On Sports Fix with D'Arcy Waldegrave for 17th March 2026, the beginning of the 2026 F1 season has seen a couple of great races, but it has been controversial to say the least. The change in the engines being split 50 percent combustion engine and 50 percent battery has seen criticism from drivers and fans alike. David Dicker is the owner of Rodin Motorsport and he joined D'Arcy to share his view.
D'Arcy shares his thoughts on the Black Ferns sevens side after a miraculous come from behind victory against Australia at the New York sevens.
And D'Arcy and NZ Herald sports journalist Alex Powell discuss Liam Lawson's performance at the Shanghai F1 Grand Prix and whether we are getting any closer to a resolution in the New Zealand domestic cricket saga.
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Speaker 1 (00:09):
You're listening to a podcast from News Talks EDB. Follow
this and our wide range of podcasts now on iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
This is Sportsfix Howard by News Talks EDB.
Speaker 3 (00:20):
Welcome on into the Sports Vex podcast. Great to have
you on board. My name is Darcy Waller. Gob To Tuesday,
seventeenth of March twenty twenty six. Cheers, JJ Gardner Holmes
for your continued support of this podcast, New Zealand's most
trusted home builders. What have we got for here today? Well,
I'm going to catch up short with a bloat called
(00:41):
David Decker. David is the founder of Rodin Cars, the
founder of Rodin Motor Sports still owns them both. He
is in it up to his eyeballs. We'll talk to
him about the current divide between teams and drivers, around
the power plant, around the fifty to fifty battery, the
internal combustion engine drama that's happening in four one. I'll
(01:05):
share my thoughts with you around the astonishing lack Fern's
seventh what a team that is, and will be joined
in the chamber by Alex Powell. He's at Sports Writer
and Zellenhill dot co dot nz and we'll discuss what
happened in the weekend at Shanghai in Formula one and
I'll try and find out if we're getting any closer
to any solution. Add all with the trouble with New
(01:28):
Zealand cricket and the players and where does Z twenty
Super Smash Big Bash actually go. That's the master plan,
so let's feel what we normally do. It's like the
week stand back and bombs time Now for all we
listen to the newsmakers in sport today, starting with the
Crusader's coach rob a Penny Thresh after escaping the effects
(01:51):
of three yellow cards in one game and somehow beating
the Highlanders. They're dealing with not any card issues that
injuries have now befallen the current champions. Skip it. David
Halli is out for a bit, but it's not all bad.
Speaker 4 (02:06):
It'll be a week for a week propositionally great news.
Speaker 5 (02:10):
You know.
Speaker 4 (02:10):
There was a little bit of chat about a potential fracture,
but nothing so it's soft to shoot and will just
be guided by how he feels.
Speaker 3 (02:18):
To Rugby League and the runaway freight train well at
the start of the season anyway, that is the worries
they're thirteen. Aaron Clark last year's now he am at
Locke of the Year. He's in superb form, but like
in a as seen on TV commercial, Wait, there's more
sort of.
Speaker 4 (02:35):
Switching the surface, like I still got so much more
to learn and think the good thing about now, Like
my family and my teammates.
Speaker 5 (02:41):
Keep me grounded, and I know that I've got so
much more to bring in.
Speaker 4 (02:44):
Hopefully I can hear that.
Speaker 3 (02:45):
And Kimmy paralympian Adam Hall has added a medal to
his Olympic Hall ands drawn equal with Patrick Cooper as
New Zealand's most decorated Winter Paralympians, and he wants his
success to inspire.
Speaker 4 (02:59):
Others, you know, hopefully by doing what I have done.
Who's also given a bit of an opportunity to help
those athletes that have been before me to believe that league,
to give a better recognition for those athletes that have
been performing.
Speaker 3 (03:12):
Sport then sport now sport today.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
Sport use it's Sportsfix with Dancivaldegreve.
Speaker 3 (03:22):
And it's a warm at Welcome Doun to Sports Fixed
podcast to David Dickat. David is the owner of it
Rodin Motors, Sport is the man behind Rodent Cars who
are up an F two currently in World of Motus Sport.
He joins us now to talk about I suppose you
could call it a schism, a riff between various parties.
At the top of F one, David, welcome to the program. Controversial,
(03:45):
will say the least this new fifty to fifty split
with the engine, where do you sit on where Formula
one are going with this half electric half regular combustion engine.
Speaker 5 (03:57):
Well, I got to admit I'm not a massive fan
of it. One of the problems is that the electrification
is in there more as a marketing thing, more for
the big manufacturers, you know, who make a lot of
road cars, because if you were to, if you were
to just take the battery out and take all the
weight out, the cars would be quicker without without any
(04:20):
of the battery and hybrid stuff because of the weight
of the batteries and the way to the go. I
mean everyone knows that. So it's been done for you know,
not sporting reasons, but marketing reasons, which is not a
great thing in a sport. And you know, matter rating
is still a sport even though it's Frank William said
it's only a sport for two hours on a Sunday
(04:41):
afternoon and the rest of the time it's a business.
But even so, it's.
Speaker 3 (04:45):
Very much along the lines of back in the old
days you when on Sunday you sell on Monday, and
you're saying, this is the drive behind te's the pun
behind the changing or the adjustments of the regulations.
Speaker 5 (04:57):
Oh not exactly. I mean we're a million miles away
from that stuff now. I mean, in terms of Australia
you've got to go back to the seventies to get that.
When you add you know, the two hundred has built
for Bathist, I mean, we're miles away from that now.
But the thing is the FIA, FIA and f one's
principal interest is the big manufacturers. They're not really interested
(05:21):
in sporting teams. They want to have they want their
teams to be with the big manufacturers, and so they're
going to be constrained to some extent by what the
manufacturers want to see. And one of the problems, of course,
is that these rules were worked out quite a few
years ago and the landscape on the road coast it
(05:45):
has changed a tremendous amount in that time. The ev
cars seem to have fallen out of popularity, which I'll
be honest, I don't quite understand because they're quite a
good solution from a transpoint point of view, especially in
urban areas. And the swing is to petrol hybrids, but
(06:07):
not fifty to fifty hybrids, you know, small hybrids with
small batteries because of the main problems the way to
the batteries, I mean petrels about five or ten times
more energy efficient per kilogram than in a chemical battery,
and that's just physics that can't be denied.
Speaker 3 (06:26):
As far as the reliability of the power base, and
this is something that Formula one teams are now experiencing
straight up in their face. When you have a situation
with two McLaren's can't start in Beijing because something's gone wrong,
different problems. You've got issues with maxvest Evans car stopping.
(06:47):
You've had Liam Lawson stopping on the grid. The list
goes on. They not spend enough time actually sorting this
formula out. Do they not know where they're going with
this hybrid situation? Because to the untrained eye it would
appear like it's been introduced way too quickly.
Speaker 5 (07:05):
I think the real issue is that the rules incredibly complicated,
how you can operate the power unit is incredibly complicated,
and there's very little testing now, you know, and there's
no private testing. So I think it's a little bit
unfair to expect all the teams to be able to
(07:26):
get the whole thing working right right from the start,
because it's just so necessively complicated. I mean, if you
compare it, just you put a petrol engine in there
and away you go, no batteries, no anything else. That's
a vastly simpler setup than what they currently have, and
it's so complicated that there's boundary issues in the early going.
Speaker 3 (07:48):
Do you see the FIA turning around and maybe adjusting
these regulations. Now they've got one of the greats of
all time complaining and a number in the paddock are
saying this is not working. Are they lighted to backtrack,
maybe look at readjusting, changing the formula.
Speaker 5 (08:04):
I would say that would be unlikely, and you can
call me synic if you want, But if Mercedes was
one of the companies having the problems, I think they'd
be much more likely to do it. With Mercedes seemingly
having the whole thing working smoothly, I can't imagine them
doing anything. I mean, look, they've sat these regulations and
(08:25):
they said the years ago, and they're going to be
reluctant to change them, you know in the short term
of talk of going back to purely combustion engines and
runing sustainable fuel, which I consider to be the best
strategy because if you go back to combustion only and
you run sustainable fuel, you've answered all the questions.
Speaker 3 (08:48):
As far as the racing itself, And this is where
the heart of the problem is for a number of
these drivers, Yo yo racing almost you've got your battery power,
then you've got none, So cars just go back and forth,
back and forth. So the actual the point of ability
to race is no longer there is that a good
(09:10):
thing for the formula, the fact that it's not really
about racing, it's about preservation maintenance more than anything.
Speaker 5 (09:18):
Well, to be honest, I think it's just basically a
different form of racing, and it's a form that is
different to what people have used to and when you
get change, people don't like change.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
Dissecting the sporting agenda, it's sportsfix With Darcy Waldgrave.
Speaker 3 (09:39):
This women's sevens team is nothing short of phenomenal. I'm
not sure how much of this you have watched, and
I think there's an eyeball situation off the Game of
sevens now, mostly due to the fact we don't have
a tournament here anymore. If it's not right in front
of you, people tend not to take much notice. We
(10:00):
have a Ferns team that is on another planet. You
need to watch this wahana and what they can do
on the part. They have been breathing in rarefied air
of success. They don't seem to know when the game
is over. They don't seem to know when they should
pack up because the opposition are going to run straight
(10:22):
through or straight over them doesn't even come into their calculations.
If the clock's ticking and the ballers live, there's still
a game to be won, and we saw that over
the weekend with an astonishing victory over the arch rivals,
the Australians. They were done and dusted and out for
the count, but they did a Tyson Fury knocked down
(10:44):
but not knocked out. They did better than Tyson Fury.
The game didn't end up as a split decision draw.
They went on and won. It has been an amazing season.
If you want to see athleticism, if you want to
see strength, if you want to see skill, if you
want to see blazing pace. More importantly, if you want
(11:05):
to see a team that play for each other and
refuse to lie down, you need to watch this Black
Ferns at seven's team. They are astonishing.
Speaker 2 (11:16):
The Chamber is now in session on Sports Fix.
Speaker 3 (11:20):
We're in the Chamber now with Alex Powell. He is
a writer for New Zealand Herald across a number of sports.
Likes to talk a bit of cricket, loves us race
cars as well. Alex work, come on and I trust
you well and you're smiling after what was an incredible
weekend for Lilliam Lawson.
Speaker 6 (11:38):
Oh, I mean that, but it's always nice to beend
the chamber with your dark so I'll stop always smiling.
But no, you're right, great weekend for Liam.
Speaker 3 (11:46):
Well, I'll put it to this. I've got a lot
of people them the weekend saying he did well, but
how many cars didn't start, how many cars didn't finish?
There's no weight to that argument.
Speaker 6 (11:56):
Surely that's racing. Cars will not finish if you've got
you know, three hundred kilometer an hour, missiles going at
each other. They're going to smash into each other every
now and then, and it does open the field up
for someone else. Like that's what racing is.
Speaker 3 (12:09):
In order to finish first, first you must finish it,
nailed it, and first you must start. And they have issues,
as we've just heard from David Decker from Road and
Cars around how they're dealing with these new regulations with
no time to test. Wow, what are they supposed to do?
In essence, we've seen an interesting start and the fact
(12:32):
we've seen two teams dominate. I'm sure that the fed
Ardies are very happy about the Mercedes, every more than
happy about that. But this hasn't set the stall out
for the rest of the year.
Speaker 6 (12:43):
It does it, surely, No, absolutely not. Like we've seen
the last few years, teams almost hold themselves back because
they knew this was coming. You know, McLaren were able
to effectively mortgage the future by going for everything last
year and it worked. But now we see where they
are in terms of Mercedes. I think they'll be very
nervous about what's going to happen in April because now
(13:04):
there's no racism. Bahrain in Saudi Arabia. And because it's
not part out of the season break in the middle
of the year, cars or teams are gonna be allowed
to work on their cars during that sort of five
weeks off. So come to come Miami. I think we
are going to see who really is out in front
of the pack? Has it Mercedes, will Ferrari be able
to catch up?
Speaker 3 (13:22):
Well?
Speaker 6 (13:22):
Red, we'll be able to sort everything out where McClaren
can Aston Martin get a driverbill car. You know, it's
so exciting.
Speaker 3 (13:28):
It's exciting from that point of view. I will still
go with this point, which I'm not getting much traction with.
Liam Wwson mentioned it. It's but yo, yo, I've got
power song in a pass you or I've run out.
So I've got powering in a pass back or I've
run out. I've got powering in a pass you back
that still drives me nuts. That's not racing.
Speaker 6 (13:47):
That that's I like it in the sense that it's
not about who has the fastest car. It's about who
is the best at managing a race. You know, I
think we're going to see, but are.
Speaker 3 (13:57):
They race car drivers or are they managers of a car?
They driving a local bus. So surely that's not their job,
don't they Are they supposed to be racing?
Speaker 6 (14:04):
Well, it's racecraft, doesn't it. We know we've spoken so
many times about you know, racing isn't just about getting
in the car, going as fast as you can and
then getting out. You do need to know. This is
when I attack, this is when I defend, This is
what I conserve. And now we do have more of
that on show. I'll throw over to our colleague Matt Heath,
who points out, as it's racing if the drivers don't
(14:27):
like it, but it's entertaining for the fans, you know,
because I'd argue that you look at that sprint race,
like you and I have spoken so many times on
and off Mike, sprint races are bollocks, you know, because
no one risks anything. Well, they were on Saturday.
Speaker 3 (14:40):
They kind of had to. But I don't think they
have quite an idea about what they're dealing with yet either,
And that adds to the jeopardy essentially with these with
these cars and when cars don't start and when cars
can stop on the grid. But scary, but I presuming
it's going to be sorted out. I don't see McLaren
(15:02):
and you made a really salient point before. Do you
know who the defending world champion?
Speaker 6 (15:09):
Yeah, I know it's Lando Norris, but we're not seeing
anything from him now we're not.
Speaker 3 (15:14):
But that's because McLaren aren't doing well. Zach Brown from
what I know, and will not be happy, so that
will have to change. So maybe the little break will
work well. But back to Liam Lawson again and what
he established. He drives a wide car, he can drive
that hard tire selection was brilliant for qualifying.
Speaker 6 (15:33):
Well, I'll tell you what right, because he did that
in the sprint, didn't he They burned a set of
hard tires knowing it would take them long to the
end of the race, went from thirteenth to seventh in
the sprint and to the points, but he knew it
would leave him short in the Grand Prix, so he
had one set of hard tires and he made it work.
You know, he was complaining at the end of the sprint,
which was nineteen laps, I can't do anything on these tires.
He made his hard's last forty one laps in the
(15:55):
Grand Prix. That is incredible. Like we've said, we've seen
Liam make one stop strategies work. You think of Austria
last year, you think of Vezbaijan last year, Brazil. He
is so good somehow making a one stop work, you know,
and it's so difficult for drivers who are used to
maybe a two stop having a bit of a fresh
attire advantage at the end, but they just can't get
(16:15):
around the kiwi on the one stop.
Speaker 3 (16:17):
And do you think that Kimmy Antonelli has forgiven the
MC for calling him Kimmy Reichen and.
Speaker 6 (16:22):
After I don't think he'll mind very much. Would you
if you win a Grand Prix and they call you,
you know, Darcy Swain.
Speaker 3 (16:29):
I love, I'll stop it if I look that young.
I wouldn't mind what they'd say. Cricket, this ever revolving
story around T twenty ZED twenty Super Smash, Big Bass,
Super Smash Revive. You've been in the weeds with this one.
Are we getting any closer to any form of resolution?
Do you know? Because ZI Cricket have had their board meeting.
Speaker 6 (16:48):
Yeah, Look, the short answer is we just don't know.
I've been in touch with people on both sides on
New Zealand Cricket who we understand perhaps favor the Big bash,
although they say they are committed to seeing the process
play out, which I believe. I've been in touch with
everyone on the NZED twenty side. Bar Stephen Fleming. I
just don't know his number, but no one knows the thing.
(17:11):
You know, the board meeting has happened. I don't know
if it's gone into a second day, if it's gone
into a vote, but it's just so frustrating, and I
can imagine for the players they will be really wanting
to know what is happening with their future, but they
just don't.
Speaker 3 (17:26):
Well, they'd be better off playing Wooden. They're supposed to
having a cup of tea before they go along. They've
earned that cup of tea. They've all been in India
for two months, mate, wow, as a long time. Just
on that, we look to a stripped back team in
the first up game they play. We're recording this while
the other game's being played, incidentally, so we can't comment
on that one. Do you think we're seeing a direct
(17:48):
result of the issues we've got at that level with
the team getting rolled or is that just one of
those one off cricket matches where things just to all
go to pop.
Speaker 6 (17:55):
I think it's six of one and half dozen or
the other. But I think South Africa's standard has clearly
been raised by the fact that they have a franchise
competition in the Essay twenty. Their players at domestic level
are playing in higher pressure situations with overseas they are
learning from the best, and I think New Zealand cricket
and its decision needs to take that into account. If
that's the way, especially if the players are saying that
(18:18):
that's the way it should go like it should be
listened to.
Speaker 3 (18:21):
The players don't run the game. Let's not forget that.
And also let's not forget what happened to this fantastic
T twenty side in the semi final of the World
Cup South Africa.
Speaker 6 (18:32):
Well, they came up against two New Zealanders on a heater,
neither of home play in New Zealand. So let's not
let's not bet around the bush.
Speaker 3 (18:40):
Thank you very much for putting me in my place.
That's so i'd like to have you here. Alex Powe
out of New Zealand Herald, Thanks very much for your
time in the.
Speaker 2 (18:45):
Chamber leading as we've got just the ticket. It's Sports
Fix powered by News Talks IVY.
Speaker 3 (18:52):
Thanks very much for joining us in the Sports Fix podcast.
I'm Darcy Walter Grave. I really value your time and
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(19:15):
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(19:38):
taken seriously. Keep smiling. Catch you tomorrow for.
Speaker 1 (19:42):
More from News Talks B Listen live on air or online,
and keep our shows with you wherever you go with
our podcasts on iHeartRadio.
You're listening to a podcast from News Talks EDB. Follow
this and our wide range of podcasts now on iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
This is Sportsfix Howard by News Talks EDB.
Speaker 3 (00:20):
Welcome on into the Sports Vex podcast. Great to have
you on board. My name is Darcy Waller. Gob To Tuesday,
seventeenth of March twenty twenty six. Cheers, JJ Gardner Holmes
for your continued support of this podcast, New Zealand's most
trusted home builders. What have we got for here today? Well,
I'm going to catch up short with a bloat called
(00:41):
David Decker. David is the founder of Rodin Cars, the
founder of Rodin Motor Sports still owns them both. He
is in it up to his eyeballs. We'll talk to
him about the current divide between teams and drivers, around
the power plant, around the fifty to fifty battery, the
internal combustion engine drama that's happening in four one. I'll
(01:05):
share my thoughts with you around the astonishing lack Fern's
seventh what a team that is, and will be joined
in the chamber by Alex Powell. He's at Sports Writer
and Zellenhill dot co dot nz and we'll discuss what
happened in the weekend at Shanghai in Formula one and
I'll try and find out if we're getting any closer
to any solution. Add all with the trouble with New
(01:28):
Zealand cricket and the players and where does Z twenty
Super Smash Big Bash actually go. That's the master plan,
so let's feel what we normally do. It's like the
week stand back and bombs time Now for all we
listen to the newsmakers in sport today, starting with the
Crusader's coach rob a Penny Thresh after escaping the effects
(01:51):
of three yellow cards in one game and somehow beating
the Highlanders. They're dealing with not any card issues that
injuries have now befallen the current champions. Skip it. David
Halli is out for a bit, but it's not all bad.
Speaker 4 (02:06):
It'll be a week for a week propositionally great news.
Speaker 5 (02:10):
You know.
Speaker 4 (02:10):
There was a little bit of chat about a potential fracture,
but nothing so it's soft to shoot and will just
be guided by how he feels.
Speaker 3 (02:18):
To Rugby League and the runaway freight train well at
the start of the season anyway, that is the worries
they're thirteen. Aaron Clark last year's now he am at
Locke of the Year. He's in superb form, but like
in a as seen on TV commercial, Wait, there's more
sort of.
Speaker 4 (02:35):
Switching the surface, like I still got so much more
to learn and think the good thing about now, Like
my family and my teammates.
Speaker 5 (02:41):
Keep me grounded, and I know that I've got so
much more to bring in.
Speaker 4 (02:44):
Hopefully I can hear that.
Speaker 3 (02:45):
And Kimmy paralympian Adam Hall has added a medal to
his Olympic Hall ands drawn equal with Patrick Cooper as
New Zealand's most decorated Winter Paralympians, and he wants his
success to inspire.
Speaker 4 (02:59):
Others, you know, hopefully by doing what I have done.
Who's also given a bit of an opportunity to help
those athletes that have been before me to believe that league,
to give a better recognition for those athletes that have
been performing.
Speaker 3 (03:12):
Sport then sport now sport today.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
Sport use it's Sportsfix with Dancivaldegreve.
Speaker 3 (03:22):
And it's a warm at Welcome Doun to Sports Fixed
podcast to David Dickat. David is the owner of it
Rodin Motors, Sport is the man behind Rodent Cars who
are up an F two currently in World of Motus Sport.
He joins us now to talk about I suppose you
could call it a schism, a riff between various parties.
At the top of F one, David, welcome to the program. Controversial,
(03:45):
will say the least this new fifty to fifty split
with the engine, where do you sit on where Formula
one are going with this half electric half regular combustion engine.
Speaker 5 (03:57):
Well, I got to admit I'm not a massive fan
of it. One of the problems is that the electrification
is in there more as a marketing thing, more for
the big manufacturers, you know, who make a lot of
road cars, because if you were to, if you were
to just take the battery out and take all the
weight out, the cars would be quicker without without any
(04:20):
of the battery and hybrid stuff because of the weight
of the batteries and the way to the go. I
mean everyone knows that. So it's been done for you know,
not sporting reasons, but marketing reasons, which is not a
great thing in a sport. And you know, matter rating
is still a sport even though it's Frank William said
it's only a sport for two hours on a Sunday
(04:41):
afternoon and the rest of the time it's a business.
But even so, it's.
Speaker 3 (04:45):
Very much along the lines of back in the old
days you when on Sunday you sell on Monday, and
you're saying, this is the drive behind te's the pun
behind the changing or the adjustments of the regulations.
Speaker 5 (04:57):
Oh not exactly. I mean we're a million miles away
from that stuff now. I mean, in terms of Australia
you've got to go back to the seventies to get that.
When you add you know, the two hundred has built
for Bathist, I mean, we're miles away from that now.
But the thing is the FIA, FIA and f one's
principal interest is the big manufacturers. They're not really interested
(05:21):
in sporting teams. They want to have they want their
teams to be with the big manufacturers, and so they're
going to be constrained to some extent by what the
manufacturers want to see. And one of the problems, of course,
is that these rules were worked out quite a few
years ago and the landscape on the road coast it
(05:45):
has changed a tremendous amount in that time. The ev
cars seem to have fallen out of popularity, which I'll
be honest, I don't quite understand because they're quite a
good solution from a transpoint point of view, especially in
urban areas. And the swing is to petrol hybrids, but
(06:07):
not fifty to fifty hybrids, you know, small hybrids with
small batteries because of the main problems the way to
the batteries, I mean petrels about five or ten times
more energy efficient per kilogram than in a chemical battery,
and that's just physics that can't be denied.
Speaker 3 (06:26):
As far as the reliability of the power base, and
this is something that Formula one teams are now experiencing
straight up in their face. When you have a situation
with two McLaren's can't start in Beijing because something's gone wrong,
different problems. You've got issues with maxvest Evans car stopping.
(06:47):
You've had Liam Lawson stopping on the grid. The list
goes on. They not spend enough time actually sorting this
formula out. Do they not know where they're going with
this hybrid situation? Because to the untrained eye it would
appear like it's been introduced way too quickly.
Speaker 5 (07:05):
I think the real issue is that the rules incredibly complicated,
how you can operate the power unit is incredibly complicated,
and there's very little testing now, you know, and there's
no private testing. So I think it's a little bit
unfair to expect all the teams to be able to
(07:26):
get the whole thing working right right from the start,
because it's just so necessively complicated. I mean, if you
compare it, just you put a petrol engine in there
and away you go, no batteries, no anything else. That's
a vastly simpler setup than what they currently have, and
it's so complicated that there's boundary issues in the early going.
Speaker 3 (07:48):
Do you see the FIA turning around and maybe adjusting
these regulations. Now they've got one of the greats of
all time complaining and a number in the paddock are
saying this is not working. Are they lighted to backtrack,
maybe look at readjusting, changing the formula.
Speaker 5 (08:04):
I would say that would be unlikely, and you can
call me synic if you want, But if Mercedes was
one of the companies having the problems, I think they'd
be much more likely to do it. With Mercedes seemingly
having the whole thing working smoothly, I can't imagine them
doing anything. I mean, look, they've sat these regulations and
(08:25):
they said the years ago, and they're going to be
reluctant to change them, you know in the short term
of talk of going back to purely combustion engines and
runing sustainable fuel, which I consider to be the best
strategy because if you go back to combustion only and
you run sustainable fuel, you've answered all the questions.
Speaker 3 (08:48):
As far as the racing itself, And this is where
the heart of the problem is for a number of
these drivers, Yo yo racing almost you've got your battery power,
then you've got none, So cars just go back and forth,
back and forth. So the actual the point of ability
to race is no longer there is that a good
(09:10):
thing for the formula, the fact that it's not really
about racing, it's about preservation maintenance more than anything.
Speaker 5 (09:18):
Well, to be honest, I think it's just basically a
different form of racing, and it's a form that is
different to what people have used to and when you
get change, people don't like change.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
Dissecting the sporting agenda, it's sportsfix With Darcy Waldgrave.
Speaker 3 (09:39):
This women's sevens team is nothing short of phenomenal. I'm
not sure how much of this you have watched, and
I think there's an eyeball situation off the Game of
sevens now, mostly due to the fact we don't have
a tournament here anymore. If it's not right in front
of you, people tend not to take much notice. We
(10:00):
have a Ferns team that is on another planet. You
need to watch this wahana and what they can do
on the part. They have been breathing in rarefied air
of success. They don't seem to know when the game
is over. They don't seem to know when they should
pack up because the opposition are going to run straight
(10:22):
through or straight over them doesn't even come into their calculations.
If the clock's ticking and the ballers live, there's still
a game to be won, and we saw that over
the weekend with an astonishing victory over the arch rivals,
the Australians. They were done and dusted and out for
the count, but they did a Tyson Fury knocked down
(10:44):
but not knocked out. They did better than Tyson Fury.
The game didn't end up as a split decision draw.
They went on and won. It has been an amazing season.
If you want to see athleticism, if you want to
see strength, if you want to see skill, if you
want to see blazing pace. More importantly, if you want
(11:05):
to see a team that play for each other and
refuse to lie down, you need to watch this Black
Ferns at seven's team. They are astonishing.
Speaker 2 (11:16):
The Chamber is now in session on Sports Fix.
Speaker 3 (11:20):
We're in the Chamber now with Alex Powell. He is
a writer for New Zealand Herald across a number of sports.
Likes to talk a bit of cricket, loves us race
cars as well. Alex work, come on and I trust
you well and you're smiling after what was an incredible
weekend for Lilliam Lawson.
Speaker 6 (11:38):
Oh, I mean that, but it's always nice to beend
the chamber with your dark so I'll stop always smiling.
But no, you're right, great weekend for Liam.
Speaker 3 (11:46):
Well, I'll put it to this. I've got a lot
of people them the weekend saying he did well, but
how many cars didn't start, how many cars didn't finish?
There's no weight to that argument.
Speaker 6 (11:56):
Surely that's racing. Cars will not finish if you've got
you know, three hundred kilometer an hour, missiles going at
each other. They're going to smash into each other every
now and then, and it does open the field up
for someone else. Like that's what racing is.
Speaker 3 (12:09):
In order to finish first, first you must finish it,
nailed it, and first you must start. And they have issues,
as we've just heard from David Decker from Road and
Cars around how they're dealing with these new regulations with
no time to test. Wow, what are they supposed to do?
In essence, we've seen an interesting start and the fact
(12:32):
we've seen two teams dominate. I'm sure that the fed
Ardies are very happy about the Mercedes, every more than
happy about that. But this hasn't set the stall out
for the rest of the year.
Speaker 6 (12:43):
It does it, surely, No, absolutely not. Like we've seen
the last few years, teams almost hold themselves back because
they knew this was coming. You know, McLaren were able
to effectively mortgage the future by going for everything last
year and it worked. But now we see where they
are in terms of Mercedes. I think they'll be very
nervous about what's going to happen in April because now
(13:04):
there's no racism. Bahrain in Saudi Arabia. And because it's
not part out of the season break in the middle
of the year, cars or teams are gonna be allowed
to work on their cars during that sort of five
weeks off. So come to come Miami. I think we
are going to see who really is out in front
of the pack? Has it Mercedes, will Ferrari be able
to catch up?
Speaker 3 (13:22):
Well?
Speaker 6 (13:22):
Red, we'll be able to sort everything out where McClaren
can Aston Martin get a driverbill car. You know, it's
so exciting.
Speaker 3 (13:28):
It's exciting from that point of view. I will still
go with this point, which I'm not getting much traction with.
Liam Wwson mentioned it. It's but yo, yo, I've got
power song in a pass you or I've run out.
So I've got powering in a pass back or I've
run out. I've got powering in a pass you back
that still drives me nuts. That's not racing.
Speaker 6 (13:47):
That that's I like it in the sense that it's
not about who has the fastest car. It's about who
is the best at managing a race. You know, I
think we're going to see, but are.
Speaker 3 (13:57):
They race car drivers or are they managers of a car?
They driving a local bus. So surely that's not their job,
don't they Are they supposed to be racing?
Speaker 6 (14:04):
Well, it's racecraft, doesn't it. We know we've spoken so
many times about you know, racing isn't just about getting
in the car, going as fast as you can and
then getting out. You do need to know. This is
when I attack, this is when I defend, This is
what I conserve. And now we do have more of
that on show. I'll throw over to our colleague Matt Heath,
who points out, as it's racing if the drivers don't
(14:27):
like it, but it's entertaining for the fans, you know,
because I'd argue that you look at that sprint race,
like you and I have spoken so many times on
and off Mike, sprint races are bollocks, you know, because
no one risks anything. Well, they were on Saturday.
Speaker 3 (14:40):
They kind of had to. But I don't think they
have quite an idea about what they're dealing with yet either,
And that adds to the jeopardy essentially with these with
these cars and when cars don't start and when cars
can stop on the grid. But scary, but I presuming
it's going to be sorted out. I don't see McLaren
(15:02):
and you made a really salient point before. Do you
know who the defending world champion?
Speaker 6 (15:09):
Yeah, I know it's Lando Norris, but we're not seeing
anything from him now we're not.
Speaker 3 (15:14):
But that's because McLaren aren't doing well. Zach Brown from
what I know, and will not be happy, so that
will have to change. So maybe the little break will
work well. But back to Liam Lawson again and what
he established. He drives a wide car, he can drive
that hard tire selection was brilliant for qualifying.
Speaker 6 (15:33):
Well, I'll tell you what right, because he did that
in the sprint, didn't he They burned a set of
hard tires knowing it would take them long to the
end of the race, went from thirteenth to seventh in
the sprint and to the points, but he knew it
would leave him short in the Grand Prix, so he
had one set of hard tires and he made it work.
You know, he was complaining at the end of the sprint,
which was nineteen laps, I can't do anything on these tires.
He made his hard's last forty one laps in the
(15:55):
Grand Prix. That is incredible. Like we've said, we've seen
Liam make one stop strategies work. You think of Austria
last year, you think of Vezbaijan last year, Brazil. He
is so good somehow making a one stop work, you know,
and it's so difficult for drivers who are used to
maybe a two stop having a bit of a fresh
attire advantage at the end, but they just can't get
(16:15):
around the kiwi on the one stop.
Speaker 3 (16:17):
And do you think that Kimmy Antonelli has forgiven the
MC for calling him Kimmy Reichen and.
Speaker 6 (16:22):
After I don't think he'll mind very much. Would you
if you win a Grand Prix and they call you,
you know, Darcy Swain.
Speaker 3 (16:29):
I love, I'll stop it if I look that young.
I wouldn't mind what they'd say. Cricket, this ever revolving
story around T twenty ZED twenty Super Smash, Big Bass,
Super Smash Revive. You've been in the weeds with this one.
Are we getting any closer to any form of resolution?
Do you know? Because ZI Cricket have had their board meeting.
Speaker 6 (16:48):
Yeah, Look, the short answer is we just don't know.
I've been in touch with people on both sides on
New Zealand Cricket who we understand perhaps favor the Big bash,
although they say they are committed to seeing the process
play out, which I believe. I've been in touch with
everyone on the NZED twenty side. Bar Stephen Fleming. I
just don't know his number, but no one knows the thing.
(17:11):
You know, the board meeting has happened. I don't know
if it's gone into a second day, if it's gone
into a vote, but it's just so frustrating, and I
can imagine for the players they will be really wanting
to know what is happening with their future, but they
just don't.
Speaker 3 (17:26):
Well, they'd be better off playing Wooden. They're supposed to
having a cup of tea before they go along. They've
earned that cup of tea. They've all been in India
for two months, mate, wow, as a long time. Just
on that, we look to a stripped back team in
the first up game they play. We're recording this while
the other game's being played, incidentally, so we can't comment
on that one. Do you think we're seeing a direct
(17:48):
result of the issues we've got at that level with
the team getting rolled or is that just one of
those one off cricket matches where things just to all
go to pop.
Speaker 6 (17:55):
I think it's six of one and half dozen or
the other. But I think South Africa's standard has clearly
been raised by the fact that they have a franchise
competition in the Essay twenty. Their players at domestic level
are playing in higher pressure situations with overseas they are
learning from the best, and I think New Zealand cricket
and its decision needs to take that into account. If
that's the way, especially if the players are saying that
(18:18):
that's the way it should go like it should be
listened to.
Speaker 3 (18:21):
The players don't run the game. Let's not forget that.
And also let's not forget what happened to this fantastic
T twenty side in the semi final of the World
Cup South Africa.
Speaker 6 (18:32):
Well, they came up against two New Zealanders on a heater,
neither of home play in New Zealand. So let's not
let's not bet around the bush.
Speaker 3 (18:40):
Thank you very much for putting me in my place.
That's so i'd like to have you here. Alex Powe
out of New Zealand Herald, Thanks very much for your
time in the.
Speaker 2 (18:45):
Chamber leading as we've got just the ticket. It's Sports
Fix powered by News Talks IVY.
Speaker 3 (18:52):
Thanks very much for joining us in the Sports Fix podcast.
I'm Darcy Walter Grave. I really value your time and
your ears and your mouth too if you tell your
friends and family to subscribe, because if you all do,
this will turn up in your inbox on a week
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If you prefer old school ie radio, We've got Sports
(19:15):
Talk between seven and eight pm Monday to Friday. Piney
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of the week and then Piney has the Big Dance
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Tell your mates, listen to us on the wireless and
enjoy the wonderment of sport. Far too important to be
(19:38):
taken seriously. Keep smiling. Catch you tomorrow for.
Speaker 1 (19:42):
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