March 14, 2024 • 37 mins
What a display from the young Brit, Bearman! The F2 star secured 7th place on Saturday's Saudi GP after jumping into the Ferrari with less than a day's notice. Is he the future of Ferrari, or yet another one-hit wonderkid? Amesh and I also muse over the concept of an Alonso to Red Bull alternate universe, as well as the Piastri-Hamilton mega-tussle. All this and more in a fashionably late edition of F1 Isn't Real.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:13):
Hello, and welcome back to Fone isn't real? I am your host,
Ben Wevell, and today fashionably andcharacteristically late Ameish and our will discuss
round two of the twenty twenty fourFormula One Championship. These sports, I
mean the Saudi Arabian Grand Free,Amish, what did you take from last
(00:38):
weekends about of racing? Hi?Ben, thank you for having me again.
I think last week was a prettyinteresting race. You know. I
think the main highlight would have tobe the rookie Olie Berman stepping up the
youngest ever Ferrari driver and the eighteenyears old. I think that's what I
(00:58):
was focused about this this race weekend, and I think that's what I think
carried the weekend as a whole.But because you know, the results were
pretty pretty standard over the last year, so I think that's a it gave
us a different focal point this weekend. Absolutely, Well, how about we
(01:19):
start with Buddy Beerman in that case, So Carlos sites out for the weekend
with is appendicitis thankfully recovered very swiftlyand he should hopefully be back in time
for Melbourne in now a week anda half time. But yes, as
you say, the focus of theweekend seemed to be Olly Bearman, who
(01:42):
is of course F two driver andhas managed to make a name for himself
almost overnight in Formula one at thehelm of the sports. So what can
you tell me about this guy's performancesin F two up to this point?
Did you see this coming? Ididn't actually see it. This was coming,
to be honest. It seemed likea big weekend him because he was
(02:06):
racing in both F one and Ftwo. He stepped up really well here
only did f P three, Ibelieve, and then went straight into qualifying
the same day, and I didn'texpect much of him getting into Q three.
I wasn't too hard on him,even though he was a Ferrari driver
and they should be at the topin the weekend. I wasn't too harsh
(02:28):
on him not getting into Q three, especially because he pulled it in the
bag in the race on Sunday.You know, it's his first time in
an F one car and an Fone weekend, and I didn't want to
put too much pressure on his expectations, you know, absolutely. I mean,
I think for the young star thathe is, he certainly held his
(02:51):
own and with a really mature drivethere. But do you think that his
P seven finished in the end wasa sign of that level above the regular
Formula One driver, so something likeyou know the Oscopiastris coming through have and
of course the Vettels and Hamilton's Oris it more a sign of the an
(03:13):
improvement to the Ferrari strategy team whoreally pulled off phenomenal play this weekend with
their decision to pit him early.Everyone else, well Landon Norris and Lewis
Hamilton stayed out for a little whileand then he ended up benefiting significantly from
that. Does that show an excellencearound Oli Burman or does that show more
(03:36):
of a progression from Ferrari. Ithink it goes both ways. Actually,
I think there is some sort ofprogression within the Ferrari pickthrough. I think
they are sort of improving their theirstrategies, but I don't think that undermines
the ability of Oli Berman. Ithink it has to go both ways.
(03:59):
You have to have a vast carand a fast driver for a strategy to
work so well. You can't haveone or the other. They have to
work and they have to be interdependentwith each other. So I think I
give both both the fire picker andOli Beerman a lot of credit for finishing
p seven, especially for his firstrace weekend in Formula one. Well,
we've seen this before, haven't we. We've seen drivers come onto the scene.
(04:23):
So for example, Nick Devorice atMonza last year giving us somewhat of
a false hope finishing p nine inthat Williams, but then as soon as
you put him in the alpha tarihe really floundered under the pressure. Do
you think that Oli Beerman is goingto crack in the same way if he
gets a seat maybe at a Hassor at Alfa Romeo with these older drivers
(04:43):
possibly moving on to new things,maybe next year, maybe twenty twenty six,
do you think he's going to crackunder the pressure. I don't think
so, you know, I thinkOli Berman is a young, young talent,
and I think every case is different. Just because this happened once with
Nick three is doesn't mean it willhappen with Oli Berman. I think Nick
de Freese was very much used tothe environment of Formula two and the formulae,
(05:09):
and I think for him personally,F one might have been too much
for him, and I think therewould be more pressure on oli Berman having
come from F two to Ferrari straightaway. I think the fact that he's
pulled a P seven out of thebag on his first race weekend is brilliant.
(05:30):
I'm not saying that Nick to FreeseP nine or wasn't good. I'm
saying I think you have to giveoli Berman a bit more credit here,
and I think he seems like withtime especially, he will suit F one
very well. Do you think thefirst race fallacy that's sort of really caught
out Alfa Romeo Alpha Tari last yearis making people more scared to relyry teams
(05:56):
more scared to rely on these youngdrivers, these young, unproven talents,
even if they've shown their skills onthe main stage, there's still clearly a
risk that comes with that. Doyou think that there's going to be more
of a transition in order to possiblybringing back some older drivers who have moved
on from the sport, or forjust trying to latch onto the proven talents
(06:20):
such as you know, for example, in has the driver line up Kevin
Magison, Niko Helkenberg more than twentyyears of F one experience in their combined
Do you think that teams are morelikely to be holding onto these more proven
stars or who would you say wouldneed to take a risk on a young,
young hot shot. I personally thinkthat going for a younger, more
(06:46):
modern driver lineup is more beneficial becauseit gives you more options. I think
even though older drivers have a bitmore experience, I think in recent years
having younger drivers has just shown alot more a lot more benefits. If
you look at the prime example,Max Vistappen. He did his first FP
(07:09):
one in Brazil twenty fourteen, Ibelieve, and I'm sure you've seen this
clip of him drifting in Brazil,and that's just incredible. And obviously you
can say Maxi Sappan is a oneand a million chance and it's just a
this is a one time thing.But you've seen it in other cases as
well, with the lights of myfavorite driver, Landon Norris, who stepped
up to F one at the ageof nineteen, and I'd say he's had
(07:30):
a relatively successful career, especially onthe grid. At the moment, Sam
goes to Charlotte Clair, He's howold is he now? Around twenty five
or six and he's been an Fone for since twenty eighteen, so he
would be a younger driver and heboth of them are just as successful as
(07:51):
an older driver would. I thinkso. I think as the future comes,
I think prioritizing younger driver line upsis the way to go. I
would only have had liked to seesome older drivers return, especially Sebastian Vettel.
I think he was a ASoft spotfor him and I'd like I would
(08:13):
like to see him come back becausehe just seems like a very wise and
experienced driver. But I think forthe success of a team having a having
a younger driver lineup would be morebeneficial as you can also get an opportunity
to let the drivers grow as thedrivers as they've become more experienced. In
F one, there's a trend thatI've noticed over the past few years of
(08:39):
these phenomenal prospects coming through the ranksin from you know F three, F
two into F one, who havestarted out with these you know, these
sister teams, all these partner teams. So for for example, you know,
if we look at mix Schumacher,who was lauded as one of the
(09:00):
fest new candidates for F one,I guess taking up the mantle of being
a new f being one of thenew generations of F one champions, but
he obviously failed miserably in his hatseat. Joguannu, who in my opinion
is disappointed at Alfa Romeo. YukiSonoda, who was meant to be one
of the likely replacements of Sergio Perezat Red Bull, but now it doesn't
(09:22):
really seem like he's going to bein that position. Obviously, some of
these people are what may be consideredpaid drivers, but some of them showed
real talent. But on the otherside of that we have somebody like George
Russell and charl Leclair who started outat Williams and Alfa Romeo respectively. They
started out as junior teams and theirtalents really got nurtured there. But again,
(09:46):
Oscar Piastre jumped straight into that McLarenwhich is one of the which was
at the time that he joined,one of the foremost cars on the grid,
and he lit up Formula one lastyear. What do you think the
benefit is of giving a driver allof this pressure to start off with?
So only Beerman in the Ferrari gettingP seven, But then we look at
(10:11):
other drivers, other rookies coming through. They're putting the second seat essentially the
second team and they disappoint. Doyou think it's better to start them early
with the with a decent car oris it better to let them sort of
nurture and let them grow as drivers. I really think that it depends on
(10:31):
the car that the drivers start offwith. I think that's an important factor
because it can go both ways,because if a driver can outperform the car
that they're in, that really showsthat their talent. I think the best
example would probably be Charlotte Flair inthe Alvromeo Saba of twenty eighteen. I
think he scored He scored quite afew points in that season. He means
(10:56):
at the time, who wasn't whowas his teammates teammate was Marcus Erickson in
ri in alf Romeos ABA, andI think that's a good example. But
at the same time, putting ayoung driver in a back market team in
the second car isn't always a goodidea to show that they're true talent.
(11:22):
Look at. I think a sortof weird example would be George Russell in
his rookie season. He didn't scorea single point, but he still managed
to show his talents on the track, and I think that's the reason he's
where he is today, which isat Mercedes, and then there is a
case which is in between where whererookies can come in to the midfield with
(11:48):
the likes of Oscopastrian London Norris.They came through starting at McLaren and they've
always been there from the beginning oftheir career in F one, and I
think that gives a solid foundation totheir rookie career because their car is somewhat
more stable than a back market team, and I think that's important and it
gives those drivers more opportunity to showtheir talents compared to drivers who start off
(12:13):
in a worst cart. Speaking ofthe junior teams, you know you mentioned,
I mean I was mentioning and wewere all mentioning a couple of the
Red Bull young drivers who may havedisappointed relative to the rest of the grid,
but in terms of their car probablyoutperformed it. Do you think Red
Bulls talent spotting is slowly sort ofdeteriorating because we've seen over the past few
(12:37):
years. You know, their newsignees have been sonoda and diverse, and
to be honest, they have notperformed to the standard that you would desire
of a Red Bull rookie because theseare meant to be people. These are
meant to be drivers who have gonethrough the one of the most grueling and
(12:58):
most cut throat young driver academies inthe sport, and yet we're seeing them,
compared to their expectation as a youngRebell driver somewhat underperform. Do you
think that the new generation of RedBull driver is a bit of a laughs
(13:18):
and Scotts in the face of theyou know, Daniel Ricardo's and Sebastian vessels
of the past. I think theRed Bull Junior team system has definitely shown
great prospects with the life of SebastianVettel, Daniel Ricardo and Maxis Staffs a
color signs as well, and Ithink Alex Albon as well. I think
(13:43):
now he's shown his talent a lotmore than when he started off in F
one. I think it's a difficultquestion to say to answer because I think
there's just so much pressure within theteam, and the Red Bull Junior team
seems to be the biggest in thewhole of the whole of the grid.
(14:05):
If you look at Ferrari, whichis next to it, there's not that
much spotlight on them and compared toRed Bull, That's what I think,
and I think that just puts extrapressure on the drivers coming in. If
you look at Yuki Sonoda, hisrookie year was i'd say was pretty good,
and I think it's hard for himto live up to that in in
(14:28):
terms of the pressure that the teamput on him and the press and media.
And I think with time, Ithink he will, he will be
able to prove himself. But Ithink there's just extra spotlight on the and
pressure on the Red Woods Junior team, which actually makes them look worse or
it makes them look as if theyare under performing, and in reality,
(14:50):
I think they're doing they're doing fine. I agree. I think Yukio I
think of the past of the yearsnow three and he's entering his the year
he's been in F one, he'sshown certainly a level of talent that you
would expect out of a young rebeldriver. But I think the issue this
year once again is going to bethe performance of the car that's really prohibiting
(15:11):
him from showing his true potential.With the RBS and with the likes of
this new Steak Salaba F one team, they were languishing at the back in
Saudi Arabia. Do you think thattheir underperformance is giving these sort of massive
new sponsors a bit of a frightor a bit of reality check m I
(15:37):
think yeah, what that does Itjust creates a lot of extra pressure which
isn't necessarily needed on the drivers.I'd say diamonds are definitely made under pressure,
but not in every case. Ithink only in the case of the
Maxi Stappens, or the Lewis Hamilton'sor the Charlotte players on the grid.
(16:00):
I think not everyone is like that. Every driver in F one has to
have some sort of capability because theyare the twenty fastest drivers in the world,
but between within that twenty there isa big gap between first and last.
You know, it doesn't take awaythe fact that the last driver is
fast, but I think it canhave somewhat of an effect on them,
(16:22):
just the publicity, especially in therookie year and the beginning of their career
when they're building their way up andtrying to find their own confidence. I
agree. I think that is reallyimportant, certainly for you to I think
for a young driver, you're motivatedby results and those points that you gain.
(16:45):
Those every now and then really giveyou motivation. And I think it's
difficult to keep the younger drivers onside if you're not giving them or obviously
not consistent, but if you're notgiving them some level of excess, because
that makes it difficult for your youknow, you start getting frustrated when you
see your name, when you seezero points next to your name, you
(17:07):
start to think, this doesn't reflectme. You know, I'm not I'm
too good for this, essentially,and this is what I think is the
pitfall of some of the younger driversthat have entered the grid. But clearly
one of the younger drivers that hasentered the grid has taken no such maturity
issues on with him from whatever hemay have had during his formative years,
(17:27):
and that is Oscar Piastri, whoI feel like we are perpetually talking about
on this podcast because he is franklyjust performing again and again and this week
a sneaky fourth place. I feellike his fourth place in Fernando Alonzo's fifth
place really went undermentioned, and notonly was he in fourth, but I
(17:51):
he was also held up by LewisHamilton for a significant period of time throughout
the race. Do you think thatif it hadn't been for Hamilton's staunch defense,
then he might have been able tomaybe even try for the podium.
I think it was fourteen seconds off. Yeah, I definitely think that Oscopiastri
(18:11):
has a lot of talent. Ithink we do seem to be talking about
him quite a lot because I thinkhe's definitely making a name for himself.
He had one of the best rookieseasons I've seen in a long time,
arguably better than George Russell and LandonNorris. I think, as much as
it hurts to say, he hashad the best rookie season I've seen in
(18:33):
a long time. Yeah, Butin terms of what he could have done
on the racetrack on Sunday, Ithink I don't think he could have gone
for a podium because if you lookat the podium at the moment, what
Max Stappen, Perez and mclet thatis. I think Oscar's just about reaching
(18:56):
there. And I think even ifHamilton wasn't in the way, there still
would have been a lot of workfor him to do. And I think
at this stage the McLaren carr needsto have a bit more development. But
I think in terms of strategy McLarendefinitely did the best that they could and
I think for a P four isdefinitely the best McLaren could have done today
(19:18):
with Oskiattre in terms of landon,Norris pretty disappointed that he only got eight.
I think he I'm not sure wherehe started, but I think it
seems it seems like it wasn't toobad at a start. I'll be honest,
Norris starts aren't the strongest I've seen. I'd always find myself quite frustrated
(19:41):
on the opening lap because I findhimself I find that he's losing a couple
of places. But I think hekept strong this weekend and I think it
was a decent weekend for the team. Yeah, certainly wasn't helped by the
fact that he full started on thegrid, as pointed out by George Russell.
But speaking of McLaren and maybe theirsort of room for improvement, do
(20:03):
you think that Hamilton's defense against Piastrewas partly Obviously it was partly aided by
Hamilton's phenomenal wheel work, but wasthere also a factor of maybe McLaren are
lacking some straight line speed and youknow, on this fastest street circuit in
the world, they couldn't get itdone for a significant period of the race
(20:26):
and that may have held piastre back. Do you think which areas do you
think need improvement on that McClaren car. Yeah, I mean the McLaren car
definitely has the potential to be fasterthan a Mercedes. I think you can
look at last year where McLaren haveoutperformed and beat in Mercedes in terms of
points. But I think in termsof this race weekend, it's the second
(20:49):
race weekend of the year and Ithink there's still much more development to be
done. I'm not quite sure whatfactor that McLaren to improve. I think
I would like to say, ingeneral it would be the arrow I think
all teams that actually struggled with that, and I think both the Mercedes and
the McClaren car have the same powerunit and I think that's what that's a
(21:12):
potential limiting factor to the McClaren carperformance. But other than that, I
think you've got to give it toLewis Hamilton his brilliant defense that race weeken.
I don't think that the cars,the difference in the car's performance was
the main factor. I think i'dlike to give it to Lewis Hamilton defending
(21:33):
there. I think the Lewis Hamilton'sdefense was an absolute master class. I
mean we've seen him, obviously,you know, soccumbing to the defense of,
for example, someone like Fernando Alonsoa couple of years ago before.
But I think we are we needto be reminded more often that Hamilton's talents
are lengthy and he's proven that overmany years. And I think when he's
(21:55):
in the Mercedes nowadays, you sometimesforget how of a driver he really is,
and I think that certainly showed today. But Mercedes, again, even
though Hamilton's defense was excellent, couldnot convert that into more points than McLaren,
with Oscar Piastre taking that fourth place. What does that do to a
(22:18):
team when you have the same powerunit in the back of your car and
it has your name on it,but the person that you're selling it to
is way up the road from you. Yeah, I think that can be
quite damaging to a team, especially. I think we've seen this quite a
bit with the Mercedes. I thinkred Bull and Reno so that. Yeah,
(22:41):
obviously Red bulls partner of Reno,and they just absolutely in a league
of their own against versus Rena.But yes, sorry, continue exactly.
Yeah, you're right, Actually,thank you for pointing that out. I
wasn't thinking about that. I thinkyou definitely have seen that with the Reno
and the Red Bull back in theday. I think now the most common
situation is a McLaren or an AstonMartin with a Mercedes power unit at performing
(23:07):
the Mercedes constructor. We saw itat the beginning of last year with the
boom of Fernando Alonzo, him gettingpodium after podium. That seemed brilliant for
the Aston Martin but painful for Mercedes, and I think it puts a lot
more pressure on them the other partsof their car, the arrow and breaks
(23:30):
and non engine related parts, andI think that it can be damaging to
the team seeing your customers outperform you. I'm not sure what that can lead
to politically, I don't really havea say in it, and I can't
really think about what that would thatwould how that would affect the teams.
But I can empathize with Toto Wolfhaving having to have to go through that,
(23:56):
you know. But yeah, Ithink it's just this is an uncomfortable
topic for a team like Mercedes.Yeah, as you point out, both
McClaren and Aston Martin outperforming Mercedes certainlyfor the first off of last year and
also in this Grand Prix, withFernando Alonso taking fifth in this race once
(24:18):
again sort of went under the radara bit, great top five finish from
Fernando after the Aston Martin seemed tobe a bit bogged down in Bahrain.
But I thought the real interesting aspectof this race of Aston Martin was Fernando
Alonso fifth lancetroll DNF clipped the insideof the wall as he did in free
(24:41):
practice and spun out and he wasout of the race. This was a
dynamic that we saw developing at thestart of last year. Obviously it died
down a bit because the Astons werenowhere near the helm of the field at
that point. Do you think it'sgoing to be a there's the relationship between
(25:03):
Fernando Alonso and the Eston Marion carand strong in the Aston Market car is
going to be the same as itwas next year, I mean last year
and this year. I'm going tosay I don't think that the Aston Marti
car is built around Fernando Alonso likethe rental car is around matches happened.
I think Fernando Alonso is a driverwho is talented and can step into any
(25:26):
car and perform if you give himright the right car. Unlike his days
at McLaren in the twenty tens,where he would be complaining a lot.
I think the Aston Martin car showsstrength and he can find that strength relatively
easily and perform on the track.And I think Lance Stroll here has a
(25:48):
lot to go up too with havingFernando Lonzo as a teammate, but I
don't think he has much to losegiven his position politically. But I definitely
think Fernando A. Lonzo doing areally good job leading this Aston Martin team.
I think his personality as well ispretty good, very funny and nice
to have on a team like AstonMartin where in recent years they haven't been
(26:15):
as strong and they haven't been atthe top. And I think it's sort
of like new management having having FernandoAlonso leading their team as their players driver.
Yeah, I think it's a greatI think it's a really interesting point
that you made there about Fernando Alonsoleading this team and you know, in
a similar way to what we're seeingon the other end of the driver's spectrum
(26:40):
with Oscar by Astri is this sortof you know, maturity and he's a
wisened Formula One driver and rather thanbringing the sort of ego that he did
to McLaren and to an extent ourteam, we're really seeing Fernando Alonso in
(27:00):
his later years develop I think asa as a driver and to as an
extension of that as a person.Do you think that Fernando Alonso, if
he was, for example, inthe Ferrari or in the Red Bull,
would be exerting a similar level ofmaturity or would his drive for competition start
(27:22):
to kick in and he would startto really get his elbows out. That's
an interesting question actually. I thinkFernando Alonso is this driver who definitely wants
to win. I think at themoment he's in a position where his role
is just to lead the team andthe car isn't in a position where they
(27:45):
can be fighting for wins and championships. But I think if you put Fernando
Alonso in a car which is atthe top, like a Red Bull or
a Ferrari, then he will hewill fight, he will be he would
definitely be up there and like yousaid, he will have his elbows out
and I don't think he's scared ofMaxistappen or Charlotte Clair if he is to
(28:07):
be put as a second driver.I think if he was to go to
Red Bull, there would be achance that he would be considered a second
driver because Macrostappen is untouchable at themoment, he is always going to be
the first driver. But I thinkif anyone on the grid was to step
into the Red Bull and have adecent chance, it would be phenandenal Azo
(28:30):
because I think he just has thattalent where if the car can perform,
he will perform. So yeah,I think that's what I think. I
think he will. He definitely hasthat confidence and he will show more of
that competitiveness than maturity or not maturity, but let's relaxed and more on it
like his like when he was inthis prime. Could he compete with maxa
(28:53):
Stappen in a Red Bull right now? If you put him in the Red
Bull number two seat, where wouldhe be? Do you think? I
think if it had to if ithad to happen, the best time would
have would have been now. Ithink coming coming back in twenty twenty one
with Alpine after a break, Ithink that might not have been a good
(29:14):
time. But after seeing the RedBull perform, I think now would be
the prime time to put Fernandalalonza inAnd I think where he would be in
terms of in the car, Ithink he would be quite. He would
definitely be second. I think hewould be performing closer to Max than Sergja
(29:36):
Perez. I think because I thinkhe just has a talent to step into
a car that cann't perform. You'veseen the Red Bull car perform win championships
the last three years, and there'sthat possibility and phenanmals it will make it
happen because it's easy to say,you know, he's been in a car
that's been in the midfield and there'sbeen no pressure in him essentially for the
(30:03):
last four years to perform, andhe has. But although Fernando is,
you know, the wily old foxthat he always would, I I do
have a question. I do havesome questions as to if you put him
in a position where he is actuallypressured to perform in the way that the
Red Bull team surely would, ifwhether or not he can keep us cool.
(30:29):
I really struggle to struggle to understandwhere where he would be mentally with
that. But it's certainly an interestingproposition and I would I would give a
lot to see Fernando versus Max forstapping at the front of the field.
Maybe that's a fantasy, maybe not. Free agency season is right upon us
(30:51):
in Formula one as a start ofnext year, so who knows, but
I would be I would be prettysurprised, unfortunately, as we have been
eddied down the road of rebel andwe now have to discuss their dominant victory
once again. Were you ever inany doubt, No, I would never
(31:18):
in any doubt. I think alot of fans have gone to a point
where they just expect Red bulln andMax Staplin to be winning. But I
don't think that takes away the factthat F one is still brilliant and brilliant
spot. You know, it's easyto say when the same person is winning
the races can get quite boring.But I think we're getting into a stage
(31:41):
where Redbourne Max is so dominant it'sa whole new perspective, you know.
I think MAXA. Staplin has Ithink he's equaled his he might he's about
to equal his ten ten races ina row record, and at the rate
he's going, he will win againand he's breaking his own records, which
(32:05):
is amazing for him. And Ithink we've met we probably will never see
this again in F one. It'sit's actually unremarkable. Remarkable. Yeah,
yeah, I mean it's almost unremarkableat this point. It's yeah, you
are right, it is Max Forstappenand it is the rest of the grid.
(32:27):
It's an unfortunate position as an Fone fan because you want to be
telling people that the most exciting racingis happening at the front of the field,
but unfortunately that's just not the caseat the moment. I think that
for this is a test really forpeople who truly enjoy the sport, because
(32:50):
for many people, they're going totune out because it's you know, the
championship is almost decided at this point. I mean, I obviously take that
with a grain of salt because westill have I think twenty two rounds left,
but it's looking like it's going tobe another dominant display. But you
know, true F one fans arestill going to find the joy in this
(33:12):
sport, and that's why that's whywe love it. We don't love it
because of the driver at the front. We love it because of the racing
action. We love it because ofevery storyline and every plot line that plays
out every weekend, And whoever winsat the end of the day is only
going to be on screen for onetwentieth of the time. And I think
(33:35):
that's the important part we've got totake from this. We're going to be
able to really delve into stories thatin previous seasons where there would have beat
so for example twenty twenty one,where there was a huge battle up the
front, we may not have beenable to notice. So this is going
to sift out the real F onefans from the people who were just here
for the race at the front.And I think at the end of the
day, I would rather a sportthat's I would rather a sport where people
(34:00):
care than a sport where it's themost popular thing of the week. If
you see what I mean. Itwas a bad long term you know,
monetarily obviously, you know they're tryingto expand their reach as always, but
I would always rather to have ayou know, this elite class of people
(34:20):
who who really care for the sport. So you know, someone like you's
watched it since you were since youwere you know, a really young child.
For me, I've watched I've beenaware of Formula one since I was
a really young child. And youknow, this is the sport that we
care about, and it's not alwaysabout max the step and taking the win.
You know, it's about people likeOli Berman coming into that Ferrari drive
(34:44):
taking p seven and that's what wetake. You know, that's our slice
of enjoyment from that we take fromFormula one. Because I would, I
would say that you and I arepart of that true conglomerate of fans,
not to I mean, not toI know self agrandise, but yeah,
what do you think I must do? You think, No, I totally
(35:05):
agree with that. I really thinkthat it makes the fans who really care
stand out when it shows the commitmentof everyone who really cares about the sport.
As much as I'd want everyone inthe world to be following F one,
I think having true fans who arevery dedicated is just something else.
(35:27):
You know. I think what wesaid about race is becoming less interesting.
I think that's not always true,you know, I think we've got more
races to come this season, andI don't think every race is going to
be considered boring or eventless. Youknow, we looked at if you look
at last year, even though RedBull won every race but one race,
(35:51):
that one race that they didn't winwas arguably the best race of the season
because we had Carlos Signs winning raceand yeah, what a race. And
we also how he won that racewas brilliant. You know, the podium
in the end was great. Ithink it was Carlos, Lando and Lewis,
you know, yeah, with theyeah, with the George Rattle crash,
(36:12):
you know, and I think youcan't close that off. You can't
say that that's not going to happenafter two races, you know. I
think that's that's still a possibility outthere, even though even though Redbourne,
Max the staff and are so strongat the moment, there's still loads more
to come. And I think that'sas true f one fans. You just
got to have that faith and youjust got to you know, you just
(36:35):
got to enjoy it as it comes. Absolutely, what way to end it,
what way to end up? Weare, we are settled down and
we are ready for the next twentytwo rounds of racing. Whatever they want,
and we will enjoy every single momentof that. And we do not
care if Max for Stephen wins everysingle, every single lap. From now
(36:58):
on until the end, we willcontinue to enjoy the sport that we love.
Back there we go. Thank youfor listening to every one Isn't Real?
Tune in next week or updates onthe latest F one news and also
our predictions for the full twenty twentyfive driver line up, Chills at the
end there. Thank you so much, Thank you, Ben
Hello, and welcome back to Fone isn't real? I am your host,
Ben Wevell, and today fashionably andcharacteristically late Ameish and our will discuss
round two of the twenty twenty fourFormula One Championship. These sports, I
mean the Saudi Arabian Grand Free,Amish, what did you take from last
(00:38):
weekends about of racing? Hi?Ben, thank you for having me again.
I think last week was a prettyinteresting race. You know. I
think the main highlight would have tobe the rookie Olie Berman stepping up the
youngest ever Ferrari driver and the eighteenyears old. I think that's what I
(00:58):
was focused about this this race weekend, and I think that's what I think
carried the weekend as a whole.But because you know, the results were
pretty pretty standard over the last year, so I think that's a it gave
us a different focal point this weekend. Absolutely, Well, how about we
(01:19):
start with Buddy Beerman in that case, So Carlos sites out for the weekend
with is appendicitis thankfully recovered very swiftlyand he should hopefully be back in time
for Melbourne in now a week anda half time. But yes, as
you say, the focus of theweekend seemed to be Olly Bearman, who
(01:42):
is of course F two driver andhas managed to make a name for himself
almost overnight in Formula one at thehelm of the sports. So what can
you tell me about this guy's performancesin F two up to this point?
Did you see this coming? Ididn't actually see it. This was coming,
to be honest. It seemed likea big weekend him because he was
(02:06):
racing in both F one and Ftwo. He stepped up really well here
only did f P three, Ibelieve, and then went straight into qualifying
the same day, and I didn'texpect much of him getting into Q three.
I wasn't too hard on him,even though he was a Ferrari driver
and they should be at the topin the weekend. I wasn't too harsh
(02:28):
on him not getting into Q three, especially because he pulled it in the
bag in the race on Sunday.You know, it's his first time in
an F one car and an Fone weekend, and I didn't want to
put too much pressure on his expectations, you know, absolutely. I mean,
I think for the young star thathe is, he certainly held his
(02:51):
own and with a really mature drivethere. But do you think that his
P seven finished in the end wasa sign of that level above the regular
Formula One driver, so something likeyou know the Oscopiastris coming through have and
of course the Vettels and Hamilton's Oris it more a sign of the an
(03:13):
improvement to the Ferrari strategy team whoreally pulled off phenomenal play this weekend with
their decision to pit him early.Everyone else, well Landon Norris and Lewis
Hamilton stayed out for a little whileand then he ended up benefiting significantly from
that. Does that show an excellencearound Oli Burman or does that show more
(03:36):
of a progression from Ferrari. Ithink it goes both ways. Actually,
I think there is some sort ofprogression within the Ferrari pickthrough. I think
they are sort of improving their theirstrategies, but I don't think that undermines
the ability of Oli Berman. Ithink it has to go both ways.
(03:59):
You have to have a vast carand a fast driver for a strategy to
work so well. You can't haveone or the other. They have to
work and they have to be interdependentwith each other. So I think I
give both both the fire picker andOli Beerman a lot of credit for finishing
p seven, especially for his firstrace weekend in Formula one. Well,
we've seen this before, haven't we. We've seen drivers come onto the scene.
(04:23):
So for example, Nick Devorice atMonza last year giving us somewhat of
a false hope finishing p nine inthat Williams, but then as soon as
you put him in the alpha tarihe really floundered under the pressure. Do
you think that Oli Beerman is goingto crack in the same way if he
gets a seat maybe at a Hassor at Alfa Romeo with these older drivers
(04:43):
possibly moving on to new things,maybe next year, maybe twenty twenty six,
do you think he's going to crackunder the pressure. I don't think
so, you know, I thinkOli Berman is a young, young talent,
and I think every case is different. Just because this happened once with
Nick three is doesn't mean it willhappen with Oli Berman. I think Nick
de Freese was very much used tothe environment of Formula two and the formulae,
(05:09):
and I think for him personally,F one might have been too much
for him, and I think therewould be more pressure on oli Berman having
come from F two to Ferrari straightaway. I think the fact that he's
pulled a P seven out of thebag on his first race weekend is brilliant.
(05:30):
I'm not saying that Nick to FreeseP nine or wasn't good. I'm
saying I think you have to giveoli Berman a bit more credit here,
and I think he seems like withtime especially, he will suit F one
very well. Do you think thefirst race fallacy that's sort of really caught
out Alfa Romeo Alpha Tari last yearis making people more scared to relyry teams
(05:56):
more scared to rely on these youngdrivers, these young, unproven talents,
even if they've shown their skills onthe main stage, there's still clearly a
risk that comes with that. Doyou think that there's going to be more
of a transition in order to possiblybringing back some older drivers who have moved
on from the sport, or forjust trying to latch onto the proven talents
(06:20):
such as you know, for example, in has the driver line up Kevin
Magison, Niko Helkenberg more than twentyyears of F one experience in their combined
Do you think that teams are morelikely to be holding onto these more proven
stars or who would you say wouldneed to take a risk on a young,
young hot shot. I personally thinkthat going for a younger, more
(06:46):
modern driver lineup is more beneficial becauseit gives you more options. I think
even though older drivers have a bitmore experience, I think in recent years
having younger drivers has just shown alot more a lot more benefits. If
you look at the prime example,Max Vistappen. He did his first FP
(07:09):
one in Brazil twenty fourteen, Ibelieve, and I'm sure you've seen this
clip of him drifting in Brazil,and that's just incredible. And obviously you
can say Maxi Sappan is a oneand a million chance and it's just a
this is a one time thing.But you've seen it in other cases as
well, with the lights of myfavorite driver, Landon Norris, who stepped
up to F one at the ageof nineteen, and I'd say he's had
(07:30):
a relatively successful career, especially onthe grid. At the moment, Sam
goes to Charlotte Clair, He's howold is he now? Around twenty five
or six and he's been an Fone for since twenty eighteen, so he
would be a younger driver and heboth of them are just as successful as
(07:51):
an older driver would. I thinkso. I think as the future comes,
I think prioritizing younger driver line upsis the way to go. I
would only have had liked to seesome older drivers return, especially Sebastian Vettel.
I think he was a ASoft spotfor him and I'd like I would
(08:13):
like to see him come back becausehe just seems like a very wise and
experienced driver. But I think forthe success of a team having a having
a younger driver lineup would be morebeneficial as you can also get an opportunity
to let the drivers grow as thedrivers as they've become more experienced. In
F one, there's a trend thatI've noticed over the past few years of
(08:39):
these phenomenal prospects coming through the ranksin from you know F three, F
two into F one, who havestarted out with these you know, these
sister teams, all these partner teams. So for for example, you know,
if we look at mix Schumacher,who was lauded as one of the
(09:00):
fest new candidates for F one,I guess taking up the mantle of being
a new f being one of thenew generations of F one champions, but
he obviously failed miserably in his hatseat. Joguannu, who in my opinion
is disappointed at Alfa Romeo. YukiSonoda, who was meant to be one
of the likely replacements of Sergio Perezat Red Bull, but now it doesn't
(09:22):
really seem like he's going to bein that position. Obviously, some of
these people are what may be consideredpaid drivers, but some of them showed
real talent. But on the otherside of that we have somebody like George
Russell and charl Leclair who started outat Williams and Alfa Romeo respectively. They
started out as junior teams and theirtalents really got nurtured there. But again,
(09:46):
Oscar Piastre jumped straight into that McLarenwhich is one of the which was
at the time that he joined,one of the foremost cars on the grid,
and he lit up Formula one lastyear. What do you think the
benefit is of giving a driver allof this pressure to start off with?
So only Beerman in the Ferrari gettingP seven, But then we look at
(10:11):
other drivers, other rookies coming through. They're putting the second seat essentially the
second team and they disappoint. Doyou think it's better to start them early
with the with a decent car oris it better to let them sort of
nurture and let them grow as drivers. I really think that it depends on
(10:31):
the car that the drivers start offwith. I think that's an important factor
because it can go both ways,because if a driver can outperform the car
that they're in, that really showsthat their talent. I think the best
example would probably be Charlotte Flair inthe Alvromeo Saba of twenty eighteen. I
think he scored He scored quite afew points in that season. He means
(10:56):
at the time, who wasn't whowas his teammates teammate was Marcus Erickson in
ri in alf Romeos ABA, andI think that's a good example. But
at the same time, putting ayoung driver in a back market team in
the second car isn't always a goodidea to show that they're true talent.
(11:22):
Look at. I think a sortof weird example would be George Russell in
his rookie season. He didn't scorea single point, but he still managed
to show his talents on the track, and I think that's the reason he's
where he is today, which isat Mercedes, and then there is a
case which is in between where whererookies can come in to the midfield with
(11:48):
the likes of Oscopastrian London Norris.They came through starting at McLaren and they've
always been there from the beginning oftheir career in F one, and I
think that gives a solid foundation totheir rookie career because their car is somewhat
more stable than a back market team, and I think that's important and it
gives those drivers more opportunity to showtheir talents compared to drivers who start off
(12:13):
in a worst cart. Speaking ofthe junior teams, you know you mentioned,
I mean I was mentioning and wewere all mentioning a couple of the
Red Bull young drivers who may havedisappointed relative to the rest of the grid,
but in terms of their car probablyoutperformed it. Do you think Red
Bulls talent spotting is slowly sort ofdeteriorating because we've seen over the past few
(12:37):
years. You know, their newsignees have been sonoda and diverse, and
to be honest, they have notperformed to the standard that you would desire
of a Red Bull rookie because theseare meant to be people. These are
meant to be drivers who have gonethrough the one of the most grueling and
(12:58):
most cut throat young driver academies inthe sport, and yet we're seeing them,
compared to their expectation as a youngRebell driver somewhat underperform. Do you
think that the new generation of RedBull driver is a bit of a laughs
(13:18):
and Scotts in the face of theyou know, Daniel Ricardo's and Sebastian vessels
of the past. I think theRed Bull Junior team system has definitely shown
great prospects with the life of SebastianVettel, Daniel Ricardo and Maxis Staffs a
color signs as well, and Ithink Alex Albon as well. I think
(13:43):
now he's shown his talent a lotmore than when he started off in F
one. I think it's a difficultquestion to say to answer because I think
there's just so much pressure within theteam, and the Red Bull Junior team
seems to be the biggest in thewhole of the whole of the grid.
(14:05):
If you look at Ferrari, whichis next to it, there's not that
much spotlight on them and compared toRed Bull, That's what I think,
and I think that just puts extrapressure on the drivers coming in. If
you look at Yuki Sonoda, hisrookie year was i'd say was pretty good,
and I think it's hard for himto live up to that in in
(14:28):
terms of the pressure that the teamput on him and the press and media.
And I think with time, Ithink he will, he will be
able to prove himself. But Ithink there's just extra spotlight on the and
pressure on the Red Woods Junior team, which actually makes them look worse or
it makes them look as if theyare under performing, and in reality,
(14:50):
I think they're doing they're doing fine. I agree. I think Yukio I
think of the past of the yearsnow three and he's entering his the year
he's been in F one, he'sshown certainly a level of talent that you
would expect out of a young rebeldriver. But I think the issue this
year once again is going to bethe performance of the car that's really prohibiting
(15:11):
him from showing his true potential.With the RBS and with the likes of
this new Steak Salaba F one team, they were languishing at the back in
Saudi Arabia. Do you think thattheir underperformance is giving these sort of massive
new sponsors a bit of a frightor a bit of reality check m I
(15:37):
think yeah, what that does Itjust creates a lot of extra pressure which
isn't necessarily needed on the drivers.I'd say diamonds are definitely made under pressure,
but not in every case. Ithink only in the case of the
Maxi Stappens, or the Lewis Hamilton'sor the Charlotte players on the grid.
(16:00):
I think not everyone is like that. Every driver in F one has to
have some sort of capability because theyare the twenty fastest drivers in the world,
but between within that twenty there isa big gap between first and last.
You know, it doesn't take awaythe fact that the last driver is
fast, but I think it canhave somewhat of an effect on them,
(16:22):
just the publicity, especially in therookie year and the beginning of their career
when they're building their way up andtrying to find their own confidence. I
agree. I think that is reallyimportant, certainly for you to I think
for a young driver, you're motivatedby results and those points that you gain.
(16:45):
Those every now and then really giveyou motivation. And I think it's
difficult to keep the younger drivers onside if you're not giving them or obviously
not consistent, but if you're notgiving them some level of excess, because
that makes it difficult for your youknow, you start getting frustrated when you
see your name, when you seezero points next to your name, you
(17:07):
start to think, this doesn't reflectme. You know, I'm not I'm
too good for this, essentially,and this is what I think is the
pitfall of some of the younger driversthat have entered the grid. But clearly
one of the younger drivers that hasentered the grid has taken no such maturity
issues on with him from whatever hemay have had during his formative years,
(17:27):
and that is Oscar Piastri, whoI feel like we are perpetually talking about
on this podcast because he is franklyjust performing again and again and this week
a sneaky fourth place. I feellike his fourth place in Fernando Alonzo's fifth
place really went undermentioned, and notonly was he in fourth, but I
(17:51):
he was also held up by LewisHamilton for a significant period of time throughout
the race. Do you think thatif it hadn't been for Hamilton's staunch defense,
then he might have been able tomaybe even try for the podium.
I think it was fourteen seconds off. Yeah, I definitely think that Oscopiastri
(18:11):
has a lot of talent. Ithink we do seem to be talking about
him quite a lot because I thinkhe's definitely making a name for himself.
He had one of the best rookieseasons I've seen in a long time,
arguably better than George Russell and LandonNorris. I think, as much as
it hurts to say, he hashad the best rookie season I've seen in
(18:33):
a long time. Yeah, Butin terms of what he could have done
on the racetrack on Sunday, Ithink I don't think he could have gone
for a podium because if you lookat the podium at the moment, what
Max Stappen, Perez and mclet thatis. I think Oscar's just about reaching
(18:56):
there. And I think even ifHamilton wasn't in the way, there still
would have been a lot of workfor him to do. And I think
at this stage the McLaren carr needsto have a bit more development. But
I think in terms of strategy McLarendefinitely did the best that they could and
I think for a P four isdefinitely the best McLaren could have done today
(19:18):
with Oskiattre in terms of landon,Norris pretty disappointed that he only got eight.
I think he I'm not sure wherehe started, but I think it
seems it seems like it wasn't toobad at a start. I'll be honest,
Norris starts aren't the strongest I've seen. I'd always find myself quite frustrated
(19:41):
on the opening lap because I findhimself I find that he's losing a couple
of places. But I think hekept strong this weekend and I think it
was a decent weekend for the team. Yeah, certainly wasn't helped by the
fact that he full started on thegrid, as pointed out by George Russell.
But speaking of McLaren and maybe theirsort of room for improvement, do
(20:03):
you think that Hamilton's defense against Piastrewas partly Obviously it was partly aided by
Hamilton's phenomenal wheel work, but wasthere also a factor of maybe McLaren are
lacking some straight line speed and youknow, on this fastest street circuit in
the world, they couldn't get itdone for a significant period of the race
(20:26):
and that may have held piastre back. Do you think which areas do you
think need improvement on that McClaren car. Yeah, I mean the McLaren car
definitely has the potential to be fasterthan a Mercedes. I think you can
look at last year where McLaren haveoutperformed and beat in Mercedes in terms of
points. But I think in termsof this race weekend, it's the second
(20:49):
race weekend of the year and Ithink there's still much more development to be
done. I'm not quite sure whatfactor that McLaren to improve. I think
I would like to say, ingeneral it would be the arrow I think
all teams that actually struggled with that, and I think both the Mercedes and
the McClaren car have the same powerunit and I think that's what that's a
(21:12):
potential limiting factor to the McClaren carperformance. But other than that, I
think you've got to give it toLewis Hamilton his brilliant defense that race weeken.
I don't think that the cars,the difference in the car's performance was
the main factor. I think i'dlike to give it to Lewis Hamilton defending
(21:33):
there. I think the Lewis Hamilton'sdefense was an absolute master class. I
mean we've seen him, obviously,you know, soccumbing to the defense of,
for example, someone like Fernando Alonsoa couple of years ago before.
But I think we are we needto be reminded more often that Hamilton's talents
are lengthy and he's proven that overmany years. And I think when he's
(21:55):
in the Mercedes nowadays, you sometimesforget how of a driver he really is,
and I think that certainly showed today. But Mercedes, again, even
though Hamilton's defense was excellent, couldnot convert that into more points than McLaren,
with Oscar Piastre taking that fourth place. What does that do to a
(22:18):
team when you have the same powerunit in the back of your car and
it has your name on it,but the person that you're selling it to
is way up the road from you. Yeah, I think that can be
quite damaging to a team, especially. I think we've seen this quite a
bit with the Mercedes. I thinkred Bull and Reno so that. Yeah,
(22:41):
obviously Red bulls partner of Reno,and they just absolutely in a league
of their own against versus Rena.But yes, sorry, continue exactly.
Yeah, you're right, Actually,thank you for pointing that out. I
wasn't thinking about that. I thinkyou definitely have seen that with the Reno
and the Red Bull back in theday. I think now the most common
situation is a McLaren or an AstonMartin with a Mercedes power unit at performing
(23:07):
the Mercedes constructor. We saw itat the beginning of last year with the
boom of Fernando Alonzo, him gettingpodium after podium. That seemed brilliant for
the Aston Martin but painful for Mercedes, and I think it puts a lot
more pressure on them the other partsof their car, the arrow and breaks
(23:30):
and non engine related parts, andI think that it can be damaging to
the team seeing your customers outperform you. I'm not sure what that can lead
to politically, I don't really havea say in it, and I can't
really think about what that would thatwould how that would affect the teams.
But I can empathize with Toto Wolfhaving having to have to go through that,
(23:56):
you know. But yeah, Ithink it's just this is an uncomfortable
topic for a team like Mercedes.Yeah, as you point out, both
McClaren and Aston Martin outperforming Mercedes certainlyfor the first off of last year and
also in this Grand Prix, withFernando Alonso taking fifth in this race once
(24:18):
again sort of went under the radara bit, great top five finish from
Fernando after the Aston Martin seemed tobe a bit bogged down in Bahrain.
But I thought the real interesting aspectof this race of Aston Martin was Fernando
Alonso fifth lancetroll DNF clipped the insideof the wall as he did in free
(24:41):
practice and spun out and he wasout of the race. This was a
dynamic that we saw developing at thestart of last year. Obviously it died
down a bit because the Astons werenowhere near the helm of the field at
that point. Do you think it'sgoing to be a there's the relationship between
(25:03):
Fernando Alonso and the Eston Marion carand strong in the Aston Market car is
going to be the same as itwas next year, I mean last year
and this year. I'm going tosay I don't think that the Aston Marti
car is built around Fernando Alonso likethe rental car is around matches happened.
I think Fernando Alonso is a driverwho is talented and can step into any
(25:26):
car and perform if you give himright the right car. Unlike his days
at McLaren in the twenty tens,where he would be complaining a lot.
I think the Aston Martin car showsstrength and he can find that strength relatively
easily and perform on the track.And I think Lance Stroll here has a
(25:48):
lot to go up too with havingFernando Lonzo as a teammate, but I
don't think he has much to losegiven his position politically. But I definitely
think Fernando A. Lonzo doing areally good job leading this Aston Martin team.
I think his personality as well ispretty good, very funny and nice
to have on a team like AstonMartin where in recent years they haven't been
(26:15):
as strong and they haven't been atthe top. And I think it's sort
of like new management having having FernandoAlonso leading their team as their players driver.
Yeah, I think it's a greatI think it's a really interesting point
that you made there about Fernando Alonsoleading this team and you know, in
a similar way to what we're seeingon the other end of the driver's spectrum
(26:40):
with Oscar by Astri is this sortof you know, maturity and he's a
wisened Formula One driver and rather thanbringing the sort of ego that he did
to McLaren and to an extent ourteam, we're really seeing Fernando Alonso in
(27:00):
his later years develop I think asa as a driver and to as an
extension of that as a person.Do you think that Fernando Alonso, if
he was, for example, inthe Ferrari or in the Red Bull,
would be exerting a similar level ofmaturity or would his drive for competition start
(27:22):
to kick in and he would startto really get his elbows out. That's
an interesting question actually. I thinkFernando Alonso is this driver who definitely wants
to win. I think at themoment he's in a position where his role
is just to lead the team andthe car isn't in a position where they
(27:45):
can be fighting for wins and championships. But I think if you put Fernando
Alonso in a car which is atthe top, like a Red Bull or
a Ferrari, then he will hewill fight, he will be he would
definitely be up there and like yousaid, he will have his elbows out
and I don't think he's scared ofMaxistappen or Charlotte Clair if he is to
(28:07):
be put as a second driver.I think if he was to go to
Red Bull, there would be achance that he would be considered a second
driver because Macrostappen is untouchable at themoment, he is always going to be
the first driver. But I thinkif anyone on the grid was to step
into the Red Bull and have adecent chance, it would be phenandenal Azo
(28:30):
because I think he just has thattalent where if the car can perform,
he will perform. So yeah,I think that's what I think. I
think he will. He definitely hasthat confidence and he will show more of
that competitiveness than maturity or not maturity, but let's relaxed and more on it
like his like when he was inthis prime. Could he compete with maxa
(28:53):
Stappen in a Red Bull right now? If you put him in the Red
Bull number two seat, where wouldhe be? Do you think? I
think if it had to if ithad to happen, the best time would
have would have been now. Ithink coming coming back in twenty twenty one
with Alpine after a break, Ithink that might not have been a good
(29:14):
time. But after seeing the RedBull perform, I think now would be
the prime time to put Fernandalalonza inAnd I think where he would be in
terms of in the car, Ithink he would be quite. He would
definitely be second. I think hewould be performing closer to Max than Sergja
(29:36):
Perez. I think because I thinkhe just has a talent to step into
a car that cann't perform. You'veseen the Red Bull car perform win championships
the last three years, and there'sthat possibility and phenanmals it will make it
happen because it's easy to say,you know, he's been in a car
that's been in the midfield and there'sbeen no pressure in him essentially for the
(30:03):
last four years to perform, andhe has. But although Fernando is,
you know, the wily old foxthat he always would, I I do
have a question. I do havesome questions as to if you put him
in a position where he is actuallypressured to perform in the way that the
Red Bull team surely would, ifwhether or not he can keep us cool.
(30:29):
I really struggle to struggle to understandwhere where he would be mentally with
that. But it's certainly an interestingproposition and I would I would give a
lot to see Fernando versus Max forstapping at the front of the field.
Maybe that's a fantasy, maybe not. Free agency season is right upon us
(30:51):
in Formula one as a start ofnext year, so who knows, but
I would be I would be prettysurprised, unfortunately, as we have been
eddied down the road of rebel andwe now have to discuss their dominant victory
once again. Were you ever inany doubt, No, I would never
(31:18):
in any doubt. I think alot of fans have gone to a point
where they just expect Red bulln andMax Staplin to be winning. But I
don't think that takes away the factthat F one is still brilliant and brilliant
spot. You know, it's easyto say when the same person is winning
the races can get quite boring.But I think we're getting into a stage
(31:41):
where Redbourne Max is so dominant it'sa whole new perspective, you know.
I think MAXA. Staplin has Ithink he's equaled his he might he's about
to equal his ten ten races ina row record, and at the rate
he's going, he will win againand he's breaking his own records, which
(32:05):
is amazing for him. And Ithink we've met we probably will never see
this again in F one. It'sit's actually unremarkable. Remarkable. Yeah,
yeah, I mean it's almost unremarkableat this point. It's yeah, you
are right, it is Max Forstappenand it is the rest of the grid.
(32:27):
It's an unfortunate position as an Fone fan because you want to be
telling people that the most exciting racingis happening at the front of the field,
but unfortunately that's just not the caseat the moment. I think that
for this is a test really forpeople who truly enjoy the sport, because
(32:50):
for many people, they're going totune out because it's you know, the
championship is almost decided at this point. I mean, I obviously take that
with a grain of salt because westill have I think twenty two rounds left,
but it's looking like it's going tobe another dominant display. But you
know, true F one fans arestill going to find the joy in this
(33:12):
sport, and that's why that's whywe love it. We don't love it
because of the driver at the front. We love it because of the racing
action. We love it because ofevery storyline and every plot line that plays
out every weekend, And whoever winsat the end of the day is only
going to be on screen for onetwentieth of the time. And I think
(33:35):
that's the important part we've got totake from this. We're going to be
able to really delve into stories thatin previous seasons where there would have beat
so for example twenty twenty one,where there was a huge battle up the
front, we may not have beenable to notice. So this is going
to sift out the real F onefans from the people who were just here
for the race at the front.And I think at the end of the
day, I would rather a sportthat's I would rather a sport where people
(34:00):
care than a sport where it's themost popular thing of the week. If
you see what I mean. Itwas a bad long term you know,
monetarily obviously, you know they're tryingto expand their reach as always, but
I would always rather to have ayou know, this elite class of people
(34:20):
who who really care for the sport. So you know, someone like you's
watched it since you were since youwere you know, a really young child.
For me, I've watched I've beenaware of Formula one since I was
a really young child. And youknow, this is the sport that we
care about, and it's not alwaysabout max the step and taking the win.
You know, it's about people likeOli Berman coming into that Ferrari drive
(34:44):
taking p seven and that's what wetake. You know, that's our slice
of enjoyment from that we take fromFormula one. Because I would, I
would say that you and I arepart of that true conglomerate of fans,
not to I mean, not toI know self agrandise, but yeah,
what do you think I must do? You think, No, I totally
(35:05):
agree with that. I really thinkthat it makes the fans who really care
stand out when it shows the commitmentof everyone who really cares about the sport.
As much as I'd want everyone inthe world to be following F one,
I think having true fans who arevery dedicated is just something else.
(35:27):
You know. I think what wesaid about race is becoming less interesting.
I think that's not always true,you know, I think we've got more
races to come this season, andI don't think every race is going to
be considered boring or eventless. Youknow, we looked at if you look
at last year, even though RedBull won every race but one race,
(35:51):
that one race that they didn't winwas arguably the best race of the season
because we had Carlos Signs winning raceand yeah, what a race. And
we also how he won that racewas brilliant. You know, the podium
in the end was great. Ithink it was Carlos, Lando and Lewis,
you know, yeah, with theyeah, with the George Rattle crash,
(36:12):
you know, and I think youcan't close that off. You can't
say that that's not going to happenafter two races, you know. I
think that's that's still a possibility outthere, even though even though Redbourne,
Max the staff and are so strongat the moment, there's still loads more
to come. And I think that'sas true f one fans. You just
got to have that faith and youjust got to you know, you just
(36:35):
got to enjoy it as it comes. Absolutely, what way to end it,
what way to end up? Weare, we are settled down and
we are ready for the next twentytwo rounds of racing. Whatever they want,
and we will enjoy every single momentof that. And we do not
care if Max for Stephen wins everysingle, every single lap. From now
(36:58):
on until the end, we willcontinue to enjoy the sport that we love.
Back there we go. Thank youfor listening to every one Isn't Real?
Tune in next week or updates onthe latest F one news and also
our predictions for the full twenty twentyfive driver line up, Chills at the
end there. Thank you so much, Thank you, Ben
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