Missile strike, fake marina, Pias-co & more: Mid-season Review - 2022 Formula 1 Season

00:00:19 Speaker 1: Hey folks, welcome to this special episode of the Inside Line of Phone podcast. It's special because it's in person. I think it's the first time since february this year that we bought the crew of the Inside line of Phone podcast here in person recording. And it's not just me, Samuel and Kunal over here. We've also got F one stats crew 00:00:36 Speaker 1: for the first time in the studio. So syndrome firstly welcome along. But apart from him, we've got canals to the former marketing of the force India F one team who also works as an F. I. Accredited journalist for the V A. Play network along with us and of course you all know about me, I'm someone, I host a driving force on Disney plus hot star, but that's all about us done and we're all feeling very happy that we get to see each other in person. But there's one question I've got for you folks with the summer break coming in, 00:01:03 Speaker 1: who do you think is the happiest person in the Formula One paddock right now? I think I'll start, I'll say christian 90 points of a gap between himself and Ferrari, what more could you ask for? He just ended up building a car that's working very well and he's ended up fighting a team that's not working very well. So it's happy days, isn't it? What do you think 00:01:21 Speaker 1: it is. Happy Days? I think I'm probably the happiest guy in the Formula One paddock, even though I'm not in the paddock right now because we get to do this in person, You know, it's a summer break, but it's not a summer break for us, it's the best time for us to actually bring out our special content and that makes me very happy. But I think the happiest person literally in a serious note, if I could say is probably Sebastian Vettel, you know, he's retired, he's going to do is climate change thing and 00:01:51 Speaker 1: sustainability or whatever else he does. You know, he doesn't have to drive that Aston martin next season. Maybe I have to eat my words next season, but at least at this moment he's the happiest, he's like, I'm already on a break and now there's anyway, the summer break, 00:02:08 Speaker 1: what do you reckon syndrome? I suppose there are other happy people as well. No 00:02:12 Speaker 2: Thanks. Almost first of all, I'm very glad to be doing this with the both of you here, but one person I think would be very, very happy in recent weeks is Oscar pastry last year. He didn't have a drive. I mean in 2022 he didn't have a drive and all of a sudden there seems to be more than one team 00:02:30 Speaker 2: wanting his services for the next year and it's a little little tug of war between team principals and teams. So I think he's going to be pretty happy with how things have been going on. Have 00:02:40 Speaker 1: we ever had a Formula One driver coming into Formula One, not even doing a single race and having multiple teams behind them. I think Michael, 00:02:47 Speaker 1: I had to do one but has kind of gone away from that, he's gone one better. This is this is ridiculous stuff. But I've got a question for, you can all, do we call it the fiasco or the PS three gate, what's the better one I am for P Asko and I really hope that his career doesn't end in a fiasco, right? To put it that way, literally. 00:03:09 Speaker 1: Yes, it's a very happy place to be, I would say, but he's really piste off a lot of people in the paddock and I don't know if that's a happy way to start a Formula One career and you know, I used to run the 00:03:24 Speaker 1: force India driver academy, as you guys know, since I talked about it every time I mentioned my name, right? But the millions that have gone into investing behind PS Tree, if Alpine doesn't get a return on them, the question will be asked, should they continue investing in junior drivers and for the whole ecosystem to work for a junior driver to come from cutting 00:03:47 Speaker 1: through to all the junior series, Formula three, Formula two and then Formula One, somebody's got to foot all the bills and these are expensive series we're talking of, right. 00:03:56 Speaker 1: If drivers like PS three get funded but do not eventually drive for the team that gave them the funding, 00:04:04 Speaker 1: it's a scary proposition for the future of, you know, Formula One driver academies, I would say just like salary caps as charlotte Claire mentioned as well because there's lots of rich investors backing them up. But I think that's a conversation for some other day and we should get on it. But um, I want to ask you how did help in end up losing Fernando Alonso and Oscar p ashtray in the matter of a day. 00:04:27 Speaker 1: That can't just possibly happen right. 00:04:29 Speaker 2: That got me, I was very, very surprised to see Fernando. Alonso actually moved to Aston Martin when it seemed like his deal for 2023 was almost certain he said that this is going to take a couple of seconds to finalize the deal for 2023. But then shocker move. He moves to Aston Martin and then the way things went down with PS three as well. 00:04:49 Speaker 2: I think the biggest thing that I have that I look over here is, well, I look towards the organization. Why is there no stability within Alpine? Why are the big names like Petkovski a beatable crossed moving away from the team and why is Alonzo moving away from the team when he's had so much of a romance 00:05:08 Speaker 2: with his two championships and the way he's actually behaved in recent weeks with his online posts, things don't seem very well between him and the team. And PST also very categorically categorically stating that he is not going to drive for Alpine next year. I'm really wondering what's happening within Alpine overall. 00:05:29 Speaker 1: I like your phone screen couple. It said lock screen. 00:05:33 Speaker 1: It's Fernando Alonso from 2005 or six. I don't know, maybe, you know, the race, you know the lap as well when that picture was taken. But I know why Alonso's going to Aston martin because he's going to drive a green red bull. He always wanted to drive for red bull. He kept saying how many times christian horner, you know, approached him or whatever. So he's going to drive a green red bull 00:05:54 Speaker 1: powered by a Mercedes, which we at this moment might believe that is the best combination one could ever be in. And then he's got, you know, he doesn't have to fight the cons of the world again and complain. He's going to have, you know, a stroll with him. The two strolls and I don't know which one is the slowest roll. But either way, 00:06:14 Speaker 1: hey, don't, don't you say so much about stole because he's actually ended up retiring Ferrari's best championship hopes since 2007 Massa and now Vettel as well. So maybe you could have Fernando Alonso to that list at the end of next year as well. Not next year, maybe two years at least he's on the street to end up all the Ferraris championship hopes and someday poll prediction. I think he's going to look like as well because that's just how the way the world goes. But folks on this episode, there's a lot of other stuff to talk about it. 00:06:41 Speaker 1: Well, the PS three gate or the P Asko has, we're now calling it is one of the major off track incidents that we have to discuss in this particular season that's happened so far and there's a lot of them, we've got off track incidents that we've missed. We've also got the surprise performances and the most shocking world driver championship gaps that are also going to come up and also the wait what moment of the season? So lots of other fun stuff to come along, but that's going to be after a short break. So we'll be right back. 00:07:08 Speaker 1: Hey folks, welcome back into the inside line. F one podcast we were on the subject of talking about the P Asko and Oscar P Astra is shocking. Move to McLaren, is he going to McLaren? But I think that aside, it just brings us onto the major question about the championship, that this has to be one of the craziest seasons that we've had so far that even though we've had an amazing year on track, a story off track is also dominating it so well. It's just an amazing season 00:07:34 Speaker 1: and there's this one particular stat that I want to bring in mind that it's the first time since 2008 that we've had three debut pole sitters in a season that courtesy of you syndrome of course, but ridiculous, right. Amazing on track action. Amazing. Off track action. What else could we ask for? This is just like a great here. Just, just partying. One little aspect, 00:07:54 Speaker 1: the one scary stat for me again, courtesy R. F. N stats guru, is that max Verstappen could actually seal this year's title in the next five races. Come on. And to me, that's just like what I mean, it's a very exciting season, you know, with all the narratives, you know, go back and listen to 20 episodes of ours, the narratives all day. But that, to me is the scariest stats. 00:08:22 Speaker 1: I'm sure you have more. 00:08:23 Speaker 2: Yeah, I particularly love patterns, I I like seeing records being broken and if Verstappen does win the championship this year, he's going to take the record for the biggest deficit overcome to win the title. He was 46 points behind Leclerc after the Australian grand prix. So that's a huge margin that he's actually overcome and taken another 80 points of Leclerc's tally over there. So that's a that's a very big thing 00:08:49 Speaker 1: and he's doing that while spinning in the middle of a race, ending up winning it. I mean, what is this guy seriously, but that's the on track stuff, I really want to talk about the off track stuff because we started off with the ashtray, we spoke about how things have gone and how they might end up going eventually with Daniel Ricardo, potentially being paid 21 million for him to let go of his seat. Now I want to firstly ask that question to you, is it worth it? 21 million to pay ricardo, then the fee to get Oscar pedestrian, 00:09:16 Speaker 1: we know that he's good, but I don't know if he's good enough for that much, is 00:09:21 Speaker 2: he? So the things that we need to consider is the long term return of investment in that case, because even if they do give away with 21 million, even if they do give recorded 21 million this year, um, they will get someone a very talented driver in PS three, he'll take a little bit of time in to get into Formula One and start driving well, 00:09:42 Speaker 2: but I'm sure they'll want to seal him for the next 2 to 3 years and that will eventually start coming in in terms of more points and better positions in the, in the constructors standings. So it does seem like a long term plan that they have, if, if if they do give him the money 00:09:59 Speaker 1: but crazy how the story has unfolded and Alpine have just been quiet since then, but would that be your best off track moment of the season so far because it might not seem like it, but we've got so many from this year and what is it, it only four or five months, isn't it? Yeah, actually, I mean it's, you know, Formula One has very well become a sport which has on track stories, which we always talk about, 00:10:25 Speaker 1: but a lot of off track ones as well and you know, just before the Bernie, just before the Liberty media days, the Bernie Ecclestone days that we had, you were pretty much just talking about teams going off the grid and drivers unable to make it and then 00:10:40 Speaker 1: not always the most positive stories, but what we've actually seen a lot of positive stories, you know, the whole americanization of the sport, I think that's a that's a positive because if you were to look at it from a business point of view here, there is a european product which was not appealing to the american masses and somebody said broke it down and said, what can we do to sell this product in America and they actually did a, they've done a fantastic job and you know, it's of course now 00:11:10 Speaker 1: Africa is being spoken about as well, there is an american team, Andretti, you know, that's that that caught my attention the most because andretti is like the best american team name and motorsport and this is where I know a lot of american listeners of ours will write back saying no, it's actually not that it's this, but anyway, you know, they have operations across various series etcetera and for them to get into Formula One, given the andretti backing and the name itself would be pretty fantastic and 00:11:39 Speaker 1: what actually has caught my attention the most is how everybody in Formula One currently is holding their cards right? Fredrick Vasser said that, you know, dutch is the biggest Formula One market for us because there's a dutch driver, but what he did not say is that Ferrari is the biggest team in Formula One, because it's so called the national team of Ferrari, So interesting 00:12:05 Speaker 1: dynamics at play, people are wanting to protect their positions in the sport, they're saying how differently will Andretti do than what everybody else is doing houses not even standing up and taking ownership of the american market yet I would say 00:12:21 Speaker 1: So I'm excited to see how all of this unfolds and talking of America and Formula one, I cannot stop thinking about that fake marina that we have in Miami, that takes the cake for me. 00:12:37 Speaker 1: Yeah, that, that was ridiculous. But you spoke about Bernie Ecclestone, I really want to come to him for a second as well because I think this is one story that should have gotten more attention, but it faded away, which actually actually happens to be the next thing we will talk about in a minute, but he showed his support of the german Putin, very characteristic of Bernie of course, and said 00:12:56 Speaker 1: he was willing to take a bullet for him, so I'll leave it at that you make of it, what you will but syndrome before I share another one of those stories that I think really caught my attention, what would it be for you? Apart from of course along the leaving for Aston martin, which doesn't add up right 00:13:10 Speaker 2: now. So the biggest off track moment that caught a lot of what the attention has 00:13:14 Speaker 2: has to be the fiasco incident because his tweet had around 400,000 likes, 100,000 retweets and I think I read somewhere that it's probably one of the most viral tweets in motorsport history, but later on it was corrected that Lewis Hamilton's tweets received more engagement. But I think that is the biggest talking point and all of a sudden that in recent weeks. So 00:13:38 Speaker 2: the biggest off track moment for me would be what transpired in recent weeks between Alpine and Oscar past 00:13:45 Speaker 1: Trick Question Guys, how how strict are we on the definition of off track because apart from that I've got one 00:13:53 Speaker 1: slightly absurd one. Does Austria count as an off track moment, the whole off track gate that we had over there with so many 00:13:59 Speaker 2: penalties. It 00:14:01 Speaker 1: does. I think it has to be one that really catches my eye because I think, okay, it might not end up being the most the race with the most penalties awarded. I think you might end up finding that that sometime soon, but it was the one in modern history where it was Broadcasted 00:14:16 Speaker 1: X. X. Driver has got a warning, why driver has got a warning, black flag for you. Black flag for your penalty for your penalty for you. It was just crazy. It added a layer of excitement in a way because you were tense just like in a yellow card situation in football. Oh this place is on a yellow card. I hope he does not end up making a fall, which was of course quite a fun thing to do. But race controlled stance. That is something that's been really 00:14:41 Speaker 1: catching my attention anyway because for years we've had a black and white. I mean our graced answer it. Finally, we're clear. Finally were black and white and people don't seem to enjoy canal. That's kind of paradoxical, isn't it? Yeah, I think it's a little too much of what's happening. The Austrian grand prix was more about track limits. Austrian grand prix than whatever sponsored Austrian grand prix. 00:15:01 Speaker 1: Soon before we know it, the race control will actually have a sponsor that will write upon how many track limit notifications show up on the race control dashboard. But you know, there's a there's a there's a larger team or a broader theme out here, which is and I hope my accreditation doesn't get reworked for this, which is the F I I would say okay, 00:15:22 Speaker 1: which is, you know, we've had the jewelry band, a lot of noise Lewis Hamilton's sitting with what? Three watches, piercings, whatever you know, necklaces, so many things in that press conference. I just love that, you know like hey guys, what are you doing? Y'all messed up my eighth title and now you're taking my jewelry away. No, but on a more serious note, 00:15:44 Speaker 1: okay, still not serious when he said, I just am effing with them. I want them to think I have piercings in places I shouldn't reveal. I love that whole Lewis Hamilton's wife, but no, on a, on a very serious nor and I mean, the F. I. A. Is doing a lot of things off track to get attention, which technically they shouldn't because 00:16:02 Speaker 1: they are the governing governors of the sport, the governing body, they should be working in the background, getting things right, which we know they're doing, it's like, you know, the I would put it this way, they are so impeccable when it comes to the safety of the sport that they are polar opposites when it comes to several other aspects like track limits and we're racing and battle, they're getting better at it. Yes, they are. But 00:16:25 Speaker 1: it just sometimes make me question, I mean, let's, let's look at it this way. One of the other biggest off track moments, which got my attention was sebastian Vettel actually walked out of a driver's briefing, right? And then the F I, you know, gave him sanctioned them or whatever, it was suspended sentence, that was right 00:16:44 Speaker 1: and they say they use words like he's not a role model, which is a funny thing, I don't know if that will stand up comedy by the FBI. It was unworthy of a four times world champion. I mean it's Sebastian Vettel of all people, you know, he him just getting up and taking a breath is like it is sustainable way of breathing. For example, 00:17:06 Speaker 1: sometimes I really don't get the F I. But of course that everyone's favorite bashing boy, you could put it that way, but of course what they've done for safety is incredible. As we saw of course. And Tillerson was jo gwan you but on the subject of the of the F. I. And on the subject of sebastian Vettel, I think it was kind of amazing that 00:17:26 Speaker 1: His whole Canada helmet gate kind of went under the radar because he, in a way was called hypocrite for racing in Formula one. And he had a message on his helmet saying that he should stop the mining of a certain component, which I can't quite remember for the life of me at this moment. So that's that's silly of me. But but he eventually was called hypocrite by the Canadian lawmakers and said that, Okay, you focus on your job. 00:17:47 Speaker 1: And I love the fact that Vettel said, okay fine, I'm a hypocrite only for two more weeks and he's retired after that. And then nobody's talking about that. It's amazing how committed he is to this whole process of saying, yeah, I'm sustainable, I'm driving an environmental way. And also what he's done with the Nigel Mansell FW 14 B in a way, This should go out to more people and, and as a direct message to the FAA saying guys, we can do this, we have sustainable fuel now, why bother with the hybrids? I think it was Lucas di Grassi who came on twitter and said, 00:18:17 Speaker 1: why even bother with the expensive basic V six hybrid engines when you can just have wheat wells with sustainable fuel that works for everyone, isn't it? No, I don't know, it doesn't work for Audi and Porsche. That's the question that everybody is like we will, we will make Formula One to whatever Audi and Porsche wanted to be and this is where I think what Toto Wolff said made a lot of sense. He said we need Audi and Porsche to commit 00:18:42 Speaker 1: to Formula One and be regulation agnostic because we are in a dynamic regulations driven environment. That's correct, yeah. And that's also one story we should talk about if we do have the time later. But I also want to ask you guys about other off track moments that should have been noticed but really went under the radar but what about, you know what really comes to your mind 00:19:04 Speaker 2: 1st? I think nothing is going to top this because 00:19:07 Speaker 2: Um driving in Formula one is a big thing and especially if you have your contract extended, obviously want to celebrate that. 00:19:14 Speaker 2: And one thing that really went under the radar is Lance strolls announcement that he's going to drive in 2023 that actually coupled with Alonzo's announcement and the team principal my crack, he put it very subtly and perfectly within the announcement that line up for 2023 is going to be Alonso and Lance stroll. There was no social media post, no human cry, no big talk about it. And yeah, Lance stroll has a seat for 2023. 00:19:40 Speaker 1: Really, I had no clue 00:19:44 Speaker 1: show your face. I 00:19:46 Speaker 2: made sure to check that. Yes, he does have a right 00:19:48 Speaker 1: now in that driver graphic drivers with a contract for 23 there's no longer a question mark with Aston stroll and Alonso wow stroll the world champion retiring machine as someone just painted him. But I'll tell you the one thing which Formula One has done very well to put a blanket on 00:20:08 Speaker 1: was the missile attack we saw in Saudi Arabia 00:20:12 Speaker 2: totally forgotten about that. 00:20:13 Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah. And and you know, it's a, it's I to me I would have wanted Formula One again, I hope my accreditation is not revoked, but I would have wanted Formula One to take a far more non capitalistic, more humanitarian stance or stance to turn around and say, you know what, that's it. We've had a missile strike 10 kill 00:20:38 Speaker 1: meters away from the circuit and we're going home right. Of course it would have cost a lot of money and money is what drives the business and with the whole positive momentum that Formula One is in, this would have been a comma in that momentum that they've built. So very disappointing that the drivers were put in the, you know, the space that they were in 00:20:59 Speaker 1: and unconfirmed, but you know, there was these talks that maybe you won't be allowed to take off. And then somebody from the World Wrestling Federation of World Wrestling Entertainment, they actually wrote saying how they were stuck on the airstrip for four hours before they could take off, whatever, whatever. Right? So to me that just took the cake away in every way possible. And there was one more thing since we spoke of the fake marina, the french GP 00:21:26 Speaker 1: actually had a real swimming pool with real water and this was not covered by anybody but one lady who heads the social media division of McLaren applied what? Why didn't they? That's like the coolest thing ever. There were no boats, right? Nobody sold seats for those sections, at least. I assume so. And it wasn't in Miami and it wasn't fake. So hey, it's real water. Everybody sees real water all the time. I guess 00:21:52 Speaker 1: it's in the south of France as well. So 00:21:55 Speaker 2: just at the time and there was this major heat wave in europe. So 00:21:59 Speaker 1: why would we even bother selling tickets? Who will even do that? Who even cares? But it's actually quite like what they have in the Australian cricket stadiums where you can actually sit by the ground and sit in the pool and watch that, That's awesome and it's crazy. That wasn't covered. But I'm actually very agitated about the whole Saudi Arabia thing because Formula One essentially, is 00:22:18 Speaker 1: it kind of makes you feel like they are essentially performers in the king's court where if you don't like what you, I mean, if they don't like what you perform about, they'll essentially chop your head off or maybe put it in jail, put you in exile or something like that. Okay. That might be a couple of steps too far, but they can at least keep you in the country for a long, long time. And it's, it's distasteful, isn't it? Because here's Formula One trying to be really open and really 00:22:44 Speaker 1: modern in a way by saying, oh, we race as one, we respect everybody. But they're going into countries that really don't do that and they're also going into countries that might actually end up keeping them if they don't abide by just basic safety norms of the country and that, that's, that's not how the world works. That's yeah, that's not silly. That's silly. And 00:23:02 Speaker 1: they keep having these slogans and let's hope that they live by the slogans, isn't that a new one, drive them out or something for online trolls. Something, something of that sort. But anyway to, to more more stuff, right. Another thing that really, since we're on this whole fiasco thing, It's got triggered by Alonzo PS PS three is going to take ricardo seed. We don't know what ricardo is doing 00:23:27 Speaker 1: and you know, we're always, I'm yet to meet somebody who's harsh against ricardo's struggles, right? But let's remember, he actually missed the second half of pre season testing, so he missed three out of the six days that we had and that's due to Covid and even the three days he had were half shared with Lando Norris. So, you know, he started sort of started off on 00:23:49 Speaker 1: a bit of this back foot thing. So Covid 19 is still very much around, right, because Sebastian Vettel missed the first two races and Lewis Hamilton's still wears a mask in the paddock. So, again, one of those things that we should keep in mind that not the happiest of stories to put attention on, but that Covid 19 is still around. One of the things that is happy about that china is yet to resume. Probably the only country maybe F one stats guru can, 00:24:17 Speaker 1: you know, sort of re confirmed this. But the only country yet to resume hosting a race after pandemic or during pandemic is china of course a country with an existing race contract, but hasn't come back to whatever. Right. Anyway, so that that's that about china and 00:24:36 Speaker 1: I still have one more thing about the F I a you know Fernando Alonso going on and on about weaving after Canada and how he brought it up in every possible media interview and driver's briefing and so on and then the final one from me, Nicholas Latifi topping and FB one or an FTP session and he actually stopped has stopped the session, 00:25:01 Speaker 1: venice lewis Hamilton's hasn't, that's just how brilliant Latifi or go TIF is 2022 season is probably, it's going and I really hope that this is his last season. 00:25:15 Speaker 1: Am I being too direct, too harsh? I'm just being honest. How is it that helmet marco being honest is okay, but me being not, me being honest is not right. He's Canadian, you don't think you don't say bad things to Canadians as just nice who's Canadian Latifi, how does it matter? Is he quick? That's a fair point. He's, 00:25:36 Speaker 1: he's not even quicker coming into and leaving Formula One like Circus Rockin was at least he was, I mean he realized, okay, I'm not quick, I better get out of here but he hasn't even done that and it's for the same team as well 00:25:47 Speaker 2: as he is, he's up against someone who's been out of the sport for a year and yet he's being beaten by Albin. 00:25:52 Speaker 1: Exactly, 00:25:53 Speaker 2: so yeah, 00:25:55 Speaker 2: I think I would be happy to see him out of F1 next year, 00:25:59 Speaker 1: this is where all the Canadians are tuning out there, like you have butcher Lance stroll and now you're butchering Nicholas Latifi but hey, I love sharks, we love, I have to say that he's some character just trying to save some Canadians pressing stop and skip and unsubscribe and leaving a bad rating. I'll tell you what though, Jacques will knows opinions. Sometimes it's just about as over the top as the podium ceremony in Miami. We've forgotten about it. 00:26:24 Speaker 1: I mean do you guys remember we had this big, wasn't it limo? What was it? I forget to remember it was a cavalcade wasn't exactly exactly that. And those big fat bikes and you had, was that the horses when I am, I just imagining things now. 00:26:39 Speaker 1: I know it's only, that would probably be imagining it, but there's a very high chance there was, there was, wasn't there were those police, the motorcade, the motorcade and I remember just one thing that, and I don't know if this came up on the world feed or was it something I saw on another feed but helmut Marko was actually walking there with christian horner, exactly. One of the spices, I don't know, jerry, Hollywood, whatever. Yeah. 00:27:08 Speaker 1: And he was actually told a make way and you know, the motorcade has to go by. But that's as things americans go and I love how they are embracing formula one, allow Formula One is getting all Americanized in, in, in the limited ways that it can and it's still retaining a lot of its legacy and history about it being, you know, a european sport and I mean talking on the grid. Talking of Miami, the start grid in Miami, you know, 00:27:36 Speaker 1: I was almost certain that the race would not start on time because there's a 10 minute warning signal by which everybody has to leave the circuit and the number of people I saw on the start grid in Miami through all the camera angles that I had access to, I was just like, goodness me, I have never seen so many people during Covid because hey, it's officially still on right on the start grid and 00:28:02 Speaker 1: there was, I didn't know how they would evacuate them or rather, you know, let them out, but hey, Formula One being Formula One, they did manage to do that on time, which is a tough task because a lot of them were celebrities with big egos as we of course saw and martin Brundle interviews on the grid, which if you haven't seen, I think they are the best pieces of content ever produced by any broadcaster before the race, so you should check them out. But before we go on to other categories as well. I also want to tell you guys if another fun on track 00:28:29 Speaker 1: off track story, I'm sorry that's going to happen in the second part of the season. On the inside line F One podcast, we're going to have the legendary steve slater coming in. He was of course the voice of Formula One and actually still is the voice of Formula One in a way in all of Asia with his lovely work for Star Sports and Fox Sports as well over the years and he is going to be watching I think four or five races, I'm not sure of the exact number, but we're going to have quite a few of them over the course of the second part of the season 00:28:56 Speaker 1: and to find out how you can join us for the watch along and listen to steve's opinions and maybe some commentary on the race as well. Don't forget to check the link in the description and you can sign in, you can register and you can join us for that. I think it's gonna be a really fun event and that is definitely going to spice up the off track element of the season for me at least. And I hope that you also join us on that party. 00:29:16 Speaker 1: Yeah. And you know what's, to me the most exciting part is, you know, you watch Formula One with Friends, but here you get to watch it with an expert decode the race with how steve sees it. You know, all the data points he picks up, ask questions about strategy about, you know, will double battles debated discussed 00:29:36 Speaker 1: it and I think it's it's gonna be pretty, pretty exciting. It's something that at least I have never experienced before. So I'm really looking forward to it because I know I'm going to have some Will and some that I'm joined the livestream as well. It's going to be on the insider platform. It's open to everybody on the internet 00:29:56 Speaker 1: and I'm so kicked to see how it all unfolds. And just for that, you know, event that we're going to have life, I really hope max doesn't seal his title in the next five races. I mean, it will change the narratives, we will sort of look on at other, you know, stories to, to speak about, but to keep the title battle on and to, you know, sort of experience that with steve along with us will be a lot of fun, I guess. 00:30:24 Speaker 2: Let's, let's delay the championship battle a little bit, a little bit more fun. We have quite a few more races to go in the season, so yeah, just ended quickly. 00:30:32 Speaker 1: Exactly. It just feels like 2011 all over again. But hey, talking of 2011, there were big, big gaps in 2011, that was a really crazy year and there are quite a few gaps that actually are surprising me as well so far this year. I'm going to start off with Carlos Sainz has a win and one more podium than George Russell, but he's two points behind him in the championship standings. 00:30:53 Speaker 1: So any sort of gaps like this, That are really surprising you understanding so far guys, what about you syndrome for 00:30:59 Speaker 2: me, the gap in the drivers and the constructors standings, surprises me a lot because I really should have been Ferrari leading both championships 00:31:08 Speaker 1: and by 00:31:09 Speaker 2: Quite a margin, I would say, look, look should have been leading with 30 points at least in the bank. 00:31:15 Speaker 2: And even even Ferrari should have been leaving the constructors leading the constructors with over 50 points over at boland, sadly, that's not the case and they've just been losing way too many points this year. And I I don't think that the upper management of Ferrari is going to be happy 00:31:31 Speaker 2: if they finished third in the standings despite having the fastest car and Mattia Bonato still goes about saying that everything seems fine, there's nothing wrong and you don't need to make any changes. But I think that's the biggest surprise for me that they're not leading both championships, 00:31:47 Speaker 1: there's this funny meme that goes around the Internet, there's a pop standing in the fire and saying, yeah, this is fine, that's just, isn't it? I, you know, maybe I'm in that space where I'm like, maybe they don't need changes in terms of people, but maybe they need changes in terms of processes and the way decisions are made. I think that's where it stands. And if Mercedes end up catching Ferrari, I think that's going to be the key story in the second half of the season and 00:32:16 Speaker 1: um, you know, since we're talking to the constructors championship, I mean, we've got Red Bull running away. Mercedes catching Mercedes catching Ferrari for second or at least making a battle out of it. 00:32:29 Speaker 1: Alpine is one third of the points of Mercedes in fourth place and that's that's an incredible gap. I mean, you know, we've had this had these jokes about Formula One, Formula 1.5 this year, Formula 1.5 is, you know, Ferrari McLaren versus Alpine and there's actually Formula two as well because Alfa romeos fifth is half the points of McLaren McLaren are 95 or something and Alfa romeos at 51 right, 00:32:57 Speaker 1: so massive gaps in the, in the constructor's championship, even though the racing on track has been, I would say much closer than what we've ever seen. I mean, those situations, sorry, in Austria five cars going into one corner, we saw Silverstone, three cars battling at one corner and several, sorry, several other such situations that, that we've had this season. 00:33:24 Speaker 1: Yeah, it's, I think the first season of the new regulation syndrome, I think that always happens, but I'm so excited to see how things pan out over the course of the next couple of years and how those gaps actually shutting down. But apart from that, I want to talk about some really surprising results. Now, would it be too harsh guys, if I say that Leclerc winning three races this year has been a surprising result because we tend to look at it in an opposite way. We tend to say, oh Ferrari has lost too many races, even though they've had a great car, 00:33:53 Speaker 1: is Ferrari doing create the new normal or is Ferrari messing things up the new normal because if they're messing up is the new normal person or the new ideal standard that we get to expect, I think him winning three races this year is a surprising part because they found new ways to kind of dropped the ball every single time. So, would that be a surprising result in a way for you? 00:34:13 Speaker 1: Well, if you consider Ferrari's history over all the years that they have been Ferrari, it's not a bit of a surprise and I'm sorry, I'm making a joke out of it, right, What they're trying to break out of is also this historic, more historic image that oh my God, Ferrari can bottle it up and will bottle it up if they have to and for those who think, I don't know what I'm talking about, please go and read 00:34:38 Speaker 1: uh, Enzo Ferrari, a book written by the great american author brookie, it's highly recommended as a read and you know, Charles. Leclaire has had one podium in the last eight races and Hamilton's has now more podiums than LeClair and LeClair who's not the de facto number one Ferrari is not backing him as the number one driver yet, there's the, you know, the gap between signs and LeClair 00:35:07 Speaker 1: is a small one now I would say, and ironically you mentioned Carlos Carlos Sainz as well and you know, George russell is ahead of signs in the, in the drivers championship, so lots of funny things that are sort of happening happening out there 00:35:22 Speaker 1: and to me, Carlos Sainz pole position and win in Silverstone is definitely the surprise of the season. You know, it's like you go back in history books and you read signs on poles signs and who took the win and you'll be like, yeah, I'm not even bothering to rewatch this race, right? But that's the one race you should rewatch for exactly everything that happened between the start and the finish because it was something that nobody could have scripted. So I've actually chosen 00:35:51 Speaker 1: sciences win in Silverstone as my surprise result, but I also added a qualifying one and I know this is what will make stats good one was Fernando Alonso P two in a wet qualifying in Canada and 00:36:07 Speaker 1: you know, Otmar turning around after that and saying our computers don't know how Fernando did that, that's Fernando Alonso's, they don't write and then I still have this visual, you know, which, which I think 00:36:20 Speaker 1: I'm going to show my daughter whenever she starts racing right, Fernando Alonso exiting the last chicane, the wall of Champions on the right vet track and he's got this full wheel drift, right, I'm sure he's horned that 00:36:36 Speaker 1: during his rallying days and Dakar and whatever else, but he had this full wheel drift which stops just when he wants it to just close to the track limits, I mean, you know, it's a wet track, right if he puts a wheel on the curb is going to be in the wall of the champions and then he just takes P two to me. That was epic. I mean helmet marco who very rarely praises anyone but max Verstappen turned around and has said 00:37:03 Speaker 1: that Fernando Alonso has been a surprise of this season. So surprise. Has he not been watching Formula One for all these years? He's just the best driver driver, isn't he? He's just ridiculous. I don't remember him making a mistake but 00:37:18 Speaker 1: has there been any other bigger surprise for you know, 00:37:21 Speaker 2: I think number one definitely goes to Alonzo's P two performance B two in qualifying in Canada sciences when in Britain comes a very close second, but there's one other one that I would like to mention which is kevin Magnuson making a comeback to Formula one away from the sport for a year, having very little practice time testing time 00:37:43 Speaker 2: and taking P five in the season opening race and going wheel to wheel with Lewis Hamilton's and Sergio Perez in the first few laps of the race, he was just on it straight away. I think that that's a very commendable effort from from Magnuson, especially the first few races, he was he was really doing exceptionally well. So I would say I was very surprised to see Magnuson still having what it takes to drive in Formula One despite being a year away, 00:38:08 Speaker 1: he was incredible 00:38:09 Speaker 1: and it just kind of brings me onto his teammate as well because it set a big benchmark for him and I think mixed performance so far this year has to be, I wouldn't call it the best performance of the season so far. There's definitely, of course, max who has been flawless, right, barring that one little spin, 00:38:25 Speaker 1: but I would say it has to rank up there in terms of the better performances that we've had this year, that Mick has reminded us that he's good enough and I think that's that's amazing because there was no representative benchmark in the first year. We never knew five races in after monarch, we were like, oh, come on man, could this be the end of the dream? But he's, he's kind of fought it back really well and I think that has to be commended Canal, isn't it? That has to be one of my better performances of the year. What's yours steiner? I know you're listening, 00:38:53 Speaker 1: you know what to do. You're making all the right noises for 23 but don't make the wrong decision for 23 by dropping. Make all seriousness. Yes, I think this is a very good example. You know, if you start in Formula One with a teammate who is not a competitive benchmark, this is probably what could happen, which is what happened in the case of Mick schumacher, I would say right 00:39:17 Speaker 1: Nikita Mazza been, I know we shouldn't give him more airtime, but hey, that's something that happened off track as well, which you know. Yes, 00:39:25 Speaker 2: Yes. 00:39:26 Speaker 1: Actually I've got a doubt about that. I know we're slightly deviating, but what if of course going into the world of geopolitics, which we shouldn't do for too much, but it seems like the air is a bit 00:39:36 Speaker 1: write it on the Taiwan strait with china apparently invading or just crossing into their own land depending on what side of the fence you're on. If that happens, will the F. I. A kind of ban chinese drivers as well. And what happens with joe? Of course he can compete under what license? Exactly, But 00:39:55 Speaker 1: they will have to make a political decision. And so that means that the F I will have to choose a side because you're either on china's side in this case or you're not. So have they put themselves in muddy waters by kind of banning Russian athletes. 00:40:08 Speaker 1: I would say let's let's cross the bridge when, when we get there because it's a team decision and and then it's it's something that I think has stayed with uh they just wanted a reason to get them out. I would say then Vladimir Putin did everybody a favor, sorry, we shouldn't, 00:40:26 Speaker 1: we shouldn't digress into like you said, geopolitics, but yeah, Mazza pin was part of the season in pre season testing, probably the most expensive preseason tests he's ever done, given that he's not getting his money back or whatever. But Mick schumacher, you know, it's, it's, it's heartening to see him come come and perform. Everybody's been saying he's a slow starter or whatever, but a great 00:40:51 Speaker 1: benchmark and kevin Mark Newsome, it still doesn't seem like he's on top of that, but he's getting there, I would say so. I would love to see the schumacher name flourish in Formula One. I know I'm not the only one saying that, but I don't know when next or if he ever will drive for Ferrari because that's the eventual dream, right. That Mick does well enough to afford a Ferrari seat or to be, 00:41:14 Speaker 1: you know, granted a Ferrari seat then winning a race and then having the german and the italian anthem played on the podium together. The anthems that we all grew up to. At least I did right. And then 00:41:27 Speaker 2: could, 00:41:28 Speaker 1: could the schumacher be the next driver to win a title at Ferrari. I mean, we've asked that for every other driver that's come after, right. Cannon. 00:41:35 Speaker 1: But well anyway, we can always dream about that, right. 00:41:38 Speaker 2: I would really love to see the schumacher trademark schumacher leap on the podium once. It's been a very long time close to 15, 15 years. I would love to see that again. But quite honestly, I think Mick schumacher, he's done enough probably to exhibit that he deserves to be in Formula One, but he still has to do a little bit more if he if he wants to get that Ferrari seat 00:42:00 Speaker 2: a few more performances. He really has to outperform the car as well as his teammate. So, yeah, he still has a long way to go before he gets that Ferrari seat. 00:42:10 Speaker 1: I'll tell you another driver who has a long way to go Lance stroll, He's finished 10 4 times this season, right? And without checking, he's probably had the most Cuban exits after Latifi. If I'm not, 00:42:25 Speaker 1: it's easy to probably just feel right about. I mean, the stats feels right. I don't know, I don't know if your excel sheet matches up to that, right, and and then we have to talk about, I would say the biggest surprise on a more serious note would be McLaren's pit stops again, something that, you know, if stats could have pulled out, they have jumped seven positions in the fastest average pit stop times compared to last year, 00:42:49 Speaker 1: which means that they were really bad last year, but they've at least got some great pit stops going this year, and how they've turned things around. 00:42:56 Speaker 2: One thing to mention would be is that so generally pit stops have become slower this year because the tires are heavier by I think 11 kg. So, all the teams, except McLaren have been doing slow pit stops than last year, so McLaren has been doing pit stops faster than they did in 2020 2021 that's 00:43:13 Speaker 1: crazy. 00:43:14 Speaker 1: That's the kind of stats that you always end up pulling out and I'm still fascinated how you do it and you mentioned tires are heavier, but the tires also are, to me not as applauded as they should be. We had, we've had very hard races and 00:43:30 Speaker 1: uh, to keep saying there's a heat wave in europe, I don't think I've experienced much heat in Oslo while I was there a few weeks ago, but the tires need to be applauded just the way we applaud the cars for all the following that they can do and so on because the tires have not been overheating. I mean, 00:43:47 Speaker 1: yes, we've seen management, but it's not been to an extreme where people are just sitting two seconds behind somebody else waiting for them to make a mistake. They've allowed drivers to go on the attack at will middle of the races. I mean, I, I used to find a lot of fans would say, I, I watched watched the 1st 10 in the last 10 races, sorry, 1st 10 laps of the race and then 00:44:09 Speaker 1: the last 10 laps of the race and now I know people who actually sit and watch even the middle because hey LeClair could spin max could make an overtake 00:44:19 Speaker 2: could 00:44:19 Speaker 1: crash. That's always a possibility. 00:44:23 Speaker 1: No, but I, I love the new rules. I mean, even you know something that, that has made a big impact, at least on me as a fan, 00:44:31 Speaker 1: the show and tell rules that we had, where the teams have to declare, what is it that they brought to their cars and that's made such a, such a, such a positive impact because you know, you see Hungary pretty much every team brought upgrades for two things. First was cooling brakes and engines and whatever and the second was down force because hey, it's Monaco without the walls and 00:44:53 Speaker 1: previously we used to all assume that this is what they're doing and then wait on experts to say. But now to get an official document from the file laying it out there saying this is what they're doing, gives such a good perspective that if you open the document for sale 00:45:08 Speaker 1: a race like Canada and then compare it to a race like Hungary, you actually get to see the two differences or say boku versus Hungary and the like so lots of positive surprising changes that you know, I would say have to me the best things about 2022 00:45:24 Speaker 1: yeah, that one of the better performances and with that as well, I want to really talk about something more fun. We also forgot that McLaren got a podium in what was it? One of the reasons. So that's also 00:45:37 Speaker 2: Sharla Clark's been crash 00:45:39 Speaker 1: crash but that's kind of incredible. We somewhat forgot about that. That's also one moment 00:45:45 Speaker 1: that was really fun, which was one of the, wait, what kind of moments of the season when you look at it in the stats will be like McLaren and 2022 got a podium courtesy of Lando Norris. How on earth did that happen? But there are other such moments in the year as well. Hear me out. I suppose Carlos Sainz this entire season has been a wait, what kind of season? Because not only has he had a mid midseason fight with him, mid mid race fight 00:46:11 Speaker 1: with this race engineers correcting them about the penalty that he's got. He's also got his race control race engineers, of course, telling him to stop in the midst of a battle. He's also crashed in qualifying simultaneously with Sergio Perez, he's also had his car set on fire and rolling down a slope and he's also ended up taking pole position and winning the race. This is all just wait. What kind of moments I I would have never imagined anyone of those happening until the start of this year. 00:46:37 Speaker 1: I'll add to that Carlos, we need you to keep a 10 to declare. I mean, it's 2022 cars are being built for following for overtaking. If it was the previous era of cars, I would have said probably, yes, you could have tried that strategy, right, 00:46:56 Speaker 1: But Carlos is racing the Ferrari, he's engineering his own race. He's also playing Sporting Director by correcting, you know what, I don't know what's next? Is he designing the overalls? Is he designing how to do quicker pit stops or or what I mean, maybe he's going to get Carlos Sainz senior to sit on his pit wall, you know, and just helping, I mean, yes, we're making a joke of it and we're making a joke out of Ferrari, but it's so tough to, 00:47:23 Speaker 1: you know, sort of push these things away when you're doing a midseason review like this, I would say. And I was actually sitting and when I was making my notes, I said to wait, what should also be for Red Bull because, and I keep saying this right, Red bull is an energy drinks company. Should I say more? Should I explain more? Okay, anyway, they are beating two of the world's most iconic 00:47:47 Speaker 1: Automobile brands and operations in all parts of Formula one. I mean, red will also have the quickest of pit stops. Do yes, yeah. The 00:47:56 Speaker 2: only team to do it less than three seconds on average this year, 00:48:00 Speaker 1: That's fantastic. There you go. And they have the fastest pit stops in history as well, don't they? 00:48:04 Speaker 2: That 1.8, 2 seconds. 00:48:05 Speaker 1: Yeah. So now I'll tell you why this stat actually why this, this is a weight ward thing for me right now, let's turn the equation around. 00:48:15 Speaker 1: Imagine if Ferrari and Mercedes were to launch an energy drink and then actually be better at selling it than Red bull. That's such a good point. So if you just turn the proposition around, that's when you realize that Red Bull, oh my God, 00:48:31 Speaker 1: like they are epic. So to me they are, you know the epitome of success. You know, the minute Hanna Schmitz and her team make max bit, everybody must be wondering if you're not fit now, definitely, you missed the sweet spot. And 00:48:48 Speaker 1: one more thing to add, they were engaged in the thick of a battle title battle last year with Mercedes. Look at what happened to Mercedes, right? Mercedes and I think okay, Mercedes, there's zero part concept should receive more attention. They are now the only team that is continuing with that sort of a side part concept, which means that it's either really going to just keep them second or third or if it works, they're gonna fly ahead 00:49:15 Speaker 1: even even further than Red Bull racing. But let's see, let's see how, how that goes. And since we talk of Mercedes, the weight watchers also about purposing, I mean Lewis Hamilton's getting out of the car in baku with his back and then this whole talk about, you know, the drivers being aggressive against purposing and stuff like that and to me that was also like how did driver, how did the team's not see that it would happen? 00:49:41 Speaker 2: That was actually very painful to watch. 00:49:43 Speaker 1: And then a lot of people said he was just making it up because he wanted the FBI to make changes and and I remember when purposing came in pre season testing and we were all saying slow, most drivers and cars bouncing up and down. There was, there was a large part of the Formula One fan base that was saying, is it purposing, is it surprising? I mean, it was so new that we were, we were we were still finding how to pronounce it, right, 00:50:11 Speaker 1: That's crazy. I remember those headbangers videos, but I think we've managed to somewhat have an achievement in place 40, minutes into an episode and we haven't quite spoken about proposing. So that is amazing. But 00:50:22 Speaker 1: any other moments that come into your mind for a wait, what moment of the season so far? There is 00:50:27 Speaker 2: no, for me, it definitely has to be Ferrari, I can't think beyond because when they were, when they were on the pace during pre season testing, I went, wait, what Ferrari are back finally back in the Championship and that too, 00:50:41 Speaker 2: in an area of new regulations, they've actually aced the regulations. Oh God, and the first 2 to 3 races, they were taking wins and everything and I was like, okay, Ferrari is actually back and then what transpired after spain? Every race is literally a wait, what moment? Because every race, there's a different way where they've been dropping the ball and but I think the one thing that takes the cake for me is 00:51:03 Speaker 2: Carlos Sainz battling SErgio Perez in France and at the right time friday calling him in into the pits, like it's come into the pits and Carlos Sainz is like, no, not now, I'm battling with Perez, but I think I just hope that the radio communication was broadcasted a bit late. I hope 00:51:20 Speaker 1: that's always the case. 00:51:21 Speaker 2: Yeah, so, but, but that is what really took the cake for me. 00:51:25 Speaker 1: I don't know how that works actually make a bold prediction, Ferrari will find, I think three or four more ways to end up screaming up theories. I really don't want that to happen because of course we need to fight and whatnot, but it's kind of becoming an episodic series. Hey, come and see how Ferrari can get things wrong. We were doubling down on that a bit too much. I think 00:51:46 Speaker 1: some might say, okay, we're being too unfair to Ferrari, but just look at the points cap with the car as good as that, You can't have such a big points cap. So that's, that's 11 of my bold predictions along with the fact that I think Russell will end up finishing ahead of science this year. I really do. I don't think, 00:52:03 Speaker 1: I don't think he might end up sorting their act out as much. So that's the bold predictions on my signal. I will actually take a cue from that. I think Russell will finish ahead of Sainz but Lewis will finish ahead of both these drivers, that's my bold prediction and 00:52:19 Speaker 1: Max Verstappen will win it on Q5 races from now if your prediction about Ferrari bottling up even more could come true. Could that happen earlier than five races? I mean, the summer break is over and soon we're going to have a triple header. 00:52:35 Speaker 1: So before we know it could it just all be over, 00:52:38 Speaker 2: Stefan would have to win all those five races if he has to win the championship, but 00:52:43 Speaker 1: Lewis, sorry, Charles has to make sure he doesn't lose more than exactly eight points or whatever and whatever, it's just scary. But it's it's an interesting way to 00:52:54 Speaker 1: see how the title battle will go. 00:52:56 Speaker 2: Yeah, my, my bold prediction, I'm going really bold on this. I am saying there's there's going to be a new technical director that that comes out in Belgium and maybe that could bring Mercedes back into the mix as well. But if that does happen, I am saying I'm really going out there and saying that Russell is going to get his first win 00:53:13 Speaker 2: before Hamilton's gets a win this year or even next year. So, I'm saying Russell gets away from a series first before Hamilton's does it? That's my bold prediction for this year, 00:53:22 Speaker 1: but I'm gonna just ask you one trick question, does that mean we end up seeing a first ever Hamilton's winless season, or do you think that's gonna happen. I 00:53:30 Speaker 2: don't think that's that's going to I think he's going to bring something very exciting in in in Brazil at least Hamilton's so maybe we'll see a repeat of what happened last year. I think Hamilton's will win this year, but Russell is going to do it before him. 00:53:41 Speaker 1: Let's hope, I think sorry. Let's hope. But I think Hamilton's going to win it in abu Dhabi, he's gotta find, can you imagine the redemption redemption that he didn't want, you know, with human error, Champion and F on fixed and Massey out and whatever else. A few thousands of people are, you know, trending on social media, but I believe Hambleton will win and he, like I said, we'll finish ahead of Russell and signs in 00:54:11 Speaker 1: the driver's championship. Bit cheesy, but will he still rise? Still he rises. I kind of have butchered that. But folks, I hope you join us to watch how these stories on follow the course of the season because as as you all know, we do have a live watch alongs with the legendary steve's later on 00:54:28 Speaker 1: Insider and to join us on that you can of course, check out the link in the description. We begin at the Belgian grand prix. So don't forget to join us in for that. It's gonna be a lot of fun. It's going to be myself and of course, once that screw Sundaram also along with steve over there and that's gonna happen live with the races. So check that out 00:54:44 Speaker 1: And don't just don't just leave the podcast for now because there are so many other episodes that are coming as well. So it might be the summer break for the folks in F1. Not so much for here because there's a lot of fun stuff coming along. So, folks, firstly, I hope you've enjoyed listening to this episode. And if you 00:55:00 Speaker 1: don't forget to follow and subscribe the podcast and share this episode, and if you really liked it, follow us, I think turn on the bell notification. If some of your podcast do allow that because a few fun more episodes are going to come out right there. But once again, thanks for listening, folks. Have a good time. Bye bye.