January 2, 2026 • 27 mins
In this episode of Formula Fanatics, a subseries of the the Drive Thru News, the hosts dive into the latest Formula 1 news and provide analyses and predictions for the 2026 season. The discussion covers a wide range of topics including the current state and future performance of top drivers like Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen, and emerging rookies. They also examine upcoming changes in car designs and engine regulations, speculate on team dynamics, and humorously discuss the performance expectations for new entries like Cadillac and Audi. Furthermore, they consider the impacts of team management and sponsorships on driver performance and fate. With enthusiastic banter and in-depth analysis, the episode not only recaps the past year's highlights but also builds anticipation for the upcoming F1 season.
===== (Oo---x---oO) =====
00:00 Welcome to Formula Fanatics 00:39 Reflecting on 2025 Predictions & Lewis Hamilton's Season Recap 02:31 Ferrari's Future and 2026 Changes 04:02 Who's moving to IndyCar? 05:05 Sponsorship and Branding in F1 07:28 New Tracks and 2026 Season Updates 09:04 Driver Lineup Speculations 12:42 Ferrari's Decisions and Hamilton's Performance 15:09 Predicting the 2026 Season 16:21 Haas vs. Audi: A Comparative Analysis 19:03 Driver Predictions and Team Strategies 23:29 Closing Thoughts and Lightning Round
====================Formula Fanatics, is the high-octane sub-series of Break/Fix Podcast’s Drive Thru Motorsports News! This is your pit stop for all things Formula 1 — from breaking headlines and race recaps to insider analysis and paddock buzz.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:02):
Welcome to Formula Fanatics, the highoctane subseries of break Fix podcasts,
drive through Motorsports News.
This is your pit stop or allthings formula one from breaking
headlines and race recaps toinsider analysis and paddock buzz.
Whether you are a diehard to foso,a Red Bull loyalist, or just love
the thrill of wheel to wheel racing.
We've got you covered with UpToDateF1 News delivered at full throttle.
(00:25):
Strap in because the lightsare out and we're underway.
This is formula fanatics.
All right, let's talk 2026.
Let's do it.
So let's go back to our predictions.
You've heard the last 11 months as we'veranted and raved about Formula One.
(00:50):
So I wanna say, I wannago back to the beginning.
We battled back and forth lastJanuary about Formula One, and I
made some pretty bold statements.
None that I can't come backfrom because I think they all
came true at the end of the day.
Did I or did I not say ThirdRace would lock in Lewis Hamilton
for the rest of the year?
I don't know what you said thatwould require me to listen to the
(01:11):
podcast, which I don't do, so I'msure you did, but I don't think
any of us said he was gonna win.
No, but there was all this, but Louis,but Louis, but Louis, but Louis.
Back marker.
You can't be considereda back marker to finish.
Sixth.
Overall, what did Ricky Bobby say?
I first July, my point, I mean, sothen there were 19 people in last
(01:31):
place, and Lando was in first.
Okay.
Yes.
Yeah, so they, theywere all tied for last.
So going back to Lewis forjust a second, did you notice.
Like Midseason, the excuses startedto peter off kind of when we
settled into sucking, like therewas no more the engine breaking.
There was no more this, therewas no more that, there was no
more blah, blah, blah, blah.
(01:52):
I did see a bunch of stuff on theinternet about how oh, everybody
should listen to what Lewis has to say.
Ferrari's not listeningto him, blah, blah, blah.
And then you saw a bunch ofsocial media posts about how.
Ferrari's not gonna build that newF 40, you know, all this stuff.
And I'm like, yeah, they werenever gonna do that to begin with.
I kind of wanna know what happenedhalfway into the later part of the season.
Did he just buckle down and say, that'sit, I, I, I got nothing else to add.
(02:13):
Like even his interviewswere really curt and short.
He may have gotten a callfrom Ferrari saying, Hey.
Stop it.
The car is great.
Or maybe he just didn't care anymore.
He went right into full.
I'm just gonna call it a paycheck.
I don't care.
They know the car wasn't gonnado anymore, so what's the point?
Do we think the next year'scar's gonna be any better?
(02:33):
At Ferrari?
They're all gonna bedifferent, so we don't know.
They're shorter wheel based.
They're narrower.
The wings are more adjustable.
The MHU thing is gone.
They're what?
V six.
Twin turbo hybrids, something or other.
I thought they werealready V six twin turbos.
Now.
I don't remember.
They're really small.
Six cylinders, like one and a halfliters or something like that.
(02:54):
Something's changing.
No kidding.
Formula one's 2026.
Engine changes shift to a roughly 5050 combustion electric power split.
Using a hundred percent sustainablefuel, significantly boost the electrical
power for closer racing, eliminatingthe complex MGUH, whatever that means.
The motor generator unit.
Well, I know what that is.
Yes.
Sorry, thought you said,I don't know what that is.
(03:15):
So who knows how the car, any oftheir cars are gonna be, I predict
Ferrari's gonna be one and twoin a different racing series.
Lama.
That's my bold prediction.
Yeah.
Okay.
I have no idea.
Audi one.
No kidding.
There is no way.
No, they're going to be terrible.
Have they announced the second driver yet?
Bto?
No, they're keeping it.
(03:36):
Yeah.
Holberg and Bline.
Oh my God.
That's, they're gonna be terrible.
They're, they're terrible now.
Hey, you know Nico finished11th, Gabrielle 19th.
Where did Anoa finish?
17th?
No, he finished an Indy car.
Yeah, because he's out.
Eno's gonna race in thosemovies with Jackie Chan.
(03:57):
That's where he's gonna be.
Good lord.
Well, he's joining Mick Schumacherover at IndyCar as well.
IndyCar the place where FormulaOne drivers go to retire.
They're never coming back from that.
There's no way.
I don't think it's actually confirmedthat he's going to IndyCar, so the way
it reads is he's going to be a reservedriver for Red Bull slash whatever
(04:19):
they're calling the other team this year.
What I also read was that he hada seat waiting for him in IndyCar.
Yeah, I think you can be a reservedriver and still race in another series,
because basically when you're on reserve,they're probably not gonna call you.
Mm-hmm.
What motors do they use in IndyCar?
They're still using, normallyaspirated, or no, I'm sorry.
They're using like turboeights or Turbo sixes.
(04:41):
Okay, so they do have Honda Motors.
Well, so the problem is possibly allegedlyif he's a reserve driver for Red Bull.
He's challenged to go to IndyCarbecause of the motors, because it's not
a Honda motor anymore in the Red Bulland there's no Ford motor in IndyCar.
What's that got to do with the price of T?
I don't think he's allowed to.
(05:03):
I think there's a sponsorship issue.
I've never seen Max, not inhis sort of Red Bull uniform.
You ever noticed that they have to, theyhave to wear all their sponsorship stuff,
like even to the point that they can't.
Be seen drinking something thatisn't, whatever their sponsorship is.
So like he has to be like seen holding ared Bull, like all of them are like that.
I remember when I had the opportunity tomeet Tony Stewart and run around like an
(05:25):
idiot trying to find him branded whateverwas his sponsored drink, like the bottle
of water, like to get him a bottle ofwater, had to be Dasani because I think
Pepsi was who the back sponsor was.
So it was like either you havelike a cup that has nothing on it.
Or you had to have something thatwas branded per the sponsorship.
Like God forbid it wasAquafina made by Coke.
Yeah, the sponsorship was gonna get upset.
(05:46):
So how does it work for BOTAswhen he is like naked all the time
and Lewis wears his own stuff?
Max is like a machine.
I think he sleeps in his Red Bull uniform.
Like that's what I'm getting at.
Like everybody elsehas their thing, right?
But it's craziness.
I think whenever they have to dothe promo stuff, though, they have
to be in their sponsored gear.
I mean, max really doesn'tdo more than he has to.
(06:07):
You know what I mean?
So I think that's why we never see himin any other form, is because he wants
to be left alone and just do his thing.
Hmm.
It's rich energy, right?
Maybe.
No, that matters.
I don't know.
I don't freaking pay attention.
IndyCar, the most popular, notwatched motor sport on television.
No, that's rally.
Hey.
Hey now.
Hey, now don't start.
Don't start.
So Mick Schumacher on his wayto IndyCar as well in 2026.
(06:30):
That is interesting.
Move there too.
But good to see him behind the wheel of.
Something, not an Uber or delivery car.
That's what he's beendoing in the meantime.
Exactly.
Speaking of that, you guys talkedabout Audi a little bit for 2026.
I mean, obviously we haveCadillac coming online.
I am enjoying every socialmedia post by BOTAs.
They're hilarious.
Just some of the stuff he'sputting out there, like, do you
(06:51):
see the goodbye to Mercedes?
Thing that he did, basically the punch onis they strip him down 'cause they want
all of his Mercedes logoed stuff back.
Like he's not allowed to keep it.
So he ends up basically in hisunderwear at the end of this
video and he's like so sad.
And then he like jumps in like a lakeor something and it's, it's just.
Totally bizarre, but it itwas really kind of funny.
It's totally bogus.
Yeah, exactly.
(07:11):
But it, it was hilarious.
I'm glad to see him coming back and we'llsee how he does a Cadillac with Checko.
Oh, that's right.
Cadillac.
Cadillac's gonna be one and two.
Yeah.
Okay.
Okay.
Maybe an IMSA but not, and Formula One.
So we talked about changesto the cars, any new tracks.
Coming?
(07:32):
Yes to the schedule.
Next year.
What's going on?
Maple Valley.
Maple Valley
backwards.
That's two thousands.
That's what they're bringing back.
What was the one in Grand?
Theres mode.
That was like Apricot Hill.
Apricot Hill.
What's Apple?
Teeny Valley.
What new tracks we have next year?
Tanya, another one in Italy.
They are bringing back.
(07:52):
Portugal.
What?
Oh yes.
I love Portugal withthat giant sweeping turn.
That's my favorite.
Yes.
That means there's hope.
Maybe we'll get a French GrandPrix after all these years.
Can we go back to Mag Core?
Like seriously, there'ssome of the best races.
We're at that track.
Oh, but it's not coming till 2027.
(08:13):
Oh, get outta here.
Get outta here.
Wwo.
Yeah.
What else is going on?
Anything else changing that we knowabout yet other than Adrian Newie?
Is gonna be team principal at Aston.
Well, there are rumors slurringabout who sits in a corner.
Mr. Horner.
Oh Lord.
Perhaps there's a home for him at Alpine.
(08:35):
I thought you were gonna say withGunther Steiner over running motorcycles.
I wasn't gonna say at Rikers Alpine.
Really?
Rumors.
The rumor mill is a buzz.
What's he gonna do with Kop?
Pinto and whoever the other guy is.
Gly?
Yeah.
I can never rememberwho drives for Alpine.
He's already fired Gly once.
He's just gonna keep firing.
(08:55):
He is gonna follow Gly around.
Oh geez.
Fire him throughout F1.
Poor guy.
He might quit.
If Christian Horner comes back,he might just be like, I'm out.
This is stupid.
Other than what we talked about duringthe recap, do we know of any drivers that
are stepping up outside of, you know,Checo and BOTAs and things like that?
Daniel Ricky Hardo?
No, no, no.
(09:18):
He's done.
That ship has sailed.
Yeah.
Who's gonna be Lawson's teammate?
Guess somebody went for the money,then they're gonna bring Duhan back.
No, they brought in a new guy.
His name is Arid Linblad.
Is that a name?
Arvid Lindblad.
Sorry, what country is that?
He's a British motor sports racing driver.
(09:39):
I was thinking Scandinavia, but alright.
Swedish father in Ah, thereit's mother of Indian heritage.
Okay.
All right.
That's exciting.
Some more rookies.
I mean, we do seem to be having a changingof the guard in 2026 except for Alonzo.
Apparently that was Helmut's Helmut'slast thing that he brought him
on and then that guy got sacked.
(10:00):
We were talking about that inDiscord, where like it's like.
Helmut's last race at Red Bull.
Next week, Helmut starts at Astonbecause everybody leaving Red
Bull is going to Aston, right?
So it's like, what are we doing?
Daddy?
Warbucks got a lot of money.
Daddy Warbucks, he can just make it rain.
They're trying to put togethera winning team at Aston.
Let's just be real about it.
They're trying to make a competitive run.
(10:21):
Oh, of course.
They don't have the manpower.
I'm just gonna say it that way.
To get there from behindthe steering wheel.
Who do they get rid of in 2026to get them to the podium?
There's only one option.
One would argue they have half themanpower because they have two time world
champion Fernando Lanzo in zero time.
(10:41):
World champion baby stroll.
Does daddy Warbucks wanthis son to be on the podium?
Of course.
Is it a tax write off?
He can't go away.
Do you get rid of Alonzo?
Yes.
Yes you do.
Is that Hamilton's next stop.
I was wondering that.
Would Hamilton go to Aston?
Would he do that?
What are we doing here?
We we doing another?
(11:01):
We're just gonna jump shipevery year we're doing it.
Danny, Rick, constantly beon like the losing team.
Is he gonna lose less atFerrari or lose less at Aston?
Let's be real.
Is it a losing team because it'sa losing team or is it a losing
team because of who's on the team?
The, the same thing keeps happeningover and over to somebody.
Then that person's usually the problem.
I mean, that's sort of what SERwas alluding to last year, right?
(11:24):
Is no, but he wasn't referring toit that it was the driver's fault
because he was saying, we've changedthe drivers, we've changed the car.
Yes.
We, I think what he was alludingto is we haven't changed the
upper management Ferrari.
Oh yeah.
Well that, no, that's for sure.
Is this Hamilton's last season at Ferrari?
If he stays at Ferrari and nothing happensover the winter, what's his contract say?
I don't know.
(11:44):
It says month to month.
Like his cell phone plan.
He has a bad relationship with them.
Yeah, from day one started off rough.
They don't like him.
I don't know what itis because it was very.
Sad.
The end of the race, his radio, ifyou saw like the transcript from
his radio communication with theteam where he was like, thank you
(12:05):
so much, you know, blah, blah, blah.
And then there was silence andthey didn't acknowledge him and
he is like, are you guys there?
And they're like, oh yeah.
Ha ha ha.
We were talking.
Yes, thank you.
Great season.
How do you act that way to your driver?
Why did they hire him in the first place?
I don't know.
And that's not a slight against Louis.
No, that's a slight against Ferrari.
Why did you do this?
(12:26):
You could have kept signs or wasthere so much friction between signs
and LeClaire that wasn't really beingexposed, that it was sort of like, pick
one of us, but neither of us is staying?
I don't think so.
Then why did they need to get rid of?
Who knows?
Why would signs go toWilliams for crying out loud?
He didn't have a choice.
His contract was done.
Ferrari's choice to renew it or not.
(12:46):
He didn't have a choice.
But if I'm an analyst at Ferrariand I'm looking at the numbers and I
look at how Hamilton had been doing.
Up until that point, those lastcouple years, it wasn't that great.
He wasn't great last year either.
Why would you take on somebody likethat if you know your car is sorta
eh, and you got signs who's alreadyaccustomed to the car, renew his
contract and he probably cost less.
(13:09):
No, for sure.
Then bringing on Lewis, Ithink it's delusion and ego.
I don't think they thoughttheir car was, nah.
At least to start the year.
I, I mean, not everybody goes inthinking they've got a good car.
But I feel like Ferrari.
Ferrari themselves, and theyrefuse to accept the fact
that the car is the problem.
I could believe there's acertain level of arrogance.
(13:31):
That's the word I was looking for.
Arrogance.
Well, they are the onlyworks team in Formula One.
They are the only pure STEM stern.
They provide their ownmotors in their own chassis.
I thought that Mercedes too.
No, not McLaren.
Mercedes.
Oh, McLaren uses Mercedes.
But I feel like Mercedes usestheir own their own shit too.
But I think Mercedes, the chassisaren't their as they're made in
(13:52):
England or something like that.
But like the Ferrarisare built by Ferrari.
They are Ferrari through and through.
They're built in Martinello.
They're tested at Fiorano.
It doesn't leave Italy like secret.
Stay at home.
You know what I mean?
I think Mercedes is alittle bit more spread out.
So it's not a pure worksteam like Ferrari is.
So Porsche's the same way.
I mean, other than the 9 63,which is a Delara underneath, but
(14:14):
up until that point, Porsche'sa Porsche's, a Porsche, right?
I mean, it's built by them.
So Ferrari's a similar way.
They don't wanna give uptheir secrets to anybody else.
I think they're faced with the challengeof not being able to borrow, let's
say, technology from somebody else.
They are sort of stuck in their ways.
That presents a bigger challenge.
But on the same token.
(14:34):
I don't understand.
Their management movesto the bigger point here.
And I think that is whatVassar was getting to.
You're exactly right, Tanya.
And maybe it's a level playingfield with all new cars.
We said that the last time they did this.
Yeah.
And when was the last time, was it whenthey had the other Kimmy Reichen in?
Right.
It was the last time the Ferrari won.
It was like 15 years agonow, or something like that.
It's been forever.
(14:54):
No, I, I mean.
The last time, like all the, the major carchanges, we said it was gonna be a level
playing field and the usual suspects cameout on top like they usually do despite
the spending caps, despite everything.
Right.
So, I don't know.
Are we gonna predict?
Yeah, go for it.
What do you wanna predict?
I, I'm still hanging on a Cadillac.
(15:15):
No, I think it, I thinkit's gonna be Max's year.
And if Jar.
Can stick with them.
Red Bull will come in first.
In Construc?
Yes.
Because Haja will score higher thanSonota did by driving normally.
Although I, I will say personally, Idon't see why they got rid of Perez.
'cause I thought Perez was good.
I mean, he had a couplebad races here and there.
(15:35):
Yeah, but I think for the most part Ithought he was, I thought he did well.
Well that's a good thing.
Cadillac has 'em, so it'd be all right.
Him and Bodis Red Bullprobably wouldn't have.
Won the constructors, but they would'vecame in second instead of third if had
he had had a teammate making any points.
Yeah, exactly.
I mean, 4 69 Mercedes 4 51, red Bull.
I mean, that's 449 pointsthat were were were max.
(15:59):
That's true.
That's very true.
Which is sad because he beat.
Ferrari, basically by himself.
Yeah, with two drivers that wereconsistently in the points, let's say.
There were a couple races where therewere DNFs, but for the most part they
both did finish in the points almostevery race and Max still by himself.
(16:19):
Crushed it.
All right.
I'm gonna throw one out there.
Haas is gonna do betterthan Audi next year.
Excuse me.
Volkswagen.
Anya has a look of confusion on her face.
I gotta hand it to Ocon.
I talked about Beerman in theretrospective and how he's one to
watch out for, but Ocon being almost30 or just turned 30 this year.
(16:40):
He's doing pretty good.
He's always sort of in the middle.
He is fighting, they're, they'reactually pretty clean racing compared
to Ocon of the past where justtaking people out like a missile.
And the reality is, I think theHaas have gotten better, the
Williamses have gotten better.
There was some exciting racing happeningin the middle where TV coverage just
watching, you know, Lando or Oscaror Max just lapping like they're at
(17:03):
an HPDE, there was nothing excitingreally happening at the front.
There were no real battles.
The real racing washappening in the middle.
I feel like if Haas keeps going, andit's been this long, arduous journey
for them since the days of richenergy and whatnot, I think they're
gonna do better than Audi next year.
Which breaks my heart becauseVolkswagen's putting all the cards
on the table to be able to affordthe Audi program for next year.
(17:26):
But it's just gonna be terrible.
Is it going to be Audi or isit going to be the drivers?
I would've driver changed already.
Maybe that'll still happen.
There's still time.
That also makes me wonder, is it goingto be a whole Audi production or is it
gonna be Audi supplying stuff to Salur?
And it's more of the same, just likewhen it was Alpha Romeo, or it's always
been Salur for like the last millennia.
(17:48):
But if it's a ground up Volkswagenprogram and they're putting their
back behind it, so Audi, so accordingto the all knowing interwebs.
They're providing their own power unit.
Are they providing their own chassis?
I knew they were providingtheir own motors.
So Audi is partnering with the solverteam for their 2026 Formula one entry with
the Swiss teams hidden wheel facility,developing and building the actual car
(18:09):
chassis and handling race operations.
While Audi develops the power unitin Germany, they're effectively
becoming a factory team.
Chassis development is happening atthe former Solver headquarters in
hin Will Switzerland with significantcollaboration and integration with
Audi's Power Unit development in Germany.
Is Haas gonna be deeper in with Toyota?
Are they ditching the Ferrari motors?
Are we gonna have a Gazoo powerplant in the Formula One car?
(18:32):
No, they'll still havethe Ferrari Power Unit.
Ugh.
So we'll have three teams withFerrari motors out there running.
Okay.
It's gonna be an interesting year.
I don't know what to make predictions of.
I mean, I'd love to see Audi at the top.
I'd love to see Audi at least inthe upper half, if nothing else.
'cause that would be prettyimpressive on a debut.
(18:52):
Season, I don't know that I havethe confidence in the drivers.
See, and I think a way to prove thatwould be take last year's cars, the 2025
cars and switch all the drivers around.
So you put the back markers in, thefast cars and the fast guys and the
slow cars and see what happens ifyou put Hulk Inberg in Tappin's red.
(19:12):
Or in Oscars McLaren, he'd still belike, 14th, max still wins, right?
You put Max in in the Haas or Williams orwhatever and he's gonna be in the front.
I'm telling you that's how that plays out.
Uh, yeah.
I don't know.
It's gonna be interesting to see.
It'll be interesting to see.
Cadillac too, right?
Everybody's gonna be thinkingthey're gonna be hot shit.
Are they?
(19:32):
I mean, at least theyhave seasoned drivers.
So like BOTAs and Sergio will beable to drive Cadillac's coming in
with a brand new car, air quotes,brand new car, blah, blah blah.
It's whoever they're copying andpasting with last year's Ferrari
motor modified seasoned drivers.
So I'm not worried about the drivers.
And then you've got Audi coming intotally brand new and with like.
(19:56):
Eh, well, with one rookie, basically,because Gabrielle's first season
was this season, and he did crap.
Basically, you effectively stillhave one rookie seat, and then
Nico's been around the block.
Nico's like the longestrunning rookie in Formula One.
He drives like a rookie.
How old is that guy?
He's must be 37.
He's old.
He looks old.
(20:17):
38. I, I called it, called it.
Dude needs to retire.
He might as well be Alonzowithout the the winning.
Other motor sports disciplines beckon,Mr. Kinberg, just saying, oh, I saw
something that, I don't know if itwas fake or not, but it was basically
implying a potential LeMans team.
(20:38):
Oh, here we go for staffing.
Alonzo and Charles, what it probablywas like a clickbait bullshit
thing, but nonetheless, we knowthat Alonzo's done Lamont before.
He's already won it with Toyota, andwe know Max has interest in all that
endurance racing stuff, and I'm sureCharles would be interested too.
(21:00):
So that would be aninteresting combination.
I can't really see the three ofthem getting along as teammates.
I don't think there's any bad bloodbetween Max and Charles though.
'cause I think they were sortof buddies through Go-karting.
Notice how you left Alonzo out of this.
Well, I was starting with those two.
Ah yeah.
And then I don't know that Max hasany bad blood with Alonzo either.
(21:23):
'cause like who is Alonzo to him?
His grandpa, his older brother.
It's no, no.
Alanzo.
Get him outta here.
I mean, they've never really.
Had to go head to head ever.
And they've never been teammates.
So there's time.
There's time in theory.
He's just like, oh, it's twotime world champion Alonzo.
Yeah, you were good 20 years ago, backin the days of Schumacher when Schumacher
(21:48):
was at Mercedes and he was done.
But yes, those guys at Lamont.
So speaking of Franz Herman, likeI am excited to see what happens
in, so he's been racing, man,never stops racing as they say.
Like he's been test driving a Mercedes.
Mercedes, like GT three.
GT three.
Oh yeah.
He's been doing laps.
Did you see the video hedid with Chris Harris?
I don't know if it was inAustria or in Australia.
(22:10):
We went by really fast on theInstagram reel and he's in one
of the new dark horse mustangs.
Oh yeah.
I watched the, the whole thing,Chris is like chatting his ear
and, and Max is just driving andhe is like zero personality, right?
Because he just cares about the driving.
And at one point Chris Harris asked himlike, what does he think about the car?
And he's like.
It's, it's pretty good as he'slike power sliding through a turn.
Completely like unfazedby what's going on.
(22:32):
Yeah.
I watched that whole thing.
That's the video and that's the, or theinterview thing where he made the comment
that front wheel drive was Ah, okay.
Uncool.
And then, yeah, they go out becausenow he has to promote and everything
Ford, because Ford's the new enginefor Red Bull and they, yeah, they took
the Mustang out and it actually startedraining while they were doing the laps.
(22:56):
When do the cars get revealed?
When do we get to see them lookexactly like they did last year?
It's usually around February, I think.
Around February.
Okay.
So we have to talk.
They start in February, isn'tCadillac, aren't they gonna debut?
I wanna say it was gonna be duringthe Super Bowl is when they're
gonna reveal the Cadillac car.
Makes sense.
Still February.
Yeah, that makes sense.
Well, for our very first.
Formula fanatics of the 2026 season asthis is abbreviated because we don't have
(23:21):
a ton of news yet, but we'll be keepingup with these as we go along, as we
stay glued to our Apple TV subscription.
Can't wait for that to kick in.
Let's do this as we close out thisformula fanatics episode, lightning round.
Team driver, who are you rooting for?
2026 Go.
Brad Cadillac Boas.
Tanya Audi, neitherdriver Audi for stopping.
(23:44):
If you couldn't tell by what I'mwearing, I'm gonna go with Ferrari, the
car versus stopping the championship,that's where my heart lies to be
disappointed and broken yet again.
I mean, yes.
I mean, I want Ferrari to win.
I wanna see Audi do really well.
And that's where it lies.
And if Max Fortin wins the championship,I don't hate him as much as I used to.
So same.
(24:05):
It's okay.
Same.
You know what?
There is hope there is somewhere.
Ferrari is gonna win next year.
Mark my words.
Forza.
24 hours of Lama 4, 9, 9p hitting in the world.
Four times the road.
Let's go.
Ferrari.
Ooh.
Can they four?
Pete, team and driver,you're rooting against.
Oh, Lando.
McLaren.
Done.
Not Aston Martin.
(24:25):
No, that's gonna be like anepisode of the Three Stooges.
Like I'm just waiting.
It's like Keystone cops over there.
Just, just wanna see what happens.
I mean, I've got twodrivers I'm rooting against.
I'm definitely rooting for strollto completely just f everything up
just 'cause I, I don't like DaddyWarbucks back there funding his entire
fantasy that he doesn't deserve.
(24:46):
But also Russell, I'm rootingagainst Russell 'cause I
think Russell is a tool bag.
That guy gets under my wanker skin.
He's a bloody wanker.
And those eyelashes.
Too.
Oh, like snuffle up against, like theyreally kind of freak me out a little bit.
He just looks like someoneI wanna punch in the face.
So you said driver team, driveror team, like it would, whatever.
(25:10):
I don't know what teamI'm rooting against.
No, I'm saying Eric,his original question.
So you're not rooting for Antonelli?
I am.
I am.
But I, I wanna see Max come back andwin and put McLaren in their place.
Do we think Ferrari No.
Is ruining.
Not signing into Nelly.
An Italian driver.
Yes.
(25:30):
In an Italian car.
Yes.
Or an Australian with aItalian sounding name.
They should have hired Piore,you know, adopted him as a, as an
Italian, it would've been all right.
Actually.
I think Piore would bea good fit at Ferrari.
He's got that sort of stoic,kind of like a Schumacher.
He dries very clean.
He's very professional.
He is very consistent.
I could see him eventuallymaking a transition there.
(25:52):
If Lewis gives up his seat,because Charles ain't gonna do it.
If Charles leaves Ferrari, I thinkhe's gonna leave Formula one period.
I don't know where he would go.
I mean, his dream was Ferrari and that'swhere he is and it's not panning out yet.
Turn into a nightmare.
That is sadly the meme about his life.
All right, Tanya, so as we close thisout, who are you rooting against?
(26:15):
Audi and against?
No, I'm not rooting against Audi.
I'm not, I don't know that I'meven this season was actively
rooting against any team.
McLaren.
You can pick a driver.
I don't mind.
McLaren.
I would've loved to see Oscar win it.
Yes, I agree.
I agree.
So I have no problem with McLaren.
Like, I don't like Liam Lawson, so Iwon't be hurt if he doesn't do well.
(26:41):
That guy is a punk.
Yeah, I don't know.
The rooting against is hard.
Like I don't like George either.
'cause he is a whiny little baby.
Just say that you don'twant Lando to win again.
Just say it.
Yeah.
I mean, I'm okay with that.
I mean, it'll be interestingto see how he does.
Like, is he a one hitwonder And that was it.
(27:02):
On that other disappointment,I think we're good.
The drive-through is our monthlynews episode and is sponsored in
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(27:23):
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Thank you again to everyone thatsupports the Motoring Podcast Network.
Touring Motor Sports, our podcast, breakFix and all the other services we provide.
Welcome to Formula Fanatics, the highoctane subseries of break Fix podcasts,
drive through Motorsports News.
This is your pit stop or allthings formula one from breaking
headlines and race recaps toinsider analysis and paddock buzz.
Whether you are a diehard to foso,a Red Bull loyalist, or just love
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We've got you covered with UpToDateF1 News delivered at full throttle.
(00:25):
Strap in because the lightsare out and we're underway.
This is formula fanatics.
All right, let's talk 2026.
Let's do it.
So let's go back to our predictions.
You've heard the last 11 months as we'veranted and raved about Formula One.
(00:50):
So I wanna say, I wannago back to the beginning.
We battled back and forth lastJanuary about Formula One, and I
made some pretty bold statements.
None that I can't come backfrom because I think they all
came true at the end of the day.
Did I or did I not say ThirdRace would lock in Lewis Hamilton
for the rest of the year?
I don't know what you said thatwould require me to listen to the
(01:11):
podcast, which I don't do, so I'msure you did, but I don't think
any of us said he was gonna win.
No, but there was all this, but Louis,but Louis, but Louis, but Louis.
Back marker.
You can't be considereda back marker to finish.
Sixth.
Overall, what did Ricky Bobby say?
I first July, my point, I mean, sothen there were 19 people in last
(01:31):
place, and Lando was in first.
Okay.
Yes.
Yeah, so they, theywere all tied for last.
So going back to Lewis forjust a second, did you notice.
Like Midseason, the excuses startedto peter off kind of when we
settled into sucking, like therewas no more the engine breaking.
There was no more this, therewas no more that, there was no
more blah, blah, blah, blah.
(01:52):
I did see a bunch of stuff on theinternet about how oh, everybody
should listen to what Lewis has to say.
Ferrari's not listeningto him, blah, blah, blah.
And then you saw a bunch ofsocial media posts about how.
Ferrari's not gonna build that newF 40, you know, all this stuff.
And I'm like, yeah, they werenever gonna do that to begin with.
I kind of wanna know what happenedhalfway into the later part of the season.
Did he just buckle down and say, that'sit, I, I, I got nothing else to add.
(02:13):
Like even his interviewswere really curt and short.
He may have gotten a callfrom Ferrari saying, Hey.
Stop it.
The car is great.
Or maybe he just didn't care anymore.
He went right into full.
I'm just gonna call it a paycheck.
I don't care.
They know the car wasn't gonnado anymore, so what's the point?
Do we think the next year'scar's gonna be any better?
(02:33):
At Ferrari?
They're all gonna bedifferent, so we don't know.
They're shorter wheel based.
They're narrower.
The wings are more adjustable.
The MHU thing is gone.
They're what?
V six.
Twin turbo hybrids, something or other.
I thought they werealready V six twin turbos.
Now.
I don't remember.
They're really small.
Six cylinders, like one and a halfliters or something like that.
(02:54):
Something's changing.
No kidding.
Formula one's 2026.
Engine changes shift to a roughly 5050 combustion electric power split.
Using a hundred percent sustainablefuel, significantly boost the electrical
power for closer racing, eliminatingthe complex MGUH, whatever that means.
The motor generator unit.
Well, I know what that is.
Yes.
Sorry, thought you said,I don't know what that is.
(03:15):
So who knows how the car, any oftheir cars are gonna be, I predict
Ferrari's gonna be one and twoin a different racing series.
Lama.
That's my bold prediction.
Yeah.
Okay.
I have no idea.
Audi one.
No kidding.
There is no way.
No, they're going to be terrible.
Have they announced the second driver yet?
Bto?
No, they're keeping it.
(03:36):
Yeah.
Holberg and Bline.
Oh my God.
That's, they're gonna be terrible.
They're, they're terrible now.
Hey, you know Nico finished11th, Gabrielle 19th.
Where did Anoa finish?
17th?
No, he finished an Indy car.
Yeah, because he's out.
Eno's gonna race in thosemovies with Jackie Chan.
(03:57):
That's where he's gonna be.
Good lord.
Well, he's joining Mick Schumacherover at IndyCar as well.
IndyCar the place where FormulaOne drivers go to retire.
They're never coming back from that.
There's no way.
I don't think it's actually confirmedthat he's going to IndyCar, so the way
it reads is he's going to be a reservedriver for Red Bull slash whatever
(04:19):
they're calling the other team this year.
What I also read was that he hada seat waiting for him in IndyCar.
Yeah, I think you can be a reservedriver and still race in another series,
because basically when you're on reserve,they're probably not gonna call you.
Mm-hmm.
What motors do they use in IndyCar?
They're still using, normallyaspirated, or no, I'm sorry.
They're using like turboeights or Turbo sixes.
(04:41):
Okay, so they do have Honda Motors.
Well, so the problem is possibly allegedlyif he's a reserve driver for Red Bull.
He's challenged to go to IndyCarbecause of the motors, because it's not
a Honda motor anymore in the Red Bulland there's no Ford motor in IndyCar.
What's that got to do with the price of T?
I don't think he's allowed to.
(05:03):
I think there's a sponsorship issue.
I've never seen Max, not inhis sort of Red Bull uniform.
You ever noticed that they have to, theyhave to wear all their sponsorship stuff,
like even to the point that they can't.
Be seen drinking something thatisn't, whatever their sponsorship is.
So like he has to be like seen holding ared Bull, like all of them are like that.
I remember when I had the opportunity tomeet Tony Stewart and run around like an
(05:25):
idiot trying to find him branded whateverwas his sponsored drink, like the bottle
of water, like to get him a bottle ofwater, had to be Dasani because I think
Pepsi was who the back sponsor was.
So it was like either you havelike a cup that has nothing on it.
Or you had to have something thatwas branded per the sponsorship.
Like God forbid it wasAquafina made by Coke.
Yeah, the sponsorship was gonna get upset.
(05:46):
So how does it work for BOTAswhen he is like naked all the time
and Lewis wears his own stuff?
Max is like a machine.
I think he sleeps in his Red Bull uniform.
Like that's what I'm getting at.
Like everybody elsehas their thing, right?
But it's craziness.
I think whenever they have to dothe promo stuff, though, they have
to be in their sponsored gear.
I mean, max really doesn'tdo more than he has to.
(06:07):
You know what I mean?
So I think that's why we never see himin any other form, is because he wants
to be left alone and just do his thing.
Hmm.
It's rich energy, right?
Maybe.
No, that matters.
I don't know.
I don't freaking pay attention.
IndyCar, the most popular, notwatched motor sport on television.
No, that's rally.
Hey.
Hey now.
Hey, now don't start.
Don't start.
So Mick Schumacher on his wayto IndyCar as well in 2026.
(06:30):
That is interesting.
Move there too.
But good to see him behind the wheel of.
Something, not an Uber or delivery car.
That's what he's beendoing in the meantime.
Exactly.
Speaking of that, you guys talkedabout Audi a little bit for 2026.
I mean, obviously we haveCadillac coming online.
I am enjoying every socialmedia post by BOTAs.
They're hilarious.
Just some of the stuff he'sputting out there, like, do you
(06:51):
see the goodbye to Mercedes?
Thing that he did, basically the punch onis they strip him down 'cause they want
all of his Mercedes logoed stuff back.
Like he's not allowed to keep it.
So he ends up basically in hisunderwear at the end of this
video and he's like so sad.
And then he like jumps in like a lakeor something and it's, it's just.
Totally bizarre, but it itwas really kind of funny.
It's totally bogus.
Yeah, exactly.
(07:11):
But it, it was hilarious.
I'm glad to see him coming back and we'llsee how he does a Cadillac with Checko.
Oh, that's right.
Cadillac.
Cadillac's gonna be one and two.
Yeah.
Okay.
Okay.
Maybe an IMSA but not, and Formula One.
So we talked about changesto the cars, any new tracks.
Coming?
(07:32):
Yes to the schedule.
Next year.
What's going on?
Maple Valley.
Maple Valley
backwards.
That's two thousands.
That's what they're bringing back.
What was the one in Grand?
Theres mode.
That was like Apricot Hill.
Apricot Hill.
What's Apple?
Teeny Valley.
What new tracks we have next year?
Tanya, another one in Italy.
They are bringing back.
(07:52):
Portugal.
What?
Oh yes.
I love Portugal withthat giant sweeping turn.
That's my favorite.
Yes.
That means there's hope.
Maybe we'll get a French GrandPrix after all these years.
Can we go back to Mag Core?
Like seriously, there'ssome of the best races.
We're at that track.
Oh, but it's not coming till 2027.
(08:13):
Oh, get outta here.
Get outta here.
Wwo.
Yeah.
What else is going on?
Anything else changing that we knowabout yet other than Adrian Newie?
Is gonna be team principal at Aston.
Well, there are rumors slurringabout who sits in a corner.
Mr. Horner.
Oh Lord.
Perhaps there's a home for him at Alpine.
(08:35):
I thought you were gonna say withGunther Steiner over running motorcycles.
I wasn't gonna say at Rikers Alpine.
Really?
Rumors.
The rumor mill is a buzz.
What's he gonna do with Kop?
Pinto and whoever the other guy is.
Gly?
Yeah.
I can never rememberwho drives for Alpine.
He's already fired Gly once.
He's just gonna keep firing.
(08:55):
He is gonna follow Gly around.
Oh geez.
Fire him throughout F1.
Poor guy.
He might quit.
If Christian Horner comes back,he might just be like, I'm out.
This is stupid.
Other than what we talked about duringthe recap, do we know of any drivers that
are stepping up outside of, you know,Checo and BOTAs and things like that?
Daniel Ricky Hardo?
No, no, no.
(09:18):
He's done.
That ship has sailed.
Yeah.
Who's gonna be Lawson's teammate?
Guess somebody went for the money,then they're gonna bring Duhan back.
No, they brought in a new guy.
His name is Arid Linblad.
Is that a name?
Arvid Lindblad.
Sorry, what country is that?
He's a British motor sports racing driver.
(09:39):
I was thinking Scandinavia, but alright.
Swedish father in Ah, thereit's mother of Indian heritage.
Okay.
All right.
That's exciting.
Some more rookies.
I mean, we do seem to be having a changingof the guard in 2026 except for Alonzo.
Apparently that was Helmut's Helmut'slast thing that he brought him
on and then that guy got sacked.
(10:00):
We were talking about that inDiscord, where like it's like.
Helmut's last race at Red Bull.
Next week, Helmut starts at Astonbecause everybody leaving Red
Bull is going to Aston, right?
So it's like, what are we doing?
Daddy?
Warbucks got a lot of money.
Daddy Warbucks, he can just make it rain.
They're trying to put togethera winning team at Aston.
Let's just be real about it.
They're trying to make a competitive run.
(10:21):
Oh, of course.
They don't have the manpower.
I'm just gonna say it that way.
To get there from behindthe steering wheel.
Who do they get rid of in 2026to get them to the podium?
There's only one option.
One would argue they have half themanpower because they have two time world
champion Fernando Lanzo in zero time.
(10:41):
World champion baby stroll.
Does daddy Warbucks wanthis son to be on the podium?
Of course.
Is it a tax write off?
He can't go away.
Do you get rid of Alonzo?
Yes.
Yes you do.
Is that Hamilton's next stop.
I was wondering that.
Would Hamilton go to Aston?
Would he do that?
What are we doing here?
We we doing another?
(11:01):
We're just gonna jump shipevery year we're doing it.
Danny, Rick, constantly beon like the losing team.
Is he gonna lose less atFerrari or lose less at Aston?
Let's be real.
Is it a losing team because it'sa losing team or is it a losing
team because of who's on the team?
The, the same thing keeps happeningover and over to somebody.
Then that person's usually the problem.
I mean, that's sort of what SERwas alluding to last year, right?
(11:24):
Is no, but he wasn't referring toit that it was the driver's fault
because he was saying, we've changedthe drivers, we've changed the car.
Yes.
We, I think what he was alludingto is we haven't changed the
upper management Ferrari.
Oh yeah.
Well that, no, that's for sure.
Is this Hamilton's last season at Ferrari?
If he stays at Ferrari and nothing happensover the winter, what's his contract say?
I don't know.
(11:44):
It says month to month.
Like his cell phone plan.
He has a bad relationship with them.
Yeah, from day one started off rough.
They don't like him.
I don't know what itis because it was very.
Sad.
The end of the race, his radio, ifyou saw like the transcript from
his radio communication with theteam where he was like, thank you
(12:05):
so much, you know, blah, blah, blah.
And then there was silence andthey didn't acknowledge him and
he is like, are you guys there?
And they're like, oh yeah.
Ha ha ha.
We were talking.
Yes, thank you.
Great season.
How do you act that way to your driver?
Why did they hire him in the first place?
I don't know.
And that's not a slight against Louis.
No, that's a slight against Ferrari.
Why did you do this?
(12:26):
You could have kept signs or wasthere so much friction between signs
and LeClaire that wasn't really beingexposed, that it was sort of like, pick
one of us, but neither of us is staying?
I don't think so.
Then why did they need to get rid of?
Who knows?
Why would signs go toWilliams for crying out loud?
He didn't have a choice.
His contract was done.
Ferrari's choice to renew it or not.
(12:46):
He didn't have a choice.
But if I'm an analyst at Ferrariand I'm looking at the numbers and I
look at how Hamilton had been doing.
Up until that point, those lastcouple years, it wasn't that great.
He wasn't great last year either.
Why would you take on somebody likethat if you know your car is sorta
eh, and you got signs who's alreadyaccustomed to the car, renew his
contract and he probably cost less.
(13:09):
No, for sure.
Then bringing on Lewis, Ithink it's delusion and ego.
I don't think they thoughttheir car was, nah.
At least to start the year.
I, I mean, not everybody goes inthinking they've got a good car.
But I feel like Ferrari.
Ferrari themselves, and theyrefuse to accept the fact
that the car is the problem.
I could believe there's acertain level of arrogance.
(13:31):
That's the word I was looking for.
Arrogance.
Well, they are the onlyworks team in Formula One.
They are the only pure STEM stern.
They provide their ownmotors in their own chassis.
I thought that Mercedes too.
No, not McLaren.
Mercedes.
Oh, McLaren uses Mercedes.
But I feel like Mercedes usestheir own their own shit too.
But I think Mercedes, the chassisaren't their as they're made in
(13:52):
England or something like that.
But like the Ferrarisare built by Ferrari.
They are Ferrari through and through.
They're built in Martinello.
They're tested at Fiorano.
It doesn't leave Italy like secret.
Stay at home.
You know what I mean?
I think Mercedes is alittle bit more spread out.
So it's not a pure worksteam like Ferrari is.
So Porsche's the same way.
I mean, other than the 9 63,which is a Delara underneath, but
(14:14):
up until that point, Porsche'sa Porsche's, a Porsche, right?
I mean, it's built by them.
So Ferrari's a similar way.
They don't wanna give uptheir secrets to anybody else.
I think they're faced with the challengeof not being able to borrow, let's
say, technology from somebody else.
They are sort of stuck in their ways.
That presents a bigger challenge.
But on the same token.
(14:34):
I don't understand.
Their management movesto the bigger point here.
And I think that is whatVassar was getting to.
You're exactly right, Tanya.
And maybe it's a level playingfield with all new cars.
We said that the last time they did this.
Yeah.
And when was the last time, was it whenthey had the other Kimmy Reichen in?
Right.
It was the last time the Ferrari won.
It was like 15 years agonow, or something like that.
It's been forever.
(14:54):
No, I, I mean.
The last time, like all the, the major carchanges, we said it was gonna be a level
playing field and the usual suspects cameout on top like they usually do despite
the spending caps, despite everything.
Right.
So, I don't know.
Are we gonna predict?
Yeah, go for it.
What do you wanna predict?
I, I'm still hanging on a Cadillac.
(15:15):
No, I think it, I thinkit's gonna be Max's year.
And if Jar.
Can stick with them.
Red Bull will come in first.
In Construc?
Yes.
Because Haja will score higher thanSonota did by driving normally.
Although I, I will say personally, Idon't see why they got rid of Perez.
'cause I thought Perez was good.
I mean, he had a couplebad races here and there.
(15:35):
Yeah, but I think for the most part Ithought he was, I thought he did well.
Well that's a good thing.
Cadillac has 'em, so it'd be all right.
Him and Bodis Red Bullprobably wouldn't have.
Won the constructors, but they would'vecame in second instead of third if had
he had had a teammate making any points.
Yeah, exactly.
I mean, 4 69 Mercedes 4 51, red Bull.
I mean, that's 449 pointsthat were were were max.
(15:59):
That's true.
That's very true.
Which is sad because he beat.
Ferrari, basically by himself.
Yeah, with two drivers that wereconsistently in the points, let's say.
There were a couple races where therewere DNFs, but for the most part they
both did finish in the points almostevery race and Max still by himself.
(16:19):
Crushed it.
All right.
I'm gonna throw one out there.
Haas is gonna do betterthan Audi next year.
Excuse me.
Volkswagen.
Anya has a look of confusion on her face.
I gotta hand it to Ocon.
I talked about Beerman in theretrospective and how he's one to
watch out for, but Ocon being almost30 or just turned 30 this year.
(16:40):
He's doing pretty good.
He's always sort of in the middle.
He is fighting, they're, they'reactually pretty clean racing compared
to Ocon of the past where justtaking people out like a missile.
And the reality is, I think theHaas have gotten better, the
Williamses have gotten better.
There was some exciting racing happeningin the middle where TV coverage just
watching, you know, Lando or Oscaror Max just lapping like they're at
(17:03):
an HPDE, there was nothing excitingreally happening at the front.
There were no real battles.
The real racing washappening in the middle.
I feel like if Haas keeps going, andit's been this long, arduous journey
for them since the days of richenergy and whatnot, I think they're
gonna do better than Audi next year.
Which breaks my heart becauseVolkswagen's putting all the cards
on the table to be able to affordthe Audi program for next year.
(17:26):
But it's just gonna be terrible.
Is it going to be Audi or isit going to be the drivers?
I would've driver changed already.
Maybe that'll still happen.
There's still time.
That also makes me wonder, is it goingto be a whole Audi production or is it
gonna be Audi supplying stuff to Salur?
And it's more of the same, just likewhen it was Alpha Romeo, or it's always
been Salur for like the last millennia.
(17:48):
But if it's a ground up Volkswagenprogram and they're putting their
back behind it, so Audi, so accordingto the all knowing interwebs.
They're providing their own power unit.
Are they providing their own chassis?
I knew they were providingtheir own motors.
So Audi is partnering with the solverteam for their 2026 Formula one entry with
the Swiss teams hidden wheel facility,developing and building the actual car
(18:09):
chassis and handling race operations.
While Audi develops the power unitin Germany, they're effectively
becoming a factory team.
Chassis development is happening atthe former Solver headquarters in
hin Will Switzerland with significantcollaboration and integration with
Audi's Power Unit development in Germany.
Is Haas gonna be deeper in with Toyota?
Are they ditching the Ferrari motors?
Are we gonna have a Gazoo powerplant in the Formula One car?
(18:32):
No, they'll still havethe Ferrari Power Unit.
Ugh.
So we'll have three teams withFerrari motors out there running.
Okay.
It's gonna be an interesting year.
I don't know what to make predictions of.
I mean, I'd love to see Audi at the top.
I'd love to see Audi at least inthe upper half, if nothing else.
'cause that would be prettyimpressive on a debut.
(18:52):
Season, I don't know that I havethe confidence in the drivers.
See, and I think a way to prove thatwould be take last year's cars, the 2025
cars and switch all the drivers around.
So you put the back markers in, thefast cars and the fast guys and the
slow cars and see what happens ifyou put Hulk Inberg in Tappin's red.
(19:12):
Or in Oscars McLaren, he'd still belike, 14th, max still wins, right?
You put Max in in the Haas or Williams orwhatever and he's gonna be in the front.
I'm telling you that's how that plays out.
Uh, yeah.
I don't know.
It's gonna be interesting to see.
It'll be interesting to see.
Cadillac too, right?
Everybody's gonna be thinkingthey're gonna be hot shit.
Are they?
(19:32):
I mean, at least theyhave seasoned drivers.
So like BOTAs and Sergio will beable to drive Cadillac's coming in
with a brand new car, air quotes,brand new car, blah, blah blah.
It's whoever they're copying andpasting with last year's Ferrari
motor modified seasoned drivers.
So I'm not worried about the drivers.
And then you've got Audi coming intotally brand new and with like.
(19:56):
Eh, well, with one rookie, basically,because Gabrielle's first season
was this season, and he did crap.
Basically, you effectively stillhave one rookie seat, and then
Nico's been around the block.
Nico's like the longestrunning rookie in Formula One.
He drives like a rookie.
How old is that guy?
He's must be 37.
He's old.
He looks old.
(20:17):
38. I, I called it, called it.
Dude needs to retire.
He might as well be Alonzowithout the the winning.
Other motor sports disciplines beckon,Mr. Kinberg, just saying, oh, I saw
something that, I don't know if itwas fake or not, but it was basically
implying a potential LeMans team.
(20:38):
Oh, here we go for staffing.
Alonzo and Charles, what it probablywas like a clickbait bullshit
thing, but nonetheless, we knowthat Alonzo's done Lamont before.
He's already won it with Toyota, andwe know Max has interest in all that
endurance racing stuff, and I'm sureCharles would be interested too.
(21:00):
So that would be aninteresting combination.
I can't really see the three ofthem getting along as teammates.
I don't think there's any bad bloodbetween Max and Charles though.
'cause I think they were sortof buddies through Go-karting.
Notice how you left Alonzo out of this.
Well, I was starting with those two.
Ah yeah.
And then I don't know that Max hasany bad blood with Alonzo either.
(21:23):
'cause like who is Alonzo to him?
His grandpa, his older brother.
It's no, no.
Alanzo.
Get him outta here.
I mean, they've never really.
Had to go head to head ever.
And they've never been teammates.
So there's time.
There's time in theory.
He's just like, oh, it's twotime world champion Alonzo.
Yeah, you were good 20 years ago, backin the days of Schumacher when Schumacher
(21:48):
was at Mercedes and he was done.
But yes, those guys at Lamont.
So speaking of Franz Herman, likeI am excited to see what happens
in, so he's been racing, man,never stops racing as they say.
Like he's been test driving a Mercedes.
Mercedes, like GT three.
GT three.
Oh yeah.
He's been doing laps.
Did you see the video hedid with Chris Harris?
I don't know if it was inAustria or in Australia.
(22:10):
We went by really fast on theInstagram reel and he's in one
of the new dark horse mustangs.
Oh yeah.
I watched the, the whole thing,Chris is like chatting his ear
and, and Max is just driving andhe is like zero personality, right?
Because he just cares about the driving.
And at one point Chris Harris asked himlike, what does he think about the car?
And he's like.
It's, it's pretty good as he'slike power sliding through a turn.
Completely like unfazedby what's going on.
(22:32):
Yeah.
I watched that whole thing.
That's the video and that's the, or theinterview thing where he made the comment
that front wheel drive was Ah, okay.
Uncool.
And then, yeah, they go out becausenow he has to promote and everything
Ford, because Ford's the new enginefor Red Bull and they, yeah, they took
the Mustang out and it actually startedraining while they were doing the laps.
(22:56):
When do the cars get revealed?
When do we get to see them lookexactly like they did last year?
It's usually around February, I think.
Around February.
Okay.
So we have to talk.
They start in February, isn'tCadillac, aren't they gonna debut?
I wanna say it was gonna be duringthe Super Bowl is when they're
gonna reveal the Cadillac car.
Makes sense.
Still February.
Yeah, that makes sense.
Well, for our very first.
Formula fanatics of the 2026 season asthis is abbreviated because we don't have
(23:21):
a ton of news yet, but we'll be keepingup with these as we go along, as we
stay glued to our Apple TV subscription.
Can't wait for that to kick in.
Let's do this as we close out thisformula fanatics episode, lightning round.
Team driver, who are you rooting for?
2026 Go.
Brad Cadillac Boas.
Tanya Audi, neitherdriver Audi for stopping.
(23:44):
If you couldn't tell by what I'mwearing, I'm gonna go with Ferrari, the
car versus stopping the championship,that's where my heart lies to be
disappointed and broken yet again.
I mean, yes.
I mean, I want Ferrari to win.
I wanna see Audi do really well.
And that's where it lies.
And if Max Fortin wins the championship,I don't hate him as much as I used to.
So same.
(24:05):
It's okay.
Same.
You know what?
There is hope there is somewhere.
Ferrari is gonna win next year.
Mark my words.
Forza.
24 hours of Lama 4, 9, 9p hitting in the world.
Four times the road.
Let's go.
Ferrari.
Ooh.
Can they four?
Pete, team and driver,you're rooting against.
Oh, Lando.
McLaren.
Done.
Not Aston Martin.
(24:25):
No, that's gonna be like anepisode of the Three Stooges.
Like I'm just waiting.
It's like Keystone cops over there.
Just, just wanna see what happens.
I mean, I've got twodrivers I'm rooting against.
I'm definitely rooting for strollto completely just f everything up
just 'cause I, I don't like DaddyWarbucks back there funding his entire
fantasy that he doesn't deserve.
(24:46):
But also Russell, I'm rootingagainst Russell 'cause I
think Russell is a tool bag.
That guy gets under my wanker skin.
He's a bloody wanker.
And those eyelashes.
Too.
Oh, like snuffle up against, like theyreally kind of freak me out a little bit.
He just looks like someoneI wanna punch in the face.
So you said driver team, driveror team, like it would, whatever.
(25:10):
I don't know what teamI'm rooting against.
No, I'm saying Eric,his original question.
So you're not rooting for Antonelli?
I am.
I am.
But I, I wanna see Max come back andwin and put McLaren in their place.
Do we think Ferrari No.
Is ruining.
Not signing into Nelly.
An Italian driver.
Yes.
(25:30):
In an Italian car.
Yes.
Or an Australian with aItalian sounding name.
They should have hired Piore,you know, adopted him as a, as an
Italian, it would've been all right.
Actually.
I think Piore would bea good fit at Ferrari.
He's got that sort of stoic,kind of like a Schumacher.
He dries very clean.
He's very professional.
He is very consistent.
I could see him eventuallymaking a transition there.
(25:52):
If Lewis gives up his seat,because Charles ain't gonna do it.
If Charles leaves Ferrari, I thinkhe's gonna leave Formula one period.
I don't know where he would go.
I mean, his dream was Ferrari and that'swhere he is and it's not panning out yet.
Turn into a nightmare.
That is sadly the meme about his life.
All right, Tanya, so as we close thisout, who are you rooting against?
(26:15):
Audi and against?
No, I'm not rooting against Audi.
I'm not, I don't know that I'meven this season was actively
rooting against any team.
McLaren.
You can pick a driver.
I don't mind.
McLaren.
I would've loved to see Oscar win it.
Yes, I agree.
I agree.
So I have no problem with McLaren.
Like, I don't like Liam Lawson, so Iwon't be hurt if he doesn't do well.
(26:41):
That guy is a punk.
Yeah, I don't know.
The rooting against is hard.
Like I don't like George either.
'cause he is a whiny little baby.
Just say that you don'twant Lando to win again.
Just say it.
Yeah.
I mean, I'm okay with that.
I mean, it'll be interestingto see how he does.
Like, is he a one hitwonder And that was it.
(27:02):
On that other disappointment,I think we're good.
The drive-through is our monthlynews episode and is sponsored in
part by organizations like CollectorCar guide.net Project, motoring
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Garage Style Magazine, the ExoticCar Marketplace, and many others.
If you're interested in becoming asponsor of the drive-thru, look no
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Thank you again to everyone thatsupports the Motoring Podcast Network.
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