Tire compound just means what kind of rubber the tire is made from. Softer rubber usually grips more but wears faster, while harder rubber lasts longer but may not grip as well.
They’re talking about testing different tire types and figuring out what changes when the tire recipe changes. The goal is to match the tire to the car without having to overhaul everything.
The EPA is a U.S. government agency that sets rules to limit pollution and certain chemicals. Those rules can force tire makers to tweak the rubber recipe, even if the tire is supposed to perform the same.
A processing chain is the set of steps tire makers use to turn rubber ingredients into a finished tire. If the recipe changes slightly, the way it’s processed can still affect how the tire performs.
A car’s setup is how the team adjusts the car to make it handle the way they want. If the tire change doesn’t upset the balance too much, they might be able to keep the same setup.
A three-stop strategy means the driver pits three times for tires during the race. It’s a bigger gamble than fewer stops because each pit stop costs time, but it can work if the tires wear out in a way that helps you later.
VSC (Virtual Safety Car) is an F1 rule that tells drivers to slow down for a short time, usually because of an incident on track. Instead of a real safety car, the race uses computer-controlled speed limits.
“Circumstantial” here means the outcome depends on what’s happening in the moment. In F1, events like crashes or tire wear can change the best strategy.
“Clean air” means the car isn’t being buffeted by the air disturbed by another car ahead. When you get clean air, the tires usually grip better and the car feels faster. That’s why drivers and teams talk about it a lot.
“Second on the road” means your car goes out after one other car. That order can matter because the track changes as more cars run, so the second car may have slightly worse (or different) conditions.
A “two lap offset” describes a strategy where one car is scheduled to run (or pit) about two laps earlier or later than another reference car. In race strategy, that timing difference can be used to manage tire/track position tradeoffs, but it can also put a driver at a disadvantage depending on traffic and track conditions.
In motorsport discussion, a “benchmark” track is one that’s commonly used to compare relative team performance. The idea is that if you’re fast on that circuit, it’s a strong indicator you’ll be competitive elsewhere—though conditions can still skew results.
“Pecking order” here means which teams are currently fastest compared to each other. It’s based on what they’re doing on track, not just the points table.
Term
so hot
If it’s very hot, the track and tires behave differently. That can make cars feel faster or slower than they would in cooler conditions.
Term
PU
In F1, “PU” means the car’s power unit—the engine system that makes the car go. It’s not just the engine; it also includes the hybrid parts that store and reuse energy.
Hungary is a race track that tends to reward good grip and confidence under braking. The hosts are saying Ferrari’s handling could be a big advantage there.
The Ford F-150 is a large pickup truck made by Ford. EcoBoost is a type of engine setup that uses turbocharging to help the engine make strong power while still aiming for good fuel economy. People mention it when talking about how engine technology can affect how well a vehicle performs.
Term
F 150 EcoBoost technology
EcoBoost is a name Ford uses for efficient, turbocharged engine tech. The host is wondering if Red Bull’s F1 speed is coming from a similar kind of efficiency/boost idea in their power unit.
Term
EcoBoost program
“EcoBoost” is Ford’s name for turbocharged engines that are designed to use less fuel. Here, they’re using it as a starting point for a discussion about how racing rules account for different kinds of power.
The “hybrid element” is the electric part of a hybrid power system. It can help the car accelerate and it can also store energy, and the debate here is whether rules should count it.
A turbocharger is a device that forces extra air into the engine. “Turbo size” is basically how big that turbo is, and it can change how strong and responsive the engine feels.
Pit lane is the lane next to the track where the cars come in for service during the race. Cars have to drive slowly there, and speeding can lead to penalties.
In racing, “speeding” usually means you went over a set speed limit that the race officials enforce. If the system thinks you were too fast, you can get a penalty even if you believe you weren’t.
FIA is the organization that runs Formula 1 rules and officiating. They also use timing and measurement systems to decide things like penalties during a race.
“Pierre” is the driver being discussed—he’s the one whose podium got restored after the penalty was overturned.
Person
Isaac
Isaac is another person mentioned in the discussion about who benefits or loses when a penalty changes the final results. The transcript doesn’t give enough detail here to confirm exactly who he is.
Road America is a famous race track where IndyCar races. It’s a track where each lap takes a long time, so you don’t get many laps during practice, which makes testing harder.
New tires don’t feel perfect immediately. They usually need a few laps to heat up and “find their grip,” so teams plan practice around that adjustment time.
A stint is how long you stay out on one set of tires. If the tires wear out quickly, you have to come in sooner, which limits how many good laps you can get.
After pushing the car hard, teams do a cool down lap to let the tires and brakes settle. It helps the next lap be safer and more consistent, but it costs you a lap of data.
A prep lap is a “warm-up” lap before you try to set your best time. It helps the car feel right, but it uses up one of your limited laps in practice.
LIVE
This is Off-Track.
Hello, everybody, and welcome to an episode of Off-Track with Henshin Rossi.
We're all here, guys.
We made it past 500 episodes.
Alex, did you know that you missed our 500th episode?
Yeah, I don't I don't care at all, quite frankly.
OK, I was going to say we missed you, but now we don't you.
Yeah, it's up.
Well, let's be honest.
I'm sure Mario was a much better addition to the show than I was.
Yeah, I mean, you know, I mean, that yeah, he did rub that in.
It was pretty, it was pretty big flex as if he needed another one, like whatever.
It's cool. It's cool. I think we're still friends. I'm not sure.
Yeah, but you you weren't on the show
because you were testing a race car.
I was because you hadn't done enough driving in the eight consecutive weeks
leading up to Gateway that you decided to go straight from Gateway to Road America.
Yeah, you're right. You know, we just I think we're all just clutons for punishment,
even though we bitch about it. We love it.
We love it. We recapped.
We recapped Gateway, so I was recording from Sheboygan.
So we had a test at Road America
and it was a good test, hilarious, hilarious little situation that came to be,
which whatever, at least it was in the right direction.
So four sets of tires,
one set of tires was last year's compound, whatever.
And then we had three of what's going to be the 2026
and you put on last year's tire and you're like, yeah, that's that's what it was.
And, you know, we struggled last year, which is why we chose to test there.
And it was like, yeah, we've got we've got a lot of work to do over the course of the day.
And the the the new is supposed to be the same.
It's just a slight ingredient change due to EPA regulations or whatever.
And it proceeds, take a guess on the time difference that you think would be.
OK, so there's a slight difference from an ingredient.
Like the same construction, same compound, just an ingredient, a processing chain,
I think is what they call it.
Second and a half.
Yeah.
So we were like, oh, man,
a lot of the problems we have feels great.
We don't we don't have many more like now what do we do?
So, yeah, yeah, that's so good.
It's like, you don't need to change the setup ever.
Just throw on different compounds of tire until the balance is right.
But it was it was a really good day for ECR, not just because the tire suited our car better.
We actually made a lot of progress on a couple of things.
It's been going on in the background and I just love driving that place.
It's so good.
It's so amazing.
So can't wait for the weekend.
What it was pretty much everybody was there, right?
Like it was only J.H.R.
I think that was in there.
No. Oh, no.
It was only us, McLaren, Andretti, Ray Hall.
Oh, OK. Oh, OK.
So that for it.
OK. For it was also there.
For it was there.
Because the team know was quick.
I mean, at the end of the day, that what was, yes.
What was published.
Right. Yeah. Yes.
You can look at it at testing times.
Could be a million different things.
But yeah, the.
But no, there was no Penski, Gnasi, MSR.
Yeah, I think it was coin.
So half the teams, teams.
So copy.
Anyways, no real dramas happened.
And Christian and I flew back and we were chasing a storm in.
And we very wisely decided not to fly into the Red James.
And we landed in Lafayette, had had a nice little bit of dinner.
Nice.
Waited for the storm to pass and got home safely.
But it's funny, because like the whole 45 minutes
prior to reaching this point, we were like, I think we'll be all right.
Like, oh, there's a gap here and oh, there's this and this.
And then we get on the ground and one Jeremy Millis texts me and he's like,
good choice landing.
So if he's if he's telling me that, then it probably was wise.
Yeah, true.
The guy that's crashed for airplanes or something.
Yeah, yeah, exactly.
So then we had a week at home or a half week at home.
Weekend off. What you do is.
Weekend off. Incredible.
Oh, man, I went up to the lake
and spent a lot of time off of my foot,
yep, which has done wonders for me and watched a lot of sports.
Watched the first full soccer game I've ever watched in my life.
Go America.
We're going to win the World Cup.
And I watched the NBA Finals.
That was kind of lame.
I watched Le Mans, also super lame.
And Conway, though.
Yeah, Toyota.
Yeah, I watched F2, pretty lame.
And I watched F1, which was not lame.
Super awesome.
Amazing. Of all those things that you watched,
the fact that that was the one that wasn't lame at a track
that is notoriously lame racing.
Yeah.
What a what a time to be alive.
So on the on, I have two questions, two follow ups to your thing.
One of the things that we talked about last time you were on was your your
stitch removal. How did how'd your stitch removal go?
Well, they're out.
Did it feel weird?
I didn't like it.
Yeah, it's so weird.
It's so. And they were in far too long.
So. Oh, really?
We all healed around it and you had to let because they did it intentionally
because of the amount of use I was putting through it.
Yeah.
So there was a couple that she was ripping skin to get them out,
but that's OK.
We got through it.
Unfortunately, despite what I previously thought,
I will still be on crutches in Road America,
but that should be the end.
So June 30th, which is two weeks from today,
I should be able to start walking, which will be nice.
Let me tell you, when when those old dudes sit you down over a piece of pie
and a coffee and tell you that the most important thing you have in your life
is your health. Yeah.
They lying. They lying.
I'm perfectly healthy, but can't really walk.
And my goodness is my life.
The quality of life complicated.
Yeah. Yes.
Yeah. So.
Been there, done that, brother.
Yeah. Yeah.
It sucks.
Dude, this is genuinely why I don't like like MMA.
OK, I don't like UFC.
I don't like watching that because you have like a perfectly healthy human
just destroying their brains and bodies.
Unnecessarily, I don't know.
I get it.
It's a fashion. Did you not watch a lot of money?
UFC 250 then.
No, sure didn't.
Hmm. You missed out.
I saw a video of the flyover.
That was pretty cool.
Five or six.
The fights were insane.
Anyway, I'm with who I'm with James.
I have zero interest to ever watch MMA or yeah.
Were you scared?
You know, baby boy, you're scared.
You think I'm scared of watching people fight?
What would the fear be there?
What would I be afraid of at that?
Why don't you I would be afraid to do it.
Yeah, that's just it for me.
Is it's, you know, like if you're in I mean, look, and I get it.
I I spent most of my life strapping into a race car and risking getting hurt
and did so a little bit of a hypocrite.
But like in a fight, one of the two people is going to get hurt at minimum.
We're like in a race, everybody can be fine.
And usually, so like that's my defense on that one.
All right. So about OK.
No, I had another question about your time.
You watch your first ever soccer game start to play in completion.
Yeah. Yeah.
Start to finish. How did you find it?
Are you now a fan and will you watch more?
I like these questions.
How did I find it?
I found it to be mildly more entertaining than I thought it would be.
OK. So like if you went in thinking it was going to be a zero as most soccer games
are you a well, I don't know if I was spoiled because like they scored so much.
So I would say like a three.
So still pretty low.
Wasn't it like 41
Yeah. So still pretty low.
OK. And it's like a normal game would probably be like a one and a half.
Right. Yeah. OK.
Will I watch more?
Yes, because I'm an American and support the USA.
Yeah, exactly.
Would I watch it if it wasn't the World Cup?
No. However, I watched a little bit of like Germany and Kurosawa
because it was just on TV.
I watched a little bit of Japan and the Netherlands, I think, because it was just on TV.
All right. And like I'm starting.
I feel like it's it's like it's like coffee or it's like beer.
You know, you you acquire a taste for it.
Right. So I'm slowly starting to maybe like it.
Do I like it as much as watching golf,
which is also the most boring thing you can watch?
No. OK.
But I think it's it's a suitable.
It's a suitable thing to have on television. OK.
Yeah. I can see that for years.
Why not? Because it's World Cup.
Yeah. Because it's World Cup.
I sort of get that. I'm not going to watch some game on Tuesday night
for the Premier League of Arsenal playing Manchester like who gives.
Correct. I mean, lots of people.
But yes, no. I mean, the majority of the world. Yeah.
Yeah. It's a weird amount.
I don't entirely understand it.
But I also understand most people. Yeah.
Like, like, yeah, overwhelming majority of the human population
pretty into soccer.
It is so funny how it just didn't take off here.
I saw a bit online where people won a bunch of people talking about like,
oh, you're a big soccer fan, name a single person on the US team.
But the other one was a Christian classic.
What would happen if like the US actually started to care about soccer?
Like would would we just win every World Cup?
Like, I know our women's team is amazing.
But like, but why not?
Like we excel at sports as a country.
We have people that do very well in the sports that they choose.
Like if we had the same infrastructure for soccer as we do for the NBA or the NFL,
like everybody playing at school and aspiring to do it.
So why wouldn't you pick?
You picked one league that only exists in America.
So, yeah, Americans are probably going to dominate that one.
So true. The NBA.
There's a lot of basketball.
I'm talking about the NFL.
Sorry.
Yeah, the NBA.
Yeah, good, good point.
But of the places that also have it, you know,
the the population of the states makes it also.
Yeah, but we that population would help us in soccer as well.
Yeah, I guess I think, yeah, yes.
Yeah, you have access to more people than most countries and that by numbers alone.
But but soccer, but then wouldn't shouldn't China be winning everything by that logic?
I see your point.
I don't think there I think they kind of pick and choose their sports, you know,
I think they're they've got like a couple that mean a lot to them
and they sort of divert all their energy to that.
But I don't know.
But I feel like the U.S.
I feel like the U.S. is like it has all the infrastructure.
It's just there's not a lot of soccer is the sport that our kids play
until they figure out what sport they're going to play.
Yes, absolutely.
It's a way to get you outside and active and team work
and a very easy to understand like rules are simple.
Concept is simple.
Like football is a very complicated game.
Yeah, I get.
And I get why I thought there's a court.
I get why soccer is so popular around the world.
It's an easy game to play.
You need a ball in a field.
You know, ball field and four posts.
I do think that any team, any country that the U.S.
beats in the World Cup should have to call it soccer until the next World Cup.
I don't hate that.
It's funny.
Buxton actually brought up on the broadcast last week that the term
soccer was actually coined by an Englishman.
Yeah, yeah.
It was an English term for the league that they played there, right?
Right.
So they coined the word, yet they despise it.
The best thing they never gave the world is the U.S.
I don't think they gave them that.
Yeah, we took it from them.
They kind of took it.
Yeah, yeah.
You guys made a pretty, pretty, pretty big stand on that.
It's a whole thing for a little while there.
Anyway, yes, I've not yet watched.
I had the the Canada game on in the background while we were having dinner
one night in F.
Ben, but I can't say I've watched the whole game.
I'm not being very supportive.
I apologize to my countrymen and what have you.
All right.
So the one sporting event that was exciting this week was the Formula
One race in a rare twist.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Where do you want to start?
I mean, I would go back to qualifying.
I would start qualifying just with, you know, back to a proper road course.
It's been a minute, really, since they've raced on a proper road course.
One were Downforce King and passing is very difficult.
And as you would expect, Mercedes was quick.
But as you might not have expected, the Ferrari was surprisingly quick.
And the McLaren was not as good as everybody thought it was going to be.
And the Ferrari was way better than people thought it was going to be.
And in qualifying Q3, Lewis Hamilton, not the.
Saturday specialist single lap God of Charlotte Claire.
Got within a couple of hundreds of a second of like a monster lap.
Like George's second lap in Q3 was a monster.
It was like three tenths quicker than anybody had done.
And Lewis nearly beat him.
He was ahead of him on the lap to the last two corners and lost out by a couple
of hundreds, unbelievably impressive qualifying run, I thought.
Yeah, I think Charles would have probably had a shot if he had, you know,
four corners on his car.
Yeah, he did not have those.
I do wonder, I wonder if he would have been as quick because I feel like I
feel like Lewis was better in like in this session's leader, like in the Q1
and Q2, but I don't remember that.
So that might be misspeaking.
Well, if you went all, let's keep, let's keep going.
So, so George needed a good weekend.
Kimmy's won five on the trot and he showed up.
He was quick and quickest to practice one, almost second quickest to land on
practice two, quickest to practice three, doing what he has to do.
Puts it on pole, Kimmy was third, doing what he has to do.
And then the race, now the race was very interesting.
The race was very interesting because Pirelli brought one step softer tires
the whole way through.
It was like a million degrees.
And so the deck was through the roof, like Hamilton was saying, it was double
what the simulations were saying going into the weekend.
So all of a sudden you have a discussion of maybe it not just being a two-stop,
maybe even a three-stop, which an F1 is like unheard of and Ferrari
also unheard of rolled the dice from a strategy standpoint and committed
to the three-stop from the start, loved it, loved the idea of it right off the bat.
Cause like you're not just going to beat the Mercedes in a straight up fight
most likely, right?
So you got to do something different.
I wonder how much Ferrari intentionally chose the right strategy
or if they just fell into it.
But I want to give a lot of credit to Lewis
because I've seen online a lot of people are like,
oh well, Lewis only won because the VSC and Alonzo are failing and all this sort of thing.
And Lewis was going to win this race either way.
Far before that was going to happen.
So I want to just put that out there.
So I think that it was just a really refreshing thing that shows.
And we've talked about it before.
It shows so much of how this sport is ultimately circumstantial, right?
Ferrari brought a good car.
Lewis, obviously, Barcelona, he had won there six times before a place that, you know,
he has had incredible success out in the past.
Didn't get the jump off the line.
Like I think everybody thought the Ferrari would, especially with the run down to turn one.
George pulled out like a four and a half second gap right away.
And whether Ferrari went into the race knowing they were going to three-stop
or whether they, you know, called an audible when they realized that they weren't going
to catch George and getting part of the race is irrelevant because it was the right decision.
And it put a driver in the position to show pure pace and clean air by themselves.
And what Lewis Hamilton is still capable of doing.
And regardless of the VSC, he was the best car.
He was the best driver.
And Ferrari didn't screw anything up and they were rewarded in spades for it.
So I think that that was just a situation that was cool to see because they could have
very easily been like, well, the three-stop tie risk for these reasons were in second.
We don't have the pace of George and second would be a great result for us, that sort of thing.
And they didn't, they stayed aggressive.
They knew they had a fast car.
Lewis was confident in his ability to make a three-stop work as he has so often in his previous career.
And it was it was like days of old watching that happen.
So it was I loved every second of it.
It was so it was so cool.
I mean, like there it's not often in such a competitive environment, you have a win
or a result that everybody kind of gets behind, you know, and that was one of them.
I mean, he's he's he owns every record, right?
He's the greatest that's ever done it.
If you look at pure statistics, that was his 106th win.
And when you kind of think back to last year and the struggles that he had with the car,
the comments he was making after certain races, like it was Hungary, where after thinking qualifying,
he said they should think about replacing the driver, like the amount of self-doubt,
all these things to see the comeback, new ruleset, first car that he had some, you know,
saying, designing it, Ferrari, all these different things coming together.
And like this was on a fluke.
He has been he said three podiums already.
He was coming off back to back second places.
So this is not like one weekend at all, just sort of clicked and we're never going to see him
in the top three again.
I mean, he's he is second in the championship now and driving incredibly well.
So it was it was massively emotional for him.
And I think for a lot of people in Pylane, it was it was massively popular.
Very cool thing to like witness and see.
And I mean, look, you can go back through the last eight years of this show.
We've spent a lot of time singing the virtues of Lewis Hamilton behind the wheel of a race car.
And it's just awesome to see that it's still there, you know.
And another another thing that we need to touch on, even though that was the story
of the day as it should have been in the race, Kimmy had George's number.
Yeah, this was the other point I wanted to bring up by by hefty amount.
And that has got to be incredibly concerning for George, because even
though George finished second and got a big point to win on Kimmy with Kimmy's DNF,
which kind of rectifies everything of Montreal and that sort of thing.
George is getting his ass kicked.
Yeah, yeah, because you look at Montreal and
George's DNF led to a Kimmy victory, whereas Kimmy's DNF only led to a George second place.
So the question is, well, if Kimmy had had a better starting spot and he was the one
going up against Lewis, would he have been fast enough to actually fight for the win?
I honestly don't think so.
The amount that Lewis pulled out in that final stint, I think the race pace,
the form was genuinely very strong.
But the fact that Kimmy on a different, you know, program tracked him down
and passed him before his car failed wasn't on a different program.
It was on the same program, but like the less preferred because he was second on the road.
Right. Yes. So Mercedes had to had to give priority to George.
And so his his strategy was like a two lap offset slightly to the disadvantage.
But yeah, Kimmy, Kimmy sort of broked him.
And I mean, George leaves there like, yeah, I gained 18 points on him.
But he knows that he knows inside where you go to bed at night.
And it's crazy because he did everything right that weekend, right?
He was quick in every session, he delivered and qualifying and then in the race.
And Kimmy only passed him with like five laps to go.
So it's it's not even like he dominated him, which also would have been bad.
But like in a tight race, good fight, good battle, he still got him.
Like it's it's not it's not great.
It's not great. If anything, it's a very tough out when like this is the phase
of the year last year where George, well, I should say where Kimmy really struggled.
It's not even that George excelled necessarily because George was pretty consistent all year
long, but Kimmy really struggled on a lot of these tracks coming up.
And based on this, I don't think we're going to see that this season in the European stretch.
And so it's not great. Not great for George.
The real question is, can Ferrari keep up the challenge, right?
If you can do it here, this is the kind of track everyone likes to use as a benchmark for,
you know, the pecking order and the performance.
But I think conditions may be played a little bit into it just because it was so hot.
I've seen I've seen a lot and I don't I don't know if any of this is true,
but the common consensus seems to be that the Ferrari is the best car and is being massively
held back by the PU, especially when you compare it to Mercedes.
So I wonder, you know, Ferrari obviously has the upper hand from a reliability standpoint.
That's that's been clear, but can are there envelopes that they can push?
You know, if the car is truly that good and they're just missing a little bit of outright
power, let's call it, I'm sure it's more convoluted than that.
Are they going to start being willing to take risks on a reliability front
in order to close that gap as we get into, you know, the as races go on and the championship
potentially gets tighter? Because if they have that in their pocket still, we could have a hell
of a fight on our hands. Dude, we still could, for sure, because even if they don't make a huge
gain there, if the if the chassis is that much better, because they did bring quite a few upgrades
this weekend, which most teams did not. And, you know, you just look at the tracks coming up,
you're going to prefer Mercedes in, you know, Monza in Spa. But if the if the Ferrari chassis is
really good, you know, you look at Hungary, Zandvoort and like those could
have their way. So it can kind of go both ways, which is which is cool. That's what you like to
see. You almost want to see cars that have different strengths. So that way weekend to weekend,
it's a little bit of a mix up. But no, it's going to be fascinating. You mentioned the power units
and a big topic of conversation this weekend was the ranking for the the a duo as they're calling it.
Big surprise there. RBPT apparently has the best engine, the best internal combustion engine,
first crack at it, which like on one hand, you're super proud of the other hand, you're like,
we don't get to do anything to ours now and everybody else does, which is insane. Yeah,
look, unbelievable, very unexpected. And so it gives Mercedes and Ferrari, you know,
opportunities to adjust their engines. Do we think do we think Red Bull is so good because
they're using like that F 150 EcoBoost technology? Is that is that just making the trip over the pond?
Is that where they're getting it? Or maybe that's where it's coming from. Maybe maybe that that
EcoBoost program. Yeah, this is where it gets so funny, right? Because the whole thing about
this rule about this a duo rule, was it only focused on the internal combustion engine and
didn't take the hybrid element and the electrical component into consideration.
This was something that all the teams had to say in and all the teams signed off on. The two main
things were that it was going to just focus on the ice and any any upgrades and or any, oh no,
sorry, and the way in which it was measured, they try to keep it as simple as possible. So the FIA
apparently tried to incorporate a lot of other parameters to kind of make it a little more
specific. Things like turbo size, because we've talked a lot about how the Ferrari's got a smaller
turbo than but you know, whatever. And the teams are like, let's just keep it simple. Like, I don't
know if it's as simple as horsepower. Like, I'm not sure exactly what it is, but it was a conscious
effort to make it as simple as possible. And all the teams agreed. Now, the teams are like, well,
hang on, it's not just the internal combustion engine that makes the cars fast. It's the whole
PU and you got to include the electrical element. Like, well, you didn't want that. Okay, fine.
But like, what about at different temperatures? Like the fries got a smaller turbo and this and
the other like, yeah, you guys wanted it kept nice and simple. Okay, well, how come if you're
allowed to make, you know, an upgrade to the car, it's also allowed to include the electrical component
upgrades, even though they're only measuring the ice. Like, because this is what you guys
agreed to 18 months ago, I don't know what you want me to say. And it's one of the few times
where I've actually like sided with a governing body over the teams, because the teams all had
a ton of say in this. And now they're all like, but, but no, you mean when they don't get what
they want, they don't like it? Incredible. Absolutely. Incredible. Yeah. I'm gonna say like,
total bullshit sitting there smiling like, this is great. You guys are idiots. This is so good.
Terrific. Well, now on the flip side of that, Alex can't wait to get your opinion on this,
as much as you want to give a governing body credit for that one. How about we talk about
the Monaco penalties and what has come to light about that? You mean everything that I was saying
that you were arguing against came true? Yeah, no, that's, we can talk about that. I don't think
we were, we were saying the same thing in a different way. Nope. Yep. Yep.
Whenever you want, you can apologize. It's okay. That's gonna be a minute. Alex is right, James is
wrong. I'm waiting. I'm gonna have to go back and listen to our exact debate in order to,
we'll, I'll get back to you next week on that. But I'm gonna listen to the last episode.
People didn't like it. You've never listened to any episodes. That is a blatant lie.
The long and short of it is so many cars got docked for penalties for,
docked penalties for speeding and pit lane. It came out that the FIA had measured incorrectly,
not ideal. Everybody had served their penalties except Gasly. He was adamant that he didn't speed,
which is correct. He did not speed. The system clocked him a speeding even though he had not
sped. The team successfully had it reviewed, had it overthrown. And so his podium was reinstated. So
cool for me because that means my pre-season prediction was correct of a gas, of an Alpine
podium of a Gasly podium sucks for Pierre because he didn't get to celebrate on the day.
Really does suck. Doesn't really suck for Isaac. He, he was kind of cool with it,
but is what it is. He didn't actually finish third. He shouldn't have finished third.
He didn't finish third. But man, nobody else can do anything about it.
Yeah. I was going to say what, what happens to all those people that serve their penalty? They're
just, they're just at a loss. Well, so this is where it's getting complicated. The way the rules
are written, you have 96 hours to submit, you know, your intention to appeal. Only Alpine did
because A, only Alpine hadn't already served their penalty and B, none of the teams thought
there was any way in which this was ever going to be overturned. So it gets overturned and now
every team's like, well, what? So they've already missed their window to appeal their own penalties.
And, and the penalties are super complicated because like George mis-served his penalty and
then got another penalty and like Mercedes is really kind of up against it. But what's,
what's now being done, I'm heard, I'm told is that a few teams have submitted their intent to appeal
the decision of the appeal to basically get Pierre's penalties reinstated to kind of just
keep it even for everybody. That is interesting. I wonder if that actually,
I don't think that works in a court of law though. Well, so the way, the way they're arguing it,
right, is to have a, to have the right to appeal. You have to be able to supply like new and substantial
evidence that didn't exist in the first place. So their argument is, well, yeah, when we first
talked about this, you guys hadn't overturned another penalty. So this is the result of the
last hearing is in fact the evidence for the potential new one, which is like kind of smart.
Like I honestly don't know how to, you know, like, I don't know where I like, like morally side on
this thing. The one thing I will say is I actually give them a lot of credit for the transparency
and putting their hand up and being like, no guys, actually this was, was on us. We did
screw this up. It would have been so easy to just hear Alpine's case and be like, yeah,
no, but the system said you were speeding. Thanks. Bye. And, and we never hear about this again.
They didn't, they made a mistake. They admitted it knowing that it was going to open up a can
of worms. The can is now open and we're going to spend the next couple of weeks trying to figure
out how to get the worms back in the can. And it's pretty funny. How weird is it that two racing
series messed up on pit line stuff? Well, hold on. First of all, Tim, what's not,
we didn't really admit to that in the last episode. Got it.
Well, no. So you bring up transparency, James, and it'll be very interesting to see where they
go. I really hope they don't take away Pierre's penalty because as much as I understand the logic
of new evidence and it being just and fair to keep it as it was,
there's also something to be said for the fact of the matter is he was the only penalty that we
can reverse. So we're going to do that because that's the right thing to do. And the team was
smart enough to not serve the penalty in the race with the intent of doing this. So they
deserve something for it. Exactly. So I hope, I hope it doesn't change. I mean,
talk about transparency. And that's something that we've talked a lot about on the show
very vocally. It's something we've talked a lot about internally at IndyCar. And it's here.
And I want to touch on that because Gateway was the first weekend where
following the event, there was a report issued of all of the incidents that happened,
the resulting penalty and the logic and reasoning behind why that was or was not a penalty.
And I just want to say that I think that that is very, very cool. Now, do I agree with all of the
decisions? Not necessarily, but that doesn't matter because what we asked for was
consistency and transparency of how they got to said decisions. And that now exists not only
for teams and drivers, but for the fans as well, which I think is super important because
our fans, as we all know, are very passionate about this sport and their favorites and their least
favorites. And they have a vested interest and are confused why sometimes some things are penalties
and other things are not penalties. And now hopefully those questions can be answered. So I
think that that is a very good thing and an exciting thing for the series. It's great. And
this is, yeah, this was a huge step forward. This was part of the reason the IOB was created.
And now we're seeing the first sort of hard copy result of it. For Gateway, it was a 12-page
document. It goes through everything from having to sit for five minutes for causing a yellow flag
in practice, and then everything all the way through the race, any speeding penalties, things
like that. And then it also kind of goes into detail about post-race technical inspection,
which cars were inspected, what parts in the car were inspected, if anything was found outside
tolerances, things like that. So it's great. I mean, it's going to create more reading for us on a
Tuesday or Wednesday or whatever day it comes out. But no, ultimately, I think this is a tremendous
step and something that can be applauded by the community, by the racing community,
by the IndyCar community, by the fans, by everybody. So well done, IOB. Well done, IndyCar.
Very cool. Very exciting. Road America is coming up. We're heading there soon.
Test went well. Tires are great. Don't touch the car. Alex Rossi wins the second race at
Road America. Done. Honestly, I feel pretty good about it. Cool. Yeah, I like that. Yeah. I like
it too. I like it too. So you are going to beat Alex Blow. That's what I heard you say just now.
Is that what you said? Just want to make sure that's what you said. Is that what you said?
Or what are we saying? I think if I was going to beat him.
You hear this in the place? Did one of the places. Okay. I like that. got a few
others. I think that you got a good shot. But he is good here, as are you.
He has won here three times. Yeah, he's won pretty much everywhere three times.
He has won a lot. He's just won a lot. He's been on quite a streak. But look, anything's possible
here. Do you think, especially with a new tire that is evidently a little bit more different
than maybe advertised, which happens, not a criticism, just an observation from the test.
Do you think that this is one of those cases where we see it sometimes where teams go and test
that a track and other teams don't and you kind of roll off in first practice and the teams that
have tested have that sort of very significant advantage. We only have two practice sessions
in IndyCar before we head into qualifying. So in a place like Road America, it's tough in practice
because an hour goes by real quick when the lap's almost two minutes long. So it takes longer to get
up to speed at Road America because you get so few laps in a session by comparison. So
do you think, are you extra happy that you guys tested because of this track? I know you tested
here because you didn't think you were stronger last year, but is this just kind of a good track
to go test at anyway because of that? I wouldn't say it's a good track to test at anyways, just
because you mentioned how long the lap is and it's pretty hard on tires. So let's say a stint
length, I think is 13 laps. Yeah, 13 to 15 or something. Yeah. And so if it takes you four laps
to get a lap time on a new set, by the time you get them up to speed and you do a cool down lap
or a prep lap or whatever, you only have nine laps left. And so that's what, three runs maybe?
Before you're out of the tire. So it's not a super conducive place to test for that reason,
but because we were so bad there last year, it was important that we tried to find some sort of
direction. But to answer your original question, I don't think it'll be an advantage just because
it was so much better. So like, are you going to have the optimum balance for this tire? No,
but like, are you going to roll off the truck and be like, oh hell yeah, this is
way nicer. Yeah. Dude, it felt as the step was so big, it was as big as a repave. It was just like,
that's insane. Oh my God. Yeah. Well, hold on. Let's also take into account that a tire from last
year, was it a second and a half faster than last year? Like you could practice one.
Oh yeah, true. But if you looked at hard tire to hard tire from practice one,
I'd be curious what the lap time was. My point is that when a tire sits in a warehouse for a year,
it loses some performance, right? So there's a chance that it's a combination of last year's
construction, but also just like a year of aging in a warehouse somewhere. Either way,
it'll be fun. It'll be exciting. I cannot wait. When you're heading up. I will. James,
I am back on the sim tomorrow. So that'll be fun for me. So I fly down there in the morning,
then I go to Chicago there Wednesday night. I've got an event in Milwaukee on Thursday,
and I might come to the track Thursday evening. I don't know. Probably not. Friday morning.
Busy boy. Wait, you got an event in Milwaukee Thursday.
You're not going to stay in Milwaukee Thursday night? No, but the event's 10 to 3, so.
Oh yeah. At the time of you. I don't think you just tested there.
You also tested there. I don't need to do a track walk.
Yeah, you're good. And I'm sure first practice is at like 3pm or something. So.
Correct. Yeah. Plenty of time. Well, cool, man. I'm going to drive up Thursday,
doing the celebrity bartender fundraiser at Seedkins on Thursday night along with
many of my colleagues and drivers and everybody. What's going to be your specialty cocktail?
Not sure that's how it works. I think it's more you just sort of sling beers and whip up,
you know, tequila sodas and vodka tonics and the odd old fashioned.
Okay. So what's going to be your specialty cocktail?
Old fashioned. Okay. I like it. I think I can make a pretty good old fashioned at an outdoor
bar with plastic cups and normal ice. Growny seems easier.
Kind of similar. I do like a Negroni though. God, I do like a Negroni.
Kind of thirsty. It's just, well, about that time guys.
Sessions episode is over. Oh no, I didn't mean like of day. I just mean like I'm going to go now
because we're done. Oh yeah. I thought you were saying like 2.30pm was about Negroni o'clock,
which like, yeah, fair enough. Everybody knows that 1pm is Negroni o'clock. I'm already late to
the party. I thought you had one before you recorded. Wait, Tim, we didn't even ask you
how your weekend was. What did you do, pal? It's good. Good chat. Well, thanks for tuning in guys
and everybody cheer on old Alejandro Rosario at Road America this weekend live on Fox at
some time. I don't know what time it is. That is how you pronounce my name.
This has been Offtrack with Hinch and Rossi. Offtrack is part of the SiriusXM sports podcast
network. If you enjoyed this episode and want to hear more, please give a five star rating and
leave a review. Subscribe today wherever you stream your podcasts. We are at Ask Offtrack on
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Offtrack is produced by Tim Durham and by that, we mean Tim.
About this episode
Road America and Barcelona set the backdrop as Hinch and Rossi bounce from race-week logistics to deep tire talk. They compare last year’s tires to the upcoming 2026 compounds, arguing small ingredient/process changes can shift lap time and that setup may stay stable if the tire balance is dialed. Road America’s limited practice windows make new-tire runs precious, and heat can overwhelm simulations. The show also swings through F1 strategy debates—VSC, three-stops, and power-unit rules—plus IndyCar’s transparency and a personal recovery update heading to Road America.
F1 had another entertaining race, which the guys break down. Plus, a penalty was overturned from Monaco, proving Hinch's predictions correct. On the IndyCar side, Rossi tested at Road America, as the teams prepare to race there, and IndyCar officiating released its post-race report.
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Off Track is part of the SiriusXM Sports Podcast Network. If you enjoyed this episode and want to hear more, please give a 5-star rating and leave a review. Subscribe today wherever you stream your podcasts.
