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Greg James is back! Christian has an announcement | Plus look ahead to Canadian Grand Prix
Greg James is back! Christian has an announcement | Plus look ahead to Canadian Grand Prix
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About this episode
Greg James is back as the hosts settle in, celebrate award nominations, and tease Christian’s new book, “Grand Prix 101,” dropping June 25. The Formula One focus turns to how rule changes have reshaped overtaking—more “flip-flop” passes—and how teams used the race break to tweak, adjust, and bring upgrades. Miami is framed as exciting and well-balanced, while Canada becomes a pressure-filled turning point for George Russell, with rain and a wet-to-dry race shaping predictions.
Topics:
world championships
Cars:
Oldsmobile Intrigue
Greg catches up with Betty and Christian on all the big talking points from the season so far, while looking ahead to what could happen in Montréal at the Canadian Grand Prix. Is everything sunshine and rainbows with the new regulations for fans and drivers? How likely is it that Oscar Piastri will one day be a Red Bull driver? And which sports star did Betty interview recently?
YouTube: @fastcuriouspod
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Threads: @fastcuriouspod
Producer: Will Tyrrell
Social Media Manager: Nicola Howard
Executive Producer: Christian Hewgill
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Technical
Too Afraid to Ask
Term
testing in Bahrain
"season they would have done testing in Bahrain sort of worked out that Mercedes"
They’re talking about Formula 1 practice/testing in Bahrain. Teams use it to learn how the car behaves and to prepare for the season.
“Testing in Bahrain” refers to Formula 1 pre-season or development testing at Bahrain’s circuit. Teams use these sessions to evaluate car upgrades, tire behavior, and baseline setup before the race calendar begins.
Term
world championships
"these drivers get a very narrow window to win world championships the point I was come back to is Jensen Button"
“World championships” means the big end-of-season F1 titles. It’s not just about one race—drivers and teams earn points all year, and you usually need the right car at the right time to win.
In Formula 1, “world championships” refers to the season-long points battle that crowns the Drivers’ Champion and the Constructors’ Champion. Because the cars and teams evolve across seasons, a driver often only has a narrow period where their car is strong enough to realistically win.
Car
Oldsmobile Intrigue
"different names appearing and that creates intrigue and you see people being"
The Oldsmobile Intrigue is a regular family-sized car (a sedan) made by Oldsmobile. It was sold for a period of time, and its name is part of why people may find it interesting when looking back at older car lineups. It’s the kind of car you’d recognize by its model name from that era.
The Oldsmobile Intrigue is a mid-size sedan that was sold by Oldsmobile as part of the brand’s lineup. It’s often discussed in the context of how car names and model identities can shift over time, creating “intrigue” for people trying to track what was offered and when. That makes it a good example when a podcast is talking about the history and evolution of model naming.
Select text to request an explanation
In the words of Liz Truss, that is a disk race.
19 year old Kimi Antonelli is going to have a weight of the Italian nation on his shoulders.
Hello everybody, welcome back to the Fast and the Curious, the Formula One podcast that
doesn't take this ridiculous sport too seriously and speaks to some of the biggest names on
the grid.
I am Betty Glover, our resident Formula One geek Christian Hugel is here as always.
Hello Betty, it's lovely to be here, hi.
Hi, you okay?
Yeah, I'm remarkably well mate, are you?
Yeah, excellent and also with us this week, the man who drops by the pod when he's not
raising millions of pounds for charity, touring the UK with a best selling book, presenting
podcasts including a shiny new one and Waking Up the Nation.
Greg James, he's back!
Hey!
Hey!
It's very, very nice to be back, daddy's home.
Oh god.
You're not allowed to say that Greg, that is banned from this podcast.
Sorry.
It gives me the ick.
I like it.
The negligent team principle is back but obviously I am across everything, Fast and Curious
and very, very, very happy to be back on the podcast today.
I'm joining you from sunny Sunderland where Radio One's big weekend is happening this
week so I'm just hanging out in my hotel room and I was desperate to come and chat to you
and catch up on all the goings on in, as you said, this ridiculous sport that we don't
take too seriously but seriously enough.
Yes.
Seriously enough of course because these things are important because they bring us a lot
of joy and therefore not paying sometimes.
Well no but sport is tricky isn't it with sport because we all are in love with various
sports but the downside of being in love with a sport is that it sometimes brings you great
misery when your team doesn't do well or your driver doesn't do very well or whatever
it might be but there's so much to catch up on and I'm just sort of brimming with questions
and things and by the way, the podcast, you're flying, you're killing it.
It's a very high quality product isn't it?
Very high quality product, yes.
Very, very high quality.
Hang on, sorry we got nominated for an award and we haven't mentioned this on the podcast.
I was listening to the radio this morning, I was flicking around, I had a bit of Greg
James from Sunderland, I also heard a little bit on the other side of Vernon Kay on Radio
2 and Greg won't mind me saying that, he knows I'm a flicker, I'm out and proud.
You're a traitor, that's what you are.
I'm a traitor, I love a little flick round and he was saying that it's the big radio
industry and audio industry in the UK awards this week and he was talking about going with
his team.
Greg's Radio 1 show is nominated and the Fast and the Curious is nominated for an actual
award.
Woohoo!
Really, really very proud of you and everyone that helped put this show together.
It's been a big team effort for the last three, maybe four years now and I still love
it and I love listening to it and it's nice to pop up every now and then but you don't
need me anymore.
But look, I do have this, but there's so much to talk about because all the breaks and the
reshuffling of the deck, that was talked about a lot wasn't it at the end of last season,
it's going to reshuffle the deck of cards and that has actually happened.
So what do you want to, look I'm at your mercy, where do you want to go first?
Well, yeah, Greg we know that you all have missed stuff in the first few races of the
season because we're not just saying it for the sake of podcast storylines, you've been
ludicrously busy, like up and down the country doing amazing things for charity like your
book tour.
So we know that you all have missed stuff because life happens.
So we thought this was a good opportunity, especially given there's been another break,
this one's scheduled, the previous one not scheduled, to basically go, Greg what do
you want to talk about?
So I thought we'd name this, Greg's get up to speed.
Nice, very nice.
Greg's get up to speed.
And Greg gives you the chance to basically ask us, who've been involved with it quite
a lot, all that stuff you want to know that sort of has been missed in the last few months.
Yeah, well I've been jotting things down over the last few weeks and months because I just
jot stuff down.
What have you jotted down?
I'm intrigued.
I mean, my overarching question, which doesn't need to be answered now is, is everyone still
enjoying F1?
And that's a general question to fans and drivers alike.
And that alludes to whether the rule changes have settled a little bit.
I guess we can get into that in a second.
All these things are linked.
My other one is, what's going on with George?
Is he okay?
Was the other one?
Oscar to Red Bull question mark was another one of mine, which had many question marks
on it.
Oscar to Red Bull question mark, mark on here.
That started spinning me out a little bit because I couldn't imagine him in any other
colour apart from papaya.
So that was something that I was thinking about, but that's because we haven't seen
him anything other than papaya.
And of course drivers will quite rightly, you know, jump around and follow and progress
their own careers and whatever else.
But I, yeah, so those are my main things at the minute.
Those are little things that I've seen.
I wanted to talk about Charlotte Claire's wedding with the dog.
Not that he married a dog.
He didn't marry a lovely, wonderful woman.
But the dog was there at the ceremony and that actually got my wife's interest in F1
for the first time ever.
Really?
Bella was intrigued.
Well, she saw a dog at a wedding and thought, well, he's clearly fun.
And then she said, oh, he's like the really handsome one.
I went, yeah, he is.
It is accepted that he is the most handsome one.
Yeah, no, sure, sure.
So there's a bit of that on the side.
But can I ask that main question to both of you?
And I guess, like, is everyone okay with how F1 is going this season?
Or does everyone just, does it take a while to settle this stuff?
I'm happy to start with this.
I'll let Betty mull this over because it's a great question.
The answer is, I think, let me answer on behalf of the fans.
There's definitely been a lot of fans who struggle to get used to the new rules.
The biggest thing has been there's a lot more flip-flop overtaking.
And you sort of used to in Formula One overtaking be really bloody difficult.
Now there's more overtaking, lots of swapping.
That's taken a bit of getting used to.
I've had newer fans of the sport tell me that this is amazing.
And people absolutely love it.
And there's been maybe some fans of the sport
who have been around a bit longer struggling to get used to that a little bit.
I like it, right?
We've been saying for years in Formula One, we need more overtaking.
And for people like me who have been around since the 2000s,
where there was no sodding overtaking at any point ever,
I find it really hard when people go, oh, it's too easy.
So yeah, I sort of see what you mean, but actually it's a hard,
it's literally a science to get it bang on.
And F1 have said for years, we want to make these cars easier to overtake
and they've done that.
So I like that.
I think there is a universal acceptance on the other side of the rules
that the engines need a bit of tweaking
and there's been a bit of tweaking into Miami
and that we need the drivers to be able to go flat out in qualifying.
That will continue to be tweaked, I think.
And I think ultimately the battery power will probably go down a bit in future.
But to answer your question overall,
I got bored of talking about the rules
and it definitely started to affect my enjoyment of it.
I'll be entirely honest.
First time I've said this on the podcast, what I love talking about
is all the stuff we're going to talk about.
Kimmy versus George, the McLaren's resurgence.
I love the stories of the sport, the drivers, the teams.
And it felt to me, in Miami,
Betty I know felt the same,
that we really were able to get back to talking about that,
which I was immensely grateful for.
The break didn't help.
I think that would have come much sooner, but we lost the two races.
That's true. There was nothing to talk about
so in that void everyone started talking about the rules
and the perspective of it.
I think weirdly though, the break did actually help
because it allowed the teams to make tweaks
and come to sort of, I don't know,
get used to it a little bit more, make some changes,
bring some upgrades, which they might have made
Miami a little bit better in a way as well.
It gave people time to take some stock as well,
do you know what I mean?
But I think Miami was good.
I don't think you could have...
I don't think many people walked away from Miami
being like, I didn't really enjoy it.
It was great, yeah. It was really good.
It was the best race that we've had of this season.
So, it's getting there.
The overtaking I spoke about
felt the balance was right.
It didn't feel too difficult, easy.
So I agree with Betty.
It felt like we arrived at quite a nice...
We've settled. And you said this, Greg.
The last pod you were on, you said
things take a little bit of time
to settle when stuff happens
and you were spot on.
I think we've seen that. It's all settled a bit.
Yeah, I really enjoyed Miami. I agree with Betty.
I'm glad about that because I've watched
the Miami Grand Prix
as I always do, as a fan.
And I sat there and went, right,
we've had a long time away now.
Everyone was very, very hungry for a good race.
And I felt like it just was
a really, really enjoyable race
with the early scrap
with
Charles and Max
and Kimmy
and then the lockups
in the first corner. All that sort of stuff
is the good stuff.
So it felt like maybe the drivers were
getting used to things. And look, all these sports people
and actually all human beings on Earth
love moaning about stuff.
Particularly those millionaire drivers.
They kind of like moaning about this sort of thing
because just when they think they've cracked the sport
something, the sport goes,
try again and they have to sort of
relearn stuff. So I guess there's frustration
but that fuels them to keep going
and I think it has
made for a really interesting
start of the season, which feels like it's been going on
for months because it kind of has, but actually
we haven't had that many races.
No. And the crux of
you also asked Greg, are the drivers still enjoying it?
Let's not get away from it. The drivers haven't
enjoyed it as much. There's no getting away
from that. That's obvious for all to see.
A big reason behind that is
Greg, you and I drive
electric cars. We've both had this conversation
that when you get used to
electrical power deployment, it is a lot
more sudden.
So drivers of all of a sudden got these big
powerful beasts,
958,000 times more powerful
than our electric cars.
They've got loads more power at their disposal
which comes in so much more
suddenly and they've got
an area of cars where there's less
downforce, there's less grip.
These two combined together have meant some of the
drivers have really sort of got, I'm not
enjoying this as much.
Most of them agreed that Miami was a big
step forwards and also
most of them haven't
been as unhappy as Max has
been. A big part of the reason Max
has been so unhappy is because Red Bull
started absolutely
dreadfully but also improved a bit
in Miami. So Max
still not broadly happy but I think also
a lot of the drivers are now coming around as well.
It's not good, is it, when the
drivers themselves are saying that
the cars are really hard to drive and it's not
right, is it? But
also, as
a viewer, you can't take away from the fact
that we've actually got quite an exciting
season on the cars and the fact
that there's a battle between two
Mercedes drivers, we genuinely
have no idea which one is going to win the World
Championship. Everyone thought George Russell
was just going to run away with it but then Kimmy
Antonelli's there like, excuse me
excuse me, I'm bloody good and then
you've got McLaren that are getting better
you've got Max Verstappen that's starting
to get used to the car, like this is exciting!
Yes, but we've had
four races
and it's May.
I know.
So there's only been four,
data nerds would go
that's not a very big sample size actually.
No, that's very true.
Let's have a look at those standings for those
that aren't quite up to date with everything.
Mercedes well in the lead
on 180 points, Ferrari
second with 110, McLaren with 94
and then so
not a huge difference really,
Red Bull currently fourth but
the driver standings
at the minute
you've got obviously Kimmy out in front
you've got
100 points to George Russell second
you've got Charles third
Lando fourth
and then Hamilton fifth
then the rest but that can change
really quickly
that sort of thing.
And actually everyone's going on about Kimmy Antonelli
rightly so
but he's only got 20 points over George
Russell and there's like 482
points up for Grapp so
really guys it's very early days
I was just wondering
sorry Christian but remember how in front
Oscar was at the start of last season
and how that suddenly
changed and as we know
how that all ended up so
Kimmy's taken the last three races
but let's not forget that George took Australia
took Melbourne and could very well
take Canada and who
knows but that's why it's still
it's still very exciting and actually
this is a nice bit of the season
to join in
if you have just sort of
locked into the sport again right now
I think this is a really good time to go
oh actually there's not that much to get your head around
it's like Mercedes doing really well
and it's all to play for
I just want to pick up on one quick thing
Greg you mentioned that the driver's enjoying it
of course it's important the driver's
enjoy the sport we want the drivers to enjoy the sport
they're amazing they're why we love the sport
but also there is a bit of a balance
it's important they're challenged
they're paid an awful lot of money
it's more important broadly
speaking for the fans to be happy
and the fans to love the product
the drivers are doing their job and are paid to do so
now there's a balance there and the one hand we want them to enjoy
we don't want people like Max wanting to go
and race in other categories
but Formula One drivers and racing drivers
as a whole and elite level sports people
love a bloody moan
so we mustn't forget that
key context there
they love a bloody moan
things are quite as bad as they seem
they're still driving these amazing cars
and people like Lewis have pointed this out
actually they're quite balanced way
they're still amazing, they're still rocket ships
but we shouldn't necessarily
be pandering to everything they say
because actually it's really important
to challenge them
I don't think that sometimes gets picked up on enough
there's also a balance
where
either
the fans
having a nice time or the drivers having a nice time
or in the case of Arsenal Football Club
the fans nor the players are having a nice time
no sure
it's very very difficult
they're very tense playing that
and as an Arsenal fan you're very tense watching it
so there is always another balance there
but actually Greg, Arsenal have VAR on their side
so
it's Arsenal and VAR
yeah they really do
I think that probably was also a red card last night as well
but let's not do that now
well we've spoken about people's achievements
on this podcast this season a lot
and Betty cracking the F1 world
she also spoke to Pep Guardiola
the biggest name in world football the other day
who quite confidently told her
that he was staying at Manchester City
and then as we're recording today Betty what's happening please
well he's leaving Manchester
I knew he wasn't
sorry just to give this a bit of a stress
I know this is an F1 podcast
but I go into this interview
I get told you've got seven minutes with Pep Guardiola
it's an FA Cup interview
all you can talk to him about is the FA Cup
so I'm like right fine it's really tense
really like he literally gets in
I have to sit down go straight away
and I know I've got to ask him about his future at the end
so I do all this FA Cup fluff chat
at the end I'm just like
so he's staying at Manchester City
then like sort of
in a better word away than that
and he's just like
yes
it's like the biggest lie ever
anyway
he tells me that he's staying at Manchester City
and then literally next thing I know
five days later
he's coming out that he's leaving
so he enjoyed that
crazy time so this is top level sport
it's crazy you can't trust any of these people
you know what they're thinking
it's all just so mad
but look let me get back to one of my other questions
which was what's going on with George
is George okay
what's the future of George
I think George is fine
I genuinely do
I think it's this weird psychological
battle at the moment
and I really think Canada is so important
for George and everyone is saying
George is really good in Canada
so I think that's almost adding more pressure
to him but George needs a good result
in Canada because Miami did not go
very well for him at all
and if he can get a good result in Canada
then this psychological
battle that he's having against Kimmy Antonelli
will ease slightly and it will be fine
like we said it's a very very long season
and George is very good
but it is interesting
and if you were George Russell you'd be thinking
Jesus Christ Kimmy Antonelli
he's doing so well
it's hard
it feels like he might be able
to channel that energy
into sort of a
hyper focus almost and go right
there is someone nipping at my heels here
in a similar way I guess to when Oscar
started really challenging Lando for the first time
and then Lando had to go
okay well I don't want
to be the older
but more experienced second driver here
I need to really
knuckle down do you think that's part of his thinking Christian?
Yeah I do
I do think that's part of his thinking
I think Betty did a really good summary
I think George had some
bad luck on two races
he then in Miami
had a big
off weekend it wasn't just slightly off the
pace well off the pace
so a very bad weekend
like we saw Oscar have a couple of very bad weekends last year
like we saw Lando also
have a couple of very bad weekends last year
we've got used to informal on over the years
from the likes of Max and Lewis perfection
all of the time and actually
we sometimes need to remember
that that is not always the case so I think
George had a bad weekend in Miami
he had a bit of bad luck and with all
of this simultaneously
people underestimated Kimmy
and Kimmy did to use my catchphrase
he levelled up over the winter
and everybody sort of thought
oh he's so young so he'll be that arms
length driver that he was in season one
in season two and actually
he's levelled up in such a way
that we are starting to see
why Mercedes went for him
put him in that car why Toto
didn't get a car lost signs
or more off the shelf driver who'll come
and do it straight away because he believes that this
guy can lead Mercedes
for a decade to come and win multiple championships
we're starting to see why he believes that
now so I think it's all whirling around
bad weekend bit of bad luck Kimmy being
closer here we are we've got
a really interesting situation where I agree with Betty
this is a
massive pressure weekend
for George Russell he can't
go four in a row having been beaten
that would be even at this early
stage of the season full on crisis
mode alarms blaring oh my
god this is not good and
as Betty rightly says
the world in his wife keeps him
oh well well George is the greatest driver
to ever drive the Canadian Grand Prix circuit
he's remarkable I mean they're not quite saying that
but it's not far off it's like oh
him and over again and George has been very good in Canada
the last couple of years last year he
was fastest lap pole position won the race
year before that he had a very good weekend
that could have won the race were it not for safety car
stuff big weekend for George
last year though Kimmy came third
it's not like he's bad in Canada
he was he was off of George's pace but
he came third
you might have heard me just furiously tapping on my keyboard
then I saw I'm sorry for that but it was because
I just suddenly thought what is the
age gap between George and Kimmy
and it's it's nine
isn't he yeah but it's
it's um it's nine years
that George
is nine years older than him
so how old is Kimmy?
Kimmy's 19
I thought Kimmy was nine years of age
well
but it's
the reason I started furiously tapping
on the keyboard is because I hadn't really considered
the gulf in age
because in my head George Russell is still
24
but he's not 24 anymore
he is a truly experienced
sort of F1 driver now
and there will be those added bits of pressure
where you're like you're you're even though it's not
necessarily true he'll be thinking
have I lost a little bit of my
reaction have I lost some
fitness have I lost a what or something
I think you those those things naturally
will just pop into his head not to say that he is
at all because he's still one of the
one of the great drivers um of
well of our time but of all time
but um I really hope that
he he he kicks on and just goes
you know what Kimmy not not not
not yet I've got I've got it I'm gonna get
some championships before you're ready
but also George will
be George will have been coming into this
season they would have done
testing in Bahrain
sort of worked out that Mercedes
would had the best car and
would have gone this is my best shot
at finally being
world champion and that
was the rhetoric everybody was going
with reporters journalists
everyone was like George Russell is the favourite
George Russell is the favourite so I wonder if
it's starting to sort of
I don't know seep into
his mind that he's like
if I if I don't do this I'm never gonna get
the chance to do this again and then that adds
an extra layer of pressure whereas Kimmy's 19
he's got nothing to lose does he
Kimmy Antonelli he can attack every single
Grand Prix and go for it
and and we have seen drivers
fall off quite spectacularly
it happened to Sebastian Vettel
definitely he went from winning back to back
championships Daniel Ricciardo came into
the team and Seb even when he
moved to Ferrari never quite looked the same
driver again we then
saw it to Daniel Ricciardo
who moved away from Red Bull
he was actually very very good in his first couple years
at Renault I think sometimes that's underreported
but then it did fall off spectacularly when he
went to McLaren and now we're getting
way ahead of ourselves but Betty the
broader point is
spot on from you that these
drivers get a very narrow
window to win world championships the point
I was come back to is Jensen Button
he had one chance realistically
to win a world title where that
Braun GP car in 2009 was the best car
he had a very good number two driver
in Rubens Barrichello he took that chance
he didn't let Rubens in he didn't let
Seb in the Resurgent Red Bull catch him up
he had one chance and he took it who knows
maybe that was Lando last year who knows
maybe we'll look back on Oscar and think
he had that one chance that people get
unlucky that will be
in these drivers minds you
you know look at Fernando Alonso
the fact he has been in the sport for so
long and only has two championship is frankly
in the words of Liz Truss
that is a disgrace
because he could have so many
times he could have one of the world
championships but it's just not quite worked out
so you've got to grab this opportunity
when it when it comes around
what do you remember
off the top of your head what age
Vettel was when
he sort of didn't what wasn't
looking like he was going to be a world champion again
I have to be honest I can't remember
off the top of head but I don't
Seb retired young enough
like it
I don't actually think
it's funny I did a podcast
about this the other week of
these guys do have scientific
data on what falls
off when you get older
and they target their training to that
there's a brilliant company called Hintzer
Performance who a lot of the drivers use
who really target the areas that you need
I actually don't think that
I don't think age was it with Seb
and I think Fernando is still
sort of operating at an extremely high level
Lewis too I think sort of proving
that I think it's
other I think it was another
I think it's other forms of mentality
it's your style
working with a particular
car you're given and
the synergy between the two
so I don't think with George it's
anything like an age thing
I think it's and as Betty
says it could all be fine because
form and I said this on the last episode
such a long season form
goes up and down Kimmy's going to have some really bad weekends
George is going to have some amazing weekends
I don't think broadly
speaking there's reason to panic for George
this is pullbackable
but if it starts getting into four weekends
five weekends where Kimmy's beating him
you know
both things can be true on the one hand
so in the few races it's easily
pullbackable on the other hand
the creeping thoughts of
I might have one shot and one shot only
as Betty originally said
is a very good point
I think Kimmy has got
problems this summer
shall I tell you about them after
this very quick break
I'm coming back after the break
I'm coming back after the
after the foreign adverse
oh yeah great
welcome back
everybody to the Fast and the Curious
thank you I've been on tenterhooks
I've not been able to concentrate on those ever
baited breath
so I think
Kimmy is going to
struggle this summer and
this is why because
Italy didn't make it through
to the World Cup
therefore, no genuinely
therefore there are so many
Italian fans
that are there going
what are we going to watch, who are we going to support
and they are all going to flock
to 9 year old Kimmy Antonelli
is he going to be able to handle
that increased breath because he's already growing
in Italy and of course you've got Yannick
Sinner who
amazing tennis player who will be
trying to defend his Wimbledon title this summer as well
so he'll take a little bit of the heat
but Kimmy Antonelli he's rising
his stock is rising in Italy
these fans are going to be obsessed with him
and let's not forget
that Italian motorsport
fans have obviously always been
all about Ferrari right
but they haven't been that good recently
have they in recent years
it's going to be all about Kimmy Antonelli
they're going to be looking at him thinking
he's going to be our ticket to celebrations
but I would flip that
right on his head and say
he thrives in the big
match moments, he's been given a seat
on one of the most famous
you know successful car
constructors ever
so he rises to the occasion
yes he might been it in the wall
on the first time he ever drives one just as a little practice
but he's come so far from there
this kid
do you know what I actually think this kid needs
the weight of a nation on his shoulders
this could be the making of him
the fact that Italy aren't in the World Cup
is so sad by the way
because watching Italy
in a men's football World Cup is an iconic thing
but I think
he will be able to save
this nation, the Italian nation
do you think?
we're putting too much pressure on him
19 year old
19 year old Kimmy Antonelli
is going to have a weight
of the Italian nation on his shoulders
is he going to be able to lead them to glory?
your prefrontal cortex
is not developed until your 26
so this kid is not
thinking
he's not thinking
because he doesn't think in that way
because he's still a teenager
so he's just been like
I'm just going to drive the car really fast
that's it
drive the car really fast win the race
I'm going to win the race
I'm going to save the nation
my prefrontal cortex she is not yet developed
correct
interesting though
because you tend to underthink
when you're that age
your fearlessness is there
and your instincts are there
but you're not really considering the bigger picture
like George's
because George's fully developed
lobes
so I would say that that's one of the things
there you go
I bet you've missed me haven't you?
I really missed you
it's interesting though isn't it
I think all of those Italian
fans his popularity is absolutely
sword
in a way though
that's what these drivers really want
isn't it
they might say
that they don't
but yes they want to be successful drivers
but they want to go down
in the history books as legends
and they want lots of fans and they want to be loved
and they want to be celebrated
and they want to make their country proud
and all the rest of it
do you think they do?
I don't know
do you think they do it because they like racing?
yeah they're just so
obsessed and in love with racing
I don't even know if they
think about all the external stuff
obviously like Christian said so many times
in his podcast that
Formula 1 like you need the sponsorship
you need the money, popularity
but ultimately at the end of the day
these guys just love the sport
I think you're both right
but I think you're also both wrong in the context
of individual drivers
I think some of them
absolutely
do like the idea of representing a nation
on the world stage
and love it
I think some of them are literal
children who've grown up liking things
that go fast and that's it
friend of the podcast
who we had on the lot and we really liked
Logan Sargent, I saw an interview with him recently
how's he doing?
well we saw him in January didn't we
and he recognised us and said hello
which was lovely, lovely Logan Sargent
but I remember him saying
how wasn't that into F1?
and also when he was a kid in America
it wasn't as big as it is now
so I saw an interview with him where he was like
how wasn't that into F1? I just like fast stuff
so I think he just wanted to drive fast
and enjoy racing fast stuff
I think others will love representing a nation
so I actually think you're both right and that's why
we're all winners really
there are no opinions here
on this very bland podcast
we all
win all the time
I'd like to
I would like to now talk about a very
special thing from a very special man
something very exciting is happening
to Christian Hugh Gill
and the big big news
is that well you announced this week
I don't want to do
I don't want to announce your announcement but what did you announce this week Christian?
feel free to announce the announcement
but I can announce the announcement equally
in fact let me get the announcement
it's behind you mate
well that's what I've got
I've got our boxes and these unsolved things over the years
it's going to be firewood
I have written a book
and I'm holding the book
yes I've written a book and it is called
Grand Prix 101 and friend of ours
and friend of the podcast
James Vowles has written the four word
for the book which is lovely
and two also friends of the
well one very big friend of the podcast
have written on the back of the book
Greg James and Bernie Collins
have also put words on the back of the book
to say
that people should read the book
which I'm grateful for them saying they think
people should read the book
and I'm holding the book
so when's it out Christian?
I always forget when it's out
June the 25th
June the 25th is when the book is out
but it is available to pre-order
now
it'll be available all over the world with global shipping
for everywhere you'd expect to buy books
as well as the good old local bookshop
yeah Grand Prix 101
it's very exciting
it's such
an achievement to
be holding something that you've written
in its final stages
it's very very cool I hope you feel very proud
of yourself and look
that little boy who has loved Formula One
since as we've said many times the early
noughties look what you've done
someone's asked you to
write a book about it because they think that
your knowledge
will be able to benefit other people
yeah it's called Grand Prix 101
everything you ever wanted to know about Formula One
comma explained
and do you know what that quote on the back
that I gave you
they've sat, we were talking about the bland podcast
we're not bland at all but they've sanitised
my quote
I think I called you a madman
or something
but I believe the full version of the quote
is on the things like Amazon
and the internet
so I believe the full version of the quote
is out there somewhere
read me Greg's quote
it says on the back if you're falling in love with
or have already been seduced by this brilliantly mad sport
you must read this book immediately
Greg James National Treasure
it doesn't say National Treasure
there was another version of that which was like
if you're deeply unwell like Christine Hughill
and my Formula One
and have ruined your life
because of your love of it then this book
is going to become your best friend
excellent
that is the crux of it
it's 50 questions
and the idea behind it
is once you've read these 50 questions
you know enough about the sport to love it
as much as I do I've always thought
that you can get some enjoyment
from just seeing the cars go around
but actually the more you know about it
the more you love it
so what I've really tried hard to do
is make something
that anyone who's like just getting into this
and we know there's a lot of people like this
who listen to this podcast
can just pick it up and go
here's an easily digestible 50 questions
just tell me what I need to know and off I go
but also if you have been watching for years
I've tried to put stuff in there
that you won't know
and that will teach you stuff
and you'll be like you know I didn't know that
so I've tried to make it suitable for both camps
so it's basically 50 questions
and also
a lot of those are like the most frequently asked questions
I get because naturally
being a sort of professional F1 geek
people come up to me and go
I've always wanted to know this so basically I've whacked all of those
into a book
and also it's a beautiful
coffee table book
it's not necessarily bed time reading
it's one of those ones that's just
really beautifully made
they've done such a good job
yeah it looks so pretty
the lovely people at
Wellbeck Illustrated who have done that bit
I've chosen the pictures
but they've made such
a lovely job of like making it pretty
it smells amazing is that weird to say that
my book smells amazing
I like that I love the new book smell
got the new book smell so
I'll tell you what
I'll try and get some copies to give away on the podcast
shall I
and we'll try and get it in some
great ideas
thanks for letting me talk about it guys
Grand Prix 101
it's useful for our listeners
if they love listening to the podcast
and they like your brain orally
then they can have it literally
on a piece of paper
and the podcast guest mentioned
did several points to the book pod fans
does it?
of course it does
go and pre-order that and support
in this endeavour because he's a
lovely man and a very talented man
and that comes out on June 25th
it is Grand Prix 101
I have another question
go on
what's all this about Oscar going to Red Bull
it's a good question
it's a very good question
I was quite shocked about this
I was really shocked
well let's just rewind a little bit
this came out was it
very shortly after Miami Betty
it was about this in Miami were we
there was some I would say
it wasn't just mindless
speculation I would say there were some
more reputable sources
reporting
that Oscar to Red Bull
is a conversation that's been at least
talked about and I would say
that that is probably
true but I would also say that
it's not unusual when drivers
retire I'm going to use Jensen
Buttern as another example
he talks about the fact that his team
went and spoke to Ferrari
and there was mutual interest there
it never happened he never drove for Ferrari
but agents of drivers
and representatives of drivers saying
do we think this could work in future
this does happen all the time
it's not unusual so it's not to say that
this isn't true
but it's also not necessarily to mean
that it's definitely going to happen
but Greg
it wouldn't surprise me
it shocked me a little bit
and I think
I put it on my Instagram I was like
what and loads of people were like well of course
why has it shocked you
of course this was going to happen
so why did it shock you
it shocked me because
I just can't comprehend Oscar
not driving for McLaren like
Greg said at the beginning of the podcast
I'm just not sure red is his colour
to be quite honest with you and I just
can't see it however
he does have that like ruthless
mentality and we've talked about this
for years haven't we and that
sort of fits into the whole red bull
brand
a little bit so
yeah
where would he slot in
do you think
does that feel like a good fit
okay so
there's two worlds for me that this becomes true
or three worlds
I said three worlds
world number three worlds welcome
to three worlds formula one
world number one
thanks Greg
that the
relationship between
Oscar and Lando I think
eventually one of them
will feel like they need to move on
and I said this last season
that and what's
died or dampened this down
a little bit is that at the moment
the car isn't like it was last year
the lead car
but eventually I think one of those
might go do you know what
I've been beaten by my teammates
and this happened again I mentioned it
earlier Vettel and Ricardo
Ricardo and Verstappen both of them have gone
you know what I've been beaten by my teammate
I need a change of scene
to refresh my career
this happens in formula one it doesn't mean
they'll have a blazing route or blazing fall out
it just might mean actually
I need a refresh
and with Lando winning the championship last year
probably that makes Oscar the
favourite to at some point think
do you know what
I need a new
surroundings here
some new surroundings here so that's world one
that is world one
world number two
Greg thank you world two
that
basically a seat becomes available
at Red Bull
and that either becomes
let's say for world two
Max gets bored
even if the regulations
are more suited to Max
I still don't think Max Verstappen will be
in this sport in ten years time
I really do believe him
I don't think he'll do an Alonzo or Hamilton
I don't think he'll be around till his late thirties
I think he'll probably win a couple more
best case scenario and go actually I want to go race another series
I want to go and be with my family I want to go and do other things
and therefore they need another number one driver
and is Oscar
Piastri capable of leading Red Bull
in the absence of Max Verstappen
I've said on this podcast so many times
I think he's world champion material
even though there were blips along the road last year
and he was ultimately beaten by Lando
do I think that he is still world champion material
yes I do
he'd be a good new number one
for Red Bull
but there is also
World No. 3
thank you
there is also World No. 3
where maybe
and it's not happened so far
where Isaac struggles
and Red Bull goes
you know what
we've tried promoting 912 drivers
we don't think Arvid Limblads in
we're never going to go
and get Liam Lawson back in
let's go back into the market
Oscar has proven his ability
to work alongside
a vastly talented teammate in Lando Norris
so if we're going to do a pares
and buy into the market like we've done before
is he someone that could work alongside Max
maybe
now that's the most unlikely of the world
because I think he's probably a bit too quick
to be alongside Max and it might cause friction
but who knows
they might decide we need the two best drivers
we can to take on Mercedes
in the constructed championship
they are for me the three worlds
where I feel like it is realistic and possible
Betty Glover, hi, welcome
question, why do you think
it's more likely that Oscar will leave
McLaren rather than Lando
obviously I know Lando won the world championship
with McLaren but
he's not like their favourite
no, I don't think he is their favourite
now other people think there's a conspiracy
and that he is McLaren's golden boy
I don't think McLaren go to all the effort
to buy him out of the Alpine contracts
and all the controversy there
and being off Daniel Ricciardo a year early
only to say to him a couple of years later
by the way you're our second favourite
I think McLaren's favourite is who is winning
I really do
but Lando won last year
and Lando has marginally started
the better this year
and for that reason and that reason
now there's plenty of time for that to turn round
but for that reason and that reason only
I think that's more likely
can I ask one big final question
yes you can, in fact I actively encourage you to do so
give me five
world scenarios
where Kimmy Antonelli could actually
win the championship
no just give me one, can Kimmy actually
win this thing?
yeah I think he can
and that doesn't need a long answer
I think he's talented enough
the question will be how does he recover from the dip
inevitably there'll be a dip
we saw it with Oscar last year
inevitably there will be a point where it goes wrong
how does he recover from that
when that happens it's a long season
there's still another how many ever races there are to go
when something goes wrong
how does he recover because he's that young
but is he talented enough
yes is he quick enough, yes does he have the car, yes
he is absolutely
well in this title fight
is he, in fact
I think he's a favourite
you say about him recovering from the dips
I think he has sort of
proven that he does that quite well
because when he makes a mistake
he sort of just gets straight back on it
and he does well
I think he'll recover well from the
from the dips
I just wonder
whether
George
is
whether George can just turn it on
and it's all about momentum in sport isn't it
it doesn't matter what sport you follow
what sport you're watching it's all about momentum
and at the moment Kimmy has that momentum
as soon as that swings
George wins Canada
George wins Spain
I don't know how
how that will then work
it's interesting though isn't it
it is, it is
it's wide open
and that's why I think lots of people are
drawn
to this season
because they've noticed
different names appearing
and that creates intrigue
and you see people being
annoyed at stuff you see drivers
not quite
famous drivers who have just
I wouldn't say had an easy run at it
but drivers that
regularly do really well suddenly
dropping down the pecking order and you go
oh well actually just on a base level
it's just interesting to see last year's champion
not
in the lead
that's just interesting you're like okay
something's going on here what is that something
so I think it makes
people lean in
well and for years we've had Hamilton and Verstappen
last year a new winner in Norwich this year
another new person at the top in Antonelli and Russell
yeah again it adds to that
and this is what we need to remember to go right back to the stars
of the podcast when we're saying about are we still enjoying it
my friend Tom for example
hi Tom
he's been watching F1 for 18 months
and he's like
loving this season the overtaking
the new people involved and we need to welcome
people like this who have
you know there's been people with this podcast from the start
there's people listening to this podcast who have been watching it for longer than me
but actually
sports are
pretty good place you know so
I'm really excited
I'm excited that it's coming back I'm excited that we can talk about this championship battle
and the dynamic between
the two Mercedes Drivers is just fascinating
so yeah lovely what a time to be alive
there'll be new listeners listening today for the first time
to Fast and Curious
and you're very very welcome
you are please buy my book
Betty then final word on
Canada to you then
George Russell is ever so strong in Canada
it's his race
have we mentioned George is good in Canada
it's honestly all anyone
is bloody saying isn't it
I think that
it's gonna be
I think a McLaren's gonna win
I think a McLaren's gonna win
of course
it's due to rain on Sunday
in Montreal
so I'm sort of thinking
yeah I think it's gonna be
I think it's gonna be a McLaren
I don't know which one
but that's all I'm giving you
alright
a wet to dry Canadian Grand Prix
is just the stuff of
dreams for Formula 1 family
brilliant races in Canada
it's a circuit where you could overtake
it's a circuit where
mistakes are punished because
the walls are quite close
the fans are great there
I've done the last two Canadian Grand Prixs
I'm not there this year which will feel weird
but it's a great track
and we always get weather
so I tell you what
I will go
because he's proven how good he is
in the damp conditions in Canada
I'm gonna go with George Russell
alright
you sound really disappointed with that Greg
you sounded really disappointed
not at all
I was looking at
the standings and I'll go for
I'll actually mention
a McLaren driver I'm gonna go for
I don't know what order but I think it's gonna be
I think it's gonna be an Oscar
it's gonna be an Oscar Antonelli Russell
top three
it's not that groundbreaking
but that's pretty much on form
for George
but I think that's how it's gonna
shake out
it is interesting because I do think George is one of those people
I think he's gonna come into this
and he's just gonna be licking his lips
I think he's gonna be excited
I think he's gonna be ready to go
I don't think he's gonna feel pressure
shall we all lick our lips and say goodbye
look, this is how much we're excited about
mmm
that's disgusting
yummy, yummy Grand Prix
mmm
mmm
this is weird to look at for me
so I've just got both of you staring into your cameras
licking your lips
the Canadian Grand Prix, taste it
right guys, thank you so much
for listening to us once again
we'll be back next week post Canadian Grand Prix
in the meantime send us
questions, send us whatever
follow us on your social media
send us flowers
send us flowers which
social media produced with the Fast and the Curious
Nicola sent me some flowers
to congratulate me on the book
how nice is that, thanks Nicola
and makes us
makes us feel terrible better
I was sick Nicola
that's why I said it
I was just
what shall we send him
shall we send something bigger than that
send you a horse
brilliant, what?
I'll send you a horse
please don't send me a horse
although my dog Derek did me to horse at the weekend
anyway
on that bombshell let's go
send him a Ferrari
bye
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