Kimi’s Grand Slam

In this episode, we talk about the recent Monaco race, driver performances, some misfortunes following George Russell, and more!

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Transcript

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Welcome back to the sixth episode of the Into the Chicane podcasts. We are your hosts, as usual. I'm Tasha. And I'm Alicia. And holy, what a weekend it was in Monaco. I think we ended our last podcast by saying it was probably going to be a snooze fest. And the the race was on at seven in the morning my time. So I was very prepared to fall asleep in the middle of it, as I normally do. Yeah. Monaco, Monaco surprised. Yeah, boy, did it ever. I think every like we we cursed Monaco, I think. Everything we say on the podcast in terms of predictions seems to go the other way. So interesting for us, but there was no shortage of drama, entertainment, excitement, all of the above. Uh even through qualifying as well. Just so much happened. We have a lot to get into. We can start maybe with just a quick recap of our podium, and then we have a lot to discuss. So our podium, uh Kimmy Antonelli with his, I think, fifth Wryn in a row, incredible. Hamilton in P2, really good day for him. Uh, and then Isaac Hajar in P3. So very exciting. Really fun podium and also kind of past, present, futury, um, similar to our last one. So that's cool to see. So those folks had a great weekend. Uh, there were many, many others who had a horrible weekend, uh, which let's get into it. Uh yeah, I agree. I think they those were the three that had I I wouldn't say they all had a great time. I think Isaac definitely didn't have a great time many times throughout that race, similar to to Canada, where you know, he's on the the radios complaining all the time, and then he finished P4, no, P5, I think, in Canada. Yeah. But uh, but similar thing this weekend where he was sitting there complaining and finished on the podium. So I, you know, I think it's a a bittersweet moment for him where he was frustrated with the car but got the podium. But yeah, there was no shortage of drama with with this race. And truly, like right off the bat, right, right from lap one with Max's car stalling. I like I just wasn't expecting that. When I with Quali with the three of them in, you know, P1, two, three, I was like, okay, we might have a little bit, you know, with Max and and Lewis. It'll be kind of a uh a you know, a deja vu moment of of what happened in Canada. The podiums don't generally change that much in Monaco, so I was like, okay, these these are gonna be our three. Shar might come up a bit. You know, like that's kind of what what I saw, what was thinking when I saw Quali. But yeah, no, Max's car stalled out and chaos from the beginning. Yeah, I could not believe that he didn't even get over the line. I almost for a second thought that Char just got an amazing start because the way that the angle was, he's just like zooming past Max, obviously, because Max isn't moving. But I was so impressed for that like split second, and I was like, wait a second, Max is not moving. That is a problem. So that was quite a roller coaster of emotions experienced in a very short amount of time. Um yeah, just I mean, no way to spin that. Just bad. Bad day for Max and obviously hugely disappointing for him and and Red Bull. 100%. I I I was genuinely shocked with the amount of penalties. And I feel like I've said that a lot. You know, I feel like every race I'm just like, wow, there's so many penalties. Wow, there's so many penalties. But wow, there were so many penalties. It was like again, Oprah with the you get a car and you get a car. I just like, are the FIA getting like bonuses? Like, are like the stewards getting bonuses or something with how many penalties they're giving out? Like, I I don't like I don't know what's going on here because that was crazy. Yeah, I was also very shocked by that. I don't know if this is normal in the year that regulations change, um, but I've never seen this many penalties, especially for a good weather day. Like, I understand if it's raining and there's treacherous conditions out that we might see more penalties than normal, but oh my gosh, almost everybody on the grid, I feel like got a penalty. And so many of them were getting penalties for speeding in the pit lane, which I was so shocked by because that seems like something that would be very routine for every driver. They're all experts in racing and they're all getting penalties for speeding in the pit lane. Like, what was going on there? I genuinely would like more information on how that is speed. It was it was crazy. And I like while those pen, I think Lewis was the first one to get it, and then like I think George, and then it just kept going and going, going. And when Lewis got it, I was a little bit like, like, what? Like Lewis got a like he he was speeding, like he's been racing for a really long time, right? You'd think he's the most one speeding. No, but you know, okay, maybe whatever it happens. But then it just kept going, and so I was like, something's wrong, right? There is no way we can have this many penalties. And obviously, we'll talk a little bit more about the race, but spoiler alert, there was a red flag. And so it was either during the red flag or maybe it was right after the race, I can't remember, but I was listening to Bernie Collins talk a little bit about what she thought was going on, and she's brilliant, amazing, and like I've learned so much about F1 just listening to her commentary. But it was interesting learning about how they actually measure the speed in the pit lane, because it's not like you know, when you're driving and like a cop is trying to like see what your speed is with like a speed gun kind of thing, they're not measuring that. What they're doing is they're measuring the time it's take. They they kind of measure your time at different intervals throughout the pits, and they're measuring kind of, you know, what that average time is for that distance you've gone, and then they can calculate your speed through that. And so I'm not sure if it's because this year we have, you know, a like Cadillac in the garage, and like there's a there's another team or or what's going on, but a lot of the drivers were the way they were entering the pit lane was at like a it was at a different sort of like angle that they were taking to come in. And because of that, it like reduced the amount of like distance they were covering, which then makes it look like you're speeding in the pit lane. And like you looked at the the speeds, you know, the the the speeding that all of them were doing, and it was like I think your your speed limit is like 60 kilometers an hour in the pit lane, and they were at like 60.1 kilometers an hour. And I just I thought that was really interesting, and I'm curious to see if they like come up with maybe a better way to measure the speed. I'm not I'm not sure, but that I just thought was it's kind of an unfair way to to do it, right? Because I don't think a lot of them were actually speeding in the pit lane, but that's what it appeared to the Stuarts. Yeah, yeah. It that is a good point. I did not consider the fact that there's an extra team now and and maybe how that impacts how they're entering the pit lane and and how speed is being measured. So you bring up a good point, but yeah, they really were just handing out that penalty to anyone and everyone. And we we do have to talk about George Russell. Um, but unfortunately, I just I feel like there was some little bit of disconnect. And the penalties, I I feel like they either compounded for some people or there was a lack of communication between some of the drivers and their teams. Like we saw, and it was a horrible day for George, but we saw him get another penalty for not serving his speeding in the pit lane penalty correctly, and that was a very baffling situation. And I'm not sure if you've heard anything after the fact or got any intel on what went on there, but I was very confused watching because normally they come into the pit lane, they all are hands off for the five or 10 seconds, and they're very methodical about it and very organized. And that did not happen. So I'm not sure where they were planning on him serving that penalty, but just very confused as to how that went down and obviously completely avoidable. So it's a huge shame because he could have been up contending for the podium or at least scoring points in this race had that not happened. 100%. I so I don't have a lot of insight on like what happened with Team Mercedes there. I haven't really seen anything, read anything, but I did have to go back and re-watch kind of this like this domino effect that happened after Lance crashed. And so Lance crashes, there's a safety car. And so everybody pits behind the safety car because it's basically a free pit stop, right? George is asking on the radio of if he should come in, and he's not really getting an answer. But he goes into the pit lane because you know, safety cars are going to the pit lane, so he goes to the pit lane. And he's asking if he comes in to change his tires and he doesn't hear anything. There's no answer back to him. But you can see the set, like, like Kimmy's pitted, the new tires on Kimmy's car, Kimmy's about to drive off, and you can see the the guys there with with uh another set of tires, right? That are obviously George's tires. So as any, I feel like logically you would be like, yeah, those are my tires. Great, I'm going in to get my new tires. And so I'm not sure where what happened there, but I I don't think that was George's fault at all, right? George goes in to get the tires that he sees the guys have sitting there, and they just go in and touch the car, right? And at that point, like the first person who touched the car, at that point, what do you do, right? Like you just gotta everyone needs to go, right? So I don't I don't know what broke down at Mercedes and what happened, where the miscommunication was. Was George not supposed to come in? Did nobody tell these guys that he has a penalty? Like, no idea what happened there. Did they forget he had a penalty, right? Like what happened there, I don't know, but like I there's somebody with uh voodoo doll and just George Russell. I I don't know what's going on with his luck. If I was if I was uh his girlfriend Carmen for like this coming weekend in Barcelona, I'd be hiring all the Etsy witches out there to try and change something here because I I don't I I don't know how he is getting such terrible luck. Yeah, the I feel like these situations just keep happening to him. I think this is maybe the third race now where he's either not finishing the race or is faced with some sort of unfortunate situation and isn't getting any points through no fault of his own. I I want to say this is likely not completely on him. Of course, we don't know, but ultimately strategy and and those types of decisions on when you pit, yes, the driver had input on them, but that's the team's discretion. So, you know, it's hard to say how much control he really had. And you're right, as soon as one pit crew member is touching the car, like you can't serve your penalty anymore. So all you can do is just try to change those tires as quick as possible and get back out there and then see if it all works out in the wash. Yeah, really, really unfortunate for him. And obviously, he was quite upset when he spoke to media as well, and like understandably so. He's just had such a rough go, and I'm really starting to feel for him. This is like the worst possible start to the season he maybe could have ever expected. Yeah, it's like I struggle a bit with this one because on one hand, yes, George, like he's just had the worst luck, right? Like nothing could have really predicted what happened in Canada, what happened in Monaco. But the other side to that coin is like he he qualified P6, right? You thought great, you you weren't showing the same pace Kimmy had, right? And you're just not consistently, you're not being able to match up with his pace. So what like what's going on there, right? And I I mean clearly the car is great, right? Like Kimmy's like flying. And we saw that. Like there was a like he was just Lewis and P2 like could not catch him, right? With the restarts, all the things we were like, okay, with the restart, there's a chance here that Lewis might catch him. No, Kimmy Kimmy's gone, right? Like, what like what what's going on? Where's the disconnect here with George and the car? Like, is the pressure getting to him? Is like he like mentally, like, is there some is there a block there? Like, what what's going on? Because this isn't what I think any of us expected going into this season. Yeah, totally agreed. I think this has been exacerbated by a lot of situations beyond his control, but you're completely right. We can't deny that there is something going on. I think it's it's safe to say like there is officially a problem. Like it's clear that we have a pattern, he's not performing to the level that he's capable of or that the car is capable of. He has all the experience and all of the ability, but it's not coming together. And I like the the longer this goes on, the more impossible it's going to feel for him to even like get back in the championship fight. Like right now, it's it's Kimmy's championship to lose. Um, Lewis has now passed George in the standings for second, and George is now in third. So Which is crazy. That's crazy to think about that. Lewis is in P2 for the championship. Like how I'm like thrilled. Like, I love Lewis. I want Lewis to get his eighth, right? But it it's shocking that this is where we're at this early on in the season. Um I had I went back and I was looking at some of the race res like all the race results actually from last year to look at the gap difference in terms of where they were finishing between Oscar and Lando. Because obviously last year, you know, similar conversations of Lando, this is Lando's year, he's gonna win it, Oscar doing really well for the first half of the season. But the d the gap was never this big. And the difference is that Lando was finishing on the podium, or he was at least finishing pretty high in the points. There's a couple of races here and there, right? Like Canada, where where he bumped into the back of Oscar's car and crashed out, and like there was a few and Xander boot and stuff like that, right? There was a couple of of places where um he didn't finish in the points, but usually he was getting still getting pretty high points, not the like what we're seeing right now with. So what like is George the favorite to win anymore? I don't know. It's becoming way more of a question mark. And like, yes, we saw Max come back from a hundred point deficit rate, but like we're getting pretty, pretty darn close to that hundred-point deficit here. We're at, I think, a 66 point difference between George and Kimmy, and we're not even at summer break, right? So it's not looking good for him. There's clearly, you know, a huge hurdle for him to get over. And I think to have this so early in the season has got to feel incredibly daunting and like I don't know how that doesn't mess with you mentally. Yeah, I don't know. It's gonna be a very difficult thing for him to overcome. Yeah, and not saying he's capable, but a hundred percent. And like, you know, Toto doesn't run Mercedes the way Zach Brown runs McLaren, right? There's yes, there's you know, Zach kind of let them fight it out and you know, Papay rules and the whole thing, right? I think Toto is generally fine with them racing each other, but I I think there's a very clear driver one for Toto and a driver two, and that's the way he operates, and that's why he's always operated. And I'm really curious if Kimmy in Toto's mind is now driver one. Right? And yeah, right? Does Kimmy now start to get the more favorable strategy and stuff like that? Because at this point, this kid, like nothing is phasing this kid. He's just like he got he's the like the youngest, I believe the youngest winner of Monaco and the youngest driver to get a grand slam. Right? He's a yeah, five. We haven't even talked about that yet. That is so impressive. So impressive. So like what and every race he's setting these uh records, every race he's the youngest driver to win that race. I feel like we're gonna keep seeing that this season. Um, but you're right, he seems untouchable right now. Yeah, completely. So if I'm Toto, it sucks to say this because George has been your reliable guy who's been so talented for all these years, and he was second to Lewis, and then Lewis left, and now he's second to Kimmy in the standings. I'm probably prioritizing Kimmy at this point, especially with A, how quickly Kimmy has improved, and B, just that point differential. Like it's kind of a no-brainer, unfortunately, for George. Yeah, right. And with Ferrari doing as well as they're doing-ish, you know, but like Lewis's setup seems to be working really well for Lewis. You know, with Lewis can be consistently performing and George not consistently performing and Kimmy consistently performing, that gap potentially, right, between from what we've seen in the last two races, that gap between Kimmy and Lewis can potentially get smaller and smaller. That do you just, you know, you want your driver to win the championship. So do you abandon, abandon George, right? Like I I don't I don't know what Toto's thinking right now, but I that's gotta be a conversation happening back at the Mercedes garage, right? Yeah, definitely. And I know that I'm sure George is thinking the same thing, right? It's it's hard not to. So, you know, it's a tough sport, it can be really cutthroat, but at the end of the day, everyone's here to win. And so however they can make that an easier journey is what they're going to do. For sure. Yeah, absolutely. Okay, who else? I guess we can talk about LeClaire. So it was a a very interesting day for Ferrari, I will say. Yeah. I think everybody went into Monaco thinking Char was going to win. If not win, at least be on the podium. Yeah. I, you know, from free practices, Ferraris had really good pace, all of that. So it's just, you know, just don't get your hoax up in free practice, but I think everybody was was thinking that the back of their heads. Quali came around, I believe, uh Char was P4, right? And Lewis was P3, P4. So, like, not quite a podium, but had the potential was there for him to do that. Again, like I said, this domino effect of of Lance crashing out was wild, right? So Lewis has the five-second penalty. We know. Lance crashes, safety car. They decide to double stack Lewis and Char, but bring Lewis Which why did you do that? I'm sorry. Why are we double stacking if we are Team Ferrari at Monaco again? Do we not remember what happened a few years ago? No, no, short-term memory loss here. So we bring them both in, but we bring in Lewis before we bring in Char. Lewis has a five-second penalty. So Char essentially also now is waiting out a five-second penalty, even though he doesn't have a penalty. That made like I just I was so confused. And I was like, what? I wonder what is going through Charaper's brain right now. Like, what is he thinking? I thought I was getting pumped. Like, I what's so funny is in the midst of all of this, he signed an extension with Ferrari. Like, it's like not Stockholm syndrome for him. 32 hours later, or a very short while later, that that news came out publicly. This happens to him. I just, you know, you just gotta laugh. But oh man, horrible day for him. I think he actually got a little bit worse each free practice, too. I think he was P1 in free practice one, and then P2 in free practice two, and so on, and then ended up being fourth in quality. So perhaps that was a sign of things to come in retros. But he had a fighting chance podium. He had pretty good pace and stuff, right? Like we all we all thought that would happen. But yeah, this you know, he comes in for this penalty that he also has to wait out, apparently. Whatever, we're back out and we're waiting for Kimmy to go once the safety car is gone. And, you know, again, we're kind of at a spot where it's like, okay, could could he pass Lewis? There's you know a chance we're potentially looking at a double Ferrari podium at this point, right? Like it's it could happen. It's exciting. And we have the exact copy-paste crash of Lanstruel, which like my gosh, when Char hit that wall in the exact same spot, it was like the curse is back. Like his monocur Monaco curse is back. Like I certainly it's back with a vengeance. And the only good thing to come out of this is that I didn't have to watch that specific moment live because I had something like conflicting with Monaco. So I watched maybe like the first two thirds and then had to dip out. But that crash came so late in the race, right? It was like lap 70 or 71 or something. So I thought, okay, at least I think we can get uh LeClaire in like top six. That seemed like, okay, this is possible, even if we don't get podium for this guy. And we have our our slack for Into the Chicane. And uh, I don't know if it was Utosh or one of our other team members who posted that, and my jaw dropped. Just I I almost like wanted to fall to my knees because I just couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe it that late in the race, and he has nothing to show for it at all. Yeah, and that's yeah. I think that's how I felt just like watching it live. Like I was like, this cannot be happening. And it was like it just immediately he's on the like he's on the radio, like yelling about the brakes. And I like it was interesting because both him and Stroll complained that it was it was the brakes, but right after Shars crashed, they red flagged the the the race and they suspended it because those two crashes happening at the exact same spot in the exact like literally the exact same angle. Everything hits the wall in the same way. Okay, something's up. And you could see marbles on the ground, but nobody really like we you just there's more marbles around, right? Like you don't really think about it, but the you took a look and the pavement was like coming apart right there. Like it was it was fully was like um like a massive pothole in the middle of this of this track. And as you know, over this I think lines crashed out in probably Yeah, like lap 60 or something. Yeah. So over those 60 laps, like it just kept degrading that spot on the track, and you had these marbles of of of pavement essentially that was getting onto the the tire and sticking to the tire, and it looked like was causing the the cars to crash into the wall in that one spot. Now, whether it's a combo of like bad breaks and that, I I don't know, but it just felt like way too much of a coincidence, and clearly for for the stewards as well, way too much of a coincidence for for that to to happen the exact same way in the exact same spot. Yeah, I think for sure the right decision to red flag that race. Um I'm glad nobody got hurt. But yeah, such an odd circumstance and so so unfortunate. Um you know, Lance was not necessarily contending for a podium or anything, but still pretty unfortunate for him. And for sure, I mean, this is his home race. We all know how much Monaco means to him. Just beyond, beyond devastating. Yeah, horrible day. Yeah. And and again, Ferrari with their strategy sometimes of just like, what, what are we doing here, guys? Like, how have we not thought this part through? You know, I'm glad Lewis was able to bring it home for them, but it was just it was a weird day for for actually for for all the the top three teams, right? Weird day for Mercedes, weird day for Ferrari, and a weird day for Red Bull. You're celebrating one driver and like commiserating the other one. And it's uh it was that was really interesting that that you had that happen for all three teams. Yeah, that's that's a great point. And funnily enough, George came out the best out of all of those like second drivers. Yeah, he at least finished. That's more than we can say for for Max and Sharp, but yeah. Odd day all around. I also want to talk about Gasly because this situation was quite sad, honestly. And I'm not a huge Gasly fan necessarily, you know, nothing against him, but he's not uh like one of my go-to drivers to follow. But just so sad how this all worked out. So Gasly ended up also getting one of those five second penalties for speeding in the pit lane, but he got two of them. And this is another situation of where did the communication break down? Because Gasly crossed the checkered flag at in P3, so in third. However, he hadn't served, I think, either of his penalties, not his first five second one or the other one. And it was so sad because I think he thought he was P3 and he was like fist pumping, fists in the air, so excited. And obviously that wasn't going to be his final position because of those penalties, and then seeing him in the media after was just crushing. He was just absolutely shattered from that, like so, so disappointed. Obviously, he's had a bit of a difficult journey in F1. He's had a few standout moments, but a lot of his time in F1, I feel like has just been a grind, like just working, working, working. And he's been on a lot of like midfield teams or like lower performing teams, even. And so to get like so close to that feeling and to to think that you genuinely have a podium spot and to not have that communicated effectively or in time is just so horrible. And it's really unfortunate that he had to experience that. So yeah, not not sure where that communication breakdown happened, but it it really had some consequence. Yeah. And like I, yeah, was it like an active decision by Alpine to not tell him, right? Like I I don't know, but yeah, I saw him celebrating and it's like, oh yikes, you're that's not that's not where you're finishing, right? And like that that sucks. That really sucks because he worked so hard to get the car there and and he did just to have these penalties. I did see after the race that Alpine were saying that they were going to try and make a case to the stewards to get it returned and stuff, but like if you're gonna do that for that driving penalty, or that that that speeding in the pit lane penalty, you you gave the same one out multiple times to like 10 different drivers or something, all who served them during the race. So, like, how if you're gonna return that one, like I feel like that would get really messy. So there's in my mind no chance that's gonna happen. But really, really unfortunate situation for Gasly and similarly, kind of honestly, for for Isaac as well, because when Gasly obviously went down in the rankings because he has an additional 10 seconds onto his time, Isaac had a pending investigation that they're like, we'll figure this out after the race. And so Isaac knew this prior to the podium. And like it it kind of sucks, right? It sucks to like be up there and be like celebrating, but being like, this could potentially be taken away from me. And it wasn't. They decided that I think it was they were looking at Red Bull, they thought maybe had changed a part out that would have actually changed the integrity of the car, something like that, which they didn't end up doing. So it's fine. He still got the P3 spot, but it would have been nice for him to know that prior to going up onto the podium because you could tell he was he was quite restrained up there and like wasn't wasn't sure what the outcome was actually going to be. Yes. Yes, and you know, he did come out of it on the the favorable side, but you're right, he was intentionally quite reserved, and obviously he achieved achieved something so amazing, it's so iconic, I feel like, to get onto the podium in Monaco. So huge moment for him, and he had to like very cautiously approach his celebrations. So a little unfortunate, but I'm glad that it ended up working out for him at least. Yeah, I think we just keep coming back to the fact that the vibes were so weird. Crazy. So it was it was really interesting because like so I felt like there were three teams who like played the strategy game, and it like worked out for one, maybe two of them. But it was really interesting watching Williams, V Carb, and uh McLaren. And so, you know, McLaren very, you know, strategically told Lando when they knew he was having problems with his car to slow George down behind him because they wanted to have a bigger gap to Oscar for when they needed to pit and stuff. So they were strategically keeping George behind for as long as possible, which Lando did, and then it sucked because I think like as soon as he got past, he had to retire the car, and that's two races in a row where Lando's had to retire his car, and that that really sucks for your last world champion, right? Like that that's a really, really shitty spot for for him and to have to retire two times in a row. But you know, Oscar ended up P4, I believe. Right? Yeah, P4. So, like, I I think that might have worked out for them in the long run. You know, I don't know what would have happened, but that the safety cars and all of the other things that came along with it, right? Like, I we can't really say, but sure, it worked out for for Oscar they're getting P4. And had Isaac gotten that penalty, he would have been P3, right? Exactly. Yeah. Interesting watching the Williams uh do something similar to what they did last year, where I vividly recall George getting really pissed off and just like cutting one of the chickenes and passing him because he was like, I'll take the penalty. It's it's better than being stuck behind behind Alex. But uh but watching them play that that game out, and it worked really well for them until the end where Carlos got hit by both uh I believe it was Huckenberg and Cole Pinto. Like he just double whammed and that was it for the car. So he had to DNF as well quite late in the race, which was really unfortunate for him. But I think had things worked out the way we were starting to see them work out, both of those Williams would have been in the points based off of the strategy that they did. But the one that the gamble that really, really worked out was for V Carb with uh Arvid Lindlad, where they did not pit him. And with Monaco, it's it's you have to pit because one of the requirements is you have to be on two different tire compounds for the race. I think it's a way to make the race more interesting. But they they hadn't, and they hadn't until the the race got red flagged. And we weren't sure is the race gonna restart. Like, are they just gonna call it the end of the race right there? No idea. And had they called that the end of the race, I don't know what would have happened to to Lynn Vlad. Like he would have gotten heavily penalized because he had only raced on one tire compound, but they changed out the the tires during the red flag in hopes that it was gonna restart. It did restart, and he finished P6 and started in P15. So that gamble worked out swimmingly for V Carb. Yeah, it was. I mean, I didn't, I don't even think I realized until the commentary had mentioned that he had only been on his one tire compound that entire time. So not only would he have been on crappy tires, but he would have actually been in violation of the rules. So, like you said, just a huge gamble. And I'm amazed that it paid off for them in the way that it did. I don't know if that's a strategy strategy that they were intentionally trying to use. It seems super risky. So I'm sure that was just a gamble and they were crossing their fingers to see what would happen. Probably not something they're gonna try to repeat in the future, but yeah, kudos to them because they went for a really big risk and they reaped a really big reward for it. So that was great. And yeah, very lucky that the race ended up restarting because I think it was like lap 71 out of 73. 78. So they very 78, yeah. Sorry, 78, but they very easily could have just called it and it ended up just aligning for him. So good for the young rookie. Yeah, yeah, 100%. It was I didn't I didn't quite realize it either until the red flag, and I was like, he hasn't, he's he's been on the same tires, like shit. And so I was hoping the race would restart because I felt like we like we wanted a checkered flag for this race with everything that was happening. It's it just it would have sucked, I think, also for all the drivers to to have the race end under a safety car like that. And being red flagged like that. But uh, but yeah, I'm really happy for for Lynn Blad and like both for you know him and Lawson. They finished P5, P6. I think it's yeah, yeah. Great day for V Carb for sure. We also attach we have to eat our words because the impossible has happened. Aston Martin has scored a point. You know what? I I'm really happy for Alonzo. I I am really happy for him that he got a point in just like a like of course that that's how it happened, right? So Perez gets the card to P10, is in the points, got a point for Cadillac, which is again also crazy to think that that happened, and then has a penalty. Because of course he has a penalty. That was the the theme of the theme of the day, and gets a penalty. I can't remember if it was a five second or 10 second. I don't remember what it was. It was a 10-second, yeah, unfortunately. Yeah, and in second for the race restart position. Yes, he was out of the he was out of position in his gearbox, which also Checo, my guy, like when the race first started, she was in the wrong spot, so got a penalty for that. Yes, and then on the restart is like out of position and just he wasn't lined up with the grid box there. Like you're not you're not a rookie. You've you've you've done this for a long time. Been around. Um, but yeah, of course, he gets a 10-second penalty, and right behind him was Alonzo. So I I would I truly didn't think Aston Martin was gonna get a point this year, let alone before the summer break. But you know they got one. Yeah, and if I'm asked, I'm just hoping for chaos now, if I'm them because chaos at every single race, and they can just like squeeze in there in that P9 or P10 spot. Maybe that's the best they can hope for this season, but they've already exceeded our expectations, so they could wrap it up right here and and we'd be saying stock up compared to where we start. Yeah, yeah, I I do think a big part of that was also like, like you said, the chaos, right? Of just how many DNFs we had. I thought last race was like a lot in Canada. I believe we had six. And that was, I was like, holy crap, like what that's a lot of DNFs. And we ended up having seven in this race, right? And you know, probably the majority of those, I think at least five of those that should have been in the points, if not six, right? So had all of those DNFs not happened, I think it would have been a very different case for Astrid Martin. And the story would look a lot more like what we normally see from from them. But, you know, Berstappen, Norris, Leclerc, Sines, Bearman, right? All of those guys going out. I it it freed up some of some room in the points. Sure did. Yeah. Yeah. There's certainly no world in which I think they would be getting points otherwise. I think Alonzo was even on softs for like 55 laps. That's crazy. Which is an insane sentence to even string together. But they they did not have a hope of getting a point, but you know, without all of this chaos. So for sure that that helped them out significantly. But hey, a point is a point. So hoot up to them. Maybe they can build on it and get something going here that would be really impressive to see, honestly, if if they can. Yeah. And I, you know, I I hope it is some sort of like some sort of an awakening at Aston Burden, and and hopefully they're able to do something with that car. But we'll have to see. We'll have to see what happens uh at the next race. Okay, so another F1 news outside of Monaco. We touched on it a little bit, but Charles Leclerc has decided to stick around at Ferrari. Uh, he has signed a multi-year renewal with the team, and uh, we can expect at least a few more years of the two of them racing together. Are you surprised by this news? No, no, I'm not. I I don't I don't I don't know. Like, I think Scharr has Stockholm syndrome with this one, where like he's so attached to Ferrari and he's so loyal to Ferrari. And I like I don't know, he's been he's been at Ferrari for so many years. He's had, you know, a handful of successes here and there. I think he's had eight, eight wins, eight podiums, something along that line. But like I'm sure it's eight wins, but like, like that's that's does this guy not want to win a championship, right? I I mean the answer must be no. The answer has to be no, because I think even at the beginning of the season, one of my predictions was that LeClaire would announce that he's leaving. And as the season has carried on, I think just from the first few races, I was like, okay, wait, there's a no-way. Ferrari does have a lot more going on for them than they did last year, so I will give him that. They're a much better team to sign a deal with than they were a year ago. But it's the same things playing him all the time, right? We we were talking about Ferrari double stacking in the pit lane, and that is, you know, we've seen that film before as well. And so there's no way that he doesn't know what he's getting into. And so he just must really love them and and want to race with them no matter what. Like it's pretty clear he's here for the ups, the downs, and um, he's willing to accept that to stay with the team. Yeah, I uh, you know, I I think a lot of a lot of credit goes to Lewis coming into Ferrari, and you know, he's talked a lot about the struggles he had last year with Ferrari, and I mean the car was terrible, right? But they did a lot of work, there's lots of optimism and stuff like that around the car this year. And not to like be an ass, but like Shar hasn't really helped move the needle at Ferrari, right? Over the last seven, eight years. No. And Lewis came in, and in about a year we've seen a big, a big drastic change. And like, I I think Shar and Lewis probably have different driving styles. And so the car is more in tune with Lewis's driving style because Lewis is here making changes, being very, like, very like actively verbal about it. Like, we know there's been a lot of conversations with Fred Brassur around this. Like, Lewis is like, I want this car, and like that was a big part of him coming to Frari and all of that, right? Shahr is a is a phenomenal driver. I feel like any of the teams would be happy to take him, you know, at Mercedes. I don't know. Would you take Char over George? I don't know. But there could be things that he could have done in the background to like get the car he wants to get him a championship. And I don't think that's Ferrari. So I I I don't know what the next several years are gonna look like at Ferrari for for him, but I I I wish your prediction came true and he left and he's gonna go somewhere that's going to give him the car that he he wants and needs to win. But he's just very loyal to Ferrari, and I he's that's I don't think it's gonna happen for him if he continues to be his own. Yeah, I think you bring up a great point considering the personalities and the driving styles of Lewis and Char. I think Lewis very clearly seems like he wants to be a leader in terms of helping them like steer their path forward together, and he wants to be very involved in strategy. I mean, we've seen him calling the strategy in multiple races this season already. And Charles approach seems very different than that. He seems like passive is not the right word, but he wants to, I think, go with the team. If the team is telling him to do something, he's not as likely, or at least from what we've seen, not as likely to steer them in a different direction. I think he's wanting to just accept what he's getting on paper and then, you know, try to put something together with it. And you're right, I don't know if that's really gotten him as far as he could have gotten so far. He's a very talented driver and he's had some really amazing standout moments and some really, really horrible moments as well in F1. And If that's like the the style of driver he is, then that's fine. Like ultimately this is his experience and he's chosen to lay it out in the way that he has. But we've seen great improvement so far from Lewis's first season with the team to this current season. And Charles' time has been kind of a roller coaster, right? It's been a lot of ups and downs and not really a lot of steady improvement. Yeah. Yeah. It's a it's a toxic relationship that he just can't seem to get out of. Yeah. I think he's a Ferrari driver for life now for the rest of his F1 career. I will be very surprised at this point if he goes anywhere else. Yeah. Some other interesting news that's come out of the F1 world here, and I'll kind of keep it at the cold nodes version of this, but the ADUO report came out, and that essentially looks at the engines of all the different cars and seeing where they're at and how many upgrades you're allowed to have throughout, you know, the rest of the season to make your engine at its, you know, at the most optimal it can be. And to I think everyone's surprise, Mercedes doesn't have the best engine. It's actually Red Bull. Mercedes is 2% behind and Ferrari is 4% behind, which means they both can make, I think like that gives Mercedes um one upgrade and Ferrari two upgrades or something like that to their engines, which I don't think anybody was expecting. I think everybody was expecting Mercedes to have the best engine. So Red Bull, I'm curious to see how the year plays out. Because if you have a really good engine, like how bad is your chassis that it's doing what it's doing, right? And how much better does that now mean Mercedes can get, right? And and Ferrari, but Mercedes in particular, because we've seen this car and it's it's it's a rocket ship this year. It's going so fast. No other team, you know, is consistently able to keep up with them. You've had a few, you know, closer calls, but consistently nobody's been able to keep up with them. So if they are, you know, we do know they can do this upgrade to their engine now. What is that car gonna look like? And what what is happening at Red Bull that your car is not performing as well as it as it should be with the best engine that's on the grid? Yeah, that is super surprising to hear. I think the consensus was very much that it was Mercedes leading the way. And obviously they are outperforming everyone else, but they're doing so with a slightly worse engine than Red Bull. That is very surprising to hear. Uh so yeah, there's some things that Red Bull needs to figure out because they should be doing a lot better than they are every single weekend. And that really opens the door for Mercedes to just run away with things, which if they weren't doing that already, they're certainly going to be doing so after a couple upgrades. But if we have Ferrari that can make perhaps one more upgrade than Mercedes can, two versus one, could that constructors fight get even more interesting? Yeah, hopefully. Yeah, constructors and championship, right? Yeah. That that could be a really interesting battle to see play out between the two teams. And maybe Red Bull does something to fix their chassis. I don't know. And maybe then you have the three, right? Yeah, we might see some moves being made later in the season in the standing. That all gets executed, all of those upgrades. So that should be very interesting to follow. Yeah. Okay, so we have uh not too long to wait before our next uh F1 race, which is a nice change from the past few weeks. But we have Barcelona coming up this weekend, June 12th to 14th. So qualifying will be on the 13th. We'll have the Grand Prix on the 14th. And I feel like Barcelona is a circuit that has a little bit of everything. I feel like it's kind of more well-rounded than some of the other uh circuits we see. So it should be an enjoyable race, and I'm looking forward to it. Yeah, hopefully, hopefully less DNFs. That's just I we're not continuing on this trend of just one upping every weekend. So we'll see how it plays out. But fingers crossed. I agree. I would love to see a lot more drivers finish the race and hopefully less penalties. Yes. Gonna put both of those out there. Uh, hopefully we get those out of Barcelona. Okay, that brings us to the end of another episode. Thank you so much for tuning in. Uh, we'll be back soon with another episode after Barcelona, but in the meantime, don't forget to rate and review us on the podcast listening platform of your choice. And we will catch you later with a new episode. Bye. Amazing.