Pressure mounting on Perez | Will Alonso retire at the end of the season?

Matt Baker is joined this week by Craig Slater and F1 content creator Tommo.

They reflect on the Mexico City Grand Prix and discuss the mounting pressure on Red Bull's Sergio Perez following his recent performances.

They debate if Lewis Hamilton will pip the Mexican to second in the driver standings and address rumours Fernando Alonso could retire at the end of the year.

They also question whether the Sprint format has worked this season and ask whether McLaren's Lando Norris could replace Perez at Red Bull.

In this episode of the Sky Sports F1 podcast, Matt Baker is joined by Craig Slater and Formula One content creator Tommo to discuss the Mexican Grand Prix and the mounting pressure on Red Bull's Sergio Perez.

**Mexican Grand Prix Recap:**

- Sergio Perez's home race turned sour as he crashed out on the first lap after a bold move to overtake Lewis Hamilton.
- Lewis Hamilton is now just 20 points behind Perez in the Drivers' Championship standings.
- Max Verstappen secured another dominant victory, extending his lead in the championship.

**Pressure on Sergio Perez:**

- Perez has been underperforming compared to his teammate Max Verstappen this season.
- Daniel Ricciardo's impressive performance in Mexico has put Perez's seat at Red Bull in jeopardy.
- Red Bull may consider replacing Perez with Ricciardo for the 2024 season.

**Sprint Format Discussion:**

- The Sprint format was used for the third time this season in Mexico.
- Opinions on the Sprint format are divided among the panelists.
- Some believe it adds excitement to the weekend, while others argue that it takes away from the traditional Grand Prix format.

**Lando Norris as a Potential Replacement for Perez at Red Bull:**

- Lando Norris has been linked with a move to Red Bull in the past.
- Norris is considered one of the most talented young drivers in Formula One.
- However, it is unlikely that McLaren would let Norris go easily.

**Other Notable Points:**

- Fernando Alonso's future in Formula One is uncertain. He may retire at the end of the season.
- Lewis Hamilton believes that Mercedes can build a winning car for next season.
- Red Bull is also progressing well with their car development for 2024.
- The podcast panelists discuss the importance of retaining talent within Formula One teams.
- Daniel Ricciardo's performance in Mexico has given Red Bull something to think about regarding their driver lineup for next season.

# Formula One: Mexico City Grand Prix Review and Season Insights

## Introduction

- This week's podcast episode features Matt Baker, Craig Slater, and F1 content creator Tommo.
- They delve into the Mexico City Grand Prix and discuss the mounting pressure on Sergio Perez due to his recent performances.
- The hosts debate whether Lewis Hamilton will surpass Perez in the driver standings and address rumors of Fernando Alonso's potential retirement at the end of the year.
- They also examine the effectiveness of the Sprint format this season and consider the possibility of Lando Norris replacing Perez at Red Bull.

## Sergio Perez's Performance and Future at Red Bull

- Perez's recent struggles have raised questions about his suitability for the Red Bull seat.
- The hosts discuss the level of performance Red Bull expects from Perez to retain his seat.
- They highlight Perez's qualifying performance in Mexico, where he was outpaced by his sister team, as a particular concern.
- Potential replacements for Perez are mentioned, including Lando Norris and Pierre Gasly.

## Lewis Hamilton's Pursuit of Second Place

- The possibility of Hamilton overtaking Perez in the driver standings is considered.
- Hamilton has finished second five times this season, while Perez has achieved four second-place finishes.
- The hosts emphasize the importance of podium finishes for Perez to maintain his position.

## Fernando Alonso's Retirement Rumors

- Rumors have emerged suggesting Alonso may retire from Formula One at the end of the year.
- The hosts discuss the likelihood of this happening and consider potential reasons for Alonso's decision.
- They also examine the impact Alonso's departure would have on Aston Martin and the overall driver market.

## Sprint Format Review

- The hosts evaluate the Sprint format after six races this season.
- They discuss whether the format has been successful in creating more excitement and engagement.
- Potential changes to the format are suggested, such as moving the Sprint to Friday and having a one-shot qualifying session.
- The commercial considerations behind the Sprint format are also acknowledged.

## Lando Norris' Potential Move to Red Bull

- The possibility of Norris replacing Perez at Red Bull is discussed.
- Norris' impressive performances this season have led to speculation about his future.
- The hosts consider whether Norris would be a suitable fit for Red Bull and how his arrival might affect the team dynamics.
- They also highlight the importance of Norris' current form and the potential impact on McLaren if he were to leave.

## Conclusion

- The episode ends with a brief discussion of Lando Norris' remarkable drive and his potential as a future Max Verstappen replacement at Red Bull.

[00:00.000 -> 00:08.000] Hello, everyone, a very warm welcome to this week's episode of the Sky Sports F1 podcast.
[00:08.000 -> 00:13.120] I hope you are well. To help me make sense of an eventful Mexico City Grand Prix, I'm
[00:13.120 -> 00:18.400] joined by our very own Sky Sports news, Craig Slater. I'm also joined by Formula One content
[00:18.400 -> 00:24.000] creator Tomo. Hello to both of you. Craig, first time on the podcast. Welcome. How are
[00:24.000 -> 00:30.160] you? Hope you're well. I'm delighted to be here. Obviously, a bit of a late substitute or call out to the squad.
[00:31.200 -> 00:34.240] Very old fashioned tech I've got, which I hope is working all right,
[00:34.240 -> 00:36.480] of cables and then all the rest of it. But yeah,
[00:36.480 -> 00:40.800] hoping to do well and get on that lucrative podcast circuit if I can.
[00:42.480 -> 00:45.200] You're most welcome. You're most welcome. Tommo you're nodding your head.
[00:47.200 -> 00:51.440] Well in this situation it's funny because I've been on a few times now so actually I'm the
[00:51.440 -> 01:00.080] experienced one Craig. Yeah well it's youth and inexperience, it's nice to be sort of not the
[01:00.080 -> 01:05.680] old hand at something for a change that's good. It's a good blend, it's a good blend. It's a good mix, it's a good mix.
[01:05.680 -> 01:06.920] Tomo, how's your weekend?
[01:06.920 -> 01:07.860] Enjoying Mexico?
[01:09.160 -> 01:10.500] Yeah, you know what?
[01:10.500 -> 01:12.760] For a Grand Prix that, I remember last season
[01:12.760 -> 01:17.160] was a bit of a stinker, actually, you know what?
[01:17.160 -> 01:19.920] By the standards, we actually got a sprint race again,
[01:19.920 -> 01:21.040] really, didn't we?
[01:21.040 -> 01:22.040] It was almost like three in a row
[01:22.040 -> 01:23.920] with that split down the middle.
[01:23.920 -> 01:30.320] So yeah, two races for three weekends in a row, six races in the last three weekends. So I don't
[01:30.320 -> 01:36.160] know, maybe it was just literally like bang in the middle, wasn't it? We got two races,
[01:36.160 -> 01:39.760] which may have spoiled some stories, but maybe create some others.
[01:39.760 -> 01:45.120] Yeah, definitely. I think for sometimes a slightly uneventful, I mean you alluded to
[01:45.120 -> 01:50.360] it there, slightly uneventful Grand Prix, I thought it did deliver this weekend. Craig,
[01:50.360 -> 01:52.720] tell us a little bit about how you kind of split your time, because obviously you're
[01:52.720 -> 01:57.760] at some races and you're from the studio for other races, so you were from the studio this
[01:57.760 -> 02:02.040] week. Tell us how you decide which ones to go to across the season and what's the difference
[02:02.040 -> 02:11.280] in your role between the team? Yeah, I mean, there's several factors at play, not least, you know, is there the opportunity
[02:11.280 -> 02:16.560] to have airtime on Sky Sports News might be a little bit around it. Time of day is a factor
[02:16.560 -> 02:22.240] as well. I've been, as I suppose Tom has as well, it's late nights, isn't it, when you're covering
[02:22.240 -> 02:27.720] these events in the Americas. So I try to spread myself over the course of the year.
[02:28.120 -> 02:32.920] There's obviously more opportunity to get on air when the football isn't on.
[02:32.920 -> 02:35.360] So that's a consideration, too.
[02:35.360 -> 02:38.920] Obviously, we've had the championship finish a little bit early as well.
[02:38.920 -> 02:41.760] So, yeah, that's been something lacking a bit.
[02:41.760 -> 02:44.640] But I have to say, I think the races have been good since that's concluded.
[02:45.160 -> 02:47.840] It was another decent,
[02:47.840 -> 02:49.680] I thought, weekend in Mexico.
[02:49.680 -> 02:54.320] Maybe we were robbed a little bit because of the red flag of what might have been
[02:54.320 -> 02:56.640] a more interesting ending to the Grand Prix.
[02:56.640 -> 02:59.640] But some signs, I think, that the field are coalescing
[03:00.200 -> 03:04.200] somewhat and maybe beginning to get a bit closer to Max
[03:04.200 -> 03:06.800] if not to put him under significant pressure.
[03:06.800 -> 03:11.920] Obviously, he had more of that in Austin than he did in Mexico and maybe as we'll touch on later,
[03:11.920 -> 03:14.240] hopefully he gets even more of the same in Brazil again.
[03:15.520 -> 03:19.760] I'm going to guess, Craig, for you, the biggest nightmare is two drivers disqualified after a
[03:19.760 -> 03:22.880] Grand Prix that starts on Austin time. Would that be fair?
[03:22.340 -> 03:23.340] Grand Prix that starts on Austin time. Would that be fair?
[03:23.340 -> 03:28.340] Yes, as they're all heading away from the circuit,
[03:29.020 -> 03:33.460] they're actually at the race to enjoy their cocktails
[03:33.460 -> 03:36.840] and the Mexico City nightlife or whatever,
[03:36.840 -> 03:39.700] or as it was in the case of Austin, you know,
[03:39.700 -> 03:43.500] downtown music and all the rest of it going on there.
[03:43.500 -> 03:45.600] There was a bit of hanging around.
[03:45.600 -> 03:49.480] I think we all knew it was gonna be a disqualification
[03:49.480 -> 03:54.060] in Texas as soon as the floors were declared illegal.
[03:54.060 -> 03:57.600] So in a way you could write for it
[03:57.600 -> 04:00.480] and just wait and click the button when that outcome came.
[04:00.480 -> 04:06.920] But we've had a discussion about all of that. Can the FIA
[04:06.940 -> 04:10.920] expedite matters? Do they need to be more comprehensive with
[04:10.920 -> 04:14.960] some of these checks, given the sample they had, and the
[04:14.960 -> 04:17.080] numbers which were non-compliant? So I suppose
[04:17.080 -> 04:20.440] that that's an ongoing discussion. But I guess that
[04:20.480 -> 04:23.440] they will have to, I think, think about that, because I
[04:23.440 -> 04:32.160] haven't heard a significant voice within F1 suggest, certainly over the Mexico weekend, that, no, it was fine just
[04:32.160 -> 04:36.860] to check four cars, even if two of them were non-compliant. I think that is going to have
[04:36.860 -> 04:38.560] to be looked at, no question.
[04:38.560 -> 04:47.560] Especially if we encounter a similar situation at a future race. Let's talk then about the weekend in Mexico City Grand Prix.
[04:47.560 -> 04:51.960] I feel almost a little bit bad going in on Perez here, because I think that certainly
[04:51.960 -> 04:56.640] in his post-race reaction, he's been very vocal in saying, look, I had to go for it.
[04:56.640 -> 05:03.040] I had to make that move down into turn one. It didn't work out. Eventually, he finished
[05:03.040 -> 05:06.840] the first lap, but was out after that. Tomo, I mean when you were watching that at home,
[05:06.840 -> 05:08.000] you saw that happen.
[05:08.920 -> 05:10.660] It was obviously Mexico, you know,
[05:10.660 -> 05:11.760] his home Grand Prix,
[05:11.760 -> 05:14.980] it was frankly just really, really hard to watch,
[05:14.980 -> 05:15.820] wasn't it?
[05:15.820 -> 05:17.560] And obviously it was very emotional afterwards.
[05:17.560 -> 05:20.840] Yeah, I mean he tried to pull the move that Max pulled,
[05:20.840 -> 05:22.560] was it 22 or 21, I can't remember.
[05:22.560 -> 05:24.640] He was around, he was on the outside of the three.
[05:24.640 -> 05:27.120] 21. Swung it around the outside.
[05:27.120 -> 05:27.960] That was it, yeah.
[05:27.960 -> 05:29.560] And took the leads.
[05:29.560 -> 05:30.980] Look, he went for it.
[05:30.980 -> 05:35.040] It was a move that you can understand the context
[05:35.040 -> 05:36.680] of he's in this Red Bull car,
[05:36.680 -> 05:38.260] this car that can fight for wins.
[05:38.260 -> 05:41.320] I mean, his long run pace in practice was pretty good.
[05:41.320 -> 05:43.800] He was, yes, at qualified by Ricciardo,
[05:43.800 -> 05:46.120] but only a 10th and a half off of max.
[05:46.120 -> 05:49.720] So this felt like a track that was gonna play
[05:49.720 -> 05:50.560] to his strengths.
[05:50.560 -> 05:52.560] He smelt that opportunity.
[05:52.560 -> 05:53.840] He went for it.
[05:53.840 -> 05:54.800] He misjudged it.
[05:54.800 -> 05:56.480] I mean, you look at the steel, it's very similar.
[05:56.480 -> 05:59.160] Lewis said it as well in the call down room, didn't he?
[05:59.160 -> 06:01.800] That he kind of did what he did in Qatar
[06:01.800 -> 06:03.720] and just pulled in that little bit too early.
[06:03.720 -> 06:05.040] It's a sport of
[06:05.040 -> 06:12.880] fine margins and yeah, gutted for him. Because I mean, the support for Chieko, I mean, I
[06:12.880 -> 06:17.440] would love to attend that Grand Prix and just take it in because, you know, I went to Austria
[06:17.440 -> 06:23.640] earlier this year and Max Verstappen has a huge, like the Orange Army is a very serious
[06:23.640 -> 06:25.340] thing to behold in real life, right?
[06:25.340 -> 06:26.820] It's super impressive.
[06:26.820 -> 06:30.580] But the adoration, the work Checo does
[06:30.580 -> 06:32.660] in his community as well, you know,
[06:32.660 -> 06:37.020] the foundation he's got, he's such a role model in Mexico.
[06:37.020 -> 06:38.200] He's so well-received.
[06:38.200 -> 06:40.660] And when you consider all of that,
[06:40.660 -> 06:42.740] it's not just a home Grand Prix.
[06:42.740 -> 06:46.040] It's, it feels like so much more to a driver like Checo
[06:46.040 -> 06:48.760] and for it to end on the first corner
[06:48.760 -> 06:51.000] with all this speculation around his future as well
[06:51.000 -> 06:54.000] at Red Bull and maybe in the sport, who knows?
[06:55.120 -> 06:57.440] Yeah, tough one to accept that.
[06:57.440 -> 06:58.560] Yeah, I mean, I get that.
[06:58.560 -> 06:59.400] I think you're right.
[06:59.400 -> 07:01.160] I mean, the one thing I would say
[07:02.160 -> 07:03.000] it would have been worse
[07:03.000 -> 07:04.640] had he done it earlier in the season
[07:04.640 -> 07:06.120] and kind of got himself
[07:06.120 -> 07:08.240] out of championship contention.
[07:08.240 -> 07:10.760] Did he have a lot to lose?
[07:10.760 -> 07:13.000] Well, there's the seat aspect,
[07:13.000 -> 07:16.640] and that's another aspect that does what happened there
[07:16.640 -> 07:19.200] actually materially affect his prospects
[07:19.200 -> 07:21.480] of continuing in that race car next year.
[07:21.480 -> 07:25.760] But I suppose in title terms, that had already long gone.
[07:27.200 -> 07:32.400] You know, he finishes second, he finishes on the podium. You know, I thought he could have done
[07:32.400 -> 07:37.120] that, as you've said, Tom, given the pace he exhibited, particularly in qualifying. It was
[07:37.120 -> 07:42.400] the closest he'd been to this happen for quite a while, wasn't it? So in a way, he threw away
[07:42.400 -> 07:48.720] that good result. And the other aspect to it as well is it's all happened alongside Daniel Ricciardo
[07:48.720 -> 07:55.960] outdriving the AlphaTauri, getting ahead of him in qualifying and then doing so well in the race as well.
[07:55.960 -> 07:58.440] So it was a lose-lose situation.
[07:58.440 -> 08:05.720] But I think the fact that Lewis Hamilton kind of understood the mentality of it in the cool down room,
[08:05.720 -> 08:07.880] to me, that showed that maybe, you know,
[08:07.880 -> 08:12.880] that it wasn't so crazy as it first appeared.
[08:13.160 -> 08:15.340] The consequences were pretty bad,
[08:15.340 -> 08:17.800] but you can understand the mentality still.
[08:17.800 -> 08:20.720] And he has got races left to make up for,
[08:20.720 -> 08:22.360] including one in a few days time.
[08:23.360 -> 08:27.120] It's just given the red flag, given the whole,
[08:27.120 -> 08:29.020] well, you can't win a race at turn one,
[08:29.020 -> 08:30.360] but you can lose a race at turn one,
[08:30.360 -> 08:31.560] which is exactly what happened.
[08:31.560 -> 08:34.920] Like given all of that context that played out,
[08:34.920 -> 08:38.080] there was a chance, even if he'd come out of that corner,
[08:38.080 -> 08:41.080] you know, third behind Shah even, there was a chance.
[08:41.080 -> 08:42.160] There was a chance in it.
[08:42.160 -> 08:44.680] And isn't it fascinating that it's the way,
[08:44.680 -> 08:45.120] has he morphed as a driver into a different mentality? There was a chance, there was a chance. And isn't it fascinating that it's the way,
[08:45.120 -> 08:48.320] has he morphed as a driver into a different mentality?
[08:48.320 -> 08:51.560] I mean, I always admired him greatly
[08:51.560 -> 08:54.080] and was a particular fan of his
[08:54.080 -> 08:57.920] because of his ability to leave it late in a Grand Prix,
[08:57.920 -> 09:01.320] to husband his resources in terms of having tire life
[09:01.320 -> 09:02.800] at the end of an event,
[09:02.800 -> 09:05.360] especially one as you know,
[09:08.720 -> 09:09.100] as occasionally chaotic as Mexico can be,
[09:13.200 -> 09:16.200] it's so uncharacteristic of him to do exactly what he did that you do wonder about his headspace.
[09:16.200 -> 09:20.200] Has he lost the essential Perez DNA?
[09:20.200 -> 09:28.120] Is he very much not really thinking or playing to his strengths right now because of the
[09:28.120 -> 09:31.920] external pressures on him? And that was a glaring example of it.
[09:31.920 -> 09:35.680] What about then, we mentioned Hamilton sort of almost coming out in support of Sergio
[09:35.680 -> 09:41.960] and also referencing what he did in Qatar being of a similar degree or similar nature.
[09:41.960 -> 09:46.640] In terms of P2 in the championship, Lewis is now only 20 points behind Sergio.
[09:46.640 -> 09:50.600] Lewis is also worth noting has thrown away quite a lot of points in recent weeks. So
[09:50.600 -> 09:54.860] that almost you would argue is very much Lewis's place to lose and he might still obviously
[09:54.860 -> 09:59.760] take P2 in the championship. But Tomo, what do you make of that battle for second in the
[09:59.760 -> 10:03.640] championship? Lewis has obviously said hasn't he that it really is all about the constructors,
[10:03.640 -> 10:07.360] but I mean, that would be a massive blow blow wouldn't it to Sergio in the in the by
[10:07.360 -> 10:12.280] some considerable margin the fastest car not finishing P2. I think you know
[10:12.280 -> 10:16.960] Red Bull have never had a 1-2 in the in the Drivers Championship even in the
[10:16.960 -> 10:20.800] Vettel-Weber days you'd always get Fernando sneaking in there in his Ferrari
[10:20.800 -> 10:26.600] and this season the way it looks bad for me is that,
[10:26.840 -> 10:28.800] yeah, again, you look at Vettel, Weber,
[10:28.800 -> 10:31.200] there was a clear second quickest car
[10:31.200 -> 10:34.640] and quickest driver in Alonso, typically anyway.
[10:34.640 -> 10:36.560] You know, he'd consistently get on the podium.
[10:36.560 -> 10:39.520] This year you've had the Aston B second quickest car,
[10:39.520 -> 10:40.840] you've had the Ferrari at times,
[10:40.840 -> 10:42.840] you've had the Mercedes at times.
[10:42.840 -> 10:46.840] And for Checo to not get P2,
[10:46.840 -> 10:49.760] it's a big kick in the teeth for Red Bull,
[10:49.760 -> 10:51.680] considering how we've talked all year
[10:51.680 -> 10:53.640] about how dominant this car is
[10:53.640 -> 10:55.000] in the hands of Max in particular,
[10:55.000 -> 10:56.920] but Checo's got the same car
[10:56.920 -> 10:59.280] and he's a very talented, capable driver.
[10:59.280 -> 11:00.760] We've seen this for many a year,
[11:00.760 -> 11:03.880] seven years of over-performing
[11:03.880 -> 11:06.320] in that racing point force India.
[11:07.760 -> 11:12.320] In this context, that's where it's really tough,
[11:12.320 -> 11:13.880] I think, from a Red Bull point of view.
[11:13.880 -> 11:15.040] I mean, from Lewis's point of view,
[11:15.040 -> 11:18.040] it's gonna be a little bit of extra motivation
[11:18.040 -> 11:21.000] that they are going in the right direction.
[11:21.000 -> 11:24.760] And Lewis is showing that he's in a car
[11:24.760 -> 11:25.280] that he's really
[11:25.280 -> 11:28.880] struggling with and not happy with. He's still able to drag out these
[11:28.880 -> 11:32.080] performance, but without that disqualification, they would be level
[11:32.080 -> 11:32.880] one points.
[11:33.000 -> 11:33.800] Yeah.
[11:34.600 -> 11:37.800] Yeah, I think you spot it. It's interesting, isn't it? I think it has
[11:37.800 -> 11:41.880] and it has become more of a thing this year, the one two, because they
[11:41.880 -> 11:50.400] probably did they not have the opportunity last year to slightly prefer Perez's strategy, wasn't it, in the last race to maybe, you know,
[11:50.400 -> 11:54.640] get him that second spot and didn't do it last year I'm talking about.
[11:54.640 -> 11:57.840] But this year it has been something and if they wanted an excuse,
[11:58.800 -> 12:03.840] if they are indeed lining up Ricciardo or if they're coming around to a way of thinking that
[12:03.840 -> 12:07.040] Ricciardo is their preferred option in the car,
[12:07.040 -> 12:08.920] it gives them the ammunition, doesn't it,
[12:08.920 -> 12:13.920] to present it as a kind of a reasonable action to take
[12:14.600 -> 12:16.920] if he doesn't get that second spot.
[12:16.920 -> 12:18.040] And you spot on,
[12:18.040 -> 12:20.780] it's not as if there has been a strong second force
[12:20.780 -> 12:21.760] in F1 this year.
[12:21.760 -> 12:24.640] There's been various different cars at various points
[12:24.640 -> 12:30.320] lead the assault on trying to get close to red, but which would make it, I think you have to say,
[12:30.320 -> 12:33.840] in terms of Lewis Hamilton, and maybe we'll get on to talking about him a bit later,
[12:33.840 -> 12:39.280] a very significant achievement. Indeed, if he could come second, I always think of Jack
[12:39.280 -> 12:45.840] Nicholas in golf who won the most majors with 18, but he also had the most second places as well.
[12:45.840 -> 12:53.920] And I, you know, for Lewis to get what would it be his fourth second place in F1 alongside
[12:53.920 -> 12:58.920] seven championships. I know it's not something he'd particularly care about, but I think
[12:58.920 -> 13:04.960] it would speak volumes again, a little bit about just how good he is. And also I think
[13:04.960 -> 13:06.480] how he's improved this year too.
[13:06.480 -> 13:10.880] I wonder how much the teams actually care about these things
[13:10.880 -> 13:15.000] because points are, you know, we've decided to give 25 points to winners,
[13:15.000 -> 13:17.000] 18 to second, 15, blah, blah, blah.
[13:17.000 -> 13:20.760] In IndyCar, they give points to everyone, you know, like,
[13:20.760 -> 13:23.560] that can dictate whether, I mean, again, you know,
[13:23.560 -> 13:31.720] Sergio was only three points short of Charles last season. So, you know, it's points are a good kind of base look at
[13:31.720 -> 13:37.300] things but they do not tell anywhere near the full story and the teams have they need
[13:37.300 -> 13:41.640] to be making decisions based on the full story not just on points. So I will say that as
[13:41.640 -> 13:46.800] well. Craig put some meat on the bone in terms of what Mercedes would get from finishing
[13:46.800 -> 13:51.520] second in the championship, in terms of the financial gain, but also in terms of the wind
[13:51.520 -> 13:56.020] tunnel time. I guess they're going to get less wind tunnel time, of course, but more
[13:56.020 -> 13:57.020] financial gain, right?
[13:57.020 -> 14:01.520] Yeah, I mean, well, that's right. A little bit more money. What are we talking about?
[14:01.520 -> 14:06.680] And actually, I think, Tomo, you've a more of an in-depth expose of this recently in terms of what the teams get.
[14:06.680 -> 14:11.160] But I mean, I don't think it means much really to an organisation
[14:11.160 -> 14:14.120] like Mercedes, bedecked with sponsors and all the rest of it,
[14:14.120 -> 14:17.560] and who will make the cost cap anyway,
[14:17.560 -> 14:22.800] and will be struggling to get down to that kind of level of expenditure,
[14:23.120 -> 14:26.120] you know, whatever they bring in as income.
[14:26.120 -> 14:29.280] I think from Mercedes' perspective, it would be,
[14:30.440 -> 14:33.480] I think you're better finishing second and third.
[14:33.480 -> 14:36.840] It gives the factory a little bit of a base point
[14:36.840 -> 14:39.560] if you've only got the one team ahead of them as well.
[14:39.560 -> 14:43.680] So I don't think it's necessarily ultra significant
[14:43.680 -> 14:47.200] in that regard, but it's every place down you fall.
[14:47.200 -> 14:50.720] I mean, you could probably compare it more to if you're a team like
[14:50.720 -> 14:52.000] Aston Martin at the moment,
[14:52.000 -> 14:54.080] dropping places towards the end of the season.
[14:54.080 -> 14:55.920] That's not somewhere you want to be.
[14:55.920 -> 14:59.880] You kind of want to be ending on the front foot rather than the back foot.
[14:59.880 -> 15:07.560] If you're going to have the team energized and morale at a level where everyone is mobilised
[15:07.560 -> 15:10.320] to have a strong winter and head into the new season.
[15:10.320 -> 15:15.640] And it's easy to dismiss that stuff, Craig, but what you're saying, all of those points,
[15:15.640 -> 15:19.440] this is a sport of fine margins and a little bit more momentum, a little bit more team
[15:19.440 -> 15:24.320] morale that can make the difference in a pit stop, that can make the difference over a
[15:24.320 -> 15:25.240] race distance.
[15:25.240 -> 15:27.220] It's fractions of a percentage.
[15:27.220 -> 15:30.160] We're talking about, you know, you see a 10 second win
[15:30.160 -> 15:34.040] or 12 seconds, I think Max was clear in the end of Lewis,
[15:34.040 -> 15:36.760] but over the course of a 71 lap race around,
[15:36.760 -> 15:50.760] that's a fraction of a percent, but he had to say? I mean, I wrote
[15:50.760 -> 15:56.820] down the comments, kind of, you know, it wasn't something that anyone was necessarily probing
[15:56.820 -> 16:03.200] for either, but the little window into where he thought the Mercedes were with regard to
[16:03.200 -> 16:05.440] Red Bull and looking ahead to next season.
[16:05.440 -> 16:12.960] What he was, he said, he did believe absolutely that they could build a winning car again.
[16:12.960 -> 16:17.840] And then he said, there are a lot of engineers, nobody wants to copy anybody.
[16:17.840 -> 16:21.840] They want to find their own way. But I think we are progressing.
[16:21.840 -> 16:27.280] But I've heard that Red Bull are progressing as well. So we have to be really, really strategic
[16:28.800 -> 16:30.860] and really clinical.
[16:30.860 -> 16:33.600] You know, it's, I think next season
[16:33.600 -> 16:36.880] is already being contested in a way that,
[16:36.880 -> 16:40.360] certainly in Lewis Hamilton's head, it seems to me,
[16:40.360 -> 16:43.880] his mind is full of where next year's car is
[16:43.880 -> 16:46.160] and to what extent some of the upgrades,
[16:46.160 -> 16:48.200] which will have relevance being brought
[16:48.200 -> 16:50.080] towards the end of this season,
[16:50.080 -> 16:52.200] already have on next year's battle.
[16:52.200 -> 16:54.480] And also he's obviously clearly worried
[16:54.480 -> 16:57.480] about how early Red Bull started developing
[16:57.480 -> 16:59.800] next year's car and has a handle on that again.
[16:59.800 -> 17:01.120] So I think we're all, you know,
[17:01.120 -> 17:04.720] in these kind of end of season races,
[17:04.720 -> 17:12.400] you do get this idea of the teams beginning to marshal their ideas about next year
[17:12.400 -> 17:18.000] and who necessarily might be where, which I think, you know,
[17:18.000 -> 17:21.400] yes, from a morale perspective, gets some results in now,
[17:21.400 -> 17:25.200] but you can see Lewis Hamilton very much turning his mind to 2024.
[17:26.720 -> 17:31.840] He also said after the race, honestly it's not going to make a big difference to my life whether
[17:31.840 -> 17:36.800] I come second or third, which I think kind of speaks to your point Craig about you know actually
[17:36.800 -> 17:41.200] for someone like Lewis Hamilton who's won seven world championships it's not really about that
[17:41.200 -> 17:48.880] but it is about next year. You know Lewis Lewis spent a lot of 2022 wrestling with the Mercedes,
[17:48.880 -> 17:50.680] taking on the burden of development.
[17:51.160 -> 17:55.520] But had he been outscored for a second successive season by George Russell,
[17:55.720 -> 17:57.680] there would have been a different public narrative.
[17:57.680 -> 18:01.360] And you can say, yes, this has been another year of rebuilding for Mercedes.
[18:01.360 -> 18:08.640] So where they finish doesn't necessarily matter, or how many points Lewis scores vis-a-vis George doesn't necessarily matter either
[18:08.640 -> 18:14.280] but the public narrative would have had an impact instead of that he has he's a
[18:14.280 -> 18:19.240] master you know a huge gulf and points between himself and George and is now
[18:19.240 -> 18:23.800] ahead in terms of head-to-head qualifying as well which we all know is
[18:23.800 -> 18:25.240] one of George Russell's strong points.
[18:25.240 -> 18:27.880] So I think some of these things do matter.
[18:27.880 -> 18:31.400] You look at Mercedes' trajectory over the last,
[18:31.400 -> 18:34.400] you know, well, almost two seasons now,
[18:34.400 -> 18:38.320] and considering where they were last year
[18:38.320 -> 18:41.360] and how well George was performing relative to Lewis,
[18:41.360 -> 18:44.000] and who knows, like, the full context behind that.
[18:44.000 -> 18:45.820] At the end of the day, it's very simple.
[18:45.820 -> 18:49.540] Lewis is in the car because he wants an eight-foil title.
[18:49.540 -> 18:51.460] Mercedes feel like they owe it
[18:51.460 -> 18:54.520] to give Lewis the opportunity above all else.
[18:54.520 -> 18:57.420] And actually, this gap growing between George and Lewis,
[18:57.420 -> 18:59.060] I think is actually kind of a good thing
[18:59.060 -> 19:01.160] because it's maybe saving Mercedes a bit of a headache
[19:01.160 -> 19:04.020] if Lewis can really show his star quality,
[19:04.020 -> 19:05.280] which he's not really been
[19:05.280 -> 19:12.720] able to show in this car and put himself as and almost make George a default number two that's
[19:12.720 -> 19:18.080] essentially what Toto will want if you want a title fight in 24 you can't have them tripping
[19:18.080 -> 19:22.000] over each other like Lewis and Fernando did in 2007 then Kimi Raikkonen comes through and
[19:22.000 -> 19:27.880] oh I'll take that um that's not what you, so I think the pieces are in place.
[19:27.880 -> 19:29.540] You know, Alisson's back in the team as well,
[19:29.540 -> 19:33.040] working on the car, and we know him and Nui are the two,
[19:33.040 -> 19:35.320] they're the Messi and Ronaldo of this debate, surely,
[19:35.320 -> 19:36.640] right, in terms of car development.
[19:36.640 -> 19:39.440] So, look, I think it's going in the right direction,
[19:39.440 -> 19:42.400] but that's why, like, Lewis is motivated by an H1 title,
[19:42.400 -> 19:43.600] everything else is just noise.
[19:43.600 -> 19:45.400] He's one, he's more decorated than anyone.
[19:45.400 -> 19:47.720] I think he's going to be less sensitive
[19:47.720 -> 19:50.080] to all the noise and speculation
[19:50.080 -> 19:52.200] than anyone else on the grid in my opinion.
[19:52.200 -> 19:54.080] Because that's the reason he's here.
[19:54.080 -> 19:55.640] That's the same reason Fernando Alonso's here,
[19:55.640 -> 19:57.040] but I'm sure we'll get onto him in a minute.
[19:57.040 -> 20:00.160] Yeah, so it's quite a significant movement
[20:00.160 -> 20:01.880] that bringing Alison back, wasn't it?
[20:01.880 -> 20:03.880] Especially when you've promoted someone
[20:03.880 -> 20:05.520] to a theoretically
[20:05.520 -> 20:12.640] higher role and then, but realising he's more effective in that one, I don't know Mike Elliott's
[20:12.640 -> 20:28.640] future, but that was a kind of
[20:29.520 -> 20:36.960] sobriety and restraint about the way he would speak. And I sense now he's much more on the
[20:36.960 -> 20:43.360] front foot again. I think he feels, yes, the building blocks and the right people are in place
[20:43.360 -> 20:45.280] in terms of where the car development's
[20:45.280 -> 20:52.400] going. That little quote I made there was almost, was that in reference to Mike Elliott or the
[20:52.400 -> 20:57.840] engineers who want to go a different way from the kind of red bull path that Mercedes have now
[20:57.840 -> 21:06.920] adopted. But you just get the sense, yeah, Lewis feels that at feels that the right personnel are in the right spots, as you've
[21:06.920 -> 21:11.840] kind of outlined with Alisson in the lead. It's just can they set the targets and parameters
[21:11.840 -> 21:21.240] right now and are Red Bull just a little bit too far ahead? Is Newby beatable on aero over
[21:21.240 -> 21:24.400] this winter? That's a big question.
[21:24.400 -> 21:28.200] And again, you look at McLaren, how quickly they turned that around. Seidl and Key out
[21:28.200 -> 21:32.280] the door, Stellars in as team principal, who'd never done that job before, but a man steeped
[21:32.280 -> 21:39.000] in experience both at Ferrari and then at McLaren, and they've turned it around completely.
[21:39.000 -> 21:44.360] So a lot can be done with the right difficult decisions at the right time.
[21:44.360 -> 21:47.040] You don't get the chance to make these points out with a podcast.
[21:47.040 -> 21:50.320] I don't get my day to day reporting, but I can vent a bit on this.
[21:50.320 -> 21:52.400] Go on, go on, do it.
[21:52.400 -> 21:56.640] One of the things Andrea Stella said recently, he was talking about that Ferrari
[21:56.640 -> 22:01.400] Belle Epoque of Rory Byrne and Ross Brawn and Sean Todd.
[22:01.800 -> 22:08.480] And what he said, a very interesting point he made he said, all of those guys could have been promoted
[22:08.480 -> 22:11.160] into bigger jobs.
[22:11.160 -> 22:12.320] And some of them were,
[22:12.320 -> 22:14.820] I guess Ross Braun went and ran his own team.
[22:14.820 -> 22:18.000] But they kept them in station
[22:18.000 -> 22:21.440] because they were the best at what they did individually.
[22:21.440 -> 22:24.380] Now I kind of looked at Mercedes in recent years
[22:24.380 -> 22:29.400] and you see Andy Cower leave to go to something else. You see Alison take on a different role
[22:29.400 -> 22:34.200] and get involved in building boats for Jim Ratcliffe or whatever.
[22:34.200 -> 22:41.400] You see James Vowles leaving as head of strategy to go to Williams and you
[22:41.400 -> 22:45.680] think are they promoting too many people out of these vital
[22:45.680 -> 22:50.080] roles which any top team kind of needs to keep them in?
[22:50.080 -> 22:54.680] And Stella was, I think Stella's got a good handle on that. You know, he does not want
[22:54.680 -> 23:00.960] to hemorrhage his best staff at McLaren, wants to add to it. You can easily promote people
[23:00.960 -> 23:05.640] into jobs for good work, but then have you got as good a replacement
[23:05.640 -> 23:10.480] to come and take their place? I wonder if Mercedes have had to wrestle with that over
[23:10.480 -> 23:13.440] the last couple of years.
[23:13.440 -> 23:17.240] Very interesting point. Yeah. How do you retain talent within a Formula One team if their
[23:17.240 -> 23:23.200] eyes are constantly being turned elsewhere? I guess, yeah, big question. Just back onto
[23:23.200 -> 23:25.280] the Perez and the pressure mounting on Sergio
[23:25.280 -> 23:29.440] Perez. We've spoken obviously about the pressure coming from Lewis Hamilton and from Mercedes
[23:29.440 -> 23:34.640] in terms of the championship. The other point of pressure, which Craig you mentioned earlier,
[23:34.640 -> 23:39.320] is Daniel Ricciardo. And it was a brilliant weekend for Daniel Ricciardo in Mexico. To
[23:39.320 -> 23:44.400] quote Horner, he looked like the Daniel of old this weekend. Tommy, what did you see
[23:44.400 -> 23:45.960] in Daniel's performance this weekend
[23:45.960 -> 23:49.120] that makes you think that he's, maybe he's back
[23:49.120 -> 23:51.040] or that he might become a factor
[23:51.040 -> 23:52.860] in the future of Sergio Perez?
[23:54.340 -> 23:58.080] I saw a comfort in Ricardo's driving
[23:58.080 -> 24:00.100] that we only saw in moments,
[24:00.100 -> 24:02.180] we did see in moments at McLaren.
[24:02.180 -> 24:07.680] Ricardo last season in Mexico, very, very good drive in that McLaren.
[24:07.680 -> 24:10.400] Australia, obviously Monza when he got the win.
[24:10.400 -> 24:12.120] There were examples dotted around,
[24:12.120 -> 24:13.480] similarly to Perez actually.
[24:13.480 -> 24:15.080] Certain tracks would, you know,
[24:15.080 -> 24:16.840] Checo can get close to Max
[24:16.840 -> 24:19.080] and certain tracks Ricciardo could get close to,
[24:19.080 -> 24:20.320] if not beat Norris.
[24:21.280 -> 24:23.240] It's that level of consistency
[24:23.240 -> 24:25.260] Ricciardo was never able to achieve at McLaren
[24:25.260 -> 24:28.260] because he was always having to consciously think
[24:28.260 -> 24:31.060] about his driving to drive this weird McLaren.
[24:31.060 -> 24:32.660] Carlos has talked about it being a bit weird.
[24:32.660 -> 24:33.880] Lando's talked about it.
[24:33.880 -> 24:36.900] It doesn't fit the style that he wants to drive.
[24:36.900 -> 24:38.780] Oscar's probably adapted in part
[24:38.780 -> 24:41.060] because he is very green, he's new.
[24:42.620 -> 24:45.760] Ricardo and Perez have very learned styles. I imagine,
[24:45.760 -> 24:48.720] right. That they've cultivated over time. Again, check. I was at the same team for seven
[24:48.720 -> 24:54.000] years, so they knew how to set up a car that he could drive quickly and yell. It's, it's
[24:54.000 -> 25:01.360] one race. Um, he, it's a shame with the injury that we've not got to see a bit more of Daniel
[25:01.360 -> 25:08.120] because is there enough of a sample here for Red Bull to make a well-informed decision that
[25:08.120 -> 25:10.840] they're not just gonna, you know, if they were to replace
[25:10.840 -> 25:13.000] Checo with Daniel, that they're not just gonna do a
[25:13.000 -> 25:14.360] like-for-like change.
[25:14.360 -> 25:16.200] They, what do they want?
[25:16.200 -> 25:18.400] They don't want someone to challenge Max, but they don't
[25:18.400 -> 25:21.000] want someone to be so far off Max that they can't support
[25:21.000 -> 25:22.760] him and the team in a title fight.
[25:22.760 -> 25:27.240] There is that, you know, sweet spot, sweet spot, maybe two, maybe three tenths
[25:27.240 -> 25:29.720] behind in qualifying pace, if that can play out.
[25:29.720 -> 25:31.720] Of course, what Valtteri did, relative to Lewis,
[25:31.720 -> 25:35.080] Valtteri never missed a Q3 in five years at Mercedes.
[25:35.080 -> 25:38.640] He out-qualified Lewis about 30% of the time,
[25:38.640 -> 25:39.880] which is significant,
[25:39.880 -> 25:42.640] but he was never challenging Lewis for a title.
[25:42.640 -> 25:44.480] He was the perfect number two,
[25:44.480 -> 25:46.800] and that's a very hard thing to come across.
[25:46.800 -> 25:50.600] And Rebel have to assume that the rest are going to be close to this season.
[25:50.600 -> 25:51.600] The next season, sorry.
[25:51.600 -> 25:52.600] They have to assume that.
[25:52.600 -> 25:55.640] It might not happen, but they have to assume that.
[25:55.640 -> 26:00.800] And well, if everyone else is closing up more, if Checo doesn't start improving, well, he's
[26:00.800 -> 26:04.560] already qualifying, you know, down the field.
[26:04.560 -> 26:08.640] If everyone else gets quicker, surely he's only going to go more backwards
[26:08.640 -> 26:11.640] if everyone gets quicker relative to Red Bull.
[26:11.680 -> 26:14.720] It wasn't that it was a well, obviously the race wasn't great for Checo.
[26:15.320 -> 26:16.240] It wasn't the qualifier.
[26:16.240 -> 26:20.520] It was the fact that Daniel did so well in qualifying.
[26:20.520 -> 26:24.200] He was he out qualified Sergio in Q1, Q2 and Q3.
[26:24.560 -> 26:25.240] Daniel did.
[26:25.360 -> 26:30.040] Yeah, I think you were spot on there. I think, I think the, I think Red Buller,
[26:30.760 -> 26:35.840] most observers would be cognising that that was a benign track for Daniel
[26:35.840 -> 26:41.000] Ricardo at the weekend. So you don't want to get too carried away and say it
[26:41.000 -> 26:44.800] was a kind of knockout blow for him. And what was a kind of, I don't know.
[26:45.280 -> 26:48.200] And bear in mind, Yuki was flying as well.
[26:48.200 -> 26:52.160] Yeah, it wasn't a runoff for the seat.
[26:52.160 -> 26:53.920] I mean, it's an interesting one, isn't it?
[26:53.920 -> 26:57.480] The second in the championship after,
[26:57.480 -> 26:59.880] by his own standards, not a great year.
[26:59.880 -> 27:01.240] A lot has been made of the fact
[27:01.240 -> 27:04.600] that Christian Horner used the word intention, wasn't it?
[27:04.600 -> 27:12.000] It is our intention to keep Tcheko, or to fulfill the agreement they have with them, which I think
[27:12.000 -> 27:16.160] Mrs. Stachowiuk said it was her intention to put her name forward for the second ballot,
[27:16.160 -> 27:22.720] and then she resigned the day later, kind of thing, back in 1990. So that was a carefully
[27:22.720 -> 27:26.520] chosen phrase. Listen, he brings money to the team.
[27:26.520 -> 27:28.240] He is experienced.
[27:28.240 -> 27:31.000] He, they seem to genuinely operate
[27:31.000 -> 27:32.160] without too much friction.
[27:32.160 -> 27:35.040] Now, you can list a lot of things
[27:35.040 -> 27:37.700] why it's a partnership that makes sense.
[27:38.600 -> 27:41.320] The Mexico Grand Prix for all the,
[27:41.320 -> 27:44.240] for all the chief executive of that was talking about,
[27:44.240 -> 27:46.360] no, we will carry on and be a success
[27:46.360 -> 27:53.680] without Checo Perez, I think there's an appreciation that having him as a substantial Mexican driver
[27:53.680 -> 27:59.200] adds to the overall show. Now whether that influences Red Bull's decision or not, who
[27:59.200 -> 28:03.800] knows. They sell a lot of cans of that drink in Mexico as well and I'm sure that doesn't
[28:03.800 -> 28:05.020] do any harm either.
[28:06.640 -> 28:09.400] Why rock the boat when you don't necessarily have to?
[28:09.400 -> 28:11.240] I think the other aspect of this is,
[28:11.240 -> 28:15.320] I think there was a plan for Ricardo
[28:15.320 -> 28:19.240] to play a significant role in Alfa Tauri's
[28:20.780 -> 28:24.400] slight morphing into something more akin
[28:24.400 -> 28:26.600] to the Red Bull Works team next year.
[28:26.600 -> 28:28.880] I think in their mind's eye,
[28:28.880 -> 28:35.680] they like the idea of the more experienced driver like Ricardo leading that project at least next year.
[28:35.680 -> 28:44.160] So do they really want to upset that aspect of it to put him in the car alongside Max next year?
[28:44.160 -> 28:46.960] I mean, it probably still, I think the door is ajar.
[28:46.960 -> 28:49.760] I think that's without question.
[28:49.760 -> 28:56.960] On balance, does it need to get worse for Checo before the end of the season?
[28:56.960 -> 29:00.560] I don't know what you think is a kind of par, you know,
[29:00.560 -> 29:04.640] over these remaining three races for him to do to keep the seat.
[29:04.640 -> 29:08.680] If he can get within a couple of tenths of Max or two or three tenths of Max
[29:08.680 -> 29:11.720] as he did in Mexico, is that enough?
[29:12.120 -> 29:15.560] Well, I was going to say as well, the point from this weekend
[29:15.560 -> 29:18.760] that I guess really kicked off this whole conversation was Saturday
[29:18.760 -> 29:23.000] in qualifying by being out qualified by your sister team.
[29:23.320 -> 29:26.560] You know, and I know it wasn't by very much, but still on paper, you know,
[29:26.560 -> 29:28.040] Tomo, I think I saw your tweet about it.
[29:28.040 -> 29:31.800] Like when you just write it down in factual terms,
[29:31.800 -> 29:33.960] being outqualified by Dan and Ricciardo,
[29:33.960 -> 29:35.560] and you're in the fastest car on the grid,
[29:35.560 -> 29:37.440] it can't be acceptable.
[29:37.440 -> 29:39.440] Yeah, Tomo, what do you think would be a good
[29:39.440 -> 29:42.900] final three races for Sergio for this year?
[29:42.900 -> 29:45.480] Podiums, not even asking him to finish second. I mean, Checo's finished second four for this year? Podiums, not even asking him to
[29:45.480 -> 29:47.880] finish second. I mean, Checo's
[29:47.880 -> 29:49.440] finished second four times this
[29:49.440 -> 29:50.840] year, Lando's finished second
[29:50.840 -> 29:54.560] five times this year. It's, you
[29:54.560 -> 29:57.120] know, that has to be the minimum
[29:57.160 -> 29:59.280] ask. You know, no one's asking
[29:59.280 -> 30:01.320] Checo to beat Max because that
[30:01.320 -> 30:03.360] is clearly in the same car an
[30:03.360 -> 30:05.920] incredibly difficult challenge. Pierre
[30:05.920 -> 30:11.760] Gazdy couldn't pass the challenge, Alex Albon couldn't, you know, Checo has given a lot
[30:11.760 -> 30:16.000] of service to this team. This will be his third season. It's mad how time flies. I can't
[30:16.000 -> 30:21.360] believe this will be the end of his third season at that team. But yeah, it has to be
[30:21.360 -> 30:27.400] podiums and, you know, qualifying does seem to be the bigger issue,
[30:27.680 -> 30:31.840] but at least put yourself in the top five, get to Q3.
[30:31.840 -> 30:35.060] It's been far too often that's not been the case.
[30:35.060 -> 30:38.520] Interlagos, is that a track that would work?
[30:38.520 -> 30:41.320] Vegas is obviously a lot of unknowns.
[30:41.320 -> 30:43.000] And then Abu Dhabi, I mean,
[30:43.000 -> 30:45.200] that probably plays a bit more to his strengths, a lot of 90 degree corners at Abu Dhabi, I mean that probably plays a bit more to his strengths,
[30:45.200 -> 30:47.680] a lot of 90 degree corners at Abu Dhabi,
[30:47.680 -> 30:50.200] that he seems to thrive at.
[30:50.200 -> 30:52.800] It's gotta be podiums, given this car,
[30:52.800 -> 30:54.720] it's got to be podiums.
[30:54.720 -> 30:57.360] Well, don't forget as well, Vegas is a street track.
[30:57.360 -> 31:00.280] We know that Sergio loves the street track.
[31:00.280 -> 31:03.280] No one's gonna know Vegas, so you never know.
[31:03.280 -> 31:05.600] That would be quite a story, wouldn't it?
[31:05.600 -> 31:06.960] Maybe he wins in Vegas.
[31:06.960 -> 31:08.760] I was just gonna say, because it's street tracks
[31:08.760 -> 31:10.960] because of the nature of the types of corners
[31:10.960 -> 31:13.680] you get at street tracks, which are typically 90 degrees.
[31:13.680 -> 31:15.440] That's why he excels at street tracks.
[31:15.440 -> 31:17.600] It's not because it's in a city,
[31:17.600 -> 31:20.400] and it's like, ooh, skyscrapers, yeah, go on.
[31:20.400 -> 31:21.800] Go for dinner tonight, yeah.
[31:22.880 -> 31:24.840] Can we get rid of the elephant in the room,
[31:24.840 -> 31:26.520] which is Fernando Alonso
[31:26.520 -> 31:29.480] potentially going to Red Bull next year to go on?
[31:29.480 -> 31:30.640] Am I supposed to happen?
[31:30.640 -> 31:34.880] My understanding is that that is a non-starter, that is not going to happen.
[31:34.880 -> 31:38.760] As much as they admire Alonso at Red Bull and what he can do,
[31:38.760 -> 31:43.080] he is not above Ricardo, as far as I understand it,
[31:43.080 -> 31:46.560] as an option to drive for that team next year.
[31:46.560 -> 31:53.480] So, this is not coming officially from the team or anything like that,
[31:53.480 -> 31:57.040] but that is, it's been out there on the internet,
[31:57.040 -> 32:01.760] but that is not going to happen as I understand it.
[32:01.760 -> 32:03.440] From what I can gather,
[32:03.440 -> 32:07.800] some senior well-placed people have told me that
[32:08.400 -> 32:13.840] maybe Alonso's management have been doing their due diligence again and have been assessing,
[32:13.840 -> 32:17.600] are there any other potentially better options for him next year?
[32:17.920 -> 32:24.480] And perhaps that has been inflated into a, he's going to take Perez's seat rather than Ricardo's,
[32:24.480 -> 32:26.440] but I have it on pretty good authority
[32:26.440 -> 32:27.840] There's no chance of that.
[32:27.840 -> 32:29.440] Lads, Twitter was an absolute...
[32:29.440 -> 32:31.440] It was so good yesterday.
[32:31.440 -> 32:37.200] You had Red Bull Spain tweeting one of them, a little silence emoji.
[32:37.200 -> 32:42.640] I think it's El Chingrito who do the Real Madrid's meltdowns often.
[32:42.640 -> 32:44.640] That was... they were covering it.
[32:44.640 -> 32:46.360] It was... yeah. It was, uh, yeah,
[32:46.360 -> 32:51.920] I mean, it's Fernando Alonso. Come on. I mean, he, he knew when he, um, when he left Alpine
[32:51.920 -> 32:57.120] and the little stories he was given and all that playing into that, it was, uh, it would
[32:57.120 -> 33:02.440] be very Fernando to play that, play that card. And to be fair, I mean, for him, you know,
[33:02.440 -> 33:07.840] a second rep, second seat Red Bull is a better opportunity compared
[33:07.840 -> 33:12.200] to Aston Martin, how they're looking right now. So, yeah, I mean, it's, it's, it's probably
[33:12.200 -> 33:14.080] almost certainly nonsense, but it's good fun.
[33:14.080 -> 33:18.000] Yeah. I believe the opportunity, I mean, I don't think it is an opportunity that the
[33:18.000 -> 33:24.440] other question though, is, is he going to retire a lot? So, you know, does he, is he
[33:24.440 -> 33:27.840] so pessimistic about Aston next year that he might not carry on?
[33:27.840 -> 33:35.440] And as far as I understand that the appetite for Aston Martin to continue with Alonso is still pretty strong too.
[33:35.440 -> 33:51.280] Nor do I understand that there's any prospect of Laurence Stroh selling up and quitting there either, which has been a popular line of online exploration.
[33:51.280 -> 33:57.680] So I think most likely he will continue with Aston Martin next year. I think that looks like,
[33:58.480 -> 34:01.360] as far as I can ascertain at this point, what's going to go on there.
[34:07.480 -> 34:13.840] point was going to go on there. I guess the important point on that as well is Lance Stroll, if they were to lose Fernando
[34:13.840 -> 34:17.840] Alonso they'd be left obviously with Lance Stroll and another driver but Lance has not
[34:17.840 -> 34:21.840] been pulling his weight certainly compared to what Fernando has done this year.
[34:21.840 -> 34:25.540] Tomo, when you heard these stories of the selling up of the team,
[34:27.040 -> 34:29.600] I guess the reason why there might be some truth in it
[34:29.600 -> 34:31.720] or why we might perceive there to be some truth in it
[34:31.720 -> 34:35.080] is because Lance is not performing
[34:35.080 -> 34:36.720] in the way that Fernando is at the moment.
[34:36.720 -> 34:38.080] Yeah, I mean, people got carried away.
[34:38.080 -> 34:40.040] They saw someone selling off some shares
[34:40.040 -> 34:42.660] and it was GBX, not GBP,
[34:42.660 -> 34:46.600] so actually people thought it was 25 million. it was actually two and a half million.
[34:46.600 -> 34:49.920] Like, classic, kind of, people just get a narrative
[34:49.920 -> 34:50.960] and then run with it.
[34:51.800 -> 34:54.400] Look, it's just built, it spent all this money
[34:54.400 -> 34:57.680] on this brand new, massive facility in Silverstone.
[34:57.680 -> 34:59.520] They've just joined, well, they're joining WEC
[34:59.520 -> 35:01.320] for 2015 as well.
[35:01.320 -> 35:02.800] Laurence Stroll doesn't just, you know,
[35:02.800 -> 35:07.060] he bought the team, well,, we bought force india and
[35:07.700 -> 35:15.000] Rebranded as racing point then he became a majority shareholder in Aston Martin Lagonda, which is now using as a marketing arm
[35:15.200 -> 35:21.240] you know, he's using f1 as a marketing arm, which Mercedes did to great effects to promote their road cars like
[35:22.040 -> 35:25.120] Lawrence is a good a cell just because Lance has been, you know,
[35:25.120 -> 35:29.240] has been struggling a bit and look, maybe in the future there is a way for Lance Stroll
[35:29.240 -> 35:32.800] to if things don't improve, because he's still young, but he's been in the sport for a very
[35:32.800 -> 35:40.360] long time. So it's 2017. Maybe there is a, um, a, a painless way of kind of giving Lance
[35:40.360 -> 35:42.960] an opportunity to try something else in, in world endurance.
[35:42.960 -> 35:45.480] We saw, you know, Antonio Jovinacci's gone over there
[35:45.480 -> 35:46.680] and won with Ferrari.
[35:46.680 -> 35:49.480] He's had a Ferrari livery dedicated to him,
[35:49.480 -> 35:51.480] which is pretty crazy to think about.
[35:51.480 -> 35:54.720] You've had Christian Ericsson go,
[35:54.720 -> 35:56.680] sorry, Marcus Ericsson go over to,
[35:56.680 -> 36:00.000] that's my football brain, Marcus Ericsson go over
[36:00.000 -> 36:02.400] to IndyCar and win the Indy 500
[36:02.400 -> 36:04.480] almost on multiple occasions.
[36:04.480 -> 36:26.880] You've had Brendan Hartley do well in world endurance. to Lawrence is very invested at a very top level in the massive automotive name
[36:26.880 -> 36:29.880] that he's trying to rebuild and bring back up.
[36:29.880 -> 36:31.260] Because Aston Martin almost kind of,
[36:31.260 -> 36:35.220] you look at their share prices and it really plummeted
[36:35.220 -> 36:38.280] and it's still got a way to go to get back to its height.
[36:38.280 -> 36:40.560] So yeah, I don't think,
[36:40.560 -> 36:42.280] I think it's a lot of gas at the moment.
[36:42.280 -> 36:47.080] It's interesting though, I'm fascinated by one or two
[36:47.080 -> 36:51.960] well-placed insiders have told me that maybe some ownership
[36:51.960 -> 36:56.960] within Formula One have looked at the value
[36:57.280 -> 37:00.560] of their teams increased and I have to ask the question,
[37:00.560 -> 37:01.960] has the sport peaked?
[37:01.960 -> 37:05.160] Might this be a not bad time to kind of sell out?
[37:05.160 -> 37:06.760] If you're talking about, you know,
[37:06.760 -> 37:09.360] Williams being sold for what about 140 million
[37:09.360 -> 37:11.640] and now being worth thereabouts,
[37:11.640 -> 37:13.320] towards maybe even a billion pounds,
[37:13.320 -> 37:17.880] nevermind dollars nowadays, you know,
[37:17.880 -> 37:22.080] it's interesting that Andretti have tried to get in,
[37:22.080 -> 37:25.600] maybe would be put off by the price tag of buying a team.
[37:25.600 -> 37:28.600] How...
[37:28.600 -> 37:31.400] Are they good value to buy right now, an F1 team?
[37:31.400 -> 37:36.000] Why are the big sovereign wealth funds, and I suppose people are talking about Aramco
[37:36.000 -> 37:40.600] buying Aston Martin, aren't they, from Laurence Stolpe and paying top dollar for that?
[37:40.600 -> 37:44.600] Are they not looking at the F1 teams rather than, you know,
[37:44.600 -> 37:47.120] the likes of Manchester looking at the F1 teams rather than, you know, the likes of Manchester United
[37:47.120 -> 37:50.120] at the moment, or do you sense there is still some way
[37:50.120 -> 37:52.160] to go to increase team value?
[37:53.480 -> 37:56.840] I think it'd be a bit short-sighted to assume
[37:56.840 -> 37:57.960] that this is the peak, right?
[37:57.960 -> 38:02.600] Yes, it's been one of the more, you know,
[38:02.600 -> 38:06.880] we go into most race weekends and it's a given who's gonna be competitive at the front
[38:06.880 -> 38:08.280] and who's probably gonna win.
[38:08.280 -> 38:12.600] And that's how F1 has been through significant portions
[38:12.600 -> 38:14.240] of its history, right?
[38:14.240 -> 38:16.840] And almost you kind of, I would also argue,
[38:16.840 -> 38:19.520] sometimes you need these periods of, you know,
[38:19.520 -> 38:21.840] if you're getting it good all the time,
[38:21.840 -> 38:25.860] if every season is incredibly entertaining as 2021,
[38:25.860 -> 38:27.260] well, no, you kind of don't,
[38:28.180 -> 38:30.920] in the same reason that if everyone's competitive,
[38:30.920 -> 38:33.280] if all 10 cars can win all the time,
[38:33.280 -> 38:35.160] what happens to, there's no giant killing stories,
[38:35.160 -> 38:36.800] there's no Kevin Magnussen getting pole in Brazil,
[38:36.800 -> 38:39.200] there's no Pierre Gasly winning in an AlphaTauri
[38:39.200 -> 38:41.520] or Sebastian Vettel winning in a Taurossa around Monza.
[38:41.520 -> 38:43.960] So I think the value of the asset,
[38:45.480 -> 38:49.480] it depends on the eyeballs and the interest.
[38:49.480 -> 38:51.000] I mean, there's a lot of industries.
[38:51.000 -> 38:56.000] I know eSports had a huge boom during lockdown
[38:56.620 -> 38:59.720] in terms of investor money rolling in.
[38:59.720 -> 39:02.640] And now loads of big eSports organizations,
[39:02.640 -> 39:04.560] they've realized, oh, actually there's not the audience
[39:04.560 -> 39:06.820] and all of a sudden those assets are plummeting.
[39:06.820 -> 39:09.780] I think this sport, ultimately,
[39:09.780 -> 39:13.940] yes, this domination has perhaps stifled its growth
[39:13.940 -> 39:16.620] somewhat, but that sport sometimes
[39:16.620 -> 39:17.900] and the nature of Formula One,
[39:17.900 -> 39:19.740] when Formula One's being dominated,
[39:19.740 -> 39:22.780] we have 20, what, two races this year,
[39:22.780 -> 39:26.240] 22 events, 22 opportunities to be entertained.
[39:26.240 -> 39:27.880] Unlike, you know, football,
[39:27.880 -> 39:30.040] Premier League has 800 games a season.
[39:30.040 -> 39:33.400] NBA has over a thousand games per regular season.
[39:34.440 -> 39:36.200] That's where the value of the asset,
[39:36.200 -> 39:37.560] you can look at it and be like,
[39:37.560 -> 39:39.180] oh, everyone's struggling now,
[39:39.180 -> 39:40.680] maybe we should cash out.
[39:40.680 -> 39:43.560] I think that, I think, hold your stock.
[39:43.560 -> 39:45.280] I think it's still going to go up in value.
[39:45.280 -> 39:47.160] I only say it because if you're Darylton
[39:47.160 -> 39:49.840] or you're Toto or you're Laurence Stroh
[39:49.840 -> 39:51.440] who bought it via liquidation,
[39:51.440 -> 39:53.020] yes, he paid off a lot of the creditors,
[39:53.020 -> 39:55.200] but you've maybe paid a couple of hundred million
[39:55.200 -> 39:57.520] or, you know, I think Toto paid, what did he pay?
[39:57.520 -> 39:59.200] 50 million euros for his stake.
[39:59.200 -> 40:02.640] It's now worth 3 billion or whatever.
[40:02.640 -> 40:04.400] Does that have its own kind of,
[40:05.960 -> 40:09.160] suppose incentive to sell when you've,
[40:09.160 -> 40:11.580] in a few years, you've made such a big gain,
[40:11.580 -> 40:14.440] which is why I question, you know,
[40:14.440 -> 40:16.720] it must be quite tempting for some of these owners
[40:16.720 -> 40:18.680] to maybe think about, you know,
[40:18.680 -> 40:21.080] offloading it in the present climate,
[40:21.080 -> 40:23.160] which is certainly benign compared to where it was
[40:23.160 -> 40:24.080] a few years ago.
[40:24.080 -> 40:28.520] Astronomical figures as well, when we're're thinking about it and from a purely business point
[40:28.520 -> 40:33.160] of view, maybe maybe there is a strong business case to be doing that. Final thing I want
[40:33.160 -> 40:36.860] to sort of talk about really and move on to Brazil. Obviously, we're at the end of a triple
[40:36.860 -> 40:42.700] header this week. And yeah, we've got Brazil again into Lagos. We've got another sprint
[40:42.700 -> 40:45.480] weekend. We've got this this is now gonna be the sixth
[40:45.480 -> 40:47.840] of six sprint weekends.
[40:47.840 -> 40:49.600] Tomo, I'll start with you.
[40:49.600 -> 40:51.880] As we reach the end of the season,
[40:51.880 -> 40:53.960] sprint format, yay or nay,
[40:53.960 -> 40:55.840] what would be your assessment?
[40:55.840 -> 40:58.240] What would you give out of 10 across the season?
[40:59.160 -> 41:01.440] So, the way I sit on this,
[41:01.440 -> 41:03.680] yeah, if it was my ideal world,
[41:03.680 -> 41:06.960] I'm only thinking of me and my enjoyment of what I want,
[41:06.960 -> 41:11.960] it would be a nay, but that money talks,
[41:12.520 -> 41:14.040] the tracks want these sprint races,
[41:14.040 -> 41:17.040] you're getting more people watching on TV on a Friday,
[41:17.040 -> 41:20.440] you're getting more bang for your buck when you go to a race
[41:20.440 -> 41:21.720] because you're getting competitive running
[41:21.720 -> 41:23.120] on Friday, Saturday, Sunday.
[41:24.280 -> 41:26.120] For me, I've just come to the,
[41:26.120 -> 41:27.200] they're not going anywhere.
[41:27.200 -> 41:29.740] They are going to stay.
[41:29.740 -> 41:32.320] The productive conversation for me is
[41:32.320 -> 41:34.080] how do we make the best of it?
[41:34.080 -> 41:39.080] And the format for me is nowhere near distinct enough
[41:39.600 -> 41:40.840] to make a difference.
[41:40.840 -> 41:41.860] Yeah, I don't know about you boys,
[41:41.860 -> 41:44.480] but like I get to a Sunday and I'm like,
[41:44.480 -> 41:45.280] who's on poll? And I'm like, who's on poll?
[41:45.280 -> 41:48.400] And I'm like, it's just like the two qualifying sessions
[41:48.400 -> 41:50.320] have just kind of blended in my head.
[41:50.320 -> 41:52.820] And then, so I think that needs to be different.
[41:52.820 -> 41:55.520] They need to make the event feel more distinct
[41:55.520 -> 41:57.240] because fundamentally I don't have an issue with it.
[41:57.240 -> 42:01.560] I think it just needs to feel more special, more different.
[42:01.560 -> 42:03.860] I also don't want to overly react,
[42:08.960 -> 42:12.720] making changes to the rules based on a season where we do have a really dominant, you know, car in Max Verstappen,
[42:12.920 -> 42:17.520] driver in Max Verstappen at the front. Like, I don't want in
[42:17.520 -> 42:19.720] the same with these with the skid blocks with the
[42:19.720 -> 42:23.240] disqualifications, for example, you know, over there's a degree
[42:23.240 -> 42:28.120] of like, do you? Is it wrong to overreact because we haven't had anyone disqualified for skid
[42:28.400 -> 42:33.360] block infringements since like the nineties, I think. Um, so it's,
[42:33.360 -> 42:36.880] you know, it's not something that's happened for years and years and years. Um,
[42:37.640 -> 42:40.240] we overreact him because it's, you know,
[42:40.320 -> 42:43.840] are the sprints boring in quotation marks, um,
[42:44.160 -> 42:46.720] because the season as a whole has been quite boring
[42:46.720 -> 42:47.560] in quotation marks
[42:47.560 -> 42:49.880] or is it because there's a fundamental issue with the sprint?
[42:49.880 -> 42:51.880] Maybe we shouldn't expect the sprint
[42:51.880 -> 42:55.920] to be this transformational entity.
[42:55.920 -> 42:58.000] Is it better than a practice session?
[42:58.000 -> 43:01.800] In my view, yeah, probably.
[43:01.800 -> 43:03.160] That does, I accept it does,
[43:03.160 -> 43:05.080] does it take away a little bit from the from
[43:05.080 -> 43:06.080] from Sunday?
[43:06.680 -> 43:07.680] Yeah, maybe.
[43:07.680 -> 43:12.040] Um, the fact of the matter is it is going to be looked at.
[43:12.040 -> 43:14.480] We will get six sprints again next year.
[43:14.480 -> 43:18.760] I think we'll find out in a couple of weeks time where they're going to be.
[43:18.780 -> 43:24.640] Um, but there will be some formal discussions about how to maybe look at
[43:24.920 -> 43:27.800] potential changes to to the format.
[43:27.800 -> 43:32.280] But I think the Formula One and the teams recognise exactly what you said,
[43:32.280 -> 43:39.880] that you've got to be careful with any change you do make to make it better, not worse.
[43:50.800 -> 44:01.680] Um, to my mind, though, a lot has been talked about this, this potential separate championship for the sprint. Um, you know, even having a reverse grid sprint race, um, and it being as part of a separate championship without points being awarded to the main title fight.
[44:02.200 -> 44:04.800] to the main title fight. I don't see how you would buy into that.
[44:04.800 -> 44:09.040] I find that quite difficult to kind of get on board with.
[44:09.040 -> 44:11.120] Anything which is secondary,
[44:11.120 -> 44:13.120] I think is immediately downgraded.
[44:13.120 -> 44:15.080] So, you know, why would you bother with that?
[44:15.080 -> 44:17.880] So, I don't know, personally, like you,
[44:17.880 -> 44:21.600] I'd like to see, could you move it to a Friday?
[44:21.600 -> 44:24.400] But the problem there is that I think the end,
[44:24.400 -> 44:26.080] you know, the technical working group
[44:26.080 -> 44:31.040] didn't think you could come straight in and go into a sprint qualifying without having some rudimentary,
[44:31.040 -> 44:35.600] you know, to have a practice session to set up your car. But yeah, ideally you'd start with the
[44:35.600 -> 44:41.760] sprint. Maybe you have a practice, then sprint qualifying and on Saturday a sprint race,
[44:41.760 -> 44:46.280] then qualifying for the main event and then, you know, away you go on Sunday with the grid.
[44:46.280 -> 44:48.560] I totally agree with you.
[44:49.200 -> 44:51.160] The second qualifying after the
[44:52.480 -> 44:57.080] the sprint qualifying is kind of feels weird.
[44:58.120 -> 44:59.600] That's my first one.
[44:59.600 -> 45:01.440] I think change that to one shot.
[45:01.440 -> 45:02.400] Just give it a go.
[45:02.400 -> 45:25.880] I know we tried it back in the mid 2000s. I think it wasn't great. But the amount of cameras we have, the graphics, and but you know what, normal qualifying is unfair sometimes. We saw everyone holding each other up, you wouldn't get any traffic.
[45:25.880 -> 45:27.160] It would solve a lot of problems,
[45:27.160 -> 45:28.460] it would also create other problems,
[45:28.460 -> 45:30.040] but no system's gonna be perfect.
[45:30.040 -> 45:31.280] And it will feel different,
[45:31.280 -> 45:33.120] make something that feels different.
[45:33.120 -> 45:35.200] For me, that's the first thing, give it a go.
[45:35.200 -> 45:38.120] And Fernando Alonso suggested it as well,
[45:38.120 -> 45:39.400] so I know I'm not crazy,
[45:39.400 -> 45:41.440] because he knows what he's talking about.
[45:41.440 -> 45:42.520] It was good enough for Fernando,
[45:42.520 -> 45:43.560] it's good enough for anyone.
[45:43.560 -> 45:44.400] Exactly.
[45:44.400 -> 45:46.640] Yeah, I also agree with you, Craig.
[45:46.640 -> 45:50.460] I think if you could build in a Friday afternoon
[45:50.460 -> 45:51.880] qualifying session for the sprint,
[45:51.880 -> 45:54.600] and then Saturday morning is the sprint,
[45:54.600 -> 45:56.300] Saturday afternoon then becomes qualifying
[45:56.300 -> 45:57.520] for the race on Sunday,
[45:57.520 -> 45:58.640] and then you've got the race on Sunday,
[45:58.640 -> 46:01.580] it then does feel like a better build throughout a weekend.
[46:01.580 -> 46:04.040] Craig, I know you mentioned there's gonna be discussion
[46:04.040 -> 46:08.760] on which race tracks to do next year. Do you think perhaps some of the issue with the sprint this year has
[46:08.760 -> 46:12.880] been the fact that some of the racetracks haven't suited a sprint? I'm thinking maybe
[46:12.880 -> 46:18.560] Belgium or certain tracks just haven't quite worked, have they, in terms of getting exciting
[46:18.560 -> 46:19.560] racing?
[46:19.560 -> 46:24.080] There was this anxiety, first of all, to put them towards the end of a season in case the
[46:24.080 -> 46:26.000] championship would be won on a Saturday.
[46:26.000 -> 46:33.000] And obviously we had that, didn't we, this year, being won after a sprint and actually having the extra points from the sprint
[46:33.000 -> 46:39.000] delayed the championship being clinched by a weekend. So maybe that's not such a bad thing.
[46:39.000 -> 46:46.800] I mean, I don't know if it's the, it's not so much, I don't think it's as subtle a problem
[46:46.800 -> 46:50.680] as marrying the sprint with the circuit.
[46:50.680 -> 46:54.120] I think it's just, does it get in the way of the other stuff
[46:54.120 -> 46:59.120] or does it cloud the sort of the focus
[47:00.000 -> 47:02.040] from what you should be focusing on
[47:02.040 -> 47:04.400] in a Grand Prix weekend.
[47:04.400 -> 47:09.400] But equally to my mind, I don't see it as a massive problem.
[47:10.240 -> 47:13.960] I kind of, I wonder whether I will get used to it ultimately
[47:13.960 -> 47:17.000] and even if they do keep qualifying on a Friday
[47:17.000 -> 47:19.560] and it's the same format, I think that's spot on.
[47:19.560 -> 47:22.640] Yeah, change it to one lap for sprint qualifier
[47:22.640 -> 47:23.480] or something like that.
[47:23.480 -> 47:30.600] Let's, you know, so it's different because that does interfere with the thinking of the Grand Prix weekend.
[47:30.600 -> 47:33.200] But I kind of still come back to the idea that it's,
[47:33.600 -> 47:37.300] and I think the American owners of the sport probably looked at F1 when they came and said,
[47:37.300 -> 47:42.000] well, you've got three of your five television products are non-competitive practice.
[47:42.500 -> 47:46.080] You know, do we want to cut those products or do we want to make them into something
[47:46.080 -> 47:49.040] which is consumable?
[47:49.040 -> 47:51.320] I know that sounds awful and terribly commercial,
[47:51.320 -> 47:54.720] but that's what they're paid to do
[47:54.720 -> 47:57.060] to make the sport a commercial success.
[47:57.060 -> 47:59.440] And it needs to be a commercial success
[47:59.440 -> 48:04.440] if it's to enjoy the many great partners
[48:04.520 -> 48:05.000] and profile,
[48:06.280 -> 48:07.320] which keeps it healthy.
[48:07.320 -> 48:11.320] So, you've got to bear those commercial concerns in mind.
[48:11.320 -> 48:13.800] And it probably seemed ridiculous to them
[48:13.800 -> 48:18.800] that such a lot of the action had no competitive element.
[48:19.760 -> 48:21.560] I mean, in the wrong circumstances,
[48:21.560 -> 48:24.280] a sprint can be just a spoiler and just,
[48:24.280 -> 48:27.040] you've made the race 30% longer
[48:27.040 -> 48:29.800] and just put a red flag and then restarted it the next day.
[48:29.800 -> 48:33.700] In other instances, Austria, it rained.
[48:33.700 -> 48:36.500] I was there, I was sat up at turn three,
[48:36.500 -> 48:39.560] where, you know, obviously, after Checo squeezed Max,
[48:39.560 -> 48:41.960] then Max returned the favor into turn three
[48:41.960 -> 48:43.680] and squeezed him super wide.
[48:43.680 -> 48:45.880] It was great, that was a great sprint race. I didn't mind getting a bit wet.
[48:45.880 -> 48:46.400] It was brilliant.
[48:47.400 -> 48:51.840] But you know, and I think that context makes a big difference.
[48:51.840 -> 48:52.080] Right.
[48:52.080 -> 48:57.040] And I think again, for me, it's just making it feel more distinct and special.
[48:57.040 -> 49:02.080] Almost, you know, we can't, we can try and compare to other sports, but F1 is so
[49:02.080 -> 49:06.320] different to the likes, you know, football, you can have cup competitions, right?
[49:06.320 -> 49:10.080] But also, again, you don't need all the,
[49:10.080 -> 49:12.760] you literally just need, you know, 11 human beings
[49:12.760 -> 49:14.240] to turn up and they can represent the team.
[49:14.240 -> 49:15.240] You don't, that's pretty much it.
[49:15.240 -> 49:16.120] That's pretty much all you need.
[49:16.120 -> 49:19.920] Like F1 is, it's around the world, it's global,
[49:19.920 -> 49:22.720] it's at these specific, like to make the most,
[49:22.720 -> 49:26.880] to squeeze all the entertainment we can out of that product, I think's a smart move
[49:26.880 -> 49:29.460] because that's what's going to keep people watching.
[49:29.460 -> 49:32.600] But I just hope that decisions around which tracks we go to
[49:32.600 -> 49:36.500] for sprints is a sporting decision and not a commercial one.
[49:36.500 -> 49:39.080] I imagine it's probably the latter though.
[49:39.080 -> 49:42.400] I mean, you could cut the practice sessions out.
[49:42.400 -> 49:44.240] I mean, you could cut the sprint out
[49:44.240 -> 49:47.040] and have the consequence of more events around the world,
[49:47.040 -> 49:49.880] we have less track sessions, fewer track sessions,
[49:49.880 -> 49:53.000] and maybe that is the better way to go.
[49:53.000 -> 49:54.880] On that bombshell, we will leave it there.
[49:54.880 -> 49:56.200] We should have talked about Lando Norris,
[49:56.200 -> 50:00.760] I mean I would agree, but another time maybe.
[50:00.760 -> 50:01.600] Another time.
[50:02.800 -> 50:05.320] Driver of the day, incredible drive from Lando.
[50:05.320 -> 50:07.040] Yeah, I mean, exciting, isn't it?
[50:07.040 -> 50:08.720] To see what else he can do throughout the season.
[50:08.720 -> 50:10.760] Maybe that win isn't so far away.
[50:10.760 -> 50:12.600] The one, can I just, I mean, I'm just,
[50:12.600 -> 50:14.800] well, I mean, to Tom,
[50:14.800 -> 50:16.680] we know we began and spent a lot of time
[50:16.680 -> 50:18.800] talking about the second Red Bull seat.
[50:18.800 -> 50:20.800] And, you know,
[50:22.240 -> 50:25.000] and Norris drives so well again,
[50:25.000 -> 50:27.560] and, you know, Alex Albon let slip the other day
[50:27.560 -> 50:30.280] that it's as an open invitation for him going there.
[50:30.760 -> 50:35.560] How attractive is that seat, do you think, to anyone, really?
[50:35.560 -> 50:39.760] I mean, you listed the number of people that failed in it or struggled in it.
[50:39.760 -> 50:41.880] It doesn't seem a happy place to be.
[50:41.880 -> 50:46.480] I think that Lando's form right now is incredible.
[50:46.480 -> 50:51.600] He's very well, yeah, he's driving the skin off that McLaren for sure.
[50:51.600 -> 50:56.560] I see Lando as more, you know, if Max really does retire in 2028
[50:56.560 -> 50:57.960] when his contract comes to an end,
[50:57.960 -> 51:02.160] I see him more as a Max replacement, not a Max, you know, alongside Max,
[51:02.160 -> 51:05.040] because if he can deliver these levels of performances
[51:05.040 -> 51:08.960] in a Red Bull, then that just creates a Rosberg-Hamilton
[51:08.960 -> 51:12.080] problem for Red Bull racing.
[51:12.080 -> 51:13.680] They having a clear number two,
[51:14.400 -> 51:16.400] if you want to win championships,
[51:16.400 -> 51:17.920] multiple ones be that, you know,
[51:17.920 -> 51:20.160] you want your Mark Webber,
[51:20.160 -> 51:21.520] you want your Rubens Barrichello,
[51:21.520 -> 51:23.760] you want that driver who will be there,
[51:23.760 -> 51:26.760] but not be there too much and not knock on the door
[51:26.760 -> 51:29.040] too much commercially, you know,
[51:29.040 -> 51:30.400] that's why Red Bull were in the sport, right?
[51:30.400 -> 51:33.600] And Lando would be a massive coup for Red Bull,
[51:33.600 -> 51:38.240] but I don't see that getting green lit, you know,
[51:38.240 -> 51:40.240] unless Red Bull really are worried
[51:40.240 -> 51:41.560] about losing Max Verstappen.
[51:41.560 -> 51:43.360] I think that's the only way that materializes.
[51:43.360 -> 51:48.280] I was reading Plutarch's Lives of Caesar the other day and there's the anecdotes
[51:48.280 -> 51:56.240] when Caesar is on a campaign in Spain. Of course he was. With several of his senior
[51:56.240 -> 52:00.520] senators, you know, generals around him, and they come to this small village and the
[52:00.520 -> 52:05.000] local chief comes out wearing a cloth smock
[52:05.320 -> 52:09.640] with a rudimentary crown on or whatever,
[52:09.640 -> 52:11.520] carrying a wooden staff.
[52:12.360 -> 52:17.120] And Caesar's acolytes turn to Caesar and laugh at him
[52:17.120 -> 52:22.120] and say, this guy thinks he can come and negotiate with us.
[52:23.080 -> 52:25.920] Caesar turns around to them and says,
[52:25.920 -> 52:29.800] I'd rather be the chief here than the second man in Rome.
[52:29.800 -> 52:32.160] And I kind of think that's,
[52:33.120 -> 52:35.320] that's a little bit like that Red Bull seat.
[52:35.320 -> 52:38.240] You know, it's, yes, it seems great,
[52:38.240 -> 52:41.760] but you're always a little bit under someone else's thumb,
[52:41.760 -> 52:42.600] which is this.
[52:42.600 -> 52:46.920] And look, Lando scored 12 points in the first eight races.
[52:46.920 -> 52:49.560] He's now just 14 points off of P4.
[52:50.760 -> 52:53.080] That McLaren turnaround has got to give him some belief.
[52:53.080 -> 52:54.920] Yeah, totally.
[52:54.920 -> 52:55.840] Yeah.
[52:55.840 -> 52:58.880] Is that, how often do you think about the Roman Empire, Craig?
[52:58.880 -> 53:00.480] Have you heard about this trend?
[53:01.560 -> 53:02.400] Oh, well.
[53:02.400 -> 53:03.840] Clearly, clearly, maybe more than.
[53:03.840 -> 53:04.920] If you invite me on again,
[53:04.920 -> 53:09.960] I'll have another anecdote from Clutarch's legs, I promise.
[53:09.960 -> 53:10.960] Very good.
[53:10.960 -> 53:14.640] But maybe I won't get invited again.
[53:14.640 -> 53:16.200] Welcome back any time.
[53:16.200 -> 53:18.440] Craig, thank you very much for your time.
[53:18.440 -> 53:19.440] Appreciate it.
[53:19.440 -> 53:20.440] Tomo, thank you as well.
[53:20.440 -> 53:23.440] We're going to be back next Tuesday to look back at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
[53:23.440 -> 53:24.440] I hope you can join us then.
[53:24.440 -> 53:24.960] Bye for now.
[53:24.930 -> 53:28.350] We're going to be back next Tuesday to look back at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
[53:28.350 -> 53:29.350] I hope you can join us then.
[53:29.350 -> None] Bye for now.