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Will Miami be the start of a "new F1 championship"?
Will Miami be the start of a "new F1 championship"?
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About this episode
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc claims the 2026 car can make major gains across engine, chassis, aero, and tyre management, especially via the ADUO upgrade mechanism as Mercedes deals with a compression-ratio loophole being closed. The hosts debate whether Miami could spark a “new championship” by tightening the order, with Ferrari’s tyre wear and qualifying pace flagged as key areas to fix. They also discuss Max Verstappen forcing a journalist out of a press conference—arguing it sets a dangerous precedent—and Alpine’s response to sabotage rumors and online abuse toward Franco Colapinto.
Topics:
ferrari 2026 aduo upgrade plan
compression ratio loophole closure impact
miami as potential championship turning point
ferrari tyre wear and qualifying concerns
verstappen journalist removal controversy
alpine denies colapinto sabotage claims
online abuse and threats toward drivers
higher or lower f1 trivia game
recommended f1 films and documentaries
With Leclerc hinting at “huge gains,” the LB boys ask: can Ferrari really close the gap to Mercedes, and could Miami mark the start of a new championship? They also tackle the Verstappen press conference controversy and Alpine's response to sabotage claims and online abuse. Plus, F1 watch recommendations for this break, and some Higher or Lower...
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I've forgotten how many years it is until the Miami GP now.
It keeps going up, but I've forgotten what the last number was.
But in this April break, we've got another episode for you.
Sam, we've just had Easter. Did you have a good one?
Yeah, mate, I did.
Thank you. Thanks for asking.
I love roast dinga. That was nice.
I've got a few Easter eggs.
I'm only eating it for the chocolate.
What Easter eggs did you get, mate?
I've got a link-bunny one. That's nice.
Bougie, actually. I have some cream eggs.
Always cream eggs forever.
I have yours as well because I know you don't like them.
And then I've got a Terry's chocolate orange.
Oh, respect that.
It has the segments in the middle and they're popping candy segments.
Honestly, different ball game.
What a day you've had.
Well, the weekend itself was fantastic.
Very nice.
I've got fruit pastels, chocolate egg, quick.
I made a comment in the supermarket.
I went, this must be a tough day for sweets.
No one's buying the sweet ones.
You are.
Well, it's just you get a chocolate Easter egg
and a packet of fruit pastels,
but I'm not complaining about it.
Fair.
All right.
Fruit pastel.
I've got a question.
How much of chocolate Easter egg chat
has actually made this its way into the show?
All of it's every single thing.
No, it's just Kersti's chicken and red.
We're going to cut in now.
We've actually got more to chat about
than just Easter egg.
Surprisingly, we're playing F1 Hyrule Lower later on.
We've got a discussion on Alpine's open letter
that they did last week.
We've got chat about Max Verstappen
and a run in that he had recently
with a journalist from the UK.
But we're going to start with Charles Lecler
and Ferrari because Charles Lecler has said Ferrari
can make huge gains across every area
of its 2026 F1 car,
including the engine, chassis, aerodynamics,
and tyre management.
Mate, that's pretty much everything, Charles.
Yeah.
Ferrari has been Mercedes's closest rival this season,
but hasn't stopped them winning the first three races.
The team has acknowledged it is currently down
on engine performance, at least partly
due to the Mercedes interpretation
of compression ratio rules,
a loophole set to close after round five in Canada.
Still, Ferrari needs some powertrain upgrades,
which the ADUO, or Additional Development
and Upgrade Opportunities mechanism,
might provide opportunities for
with manufacturers between 2% and 4%
down on the best engine's power
allowed an additional upgrade,
while those who are more than 4% down will get two.
The process theoretically occurs after the 6th, 12th,
and 18th rounds of the season.
However, Lecler has stressed Ferrari
must not focus just on the engine alone,
highlighting some of those other things
that they need to improve on as well.
But if we're going to start some with the power units
and ADUO, which...
A DUO? A DUO?
I'd like a DUO. I like that.
I'd like a DUO-ver from the start of that bit
because that was terrible.
You know, we've established that Miami is so far away
we might need to cryogenically freeze ourselves
to make it there in one piece
because we generally might not make it.
It would be so Ferrari to only focus on the power unit
and go, you know what, we've got a month.
We can't do anything with a power unit
because a DUO or whatever we're calling it
hasn't kicked in yet, so we've got a lot to do at work.
That would be so Ferrari.
But genuinely, if it's going to help anyone in this gap,
it's Ferrari that it will help as a contender at the top.
I do think that Mercedes will be putting a lot of their efforts
into trying to make an engine that works
without the compression ratio involved.
They obviously got the news at the start of the season.
It's a huge change.
They got to deliver it to customer teams as well.
It is a big difference in how their cars are going to be tested.
So a lot of focus, I think, will be on that.
And they obviously don't have to wait until the sixth Grand Prix of the season
to do any adjustments.
They have to make it fair when the regulations before that point.
Ferrari, on the other hand, there's a few things already
that we've seen Ferrari tinkering with.
They brought the world's tiniest windscreen that appeared
on one of their cars for a brief moment.
Of course, we've seen the Macarena wing turn up.
That's quite funky and interesting too.
And we've seen lots of teams develop really strange
and wonderful and innovative side pods
and ways of getting the airflow around the car to be more effective.
And I think this is where Ferrari is going to be looking for further gains.
We saw that Mercedes are comfortable on their tyres.
We saw that they've got bigger pace throughout a lot of the Mixby Corners as well.
Now, actually, they were matching Ferrari,
despite having bigger engine power,
in a lot of the cornering sections as well
that we've seen in the last three Grand Prix,
especially Suzuka,
where Kim Yamagami went on to win that Grand Prix
by a very long distance.
So Ferrari is doing to make sure that
whilst they don't lose track of where the car has been good so far,
and it's definitely the most competitive Ferrari we've seen for a while,
the DNA is clearly there.
They're doing to make sure that they are expanding
and developing that car rapidly.
If they want to make sure they can take advantage of,
essentially, what's going to be a negative car dealt to Mercedes
with the change in these regulations when it comes to the engine.
They will be heavily affected.
Ferrari to capitalise.
Harry, could you see a duo being used to get closer to Mercedes?
I mean, it's what it's there for, isn't it, this year?
So it will be interesting to see whether
this helps bring together the competition.
Obviously, as you said, it's supposed to come around,
come in at round six, which was Miami,
but it is now Monaco, TBC,
whether when that actually comes in.
But yeah, it's what it's there for.
So it'll be interesting to see.
And I'm hopeful that it does allow,
well, does allow Ferrari to catch up to the top,
but other teams as well.
The percentages you mentioned, what are they giving Honda?
Mate, that's like double figures, isn't it?
85%.
OK, fine.
But yeah, so hopefully it does make a difference.
The comments from the club do give me the same vibes
as the Carlos Sainte-Charles player,
seven tenths upgrade,
they touted a couple of years ago,
which obviously...
They're still not at seven tenths now.
They're still working on that upgrade.
But they are much closer than they were at that point.
So I'm obviously teasing there.
So yeah, whilst they can't focus all on engine power,
I think it will be a big thing for Ferrari to look at here,
because whilst Mercedes,
I think I'm probably stronger in all,
almost areas versus the Ferrari car.
Engine pace has got to be the one
that they're focused on the most.
Yeah, I'm hopeful it does allow them to catch up,
because whilst Japan wasn't as good for them
as the first two races,
Ferrari are within touching distance.
And whilst McLaren haven't always been there throughout this year,
and say for Red Bull,
this Aduo may allow them to catch up.
So they'll be hoping that with the advantage that they've had,
if they can make some games,
it will allow them to get the mix with Mercedes a bit more.
Yeah, I feel like this plus the compression ratio loophole
that we've discussed a couple of times this year,
that being closed, those two things collectively,
it's quite an effective one-two punch,
or at least it has the potential
to be quite an effective one-two punch on Mercedes.
And Ferrari, as you already say,
I'm a very well positioned to take advantage of that,
if that's the case.
You know, Aduo, like you can say it's pretty similar to,
and it's not the same, otherwise people will shout at me.
It's a bit similar to balance of performance
when it comes to the World Endurance Championship,
but where it differs is,
if you think of balance of performance in WEC,
you're more looking at bringing the leaders back to the pack,
whereas this is kind of attacking it from the other way,
which is bringing those at the back forward to where,
or giving the opportunity to come forward to where the leaders are.
That's the other good thing about this, I think,
is it's not a guaranteed you are now going to be on the pace
of, let's say, Mercedes who have the best power unit.
It's the opportunity to catch up.
We know that these upgrades,
there is no guarantee that it's going to work for all teams.
We've seen that particularly in the last couple of years,
that these upgrades can fail.
We had not an engine upgrade necessarily,
but Verstappen had an upgrade package at Suzuka.
And I think the only reason we know that
is because we were told about it.
There wasn't much indication to show Red Bull
were particularly fast there,
versus what they could have been.
And as you've kind of outlined,
Terry, with the timeline of all of this,
in theory, this compression ratio loophole
is going to be closed after Canada,
which is now round five.
And if they're sticking with round six is the time
in which their first reviewing performance for ADUO,
that's essentially back to back rounds.
That could hit Mercedes quite hard,
like one after the other.
It is going to be, I think, much tougher,
and this isn't just about Mercedes,
but it's going to be tougher in this era
for an engine manufacturer to dominate
in the same way that Mercedes did back in 2014.
Like when Mercedes come out the blocks,
beginning of the hybrid era,
that advantage essentially stayed with them
for like four years.
I don't think it's going to be as easy to do that here
with this mechanism in place.
But it is important for Ferrari in particular
to use this opportunity to catch up,
especially with the likes of,
I mean, think about Austria and Silverstone,
think about Monza.
Like all of these tracks are upcoming.
They are very power-sensitive tracks,
more so than Suzuka that we've just gone to
and Melbourne's kickoff the year.
It's very important that Ferrari get this right sooner
rather than later.
I think for Mercedes, though, with the compression ratio,
they have to take that as a bit of a loss,
not only because they'll be losing a competitive advantage,
but also, I guess, Sam,
because they've lost Bahrain and Saudi Arabia
two rounds in which they could have used it
before it was taken away.
Instead, they've kind of just got the five rounds
to use it rather than seven.
Yeah, that loss of those two Grand Prix,
you mentioned the ones who puncture
the change in compression ratio
and the ADUO going to possibly Ferrari
and other manufacturers, of course.
This is also a loss for them,
like a third strike, essentially,
where they've got less time
to take advantage of this now
what's going to be deemed a legal style of engine,
which has to be tested,
because they were both power tracks.
Having a strong engine at both of those tracks
was a huge commodity that you could take advantage of,
and they've lost that immediately.
It's a real big hit for Mercedes
that they're going to take advantage of it.
It's a real win for the likes of Ferrari,
for Red Bull.
For those of cars that are not essentially using
a Mercedes powertrain to go,
great, we've got development time,
trying to understand what went wrong.
We could pick up this ADUO
and start forecasting how we maybe want to use it
to get the best races from Mercedes
and its potential customers to score points.
I can't believe I'm saying this,
but it seems like Alpine
were a real threat with Pierre Gasly
in that kind of midfield with the points section.
I bet Max Verstappen is walking down the street
kicking his feet on the floor.
Oh, God, I can't remember Pierre Gasly.
He's so good.
Well, now there's a chance at the end
you could be even better for yourself
than you could be on equal playing fields.
No longer be haunting to the Casio triangle of Suzuka
so it does feel like
Mercedes are really on the back foot.
It's going to be really interesting to see how they
take on a lot of challenges at once
combined with the fact that both their drivers
are still vying, of course,
to leading a world championship,
which could be the first of both of them.
I don't think this is much of a radical statement, Harry,
but particularly when it comes to Charles Lecler,
if Ferrari can deliver
a power unit that is able to compete
with Mercedes, you'll fancy as chances
against Santonelli and Russell,
I'd say that
both of them are solid drivers and done a good job
so far this year.
They're not unbeisable, especially for someone like Lecler.
No, not at all.
And I think we've seen already
this year that both
whilst they have dominated
the wins we've had,
both of them
have had issues or errors
along the way that performances
have not been quite up-standard.
So I'd argue
that Lecler has operated already
this year at a higher level than both Russell
and Santonelli, and that isn't a
I'm not being harsh on those two,
but if there's a car then
get him into the fight
then yeah, I
absolutely think Lecler,
but this is Charles Lecler who was taking on Max Verstappen
in, well,
he said it was prime, but at his prime
in like, you know, 2022
era,
if he can do that, he can take the fight
to Russell and Antonelli
for sure.
In terms of what else they need to improve on
Sam, I know Charles
has essentially listed everything.
Everything.
Anything that you've spotted so far this year
if we're going outside of the power unit that you think
that's something they need to get better at.
I feel like tyre wear has actually cost them
a little more than we've been expecting.
When you're in a season in an era that
tyre wear doesn't seem to be a massive factor
unlike the last few years where you have seen
off a bit more or overheating has been
a big issue.
Both Hamilton and Leclerc have had instances
where they've been unable to
catch or match the cars around them
because they've been affected by the tyres dropping
off or overheating slightly further.
We saw it with Lewis Hamilton specifically
where in the sprint race
he absolutely tore through his tyres much faster
than everyone expected him to
and he came out in the interview after this
and said, I've really learnt something there
that I, you know, the tyres aren't as strong as I thought
and I'm sorry Rip for his tyres faster than we've seen
with a lot of the other top cars going around it as well
so if they can mitigate this
and create a big of an impenetrable force
like McLaren did last year
where it could run super close to the cars around it
i.e. its teammates
it could step behind in the heat and not overheat
whilst keeping the downforce applied
and the tyres aren't going to go off
that gives them a real chance to take the fight
to Mercedes if the rest of the upgrades
provide them with a level playing field.
I think overall they've got something to work with
and it seems like a really responsive car
a car that at low speed
is pretty handy
good on acceleration
they've got the building blocks there for a good car
the thing I pointed out was
I don't think they're yet on top of qualifying
I think they can get a little bit more
out of those qualifying sessions
maybe not to touch Mercedes quite yet
but I don't think they're getting 100%
some of that might be down to driving style
some of that might be down to
again the tyres could be the warm up
of the tyres for those qualifying laps
I think it is important they sorted
out though because at the moment it's not really hurting
them that much in that
they're so good at race starts that
they can afford to qualify
a position or two lower than maybe
they could do
but that advantage isn't necessarily going to hold
like Mercedes might well get better
at those starts as the year progresses
and we saw in Suzuka
Piastri was there
leading from the slide
that it's impacting McLaren in the same way
that it's impacting Mercedes
so if McLaren are starting to get more involved
in these battles for podiums
then suddenly Ferrari might have to
to start out qualifying them a lot more
consistently
Harry Fredverser has said before
that Miami could be the start
of a new championship which I appreciate
is not just about his team
and more about the sport as a whole
but could you see that being the case
could you see the order being shaken up
there?
I think I mean significantly
I would be surprised
but I think it's not a bold statement
to say this given
we've got
330 days until
the next race in Miami
it's not
beyond the round's possibility that
things could change quite significantly
both in
the developments that teams
can make if indeed they are allowed to do it
onwards
but also the sport as a whole
you were saying about qualifying then
with Ferrari
if there's something
if I make some changes in this
false break we've got
and qualifying allows drivers to push 100%
expect to see Hamilton
and McLaren
especially McLaren
back on top qualifying form
and then if they're qualifying
even third and fourth
that's an easy lead
by whatever turn one they're going into
from there on in maybe with Monaco
is the exception but even then
who knows
I think there's a combination of things that could really
I don't think shake it up
Alpine aren't going to start winning
but it certainly could help close the gaps
yeah that would be a shake-up
Leclerc is definitely going to squeeze it down the middle
into turn one of Monaco
if he qualifies fourth
he's absolutely sending it
all the heroics
please yeah
he will prove that he's a cut above the rest
just like his mother
a great hair dresser
thank you for the context right at the end there
that is appreciated
he's just a massive Charlotte Clare mother fan
you've raised a beauty
we cut him this off
one final thing I would say
on Ferrari as well
let's think about their weaknesses from last year
I think their number one weakness last year
is their fee corners
great work on the regulations
they don't exist anymore
so Ferrari's weakness just got eliminated for 2026
good work
playing 3D chess out there
if only
thank you sir for steaming over the start procedure changes
imagine how big their start would have been
if they hadn't changed anything
that's a big point
let's take our first break on this episode
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welcome back everyone
Max Verstappen a bit of recent news from him
because he refused to begin his japanese
gp press conference until
journalist Giles Richards left the room
saying I'm not speaking before
he's leaving before telling him very bluntly
to get out
the tension stems from a question
Richards asked after last season's
Abu Dhabi finale where he questioned
whether Verstappen's clash with George Russell
may have cost him the title of course
that crash coming out of the Spanish GP
earlier in the year Verstappen took issue
not just with the question but how it was
asked once Richards exited
Verstappen began the session in Japan
at the end of the year and
he said he was disappointed
adding that difficult questions are a part
of a journalist's role and expressing
hope for a better relationship with him
going forward
Harry this at the time got
quite a lot of intrigue
on the likes of social media
what were your thoughts on it
not on from Max Verstappen
this
I tried to try to be as
balanced as possible here because
I mean a lot of these drivers do but
the likes of Verstappen
Hamilton Alonso
I mean Alonso thinks that it's
just all on him but
those drivers
receive perhaps
more criticism not just in
the press but in
on social media etc
more so than others necessarily do
and so I can see
how things like
questions that he was asked by
Giles Richards at the end of last year
have riled Max up but
even so it is
the duty and the responsibility
of journalists to ask these tough questions
as he rightly said
and it's not
up to Max Verstappen to decide
whether what questions
he would like to be asked and it's
a dangerous precedent to set
not just
F1 drivers but any sports star can just
demand
which journalists which media outlets
allow them to
question them because they don't want to answer
certain questions. Max is probably more blunt
than the most
especially around the media has always
been suspect he always will be
you know it's part of
his character it's part of what people
love about him that he's sort of
no nonsense in
that respect but yeah this isn't on
you can't be checking out journalists
in your press conferences and I hope
that
by the time we get to the Miami GP
and beyond that there's
a bit of water on the bridge they come
to a resolution between the two of them
and that he sees that this
can't be the way forward
for him
because it shouldn't be and also
given his status within the sport
it's such a bad precedent for anyone
who's any new drivers that are coming
up and think that they can do the same
not on disagree with Max on this one
heavily. What was
your take on it Sam?
I was quite disappointed when it came out
I want to caveat my response with
the fact that I really
like Max Verstappen I've got a lot of respect for him
and
to be fair he has every right to be
annoyed at a question
he has every right to not like someone
you could do all those things you know if you want to take
an answer and give the most blunt response
possible that's your
prerogative you could do that exactly how you
like one road responses are entirely
up to you if that's how you see fit
I do understand
where
the entitlement
comes from where you think you can tell someone
to stop doing their job when they haven't done
anything wrong it's not like he asked him a
thanks in question he didn't say something
that was rude it was a critical question
it you know posed
for thought and I can understand
why Max might have been a bit frustrated at
being raised again that he had that incident
with George Russell in Spain and look
it came from a British press
member and we know that there's been some critique
of the British press when it comes to
questioning the Formula 1 drivers about
an incident with a British driver which Max
has had problems with previously
but the entitlement I think
that there was to say to someone
I'm not going to do anything
until this person
leaves the room
I thought was outrageous
and I can't believe that no one
stepped in from a
like an FIA point of view and officials
point of view stepped in or other journalists
at that point or drivers who revolved
in the room didn't say
come on really like that's
is that really wrong is that okay that you
think you could just do that to someone
I know that people probably felt a bit awkward
and they didn't want to cause a bit of an uproar
but it must have been really difficult
for you know this accredited journalist who spent
many years trying to be the best in their field
you know they're probably pursuing a subject that they are
very passionate about
to be ousted to be removed
from the one area that they think they have
earned their right to being as well as those drivers
because he asks a critical question
so this isn't something I want to see again
I really don't think it's on
I hope that someone has tried to explain this
to Max in a you know a friendly nice way
where he can see both sides I hope
and I do hope much like you Harry that they can
patch things up to at least a point where
they could be in the same room together even if
I asked Max for staff on a question again
I just don't want to see this kind of behavior
between the press who try their best
to bring stories to us which we
use on this show on a regular basis
and the drivers who are there to both
entertain us and you know feel comfortable
themselves so yeah it was really disappointed
I hope we don't see something like it again
I was I was really quite shocked at it
yeah my view was very similar
I thought it was quite poor of the staff
and at least the way he handled it
I've seen a lot of you know
side you on with this you on the side
of the journalist the side of the staff and
it's not really the way I'm viewing this
the way I view it is pretty
similar to how you started your answer some which is that
Richard has Richard is
entitled and he is allowed to ask the question
the staff and is entitled
and has a right to answer however he
wants to in that moment
Richards has a right to be
in the press conference and I appreciate
by the way this was a Red Bull
specific press gathering rather
than the official FIA press
conference I believe but I think the same
rule applies he has the right to be there
but Verstappen does not have
the right to say you shouldn't
be here that that's
where it crosses over I think
I thought the Abu Dhabi question was
a valid one it's a tough
question to ask no doubt but
that's what journalists are there for
you are at least
with a championship that went down to the wire
and was as close as what it was
I understand how that question for Verstappen
would have been tough to deal with like
he has just come out of a championship
fight and come up narrowly short
but the reality
is they are going to pick out those pivotal
moments and if he had won by a couple
of points they would have done the same
thing with one of his wins
or one of his come
back drives or whatever it might be they would have asked the
question it was this race
in particular something you see as the crucial
moment that turned the championship around
the fact that he came up a couple of points
short is just you're going to get questions
on the other side of it
I just
one of Max Verstappen's
issues was how often
as well he was asked this question and I
understand that point of what he's saying
like it was natural for him to be
asked about this incident straight after it
happened in Spain and I also
think it was perfectly valid to ask
him this question after Abu Dhabi as well
given what we know what
we know happened if he's being asked
constantly in
September and October about
this and it must get very boring
and repetitive to answer the same question
again I think he is very entitled to
say like why are you asking me
about this this happened months ago the championship
battles ongoing we've had many more races
since then don't ask
me about that why are you asking me about this
but as soon as the Abu Dhabi result
is confirmed I think it does become relevant
again but
even though I thought it was a valid question
it's kind of
it's kind of pointless it doesn't matter whether I think it's a
good question or a bad question
he's entitled to ask it
and you are entitled to answer it like
Verstappen had sat there and gone I think
that is an atrocious question to ask
here's why whether I agree
or disagree with that I don't care like he
has just been his unfiltered
self in that moment and given
an accurate answer to how he's feeling
that's what I want to see from him
and all the other drivers and honestly we get
more of that from Verstappen than we do most
other drivers I often come away
from like an official press
conference and think well we haven't really learned anything
here because they've given the most cookie
cutter answers and a lot of the time
Verstappen is the one that kind of breaks that
mould I don't care what you have
to say as long as it's truthful to who you are
but where it crosses over is just
flat out refusing to have someone's
presence in a press conference I just
just
I just think it's a bad look for Verstappen
and I know the other thing he said about
this is how and I'm
paraphrasing because I can't remember the word he used exactly
he felt that the question was asked
in a bit of a sneering sort of
way in Abu Dhabi
Verstappen has that
point of view others in the room
have said the opposite so it's probably
pointless to get into which
ones right and which ones wrong because it is
just two different versions
of events but if there is any instances
of a journalist
asking that question in a very sneering
way F1 at that point
does need to play a role in ensuring that
their drivers are not being blatantly
disrespected in their press conferences no
doubt about that but equally
Max Verstappen would be allowed to turn around and say
I don't like the tone you've used when you're
asking that question therefore my answer
is going to be if you want an answer from
me don't use that tone it's perfectly
okay for him to say that but
like you said to remove someone from their
work is just so
disrespectful I know
again this wasn't the official press conference
from the FIA but is
and maybe this is a one and done
situation and and things will be
resolved but Sam we go back to the word
precedent and what
is to stop someone coming to the next
Grand Prix in Miami and saying well there's
two journalists I don't really like I
don't want either of them like
is and we down a slippery slope with this
yeah it's got to be a very British
phrase it's got to be nipped in the bud
very very soon you've got to
make sure that this does not happen
again and I don't and because there hasn't
been a rule set I don't think you should
go and you know start a witch hunt on Max Verstappen
here and say oh we should have done this
you know we should impeach him or whatever it might be
there should be a fine for this none of that
it's happened we have to learn from it
we shouldn't do it this is
almost come out from a statement now from
the FIA and say in any
form of official press conference that
involves Formula one where there are
drivers present
unless someone is genuinely offended
I guess that word in there could be a little
loose here so you know it might be more
specific you shouldn't be seeking
the removal of official personnel or
something like that but I do think that
even if the statement is kind of kept
relatively internal and sent just to
teams maybe to save embarrassment
and that's okay I do think they're
putting these to be a word sent round
very clear as to what is
and isn't accepted by the FIA when it comes
to discussing their sports in official grounds
yeah I just think overall like
having a free press
is so
vital that is not afraid
of intimidation or censorship
and I mean that sentence doesn't
even include the words F1 in it so it's
probably not just limited
to here folks but yeah
it's important that we keep that
within the sport
and I guess Harry because
I know there will be some comments saying that this is
the person
not rather than the rule
we had this with Lewis Hamilton about 10
years ago and I felt the same thing there
ironically that happens to Zucca as well
yeah I
it's cropped up every now and then
these sorts of incidents the one I was
also thinking of was
quite the same but Fernando Alonso
and Johnny Herbert for example
I think
as a rule maybe drama should be allowed to go
rinse the journalist on on television
instead if it's Johnny Herbert
YouTube Alonso
Johnny Herbert if you don't know what to talk about
yeah it comes up every now and then
there was also another one I think with
I think it was how I don't know if they say
more but is Hamilton and
a Dutch journalist and
he was sort of provoking an answer of Hamilton
and Sebastian Vettel jumps in
there to defend Hamilton that is
there's incidences that have
occurred over the years between
F1 drivers and journalists and it will probably
happen more and more as the sport
with the popularity of the sport
and how accessible it has become
versus what it used to be
these things may come up more
and more but even so
even if there are disagreements
you shouldn't
drivers shouldn't have the right
unless it's something genuinely
offensive that's been said
which this was not
they should have the right
to kick out journalists from press conferences
etc so
it's part and parcel of it
it will happen from time to time but even so
drivers shouldn't
shouldn't have the power to
be able to do this
before we go to our second break
Formula 1 at the moment is being
compared quite a lot to Mario Kart
we've had a couple of those comments
about how it feels like
you're given a mushroom
or there's a blue shell comment
that's been made by Verstappen
but I have to say my favourite power-up used
in the Mario game is the star
the problem
I knew exactly where that was going
as soon as we started
I started to panic I thought I haven't prepped for this topic
Mario Kart that was on the schedule
I'm going to play it a lot
we're ready for this
the problem is I've got 5 stars
and I don't want to do it 5
so such a big gap in between F1 races
there's so many stars to give
and what you should do folks
is give them to us
because we love stars
thumbs up for everyone on YouTube
especially with Artemis
they could go and see our stars
Artemis reference yes
I didn't know what you said
culturally relevant
yeah please folks
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this week
this month for this plug you can write
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get that word trend going
come on let's get involved in the SEO
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yeah yeah that is love that
big rainstrap okay yeah
SEO thinking yeah
let's put some steps dark side of the moon
earth
World War 3 no way
wireless festival
does anyone know who's headlining that
no one
invisible
John Cena
I'd go to a festival where John Cena
was headlining you might have already been there
you don't know
yeah well you're a festival
just like the in between sets
John Cena you just don't know
it's just nude anyway 5 stars
please Kowsky hates this segment
she didn't immediately shake her head
that's
I guess she loved it so we can
move on we can move on
into a break on the other side
we're going to be chatting out then
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news
Welcome back everyone picking up on a bit
of news from Alpine because in a statement
recently they dismissed claims that Franka
Colopinto's car has been sabotaged
or compromised with in
a statement the team also criticized
hateful posts targeting Colopinto
over his role in Ollie
Berman's high speed crash in Sunday
in last Sunday's Japanese GP
the team endeavors to put the
two fastest cars on track and provide
equal opportunity Alpine said
they want both drivers to be competitive
and score important points for the team
in the championship in some instances
given the need to fast track parts
and carefully manage the manufacturing process
the team is only able to bring
select parts or upgrades to some
events however that is never
the intended or desired approach
as if the part is a performance upgrade
as we hope and intend then we want it
available on both cars immediately
any questions about sabotage
or not giving Franco the same car are
completely unfounded which is why the
team felt the need to speak out
and then elsewhere in the statement Alpine
spoke about abuse towards drivers
saying the team condemns the hateful
messages aimed towards Franco after last
race in Japan the same way it condemns
the abuse and threats that were aimed
towards Esteban Ocon following a collision
between the two cars at the Chinese GP
so a statement that kind of covers off
two separate issues Sam let's start
with the sabotage comments
on Franco Collapinto
your thoughts about I guess
the accusation itself and the fact that Alpine
felt the need to come out with a statement against it
I think the accusation itself
is
questions can be asked right if you're maybe
to Formula 1 if you're very passionate about
a certain driver you think oh are they getting
a bit of a dub deal here why would they
seem to be struggling against their team
mate well I've heard you know that maybe they
haven't got the same parts on the car
it's perfectly fair to ask that question
because it's very normal across Formula 1 teams
we've seen in multiple instances
where only a set amount of parts are brought
to a race where only a certain amount are
actually capable of being produced
cost cap we've got time limits that need to
be mentioned we spoke about actually
in the games ironically where
the car has been crashed last year
and it's Carlos Sainz and Alex Albin that are
affected and only one car could go racing
because of the problems that have been done
I got that right was it those two
a sergeant yeah thank you
I have a feeling it wasn't those two
yes but the same thing applies there
that you know they didn't bring enough parts
to the racetrack and only one car
managed to go racing because they didn't have
enough at the track to repair the car
due to the collision that was made
they'll be trying to make sure that they don't
spend too much money going down a certain
pathway with the development of their car
finding out it doesn't work they brought
two parts of that put it on both cars
both cars have struggled with that difference
they have to take them off both cars
and try something completely new
you gotta remember that a lot of these teams
will be using the races also as tests
and so I understand
the maybe lack of understanding
or the confusion in how
this part situation works
but who does it benefit by genuinely
sabotaging a driver
who gets a good result
out of this getting out being like
yes another one car
point scoring result for us
to be fair it's healthy they might be celebrating
that maybe they will but it's
not because they've sabotaged the other driver
it's just because they were so bloody awful
last year you know it's an improvement
but of course they were both their drivers
in the points they don't want to be behind
the likes of cars they don't want to be struggling
with cars that could barely make it
into new teams like Audi who took over
of course or maybe the likes
of Williams who have managed to score points
on one occasion as well they want to be
getting away from the rest of the midfield
cementing themselves as the best of the rest
and sabotaging one of your drivers
is just a bit dumbfounding
it's just a bit stupid
as a concept unless for some reason
the entire team
have all got in on it together and gone around
the garage and the paddock
and whatnot and gone we ate him
no parts for you Franco
because we all hate you
it doesn't happen it's not happening
that's just not how it works so
again you are right to ask questions
and I really encourage that curiosity
if you don't understand why something is happening
totally fine you just don't need to do it
in a really horrible
and slightly abusive manner on social media
it's quite sad
that they felt the need to
make this statement
I kind of understand why
but most of the time
whenever any
accusation like this comes by
most teams will just
not acknowledge it
they don't want to validate it in any way
so they just will not even pretend it's a thing
whereas Alpine have chosen
to address this and at least part of me thinks
like if you believe that
sabotage is going on
and Alpine come out and say
there is no sabotage going on
people are probably just going to go
that's what someone who would sabotage would say
that we're not doing it
I don't actually think this is going to appease a lot of people
but it's
I'm not a spokesperson for Alpine as much as we joke that I am
there's no truth in this
as they say
there are times where there will be slight differences
between the spec of each car because
you've only got the capacity to bring
one upgrade at a time
but apart from that
to your question Sam
who does it serve
to sabotage one of your cars
now I don't think I can make a claim for any team
to go ahead with
go ahead with this
but let's say in some
weird wacky world
there was a team that really wanted
a driver out of their seat
and wanted to sabotage that car enough
so that they could then make the decision to get rid of them
and then bring in someone else
it's a bit
ridiculous but okay let's go with that
the problem is
it makes even less sense at Alpine
because it's Flavio Breatori at the helm
if he doesn't like you and he doesn't want you there
he will just get rid of you
he's not, of all the team principals
he's not there with his pen and paper
going we just need enough
hard evidence just we need enough
proof to fire this guy
and then we can make the he's just going to go
get out
like that's the way Breatori operates
so it doesn't
make any sense that they would be
any F1 team
would be purposefully sabotaging their own car
I think it's a bit ridiculous
Harry where are you on this?
Yeah anyone suggesting it needs to give the head a wobble
it's not
it's not in the nature of F1 teams
as you've already said to do this
they are there first and foremost as a
as a team to score
as many points and win as many races as possible
they don't care who wins them
quite frankly because as long as they win them
that gets them the money
so yeah it's
as you said Sam obviously if you don't
understand and ask the questions about
why you know upgrades arrive at
one car before another
very valid question it's
happened for years in F1 but suggestions of
sabotage are just plain stupid
and they wouldn't
they wouldn't do that so
it's
it's a shame that Alpine have had to put this statement out
I think obviously the second part
of it has influenced that as well
they felt the need to say something because obviously
the comments
and the abuse that have come through
on social media have become
too much I guess for them to ignore
so which in itself is completely sad so
for anyone who has suggested
sabotage stop it
or Harry stop it
Harry stop it's coming
so they will now
that's like when you're a little kid and your parents go
go in your room
consider this a telegraph
you're not mad you're just disappointed aren't you
yeah exactly
I am
I'm not raising my voice
that's true and that's scarier
that's scarier
Sam is there any concern
at all at the moment is it too early in the season to say
when it comes to Colla Pinto's relative
pace versus Gasly we know
that Gasly's 15-1 ahead in terms of
points but that is maybe
slightly misleading based on the lost points that
Colla Pinto had at China so
is it still too early to
say this is a worry
no I'm not
going to jump to conclusions we've spoken so
adamantly about
drivers who get dropped from teams
who quickly or judge too quickly we're not
brand new era it's going to take drivers
a bigger time to fully adjust to this you've seen
mistakes from the very best
Max Verstappen you know three out of four
race starts we've had it's been absolute dud
and the guy is one of the greatest we've ever
seen in Formula One it takes different
drivers different times to acclimatise
and adjust equally you mentioned
the fact that he's had the lost points when it came
to China through no fault of his own you didn't do
anything wrong in that instance
Espen Ockham was at fault puts his hands up and says
really sorry but the damage has already been done
he doesn't score points on that very properly
because of this and I think he probably would have picked up
maybe four points on that race day which
look it doesn't drastically change what goes
on there but maybe it brings that gap down
to what 15-5 did you say was the current gap
that 15-1
That would make it 15-5
So
this is what I expect
Gassley is a heavily experienced
race driver now he's been in the sport a long
time and I've mentioned this time after
time he's maybe the most underrated
driver currently in Formula One
Colin Pinto is still finding his feet
the guy has not completed
one full season yet
he's being in two separate teams
he's never done a full season he's only just ticking
over to in theory have 24 races
in a row at any point as well
I'm more than happy to give Franco
the rest of the year
to adapt to learn to change
there's going to be a pace difference between
these two and let's go up into is the prime
time Sanger coming in that quickly
he's going to need time to get up
to speed properly looking someone
who's good as Gassley so
I'm not worried and I do think the facts
need to take a deep breath and you know what
just stop being horrible online
because I think it's quite sad
the fact that you feel they need to say such
horrible things to people on the internet
I think it's too
early to make any rash judgments here but
like my prediction at the beginning of the
year when I said Colin Pinto is going to
be way closer to Gassley this year
isn't it a little bit shaky
but it is early I think the thing
he needs to address more than anything right now is qualifying
because
Gassley has essentially made it through to Q3
or SQ3 as was the case in China
he's done that three out of four times
Colin Pinto has made Q2
every time but then hasn't been
able to get through to Q3
in any occasion so far this year
the average pace deficit
in qualifying between the two at the moment
if we use all eight sessions
where they've been against each other
four and a half temps
in the favour of Gassley which is pretty
sizable if you look at some of the other gaps on the grid
but again the bigger issue is
it's not too bad in Q1s
but when you get through to Q2
Gassley is just able to find a little bit more
than Colin Pinto if you look at
the four instances they've been together in
Q2 or SQ2
Gassley was quicker than Colin Pinto
by 0.769
in Australia
0.922 in the Chinese sprint
0.354
in the main qualifying at China
which is actually the closest they've been
and then it was back out to three and a quarter
tenths again
0.750 again
at Japan
so it's whether he can
just find more in Q2 and improve
at the same rate as Gassley
I feel like that's where he needs to spend his focus
over the next few races
the other part Harry of this statement was about
some of the hateful messages
that not only Colin Pinto has received
but what Oconn received as a result
of his crash with Colin Pinto in China
what are your thoughts on this?
It's unacceptable
probably an unsurprising response
but
it's unacceptable
we love
that there are so many fans
of F1 now and that there are so many
passionate F1 fans
particularly for certain drivers
but if your driver
and another driver
and another driver have the collision
no matter
whose fault it was
even if it's an obvious one
the one was at fault
there's just no
reality where throwing abuse at a driver
on social media is acceptable
because they're real people
I know that F1 in particular
has
quite an act to seem
not if it's not real
that's not the right word
it's such a heightened sport
the glam F1
put them on a pedestal
the likelihood
is that most people watching F1
will never meet these people
but they are human beings
and
they don't deserve any of the abuse
and it goes beyond that
it's obviously the drivers which for the most part
they're not looking at everything that comes in
I'm sure they do look at some stuff
but then you've got the teams
social media managers
that are having to look at these comments
on a daily basis
it's just unacceptable
and it's happened
before
we've had teams in F1
put out statements
but it does feel like at some point
something needs to be done
and I did think if
and I'm not entirely blaming F1 here
because they can't control every comment
that appears on social media
it's just a hiding replies
to how bad people feel that F1 is
at the moment into doing that
for discriminatory comments
maybe that would be a better use of that time
so you've got to wobble your head
you've got to stop it
and now you've got that zinger
that's a turkey there
that is a turkey
flames my boy
flames
yeah it's completely unacceptable
for obvious reasons
Malice in
Kolopinto's actions
in Japan but he doesn't receive a penalty
for what happened in any way
and as we and others have discussed
all throughout this year
this was a crash waiting to happen
and it's pretty
it just so happens that it was Berman
and Kolopinto
it could have easily been two other drivers
that were involved in this sort of an incident
where those closing speeds are vastly different
we had
for an example
we had Piastri and Hülkenberg
a near incident into
130R because Piastri
who was sort of deemed at fault for the incident
but wasn't given a penalty
he was like Hülkenberg caught me three times quicker
than I thought he was going to
we're just seeing these cars are so unpredictable
with energy management that
you are going to have some of these incidences
as the rules are right now
there was nothing
that Kolopinto did
that even gives you the idea
that he was intending for this sort of the thing to happen
and unfortunately
there has been a massive rise
in hateful messages towards
not just F1 but just sports stars
a bit more generally
and I think some of the reasons you said Harry a spot on
certainly anonymity
on the internet is something that really
really hurts this because
it allows for
hostility in comments and messages
without consequence and you have
these stars feeling much more
accessible now because of the rise of
social media and there is a certain
power dynamic thing I think to this as well
so a lot of the time
people think it's okay to hurl
abuse at someone because they
deem that person to be in a higher
class or of a
different status to what they are
they'll look at how rich
these F1 drivers are how famous they are
and say because of that I can say
whatever I want about them
and it doesn't work that way and yet
sadly it does
you don't even have to look outside of Alpine
for this just look at what happened to Jack doing
this time last year he received
you know he received death threats
and he's spoken about this on Drive to Survive
and indeed other interviews
as well and he said like I've had
messages saying if I'm still in the car
by Miami all of my limbs
are going to be cut off like he had to deal
with that message being sent to him
he's had to have his own
personal escort like
police escort at times as well
like it's brutal
but it exists and
like you say Harry you want F1 and the FIA
to step in I trust
most of these teams are probably doing
a good job already but they
need to invest as much as they can
to make these drivers feel
supported and protected as much as they
can because this is just not on in any
way
Sam your thoughts on this
I mean while you were going through
the examples that you spoke
about there the thought across
my mind was what do you get out of this
someone who does this someone who sits there
and does this what do you get out of it
you must be a really
sad
self-conscious person
to sit there at home and go
oh let's come back on Frank O'Connor
Pinto had a crash on a racetrack
doing the thing they're paying millions of pounds to do
and he said sorry immediately
and they both walked away
happy as Larry without any issue between them
you know what I'm going to send death threat
because of it how
disgusting are you as a person that
that's your first instinct your first thought to do that
there should be less
anonymity when it comes to these things you
should be held accountable for what you do if you
say it in the street you'd be held accountable
for what you are whether that be by
phoning the authorities would that be
preferring out of establishment or
you know depending on where you are
right hook to the face if you say it to the wrong
person because that's how people deal with
stuff but because you sat behind the keyboard
it's disgusting
it's disgusting behavior and
I do believe that teams
that drivers themselves that the FIA
formula one I think they take this very seriously
but it's one of the few
things I think they are genuinely powerless to
do anything about they have no control over
social media they can't
pay Instagram
or metal whatever it might be to stop
the comments they will keep coming
it's genuinely the people who
see these stars as
non-human non-accessible
non-available that they could just say
whatever they want to whenever they want to
and it is horrible
and then it makes you think how do they treat
someone they do know or
somewhere else that they see online who isn't as
strong or surrounded by support
as a formula one driver who has got
aimless resource that some people don't have
it's not okay for them but it's
especially not okay when it comes to someone who
maybe doesn't have any support around them so
as Harry mentioned earlier give your head a
wobble stop being a vile little human
being and put your energy into something
that's genuinely far more useful with life
also at the end of the day
it's just a sport it's not that important
right literally is it going to change your life
nah
and I think we'll leave that discussion
there
one thing I wanted to chat about on
today's episode given the
I know we've joked excessively about the
gap that we've got between
races at the moment so it's a good opportunity
for those both new
and old to the sport
brush up on films
documentaries books whatever it might be
podcasts maybe
I mean it's a good start people if you're listening to this
but I thought we'd
run through some of our favourites
of those that I mentioned
Harry what would you recommend
the lovely people
of the listening to listen to
to watch
gosh there are many things I mean
film wise obvious
early contender is rush
if you've not seen that
the first thing I would immediately
the soundtrack alone
breathtaking
yes the fictionalised
portrayal of the 1976
championship
50 year anniversary of that
just the first
film I was like
it looks so good
immediately after the season ended
so that one another film but which is
also a documentary but the center
documentary which is
very very good very poignant
but very good
then my early two
to mention in terms of
like long form long form stuff
but there are so many documentaries series
etc that have gone on I mean
it like quite an easy one
but if you're not if you don't have
F1 TV
get F1 TV and just go into the archive
and watch some more races like we do
on Patreon
a very good point Harry
very good point well made
yeah I mean rush would be at the top
of my list again soundtracks phenomenal
and
Daniel Brill who plays
Nicky Lau
he does a great job
really great job and
the final scene is just
beautiful with the music that they do there
but the whole film is fantastic and likewise
Senna was also on my list
I don't think I've
ever been able to watch that without
like that last scene getting me
in Senna like just
the way they do it it's brilliant
um what's on your list some
um obviously you've already ticked
off a couple so I'll try and give something different
uh driven with Sylvester Scar I can't say it
I can't
come on do it
commit to the bit I mean if you want to
watch something
if you want to watch something
and driven with Sylvester Scar I'm here
would you like to see 30 backflips
into the into the lake
the Canadian GB
look if you want something entertaining
this this isn't it
this isn't it
maybe try something else um
I actually think uh Lucky
which is an eight part series that
um talks about Bernie Eccleston it's a little bit bias
in kind of how he came
produced by Bernie
written starring
using by
imagine um but it's really interesting
if you want to get context for kind of how he
was involved in formula he was a huge part
of formula for so long um but do go
and watch some of the race reviews that Kate
featured around that time as well because
it does give you more of a general context
um there's really
interestingly there's one called the silver war
on I think find it on YouTube
which is a retelling of the 2016
season between Hamilton and Rosberg
um that's very fascinating to hear lots
of interviews about how that went down
I've also got uh
Brabham that came out in 2020
which talks about kind of that dynasty
and what went on with kind of the
creation of both when the driver was on his own
became the team that's really fascinating
and the last one I wanted to call out was
the obvious one I think which is pretty all of us as well
but the Keanu Reeves documentary
in 2009 it's is sensational retelling
you learn a lot about uh
what goes on with kind of um the differences
in the in the teams and the way that
politically they're aligned as well as not just
the action that happened on the racetrack as well
it's a real eye-opener of a
of a season and the way formula one was back
then in that kind of that day and age and Keanu Reeves
tells it fantastically well it's really
compelling so give it a watch
It's highly worth it as well for the fact that
Lucas de Montesembele still ain't over it
He is no over it man
He's angry almost 20 years ago Luca come on
um the last one I was going to shout out as well
is uh the film the movie Grand Prix
which is from
the mid 60s now
as a storyline plot
hash absolutely like nonsense
but you you just
forget about it because it's
they shot it at actual similarly to
uh the actual f1 movie but better
um they shot it at an actual race
weekend in the in the 60s
and you've got you've got the likes of
Graham Hill and Jack Stuart trying to do some
the best acting impressions
um but it hill is fantastic
another great one as well yeah that's on
sky isn't it um
but yeah I would recommend just for some
excellent nostalgic
1960s f1 shots um
as I said
just just let the the nice pictures
take over don't think about what's actually
the only other
things I would I'd mention before wrapping
this up is on f1 tv specifically
I just love the 1970
season reviews on there of course
I do but like they're just
they're they're quite funny
in the way they're narrated as well and
it just gives you a sense of what
f similar to Grand Prix I guess
but what f1 was like
then you will see some things and you're
like how was that even
remotely allowed um
and yet it was the other thing I was
going to shout out I watched this
I think very uh I think
when it came out which was maybe about a
year ago which is on Netflix
and it was Mercedes documentary
about Kimmy Antonelli which was called The Seats
and it was talking about
Antonelli and how he was chosen for the
team it's something I might
go back and watch because at the time I thought it was
it was pretty good um if you can get
past it being a very obvious
WhatsApp advertisement um
but it was actually a very good
documentary but it'd be
interesting to watch it back now I think given the
success he's had early this year and they've
almost been maybe vindicated in
what they did um but
it was it was a good one at the time when I watched it so
it might be interesting to look at it for a
slightly different lens now he's had at least
a little bit of success uh last one
for me um which was
I've just looked it up it's on BBC4 at the
moment so uh use a VPN if you're not
from the UK or if you are watch it there
it's called um Jim Clark the quiet
champion and it talks about his life
and the way he went from being a sheep
through to being the greatest race driver to
tragically passing and it's a really
well told story of an F1
champion's life that we don't obviously we can't
understand we can't get involved in we can't
hear the stories anymore so
it's really well told so if you've got some time
give it a watch Jim Clark's so cool
man it's just cool dude
I'm a farmer now
I'm a race driver and I'm beating all of
you every single week like just
that's cool back to my sheep
yeah respect to the guy
respect to the guy um
let's take a final break on this episode on the
other side F1 higher or lower
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welcome back everyone it's time for F1 higher
or lower
okay F1 higher or lower six
questions in front of me Sam and Harry will
take it in turns to have a guess they all
have numeric answers if they get it spot on
they get two points but if they don't
get it right the other person has the opportunity
to say higher or lower
and then if they get that right they
get a point but if the person if they
get it wrong the person who guessed first gets
the point Sam we'll start with you
today what number would you like
number five please Ben number five
okay this one's a bit of an
interesting question
how many drivers would it take
you to cover the entire
history of F1
what is the smallest number of
drivers that could cover
1950 to 2026
I don't understand the question
so if like
if you had an F1 driver that
theoretically race from 1950 to
1990 and you had
another one that race from 1991
until now the correct answer would
be two you could
they're tedious link they're like how they
be on the track at the same time
essentially basically yeah you've got the
27 seasons now of F1
how many drivers would it take
to cover all of it and the smallest
possible number okay
I now understand what's being said
so for example Fangio did
four seasons so I need to find
someone to interact with him to then carry on
I'm going to go with
19
not 19 Harry higher or lower
lower
it is lower and I have
manually calculated this so if
someone wants to tell me I'm wrong
go ahead you only need five
drivers to cover
the entire history of F1
what come on who are they
so you can have and there might be other ways to do this
but the way I would do that was this you got Morris Trintignan
everyone's favourite French driver
no well so 1950
until 1964
you've then got Chris Aiman
who did 1963
to 1976
you've then got Petrazy who did
77 all the way to
1993
you've then got Barrichello who did
93 until 2011
and you've got let's say Hamilton who did
2007 to now so that's just
five drivers to cover the entire
history of F1
there you go folks
if someone out there can think of a way to do it
in four I'll be impressed but I don't think
you can it's like the word of
F1 drivers
Harry what number would you like
number six please
number six
how many sprints have been
won by a driver not named
Max Verstappen
ooh
erm
four
not four
higher or lower than that Sam
he's pretty close regardless
I'm going to go higher
it is higher it's 12
did Sam
know any of that
so there have been 25 sprints so far
Verstappen has won 13 of them
everyone who's not Verstappen has won 12
right
who are they
I didn't write them down
good
Sam back to you
number one please Ben
number one in all time points
where does Oscar Piastri rank
not how many points he got
but in a list of all drivers
where does he rank
I'm going to say he is
or
43rd
he's not 43rd
Harry higher or lower than that
erm
as in
number one or
higher but less
closer to one
it is closer to one
yes
it's terrifying he's already 18th
all time
oh my lord
he's higher than some of the grid already
yeah I mean
especially those that have been around
he's got so many points already
and with the system as well
it has to be said that
we're not going to win now
whereas a lot of these drivers only operated when
that's why I thought 43rd was a fair chance
I think I'm comparing it to the 50s
he's beat someone else regardless
terrifying
Harry back to you
number two please
number two how many retirements
does Fernando Alonso have
the correct answer is not one
two
43
not again
it wasn't the first time
it's not 43
Sam higher or lower
lower
it's higher than 43
Fernando Alonso has
84 retirements
which in percentage
19.63 so basically
one in every five races Alonso has entered
in his career he's retired from
he must have one of the
I mean obviously if you ignore the drivers
who have gone like four races in their career
he must have one of the highest percentages of retirements
yeah I would think so
I wonder how many of them are from
being in a car that has a Honda engine as well
don't tell him
in fact don't tell him that I think he might pop
don't tell him that he already knows
he listens to this show every week
I bet he's just turned off at that
him and Leonard
him and Lenny
big up Lenny
Lenny Lofa
Sam back to you
three
there it is
for how many races has Lewis Hamilton
led the world championship
for
who
I would say quite a few my bud
it's not bad show that
is that correct
it's correct but it's not what I'm looking for
I will go with
100
141
141
well at least it wasn't
43
no that's not the correct answer
Harry higher or lower than 141
higher
it's not higher
it's a pretty good guess so much 126
so you're in the ballpark
which leaves us at Harry 3-2 up
so if you can get this right Harry
you win the game
first what number would you like
number four please
he's so good these days you really come along
how many
Grand Prix have been held over
50 times
and I'm not looking for circuits
I'm looking for the actual Grand Prix races
10
not 10
Sam for the draw higher or lower
nothing's ever felt more important
than this question
but nothing
31 years
don't dox me
this is number one
you've said 10
sorry by the Grand Prix
do you mean like the British Grand Prix
yes thank you
so it doesn't matter where they've been held
but it's the name of the race
okay
sorry folks
you're thinking
I'm going to say higher
it is lower
correct answer is
8
Italy, Britain, Monaco, Belgium, Germany
France, Spain
and Canada
the one very unfortunate omission
which I hated doing but I have to do it
is the Brazilian GP
which I think was held 47 times
but the Sao Paulo Grand Prix
has been held like 6 times
I can't get that in my head
I don't like it either
don't like that
no
Japan has probably done
it's probably not far off
but yeah
it only started in 87
well after 2 in the 70s
put a Belgian together
which means Harry win 4-2
well done sir
thanks so much
no problem at all
as we skip Merylion
to what can only be described
quite grand tour reference there
straight
it's time for the greatest segment
in all of podcasting
it is time for the
be real folks
not much to ask about at the moment
but thank you very much Lanstrol
who has decided to do some GT3 racing
we've asked what the actual reason is
he's doing that
I'll go first
Gem, not Jeff
he wants vibes, not vibrations
so good
he's on the run
for Fernando Alonso
who has tried to force him to choke his game
to Fernando Alonso
that was a good one
one from
Dude Rhinebolt
which is because the trade federation
is blockading the peaceful planet of Naboo
over political disputes and trade routes
I actually watched that film the other day
was it as good as you remembered
it wasn't good, the first time I watched it
but it's just
that's the first one
it's the one with Subolba
unfortunately it's also the one with Jar Jar Binks
in it
no, Mr Jar Jar
you don't do the Jar Jar Binks impression
he's the best
he's not the best
I'm the one person that likes Jar Jar
you in big doo doo now Jar Jar
shut up
that's cool
yeah
people in it, no
leave them alone
Laura said
loads of cars aren't going to beach themselves
in the gravel traps on their own
he's no gravel traps
he might be safe
at poor a car
David on Instagram just said
it's just to feel something
that's literally it
a fellow Ben has asked
he thinks that the higher the number in the category
the faster the cars
which in the case of the Aston is true
that's so good
K Gates has said
he finally gets a shot of a Stappen
in equal machinery brackets
he will still get lapsed
a few here just saying he's bored
which is probably not far from
accurate
for being honest, just bored of what he's going to do at the moment
um
the classic count down is re-emerged
C and C Mackings has said
290
and what I admire is Duke Rainbow
every single time will reply with
something and this time he has replied
thy number is here
amaze
amaze
I appreciate that dedication
Duke Rainbow
the last one from me which is relevant to what we've just been
speaking about to get his ultimate revenge on
Sebelba
Sebelba
how has this become a phantom menace
phantom braking
the final one from me is from
Render Bear
Fernando needs the second car to train his son
for the 27 championship
Fernando and Leonard
he would if he could
and I'll round things out
with one from Abby which is
this is all a distraction so no one notices
he's about to drop a shock Monaco
podium out of nowhere
I don't know how
would he just get Alonso to hold everyone
up for so long that he would lap everyone
I don't even know
if Alonso's got the motivation for that this year
just going to park it sideways on the
road track and get out
bless him
well Monaco will happen at some point and we'll see
how that goes thank you very much to everyone
who submitted an answer on both
Instagram and on Twitter much appreciated
will be back with
another question of the week if someone gives us
something to use on it
next week
Sam if you wouldn't mind
getting us out of here
folks maybe the question of the week should be
what should the question of the week be but you know
you can discuss that in the discord where there's
over 4,000 of you merrily chatting away
having a lovely little time
Ben I hear you might be doing an April quiz
in the discord there is a quiz
and I should have wrote down the date
it started but it's
thank you that works better than
it's not this Saturday it's next Saturday
yeah 9pm
British time so you can
you can work out what that equates to
wherever you are in the world
but yes about an hour of
multiple choice quizzing fun
and if you don't have fun
then don't
that's not our problem
James Hunt probably loves British time
but he absolutely loves it
that's the quiz in the late breaking discord
who does
thanks for listening folks follow us on social media
late breaking f1 subscribe on youtube
and maybe that number will come down
on social media as well
that's late breaking f1 as well
and we'll see you I don't know I guess for another
episode but isn't about formula one race
once again very soon in the meantime
I've been Sam the sage
I've been Ben Hawking and I'm in Jar Jar Binks
and remember
keep breaking late
it is honey
yaggy
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