George Russell’s Redemption!

In this episode of the Into The Chicane podcast, we talk about the Austrian Grand Prix, the struggles of some teams, and a whole lot more!

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome back to the eighth episode of the Into the Chicane podcast. We are your hosts.

SPEAKER_01 0:05

I'm Tasha and I'm Alicia.

SPEAKER_00 0:08

And we just watched the Austrian Grand Prix, which was was a surprising one. I think we should just get right into it and talk about it a little bit. Austria was was interesting. I, you know, I think there were things that happened that I kind of expected, and a lot of things that happened that I didn't expect with just what the track looks like in Austria. It is the shortest track on the race calendars for the year. And so, you know, you're doing a lot more laughs. There's a heat wave going through Europe right now. And yeah, it was it was an interesting one from that lens.

SPEAKER_01 0:41

Yes, definitely a lot of interesting race conditions that were potentially going to need to be navigated. I think there was also the potential of some bad weather, some rain coming in, uh, which ended up not being the case, but definitely a big heat wave going through Europe right now, and that was a big concern for all the teams. So definitely a lot to manage. But let's jump into a little bit of a recap and we can kind of discuss how everything went down. So for our podium, we had George Russell taking the win for his first win since Australia, actually, which was the season opening race. So great result for him, followed by Max Verstappen in P2, which was a great result for him as well. Red Bull's home race. And we have Kimmy Antonelli rounding out the podium in P3. I think George has a lot to be super happy about for this race. Definitely one of the better results we've seen from him in the last little while. And it was nice to see him get back to racing the type of race that we know he's capable of. So probably like a like a pretty positive overall weekend for him and uh hopefully is getting his spirits up and his confidence up for the races to come.

SPEAKER_00 1:54

Yeah, absolutely. I think a well, a well-deserved win. He he raced pretty well. And yeah, I I, you know, it was a great weekend for Mercedes. A few blunders here and there, I think, with Kimmy and strategy and stuff, but overall, they they were happy. I think it it would have been a little bit better had George's P1 not been so controversial based off of what happened in Quali. For those of you who don't know, Max had a crash and there was a lot of discussion on whether it was a single yellow flag or a double yellow flag. On the radio, Bono told Kimmy it was a double yellow. Basically, everybody who's still out there abandoned their lap, except for George, who was shown a single yellow, and so he had the fastest lap there. And had that not happened, I think Kimmy would have been in P1 because he was on track to be faster than George in that, in that, in that lap there. So there was there was a lot of little bit of controversy there. I I did hear Max being a little cheeky on the radio during the race. There was there was a a double yellow just before the VSC went out. And and when Max was told that, he was like, all right, so this means I go flat out past the car, right? So a little controversial, you know. I I always kind of raise my eyebrows, I feel like this year, especially with the FIA and some of the decisions the stewards are making and stuff, but a win's a win. And I think George will very, very happily take those points. Much needed to start closing that gap to Kimmy.

SPEAKER_01 3:21

Yeah, for sure. Much needed for him and his championship hopes for sure. And he did have a really good day, so well deserved. Yeah, you can always leave it to Max to make a funny comment. I think last year he also made a comment, something along the lines of when the McLaren were like switching spots, there was like a slow pit stop involved. Max is very astute when it comes to these types of uh team incidents, so he's always good entertainment. Um, but yeah, I agree. A little disappointing in terms of how that played out. Definitely unfortunate for Kimmy, who was fully in his flying lap and had to abandon it for seemingly the correct reason, but not if your other teammate is able to finish. It it was all very unfortunate, I think, how that communication ended up happening. And I know even afterwards, when the quality results had been finalized on his like cooldown, Kimmy had said, So how was George able to, you know, get the pace? And they said, Oh, well, you know, it was a single yellow. All very confusing. And it is unfortunate when things like that end up impacting the outcome of the race. Because you're right, we won't know now what would have happened. Um, Kimmy very much had the pace and could certainly have challenged for pole, but didn't end up getting the opportunity to finish that off. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:44

And it yeah, it sucks for for Kimmy and also just for the other drivers that were doing that last hot lap. I don't really know if it would have changed much for anybody other than Kimmy. Um I mean, if anything, the the Ferraris won't have been starting in in the positions they were in. Not like it did anything, but that's fine. I've the Ferrari's been moved down. We're back to where we were wearing our our clown caps and stuff of uh strategy team. The the whole thing was it was pretty disastrous for Ferrari, I would say, but does suck for Kimmy because he did lose out on that opportunity to to make that gap bigger, right? Which is obviously what he's trying to do here and get as many points as possible. And we've you know, we've seen his starts, they're a lot better. He's just been a lot more, you know, aggressive and relentless. So had he been in P1, maybe he would have finished P1, right? But I think he did. He did a good job. And it's one of those things where you're, you know, you're you're in there for a long time um at Mercedes and you gotta pick and choose your battles, right? Like you you can get upset about things, but you can't get too upset because this is still your team and you're still gonna need them.

SPEAKER_01 5:53

Yeah, absolutely. It's that exact dynamic, I think, balancing your individual goals, but also ensuring that you're still putting the team's needs ahead above all else. And overall, like pretty successful weekend for Mercedes, both cars on the podium, which it's been a while since that's happened because the last several races, we've had a lot of problems for George. We've had a DNF for Kimmy as well. So it's a it's a better result than they've had in quite some time. And so there is still like benefits to that. But yeah, I agree with you that it's important to pick your battles and you want to make sure that above all else, you're you're putting the team first because ultimately that's what gives you a seat and a fun. So yeah, definitely the right thing to do to make that judgment call. You brought up a bit of a disappointing weekend for Ferrari, and I would agree with you, especially compared to the amazing race we race we had two weeks ago. They just didn't have the pace. Like it just wasn't there for them. The strategy was not really there for them. A lot of interesting decisions made on like pit stop timing and Hamilton, I think, finished P5. So not a bad result by any means, but I would say maybe underperforming what could have been, and really not a good day for Leclerc either, who qualified pretty high, I think, in P2, but ended up finishing down into P eight, which is quite a significant step down. So really not a good day for him, especially. Um, and I know that there was a little bit of uh like contact involved in that. There was maybe some front wing damage from the contact with Piastri, but even apart from that, it just kind of looked like he was out of it from the early stages when he had that early pit stop. Quite unfortunate.

SPEAKER_00 7:42

Yeah, I the Ferrari, you know, didn't I they came in with an engine upgrade? So I was curious to see what that was gonna look like. Um, I do know with the altitude that is in Austria, the Ferrari just I like I think even the drivers were saying they weren't super sure of what their pace was going to be like with that. I think the altitude affects their turbo or something like that. So they were under the impression that I they weren't gonna have a as much pace as they had in Barcelona. Yeah, there was a lot of very interesting strategy decisions that were made. I mean, you you had Lewis, the first little bit of the race that was, you know, fighting at at the front of the grid, right? Those battles between him and Max were unreal, right? For I believe it was for P2B3 that they were fighting. That's right. And as soon as kind of they started pitting and those decisions were getting made, it it it didn't make sense. And it kind of threw off Hamilton and and he started falling. And you're right, for Leclerc, it was not a good race for him. Like you could really, like, I think Hamilton passed him like three times. And you know, we've talked a little bit about like what are the orders gonna be at at Ferrari and stuff. And I I don't know if LeClaire got an order to let Lewis through or not, but when there was that contact between Char and Oscar, um, and Oscar got ahead, Char was then like battling it out with Lewis for a little bit there and was again, Lewis is losing time. It's hot when you're stuck behind another car, your car's heating up, dealing with tire deck, all of those things. So I was very confused as to why the order wasn't, hey, let Lewis through, because he just he didn't have the pace there. And Lewis was on fresher tires and all that kind of stuff. So it's just overall a lot of really fascinating calls in the worst way possible at Ferrari this weekend. And I hope they figure it out because next weekend is Lewis's home race, and I am hoping that he's able to perform similar to Barcelona at Silverstone. And but if Ferrari continue what he's doing here and and go back to their go back to their roots, then we're gonna have a problem. Yeah, most definitely.

SPEAKER_01 9:53

Like we all know how special of a of a race Silverstone is for Lewis. I mean, all the British drivers for sure are looking forward to it, but a lot of positive things have happened for Lewis at Silverstone, and we want to keep those good vibes going, certainly. Um, and you bring up an interesting point too about team orders, because I do agree with you. I I think that uh there was maybe some some unnecessary back and forth between uh Leclaire and Hamilton, where it was clear that Hamilton had more pace at that point than Leclerc did. And, you know, you're just wasting time, like you said, uh fighting it out with your teammate a bit. But I think a few laps later, uh, they were kind of battling again, but very briefly, and Hamilton just sailed on through. And so I wonder if maybe Shar was told just to let him go because Shar was just not competitive today from what he could be on a on a better day. So I I think maybe we're starting to see where Ferrari's priorities are, and we're starting to see like race after race. Lewis is consistently outperforming him, and it doesn't really seem to matter what the circumstances are, whether it's you know related to weather or racing conditions or tire conditions or you know, any like contact made with other drivers. It it doesn't seem to matter. I think we're we're starting to see like a very clear pattern that Lewis is fighting for the most part, or successfully, you know, getting into a top spot or a podium spot, and Shar is just either falling out of it completely or isn't really competitive to the level that we would expect from a Ferrari and from Char.

SPEAKER_00 11:35

Yeah, I I agree. And it's been really disappointing to see that because Char just signed this extension of this contract with Ferrari, and I know we've talked about talked about that a few times, but you know, every week you're like, okay, like this week he'll be better. And it he's just not, you know, at least the last few weeks, he's been closer to the top of the podium. Yeah, racing conditions weren't ideal, strategy was garbage, all of those things, but to be P8 when you started P2 is it was a bad weekend for him.

SPEAKER_01 12:06

Yeah, for sure. I think that's just objectively bad, right? Like, yeah, you you picked up a few points, but that's not what Ferrari's trying to do here. They're trying to challenge for a championship win. They want that constructor's title. And they're very capable of challenging for that constructor's title. So I think this is something we've even talked about in the past too, where both Mercedes and Ferrari are gonna need both drivers scoring high in the points every week to be competitive. I think right now there's about a little less than a hundred points uh separating Mercedes and Ferrari with Mercedes in that top spot. And so if you have just a few races where you have both your drivers in like the top four or five, that can make a big difference in in the standing. So it's certainly not out of it by any means, but as summer break approaches, I think Ferrari will have wanted to have chipped away a bit more than they currently are. Um and it's just a matter of whether both their drivers are are capable of getting there in the next couple weeks. And so far, it's not looking like we're gonna see that anytime soon.

SPEAKER_00 13:11

Yeah, I I agree. But it is interesting to see who might be able to do that, and that could be Red Bull. We've uh we, you know, we were talking about the Red Bull engine and how it's, you know, supposed to be the best engine. Um, but we hadn't really seen that, I would say up until today, which was great at, you know, the Red Bull ring to to have Red Bull looking as competitive as it did, and Max, you know, that he just had so much pace. He really narrowed the gap um between him and George. I think George may have made a couple of errors here and there through some turns, which caused him to go wide and and lose some of that gap due to that. But I mean, it was like textbook driving from Max during the race. Yeah, he had his crash during quality, but he came back stronger than ever in that race. And it was, it was incredible to see Red Bull having the pace it did. And consistently, you know, Isaac was also in the points. So Red Bull is whatever upgrades they brought are clearly working. We'll see how they work in Silverstone, obviously, and and moving, you know, on throughout the year, but it worked really well for Austria, and they're they're starting to show some consistency here.

SPEAKER_01 14:22

Yeah, absolutely. It felt like a a very classic Verstappen type of race where, you know, maybe he thought he was gonna be out of it and and didn't expect to do too much, and then all of a sudden he was definitely challenging for that top spot in the last few laps. And he, yeah, you're right, he did get that gap down to less than a second. Uh from where he started, that's that's super impressive. And huge credit to Isaac as well. Like he's done really, really well at Red Bull so far. And I think a lot of people, honestly, including myself, just based on how things have gone for the second seed at Red Bull, were not expecting a lot. But he's really shown that he is very capable of being in the mix every week, scoring important points for the team, and he's really keeping them in the fight, and that's awesome to see. So I think with all the rumors that have kind of been swirling around in terms of Max's future in F1 and also his overall attitude that he's expressed about maybe he's not having as much fun, this is maybe a step in like the right direction for him where he's showing that he's in a position to be competitive. He seemed to really enjoy the race overall and had a good experience, but also is performing to the level that he would expect of himself, and certainly that we all know he's capable of. So it was nice to see him kind of getting back to normal in a way.

SPEAKER_00 15:45

Yeah, 100%. Um I it'll be, you know, interesting to see how this the rest of the season plays out with that and what Max decides, because there's you're right, there's a lot of questions around that. And from what I've heard, like most drivers have a performance clause in their contracts. But I've heard that Max also has a performance a performance clause for the car in his contract. And if the car doesn't perform the way it is not, it's not getting him to where he wants, he has the ability to exit. So I don't know if that like I don't know what are the conversations that are going on there, but I I think Red Bull is is starting to get really concerned that Max is gonna leave. So they're gonna try and throw everything at this to keep him.

SPEAKER_01 16:31

Yeah, absolutely. And I think one of the things we know about Max is what you see is what you get, right? He's not one to kind of hide how he's feeling or or make you think that uh he's saying one thing but means another. And if he's talking about, you know, maybe his time in F1 is over, I think there's definitely a real possibility that he's considering that. I don't think that's just noise. And so if I were Red Bull, I would definitely be very concerned about that and doing everything that's possible to make sure that he's staying on with this team because, you know, despite how well Isaac is doing, uh, Max is Red Bull. They're very much intertwined, and Red Bull needs him if they're going to be competitive over the next few years. Um, they're not gonna be able to challenge in the same way that they've gotten accustomed to without him. So Red Bull is probably doing a deep sigh of relief after uh this race because they certainly don't want those performance clauses activated 100%.

SPEAKER_00 17:31

And also, you know, with consistency in teams and stuff, racing bulls. We talked a little bit about them. They were both, again, in the points this week. Nine and ten. So not the best performances we've seen from Liam and Arvid, but a a good showing, I would say, for racing bulls.

SPEAKER_01 17:49

Yeah, absolutely a very respectable showing. And I think considering that they were the only midfield team to pick up any points, I believe, is huge too, right? We didn't see Alpine get into the points uh this time around, neither were the uh was the rest of the grid. And so um really important points that they're picking up. Um, we know that there's huge funding implications on every um level of placement that you finish in constructors, and so that's really huge for them. Yeah, um, and they're really starting to show consistency. Like Arvid has is only a handful of races into his F1 career, and he's showing so much like maturity and consistency and discipline in the way that he's racing, which is so exciting. He's so early on in his career, and I hope that means we're gonna see uh him and Liam for a long time in F1. So, yeah, great result for both of the racing bowl drivers.

SPEAKER_00 18:46

Yeah, and you like you said, they were the only team uh in the midfield that scored points this race. So that was super, super impressive for them. You know, a decent-ish weekend at McLaren. You at least had both drivers in the points. It's it's hard to be, you know, happy with that when you were the constructors and Lando is the the rating world champ. But they they were at least in the points, both of them. Oscar had a had a pretty decent race, I would see, for the most part, but at least they're scoring points, right? And it's progress from what we've seen before. I don't think anybody's happy at McLaren with their performance right now, but it's showing some progress. So maybe with a few upgrades here and there, they can start to have more um more pace and be able to be a lot more competitive.

SPEAKER_01 19:33

Yeah, absolutely. I think we had talked about our last episode how the Mercedes engine was showing some signs of vulnerability and how every driver between the McLaren and Team Mercedes seemed to be kind of taking their turn. And so it was nice to see at least that both of them were able to finish the race, finish well into the points. And it's important for them to get those points right now. Um certainly they'd like to be more in the mix than they are, but certainly they're not out of it either. We still have a lot of season to go. And uh, if they're able to get some more upgrades in, um, that could make a difference. We know that McLaren was looking really, really good a few races ago, and it almost looked like they were back to their 2025 levels of dominance where it was Oscar or Lando at the top every single week. So if they're able to find a little bit more performance and maybe bring a bit more of a complete package, they could definitely be right up in there. So yeah, maybe a little bit of a missed opportunity, but but still some important points that they were able to secure this week.

SPEAKER_00 20:39

Yeah, and again, the summer breaks around the corner, right? So we'll see what they're able to do during that. But it at least if you can start showing some consistently, you're learning a bit about the car, um, you're figuring out what's working, what's not working. I think it this is a good time for that to start happening before you get into the summer break. So then you can really hone in on that and hopefully get the car where you think it can be. Yeah, absolutely. Uh this week we had four DNFs, which like last year or the year before, or whatever, I would have been like, wow, that's a lot of DNFs. But this year, I'm like, wow, that's only four DNFs. Like, that's it. So that was nice that we had less DNFs than we've had over the last few weeks. Both the Cadillacs were on fire, literally. So they both they both caught fire. And like I'm not surprised, like it was so hot. Those brakes were, you know, getting heated super, super fast. So I think Botas was the first one who came in with that with his brakes on fire. Peres, I don't know if it was his brakes on fire or a different part of the car, but there was like smoke in his cockpit. So there was, you know, that that was on fire. Um, signs crashed, unfortunately, into the wall. It's been a pretty, a pretty disappointing year for Williams. I don't know if they're gonna be able to turn turn things around. I really Hope they are after the summer break, but it's uh it's not looking so great uh for Carlos and and Alex at Williams. Yeah, so unfortunately he crashed out, and I think Stroll had there was some like technical issue with his car or something like that, but it's the Aston Martin. So there's that. Yeah, we had four DNFs.

SPEAKER_01 22:19

Yeah, four DNFs, and you're right. It it seems like a large amount, but when we look at races past, this is this almost seems like nothing. It seems like wow, only four DNFs, just a routine race weekend because we've gotten accustomed to so many. Yeah, certainly for for Lance Straw, wasn't expecting too much out of the Astons. Unfortunate uh that he had to retire, but really was not gonna make a difference in the results. Sorry to the Aston Martin team. But yeah, it's it's been rough for Williams. And I I hate to say this so early because obviously we have a lot of the season to go still, um, but we're not really seeing a lot of improvement from them. And I know that early on in the season, uh the team was very clear about, you know, tapering, dampening the expectations and that it wouldn't be a huge breakout year, and they wanted to just like slowly, steadily try to improve a little bit, but we're not really seeing that at all. Like just really disappointing weekend for both drivers, nothing really that great to take away from the race for them. And I I don't know that we're gonna see too much more out of this team for the rest of the year, which makes me a little sad.

SPEAKER_00 23:31

Yeah. I think between them and the Haas, my expectations, you know, my expectations were very high for Haas, but over the last several weeks, it's just consistently bad there as well. And and I feel like both teams have, you know, brief shining moments, but by the end of the race, they're they're not in the points again. So I yeah, I I my expectations are very, very low for for both of those teams.

SPEAKER_01 23:57

Yeah, yeah, agreed. I think the last time we've seen both Williams and the points was who even knows, maybe not even Canada, maybe even before Canada. So certainly not a good run the last little while for them. And I think we're really starting to see that divide in the midfield. We're seeing teams like Racing Bulls, Alpine kind of on an upwards trajectory, or at least maintaining the trajectory that they're on. And Haas has certainly taken um a downward trajectory the last few races, especially compared to where they started. And Williams just hasn't been able to get much going at all. We've talked at length about Aston Martin and their inability to do anything at all. And so we're really starting to see that disparity. And I'm not sure how much of a fight it's actually going to be for the rest of those midfield teams. It'll probably just be like as many points as they can like scrounge up in the last few spots.

SPEAKER_00 24:55

Yeah, it's it's at this point, it's like they're they're just trying to get P10 if possible. And it's it's really sad because both teams, I think last year Williams was doing really well, and you know, I was excited to see where they would go. Um, and at the beginning of the year, Haas had so much potential that it was really exciting to see where they were gonna go, and it's been really disappointing to see kind of both of them have this like fall from grace.

SPEAKER_01 25:17

Yeah, um Haas is also quite unfortunate too, because uh we were seeing such promising things from Ollie and and how he was performing, and that's just kind of dropped away completely. He's had a few like pretty rough races in a row, which for someone of his talent and like what we've seen of his performance in the past is super unfortunate and definitely not how he wanted to start his like sophomore season in in the sport. So hopefully he can turn things around and and we can start to see a little bit more of Haas, but yeah, not looking good, and we're not really seeing any improvements. So hopefully summer break is a nice reset for them and and we'll start to see some more competition arise from that group in the midfield. Yeah, fingers crossed. So, as mentioned, a super important race for George Russell. He earned back some much needed points in the drivers' championship race. We still have Kimmy Antonelli leading the pack with 171 points, but we have George Russell not as far behind now with 131 points, 40 points back is a much better spot for him to be in. And we have Hamilton very much in the mix still with 125 points and a lot of season left to go. So still could be anyone's game, but Kimmy's holding down his top spot for now.

SPEAKER_00 26:34

Yeah, it's uh exciting to see that. It's I think it'll be a a fun Silverstone's gonna be fun to watch George and Lewis both of their home races, and they're both neck and neck here with uh with their points for the drivers' championship. So it'll it'll be interesting to see what happens there. Also, interesting to note now that uh both the McLaren drivers are ahead of Char Leclerc. So Char has dropped down to six in the driver's championship. You have Oscar in four and Lando in five. They're all up around the same similar points. Oscar's at 80, Lando's at 79, and Shar's at 79. Um, so I'm not sure exactly how they decide that tiebreaker. It might be on like laps completed or something like that, but not not looking so good for Shar.

SPEAKER_01 27:22

Yeah, not looking good for Shar. We're not really seeing a lot of movement from him on the points front. So we'll see if he can get back in the fight. Very interesting that the McLaren have now passed him. So we'll see how that evolves. But Silverstone should be a fun one. I'm really hoping for like a nice, fierce battle between all the Brits. I think that would be really, really fun. And we know that a home race just kind of gets them all going. We know how much Lewis loves Silverstone. Uh George was also talking about how excited he is for Silverstone, and it seems like there's always something exciting and thrilling that happens on that day. So can't wait, really.

SPEAKER_00 28:00

Yeah, it it should be a fun one. So last episode, we talked a little bit about these penalties being disputed with Monaco and and all the question marks around that. We know that Gasly's penalty had gotten no returned. So then Mercedes decided to initiate their right to review George's penalty, but then they withdrew it. So there was no decision made. I think had a decision come, it it may have then snowballed into all the other teams. So I don't I I don't know what the conversation was there that caused them to withdraw that because I feel like if you're going to request the right to review, you've put in a lot of thought, you've gone through the different scenarios, and you're like, yeah, we're good with all of this, we want to move forward. So I don't know if it was a rash decision or not when they put in that right to review, but they decided that it was better to just leave it as is and and withdrew that.

SPEAKER_01 28:57

Yeah, it was interesting to see that instead of that snowball effect, like we were potentially anticipating after Alpine was successful in their appeal, we actually ended up going the other way. And uh the speeding in the pit lane situation is kind of fizzled out. And so that makes me wonder if maybe Team Mercedes, if their ultimate goal here was more so about ensuring that this was never going to happen again. Because, like at this point, it's pretty clear the FIA screwed up, right? We should not have been calculating distance in the way that it was being done, because obviously many, many violations uh were awarded in penalties, and obviously that had a huge outcome on uh the race standings. So I think it's unfortunate that this had to happen, but I hope that because we've now had these repercussions, we're not going to see something like this again. And hopefully it doesn't come down to this in the standings at the end of the season. But it seems like Mercedes is in a position where they were agreeable to withdraw their right of review. And so to me, that means the outcome that they wanted has somehow been met, if not from the standings. It's going to be met in like a more long-term change type of way, is my guess. Um, but yeah, really unfortunate that happened in the first place. But I think maybe they ended up getting what they wanted out of the situation in in wanting to review that.

SPEAKER_00 30:27

Yeah, I yeah, I'm I'm hoping, you know, you're right there on they did this as a way to like let the FIA know, hey, this isn't cool that you guys did this, and hopefully the FIA doesn't do this again. And we don't end up in a similar situation in in a different race because that was just absolutely crazy. Um, I also wonder if like, you know, they started doing the math and they were like, maybe this starts to close some gaps to Kimmy if this does get overturned and stuff like that. So I wonder if there were any of those questions going around of this might actually be not so great for us as a team if we do this. I don't know. But yeah, I I don't I don't know what how what that was like and what that conversation was like, but potentially could have been a consequence of that as well.

SPEAKER_01 31:12

Yeah, most definitely. I think you know that's a huge consideration too. They do have two drivers that could have been impacted. And obviously George was quite upset about how all of that went down, super understandably so. But yeah, perhaps it just wasn't worth the uh pursuit in the long run for um the team as a whole. Yeah. And yeah, ultimately, hopefully we don't see this again. I did hear the uh in the broadcast, somebody did have us feeding the pit lane violation. Now I don't remember who it was, but my ears, right?

SPEAKER_00 31:48

Yes, it was.

SPEAKER_01 31:48

Yeah, Alonzo. My ears perked up immediately. A little, a little triggering to hear that. Uh, but perhaps that one was legitimate.

SPEAKER_00 31:58

Didn't hear any other same. As soon as I think it's like PTSD now, right? It's like they're like, Alonzo is feeding in the pillane. I was like, oh god, it's happening again.

SPEAKER_01 32:06

Like we're we're gonna let me get out of my speedometer.

unknown 32:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 32:11

Yeah, that was quite funny. We've mentioned it a couple of times today, but we are on the cusp of silly season. There's going to be a decent amount of drivers that are going to be out of contract. We've heard, you know, some rumors with Max. I know Red Bull has said that there's, you know, one of their F2 drivers that they would like an F1 next year, not knowing what team it's going to be on, whether it's Racing Bulls or Red Bull. But I feel like we're going to see some shakeups in the grid coming our way.

SPEAKER_01 32:44

Yeah, most definitely. And it'll be interesting to see where that first spark comes from. Because once the first rumors start and once we have some initial confirmed news, I'm definitely expecting a little bit of a flurry of activity. But perhaps Max's future is a little bit more certain than it has been looking if he's not uh gonna activate those performance clauses. But certainly Red Bull needs to have some backup options in case. So whether that's promoting one of their racing bull drivers to that seat and then bringing in some of their F2 drivers, or we're gonna see some internal uh shuffling happening. It'll be very interesting, certainly. I kind of think that uh Max is coming back for at least another year or two. I don't know, Tasha, if you think different, but I would be really surprised, I think, if if we don't see him for at least one more year.

SPEAKER_00 33:40

Yeah, I don't I don't know if Max is gonna leave F1. I mean, I know he's talked about it a lot and has has, you know, thrown that that out there that he's he's ready to be done and he's just frustrated and doesn't want to do this anymore. I don't I I agree. I don't see Max leaving F1. I think there's a big question mark around if he stays at Red Bull. I don't think one race is enough, right? Like w they did well in one race, and in one race, Max like really had a fighting shot to to get a pole. I think it we'll see kind of how the next kind of the like Silverstone plays out and stuff, but I wouldn't be surprised if there's like conversations happening in the background with other teams for him to move to maybe somewhere that just has a more competitive car that he would prefer to drive than the Red Bull. There's just been so many changes at Red Bull. We know GP is moving to uh to McLaren. Does he follow GP there? Right, that very much could be a possibility. We know Oscar's not happy at McLaren right now with the way things are going. So there's just so much out there. I know Toto would like kill to have Max. He's made that very, very clear from the beginning from Max's rookie year, right? That he that he's the one who got away, right? So what what would Toto do to get him, right? I I don't know. But there's just that one you're right, that one move somewhere, I think is just gonna is gonna cause a a snowball to go down on this one.

SPEAKER_01 35:03

Yeah, most definitely. I think, especially given just the power of Max in this sport, that I I could really see that dictating the future of a lot of these top performers. Like we're talking about some of the best drivers on the grid right now, um, in terms of Team McLaren, Team Mercedes. As you mentioned, we know that Oscar is not super stoked with how things have been playing out for him. Um and I do really chuckle at the thought of Max driving for McLaren. Somehow I don't know if Zach Brown would spend too much longer with the team if that was that if that was gonna happen. Um, maybe they'll surprise me and they'll have a good working relationship if he does end up going there. But that is truly hilarious to imagine. So I hope that if Max does go to McLaren, they do have to work together because I would love that for the comedy aspect. Um, but yeah, super interesting for Mercedes because you know, we've been having this conversation all season. Who are they really prioritizing right now? And if Max is suddenly available to them, who's getting the boot between Kimmy, your superstar, you know, young driver, and Russell, who's a veteran and you know, has had a little bit of a struggle this season so far. That could be quite dramatic, however, that plays out.

SPEAKER_00 36:19

Yeah. I I will say I don't see Toto getting rid of Kimmy. I just don't see that happening. So I don't, I what happens? It'll be it'll be interesting, right? Like with Lewis when he moved to Ferrari, just the spiral that that caused. I feel like if Max decides to move, it it will do something similar, right? And it's gonna create a wave through the grid and you're gonna see a lot of of people moving around.

SPEAKER_01 36:45

Yeah, most definitely. Um so we'll see who kind of starts that off. I know we've also talked a little bit about the future of Aston Martin as a team and you know whether they're going to be sticking around. Um, if they do, I'm not sure if we're going to see Alonzo. Um, he did talk publicly already about Barcelona uh being the last race, that this might have been his last time racing on that track, which you know would be like quite a change for the sport. He's been around for so long. But if Aston is sticking around and they have a seat to fill, that could get interesting amongst the midfield teams as well. Because we know they're not get getting the job done with Lance at the moment, so they're gonna need somebody who's potentially capable of scoring points in that sad car they've got over there.

SPEAKER_00 37:36

I I don't know. Like I I think you're right. I I don't foresee Alonzo continuing with Aston next year, whether that means he retires or he goes somewhere else. I I have heard rumblings of potentially him going to Alpine, and that could be interesting to see under under Flavio what what that would look like for for him. There is some history there, so I I I I do think that would be that could be very interesting to see how that plays out. But then what does that mean for Gasly and and Colapinto, who've, you know, been performing fairly well this year? I don't think Flavio cares. He's pretty cutthroat, but you know how how would that shift things up? There's just so many, so many things I think that'll happen this year during Silly season as people start to finalize where they're going to be next year and teams decide what who's the driver we want.

SPEAKER_01 38:30

Yeah, absolutely. I think you're so right in saying that because every team is going to be prioritizing different things, right? Every team also has a different budget that they're working with, and their relative and realistic goals from season to season are also not all the same. And so uh we know that Aston Martin in signing Alonzo really wanted to go for experience. But as you said, at Alpine, Flavio he cares about performance and points above all else. We know that they have a history together, and it would certainly be nice to see a little bit of a more exciting end to Alonzo's career if that end is approaching, which uh it very well may be. So maybe that's a more exciting way for him to finish out his career too, a little bit more on his own terms and kind of a more full circle moment for him. But yeah, every team is is gonna have their own kind of agenda that they're trying to achieve with the drivers that they have. And the pairing dynamics are also really important, as we know. And um, that really means that we could see all kinds of mix-ups that we wouldn't have necessarily expected. So I'm very much looking forward to the first domino falling and and seeing how all of that starts to play out and what scenarios start to become possible.

SPEAKER_00 39:47

Yeah, and I feel like it's gonna it's gonna happen sooner than later. I uh I I I think it's gonna the silly season is gonna start before we know it here.

SPEAKER_01 39:55

Yeah, definitely. I think in the next uh couple weeks, we're gonna have a lot more of an idea of where we're headed next year. Okay, so we have a bit of a double header between this week and the next. We have the the UK Grand Prix coming up. So we have Silverstone starting on, I think it's July 3rd. That's probably one of my favorite races of the year, just because there always seems to be something going on. Last year was super exciting. The weather was a huge factor. Um, we know that there's a heat wave going on right now all across Europe. Um, and so that could be a factor this time around. And so very much looking forward to that. And I'm sure it'll be a really exciting race.

SPEAKER_00 40:35

Yeah, it's it's a home race for three drivers, I believe, right? Lewis, George, and Lando. And Lando, yeah. So it's it'll be interesting because all three of them are going to be wanting that win. Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 40:51

I'm not sure now when the last time Lewis won was, but I think a couple years ago he got back onto the podium at Silverstone. I think last year Silverstone was his best finish as well in P4. And so he has a history of really performing well there. Um, we know that Lando is the most recent winner, and we know that George is really hungry for a win as well. So I'm expecting a real battle between all three of them.

SPEAKER_00 41:18

Yeah, I believe uh Lewis won Silverstone in 2024. And last year, I think you're right, was his best finish with Ferrari at learn, but it was his worst showing at Silverstone ever. So ever. So it'll be interesting to see what happens this year. Um, I I vividly recall the 2024 because again, there was there was sobbing that happened. Yes, with that one, um, with his, you know, with that being his, you know, his last Silverstone race with Mercedes and winning that one was was an emotional chorus. But uh, but yeah, I'm excited to see what happens this weekend. I think it'll be it'll it'll be a fun one no matter what. And yeah, I'm I'm excited to see who finishes on top.

SPEAKER_01 41:58

Okay, so that brings us to the end of another episode. Thanks so much for tuning in. Be sure to rate and review us on the podcast listening platform of your choice, and we'll be back after next weekend with another episode to recap all things Silverstone. Bye. Bye.