Hi, Shang-hai - 2024 Chinese 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 then,

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

[00:00:30] This is not a fire drill. The Chinese GP has been announced on the Formula 1 calendar and

[00:00:41] it's not been cancelled. We're only three or four days away from the point of recording

[00:00:45] till their race and I still can't believe the fact that Joguan Yu will actually have

[00:00:51] a home race. I mean, I have a question to you, Kunal. Who is the driver in Formula

[00:00:56] 1 history who has waited the longest for their home race to arrive? Take a guess.

[00:01:01] Well, interesting. Just when F1 stats guru is not here, you're trying to stump me with

[00:01:11] a stat. Why don't you just give it away? I don't know. I mean, I spent a lot of time

[00:01:15] digging but there was something that I really couldn't find the answer to but I have to

[00:01:19] guess right. You don't have to be Nareen Kathiken. No, think about it. He made

[00:01:23] his debut in 2005 and had to wait forever for the Indian Grand Prix to come about 16 years

[00:01:30] 2011. Right. 16? What's that? You're the engineer here. I failed my math exam. It's not you.

[00:01:38] But it's like 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11. It's actually not too long, you know. Six years. If you've

[00:01:44] got to remember that because the Stappen made his debut in 2015. You actually have

[00:01:48] to count. I like that. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. But no, technically Max was Stappen as well,

[00:01:52] right? Similar because he also made his debut in 2015 and got the race in 21. Yeah. Six years.

[00:01:59] What's common between Max, which Stappen, three times world champion and Nareen Kathiken,

[00:02:06] India's first and you know, most popular Formula 1 driver. They had to wait six years

[00:02:11] to get a home race. Wow. And that's a great start. Yeah. Incredible. We can find some

[00:02:16] stats too. But the interesting part is it feels absurd that there's no noise about it,

[00:02:23] no? Because when the Chinese GP gets announced and cancelled every year, which has now become a

[00:02:28] tradition, we of course roll our eye and be like, ah, COVID. But it is finally happening. But

[00:02:34] the best part is we're finally going to attract them. We can now claim to be

[00:02:38] underrated because so many people who have now started for Formula 1 will get the chance

[00:02:44] to experience the Shanghai circuit for the first time. And it will be some experience to see them

[00:02:48] just being in awe of the beautiful first Jalebi section, no? For our international listeners,

[00:02:58] Jalebi's men things just go round and round and round. It's actually a very tasty Indian

[00:03:03] sweet dish if that's what it's called. Yeah. I think so. Yeah. Something. But I mean,

[00:03:08] the opening sequence of corners is brilliant. The last happen coming in, I would say that's pretty

[00:03:14] brilliant as well. But you're saying there's not a lot of noise. I also felt that and

[00:03:19] I'm pretty convinced. One of the reasons there's not a lot of noises we are consuming

[00:03:24] English media. The Chinese consume absolutely, I would say parallel. There's somebody always

[00:03:30] listening there, but absolutely parallel media. That's why probably I hope there's a lot of

[00:03:35] buzz in China and that the grandstands are full. And then Formula 1 says 400,000 Chinese people

[00:03:42] actually showed up the first time, the highest ever public gathering since the COVID whatever

[00:03:48] was brought upon the world and something, something. But maybe it's also the fact that

[00:03:53] Joe Guan Yu hasn't really done as well. I mean, for whatever little he's done, there's

[00:03:57] a documentary that state somebody in China, some media house in China is releasing on Joe

[00:04:03] Guan Yu, which is what I mean. What do you show his first race? His core point, which is great

[00:04:10] in Formula 1. You always remember that you show is accident that happened and how strong these

[00:04:15] cars are and the cars actually got stronger with the roll hoop thanks to Joe Guan Yu.

[00:04:20] But I can't really otherwise remember much. I mean, it's a really bad stat going around seven

[00:04:25] races in a row. Joe Guan Yu hasn't progressed into Q2. In fact, there are two drivers who

[00:04:32] haven't progressed into Q2 in 2024 and Joe Guan Yu is one of them. Pierre Gasly is the other one.

[00:04:38] And of course, Joe Guan Yu is yet to out qualify Balthairi Bottas. But you know what,

[00:04:45] I'm going to puzzle you one more time or since you puzzled me at the start, Joe Guan Yu is not

[00:04:51] the only driver who is claiming that the Chinese Grand Prix is his home race.

[00:04:58] Do you know who the other driver is?

[00:05:03] Okay, I'll just give it away. Oscar Piasri, he said his great-great-grandfather

[00:05:11] was Chinese. So he said this is my one sixteenth home race.

[00:05:17] The guy speaks five words and you're telling me that out of those five words,

[00:05:21] this is what he said. Yes, he actually said one sixteenth. Maybe the Chinese Grand Prix would have

[00:05:28] just been that much more popular if they would have just said it's Oscar Piasri's home race.

[00:05:34] Okay, fine. Oscar Piasri's home race as well. Fine. We give it a Joe Guan Yu. It's probably his

[00:05:40] first and I definitely think it's his last home Grand Prix. I mean, unless this race is

[00:05:48] such a hit just because it's Joe Guan Yu racing and then the Chinese sponsors and media and fans

[00:05:54] just do what it takes to keep him there. But he's not got any result to put him there.

[00:05:59] Wait, so are you saying the race will go first or the driver will go first? Because at this

[00:06:04] moment in time, both seem pretty precarious. Both seem to be hanging on by string.

[00:06:09] You know, I've been saying this in official forums, right? Where Formula One people have

[00:06:14] been present and I'm like, you're saying you're a world championship. Lewis Hamilton's been saying all

[00:06:18] along how can it be a world championship if you're not racing on one of the largest continent in the

[00:06:25] world? Like if you were to put it Africa as that, right? Don't hold me to the largest because

[00:06:30] of course Asia is larger. But you know what I mean. I also put it the other way. How are

[00:06:35] you calling yourself a world championship if you're not racing where 30% of the world lives

[00:06:40] with just China and India. So for a world championship status, whatever you want to call it,

[00:06:46] I think there has to be a Chinese Grand Prix. There should be an Indian Grand Prix as well.

[00:06:51] We also know the Koreans have come back and said, hey, we like to bring all back to in China or

[00:06:55] whatever that name is. But yeah, I think the Chinese Grand Prix is here to stay. In fact,

[00:07:02] five words, six years, right? Or five years since its comeback. Questions should be asked

[00:07:08] why are they the last ones to rejoin the calendar after the COVID-19 pandemic, right?

[00:07:19] I'll also say why. Okay, here's a daddy joke disclaimer. Why do we have sprint races weekend?

[00:07:26] Why do we have a sprint race this weekend? Because the Chinese fans were really missing

[00:07:35] Formula One and the races. So you know what they said, you know what? We'll just give you two.

[00:07:39] One's a small one, one's a big one, but you get two starts, two opening laps,

[00:07:43] two all of that and whatever. So I said it's a daddy joke. So don't hold me to it.

[00:07:47] But you know what? There might be some truth to it because realistically, it is a question

[00:07:54] that we must ask. Why is Formula One hosting a sprint race in a circuit it hasn't come to

[00:08:00] for five years in a circuit it hasn't come to with this generation of Formula One cars and this

[00:08:05] generation of Formula One tires to the point that the teams have no real-world data about it

[00:08:10] and they get a grand total of one practice session to figure it out. It's like the Formula

[00:08:18] One bosses have agreed that we can't do entertainment. So let's just add as much

[00:08:22] degree of volatility as we can because for us, at least for this weekend, it might be a good

[00:08:27] thing that teams might not be ready with their setups 100% because generally, you've got to correlate

[00:08:34] what you get on the simulator to what you have in real life because obviously it's a computer. It

[00:08:39] can't simulate things that well. So you need some time and the teams do get three practice

[00:08:44] sessions for that. But a new circuit and just one practice session simply means that at least

[00:08:49] someone I'm not saying Red Bull, I'm not saying Max, I'm not saying the leading drivers but at

[00:08:53] someone I'm betting on the Williams drivers are going to be walking into the main sprint sessions

[00:08:59] blind because how can you figure that out with only one chassis between two drivers?

[00:09:06] Logan Sargent, we really hope you get your own chassis and that Williams actually has their

[00:09:11] own spares to run through the whole program. If nothing, they should have just manufactured

[00:09:16] those spares and the cars in China because everyone in the world believes it's just cheaper

[00:09:20] to manufacture things. Maybe that's the new hack, some will, that's the hack. China, the Chinese

[00:09:26] manufacturers, right? Factories, et cetera, factory owners will be talking to Formula One team saying

[00:09:33] you keep all the brains there. You let us do all the manufacturing here. You're under a budget

[00:09:38] gap. Why don't we just manufacture for cheap in China. We'll still get you all the FIA

[00:09:43] crash test pass, whatever. I think that's the hack. That's what we should be talking

[00:09:47] about this weekend. That's the story. You can tell that the two of us are really off the hooks

[00:09:56] this time out because we're recording so late at night that that's when the banter comes up. Maybe

[00:10:01] that's what we should do every single time. Just be absolutely honest. This is also what

[00:10:05] Formula One should do every single time. One practice session and boom, boom, boom,

[00:10:09] every session otherwise you have to maximize, right? Call it a sprint, call it whatever

[00:10:15] you care, whatever you want. I don't really care. But giving them enough just a little time is all

[00:10:22] I'm happy to know. I mean, running three practice sessions seems extremely, what do you say,

[00:10:30] wasteful if that's the word that you're giving three practice sessions, right? And

[00:10:34] you're going to just do it all in one hour of a practice session. And guys and girls

[00:10:39] whoever's watching make sure your drivers, the drivers better keep it between the white line

[00:10:44] some will because like you're saying, you know, any loss of track time and they'll struggle. And

[00:10:49] this is also where on a very serious note now, yes, there's banter involved a lot of it 11 minutes

[00:10:54] in but this is also where every team's simulator, you know, correlation simulator work will

[00:11:02] matter because what matters is that the minute you sit in the car, you're not driving it like

[00:11:06] you're driving it there for the first time. You're using your simulation tools to dial

[00:11:10] in the car dial in the settle setup dial in your driver as well. So you're able to maximize the

[00:11:17] one hour of track time you get and Mercedes actually off late is that one team that's been

[00:11:22] struggling with simulator correlation. So I know every time we talk of hate just one practice

[00:11:28] session and which team could get it wrong, people point to Brazil 2022 where Red Bull got it

[00:11:33] wrong. Mercedes got it right. George Russell won. But there have been several sprints after

[00:11:38] that and Red Bull haven't really gotten it wrong in those sprints as well. But let's see.

[00:11:46] Samuel a lot has actually changed in these five years. I remember Formula One saying our

[00:11:51] 1000th race happened in 2019 at the Chinese Grand Prix 105 races have gone since then.

[00:11:59] Nikita Mazepin has come and gone since then. I know you, Sundaram and myself,

[00:12:07] you're going to put out a short reel on Instagram in the build up to the race telling you all the

[00:12:12] fun things that have changed in Formula One since the last Chinese Grand Prix. And to me,

[00:12:19] one of the most fun things that has changed is that the last time Formula One raced in China,

[00:12:24] we actually, you know, everyone's talking of Pirelli tires. But the truth is not just the

[00:12:28] tire, the wheel rims were different. We raised the 13 inch wheel rims at that time. We are now

[00:12:35] to the 18 inch wheel rims. So everything has changed. Everything is different this weekend.

[00:12:40] And that's why I'm pretty sure it's going to be a very cracking one. It'll be weird visual to see

[00:12:45] Formula One back in China. It's like nostalgia, but not nostalgia enough because you know where

[00:12:51] 10 years is enough to be classified as nostalgia, but on the borderline,

[00:12:54] five years isn't that weird little spot. But you feel like it's happened yesterday,

[00:12:58] but it's not happened yesterday. So your eyes will flicker on Friday for the first time. Like,

[00:13:03] ha, this China Formula One cars at this corner. Ha, is this real? But the damning stat about what's

[00:13:10] really changed in the last five years is that the last time Mercedes, actually,

[00:13:15] not the last time Mercedes, the last time Formula One came to China, Mercedes were so confident

[00:13:21] themselves that they actually ended up double stacking. Valtteri bought us and lose Hamilton

[00:13:26] on the same lap in cream flag conditions. And they won that race with a one two.

[00:13:34] That's how far ahead they were. Now, before we start recording, I asked you a question about

[00:13:39] corporates and how they function because you've spent far more time in companies than I have.

[00:13:43] And I asked you, do companies really do five year reviews? Do they really check back

[00:13:48] what their performance must be like? Do they really do that? Because if you are Mercedes

[00:13:52] and you're doing that, you're just rubbing your own wounds. And you're just running your

[00:13:56] rubbing salt into your own wounds, actually. Oh, yeah, they're pretty, pretty aware of

[00:14:01] where they've drifted apart in this whole engineering competition called Formula One.

[00:14:06] And that double stack again, Formula One has shared that on social media, but incredible, right?

[00:14:12] Green conditions, double stacking. But the interesting thing is that the last time Formula

[00:14:18] One came to China, it was Valtteri Bottas who was leading the drivers championship. Can you imagine

[00:14:26] a driver who never won the world championship actually ended up coming to this race,

[00:14:31] leading this particular world championship? Maxwell Stappen was just a race winner,

[00:14:37] just a race winner. Yes, Leclerc and Sines had not even won a single race. So look out for

[00:14:44] that reel on our Instagram, by the way. We've been focusing a lot of our time on Instagram

[00:14:48] because that's where we are told we need to spend some bit of time from all the exciting

[00:14:53] insights that we are sharing. But on a serious note, this circuit with its configuration and so

[00:14:59] on, it seems like a front limited circuit. It appears that it's going to be cooler. And

[00:15:05] you know, that's always a good thing because front limited means it actually works somewhat

[00:15:09] more in Ferrari's favor. When it's cooler, it means that Mercedes and even McLaren actually go quicker

[00:15:15] as we saw in the last, I think it was in Suzuka, right? As well. So can, you know, Bahrain is one

[00:15:21] of those closest circuits people are saying this could feel like. Can Red Bull be challenged?

[00:15:26] Can that one session really help even the playing field, etc., etc. But you mentioned

[00:15:34] the 2019 win, Somal. This circuit actually has been, by the way, we've been racing in

[00:15:42] China for 16 years before we took a break. So it's been around for a long, long time.

[00:15:49] Red Bull scored their first ever pole position, race win and one two in China. Okay. Mercedes

[00:16:00] scored their pole position and race win in China. Okay, that was 2012, Nico Rosberg. Yes.

[00:16:09] So lots of, lots of history, lots of milestones and yeah, I mean talking about milestones.

[00:16:15] Michael Schumacher's last and 91st win in Formula One was in China. No way. So there's a,

[00:16:24] can you imagine there's so much history connected to China when it comes to Formula One

[00:16:31] and these iconic teams that we're talking of that I really hope there is a local motorsport

[00:16:36] culture. I mean, I know there's a local motorsport culture, right? But I really hope that there is

[00:16:40] a local motorsport affection for what Formula One is and how fast this car is on the planet

[00:16:48] and so on. I just want to see Seoul on the track. Seriously, no, I don't mean Seoul the city,

[00:16:53] but I just want to see some Seoul from the fans on the track because it's, you're so right. It feels

[00:17:00] like a ghost circuit even though it's had so much of connection to Formula One history.

[00:17:06] And when you think about it, right, probably circuits like

[00:17:10] Indelago or Melbourne or the others, the way they hold a special place in our heart

[00:17:15] just isn't the same with China even though they've got so many iconic moments like

[00:17:19] Rosberg's win, like Vettel's win, like Schumacher having that in mind and also a couple of other

[00:17:25] really crazy things like Schumacher crashing before the race began and then having to go to

[00:17:29] the spare car as well in what would be 2004. I think so, right? Yeah. Yeah. It's it's

[00:17:38] absurd. And then, yeah. And then of course, Lewis Hamilton beaching it in the pit lane.

[00:17:45] Yeah. Right in China. Yeah. In his debut season. So 2000 and whatever. Seven.

[00:17:51] And Sebastian Lettl passing a couple of cars on the entry of the pit lane here as well.

[00:17:56] Yeah. And Jensen Button driving into the Red Bull pit box. Yes. In his first year with

[00:18:04] McLaren. That was another really exciting time. And even Hamilton did something similar. Didn't

[00:18:10] he at this very place? He drove into the Mercedes McLaren pit box in his first year at Mercedes

[00:18:15] as well. I believe. Yeah. Yeah. So, lots of can you imagine lots of exciting things,

[00:18:21] but let's switch to 2024. Why don't we do that 18 minutes in? We've already spoken.

[00:18:28] We've already spoken of front limits, front limited circuit like Bahrain. We've spoken of

[00:18:34] the cooler temperatures. But you know, Red Bull is still that damn team to challenge.

[00:18:40] We're going to come to the next few races because Ferrari's just won. You know, Stiglia,

[00:18:45] we're going to come for the next few races wondering, ah, will there be a challenge?

[00:18:48] Will there be a challenge? And I mean, you know, Red Bull is so dominant that the top five

[00:18:55] fastest pit stops are Red Bulls. Okay. The top 11 fastest pit stops are Red Bull and then Ferrari

[00:19:02] and these are all under 2.3 seconds. Okay. Then I'm going to add more, right? Red Bull could

[00:19:09] actually score their hundredth pole position this weekend because Max Verstappen has of course

[00:19:15] been unbeaten in qualifying in 2024. And if it's Ferrari, Ferrari has actually been waiting

[00:19:21] for a long time to score their 250th pole position as well. And of course, going back

[00:19:27] just to Red Bull, it could be Max Verstappen, I think sixth consecutive pole, his longest

[00:19:33] streak of pole positions. So lots of milestones again being connected to China, I would say.

[00:19:40] But one big thing to watch for really this time out in my opinion has to be qualifying.

[00:19:45] Leave the race aside. Let's not leave the race aside totally in sentiment. But the idea is

[00:19:51] that the race probably is going to be a little predictable if the teams find the right setup,

[00:19:57] which a lot of them actually have optimized during the sprint weekends. So what should we really

[00:20:02] be watching the Chinese Grand Prix for? Driver is showcasing their courage and their understanding

[00:20:09] of the circuit in qualifying because that is what Formula One is all about. Driver is pushing

[00:20:14] it right to the very limit and finding the most out of themselves and the car. And when

[00:20:18] the variable element is the circuit, a circuit that nobody has driven on for the last five years

[00:20:24] and in this generation of Formula One car, it will be genuinely intriguing to see what the gap

[00:20:29] to Max Verstappen is for all the people behind him. Or in fact, if anything, can anyone actually

[00:20:35] out qualify because keep an eye out on the gaps that we've seen previously in qualifying.

[00:20:40] They've been cutting down bit by bit race after race. Sergio Perez to the point,

[00:20:44] if you guys forgot, was only 600 of a second behind in Suzuka, which is our proper driver's

[00:20:49] circuit. So he may not be the best in the race, but I'm genuinely willing to pay money to watch

[00:20:55] qualifying just to see how crazy it will be. And we might just see surprises here. We might just

[00:21:01] see drivers who we don't quite expect to see high up in the race put up some really good

[00:21:05] qualifying sessions. I don't know, can Nico Halkenberg do something interesting here because

[00:21:09] he's normally the one who really puts a foot in the door on Saturdays.

[00:21:13] And we're going to have two qualifying sessions. Call it what you want is qualifying and sprint

[00:21:18] qualifying. And there are five drivers yet to out qualify their teammates. We of course spoke

[00:21:24] of Joe Guan Yu and Pierre Gasly, but there's Logan Sargent of course, there is I believe

[00:21:31] Daniel Ricardo. Yes, definitely needs. I mean, who would have ever thought that Daniel Ricardo

[00:21:41] is going to struggle against Yuki Sonoda? And I mean, I'm not saying Sonoda is bad,

[00:21:48] but you know, Daniel Ricardo was actually the last Red Bull win here was scored by Daniel

[00:21:53] Ricardo. That's the dominant Daniel Ricardo that we remember right the honey badger as we

[00:21:59] know it right. And then of course, there is I believe Checo Perez, he's yet to out qualify

[00:22:04] his teammate as well. So that's what's to look out for in qualifying.

[00:22:08] It's the one Ocon too, no? He's also beaten Pierre Gasly every single time?

[00:22:13] Absolutely. Ocon has actually been he's been in Q2 in that Alpine in two out of the last four

[00:22:20] races. So he's actually been punching way about the weight of the of that Alpine

[00:22:27] Pierre Gasly again yet to get out of Q1. So very interesting trends that you know, we keep

[00:22:33] tracking off and switching. Do you have something on quality? I do have something on Alpine more

[00:22:37] than qualifying because we normally tend to read a lot of formula one. We just have to we just

[00:22:43] like to as well. But one of the articles I was scrolling through this week was Bruno Famon

[00:22:48] saying that both of my drivers are happy. How can they be happy?

[00:22:55] Like it's is there something lost in translation or what?

[00:23:02] Bruno Famon also said the he put the blame of this car on the previous management.

[00:23:10] Okay, but very cheekily he didn't say which previous management because Renault has of course

[00:23:17] had lots of previous management as we definitely know right. But yeah, you know, I am waiting for

[00:23:28] the day when they turn around and say our owners are the issue. Sorry, which ones?

[00:23:33] Because if God just how socialistic can a formula one team be by having 50,000 owners in one team?

[00:23:41] Do you remember who owns Alpine now? Well, yeah, you know, technically if you own

[00:23:47] shares to Williams, we don't know how many people own shares to Williams racing as well.

[00:23:50] So could be 15,000 owners in Williams as well because it's publicly traded.

[00:23:54] True, that's one thing that is indeed true. But a lot of it does come down to Williams

[00:23:58] advanced technology and all of their other engineering prowess which they are quite good

[00:24:02] at. But I find it weird but okay, I don't want to reign on Alpine's parade far more.

[00:24:07] We should go to the interesting point that you had in mind and it was about

[00:24:12] I think I have every point interesting. So now I'm buzzered. Okay, we could look at this.

[00:24:19] Five drivers have scored in all races in 2024 if I can just switch to races because the

[00:24:26] obvious thing which everyone is going to talk about is that all the four races

[00:24:31] in 2024 have actually had one to finishes. But there are five drivers who scored in all

[00:24:39] the four races which is Fernando Lonso, Checo Perez, Lando Norris, Oscar Piaz III and

[00:24:45] Charles Leclerc. And to just further build on that and this is a very stat heavy thing

[00:24:51] because we're missing F1 stats guru as well. Leclerc is the only driver with top four

[00:24:57] races finishes in 2024, which sounds pretty cool, right? But what sounds cooler is that Carlos

[00:25:03] Sainz is the only driver to finish on the podium in every race that he has finished.

[00:25:11] Right. And since we're talking of Ferrari, Ferrari has absolutely dominated and I know

[00:25:17] this is your favorite part, Samuel, because every time you ask me I have no clue.

[00:25:21] But Ferrari has absolutely dominated the driver of the day poll ratings, voting,

[00:25:28] whatever you call it in 2024. All four races. You've been doing your homework. Very nice.

[00:25:34] I said I have to please you, sir. But they have, yeah, bare-man, Leclerc, Sainz consistently

[00:25:41] all the way through. Oh, we shall see. But on that as well, I find it interesting because

[00:25:47] one more dynamic to watch this time will be Ferrari and their internal team battles because

[00:25:52] we've never really had a proper citrus part of this occasion with them. It's always been something

[00:25:58] or the other Leclerc having a technical issue in Bahrain, Sainz not being there in Jeddah,

[00:26:03] and then Australia also not being entirely a perfect weekend for Lecler given all the

[00:26:10] issues that they had in the background as well with the setup on the car not being 100%

[00:26:13] perfect, which means that we are now properly getting to see the first real intra team battle

[00:26:20] between Ferrari and the second round of it carries on to China where only one practice

[00:26:26] session exists. Two qualifying sessions, two small races, bring it on, give me more of

[00:26:32] Sainz versus Leclerc and I will have it every single day of the week. This will be lovely.

[00:26:38] It will absolutely be lovely and you know, in genuine talk, there is a lot of hope with what

[00:26:45] Ferrari is doing because they've not really found a lot of pace through upgrades. They've just

[00:26:50] extracted more from the car and that's always good in terms of understanding in terms of finding

[00:26:55] a sweet spot and so on. And all we want is all I want is close racing. I don't care who wins

[00:27:01] it could be Max could be Leclerc could be Carlos Sainz or you win the lottery every time

[00:27:05] Sainz wins. I just want close racing. I don't want the driver up ahead finishing 30 seconds

[00:27:10] ahead of the pack cruising on a Sunday win even though that driver absolutely loves to cruise

[00:27:15] to that win. I want battles like I sort of keep talking off. So that's what we will look out for

[00:27:24] this weekend hopefully two times over, you know and some more stats actually you mentioned

[00:27:29] and another stat came into my mind so S1 Ocon, Samuel has finished all the four races.

[00:27:35] Just that he's finished all the four races outside of the points and there's one more driver who's

[00:27:40] also done that which is Valtteri Bottas again finished all the races but finished outside of

[00:27:47] the points horribly outside of the points. In fact Bottas has finished I think the last

[00:27:52] four or five races he's finished lower than where he started that's how bad that sober car is and

[00:28:00] that's another thing that we'd hope that with Audi whatever coming in that they are able to make

[00:28:06] these inroads into performance as well but yeah it's going to be interesting to see what becomes

[00:28:15] of Audi who do they finally end up signing because Fernando Lonso as we know has now blocked

[00:28:20] the Aston Martin seat the other Aston Martin seat because the first Aston Martin seat has been blocked

[00:28:26] by of course Lance Troll till at least 2030. Yes exactly 2030 oh god more content for us beautiful

[00:28:38] we're not gonna run out of jokes for the next 10 years now

[00:28:42] what he's gonna stay for longer of course but yeah I'm generally intrigued right because

[00:28:49] you mentioned Sahabran and I want to be talking about this for a bit as well

[00:28:52] because I remember at the 2011 Indian Grand Prix I was there as a fan you were there as a crew member

[00:28:58] as a part of Force India and their marketing team in weird actually funny how life comes about

[00:29:03] but I was there as a as an eight-year-old and I remember the excitement around Nareen Karthikey

[00:29:09] and being very limited even though the Indian fans really were seeing F1 for the first time

[00:29:16] and I think that that stage of people's lives where nationality became less of a reason to support someone

[00:29:25] than just having a deep personal bond or emotional connect with their story

[00:29:28] and was already at the start of its journey worldwide and it's weird how there people

[00:29:35] were supporting more of Michael Schumacher than Nareen Karthikey and the sentiment was that

[00:29:41] yeah there's an Indian driver sure but it doesn't make that much of a difference

[00:29:44] and I wouldn't see what it's like here this weekend because you mentioned the worries and

[00:29:48] troubles that Stake and Sahabra have about how dismal they are and the records just keep on

[00:29:52] getting worse and worse and worse I just I don't know there's literally no way for us to measure

[00:29:57] because there's a big language barrier there but what would the sentiment in the stands really be

[00:30:01] like would they I mean knowing China would they force them to have a Joghwanyu flag or

[00:30:07] would they force them to be green or what it would be like because generally as a fan

[00:30:12] that that era of supporting any athlete just because they're from the same country

[00:30:16] unless it's a team sport has passed on I believe like people don't do that anymore.

[00:30:22] I strongly think it depends what country you come from right

[00:30:27] like generally I know what you mean generally no I know what you mean about the Hulk Hogan

[00:30:31] era is called yeah basically yeah to give you an example in Norway Dennis Hauke okay

[00:30:38] he is probably top 10 top 15 most popular athletes in Norway despite having only driven

[00:30:44] in formula 2 and I say only formula 2 because he's of course not made it to formula 1 right

[00:30:49] so it all depends you know what China is is how it's like but it is known to be a very

[00:30:54] nationalistic pride country so there's a good chance they just like we are gonna chair Joe

[00:31:00] even if he's starting 20th and last for the eighth race in a row or whatever you call it

[00:31:05] that's just how it is but oh we're still on hey incredible we still keep on chatting

[00:31:12] but but that's what's our maybe working for just give the fans in the grandstand more viewing

[00:31:19] as much viewing as possible of their favorite drivers by keeping them in the pit box for as

[00:31:24] long as you possibly can that is smart. I'll tell you what is also smart when you start

[00:31:29] 20 years and last you especially in two races you're gonna have your fans get to see a lot more

[00:31:36] of you zipping past them because you're starting further back on the start box as well so clearly

[00:31:45] lots of daddy jokes aren't there and and you don't get lost in the battles because

[00:31:49] there's no way they can get confused if you're the only car running alone in clean air or

[00:31:53] yeah clean area exactly that was heavy that was heavy duty but

[00:31:57] I've seen that happen I've seen that happen I swear because the 2011 Indian Grand Prix again same

[00:32:02] thing full respect to Laryon Karthikeyan for what he's achieved in all of Indian motorsport

[00:32:06] because he's been a Tosh bearer who's carried so many hopes and dreams alive and then

[00:32:10] inspired so many people to do so but the rootless truth is that when he was there at

[00:32:16] the Indian Grand Prix it's so unfortunate that people were able to identify him earlier

[00:32:19] more than Mark Webber because they could just see him more often and the car was just

[00:32:25] consistently slower and it's not me saying this there was a oh my god am I unveiling too much

[00:32:31] at three o'clock in the night in India time but they were literally a group of middle-aged

[00:32:37] women who had come to watch Formula One for the first time and they're the entire they

[00:32:42] they knew Sebastian Vettel they knew Michael Schumacher they just couldn't tell their cars

[00:32:46] because according to them they just went too fast and they were going side by side with too many people

[00:32:50] but they could tell what the HRT was because they were way further back and they could predict that

[00:32:56] ah this guy's gonna come later right we know it's this guy is gonna come so it's it's uh

[00:33:02] it's it's just the way we're raining hard on Joe Bonne here today aren't we

[00:33:07] why not it's why not I mean not that he needs it from us probably he's not listening

[00:33:13] to this one but he's gonna be busy with it I'll listen to this also is also not in China really so

[00:33:20] yeah yeah but last ad from me what's it go on what's it can they actually listen to Spotify China

[00:33:29] they can't right if you were in China listening to us on Spotify or on Apple podcasts in English

[00:33:34] please write to us on social media we'd love to hear uh because they'd be bad no I think it

[00:33:41] should be okay I mean I have a few Chinese followers on Twitter I don't know how they get there

[00:33:47] I'm not on Vibo I don't hope to ever be there but uh last oh that's brave of them huh yeah

[00:33:54] but yes the last that yes we will go to the predictions last stat from me there are five

[00:33:59] drivers who finished on the podium this year of course interestingly the fifth driver the of

[00:34:06] course Ferrari and Mercedes sorry Ferrari not Mercedes sorry Ferrari and Red Bull drivers have been there

[00:34:12] the fifth driver is Landon Norris now the drivers who've not made it to the podium that list is

[00:34:17] more interesting it's both the Aston Martin drivers yes both of them Fernando Alonso by

[00:34:23] this time last year I had several podiums Landstroll was hoping for a podium but that's

[00:34:27] still both the Aston Martin drivers Oscar Piazza has not been on the podium so that's three

[00:34:31] of them the biggest surprise is neither of the Mercedes drivers have been on the podium right

[00:34:39] and very interesting there's a trend so George Russell has finished fifth sixth then there was no

[00:34:44] finish so it's fifth sixth seventh in all the races he's finished so if since we're getting into

[00:34:49] the predictions mode of this hour of the podcast could George Russell finish eighth is that the

[00:34:55] trend where you know trend is pointing that he's just falling down the order in his race finishes

[00:35:01] right the other trend Lewis Hamilton who by the way after I think six races finally outqualified

[00:35:07] George Russell Lewis finished seventh ninth and ninth okay so is the number seven coming up again

[00:35:17] so it's seven nine nine seven Norris it's something is a new trend starting so weird though

[00:35:23] no it's it's absurd that these numbers are associated with him it's it's I don't know legacies get

[00:35:33] tarnished by stuff like this I don't know legacies a very hollow concept anyway in my head but

[00:35:38] so many people watching and they'll be like this is your favorite driver this is the greatest of

[00:35:43] all time whereas the Formula 1 race supporter the 2019 Grand Prix will literally mention at the

[00:35:48] last line this win solidifies Lewis Hamilton status as the go to Formula 1 and to see how far

[00:35:55] things have come five years later is weird but prediction time I get too passionate sometimes

[00:36:00] which is amazing when the predictions come in that I love to tend to bang on my laptop or

[00:36:06] the table around me whenever it's any talk of Carlos signs because naturally the heart will follow

[00:36:11] him along but realistically let's go a little left field I say Sergio Perez will end up beating

[00:36:16] Max in the first qualifying session because it's more volatility and I'm just banking on him to try

[00:36:27] even all of that there's no real justification or we'll just figure it out but this is a wild

[00:36:31] prediction to turn the mix for one qualifying session mostly the first one because Max

[00:36:41] I mean given more time when he becomes more efficient but I'm banking on some

[00:36:45] your prediction is check or perhaps for something so to Perez to outqualify Max and if that does happen

[00:36:51] what a wild location that will be all I heard was check or Perez out qualifying Max which

[00:36:55] happened it's very surprising you're not banking on Carlos signs who was of course

[00:37:01] of course been the Ferrari driver in form in momentum in all of that but okay I'm going to

[00:37:05] just say Max which happened because this circuit is extremely hard on the tires and we know

[00:37:10] what happens when that happens when something is very hard on the tires that Red Bull is in

[00:37:14] another league of their own they'll finish the race and there's a we didn't even use our tires

[00:37:18] out that's how good our degradation was but Ferrari's of course improved their degradation as we saw

[00:37:24] just the last race so will there can there actually be a fight that's what we are hoping for

[00:37:30] but I also think Alexander Alban will finish 11th for the umpteenth time just about

[00:37:38] missing out on those points yeah same as what happened in Japan also was it not yeah I think yeah

[00:37:47] but thank you so much folks for listening no joke one you was harmed in the making of this episode

[00:37:54] no sub professionals were also harmed in the making of this episode we've tried to be very

[00:37:58] very generous in what we say just don't mind us we're all very tired and all very very eager

[00:38:03] to talk about Formula One but if in case you did enjoy this episode which I know you did

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[00:38:42] music

[00:39:04] thank you so much for tuning in to this episode of the inside line f1 podcast before we ended

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