August 30, 2022 • 39 mins
Alfa Romeo is often one of the forgotten "A" names on the grid, but that doesn't make it any less important. In this latest installment of Choosing Sides: F1, Lily tells Michael all about Alfa's strange history as well as its two drivers — one of whom is a favorite of hers. But will Michael agree?
Special thanks to our guests: Tatiana Calderon
This episode was produced by Lily Herman and Senior Producer Yochai Maital. Sound Design by Yochai Maital. Mastering by Sela Waisblum. Recording at The Cutting Room Studios by Rob O'Leary II. At SI Studios, Max Miller is Executive Producer and Brannan Goetschius is Head of Audio. At iHeartRadio, Sean Titone is Executive Producer.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
In another world, I would have had a sweatshirt to
bring in today that that said happy Holidays to everyone,
but especially Valtrie Bodice, who is an Alpha Mayo driver.
But it was stolen, and I want to be petty.
I have a message for the person who stole it.
I'm very angry. And that is why after all of
our many different props of this season where Alpha Alpha
(00:23):
was a little admittedly a little forgotten, so I think,
how does a sweatshirt get stolen? Was someone broken to
your home? No? No, it was delivery, Yeah it was.
It was delivered, and I went right down, like three
minutes later, was gone. Those people that steal delivery packages,
I've always I've thought about having like some type of
(00:43):
weapon delivered that would explode upon impact. I guess I
guess what I just described as a mail bomb, which
is not cool and I shouldn't advocate for that, but
I want something bad to happen to those people. I
will say. There was a viral video of someone who
created their own glitter stink bomb and put it on
their stoop and say had they had a camera in
there so they watched some person opening their car and
(01:05):
just ruin their entire car. Yeah, that was good car.
You know, it's like that's funny, funny, harmless, but very effective.
So I hope that person learned their lesson that a
glitter stink bomb could be sitting anywhere people who aren't
You don't live in major cities, you know, you just
get your packages delivered on your porch. It's all good.
But in New York City you've got five thousand people
(01:25):
living in the same building. And but yeah, but there's
so much trust in the suburbs that I am too changed.
So to this end, today we're talking about a team
that does have a history in the sport of Formula one,
but also can be a little bit forgotten. So that
is none other than Alfa Romeo. However, before we are
(01:51):
you count them out, I will say they could be
turning a new leaf right now. So there's a lot
to be excited about with Alfro Mayo. I personally am
very stoked about their driver lineup. So there's there's a
lot to get into today. Alfa Romeo, Yo, I hit
me from my Heart Radio and Sports Illustrated Studios. This
(02:12):
is choosing sides one. Wow. W Wait, So if you
thought the whole Renao Alpene history was confusing. Alfa Romeo
really says, hold my beer. So but we're gonna we're
(02:34):
gonna skim through a lot of it. Were the the
broad Strokes Espresso that's actually much better. Yeah, espresso and
apper all spirits. That seems appropriate. Okay, So we talked
a little bit about Alfa Mayo with our Ferrari episodes
because they are intertwined. So just to recap a little
bit of this. So, Alfa Romeo is an Italian car
(02:56):
manufacturer that's been around since nineteen ten. They're in name
was originally just Alpha and it was capital all caps
A l f A. The founding name was actually an
acronym for butcher, this Italian annema lombarda fabric, which basically
(03:17):
means it had a bunch of anonymous investors. And then, uh,
the Romeo part comes from Nicola Romeo. He was an
engineer and entrepreneur. He acquires a majority steak in Alpha
in nineteen fifteen, so only a couple of years later,
and then he eventually owns the entire company by nineteen eighteen.
And uh yeah, so eventually he of course tax on
(03:41):
his name Alfromeo. That's that's where it comes from. And
in term we'll get to the racing part of the team.
But in terms of our guy Nicola, because of course
was curious, he ended up leaving Alfa Romeo after a
series of bad investments and other issues. By night, I
have zero other fun facts about him except that he
has seven children, which is quite a brood. Yes, that's
(04:04):
that Roman Catholic birth control. Yeah, working around the clock
or not. Yes, So basically teams al Fromeyo. It's you know,
brands Alfromeo. As we know, it's still called al Fromeo,
and it really makes a name for itself in the
luxury vehicle and car market. In terms of racing, Alfa
(04:24):
Romeo starts racing in nineteen eleven, so the year after
its founding. It does have some success across a bunch
of different series and disciplines, including but not limited to
Formula one, rally, sports car racing, and then touring car racing.
So yeah, things are going well basically. Though more specifically,
(04:45):
if we get to Formula one, Alpha has been in
it since the pre modern era, you know, in Formula
one debuts as an actual sport in nineteen fifties, so
they started competing in these kind of grand grands pre
in the late es other of the new Alphas that
crosses the line with a brilliant young driver of Algieria,
Guy Mall. This is where some of their history intersects
(05:07):
with Mercedes in a couple of different ways. There's long
supremacy of Italian cars is at last to be challenged
on the others in Berlin by rear engined auto unions,
the first new racing cars of the third right, so
in the nineteen forties, again around the time of World
War Two, and then directly after they had mixed success
in these kind of this pre F one era because
(05:28):
Mercedes was dominating. As we discussed in the Mercedes episode,
their pre F one cars and Mercedes were were great.
They want all those European Championships as they were called. Uh. However,
when F one actually becomes a real formalized sport, Alfa
Romeo wins out. They actually are the winners of the
first ever World Championships with Giuseppe Farina, and then they
(05:53):
win again with a guy one Manuel Fangio Banjo the
rising star came through to win, and this incidentally at
the age of thirty nine, when many drivers think of retire.
Who is like in the sport of legendary guy. Up
until Michael Schumacher in the early two thousand's, Fangio was
the winningest championship driver, so for almost half a century
(06:15):
held that title. No man has given more to the
essentially a twentieth century out of motor racing than has
the incomparable je Manuel Fangio, five times champion driver of
the World. Oh La Fangio. He was Argentinian. Okay, sorry,
he actually exits the sport of f one after getting
(06:36):
kidnapped by revolutionaries in Cuba. Kidnapped at Pistol Point by
Cuban rebels, obviously seeking to embarrass President Fatista's government by
making sure the star attraction is not on the starting
line on the big rate. They don't torture him or anything.
They just keep him there, like give him a sandwich
and basically how they handed back and he's like, I
don't really want to do any of this stuff anymore. So,
(06:56):
I mean this is just a time where crazier shit
happened exactly. Yeah, So that's Alpha Mayo. They they win
in nineteen one and then they say peace out this one. Yeah.
They end on that high note, and they leave for
a very long time. So again we're going to skip
over some of this because it's super confusing. But basically,
(07:19):
from ninety two until the mid nineteen eighties, Alfa ro
Mayo is sporadically involved as an engine supplier and a
constructor suppliers. But basically, yeah, none of these teams are
particularly successful or interesting. So again that's why we're kind
of breezing through like thirty five years of history here.
Let's get ahead. The year is now so much more recent.
(07:41):
Alpha begins partnering again with Ferrari as a sponsor. Their
logo starts to appear on Ferrari cars. A couple of
years later eighteen now they become the title sponsor of
a team called Souber, which has been around for a
very long time, and Souber is seen again has a
special relationship with Ferrari. For instance, Charlotte Claire at for
he got to start his first year was at Souber.
(08:02):
A lot of drivers in the sort of Ferrari pipeline
get their start at Suber. Yes, Souber copy, I think
Alfa Romeo. You know the history they have in the
sport um it's incredible, so that was taught to like Calderone.
You might remember her all the way back during our
first episode, but she was actually an Alfare Mayo test
driver at one point. Their biggest strength lies in in
(08:25):
the people they have hired. So a lot of the
guys that I that I work with are still in
the team. They have a great team of engineering people
at the factory, very passionate about what they do, and
hopefully we'll see them like we have seen at the
start of this season, that they can fight for really
good positions. This is where things do get very, very confusing.
(08:48):
So Alpha returns the sport. They end up taking over
the name of the Solber team, but the team is
still operated by Souber, so every all the leader, everyone
remains at Salber. It's just a new name. So today
you see Alpha Romeyo now Orleans a sponsor, so it's
Alpha Romeo Orleans but then operated by Suber. Yeah, confusing,
(09:11):
but Alpha Mayo basically comes back to the grid in
historically have not always been the strongest. You know, they
they're back of the pack when they enter in twenty nineteen,
so that's kind of where where Alpha sits is back
maybe maybe back of the midfield or back of the
entire pack. So yeah, so I guess overall, Alphro Mayo
(09:33):
Historic team kicks off the F one err and style,
leaves for a while, kind of returns randomly, and then
disappears again and is under all sorts of different names,
and then finally decides for the time being that they
are in fact going to do this F one thing.
And so twenty nineteen to present, that's where we're at.
Sounds like they never should have left. Yeah, you know
(09:54):
what you can do exactly? It could have been Ferrari. Well,
I don't know if i'd want to work under ends
because he sounds like kind of a nightmare. Yeah, I'm
gonna google their car. Can of look at their car?
That is a almost like a cherry red Yeah, I mean,
all these cars are sweet looking, but that thing is badass.
Big upgrades for So here's what's working out in their
(10:16):
favor so far. We're getting to the drivers in a second,
but in terms of the car, it appears that with
under the new regulations so far as as of this recording,
the team is comfortably midfield for the first time in
a very long time, which is very, very exciting. Yeah,
and you can just tell the team seems more excited
and more energized than they have. But I think in
that in large part has to do with the driver
(10:37):
line up. Yeah, yeah, I would think you want to
help move us on to drive. No, I don't. Actually,
I'd like to stop. I'd like to stop there. I'm
so excited. This is my underrated king. Well who's driving
their cars? We'll get into the drivers, but right after
we take a break. Okay, I am going to be
(10:59):
making this is a whole personal pitch from me. I
am welcoming you with open arms. I love this. Okay,
in our kind of number one seat here we have
got uh Finnish Instagram boyfriend. And as I said, King,
Valtorie Bodice excellent name. Yes you have a dog Walter.
Valterie is the finished version of the name Walter. You
(11:21):
already have a bit of a connection to Valtorie Bodice.
And it should be noted for our millions of listeners
that Walter is on the lab of YOHI right now
I think is he is? He's such a little slut
I left. Okay, So Valtorie, I like this guy? Yea
valty body. Why do you like him, okay, So let's
(11:42):
do a little bit of Valterie's history here. So Valtorie
comes from humble beginnings. He is not a millionaire's kid,
a billionaire's kid or anything. So his dad owns a
small cleaning company and his mother is a funeral director.
Here that Nicholas Latifi. He wishes he could be valtere Bodice,
which his funeral director mom and cleaning company dad. Another
(12:04):
fun fact about Valterie he actually served in the Finnish
Army for a short time because it's mandatory for adult men,
so he obtained the rank of Lance corporal. Great, yeah,
I love to see it. So yeah, Valtorie doesn't get
his start through a racing family. In fact, his whole
career is due to a chance encounter when he was
six years old where he's at the grocery store with
(12:25):
his grandfather, happens to see a flyer for just a
local carting event that's happening, and decides to go. So
that's already great. And what also intersects with this time
we're talking about the nineties, with Valtories now in his
early thirties. In the nineties, there is an iconic finish
racing driver named Mika Hackenan he won two back to
back titles in the late nineties, joyfully out of the car.
(12:50):
There's so there's a lot of fervor around Mica. He's
also very finished and being kind of earnest a little
riot times. It looked very easy, was it? Oh yeah,
it was so easy, and you can't believe it. No,
I wasn't so Valtorie between going to this local carding
(13:12):
event and Mika, you know, hackened In being in the
news all the time, you know, he's he's hooked on this. Yeah.
So he eventually is able to make his way to
the carding scene and and gets into competitive carding throughout
the early and mid two thousand's, eventually makes his way
to open will racing, to these junior formula categories where
he picks up a ton of victories. The young Finn
(13:34):
really is being touted the next Kimmie Ryk and then
he's certainly got the same line in dry humor. He's
looking unstoppable. Everything's going great for Valterie, and in he
gets a gig as a test driver for Williams, which
we just talked about. To see Valtery connecting with the
team you like. Uh, and this is when he's still
kind of serving in in junior you know, racing in
(13:55):
junior formulas. Finally, the year he gets a spot on
Williams team. However, it was a rough year. Both both
cars didn't do well, you know, it just it was
a rough one. However, things improved in he ends up
finishing in the driver's Championship standings and P four and
P five. Yeah, so William's car was working, Val was
(14:16):
doing well exactly exactly. Things are looking good, you know,
he gets he gets the teams, blessing, etcetera. And then
things really start to look good. A couple of years later,
the end of the season, Mercedes has Lewis Hamilton's and
Nico Rossberg to former besties who are now arch rivals,
(14:40):
and Nico Rossberg, after a very toxic, just terribly divisive season,
ends up winning his first and only world championship and
beats out Louis at the last second. And so, as
if that wasn't dramatic enough, five days after winning this
world title, I want to take the opportunity to announce
that I've decided to end my FUMLA one career um
(15:02):
in this moment here on Monday. That's what I was
going to say. I thought that was coming. Yeah, and
he had two more years left on his contract. Piste
Lewis off too well. Mercedes wasn't expecting it, you know. Again,
similar to this whole, uh, this whole Daniel Ricardo suddenly
leaving a vacuum at Red Bull, Nico's sudden retirement announcement
is you know, shock retirement basically leaves another big void
(15:25):
for Mercedes. We need to just come up with a decision,
look at the drivers that are out there, and then
hopefully quickly decided they now have an open seat that
they weren't necessarily expecting to fill. For a bit, they're
kind of like, who could we fill in this seat?
Who won't We don't want to repeat of this Nico
Lewis drama. It's not good for team morale, it's not
good for the constructor. You know. They don't want to
put a second Niko in there and make this whole
(15:46):
thing bad. So I guess who's been doing well during
his time and f one, I want to present a
new member of the family, So give him a big
round of applause. As certain Valterie Walter Bodice. I' kidding.
His liddle name is not. His name was on Walter.
Walter spots are so coveted and it's such high stakes
that when one person leaves, it just sends waves. It's
(16:09):
such an enormous earthquake of action that then has to
follow to get everything back in place exactly. And especially
in this case, it was a surprise, right, it's already
it's already a bit a bit chaotic, so everyone is
trying to figure out this Val guy who's been on
the grid for a little bit. And basically Valtree ends
up spending five seasons at Mercedes and they were a
(16:32):
little tough, so he has his highs and his lows. Yeah,
he wins a bunch of races. He's really fast in qualifying,
so he gets a lot of poll positions. He finishes
on the podium a ton during his five Mercedes years.
He ends up i think in finishing P. Three in
the standings twice and P two twice, so behind Lewis Lewis,
and then this past year it was between Lewis and Max,
(16:54):
so he was third behind the two of them. There
are a couple of issues, though they are always existing,
so one obviously Louis Hamilton's Sir Lewis Hamilton's is his teammate. Uh,
Lewis is the goat, that's the guy who you're being
compared to constant. It kind of sucks if you're paid
two and you still feel like the guy in this
in the garage next to you is beating you exactly
(17:16):
and the Lewis is in the midst of this string
of victories, right, and on top of that it's already
kind of an issue, is that the team chose bias
towards Louis at two point two. Do not fight with Louis.
There's several occasions of this where they give those team
orders to have Valtrie, you know, move aside, to let
Louis through, to do something in a race or a
(17:37):
qualifying session to make things better for Louis. Yeah, Patrians, James,
please about the fastest laugh attempt for the end of lap.
Sometimes it happens at the detriment of Valtori's own race
or own strategy to difficult day for you, difficuld day
for us. Let's discuss it afterwards. That sucks. Yeah, just
a quick interjection here. Um. Valtrie himself made some unusually
(17:59):
candidate remarks on this whole situation on One's official podcast,
Beyond the Grid. It was like, I don't know what's
the description, like biting my own teeth together and really
didn't feel natural and not right because I'm the racer,
but I did it for the team, so it's just
not fun. And it's it's again of the course of
five years, so it's not like this happened one or
(18:20):
two races. This is half a decade. And then, as
if all of that wasn't enough, Mercedes team boss Toto
Wolf Daddy Toto. We have not talked about him at
length in a little bit, but Daddy Toto refuses to
give Valtrie a contract longer than year to year, so
he's on five one year contracts while Lewis, yeah, Lewis
is getting signed. Everyone's inn sent a multi year you know.
(18:40):
So he feels like, and he's talked about this in interviews.
He was actually very brutally honest after it right after
he left Mercedes that you have pressure contractually for nine
years for your formal one career year by year, it
starts to eat you from inside, you know. Yeah, it doesn't.
It makes you not feels confident. It makes you like
the team is not really backing you. But that's really
(19:01):
stupid of Daddy Toto because this guy isn't some okay driver,
he's P two, P three. Give him a multi year
deal and pay him a lot and Louis, that's really
done with them. According to Valtorie, Toto's rationale is that
the year two year lights of fire under Valterie. Yeah,
but you can only ignite so many fires. It's just
(19:24):
very exacting feeling because we're talking about Alpha Romeo that
that's what happened. Yeah, there's always little frustrations. Interestingly, director
Survive has made him and Louis seem a little more
adversarial at times. And yeah, again, as like with everyone else,
they've had their moments, but generally a lot of Valtorie's
biggest resentments have been more with Mercedes leadership than with
Louis Hamilton's and him and Louis actually have a really
(19:46):
sweet relationship. They are both, like I said, now in
their thirties, so they were older and when he came
on the team is a little bit older in his career,
a little more developed. Louis was a little bit more mature,
than he was, you know, back when he was winning
his first title with McLaren in the late two thousand's,
so generally taking them on a personal level, they do
get along. After Louis lost his bid at the eighth
world title last year, he only came out of hiding
(20:07):
for two events. It was to get knighted by Prince
Charles and the second was Valtorie's Parwell party. So it's
obvious that he holds him in high regard. He he
really when he left too, had really nice things to say.
You know, if Lewis didn't want to do things, he
just won't do things. That's pretty wonderful because they definitely
we're in a position to be in the trenches together
(20:27):
and they could. You know, it's very likely you don't
like those people, so that's cool. The two of them
are also up there in terms of being one of
the most successful partner's driver partnerships in F one history.
So of course, you know it's Vale's fifth season. There's
already a little bit of something in the air where
people feel like he's he's maybe on his way out.
Everyone knows George Russell are Apparent has been at Williams
(20:50):
for three years. How much longer can you keep this
poor kid? Who have you annointed the golden boy at
a shitty team. And on top of that, Valtterie is
really not having a great season. It's fine, it's just
not his best. He crashes, he has some other slip ups.
Is just not it's just not looking good long term.
And at this point he's in his early thirties. He
wants some more stability and security. He doesn't want to
be fighting year to year for that Mercedes contract. Yeah,
(21:12):
he's gotten the winds, he's gotten the pole positions, he's
ended up on the podium in the standings like he doesn't.
He's achieved all of that, so he's kind of looking
for what does he want next? So he announces in
late one that he is going to be moving to
Alpha Romeo. He's had to play second fiddle to Lewis
Hamilton in all of those years, so he will go
(21:33):
and be the main man at Alpha Romeo, which everyone's
kind of like, okay, you know, they finished p nine
in one out of ten teams. Everyone's king, well, that's
good for him. You know, he's still in the grid,
but he's really stoked because he gets a multi year deal.
And what's interesting is I listened obviously as a fan
of his too many interviews, and he was very much like,
trust me, they're going to do cool things in two
(21:55):
Like he was very adamant about this in a way
that Valtorie is a very earnest finish man. He does
really hype things, So I was I was really intrigued
that he was so excited about the move. Obviously he
knows he's gonna be the number one driver. So we're
at VAL's first season where the season's obviously still going on. However,
immediately off the bat with the first race, Valtrie makes
(22:17):
it to Q three, the you know, the final stage
of qualifying. He starts earning points off the bat and
and as of right now, Alpha is kind of switching
between P five, P six and the standings so Humongous
jumped for them pretty much entirely based on Valtteries standings
in these races. So he's just been been killing it
(22:38):
on the grid thus far. Obviously seems a lot more comfortable,
a little more secure because he knows he's not fighting
for a contract at the end of the season. He
signed a multi year deal, multi year so aside from
all of this racing with Valve. Okay, here's what I
really like about Valtorie, and I will say, I don't
know if it's that maybe Louis a little bit of
Louis's whole vibe rubbed off on him over the years.
(22:58):
But he has a lot going on off the track.
So first and foremost, his girlfriend is an Australian Olympic
cyclists named Tiffany Cromwell. Yes, but they are like a duo,
like they are the O t P. I ship them.
There are two couples. I will be devastated if they
ever break up and one true pair, One true pair. Okay,
did you know that? What do you think? Yes? The
(23:22):
answers yes, they say this in his rob I actually
did not know. I mean, I love Lily's generation just
throws these acronyms around as if we're supposed to have
any shitty idea what that means? Okay, t one true pair, Yes,
but they're doing an endgame. Is their end game. So
tiff and Vale are very fun because because of Tiffany.
(23:45):
Oh no, I love Tiffin Vale, so I call them
mom and Dad in my newsletter. Um, so Tiffin Vale,
like when he's not racing. They travel around like cycling
everywhere together and if he's not having a race weekend,
he will go to her I cling races. Yeah, And
similarly she'll come to the paddock if she's not racing
a lot of times to anyone who's kind of connected
(24:06):
to the teams of the drivers during not races can
like use the tracks. So she'll cycle on these official
F one tracks if no one's practicing or just you
know whatever, they're allowed to do that, so it would
be sweeter if people were practicing for the bike out there.
It's very squid game. So he'll he turns into a
total Instagram boyfriend. He takes photos on the side of
(24:27):
the road of her and all of her friends. He
sets up a tripod and like a full full professional
camera setup. He has the water and the granola bar.
As soon as she finishes and she collapses into his
arm like it's very is this is o t P ship? Yeah,
there's something very cool about a egomaniac Formula one driver
(24:47):
offering support and very and very gladly being a supportive
figure and not the attention. Yeah's attraction. Aside from that, though,
other things he's done he is a known coffee connoisseur. Oh,
I love him all ready, Finish love their coffee, they do.
He also judges coffee competitions on the side. You know,
I want to taste one of his expressions because I'm
(25:09):
I'm addicted to coffee as he is so um alf
Ro Mayo test driver Tatiana Calderon Again, besides the coffee,
I think, you know, Pottery is somebody that has so
much experience with with a top team. He knows what
it feels and what it takes to win a Formula
One race to be on full position, and that's what
(25:30):
any team would like to have um as as a
as a racing driver. Somebody with the experience, with the knowledge,
with the speed and the maturity that he brings to
the team. I think it's it's a great addition. Velter
has got some stuff going on in the grid's he's
making moves this year, and then he also seems to
have a rich personal life outside of the sport. Plenty
(25:53):
of hobbies, a lot to like here, a lot to
like you, a lot to like here. And also one
of the things you said that I love, as you said,
he's not like a hype guy. He's not like over promoting.
If anything, he he under promises an over delve. I
love it, and I also love and I can hear
Yohi's microphone getting ready to get this in. I also
(26:14):
love that he's placing P two, P three behind this
you know, mega star, and yet the mega star still
has mad respect for him, you know what I mean.
It's like, I'm excited for him to be in this
number one car position at a team, even though we
haven't talked about the second driver yet, but but we will. Jo, Hi,
(26:37):
just hit me with it. No, I'm just wondering if
you could maybe maybe talk a little bit about there
there have been a lot of really really good finished drivers.
If you were going to give me a piece of
paper and say, write down fifty countries that have historically
been good at racing, I don't think I would ever
(26:57):
have even written down Finland. I would have written Usta
Rica before I would have written Finland. Yeah, it's a
little bit random, but they do have a history of
success in the sport. So you've got Yamka hacking in
back in the nineties, you've got Kimmi reikin In was
known as the Iceman which is pretty funny. Kiki Rossberg,
his son Nico was the guy who won the Mark
World Championship against Lewis and retired. They're all very earnest,
(27:21):
they're a little bit self serious, have a very dry
sense of humor typically, and it seems to work for
them in terms of high speed race card. Right, yeah,
thank you for indulging me. Quick break and we're back. Okay.
I love this guy. But there's two people that race
(27:41):
for Alpha Romeo. So who's the other guy? The other guy? Okay?
So he is a Chinese drivers, Yes, the first Chinese
driver in the history of F one. And so the
reason I say that is because he in his lower
formulas they used to call him guan Yu Joe, but
upon entering Formula one, he's like, hey, I want you
(28:02):
to pronounce my name the way you know, the Chinese
tradition surname first. So it's Joe guan You, now Joe
guan You. Okay. So Gwanyu is the lone rookie on
this gridge and for certain the only Chinese driver ever ever. Yes,
so we'll get into him more. But Formula one, like
(28:27):
NBA Tennis Olympics, they're all realizing this market exists and
we need to be in it. Yes, he actually moved
to the UK from China all the way back in
so he would have been yeadolyst like preteen years old
because of the fact that there wasn't a lot of
really great competitive racing in China. He wanted more opportunity,
(28:49):
He wanted to learn from the best. He had the
money to do that, so he he moved halfway across
the world for that chance. There's a lot to say
about Joe in terms of his career. I mean, he
has had some successes and all of that. I would say,
we don't know too much about his personal background. This
I think makes sense and in line with the Chinese tradition,
(29:10):
So we don't know too much. We do know he
has money. He has a very extensive designer shoe collection,
sneaker collection. He has a sneaker head. So if he's
dropping like five different pairs of Valenciaga sneakers, you have
to assume that there is money somewhere in that pipeline.
But yeah, he also has a little bit, just a
tiny bit of the Nicholas Latifi Allah Williams thing going on. Yeah,
(29:33):
he has he for instance, stayed a little bit longer
in some formulas, So he was in Formula to, for instance,
for three years, whereas as we've established most drivers on
any given series usually only one to two years. So
has has enough money wherever it's coming from to have
some longevity where a lot of drivers do not. Can
I play a bad cop for a second. Yes? Did
(29:55):
they just make sure he had a eat because he's
Chinese and this is an enormous market. The Formula one
is never even tapped into ever A complicated question, we'll
get into it. So yeah. So here's where things get
very sticky or murky. Is that the rumor is no
one has said this out loud. We don't know if
(30:17):
it's exactly the Chinese government, if it's you know, Chinese,
other Chinese sponsors they offer up alph Mayo, They're like, hey,
if you get put this guy on you in this seat,
there's thirty million pounds waiting for you or more. Is
this not the horse head in the bed of Godfather? Yeah?
(30:37):
So why can't if you just win Formula two, why
don't you just automatically get a seat, Like, why don't
they just make that the fucking rule that suggestion I
love that. It's episode fourteen and YOHI now just says
I love what Michael said. Um, actually it's okay. Rob turns,
Rob turns, Mike off. Joe has some backing. And it's
(31:00):
hard about this is there's been theories on who is
behind this and what exactly was promised. We don't We
still don't really know, I will say. Unsurprisingly, a lot
of the discussion about the money behind Joe has been
plagued by a lot of racism and xenophobia, and it's
interesting that's like, hmm, you don't have anything to say
about like the white European guys who had a very
similar set up in the past, but suddenly, you know,
(31:22):
Joe Guani is a different, whole, different beast to share
to those. So so that's been very tricky, is that. Yeah, Like,
no one quite knows where it's coming from. Some people like, yeah,
it's definitely the government. Some people like, oh, it's it's
some sort of industry in cahoots with the government. A
long story short, It's one of those situations where some
people are like, yes, Joe is absolutely a pay driver,
(31:42):
and other people like, well, he's like a weird like
because we don't really know what exactly it is. But
he has miracles standed up on this seat. We know
he has money, we know he's connected to some people
of money. Basically just a lot of question marks and yeah,
that's what's led to unfortunately, has some suspicions, some attacks
and whatnot. Yeah. So in terms of his driving, he
did on his first race, so his Formula one debut,
(32:04):
he did score point, he got ten. Yeah, he has
struggled since then. He got to P. Eleven's in a
row the poor guy, which is the first position where
you don't get any points. He's had some spins and
crash and this and that, which again he's a rookie.
This is all kind of expected. I will say what
he has going for him. One he's incredibly friendly and
two he treats the team well. So after he got
(32:25):
this point, I know he's not a fun a fun villain,
but he after he got his first point in his debut,
he went around bowing to everyone. And he's always been
also a good sport about the fact that Valterie Is
is the number one guy and is doing really well overall.
And they also seem to have a really I mean
they're ten years of parting age, right, so, but they
have a very cordial, nice, friendly, positive relationship. It's very
(32:48):
early days in there in their relationship because the other
both new to the team. But at least joke on
you for all that's going on with the money or whatever.
He himself seems to be okay. He's in an odd
position and where it feels like he could go either
way as the paid driver or no, I'm really really
good and you know I have some backing, but I
guess time will tell on that. Yeah. Unfortunately, it is
(33:10):
too early to really form an opinion of his racing.
But I'm intrigued. I would say that's the word. I'm intrigued.
And from a marketing standpoint, the potential is enormous and
it's probably a big part plus thirty million pounds of
why Alpha Romeo took a chance on him exactly. He
has to speak English, right, Yes, he does speak English, um,
(33:30):
and I mean he lived in in the UK for
a decade before this. The other thing that a lot
of people, myself included like is that he is a
little bit of a fashionista. He has talked about looking
up to Lewis in terms of his fashion. As I said,
he's a massive designer, shoe collection sneaker head. Yeah, total,
totally into that and can speak pretty intelligently about his collections.
(33:52):
Let me show you some photos of Oh shit, is
you holding a purse? It's a bag. But like that's uh,
that's a bold move. It is. But good for him
for for having the confidence to rock that he's trying
stuff out here. Have to get a bad personel only
if it's a triangle. Okay, I guess I gotta get one.
(34:16):
So we have now met nine out of our ten teams.
Where is Where is Alpha coming in for you? Now?
I don't love the paid driver situation. That really hurts.
I'm sure that was a big decision they had to
make because they needed the money whatever. But Valtrie is awesome.
Alpha Romeo brand name awesome, the car. That car is beautiful.
(34:42):
The cherry red I love. So I'm gonna say for me,
Alpha Tori is somewhere in here. Williams, I still like
a lot, and Alfa Romeo I like a lot. You've
got some real different picks up and down. I know,
I know, And it's basically here's how it's working for me.
(35:02):
A brand name. I recognize and feel something about plus
at least one driver who has guts and grit and
is maybe a little understated. I think I've just come
up with my own formula. You're just psycho analyzed yourself.
How does that say about me? And so where where? Yeah?
Where do Valterie and Joe sort of come into play?
(35:24):
He doesn't come into play. Sorry, it sounds like I'm
being a jerk. But proof show me, Joe that you're
an amazing driver. Will We'll find out. Valtrie is great.
I love it. I think it's awesome that he's paid
his dues. I love the Lewis Hamilton's thing that he
you know, was with him and beat him sometimes and
they still have some. I love the finished thing. Coffee.
(35:45):
Come on, I have I text all you guys every day?
Who needs a coffee? And everyone ignores me? You know
who wouldn't ignore you if you texted him, Valterie. He
would talk to you about coffee. He would Yeah, exactly right,
exactly right. I should have brought Valterorie's favorite coffee with
me today. Unfortunately it was very specific and long, and
you should have brought your alpha Romeo sweatshirt. But it
got stolen. Sorry guys. Before we sign off, I just
(36:10):
need to give you guys a quick update. Okay, so
we have produced introduction and now he thinks he freaking
runs this whole thing. Producer goo hi, take it away.
So do you guys remember Silly Season. Well, at the
very tail end of Silly Season, Alpha Romeo announced that
(36:31):
it is ending its partnership with Souber. So that's gonna
happen at the end of the three season So in
about a year and a half for real, are you joking? Yeah?
I know, I know, and it This could mean it's
pulling out of the sport entirely, or perhaps it's just
switching partners. We really don't know yet, but yeah, that's um.
(36:52):
That's that. Next time, we have our final team. This
team is the only American owned team on the Grid.
Here we go. They are an episode of the Office personified.
(37:16):
If you said we need to make a mockumentary series
based on a Formula one team, I would say, just
film the Hoss Garage. Don't even need to hire actors
or make scripts. Just film Hoss. Is it a German brand?
It is not. It is in fact American named after
an American named Gene Hass. We will have more white
collar crime. We will have some of the funniest and
(37:38):
weirdest sketchy sponsors. We have some real villains. We have
Michael Schumacher's son finally entering the picture. And we also
have another really fun comeback story. It is your favorite guy,
the suck my Ball's Mate man himself, Kevin Magnusson Balls Mate.
(38:00):
That something so funny about that because Mate is basically
like friends. That's like, hey, hey, my friend Paul. So
they truly have everything at HOSS, and I think that
they finished last last year they did not a single
point was earned. So we're gonna have a lot of fun.
I can't wait. I can't wait to hear about it.
Thank you, Lilly. This has been Choosing Sides f one,
(38:30):
a production of Sports Illustrated Studios and I Heart Radio.
The show was hosted by Michael Costa and Lily Harp.
This episode was produced by Lily Harman and our senior
producer Hi Tal, who also did the sound design at
the cutting room studios. We are recorded by engineer Robot
Larry the second mastering by Cello Wisblue. Max Miller is
(38:54):
the executive producer and Brennan get Just His Heat of
Audio at s I Udios. At I Heart Radio, Sean
Titown is our executive producer. For more podcasts for My
Heart Radio, visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts
where wherever you get your podcasts, don't forget to subscribe
to us and leave a review. And if you want
(39:17):
more F one goodness, follow us on Instagram at Choosing
Sides F one
In another world, I would have had a sweatshirt to
bring in today that that said happy Holidays to everyone,
but especially Valtrie Bodice, who is an Alpha Mayo driver.
But it was stolen, and I want to be petty.
I have a message for the person who stole it.
I'm very angry. And that is why after all of
our many different props of this season where Alpha Alpha
(00:23):
was a little admittedly a little forgotten, so I think,
how does a sweatshirt get stolen? Was someone broken to
your home? No? No, it was delivery, Yeah it was.
It was delivered, and I went right down, like three
minutes later, was gone. Those people that steal delivery packages,
I've always I've thought about having like some type of
(00:43):
weapon delivered that would explode upon impact. I guess I
guess what I just described as a mail bomb, which
is not cool and I shouldn't advocate for that, but
I want something bad to happen to those people. I
will say. There was a viral video of someone who
created their own glitter stink bomb and put it on
their stoop and say had they had a camera in
there so they watched some person opening their car and
(01:05):
just ruin their entire car. Yeah, that was good car.
You know, it's like that's funny, funny, harmless, but very effective.
So I hope that person learned their lesson that a
glitter stink bomb could be sitting anywhere people who aren't
You don't live in major cities, you know, you just
get your packages delivered on your porch. It's all good.
But in New York City you've got five thousand people
(01:25):
living in the same building. And but yeah, but there's
so much trust in the suburbs that I am too changed.
So to this end, today we're talking about a team
that does have a history in the sport of Formula one,
but also can be a little bit forgotten. So that
is none other than Alfa Romeo. However, before we are
(01:51):
you count them out, I will say they could be
turning a new leaf right now. So there's a lot
to be excited about with Alfro Mayo. I personally am
very stoked about their driver lineup. So there's there's a
lot to get into today. Alfa Romeo, Yo, I hit
me from my Heart Radio and Sports Illustrated Studios. This
(02:12):
is choosing sides one. Wow. W Wait, So if you
thought the whole Renao Alpene history was confusing. Alfa Romeo
really says, hold my beer. So but we're gonna we're
(02:34):
gonna skim through a lot of it. Were the the
broad Strokes Espresso that's actually much better. Yeah, espresso and
apper all spirits. That seems appropriate. Okay, So we talked
a little bit about Alfa Mayo with our Ferrari episodes
because they are intertwined. So just to recap a little
bit of this. So, Alfa Romeo is an Italian car
(02:56):
manufacturer that's been around since nineteen ten. They're in name
was originally just Alpha and it was capital all caps
A l f A. The founding name was actually an
acronym for butcher, this Italian annema lombarda fabric, which basically
(03:17):
means it had a bunch of anonymous investors. And then, uh,
the Romeo part comes from Nicola Romeo. He was an
engineer and entrepreneur. He acquires a majority steak in Alpha
in nineteen fifteen, so only a couple of years later,
and then he eventually owns the entire company by nineteen eighteen.
And uh yeah, so eventually he of course tax on
(03:41):
his name Alfromeo. That's that's where it comes from. And
in term we'll get to the racing part of the team.
But in terms of our guy Nicola, because of course
was curious, he ended up leaving Alfa Romeo after a
series of bad investments and other issues. By night, I
have zero other fun facts about him except that he
has seven children, which is quite a brood. Yes, that's
(04:04):
that Roman Catholic birth control. Yeah, working around the clock
or not. Yes, So basically teams al Fromeyo. It's you know,
brands Alfromeo. As we know, it's still called al Fromeo,
and it really makes a name for itself in the
luxury vehicle and car market. In terms of racing, Alfa
(04:24):
Romeo starts racing in nineteen eleven, so the year after
its founding. It does have some success across a bunch
of different series and disciplines, including but not limited to
Formula one, rally, sports car racing, and then touring car racing.
So yeah, things are going well basically. Though more specifically,
(04:45):
if we get to Formula one, Alpha has been in
it since the pre modern era, you know, in Formula
one debuts as an actual sport in nineteen fifties, so
they started competing in these kind of grand grands pre
in the late es other of the new Alphas that
crosses the line with a brilliant young driver of Algieria,
Guy Mall. This is where some of their history intersects
(05:07):
with Mercedes in a couple of different ways. There's long
supremacy of Italian cars is at last to be challenged
on the others in Berlin by rear engined auto unions,
the first new racing cars of the third right, so
in the nineteen forties, again around the time of World
War Two, and then directly after they had mixed success
in these kind of this pre F one era because
(05:28):
Mercedes was dominating. As we discussed in the Mercedes episode,
their pre F one cars and Mercedes were were great.
They want all those European Championships as they were called. Uh. However,
when F one actually becomes a real formalized sport, Alfa
Romeo wins out. They actually are the winners of the
first ever World Championships with Giuseppe Farina, and then they
(05:53):
win again with a guy one Manuel Fangio Banjo the
rising star came through to win, and this incidentally at
the age of thirty nine, when many drivers think of retire.
Who is like in the sport of legendary guy. Up
until Michael Schumacher in the early two thousand's, Fangio was
the winningest championship driver, so for almost half a century
(06:15):
held that title. No man has given more to the
essentially a twentieth century out of motor racing than has
the incomparable je Manuel Fangio, five times champion driver of
the World. Oh La Fangio. He was Argentinian. Okay, sorry,
he actually exits the sport of f one after getting
(06:36):
kidnapped by revolutionaries in Cuba. Kidnapped at Pistol Point by
Cuban rebels, obviously seeking to embarrass President Fatista's government by
making sure the star attraction is not on the starting
line on the big rate. They don't torture him or anything.
They just keep him there, like give him a sandwich
and basically how they handed back and he's like, I
don't really want to do any of this stuff anymore. So,
(06:56):
I mean this is just a time where crazier shit
happened exactly. Yeah, So that's Alpha Mayo. They they win
in nineteen one and then they say peace out this one. Yeah.
They end on that high note, and they leave for
a very long time. So again we're going to skip
over some of this because it's super confusing. But basically,
(07:19):
from ninety two until the mid nineteen eighties, Alfa ro
Mayo is sporadically involved as an engine supplier and a
constructor suppliers. But basically, yeah, none of these teams are
particularly successful or interesting. So again that's why we're kind
of breezing through like thirty five years of history here.
Let's get ahead. The year is now so much more recent.
(07:41):
Alpha begins partnering again with Ferrari as a sponsor. Their
logo starts to appear on Ferrari cars. A couple of
years later eighteen now they become the title sponsor of
a team called Souber, which has been around for a
very long time, and Souber is seen again has a
special relationship with Ferrari. For instance, Charlotte Claire at for
he got to start his first year was at Souber.
(08:02):
A lot of drivers in the sort of Ferrari pipeline
get their start at Suber. Yes, Souber copy, I think
Alfa Romeo. You know the history they have in the
sport um it's incredible, so that was taught to like Calderone.
You might remember her all the way back during our
first episode, but she was actually an Alfare Mayo test
driver at one point. Their biggest strength lies in in
(08:25):
the people they have hired. So a lot of the
guys that I that I work with are still in
the team. They have a great team of engineering people
at the factory, very passionate about what they do, and
hopefully we'll see them like we have seen at the
start of this season, that they can fight for really
good positions. This is where things do get very, very confusing.
(08:48):
So Alpha returns the sport. They end up taking over
the name of the Solber team, but the team is
still operated by Souber, so every all the leader, everyone
remains at Salber. It's just a new name. So today
you see Alpha Romeyo now Orleans a sponsor, so it's
Alpha Romeo Orleans but then operated by Suber. Yeah, confusing,
(09:11):
but Alpha Mayo basically comes back to the grid in
historically have not always been the strongest. You know, they
they're back of the pack when they enter in twenty nineteen,
so that's kind of where where Alpha sits is back
maybe maybe back of the midfield or back of the
entire pack. So yeah, so I guess overall, Alphro Mayo
(09:33):
Historic team kicks off the F one err and style,
leaves for a while, kind of returns randomly, and then
disappears again and is under all sorts of different names,
and then finally decides for the time being that they
are in fact going to do this F one thing.
And so twenty nineteen to present, that's where we're at.
Sounds like they never should have left. Yeah, you know
(09:54):
what you can do exactly? It could have been Ferrari. Well,
I don't know if i'd want to work under ends
because he sounds like kind of a nightmare. Yeah, I'm
gonna google their car. Can of look at their car?
That is a almost like a cherry red Yeah, I mean,
all these cars are sweet looking, but that thing is badass.
Big upgrades for So here's what's working out in their
(10:16):
favor so far. We're getting to the drivers in a second,
but in terms of the car, it appears that with
under the new regulations so far as as of this recording,
the team is comfortably midfield for the first time in
a very long time, which is very, very exciting. Yeah,
and you can just tell the team seems more excited
and more energized than they have. But I think in
that in large part has to do with the driver
(10:37):
line up. Yeah, yeah, I would think you want to
help move us on to drive. No, I don't. Actually,
I'd like to stop. I'd like to stop there. I'm
so excited. This is my underrated king. Well who's driving
their cars? We'll get into the drivers, but right after
we take a break. Okay, I am going to be
(10:59):
making this is a whole personal pitch from me. I
am welcoming you with open arms. I love this. Okay,
in our kind of number one seat here we have
got uh Finnish Instagram boyfriend. And as I said, King,
Valtorie Bodice excellent name. Yes you have a dog Walter.
Valterie is the finished version of the name Walter. You
(11:21):
already have a bit of a connection to Valtorie Bodice.
And it should be noted for our millions of listeners
that Walter is on the lab of YOHI right now
I think is he is? He's such a little slut
I left. Okay, So Valtorie, I like this guy? Yea
valty body. Why do you like him, okay, So let's
(11:42):
do a little bit of Valterie's history here. So Valtorie
comes from humble beginnings. He is not a millionaire's kid,
a billionaire's kid or anything. So his dad owns a
small cleaning company and his mother is a funeral director.
Here that Nicholas Latifi. He wishes he could be valtere Bodice,
which his funeral director mom and cleaning company dad. Another
(12:04):
fun fact about Valterie he actually served in the Finnish
Army for a short time because it's mandatory for adult men,
so he obtained the rank of Lance corporal. Great, yeah,
I love to see it. So yeah, Valtorie doesn't get
his start through a racing family. In fact, his whole
career is due to a chance encounter when he was
six years old where he's at the grocery store with
(12:25):
his grandfather, happens to see a flyer for just a
local carting event that's happening, and decides to go. So
that's already great. And what also intersects with this time
we're talking about the nineties, with Valtories now in his
early thirties. In the nineties, there is an iconic finish
racing driver named Mika Hackenan he won two back to
back titles in the late nineties, joyfully out of the car.
(12:50):
There's so there's a lot of fervor around Mica. He's
also very finished and being kind of earnest a little
riot times. It looked very easy, was it? Oh yeah,
it was so easy, and you can't believe it. No,
I wasn't so Valtorie between going to this local carding
(13:12):
event and Mika, you know, hackened In being in the
news all the time, you know, he's he's hooked on this. Yeah.
So he eventually is able to make his way to
the carding scene and and gets into competitive carding throughout
the early and mid two thousand's, eventually makes his way
to open will racing, to these junior formula categories where
he picks up a ton of victories. The young Finn
(13:34):
really is being touted the next Kimmie Ryk and then
he's certainly got the same line in dry humor. He's
looking unstoppable. Everything's going great for Valterie, and in he
gets a gig as a test driver for Williams, which
we just talked about. To see Valtery connecting with the
team you like. Uh, and this is when he's still
kind of serving in in junior you know, racing in
(13:55):
junior formulas. Finally, the year he gets a spot on
Williams team. However, it was a rough year. Both both
cars didn't do well, you know, it just it was
a rough one. However, things improved in he ends up
finishing in the driver's Championship standings and P four and
P five. Yeah, so William's car was working, Val was
(14:16):
doing well exactly exactly. Things are looking good, you know,
he gets he gets the teams, blessing, etcetera. And then
things really start to look good. A couple of years later,
the end of the season, Mercedes has Lewis Hamilton's and
Nico Rossberg to former besties who are now arch rivals,
(14:40):
and Nico Rossberg, after a very toxic, just terribly divisive season,
ends up winning his first and only world championship and
beats out Louis at the last second. And so, as
if that wasn't dramatic enough, five days after winning this
world title, I want to take the opportunity to announce
that I've decided to end my FUMLA one career um
(15:02):
in this moment here on Monday. That's what I was
going to say. I thought that was coming. Yeah, and
he had two more years left on his contract. Piste
Lewis off too well. Mercedes wasn't expecting it, you know. Again,
similar to this whole, uh, this whole Daniel Ricardo suddenly
leaving a vacuum at Red Bull, Nico's sudden retirement announcement
is you know, shock retirement basically leaves another big void
(15:25):
for Mercedes. We need to just come up with a decision,
look at the drivers that are out there, and then
hopefully quickly decided they now have an open seat that
they weren't necessarily expecting to fill. For a bit, they're
kind of like, who could we fill in this seat?
Who won't We don't want to repeat of this Nico
Lewis drama. It's not good for team morale, it's not
good for the constructor. You know. They don't want to
put a second Niko in there and make this whole
(15:46):
thing bad. So I guess who's been doing well during
his time and f one, I want to present a
new member of the family, So give him a big
round of applause. As certain Valterie Walter Bodice. I' kidding.
His liddle name is not. His name was on Walter.
Walter spots are so coveted and it's such high stakes
that when one person leaves, it just sends waves. It's
(16:09):
such an enormous earthquake of action that then has to
follow to get everything back in place exactly. And especially
in this case, it was a surprise, right, it's already
it's already a bit a bit chaotic, so everyone is
trying to figure out this Val guy who's been on
the grid for a little bit. And basically Valtree ends
up spending five seasons at Mercedes and they were a
(16:32):
little tough, so he has his highs and his lows. Yeah,
he wins a bunch of races. He's really fast in qualifying,
so he gets a lot of poll positions. He finishes
on the podium a ton during his five Mercedes years.
He ends up i think in finishing P. Three in
the standings twice and P two twice, so behind Lewis Lewis,
and then this past year it was between Lewis and Max,
(16:54):
so he was third behind the two of them. There
are a couple of issues, though they are always existing,
so one obviously Louis Hamilton's Sir Lewis Hamilton's is his teammate. Uh,
Lewis is the goat, that's the guy who you're being
compared to constant. It kind of sucks if you're paid
two and you still feel like the guy in this
in the garage next to you is beating you exactly
(17:16):
and the Lewis is in the midst of this string
of victories, right, and on top of that it's already
kind of an issue, is that the team chose bias
towards Louis at two point two. Do not fight with Louis.
There's several occasions of this where they give those team
orders to have Valtrie, you know, move aside, to let
Louis through, to do something in a race or a
(17:37):
qualifying session to make things better for Louis. Yeah, Patrians, James,
please about the fastest laugh attempt for the end of lap.
Sometimes it happens at the detriment of Valtori's own race
or own strategy to difficult day for you, difficuld day
for us. Let's discuss it afterwards. That sucks. Yeah, just
a quick interjection here. Um. Valtrie himself made some unusually
(17:59):
candidate remarks on this whole situation on One's official podcast,
Beyond the Grid. It was like, I don't know what's
the description, like biting my own teeth together and really
didn't feel natural and not right because I'm the racer,
but I did it for the team, so it's just
not fun. And it's it's again of the course of
five years, so it's not like this happened one or
(18:20):
two races. This is half a decade. And then, as
if all of that wasn't enough, Mercedes team boss Toto
Wolf Daddy Toto. We have not talked about him at
length in a little bit, but Daddy Toto refuses to
give Valtrie a contract longer than year to year, so
he's on five one year contracts while Lewis, yeah, Lewis
is getting signed. Everyone's inn sent a multi year you know.
(18:40):
So he feels like, and he's talked about this in interviews.
He was actually very brutally honest after it right after
he left Mercedes that you have pressure contractually for nine
years for your formal one career year by year, it
starts to eat you from inside, you know. Yeah, it doesn't.
It makes you not feels confident. It makes you like
the team is not really backing you. But that's really
(19:01):
stupid of Daddy Toto because this guy isn't some okay driver,
he's P two, P three. Give him a multi year
deal and pay him a lot and Louis, that's really
done with them. According to Valtorie, Toto's rationale is that
the year two year lights of fire under Valterie. Yeah,
but you can only ignite so many fires. It's just
(19:24):
very exacting feeling because we're talking about Alpha Romeo that
that's what happened. Yeah, there's always little frustrations. Interestingly, director
Survive has made him and Louis seem a little more
adversarial at times. And yeah, again, as like with everyone else,
they've had their moments, but generally a lot of Valtorie's
biggest resentments have been more with Mercedes leadership than with
Louis Hamilton's and him and Louis actually have a really
(19:46):
sweet relationship. They are both, like I said, now in
their thirties, so they were older and when he came
on the team is a little bit older in his career,
a little more developed. Louis was a little bit more mature,
than he was, you know, back when he was winning
his first title with McLaren in the late two thousand's,
so generally taking them on a personal level, they do
get along. After Louis lost his bid at the eighth
world title last year, he only came out of hiding
(20:07):
for two events. It was to get knighted by Prince
Charles and the second was Valtorie's Parwell party. So it's
obvious that he holds him in high regard. He he
really when he left too, had really nice things to say.
You know, if Lewis didn't want to do things, he
just won't do things. That's pretty wonderful because they definitely
we're in a position to be in the trenches together
(20:27):
and they could. You know, it's very likely you don't
like those people, so that's cool. The two of them
are also up there in terms of being one of
the most successful partner's driver partnerships in F one history.
So of course, you know it's Vale's fifth season. There's
already a little bit of something in the air where
people feel like he's he's maybe on his way out.
Everyone knows George Russell are Apparent has been at Williams
(20:50):
for three years. How much longer can you keep this
poor kid? Who have you annointed the golden boy at
a shitty team. And on top of that, Valtterie is
really not having a great season. It's fine, it's just
not his best. He crashes, he has some other slip ups.
Is just not it's just not looking good long term.
And at this point he's in his early thirties. He
wants some more stability and security. He doesn't want to
be fighting year to year for that Mercedes contract. Yeah,
(21:12):
he's gotten the winds, he's gotten the pole positions, he's
ended up on the podium in the standings like he doesn't.
He's achieved all of that, so he's kind of looking
for what does he want next? So he announces in
late one that he is going to be moving to
Alpha Romeo. He's had to play second fiddle to Lewis
Hamilton in all of those years, so he will go
(21:33):
and be the main man at Alpha Romeo, which everyone's
kind of like, okay, you know, they finished p nine
in one out of ten teams. Everyone's king, well, that's
good for him. You know, he's still in the grid,
but he's really stoked because he gets a multi year deal.
And what's interesting is I listened obviously as a fan
of his too many interviews, and he was very much like,
trust me, they're going to do cool things in two
(21:55):
Like he was very adamant about this in a way
that Valtorie is a very earnest finish man. He does
really hype things, So I was I was really intrigued
that he was so excited about the move. Obviously he
knows he's gonna be the number one driver. So we're
at VAL's first season where the season's obviously still going on. However,
immediately off the bat with the first race, Valtrie makes
(22:17):
it to Q three, the you know, the final stage
of qualifying. He starts earning points off the bat and
and as of right now, Alpha is kind of switching
between P five, P six and the standings so Humongous
jumped for them pretty much entirely based on Valtteries standings
in these races. So he's just been been killing it
(22:38):
on the grid thus far. Obviously seems a lot more comfortable,
a little more secure because he knows he's not fighting
for a contract at the end of the season. He
signed a multi year deal, multi year so aside from
all of this racing with Valve. Okay, here's what I
really like about Valtorie, and I will say, I don't
know if it's that maybe Louis a little bit of
Louis's whole vibe rubbed off on him over the years.
(22:58):
But he has a lot going on off the track.
So first and foremost, his girlfriend is an Australian Olympic
cyclists named Tiffany Cromwell. Yes, but they are like a duo,
like they are the O t P. I ship them.
There are two couples. I will be devastated if they
ever break up and one true pair, One true pair. Okay,
did you know that? What do you think? Yes? The
(23:22):
answers yes, they say this in his rob I actually
did not know. I mean, I love Lily's generation just
throws these acronyms around as if we're supposed to have
any shitty idea what that means? Okay, t one true pair, Yes,
but they're doing an endgame. Is their end game. So
tiff and Vale are very fun because because of Tiffany.
(23:45):
Oh no, I love Tiffin Vale, so I call them
mom and Dad in my newsletter. Um, so Tiffin Vale,
like when he's not racing. They travel around like cycling
everywhere together and if he's not having a race weekend,
he will go to her I cling races. Yeah, And
similarly she'll come to the paddock if she's not racing
a lot of times to anyone who's kind of connected
(24:06):
to the teams of the drivers during not races can
like use the tracks. So she'll cycle on these official
F one tracks if no one's practicing or just you
know whatever, they're allowed to do that, so it would
be sweeter if people were practicing for the bike out there.
It's very squid game. So he'll he turns into a
total Instagram boyfriend. He takes photos on the side of
(24:27):
the road of her and all of her friends. He
sets up a tripod and like a full full professional
camera setup. He has the water and the granola bar.
As soon as she finishes and she collapses into his
arm like it's very is this is o t P ship? Yeah,
there's something very cool about a egomaniac Formula one driver
(24:47):
offering support and very and very gladly being a supportive
figure and not the attention. Yeah's attraction. Aside from that, though,
other things he's done he is a known coffee connoisseur. Oh,
I love him all ready, Finish love their coffee, they do.
He also judges coffee competitions on the side. You know,
I want to taste one of his expressions because I'm
(25:09):
I'm addicted to coffee as he is so um alf
Ro Mayo test driver Tatiana Calderon Again, besides the coffee,
I think, you know, Pottery is somebody that has so
much experience with with a top team. He knows what
it feels and what it takes to win a Formula
One race to be on full position, and that's what
(25:30):
any team would like to have um as as a
as a racing driver. Somebody with the experience, with the knowledge,
with the speed and the maturity that he brings to
the team. I think it's it's a great addition. Velter
has got some stuff going on in the grid's he's
making moves this year, and then he also seems to
have a rich personal life outside of the sport. Plenty
(25:53):
of hobbies, a lot to like here, a lot to
like you, a lot to like here. And also one
of the things you said that I love, as you said,
he's not like a hype guy. He's not like over promoting.
If anything, he he under promises an over delve. I
love it, and I also love and I can hear
Yohi's microphone getting ready to get this in. I also
(26:14):
love that he's placing P two, P three behind this
you know, mega star, and yet the mega star still
has mad respect for him, you know what I mean.
It's like, I'm excited for him to be in this
number one car position at a team, even though we
haven't talked about the second driver yet, but but we will. Jo, Hi,
(26:37):
just hit me with it. No, I'm just wondering if
you could maybe maybe talk a little bit about there
there have been a lot of really really good finished drivers.
If you were going to give me a piece of
paper and say, write down fifty countries that have historically
been good at racing, I don't think I would ever
(26:57):
have even written down Finland. I would have written Usta
Rica before I would have written Finland. Yeah, it's a
little bit random, but they do have a history of
success in the sport. So you've got Yamka hacking in
back in the nineties, you've got Kimmi reikin In was
known as the Iceman which is pretty funny. Kiki Rossberg,
his son Nico was the guy who won the Mark
World Championship against Lewis and retired. They're all very earnest,
(27:21):
they're a little bit self serious, have a very dry
sense of humor typically, and it seems to work for
them in terms of high speed race card. Right, yeah,
thank you for indulging me. Quick break and we're back. Okay.
I love this guy. But there's two people that race
(27:41):
for Alpha Romeo. So who's the other guy? The other guy? Okay?
So he is a Chinese drivers, Yes, the first Chinese
driver in the history of F one. And so the
reason I say that is because he in his lower
formulas they used to call him guan Yu Joe, but
upon entering Formula one, he's like, hey, I want you
(28:02):
to pronounce my name the way you know, the Chinese
tradition surname first. So it's Joe guan You, now Joe
guan You. Okay. So Gwanyu is the lone rookie on
this gridge and for certain the only Chinese driver ever ever. Yes,
so we'll get into him more. But Formula one, like
(28:27):
NBA Tennis Olympics, they're all realizing this market exists and
we need to be in it. Yes, he actually moved
to the UK from China all the way back in
so he would have been yeadolyst like preteen years old
because of the fact that there wasn't a lot of
really great competitive racing in China. He wanted more opportunity,
(28:49):
He wanted to learn from the best. He had the
money to do that, so he he moved halfway across
the world for that chance. There's a lot to say
about Joe in terms of his career. I mean, he
has had some successes and all of that. I would say,
we don't know too much about his personal background. This
I think makes sense and in line with the Chinese tradition,
(29:10):
So we don't know too much. We do know he
has money. He has a very extensive designer shoe collection,
sneaker collection. He has a sneaker head. So if he's
dropping like five different pairs of Valenciaga sneakers, you have
to assume that there is money somewhere in that pipeline.
But yeah, he also has a little bit, just a
tiny bit of the Nicholas Latifi Allah Williams thing going on. Yeah,
(29:33):
he has he for instance, stayed a little bit longer
in some formulas, So he was in Formula to, for instance,
for three years, whereas as we've established most drivers on
any given series usually only one to two years. So
has has enough money wherever it's coming from to have
some longevity where a lot of drivers do not. Can
I play a bad cop for a second. Yes? Did
(29:55):
they just make sure he had a eat because he's
Chinese and this is an enormous market. The Formula one
is never even tapped into ever A complicated question, we'll
get into it. So yeah. So here's where things get
very sticky or murky. Is that the rumor is no
one has said this out loud. We don't know if
(30:17):
it's exactly the Chinese government, if it's you know, Chinese,
other Chinese sponsors they offer up alph Mayo, They're like, hey,
if you get put this guy on you in this seat,
there's thirty million pounds waiting for you or more. Is
this not the horse head in the bed of Godfather? Yeah?
(30:37):
So why can't if you just win Formula two, why
don't you just automatically get a seat, Like, why don't
they just make that the fucking rule that suggestion I
love that. It's episode fourteen and YOHI now just says
I love what Michael said. Um, actually it's okay. Rob turns,
Rob turns, Mike off. Joe has some backing. And it's
(31:00):
hard about this is there's been theories on who is
behind this and what exactly was promised. We don't We
still don't really know, I will say. Unsurprisingly, a lot
of the discussion about the money behind Joe has been
plagued by a lot of racism and xenophobia, and it's
interesting that's like, hmm, you don't have anything to say
about like the white European guys who had a very
similar set up in the past, but suddenly, you know,
(31:22):
Joe Guani is a different, whole, different beast to share
to those. So so that's been very tricky, is that. Yeah, Like,
no one quite knows where it's coming from. Some people like, yeah,
it's definitely the government. Some people like, oh, it's it's
some sort of industry in cahoots with the government. A
long story short, It's one of those situations where some
people are like, yes, Joe is absolutely a pay driver,
(31:42):
and other people like, well, he's like a weird like
because we don't really know what exactly it is. But
he has miracles standed up on this seat. We know
he has money, we know he's connected to some people
of money. Basically just a lot of question marks and yeah,
that's what's led to unfortunately, has some suspicions, some attacks
and whatnot. Yeah. So in terms of his driving, he
did on his first race, so his Formula one debut,
(32:04):
he did score point, he got ten. Yeah, he has
struggled since then. He got to P. Eleven's in a
row the poor guy, which is the first position where
you don't get any points. He's had some spins and
crash and this and that, which again he's a rookie.
This is all kind of expected. I will say what
he has going for him. One he's incredibly friendly and
two he treats the team well. So after he got
(32:25):
this point, I know he's not a fun a fun villain,
but he after he got his first point in his debut,
he went around bowing to everyone. And he's always been
also a good sport about the fact that Valterie Is
is the number one guy and is doing really well overall.
And they also seem to have a really I mean
they're ten years of parting age, right, so, but they
have a very cordial, nice, friendly, positive relationship. It's very
(32:48):
early days in there in their relationship because the other
both new to the team. But at least joke on
you for all that's going on with the money or whatever.
He himself seems to be okay. He's in an odd
position and where it feels like he could go either
way as the paid driver or no, I'm really really
good and you know I have some backing, but I
guess time will tell on that. Yeah. Unfortunately, it is
(33:10):
too early to really form an opinion of his racing.
But I'm intrigued. I would say that's the word. I'm intrigued.
And from a marketing standpoint, the potential is enormous and
it's probably a big part plus thirty million pounds of
why Alpha Romeo took a chance on him exactly. He
has to speak English, right, Yes, he does speak English, um,
(33:30):
and I mean he lived in in the UK for
a decade before this. The other thing that a lot
of people, myself included like is that he is a
little bit of a fashionista. He has talked about looking
up to Lewis in terms of his fashion. As I said,
he's a massive designer, shoe collection sneaker head. Yeah, total,
totally into that and can speak pretty intelligently about his collections.
(33:52):
Let me show you some photos of Oh shit, is
you holding a purse? It's a bag. But like that's uh,
that's a bold move. It is. But good for him
for for having the confidence to rock that he's trying
stuff out here. Have to get a bad personel only
if it's a triangle. Okay, I guess I gotta get one.
(34:16):
So we have now met nine out of our ten teams.
Where is Where is Alpha coming in for you? Now?
I don't love the paid driver situation. That really hurts.
I'm sure that was a big decision they had to
make because they needed the money whatever. But Valtrie is awesome.
Alpha Romeo brand name awesome, the car. That car is beautiful.
(34:42):
The cherry red I love. So I'm gonna say for me,
Alpha Tori is somewhere in here. Williams, I still like
a lot, and Alfa Romeo I like a lot. You've
got some real different picks up and down. I know,
I know, And it's basically here's how it's working for me.
(35:02):
A brand name. I recognize and feel something about plus
at least one driver who has guts and grit and
is maybe a little understated. I think I've just come
up with my own formula. You're just psycho analyzed yourself.
How does that say about me? And so where where? Yeah?
Where do Valterie and Joe sort of come into play?
(35:24):
He doesn't come into play. Sorry, it sounds like I'm
being a jerk. But proof show me, Joe that you're
an amazing driver. Will We'll find out. Valtrie is great.
I love it. I think it's awesome that he's paid
his dues. I love the Lewis Hamilton's thing that he
you know, was with him and beat him sometimes and
they still have some. I love the finished thing. Coffee.
(35:45):
Come on, I have I text all you guys every day?
Who needs a coffee? And everyone ignores me? You know
who wouldn't ignore you if you texted him, Valterie. He
would talk to you about coffee. He would Yeah, exactly right,
exactly right. I should have brought Valterorie's favorite coffee with
me today. Unfortunately it was very specific and long, and
you should have brought your alpha Romeo sweatshirt. But it
got stolen. Sorry guys. Before we sign off, I just
(36:10):
need to give you guys a quick update. Okay, so
we have produced introduction and now he thinks he freaking
runs this whole thing. Producer goo hi, take it away.
So do you guys remember Silly Season. Well, at the
very tail end of Silly Season, Alpha Romeo announced that
(36:31):
it is ending its partnership with Souber. So that's gonna
happen at the end of the three season So in
about a year and a half for real, are you joking? Yeah?
I know, I know, and it This could mean it's
pulling out of the sport entirely, or perhaps it's just
switching partners. We really don't know yet, but yeah, that's um.
(36:52):
That's that. Next time, we have our final team. This
team is the only American owned team on the Grid.
Here we go. They are an episode of the Office personified.
(37:16):
If you said we need to make a mockumentary series
based on a Formula one team, I would say, just
film the Hoss Garage. Don't even need to hire actors
or make scripts. Just film Hoss. Is it a German brand?
It is not. It is in fact American named after
an American named Gene Hass. We will have more white
collar crime. We will have some of the funniest and
(37:38):
weirdest sketchy sponsors. We have some real villains. We have
Michael Schumacher's son finally entering the picture. And we also
have another really fun comeback story. It is your favorite guy,
the suck my Ball's Mate man himself, Kevin Magnusson Balls Mate.
(38:00):
That something so funny about that because Mate is basically
like friends. That's like, hey, hey, my friend Paul. So
they truly have everything at HOSS, and I think that
they finished last last year they did not a single
point was earned. So we're gonna have a lot of fun.
I can't wait. I can't wait to hear about it.
Thank you, Lilly. This has been Choosing Sides f one,
(38:30):
a production of Sports Illustrated Studios and I Heart Radio.
The show was hosted by Michael Costa and Lily Harp.
This episode was produced by Lily Harman and our senior
producer Hi Tal, who also did the sound design at
the cutting room studios. We are recorded by engineer Robot
Larry the second mastering by Cello Wisblue. Max Miller is
(38:54):
the executive producer and Brennan get Just His Heat of
Audio at s I Udios. At I Heart Radio, Sean
Titown is our executive producer. For more podcasts for My
Heart Radio, visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts
where wherever you get your podcasts, don't forget to subscribe
to us and leave a review. And if you want
(39:17):
more F one goodness, follow us on Instagram at Choosing
Sides F one
Host
Michael Kosta
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