Still feeling BEARish about F1? 2024 Saudi Arabian GP Review

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

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

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

[00:00:36] Who said Max was to stop in winning can become boring?

[00:00:39] The 24th South of the Arabian GP was hardly boring. I mean, if anything, we had so many

[00:00:45] micro stories in the middle of the race. All of a bear been finishing 7th on his debut as

[00:00:49] an ATD role for Ferrari. How crazy is that? Oscar Piastra being a McLaren home in B4 and

[00:00:55] Charlotte Leclerc winning in F1.5 isn't that the sign of a great race but best of all,

[00:01:02] you also got to see two incredible standout performances. Firstly, one from large troll,

[00:01:08] kissing the barrier and bringing his car to the wall, classic, timeless, ageless. That's what he

[00:01:14] called that. And also one from Kevin Binderson, timeless as well because he was absolutely either

[00:01:20] brave or either stupid depending on whether you're a Haas fan or you're not a Haas fan. I mean,

[00:01:25] so many things happened in Kunal and upon that, we also had the stewards chipping into

[00:01:29] Atsym drama as well. Nobody can actually say that the 24th South of the Arabian GP was boring,

[00:01:35] hardly. Hardly, absolutely. I think Saturday racing anyway is more exciting like I've been saying

[00:01:42] but yeah overall there was a sense of a lot of action happening for once. Somal, this is the kind

[00:01:48] of racing that I'm a bit of a fan of that there are attacks and there are defenses not just

[00:01:54] plain DRS enabled overtakes. Yes. Piastrae chasing Hamilton and everyone else in you know then

[00:02:03] Hamilton chasing Landon Norris. No overtakes that happened there and there is a data driven reason

[00:02:10] for that which we'll get to but that's what overtaking is all about. It's about the battles

[00:02:15] and not just the action of overtake itself. And we also saw Oliver Beb in makes some really good

[00:02:21] overtakes. We also saw Alex Alborn try to go around the outside of a couple of drivers,

[00:02:25] thrice on the back turn. We also got to see so much chaos with Yuki Senoda and Magnus. It's like

[00:02:32] this sort of racing fact in that if you don't enjoy race like this, I think you're probably not

[00:02:37] a racing fan. More of a fan of a certain driver and I'll tell you what let's start with the driver

[00:02:41] that people will be most disappointed with all the way through. We need to talk about very firstly

[00:02:48] what happened with Carlos Sines because I need to get it out of the window before we discuss

[00:02:52] the star performer. Appendicitors, Pidifishade that is not there but that means Kunal. We got to see

[00:02:58] a kid baby with Ferrari. I know that start has been popularized everywhere now but first time since

[00:03:03] what 1972? It's ridiculous, he was so good. That's even before my time which is great and

[00:03:13] appendicitis. I think second time in three years we've actually had a driver been replaced at

[00:03:17] a Grand Prix weekend with appendicitis. Alexander Alborn was the first one who had it in the

[00:03:24] recent times with Williams. We saw Nick DeFrees come in, score a point. We've seen similar history,

[00:03:29] repeat Oliver Behrman came in and then he scored a point as well. So standout performer. Another

[00:03:36] standout performer actually is not from Formula One. It's from Formula 2, the Norwegian driver,

[00:03:42] Dennis Hauger at turn 27 last corner of the last lap Somal. He overtakes two cars

[00:03:51] in the run down to the finish line. It was incredible. So I think Formula 2 race was actually a lot

[00:03:58] more fun than Formula One this weekend, yet again I would say and of course our own Kush

[00:04:04] Mini scored his best result in Formula 2. He got Paul finally the first ever Indian to get

[00:04:10] Paul position in the history of Formula 2 and then he scored a second place after a rocket ship

[00:04:17] start that he had. But a lot of things to talk about already, haven't we just let him

[00:04:22] get on the table? We have let's discuss them in greater depth but folks let's tell you who we are.

[00:04:30] We are the inside line F1 podcasts. We've been doing this for the last 11 years and

[00:04:34] are one of the top five most listened to podcasts in the world in terms of Formula One

[00:04:38] and at the top 0.5% of all podcasts on Spotify as well. My name is Somal Aurora. I am the host

[00:04:45] of the Indian Racing League, the MotoGP Indian Grand Prix and also the Indian Supercross Racing League

[00:04:50] among many other things. And the other voice that he heard on the podcast was of course Kunal Shah

[00:04:54] the former marketing head of the fourth senior Formula One team who is currently an F1 consultant

[00:04:59] for the Vibe Play group in Norway. Well Kunal let's get down into it. Star performers,

[00:05:05] let's talk about them. I think we can't go beyond Oliver Bayman firstly. Let's just

[00:05:10] put the enormity of his achievement into context. For an 18 year old to be

[00:05:14] firstly physically ready to drive a Formula One car is insane. I think it shows you the amount of

[00:05:20] preparation that every reserve driver also has to do even though they probably not try the car

[00:05:24] ever so that's one amazing thing but secondly the mental composure to be a complaining about

[00:05:31] Nico Halkenberg in the middle of the race. Be saying that the other drivers are too slow and see

[00:05:35] to be so calm at the end of the race and to not share a tear and to say well good job guys really

[00:05:40] professional well done nicely done and to carry on even the Ferrari would reading him like a kid.

[00:05:45] That tells you so much about how he might just be 18 when in terms of driving a car but he's

[00:05:50] probably driving it like a 27 year old. Yeah, you know he seemed like he knew what he was doing.

[00:05:55] He seemed like in control of everything in the car physically mentally and emotionally like

[00:06:02] you pointed out I believe you know he's this race was a great advertisement for Oliver Bayman's

[00:06:09] candidature as a Formula One driver in 2025 and you know truth we told he was quick

[00:06:17] and we can actually you know we can actually discuss how his weekend should be measured.

[00:06:23] So calm qualifying can you get out of Q1 and he did what was his gap to Shal Laqler and it was

[00:06:29] about three tenths if I remember which is really good for a street circuit as we have in Jeddah

[00:06:36] right and then he also didn't make it to Q3 but what was his gap it was less than half a tenth

[00:06:44] imagine if he got into Q3 the 2025 Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton would have been knocked out of Q3

[00:06:51] so he almost just made headlines there again in the race and in qualifying he didn't crash which

[00:06:58] I think is fantastic then song like you pointed out he pulled off a lot of overtakes rightfully

[00:07:05] got voted as a driver of the day but crucially picked up six points in his Formula One debut in a

[00:07:14] few moments from now why don't we discuss all the drivers who may not even score six points to

[00:07:20] beat Oliver Bayman in 2024. Yeah for once Kevin Magnusin might be there the Williams drivers maybe

[00:07:27] Logan's maybe not Alex Albonne the Haas in general are going to be in a strawberry forget about

[00:07:34] Alfa Romeo anyway and also so many other drivers were in that list but crucially the fun

[00:07:40] stat is he's actually scored more points in Formula One than he has in his day championship

[00:07:45] a Formula 2 believe it or not that's that's kind of ridiculous it's working out and I like that

[00:07:50] I like that there are more kids who are ready to get going and I just get a feeling I don't know

[00:07:56] I'm just speaking hypothetically here don't count me out on this one or don't take this too seriously

[00:08:01] wouldn't it be nice to just have one rookie per team every year race in one race or the season

[00:08:06] like just like a wildcard maybe not replacing one of the existing drivers but I don't know

[00:08:10] just hypothetically a third card just for a rookie let's see what they've got and that'll keep on

[00:08:15] the volatility we might not need we might not need a new team just that one story is so good enough

[00:08:20] to spice up a race like we had with deliveries back in Monza a couple of years ago as well

[00:08:24] it's just nice to see future talents pop up and sometimes school other ones who have been it out for

[00:08:30] so long I think that might just happen if we have you know more than 25 races on the calendar

[00:08:35] we're talking of circuit rotations and literally in Saudi Arabia the drivers were asked if there should

[00:08:40] be driver rotations you know so you as a driver pick you know 25 races which you will participate in

[00:08:47] and for the other five races okay uh you know we should just have driver rotations but either way

[00:08:55] that's for another day but I'm going to also be a little critical here okay uh because

[00:09:00] are the cars too easy to jump into and just drive that's something David cool card points out each

[00:09:06] time when he sees a rookie just jump in beyond the pace be fit enough and he would say back in our

[00:09:12] time you didn't matter who the rookie was but you would struggle more than you would succeed right

[00:09:19] but that's just a question that we probably don't need to ponder on or maybe you have a view

[00:09:23] some yeah again I got bullshit on that it's just that drivers these days are so much more prepared

[00:09:30] because they're doing proper programs with Formula 1 teams where they are monitoring their diet

[00:09:35] their fitness their workouts civil aid sessions every single day and now that there's a clear

[00:09:40] apart on how to become a Formula 1 driver naturally more people will be closer to being a Formula 1

[00:09:45] driver than in the past because back in the day it was just okay are you good enough can you drive

[00:09:49] go in there even if you smoke even if you can't run 10 kilometers just figuring it out and drive

[00:09:54] so I think I got bullshit on that for DC I don't know maybe it's just uh uh we don't have to

[00:09:59] pick beef with it because he's uh he's a very esteemed guest of the podcast but

[00:10:03] let me go talking perhaps I don't know yeah or maybe maybe I'm sure there's some perspective

[00:10:08] because DC also said you know Fernando wanting to raise till 50s another proof that these cars

[00:10:13] these cars the modern day cars aren't as physically uh you know uh difficult to drive as the cars

[00:10:19] were back in his time but you can take that up whenever you have DC next on the podcast you can ask

[00:10:26] him what he means he's I always remember DC as one of those drivers who had the widest neck

[00:10:32] in history of Formula 1 right even even wider than I would say Michael Schumacher but

[00:10:38] why don't we where do we move on so Oliver Behrman just one one one more thing actually since I said

[00:10:43] go on right two very funny things there are three Ferrari drivers now in the top 10 in the driver's

[00:10:49] championship Leclerc signs and Oliver Behrman right and the second which is a bit of a pity

[00:10:55] is Pierre Gussley is 21st in a 20 driver championship that's painful for a driver like Pierre Gussley's

[00:11:05] he's done literally nothing to deserve what he's getting this year with Alpine and to be 21st

[00:11:11] in a 20 driver championship unfortunately the team haven't done anything at all to change that

[00:11:16] so that's also a bit of a bubble no they had a new restructure they had a restructure so they are

[00:11:21] doing something all the time with the number of people who they can keep moving and shuffling around

[00:11:28] and shuffle around even more I mean Gussley couldn't even start the race that's how that's how

[00:11:33] terrible it's it's been for them you know and I think the only driver who couldn't start a race

[00:11:38] in Saudi Arabia and again in recent times where you just have an issue the minute you crank up the car

[00:11:43] was Yuki Sanoda in 2021 at Saudi Arabia as well but either way that's that's for another stat

[00:11:49] do we have another hero because I definitely do we do yes okay are we talking about the good hero

[00:11:56] or the bad hero because in Hindi of course hero also means someone who's stupid okay don't

[00:12:01] drive the hero so are we talking about the FIA or Kevin Magnuson because I have sort of confused

[00:12:06] you what do we talk about first I think I'm going to go with Kevin Magnuson for all the Viking love I

[00:12:11] get from the Viking lands out here Kevin Magnuson my goodness what an aggressive driver but all for a good

[00:12:20] effect thanks to his heroics you know Niko Halkenberg could score a point for 10th place in the Saudi

[00:12:28] Arabian country doesn't matter that he was you know minute and whatever down just the fact

[00:12:33] that has became the sixth team to score a point only in the second race of the season because in

[00:12:39] Bahrain only the top five teams the fastest five teams scored and that typically looks to be the

[00:12:45] norm right if all the five teams keep scoring but Kevin Magnuson helped has to become that sixth

[00:12:52] team incredible stuff of course he picked up what 20 second time penalties on the way yeah

[00:12:57] but did he know is my main question because in the middle of the race right and this is a discussion

[00:13:02] that DC was having himself on the F1 TV broadcast that it would be stupid for him to be driving

[00:13:08] the way he was driving if he knew because that's technically on the boundary lines of disrespecting

[00:13:14] the space of other drivers and being too aggressive but the thing is the way Haas was speaking to him

[00:13:19] it seemed like he was doing the team a favor knowing that he had a penalty and if that's the case

[00:13:23] I think that makes it even more heroic considering how aggressive he was and how much he had his

[00:13:29] elbows on it you were on the broadcast right you had all the access to the footage did he know

[00:13:33] that he had a penalty could not yes he very much did know that he had a penalty in fact in his

[00:13:39] post-trace statement he also turned around and said after I had my penalties I knew I had no chance

[00:13:44] so I decided to give Nico all the chance I could and I think it's just classic team work you know

[00:13:51] in action and teams like Haas this is what they need especially with the turbulent stories

[00:13:56] around them pretty much nobody wants them on the grid everyone wants them to sell away to Andretti

[00:14:01] and this whole team principle change they've had with Komatsu and with Gunter Shino this is great

[00:14:06] showing that hey we can actually you know fight for our day when when the time comes and let's

[00:14:12] remember this is a circuit Haas has scored at before so there is precedence in Haas's actions and

[00:14:18] result as well but great stuff with Kevin Magnussen and now that you turned around and said the FIA

[00:14:25] why don't we just jump straight in because the FIA gave him two 10 second time penalties and I

[00:14:31] think this is where the change in rule has happened a five second time penalty is actually changed

[00:14:37] into a 10 second time penalty from 2024 much to the dismay of the drivers and my own dismay as well

[00:14:43] I just think a 10 second time penalty is too much okay but let's put this into perspective Kevin

[00:14:49] Magnussen over to Kyuki Senoda off track he didn't relinquish track position to Senoda he took

[00:14:56] the penalty okay but then what happened is actually it should have been Senoda who should have finished

[00:15:02] in the top 10 who it could have been had it not been for that illegal overtake off track so

[00:15:08] understandably Senoda and Racing Bulls are extremely pissed off with that penalty and the way

[00:15:14] Kevin Magnussen took position fair enough absolutely fair on their point and if you look at the bigger

[00:15:19] picture about why they did score points I think it comes down to that eventually and being stuck

[00:15:25] behind Magnussen for so long at they had the chance to get past early on Yuki would have been in a far

[00:15:31] healthier place and so on and so forth but we can't analyze that too much what we can analyze

[00:15:36] is the stupidity of giving a 10 second penalty when you could have simply said Kevin relinquish

[00:15:41] the position and also 10 seconds for leaving the track and gaining a reboundage in a second case

[00:15:47] bullshit I'm honestly sorry if I'm being too aggressive but you look at that you look at

[00:15:51] that replay and clearly he's gained what one second at the most two at next given a five second

[00:15:58] penalty just so that you want to expose or rather oppose an example on it 10 seconds for that

[00:16:03] minor corner card penalty is just too much it's it's like the one even thinking but that's what I'm

[00:16:10] saying you know there is no longer a five second time penalty it is only a 10 second time penalty

[00:16:15] but that's what they want to do they want to make it they want to make it even more tough for drivers

[00:16:21] to cut corners like that because five seconds was making no difference or there you go you get

[00:16:25] actually a 10 second penalty so you gain a second or two but should you be doing that right

[00:16:31] and and and to put it into perspective the FIA is not going to be there to tell the teams and

[00:16:36] drivers you need to relinquish position what they are there to see if the teams do it by themselves

[00:16:42] okay and Haas chose to not do it which is why Kevin Magnus and I ended up getting the penalty

[00:16:47] but if I was Haas I would do it as well because I've only scored what three to six points

[00:16:52] in the entirety of last year I've get it the chance to score one critical point I'm not ready to go

[00:16:57] off any position at least you tell me so that's that's fair on their part yeah and that exactly I

[00:17:03] mean the Haas played they said you know what with one driver we can take as many time penalties as

[00:17:07] we want so long as with the other driver we are scoring a point it doesn't matter and this is

[00:17:12] what Loro Mekis has been pointing out post-trace he's levied at how Magnuson was you know given

[00:17:19] as many time I mean Magnuson could have had a five minute time penalty okay didn't wouldn't have

[00:17:24] mattered but anyway exactly yeah and another thing which is extremely exciting about the FIA

[00:17:32] and what's your assessment of this land on or is sorry it is exciting with the FIA yeah yeah

[00:17:41] exciting with the FIA outside of the MBS gate okay but what's your take on land on

[00:17:47] Norris did he have a jumpstart yes or no okay so my opinion is not matter or no my opinion

[00:17:55] does not matter because I am not a transponder funny right yeah yeah you should go on and explain

[00:18:02] that so according to the FIA and this is something that's also happened with Sebastian Vettel in

[00:18:07] Suzuki 2019 the only registered a jumpstart if the transponder registers a jumpstart and according

[00:18:14] to the FIA the transponder of land on or is at the south you've been caught be did not register a jumpstart

[00:18:20] even though all of our eyes which are extremely I think what 8k vision so many megapixels a lot

[00:18:26] of processing power with an M16 chip that our brain is we could all see through a million camera

[00:18:31] angles that he had jumped the start he might not have gained an advantage but a rule is a rule

[00:18:36] but I don't get this one thing sure the transponder did not give him a jumpstart but why

[00:18:42] that clarification hasn't been made yet why did it not record a jumpstart when does it record

[00:18:47] a jumpstart and that's that's like a bit that's a bit gray right that you could technically jump a

[00:18:52] start and if the transponder doesn't give you out you're not out but why does it not give you out

[00:18:57] is the wood question there's wonderfully summarized and I think I think this is where the error margin

[00:19:02] comes in you know plus minus 5% or whatever the margin of the sensor works in so that's probably

[00:19:08] what has happened and it's unfortunate because back in time I always remember it was with the naked

[00:19:13] eye itself you know jumpstart for very common in the earlier eras of formula 1 I mean as much as

[00:19:19] maybe you know 10 or 15 years ago I've seen you know cars and drivers being pulled up for jump

[00:19:24] starts George Russell could see it who was right in the next grid box so maybe this is an area where

[00:19:30] they'll have to tighten their you know sensors bring in more AI or just get the human naked eye

[00:19:36] to do it anyway and the other counter explanation which you know hopefully we get before Australia is

[00:19:42] maybe maybe Norris moved within his box itself maybe the movement was so little

[00:19:49] you know although there are images floating around on social media showing that his

[00:19:52] tires were over the line any case but another controversy that the FIA has to address

[00:19:59] luckily this is a good on track one which can be assessed and explained rather than

[00:20:04] why did the president take a private jet to fly around the world I guess

[00:20:09] wait on the whole canal how would you rate the FIA's performance this weekend

[00:20:13] I can't believe we're talking about this before we're talking about Max what's happened

[00:20:16] but such is the case of the sport but how would you rate it do you think they were fair all the

[00:20:21] way through the weekend it all depends because this was another race weekend where a drain cover

[00:20:27] came undone okay so in the last four races three races have had drain cover issues last Vegas

[00:20:37] Bahrain and Saudi Arabia or race venues right just so that I'm being more specific before

[00:20:42] people point out that Bahrain's issues were in testing and not during the race blah blah blah

[00:20:47] I think the FIA were fairly average you know they were they were just the usual inconsistent

[00:20:53] and unpredictable if that's that's the word and again I mean you know even if you go back to

[00:20:59] formula two they had lots of disqualifications they could give out the winner of the sprint race

[00:21:04] was disqualified and so on so and so pretty average nothing nothing like the FIA as we've known

[00:21:11] of the past I would say maybe of the of the Jean-Tardira where they just looked a lot more

[00:21:16] sharper although the rule book hasn't really changed maybe the way of execution has changed maybe

[00:21:22] there's no interference back then yeah could be could be but that's the FIA we need to talk about

[00:21:28] a lot more things as well let's just begin with Max shall we I think that'll be good 56 race wins

[00:21:35] that puts him a couple ahead of Sebastian Vettel he's no 56 or 55 I have lost count now so 56 is what

[00:21:45] my numbers say again but it's too much it's far too much three more than Sebastian Vettel

[00:21:50] if 56 is the number and the margins just keep on getting bigger the way controls through it keeps

[00:21:55] on getting better nine consecutive race wins for the second time in his career oh man uh

[00:22:03] what do you say now what do you say he's he's gonna equal his longest race winning streak next weekend

[00:22:11] or rather the next race I would say and hundreds podium all and Red Bull racing cars as Christian

[00:22:18] honor keeps you know reminding him I would say um never before has Max Wishtappen actually won

[00:22:26] the previous two opening rounds of a Grand Prix season that's another one and then

[00:22:33] Max Wishtappen has now led the drivers championship for 41 races on the chart oh god

[00:22:42] yeah that's that's one that I got and Max Wishtappen will actually go to Australia

[00:22:48] which is an extra round not having retired from any race for the last two years oh god

[00:22:58] and his qualifying margin was bloody long three and a half or 10s is fantastic

[00:23:06] and with that it's genuine yeah and with that ladies and gerryman that's your formula one

[00:23:11] podcast on let's talk about formula 1.5 oh god the guys go down excuse me the guys guys so good I

[00:23:19] mean we saw the end of the race the gap decreasing but I want to analyze one word that the Red Bull

[00:23:26] team mentioned at the end and they said well controlled Max it's not that he doesn't make mistakes

[00:23:33] it's just that the mistakes are so fine that the rest of the world doesn't even notice them

[00:23:39] and that's a different form of greatness right where your mistakes are probably where most drivers find

[00:23:44] their greatness to end that's that's so good so as you could even match in this weekend even though

[00:23:50] he had actually what I'd say would be his best weekend in ages to be honest yeah and you know he

[00:23:55] loves us okay I think maybe Czechoslovakia realizes it's not too bad if he consistently delivers to

[00:24:01] what the second best driver in the world is expected to deliver right and that's probably a good

[00:24:07] for his mental well-being as well and gives him a better shot for 2025 rather than trying to be a

[00:24:12] hero and then become a 0 and 2024 like he did in 2023 as well and then I think the question that

[00:24:21] I'm also eager to ask is we've now seen two different types of circuits and Red Bull are far ahead

[00:24:26] Ferrari is also seemingly a little more ahead of McLaren and Mercedes right could it be that

[00:24:31] you know two Red Bull drivers and and the Ferrari drivers keep blocking up the podium for many races

[00:24:36] in the first first part first third of the season while others keep bringing upgrades and so on

[00:24:42] because Leclerc was there in P3 I'm pretty sure if Carlos signs was racing he would have been

[00:24:46] slightly up there as well and the gaps between Red Bull and the rest is phenomenal I think it's a

[00:24:53] 40 second to McLaren and Mercedes but good old partners and team team owners or co-owners you

[00:25:01] know McLaren and Mercedes they entertain us right Somal you know with with their own track skirmishes

[00:25:08] I would say Oscar Piazri like you said in force plays was chasing down Lewis Hamilton and very

[00:25:14] interestingly Lewis actually was asked post-race Lewis how are you feeling after the race he literally

[00:25:18] looks at Mervish is a via play Finland report he's like I finished ninth in the race that was his

[00:25:24] answer right and I think that's a bit of a you know bit of a show of just how tough it is

[00:25:31] because Mercedes prioritized straight line speed in Saudi Arabia that's why they were

[00:25:37] struggling to the high speed bends right they expected the straight line speeds to help them

[00:25:43] move up in the race McLaren was actually the opposite they had high speed bend performance but not

[00:25:50] straight line speed so two very opposite setup cars were battling on track but guess what one in

[00:25:57] the end track position because that's how closely matched those two packages are doesn't matter what

[00:26:04] setup you take just matters if you're the car ahead you will be able to stay ahead and that's

[00:26:09] what actually happened with McLaren and with Mercedes and that's fine that's okay you don't need a

[00:26:16] million overtakes to make a race go we just need two teams excuse me you just need two cars

[00:26:23] with opposite ways I mean rather all you need is two different cars with two different styles of

[00:26:29] driving one might be good on the streets one might be good on the corners replicate this amongst cars

[00:26:34] bikes trucks whatever if there is a car that's faster on the streets and there's a car that's

[00:26:39] faster on the corners put them together that's it that's what makes for a good motor race and we got

[00:26:43] that that's all it's it's brilliant and so there was so many attempts to mosque at Piaştey

[00:26:49] to pass those Hamilton didn't work out because McLaren barely had any straight line speed there was

[00:26:54] so many attempts to lose Hamilton that also didn't quite work out because there's just not enough

[00:26:57] track position and that's all right I think we need to write a letter to the FIA and Formula 1 saying

[00:27:03] this is good there's no need to there's no need to increase the number of overtakes with some

[00:27:09] artificial measures like DRS just make sure that we have this and we'll be fine but yeah absolutely

[00:27:15] I mean following is what we need we need the battles we don't want them to increase DRS by 20 meters

[00:27:21] just so that hey Lando Norris could have actually made the overtake on whoever he was battling and

[00:27:26] wherever he was battling right because that's what we don't want like you're trying to you know

[00:27:30] nicely point out and another very interesting thing Piaştey outqualified Lando Norris George Russell

[00:27:36] for the third consecutive race out qualified Lewis Hamilton but guess also how this benefited them

[00:27:43] in the top 10 there were the two drivers that actually didn't fit under the safety car which

[00:27:48] your good friend Lannstroll brought out we'll talk about Lannstroll in a bit right but what happened

[00:27:54] is because they were also you know they they were outqualified and outqualified and on track in the race

[00:28:02] their teammates were up ahead of them the team made Scott the regular preferential strategy Norris

[00:28:09] and Hamilton were put on the alternate strategy just to split the team's fortunes should a

[00:28:15] late race safety car have come out right and that's why Norris and Hamilton ran very high up in

[00:28:21] the front but then couldn't end up doing anything on their soft tyres right because they started

[00:28:26] battling each other and you know Oliver Behrman still had reserve in the medium can you imagine

[00:28:30] Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton were actually put on the alternate strategy so when last did we

[00:28:38] actually hear and see that happen that's how strong Piazzri and Russell have become this season yeah

[00:28:45] and some might say that Oscar Piazzri has a few rough edges left because he couldn't quite make

[00:28:51] those overtakes work out on those Hamilton but I say just look at the way the car was driving look

[00:28:56] at the way they were struggling in the straight line he was frustrated I mean think about it if

[00:29:00] you're trying to break a wall after 25 consecutive chances and there's one chance but if you like

[00:29:06] ah I might just be able to do it and you slam harder than you ever can and it still doesn't happen

[00:29:11] of course you'll be frustrated that's what we could see with Oscar Piazzri it's only human I think

[00:29:16] the same could have been said about Rose Hamilton if he was in the same case as well right so it's

[00:29:20] it's good to see drivers fighting and that's nice for one bit but on the other hand it's also

[00:29:26] you're saying yeah yeah go on no go on I was actually bringing up large stroll but I think we can

[00:29:32] you should get in before we don't need to bring before you bring up land stroll a question that

[00:29:38] I have to ask you and everyone who's listening do you believe Mercedes has actually gone backwards

[00:29:45] after you know they're p2 finish last year no I mean you still think that as you can fast the

[00:29:51] steam they're you're acting like total wolf we've got a really fast car we just have to understand

[00:29:56] it and unlock more pace I think I think Mercedes is third or fourth fastest at best they're no longer

[00:30:05] the second fastest you know Ferrari sort of taken that leap forward but were the second fastest

[00:30:11] convincingly ever last year because I remember Ferrari also I think it's yeah Ferrari have taken

[00:30:17] a step ahead you're right yeah but it's it's I like how there's a there's such closeness between

[00:30:23] Mercedes and McLaren that it doesn't matter anymore because we're getting to see a fight

[00:30:29] and on the other hand we also get in to see Aston Martin be closer which is nice as well right and

[00:30:34] I'd love to know your take on this as well how do you interpret their performance this weekend

[00:30:39] because on one side we had a great artist teaching us how to crash which was incredible but on the

[00:30:45] other hand Fernando Longzo was no longer a minute behind only a few odd seconds and he was very

[00:30:50] well in that mix although not on track but within five odd seconds of George Russell fighting for

[00:30:57] a top six position I think that's that's a good performance it might be track specific show but

[00:31:01] how would you interpret the way that we can I mean every result eventually ends up being track

[00:31:06] specific that's how I always see it right but I think this was a very very important Fernando

[00:31:12] Longzo weekend he qualified again out of position right he did that in Bahrain and then he's like

[00:31:19] our qualifying shouldn't be the basis for where should we should finish in the race he went backwards

[00:31:24] right but in Saudi Arabia he qualified and he finished a race out of position I would say and

[00:31:31] I think the car Aston Martin just you know it prefers this track like you're saying track specific

[00:31:37] but it's a joy to watch Fernando Longzo he was actually doing his thing doing he was in his own

[00:31:43] race running qualifying laps as he kept saying he showed us how to kiss a wall but not

[00:31:48] break the car and end up in the barriers something that Lance troll I don't even know if I call it a

[00:31:53] rookie mistake because a rookie like all you all of a band didn't make that mistake so calling

[00:31:58] it a rookie mistake is probably a bad thing but Lance troll kisses the wall hits it hard well that's

[00:32:04] fine but the strange thing Somal he kept his hand on that steering wheel I mean you learned this

[00:32:11] you learned this in go cards that you take your hands off if you're going for the walls

[00:32:17] you learn this through all of your junior formulae and this is a driver who actually had a risk

[00:32:22] injury just this time last year or whatever 13 months ago if I have to be specific yeah yeah

[00:32:29] again I think you know you need someone to tell you how difficult it is to drive a Formula 1 car

[00:32:36] when all of your friends come in and watch Formula 1 with you they go like hey it's so easy to

[00:32:39] drive a Formula 1 car you need a reference to tell you how actually top it is to drive a car

[00:32:45] like that around circuits like that on the absolute limit thank godful large troll who helps

[00:32:50] saves all of us in front of all of our friends whenever they ask hey it's just like driving

[00:32:55] in circles right he is the perfect reference to use about what would happen if a rookie like us

[00:33:00] gets into a Formula 1 car the only difference is he's been doing it for what eight years now

[00:33:05] I like that whatever something some random number of yours and he's going to continue doing

[00:33:11] it for a long time but courtesy of Lance troll we actually have the radio message of the season

[00:33:15] already we will talk about it in the awards at school can you bring it back lands that's what his race

[00:33:23] engineers said when lan said I hit the wall okay and of course that the I'm sure the race

[00:33:29] engineer was looking at a lot of data and not looking at the speedometer or the GPS race where

[00:33:35] the car I just stopped you know the dot which says SDR is just topped on track and Lance of

[00:33:41] course had a few expletives to throw at him yeah amazing I love it I love it uh but the last

[00:33:46] thing we need to talk about at the end of this episode is probably the last driver who finished

[00:33:52] the race in the proper manner Daniel Ricardo Netflix would like you to believe that he is literally

[00:33:58] the one vying for P2 in the championship because he could throw Sergio Perez out theoretically

[00:34:03] and get that second red bull car however a spin at the end of the race no way close to being the

[00:34:09] Yuki Sonora in qualifying the race space also being dismal and I remember us having this discussion

[00:34:14] before we started the recording can all about what's up with Alfred come on what's up with racing

[00:34:21] bulls in general and now they've been decoded the race we got to know that Yuki Sonora's race was

[00:34:26] probably hindered artificially by the Kevin Magnus in move but Daniel Ricardo's terrible race was

[00:34:32] organic what went wrong there well what do you see happening because I looked through his interviews

[00:34:38] try to read through all the data couldn't find much apart from just being naturally slow and that sucks

[00:34:45] yeah especially for a driver as talented as Ricardo eight time ground three winner somebody who could

[00:34:50] take Max first happened just before he was you know reaching his prime etc firstly Daniel Ricardo

[00:34:56] hit the curb too hard and he just spun around all by himself and you know strangely all his

[00:35:01] interviews he's been saying I've been there I know what it takes to get there we don't have that

[00:35:05] yet I'm trying to build that on so he's suddenly banking a lot on his experience and that smile

[00:35:09] to get him through truth we told as as I said on the y-play broadcast yesterday this is red bull right

[00:35:16] they take the first seven eight maybe six maybe ten races to decide the driver's fate for the

[00:35:22] second half of the year and for 2025 at this rate Yuki Sonora has definitely out shown Daniel

[00:35:30] Ricardo in the first two races of the season could it even be forget red bull racing in 2025 will

[00:35:35] they bring in Liam Lawson in place of Daniel Ricardo somewhere mid season it'll be a hard break

[00:35:40] of a move given how popular Ricardo is but hey popularity you know if it made you quick on track

[00:35:47] we would have had 20 really popular personalities or informal one trying to out personify out personality

[00:35:55] if I you know if that's a silly word I can make each other you know I would like that let's just

[00:36:01] dip into the hypothetically for a second can you imagine formula one being kind of like big brother

[00:36:07] of big boss if you're Indian where 20 most notorious and the most colorful people in the world

[00:36:14] would come together and instead of fighting over stupid challenges you would actually fight over

[00:36:18] racing get imagine Tom Cruise in one car Rihanna in the other one Lewis Hamilton in one of course

[00:36:23] at once Brad Pitt Brad Pope yeah see that's a smart move that's a good call or say fully

[00:36:30] can't because start a ramp up and really cautioned because he's also driven

[00:36:34] to a former three car on the road once it's crazy would have been I don't even know what these

[00:36:39] Hindi Bollywood references are but either way I have one reference though there's one team

[00:36:45] that has made sure that at least once every race in 2024 we have a data set of two races and it's

[00:36:52] happened in both races they will have an absurdly long pit stop with the other driver in Bahrain

[00:36:58] it was Valteri Bottas in Saudi Arabia joke on you no prizes for guessing who the slow pit stop

[00:37:06] could be if at all in Australia for the sub-o formula one team and it's embarrassing it's honestly

[00:37:13] embarrassing no like the way I don't know it's sad that we bring this up towards the end of this

[00:37:19] episode because it's a depressing way to end but yeah if Audi really is to turn this even

[00:37:26] to winner there's a long way to go no and and it is actually now 100% Audi team so for all the rumors

[00:37:31] that Audi will come go not go not come it come it enough come it less for one whole year before

[00:37:37] they were supposed to buy a hundred percent stake in Saober they've actually gone ahead and made

[00:37:42] the purchase so they have shown a statement of intent when it comes to putting down the money

[00:37:47] and getting the team that they really want to get now it's just about Andrea's title and whoever

[00:37:52] else is working in the background turning the wake up and saying this is not an Audi level

[00:37:58] performance that we expect and this is definitely not the Saober as we remember as well I remember

[00:38:03] cheering for Saober always because they were the best underdog team with some of the best drivers

[00:38:08] you know Kimi Raikin and Philipe Maasa and and you know even Sean LaClaire for that matter right

[00:38:14] so they've sort of drifted away and I really want them to come back to being who we always

[00:38:19] love for them to be which is Saober yeah exactly but folks we'll be back with more for the Australian

[00:38:27] GP preview in a short bit as well and thank you so much for watching and listening to this episode

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[00:39:17] thank you so much for tuning into this episode of the Inside Line F1 podcast before we ended I just

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