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Hello, everybody, and welcome back
to the P1 Podcast with Matt and Tommy.
Today is the second episode of our three-part special
all about this season's championship contenders.
Today, it's the man looking to become
a five-time world champion, Max Verstappen.
Okay, let's head to Max Verstappen.
He has 12 points behind the championship leader,
Lando Norris, with seven race victories.
Japan, Imola, Monza, Baku, Austin, Vegas,
Qatar, his wins with 14 podiums.
Max Verstappen.
How was he?
He must be sat here.
Oh, he's not sat here.
I wish he was sat here.
You must be sat there, Tommy.
Max must be sat wherever he is thinking,
how am I going into the title decider
actually with a shot of winning this world championship?
It is, it's been a great season from Max.
There's been a couple of lowlights we'll get into,
but a lot of highlights in a car
that has been very back and forth,
up and down, roller coaster sorts of form.
But Max has done a brilliant job this season
to maximize most opportunities, I have to say.
And that's what's brought him into the championship.
Yes, McClown have made mistakes,
but it's always been Max Verstappen
ready to take any sort of crumbs
that the Papaya team want to give.
Yeah, definitely.
There's two sides to this story.
Max Verstappen has been unbelievable this season.
He's put in a season where everyone,
even his biggest haters are now kind of going,
okay, this guy is unbelievable.
And he shouldn't be in the title.
I do genuinely believe him
when he's kind of there on the grid going,
I don't think about it too much,
we'll just see what happens.
Because I think he is literally in that mindset of,
well, I'm not in a car that can win the world championship.
And it's only if McClown are just throwing it
and giving it to me.
And they're doing a pretty good job of that
in the last couple of races, of course,
and throughout the season.
And that's the thing that we've said that,
Max Verstappen has been there
to pick up the pieces when McClown have failed.
But also anytime there's a sniffer victory,
he's almost always won the race.
And that's what he had to do
to be any chance of being in this world championship.
And somehow he is.
I mean, it's genuinely a miracle
that he is even in this opportunity at all.
Not even winning it aside.
It's a miracle that he's even taken it to the last race
because this shouldn't have been a title fight
with him in it.
McClown have got a dominant car,
as dominant cars we've seen that have wrapped up the title
with four or five races to go.
And you've seen what they've done in the constructors
that tells you everything you need to know.
So he shouldn't be in it, but he is.
Yeah, Max has picked up so many pieces.
He could build a jigsaw from McClown.
Like the amount of times he has been able
to snatch a few points here and there,
that's what world champions do.
And that's exactly what Max Verstappen has shown this season
and why he is a class above pretty much everybody
on the grid.
And I'm saying that as a non-Max Verstappen fan,
or I don't know what I am anymore
because we're now at the title decider.
I wanted the title decider.
You've got it now.
Oh my God, I have a dog underneath me.
Hello, Bruno.
That scared the life out of me.
Right, let's go to what has been Max Verstappen's
biggest and best moment of the season.
There's definitely highlights to talk about, Tommy.
I would say that Japan was a moment
where I think even you had a sparkle in your eyes
of maybe just maybe.
Maybe Max could pull off something crazy
if he can just stay in this championship fight.
You're shaking your head.
Shaking my head as in he's not in the title,
but it definitely was like, wow, he's done that.
Yeah, yeah, the pessimism, of course.
Yeah, but there was, at that time,
you were kind of clinging on to the hope
of if they can just get to Spain
when they bring the upgrades.
That's when they might be able
to do something pretty awesome.
I would say, where else am I gonna lay?
I mean, Austin was a perfect weekend from him.
Clean sweep brought himself somewhat in the background,
even though still not close enough
to really consider him a championship protagonist fully.
And then dominating Las Vegas was another one
that you have to throw in there
and then Kata was a McLaren presence.
I'm not gonna put that as the highest moment.
I think Japan, I think beating McLaren
when they were in peak form
and I think probably had the biggest gap,
in my opinion, to the rest of the cars
because McLaren came up the blocks firing.
They had an unbelievable car.
I think Japan.
Japan is probably my sort of best moment for Max this year.
It's definitely up there.
Japan was insane.
I think that was one of those moments
where we started the season
and it felt like Max Verstappen,
it was all about like, can he get podiums and things?
I think the first race in Australia,
him finishing second was more the fact
that it was a wet race
and I can't believe he almost won that.
Like it was insane because the McLaren was so clear.
And then equally, the start of that season,
we had Liam Lawson in the second Red Bull,
qualifying 20th every race
and we just thought this Red Bull is an absolute dog
and how is Max Verstappen
even gonna be able to get a podium in it.
So for them to him to win the Japanese Grand Prix
was insane.
Imola.
I just wanna add, yeah.
Imola, that move, yeah, I can't believe
you didn't mention it.
The move at Imola, it feels so long ago.
It's been a long season.
It's so long ago, but that move at Imola,
it's the kind of like,
this is what you get with Max Verstappen.
Other days, he slams into the side of someone
and we all go, oh, he's like a crazy driver.
He's mad Max, blah, blah, blah.
But yeah, when he does these moments that work
and a lot of the time it does work with him,
that's why he's won so many races,
it's unbelievable.
And yes, Oscar Piastri hit the brakes early,
but no, you cannot tell me anyone else
on that grid makes that move.
It's absolutely sensational.
It's a move that I will remember
for the rest of my life in F1.
And be watching one of the best moments
as a Max fan I've ever seen.
Yeah, it was one of the best moments
as a non-Max fan I've ever seen
because it was probably the best opening lap move
for God knows how many years.
I challenge you to find me a better opening lap move.
It was one centimeter away from mad Max.
Oh my God, he's done it again.
He's flying over the sausage curbs and things like that,
but it wasn't, it was a perfect move.
And yeah, that's definitely up there
as one of the best moments of the season.
I guess I was thinking more about races.
Other moments are obviously it's just the fact
that he's been able to mount this comeback.
I think you can package that as almost like an entire moment
that he was 104 points behind
and he needed to be perfect.
And I guess he hasn't been, but he's come very close.
First, first, second, first, third, first, first.
It's crazy what he's managed to do
when yeah, he shouldn't have been anywhere near this.
He should be 100 points behind still in the championship
with the machinery he's got, if not further.
So yeah, it's been a mad season for Max.
Yeah, Max hasn't been off the podium since Hungary,
but he was off the podium quite a few times
in the first half of the year.
So just shows how much he has stepped up
in this second half of the season.
What's been the worst moment
of Max Verstappen's season, Tommy?
Well, this may surprise you
because I know which one yours is
and we'll talk about it later.
But mine for me is Brazil.
Well, okay, worst moment is Spain, actually.
Of course, it's Spain.
I was thinking about the next question.
Spain is definitely the worst moment for Max Verstappen.
It was a moment of rage.
I think he's very lucky that he didn't receive more.
I understand why he was absolutely fuming the situation
because there was so much tension going on in that team
with the Christian Horner stuff.
The fact that his own team had messed up the strategy
which put him in that situation.
He banged with Leclerc.
George Russell overtook him illegally
and his team were telling him he needed to let him through,
which wound him up even more.
And it was just basically a series of moments
for a driver that gets very hot-headed anyway
and has these moments of rage.
And yeah, it was his poorest moment,
one of if not the biggest in his whole career
as a driver to crash deliberately like that.
It genuinely felt like he thought he was still
doing eye racing or something
because he was so mad, like sore red.
And yeah, just slammed into the side of Russell.
And of course, we didn't know
that would mean anything at the time, of course, did we?
Because he was so far out of it.
No, we didn't know.
But I guarantee we spoke about it at the time of,
well, he better not lose the title by nine points.
And he might well lose the title by nine or less points.
Of course, mine is Spain.
For a second, I couldn't even believe you were gonna say
there was a worse moment for Max this year.
Of course, you're probably more talking about
where he might have lost the title.
But for the worst moment, yeah, Spain,
the fact that he was just uncontrollable in that moment,
you know, to send it into the side of George Russell
was unforgivable.
I am also of the opinion that I'm surprised
that he got away with what he did,
which was, I think it was a 10 second penalty, wasn't it?
I think it was just a 10 seconds.
It was 10 seconds, which still got him a point.
Obviously, the field was bunched up
because of a safety car.
So it obviously, yeah.
Realistically used his car as a weapon.
But Max, even Max himself, has reflected on it
and said that it was something he regrets,
which you do not get out.
That's when you know it's a bad moment
when even Max admits something.
Yeah, exactly.
So yeah, that definitely is the worst moment
of the year for me.
Now, what moment could be the thing
that costs him the title?
Now, Tommy, you think you know what I'm gonna say,
but no, I know.
You don't know what I'm gonna say
because we are actually different people
despite agreeing quite a lot of the time.
The moment where Max Verstappen lost the title was Austria.
The only time that he has retired was or is Austria.
Every other time he has finished the race,
I'm not saying it's his fault,
but when we're talking about big moments
in the championship where Max could have scored
a decent amount of points, third, fourth, fifth,
there was definitely a good amount of points on the table.
That's it.
That's the only sort of blemish on his season-long record
apart from Spain that we've spoken about,
which of course is also a factor, definitely.
And then Hungary being the place where he finished P9.
So, but for me, I'm gonna say Austria.
You know, it's unlucky and it's Kimi Antonelli,
but I'm not blaming Kimi Antonelli,
it's just something that happened.
And yeah, that's cost him an opportunity
to be pretty much level on points with Lando
going into Abu Dhabi.
Interesting.
Yeah, I don't, yeah.
For me, the moment he lost the title
was when McLaren built their car
and Red Bull built their car.
Because at the end of the day, that-
I love that you were ferociously shaking your head
at the fact that he lost those points at Austria.
Well, no, no.
And your answer is when they built the car.
Well, that is true.
It's true.
Like, that is when they lost the title
because they've not had a competitive car enough
and I completely agree with him
that he shouldn't be in this title race.
And even if he wins the title in Abu Dhabi,
it's obviously a slim chance.
But even if he wins it, it's, for me,
it's more that McLaren have lost it
because of how many points they've thrown away.
The Red Bull should not be anywhere near them
and Max has been absolutely brilliant.
But it's cost him the title
because he hasn't had a car to compete
with the McLarens enough, you know, Hungary, nowhere.
Miami, China, all these races where he couldn't compete,
where McLaren have been quick at every single race
and obviously they've thrown points.
I will throw Brazil into the mix
because this is my biggest argument to Austria and Spain, right?
And it depends how you look at it
because I understand that you can look at the end of the year
and there will be people and some people would say
that it's copium for me that I'm like,
oh, you can't really say that
because I understand why some people believe
that is the case.
But when these kind of things happen in June,
May, June, whatever, you can't,
you never know how the title is gonna go
whereas when it gets later on into the season,
you're driving with the championship in mind
and kind of knowing a bit more what's gonna happen.
And for me, so that is why I'm more gutted about Brazil,
two sides to it, one, the pit stop,
which again, they shouldn't have pit
because they had to roll the dice
and try something different.
Yeah, I probably would have finished second
but at that point, you're basically giving the title
to Lando Norris without trying to stay out and block him
and try and do everything to win this world championship
because they did have an opportunity then to do it,
which is why I consider it more.
And also the fact that it went so wrong for them
in the qualifying that he started so low down anyway
because had he started even into like Q2
in like 10th or something,
probably winning the race or who knows
because he had so much pace or at least
if he's starting at the start,
like higher up the grid and doing a decent qualifying,
they had the best package in the race to win that race.
They did whack a new engine in as well though,
which would have been better.
Yeah, yeah, true, but I do think
that Max could have won that race anyway
or at least got been challenging for it
because I don't think, again, McLaren
maximized their strategy.
So Brazil is a tough one, but it's a weird answer,
but I'm sticking to it that the moment they,
the thing that's costing him the title
is that he hasn't had a car to compete.
Because Max is so perfect.
Well, it's not, he's not there.
Tommy, give me a moment when Max lost the title.
You can't cop out and say Red Bull didn't build him a car
and Max is perfect.
I wasn't saying Max is perfect.
No, well, that's the way it comes across kind of
is the fact that you're saying it's the car and not Max.
Brazil. So Brazil.
Okay, so you're blaming the strategy team.
All right, I see.
No, no, because Max didn't make it through
either did he into the session?
He could have made it through the Q2 or the first of my words.
Just saying how I gave him a nine out of 10, remember?
You did, you did.
Still heavily biased as I am for Charlotte Clair.
Of course. Right.
Percentage, the big percentage,
the percentage we've been asking you
for the entirety of the season,
we're now incorporating it into this wonderful podcast.
I'm going to lock mine in first,
that the percentage likelihood of him winning the title
is 25%.
That is my number.
Tommy, over to you.
So I've thought more about this after the excitement
and you'll be shocked to hear it's gone down.
What a surprise.
10%.
10%, I think it's quite, I was looking.
So like, obviously the excitement of him
making it to the final race, I was incredibly excited.
But looking where Lando needs to finish now,
it would require like a failure, an engine failure or something.
Just a failure for McLaren, mate.
It finishes exactly the same order as Qatar
and Max's world champion.
But let's not forget Max finished way off, like,
Abu Dhabi last year, Lando was like exceptional McLaren.
It's one of Lando's best circuits.
McLaren are very good around there.
I do think Lando has to get it over the line
to win his first world championship.
If I'm going to be a glass half full, it could be quite exciting.
No, it will be exciting because like, he can do it.
Like, he can do it.
Oscar can do it.
There's so many scenarios, as I mentioned, like,
they could collide and Max is going to go for everything.
But he needs to somehow win the race
and yet Lando finished down the order.
It's almost like that Lewis Hamilton situation in 2016
where he backs up the entire field
to try and shift Ross Beg down the order.
Because the reason it's so low,
the reason it's so low is because I just don't see
a scenario where Lando isn't on the podium in Abu Dhabi
because it's such a good track of it.
Just like you must have never seen a scenario
where Lando didn't finish on the podium in Qatar
or get disqualified in Las Vegas.
McLaren can't screw it up every race.
They can't do it for the final one.
But if you'd like to be my guest.
Is that Brown so famously saying that he wants Max to beat them
rather than then beating themselves?
And it's like, well, I think you give it to Max currently.
So yeah, let's see.
All right, 10% is ridiculous, but here we are.
Am I always surprised?
Absolutely not.
Thanks so much, everybody, for joining us again.
We'll be back tomorrow with the final episode
of this little series talking about the man currently
in pole position to secure his first ever championship title.
It's, of course, Lando Norris.
See you then.
P1 is a stack production and part of the ACAST Created Network.
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