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Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to Pit Talk, brought to you by Shannon's.

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Speaker 1: On today's episode, it's Australian Grand pre Week, with Formula

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Speaker 1: one's season opening race just days away in Melbourne's Albert Park,

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Speaker 1: but not everyone is ready for the first Grand Prix,

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Speaker 1: with questions over Aston Martin's participation this weekend. My name's

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Speaker 1: Michael Lamonado. It's great to have your company and the

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Speaker 1: company of my co hosts. Much like Conder, he knows

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Speaker 1: twenty twenty six has started much too early, but unlike Honda,

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Speaker 1: he's ready for it.

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Speaker 2: It's Matt Payton, don't about ready for it by We're

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Speaker 2: just talking to you here before that. It's one of

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Speaker 2: those things you look up again. It's Australian grown pre Week.

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Speaker 2: We've known this to be true for months, of course,

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Speaker 2: but has stuck up on us a little bit. But

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Speaker 2: of all the years to have the first race, I'm

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Speaker 2: super excited that we have it this year because it's

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Speaker 2: the new look Formula One. We get the first taste

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Speaker 2: and there's a lot of pre event, isn't there. But

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Speaker 2: the best thing is going to be FB one. We

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Speaker 2: see cars out on track, some of them will go

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Speaker 2: round for the majority of the hour. Some of them

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Speaker 2: may not do many laps at all, but at least

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Speaker 2: we get to actually start talking about the narrative. So

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Speaker 2: I'm super looking forward to Friday and getting the season underwear.

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Speaker 1: Yes, of course, we had a similar vibe last year

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Speaker 1: when we got the first Lewis Hamilton Ferrari race and

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Speaker 1: didn't that story go well for the rest of the year.

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Speaker 1: So braise yourselves for twenty twenty six and how this

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Speaker 1: is going to go to go. This is going to

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Speaker 1: be one of the more extreme circuits as well for

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Speaker 1: the new formula in terms of how the engines work.

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Speaker 1: Talk a little bit about the engines perhaps a little

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Speaker 1: bit later on, and certainly as we go through what

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Speaker 1: we're expecting for this season, because to preview the Australian

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Speaker 1: Grand Prix for you're going to go through effectively team

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Speaker 1: by team or group by group what we expect those

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Speaker 1: groups to be. Anyway, based on pre season testing, no

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Speaker 1: guarantees any of these are right, So I would probably

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Speaker 1: hold off taking your money to your local bookiet to

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Speaker 1: put anything down based on all we're about today. But

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Speaker 1: this is the vibe at least as Formula One heads

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Speaker 1: in a somewhat haphazard way anyway towards Melbourne this weekend,

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Speaker 1: and let's start at the front of the field. Of course,

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Speaker 1: is the big ticket stuff, and this is where we

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Speaker 1: expect local favorite Melbournie and Oscar Piastri to be competing. Anyway,

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Speaker 1: among the front runners, the vibe seems to be matt

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Speaker 1: and we touched on this briefly last week. We can

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Speaker 1: spend a little bit more that the front four from

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Speaker 1: the last couple of years, as we've come to know

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Speaker 1: it continues to be the front for Mercedes, McLaren, Ferrari

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Speaker 1: and Red Bull Racing all look roughly in the ballpark.

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Speaker 1: We don't know how big that ballpark is after testing,

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Speaker 1: but they're all roughly there. The one outlier for me

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Speaker 1: and we may as well start here given that's where

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Speaker 1: Piastre is is. McLaren not because I thought there's anything

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Speaker 1: particularly suspicious about their preseason testing, but it's the only

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Speaker 1: non works team in that top four, and I wonder

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Speaker 1: if that's going to become something we talk about over

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Speaker 1: this season.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I think so. Perhaps with the early season rate

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Speaker 2: of engine speck perhaps, I mean, I know we're going

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Speaker 2: to see these cars in very similar spec in Melbourne

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Speaker 2: and beyond that. But when you mentioned those top four teams,

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Speaker 2: I was going to slightly take issue with you, only slightly.

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Speaker 2: I don't like to disagree with you too much on

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Speaker 2: this podcast because you are hosting after all, but I've

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Speaker 2: kind of split. I reckon that there's about four different

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Speaker 2: tiers of teams amongst the eleven, and we'll get to

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Speaker 2: the team I think is at the top of tier

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Speaker 2: one Tier one A perhaps in a sec But sticking

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Speaker 2: with the McLaren question, I think, to my mind there's

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Speaker 2: a lot of When I say uncertainty, I don't mean

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Speaker 2: that in a bad way, like I suspect that they're

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Speaker 2: not going to be particularly good, but wasn't sure we

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Speaker 2: learn the full picture from them in testing relative to

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Speaker 2: the other three teams in this sort of first group

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Speaker 2: that you mentioned. I still think there's a few unknowns there,

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Speaker 2: not for bad reasons, but I just think there's a

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Speaker 2: little bit that's inconclusive. And I guess one way to

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Speaker 2: look at that is that you can trust in the

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Speaker 2: body of work they have because they are now a

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Speaker 2: two time Rating Constructors Champion, So the concept of them

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Speaker 2: maybe being a little bit behind the eight ball or

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Speaker 2: we don't quite trust them. I don't think we have

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Speaker 2: that conversation in twenty twenty six. Maybe we had it

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Speaker 2: in twenty twenty four, but it's proof of concept there.

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Speaker 2: I think they will get it right, but I'm still

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Speaker 2: not one hundred percent certain where they're going to be

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Speaker 2: in that top group at the moment. And I guess

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Speaker 2: there's two ways to look at that. Yes, there's more

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Speaker 2: head room for them as the season goes on. It's

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Speaker 2: just a little bit of a shame that I'm not

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Speaker 2: going to say they're going to be at their weakest,

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Speaker 2: but they're going to be at their most inconclusive, perhaps

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Speaker 2: this weekend in Australia, because I don't think the McLaren

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Speaker 2: we see in Australia is going to be the McLaren

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Speaker 2: we see for the rest of the season. Which look,

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Speaker 2: if Oscar Piastri gets on the podium, we don't have

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Speaker 2: to write that no Australia has ever been on the

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Speaker 2: Australian we're all pre Formula one podium ever again, then

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Speaker 2: happy days for all of us. But I just wonder

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Speaker 2: if McLaren's going to be the best version of themselves

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Speaker 2: this weekend, if it might take them a little bit

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Speaker 2: of time to come to the boil. I don't know

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Speaker 2: whether that's your conclusion from preseason testing, but that's how

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Speaker 2: I felt, just a bit not sure.

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Speaker 1: I guess it's certainly been the way the team has

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Speaker 1: been forecasting its own performance and treas teller in a

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Speaker 1: Q and A recently that he did that they were

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Speaker 1: going to be playing a defensive game for the opening

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Speaker 1: part of the season. But they said this even a

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Speaker 1: couple of months ago before the cast if the track,

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Speaker 1: that while there have been many big upgrades already to

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Speaker 1: several teams, Ferrari for example, for a pretty big upgrade

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Speaker 1: I think it was in the second bar Rain test

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Speaker 1: Mercedes as well. McLaren's taking what feels very much though,

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Speaker 1: like the McLaren approach for the last few years, which

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Speaker 1: is wait and see, bide your time. Big upgrades come

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Speaker 1: when we're certain of them, and we're not sure when

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Speaker 1: they will start coming this year. But they've said, and

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Speaker 1: perhaps they'll be lying, who knows. We'll find out when

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Speaker 1: they get here that it's total misdirection, but there are

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Speaker 1: no big upgrades in Melbourne. So essentially the car they've

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Speaker 1: been testing with is fundamentally the car that will be

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Speaker 1: in Melbourne, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. Like you say,

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Speaker 1: we don't know, but it feels like it'll take much

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Speaker 1: like twenty twenty four. I suppose when the team powered

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Speaker 1: up to eventually we need to Constructor's title if you're

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Speaker 1: going to win it, or they're going to be in

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Speaker 1: the mix. I think it'll be a slow build up

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Speaker 1: towards that. They've got twenty four hounds to do it,

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Speaker 1: plenty of time for that build up. But I think

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Speaker 1: that that seems to be the vibe and most of course,

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Speaker 1: you know, there's so much sandbagging and misdirection going on

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Speaker 1: among all the teams that actually the order is dramatically

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Speaker 1: different to what we expected from testing, and maybe they

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Speaker 1: do just emerge as the fastest car.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, for those of you playing bing go at home,

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Speaker 2: you can cross sandbagging off your Bingo car because we've

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Speaker 2: got to that in the first five minutes of this

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Speaker 2: year's episode. But that twenty four to twenty five points

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Speaker 2: really important. I think this feels like more McLaren twenty

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Speaker 2: twenty four speck coming into the Australian Grand Prix with

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Speaker 2: promise but not the finished article and then they slowly

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Speaker 2: build and become the best team by the end of

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Speaker 2: the season. Last year we arrived at Albert Park and

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Speaker 2: we were finding pretty slim reasons to not install McLaren

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Speaker 2: as favorites. They looked like they would go to dominate

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Speaker 2: Albert Park, and they did dominate Albert Park, and Oscar

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Speaker 2: Piastre was going to be on the podium, and then

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Speaker 2: it rained and so on and so forth. But last year,

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Speaker 2: the fact that they were running one two for most

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Speaker 2: of the weekend, in whatever order it was, was no

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Speaker 2: surprise whatsoever. I'd be really surprised if we saw that

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Speaker 2: this week they're going to be there and thereabouts. But

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Speaker 2: I think they're going to be a team that does

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Speaker 2: the steady improvement as the season goes on, because, as

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Speaker 2: you've said, this is the way they've gone racing these

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Speaker 2: past couple of years. Twenty twenty four was the classic

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Speaker 2: example of that. Was it the Austrian GP that year

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Speaker 2: they bought that big upgrade. I seem to remember. I

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Speaker 2: think it was twenty four, maybe it was a British.

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Speaker 1: Was the first one? Noris Scott, Yeah, that's Austria. Was

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Speaker 1: when Pastre finally they finally down their level.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, that's right, that's why that's why I'm thinking Austria

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Speaker 2: and then from there on they were clearly the team

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Speaker 2: to be despite not winning the World Championship at the

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Speaker 2: end of it, and then last year at the start

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Speaker 2: of the season they were just did a league of one,

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Speaker 2: weren't they. So I don't think we're going to see

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Speaker 2: that for twenty twenty six. And how much that storyline

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Speaker 2: you brought up earlier about them being the only customer

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Speaker 2: team in that top four, how much of that is

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Speaker 2: a factor or whether that's just a storyline of convenience.

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Speaker 2: I guess for the other three, I'm not really sure yet,

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Speaker 2: but they'll be strong. Will they be strongest? To me, no,

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Speaker 2: Because I think we're talking before about those top four teams,

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Speaker 2: I would divide them in. I think there's a one

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Speaker 2: A and then there's a one B category in that

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Speaker 2: top group, and I think one A category one A

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Speaker 2: only has one team. I don't know about your thoughts,

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Speaker 2: but to my mind, Mercedes has to be in one A,

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Speaker 2: don't they.

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Speaker 1: That is my feeling. But I wonder how much of

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Speaker 1: that is simply we've been hearing rumors for a year,

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Speaker 1: maybe longer, but Mercedes is on the front foot with

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Speaker 1: these regulations. These rumors, they all come from somewhere, and

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Speaker 1: I'm not saying they've planted it anyway, because it seems

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Speaker 1: like they're pretty accurate based on pre season testing. Completely,

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Speaker 1: the most laps were always near the top of the

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Speaker 1: time sheets. Looked like a team that really knew what

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Speaker 1: it was doing, although we shouldn't figure it too quickly

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Speaker 1: that that first bar rain test was hampered by quite

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Speaker 1: a few reliability issues or the second wasn't. I mean

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Speaker 1: that's when of testing. Every tim will say anyway in

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Speaker 1: response to problems. But it certainly feels like a team

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Speaker 1: that looks confident, that feels confident it has an engine

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Speaker 1: that clearly is working very well. Even though it tried

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Speaker 1: to tell everybody that the Red Bull engine was the best,

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Speaker 1: I think by the end of the testing it was

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Speaker 1: pretty clear that the SADES was at least competitive for

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Speaker 1: the top spot. They've got. George Russell, I think we

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Speaker 1: talked about the end of last year, feels to me

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Speaker 1: like a driver who's ready to be fighting right at

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Speaker 1: the front. I think he proved that last season. A

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Speaker 1: very polished performance from him and Dre KIMMI Antonelli looks

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Speaker 1: like a very solid number two based on the end

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Speaker 1: of last year. Of course, he is still a teenager.

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Speaker 1: I'm pretty sure I wouldn't expect him to be a

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Speaker 1: number one just yet. It feels like this team's ready

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Speaker 1: to be back at the top, and it feels like

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Speaker 1: the stars of a lining in a way they just

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Speaker 1: weren't really obviously during the last set of regulations tech,

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Speaker 1: but even just the way the team is going about

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Speaker 1: it to.

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Speaker 2: Visits, Yeah, that's the key port you just mentioned there.

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Speaker 2: It says like a silly thing to say. It teems

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Speaker 2: to me have body language, right. You can tell when

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Speaker 2: they know that they think that they've got the answers

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Speaker 2: to be at the top. This is not a swagger

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Speaker 2: as such, but you know, if you're looking at if

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Speaker 2: you're looking at posture and Formula One teams, Mercedes right

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Speaker 2: now are standing very upright with the shoulders back, excellent posture.

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Speaker 2: And we look at that because I'm looking at the

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Speaker 2: way they've attacked the preseason and I'm looking at it

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Speaker 2: going huh, this looks convincing. It also looks familiar. This

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Speaker 2: looks like the Mercedes have perhaps an iteration of the

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Speaker 2: rule set previously, maybe not as far back as fourteen,

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Speaker 2: but certainly through that Lewis Hamilton winning era, through the

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Speaker 2: back end of the teams, the twenty teams, they just

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Speaker 2: there was just that inner belief and confidence there that

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Speaker 2: they knew what they needed to do to get it done,

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Speaker 2: and they knew their areas of superiority. I'm getting vibes

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Speaker 2: a little bit like that. Perhaps the only reason that

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Speaker 2: I'm a little cautious about that is that we still

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Speaker 2: need to see it when it actually matters. I don't

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Speaker 2: think they were that disappointed they didn't headline the times

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Speaker 2: at the end of the test. It's always the perfect

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Speaker 2: outcome for them, and that they were reliable and they

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Speaker 2: put a lot of k's in and the car looked good.

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Speaker 2: But no one was talking about them being top of

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Speaker 2: the timesheets and running away with it. And that's almost

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Speaker 2: a perfect situation if you're a team like them. We

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Speaker 2: mentioned before about being really interested to see what happens

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Speaker 2: once the cars get on track for FP one in

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Speaker 2: Melbourne for Mercedes, I am so looking forward to Q two,

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Speaker 2: Q three. I think that's going to be when we

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Speaker 2: might get that first answer. Oh okay, maybe these guys

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Speaker 2: are in their own little category subcategory at the top

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Speaker 2: of tier one. I suspect that may be the case,

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Speaker 2: And I think if you were as unknown as this

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Speaker 2: race weekend is, and we'll get to the circuit and

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Speaker 2: what have you in a minute, But to not imagine

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Speaker 2: a Mercedes on the podium and perhaps on the top

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Speaker 2: step is a bit of a stretch at this stage.

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Speaker 1: I'd say, yes, one a first among business class, I suppose, indeed,

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Speaker 1: looking forward to I'm sure they are actually getting onto

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Speaker 1: the track and starting to do the business. I'm not

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Speaker 1: sure what the emotions inside Ferrari would be at this point.

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Speaker 1: Maybe a little bit of optimism, because certainly their test

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Speaker 1: seemed to go pretty well. Both drivers seemed cautiously optimistic

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Speaker 1: about where they'd landed, not necessarily in the sense they

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Speaker 1: think they're at the front, that the nightmare of twenty

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Speaker 1: twenty five is behind them. That seems at least to

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Speaker 1: be the case. The car feels like a happier one

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Speaker 1: to drive, at a minimum, whether or not it's very

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Speaker 1: fast or very slow to top the times, but times

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Speaker 1: in PC's in testing, they are what they are. Can't

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Speaker 1: read too much into them, but I think that's for

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Speaker 1: me at least, and I wonder if this is a

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Speaker 1: little bit true for Ferrari as well. Q two and

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Speaker 1: Q three is going to be somewhat tense of a moment.

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Speaker 1: That's when we're really going to find out whether that

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Speaker 1: slow build through testing that looked that looked pretty confident. Admittedly,

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Speaker 1: this was a team that also seemed like it really

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Speaker 1: was set on doing what it was doing and it

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Speaker 1: was working. Whether or not that was accurate. That accurately

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Speaker 1: describes where that car is at because the drivers we

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Speaker 1: know are there, Okay, some question marks this year, admittedly

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Speaker 1: around Lewis Hamilton, but we know his potential and we

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Speaker 1: know the theoretical potential of Ferrari, even though it's very

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Speaker 1: rarely men. I think that's quite a big moment for Ferrari.

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Speaker 2: I agree, and the point you make there about the

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Speaker 2: I feel that they'll be slightly more on edge through

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Speaker 2: Q two and Q three than perhaps some of the

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Speaker 2: other teams in that court top quartet that we're talking about,

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Speaker 2: because to me, they probably have the greatest variance, and

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Speaker 2: that can come from execution, it can come with all

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Speaker 2: sorts of other things that traffic that everyone else has

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Speaker 2: to deal with. But I'm not so much looking at Lewis. Look,

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Speaker 2: it's good to hear that Lewis Hamilton is optimistic. It

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Speaker 2: still amazes me with him that after all these years

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Speaker 2: and how experienced it is, that he still rides such

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Speaker 2: an emotional rollercoaster. Either it's the best day of his

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Speaker 2: life or the worst, even now in twenty twenty six.

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Speaker 2: To my mind, if the car is a bit easier

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Speaker 2: to drive, a bit more benign, then we're going to

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Speaker 2: see his performances left. But then, Charle Clair, is there

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Speaker 2: a better one lap driver in formula I don't know

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Speaker 2: there is. I mean he hasn't had the machinery to

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Speaker 2: necessarily show that the last couple of years. A Ferrari

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Speaker 2: on pole in Melbourne, it's you know, we've seen it before.

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Speaker 2: Things tend to go pretty well where Ferrari's qualified very

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Speaker 2: well in Melbourne particularly, But yeah, the x cution and

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Speaker 2: the tension aspect, you get the feeling that if they

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Speaker 2: have some good Q three and the maybe both cars

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Speaker 2: are in the top five or certainly on the first

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Speaker 2: three rows in Melbourne, it's not going to be a

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Speaker 2: proof of concept. Fist pump, Yeah, we did this moment

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Speaker 2: it might be more an exhale of relief if they're

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Speaker 2: able to do that, because you know, typically if Ferrari,

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Speaker 2: if there's a way for Arraider trip itself over in

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Speaker 2: these situations where they might have an advantage, they tend

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Speaker 2: to find it. So if they can be in the

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Speaker 2: top two to three rows in Melbourne, I think that

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Speaker 2: will be a bit of a relief for one and

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Speaker 2: just take some of the pressure off of this early

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Speaker 2: part of the season because they, like so many other teams,

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Speaker 2: the whole of last year was wait till next year,

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Speaker 2: Wait till next year, wait till next year. Well, we

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Speaker 2: don't have that anymore, we hear, and you know, the

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Speaker 2: time for talking and the time for all this optimism

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Speaker 2: is kind of coming to an end because on Saturday

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Speaker 2: afternoon in Melbourne, we're going to get our first The

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Speaker 2: first votes will be in, if you're like, the verdict

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Speaker 2: will be in on which teams have actually got things right,

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Speaker 2: and then the real story starts. And for the sake

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Speaker 2: of the show, I think it would be really good

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Speaker 2: if Ferrari was able to convert that preseason promise into

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Speaker 2: something on Saturday.

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Speaker 1: For me, the wild card here is Red Bull racing,

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Speaker 1: which is somewhat surprising to say over so many years

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Speaker 1: the team started testing very well. It's engine earned a

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Speaker 1: lot of praise. Some of that was probably a little

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Speaker 1: bit heavily lay it on, but I think we shouldn't

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Speaker 1: attract from the achievement, and we can tell this by

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Speaker 1: comparing it with the Audi engine and certainly the handre

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Speaker 1: engine Red Bull Power Trains. First power unit from a

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Speaker 1: ground up operation, looks competitive, looks enough to be among

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Speaker 1: the front runners, which is which is a pretty significant achievement.

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Speaker 1: The team we know can win titles max of Staff

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Speaker 1: and came within only a couple of points of winning

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Speaker 1: the title last year despite the car being pretty ordinary,

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Speaker 1: so much so that the Yuki Stoa was sacks for

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Speaker 1: driving it by the end of it. New teammate in

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Speaker 1: Isaac Haadja this year. That'll be an interesting comparison, first

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Speaker 1: of all, particularly given the way these engines seem to

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Speaker 1: want to be driven. Seems to be a max for

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Speaker 1: staff and things, as much as he seems to dislike them.

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Speaker 1: But this is the team I'm really struggling to place,

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Speaker 1: despite being a works manufacturer, despite being relatively stable as well,

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Speaker 1: not with sending some management changes at the top and

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Speaker 1: the new engine. I can't figure out where I want

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Speaker 1: to put them in the order.

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Speaker 2: And I think that's a separate question because what clouds

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Speaker 2: that a little bit is because they have the ultimate

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Speaker 2: difference maker in a sport in Max Fastappan if they

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Speaker 2: just had a perfectly acceptable lead driver and an inexperienced

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Speaker 2: teammate that Hajab is is only coming into his second season,

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Speaker 2: I think where we perhaps put them in the pecking

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Speaker 2: order is far different. You know that they have a

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Speaker 2: guy that, given the slightest sliver of opportunity to do something,

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Speaker 2: and if it requires a different driving style, even if

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Speaker 2: it's one that he might not like or might not

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Speaker 2: necessarily want to come to terms with, he feels to

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Speaker 2: me like you'll be the quickest adapter out of any

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Speaker 2: of these drivers. And you mentioned the thing about stability before,

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Speaker 2: and I always look at this with Red Bull because

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Speaker 2: their story began here all those years ago. It's bizarre

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Speaker 2: to me that Red Bull Racing in twenty twenty six.

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Speaker 2: You look at the continuity of senior people they've had

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Speaker 2: over the course of the journey. Now this is at

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Speaker 2: Red Bull Racing with no Christian Horner with no Adrian

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Speaker 2: Newey with no helmet, Marco like, it's a team that

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Speaker 2: we know and it looks the same as a team

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Speaker 2: that we know. But the one holdover is Max fis

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Speaker 2: Stabbin right. There's obviously a lot of CDIO people in

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Speaker 2: management positions there that are going along on engineers and

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Speaker 2: what have you. But Verstappen, to me, this is a

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Speaker 2: separate question if they have insert other driver here in

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Speaker 2: the lead car over the course of the weekend, and

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Speaker 2: the uncertainty is like, you know that he can drag

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Speaker 2: a car in two positions that it may not necessarily

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Speaker 2: on merit should be in because we saw it last year.

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Speaker 2: It was the twenty twenty five World Championship. The fact

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Speaker 2: he was even within two points of Norris at the

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Speaker 2: end of the season, given what those two guys were driving,

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Speaker 2: was an achievement that probably only one driver could have

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Speaker 2: done last year. I don't think there's anyone else that

390
00:16:36,440 --> 00:16:38,480
Speaker 2: could have done that. So that's why there it seems

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Speaker 2: funny to talk about Maxistappen is a bit of a

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Speaker 2: wild car but a kind of feel, and that's where

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Speaker 2: they are this weekend. He could do something absolutely extraordinary,

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Speaker 2: wouldn't be surprised because we've seen it before. But yeah,

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Speaker 2: I'm not super sure about them at the moment because

396
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Speaker 2: there's just been so much change. Despite the fact that

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Speaker 2: that new engine, the new engine program rolled out pretty seedlessly,

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Speaker 2: you have to say.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, really smoothly, and I think you're I mean, I

400
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Speaker 1: also think Verstappen he could come to embrace this year

401
00:17:03,880 --> 00:17:06,040
Speaker 1: as much as a driver who only obviously wants to win.

402
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Speaker 1: I think we saw the second half of the last

403
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Speaker 1: third of last season really in really embrace the irritant roll.

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Speaker 2: I think, oh, yeah, yeah, I wrote this a bunch

405
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Speaker 2: of times last year, like he revels in being an agitator.

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Speaker 2: He absolutely loves that role, and we talked about this

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00:17:24,640 --> 00:17:26,199
Speaker 2: on the pod last year a couple of times. We

408
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Speaker 2: know that he's probably the best driver in the field.

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Speaker 2: We know that he's the best champion in the field,

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Speaker 2: and he's also the best underdog in the field, which

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Speaker 2: is a sentence we never thought that we'd have to say,

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Speaker 2: because we never had reason to know that. Last year,

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Speaker 2: I just thought it might have been his best Formula

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Speaker 2: One season despite not winning the World championship. I know

415
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Speaker 2: that sounds counterintuitive, but he was so good at being

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Speaker 2: the potential spoiler of being the underdog. That I kind

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Speaker 2: of liked underdog Max a lot more that I like

418
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Speaker 2: dominant Max because it was a different side to his

419
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Speaker 2: career that quite frankly, we never thought that we're going

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Speaker 2: to see.

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00:17:55,440 --> 00:17:57,760
Speaker 1: Yes, well, wait and see what side of Max we

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Speaker 1: see this season. Before we get to the rest of

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Speaker 1: the field, let's go to Move of the Week, brought

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Speaker 1: to you by Shannons. We are now pretty much in

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Speaker 1: the thick of the motorsports season internationally, at least we've

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Speaker 1: had supercars, we've had Moto GP. Now at the weekend,

427
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Speaker 1: what caught your eyemap?

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Speaker 2: Well, I was going to mention something that happened in

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Speaker 2: the Motor GP sprint race, but you told me off

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Speaker 2: here before. They haven't watched it yet, so I don't

431
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Speaker 2: want to spoil it for you. So everyone else, everyone

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Speaker 2: else that's watched the Motor GP sprint race can go,

433
00:18:22,880 --> 00:18:24,760
Speaker 2: oh yeah, that bit, and just don't tell Michael hasn't

434
00:18:24,760 --> 00:18:27,439
Speaker 2: watched it yet, but Moves a week listening for a

435
00:18:27,440 --> 00:18:31,639
Speaker 2: few minutes, that's fine, just like standard podcast re lea

436
00:18:31,640 --> 00:18:34,640
Speaker 2: can just turn your headphones off. Move of the Week

437
00:18:34,680 --> 00:18:36,720
Speaker 2: for me and this is a slightly left field. What

438
00:18:36,720 --> 00:18:38,800
Speaker 2: I'm going to stick with motor GP in Thailand because

439
00:18:38,800 --> 00:18:41,000
Speaker 2: it was the highest profile thing that happened last weekend

440
00:18:42,040 --> 00:18:46,920
Speaker 2: was after an absolutely grim race for Yabaha in burram

441
00:18:47,119 --> 00:18:49,960
Speaker 2: that they basically stopped all four of their riders from

442
00:18:50,000 --> 00:18:53,399
Speaker 2: speaking to the press because things were so grim, and

443
00:18:53,480 --> 00:18:56,760
Speaker 2: Yamaha's managing director Palo Vivesio came up and threw himself

444
00:18:56,760 --> 00:18:58,679
Speaker 2: in the fire for ten minutes in front of the

445
00:18:58,680 --> 00:19:02,560
Speaker 2: world's press explaining why Yamaha was so grim and how

446
00:19:02,600 --> 00:19:04,280
Speaker 2: things as though terrible, but there is going to be

447
00:19:04,320 --> 00:19:07,080
Speaker 2: a way back. And what's really interesting is that you

448
00:19:07,160 --> 00:19:10,520
Speaker 2: know this is a more not as living at day

449
00:19:10,560 --> 00:19:12,960
Speaker 2: to day as I do with Motor GP. There's a

450
00:19:13,000 --> 00:19:15,600
Speaker 2: huge rule change set for twenty twenty seven, right and

451
00:19:15,720 --> 00:19:18,159
Speaker 2: where the whole thousand cc eras going in the bin.

452
00:19:18,200 --> 00:19:20,600
Speaker 2: We're going to have eight fifty cc motorbikes no arrow

453
00:19:20,680 --> 00:19:22,400
Speaker 2: on them. It's going to be very, very different formula.

454
00:19:23,040 --> 00:19:26,520
Speaker 2: Yamaha has taken this really drastic decision to run a

455
00:19:26,600 --> 00:19:29,040
Speaker 2: V four engine project that's probably not ready this year

456
00:19:29,119 --> 00:19:31,840
Speaker 2: with an eye to next year. It brings them into

457
00:19:31,920 --> 00:19:34,359
Speaker 2: lockstep with all the other motor GP manufacturers. But the

458
00:19:34,400 --> 00:19:37,640
Speaker 2: project isn't really ready, and it's very unlike a Japanese

459
00:19:37,680 --> 00:19:40,760
Speaker 2: company to throw something that's still in a developmental stage

460
00:19:40,800 --> 00:19:45,200
Speaker 2: into the white heat of competition, knowing the prospect for embarrassment.

461
00:19:45,480 --> 00:19:48,160
Speaker 2: And I cannot tell you in bu Aram how bad

462
00:19:48,160 --> 00:19:50,159
Speaker 2: the Yamahas were. The only reason that any of them

463
00:19:50,200 --> 00:19:52,119
Speaker 2: score points is because other people had crashed out or

464
00:19:52,160 --> 00:19:55,840
Speaker 2: retired and they were half a minute off where they

465
00:19:55,840 --> 00:19:57,600
Speaker 2: should have been. They're in a class of one, and

466
00:19:57,600 --> 00:19:59,199
Speaker 2: it's a class of one you don't want to be in.

467
00:19:59,280 --> 00:20:02,400
Speaker 2: So I thought it was interesting that rather than let

468
00:20:02,440 --> 00:20:05,360
Speaker 2: this story just sort of run its own course, Yamaha

469
00:20:05,560 --> 00:20:07,320
Speaker 2: so tried to get on the front foot with this,

470
00:20:07,760 --> 00:20:10,520
Speaker 2: sent its most senior person out in front of the

471
00:20:10,520 --> 00:20:13,159
Speaker 2: press to try and explain it. And as moves go

472
00:20:13,320 --> 00:20:15,679
Speaker 2: to gag your own writers after one race and for

473
00:20:15,720 --> 00:20:17,639
Speaker 2: have a senior management figure come out and put his

474
00:20:17,720 --> 00:20:19,919
Speaker 2: hand up and said, this is all going wrong. That

475
00:20:20,080 --> 00:20:21,880
Speaker 2: is one hell of a move. Whether it's a good

476
00:20:21,920 --> 00:20:24,280
Speaker 2: pr move or not, I don't know, but I admire

477
00:20:24,320 --> 00:20:27,200
Speaker 2: the bravery. So, in the true tradition of left field

478
00:20:27,200 --> 00:20:28,800
Speaker 2: moves of the week, that is mine.

479
00:20:29,320 --> 00:20:31,240
Speaker 1: Yes, I like it a lot. I like the courage

480
00:20:31,359 --> 00:20:33,720
Speaker 1: that must have been required, more courageous than anything might

481
00:20:33,760 --> 00:20:35,959
Speaker 1: they might have happened on the track. Oh, we go

482
00:20:36,080 --> 00:20:39,119
Speaker 1: there and disembowel yourself for ten minutes in front of

483
00:20:39,160 --> 00:20:42,080
Speaker 1: the media. Very well, very well done, and a very

484
00:20:42,119 --> 00:20:44,800
Speaker 1: good pick on. So I'm sticking left field. I'm going

485
00:20:44,840 --> 00:20:46,520
Speaker 1: to go to Formula one. In the build up to

486
00:20:46,880 --> 00:20:49,199
Speaker 1: the Australian Grand feet the start of the season. The

487
00:20:49,280 --> 00:20:52,280
Speaker 1: end of last week, the World Motorsport Council met the

488
00:20:52,359 --> 00:20:54,919
Speaker 1: Fine Comissioner sent before that side on last minute rule

489
00:20:55,000 --> 00:20:57,080
Speaker 1: changes as a bit of a traditional Formula one change

490
00:20:57,119 --> 00:20:59,000
Speaker 1: the regulations a few days before the start of the year.

491
00:20:59,080 --> 00:21:03,040
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, I'm going with this one. The move to

492
00:21:03,280 --> 00:21:05,680
Speaker 1: drop the two stop rule from the Monaco Grand Prix

493
00:21:06,000 --> 00:21:08,439
Speaker 1: last only one year, as it should should have it

494
00:21:08,480 --> 00:21:10,520
Speaker 1: even been implemented last year. Well, I think we can't

495
00:21:10,520 --> 00:21:14,160
Speaker 1: blame anyone for trying, I suppose, but certainly a fear

496
00:21:14,160 --> 00:21:17,320
Speaker 1: few teams and drivers suspected what would happen. Did happen,

497
00:21:17,680 --> 00:21:20,199
Speaker 1: which was everyone would go even slower than usual to

498
00:21:20,240 --> 00:21:22,719
Speaker 1: give them time themselves, time and space to make their

499
00:21:22,760 --> 00:21:26,040
Speaker 1: second pit stops. No additional action was brought to the race.

500
00:21:26,359 --> 00:21:27,879
Speaker 1: In fact, it ended up looking a bit more like

501
00:21:27,920 --> 00:21:30,600
Speaker 1: a fast than it normally does, so that won't be

502
00:21:30,640 --> 00:21:32,440
Speaker 1: the case this year for Monaco. Not sure if there's

503
00:21:32,440 --> 00:21:36,040
Speaker 1: any talk of any other random left field rule changes

504
00:21:36,080 --> 00:21:38,440
Speaker 1: to try and spice up the Grand Prix. Maybe there's

505
00:21:38,440 --> 00:21:40,639
Speaker 1: some optimism that actually these cars will be very suited

506
00:21:40,640 --> 00:21:42,960
Speaker 1: compitted the last couple to Monoco and might at least

507
00:21:42,960 --> 00:21:45,679
Speaker 1: look more spectacular even if there's no additional racing.

508
00:21:45,880 --> 00:21:47,960
Speaker 2: No fair court. I mean, I think as one of

509
00:21:47,960 --> 00:21:50,120
Speaker 2: those ones, as soon as that came in last year,

510
00:21:50,160 --> 00:21:52,520
Speaker 2: we all spotted the loophole the way the teams were

511
00:21:52,560 --> 00:21:55,320
Speaker 2: going to exploit that last year, and ostensibly that was

512
00:21:55,359 --> 00:21:57,520
Speaker 2: a rule brought in to improve the show, and god

513
00:21:57,560 --> 00:22:00,399
Speaker 2: knows the show that Monaco needs improving. But I think

514
00:22:00,440 --> 00:22:01,960
Speaker 2: we all saw that one as suit as the ink

515
00:22:02,119 --> 00:22:04,960
Speaker 2: was barely dry. So this isn't going to work because

516
00:22:04,960 --> 00:22:06,280
Speaker 2: this is how teams are going to tack all this.

517
00:22:06,400 --> 00:22:10,159
Speaker 2: So I will give Formula one kudos for not stubbornly

518
00:22:10,160 --> 00:22:12,040
Speaker 2: sticking to this and say no, it'll work. Just give

519
00:22:12,040 --> 00:22:15,680
Speaker 2: it time to realize maybe not, and anything that brings

520
00:22:15,680 --> 00:22:17,560
Speaker 2: any spectacle to Monica at this point of all for

521
00:22:17,640 --> 00:22:19,840
Speaker 2: it because it looks pretty in the first lap's great,

522
00:22:19,840 --> 00:22:21,159
Speaker 2: and the charge up the hill at all of that,

523
00:22:21,280 --> 00:22:23,480
Speaker 2: and then wake me up when it's over. It's a

524
00:22:24,080 --> 00:22:25,879
Speaker 2: it's kind of become one of those sorts of races.

525
00:22:25,880 --> 00:22:27,760
Speaker 2: But when it's only one of twenty four hours, Mike,

526
00:22:27,840 --> 00:22:28,920
Speaker 2: we can get away with these things.

527
00:22:29,280 --> 00:22:32,800
Speaker 1: That's true. That is true. The only question now is

528
00:22:32,840 --> 00:22:35,600
Speaker 1: whether or not Christian Horner will be in charge of

529
00:22:35,640 --> 00:22:38,360
Speaker 1: Alpine by then, and at that point we can start

530
00:22:38,400 --> 00:22:40,720
Speaker 1: the countdown to him suggesting they just elongate the track

531
00:22:40,800 --> 00:22:44,080
Speaker 1: towards the east, which will never happen, but like clockwork,

532
00:22:44,160 --> 00:22:46,800
Speaker 1: someone suggests it and we can all talk about that

533
00:22:46,840 --> 00:22:49,119
Speaker 1: for a week while we wonder what it is so bad.

534
00:22:49,800 --> 00:22:51,960
Speaker 1: Let's move on now to the rest of the fieldhead

535
00:22:52,000 --> 00:22:54,080
Speaker 1: of the Australian Grand Prix, and why why don't we

536
00:22:54,080 --> 00:22:56,080
Speaker 1: start talking about Alpine. I want to compare them with Williams,

537
00:22:56,119 --> 00:22:59,480
Speaker 1: the two Mercedes Howard teams in the midfield, the other

538
00:22:59,480 --> 00:23:02,800
Speaker 1: two Mercelle his customers on the grids. Williams of course

539
00:23:02,840 --> 00:23:05,439
Speaker 1: headed the midfield pretty comfortably in the end last season,

540
00:23:05,560 --> 00:23:07,879
Speaker 1: trajectory scene going to be upwards and they missed a

541
00:23:07,920 --> 00:23:11,399
Speaker 1: Barcelona test and it all felt very twenty nineteen or

542
00:23:11,440 --> 00:23:12,600
Speaker 1: even it was only a couple of years. Agoes, Well,

543
00:23:12,600 --> 00:23:13,879
Speaker 1: they missed the first age and they were the car

544
00:23:13,960 --> 00:23:18,040
Speaker 1: turned up undercooked. Alp No finished last, the worst last.

545
00:23:18,200 --> 00:23:20,119
Speaker 1: I read I haven't checked the numbers on this, but

546
00:23:20,160 --> 00:23:22,680
Speaker 1: I trusted the worst last in F one history by

547
00:23:22,720 --> 00:23:27,520
Speaker 1: points margin. Remarkable, But here they are looking fairly competent

548
00:23:27,800 --> 00:23:30,560
Speaker 1: after testing with that Mercedes engine and not mo Reno

549
00:23:30,640 --> 00:23:33,120
Speaker 1: engine in the back. How do you see these two

550
00:23:33,160 --> 00:23:33,879
Speaker 1: teams faring?

551
00:23:34,200 --> 00:23:35,879
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's interesting is that you've sort of got this

552
00:23:36,000 --> 00:23:39,120
Speaker 2: next cluster of teams in what I'm calling Tier two.

553
00:23:39,720 --> 00:23:42,760
Speaker 2: I would not have expected to have Alpe probably at

554
00:23:42,800 --> 00:23:44,399
Speaker 2: the top of this list. I mean, it looks like

555
00:23:44,440 --> 00:23:46,480
Speaker 2: the Mercedes power plant's going to be the one to have.

556
00:23:47,320 --> 00:23:49,760
Speaker 2: And I'm wondering if this is more a commentary on

557
00:23:49,840 --> 00:23:52,320
Speaker 2: Williams than it is on Alpine, and that Williams did

558
00:23:52,320 --> 00:23:54,440
Speaker 2: miss the first test and the cars overweight and they're

559
00:23:54,440 --> 00:23:57,600
Speaker 2: certainly not starting from a great place. But if you're Alpine,

560
00:23:57,680 --> 00:24:00,520
Speaker 2: this is why you shutter your own engine program to

561
00:24:00,520 --> 00:24:03,119
Speaker 2: go buy one from somebody else. And the whole of

562
00:24:03,200 --> 00:24:04,959
Speaker 2: last year felt that they were just in this holding

563
00:24:05,000 --> 00:24:07,760
Speaker 2: pattern because they were developing an engine they weren't going

564
00:24:07,800 --> 00:24:10,520
Speaker 2: to use anymore, and they were kind of it. There

565
00:24:10,560 --> 00:24:12,320
Speaker 2: were so much of an afterthought. Every now and then

566
00:24:12,359 --> 00:24:14,360
Speaker 2: Pierre Gasly had pop up and you go, oh, Alpine's

567
00:24:14,400 --> 00:24:16,200
Speaker 2: in Formula one, Pierre Gasly's in Q three.

568
00:24:16,240 --> 00:24:16,840
Speaker 1: That's nice.

569
00:24:17,000 --> 00:24:19,520
Speaker 2: Franco Colopinto scored as many pois as Jack Doin did,

570
00:24:19,720 --> 00:24:21,720
Speaker 2: so there was nothing much to talk about there. But

571
00:24:22,080 --> 00:24:27,960
Speaker 2: it's really interesting that you can see. I'm not discrediting

572
00:24:27,960 --> 00:24:29,679
Speaker 2: what Alpine has done as a team and as a

573
00:24:29,720 --> 00:24:33,359
Speaker 2: chassis design, but it's pretty clear that Mercedes engine is

574
00:24:33,359 --> 00:24:36,560
Speaker 2: good right now and Alpine, of the customer teams other

575
00:24:36,600 --> 00:24:39,440
Speaker 2: than McLaren is doing their best job of exploiting that.

576
00:24:39,480 --> 00:24:42,280
Speaker 2: And because of how big this rule change is, this

577
00:24:42,359 --> 00:24:45,080
Speaker 2: is the season where you can go from the worst

578
00:24:45,160 --> 00:24:47,199
Speaker 2: last team in the history of Formula One into a

579
00:24:47,280 --> 00:24:50,840
Speaker 2: credible midfield performer. This is why you take all the

580
00:24:50,920 --> 00:24:53,359
Speaker 2: pain of last year if you're our plan. It's just

581
00:24:53,359 --> 00:24:55,200
Speaker 2: a shame that Jack Dowan's not the card this year

582
00:24:55,280 --> 00:24:57,280
Speaker 2: rather than last year. But that's a separate story. But

583
00:24:58,080 --> 00:25:00,600
Speaker 2: they came out of testing as pro be the best

584
00:25:00,680 --> 00:25:03,720
Speaker 2: of that whoever's fighting for fifth place group. That's an

585
00:25:03,800 --> 00:25:06,359
Speaker 2: interesting little fight because I think you'd be shocked if

586
00:25:06,359 --> 00:25:08,840
Speaker 2: any of those top four teams fell down into this category.

587
00:25:08,920 --> 00:25:11,000
Speaker 2: But there is an interesting fight within a fight here.

588
00:25:11,800 --> 00:25:14,880
Speaker 2: Alpine clearly looks to be the better of the Mercedes

589
00:25:14,880 --> 00:25:17,919
Speaker 2: Customer teams coming into Australia, and it's either got to

590
00:25:17,960 --> 00:25:20,800
Speaker 2: be maybe hassess in that conversation, maybe like a little

591
00:25:20,800 --> 00:25:24,160
Speaker 2: half step behind, but that who's the next best team?

592
00:25:24,160 --> 00:25:25,879
Speaker 2: And when we say next best team, that means that

593
00:25:25,880 --> 00:25:28,399
Speaker 2: you're in Q three. Probably that means that on a

594
00:25:28,440 --> 00:25:30,600
Speaker 2: good day you might be finishing top five or six

595
00:25:30,680 --> 00:25:32,720
Speaker 2: in a race, particularly early in the season where we

596
00:25:32,760 --> 00:25:34,399
Speaker 2: don't know how these cars are going to be racing

597
00:25:34,400 --> 00:25:37,480
Speaker 2: and what's the reliability, Like, there's big points on offer

598
00:25:37,520 --> 00:25:40,000
Speaker 2: here for whoever is that next best team outside the

599
00:25:40,000 --> 00:25:42,080
Speaker 2: big four, And it wouldn't surprise me if that next

600
00:25:42,119 --> 00:25:43,320
Speaker 2: best team right now is our Paine.

601
00:25:43,600 --> 00:25:45,119
Speaker 1: It's a really good point in fact, because I think

602
00:25:45,200 --> 00:25:47,120
Speaker 1: qualifying is also a little bit of a question mark

603
00:25:47,160 --> 00:25:49,440
Speaker 1: in terms of how teams approach that with these mfms,

604
00:25:49,440 --> 00:25:51,680
Speaker 1: with keeping the battery up to charge and warming apvertiers

605
00:25:51,680 --> 00:25:53,560
Speaker 1: all that kind of thing, especially as the track like Melbourne.

606
00:25:53,760 --> 00:25:56,680
Speaker 1: But if you are that next cab on the rank

607
00:25:56,680 --> 00:25:58,919
Speaker 1: in terms of order behind the front runners, it's not

608
00:25:58,960 --> 00:26:01,680
Speaker 1: outlandish that you actually qualify ahead of a few of them.

609
00:26:01,720 --> 00:26:05,080
Speaker 1: Not necessarily on let's say pure raw pace. This is

610
00:26:05,119 --> 00:26:06,520
Speaker 1: going to be a weird distinction. We have to make

611
00:26:06,560 --> 00:26:08,120
Speaker 1: it various times of season, I think. But just by

612
00:26:08,119 --> 00:26:12,000
Speaker 1: executing better at the right time. Yeah, but just by

613
00:26:12,080 --> 00:26:16,320
Speaker 1: nailing the way you've prepared everything that'll equalize over the season,

614
00:26:16,359 --> 00:26:18,520
Speaker 1: I'm sure. But these first few rounds we could be

615
00:26:18,560 --> 00:26:21,080
Speaker 1: liable to see a couple of surprise performances. I think

616
00:26:21,080 --> 00:26:24,400
Speaker 1: Williams is surprising. You know, Alpine and Williams both abandoned

617
00:26:24,480 --> 00:26:27,280
Speaker 1: last year's cars pretty much immediately to do this. Yes,

618
00:26:27,400 --> 00:26:30,560
Speaker 1: Alpine maybe talked about it a bit less because the

619
00:26:30,600 --> 00:26:34,320
Speaker 1: team was in such dire competitive straits that it was

620
00:26:34,359 --> 00:26:36,560
Speaker 1: sort of almost crisis levels even though they knew that

621
00:26:36,560 --> 00:26:39,199
Speaker 1: they were going this direction for this year, whereas Williams

622
00:26:39,280 --> 00:26:41,320
Speaker 1: was pretty open about how much it was devoting to

623
00:26:41,359 --> 00:26:43,400
Speaker 1: this year while also performing well on track a little

624
00:26:43,400 --> 00:26:45,920
Speaker 1: bit surprisingly, I think, even how well they didn't end,

625
00:26:46,480 --> 00:26:49,040
Speaker 1: but not willing to right off Williams completely because I

626
00:26:49,040 --> 00:26:51,040
Speaker 1: think my confidence has been shaken a little bit by

627
00:26:51,080 --> 00:26:53,040
Speaker 1: how this free season went. But I think the trajectory

628
00:26:53,040 --> 00:26:55,560
Speaker 1: is still good. I think the preparation that's gone in

629
00:26:55,600 --> 00:26:58,280
Speaker 1: for this season is good enough that I think the

630
00:26:58,400 --> 00:27:00,760
Speaker 1: season can be salvage maybe not as good as it

631
00:27:00,800 --> 00:27:03,480
Speaker 1: should have been. I think they'll still be set up

632
00:27:03,520 --> 00:27:06,679
Speaker 1: for the medium term under these rules to ultimately be

633
00:27:06,800 --> 00:27:09,080
Speaker 1: at least the best midfield team. But we'll wait and see.

634
00:27:09,080 --> 00:27:11,439
Speaker 1: I think that's a big question mark considering how much

635
00:27:11,480 --> 00:27:13,359
Speaker 1: they talked about preparation for this year has been key

636
00:27:13,440 --> 00:27:15,920
Speaker 1: Rialdy for a couple of years now. But the comparison

637
00:27:15,920 --> 00:27:17,600
Speaker 1: there you mentioned, hass because we don't know. I think

638
00:27:17,640 --> 00:27:19,080
Speaker 1: the midfield looks as tired as it's ever been, or

639
00:27:19,080 --> 00:27:21,360
Speaker 1: at least it's unpredictable as it's ever been. I want

640
00:27:21,400 --> 00:27:24,320
Speaker 1: they've got the two I guess ultimate customer teams in

641
00:27:24,640 --> 00:27:27,560
Speaker 1: half versus racing bulls, Racing Bulls very much being the

642
00:27:27,880 --> 00:27:30,040
Speaker 1: B team, I guess again, at least that's the that's

643
00:27:30,080 --> 00:27:32,360
Speaker 1: the approach they're taking to red bull racing and Hals

644
00:27:32,400 --> 00:27:34,600
Speaker 1: buying a lot from Ferrari. Although it was coming to

645
00:27:34,680 --> 00:27:37,280
Speaker 1: od branding on the cards. Can you get complicated versus

646
00:27:37,359 --> 00:27:40,720
Speaker 1: the new works team in Audi, they've bought the Sauber team.

647
00:27:40,760 --> 00:27:42,639
Speaker 1: They've assumed the Sauber teams are the engine and the

648
00:27:42,720 --> 00:27:46,440
Speaker 1: chassis factory are separate. But this is the Audi operation.

649
00:27:47,400 --> 00:27:50,720
Speaker 1: I think Audi is probably at the back of this pack.

650
00:27:50,800 --> 00:27:53,080
Speaker 1: But I also don't feel confident about making that prediction,

651
00:27:53,200 --> 00:27:56,440
Speaker 1: nor about really racing bulls. I'm a bit more optimistic

652
00:27:56,520 --> 00:27:57,880
Speaker 1: about Hass, but it.

653
00:27:57,800 --> 00:28:02,120
Speaker 2: Feels very clouded racing bo I am kind of scratching

654
00:28:02,119 --> 00:28:05,200
Speaker 2: my head as to like, they're a racing team. That's great,

655
00:28:05,200 --> 00:28:07,000
Speaker 2: They've had some good drivers come through. I'm not sure

656
00:28:07,080 --> 00:28:08,679
Speaker 2: what the purpose of the whole thing is. I mean,

657
00:28:08,680 --> 00:28:10,760
Speaker 2: they've changed their mind on a hundred times at this point.

658
00:28:10,800 --> 00:28:15,560
Speaker 2: That's inconclusive for me the Haars and Audi conversation. AUDI

659
00:28:15,680 --> 00:28:18,040
Speaker 2: probably starts the year at the back of that group,

660
00:28:18,080 --> 00:28:20,440
Speaker 2: simply because you know, Okay, the name on the door

661
00:28:20,480 --> 00:28:22,560
Speaker 2: is different. It's not an exact startup, but it's you

662
00:28:23,400 --> 00:28:25,719
Speaker 2: and I feel they have more variants and it wouldn't

663
00:28:25,720 --> 00:28:28,320
Speaker 2: surprise me that they have maybe higher peaks this year

664
00:28:28,359 --> 00:28:30,160
Speaker 2: and some of the other teams that we've just been

665
00:28:30,200 --> 00:28:33,160
Speaker 2: talking about but maybe the median is a bit lower

666
00:28:33,200 --> 00:28:36,199
Speaker 2: than that. Hass to me, and I've got an analogy here,

667
00:28:36,200 --> 00:28:37,399
Speaker 2: it's going to make you hungry, so you have to

668
00:28:37,400 --> 00:28:41,160
Speaker 2: stick with me here, Hals Hals is the vanilla ice

669
00:28:41,200 --> 00:28:43,800
Speaker 2: cream of Formula one at this point, and that it's

670
00:28:43,840 --> 00:28:46,120
Speaker 2: perfectly dependable, that it tastes ice and you know what

671
00:28:46,160 --> 00:28:47,880
Speaker 2: you're going to get, But it doesn't really move the

672
00:28:47,920 --> 00:28:50,440
Speaker 2: needle for me. I've got to say, like, it's compointly fine.

673
00:28:50,960 --> 00:28:53,800
Speaker 2: They and I say vanilla, that's I'm not dissing them

674
00:28:53,800 --> 00:28:56,600
Speaker 2: in any respect there. They kind of feel like, oh, yeah,

675
00:28:56,640 --> 00:28:59,200
Speaker 2: that's just hass, that's just what they do. And where

676
00:28:59,200 --> 00:29:01,760
Speaker 2: that's interesting for me is you mentioned before about how

677
00:29:01,800 --> 00:29:03,320
Speaker 2: the start of this season, we're not sure how it's

678
00:29:03,320 --> 00:29:04,840
Speaker 2: going to play out, could be a little bit messy,

679
00:29:04,920 --> 00:29:07,520
Speaker 2: could be a little bit chaotic. Operationally, the way these

680
00:29:07,560 --> 00:29:10,200
Speaker 2: cars needs to qualify, it would not surprise me at

681
00:29:10,240 --> 00:29:12,360
Speaker 2: all sometime in these first four or five races that

682
00:29:12,440 --> 00:29:14,640
Speaker 2: we see a race where half scoops up a heap

683
00:29:14,640 --> 00:29:18,920
Speaker 2: of points just through being operationally slick and dependable and

684
00:29:19,000 --> 00:29:21,800
Speaker 2: making fewer mistakes than the rest. And that's kind of

685
00:29:21,800 --> 00:29:24,640
Speaker 2: the business model with hears really and like I said,

686
00:29:24,760 --> 00:29:28,280
Speaker 2: Familla ice cream. If it's a hot day and it's nice, right,

687
00:29:28,320 --> 00:29:30,200
Speaker 2: I don't. It's one of those known things. It's going

688
00:29:30,240 --> 00:29:32,240
Speaker 2: to be good. There's no ambiguity that I'm going to

689
00:29:32,240 --> 00:29:34,280
Speaker 2: be happy with this. They're going to scoop up some

690
00:29:34,320 --> 00:29:36,320
Speaker 2: points in this early four or five races just by

691
00:29:36,360 --> 00:29:38,680
Speaker 2: being hals more than maybe some of these other teams.

692
00:29:38,800 --> 00:29:41,720
Speaker 1: Yes, well advised, and I suspect deliberate use of scoop

693
00:29:41,800 --> 00:29:45,240
Speaker 1: through that analogy as well. Thank you, well done. Not

694
00:29:45,320 --> 00:29:47,760
Speaker 1: ten minutes left. We could talk so much more than

695
00:29:47,800 --> 00:29:50,280
Speaker 1: ten minutes about these last couple of teams, one of

696
00:29:50,320 --> 00:29:52,200
Speaker 1: them in particular, I think. But this is in my

697
00:29:52,320 --> 00:29:54,440
Speaker 1: back markers category, as I'm sure it is for you,

698
00:29:54,440 --> 00:29:57,120
Speaker 1: although perhaps you've got two tiers of back markers as well, Matt.

699
00:29:57,720 --> 00:29:59,720
Speaker 2: I'm increasingly having two tiers and back markers.

700
00:29:59,800 --> 00:30:02,480
Speaker 1: Yes, the back row and the one closest to the

701
00:30:02,480 --> 00:30:04,640
Speaker 1: toilet that's getting the most use on the airplace. I

702
00:30:04,640 --> 00:30:09,080
Speaker 1: guess Cadillac and Aston Martin for me in that order,

703
00:30:09,200 --> 00:30:11,560
Speaker 1: which I'm surprised to say. I didn't think this would

704
00:30:11,600 --> 00:30:13,320
Speaker 1: be the case even if Aston Martin were at the

705
00:30:13,320 --> 00:30:16,240
Speaker 1: back that they would be last reports out the morning

706
00:30:16,240 --> 00:30:18,600
Speaker 1: we're recording this on Tuesday before the Autralian Grand Prix

707
00:30:18,600 --> 00:30:21,680
Speaker 1: that there was some consideration from Aston Martin to just

708
00:30:21,720 --> 00:30:24,239
Speaker 1: not even turn up in Australia. I think that's from

709
00:30:24,240 --> 00:30:25,840
Speaker 1: waters fort out and the race reporting that. But they

710
00:30:25,840 --> 00:30:29,360
Speaker 1: will turn up because the contractorally obliged to. They may

711
00:30:29,360 --> 00:30:32,000
Speaker 1: not have enough engine components to get to the end

712
00:30:32,000 --> 00:30:34,400
Speaker 1: of the weekend because they went through so many. Honda

713
00:30:34,440 --> 00:30:37,960
Speaker 1: has some terminal battery issues brought about by they believe

714
00:30:38,200 --> 00:30:41,959
Speaker 1: unexpected vibrations in the power unit. They can't forget how

715
00:30:41,960 --> 00:30:43,760
Speaker 1: to solve it, yet they'll have some fixes in place.

716
00:30:43,760 --> 00:30:46,000
Speaker 1: It's going to cost a lot of performance. There are

717
00:30:46,160 --> 00:30:49,240
Speaker 1: rules that allow for reliability fixes even when engines are frozen.

718
00:30:49,800 --> 00:30:53,040
Speaker 1: Almost certainly though, Honda will will get the concessions that

719
00:30:53,040 --> 00:30:55,000
Speaker 1: will allow it at a minimum one upgrade this year,

720
00:30:55,000 --> 00:30:56,800
Speaker 1: if not to, depending on how far off the pace

721
00:30:56,840 --> 00:30:59,320
Speaker 1: they are. I don't know if the rules have scope

722
00:30:59,360 --> 00:31:02,080
Speaker 1: to make that decision if they're not finishing any races

723
00:31:02,120 --> 00:31:05,800
Speaker 1: to analyze their performance, but that's a question for the year.

724
00:31:05,800 --> 00:31:09,400
Speaker 1: But it certainly seems like Cadillac, the brand new team

725
00:31:09,480 --> 00:31:11,640
Speaker 1: running for Ari engines, but built from the ground up.

726
00:31:11,680 --> 00:31:15,240
Speaker 1: They've got its entry only about twelve months ago, I

727
00:31:15,240 --> 00:31:17,200
Speaker 1: think was the end of last January or early last

728
00:31:17,200 --> 00:31:19,360
Speaker 1: February that they were told they would be a Formula

729
00:31:19,360 --> 00:31:23,480
Speaker 1: One team, maybe not finishing last in Australia or perhaps

730
00:31:23,960 --> 00:31:24,760
Speaker 1: even this year.

731
00:31:25,440 --> 00:31:27,280
Speaker 2: Well. And to think that they are only allowed in

732
00:31:27,360 --> 00:31:29,440
Speaker 2: after they prove that they wouldn't embarrass themselves or the

733
00:31:29,440 --> 00:31:32,479
Speaker 2: sport being a Formula one isn't that amusing. But anyway,

734
00:31:33,600 --> 00:31:35,560
Speaker 2: we took a little bit about this last week and

735
00:31:36,280 --> 00:31:38,560
Speaker 2: it sounds like sort of faint praise when you're describing

736
00:31:38,560 --> 00:31:42,360
Speaker 2: someone as being perfectly acceptable or credible. But as far

737
00:31:42,400 --> 00:31:44,560
Speaker 2: as Cadillac go, like the undertaking to start a new

738
00:31:44,560 --> 00:31:47,760
Speaker 2: team in Formula One in twenty twenty six is absolutely

739
00:31:47,880 --> 00:31:51,080
Speaker 2: monumental when you've got this huge rule change, and yes,

740
00:31:51,120 --> 00:31:52,800
Speaker 2: you can recruit from all of the other teams and

741
00:31:52,800 --> 00:31:55,120
Speaker 2: build your staff out and you have two very sensible

742
00:31:55,240 --> 00:31:57,560
Speaker 2: drivers for a first year team in Sergio Perez and

743
00:31:57,640 --> 00:32:00,920
Speaker 2: Voucheri Botas. I think what they've done through pre season

744
00:32:00,960 --> 00:32:04,040
Speaker 2: and the way they will arrive in Melbourne is better

745
00:32:04,080 --> 00:32:06,400
Speaker 2: than maybe anyone else might have thought they were going

746
00:32:06,440 --> 00:32:08,640
Speaker 2: to be but maybe not better than they thought they

747
00:32:08,640 --> 00:32:10,680
Speaker 2: were going to be. There's been this sort of inner

748
00:32:10,760 --> 00:32:13,680
Speaker 2: confidence there where they haven't made big, grandiose statements about

749
00:32:13,680 --> 00:32:16,720
Speaker 2: what they're going to be doing. But in no situation

750
00:32:16,840 --> 00:32:18,720
Speaker 2: did you feel that they were a bit exposed or

751
00:32:18,760 --> 00:32:21,080
Speaker 2: not quite ready. They seem to me. I think they

752
00:32:21,080 --> 00:32:22,920
Speaker 2: will turn up, they will look good, they will perform

753
00:32:23,000 --> 00:32:25,440
Speaker 2: like a Formula one scene. They will do a perfectly

754
00:32:25,520 --> 00:32:28,520
Speaker 2: credible job. And are we going to be seeing them

755
00:32:28,560 --> 00:32:31,360
Speaker 2: in Q two? Probably? I mean, maybe this's a lap

756
00:32:31,400 --> 00:32:32,959
Speaker 2: that comes that might sort of be more on what

757
00:32:33,000 --> 00:32:36,680
Speaker 2: other teams do, I think. But to see them turn

758
00:32:36,760 --> 00:32:38,680
Speaker 2: up and be as credible as they're likely to be,

759
00:32:38,800 --> 00:32:41,440
Speaker 2: and as step one on this big, big climb that

760
00:32:41,480 --> 00:32:43,760
Speaker 2: they're on, I think they're going to be perfectly acceptable

761
00:32:43,840 --> 00:32:45,880
Speaker 2: this year. But to turn up all the way down

762
00:32:45,920 --> 00:32:47,480
Speaker 2: here and do what they're going to do this weekend,

763
00:32:47,520 --> 00:32:49,560
Speaker 2: I will be really surprised if they don't do anything

764
00:32:49,560 --> 00:32:52,440
Speaker 2: other than compete and hold themselves in really high esteem.

765
00:32:52,800 --> 00:32:54,920
Speaker 2: And like, again that sounds like faint praise, but when

766
00:32:54,960 --> 00:32:58,240
Speaker 2: you're a starter with the complexities of operating in Formula

767
00:32:58,240 --> 00:33:00,840
Speaker 2: one in twenty twenty six, that is a really really

768
00:33:00,840 --> 00:33:02,920
Speaker 2: good outcome, and I think the only people that won't

769
00:33:02,920 --> 00:33:05,360
Speaker 2: be surprised about them are themselves because they've carried themselves

770
00:33:05,440 --> 00:33:07,280
Speaker 2: like this the whole way through preseason, haven't they.

771
00:33:07,920 --> 00:33:10,959
Speaker 1: Yes, they've been so well prepared, super methodical. I mean

772
00:33:10,960 --> 00:33:13,239
Speaker 1: it sounded funny at the time, but even late last year,

773
00:33:13,320 --> 00:33:16,560
Speaker 1: when they'd hired people to work in the team, they

774
00:33:16,560 --> 00:33:19,200
Speaker 1: were running through simulated race weekends like acting as if

775
00:33:19,240 --> 00:33:21,120
Speaker 1: they were there. They were at their vas in Silverston,

776
00:33:21,160 --> 00:33:23,560
Speaker 1: going through the routines, doing as much as they could

777
00:33:24,040 --> 00:33:26,360
Speaker 1: to feel like a real Formula One team before becoming

778
00:33:26,360 --> 00:33:29,280
Speaker 1: a real Formula One team. It'd be interesting to see

779
00:33:29,280 --> 00:33:31,720
Speaker 1: them under the pressure of competing. Admittedly, there's probably only

780
00:33:31,760 --> 00:33:33,240
Speaker 1: so much pressure they're going to be under. They're going

781
00:33:33,280 --> 00:33:35,240
Speaker 1: to be near the back. You never know, though, like

782
00:33:35,240 --> 00:33:37,000
Speaker 1: when Rubbi hits the road. I mean, they may at

783
00:33:37,040 --> 00:33:38,600
Speaker 1: least have Aston Martin to compete with as long as

784
00:33:38,600 --> 00:33:41,240
Speaker 1: the Astamatin car stays on track. But I also think

785
00:33:41,320 --> 00:33:44,360
Speaker 1: this is the kind of year and this looks like

786
00:33:44,400 --> 00:33:46,600
Speaker 1: the kind of outfit where I wouldn't be surprised to

787
00:33:46,600 --> 00:33:49,800
Speaker 1: see them pick up the odd point very occasionally. I

788
00:33:49,840 --> 00:33:51,720
Speaker 1: certainly don't think they're gonna be regular top ten scores,

789
00:33:51,720 --> 00:33:53,440
Speaker 1: but in those races there's a little bit of attrition,

790
00:33:53,880 --> 00:33:55,640
Speaker 1: something random's going on, maybe it's a bit of weather.

791
00:33:56,040 --> 00:33:58,480
Speaker 1: They look well prepared enough to be in that midfield

792
00:33:58,560 --> 00:34:01,520
Speaker 1: mix to pick up a tenth place and well pass

793
00:34:01,560 --> 00:34:03,040
Speaker 1: to get that point or welty Bot has to to

794
00:34:03,040 --> 00:34:05,400
Speaker 1: maybe get a que two appearance that looks very impressive.

795
00:34:05,720 --> 00:34:08,200
Speaker 2: And this is where that driver lineup's really important, because

796
00:34:08,200 --> 00:34:10,600
Speaker 2: when there is a strategic dice to roll or something

797
00:34:10,600 --> 00:34:13,000
Speaker 2: you can do executionally, you know that you've got two

798
00:34:13,120 --> 00:34:15,279
Speaker 2: drivers that are well versed in bringing those sorts of

799
00:34:15,280 --> 00:34:17,880
Speaker 2: strategies home. That's not a variable you have to worry about.

800
00:34:18,120 --> 00:34:20,239
Speaker 2: You've got two drivers who are super experienced. If you

801
00:34:20,239 --> 00:34:22,319
Speaker 2: do go slightly left field on a strategy or there

802
00:34:22,320 --> 00:34:25,280
Speaker 2: is an opportunity to do something, you're going to capitalize

803
00:34:25,280 --> 00:34:27,480
Speaker 2: on that opportunity because the two guys behind the wheel

804
00:34:27,480 --> 00:34:30,040
Speaker 2: are proven commodities, and yeah, they're closer to the end

805
00:34:30,040 --> 00:34:32,279
Speaker 2: of their careers in the beginning, but they're also not

806
00:34:32,320 --> 00:34:34,040
Speaker 2: going to drop the ball on a chance to actually

807
00:34:34,040 --> 00:34:36,680
Speaker 2: do something big, which would make just be so big

808
00:34:36,719 --> 00:34:38,759
Speaker 2: for this team to be able to get off that

809
00:34:38,880 --> 00:34:41,480
Speaker 2: zero sometime in the first you know, four or five

810
00:34:41,600 --> 00:34:43,520
Speaker 2: six races to be able to get some points in

811
00:34:43,560 --> 00:34:45,400
Speaker 2: the bank as a building block for the future.

812
00:34:45,440 --> 00:34:48,799
Speaker 1: I think, yeah, now we've got to talk about Aston

813
00:34:48,840 --> 00:34:51,480
Speaker 1: Mardon because team you may not see very much this weekend.

814
00:34:51,480 --> 00:34:54,640
Speaker 1: Who knows ports running out of parts as we said

815
00:34:55,200 --> 00:34:57,000
Speaker 1: it is. I think we can use the word crisis

816
00:34:57,080 --> 00:34:59,359
Speaker 1: quite openly now, considering there was some consideration of them

817
00:34:59,400 --> 00:35:02,719
Speaker 1: not even turning up to Australia. That's pretty significant. Even

818
00:35:02,719 --> 00:35:05,680
Speaker 1: in that new era, a new team's era of two

819
00:35:05,680 --> 00:35:08,440
Speaker 1: thousand and nine ish, when those teams at all eventually

820
00:35:08,440 --> 00:35:10,640
Speaker 1: fold today all turned up to Melbourne. They didn't always

821
00:35:10,800 --> 00:35:12,960
Speaker 1: they didn't always qualify Aston one will qualify if the

822
00:35:13,000 --> 00:35:15,160
Speaker 1: cars get on track within one hundred and seven percent.

823
00:35:15,200 --> 00:35:17,759
Speaker 1: Are all pretty confident about that. I think they've got

824
00:35:17,800 --> 00:35:20,480
Speaker 1: to make it there though, But then the weekend essentially

825
00:35:20,480 --> 00:35:22,680
Speaker 1: becomes for as long as they can last a test session.

826
00:35:23,280 --> 00:35:25,879
Speaker 1: The problem, I mean, it's both a problem and maybe

827
00:35:25,880 --> 00:35:28,080
Speaker 1: you can see it as an opportunity that it's clearly

828
00:35:28,400 --> 00:35:30,480
Speaker 1: the engine that is most holding it back. We don't

829
00:35:30,480 --> 00:35:32,040
Speaker 1: know how good the car is, admit it could also

830
00:35:32,120 --> 00:35:35,279
Speaker 1: be very slow, but the major problem here. The reason

831
00:35:35,320 --> 00:35:36,840
Speaker 1: we're talking about them as a crisis team is that

832
00:35:36,880 --> 00:35:39,719
Speaker 1: the engine is not reliable enough. That means if you

833
00:35:39,719 --> 00:35:42,320
Speaker 1: can fix the reliability, then everything else can start to

834
00:35:42,360 --> 00:35:44,400
Speaker 1: fall into place. Rather than the car. You're thinking it

835
00:35:44,480 --> 00:35:46,439
Speaker 1: being very fast and actually it's just simply very slow.

836
00:35:46,480 --> 00:35:49,920
Speaker 1: That can be more difficult to understand. But the downside

837
00:35:50,000 --> 00:35:53,680
Speaker 1: is that engine repairs, reliability fixes take a long time.

838
00:35:53,800 --> 00:35:55,840
Speaker 1: It's not going to happen for Australia, probably not going

839
00:35:55,880 --> 00:35:57,960
Speaker 1: to happen for China. You'd certainly be hoping if your

840
00:35:58,000 --> 00:36:00,919
Speaker 1: Hondra you'd least basically understood it in your home race

841
00:36:00,960 --> 00:36:04,000
Speaker 1: in Japan or Man. Yes, I bet they're wishing Japan

842
00:36:04,080 --> 00:36:05,759
Speaker 1: was back at the end of the year. But this

843
00:36:05,920 --> 00:36:08,839
Speaker 1: is going to be a very painful few months, if

844
00:36:08,880 --> 00:36:11,799
Speaker 1: not entire season for Aston Martin, the team that spent

845
00:36:11,880 --> 00:36:13,640
Speaker 1: big on being ready for twenty twenty six.

846
00:36:13,960 --> 00:36:16,040
Speaker 2: Yeah, a Japanese GP in October it would be quite

847
00:36:16,040 --> 00:36:19,200
Speaker 2: any right. My only question to you is, so the

848
00:36:19,280 --> 00:36:22,239
Speaker 2: race star is three pm local on Sunday in Australia.

849
00:36:22,360 --> 00:36:26,239
Speaker 2: What time is Fernando a Lotso's flight Do you think.

850
00:36:27,760 --> 00:36:33,360
Speaker 1: I am Sunday Sunday saying I reckon if when he

851
00:36:33,400 --> 00:36:36,320
Speaker 1: got the message, saying inevitably his flight was canceled. I

852
00:36:36,400 --> 00:36:37,920
Speaker 1: think he was said, that's fine.

853
00:36:38,200 --> 00:36:41,399
Speaker 2: Yeah, I never received this message. Sorry, I have no idea.

854
00:36:41,440 --> 00:36:45,120
Speaker 2: Who oh, I never never showed up. Look, I mean look, Also,

855
00:36:45,120 --> 00:36:47,040
Speaker 2: should we just mention that it's twenty five years ago

856
00:36:47,080 --> 00:36:49,720
Speaker 2: that Fernando a Lotso first debuted at albert Park. What

857
00:36:49,560 --> 00:36:52,000
Speaker 2: a what a statement that is to say, there's a

858
00:36:52,000 --> 00:36:53,760
Speaker 2: part of me I love for Wheela one wo Fernando

859
00:36:53,800 --> 00:36:55,799
Speaker 2: a Lotso's fighting for something meaningful. You think back a

860
00:36:55,800 --> 00:36:57,600
Speaker 2: couple of years ago when he's standing on the podium

861
00:36:57,600 --> 00:37:00,439
Speaker 2: at albert Park. It was just it's great, there's energy

862
00:37:00,440 --> 00:37:03,120
Speaker 2: to Formula one when he is good. But you mentioned

863
00:37:03,160 --> 00:37:06,480
Speaker 2: before the key thing here is we can't just say, well,

864
00:37:06,560 --> 00:37:09,120
Speaker 2: once they get the engine sorted, the car will be fine,

865
00:37:09,160 --> 00:37:11,840
Speaker 2: because we just don't know yet. And the fact that

866
00:37:11,840 --> 00:37:13,640
Speaker 2: we're on the eve of a new season. Yes it's

867
00:37:13,680 --> 00:37:17,680
Speaker 2: twenty four rounds. They are so so undercooked at this point,

868
00:37:17,719 --> 00:37:20,040
Speaker 2: they haven't even been defrosted, less gott in the oven yet.

869
00:37:20,040 --> 00:37:24,719
Speaker 2: They're so undercooked, and so we just don't know. And

870
00:37:25,080 --> 00:37:28,960
Speaker 2: there are so many holes in the burst out wall

871
00:37:28,960 --> 00:37:30,839
Speaker 2: they're trying to plug right now. The first one has

872
00:37:30,840 --> 00:37:32,480
Speaker 2: to be the engine, right, You've got to get that

873
00:37:32,640 --> 00:37:34,960
Speaker 2: sorted first. As you said, not the work of a moment.

874
00:37:35,400 --> 00:37:38,759
Speaker 2: But this is going to be a long, slow, tortuous

875
00:37:38,800 --> 00:37:40,919
Speaker 2: season for them. They're going to clearly be at their

876
00:37:40,960 --> 00:37:45,080
Speaker 2: worst here. And I mean if either car was still

877
00:37:45,120 --> 00:37:48,360
Speaker 2: running after fifteen laps on Sunday, that would be a

878
00:37:48,400 --> 00:37:50,319
Speaker 2: bit of a surprise. You would have to say, I

879
00:37:50,320 --> 00:37:51,840
Speaker 2: think they're going to go around for as long as

880
00:37:51,880 --> 00:37:53,520
Speaker 2: they can go around. It just may not be for

881
00:37:53,600 --> 00:37:54,080
Speaker 2: very long.

882
00:37:54,320 --> 00:37:55,680
Speaker 1: Yeah, not for very long at all. So if you

883
00:37:55,680 --> 00:37:57,640
Speaker 1: asked Martin foun get your photos in as soon as

884
00:37:57,680 --> 00:37:59,520
Speaker 1: you see him on the track, because that might be

885
00:37:59,520 --> 00:38:02,400
Speaker 1: your first last chance to get any good footage of

886
00:38:02,400 --> 00:38:04,640
Speaker 1: them before we wrap up. I just want to taste

887
00:38:04,800 --> 00:38:08,120
Speaker 1: very very briefly on the other last minute rule change.

888
00:38:08,120 --> 00:38:09,480
Speaker 1: It won't come in to effect till June a little

889
00:38:09,480 --> 00:38:13,200
Speaker 1: bit earlier, but Mercedes included has voted unanimously all the

890
00:38:13,320 --> 00:38:16,320
Speaker 1: edge of manufacturers have to change that compression rule loophole.

891
00:38:16,400 --> 00:38:18,360
Speaker 1: I think we talked about very briefly last week that

892
00:38:18,480 --> 00:38:20,680
Speaker 1: Mercedes says is only worth two or three horse power

893
00:38:20,680 --> 00:38:22,719
Speaker 1: that Red Bull thinks is worth ten times as much.

894
00:38:23,480 --> 00:38:26,680
Speaker 1: It seemingly is against Mercedes' interest to vote against to

895
00:38:26,960 --> 00:38:29,759
Speaker 1: vote for this rule change. It does also prevent, though,

896
00:38:29,800 --> 00:38:32,600
Speaker 1: other teams from pursuing similar avenues, and there were rumors

897
00:38:32,640 --> 00:38:34,160
Speaker 1: that might have happened. We did talk about the end

898
00:38:34,200 --> 00:38:36,920
Speaker 1: of last year. But it does set up that first

899
00:38:36,960 --> 00:38:39,400
Speaker 1: of June date, which is between Canada and Monaco, so

900
00:38:39,440 --> 00:38:41,640
Speaker 1: after the Canadian Grand Prix, before the Monaco Grand Prix,

901
00:38:42,040 --> 00:38:46,359
Speaker 1: as a potential little change in how we understand the

902
00:38:46,440 --> 00:38:48,480
Speaker 1: form guide to look and potentially how we understand the

903
00:38:48,480 --> 00:38:51,399
Speaker 1: engine form guide in particular look, which maybe, considering we've

904
00:38:51,440 --> 00:38:54,120
Speaker 1: got three different manufacturers in that front running group, may

905
00:38:54,200 --> 00:38:55,400
Speaker 1: change the complexion of the season.

906
00:38:56,000 --> 00:38:58,720
Speaker 2: Yeah, savvy by Mercedes, I think you would say, because

907
00:38:58,719 --> 00:39:01,360
Speaker 2: it's one of those make a little bit of short

908
00:39:01,480 --> 00:39:04,359
Speaker 2: term potential paying the longer term game, because the last

909
00:39:04,360 --> 00:39:06,800
Speaker 2: thing you want is if you've stumbled across something clever

910
00:39:06,800 --> 00:39:09,800
Speaker 2: and you've maximized that, if it becomes allowable and everyone

911
00:39:09,800 --> 00:39:11,239
Speaker 2: else does the same thing, then we're all back to

912
00:39:11,280 --> 00:39:13,399
Speaker 2: the starting spot, right. So it's one of those things

913
00:39:13,400 --> 00:39:16,560
Speaker 2: that politically there would have been a bit of all

914
00:39:16,680 --> 00:39:19,200
Speaker 2: right there, Mercedes, and we'll go through with this. But

915
00:39:19,920 --> 00:39:22,880
Speaker 2: yet you to use a famous Bikeael Lemonado, say, we're

916
00:39:22,960 --> 00:39:24,440
Speaker 2: kicking the can down the road here, aren't we. We're

917
00:39:24,480 --> 00:39:26,640
Speaker 2: just taking a little bit of short term pain for

918
00:39:27,080 --> 00:39:31,160
Speaker 2: longer term advantage. It's one of those strange rule changes

919
00:39:31,200 --> 00:39:33,120
Speaker 2: where I feel that everyone has lost it, everyone as

920
00:39:33,120 --> 00:39:36,120
Speaker 2: one at the same time, and maybe the status quo

921
00:39:36,239 --> 00:39:38,680
Speaker 2: maintains and Mercedes still has that little baked did advantage.

922
00:39:38,680 --> 00:39:41,479
Speaker 2: But yeah, it was not the outcome to that little

923
00:39:42,480 --> 00:39:44,399
Speaker 2: stoush that I was expecting. I had to say when

924
00:39:44,400 --> 00:39:45,000
Speaker 2: that kicked off.

925
00:39:45,480 --> 00:39:47,440
Speaker 1: Yes, but again, to go back to where we started

926
00:39:47,440 --> 00:39:51,120
Speaker 1: this podcast, it certainly sounds like confidence from Mercedes, doesn't.

927
00:39:51,160 --> 00:39:53,879
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, let's find out because this weekend we get

928
00:39:53,920 --> 00:39:56,319
Speaker 1: some answers at the Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park,

929
00:39:56,560 --> 00:39:58,400
Speaker 1: the first round of the season. Because that's all the

930
00:39:58,400 --> 00:40:00,319
Speaker 1: time we have for Pittalk this week. You can tribe

931
00:40:00,360 --> 00:40:03,120
Speaker 1: to Pittalk wherever you get your favorite podcasts and you

932
00:40:03,160 --> 00:40:05,360
Speaker 1: can leave us a rating and a review as well.

933
00:40:05,560 --> 00:40:08,760
Speaker 1: This weekend, as I said, is the season opening Formula

934
00:40:08,760 --> 00:40:10,879
Speaker 1: one Australian Grand Prix with lights out at three pm

935
00:40:10,920 --> 00:40:14,040
Speaker 1: eastern daylight time. It's also the Supercars Melbourne Super Sprint,

936
00:40:14,120 --> 00:40:16,960
Speaker 1: with races everyday Thursday to Sunday, all of which you

937
00:40:16,960 --> 00:40:19,840
Speaker 1: can catch live on both Fox Sports and KO. You

938
00:40:19,840 --> 00:40:21,200
Speaker 1: can get up to date with all the lates step

939
00:40:21,239 --> 00:40:24,040
Speaker 1: one Supercars and MURDERGP news at Fox sports dot com

940
00:40:24,080 --> 00:40:27,040
Speaker 1: dot Au. From Matt Clayton and me, Michael Lamonado. Thanks

941
00:40:27,120 --> 00:40:29,040
Speaker 1: very much for your company and we'll catch you next week.