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Thank you for listening to the late breaking F1 podcast.

Make sure to check out new episodes every Wednesday

and every Sunday.

Hello, and a very warm welcome to the late breaking F1 podcast

presented by Harry Eid, Sam Sage and me, Ben Hawking.

Back with another midweek episode.

Sadly, still no F1 as of yet.

Actually, I'm lying because Sam,

we actually went through exactly what happened

at the Bahrain GP at the weekend.

We did. And I'm still amazed that they managed to fit two drivers

into one car.

And actually, that when Eker Holkenberg,

obviously, who was on the front row,

decided to leave the Grand Prix,

he left on the back of an ostrich.

Did he know?

Hmm.

What? What did I miss on Sunday?

So, yeah, you remember how

Bottas got pole and Holkenberg was second

and then Williams were behind, but one of them broke down.

So they decided to get in the same car together

and they were actually pretty good, which is a surprise,

given how much they've struggled with the weight of the car.

But having two in the same car was an advantage to them.

Who was sat on the other one's lap?

I think Alex did the pedals and Carlos did the steering.

I did not think we were going to get into who's on top.

Does that answer my question?

Yeah, it's on top.

Who was the bottom? Who's the top?

What about the signs on our bottom? Go.

You decide.

Alvin's on the bottom.

Right, we are great.

We are grading teams today.

So we've had three races, one sprint that we've got to...

We've had a chance to look at the teams so far.

We're going to give a grade anything from, I guess,

a plus all the way through to whatever we decide

the bottom of the grading system is today.

We'll go in reverse championship order,

so we'll start with the championship leaders,

that being Mercedes.

It's going pretty well for them at the moment.

I don't think I'm going to get too much of a disagreement with that.

But what do they get in terms of a grade?

We'll go with grades, first of all,

and then we'll get into discussion of it.

So, Sam, what have you got?

I've gone with an A minus.

Harry, you've gone for?

An A, Ben.

Oh, and I will complete the trio of A's

by going with the full A plus.

So, Sam, you hate Mercedes.

Why do you hate them so much?

Yeah, famously, I have a serious agenda,

and so I've given them an A minus.

Look, the car is sensational,

and because it's so sensational,

they should have absolutely sensational results,

and yet they have not completed a perfect clean sweep.

And for me, that's what an A plus would be in this scenario.

The starts are clearly an issue for them.

The car is struggling to get away off the line properly.

They can't refuel their charge properly.

It seems to get stuck when it is within traffic,

and if you're going to be overtaken at the line,

getting back past the car's overtaking you quickly

is a necessary evil if you have to battle through it,

and yet George Russell especially struggled

when it came to both the overtakes in the Chinese Grand Prix

to come a lot longer to get through,

and especially struggled in the Japanese Grand Prix

where he was unable to even get himself back on the podium.

So, I don't think that's all George.

I do think there's difficulty with the car.

So, for me, whilst it's very, very good,

it's not quite perfect.

Wrong. I'm saying it's perfect.

A plus, even though statistically it's not perfect,

but it's not far off being that way.

135 points to their name so far this year,

that's out of a possible 144.

So, percentage-wise, just under 94% of the possible points

that Mercedes could have got so far,

they have managed to achieve.

As a way of comparison, if we look at McLaren,

obviously won the Constructors' Championship last year

in a much more competitive season,

at least in this early point of 2026, of course,

74% of the available points they scored.

So, it's a pretty good start from Mercedes in that regard,

and there was a lot of hype heading into this season

about Mercedes.

We spoke about them a great deal last year

about how well they started the previous era.

Could they do the same thing with the engine this time around?

And just because there's all that hype around you

doesn't mean you'll necessarily go through with it.

You only need to ask Aston Martin about that,

and we're going in championship order,

so we will get to Aston Martin,

but it's not gonna be for a very long time.

Point being, though, the hype doesn't necessarily mean

it's gonna go well for you.

Antonelli's been, I think, better

than I thought he was going to be at this point.

Russell's won a race and won a sprint race as well.

I think the pace is fairly similar to what it was in 2014,

when the last, I don't know, regulation cycle started.

And I think the only real concern is what you said, Sam,

which is the race starts.

I do think it might not cost them as much

at some of the upcoming Grand Prix,

so I think Suzuka was almost a bit of a perfect storm

in that it's quite a long run down to turn one there,

but it's also quite difficult to make overtakes,

and that's where I think Russell got a bit unstuck

during the Grand Prix.

Most of the other races we've got coming up,

Aviva got easier overtaking spots,

or the runs down to turn one aren't as long,

so they might get away with it until somewhere like Hungary,

possibly, that would maybe be the next one I was thinking of,

that they might struggle if their starts are still bad

at that point in time,

but that is definitely the thing they need to work on, no doubt.

Harry, you're slap bang in the middle of us.

Yeah, I think it's been a great season so far for Mercedes.

Whilst there have been some issues, as you mentioned, Sam,

they've not been very big,

and the only way I'd given A+, it would be if it had been perfect,

and those issues didn't exist, but for the most part,

I'm not sure Mercedes, Total Wolf, George Russell,

Kimmy Antony, couldn't have too many complaints

about how this year has started for them,

so it's why I've gone for an A.

Like you said, Ben, against expectations,

they've matched, they haven't maybe exceeded,

but I don't think they're far off it,

but they've certainly matched expectations,

of which those expectations are really high,

so I think there's, yeah, this is easily an A for them.

I just wouldn't stretch as far as an A+,

because there have been a few teething issues,

as you mentioned, Sam.

I did have a look back to 2014,

and again, that's quite an important year,

because that's the last time we had such an upheaval

in terms of the regulations,

and Mercedes did so well at that point.

Race two of the 2014 season, which was Malaysia,

I think Hamilton won that race,

but he won it about 25 seconds clear of Vettel at Red Bull

at that point in third.

The gap at round two this year, pretty much identical.

It's going to be really interesting to see

if that level of dominance stays in the same way

that it did back in 2014, 12 years ago.

Just the last point on this one, Sam, about Antonelli,

how much of his good performance so far

is contributing to this A-grade?

Like, I think, given what we heard from Toto Wolf

after the Chinese GP win, there was a bit of a,

we hired him too early, no, we didn't, kind of attitude.

Have they almost been vindicated,

and that's why it's so positive?

Yeah, 100%.

I do think that if I were to give a almost surprise

of the season so far, he might be fully in contention for that.

He is more than matched George Russell so far,

which I think is better than anyone had expected

in the first three Grand Prix of the season.

If you could have said, start the year to Kim Antonelli,

George is going to win all of them,

but you'll be second every race, but you're getting better.

I think you're taking that.

I think, all right, I want to win,

but it's the first three races, I mean, a new car,

it's really developed, we're putting our ease of ourselves

into it, but the fact he's now won more than George Russell

is pretty impressive.

He's ahead of George Russell now in terms of the standings.

He has really surprised me, I do think,

in terms of this rating, he's a key contributor to it.

I'm really being really impressed with how Kim Antonelli

is handing himself in the first three Grand Prix.

The closest rival so far at this point in the season is Ferrari.

Harry, what grade have you gone for here?

It's gone for an A minus for Ferrari.

Sam?

B plus.

And I've gone with a B minus,

so we'll start with Harry on an A minus.

Maybe I've been too kind to it, but look,

for Ferrari, whilst they haven't returned

to winning ways as of yet,

I think versus where they were last year

and the expectation coming to this one,

I think they can be pretty happy with how this year has gone so far.

The reason I've marked them down to what I thought was not harsh,

but marked them down relative to Mercedes

is purely based on how Japan went for them

and how McLaren were getting in amongst them,

or at least, you know, Piastri was.

So there's a bit of a worry.

The A minus, or the minus in the A is kind of worrying

about what's next for them as opposed to what they've done so far.

But what I think what they've done so far is pretty much maximise that car.

I don't think it's a Mercedes-Beta,

but they've utilised what it can do, which is start well

and get in amongst it.

So I can't really fault them for that, either driver.

So A minus.

Sam, you've gone with a B plus, as Harry put it.

It's more positive picture than last year.

100%.

And that's part of the reason why I've gone for a B plus.

They kind of dragged themselves through last season.

And we know that they gave up pretty early in the year

to focus on development of this car.

But equally, that plays a part in why it's only a B plus.

They put a lot of effort into the development of this car, this era.

Their engine is slightly off power,

where it comes to the comparison to Mercedes

and they're not maximising their straight line speed.

The chassis is not perfect and needs some development,

which is being singled out by them.

But equally, I'm really enjoying that Ferrari

seem a lot more cohesive as a team.

Both Hamilton and Leclerc are contributing really well together.

They're innovative in ways that actually seem helpful for once,

which is great. The Macarena wing,

it seems like it could actually do something useful.

Well, I see it fully in action, but hey, I like where you're going.

The tiny wing screen.

I love that you dared to call it a tiny wing screen.

Sam's favourite innovation from the year is the tiny wing screen.

I love it.

I want to put it on the shelf behind me.

We won't be able to see it because it's so tiny.

No, I won't see it, it's all so little.

But I love that they're trying stuff.

They've got the porthole and the tiny little inflect on their exhaust pipe

at the back of the car to change downforce.

They're doing things that are different

and they seem to be actually having a positive effect.

So this is really positive for Ferrari.

There starts a mega.

I love that they managed to get that nailed down.

Actually, they've been disadvantaged by the changes that were made.

I think they could be even more potent if they hadn't been changed.

But I do think overall their race pace is causing them to drop in this grading here.

I knew they were going to be behind Mercedes and that's OK.

I expected them to be slightly off the pace.

I didn't expect them to be nearly a full pit stop

or race off the pace, unfortunately.

So they are just a step behind where I was hoping they would be

when it comes to challenging for the top.

We've got this big gap to Miami.

I'm hoping that these upgrades that the Clare is singing from the Rafters about

are going to just give them a little bit more.

Himmela, Himmela.

It doesn't work well when you brag about upgrades for Ferrari.

It is better than last year, no doubt about that.

P4 in the constructors last year.

And that was despite both Mercedes and Red Bull

in some ways having line-up problems in the Antonelli wasn't scoring

at the same race as Russell was.

And we know what happened at Red Bull, of course, last year as well.

And despite having both Hamilton and the Clare there,

it was still only good enough for fourth.

So it's definitely an improvement from that.

They've really established themselves

as that second-best team in the sport.

And to your point, Sam, it feels very un-Ferrari

the way that they've approached this season so far

in that there's a lot of drama elsewhere.

There's not a lot of drama at Ferrari.

We haven't heard a great deal.

I don't think out of them, which is odd.

Like, normally they are at the epicenter

of anything that's happening in F1, good and bad.

They've kind of quietly gone about their business to this point.

They've been reliable.

They've been pretty consistent.

They've got a podium at every race so far.

And that's all really positive, I think, going forward.

The reason I've only gone for a B-minus is kind of what you said,

which is imagine offering when was it April, May of last year,

when Fred Versailles decided we're not focusing on 25 anymore,

we're going full force into 26 and saying at that point,

okay, first few races of 26,

you are going to be a pit stop behind Mercedes.

He had gone, what?

We're a pit stop behind.

In terms of the pecking order, it looks a lot more positive

because McLaren and Red Bull aren't there either.

But in terms of the distance to Mercedes so far,

it has been a lot.

So it's still pretty positive,

but that's why I'm only at a B-minus on this occasion.

In terms of Lewis Hamilton, Sam,

is that helping or hindering the grade,

or is it pretty much leveling out?

It's kind of leveling out.

If anything, it is helping it.

He is definitely more competitive so far this season.

We are basing this a free Grand Prix.

If we do this again after 12 Grand Prix,

it might be a completely different grade

and he might be absolutely miserable.

But it does seem to be quite full of Geely at the moment,

despite Japan being his worst of the three so far

and being further behind McLaren than he wanted.

He said it again, what did he say?

Not our race we came, but we move.

And I thought, as I said, you can move a little quicker,

Lewis, you might be on a more competitive playing field.

But he does seem overall to be in a better place

and the results are stronger.

He's with the main field,

whereas we saw on many occasions in 25

when McLaren was picking up the podium,

I was fighting four podiums,

Hamilton might be seventh, eighth,

if you're struggling to get himself into a competitive position.

He's a couple of seconds at worst behind McLaren at the moment.

This is a good stepping stone.

A grade for McLaren, please, Harry.

I've given McLaren a C minus.

Sam?

I'm joining you.

I think it's a C minus.

And we're pretty close here.

I've gone with a C.

Harry, why a C minus?

It's not an ideal, is it?

No, it's a good point.

I think this would be worse for McLaren

if they hadn't had the Japanese GP, quite frankly.

The higher grade I've given here is because there's hope,

I think, for McLaren going forward for the rest of the year.

But the first two races, D, maybe E, pretty crap.

I mean, China, they didn't make it, did they?

And there was only one car on the grid in Australia.

So it's been a tough, tough start to the year for them.

I think what was more worrying, I guess, in Australia

was the lack of pace from Norris being the only one left in the race,

but the lack of race pace from him.

We never saw what it was in China,

but them not making it to the grid is bad.

And then finally, in Japan, we saw some improvements.

So I think there's room for hope for them for the rest of the year.

I wouldn't say championship retention is on the cards,

but I think certainly room for optimism

for maybe some challenges to race wins.

So a C-minus, but it's not been a great start.

Yeah, I went with a C for mostly similar reasons.

They're 44 points behind Ferrari,

but they are also 28 clear of Hass behind them.

So they are at least points-wise at the moment

occupying this sort of weird middle ground in P3.

If you take their average points per start,

it is pretty much identical to Ferrari.

The problem is they've started about half

the cranberry that Ferrari had.

So those DNS is a really costing them at the moment

in terms of the points tally.

A little bit unlucky to an extent just based on,

if you're McLaren, you're probably like,

could one of these have happened at the sprint?

Could one of these have happened at the beginning of qualifying?

Like could we have had Verstappen's issue

from Australian GP qualifying, for example?

Could we have had that rather than a did not start?

Because it really does punish you when you don't start the race.

You can have that one for free.

The Oscar Piatri P2 at Suzuka definitely helps the ranking

because, well, two reasons actually.

Not only does it prove that there's something in that McLaren,

I think also Piatri as well.

We had a few concerns preseason

that maybe these cars won't suit him as well.

It was a pretty definitive statement,

I thought, that he would delivered at Suzuka.

So pretty positive on both fronts.

Yeah, I've gone with pretty much dead in the middle, honestly.

Sam?

Yeah, I'm like a C-minus, as I said.

And I think the headlines from McLaren are all bad.

But you actually flip open the book, get past the blurb,

and you start reading.

And actually, it's quite a positive picture

when you get into it, I think.

I think the car itself is on par with Ferrari, realistically.

Every time they can qualify,

they're there if not better than Ferrari.

The one race where both drivers have been able to actually get away,

one driver has beaten the other Ferrari.

So that's pretty solid.

The issues of course are,

Piatri puts it into a wall after receiving

a ridiculous amount of talk that he wasn't expecting,

maybe partially due to the regulations,

but no one else did it, doesn't start the race.

Norris' pace in Australia is poor.

In China, they don't impress,

and they can't actually get out for the main Grand Prix.

It's only Japan, when they really start to showcase

what they might be able to do across a full-race distance.

But that is why they've received a C-minus from me,

and got maybe like a D or an E, as Harry, you said.

They probably will have got,

had we done this after China,

because the car itself, it's all right.

It's got a little something, you know, about McLaren.

It's got a little something.

And what I was impressed-

We said that about Ferrari all of last year, we were right.

You know what, they delivered.

What I am impressed with is,

what you just mentioned there, Ben, is Piastri,

the way he's actually been given a full-race distance

to finally get round.

And he was maybe driver of the day.

He was shafted by a safety car.

There's every chance he might have batted for a race win there.

I'm a little disappointed in Norris, if I'm honest,

because he's had the majority of the racing time,

and he's regularly been behind Piastri when we've seen it.

If he's not behind Piastri,

he's really been behind everyone else.

You know, he only just beat Lewis Hamilton in Japan,

and you argue that that was Lewis Hamilton's

far worst Grand Prix this season.

So I'm hoping that he can step it up,

and we'll see performances like we did last year

where he picked up multiple wings,

where he's beating Piastri more regularly than he got.

But yeah, Piastri been the standout on the actual track

when he's actually decided to be on the actual track.

Yes. Let's take our first break on this episode.

On the other side, we're reviewing Haas,

Alpine, Red Bull and Racing Bulls.

Natural order of those four.

Yeah, big four.

Big four coming up.

Yeah.

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Welcome back everyone.

Main event time.

It's time for Haas.

Io Kamatsu is in the kitchen.

He is cooking.

What kind of a grade is he cooking up some?

I've given him a big old A.

Oh, good start.

I'm ever so slightly harsher,

but an A minus, Harry.

Also gone for an A.

Lovely stuff.

Two As in Haas, mate.

Exactly.

I don't know where the minus comes into it.

I'm not part of this.

Sam, why have you delivered the first of the two As that Haas have?

I mean, when you look at situations that could be better,

it's pretty minuscule, I think.

The car is really strong.

It's got good qualified pace, good race pace.

It is up there as the best of the midfield.

Arguably, it's only when Max is having a really solid race,

which is few and far between in his first three.

Or Pierre Gasly is at the immovable object in P7.

Essentially other than that, they're doing what they can.

I've actually mottled down from an A plus to an A,

because Ocon, unfortunately, wasn't great in the first two Grand Prix.

And then Bearman, of course.

I don't blame him for the crash, but they're a crash.

And he wasn't looking like that.

He wasn't performing very well up until that point either in that race.

Exactly. The point I was going to make.

It's not like he was going to be scoring huge points

up into that point as it was.

So it's more driver skill.

I feel harsh saying that when you put it in the water.

I don't think it was his fault.

But then you get the point I'm making here.

Ocon hits Colopinto.

Ocon out of the points in Australia.

Bearman does well in both of those.

The flip side here is that then in Japan,

it's Bearman who doesn't do great with his result

or his initial result.

Then Ocon maybe isn't maximizing

because of the initial things kicking off with the Grand Prix.

So the car itself, I think it's really solid.

They're just not driving as well as someone like Gasly

has been in quite a similar ability car.

And that's why I dropped them down from an A plus.

But the foundations are really, really solid.

Yeah, I went with an A minus.

It's the smallest team on the grid still.

And they're fourth out of 11 teams.

That's really impressive.

And they deserve a lot of credit for not only doing that,

but like doing that at the beginning of a new regulation.

Like that is really impressive.

They have been the class of the midfield

at the likes of Australia and China so far.

Japan does bring down.

I probably would have gone with an A as well.

It's only Japan that brings it down to an A minus.

But even there, I think Ocon got a little bit unlucky

and would have been maybe 7th or 8th in that battle,

if not for the safety car.

So it's been pretty good.

Bearman's very impressive.

Ocon very unlucky to be hit by Colopinto in China.

But other than that, you know, he's been great.

I'm joking. Don't worry.

You're doing this.

But I would like to see the Haas line up get double points.

That's not something we've seen from them yet.

It's both drivers in the top 10 at the same time.

The other comment I had that isn't really a positive or a negative

is Haas do seem quite similar to last year

in that last year their race pace was better than their quality pace.

I still think that's true.

I just get the sense that, yeah, this Haas team,

in terms of strategy, in terms of operating above its limits almost,

it's kind of similar.

And again, that's not a bad thing.

Harry, you've gone with an A, the second of the two A's in Haas.

Yes, thank you.

With your A minus, does that actually just equal back out to an A?

So it's Haas.

Oh, what do you reckon?

Just Haas has been.

Haas has been.

Oh, that's brutal.

Anyway, yeah, it's the consistency across both drivers for me

for which why this isn't any higher.

I think Haas have been superb this year.

I mean, like you say, Ben, they are tiny

and Gene Haas won't let them have new people or any more money.

Every time someone leaves, they don't get replaced.

Give it up, Gene.

It's why it's why they, you know, a few a couple of years ago,

they made the pitwall smaller because they just didn't need the space anymore.

Wrang out of peacefuls.

Come back.

So it's actually in the kitchen doing the cooking because it's not a joke.

There's no good equipment at all.

It's just a chair.

It's just a stool getting rained on when it's wet.

Like, it's awful with an umbrella.

But yeah, I think they are punching so high above their own weight here

that they deserve all the plaudits.

But yeah, like you said, it's just a couple of inconsistencies.

Ocon with a scrappy race in China.

Berman, again, I don't blame for the crash, but, you know, he'd put it in the wall.

So yeah, that's the only reason I'm more than that.

But other than that, they've been superb.

Alpine is up next.

10th of 10 teams last year.

Currently fifth of 11 teams so far this year.

Sam, what grade does that get them?

B plus for me.

And I've gone with a B, Harry.

I have gone for a B.

We're all in the same sort of territory again.

Sam, you're the most positive of us, a B plus.

Yeah, because he's a ghastly, really.

He deserves the plus.

And that is a big reason, actually, for my score.

I joke.

But he has been phenomenal.

He has been the underdog again of the season, underrated driver of the season so far.

Seventh place is essentially his.

You know, he is the immovable force, as I mentioned earlier.

He is doing a great job at keeping Alpine in the fight.

Colla Pinto has one point and ghastly has the rest.

And that's why they are where they are.

If ghastly was on the same level as Colla Pinto right now,

they'd be behind or in line with Williams,

which is not where you want to be when Williams have had the start they've had.

So I've been really impressed with what he's able to do.

The car is definitely better.

It still seems to have some problems in the sense that

they've got this Mercedes engine.

They've got this Mercedes gearbox.

Look where two of the Mercedes cars are when they are actually all on track.

They are a step behind that.

But it's definitely a marked improvement on what the Renault power unit was able to produce

when they had that in the car.

So solid choice.

Let's just see if you can get it working better.

I guess we'll see a bit more from Colla Pinto.

He was unfairly dismissed when it came to the crash with Archon.

And that did massively disrupt what was a very good Grand Prix from him.

It's just the other two haven't exactly been standout moments,

especially in qualifying.

I think he's been a good step behind Pierre Ghastly.

So that's another reason why I've dropped it from the A-score down into the Bs.

Harry, if one of their drivers, let's say Ghastly, it seems more likely,

gets P7 at Miami, they will match their complete total for the 2025 season.

By race four.

By race K.

I mean, it's certainly an improvement versus last year,

but that was always going to be quite an easy thing to do, I guess,

because the bar was so low.

I still can't fully tell whether its car is better or Ghastly is excellent.

I'm leaning, it's a bit of both, I think,

but I think Ghastly is doing such a fine job in that Alpine that

he's making what is definitely an improved car look perhaps even better than it is.

And maybe Colla Pinto is making a little worse.

Like you say, Sam, he was having a better race in China,

but the other two races haven't been great for him.

Marked down really by qualifying, as you say, it's been the one thing that's harmed him,

because whilst overtaking has been easier this year versus last year,

it's like overtaking in the group that you qualify around,

rather than overtaking your way up the field.

So he might well have been involved in battles and making overtakes,

but Colla Pinto is sort of staying where he's qualified.

So yeah, that marks Alpine down as a whole.

I think if Colla Pinto can find a bit more form in qualifying,

slash have a bit more luck in the races,

then they could well as a team move further up.

But I mean, imagine saying this list of last year, like ridiculous.

Yeah, I've gone with a B as well.

I still don't like the decision to move to Mercedes power units,

because I just don't.

I wish there were more power unit manufacturers.

It is, even though let's face it in the short term,

it's probably got them more competitive,

but it might cap where they can actually get to.

Like we're seeing with, I know it's a weird one,

because McLaren have literally just won two constructors championships

and a drivers championship with an engine that isn't theirs.

But equally, I think they're in this new era, struggling a little bit,

with being a customer, it might hold Alpine back

in terms of the full extent of what you can achieve,

but it has got them up into the top of the midfield quite quickly.

Australia was a bit disappointing,

and sometimes it feels like in a race weekend,

it takes them a little while to sort of fully embed into it.

But once they get going, and particularly Pierre Gasly,

they can produce some pretty good results.

Gasly's had seventh in the last three qualifying sessions.

He's had sixth in Shanghai, seventh in Suzuka, in the main races.

He's doing a phenomenal job.

The reason it's not higher than a B column into at this point

is still a bit of a question mark.

He doesn't feel very comfortable at the moment,

and I'd like to see that change as we get to Miami in the next few races.

Red Bull, Sam, you're great for them.

I've gone with an E plus.

The plus makes all the difference.

I'm sure they'll be happy about the plus, yes, I think so.

Harry.

I've gone with a D plus.

And I have gone with a D.

So, Harry, you are the most positive on this occasion, and a D plus.

We've given them an Ed, so that's good.

We have, yeah.

If you're ready to wobble, lads.

I'll give you the best of the Ed, Ed, and Eddie trio was Ed with two Ds here.

Do you think so?

No, I can't remember which one's which.

I could run down a plank of work with a face on it.

They did.

I'm surprised we don't have one of those, but, yeah.

It's called Sam.

Plank Boy.

Yeah, sorry, Red Bull.

Ed Bull.

But whilst it's been not good versus last year,

I think there's been a couple of okay performances.

I think Japan really was the worst of those.

Australia for the staffman was pretty good,

considering where he started from.

Had Zhao be struggled to see where he actually is with an early retirement,

Australia, China was obviously not helped by that early spin.

It's been, there's never been a good opportunity to get a proper read on them as a team.

There's always like one sort of opposition, one's had a problem, etc.,

which is why I've gone for D plus.

But it's not been a great start.

And then, you know, not what they've been hoping for.

I think early doors, we were sort of seeing the praises of how,

I guess, reliable that Kai is considering all the changes he's had to make.

That's a brand new engine for them this year with Red Bull powertrains, etc.

But even the car doesn't look good.

I don't think that's the main issue here.

Doesn't look good in race trims.

So a tough start, that's for sure.

They've had lower points.

They had lower points last year, I think,

but not consistently as they are having right now.

So it's not great.

Here's a stat for you.

And if you're a Red Bull fan or a Red Bull employee,

I would advise just covering your ears for the next 20 seconds or so,

because three races in, they have had no top five finishes.

The last time they had three consecutive races with no top five finish

was in July of 2015.

We're going pre-LB the last time this happened.

You never go pre-LB.

We're ancient.

That's saying something, right?

Don't do it.

But they have.

I don't know about that.

We're going back to Danny Kvyat territory, folks.

That's the last time it was this bad.

I'll take it back.

Let's go back to pre-LB.

Yeah, let's do it.

What is really odd about Red Bull

is that it's got less encouraging.

Like they started pre-season thinking, okay, they might not be first.

They might not be second, but they're going to be at worst like fourth,

but part of that leading group of four.

And then Australia happened and you kind of felt, yeah, that is where they are.

Hadja qualified third.

Obviously in the race, he was around there until he retired.

And then Verstappen had to go all the way from 20th to back to P6.

It looked pretty good, but then it got worse at China.

And then they brought an upgrade package for Verstappen at Suzuka.

And it got worse again.

I thought it was going to go the other way with Red Bull.

When Laura Meckie said pre-season, give us a bit of time.

It's not going to be great to begin with.

I was like, okay, sure, it might not look good in Australia and China,

but when we get to Japan and get into the next few races, it will get better.

No, complete opposite.

So positive for them is that Hadja looks pretty good,

at least in the limited stints that we've seen him versus Verstappen,

particularly in qualifying.

I think they've got someone they can count on that they haven't had for a little while.

Sam?

That's exactly why they've got the plus,

because for the first time in what feels like eight years,

I can comfortably say that Red Bull have two drivers they can rely on.

I think that if you give them a car that is drivable,

both of them will do a really good job at getting an actual result for you.

Hadja was phenomenal picking up that third place in qualifying in Melbourne.

It's a real shame he had the reliability issue.

Max Verstappen is hanging out there on the start,

so he started to get better at that,

but then he can't get past the likes of Pierre Gassi

when he's actually in a competitive position.

It's not the drivers that are the problem.

It is the car.

The power train has not been as strong as maybe initially suspected.

They've had reliability issues, which is not great.

But when the car can finish a Grand Prix,

it's oversteering, and then it's understeering,

and then it's shifting down weird.

And then when it's deploying energy, you can't do it properly.

It's just got so many problems that they don't seem to drag this time

when they're coming from,

and they brought an upgrade that turned out to be a downgrade,

and that's just not what you want from a team like Red Bull.

So, yeah, I gave them an E,

because our expectations of Red Bull are to be fighting

right at the very front.

And even if they weren't, first and second with Ferrari,

and they were kind of just behind McLaren,

I'm like, fine, you know, it's a B-malangas, a C+,

I could deal with that.

The fact that you are behind Haas, Alpine,

you're in two points ahead of your sister team,

who are meant to be who cares, it's for trainees.

Not good enough, just not good enough.

So, they get the plus because the drivers,

I think, have done a solid job.

Speaking of that sister team,

last one on this set is Racing Bulls.

Harry, you're great for them.

Racing Bulls, I have given a C+.

Exactly the same for me, Sam.

B-malangas.

Okay, again, pretty close.

Harry, C+, from you.

Yeah, overall this year for Racing Bulls so far,

I think it's been pretty positive,

and when I was trying to grade these,

I couldn't quite work out whether I was

slightly blinded by the fact that Red Bull have been less good,

but in the end, irrelevant,

because if Racing Bulls are as competitive,

or in some cases beating Red Bull,

that deserves praise.

Doesn't matter whether it's because Red Bull

are being bad or not,

Racing Bulls are the ones doing the job.

So yeah, I think it's been pretty positive.

Liam Lawson, I think so far this year has had a better,

I mean, easily a better start to the year that he had last year.

I would agree with you, sir.

Yeah.

Yeah, what is now that one?

But I think overall just seems a little bit more settled,

and I think Arthur Lindblad,

we could have a little star on our hands there with him.

So it looks pretty rosy for Racing Bulls so far.

I think they just maybe haven't quite capitalised on

more points when they perhaps could have done.

And Sam, are you just about sneaking into a B with a B-?

Yeah, realistically, I think Racing Bulls are doing exactly

what is expected of Racing Bulls in the sense of

they're not here to win races,

they're not here to get podiums,

they're here to be a place of development

that is competitive,

hanging around the midfield to showcase

overtaking, defending strategy.

They're here to be a nuisance almost to the other midfield teams,

and I think that's exactly what they've been.

I think Lindblad has been a real discovery in Formula One.

I think he's had a great start to his first season.

He's had some difficulties to get through.

We saw a spin from him entirely on his own, wasn't perfect,

it's going to happen.

But equally, qualifying has been phenomenal.

We saw him fighting with the likes of Lionel Norris

and Lewis Hamilton at the start of his first Scorne Prix,

and he handled it brilliantly, scored points on his debut.

I've been really impressed.

Liam Lawson has taken great strides forward.

We are seeing a much better racing driver.

The race craft is still not perfect,

but the raw speed is really starting to come through,

and qualifying has been an improvement.

They have besmirched his record a little bit

for – I can't really formulate on trying to do this –

A besmirching!

I'm breaking up the besmirch!

You know it!

A throw-out besmirch!

Oh, Lord!

Not today!

Today of all days.

You've been besmirched.

In this economy!

Cost you a lot, but you know what, folks?

Get besmirched!

And, obviously, it was the –

Get besmirched!

It was the ding-dong with Perez,

but Formula One on their social media

tried to brand as one of the overtakes of the season so far.

I thought, he's crashed into the side of a Cadillac.

I can't really give that overtake of the season so far.

It wasn't great, but he's been better,

and he feels like a more assured Formula One driver now.

So, I think they're on the right path.

Entirely unrelated.

But did you see F1?

F1, obviously, scrambling for a bit of content.

They put a YouTube video up that's called

Cheeky But Not A Legal F1 Overtakes.

I was like, that's terrible.

Did we write that?

Yeah!

Awful!

No!

Cheeky But Not A Legal.

That really sounds like a –

That's a bad caption anywhere.

That's a Harry O segment.

That's a Cheeky But Not A Legal.

A Legal of the Week!

Oh, man.

Counterpoints to the whole Lawson and Perez thing, by the way.

It's just funny.

Like, just Lawson and Perez.

It's just funny at any point.

They're all the same.

Hunter in it.

I went with a C+, here.

The results just look kind of eerily similar to the senior team here.

I think the car looks okay in that they haven't shone anywhere,

but equally, they haven't been uncompetitive anywhere either.

They're definitely, I think, slower than Alpine and Haas,

at least in terms of race trim.

But it's a solid qualifying car.

And one thing I've noticed about them so far this year is,

it's a very difficult car to overtake,

because if you look at Australia,

Limblad held off Portoletto for quite a while there,

and also held off Bearman too.

Bearman did eventually get by,

but it took about a long time to do it.

You look at China.

That's where Lawson was able to hold off Isaacadja.

And then you look at Japan,

where, again, it's Lawson being able to hold off

Esteban Ocon and Nika Holkenberg.

So defensively, I've been quite impressed by both drivers as well,

but the ability of this car to keep those maybe faster competitors behind them.

And the lineup, overall, a plus.

Lawson's been pretty good.

Limblad's had a good start to his career.

I think that is a positive so far.

So C+, that's going to do it for those four teams.

We've got four more to go on the other side.

With an adult-sized third row,

everyone's welcome in the Grand Highlander.

From sports fans to eco buffs and movie fans,

sync back in the Sienna with an available rear seat entertainment system.

Slip into the RAV4 with available all-wheel drive.

And let's go!

Welcome back, everyone.

Before we get into the four final grades that we'll hand out,

a quick mention on Patreon,

because if you listened to Sunday's show,

we mentioned some of the...

Sorry, if you listened to last Wednesday's show, I should say,

we mentioned some of the documentaries, TV shows

that you might want to watch in this very long break between F1 action.

And tied in with that,

we did a Patreon episode that's just gone live, Sam,

which was us looking at the last 20 years of F1 and grading them accordingly.

Yeah, and I do think you forget some of the key moments

that came out from the last two decades of Formula One.

And we had some differing opinions on what was a belter

or what was a get-it-the-bin.

And we'd like to hear your opinions.

So if you want to get over to the city, it's a democracy over there.

All opinions welcome, as long as you are kind and presented.

As long as we agree with them.

As long as we agree.

No, obviously, you get the whole catalogue as well.

Or it's a crime, a patriarch city meal,

a succulent patriarch city meal.

Check over there, give it a try, please.

I've hanged off this plug.

We appreciate the support.

Good work.

Harry, what would you say to anyone who is a fan of 2015?

Should they watch it?

No, we don't want your money. Go away.

I do. I do. I still want the money.

No, we don't want that opinion with us.

I'd like to do this full time.

Don't tarnish our city with your stupid opinions.

Don't mismatch the 2015 suns.

No, I'm sorry.

I think that's gone really well.

I'm glad we've done that.

It's not just the bonus episodes you get on Patreon as well.

We're going to be recording our historic race review later this week,

which is the 2016 Brazilian GP.

Way better than 2015, don't you worry.

And power rankings will be back sooner rather than later too.

Shall we go into Audi next?

Good old Audi with their two points they have at the moment.

Sam, your grade for them?

Primed for a little coke or something there.

I'm really surprised that you didn't.

We'll go into Audi.

I thought you've got it made here.

I've gone for a C+.

I've gone for a C, Harry.

Audi's actually Latin for B-minus.

Is it?

B-minus.

Wow.

You've given me no choice but to go to you first, Harry,

because I need to know more about these Latin translations.

Hey, I don't make these things up.

So we just have the same book.

It's just a fact of life.

Yeah, look, whilst there's been some issues so far for Audi in terms of reliability,

I mean, the first couple of races, they only had one car in them.

I think overall, they should be really encouraged with how they started this year.

And I appreciate that they have risen from the ashes of Salba.

Very Easter.

Very, we've moved past that, but yes, correct.

Yes.

And on the, no, anyway, I appreciate they've come from a team that already existed,

but there was a lot to change here, including a brand new engine from a team that hasn't ever made

the F1 engine before.

I know they've made engines before, but not an F1 one.

So I think there's a lot of work that's gone on to this.

And whilst it's been, whilst there's been a few ups and downs,

I think they should be really encouraged by how this year has started with them

minus losing their team principle.

But that's maybe what the minus is for, in my opinion.

Did you factor in the off track losing weekly?

It's not great to lose them three races into a season, is it?

So I think it does need to be factored in, even if right now it's not directly

affecting performance and probably won't do for a while.

I think it would just be really annoying from Audi's perspective that they've lost

weekly for many reasons, but one of them is, I know that the launch event that they did wasn't

brilliant in that the 20 minutes of people walking upstairs wasn't great.

But I feel like that will be, if they go on to have success,

they'll want to go back to that event as like, that's where it all started,

except that it's plastered with a guy that only was there for like two races now.

Like it's somewhat tarnished as a result of that.

I went with a C, they've only scored two points.

That's the same number of DNS's that they have so far this year.

So I couldn't go any further than that.

But I do think the ingredients are all there.

Like I said at the beginning of the season, I could see Audi leading the midfield this year.

And I still think that could be the case.

They haven't been able to put it all together largely because of their horrific race starts.

But I think it's all there.

I actually had a look at the lap one sort of woes that Audi have had so far this year.

Their four starts that they've had, they've been 9th, 10th, 11th and 13th on the grid.

They have turned into 11th, 13th, 15th and 19th after lap one.

So they are almost, they're almost qualifying like two or three positions worse on average

than what they actually are because of what is happening on these first laps.

And it's just giving them, whilst they've got all right pace,

it's not brilliant enough pace that they can recover

and actually make these overtakes on their midfield rivals.

Look at Holkenberg, for example, he went all the way back to 19th in Japan.

He was fighting for the points at the end of that Grand Prix,

but he's on the back of Ocon and Lawson and can't make a move.

If he's not having such a bad start, he doesn't need to make that move.

So I do think there's something there if they can sort that out.

And Sam, you went bang on in the middle, C plus.

Yeah, I just fit the engine sounds proper naughty.

That's a good point.

So I gave it a solid score.

At that point.

We've seen everything else, so move on.

Naughty engine.

Naughty, naughty engine.

Quote, Williams, so much hopeium, so little productivity.

It's not great.

It's a lot of hope, not a lot of seeing through on that hope.

Harry, what was your grade?

I've gone for an E.

Oh, I've been a lot more generous.

E plus, Sam.

Thank you very much, BBC Slug.

My name is Stringo.

You've gone with an E, Sam.

I would say why, but it feels fairly obvious.

Yeah, they have literally reneged.

Is that the phrase?

Reneged on all promises.

I am.

I'm a photographer today.

Look at me go.

You got word of the day toilet paper or something.

What's going on?

I am going for my Simplicit McGuissix, folks.

Wow, look at that everyone.

Oh, wow.

M&M, call me.

Honestly, they make a lot of promises.

They set us up here and it's the ultimate.

We've been fraud.

There you go.

We've been fraud.

That's as important as it is.

So, well, we're back to the bottom line.

We're back.

This is big fraudulent, the way they have turned up to this

season after giving it all the big man talk for years about

how we know we're working for the future.

It's not our time.

The new regulations is where we're going to thrive

and you produced a big fat monster that can't do anything right

and it can't drive properly.

One of the wills doesn't sound the track properly.

The drivers hate it.

Carla Sykes has got the worst hair cut in 2026.

You can't get that against the bun.

I have.

It was an A before that and I'm joking.

And this is just being atrocious.

It's so bad.

I think you're lucky you've got two points.

I think that has made it look a bit more rosy than it actually is.

You only did that because of our eight-casting finishing.

Someone else took someone else out.

It's just been atrocious.

Because when they've got the best engine package in the car,

they should be doing far better than this.

Them being that overweight is just not acceptable.

So, yeah, I couldn't really do any better than any.

Good job from Carla Sykes so far this year,

getting that ninth in China, even if he got maybe a bit fortunate to get there.

But he did a great job in that Grand Prix.

And I like his new hobby of just keeping Colin Pinto behind him,

which seems to be what he does now in races.

But he was 14 seconds away from the points in Japan.

That's, I think, works out to be about half a second slower than Lawson and Ocon,

the guys who did just about finishing the points.

So, it's not great.

Like, if you'd given James Vowell that last year,

he probably would have broken down crying, bless him.

The expectation based on last year has just not been met whatsoever.

And Mercedes have done their job.

Like, that is a really good power unit to be working with.

It is purely on the car and how sluggish it is.

They're pretty much a mainstay in Q1 exits.

Carla Sykes, even though he got to Q2 in Japan,

was one second away from getting to Q3.

There isn't a lot of positive at the moment.

So, E-plus.

Harry?

Yeah, I don't, the points are all that's really keeping us any further.

We're stopping it from going any further down on the grading here.

I think where we talked about Mercedes at the start

and the expectation versus what they've delivered,

whilst it's pretty much matched my expectations,

it's for Williams, it's, they're nowhere near where we hoped,

they hoped to be considering all the hype that had been built up for this.

Maybe hype's unfair, but the momentum that they've been building up

towards this year really felt like they should be delivering more.

And yes, there were only three races in here,

but just they're nowhere near even where they were last year,

this time last year.

So, that in itself is deserving of a bad grade.

The new kid on the block, Cadillac.

No points on the board as of yet.

Sam, you're great here.

There's a lot of letters that you could have taken from Cadillac

to pick out their grade.

Did I manage to choose one that doesn't exist in the word?

And that is a B. I've given them a big old B.

I thought you were going to say, I've given them an I.

No, well done.

I've gone with a C minus.

Harry?

I've just gone for a C because they're all Cadillac.

I like that that's the reasoning, no explanation needed.

Did you have any further reasoning or was that it?

I don't think they can be at all mad with how this year has gone so far.

The fact that they are even finishing in front of another team,

and we'll get onto that,

but even the fact that they are,

I don't think anyone expected that at all.

And to run somewhat even more reliably than certain teams is a win in itself.

So, as Sergio Perre said, at one point in Japan,

they could see like an Alpine in a house.

So, what more can you ask for after race three?

Is there a more beautiful sight than an Alpine in a house?

Exactly.

Get it in the loop.

Getting further and further away from you.

Honestly, I think it's been solid.

And whilst they haven't exceeded expectations, I don't think,

they've certainly not gone below them,

or at least my expectations for how this year has gone.

I think they're right where I thought they were going to be.

And that in itself should be a big achievement.

So, Harry's gone with C for Cadillac.

Sam, you went with B for Bottas.

Or B for Badalac, because they're actually the opposite.

They're goodalac.

This is great.

I like a real streak of some goodalac.

What happened, man?

This is all in one episode.

Hang on.

And that is the life and times of Samuel Sange, okay?

I'm getting flashbacks to Arvid Lindblad.

I'm afraid with that one.

I think Gugalac is up there.

Honestly, you're not last.

And you've integrated a new engine.

You've joined the new sport.

You've put together a car that's actually drivable.

Yes, half of it does fall off before you get to the end of the Grand Prix.

That's not my...

Granted, it's not all there at the end.

You do want to keep it on the car before you get to the end of the race.

That is ideal before you take it apart to ship it to the next place.

I think they're above where I thought they would be.

They're not qualifying multiple seconds behind every other team.

I know it's alongside Askin Martin,

but that's a fully established and competitive racing outfit.

They shouldn't be where they are in comparison to them.

They are.

They've done a really good job at putting an engine in the car.

Again, there are other teams that have struggled with that.

They've met the weight load pretty much.

Really, really good.

Bottas and Peres, for the most part, are driving pretty well.

Apart from the time where Peres tried to just take out Valtteri Bottas

at turn two in China.

Don't do that again.

Don't do that.

I know you want a bit of fun.

That's got ages.

But overall, I don't think they've got anything to be massively disappointing about.

I'd like to see proper games from now on,

but I do think they can be quite happy with the start.

Yeah, I went with a perfectly okay C-minus at this point.

They are a long way off,

but I think they're about where I thought they would be, roughly.

So a C-minus seems fair.

Reliability, pretty good to this point.

They finished five of six races,

if you consider two races in one for each driver.

Five of six is very good if you compare it to, say, 2014,

when we had a lot of bad reliability for teams

trying to get used to this new engine as Cadillac are at the moment.

You had like Salba finishing two of those first six

and Lotus finishing three and Caterham finishing three.

Five out of six is pretty good from Cadillac to start this new era.

Bottas and Peres have both somewhat had the opportunity to show something

in that Peres had his turn at Suzuka.

Bottas kind of had his turn at Shanghai.

It'd be great to have them both at the same time,

but even at this early point, I think it's pretty good.

So I think the other thing, and this is more of a,

there isn't really a stat around this,

it's just how you feel about them.

They don't look out of place.

Like they kind of look like they belong in a weird way,

even if the competitiveness doesn't quite match that at the moment.

Like if you see them in the paddock, for example,

they don't look like...

I feel like...

Manor or Caterham.

Like...

Yeah.

But don't feel like they'd make a paper-matched car

and decided to try and frog it onto the track.

That's savage.

You said Manor or Caterham, it just didn't even regard HRT,

just like they weren't even here.

And rightly so.

They don't deserve a mention.

That's how bad they were.

Speaking of bad, that's the mine.

Final teams to have a look at today.

Sammy Grade.

Well, Soldier Boy, tell them.

You!

Cheers, Soldier Boy.

How long have you had that set lined up for?

Oh, it's exciting.

The crazy guy in the back.

Practiced it in the mirror yesterday, yeah.

Oh, yeah, a few cranks.

Yeah, yeah.

Some good cranking.

Well done, mate.

Um, you from me as well.

Can't take it saying that from you.

I'm a crank expert.

You know me, it's a high compliment for me.

Oh, stop talking about that now.

I'd stop talking about each other cranking.

This is terrible.

Let's move on.

I am an excellent cranker.

What are you talking about?

Okay.

I don't understand the problem.

I'm you as well.

How are you?

I'm fine.

Okay.

I've gone for an F because it stands for

Fernanda doesn't deserve this.

Is that what that means?

Oh, yes.

Latin, I'm actually.

It's Latin for Fernanda doesn't deserve this.

So we've managed to get to a FU for Aston Martin.

Interesting.

Lufu, if you will.

Sam, again, feels like an obvious question.

What's gone wrong?

Why is it a U?

What's gone right, isn't it?

Really?

Nothing works.

Honda lost most of its team.

They didn't tell anyone.

The engine doesn't put out more than 6,000 revs.

It's not ideal.

Vibrates their entire team.

They don't have nerves anymore.

Both drivers will go and do something else.

Lance Stroll is in a different category being bad,

but still in a different category.

Fernanda is like a child,

and that's the only positive thing that's happened to him this season.

They've had another team principle change.

Nui's miserable as it is.

Cow's in Japan.

I don't know why he's ever coming back.

He's not.

The cars don't fit the engine.

The engine doesn't fit the car.

It's atrocious.

It is one of the worst starts to a new regulation

that has ever been seen by an established Formula 1 outfit.

It is an embarrassment of the highest order,

and they should be very much ashamed to hope

they can turn it around very quickly.

In my wildest dreams,

I did not think it could be this bad.

If you'd asked me to picture back in January or late last year,

what is the worst-case scenario for Aston Martin next year?

It's not anywhere near this bad.

That's how awful it has been.

I feel like we had a few warnings at Barcelona,

but there was a bit too much attention on Williams at that point

that Aston Martin were like,

we're really struggling here as well.

Just nobody's talking about us yet.

And then we got to Bahrain,

and it's like, oh, things aren't improving.

They're still really bad.

And that's kind of how it stayed.

You're right, Sam,

I mean, the reason this can't be any more positive than the you

is because there are no positives.

Like, I can't find one.

They finished a race?

That shouldn't be a positive, but yes.

It's like me saying, I drank some water today.

Like, yeah, basic human survival,

doing things that I should drink some water.

Oh, yeah. Alonso's lap one starts.

That can be the one positive.

And that's probably why Harry's gone with an F.

Yeah, I mean, him just going for a gap

against Gabi Bortoletto in Australia was so unnecessary.

Just love of the game.

Love of the game.

And I respect it.

What more can you say?

It's been a horrendous start for them.

They're the only positive being

Alonso just having some fun on lap one.

Him and Lance having like their own,

as Lance put it himself,

their own little championship at the back,

which that's a bit bleak,

but at least they can be friends together.

So there's that.

Brings a tear to my eye.

All this makes me want to go for an F instead of a U.

Well done.

Don't let it get you, Ben.

Make it a footh, not a new footh.

That's what's wrong.

Words to live by, man.

I've had cranking for a suite to move on.

Well, what a day.

What an evening.

We are going to move on.

We're going to take our final break.

On the other side, you won't believe this.

We're building the perfect F1 driver.

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Slip into the RAV4 with available all-wheel drive.

And let's go.

Welcome back, everyone, to the final part of today's episode.

We're going to do something here.

We're going to build our perfect F1 driver,

which could be really interesting.

We've got eight categories.

And we're just going to use current drivers with this.

And we're going to pick a driver for each category.

The rule being we can't have a driver in multiple categories,

which is I've discovered making this a lot more difficult

and a lot more of a challenge, which is a good thing.

The categories we've got are

broad-pace, race IQ, overtaking, defending, consistency,

tire management, wet weather driving, and mental strength.

So we'll see if we can come to some sort of consensus, maybe,

but we do have our own individual lists.

So Sam, who gets the nod for raw pace?

I'm glad we started off with this one.

I think I get to first.

I've got with Max Verstappen.

Boy, he's quite quick in everything he ever does.

And you know what?

He's pretty much the only driver that I went

would actually put in any of these categories without hesitation.

So I work with his raw pace.

So quite easy one for me.

It's similar logic for Verstappen,

which is why I've got him elsewhere.

I don't have him here at raw pace.

Instead, this is where I've got Charlotte Clair.

Boy, he's very, very quick, especially over one lap.

The pole-to-win margin still makes me cry a lot of the time,

but that raw pace has always been there,

and we'll be there for some time, I think, in F1.

So yeah, Charlotte Clair gets the nod for me at raw pace.

Harry?

I've agreed with Ben, sadly.

I've gone for Charlotte Clair, and it's just because

the sheer rawness of his pace...

That's a bright point.

It's raw!

Yeah, exactly.

Going around him would be proud.

Yeah, he's very, very quick, is that boy.

Where there may be some areas that let him down,

raw pace is not one of them.

Race IQ, Sam.

Who have you gone for here?

George!

I've given it to Russell.

Jorge Russell himself.

You hear a lot of radio from George,

and we do take the mickey out of him a lot.

Four-seg radio.

There are a lot of times that he is thinking about

four-steps to hang up everyone else.

Is this the right strategy?

Are we going on the right side?

Do I have to pick?

Can I pull this one out a bit longer?

That's good.

No, are we cranking again?

What's happening?

No, we're not doing that anymore.

Soldier boy, get out of here.

I know we got disqualified for it,

but it's got a rule-breaking anymore.

But the strategy in Belgium was fantastic.

And you hear this a lot from George.

So I do think, again,

I can only put one driver in one category,

so I had to weigh this one up.

But I think he's a pretty smart cookie

in the way he drives a Formula One car.

Harry, who have you got for race IQ?

This is tough, because there's one driver

I really want to put here,

but I might save them.

I've actually got, and I think very similar lines here.

Can I just clarify?

Are these current F1 drivers we're using already?

Only current, yes.

Current Cs only.

Fine. George Russell, then.

Who are you going to pick?

I was going to have a Jensen Button,

because I think very similarly those two

think the way around a racetrack, or JB did.

But yeah, George Russell is my shout.

I think he is constantly thinking.

Sometimes I'd say to his detriment,

but most of the time not,

and he's out thinking, out smarting.

Most of the drivers on the grid.

An exception to a couple.

Russell was a contender for me,

but I did go for someone else.

And the way I liken this is,

you know when you're putting,

you kind of dropped into the deep end.

That's kind of how you learn best

and how you develop your skills best.

It's a bit like learning a foreign language.

Like the easiest way to do it

is just to be dropped into an immersive situation

and actually have to learn.

And that's why I've got Carlos Sainz here at Race IQ,

because he's had to do a lot of,

or he had to do a lot of his own strategy

when he was at Ferrari.

Like he was almost forced into it.

And I think he was very good at it,

like raising some very good points over Team Radio

in a way that Leclerc maybe never did,

and maybe doesn't continue to do.

But yeah, I had Russell in contention,

but I went for Carlos Sainz here.

Overtaking.

Harry, have you got?

Overtaking.

I have gone for Lewis Hamilton.

I think there are a couple of contenders for this,

but I've already used up Charlotte Clare.

And I could have potentially put Oscar Piatri,

but I think Lewis Hamilton can still race better

than pretty much anyone on the grid.

And clearly so.

So I've gone for Hamilton.

You said you could have had Oscar Piatri.

I do have Oscar Piatri here.

Lovely.

Some of his moves last year.

I'm thinking particularly,

remember lap one against Charlotte Clare at Monza?

Backing.

Well, that's another one though.

Yeah, two years ago.

That was a really clinical move

to get the race win in the end.

It is clinical.

It comes back to that word.

Like he is so good at just going over to the back of a drive-out

and just getting that move done

first or second time of asking.

There's no wasted time with Oscar Piatri.

So whilst Hamilton very effective overtaker, of course,

that's why I've gone for the Australian.

Sam?

Three names that came to mind.

You've mentioned two of them.

I'm going for the third.

You've already said him for something else.

Charlotte Clare gets my overtaking.

I need to prove one example.

Go and watch his overtake of George Russell at Suzuka.

That was phenomenal.

And the boy can place a move on anyone

and make it look very exciting.

So yeah, I mean, he's got raw pace,

but I think he's better at getting past

because most of the time,

the Ferrari's good enough to be at the front anyway.

So he's going to get past a lot of people.

He does it excellently well.

Where there is attacking, there must be defending.

So Harry, who is the best defender you've got here?

This gets tougher as we go along, doesn't it?

Defender, I've gone for Carlos Sainz.

I will admit, there may be other better defenders out there.

I'm thinking back to his Singapore 2023 win,

which was superb.

And I know Singapore's tough to overtake out,

but he had like two cars behind him for...

No, three cars, I should say, behind him for a chunk of laps.

So yeah, the smooth operator is a smooth defender.

Sam, have you got?

There's not only one man in modern Formula One history

that's earned an entire nickname

for his defensive capabilities,

and that is the Ministry of Defense.

And that is Sergio Perez, who picks up my defensive record.

If you're not getting past him, he's going to take you off instead.

Obviously, I think that's the only way to do it.

And he's done it in multiple different teams,

multiple different races.

The guy is lethal when it comes to going wheel to wheel,

and he regularly comes out on top.

So yeah, I've got Sergio in defending.

And my pick, different from both of you,

unfortunately, hasn't had a lot of defending to do this year.

But I think back to Hungary 2021,

and I still think he is a class of the field, Fernando Alonso.

I think his defensive work is very, very clever, very savvy.

So I'd like to see more of it,

because that would mean he's actually in contention

for something that isn't P21.

But I've still got Alonso for that.

Sam, consistency.

Ah, well, a name that's already been mentioned for me.

I've gone with the smooth operator, Carlos Sainz.

He was never the top of the field, right?

But with Sainz, he's so rarely ever got a bad race,

a dud race, where he would cause an unnecessary issue

or be out of place by a long way.

In Ferrari, so regularly finishing in the top three or four,

never too far behind Charlotte Clair.

The same again when he was at McLaren,

the same again when he was at Renault.

He was so regularly delivering just strong, consistent performances.

How regularly do we look at Carlos Sainz to just go,

we've been all over the place.

You've just not been good enough here, yet you're amazing.

I don't think it ever happens with him.

I think he really always brings a top performance,

which might not be the very top of the game,

but I can't pick certain drivers because they've really been picked up.

So for me, Carlos Sainz.

That's the way the game works.

And that's why there's a few options for me to choose here.

I did seriously consider Nico Hülkenberg for this.

Sainz, good guy.

I'm going to go with George Russell,

since I haven't used him yet.

He hasn't had a race-winning car up until this year,

very consistently.

But if you look at the last couple of years,

fourth, fourth, fifth, fifth,

just every week, it seems like getting the most out of that car,

very consistent.

It plays a little bit into the race IQ

because there is some crossover here as well.

But his consistency is up there with the best, I think.

Harry, who have you got here?

I have gone for Max Verstappen.

The man is just consistently quick.

Again, you could put Max Verstappen in probably all of these, maybe.

But I've gone for him for consistency.

He is superbly consistent.

Even in a car that's bad at the moment,

he's still consistently good.

Do you remember what Grand Prix it was a couple of years ago?

And he had a stint, and his times across 20 laps or something stupid

were just identical.

It's like 0.1 between all the laps or something.

Yeah, so it's a very good shout there, no doubt.

Tire management, Sam, have you got here?

Tire management, there's a meme about one of our drivers.

That's because he either gets pissed on the first lap

or the last lap.

And that's just about Ocon.

He just keeps that rubber rolling, does Ocon.

And you know what? Fair play to you, Sam.

He's done a great job.

He can last all race long.

Is any of this podcast usable?

It's just pure filth.

It might be like...

Euphemism after euphemism.

Mate, we started off with who's on top, Albin or Sides.

It was never getting better from there.

We are missing a race, okay?

Wait, but we really are missing a race.

Harry, have you gone for?

I've gone for Sergio Perez for tire management.

Whilst maybe it doesn't matter quite as much as it used to,

in like the 2011-2012 era of F1,

Sergio Perez could make a set of tires go for pretty much the entire race

back when you really didn't want them to.

Superb at tire management.

And I think he often gets overlooked on that one.

So gone for Perez.

I also went for Perez.

I think an underrated shout here is Alex Albin.

He's very good on tire management over the last couple of years.

But Perez, yeah, particularly for his work in the mid-2010s,

like he was exceptional in that department.

Where the race in, Sam?

Haven't mentioned him yet on my list.

This one goes to Lewis Hamilton.

He's a rangmaster.

You don't have to go back to Silverstone 2008

for his second season where he absolutely dominates the field

in one of the worst weather Grand Prix we've seen in a long time.

Regularly one of the top of the field across his whole career.

Whenever there's a drop of rain on the racetrack,

he always excels.

Very rarely makes a proper mistake.

The one I could think of that stands out the most

was in 2021 in Imola, where he got quite lucky

with a bit of a reg flag situation that meant he kind of got saved there.

So even then, didn't face the consequences.

So for me, yeah, I've got Lewis.

I've got Verstappen, Brazil from a couple of years ago.

Brazil from a couple more years ago before that.

Germany 2019.

He's had some exceptional races in the rain.

So I've got Verstappen here.

Harry.

Well, I've already used Verstappen,

and I've already used Lewis Hamilton.

So I've obviously got to go for Lance Stroll.

Yeah, prime time singer.

Yeah, the stats don't lie.

So obviously, he's not a better weather driver

than Lewis Hamilton.

That's Verstappen.

People don't come to me.

But Stroll is a decent...

Something happens.

He's like prime centre when the heavens open.

Something happens to him, and he's really good in the wet.

We saw his first ever poll at Turkey a couple of years ago.

There was, I think, his first year,

was it in the Williams and Monza, where it was hooning it down?

He was superb.

Blown a hoolly.

It was, thank you, it was blown a hoolly.

Yeah, he's just really good and underrated somewhat

in the wet weather conditions.

So whilst he wouldn't be my first choice, he's my last choice.

And lastly, mental strength, Sam.

I had to leave it for this.

There's only one man that's been vibrated to the finish line,

that is Fernando Alonso.

What's happening?

Good.

Fernando, mate, you've got been through more than anyone else.

You deserve the mental strength.

In fact, you keep turning back up with a smile and going,

I could win this one day, my friend.

I hope you do win this.

But yeah, he gets through everything.

This is where I've got Lewis Hamilton.

He's had to overcome, I would say,

a lot more than the average driver

to be where he is and to be as successful as he has been.

Yeah, his experience comes into this as well,

which is why Alonso is such a good shout here as well.

They've just seen more and done more in the sport.

But yeah, I've got Lewis Hamilton.

Harry.

I've gone for Fernando Alonso on this one.

Not only the trials and tribulations that he's faced as an F1 driver,

just even in the span of a race,

the amount of capacity that man has to...

And this is why I struggle,

because I could have put him at the race IQ one easily.

But the amount of capacity he has to think about

what literally everyone else is doing,

including all the other drivers,

his team, the chef, what his partner might be making for dinner that night.

It's unbelievable.

That is mental strength.

Until you hear him finally cracking,

he goes, you keep talking, I'll unplug the radio.

Yeah, well, this is where it was.

Like last year, when he had a bad back in Brazil,

or something, he was like, oh, yeah.

My back.

Oh, no, Fernando.

No, he's finally been broken.

No.

Do you know what is absolutely fascinating?

We've had eight categories there

that we've all picked our drivers for.

The reigning world champion

and the current championship leader this year

do not appear on any of our lists.

You know what?

I think Kim is all right with that.

I imagine the reigning world champ

might have something else to say about it, though.

I was trying to find a category and nothing opened up for him.

Not that there wasn't someone who I preferred for it.

Sorry, Lando.

There you go.

No, it was only one McLaren driver

making sure they won category at all.

Did neither of you say piastry anywhere?

No.

That makes sense.

You do both hate him.

Good.

Well, the results of that were very interesting.

I'll be intrigued to hear what people think

of our respective perfect drivers.

But before we go, there's just a little bit of time left

for us to go through the greatest segment

in all of broadcasting.

It is time for thee.

I'll be question of the week.

So many things to choose from

in terms of what could have been question of the week

given the amount of news there is out there

in the F1 world right now.

We decided to pick something based on

GP Lambiasi and Max Verstappen.

And it's quite simply, name a better duo than Verstappen

and its race engineers.

So we said this before we started, Sab.

There are some exceptional answers this week.

Yeah, sometimes you do have to be careful

what you're picking and choosing.

There are a few that are good laugh.

I was laughing all the way to the bank

reading the comments this time.

And we had a lot of bloody comments.

What were you cashing, mate?

I was cashing in jokes.

Vibes.

I love that.

Cashing in good times.

Quite disappointed that I've got a single person

who has said, Frank Gabbain's on the comments.

Because that is something I can't chew on, of course.

So your first question of the week's submission

is one that wasn't made.

Yes, it's my own.

Can we just caveat the ones that just can't make it on?

Yeah, Miguel, what are you saying here, mate?

Yeah, I mean, yeah, there's many.

Many that can't be said in a public forum, but funny.

Not that guy and not that guy.

You two know who you are.

Or establishment.

I'm going to shout out.

First of all, I'm going to shout out my cousin who's just said,

Harry and Hopium.

So thank you for that, Conn.

You're always on it.

Walking around.

Like Darth Vader of F1, you are.

Darth Hopium.

That's not the cool one.

Oh, good.

Make it end.

Really enjoyed this one from Louis.

We've said Sightseeing Albin's last place at Bahrain,

showing the seats.

It's good to go that you've been watching the same races we have.

Yeah.

One from Sean, which is DJs and saying, put your hands up.

Yes.

Really, really funny, that one.

I'm going to have to read it out because it ain't going to be so much,

but Shane said interlagal.

So it's me getting up between two lakes.

Very good.

Gray primordial soup.

I'm not sure you realise what a duo is,

because you've said Ben Sam and Harry.

That's a trio.

That is a trio.

Ben Sam is actually one person.

And Harry.

Ben Sam.

I love being the second part of Ben Sam.

DG, my friend.

I'm not sure I like Stroll and Jam.

It's a famous duo.

To be fair, quite a few people said this,

Finn said Fernando Alonso and Fernando Alonso.

I mean, you're not wrong, are you?

You're not wrong.

Liam said Esteban.

I've got a five-second penalty, which is classic.

It's a classic one.

I want to find the one that I want to read out,

because it was really good.

I want to give you credit,

but someone said the gingerbread man of Mungo.

What a find you said it.

Just to make sure we get our now weekly

or bi-weekly reference to the Star Wars prequels.

Uncle Timmy said Anakin Skywalker and sand.

Brant said Brundle and Shrek 2.

Great combo.

So good.

Allie said Bria Torre and hugs.

Sarah also said the water and the seat.

Yes.

Needs reference to Charlotte Clair being full of water.

I think my last one goes to late Barking,

who said Harry and the inability to pick an unchosen number.

Dude, Rainbolt said Shaggy's mouth and shutting it please.

Yes.

Yappa, yappa, yappa, yappa.

He's moving a lot.

Oh, I got that.

That's so good.

And the final one from me, from Roll,

I don't know how to pronounce that,

but just saying a hole in the ceiling and handyman Keith.

Very obi references there.

Keith!

The best handyman.

But didn't fix the hole in your ceiling.

No, he did not.

He is the best.

He didn't do what a handyman should do, but he's the best.

Keith has a lot to deal with, all right?

He's got a lot going on.

I mean, I think that's probably our cue to get the hell out of here.

Sam, fortunately, we've got the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

at the weekend that we get to discuss,

so that's going to be interesting.

I'm excited to see what takes place

when Saudi re-investing its own Grand Prix

and we get a spectacular result, I'm very sure.

Thank you to those of you.

It feels like we're in the winter break again.

We're having to really get through these week-on-week contests,

but you, you're legends who stick around

and listen to whatever this episode has been.

You're the real MVP.

You're the ones that we love.

If you're even more great conting outside

of what feels like a real season, check out that Patreon.

And Ben, I believe there's a little quiz occurring on Discord.

There is a little Discord quiz happening on Saturday,

so that will be 9pm British time

and you can work out what the time is wherever you are in the world.

Just a quick note to people.

The first question.

It's, it's going to be like 1am for some of you.

Like, I, I don't have that control of time

that it can be a great convenient time for everyone.

I try my best, but I, I don't, I don't yet control time.

Control the time, Ben.

Control the time, you moron.

But it'll be a lot of fun, I promise.

Yeah, got a 1am, though.

Yeah.

Does that help as a plug?

No, I've enjoyed letting that settle.

I've really enjoyed letting that settle at the silence there.

Thanks for this game.

In the meantime, I've been Sam Sage.

I've been Ben Hawking.

I have been besmirched.

And remember, keep breaking late.

Hashtag get besmirched.

Get besmirched.

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everyone's welcome in the Grand Highlander.

From sports fans to eco buffs and movie fans.

Sync back in the Sienna with an available

rear seat entertainment system.

Slip into the RAV4 with available all wheel drive.

And let's go.

Toyota, find yours at Toyota.com.

Toyota, let's go places.

Grading every F1 team after the first 3 races!

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Williams

Mercedes

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McLaren

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start well

pit stop

safety car

Toyota Sienna

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Haas

P7

underdog

keeping Alpine in the fight

qualifying

power rankings

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disqualified

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