The Stewards Conspiracy Corner
We dive into the wild world of Formula 1 and all the rumors and conspiracies that go on behind the paddock
The Stewards Conspiracy Corner
The Stewards Conspiracy Corner #001
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Welcome to the first podcast of the Stewards Conspiracy Corner! We talk about the world of F1, Indycar, and other racing series!
Alrighty, welcome everybody. This is uh the Stewards Conspiracy Corner. Uh my name's Ike Parschell, and uh this is my co-host.
SPEAKER_02Hi, I'm Dan Nas.
SPEAKER_00So today we're going through this podcast because me and Dan are good friends. We're huge Formula One fans, and one of the big things that we talk about is different conspiracy theories that are happening around the racing world, not just Formula One.
SPEAKER_02And rumors and all sorts of other news and aspects of Formula One, and also we have our big fans of IndyCar as well.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, exactly. So bear with us as we start this podcast. Some of the quality things might not be to tip top shape, but as we go through week to week, we'll be releasing these episodes on Wednesdays, which is uh absolutely just exciting, in my opinion.
SPEAKER_02Oh, yeah, I'm excited. So I just wanted to let you know we do have two primary sponsors so far. Uh right. One of them is right in front of you here. Who is it?
SPEAKER_00This is Formula Coffee Co. So it's a racing uh coffee company that I started. Huge, uh like I said, huge fan of racing. Uh wanted to start a coffee company that kind of blends those two worlds together. So you can find some at Formulacoffeeco.com. Um, and yeah, give it a try. We we roast it every week and it gets shipped to you the same week.
SPEAKER_02So awesome. And I I gotta attest, I have had the coffee and it is extremely good.
SPEAKER_01Thanks, Dan.
SPEAKER_02And then we also have another sponsor which is DNH Toys. Uh, they're a toy store in Shock Pee, Minnesota. They um have uh Funko Pops, puzzles, games, uh cards, Legos, uh, a whole host of stuff. Um, so if you stop by in Shock Pee, look us up on Google Maps and stop in and say hello.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. And uh also want to say if you want to be a sponsor of this show, uh, there's the email in our bios, so you can obviously hit us up and we would love to sponsor you somehow, whether it is in one of our segments of our show, however it may be, we would love to sponsor you. So let's dive right in. I think the main reason we kind of explained why we wanted to start this show is because we already talk about Formula One and racing all the time, all the time. And so we're like, why don't we just start a podcast? I mean, I have the gear, you have the store, we can do it in the corner. Obviously, this is the conspiracy corner. So if you visit DNH Toys, you can come right here where we film every single week. So it's fantastic.
SPEAKER_02And maybe, maybe we'll have a studio audience at some point.
SPEAKER_00That's right. That's right. We have we have one studio audience uh in the in the crowd right now. So um one of the things, Dan, that we want to talk about today is how we became Formula One fans and also who is our main team that we support.
SPEAKER_02Right. Well, so do you want to start off? You want me to start? You go for it. All right. So I started off watching Formula One back in the days of uh Michael Schumacher and Ferrari and watching him win championship after championship. And I thought this is just amazing. I love Formula One. But then all of a sudden, back uh uh back in 2018, Haas came around, 2018, 2019. And I said, American team, I have to get on board American team. So Haas is my team. Now, there aren't too many Haas fans, I have to admit, I am one of them.
SPEAKER_00Um the 75, you're one of the 75.
SPEAKER_02I'm one of the 75 fans. Uh, but I am a true uh Haas fan through and through. I I've been watching um when Roman Grosjon was there, when uh then then they got uh uh Kevin Magnussen. Yep, and Kevin Magnuson, my favorite driver of Haas of all time. Uh I was sad to see him go for a year, but I'm glad they brought him back. Um, and then you know, then they they brought in two very young drivers. One of them was Mick Schumacher, the the son of uh Michael Schumacher. So I was kind of excited to see if if Mick Schumacher could actually do well in Formula One and and meet the standards of what his father did. But uh he didn't pan out. But he is in in IndyCar and he's doing rather well.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, he is for his rookie year.
SPEAKER_02For his rookie year, yeah. And I I was kind of glad that you know, uh IndyCar as well. I've been following uh Groshan as well. So um it's kind of kind of nice to see Haas as a Haas fan, ex-Has drivers in IndyCar and be able to follow them at least through that.
SPEAKER_00No, absolutely. And I think just to kind of go off of the Kevin Magnuson train, when he got poll, I know it was because of a rain delay in Brazil a couple years ago. I don't think I've ever been more happy for a driver when that happened. And that was like what a crazy turn of events, how he be he was on pole. It was kind of by you know accident, but hey, that's one of the reasons why you gotta go out early and get and get in your a strong banker lap because no matter what, something could happen where rain comes, an accident happens, anything in that nature, and you're gonna find yourself on pole. Correct, absolutely.
SPEAKER_02Um, one of my favorite was uh Magnuson in Miami, where he did everything he possibly could to make sure that Grosjon got points. Or sorry, not Grosjon, um Nico got points. Yes, and he did a fantastic, fantastic job holding people off and making sure that uh he got that like he got those points.
SPEAKER_00It's great to see when you know, especially in Formula One, since there's only you only have one other teammate, when your teammate is on your side and willing to help you. I mean, you name it, Sergio Perez when uh the final in Abu Dhabi, the the infamous final where Lewis Hamilton, you know, had almost 40 seconds on the whole field, and then and then I think it was a Williams that crashed. I think oh, it was Latifi that crashed, right? Or was it I can't remember, but one of the one of the drivers crashed, and then he found himself um you know right behind Lewis Hamilton, and partly because of Sergio Paris. So that's pretty cool.
SPEAKER_02Right, but then on the flip side, when you have your teammates battling each other, McLaren. McLaren. Oh, and and then also at times, uh the Mercedes, uh especially with Kimmy, when Kimmy's putting his elbows out, they they could get into trouble and and then they could they could uh let people uh other teams go right by.
SPEAKER_00Yep, no, absolutely. So anyway, we went off topic, which is the whole point of this show is that we have the ability to go off topic, but I want to talk about my experience getting into Formula One. Um wasn't actually a Formula One race that I was watching, it was an Indy car race. And the reason that I got into racing in general was from um my best friend, his his family's been going to the indie 500 every single year for for decades. And one year he invited me and he explained to me, because I've was always the same opinion of being like, well, it's just cars going around in circles, like how exciting could it be, right? Like, it's not that exciting. But he explained to me, he's like, pick a driver, it doesn't matter who it is, just pick one person and follow them through the whole entire race. And when that when the ND500 started and those cars came by, and you could smell the rubber and you could smell the exhaust and just the speed that they came by and the sound, I was immediately hooked. I was like, I'm dedicating my life to this sport because it's fantastic.
SPEAKER_02So you're more hooked now now on indie car or formula one?
SPEAKER_00No, so now I'm more hooked on Formula One, and so but that was my that was my entry. So after the Indy 500, I went literally went online and was like, what is the top racing category in the world? And obviously, Formula One's that. So Formula One popped up, and I was following it ever since. And when I started watching, I said, You gotta be a Ferrari fan. You gotta be a Ferrari fan. So that is my main team, and you could you could know this for a fact of how excited I was when Lewis Hamilton joined um the the prancing horses.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, well, you know, Lewis was a great pickup, had a slow start last year, but has really come along a long way.
SPEAKER_00And we got a lot to talk about, especially with Lewis Hamilton's career this year. I mean, you talk about the conspiracy of simulators, of how he decided not to use a simulator at all. Really? Yeah, he doesn't use a simulator at the moment because he doesn't feel that it it truly gives him the feel of the track. He says, I'm gonna go without the simulator. So that's pretty exciting. I'm and and ever since he's done that, to be honest, he's been doing amazing.
SPEAKER_02Well, he also has gotten a much better car this year than he had last year. That's true. And then the upgrades that they put in in the last few races have really upped the advantage that Mercedes or sorry, that Ferrari has on Mercedes. You know, Mercedes also had to take the the engine um compression ratio out that they had that advantage for.
SPEAKER_03Yep.
SPEAKER_02So now it's it in the last few races, it's been pretty equal footing.
SPEAKER_00It has. And I s I still think that Mercedes is hard to beat, but you know what's fascinating is that I don't that Mercedes is not reliable at all, especially when it's pushing.
SPEAKER_02Well, you've seen that. I mean, Kimmy went out, uh, and then uh uh the McLaren are using the save time of the engine, and they've been dropping out too.
SPEAKER_00They've been dropping out. So I I think that there's something going on with that Mercedes engine. I know Kimmy's reliability was not because of the engine this last race, but a couple races back, George had failure. George. Uh McLaren's been been, you know, and that's another question McLaren's got to be asking. Why is our engine not the same at or not performing at the same level as the sponsor team during China when they were not even at the starting line for China, they asked, they said, Okay, Mercedes, you gotta answer why this engine isn't up to snuff compared to what you provide or what you're racing.
SPEAKER_02So I think after that, I think there was a uh a little bit of um an answering that Mercedes had to do with McLaren.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and of course, they'll never release that to the public for those reasons. So, but no, it it's just it's fascinating to see this year, especially some of the um technical technological innovations that Ferrari's done, especially with the little wing inlet at the end of the exhaust, that has been something that um they said is banned in future in future years. So in 2027, they're banning that wing, uh that little winglet that comes over the exhaust um because it provides too much advantage.
SPEAKER_02Well, also, too. I mean, Mercedes at the beginning of the year with their uh their smaller turbo and the and the turbo compression, they got launches off the starting line that were insane.
SPEAKER_00Yes, yeah. I mean those, yeah, the the different turbo sizes is definitely something to consider. Um and and now that now they've kind of balanced everything out, right? Like in in in the regulations, they they had a clause where they could say we're gonna allow different engine developers to develop more than others, which I think is also fascinating because Red Bull right now is claims to have the best engine or is told they have the best engine.
SPEAKER_02Wow. But they haven't been I mean gotta admit though, Max has gotten podium a few times recently.
SPEAKER_00Yep.
SPEAKER_02Um, you know, the last race here wasn't wasn't as good as before you know previous races. But uh that that Red Bull car is really starting to churn up and and get some get some speed behind it.
SPEAKER_00So speaking of Red Bull, I think that leads us perfectly into our next kind of conspiracy segment here.
SPEAKER_02Yeah? What's that?
SPEAKER_00Do you think that Oscar and Max are gonna do a swap?
SPEAKER_02Sorry. Here's the thing, right? I don't know if McLaren is crazy or or what, but I would never give up Oscar Piastri with how much upside, how much potential he has as a driver, and how well he did last year, and he's still doing okay this year with the car that they have and everything else. I don't know why they would give up Oscar Piastri.
SPEAKER_00I have to agree with you. Why would you give up a driver who granted it may not be McLaren's decision because they kind of valued Lando towards the end of last season to win the world championship? Yes, and that whole debacle. I mean, that was insanity. Some of the team decisions that they made throughout the season was just insane. But I would agree with you. Why would you give up Oscar, who is an up-and-coming world champion? I I really believe that Oscar Piacchi has what it takes to be a world champion in the future.
SPEAKER_02Absolutely.
SPEAKER_00And and understand that Max is in his prime, but Max is constantly, constantly complaining when he doesn't get a good car that he's either gonna leave the sport or um go to a different racing series.
SPEAKER_02Right, but I've also noticed, I mean, there's been instances where Max has been a very horrible teammate, and he has not played the team role when asked to play the team role.
SPEAKER_00No, I totally agree with you, and I think what pops into my head is is you know the very famous documentary series. It talks about how Formula One drivers care about one thing and one thing only themselves. Right.
SPEAKER_02Well, especially Max, right? Max Max has been a four-time champion and he's looking for that car. He's always looking for that car that can win him the next championship. Well, it's it's looking like right now, Red Bull's not that car. Now, I don't know. You remember that Max has that clause in his contract that if he's not up in the rankings by mid-season, he can take a release clause and and get out of get out of the contract with Red Bull.
SPEAKER_00And I think that's exactly what is playing out, even though both teams are denying the rumors around an Oscar Max swap. I think that it's very likely that that's gonna happen.
SPEAKER_02It it could be because I mean Max uh Red Bull has been trying to buy out that clause on Max's contract so that they can lock him in. And I haven't heard anything about that being closed, so it's still open. Then that means there's the door for Max mid-season to say I'm out of here.
SPEAKER_00And these rumors they're they are more true in my thinking. What I'm saying is I think that they're more true than what other rumors might be. For example, Max had links to Mercedes for a while. Yes, he was going on trips with Toto, drinking champagne, getting schmoozed up by Mercedes. I think here was the deciding factor. I think that George is probably out of Mercedes, but I think they're gonna fill it with somebody else. I think Kimmy's seat was potentially at risk for Max to take. That's what I so that's my that's my take. So before he started to do really well, that's my take. Now that Kimmy has skyrocketed and has shown that he can handle not only a car like Mercedes, not only a team like Mercedes, but be a leader in the Driver's World Championship. I mean, the next person out would be George. But why would you get rid of George?
SPEAKER_02Well, right, but isn't George's contract coming coming up uh here in the next year or so?
SPEAKER_00I it is, but I don't think that so we were never released the details of that contract. I think that there's a clause in there that George can stay. And I I don't see why you would get rid of George, who is not only contending with Kimmy for the world championship, but you got two prime drivers, and I get I get it's Max, but George is way more able to work with you, in my opinion, than Max would be. If you don't provide Max with the right car, then it's like he's like, I'm I'm finding the next best thing.
SPEAKER_02Right, and that's that's where it comes down to, right? Max not Max just feels I'm number one. I don't care about anybody else. I'm number one, get me my car that can win me my championship.
SPEAKER_00Yep, I think that that is 100% Max's mentality. Yep. And that brings up a good question though. Why would you go to Mercedes now? I get that they've won the world championship in a different era of regulations, but they really haven't proven that they have that great of a car.
SPEAKER_02Right, but you know, right now the Ford engine in Red Bull is still kind of a kind of a uh a mystery too. How how is that gonna perform for the rest of this uh cycle in this new era? Yeah. So, you know, I think with uh with Max, he's he's looking right now to this just the current moment and where they're at, and he doesn't want to be where they're at. He wants to be in something that shows promise and sh can show uh winning right now, and that's right is is Mercedes.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I know.
SPEAKER_02But but if if if Mercedes is closed, then why would why would he want to go to McLaren? Because McLaren's not doing as well as as Red Bull is.
SPEAKER_00Yep. And there's been such a shakeup in Red Bull too, where I don't know if Max feels like he's the top priority anymore. I think in the past few years when he's wor won world championships, it didn't matter who the second driver was, the focus is Max. What does Max want? But now you see that partly because they don't have that great of a car, but you know, you got Isaac Hadjar who's doing an amazing job keeping up with Max wherever they're at, car-wise, and we knew Isaac Hadjar was gonna do great. Um and and kind of worked his way through the the junior uh Red Bull team into the the main car. But yeah, I think if if Max doesn't feel like he's gonna be the number one priority, he's gonna say, I'm not gonna join your team.
SPEAKER_02Well, right, but I mean why wouldn't he try to go for another team, such as uh Ferrari?
SPEAKER_01Well, I know Ferrari's got got uh Charles that's a conspiracy.
SPEAKER_02Max is actually talking to Ferrari, but but Ferrari locked in Charles. Yep, locked him in. So that he's locked in for a few more years, but that would leave uh uh Lewis. But with how Lewis is doing right now, I mean maybe last year if if Lewis didn't perform and he was still performing like he did last year, maybe Ferrari would say, Yeah, Max, come over to us.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Now that would be a switch up. Charles and Max on the same team. Could you imagine?
SPEAKER_02Well, and then can you imagine uh Lewis and a Red Bull after all the years of him fighting with Red Bull?
unknownOh my gosh.
SPEAKER_00I don't think that's that's like oil and water, dad. Lewis and a Red Bull. So speaking of Red Bull, where do you think Christian Horner is gonna end up? Nowhere, I hope.
SPEAKER_02I I I really I really hope that he's he's not gonna be coming in to Formula One. Um now I did hear that there might be another team that could be coming in.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it was uh BYD.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00The the Chinese electric car manufacturer.
SPEAKER_02And they were talking with Horner at possibly heading up their team. So there might be that going on, but I I I would prefer not to see Horner back into Formula One.
SPEAKER_00So he was at the British Grand Prix, which is was big news because he hadn't been in a Formula One paddock for almost a year, exactly a year from the last British Grand Prix when after he got sacked. So what I think is very interesting is just the nature of the team being as bad as it as it is right now, could pick up Horner to get a jump start.
SPEAKER_02You're thinking he might go back to Red Bull? No, who Aston Martin now that that's a very strong possibility because Aston Martin has struggled mightily this year.
SPEAKER_00Mightily, even though they it's like you can have a great garage of tools, right? Yep, you have all the right power tools, you have everything you need, and yet you don't know how to use them.
SPEAKER_02Well, I mean, you got one of the best tools in all of racing, and Adrian Adrian Nui. Yep. How can how can you have Adrian Newy as your main designer and still have a car that Can't get out of you know 18th and 19th place.
SPEAKER_00Right. It's it's terrible. And and also the last race, it was like the car was uncontrollable. I mean, Lance got multiple penalties uh for going over track limits, which you know ultimately is I think is the car's issue. I think that car is just super loose, it's super heavy.
SPEAKER_02Um well and then at the beginning year they had all those vibration problems.
SPEAKER_00Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Where they couldn't even couldn't even last uh uh half half of a race before they had to retire.
SPEAKER_00They had to retire because the driver just couldn't take it anymore. Yeah, they went numb. That was the nerve damage. Yeah. It's a spinal. No, I'm just kidding. So one of the things that I thought was interesting about the Aston Martin, you know, uh reveal this year was they revealed the all-black car, obviously, and in preseason testing. And I when I saw that car, I thought, wow, that car looks insane. Like it looks insane in the sense of it looks good, like it looks like a good car. It looks like it could have the right elements, especially anything that Adrian Nui does, you're thinking this is gonna be great. This thing's gonna be a rocket ship. And you know what it gave me vibes to is when Mercedes released their car a couple of years and it had no side pods. Remember how different that car looked compared to the rest of the grid? Yes. And before it went out and actually showed that it was a uh a junk box, the the everyone was afraid because they were like, did Mercedes catch on to something that we didn't? Right? Right. That's always the fear. When you see these new designs, you're like, man, did they get something? Did they get it right? And did we get it wrong? Did everyone else just read the read the regulations and say, oh, those side pods are supposed to look like this, and everyone's looks the same. And the Mercedes comes out with no side pods, just these inlets. And is this gonna be a rocket ship? That's always kind of the in-betweens, and that's what I felt like with Aston Martin this last year. I thought, wow, their car just looks really different compared to the rest of the field.
SPEAKER_02Right, but then we realized it's you know much heavier than the rest of the cars. Yes, and then the Honda engine group was fighting with the chassis group, and then you got the whole infighting within the the mechanical team. I mean, it wasn't the driver's fault on this one.
SPEAKER_00And really, that's that's your biggest fear, and and I think that that's what I mean by them having all the right tools. Is that you know they have a proven winner in Honda, right? Honda does eng does racing really well. Well, it's a pr they have a proven track record with Red Bull, with Red Bull, with IndyCar, they do IndyCar, the same, not the same type of engine, but it's the you know, the the hybrid v6 turbo engines. So it's like they they know what they're doing, but you they get into these woes when new regulations come out.
SPEAKER_02Right.
SPEAKER_00And we saw that with McLaren, you know, seven years ago when they were with Honda and they just could not get their car started, couldn't get it off the line.
SPEAKER_02Right now, now if we want to talk about a team that really has gotten affected by the switch over to the new regulation, we could talk about Williams. Yes, and and Williams, you know, towards the end of the last last round of regulation designs, were doing starting to get up there, starting to do it really well, and and Carlos was actually coming coming into uh uh really being comfortable within the car in the team. And then this year, I don't know what happened with the new regulation, but that car is just not where where it was last year.
SPEAKER_00No, it's almost embarrassing, right? Like it's embarrassing to have a car where you were on such good, like such a good track record for being a team that just just like six years ago with Latifi, couldn't really go anywhere. It was just in the back all the time, and then you started to get up there. You hired Albon. Albon started doing amazing for the team. You sign a huge driver, huge driver like Carlos Sainz. Carlos Sainz had the pick of the field. Yep, he could have gone to Mercedes for a year, he won a long-term deal, we get that, right? But you you you sign a huge driver and you're thinking, all right, this is the start. We're we're we're on the technical grind, you know, we have a little few hiccups here and there, but we're moving. And then you come out this year, and it is just you can't get into preseason testing. Your car is overweight, you don't know if you're gonna have parts ready.
SPEAKER_02Like Yeah, they didn't have spares ready.
SPEAKER_00They have spares ready. You're showing your hand a little bit that you are not gonna be competitive this season. And for how competitive the midfield is, that's a big knock on Williams for their progression the last couple of years.
SPEAKER_02Right. Now we'll see how this you know progresses over the cycle, because you know as well as I do, as the new as you move along in the new regulations, the cars get better and better and better. And yeah, we'll see how we'll see how it goes. But um, I'm you know, I'm I'm kind of a Williams fan. I I oh I am too. You know, I've I've liked Williams for quite a while. I mean, they've had some good drivers, good history, and then uh yeah, it's kind of disappointing to see them coming out and and performing this way.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, especially like you said, being one of the oldest teams on the grid, it's something where you would think that they have a better technical ability, or or just because of the rich history, because of maybe long-standing people who have been at the team, you would think they would progress kind of like Ferrari, right? Ferrari is also a super old team, they've they've been in the sport forever. Their main thing is Formula One, they they dump all their money into racing just because that's the heart of it, right? And I think Williams, through maybe some business changes, some buyouts, selling the team, maybe have lost that heart a little bit, right? And I think James Vows is is an amazing, an amazing uh team principal. I think he's doing a great job for the team. I think what I would want to see is less of them coming out of races and being like, yeah, you know, we messed up, we'll do better, you know, but more of kind of like um you you can't be like the the Christian Horners of the world, right? Because then you're seen as this toxic, terrible kind of team that fires people really quickly, doesn't give anybody a chance, and then you have the other side where maybe you can talk about a a Haas or Gunther and who hires young people and is like a little bit more lax, but isn't really doing much, kind of in the backfield. It's a team that's struggling money-wise, whatever. You kind of have to find a good balance in the middle where yes, you're you're you're hard on your team, you're hard on yourself, yet you still have a a a friend, like not a friendly, but a welcoming work culture, right? Where everyone's striving to be the best. And I think that's the difference. I think I think they've gone a little bit too lax to where they think, well, we have great drivers, it's just our car is bad, and we're just gonna kind of figure it out this year. It feels like there's no, and I you know, I'm not in the team, right? But it doesn't feel like there's this like this drive.
SPEAKER_02Well, that's why we're here. Yeah, this is why it's called the conspiracy corner. It's our opinion, it's our thoughts. Exactly. We're not in in with the teams or anything else, but you know, we're just laying out our thoughts on what we feel is where where they're at.
SPEAKER_00And we love all the teams. We do. So it's nothing that's like against the teams, it's just talking about the sports, talking about what we kind of see on a day-to-day or every week that we watch the race, kind of what we're what we're noticing. So it's just fun to talk about because who knows what's going on in this game. Maybe, maybe we're totally wrong, right? And someday when we meet you guys, which we hope we do, is we we'll get told that we're wrong, right? You're like, no, we do have drive in this team, and here's why, right? So no, it's great. And I think the Williams, the Williams team, I love the Williams team, and and we were able to go to the Williams team booth, not booth, but their pop-up kind of um fun activities and things like that.
SPEAKER_02Right. I have to admit, and I mean this was when we were at the Las Vegas Grand Prix uh a couple years ago. Yep, uh two years ago. 2024. George won. Yay, go George. Um, but that fan setup that Williams had, I have to admit, was the best fan setup I have ever seen.
SPEAKER_00Oh, it was fantastic.
SPEAKER_02At least at that Grand Prix, for sure.
SPEAKER_00And and and I think that's the thing, right? They go all out for the Las Vegas Grand Prix, and we know that. Just the amount of money that they spend because it's such a high profile race. It's it's iconic because it goes through the strip. Like it's it's a great race. So you would want to spend, you would want your team to do something really crazy and cool. And I think, yeah, we were we just missed actually the drivers.
SPEAKER_02We did. We missed Lando.
SPEAKER_00Yep.
SPEAKER_02Uh we missed the the Williams drivers.
SPEAKER_00The Williams drivers.
SPEAKER_02Who else did we miss?
SPEAKER_00We missed um who was it? Well, we saw all of them at the the drivers when they go on stage, right where they talk. We saw them all there.
SPEAKER_02But this but the signing in their in their certain locations where Lando was at the the Caesars Palace. No, yeah, at the Bellagio, the Tumi, yeah, the Tumi store. At Bellagio.
SPEAKER_00And literally we got there and and a crowd like was dissipating, and they're like, Yeah, Oscar was or no, Lando was just here. And we were like, what? Or is it or was it Oscar? Either way, it was one of the other one of the Williams drivers. Right. Well one of the McLaren drivers.
SPEAKER_02One of the McLaren drivers right in front of the McLaren car.
SPEAKER_00Right, yeah. That was cool. They had, you know, that's the crazy thing is that in all of these hotels in Las Vegas, they have the actual Formula One cars or the display cars, they have actual McLaren, like huge, like really nice McLaren sitting there. It's if you have the opportunity to go to Las Vegas Grand Prix, go because it was a blast and go look, try to find every car in the different hotels.
SPEAKER_02Well, that that was our that was our day, right? Yep. Wake up and then we'd go get breakfast and then go hunt down all the cars. And then it wasn't just the the Formula One uh display cars, they also had uh the Pagani. They also had Oh, yeah, that was insane. That was insane. I mean, any car ever that I want to get was at Pagani.
SPEAKER_00It's like a three million dollar car, too.
SPEAKER_02And then they had um at the wind, didn't at the wind they have all other types of uh uh racing cars from across the ages.
SPEAKER_00Yes, they did. And um we went we didn't go into Lewis Hamilton's pop-up shop, but when we we were we looked for it and we found it, and there was a huge line, so we were we were like, oh, we kind of spent a lot of money already this this week, so we're not gonna go in. But they had yeah, all these old cars just sitting in the hotel. And yeah, I I wonder if the ones that aren't the Formula One theme, do they leave those there all year long? Do they take them in and out? I don't know.
SPEAKER_02Well, I was thinking, I was thinking they're especially van for the race. They bring them in for the race. Uh otherwise, I mean, that's a lot of space to hold up for those cars.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and really nice cars. And the chance that, you know, someone bumps it or you know, drops something on it, you know, who knows? These drunk people walking by, you know, after gambling for so long, bump a window and break a window.
SPEAKER_01Oh my gosh. I'd be if I was the owner of those cars, I'd be I'd be absolutely so so nervous to to ever touch it.
SPEAKER_00And it uh quite frankly, if you're in Las Vegas and you're looking for an English muffin, yeah, good luck. Good luck. You will never find an English muffin in all of the food.
SPEAKER_02Well, we did finally. Oh, we did. We had to go to Wendy's. No, not Wendy's, I'm sorry. Denny's Denny's Denny's Denny's, yes.
SPEAKER_00Oh, it's good times. So looking forward to this week's race, Dan.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Spa. Spa. What a course, right? Oh, my it's my favorite. So it's my favorite. That course is iconic. It's been around forever. It's been part of the Formula One circuit since what? Since the start.
SPEAKER_00Oh, it's yeah, for a long time.
SPEAKER_02For a long time. It's one of the most dangerous courses, too. Well, it's got a little bit safer now with the that's true. With, you know, the the downforce on the cars nowadays and uh the safety features with it are in the car. But yes, there are some corners that are very treacherous.
SPEAKER_00The obviously O'Rouge being the corner that it is, just how how awesome it is to see cars fly through there. Uh, if you ever have time and you're looking up uh this you know, Formula One cars driving through there, you know, Formula One cars, like you said, Dan, with the down force and everything, they fly through there so quick. When you go and watch other cars drive it, Porsche GT3s, any of these other cars, they're spinning out all the time. Just because it from one angle that you look at it, you can't see how banked it is, or I mean how much that turn is. It's it's a turn, like it's a serious turn, and Formula One drivers go flat out on it, which is just insane. Yes, my favorite course, my favorite part of a track.
SPEAKER_02So, what are the chances of us going to see that next year?
SPEAKER_00We we gotta go. We gotta go, we gotta go. Yeah, and and the the thing about the Belgium Grand Prix, which is spa, is um it rains a lot.
SPEAKER_02It does. It's then it becomes then it becomes treacherous.
SPEAKER_00Then it's serious, yes.
SPEAKER_02Now, let's talk about the the way that that Formula One has been dealing with rain on courses. When's the last time you've actually we that when's the last time that Formula One has actually ran a race with full wets and actually done more than maybe a lap with a safety car?
SPEAKER_00Like the only time, just real quick off the top of my head that I remember people running in full wets was Haas. In uh was it Canada, Canada, no, Canada, yeah, a couple years ago, right?
SPEAKER_02But it it was still it was on the verge of of needing full wets and going intermediate. Everybody was on the intermediates, they could barely hang on. And they red flagged the thing for like the longest time, right? And then Haas Haas got a great advantage being on full wets, yeah, but then it dried out, then right, they didn't pit soon enough, it dried out, and then the intermediates became the tire of choice. Yeah, so but the thing is though, you know, with all the spray and everything else, and and the can't see anything. So with the safety concerns, no no one races in heavy rain anymore.
SPEAKER_00Which makes you question, I that's what I do love about uh Formula One is that they do race in rain. IndyCar won't race in rain, uh, especially in the 500, right? I mean, I I get it, right? Even a little bit of a sprinkle, you you're not going around that track very fast.
SPEAKER_02Well, they don't even have wet tires, they don't even have wet tires.
SPEAKER_00But and that's what I love about Formula One is that you you're not worried that a race is gonna get canceled because of the rain. But like you said, if you don't use the wet tires because it's all safety concern, why even have them?
SPEAKER_02Right.
SPEAKER_00It's all sponsorship, baby. All because Pirelli gets a lot of money for making those wet tires.
SPEAKER_02They do, but if if it's just gonna be that they're gonna do a couple laps around uh with the safety car, and then the stewards are gonna say, nope, we gotta shut it down, we're gonna wait for it to dry out, then I don't see a use for the the full wets.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, no, I totally agree. I yeah, the the full wets are I mean, I like the idea of a race going in full wet.
SPEAKER_02I do too, but it's never gonna go if there's the safety concern with spray and being having having no visibility. Right, and it's and then it's over. It's over.
SPEAKER_00And that's that's serious because they're they're still cooking at like 150, right, 180 with the wets on. And I mean, it's true. So when you're watching Formula One on on your TV and they're going around and the sprays up and you can't really see, it's true. But you know, when I was at the Hungarian Grand Prix, it it was raining, and and they went around one time in the wets, or the Williams car went around in the wets, and it's it's pretty serious. Like the TV does it pretty good justice, but when you're out there in reality and you're you know, you got a hundred foot of track, two hundred feet of track, pretty good distance, and you can't see ten feet in front of you. I can't imagine going at those speeds. I mean, I get nervous in my own car here when it's raining too hard and right you can can't see anything in front of you, and you know, even with all of the safety things that Formula One has done these days, it's you you just never know what could happen if you get into a really, really bad accident.
SPEAKER_02Right, and especially on spa. Because especially on spa.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, there's a lot of fast corners that you can slide off of, and a lot of elevation, up, down, up, down. If you're going downhill, you know, it's even harder to stop at those speeds. So there's let's I kind of hope for no rain because spa is just so beautifully raced in no rain. Like it's just gorgeous. But for a championship and and excitement of who could potentially win, rain is awesome.
SPEAKER_02It is. It's always exciting because you got the you got some drivers that specialize with the rain, and you got some drivers that don't do so well in the rain. No. And it just it just mixes it up. I mean, I mean, look at what what what happened was it last year or the year before, when Gasly got uh P1 at uh uh Sao Paulo, yeah, because of the rain.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. And then and then they both got podiums. Right. Uh him and Esteban got podiums. Well, speak of it, speaking of that team, Alpine, they've had a quite a big turnaround this year.
SPEAKER_02They have. Now, um that they've always been pretty good, but there's two teams right now that are in the mix of being you know in in that top tier. It's it's Alpine and it's Racing Bulls.
SPEAKER_00Yes.
SPEAKER_02And and I think right now Racing Bulls have got the advantage, but Alpine has been doing spectacular. I mean, Gasly's always been a good driver.
SPEAKER_00Yes.
SPEAKER_02And I I I really like Gasly as a driver, and I think Alpine has really started to step up their their um new designs and what they put in place this year, and that car has been doing really, really well.
SPEAKER_00And I'm just glad that they gave Franco a chance, right? Like I feel like for a long time Franco and you can um um I'm blanking on his name. He only had two races with Alpine last year. I'm blanking on his name. Logan? Not Logan. Um anyway, I'll I'll think it'll come to me in a minute. But you know, just kind of the the cutthroat nature of Alpine for for a while there, and the the fact that they've given Franco like it feels like Franco's been told, hey, you're gonna get a year here. Don't worry about getting cut, just drive the car. Drive the car well. And ever since that, he's been right there with Ghastly. I mean, Gasly definitely has an edge on him. Gasly's in P in P3s more. He's quite regularly, yeah. You know, and and with the new Mercedes engine that they have in the Alpine, they're not they're no longer with the Renault engine. Um that that was the best move they could have made. Not going with this engine that you've known for years, and also quite frankly, Renault has no stake in the game anymore. Like why are you like why are you building an engine? Why are you with a manufacturer that's really doesn't care about the sport anymore?
SPEAKER_02Well, Renault did a full exit. Full exit. I mean, they're not they're not even uh have any any components at all this year. None.
SPEAKER_00So that Mercedes engine definitely um is what stepped them up. I think it gave Franco confidence. Hey, I can do well in this car, I don't have to worry about my seat being taken. And here is my conspiracy, Dan. What's that? I think racing bulls are doing way better now because there's no more Christian Horner influence.
SPEAKER_02You believe so?
SPEAKER_00I think so.
SPEAKER_02And it's it's not because you think that they actually got a good car, got good drivers, and have good good leadership.
SPEAKER_00I think no, I think it's all those things. Yeah, I don't think they were able to fully develop the car to what they wanted to develop it with when Christian Horner was in leadership at Red Bull.
SPEAKER_02Well, also, too, look at this, right? Liam blasted how many races when he was with Red Bull?
SPEAKER_00He uh just like Franco, he should have never been cut that soon.
SPEAKER_02I know. But then you put him into a racing bowl car, and now he's up there and he's getting points every week.
SPEAKER_00And quite frankly, Yuki got the short end of that stay, big time because I think Yuki could have stayed in. I think it wouldn't have been a problem to keep Oscar in the Racing Bulls, keep Liam, develop those two, because those two in a few years, any team will take them. They like I well, maybe not any team.
SPEAKER_02Well, here's my conspiracy. Tell me, Dan. So now that Haas is partnered with Toyota, I'm my conspiracy is I'm thinking that at some point Haas is going to make a play for Yuki Sinoda.
SPEAKER_01Oh that's a good theory. Right. Or good conspiracy. I like it.
SPEAKER_02So I'm thinking there's a possibility. I don't think that Haas will give up uh um Bierman. Bierman's uh just a good young driver. He's gonna progress, he's gonna do well. But I think possibly when um Esteban's contract is done, there could be a poll to try and bring Yuki in.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, that's another one where you're kind of like, What are you what are you doing? Yeah, Esteban, what are you doing, man?
SPEAKER_02What what's the goal here? But Esteban's been driving pretty well recently.
SPEAKER_00He has, but where do you go from here? You know, are you just gonna be a Haas driver for the rest? And and but you know, that's the thing, Dan, is when somebody like Esteban, who's been in the been in the Formula One for a while now, has won a race, got a podium, got a couple podiums, doing a good job, he's a good racer, goes to Haas and doesn't show out, like that's when I think you're just you're just doing laps. And you're gonna and you're doing laps, and then someday you're gonna get replaced, or you're gonna retire, and it's and then you're gonna go to some other racing category, which is fine.
SPEAKER_02Well, I I mean I have to admit, Haas does not have a good record of having their drivers go to other teams. Uh yes. Roman Groshan. No, understand, Grosjan was in a bad accident, and he kind of got pushed out. And then you got Nico. Well, Nico is probably the only one that moved to another team, and he moved to to Audi.
SPEAKER_00But which he's German. They wanted a German driver. There was, you know, there's other things at play there, which is cool. But Nico's great too, right? Yeah, on Merit.
SPEAKER_02I think that was the best team ever at Haas, Nico and and Kevin.
SPEAKER_01So yes, that was a great team.
SPEAKER_02Uh, but you know, Kevin, Kevin Magnuson, he he spent a couple years, took a year off while they had Mazapin and uh Mick Schumacher. Uh that didn't work out very well. Um they're both not in Formula One anymore. They brought Mick back, drove a few more few more years, Mick's gone. Or sorry, brought Kevin back.
SPEAKER_00Yep, Kevin back.
SPEAKER_02Kevin drove for a few more years, then Kevin Kevin left and went through um the endurance series.
SPEAKER_00Endurance series, which he's doing great at, by the way.
SPEAKER_02I'm I'm really happy. I have actually I I I think I saw him when he was racing the uh uh in uh the early part of the year, the uh 24 hours of Daytona.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, or La Mans or Daytona.
SPEAKER_02The 24 Hours of Daytona? Daytona. But he also did La Mans.
SPEAKER_00He did La Mans, too. Yeah, yeah, because there's yeah, those 24-hour races will that'll be for another podcast. But man, those races are insane. I I mean I watch them and and it's just you know, it's crazy to go to bed, right? And you're watching it and you're like, all right, I'm gonna go to bed. You go to bed, you wake up, and it's like they're still driving.
SPEAKER_02Right.
SPEAKER_00They've been doing laps for those eight hours. It's just it's it's mind-blowing to me. And those G forces they pull for that long.
SPEAKER_02But what also gets me in those endurance races like that too is is you know, one driver will be driving, and then you're gonna go, oh, I'm gonna go to bed. And then they'll switch a driver, and you come back, and then the the standings are all flipped upside down. Yeah, just because they they switched on a driver, one driver is is you know much better than some of the other drivers and and gained a whole bunch of positions.
SPEAKER_00Yep.
SPEAKER_02And then and then they swap out again, and then positions change over. But um, I think wasn't it this year in Le Mans? I I mean we're moving away from Formula One, but isn't it? Wasn't this year in Le Mans one of the closest Le Mans finishes in a long time?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it was insane, and congratulations to uh ex-Formula One driver Nick DeVries.
SPEAKER_02Oh, yeah, that's right.
SPEAKER_00He won they they won it this year, so that was uh really exciting um to see. And just yeah, the the amount of kind of moving it back, talk about a guy that got gypped, Nick DeVries. I mean, once again, right, it's the culture of the team that you set, right? If you I get that it's the money moves everything in Formula One, I get it. And if you you know what we don't see is all the sponsors behind a driver that push for them to be on a team, that push for them to do well. If they do well, the team likes them, and it's like this kind of magical combination where you have people who want you to be there that are paying the team for you to be there, and the team liking you and keeping you, right? Right, and I think Nick DeVries maybe didn't have both of those or at least not a whole lot of sponsors, probably not a whole lot of backing from the team because he started to not do so great, and that's when uh Daniel Daniel came into the picture, right?
SPEAKER_02But DeVries, and then you got Logan Sgt, and then you got uh uh who else who else was during that during that year that came in, had just an atrocious year, and didn't get an opportunity to try and um get it get go further.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, go further. I mean, you it's the tale is old as time, right, in Formula One with drivers who don't perform, but I think you give him a year. Great. I think Logan Sargent had plenty of time to to to show what he was capable of.
SPEAKER_03Right.
SPEAKER_02We're gonna talk about revolving door. Let's talk about the the second driver that was at Red Bull. How many, how many second drivers did they go through?
SPEAKER_00I mean, once I mean, especially after Sergio, right.
SPEAKER_02After Sergio, it it was just uh you got Yuki, I mean they just kept churning through them. And you know, I'm glad that uh um Hadger's doing very well, you know, and and that's good. But there's other drivers that that went up and had the opportunity, and I don't think that they just were given enough time.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and it and it always felt like a little bit of did Christian like you? There was some of that, but I also think there was I sound like I'm bassing on Christian so much. That's not my point. What I'm saying is just the fact that I think he controlled a lot in that team. He did.
SPEAKER_02And and one one of the things that um what was there, right? There was there was a high expectation for Red Bull to get points.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And if you were this, you know, second second driver, not producing anywhere near what Max was producing, not even coming close, they didn't have time for you.
SPEAKER_00I totally agree. And I think that's when the I don't know if it was I I here's my another conspiracy take for the this evening. I think that Sergio wasn't truly failing at Red Bull.
SPEAKER_02You don't think so? I think he wanted out. Well, I I think so too. I think that the the pressure got to him because um you see that he's more relaxed now when he's with Cadillac.
SPEAKER_00Oh man, yeah. Cadillac's great too. I mean, I love seeing Cadillac as a team.
SPEAKER_02You know, seeing those two drivers come back and drive a Cadillac, that's like that's awesome. I I just love it.
SPEAKER_00And the biggest uh American flex, I think, this was them having an all-American livery in Silverstone on the 4th of July. Great.
SPEAKER_01Like it's not the if that's uh let bygones be bygones, right? We get in water under the bridge. But I thought that was hilarious. That was the most like born in America like statement you could ever make, right? I get their US team. You don't see Haas doing the the the stars and stripes.
SPEAKER_02No, no, but but for me uh as kind of a Godzilla fan, seeing him do the Godzilla that was cool in in in in Japan was oh I loved it. That was cool. Actually, next podcast, I'm I'll wear that. I'll wear the Haas shirt.
SPEAKER_00Gotta wear the Godzilla Godzilla Hawks shirt. Yes, and I'll wear my Ferrari hoodie. I have a bunch of I'll be wearing a bunch of merch, indie car, all this stuff. It's a lot of fun. Um so I think that um I don't know what what we're time where our time's at, but something that's really exciting that's gonna be coming up in this podcast is yes, we're gonna be chatting about it, but I think we're going to have a lot of fun segments on this. Uh oh, absolutely. Dan, do you want to give a little bit of a sneak peek of of what one of our segments is gonna be?
SPEAKER_02So one of our segments that we're gonna do, you know, as we go along, we're going to probably get into some very heavy conspiracies. Yes. And as we get into these very heavy conspiracies, we're gonna have a segment that's gonna be called tinfoil hat segment. And that's where we're going to just possibly go off the rails with something that's way out there, way out there. And just to let you know, there might be some of those times where people are gonna go, where did you come up with this? Yeah, it's it's it's possible.
SPEAKER_00It's possible, it's gonna be it's gonna be insane because um well, we won't spoil too much right now. Um, but there's there's opportunities that if you want to be a part of the show, you'll get to be a part, you can be a part of the 10 oil hat segment. So more more to come on that. Um obviously um we are on we're gonna be on all social media platforms, you know, you name it Instagram, TikTok. We'll be showing clips, YouTube, and anywhere where you listen to the podcast, we'll be there.
SPEAKER_02Awesome. So any any parting words, other than what is your prediction for Spa this weekend?
SPEAKER_00Oh, my prediction. Do you want my conspiracy theory prediction or do you want my true prediction? Get both, get both. All right, I'll give my conspiracy, my conspiracy theory prediction. I'm gonna say a Nico Hulkenberg P3. Oh a Kimmy P2 and a Lewis Hamilton win.
SPEAKER_02So what's the what's how'd you get with uh Nico P3?
SPEAKER_00I think, well, you're in Belgium. It's pretty close to Germany, right? So they're gonna, it's kinda it's not a home race, but it's pretty close. I think that um I'm just I'm just waiting. I think that that Audi team has so much potential being a fully backed team, being their own works engine, just you name it, I think that Nico Holkenberg's gonna be the one to break through. But the reliability has been very questionable. It has been. And and that's why it's my it's my out there theory.
SPEAKER_02That Nico P3. So what's your what's your no kidding true?
SPEAKER_00I think no kidding true, I think you're gonna have I think I think Kimmy's gonna come out of the gate strong. I think he's gonna I think we'll take say Kimmy P1, we'll do a George P2, if they can if they cannot mess with mess with each other, and I'm gonna say with Red Bull on the resurge, I'm gonna say a Max P3.
SPEAKER_02Ooh, yeah, well, you know, I kind of have some of the same feelings, but um, you know, there is some windy sections at Spa. Ferrari's great. I know I don't have any Ferraris on the podium, but Ferrari's great. So me, I'm thinking that that P3, you might see Charles P3. Now I'm saying that because Charles did fabulous uh last last race. And so I'm gonna say Charles P3, and unfortunately, I think Max with that Red Bull is going to come come charging. Now he got kind of a a raw deal crashing out the last race, but I think I think that Red Bull is gonna come in, even though you know me, I am not a Max fan. Right, yep. I think Max will probably probably come in second. And then uh I the Mercedes is too strong. And and Kimmy has been driving back crazy. So I think Kimmy will come in first.
SPEAKER_00So you heard it here first, friends. Uh set your fantasy teams to the Stewards Conspiracy Corner picks. And if you want to go really crazy, put your double points on Nico Holkenberg, right? No, I agree with you, Dan. I I think that Mercedes is is gonna be out of this world fast, and I think um without it being a sprint weekend, they get the full three practices.
SPEAKER_02Well, that's that's gonna be key for George. And that's that's that's the only reason why George may possibly come in on the top three. Is he'll get that extra time to feel out how to how to set set the car up.
SPEAKER_00Yes.
SPEAKER_02Yep. Well, I think that does it for us today, Dan. Yeah, thank you, everybody. I hope you enjoy the show. Um uh follow us uh and we'll be listening to you.
SPEAKER_00We'll we'll put we'll put our username right here. You guys can go follow us on all the different platforms. All right. Well, thank you, everybody. All right, thank you, everybody. See you next time. See ya.