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Good night, everyone.
02:10
Wherever you are in the world, this is the Fast and the Curious podcast, the Formula One
02:15
podcast that previews and debriefs the races, as well as speaking to some of the biggest
02:20
names in the sport.
02:21
We have got to get on with it.
02:23
I am tired in the UK.
02:25
Christian Hughill is tired in a Las Vegas hotel room.
02:32
You tend to **** too in the morning.
02:37
We've had the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
02:40
We've then had this situation where we have just been waiting and waiting to find out
02:47
And we can now tell you that both McLaren drivers, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri,
02:52
have been disqualified from the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
02:56
Christian, what's your reaction?
02:59
My reaction is I'm very tired and for those watching on YouTube, you'll be able to see
03:04
that I have given up and I am doing the podcast in bed.
03:08
So, this is in nearly three years of doing this podcast.
03:10
The first episode, the Fast and the Curious, have ever recorded from a bed.
03:15
And I've just been waiting for the results coming in bed, Betty.
03:18
I left the circuit at normal time, came back to the hotel to record the podcast.
03:23
Thank God for you, Betty Glover, not getting up to watch the race live because by
03:27
our normal timings, we'd have done the podcast and then we'd have ended up doing it again.
03:32
So thank goodness for you.
03:35
Because I got up at 6.30.
03:37
She didn't get up early.
03:38
She didn't get up at 4.
03:40
So, I still want to talk about the race, but obviously, Betty, the reaction is, you
03:44
know, this is massive for the championship.
03:49
So, yeah, I still want to talk about the race in a moment, but Betty, my immediate
03:55
reaction is, you know, this is colossal news for the 2025 Formula One World
04:04
There is now, you know, just under a race win between Lando and Iris leading the
04:09
championship and Oscar Piazza in second, only in second, by the way, on virtue of
04:14
more race wins for Max Verstappen, who's in third.
04:17
This now basically means we've got two races and a sprint race, don't forget.
04:24
We are in for a grandstand box office end to the season, you know, we'll get into
04:29
this properly in a moment.
04:30
Slightly sad it's happened on a technicality, but still, this changes everything, Betty.
04:35
This is absolutely insane.
04:36
I can't believe it.
04:38
When that race finished, I was like, all right, cool, Lando, he's going to do
04:44
He's in a great position.
04:45
He's in a really strong position to finish this season.
04:50
This is just throwing it all up in the air.
04:51
So Max Verstappen and Oscar Piazza are 24 points behind Lando, Norris, two races
04:57
and a sprint to go.
04:59
Oh, my God, this is going to be a ridiculous end of the season, Christian.
05:05
It is because, let's explain what has happened because I think a lot of
05:08
people are a little bit confused.
05:11
They have been disqualified because of the thickness of the real most
05:14
skid of both cars was less than the required thickness.
05:19
What the hell does that mean?
05:21
So underneath the car, there is what is informally known as a plank.
05:26
It's made from a special material.
05:29
It's a safety thing.
05:32
The plank protects the structural integrity of the car.
05:37
It runs along the circuit surface and you have to have that plank, a certain
05:46
thickness at the end of the Grand Prix.
05:50
If it has worn too much, don't forget we're in the ground effect area of Formula
05:55
Running your car close to the floor helps you with performance.
05:59
But if you run your car too close to the floor and your plank is worn too
06:05
much, you can be disqualified off the top of my head.
06:08
I believe it's 10 centimetres.
06:10
You have to have 9 centimetres is the absolute minimum.
06:15
This decision, so to rewind a little bit, we obviously had the race.
06:19
I left the circuit to come back and do this podcast and I was waiting to
06:24
record and then we get this quite a long time after the result had happened.
06:29
And usually, Betty, as I say, you get that 9 centimetre measurement.
06:32
Usually it's quite cut and dry in terms of whether either the skid block
06:37
has been worn too much or it hasn't.
06:40
But clearly there was some discussion going on between McLaren and
06:44
between the FIA because we were waiting a long, long time for a decision.
06:50
I mean, the time now in Las Vegas, as I'm talking to you, is 1.56 in the morning.
06:54
We've only just had the decision and, you know, the race was finished at
06:58
sort of 10 p.m. ish.
07:00
So we've been waiting a long time for a decision.
07:02
Usually it's quite a quick decision as well, isn't it?
07:04
Because China, we've we found out pretty quickly.
07:08
This is this is dragged and as I say, as you just said, Betty,
07:13
this has happened a few times in in recent history.
07:16
This isn't a brand new thing.
07:17
People who aren't new to Formula One will have seen this.
07:20
So, yeah, in terms of how it could have happened,
07:26
you know, this is part of free practice running to determine
07:31
how long and how much you can, you know, run close to the floor.
07:38
McLaren had disrupted free practice running with some technical glitches
07:43
because everybody had disrupted free practice running because of the weather.
07:49
But listen, you know, all the other teams managed to, you know,
07:55
not have this problem.
07:58
So make no mistake, this is a McLaren mistake.
08:03
And this should be viewed as such.
08:05
They have run they have run their cars too low to the floor.
08:10
And we've seen this on other occasions where it's happened to teams
08:13
and they've held up their hands and gone, we've made a mistake here.
08:16
So listen, we're recording this minutes after the decision has been made.
08:19
I'm sure they will make a statement in due course.
08:22
We'll bring you more details on that in our Qatar preview later in the week.
08:26
And we'll go into it a bit more.
08:27
So they will come out with an explanation as to why it happened.
08:30
It is a McLaren area.
08:32
It could be a hugely costly McLaren area.
08:35
Lando, Norris and Oscar Piazzari will be absolutely gutted.
08:40
Particularly Lando.
08:42
Particularly Lando.
08:43
But yeah, it's it's a it's a it's a big old mistake.
08:47
There's there's there's no denying that massive, massive error from McLaren.
08:52
Is this why there were loads of sparks coming off Oscar Piazzari's car
08:57
because it looked like his car was really the only one that I saw all these.
09:01
Yeah, we both noticed this, Betty, didn't we?
09:04
We were we were talking as you were watching the race
09:06
and was unaware of what was happening.
09:08
But I caught up that when Oscar pulled out to make an overtaking manoeuvre,
09:12
you saw more sparks.
09:13
The simple I suspect that's got something to do with it.
09:16
The simple answer is we don't actually know at this point.
09:19
But yes, it was running close.
09:21
And at the end of the race, we saw
09:26
what the first inclination we got of this was a team radio message
09:29
to Max Verstappen saying Lando is nursing some sort of issue.
09:34
Lando's pace dropped off dramatically towards the end of the race.
09:40
So the thinking there was fuel.
09:44
And I actually tweeted at the end of the race.
09:47
Well, hang on a minute.
09:48
If Lando was having to save fuel that dramatically
09:54
at the end of the Grand Prix, will he have the minimum
09:58
required sample size?
10:01
Because at the end of the race, you have to give a fuel sample to the FIA.
10:04
And we have seen in the past that cars have ran too much,
10:07
you know, they used too much fuel in the race, have not been able to give
10:09
that sample size and they've been disqualified.
10:12
I did actually send a couple of texts out and didn't get a response,
10:17
which made me think interesting that that maybe we're not cut and dry here.
10:22
But was that to do with fuel or was it the team
10:26
realizing we are wearing our plank far too much?
10:29
Because there will be sensors on this.
10:30
There's so many sensors in the Formula One car.
10:33
At this stage, we don't know the details will come out in the wash.
10:37
But what we do know is, yeah, it is that plank.
10:39
It isn't the underside of the car.
10:41
It is a safety thing.
10:42
We've we've seen this in Formula One before and it is a mistake from McLaren
10:46
and it is cost them the it is cost them their results at the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
10:50
OK, so here is your top ten in Las Vegas.
10:53
Then after all of that, Max Verstappen, P1.
10:56
George Russell takes P2.
10:58
Antonelli, third Leclerc goes up to fourth.
11:01
Carlos signs fifth.
11:03
Isaac Hajar takes sixth.
11:04
Hülkenberg, seventh Hamilton.
11:07
P8, Ocon, P9 and Oli Bearman gets the last of the points in P10.
11:13
Christian, just sum up the standings for us one more time.
11:16
We touched point at the start, but it now means Norris stays on 390.
11:24
If the title ended now, Piatri gets second
11:27
because he's got an extra race win to Max.
11:32
So it means don't forget 25 points for a race win
11:36
plus the sprint race of two.
11:37
We've got Katar and Abu Dhabi.
11:42
It literally throws the championship wide open.
11:44
I'm actually I actually think I'm in a state of shock.
11:47
Like, I can't quite believe this has happened at this stage
11:51
of the championship when it was looking so incredibly good for Landau.
11:56
Now it is all to play for in Katar.
11:58
Yeah, I mean, I mean the the debrief we were going to have
12:03
is that, you know, let's look at the story of the weekend away from this.
12:08
Landau Norris had such an impressive
12:14
qualifying where, yes, he ran last and that helped.
12:19
But you've got an ice cold track.
12:22
It was so cold and you've got full wet tires,
12:26
which is so unusual in Formula One.
12:28
And Landau still manages to
12:31
outqualify Max Verstappen in those conditions.
12:34
Amazing, absolutely amazing.
12:37
And then basically messes up the first corner.
12:41
It is brilliant interview with David Coulthard after the race.
12:44
Fully admit, in his words, I f***ed it up.
12:47
So he messes up the first corner.
12:48
He's overly aggressive.
12:50
He goes in too hot, but he has this great race
12:53
where he does pull it back.
12:55
He did well in the race to get George.
12:58
And it's like fair play for that.
12:59
And you're leaving the Grand Prix thinking, OK,
13:03
he might well have cost himself a race win here
13:06
by cocking it up into the first corner.
13:09
But he's leaving with the championship like, well, he's, you know, Max,
13:13
something mad has to happen for Max to be in it.
13:18
We're going into the final races, basically knowing that unless Landau
13:21
entirely messes it up, this is his championship
13:23
because Oscar's pace isn't there really.
13:25
It doesn't look like Oscar's got a title file left in him.
13:28
And that's where we're going.
13:29
That's the storyline going into Qatar.
13:31
It's like this is looking so likely to be Landau's championship.
13:36
And don't get me wrong, Betty.
13:37
It still is to an extent, but, you know, the variables,
13:45
there are so many more variables now.
13:47
Well, immediately after the race, before McLaren got disqualified,
13:50
Norris would have been on 408,
13:52
Piastri 378 and Verstappen all the way back in 366.
13:57
So really, you would probably be writing Verstappen out of it at that stage.
14:03
But it would. Yeah, it would have been like almost certainly,
14:07
you know, it would have taken two DNFs for Landau and Oscar's territory.
14:11
Yeah. But now this is a solid battle between three drivers, 24 points in it.
14:16
Landau still has the upper hand, but oh my gosh, are we going to be in
14:21
for a really good end of the season?
14:24
Christian, the end of the season is getting so incredibly close.
14:29
The championship battle has been insane.
14:32
We're all going to miss it so much
14:34
when that final race of the season comes around, aren't we?
14:36
I mean, I'm usually ready for a break at the end of the F1 season,
14:40
but you just kind of don't want this one to end, do you?
14:42
Like with so little in it with Landau and Oscar going between them.
14:46
But like the winter break is getting shorter and shorter.
14:50
So there's a saying we don't want this season to end,
14:53
but 2026 will literally be here before we know it.
14:56
I know, I think you need a holiday, to be honest.
14:59
I think we all need a holiday.
15:00
But our sports fans were so fickle, aren't we?
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Because instantly there is going to be a whole load of new storylines
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that we're just going to get carried away with.
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Whole load of new drivers that we're going to get behind
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and say that they're going to win the championship.
15:13
And there's also going to be brand new cars for everyone to get used to
15:15
as well in 2026 and a whole new flipping team joining the grid as well.
15:20
There is so much drama. I just love it. I love it.
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But that means now is actually a good time to start plotting out
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Welcome back, everybody.
21:09
By the way, fair play to anybody
21:10
that has stayed up from the early hours of the morning
21:13
to wait for this result.
21:14
All like Christian has stayed awake.
21:16
What time is it with you now, Christian?
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Eight minutes past two.
21:21
He's hanging on in there, everybody.
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He's hanging on in there.
21:24
Hang on, but awake since 7 a.m.
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By dear life, for dear life.
21:29
You're hanging on for dear life.
21:30
Right, we've talked about the fact
21:32
that Norris is 24 points clear from Oscar Piazzari
21:37
and Max Verstappen because of this McLaren disqualification.
21:42
We haven't really talked about Oscar.
21:43
Let's chat about him because it feels like
21:46
he is just not getting any luck at all whatsoever,
21:50
but also would you say this disqualification
21:53
sort of works in his favor in a way?
21:57
I think there's a few things there.
21:59
I think it's less, I don't think it's luck.
22:01
I think he's not on the pace.
22:04
So Lando, other than the turn one mistake
22:08
has had a very good weekend.
22:12
Oscar, it's not like he's had a shocker.
22:15
It's not like we've seen the mistakes
22:17
like a Brazil or a Baku.
22:21
It's just he's not on the pace.
22:23
It's like he's almost gone back to the Oscar
22:26
of when he was the newer teammate.
22:28
And he just, you know, 80% of the time
22:32
wasn't keeping up with Lando.
22:34
So it was just a weekend where Oscar just pace wise,
22:38
just sheer wasn't on it.
22:41
Something you do have to bear in mind is he's, you know,
22:43
he's done a lot less running on tracks
22:47
at the back end of the season.
22:49
So I still, I'm still saying on every podcast
22:52
at the moment, I do think Oscar will recover from this.
22:55
I think he needs the winter break now.
22:57
I think he needs a reset.
23:00
I think, and now I'm going to go on to your final point.
23:03
You said there, Betty,
23:05
I don't think he's in the title contention
23:07
because I don't think he's showing the pace at the moment.
23:11
I think he'll get that pace back,
23:12
but probably not this season.
23:14
I still think Oscar Piazza will win world championships.
23:16
I still think he's special,
23:18
but I think he needs a reset now
23:20
to move on from the season to get that pace back.
23:22
But Betty, to your final point,
23:25
I almost, I do think if it's a mental thing with Oscar,
23:31
it's quite a good reset point, isn't it?
23:33
Because as you say, with them,
23:36
it's almost like Oscar can go,
23:38
forget all the lack of pace,
23:40
forget the previous few weeks,
23:43
and now less than a race win behind
23:45
with two races to go, like Max's,
23:47
and everyone will be saying Max is in the championship.
23:50
So just maybe he can use it as that little reset point.
23:55
It's like, okay, I've got away with something here.
23:57
Lando was going to take a chunk away from me.
23:59
That's now not happened.
24:01
Maybe, just maybe he will have that reset point.
24:05
And Betty, he's gone well in Qatar in the past.
24:12
As I just said, we're at the point of the season
24:14
where he's not done as much running on tracks
24:16
towards the end of the season
24:17
as he has in his previous,
24:18
you know, junior series crew, et cetera,
24:20
but Qatar isn't one of those.
24:24
There's, on the one hand,
24:25
I think I don't seem having the pace overall
24:28
to be in this championship fight anymore.
24:30
On the other hand, just maybe this has flipped everything.
24:33
It's one of the many variables
24:35
we're going to have to see in Qatar
24:37
because anything could happen.
24:39
I like the fact that it sort of
24:41
could be a clean slate for him.
24:43
But also, if you think about it,
24:44
if they hadn't have got disqualified,
24:46
Oscar would have been 30 points behind Nando.
24:49
Well, that's what I mean.
24:50
And so now he's only 24 points.
24:54
But he's got the pressure of the fact
24:55
that he's now level on points with Max Verstappen.
24:58
So now Max Verstappen has entered the chat.
25:03
He's never fully left the chat,
25:04
but he's now, you know, well in the chat, yeah.
25:07
I would say he was straddling the exit of the chat.
25:10
And he's now in the chat.
25:16
I'm sorry for my lateness.
25:18
And I apologise to a very tired Christian Hugel as well.
25:20
I had a tired Christian Hugel on one hand
25:22
and a dog that was going to
25:23
**** himself on the other.
25:25
And I had to choose between between the two just then.
25:28
So what are you OK, Christian?
25:31
I'm here mainly to do a sort of health check on you.
25:36
I am tired, but it's drama, isn't it?
25:42
And I know that it's frustrating
25:43
that this sport is entirely insane.
25:47
I mean, it's almost from top to bottom.
25:51
From every single area of it is mad and unpredictable.
25:56
And it's one of the reasons we love it.
25:57
And it's also one of the reasons we despair
25:59
and hate it sometimes because it's just so slow.
26:03
As it keeps you waiting for hours on end.
26:05
Yeah, and also, but there's always these inconsistencies
26:08
with, you know, following these rules
26:11
and those, but what it does do is it makes the last two races
26:16
absolutely unbelievable, doesn't it?
26:19
We've just literally, we've just been saying it is.
26:21
We are now wide open, wide open for the final two races.
26:27
Can you guys imagine?
26:28
Sorry, can you imagine if Max Verstappen
26:31
ends up stealing this title of Lando Norris?
26:36
I can I can absolutely imagine it.
26:38
And actually it will be it will be so well deserved.
26:45
Is that a mad thing to say?
26:46
No, no, it wouldn't be a mad thing to say at all, Greg.
26:49
He only Max would have kept himself in it in a car
26:52
that's not been horrific, but has not been on McLaren's level.
26:55
Yeah, no, it would be it would it would be his best title.
27:00
I mean, I mean, 2021 was almost a different it's a different chat.
27:06
But yeah, it would be it would be insane.
27:08
It would be it would be incredible.
27:10
Because as much as I
27:11
Oh, sorry, Betty, but as much as I love Lando and Oscar as humans,
27:17
we always say to the point of tedium, the story is whatever the story is.
27:22
And if the story ends up being Max Verstappen steals this victory,
27:27
actually steals is probably the wrong word
27:28
because he would have he would have earned it.
27:30
But if he does, oh, my God, it would be one of the all time great seasons.
27:35
Yeah, it would be a huge.
27:37
Also, what I was going to say is bearing in mind,
27:40
Max Verstappen has spent majority of this season
27:42
saying he is completely out of the title race,
27:45
because he was really mathematically.
27:47
You look at it and think, no, no chance, but it's Max Verstappen.
27:52
And we said the only way Max Verstappen was going to end up winning
27:56
this title or have a chance of it is if something massive happened
28:01
to McLaren and it's happened.
28:03
Yeah, that this is the thing
28:05
where with the disqualification and the shuffling of the pack,
28:08
that means that there was a double Mercedes podium.
28:14
That's really good news for Mercedes.
28:16
So what are the big stories?
28:18
Betty, do you want to do a dramatic reading of Lewis Hamilton, please?
28:21
Yeah, we definitely need to talk about Mercedes and George Russell
28:25
because George was so, so, so good.
28:27
But I think I mean, everyone is
28:31
if you think Lando Norris is pretty depressed
28:35
about his disqualification and Oscar Piastri and McLaren,
28:38
I think Lewis Hamilton is even more depressed than either of those two.
28:42
He's come out afterwards saying that he feels terrible.
28:45
It's been the worst season ever.
28:47
He said, no matter how much I try, it just keeps getting worse.
28:50
And he also said to Five Live that he's not looking forward to next season.
28:54
So, I mean, it's been a horrific weekend for Lewis Hamilton.
29:00
I'm sorry, you've got to spin the bow tie a bit more than that.
29:03
You can't tell your competitors
29:08
that you're not looking forward to next season.
29:10
I'm a huge advocate for wearing your heart and your sleeve
29:15
and asking for help when you need some help.
29:17
But there's a little bit of there's a little bit of gameplay
29:21
that needs to happen publicly, which is just to say,
29:24
this is all not gone so well, but I'm I'm going to try my best next year.
29:27
But there's there's honesty and then I think there's being a bit too honest
29:31
because that feels that feels quite like he's already sort of thrown in the tower
29:35
for next season given up.
29:37
Can I say why I agree with Greg there?
29:40
Because again, go back to again, go back to qualifying.
29:46
Lewis is the first Ferrari driver to qualify last in a session on
29:51
on, you know, without a disqualification or something.
29:53
Since Giancarlo Fisichella, we're talking a couple of decades ago
29:57
and there was lots of reaction after qualifying, which was like,
30:01
are we seeing the end of Lewis Hamilton?
30:04
And ultimately, the reason he qualified last and didn't, you know,
30:08
do his final run was because he
30:12
and this was brilliantly spotted by Anthony Davidson on Sky Sports
30:16
like before the world had spotted that he ran over a bollard
30:22
and the bollards stayed under the car through the lap.
30:25
And it's like, OK, right, running over a bollard is a silly error
30:31
that you wouldn't expect from Lewis Hamilton.
30:35
But still, like it happened, right?
30:39
Drivers do hit the bollards.
30:41
It's unlucky that it wedged under.
30:43
It wasn't like he just had a normal clean run and he,
30:49
you know, was miles off.
30:51
He there was a reason that he had the problem.
30:54
And then in the race, right, he did battle up to 10th.
30:58
And it's like it wasn't too long ago that we were saying,
31:01
Lewis's qualifying gap to Charles is much less.
31:05
I just think the sort of the demise of Lewis Hamilton
31:09
has been greatly exaggerated here.
31:10
And, Greg, to your point, partly by Lewis Hamilton,
31:14
I just don't think it's as bad as it is.
31:17
It is he's making it out to be.
31:20
That's that is a very that's a very good point, Christian,
31:23
is that we're all going, no, no, that's that's glimmers.
31:25
You know, he's he's he's driving fast at times
31:29
and he won a sprint race and it's not it's not like he's nearly
31:32
had a podium a couple of weeks ago, a couple of weeks ago.
31:35
And when did he finish today? Was he 10th today?
31:37
Well, he 10th slash eighth because disqualifications.
31:40
And and if they'd got the strategy, right, Greg,
31:42
if they'd done a better strategy, it had been higher than that.
31:45
He might have finished eighth on merit.
31:46
So yeah, this is this is when right.
31:49
This is when I as if I was his friend,
31:52
this is what I do to my friends.
31:53
I will intervene as they're spiraling
31:57
and I would take him to the pub
31:58
and just have a really lovely fun chat with him.
32:01
I need to go to the part of this, Hamilton.
32:03
Well, it doesn't matter what it doesn't matter.
32:04
I don't think he even drinks necessarily, but I would probably know.
32:07
I would get him a nice pint of Guinness Zero.
32:12
Kombucha, Kombucha, a green tea.
32:19
And I would I'd sit him down
32:21
and just say, don't worry, mate, you Lewis Hamilton,
32:25
you're you're brilliant.
32:27
You're one of the greatest people
32:29
that's ever set foot in a car.
32:32
You're on the planet on the planet ever
32:36
in the in the history of this dumb sport.
32:39
You are the one of the greatest ever.
32:42
Just don't worry about it.
32:44
Enjoy this. Enjoy the money.
32:46
Enjoy the money, Jane. I hope it makes you very happy.
32:49
No, that was coming.
32:51
It is that it is that come down to me moment of being like,
32:54
enjoy the money, Jane, you're having a time of your life.
32:56
You're driving for Ferrari, you're Lewis Hamilton, nothing to lose.
33:01
But that's not what that's not what these sports people are like.
33:04
That's not why they're doing it.
33:05
If that was his attitude, he would have retired ages ago.
33:08
He would have. He would have retired after 2021.
33:12
He's in it. He wants podiums with Ferrari.
33:15
Also, did you see he's.
33:16
He can't be bothered next season.
33:18
He's saying that he's rubbish already.
33:20
It's a mental thing.
33:21
Yeah, we wish him well.
33:24
We want him to have a great season.
33:26
Is he maybe this is what he needs, Betty, to your point,
33:28
if we need this is the fuel he needs to take himself
33:31
to the lowest of the low to get that redemptive arc.
33:33
Maybe that's what he's motivated.
33:34
Yeah, he's motivating himself.
33:36
This is his comeback.
33:37
This is what's happening, guys.
33:38
It's his comeback. Did you see his race start, by the way?
33:42
And so that was some great instinctive driving to avoid the chaos.
33:45
Again, it's sort of like he's not lost it.
33:48
The point I think make the point I keep making on the podcast
33:51
over and over again at the moment, and I will keep making it is
33:55
this isn't doesn't matter.
33:57
He's in a car that's really difficult to drive
33:59
that Leclerc had so much more time in.
34:02
And Leclerc came out after qualifying
34:05
and gave a fascinating interview.
34:07
He was really open and honest in the pen where he said,
34:09
we've had Carlos before.
34:11
Now we've got Lewis.
34:12
This car is so difficult to drive,
34:14
particularly in low grip conditions.
34:16
We've tried to improve and we haven't been able to improve it.
34:19
Real insight from Leclerc in the pen.
34:22
And so, again, it's sort of if next year, right?
34:25
If next year with reset of rules, reset of car,
34:30
Leclerc has driven it some amount of time.
34:32
He has if he's well behind Leclerc, then you're thinking,
34:35
all right, now I get it.
34:36
Now we are in trouble, Lewis fans.
34:39
But I just I don't.
34:43
I don't quite think it's as apocalyptic
34:46
as he's making out and some others are making out.
34:49
He also gave Beyonce a hot lap.
34:51
So, you know, it's all that bad, Lewis, is it?
34:55
Well, that's the other thing is that he needs to remember his star power
34:58
and his and his draw and people watch the race still.
35:02
They watch the race because of Lewis Hamilton
35:03
and he's got such value and so much more to give.
35:07
We I just I just know he has.
35:09
He's he's too great to just throw in a towel.
35:11
Do I think that almost makes it harder for him, though, Greg?
35:15
I think that makes it harder
35:16
because he's got this massive legacy on his shoulders, doesn't he?
35:19
That it adds more pressure.
35:21
And then when it's going badly, it's going really badly.
35:23
Everyone's talking about it in his head.
35:26
And I guess we are talking about it,
35:27
but we're talking about it in a positive way, which is,
35:29
we don't think it's as bad as you think it is, Lewis, please.
35:33
You're doing well, sweetie.
35:34
You're Lewis Hamilton.
35:35
Just before we go on to Mercedes Christian,
35:37
can I ask you a question of an existential question
35:42
So I know you're very tired of sort of beaten down by it,
35:44
but something you just mentioned then low grip conditions.
35:47
And I was watching Ted's notebook yesterday
35:49
and he was talking about how the strip is difficult to drive on
35:52
even just during the day, during rush hour.
35:55
What is the Las Vegas Grand Prix?
35:59
A, worth doing and B, working as a as an entity.
36:03
I'm really glad you've asked me this, actually.
36:07
Yeah, I like it, you know,
36:09
I really do like it.
36:12
I think I like that it is such an outlier.
36:17
I like that it's like these we never get cold running.
36:21
All right, we get Silverstone where it's chilly,
36:23
Spa where it's chilly and we put a coat on.
36:25
But the fact it's cold running that we got
36:27
such a different qualifying session yesterday
36:30
with them having to use the wet tires that they almost never use.
36:34
There is, as Ted Kravitz was saying to your point, Greg,
36:38
such a unique challenge because, you know,
36:40
it's a tarmac that isn't easy to run on.
36:43
Crucially, they've made a track where you can overtake.
36:47
So you we've had three Las Vegas Grand Prix.
36:49
Now they've all been good racers and Greg.
36:52
I actually did a little bit of I was so I was walking out.
36:56
I mentioned earlier, Greg, that I left straight after the race.
36:59
I was walking out the fans and I did a bit of a pop quiz to some fans.
37:03
And I just was like, have you found it?
37:05
And every one of them I spoke to had had the best weekend.
37:09
So and it is a unique, you know, the lights.
37:13
Seeing the car under the lights is amazing anyway.
37:17
But I think that what's really helped is moving it earlier.
37:20
I think last year it's still,
37:22
even though it was earlier than the first year,
37:24
last year it probably still all felt a bit too late.
37:27
And people were running out of energy towards the end,
37:29
but they're moving it two hours earlier still.
37:31
It makes it more bleak for people in Europe watching.
37:33
But now I think it is working.
37:35
I think it's a really it's grown on me a lot.
37:38
I've been I was very impressed with it this weekend.
37:41
Well, that's good because I guess the one
37:43
well, I could have guessed that the fan experience would be good
37:46
because that is what Las Vegas was created for,
37:49
was created for people to have a nice time in the desert.
37:52
But I wondered from a racing point of view,
37:54
do the drivers like it?
37:55
Do the teams like it?
37:56
Is it fun for them to drive?
37:57
Is it a real challenge?
37:59
Have they actually have they nailed it in terms of a circuit?
38:01
Oli Behrman said he didn't like it, didn't he?
38:04
Oli Behrman didn't like it.
38:05
Yeah, but I don't care what they think.
38:11
They've got loads of tracks that they love driving
38:14
into Lagos and Suzuka and Silverstone.
38:17
We also need to test them.
38:19
We also need it to be entertaining for the people watching.
38:22
You know, the drivers will come and go
38:24
as Formula One fans are in it for life.
38:26
So we need it to test them.
38:27
So look, is it the most enjoyable event
38:30
for the teams to work in terms of working later?
38:33
How was in the cold? No, it isn't.
38:35
But Greg, you said in terms of entertainment,
38:37
it is providing really solid entertainment.
38:40
So I yeah, I might not be the easiest
38:44
the most fun track to drive.
38:45
It's not going to be as fun as Silverstone,
38:46
but with 24 races in a season,
38:49
they're not all going to be great fun for you to drive.
38:51
We want to be entertained, you know,
38:53
because this sports about the fans.
38:55
So yeah, sorry, Oli.
38:56
I think, you know, enjoy Spa while you can, mate.
38:59
And actually, it's a good test of your skill.
39:05
I love tired Christian.
39:09
I also really I was interested to hear Ted talking about
39:11
the fact that there were tickets available yesterday.
39:14
And one of those it was it looks sold out.
39:17
And I said only only in terms of it was relatively
39:21
easy to get some final tickets.
39:22
Not that it was not massively
39:25
not that it undersold, it was just like, oh, you could rock up
39:30
and get a last minute few.
39:32
Yeah, yeah. Yeah, you could and the hotels were saying
39:35
that they want to sell their hotel rooms quite cheaply
39:38
because they want to fill the hotel last minute.
39:39
So if you were if you were last minute being, you know,
39:42
sitting in your casino and go, oh, just pop over there
39:45
and watch the greatest racing drivers ever.
39:48
Yeah, which is which is quite a nice thing.
39:50
And also it's good that the city can swallow F1 in terms of
39:53
yeah, there are hotel spaces and things.
39:55
And I spoke to a list of my other podcast
39:57
who had made a really last minute decision to come last week.
40:01
And we spoke to him and he was saying that like his his
40:04
his wife had made a decision and basically packed him off
40:07
to go to the race last week.
40:09
So yeah, listen, it's it's it's like gone off you go.
40:12
Go and he did and he had the best time.
40:14
So like, yeah, it's it's that's not it's a nice point.
40:17
But yeah, and I think you've seen that with the American races
40:19
that OK, they don't like sell out instantly, but it does me
40:22
in some ways that makes it more accessible.
40:24
So yes, it's a good thing.
40:26
If I'm going to make a vow now,
40:30
if we're all free next Las Vegas Grand Prix last minute,
40:35
I'll I'll take us all over there for a laugh.
40:38
You'll you will take us.
40:43
Let's let right we need to cut this clip.
40:46
This we're saving this.
40:47
I'm holding you to this graph.
40:49
Just just for a laugh.
40:50
Well, I mean, I mean, professionally speaking,
40:52
my calendar is wide open next year at the moment.
40:54
So yeah, I'm in to tell you I'm in.
41:00
I'll get rid of everything.
41:02
Let's do it. Yeah, let's let's have a nice time in Vegas.
41:05
Why not do so? We'll clip it up.
41:06
Yeah, we'll get this up.
41:11
On that note, let's take a very quick break when we're back.
41:13
We're going to talk all about Mercedes and we've got radio radar.
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42:33
Welcome back to an increasingly tired episode of The Fast and the Curious
42:36
where just in case you were wondering, it's now 2.32 in the morning here.
42:39
Before we get into any other business and I go to sleep,
42:43
we've got some of our own business to tell you about
42:46
and this might feel ages away, I mean for me at the moment tomorrow feels ages away,
42:50
but still we've already been making plans for Silverstone 2026, haven't we Betty Glover?
42:56
Because we are so organized and it is no secret everybody that we love Silverstone
43:01
and we've even had listeners there during the Vegas race running Silverstone half marathon as well
43:06
which is insane, well done to them.
43:08
We always have the best time when we go to Silverstone, don't we guys?
43:11
The atmosphere is ridiculously good, we do a couple of live shows over the weekend
43:16
and we get to spend the weekend with thousands and thousands of Formula One fans
43:20
at one of the world's most iconic circuits
43:23
and that's not just us being biased because we're British, by the way,
43:27
it is a banger of a circuit, isn't it Greg?
43:30
It is because also they essentially, I've described it as this quite often,
43:34
Glastonbury for Cars, they also put on a huge musical line up,
43:41
they have unbelievable people performing over the years they've had.
43:45
David Getter, Stormzy, Getter, Sam Fender, they have Ray,
43:50
they have, I mean it's just a brilliant, brilliant line up as well.
43:53
So they do Thursday night, Friday night, Saturday night loads of essentially festival headliners
43:58
plus all the fan areas and all the rest of it, it's a really, it's a fun thing.
44:06
They've absolutely made the best of an airfield in Northamptonshire,
44:09
let me just tell you that, that they really make the best of it.
44:13
And you want to be at the heart of it, you want to be involved in all of that
44:16
and you know us, we'll do anything for a decent breakfast and a decent place to sleep during a
44:20
busy race weekend, I mean sleep, chance to be a fine thing, but still.
44:23
So we're very excited to be teaming up with the Pop-Up Hotel for the British Grand Prix 2026,
44:29
apparently they're letting us in as their digital partners, which is exciting,
44:33
I've never had a digital partner before.
44:36
That is so 2025, 2026.
44:39
Digital partners, lovely.
44:42
That, you have by the way, same digital partners, you have never sounded older
44:47
and yet are you 10 years younger than me?
44:52
Oh okay, not 10, but it's very exciting to partner up with them because we love doing
44:56
stuff with Silverstone and the Pop-Up Hotel is a really fun thing to do because as I was
45:01
mentioning about the Glastonbury for Cars, the idea of camping and staying on site
45:06
and unzipping your tent or in this case opening your Pop-Up Hotel door
45:10
and just being in front of arguably the most famous race circuit in the world
45:14
is very, very exciting and if you're an F1 nerd, why wouldn't you want to do that?
45:19
Yeah, so basically we're going to be there across the weekend, including a live podcast
45:24
record on the Thursday, we're going to be hosting some panels and generally just
45:28
using the Pop-Up Hotel as our Fast and Curious HQ all weekend, which is just
45:33
ridiculously cool. It looks unreal guys, I actually saw it from a distance at Silverstone
45:39
this year and I just thought, oh how do we get in there?
45:43
You know, it's just, there's so many good options to stay in, but you know,
45:47
this is trackside, we've got a restaurant, viewing platforms, we've got a bar,
45:52
this is like sleeping inside Christian's brain for the weekend, it doesn't get cooler.
45:57
Well listen, it might feel way too early to be talking about Silverstone in July 2026,
46:02
but F1 fans like to plan, we know this, so you can start looking at all the options now
46:07
at thepopuphotel.com and as if Silverstone wasn't enough, there'll also be a Monaco this year with
46:12
Villas and another swimming pool, this time on the actual Monaco chicane. So that's the Pop-Up
46:19
Hotel, I mean it can't, the Pop-Up Hotel, all lowercase, all one words, .com to start planning
46:25
2026 and I'm pleased to be their digital partners.
46:30
Yeah, me too. I'd like to be, as a digital partner, I would like to just say I want to
46:36
go to Monaco and you know on this episode, we've just recording, I said that we'll go to Las Vegas,
46:42
I've changed my mind, we're going to Monaco, thank you. Yeah, yeah, I'm up for that.
46:46
Okay, yeah, I mean, I'm fine with that as well, that's, yes, that's, and it's sunny, it's warmer,
46:51
yeah, fine. And closer, yeah, yeah. It's closer, yeah, lovely. Brilliant weekend for Mercedes,
46:58
they will absolutely take that. George Russell looked so good, I thought, well,
47:04
obviously he ended up in P2, but I thought he was in the real standing straight after the race,
47:10
I thought he was going to hang on to P2, Lando obviously overtook him, but he can be proud of
47:14
that, can't he Christian? He can, yes, very good George. I've said many times this year, George
47:21
can fight for titles if Mercedes give him the car, yeah, well done George, George was good
47:25
this weekend. I'm less bothered about George, I want to talk about Kimmy, because I like George,
47:31
I like George, he did a wonderful job this weekend, he was also incredibly funny in that
47:35
Cadillac with your man, what's his name, Terry, what's his name, Betty, help me,
47:42
Terry, Terry Venomals, Terry Crews, thank you for being so well, Terry Crews, where,
47:50
Terry Crews, but yeah, no, George is great, I believe George will be a title contender
47:57
next year if Mercedes give him the car, but I think the way Antonelli had his mid-season dip
48:03
and looked way off it at one point, the way he's rallied, he's had a couple of weekends recently
48:09
where he's just looked so good, and this was another one with Kimmy, where his pace was
48:15
absolutely great, Crofty said on the Sky commentary that Crofty thought it was his
48:19
best weekend, yeah, I can't really disagree with that, his overall pace across the weekend
48:25
was great, on a track, well Greg, go back to what we were saying a minute ago about,
48:29
but Vegas been bloody difficult for Kimmy to come on and have at the best weekend of his career today,
48:34
or certainly one of them in Vegas, absolutely brilliant, and yes, he made that, he did make
48:40
the tiniest little mistake in creeping forward before the lights went out and he got himself
48:44
that penalty, but it didn't matter, which again is testament to him, so I'm just,
48:48
I'm excited for Kimmy, I think he really is, it's taken maybe longer than some people
48:53
were imagining, but I'm excited for Kimmy, and I just feel like all that doom and gloom we were
48:58
talking about Ferrari, if you're a Mercedes fan going into 2026, I just think it feels a little bit
49:04
more positive, and Betty Glover, one of their junior drivers, won F1 Academy as well.
49:11
Yeah, go on Dorianne Pan, she's the new F1 Academy champion, finished fifth in the
49:16
season finale, but she took the crown, Christian, you watched loads of it, didn't you? Did you
49:20
also see that video, by the way, of George Russell and Kimmy Antonelli going through all of the emotions
49:26
as they were watching that race? Yeah, it was really was, I mean Dorianne is part of the Mercedes
49:31
Junior Driver Academy, she's great, I interviewed her earlier in the season, she's very dry,
49:36
sense of humour, very funny, very chilled, I really like her, she's a very deserved winner,
49:42
she's been consistent across the season, she's done really really well, so listen,
49:47
it's been a great season for F1 Academy, it feels like it's got bigger, we were talking to
49:54
Susie Wolfe about the bigger brands that have been attached to it, you can feel when I'm at Grand Prix,
49:59
like the excitement of the fans, who are loving having it as part of the F1 Circus,
50:07
and it's been very entertaining to watch, so it's been a really good weekend,
50:12
I just want to do a slight negative here, if that's okay, because to me there was also
50:17
an example of why we need F1 Academy this weekend, with some blatant sexism,
50:23
so it's been so entertaining, it's been such good value to watch, but in race one we saw
50:31
Maya Virg crash on the formation lap, and the internet immediately went into, oh I thought
50:38
this was supposed to be a serious race series, blah blah blah, it's literal sexism, right,
50:43
is what it is, 2018 Roman Grosjean in Formula One crashes behind the safety car, 2020 George Russell
50:51
in Formula One crashes behind the safety car, we've seen drivers make contact behind the
50:55
safety car in Formula One, the pinnacle of all motorsports, I am ranting here, I'm fully aware,
51:01
but this is a junior series, right, they are racing Formula Four cars, if you watch Formula
51:08
Three, all the, which is again, lads, you see carnage, right, because they're children, because
51:14
they're kids, that is what happens in junior racing series, so if you're one of these people that
51:20
talks to Twitter to go, oh well, you know, it's supposed to be a series, that's why we need F1
51:25
Academy, because actually that's not because it's female racing drivers, it's because it's
51:29
young racing drivers driving in bloody tricky conditions, so F1 Academy, great season for F1
51:37
Academy this year, and you know, the biggest thing it's doing is making the, you know, I see so
51:44
many women at these events that I never used to see when I was going to Silverstone as a kid,
51:48
and it's making the young girls going with their mum and dads, go look, there's women racing,
51:52
I can do that when I'm older, it's not just inspiring the future generations,
51:56
it's brilliant, so it's been a great season for F1 Academy.
51:59
It's net positive, certainly, I mean, you've always got to annoy the right people,
52:04
and if you're annoying sexists, if you're annoying racists, if you're annoying homophobes,
52:08
you're doing the right thing, so well said Christian Hugh Gill, but also the other thing is
52:16
that, they were mentioning on the telly that the heart, I know it sounds like a small thing,
52:20
but it's not a small thing, it's what you're talking about as it's got more prominent,
52:24
the hub, the F1 Academy hub was right in the centre of the paddock this time at Las Vegas,
52:29
whereas it used to be shoved out miles away and it was right front and centre.
52:34
Yes, Greg, you're right, and it looked so damn cool and there was people queuing to go in it,
52:39
it feels like, you're right Greg, it is significant because it feels like it's at the
52:42
heart of the sport and it will only continue to grow, what it's not going to do is produce a
52:47
female or champion or female Formula One driver next season or the year after, but it will
52:52
inspire people to get involved in motorsport who are women, we're talking for years,
52:58
decades, generations and it's getting bigger and bigger and feeling like part of the sport
53:02
and for the first time in almost forever, it makes women feel like we are involved at the
53:08
very heart of this sport, we're part of this sport, we're part of this community, it gives
53:12
female drivers track time, I'm so passionate about it as a thing, so yeah, it's, and yeah,
53:18
reactions like that on the internet sort of shows why it's needed, so yeah, a great
53:23
season for F1 Academy. They're just idiots on their keyboard sat at home, aren't they,
53:28
like you can't listen to it, but it's just getting better and better, next season F1
53:31
Academy is going to be even better, it's growing, this is what we need, so yeah,
53:36
really well said, and shall we get s**t, yes, thanks Greg, they are s**t.
53:44
Two final things to chat to you about that which I noticed, the first thing being with their
53:56
hub HQ being in the centre of the panel, it just means it might feel like a small thing,
54:00
but the idea that all the drivers can chat to each other and they all feel that they're part
54:06
of the same thing is surely fantastic, so you've got George Russell could just pop in and be like
54:14
good race guys, see ya. He's literally next door, yeah. They bump into each other, that
54:19
will certainly make everyone feel much more comfortable, so that's, you feel part of a
54:23
big thing, you therefore feel like oh my god, I can, I'm part of the, I'm part of the gang,
54:28
and the other thing, people having to go at carnage, I've only just seen a replay of the
54:34
start of the F1 race. What the f**k happened there? Yeah. You've probably discussed this
54:42
already when I missed it at the start, but it's very difficult to drive these cars very fast,
54:47
and they can't do it at this level sometimes, so you've got to give everyone a break,
54:51
because it looked like an absolute nightmare. Well, loads of people made contact at a
54:56
shock horror at a street circuit in the cold, so yeah, absolutely. Could also think about
55:03
the race at the start of the season, Melbourne, or apparently any of the rookies even made it
55:09
to the race. That feels like 25 years ago, that, doesn't it? I know. Should we do your radio radar?
55:16
Let's do radio radar. One person on it, Charles Leclerc, just goes, I am pushing like an animal.
55:25
Brilliant. And also, Alex Albon, he had no radio. Christian, he had no radio.
55:31
Imagine a life without radio. No, we're thinking about it, isn't it? Oh, God.
55:36
I spoke to Gabriel Bortoletto about this the other week, and asked him a listener question about,
55:42
on the other part, about why do you still have the pit boards? And Gabriel went,
55:49
oh yeah, well, a lot of it is in case the radio breaks, but the radio's never break.
55:54
And I said to her, I was like, well, it does happen. It'll probably happen at some
55:58
point in your career. And he was like, oh, don't say that. And I was sort of saying to him,
56:01
like, no, it, it's a thing. It does happen. And then, sure enough, a couple of weeks later,
56:05
it was Alex Paul that said, it's why they still have the good old-fashioned pit boards that
56:08
they use to have in the war, you know, to communicate with the drivers because,
56:14
you know, you can't always rely on the radio. Jensen Button described it as,
56:17
he's going old school. Yeah, nice. I bet there's something quite freeing about that
56:23
if you're a driver. I mean, terrifying for a bit, but there must be a moment where you
56:27
think, let's do what I like here. And no one's going to tell me off. I'm going to just try my best.
56:32
Well, yeah. But again, you mentioned Jensen. I think it was Jensen. It might have been
56:36
Crofty. One of the two of them on Sky said. Very similar.
56:40
To be similar, man. Crofty, I think Crofty would be pleased with that comparison.
56:45
That's like, they have to do so much manual changing of stuff on the dashboard now
56:53
that it's actually so difficult to drive a modern Formula One car without,
56:58
you know, the radio, because you do need to change so much stuff. So in the old days,
57:03
you could use an old-fashioned pit board because really it was just giving you information.
57:06
But the amount of stuff you've got to change, Alex had to retire the car in the end,
57:10
but that won't have been helped by the fact he hadn't got the radio to talk
57:13
back to the team on. And as he was coming into the pits, you could see him pointing
57:16
towards the front end of the car being like, look, something's going on there. So,
57:20
yeah, it's so difficult to drive these modern F1 cars without it.
57:25
It is indeed. Shall we leave it there then, guys?
57:28
I'll do another half hour if you like. I'm in no rush.
57:31
You need to go to bed urgently.
57:32
You need to go to bed. Yeah.
57:34
This is an intervention. You need to get to sleep now.
57:38
I mean, he's in bed anyway. He's lying there under the duvet.
57:44
Get out of here. Get out of here, you.
57:47
But thank you for your service, Betty. Lovely to see you.
57:49
And thank you, dear listeners.
57:51
We're very excited to be back for the final two races of the season.
57:55
Plus, at the end of the season, we've got our live show, which we're going to do.
57:58
So, all those lovely tickets went very, very quickly,
58:01
and we're very excited to see some of our listeners in a couple of weeks' time.
58:05
But we'll be back. When are we going to be back? I guess there's Katar.
58:08
We're going to preview the Katar Grand Prix with the potential of two guests.
58:14
We might just have one guest, or we might have no guest.
58:16
But we are going to be there previewing the Katar Grand Prix.
58:19
There are two names that we could have with us, both of which are like,
58:23
yes, we want to, but because it's a bit chaotic, we don't know.
58:26
So, yeah, possibly two guests, possibly one guest, possibly no guest at all.
58:30
So that helps. Come back for any of those options.
58:33
But regardless, the episode will be here, even if it's just one of us.
58:38
Anyway, thanks, everyone. Enjoy the weekend. Goodbye.
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