Formula 1 Belongs to Gen Alpha Now

At the 2026 Japanese Grand Prix, teenager Kimi Antonelli wins again. The youngest championship leader ever. Just as these new F1 regulations reveal a stark split between younger and older drivers (and fans). Join Patrick and Brian on the Hard Compound for all the action from the Suzuka Circuit.

But, wait. There's more. 

• In its early days, NASA needed badass test pilots. Not any more. Find out the surprising parallels of this and F1 drivers. 
• New York Mets owner Steve Cohen wants to buy Alpine. Europe is radically underestimating what this means for Formula 1. 
• It's not just F1 teams. F1 tracks are also radically undervalued. We explain why.
• Finally, Apple TV needs to really step it up.

And as always, thank you for listening to everybody's most beloved father and son F1 podcast!  

Transcript

Brian S Hall (00:00.287)
Hey, son.

Patrick (00:01.912)
Hello?

Brian S Hall (00:02.891)
Japan is zuga. Japan is burned into my brain as a little boy. I run home from school, watch Speed Racer, watch Ultraman. Once a week, or once a year, they'd have Monster Week on the afternoon movie. So all my formative memories as a child revolved around Japan. Japan's destruction, Japanese monsters. So that was always fun. That was always fun. Then later in life, realized Japanese people are awesome.

They're awesome. So, all right, son, ready to go?

Patrick (00:36.461)
I'm ready to go.

Brian S Hall (00:38.645)
Hello, welcome to Hard Compounded American Take on Formula One with your host Brian and Patrick. Race three, Japan Grand Prix at the historic Suzuka Track. Not one of my favorite races this year. But hey, Oscar finished. I think both McLarens made it. Started and finished. Wow, this is a whole new world. Vista's opening up for Oscar Piatastri.

Patrick (00:57.57)
He started, he started was the big thing.

Brian S Hall (01:07.935)
Patrick, what stood out to you about the Japanese Grand Prix?

Patrick (01:14.242)
I a couple things. Naturally, the McLarens starting and finishing a race was important, but we also saw that, okay, when the McLaren drives, it's as good as Ferrari is, maybe better. So that's one to look out for. They have had...

Started the season horribly in their starting and finishing record obviously And Ferraris look like the only only cars that could even remotely keep up with those Mercedes cars, but McLaren looks like they'll be fighting Ferrari I think for for P2 in the championship this season, which is

Brian S Hall (01:45.663)
Right.

Patrick (02:11.192)
good I mean it's good to have more more drivers in there and then you know the rest of the field it's becoming clear Red Bull is bad it's just not fast no matter how you look at it obviously Max is frustrated more frustrated than he's maybe ever been in his career

Brian S Hall (02:25.643)
Yeah.

Brian S Hall (02:40.223)
Right.

Patrick (02:40.53)
in Formula One, but he's still, I think, maximizing in that car and it leads to P8 finishes, right, behind Alpine.

Brian S Hall (02:50.111)
Yeah, right. Cause they've had, yeah, they've had more time and Christian Horner helped oversee it, but this is a basically an entirely new team in a sense. Horner's gone, Newby's gone. It's Ford Red Bull. They built everything from scratch. You know, they've had more time and input than say Cadillac, but nonetheless, this is like a new team.

Patrick (03:14.784)
Right, mean, it's a first year power unit provider. Audi, not as good, right? You think about obviously Cadillac is purchasing power units currently, but that's a brand new team that's having a tough time. Who else is there?

Brian S Hall (03:37.707)
I mean, McLaren looks like they're fixing their problems. They're getting closer, closer, Haas. So the Mercedes power unit, even if Toto's held back from his customers, that looks strong. Though Williams, what's going on there? Because they're a Mercedes customer.

Patrick (03:55.04)
Williams is garbage. Yeah Haas is getting that Ferrari engine, which is nice Alpine is getting the Mercedes at this point their new new customer and they look good so obviously the Mercedes power unit is a dominant power unit and that's that has over the first three races this season that's become very evident but it's nice to see that

Brian S Hall (04:01.291)
Oh, yeah, process. So it's. Yeah, that's what I mean. Yeah, and they're looking good. Right.

Brian S Hall (04:14.74)
Right.

Patrick (04:24.984)
There are certain ways, I guess, that Ferrari can kind of compete for those that, you know, kind of maybe last step on the podium. Red Bull, I think, is nowhere near at this point in time. Maybe, you know, we're getting a...

five week break or whatever the hell it is now because of a couple cancelled races so we could have a lot of strong development in that time but you have to imagine that it's going to be difficult for teams that are starting off well behind to make up enough ground to be like regularly competitive.

Brian S Hall (05:13.353)
them.

Patrick (05:14.786)
But you know, there's chances and I think there's a lot happening in the midfield and I think we'll see a lot of good development throughout the season. I don't know, I think maybe standout performer of the season so far might be Pierre Gasly. I mean, that Alpine last year was atrocious. Gasly is just cruising.

Brian S Hall (05:42.635)
Yep. Yep. Another good race. It was. was. Gastly could have been driver of the day. I believe it was Oscar. Young Kimmy though, another win. Now, I know it was for two of his timing. Russell with that bad pit stop timing, then the Bearman crash. But man, Kimmy's going wheel to wheel with his teammate. He's not backing down from anything. He's managing the car. You know, if he fixes his starts.

Patrick (05:43.308)
this season to start, is very cool to see.

Brian S Hall (06:12.875)
This could be, this could be a hell of a season.

Patrick (06:17.12)
It could be. mean, he was clearly faster than Russell all weekend. I mean, we pretty much know at this point it's going to be a two driver shootout for the Drivers' Championship this season. It's going to be one of those two Mercedes drivers. And everybody obviously assumed that it was going to be Russell.

the start of the season. He's a veteran in that team. Antonelli looked a little bit lost at portions at certain times last season, but he's really come out and proven he knows how to drive. He's a good driver. He's competitive. And I think it's been fun to see him.

was clearly faster than Russell all weekend long, forced Russell to make setup changes before qualifying. And those obviously did not work out for Russell. He was not happy during qualifying and has to basically keep those changes, setup changes for the race. Unless he wants a penalty and you know, Russell got off to a good start, but Piastri.

really forced Russell's hand I think and you know bad timing it happens usually it happens to Ferrari but this time it happened to George and his teammate kind of easily took control of the race after that and Russell just was stuck behind Ferrari's for like 35 laps or something like that mean it was a long time

Brian S Hall (07:44.554)
Yeah.

Brian S Hall (07:50.827)
Do.

Patrick (08:11.96)
George couldn't get past the Ferraris, who are well down on power. I mean, Kimi breezed past him pretty easily after having a terrible start, and then George has a tough time. So I think it's pretty clear Kimi was a faster driver on the day. Made one mistake, got a little lucky, ended up winning the race anyways. I mean, pretty good.

Brian S Hall (08:21.003)
Ha

Brian S Hall (08:30.963)
Indeed, was.

Brian S Hall (08:37.011)
Yeah, good day for him. mean, what was he 19? I hear that he's like the youngest ever championship points leader. Yeah, pretty, pretty cool. And you wonder, you know, what's going on inside Mercedes is total favoring him, although.

Keep thinking man in an alternate universe Give me a ten out of the young Italian. He's so good What if he was at Ferrari and Lewis was still at you know Mercedes competing for that eighth championship that would be Funny now you talked about max and you talked about that red bull power you do I? Just keep saying oh, I hate this car. I hate these rules. I'm gonna retire

But he's been saying this for a month now. And I'm like, dude, you leave or be quiet. You're not helping, you know? I mean, imagine if Alonzo, like 18 years of crap cars. You know, imagine if he, like every single race, just pissed and moaned, you know? He kind of sucks it up. I think Max needs to start doing that.

Patrick (09:46.368)
Yeah, I I agree. think, I think there's a time and place for complaining, whining. but ultimately as a driver, you're almost just as responsible for development as, you know, the rest of your, your team. So.

You got to figure it out and work with your team to figure out the best way to move forward. And ultimately like, yeah, the car's not very good, but really Max is just frustrated with the, with the regulations, the new regulations. It's like, we knew these were happening for years. For years, we knew this was coming and yeah, you just got it. You just got to go out there and race and do your best and

Brian S Hall (10:39.627)
i'm kinda losing my-

Patrick (10:46.016)
If you don't want to race in these conditions, I mean, he's already started driving GTs, going to race in Le Mans series, it just go away. We have no need for more people to just whine. Nobody needs more whining.

Brian S Hall (11:04.627)
Right. Let me tell you, all I hear, especially the folks who, you know, they ordain themselves as the real fans, just complaining about these regulations. And it's like, I, as an old man, love the notion of some guy, sitting in the car, going flat out, taking that car on the straights, around the turns, banks against other cars as fast as possible, faster than everyone thought possible, just flat out.

But you know, something putting your life on the doing what no other human really can do. But these aren't the regulations. There's something to be said for a hybrid engine using battery power of tighter coordination between driver, car, team. That's why I also think by some of the younger drivers aren't complaining so much. I mean, look at this podium.

you know, Charles was on it, but Kimmy and Oscar, two of the younger guys. It's like, hey, this may not be your sport anymore. I just feel like Max has sort of, said, we don't need people just whining. I also just think it's like the people just howling, we'll get rid of hybrid engines. That's not happening. Or we'll make these changes. It's like there could be, because we had this first five week break, maybe some very minor tweaks, but it's like, look,

There's big happening until next year, but more likely nothing big happening until 2030. You can, you can stick with the sport or not.

Patrick (12:45.686)
Right, mean, I think, look, we've added a number of teams in the last several years. We have increased the number of power unit providers over the last several years. And most of these are like massive global automakers.

You think they're just gonna keep selling exclusive, well like 12 cylinder fucking engines. It's not happening. They want to enter this space as a way to advance their own vehicle development. Right? So like you calling for all these changes, it's stupid. It makes no sense to anybody involved in the sport.

Brian S Hall (13:23.179)
Right. Right.

Patrick (13:45.55)
You there's a lot that we like from back in the day, Formula One. I get it. But it's 2026. We got to move forward. OK, we can't just keep stagnating and then whining when there's change. It's dumb.

Brian S Hall (13:55.627)
In the eye right

Brian S Hall (14:02.283)
The irony of these folks who call themselves the true fans howling that we need to go fully exclusive internal combustion engines while we're now on a five-week break because of a war in the Middle East seems completely lost. It's like, do you realize we're in the 21st century? So, all right, let me do a quick rundown of the driver's standings. Our boy Kimmy, youngest points.

leader ever 72 his teammate george 63 then charles putting up the good fight for ferrari 49 lewis right behind 41 then a big drop lando 25 oscar 21 so you said it looks like mcclaren over those long breaks might solve some things i think so too is this do you think going to come down to a three team fight a two team fight or is it just a one team fight george versus kimmy

Patrick (15:02.836)
I'm quite confident at this point in time it'll just be George and Kimmy. I don't see any reason to believe that McLaren and Ferrari will pose too much of a threat. mean we saw once the Mercedes is out front it's just obviously dominant. It goes faster than everybody else.

doesn't matter. It really just if you can keep it behind you, you know, then then you have a fighting chance. Leclerc did it for, you know, 20 plus laps in Australia. Russell finally gets by him. Antonelli finally gets by him and they're just up the road. Hamilton, you know, he's trying to keep everyone behind him for a lap after a lap.

in in China and Mercedes goes by they're up the road the Ferraris again this race and Oscar you know trying to keep him behind once Antonelli gets a little bit of a break he's out in front while he's up the road he's no chance of anybody catching him but with a couple Ferraris to kind of

halt Russell's progress, he was stuck behind. So I think, you know, there are ways or methods that McLaren and Ferrari can sort of utilize to stay in touch with Mercedes, but they're just, they're just way too fast.

Brian S Hall (16:54.463)
Yeah, see, I slightly disagree. think it's going to be a two team fight, but not Ferrari. I think McLaren is going to make enough fixes, figure this out.

mean they already have some parts that i think are a little bit better than mercedes i once they unleash that i i think they're gonna have a fight i think what will limit mclaren is that and i'll touch this on our crazy prediction segment is that they might run out of time but i think it will be a legitimate two team battle mercedes versus mclaren mercedes all right that that

I'll be there and crash that look bad. I mean, and he limped out. He said, just, you know, bumps, bruises will beaten up. But I mean, he was limping. I was surprised.

Patrick (17:44.844)
I I gotta say, if you hit a wall going 190 miles an hour, and all you got is a limp, it is pretty fun. Good crash. You know, that's pretty good outcome. So I think, I think. Yeah, there's a lot to talk about, I guess, with the crash, but the, the fact that, you know, 20 years ago,

Brian S Hall (17:55.467)
Yep, fair enough.

Patrick (18:15.53)
If something like that happens, guy just goes off and slams into the wall at 190 miles an hour. Like, it's going to be a lot worse than a limp. But no, was good to see him get out. And obviously he's got five weeks to sort of recover before the next race. So it seems likely that he will.

Brian S Hall (18:25.152)
Yeah.

Patrick (18:42.996)
race in Miami, which is good.

Brian S Hall (18:44.651)
There were a few mini fights between Charles and Lewis. I tell you, if they could challenge for them, they could challenge for the championship. I mean, we might see a little nastiness inside the ferrari paddock. And Charles is not a nasty one, but it could happen. just think, then it's just not good enough. It doesn't warrant a fight yet.

Patrick (19:06.036)
Right, yeah I agree. think the fights in the first three races between the Ferraris have been a lot of fun to watch. think it's pretty exciting to see Lewis just really have a car that he seems to enjoy a little bit more.

Ultimately, I think the fight in this race between those two drivers Left hamilton a little bit short-handed and and so he dropped down further than maybe he Would have had he just sort of let leclerc through But Yeah, it was fun. I mean I think leclerc so far has proven he's

Brian S Hall (19:48.233)
They're still learning these cars.

Patrick (19:57.62)
a bit of a master when it comes to understanding the nuances of the electric power and sort of when he needs to harvest, when he needs to deploy and sort of using that to his advantage. Lifting off maybe a little early and just letting Russell pinch through and then coming straight back at him.

and and going through i mean Lando after the race was saying you know the drivers don't have enough control over this and that may be true but Leclerc seems to be able to control it pretty damn well he's proven that in the first three races he's he's very adept at that so i think maybe it's not like not the type of control necessarily that

maybe Norris or some of the other drivers want, but there is a level of ability to sort of control the harvesting and deployment of that electrical power that Leclerc has sort of mastered. And I don't think too many of the other drivers are quite there on this level yet.

Brian S Hall (21:17.931)
Yeah. So I said, I think it could come down to a two team battle between McLaren, Mercedes. Just time might be running out for McLaren. Cause look at these team standings already. Mercedes is at 135, Ferrari number two is at 90, already 45 points back. Then McLaren, 46, essentially, you know, a third.

big drop off Haas at 18. How about that Haas? Then it's just a bunch. Alpina 16, Red Bull 16, Racing Bulls at 14. Audi though. P11, P13, they're looking good. Cadillac? Cadillac did not finish last. Technically that was uh shit, Alpina Williams and Aston. Like I would say should Max retire? Hell should Aston Martin retire.

Patrick (22:08.649)
Alex Albon. Yeah.

Patrick (22:16.876)
Yeah, I mean that's a tough situation there and you know, I don't know if we said this in the last episode, like Alonso's gotta retire right? mean mid-season even, this is just an atrocious car, an atrocious team. The fact that he's still there is insane and still pushing hard, giving positive feedback. I mean that is...

that is a real racer. mean, he's a...

Brian S Hall (22:50.635)
It's his blood, It's out racing.

Patrick (22:53.502)
It's yeah, he can't he can't stop I guess is is the thing

Brian S Hall (23:01.579)
the hapless stroll. Yeah, we need an Aston Martin movie. What was the, not Aston Martin, we need Alonzo movie. What's the Canna brief movie of the bus? So if Alonzo quits racing, it's like, right, it's like the bus going under 55. That's Alonzo, you know? You quit that one, it's like the bus going under 55. Bad things gonna happen to everybody. So last week though, last race, I mean, we were talking about Haas and team principal Kamatsu.

Patrick (23:10.454)
Speed. Yeah.

Brian S Hall (23:31.293)
And I think I was sort of leading the charts of it. Someone's going to pick this guy off. He's just too damn good. And then what happens? Jonathan Wheatley leaves, leaves Audi. Now, probably because Bonotto and him clashed and Wheatley wanted to run the team and probably couldn't. But you know, there's all these rumors flying that he's going to Aston or he's already at Aston. We're not quite sure what's really happening there, but.

He's a lifer. I don't think he just quit without having something already lined up.

Patrick (24:06.41)
It seems unlikely that he quit. He was probably handed a lot of cash and some oversight.

some control, I guess, to move most likely to Aston. But yeah, was a strange situation, I guess, that Audi team sort of out of nowhere lost their team principle, essentially. And so now, now, know, what do they do? They had...

An okay weekend. They looked pretty quick, but I think unfortunately, got a little bit unlucky with the safety car there, but I mean,

Brian S Hall (24:58.475)
new points but close. And you know, I mean, this is the Sauber team essentially. The fact that they show up 11 and 13 is kind of good for them, I think.

Patrick (25:09.366)
Yeah, I mean, it's just a weird situation, out of nowhere, you don't fire him, he just quits a day before, a day before, you know, you're supposed to start free practice, right? So.

Brian S Hall (25:09.919)
in

Brian S Hall (25:20.573)
Right.

Right. And how much does Adrian Newey must just hate Christian Horner? Because Christian Horner should be running that Aston Martin team. Okay. And Adrian Newey was like, you know, cause it's a mess. That's just absolute mess. And I got to think Newey was like, no, no, no, no. How about I just get Wheatley? You know, how will we try that next? so Lawrence Stroh was like, okay. But I don't know. That's just a mess there.

Patrick (25:52.02)
I just... It's such a poorly run team. It's been poorly run since Lauren Stroll took it over. Which is a shame, because you would think someone with that much money would have little bit of sense in how to spend it appropriately and they just have not figured out the right combination.

I know what it is. It seems to me like you just go after big names and that's it. It's like, well, maybe that's not the best way to run your team. I don't know what it is, but it's frustrating to watch, especially as kind of an Alonso fan, you know, it's tough to see him in once again, one of the worst cars on the grid.

And something that may I don't know give him a terminal condition

Brian S Hall (27:00.459)
right, switching to the soft compound.

Brian S Hall (27:05.951)
So I think our European fans, and I'm gonna get your thoughts on this, are completely under appreciating the magnitude of one small bit of news rumor. And that is the billionaire Steve Cohen, owner of the New York Mets, is considering buying Alpine. Now, Steve Cohen, he's a super rich hedge fund guy.

He thought, I'm going to buy the New York Mets. He spent a fortune on them. It's like, what do we need to win? Oh, you got to spend a fortune on these players. All right, we're going to spend a fortune. He did not blink. And it isn't though he's rich beyond imagination and this is a toy. It's partly that, but it's like Steve Ballmer buying LA Clippers. Yes, it's a toy. It's a lark, but these guys also see money.

It's like, I can buy an undervalued asset. I see where this is going and the value of it will grow every single year. In addition,

The revenue stream will grow every single year. In addition, every single race, I get to meet that nations, that states, that regions movers and shakers. I get the wine and dine government officials say, hey, come on, I'll give you extra the paddock. You want to talk to Peter Gasly? No problem. I a bunch of celebrities here. Let's all get together and hang out. This is, I think Europeans don't.

get kind brand sort of like the folks who claim that the real fans of the old school fans. we're not. isn't real racing. I think this shift in the regulations is only one part of the story they're missing. It's also just, this is, this is a new sport. This, no one's going to be buying racing bulls for a dollar. Okay. No one's going to be buying Alpine for a dollar. These are multi billionaires.

Brian S Hall (29:19.371)
who see just an ongoing multi-decade revenue stream, plus opportunities that extend from that. Just want to get your thoughts on that.

Patrick (29:29.774)
Yeah, I mean the nature of the sport has changed. mean, Lawrence Stroll bought, whatever it was at the time, Force India maybe, for very little in value. And from a guy who was in Indian prison, okay, he was, he was a crook basically, or considered such. And, and

Brian S Hall (29:53.011)
Right. Right.

Brian S Hall (30:12.137)
Yep. Yep. And every race, it's like, hey, I'm hanging out with these sheiks. I'm hanging out with this government official. I'm hanging out with this prime minister. I'm hanging out with these celebrities. We're cutting deals. It's the best networking opportunity in the world.

Patrick (30:29.28)
It's it's it's yeah, it has completely changed in the last 10 years 15 years You know, we constantly see celebrities there but Like new celebrities and new money celebrities we see influencers constantly out and about and then You know

all these people who are essentially utilizing the sport as an opportunity to get ahead and make money, make deals, whatever it is. This was a part, small portion of even the Formula One movie. They showed kind of...

similar intent within that movie. so I think it's a new age for Formula One.

Brian S Hall (31:37.963)
Here's the thing, I don't even think it's like, it's definitely not my sport anymore. I don't even think it's your sport anymore. I think this is a mother effing gen alpha sport. I think it's for the kids. I mean, when I look at these regulations, like I said, it's like, well, we can't go flat out anymore. No, you gotta work with the data. You gotta work with these algorithms, the AI, the motor. You gotta team back. You're connected to, you have to work with them.

The money, the new money flowing in, it's global. just think we, I mean, I just think we're sensing something, but we don't even understand yet the revolution in Formula One that's happening.

Patrick (32:22.318)
So I just thought of something, right? I feel like this is almost akin to like the first astronauts versus what they are now, right? And so the first astronauts were fighter pilots, right? Like they literally were in combat and wanted to basically

Brian S Hall (32:34.667)
Yeah.

Patrick (32:53.928)
hit the zenith of piloting and so they became astronauts to fly into space. And now all astronauts are engineers and scientists. They don't know how to fly because they don't have to. The computers do that. And so we used to have and still do. Okay, these drivers are incredible drivers. They operate these machines incredibly well.

Brian S Hall (33:11.275)
Right. I just think... Right.

Patrick (33:23.974)
And F1 drivers have been considered the best drivers on the planet for 70 years, right? Are we moving in the direction of astronauts where drivers are really not going to be pilots anymore? They're going to be, you know, real time data analysts to, you know, make the car go around the track as fast as it can. I don't know.

But it's an interesting sort of development process, right? That we're in and we can kind of see how different the sport is to what it used to be.

Brian S Hall (34:03.819)
just think you've blown my mind and we're going to have to move on, but we're going to have to do some episode about this again, because that I think analogy just absolutely hits with me. And I think it absolutely is spot on. I really do. I'm going to have to I need some time to process that. All right. All right. All right. So let me go to another part. I talked about. Our European fans, especially are under appreciating.

Patrick (34:22.86)
Heh.

Brian S Hall (34:33.151)
this notion of a hedge fund billionaire American sports team owner wanting to buy Alpine. I also think though, if you look at all the, you know, we have this debate about, man, I these street courses. The folks who call themselves the real fans hate, say they hate the street courses. They want the permanent tracks. And I am very sympathetic to that. But even on the permanent tracks, we're, we're undervaluing this. So

one of the oldest, maybe the oldest team in the National Football League, Chicago Bears, been in Chicago forever. The state of Indiana is like, hey, we'll give you billions of dollars. Just move your team here. That's it. We're giving you billions of dollars. We don't own the team. You still have everything. Just move here. Because it's like, you put up a stadium. You own the land around it. You develop that. That's become bars, restaurants, gathering places. You would have the team offices there.

Now you're going have transportation hubs. It's not like, let me drive off 30 miles into the countryside to go the racetrack. It's that's a premium destination. And I think F1 tracks still aren't there.

Patrick (35:48.258)
Yeah, I mean, it's it is hard to get to most tracks that are not street courses. I mean, if you're trying to go to a race in, let's say, Austin, you know, you go, you stay in Austin. Guess what? You got to get on a bus that takes an hour to get to the to get to Kota. OK. Or you got to drive in stop and go traffic.

an hour and half to get to coda and there's nothing around coda it's not like you're staying out there you can't do that so and this is the same from what i've heard and seen for basically every other permanent track you know it's the same in in italy at manza and emila it's the same in at spa in belgium all of these tracks are

well outside of cities, city centers, and it takes a lot of effort to get there. Sure, maybe you can camp out there, but 400,000 people a weekend are not camping out at these tracks. You know what's much easier? Staying in the city and then walking around, going to the bars and the restaurants and seeing what the city has to offer and then watching the race right there.

That's much better, much easier, better fan experience. get, there's a lot of these historic tracks that are sort of going away. there's a lot of really good racing on those tracks and I agree. I'm sympathetic to kind of moving away from that and moving into these street courses, but a lot of the street courses.

A. Have provided pretty good racing. And B. I think are much easier for fans to experience. And so I think there is an element to that that maybe people are missing. And it can be disappointing. You know, I think we've heard that they're considering

Patrick (38:13.57)
You know, alternating a spa and Barcelona, you know, over, you know, calendar years in favor of, of developing other street courses. And that is disappointing, right? I would love to see spa and Barcelona on the calendar every season, but such as the, the demand for the sport and the sort of increased attention.

provides F1 the opportunity to just break in cash from holding events in these different cities.

Brian S Hall (38:53.183)
Yep. Okay, Dirty Air. I want to get your thoughts on Apple TV. Now, I had high hopes because I thought Apple was going to spend a lot of money and really give us something new, something different. So far they haven't. We pretty much never get the Sky Feed anymore, which I really want.

I want to see Martin's grid vlogs. can't. I want to see some American content. They don't have that. in the F1, F1 crew's fine, but during the race, they seem absolutely committed to showing us only who's in P1, 2, and 3. That's it. So I'm just curious your thoughts on AmpleTB so far. We're three races in nonetheless.

Patrick (39:50.754)
Yeah, mean, I have found it mostly disappointing. I think the streaming quality has been good. You know, we have one place that is sort of committed to showing us all of the events of the weekend, which is nice. But yeah, we just all we get.

is F1 TV and look F1 TV is good. I like F1 TV. I like the crew that does it. But that is F1's own personal crew basically. So if there has been no American content, there's been nothing to differentiate.

Brian S Hall (40:37.853)
It's the same. Yeah, it's the same. Yeah.

Patrick (40:50.696)
Apple TV from the previous F1 TV, which was just hosted by F1. And so, you know, I think it's been disappointing mostly.

Brian S Hall (41:02.187)
But even then, right, because even with F1 TV, it was easy to switch during races to the Skyfeed. That doesn't seem to exist anymore. I could choose to watch the Skyfeed pre-race, post-race. I could see Martin's grid box. It's all gone and they've not replaced it with anything. I've had a couple very minor issues with streaming.

But for the most part, the streaming part they've gotten right. It's it's lesser than it was last year.

Patrick (41:36.494)
Right, yeah, I agree. think Apple will need to figure something out. I can't imagine that they paid so much for the streaming rights and had nothing in mind. If they did, that would be incredibly disappointing. So we'll see. I hope

that they sort of introduce something new and relevant. I've been mostly just sort of neutral, I guess, at this point. Nothing particularly positive. I don't think anything horribly negative, but it certainly should be better.

than it currently is.

Brian S Hall (42:35.912)
the line. That is our segment where we predict the top five for the next race. The next race is Miami, five weeks away.

Man, that's a bit of a wait. Okay, so in across the line, we each predict who we think will finish in the top five. If we are correct, we get a point for each. If we get the driver in the exact right spot, we get three points. Patrick, what are the current standings of across the line?

Patrick (43:05.204)
All right, well, coming into this race, you were leading five points to my two. But as you may recall, top five for this race, Antonelli, Piastri, Leclerc, Russell Norris. Your picks, Leclerc, Hamilton, Hadjar, Baerman, Piastri. So that's two total points, one for Leclerc, one for Piastri.

both in the top five, neither in the spot you picked them in. For me, I had Russell Antonelli for Stapp and Casley, Norris. So I got a point for Russell, a point for Antonelli and three for Lando Norris who did come P5. So that means we're tied at seven.

Brian S Hall (43:52.011)
No.

that a tie? Ooh, okay, all right. Okay, we started fresh in Miami. Miami, there's so much new money in Miami. So many big new celebrities. They got me thinking, I saw this organization, I think they call themselves Formula Escapes.

$4 million per person. They get you private jet and hospitality suite for all the races. If I had lot of money.

Patrick (44:26.424)
For all the races seems pretty good actually.

Brian S Hall (44:30.411)
I'm pretty sure they said $4 million. Yeah. Private per person. 22, let's say.

Patrick (44:34.062)
$4 million for what? 20 races? You get private jet to the race for every race, assuming, right?

Brian S Hall (44:43.563)
Right. Yeah, I'm sure it's probably like a charter. like maybe there's 10 on there, 20 on there. I don't know, but maybe that's the workaround. It's not really a private jet. It's not like total private jet.

Patrick (44:48.686)
Sure.

Patrick (44:53.544)
Right, right. Well, okay. You getting, you getting wine and dined and drinks and stuff on the chat. Okay. This, I mean, ain't a lot of leg room. It's better than most people will ever find in their entire lives. I mean, and 22 rate hospitality suite. Yeah. Probably meeting drivers for, I, yeah. That kind of sounds worth it. I mean, I ain't got $4 million to spend, but.

Brian S Hall (44:55.775)
Ha

Brian S Hall (45:00.684)
yeah.

Brian S Hall (45:05.227)
Right, Yeah, that seems worth it, don't you think?

Brian S Hall (45:14.389)
Hedic Access.

Brian S Hall (45:22.571)
Alright.

Patrick (45:22.794)
It kinda sounds worth it.

Brian S Hall (45:25.171)
Yeah, it does. It does. Okay. So Miami last year, Mercedes was dominant. had a sprint and qualifying Mercedes was the Mercedes power unit was dominant. Sort of like how things were going this year. And it was Oscar Landau George. I think Max had a heroic performance and finished in P four. Okay. So who goes first for Miami Grand Prix 2026? Ooh, I.

Patrick (45:50.121)
you have a first pick.

Brian S Hall (45:55.441)
I George is going to have things figured out and he's going to be at that team.

Brian S Hall (46:06.027)
I don't know the bottle still he's Kimmy total seems like Kimmy Moore. I don't know. No, I'm going with George

Patrick (46:09.646)
You

Patrick (46:14.222)
trust in your instinct. There you go. That I think...

Patrick (46:22.83)
and it's probably a good pick. You know what? Then I'm gonna split the difference. I'm gonna go Oscar.

and then I'm gonna take Kimmy. Cause I think...

I think he's driving really well. think he will definitely get another podium. I don't know if he's coming in first, but he'll get up there.

Brian S Hall (46:50.676)
Nice, nice, well...

Hmm, I'm going to continue with the Mercedes theme and go with.

Lando and Pierre.

Patrick (47:10.83)
Ooh, Casley first podium of the season. First podium in a long, long time for Alpine.

Brian S Hall (47:17.919)
Been a while. Been a while.

Patrick (47:21.26)
be good. Let's see then I am going to...

Take.

the guys who are 3-4 in the championship i will take leclerc to get on his third podium of the season and then lewis following close behind

Brian S Hall (47:48.605)
So now I'm going to round mine out with Max. He's just too good to keep down. And then young Ali Behrman, showing that he's fully recovered.

Patrick (48:00.182)
Nice. That's good. Then I will take...

P5?

second best Red Bull driver so far this season, Liam Lawson.

Brian S Hall (48:14.731)
Yeah, he's been good. He's been good.

Patrick (48:17.238)
I think he's gotten a little luck, but he's been solid, so...

Brian S Hall (48:21.003)
He has. He has. So, For Miami Grand Prix 2026, not until May 3rd, I believe. You have Oscar, Kimmy, Charles, Lewis, and Liam. I have George, Lando, Pierre, Leslie, Max, and Ollie Baerman. Any crazy predictions, Patrick?

Patrick (48:42.988)
I've got two crazy predictions. And these are legitimately crazy, I think. But I think like 20 % possible. So my first one is LeClaire will have more podiums than George Russell this season. Well, we'll say the same or more.

Brian S Hall (48:49.963)
You

Brian S Hall (49:11.659)
Okay, okay.

Patrick (49:13.036)
Right now they're on two, each of them.

Brian S Hall (49:15.019)
Right, right, right. It's not technically crazy if it's the same or more, you know, giving yourself two, that's not crazy. Who knows? Who knows?

Patrick (49:23.886)
Okay, fine, more. He'll score more podiums than George Russell. Here's maybe a more, much more crazy prediction. Every team, all 11 teams will score points this season.

Brian S Hall (49:42.047)
be good to see.

Patrick (49:42.358)
So that includes Cadillac and Aston will both score points at some point in time this season.

Brian S Hall (49:49.907)
I gotta assume, mean, ask them with Alonzo, Caddick with Bo Toss and Perez, they got to, they're just too good. Okay, those are good ones. I've got three then. So even though I think the value of F1 is gonna continue, think Total Wolf is sort of getting tired of this life. And he's gonna sell at a bit of a peak. So I think.

By the end of the year, he will sell out his entire stake. Maybe he'll keep a few percentages just to show up, but pretty much he'll be out.

I also think, nice guy Wheatley, unless he has something in hand, a signed contract, and I have my doubts, because that's kind of tamper.

I he's going to get screwed. He will have now left Audi. He won't get to Aston and Lauren Stroll in desperation move will offer Christian Horner over Adrian Nubies Howells a small piece of the team and he gets to run it.

Patrick (51:02.113)
Wow.

Brian S Hall (51:03.465)
Yeah, then my third is I believe Las Vegas should be the final race of the season and I believe this year because of international events it will be.

Patrick (51:17.824)
Wow, that would be kind of cool. That would be pretty cool.

Brian S Hall (51:24.029)
All right, I want to thank you all for listening to everybody's most beloved father and son F1 podcast. is much appreciated and we are lights out.

Patrick (51:32.622)
See you, thanks for listening.

Brian S Hall (51:35.627)
Thank