F1 & MotoGP demo runs & other stories to watch for - 2024 Australian GP Preview

[00:00:00] Before we begin, I wanted to give a huge shout out to the folks at Amazon Music for partnering

[00:00:07] with us on this episode of the Inside Line F1 Podcast. But more on this later, right

[00:00:12] then. Let's get right into today's episode.

[00:00:30] I'm a question for you. What is the proper opening race of the season? If you're somewhat

[00:00:41] of an old formula one family like all of us on the Inside Line F1 Podcast, you will truly

[00:00:45] answer the question with only one word that is Melbourne. And that's it. We are back here

[00:00:51] for the Albert Barg rompry. Actually, the Melbourne Grand Prix or the Astuiling Grand Prix,

[00:00:55] I think they've changed the names a couple of times but regardless we are here at the Albert

[00:00:59] Barg and guess what folks? Last year, 440,000 people made their way to watch Formula One Grand Prix

[00:01:06] here. That's how much the circuit is loved and unanimously. I think we can agree upon

[00:01:12] the same thing right canal. This is the proper start of the year which is why our first event

[00:01:17] also for the Inside Line Club is going to happen for Australia. Yes it is. It seems like the good

[00:01:22] old days. Australia, our first race of the season. Australia also the first race of the race

[00:01:27] screenings that we do in Mumbai, India. This one's going to be at car, at the social out there.

[00:01:35] I'm not going to be there physically. I'll try and attend virtually like I always do but I know

[00:01:40] that Somal and F1st ad screw will definitely be there but I also love the whole timing. You know

[00:01:47] that Sunday it's a Sunday morning race and you're done with and you have the whole Sunday to you

[00:01:52] because guys remember this is actually not a Thursday Friday Saturday race weekend for the first

[00:01:57] time in 2024. We actually have a Friday Saturday Sunday race weekend, the typical race we can

[00:02:02] format. Yeah just your clocks and calendars now. Just been you're starting to get used to a Saturday

[00:02:08] race. Suddenly it's time to snap back in and get used to Sunday but more reasons to be excited.

[00:02:13] I think last year we did talk about this enough but it was a home race for an Australian driver

[00:02:18] Oscar Piastry this time. We've got two of them so incredible stuff. We've got Piastry and Ricardo

[00:02:23] at Tengden near home race and there'll be tons of tons of support but the big story is to watch for

[00:02:29] 40 RZones lots of chaos in the pecking order as well. I mean we're still at that stage where

[00:02:35] we're learning a lot about where the teams and drivers actually still are some that I'm aren't we?

[00:02:39] You know I'll actually go back to that point about home races because interestingly we have

[00:02:45] a string of home races coming up so I just had to pull out the schedule right now so we have

[00:02:50] Australia, Japan, China, first for Rougu and United States. Italy if you want to actually consider

[00:02:58] Danny Rick half he is half Dallin actually. Then you have Monaco, Canada, Spain so a string of

[00:03:06] home races coming up but coming back to the other point yes Australia is actually a very very

[00:03:12] interesting circuit for me and growing up this was obviously the home race I mean sorry the

[00:03:18] opening race of the season for me and like you said 4 DRZZones this is where usually the championship

[00:03:24] starts and Melbourne usually has a little bit of a case of being a very what do you say tricky race

[00:03:33] or chaotic race because Albert Park has always had a minimum of 3 DNFs always last year we had

[00:03:40] 8 DNFs if you remember we had erad flags the most ever seen in a single Grand Prix so I really expect

[00:03:47] this thing I really expect things to get really chaotic and interesting this weekend wait 8 DNFs

[00:03:53] and the biggest heartbreak of the entire season Carlos signed the penalty that the FI gave him and

[00:03:59] wait on that subject as well two things to mention firstly it might just be a home race for another

[00:04:04] driver we aren't quite mentioning him enough but Valtteri bought us is now technically 70% Aussie so

[00:04:09] let's just put him in there with the money and then all the accents of his wheel but 77% Aussie sticking

[00:04:15] into it and nicely done nicely done that daddy jokes late in the hour in the day in Oslo time you

[00:04:24] never you can never miss that can well that's a joke that in some circles would get you kicked

[00:04:30] at inland not in that you know the use at 440,000 people in Albert Park Australia my goodness

[00:04:39] that's incredible a temporary race circuit by the way 440,000 is almost 80% of Oslo the city where I

[00:04:46] live and the whole population is roughly 64650 imagine 440 turn tuning up for a race in Melbourne but

[00:04:55] there is always a different excitement about Australia it's you know Somal and Sundaram for me

[00:05:01] this is whole thing about F1 wanting to race at iconic circuits don't go to some of these newer

[00:05:07] circuits but when we think of iconic circuits pretty much they're just the ones in Europe right but to

[00:05:13] me Albert Park and Susooka I would say are two iconic circuits outside of Europe you know I still

[00:05:21] don't think any of the Middle East on circuits are iconic Singapore is still very very modern for me

[00:05:26] so when I think of an iconic circuit outside of Europe Albert Park is pretty much very high on the

[00:05:32] list maybe Susooka is obviously higher I'm just wondering right how much time does it take for

[00:05:38] it to become iconic because we came to Melbourne for the first time I suppose in 96 exactly so we

[00:05:46] had Albert Park as the season finale and 95 and very neck the very next race was once again in

[00:05:52] Australia 96 this season opener and since then Albert Park has hosted races either of the first

[00:05:59] second or third race never lower than that hey hasn't it wasn't it similar in 2021 as well

[00:06:04] where we had Saudi Arabian country as being the second last one and then we had the race being

[00:06:08] second but the point being here 30 audience it takes one day one day Bahrain will also be iconic

[00:06:13] until that day let's just cherish Melbourne Park sorry Albert Park Melbourne Park I'm saying

[00:06:17] but hey one more thing to cherish over there this weekend we're going to have a demo run with two

[00:06:23] big showcase cars for the Ashuradari Radharakar and a bike is gonna be big doing riding a

[00:06:29] long side his son who's going to be driving an old Benetan Formula 1 car and for those of you

[00:06:34] don't know big two in multiple time Moto GP World Champion a legend of the sport whose son currently

[00:06:39] is in Formula 2 I can add P and seat as well so there's even more celebrations and to add to that

[00:06:46] we may or may not see Carlos signs back in that Ferrari which for me is a big moment because if

[00:06:51] he does come back that for me is the biggest celebration more than anything else before before we

[00:06:56] actually go on Somal for somebody like you who's the voice of Moto GP in India who's literally

[00:07:01] the voice off the inside line F1 podcast having done over 300 episodes you should have been at

[00:07:08] the Albert Park so kids because both your sports Moto GP and Formula 1 we'll actually have demonstration

[00:07:15] runs this weekend I think it's going to be pretty fun to see that and I'm pretty sure everyone the

[00:07:19] minute they see the car they're like ah you're that engine go right and I'm not the two hands

[00:07:25] Mick is definitely very very popular than Jack Jack is reserve driver for Alpine probably not

[00:07:32] the best team to even be a reserve driver for but exciting demonstrations these things always bring

[00:07:39] new audiences new or attention and the fact that I think one session they're both gonna run together

[00:07:45] alongside each other and that's going to be pretty iconic for everyone out there yeah yeah exactly

[00:07:52] there's going to be that there's going to be 400 thousand fans there's going to be the battle

[00:07:56] of qualifying guys I want to put this question to you right this is a really tricky one because in the

[00:08:01] last couple of races apart from the one constant being Max was stopping winning there's been another

[00:08:06] constant was that would be one in qualifying the club P2 in qualifying the third person has always

[00:08:13] been different and where I say always it's probably not the heaviest word to use here because we've

[00:08:17] only had two races so far but we have had two different drivers qualifying in P3 in the last

[00:08:23] couple of races the big question to you guys is we know who's going to win this of course we do

[00:08:27] unless there's some sort of chaos who qualifies third that seems to be the one big thing for the

[00:08:32] volatility for me where's your money on syndrome it's a very difficult question because like you said

[00:08:37] it's Red Bull and Ferrari up front you'd expect Sergio Perez to be up there you'd expect him

[00:08:42] to be up there unless his late 2023 form starts kicking in but his science going to be a 100 person

[00:08:49] that's always going to be a question mark because Albuen really struggled a lot when he came back

[00:08:54] at the Singapore Crompry last year after surgery the similar surgery last year as well so that's

[00:09:01] going to be very tricky but I think I have my money on George Russell after the Red Bulls and

[00:09:08] Ferrari's. I am actually going to put my money on Fernando Lonso he has to qualify that

[00:09:15] Aston Martin okay he has qualified that Aston Martin out of position for those two races that

[00:09:23] we've had in Bahrain and in Saudi Arabia but the interesting thing here you know you guys are

[00:09:28] some you mentioned we'll check we'll we'll call our science actually be back we don't know let's

[00:09:32] wait till the official confirmation or the denial etc and then Sundaram pointing out that Albuen

[00:09:38] was still struggling when he came back in Singapore the interesting thing here is when Albuen

[00:09:42] actually came back in Singapore there was a three week gap between the races at that time right

[00:09:48] this time there is just two weeks of course we don't know the severity of how it was for both the

[00:09:52] drivers etc and you know that begs the question could Oliver Behrman actually get a second shot

[00:09:59] at that Ferrari seat and if he does could he even be better prepared than he was in Saudi

[00:10:07] because Saudi clearly we know what happened and you know Heinz Harald Frenzen the famous former

[00:10:12] Formula One driver actually replied to me on Twitter saying he's never driven these cars but

[00:10:17] the fact that Oliver Behrman didn't make a single mistake knowing that the whole world's eyes

[00:10:24] were on him and there was that pressure to perform and he didn't make a single mistake and that's

[00:10:28] what actually stood out for friends and when it came to Behrman so could Behrman be in the car

[00:10:34] and if he does could he again you know do what he did you know get into Q3 which is what he missed

[00:10:38] the last time and then go on and score some points. That's a very interesting point because I always

[00:10:44] felt that Liam Lawson had a very difficult debut last year at Zanvot because it was it was raining

[00:10:50] but probably being chucked into a Ferrari car that too around a track like Jedha I think that's

[00:10:56] probably the most dangerous or the worst track to actually make your F1 debut because it's got

[00:11:02] very low low grip it's the fastest streets circuit out there and you have a competitive car like a

[00:11:08] Ferrari so that's probably the most difficult debut anyone could endure the fact that he kept it

[00:11:13] well within the walls he didn't crash he didn't make any sort of mistakes like you mentioned makes

[00:11:18] it a very good debut and in that sense he's probably going to be more prepared I think he also had

[00:11:22] a couple of private tests at Fiorano between these two Grand Prix weekends so if he is in that car

[00:11:29] he's obviously going to be better prepared and if we're going to have the first day race and in four

[00:11:33] race weekends guys I would be very worried to mention that. I think he'll be well suited well prepared

[00:11:41] to still go forward and impress so yeah I would really look forward to see if Oli Behmens back in the

[00:11:47] car this weekend. I'm going to just add one more point Mark Hughes the famous Mark Hughes also wrote

[00:11:53] to me on Twitter and he said one of the differences and I asked this question are the cars very easy

[00:11:59] to drive and Somal if you remember when we did the Saudi Arabian review we actually asked this

[00:12:03] question are these cars easier to drive that was one theory we put up the second theory was our

[00:12:08] drivers coming better prepared with the private testing that we know Oli Behmens did in Fiorano

[00:12:14] like Sondaram pointed out and one of the things Mark Hughes turned around and said is this era

[00:12:18] of Formula One is seeing drivers drive roughly two seconds off the optimal lap time because they

[00:12:25] are all driving to dire stint life rather than a lap time as opposed to how it was in the earlier

[00:12:33] years where you were just driving those super qualifying laps as we've seen Formula One also

[00:12:40] reliving on social media as well so that's another give and take but we'll never know we just

[00:12:46] know that Oli Behmens had a great debut and that's what we're going to remember even though

[00:12:50] pretty much nobody's going to keep asking this question apart from the three of us.

[00:12:53] Drive for dire survival is that a good name for the documentary can we float it?

[00:13:00] No no no no sponsored by Pirelli sponsored by Pirelli indeed but on that whole subject right a

[00:13:06] quick side note before we get down into the other more on track stuff that you should be keeping

[00:13:12] an eye on for this weekend I just want you guys to picture what if you're all of a Behmens

[00:13:18] right now where do you go what do you do Ferrari is clearly out of the question for at least

[00:13:24] the next couple of years and even though the theories of hey Ferrari should let go of

[00:13:28] Louis Hamilton because they've got Behmens on their hands.

[00:13:31] Ostentatious is probably the the kindest word that can be used for that you just don't let go of

[00:13:36] Louis Hamilton right it's not just about what he does in the car which is anyway levels ahead

[00:13:40] the marketing money is just beyond anything else anyone else can pull off so there's that but

[00:13:46] what happens next he has to do well in Formula 2 which is what Fred Viser is very clearly

[00:13:50] openly come out and said that he needs to do well in that championship he said that I know I've

[00:13:55] ruined it partially for him but he's got to do well there so that's one criteria but conventional

[00:14:00] wisdom if the teams really are looking at his talent and they really are appreciating

[00:14:05] the ideal scenario or at least the most logical one based on past experiences would be hast

[00:14:11] what do you want to go to hast? It's like such a weird position to be right because

[00:14:16] in one side of things you can be dreaming about a Formula 1 drive and thinking you're the next

[00:14:21] oscarpy ashrie thinking hey if I'm that could you really want to spend a few years at hast but it's

[00:14:25] not even tangible at the moment in time it's such a hard place to be for the youngster I'm thinking

[00:14:30] say it's kind of a weird time for him to just get back in and focus on Formula 2 now Sundaram

[00:14:35] I find it to be quite a fun scenario for him. That's that's that's the dilemma once you've

[00:14:39] actually tasted the how these cars how quickly they how quick they can go you really don't want

[00:14:46] to come back to Formula 2 and then continue the rest of the campaign you really want to be back

[00:14:50] in the ref on car and as soon as possible so it's a good problem for him to have and that

[00:14:55] were days of just 18 years so it is very uncharacteristic of Ferrari to actually hand an 18 year old at

[00:15:02] debut but they didn't have any option last weekend but it's going to be an interesting problem because

[00:15:07] there's no other place where he can go he has to go to hast and probably the seat in Ferrari is

[00:15:12] locked in for the next two to three years as well but I think Ferrari are not going to make the mistake

[00:15:17] that Alpane did with Oscar PST they want to make sure that he has a watertight contract he doesn't

[00:15:23] slip through their fingers and go to any other team he's going to be at hast most likely next

[00:15:29] yet because hast is hard I think scheduled six practice free practice sessions for all

[00:15:33] the this year so they're really trying to make sure that he comes into that team next year

[00:15:38] and I think he's going to spend a year or two maybe there before he gets that Ferrari drive I think

[00:15:43] is going to be very difficult to see him elsewhere wait do we know the length of his Ferrari

[00:15:47] contract can all is there anything out there about it no right no it's it'll almost never been on

[00:15:53] and you know he's a junior driver which means his contracts pretty much go endless till saying if

[00:15:59] you achieve ABC we'll get you into Formula 1 and then even when we get you into Formula 1 we will

[00:16:04] try and place you either on our team or a partner team and you literally cannot leave and if you

[00:16:09] want to leave you got to pay us back some of the money or a lot of the money that we spent on your

[00:16:14] career that's pretty much how it happens right and we start the case how does that work in like

[00:16:20] from your time before India what was that system like I'm genuinely curious because I had it

[00:16:26] heard of this before so Oscar or rather the Claren might have paid Oscars contract off for Alpine

[00:16:33] right in that case that's the thing in the case of Alpine they relied on trust they

[00:16:38] little relied on you know not a contract they were hoping in the good will of Alpine having invested

[00:16:46] in P.S. 3's career things would go through so that's a bad example to take right but in the case

[00:16:52] of Pierre Gassli in the case of Carlos Sines in the case of these two drivers who move from Red Bull

[00:16:59] dental Renault okay there has and you know there has to be a change of exchange of money now it all

[00:17:05] depends how much Red Bull in this case of you know Gassli and Sines would ask for back and return

[00:17:10] and it makes sense right because if I am spending I'm using this as an example let's assume you're a

[00:17:15] junior driver's formula and I am spending millions of dollars trying to get you to Formula 1

[00:17:21] I am spending that money because I believe in your talent more importantly I believe in your

[00:17:28] future earning potential it's your earning potential that I'm putting money on not use coding points

[00:17:34] not you're getting polls right that's of course what's visible what's not visible is how much money

[00:17:39] can Somal actually end up making so I'm banking on what is known as future earning potential

[00:17:46] now if that future earning potential is taken away from me I'm saying I want the investment I made

[00:17:51] in your career back for me is that the principal amount is that a principal with an interest it

[00:17:57] depends on case to case basis interesting I really didn't know that I really didn't know that that's

[00:18:06] interesting we just learned something yeah not bad not bad some nuggets that you only get on the

[00:18:13] each side line of phone podcasts but should we should we get back to the on track stuff now guys

[00:18:17] because it's been let's do that let's do that yeah temporary rest circuit I always love these

[00:18:23] temporary ones here in the city but not a street circuit why can't we just have more temporary

[00:18:27] race circuits yeah exactly and at this temporary race circuit it's very interesting to note that

[00:18:33] last year Alex Albon did have a DNS which was not very good but he qualified eight in a Williams

[00:18:39] and remember at that stage Williams which is back off frankly let's just say another terrible

[00:18:45] season in 2022 so it was quite a surprise to see Alex Albon at the end this year I am

[00:18:50] personally very excited to see where that car stacks up because James was very clearly at the time

[00:18:54] of the launch said that we don't want this car to be a straight line merchant in paraphrasing but

[00:18:59] we wanted to be a lot more balanced can we see something change in terms of the results will there

[00:19:04] be some shake up on where Williams are and by the way Logan Sargent has also been somewhat closer to

[00:19:10] Alex Albon in terms of qualifying gaps and also where he's been in the race Williams are going

[00:19:14] to be one interesting team to watch for according to me I think so and you know you are you have said

[00:19:18] who'll be p3 I'm going to actually spin that question further to say who will be in the top 10

[00:19:23] and qualifying on Saturday because in Bahrain typically we saw the five top five teams score points

[00:19:30] so it was you know Ferrari Red Bull Aston Martin McLaren and did I miss someone Mercedes right

[00:19:38] they scored points in the race but in the Q3 in Q3 we saw Nico Halkenberg slipping at the expense of

[00:19:46] Lans Stroll right so we had one top five members so one of the top 10 cars of fastest cars actually

[00:19:54] not make it to Q3 in Saudi Arabia at the expense of Oliver Behmann who we can of course pardon for

[00:20:00] not getting into Q3 you key Sonoda made it into qualifying could it be you know Alexander Albon

[00:20:08] in the Williams who could now again make sure that the Williams is back in the top 10 at the Albert

[00:20:15] Park circuit so that's something I will really be looking to score and expanding further on this now

[00:20:20] that I already said that the top five teams scored in the race in Bahrain in Saudi Arabia has became

[00:20:27] the sixth team to score a point will we could we actually see a seventh team score points in 2024

[00:20:33] and hence could that be Williams although Alpin is going to wish that it is them if ever they score a

[00:20:39] point in 2024 and something very interesting happened last year at last years Australian

[00:20:46] Grand Prix because of all those DNFs that happened through the race after the end of this

[00:20:51] after the end of that round all 10 teams have scored had scored by then so if we have more

[00:20:58] retirements this year because we've had barely a few we didn't see any in Bahrain we saw just

[00:21:04] a couple in Saudi if we have more retirements this weekend then you can actually have more team

[00:21:09] scoring points and Williams could be one of them as you rightly mentioned Albert Park is the

[00:21:13] home of chaos anyway we see so many safety cars happen here every single time which spins us back

[00:21:18] onto another fun point to watch for in the race the opening lap every single time you do think of

[00:21:24] Albert Park you think of such a chaotic opening lap 2019 Ricardo Luzig is front wing I think it

[00:21:29] was 2004 when Royal Schumacher flew off the top as well I think we saw a couple of really crazy

[00:21:35] I think last year was one of the Haas's who cut a corner or something right is some some sort of

[00:21:39] chaos in the last couple of years where one car cut a corner there was a big big accident in the middle

[00:21:44] as well a couple of cars getting pushed off to that right outside wall heading out of turn number one

[00:21:49] that's also going to be crazy that that first couple of laps are going to be those couple of first

[00:21:54] what am I saying those first couple of laps are going to be quite fun but generally as well

[00:21:59] I know we're deep into this episode but we haven't mentioned this yet it's not the old Melbourne

[00:22:03] which means the slow speed corners that we really like about it I wouldn't say passing

[00:22:08] opportunities because they really weren't but the corners that gave it character are sort of gone now

[00:22:14] which means 40 other zones lots and lots of straights corners where it's just sort of fly pass

[00:22:20] and make it a king crab the naturally snowing down turning and making it more technical and good

[00:22:25] for launch roll that one corner where he actually crashed in his first year is also gone the one

[00:22:30] where he just turned right onto the lakeside which is incredible for him as well but did you guys

[00:22:35] like the layout now I mean we've had one year to see it and after the race last year there was so

[00:22:40] much chaos that we didn't get to talk a lot about it but what do you guys make of it is it judging

[00:22:45] by the tone of my voice I'm clearly not a fan but what about you guys what do you think of it?

[00:22:49] Oh I'm definitely not a fan I think if I remember correctly it turns 9 and 10 that they've sort of

[00:22:55] reprofile and that's actually taken some of the character away because one of the beauties of Albert

[00:23:01] Park that I know is you could get really up and close to the walls turn 10 exit you could kiss the wall

[00:23:07] you the closer you get the faster you can sort of be yeah they've just taken that whole you know away

[00:23:14] and I love the corners that follow after that the high speed you know chicane that comes but there

[00:23:19] was a lot of character to this as well and I just don't think we always need DRS zones and we

[00:23:25] don't always need you know high speed sections some of these Mickey Mouse stuff as we call it all

[00:23:30] those turns 9 and 10 were hardly any Mickey Mouse stuff but if you got that wrong technically

[00:23:35] you are under attack for that you know high speed sequence of corners where it comes off you

[00:23:40] know unfortunate that they've reprofiled it where we just got to live with it and you mentioned the

[00:23:46] opening lap you know I love the opening lap here because the the opening two or opening four

[00:23:51] sequence of corners are turns one into our turn you know right and left and then again three and

[00:23:56] four turn right and left and then there's another slow speed left hander so what it does it keeps

[00:24:02] the whole pile bunched up and that's why we see lots of action sometimes even lots of retirements lots

[00:24:09] of accident spins etc in on the opening lap and truth be told the way formula 1 formula 1.5 and

[00:24:15] formula 1.75 are racing in 2024 it's the opening lap and maybe the second lap where we could see

[00:24:23] some action before everyone settles down in the other's wake gives a two second gap awaits for the DRS

[00:24:29] to be activated and so on so that's why I'm really excited about that opening lap this Sunday

[00:24:35] now for me I think it's quite the opposite because like you said the opening lap is very crucial

[00:24:41] I think the opening sector is very crucial and after the first sequence of corners like you said there

[00:24:46] is a right hander there's a slow left hander that's where a lot of the chaos could actually happen

[00:24:52] before everyone's actually then let loose towards the high speed sections and probably you might not see

[00:24:57] a lot of overtakes after that but the thing is that section of turn nine and ten was probably the limiting

[00:25:04] factor as to why we didn't have a lot of overtakes with the last couple of seasons and that's why

[00:25:09] they had to go ahead and make that move last year we had 30 overtakes and that's the most

[00:25:15] that we've ever seen at Albert Park in the hybrid era and that whole high speed section was probably one

[00:25:20] of the reasons why that was possible otherwise people are always going to complain that just like

[00:25:26] Spain just like Barcelona we don't see enough overtakes and the race is very processional

[00:25:31] but if that allows for more overtaking if that allows for more battles I would love to see

[00:25:35] that happen and I think we did see that to some extent last year but I think the pit lane here

[00:25:41] is also much more narrower than in other circuits because like I said it's a temporary circuit so

[00:25:47] I think I have to probably reach out this I think the pit lane speed also drops considerable

[00:25:52] by a considerable number here which also means strategy could be very important I know it's one

[00:25:58] stopper it's a typical one stopper from mediums to hearts but the strategy could be crucial over here

[00:26:05] it's that's a great point actually the pit lane speed limit here used to be 60 kilometers per hour

[00:26:11] for the reasons you mentioned they update a couple of years ago to 80 kilometers per hour and

[00:26:16] for the very reason so you know I would have loved for it to go back to 60 because it just brings in

[00:26:22] additional strategy element although you know a slower pit lane speed limit means you're anyway

[00:26:27] taking away the option of drivers and teams putting more than once so to say but strategy wise

[00:26:35] it's not going to be the most exciting race as you just pointed out unless there are stoppages

[00:26:40] red flags safety cars and so on but let's see that there is somebody let's hope that there is

[00:26:46] somebody who challenges Max where should happen because he could be going for his 35th pole position

[00:26:52] three poles in a row that he could be scoring you know Barin Saudi and Australia could be going for

[00:26:59] his 57th win his second 10 race winning streak he could equal that now the question is could he actually

[00:27:07] build that to 20 in 2024 given how he's going but why don't we just spend a few minutes because

[00:27:13] while we are understanding all the stats and how it's all playing out and for the new fans

[00:27:18] especially the ones who are a bit on the fence why don't you spend five minutes to just understand

[00:27:23] is it really easy for Max to do what he's doing or is he actually being challenged what do you guys think

[00:27:32] Somal why don't we start with you I think he's only being challenged by himself and the limits

[00:27:38] that he has in terms of his performance clearly that car is miles away the challenge when you're

[00:27:44] that good is not to go that much faster it's to go that much faster within the constraints of

[00:27:49] managing DNFs or technical failures which is what they're doing right now in Saudi Arabia if you really

[00:27:57] look at the way he was driving it also that crucial radio message at the end he didn't say

[00:28:03] his engineer GP didn't say oh well driven or you were extremely fast he said well managed

[00:28:08] what does that mean what does that tell you at that level when you're that good it becomes all about

[00:28:13] managing your pace to the point where he's just able to win comfortably enough but not that

[00:28:20] but not push the car to the point where it could break or just end up saving an engine part because

[00:28:24] you just also want to make sure that you end up taking four engines for the entire season that's

[00:28:28] where the next level of greatness for Max slice which is what it is easy definitely not but the

[00:28:34] competition is internal Bootharic style so that's what I that's how I look at it to be honest

[00:28:39] now for me I think it's the fact that a lot of people think it's all about a game of pace but it's

[00:28:44] also a game of being consistent and that's where I think Hamilton won me over during 2015, 16, 17, 18 he was

[00:28:53] so bloody consistent with that car because the car gives you a certain platform and you as a driver

[00:28:59] kind of just push it even further but it's very very difficult to do that consistently we can

[00:29:05] weak out through all the sessions async all those corners ensuring that you don't make a single

[00:29:10] mistake what's happens not made a single mistake in a very long time and that's something that's

[00:29:16] very admirable and sure he's not being challenged the performance gap is such that he's not being

[00:29:21] challenged many other team but if that does come to happen at some point of time I think he will

[00:29:26] edge out the others but he's in a very comfortable position at this point I would say the car gives

[00:29:32] him certain benefits he's using it perfectly and I'll just I'll just add one layer here and it's

[00:29:39] while it's where it's happening it's also Red Bull Racing they're able to hit the simulation tools

[00:29:44] so well that they come at any race circuit and trust me all these race circuits have different

[00:29:49] requirements from your package they're able to hit the setup they know exactly what their tyres

[00:29:54] going to be stint life that we mentioned at the start of the episode they're nailing their pit stops

[00:30:00] I mean despite all the performance advantage they have Red Bull is still one of the fastest teams

[00:30:05] in pit stops they're nailing strategy they're nailing their opening laps they're stuck there are so

[00:30:11] many things that can go wrong but they are able to nail all of that and and that to me is also one

[00:30:17] of the key highlights of this dominance that Max is showing consistency error free performance from

[00:30:24] the team and the driver and trust me they still push on that Saturday they are still challenged

[00:30:30] and it's not that Max is qualifying 15th or 10th or 5th and then saying I'm going to just use my race

[00:30:36] pace now he is still going for the first couple of roles as he can because again you know one of those

[00:30:41] circuits where four out of the last 12 races have been won from pole but importantly eight out of the

[00:30:46] last 12 races have been won from the front row so qualifying is still as important and qualifying

[00:30:53] in these cars is still very much on the limit and they are still being challenged in qualifying although

[00:30:59] somebody listening in here could say guys in Barin he was two tens ahead in Saudi he was three

[00:31:04] tens ahead there's a very good chance of this trend continues he's four tens ahead in Australia

[00:31:08] so he's technically not being challenged you know in qualifying at least somebody could argue that

[00:31:14] but you know he still has to be there every single lap whether it's practice qualifying all the race

[00:31:20] and he is there and you know what's the only way to beat a team that's that good you can't have

[00:31:28] someone else beat them they have to kill themselves internally that's what happens they kill each

[00:31:35] other they they don't have anyone good enough to come and beat them it's all in turn which is what

[00:31:41] we're also getting to see because the latest developments are that the female employee

[00:31:47] and once again I'll just talk about the latest development in a second I read somewhere I don't

[00:31:51] I can't even trust the validity of these stupid clickbait websites but I read somewhere that apparently

[00:31:56] your step-and-a-step is getting personal with Christian honor about the solar fair because

[00:32:01] the female employee was apparently speaking to your step-and-a-step itself like what the hell dude

[00:32:07] where are we these days with reporting I like this but but the latest developments are that

[00:32:16] the so-called female employee is now taking the matter to the FIA which means more escalation it's

[00:32:22] a relatively minor thing but all the rumors said that before Australia Christian honor would be

[00:32:26] dismissed at the time of recording he's dead who knows by the time this episode goes out

[00:32:33] we might have a new team principle

[00:32:36] no no one's like one second yes I know you're just firstly we can't be clickbait because this is

[00:32:41] RTO but why aren't we actually see the trend in Bahrain it was Christian honor under attack

[00:32:49] because what is the opening race of the season in the whole Red Bull scenario of things

[00:32:53] in Saudi Arabia it was Helmet Marco under attack right and and Yoss sorry and yeah

[00:33:00] and Max wish to happen did not come in support of Hona he spoke of performance performance performance

[00:33:05] but he came out and he spoke in support of Marco saying if Marco goes I'm going because I know

[00:33:11] what Marco's done and Marco's of course set this on our podcast last year in June the only

[00:33:16] podcast he's ever been on for one whole hour where he explained how he and Dietrich started Red Bull

[00:33:22] Racing and the Red Bull Junior program several years ago in the 70s and 80s and the likes right

[00:33:28] but my point here is in Australia who will come under attack which way will this Red Bull power

[00:33:35] struggle go because Yoss were Stappen who was rallying himself on the weekend of the Saudi Arabian

[00:33:40] country wasn't there in the paddock but he will be or he should be back I assume in Australia

[00:33:47] will there be more comments because I don't know which way the whole power struggle is going to go

[00:33:53] the reverse could also be true that Red Bull finally have had time between the races to sit down

[00:33:58] and say guys you know what actually we've built an even stronger car without those side parts

[00:34:04] that everyone was worried of can we find truth here can we just agree on how we're going to

[00:34:09] you know you know move forward here because they want to continue it seems crazy that Max is

[00:34:15] going to leave nobody would want to leave this dominant car and go so they're going to try and

[00:34:21] do everything to make it work rather than not make it work so let's see how the whole Red Bull

[00:34:25] thing goes but could very well be that the biggest headlines this weekend come from daddy Yoss

[00:34:32] Yoss the boss exactly that no competition at the top what do we say but last couple of

[00:34:41] the points thanks to watch for in this race watch for how McLaren are going to be I think

[00:34:47] Sunderam it's going to be fun right because in Saudi Arabia we saw that McLaren was struggling

[00:34:54] to get past the Mercedes because they had no straight line speed but the big question up in the

[00:34:58] areas is it a car characteristic thing is it a setup thing I think in Australia we should get

[00:35:04] more of an answer towards that which means the volatility in the midfield would be fun to watch

[00:35:09] and then Mercedes are also such a big question mark aren't they I mean we haven't been able to

[00:35:13] decipher where they really are I don't think they know themselves today I think that's very

[00:35:19] interesting battle in itself McLaren Mercedes sometimes the Ashen Martin is also there but McLaren

[00:35:26] have had this problem last year as well they've really had a draggy car and that also came to the

[00:35:31] Ford this time and Saudi does have some very long straights and the effect of DRS is quite big over

[00:35:36] there so it was expected but I think they did quite well finishing in the top 10 and each each race

[00:35:42] is probably going to give us more answers that from what it seems that they're not going to be coming

[00:35:48] up with big upgrades until the first six seven races of the season so there's not going to be much

[00:35:53] of a difference but I believe McLaren did pretty well around high speed circuits last year

[00:35:59] silveston and the likes so if they finished in the points last last weekend they could still have

[00:36:05] a decent outing this time out I'm actually very curious to see where Mercedes is this weekend because

[00:36:12] it's going to probably end one of my very interesting stats because McLaren Mercedes has always been

[00:36:18] on the podium in Australia in the hybrid era and they don't seem to have the car to put them

[00:36:24] on the podium once again they've had a bunch of other issues cropping up and going back to the point

[00:36:30] which Kunal mentioned as well teams Red Bull has been so inch perfect even everyone in the paddock

[00:36:36] teams like Mercedes have been having cooling issues in Bahrain Ferrari had break issues in Bahrain

[00:36:43] so despite all the manpower and all the money that goes and they do tend to make these little mistakes

[00:36:48] Mercedes adopting a new aero philosophy they're still learning but it's going to be

[00:36:54] interestingly how well they adapt and how quickly they learn because they've not been able to match

[00:36:59] what they see in the simulator and what they've actually been seeing on track so it's back to square

[00:37:04] and trying to understand the car for them once again and you spoke very interestingly of

[00:37:09] updates on the rum and one of the things is typically teams would not bring upgrades to a fly-away

[00:37:14] race because it's expensive you have to you know bring them in via air freight and so on but now we've

[00:37:20] got you know Australia, Japan, China all of them fly away races so will team can we'll teams actually

[00:37:27] bring upgrades or will they stay away from them but upgrades is not the only way to extract

[00:37:32] performance like Ferrari keeps saying we just need to extract more from our package we need to

[00:37:37] just hit the setup windows much better teams would have had two races and then a two week gap into

[00:37:42] the third race I expect that they would have had more time to try and find a performance in their

[00:37:48] existing packages in itself so that's something I'm looking forward to will the pecking order change

[00:37:54] because why don't we just actually see the pecking order is Maxwell's Stappen right then check

[00:37:59] up it as there's a bit of a gap I'm talking of the race then there is Ferrari so that's pretty much

[00:38:03] set in the top three right then there is either Aston Martin McLaren or Mercedes or McLaren Aston

[00:38:11] Martin Mercedes depending on how you see it but a lot of that is just track position built it's down to

[00:38:18] if you have track position you will more or less be ahead of your competition and it's also down

[00:38:24] to this whole thing about you know the inability to follow is coming back given how these regulations

[00:38:30] are now in the third year and the teams have sort of developed their error platforms a lot more

[00:38:36] in fact James Allison and we could probably do this another day because we are also getting close

[00:38:40] to the 40-minute mark but James Allison just a couple of days ago said that FI was wrong in chasing

[00:38:46] dirty air and reducing it and he was of course saying this in reference to the fact that

[00:38:51] you know teams are going back to seeing that it's difficult to follow cards right but that's

[00:38:55] pretty much your top five that you got and then somewhere around is either the racing bulls or

[00:39:01] the Williams and then towards the bottom of all of this I think comes kick solver or whatever

[00:39:06] you call them and so on so that's the pecking order will a new circuit will this gap will will when

[00:39:13] I say new as in in terms of characteristics change this pecking order and that's what we'll know from

[00:39:18] Australia yeah so many fun things to watch now that we're looking ahead in the future let's end

[00:39:23] this episode with look back in the past guys one memory each from Melbourne we mentioned that it's

[00:39:30] the home of Formula 1 for all of us where do we begin with this one I am going to go for a really

[00:39:37] goofy memory because it's all fun and games to say hey Sebastian Vettel won here at Kimi Dahlia

[00:39:42] I remember the time at 2011 when Adrian Soutal actually opened up the DRS at a corner remember first

[00:39:49] year ever of the DRS's application at that time you couldn't quite it wasn't quite as efficient

[00:39:57] as a modern day systems that you could just break and it'll just shut down and then Soutal heading

[00:40:02] into a corner press the DRS button could not we will expand more because you were there in the team

[00:40:06] at that point in time and then spun it around and everyone at that point at least looking from

[00:40:11] the outside was confused about what's happened here as he put into much throttle what's happened here

[00:40:15] turns out it was the stupid devilish wing and we still have a problem with it today yeah I

[00:40:22] so I know exactly what you're talking of it was last corner and again it's a beautiful S that you

[00:40:28] come out of a left right and the right right corner starts with the the main straight and it's

[00:40:34] the shortest main straight goes up and comes down and then you just flick the DRS wing open and he

[00:40:38] opened that DRS wing a little too soon lost all that rear end down force slammed it and spun

[00:40:45] around blah blah blah and that's what happened it was one of those things and I also believe now

[00:40:51] this was just before he had a break here with with his all incident in China with Lewis Hamilton but

[00:40:58] very interesting goofy memory but yeah just brings back a lot of thoughts now you also mentioned

[00:41:03] Somal Ralph Schumacher's taking off you know and I always I used to always believe Formula One cars

[00:41:09] are aeroplanes built in words so they'll never take off they'll just stay on the ground and then

[00:41:13] here you see Ralph Schumacher's showing off and then you mentioned Kimmy Ryckin and Kimmy Ryckin

[00:41:19] in one year for Lotus in 2013 if I remember correctly and 2014 Kevin Mugneson the best debut ever for

[00:41:29] any driver on the podium with McLaren that baby faced Danish guy and now I now love seeing him in

[00:41:36] the on the screen just because of how he treats his daughter Laura it's a wonderful way to bring

[00:41:41] her up with this whole motorsport thing but so then what about you what's your favorite Australia GP

[00:41:49] memory what's the one that comes to your mind it's difficult to call it favorite why the

[00:41:53] but before that Kunal mentioned Kimmy Ryckin and Winning in 2013 around Albert Park that's actually

[00:41:59] the last time a team apart from Ferrari, Mercedes or Red Bull one around a street circuit or a temporary

[00:42:06] circuit so it's been 11 years since you've seen a different team apart from the top three when

[00:42:11] at a street venue not my favorite memory but the fact is that I'm grateful for Nando Alonzo

[00:42:16] still racing still performing at the highest levels and Melburn does take me back to 2016 when he

[00:42:25] rammed into Estevan Gutierrez flipped over did a couple of summer sols and still managed to come out

[00:42:31] unscathed and still continues to contribute to Formula One and Delight's all of us so 2016

[00:42:38] Australia a very horrific crash but good to see that he's still performing at the highest level

[00:42:43] and what a rough couple of years it must have been huh 2015 that first accident very forgot a lot

[00:42:49] he was oh hey that's the start of a new for Nando hey that's where the rookie driver actually

[00:42:56] started to come in yes I was thinking about this yesterday that's when it all started that's

[00:43:01] when his rebirth happened rebirth happened exactly oh yeah you're right because I remember 2014 is

[00:43:07] getting all tired and stuff we have nailed it we have nailed it okay prediction times prediction times

[00:43:13] time where do you think Alonzo finishes let's not go for the conventional ones because I don't

[00:43:18] need to guess who's P1 P2 let's not go for an order bit let's go for more specific questions

[00:43:27] search your pairs do you think he'll be second yes or no in a word I think he will be

[00:43:33] no who will be second then like love okay who is the last card to qualify in the top 10

[00:43:39] apart from the usual suspects I say Alex Albon Huki Sonora not bad not bad oh wait we could have

[00:43:50] said we could have said launch troll as well that would have been an unusual suspect you know we

[00:43:55] technically yeah pitiful hash one and finally prediction question will call our signs be on the podium

[00:44:01] I am just satisfying my ego by saying this will EP I'm just gonna say yes

[00:44:07] okay I'll say yes as well bias quite clearly and we shall see what the results are going to be like

[00:44:15] at the end but folks thank you so much for listening to this episode of the inside line F1 podcast

[00:44:20] we'll be back with more including the Australian GP race review and yes if you are in Mumbai

[00:44:25] I will genuinely be annoyed if you don't come to watch today's with us because if you're at

[00:44:28] that stage of the episode day it means that you love listening to us and we would absolutely

[00:44:32] love the opportunity to discuss the race with you after it ends as well so join us at car social

[00:44:38] and the link to the tickets will be live on our social media in a couple of days time so keep

[00:44:42] tracking over there take care folks bye

[00:44:58] you

[00:45:06] thank you so much for tuning into this episode of the inside line F1 podcast before we ended I just

[00:45:12] wanted to say a huge thank you to amazon music once again for partnering with us on this episode

[00:45:17] of the podcast