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F1 special: Horner's departure, Alpine rumours and Formula 1 at Le Mans | The evo podcast | Episode 27
F1 special: Horner's departure, Alpine rumours and Formula 1 at Le Mans | The evo podcast | Episode 27
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About this episode
A lively discussion on the current F1 season, focusing on the competitive dynamics between McLaren's drivers, Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, and the struggles of Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari. The hosts dive into the implications of Christian Horner's departure from Red Bull and speculate on Alpine's future amid team rumors. They also touch on the impact of upcoming rule changes and the significance of the Constructors' Championship in shaping team strategies. The episode wraps up with a debate on potential new circuits and driver pairings for the future.
Topics:
f1 season overview
mclaren rivalry
lewis hamilton struggles
christian horner departure
alpine rumors
constructors championship
rule changes impact
new circuits discussion
driver pairings speculation
In episode 27 of the evo podcast we turn the discussion to Formula 1 ahead of the Dutch Grand Prix, covering everything from Christian Horner's shock departure, the challenges of driving modern Formula 1 cars, rumours about the future of Alpine and our dream circuits to bring to the F1 calendar. This week Stuart Gallagher is joined by James Taylor, Dickie Meaden and Yousuf Ashraf.
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Too Afraid to Ask
Car
Ford Maverick
"...way the team went about it was deliberately a bit maverick Yeah it was a bit provocative wasn't it"
Select text to request an explanation
So I've got a car on the side, so I'm not just happy on either side of it.
Car on the side?
It's the hair.
Hello and welcome to a special edition of the Evo podcast, because we thought with the F1 season coming back off that summer holidays,
we'd do a quick, short and sweet F1 Evo podcast.
We don't often talk about F1 and motorsport, but we thought it was quite a fascinating season so far,
and it seemed to, the summer break seemed to come at the right time, particularly from McLaren,
so it looked like Oscar and Land are about to...
It's building up again, isn't it?
It's building up, wasn't it, as a massive sort of penultimate lap of Hungary where Oscar just thought,
I'll dive for it.
Absolutely.
Send it and take him out.
Nearly in the gearbox, yeah.
So yeah, we thought, you know, Youssef and James have dressed for the occasion as Carlos Sainz and Max Verstappen.
Yeah, Dicky Sainz.
I'm the slow vehicle recovering on that circuit.
Yeah, Youssef's overtaking.
And I'll come as James' favorite commentator, Crofty.
I'll tell her about that, yeah.
So yeah, what do we think of it so far this season?
It's been, I mean, the McLaren's are sort of fighting out amongst themselves,
and it's the rest everyone else for the summer.
Well, there's so much going on, isn't there?
It's not, there's like the title fight.
That's almost a side show, isn't it?
There's like...
It's jumbled up, isn't it, the rest of it?
Yeah, there's the continuing tragedy of Lewis and Ferrari, isn't there?
It's like, oh, how much worse can it get for him?
He can't get anywhere.
So surely he comes back and wins every race at the second part of the season, doesn't he?
It's painful, isn't it?
Yeah.
I find it painful to watch him because he's never been very good at hiding how he
feels as he's impressed in the pen when he's talking.
But he just looks like a...
Well, he looks like a broken man.
He's almost...
Disturbing and hurried, isn't it?
How he...
Charles de Klerk's almost the same, but they're both experiencing the same challenges.
Well, he was completely bemused, wasn't he?
It's like when they said that's pole position.
That was a terrible line.
You what?
How could he possibly be pole position?
But then they throw it away as only Ferrari can, and you've got two drivers that just,
in very different ways, are being very open and emotional.
This is just what we've got to do, what's happening.
It feels like there's a bit of a tug of war between, obviously, Charles is the established,
they've kind of built, had built the team around him, hadn't he?
Then Lewis has come in, and Lewis has been quite public in saying all the work he's
done to tell them where he thinks the car's at and what it needs and what he'd like.
And so he's obviously doing what he can to try and steer the car in more in his
direction.
You don't really know, like, on results, you'd say Charles is much more comfortable in
the car than Lewis, but you'd expect that if the car's been designed around Charles
anyway.
But that's an additional bit of friction within a team that always seems quite complicated.
I think Lewis is, it's a different frustration because Charles is obviously getting pretty
much the most out of the car, more often than not.
He seems frustrated at the team and the car because he's delivering, whereas for Lewis,
I think it bothers him that he's not extracting the most out of what is a difficult package.
That's going to be killing him, isn't it?
And it's weird because, I mean, this is Lewis Hamilton.
You've never thought, oh, Lewis isn't getting the most out of it.
He's always been absolutely on it compared to his teammates as well, but something's
not clicking.
So is that, yeah, he's been so hard on himself because he knows that he can do,
he feels he should be doing more.
But actually, if the car's the car, that's what you can do.
And if it can't, that's not a great look for Ferrari.
If it's, if you have got a car that only one person can get anything from it.
That doesn't happen at any other teams, does it?
Or Red Bull.
Yes, exactly.
I think maybe that's the nature of the cars.
Perhaps now is, they are much more designed around a driver.
But McLaren, two drivers getting the most out of that car.
Maybe.
And it's not as if it's, Oscar's always going to get polled and win and Lando picks up
and he's not doing the bot-axe roll, is it?
They are going hell for leather, hang for tongue in every practice session,
every qualification session, every race.
Those two are just knocking the shit out of each other.
Yeah, yeah.
And it's, and the result, actually the result, like Lando's results have been
good the last couple of races, haven't they?
But they don't actually reflect how the race was going.
Oscar seemed to be the one that was driving better and then something has happened.
And I know that you don't get luck all the time
and Lando's probably had bad luck and will have more.
But it's a really hard one to judge, isn't it?
Lando's got some momentum, but you think, I don't know, Oscar's just a bit of a,
he seems so level, but when he gets angry, he seems to drive even better.
He doesn't seem to lose his head, he just seems to focus even more.
It's really hard one to call, isn't it?
I don't know if the team are ever going to favour one or the other.
They're so close, if they stay within one race,
win of each other for the second half of the season, how can they really?
I think that because they've always made a big thing of, oh, we let the drivers fight,
so it would have to be mathematically impossible for one of them not to win it,
which is on the basis of this first half of the season isn't going to happen.
It would be brilliant though, wouldn't it?
To manage, I know it's not just Zack Brown, he's done it all,
but he's orchestrated much of it, hasn't he?
To turn that team around from, it was an embarrassment, wasn't it?
Terrible, no sponsors.
For like ten years straight.
And not only have they managed to build a really dominant car,
but they're doing what everyone wants all the teams to do,
which is just strap the drivers in and tell them to not crash into one another.
But otherwise, just race as hard as you possibly can.
It's a real, I can't think of another time, maybe apart from, I don't know,
Mansoul and PK or something, like when they just hated one another.
You know, we're driving super aggressively.
I can't think of another time where...
Yeah, not with teammates, has it?
No, it's just been...
Nico and Louis were quite heated.
Yeah, I think that was more when that Bahrain battled.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
But that was few and far between, I think,
when you look back a bit of Barcelona in Barcelona.
Yeah, Austria, they came together as well, Spa.
But that was over a number of seasons.
But they've never let...
They've always had a clear number one driver after that, haven't they?
After Nico retired.
They've never gone back to that plan.
And that was very much a mathematical thing
and there seemed to be an advantage to one driver
to get that mathematical advantage
and then you get the rear gunner support, don't you?
I don't know whether it's just because I'm a huge Louis fan
and I'm just focusing on Hamilton and Ferrari,
but I don't feel excited by this championship battle
in a weird way because even though it's super close
and they are fighting for wins all the time,
maybe it's just because they're two drivers
that aren't yet world champions and aren't yet established.
So it doesn't feel like there's a lot at stake
if you're clutching a Titan.
Yeah, it's not like two greats meeting
and sort of like...
Or an established champion being taken on by a...
There's not really the stakes there.
I think it's everything, isn't it?
I don't think the stakes could be any higher
because the rules change next year.
Neither of them, it's unlikely,
but it could be that neither of them are in a winning car
ever again in their careers.
McLaren's focus must be so much on this season
they might drop back.
I think every race in every championship
I think is crucial, isn't it?
Yes, that's where you can make or not break your career
if you're Lewis or something,
but if you're those two guys...
The pressure's huge, isn't it?
It's really, really important, isn't it?
It probably could be the first...
The only time for a number of years
is that you're in with a shout.
You can't take anything for granted, can they?
To Alonso, we thought Alonso would win.
I think the rule changes next year are so big
that you just don't know what the competition will do
and is Red Bull sort of dragging that donkey,
is Max dragging that donkey around every race
way above the car's capability.
But what have they been working on the next year?
I think from what I've read,
it's a power train formula.
They're trying to make the aero
significant in terms of how the cars deliver their lap time,
but it's not the principal contributor
to how good the car is.
And I think all the engines are within about 10ps
or something, aren't they?
So I've heard, but that doesn't say how they...
With circuits, they'll maybe sue...
Yeah, I think the rule changes are...
They change everything, don't they?
But I think the powertrains are...
There's more focus on the powertrains than the aero.
Yeah, more critical, I think, than they have been.
And there's quite a mix up
in terms of who's providing the powertrains
and there's some switches between teams, aren't there?
So I don't think anything's given now, is it?
Yeah.
But I think that's...
For the second half, it is for...
Not only at the front,
but I think for those midfield teams,
apart from helping, which we might come on to,
but there's teams that are scoring points,
which is obviously in terms of budget and funding and stuff,
is really important.
And those teams as well are looking at it.
This is our opportunity to score podiums.
You look at how Salba reacted
when Hülkenberg finally got his podium.
It's that opportunity Aston Martin mentioned in another podcast.
You know, that's a now a midfield team with...
Well, it was in the last race,
but it might not be...
Yeah, it seems so unpredictable.
But in terms of the Constructors' Championship,
it's so close because at one race you'll dominate,
the next you won't,
so you're constantly taking points out of each other.
But we now know what the teams are worth as well.
That's the Martin have sold their share from themselves.
But that's valued the team at $3 billion,
so a midfield team is $3 billion.
And so therefore that is an important thing for all the teams.
So fighting for Constructors' points is even more important
because you've got them to go to market
of we're worth this much and we're going to do this.
The way the cars are in the racing is at the moment.
It makes it very hard.
It's what everyone wants, isn't it?
And what you kind of know is that most of the grid,
if you stuck most of the drivers in a McLaren,
unless they find they can't deal with the pressure
of actually being in a competitive car,
they're going to be there or thereabouts, aren't they?
So when Aston's on form,
suddenly Lance Stroll is qualifying sixth or whatever he did
and Fernando's fifth,
but then two races previously,
he was out in Q1, 20th or something.
He's so hard to gauge.
The Portoletto start of the year you think is a bit overrated.
But again, I read because of the restriction in testing,
he's really learning as he goes.
But he's won every championship he's been in
and suddenly he seems like a force to be reckoned with, doesn't he?
With Q, isn't it? There's no testing.
You're learning that Mercedes and every race, every test.
But he's kind of struggling now.
He started off well and now he sort of seems to be struggling.
He sort of reached a point in the car.
Portoletto was struggling and now whether the team's running better
since Jonathan's taken charge.
Right, well, that's the car for this year.
We're thinking of 26 and we'd be back stronger
so don't worry about it.
I think it's also because these ground effect cars
seem really tricky to drive
and because the quali is so close,
the tenth of a second can be five places.
They seem like they're on an off-edge
and if you push just a little bit too much
you're dropping way down the order
and the less experienced guys are really suffering with that
at certain points.
Then when they nail it, they're right up there
so it's like an inconsistency.
And it's the blink of an eye.
I know it's a cliche, isn't it?
But I don't think we can comprehend
just how fine the margins are in the driving
set up and there's so many variables, aren't there,
and things that affect the way those cars
will perform from lap to lap with wind direction
and any car that any normal person drives
nothing really makes any difference
to how it feels and performs, does it?
You never driven a car that's that sensitive
and that finely balanced.
I think it's easy to sit in your armchair
and look at the ghost lap and go,
yeah, he's pretty lost it there.
It does blow my mind how close it is now
between drivers in the same team
but also between other drivers in other cars together
given that they're all prototype cars, aren't they?
Every time they run, they're probably running new parts.
Testing something.
I mean, they're designed to run to finish the race
plus one lap pretty much and they just sort of
collapse and need rebuilding, don't they?
They're such fine margins in the engineering of them and...
Like, you'd ride Liam Lawson off, wouldn't you?
Like, he had an absolute nightmare at Red Bull
then he had a really hard time to start with racing balls
but now Haja had a terrible first race
but then he's been absolutely mega.
But now Lawson is getting better.
He's so hard to...
I can't remember a time where F1 was like that though
because it used to be quite categorized
like you had a pretty qualified team
there might be a 10 or two separating them
and then there'd be a gap to the midfield
but now it's just all...
It was Mercedes, Ferrari, Red Bull
with the top three and then...
and they'd be quite close
and then the midfield would be some way off those top three
but would be quite close together in their midfield
and their towel end again would be close
but they'd be a way off the midfield
so you got races where you were three packs effectively running with each other
but now it's...
they're not... I mean the gap...
it's rare, I think it's Austria they were lapping cars...
That's a short lap though isn't it?
It's a short lap but some of the circuits
they're very rare now
unless they've had an extra pit stop or something's happened
they tend to be finishing on the same lap
but finishing gap is quite tight isn't it?
It's not winning by a minute or anything
it's winning by seconds
I wonder if some of that is because there's been a period of stability
with the regs and so teams have all settled on relatively...
It's probably the cost cap as well isn't it?
Like a big team if they've gone in the wrong direction
they could spend their way out of that
but now if they've got restricted wind tunnel time
and restricted budgets and there's only so much they can do
I know this season is slightly odd because they're all
to a greater or lesser extent they've been focusing on next year's cars
but I think it's so competitive
I don't know how much
we'll just pull the covers off that next weekend and run it
they're still doing some development work
I think you can't afford just the value of sports teams now
you can't afford to go out of 2025
we just run last year's car with a new livery
with the folks on 26 because...
The perception is everything isn't it?
Because you need that for the 2026 and onwards
you need that position and standing and status
and if you stand still
the teams around you won't
they will be developing
and that seems to be what's happened at Alpine
Alpine's a weird one isn't it?
Because they have occasional flashes where they do really well
but I don't know whether that's Gasly out driving the car
I think that's Gasly doing a bit of a max with the Red Bull
isn't it? They're both out driving that car
and out performing
But then Williams will do that
but then they seem to have been having a really bad run
Science seems a bit lost doesn't he?
And then sometimes they'll pop up in top 6
They're going from race to race
and one week, this is perfect
Brilliant, don't change the thing
Next race, well this is undriveable, what have you done?
I think it's not to change anything
But it's track temperatures isn't it?
It's tyres as well
It's the nature of the track
Every single thing changes
in so many different ways
between weekends
when you look at it simplistically
and see it as the same playing field
every other weekend
or whatever the cadence is
The summer break is quite an odd one
because there must be a Grand Prix on the track
I still have two weeks
or it's still a week
What do you think with 24 races
surely there must be one?
Can they have a three week or two week break?
They'll keep their sanity and then fall over
They're going to come back
Well quite a lot of the
news happened beforehand
with Christian departing
That's true, there's a lot of news before the season
There's a lot, yeah
Just that run-in
into the second half of the season
So what's the gossip then, Stuart?
You must have it
You must have a bit of gossip from somewhere
On what? Alpine maybe
Alpine maybe
I've heard that
Christian and Flav
will be taken on Alpine
at some point
Obviously Dimeo
Luca Dimeo has left Renault
and he was a big driving force
Is that buying
because Alpine's got a weird structure anyway
because it's got half of Hollywood equity
and half the golfing
footballers, golfers
all kinds of people being wheeled out
as investment funds
into Alpine
I think
Luca Dimeo was very much
the driving force behind Alpine
being a very front and centre motorsport
brand
So you had Le Mans
you had F1
You had the Alpine cars
road cars and stuff
With him gone
New CAO comes in
the pressures that car companies are under
with their financial results
and you've got a Formula 1 team
running around at the back of the grid
it's been quite an easy decision
And it doesn't have an obvious connection
unless you love the sport
and the idea of your brand being Formula 1
there's very little point in doing it
I guess for somebody
So then you've got
how do you
if someone comes along with an offer
to get you out of
out of this
and you run the team, bar the team
and send it to someone else who is maybe interested
because we know what Le Mans Cadillac went to
become the 11th team on the grid
Separatory
and Christian
Horner are like the
front men
That's a wild combination
Aren't you sure Flav's still banned
isn't he from owning a team or running a team
No I think that's
Well he's allowed back in the paddock
I think he got around it with his job title
it's something strange
like he's technically not allowed to be involved
in the operations
but he's always there
and wears the shirt and sits on the pit wall
and is in the garage all the time
Yes I think they will be
I mean when Horner was
ousted from Red Bull
Flavio Breatory was one of the first people to publicly
say incredible legacy
wish you the best for the future
He's done an extraordinary job
can you imagine if he was a football manager
or something and he just won
seven European cups
and then led a national team
to a world
It's kind of that level of achievement
In another sport
It's being a football manager
a young football manager that everyone goes
you're a bit young and then you've
built a team that is
pretty much unstoppable
He's basically Alex Ferguson but 30 years younger
wasn't he really and created a team
of people and drivers
and culture within a team
that was quite unlike any other
very disruptive
I guess it just rubbed
everyone's nose up the wrong way
I suspect the whole way the team went about
it was deliberately a bit maverick
Yeah it was a bit provocative wasn't it
you're all stuffy F1 teams
and he quite liked that
I think the Netflix stuff
has probably shown
they like to have the team bosses playing
they kind of typecast him don't they
so I don't think he came out
of some of that particularly well
with the way he was
maybe portrayed
or maybe that's the way he is I don't know
you can't even judge from what you see
but it is obviously
some people have a great deal of respect
for him other people
I guess within the same paddock
and the paddocks notoriously
it would be interesting won't you
because I think it would be one of those
people when they're in that role
it's very decisive you either
be an amazing team boss
or you think he's an arrogant little
sort of egotistical
gobsite
Is that your opinion she?
Are you from the legal department?
But you then
you look back on their career
and go blind with that look at what they achieved
and it's the same with
at a time when Schumacher
and Ferrari were dominating
oh they're killing F1 this is boring
and now everyone looks back
just how good they were
you put it into perspective
how that achievement is
to do that
time and time again same with Mercedes
and when Lewis was there
to do that
repeating that success I think
people outside of any sport
don't appreciate how hard it is
to stay at the very beginning
there's a lot of moving parts aren't there
in an organisation with 1,200 people
the strongest leaders
and regardless of what you think of someone's personality
when they're on TV
and being interviewed and stuff like that
how provocative they are
portrayed on a documentary
the Netflix thing
they wouldn't have achieved that success
without Christian Horner at the top
regardless of what you think of him
and that has to be
and I think that is you know
and everyone else in the Paddock
is very respectful of him
he's achieved and everyone will say
well you had the best team
you had Adrian Newey
you had Jonathan Wheatley
at least in part responsible
for bringing those people in
you still have to bring them in
retain them and get them to
give them the resource
and the support they need to deliver
what you've employed them to do
and attract the drivers
knowing when to let Seb go
and you took a punt on Max
a young driver
going into a team
Helmut Marco though
I mean he's the ultimate James Bond baddie
isn't he
but I never quite know
the organisation is so mysterious
because he's just been the other permanent
fixture
and then to have a figure like Helmut Marco
in the team
who wants his actual roles
but he seems to be the one that
moves the chess pieces doesn't he
with the drivers
and maybe with
more other team personnel
but he's actually
the most
interesting person in the paddock
in a way isn't he
because he's just this slightly sinister
ruthless character
but if
he is the kind of talent
scout
then you think of the drivers that have been through that
they've had a few misses but they've
been great
well I do, he's a Danny Rick
Carlos Sainz
Albon went through and got spat out the other side
but he's still a really talented driver
Max was a really talented driver
Vettel was a really talented driver
Mark Webber was a really talented
you know they have had some
consistently some really incredibly
good drivers
where the drop off has been so noticeable
it's the churn rate that's quite hard
to get your head around isn't it
the best, then how the hell are you expected to perform
it is a bit like football managers
where they're very keen to fire them
and it seems to be
with drivers isn't it, are you not performing
we get rid of you after six races
just as they're bedding in, oh we go
and then how disruptive is that
into a team, when you're going in
when the other driver
is the best, the fastest
most sort of aggressive
I'm trying to think of any of the driver swaps
where any of the
drivers have gone in to replace someone else's actually
whether it's been
worthwhile
I'm not sure
I think given how many
drivers that we know are quality drivers
have gone into that second seat
and not performed
and then maybe gone back into the racing
and then performed
there has to be something
whether it's
preferential treatment or upgrades or whatever
or the style of the car
a style other than max
I think that's the only explanation
and that's the only
bit of a team
that doesn't make sense to me because
teams historically
within the drivers championship
is important
but for a team within the constructors championship
it's far more important and if you
tie one hand behind your back if you put a week
if you design the car that only suits one driver
and the other driver just can't get out
you're penalising yourself
to appease
a driver and having everyone
talk about the world championship
I wonder with
max with
some of the stuff he said in monkey's
Ford
film where he was talking about
that particular
issue and I'm sure he's not going to go into great detail
but he did just say well it's identifying
the
weakness in the car and either
changing your driving to get around it or just
that is the main problem
this is what we need to work on
and he does seem to have a completely
just
brilliantly
binary ability to
it's how he decides his overtaking maneuvers
or just how he conducts himself
is absolutely
no doubt no question
no remorse
it's just
this is what he needs doing
and maybe the team responds
to that because he can
do that and
he's blisteringly quick isn't he
whatever decision he makes for the car
they know well it's going to be
I really like max
I didn't dislike him
even though some of the things he
does are hard to
hard to like but I think he's
become a much more
he's given a little bit more
of his character
because he's not winning all the time
and you can see that when he does drive out
of his skin like in Japan
or whatever he can really see it in
him and he's absolutely
buzzing because it's not just
turning up win
go home and race on the city
he's having to earn it isn't he
and you can see it when he's driving
that car looks
an edgy
he's a fascinating
character isn't he
and I think all the cars seem to be
able to change their characteristics
at every circuit
and he seems to be the one
that isn't impacted
the McLaren seem to work everywhere
but regardless
of how the Red Bull performs Max seems to be
able to drag it
further up the grid he's just quite level isn't he
he can adapt to the challenge they find
on a Friday morning practice of
oh god this isn't going to work this weekend
right I'm going to have to do it like this
it's going to have to change it
I don't know just agile in his
thinking isn't he and attitude
and he's not just turning up
and if he's not on pole and fastest lap
and it doesn't seem to phase in
he still seems to want to have a fight
for whether he's fighting for the last
podium place and he knows and the McLaren
is going to walk it or whether he's fighting for
7th and 8th I think Alonso is a bit like that
he'll drive the wheels off something or he'll try
a totally different for 14th place
like 40 laps on the same tires
and then there's nowhere and then suddenly
I like that there's definitely what
sets those guys apart
doesn't it?
Hülkenberg hasn't qualified well this year
but he's always climbed in every race
it's the experience
it's the experience of knowing right we're not going to
qualify but let's work on a race strategy
and having that confidence
but then the backing of the team
and again the backing of the team comes from
someone at the top so we bat the driver
if they say something you can see
Jonathan's influence
Jonathan Wheatley I would say
at Sal because they were a bit
quiet and they turn up
they participate but they didn't
really seem to be any
kind of contender did they
and then suddenly they
they were just in a holding pattern
for next year with Audi coming on board and
they were quite happy just to make up
well we got to turn up because otherwise
we'd be on this spot whereas now
we can't do this
it's just his mindset
you're not wired up to
just turn up
and they've got a lot to prove haven't they
when that car turns up with an Audi logo
on it everyone's going to
suddenly expect them to be doing
proper things with it
because Audi don't turn up to
anything and not expect to win at some
stage do they
I still can't believe we're only halfway
through the season and we've done
14 races or 13 races or something
it's till December and then
they've already announced calendar for
next year with
Madrid coming on
to another street circuit
so you've got two races in Spain
which not quite sure
where the rationale comes
for that because it seems to be a country
motorbike fans and
you've got Carlos
Fernando
street circuit and Barcelona
but
it's
the second half of the season
you need a good world, going back to your point
you need a good world championship fight at the front
because we know as you get to the second half
of the season it's going to those circuits
that perhaps aren't the best
for racing but it'll be fascinating this year
because the cars are so close
it's going to be good, I like to think I'm neutral
in the Oscar
but actually when they're really
like hungry or whatever
a race like that
I feel it
like you know where your allegiance lies
don't you in those moments
who do you want to come up with
I think I'm team
Lando, I'd love to see Lando do it
but my head
my heart wants him to win but
my head thinks
I think Oscar is to lose
Oscar is more
he seems to be more
clinical isn't he
more clinical, Lando's got the emotion
he's so calm Piastri
I find him almost spookily calm
and nothing fails him at all
no matter what position he finds himself in
whether he's
they've
they've switched strategies for both drivers
and Lando looks like on paper
he's just clearly going to walk away with this
but he just has that
ability to read the race of where he is
and what he needs to do
and when he needs to put the pressure on
whereas Lando has that emotion
you hear it and obviously the radio
broadcasts are selective of what they
want you to hear but Lando seems to be
more emotive
and get bogged down a bit sometimes
but it makes you feel like
he's more normal
and it means
it means as much to all of them doesn't it
but one just portrays it more overtly than
the other perhaps and Lando's got
a cool car collection
I'm beginning neuro
part share
in a F40 that had a bump
30 years
but yes it's going to be
so what do we want? we want Lewis
to
win every race
I think it's in there
it's stuff like China
it can't be a fluke
but you don't fluke pole position and walking away from the field
I just hope Ferrari has a good 2026 package
yeah yeah
and it should suit your style a bit more
because that car
the current car hasn't got issues with its ride height
yeah yeah
so George says
George the best number 2 on the grid
Alan Partridge
so there's
a new circuit
there's only one new circuit I think next year isn't it
the Madrid street circuit
where would we want
what is there an old circuit
that you want to bring back
or is there somewhere new you think F1 should go to
wow
old circuit
are you going to be old duff isn't it
well yes
I think the Landau Grand Prix would go down
yeah
would that be like a 192 lap race
would a modern F1 car fit
on Landau
might be siding the chicane
but I think it'd be doable
a lot of Landau laps
this would be mental
if we could bring a track from the past
back is one of the best tracks I've ever driven
was I did a test at
Charade which is at
Clermont-Ferrand where they had the French Grand Prix
back in the 60s
and the old track is
miles it's a bit like old spar
it's much bigger than eSpar
but it's still massive elevation change
it'd be epic to see them race there
it could never happen it could never get an FAA
license now but that would be amazing
to see them race there
scary
very scary
I don't know it's a tricky one isn't it
I know there was talk of a London Grand Prix
wasn't there like a street circuit
I think that would be
that would be pretty exciting because I'd love to go to
Azerbaijan
I think that looks
like such an exciting
ridiculous circuit
with that tiny tight bit through the car
friends did peeking to Paris
and part of the route went through
Azerbaijan stopped it back out and they just said
not only was it an amazing
place to arrive in and drive through
but the city as well was
stunning you can see
I think street circuits can be
pretty amazing actually
I think we always think of street circuits
as Monaco
I love the spectacle of Monaco and I'd love to go to
Monaco and see the wreck but
it's about everything
it's everything
qualifying is the highlight of the Monaco weekend
see them on it on that track and then the race
is always there
the circuit is designed made optimise for one car
on the track at any time
they're so big now I found the Monaco race a bit
embarrassing to watch this year because they just don't fit
on that track anymore
I can't remember the two drivers who came together
on lap one someone went down the inside
and there just wasn't space for two cars
the other car crashed
Baku or Jedda
Jedda looks absolutely terrified
I can't believe that track is allowed
it just looks designed to kill someone
just have a think of who's sponsors
Formula One that may be based in that country
what would you
is that one you want to bring back
God
Molly's getting his brain into gear
there's so many to choose from
but I like
that you know the cars wouldn't that you'd have to
completely remodel any old track
for them to
they have to build one special car with massive ride height
to manage Monza banking or
something
Monaco or something
Hockenheim
because with DRS
with those two massive straights
they would just all be taken
8 DRS's
we were like the MD500
you don't want to lead the last lap
you want to be in about 14th
on the last lap so you can draft
drafting into
those chicanes that they created
that could be
run if it was raining because the rain would have nowhere to go
would have that farce
hang in the trees wouldn't it
but yeah old Hockenheim I always like that
just because that's a proper just
speed isn't it
take all the air off and when they reconfigured it
for the new circuit
it kind of didn't really become a circuit
yeah not the same at all
but didn't sort of have any
features to it lost all its
features as a track
what do you want to bring back
apart from the one that's on your doorstep
maybe magnicle
I know the racing
was amazing but I just love seeing
the first sector super quick
then the hairpin
the big stop and it was just amazing to watch
the panning shots as they go through the chicanes
although that was
in the world of track limits now
if you look at any of the old onboard
straight lining it all
coming on to the start finish track
also takes about 4 days to get to Magnicourt
if you start in Magnicourt
it's that part of France
that seems to be a bit of a
mead of triangle
let's just wait for the next corner
let's just keep going down that straight
ah Le Mans actually
I'd like there to be a Grand Prix at Le Mans
they did it in the 60s once
that would mix
what we miss at Hockenheim with the long straights
imagine going through the Porsche car
that would be a hell of a race
that would be wild
that would be a good one though
the engines would be like
20,000 RPM or something
imagine the blow ups
coming down the straight
need to make that happen Stu
can you imagine trying to get the ACO involved
with the FIA to do a next one
you've got podcast influence to bear
that's it they'll buckle
and we're out
who do we want to
so we've got Cadillac next year
who do we think should go in
who deserves those two C's
well there's lots of rumours aren't there
Bottas and Checo
without wishing to sound like Tiff
Nadelle
should it be for younger drivers rather than bringing
we'd like to think they'd be an American driver
or someone from that side
Alex Pallou
that's part of American racing
culture
I'd love to see, it won't happen because he's a McLaren
driver but Pato Ward
which is such a talent
I'd love to see what he could do in F1
you never know, Zach's always up for a deal
maybe he could be on the conment
could be online
it'd be nice to bring some
new names in
just to be a bit more of a wild car
but are they going to invest that much money
in someone who's not raced
to develop a car
and I think that's actually the most
interesting pairing as a spectator
and a service driver you know
a wild newcomer to test against
surely Brad Pitt's got to be right out there
for things on that going
stranger things
a great episode of Drive to Survival
it is amazing
he's a 61 year old actor
I don't think he would survive would he
I don't think he would
but going back to the established
an established driver
and a rookie
do you take an established driver from a current team
or do you take
a bring one back from
who hasn't been in a car
for a year
two years and how much does that
would that be a hindrance
but the cars are all new so actually everyone's starting
Danny Rick's name kept popping up
next to Cadillac but he's said on record
he's not going to go on TO4
he's got to be done hasn't he
and the heart's going to be
done isn't it
he should race some other stuff
he should do the mom
yeah or was he
something I don't know
it'd be fun to see someone like that hooning around
in that sort of stuff
I don't know
Cadillac is such a weird
brand to be in Formula 1
I can't imagine a
you can't associate anybody there can you really
Boss Hog I don't know
I don't know
Paul Trickle
put a NASCAR driver in that would be interesting
maybe not
yeah it's going to be
because whatever way there's going to be
two new drivers isn't there there's not
yeah they're not replacing
a team
and how does
just how do you go
you know Audi are coming in but they're coming in
with an established team with
personnel who know how it runs
they've got drivers with the experience
but your Cadillac you're coming in
to a grueling
24-25
race series
there's probably a new circuit that we forgot to mention
that's on the calendar and new regs
for everyone
and a rookie that would be a big ask
yeah two rookies or one established driver
but their experience
because they're not racing at the moment
is anyone going to release a driver
doing all this work this season and also
on 26 car are you going to release a driver
from
your team
maybe someone taking a year out because
I read an interview with Fernando Alonso and someone said
you know at the year I've forgotten how old he is for 40 something
42
44 yeah I can't remember
and he said you know just how are you still so competitive
and he said I think it's because I had two years
out it was just maybe not of his own design
I don't think he intended to be out
but he said that time gave him the chance to recharge
mentally and physically
but he's got another year on his contract
hasn't he I think it lasted until the end of
26
but I think there's
you know can
can McLaren keep Oscar
and to your part Pato Ward can
Zach keep Lando and Oscar
happy together
because at the moment it just about
works doesn't it
does Red Bull need a proper strong number two
for Max?
I think the number two can enter me at Red Bull
by Horner is gone
you know that's the big it wasn't
just the allegations at the start of the year it's the whole
problem of
it's another season of not winning
not being competitive as a team
for the Constructors title
it is bizarre isn't it to have that
consistent huge gap between
the two cars
and I feel like in any other car
you would see maybe a couple of tents
between Max and like a really good driver
we had it with Czecho didn't you
being Q3
he was better than we thought
he was like three or four tents off on average
which is still quite a lot
on his day he would win a race
but just like Yuki's
a fun character isn't he
but I can't
ever imagine him being in a position
where he could win a race
in that car
I think it's just Max's ability to
manage a car that's
mathematically quick
in the wind tunnel but might be really tricky
to drive and need all that sensitivity
whereas the other drivers
if you put them in a normal
car one that's not so tricky
they probably get really close I think
but it's just that
extra talent that Max has
allows him to exploit this
tricky car he is a freak
isn't he but I think a lot of like the stuff
he says about sim racing and
learning to drive
different cars like understanding how to
drive a GT3 car
and he'll come in and race against people
and the real GT3 cars
but he likes the challenge
of comparing himself with people
he knows better
in that particular car
I know quite a lot of
the others do
sim race but I don't think any of them
do it to the degree that he does
didn't he do a 24 hour sim race
during a Grand Prix weekend?
I think his team won it as well
wasn't it? Was that Monza?
I don't remember that
he was up at 3 in the morning
doing his stint in the car on the sim race
it would be fascinating when he leaves at the end of
26 doesn't he
what will Red Bull do then
so we leave it there rather than
just speculating wildly
fun though it is
James might start ranting about
commentators
I can't believe you said that about Murray
unbelievable
that is the end of the Evo F1
special podcast
probably be a series of one
maybe we can do an end of season
maybe do an end of season
see how wrong we were
let's see if we can get
Crofty on or something like that
he knows his stuff
thank you very much
Yousif, James, Dickey
thank you
we will see you for a normal podcast
next week
thank you very much
thank you too
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