Delulu for Lew-Lew

All the Australia Drama! F1 Academy! What to expect in China!? This episode of the Into the Chicane Podcast dives right into the action with all of the craziness some people call "the first 10 days of the new F1 season." 

New cars, new software, new regulations, new frustrations, and new results.

 Check out what Tashia and Alisha had to say here!

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome back to the second episode of the Into the Chicane podcast. We are your hosts. I'm Tasha. And with me today we have Alicia.

SPEAKER_00 0:10

Hey everyone.

SPEAKER_01 0:12

We're so excited to be chatting about F1 again this week. Alicia, what are your thoughts on Australia last week?

SPEAKER_00 0:20

Wow, what a race. Okay, let's first of all start with talking about how this was maybe one of the most exciting F1 races I've seen ever, considering I'm a new fan to the sport. Just like the constant overtakes. There was some drama in qualifying, which we'll get into in a little bit. It was really unclear, even after the first like 10 to 12 laps, who would win. And I don't think we've seen that from a race in quite some time. So if this is how the new regs are looking, I'm really excited for the season ahead.

SPEAKER_01 0:52

Yeah, I I would agree with you on that. Going into the season, I think I was really skeptical on what it was going to be like with the new regulations and how teams were going to cope. And, you know, we'll we'll get into it a little bit of who's seems to be doing better than than, you know, who's not. Um but yeah, it was exciting. And it it's been, it feels like it's been a long time since F1 races have actually been exciting. Um, having the smaller cars, having the the the overtake mode, like the boosts that they're getting and stuff. Like it's just, it's it's exciting again. And uh I I wasn't sure it was going to be.

SPEAKER_00 1:28

Yeah, agreed. And I think this is just a taste of what's to come. And I think as drivers start to get more and more familiar with these new modes, we'll start to see them utilize them to their fuller extent. And hopefully that just means more and more exciting races for us. Maybe let's get into like a quick recap of the highlights. So, starting with our podium, so we had George Russell uh taking the win. The Mercedes is so exciting. First of many, I think, for Mercedes.

SPEAKER_01 1:59

And Mercedes. I think so too. Yeah, I'm really glad my um guess was right last week, my prediction on uh on who is gonna win. Um batting 100 here. So hopefully we can keep the momentum up.

SPEAKER_00 2:14

You knocked that prediction out of the park, and meanwhile, I cursed Oscar Piastri. So sorry, buddy.

SPEAKER_01 2:23

I don't think it was you. I think it's um it's the Australian Grand Prix. That's just it's just cursed for any Oscar. Let's go with that. It wasn't you.

SPEAKER_00 2:30

We'll we'll get him next time, Oscar. B27 is our year. Uh yeah. So Russell in P1, followed by Kimmy Antonelli in P2. Great result for him. Um, and then we had LeClaire in P3. We have a Ferrari on the podium. It's happening.

SPEAKER_01 2:48

It's happening. The Ferrari's ready. It's it's just on the bottom shelf. It's ready to move up. Um incredible. Like it's here to compete. Yeah. And I, you know, I'll bite my tongue. I know last week I said, I don't know, I think I think um LeClaire shouldn't should leave Ferrari because he's never gonna win a championship with Ferrari, but it was a good start. So we'll see, you know, how the season, how the season turns out for him with Ferrari, but it was a really, really good start to to the season for LeClaire and and Ferrari as a team.

SPEAKER_00 3:18

100%. And dare I say, even a better start than I would have expected. Like there were so many moments where LeClaire was overtaking Russell. He had an amazing start off the top, um, going into the first corner. And they were really both battling for first. I think if the race had been a little bit longer, potentially we could have seen that top three shuffle around a bit more. So not only is Ferrari looking better than last year, I would say they're even looking like competitive um in the constructors' fight, which is so exciting. Don't know if it's possible that they'll overtake Mercedes, but they're keeping it really interesting. And I mean, that's a huge step up from where we were last season. So I'll take that for sure.

SPEAKER_01 4:02

I I I agree. I think Ferrari's one, you know, pitfall um is the Ferrari just can't do strategy. I I don't know what it is about Ferrari and strategy and and making really stupid calls sometimes. I am baffled as to why they would not have pit under the virtual safety car. It just it doesn't make any sense to me. Is why, why, what was the logic behind that decision? Um, because if they did, I think both Ferraris had a fighting chance for for podium and and dare I say a double podium.

SPEAKER_00 4:40

Yeah, I would have to agree with you. I think what's even worse about that is there was a second VSC, and the Ferraris, I think, had just passed the pit lane entry. And then by the time they had come back around, because the accident was so close to the pit lane, it was closed. So they didn't even get a second crack at fixing their mistake. But I mean, that's sports, right? Like you have to be ready to capitalize. Um, and even Hamilton, I think, said it on the radio. One of us should have pit right then. Like, we shouldn't have Hamilton running race strategy. This is a world-class, supposed to be a world-class Formula One team. So they do need to clean up their act a little bit. Um, it's just messy when you see things like that. And we're early in the season, so yes, lower stakes, but as we get further and further in, uh, Ferrari needs to tighten up there, I'd say.

SPEAKER_01 5:35

I think some of the other interesting stuff to come out of last weekend were, I mean, Verstappen crashing in in Q1. Um I was not I was not expecting that. Like I think we weren't, you know, we weren't 100% sure of how the Red Bull is gonna do this year. Um, but clearly Verstappen and that car do not seem to to work well together.

SPEAKER_00 6:00

Yeah, hugely shocking. And I mean, and credit to him because he was able to come back up the grid. I think he finished P6, I want to say. So it's really only Verstappen is capable of recovering like that. But he's uh obviously like the best driver on the grid, arguably, if not of all time potentially, um, in the next couple years. So it's just a bit of a waste of talent if they're not able to get the car right this season, because this is a guy that should be competing for the championship every year. So hopefully they get that figured out um because it doesn't feel right to see him so far back.

SPEAKER_01 6:38

Yeah, and I mean we saw what happened with with Isaac as well, right? Where he qualified really, really well, right? He he qualified P3, if I'm not mistaken, right? Like he he was up there, yeah, and then it his car just exploded. Like all of a sudden there was just like the engine just I don't even know what happened, right? Like it overheated or something something happened there, and that was it. That was his race. Um, so I don't know what's going on at Red Bull, but they they need to figure it out here pretty quick.

SPEAKER_00 7:10

Yeah, agreed. Hugely disappointing for Isaac. He had done so well up until that point. Even in free practice, he was quite consistent from what I saw. And, you know, given all the problems they've had with that second seed, I think he made the best impact he possibly could have. He did the most with what he had, and he was really competing for like a top top five finish, I want to say, before the car failed. So, Red Bull, we gotta figure it out, man. You have too much talent on your roster to let these things happen.

SPEAKER_01 7:40

Yeah, absolutely. Um, speaking of people who need to figure it out, Piastri. That was that was a heartbreaker for sure.

SPEAKER_00 7:49

That was so sad. I don't even think I comprehended that it was happening because we were so close to the race actually starting. It just felt like, of course, of course, this is gonna happen to the guy that was leading the drivers' championship, had some issues, but then also had some team dynamics that played into him falling down in the standings and then ended up finishing third when we all thought he was gonna win the drivers championship, only to come back really strong and then have this happen where he's crashing before even lights out at his home race. Just devastating.

SPEAKER_01 8:23

Yeah, that it was really sad to see that. Um, I think it's interesting this year that they they have basically like a warm-up prior to formation because that that's when he crashed out. Um that just it just sucks, right? It just sucks coming out of the garage and just going straight into a fence and and that's your race, right? Like there isn't even um, you know, unlike Antonelli, who had that crash in quality, and they were able to get the car fixed, which was also pretty miraculous because they weren't able to fix Carlos's car, um, who also was a part of that and who had way less damage than Kimmy did. Um so you know, like it sucked for Piastri that there wasn't time for the the the team to even attempt to put the car back together because it was time to race. So um really, really heartbreaking for Piastri, really lucky for Antonelli, but I can imagine Carlos Sainz also was not thrilled because he had less damage and and um Williams wasn't able to fix the car in time.

SPEAKER_00 9:25

Yeah, great points you bring up there. I was surprised that Williams wasn't able to get there with the car fixes. Um, and probably even more surprised that Mercedes was able to rally and get Kimmy his car back. And clearly it paid off their efforts because they got a double podium. Um, but yeah, moving into some of the the lowlights, I guess, of the race, definitely Williams' performance was one of them. Just neither driver could really get much out of the car. Even when they were trying to push, it just felt like very labored and and they weren't really getting a lot for their efforts. So I guess we'll see how the next few races go, but it's not looking good in these early stages and is kind of confirming what we were expecting coming out of preseason testing, where if they're gonna make any moves up the table, it's gonna take probably more than a few races for some improvements to happen. I agree.

SPEAKER_01 10:23

Um, I think also, I mean, Aston Martin was was a disaster. Truly didn't even understand what was happening, where they're like, all right, we're gonna retire the car, and then all of a sudden the car came back out of the garage. And I don't know how many times Alonzo, I felt like I was like, okay, he's retired. And then, oh no, he's like back in the race, but he's like, how many, like, was it me like 12 laps behind at one point, or was that stroke? Like somebody was like 12 laps behind, and I was like, oh my gosh, like what what is happening here?

SPEAKER_00 10:52

Yeah, that was baffling to me. I think it's just such a big indication of where Aston Martin is. Like they're treating this as practice. Everyone else is here to compete, right? And and fight for um the title. They're not even in a position where they can try to be competitive, which is so sad, but did make for some really entertaining commentary. It was really funny to hear uh the race commentators uh commenting too on Aston Martin disappearing and reappearing on the track. And um, I mean, credit to both drivers because I think that Strahl had said he was only going to be able to do 15 laps, uh, which he doubled his predicted number of laps. So maybe that's something positive they can take away from that is just more time in the car and and more of a trial period. Um, otherwise, what a hot mess.

SPEAKER_01 11:45

Yeah, it was a a bit of a disaster. I'm curious to see what happens this weekend. Umbe they'll be like five laps behind. I don't know. There might be some improvement, but it's uh it's not looking promising at all. Baby steps for Aston Martin.

SPEAKER_00 12:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:04

I think one of the other highlights was uh was Arvid Lindblad. Um he did so well for his F1 debut um out qualifying and out like finishing um Liam Lawson, which I just incredible, right? And I think it goes towards a bit of what we were talking about last week of um Arvid's background and his experience. And I think I think he just gets the car a lot better than than some of the other drivers.

SPEAKER_00 12:34

Yeah, absolutely. Credit to him and also credit to you for again your accurate prediction of his performance. So you're two for two. I should have only it was great to see last week. You should have, you should have. Now, whatever happens, I think, uh, is just gonna be based on your predictions. So we'll we'll use that as our as our elitness test for the season. Um, but I did see on the V Carb socials uh how happy the team was when he came back to the garage. They were just so proud of him, and I think he was obviously really proud of himself as well. What a great debut for your first F1 race. Um, yeah, I think great, great things to come for Arvid. Yeah, absolutely. I did actually want to talk about a comment that Leclerc had made on his radio where he had said something to the likes of this is like having a mushroom in Mario Kart, which I thought was such an interesting comment because obviously it's hilarious. Um, but I I would love to know like, do you think that he was happy with the new regulations or is he saying this is like a mushroom in Mario Kart? Like, this isn't real racing. What was your take on that?

SPEAKER_01 13:43

I I think okay, just given where he finished, I'm gonna say LeClaire is probably like, this is great. This this feels just that the extra, like again, getting that mushroom in Mario Kart, and you're just like, uh, and you're just going. Um, I yeah, I think compared to Ferrari last year and especially kind of how the year ended, um, I I think LeClaire and Hamilton both looked really happy with the way the car is performing. Are they happy with the I and I think, yeah, actually, I think from um an interview I heard of Lewis after the race, like his post-race interview, he was talking about it being a fun race and he enjoyed it. So um I think you know the overtaking chances and stuff like that are making it fun for the drivers as well who have cars that that are performing. I feel like Alonzo and Stroll probably don't feel anywhere close to where LeClaire and Hamilton feel right now. Uh, but I I at least from what I've seen, I think they're enjoying it. But it is really, it is really early, right?

SPEAKER_00 14:44

Yeah, good point. It is really early. So I guess we'll see how that evolves. But I agree. A lot of the drivers did talk about how much they enjoyed the race and that it was fun. And obviously, these drivers like to race. That's what made them excited to get to this point in their career and strive towards Formula One. So when you have regulations and a car that is built to encourage more of that, I think everyone benefits. So um, yeah, great early signs and let's see how things go from here.

SPEAKER_01 15:13

So this week um also marks the first race for F1 Academy this year. And I I'm personally learning a bit about F1 Academy, but I watched the last race of last season in Vegas, and it is so much fun. Um, F1 Academy, um, for those of you who haven't been introduced to it yet, is um head up by Susie Wolf, who's Toto Wolf's wife. And Susie is used to be a race car driver, and her whole thing is she wants to bring more women to the sport and and make the sport a lot more inclusive. So she started up F1 Academy. Um, so you have 18 drivers, and they're all um, there's six teams, yes, three per team, and each of them are sponsored by a different company, and most of them are like F1 teams. So you have like Alpine, Mercedes, Ferrari, McLaren, so on, so on. But you also have some other really cool uh brands that are sponsoring drivers. So this year we have Sephora, um, which I think is amazing to see, you know, a brand that's so female-centric for the most part to be there. Last year we had Charlotte Tilbury as um as a makeup brand that was on the grid there. Um, you have Lego, Gatorade, American Express, so just a lot of really cool big teams that are big names that are there to help put some money behind these girls and and help them succeed in F1 Academy. Um, so it's the first race this season. One of the really cool things about F1 Academy is every car is the exact same. So in comparison to F1, where like obviously each you know team has different engines and different aerodynamic structure and all just kind of the different things with F1 Academy, they're all like the exact same car. Um, I believe they're they're smaller, so they're more similar to like F4 cars. They aren't as fast as F1, obviously, because you have younger uh drivers in there. Um, and they're all the same. So everyone kind of has an equal competitive advantage. So it's really testing who is the better driver. Um, so you have your free practices, you have quality, and then you have two races, which is a little, again, a little bit different from um F1 itself. So the first race is really cool because they take the the grid from the quality and your top eight, um, so kind of that top half of the grid, um, it's it's a reverse grid. So they take whoever was an eighth and they go first, and and that's the way they do uh race one. And then race two, which has more points than race one, is then based off of the the actual quality grid. Um, so yeah. And one of the other things with uh F1 Academy is each driver gets two years in F1 Academy, and after two years, you've like graduated essentially from the program. So that's the maximum time they can race for. And at the end of the season, whoever wins, um, they get their next year of like racing development and stuff like that all paid for. Um, so it's a really, it's a really interesting um part of F1, and it it's a lot of fun to watch these girls go out there and and put their hearts out.

SPEAKER_00 18:40

Yeah, that's awesome. And I think one of the best things about this is we're at a time where we're seeing so much progress towards equity in sports. We have all of these professional women's leagues that are across all of these like team sports, which is amazing. And yet we're still seeing a lot of resistance in some areas to that progression. I mean, I'm sure we will we're all watching the Olympics. We know how that went down with women's hockey and men's hockey. So it's great to see that there's still so much interest in progressing um, racing and and getting women uh to a place where they can be um put in a position where they're on a global stage, they're getting the exposure they need to grow their own brand and grow their career. And we're seeing that buy-in from big brands as well, like you mentioned, Sephora, Lego, um, as well as your um typical racing uh cars and and stuff like that. So that's really nice to see. And um I'm I'm happy to see that we're we're still like able to like have a spotlight on women and their talents and and other people are also interested. I mean, I only heard amazing things about that last race in Vegas last season. Um, I heard it was one of the most exciting races that people had watched, period. So if that isn't a sign to start getting into F1 Academy, I don't know what is absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 20:10

And it's it's just yeah, like it's fun to watch. It's amazing to see these girls in such a male-dominant sport to be there and to like getting to to meet the drivers, interact with them and stuff like that. But also to see how many of you know the drivers and and teams that are championing the championing this, right? Like Susie Wolf is definitely the the one spearing everything, but you've seen like Lewis Hamilton like watching the races and talking to the girls and uh George Russell and like just all of the drivers that are so supportive of these young of these young girls.

SPEAKER_00 20:48

Yeah, that's amazing to see.

SPEAKER_01 20:49

Yeah, and they also have really cute merch. So like very unlikely, but if anyone from like F1 Academy is for some reason ever watching this, um please make the merch more accessible for us because they had a really cute like Hello Kitty F1 Academy jacket last year that was all like sparkly and sequins and whatever, and I really wanted one and yeah, it was not available to buy online. So if anyone out there is listening, please please make it available.

SPEAKER_00 21:13

Yes, please do so that we can wear it at our next podcast. So it's possible that we may have a bit of a change to the race calendar, and I guess less of a change and more of cancellation. So it sounds like by the end of this weekend we'll know whether the Bahrain and Saudi races are going ahead, um, obviously due to current events in the area. Um so we'll we'll keep you updated on that, but I did want to give uh Kimmy and Isaac a shout out for being hilarious because it sounds like they had almost leaked uh the decision before anything was confirmed by any news outlet, because people overheard them talking. On a plane. So shout out to our young drivers for keeping things interesting and not being very well media trained.

SPEAKER_01 22:09

You know, I kind of almost expect it from like George Russell, who I feel like has been like just he's been the one giving everyone like the piping hot tea and and doing all the the Lord's work when it comes to all the gossip with F1. Um, but looks like the the new kids on the block are are preparing to take over that role for for George.

SPEAKER_00 22:29

So yeah, they're ready to make life difficult for him. And actually, Tosh, I don't know if you saw this, but um Kimmy had, I guess, some fans that were trying to get things signed outside of his car. He was being transported to the hotel. He didn't have time to sign everything, and so he wrote on his phone a note to say, come to X Hotel, the hotel that both drivers were staying at, and I'll sign stuff for you there. And he held it up to the window as a kind thing to do for the fans. Obviously, not great for his own safety or George Russell's safety. And then we got a great shot of George Russell getting out of the car to go into his hotel and just being shocked by the number of fans that were out there. So he has his teammate to thank for that welcome.

SPEAKER_01 23:18

That's just it's so like it's so cute because like kid like Kimmy, Arvid, right, like they're just so young, like all right, they're like so young. And I don't think I don't think particularly Kimmy like understands like how famous he is. And I think he just kind of like still feels like, oh, like my god, I have five fans. Like let me like let me let me sign this. Let me tell them to come meet us here and and I can get to know them. And it's like, no, no, sweet summer child. That's not how this works.

SPEAKER_00 23:52

Yeah, totally. Just the lack of awareness is hilarious. Uh, but Kimmy, please look after yourself. We we don't want you to get uh mobbed by fans, so we need you to get a little bit better for your own safety at the very least.

SPEAKER_01 24:07

All right, so this weekend is the Chinese Grand Prix. Um, it's gonna be the first sprint race of the season. So that will be exciting to see how that goes. Um, and you know, some of the fun quirks I would say with with this Grand Prix is it has the longest straight, I believe, in um it out of all of the tracks. So it's gonna be interesting to see what happens with these cars with the new regulations. Um are we gonna have people just completely drain out their batteries in the middle of the race? Who knows? But it's uh it it there is a a likelihood of of something like that happening with with this race this weekend.

SPEAKER_00 24:48

Yeah, that'll be really interesting to see. I think we're either gonna get a lot of overtakes and it's gonna be really exciting and fast-paced, or we're gonna see what what you're saying, where we're gonna have some drivers that are not adapting well to the new regs at all, and it's really gonna show when you have such a long straight. So let's see. It should be really interesting and and should be a good um proof point for the rest of the season for sure. Um, and you mentioned that we have our first sprint race of the season as well, which qualifying actually just wrapped up today. So we have in our top three George Russell, surprise, surprise, uh, followed by Kimmy Antonelli in second and Lando Norris in third. So that is how the top three places on the grid will be looking for sprints.

SPEAKER_01 25:35

Yeah, I think uh Antonelli got a little lucky there. Um, he was potentially going to be subject to a three-place penalty on this one. Um, but sounds like Lando helped him out there from his testimony from uh to the FIA. Um, so yeah, I Antonelli's just seems to have all the luck these last couple weekends. Um a little sad for for Lewis to lose out on that P3 spot there. Um, but we'll we'll see what happens. It I think it'll be an exciting one.

SPEAKER_00 26:10

Yeah, definitely. And you bring up Lewis, who I think won this sprint last season. Um, but if he doesn't win this one to go on and win some other races, that's a trade-off I'll take for this season. Um, and we do have him in P4, so anything can happen still. It's it's definitely not a done deal for the Mercedes.

SPEAKER_01 26:32

Yeah, you you you never know. I um my my my motto going into this weekend is I am going to be DeLulu for Lulu. And yes, Lewis Hamilton, I'm referring to you as Lulu. I I I'm putting it out into the universe. It is the the race is happening in China. It is the year of the horse. It is it is gonna be Ferrari's race. I just, I just I just think so. I think uh Lewis is gonna end up with a podium. Um dare I say we're gonna have a double Ferrari podium? I don't know. We'll see. But that's that's what I'd love for it to happen. And uh again, am I delulu on this one? Probably, but but is anyone gonna talk me out of that? No. No, I'm gonna sit here and live in my delusion and uh and we'll see what happens this weekend.

SPEAKER_00 27:24

I love it. I would love to see it. We've been starved of a Hamilton podium for much too long now. So no time like this weekend to to break that dry spell. I'd never like to see that.

SPEAKER_01 27:36

Yeah, I I hope uh I hope it happens. I will probably cry if it does. Um, but uh, but I just I I just need to see Lewis on the podium again. It it has to happen. It's been too long. My my my little Ferrari heart needs needs to see Lewis and the Ferrari up there.

SPEAKER_00 27:54

Okay, I'm gonna think very carefully about my prediction this time for the Chinese Grand Prix. Um, I will say I think we'll still see um either Antonelli or Russell in first place, and we'll see them take the title uh in China. Um, but I I think Hadjar is going to surprise us again this weekend. I'm expecting him to come out strong. I'm hoping that Red Bull has figured out what they need to figure out to at least get him to the finish line. Um, but I think we saw a great encouraging start from him in Australia. And barring any disaster with the car, fingers crossed, we'll see him in top five, which I think he's very capable of getting there.

SPEAKER_01 28:40

That's a bold take, I think, just given um, like you said, we've seen uh what the quality looks like for sprint. And you know, we have Max in P8 and and Isaac in P9. Um we have Gasly in P7. So the fact that Max and the Red Bull got outqualified by the Alpine would not have been on my bingo card at any point. Um so a little embarrassing, I guess. Yeah, but that's a take. I I would love to see Isaac do really well, um, particularly with, you know, the curse that we've seen with the Red Bull second seed and how he really, you know, if it wasn't for the engine, he would have performed really well last weekend. Um but but hot take, Alicia.

SPEAKER_00 29:29

I think this is how the rest of our episodes are gonna go. You're going to give a balanced, realistic prediction, and I'm gonna come through with the hot takes. And you know what? A broken clock is right twice a day. One of these predictions is gonna happen eventually.

SPEAKER_01 29:42

I'm really happy you think my my prediction is realistic of having a double Ferrari podium. I it I'm really, really glad someone thinks that because I don't think anybody else out there thinks that that is a balance take, but I would agree with that. You know what? It could happen.

SPEAKER_00 29:59

It could happen. I think now, more than what we've seen in the last few years, Ferrari is really on the cusp. So if there's ever a time to double down on that prediction, I think it's now.

SPEAKER_01 30:12

Fingers crossed. I I hope so. Uh, they just need to figure out how to do strategy. And once they figured that one out, or like, I don't know, maybe just let Lewis do strategy as he drives, feels like it's probably gonna go better than how it currently has been. So just just Frari, figure that piece out. And we got the double podium this weekend. And then it's over.

SPEAKER_00 30:31

It's over for everyone. Yeah, the car is gonna move back up. It's it's gonna happen. So that brings us to the end of another podcast episode. Thanks so much for tuning in. And don't forget to rate and review us on the podcast listening platform of your choice. And we'll see you next time with another episode. Bye. Bye.