Formula 1 is a type of car racing that involves fast cars competing in races on special tracks. It's one of the most popular and prestigious forms of motorsport globally.
Car
Hyundai
Hyundai is a car company from South Korea that makes many types of vehicles. They are also involved in racing, especially in rally competitions.
WRC stands for World Rally Championship, which is a series of car races that take place on different types of roads and terrains. It's a big deal in the world of motorsports, with many famous drivers participating.
'Lift and coast' is a way for race car drivers to save fuel. They let off the gas pedal and let the car roll for a bit instead of using more fuel, especially towards the end of a race.
Minimum thickness is the smallest size something can be to still be safe or legal. In racing, parts like skid blocks have to be a certain thickness to work properly.
Porpoising is when a race car bounces up and down while driving, which can make it harder to control. This happens because of how the car's design interacts with the air around it.
McLaren is a famous car company that makes fast sports cars and has a successful racing team in Formula 1. They are known for their innovative designs and technology.
In racing, the constructors championship is like a team competition where the goal is to earn the most points. Points are earned based on how well the team's cars finish in races.
The Kia Tasman is a new car idea from Kia that shows what they might make in the future. It's not available to buy yet, but it gives us a glimpse of what cars could look like and how they might work.
Qualifying is when drivers try to set the fastest time to get a good starting spot for the race. The better the time, the closer they start to the front.
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Alfa Romeo Sprint
The Alfa Romeo Sprint is a type of sporty car made by Alfa Romeo, known for being stylish and fun to drive. These cars are popular among people who love cars because they look good and perform well on the road.
The Mazda RX-7 is a sporty car that uses a special type of engine called a rotary engine, which is different from the usual ones you find in most cars. It became popular in the 1980s for its speed and fun driving experience, and many people still love it today.
LIVE
Welcome to the Motorsport Brief. Max Verstappen dominated the Vegas F1 race, while McLaren made
a costly mistake. Against all the odds, is the Red Bull Star now about to snatch what seemed
like a certain McLaren driver's title?
Good day, everybody. Rusty here with a GP-focused short cast. Matt Hickey from Codesports will
join us in just a moment for a convo on the shock disqualification for both Lando Norris and
Oscar Piastri in the wake of the Vegas race and more. Quick mention of a recent F with
young Aussie Joanne Chaconte who dropped into our Melbourne listener studios just before
jetting out to the final round of the F1 Academy where she again impressed. Joanne
is making the most of the opportunity and already inspiring others too. The 16-year-old
is determined to make a career in motorsport internationally and right now only dreams of
making it to F1. That's a nice chat that. Plus a wrap with the new Australian rally champions
Hayden Patton and John Kennard. The Kiwis are taking the trophy over the ditch. They
were super impressive this season in their Hyundai. We spoke with them right after
the podium at the final round in Tasmania. That F also contains a catch-up with Aussie
Taylor Gill who went so close to winning the Junior World Rally title this year. It is a
heartbreaking story, a heartbreaking finish but he is eyes forward on continuing his
journey to the WRC. Lando Norris was advised to lift and coast toward the end of the
Vegas race and we kind of wondered if he was going to be able to challenge Max
Verstappen at one point for the win. Were there perhaps some fuel saving measures
that he needed to do and so on. He still finished a distant second, dropped back a bit,
Oscar Piazzari was fourth but a post-race investigation on both cars found the skid
blocks underneath them, particularly the rear wood blocks, had worn down below the
minimum 9mm thickness that's required. Interrupted practice, rain on Saturday and
more porpoising of the cars than they had anticipated led to the excess wear but
history shows even for a minor breach of this kind that disqualification is the
precedent. McLaren has apologised to both of its drivers for the error, neither
therefore picks up any points at round 22. It means that Lando is only 24 ahead
now again but it's over Max Verstappen who's drawn level with Oscar Piazzari
both of them second on the ladder just two sprint races remaining. To try and
unpack it we welcome Matt Hickey back to the podcast. G'day mate and thank you for
coming on. Thank you Rusty a bit to chat about today. Let's start with the
disqualification I cannot believe it mate how could they have made that blue I
know they've explained the reasons why and that you know there was the lead
up in terms of the wet weather and the the issues in practice and then the
porpoising during the race impacted their ability to measure that stuff
probably but I just can't believe they made that sort of error made the
championship winning the constructors championship winning team. Yeah it is a
little bit baffling especially towards the business end of the season they've
had almost a faultless run throughout the year and to see this is a bit of a
shock I think from an Australian point of view there are a lot of Aussie fans
who are glad at least it happened to both cars and not just Oscar because
actually in the scheme of the championship it's a good result for
Oscar but on the flip side of it it also could potentially mean by the end of
the year he could finish third in the championship which is quite remarkable to
think about from when we were talking two or three months ago. The numbers
favour Lando going into the final couple of races but the reality is the
foxes in the hen house now Max is I think as we've talked about on the
show a couple of times now he is right in this. He certainly is I mean he
level with points with Oscar now only 24 points behind Lando and don't
forget as well the guitars are sprint race too so we've got some extra points
thrown into the mix on that front he is right in the thick of it at the moment
and this just for McLaren I get the feeling there's just a little nervous
starting to get a little tense they've had it in the bag seemingly for the
entire year but now he's within a race so one mechanical one little clip on a
first corner and all of a sudden Max Verstappen could be in the lead of
the championship which is quite remarkable. He was mighty on the
streets of Las Vegas there and then I think since we've had you on Rusty's
garage last there's been a variety of different venues and the Red Bulls been
good everywhere do you reckon they can bring something to the table for that
final Middle Eastern portion that will you know have him with the best
possible shot of adding another title to the collection. Well the thing with
Max is pure competitor so we know he's going to be in and amongst it
whenever he gets the opportunity now he's got the confidence and the
team's got the confidence and this momentum and you look through the
history at Qatar and at Abu Dhabi in Qatar Max won the last two races with
that third not going ahead and in Abu Dhabi Lando won last year but the
previous four winners before that went by the name of Max Verstappen so tell
you what McLaren under the pump that is for sure but it does make for such
an exciting finish which you know for the last couple of years with Max
absolutely dominating we've maybe been starved of since that incredible
year we had with Lewis and Max but I tell you what bucky yourself in. Yeah I
reckon that's sage advice there because he's going to he'll box hard here
mate won't he it's going to be tough for both Oscar and for Lando for that
matter. Yes certainly and you get the feeling that maybe they're starting to
feel that pressure a little bit as well there's nothing like being the hunter
as opposed to being the hunted and at the moment the McLaren's are being
the hunted and Max this is right in his element at the moment as well he's
been arguably written off mid-year look like McLaren's championship to lose it
was McLaren's championship to lose and now he's just gone about his business
head down and driving that thing like the beast that he is. I can't
understand the change in fortune for Oscar it struggles to pass the pub
test in some ways I mean there'll be people that will say that he hasn't
been perfect and that there's elements that he could have done better but I
can't understand how someone in the midpoint of this championship who was
so dominant so quick can suddenly not be on the same kind of pace and form as
his teammate how. It's a fantastic question and we have to take it at
face value there are plenty of people in the F1 fan universe who have theories
galore and conspiracies as to why that may potentially be the case we
won't dive into those but I think potentially we might be seeing that
and maybe we've had a little reminder that this is still a pretty young guy
who is still in the very early parts of his F1 career and we've seen the best
of it and now we're starting to see that maybe he still has a few things to
put together and learn you know he hasn't been in the game in terms of
formula one game for very long compared to some of the rest of the
field the likes of I mean obviously Fernando Alonso but and Lewis
Hamilton but even Max and we go even into Lando and guys like George Russell
who although they seem like the young bunch they've actually been in the caper
of a fair time and on that grid so maybe we're just starting to see a little bit
of that from Oscar and I think either way no matter where this championship
ends it's going to be a fantastic it learning experience for him moving forward.
We are not done yet on this edition of the short cast stick around more on
the Vegas fallout and the big call ahead of the final two rounds of the season.
You're listening to the motorsport brief keep an eye out in the coming weeks
for a few feature episodes one with Colin Bond the Australian touring car
great who was equally as talented in a rally car factory success with
Holden and Ford he's got a great new book out just in time for Christmas
to check it out if you haven't already full tilt is the title let's get
back to the Convo on Las Vegas F1 now with Matt Hickey the team as a group did
such a good job to stitch together the constructors championship but it does
bigger belief some of the things that they either haven't done or haven't
done well to end up in this situation now where we've got the three of them
not just the two of them you know vying for the title when they wrapped
up the constructors championship a little while ago we thought right it's
going to be a head-to-head battle between the two orange machines the
two papaya cars Max I think even in Singapore the drivers were canvassed
about it and Charlotte Claire gave him a 15 to 20% chance Max Verstappen of
winning the title the odds now are far better than that as we said before
the numbers favor Lando but we could very easily in the wake of a sprint
race at the next round see a significant swing even further in his
fortune yeah there was lots of criticism and there has been lots of
criticism across the year about these papaya rules and in the middle of the
year that criticism maybe seemed a touch far fetched in terms of the fact
well they had two drivers up the front constructors basically stitched up and
like as you said Rusty it was basically going to be a one-on-one duel between
these two cars now we're starting to see a little bit as to why teams for so
long have had a number one driver when that picture becomes clear in the
middle of the year because all of a sudden if you don't put it to bed you
get somebody like Max Verstappen who is now really in and amongst this
championship fight with two races to go so I would be very very surprised
based off how the end of this year is playing out if McLaren look to
instigate and continue with those papaya rules moving forward yep it's
a blue I think it's a mistake was Vegas overhyped this time what did you
make of all the Disney celebrations after I mean it's Vegas right but there
were elements of it where I sort of think you know far out it's a bit over
the top well I'm interested Rusty to get your thoughts on Terry Crews driving
around the podium in a Lego pink cat well I mean for teams that are powered by
the Mercedes or Honda to be jumping in the back of a Cadillac which is
joining the the championship next year I mean it's it's a town that's known
for its glitz and glamour and theater and show and they they seem to have put
it on in spades there were elements of the race I've got to say Matt where I
didn't think the actual on track entertainment was that great yeah I
guess it's with a new circuit you wear a new wish I guess on the calendar
where we're starting to kind of get an idea of what it looks like and
qualifying with the rain made that entertaining that was for sure yes the
on track I agree that maybe need to be a few more places where where drivers can
pass but what I do really enjoy about the F1 calendar at the moment is the
kind of mixture of we have these races like this where it's a you know
it's a big event it's this big entertaining thing the sideshow is
massive we saw Beyonce and Jay-Z there yesterday as well and and you've
got that glitz and glamour and madness of what Vegas and races and places like
it offer but then you also have your traditional historical tracks and
races like a Silverstone and a Monaco so I think that is a good mixture for F1
and not only keeps your hardcore motor heads around but also perhaps your
drive to survive generation too and I think they're doing actually a
relatively good job of trying to please everyone although it's very
difficult to do I have to eat a bit of humble pie I reckon mate because the
reality is where that stuff you're talking about permeates or reaches is
far greater than the purest in me and that's obviously a good thing for the
game couple to finish here I thought Kimmy Antonelli although he made life
hard for Oscar Piazzari he put in a the kind of drive that again reminds us
why Toto Wolfe is banked on him here yes certainly he's an absolute
beast when he gets out there on the track and I mean to be in that fight
right up the front we got to remember this guy was born in 2006 which I don't
know about you Rusty but that freaks me out a little bit 2006 and you're doing
that kind of thing on an F1 track is a bit of a concern for some of us who
may be a touch older or born with a one at the start not a two at the
start but he's been fantastic of course had that that little error at
the start look like he started to roll almost before the lights went out but
a massive race from Kimmy that's for sure Ferrari your thoughts on where they're
at at the moment there's been some tough statements and some criticism if you
like from the very highest levels of management of the car company what do
you think yeah it's intriguing I mean we saw Lewis's comments as well he's
obviously not pleased at all with how his year has gone the last couple of
races specifically qualifying have been pretty difficult from Lewis's
point of view they're gonna finish top four on the constructors which we
almost take as a given these days there's still only 13 points behind Red Bull in
third on the constructors standings and if you came into this year if they do
eventually somehow managed to pluck out that third obviously it's gonna have to
be a join effort between the two drivers versus Max and if you can pick up
some points in the background you probably go that's about where we
would expect to have them now we all know that the expectations and the
legacy of Ferrari is so large that the pressure is always on and especially when
you have a Lewis Hamilton joining the team but look as we know new regs next
year we'll just have to wait and see but I think it's not an overwhelmingly
disappointing year from Ferrari yeah there are some some races that were a
bit of a let down but I don't think it's kind of toys out of the cot
situation was the Aussie versus Kiwi rivalry in full swing with Liam
Lawson and Oscar Piastri at turn one I kind of worry a little bit about the
knock-on effect of some of that not the Tasman rivalry more just that it's
happening at a critical time for Liam I know that they dismissed it in race
control but he fired up there pretty aggressively and I know Oscar wasn't too
happy about it yeah it was one of those turn one incidents wasn't it I mean
big lock up from Liam on the inside and Oscar understandably was pretty
upset I think he was also very lucky that he didn't have similar damage to
his car that Liam did and we saw how poorly that eventuated through the first
kind of lap and a half for Liam and and that front wing the damage it did to the
car and he dropped right to the back of the field so look it's an unfortunate
one from an Oscar Piastri point of view that just comes with when you
qualify not on the front row or even not on the second row at times as
well so you do get in situations like that and from Liam we know what a
tough year it's been for him and of course he's going to be looking to make
some big moves down the stretch to try and prove himself and continually
prove himself ahead of next year but you have to do it I guess within moderation
because otherwise you end up on the other side of it like we saw or like we saw
yesterday would you like to wrap this up with a bold prediction to finish the
championship you can think about this and I'm going to lead you into it
here's mine I reckon we are in for the kind of finish it won't necessarily be
the Toto Wolf Michael Massey Lewis Hamilton Max Verstappen finish to that
championship that everybody remembers but I have a feeling there is a sting in the
tail coming here and this will be a championship and the finish to a
championship that we talk about for some time
Rusty you want bold I'm going to give you a bold Max Verstappen will be this
year's world champion
that's big mate but as we've talked about in this pod here mathematically
doable knows how to win a championship psychologically is up for it a title
win and the titles that he has in the bank already and what he brings to the
table for this fight that's very difficult for the other two to match
that even with land those points advantage isn't it yeah and we can't
forget as well like I mentioned earlier Qatar there is a sprint race there as
well so there's a few more points on offer than potentially a normal race
weekend Max Verstappen to win the championship hey quickly we're
chatting to you in Perth what have you been up to at Code Sports and so on
yeah been very very busy busy few days covering the cricket over here in Perth
lots of great content journal wise and then written and video on social as
well but I tell you what what a whirlwind two days and Rusty I'm not
sure if you spent much time in Perth but the city is a little bit quiet
during the day on a Sunday except yesterday there were so many English
tourists with absolutely no idea what to do with themselves on a Sunday in
Perth it was it was quite a scene to be held we need them to come to a super
cast street race there maybe in the in the years ahead great to get you on
again Matt we will I think do that to wrap up the 2025 championship maybe
look ahead to 2026 should be awesome with your your time this year it is
going to be a cracker run to the line that is one thing that's for
certain catch us soon cheers Rusty can't wait
before we go the super cars family and Australian motorsport community has
been rocked again following the passing of Alan Moffat just weeks after Gary
Rogers left us the Canadian who came to Australia in his late teens made a
hell of an impression in touring cars and on the Australian sporting
landscape generally famously with Ford but also with Mazda and later in the
commentary box with the seven network as Tony Cochran reflected this week
Alan was a giant of our sport even pairing with his rival and great friend
Peter Brock in later years and a Holden I can recall being with my dad at the
surface paradise track in the 80s watching Alan race the RX7 they booed in
that day he totally owned it and yet in later life the very caring and
genuine man that I had the chance to interview on occasion I just couldn't
imagine anybody booing him to all of the Moffat family his friends and the
fans who are all hurting right now our thoughts are with you at this time
rest in peace Alan thank you for what you did for motor racing in this
country and beyond we'll catch you later in the week everybody ahead of
the super cars grand final in Adelaide bye for now
About this episode
Max Verstappen's impressive victory in the Vegas F1 race has reignited the championship battle, with McLaren facing a shocking disqualification for both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri due to technical infractions. Rusty and guest Matt Hickey discuss the implications of this blunder, the pressure mounting on McLaren, and the potential for Verstappen to snatch the title. They also touch on the exciting performances of young drivers like Joanne Chaconte and Taylor Gill, and reflect on the recent Australian rally championship. The episode wraps up with predictions for the championship's thrilling conclusion.
Verstappen dominated the GP in the ‘Entertainment Capital of the World’ reminding us again of his truly special talent, the kind that will ultimately have us drawing parallels with Michael Schumacher and Ayrton Senna.
But Max’s 69th career win wasn’t the biggest talking point in Las Vegas it was the disqualification of BOTH McLarens after failing a post race tech inspection!
Matt Hickey from Codesports is back on the pod for an easy listening convo with Rusty that unpacks the lot.
How could McLaren get it so wrong at such a critical time? And what does it mean with two GP’s and a sprint race remaining?
Their disqualification elevates Kimi Antonelli to the podium and he did with a drive that was absolutely worthy of some silverware.
Ferrari’s form wasn’t great and Liam Lawson’s lap one move reignited the Aussie vs Kiwi sporting rivalry.
Plus a bold prediction as the sport moves back to the Middle East for the final two rounds of the season.
Head to Rusty's Facebook, Twitter or Instagram and give us your feedback and let us know who you want to hear from on Rusty's Garage
