F1 2025 Early & Bold Predictions (with a live audience)

[00:00:18] Yeah, let's go all crazy. Let's start off with our bold predictions. Why don't we call back a few of our friends? We unfortunately can't quite do the quiz. We only have an hour. We would like to try to maybe adjust that once we're done with the episode. And Sundaram F1 Stats Guru has sent over a message which we shall showcase once we're done with the recording. It's a shame we can't have him here. It really sucks. But we can still share all of our crazy opinions. So to do all of that and more, let's once again call upon Abhishek Takli, ladies and gentlemen.

[00:00:48] And also my beloved co-host on the podcast Kunal Shah to come up on stage. Why don't you guys join us? Why don't we bring in another chair? There it is. And for this segment guys, the most important thing is opinions. We saw a bit of that in the game. We need a lot more of that. Again, simple rule. If you raise your hand, a mic will come to you. And this is where we go crazy. Because I know so many of you have been a part of our F1 race screenings at social and all the other venues as well.

[00:01:18] The one thing we don't really get to do enough over there is talk to you guys about what we think about Formula 1, right? Because you haven't been seeing as many of them. But we struggle with that. Every single time we have a race screening, we only have 20 minutes before a race, 30 minutes after. Today we can go wild. Today we can unleash our opinions. What's the craziest opinion you're going to come up with, firstly? What should people have an opinion on today or on the show? Tell us more.

[00:01:45] I think banter is the first thing that you all should look out for because that's what we do very well. And today we're going to have banter filled with insights because Abhishek has kindly accepted the invitation to join this segment as well. But truth be told, you know, 2025, I really hope, is an extension of the 2024 Formula 1 season. A season for once that I did not want to end.

[00:02:14] I said this season has to continue. So we really hope that 2025 is an extension of that given how crazy pretty much every race was. You know, for once we ended up at a race weekend with complete unpredictability on who would be on pole, who would be winning, which team will get it right, which team will not. So that's what I really hope. And I hope our predictions are absolutely wrong by the end of it, which means we also, with all our wisdom, insight, experience in the sport, couldn't call it right.

[00:02:44] Yeah, exactly. And in this one, your opinion matters more than we do. We're just saying opinions because that's our opinion. We can then kickstart a conversation which we then want to flow on. And again, as we've mentioned, a mic will come to you. If it doesn't, I will come to you with a microphone and we should get the ball rolling. But the first thing we should start off with, because time is limited, is the question I love the most. Guys, who has the best driver lineup this year?

[00:03:16] Okay, okay. I think we are somewhat 50-50. I think a show of fans would be good. Why McLaren? Who's saying McLaren firstly? Can we have all the people supporting McLaren? Yamiri, you don't count. You always back McLaren to the hilt. She's biased, clearly. But no, why McLaren, Yamini? Why are Lando and Oscar better than Charles and Lewis? Basically, it's that driving style of both the drivers is almost the same.

[00:03:44] They give the same feedback, so they don't have to prioritize one driver over the other. And in Ferrari, you have Lewis, who is amazing. But he's still new to the team. And he's still new to the Ferrari engine. And new to the car. And Charles has been there, I don't know how many years now? Five, seven years. So, drivers like Lando and Oscar are basically the same.

[00:04:11] They have their ups and downs, but they're basically the same. Which is what a team wants. Are we not counting Carlos and Albon, guys? No. Where are they on your list, Abhishek? No. Among the best driver pairings. I would say they're the third best driver line-up. Third best? Fair enough? Fair enough? Higher. Higher. Akriti, what's your driver line-up list, if you have to pick one?

[00:04:42] Let's debate that. Let's debate that. This is a specific question. Well, let's get you the mic. Why do you think they're better than a driver pairing of Lewis and Charles, who have seven championships? 7.5? For either of them. I mean, I don't know if the appendix is the thing we'd be thinking about. I think, genuinely, if you're looking for a driver line-up to raise a team back to glory,

[00:05:11] they also have to be drivers who are hungry enough to do it. And I think both Sainz and Albon have that level of hunger. And they've got an excellent leader in James Walsh. And he finally is dealing with two people who actually understand the sport, rather than messing around with rookies a little bit. When it comes to McLaren, I think the whole papaya rules thing just puts me off. They would easily be my number one line-up if we weren't thinking papaya rules.

[00:05:41] For sure. And Hamilton and Leclerc can be in third. Okay. We're looking at the amount of experience, yes. But Ferrari does not know how to do number one, number two drivers. And Lewis doesn't know how to do number two driver. And Charles is not a main character in his own life anymore. So, you know, that's a very interesting point. Actually, that's one of the reasons why I wouldn't put Ferrari as my number.

[00:06:11] Actually, on Raw Talent, it would be. But that's a point to consider, right? Because Lewis and Charles, who really is the number one there? And I know Fred Visser would like to treat both of them as his son. His sons, rather. Because he's seen both of their careers from a very young age. But that's a genuine question. Who is the number one at Ferrari? And knowing Lewis, knowing how much he takes time and his approaches, make a mistake and then learn from it. I think that might be de facto going to Charles early on. But do you still think Ferrari have the best line-up,

[00:06:39] given the fact that there could be tensions? Even though they race each other very cleanly. Yeah, I think it's one of the best line-ups you could ask for. Leclerc is definitely one of the fastest on single lap pace. Nobody reads a race better than Lewis Hamilton. They will feed off each other. And having said that, you know, the number one driver usually is always the one who's the quickest. It's never decided at the start of the season. It's never de facto. You know, it's never a default setting.

[00:07:07] And I'd love to see Hamilton, you know, a driver of the past generation, if we may call it that. And Leclerc, who's a challenger of this generation. Go head-to-head. Because that's when Formula One gets interesting. When, you know, drivers from different generations are battling. And that's what's going to happen at Ferrari. Equal machinery. Let's hope LH44 doesn't keep talking of sabotage. Because that's what they do each time Lewis is not up there. Which often happens, like we said, you know, earlier on. Every driver is a human being also, after all.

[00:07:37] But Abhishek, I want to touch up on McLaren. Because Akriti has a point. Papaya Rules is something that helps out with the Constructors' Championship. But do you think it makes for two strong drivers? Because the way I see it, McLaren have 2.75s. But they don't have a number one. And Red Bull had a number one and they won this year. How do you see it? I mean, Red Bull had a number one because Checo decided not to show up. But he had a contract. Yeah, he had a contract. That's his favourite line.

[00:08:08] But I think McLaren, I see them as the strongest driver line-up. Because they're both at sort of similar stages of their career. McLaren is also on an upward trajectory. And they're all moving together towards that point. I think once they're properly in title contention and as well as, or as much as Norris sort of made a bid for the title this year. I don't think he was actually genuinely ever in contention.

[00:08:32] I think once McLaren is up there and, I mean, I think Max this year had, Red Bull had a great start of the year. I think if McLaren are in the mix from the start of the season, then we'll sort of probably see a number one and a number two emerge. But who has the best line-up then? McLaren. For me, McLaren. For you, McLaren? Yeah. How many of you think it's McLaren by a show of hands? Yeah, yeah. Okay. I'm going Ferrari. Anyone with me on this one? Clearly.

[00:09:01] And we have a couple of people with Williams. That's okay. And I find it incredible nobody's thinking of Alpine here. Or nobody's thinking of Haas. Or nobody's thinking of Mercedes. Well, we don't know what the Alpine driver line-up is going to be, Somers. That's a very valid point. The last question before we move on to each team in the Formula 1 and the FIA in this one. Who has the worst driver line-up? Aston? Yes? My goodness. Will common sense prevail? Do we all think it's Aston Martin? No. Who do you think it is then?

[00:09:32] It could be Alpine. Because their team principal thinks it doesn't matter who the drivers are. Okay, let's get a microphone and let's discuss. Why do you think V-Cup? Yuki has a fire in him to prove everyone wrong. Yes, but he knows for a fact he's not getting anywhere with Red Bull. The only thing he can prove himself is to other teams. Where does realistically his chance open at Aston? When does it open? When Stroll goes somewhere else?

[00:10:00] Or Lawrence decides he does not love his son anymore? Or Fernando retires. So, I don't think Yuki... Yeah, and I mean what's more to prove? I mean, 24 was everything he could do to prove that he's better than Liam. Which I still think Red Bull did the right thing by putting Liam. I remember us having a two-hour chat at 2am in the night on that. But yeah, I think Isaac Hatcher again, blindly fast from what I've seen in F2.

[00:10:28] But still, the Yuki of 21, if I put it that way. He's just... Gets into the head if things do not go in his way. Someone who likes to crack open the radio and complain about stuff. So, two very similar mentalities in RB. Not sure how good there will be in terms of driver development. Because I don't see Yuki as a long-term prospect for racing bulls anyway. So, yeah, RB. I mean, holistically, what's the motive for both of them to prove? Exactly.

[00:10:56] So, we're kind of tied on this. Yes. Vicarb and Aston Martin. I'm going to go Aston Martin. But let's all actually come to our bold predictions for the year. For the FIA. And the reason why we have to start with the FIA, right? On this one. There's a clear reason. We'd get banned if that wasn't the case. I think Mohammed bin Salim doesn't take it very well if you don't respect him and his organization first up. You've got to appreciate them. You've got to honor them. You've got to pay all the fines. Pay all the dues. So, let's get the FIA out of the way. Which is why...

[00:11:25] It's also the FIA Formula 1 World Championship. And is this the FIA inside line F1 pit stop? Because if we have to honor Mohammed bin Salim, we might as well do it with three pictures of him because one isn't enough. Clearly. He wants all the attention. He wants to be on the podium when the world champions decided. He wants to be in the driver's briefing. He wants to be in the room. He wants to be everywhere. Yeah, remember he's decided to take a step back from Formula 1 apparently. Oh yeah, he had. He had. But what's your FIA bold prediction? And by the way, mic's open for all of you. You can all take the stage as well.

[00:11:55] Please raise your hand. You know, I can't predict how next will MBS find a way to be a part of the conversation. Because yesterday he made a statement saying it's the British Grand Prix. But it's the Qatar Airways British Grand Prix. Well, you know, if we were to go back when Williams actually won their first ever race, it was also the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. And it was, the sponsor was a Saudi airline. And they almost put up two flags.

[00:12:23] One was the Saudi Arabian flag and one was the British flag. Because that's what, you know, my point is, I don't know what MBS is going to do. But Somal, we should also tell them. The format of this segment is, there's the FIA, there's Formula 1 and there's the 10 teams. But the three of us have individually chosen one early bold prediction for 2025. But for this slide, without asking them, I just put MBS. Because you cannot have, you know, anyone else but MBS as a prediction when it comes to what.

[00:12:54] What is the next bold thing or dumb thing, depending how you see it, MBS is going to do or the FIA is going to do? And that's, I think MBS has brought all the masala. If you have to put it that way, asli masala, such, such, MBS, MBS. Because he's brought an 11th team to Formula 1. He's upset the Apple car totally. He's made sure that jewelry is illegal. Underwear is only fireproof, which is a good thing to do. But all the other things that he's made a, I wouldn't say a mockery out of,

[00:13:20] but made things tougher for all the drivers to the point that we're writing letters now. We're back in the 1980s, like love letters to each other. And you know, I'm sure Abhishek has a view on this. Because MBS could very well have the 11th team in Formula 1 being added. Something that everybody loves as fans. That we want more teams, more cars, more drivers. So his legacy could be the 11th team. I was the president to introduce the 11th team in Formula 1. But he's clearly choosing something else.

[00:13:48] No, I think he's just created rifts with so many different parties in Formula 1. He's pissed off the drivers. He's pissed off form in sort of the whole Andretti tussle that was going on. He's just, yeah, he's just pissed off a lot of people. And my bold prediction is I think more race directors. Yeah, more race directors are going to be pissed off. Because we've sacked two of them this year. I think we're going to sack more. FYI bold predictions, are we done?

[00:14:17] Because I can't wait to get away from MBS and talk about Formula 1. We've spoken about him too much. Like the FIA president gets so much attention. My bold prediction is he will, I think he's up for renewal this year as well as presidency. And I think we're going to see his, see the back of him and hopefully never back in Formula 1. Yeah, I agree. Yeah. Do we like the sound of that? Yeah, I think we like the sound of that. He'll be thrown out. He'll be thrown out. By all the race directors collectively. Nils Wittich. Bruno Famine and the likes.

[00:14:48] Not Bruno Famine. Was it Rui Marquez? He's the new one coming in. Yeah, he's. Bruno Famine was with Alpine. Yeah. Crazy. That's the FIA. And we're getting rid. Thank God. We're moving on to Formula 1. And my bold prediction for Formula 1 this year. And we'd love to hear what you guys think as well. I think more people are moving to Andretti. Because do you guys recognize this gentleman right here? This really old fellow has actually won multiple Formula 1 World Championships. He's Pat Simmons. He's the technical director of Formula 1.

[00:15:15] And he's quit his job to move to Andretti. I think that is going to happen more often. More people are going to go there. Because now that you've opened the floodgates, I mean, what do you reckon about your Formula 1 bold prediction for 26? Mine is not such a bold prediction, I'm afraid. I'm predicting a very close season. And I'm predicting eight drivers winning multiple races this year. Because Checo is not in one of the top seats. So, yeah. How many did we have this year? Six? Seven. Seven.

[00:15:45] Except for Checo. Except for Checo. Except for Checo. So, hey, that's not very bold of you, Abhishek. Come on. I'm saying, I'm saying, Liam Lawson is going to win the race. So, that could well be a possibility. What are you picking as your Formula 1 bold prediction? My pick is, it is going to be 2024 season B, not 2025. We're going to have the most epic, blockbuster Formula 1 season in history. So, everyone here, you all are very evolved Formula 1 fans.

[00:16:12] Pretty much every race this year is the race you should make your friends and family sit and watch. Saying, you cannot get better sport and entertainment packed in, you know, 90 to 100 minutes. Than watching a Formula 1 Grand Prix together. So, that's what I'm predicting for 2025. Any fun bold predictions for Formula 1? What do we guys think is going to happen this season? Champions? Actually, you know what? Carlos, you know what? He has that clause, by the way.

[00:16:39] There is a clause in his contract that says he can potentially move. But if we're talking drivers, we should talk drivers in a bit. We should start off with Stake. What's their name, by the way, guys? Well, what are they called? Is it Stake F1? Stake Kicks Sauer? Stake Kicks Audi? What even is going on here? But we'll go to Sauber first. Because nobody wants to talk about Sauber. Nobody has time for Sauber. We do. But only a little bit. I'm timing you.

[00:17:08] Yeah, okay, start it out. Because they were pointless this season. No, they weren't pointless this season. They scored a point. We shall mention one point on them. My bold prediction for this one is that I think both the Sauber drivers are going to score points. Which is phenomenal. And did you guys actually notice that Sauber actually had the fastest pit stop at the Brazilian GP this year? Even though they actually had a 41, a 30 second pit stop at most of the races earlier this year. That's the biggest operational leap that any team has taken.

[00:17:37] I feel they're heading in the good direction. If they can cut down their pit stops even further and make sure that they're not 40, but now instead 12 seconds behind, I think Hulkenberg and Bortolet are good enough drivers to score points. That's my bold prediction. Jonathan Wheatley is joining them. Yes, track side operations. Yep. At Red Bull. The architect of quick pit stops at Red Bull is joining Audi. But truth be told, you know, Hulkenberg is either going to be an even bigger Hulk at Audi or this is going to be his last season

[00:18:06] because he's taken a big, I would say, big risk leaving Haas. In fact, can you imagine, we've had such a season in 24 that pretty much everyone here was choosing Haas in this or that. And I'm pretty sure Hulkenberg is also like, maybe I shouldn't have left Haas. Just the way Esteban O'Conn is thinking, wow, I'm so glad I have the Haas seat. That's the turnaround they've had. And I hope that turnaround is what continues for Nico because again, very good driver. We've shared great memories with Nico.

[00:18:36] He was, you know, with me at Force India and still one of those friends I can message on WhatsApp. So for his sake, I really hope that Audi delivers a decent car where he's able to do his magic. How much does Nico love his money? Because clearly he's getting a lot of it by leaving Haas and going to Sauber, isn't he? Well, you know, pretty much every Formula One driver is making millions out there. Now it's just about, can they get more by scoring points? Because eventually, every contract is

[00:19:06] a performance contract. The more you score points, the more you stand to make money as well. What's your bold prediction for Sauber? I think Sauber are going to be anonymous. Anonymous? Why? Well, I mean, there's really not going to be much improvement. I mean, everything sort of gearing up to 2026. I mean, Audi's whole investment and so the reason they bought the team was for the rules change in 2026. I think they spent last year just sort of being present on the grid

[00:19:35] and doing nothing else. So I think they're going to be, they could continue being anonymous. But having said that, they're putting the building blocks in place. This year is going to be a year where they're anonymous but they're building up to 26. So you've got Jonathan Wheatley. I think he'd be on gardening leave for most of the year but he's there. You've got Binotto sort of in doing what he does best in the technical role as well. So yeah, I think anonymous but with a lot of promise. How many of us are excited to see Matia Binotto back in Formula One? I am. Yes.

[00:20:06] Do you remember the last and the greatest statement that Binotto made in Formula One? 2021, mid-season summer break. He said, I don't see the reason why Ferrari can't win the next 10 races. Do you know how many races they ended up winning in the next 10 races? Zero. Well, hopefully he doesn't come to the media this year. That's what we're hoping for. We should talk about Haas next. We're going, we're not picking any particular order. We just love Haas because Hulkenberg moved from Haas to Sauber so we're going to go the opposite way. My bold prediction for Haas

[00:20:34] is that Esteban Ocon is probably going to be the best midfield driver of the year and I'm going to back up why. First season in any team, Ocon, he brings in all of his emotions. He brings in a sense of wanting to right the wrongs of his previous role because remember, he always ends up in acrimony at any seat. I think this year he could be phenomenal. Haas are in a good run of form. They have the momentum on their side. P7 in constructors is no joke and Ocon is always a dangerous driver. Plus, in the midfield when you're driving

[00:21:04] with Haas, you need your elbows to be out there and he's the kind of driver that Haas needs. I think he's a, if Haas were ever looking for a prototype Haas driver, it would be Esteban Ocon. I can't look beyond him. I think Kevin Magnussen's elbows are wider than Esteban Ocon. True, true, true. But maybe too wide. He even takes race bands to help the team. But what do we think of Haas, guys? Any bold predictions for Haas before we get to Kunal and Abhishek's? Clearly, no one likes Haas a lot. You do.

[00:21:34] Top 5. Top 5 for Esteban. Once. I back you with that. Top 5 for Esteban multiple times. I agree with you on that. Are you going on the same line, Abhishek, for your bold prediction for Haas? I think they're going to go through a bit of an identity crisis this year because their team, Toyota, all the Toyotas are not officially back but they're back but then they're going to continue their relationship with Ferrari but then they're going to be called Haas. So, you know, it's going to be a bit of an identity crisis at Haas. And don't they have

[00:22:03] operations in four places? They have operations in Banbury at the Dallara factory in Italy and then Toyota are going to do some of them. And Maranello as well. And Maranello with Ferrari. Wow, what is this? Formula 1 team split in four locations. And now Japan with Toyota. So that's actually been, that's the reason why I have the Toyota Formula 1 car here because Toyota after saying we're back in here just to train our engineers and drivers made a statement a couple of days ago saying maybe we're looking at, you know, re-entering Formula 1. Now, if MBS really wants,

[00:22:32] could he sanction a 12th team coming into Formula 1? You never know. you know, but I get a feeling that Haas could just metamorphose themselves into Toyota. And I think I would love that for one of the most iconic car brands in the world to come. Haas did not sell to some of the other car brands that really wanted to buy in. Could it be that Haas runs Toyota's entity while still maintaining their independence and so on? So, I get a feeling we're going to see

[00:23:02] more Toyota come out than Haas in the next few years starting from 2025. But like Abhishek said, hey, what happens to Ferrari then? But I'm so confident about Haas because Toyota, multi-billion dollar car manufacturer, I think one of the biggest in the world, if not the biggest, have come to a 300-400 staff team in Haas and said, we like your tech, we like your processes, we want to learn from you. Which I believe is phenomenal, right? Formula 1 is such a great proving on him.

[00:23:32] But that's Haas. Racing Bulls, opinion time. Should they have signed, should rather Yuki Sunoda be in that team, should he even care about this season? Which is why my bold prediction for them is, I think they're going to have the biggest crash bill of the entire season and I'm with you on that, Siddharth, because Yuki Sunoda Isaac Hajar, Helmut Marko was on our show to talk about Isaac Hajar, he actually said this, which is why I'm making this prediction. Hear me out.

[00:24:01] Dr. Marko Isaac Hajar had a very strong performance in Formula 2 all the way till the last race of the season. Where do you think his biggest trend lies? First of all, I have to say Isaac lost more than 80 points through technical issues. You know, to still keep motivated and keep the speed was already a big achievement. Isaac is fast, but he has to keep his emotions under control and has to focus on Monte Carlo. He was moaning and complaining

[00:24:30] all over the place on the radio. So, generally, focus on the important things, make less mistakes, be more consistent, but the speed and everything is here and the rest comes with routine. That's what Dr. Marko said and that is why I feel they're going to have a tough year because Yuki Sonoda, I wonder where his heart is. Does he want to be here? Does he feel like he's been appreciated enough? Which means he might just do dangerous things to prove his worth. I remember

[00:25:00] Mexico City, under pressure, put the car in a crazy place, crashed, shouldn't have happened. My bold prediction, RB might just have the biggest crash pill of the entire season for all the teams. My bold prediction, just to add to that, is Yuki Sonoda from trying to get promoted to Red Bull Racing might just get demoted even further from Racing Bulls

[00:25:30] and we might see Arvid Linblad. Do we agree with that, folks, firstly? Yes? Yes? And again, it's not a reflection of his talent, but it's a reflection of how he would probably mentally take being ignored for that Red Bull Racing seat despite literally outdriving, I would say, Liam Lawson and Daniel Ricciardo. So, it's a mental game that he might not end up coming out on top four. That's my unfortunate bold prediction. So, you're saying that Arvid, who's going to

[00:25:59] come on the podcast, is going to be a Formula 1 driver? I think so. This year? Yes. In 25? Yes, and Red Bull is training him enough to get the super license points, waiting to see how he goes in Formula 2, but knowing Red Bull Racing, they just see a spark and, you know, they're the first ones to promote you into Formula 1. Dude, Arvid is unbelievable. He's only, I think, he's still not 18 properly. The kind of motivation that guy has is unreal. I mean, I've not seen a teenager as disciplined, as sharp, as focused. I've clearly not met Max.

[00:26:29] You have at that age, but Arvid is something else. But what are you picking as your bold prediction? I'm going to say Sanoda is going to be on the podium this year. Wow. We don't like the sound of that, seemingly. No? We always have one of those freak races or two of those freak races in the 24 race calendar. That's quite possible. yeah. Very Monza 2020 vibes. Exactly. When Pierre Gasly ended up winning that one. Yeah. AlphaTauri, bold prediction, guys. What do we think of it?

[00:26:59] Anyone who thinks that they're going to be somewhere closer to top six? We have a hand raised over there. Let's get a mic to you, ma'am. Lawson will come to them. Lawson's going to come back and you know who's coming to Red Bull? Carlos. Carlos. Okay. You know what? That is one prediction I can really back. That is where my heart really is on that. That's where my heart is too. That'll be so cool, right? Red Bull accepting a mistake. That will be... But Christian might do it because he loves his old boys.

[00:27:29] The question is do they want Carlos Sainz Sr and your Verstappen in the same carriage? The answer to that at least right now is no. Maybe Sr can handle yours better than anyone else. They don't want the two fathers to speak. And wasn't it Carlos Sainz Sr who broke into Toto Wolf that Toto your driver Lewis is actually going to Ferrari? Which is the crazy part. Like imagine how much politics happens behind the scenes. But if... Sorry, say that again? He's perfect to take on yours.

[00:27:59] I agree with you. That is a good bold prediction. yours versus Carlos Sainz Sr. Put them in a boxing match. That's what I want to see for 2026. But I must say on Arvid Lindblad, he's of Indian descent. But he's not Arvind. Let's please remember that. But there's a reason why he's called Arvid by the way. It's so cool because his mom is Indian, dad is Swedish. A name that works for both Swedish and Indian descents is Arvid. Close to Arvind and also very

[00:28:29] Swedish in nature. So such a cool story. He was here in India a few weeks ago. That's racing bulls. We've spoken about Isaac Hajar. But why did Red Bull pick Liam Lawson? Okay, firstly, how many of you think that picking Liam Lawson was the right move by a show of hands? How many of you would have rather gone for Liam Lawson? Oh, sorry, would have gone for Yuki Tsunoda? Here's why Dr. Helmut Marko thinks Yuki's not the man but Liam is. Let's hear it. Liam proved already that he's a very

[00:28:58] tough racer. Dr. Marko, could you share your honest opinion on Liam Lawson's strength and how he's fared against Yuki Tsunoda in 2024? Liam proved already that he's a very tough racer. He's not shy to fight with big names like he did with Alonso, Hamilton, also with Paris. So, now, if he gets the full season, he has to show that he is able to race the game in qualifying. He was

[00:29:27] more or less on the same level like Yuki and we have to see how much more is coming to see if he's becoming one of the great drivers. Do you know why I love Liam Lawson? Mexico City GP 2024, Liam Lawson's fighting for a place outside the points. He sees Sergio Perez getting all emotional, trying to salvage something at his home race, which has gone terribly. And you know what Liam Lawson does? Even though he's fighting someone from the sister team, which is the bigger team that needs more

[00:29:57] points, he says, screw you Checo, I'm going to punch you in the face and I'm going to make sure you have the worst face of your life. He doesn't let Sergio go. Letting Sergio go is one thing. He bullied Sergio off the track. And even though Helmut Marco came to the press conference after that and said, I would have liked Liam to race less harder with Sergio, deep down inside, Abhishek, he would have been saying, that's my boy, that's what I like all about, that's what we miss with Sergio. And that's why I think he's put him in the car. Yeah, I mean, that aggression that he's got and

[00:30:27] also, remember, even when he was put into the car to stand in for Danny Rick last year, he was on it right away. But I do think Yuki has done more than enough to deserve a shot at that Red Bull seat. So why not him? If you were picking, would you put Yuki? Yeah, I'd pick Yuki, yeah. But what about the emotions? Do you think he's ready to take on Max? Do you guys think Yuki is ready to take on Max? But his job is not to take on Max. No, we all

[00:30:57] hear no's from everyone. But why do you say No, but his job is not to take on Max. His job is to do enough to win Red Bull the Constructors Championship. And that's what Liam's job is as well. His job is not to take on Max. What if things go south? What if you're certainly 12th and Max is 4 tenths up on you? You need someone with the toughness, right? Yeah, but I think if you see Yuki has kind of why he's still sort of prone to the occasional moments of Red Rage sometimes, but he has sort

[00:31:26] of improved quite a bit from his first season in terms of being able to handle his emotions, in terms of working on areas where he was weak previously in his debut year. So I think Yuki has been there enough, Yuki has done enough to... I don't think it was such an obvious choice between Liam and Yuki and I think Yuki should have got the... And your bold prediction is that Yuki is going to be in the car this year? Well, he's going to be in the car. They decide

[00:31:55] which car. Right now he's of course racing bulls. Actually the bold prediction is that every race Liam Lawson is not up there. There's going to be Yuki Sunoda in the conversation. So even if he's not in the car, he's going to be in the car by being in Liam's head. Okay, so Liam is not going to have to just cater to Max Verstappen and the pressure from Max, but the media that will constantly keep putting the pressure of, okay, is he coming for a mid-season swap? Is he coming for a mid-season swap? And that's probably where Liam's

[00:32:25] toughness will also be tested along with his race pace. So let's find this out. If you guys do see Liam Lawson not doing well, would you put Yuki Sunoda in the car mid-season? No? Why not? Let's get you a mic and let's explore that opinion because so many people online and it's so different because online and even on our comments pages we have so many people telling us we want Yuki, we want Yuki but here in person the opinion is different. Why is that Akriti? It's not a Red Bull opinion for me, it's actually

[00:32:54] a V-Car Balfa Tauri Racing Bulls opinion for me. Racing Bulls is not a team that needs two rookie drivers in it. You need one driver with a little more experience to keep the team steady, to keep them in the midfield battle. You can't become another Haas. So, you know, they can't run that kind of risk. So, it makes sense to have somebody who's a four-year driver like Yuki to be in the lead seat and stay there and keep V-Car Al-Fatauri whatever they're

[00:33:27] Red Bull driver. He's got the chops for it, no doubt, but they need a leading driver to lead V-Car before they can find a second driver for Red Bull is why I don't think Yuki should move. And it's also an audition for 26, right? Because if he's going to go to any team, they want him to be the leader. So, can he be the leader? It's why you wouldn't put Gasly back in Red Bull once he proved his worth at Alfa Tauri. It's the same thing because when they knew Yuki was

[00:33:57] so sure, Gasly went to Alpine after that, but they continue to be a midfield conversation team because they have one slightly steady driver and one hothead. So, yeah. But the whole point of V-Car is to develop young drivers and not have drivers who are sort of long in the tooth in that team. Agreed. But at the same time, as a standalone team, it may be a sister team, but as a standalone team, it still has to fight the championship. So, they still

[00:34:27] have to look at their own end of things before they are looking to just develop their sister team. It's like saying Haas is the B team for Ferrari now, so they will only develop drivers for Ferrari, which isn't the case. They will stand alone as an individual team till the end of the championship. So, we hope at least. On that line, it's just at the end of the day, it's as much a business as it's a sport. If I'm running a team, I won't have emotions in my mind when I'm picking. I won't be going and doing a poll for like 100,000 people. Oh, poll, which drivers I would pick

[00:34:56] for my team. So, commercially, Yuki would never work at Red Bull, especially with the Honda done and dusted. And with the Aston, there are a lot of variables that work. So, Yuki never really has a future at Red Bull in any sort of Red Bull scenario unless something dramatic happens. And people sort of, yeah, people just sort of do not realize it's not us picking, it's Helmut picking. And Helmut and Kesha would never pick Yuki given the scenario right now. It's just that simple. Interesting you mentioned not

[00:35:26] having emotions while picking a team. We had emotions while picking a team at the BGT and we saw what happened. We're not talking about cricket anymore. Sorry, I had to bring it in. But Red Bull racing, our opinions on that. My bold prediction for this year is I think they're really going to suffer this year. I think Max is going to be once again the best because in my opinion he is by far and away the best driver of this generation. But as the year goes on they're going to taper down bad and we might just end up seeing struggles or

[00:35:56] the team blowing up internally because they've never faced this. Because they've seen young Max and then peak Max but what about post-peak Max where the team is not 100% up there? Because remember this is the first Red Bull season without Adrian Newey for almost two decades. That is going to be huge Abhishek. My bold prediction is Max will leave Red Bull this year. Whoa. At the end of the year. That got a reaction?

[00:36:26] Yeah. Why? Because I think Red Bull is in decline and for Max it's about being in the winning car and this actually follows on well from the I was going to say Liam neither Liam Lawson nor Yuki Tsunoda are good candidates to sort of occupy the second Red Bull seat. What they need I agree with her is Carlos Sainz but then they wouldn't risk putting Carlos Sainz in the seat for fear of scaring Max Verstappen away but then that's going to happen anyway if Red Bull doesn't

[00:36:55] pull up its socks this season. So that team is falling apart. I mean you've had Adrian Newey depart, you've had Jonathan Wheatley go to Audi. so you've had plenty of high profile departures and there has been an inevitable decline in performance and that's going to continue and I think this is going to be Max's last season with Red Bull. So one question. Why don't we get a mind to you my friend and also the question to you

[00:37:25] and everyone is where are Red Bull finishing in the drivers, in the constructors world championship this season? Where are Red Bull finishing? In my opinion fourth. Third. Okay. What's your opinion my friend? Okay. So my question to you is that if you think Max is going to leave Red Bull where will he end up? Is he retiring? That's a genuine question. Yeah. Where will he end up? Yeah. He could well retire for all you know. He's about to become a dad and he said he doesn't want to attend all the races

[00:37:55] particularly if he doesn't have to. So will he go to Aston because Newby or Mercedes because they are luring him since quite a long while or will he retire? What's your opinion on that? I think Mercedes. In place of George. He's called it. And see and the reason I say this is going to be another reason I mean Red Bull are in

[00:38:24] decline but also there's the building for 26 their own power unit for the first time and I don't think he has a lot of there's a lot of faith in that project. So if you build a bad power unit you're stuck with that for the next generation of rules like what happened with Red Bull again when they were stuck with the underperforming Renault power unit after winning championships. So I think this is going to be a very crucial time and if Verstappen sees

[00:38:53] that the team is already in decline, people have left, there's not much positivity around the power unit project. Yeah, then the move to Mercedes would make sense because Mercedes have generally been good at stealing a march in the new power unit era. There's an interesting question from Circus F1 comic, Abhinav. What will happen to George Russell and I get a feeling he'll go to Red Bull.

[00:39:24] Pushed aside? Yeah, I get a feeling what the audience is saying he's probably going to go to Red Bull then and Christian Horner has always shown interest in him before. They would love to have someone like George. Why? George and Liam together would be phenomenal. Like imagine how gritty that pair is. Imagine what they've gone through to get to Formula 1. That reminds me of a colleague back home in Oslo. She would have black coffee with pear, you know, the fruit pear dipped in it. That's the

[00:39:53] combination of Russell. I can't imagine it. It seems like the most tasteless combination. It's the Atletico Madrid of Formula 1. You have the biggest, tallest, grittiest, most angry, most determined people in one team. And Red Bull or any way love the attitude of we're up against the world which is something that George and Liam resonate a lot with. I would love to see that. Also, just on those lines, in 24, the entire 24 season, only one drive was closer to getting into Max's head, which was George. Which was George. Which was George.

[00:40:24] And we need a round of applause for that for George Russell by the way. That is, we really respect George for that. Yes, I love George. Even though, my view is he tried really hard, okay, George Russell, but it didn't make a dime of a difference to Max Verstappen because that's the mental makeup of Max. I think Max got under George's skin more than you. Exactly. You can obviously argue that and there's the first time anyone sort of in the post-22 era has even gotten closer to getting into Max's head.

[00:40:54] And hence that switch is I think is more than relevant, the Red Bull switch if that happens because I think across the four top teams it's just like do or die situation. It's either battling for supremacy or your legacy. Same with Charles, Hamilton, Lando, Oscar which I think Oscar is going to be better than Lando because it's more grittier than Lando. Mercedes and Kimi, Mercedes, George and Kimi again. And what's the other team? That's it. Ferrari. Okay. I mentioned Ferrari. I mentioned Ferrari.

[00:41:24] That's it. But there's another bold prediction we're going to get from you ma'am. Yes. Can we get the mic on from the back? So no, it's actually just a continuation of what he was talking about and I feel Lando got more in Max's head than George did by being soft, by calling him on Monday morning, by making him look weaker than Lando. So I think Lando did it very smartly, not like George and I really think he got under Max's skin. This feels like WWE. There's different ways

[00:41:54] to defeat a champion. It's amazing. It's amazing. Okay. I don't think Samuel though that George will end up at Red Bull if Verstappen leaves. You think George is out of Formula One? No, no. I think George goes to McLaren. Wow. I think they, you know what, honestly? Piastri ends up at Red Bull. Wow. They need someone like him. They need a number one. I'll explain more when we get to the McLaren section. Let's do that. But we have a bold

[00:42:23] prediction from one of India's most exciting youngsters. She's only nine years old. Nine going on ten. Nine going up ten. She's winning races in the UAE and defeating the boys up there. Atik Amir, here's what she has to say about Red Bull. My bold prediction for Formula One in 2025 is Lewis Hamilton will win the first race of the season for Ferrari. And her second bold prediction was that Max Verstappen will be world champion.

[00:42:53] Wow. Wow. People believe. Yeah. If there is one driver who really is in that make-up that can take a car that's not capable of winning and still make it win in this rule sets and regulations, I would say it's Max Verstappen. Greatest? Sorry? Probably one of the greatest of all time? Schumacher center level? Yeah, I don't compare generations, but yeah, probably one of those extremely hardcore types. And Max is not going to be somebody who's

[00:43:23] going to be racing here at least 40. He's going to win some and he say, okay, thank you very much. Bye-bye. I'm leaving. He's going to be one of those kinds. But just a word on Atika Amir. She's nine going on ten. She's the vice champion of the IME series in the UAE. I've had the privilege of knowing her since she was day zero, literally. Okay. Again, that's why I said my motorsport baby is growing up and you know, after having a daughter especially, you realize that the motorsport world is actually made for boys and men. Okay. She's beating a field

[00:43:53] of boys everywhere she's going. She's become the first female racer in the world to win at Le Mans in the Rotax category as well. So, that's why she's in conversations with lots of Formula 1 teams on their programs as well. You might hear some news in the coming weeks if things fall in place. But, yeah, that's a name to look out for in the future and her bold prediction as well that Lewis is going to win his first race at Ferrari and that Max is going to be world champion in 2025. Both of which are actually possible.

[00:44:22] While we're seeing one racing baby grow up, one beautiful baby whose first cry we heard a couple of weeks ago is now being put to rest. That's the Alpine 2026 engine. They have killed it. You know, the worst part about 2024 was Alpine put out a video, or rather an audio clip, of the first fire-up of their 2026 engine and we're never going to get to see that ever again. That's dead. It's like you can't even call it a miscarriage that way. They've purposely killed it.

[00:44:52] And that's what I hate about Alpine, which is why my bold prediction for them is that this year Alpine, for the first time, are not going to have a management change in this season. Why is there no reaction on this? Alpine have had a management change every year. It's stupid. It's unbelievable. And you know why? Because there's one person in that team who's fixed Formula One races, but now is going to fix Formula One's most broken team. Flavio Briatore. I think Alpine are headed for better pastures.

[00:45:22] Who would have imagined that you call one of the most tainted people in the paddock? Somebody was banned from Formula One for life, then finally the ban was overturned. I would call him back. You would? That's when you know you're really desperate. He's a genius in Formula One, self-proclaimed. So why not? Why not? Okay, Alpine, what are we thinking this year? My bold prediction is every race we're going to be like, is Franco Colapinto in Alpine this race? Is he in Alpine in the next race? I don't think it's fair for Jack Doon.

[00:45:52] Having worked with young drivers, I believe three seasons are needed if you want to succeed in Formula One. At the moment, Yuki Tsunoda is the only driver who's actually had three seasons to find his place in Formula One. But I get a feeling the urgency to put Colapinto in the car is what's going to drive a lot of Alpine's decisions. They've paid a bomb to get to him. They're going to bring in a lot of Argentinian sponsors. And then suddenly Jack Doon is going to be told maybe on a Friday evening that hey, guess what? But it's actually you, you know,

[00:46:21] it's a Franco seat that we put in the cockpit and not yours. And you know what Scott Mitchell is reporting. He's saying that apparently there's a six race contract. Like a six race time period where Jack Doon has to perform to a certain performance level. Six races! I wouldn't be surprised if it's just one race. Are you kidding me? The opening race is the Australian Grand Prix. All the sentiment, all the he's made his debut at home, etc.

[00:46:52] I think it's not a decision that's going to be based on performance. It's going to be a decision based a lot on the money. And let's remember, like somebody said, it's as much a business as it is a sport. And now teams are making money. And Colapinto has brought in close to $20 million to Williams already in just exchange revenue for the driver. Imagine the amount of sponsorships he got over those nine races. So it's going to be a purely money deal. And somebody who brings in pace.

[00:47:22] And what better than that? You have a driver who's quick but also bringing in the sponsors. How many of you are big Franco Colapinto fans along with me here? Yes, yes, we have most of the audience. That's incredible. Flavio said it doesn't matter who's driving for Alpine in the second seat. But clearly it does if it's Franco, right? And that's what you're saying in your bold prediction as well. Yeah, I'm going to say Franco is going to take that seat through the season at some point in the season. Okay, the bold prediction would be by when?

[00:47:52] Six races? Seven? Will they be kind enough? Will they close it at five? Or seven because that's Jack Doohan's new number? I'm going to go with four. Four? Four races? Wow. I feel bad for Doohan because he's done one race but to go into a season looking over your shoulder at someone who could potentially be taking your seat, it's not fair on the guy. I mean, that's not what you need heading into your first supposed

[00:48:21] full season of Formula One. I mean, you need time to settle down. You need that environment where you're wanted. I mean, Max was given that time to settle down for all we know. Well, one race for as many number of championships as Jack Doohan's dad has. Five. So, that could be the way it goes around. Nobody likes to talk a lot about Alpine apart from Ottmar Safnauer who was on our podcast and basically we can't play this video because we're lacking on time but basically the reason why according to Ottmar, Alpine doesn't win is because they just don't have the right resources and it'll take

[00:48:51] centuries for that to happen. But Williams, we should rush through them. My bold prediction for this year, Williams are actually going to be P6. How many of you are on the same board on this? Williams or P6? P5? P5. Okay, let's talk to everyone about this. Why don't we get a mic to you, sir? Since you had your... Winning a race! I love that! That is beautiful! And winning a race with... That's more like it! With Carlos Sainz! Hey, that needs a

[00:49:21] huge round of applause, guys. Come on! After all the trauma we've suffered in the winter by imagining Carlos Sainz and never potentially getting to win a race, I think that's a great thing to hear. But why do you feel that way, sir? Can we get a mic to you? And how confident are you of Williams? Because it's a very murky thing, right? We're not sure where they are or if they have the parts for next year as well. Both the drivers are now normal drivers. So it would be better because Carlos Sainz will drive a normal car only. He will not drive like what the earlier guys were driving.

[00:49:51] And that's so true, right? Because come to think about it, ever since 2017, Williams haven't had a proper driver line-up, come to think about it. Which is actually my bold prediction, which is that, and I hate saying this, but I think Alexander Albin is going to get exposed, right? Why do you say the word exposed? I say exposed because, firstly, I think he got a great lifeline coming into Williams. He delivered really good races as well. But suddenly he's going to find somebody like Carlos

[00:50:20] Sainz who will deliver very good races consistently, right? So unless Albin continues to deliver consistently again, okay, which actually probably is not done in Formula 1 because of where he's racing and Williams' challenges. So it could very well be that he just gets exposed. So that's my bold prediction that Alexander Albin suddenly is going to be like, oh my God, what happened? Because that also happened in the few races when Colapinto suddenly came in with a different way of looking at racing, saying I have only

[00:50:50] nine races, like a cat saying I have nine lives, you know, and then Colapinto was actually outshining Albin till, you know, such time there were differences in cars because Colapinto crashed so much. So my eyes will actually be while on Carlos Sainz to also see how Alexander Albin rises through the ranks. And again, I don't want to see his downfall. I've again worked with a lot of drivers as is, you know, Abhishek. And even when you work in the paddock, you don't want to see people fail. You actually want to see them rise. And I really wish that Albin does that.

[00:51:20] But I get a feeling he's going to get a rude shock in 2025. There's somebody who's probably countering my view there. Is that you? Yeah, let's get a mic to you, Yamini. Let's hear your predictions on Williams. But Carlos is on another level. Like to win with Ferrari is, yeah. Is it the inconsistency of the drivers or the inconsistency of the car? Because even if the drivers are changing, the car is still performing the same.

[00:51:50] So you can't really blame Albin for not having consistent races. And I think more than Albin getting exposed, it will be William who will be getting exposed that they don't have a good car. That's a very good point. That's a great point. I don't think they don't know that. I think James Wals is actually one of the first things he's done in all team principal meetings is fight for more money to invest in the team with the capex, the capital expenditure. Because Williams'

[00:52:20] infrastructure is far outdated than some of the newer teams in Formula 1. They were using Excel to manage parts. Yeah, exactly. There you go. But I would say, yes, it's not the best car on the grid. But even you look at somebody like Carlos Sainz, even at McLaren, he was thrown a lifeline by McLaren when Renault let him go. There was a car which he developed. I would say a large part of where McLaren is today is also some of the directions that Carlos Sainz put in back then as well.

[00:52:50] So I would love to see Williams getting exposed more and how James Wals also rises up to the leadership of driving two really good drivers there. But yes, you're right. The car eventually decides the fate of the drivers. But I get a feeling that there are some drivers like Sainz who are still able to pull out those performances. And I don't know what's it with these Spanish drivers because the other one is Fernando Alonso. They're always out driving, out finishing, out qualifying their car. And I'm guessing that's

[00:53:19] what we'll see with Carlos Sainz in their Williams. I've predicted a podium for Sainz. Maybe a double podium for Williams. That's more like it. And I think, look, I mean, yes, the rules aren't changing this year. But I think with Williams, like you said, they were using Excel to sort of manage parts. But generally, operationally, they were so weak. And I think we had a breakfast briefing with James Wals earlier this year at the start of the season. And after wishing

[00:53:48] everybody a very good morning, he basically took us through how what they had could only produce very simple cars and not really wasn't keeping pace with the complexity of Formula One these days. So he's tried to operationally and just operationally ironing those sort of aspects out should unlock performance. because it's low hanging fruit right now for Williams. So it's minor things done in the background, done back at the factory can

[00:54:17] unlock performance. So expect them to take like steps forward. If anything, I think they're over delivering given what they have with the quality of their drivers. Like Albon's taking them to places where they shouldn't really be. It's weird. And they make the most out of outliers which is good. We should move on from Williams. But Mahavi Raghunathan, do we all love Mahavi Raghunathan guys by the way? Do we all know of Mahavi? Yeah. Hey, come on. Make some noise. Do we all know of Mahavi Raghunathan? He had a prediction

[00:54:46] for what Williams would do this year. Let's listen in. Hi, it's me Mahavi Raghunathan. Welcome to the Inside Line F1 pit stop. Here's looking forward to a rocking 2025 for all of us. And thank you for your support in 2024. I will be racing for AF Corsa in the Italian GT Championship with the Ferrari 296 GT3 car.

[00:55:15] And I look forward to flying the Indian flag high. My bold F1 2025 prediction is Williams will be back to the front especially with Carlos Sainz there now. Mahavi is going to be driving a Ferrari this year. I'm so jealous. It is such a good car. Even Carlos Sainz is not driving a Ferrari this year. Like that is the stuff of

[00:55:44] madness in my opinion. And also GT3 which is such a fun category to race, right? So good on him. But his prediction is that Williams are going to be back on the top with Carlos Sainz. Are we all with Mahavi? Yes? What? Come on. Do we not believe in Williams? We suddenly were all talking about them. Are we all with Mahavi? Yes, we are. Okay, come on man. Where is the energy gone? Okay, next up Mercedes. I think we are going to spend a bit of time here disproportionately. Let me just look through if there's any other team

[00:56:14] we can go quickly on. Jehan's also given us bold prediction. Wow, we have a few teams to go through. The key ones actually. The key ones. Mercedes, my bold prediction for Mercedes for 2025 is that Toto Wolff will descend into madness. This is probably going to be the year where he's going to be the most entertaining team principal. Not because he's going to be angry. Because of the quality of data he's going to present using telemetry to the media to show that Kimi Antonelli is actually incredible.

[00:56:43] Because you know why? He's going to carry printouts. He's going to carry printouts. That is exactly what happened in Monza. Kimi Antonelli, FP1, first ever session, comes out to show the world I am a good driver, I'm capable of Formula 1, crashes it. It's okay. He's only a kid. Toto Wolff comes to the media with telemetry data showing that Kimi was actually this fast and he deserves to be in Formula 1. Like, that seems to me the sign of someone who's so emotionally invested into it and he wants the world to be on the same page.

[00:57:13] It's like he wants to prove that I've not made the wrong decision. I've not made the wrong decision. Trust me, I've not made the wrong decision. Because he could have gone with Carlos Sainz but he's gone with Kimi Antonelli and a word on him, right? We have so many friends in the paddock who've raced with Kimi Antonelli through his journey. Trust me when I say this, this guy is incredible. Like, we've seen it in Formula 2, the way he's evolved and the words that have been said to me are that he's a racing robot. He doesn't put a lap wrong.

[00:57:43] Consistently he'll be going on lap after lap after lap. If it's a 1 minute 23.4 he has to put in, he'll do 60 laps with the same time. That is what you need for a Formula 1 driver, right? And the pace you can learn, the consistency, I'm not sure that's that easy to do. And they really are betting on him. In fact, Kimi Antonelli was testing GT3 cars and was testing cars a level above his own level when drivers in his same class were struggling to get to grips with their class. He's always been a cut above the rest.

[00:58:12] Now, we finally get to see if he's made of everything that the world thinks he's made of. What do you think of Kimi? Do you think he's going to be right up there? I think we're going to see a Kimi back on the top step of the podium this year. Nicely done. Nicely done. No, but I mean, look, this is a great, great, I mean, I know a lot of people have questioned whether he's been moved up to the Mercedes seat too early. But I mean, think about it. Mercedes are not the team that they were. So, they're still

[00:58:41] sort of going to be on the back foot. I think Mercedes are going to finish fourth in the constructors this year. That's a great environment for him to sort of settle into the pressure of the high pressure environment of a big team without the actual pressure of top line results, so to say. But I think when he has the car and let's say something like around Silverstone time if Mercedes are the way they were this year in Silverstone, he's had a few races to settle in,

[00:59:10] he's more comfortable within the team. I wouldn't be surprised if he wins a race at that point. Wow. That is saying something. That's a bold prediction. That is saying something. Yeah. I actually will add to that prediction. I think Mercedes in 2026 will be the Max Verstappen of this generation and Kimi Antonelli who Toto Wolff thinks is the Max Verstappen of the next generation. So they may or may not have the car because 2026 is

[00:59:40] a lottery till literally the first lap is turned in anger. But I think they're going to have, like I said, Max and Kimi Antonelli. That's going to be and I get a feeling Mercedes will be very happy if 2025 there are no results that you know a headline team like this should have. But there will still be connections between them and Max being made in the media. There will be media games being played and George Russell will probably have farewell donuts in Abu Dhabi. Come on. Don't say that. Okay.

[01:00:09] Any predictions on Mercedes guys? Where do we think they are going to finish this year? Yeah. Third, third. I see some signs of third, third, second, fifth. Fifth instead of who? Who's going to be fourth? Ah, that is a bold prediction if there ever was one. I love the sign of that. I love the sign of that. I mean, Ocon and Behrman is a great pair to have anyway. And Ferrari engines, that's right. And last season with these particular engines, right? So, we should see. Okay, I think we should move on to

[01:00:39] Mercedes, from Mercedes to McLaren. We're short on time. There's an event at 8 o'clock and we must vacate the place as well after getting a few pictures. So, let's move on to the world champions. I'm sorry, we weren't able to celebrate this properly because we didn't do an event for Abu Dhabi. But guys, can we just acknowledge the fact that McLaren have done it? Can we have a round of applause for our 2024 world champions? McLaren. It's unbelievable. It's unbelievable. Consider where they work. I mean, we all have been following since the Fernando days, right? We all remember

[01:01:09] GP to engine, the engines going up in flame. I was ashamed to be a McLaren fan at one but like, why can I rep this team? But here we are today. Here we are today and my bold prediction for this, don't beat me, sorry, Lando Norris is going to be the world champion in 2025. Yes, finally. I can justify why. Even though I don't like the fact he came to the media and said that I want to be like

[01:01:38] Max, which is the last thing a world championship contender ever says about their rival, some might call it a driver being soft, but look at how Lando has grown throughout the season. From where he was, he's learned how to win, he's learned how to win consistently, he's learned how to dominate qualifying and he's also learned how to be a team leader by the very end of it. He's like, even though he didn't put up a proper title fight, I think he's matured so much in 2024 and that even if

[01:02:08] he just goes a step beyond in 2025, not even a big step, and given where McLaren are, given how flexible their car is at most circuits, if he can put it on pole 90 or 80 percent of the times, which he can do, I think he's in a genuine shot to win the world championship, I really think so. I actually disagree. Even though I'm an Oscar Piastri fan, even though I prefer Oscar Piastri over Lando as a driver, but the progression is something I cannot ignore. And I'm actually waiting to hear Abhishek, because he's actually with both the drivers, but my bold prediction is the exact opposite,

[01:02:37] that when the car is going to be there through the whole season, I think it's going to be Piastri next year, or rather this year. Piastri's got the champion's mindset, you know, he's won in Formula 3, won in Formula 2, now he's going to try and win in Formula 1. When he knows the car is there, he will clean up his act, although I must say the last few races of 24, when his qualifying was a little off, I was a little concerned, but I'm pretty sure every driver goes through that.

[01:03:07] It just gets amplified when you're suddenly in, you know, a McLaren that's, you know, the Constructors champions. I get a feeling Oscar Piastri is going to be closer and closer to Lando Norris, and eventually beat him over the course of 2025. Qualifying is where it all counts though, doesn't it? And can you imagine till 2023 ends, so all of 2024, the truths we were all looking for is like, yeah, he's good in qualifying, but now managing tires is what Piastri needs to do. Suddenly he's been managing tires and we're going back to saying, okay, qualifying is where

[01:03:36] he now needs to, you know, get back at, and he's been a good qualifier. It's just somebody with a more cool head, somebody who I think doesn't get phased by Max Verstappen. Again, probably helps that he's from another generation, the generation below, and he's probably grown up battling a different set of drivers, that's probably what shows. And I think in the case of Lando, he's probably, he just likes Max too much and plays to the gallery a lot. But I'd love to be proven wrong, much like every bold prediction I've made

[01:04:05] this evening. Yeah. Why have you put both the drivers? Constructors' world championships again? Look at the trophies that they're holding. Oh, the Hungarian, what? Oh, interesting. Interesting. I think Piastri is going to emerge as the McLaren number one this year. He's going to gain an edge on Norris. I agree with much of what Kunal said. I mean, I think Norris doesn't have as much growth to come because he's

[01:04:34] already been around for a lot longer, whereas Piastri is only driven in his second season in Formula One. So he has those massive strides still to make. So there's much more improvement to come from Piastri than from Norris. And I think overall, I think Piastri will sort of edge Norris. But I think Piastri won't win the championship. Piastri will finish second in the championship. And who's the driver's world champion then?

[01:05:04] Oh, we'll get there. We'll get there. Interesting. All right. Mate, you have a bold prediction on McLaren. So this season, 25 and 24, is what I think is what Lewis Hamilton had in his debut, his first year with McLaren, with Alonso, and how that it's still been remembered, like the feud between Alonso and Lewis Hamilton, where Lewis Hamilton was kind of being tough on an

[01:05:33] already reigning champion, Alonso, two-time world champion back in 2007. We're going to have the same kind of attention between McLaren drivers in 2024. We already seen that, but as you said, Oscar is not someone who will be phased by anyone, even if it is Max Verstappen. We saw that in the opening lap of the last race of 2024, when he got spun by Max Verstappen, and he said that it's a move of a world

[01:06:03] champion. So we are going to see the same kind of attention between the McLaren drivers in this year as well. And as I feel, I think most of the general public, also fans, also feel that PSG is better, more, I would say, fast, quick learner. Also, he has a good manager, I would say, Mark Webber, not to forget that. So I think he will eventually overpower and overshadow London Otis in this season as well. We've already seen a part of that in 2024, in Baku, I guess.

[01:06:33] I love that you've referenced that season, 2007. It's a lovely season if you all ever have to catch up with that. But such a good point. Thank you. I think it all comes down to qualifying, whoever qualifies best, because these cars are so hard to pass with, track advantage and Yeah, but Otis always starts badly, so. Exactly, exactly. But before we move off McLaren, first lap, well he's actually improved on that to his credit. No, no, one second. He's improved on that at circuits where the P1 to entry into turn one, the breaking

[01:07:03] point is short. He's 113 meters or less or thereabouts. You give him a long one and he's, you know. So Mexico City next year is going to be the real test. But before we move off McLaren, who's their number one driver? Make noise if you think it's going to be Oscar Piastri. And I'm here if you think it's going to be Lando Norris. Almost equal. McLaren, you have a fight on your hands. Like 2007, let's see if you can still be unbiased.

[01:07:32] Let's see if anyone actually gives cash in white envelope. If you know, you know. Okay, we need to go away from it. By the way, we need to also mention this amazing stat that our very own F1 stats guru found out and we love him. We so miss him here that they really have the best driver lineup. They've had the youngest front row lockout in Formula 1 history. That is a driver pair to have. And Sundaram keeps on digging these incredible numbers. Wow, so cool. But Jehan, Jehan Darwala, do we all remember Jehan Darwala?

[01:08:01] Of course we do. Formula 2 winner and lifted the flag and lifted the entire nation so high up in pride when he won over there as well. Here's his bold prediction for the season. Hey everyone, it's Jehan Darwala here. Welcome to the Inside Line F1 pit stop. Thank you all for your support throughout 2024. And looking forward to more of the same in 2025. Don't really have any plans to announce as of yet but hopefully some good news. But yes, I'm very

[01:08:31] much looking forward to being back on track and doing the Indian flag proud. My bold prediction for the 2025 Formula 1 season is that Landon Norris will win his first Formula 1 world championship. Even Jehan has the same opinion as I do. They're very good friends, mind you. So he knows his friend very well. Also, Jehan's F1 tests, which I know Abhishek was also working with him on that, were with McLaren. So maybe a bit of favoritism here, but why not?

[01:09:00] It's still the fastest team and one of the fastest drivers on the circuit. Speaking of fastest, I think this is the team we need to move through the fastest. We are already running late. Aston Martin, my bold prediction and I want the entire audience to get up on their feet and cheer for this because we've been waiting for this for the last 10 years. I think this will be the last season of Lance Stroll in Formula 1. Wait, that's more like it. That's more like it. He's going to win a race, the race to exit

[01:09:29] from Formula 1? He's going to win that race? Dude, I would love that. I would love that. But I think it's a mic drop moment. You can't top that. Sorry. He will win a race if there are no gravel traps at it to go into. Wow. Okay, there's not much more to be said about Stroll apart from the fact that he could have a punching season. He has to punch a few he has to punch his ticket into Formula 1

[01:09:59] apart from punching his trainer. Let's put it that way. I think at the end of the day, Adrian knew he was going to get involved in his driver line-up decisions like he wanted to be involved back in his Williams days because he's going to clearly be like, we've got the best engine we can get in Honda. You pretty much have the best engineering team. I mean, the number of changes that we've seen at Aston Martin are clearly to help them ace the 2026 regulations. And at some point, I really hope that blood is thicker.

[01:10:29] Blood is not thicker than water. And that's probably what's going to come in the case of, you know, Lance Stroll. He's going to have to take a stroll away from Formula One. I find it amazing. Lance Stroll is going to have an Adrian Newey card before Carlos signs can. Come on. Come on. Life is unfair. But you know what? Life is sad. Aston Martin is also going to be defined by how Fernando Alonso is going to be. And I'm eager to know what your prediction is with the Matador.

[01:10:57] I think I would like to see Fernando Alonso win a race this year. So it's not so much a prediction. But yeah, that's what I would like. And I think that's what everyone would like. Sundaram would definitely like that. Mission 33. Yeah. And I honestly think and the reason I would sort of classify it as a bold prediction is because Adrian Newey's influence on the car won't sort of really kick in until 2026. So, you know, he's still going to be driving a bad car.

[01:11:28] But if somehow Adrian Newey towards the end of the year can extract some performance out of the car and things align for Alonso, you never know. On behalf of Sundaram, I'm going to put his bold prediction. He's not said it to me but I think he feels it deep in his heart. Fernando Alonso is going to be world champion. That cannot be a more bold prediction. Yeah, soon enough. Yeah, I mean I agree. If Mercedes is a team that's going to have a run on the regulations on the power unit side, there's one team which, or one man

[01:11:56] who can have a run on the regulations on the chassis and the aerodynamic side of things and that's Adrian Newey. So, for them to not be together is actually great for Formula 1. Which brings us to our final team. It's 7-16. I think there's an event at 8. It's 7-16 and 44 seconds. 7-16? Oh, it is actually, yeah, close enough. Close enough. Which brings us to Ferrari. Before we get to any bold predictions. Ferrari for Constructors World Champions 2025.

[01:12:26] How many of you are with me? Raise your hands. Yes. Man, I remember a time where Ferrari fans were loud. They were passionate. They had voices. They were excited. They had emotions. Where is all that gone? Now they have trauma. Now they have trauma. Where are the Ferrari fans? All the Ferrari fans in the house make some noise. That's where they are. That's where they are. Bold predictions for Ferrari. You know, I'm thinking and I am a big Lewis Hamilton fan.

[01:12:56] I was the first, I'll hold my hand and say I said I was more, I would rather pick Carlos signs over Charles Leclerc if Ferrari had to make a choice. That's what I said. Still somewhat stand by it because I think Ferrari needs someone like him to deliver consistently when Lewis makes mistakes which he will. That's his style of learning things. But in my opinion 2025, Lewis is getting schooled. He's getting schooled by Leclerc. On Saturday or on Sunday? Both days. Wow. Both days.

[01:13:25] But it could be the opposite way in 26. And that comes down to... No, we're just doing 2025 bold predictions. We'll bring you on again and all of y'all again for 26. Leclerc is schooling Lewis. I think he's on another level now. Abhishek. That's why I said PSU will finish second in the championship. My heart, it's a purely emotional bold prediction is Lewis Hamilton world champion for Ferrari in 2025. No reactions?

[01:13:54] No reactions? Zeus, let's get a mic to you. We'll actually get takes on this because everyone is a Ferrari fan. Which means that everyone has an opinion on Ferrari. You can't stay quiet on this one. I think one thing that came to mind when we were discussing this was Sundaram's post about breaking down the season into four different sections. Let's do that right away. We actually have it on here with us. Yeah, perfect. The points comparison. This is for the teams but also for the drivers as well.

[01:14:25] One thing you notice similar between Likla and Ferrari. Likla was consistently second or at least close to the top in races 1-6 and then 13-24. It's just that second quarter of the year where he was so bad that Lando actually got that advantage. If he had even a slightly better performance in the second quarter, he would have gotten P2 in the championship which is actually very

[01:14:55] that's controversial but I'm saying like basically what I'm saying is that the consistency, it doesn't seem like it's there because we only think of Charles Likla as Charles Likla from 2022 onwards. But 2024 alone, if you're just looking at that year, other than that one second quarter where he did have a bit of an F moment, it was very consistent throughout the season. So that's the only doubt I have when comparing Charles and Lewis and if he can maintain that consistency, I completely agree. Lewis is not beating Likla next year.

[01:15:26] Are we all suddenly doubting a seven and a half time world champion? Are we all? Yeah. Anyone who thinks the opposite is going to be true and why? Let's get a few new faces to talk about it. Why don't we get to you? You haven't spoken for a bit my friend. You had an opinion. Who do you think is going to win? Lewis or Charles? Between the two of them. Which means who do you think is going to be world champion is also a byproduct of that question. Okay, I'm going to be a little bit, I'm going to pull up some stat for a minute here.

[01:15:57] So 2007, Lewis Hamilton debuted with McLaren. 2008, he won the championship. 2013, he debuted with Mercedes. He won championship in 2014. He's debuting in Mercedes, in Ferrari in 2024. I'm not going to say 2025, sorry. And I'm not going to say the rest. You can make your conclusions here. Which means, 2026, Lewis Hamilton, eight time world champion is what you're saying? Yeah, we will talk about it in 26.

[01:16:26] But for 25, actually, tech is not my strength, clearly. But more on this, right? We're all thinking different things. You're picking Lewis to be the better driver and be the world champion because you haven't picked who a world champion is. So I haven't picked a world champion, but I'll tell you why I've picked Lewis is Ferrari actually needs somebody like a Lewis to turn them into a winning machine. They were hoping that happens with Sebastian Vettel.

[01:16:55] I think Sebastian Vettel became Saint Sebastian Vettel too soon in his life. And somewhere along the way, just cared more about the planet than about winning more races and world championships. Fair enough. He recognized that. But Lewis is going to bring in that, you know, that I would say the ruthlessness that you need to win consistently, that cutting edge as a driver, somebody who's able to pull in what Michael Schumacher did. I mean, to me, Michael's still the greatest just because of the fact that he could win so many with Ferrari, which over the years, over the

[01:17:25] decades, every other world champion, you know, legendary world champion has found so tough to do, right? So that's my pick that Lewis is going to turn Ferrari into becoming a world championship winning team. And will he then actually be the driver that wins the championship or will it be Carlos Sainz? Oh, sorry. Charles Leclerc. Yes, it will be Carlos Sainz. Of course. Will it be him or will it be Charles Leclerc? I'm going to actually ask Kabir Sheikh. No, the reason I've said Lewis for 2025 is also

[01:17:55] because I think when he signed the deal, it was with the Nyon 26. No one expected the convergence we saw last year. Everyone expected, even after the Bahrain Grand Prix and everything, everyone expected Red Bull to still be far ahead of competition. So it was never about 2025. But then now Ferrari, McLaren the most consistently, but also Ferrari and Mercedes to a lesser extent were all in the mix. That convergence is only going to get tighter in

[01:18:22] 2025, which means Lewis will be in a front running car right away. And Lewis, I know why a lot of people are doubting Lewis. Lewis himself was doubting himself in Qatar and other races. But I think, you know, having gone from a dominant car to a car that's his head dropped a little. But then we saw when he had the car, he would suddenly just fire up. And I think you give him exactly. Yeah. He would just fire up and you give him. If he's in the front running

[01:18:51] car, he's going to be fired up. He has a motivation of a fresh environment. It's Ferrari. You know, fired up Lewis is lethal. Is lethal. Yeah. Actually, the same thing happened when he moved from McLaren to Mercedes, right? McLaren was sort of going down. Mercedes had just started up. He was pretty much partying more than racing if you go through all the records back then. And then Bernie Eccleston sat down, Nicky Lauda had the chat, made the move and we saw what happened with Mercedes. So Lewis, I get a feeling

[01:19:20] is going to add to his legendary stats at Ferrari. And that's going to be that bold prediction. I'm just worried if they accept him. Genuinely. I know it's a different Ferrari. I know it's a different time. I know he's the greatest that has ever come to Ferrari because when Michael came, he wasn't as great as he left. But it's open. It's no secret that Italy isn't quite the most, let's say, comfortable country to be in if you are a person of color.

[01:19:50] Ferrari is a representation of what happens in Italy. It's a different time. And the reason why I'm worried, more than the color part, right? I'm more worried about the language. I'm more worried about the politics behind it because if they couldn't get Alain Prost settled in, I know it's a different era, but if they couldn't get Prost settled in, if they couldn't get Mansell settled, if they couldn't get Seb settled, if they couldn't get Alonso settled, and Lewis is probably, dare I say this, the most emotional of the lot, which is his advantage because he has an eighth gear that nobody else has.

[01:20:19] How is Lewis going to settle at Ferrari? I'm genuinely worried about it. I'm actually excited to see that story unfold. Yeah. You know, that Ferrari has always been there or literally never been there. You know, it's an extreme case scenario. And like Abhishek said, it's suddenly the convergence. Who would have thought Ferrari would be in the fight for P2 in the Constructors' Championship all the way down to Abu Dhabi? So, for Lewis having that faith in them, I'm pretty sure Ferrari will know that they have to put their faith in Lewis.

[01:20:50] And that's what, that's the, that's the love story that I would love to see come out. And I think the Italians would, after a point, just care about if they're winning or not. That's eventually what they want. Yeah, I agree. I mean, when, when Schumacher joined Ferrari, the Tifosi didn't like him. But then he, then he won and he brought them so much success and he became such a valued sort of member of the Tifosi family. I mean, professionally, I don't, I don't think within the team there's any risk of Hamilton not being welcomed. I don't think that's, that's a risk.

[01:21:19] And there are lots of parallels as well with the, with Schumacher. Yes, they're at very different stages in their careers when they've gone to Ferrari. But, you know, there's a, there's, there's a non-Italian boss at the helm. There's a, Lewis is going to get Enzo Ferrari's house as Michael was given Enzo Ferrari's house. That's crazy. That's actually crazy. So to, to stay at Fiorano. And, and yeah, so I think, yeah, I think it's going to be incredibly exciting to watch two, two of the most

[01:21:49] successful names in Formula one come together to rediscover their lost championship glories. Yeah. I'm actually, I'm actually eager to put up a comic which Abhinav has made. I really hope that this comic, which is everyone, who remembers Plan C that Ferrari always loves to have? How do you not remember it? You made it, my friend. So the creator of this comic who said Plan C means throwing the championship in the sea.

[01:22:19] Okay. Which I think is a beautiful take. It's saying Plan C may not actually be throwing the 2025 championship in the sea. And I really hope that for all the Ferrari fans and for Lewis Hamilton. And I get a feeling Charles Leclerc is just going to be outshadowed eventually through the season. But we'll see how that all unfolds. Exactly. And Ravi Shastri was on the show. We don't have the time to play the video. But he also said, give Lewis a chance. He will take it with both hands. Actually, why don't we play the video? Because he said this at Silverstone. And guess who won that

[01:22:49] race in Silverstone? Lewis Hamilton. Lewis Hamilton. We have to scroll back. We're running short of time. Wouldn't it be crazy that Lewis Hamilton potentially gets a big result just the weekend after his teammate George Russell won the Austrian Grand Prix? Yeah. And then you would have to change that word old man. You'll say the old youngster. He's been a great. He's seen and done everything there is to do. But he's at that stage of his career where a younger rival is actually coming in and beating him. How do you get out of that scenario? It is hard. But as a sportsman,

[01:23:18] you realize you're not at the prime of your career. You are not what you were 10 years ago or 12 years ago. But deep down, you want to compete. Let me assure you, if he gets half an opportunity, he will want to compete. If things go well, he's not going to let up that easily. Because that desire to win will still be there. As long as he's there, expect a fight. And none so more here. His track record here is fabulous. He'll have the support of the British crowd behind him. And probably, he might just up the ante. Least bold prediction,

[01:23:48] I think Lewis Hamilton is going to win the 2025 British GP. That is happening for sure in a red car. But I think with that, folks, we must bring this show to an end. And which is why I must say, firstly, thank you. A huge round of applause to all of you for turning up on a Sunday. It's been incredible to have you on. So cool to hear everyone's predictions, everyone's thoughts. And the conversations can go on because there might be an event here at 8 o'clock, but we can still keep on chatting and thinking about what we think about Formula One. But that's us from the

[01:24:17] Inside Line F1 podcast. That's Kunal. That's myself, Somal. Mithila is somewhere around here. Can't see. There she is. Sundaram's at home. We're all missing him. And thank you so much, Abhishek, for coming and joining us as well. And thank you to all of you. Thank you, Social. Thank you to all of our partners. Fan code Red Bull. They've all been with us this year as well. And we shall see you for the first race, not in Bahrain, but in Australia. How cool is that? Thank you, everyone. We'll see you in a bit.