British Grand Prix Umbrella Incident

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It's the largest fastest fiber powered network for small business, gig speeds with equipment and security included and a five year price lock. No one does business like comcast business Switch today? Get started for sixty dollars a month for twelve months when you add an advanced solution to a qualifying internet package. Limited time offer. restestrictions apply. new customers only. requires three hundred megab per second internet, securityedge and additionalifing service, onene year agreement, paperless billing and autoay bank account required. tax and fees extra ady ur the formera on podcast that speaks to the biggest names in the sport and doesn't take it all too seriously. I'm Vetty Glover. You'll know that if you're a regular listener that I am in the USA covering the World Cup. So hello from Atlanta. Yes, I'm still here, still trying to find good coffee. Greg James, our team principal who pops up every now and then to give his wild opinions had a very busy weekend. We're going to talk about that later because What What on earth? But of course, our resident former law gate Christian Hugill was live on the ground at Silverston living his best life doing all sorts of different things. Christian. How was it? What was your favourite part Would youd like to know what my honest favourite part was? Yeah, go I Two favourite parts Meeting the loads of lovely fast and curious listeners who came to watch the show I did for my other podcast on the main stage Just Loveflick. We've got best listeners ever. You say this to me all the time because they're sliding into your DM's giving you coffee recommendations and like you only have to do something and people go, Oh, wnder what Christian will think like our listeners are the best. And I just appreciate it everybody coming up to I feel like everyone says that but ours actually are the best. Oh my Godd, every podcast says it, but it's like so It's just the nicest bunch of people So that's lovely. Thank you if you saw me at the weekend said hello. Thank you. there's loads of caps. in the crowd from the from when we briefly sold caps, we're going to try and fix that and do more caps at another point. That's for another day My other highlight, Betty, was bumping into You know you mentioned Greg James for our international listeners? Greg presents a big UK brereakfast show H I know this is controversial into the person who presents like possibly the other biggest UK Breakfast show Christone. who is also a friend of Greg James.. And he and I basically ended up being his F one coach for the weekend So Hi, Chris. He's a fan of the show U bumped into a lovely you bump into people, you know, like people you've not seen in ages and like bump intoX workor colllle, becausecause' many people the biggest grand Prix ever. literally the biggest grand Prix there's ever been. five hundred sixty thousand. You just bump into people. it's lovely. The attendance figures for Silverston was insane. Did it Did it feel busier this the previous few years? Yes When we le did and like you go Like you've not you have now not been for two years when you're back next year So So you go and it's like your brain plays tricks on you looking around and stuff going, I swear that wasn't that big last year. likeike the Lando stand way bigger. The Lando stand is insane Uh, little things like pop up hotel where I saw Chris And hang on in a minute. just this wasn't this last year. I' like no we' four times bigger than last year or whatever it was. And youre just like, but it did feel busyier. It felt like there were more people. So you just end up bumping into I bumped into old work colleagues, like three different old work colleagues, so many fast and curious fans. it's just so funny that people come up to me like they know me one person just outside the paddock came up to me when Hi Christian house, Derek I' never spoke to this person in my life before, never seen them in my life and it's just it all comes with this partod. So it was a great weekend. It was Really busy weekend, my voice And my voice is struggling because that's largely through shouting over cars for the entirety of qualifying to explain what was going on to Chris Um Yeah, it it was insane, but a brilliant brilliant brilliant weekend that I just loved. Well it was also a really good grand Prix, wasn't it? So coming up on this episode of the Fast N the Curious, justust how fed up is Max Vappen? Why is the Formula onene rumor mill in absolute overdrive? How does Charle lecler turn it all around and a radio radar for the ages but Christian. Anyone that missed it or maybe Maybe anyone that wants a bit of a refresh runs through the top ten from the British Gum brew. Well, Charlaclerc won the race and that's his first win since the US Grand Prix of twenty twenty four. George Russell got his fifth podium of the season in second. Lewis Hamilton third also a fifth podum of the podium of the season with Landao in fourth. Isac Hader became the first teammate to out qualify max at Silverstone and finish the race in fifth, Liam Lawson's joint best result of the season in sixth Avid Lindblads joinint best Rult of the season and in his formula onene career. In seventh, Gabriel Bortlettos best result of the season in eighth, Franco Colopintos fifth points finish of the season in ninth and a double points finish for Alpine with Pierre Gaslly rounding out the top ten. I love seeing Franco Colavvinto and Pierre Gazlli in the top ten. just it's just normal now, isn't it? We used to sort of see them there and celebrate it and I'm like, yeah, I'm fully expecting them to get in the top ten. We had a bit of a shocker in Austria, didn't they? So they needed to bounce back, but they did, yes, so well done to Alpine. But Betty Alpin aren't quite in the championship fight yet, who knows when they're sponsored by Gucci next season they might be? They might you might just suddenly turn it around and get in the top three. They might. Kimmy Antonll, George Russell and Louis Hamilton are so, Betty, what are the scores on the doors So Kimmy Aonlli is leading the Wor Championship on one hundred and seventy nine. George Russell, one hundred and fifty fourth, that's twenty five points off of Kimmy Antonlli and Lewis Hamilton in third, one hundred forty seven It really does feel like Russell close this gap. quuickly actually, when you look at it like that I disagree You disagree, Why George is going to close the gap only way he is going to close the gap. is through Kimmy getting all the reliability problems unless which has happened quite often now has But The caveat to that and we'll talk about my a bit more in a minute, but the caveat to that is This time last year, Lando only really won the race because of Oscar gototlucky with the safety c and How we were sat here for a big chunk of last season going Well Lando can't really get close to Oscar Paceise. And it all turned really suddenly It is not too late for it to turn round, but I analyze F one under the hereing now and as we sit here right now, I don't think George has got the pace to be quicker than Kimmy. and there's there's I've seen I've seen people online saying Oh well George is being judged unfairly and U He's been unlucky. They're both been unlucky. and I'm sorry I just think and this is the brutal reality of top level sport. Does't give me any pleasure to say it for George. L I like George. Kimmy is just faster at the moment. And so yes, Betty, that gap has plummeted and title fight is on But oh my Lord was there a healthy slice of lookuck there a wheel cover related slice of lookuck. Otherwise we'd be sat here going Well this look ominous Yeah, I mean George definitely wasn't the outright quickest Mercedes, was it? We' talk about that in a second. Let's start let's start with Ferrari guys because if you're a Charlleeclc fan, you'll be absolutely buzzing with what happened on Sunday. How nice was it to see a happy Charleescler Because amongst all of that chaos that sort of happened at Silverston, he just remained like this composed guy that just sort of breezed through and managed to get his first win in Bloody ages. Yeah, Austin twenty twenty four when I was at that race and for me it seems a long time ago I'm not Charles leeclerc famously As many of you listening will have noticed, if not all So how long it must have felt for him goodness, me, we're just so used to him looking like a dog who's lost their owner You know, just looking sad. That's a very good way of describing it. It isn't it? has the puppy dog eyes and It just looks so sad a lot of the time and we were saying he signed this new contract and then had the worst weekend and it was like Remember you're never leaving, Chharl So it was a total Joy ' happy little face as he got off the podium, his little smile where he instead looked like a satisfied hampster who's just been given A lovely bit of cheese, that little got little cute face and he was so happy and he deserves it If you'd had said to me, before the weekends. Christian, do you think Ferrari can win the race? Aa said Absolutely not. okay. they needed a slice of luck They were better than I thought they would be B If you'd said to me, which Ferrari will win if it's going to be a Ferrari I'd have bet A significant amount of money were I betting man and I'm not on it being Louis Hamilton. And that's why we love this sport unpredictable and people like me who are paid to analyze and supposedly a Fmula One experts come out of weekends like this one looking like we know absolutely subtle because I' had never predicted that and that's why we love it I actually said to somebody the other day A couple of weeks ago, I was like, well, I think I said, I thought Charlac Cler would have done really well in Austria and then not very well in Silverston But it was the complete other way round 't It was It was crazy. It was completely the other way around. and I think was really important was And I've said this on the pod before. One of the best things Formula One ever did was reopen Park Ferme to the spprint race has finished becausecause you come into the weekend, you have Friday practice. You then have sprint quality, you then have the sprint race, but the weekend can then totally reset because the teams and the drivers can go away and go, what are we going to change? What didn't work when they've had effectively a mini qualifying in a mini race And it seemed to all change from there because on Friday in the sprint race, Lewis looked the better Ferrari, like we've seen all season. But Lewis' comments after the race were really interesting, as were Charles comments because it seemed like Charles went one way in terms of setup and it was like, oh that worked. Let's see. is this a turning point for Charle leclerc? Is this Is this season going better from here is this the little click because he found something because the setup changes he made for part two of the weekend worked and Lewis went the opposite way Do you think that's where all of this came from for Charle Leclc, literally some changes that seem to just click for him? I think so. I think setup changes. will their quotes post race suggest that I think it was setup changes. and it's just I think I've said it before that the Ferrari so the Mercedes is fast but delicate. Whereas the Ferrari is fast but sort of difficult to dial in. and I think it needs quite a specific setup. And that's why you've seen Lewis happier and Charl not so happy and then it flipped today. So I think the Ferrari car to me seems like if you get your setup wrong, you're in for struggle. Now listen, Lewis wasn't miles away from Charl like Charles has been from Lewis, but straight away after the podium, I mean, you expect it from Louis Hamilton, he tend to be gallant in defeat He said to I think it was Jensen doing the podium interviews, Listen. Char was better that Charl did the better job And then their post race comments suggested that they sort of went opposite ways in setups and it's had this result. So to me is where it all changed. But the more interesting thing is Has that clicked something for Charl now? I'll be fascinated to see how he gets on in Belgium, which another it's a different track to S was it's got its long straights, it's got its high downforce corners and I'll be interested where it's got high and low down force corners, it's got slow corners, it's fast corners I'll just be interested to see where Sarl picks up in Spa because hope for his sake that he's that he goes away thinking That's what this car needs. and let's wait and see. It'll be interesting to see whether or not this gives Charlock a little bit of a confidence boost as well whereether they you know, he's had timeike you say twenty twenty four the last time he won a Grand Prix. That is a long old time. A lot of people have been talking about him. He's had a lot of sort of like criticism about his driving So I wonder whether this will give him that little boost that he needs. Lewis Hamilton obviously had that full start that Destroyed as dream of winning a tenth Silverston. What happened with Lewis? What do you think went wrong? I don't think much went wrong. I actually still think it was a very strong weekend from Lewis. It was an un Lewis like mistake It wasn't a jump start. it was the car move. before the start. The difference is a jump start is you start the movement and continue the movement and you set off the grid before the lights go out. Moments before the race start is the car jolted, but still didn't go out the grid box, but even movements before the lights go out. isn enough for a penalty. You're right,et. You're absolutely right. He wasn't going to win the race that and I don't think you'd won the race anyway because I think Charl was faster. I think Lewis was keen to say that. He made the mistake. It was a mistake. Chharl was faster, but Lewis had a very good sprint Ran Kimmy, but the Sprint qualifying and spprint race, you know. Really good, rankking me close. I'm not worried for Lewouis Hamilton. I think It's a good weekend for Charl Leclerc. He was better this weekend. We did see that towards the start of the season on occasion But I'm not worried for Louis Hamilton all. I think his weekend was solid I thought well, I think Kimmy Anonelli would have won it if he hadn't have had those issues, wouldn't he? but Charla Claire what he needed to do, didn't he? Did you see that video? I don't know if you would have seen this, but there was this little boy head to toe in Ferrari had his little light ear defenders on absolutely sobbing at the end of the race. L Streaming tears like couldnt couldn't catch his breath just absolutely so It's why we love the sport, isn't it? I go back to say about Silverston that was it was lovely to bump into old friends, lovely to see listeners It was a lovely moment I saw where a little lad was in the paddock on Thursday dressed head to foot in a little Kimmy Antonlli raace suit. wide eyed nature of them looking around the paddock. it was just lovely. So it's It's why we love the sport. And I'm going back to the start of the podcast where what was nice? I bumped into another different work colleague who was like It was a very casual F one pan and went for the first time I was like Oh my God, this sport's massive And weekends like Silverston make you realize that. Seeing little things like you just said, Betty, the amount of people there and there is something very special about the way it all comes together at Silverston. so ye those little things are cute It looked, it looks. Fantastic. It did. It looked so so good. I was obviously following it sort of through your Instagram as well. And I was just like, o my God, it looks insane. It's such a nice weekend, isn't it? in Atlanta, even though obviously the World Cup's going on and you've got like at the moment, there's just Argentina fans literally everywhere because they're playing Egypt, tomorrow in Atlanta. so they're everywhere. But even yesterday, there were just so many Formula O fans walking around in like McLaren sh loads of McLaren shirts, Ferrari shirts, just like everywhere. and I was getting so many messages being like, a bet, you've got to go to this bar in the morning to watch the F one. It shows the F one every single weekend. It's just so cool. Again, this is our listeners that that comes from this part like It's lovely And we're so grateful for it. Me and Betty are like it's just lovely Oh we've got sideted here. what should we carry on talking about Ferrari Nicole on Instagram asks if those Mercedes keep flip flopping, A Ferrari in this title fight Well this yes, basically is the answer to the question because I refer back to what I said earlier Betty, walking around the paddock on Thursday, you've witnessed this with your F one TV gigs You get the chatter, don't you? Like the journals chat to each other, the presenters chat to each other. If you get on well with team members, I spoke to somebody at McLaren who's high up at McLaren Everyone was say veryy Mercedes like, doesn't it And yet Ferrari were closer because there's this Apparently we're to believe that Red Bull have the strongest engine and listen, Red Bull have did a great job, but nobody actually believes Red Bull have got the strongest engine. just these confusing FIA statistics that came out And because Silverston is so powerful and so long everybody thought Mercedes had walk it. So the fact that Ferrari were as close as they were to me makes me think they are in the title race. They seem I said to you on the last pod we need to see how they bounce back from Austria I think they've done that well And I think if they can if they can do it at Silverston and be as close as they were to Mercedes pace on a track that's so big and long and fast It makes me think they definitely could at a Zanvort first race after the summer break. Hungary first race before the summer break I'm really interested in that. Now to our lovely listener who asked the question? Nico. Nicole's point as if the merks keep flip flopping. Yeah, again, they're going to take points out of each other Definitely I've just said to you, there's the chance that George will Rw back like Llandao did last year. but I suppose the flip side of that could be a resurgence Lecler might be a championship headache for Ferrari because He's on one hundred and eight points with Antonelli on one hundred and seventy nine. That's a massive gap H Hamilton on one hundred and forty seven, Leclc on one hundred and eighty, but Leclair hass just signed this new contract. He's the Ferrari golden boy. A Ferrari going to be turning around and going At this early stage Louis out. Do you think they would? Betty? I don't think they would. Somebody tweeted yesterday, I can't remember who it was. They tweeted being like Ferrari should have let Hamilton win that race because he's the one that is in the championship battle And I just thought No child. The thought crossed my mind and it's how you want to go racing. The Ferrari of the two thousands made calls like that. There was one particular race in the early two thousands where Michael Schumacher' teammate, Rubens Barricllo had B driver all weekend They let Schumacher win the race. Schumacher even forced Barllo to stand on the top step of the podium Ferrari got fined for ruining the podium procedure. It was a whole thing. It doesn't look good on you and it's McLn sorry said it a lot last year, it's how you want to go racing. So there will be a time where that might come in, but It would be harsh at this stage of the season. That said, I said to onstagram. It was so But Lewis, right? Lewis individually needs to pick up every point he can if he's going to win this title because even though what's the gap between I did I did work this out, I thinks thir twenty two Yeah It's doable, but it is still like you need every point. So it's it basically Nicole, Yeah. no matter how you want to look at it, whether it's the Merc's flip flopping, whether it's the Ferrari Rw pace Betty, we said this in Spain. when I was in Spain, we were like championship arm. Then we in Austria went you said Oh I drunk the call aident and now we're not sure. And now we're back to Yeah, looks on, right? looks on. So I think it is on. L lets lets let's step back and look at look at the championship as a whole. We're not halfway through yet. We're nearly halfway through, but we're not we're not there yet. We've got a long way to go. So much could happen So much could happen U so never say never It's not looking likely, but you just don't know, do you? Wh we're talking about Ferrari and Lewis, Grace has got in touch. She said, why did Ferrari pit Lewis at the end? There seem no clear reason and it cost him second. I have every sympathy for Ferrari on this one. I've seen a lot of, oh, Ferrari are useless at strategy. you know, everybody plays that old song U picture the scene and we'll get ont to why the safety car happened in a minute. but pitted Lewis for fresh tyres If the race had restarted on a hot day at Silverstone and Lewis is on old tyres He's a sitting duck So you're damned if you do and you damned if you don't. With the benefit of hindsight pitted, he lost track position, the race didn't restart. Russell got a lucky P two But if the race had restarted and Lewis drag down the start finish straight Fresh tyres, Lewis could have won the race. Stranger things have happened Didn't most teams pit at that point? Yes Yeahah, yeah, yeah can't you can't call I saw a lot of the Ferrari clown face memes popping up and I just thought No. They deserve that sometimes, but they don't deserve it now I agree, Pal. Yeah, it is a really unfortunate one. As I say, imagine that safety car comes in. Hamilton gets a slip stream down the straight Has more. ties in him and Russell sweeps on the outside, Ferrari a cool genius or if that doesn't happen and Lewis gets swallowed up, it's widen Ferrari Pit. I listen I'm no Bernie Collins. To me seemed for Por strategists, if I'm going in strategist corner here and sticking up for them That's a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation. Let's talk about the end of the race then because as you were watching, just live as a viewer and the commentators. It was very confusing, it was very frustrating since then the FIA have sort of explained themselves and you can sort of understand the reasoning, can't you Why didn't we have that One more lap of racing at the end I was watching at Cadillac the race Lovely Cadillac who looked after me really well this weekend,. Thanksks Cadillak, loveve your work. And I can confirm that the teams, not just Cadillac, the teams were as confused as we were and there was race engineers saying to drivers, it's happening, it's not happening. So the confusion was trross the board and Now I've gotone into the rules. And I'm delighted to be able to read to you Section B of the regulations, part thirteen, cllause five, long been one of our favorites, Betty. We've said this a Love this clause. I've love it We've always said it, ourur favourite our favourite one. A silute belelter of a clause. It says when the lapped cars are told to get out of the way, which of course happened in this situation. It was late on in the race. there was lapped cars, the lapped cars are told go round the circuit, get out of the way, join in at the back When the lap cars are told to get out of the way, the safety car returns to the pits at the end of the following lap The cars were told to get out of the way not in time for there to be that. following lap There needed to be that one extra lab. Now We were told saafety car ending That's where the confusion came in. And what we thought they'd done is the FIA had gone, o we' just out the way because Crofty and Martin was saying on the coverage They don't need they're far enough out the way. So we thought maybe we would get to go racing that was flashed up in error So the safety car was not coming in. So it was all of bit unfortunate, all of bit confusing. I think my view on this is a bit of a controversial one I don't think we can go back to Abu Dhabi twenty twenty one and go Well the rules weren't followed I'm The devils weren' followed Michaelasy, theice director. did not apply the rules. as they're written in the rule but correctly And that is what made the result of that race what it was That is fact So I And I've just read to you the regulations. I think we have to ly the regulations as they are written We can't complain when they're changed. We're sorry, we can't complain if they're stuck to I don't think that's a controversial view at all. I think that's what most people think like they actually followed the letter of the law time. Now whet whether you could whether you could change the regulations to learn for the future to as Martin and Crofty was saying cars just have to be out of the way to a safe distance for the race to be able to get under the way and remove the following lap. Maybe you look at that But so I saw a lot on Twitter of like that's a joke. they should have just ended it because we don't want to end under a safety car. I'm sorry, this is a top level sports. So sometimes we end under a safety car and that is motorsports U even even back to my cartting, you know, I ended races under we didn't have a safety car, but under the equivalent sort of thing, it's motorsport. It happens up and down motorsport. Well, you can't put safety at jeopardy just so you can have a good race just so everyone can be like, o, that was a fantastic end. The only thing I'd say is I think everyone's issue was the fact that it was so unclear because we thought we were getting that last lap R? And then suddenly we weren't. It was just it was a technical error or a mechanical error or whatever it was on their system And all the commentators were so confused. like across the board, everyone was like, all right, we're going right? Oh no, no, we're not. I agree and listen, I'd like the FIA to putull out a spokesperson at the end of races. What you know, why shouldn't the FIA go to speak to Simon Lazenby and say, right, this is what happened very least it need to be communicated. I don't think it was, mayaybe it could have been a bit sooner But I I think the actual race It finished how I think it should have finished is my opinion Shame though but agree. Oh that's of shame. Ber. an old time class Oh would have been brilliant B Ruleses rules. And we thought that was what we were doing. We were gearing up for it. I was running on the treadmill whilst watching. I stopped the treadmill. I got off I was I right I'm ready to wal Let's move on and talk about Mercedes. We talked about them a bit at the top of the program, but we need to get into this in a little bit more detail. Kimmy Antonlli once again looked like the fastest driver out of the Mercedes pair In the end, it was George Russell that ended up on the podium What How do you look at Kimmy Antonll's damage and all of the issues that happened? Do you think it was a mistake? or do you think it was a failure? No. Toto came out at the end of the Ace and was very clear and went because you saw the replay where Kimmy went over the rumble strip of the curbs. he could be forgiven for thinking, hasas he gone too far into the rumble strip and therefore he's damaged the car. Toto was unequivocal. That piece of that car should not break under that stress was a failure So that's that. Kimmy was unfortunate, bad luck Well we've got a unique situation where we've got a Ferrari that's fast but seems really quite tricky to dial in and set up. We've got a Mercedes that's fast, but boy is she delicate? She's like a Lego car. bits can come off her, engines can breraak. So that doesn't help them In terms of the first part of your question, I think Kimy had a very good weekend because he looked like the quicker Mercedes driver, which I just thought he would be at a high speed track where you need to squeeze the most out of your car. That's what you have to do at Silverston Kimmy is all season to me seemed to be the Mercedes driver that is out that quickest. And we're in this peculiar position with the modern F one fandom where some not all, we saw this with Mercedes last year look to, oh, well, Mercedes must be doing something to George's car that they're not doing to Kimmy's car. I'm sorry guys, this is the brutal reality of not just high level sport, elite level sports. I say this with no pleasure because I want George Russell to run I want the two of them to fight for the title all season. So I want them to be evenly matched But I simply think at the moment, Kimmy Antonelli is doing the better job And So does George Russell? Yeah, I wanted to get ono this. Why do you think Kimmy Anntonelly is doing a better job? Be George Russell said afterwards and I thought his H what he said was really interesting. He said, If I want to fight for the championship, the performances need to be better. I need to be better. I need to be working better with my team. We need to be maximising everything. We've got a close fight now with Ferrari, so it's not just Kimmy and me. Lewis is still very close, but I need to improve He also said Uh that the you know, it's the twenty five point gap. He said, I had reliability, Kimy's had reliability ten to thirty point gap is about where it should be. Yeah. He said it's probably correct. Yeah So again,ve got we've got fans looking for sorts of conspiracy where non exists and then you've got the driver going, I'm not doing a good enough job. By the way I raate that from George Russell. That is classy as hell to come out and go at the British Grand Prix and keep his head, you know and go Pleas to be on the podium my My first British Grandrie podium, I'll take the positive of that Kimmy is doing a better job and Betty to answer your question directly, this strikes me as a sheer speed issue When I'm talking earlier about the Feraris I think they're very, very evenly matched in terms of sheer speed this season But it's a setup issue to me there. It seems that MCl just isn't happy with the car unless he's happy with the car. When he is happy with the car, he can beat Louis Hamilton It seems to me a different thing for George Russell. He might argue he can't set up the car correctly posossibly But why But well, well, but There's no real way of answering that other than Betty, you'll mate Jolian Palmer of F one TV fame He ex this to me brilliantly well once where he was partnered with Nicolo Holkenberg in the Renault days And he said to me that he looked at NIicO's data and saw in places that Nico was able to carry in one particular part of the track He was able to break later He was able to carry more speed through the corner, the nuts and bolts of what makes drivers quick. Jolian tried to emulate that all weekend, had an even worse weekend than he had before It just wasn't able to o that particular track, extract the speed out of the car that his teammate was doing. I think that's the position we're in here with Antonlli and Russell. and I think that was the position we were in last year a lot with Norris and Piastri. So the hope for Russell is that something clicks, whether it is a setup change. whether it's something, but the point I'm getting at is I think Ferrari The drivers are closer match in terms of sheer outright pace whereas I think Mercedes Kimmy is just for some reason. and the only people that be able to answer this are Mercedes themselves are for some reason able to Kimmy is able to get more speed out of that car at this first nine races of this season Is Kimmy Antonlli simply a better driver than George Russell It's possibly a very harsh reality here that George Russell is an elite level formula one driver who I believe is capable of fighting for championships and race wins And I believe it is also possible that we could look back in two years and think, well, this was just the start of he' showing as he's on Hamilton Verstappen level As I sit here now, I can't answer your question with a direct yes. I think We've not given enough time. I keep using the Piastri Norris example where I think could be a turnaround because now, look, you know Lando has had a great season and it's not like Piastri's wiping the floor with him again this season. it has turned round. But if this carries on until the end of the season then we might be facing that might be a reality for George Rruster where he has to look at it and go I think most drivers look at Max and go I can't do that. Maybe we're in that situation with Antonlli, but I think we need to let more time play out It's early days, isn't it? It's early days, but you can't help by thinking about that. you can't help by questioning whether or not that's a reality that Kimmy Antonlli at nineteen is with, you know so much less experience than George Russell is just mayaybe naturally slightly better. But I heard people say that about Pastri last year They did They did People say he is just He will reach a higher level than Norris. and now, I think lots more people Qestion that and certainly put them a lot more evenly matched I'm sorry, I just don't understand what's happening with M Ton Oh Yeah, well, let's come back to that. We'll do it we'll do them little bit But Yeah, Betty, your point is That might be the case in, you know It's the buzzword remember Will Buxton coming on the pod when We did the emergency episode when Hamilton announced he was off to Ferrari and Will said Bang on. I've he Mercedes are going to put Kimy Antonlli and they think he's a generational talent. and that that buzzword generational talent has stuck around ever since It abes I hope you all stick around because we're going to go for a very quick break now. and after the break, we're going to talk about Max Verstappen another generation of tal This ad is sponsored by ZakDoc. 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Let's talk about Max Verstappen who is not a happy guy at all. Max seems to be generally me with this season and how it's going with Red Bull Was it a mistake or a failure, Christian, that caused his late crash? Because I think everybody reacted to that in the same way. everyone was just Everyone's jaw just fell to the floor. What happened? I looked at that And I just like, well, Max doesn't do that So I Didn't for a minute, think that it was A max mistake I thought it was a flap. to the issue, I think, Betty Should work flaps. flaps. L. Great word. loveve the word flat We had the similar crash in Austria. It seems to me that we've got the active aero, the wing opens, the wing supposed to close again Obviously this season's equivalent of DRS, if you like And we're here to go for Sapp and toolld Skyports F one. It's the same as Austria. The rear wing just doesn't fully close. I saw the analysis, it looks like it closes but it doesn't. It closes, it's just a little bit open and you lose a lot of rear downforce and that's why the car just spins off the track. And listen, what you Max Verstappen drives at a hundred percent. That's what makes Max Verstappen, Max Verstappen So what you don't want is him going, I'll go really softly into this corner just in case the wing doesn't close properly That's why we're seeing him crash because the car isn't keeping it with Max. So now I'm categoric in this just like Max is. with Max all the way It's clearly a problem with their active aero. I looked straight away. I think you can see on the replay that it doesn't fully show up. So yeah, it's is a flap based issue and you don't want them just don't want a flat based issue He just seems so, so unsatisfied and unhappy with , doesn't he? Which I guess leads us on to the next section that we need to talk about, which is The rumourors that are circulating. Now I just want to say Before we get into it, Christian The one thing that I cannot stand is when people tweet or post or whatever on their social media, This announcement is going to shake the world I'm hearing a big announcement is coming. Tell us the announcement then, what were you talking about which is why I've said nothing and have debated whether we should even be talking about this, but I think enough of the F one world is that we have to Can I just say my worst one Christian? Vague tweeting isn't my favorite thing in the world, but IMOG, IMOi, IMO Yeah, it was d not I If I know something, I'll say I know something. But basically this afternoon we're recording this Monday evening UK time, Monday afternoon a load of these tweets started appearing U I and a few other Flon journos I know started asking some people some things and I asked some other journos some things and everybody was saying It feels like something could happen. nothing seems to be confirmed and obviously the last time all of this sort of thing happened, the big driver move was Hamilton going to Ferrari. So you put two of things together and you think, well who's unhappy at the moment? Who is The only person capable of causing such a seismic reaction if they moved really is Verstappen. And there's been rumors about Verstappen's future. It's pretty widely reported that his people spoke to McLaren And of course they would, and I said this at the time. This is not unusual, right? If you're Bet, you know this Elite level sports people, their management, speak to elite level clubs, go, is there a way we can work together in the future? Where are we? That happens. It's not something to get excited about I don't think it's any secret that M Max is sort of saying, I want to stay here I need to have faith in the team they are going to get on the front foot. So where does he go? Well, Russell and Mercedes have been unequivocal in the last couple of grand Prix of saying. We're keeping our line up Ferrari are obviously keeping their line up Red Ball or Red Bull. The only other one is McLaren So you therefore, the next question would be, well where does a seat come up at McLaren and Zach Brown did a media runs before the British Grand Prix I think he was old capitalist something, I don't know, but he said Cital Yo, yeah, yeah they they love the They love all them. Anyway. He said u Not It was capital It was Cable. He said, That's where you go for your breaking news or your sports insight fously. Uh, he said, u L, if one of Lando Oska got hit by a bus, of course I'd sign Max Verstappen. but They would, wouldn't they They would, but Do they want to interrupt that driver paring? You're not going to get rid O Llando Norris as yous world champion So it will therefore be Oscar. Do you want to get rid of Oscarop Piastry? Well Not sure I would, but would I to sign Verstappen? It's the Verstappen thing, isn't it? Be because you need to sort of mould a team around him and would you want to do that if you've got Landon Oris? The the same questions we were asking ourselves last year about Mercedes, with the same situation. So it's a tricky one Well let me tell you, Max Verstappen is not going to be following Papaya rules, is he This is it. Yeah,, you're absolutely right How's that gonna to work Well we'll see, listen, I I I'm I admit what I don't know, I don't know what's happening there. So I don't think anyone does really. So let's see, who knows? We may be popping up for a breaking news episode at some point this week. I don't know, but um Yeah. it would not surprise me Max leaving Red Bull. only possible opt would seem to be McLaren. So and by the way, I am saying this on no knowledge. I am saying this Girly on cul Speculation and just logic really because as I say, he's not going to go far and he's not going to go to McLaren Rumored suitors were Aston Martin. Obviously the twenty twenty six project has not gone to plan. so it's not going to happen there So you're just going off a prois of elimination aren't you Maxter Williams, I say it get him to a. Wh did you get him of? Dont up I'll brow sign Dos driver line upp Do not kick Carlos signs out of another team. I will I will not stand for it. I was in tank. I will march over to Grove And I will Put James Vs on my knee and say no. drop him again Noope. be bit odd whilst we're talking about McLaren, can I just get your sense on them? Be I just I feel like I'm not hearing anything about McLaren. like what are they doing? This is quite sad. I thought they'd be a bit more competitive. They're obviously not I think Karen have got the expertise and infrastructure to turn this round. They have started not as well as their competitors. I think they will turn it round I think realistically they're already looking at twenty twenty seven to turn it around it's as simple as that really. I think they will have this season where they will straight podiums I said at the start of the season, I thought they'd win a race. I'm now starting to doubt that. who knows? upgrades will happen and I've said this before. If any team can change with upgrades it's McLaren. they've got a long history of doing so in the last few years Um Don't have worries about McLaren long term. I believe that is a team's setup to fight for championships for a long time to come. They've got the likes of Jempero L Mbasi coming in, which is again what also adds to the vax roomors, isn't it? Let's be honest. So I but who what You' right No but I just I don't know I noise that was. I like Oscar. I I don't want Oscar to leave McLaren if that's what's gonna to happen Oscar's not going to be without a drive, whatever happens, but you know, might be an attractive option who, you know, he could try and stamp his authority on that team and have it built around him and would probably work with he like who knows? I'm speculating abbsolutely speculating. donon't know Um I'd be very surprised atcCLaren dropping Pastry, even though he's had a a slightly underwhelming start to the season, but nothing dramatic. Considering the car's not there, do you know what I mean You know, if the car's not there, then it becomes a more difficult process to judge because the car isn't there So yeah, it'd be a surprise, but anyway we've got Oscar based question actually No I'm about to get ono it. We have been asked by quite a lot of people on Instr actually what happened to Oscar during Silverston Christian? I believe you know the answer to this, don't you? Yeah, I don't think it was picked up on the telly a statement from McLaren said Oscar received damage on the opening lap when he was sandwiched between the two V car drivers, Liam Lawson Arid Limblad with not enough footage available to evaluate the damage while on track, the team lost the opportunity to immediately pit Oscar and were forced to call him into the box foollowing wp. resulting in a nose box change and a hard compound tire being fitted to enable a longer opening stint. So it seems that there was some contact and nothing doing seems typical opening lap contact being squeezed by the VCAbs and unfortunately that ruinedscar' race which is incredibly unfortunate because he' had a much better race in Austria. So yes, Oscara looked bouced back in Belgium Philip got in touch on Instagram. this is relating to radio radar. He says, I'm sure there are lots of different options for radio radar from Kimmy Anntonllli this week, but I just thought he was a petulant child in the best way. And he quoted some of the stuff that Kimmy said, I don't want to play with this toy anymore, It's broken. Well, in which case, I'll take it away from you then Now it's okay, I'll continue to play Did this actually happen? No, So what Phillip's doing here is basically there was these toing and throowing radio messages between. just So Phillip's sort of saying this is what it felt like. and to me Philipa summarized it completely perfectly. I was I to say, I was running whilst watching the race. I was Iing I heard this. Well to finish Phip'sci, Philip, I don't want to play with the toy any b, it's broken, but in which case I'll take it away from you then No, it's okay. I'll continue to play with it for a little while No, it's still broken. I don't like it Well, I'll take it away from you then. No, no, it's okay. I can play with it. And it was perf, wasn't it? It was the two verb betweenrm of like Kim Kimmy come in, it's broken. I can do it I I can do it' fine I can do it. I can do it. No, Kimy. it is broken. No, no, no, no' fine' fine as' fine it's fine Allright, stay, right, carry on, but then he goes It's so brokeen and he goes all the way off the track and gets a five second penalty. So he sounded so passionate and Italian and like he was on the edge and he it was very It wasn't funny because you don't want to see a driver struggle But it was quite funny that it was it was I was like this is radio radar this week because me s to be in in a high pitched Italian accent clinging onto control was definitely entertaining I sort of understood it though because it was like if you could just get over the line. Yes, yes and you was like point get something Yeah get something And yeah, that is very funny shhall we Well the next thing that we've got written here is who had a good weekend in Silverstone that we're not talking about? And I was sort of thinking then Who does he mean here? because you wrote that I wrote that and I was referring to I do I want to just Before saying who I'm referring to specif, I just want to shout out Lason Limblad and Colorinto in particular. Lawsons at a tough time and people always say he's not giving the credit he's due. So he had another great weekend. Ly Blad is doing brilliantly a solid first British Grand Prix Colapinto is doing what I said he needed to do and sicking it in the points regularly. So well done to them The person I met Betty iss Gabru Bortletto A. Quietly having Excellent season. He's really improved season one to season two He's been the one that scored all of A' points this season although Hulk would have done had he had not had a failure a couple of days ago. I can't remember when it was So so Hulksman un lucky there But he has got a tough teammate to be up against Nica Holkenberg and he's doing really, really well. Audi are the team At the moment, this was Has at the start of the year and they will be grateful they got some early points on the board because this started as Has Audi of the team that if the regular points finishes, which are all the points finishes this weekend If one of them struggles and obviously Anton Ey struggles Pastry struggled It seems like Bceellto picks up the point. So I wanted to shout out Gabo Bortceallto I think he's having an excellent excellent season And we Might well, nothing confirmed, might get a bit of a gabby chat in the next few weeks, you know That would be very cool. would be fun, wouldn't it? And that's not why I'm saying it. I'm not saying just persuading him to get on the pod, but yeah Do you know who I thought was rining? Yeah G Gab come ons come on the pod' re done. No, I just think Gabby I didn't see any of it after Silververson I thought actually Gabby's doing really, really well. Yeah, he is, he is indeed And Okay, Wow. Any other news Christian, anything else you want to talk about Should we just keep talking until this breaking news drops that is aays. I thought there was an unexpected star of Stilverston that because of the end of the race didn't get enough coverage And that was at the British Grand Prix We had The most British reason for a virtual safety car ever. And I was just delighted by it. Like absolutely it was just the most British thing you've ever seen. Betty, do you want to because we were texting about this, do you want to say what we we saw It was an umbrella that blew onto the track and a very quick steward quickly got it out of the way. They did really well doing that, but it was just so funny. Alex Jes on F one Cmentary was just like, this is peak British Chos. Just an umbrella just floating onto the track. You wouldn't get that in Brazil, would you? No. A brolly on the track. Amazing, Peak of British Grand Prix moment And bit of a surprise ve told you about this and I don't usually like to keep things from me No, you don't keep anything from me. I know everything. I know your bowel movements O often in our friendship that has genuinely been the case. Yeah, that iss true. But no. I've got a bit of an exclusive for the podcast. I'm quite excited about it. Oh gone I'm delighted to say that joining us now on the fast and the Curious. is the umbrella Oh here you call the young brother Here is the umbrella, the V umbrella That blew ono the track. Why did you got that? you got me umbrella. Umbrella, welcome to the Fast and the Curiious. We're delighted to have you here. Tell us what happened.