Aston Martin is the Formula 1 team they’re talking about. They’re saying the team has been struggling, but there are signs of improvement and big changes are coming.
Honda is mentioned as the company Aston Martin is working with. In F1, that kind of partnership usually means help with the engine so the car can perform better.
The chassis is the car’s main frame. If the engine doesn’t fit properly, it can cause problems like vibration and poor performance.
Concept
engine next year / combustion engine vs battery power
They’re talking about changes to F1’s hybrid power system. These cars use both a gas engine and battery-powered energy, and the rules can change how much each one is used. That can change how the car makes power and how it uses fuel and energy during a race.
Concept
engine using its oil usage
They’re also talking about oil—how the engine uses it. In racing, oil isn’t just for “keeping things moving”; it helps control heat and protect the engine. If the rules change how the engine is run, oil behavior can change too.
They’re saying that when the rules change, it can shake up who’s fast. If everyone has to redesign parts of the car, the teams that were struggling might catch up more easily than they would under the old rules. That’s why they think it could help Aston Martin.
“Incremental gains” refers to small, step-by-step performance improvements—like minor aero or systems tweaks—rather than a major redesign. In F1, if a car has a fundamental issue (e.g., reliability or pace), small upgrades may not move the needle enough to matter. That’s why the hosts connect this idea to not upgrading when the car can’t reliably finish races.
Williams is a Formula 1 constructor referenced as a benchmark for where Aston Martin is in the field. The speaker implies Aston Martin is multiple positions behind Williams, so incremental upgrades aren’t enough to close the gap quickly. It’s used to illustrate the scale of the performance deficit.
McLaren is another F1 team mentioned in the context of who’s fighting for the lead. The host is contrasting that with Aston Martin’s current position, where they’re not in the same top battle.
A wind tunnel is like a giant airflow test chamber. Teams run the car model through it to see how air affects speed and grip. If that testing gets delayed, it’s harder to improve the car quickly.
Concept
aerodynamic development delays
Aerodynamic development delays happen when a team can’t run the testing and iteration cycle needed to refine airflow around the car. In F1, aero is a major performance driver, so missing wind-tunnel time can push back design changes and reduce how quickly the team can respond to what the car is doing on track. The transcript links this to difficulties in understanding how to deal with the rules.
In F1, teams rely on measurements from the car. If they don’t get many laps in (or the car has problems), they don’t learn as much, so it’s harder to fix things and improve.
A vibration issue means the car is shaking more than it should. In racing, that can make the car harder to drive and can also mess up the data the team collects, so solving it is a real step forward.
A battery issue means the car’s electrical power isn’t working correctly. In an F1 race, that can cause the car to fail and have to stop, so it’s a big problem to fix.
A retirement means the car had to stop and couldn’t finish the race. That’s bad for the team because it usually also cuts short the information they could have gathered.
A power unit is the whole F1 “engine system,” not just the engine. If it has a problem, the car may not be able to qualify well or might retire during the race.
“Not classified” means the driver doesn’t get an official race result because they fell too far behind. It can happen if the car has trouble and loses many laps.
Reliability issues are breakdowns or problems that stop the car from working properly. In F1, that can mean retiring or finishing but not being counted in the results.
In F1, the engine is often supplied by a specialized company. The team still has to make it work with the rest of the car, and poor coordination can cause big problems.
Downshifts are when the car changes to a lower gear while slowing down. If they’re inconsistent, the car can feel jerky or unpredictable when you brake and turn in.
Rear locking is when the back wheels skid instead of rolling while braking. That can make the car unstable and harder to control, particularly if it happens suddenly.
They’re talking about the next race in Canada and what should be improved there. Different tracks have different braking areas, so problems can be more or less noticeable.
The gearbox is what changes the gear ratios so the engine can make the right amount of power at the right time. If it fails, the car can’t accelerate or slow down smoothly, and it can even stall.
If the rear wheels lock up during braking, they skid instead of gripping the road. That makes the car harder to control and can ruin your braking into a turn.
On a track with lots of quick turns, you have to change gears fast. You shift down to slow for the corner, then shift up right away so the car can accelerate again.
A sprint weekend means the event has an extra, shorter race that affects where cars start for the main race. It also usually leaves teams with less time to practice and fine-tune the car.
A Grand Prix is the main Formula 1 race at a particular track. They’re saying Canada might be a worst-case race for Aston Martin if they can’t improve their speed.
Concept
ADUO review
An “ADUO review” here is a rules-and-money checkpoint in F1. If a team is behind, the review can affect whether they get extra funding to improve the car.
Upgrades are improvements teams add to the car. The idea here is that Aston Martin might be able to bring changes after the review so they can go faster at the next race.
They’re talking about a rule based on how far off a team is compared to the best. If the gap is big enough (like 8% or more), the team gets extra money to improve the car.
In F1, the sport sets rules about what teams are allowed to build. When the engine rules change, teams have to redesign their engines, and that can change who’s fastest.
F1 cars use a battery as part of their hybrid power system. If the battery isn’t working well, the car can lose some of its extra power—especially when you’re trying to get moving quickly at the start.
This is how quickly the car gets up to speed right after the race begins. A good launch helps you gain position before the field settles into rhythm.
Term
hybrid energy deployment
Hybrid energy deployment is how the car uses battery/electric help during the race. If it doesn’t work well, you lose some of the quick acceleration that helps you get ahead early.
Mercedes is one of the biggest and most successful names in Formula 1. Here, they’re being used as an example of a team that’s hard for others to catch.
Ford is referenced as another engine/power brand in Formula 1. The discussion is about whether rule changes will limit how much strong engine programs can improve performance.
The “hybrid era” means the current generation of F1 cars that use a mix of fuel power plus battery/electric energy. That changes how teams make power and can influence who wins most often.
Term
dominant year
A “dominant year” is when one team is clearly the best for most of the season. They keep winning or finishing far ahead of everyone else.
Audi is mentioned as another company that could take advantage of the situation. The idea is that if one group improves, others may follow and the competitive landscape changes.
This is about the rules limiting how strong a car’s engine can be. The goal is to stop one team from being too far ahead so others have a better chance to close the gap.
The FIA is the organization that makes the rules for Formula 1. If they “step in,” it usually means they’re making sure teams follow the rules so the sport stays fair.
A cost cap is a rule that limits how much F1 teams are allowed to spend. It helps keep rich teams from gaining an unfair advantage just by spending more.
Ballast is extra weight added to a race car to slow it down and balance performance. The idea is to give successful cars a handicap so the field stays closer—similar to how F1 uses other regulation tools to manage competitiveness.
BTCC stands for British Touring Car Championship, a UK touring-car series. The transcript mentions BTCC “carry weight,” which is a form of success ballast/handicapping used to keep cars closer in performance across the season.
In F1, “regulation shift” means the rules for the cars change. When that happens, teams have to redesign their cars, and the fastest team one year might not be the fastest the next.
A “qualifier” here means how well someone performs in qualifying laps. Qualifying decides where you start the race, and starting up front usually gives you a better chance to finish well.
The “grid” is the lineup for the race—where each car starts. Starting closer to the front usually makes the race easier to manage.
Concept
F2
F2 is a racing series that helps young drivers earn a chance at Formula 1. If someone does well in F2, teams often see it as a sign they might be ready for F1.
To race in Formula 1, drivers need an FIA super license. They earn points for it through results in lower series, and if they don’t have enough points, they can’t race in F1 yet.
Concept
F3
F3 is a lower-level junior racing series for up-and-coming drivers. Doing well there can help a driver move up the ladder and build the credentials needed for F1.
An F2 campaign just means how a driver did over their Formula 2 season. The better the season, the more likely teams (and the FIA requirements) see them as ready for the next step.
Prema is a racing team that runs cars in the junior series that lead to Formula 1. If Prema is doing really well, it can make it harder for other drivers to score top results.
LIVE
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 welcome to the late breaking F1 podcast presented by Sam sage and me Ben Hawking on this
I was going to call it a non race weekend Sunday Sam
But in truth it is a race weekend for some if your name is Max Verstappen
My man never stops racing every weekend is a race weekend for Max Verstappen and as I've just realized
He's in the lead. Yeah, currently as we're recording this the mag just all he does is wing wing wing no matter what
I feel like that's so he's actually written about him. Yeah
I mean, there's still quite a few hours to go in this 24 hours as well. So if when it goes out, he's actually
Crashed out then that's gonna seem seem really bad
It shows that we're supporters though. So that's yeah, I'm equally a supporter of the Dacia
Which is just running around all on its own. Is it just a San Mero? Yes, just at the back. Just it's just yeah
It just looks like like me driving around the Gerberg ring, which I love so yeah, it's good to see that
It's sold out this year. It's great. Yeah, the interest in endurance racing is still very much alive
But loving it absolutely loving it. Do you know what my favorite thing about this whole weekend has been is?
like
people in the media and
Websites and news outlets and whoever who don't usually post anything about
Something like endurance racing are starting to post because Verstappen's there and it's a wet
How can you shoehorn Verstappen's name in any headline or tweet that you've got going out?
Just look at our episode title today
We would never do something like that we'd never shoehorn names into titles or anything
We're gosh. No. No, no, we're we're on honestly. We're fine
Broadcasters we're listening of
Well, we've got a Q&A coming up later on today
We're also going to be just talking about the F1 calendar and some potential changes to that
But we're gonna start with Aston Martin
The team that once upon a time Max Verstappen might have been rumored to go to
How many times do you get his name into this opening five minutes? Who Max Verstappen? Oh, very good
No, we're talking about Max Verstappen. Okay, good. So we're talking about a team that Max Verstappen is not racing for that being Aston Martin
They remain 11th in the constructors championship joining Cadillac on zero points
I was gonna go with a nil poir because of Eurovision last night, but even the UK didn't manage that
Good news though
Miami was the first time that both Aston Martin cars finished a race in 2026
So everything is on the up. Everything's coming up millhouse. Where do they go from here?
Oh, isn't it just the lowest of expectations wings for them?
It's it's like saying that both podcast hosts managed to finish a show
You're like, well, yeah
Kind of is expected when you do a podcast you're gonna make it all the way through to the end of the wasn't any good
But you made it to the end, right?
You know like that's a bare minimum and if you're gonna be in a sporting event getting to the end of the sporting event
Tends to be the bare minimum to show that you've actually turned up. Where do they go from here?
I don't know where they go from here. That's the difficult question. I think that's where Aston Martin a little bit stuck right now is
One direction is not an option for them
They need to be on the offensive in all directions and the key part is working closely with Honda because there's so many things
Changing in the regulations when it comes to engines that they need to make sure that unlike last time when they were basically caught with their pants down
Where they won't enough staff
They have hired and fired everyone that are bigger part of the Red Bull program a few years beforehand
The engine didn't fit into the chassis it vibrated. It couldn't get up to 6,000 rpm
It's honestly the list of mess that came from the engine alone is ridiculous
You got to car a cleaner to sort that one out
But then when you've got these changes coming potentially for next year, you think well that throws more confusion into it
Well, I don't think it does. I actually think for Aston Martin, especially it might add clarity to allow them to sit down and go
There's gonna be massive changes to the engine next year. You know, we might see a 10% changing
the GPU CPU GPU I'm talking about
Computers computers here. Well, they are battery powered after all
But you know where you got that combustion engine percentage increasing and the battery power potentially decreasing
You might see a lot of change in terms of fuel and and the way that the engine is using its oil usage and the way the power is used
So this might change a lot in terms of the way that Honda are manufacturing the engines themselves
You might think oh gosh, we could get the first one right
Well, I actually think that helps them because they could get the first one right the changes being so plentiful in theory
It might put other teams on the back foot which might allow Aston Martin to just rejig the whole plan and go right
We're gonna start off fresh. We're still gonna be a bit behind
But at least we've got a target that everyone else is also working to not this a linear plan from 2026 all the way through to
2030 where we're already gonna be multiple seconds behind so I don't think they know where to go
But I do think these new regulations coming in might offer them a bit of a helping hand
Yeah, at least in the in the more longer term. I
Short-term I think they're a bit stuffed and that's probably why I think that's probably why you lean more towards
What could happen next year because I think most of this year is a foregone conclusion and not in a good way
I I've spent some time thinking about their
I don't know upgrade strategy
But not really an upgrade scratch strategy because they didn't have any upgrades when we went to Miami
They were the only team that did and I know we I don't know ripped on them a bit for that at the time
And rightly so but also I kind of understand what they're doing here in that
There's not much point upgrading a car that can't finish a race. At least that was the truth before Miami and
There's not much point in going for these incremental gains
Fernando Alonso spoke about it afterwards to say that, you know, we could bring these smaller upgrades and improve by
Three times for a second. What's that gonna get us?
We're still gonna be like seven times behind Williams or seven times behind
Racing balls, whoever the back of the midfield is that doesn't get us anywhere
So he might as well hold out for and you know make these upgrades more efficient by bringing
Bigger upgrades once they're ready at some point in the in the future. He said the next few races
Probably not gonna see much of a different Aston Martin. I suppose the good thing for Aston Martin
Is they're basically not up against anyone at this point
There's there's it's not like they're in a race like Ferrari are with McLaren and they are both with Mercedes and red
But they're trying to race themselves to get back to the front here Aston Martin are in a game of one right now
They know that they're at the back. They know they've got a car that can finish a race
They simply need to get a car together that starts to
Put reality into the fantasy that they produced last year
Which was this Adrian Newey Andy cow honda mega machine that we expected to kind of turn up and
Change the face of Formula one. Obviously, we're so far from that
I think they need to take three or four big steps this year
Maybe one at the summer break when they're comfortable one before the end of the year
Excuse me, and then one right at the end of the year that allows them to really really start to realize how that direction of a cream
Was meant to come about obviously they were so far on the back foot when Newey came in with the wind tunnel being delayed
Then it does cause the difficulties in understanding how to mitigate the regulations both pros and cons
They've got a lot to learn still
So I do think that it's gonna be at least 20 27 before we see any meaningful advantage for Honda come and ask Martin coming in
We we played Formula fortunes on Wednesday's episode and I don't know why I'm bringing that up
I suffered a devastating loss, but
As a result of playing Formula fortunes
I was able to go back and look at some of the occasions we played it last year
I think we did it your three or four times
And one of the questions we asked on one of those additions last year
How many races will Aston Martin win in?
2026 and I bet you the top answer wasn't none
I can't remember what the top answer was but any there were people who said oh
56 and I don't think that's gonna be right. I think zeros
Probably gonna happen
I reckon yeah, if you all put some money on zero you might be doing alright
Yeah, I've said before that I think their biggest issue right now heading out of the first three races at least was a lack of data
Like if you look at most teams and what they were able to do including like Cadillac even who are maybe their nearest rivals in terms of pace right now
They Cadillac were able to do 110 laps in the Chinese main Grand Prix
Which was out of 112 because they both got lapped
Aston Martin had 41 in that same race
There was a possible 116 laps in Australia from both drivers
They did 64 which is barely half and because of this
They had a real lack of data to work with going into this extended break that we've had we've had what one race in
Seven weeks. Yeah, maybe two months now. Yeah, right and whereas the likes of
The likes of Williams, for example, we're able to use that time quite effectively to catch back up in Miami
Aston Martin, I just don't think had
The information at hand to really help them out a great deal
I don't think that would have changed massively for them, but it has really held them back and
It's good that they've sold they've solved this vibration issue. The Lonzo seems to confirm in Miami. That's gone
But that list that you mentioned earlier is really long of things that they need to improve
Lancerola's had a battery issue that has caused a retirement this year
He's had a water pressure issue that's caused the retirement a power unit issue stopped him running in qualifying in Australia
And of course he did the race but was not classified because he was so many laps behind
There are so many reliability issues. They've had to this point that they need to keep going
Yeah, the other thing that's causing the problems, of course is that they are trying to work with an engine manufacturer
it's on the other side of the planet and
Their their issues are paired
It's got like it's only ever coming just from the engine or only ever coming just from the kind of the electrics and the chassis
It is a constant battle between the two of how one is impacting the other and we've heard stories coming out of Aston Martin
But the shatty didn't fit over the engine properly
You know when they first brought it in and because they just weren't made in tandem
There was such poor communication between the two companies that they had no
Synergy no ability to work together across the globe, which is tricky, of course
But we're in the modern day now when it comes to formula one
You've got to be there with each other if Red Bull and Ford are able to do something together
And that's in theory on two separate continents
And if there is so can you know hodlard in Japan and Aston Martin who are up near up near Coventry
So in theory perfectly plausible
They need to find a way to make sure these companies are actually aligned and working together because that will stop them having these issues going forward
Yeah, and
Outside of outside of this as well Fernando Alonso at Miami spoke a bit about what's what's next on the agenda for Aston Martin
What do they fix now that the vibration issue is at least sorted?
He said the biggest problem was the gearbox. He said it was impossible to drive. I lost sync in every braking point
I had no acceleration out of the corners and the downshifts were all over the place and very random
Sometimes I had push sometimes I had rear locking and that was a really bad surprise
That's something he's identified as the number one thing to at least partially fix for Canada based on some of the the braking zones that we have there
Again, this is quite telling that their list of things to fix is so long that
He thinks it's the gearbox that they need to focus on
I think this shows why it's not just a failure of Honda's part either
You know Aston Martin have really got this wrong in a number of different ways
The gearbox is sounds really silly. It's far more integral to a car than you actually think it is
It's not just about changing gears
It's not just going from first through to whatever gear you have in your car and back down again when you're braking
It is the literal soul around what your car is built around because if your engine revs
So you can't allow it to shift up to move into the next gear to then go through the chambers to to allow the engine to move
You cause overheating you cause too much pressure the the engine might stall
If you're then going down and you're losing power at the wrong momentum
You're you're you're smooth or smoothing its transition
Your braking is irregular the rear wheels will lock as we've seen multiple times
It's what happened with Liam Lawson in Miami where he took out Pierre Gasly the gearbox had a failure
And it meant that he was unable to get the car to move properly
It's so integral to having a working car that if you've never driven a manual car
You won't understand how much you need to do and to judge you to juggle when you're going through gears
When you're having to slow the car down for a corner when you're having to adjust for traffic or risks around you
An automatic gearbox doesn't log about for you in a road car. It's so well programmed. They're excellent
BMW even came up recently and said we might never make a manual car again because our automatic gearboxes are so good
It's actually just worse for the car to have a manual driver now
But having a manual gearbox you have to be a real part of that car if it isn't working for you
You will see a loss of time confidence ability and a loss of reliability
So it's it's hugely integral to getting it right and it shows us to Marsing have got a 63 holes in the ship
All over the place and think about Canada that's next up as well a lot of really fast chicanes there
Multiple fast chicanes over the lap where you really need to downshift and upshift very quickly out of these corners if you are
Shift downshifting, you know before you need to or before other cars need to and you don't have the confidence in the gearbox
You're gonna be losing even more time than Aston Martin are already losing
So if that's something they don't fix with Canada and again, we only have the one practice session because it's a sprint weekend
I don't want to say Aston Martin will be in trouble because they're already there
But they can be plunged further into trouble if that's the case
There's a real risk that Canada could be their slowest Grand Prix if they do both finish the race because of the nature of the Grand Prix
I do think that they will struggle to maximize any part of the track
boy
Good news though for Aston Martin and Honda maybe these ADUO changes
So you mentioned sort of working with Honda and this is maybe a good example of that because
Number one first bit of good news the first ADUO review will take place after Canada
So there is an opportunity to fix things at that point via upgrades
It was initially going to be after round six, which was supposed to be
Canada
Sorry, it was supposed to be Miami
Then didn't become Miami and became Monaco because of the two cancellations and now has come back to Canada
So overall might be considered a win. The other thing is there's been a tweak in the rules
So it was initially if you are 8% or more worse than what is believed to be the leading team or the leading engine
You will get 8 million dollars to spend on upgrades
Now if you are over 10% away
You will get 11 million dollars and it's believed that Honda is the reason this rule exists
Cheers Honda
I mean it 3 extra million if they're not worse by more than 10% they're in big trouble because what's wrong then?
Oh good Lord could you imagine if they're 9.9% worse
Or they show up and like you've actually got the best engine
So what have you done here guys? What's going on?
It's an odd and interesting program that Formula One are running and there's been a lot of complaints about it actually
From listeners of this show from social media users which are many and F1 watches, you know
There is a real problem that people say
Well, you should just be giving a leg up because you weren't very good at something and I guess you can apply this complaint to that
New engine regulation that we've got now or if your battery starts to fail or you don't get the best launch off of a race start
You get a helping hand essentially to make sure you get off the line faster
It's a bit like this in terms of regulations that you couldn't create an engine that was good enough
So now we're getting a hold back the brilliant craftsmanship of essentially Mercedes and maybe Ford who are running alongside them
To make sure that everyone comes together. I understand the point. They're making. I think it's a fair point that they're making
I think I disagree with the point of the Aguo system in the sense that I want Formula One to be as close and as competitive as possible
And having someone like Honda languishing in the back having Ferrari be maybe 34 tenths away further back
Overall, it just doesn't affect the product positively. It causes us to have a less competitive
Sport if you want to have a dominant year year after year then go back to the hybrid era because that's what's going to happen
Hopefully these Aguo systems will mitigate us having a six year run of Mercedes dominating everything again
That's the plan anyway
Honda need this big time Honda absolutely need this isn't just Honda
They need to bear that in mind that the likes of Audi will pick this up Ferrari
Most likely will pick this up as well
And it'll be interesting to see whether Red Bull Ford get anything or Mercedes get anything
We don't know who has technically got the faster of the two engines if Mercedes pick something up and they're all in trouble
But realistically they need to make sure that they are maximizing this eight to 11000000
Dollars like that is a ridiculous amount of money for anything and anyone
Spend it properly. Please actually spend it wisely and have something to show for it at the end of the situation
I'm very curious to see what they can improve, but it's a big chunk of cash
Yeah, and it's always important as well to remember the distinction between
The opportunity to catch up and catching up like this isn't a case of your engine is slower
We will ourselves like F1 the FIA step in to ensure that we are
Almost scaling back the engine of someone else and assuring that you're caught up in that regard
You get the money if you don't spend that money wisely
You will be as slow as you were before this injection of cash
So that is the good thing about this and I think they were just with this whole system
They were ultimately just worried of 2014 to 2018 or so repeating itself where Mercedes had such a
Head start and credit to Mercedes. They got themselves the head start
But it's almost as soon as you've got that and you don't have a distinction between and of course there was no cost cap at the time as well
It's very difficult. Even if you are making progress as the slower team
Why would you make more progress than the team in front of you as mentioned before?
There's still so much room to grow for all of these teams including the leading packages right now. So
Yeah, it's one of those where I understand why somewhere against it. I
Think for a competitive F1, it's a necessity because otherwise Honda
They're gonna go through what they did last time and it's gonna be years until they're competitive
Yeah, I agree. I also could in causing trust from outside manufacturers
They know that they've got options to possibly get further investment to allow them to create a
Competitive package if they want to step in to the sport a later day. Also, this isn't new
This exists in other races as well endurance races
We mentioned they have ballast that you might put on for cars that have done better throughout the season
BTCC carry weight as well. It's a very normal situation now to create a more competitive field and it works in those scenarios
So again, as Ben mentioned, this isn't a you will be more competitive
This is the opportunity to become more competitive and that's I think quite important word
All right, let's see how Aston Martin get on in Canada
Of course, we'll be previewing that race on Wednesday. Let's take a quick break and on the other side
We're gonna be discussing the F1 calendar and the opportunity for Bahrain and Saudi Arabia to reappear on it
Welcome back everyone
We we're gonna talk about the calendar here. Obviously Bahrain and Saudi Arabia have got a lot of attention because of the
postponements or the cancellations, whichever word you want to use
Of the two races that were supposed to take place earlier in the year
There were some comments recently at an investors meeting for F1 where they said we will be thoughtful in our approach to
Potentially getting these back on the calendar. We'll continuously evaluate the calendar this year
It might be possible to reschedule one race towards the end of the season
So maybe not thinking both is possible, but maybe one is possible a few potential solutions to get this done
I thought we could just go through through both of them and see what we think the first one
I've seen outlined is that we can use the week between
Baku and Singapore to host one of these races
So that would be on the the 4th of October. That would be Sunday race day
And of course with Baku and Singapore. They're already somewhat in the area
Would you be in favor of of this happening more racing? Yeah always in favor of it happening
Also, especially if it's Bahrain a big lover of Bahrain think it's very underrated as a racetrack
So just from a entertainment content racing point of view
Absolutely love it here for it in terms of the actual logistics and the difficulty at places on the drivers and the personnel
We are acting as it is and then we called this right when they came out and said that they're having to move these races
Everyone was saying canceled every race cancel. They go on boat and we won't know they got the wording is very specific here
They will look to be rescheduled and here we go
I think we even pointing out this week actually when we first discussed this as the option
They'll probably try to fill so it makes sense that this is where they've tried to place it whether wise
It works for the Middle East. It's it's just on starting to cool after a really hot summer
We saw that Qatar is obviously relatively near things about a month later
From this slot as well at the moment Baku as well is is is bearable at this time as well
It would likely be a night race
Maybe at Bahrain as well, which can be quite interesting if we're able to do that
Which I will allow again for weather to play a part of things
same as Saudi, of course, so
It logistically works
I just don't if I like the strain that goes on to the staff that have to go through this and we brought this up before
Formula one is a
Grawling business to actually be a part of be part of the Fang Fair the circus that travels around with Formula one
Think of those people that have to drive those
HGVs to different locations to sit on a ferry or to pack it into a plane to land
They have to set the whole tent up at 4 a.m. On a Wednesday for it to then come back down here on a Sunday night
So they get in the van on a Monday morning to draw is it's relentless and growling and I do think with that being the case
Having a week break is probably beneficial, but I understand that contracts cost a lot of money these these
Nations will want to make sure they host these events because they're integral to them and their tourism and they've spent a lot of cash
Bringing it in there, so they'll be disappointed if it can't happen, but overall I probably air on the cycle caution
I think these people who actually work in the sport deserve to have a little bit of leeway
Yeah, and just to be clear we're not I'm putting to one side the possibility that it still won't be safe to put on these races
That's entirely possible at this this point as well. We're just talking about if it is
the potential of doing this I
Dead against this because if this happens on the 4th of October
We would essentially have a calendar, which is triple header one week off triple header one week off triple header
So you've got nine races in just 11 weeks, which is a huge strain on everyone and whilst I
Triple headers. I'm not really for any way. I'd rather stick to just double headers really
But if you're going to do triple headers you want them to be as logistically
Close to each other as can possibly be so for example if you're doing a triple header in Europe where you're going from let's say Austria to
spa to Zambor
It's still tough on the teams and and the personnel don't get me wrong
But they're all pretty close. There's not a huge amount of travel time drive. They're a good day, you know, right whereas these three triple headers would be
Back who to Singapore? I know they're in the same continent. They aren't anywhere close to each other
Yeah, the flight time is like six to seven hours
You've got to get all that stuff onto a plane if you're going to fly it and then you would have
Bahrain or Saudi Arabia in the middle of those so you are still trekking across an entire continent with that
Second triple header goes from north to South America
Which again not a short trip and then the third triple header the one that we love the one that sees off the season
You go from north America to the Middle East you going from Vegas to Qatar
Which as we've said multiple times great idea F1
So that's one reason I don't agree with this second. I second reason I don't is because
The 2023 Qatar GP that we've spoken about before if you weren't watching F1 at the time
That was one of the hottest weekends. We've ever had in the sport
I was held in Qatar that was held on the 8th of October
Which is four days in the same sort of calendar as as would take place here
That weekend it was released during the race
36 degree minimum temperature and in the cockpits. That's close to 50
The the the daily sort of mean average temperature in both Bahrain and Jeddah
Pretty much identical to Qatar
So we run the risk of a repeat of that Grand Prix and to remind you what happened there
Logan Sargent suffered from heat stroke and had to retire from that Grand Prix Ocon vomited in his helmet during the race
Lancer roll and Alex Albin
I think it was both of them had to be helped out of their car at the end of the race
That weekend was not safe
That's the scary bit because if you have a crash or there's a fire in the car and you have to be helped out of your car
Think of what could happen. You know, that's it's a horrific thought
So the worst part I think is also the fact that obviously this is just one of the Grand Prix
And they're looking to try and put another one into the schedule by maybe pushing the whole year back another week
And you might end up with something like a quadruple header going from Vegas to Qatar to Saudi Arabia to
Abu Dhabi and that is again just relentless
Well, yeah, that's the that's the second solution to run through because Abu Dhabi has in its contract
It must hold the last race of the year currently scheduled for the 6th of December
The other idea is to push that back to the 13th of December and then use the 6th of December for again either
Either Bahrain or Saudi Arabia
So that would that would create a quadruple header to end the year as well as seven races in eight weeks
Yeah, it's just like at what point do you maybe think that sport itself is not worth the risk of
Just people trying to do their jobs
Realistically do we need it like I especially Bahrain as I mentioned
I think it's a great race, but do we need it this year with everything that's going on?
I have to urge on the side of caution. I think it's too brutal especially when you've got
You've got a difference between especially the top teams and the bottom teams where there are some rotations in place
Where you will have some team members who will fly away for
Half of the Grand Prix or two-thirds of the Grand Prix, but but not the whole calendar
But that's an easier thing to do for the bigger teams and that's not as
Common for the smaller ones and of course even with the bigger teams
There are some roles and some people that will need to be there for every single race
And you're essentially telling these people you're gonna have to be away from home for like four months to end the year
If if something like this were to take place, it's it's brutal
Especially with the calendar potentially starting in as early as you know late February early March now
You know that means that you get oh good
Especially for from the UK you get to come home for two and a half three months in the cold and the dark and then you're off again
Off you go
It's you gotta think about people's lives at this point. So I'm gonna say no this year. We just don't need it
My fear of course as is usually the case with with F1 is money
Because Bahrain and Saudi Arabia collectively make up essentially 8% of the calendar two out of 24
But they make up 14% of F1s
Sort of yearly calendar hosting income. It's about 115 million dollars. They make from those two races
F1's gonna lose a lot if they can't replace even one of them. They're alone both of them and
I worry that's just gonna drive their decisions here
Well, the other issue of course is they wanting to represent the formula one is in the healthiest place gets ever been with these new
Regulations that's viewing figures that are gonna be down across the globe because of course I've been missing two Grand Prix
They've really missed those two Grand Prix. So they want to rectify that of course
You're right hosting money
It'll be sponsorship money will have to change because they won't be present at two events
So it has a huge knock-on effect. This is not just as simple as going. Ah, no, we won't bother
There's a log of cash that essentially it's not just that how it will be hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars
That will not go into where funds pockets because they can't host these two Grand Prix
There's one other thing that is maybe spoken about a little bit less with all this and it's not even relating to hosting Grand Prix
It's the logistics and organization around the world for other Grand Prix
For example, I think the Singapore GP is maybe the one that's most affected by this
But it also impacted the Japanese GP earlier in the year is that often these these Middle Eastern cities particularly the likes of Dubai
Doha and Qatar and even Bahrain
They are key locations when it comes to
Transporting materials for flyaway races
So if you've got a race like Singapore, they will almost always go through that region and in most cases these countries and these
These cities will have deals with F1
That ultimately make it a bit cheaper for F1 to transport all of this stuff around the world
If they can't go through those cities and have to find alternate routes outside of that just being tough to do anyway
It's likely to be more expensive for these teams and freight transportation is not something that's covered by the cost gap
Because it's not directly related to
personnel travel which is excluded from the cost gap
Is it does that then become unfair for these?
I know they're all in the same boat technically, but that's draining away at the cost gap
I mean money is money
It is a separate magical pit that gets to be put into a bank account
Wherever you need to spend cash that is a part of the cost gap take house, you know, they are the smallest team on the grid
They've got the lowest budget you might sit there and think well these teams are all multi multi 100000000 dollar
Companies it'll be fine. It's not as simple as it might seem
You know you look at the investment rate that some of these teams have and yeah, they could spend up to the new cost gap
Which is what now been 230 million dollars. Yeah, it's just over 200. Yeah, yeah, something like that
You know, that's that's a lot of bloody money. That's extreme money
But then you think okay
Well, what if we're spending another 50 million dollars on top of that for personnel for travel for freight for always exit there
For fuel costs, which is having to go out through the roof at the moment with what's going on
A team like Haas who then have to logistically sort all that out on a much smaller team and a much smaller budget
If they have to spend let's say
10 million dollars extra outside of the cost cap
Well, they might not have 10 million dollars outside of the cost cap that they've allotted for
That kind comes out of their ability to develop a car and then that car development suffers
They become less competitive. They can't get to races properly
It has a huge knock-on effect because of this
So it's not as simple as f1 teams can sign a check no problem
We'll get to where we're at
You might be thinking oh, you're being a bit sympathetic for companies that are hundreds of millions of dollars
It's the nature of the sport and if we're going to have a competitive sport
That's fair and even as much as it can be you've got to think of these things
So f1 are in a really sticky position
I want to keep an eye on as we go throughout the year
and I guess the last thing to really mention on this is that
With the the way in which the season started and Bahrain and Saudi Arabia not being able to take place
One of the main reasons if not the main reason there wasn't a replacement for either of those Grand Prix at the time
It's because f1 didn't have the time to put on something else like it was all too soon
We are months out from the potential of a race in october or shifting the calendar around in december
So you might think we've got plenty of time to fix this
We don't have as much time as people might think like the sooner these things can get done
The more time these teams are going to have to prepare for it
If we get too close to some of these dates and f1 try to put something together
It might not be feasible. So no, no
But the last thing I want to raise which I believe is the most important part of this is the people element
You know the customers who are paying to go to these Grand Prix is that you know, you have maybe booked to fly out to Bahrain
You think oh, I want to go to the Bahrain GP
I paid for that in September last year whenever the tickets went on sale
You pay for your flights you pay for your hotel it gets cancelled and rightly so it should have been cancelled
With everything that's going on in the world that makes total sense. But okay, it's been rescheduled for october
Can you afford new hotels new flights to go there?
And then what if a race gets moved because of it?
What if Abbey Dabby gets pushed back by a week and you think oh, I've spent
You know my savings on going to the Abbey Dabby Grand Prix
So I'll be there at the formula one conclusion that's gone back a week. Okay. Well now you've got to pay for new flights
I hope that they can be rearranged and new hotels. I hope it can be a rearrange
It's it's got a such a ground granular level knock-on effect that
Doing this can cause so much financial hardship for people that want to pursue formula one because they love it
But equally we ain't all millionaires
It's not easy to do and having to have a changing your you know your work schedule or a changing your budget
That's a massive knock-on effect for your everyday customer
So they need to bear that in mind of how it might affect the normal level spectator
I remember the the dark days of early 2020
um, of course, uh in the pandemic era when we uh when we spoke to Karun Chandak
And we asked him a question and it was something like and at this point the calendar had sort of
Started to take shape
But of course we started much later in the year and those races were quite jammed in
And I remember asking him in that in that interview we did with them
Is this going to be a really tough strain on the drivers and he said
I don't think i'm paraphrasing here. I I don't think he necessarily said I don't care about the drivers
But he said of all the people i'm worried about it's not the drivers that it's the personnel
It's it's the fans like there are so many other groups above the drivers to think about
In that scenario that it is really tough on when you start to put
Three races together or five races in six weeks. So yeah, it's um
Whilst there's no whilst there's not
No sympathy for the drivers
It is best to highlight those other groups that you just have
Let's take our second break on this episode on the other side. We're getting into a q&a
Welcome back everyone. It's time for q&a
So if you saw on our socials or indeed discord if you're not a part discord already make sure you get involved
We put out a q&a a few days ago
Specifically looking at questions about drivers. So we did one maybe about a month ago
That focused more on the teams
Now we're focusing more on the drivers again
Wonderful array of array of questions
Thank you always for your support
Means a lot that you take the effort and the time to go and write something that's also good content indeed
um
I'm going to actually start with sort of two questions
Because they somewhat relate to each other and they're both about sort of lewis hamilton and ferrari. So the first question
When will it be accepted that this is all lewis is capable of?
And the second question how long until ollie takes over from old man hamilton. I'm thinking 20 27
um
So I guess it's sort of two parts to that question that relates to the ferrari lineup
But is this all lewis has got I think as arguably lewis's biggest supporter on the show
I'm quite regularly his biggest critic when it comes to his ability and I think it is all he's got
I think we're at that point where it's okay to understand that someone is not at the peak of their powers anymore and
The the lewis hamilton we saw from 2017 to 2020 which was arguably absolute peak hamilton
It's not going to come back and unless you maybe give him exactly the same car
That's going to be very difficult to do and I think you can say that about many drivers
Who were at the top of their game at one point founder on so is still spectacular
But if you actually gave him
The ferrari right now
Is he beating a Mercedes regularly? Is he winning grand prix? I don't think so
I think these drivers all start to tail off the older they get and it makes sense with the way that
The regulation shift you're going to lose a little bit daniel ricardo said get himself as well that you know
He he suited one style of car really well. I guess it adapted as it changed. She was unable to to get there
He was missing something. He lost a little something. It's very normal. So
No, I don't think lewis hamilton is at the peak of his powers anymore. I think this is all lewis hamilton has
I think at this point right now the likes of charlotte claire russell norris piastri
They're all faster than them. They're all faster than him
Yeah, I I think when it comes to his Mercedes stint or the end of his Mercedes stint
There was still a lot of good in there in the 2023 was a really good year for him
Um, but even outside of that the the couple of other seasons he had versus russell
He was competitive with him russell's proven himself to be a very good qualifier in f1
Hamilton was able to match that and you might say well, he's obviously
Hamilton's obviously away from the peak of his powers because at one point he was the best qualifier on the grid
And I would agree with that
But as soon as he goes to ferrari, he has that one year or the first year last year
Where he doesn't have any involvement in the car. He's in a new environment. He struggles against la claire and I think
I think he I think fans of his maybe could accept that
Knowing that 2026 had the chance to be better
And I think we're still slightly too early in the season to definitively say started very well
Last couple have been shakier
I think give me six races and we'll know
I it's just been too disjointed so far this year. That's fair. I think that's fair
I think you already know with Lewis hamilton
Personally, what do you think about the second part?
We did our driver predictions, of course very recently actually where we spoke about who might be in that ferrari
You think there's now a chance that he could hang up his boots because I think you said hamilton would stay there for next year
Yeah, I've got hamilton staying and I'm going to stick with that for one more year
I think the choice does come down to lewis hamilton
Like if he wants to go, I think he he should go and I think if he wants to stay he will be allowed to stay by ferrari
Maybe on an an additional one-year contract because
It is very difficult to get rid of lewis hamilton
it in that
I don't know that
That just from the name value alone from the marketing side of things like
I don't think ferrari want to be the ones to pull the plug
I think they're hoping that lewis hamilton will be the one to call it a day
At some point rather than them have to make the decision for him because I mentioned that's not easy
No, it's not easy. You're right. Um
It would be tricky to say lewis you're fired
But actually you look at the points tally whilst he's behind lecler. It's not drastic
It's you know, he's he's doing an honorable job in that ferrari seat. He's not like
Leclerc's on 80 points and he's on 10 or something like that. It's very very close between the two of them
Um, obviously he had that fantastic performance in china, for example
And it showed that he still has that something to give so
I don't think it's dramatic right now. I don't think that ferrari need to come up with a solution tomorrow
Otherwise, it's game over for that second seat
But yeah hamilton probably goes against people who want to make the call
I think it still might be bareman though in 20 27 against that seat
I still think there's a chance that he's gonna
Announce it at the summer break if it doesn't go the way he wants it to I think it's bareman
I think it's 20 28. I wouldn't be surprised at all if it's 20 27 though
Like and I would be shocked if it was anyone other than bareman
Oh god, yeah, I although if I'm Carlos Sainz, I would be a little bit fuming
I would be a bit gutted right now. What do you mean by that point? Williams will be leading the championship
So it'd be well, we've just got to ship that way, baby. It's all they gotta do. That'd be fine. Um, next question
Thank you for that one by the way. Um, let's
This is an interesting one actually, uh, can't think of anything witty, but I'm really stoked to see what hilarious hypotheticals everyone else comes up with
Oh, here's one
How much trouble would it be for the sport if Hamilton Alonso and Verstappen all leave at the end of this season?
It's not impossible. But the marketing value would just they have to find new heroes very quick
I think you'll suddenly start to see
Charlotte Clair's face absolutely everywhere. Oh cause face just plastic everywhere. Yeah
Yeah, that makes sense. That's the face of f1. That's the guy I went to. Yeah actually, um
The issue is
They end up with what one world title on the grid
If if those three guys leave Landon Morris
And whatever happens this year, I guess for yes, yeah for now
There's one world title on the grid. Is that the lowest number of world titles we've ever had in a formula one can like
Across the whole lineup. I mean exclude 1950 and yeah, you're probably yeah
I can't immediately think of a time where there would have been fewer than two world championships on the grid
I do think I don't think formula one loses drastic credibility that it rocks the sport
But I do think it would go through a couple of years of turbulence where it needs to reestablish
Who its true stars are because formula one is a tricky game. You could be hanging out in a heartbeat
So it's really tricky to know if someone has longevity. That's why I think someone like Charlotte Clair looks to probably end up being
Their next dependable star they can rely on because he's not going anywhere anytime soon
Yeah, it's and look I really rate Charlotte Clair as a driver
But the accomplishments at the moment not his fault
They don't align with his talent and it would be very strange for f1 to put the
marketing bust behind a guy that
Hasn't won a world title and hasn't really competed for a world title
Less than 10 victories across his whole career. You know, is that you know, if someone from another sport turns up
I'm gonna watch f1. Oh, this is the guy he's won less than 10 races
I wonder as well if some of it comes down to the messaging of the three retirements if they all happened because
if
Alonso were to leave and he was just to say that
I'm like 90 years old. I finally realized that I have a kid now
I just want to go away and maybe do some other racing at some point
But I don't want that full-time schedule
And if Hamilton were to walk away and say I've got all these other interests that I want to pursue
I've had a great time in f1, but I'm gonna call it a day now
And then maybe maybe Verstappen is the one who
Directly links his retirement to the rules
I think f1 could deal with one of the three messages being almost against them. Sure
If all three of them at least partially mention f1 and the lack of fun
As a reason for leaving
That's that's trouble. Yeah, especially if at least two of the three go and race somewhere else almost immediately
And talk about how much more enjoyable it is because Alonso if he leaves f1, he's he's doing something else
It'll race. Yeah, it'll race splitting slugs down the down the street. He already does
On his way home, you know, the man is gonna get his but Verstappen's the same
You know, again as we mentioned at the start of this show, he's currently doing the 24 hours of uh, of
Why do I want to go with the Nurburgring? Is that what it's called? It's where I was with the Nurburgring
Surely not. Nurburgring 24 hours. That's what it's called. I've just got the wrong way around. Um, you know
He's so such a purist. Hamilton is the one that won't go into any more racing
Um, and I get it don't understand why but
My man's got other things to do. He's not joined in his brother a British Dury car. What honestly?
I would love to go to Thruxton and watch the Hamilton brothers go
Lewis Hamilton versus Tom Ingram. Come on. I'll be up for it. Come on. I'm kind of Cooper or something like that
Oh, I want to see that now. Um, but yeah, it is by the way. It sounds like a kfc spicy burger
But I have the kfc tinger tower. Yeah. Yeah, it's it's actually made by Tom Ingram. He's got a deal with kfc
Good lad. Well done
It would be the the biggest exodus of talent in one year. No doubt about that. It would it would hurt f1. It would survive
But yeah, that would be rough for f1 if that happened. Um
Next question, I guess we can somewhat relate to that one based on drivers leaving
The next question is will there be a rookie on the grid next year?
Well, we spoke about this, haven't we when we dig our driver lineups again
There is a chance I think and I think a few stars would need to align for example, I think
Beaman might need to go to Ferrari to free up a half seat
Equally, I think they might need to remove one of the racing bull drivers
If Max Verstappen leaves or if they just seem not good enough for someone like solov to maybe take the step up
But we've got a lot of f2 running to really see if they're worth while you know cameras there as well
I think
As an option, you've got the f2 champion to be crowned. Not that that's always a guarantee as we know to get onto the grid
Um, yeah, there's a chance. It's not as dead set as we have had previously though
Yeah, I I think solov and camera would likely be the two
At the top of the list as potentials based on situation as well as talent
I think then maybe you're looking at one of the alpine drivers
Dunn's had a rough start. I don't we've only had one weekend
I'm sorry two weekends now. Um, but Dunn's had a rough start to the year
He's quick, but goodness me. It just every corner. You feel like it might be over with him
It's almost every alpine driver. Yeah, true. Yeah. Yeah, he's a perfect fit
And gabrielli minnie is as well for alpine. I think the question with both of those drivers though is um super license points
I don't think I've rid them right now
have enough based on
Dunn didn't have a great f3 campaign two years ago and minnie didn't have a great
F2 campaign last year because of the greatness of prema nowadays
So I think both of those would be struggling on super license points
So I think camera and solov would be maybe the two in line
Will we get to see gabriella midi or gabriella maxi soon?
Mini gabrielli, you know, it's so tiny
He uses mega engine
Uh, next one alex albin overrated ronda rated
Uh, rated I think I'll be really boring. I think he's a really good driver
I think carlo sines is maybe showing that he's at that level now where he should be and that previous teammates were slightly
easier for him
Maybe a little overrated
Oh say it quietly Ben. Yeah, don't tell anyone because I really like alex albin. Um, maybe slightly overrated
I think carlo sines now he's got into the groove of the williams is showing
he's the better of the two williams drivers and
I think pierre gazley is showing he is the better of the drops red bull drivers over the last few years
I
He's done a great job for williams over the last few years in the he's been the
He's been the one leading the charge with his teammates
He's had some pretty weak teammates
Yeah, the the list isn't is pretty easy, isn't it?
Oh, I actually think it goes the other way a little bit that I think carlo sines
Maybe is quite underrated in his ability the Ferrari
I think it spikes a bit of a you know negative criticism of there's a reason why he was dropped
Obviously Lewis Hamilton was a big part of that. Um, he's got it took him a little while to get into the groove
Picking up two podiums at williams in his first season there
And then now having a really good start to this year in a car that's struggling
I think sines is showing that he's a really brilliant formula one driver
Let's take a quick break and on the other side we'll finish off some of these other questions
Welcome back everyone um question here is a quite
Quite presumptuous, but uh question. Why do you think norris is better than piastry?
That is presumptuous
Do you think norris is better than piastry?
Oh
Do I it's close right it's very close
No, I don't think he's better than piastry
Your predictions for this year say otherwise I know
But that's a prediction for one year over their whole career. I think piastry's got more to him
You got to remember that you know the time they've been in the sport, you know the
The situations they've had to be in
Who norris had to go up against before piastry was even a formula one driver
He's gone through a lot and norris is a real, you know foundation part of that team now
I think piastry is more than one world title in him. I think he's just got to make the right career cool
But I think he's a more ruthless driver. I think he's a better overtaker and I think he's proving he's just as good at qualifying
Um, that's not to slake norris. He's a fantastic formula one driver and a worthy world champion
I just think that piastry has a bit more longevity in his career
Yeah, I think you could be really blunt with this answer and just say why do you think norris is better than piastry?
Because norris won the world title last year and piastry didn't
Um, but I as I kind of said a few times throughout 2025
I felt that piastry was better than norris for longer
The problem and the reason why that I think norris won the title is because when it went bad for piastry
It went very bad like we're talking about baku to
Mexico sort of stretch where he was really struggling to get podiums
Whereas norris he had a couple of dns
But for the most part he never spent more than about two races in a row off the podium
He kept up with the consistency
So whilst piastry led the championship for longer last year and as mentioned, I think he was better for longer
Norris may be owing to the fact that he's got a few more years of experience in the sport
Was just able to get enough consistency to drag himself over the line. That's how close it was at the end of the year
So I think norris is maybe marginally better than piastry right now, but it's seriously marginal
Like if you were to draw like a line graph of their ability, I would have norris have a really nice
Like gentle increase but piastry would be like a wave up to 100 down to zero up to 100 down to zero and
That's intersecting norris is really gradual and improving over his formula one career. So
Yeah, the peaks of piastry I think are higher than norris, but the troughs of piastry are also far lower than what norris regularly achieves
Next question, which driver from the current grid would you most like to interview and what would you ask them?
Uh, oh, well, it depends if I'm going to have proper fun because I'm having fun
Then I've got a bot ass on the show immediately because I think a day with me and bot ass would be great content
Um, who are they want to actually get on the show probably hamilton or along so realistically?
Um, because I'd like to talk to them about long term f1
their history the way they've got through it the trials and tribulations
Um, and also for stappen because we can drop his name into the title again. Yeah, I am thinking purely about numbers here. So those those
For stappen would be up there because like and it is on the condition that you got
Verstappen at his most honest and he wants to do it and yeah, yeah
If you got that version of Verstappen on the show
Just sit back brief that this is a no risk interview. He can say whatever he wants. It's all good. You know have fun with it
I'd love to have that Verstappen. Yeah, um
Uh, and I would ask him about abidabi 2021. Oh good. The first thing I just think about numbers, man. So 2021
immediately
Don't even say hello. No, no
Abidabi 2021. Abidabi. And he's like, yeah, let me into it. Um
Equally any f1 drivers this game. I know you will do if you want to come on the show. You are all very welcome
Yes, just give us a shout. We'll find time for you. Don't you worry about that? We've got a few minutes spare. Yeah
Uh, next question. Um,
Nico Holkenberg finally has a semi competitive car
Is this his last shot to prove he belongs at the front or his legacy or is his legacy already cemented?
Yes, this is his last shot. I don't think he goes anywhere else
I don't think anyone else would take him that he could take a step forward for for example, you know
In a in a pinch an absolute risk if if needed someone like, you know
Aston Martin could happen for a year or kind of like right now can happen for a year
I don't think he's in anyone's five year plan for example
So, yeah, he is out here to start performing everything. It's two or three years
Is his legacy cemented? I think so. I think unless he wings like a world title or multiple races in the next three years
He's a really solid driver that the career never properly worked out for him
Yeah, I think he went to Audi on the basis of this would be his last chance because he was at Haas and
No disrespect to Haas, but he probably felt like
That wasn't going anywhere fast
Audi at least presented the opportunity
new power unit
big manufacturer outside of f1
Could that come together?
Sort of Mercedes style from 2014
I think it was maybe and he knew it was likely optimistic way of thinking
And it started honestly, I think it started okay for the Audi team
I don't think they're in massive trouble at this point that you can see
A good future for them. I think the problem for hulkenberg is that it likely doesn't align with his timeline
He's still doing a brilliant job at his age. Like he's still a very good driver
I just wonder whether if Audi are now looking at
2030
Will hulkenberg still be there?
It's not impossible, but it feels unlikely
Agreed. Yeah
Uh, next question
Uh, what driver do you think will have the most success post f1 racing career?
Example someone becoming the head of a team music career other sports racing, etc
Oh, that's a very interesting way to define success as well, isn't it? Yes go outside of racing
It's a tricky question
Who will have the most success outside of formula one? Well, I'm going all Hamilton because arguably he's already had
God knows how much success with the 87 000 projects that he's got going on. Yes
um
They all spring to mind
I don't
the problem is
F1 is f1's a big tool that these drivers can use when they're in f1
It becomes much more difficult when you don't have that machine behind you
so Hamilton
Has the credibility and he has the name power that he could go away and do plenty after f1 without being associated
still with the sport
I struggle with others in that regard like you look at someone like valteri botas who's done a great job of
Building a brand for himself in the last couple of years
Does that maintain when he leaves f1? I don't know. Yeah, he's got his what his jing business is his coffee business
I think he's part of cycling. I think he owns a hockey team in
England, you know, that's these are all great investments
So you see this a lot from these f1 drivers now making these diversifications in their investments outside of the sport
It's trick like you look at riccardo right riccardo was the personality. He was the guy that people looked for
Is he thriving? I'd say he's doing a good job outside of f1 like the fog stuff is cool
He's had to kind of rely on the red ball relationship
And for partnership and other than that. I'm not sure what he's really been doing outside of that situation
So you're right. It's tricky. I think you need world title
Winging power behind you once you leave the sport. What about in f1 becoming a team principal or something like that?
Can you see that as a potential for anyone on the grid right now? I could see a few people becoming a team principal
I think Fernando Alonso would be amazing. I don't think actually he gave orderly formula one
I think he would take a year or so away to evaluate options
I would not be shocked if we see him in some kind of management role
Within the next decade in formula one, um, which I would live for by the way
I also think all those people that we spoke about who could be great commentators
A lot of them would make great team members team principals team members
I think Carlos science would be fantastic inside the team you hear the way he
Speaks through the team radio the engineering capability the understanding of the strategy
I think he would be an amazing individual to work in a formula one team album as well
I think could be quite useful in that scenario. So yeah, plenty of people that could go on to achieve great things
Alonso as a team principal would feed families
goodness me
I'd just love to see it because
If he as a team principal had success and he had drivers winning titles it'd be absolutely fuming about it
Get me in the car. I want to do that
You're still winning for that. No, he would claim them as his titles. Oh, yeah, he would no doubt
I am a nine-time world champion. But yeah, you haven't driven for 20 years
I I wonder if it'd just be too close for him like he
I could see him doing something like that
But maybe elsewhere where it's just the temptation to just go
I reckon I could still do this. I might just jump to the car
He'd definitely be a team owner. I think with some kind of consortium 100% if the option came up
Yeah, obviously already doing a lot of his
Management sort of stuff kind of manages putting off the grid at this point, didn't he?
Yeah, yeah, he owns the entire grid to the point where everyone's just going to move to one side at some point and let him win a race
perfect, um
I'll tell you what we'll have two more questions. Firstly, what did you make of hadja's outburst presumably meaning his retirement from the miami gp
Do you think this will continue to affect him? How will redbull work with him to overcome his high pressure of himself?
Uh, it's a very good question because he does have
Seriously high expectations of himself and that's how it sometimes comes out
I don't think we saw a lot of it last year or as much as I thought we were going to see of it last year based on
His junior career record. I mean this this was maybe the first
Not the first time but maybe the biggest incident of
Him just being so frustrated at what he's done. Yeah, we saw it of course in melbourne, um with the
He was very upset understandably
Um, and then of course we saw it in miami most recently
Now I have no problem with the driver acting like that if something goes wrong in the car
If he wants to punch his steering wheel if he wants to get out the car and jump up and down and shout in his helmet
That shows passion. It shows commitment. It shows that you're hard holding yourself to the highest of expectations
I am here for it. I want that in the drives
I want them to live and breathe it and then
Feel it inside if they make a mistake because that's how much it means to them. That's what the sport should be
I just want redbull to be able to
changle
Changle it in the right direction
He won't but there's a real chance that someone with that kind of level of energy
Both good and bad could get themselves into trouble. They can make mistakes
They could end up crashing a car unnecessarily because they're holding themselves to higher level
It's the best way to drive yourself to be brilliant
It's equally the easiest way to have an absolute collapse and fall down upon yourself. He is a brilliant talent
He's a sensational ready. We love having him in the sport. I want him to grow and be someone for 15 20 years in this sport
I don't want him to have some kind of
Problem in two years time because of the high expectation. So I love it
I live for it
He just needs a team around him to harness it and changle it properly
it is tough because
there is at least an argument to say that
the reason like
Hadja's got to where he is based on who he is
Yeah, and trying to mold that and change that now
Does present its own risks. So there is a real fine line that redbull will need to walk in terms of
Because I agree like managing this and and maybe tweaking things is the right way to go about it
But you start to do too much and you take away from what has made hadja so great to make it 2f1
So uh, it is difficult. But yeah, he's um, he has a real track record of being very
Angry mostly at himself
I I think you look at some of our greatest champions and they are of a similar
Yeah, similar mold and I think if you can harness it, it's a great great ability to have
final question
Who will be the three next new f1 world champions?
Kimmy Hansen Ellie
is one
George Russell
Oscar Piastro
I'm going to go with
I can't say the same
I'm going to go with
Anton Ali Piastro Bortoletto
Oh, okay big moves for Audi or you think he'll get a move. No, it'll just happen in a few years time and uh,
And George Russell is washed
Wow, so like four years straight of like Anton Ali Piastro. Yeah. Yeah. Oh no, Anton Ali
Yeah, Anton Ali actually is the only answer. He's going to win the next 20 world championships in a row and at that point
F1 will end
Yeah, fair enough. We had a good run. Yeah
Um tough question though because you've got like if Berman pulls off the Ferrari move
If the clerk finally no, I've ignored Ferrari. I've ignored Ferrari
I said in twangy twangy, they wouldn't work a title this decade and currently I'm still very right. They will not do it
Yeah
Oh boy. Sorry Ferrari. Um, thanks again for all of those questions massively
Appreciate it. Uh, and I'm sure we'll bring back a q&a during the summer break or something like that
Um, because we've got a lot of f1 coming up in the next week or so starting with
The preview of the canadian gp on wednesday. We do midweek preview. We're back for f1 racing
It's a sprint weekend and that means we do an extra episode
So you have sprint qualifying review on the friday
We'll have a sprint race and qualify review combined on saturday and then a race review is always on sunday with power
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About this episode
Aston Martin’s season starts with a rough reality check: they’re “11th in the constructors championship joining Cadillac on zero points,” and the hosts call them “a bit stuffed” short-term. Miami brings a tangible step forward—“the first time that both Aston Martin cars finished a race in 2026”—but deeper issues remain, especially the gearbox, described as “the biggest problem.” Limited laps in early races left them “a real lack of data to work with,” while 2026 engine-regulation changes with Honda are framed as the longer-term hope.
With both cars finally seeing the chequered flag in Miami, Ben and Sam discuss Aston Martin's targets and whether there are any genuine reasons for optimism. They also cover the potential rescheduling of 2026's cancelled races, before getting stuck into some of your F1 driver questions.
