April 1, 2025 • 39 mins
Yuki Tsunoda will make his highly anticipated but high-pressure Red Bull Racing debut at his home grand prix in Suzuka this weekend, but could he really be the solution to the team's chronic second-driver problems?
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello, and welcome to Pit Talk, brought to you by Shannon's.
On today's episode, Yuki Sonoda prepares to line up for
Red Bull racing for the first time at his home
Japanese Grand Prix this weekend, and Formula one is seriously
discussing the return to V ten engines and they could
be back sooner than you think. My name is Michael Lomonado.
It's great to have your company and the company of
(00:21):
my co host. He's been the boss of them all
since nineteen ninety two. It's Matt Clayton the boss of
them all for longer than that. Michael, have you ninety two?
I was about twenty and no good at that point,
but lovely to join you. Very glad and very envious
of you being at my absolutely favorite Grand Prix to
go to, and at a strange time of year. No
less because as we were just talking off there before,
(00:43):
we normally spent our time in Japan getting off the
plane and going good God, the humidity is bad, but yeah,
slightly different conditions. But it's round three and April, isn't it. Yes,
I've only just arrived and it was about seven degrees
when I got off the plane. And it's going to
be bending warmer for Grand Prix weekend, sort of mid
teens and much lower overnight, So totally different prospect to
(01:04):
what we're normally used to with the Japanese Grand Prix,
this race having moved earlier in the season last season,
so additional challenge there. Completely different, yes to the sweat
box the place normally is, but I guess that freshens
us up a little bit and at least we get
that logical organization of all the Asian rounds. But I
guess on the flip side, that does mean if you're
an Australian viewer, you're getting all your fun races out
(01:26):
of the way where you don't have to set your
alarms at any particular time, and then there won't be
any to look forward to for the rest of time.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
You're still preemptively traumatized by the F one bah Rain
Murder GP Qatar double header that immediately follows Suzuka. So
I will enjoy this weekend and then get into the
fetal position for the following weekend.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
I think, yeah, yes, and we'll see you again in
presumably about three or four weeks. Let's start with the
biggest news of the week. We foreshadowed this, of course
after the Chinese Grand Prix when these rumors emerge, and
so they've come to pass that Liam Lawson has been
demoted after just two Grand Prix from Red Bull Rays.
In his place will stand Yuki Sonoda at long last
(02:04):
in his fifth season in Formula One, getting the nod
for the senior team. Now only a few months ago
the team considered him not up to the task, in fact,
foreshadowed that he would be dropped by the end of
the year. Lo and behold, he'll be lining up alongside
Max Verstappen this weekend. Let's start with the Yuki Sonoda
component of this before we consider Liam Lawson and what
(02:26):
this means for the broader Red Bull program. This is
what Red Bullbacks drivers aspire to do, is to race
for the senior team. Seemed like it was never going
to happen for him. It has happened for him, But
just how much pressure is on him for his first
race in a car that's already killed several careers to
be his home rates?
Speaker 2 (02:43):
Yeah? I know, look, I mean, I know this is
terrible podcast content, but I spent the last minute as
you were teeing that up shaking my head, which is
not great for an audio podcast, but not great content.
But how much pressure is here is he under? I'd
almost ask I can't think of a situation where there's
been a driver under more pressure than this, because we
know that we have races on the calendar where home
(03:04):
drivers have hugely excitable fan bases. I mean we saw
every single time Sergio Opeiz went to Mexico, and particularly
if he was out early in the races, he was
a couple of times. You can just feel the way
that fan base lives and dies on every single thing
that that particular driver does. But you know, for anyone
who's not been to Suzuka, you could not find a
(03:25):
more passionate and probably educated and informed fan base. They
are going to understand the consequences of what this means
and what this opportunity is for Sonoda. And it's happened
so late in the day, literally a week before his
home Grand Prix. I'm struggling to think of a driver
that would be under more pressure at their home race
than what he's about to go through this weekend. So
(03:46):
you can look at it from two perspectives. Great for
him that he gets the opportunity to experience this pressure, because,
as you said before, this was an opportunity we thought
was never going to happen as recently as about two
races ago before Leam Wilson got in their car at
Albert Park, which is a ridiculous sentence to say, but
only more ridiculous because it's actually happening. But oh man,
(04:07):
what it means for him, he to my mind, is
he's being set up to fail simply because this is
not a car that he's driven before. He's done no
preseason testing, he hasn't done the first two Grand Prix
of the year in it. He's actually had two very
good Grand Prix weekends without the points to show for
(04:28):
in Australia and China with RB, which looks to be
a much more benign car that you can probably pretty
confidently extract a performance out of. He's going to be
thrown into the fire at his home Grand Prix with
all of this expectation, knowing that he's got this career
reprieve that we none of us including him, probably saw coming,
(04:49):
and in a car that has been incredibly problematic so far.
Because yes, we can look at what Maxlstappan has done.
Whether he's on the podium in Australia, he was fourth
in China. There were bits of China where he looked
really wrong. As we discussed last week, Max Fastapan is
in the top what five Formula One drivers probably to
ever do it. You've got a driver that's still searching
(05:10):
for podiums and you know his feet are clearly in
the fire here. It's such a pressure cook situation and
because he's not prepared for it, because he hasn't had
the hours and time in the car, I find it
really hard to see how you're going to be able
to come the limitations of the machinery and the pressure
and the fact that you just don't have any experience
(05:32):
with this team in this car and produce a result
out of it. I just don't see how that's in
his best interests from a Red Bull point of view.
But as you discussed last week, there's just a hint
of desperation to the whole thing at this point, isn't there?
Speaker 1 (05:45):
Yeah, desperation and panic, I think from Red Bull's perspective
to have made a move so quickly, it's interesting to
think about Yuki Sonoda's position because everything you said absolutely right,
there's no less optimal way to make your debut for
this team, never mind at your home Grand Prix. But
I wonder whether or not his approach will actually be
that there's almost nothing to lose its notwithstanding he obviously
(06:08):
wants to do well at home. It would be great
for him to be up to speed at this race,
but in general going forward to the next several Grand Prix,
because it really felt like he was out of options
by the end of this year career wise. Anyway, Red
Bull had telegraphed pretty significantly that he wasn't going to
be renewed after this. That's assuming that Avid Libland, the
next guy in line is in Formula two, is going
to be stepped up, and Christian Horne is pretty keen
(06:28):
to see him do that. Isaac cadjarh and the evidence
of two races has been doing pretty well and there
aren't very many seats available next year short of perhaps
going to Cadillac. We may very well have seen Yuki
Sonoda sidelined in twenty twenty six, and considering how many
young guns there are in the sport now and moving up,
it's not as straightforward as I think it's been made
to look. By some other drives in recent years to
just come back after a year or two. So just
(06:51):
by getting this Red Bull drive, it at least gives
him well the objective that he's been targeting for so long,
and maybe if he can make it work by the
end of the year, not necessarily this weekend, he could
at least get another season. Because also, let's be honest,
if it's not him, who else have they got? Which
I think is the other element of this, right, This
is we talk about desperation. This is I mean this
will not disrespect to Yuki Synod because it sounds much
(07:11):
worse than I mean it. This is the bottom of
the barrel for ed Bull. Now they've run out of
all their options. They've literally chosen the guy last year
they said was not good enough for this.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
They've done the equivalent of opening the cupboard looking for
a clean glass, and there's not even a dirty glass
in the cupboard. The cupboard is bare. Anyone who's just
moved house recently would sympathize with this. But look, you're
right with the nothing to lose, and as harsh as
it is to effectively bin loss it off after two
(07:39):
races and put Sonoda in there, that's harsh, But I'm
more looking at where this is. And so if we
were in Bahrain this weekend, or even if we're in
China this weekend, or frankly anywhere else on the calendar,
but Yuki's home race. We know that he has been
an emotional driver of his Formula One career. You can't
help but get emotional as a non Japanese driver at
the Japanese Grand Prix because of the status that this
(08:02):
event is held in. It's one thing to debut in
a cave, never driven after a couple of races, but
here with this crowd. And also this circuit for anyone
that's not been to Suzuka, it's one of the true
old school. Very few circuits are like this anymore, and
that it's hemmed in by geography and you can only
make this circuit safe and on music air quotes here
(08:24):
by Formula one standards. You're restricted by the region that
it is in. It was built in the sixties, it's
very narrow, there's lots of things to hit in very
close proximity. It is a very very challenging racetrack. So
if he makes his debut for the team in Bahrain,
or Qatar certainly not certainly not jetdif for a round five,
(08:45):
but somewhere like Bahrain where there's car parks of runoff
on the exits of these corners, and yes, you can
make mistakes and your whole weekends, just not in the
dump star. That's the fear for me in that you
mentioned the odd weather at this time of year, the
amount of pressure. There are no small shuts at Suzuka,
and we always get them when you and I have
(09:05):
sat through some qualifying sessions there that have ticked into
the two hour marks have had four red flags as
the guy with the dustpan and brushes out there just
sweeping up bits of cars. So given that the car
is not a front running car, it will be very
hard for him not to overreach here because I don't
think it's just going to be Yeah, look, if I
get into Q two and I trundle around and finish
a reasonably competitive ninth, then that's a good result relative
(09:28):
to what Liam Lawson has done. That's not going to
be how this weekend goes, is it. So they're putting
him in there because they're expecting results. He's going to
be desperate to show them that they should have done
this all along. You add all the other factors that
I mentioned and the variance in what this could be.
Look on a personal level, it would be an amazing
story if he was to get a top five finish
(09:49):
or something like that. I don't know if this car
and that circuit is compatible for that, even perhaps in
Max Verstappan's hands. So to see what Sonoda might do
given the very very compromise run up, it's it's going
to be compelling. I'm not sure it's going to be
that pretty though.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
Yeah, and this is part of the other question that
I'm pondering ahead of this weekend, which is that may
look in the long term, things change form changes. By
the end of the year, as we said, Yuki Sonuda
might be roughly up to speed or at least, you
know where they roughly need him to be ahead of
Sergio Perez, which is the fundamental question Red Bull Racing
has been asking about the driver lineup this year. Who
can do better than Pairs has done in the last
couple of years. I think it hope Sonoda is capable
(10:27):
of that for his own sake, But is there any
way even in the medium term to Red Bull to
spin this, for Red Bull to spin this as a victory,
because there's only two outcomes here, right. One is that
Sonoda does just as badly or roughly as badly as
Lawson does, in which case you wonder, well, why did
you bin off this guy had just two races of
experience in your car ahead of the first track on
the Calendra, which he has experienced, and he's learning for
(10:48):
the first time or alternatively, so Nota does very well
and you say, well, what have you, guys beat? Why
have you held him out of the car for so long?
Why did you stick with Peis for so long? Why
did you lose the Constructors Championship last year when you
had options to switch out pairs for a driver you
spent a lot of money training up and he was
clearly capable of making the switch even last year. Even
for last year. I don't think there's any way for
(11:09):
the decision making process at Red Bull Racing to come
away from this looking good other than perhaps selling this
as a great awakening of all the mistakes the team's
ever made over the last twenty four months. I think
that's what I'm going to be interesting to see how
it's spun.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
Yes, the Red Bull spin doctoring will be spinning faster
than it has ever spun before this weekend. Trying to
put lipstick on a pig of a situation here. But
ah man, it's just the point you mentioned about Lawson was,
to my mind the reason they weren't going to do
this yet used the word yet, because it seemed pretty
inevitable they were going to do it if you really
(11:45):
wanted to find out whether Liam Lawson did have what
it took in this particular car there. He doesn't have
a homegrown Prix obviously, this is the track he's done
more laps of in Formula one machinery and also just
machinery for four stop after his year in super Formula.
He knows this track really really well. And what that
does is it takes the variable of well, he'd never
(12:07):
raced anything in Australia and he'd race something in China
once a very long time ago. That wasn't very relevant
until you got back to Europe and went to the
tracks where these guys cut their teeth in the junior formulate,
this was the one you would have got a definitive answer.
So if you'd had him in the car at Suzuka,
it's all dreadful. He plods around and comes fourteenth. Then
he's absolutely nowhere out and Q one again. You have
(12:28):
every justification to make the move, and the way that
move would be received would be completely different to the
move that they have made. But the point that you
made before, it's if this does not work, and I
don't know what doesn't work constitutes So we talk what
sort of race sample size are we saying? Helmut Marco
said that he's in the car for the entire year.
(12:48):
I will believe that when I see it, judge by
the way that this organization works. But if this doesn't
work out, what do you do then? Because Arbad Lindblad's
not ready yet, Daniel Riccardo's gone, Danny Kevyat's probably waiting
by his mobile waiting for it to ring because he's
normally the guy that they go to in this situation,
Poor Danny. But what do they do if this doesn't work?
(13:11):
And there was a piece that you wrote on Fox
Sports last week that I found myself nodding my head
to again excellent podcast where you were saying that there
are so many eggs in the max for stap and
basket here. If this does not go well and Max
is looking at a car that's really really problematic to drive,
there doesn't seem to be anyone capable of being able
(13:32):
to assist him in this fight with the three other
teams at the front of Formula One, Then what is
Max going to think? And is there a performance clause
in his contract if the car drops to a certain
position in the constructors championship. The reason we say this
and the reason we bring up Suzuka is I believe
you were there. I definitely was in twenty fourteen. That
was the weekend that was announced that Sebastian Vatter was
(13:53):
going to Ferrari in twenty fourteen because that car drops
so far down in the constructors standings that zeb had
an outlaws in his contract to get out of there.
So you just wonder what it means longer term for
the biggest ace that Red Bull has in its pack
right now is they have a four time reigning world
champion who's doing everything he can to finish fourth in
(14:15):
a race in Shanghai. So you mentioned before how quickly
things change. I was just scatting last year's race results
from Suzuka before we came on red Bull won two.
Nothing to see here. If the staff had demolished everybody,
Sergeio Operez did what exactly they want to do in
the second card, don't get in Max's way, beat everyone else.
Happy days. That was round four last year and man,
things have taken a slight turn since then, have they not.
Speaker 1 (14:36):
Yeah, Now, before we wrap this one up, we've got
to talk about the Liam Lawson perspective on this, because
he has missed out on that chance to race at
a circuit that he knows well and we're back himself
around because it's very well in super formula. It's the
forgotten element of it, as you mentioned, as well as
having raced quite competitively here two years ago when he
had the opportunity to do so with whatever the team
was called at the time. Alpha Tower is still think,
(14:58):
Alpha Tower Think. But yeah, yes, he's now back at
that team. It's been dressed up, as in the words
of the red of Christian Horner, in fact, as the
team exercising its duty of care to Liam Lawson by
dropping him from the main team into a car that is,
as we've said, more benign, easy to drive, does seem
(15:18):
perhaps at the limit of anyone other than Maxwistaff and
maybe even Borderline just behind the Red Bull Racing car
that remains to be seen. I guess we'll learn a
bit more about that this weekend. Now we've had this
driver's shuffle, what is prospects for his future? I've written
at the Fox Sports website about every other driver that's
been dropped by Red Bull Racing or Torosso or RB
or Racing Balls are Alpha Tower, et cetera. The outcome
(15:42):
look for most of them isn't great, the exceptions being
Pierre Gasly and Alex Elbourne, who have continued their careers
after being dropped from the senior team. Do you think
that actually being only two rounds in is I hate
to dress this up as a win for Liam Lawson
in the context of being dropped a positive rather than
them waiting till mid season the end of the year
when perhaps it could have ended his career on the spot.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
And I've got to say the Christian Horner scale of
in sincerity has got a new entry after that particular
spin doctor from the Mothership. But I actually think short
term it's a win because the pressure is completely off
for now and we've seen already in the first two
rounds this year, the RB there racing Bulls chairs. I'm
(16:24):
confusing myself. The Racing Bulls car. It is a Q
three car because we've seen it. We've seen it in Melbourne,
we've seen it in China. It's clearly going to be
a more benign, predictable car to drive. And you would
imagine that all Formula One drivers have their insecurities, as
by the front that they put up. He would be
feeling pretty just his confidence to be battered after the
(16:46):
first couple of rounds and then this public dismissal a
fortnight into this dream job that you've always wanted. So
if you've got a car that's more benign, has already
produced some decent results, and the expectations up pretty low
because it's pretty clear that the team doesn't seem as
that the organization doesn't see him as a worthy of
a seat in the top team. He's got a free
(17:07):
swing here, hasn't he. Now? I did read the story
that you mentioned and know these things don't tend to
go well. Gasly and Albon are the exceptions to the rule.
They were pretty impatient with Ghasly and they were very
patient with Albon and they both ended up in the
same place. The fact that both of them have resurrected
their careers. Album's just become this incredibly dependable team leader
(17:28):
and the adult in the room for Williams when they
are at their lower step. And Pierre Gasly is the
guy who if you're ever going to put your money on,
who's going to have the outlier podium or the result
from absolutely nowhere. He's not going to be as consistent
as Albon, but he's got these big spikes in his
performance curve where yeah, I mean every now and then
he is going to do something pretty remarkable. They are
(17:49):
so the exceptions to the rule here, and you hope
for Lawson's sake that he gets a reasonable crack at
trying to do something else now, whether it's within that
family or anywhere else. And as you said, there's not
a lot of seats available elsewhere, so he's kind of
stuck where he is. This is the biggest free swing
for him, because yes, he's at a track that he
knows he's not going to have to get used to it.
(18:10):
In Formula one machinery, he'll probably find the car has
a lower ceiling, but it's a lot more it has
a wider window to operate in. Can you imagine what
it's going to be like on Saturday if there's a
second Red Bull backed car that makes it into Q
three and that second car is Liam Lawson not Yuki Sonoda,
(18:31):
you cannot even imagine what the reception would be like,
both locally at Suzuka. But then what's the global discussion
point going to be because I don't think that's beyond
the realms of possibility at all, because we know how
difficult this circuit is, and then what happens then, like
how do we spin doc on that one?
Speaker 1 (18:47):
It's set up so many fascinating questions that for all
of us very interesting, except probably if you work in
the Red Bull organization or right the press places, because
that's going to be a diffical weekend for you, I suspect.
Before we move on to other matters, it's time for
the Shannons move of the week. Now. I've only had
one race over the course of the weekend, and listeners,
(19:08):
you'll have seen already in your feet the Murder GP
edition of Pit Talk has already been out fully debriefing
the America's Grand Prix at Kota, but nonetheless move of
the week. Look, I read the fine print. It says move,
doesn't say overtake, doesn't even necessarily need to be in
a race. So it gives us full flexibility, does it
night when we want type of things. Not saying I'm
going to pull that card yet, but I'm just saying
(19:29):
it's out there. But why don't you kick us off? Matt,
what was your move of the week.
Speaker 2 (19:33):
Well, you've handed the card to me, and I am
pulling out of the pack right now, because yes, there
were some good overtakes in both the Sprint and the
Grand Prix at Cota, and I'm sure you can talk
about one of those. I'm saying the move of the
week was Mark Marquez standing beside his bike and then
electing to run off the grid with a couple of
minutes to go before the Grand Prix on Sunday, Monday morning,
(19:54):
Australian time, and effectively triggering an aborted start whenever one
looked at the fastest guy ever to go around circuit
of the Americas and say I think I'd better do
what he's doing, and then everyone just abandons, well half
the grid abandons their bikes and runs off the grid
to get onto the dry weather setup. So, as far
as moves go, Marquez working out that there was a
loophole in the rule book that he could exploit. And
(20:15):
then as the sport is playing its opening credits for
the Grand Prix and it's big TV show on a
Sunday afternoon in most markets, the whole thing gets interrupted
by like a reverse Lomon style stampede, the Lamon style
we used to run to your car before the race.
These guys are running away from what they're supposed to
be writing, not running towards them, and you have like
(20:36):
one hundred one hundred meters sprint before at a bought
and start at a ten minute delay. So move of
the week A knowing that there was something in the
rule book to exploit, and then B being machiavellian enough
to say, I'm going to wait for this race to
nearly start and then run off the grid and create
complete chaos. That's my move of the week. It might
be the move of the season.
Speaker 1 (20:54):
I love it, I really liked it. I also just
liked in what other like It's not obviously not possible
in any other four wheel motor sport to get out
of your car or vehicle and run away makes it possible,
and you won't see television pictures like that in any
other sport. I really enjoyed it. Fine, I'll go for
a more conventional pick. It's not that it wasn't the
(21:16):
probably not the most thrilling overtake of the weekend, but
it was Bana's passed on Alex Markez at the start
of the Grand Prix or I think it was like
three or four anyway, Yes, it was for second place
at the time until Markes came off his bike. But
I thought it was really important considering the narrative of
the season up to this point or up till this weekend,
and even during this weekend, was that, well, what's he
going to have to answer? The Marquez brothers generally but
(21:37):
in particular obviously Mark Marquez finished third in everything behind
them seemed very much second class at that point. And
we also got to this point, hadn't we where we'd
written off this opening block of races as all being well,
they're Marquez races. He's got to just limit the damage
to we get back to Europe and see what happens.
He didn't have to pass Mark Markez in the end,
but I just thought it was a really important moment
(21:57):
in terms of potentially changing that narrative, the idea that
he could challenge them, that he did put on a
move he had this go forward. I suppose we haven't
seen from him all season. Is it gonna be enough
to change things? We'll have to wait and see in
the next couple of races. But I thought there was
at least something positive to talk about from him in
relation to that lead battle that has emerged very early
(22:18):
in this season. So I thought it was a meaningful overtake,
even if it wasn't necessarily the most thrilling one. We'll
wait and see if it amounts to anything that I suppose.
Speaker 2 (22:26):
Yeah, I completely agree. I think important in the moment,
but I think more important for what it might symbolize
going forward. It was a move he needed to make
for the sake of his season and the World Championship.
So yeah, probably a little more conventional than mine, but
we'll share it.
Speaker 1 (22:40):
Perhaps let's bring it back now to Formula one, where
there's been an unusual news story bubbling away since the
Chinese Grand Prix, and that is about power units. Perhaps
we can go back to just calling them engines. Because
V tens are they coming back? That is the question
you might have remembered. It was a couple of months ago. Now,
I suppose that I FIA President Muhammed bensul Amy in
(23:00):
that way. He has a habit of raising what occasionally
just seem like thought bubbles or just what's on his
mind at the time, that maybe F one could return
to V ten engines naturally aspirated because they're loud and exciting,
powered by sustainable fuel, of course, to keep it in
line with the green credentials of the sport or the
sport that the sport are trying to sell. Anyway, and
(23:21):
what seemed like a thought bubble actually is evolved into
quite a serious talking point in the sports being discussed
at the highest levels, including with the power unit manufacturers,
the teams obviously, the FIA and F one itself F
one President or F one CEO. Rather, Stefano Domenicale's already
suggested he would be behind it. A rare moment which
one the FIA are very much unified. It's also the
suggestion that Ferrari would back this move, perhaps not that surprising,
(23:44):
considering well, it just feels very Ferrari like doesn't it
naturally aspirated engines feels very in line with and Soo
Ferrari and everything he's thought about. Not everyone's for it,
of course, Audy for one, considering they have just come
back for the purpose of this new power unit that's
being introduced in twenty twenty six, doesn't sound like it's
fully behind. But let's start with the basics. Matt. V
ten engine is dramatically different from what we have right
(24:06):
now and what we will have from twenty twenty six,
which is pretty similar to what we have right now.
To be honest, just a little bit simplified. Is this
the direction of sport that's been trying to sell it's
technological and green credential should be moving.
Speaker 2 (24:16):
In a long question with a short answer, No, I
think anyone that lived through the V ten era. My
hearing is still somewhat impaired because of the V ten era.
Nothing more exciting than standing in a pit lane when
cars were filing out for the sighting lap to the
grid and watching someone with a very heavy right foot
spin with the wheels up about three inches from your nose.
(24:37):
You knew you were alive in those days, that's for sure.
But there's a couple of things for this. With me,
the thought bubble analogy was interesting because to me, it
felt like it was being floated out there simply to
see what the response was going to be. And you
know the old saying that nothing sells like nostalgia. So
there's a certain fan base of Formula one that perhaps
(24:59):
has felt a little bit as we've gone into the
drive to survive era and fake marinas and twenty four
based calendars and so on and so forth. You know,
a lot of that new crowd to Formula one has
never experienced V ten engines because they were last seen
in the sport twenty years ago, and so there's something
that doesn't quite add up there. But it did feel
like it was just being dangled out there to see.
(25:20):
I wonder what the response will be, and the response
from the fan base will probably depend on what the
date of your birth certificate is and if you've ever
seen these things in the flash. But in terms of
what it means, all of these things are thrown out
there for some sort of political reason. Let's be perfectly honest,
And I think back to the last big engine change
that we had in twenty fourteen, whether you were four
(25:41):
or against. The introduction of V six turbo hybrids for
fourteen was probably how well you were prepared for it,
and we remember what happened in twenty fourteen. It was
this massive reset for the sport in that Red Bull
had spent the previous four years obliterating everybody and were
absolutely nowhere because the power plant they had at the
time was no good and Mercedes came on in twenty
four and just own the sport for the next five
(26:02):
years after that, with the occasional periods of Daniel Ricardo
witting races for Red Bull and Ferrari getting sacked together
from time to time. So there's always a political element
to the responses for something like this, and it's been
I'm sure you found this. It's super interesting to see
the existing players in the sport and their thoughts on
(26:23):
this based onto how far they think they might be
advanced with their power plants for next season or not,
or if you're going to a relationship with a new
engine provider or not. Those sorts of things are quite
instructive with how some of the responses have been. But
you mentioned the wider point like part of getting Audi
in and Cadillac and it was this set of rules
that you could sell to the shareholders and the public
(26:44):
as a responsible carmaker and look at the way forward
and we're embracing technology and so on and so forth. I'm
not sure bringing back a V ten engine, but oh,
it's all powered by a sustainable fuel. That'll all be fine.
I'm not sure that ticks a box on a corporate
level for a lot of these new players in Formula
one that signed up for something that well, they signed
up for something, and what they're being offered is something
(27:05):
that's not that. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (27:07):
Really like a couple of points there. One that there's
a big new generation of fans who just have no experience,
certainly of V tens, maybe not even a V eights,
which would still feel like a relatively recent memory. But
we're more than a decade ago now, well before the
boom in popularity, and I do wonder how it would
be received by that new group of fans, something I've
been thinking about a little bit recently. And then yes,
(27:27):
combined with the idea that a big part of these
engine rules were to attract new manufacturers. Now you could
say twill techniques only done one, hasn't it, which is
Audi or the Volkswagen group has kind of attracted back honder,
I guess, depending on whether or not you view them
as having left the sport to begin with. But it
did convince them to come back or to recommit or
have you want to sell that you did lose Reno,
(27:48):
But that really didn't have anything to do with the rules.
That has just to do with whatever with Reno. Yeah, yeah,
pretty much whatever wacky approach Rendo has been taking to
F one recently. So sort of lukewarm response there. It's
worth pointing out this isn't going to happen for twenty
twenty six. It will not be replacing the new rules.
It's way too late for that. First of all, it
would need unanimous agreement between everyone, which doesn't happen in
F one. But it would also make for several times
(28:10):
just without engines I e. Audi also Mercedes suggest it
wouldn't be able to supply any customers. Aston Martin wouldn't
have a Honda engine to use because they haven't designed
one yet, so that's kind of different. I also think
there's something interesting here, isn't there about the choice of
V ten over V eight. I mean, I don't have
as great a recollection of the vten era, And to
be fair, it's maybe not fair to compare them anyway,
(28:32):
because in my mind I remember a lot of unreliability,
but also the sport generally was less reliable. Then it
probably wouldn't be the same now. Technology has simply advanced
to deal with a job now, so maybe that's not
going to be part of it. But there is an
additional political element here, which is that And I do
wonder if this is genuine forward thinking f one's at
the It's at the crest of a wave, isn't it.
The popularity has never been greater. Everything's going really well
(28:54):
where twenty four races, sport's making a lot of money.
There are new tracks coming onto the calendar. We're now
staying to choose which ones need to rotate to maximize
all that kind of thing. Eventually, and I do hear
this talked about more and more, or ponder about anyway
the bubble will burst. Now. We don't know if that's
going to be a massive stock market style crash where
no one watches it anymore, or whether it's just a
(29:15):
tempering of that unbridled enthusiasm we see in the general public.
Now for Formula One, But when that happens, historically we
know that manufacturers leave. Nowada's already a little bit lukewarm.
They've already sold half the team to Kata. You don't
know if that's going to continue to happen, depending on
rule changes whatever. Honda has sort of left and come back,
and Reno has left all that kind of stuff. There's
roomors about Alpine being sold. Does move into a simpler
(29:39):
power unit of V ten which anyone could build, is
my understanding of it. Maybe I'll try it when I
get home. Safeguard the sport against the idea that in
the not too distant future manufacturers could leave and you
need an engine that's cheap and easy to build. In
your absolute worst case scenario, you could go to independent
builders like the Sports occasionally flirted with the idea of
(29:59):
going back to Cosworth's style engines of independence if needed.
Perhaps there is actually quite a forward thinking element at
play here whereby the sport is safeguarded from that.
Speaker 2 (30:09):
That's got to be part of it, because you know,
we've had this discussion before because of our various ages
and stages and our sort of journeys being around the
sport is that the bubble can't keep growing forever. I mean,
bubbles can't do that. They eventually fracture, don't they. And yes,
it's amazing to see where the sport has come in
a relatively short period of time. You can look at
(30:30):
the twenty fourteen change I mentioned. I believe the first
Strive to Survive series is what twenty twenty I believe.
I think it was like a sort of Lockero own
viewing for a lot of people at Australia. I think
it was the first season as twenty nineteen leaving the team. Yes,
of course that's right, Yeah, going to Reno. So you've
had this unbelievable growth and popularity for a sport that's
(30:51):
in a certain form going back to V tens. Look
it's as a spectator sport.
Speaker 1 (30:59):
It was.
Speaker 2 (31:00):
It was a little confronting, I've got to say, in
an exciting way, don't get me wrong, but it's a
very different fan base right So I do wonder how
that's going to play. But I can't help but think
that this is just another political football for all of
the interested parties to kick around. And you mentioned the
key thing before that unanimity. Like most Formula One teams
(31:21):
can't agree on what type of day it is. So
to try and get something as big as this pushed
through in the future is with unanimous approach is one. Also,
if we're doing this in twenty thirty one or whatever
it's being broached, then what are we investing all this
money for now? For something that's going to be obsolete
in four years? If this all goes ahead, that seems
financially irresponsible if that's the case, and just completely crazy
(31:44):
in that there's teams that are moving forward to a
particular future and then we're just going to completely reverse
course and go another way. So I do wonder if
this is just something that's been put out there as
something to trade. You know, it's a bit of a
horse trading power trading situation, and it just becomes another
political front for which the sport fights on that When
I first read it, the first thing I did was
(32:05):
check to see if it was the first of April.
Would you today? Actually, as we're recording this, thought, oh,
it's an elaborate April fools stay joke, But no it's not.
And so yeah, I think where you stand on this
very much depends on what you've got to lose rather
than gain, and I think that'll shape the conversation as
this goes on for however long that goes on. MAW.
Speaker 1 (32:23):
Before we wrap this one up, let's look ahead to
the Japanese Grand Prix this weekend. We've talked a little
bit about what will undoubtedly be the biggest story of
this weekend, Yuki Sanoa's home debut for Red Bull Racing,
But of course we resume a championship that has certainly
felt like McLaren is building momentum for having won the
first two Grand Prix of the year, one apiece for
Orlando Norris and Osco Piastre. I want to talk about
(32:45):
those two drivers in particular and McLaren's place at the
top of the order. We you know, from the last
two seasons this has been a McLaren track. Hasn't been
in that winning position that we've got used to seeing
them in because Red Bull Racing's position at the top
of the sport has only relatively recently in challenge. It
would have been interesting to see actually had Japan been
run in its traditional time soot at the end of
the last year. Yes, perhaps got quite a different result.
(33:07):
But the Chinese Grand Prix for me has set the
scene more than any other element, and this is from
the Oscar Piastre perspective. We've seen him struggle a little
bit in Japan relative to Lando Norris. An emphasise relative
because this was of course his first podium two years ago,
the first Grand Prix podium of his career. Qualified quite
well but raced way off Norris's pace. It was a
big turn around the middle of that race. Last year
the gap was improved but was still behind Norris, and
(33:30):
the race performance overall was a little bit lackluster for
McLaren in their slow start to last season. This year
they're coming with a car that started in the right
way competitively obviously, a track that should suit the car,
and an Oscar Piastri who looks like he has taken
on the evidence of course of only two Grand Prix,
quite a big step. And I wonder about whether this
is I mean for me, I think this is a
big momentum builder for either driver. If either of the
(33:52):
McLaren drivers is to win, I think that's significant for
both of them. Acknowledging, of course, we've got two subsequent
races to come in the Middle East after this, and
that could change the narrative before we get to our
next weekend off. But I feel like this is an
important one given we expect McLaren to come here and
sort of have things its own.
Speaker 2 (34:08):
Way well, and important for Piastre too because I think
we get this instant answer to the question as to
how much he's actually kicked on, because we know Norris
is a pretty consistent high level operator at this point,
so I don't think there's going to be too many
surprises with him being up the front of that's the
way it turns out, and being very strong this weekend
where Piastre is relative to Norris, and particularly if that's
(34:30):
a head at a circuit where Norris has had his
measure recent previously. The Piastre of twenty twenty five I
think is a much more finished product than twenty four
and twenty three were. And twenty three there were elements
of being really impressive in a car that wasn't great,
and twenty four there were periods of being very very
impressive in a car that was slow to get to
the boil, but then once it got there it had
(34:52):
a very very high level. There were some things that
he needed to iron out last year qualifying not with
probably being the main one, and that was the lowest
hanging for it for him to improve. The nature of
the way this race is run at Suzuka is that
it's a complete driver's track. The cars look very very fast,
and it's very very exciting, and it's narrow and it's
(35:13):
one track and there's not a lot of fantastic racing
at this track. So to my mind, Saturday Afternoon Qualifying
is a really big early season marker for Piastre. We
saw that he got pole in China last time out.
This race is very very often won in relatively benign
conditions by the polesitter because it is a very tough
(35:34):
track on which to pass, particularly if the person you're
trying to passes in a car that's just as good
as yours if you'd seen mates. So, to my mind,
Saturday Afternoons Q three, should things go as we expect
is the first real pinch point of the year because
we saw McLaren had a car advantage in Australia. The
weather kind of mitigated that to an extent and we
saw appen to Piastrian. It didn't go as we thought
(35:56):
it was going to in China, yes, Norris said he's
breaking shoes, but that was a pretty nailed on one
two for McLaren when it became a one stop race.
But Q three Saturday afternoon is the thing I'm most
excited about this weekend because it's like, all right, boys,
low fuel, one lap, let's go, And if Piastre is
able to be ahead of Norris or the gap is minimal,
(36:19):
that's going to say a massive amount for the rate
of progress he's made season on season. So I'm quite
jealous that you're going to be there for that one
because I think that last four minutes, last run in
Q three is going to be pretty awesome.
Speaker 1 (36:30):
Yeah, And I mean it always is here. This is
the other element, regardless of whether or not you've got
this championship permutations. It's early in the season, whatever low
fuel qualifying. Running at this circuit, a proper driver's circuit,
as we've said, is just impressive. Sometimes I'm disappointed that
I feel like Japan gets a little bit forgotten in
the talk of historic great F one circuits in favor
of all the European ones. And obviously there are many
(36:51):
great European ones, but Suzuka is special and so qualifying
is always very exciting, more so for the context of
this weekend. Well, on that note, Matt, why don't we
have a look to this weekend with the complete home
filtration Crystal Ball. I made the prediction last week, you
might remember, and I am obliged, not just obliged, but
feel good about sticking with it. Notwithstanding everything we talked
(37:13):
about in this podcast that Yuki Sonoda would be on
for a home podium. If anything, I would have felt
more confident had he not switched to Red Bull Racing.
It's out there, No, no, what are you going to
predict this weekend?
Speaker 2 (37:25):
Oh, that's fantastic. I was going to predict a Red
Bull driver change before FP one on Friday. Oh was
still damn well I predicted, But I just don't know
who they're going to put in there. That's the only problem.
But it's only from it's only from lack of available
options rather than the fact that they might actually do it.
But I'm going to predict a Grand Prix podium for Lewis,
(37:45):
Hamilton and Ferrari. We saw that he won the sprint
race in Shanghai and this is a track where he's
had some success in the past. And I think he's
going to have a much smoother weekend, and I think
there is a spot available on the podium, and I
think the person wearing it will be wearing red overall.
So there's my prediction.
Speaker 1 (38:00):
I like it. I do think despind again, everything we've
said this weekend the asterisk of two Grand Prix so far,
but I do think the progress has been there, just
difficult to see, and it's because the problems with Lewis
Hamilton's race in China in particular are clear to see
in the debrief. The sprint I don't think was a
random flash in the pan. I'd obviously think that the comfort,
the comfort with which he won it maybe was exaggerated,
(38:22):
but I think there is pace there, both in the
car and the driver. I don't know if it's anything
like title winning pace or even race winning pace, but
I think there's more to come there, and it could
be Japan. So like you say that he's done well
at I like that prediction. I'm just going to go
straight for the low hanging fruit. The popular Fox Sports opinion,
which is that Oscar piastri can just straight up win
this Grand Prix. I think it'd be really significant one
(38:43):
if he does, not just because it's such a great track,
but for all the reasons we've said. I think it'd
be a great momentum builder for him and his title campaign,
which we expect him to be going up pretty much.
It's just against his teammate at least at this stage,
Landon Norris, So any victory is important in that context.
And I think that particularly coming off the Chinese Grand Prix,
we Land of nor has had a little bit of
a quiet one, I think will be hugely significant. And look,
(39:07):
it'd be popular at home.
Speaker 2 (39:08):
It'll be popular at home for all the people that's
going to be congratulated for getting up at three am
to watch some but that might be me because I'll
because I'll be enjoying watching this Grand Prix at three
pm in time for my Sunday roast afterwards.
Speaker 1 (39:22):
It is a beautiful thing, is it. On that note,
that's all the time we have for pit Talk today.
You can subscribe to pit Talk wherever you get your
favorite podcasts, and you can leave us a rating and
review as well. This weekend, as you said, Matt is
the Japanese Grand Prix. It starts at three pm Australian
Eastern Standard Time because the clocks go back. Isn't that
it's exciting for someone. I suppose you came up to
(39:42):
take with all the latest F one supercars andmodogbews at
foxsports dot com dot Au from Matt Clayton and me,
Michael Lovedado. Thanks very much for your company and we'll
get you next week
Hello, and welcome to Pit Talk, brought to you by Shannon's.
On today's episode, Yuki Sonoda prepares to line up for
Red Bull racing for the first time at his home
Japanese Grand Prix this weekend, and Formula one is seriously
discussing the return to V ten engines and they could
be back sooner than you think. My name is Michael Lomonado.
It's great to have your company and the company of
(00:21):
my co host. He's been the boss of them all
since nineteen ninety two. It's Matt Clayton the boss of
them all for longer than that. Michael, have you ninety two?
I was about twenty and no good at that point,
but lovely to join you. Very glad and very envious
of you being at my absolutely favorite Grand Prix to
go to, and at a strange time of year. No
less because as we were just talking off there before,
(00:43):
we normally spent our time in Japan getting off the
plane and going good God, the humidity is bad, but yeah,
slightly different conditions. But it's round three and April, isn't it. Yes,
I've only just arrived and it was about seven degrees
when I got off the plane. And it's going to
be bending warmer for Grand Prix weekend, sort of mid
teens and much lower overnight, So totally different prospect to
(01:04):
what we're normally used to with the Japanese Grand Prix,
this race having moved earlier in the season last season,
so additional challenge there. Completely different, yes to the sweat
box the place normally is, but I guess that freshens
us up a little bit and at least we get
that logical organization of all the Asian rounds. But I
guess on the flip side, that does mean if you're
an Australian viewer, you're getting all your fun races out
(01:26):
of the way where you don't have to set your
alarms at any particular time, and then there won't be
any to look forward to for the rest of time.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
You're still preemptively traumatized by the F one bah Rain
Murder GP Qatar double header that immediately follows Suzuka. So
I will enjoy this weekend and then get into the
fetal position for the following weekend.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
I think, yeah, yes, and we'll see you again in
presumably about three or four weeks. Let's start with the
biggest news of the week. We foreshadowed this, of course
after the Chinese Grand Prix when these rumors emerge, and
so they've come to pass that Liam Lawson has been
demoted after just two Grand Prix from Red Bull Rays.
In his place will stand Yuki Sonoda at long last
(02:04):
in his fifth season in Formula One, getting the nod
for the senior team. Now only a few months ago
the team considered him not up to the task, in fact,
foreshadowed that he would be dropped by the end of
the year. Lo and behold, he'll be lining up alongside
Max Verstappen this weekend. Let's start with the Yuki Sonoda
component of this before we consider Liam Lawson and what
(02:26):
this means for the broader Red Bull program. This is
what Red Bullbacks drivers aspire to do, is to race
for the senior team. Seemed like it was never going
to happen for him. It has happened for him, But
just how much pressure is on him for his first
race in a car that's already killed several careers to
be his home rates?
Speaker 2 (02:43):
Yeah? I know, look, I mean, I know this is
terrible podcast content, but I spent the last minute as
you were teeing that up shaking my head, which is
not great for an audio podcast, but not great content.
But how much pressure is here is he under? I'd
almost ask I can't think of a situation where there's
been a driver under more pressure than this, because we
know that we have races on the calendar where home
(03:04):
drivers have hugely excitable fan bases. I mean we saw
every single time Sergio Opeiz went to Mexico, and particularly
if he was out early in the races, he was
a couple of times. You can just feel the way
that fan base lives and dies on every single thing
that that particular driver does. But you know, for anyone
who's not been to Suzuka, you could not find a
(03:25):
more passionate and probably educated and informed fan base. They
are going to understand the consequences of what this means
and what this opportunity is for Sonoda. And it's happened
so late in the day, literally a week before his
home Grand Prix. I'm struggling to think of a driver
that would be under more pressure at their home race
than what he's about to go through this weekend. So
(03:46):
you can look at it from two perspectives. Great for
him that he gets the opportunity to experience this pressure, because,
as you said before, this was an opportunity we thought
was never going to happen as recently as about two
races ago before Leam Wilson got in their car at
Albert Park, which is a ridiculous sentence to say, but
only more ridiculous because it's actually happening. But oh man,
(04:07):
what it means for him, he to my mind, is
he's being set up to fail simply because this is
not a car that he's driven before. He's done no
preseason testing, he hasn't done the first two Grand Prix
of the year in it. He's actually had two very
good Grand Prix weekends without the points to show for
(04:28):
in Australia and China with RB, which looks to be
a much more benign car that you can probably pretty
confidently extract a performance out of. He's going to be
thrown into the fire at his home Grand Prix with
all of this expectation, knowing that he's got this career
reprieve that we none of us including him, probably saw coming,
(04:49):
and in a car that has been incredibly problematic so far.
Because yes, we can look at what Maxlstappan has done.
Whether he's on the podium in Australia, he was fourth
in China. There were bits of China where he looked
really wrong. As we discussed last week, Max Fastapan is
in the top what five Formula One drivers probably to
ever do it. You've got a driver that's still searching
(05:10):
for podiums and you know his feet are clearly in
the fire here. It's such a pressure cook situation and
because he's not prepared for it, because he hasn't had
the hours and time in the car, I find it
really hard to see how you're going to be able
to come the limitations of the machinery and the pressure
and the fact that you just don't have any experience
(05:32):
with this team in this car and produce a result
out of it. I just don't see how that's in
his best interests from a Red Bull point of view.
But as you discussed last week, there's just a hint
of desperation to the whole thing at this point, isn't there?
Speaker 1 (05:45):
Yeah, desperation and panic, I think from Red Bull's perspective
to have made a move so quickly, it's interesting to
think about Yuki Sonoda's position because everything you said absolutely right,
there's no less optimal way to make your debut for
this team, never mind at your home Grand Prix. But
I wonder whether or not his approach will actually be
that there's almost nothing to lose its notwithstanding he obviously
(06:08):
wants to do well at home. It would be great
for him to be up to speed at this race,
but in general going forward to the next several Grand Prix,
because it really felt like he was out of options
by the end of this year career wise. Anyway, Red
Bull had telegraphed pretty significantly that he wasn't going to
be renewed after this. That's assuming that Avid Libland, the
next guy in line is in Formula two, is going
to be stepped up, and Christian Horne is pretty keen
(06:28):
to see him do that. Isaac cadjarh and the evidence
of two races has been doing pretty well and there
aren't very many seats available next year short of perhaps
going to Cadillac. We may very well have seen Yuki
Sonoda sidelined in twenty twenty six, and considering how many
young guns there are in the sport now and moving up,
it's not as straightforward as I think it's been made
to look. By some other drives in recent years to
just come back after a year or two. So just
(06:51):
by getting this Red Bull drive, it at least gives
him well the objective that he's been targeting for so long,
and maybe if he can make it work by the
end of the year, not necessarily this weekend, he could
at least get another season. Because also, let's be honest,
if it's not him, who else have they got? Which
I think is the other element of this, right, This
is we talk about desperation. This is I mean this
will not disrespect to Yuki Synod because it sounds much
(07:11):
worse than I mean it. This is the bottom of
the barrel for ed Bull. Now they've run out of
all their options. They've literally chosen the guy last year
they said was not good enough for this.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
They've done the equivalent of opening the cupboard looking for
a clean glass, and there's not even a dirty glass
in the cupboard. The cupboard is bare. Anyone who's just
moved house recently would sympathize with this. But look, you're
right with the nothing to lose, and as harsh as
it is to effectively bin loss it off after two
(07:39):
races and put Sonoda in there, that's harsh, But I'm
more looking at where this is. And so if we
were in Bahrain this weekend, or even if we're in
China this weekend, or frankly anywhere else on the calendar,
but Yuki's home race. We know that he has been
an emotional driver of his Formula One career. You can't
help but get emotional as a non Japanese driver at
the Japanese Grand Prix because of the status that this
(08:02):
event is held in. It's one thing to debut in
a cave, never driven after a couple of races, but
here with this crowd. And also this circuit for anyone
that's not been to Suzuka, it's one of the true
old school. Very few circuits are like this anymore, and
that it's hemmed in by geography and you can only
make this circuit safe and on music air quotes here
(08:24):
by Formula one standards. You're restricted by the region that
it is in. It was built in the sixties, it's
very narrow, there's lots of things to hit in very
close proximity. It is a very very challenging racetrack. So
if he makes his debut for the team in Bahrain,
or Qatar certainly not certainly not jetdif for a round five,
(08:45):
but somewhere like Bahrain where there's car parks of runoff
on the exits of these corners, and yes, you can
make mistakes and your whole weekends, just not in the
dump star. That's the fear for me in that you
mentioned the odd weather at this time of year, the
amount of pressure. There are no small shuts at Suzuka,
and we always get them when you and I have
(09:05):
sat through some qualifying sessions there that have ticked into
the two hour marks have had four red flags as
the guy with the dustpan and brushes out there just
sweeping up bits of cars. So given that the car
is not a front running car, it will be very
hard for him not to overreach here because I don't
think it's just going to be Yeah, look, if I
get into Q two and I trundle around and finish
a reasonably competitive ninth, then that's a good result relative
(09:28):
to what Liam Lawson has done. That's not going to
be how this weekend goes, is it. So they're putting
him in there because they're expecting results. He's going to
be desperate to show them that they should have done
this all along. You add all the other factors that
I mentioned and the variance in what this could be.
Look on a personal level, it would be an amazing
story if he was to get a top five finish
(09:49):
or something like that. I don't know if this car
and that circuit is compatible for that, even perhaps in
Max Verstappan's hands. So to see what Sonoda might do
given the very very compromise run up, it's it's going
to be compelling. I'm not sure it's going to be
that pretty though.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
Yeah, and this is part of the other question that
I'm pondering ahead of this weekend, which is that may
look in the long term, things change form changes. By
the end of the year, as we said, Yuki Sonuda
might be roughly up to speed or at least, you
know where they roughly need him to be ahead of
Sergio Perez, which is the fundamental question Red Bull Racing
has been asking about the driver lineup this year. Who
can do better than Pairs has done in the last
couple of years. I think it hope Sonoda is capable
(10:27):
of that for his own sake, But is there any
way even in the medium term to Red Bull to
spin this, for Red Bull to spin this as a victory,
because there's only two outcomes here, right. One is that
Sonoda does just as badly or roughly as badly as
Lawson does, in which case you wonder, well, why did
you bin off this guy had just two races of
experience in your car ahead of the first track on
the Calendra, which he has experienced, and he's learning for
(10:48):
the first time or alternatively, so Nota does very well
and you say, well, what have you, guys beat? Why
have you held him out of the car for so long?
Why did you stick with Peis for so long? Why
did you lose the Constructors Championship last year when you
had options to switch out pairs for a driver you
spent a lot of money training up and he was
clearly capable of making the switch even last year. Even
for last year. I don't think there's any way for
(11:09):
the decision making process at Red Bull Racing to come
away from this looking good other than perhaps selling this
as a great awakening of all the mistakes the team's
ever made over the last twenty four months. I think
that's what I'm going to be interesting to see how
it's spun.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
Yes, the Red Bull spin doctoring will be spinning faster
than it has ever spun before this weekend. Trying to
put lipstick on a pig of a situation here. But
ah man, it's just the point you mentioned about Lawson was,
to my mind the reason they weren't going to do
this yet used the word yet, because it seemed pretty
inevitable they were going to do it if you really
(11:45):
wanted to find out whether Liam Lawson did have what
it took in this particular car there. He doesn't have
a homegrown Prix obviously, this is the track he's done
more laps of in Formula one machinery and also just
machinery for four stop after his year in super Formula.
He knows this track really really well. And what that
does is it takes the variable of well, he'd never
(12:07):
raced anything in Australia and he'd race something in China
once a very long time ago. That wasn't very relevant
until you got back to Europe and went to the
tracks where these guys cut their teeth in the junior formulate,
this was the one you would have got a definitive answer.
So if you'd had him in the car at Suzuka,
it's all dreadful. He plods around and comes fourteenth. Then
he's absolutely nowhere out and Q one again. You have
(12:28):
every justification to make the move, and the way that
move would be received would be completely different to the
move that they have made. But the point that you
made before, it's if this does not work, and I
don't know what doesn't work constitutes So we talk what
sort of race sample size are we saying? Helmut Marco
said that he's in the car for the entire year.
(12:48):
I will believe that when I see it, judge by
the way that this organization works. But if this doesn't
work out, what do you do then? Because Arbad Lindblad's
not ready yet, Daniel Riccardo's gone, Danny Kevyat's probably waiting
by his mobile waiting for it to ring because he's
normally the guy that they go to in this situation,
Poor Danny. But what do they do if this doesn't work?
(13:11):
And there was a piece that you wrote on Fox
Sports last week that I found myself nodding my head
to again excellent podcast where you were saying that there
are so many eggs in the max for stap and
basket here. If this does not go well and Max
is looking at a car that's really really problematic to drive,
there doesn't seem to be anyone capable of being able
(13:32):
to assist him in this fight with the three other
teams at the front of Formula One, Then what is
Max going to think? And is there a performance clause
in his contract if the car drops to a certain
position in the constructors championship. The reason we say this
and the reason we bring up Suzuka is I believe
you were there. I definitely was in twenty fourteen. That
was the weekend that was announced that Sebastian Vatter was
(13:53):
going to Ferrari in twenty fourteen because that car drops
so far down in the constructors standings that zeb had
an outlaws in his contract to get out of there.
So you just wonder what it means longer term for
the biggest ace that Red Bull has in its pack
right now is they have a four time reigning world
champion who's doing everything he can to finish fourth in
(14:15):
a race in Shanghai. So you mentioned before how quickly
things change. I was just scatting last year's race results
from Suzuka before we came on red Bull won two.
Nothing to see here. If the staff had demolished everybody,
Sergeio Operez did what exactly they want to do in
the second card, don't get in Max's way, beat everyone else.
Happy days. That was round four last year and man,
things have taken a slight turn since then, have they not.
Speaker 1 (14:36):
Yeah, Now, before we wrap this one up, we've got
to talk about the Liam Lawson perspective on this, because
he has missed out on that chance to race at
a circuit that he knows well and we're back himself
around because it's very well in super formula. It's the
forgotten element of it, as you mentioned, as well as
having raced quite competitively here two years ago when he
had the opportunity to do so with whatever the team
was called at the time. Alpha Tower is still think,
(14:58):
Alpha Tower Think. But yeah, yes, he's now back at
that team. It's been dressed up, as in the words
of the red of Christian Horner, in fact, as the
team exercising its duty of care to Liam Lawson by
dropping him from the main team into a car that is,
as we've said, more benign, easy to drive, does seem
(15:18):
perhaps at the limit of anyone other than Maxwistaff and
maybe even Borderline just behind the Red Bull Racing car
that remains to be seen. I guess we'll learn a
bit more about that this weekend. Now we've had this
driver's shuffle, what is prospects for his future? I've written
at the Fox Sports website about every other driver that's
been dropped by Red Bull Racing or Torosso or RB
or Racing Balls are Alpha Tower, et cetera. The outcome
(15:42):
look for most of them isn't great, the exceptions being
Pierre Gasly and Alex Elbourne, who have continued their careers
after being dropped from the senior team. Do you think
that actually being only two rounds in is I hate
to dress this up as a win for Liam Lawson
in the context of being dropped a positive rather than
them waiting till mid season the end of the year
when perhaps it could have ended his career on the spot.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
And I've got to say the Christian Horner scale of
in sincerity has got a new entry after that particular
spin doctor from the Mothership. But I actually think short
term it's a win because the pressure is completely off
for now and we've seen already in the first two
rounds this year, the RB there racing Bulls chairs. I'm
(16:24):
confusing myself. The Racing Bulls car. It is a Q
three car because we've seen it. We've seen it in Melbourne,
we've seen it in China. It's clearly going to be
a more benign, predictable car to drive. And you would
imagine that all Formula One drivers have their insecurities, as
by the front that they put up. He would be
feeling pretty just his confidence to be battered after the
(16:46):
first couple of rounds and then this public dismissal a
fortnight into this dream job that you've always wanted. So
if you've got a car that's more benign, has already
produced some decent results, and the expectations up pretty low
because it's pretty clear that the team doesn't seem as
that the organization doesn't see him as a worthy of
a seat in the top team. He's got a free
(17:07):
swing here, hasn't he. Now? I did read the story
that you mentioned and know these things don't tend to
go well. Gasly and Albon are the exceptions to the rule.
They were pretty impatient with Ghasly and they were very
patient with Albon and they both ended up in the
same place. The fact that both of them have resurrected
their careers. Album's just become this incredibly dependable team leader
(17:28):
and the adult in the room for Williams when they
are at their lower step. And Pierre Gasly is the
guy who if you're ever going to put your money on,
who's going to have the outlier podium or the result
from absolutely nowhere. He's not going to be as consistent
as Albon, but he's got these big spikes in his
performance curve where yeah, I mean every now and then
he is going to do something pretty remarkable. They are
(17:49):
so the exceptions to the rule here, and you hope
for Lawson's sake that he gets a reasonable crack at
trying to do something else now, whether it's within that
family or anywhere else. And as you said, there's not
a lot of seats available elsewhere, so he's kind of
stuck where he is. This is the biggest free swing
for him, because yes, he's at a track that he
knows he's not going to have to get used to it.
(18:10):
In Formula one machinery, he'll probably find the car has
a lower ceiling, but it's a lot more it has
a wider window to operate in. Can you imagine what
it's going to be like on Saturday if there's a
second Red Bull backed car that makes it into Q
three and that second car is Liam Lawson not Yuki Sonoda,
(18:31):
you cannot even imagine what the reception would be like,
both locally at Suzuka. But then what's the global discussion
point going to be because I don't think that's beyond
the realms of possibility at all, because we know how
difficult this circuit is, and then what happens then, like
how do we spin doc on that one?
Speaker 1 (18:47):
It's set up so many fascinating questions that for all
of us very interesting, except probably if you work in
the Red Bull organization or right the press places, because
that's going to be a diffical weekend for you, I suspect.
Before we move on to other matters, it's time for
the Shannons move of the week. Now. I've only had
one race over the course of the weekend, and listeners,
(19:08):
you'll have seen already in your feet the Murder GP
edition of Pit Talk has already been out fully debriefing
the America's Grand Prix at Kota, but nonetheless move of
the week. Look, I read the fine print. It says move,
doesn't say overtake, doesn't even necessarily need to be in
a race. So it gives us full flexibility, does it
night when we want type of things. Not saying I'm
going to pull that card yet, but I'm just saying
(19:29):
it's out there. But why don't you kick us off? Matt,
what was your move of the week.
Speaker 2 (19:33):
Well, you've handed the card to me, and I am
pulling out of the pack right now, because yes, there
were some good overtakes in both the Sprint and the
Grand Prix at Cota, and I'm sure you can talk
about one of those. I'm saying the move of the
week was Mark Marquez standing beside his bike and then
electing to run off the grid with a couple of
minutes to go before the Grand Prix on Sunday, Monday morning,
(19:54):
Australian time, and effectively triggering an aborted start whenever one
looked at the fastest guy ever to go around circuit
of the Americas and say I think I'd better do
what he's doing, and then everyone just abandons, well half
the grid abandons their bikes and runs off the grid
to get onto the dry weather setup. So, as far
as moves go, Marquez working out that there was a
loophole in the rule book that he could exploit. And
(20:15):
then as the sport is playing its opening credits for
the Grand Prix and it's big TV show on a
Sunday afternoon in most markets, the whole thing gets interrupted
by like a reverse Lomon style stampede, the Lamon style
we used to run to your car before the race.
These guys are running away from what they're supposed to
be writing, not running towards them, and you have like
(20:36):
one hundred one hundred meters sprint before at a bought
and start at a ten minute delay. So move of
the week A knowing that there was something in the
rule book to exploit, and then B being machiavellian enough
to say, I'm going to wait for this race to
nearly start and then run off the grid and create
complete chaos. That's my move of the week. It might
be the move of the season.
Speaker 1 (20:54):
I love it, I really liked it. I also just
liked in what other like It's not obviously not possible
in any other four wheel motor sport to get out
of your car or vehicle and run away makes it possible,
and you won't see television pictures like that in any
other sport. I really enjoyed it. Fine, I'll go for
a more conventional pick. It's not that it wasn't the
(21:16):
probably not the most thrilling overtake of the weekend, but
it was Bana's passed on Alex Markez at the start
of the Grand Prix or I think it was like
three or four anyway, Yes, it was for second place
at the time until Markes came off his bike. But
I thought it was really important considering the narrative of
the season up to this point or up till this weekend,
and even during this weekend, was that, well, what's he
going to have to answer? The Marquez brothers generally but
(21:37):
in particular obviously Mark Marquez finished third in everything behind
them seemed very much second class at that point. And
we also got to this point, hadn't we where we'd
written off this opening block of races as all being well,
they're Marquez races. He's got to just limit the damage
to we get back to Europe and see what happens.
He didn't have to pass Mark Markez in the end,
but I just thought it was a really important moment
(21:57):
in terms of potentially changing that narrative, the idea that
he could challenge them, that he did put on a
move he had this go forward. I suppose we haven't
seen from him all season. Is it gonna be enough
to change things? We'll have to wait and see in
the next couple of races. But I thought there was
at least something positive to talk about from him in
relation to that lead battle that has emerged very early
(22:18):
in this season. So I thought it was a meaningful overtake,
even if it wasn't necessarily the most thrilling one. We'll
wait and see if it amounts to anything that I suppose.
Speaker 2 (22:26):
Yeah, I completely agree. I think important in the moment,
but I think more important for what it might symbolize
going forward. It was a move he needed to make
for the sake of his season and the World Championship.
So yeah, probably a little more conventional than mine, but
we'll share it.
Speaker 1 (22:40):
Perhaps let's bring it back now to Formula one, where
there's been an unusual news story bubbling away since the
Chinese Grand Prix, and that is about power units. Perhaps
we can go back to just calling them engines. Because
V tens are they coming back? That is the question
you might have remembered. It was a couple of months ago. Now,
I suppose that I FIA President Muhammed bensul Amy in
(23:00):
that way. He has a habit of raising what occasionally
just seem like thought bubbles or just what's on his
mind at the time, that maybe F one could return
to V ten engines naturally aspirated because they're loud and exciting,
powered by sustainable fuel, of course, to keep it in
line with the green credentials of the sport or the
sport that the sport are trying to sell. Anyway, and
(23:21):
what seemed like a thought bubble actually is evolved into
quite a serious talking point in the sports being discussed
at the highest levels, including with the power unit manufacturers,
the teams obviously, the FIA and F one itself F
one President or F one CEO. Rather, Stefano Domenicale's already
suggested he would be behind it. A rare moment which
one the FIA are very much unified. It's also the
suggestion that Ferrari would back this move, perhaps not that surprising,
(23:44):
considering well, it just feels very Ferrari like doesn't it
naturally aspirated engines feels very in line with and Soo
Ferrari and everything he's thought about. Not everyone's for it,
of course, Audy for one, considering they have just come
back for the purpose of this new power unit that's
being introduced in twenty twenty six, doesn't sound like it's
fully behind. But let's start with the basics. Matt. V
ten engine is dramatically different from what we have right
(24:06):
now and what we will have from twenty twenty six,
which is pretty similar to what we have right now.
To be honest, just a little bit simplified. Is this
the direction of sport that's been trying to sell it's
technological and green credential should be moving.
Speaker 2 (24:16):
In a long question with a short answer, No, I
think anyone that lived through the V ten era. My
hearing is still somewhat impaired because of the V ten era.
Nothing more exciting than standing in a pit lane when
cars were filing out for the sighting lap to the
grid and watching someone with a very heavy right foot
spin with the wheels up about three inches from your nose.
(24:37):
You knew you were alive in those days, that's for sure.
But there's a couple of things for this. With me,
the thought bubble analogy was interesting because to me, it
felt like it was being floated out there simply to
see what the response was going to be. And you
know the old saying that nothing sells like nostalgia. So
there's a certain fan base of Formula one that perhaps
(24:59):
has felt a little bit as we've gone into the
drive to survive era and fake marinas and twenty four
based calendars and so on and so forth. You know,
a lot of that new crowd to Formula one has
never experienced V ten engines because they were last seen
in the sport twenty years ago, and so there's something
that doesn't quite add up there. But it did feel
like it was just being dangled out there to see.
(25:20):
I wonder what the response will be, and the response
from the fan base will probably depend on what the
date of your birth certificate is and if you've ever
seen these things in the flash. But in terms of
what it means, all of these things are thrown out
there for some sort of political reason. Let's be perfectly honest,
And I think back to the last big engine change
that we had in twenty fourteen, whether you were four
(25:41):
or against. The introduction of V six turbo hybrids for
fourteen was probably how well you were prepared for it,
and we remember what happened in twenty fourteen. It was
this massive reset for the sport in that Red Bull
had spent the previous four years obliterating everybody and were
absolutely nowhere because the power plant they had at the
time was no good and Mercedes came on in twenty
four and just own the sport for the next five
(26:02):
years after that, with the occasional periods of Daniel Ricardo
witting races for Red Bull and Ferrari getting sacked together
from time to time. So there's always a political element
to the responses for something like this, and it's been
I'm sure you found this. It's super interesting to see
the existing players in the sport and their thoughts on
(26:23):
this based onto how far they think they might be
advanced with their power plants for next season or not,
or if you're going to a relationship with a new
engine provider or not. Those sorts of things are quite
instructive with how some of the responses have been. But
you mentioned the wider point like part of getting Audi
in and Cadillac and it was this set of rules
that you could sell to the shareholders and the public
(26:44):
as a responsible carmaker and look at the way forward
and we're embracing technology and so on and so forth. I'm
not sure bringing back a V ten engine, but oh,
it's all powered by a sustainable fuel. That'll all be fine.
I'm not sure that ticks a box on a corporate
level for a lot of these new players in Formula
one that signed up for something that well, they signed
up for something, and what they're being offered is something
(27:05):
that's not that. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (27:07):
Really like a couple of points there. One that there's
a big new generation of fans who just have no experience,
certainly of V tens, maybe not even a V eights,
which would still feel like a relatively recent memory. But
we're more than a decade ago now, well before the
boom in popularity, and I do wonder how it would
be received by that new group of fans, something I've
been thinking about a little bit recently. And then yes,
(27:27):
combined with the idea that a big part of these
engine rules were to attract new manufacturers. Now you could
say twill techniques only done one, hasn't it, which is
Audi or the Volkswagen group has kind of attracted back honder,
I guess, depending on whether or not you view them
as having left the sport to begin with. But it
did convince them to come back or to recommit or
have you want to sell that you did lose Reno,
(27:48):
But that really didn't have anything to do with the rules.
That has just to do with whatever with Reno. Yeah, yeah,
pretty much whatever wacky approach Rendo has been taking to
F one recently. So sort of lukewarm response there. It's
worth pointing out this isn't going to happen for twenty
twenty six. It will not be replacing the new rules.
It's way too late for that. First of all, it
would need unanimous agreement between everyone, which doesn't happen in
F one. But it would also make for several times
(28:10):
just without engines I e. Audi also Mercedes suggest it
wouldn't be able to supply any customers. Aston Martin wouldn't
have a Honda engine to use because they haven't designed
one yet, so that's kind of different. I also think
there's something interesting here, isn't there about the choice of
V ten over V eight. I mean, I don't have
as great a recollection of the vten era, And to
be fair, it's maybe not fair to compare them anyway,
(28:32):
because in my mind I remember a lot of unreliability,
but also the sport generally was less reliable. Then it
probably wouldn't be the same now. Technology has simply advanced
to deal with a job now, so maybe that's not
going to be part of it. But there is an
additional political element here, which is that And I do
wonder if this is genuine forward thinking f one's at
the It's at the crest of a wave, isn't it.
The popularity has never been greater. Everything's going really well
(28:54):
where twenty four races, sport's making a lot of money.
There are new tracks coming onto the calendar. We're now
staying to choose which ones need to rotate to maximize
all that kind of thing. Eventually, and I do hear
this talked about more and more, or ponder about anyway
the bubble will burst. Now. We don't know if that's
going to be a massive stock market style crash where
no one watches it anymore, or whether it's just a
(29:15):
tempering of that unbridled enthusiasm we see in the general public.
Now for Formula One, But when that happens, historically we
know that manufacturers leave. Nowada's already a little bit lukewarm.
They've already sold half the team to Kata. You don't
know if that's going to continue to happen, depending on
rule changes whatever. Honda has sort of left and come back,
and Reno has left all that kind of stuff. There's
roomors about Alpine being sold. Does move into a simpler
(29:39):
power unit of V ten which anyone could build, is
my understanding of it. Maybe I'll try it when I
get home. Safeguard the sport against the idea that in
the not too distant future manufacturers could leave and you
need an engine that's cheap and easy to build. In
your absolute worst case scenario, you could go to independent
builders like the Sports occasionally flirted with the idea of
(29:59):
going back to Cosworth's style engines of independence if needed.
Perhaps there is actually quite a forward thinking element at
play here whereby the sport is safeguarded from that.
Speaker 2 (30:09):
That's got to be part of it, because you know,
we've had this discussion before because of our various ages
and stages and our sort of journeys being around the
sport is that the bubble can't keep growing forever. I mean,
bubbles can't do that. They eventually fracture, don't they. And yes,
it's amazing to see where the sport has come in
a relatively short period of time. You can look at
(30:30):
the twenty fourteen change I mentioned. I believe the first
Strive to Survive series is what twenty twenty I believe.
I think it was like a sort of Lockero own
viewing for a lot of people at Australia. I think
it was the first season as twenty nineteen leaving the team. Yes,
of course that's right, Yeah, going to Reno. So you've
had this unbelievable growth and popularity for a sport that's
(30:51):
in a certain form going back to V tens. Look
it's as a spectator sport.
Speaker 1 (30:59):
It was.
Speaker 2 (31:00):
It was a little confronting, I've got to say, in
an exciting way, don't get me wrong, but it's a
very different fan base right So I do wonder how
that's going to play. But I can't help but think
that this is just another political football for all of
the interested parties to kick around. And you mentioned the
key thing before that unanimity. Like most Formula One teams
(31:21):
can't agree on what type of day it is. So
to try and get something as big as this pushed
through in the future is with unanimous approach is one. Also,
if we're doing this in twenty thirty one or whatever
it's being broached, then what are we investing all this
money for now? For something that's going to be obsolete
in four years? If this all goes ahead, that seems
financially irresponsible if that's the case, and just completely crazy
(31:44):
in that there's teams that are moving forward to a
particular future and then we're just going to completely reverse
course and go another way. So I do wonder if
this is just something that's been put out there as
something to trade. You know, it's a bit of a
horse trading power trading situation, and it just becomes another
political front for which the sport fights on that When
I first read it, the first thing I did was
(32:05):
check to see if it was the first of April.
Would you today? Actually, as we're recording this, thought, oh,
it's an elaborate April fools stay joke, But no it's not.
And so yeah, I think where you stand on this
very much depends on what you've got to lose rather
than gain, and I think that'll shape the conversation as
this goes on for however long that goes on. MAW.
Speaker 1 (32:23):
Before we wrap this one up, let's look ahead to
the Japanese Grand Prix this weekend. We've talked a little
bit about what will undoubtedly be the biggest story of
this weekend, Yuki Sanoa's home debut for Red Bull Racing,
But of course we resume a championship that has certainly
felt like McLaren is building momentum for having won the
first two Grand Prix of the year, one apiece for
Orlando Norris and Osco Piastre. I want to talk about
(32:45):
those two drivers in particular and McLaren's place at the
top of the order. We you know, from the last
two seasons this has been a McLaren track. Hasn't been
in that winning position that we've got used to seeing
them in because Red Bull Racing's position at the top
of the sport has only relatively recently in challenge. It
would have been interesting to see actually had Japan been
run in its traditional time soot at the end of
the last year. Yes, perhaps got quite a different result.
(33:07):
But the Chinese Grand Prix for me has set the
scene more than any other element, and this is from
the Oscar Piastre perspective. We've seen him struggle a little
bit in Japan relative to Lando Norris. An emphasise relative
because this was of course his first podium two years ago,
the first Grand Prix podium of his career. Qualified quite
well but raced way off Norris's pace. It was a
big turn around the middle of that race. Last year
the gap was improved but was still behind Norris, and
(33:30):
the race performance overall was a little bit lackluster for
McLaren in their slow start to last season. This year
they're coming with a car that started in the right
way competitively obviously, a track that should suit the car,
and an Oscar Piastri who looks like he has taken
on the evidence of course of only two Grand Prix,
quite a big step. And I wonder about whether this
is I mean for me, I think this is a
big momentum builder for either driver. If either of the
(33:52):
McLaren drivers is to win, I think that's significant for
both of them. Acknowledging, of course, we've got two subsequent
races to come in the Middle East after this, and
that could change the narrative before we get to our
next weekend off. But I feel like this is an
important one given we expect McLaren to come here and
sort of have things its own.
Speaker 2 (34:08):
Way well, and important for Piastre too because I think
we get this instant answer to the question as to
how much he's actually kicked on, because we know Norris
is a pretty consistent high level operator at this point,
so I don't think there's going to be too many
surprises with him being up the front of that's the
way it turns out, and being very strong this weekend
where Piastre is relative to Norris, and particularly if that's
(34:30):
a head at a circuit where Norris has had his
measure recent previously. The Piastre of twenty twenty five I
think is a much more finished product than twenty four
and twenty three were. And twenty three there were elements
of being really impressive in a car that wasn't great,
and twenty four there were periods of being very very
impressive in a car that was slow to get to
the boil, but then once it got there it had
(34:52):
a very very high level. There were some things that
he needed to iron out last year qualifying not with
probably being the main one, and that was the lowest
hanging for it for him to improve. The nature of
the way this race is run at Suzuka is that
it's a complete driver's track. The cars look very very fast,
and it's very very exciting, and it's narrow and it's
(35:13):
one track and there's not a lot of fantastic racing
at this track. So to my mind, Saturday Afternoon Qualifying
is a really big early season marker for Piastre. We
saw that he got pole in China last time out.
This race is very very often won in relatively benign
conditions by the polesitter because it is a very tough
(35:34):
track on which to pass, particularly if the person you're
trying to passes in a car that's just as good
as yours if you'd seen mates. So, to my mind,
Saturday Afternoons Q three, should things go as we expect
is the first real pinch point of the year because
we saw McLaren had a car advantage in Australia. The
weather kind of mitigated that to an extent and we
saw appen to Piastrian. It didn't go as we thought
(35:56):
it was going to in China, yes, Norris said he's
breaking shoes, but that was a pretty nailed on one
two for McLaren when it became a one stop race.
But Q three Saturday afternoon is the thing I'm most
excited about this weekend because it's like, all right, boys,
low fuel, one lap, let's go, And if Piastre is
able to be ahead of Norris or the gap is minimal,
(36:19):
that's going to say a massive amount for the rate
of progress he's made season on season. So I'm quite
jealous that you're going to be there for that one
because I think that last four minutes, last run in
Q three is going to be pretty awesome.
Speaker 1 (36:30):
Yeah, And I mean it always is here. This is
the other element, regardless of whether or not you've got
this championship permutations. It's early in the season, whatever low
fuel qualifying. Running at this circuit, a proper driver's circuit,
as we've said, is just impressive. Sometimes I'm disappointed that
I feel like Japan gets a little bit forgotten in
the talk of historic great F one circuits in favor
of all the European ones. And obviously there are many
(36:51):
great European ones, but Suzuka is special and so qualifying
is always very exciting, more so for the context of
this weekend. Well, on that note, Matt, why don't we
have a look to this weekend with the complete home
filtration Crystal Ball. I made the prediction last week, you
might remember, and I am obliged, not just obliged, but
feel good about sticking with it. Notwithstanding everything we talked
(37:13):
about in this podcast that Yuki Sonoda would be on
for a home podium. If anything, I would have felt
more confident had he not switched to Red Bull Racing.
It's out there, No, no, what are you going to
predict this weekend?
Speaker 2 (37:25):
Oh, that's fantastic. I was going to predict a Red
Bull driver change before FP one on Friday. Oh was
still damn well I predicted, But I just don't know
who they're going to put in there. That's the only problem.
But it's only from it's only from lack of available
options rather than the fact that they might actually do it.
But I'm going to predict a Grand Prix podium for Lewis,
(37:45):
Hamilton and Ferrari. We saw that he won the sprint
race in Shanghai and this is a track where he's
had some success in the past. And I think he's
going to have a much smoother weekend, and I think
there is a spot available on the podium, and I
think the person wearing it will be wearing red overall.
So there's my prediction.
Speaker 1 (38:00):
I like it. I do think despind again, everything we've
said this weekend the asterisk of two Grand Prix so far,
but I do think the progress has been there, just
difficult to see, and it's because the problems with Lewis
Hamilton's race in China in particular are clear to see
in the debrief. The sprint I don't think was a
random flash in the pan. I'd obviously think that the comfort,
the comfort with which he won it maybe was exaggerated,
(38:22):
but I think there is pace there, both in the
car and the driver. I don't know if it's anything
like title winning pace or even race winning pace, but
I think there's more to come there, and it could
be Japan. So like you say that he's done well
at I like that prediction. I'm just going to go
straight for the low hanging fruit. The popular Fox Sports opinion,
which is that Oscar piastri can just straight up win
this Grand Prix. I think it'd be really significant one
(38:43):
if he does, not just because it's such a great track,
but for all the reasons we've said. I think it'd
be a great momentum builder for him and his title campaign,
which we expect him to be going up pretty much.
It's just against his teammate at least at this stage,
Landon Norris, So any victory is important in that context.
And I think that particularly coming off the Chinese Grand Prix,
we Land of nor has had a little bit of
a quiet one, I think will be hugely significant. And look,
(39:07):
it'd be popular at home.
Speaker 2 (39:08):
It'll be popular at home for all the people that's
going to be congratulated for getting up at three am
to watch some but that might be me because I'll
because I'll be enjoying watching this Grand Prix at three
pm in time for my Sunday roast afterwards.
Speaker 1 (39:22):
It is a beautiful thing, is it. On that note,
that's all the time we have for pit Talk today.
You can subscribe to pit Talk wherever you get your
favorite podcasts, and you can leave us a rating and
review as well. This weekend, as you said, Matt is
the Japanese Grand Prix. It starts at three pm Australian
Eastern Standard Time because the clocks go back. Isn't that
it's exciting for someone. I suppose you came up to
(39:42):
take with all the latest F one supercars andmodogbews at
foxsports dot com dot Au from Matt Clayton and me,
Michael Lovedado. Thanks very much for your company and we'll
get you next week
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