Ferrari Aces Strategy, Really!? 2024 Japanese GP Review

[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 then,

[00:00:13] let's get right into today's episode.

[00:00:30] Welcome, ladies and gentlemen to the Formula 1.5 review of the Japanese Grand Prix because Max

[00:00:40] Vistappen has won and the story closes there, right? It does not though because on the Inside Line F1

[00:00:47] Podcast our job is to basically look at those things that nobody has noticed and try to find

[00:00:52] a different perspective of that. And in the Japanese Grand Prix, there were so many things

[00:00:58] to talk about. Let's give you a quick insight into the race result. So Max Vistappen finishing

[00:01:02] P1, Sergio Perez second, a podium for Carlos Sainz and notably, Yuki Sunoda was also in the point.

[00:01:10] So that's a rough idea of the major stories from this race we get. But among those is a very

[00:01:16] interesting story that we need to begin with. First up, Shor Vistappen has won.

[00:01:20] Shor it's been, I don't know what, his 7000th victory in a row, whatever it might be. I think

[00:01:24] fourth consecutive 1-2, that's the number we're looking for. But the big story is Kunal,

[00:01:30] the damned have now become the heroes. We used to criticize Ferrari strategy so much. I mean,

[00:01:35] I remember us making it a laughing stock on this very podcast then for rightful reasons because

[00:01:40] they ended up missing it up quite a fair few times. But here we are today and it seems like

[00:01:45] Ferrari have outsmarted McLaren. Is this the same team we're used to growing up with?

[00:01:51] Well, it is the same team. Just different people running the team. Fantastic race for Ferrari even

[00:01:58] if the result doesn't really say so, 3-4 especially after this quarter 1-2 in Australia last time

[00:02:05] around. One of the reasons they could run this sort of a strategy was clearly one of the other

[00:02:10] things we made fun of was attire degradation that Ferrari used to be quick on Saturday

[00:02:15] and then would go backwards on Sunday. But their attire degradation is actually very,

[00:02:21] very impressive. And that's what allowed Charles Leclerc to do a one-stop strategy in the Japanese

[00:02:29] Grand Prix. Mind you, this was the one-stop strategy that then Mercedes really wanted to try,

[00:02:35] gave it an attempt and then aborted all throughout. And this is the same team.

[00:02:39] Mercedes vs Ferrari Mercedes eventually beat Ferrari to second place in 2023.

[00:02:44] And the same Mercedes that ended up beating Ferrari in 2016, 17, 18, 19, 20. It's times

[00:02:53] are changing, Sundaram. And at the inside line F1 pit stop that we had with our community partner

[00:02:58] fan code this weekend in Mumbai, we had over 100 people come in. And when we asked the same

[00:03:03] question, the gasp and surprise and hearing out the fact that Mercedes outsmarted McLaren

[00:03:08] actually that statement in itself carries so much gravity considering the circumstances of the last

[00:03:14] few years. Absolutely. And the fact that we've seen Ferrari falter this way too many times over

[00:03:21] the past couple of years that this almost feels heroic in some to some extent. And there are

[00:03:29] two things that clearly impressed me. One was Ferrari, the other was Sergio Perez will talk

[00:03:34] about him soon in some time. But I think Ferrari put in a very, very good strategy. I think that was

[00:03:40] something that made the race very interesting. We didn't see a lot of on track battles based on

[00:03:47] base, but I think it was a very strategic race and absolutely loved when we have these sort of

[00:03:51] races. We tend to see this in Spain, we tend to see this in Hungary, different tire compounds,

[00:03:57] different strategies, different stint lengths. And when that happens, it all this comes

[00:04:02] together very well. So I think this was a very good race. I would give Ferrari nine points out of

[00:04:09] 10, I would suppose that I should have done a little bit better and qualified. But I think

[00:04:14] this was a good race and great job for Ferrari. For consecutive driver of the days of Ferrari

[00:04:19] canal, not bad. Really? Wow, I never knew that. I mean, I never count them. No, never. It

[00:04:26] doesn't matter. Does it give you championship points? No, does it give you a contract

[00:04:29] extension? No. Does it give you a payment bonus in the driver contract? Definitely no.

[00:04:36] So I definitely don't count them. I think the only time I remember this happened was when the

[00:04:40] fans conspired and they made Nicolas Latifi, the driver of the day, or they at least planned to

[00:04:45] saying a good send off gift for Mr. Latifi. But Sundaram mentioned a couple of things. Firstly,

[00:04:50] Ferrari strategy, yes, spot on. They really messed up the Saturday. It wasn't so much

[00:04:55] Leclerc, but it was Ferrari that messed it up. And like we did on the reel that's pretty much

[00:04:59] blown up on Instagram on our handle, they just messed it up with Leclerc so badly that the single

[00:05:05] lap specialist looked very amateurish in whatever he didn't qualify. But I must say, I don't think

[00:05:11] it was the most interesting race from a Formula One perspective, especially if you dig deeper.

[00:05:17] Because yes, there were overtakes. Yes, there were overtakes for the lead of the race,

[00:05:22] for the podium finishes, podium positions. There were lots of battles even for 10th place with

[00:05:28] Yuki Sonoda sort of mastered and so on. The truth is these battles were all, how do I put it? They

[00:05:35] were all based on a tire differential. And what was the tire differential? If Sundaram's on a

[00:05:40] 10 lap tire and I'm on a two lap old tire, I am going to overtake him purely just based

[00:05:45] on this. So it was not down to drivers trying to battle each other and hold each other up.

[00:05:50] Of course, they tried to do that. But a lot of the battles were just over exaggerated by the tire

[00:05:57] differential and the undercut was so powerful that even if you pitted one lap before all your

[00:06:03] rivals did, you had a very good chance of overtaking them or jumping them on track. And

[00:06:08] that's where it was. But well, that's where it is. It was still a great race. Suzuka is

[00:06:11] always fun. There's always something that's happening. The red flag, 17% chance of a red

[00:06:16] flag actually came up just after the first lap itself, the first standing start as we call it.

[00:06:22] How exactly did Charlotte Klick and Ferrari outsmart the McLarens? Well, eventually it was quite an

[00:06:28] interesting take for them how they thought that after their poor qualifying, a longer one stop

[00:06:33] that would be somewhat risky would be the ideal strategy for them. Instead of running in all

[00:06:37] the dirty air, they could just go out ahead, claim track position, hope that the deck is

[00:06:42] not that bad there and then figure out where you recycle. And that recycling actually worked

[00:06:47] out quite well for Charlotte Klick as he eventually ended up in the podium spots

[00:06:51] before Carlos Sainz eventually got that position. And that was starting to move by him

[00:06:56] to get that position in the end as well. And we saw lots of teammates working together,

[00:07:00] letting each other go past. But this is what Ferrari did. And eventually dirty air,

[00:07:06] the hard surface, it all adds up into making a track that's very, let's say not friendly

[00:07:11] towards the ties. And eventually that Ferrari strategy pre-planned yes of course in a way,

[00:07:17] but it played out in that regard that worked out quite well for the man. At the end of it all,

[00:07:22] sure Red Bull might have gotten a 1-2, but Ferrari might have to walk home as the

[00:07:26] happiest constructed of them all. Or will it be RB? It's a bit of a tough call, this

[00:07:30] isn't it? I think I would go with Red Bull being the happiest constructor or maybe Red Bull energy

[00:07:38] drinks because they got racing bulls in the top 10 as well. But yeah, because 1-2, you mentioned

[00:07:45] 4 1-2's, that's been the trend all four races of the season have seen 1-2 finishes from a

[00:07:52] particular team. Of course Australia was where Red Ferrari took the 1-2's. But I would say

[00:08:00] Red Bull was probably the happiest constructor because Czech of Perez struggled at this circuit

[00:08:05] last year. It was almost a second off. This time he was almost on pole, both the drivers

[00:08:10] thought they had lots of errors on their laps which cost them pole or which cost them more lap

[00:08:16] time. But Czech of Perez drove a very good race to eventually get that 1-2 for Red Bull as well.

[00:08:22] So my money would still be on Red Bull racing trying to just do everything else. And if they

[00:08:27] falter, I think it's clearly going to be Ferrari who will pick up the pieces.

[00:08:32] But Sridharam, isn't it nice how the gaps are now only in the hundreds of a second in qualifying

[00:08:38] and I find it fun how in the last F1 pit stop we had at CarSocial for the Australian GP,

[00:08:44] in the poster issue we asked a question, does Red Bull feel the need to change their

[00:08:48] second driver? And the sentiment there was overwhelmingly towards yes, get Sergio out

[00:08:55] as soon as you can and bring someone like Daniel Ricciardo, Yuri Vips or whoever it might be into

[00:08:59] the seat. A week later actually couple of weeks later and there was no word about that even though

[00:09:04] the same question was asked. And by the way we were amongst the other people as well who had

[00:09:08] the same sentiment as well. It's not just the attendees but also the two of us and it's all

[00:09:13] a flick of a switch. And that's how we as fans sometimes tend to look at the sport

[00:09:19] differently from how teams see it. We often want the best team and the best drivers to be

[00:09:24] battling against each other and I think Sergio Perez received a lot of flak last year for not

[00:09:30] being able to compete on the same level as Max Verstappen and that's where 2023 was supposedly

[00:09:36] boring but the reason why it was a little bit more monotonous was the other teams not being

[00:09:40] able to have the same pace as Max Verstappen. But from Red Bull's perspective he had

[00:09:48] gotten enough points to finish P2 in the championship, they got the constructors

[00:09:51] championship, they got the drivers championship. So there was no real reason for them to remove

[00:09:57] Czecho Perez and luckily this weekend Czecho Perez managed to put in a very impressive

[00:10:05] performance. I really really have to say that Kunal said he struggled last year. I think that's

[00:10:11] he's put it in a very subtle way. I think he had a torrid 2023 race in Japan and the way

[00:10:18] he had multiple penalties, he came back after 25 laps to escape the grid penalty. It was probably

[00:10:25] one of his worst races and coming back this time I think he's put in a good statement that hey,

[00:10:31] I'm back and I'm going to hold on to my seat. Since we are talking of qualifying I'm actually

[00:10:36] going to add some context here because just how close was qualifying? We know it was 6600s

[00:10:43] between Czecho Perez and Max Verstappen. I was seeing the onboard comparison laps and the telemetry

[00:10:51] just when exiting the 130R, Czecho Perez was actually 400s up on Max Verstappen. And Max Verstappen

[00:10:59] just break late and whatever and then took that pole lap. But again there are some interesting

[00:11:04] gaps because Fernando Alonso again out punching we have other weight as he normally does out

[00:11:10] qualifying the position of the Aston Martin for all four races in a row. I think except for maybe

[00:11:16] Australia where he made a mistake. He said in Q3 I took so much risk that it worked out in Australia

[00:11:21] didn't right and he said I was so much on the edge. He was just 4,000s of a second behind

[00:11:28] Carlos Sainz right. Oscar Piazri 700s again Hamilton 6,000s of a second in 8th in 7th place

[00:11:36] Charlotte at 200s of a second behind them. So that's how close qualifying is and like a lot

[00:11:43] of drivers pointed out especially in the Aston Martin, McLaren and Mercedes battles since the

[00:11:48] three of them are literally neck to neck. It's track position and qualifying that's making a big

[00:11:55] difference in the race and that's where the driver difference actually comes in. And yes I think

[00:12:00] Czecho Perez great driver difference and some will actually you found out a very interesting

[00:12:05] reason why Czecho Perez has probably just gotten all up very nicely in 2024 apart from what Helmut

[00:12:12] Marco said that he is delivering because 2025 contract negotiations are on right now but

[00:12:17] what was that one reason that you found out? So Sergio said to the media that he's trying not

[00:12:22] to invent which says a lot because in a Formula 1 car you might be puzzled into thinking what do

[00:12:28] you mean invention, what's he talking about? It means driving style the way the car behaves

[00:12:34] every driver has a certain way of working with the car some like to brake later, some like to

[00:12:38] brake earlier, some like to turn in later, some like to turn in later and so on and so forth as

[00:12:42] you go with how you behave with the car. It might have been that Sergio Perez was trying to drive

[00:12:48] the car last year like Max which is away from his natural muscle movement, natural style of working

[00:12:53] with the car and suddenly after a year full of self-doubt after questioning who he really is

[00:12:58] and in a way after having a racing driver identity crisis about what is my style actually all about

[00:13:04] and what's the faster one Perez, apparently according to himself has devoted back to his

[00:13:08] original way of doing things and although it says to me that he's settled back down into

[00:13:14] knowing where he is that that dream perhaps for P1 has died down and I wouldn't say rightfully

[00:13:20] so but we could see that there's also very much inclined towards Max but in a way this

[00:13:25] acceptance that my style is the one that will get me the best I can possibly do is probably going to

[00:13:30] be better for him instead of focusing on what's the style to beat Max because I think looking at last

[00:13:35] year it's quite clearly not his own style perhaps it's something that Sergio does in himself

[00:13:39] that will allow him to beat Max but that's the interesting insight that Sergio himself

[00:13:43] has revealed and it says so much about a driver's psyche I mean think about it right

[00:13:48] it's almost like having an imposter syndrome Sundaram where you're starting to question

[00:13:52] not just your driving style but also yourself am I good enough to do this is my style good

[00:13:57] enough to do this can I beat Max can I beat Max with this style with this car with this way of

[00:14:01] driving with the style of braking imagine the overthinking it must have caused him for him

[00:14:06] to now settle down and say right I'll do things my way and it's working thank goodness

[00:14:11] No you're exactly right and I think where it went wrong for Sergio Perez last year was probably

[00:14:16] Miami where he started on pole and despite having the advantage of starting nine positions

[00:14:22] or eight positions ahead of Max was tapping he lost that race and then thereafter there was

[00:14:27] something or the other always going wrong for Sergio either he was going past track limits

[00:14:32] or either his engineers were not setting him out on the right time during qualifying

[00:14:38] there was something or there was always something or the other there was not working

[00:14:42] for him so then that ends up going there's a break in momentum he has low confidence you

[00:14:48] really start doubting yourself and then by by what time you kind of regroup and recollect the

[00:14:53] whole campaign is done and we've seen the sort of trend happening with even someone like a valerie

[00:14:58] bot as the start of a year when they're completely they've hit the reset button they tend to do well

[00:15:03] in the initial races once the upgrades come in or once there's a bad result it all snowballs

[00:15:08] once again so Sergio Perez has had a good race so far let's open let's wait and see if he's

[00:15:14] able to be consistent with the next couple of races and let's hope all those issues of last year or

[00:15:19] the previous is they don't end up coming back once again I like it don't know Kunal it's it's

[00:15:23] good competition just like in the background where there are so many good drives this weekend

[00:15:27] should we is it the right time to ask this question though about the drive of the weekend

[00:15:32] because we clearly are looking at Sergio Perez as one candidate I am also looking at Logan

[00:15:38] Sarchin let's all appreciate everyone's small wins guys let's not be very rude to each other

[00:15:42] everyone has a different scale and scope in life and every achievement differs depending on what

[00:15:49] level you are on so let's celebrate everyone's small wins Logan Sarchin had two passes today

[00:15:54] hey victory no but in all honesty it's and Logan Sgt finished the race he finished the race

[00:16:04] you know in comparison in comparison to Alex Albonne ever since Alex Albonne's

[00:16:09] move to Williams he's never finished a Japanese Grand Prix and in the last three Japanese Grand Prix

[00:16:16] he's completed a total of 26 laps wow Logan Sgt has done more laps than Alex Albon had in Japan

[00:16:24] that's a strange and weird stat in itself but Logan Sgt it is yeah he crashed in we had a very

[00:16:30] lousy crash in free practice but good to see him finish the race in Alex Albonne's car

[00:16:35] where literally Alex Albonne also crashed his own car so people getting the context would know that

[00:16:41] Alex Albonne's repaired chassis from Australia was actually given to Logan Sgt for China so

[00:16:47] Logan still doesn't have a car even though he's paying a lot to have a car but that's just the

[00:16:51] way it is my drive of the weekend I would say my drive of the first four race weekends if I may

[00:16:57] just be a little too bold with that is what do you say Yuki Sanoda clearly he said two

[00:17:07] back-to-back race points finishes which is by the way equals his maximum race points finishing

[00:17:13] streak right streak I don't know why I said steep but the the key part here is each time

[00:17:20] there has been an opportunity to qualify in the top 10 Yuki has taken it and each time there's

[00:17:28] been an opportunity to score points in the top 10 again Yuki has taken it right and to give you

[00:17:34] an example in Bahrain we had Landstroll creating an opportunity in the top 10 Yuki of course was

[00:17:41] 19th Nico Hulkenberg took that 10th place okay but after that in the three races Saudi Arabia

[00:17:48] Australia and Japan Yuki Sanoda has been in Q3 in all those races okay in Saudi Arabia it was at the

[00:17:57] cost of Oliver Behrman who was standing in for Colour Sciences we know in Australia it was

[00:18:03] Lewis Hamilton who created the Q3 spot and then again in Japan it was Landstroll who created

[00:18:10] that Q3 spot and Yuki took it and that's why Yuki Sanoda is my driver of the weekend and

[00:18:16] remember he overtook three cars in the pit lane right so that was of course down to his strategy

[00:18:23] that was down to his crew but that was also down to him stopping in his marks also down to him not

[00:18:28] faltering in that pressure moment and Yuki Sanoda again made overtakes on track at places where

[00:18:35] we've almost never seen drivers overtake okay so he was pulling off all those moves

[00:18:40] and very interestingly in the pre-race media meeting Yuki Sanoda told all of us saying I'm

[00:18:46] actually bored of this circuit and remember he's you know a driver English is not his first language

[00:18:51] so he didn't really mean that and all the other drivers max which happened included saying

[00:18:55] are you serious because every other driver said this is our favorite circuit it's the best

[00:18:58] driver's circuit ever sector one you know and and Yuki Sanoda said actually I've driven way

[00:19:04] too many laps here and then he started doing a count maybe I've done thousand or two thousand

[00:19:09] he said maybe I've done ten thousand laps around Suzuka because the Japanese Formula 4 that he was

[00:19:15] driving in was running around Suzuka as well and then he gave a very interesting lap time

[00:19:20] inside that the Japanese Formula 4 car was 45 seconds mind you I'm going to repeat it 45

[00:19:28] seconds slower than a Formula 1 car on a lap around Suzuka 10 seconds per formula not bad

[00:19:34] or 10 seconds per corner or something some but but on on the drive of the weekend sunuram you had

[00:19:42] something very interesting that we discussed on the way back from our event who would you pick

[00:19:47] in this spot you you had something to say oh I'm going I'm going with Shah Lakla I am definitely

[00:19:52] going with Ferrari today because I was so massively impressed with what they were able to do

[00:19:58] I mean leave qualifying aside today they checked all the boxes and they implemented a very good

[00:20:04] strategy and I think like I said earlier Lakla made the race interesting for me I mean on a day

[00:20:11] where it was a lot more hotter than in the previous two days when it was a lot more overcast

[00:20:16] they were preparing for some sort of showers that were expected it did not rain at all

[00:20:21] so there was higher degradation than there was expected Lakla was able to manage his tires

[00:20:27] very well I think he was in the lead for just four laps but still he managed to almost double

[00:20:33] the stint on the mediums that McLaren and Norris were able to do and that put him within the

[00:20:39] podium positions and if not for Carlos Sainz coming up with fresher tires I definitely think he

[00:20:44] deserved a podium as so so at least for me I'm going with Shah Lakla he made today's race

[00:20:50] very very interesting for me at least yeah and that too like I said at the start of the show

[00:20:55] to do a one-stopper at a circuit like Suzuka where everyone else is two-stopping is pretty

[00:21:00] pretty phenomenal but Sundaram you made a very interesting point that in qualifying the conditions

[00:21:05] were actually cold which favored McLaren and Mercedes a little more with their tires right

[00:21:12] but today it was hotter and it actually brought Ferrari back into play with regards to

[00:21:19] you know the circuit temperatures and so on and yes you know one thing that Frederick

[00:21:23] Vassour has changed at least now is there is a lot more confidence into what Ferrari is able to deliver

[00:21:30] and and it's just a matter of time that they they're able to sort of make this their new baseline

[00:21:36] because I still think they are clearly number two and maybe challenging Red Bull if the circuits

[00:21:43] you know characteristics go away from them especially if there are front limited and

[00:21:48] graining and and so on and that suddenly just artificially costs Red Bull performance

[00:21:53] and that's the best part right you see these little races here and there kind of like in

[00:21:58] Australia isn't it every now and then where you see other teams challenging which makes it so

[00:22:02] much fun but on this whole subject about drivers and their drive in context of their

[00:22:07] entire race weekend the clerk was good Sonoda was great signs was quite good as well

[00:22:12] Oscar Piastri probably not the best let's touch upon him very quickly before getting to Mercedes

[00:22:17] and let's ask the question why was he not as good as Lando Norris because on this whole battle

[00:22:23] between them sure Lando got the upper hand in qualifying which eventually makes a huge difference

[00:22:29] but in the races well one very interesting observation that we noticed was that after their

[00:22:34] first pit stop Piastri Norris only had a one lap difference in terms of tyre age Norris' tyres

[00:22:40] were one lap younger than that of Piastri but still Piastri was lapping roughly four tenths

[00:22:46] five tenths slower than Lando Norris on an average per lap and that says quite something now we've been

[00:22:51] tracking this since last year and there are so many races especially the longer ones kind of like your

[00:22:56] cutthroat grand prix and the likes but we've noticed that Oscar Piastri tends to trail off

[00:23:00] some experts and some panic journalists have said that it's tyre management Piastri himself has said

[00:23:05] that he's not able to manage them as well but I find it interesting how this whole cycle

[00:23:10] is still carrying on Kunal even though it's been one year in Formula One and

[00:23:13] it's hard to quantify how early or how late a driver should learn tyre management but clearly

[00:23:19] that deficit exists and it exists hard. It does and you know like Mark Webber said he knows how to

[00:23:24] drive a Formula One car fast he's just learning how to drive a Formula One car slow these days

[00:23:29] which is the truth because you know Sean Leclerc actually said on the radio which

[00:23:33] probably will never get played out was what shit are these tyres because

[00:23:37] these Pirelli tyres they needed a lot of management Max Wyschnappen said that

[00:23:41] they needed management over a pole position lap. Can you imagine that that's how

[00:23:48] terrible these tyres are and then you're expecting a driver who's you know one F4, F3, F2 to suddenly

[00:23:53] come in and learn these tyres when it's not as easy right? Franz Storst who we've been in

[00:24:00] queue to get on the Inside Line F1 podcast literally said for a driver to excel in Formula

[00:24:04] One you need to give them three seasons right? Oscar Piastri is not even halfway through

[00:24:10] that's three season mark but whatever he's shown is actually good and if you were to just

[00:24:14] you know sort of look at what I said about track position right? Piastri lost out of Russell on the

[00:24:19] last lap why did he lose out because he chewed up his tyres while chasing Fernando Lonso.

[00:24:25] Why was he not able to attack Fernando Lonso? Because A, overtaking is tough and B, like I

[00:24:31] said track position is very very vital when it comes to these battles between McLaren,

[00:24:36] Aston Martin and Mercedes right? So these are proofs of what we're trying to say that it's actually

[00:24:40] playing out on track it's not just us sharing opinions right? So it was just down to that Oscar

[00:24:46] Piastri just didn't have the track position when he would have probably needed it and I'm looking

[00:24:51] on the side because I'm trying to see the tyre information that I have and let's remember

[00:24:55] it's Fernando Lonso it's probably the most difficult driver to overtake on track in all

[00:25:03] of Formula 1 for the last 20 odd years that he's been around so that's why you know Oscar Piastri

[00:25:09] let's just give him a break but there was Oscar Piastri and George Russell, George Russell was

[00:25:17] released in qualifying wasn't it qualifying? Just in the tracks of Oscar Piastri I am surprised

[00:25:24] that Piastri did not get a penalty for that because clearly what Russell was doing was he

[00:25:29] was looking at a steering wheel making adjustments not expecting anybody else to be in his way because

[00:25:34] is George Russell I think Oscar Piastri should have just very well gotten a penalty for it the

[00:25:40] way they gave Fernando Lonso a penalty last year for Australia or last race for Australia

[00:25:45] by the way that didn't fly did it because it was all full of sarcasm so I need to just work on

[00:25:50] my delivery better yeah I was wondering if you got the you got the names wrong

[00:25:58] you clearly had me confused crazy crazy but that's that's McLaren and you know I like

[00:26:05] that the banter is slowing now because Fernando Lonso also had something very hilarious to say

[00:26:10] as he always tends to funnily enough Fernando Lonso went to the media after the race and said

[00:26:16] I think I had one of my best performances in the recent times but nobody will remember it

[00:26:21] tomorrow morning why is he feeling so sad so you know what's your favorite driver on about like

[00:26:26] what's the what's the downbeatness about he said that I had one of my best performances in

[00:26:31] recent times but nobody will remember it tomorrow morning something's gone wrong I mean it takes

[00:26:37] a lot to discourage someone like Fernando Lonso he's been he's been saying this a lot

[00:26:44] in the last couple of years one good qualifying session with an Alpine he says this is my best

[00:26:49] qualifying session of my career one good race with Alpine or Aston Martin he says this is the

[00:26:53] best race of my career he's quite clearly looking past Valencia 2012 or Emola 2005-06 so

[00:27:03] I don't know the sort of zone that he's in but once again you tend to see the brilliance

[00:27:07] that this guy tends to do in the car today he managed to push Oscar Piaz Tri closer towards

[00:27:14] George Russell I mean to give Oscar Piaz Tri DRS towards the in the latter stages of the race

[00:27:19] and then that's just typical Fernando and I think he went to the media after the race and said

[00:27:23] I have to be disqualified from the championship for my moves I think I was doing some

[00:27:28] risky moves today as well always very very cheeky typical Fernando but guys literally had

[00:27:34] soft to Fernando Alonso because that Aston Martin is a p4 p5 car which is either you know

[00:27:41] eight ninth ninth tenth that's where it typically should be but Fernando Alonso has managed to

[00:27:46] qualify sixth fourth and tenth in Australia where he admitted you know he took too much of a risk

[00:27:53] and then fifth again so he has been putting that car in places it doesn't deserve to be

[00:27:59] but that's pretty much been the hallmark of Fernando Alonso hasn't it been so it's been

[00:28:05] the hallmark of the entire Aston Martin team I think even Lance Stroll put a car in places

[00:28:10] even Lance Stroll puts cars in places where they don't but they aren't supposed to go that

[00:28:14] delivered for God will you look at for the short form gone there even Lance Stroll ends up putting

[00:28:18] the car in places where it isn't supposed to go anyway and today sorry I just need to compose

[00:28:24] myself before I let this one out it's like they're playing a game of anything you can do I can do

[00:28:30] better right remember that at some of them where we had Lewis and Fernando back in 2007 it's just a

[00:28:34] little bit different this time with the teacher and the master because Lance Stroll said master if

[00:28:39] you can touch the barrier and leave a corner I can do something similar as well touch the barrier

[00:28:44] in Saudi Arabia failed this time he thought okay if Fernando Alonso can say GP to engine I can

[00:28:49] do something similar as well here we are with his latest comment can you can you enlighten us about

[00:28:55] what Monsieur Stroll is that to say today or wait what was it yeah what he said you know I don't have

[00:29:03] power on the straight it seems like I'm driving another formula or something like that which

[00:29:08] clearly was his way of saying GP to engine you know probably needs to learn from Fernando how to

[00:29:13] do how to deliver the best message in the fastest way that too at a circuit where Fernando

[00:29:18] actually did use the words GP to engine so he could have just used that and commemorated Fernando

[00:29:24] for what it was but then Mercedes would have gone absolutely berserk with Aston Martin and remember

[00:29:31] Mercedes I think also owns stake in Aston Martin Lagonda the road the road car company so lots

[00:29:38] at stake not just that Aston Martin Formula One team but also the road car company is it

[00:29:44] Mercedes or is it total who has shares in Mercedes it's total right it's Mercedes I think

[00:29:50] yes because Mercedes also supplies road car engines to to Aston Martin okay but but I don't think so

[00:29:57] Lance is really gonna care as much or of course he doesn't because I mean otherwise he would have gone quicker

[00:30:02] Aston Martin's Aston Martin's gonna have Honda engines into years time but yeah the same comment

[00:30:12] at the very same track that happened almost 10 years ago that cost Fernando the big job at Honda

[00:30:19] several years and whatever but yeah GP to engine GP to engine for all of those tuning in or hadn't

[00:30:26] tuned in back then didn't get the references I would say but clearly Lance stroll can you imagine

[00:30:32] he actually got overtaken by Nico Hulkenberg in the closing stages of the races so while

[00:30:37] Fernando also was fighting at the top with the top five teams Lance strollers decided to fight

[00:30:41] with the bottom five teams and then he would turn out and tell the media hey I'm at least in the fight

[00:30:46] sorry did you say decide to fight I mean I mean clearly right if you

[00:30:55] Lance told was actually not involved at all in the Daniel Ricardo Alexander Alban incident

[00:31:00] which I think we should talk off because you know that opening rays red flag whatever

[00:31:06] Albin very brave Ricardo what happened you know what whatever happened to that special

[00:31:11] awareness that drivers have they're aware of what's happening was Alban in the blind spot

[00:31:16] of his rear view mirrors maybe that was the case but you know on a WhatsApp group which the three

[00:31:20] of us are part of along with some 80 other motor heads somebody said Alexander Alban was silly

[00:31:26] to be there I completely don't believe that yeah because if you're a racing driver you see a

[00:31:32] driver ahead actually going slower creating a gap for you you go for that gap and I liked

[00:31:38] how Daniel Ricardo put it he said Alexander probably didn't want to go there but he just

[00:31:43] found himself there you know and either way it's just one of those things where Williams just

[00:31:48] ends up crashing and then everyone keeps asking them about a spare chassis and other spares

[00:31:53] and and whatever and and so on which by the way they Alpin is another team that doesn't

[00:32:01] have a spare chassis just that they don't they aren't really ending up racing even in formula 1.5

[00:32:07] because both their drivers had contact in today's race even though they're racing for like positions

[00:32:14] 30 and 32 whatever and they finish 26 seconds behind the sober in the race can you believe I

[00:32:22] know I've just switched on lots of talking points here but yeah spare chassis Alpin,

[00:32:28] Williams, crashes, Ricardo, Alban lots that I just spoke of. I think it's also going to be a very

[00:32:33] tricky situation for Williams to turn up in China with two working or functional chassis's

[00:32:42] they gave the spare chassis to Alex Alban this weekend he crashed out of it and he's

[00:32:47] supposedly damaged that one as well and they have to go on a huge recovery and repair

[00:32:53] job before China it's also possible that we might end up with one car and again the question is

[00:32:58] going to be who's going to be driving that car are they going to go the other way around and give

[00:33:01] the car to Logan Sarjan this time and say yeah take the spare chassis drive in China you've

[00:33:06] deserved it but was the chassis damaged because Alban actually said post-trace that he

[00:33:12] turned around looked under and he noticed that there wasn't much damage luckily to the

[00:33:17] tub itself and that it wasn't as bad because there were tire barriers he was saying I can't

[00:33:21] remember when last I saw tire barriers at a formula one circuit right because they were under the

[00:33:27] tire he was his car was under the tire barriers out there but either way Williams will figure it

[00:33:32] out they've got that American money and Doralton and whatever to to jump into when they have to

[00:33:37] maybe now James Walz has had to come out and give out the same press release and say that

[00:33:43] yeah we've had a damaged chassis and it's gone back to the factory for repairs so same story

[00:33:49] just two weeks later yeah my god guys I'm thinking right we need to be kind for Christmas don't be

[00:33:57] how about we all chip in a bit of money just just maybe start a fundraiser or something let's just

[00:34:01] give them a chassis yeah just a little more I think they need one badly it's like a kid trying

[00:34:05] to survive on one piece of underwear it just can't happen man you need to wash it sometimes

[00:34:09] it's crazy how it's working out for Williams we need to do a come on stake too as well

[00:34:15] because pit stops are fun pit stops are complicated pit stops are fast not so much if unfortunately you

[00:34:24] happen to be the team in green and black another slow stop for Joghwanyu this time out and let's do

[00:34:30] some digging here right let's do some really nerdy stuff because we had this conversation

[00:34:35] right before recording and I was very very curious to know what could the issues be now

[00:34:40] to a layman like me cross-threading doesn't make a lot of sense English isn't really my first

[00:34:45] mechanical language we I talk mechanics in Hindi mostly but what's it all about what's the issue

[00:34:50] here with the with the stake pit stops and why can it not be fixed until May which is the deadline

[00:34:55] they've given by the way it's crazy you know what happens is pit stops are really quick

[00:35:00] they're really important as you saw today with racing bowls they jumped three cars in the

[00:35:05] pit stops with you Kisan O'Donnell imagine if you were sour and your fastest pitch toffers for

[00:35:10] seconds you would have probably never made those positions right but going to pit stops even pit

[00:35:16] stops need the latest of equipment latest of software latest of sensors that comes at a cost

[00:35:23] that's what also goes under the budget cap so the teams have to make a choice where you

[00:35:27] want to invest the money and for example Mercedes last year didn't have the fastest

[00:35:32] of pit stops if you guys remember and that was conscious because the team had decided to put

[00:35:36] their money on the car right so that's what eventually happens even with pit stops right so

[00:35:42] that's where I'm guessing sour is going through some upgrades getting the tech in place and hence

[00:35:47] then the processes will fall in place because it's the same people who did the pit stops it's

[00:35:50] not the people who's gotten slower it's just that the uncertainty around the you know is higher

[00:35:56] because of the tech being the way it is but they actually had a four second pit stop which

[00:36:00] is for sour standards not too bad I would say guys really I'm serious wow you are no isn't it

[00:36:09] it's not oh yeah I mean because they're getting better because our calling nip tian who digs

[00:36:15] up these amazing graphs and stats on the inside line Instagram page and the two-ter pages well

[00:36:20] by the way was able to create this average pit stop timing graph and if my memory serves me

[00:36:25] correctly Sunderam the average time per stake was five seconds right in the in the last three

[00:36:29] races something thereabouts so they've slashed a whole second and a whole second in terms of

[00:36:37] performance in formula one is a lot but actually on track not in the pits but they're getting

[00:36:42] there they're getting this really instead I think the bets will just keep on getting better for them

[00:36:47] but last thing to talk about let's stop the bombshell lose Hamilton and eight times

[00:36:53] wait wait wait before you go to Hamilton you I actually just opened up that graph

[00:36:58] because it's a very crucial graph okay average pit stops after the first three rounds average pit

[00:37:04] stops 14.4 seconds he actually didn't remove the outliers because you needed these outliers this

[00:37:11] is for stake right racing bulls is actually even worse 6.7 seconds and alpine was 4.833 and if you

[00:37:19] take the median if you're the one who prefers a median you know sour is 4.3 seconds so they

[00:37:25] were still at the median this race itself just so you know but yes we should talk of Lewis Hamilton

[00:37:32] because very interestingly he just came up out of nowhere and he asked should I just let George buy

[00:37:40] and there was no context to it before or after the race but Lewis actually delivered some context

[00:37:46] after the race at the secondary start the standing restart that happened

[00:37:51] where Lewis took on the hard tire he had contact with Charles Leclerc which caused damage

[00:37:57] and Lewis was understeering a lot at that time so he was not able to pick up the pace

[00:38:02] so that's when he turned around and said if George is anywhere quicker and he doesn't have

[00:38:06] damage let him just go so that's the context it's got nothing to do with the fact that Lewis

[00:38:10] is going to race for Ferrari in 2025 and the team just decided out of nowhere you are there

[00:38:15] just let George go thank you I was surprised we have in all of us we were just so confused like

[00:38:21] is this coming from a world champion is this coming from a Formula 1 driver letting his

[00:38:25] team mate to go past but they genuinely were I'm not going to use the words we used at the events

[00:38:31] and then I'm don't worry they genuinely were they were alright they were alright let's put it that way

[00:38:37] they're alright they were alright they were alright but like Kunal said context is always

[00:38:43] important because otherwise if we were sitting and scratching our heads as to why would Hamilton say

[00:38:47] such a thing but if he's had some sort of damage or if he's had some sort of performance loss then it

[00:38:52] kind of makes it just very straightforward and fair that he gives over that position to Russell

[00:38:57] and see if he can make a chance out of it exactly and that is what we saw with Mercedes

[00:39:02] a quick burn why they didn't work out very well do we I think not much

[00:39:07] is left to be said about it right or they tried doing something after the first red flag and

[00:39:15] I think three fourths three fourths of their time into the race they kind of realized this wasn't

[00:39:21] going to work so then they switched from a one stopper to a two stopper they added one more

[00:39:25] late pit stop at the end and they couldn't salvage anything out of it so they finished

[00:39:29] largely where they started from but it was a little sad to see Mercedes literally a second

[00:39:34] and a half two seconds down on the other competitors and getting passed by so easily

[00:39:39] not not the best of sites for a team that's won so many races and titles in recent years but

[00:39:46] I really hope they're able to turn this around and be a little bit more competitive it's not nice to

[00:39:52] see Mercedes in this situation I mean that way I'd say it's not nice to see the other eight

[00:39:58] teams in this situation can we just have all the teams come come come competitive enough but

[00:40:04] let me add some numbers to your Mercedes point Sundaram some context Mercedes George Russell

[00:40:09] finished seventh 45.9 seconds after Max Verstappen right that's how low he finished and this is

[00:40:19] what Tottenham Wolf actually said post race he said now it's just live testing for us

[00:40:23] we found some performance we're going to go in that direction so we are just following that

[00:40:28] direction a lot of data is pointing us in that direction even if the results don't reflect this

[00:40:34] way and I can't wait to go racing in Shanghai right this is what he said and like you pointed

[00:40:41] out Mercedes actually tried to do the one stopper so they they were over managed their hard

[00:40:46] tires and then they realized that the one stopper is just not going to work and I

[00:40:50] if I remember any if I there were lots of nice overtakes but every time I think of a good overtake

[00:40:55] it was always a Mercedes car being overtaken and that's also pretty embarrassing for Mercedes I would

[00:41:00] guess I don't know you know we have to give credit to Sergio Perez over here I I think he gave us

[00:41:07] two very good overtakes from this from this race yeah and I think it's it's a good it's a

[00:41:13] good plug as well on the inside line of of one nicely done my friend yeah and he's he did it twice

[00:41:20] he did it twice adding but generally a very good overtake yeah adding adding more context to Mercedes

[00:41:26] and I can't stop it you know we should have done this at the start of the show anyway we have 98%

[00:41:30] of the people who listened till the very last minute till Swami literally says and that's it guys

[00:41:34] and then people don't listen to the ending tune but there is a reason why we're doing this at

[00:41:38] the back end which is clearly because if the performance belongs to the back end of the

[00:41:42] top half and we should probably also we can take our liberties can we not yes can be can be not

[00:41:50] George Russell turned around and said the last three circuits haven't suited the strengths of our

[00:41:56] car that's 75% of all the races that have happened this season I don't know what to really say

[00:42:03] but you know this is where if Aston Martin had two driver's scoring points Mercedes would have

[00:42:08] found themselves in a bit of a spot being beaten by not one but two customer teams this season

[00:42:15] wouldn't that make them oh no Williams also have Mercedes sorry I forgot briefly I just

[00:42:21] thought they would be the last Mercedes powered car that would be statistically funny

[00:42:29] it's a bit sad not used to see the sight of a silver car around Suzuka passing people once

[00:42:34] and then falling out of sync all together I mean yeah that's my 2005 memories whatever little ones

[00:42:40] I have as a as a two-year-old are starting to fade away in a negative light but that's all that we

[00:42:45] have from this weekend ladies and gentlemen that's our Japanese Grand Prix review there is another

[00:42:51] race coming up soon it's going to be the Chinese Grand Prix coming up and if you are around

[00:42:56] India there's one particular city where we're trying to get to for China so stay tuned the

[00:43:00] inside line I point pit stop we're trying to bring it to more places than just car social which by the

[00:43:06] way has been a lovely venue this weekend's pit stop as well and on that I'd seriously like to thank

[00:43:11] fan code for providing such amazing merchandise for our winners they got to win incredible caps from

[00:43:17] from the formula one so that they have as well and they also got season long passes to watch

[00:43:20] formula one literally for free if they won the quiz and three people ended up doing that

[00:43:25] quite well so thank you for everyone who attended that event and yeah can we reveal more we can't

[00:43:32] reveal more no I don't think we can no we shouldn't we should look out for social media but one

[00:43:36] you know one word of you know one word of thanks to fan code they brought formula one back to

[00:43:42] India which is fine which any broadcaster could have the Japanese Grand Prix was actually available

[00:43:48] a full weekend's broadcast was available for 30 rupees which is less than four cents of a dollar

[00:43:56] why am I stating this is because formula one over the years was actually built on free to air

[00:44:03] television okay that's what Bernie Eccleston did then he put it behind a paywall everyone

[00:44:08] started making money television contracts went up we know all of that but the audience is

[00:44:12] dwindled when it went behind paid TV that's also known all right 30 rupees to watch a Japanese Grand Prix

[00:44:21] broadcast over a weekend is as good as free to air even though it's just on a live streaming app etc

[00:44:28] it is literally as good as free to air so fantastic stuff by our friends and if you're

[00:44:34] anyone in India who still doesn't want to pay guys just pay come on there's no need to use

[00:44:39] illegal streams anymore it's only 30 bucks a weekend on top of that if you attend up it stops

[00:44:44] as an even further discount for the entire season as well why do you want to use pirated streams

[00:44:50] just pay them money it's not a lot you could you could actually watch the whole season on fan

[00:44:55] code for the cost of one coffee at Starbucks the whole season no my mind's more I just take

[00:45:03] the larger one it's okay but yes this is not a fan code advert okay we literally this is not an

[00:45:08] advert it's just genuine support and gratefulness for the kind of stuff they're doing and we're

[00:45:13] glad that we get to work with them as well eventually which is which is incredible but

[00:45:16] that's all from us this weekend folks thank you so much for tuning in and follow our social media

[00:45:21] for more short form content and more insights about where the next f1 pit stop will be see

[00:45:26] you there folks take care

[00:45:48] thank you so much for tuning in to this episode of the inside line f1 podcast before we ended I just

[00:45:54] wanted to say a huge thank you to amazon music once again for partnering with us on this episode of the

[00:45:59] podcast