WEBVTT - Alfa Romeo - A Modest Proposal (Lily's Version) 0:00:00.160 --> 0:00:03.960 In another world, I would have had a sweatshirt to 0:00:03.960 --> 0:00:08.240 bring in today that that said happy Holidays to everyone, 0:00:08.360 --> 0:00:11.120 but especially Valtrie Bodice, who is an Alpha Mayo driver. 0:00:11.360 --> 0:00:13.840 But it was stolen, and I want to be petty. 0:00:13.880 --> 0:00:15.440 I have a message for the person who stole it. 0:00:15.480 --> 0:00:19.000 I'm very angry. And that is why after all of 0:00:19.040 --> 0:00:23.200 our many different props of this season where Alpha Alpha 0:00:23.280 --> 0:00:26.320 was a little admittedly a little forgotten, so I think, 0:00:26.440 --> 0:00:28.840 how does a sweatshirt get stolen? Was someone broken to 0:00:28.920 --> 0:00:32.000 your home? No? No, it was delivery, Yeah it was. 0:00:32.080 --> 0:00:33.960 It was delivered, and I went right down, like three 0:00:34.000 --> 0:00:37.800 minutes later, was gone. Those people that steal delivery packages, 0:00:38.720 --> 0:00:43.519 I've always I've thought about having like some type of 0:00:43.640 --> 0:00:48.360 weapon delivered that would explode upon impact. I guess I 0:00:48.360 --> 0:00:50.279 guess what I just described as a mail bomb, which 0:00:50.360 --> 0:00:52.559 is not cool and I shouldn't advocate for that, but 0:00:52.640 --> 0:00:55.040 I want something bad to happen to those people. I 0:00:55.080 --> 0:00:57.760 will say. There was a viral video of someone who 0:00:57.800 --> 0:01:00.680 created their own glitter stink bomb and put it on 0:01:00.680 --> 0:01:02.960 their stoop and say had they had a camera in 0:01:03.000 --> 0:01:04.959 there so they watched some person opening their car and 0:01:05.000 --> 0:01:07.400 just ruin their entire car. Yeah, that was good car. 0:01:07.600 --> 0:01:11.880 You know, it's like that's funny, funny, harmless, but very effective. 0:01:11.920 --> 0:01:13.600 So I hope that person learned their lesson that a 0:01:13.640 --> 0:01:18.000 glitter stink bomb could be sitting anywhere people who aren't 0:01:18.080 --> 0:01:20.280 You don't live in major cities, you know, you just 0:01:20.319 --> 0:01:22.440 get your packages delivered on your porch. It's all good. 0:01:22.480 --> 0:01:25.240 But in New York City you've got five thousand people 0:01:25.280 --> 0:01:27.880 living in the same building. And but yeah, but there's 0:01:27.880 --> 0:01:30.800 so much trust in the suburbs that I am too changed. 0:01:32.760 --> 0:01:37.560 So to this end, today we're talking about a team 0:01:37.640 --> 0:01:40.560 that does have a history in the sport of Formula one, 0:01:40.920 --> 0:01:44.000 but also can be a little bit forgotten. So that 0:01:44.280 --> 0:01:51.440 is none other than Alfa Romeo. However, before we are 0:01:51.520 --> 0:01:54.320 you count them out, I will say they could be 0:01:54.360 --> 0:01:56.240 turning a new leaf right now. So there's a lot 0:01:56.280 --> 0:01:59.920 to be excited about with Alfro Mayo. I personally am 0:02:00.120 --> 0:02:03.000 very stoked about their driver lineup. So there's there's a 0:02:03.000 --> 0:02:06.760 lot to get into today. Alfa Romeo, Yo, I hit 0:02:06.800 --> 0:02:12.480 me from my Heart Radio and Sports Illustrated Studios. This 0:02:12.600 --> 0:02:26.000 is choosing sides one. Wow. W Wait, So if you 0:02:26.080 --> 0:02:30.840 thought the whole Renao Alpene history was confusing. Alfa Romeo 0:02:30.960 --> 0:02:34.360 really says, hold my beer. So but we're gonna we're 0:02:34.400 --> 0:02:37.320 gonna skim through a lot of it. Were the the 0:02:37.360 --> 0:02:41.720 broad Strokes Espresso that's actually much better. Yeah, espresso and 0:02:41.800 --> 0:02:45.600 apper all spirits. That seems appropriate. Okay, So we talked 0:02:45.639 --> 0:02:49.000 a little bit about Alfa Mayo with our Ferrari episodes 0:02:49.280 --> 0:02:52.320 because they are intertwined. So just to recap a little 0:02:52.320 --> 0:02:55.960 bit of this. So, Alfa Romeo is an Italian car 0:02:56.040 --> 0:03:00.320 manufacturer that's been around since nineteen ten. They're in name 0:03:00.400 --> 0:03:04.440 was originally just Alpha and it was capital all caps 0:03:04.480 --> 0:03:07.360 A l f A. The founding name was actually an 0:03:07.360 --> 0:03:16.959 acronym for butcher, this Italian annema lombarda fabric, which basically 0:03:17.000 --> 0:03:22.040 means it had a bunch of anonymous investors. And then, uh, 0:03:22.080 --> 0:03:25.680 the Romeo part comes from Nicola Romeo. He was an 0:03:25.720 --> 0:03:29.560 engineer and entrepreneur. He acquires a majority steak in Alpha 0:03:29.639 --> 0:03:31.920 in nineteen fifteen, so only a couple of years later, 0:03:32.720 --> 0:03:35.840 and then he eventually owns the entire company by nineteen eighteen. 0:03:36.720 --> 0:03:40.320 And uh yeah, so eventually he of course tax on 0:03:41.000 --> 0:03:47.760 his name Alfromeo. That's that's where it comes from. And 0:03:47.960 --> 0:03:49.680 in term we'll get to the racing part of the team. 0:03:49.720 --> 0:03:51.480 But in terms of our guy Nicola, because of course 0:03:51.560 --> 0:03:54.440 was curious, he ended up leaving Alfa Romeo after a 0:03:54.480 --> 0:03:58.360 series of bad investments and other issues. By night, I 0:03:58.400 --> 0:04:00.520 have zero other fun facts about him except that he 0:04:00.520 --> 0:04:04.080 has seven children, which is quite a brood. Yes, that's 0:04:04.160 --> 0:04:09.600 that Roman Catholic birth control. Yeah, working around the clock 0:04:10.760 --> 0:04:14.360 or not. Yes, So basically teams al Fromeyo. It's you know, 0:04:14.440 --> 0:04:17.040 brands Alfromeo. As we know, it's still called al Fromeo, 0:04:17.440 --> 0:04:19.920 and it really makes a name for itself in the 0:04:20.000 --> 0:04:24.400 luxury vehicle and car market. In terms of racing, Alfa 0:04:24.480 --> 0:04:27.159 Romeo starts racing in nineteen eleven, so the year after 0:04:27.240 --> 0:04:30.760 its founding. It does have some success across a bunch 0:04:30.800 --> 0:04:34.560 of different series and disciplines, including but not limited to 0:04:34.640 --> 0:04:39.400 Formula one, rally, sports car racing, and then touring car racing. 0:04:40.480 --> 0:04:45.360 So yeah, things are going well basically. Though more specifically, 0:04:45.400 --> 0:04:47.599 if we get to Formula one, Alpha has been in 0:04:47.640 --> 0:04:50.960 it since the pre modern era, you know, in Formula 0:04:50.960 --> 0:04:53.520 one debuts as an actual sport in nineteen fifties, so 0:04:54.160 --> 0:04:57.920 they started competing in these kind of grand grands pre 0:04:58.440 --> 0:05:01.000 in the late es other of the new Alphas that 0:05:01.040 --> 0:05:03.480 crosses the line with a brilliant young driver of Algieria, 0:05:03.920 --> 0:05:07.640 Guy Mall. This is where some of their history intersects 0:05:07.640 --> 0:05:10.120 with Mercedes in a couple of different ways. There's long 0:05:10.160 --> 0:05:12.960 supremacy of Italian cars is at last to be challenged 0:05:12.960 --> 0:05:16.080 on the others in Berlin by rear engined auto unions, 0:05:16.120 --> 0:05:18.359 the first new racing cars of the third right, so 0:05:18.400 --> 0:05:21.360 in the nineteen forties, again around the time of World 0:05:21.360 --> 0:05:25.800 War Two, and then directly after they had mixed success 0:05:25.800 --> 0:05:28.120 in these kind of this pre F one era because 0:05:28.120 --> 0:05:31.320 Mercedes was dominating. As we discussed in the Mercedes episode, 0:05:31.320 --> 0:05:33.560 their pre F one cars and Mercedes were were great. 0:05:33.600 --> 0:05:38.359 They want all those European Championships as they were called. Uh. However, 0:05:38.680 --> 0:05:43.160 when F one actually becomes a real formalized sport, Alfa 0:05:43.200 --> 0:05:45.240 Romeo wins out. They actually are the winners of the 0:05:45.279 --> 0:05:53.920 first ever World Championships with Giuseppe Farina, and then they 0:05:53.920 --> 0:05:58.200 win again with a guy one Manuel Fangio Banjo the 0:05:58.279 --> 0:06:01.600 rising star came through to win, and this incidentally at 0:06:01.640 --> 0:06:04.480 the age of thirty nine, when many drivers think of retire. 0:06:04.720 --> 0:06:07.400 Who is like in the sport of legendary guy. Up 0:06:07.440 --> 0:06:11.279 until Michael Schumacher in the early two thousand's, Fangio was 0:06:11.360 --> 0:06:15.480 the winningest championship driver, so for almost half a century 0:06:15.480 --> 0:06:18.160 held that title. No man has given more to the 0:06:18.279 --> 0:06:21.479 essentially a twentieth century out of motor racing than has 0:06:21.560 --> 0:06:26.039 the incomparable je Manuel Fangio, five times champion driver of 0:06:26.080 --> 0:06:32.840 the World. Oh La Fangio. He was Argentinian. Okay, sorry, 0:06:33.000 --> 0:06:36.560 he actually exits the sport of f one after getting 0:06:36.640 --> 0:06:40.560 kidnapped by revolutionaries in Cuba. Kidnapped at Pistol Point by 0:06:40.600 --> 0:06:45.000 Cuban rebels, obviously seeking to embarrass President Fatista's government by 0:06:45.040 --> 0:06:47.440 making sure the star attraction is not on the starting 0:06:47.480 --> 0:06:50.120 line on the big rate. They don't torture him or anything. 0:06:50.120 --> 0:06:52.120 They just keep him there, like give him a sandwich 0:06:52.279 --> 0:06:54.640 and basically how they handed back and he's like, I 0:06:54.640 --> 0:06:56.280 don't really want to do any of this stuff anymore. So, 0:06:56.960 --> 0:07:00.600 I mean this is just a time where crazier shit 0:07:00.720 --> 0:07:04.480 happened exactly. Yeah, So that's Alpha Mayo. They they win 0:07:04.520 --> 0:07:09.880 in nineteen one and then they say peace out this one. Yeah. 0:07:10.240 --> 0:07:13.000 They end on that high note, and they leave for 0:07:13.080 --> 0:07:16.040 a very long time. So again we're going to skip 0:07:16.080 --> 0:07:18.920 over some of this because it's super confusing. But basically, 0:07:19.320 --> 0:07:22.840 from ninety two until the mid nineteen eighties, Alfa ro 0:07:22.920 --> 0:07:26.160 Mayo is sporadically involved as an engine supplier and a 0:07:26.320 --> 0:07:29.600 constructor suppliers. But basically, yeah, none of these teams are 0:07:29.600 --> 0:07:33.360 particularly successful or interesting. So again that's why we're kind 0:07:33.360 --> 0:07:36.240 of breezing through like thirty five years of history here. 0:07:36.480 --> 0:07:40.440 Let's get ahead. The year is now so much more recent. 0:07:41.320 --> 0:07:45.320 Alpha begins partnering again with Ferrari as a sponsor. Their 0:07:45.320 --> 0:07:48.600 logo starts to appear on Ferrari cars. A couple of 0:07:48.680 --> 0:07:52.000 years later eighteen now they become the title sponsor of 0:07:52.040 --> 0:07:54.000 a team called Souber, which has been around for a 0:07:54.080 --> 0:07:56.840 very long time, and Souber is seen again has a 0:07:56.880 --> 0:07:59.920 special relationship with Ferrari. For instance, Charlotte Claire at for 0:08:00.200 --> 0:08:02.120 he got to start his first year was at Souber. 0:08:02.320 --> 0:08:04.760 A lot of drivers in the sort of Ferrari pipeline 0:08:04.800 --> 0:08:08.560 get their start at Suber. Yes, Souber copy, I think 0:08:08.800 --> 0:08:12.080 Alfa Romeo. You know the history they have in the 0:08:12.120 --> 0:08:16.240 sport um it's incredible, so that was taught to like Calderone. 0:08:16.280 --> 0:08:18.240 You might remember her all the way back during our 0:08:18.280 --> 0:08:21.000 first episode, but she was actually an Alfare Mayo test 0:08:21.080 --> 0:08:25.520 driver at one point. Their biggest strength lies in in 0:08:25.600 --> 0:08:28.240 the people they have hired. So a lot of the 0:08:28.360 --> 0:08:31.240 guys that I that I work with are still in 0:08:31.280 --> 0:08:34.640 the team. They have a great team of engineering people 0:08:34.679 --> 0:08:38.880 at the factory, very passionate about what they do, and 0:08:39.000 --> 0:08:42.240 hopefully we'll see them like we have seen at the 0:08:42.240 --> 0:08:44.960 start of this season, that they can fight for really 0:08:45.040 --> 0:08:48.760 good positions. This is where things do get very, very confusing. 0:08:48.960 --> 0:08:52.560 So Alpha returns the sport. They end up taking over 0:08:52.600 --> 0:08:55.680 the name of the Solber team, but the team is 0:08:55.679 --> 0:08:59.280 still operated by Souber, so every all the leader, everyone 0:08:59.320 --> 0:09:03.400 remains at Salber. It's just a new name. So today 0:09:03.400 --> 0:09:06.120 you see Alpha Romeyo now Orleans a sponsor, so it's 0:09:06.160 --> 0:09:11.640 Alpha Romeo Orleans but then operated by Suber. Yeah, confusing, 0:09:11.640 --> 0:09:14.160 but Alpha Mayo basically comes back to the grid in 0:09:15.679 --> 0:09:21.160 historically have not always been the strongest. You know, they 0:09:21.240 --> 0:09:23.920 they're back of the pack when they enter in twenty nineteen, 0:09:24.240 --> 0:09:26.520 so that's kind of where where Alpha sits is back 0:09:26.720 --> 0:09:29.720 maybe maybe back of the midfield or back of the 0:09:29.880 --> 0:09:33.120 entire pack. So yeah, so I guess overall, Alphro Mayo 0:09:33.280 --> 0:09:36.120 Historic team kicks off the F one err and style, 0:09:36.200 --> 0:09:39.480 leaves for a while, kind of returns randomly, and then 0:09:39.520 --> 0:09:42.480 disappears again and is under all sorts of different names, 0:09:42.480 --> 0:09:44.160 and then finally decides for the time being that they 0:09:44.160 --> 0:09:46.280 are in fact going to do this F one thing. 0:09:46.800 --> 0:09:50.000 And so twenty nineteen to present, that's where we're at. 0:09:50.040 --> 0:09:53.480 Sounds like they never should have left. Yeah, you know 0:09:54.960 --> 0:09:58.400 what you can do exactly? It could have been Ferrari. Well, 0:09:58.440 --> 0:09:59.920 I don't know if i'd want to work under ends 0:10:00.080 --> 0:10:02.720 because he sounds like kind of a nightmare. Yeah, I'm 0:10:02.760 --> 0:10:04.520 gonna google their car. Can of look at their car? 0:10:04.960 --> 0:10:09.000 That is a almost like a cherry red Yeah, I mean, 0:10:09.000 --> 0:10:12.240 all these cars are sweet looking, but that thing is badass. 0:10:12.480 --> 0:10:16.719 Big upgrades for So here's what's working out in their 0:10:16.760 --> 0:10:18.680 favor so far. We're getting to the drivers in a second, 0:10:18.720 --> 0:10:20.880 but in terms of the car, it appears that with 0:10:20.960 --> 0:10:24.480 under the new regulations so far as as of this recording, 0:10:24.520 --> 0:10:26.800 the team is comfortably midfield for the first time in 0:10:26.800 --> 0:10:29.600 a very long time, which is very, very exciting. Yeah, 0:10:29.840 --> 0:10:32.880 and you can just tell the team seems more excited 0:10:32.920 --> 0:10:34.760 and more energized than they have. But I think in 0:10:34.880 --> 0:10:37.319 that in large part has to do with the driver 0:10:37.480 --> 0:10:40.319 line up. Yeah, yeah, I would think you want to 0:10:40.320 --> 0:10:42.200 help move us on to drive. No, I don't. Actually, 0:10:42.240 --> 0:10:45.560 I'd like to stop. I'd like to stop there. I'm 0:10:45.640 --> 0:10:48.640 so excited. This is my underrated king. Well who's driving 0:10:48.640 --> 0:10:51.360 their cars? We'll get into the drivers, but right after 0:10:51.400 --> 0:10:59.440 we take a break. Okay, I am going to be 0:10:59.520 --> 0:11:02.400 making this is a whole personal pitch from me. I 0:11:02.480 --> 0:11:06.480 am welcoming you with open arms. I love this. Okay, 0:11:06.520 --> 0:11:09.520 in our kind of number one seat here we have 0:11:09.640 --> 0:11:13.640 got uh Finnish Instagram boyfriend. And as I said, King, 0:11:14.280 --> 0:11:17.640 Valtorie Bodice excellent name. Yes you have a dog Walter. 0:11:18.360 --> 0:11:21.480 Valterie is the finished version of the name Walter. You 0:11:21.520 --> 0:11:24.200 already have a bit of a connection to Valtorie Bodice. 0:11:24.280 --> 0:11:26.760 And it should be noted for our millions of listeners 0:11:26.800 --> 0:11:31.439 that Walter is on the lab of YOHI right now 0:11:31.679 --> 0:11:35.240 I think is he is? He's such a little slut 0:11:35.280 --> 0:11:40.520 I left. Okay, So Valtorie, I like this guy? Yea 0:11:40.640 --> 0:11:42.880 valty body. Why do you like him, okay, So let's 0:11:42.880 --> 0:11:45.120 do a little bit of Valterie's history here. So Valtorie 0:11:45.760 --> 0:11:48.719 comes from humble beginnings. He is not a millionaire's kid, 0:11:48.720 --> 0:11:51.800 a billionaire's kid or anything. So his dad owns a 0:11:51.840 --> 0:11:54.840 small cleaning company and his mother is a funeral director. 0:11:55.040 --> 0:11:59.800 Here that Nicholas Latifi. He wishes he could be valtere Bodice, 0:11:59.800 --> 0:12:04.160 which his funeral director mom and cleaning company dad. Another 0:12:04.200 --> 0:12:06.840 fun fact about Valterie he actually served in the Finnish 0:12:06.960 --> 0:12:09.800 Army for a short time because it's mandatory for adult men, 0:12:10.080 --> 0:12:13.880 so he obtained the rank of Lance corporal. Great, yeah, 0:12:13.960 --> 0:12:16.559 I love to see it. So yeah, Valtorie doesn't get 0:12:16.600 --> 0:12:19.840 his start through a racing family. In fact, his whole 0:12:19.880 --> 0:12:22.480 career is due to a chance encounter when he was 0:12:22.520 --> 0:12:25.280 six years old where he's at the grocery store with 0:12:25.360 --> 0:12:28.280 his grandfather, happens to see a flyer for just a 0:12:28.320 --> 0:12:32.280 local carting event that's happening, and decides to go. So 0:12:32.320 --> 0:12:34.640 that's already great. And what also intersects with this time 0:12:34.679 --> 0:12:36.760 we're talking about the nineties, with Valtories now in his 0:12:36.800 --> 0:12:40.600 early thirties. In the nineties, there is an iconic finish 0:12:40.720 --> 0:12:43.880 racing driver named Mika Hackenan he won two back to 0:12:43.920 --> 0:12:49.840 back titles in the late nineties, joyfully out of the car. 0:12:50.200 --> 0:12:57.000 There's so there's a lot of fervor around Mica. He's 0:12:57.080 --> 0:12:59.840 also very finished and being kind of earnest a little 0:13:00.440 --> 0:13:05.000 riot times. It looked very easy, was it? Oh yeah, 0:13:05.040 --> 0:13:09.240 it was so easy, and you can't believe it. No, 0:13:09.400 --> 0:13:12.800 I wasn't so Valtorie between going to this local carding 0:13:12.840 --> 0:13:15.080 event and Mika, you know, hackened In being in the 0:13:15.080 --> 0:13:18.520 news all the time, you know, he's he's hooked on this. Yeah. 0:13:19.080 --> 0:13:22.160 So he eventually is able to make his way to 0:13:22.280 --> 0:13:25.760 the carding scene and and gets into competitive carding throughout 0:13:25.760 --> 0:13:29.000 the early and mid two thousand's, eventually makes his way 0:13:29.559 --> 0:13:32.280 to open will racing, to these junior formula categories where 0:13:32.280 --> 0:13:34.600 he picks up a ton of victories. The young Finn 0:13:34.720 --> 0:13:36.959 really is being touted the next Kimmie Ryk and then 0:13:37.080 --> 0:13:39.319 he's certainly got the same line in dry humor. He's 0:13:39.320 --> 0:13:44.040 looking unstoppable. Everything's going great for Valterie, and in he 0:13:44.080 --> 0:13:47.400 gets a gig as a test driver for Williams, which 0:13:47.400 --> 0:13:49.720 we just talked about. To see Valtery connecting with the 0:13:49.720 --> 0:13:52.720 team you like. Uh, and this is when he's still 0:13:52.800 --> 0:13:55.079 kind of serving in in junior you know, racing in 0:13:55.200 --> 0:13:59.920 junior formulas. Finally, the year he gets a spot on 0:14:00.080 --> 0:14:03.120 Williams team. However, it was a rough year. Both both 0:14:03.160 --> 0:14:05.360 cars didn't do well, you know, it just it was 0:14:05.400 --> 0:14:10.080 a rough one. However, things improved in he ends up 0:14:10.120 --> 0:14:12.960 finishing in the driver's Championship standings and P four and 0:14:13.040 --> 0:14:16.600 P five. Yeah, so William's car was working, Val was 0:14:16.640 --> 0:14:20.960 doing well exactly exactly. Things are looking good, you know, 0:14:21.000 --> 0:14:23.600 he gets he gets the teams, blessing, etcetera. And then 0:14:23.640 --> 0:14:25.920 things really start to look good. A couple of years later, 0:14:25.960 --> 0:14:30.520 the end of the season, Mercedes has Lewis Hamilton's and 0:14:30.600 --> 0:14:39.960 Nico Rossberg to former besties who are now arch rivals, 0:14:40.000 --> 0:14:45.440 and Nico Rossberg, after a very toxic, just terribly divisive season, 0:14:45.680 --> 0:14:49.240 ends up winning his first and only world championship and 0:14:49.280 --> 0:14:52.000 beats out Louis at the last second. And so, as 0:14:52.040 --> 0:14:54.520 if that wasn't dramatic enough, five days after winning this 0:14:54.560 --> 0:14:57.320 world title, I want to take the opportunity to announce 0:14:57.360 --> 0:15:02.760 that I've decided to end my FUMLA one career um 0:15:02.800 --> 0:15:05.440 in this moment here on Monday. That's what I was 0:15:05.440 --> 0:15:07.640 going to say. I thought that was coming. Yeah, and 0:15:07.680 --> 0:15:10.320 he had two more years left on his contract. Piste 0:15:10.360 --> 0:15:13.440 Lewis off too well. Mercedes wasn't expecting it, you know. Again, 0:15:13.520 --> 0:15:16.760 similar to this whole, uh, this whole Daniel Ricardo suddenly 0:15:16.840 --> 0:15:20.920 leaving a vacuum at Red Bull, Nico's sudden retirement announcement 0:15:21.000 --> 0:15:25.040 is you know, shock retirement basically leaves another big void 0:15:25.120 --> 0:15:28.280 for Mercedes. We need to just come up with a decision, 0:15:28.360 --> 0:15:30.520 look at the drivers that are out there, and then 0:15:30.840 --> 0:15:33.640 hopefully quickly decided they now have an open seat that 0:15:33.640 --> 0:15:36.360 they weren't necessarily expecting to fill. For a bit, they're 0:15:36.400 --> 0:15:38.000 kind of like, who could we fill in this seat? 0:15:38.120 --> 0:15:40.280 Who won't We don't want to repeat of this Nico 0:15:40.360 --> 0:15:42.880 Lewis drama. It's not good for team morale, it's not 0:15:42.920 --> 0:15:45.000 good for the constructor. You know. They don't want to 0:15:45.000 --> 0:15:46.840 put a second Niko in there and make this whole 0:15:46.840 --> 0:15:49.960 thing bad. So I guess who's been doing well during 0:15:50.000 --> 0:15:52.800 his time and f one, I want to present a 0:15:52.880 --> 0:15:55.280 new member of the family, So give him a big 0:15:55.360 --> 0:16:00.360 round of applause. As certain Valterie Walter Bodice. I' kidding. 0:16:00.400 --> 0:16:01.880 His liddle name is not. His name was on Walter. 0:16:01.960 --> 0:16:05.320 Walter spots are so coveted and it's such high stakes 0:16:05.360 --> 0:16:09.880 that when one person leaves, it just sends waves. It's 0:16:09.920 --> 0:16:14.520 such an enormous earthquake of action that then has to 0:16:14.600 --> 0:16:17.880 follow to get everything back in place exactly. And especially 0:16:17.920 --> 0:16:19.960 in this case, it was a surprise, right, it's already 0:16:20.000 --> 0:16:23.640 it's already a bit a bit chaotic, so everyone is 0:16:23.680 --> 0:16:25.320 trying to figure out this Val guy who's been on 0:16:25.360 --> 0:16:28.800 the grid for a little bit. And basically Valtree ends 0:16:28.840 --> 0:16:32.440 up spending five seasons at Mercedes and they were a 0:16:32.480 --> 0:16:35.280 little tough, so he has his highs and his lows. Yeah, 0:16:35.280 --> 0:16:38.360 he wins a bunch of races. He's really fast in qualifying, 0:16:38.400 --> 0:16:41.000 so he gets a lot of poll positions. He finishes 0:16:41.040 --> 0:16:44.440 on the podium a ton during his five Mercedes years. 0:16:44.520 --> 0:16:46.720 He ends up i think in finishing P. Three in 0:16:46.720 --> 0:16:51.400 the standings twice and P two twice, so behind Lewis Lewis, 0:16:51.440 --> 0:16:54.120 and then this past year it was between Lewis and Max, 0:16:54.160 --> 0:16:57.120 so he was third behind the two of them. There 0:16:57.120 --> 0:16:59.400 are a couple of issues, though they are always existing, 0:16:59.520 --> 0:17:05.280 so one obviously Louis Hamilton's Sir Lewis Hamilton's is his teammate. Uh, 0:17:05.480 --> 0:17:08.200 Lewis is the goat, that's the guy who you're being 0:17:08.240 --> 0:17:10.440 compared to constant. It kind of sucks if you're paid 0:17:10.440 --> 0:17:13.040 two and you still feel like the guy in this 0:17:13.240 --> 0:17:15.920 in the garage next to you is beating you exactly 0:17:16.000 --> 0:17:18.760 and the Lewis is in the midst of this string 0:17:18.800 --> 0:17:22.159 of victories, right, and on top of that it's already 0:17:22.200 --> 0:17:25.520 kind of an issue, is that the team chose bias 0:17:25.520 --> 0:17:30.800 towards Louis at two point two. Do not fight with Louis. 0:17:30.840 --> 0:17:33.080 There's several occasions of this where they give those team 0:17:33.160 --> 0:17:35.479 orders to have Valtrie, you know, move aside, to let 0:17:35.520 --> 0:17:37.320 Louis through, to do something in a race or a 0:17:37.359 --> 0:17:41.359 qualifying session to make things better for Louis. Yeah, Patrians, James, 0:17:41.359 --> 0:17:43.640 please about the fastest laugh attempt for the end of lap. 0:17:43.840 --> 0:17:46.920 Sometimes it happens at the detriment of Valtori's own race 0:17:47.000 --> 0:17:51.760 or own strategy to difficult day for you, difficuld day 0:17:51.800 --> 0:17:55.159 for us. Let's discuss it afterwards. That sucks. Yeah, just 0:17:55.200 --> 0:17:59.639 a quick interjection here. Um. Valtrie himself made some unusually 0:17:59.680 --> 0:18:04.520 candidate remarks on this whole situation on One's official podcast, 0:18:04.600 --> 0:18:07.440 Beyond the Grid. It was like, I don't know what's 0:18:07.440 --> 0:18:10.919 the description, like biting my own teeth together and really 0:18:11.359 --> 0:18:13.919 didn't feel natural and not right because I'm the racer, 0:18:14.680 --> 0:18:16.919 but I did it for the team, so it's just 0:18:16.960 --> 0:18:18.520 not fun. And it's it's again of the course of 0:18:18.560 --> 0:18:20.080 five years, so it's not like this happened one or 0:18:20.119 --> 0:18:22.800 two races. This is half a decade. And then, as 0:18:22.800 --> 0:18:25.880 if all of that wasn't enough, Mercedes team boss Toto 0:18:25.960 --> 0:18:28.520 Wolf Daddy Toto. We have not talked about him at 0:18:28.560 --> 0:18:31.560 length in a little bit, but Daddy Toto refuses to 0:18:31.600 --> 0:18:35.119 give Valtrie a contract longer than year to year, so 0:18:35.119 --> 0:18:38.080 he's on five one year contracts while Lewis, yeah, Lewis 0:18:38.080 --> 0:18:40.760 is getting signed. Everyone's inn sent a multi year you know. 0:18:40.840 --> 0:18:42.879 So he feels like, and he's talked about this in interviews. 0:18:43.000 --> 0:18:44.920 He was actually very brutally honest after it right after 0:18:44.920 --> 0:18:50.240 he left Mercedes that you have pressure contractually for nine 0:18:50.320 --> 0:18:54.879 years for your formal one career year by year, it 0:18:54.920 --> 0:18:57.320 starts to eat you from inside, you know. Yeah, it doesn't. 0:18:57.359 --> 0:18:59.320 It makes you not feels confident. It makes you like 0:18:59.320 --> 0:19:01.280 the team is not really backing you. But that's really 0:19:01.320 --> 0:19:06.720 stupid of Daddy Toto because this guy isn't some okay driver, 0:19:06.880 --> 0:19:09.680 he's P two, P three. Give him a multi year 0:19:09.760 --> 0:19:13.800 deal and pay him a lot and Louis, that's really 0:19:13.800 --> 0:19:17.360 done with them. According to Valtorie, Toto's rationale is that 0:19:17.840 --> 0:19:20.800 the year two year lights of fire under Valterie. Yeah, 0:19:20.800 --> 0:19:24.760 but you can only ignite so many fires. It's just 0:19:24.840 --> 0:19:28.560 very exacting feeling because we're talking about Alpha Romeo that 0:19:28.880 --> 0:19:33.160 that's what happened. Yeah, there's always little frustrations. Interestingly, director 0:19:33.200 --> 0:19:35.560 Survive has made him and Louis seem a little more 0:19:35.600 --> 0:19:38.320 adversarial at times. And yeah, again, as like with everyone else, 0:19:38.320 --> 0:19:40.360 they've had their moments, but generally a lot of Valtorie's 0:19:40.359 --> 0:19:43.199 biggest resentments have been more with Mercedes leadership than with 0:19:43.280 --> 0:19:46.200 Louis Hamilton's and him and Louis actually have a really 0:19:46.200 --> 0:19:48.159 sweet relationship. They are both, like I said, now in 0:19:48.160 --> 0:19:50.159 their thirties, so they were older and when he came 0:19:50.200 --> 0:19:51.640 on the team is a little bit older in his career, 0:19:51.680 --> 0:19:54.320 a little more developed. Louis was a little bit more mature, 0:19:54.480 --> 0:19:56.639 than he was, you know, back when he was winning 0:19:56.680 --> 0:19:59.000 his first title with McLaren in the late two thousand's, 0:19:59.359 --> 0:20:01.560 so generally taking them on a personal level, they do 0:20:01.640 --> 0:20:04.320 get along. After Louis lost his bid at the eighth 0:20:04.320 --> 0:20:07.000 world title last year, he only came out of hiding 0:20:07.000 --> 0:20:09.240 for two events. It was to get knighted by Prince 0:20:09.320 --> 0:20:13.400 Charles and the second was Valtorie's Parwell party. So it's 0:20:13.400 --> 0:20:16.040 obvious that he holds him in high regard. He he 0:20:16.119 --> 0:20:18.879 really when he left too, had really nice things to say. 0:20:19.000 --> 0:20:20.480 You know, if Lewis didn't want to do things, he 0:20:20.520 --> 0:20:23.480 just won't do things. That's pretty wonderful because they definitely 0:20:24.560 --> 0:20:27.080 we're in a position to be in the trenches together 0:20:27.600 --> 0:20:29.720 and they could. You know, it's very likely you don't 0:20:29.720 --> 0:20:32.160 like those people, so that's cool. The two of them 0:20:32.160 --> 0:20:34.440 are also up there in terms of being one of 0:20:34.480 --> 0:20:37.600 the most successful partner's driver partnerships in F one history. 0:20:37.760 --> 0:20:42.320 So of course, you know it's Vale's fifth season. There's 0:20:42.320 --> 0:20:44.520 already a little bit of something in the air where 0:20:44.520 --> 0:20:46.560 people feel like he's he's maybe on his way out. 0:20:46.960 --> 0:20:50.480 Everyone knows George Russell are Apparent has been at Williams 0:20:50.480 --> 0:20:52.760 for three years. How much longer can you keep this 0:20:52.800 --> 0:20:55.120 poor kid? Who have you annointed the golden boy at 0:20:55.200 --> 0:20:58.280 a shitty team. And on top of that, Valtterie is 0:20:58.280 --> 0:21:00.560 really not having a great season. It's fine, it's just 0:21:00.600 --> 0:21:03.359 not his best. He crashes, he has some other slip ups. 0:21:03.920 --> 0:21:05.680 Is just not it's just not looking good long term. 0:21:05.720 --> 0:21:07.439 And at this point he's in his early thirties. He 0:21:07.480 --> 0:21:09.639 wants some more stability and security. He doesn't want to 0:21:09.640 --> 0:21:12.640 be fighting year to year for that Mercedes contract. Yeah, 0:21:12.640 --> 0:21:14.800 he's gotten the winds, he's gotten the pole positions, he's 0:21:14.880 --> 0:21:17.320 ended up on the podium in the standings like he doesn't. 0:21:17.400 --> 0:21:19.680 He's achieved all of that, so he's kind of looking 0:21:19.720 --> 0:21:22.520 for what does he want next? So he announces in 0:21:22.640 --> 0:21:26.119 late one that he is going to be moving to 0:21:26.160 --> 0:21:30.040 Alpha Romeo. He's had to play second fiddle to Lewis 0:21:30.080 --> 0:21:32.919 Hamilton in all of those years, so he will go 0:21:33.200 --> 0:21:36.720 and be the main man at Alpha Romeo, which everyone's 0:21:36.760 --> 0:21:39.680 kind of like, okay, you know, they finished p nine 0:21:39.680 --> 0:21:43.440 in one out of ten teams. Everyone's king, well, that's 0:21:43.520 --> 0:21:45.639 good for him. You know, he's still in the grid, 0:21:45.760 --> 0:21:47.880 but he's really stoked because he gets a multi year deal. 0:21:48.359 --> 0:21:50.560 And what's interesting is I listened obviously as a fan 0:21:50.600 --> 0:21:52.879 of his too many interviews, and he was very much like, 0:21:52.920 --> 0:21:55.280 trust me, they're going to do cool things in two 0:21:55.359 --> 0:21:57.120 Like he was very adamant about this in a way 0:21:57.160 --> 0:21:59.959 that Valtorie is a very earnest finish man. He does 0:22:00.119 --> 0:22:02.760 really hype things, So I was I was really intrigued 0:22:02.800 --> 0:22:06.639 that he was so excited about the move. Obviously he 0:22:06.640 --> 0:22:10.480 knows he's gonna be the number one driver. So we're 0:22:10.480 --> 0:22:14.240 at VAL's first season where the season's obviously still going on. However, 0:22:14.400 --> 0:22:17.080