Ted's Podbook | Hamilton on Red Bull rumours

Ted Kravitz looks ahead to the final race of the 2023 season from the paddock in Abu Dhabi. He discusses what’s left to fight for in both the drivers and constructors championships, as well as Hamilton's response to Christian Horner's comments about him joining Red Bull.

Ted Kravitz's podcast from Abu Dhabi discusses the final race of the 2023 Formula One season. Sergio Perez expressed his contentment with finishing second in the drivers' championship, securing Red Bull's first-ever 1-2 finish. Max Verstappen dismissed the notion that Charles Leclerc was closing in on him in Las Vegas, asserting his confidence in winning even without the safety car.

Lewis Hamilton denied reports of his representatives approaching Red Bull about a potential seat, claiming it was Christian Horner who initiated contact for a catch-up. Hamilton believes he can beat Max Verstappen in equal cars, demonstrating his self-belief despite being in the twilight of his career.

George Russell recounted his travel woes after the Las Vegas race, including a delayed flight and an overnight stay in Dallas. He expressed disappointment with his podium count this season but remains optimistic about learning from his experiences for 2024.

Aston Martin and McLaren are still vying for fourth place in the constructors' championship, with Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll expressing their determination to maintain their pursuit. Lando Norris is optimistic about McLaren's potential to be the second-fastest car behind Red Bull.

Oscar Piastri is eager to make his final rookie race memorable, while Nick Hulkenberg anticipates a new car next year that will align with the Red Bull style. Haas and Alfa Romeo Sauber are in contention to overtake Alfa Tauri for eighth place.

Valtteri Bottas's Movember calendar has gone into a second print run. The final race weekend schedule includes Practice 1 at 9 am, Practice 2 at 12:45 pm, Practice 3 at 10:15 am, Qualifying at 1:15 pm, and the Grand Prix at 1 pm on Sunday.

Ted Kravitz concludes the podcast by expressing his gratitude to the listeners and inviting them to join the broadcast for the final race of the season from Yas Marina.

[00:00.000 -> 00:15.320] Hello everybody, salam to you all and welcome back to the Sky Sports F1 podcast feed and
[00:15.320 -> 00:21.680] to Ted's PodBook, the final Ted's PodBook of 2023 as we've reached the end of the road,
[00:21.680 -> 00:25.920] the last race in this year's FIA Formula One World Championship.
[00:25.920 -> 00:31.080] We're in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. We're just outside our hotel. Sorry if you
[00:31.080 -> 00:36.240] can hear some air conditioning compressors in the background. That's pretty much a common
[00:36.240 -> 00:42.840] sound pretty much anywhere you go around these parts. But it is hot and it's now just the
[00:42.840 -> 00:45.600] warm of the evening as we are recording this Thursday evening
[00:45.600 -> 00:52.800] so a nice change from Las Vegas Nevada just a week ago it's been a 16 hour flight if you do it
[00:52.800 -> 01:01.120] straight and more or less an 11 hour time difference if you just go from Nevada to
[01:02.240 -> 01:07.640] Arabian time and everybody has arrived here I think in good spirits a
[01:07.640 -> 01:11.880] bit tired and weary ready to go though to give it one more push towards the
[01:11.880 -> 01:15.360] end of the season to decide all the championships the constructors
[01:15.360 -> 01:19.200] championships the drivers placings below that of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez
[01:19.200 -> 01:23.600] who are first and second and just to see if they can have one more bit of fun
[01:23.600 -> 01:25.880] before we break for the winter,
[01:25.880 -> 01:29.040] build some more cars next year, which are pretty much all going to be copies of Red
[01:29.040 -> 01:34.320] Bulls, let's face it, and then see if we can go again and whether anybody can get closer
[01:34.320 -> 01:38.960] to the World Championship Red Bull team and knock them off their perch, protect Lyon,
[01:38.960 -> 01:48.340] just make it a closer competition for 2024. Of course, testing starting late February, sort of 22, 23, 24 February in
[01:48.340 -> 01:53.140] Bahrain and then the first race just a week after at the beginning of March. But
[01:53.140 -> 01:57.640] what have we had today? Well we've seen, we start with Red Bull because they are
[01:57.640 -> 02:03.160] the champions. I spoke to Sergio Perez in the pen and he was saying look it's not
[02:03.160 -> 02:05.980] how you start a championship it's
[02:05.980 -> 02:09.420] how you finish it. I always say championships are decided as to how you
[02:09.420 -> 02:13.200] finish them at the end of Abu Dhabi which kind of glossed over the good
[02:13.200 -> 02:19.340] start that he had then the fallow period in between in the middle but the
[02:19.340 -> 02:23.260] strong finish that he's made and that was the point that Sergio Perez was made
[02:23.260 -> 02:28.400] that he is secured second in the construct in the drivers championship which his team felt
[02:28.400 -> 02:32.760] was important even though Checo thought it probably wasn't maybe as important or
[02:32.760 -> 02:36.440] crucial but certainly something Red Bull have never done and he said he was proud
[02:36.440 -> 02:41.000] to have done it and for the first time Red Bull finished first and second in
[02:41.000 -> 02:45.540] the drivers championship and yeah it's just mark of, you know,
[02:45.540 -> 02:47.300] we've spoken about this on the pod book, haven't we,
[02:47.300 -> 02:50.600] and on the notebook, of how that progress
[02:50.600 -> 02:54.520] that he made around sort of Singapore-Japan time,
[02:54.520 -> 02:56.940] when he sort of threw off the,
[02:59.060 -> 03:03.840] the difficulties of around sort of Monza and Zanvour,
[03:03.840 -> 03:06.300] and you know, has made that progress and got
[03:06.300 -> 03:10.980] better. That's how he wants to remember this season by and is looking
[03:10.980 -> 03:15.600] forward to taking the fight to Max. They think they can be very strong here and I
[03:15.600 -> 03:20.180] put this to Max Verstappen. I said you know did you feel that Charles Leclerc was
[03:20.180 -> 03:24.600] kind of closing up, was as close to you as he was going to get in Las Vegas and
[03:24.600 -> 03:28.640] potentially without the safety car Charles Leclerc would have won that because that seems to be the
[03:28.640 -> 03:36.240] sort of common assumed wisdom in the paddock that the Las Vegas Grand Prix was Charles
[03:36.240 -> 03:41.040] Leclerc's to win had there not been that safety car that came out just about five laps after
[03:41.040 -> 03:45.120] Leclerc had put his final set of tyres on, allowing Verstappen and Perez
[03:45.120 -> 03:50.640] to put some fresh tyres on and attack the Ferrari from behind. Verstappen said, well, no, not really,
[03:50.640 -> 03:56.800] actually. He seemed to suggest, Max, that he was on course to win the Las Vegas Grand Prix,
[03:56.800 -> 04:03.280] even if there hadn't been a safety car towards the end. So, you know, I mean, it's a bit of could
[04:03.280 -> 04:08.400] have, would have, should have, but we'll go back and have a look at that one. And, you know, I mean, it's a bit of could have would have should have but we'll go back and and have a look at that one. And you know, he's probably right. So are Sergio Perez
[04:08.400 -> 04:12.800] and Max Verstappen just going to go at it, hammer and tongs between them and sort of do a
[04:14.160 -> 04:17.520] victory demonstration at the front? I think that's what Red Bull would like.
[04:17.520 -> 04:22.000] But I don't think it's likely to be the only competitors at the front because Charles Clare
[04:22.000 -> 04:28.760] says yes, you know, while Las Vegas clearly to the the benefits of the Ferrari and played to their
[04:28.760 -> 04:34.480] strengths they are making some inroads on Red Bulls pace not huge amounts
[04:34.480 -> 04:37.960] nobody is for nobody at Ferrari's really kidding themselves but they are getting
[04:37.960 -> 04:44.200] a little bit closer to the Red Bulls. A bit of a mystery as to where Mercedes
[04:44.200 -> 04:46.520] think they are. All George Russell
[04:46.520 -> 04:51.960] and Lewis Hamilton would say, look, it's an amazing achievement to be fighting for P2
[04:51.960 -> 04:55.900] in the Constructors' Championship anyway, given that we don't have a car that's probably
[04:55.900 -> 04:59.760] the second quickest. That's probably on the balance of the season, the Ferrari, given
[04:59.760 -> 05:04.820] the number of polls that Charles Leclerc has had. But to be up there actually challenging
[05:04.820 -> 05:05.880] them is
[05:05.880 -> 05:10.780] a good achievement and would be a very special achievement if they manage to close that out.
[05:10.780 -> 05:14.340] George Russell said, look, you know, we are four points ahead of them. I'd rather be four
[05:14.340 -> 05:19.080] points ahead of them than four points behind Ferrari. So if we just do the best we can
[05:19.080 -> 05:26.900] and finish both of us in front of the Ferraris, then the job will automatically be done. And same really
[05:26.900 -> 05:30.820] from Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc. They said, you know, we do think that we're going
[05:30.820 -> 05:35.140] to be faster than Mercedes around here, but we'll have to wait and see. So we're just
[05:35.140 -> 05:40.660] going to give it, you know, everything. So I did ask Lewis Hamilton about the story in
[05:40.660 -> 05:45.080] the Daily Mail, which suggested that following a quote from Christian Horner or
[05:45.080 -> 05:51.180] rather confirmation from Christian Horner that representatives of Lewis Hamilton had
[05:51.180 -> 05:56.440] discussed or had approached Red Bull Racing with a query as to whether they might have
[05:56.440 -> 06:02.040] a seat based essentially Sergio Perez's seat available for 2024 and whether Lewis Hamilton
[06:02.040 -> 06:08.720] might be considered as a driver for that. Flipped it turned it on its head and said no as far as I know none of my representatives
[06:09.200 -> 06:15.840] Have spoken to Christian Horner about that drive and actually it was Christian Horner to reach who reached out to me in the middle of
[06:15.840 -> 06:20.140] The season saying that we should get together and have a catch-up. So
[06:21.000 -> 06:26.680] Both might be true. It might be true that Christian Orne didn't say that that didn't happen.
[06:26.680 -> 06:30.800] He just didn't mention it in his interview, I believe, with the Daily Mail.
[06:31.160 -> 06:35.440] And it may well be true that, to Hamilton's knowledge,
[06:35.680 -> 06:38.200] none of his representatives went the other way to Red Bull.
[06:38.200 -> 06:41.840] So you can have denials and statements and they can all be true.
[06:41.840 -> 06:47.560] So it's not mutually exclusive just because one person says one thing and one person says the other. What I did find
[06:47.560 -> 06:51.480] interesting about it, maybe we shouldn't be surprised at this, is that Hamilton
[06:51.480 -> 06:56.160] believes that he can beat Max Verstappen in a Red Bull. Which I guess he has to
[06:56.160 -> 06:59.760] back himself doesn't he? He absolutely has to back himself. Is Hamilton the
[06:59.760 -> 07:06.660] only person, maybe apart from Fernando Alonso and possibly Charles Leclerc, who feels and
[07:06.660 -> 07:15.000] would be well positioned to beat Max Verstappen in identical cars. Open
[07:15.000 -> 07:19.560] question, one for you to discuss with your friends over the winter, over the
[07:19.560 -> 07:29.400] Christmas dinner. So I would love, I mean, listen, of course, we'd all love to see it, wouldn't we? We would love to see Hamilton or Alonso
[07:29.400 -> 07:34.520] or Charles Leclerc against Max Verstappen in equal cars in two
[07:34.520 -> 07:37.240] Red Bulls. That's assuming that you're absolutely sure that both
[07:37.240 -> 07:39.400] the Red Bulls are absolutely completely equal, but there's no
[07:39.400 -> 07:43.960] reason to suggest reasonably that they're not equal. And so
[07:44.440 -> 07:45.920] it's never going to happen, is it? Because
[07:47.040 -> 07:51.280] Christian Horner and Mark Overman said, look, we're not going to have two number ones in a team.
[07:51.280 -> 07:57.760] It doesn't work, but we can dream, can't we? We can dream. So that story is largely pointless
[07:57.760 -> 08:02.480] in that it's never going to happen, but instructive and interesting, I think, in that Hamilton,
[08:02.480 -> 08:05.080] even in the autumn of his career, absolutely
[08:05.080 -> 08:08.160] backs himself to beat Max Verstappen in equal cars.
[08:08.160 -> 08:11.920] And there's no reason, obviously being the most successful F1 driver of all time, that
[08:11.920 -> 08:14.000] he shouldn't think that and that that wouldn't happen.
[08:14.000 -> 08:19.160] But depending on who you think is just pure quicker, then you can have your own views
[08:19.160 -> 08:20.160] on that.
[08:20.160 -> 08:24.360] So I thought that was the interesting part of that story.
[08:24.360 -> 08:26.440] George Russell had, still on Mercedes,
[08:26.440 -> 08:31.200] George Russell had an interesting story of his own as to what happened and some
[08:31.200 -> 08:36.080] of the flight chaos leaving Las Vegas Airport. So just so you know when we woke
[08:36.080 -> 08:42.080] up on Sunday morning after the Saturday night race it was blowing a hooli, as I
[08:42.080 -> 08:45.200] believe they call it in Scotland. It was blowing a
[08:45.200 -> 08:48.880] gale, very very strong winds and what that meant to do with a lot of the
[08:48.880 -> 08:54.020] business jet traffic with the high rollers who were leaving Las Vegas and a
[08:54.020 -> 08:59.080] lot of the commercial air traffic that was leaving Harry Reid Airport.
[08:59.080 -> 09:03.340] Unusually for Las Vegas they could only depart off one runway because the
[09:03.340 -> 09:05.360] crosswinds on the other,
[09:05.360 -> 09:10.160] there are two sets of parallel runways I think at Harry Reid airport in Las Vegas, so four runways
[09:10.160 -> 09:17.280] in all. And when the wind is calm or within crosswind limits they can depart off, you know,
[09:18.160 -> 09:25.540] one left and one right and then they can depart off 17 or whatever it is at the same time. They can have multiple departures
[09:25.540 -> 09:30.900] off two runways and then they can have multiple arrivals on the other parallel
[09:30.900 -> 09:39.340] runways. That wasn't possible on the day after the race because the winds so they
[09:39.340 -> 09:43.460] could only arrive and depart on one of the runways that the wind was blowing
[09:43.460 -> 09:50.280] straight down. That meant certainly George Russell's plane and my plane as it happens was delayed
[09:50.280 -> 09:54.000] because we were about number 19 for takeoff because there are so many planes
[09:54.000 -> 09:58.200] only having only being able to use one runway. What this meant for George, I
[09:58.200 -> 10:03.120] won't go into it what it meant for me, yep missed my connection in Denver, yeah
[10:03.120 -> 10:05.000] anyway I won't go into it.
[10:05.000 -> 10:09.000] Was, thanks United Airlines, didn't wait for me.
[10:09.000 -> 10:11.860] Could have done, but didn't.
[10:11.860 -> 10:14.280] Oh, you see, I've gone into it now.
[10:14.280 -> 10:16.480] What it meant for George was that he was traveling
[10:16.480 -> 10:21.480] with Pierre Gasly and they got to Los Angeles
[10:24.820 -> 10:29.240] and then they went to Dallas in order to get I think an
[10:29.240 -> 10:34.520] Emirates flight from Dallas to Dubai and missed the Emirates flight so had to
[10:34.520 -> 10:42.920] stay overnight in Dallas and to stay on UAE time they had to stay up all night
[10:42.920 -> 10:50.720] or wanted to stay up all night their Their physios were with them, wanted them to stay up all night. So they ended up leaving the Dallas-Fort Worth
[10:50.720 -> 10:56.880] airport, going into Dallas, finding a greasy spoon effectively, a diner where George Russell
[10:56.880 -> 11:03.600] said I could still smell the grease on my shoes, and having some breakfast together.
[11:03.600 -> 11:05.960] So I think George had, well he
[11:05.960 -> 11:09.000] didn't tell me what he had but it seemed to think it was sort of you know
[11:09.000 -> 11:14.000] usual diner food, a bit of a fry-up. And Pierre Gasly had some French toast and
[11:14.000 -> 11:17.920] maple syrup where George was thinking, wondering whether French toast is
[11:17.920 -> 11:22.240] actually French or American. Where he was told by my colleagues at Canal Plus
[11:22.240 -> 11:28.340] it is in fact French. So yeah that was that was a little story about how they missed their connections as
[11:28.340 -> 11:33.560] many of us did coming out of Las Vegas. But in any case George was saying that
[11:33.560 -> 11:38.080] only one podium I think recently versus eight last year. I'm very disappointed
[11:38.080 -> 11:46.880] not to have achieved more but feels that he can you, count that down to, you know, sorting himself out for next
[11:46.880 -> 11:53.160] year and feels he's learned a lot that he can use for 2024. So that is what's
[11:53.160 -> 12:05.920] going on at Mercedes and at Red Bull and at Ferrari. What is going on? Someone's passing me on their motorbike. Delivery driver I think.
[12:05.920 -> 12:10.040] And what's going on at Aston Martin?
[12:10.040 -> 12:15.380] Well, it's amazing that they're still in it, was saying Fernando Alonso.
[12:15.380 -> 12:20.840] Amazing what they've achieved this year and Lance Stroll was saying after his P5, it's
[12:20.840 -> 12:25.000] nice to be still biting at the heels of McLaren.
[12:25.000 -> 12:26.680] And they're very happy to do that.
[12:26.680 -> 12:29.000] They're going to take it to the end of this race.
[12:29.000 -> 12:34.080] I think it's a 11 point gap.
[12:34.080 -> 12:39.080] So they would have to have a very, very good race and then for McLaren to have an absolute
[12:39.080 -> 12:43.900] shocker for Aston Martin to overturn that fourth place in the Constructors back again
[12:43.900 -> 12:49.720] in Aston's favour, which Aston held it for so long, but nothing's impossible. And as I said with the Ferraris
[12:49.720 -> 12:56.480] and the Mercedes, they're going to give it a go. Lance Stroll was happy with his work
[12:56.480 -> 13:02.780] and says it's essentially the same car now that they did so well in Brazil with. I spoke
[13:02.780 -> 13:06.340] to Lando Norris. I said, you right son? He said yes, I'm
[13:06.340 -> 13:11.460] absolutely fine. He was fine after his accident. He just had to have stay in the
[13:11.460 -> 13:15.420] hospital for a little bit of observation but passed all the all the checks and
[13:15.420 -> 13:20.440] all the cognitive, all of that checks that they they made him do. But all the
[13:20.440 -> 13:25.000] tests were passed and he was back at circuit on Saturday evening or
[13:25.000 -> 13:28.920] what would normally be Sunday evening so he was fine and is looking forward to
[13:28.920 -> 13:32.720] this race because he thinks that McLaren who have been off their usual pace
[13:32.720 -> 13:37.080] recently can be back on it and potentially can be the second fastest
[13:37.080 -> 13:41.360] car to the Red Bull so we'll see if that happens.
[13:41.360 -> 13:50.080] Oscar Piastri looking forward to this race as well. I think it's his last rookie race of the season and then he's that's I think he's
[13:50.080 -> 13:54.520] tested here but not raced here so we'll see how he goes.
[13:54.520 -> 14:00.520] Nick Hulkenberg was actually summing up his year I was saying you know how was
[14:00.520 -> 14:08.600] it last year you were here I think as a TV pundit and how's your return to the driver cockpit been and he joked well maybe I should have stayed a
[14:08.600 -> 14:14.240] pundit haha but feels like you know they are just waiting for a new car next year
[14:14.240 -> 14:18.280] in the Haas that will follow the kind of Red Bull style and then they can feel
[14:18.280 -> 14:22.160] they can do a bit more business but it's not unlike said Kevin Magnuson also at
[14:22.160 -> 14:29.080] Haas it's not unlike them to have a slightly random weekend where they could actually score a hatful of points from
[14:29.080 -> 14:33.200] absolutely nowhere where they don't really understand it and then move off
[14:33.200 -> 14:38.160] the bottom and overtake Alfa Romeo Sauber for last position. So it's
[14:38.160 -> 14:43.960] currently AlphaTauri 8, Alfa Romeo Sauber 9 and Haas 10. So that's not
[14:43.960 -> 14:46.740] impossible. They could do it. It is of
[14:46.740 -> 14:51.460] course Alfa Tauri's position to just hold where they are. They can't really
[14:51.460 -> 14:55.700] get Williams unless they have an absolutely bonanza weekend and by the
[14:55.700 -> 15:01.240] same token Alfa Romeo Sauber, and this is the last weekend by the way, they'll be
[15:01.240 -> 15:09.000] called that, they'll be going just back to Sauber next year which will be a boon for a lot of us a lot of us. Alfa Romeo Sauber feel
[15:09.000 -> 15:13.500] that if they have another weekend like Qatar so I think Haas need five points
[15:13.500 -> 15:19.300] to overtake Alfa Romeo Sauber and Sauber need many more to overtake I think it's
[15:19.300 -> 15:26.640] four or five to overtake Alfa Romeo. Alfa Tauri in front of them. All these Alphas.
[15:26.640 -> 15:33.240] And so it's probably going to end where they are with
[15:33.240 -> 15:41.160] Williams 7 which would be a great result for them. AlphaTauri 8,
[15:41.280 -> 15:48.160] Sauber 9 and then Haas 10 but we will see how it goes.
[15:48.160 -> 15:55.440] Yeah, Joe going you and Valtteri Bottas saying all they can do is just hope and drive.
[15:55.440 -> 16:09.280] Valtteri Bottas's calendar has gone to a second print run in aid of Movember. So if you haven't found it, then just search BOTTASS.com and you can find
[16:09.280 -> 16:16.560] Valtteri's rather cheeky calendar in aid of Movember, the cancer charity. Right, I think
[16:16.560 -> 16:25.160] that is about it. And for once, I've gotten nearer to 10 minutes than not. So I will say thank you very much for watching and get
[16:25.160 -> 16:34.740] is for listening and get the times up for our programs which are I've saved
[16:34.740 -> 16:49.640] them on my phone. It's essentially the European times which is good. So here we go. Practice 1 9 a.m. on Friday. Practice 2 12.45 in the
[16:49.640 -> 16:54.960] afternoon with a practice start time 15 minutes later. Saturday morning practice
[16:54.960 -> 17:00.400] 3 10.15 a.m. Qualifying quarter past 1 in the afternoon and then Sunday's
[17:00.400 -> 17:05.020] Grand Prix it's like a Silverstone start time, 11.30 in the morning with the
[17:05.020 -> 17:11.500] lights out at 1pm. So, hope very much you will join us for the final race where everything
[17:11.500 -> 17:15.940] is going to be decided apart from the outcome of the World Championship and second in the
[17:15.940 -> 17:22.020] drivers because, yeah, let's do it one more time in 2023. From Yas Marina for now, thanks
[17:22.020 -> 17:22.820] for listening. Bye bye.
[17:18.330 -> 17:21.130] From Yas Marina for now, thanks for listening. Bye bye.