Slip Streaming with Alex Albon and Liam Lawson

On this episode of Talking Bull we chat to Alex Albon and Liam Lawson about their seasons so far and hear what they’ve been up to in the world of motorsport and their latest Esports streaming antics. We also speak to Red Bull Racing Esports’ Sebastian Job as he gets ready for the start of the 2021 F1 Esports Series Pro Championship.

**Introduction:**

* Christian Horner, Sergio Perez, and Max Verstappen celebrate Red Bull Racing's victory at the Austrian Grand Prix.
* The Talking Bull podcast offers an exclusive look into the Red Bull Racing team.
* Max Verstappen's impressive performance secures second place at the Turkish Grand Prix, and Sergio Perez claims his first podium finish since the French Grand Prix.

**eSports Takeover:**

* The podcast delves into the world of eSports, a rapidly growing phenomenon taking the sporting world by storm.
* Red Bull Racing introduces a special eSports episode, featuring interviews with superstar Red Bull Racing eSports driver Sebastian Job and Formula One virtual series competitors Alex Albon and Liam Lawson.

**Interview with Alex Albon and Liam Lawson:**

* Alex Albon and Liam Lawson discuss their experiences competing in the DTM series, transitioning between closed and open cockpit cars, and the challenges of adapting to different driving styles.
* Albon shares his insights into his role as a test and reserve driver for Red Bull Racing, emphasizing the value of simulator work and the opportunity to contribute to car development.
* Lawson highlights the importance of gaining experience in both F2 and DTM to improve his adaptability and overall driving skills.

**Virtual Pro Series:**

* Albon and Lawson reflect on their participation in the Virtual Pro Series during the COVID-19 pandemic, expressing their enjoyment of the experience and the unique opportunity to showcase a different side of their personalities to fans.
* They acknowledge the growing popularity of eSports and its impact on their social media presence, recognizing the power of online gaming to connect with a wider audience.

**Red Bull Racing eSports Team:**

* Albon and Lawson discuss their involvement in the launch of Red Bull Racing's eSports kit and their admiration for the team's success in the F1 Esports Pro Championship.
* They express excitement about the new eSports arena, the e-arena, and its potential to enhance training facilities and content creation for the eSports team.

Up Next, interview with one of our superstar Red Bull Racing eSports drivers, Sebastian Job

1. **Sebastian Job's Transition to F1 Esports:**

- Job explains the significant differences between racing in the Porsche Super Cup and F1 Esports, emphasizing the need to completely change his driving style.
- He highlights the challenges of adapting to a new game, particularly the need to be precise in braking and smooth on the throttle.
- Job stresses the importance of learning from his teammates and using data analysis to improve his performance.

2. **The F1 Esports Community:**

- Job praises the supportive environment within the Scuderia AlphaTauri F1 Esports team, where drivers help each other improve and share valuable insights.
- He emphasizes the importance of maintaining close relationships with teammates, especially during times when travel restrictions limit in-person interactions.

3. **Balancing Practice and Relaxation:**

- Job discusses the importance of setting boundaries and taking breaks from sim racing to avoid burnout.
- He explains that a structured practice schedule helps him stay motivated and focused.
- Job emphasizes the need for a supportive team environment that encourages drivers to maintain a healthy work-life balance.

4. **Expectations for the 2021 F1 Esports Pro Championship:**

- Job expresses uncertainty about his expectations for the upcoming season, given his limited experience in F1 Esports.
- He aims to be near the front of the grid but acknowledges the need to be realistic and learn from the first few races.
- Job highlights the importance of controlling nerves and using them to enhance his focus and reaction times during races.

5. **Liam Lawson's Perspective on Esports:**

- Lawson shares his experience of using sim racing to stay connected with friends and maintain his driving skills during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- He emphasizes the importance of esports in providing opportunities for aspiring drivers to showcase their talent and potentially progress to real-world racing.
- Lawson discusses the challenges of balancing sim racing with his real-world racing commitments, highlighting the need for time management and maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

## Conclusion:

The podcast provides insights into the world of F1 Esports, highlighting the challenges and opportunities faced by drivers as they compete in virtual races. Sebastian Job's transition from the Porsche Super Cup to F1 Esports serves as an example of the adaptability and skill required to succeed in this rapidly growing field. Liam Lawson's perspective adds to the discussion by emphasizing the role of esports in fostering connections, providing opportunities, and challenging drivers to maintain a balanced approach to their racing careers.

[00:00.000 -> 00:01.000] Hi there, this is Christian Horner.
[00:01.000 -> 00:02.000] You've won the Austria Grand Prix!
[00:02.000 -> 00:03.000] This is Sergio Perez.
[00:03.000 -> 00:04.000] I am Max Verstappen.
[00:04.000 -> 00:05.000] You are listening to Talking Bull, the official Red Bull Racing podcast.
[00:05.000 -> 00:06.000] Oh, this feels good!
[00:06.000 -> 00:07.000] Hello and welcome to Talking Bull, the podcast that gets you right inside the Red Bull Racing
[00:07.000 -> 00:08.000] team.
[00:08.000 -> 00:09.000] And it's been a brilliant week.
[00:09.000 -> 00:10.000] Max Verstappen powered his way to the top of the Formula One drivers' podium, and he
[00:10.000 -> 00:11.000] is now in the top three.
[00:11.000 -> 00:12.000] He's been in the top three for the last two races, and he's been in the top three for
[00:12.000 -> 00:13.000] the last two races.
[00:13.000 -> 00:14.000] He's been in the top three for the last two races, and he's been in the top three for
[00:14.000 -> 00:15.000] the last two races.
[00:15.000 -> 00:16.000] He's been in the top three for the last two races, and he's been in the top three for
[00:16.000 -> 00:17.000] the last two races.
[00:17.000 -> 00:18.000] He's been in the top three for the last two races, and he's been in the top three for
[00:18.000 -> 00:19.000] the last two races.
[00:19.000 -> 00:20.000] He's been in the top three for the last two races, and he's been in the top three for
[00:20.000 -> 00:21.000] the last two races.
[00:21.000 -> 00:22.000] He's been in the top three for the last two races, and he's been in the top three for
[00:22.000 -> 00:23.000] the last two races.
[00:23.000 -> 00:24.000] He's been in the top three for the last two races, and he's been in the top three for the
[00:24.000 -> 00:26.280] last two races. He's been in the top three for the last two races, and he's been in the top three for Bull Racing team. And it's been a brilliant week.
[00:26.280 -> 00:30.640] Max Verstappen powered his way to the top of the Formula One driver's standings
[00:30.880 -> 00:35.080] with a superbly executed drive to take second place at the Turkish Grand Prix.
[00:35.280 -> 00:38.760] And well done to Sergio Perez, too, who claimed his first podium
[00:38.760 -> 00:40.880] finish since the French Grand Prix.
[00:40.880 -> 00:43.560] He performed a battling drive to third place.
[00:43.840 -> 00:49.360] That's Formula One. But we wanted to bring you an extra special episode today.
[00:49.360 -> 00:51.440] This is an eSports Takeover.
[00:51.440 -> 00:55.980] It's taking the sporting world by storm, so we wanted to give you a look into one of the
[00:55.980 -> 00:58.640] biggest new events on the planet.
[00:58.640 -> 01:03.760] Coming up, we catch up with one of our superstar Red Bull Racing eSports drivers, Sebastian
[01:03.760 -> 01:06.220] Job, but first we wanted to catch up
[01:06.220 -> 01:09.720] with two people that competed in the F1 virtual series,
[01:09.720 -> 01:11.920] Alex Albon and Liam Lawson.
[01:11.920 -> 01:14.520] Steve Nash spoke to both of them last week.
[01:14.520 -> 01:16.320] Alex Albon and Liam Lawson,
[01:16.320 -> 01:19.320] welcome to the Talking Bull podcast.
[01:19.320 -> 01:20.400] How are you both doing today?
[01:20.400 -> 01:22.640] I'm good, I was doing better until I found out
[01:22.640 -> 01:24.360] you were hosting us, to be honest.
[01:25.840 -> 01:32.200] Thanks very much, mate. I really appreciate that. How are you both doing guys?
[01:32.200 -> 01:35.320] Lovely. Even better, even better that I know you're hosting us.
[01:35.320 -> 01:38.800] That's very nice. I'm also good. Thank you.
[01:38.800 -> 01:42.600] Pleased to hear it. How are you both finding your first season of DTM? Is this the first
[01:42.600 -> 01:49.280] time both of you have raced in closed cockpit cars in a season? Because I know you normally open cockpit single-seaters. How's
[01:49.280 -> 01:50.480] that been for you both?
[01:50.480 -> 01:54.160] Yeah, it's been a bit different, let's put it like that. When you go from karting into
[01:54.160 -> 01:58.640] single-seaters, there's always this like, when you want to be in Formula 1, you don't
[01:58.640 -> 02:06.960] go this route. You go towards Formula 4, Formula 3, Formula 2. DTM is like a different world. It's like
[02:06.960 -> 02:11.040] going into this other area, which a lot of people have established their careers
[02:11.600 -> 02:15.360] going the opposite way. Because truthfully speaking, if you're not in Formula 1, it's very
[02:15.360 -> 02:20.560] hard to make a career in single-seaters, but there's a lot more opportunity in these tin tops,
[02:20.560 -> 02:25.120] which we're driving this year. What about you Liam, how do you make that
[02:25.760 -> 02:30.880] adjustment? Obviously from one weekend you're racing in F2, then the next weekend you're racing in
[02:31.520 -> 02:36.800] DTM, how do you do that transition so well I suppose? To be fair at the start of the year I
[02:36.800 -> 02:43.040] sucked at it, it was a massive massive step. Everything about the way you drive the two
[02:43.040 -> 02:45.920] cars is different and I didn't
[02:45.920 -> 02:51.040] really struggled so much going from F2 to DTM but going from DTM back to F2
[02:51.040 -> 02:55.320] I have to speed everything up again and that was like that was quite tough I had
[02:55.320 -> 03:00.240] a test early in the year it was our last preseason it was after the first round
[03:00.240 -> 03:10.960] of F2 but they still called it a pre-season test and it was in Barcelona and I'd just done a weekend or two weekends of DTM and in the first session we went out
[03:10.960 -> 03:16.280] on new tyres and my first push was like three seconds off and I was like, I remember my
[03:16.280 -> 03:23.040] engineer coming across going 8 tenths sector 1, 1.2 sector 2, 1.1, it was like I just could
[03:23.040 -> 03:26.000] not believe how far off I was. It took like half the day
[03:26.000 -> 03:32.240] to get back where I was. But I learned a little bit about the main things to focus on every time
[03:32.240 -> 03:38.320] I stepped into the cars and it got a lot easier. And now I don't think, now the steps not so
[03:38.320 -> 03:42.720] different. I know I've driven both the cars enough to know what to expect going between them.
[03:42.720 -> 03:46.800] And is there anything you can do, I guess, off track to improve or is it
[03:46.800 -> 03:50.080] literally just more time in that car and you'll get better?
[03:50.080 -> 03:54.080] The most important or the thing that did the most was just driving more, both the
[03:54.080 -> 03:57.440] cars, but for F2 we do simulator sessions before
[03:57.440 -> 04:00.720] every weekend so that was always good.
[04:00.720 -> 04:04.960] But honestly the thing that's
[04:04.960 -> 04:07.080] helped the most was just doing transitioning
[04:07.080 -> 04:09.600] between them all the time. I just got used to it.
[04:09.600 -> 04:14.920] And Alex, obviously you're incredibly busy in the factory in your role as a test and
[04:14.920 -> 04:19.440] reserve driver. How's that been this season? Is that something you've enjoyed helping the
[04:19.440 -> 04:20.440] team with?
[04:20.440 -> 04:26.520] Yes, there's been that nice continuation. So it's been pretty rewarding, surprisingly enjoyable
[04:26.520 -> 04:30.920] to be able to see the work that you do on the simulator,
[04:30.920 -> 04:33.920] get transitions onto the track, and even just
[04:33.920 -> 04:35.760] to hear the comments from the drivers to say,
[04:35.760 -> 04:37.240] yeah, this was better.
[04:37.240 -> 04:40.080] That's always nice to know, oh, we did the right thing.
[04:40.080 -> 04:42.160] I mean, sometimes it goes the other way, of course.
[04:42.160 -> 04:48.440] Sometimes Saturday was worse than Friday, and it's like, okay that wasn't me, I have no involvement in
[04:48.440 -> 04:53.360] that, but no it's good, I enjoy it. Of course would be better to be
[04:53.360 -> 04:58.520] driving but it's been nice and great from my experience to see almost like an
[04:58.520 -> 05:03.240] outlook on what goes into making the car quick because obviously we spend
[05:03.240 -> 05:09.520] so much time at a racetrack and with the engineers trackside but we don't see the big picture all the time being involved in the
[05:09.520 -> 05:15.760] whole process it's good and I think it will serve me purpose and give me more experience going into
[05:16.480 -> 05:22.160] next year. Could you give like the listeners at home a bit of a insight into what your week
[05:22.160 -> 05:26.120] slash weekend looks like from an F1 point of view now. So if
[05:26.120 -> 05:29.200] you take the Turkish Grand Prix for an example, I don't think people quite
[05:29.200 -> 05:32.840] probably appreciate the hours that you do in our simulator, the times you have
[05:32.840 -> 05:38.040] to fly to the track. And then you guys pulling me in that during lunch
[05:38.040 -> 05:41.840] break to do more stuff. Yes I mean I think you enjoy doing that though don't
[05:41.840 -> 05:45.600] you? You've always got a smile on your face at least, anyway.
[05:51.120 -> 05:58.080] No, no, it's good. I mean, Turkey's a hard one to do because obviously with the DTM stuff, I've been a bit busy. But let's say you take Russia, last race. We were on the sim Tuesday,
[05:58.080 -> 06:02.960] Wednesday. I would say 50% of what I do right now is going, is focusing on next year.
[06:02.960 -> 06:05.560] The designers are working on an artificial car.
[06:05.560 -> 06:08.120] It's all on a computer basically.
[06:08.120 -> 06:11.740] And we're starting to do stuff in the wind tunnel, of course,
[06:11.740 -> 06:14.920] but for the majority of it, we've got predictive numbers.
[06:14.920 -> 06:18.720] We think, we're tracking where the car's progressing to.
[06:18.720 -> 06:20.960] So at the start of the year, the car was obviously,
[06:20.960 -> 06:24.680] let's say down here in terms of downforce, it was very low.
[06:24.680 -> 06:28.960] And we're kind of just ramping it up. Each time I drive the simulator, we've got more and more
[06:28.960 -> 06:33.760] downforce in the new car. And because of that, we have to track where the car is going in terms of
[06:33.760 -> 06:40.480] balance and how to optimise the car. And then we shift our attention. So once we finish on
[06:40.480 -> 06:48.680] Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, we start to focus on the actual race weekend that we're at. So for instance in Russia, Thursday is just making sure that
[06:48.680 -> 06:52.920] we're happy with where the car is, doing test items for the guys, different wing
[06:52.920 -> 06:58.000] levels, tracking what would be the wind levels as well in terms of balance and
[06:58.000 -> 07:02.200] then Friday is kind of actually when the fun day starts, that's when we're kind of
[07:02.200 -> 07:07.360] live, we're tuned into the track and we're listening to the guys,
[07:07.360 -> 07:09.800] to the feedback from Checo and Max,
[07:09.800 -> 07:12.020] and then offering up our suggestions.
[07:12.020 -> 07:14.600] So when, let's say Max comes into the car,
[07:14.600 -> 07:16.260] he wants this and this and this,
[07:16.260 -> 07:18.200] we first make sure that we have the same issues
[07:18.200 -> 07:19.200] as he does on track.
[07:19.200 -> 07:24.200] So let's say he struggles with a loose rear end in turn two,
[07:27.280 -> 07:32.080] we will make the loose rear end in turn 2, we will make the loose rear end in turn 2 and then we'll adjust it accordingly and make sure he can be happy with it and then we'll give that
[07:32.080 -> 07:38.160] feedback to his engineer and then we do the same thing for Checo. We will speak with his engineer,
[07:38.160 -> 07:43.920] what does he need in the car, create it, find a solution for it and then give it back. So
[07:44.720 -> 07:51.600] create it, find a solution for it and then give it back. By that point, it's kind of 9pm that we finish by and sometimes it goes on longer, sometimes
[07:51.600 -> 07:58.760] 10, 30, 11 and then on Saturday, it's kind of like a 3am, 4am wake up call and I'm off
[07:58.760 -> 07:59.760] to the race track.
[07:59.760 -> 08:04.160] That's a very busy week, especially when you take into account the DTM stuff.
[08:04.160 -> 08:08.900] It's busier than when I was in Formula 1, which is crazy to think,
[08:08.900 -> 08:11.400] because when you're in Formula 1 and you're racing every weekend,
[08:11.400 -> 08:15.800] more or less it feels hectic, and here it's even more hectic.
[08:15.800 -> 08:18.800] I was just speaking to Liam about it.
[08:18.800 -> 08:25.040] Actually, I had a week off last week, but that was my first week off in four and a half months.
[08:25.040 -> 08:29.760] And then how is it for you Liam, obviously racing in Formula 2, you're going strong in
[08:29.760 -> 08:34.160] the championship again. Talk to us a little bit about your season so far and how you're
[08:34.160 -> 08:39.360] finding it in Formula 2 this year. Yeah I mean I thought I was busy this year until
[08:39.920 -> 08:49.040] Alex explained to me what he was going through. So it's been very up and down F2 this year with the way the calendar is.
[08:49.040 -> 08:50.560] The rounds are very spread out.
[08:52.000 -> 08:55.600] We have an extra race on the weekend but it means that there's two reverse grid races.
[08:55.600 -> 09:01.440] And quite honestly, it means it's just it's quite hard to survive the Saturday and finish strongly.
[09:02.080 -> 09:25.640] It's yeah, it's quite difficult to be consistent every weekend, especially when you're fighting not in the mid-pack, but obviously it's a lot easier when you're starting at the front, but even when you qualify pole or at the front, then you're starting reverse grids for at least one of the three races. So it's been okay. We had a strong start.
[09:25.640 -> 09:27.560] The pace was really good earlier in the season
[09:27.560 -> 09:31.760] and we had a good first couple of rounds in F2.
[09:31.760 -> 09:35.800] And then we struggled at a couple of tracks.
[09:35.800 -> 09:37.360] Silverstone wasn't good for us.
[09:37.360 -> 09:40.520] Sochi was quite difficult as well.
[09:40.520 -> 09:42.700] So we definitely missed out on a lot of points
[09:42.700 -> 09:43.640] and opportunities.
[09:43.640 -> 09:45.360] But on the other hand, DTM this year out on a lot of points and opportunities, but on the other hand
[09:49.760 -> 09:50.400] DTM this year was quite a lot stronger, but at the same time it almost it feels like
[09:55.440 -> 10:00.360] With the way the format is with DTM obviously where you qualifies where you start for both races And it's a little bit more like in your control than some of the stuff with F2
[10:00.360 -> 10:04.540] So I would have liked to have done better this season and in Formula 2 though
[10:04.540 -> 10:05.280] That's for sure.
[10:05.280 -> 10:09.120] And with the two of you obviously spending more time together and probably getting to know each
[10:09.120 -> 10:12.640] other better, do you take any sort of... On an intimate level.
[10:12.640 -> 10:19.840] On an intimate level, exactly. A close, intimate, personal level. Do you share advice, Liam? Do you
[10:19.840 -> 10:25.840] ask Alex for advice from how he did in F2 and how he came through and got
[10:25.840 -> 10:31.760] his drive in Formula One? Yeah honestly yes I actually Alex's we have quite
[10:31.760 -> 10:35.000] often these these long airport drives where we drive from either the airport
[10:35.000 -> 10:39.160] to the track or the other way sometimes they can be yeah reasonably late at
[10:39.160 -> 10:47.140] night and it's really really interesting He's been really helpful this year with literally everything.
[10:47.140 -> 10:53.800] Even not just advice on Formula 2 stuff and even F1 stuff, but with DTM.
[10:53.800 -> 10:58.860] Alex's feedback is really accurate and quite in depth.
[10:58.860 -> 11:03.040] And I think for me this year, I was saying to him yesterday actually, when I'm sitting
[11:03.040 -> 11:05.060] next to the engineers and they're writing stuff down,
[11:05.060 -> 11:08.720] they have boxes with our feedback.
[11:08.720 -> 11:12.160] And Alex's boxes always are way bigger than my boxes.
[11:12.160 -> 11:14.600] But that's also because I complain more, okay?
[11:14.600 -> 11:15.440] Yeah.
[11:16.560 -> 11:18.120] But no, it's been good.
[11:18.120 -> 11:21.880] I honestly have learnt a lot being with Alex this year.
[11:21.880 -> 11:24.880] And did you know each other very well before DTM?
[11:24.880 -> 11:29.760] I know you obviously will go on to shortly like esports and I know you've done some
[11:29.760 -> 11:34.400] things together in that world but were you mates? Did you know each
[11:34.400 -> 11:39.420] other very well before DTM? Not too well like Liam's pretty young on the Red Bull
[11:39.420 -> 11:44.440] program and by that point I was in F1 so then we didn't cross paths that much
[11:44.440 -> 11:46.880] only briefly during
[11:46.880 -> 11:51.600] exactly what you said during the eSports stuff and then coming into this year so
[11:51.600 -> 11:57.200] obviously I know as well a little bit high-tech and that or Liam's race team, Formula 2 team so
[11:58.000 -> 12:02.640] there's a little bit there too but rarely actually I think this year we've kind of got to know each
[12:02.640 -> 12:07.680] other. We obviously briefly touched in on the e esports stuff and we know you're quite keen gamers,
[12:07.680 -> 12:11.760] just look at Liam's backdrop and I think that sort of says it all.
[12:12.720 -> 12:15.520] You look like, you look hardcore.
[12:15.520 -> 12:16.960] Yeah I know, it looks bad.
[12:19.680 -> 12:23.920] It looks like, I'm expecting like, I don't know, like an anime poster in the background.
[12:25.800 -> 12:28.840] How much time do you get to use that, I guess, Liam?
[12:28.840 -> 12:33.120] Considering we just talked about both your schedules, but is that the place you go for
[12:33.120 -> 12:34.120] downtime?
[12:34.120 -> 12:39.680] Honestly, yes, but then downtime ends up just turning into angry, angry time because I get
[12:39.680 -> 12:40.680] so angry.
[12:40.680 -> 12:43.160] I play Call of Duty and I just end up just raging at everything.
[12:43.160 -> 12:45.080] So it's
[12:45.080 -> 12:49.120] sometimes good and sometimes not good. I have my simulator here as well that I
[12:49.120 -> 12:53.760] spend some time on but it's normally like this week for example in
[12:53.760 -> 12:57.600] between it'll be like the Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday that I play with my friends
[12:57.600 -> 13:01.060] from home. It'll either be early in the morning or late at night because of the
[13:01.060 -> 13:08.840] time difference to New Zealand but it'll normally be the Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and then either Wednesday or Thursday I'll go to the track
[13:08.840 -> 13:09.840] that I'm racing at.
[13:09.840 -> 13:15.240] Does that help you be able to keep that relationship with your mates back at home?
[13:15.240 -> 13:19.540] Obviously back in New Zealand, you can't just, well, especially now, hop on a flight and
[13:19.540 -> 13:20.540] go and see them.
[13:20.540 -> 13:23.920] Honestly, it's the only thing that's really kept me in contact.
[13:23.920 -> 13:27.000] Online gaming is the only thing that's really kept me in contact with a lot of my friends from home.
[13:27.000 -> 13:32.000] I for sure have lost contact with a lot of people that I used to be friends with, which is I think quite normal.
[13:32.000 -> 13:47.760] But like online gaming, whether it's racing people on simulators or any online game stuff, it's really the only thing that has kept me in contact with a lot of my friends this year. That's really cool. And Alex, what about you? How do you game much? Obviously,
[13:47.760 -> 13:54.960] we'll go into the Virtual Pro Series from last year shortly, but on a downtime, you've got a
[13:54.960 -> 14:00.000] couple of hours free. Do you like to game? And if so, what sort of games do you like to play?
[14:00.000 -> 14:12.000] I would say I used to game more. I feel like I'm getting at that age now where I game less and less. I feel like a boomer. I have a small group of friends that we've played since I was 13, 14,
[14:12.000 -> 14:16.880] and we've played pretty much... it's always the same group of people. And also with my girlfriend,
[14:16.880 -> 14:31.000] Lily, we play because we're in a long-distance relationship. So we play games, not Call of Duty, but you know, like the weird games like Among Us or even Fortnite and things like that, which is fun.
[14:31.000 -> 14:35.000] Like it's a great way to like socialize and communicate and stay in touch.
[14:35.000 -> 14:37.000] But honestly, I haven't played that much.
[14:37.000 -> 14:46.400] But if anyone out there is willing to give me a simulator in Monaco, come over, send me a DM. I have to get that cheeky plug in.
[14:49.040 -> 14:52.720] That, see, Dashie is like, just shaking his head, he's like, I can't believe it.
[14:53.760 -> 14:58.400] You did a shameless plug in your Circuit Scout as well, didn't you, for Album Pat?
[14:58.400 -> 15:07.640] Album Pat, yeah, but that's expected. I actually did one, I won't say the car because that would be a shameless plug in itself,
[15:07.640 -> 15:11.880] but I did a shameless plug during the weekend because I really like this car.
[15:11.880 -> 15:18.040] Liam and I, we both like this car and I've been trying to get this car in Monaco but
[15:18.040 -> 15:19.600] they cost too much money.
[15:19.600 -> 15:22.960] So I did a shameless plug during the weekend.
[15:22.960 -> 15:23.960] Really?
[15:23.960 -> 15:24.960] Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[15:24.960 -> 15:26.400] You're a changed man Alex Albon. I did a shameless plug during the during the during the really yeah yeah yeah
[15:26.400 -> 15:31.960] you're a changed man Alex Albon so let's move back let's move back to the
[15:31.960 -> 15:39.240] shameless plug 2020 obviously was the start of the COVID-19 sort of pandemic
[15:39.240 -> 15:43.800] and F1 I think was one of the first sports to probably take an initiative
[15:43.800 -> 15:45.280] and make
[15:45.280 -> 15:49.960] eSports something where they'd get the real-world drivers into a virtual world
[15:49.960 -> 15:54.800] put it on TV at a time when no live sport was happening. I think Alex you
[15:54.800 -> 15:59.920] were you might have been racing the very first race I think which was in Melbourne
[15:59.920 -> 16:08.000] how did you find that? Did you enjoy it? Did it feel like, did it fill that need for some competitive action?
[16:08.000 -> 16:11.600] And how good do you think it was for fans to have that void?
[16:11.600 -> 16:20.000] It was weird because we started it off and first of all it was such a, let's say like, relaxed,
[16:20.000 -> 16:26.340] in the way that we didn't realize how big it would become. And when we started it off, it was like,
[16:27.280 -> 16:29.160] you know, we were like barely made the start
[16:29.160 -> 16:31.520] because we were all messing around doing whatever.
[16:31.520 -> 16:34.680] And it was just like, oh, do this, do that.
[16:34.680 -> 16:39.680] But then just being competitors and being the way we are,
[16:39.920 -> 16:43.060] when one takes it a bit more seriously and goes quick,
[16:43.060 -> 16:46.080] then it's like, oh, you're not going to settle for that.
[16:46.080 -> 16:49.080] So you start practicing more, you start,
[16:49.080 -> 16:51.280] and actually, honestly, by the end of the season,
[16:51.280 -> 16:55.080] you're just like, I'm spending too much time on this.
[16:55.080 -> 16:58.520] Like, it's getting a bit silly now, but it was fun.
[16:58.520 -> 16:59.360] It was really fun.
[16:59.360 -> 17:00.400] I enjoyed it.
[17:00.400 -> 17:01.640] And most probably more than that,
[17:01.640 -> 17:04.520] I just enjoyed, you know, hanging out with the other drivers
[17:04.520 -> 17:06.800] and I think the fans loved it.
[17:06.800 -> 17:09.560] Again, it was a surprise to see how much people enjoyed that stuff.
[17:09.560 -> 17:12.060] I think we didn't expect that for sure.
[17:12.060 -> 17:19.960] For us, it's normal, you know, kind of the way we talk to each other and let's say banter around with everything.
[17:19.960 -> 17:23.960] But of course, when you realize that most people don't see that side to us,
[17:23.960 -> 17:26.080] where they see the serious side
[17:26.080 -> 17:27.980] where we're at racetrack all the time.
[17:29.240 -> 17:30.920] And yeah, it was good, I enjoyed it.
[17:30.920 -> 17:34.920] I think it was nice to keep that competitive side
[17:34.920 -> 17:37.280] during that period where we weren't driving at all.
[17:37.280 -> 17:38.120] And that's what I was gonna say.
[17:38.120 -> 17:39.800] I think you said that exactly right.
[17:39.800 -> 17:42.600] It showed a side of you that people hadn't seen
[17:42.600 -> 17:44.640] and shown a side of the relationships you have
[17:44.640 -> 17:45.480] with the other drivers.
[17:45.480 -> 17:47.480] You know, everyone sees you,
[17:47.480 -> 17:50.720] right, if you're being interviewed or in a race car,
[17:50.720 -> 17:54.000] they don't see you and George, you know,
[17:54.000 -> 17:56.400] and a couple of memes coming out of you,
[17:56.400 -> 17:58.560] going, George, and things like that, like,
[17:58.560 -> 17:59.400] George!
[17:59.400 -> 18:00.240] That.
[18:00.240 -> 18:01.060] Yeah.
[18:01.060 -> 18:03.280] That's amazing for fans, isn't it?
[18:03.280 -> 18:04.660] And then also it helps, I think,
[18:04.660 -> 18:06.440] then when real life racing
[18:06.440 -> 18:13.080] begins there's an even more bigger connection to you. Did you notice that on your sort of
[18:13.080 -> 18:14.080] social channels?
[18:14.080 -> 18:19.760] Yes, it took off like they called it the Twitch quartet or whatever I think it was because
[18:19.760 -> 18:25.680] yes we've raced each other since we were you know kids and we've spent a lot of our time with
[18:25.680 -> 18:28.640] each other, being teammates or just hanging out with each other.
[18:28.640 -> 18:34.520] So like you said, it was normal for us and then truthfully, even during that time, when
[18:34.520 -> 18:39.480] we are streaming, at least for me, I was so in the moment of streaming, I didn't really,
[18:39.480 -> 18:40.880] there was no filter towards anything.
[18:40.880 -> 18:45.600] It was almost like you were just talking to them like you would normally without
[18:45.600 -> 18:50.320] anything being there. You only realise there's a lot of people watching you, but that kind of gets
[18:50.320 -> 18:56.080] lost in the whole gaming side to everything and when you're shouting George or whatever,
[18:56.960 -> 19:04.160] that stuff kind of dissipates and you don't think about it. But yes, it was quite surprising.
[19:04.160 -> 19:06.720] I think it's mostly opened, I don't know
[19:06.720 -> 19:12.280] about you guys, but I think it's opened up everyone's eyes to the power of online gaming,
[19:12.280 -> 19:17.220] esports, and you know, when you listen to these numbers coming in that, you know, kids,
[19:17.220 -> 19:23.640] they watch more esports than real sports. It's no surprise to some extent that our social
[19:23.640 -> 19:26.160] media numbers get picked up quite aggressively
[19:26.160 -> 19:29.600] from that because obviously all the kids are on social media these days. But it's
[19:30.960 -> 19:35.920] crazy to think, you know, this is the new wave coming in. As a sport, I think it's amazing.
[19:35.920 -> 19:44.080] During the virtual GP, my teammate for one race was Sergio Aguero. And if he played FIFA with me,
[19:44.080 -> 19:45.400] I don't think he would be much better than
[19:45.400 -> 19:48.840] me at FIFA. Maybe he is, maybe he's a master at FIFA. We'll have to find out now maybe.
[19:48.840 -> 19:53.440] Exactly, but there's not that relationship where no matter how good he
[19:53.440 -> 19:59.880] is with a football he can't show that on a PlayStation where for us when
[19:59.880 -> 20:03.680] we're driving simulators of course we might not be as good as the professional
[20:03.680 -> 20:08.240] esports guys but a lot of what we do translate to what we race. You know, we've got a
[20:08.240 -> 20:13.440] steering wheel, a seat, a pedals, and we've got most of what we need to drive quickly.
[20:13.440 -> 20:17.560] We understand the racing line and all that kind of thing, and the limit. So it
[20:17.560 -> 20:22.000] translates very well, which is quite a unique sport to be in. I don't think
[20:22.000 -> 20:28.640] there's, unless you're playing Wii Sports, playing golf or something, there's no other real comparison towards it where you can
[20:28.640 -> 20:34.400] directly have real-world athletes being able to do, to be quick or to do well, you
[20:34.400 -> 20:38.560] know, in a virtual world. Exactly, and Liam, you I think joined the Virtual Pro Series
[20:38.560 -> 20:44.640] slightly after Alex, but you raced with us for a few of the races. How did you
[20:44.640 -> 20:45.240] enjoy it? And you obviously, I think, built a few of the races. How did you enjoy it?
[20:45.240 -> 20:48.520] And you obviously, I think, built a bit of a relationship
[20:48.520 -> 20:52.080] with some of our eSports team as well during that.
[20:52.080 -> 20:54.280] Talk us a little bit about your experience.
[20:54.280 -> 20:58.960] I did the China race and I did it with AlphaTauri.
[20:58.960 -> 21:00.120] So I was with Alex.
[21:00.120 -> 21:03.580] That was the first time I'd spoken to Alex.
[21:09.600 -> 21:15.120] And it was fun. it was really cool. I had no idea what to expect doing it, I was just racing from home. The biggest issue was I was racing in New Zealand
[21:15.120 -> 21:21.520] so I had like 300 ping and so racing people was just ridiculous. I had to leave five car widths
[21:21.520 -> 21:25.120] of space for every single car otherwise I just got like pinged off.
[21:25.120 -> 21:30.000] And it was, so the start of the race was just, I spun three times on the first lap trying to
[21:30.000 -> 21:38.400] avoid cars, but it was cool, it was fun to do. And yeah, I think I did a session with one of the
[21:38.400 -> 21:46.240] eSports drivers to learn everything and I like, I could not believe how far off they how far off I was when I started
[21:46.240 -> 21:51.200] like it's really it is a skill to drive like especially on the f1 game is it's
[21:51.200 -> 21:56.560] like an extra skill to be quick on it so it definitely took a while but no I
[21:56.560 -> 22:00.240] really enjoyed it well I can't remember what the other one I did was I saw it was
[22:00.240 -> 22:06.260] Silverstone I was it again with you Alex? Yes, I think so. But the eSports drivers
[22:06.260 -> 22:13.440] qualified for us and to where we started and my eSports driver was Rasmussen and he didn't
[22:13.440 -> 22:18.360] do any practice so I started last for the race. I think he wanted to give you a challenge
[22:18.360 -> 22:24.280] didn't he? I'm guessing that's what it was. We obviously have seen you both be involved
[22:24.280 -> 22:27.080] in our Rubber Racing e Esports kit launch. Alex,
[22:27.080 -> 22:32.160] you were the man that launched the video and both of you were involved in that night.
[22:32.160 -> 22:35.280] That was during a sim day, obviously.
[22:35.280 -> 22:42.440] Do you follow the Rebel Racing Esports team much? They've obviously got the new series
[22:42.440 -> 22:46.240] of their F1 Esports Pro Championship launching on the 13th.
[22:46.240 -> 22:48.640] They're reigning champions again.
[22:48.640 -> 22:51.360] Yeah, I would say most probably not so much.
[22:52.640 -> 22:54.880] Most probably Liam's a bit more involved with it than I am.
[22:54.880 -> 22:58.240] But obviously I know how good we are at our Esports side.
[22:58.240 -> 23:01.280] I think we're pretty much the leaders in what we do.
[23:01.280 -> 23:09.000] So it's nice to see and I think you guys do a great job at promoting it. So I tend to see it socially as well and as I said
[23:09.000 -> 23:14.240] because I've driven it this game and I know kind of skill level they're at it's
[23:14.240 -> 23:18.360] really cool to see these guys performing at the top of their game. It's almost
[23:18.360 -> 23:23.600] unappreciated how good they are at these games like it's crazy how
[23:23.600 -> 23:30.080] much time they spend on them. Yeah what about you, Lim? Do you follow it much or are you similar to Alex, you can get time, you will?
[23:30.080 -> 23:36.480] I do, but obviously I know last year that we won the series and actually this year I went
[23:37.360 -> 23:43.280] into the factory and saw the new eSports arena, I think they call it.
[23:43.280 -> 23:44.480] Yeah, the eRena.
[23:44.480 -> 23:45.000] Yeah, eRena, sorry, yeah. And have you been in the e-arena yourself, Alex? Obviously, it's a pretty cool place.
[23:45.000 -> 23:46.000] I have.
[23:46.000 -> 23:47.000] It's very cool.
[23:47.000 -> 23:48.000] I think once COVID opens up, especially, and we can get more of the e-sports guys coming
[23:48.000 -> 23:49.000] in and using it as a proper facility to train in, and of course, for you guys to get more
[23:49.000 -> 23:50.000] content, that would be really, really cool.
[23:50.000 -> 23:51.000] But the place itself, it's really impressive, obviously, top of the end stuff.
[23:51.000 -> 23:52.000] So is that you saying that you're going to be in the e-arena?
[23:52.000 -> 23:53.000] Yeah, I'm going to be in the e-arena.
[23:53.000 -> 23:54.000] I'm going to be in the e-arena.
[23:54.000 -> 23:55.000] I'm going to be in the e-arena.
[23:55.000 -> 23:56.000] I'm going to be in the e-arena.
[23:56.000 -> 23:57.000] I'm going to be in the e-arena.
[23:57.000 -> 23:58.000] I'm going to be in the e-arena.
[23:58.000 -> 23:59.000] I'm going to be in the e-arena.
[23:59.000 -> 24:00.000] I'm going to be in the e-arena.
[24:00.000 -> 24:01.000] I'm going to be in the e-arena.
[24:01.000 -> 24:02.000] I'm going to be in the e-arena.
[24:02.000 -> 24:03.000] I'm going to be in the e-arena.
[24:03.000 -> 24:04.000] I'm going to be in the e-arena.
[24:04.000 -> 24:08.380] I'm going to be in the e-arena. I'm going to be in the e-arena. I'm going to be in the e-arena. I'm going to be in the e-arena. I'm going to be in the of course for you guys get more content that'll be really really cool but the place itself it's really impressive obviously top of the
[24:08.380 -> 24:12.740] end stuff. So is that you saying then that you and Liam want to come into the
[24:12.740 -> 24:16.180] arena and race against the guys when they can? Is that what I gather from that?
[24:16.180 -> 24:22.560] No no no no because it's honestly frustrating to race against them. What I find
[24:22.560 -> 24:26.500] tricky is like it's hard to know how they get
[24:26.500 -> 24:31.900] their lap time because the game itself is actually quite easy to be quick like
[24:31.900 -> 24:36.380] quite quick straight away it's easy to get within let's say half a second
[24:36.380 -> 24:42.140] four tenths I could be like top 20 on the leaderboard if I practice enough but
[24:42.140 -> 24:45.560] then to go to like firstly they don't even post
[24:45.560 -> 24:48.960] their lap times on the leaderboard so you never actually see what lap times
[24:48.960 -> 24:52.200] they can do I don't know why they do it it's like real racing where they're
[24:52.200 -> 24:56.240] hiding their pace for the for the tournaments and they hide their setups
[24:56.240 -> 25:02.320] and all that kind of thing but then when you go to to find the extra four tenths
[25:02.320 -> 25:07.080] it's like it's like black magic and it's
[25:07.080 -> 25:13.200] frustrating. It's insane how fast like and like when I did the when I did the
[25:13.200 -> 25:19.120] test day and I was following the eSports driver I was just like watching him like
[25:19.120 -> 25:24.440] drive away from me and I was like how is this happening like I'm driving so good
[25:24.440 -> 25:25.440] right now I'm not missing
[25:25.440 -> 25:31.040] any apexes I'm like using all the grip and he's still driving away from me I know it's insane
[25:31.040 -> 25:36.720] so we sort of spoke about the the launch you uh I think did you both play rocket league
[25:37.440 -> 25:43.600] on that did you be a rocket what's a great game that is a great game that is a really good game
[25:43.680 -> 25:50.640] what's a great game that is a great game that is a really good game I hate that game so much like it's the worst man when you're with your friends and it's like and
[25:50.640 -> 25:56.160] you're just messing like late nights and it's like you guys you're all rubbish
[25:56.160 -> 26:01.880] like every the other teams useless as well and it's just chaos it's so much
[26:01.880 -> 26:06.400] fun and actually you guys got like the red ball f1 cars in the game
[26:06.400 -> 26:11.920] which is quite cool why do you why do you dislike it liam what's the reason in that i suck at it
[26:11.920 -> 26:19.520] like i i am so so so bad at this game and to be fair when i've played it i've played it on 300 ping
[26:19.520 -> 26:25.780] normally as well like when we played it at home i was on 300 ping again and yeah yeah and
[26:25.780 -> 26:29.500] I'm like I'm like hitting the ball and nothing's happening so it's just a
[26:29.500 -> 26:33.860] frustrating situation to be in but I don't know maybe if I played more and
[26:33.860 -> 26:39.060] got better at the game I would like it more. Yeah probably I mean I guess it's
[26:39.060 -> 26:43.220] so different to what you're doing as well that's why it's enjoyable or maybe
[26:43.220 -> 26:49.560] not enjoyable I don't know same with all gaming I guess it's why it's enjoyable or maybe not enjoyable, I don't know. Same with all gaming I guess, it's so far away from what you're doing and it can help
[26:49.560 -> 26:53.720] you get out of that zone of whatever you're in, even if you know had a
[26:53.720 -> 26:57.520] weekend you want to forget it, it can help you forget that can't it gaming?
[26:57.520 -> 27:03.880] It can do, it can do yes, like it's a good escape from everything I think. Also you
[27:03.880 -> 27:05.800] know drivers, a lot of people, I don't do it, but there's a good escape from everything. I think also, you know, drivers, a lot of people,
[27:05.800 -> 27:08.200] I don't do it, but there's a lot of drivers that take,
[27:08.200 -> 27:10.400] you know, a console with them or something.
[27:10.400 -> 27:12.620] It's a good way to kind of relax.
[27:12.620 -> 27:16.040] I mean, even, you know, Max is a good example of that.
[27:16.040 -> 27:17.800] There's some cases where like,
[27:17.800 -> 27:20.320] like five minutes before qualifying
[27:20.320 -> 27:23.880] and he's playing FIFA or whatever, he's taking,
[27:23.880 -> 27:25.000] he loves it, he loves it.
[27:25.000 -> 27:28.000] But it's good because it gets him away from the distractions.
[27:28.000 -> 27:31.000] You know, we've got so much media, so much everything
[27:31.000 -> 27:35.000] and you can get lost in that kind of circus
[27:35.000 -> 27:40.000] and it's nice to slow things down and do things that you enjoy
[27:40.000 -> 27:43.000] that you can kind of distance yourself away from it all.
[27:43.000 -> 27:44.000] Well yeah, I think that's it.
[27:44.000 -> 27:49.080] So thank you very much, both of you, for your time.
[27:49.160 -> 27:51.320] Best of luck the rest of the season
[27:51.320 -> 27:56.320] in all the different areas of motorsport you're in.
[27:56.320 -> 27:57.160] Thank you.
[27:57.160 -> 27:58.600] Thank you very much, and hopefully-
[27:58.600 -> 28:00.720] What a sensational interview.
[28:00.720 -> 28:01.560] Thank you, thank you.
[28:01.560 -> 28:03.160] That's very kind of you, Alex.
[28:05.120 -> 28:08.600] Well done, boys. Can't wait to see more of you on the virtual track.
[28:08.600 -> 28:13.000] Next up, Steve spoke to British driver and Red Bull legend Sebastian Job.
[28:13.000 -> 28:18.400] He's one of our Red Bull Racing e-sports drivers, and will be making the switch to F1
[28:18.400 -> 28:20.960] e-sports this year. Over to you, chaps.
[28:21.360 -> 28:26.360] Sebastian Job, welcome to the Talking bull podcast. How are you doing
[28:26.360 -> 28:32.120] today? Yeah, well, thanks for having me on. I'm good. I'm good. We just finished a morning
[28:32.120 -> 28:38.880] session of practice. I'm a little bit tired from that. But yeah, same as always. So yeah,
[28:38.880 -> 28:43.080] good to be here. Obviously, you just said then that you finished your morning practice
[28:43.080 -> 28:45.200] for you know, those our sort of rebel racing
[28:45.200 -> 28:51.760] Honda fans aren't aware you're the 2020 Porsche Tag Heuer eSports Super Cup champion which is
[28:52.400 -> 28:59.840] may I say an incredibly impressive feat to have by your name but this year you're moving into
[28:59.840 -> 29:06.840] the world of F1 eSports can you talk talk a little bit about that transition from racing in PESC
[29:06.840 -> 29:11.800] and iRacing to the world of F1 eSports and how have you done and what's the sort of practice
[29:11.800 -> 29:15.000] that you've done today consist of to help you make that change?
[29:15.000 -> 29:27.280] The first big change was that there's quite a few more of us practicing for this competition. When it was in the Porsche Super Cup it was, we
[29:27.280 -> 29:31.760] had a bit of a smaller team but now there's there's a good big group of us
[29:31.760 -> 29:36.260] and it means that we're practicing, we're all on at the same time every day. We
[29:36.260 -> 29:39.320] have a schedule that we're sticking to which we I've had in the past but when
[29:39.320 -> 29:47.920] there's a big group of you I think it's quite quite a big change and it's really nice. The driving side is completely
[29:47.920 -> 29:55.200] different. I've had to basically do a complete 180 on my driving style. I'm still learning now to be
[29:55.200 -> 30:01.280] honest and you know the season starts in a week and a half and I'm still learning something every
[30:01.280 -> 30:05.120] day so I'd like to get to the point where I'm not learning anymore but I
[30:05.120 -> 30:10.720] think you always are really even in a few years I'll still be learning. Yeah there's been a huge
[30:10.720 -> 30:15.920] change in driving so I'm having to be a lot smoother initially coming onto the throttle then
[30:16.640 -> 30:26.560] my braking has to be a lot harder initially but then the trailing off has to be incredibly precise in order to avoid any lockups.
[30:26.560 -> 30:32.680] It's a big change in driving style. On iRacing I had a relatively aggressive driving style,
[30:32.680 -> 30:39.320] I like to use myself to make the car get loose and on this I'm very... it feels like I'm
[30:39.320 -> 30:47.920] having to hold myself back in a way, it's quite odd feeling but I've learned a lot to be honest and some
[30:47.920 -> 30:51.120] stuff I can carry over to iRacing I think.
[30:51.120 -> 30:58.720] But yeah, switching from games is a big transition, I've been driving this game for I think almost
[30:58.720 -> 31:09.280] half a year now, at least intensely for a couple of and I'm still Adjusting because it's not not easy and when the level of the competition is so high and I've gone from
[31:09.600 -> 31:13.520] What in my eyes is the most competitive series on iRacing to now?
[31:14.520 -> 31:18.540] Undoubtedly the most competitive series on f1 and that in my opinion
[31:18.540 -> 31:22.440] Those are the two most competitive series and the whole of sim racing. So it's it's
[31:23.160 -> 31:24.720] It's quite
[31:24.720 -> 31:27.360] Quite a task to swap over and get used to it.
[31:27.360 -> 31:32.520] Yeah I can imagine and you said obviously you've had to completely relearn I guess
[31:32.520 -> 31:37.520] how to sim race. How do you do that? Do you have to take it all the way back to
[31:37.520 -> 31:43.040] basics? Is it right I know I'm good on iRacing so let me jump into F1 eSports
[31:43.040 -> 31:45.440] and see how I can get and then get some advice
[31:45.440 -> 31:50.200] from there. How does that learning phase begin I guess?
[31:50.200 -> 31:56.320] So luckily I've got the best team in the world to support me. They won the championship last
[31:56.320 -> 32:02.100] year so I have the best drivers to learn from. I can ask them for advice, I can record a
[32:02.100 -> 32:06.240] lap upload it and then see what they think of it, get some small
[32:06.240 -> 32:14.960] pointers and then also I'm quite self-critical luckily, so if I do watch back a lap I'm like
[32:14.960 -> 32:19.640] being quite harsh on myself like oh that was terrible through there, but then I will also
[32:19.640 -> 32:24.920] take note of what was good and then you have to look at it, why was this good, why did
[32:24.920 -> 32:30.360] the car suddenly turn a bit better this lap, and then you have to look at it, why was this good, why did the car suddenly turn a bit better this lap and then you have to start looking into the braking,
[32:30.360 -> 32:35.240] you know, maybe look into the telemetry, oh my brakes like 10% less this lap and it made
[32:35.240 -> 32:41.080] the tyres not overheat as much for example or it just gave me some really good rotation
[32:41.080 -> 32:45.520] because of that and then I have to try and emulate it and
[32:45.520 -> 32:49.080] that's I think where the biggest problem comes from because to emulate stuff in this game
[32:49.080 -> 32:55.320] you have to be very precise. When you're swapping game you've lost this confidence that you
[32:55.320 -> 32:58.960] had on the previous game where on Aria Sing I felt like I could just do everything the
[32:58.960 -> 33:04.420] same every lap without fail and it was like this, you just feel it within yourself that
[33:04.420 -> 33:05.480] you can just do
[33:05.480 -> 33:09.320] whatever you want and the car will respond how you know and then you swap
[33:09.320 -> 33:13.000] to another game and you it's like you don't have that confidence because you
[33:13.000 -> 33:17.080] don't know what the car might do because you've not driven thousands of hours on
[33:17.080 -> 33:23.340] this game and you don't see you've got a kind of learned that and it's building
[33:23.340 -> 33:26.080] up that confidence again and then yeah
[33:26.080 -> 33:30.440] just looking at the small details like even today I realized going into term 1
[33:30.440 -> 33:35.960] for Bahrain I was braking a little bit too aggressively in the past and so I've
[33:35.960 -> 33:39.640] released the brake a little bit sooner now or started to come off the brake a
[33:39.640 -> 33:43.840] bit sooner and because of that the car is now starting to rotate into the apex
[33:43.840 -> 33:47.860] a bit earlier I can then brake later in general because of it and also get a bit
[33:47.860 -> 33:51.200] earlier in a throttle just because the car is turning really well in the middle
[33:51.200 -> 33:57.400] of the corner and I gained like not even half a tenth from doing that but it's
[33:57.400 -> 34:01.880] like these small margins that you you you're looking for that add up over the
[34:01.880 -> 34:05.140] lap yeah it's yeah it's a long process but it is
[34:05.140 -> 34:09.540] rewarding when you do figure stuff out like that. Yeah I can imagine and even
[34:09.540 -> 34:16.020] though obviously this is your first year in F1 Esports I understand that you set
[34:16.020 -> 34:21.060] a world record around Albert Park in a DHL time trial but obviously taking over
[34:21.060 -> 34:25.200] a lot of your talent and converted it very quickly into the new game though
[34:25.200 -> 34:30.320] even though you are learning. Yeah I think that was a pretty good lap to be fair but I still wasn't
[34:30.320 -> 34:36.800] very happy with it which is quite crazy like I just drove that combination so much to make sure
[34:36.800 -> 34:42.000] I absolutely was going to qualify because we didn't have a leaderboard to compare so I was just
[34:42.640 -> 34:47.800] driving the track non-stop every day for probably like a week
[34:47.800 -> 34:52.540] or two if I remember right and so yeah I ended up setting the world record and even after
[34:52.540 -> 34:56.880] like two weeks of driving the same track I still wasn't happy with the lap and I think
[34:56.880 -> 35:08.240] if I went back now hopefully I would be able to improve on it but yeah it's a lot. I think the majority of the skills come over but it's it's one thing to set a lap in
[35:08.760 -> 35:12.440] in time trial mode, you know where you're just hot lapping over and over and then it's a
[35:13.240 -> 35:17.860] Completely other thing to do it when it matters in a qualifying session where you only have
[35:18.440 -> 35:24.320] three laps or four laps in total probably throughout the whole full qualifying and
[35:24.280 -> 35:25.160] four laps in total probably throughout the whole full qualifying and
[35:31.320 -> 35:32.080] You know you have these gaps in between you and it's it's all about nailing it when it matters in in time trial. I've got
[35:33.800 -> 35:37.520] hundreds of laps hundreds of attempts if I if I mess up turn one I just restart and
[35:38.600 -> 35:42.000] It's pretty easy to get a decent lap by doing that eventually
[35:42.720 -> 35:49.200] But with this is the consistency. I can't do it every lap as much as I would want to whereas someone like freddy
[35:49.680 -> 35:50.640] He is
[35:50.640 -> 35:54.560] Nailing every corner every single time and that's why he's so good on this game
[35:55.040 -> 36:00.000] I'm, not i'm not really sure what to expect for the season because I know I don't have that quite there
[36:00.240 -> 36:02.240] And I know it's not going to come for
[36:02.800 -> 36:05.360] A long time. It's just something you build over time.
[36:05.360 -> 36:10.600] So it will be, yeah, I'm trying not to set my, set any targets or season just because of that.
[36:11.040 -> 36:14.280] Because I know there's something missing and I know I'll get there eventually,
[36:14.480 -> 36:19.280] but it's just something that comes with time and you can't really rush that process, I think.
[36:19.280 -> 36:23.960] Obviously this year you're racing for the Scuderia AlphaTauri F1 eSports team.
[36:25.440 -> 36:30.040] you're racing for the Scuderia Alfa Tauri F1 eSports team, although you're part of Rebel Racing eSports, which means the relationship is all under one
[36:30.040 -> 36:33.640] roof with the Rebel Racing eSports team, isn't it? And like you said with Freddie
[36:33.640 -> 36:38.720] and Marcel, you briefly sort of mentioned it, but how much do those drivers, and
[36:38.720 -> 36:42.560] Jonny as well, he's obviously part of your team and Alfa Tauri, how do those
[36:42.560 -> 36:46.080] guys help you? Because obviously they're trying
[36:46.080 -> 36:51.280] to learn themselves, aren't they? They're trying to improve, but as you're all one part of one team
[36:51.280 -> 36:57.520] and we know here at Red Bull Racing that you're all incredibly close, do they take the time out
[36:57.520 -> 37:03.440] of their day to help you take that next step? Yeah, absolutely. I mean, whenever we're
[37:03.440 -> 37:05.280] practicing, if someone hits a really good
[37:05.280 -> 37:10.080] lap, often I'll be straight there like, can you record that please? Like, I want to see what you
[37:10.080 -> 37:15.360] did. And that every time, you know, I'll get a replay and I can have a look. And if I upload a
[37:15.360 -> 37:22.720] lap, often it's not even to ask for help, I'll just upload a lap to show someone else what I did.
[37:22.720 -> 37:28.480] But then I'll get feedback on it, like, oh, do this and then I go and try it and I get a little bit of time
[37:29.000 -> 37:32.240] We we have used telemetry quite a bit as well
[37:32.240 -> 37:37.720] I think that that's pretty helpful to have especially when I first started the game. I used it more
[37:38.200 -> 37:42.480] We were doing some Vietnam on last year's game and I was
[37:43.160 -> 37:45.160] comparing telemetry to Freddy and it was like I
[37:45.840 -> 37:50.040] Quickly identified some big problems that I was carrying over from iRacing
[37:50.600 -> 37:53.020] Because that was the first track I did when I swapped
[37:54.320 -> 38:01.400] So yeah, I you know, we're all practicing together. I think also just having a big group. It makes practice a lot more fun
[38:02.120 -> 38:04.800] You know, we're kind of all joking about most of the time
[38:04.600 -> 38:09.480] practice a lot more fun. You know we're kind of all joking about most of the time, well you know we go serious whenever the lap starts but you know
[38:09.480 -> 38:13.160] you got your out laps and while you're in the pit lane and you know you can
[38:13.160 -> 38:19.600] just talk amongst each other but the you know as far as working together goes I
[38:19.600 -> 38:24.160] think we're a really good group to be honest and I think that's the key to it
[38:24.160 -> 38:28.400] and there's no egos that are saying, oh you can't have this lap.
[38:28.400 -> 38:33.240] I don't want to show you what I'm doing here or what not. Everyone is there to help each other
[38:33.600 -> 38:37.960] because if we can have as many cars in the front we can help each other out and
[38:38.960 -> 38:45.360] you know, that's the goal. It is at the end of a day a team championship and I think we're all pretty aware of that.
[38:46.320 -> 38:52.960] Definitely and I think as well that obviously we're still in a world of which we were in 2020
[38:52.960 -> 38:59.280] with you know coronavirus and the travel restrictions. You've not actually been able
[38:59.280 -> 39:11.000] to come to the Red Bull Racing eSports Arena either have you to practice together. Is that make things harder when you're trying to do it all virtually or is that I suppose just part
[39:11.000 -> 39:15.280] of the world that that we live in and actually with eSports it's all virtual
[39:15.280 -> 39:18.960] that you can help each other quickly like that or do you think you'd have
[39:18.960 -> 39:22.960] improved quicker maybe if you were in the arena with all the guys together?
[39:22.960 -> 39:28.720] It's actually there's two sides to it really because on one hand, you know practicing at home
[39:29.160 -> 39:34.680] your equipment is the same and you're not having to like when you go to the arena
[39:34.680 -> 39:39.680] it might be slightly off and you have to readjust things and maybe something feels a tiny bit off and you get used to that
[39:39.680 -> 39:46.240] over time but at first it's maybe a day or two to transition so you can avoid that but at the same
[39:46.240 -> 39:53.440] time being there in person with everyone is like it's a lot more fun it's it's nice to be able to
[39:53.440 -> 40:00.080] go out for dinner in the evenings and just chat about the day and whatnot and then just if you
[40:00.080 -> 40:05.460] know you're practicing in person you can just easily go and watch someone's
[40:05.460 -> 40:06.700] lap or something.
[40:06.700 -> 40:12.100] And also at the arena there's a lot of extra data that we can pull up I'm pretty sure.
[40:12.100 -> 40:17.900] I've not been able to use it really yet, but from what I've heard, you know, we can have
[40:17.900 -> 40:22.740] someone's feed on the main screen, we can have their telemetry up and whatnot.
[40:22.740 -> 40:25.040] And so I think it's a bit of a shame we've not been
[40:25.040 -> 40:30.140] able to use it yet but hopefully in the future we can. I've been there, I've seen
[40:30.140 -> 40:35.720] it but not really been able to use it as such but it would be nice to kind of
[40:35.720 -> 40:40.760] have everyone there working together I think it would you know make things even
[40:40.760 -> 40:47.080] better. It's already, we're already having a good time as it is but you know it can always be a bit better and I think that would be awesome
[40:47.080 -> 40:52.280] if we could do it. You said how strong a relationship you've built and Liam
[40:52.280 -> 40:57.640] Lawson was saying when we spoke to him earlier about how it's eSports has
[40:57.640 -> 41:00.880] actually kept him in touch with his friends in New Zealand at a time that he
[41:00.880 -> 41:08.880] can't travel. How amazing is the eS sports community in terms of how you all get on and build relationships at times maybe when it's
[41:08.880 -> 41:13.400] hard to maintain relationships in the real world? The thing is this as a job
[41:13.400 -> 41:18.220] can if you're not careful it could be a very lonely job in a way because at the
[41:18.220 -> 41:22.840] end of the day you are you're in your own house in your own room normally just
[41:22.840 -> 41:29.680] sat behind a screen for quite a while and if you don't have a supportive people about and teammates that you're
[41:29.680 -> 41:34.440] close to it could become very lonely quite quickly I think that's where we
[41:34.440 -> 41:39.600] kind of come into our own I know Marcel in the past said the difference between
[41:39.600 -> 41:43.720] where he is now in this team and where he's been in other teams where it wasn't
[41:43.720 -> 41:45.460] as friendly it makes such a difference
[41:45.460 -> 41:52.120] And like his driving has gone up another level since because of that because he's just so much more comfortable
[41:53.120 -> 41:58.400] You know, it's in a better environment. You're happier and you're more motivated to practice because of that
[41:58.920 -> 42:01.980] And like I said, like if you're on your own
[42:02.620 -> 42:05.120] Not talking to anyone every day,
[42:05.120 -> 42:07.520] and just, you know, obviously you've got people
[42:07.520 -> 42:09.040] to talk to at other times,
[42:09.040 -> 42:11.000] but throughout the day while you're practicing,
[42:11.000 -> 42:13.000] it can get pretty boring and demotivating
[42:13.000 -> 42:14.320] if you're on your own.
[42:14.320 -> 42:16.680] And so I think having those good relationships
[42:16.680 -> 42:19.240] really makes it quite helpful.
[42:19.240 -> 42:22.840] And you know, I don't think, out of the gut,
[42:22.840 -> 42:26.500] yeah, everyone else is in a different country in our team at the moment
[42:26.500 -> 42:30.320] And so the fact that I'm like just talking to them every day
[42:30.680 -> 42:34.800] They're like in different time zones and but we're all practicing together
[42:35.640 -> 42:42.280] It's it's quite cool to have that and then when you do finally meet them in person like I saw Marcel at Silverstone
[42:42.920 -> 42:46.080] Earlier on this year it was great to you know have a catch up and
[42:46.080 -> 42:52.080] basically spend a weekend together like in person just kind of chilling and having banter all the
[42:52.080 -> 42:59.280] time and it's just like over Discord like we normally do but in person so it's yeah it's
[42:59.280 -> 43:04.880] really cool. Does that make you look forward to getting all of the team in the arena together
[43:04.880 -> 43:05.480] then because I'm sure it's yeah but it will happen at some point that's going to be something you're Does that make you look forward to getting all of the team in the e-Rena together then?
[43:05.480 -> 43:09.080] Because I'm sure it will happen at some point and that's got to be something you're all
[43:09.080 -> 43:10.480] pretty excited for.
[43:10.480 -> 43:15.640] Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I've heard the stories of like when they were boot camping, I think
[43:15.640 -> 43:21.160] it was Twickenham last year, or maybe it was the year before actually. And they were all,
[43:21.160 -> 43:25.100] you know, going out for dinner in the evenings chilling and I was
[43:25.100 -> 43:29.020] I was quite jealous because when I was doing iRacing we didn't have a big team
[43:29.020 -> 43:33.020] for that so I'm kind of looking forward to being able to be part of that
[43:33.020 -> 43:40.220] hopefully for next year and maybe even the later events this year but yeah I'm
[43:40.220 -> 43:43.620] definitely looking forward to it because I think it kind of brings the team
[43:43.620 -> 43:48.000] closer together as well if you do that and then you're just going to perform better on track as well.
[43:48.960 -> 43:54.960] Definitely and how important is it in, like you said in esports, it can be a lonely world so how
[43:55.760 -> 44:03.600] important is it to get that separation of right now I'm training between x hours and this hour
[44:03.600 -> 44:05.520] but now it's actually time for me to get away,
[44:05.520 -> 44:07.920] get away out of the room that I've been practicing in.
[44:07.920 -> 44:16.400] Because I suppose that's the other thing, isn't it? A lot of you guys, your rig is in your bedroom, perhaps.
[44:16.400 -> 44:20.240] So how important is it to remove yourself from that space to just sort of chill?
[44:20.800 -> 44:27.760] Yeah, it's I think a really understated factor to be honest. I think in this team we're quite
[44:27.760 -> 44:35.600] aware of it. Unless it's the weekend before the race, we're normally taking the weekends
[44:35.600 -> 44:50.600] off and we're not touching the game really. Unless it's something we want to try out on our own because you do get very tired from driving every day. This year I've learned
[44:50.600 -> 44:56.600] kind of a new way to practice or to the extent of which I can actually practice without burning
[44:56.600 -> 45:01.340] myself up because on iRacing I didn't have as much of a schedule whereas this year we're
[45:01.340 -> 45:05.000] driving 6 hours a day minimum uh...
[45:05.000 -> 45:07.280] from like monday to friday and then
[45:07.280 -> 45:08.280] if it's
[45:08.280 -> 45:11.720] if there's something coming up will be driving on the weekend as well
[45:11.720 -> 45:14.100] on our side i can never do that much but
[45:14.100 -> 45:15.840] now i have
[45:15.840 -> 45:19.840] these the schedule i know it's like a nine to five job almost and then i've
[45:19.840 -> 45:20.400] got
[45:20.400 -> 45:21.280] this
[45:21.280 -> 45:24.560] khana it's bad to say it's on the looking forward to the evening when i
[45:24.560 -> 45:30.480] can finally stop driving because I know I've then earned the right to kind of go out and
[45:30.480 -> 45:37.400] relax and you know I've put in the hard work that day. Whereas I think if you don't have
[45:37.400 -> 45:41.520] a schedule then you then might be like oh I kind of want to drive in the evenings and
[45:41.520 -> 45:45.000] what not and then you kind of, you end up spending a lot of time on
[45:45.000 -> 45:50.040] the computer when you need to go and take a break and you know you might not
[45:50.040 -> 45:55.440] notice it first but I think it does add up you know you do get mentally fatigued
[45:55.440 -> 46:03.640] and bored as well you know you can spend too much time on it and then your
[46:03.640 -> 46:05.280] performance is going to drop, you're not going
[46:05.280 -> 46:10.040] to want to drive, the motivation is gone, now you're not practicing as much and everything
[46:10.040 -> 46:14.840] just drops because you lose your rhythm, you lose your confidence.
[46:14.840 -> 46:21.720] So it's a very important thing to balance this and I think there's something you kind
[46:21.720 -> 46:29.120] of gain from experience because you mess it up in the past and then you learn like next year okay I'm not gonna do this as much I'm
[46:29.120 -> 46:32.920] pretty sure I've heard the guys mention a few times like last year they at times
[46:32.920 -> 46:37.320] they they think they drove a little bit too much and they start over driving
[46:37.320 -> 46:42.600] especially Yanni he's mentioned that he was starting to overdrive last year so
[46:42.600 -> 46:45.920] he knows when to tone it back a bit this year.
[46:45.920 -> 46:50.480] And it's just kind of learning that from experience helps.
[46:50.480 -> 46:52.600] But yeah, it's a very important factor.
[46:52.600 -> 46:55.240] I think probably there are some people
[46:55.240 -> 46:57.720] coming into the series that aren't gonna quite realize that
[46:57.720 -> 46:59.200] and maybe overwork themselves
[46:59.200 -> 47:01.880] and miss out on pace because of it.
[47:01.880 -> 47:03.880] You've said that having the experience
[47:03.880 -> 47:04.720] with the team around you
[47:04.720 -> 47:05.120] will certainly help you prepare yourself. out on pace because of it. You've said that having the experience with the team around you will
[47:05.120 -> 47:12.080] certainly help you prepare yourself and obviously 13th of October the first round kicks off in
[47:12.080 -> 47:17.600] Bahrain. What are your expectations? Have you set yourself a goal? Is that the way you
[47:18.240 -> 47:27.920] you sort of operate or are you more I'll go in and see how it goes? Yeah I'm honestly I'm really not sure at all. I want to
[47:27.920 -> 47:33.200] set myself goals because it's always nice to achieve your goals but at the same time I genuinely
[47:33.200 -> 47:38.400] have no idea it could go really well or it could go really badly and because I've never raced in
[47:38.400 -> 47:45.400] this series before I've done a bit of league racing to prepare myself, but that has been quite inconsistent
[47:45.400 -> 47:48.720] It's either been a pretty good result or it's been a DNF basically
[47:49.640 -> 47:51.220] so
[47:51.220 -> 47:58.540] Yeah, I'm not 100% sure what I'm aiming for is the 13th of the month and my car numbers 13
[47:58.540 -> 48:00.540] So hopefully that plays a bit of luck
[48:01.400 -> 48:05.760] Gives me a bit of extra luck, but the pace is really good to be honest.
[48:05.760 -> 48:11.040] I'm happy with it, it's just the consistency isn't quite there.
[48:11.040 -> 48:15.880] My PB's on every track I'm pretty happy with, maybe Austria, the third track, could be a
[48:15.880 -> 48:21.040] little bit better, but we've still got a week and a half to go, so I don't really want to
[48:21.040 -> 48:25.280] set any goals, but I'm just hoping to, you know, be somewhat near the front.
[48:25.280 -> 48:31.360] And once I get a feel for that first event, then I'll know where to aim for the rest of the season.
[48:32.560 -> 48:40.320] Yeah, and visualize now you're sat in your rig, ready to go. It's the first race for qualifying.
[48:41.040 -> 48:45.980] Talk to us a little bit about how you'll be feeling. Are you nice and calm?
[48:45.980 -> 48:49.120] Or is it gonna be nerves?
[48:49.120 -> 48:51.920] Like how do you feel ahead of a race?
[48:51.920 -> 48:53.080] I'm gonna be bricking it.
[48:53.080 -> 48:55.200] I'm always bricking it.
[48:55.200 -> 48:58.440] Even after two years or three years of racing
[48:58.440 -> 48:59.600] in the Porsche Super Cup,
[48:59.600 -> 49:02.400] I was still nervous before every race.
[49:02.400 -> 49:06.760] But I think, to be honest honest you can use those nerves and actually
[49:06.760 -> 49:11.140] make you drive a little bit better because you become a bit sharper with your reactions,
[49:11.140 -> 49:17.100] you're more like almost on edge. And as long as you control that it can be good. If your
[49:17.100 -> 49:22.360] whole body is shaking that's not good. If your foot's shaking you can't be smooth on
[49:22.360 -> 49:29.440] the throttle and brake. But yeah I know for know for a fact i'm gonna be very nervous but i think that's when i
[49:29.440 -> 49:36.800] drive my best even so uh fingers crossed it works out i'm not uh one of the problems i
[49:36.800 -> 49:42.400] have at the moment is kind of being unaware to certain features of the game and i have to
[49:42.400 -> 49:46.560] kind of learn those that's why i've done the league racing because i'm getting caught out unaware to certain features of the game and i have to and i learned those as well but not only gracing because
[49:46.560 -> 49:49.560] getting caught out by certain things like or maybe i didn't check the weather
[49:49.560 -> 49:54.200] beforehand i didn't have to do that on our seniors always dry
[49:54.200 -> 49:57.400] small things like that so i've got a i've got to make sure that even when i'm
[49:57.400 -> 49:59.880] nervous i'm still checking everything
[49:59.880 -> 50:03.120] making sure i'm not making any silly mistakes and
[50:03.120 -> 50:03.920] you know
[50:03.920 -> 50:07.000] messing up my chances because of that.
[50:09.320 -> 50:13.120] I think for a league race I did the other day I accidentally set my pressures wrong
[50:13.120 -> 50:18.160] at the start of the race and so my tyre wear was awful and it's small things like that
[50:18.160 -> 50:25.120] I've got to make sure I'm not doing because of nerves or running out of time and not checking stuff, so
[50:25.760 -> 50:27.700] Yeah, I'm sure I'm gonna be very nervous
[50:27.700 -> 50:33.400] But I think that's probably a good thing to be honest if you're not nervous you're probably not taking it seriously enough
[50:34.200 -> 50:39.320] Yeah, and I and I hundred percent agree with that. I think I think you're right with that theory and
[50:39.960 -> 50:42.240] Yeah, I suppose that leads me on to say that
[50:43.080 -> 50:45.820] Thank you very much for for coming on the Talking
[50:45.820 -> 50:53.680] Bull podcast. I'm very much looking forward to the 2021 F1 eSports Pro Championship and
[50:53.680 -> 50:59.440] I know everyone in Rebel Racing Honda will be supporting all six of you this series and
[50:59.440 -> 51:07.440] yeah we wish you all the best, Sebastian, and I hope you get off to a flyer 13th, number 13.
[51:08.080 -> 51:14.240] I mean, stars can align, can't they? Yeah, no, thank you very much. I've enjoyed this a lot,
[51:14.240 -> 51:18.720] and yeah, fingers crossed we get off to a good start. Yeah, I'll have to see how it goes, but
[51:18.720 -> 51:23.920] yeah, thank you for having me on, and I'll speak to you soon. Speak to you soon. Thanks, Seb.
[51:23.920 -> 51:25.100] Well done, boys. We know you'll, thanks Sam. Well done boys, we know
[51:25.100 -> 51:29.660] you'll smash it Sebastian. That's it for this eSports special edition of Talking
[51:29.660 -> 51:33.320] Ball. Make sure you keep in touch with the team on our socials and at
[51:33.320 -> 51:38.200] redbullracing.com. We'll be back soon with more on and off track action from the team.
[51:38.200 -> 51:41.860] Until then, take care.
[51:39.420 -> 51:41.480] you