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Reaction to Mexico City GP qualifying
Reaction to Mexico City GP qualifying
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About this episode
The discussion centers on the Mexico City GP qualifying session, highlighting Lando Norris's dominant performance and potential to take the championship lead. The hosts analyze Alex Albon's recent struggles compared to teammate Carlos Sainz, Oscar Piastri's surprising drop in form despite leading the championship, and Max Verstappen's challenging starting position. They also touch on rookie performances and the strategic implications of the starting grid, especially the difficult turn one. The episode blends race analysis with driver form debates and championship implications, setting the stage for an exciting race day.
Topics:
mexico city gp qualifying
lando norris performance
alex albon vs carlos sainz
oscar piastri struggles
max verstappen challenges
rookie drivers
race strategy
turn one dynamics
formula 1 championship battle
The Championship race takes another dramatic twist, as one McLaren driver will enjoy a *dream* grid in Mexico City tomorrow. Could this be the weekend it all changes?
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Hello, everybody, and welcome back to the P1 Podcast with Matt and Tommy,
or should we say Matt and depressed Tommy?
Matt and pessimistic Tommy.
Matt and not even half-glass full Tommy.
Championship is over.
Should we just 2026?
Just scrap the next four races after this one?
Yeah, exactly.
It's over the dreams.
No, you might be surprised.
Maybe not as pessimistic as many other people may be, but obviously it's not.
It's not been the best session for the championship, or is it?
Well, it is if you're a Landon Norris fan, for sure.
Let's get into qualifying and begin with Q1,
where the bottom five were Bortoletto, Albon, Gasly, Stroll and Colla Pinto.
Alex Albon has to be the main story here being knocked out in Q1
when his teammate Carlos Sainz finished in seventh.
Of course, he has that five-place grid penalty from last time out
when he collided with Kimi Antonelli.
But Alex Albon, question.
Let's get straight into it.
P1 Patriot member, AMG Piper.
Has Albon met his match in having Sainz as a teammate?
Sainz seems to have Alex's number right now.
Look, I don't think Alex Albon,
as much as recent form he has struggled,
he's been knocked out in Q1 a couple of times now,
and his recent form is one to be slightly questioned for sure.
I'm sure he's not very happy with it either.
But when you look at his season as a whole,
he's been one of the best drivers of the season.
So to jump on a kind of Carlos is now better than Alex's narrative.
I don't think it's fair after what Alex has put down this entire season
and helped Williams be so high up the constructor's standings.
They've got nosebleeds.
So for Alex Albon,
yeah, it has been a difficult run of form for sure.
But to say that he's met his match now,
like Carlos is a brilliant driver
and he was always going to get a handle of that Williams
and start delivering great performances.
But Alex is no slouch either.
And I'm giving him benefit of the doubt just purely because yes,
it's been, I'm not using recency bias here.
Yeah, it's very easy to get on the recency bias bandwagon
and think that Albon's now washed and terrible
because it's certainly not the case.
He's had a absolutely amazing season.
The fact that he is, you know, pretty close to a seventh
in the championship is an absolutely unbelievable performance.
And yeah, he's not doing as well as he had been doing
at the start of the season,
but he's not had terrible results.
Of course, Austin,
it was the track limits that caught him out that time.
This one obviously, again, a disappointing qualifying
and based on how well science did.
But I don't think it's, you know, complete concern.
You look at kind of when Williams had
that brilliant sprint performance.
Alex was there about with science in that race as well
and qualifying.
So I think it's an extreme look to kind of take the narrative
that Alex is like really performing poorly at the moment.
So I don't think that's the case at all.
He's just had a couple of bad races.
Exactly.
You look at his season so far and the first eight races,
he scored points in seven of them.
Then he went on a pretty poor three retirement spree.
Then he scored four points out of the next five races
and granted, yes, the last three races,
he hasn't scored a point at barring, obviously,
the point from the sprint, but in the main races,
no points there.
And it's going to be difficult from where he's starting.
But he's closer to his teammate than perhaps qualifying
would read because, of course, Carlos is dropping down to 12th.
Other drivers to talk about Bortoletto missing out,
being outqualified again by Holkenberg.
Tommy, you know, it's just after we sort of were saying
that Gabriel Bortoletto at least on the Saturdays is,
and to be fair, it looked like maybe he was getting
the sort of advantage generally at Sauber.
Holkenberg's fought back a little bit.
He's woken up on a Saturday.
He has.
Yeah, Bortoletto's form's kind of dropped off,
been disappointing actually since that amazing run
in the middle of the season
where he was very hyped up and everyone kind of realized,
yeah, Bortoletto's doing a much better job
than people are giving him credit for.
But since then, it's not really gone to plan
and started struggling in qualifying,
which was his strong point.
But, yeah, knocked out again.
And then the two Alpines, of course, doing Alpine things
and Lance Troll actually doing Lance Troll things as well
in P19.
Let's head to Q2, where the bottom five in this session
were Sonoda, Ocon, Holkenberg, Alonso and Lawson.
But a driver I think we need to talk about
there isn't in that bottom five
because they were perhaps counting their lucky stars
ever so slightly was Oscar Piastri,
who seemingly throughout the entirety of qualifying
had different things going wrong with his car
every time he turned a lap,
whether it was DRS issues being reported,
whether it was PU issues being reported,
it just wasn't going particularly well for Oscar Piastri.
It felt like every session he had like one lap
to put a time in because something had gone wrong
with his car in another one.
But for this one, he was seven hundredths of a second
away from dropping out and not making it through to Q3.
I know we were on the edge of our seats, Tommy,
you worked me when we were doing that on the watch along.
Yeah, it was absolutely insane
to witness what was happening with Piastri.
And, you know, it didn't get a huge amount better in Q3,
but he did make it through.
And yeah, it was a shocker for Piastri.
I think as he came around that final corner
and got a big moment, a big snap,
he was already down, you know,
for all F1 TV directions, brilliance in the last race.
I think they missed the ball.
Not going on board with Piastri was an insane decision
when he was starting his lap.
When we knew he was under pressure, he was in the drop zone.
He is literally leading the world championship.
Let's have full screen Oscar Piastri
and watch every inch of this lap
because it was one of the most crucial parts
of the entire championship battle so far.
So to go to a completely ignore it
and then put it in a mini box for the last sector
was an insane call.
But yeah, he did just make it through.
But my God, when he ran that final corner
and got a big slide on, I thought that was it.
As did I, and annoyingly yes,
we watched the entirety of Fernando Alonso's lap
and he was absolutely nowhere the entire way through.
Maybe, just maybe F1 direction,
they decided to stick with Fernando Alonso
because of my sister's prediction for P3 in the race
and they wanted to see if that would come through.
But yeah, Piastri made it through
and was, of course, very happy about that one.
And honestly, from Q2, I'm a little bit surprised, actually,
that Ocon didn't make it through to Q3 as well
considering the Hasse-Pace, Ollie Berman-Pace in particular,
they were looking very fast indeed.
And I think the problem with Mexico City
was because of how dusty the track can get
and how much track evolution there is.
And also you have a split of the faster teams
and faster drivers trying as hard as they can
to not go on to a fresh set of softs
and just eke out the lap time from the same set.
And then you've got the Ollie Berman's of this world truck
and on a fresh set going fastest in Q1 at one point.
It's very hard to sort of keep on top
of what's going on in Kuali.
And obviously, if you have like companion apps like I do,
it's great to see the tire life and things of different drivers.
But yeah, no, it's brilliant. It's brilliant to watch,
but it's hard to really,
it's hard to know like exactly where the pace is
when you get to sort of the dying embers of Q2
and then going into Q3
because I would have definitely said after Q2
where Ocon, sorry, after Q1,
even where Ocon was in the top five, wasn't he?
He was fifth, yeah.
Yeah, he was flying.
Yeah, he's doing really well.
I like it, the fact that, you know,
the teams don't have that luxury
that they can just easily breeze through
and as it's quite a short lap as well
and it all gets a bit closer
and it makes the team sweat a little bit more
and they have to deliver.
So it's great to see
but Ocon's slightly disappointing
although actually when you look at it on the end
he's only a couple of positions behind his teammate
because of, you know, the penalties and things
that have actually occurred.
So it's not too bad for Ocon in the end
and Haas, ninth and eleventh,
is actually pretty good for them
because they do seem to go through runs of races
where they're quite poor in qualifying.
We've seen that a lot this year.
This one, a better track forum it seems
so a chance to get some big points.
Yeah, Ocon's best qualifying since Belgium
so that's something to of course get slightly excited about
and of course he had a disqualification
and has a bow shot not that long ago from Corley.
So much better for Ocon than it has been.
Sonoda as well, of course,
not really a massive headline,
is it finishing eleventh in qualifying
but I will say that to his defence
he was a couple of tenths off Max Verstappen
at the end of Q2, he gets knocked out,
Max goes through
and I think Yuki with this new front wing
with these upgrades that supposedly
is supposed to get him closer to Max,
the form would suggest it absolutely did in qualifying.
So for Yuki, sadly no headlines
but very secretly and quietly
did a good job in the grand scheme of things.
It's so weird because I can't remember the exact trace.
I want to say Hungary and I'm sure everyone in the comments
is already writing it.
I want to say it was Hungary where Yuki Sonoda
was actually pretty close to Max
and actually ended up going out in Q1
and we were having this conversation of
finally Yuki's actually got within a pretty decent margin
of Max Verstappen
but it's at the race where the Red Bull wasn't performing
and as we will get on to later if we have to
Max was struggling somewhat again.
You weren't right by the way, 10th and a half.
10th and a half.
Yeah, so that was a moment again
where it looks really bad
when you actually look at the qualifying positions
and where he is.
And this is another one where you go,
oh, Yuki is out in Q2.
He must be thinking like,
why can't I be one-tenth, two-tenths off Max
when he's there getting pole positions
and winning the race and stuff
because obviously if he does that,
he's qualifying in the top three or four
but alas not.
Alas not indeed.
Let's head to Q3
where the top 10 were Norris, Leclerc, Hamilton,
Russell Verstappen, Antonelli, Sainz,
Piastri, Hadjar and Bearman.
Let's get into the first question
from Mr. Seifer Dan.
New championship leader incoming.
You wouldn't bet against it, would you?
We've had this conversation many times
so you do need to be a little bit wary
because qualifying in the race can change dramatically.
I know it's been a year where
it's been a qualifying championship
and a lot of time it is just a case of like,
who does well in qualifying
and not a huge amount changes into the race
but you can't and this championship so far
has thrown in a lot of curveballs
that you can't just immediately jump on the fact that
even me, the most pessimistic human being
with Max Verstappen going,
it's over, the championship's over,
you know, Norris is going to win easily now
but that being said,
Landon Norris,
not the fact that not only was he so dominant
and looked so quick all weekend,
it couldn't have gone any better for him
to not only have Oscar Piastri absolutely nowhere,
his teammate,
who you wouldn't put it past Norris
taking the championship lead after the race
with how Piastri's going and we'll talk about him later
and Max Verstappen not even getting P2 or even P3.
If Max had been P3,
you bet anything that he's slipped through
and landed Norris into turn one and going for a move.
It's going to be a lot more difficult from P5
and just add even more into the mix.
I do think the Farais will go for it into turn one tomorrow
but Leclerc and Hamilton are very sensible
and great wheel-to-wheel drivers
and even though they do have nothing to lose
and want to win a race,
you know, I don't, famous last words,
but I don't think they're going to do anything stupid
into turn one.
So it could have not have gone any better for Landon today.
It couldn't have, no for sure.
I, if we're looking at
whether there will be a new championship leader
after tomorrow's race,
it is hard to look away and say no
because all Landon needs to lead the championship
is Piastri to finish fifth or lower.
He starts seventh.
He has to dispatch of both Mercedes,
which it's not as if, right?
We're not looking at a scenario where Piastri
made a mistake on his lap
and is starting seventh.
He is there on pure pace.
He is there on pure pace.
So there is no guarantee
that he's going to make any progress moving forward.
I don't think he's going to be under pressure from behind,
but to move forward from seventh
is going to be very difficult around a track
that has generated many stinkers.
Mexico City is not known
as much as it's got a really long straight.
It's not known for its overtaking
because they get very little slipstream around here
because of the altitude.
So for me, I genuinely,
if lap one turn one goes the way it should
for Lando and he leads out of it,
which the leader has not led
out of the last three years.
So make of that what you will,
Charlotte Clair W,
but back to Lando Norris.
If he does lead out of turn one
or even lap one or the first few laps,
I see him walking it.
I see him absolutely walking this.
Everything that practice
and qualifying has suggested
is that Lando has the pace over everybody.
I know Lando said after Quali
that the Vararis will be there.
I'm expecting a race.
Is that on the other?
Nah.
Lando should, in theory,
walk it if he has the cleaner and P1.
Even after Fp1 as well.
Sorry, Fp2.
Even though Max took the headline of being first,
all the talk was that Lando's race pace
was absolutely sensational.
So it looked like it might be a case of
maybe McLaren sacrifice a little bit in qualifying
but have amazing race pace
and then it would be a bit more tricky for them.
But the fact that Lando is so clear in qualifying
and had this amazing race pace as well.
Yeah, it's looking very, very, very good indeed
and this is exactly why we said
that you just can't write Lando off
because he is just this forgotten man in the championship.
All the hype was around Max.
Piastri obviously the championship leader
with all that pressure on.
And Lando, this is a huge, huge opportunity
for him to take the championship lead
and some more.
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So Tommy you got a little bit eager with this next question
because you already knew it was coming and you've answered it
but I want to put my two pence in as well.
It's from P1Patreon member Jess.
Will Lando have an easier start tomorrow
with it being Charles and Lewis behind?
As you kind of said Tommy
I think that yes he will do.
I don't think he could have actually painted a picture
better in terms of a starting grid
tomorrow.
Charlotte Clair, I know that everybody knows
I'm a fanboy of him
and want to do very well
but I don't think it can be disputed
that he's one of the best will-to-will races
out there, respectful
and yet he will push it
but he won't usually push it over the limit.
Lewis Hamilton very similar.
Hamilton is not known
for his audacious dive bombs.
He'll just line up and move beautifully
and get it done.
So I don't think you could really have two drivers
that are more
built for not T-boning you into
term one although
I've said this now haven't I?
I've said that now
hopefully it doesn't happen
but on the flip side of that if we're looking at
maybe negatives for Lando
with Charlotte Lewis behind it's the fact that
yes they are amazing at will-to-will racing
but they both have not won this year
Lewis of course won a sprint race
Ferrari have not won the entire year
so I guarantee
with the fact they are second and third
there may well be
discussions in that briefing after qualifying
of what can we do to beat Lando
tomorrow and how do we work together
because that's the only way that they
will beat Lando is if Charlotte Lewis somehow
get ahead or one of them gets ahead
and they work together with strategy
and things like that to try and beat Lando
so
that is the one bad thing for Lando
is that it's two of the same team
directly behind him
I do think Lando is going to walk it tomorrow
because of how good
his race pace is and the fact that in second
and third is a team
that are obviously looking quick
this weekend but we've already seen a race
where Charlotte Clair has got pole position
and then had nothing to fight for
because they're lifting and coasting
so
that being said
I don't think it's going to be a walk in the park
into turn one
one two and three
because as you mentioned before
the Mexico
the leader hasn't led into turn one
for last three seasons was it do you say
last three seasons
it's a long run down to turn one
Lando is a great driver
but starts are not his
strong point
it's always been a bit of an achilles heel for him
has it been of late though
I don't feel like it's something that
I mean it's starting off
it's not been too bad
Lando only got beaten off the line in Austin
because he wasn't on softs compared to Charle
Andy was on the dirty side of the grid
true but we're looking at like
equivalent of a Lando good start
is him holding position
I think that kind of says a lot
that he's
it's not his strongest point
for sure
for sure when you look back
but I just can't see that being a thing
of recent to be honest with you
I can't remember a bad start
I think these guys work out
into turn one tomorrow
because it does
lead very nicely
we'll talk about
this man in a moment
but how Max is going to
play it with his slipstream
as well if he was third
I'd put my
house on my sustain
either in the wall
or first into turn one
but fifth is going to be a lot more difficult
it certainly is let's get on to him
question from Jake Williams JRW
is Max
now out of contention
now you probably know what
I'm going to say as the pessimistic
Max Verstappen fan but it may surprise you
because no
he's not out of contention
but it is a disaster that he is fifth
he had to be perfect
but I think his saving grace here
is the fact that it's not
Piastri in first
if it was Piastri in first
and Piastri had this form that Norris had
you switched the McLaren form over
and Piastri just did what Norris did
yeah I'd be saying it
it's basically over because he's fifth
Piastri would be looking
to win the race
you look at that
you know if Max
Max does have to move forward of course
it has to move forward
it's damage limitation because Norris
is very very likely to win the race
so Max does need to finish second or third
and because Norris
of course is behind in the championship
Norris may well take the lead
but in theory Max
could still be
closer or about the same
going into
the next race
of course we're running out of races
and the biggest disappointment I think
if that was the case
for myself and other Max Verstappen
fans is Mexico should in theory
be the track that Max is really good at
and this is one of his stronger ones
because we're going to go to other tracks
that I think will see McLaren even more
like Jakarta's and Abu Dhabi
so it's not looking great
and it's not the best thing
but I think the only kind
of saving grace for Max is the fact that
Terry is the one with the points lead
and he's obviously
falling off a cliff
and it's Norris that's going to gain
but Landau's form is looking very good indeed
It's wild to suggest
that Max is out of contention
after literally a qualifying session
after he's been on an insane run of form
and we've still got five races
and two sprints to go, we haven't even had the race
of this weekend yet
for me Max needs to finish in the top three
as you said Tommy
it's 40 points but it's 40 points to Piastri
it's 26 to Landau
should Landau win the race
which we expect
and Max finishes third
the gap is 36 points
Landau potentially is the championship
and then Max is all sights on Landau
to be honest with you, I think Max is already
sights on Landau after what we've seen
from Oscar Piastri in the last few races
Landau is the man to beat at the moment
but no, Max is not out of contention
but he does have a very difficult race ahead of him
where he needs to get at least a position
I think, out of the first lap
and then see how he can deal with the Ferraris
maybe he'll have better race pace than them
these are all question marks at the moment
but it's not
the ideal qualifying session
if you're a Max Verstappen fan
which obviously I'm a Charles Leclerc fan
Tommy, you are Max through and through
and I've never thought about Max
until I threw on the
Ferraris shirt when Leclerc went privileged
yeah, that's wild for me honestly
he chucks on the Ferrari top the minute
Charles goes fastest because he thinks
Charles is going to bail out Max Verstappen
and he's going to win the race
right, let's move on to Landau's team mate
shall we? A question
from underscore Z shark
what has happened
to Piastri?
what has happened
how many times have we got this question as well
for basically the
every session for the last
three or four weekends
yeah, this
this scenario playing out
is utterly bizarre
Oscar has gone from a
driver that has led
the majority of this championship
has looked ice cold, has always
been on pace with Landau if not quicker
throughout the majority of this
championship of course Landau has had his
highs
to now watching a qualifying session
where
he scrapes through Q2 in a McLaren
which by the way is not
the third fastest car
F1, get rid of that graphic you put
in during practice because that is a load
of rubbish I'm not saying
McLaren are an absolute
spaceship but they are in my eyes
the fastest car Landau did a brilliant
job today I'm not taking anything away from him
but to even suggest it's the third fast car
is crazy Oscar Piastri
six tenths of a second
away from Landau
if it is nerves
it's got to go and it will go
the minute he's probably out of
championship contention you'd imagine that
but why now it doesn't make any sense
that he would with five races
and two sprints to go all of a sudden be like
oh no I can't drive anymore I'm really scared
that's not his nature
it's not his nature and I think
something that was again really concerning
from a
Piastri point of view and if you're a Piastri fan
and hearing him say this after Quali
was that he didn't really
notice anything massively wrong
with the car it's not like he's
constantly fighting it's a low grip track
anyway Mexico and all
drivers are slightly correcting
but Oscar seems quite
clueless as to why
Andrea Stella after Quali was saying
that Oscar essentially loses a small
amount of time through every corner
because he doesn't have the same confidence
as Landau and that amounts to six tenths
that is crazy
I just can't believe it
this fall off is something that
I can't remember ever seeing
no I don't
I know there's been a lot of
talk that we've dismissed
and saying oh sabotage
because they want Landau to win which is
a team never sabotages their own car
but I can understand why
Formula One fans just don't understand
what is going on because I don't understand what's going on
watching years and even Piastri
doesn't understand what's going on
this is absolutely insane I can never
remember
something like this
where we've seen
this happen before
where drivers have led the world championship
and struggled over the line
or lost at the last minute
but that is normally from car performance
look at Max last year and how much he was
struggling towards the end of the season
it was clearly car performance
other world champions in years gone by
and championship battles
what was happening the fact that
Piastri was
easily the best
driver of the season
at the summer break
and then he gets out of the summer break
and dominates Sandvort
and basically with Landau's
DNF we're talking of
is it over already and people saying
you know he's got a hand
on the championship already
and since then
since Monza
going down has been beaten by
Norris
consistently in every race
even Singapore
where he out qualified
Landau he didn't have race pace
Austin's race pace was poor
I think that is the scary thing
but if in a weird way
I know Baku is like a complete
disaster
but if Piastri
was qualifying
just behind Norris
occasionally beating him still
and had the odd stinker
like Baku
it's weirdly not as bad
because the situation
he's found himself here
is he doesn't understand what's going on
and he is just simply slow
he's been out qualified by a Williams
and his teammate is on pole
by a mile
it's absolutely insane
what's happening it can't
be like the championship jitters
he's obviously just got no confidence
in the car and he's just not
it's insane
I can't believe we're in this situation
what's the most baffling thing
for me is that
in the first 16 races
of this season
he is in the top 3
15 of those races
only once was he outside the top 3
in qualifying and that was in Miami
that is such a
consistent run of form
if you look at 9th
3rd, 6th and 8th
as the last 4
Singapore of course was a decent performance
I am mystified
mystified by this
Oscar was like you know what
let's make this championship really interesting
we appreciate that Oscar thank you as fans
you can turn up the wick again
or McLaren you can turn up the wick
whoever it is
it's not going to be interesting if the form continues
because he's losing
the points that he's losing
obviously everyone was looking at
the points he was losing to Max Verstappen
because he had a massive lead
but it's the points he's losing to Landau
it's not
it's not out the question
that we could see
Landau leave with a
the gap that Piastri had on him
before this race that Norris has that lead
on Piastri because it's looking so bad
yeah well hopefully if Oscar
does score some points tomorrow
but yes completely share
the thoughts and feelings of a lot of
Formula 1 fans out there that are just completely
and utterly dumbfounded as to what's going on
I've seen the memes, I've seen that
the meme of McLaren's sabotage
but you just can't prove it yet and things like that
it's question marks
question marks indeed
right moving away from Oscar Piastri
of course we have
very briefly celebrated the Carlos Sainz
performance but I think it does deserve another
shout out for P7 such a
shame that he has that five place grid penalty
and then Hadjar we
we wondered at one point through Q1
that he might be getting pole position
and of course we didn't that was the
new soft tyres but a brilliant performance
again for Hadjar bouncing back
from a shocking Austin weekend
and then might go Oli Berman
you know chucking it in the top ten again
we love to see it and once again
the rookies shining
yeah they were because I think
Antonelli's really improved his form as well
he was a 10th off Russell
yeah so Antonelli great job
Hadjar
and Berman you're really really impressive
from those guys
and yeah what a field of rookies
it's been this year and I think they're
all delivering for sure
they are indeed and let's hope
tomorrow the Mexico City Grand Prix
delivers for us because
we are absolutely owed one
so come on
it's all worth it for turn one because turn one
is definitely the spiciest thing
how everyone plays it
it's such a
difficult
turn one you know it's similar to Austin
in a way that like
if you could design a turn one
for absolute carnage
why does anything
into a 90 degree
90 degree again
and grass no runoff
yeah it's going to be definitely
worth watching after that
turn three lap one just come and join us on the watch
long you don't need to watch the rest of the race
we'll keep you up to date
right tell me what your final thoughts please
final thoughts
you know despite
me being pessimistic
I'm optimistic for the race
looking forward to it big time
and yeah that turn one is going to be
a spicy one
hell yeah thank you everybody for tuning in
as always and we will see you tomorrow
live on twitch and youtube
remember p1 live delusion tour tickets are available
we are heading to north america
in just over a weeks
time cannot wait to go and we will see
you there see you tomorrow
bye
mature is
to pet that dog
if you have a dog
or a cat
go pet the dog
or the cat it's not euthanism
um
no
go and pet that
I can't stay here
no no that's got to go
that was close
p1
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if you want to file free
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tax
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