The Stewards Conspiracy Corner #002

The Belgium GP, Aston Martin’s new ride, and the hungaroring coming up next! we dive behind the shadows of the paddock on this week’s The Stewards Conspiracy Corner.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:01

All right. Hey Dan. Hey, how's it going? Good. How are you? Not too bad. How's your weekend?

SPEAKER_00 0:05

It's good. It was good. It was a lot of eventful racing, which is what I love.

SPEAKER_01 0:12

Yeah, well, we had the uh spa race. Yep. And we made some predictions for last last from last week.

SPEAKER_00 0:20

Yes, we did. So spoiler alert, if you haven't watched the race yet, right? Dan was spot on. Well, I wasn't spot on. You were close. You're uh that's spot on in my book, is what I'd say.

SPEAKER_01 0:33

Yeah, I I I had Kimmy winning, Max second, and uh Sean or uh Charles Leclerc third. And then actually it was flipped around with LeClaire and and Max, but you know, I I got the the the top three correct, just not in the right order.

SPEAKER_00 0:51

That's right. And no reliability issues with for Kimmy Antonelli, which was good to see, right?

SPEAKER_01 0:58

That was good. It was good to see that the Mercedes was actually performing well. Um can't can't prevent driver error.

SPEAKER_00 1:06

Yep, that's true.

SPEAKER_01 1:07

George uh kind of went into the side of uh Lewis.

SPEAKER_00 1:12

Oh, we got a lot of talk about with with that one. But to kind of to stay on the Kimmy, you know, he prevailed through some pressure from Charles Lecrec.

SPEAKER_01 1:21

Big time, big time, and and at a pivotal time in the race towards the end.

SPEAKER_00 1:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:26

So I mean, if Kimmy couldn't have made that gap more than one second, he could have very easily lost that race.

SPEAKER_00 1:34

Yeah, I mean, on top of the Mercedes being a dominant car, I think that it also involves a lot of just how good you are as a driver. And Kimmy is constantly showing that he not only deserves to be in the best car, but he can stand against the rest.

SPEAKER_01 1:52

Right, and it it kind of proved out, right? Mercedes was a great car, and he squeaked out just a tenth, tenth, a tenth, and and and got that second on uh on uh Charles and then he was gone after that.

SPEAKER_00 2:06

I think it shows that when the Mercedes isn't uh fighting slash pushing behind another car, it's great. In open air, that car is it will just sail, right? Yes. But for whatever reason, we've seen it multiple times when the Mercedes is pushing, something breaks. The engine breaks, you know, something. I mean, on the front end of the car, you can't really control that, right? But I mean, I was just impressed that he stayed with Charles the whole time, got past Charles, and just looked absolutely composed the entire race, right?

SPEAKER_01 2:42

And and we didn't get to see George and see how that Mercedes would have performed with George in traffic and and the reliability. Unfortunately, it was just Kimi out front pretty much the whole time.

SPEAKER_00 2:53

Yeah, and George seemed like he was still on the back foot the entire weekend, like he didn't seem comfortable in that car.

SPEAKER_01 3:05

Yeah, that seems to happen though with George. I mean, that usually it's on a sprint race weekend, but you know, this time it was you know, a full, you know, free practice time frame. He got to get a good feel for the car, should have gotten a good feel for the car, but it just didn't work out.

SPEAKER_00 3:24

It didn't work out. I was I feel bad for him because you know it almost felt like he it's his time, right? Like it's his moment. He gets the good car, you know, he arguably outpaced Lewis Hamilton when he was in Mercedes, and it's like this crescenting moment, right? Of of George Russell finally getting the car that's the best car on the field, only to get beat by his 19-year-old teammate.

SPEAKER_01 3:53

You know, I was I was I was thinking about that, right? Now, if Kimmy does win, is he gonna be younger than uh the youngest or is he close?

SPEAKER_00 4:04

Or I think the youngest world champion. Youngest world champion. What I would argue because Max Max didn't get to a f he wasn't the youngest race winner because Max holds that title. Right, but champion though. But champion, I think he will be the youngest.

SPEAKER_01 4:22

All right, well, let's take a look at that and we'll find out, and we can bring it bring it next time.

SPEAKER_00 4:26

So that brings us to a great part of this where we want to thank our sponsors for uh this sponsoring the show.

SPEAKER_01 4:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:33

So one of them is Formula Coffee Co. Um, it's a coffee company that I started. I absolutely have loved coffee my whole life, and ever since I've fallen in love with Formula One and Racing, I was like, let's combine the two. So I started Formula Coffee Company.

SPEAKER_01 4:50

And I gotta go test. I've had Formula Coffee, I've tried all three of the variants. Yep. My favorite by far is the yellow tire, the medium. The medium roast? The medium roast, yeah. It's real smooth. It's good coffee.

SPEAKER_00 5:01

Awesome. So yeah, whatever roast you like, whether it's the light roast, the medium roast, or the or the dark roast, they go by the tire compounds. So the the soft tires, the light roast, the medium tires, the medium roast, and the uh hard tires, the dark roast. So yeah, go give it a try.

SPEAKER_01 5:17

And we're also sponsored by DH Toys right here in Shockview, Minnesota. This is where we film the uh conspiracy corner. Yes is in an actual corner of the store.

SPEAKER_00 5:30

So and you can come to the store and see where we film and also buy some toys because it's awesome.

SPEAKER_01 5:36

Yeah, so what's next? Um, I think uh what we need to talk about is is one of the conspiracies I saw during Spa, and that's with Lewis Hamilton getting a five-second penalty uh for getting in a in a kerfuffle with George.

SPEAKER_00 5:53

And this is perfect for the Steward's conspiracy corner because that was a Steward's decision. And not only that, they took extra long to make that decision.

SPEAKER_01 6:05

They did, and you know, when you look at it and you saw the replays over and over again, I don't know where Lewis could have gone. And it just seemed to me like it was a race incident. Uh let it go and move on.

SPEAKER_00 6:18

I definitely thought it was a racing incident. I thought it was a racing incident because it was on lap one, the first lap of the race. I don't think that they normally give out penalties unless it's pretty blatant. This one, in my opinion, felt like it was completely on George. George dove up the in the the outside of Lewis, and when he turned, he just he got his tire hit. So I I don't I'm I'm a Lewis fan at heart, right? I'm a Ferrari fan. So to see him get a penalty in a track that not only is super long, but it's super hard to kind of pass um with that type of time limit or time constraint, right? So I oh man, what a conspiracy that is. And I uh it felt like they were just targeting Lewis a little bit.

SPEAKER_01 7:13

Right. And with that five second penalty, I mean he was within five seconds of of Max. He could have he could have very easily been on the podium.

SPEAKER_00 7:22

Very easily. I I think he would have had a chance to probably pass Charles because he had more pace than Charles, and his tires kind of wore out, and I think he knew that he was done. And um, and he's even getting investigated after the Grand Prix. I haven't heard the news about what happened after the Grand Prix, but because of an unsafe pit release from when he hit his mechanic.

SPEAKER_01 7:46

Oh, did you see that? I did see that. So they're the they're investigating that as a post-race possible infringement.

SPEAKER_00 7:52

A five second penalty. And they were saying during the race that that was the reason why Oscar was gonna stay within five seconds in the likelihood that Lewis had a drop. You know, obviously five seconds.

SPEAKER_01 8:04

So that's interesting.

SPEAKER_00 8:06

It it gave me flashbacks to uh was it Schumacher or or was it Raikkonen that um you know ran over his mechanic's leg.

SPEAKER_01 8:17

Yeah, I remember that. I think wasn't that I I can't remember exactly. Was that Kimmy? It might have been Kimmy.

SPEAKER_00 8:23

I think it was Kimmy because uh well thankfully, thankfully the mechanics are okay. There's this wasn't that bad, but it's that incident specifically was very gruesome, especially for former. I mean, we know that standing there next to these cars that are gonna rip off the line is dangerous, right? But it's never good to see, you know, a mechanic almost get rolled under the car.

SPEAKER_01 8:47

I mean, yeah, or or in in general get get uh injured in any way, and that's why the stewards are putting this in place, right? Yeah, because they want to make sure that the crew are safe and uh don't have to worry about getting injured during a pit stop.

SPEAKER_00 9:01

Yeah, and when I was thinking about it, I was thinking, you know, there's so many moving parts from when that light that Lewis is looking at goes from red to green. There's so many moving parts, and it's it's all happening usually within three seconds, right?

SPEAKER_01 9:16

Right, and there's 10 people, at least 10 people around the car at one point.

SPEAKER_00 9:20

That have to be like in good standing around the car before that light goes green, and so you know, it's not Lewis's fault, you know. It's not I don't think it's any one person's fault, but Lewis is just looking at that light, and when he sees that go green, he's thinking, My team is off the car, yep, and I'm good to go.

SPEAKER_01 9:38

Yeah, he has to trust them to do what they're supposed to do. And yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:42

Man, that could have been really bad. It could have. It could have that was quite scary.

SPEAKER_01 9:46

But also, too, I mean, um, Lewis did stop like immediately.

SPEAKER_00 9:50

He did.

SPEAKER_01 9:51

And uh kind of was aware of the situation and um yeah, which was great. It it prevented a major injury.

SPEAKER_00 9:58

Really, it really did. And and I think the difference from this one, obviously, then what happened to Kimmy was that Kimmy's was in the back wheel. So you can't really unless you're look unless he's looking in his mirrors, you can't see it, but at least Lewis could see kind of probably in his peripherals to his right, he could stop real quick, be like, hey, is he okay? Right, and then go.

SPEAKER_01 10:16

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 10:16

That's also one of the reasons why I think not only did the five-second penalty hurt him, that hurt him a little bit too, because he couldn't just rip off the line. He stopped, was like, it was everything okay, and then kept going.

SPEAKER_01 10:27

Right. But I mean, in that instance, I would be uh much um more relieved to for him to take that extra half second to make sure his uh teammate was okay rather than just burn off the line.

SPEAKER_00 10:41

Absolutely, because that's the most important thing, right? Everyone's safe, everyone's you know, yeah, no one's getting hurt because you don't want anyone to get hurt, right? We're all we're all there to love watching the sport, enjoying the fast racing. We know that these drivers and the teams put their lives online, but we don't want to see anybody get hurt. Exactly. Right. So, but so we have some other things to talk about for the Belgium Grand Prix Prix. In uh what was it, lap three or four, Max passed an O Rouge.

SPEAKER_01 11:10

I know, not slow either, not slow, they were full out, they were flying through the corner, and he what he took, he overtook Lando, right?

SPEAKER_00 11:19

Yeah, or it was either Lando or Leclerc, right?

SPEAKER_01 11:22

One or the two, and I I just was flabbergasted that anybody would pass in that location.

SPEAKER_00 11:30

Balls of steel, that's all I'm gonna say. No, no, but I mean, one of the things that I found just mind-blowing was the camera angle they used. They used that angle where obviously they have over lit up with cameras, right? All the different angles, this the overhead camera, the one on the ground, but they had the one on the ground where you get that really cool view of it. And when you saw him pass, and from whatever way that view, it just makes like those cars are going at light speed. There's whoom! And you saw him just barely get in front. Because I mean, if you touch an Eau Rouge, talk about a bad incident, someone's probably getting really hurt.

SPEAKER_01 12:10

Yeah, you're going in the wall, that's for sure.

SPEAKER_00 12:11

Yeah, oh my gosh. But I mean, for both of us, Spa is one of our favorite races of the calendar, not only because it's such an iconic track, but that corner is just so iconic and so special. I just it it embodies racing so well, right? Right.

SPEAKER_01 12:32

A high speed, quick turn onto a large straight. You know, that's you know, you gotta position yourself just right to get off of that corner and and get on the straight and hopefully pass.

SPEAKER_00 12:44

And it puts those cars using their full ability of engineering the aerodynamics, the down force.

SPEAKER_01 12:54

Most definitely that's that's that is key around that corner, is that down force?

SPEAKER_00 12:59

Oh, I just am I just love that corner. I don't know, it's something about it. It's like it's almost like you know, when you're a little kid and you like get excited, that's what it feels like when they're about to rate, especially qualifying, because you know, they're flat out and qualifying, they don't have to worry about anything else. Going down that corner, O Rouge corner, is just I I'm just locked in.

SPEAKER_01 13:23

Yeah, there's that section. I love O Rouge, but then when you're there on the backside and coming down the hill, that that stretch is another iconic stretch where they're taking those sweeping fast corners going down the hill.

SPEAKER_00 13:37

Yeah, and just the wooded area. You can't really the people are in the hill, so you can't really see a whole lot of the people.

SPEAKER_01 13:44

Yeah, it's a it's a great visual when they're going down that way.

SPEAKER_00 13:48

I I love I love spa, and every year I look forward to it because uh not only that, there's the chance of rain.

SPEAKER_01 13:55

It's always the chance of rain because it has this like own microclimate happening there, and it did sprinkle a little bit, but it didn't affect anybody.

SPEAKER_00 14:03

But in IndyCar, if it sprinkles that much, they stop the race. There's no running, we're waiting until it's all over. But no, it was cool, and it's it's nice to see that no one had to really switch up any strategies. I think you know, obviously that would have thrown a wrench in a lot of things, but uh again, that Mercedes is just it's too fast, it's too fast. I think even on intermediate tires, uh you I don't think you were catching Kimmy today.

SPEAKER_01 14:29

Maybe not, but Red Bull has is catching up. Yep, Ferrari is catching up. Um you got the racing bulls that are catching up. Surprisingly, they did fantastic.

SPEAKER_00 14:42

Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_01 14:44

So that it was just incredible. I could not believe how well Racing Bulls and Alpine both did this weekend.

SPEAKER_00 14:51

Alpine's on a comeback. I mean, we were talking about that last week, right? It's just it's good to see that it's not a fluke thing, right? It's not a fluke one race because the track conditions fit the car. No, this is real. I think this is real that they're on the come up, just like how how Williams was on the come up, what, three years ago? Yep. And they were doing great, great regulation change, and they're just uh, you know, a rock. Also wanted to show my prop here. I brought my Visa Cash App Racing Bulls hoodie. Is that the one you got in Vegas? This is the one I got in Vegas, and uh I wanted to bring it in honor of how good Racing Bulls were doing. So uh shout out to Liam and uh and I' Ovid. Alvid Alvid? Arvid? Arvid. Arvid, Arvid, Limblad. Yes. I mean, they're both killing the game right now. They are, and I you know, I was thinking, I was like, how how am I gonna I was like thinking about how I wanted to approach the topic of the racing bowls. And I was thinking, they're like your little brothers who then grow up and start beating you up. You know what I mean? Because they guess whatever reason they got stronger and better. Like that's how it feels like for the rest of the midfield for for the racing bulls.

SPEAKER_01 16:13

Right, but here here's here's one one thing that is gonna get me. So when racing bulls does get to a point, when are they gonna start to challenge Red Bull and then become you know, not the B team anymore?

SPEAKER_00 16:28

I mean, I think you're I think you need a lot of money to do that. I think that's a big aspect of it. But I think you know, technicality-wise, for the last couple years they've been saying, well, Max should just uh switch over to the Racing Bulls, because the Racing Bulls have a better car than the the parent team. I mean that would be exciting. That would be very interesting, wouldn't it? Instead of the Oscar Switch, right?

SPEAKER_01 16:58

Instead of the Oscar Switch, have them go to rent uh racing bowls.

SPEAKER_00 17:01

Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_01 17:01

And then and then, you know, put up a podium in that. That would be amazing.

SPEAKER_00 17:06

Oh my gosh, talk about a conspiracy, right? Max is actually going to racing bowls.

SPEAKER_01 17:12

Who would they put up? Would they just swap teams in general?

SPEAKER_00 17:16

Well, they would have to do uh uh I keep messing up his name. Arvid Lind. Arvid. Um because Liam's already been in the Red Bull seat. Yeah, and they and they don't they don't want to put him back, they gotta they they put him back down, even though I think, like I said, they should have kept him in that seat the whole year longer. The whole year. Yeah. You can't show what you're in a new car, you can't show what you're worth in two races. That's like throwing Lewis Hamilton. Okay, you want a crazy take. This is a crazy take, Dan. That's like throwing Lewis Hamilton in that Ferrari, giving him two races and being like, you're done.

SPEAKER_01 17:53

Well, right. But then you know at that time they had he had Horner all over him saying you either produce or you know, produce your go home.

SPEAKER_00 18:02

Yeah, that's unfortunate. Yeah, it's unfortunate that they would uh they would do that. I mean, part of it is you know I get it, right? You're you're trying it's a money game. They want to get as many points so they can be uh the the constructor champion to win with all the money.

SPEAKER_01 18:26

Absolutely. I mean every team that's every team's goal. And you know, if you want to get those points, you have to you have to support Max. If Max is in third place, second place, first place regularly, and then your second teammates in fifteenth, it's kind of hard to get those points to get that constructor's cover.

SPEAKER_00 18:45

It is, and and I think I think that's the difference of looking at it from a business perspective and from like a fan perspective, right? Like we as fans are like, what the heck? Why would they only give them two races? Right. But when you think of a business perspective, you're like, okay, I need to put someone in there that is not going to be in the bottom ten every race. Right, someone that can get points week after week, consistently, consistently, and you're not necessarily even having to be right next to Max, but you know, in the top five, you know, yeah, fighting for podiums, that's what you know they're looking for right off the jump.

SPEAKER_01 19:25

And I don't know if there's so much looking for that as much as they're looking for just get me points.

SPEAKER_00 19:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:31

Um, because anything. Yeah. Because you know, Hadger had some good streak streaks where he was fighting for a podium, but I mean he's still got a seat because he's still consistently gaining points for the team.

SPEAKER_00 19:46

Oh, yeah. And I mean, I think this is another hot take. I think Hadjar's better than Liam right off the cuff. I think Hadjar has the right kind of spunk to him to be in the Red Bull. Like it's it's it's like an aggressive yet controlled. Whereas I feel like Liam would get frustrated and then kind of take it out on the like you drive angry, and you don't want to drive angry. And that's the thing that I just didn't quite understand with um with Liam, right? Like he needed to drive more like aggressive but controlled. Because he he's he stirred the pot with some some people. Like Sergio didn't like him for a long time when he was in the racing bulls because they got in a scuff. I mean, he got he's gotten in scuffs with multiple people on the track, and people get angry. I get it, right? Liam, yeah. Liam has really yeah, multiple times. I mean, it one one was with Sergio when Sergio was in the Red Bull seat and he was in the Racing Bulls, and they would they would scuff. That's when Sergio wasn't doing as well as was in the backfield with the racing bulls, and he was pushing too hard too. And he was so then there's that whole story, right? Of and so glad to see Sergio back on the grid in a better, like healthier relaxed, relaxed driving, and the team where they're where they know they're not gonna be anywhere, but they're slowly building up, building up, building up to be a better team, right? But at least he can be part of that development. He doesn't have to feel like man, race in, race out. The person that I have to match is Max. If I don't match Max, my seat's gone. I mean, he came out what was it, this last weekend and was talking about how difficult it was to be in the red. Right.

SPEAKER_01 21:46

I saw that article. And on, you know, they they had a picture of him where he just looked defeated when he was sitting next to Max.

SPEAKER_00 21:54

Yeah, I felt I felt so bad for him because I I mean, we all want to see Surgeon. On the Formula One grid. Oh, absolutely. I mean, he does amazing things for the sport. He does amazing things for the for the country of Mexico, right? Because they go race in Mexico and they're just all about Sergio Perez, obviously. And that is just that's amazing to see. And when you don't have that, it's kind of like, man, you go to Mexico and I get everyone wants to watch Formula One, but then they're that that hometown hero that you can root for.

SPEAKER_01 22:27

Right. And you know, even though I am a Haas fan and I have all my Haas drivers are my number one driver. Uh Sergio Perez is still my next favorite driver after that. Yeah. And and I'll follow him wherever he goes. Yep. Yeah, because he's just, you know, he's he's a genuine good guy and a good driver.

SPEAKER_00 22:44

I would love to see him, you know. I hope he stays in Formula One forever, right? But whatever he does next, because I kind of feel like when he left Red Bull, he wasn't looking for a current seat on the grid.

SPEAKER_01 22:58

He wasn't. From what I understand, he he was burnt out. He just needed a break.

SPEAKER_00 23:02

Needed a break.

SPEAKER_01 23:03

And um he he got that break for a couple of years and then went to uh Cadillac. Yeah. And and he's more refreshed now and he's he's ready to go. And which is great.

SPEAKER_00 23:14

Oh, it's great. It's great to see that. And I would love to see a Sergio Perez on the IndyCar uh grid. That would be interesting. That would be interesting. See how he does in Ovals. Yeah. Or take on a series like Le Mans or you know, World Endurance Championship. I feel like those series can feel like lessers of compared to Formula One. Right.

SPEAKER_01 23:43

You say that, but then why does Max want to move over to drive?

SPEAKER_00 23:46

Exactly. And I and I think that's to to what you're saying, to your point, is like they're not lesser. They're not. Just because they don't have as much money behind them and as much advertisement and all the big deals like Apple TV and whatever, it doesn't mean that some of that racing is even more exciting than Formula One racing. Like the the the competition is way closer because there's different regulations, whatever. So you don't get paid as much, granted, but it's still just as valuable of you could be just as good of a racer if you're driving in another series.

SPEAKER_01 24:22

So with that, you bring up a topic that I wanted to talk about. Now I watched I during Spa they had the Formula Two race. So I was watching Formula Two. I was watching Colton. And um yeah, it was an interesting race. You know, it was um um marred by an accident and it was it was timed out. It was a timed race instead of a a lap race. But uh Colton was midfield, wasn't wasn't up there, wasn't top ranked. So he's he's still working, he's still working to get his license to move up to Formula One. Now Pato Award just came out and said, I don't want to do Formula One anymore. I want to out, I wanna, I want to concentrate on indie. And just this weekend, uh McLaren said, okay, so now I've me and you've talked, you've had an idea. What do you think's going on? What do you think is happening with these drivers at Indy that don't want to try and uh put themselves up for Formula One anymore?

SPEAKER_00 25:33

So I genuinely think that IndyCar, now that they've moved to Fox and kind of have the national, I mean they were on uh what was it, ABC before? It was a different CBS maybe, and now that they've moved to Fox, national broadcaster, they're getting this huge advertisement. Um Fox is doing a great job with them. I think that Fox has pitched to the indie car drivers we want you to stay here because we want to make this as big as what Formula One is now, you know.

SPEAKER_01 26:09

Formula One has 24 races and they have expanded their race, and they're I mean, uh regard to a to a point, they're pushing their drivers too far.

SPEAKER_00 26:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 26:19

Um do you think that IndyCar can put up that many races and be able to uh have a season as long and as grueling as what Formula One is?

SPEAKER_00 26:31

I think you should I think IndyCar shouldn't have 24 seasons, 24 races in a season, partly because 24 races is well difficult on the body.

SPEAKER_01 26:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 26:46

When you have back to back three times, sometimes a triple header, back to back to back, you know, you're just dead at the end. And I think something that showed really valuable this year, um, unfortunately, was was the war in Iran, right? That canceled the Saudi Arab Saudi Arabian Bahrain Grand Prix, but you sh you saw this like mini kind of summer break for the drivers, and they came back seeming so refreshed. And not only that, they had time to develop the car, you know, during those two breaks as well. But then you just saw the drivers now in this longer season, they don't seem as tired, they don't seem as kind of like, oh, it's the next race, right?

SPEAKER_01 27:29

Like they well, they didn't really have too many back-to-backs so far. So, you know, you we got spawned. That's true, and then and then hungry next weekend, or this coming weekend. Yeah, so you got those two races, and then you got summer break. Right. And then and then you got uh you know, August is the next race after that.

SPEAKER_00 27:48

Yes, late August. So that's also interesting is coming into the summer break. Um, we will see a interesting change up very potentially. Well, let's let's hold on that topic for a minute here. Let's let's continue on IndyCar for right now.

SPEAKER_01 28:06

Right.

SPEAKER_00 28:07

I think that they've been pitched. We want you to be a star in IndyCar. You're already a star. We want you to be a bigger star. We want you to be kind of the face of this um organization, and I think that they pitched that to Alex Pillow because he's also said that he's not vying for a Formula One seat anymore, and they've pitched that to Pato. They're like, we want you to stay in IndyCar because we believe that you not only have the stardom, you have the quality of driving, people love you, you know, you have a whole fan base behind you. We want you to stay in IndyCar. And I think he's realized that he says, All right, I'm not focusing my attention anywhere else. Because he was, I'm pretty sure Pato was supposed to be driving in Hungary uh at a FP1 for Formula One for the McLaren team. Correct. And he's like, I'm not doing more. They canceled it, they canceled his drive, and he's like, I'm just gonna focus on IndyCar. And I kind of love that. I mean, it would be so cool to see Pato in a Formula One car on the grid, but man, he is just killing it in IndyCar. I get that there's seasons, you know, your season can not be as what you kind of anticipated it to be, but the competition's great in IndyCar. They want to keep their drivers, they don't want their we they don't want these star drivers to go over to Formula One, they want them to stay here, right?

SPEAKER_01 29:23

And and that brings up to Colton. That's why I bring up Colton because Colton kind of left his IndyCar team to go and focus on Formula One. Now, do you think that I've I've heard rumor that uh Cadillac is actually looking at another driver and not Colton to to come up in in the ranks and potentially replace uh either either either Sergio or Valtery. Well, do you think Colton would go back to IndyCar? That's what I'm asking. And if he did go back, where would he go? I mean, he he was a great Formula or IndyCar driver.

SPEAKER_00 30:01

Great, great indie car driver.

SPEAKER_01 30:03

You know, he was he was up there, his top ten finishes pretty regularly.

SPEAKER_00 30:06

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 30:07

Um he'd get a win every now and then.

SPEAKER_00 30:11

He was seen as one of those, in my opinion, one of those faces that they that I feel like Fox would pitch to, right? Like we want you to be kind of a fa the face of of IndyCar.

SPEAKER_01 30:23

Um well, there's a lot of people that are in IndyCar that could be that face.

SPEAKER_00 30:29

For sure.

SPEAKER_01 30:29

You know, you got Pato, you got uh Erickson, Newgarden. Newgarden. You you can you can bring up the the legend himself, Will Power.

SPEAKER_00 30:39

Will Power, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 30:40

If he sticks around.

SPEAKER_00 30:41

I mean, they're all great, right? Like they all have and I think that's what I'm saying is like they've pitched that to them. And I get that some of them are older drivers, they're not gonna be able to maybe move to a Formula, like it wouldn't make sense to move to a Formula One seat, right? But I feel like these young drivers are the ones that they want to retain. I because I feel like the Will Powers Yeah, right, like the Will Powers of the world, the um the Scott Dixons of the world, like they're not going anywhere. They want to stay in it. They like IndyCar, they love that they can travel around with the team, they love the 500. Like that's their that's the gemstone of racing for them, right? And why would you want to leave? I mean, you you got a good situation going, especially if you're getting recruited by McLaren. Right. So, I mean, it's it's it's just it's good to see, right? It's good to see that these drivers are like, we're focusing on IndyCar, we're not going where we don't see this as a feeder series.

SPEAKER_01 31:42

It's not right, right, and and that's right, that's where I think you might be getting to a point where IndyCar is you know, seeing the success that Formula One is having, the the amount of money that's pouring into Formula One and the fan base that's growing within the United States.

SPEAKER_00 32:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 32:02

And IndyCar is mainly a US. I mean, they don't race anywhere other than the US. So that's some of the key um fan base that's being pulled away from them. So they gotta compete with Formula One now that is worldwide to get their American fan base back.

SPEAKER_00 32:23

But the cool thing about IndyCar is that if you like both racing series, you can follow IndyCar and you go to more races. I mean, we don't have the option living in America beyond, you know, Austin, Miami, and Las Vegas, which now Formula One races are just becoming really expensive across the board. Right. You can go to, you know, get a general admission ticket to um, you know, Road America or any of these other series here in uh for IndyCar for 50 bucks, 30 bucks, right? And you can go see great racing that is um that you love the drivers. Also, you have way more accessibility to the drivers, which I thought was really cool. Like they do driver signings like like public ones, right? Like you could just drive you just like walk up to a table and have your hoodie or your shirt signed. And it's the the kids love it, the the adults love it, they because they get to see their favorite driver. Whereas Formula One, it's like they're running, you know, they're signing stuff, but they're running between the their suite to the paddock, and you know, you that's the only chance you really get to see them.

SPEAKER_01 33:38

Right now, they are catering on Formula One side to a more affluent fan base. So you're gonna have bigger sponsors, bigger, uh, bigger money coming in, and that's who the drivers are spending most of their time with. Um to your point, uh, on IndyCar, that it's not like that quite yet. So, you know, it the general general fan base has more accessibility to to the stars, to the to the drivers.

SPEAKER_00 34:08

Even more reason to get in now.

SPEAKER_01 34:09

Right. So here's here's where I'm coming from with the amount of amount of races in the season is the more time that you have to do that, where you're in front of the fans, giving them something to cheer for, something to root for, the more you'll win them over and and get them to be uh solid just long-term fans. So that's what I'm saying. I mean, I understand, and I and I watch IndyCar. It's sometimes it's like, uh, is a race this week? Is there not this week? Right. And it's not very well communicated on on networks or internet or wherever else. You have to sometimes you have to dig for it to find out, you know, what the schedule is. Now, die hard indie car fans will will no kidding know when every race is when it is and everything else. Um I'm I'm a die hard Formula One and more of a casual uh indie car. Yep. And I think if if Formula if IndyCar wants to just grab those casual fans, being able to get in front of them and and have it have it more known when the races are, how many races there will be will help that out.

SPEAKER_00 35:29

You nailed it on the head. I totally agree. Their their access to when things are is way harder to find. Like the and I don't they're not hating on the indie car app, right? But you when you go in there, it's not like immediately there's a race this weekend. It's kind of hard to like you said, kind of hard to find. And one of the things I find really fascinating, especially about the um the the the schedule and and and and the timing of things is like we know that Formula One i well since it's gone to Apple TV, right? They'll I see ads every time I turn on my TV, and it's like the it's a great ad too, where the cars fly by and then it shows the words, you know. And it's exactly the Belgian Grand Prix on, you know, November or whatever, you know, at this time, and then it's done, and then you move on to your show. Fox needs to do the same thing with their commercials, like something that shows this time, this date, and where it's gonna be. Like, it's it's simple and they and they need to advertise it. I think they're also they're a little bit conflicted. I think Fox has other priorities, right? They have to manage different schedules within their network, they have to manage uh, you know, the World Cup. The World Cup was a big one. Congratulations to Spain, by the way, winners of the World Cup, awesome job. Um, wow, what a what an ending beating Messi. Insane. But um like like I said, so they have to manage all these things, and and I don't know if indie car is their number one priority, whereas Apple and having like Formula One TV not no longer it being on ESPN, because I think it was the same way on ESPN. If you were if you didn't weren't a diehard fan and you didn't have the Formula One app and you weren't checking when the races were, finding on ESPN was actually pretty difficult. It was. It wasn't it wasn't the easiest thing because I feel like they have all these other things they got to manage, all these other big sporting events schedules. Where the beautiful thing about going to Apple TV, well, you know that Apple TV is a you have to subscribe to it, it has shows, it it took on some MLB uh showings, it took on some uh MLS, the soccer showings, and then now it adds Formula One, and it can pour the money into it to where all right, we're gonna tell people when Formula One is because they can watch it on our app.

SPEAKER_01 38:08

Well, there's that, plus the fact that Apple paid how many millions and billions of dollars. There was so much money for those rights, and so they're trying to get their money out of it.

SPEAKER_00 38:22

They are, and it's a money game, it's a money game. That's what it's always been a money game.

SPEAKER_01 38:26

But but it is kind of nice. You go to you go to Apple TV and they got the the the race right there. I mean, I don't have to go very far before I can see uh qualifying uh a little app for qualifying, a little app for practice, a little app for the race. And it will tell me you know which which race is coming up next, and I can go in there and I can actually go down a couple of different races and record and set record for races coming up. So what Apple TV did was you know pretty pretty uh pretty good and and and it it it's helped out the fan quite a bit.

SPEAKER_00 39:01

It it has, and I I'm I like the move. I like the move to Apple TV. A lot of people said that you know it's kind of like a sellout move. I don't think so. I think it's a great move. Um and then another thing I want to add about about the indie car is showing the different qualifying formats. Because I feel like you know, in Formula One, you get used to the same qualifying format, right? You got be beyond a sprint race, it's there's three practices. What a shootout qualifying, where it's if you're not the best time out of you know in the 15 minutes, you're you know, you're you're dropped, right? And that's how it ranks. Well, IndyCar, they do so many different qualifying. They they do the shootout, they also do top speed, you know, and I think if you're just a big fan, you're gonna dive into that, right? You're gonna be like, oh, what are they how do you do how do you figure it out? But if you're just your casual viewer, somebody who's just gonna watch turn on racing and what and you know a little bit about it and you want to watch, you're not gonna you're not gonna stay locked in if you're like, oh, I don't understand why he's in first, right? Like, is he I don't know. Is he is he the top speed? Is he the quickest around the lap? Like, what is it, right?

SPEAKER_01 40:19

Right now, you gotta be kind of cautious with that because in some instances, like with the indie, the indie race in the indie 500, uh, I feel that they do too much qualifying and it takes too long to get through to who's the top driver.

SPEAKER_00 40:38

Yeah, because you can Oh, like the top 12 or the fast six. Right, right.

SPEAKER_01 40:41

Yeah, yeah, because you go through the whole lineup, yep, and then you're like, okay, it's done, right? No, then you gotta go to the fast 12 or the top 12. Yep. Then you're like, it's done, right? So now they gotta do it. No, and then you go to the fast six, right? And then hopefully it's done. So too many, too much time, right? So, you know, I was watching it and yeah, I thought the the top 12 after top 12 was done was it. And nope. They went to the top six. I turned it off.

SPEAKER_00 41:14

Oh no, I didn't even I thought that was it. So um it's like getting to the best part of the burger bite, Dan, and switching it off and then throwing it away. I didn't know.

SPEAKER_01 41:26

So, like I said, I'm a I'm a casual indie fan. Right. I didn't know the format, I didn't know how it went. I thought it was similar to some of the other races where you know the top 12 go and they do a shootout, and whoever gets top time what is it?

SPEAKER_00 41:41

Yeah, especially during the indie 500. That's where it's even more spread out, right? Because it's the weekend before the race is when they do the qualifying, and then before that's the Cisnos Grand Prix and all the practices during the day. So it's this long drawn-out process, which I get it, right? That's tradition. They're never gonna change that. That's something where if you're watching IndyCar and you watch the 500, you're just gonna have to learn, right? Like they're not gonna change it because it makes it easier for the viewer to watch.

SPEAKER_01 42:15

No, they're not. Just advertise to me when you're at the top six and then watch.

SPEAKER_00 42:20

Like, don't go anywhere. We're going into the top six. There's still the top six. But but for all its other races, I think that they could very easily, whether it's keep a standard format, because I know that they do other ovals too, right? And I I would need to look into whether those are the time the time or the top speed, because some of them I think are the timed, and some of them are top speed. So it's just this like back and forth, right? Like, how do you how does it qualify? You know, what what's the best um you know format to to go off of? I I don't know. I don't know what the right answer is. I'm just saying that IndyCar could do a better job of explaining these things to their viewers, whether that's in, you know, when you click on the app and you click on the race, at the bottom it says, you know, top speed qualifying or timed qualifying, whatever it may be. Something just a little indicator to be like, oh, okay, I I know what we're doing today.

SPEAKER_01 43:14

And they do, you know, in in certain races, they do. I mean, when I watched the uh St. Petersburg race, they they went through and they talked about, you know, this is what happens during qualifying, you know, and and they kind of explained it at the beginning.

SPEAKER_00 43:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 43:27

But if you catch it after that point, it's hard to catch. Yeah.

unknown 43:33

Man.

SPEAKER_01 43:35

But so we went through IndyCar. Yep, we have anything else, IndyCar, that you think might be a a related topic between Indian Formula One and what they're doing?

SPEAKER_00 43:48

They need to have uh Mexico and Canadian races.

SPEAKER_01 43:53

I was gonna just bring that up. And that's that's where I think they could really expand their fan base too, because They are just locked into the United States. There are tracks that could be used in Mexico and Canada and expanded a little bit because you got some drivers like Pato. Pado would be huge in Mexico. Oh my gosh, huge. So, and and there are fans, you know. Formula One, the Mexican Grand P Grand Prix, sells out. I mean, they got a fan base that's insane.

SPEAKER_00 44:25

And their grand that one grandstand. Oh, I love that grandstand. It's amazing, but it's huge. Yes. It's massive. Oh, and imagine doing it at that track, too, right? Right. It was some of the indie cars.

SPEAKER_01 44:38

Would they be able to, or is it locked in for formula?

SPEAKER_00 44:41

Right. That's the question. Who you know, do they have any clauses in those contracts that they can't? Usually I think they can do other racing formats there, but like you said, it's all part of the buildup for Formula One in the sense of we're doing this at in Mexico. We're the only ones who do it there, and we can hype that up so people travel there. I mean, that's the majority, right? Right.

SPEAKER_01 45:06

People are traveling and well the coda, coda is used by other formats other than Formula One. But I don't think it's a Formula One owned circuit.

SPEAKER_00 45:17

Right. So it's it's all about what how how the promoter wants to, you know, formulate the contract. And then if they sign that contract, then it's like, yeah, we can't race anywhere. Like Las Vegas, for example. No one's gonna have the money to shut down the strip. Right? Like, like IndyCar can never do that. Right. Well, no one would be there.

SPEAKER_01 45:39

And then beyond that, the the paddock infrastructure was paid for by Formula One. Right, and they're the promoter. They're the promoter, so they're not gonna let anybody else use that.

SPEAKER_00 45:48

It brings in a lot of money each year. The that Las Vegas Grand Prix, first off, is not not only is it one of the most expensive races, the expensive, yeah, which is insane because Monaco's on the calendar, and that's usually a really expensive race as well. But um, yeah, I think that IndyCar needs to move to beyond just the United States, do some races in Canada, do some races in Mexico. I think that'd be awesome.

SPEAKER_01 46:16

Yeah, I think it would really help out their fan base.

SPEAKER_00 46:18

I I I don't see them booming in growth unless they do that.

SPEAKER_01 46:26

Yes, totally agree. Yeah.

unknown 46:28

All right.

SPEAKER_01 46:28

So now I'm gonna flip gears on you.

SPEAKER_00 46:30

Do it, flip them.

SPEAKER_01 46:31

We're coming up to to uh Hungari Hungarian Grand Prix. It's uh it's a small track. Yep. Uh hard to pass. Hard to pass. So pretty much if you're gonna get pull, you're gonna win. Yep. Um, not guaranteed, but very high probability. Yeah, very high probability. Um and and since it's uh since it's more of a a smaller, it's got a lot of curves into it. This is set up for potentially Red Bull and Ferrari to win.

SPEAKER_00 47:06

Because they have that really small short, short straight, right at the start-finish line. Yep. And then it's and then it's windy like the whole time. I've had the privilege of being at the Hungarian Grand Prix, which was really, really fun. It was a mixture of rain. That was the year where Max spun out, was 13 seconds behind, or no, was P13 on the grid and won the race. Oh, interesting. But George got pole that year, which I was ecstatic about because Max was just on a ripper that year. Every he was like getting pole and winning every race. So I thought, oh man, George has a chance to win this race. No, Max came through the whole field. But I agree with you, Dan. Yeah, I think Red Bull's gonna have a great, great shot here, uh, especially if they can keep their development going. I think uh Ferrari, like they like their slow corners, um, some high speed corners too in this one. Turn turn 11 is pretty high speed. Um, and then uh Aston Martin. Yes, I've heard. Bringing pretty much a brand new car to Hungary Hall. What do you think that's gonna be like, Dan?

SPEAKER_01 48:19

Well, if it's anything like a total overhaul um that Aston Martin has done in the past, there's gonna be some, you know, growing pains with that. They're gonna have to do some tweaks, they're gonna have to, you know, maybe roll back something to uh an earlier design because it's not working as well as they expected. But anything could be better than what they currently have.

SPEAKER_00 48:43

I mean, it's just hard to watch right now. Right. I mean, you're seeing Alonzo get passed in spa, which granted's not hard. I mean, but I mean, it's such a long track that to get passed is you know, you gotta be pretty slow. But regardless of the fact, I think that you're exactly right. I think they're gonna come out. It's not gonna be the greatest package ever. I mean, granted, it is Adrian Newey, so maybe he's come up with something that is just stellar, but at this point, they've had a they've had time to look at the other cars to see what's working, like what's working on the Mercedes, right? What's working on the Ferrari, and they can kind of implement that with Adrian's creativity. I'm just concerned that you know, if this doesn't work for Aston, where do they go from here? Well, there's only up.

SPEAKER_01 49:38

So or burning. I mean, I don't know, right? Well, so you know, uh take it, take it for what it is. Um try to design for the next season and come out with a better car in the next season. I mean, um Lance had to retire at Spa. Yeah, and it's still not a great car. So if they can come out with anything that just keeps both drivers out for the whole race, that's a win.

SPEAKER_00 50:10

Or even fighting for a point.

SPEAKER_01 50:13

Well, fighting for a point would be, you know, I think too far at this point. But it was up. Yeah, I was it, but if they could come back and and bring in changes that could get them close to fighting for points, that would be a total turnaround from where they are right now.

SPEAKER_00 50:31

Yes. That's another team that they had such good progress a couple years ago. You know, Alonzo was fighting for podiums. Right. And then they brought in changes.

SPEAKER_01 50:42

And they brought in a lot of changes. And then now then he wasn't fighting for podiums. They had to they had to reverse out a lot of those changes they did to get him fighting back for points again.

SPEAKER_00 50:52

Yeah.

unknown 50:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 50:54

So they gotta kind of watch that.

SPEAKER_00 50:55

They they do, and and at this point, you know, how much do you try to like tame back Adrian Newey, right? Like, are you trying to say, hey, Adrian, we just need what works, we don't need anything crazy, right? Does anybody ever say that to Adrian? Probably not. What I'm just saying though is if I was Lawrence Stroll, I'm like, can we just dial it back, put somebody together that just works, right? That gives us a chance. Because right now, this concept, it's not giving us any chance. It doesn't help that you know everything else is falling apart, too, right? Like the Honda engine's not doing very well. You I mean, you name it, the car is overweight, whatever, that beyond the aerodynamics. And you know, the aerodynamics don't play as big of a role this year, but still at some point you gotta be like, can we make the car inside the weight? Doesn't vibrate to hell, doesn't vibrate. Can it just be a proven concept with some of these other cars, like what the Ferrari's doing, what the Mercedes is doing, what even the McLaren's doing, the McLaren beyond the engine, they had a quick car. I mean, Lando right Lando was up there for pole almost. So was Oscar and Oscar.

SPEAKER_01 52:06

Oscar was doing really well during the race. He was up there, he was flying, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 52:10

So that's working. Can we do that? And I think that's where it's either gonna be a yes or no from me. If they come out and that thing looks just totally different than any other car on the grid, I'm gonna say unless you've unlocked what everyone else has missed, it's not gonna be a great car.

SPEAKER_01 52:33

So, after Hungary, summer break. Summer break. There's a big to-do that's gonna happen, summer break. What's that? The Clausen Max's contract is gonna be coming up. And, you know, you you you heard it, I heard it. Uh-huh. There's been rumblings where he's gonna be moving, and he got asked about it, and he basically said, no comment. Uh-huh. And then he got asked, Well, you're gonna stick with Red Bull, and he said, No comment.

SPEAKER_00 53:05

No comment. Oh my god.

SPEAKER_01 53:07

Basically came out and did was non-committal on on moving or staying.

SPEAKER_00 53:14

That was I'm pretty sure I texted you when I first saw that. And I was like, This is so new for Max. Max has always said he's committed to Red Bull, he's always talked about like my my focus is on driving the Red Bull car. And when he didn't say that this time, I was like, we gotta talk about this on the podcast. And and beyond that, we're we're like not wanting to bring up the the Max contract again until like something happens, right? But that was new, and I was like, we gotta talk about it again because Max Love Him or Hate Him is going to shift the entire Formula One paddock wherever he goes.

SPEAKER_01 54:01

Right, but if they're just gonna do for a one-for-one swap, you know, crazy season's gonna be coming up here.

SPEAKER_00 54:06

Oh yeah, yep.

SPEAKER_01 54:07

And if it's only gonna be a one-for-one where they're gonna swap Oscar for for Max or George for Max, who knows? Yeah, right. Because Mercedes is back in the mix, back's in the back in the mix again.

SPEAKER_00 54:21

Yes, they are. I that's what I was hearing is that you know, taking George's spot is more of a desired move, I think, on McLaren's end too, because then they don't have to be put in a weird spot with Oscar or Lando, right? We see it's everyone's saying it's Oscar because he got jibed, whatever. But I I just see that, you know, George, you you didn't live up to the Love you, George. You didn't live up to the to the the hype of the car.

SPEAKER_01 54:53

Can you see George in a Red Bull though?

SPEAKER_00 54:56

No, that's the thing. That would be crazy. So, like, where does he go? Well, if they're gonna be able to get the Red Right. I don't think he's gonna go to Red Bull. Why would you want to go to Red Bull? Where would he go? Williams.

SPEAKER_01 55:07

Well, you're thinking Science might go to Red Bull?

SPEAKER_00 55:10

I think Sci Science takes another crack at Red Bull.

SPEAKER_01 55:13

Yeah?

SPEAKER_00 55:13

Yeah. Well, because he was in the junior team, right?

SPEAKER_01 55:18

But he wanted a long-year contract. Williams gave him a long-year contract or a multi-year contract. That car is garbage. I know, but I mean he he got what he wanted. He got a long-term contract.

SPEAKER_00 55:30

He did, he did.

SPEAKER_01 55:31

And then and then I don't know if he's got any out classes, so he might be stuck there for a little while longer.

SPEAKER_00 55:36

He might be stuck. I I know that the the world of Formula One contracts are always very uh they can they can add in stuff or take out stuff, but I mean that would be a big shakeup if signs went to Red Bull, be back in a top team, be kind of the face of that team with Hajjar, build it up. I just I just know that Red Bull is so inward looking with their talent pool. They just want to promote people who they've found, they've picked up, they've added to the junior program. They they drive, you know, usually they drive the the racing bulls. But at this point, part of me would be like, if I have a good thing going in the racing bulls, the Visa Cash App Racing Bulls, why would I leave?

SPEAKER_01 56:21

Right. Why would you want to put that pressure on those drivers that are doing so well? Yeah. And put them up onto the Red Bull team.

SPEAKER_00 56:28

Keep a solid lineup for you know the next couple years. Yeah. And don't get complacent. Like I feel like when you know Yuki was in the racing bulls and and Pierre, it kind of maybe felt a little bit complacent, right? Like they there was the only option was to go into the Red Bull team, the main team. But now it's feeling like, hey, we're we're gaining our own personality, we're gaining our own feeling. We're we're developing the car in our own way. Our drivers are really doing a really good job. We're pushing the limit. Let's keep doing this, let's keep this momentum going. Keep the drivers as people who want to stay at racing bowls. Not they're not their goal is to move on to somewhere else. And then maybe in the future, racing bowls would be somewhere where people are desired to go to, kind of like how signs went to Williams.

SPEAKER_01 57:24

Well, he went to he went to Williams because everybody else kind of closed the door.

SPEAKER_00 57:29

Shut the door on him.

SPEAKER_01 57:31

But that's kind of unfortunate too. I mean, he was holding out for a certain certain team with a certain uh contract, and it never panned out. And and I'm kind of glad that uh Williams picked him up. Uh me too. And and gave him a shot. So I know that Max, this Max thing is gonna be kind of ongoing theme for like the next couple of podcasts, just because it's gotta.

SPEAKER_00 57:59

We gotta keep the update going. You gotta get our takes on it.

SPEAKER_01 58:01

Yeah, because summer break's gonna happen right after right after Hungarian. And then we'll know. We'll we'll know one way or another, and then we gotta start with the the crazy season. We'll we'll get we'll get a whiteboard. Oh yeah. Start a whiteboard right here.

SPEAKER_00 58:18

That's what we're talking about.

SPEAKER_01 58:20

Start start doing our uh project predictions on where we think drivers are gonna be heading.

SPEAKER_00 58:24

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 58:25

Yeah, because it's gonna be nuts.

SPEAKER_00 58:28

And it's always so fun, right? Seeing where drivers go if they or if they get dropped, whatever. Um, I'm just glad, kind of the final thought with that one. Glad that Alpine's in a good spot now, right?

SPEAKER_01 58:40

Yeah, and they got two good drivers, which I don't think they're gonna change out.

SPEAKER_00 58:43

So no, why why would you want to change them out? They're doing great, right?

SPEAKER_01 58:47

So that leaves us now. I mean, we're getting close to the end here, and Hungero Ring is going to be needing a prediction. It is now I was thinking. Let's see what you think.

SPEAKER_00 58:58

All right, Dan.

SPEAKER_01 58:59

Now we're making these predictions. Should we have a a competition to see who does the best?

SPEAKER_00 59:06

Yeah, and we can have a running tally.

SPEAKER_01 59:08

Running tally. Let's do it. All right. So last week won't count.

SPEAKER_00 59:13

Why not? You deal with it last week. Okay, we're gonna go. That was a net like you were you again, you got two swap, but that was spot on.

SPEAKER_01 59:22

All right, so we'll keep it.

SPEAKER_00 59:23

Okay, Dan won.

SPEAKER_01 59:28

You want to go first or you want me to first?

SPEAKER_00 59:30

Um, you go first. I went first last time.

SPEAKER_01 59:32

Okay, I'll go first. So, like I was saying, with the with the Hunger Hungero ring, it's it's a short course, it's tight, it's got the very short straightaway. It's it's made for cars that are quick around corners, which are are Red Bull and McLaren and Mercedes and Ferrari. I'm thinking, I'm thinking, this is probably the race where uh Lando might actually finally get a win.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:02

Whoa, that's bold.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:04

Right, and then I'm thinking after that you're gonna get uh Lewis. And then surprisingly, Oscar. So it's gonna be a Lando, Lewis, Oscar.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:16

A McLaren duh of both on the podium.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:19

I'm thinking the McLaren will actually come come alive during this race.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:22

Alright. Okay, I'm gonna switch it up. I'm gonna say a Lewis Hamilton, P1. I think, I think Lewis, this is gonna be the break make or break for the world championship. He's gonna he has to start beating Kimmy at this point. If Kimmy keeps winning, it just the the time goes low. I I think George is out of the running really, realistically, unless Kimmy has more issues and George does really well. But I just don't see George coming back now. Okay. Lewis, Max, P2, I'm gonna say a Kimmy P3. Oh I think Kimmy's Kimmy's gonna do well around the Hungar Ring, but I think the experience of Max and Lewis, and they're gonna be dueling it out up in the front. But I think Lewis is gonna get poll right off the rip, hold it, and uh win the race. All right. Well, there you go. You heard our predictions? That's the predictions.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:26

Make your predictions if you think that you can come up with better than us. You know, shoot comments. Shoot us a comment. All right. What do you think?

SPEAKER_00 1:01:34

I think that's that's week two wrapped.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:36

Week two wrapped.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:37

All right. Sounds awesome. Thanks, everybody.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:38

Thanks, everybody.