A lively discussion unfolds as hosts Jog and Dr. Garrett dive into the latest F1 news, including Williams' new livery and its creative sponsorship integration. They celebrate Jog's iRacing victory while humorously debating the physicality of F1 drivers. The episode also touches on the unexpected rumor of Kim Kardashian and Lewis Hamilton dating, exploring the implications for both F1 and celebrity culture. With a mix of humor and insight, the hosts navigate through team dynamics, car aesthetics, and the intersection of sports and pop culture.
🏁 The Cooldown Lap – Episode 4 | Williams Livery, Lewis & Kim, Newey Speaks, Verstappen Teammates
Episode 4 of The Cooldown Lap is loaded — from liveries to legacy pressure and everything in between 👀
We start by breaking down the Williams 2026 livery and what it might say about the team’s mindset heading into a new era of Formula 1. Is this a real step forward for Williams, or just a clean look masking bigger challenges?
Then we dive into the headlines as Lewis Hamilton and Kim Kardashian spark dating rumors after being spotted together in Paris. Does this matter at all for Lewis on track — or is it just celebrity noise?
We also debate which teammate battles across the grid are the most interesting heading into 2026. Who’s under the most pressure, and which pairings could quietly surprise people this season?
Next, Adrian Newey opens up about his debut Aston Martin design, revealing that the team was around four months behind in development. Is that a red flag — or classic Newey confidence with a long-term vision?
Finally, we revisit the history of Max Verstappen’s teammates — a brutal look at why the second seat next to Max might be the toughest job in Formula 1 😭
🎙️ Topics covered in this episode:
Williams 2026 livery breakdown
Lewis Hamilton & Kim Kardashian rumors
Key teammate battles heading into 2026
Adrian Newey on Aston Martin’s development timeline
Why Verstappen’s teammates always struggle
👇 Drop your thoughts in the comments:
Is Williams actually moving forward?
Which teammate pairing is in the most trouble?
Would anyone beat Max over a full season?
👍 Like, subscribe, and follow The Cooldown Lap for weekly F1 debates, breakdowns, and hot takes.
"So she starts posting F one. Like you said, it could be like the Super Bowl. You could end up with a way bigger audience than I've ever had before."
Formula 1, or F1, is a type of car racing that takes place on special tracks. It's very popular and features fast cars and skilled drivers competing in races around the world.
Formula 1, often abbreviated as F1, is the highest class of international auto racing for single-seater formula racing cars. It features a series of races known as Grands Prix, held on various circuits around the world, and is known for its high speeds and advanced technology.
"to Austin, Texas, circuit America, Coda, you know, Vegas, all these celebrities are rolling"
Circuit of the Americas is a famous racetrack in Austin, Texas, where car races, including Formula 1, take place. It's known for its exciting design and great facilities.
Circuit of the Americas (COTA) is a renowned motorsport racetrack located in Austin, Texas. It hosts various racing events, including Formula 1 races, and is known for its challenging layout and modern facilities.
"And for a Formula One team to have two number one drivers, that's like the ultimate goal, right?"
Formula One is a top-level car racing series where teams compete in fast, single-seat cars on different tracks. It's known for its high-speed races and advanced technology.
Formula One is the highest class of international auto racing for single-seater formula racing cars. It features a series of races known as Grands Prix, held on various circuits around the world.
"Like we got Cadillac, we got McLaren, Ferrari even at this point."
Cadillac is a brand that makes luxury cars. They are known for their stylish designs and high-quality features.
Cadillac is a luxury vehicle division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors. Known for its high-end vehicles, Cadillac has a long history of innovation and style in the automotive industry.
"Like we got Cadillac, we got McLaren, Ferrari even at this point."
McLaren is a car brand from Britain that makes very fast and expensive sports cars. They also race in Formula 1.
McLaren is a British automotive manufacturer known for producing high-performance sports cars and supercars. They are also heavily involved in motorsports, particularly Formula 1.
"Like we got Cadillac, we got McLaren, Ferrari even at this point."
Ferrari is a famous Italian car brand that makes very fast and luxurious sports cars. They are also known for their success in racing.
Ferrari is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer known for its high-performance vehicles and success in motorsport, particularly Formula 1. The brand is synonymous with speed, luxury, and exclusivity.
"I mean, we know, looking at Red Bull, we know that Max is going to kick the shit out of Hajar."
Red Bull is a company that sponsors a Formula 1 racing team. They are known for their fast cars and winning races.
Red Bull Racing is a Formula 1 team known for its competitive performance and innovative engineering. The team has won multiple championships and is recognized for its distinctive branding and marketing strategies.
"All credit to Aston because their development program for the last four years has been something that's talked about very highly."
Aston Martin is a famous car brand from England that makes luxury sports cars. They are known for their stylish designs and fast performance, often seen in movies like James Bond.
Aston Martin is a British luxury sports car manufacturer known for its high-performance vehicles and association with James Bond films. The brand has a rich history in motorsport and is recognized for its elegant design and engineering.
"All credit to Aston because their development program for the last four years has been something that's talked about very highly."
A development program is a plan that car companies use to create and improve their cars. It includes testing and making changes to make the cars better and safer.
A development program in automotive terms refers to the structured process of designing, testing, and refining a vehicle or its components to improve performance, safety, and reliability. This can involve extensive research, engineering, and track testing.
"...and dump ship will end up taking them through a championship."
A championship is a competition where drivers race against each other to earn points and win a title. It's like a sports league where the best team or player is crowned the champion at the end.
In motorsport, a championship refers to a series of races or competitions where drivers and teams compete for points to win a title. Championships can be specific to a racing series, such as Formula 1 or NASCAR, and are often held annually.
"...McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes, in equal machinery, I'd put them third."
Mercedes is a well-known car brand that makes luxury cars. They are famous for their quality and advanced technology.
Mercedes-Benz is a German automotive brand known for luxury vehicles, buses, and trucks. It is recognized for its innovation, performance, and safety features in its cars.
"...they got the crash test done and they got the car to the shakedown where I was like, a team like William struggled to even do that. And that goes to show their experience as a team to even pull it together."
A shakedown is when a car is tested for the first time to check if everything is working properly. It's like a practice run before the real race.
A shakedown is a preliminary test of a vehicle to ensure that all systems are functioning correctly before it is officially used in competition. It allows teams to identify any issues that need to be addressed.
"...they got the crash test done and they got the car to the shakedown where I was like, a team like William struggled to even do that. And that goes to show their experience as a team to even pull it together."
A crash test is when a car is deliberately crashed to see how safe it is for people inside. It's done to make sure cars can protect passengers in an accident.
A crash test is a safety test conducted on vehicles to evaluate how well they protect occupants during a collision. These tests are crucial for meeting safety regulations and standards.
"...if you are bringing the car out and keeping in mind, Adrian Newey used one of his last drawings to actually, you know, fabricate this car and get this on the road."
Adrian Newey is a famous car designer in Formula 1. He creates the designs for race cars and is known for making very successful ones that win races.
Adrian Newey is a renowned British engineer and designer known for his work in Formula 1. He has designed championship-winning cars for teams like Red Bull Racing and is celebrated for his innovative aerodynamic designs.
"...hope that the aerodynamics advantage of Adrian Newe gives them that the edge that they need because they got to keep up with that Mercedes..."
Aerodynamics is how air flows around a car. A car designed with good aerodynamics can go faster and handle better because it cuts through the air more efficiently.
Aerodynamics refers to the way air moves around objects, particularly vehicles. In automotive contexts, good aerodynamics can reduce drag and increase downforce, which is crucial for high-speed stability and performance.
"...it might just be the downforce and the arrow that gives it that edge..."
Downforce is the force that pushes a car down onto the road, helping it grip better and stay stable while driving fast, especially around corners.
Downforce is the aerodynamic force that pushes a car down towards the road, increasing traction and stability, especially at high speeds. It is critical in racing to maintain control during sharp turns.
"...we are talking about, you know, margins that are big in terms of F1..."
F1 stands for Formula 1, which is a type of car racing that features very fast cars and is held on special tracks. It's one of the most popular and exciting forms of motorsport.
F1, or Formula 1, is the highest class of single-seater auto racing, known for its fast cars, advanced technology, and prestigious races around the world. It features teams competing for the World Championship.
A game changer is something that changes the way things work in a big way, often making a big difference in a competition or situation.
A 'game changer' refers to a significant development or innovation that alters the way things are done or perceived, often leading to a major impact in a competitive environment, such as racing.
Select text to request an explanation
All right, welcome back to the cool down lap episode four with your host jog and
Dr. Garrett, let's go.
Welcome back everybody.
Dr. Garrett, you're not in your doctor clothes like last time.
Not my doctor clothes.
We're back home.
No more late night Friday podcast after after work.
Regular scheduled Wednesday.
We almost missed it because I didn't have it in my head that today was Wednesday.
But here we are.
Thankful that.
Joggy reminded me.
And that's how committed we are at the least committed.
Garrett is straight from the office on the laptop, straight up helping patients.
I was like, wait, pause.
I'll save your life in a second.
I got to do a half one podcast.
Yeah, exactly.
Pause patient waits in the other room.
We podcast and we go back and forth.
Yeah, just going back and forth in the podcast.
Oh man.
Crazy week.
Hey, we got some we got some tea for y'all some tea.
It's a day about tea.
There's there's less development since we talked last on Friday, but there's some tea.
There's some tea.
Which is excited.
The biggest tea is jog Paul came first place in the eye race.
So everybody ran applause for dog ball for, you know, finishing first place and getting
out of the rookies and license deed.
Thank you so much.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Give him like six weeks and you'll see him driving for Aston Martin once they've been
Lance's role.
No, they wouldn't do that to my boy Lance.
Come on.
Like as much as I would take his spot, like replace one Canadian with another Canadian.
That's like, that's a Canadian car.
It's a Canadian team.
We need that spot to go to Canadian.
It just has to be.
And it might just be in the game.
Yeah.
I'll lose about 14 inches through the shoulders to fit in one of those cars, but
I got to lose like a hundred pounds.
Being a bodybuilder and an F1 driver does not make any sense.
And I don't know if you saw what, who was it?
The strong Eddie Hall.
Was it Eddie Hall that tried to fit in the car?
Oh, I think you're right.
He looked like a sausage trying to fit into a.
Oh my God.
Like he struggled to get in the car.
I forgot.
It was like a Williams car.
And look like a muffin top sticking out the top of it.
I know.
It was, it was so funny to see them trying to fit into the car.
I wonder if I can find it.
Yeah.
The world's strongest brothers.
There were the ones that were trying to fit into the car.
And I actually got it right here.
Can you see that?
It's coming up.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Dude, look at this.
He's making the car look tiny.
Those are some big dudes trying to fit into a small spot.
Holy crap.
Oh my God.
The shoulders do not fit.
No, but they do not.
That's what you'd look like.
And try to drive with your arms crossed like that.
Oh my God.
That is crazy.
Keeping my, I'm not that big guys.
I'm like, I'm a short big dude, not a big tall big dude like them.
But, you know, we'll see.
We'll see.
That wasn't even the tea we thought we were going to talk about.
Quickly on a tangent, which is great.
It just happens.
It just happens.
But you know, you know, there are in the car that we're going to bring up eventually.
We might, we might talk about it, such as right now.
Talk about Williams.
We're going to talk about Kimmy Kay and Lewis.
We're going to talk about Adrian Newey today.
We're going to see what else we get into after that.
But let's talk about Williams.
They finally, finally, finally drop delivery.
About the same time they took the car through its final tests.
We haven't seen it on the track yet, or at least finally seeing it rendered.
What do you think?
What do you think about the car?
Like, honestly, I like it.
It's not bad.
It's not bad.
The wheels are funky.
The wheels are funky.
Well, it's supposed to be one of the sponsors.
I thought it was cool because it's got a roulette wheel.
Do you see that?
One of the sponsors?
Yeah.
It's jackpot city and it's a roulette wheel.
I thought that was so creative.
That makes more sense.
And then when it drives, you're going to see those spinning.
I look like a roulette wheel spinning.
Yeah.
It's like, it's, it's like this is the way I feel like sponsorships should be handled.
Like the Duracell logo, the roulette wheel.
Like it's not just lapping an HP logo and changing the half the car white.
You know, like it's so integrated and so creative.
Like the Duracell logo is always like awesome on that car.
Like they could not have picked a more perfect spot to put that.
That spot.
Yeah.
I mean, that, that is absolutely the perfect, um, you know, I would say
marketing and that logo being displayed actually crazed so much buzz for it.
So like as Duracell, you must be so happy that they pulled it off and everyone's
talking about it.
100%.
No, that car looks good.
I, uh, it took a little, a couple of seconds to grow on me, but it looks good.
The more I look at it, the more I like it.
I liked, I liked the, the more colors.
Like I know blues are thing and it's like, it was too blue where it wasn't like
as much contrasting colors, but the white and even the, the Barclays like light blue,
like it just flows all, all really well.
And even the paper at the back wing.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And sorry, you can see the back wing as well.
I don't know if they have it.
Yeah.
Right there.
You know what I mean?
It's, it's all there.
And honestly, the Duracell logo is probably the one thing that should stick out like a
sore thumb, but it's, it just looks so good.
It flows.
It flows.
What do you think?
Is it just a fancy livery to throw us off the fact that they're 10 weeks late for
game time?
Or what do you think?
That's a really solid point, Garrett.
Honestly, delivery aside, I don't know how much delivery weighs, but they got some work
to do.
I don't know.
They got some weight to strip off it.
That's what they think they're going to bring.
And it'll be just black carbon fiber on day one.
Like how do you justify losing?
I think 30 kilograms overweight.
That is a lot.
And apparently Alpine was one of those teams that was extremely overweight last year and
you could see how they performed.
Yeah.
I mean, there's no getting over extra weight on the car.
No.
And there's no way you can arrow your way through, you know, car obesity.
There's no way.
You know, it's so funny.
We were just talking about that.
I'm like, they need to get on a GLP one.
They need some car zampic.
What they need.
Car zampic for sure.
Oh my God.
Yes.
Doctor, please prescribe them some car zampic and help them out.
I'll be calling James Vowels to get it set out for Williams tomorrow if I can.
Yeah.
How do you, how do you think they compare to the other midfield liveries so far?
Like, I guess we have, we got their V car, we got the Haas.
We got the Alpine.
They look crisp, man.
The more I look at it, it grows on me.
It grows on me.
The Haas look really good.
For me, Jory's still out on the V car.
I got to see it moving a little bit quicker to decide if I like it.
But that, that one still, I don't think ever really grew on me as much as some of the other
ones do.
So I think it's, I think Williams got a good looking car.
I need to be a slow car.
It's a good looking car.
I mean, it looks kind of slow.
I don't know why I just, the picture, the rendering just looks blocky to me.
Like the Haas, like from the side just looks like a rocket ship.
This, this is my personal judgment.
I know nothing about cars.
I'm just judging it based on how it looks.
You know that all these cars are going to change once they like put them on track, right?
100%.
100%.
At least they use a faster like looking render, you know, it's not even the real cars.
Make it look fast.
God.
Intimidate the other team a little bit, Williams.
We know you're nice, but don't be too nice.
Exactly.
Far too Canadian of them.
Yeah.
Yeah.
But no, I definitely do still like the Haas.
I think the Haas would be like one of the top tier liveries in the midfield at least.
But I mean, like when it comes down to the overall liveries, I got to give it to Aston Martin.
I haven't seen it yet.
No, I'm kidding.
I think the Red Bull is definitely the top gun for me.
Yeah.
I like the Red Bull.
And I think, well, if you call it midfield, we don't know where they're going to drop
yet, but the Audi, man.
I think the Audi looks crisp, even though it still looks like the printer that ran out
of ink.
It's a, it looks crisp.
So the Germans knocked it out of the park.
Yeah, for sure.
It does look really good.
I'll just like how clean it is.
But like you said, I think you mentioned that they're going to probably slap a bunch of
sponsors on there before we get to that point.
So we'll see how they might, they're either going to make, they're either going to slap
some sponsors or they're just going to say, Hey, we're out even don't need anybody.
We'll see.
Which in itself is a statement.
In itself is a statement.
That, that is a big boy move.
I would say no sponsors and just going in, we're out.
We got the money.
But I mean, eventually they will get a lot of sponsors.
I mean, you team, if you look at before and after, it's a big change, right?
I have to.
Actually, where was it?
I don't know if I have it here, but like Williams was showing.
One of their first race suits and their current race suits and like how like empty the first
race suits were.
And there was just like a white, I guess, you know, a race suit.
And now they're just like covered in sponsors.
Like Williams is obviously a very popular team for, for marketing and they're, they're
looking good with all the sponsors on their car as well and on their race suits.
Funding brings tech, tech brings improvement, improvement brings a fast car.
Well, we'll see about that.
About that.
The other shocking thing though, the other T, we got to talk about Kim Kardashian and
Lewis Hamilton.
Bro, what is happening in the world?
Out of left field.
Out of left field.
Oh my God.
Like, honestly, I saw this news and I just literally skipped it.
That was AI.
That was fake news.
It had to be like, tell me which person sees that first thing in the morning.
Obviously we're out here in Canada, Vancouver.
We get news a little bit later than all you guys, but like you see that and you're like,
this is real.
This is legit.
This seems, this seems legit.
Wasn't on my bingo card.
That's not my bingo card.
It was on nobody's bingo card, bro.
No ones.
How'd it go down?
Well, according to the notes I have here, multiple media outlets reported Kim Kardashian
and Lewis Hamilton were spotted together in Paris.
Ooh, sparking fresh dating speculations.
I don't know why I'm talking like that.
Why am I saying this like this?
I'm, I can never.
Chipping too much of the tea.
It's like, I'm like gossiping.
I feel like I'm gossiping right now.
You even printed out your notes is the only party printed out.
Yeah.
I talk all technicalities.
I'm like, no, no.
So like, I was just talking off my brain, but like when it comes to Lewis, like T gossip
girl, jog, Paul, um, let's see what else they travel.
She flew all the way from LA to UK.
Yeah.
Took two cars, one for her, one for her soup cases.
Lewis showed up in a helicopter, spent the night together, bought out half of the estate
that they were at, had a romantic evening for two.
Hard ways thereafter.
And, and fun fact that, um, two of the cars, uh, like you said, one was for the suitcases,
eight suitcases for one night.
What the hell?
What's going on?
I think Lewis takes less shit with him to a race weekend.
Yeah, for sure.
How many outfit changes do you need for one night out?
And, uh, uh, also, um, one bodyguard for the Birkin.
That's where we're at.
That's where we're at right now.
That's more bodyguards than I've ever had asked for me in my life.
Because that's her luggage, her luggage, her bag, bro, her bag, her very pricey bag.
What does this mean for F one though?
Does this mean that the Kardashians reality show is going to take over and run F one is
the girl gossip going to meet the guy sport.
How is our internal world is going to collide here?
Or is this just, you know, a happy piece of publicity for the sport?
What do you think?
Honestly, like it's going to go a little bit both ways.
I think it's going to be really great.
I don't think F one's going to mind that Kim Kardashian is, you know, uh, obviously
blasting F one Ferrari, um, and marketing for them.
I think, uh, what was that football team that had Taylor Swift at the Super Bowl or was
dating something?
Yeah.
All of a sudden the leadership just went, yeah, just went up like crazy.
It might have that effect, but for Lewis, like, is Kim, Kim Kardashian going to make
Lewis go faster?
I hope so.
For his sake.
Oblissity or speed.
Is this going to be the influx of cash that Ferrari needs to make it, make it big again?
Well, I don't know.
Like I think you and I were talking about this a little bit with Lewis coming on now,
Kim Kardashian and Ferrari being Ferrari, um, with the amount of, uh, ego and reputation
they bring, um, seems like they're, they're a big time milking that marketing aspect quite
a bit, you know, bringing people that bring that social influence, that influence, build
their brand, build their marketing and not build very fast cars as of yet.
So maybe, maybe that says something.
The egos might weigh them down, but the pocketbooks at the end of the day will be full.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I mean, I think you brought up the point where, you know, Lewis Hamilton coming on, um, how
much did they increase in value?
Don't fact check me on this.
This is huge past information, but it was, they gave Lewis a ridiculous multi-year contract
like in the hundreds of millions of dollars and within, you know, a week of him joining
Ferrari, if memory serves the improvement in their stock price, basically covered a
salary.
Talk about a smart marketing decision.
You bring on a figurehead like that.
You involve him with Kimmy K. That covers your costs for the year right there.
Even if you're, you know, in the midfield or the bottom of the field, that covers your
costs.
Oh, for sure.
I mean, to have that kind of influence on a team like Ferrari, where you make the value
of that brand go up, just speaks volumes for Lewis Hamilton, but also speaks why that
happened.
You know, like you have a great driver like Carlos Sainz who was doing it, you know, he
was doing well and he had the opportunity to keep doing it and, you know,
Performance versus influence.
Performance versus influence.
Well, how crazy is that?
We're in a, we're in a sport where it's a sport.
It's competitive.
And yet if you have influence or you have some sort of backing, you're good.
You're good, bro.
You're in.
You're in.
Bring the paper, bring the money and bring that fame and we got you covered.
We got a comfy seat in a fast car for you.
I'm just hoping that it helps the sport grow, man.
Kimmy K. getting into the sport.
What does she charge a million dollars in Instagram post?
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's her going rate for an Instagram post as far as I'm, I'm aware.
So how do you know this, bro?
Like, what are you doing with this information?
Well, she was involved.
She was marketing a little bit for Pernuvo, this like full body MRI company out of the
States and in Canada.
And she did a post for them just cause she enjoyed their service and got them a bunch
of free publicity.
And people at that time were throwing around a million dollars a post number.
So again, completely unverified, but she charges a shit time and her reach is huge.
So she starts posting F one.
Like you said, it could be like the Super Bowl.
You could end up with a way bigger audience than I've ever had before.
Could this could be there was the drive to survive era, the F one movie era, the Kim
Kardashian era for F one takes.
It's, it's been happening.
Like think about the shift.
Like even when Hollywood got involved with the F one movie and Lewis Hamilton,
like it seemed like it was going this way where even to the, you know, to Austin,
Texas, circuit America, Coda, you know, Vegas, all these celebrities are rolling
in and like if there used to be celebrities, obviously always rolling in,
but it seems like the, the amount of celebrities are getting more and more.
We're not even able to keep up at times.
Like who showed up?
Who's there?
And caliber of celebrities.
You're not getting, you know, the guy who raised an F one 30 years ago, you're
getting the person who's hosting the Grammys or who's headlining a big
concert is running their own reality show.
Different group of people who it was.
I think Beyonce was there and like she was wearing a MotoGP outfit and like people
are commenting like, does she know like this is the formula one or like, I
forgot what that was all about.
But you know, Beyonce, Jay-Z, like Will Smith.
I don't even know Shaquille O'Neal.
Like I've seen him there.
Terry Crews driving the Lego car last year, making his way down town.
And then max of the square Lego glasses is vibing out in the back.
That was fun.
It was fun.
It brings publicity.
It brings money to the sport, gives them a reason to do it.
It gives teams a reason to go to war.
Just teams a chance to put two fast people in the same machinery and see how fast
they can go.
What do you think of these teams this year?
We're talking driver pairings.
Who do you think, like which teams are doing it right?
You've got teams like Red Bull to throw a clear number one, number two.
You throw teams out there like McLaren, who've got two number one ish drivers
fighting with the fire rules all the way down to teams who like Cadillac,
who've got two number two drivers battling to see who's number one.
What do you think of these pairings now that things are shaking out?
Yeah, honestly, like, okay, let's talk about like the main approach first,
the number one, number two, or like let them raise.
I honestly think in the interest of like the team, there's the clear number one,
number two has to be there.
If you're looking at the interest of the team, but that also depends on the
actual driving pair.
Like if you clear example for Stappen, Hager, like there's a clear number one,
clear number two, right, which works.
And then you have someone on the other side, which is someone like McLaren,
who has two number one drivers like Lando, Oscar.
I would say that's probably one of the best pairs in the whole grid right now
as a driver lineup.
Whereas they have to let them raise because I feel like if they don't,
they're going to lose one of them, right?
And for a Formula One team to have two number one drivers,
that's like the ultimate goal, right?
But is that in the best interest of the team?
We can see kind of into the second half of the season, like it really wasn't
because they kind of shot them in the foot and put them behind.
Shot them in the foot, shot Red Bull in the foot when they had Max and Danny.
So.
Yeah, for sure.
But who do you think like, let's go into the actual pairs now.
What do you think?
Who do you think is like one of the top pairs?
And who do you think can edge out one another?
Like for those teams that let them race?
Like we got Cadillac, we got McLaren, Ferrari even at this point.
Like who's going to edge the other driver out?
I mean, we know, looking at Red Bull, we know that Max is going to kick the
shit out of Hajar.
There's no second guessing that unfortunately.
And that's what he's coming in there to do.
I think at Racing Bulls, I think Liam takes Arvin out.
Again, a little bit more experience.
Arvin's coming in to figure things out.
I've heard really good things about Arvid.
Like people are putting them neck and neck.
You can put them neck and neck, but there is some amount of experience.
Arvid's never been truly tested at an F1 level.
He hasn't had the F1 experience.
I think he has the potential to take his teammate out in, you know,
year two or even the back half of the first year.
But I think you're going to see Liam Watson walk all over him for the first half.
Then what do you think is going to happen to Liam Watson in the long run?
Do you think he stands a chance to stay, keep a seat if that happens?
Depends if Hajar shits the bed or if he knocks it out of the park.
If Hajar does a good job as Max's rear gunner and put some points on the board.
Yeah, I think Liam's going to have a hard road forward.
There's not a space for him.
I think he'll probably end up at another team, much like Carlos did.
But if he doesn't put up some good numbers, then off you go.
It's a cutthroat sport.
I think as you make your way through the teams, McLaren and they obviously put themselves
under the most amount of pressure trying to run two guys who are going to be battling it out again.
I think you probably have more trouble with the Pappaya rules this year because you take someone who's got the number one on their car
and someone who is pretty damn sure he should have had the number one on his car
and probably felt a little bit hamstrung in the last season.
I think that Oster's going to come gun in with a whole lot of FU energy and take those Pappaya rules and throw them out the window.
Yeah, so do you think the Pappaya rules will even stand if he comes in with a mindset?
Do you think that that's something that they're going to do?
Or do you think that the team would naturally levitate more towards Lando since he is the current world champion?
The team might, but I think that Oster's manager would be crazy not to tell him,
go put your buddy in the wall or go make a statement if you want to keep your job.
If he doesn't lay it down, then he's committing to being number two.
He's going to get filtered out.
Okay, now this kind of brings up another question.
When you're in a car like McLaren, aren't you okay being number two?
Because you always have the potential of winning in a car that is going to be the fastest.
If you move on or if you do that and you have to move on, where do you go from there?
I don't think you're okay being number two though.
I think you're okay battling it out.
If you get beat, sure, race with the fastest car.
But if you're there and you think you could take it and you're one of the fastest drivers in the world,
and they're like, no, no, no, no, go sit at the kids table.
You're not okay with that.
At that point, you're finding another team in a development cycle and you're like,
hey, bring me on, let's go kick the shit out of them next year.
So where do you think Oscar could potentially go with saying he is like, fuck this.
I'm done with this.
I'm clearly being made a number two when I'm not.
Where would he go?
Aston.
Thank you.
Thanks, bro.
I was hoping you'd say that.
No, I mean, you know what?
All credit to Aston because their development program for the last four years has been something that's talked about very highly.
And it's something that we're just waiting for that outcome.
But everyone kind of expects that outcome in the back of their head.
It's like one of these days, Aston's going to do it.
Well, also they need to get rid of Lance.
And at that point, Fernando's going to be wanting to mentor someone and push them through and he'll eventually take a step back and take the mentoring role.
And I think that someone like Oscar or Max or whoever gets pissed off with their team first and dump ship will end up taking them through a championship.
For sure.
We'll get back to Aston in this hypothetical in a bit, but going back to their drivers.
What do you think about Furry's pairing?
We never really talked about that, but like it is a fight to the death.
But I think that I think that Charles still has some of that, you know, young excited energy and Lewis has won a shit ton of World Championships.
He's awesome.
He's shown us that he can be one of the greatest drivers in the world, but we didn't see that same fire from him last year.
We didn't see that same all drive through walls and knock you out of the park kind of energy.
So I don't know if he's just tired.
If he was really uninspired last year, but I think you give it to the guy who's young and hungry.
I think I think I agree with you.
I think Charles would edge out Lewis.
Now, let's consider that they have, how about all the teams?
All the teams have equal machinery.
Would you put Lewis and Charles closer to, I would say, Lando and Oscar in terms of the driving pair?
What are you talking about for a pairing as opposed to a single winner?
Yeah, and not as a single as a pairing as a driver pair for a team.
Yeah, I'd put them up there for sure.
I still think the young guys are going to go for more opportunities.
I think McLaren would still win even in equal machinery because Oscar and Lando are younger and are going to throw a car down the inside without a whole lot of consideration for the outcome.
But I think it'd be a fun season to watch if they all had it.
Well, then talking about young, we haven't even brought up Kimmy and George. What about them?
The experience isn't there yet.
Yeah, it'll happen.
I'd put them third in that.
McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes, in equal machinery, I'd put them third.
Yeah, I agree with you.
I think George and Kimmy are a pairing that's going to be, for Mercedes, going to be very fruitful in the next year or two, depending on how this season goes and how the car is.
Because the looks of it and the rumors of it, they're going to do good.
I don't doubt that for a second.
Let the car blows up, we'll see.
I don't think it's going to.
I think those collective thousand laps in the shakedown show that they're somewhat reliable.
As sad as I am, because I did want them to blow up and ask them to pull through.
But it seems a little bit troublesome for us.
Talking Honda though, and Adrian Newey.
We're four months behind. That's a big headline from that guy.
Yeah, it's crazy that, you know, obviously we know Adrian did come into the team a little bit later into the season.
I would say midway through early, early on before the summer break, April, March, April.
And, you know, that already put him a couple months behind in terms of like the development of the 26 car.
And, you know, it shows in the shakedown, right?
They came in pretty late into the shakedown and day one, they had a sensor issue and the car stopped after five laps.
And, you know, day two, they got 66 laps in, but even that was done in a limited capacity to a certain extent.
So Adrian was pretty much explaining that the wind tunnel was the issue.
The car wasn't put into the wind tunnel until much later.
Whereas rivals were already obviously using the wind tunnels, doing their testing and, you know, making changes to their car as necessary.
But what do you think about that, Gary?
Like, especially with someone like Adrian Newey, who apparently can draw and visualize wind and air movement?
Yeah, it's one of the only designers left that's still drawing cars.
We demonstrated, I don't have the ability to do that, even to get close to something that looks like a car, looks questionable at best.
But yeah, he's got a lot of experience, right?
He's made a lot of these cars.
He's made a lot of these fast cars.
And I think when some of the lot of skill is honest and transparent about how they see things going, there might be a little bit of strategy to that.
There might be a little bit of fear from the other teams because he might have started late, but he'll develop it quickly if he's got more experience than everyone else designing those cars.
Yeah, I mean, you know, they got the crash test done and they got the car to the shakedown where I was like, a team like William struggled to even do that.
And that goes to show their experience as a team to even pull it together.
Because, you know, if you are bringing the car out and keeping in mind, Adrian Newey used one of his last drawings to actually, you know, fabricate this car and get this on the road.
It just goes to show that they were in a pinch, obviously compressed on time and they still pulled it together and got something going.
So another big kind of hint from Adrian is that this car is going to be nowhere near the car that are going to be testing in Bahrain, which says a lot.
Like, it's like, what are they doing?
Like, what are they shaking?
Like, obviously they're testing out the Honda engine and I know it's more for mechanical purposes, but the car itself caused a lot of, you know, a big stir.
They stir up and like people are like looking at the car wondering what's going on.
So do you think that strategy or, you know, are they keeping things behind closed doors and bringing something else out?
So throwing people off with saying we're four months behind or do you think they know what they're doing and they're going to nail it?
I think it speaks to the speed of that they're going to develop that car at, right?
Again, you've got to, somebody's experienced their trying to build a car quickly and trying to adapt on the fly to new regulations.
And I think that experience is going to, you know, go a long way for that.
I don't think they're going to have a bait and switch.
Not going to show up to the shakedown with a car that looks like a tie fighter and show up to the testing.
The car looks like a boat.
They're just, they're not going to do a complete 180.
I think it's being the development and that they have big plans for and then they've got upgrades coming already,
which if they're not happy with it now, they'll have a new direction to go with it pretty damn soon.
For sure.
And I mean, you got to give it to the luck.
So the car, that ass and Martin in the shakedown just looks so beautiful.
It looks sexy.
And those are some words of George Russell, who also said that car looked great.
I think he even used the term sexy.
Like he's like, that car looks sexy.
But you know, obviously how sexy a car it looks doesn't dictate how fast it goes around track.
Big words.
But I beg to differ.
I think a sexy sleek car goes faster.
That's just my personal engineering, which is why I'm a podcast host with my friend that we do for fun and not an engineer.
Aerodynamic engineer.
That's the side of the new side hustle.
We'll go into aerodynamics next.
I hear they make good money.
Yeah, I heard.
I heard Adrian Newe makes a lot of money.
But I mean, we're unfortunately not airbenders like Adrian Newe that can draw out how wind moves around a car.
Crazy.
I've yet to embrace my inner avatar and get into airbending.
Yeah.
I have.
But I think when you have someone like Adrian saying it's an aggressive change, not because he thinks it's aggressive, but because it's, you know, using features that no other team has or no other teams tried before.
I think that's a warning and a bit of a mic drop.
Hopefully it's a successful one.
It'll certainly either be a developmental mind fuck or a, you know, a complete fall on their face.
We'll see.
Well, honestly, the car itself looked like talking about aggressive.
It looked aggressive.
Like I think that was the highlight of the car was just like aggressive, you know, and it just had a fast look about it.
Obviously, that will really be decided by rain and, you know, how fast it's actually capable of going and really hope that the aerodynamics advantage of Adrian Newe gives them that the edge that they need because they got to keep up with that Mercedes that has that little bit more going to it.
And it might just be the downforce and the arrow that gives it that edge, you know, we are talking about, you know, margins that are big in terms of F one, you know, when a car is rumored to be half a second or like 400th of a second faster than other cars, that's, that's like game changer.
Yeah, that's the difference between a lap at the end of the race.
Exactly.
So we'll have to see what this what this does for Aston and what Adrian knew he can pull through.
It's definitely a project and we're going to see what the developments are going to be for that car in the next few years because, you know, one of the rumors being a Charles Leclerc is given for races.
Right.
I don't know if you remember that.
Yeah.
Yeah, so bring it back.
Yeah, so Charles Leclerc, it was actually, it's a rumor that was in talks with Aston Martin, and is going to wait to see how the first four races of 2026 goes to decide whether he wants to join on in 27 or not.
Right.
So that was again speculation rumor.
Don't quote me on this.
This was talked about a little while ago.
He did kind of talk about it and obviously talked about how he wants to stay with Ferrari and crush those rumors, but I mean, how many times have we seen that happen in F1?
Like, when there's a rumor, it usually stems from some truth or something.
But that's what we heard on the interweb not too long ago.
And as we know, the interweb teaches us everything we need to know.
It's our F1 Bible, if you will.
Yeah.
Version of TMZ.
Oh, 100%.
Our F1 version of TMZ for sure is the F1 troll page, which we love so much and we always send memes of back and forth.
All of our F1 memes.
Some of them are so good.
We love going through those as well.
We love a good meme.
Yeah.
We should talk about actually, we were talking about teammates earlier.
I don't want to talk to you as a Red Bull fan about some of the teammates Verstappen has had and now that he's coming up with a new obviously coming up to a new teammate.
What's worked in the past?
What hasn't worked in the past?
Who's done well?
Who hasn't done well?
Obviously, you know, keeping up with Max is, it's a challenge.
It's been a challenge.
Yeah, it's a challenge and it's this fucking scary seat to take, right?
You go into a team who recently has been dominant and they put a lot of pressure on you.
They're a team who, you know, you have one bad day and your head's on the chopping block.
It's not a team you can go and drive at for six years while you develop your style.
It's a team that they want you showing up at and putting yourself a quarter of a second behind them every lap.
And, you know, it's a big kick in the ego when you go out and you drive your best lap and they tell you, yeah, Max did that much faster than you.
And you go look at the data and they're always doing it this way or that way.
He's making this change and you try to emulate the setup.
It doesn't match your style and you spin out and hit the wall.
I think there's been a lot of young, talented drivers, the Alex Albans, the Pira Gasly, Yuki, Liam Lawson, who've been kind of thrown into the fire and been given an opportunity that they weren't developed for
and tried to keep up with someone who basically lives, breathes and levitates around racing to the point where after Isaac put his car into the wall, Max flew home to Simrace
and fly back the next day to test the F1 car.
Like this dude is never not racing.
Oh, who does that?
Oh, you need a couple more days with the car.
Okay, I'm going to go race some more and I'll be back.
I'm going to fly halfway across the world, go and play video games, do some Simracing and then I'll fly right back and drive the car.
Brother, he's rumored to have a Simracing setup in his private plane.
Yeah, I don't doubt that for a second.
Like he's like dude called in sick to the F1 awards so he could Simrace.
Dude, honestly, Simracing is very addictive, especially when you get first place.
I totally feel for him.
Like he's probably winning all those races and I'm telling you, man, like as a winner myself, like it's an addictive feeling.
Yeah, you know, winners like to win and you know, when you're winning, you just want to keep winning, you know, it's not first to last, as Ricky Bobby says.
Yeah, exactly.
Yeah, I mean, like everyone throws these drivers under the bus, they crucified Chaco, they crucify every driver that stands up beside him.
I don't think it's their fault.
I don't think they're bad drivers, but it's just like putting a baseball player who's pretty good up to try to hit the Grand Slam home run, you know, the end of a world championship.
So there's just no way you do that, not unless you are the next person of that caliber.
And these guys, you know, have been unfortunately thrown to the wolves.
Do you think Red Bull is being selfish in the sense that they're just trying to find someone that is good enough to keep up with Max when, honestly, that's just a very difficult task to do.
Like, should they be okay with someone just scoring points every, you know, every week?
Every race like they've had in the past.
But it seems like they were just not, it was just never good enough.
Like it's like Max is winning.
So you got to be in the podium or top five, you know, every, every weekend.
But realistically, that's hard to do when the car itself is built around Max.
Chaco was that guy.
Chaco was that guy.
You score points.
He was up there doing everything he could.
And whether it's the fans or Red Bull or a combination of all of it, they knocked his confidence down.
And I'm just happy to see him back with Cadillac and hope that he makes them regret, makes them regret that decision to get rid of him.
But I think they're, if they're going to find someone who's as good as Max, that's succession planning.
That's not someone they think who can drive with them.
If they put two Max's in a team, again, they kill each other.
They crash out every, every race.
Yeah, for sure.
Dive bombing each other into the first corner.
It wouldn't go well.
And you can't find, you know, a number two as strong as Oscar, put him in Red Bull, because again, he's going to be tired of it.
He's going to want to be number one.
Yeah.
Yeah.
No, that makes sense.
There's opportunity for people there, but it's like getting called up to the major leagues to try to hit the Grand Slam.
You're, you're stepping into the fucking lion's den.
Yeah, for sure.
For sure.
How do you think Hager's going to do this year then?
I mean, he's already had a totally different attitude from all the other guys, right?
Yeah.
He's like, I just want to go and learn.
Yeah.
I'm not there to try to put myself up beside Max.
I'm there to learn.
So I think if you keep your head on your shoulders and are there just to improve yourself as a driver and to learn the car and learn from him instead of trying to beat him, that's at least going to give you a fighting chance.
Well, I mean, we know he has really good relationships with rookies and he's like, he has obviously a soft spot for them and he loves teaching and obviously being in that light of racing where he is a true race car driver.
He just loves racing and everything about race cars.
Yeah.
Gunter Steiner actually mentioned this, that I think the approach a lot of drivers take when they go into Red Bull is I got to beat Max for stopping.
You know what I'm doing.
It's like, you can't.
You just can't beat him, right?
Like, you have to go in with a mindset like even he said, I think to a certain extent like keeping up with him is a difficult mindset to have.
Like, I think this approach that Hager has, I want to go learn, be the best I can and, you know, just develop myself like focus on development is key because he has to learn how to handle that car.
He has to learn how to drive that car.
That car is apparently day and night to a V car, which is supposed to be easier to drive, easier to handle.
So we'll see this here.
Totally different car.
But historically, yeah.
Yeah.
Which is also why I think he just, the transition is perfect for him.
Right.
The teams change.
The management has changed.
The car has changed.
Learn it while it's new.
Learn it while it's fresh.
Don't try to come into something that's already established.
And there's something about the Red Bull mentality that is like more like chill.
You know, they're nicer.
Like, dude, Max is so Zen.
Laura, he just seems nice.
Like just wait till it's like a three point fight again, and you'll see a very different side of that team come out.
Oh, I hope so.
I hope so.
I thought they would pull more stuff in Abu Dhabi than they did.
So we'll see.
We'll see.
There's a lot to be excited for in 2026.
And that's part of it.
Man, I am so excited.
I think I was telling Gary, I'm like, dude, I was driving to work and it just hit me.
I'm like, we're going to be watching races soon.
Like, I can't wait.
It's like two months.
I was booking a patient for March 6th.
And I was like, oh, that's like months away.
And then I was like, oh, no shit.
That's really, really soon.
It's soon, man.
The same thing happened with the season man sneaking up on us.
I can't wait.
And you know what?
Next podcast is going to be a little bit more exciting because we have, I guess,
Aston Martin's livery coming out.
We got McLaren livery coming out.
We got, what else do we got?
Oh, next week is going to be testing.
Is it already?
I believe so.
It's not this weekend, but the 13th, 14th, Valentine's.
They're giving us some love.
F1 is loving us.
Nice.
That's what we're here for.
That's what we're here for.
Yeah.
And honestly, Garrett, I think on that,
we've kind of nailed all our topics for today.
Beautiful.
Then let's, let's not drag it on.
Let's let all these beautiful people get back to what they're doing.
And we'll catch them on the next one.
Thanks for the cool down lap podcast, you guys.
And we'll chat with you next week.
We'll chat with you guys next week.
Request an explanation for:
Request an Explanation
Heard something you'd like explained? We'll add it to this episode.
Sign in to request explanations for terms you heard.
Want to learn more?
Browse our glossary for plain-English explanations of automotive terms, jargon, and concepts.
See something that's not quite right? Our annotations are AI-generated and can sometimes miss the mark.
Click the flag icon on any annotation to suggest a correction.
