interesting about, um, Williams, uh,
[01:09:58.880 -> 01:10:01.880] and I think Sergeant will be a really good fit at Williams.
[01:10:02.260 -> 01:10:11.720] The thing I find interesting that people seem to have forgotten. He's the first American driver in an American team in Formula One. I think Williams,
[01:10:11.720 -> 01:10:16.200] because of their name, well they are, they're owned by an American investment company and
[01:10:16.200 -> 01:10:19.720] they are the first American team.
[01:10:19.720 -> 01:10:22.880] You're breaking so many British hearts here.
[01:10:22.880 -> 01:10:28.800] The thing is, it's still technically a British on the entry in the same way that, you know,
[01:10:28.800 -> 01:10:32.960] McLaren might be owned 50-whatever percent by the Bahrainis, but they still play the
[01:10:32.960 -> 01:10:35.000] British national anthem when they win.
[01:10:35.000 -> 01:10:39.280] Yeah, the same as Stephen, what's his name?
[01:10:39.280 -> 01:10:42.040] Karate Kid thing, has a Russian passport.
[01:10:42.040 -> 01:10:46.160] Yeah, but he's not Russian. I mean, let's face it
[01:10:46.160 -> 01:10:52.280] they must they may still be on the on the sheet as being an English team, but they're owned by Americans and and
[01:10:52.920 -> 01:10:54.920] sergeant is an American driver and
[01:10:55.720 -> 01:10:57.080] as much as
[01:10:57.080 -> 01:11:02.760] Hass would like to think that they were gonna have the first American driver and you know in an American team
[01:11:02.760 -> 01:11:05.040] I think they've been beaten by Williams.
[01:11:05.040 -> 01:11:06.040] Okay so...
[01:11:06.040 -> 01:11:11.440] And I'm saying that I'm a huge Williams fan, they were my hero team when I got into watching
[01:11:11.440 -> 01:11:12.440] Formula One.
[01:11:12.440 -> 01:11:18.320] Yeah you sit and troll and call them an American team, how dare you Steve Amy, how dare you.
[01:11:18.320 -> 01:11:24.960] So he's finished fourth in the Junior Series, on the face of it is that really that impressive
[01:11:24.960 -> 01:11:25.680] Chris? Yes. in the junior series on the face of it is that is that is that really that impressive Chris and
[01:11:25.680 -> 01:11:32.560] what I've been googling furiously and I think his granddad is a billionaire as far as I can tell.
[01:11:32.560 -> 01:11:39.600] So look this is a this is a billionaire in in Formula One it excites me less than a non-billionaire
[01:11:39.600 -> 01:11:46.000] in F1. But do you know what I don't think family actually puts that much money into his racing career because...
[01:11:46.000 -> 01:11:50.000] Oh, hello, here we go. He's going to be, I'm not rich, my parents are rich. He's one of those.
[01:11:50.000 -> 01:12:05.080] No, no, no. No, I'm serious because he didn't, he finished second or third or something in his first year in Formula 3, that big epic title fight with Oscar Piastri and Theo Poirier in 20... No, 2020.
[01:12:05.080 -> 01:12:08.400] And then he ended up doing another year in Formula 3 because he couldn't afford to go to
[01:12:08.920 -> 01:12:12.720] Formula 2. So there was some sort of budgetary issue then and
[01:12:13.600 -> 01:12:15.560] you know, he certainly
[01:12:15.560 -> 01:12:21.680] made the most of what is his first year in Formula 2 and I cannot emphasize enough how
[01:12:22.360 -> 01:12:25.400] difficult it is to make an impression in your rookie year when all
[01:12:25.400 -> 01:12:30.080] the other drivers have got a year on you and that's not Felipe Drogobic who won
[01:12:30.080 -> 01:12:34.940] the title this year was in his third season, Teo Poche was second in the
[01:12:34.940 -> 01:12:38.720] championship he was in his second season, Liam Lawson I'm fairly certain was in
[01:12:38.720 -> 01:12:44.800] his second season as well and these were all drivers running with you know good
[01:12:44.800 -> 01:12:46.800] teams in Formula 2. So why aren't they? The fact that he won running with you know good teams in Formula 2.
[01:12:46.800 -> 01:12:51.280] So why aren't they? The fact that he won races and you know put a good show in there as well. So why
[01:12:51.280 -> 01:12:56.240] aren't Drogovic, Pochere and Lawson in in F1 then? Drogovic isn't in there because no one
[01:12:56.240 -> 01:13:04.240] really cares about him he was never part of any F1 junior Academy at all and I think the fact that
[01:13:04.240 -> 01:13:06.840] it was his third year in Formula 2 meant no one really
[01:13:06.840 -> 01:13:13.260] paid attention when he did start quote-unquote dominating the championship. Theo Poitier
[01:13:13.260 -> 01:13:18.100] is a real shame because he's part of the Sauber Academy, which means there's really only two
[01:13:18.100 -> 01:13:21.980] seats available for him. One of them is taken by Guan Yu-Jo, the other one's taken by Valtteri
[01:13:21.980 -> 01:13:25.160] Bottas. So not a whole lot of room there.
[01:13:25.160 -> 01:13:30.640] And I think they were trying to get him in, um, into somewhere else if something came
[01:13:30.640 -> 01:13:33.600] up, but we all know is not good enough to be fast.
[01:13:33.600 -> 01:13:35.960] You need to have good timing, um, as well.
[01:13:35.960 -> 01:13:38.680] Just ask Oscar Piastri to wait a year for his chance.
[01:13:38.680 -> 01:13:41.080] So maybe 2024 will be terrible.
[01:13:41.080 -> 01:13:42.080] Okay.
[01:13:42.080 -> 01:13:43.080] Uh, yeah.
[01:13:43.080 -> 01:13:45.200] And Liam Lawson, well, Red Bull have got zero confidence in
[01:13:45.200 -> 01:13:50.880] any of their junior drivers apparently because they keep bringing other people from, I mean,
[01:13:50.880 -> 01:13:54.880] they put Nick DeVries in the car rather than any of their own junior drivers.
[01:13:54.880 -> 01:13:56.160] They clearly don't trust any of them.
[01:13:56.160 -> 01:14:00.640] Yeah, after Perez got the second role at Red Bull as well. Yeah, yeah. Matt?
[01:14:01.440 -> 01:14:07.600] Well, the interesting thing to me is do you know whose car he will be driving
[01:14:07.600 -> 01:14:12.560] to get extra Formula One miles? You know I don't know things. In the off-season. You know I don't
[01:14:12.560 -> 01:14:16.160] know things. Just tell me things, that's why you're here. He's going to be driving an old
[01:14:16.160 -> 01:14:22.480] Alpine on some Formula One circuits. And why do I bring this up? Well, you know. I don't know,
[01:14:22.480 -> 01:14:25.200] Matt. Tell me. It's kind of interesting to me
[01:14:25.840 -> 01:14:27.840] when we're looking at the 2026
[01:14:28.160 -> 01:14:32.420] Power unit regulations. I mean williams and mercedes certainly have a reasonable
[01:14:33.360 -> 01:14:35.120] Have a reasonable relationship right now
[01:14:35.120 -> 01:14:41.840] But I begin to wonder if if we're not seeing signs of a potential switch to a reno power unit
[01:14:42.640 -> 01:14:43.840] for williams
[01:14:43.840 -> 01:14:45.920] Because I mean they were going to put Piastri in
[01:14:45.920 -> 01:14:52.040] there and now Sargent is running in their car. I mean, they're getting awfully friendly.
[01:14:52.040 -> 01:14:55.320] That's what I'm saying. I've been waiting for weeks to start this rumor, basically.
[01:14:55.320 -> 01:14:57.440] Fair enough, Steve.
[01:14:57.440 -> 01:15:02.080] It wouldn't be the first time either. I mean, Williams and Renault have a long history together.
[01:15:02.080 -> 01:15:04.280] Oh yeah, no, of course they do.
[01:15:04.280 -> 01:15:06.360] And we all remember it.
[01:15:06.360 -> 01:15:07.360] Yes.
[01:15:07.360 -> 01:15:15.520] Right, so Lawson not getting to get into F1, so no Aussie in Formula 1 next season until
[01:15:15.520 -> 01:15:20.520] at least Barcelona when Ricciardo replaces Perez inevitably.
[01:15:20.520 -> 01:15:26.720] So I'm wondering though, is there room in the Australian hearts for Valtteri Bottas?
[01:15:26.720 -> 01:15:28.840] Sorry, Liam Lawson is a Kiwi.
[01:15:28.840 -> 01:15:34.520] Oh is it? I was looking at the table that someone posted in Slack and I thought it was an Australian.
[01:15:34.520 -> 01:15:36.760] Oh, that's poor flag recognition from me.
[01:15:36.760 -> 01:15:42.960] Sorry, I'm assuming both Australians and New Zealanders are offended by what I just did.
[01:15:42.960 -> 01:15:44.960] So sorry to everyone involved.
[01:15:44.960 -> 01:15:45.300] But could the Australians take Valtteri Bottas into their hearts for next season? and New Zealanders are offended by what I just did. So sorry to everyone involved.
[01:15:45.300 -> 01:15:50.080] But could the Australians take Valtteri Bottas into their hearts for next season? If you
[01:15:50.080 -> 01:15:54.240] look on any of his social media, I believe his partner is Australian. Oh gosh, have I
[01:15:54.240 -> 01:16:00.760] got that right? Yes. So yeah, so he did a video with his partner where he went and got
[01:16:00.760 -> 01:16:08.560] a mullet and was dressed as a, as I assume you looked in your early years, Steve.
[01:16:08.560 -> 01:16:12.000] It's a really funny video. Go and check out his Instagram. I think it's all over Twitter
[01:16:12.000 -> 01:16:16.640] as well. But could you embrace Valtteri Bottas into your Australian hearts? I believe he
[01:16:16.640 -> 01:16:17.640] lives there in the off-season.
[01:16:17.640 -> 01:16:23.320] Well, I didn't know that he lived here. Welcome down under Valtteri, if that's the case.
[01:16:23.320 -> 01:16:28.040] I think so, yeah. welcome down under Valtteri if that's the case. Could I embrace him? No I'm
[01:16:28.040 -> 01:16:32.820] sorry I don't think so. He can put on as many VB t-shirts as he likes and for
[01:16:32.820 -> 01:16:38.120] those people that don't know VB used to be a very you know popular brand of beer
[01:16:38.120 -> 01:16:47.440] in Australia. Oh right I see. Bogans. You know, we've actually had that term in emails, insulting
[01:16:47.440 -> 01:16:52.320] some of our Australian panelists. Not going to say which one, but not you, Steve. Chris?
[01:16:52.320 -> 01:16:59.520] Are you, are you implying that the Aussies would not embrace Oscar Piastri because they
[01:16:59.520 -> 01:17:02.560] deem him to have ousted Daniel Ricciardo from McLaren?
[01:17:02.560 -> 01:17:06.480] Oh, no. I believe that the Australians will
[01:17:06.480 -> 01:17:11.520] get behind him. I'm going to get right behind him. I mean, I love Danny. He's a great driver,
[01:17:11.520 -> 01:17:15.440] but he's going back to Red Bull. So I'm going to burn an effigy of him out the back later.
[01:17:16.000 -> 01:17:20.720] I forgot, I forgot, Piastri is Australian as well. I don't know. Yes, he is. I've got a bit of a
[01:17:20.720 -> 01:17:26.420] blind spot to our Antipodean friends. I apologise. But I've got a little
[01:17:26.420 -> 01:17:31.220] bit of time to edit this before you all wake up. So that's fine. Let's see, what time are
[01:17:31.220 -> 01:17:36.360] we on? In the off-season we are doing a weekly show and I think we want to keep them really
[01:17:36.360 -> 01:17:42.980] to the strict hour. I know you had some team-mate battle stats for us, Matt, but why don't we
[01:17:42.980 -> 01:17:45.760] put that in our pocket for an off-season show?
[01:17:45.760 -> 01:17:51.040] I won't feel bad about the 20 hours I spent developing statistics, no.
[01:17:51.040 -> 01:17:54.920] Well, but that's interesting off-season statistics for the off-season nerds who
[01:17:54.920 -> 01:17:59.480] still consume content like we do. And I hope you'll keep listening throughout the off-season.
[01:17:59.480 -> 01:18:04.000] We've got some really interesting chats lined up, so we're going to be doing some of our
[01:18:04.000 -> 01:18:06.120] magazine show format pre-records
[01:18:06.120 -> 01:18:10.800] where I just catch up with someone for, you know, 20 minutes. It's easy to get hold of their time.
[01:18:10.800 -> 01:18:18.320] And then a single Australian worker stays up all through the night and mashes them all together into great episodes.
[01:18:18.320 -> 01:18:26.560] So this week we're going to be talking to a specialist YouTuber about wet weather driving and gonna be talking
[01:18:26.560 -> 01:18:32.600] to a former F1 team strategist as well to give us his view on the 2022 season.
[01:18:32.600 -> 01:18:38.520] So you can look forward to that next Sunday and Steve are you social media-ing yet?
[01:18:38.520 -> 01:18:42.960] Oh you have, I know what you do, you have soccer counts so that no one knows it's
[01:18:42.960 -> 01:18:45.040] you but you lurk. You lurk
[01:18:45.040 -> 01:18:46.040] around.
[01:18:46.040 -> 01:18:52.240] I have absolutely none and with what's going on with Twitter at the moment I'm, I'm absolutely
[01:18:52.240 -> 01:18:53.720] have no interest in it.
[01:18:53.720 -> 01:18:59.560] Okay and what's your mastodon server? No? No? Okay, no fair enough. Okay.
[01:18:59.560 -> 01:19:00.560] No elephants.
[01:19:00.560 -> 01:19:04.840] No, so you can't follow Steve anywhere so you'll have to go to New Zealand or Tasmania
[01:19:04.840 -> 01:19:06.080] or wherever he is.
[01:19:06.080 -> 01:19:07.080] Slack?
[01:19:07.080 -> 01:19:11.520] Oh, you can speak to Uncle Steve in Slack if you are a patron.
[01:19:11.520 -> 01:19:14.320] Patreon.com forward slash missed apex.
[01:19:14.320 -> 01:19:18.360] There's going to be a patron pod at some point as well because I want to update our patrons
[01:19:18.360 -> 01:19:23.920] on why on earth I'm in Spain and lamps keep falling down around me.
[01:19:23.920 -> 01:19:27.240] And you can follow little baby mapper, Chris Stevens.
[01:19:27.440 -> 01:19:31.800] And first place you've got to go and listen to Chris is by checking out last
[01:19:31.800 -> 01:19:35.560] night's iRacing stream, round three of our championship.
[01:19:36.200 -> 01:19:41.320] You can see Chris's commentary and Steve's broadcasting skill is the main reason to
[01:19:41.320 -> 01:19:47.400] watch that. But you can also watch me fluff from second place to around ninth in race two.
[01:19:47.640 -> 01:19:52.400] And you can, uh, if you've ever seen somebody give up places easier than I did
[01:19:52.440 -> 01:19:56.160] when I was going to get disqualified for having too many incident points, please
[01:19:56.160 -> 01:19:57.360] email me and let me know.
[01:19:57.360 -> 01:20:00.460] So, uh, you can see me doing quite well for a few laps and then embarrass
[01:20:00.460 -> 01:20:01.840] myself for the second half.
[01:20:02.720 -> 01:20:06.320] And then when you're at it, go and follow me at Chris on racing on
[01:20:06.320 -> 01:20:10.900] Twitter and Instagram and, and keep an eye on my 2023 plans.
[01:20:10.900 -> 01:20:14.200] Cause they're shaping up very, very nicely.
[01:20:14.200 -> 01:20:14.640] Indeed.
[01:20:14.800 -> 01:20:16.080] No, that's exciting.
[01:20:16.120 -> 01:20:18.240] I can't be happy for your success.
[01:20:18.240 -> 01:20:20.160] Cause that might, is that mean less missed Apex?
[01:20:21.360 -> 01:20:26.320] Uh, likely yes, because when does most of what happens on a weekend?
[01:20:26.320 -> 01:20:31.760] So we'll grab you more for midweek roundups and for pre-records and get you doing some
[01:20:31.760 -> 01:20:33.560] of those interviews as well.
[01:20:33.560 -> 01:20:34.560] Absolutely.
[01:20:34.560 -> 01:20:36.760] Matt Trumpets, at MattPT55 still?
[01:20:36.760 -> 01:20:37.760] Yep.
[01:20:37.760 -> 01:20:38.760] Good.
[01:20:38.760 -> 01:20:40.960] Anything else?
[01:20:40.960 -> 01:20:43.800] That's what I use for all the platforms.
[01:20:43.800 -> 01:20:46.380] Can we watch you in real life soon
[01:20:46.880 -> 01:20:50.700] Um, I might have a concert on December 17th
[01:20:50.700 -> 01:20:55.220] I do have if you're on Long Island want to come out to the Tiller Center on Monday or Tuesday
[01:20:55.220 -> 01:21:01.160] I'll be playing with an orchestra doing like a Christmasy pops kind of deal. So you could come say hi there
[01:21:01.160 -> 01:21:06.940] I think the tickets are free. So. You know, not a huge investment.
[01:21:06.940 -> 01:21:10.500] Go and follow everybody by clicking on the show notes below.
[01:21:10.500 -> 01:21:13.060] And this panel that we've got on here
[01:21:13.060 -> 01:21:16.980] is actually the kind of the workhorse and production crew
[01:21:16.980 -> 01:21:18.760] of the Myst Apex project.
[01:21:18.760 -> 01:21:23.100] So if you don't know, Uncle Steve does all our quality video
[01:21:23.100 -> 01:21:25.000] and graphics and makes us look all shiny
[01:21:25.000 -> 01:21:30.800] on YouTube. Chris Stevens is our PR guru. If you're surprised at the correct
[01:21:30.800 -> 01:21:34.960] spellings on the missed Apex Twitter account for example, that's Chris Stevens
[01:21:34.960 -> 01:21:38.600] and a lot of the show notes prep and show running is done by the magnificent
[01:21:38.600 -> 01:21:44.040] Matt 2 Rumpit. But you should still follow me on Twitter at Spanners Ready
[01:21:44.040 -> 01:21:45.160] and find me
[01:21:45.160 -> 01:21:49.140] Richard Ready on Facebook either although I am currently remembering how
[01:21:49.140 -> 01:21:53.720] to log in I have absolutely no idea what email I use for that account similar
[01:21:53.720 -> 01:21:57.680] problems for Instagram as well so just find me on Twitter or email us feedback
[01:21:57.680 -> 01:22:03.720] at mistapex.net we will see you next Sunday until then work hard be kind and
[01:22:03.720 -> None] have fun this was was MrApexPodcast. You