Formula One Special: Summer Heat Check

[00:00:04] Speaker A: Guys, we have a special podcast for you today. It is a full hour and some change episode on Formula One. That's right, all F1. Jason has converted us all into full fledged Formula One fans, and I'm all for it. It's actually pretty cool. We actually have a special guest. He made one appearance so far earlier in the year, and that's Andrew Rodriguez, another Lewis Hamilton fan. Just like our guy, Jason Zinke. Me and Aaron, we played matchmaker, brought these two guys together and they just basically took over the whole pod. So you'll hear me and Aaron sprinkle in our two cents every once in a while, but we let these two guys go at it. Jason did a great job of outlining what to look forward to for the second half as we and summer break. By the time this pod comes out, it will most likely be after the Dutch Grand Prix. It is raining all weekend. Who knows what can happen? We do kind of briefly talk about it, but it's more for, like, the overarching pictures for Formula One for the second half and going into next season. So a pretty important pod, in my opinion. So we cover the battle with McLaren, Oscar Piastri, Landon Norris, who's going to ultimately take the Drivers Championship, who's gonna win out. We talk a little bit about the constructors. Number one's locked in. How about everybody else? What about the prize money? Why does that matter? Jason and Andrew broke it down for us really well. They also cover some other things, including Rook of the Year contenders. What's happening with Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari and what can we expect going into the future? And I believe we talk a little bit about the new F1 team entering the foray for the 2026 season, and that is Cadillac and their new drivers. That was just announced this past week, too. There's some pretty cool stuff in there. I don't want to show the Easter eggs in one basket on this intro. So if you're a big F1 guy or if you want to become an F1 guy and you want to learn more about F1, this is the pod for you. Don't go go anywhere. Welcome back to Source from the Sofa, guys. For those not going to be watching this on video, everyone's rocking a racing hat. F1 team today. Andrew's rocking some red behind him. Aren't you a big Hamilton guy? [00:02:34] Speaker B: You think, huh? Between the Mercedes and the red? [00:02:37] Speaker A: Yeah. Oh, by the way, we have a special guest, Andrew Rodriguez. He came on the pod early in the year to talk F1. Him and Jason Just hit it off. It was like some Bumble match made in heaven. So we brought him back. [00:02:50] Speaker C: Hey, hey, hey. That. That was. That was the number one viewed show, by the way. So it was the number one. I mean, Bumble's getting a lot of love on this show. [00:02:58] Speaker A: Yeah. When we did that podcast, we saw like a 4,000% jump on viewers, and it trickled for quite a while until we went dormant back in May when I moved. So. Welcome back, Andrew. We're excited. This is going to be our first putt, I believe, just dedicated fully to F1. We're going to preview the second half of the season. So we got the battle with Norris and Piastri, Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton, the battle for the Constructors Rookie of the Year. New updates from Cadillac. We are recording Thursday night, just a few days before we get back underway. So, Jason, I'll let you take it off from here. What do you want to tackle first as we preview the second half and what should we be looking for? [00:03:44] Speaker D: Well, I think going in the second half, you hit up the first topic could be that really that championship battle between Norris and Piastri. You know, you and Aaron right now rocking the McLaren hat. So Rome, the huge Lando Norris guy. Aaron, the big Oscar Piastri guy. So we know McLaren's going to come home with the Constructors Championship, so we don't need to spend a ton of time on that. They got the best car in the field, but we got a showdown between two drivers with some interesting tactics in the last two races prior to the break, where, you know, you have some competing strategies within one team on their own sides of the garage. And now you're going down to these final 10 races and, you know, where does qualifying play into it? Where does some of the strategy that they decide to do that they're keeping the other side of the garage. What's the tension going to be like as team principal Zach Brown is trying to maintain peace between these two drivers? You know, does it get testy? Are we looking back? You know, I mentioned this before. In the pod, early 90s, early 80s, early 90s, you had Senna and Prost on McLaren, and that was just, you know, an utter battle for the championship. Everything between those two guys and the best car. So, Andrew, you're the guest on the pod. You haven't been here since we did the season preview. What are your thoughts on those first 14 races and what between Lando and Piastri down the stretch? [00:05:03] Speaker B: Thank you guys for having me. I'll make sure to kind of dial in the bot farm this time to make sure we get those numbers up. [00:05:13] Speaker D: When Andrew's on. We're huge in Europe. Just huge in Europe. [00:05:16] Speaker B: You should have seen me after I jumped on. No, but, yeah, to your point. So it is interesting, I guess, the contrast we last checked into the start of the season. It feels like a good midpoint here. I think for me, it seems like it went the way I think we thought it would kind of go. I guess the boring stories. McLaren is really in quite a good championship form. I think that Piastri and Norris are fundamentally the. The same guys that we saw at the start of the year. They're pretty. They pretty much are the two. Two men that they are. I think what's interesting is just seeing. Because, like the. The. The old saying goes is consistency wins championships. So that would kind of bear out that Piastri seems to be in a good position. But I think what's really exciting is that Norris has had to run a form. It's right before this break. So there's kind of just like this, like, head game that goes on with having somebody like Norris kind of clinch a few wins. I think it was a mixture of bold strategy, which we can talk about maybe in detail more. But whether it's like the one stop in Hungary or just like the fortune, just some good luck. Yeah. So I just think it's. As far as the McLaren McLaren story, I think that is the same story from the last time we spoke. But it's just interesting how it's not a solved problem even this far into the year. [00:06:50] Speaker D: Absolutely. When you look at. You weren't on, you know, since kind of this midway point throughout the season, we talked a lot about after the British Grand Prix in Silverstone, and, you know, that kind of being a little bit of a turning point where, you know, questionable penalty for Piastri and some questionable breaking on the restart really handed the race over to Norris. [00:07:13] Speaker B: And. [00:07:13] Speaker D: And maybe that was the first time we saw Piastri, you know, break his kind of, like, even demeanor. And we showed a ton of emotion. What did you think about that as far as, like, what that propelled him going forward? Because it was something we hadn't seen from Piastri, where he's just been this silent killer. No highs and lows. Like Lando has been. Like, where do you think that plays in? And do we see more of that down the stretch? [00:07:35] Speaker B: I think that's a great question. I think that that is for. For me, that is probably the. The most salient storyline I Have kind of ran out the year sidebar just because of 20, 26 and some development stuff like that kind of running out. Running out its course that. Yeah. Like, I think we're left with still this juicy unsolved question of Piastri is now. Right. Like, everyone. Was it Tyson. Right. Everyone's got a plan to get punched in the face. Like, I think we're seeing now, Piastri, like you've mentioned, great poise. He's intentional. He does his talking on the track, for sure. Like Piastri. Yeah. And I. But I. And I, you know, he's got a good. He's got a good corner. But it is interesting because, like, really, we can assume from all those outward looks that Piastri can still, like, maintain that form under, like, because, again, like, you know, that momentum shift of him being the leader in points, I think that psychologically, like, no matter how poised you are, no matter what, like, no matter how you were raised at a certain point, like, it's just a noisy environment. And I think that Piastri did show some. He was human, I think. And that. I mean, that's compelling. It's compelling to watch a man that his whole sort of strength is his lack of flappability. And for him now to be in a position where he has something to lose, the thing to lose is very interesting. And even with the Silverstone, I think even just like, to the. The last string of races, right. Like, I think even with, like, the strategy calls and stuff, I think Piastri, you're seeing a man who is still who he is as a. As a. Like a. A driver. But I think. I think it would be. I think it would be. It would be crazy to believe that. That Piastri is immune to any of this noise. I think he for sure feels this run of form that Norris is on. I think that this break came in a really good timing for him to have an opportunity to reset. I think he's going to double down on the same thing he's been doing since the start of the year. But it will be interesting to see if Norris puts another one or two against him, what happens. I mean, we saw. We saw how he. How he locked up on that last challenge, on the last race when he was going against Norris. So papaya rules. They're allowed to race, but I do think it's going to get a little testy for the rest of the year. [00:10:13] Speaker D: Andrew brought up papaya rule. See, Rome, the color hat you're wearing is not orange. It's papaya So I just want to make sure you get that. [00:10:20] Speaker C: It sounds like a fruit, man. It sounds like a fruit. You know, you eat on the beach. [00:10:23] Speaker D: It is. But that's the color that that is. [00:10:26] Speaker A: I don't even like papaya. [00:10:27] Speaker D: Wow. Well, you're wearing the papaya, you know, McLaren hat right now in your head. Room. [00:10:34] Speaker C: Two. Two for one, half off. [00:10:36] Speaker D: Andrew, when you were on with us earlier this year, I think you Talked about your F1 fandom really kind of took hold with the drive to survive. You know, phenomenon is where you kind of got into it. So we haven't really had this duel of a championship since the 2021 Verstappen versus our guy Lewis Hamilton that, you know, went down to the showdown in Dubai. Heartbreaking for you and I as Hamilton fans, because he was robbed of the eighth championship. [00:11:03] Speaker B: We. [00:11:03] Speaker D: We won't get into all that. But that was really, you know, really what Cap, you know, captured probably, you know, at least for F1 race fans in the. In the United States, you know, hey, this. This really made it, like, hey, this is what it's all about when it's not just knowing who has the best car, you know, always wins. This was a showdown the entire season, and it ended on that last race, you know, with, you know, crazy stuff going on. That was just F1 drama as its highest. A lot of people talking that this season has been boring. I don't think it has been because I think you still have this duel and I think there's some, you know, interesting, more complexity to it because they're on the same team. It's not two teams going at it where it's alpha versus Alpha, like Hamilton and Verstappen were for Red Bull and Mercedes. But, you know, where do you find this season? Has it been boring to you or. Or do you think we're homers? It's not going to be as exciting as Hamilton vs Stappen. But can it, can it. Can it maybe rival that? And as these last 10 races, hey, we got a really interesting fight down the stretch. [00:12:03] Speaker B: Great, great point. And, and, and truly, yeah, I think acrimoniously, like, how that season ended between Verstappen and Hamilton. You couldn't have engineered a better sort of circumstance. But that being said, like, yeah, like, I get it. Like, this is like watching two gentlemen, like, you know, like, like have like a dignified, like, like, slap fight. Like, you know, it's just a different beast. But I will say, like, while, yes, I too, I totally get the apples. Like, it's It's a bit of apples and oranges. I get wanting to compare them. They're not exactly comparable. But I will say like in hindsight like when we look back as like such entitled fans that we are always like wanting like every fight every to be like Frost and Senna. You're watching two rookies on the same team fight for their first championship. Like how is that like just as like a. Is a line in a book somewhere that is just like a. An interesting storyline. I mean two rookies on a team fighting for their first championship and having to not destroy each other and lose their jobs in the process. I think it's a pretty. It's a pretty good storyline. If that's like what we have. I get that there has been a lack of fireworks. I mean before there was even the argument that we lacked seeing them go wheel to wheel with each other. I think we're moving past these threat like these points. We have now seen some wheel to wall racing. We have seen like that the. The two sides of the garages they've been allowed to kind of strategize against each other. So I mean like I don't know as a fan, I think that. I think we're looking for that big flare up moment. It's not a guarantee that we will get that before the end of the year or ever. I think if we did get a moment like that, whether it's a collision, whether it's someone taking themselves out by trying to defend or attack, I think. [00:13:53] Speaker A: We'Re gonna get it. [00:13:54] Speaker C: Well, didn't we kind of almost get that in Canada? [00:13:59] Speaker D: Yeah. Aaron's right. We got it in Canada. Lando, you know, took himself out. [00:14:03] Speaker C: That was kind of. That was kind of the warning. And then you know, the last race, Piastri didn't want to do that because that's kind of the rule. Right. Don't, don't bump, don't take each other out. But yeah, Canada was kind of a preview to something that could end up building up. [00:14:16] Speaker B: Yeah. And it was and it was exploded like and it was received by fans as an explosive moment. And so yeah, I think that you're right. Like I think we are seeing sort of like the skin is not broke but it's definitely like like the claws are out. And so yeah, I mean like who knows. It's a numbers game right. Like as sports are. But there's a prime environment. [00:14:39] Speaker C: When you said claws out that reminded Rome of all his exes. You know, he got a little nervous there. [00:14:43] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah. [00:14:47] Speaker D: All right. [00:14:47] Speaker A: Well, yeah, so I love your analogies dude. [00:14:50] Speaker B: So yeah, so I think that where there's a, there's still potential for fireworks as we go down the home stretch. [00:14:54] Speaker D: So I got, I got two more things on this topic. Rome I want to get to with Andrew on this. All right. So yeah, I long said the beginning of the year we're at the end of the reg set. 2025, the end of the current regulations, 2026 we get a brand new car, new engines, we, we got new engine builders in Audi. So everything that's been peak about this particular car is coming to this head the last 10 races as best as each of the teams is going to get. I said at the beginning of the year qualifying was going to be the most important for track position. However, given the results of the previous race in Hungary with the strategy that Norris deployed, is the pole position going to be good, the best thing forward or is the second driver in line at McLaren and able to take a risky strategy where they know they're going to get second but could take a riskier try to potentially get the win and hop them. What do you think? Do you think the pole position is going to give them the strat, the, the advantage? [00:15:47] Speaker B: I mean I think it comes down to the races like right, like race by race. Like Zandvoort for instance is like a. You know, it's all about qualifying these, these large ass cars as it were with these small European tracks. Generally I think means that. Yeah, it just depends. But no, you're right. I think generally speaking, yes, I think that Norris is shown to be just a, I don't know, a more reliable qualifier. Seems like Piastri kind of always kind of gets through by the skin of his teeth and then just has cooler racecraft on the opening lap and kind of gets ahead and stays ahead. So yeah, I think just depends. I don't know. I'd have, I mean I honestly like just in full disclosure, I have not even thought from that, from that perspective for the remaining races how that will like then like number out based on like what tracks look to be like qualify ahead, stay ahead. Yeah. So yeah, well we'll see I guess with Zanbort starting off because that that's going to be, that's a very banked track. It'll be hard to get past anybody there. [00:16:56] Speaker D: Well the good thing about Zandvoort this weekend, it's actually every race fan's favorite thing. It's going to be raining Friday, Saturday, Sunday is it? And so chaos. [00:17:06] Speaker C: Are we getting, are we getting the late start so I can sleep in or. Let me know. Let me know. Let me know man. [00:17:12] Speaker D: I don't know. I'll send the text out to the group. It's a late start but rain is expected all three days in Zanvert right now. So I mean that plays into potentially it. The. The best car doesn't win in the rain. And there could be a lot of variables in Zandvoort that maybe just. It's not a McLaren one two automatic. [00:17:29] Speaker A: It's 5:30 start, 6:00am 6:00am that's not bad because Liverpool's on at 8:30. Have a. Have a pack Sunday. [00:17:39] Speaker D: Pack Sunday. Liverpool versus Arsenal. [00:17:43] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:17:44] Speaker D: All right. [00:17:44] Speaker C: Good matchup right there. [00:17:46] Speaker D: I mean we're getting. We're getting so European. Liverpool. Tough draw in the Champions League room. Just wanted to put that out there. Woof. Murderous. [00:17:53] Speaker B: Murderous. [00:17:53] Speaker D: Raw group that is. Anyways, last question I. I got this is this is for going to be for everyone in this group. 10 races left. Who's winning the championship? [00:18:08] Speaker A: I think Lando takes it. I. I think he's been the best driver all year round. The times that he's faltered, Piastria has taken advantage of is really just on Norris. He's been beating himself. It's like watching Coco Gauss sometimes or the other tennis chick. You know no one's gonna be better than them. They have to beat themselves in order for them to lose. But the way he's been driving towards the end of the second half, I'm counting my money on him to get some victories right after the second turn and then towards the end of the stretch as well. And running away with this thing. But it should be a tight battle. But Norris is my guy. [00:18:52] Speaker C: Gonna have to disagree with that one man. Obviously I'm gonna go. I'm gonna go with Oscar. I think Andrew said it right. This kind of rest in between taking a month off is the reset I think Oscar needed. You could kind of see things are kind of boiling over for him. Kind of getting under his skin like Andrew said he was kind of, you know, change. Showing frustration like we hadn't seen before. Now that he's got time to relax, kind of sit back, he's got the lead, nine point lead, kind of gather his thoughts, get relaxed, comfortable again. I think he's going to come out. I think he's going to win this weekend in Dutch and he's going to build off that and keep the lead going forward. And I think that's going to put pressure on Lando like Rome said he's made mistakes that'll put more pressure on him to make more mistakes and he'll fall further back. I like Oscar to take it. [00:19:40] Speaker A: You know we're not talking about this weekend yet, right? [00:19:44] Speaker C: I'm just saying. [00:19:45] Speaker D: He's just saying this weekend, but he's saying Oscars winning the championship. [00:19:48] Speaker A: Yeah, man. [00:19:49] Speaker B: Stacking. Yeah, yeah. I think I, I, I do short answer, if ever Piastri. But I see both your guys's points. I think we're talking about momentum versus consistency. For me personally, I think the consistency bears out. I think that Norris is shown as for as much like, yes, the break has been a saving grace for Piastri, but I will say it seems like even between castries sort of, you know, I don't know, being challenged to kind of his character, I think that he handles that better than Norris has historically had. I think no store. Norris is more likely to do self to own goal himself over Piastri. So yeah, I'm gonna just conservatively say that like unless this momentum somehow just stacks so far that it really rattles Piastri, I think it's just easier for me to say pastry looks like the. [00:20:48] Speaker C: Favorite just right now. Rome. I pulled up the odds. Oscars minus 160. Lando plus 125. So Oscar is right now your betting favorite to win the season outright. [00:21:01] Speaker D: All right, well, much like the close championship battle it is. I'm going to make this an even 2. 2. I'm going to side with Rome. Hell yeah. Lando Norris wins the championship. I said at the beginning of the season, this, this could be Lando's one year to win the championship. This is the best the McLaren car potentially could ever be. Oscar, only his second year in F1 is going to get better. Orlando's been around here. He needs to win this one. So when you look down the stretch of the races that he's got coming up, you know, this week in Zandvoor, he won the Dutch Grand Prix last year. Last year, he, Lando won the last race of the season. He won in Singapore. The only race Piastri went down the stretch last year was in Azerbaijan. So I think there's a ton of favorability for Lando down the stretch to ultimately win the championship. But I do think it comes down to Abu Dhabi and it's going to be a duel. And I think that's the best for the sport and I think probably best for what McLaren wants out of this as well too. But, you know, give me that. What did you said? Plus 125. I get on that Aaron for a little for lando action. All right. I should have had you guys place the bet where you're there. [00:22:02] Speaker C: I could place it right now. Just forward me the cash. [00:22:04] Speaker D: All right. We'll move on to the second topic right now. Andrew had you on. Fellow Lewis Hamilton fan. The goat of formula one makes the move to Ferrari in the off season. Ferrari finished second in the constructors last year. Felt that he was probably going to the upgrade. Great in a car in Ferrari. But this Ferrari car has sucked ever since China. When they got busted with the floorboards. Yeah, okay. [00:22:29] Speaker C: And then almost got busted last time. [00:22:32] Speaker D: Almost got busted last time when they were yelling at Charles like don't, you know, basically don't do anything to the bottom of the car. We're just gonna get busted again. So something's up with the Ferrari car. Lewis spirit seems to be broken. He's depressing me watching his interviews. I don't know if he's got the killer instinct right now. I'm hoping he can just ride this year out and next year we get something better. Andrew, what's Ferrari and Lewis Hamilton's next steps right now Because I want this man to get the eighth world championship and break the tie with Schumacher. What's your feelings right now? [00:23:05] Speaker B: Great, great setup. I think. Yeah, like, I think like the like the dramatic thing to do is to like frame it as like are we talking like a championship or we versus like legacy? Like, like what, what's the, what's the. The calculus here for Hamilton? Are we just trying to go out with like his health head held high, wearing red or does like, does he really think that a championship is viable? I think like you can hold both things in your hand at once. I think like, like, I don't think he knows. I don't think anybody knows. I do think that the Vassor contract extension so the team principles extension of contract is a sign of faith because baseur was instrumental in getting Hamilton on board. Soar was Hamilton's coach or principal in the junior leagues. So there's that, there's that correlation, that relationship there over time. So I think it's a sign of faith that what I. What I would say just as an ignorant, you know, outside tifosi, like not inside those boardrooms, I would say that it feels like Ferrari brass top brass is sort of letting the racing heads race. That's what this Vassor extension is. And maybe it's just for the short term. Maybe it's for two years. Right. To see if this thing implodes. But it seems like Ferrari is trying to get away, get out of its own way. The way it does that is by empowering a team principal that has a good relationship with his drivers. There's a great lineup there between LeClaire and Hamilton. So. So to kind of tie into like the, the here and now, the biggest issue with the ride height stuff with the Ferrari, the Ferrari has been bonding, bottom, bottoming out that plank. Wear the plank that's on the bottom. For casual, casual listeners, that is an indicator of whether the car is riding too low and scraping the surface of the track, sort of dragging your belly. They have brought a new rear suspension upgrade. The proof will be in the pudding at Zandvoort because it is banked, banked turns, kind of, it's racing through like beach dunes. Right. So going to have a lot of weight, a lot of wear and tear pushing down. So we'll see if Ferrari has any more tricks up its sleeve for the remaining season. I think all teams, especially the top teams, are definitely investing in 2026 at this point. So the short answer is that I don't think that Ferrari and Hamilton's story is like we don't really have a good answer in the short term. I think we, we will have to see like this time next year to see how 2026 plays out because it is psychological and, and going back to what you're saying about Hamilton kind of just being like, I think it was, was it Russell that had just come out and like told like and stood up for Hamilton and said like that self defeating talk is just not doing him any good. He's a great driver. So that effect. But then also Hamilton like now, as we're now in race weekend is basically said that like he's just kind of like, like loves the sport, trying to fall back in love with the job. Like, you know, I think you get in that space where you just like dread getting to work, get in the parking lot and drag yourself to the building. So I think Hamilton, yeah, so I think Hamilton has his own corner to turn. There will be a natural turn when we get to the 2026 season. I do think, I know it's not exactly related, but I think that LeClaire speaking up as much as he has lately shows that there's just a little bit more confidence in this, this performance team, this, this, this F1 team within Ferrari to kind of have the autonomy to get it right. I will be interested to see if they can do that in you know, eight months time because that will really be the indicator if they continue to be stepped on. Then it's just, it just. There's nothing you can do. [00:26:42] Speaker D: Yeah, I mean, all right, Andrew made me feel a little better room so I'm feeling a little better about where Lewis is at. But I do think he's absolutely right. As we go into 2026 right now that it the car early next year is going to be very indicative. A lot of factors across teams, not just Ferrari. But as I bring the topic up and you know, everyone in Italy freaks out or Ferrari's at, you know, they are second in the constructor standings right now. And so it's, it's a, you know, now they're not close to McLaren but nobody is. But they are still beating Mercedes, they are still beating Red Bull obviously and everything going through there and it just hasn't been the year. Maybe Ferrari expected to go compete for the constructors like they did last year. So what's the progress on the car? Andrew talked a little bit about kind of like the politics aspects of Ferrari. There's a lot that goes into that. It's one of the few F1 teams. Yeah, it's one of the few S1 teams not based in England and so the talent that has to live in Italy and the politics that goes in it because everyone's probably got an opinion, you know, are they going to let Fred Visser run the team? I hope Andrew's right. I think he is. I think Charles Leclair on the radio has been pretty adamant of what the car needs to be. Lewis is pretty adamant with what the car needs to be. So if we can get the input from the drivers, if Vassor gets everything right, I think Ferrari has it. But the one, the one thing that keeps turning on and I want to get to into the 2026 right now, the prevailing rumor is that I guess the hat you're representing insurance, you're representing Mercedes, they have the best 2026 engine package and so Mercedes always does the engine right but sometimes can't do the arrow right when it comes to their cars. Does Mercedes have to jump on everyone next year and then Ferrari's in the wind because there's been nothing about what the Ferrari 2026 car looks like. So I guess that'll be the unknown. But towards the end of the year, who knows what we get? [00:28:30] Speaker B: Yeah, I'm curious, Jason, what you think? Like, do you think at this point is it worth Ferrari trying to sacrifice early development for 2026 just to clinch a second place this year. [00:28:40] Speaker D: I don't. Because I don't think Ferrari needs the money. I think, you know, second, third constructors. I mean, that's going to matter in our next topic of who gets fifth when they're talking about which money they get. But they paid Lewis Hamilton. Well, they paid Lewis like $100 million or something like that. I think, I think the money's coming to them regardless. I think you focus on 2026 and you. Whatever they can do these Lex 10 races, I hope it's in the form decisions around 2026 design versus worrying about kind of results. And for Lewis, he drove the Mercedes engine his entire career. Even when he was at McLaren and then going to the Mercedes team itself, this was a, this is a different beast in Ferrari. And I don't think he gave maybe himself and maybe and us fans gave enough grace for what the change was actually going to be to the car. Because, you know, I'm on the F1 video game and you know, I raced for the racing bulls my first season in the F1 video game and then I switched to the Ferrari year two. It's a little bit different car now. I'm dominating. Just like saying I'm dominating the F1 game. Rome hasn't got on the F1 game yet though because he doesn't want to get beaten. So. [00:29:39] Speaker A: I'm ready, man. Just tell me what to get. [00:29:41] Speaker D: Oh, Rome just got to tell you. I'm, I'm. I think you got to get a steering wheel because I know this is just a Formula one hour. There's a NASCAR video game coming out here next month and then just announced for us, really American open wheel nuts right now. IndyCar getting their first video game on PlayStation and Xbox in like 20 plus years. So I am locked in to the simulator here at the Zinke estate for Formula One, NASCAR and IndyCar. I mean, I, I think I need to get the $20,000 simulator and just pop this thing up in my law. [00:30:16] Speaker C: There you go, man. There you go. [00:30:18] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. We'll do a special episode on like fanatec setups. [00:30:22] Speaker D: There we go. There we go. [00:30:26] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. No, 100%. Yeah. It'll be interesting to see. [00:30:30] Speaker D: All right. [00:30:31] Speaker B: Although I would love a couple. I would love if I got like a podium for the end of the year or something. You know, just something to say that they're not unraveling before next year. [00:30:38] Speaker D: I, I think specifically I think Lewis getting a podium in one of these races where it'd be at. [00:30:43] Speaker B: I Think don't break my heart like that. [00:30:45] Speaker D: I think Charles. Charles got. Got it in him to probably get one a couple podiums on the stretch, but I think. I think Lewis getting some here will be where it's at Rome, you're gonna say Charles. [00:30:53] Speaker C: Charles got a couple second and thirds. He's been. He's been competitive in a few. [00:30:57] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah. [00:30:58] Speaker A: Odds for podium. But like LeClaire and Hamilton, they're like one of the better drivers in the rain. Right. So my money is on one of those two guys to make a move this weekend. [00:31:11] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. And LeClaire has time in the seat. Right. Like, I. Like we're back to where we're talking about like the. The. The different engine characteristics. Like I think I just heard the other day, like, the engine braking like on the Ferrari is just peculiar compared to like the Mercedes engine. So they're just like little kings to work out that LeClaire has a little more time in the seat. Always be uphill. [00:31:28] Speaker C: The car. The car screwed him in the last race. I mean, LeClaire was what, first, second throughout and then what. What do you finish, like fifth or sixth? [00:31:34] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:31:35] Speaker C: After he was complaining the final dozen laps. [00:31:37] Speaker A: Well, he cheated, though. [00:31:38] Speaker D: Yeah. You're not cheating. You're not trying. All right, Rome. [00:31:42] Speaker C: And it's only cheating. It's only cheating if you get caught. Rome. [00:31:45] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:31:47] Speaker D: All right, Rome. Aaron, any thoughts on Ferrari? Lewis Hamilton. I know we've made this into a, you know, 20 minutes here on Lewis between air, Andrew and I. So I just want to make sure. [00:31:55] Speaker B: Pending thoughts. [00:31:56] Speaker C: No, I mean, it's. Honestly, it's just. It's been a common comedy. What I've heard on the Ferrari radios this this season, I mean, you guys have said hasn't been a great season. I mean, just listening to Charles and Lewis complain on the Ferrari radio, that's that right There is comedy hour for me during the race. [00:32:13] Speaker A: I mean, like, they're in second place and besides everything that's gone wrong, possibly that could go wrong this year and they're still in second place. They've been at least consistent and fifth. [00:32:25] Speaker C: And sixth in the driver's standings. [00:32:27] Speaker A: So, yeah, I think it's a pretty good overall pretty good year for Ferrari. They should count their blessings and just ride the wave and, you know, set on that second or third spot. I don't see them dipping it any lower than that. Mercedes probably could take the second spot depending how Russell drives the rest of the year. But you, despite everything that's gone wrong, man, I think Ferrari Is sitting pretty. Pretty nice. [00:32:52] Speaker D: Nice. All right, well, let's move on to, you know, what only us formula one fans really care about is who's going to finish in fifth place. All right? No one talks about it ever who finished in fifth. But in formula one, everything matters in the constructors, especially for the lower tier teams. When you're talking about 5th through 10th on the grid, you got to explain. [00:33:15] Speaker A: To us, especially for the new F1 guys, why does this matter? Why is this important? Why fifth? [00:33:21] Speaker D: So. And everything else from a sports rise racing, you're generally talking about the drivers. And we leave this. We leave this program off talking about the driver's championship, but to the teams the money comes in and the constructor standings. And so when you get the prize money at the end of the year is where does the constructor finish? So every. [00:33:40] Speaker C: Do you know what the. Do you know what the prize money is, structure wise from first to fifth? [00:33:44] Speaker D: You know, Aaron, I knew. [00:33:45] Speaker C: Or is it kind of determined at the end? [00:33:47] Speaker D: I think there is some determination at the end, but there is a slotting and we're talking probably hundreds of millions of dollars depending on, you know, what, what you're. [00:33:54] Speaker C: So it's like, it's like our fantasy league where you get that percentage, right, where you're trying to slide in that fifth spot. Right? [00:33:58] Speaker D: Exactly, exactly. So now everyone. [00:34:01] Speaker C: Now it's making sense. [00:34:01] Speaker D: Everyone gets a piece of the pie. But, you know, in the NFL, we're not talking about, you know, what's your finishing order? And that's the percentage of TV money you get. You know, all 32 teams split the TV money here. Hey, there's prize money associated to it. So when you talk about the big four in Formula One the past half decade, you know, Mercedes, Ferrari, McLaren and Red Bull. Okay, cool. We've talked about fifth place. Now. Aston Martin has pretty much had fifth place on lock for the past couple years. And they've been like in no man's land. They've fallen off a little bit this year. Now Williams, you know, I've been talking Williams all year. They make the big signing to get Carlos signs. Alex albon is often seen as like the best driver of the rest. The guy basically overperforms his car. And so they're seen as, hey, we want one of the better driver lineups. James Vowles, I'm a big fan, you know, engineering guy, really knows the details of the car. You know, explains the hell out of everything. Everything. If you're not a technical person. And Williams came out to a strong start but if you look down the stretch here, we had the Hulkenberg podium that had Kick Sauer go up in the standings. And Aston Martin found a little speed back the past couple race with Lance stroll and Fernando Alonzo. You got the racing bulls that kind of got the two rookies in with Liam Lawson and hazer who's had some pretty results. Lawson a little bit finding his form after he got dumped from Red Bull after two races of the year. Hassan Alpine kind of kicking it down there. But you know, if. If we had point standings that went down to 11th place. We had Ali Bearman finish 11th place like four or five races in a row. So he had some respectable stuff. So, Andrew, I'm putting it to you right now. Williams currently fifth place. Who wins, who gets fifth place at the end of the year in the constructors. [00:35:46] Speaker B: So just to kind of circle back to what Aaron is saying. So just a quick look up. It looks like basically like the top pay for a team on championship. So like right, the two series are parallel, right? It's like best player in the league, Best team in the league at the end of the year. So for the best team, it starts off around like they keep it under lock and key, but about a 130 million. 130 million for the top team versus and it goes about 9 million down per placement. So you start about 130, you end out about 55 million. So why fifth place matters is that fifth place is like 90 million versus 10th place, which is about 40. So you're doubling your money when you're talking about those terms, right? So versus your competitors to your left and right or maybe just behind you in this case. That's a good. That's a good haul. That comes with other stipulations like wind, tunnel time, which everything is aerodynamic based. So they try to do this because it's, you know, specifically with formula one, it is a prototype series, not a spec series. The prototype resource is basically like NASA, like stock car racing, right? Like GT series or other things. You have cars that are all standardized. So all the cars, generally speaking, use a lot of standard parts between them. Which means it comes down to the driver, the strategy, things like that. Formula one is what it is because it is specifically a prototype series, meaning that like the formula one. I know this is getting a little bit in the weeds here, but formula one is a formulation, right? It's a bunch of rules in a book that everyone goes and tries to cheat and do their homework their own way. And they come back up and then whoever does it the best. They all copy that guy's homework. And that's kind of why like we're at the end of this regulation series with 2026. There's a lot of like consolidation where like everyone goes like, okay, like we've had eight years to see like how we can do things different way. Like those two guys have consistently been winning. Let's just take photos of their car and let's just copy their homework. And so all the cars start to look alike and then they break the rules again to kind of reset everyone. Which is why 2026 is so exciting because you kind of have a new opportunity for everyone to go off and do their own homework. Eventually you'll have a coalescing again of design and strategy and then they'll redo it. So yeah, you need kind of these periods in Formula one. [00:37:57] Speaker A: Interesting. [00:37:58] Speaker B: So with this. So back to this point about this payout, like, yeah, like there's in a prototype series, like especially when you're not a, like a Mercedes or Ferrari who are selling 100,000 to million dollar cars, hypercars, you're not bringing in that money. Right. Like, I don't know, are you buying Williams products and you're buying Duracell batteries. Like, you know, like a certain point like this money is very helpful. So back to the question of fifth place. Yeah, I think it's Williams to lose. I will say that from there it seems like Aston Martin seems like there's no incentive for them to develop their car any further with Adrian Newey big signee, sort of the top designer in, in Formula one with Red Bull being hired over to their side. Takes time to kind of wind up and show some results. I don't think Aston Martin has anything to do besides wait for him to cook. So I feel like Aston Martin really, it's Williams to lose. Aston Martin probably really won't compete. Haas is kind of a shit show, I guess is the best way to put it. Like they just, organizationally speaking, they kind of, this time they have new leadership, but that's just got, that has to kind of settle a bit for them to show any kind of competitive edge. The racing bulls are. The racing bulls like Hajar and Lawson I think are competent drivers. I guess it just depends on that whole Red Bull family. And then, yeah, Alpine. I've got no thoughts on Alpine right now. I just. Pretty anonymous. I think that Kick Saber is the opportunist right here. I think Kick Saber, they're switching to Audi next year. So they're basically just sort of a. I don't know. They're kind of just a. In a holding pattern until next year. But Bortoletto we had Hulkenberg, Ulkenberg, they've got. I think they, they. If they, if there's an opportunity to gain points it will be kick saber so Williams to lose. I think I like kick saber for challengers. [00:40:05] Speaker D: Rome, you got thoughts? [00:40:06] Speaker A: No, I'm kind of looking at everything. Makes a lot of sense actually. [00:40:11] Speaker C: Aaron agreeance. I'm in agreements of Andrew I think, I think Williams gets it done and. [00:40:17] Speaker A: Like when you're looking at Williams it's just albon most of the points. Hulkenberg has most of the points as well for their team. [00:40:24] Speaker C: Well yeah, I got the podium so. [00:40:25] Speaker A: And then their team and then they're at like signs got 16 points of the year. He has nothing. Borto has only 14. Unless those guys start showing up then. [00:40:35] Speaker C: Yeah, they still got, they still got an 18 point lead in like you said Jason, they've really kind of fallen off here the last month. So let's see if they can get it back together. But yeah, I mean they got, they got a good enough cushion that I think they can hold on to fifth. [00:40:47] Speaker D: Yeah, I do. I, I do agree but I think Andrew's definitely right about kick Saba right now. Ulkenberg's going to get the results but Gabriel Bortoletto not to go into our next comic of rookie of the year. He's really come on strong this half. This half half part of the season and the half. I don't know what I'm trying to say. [00:41:04] Speaker A: Are you gonna say half ass? [00:41:05] Speaker D: The half ass. But he wasn't half ass. It was like it was that it was the second half of the first half of the season because Hulkenberg got all his points off the, off the podium. He got in Silverstone. But when you look at qualifying, Bortoletto has been competing with them without out qualifying Hulkenberg and having some good results inside the race. So I, I think they, they got a pretty interesting team and Bortoletto like Sauber's been a bad team for a while now, but Bortoletto has been a winner in every series he's been to. So the guy can drive and so I, I think if you're looking at Williams like Andrew's kind of right about Aston Martin. They've had a good car but what are they going to do with it? I feel that they really care. I think Salber's got a little bit something they're finding in this car down the stretch and it probably is going to be the threat but I'll agree with everyone else. I think Williams probably holds on though because I don't. To your point, to your point, Rome Sainz hasn't done much. I think there's an opportunity for signs to put in some results here as he's gotten more comfortable in this Mercedes powered Williams. [00:42:01] Speaker A: I think like the wild card if you want to do like a long shot would be Red Bull. [00:42:05] Speaker C: The Racing Bulls. [00:42:06] Speaker B: That's fair. [00:42:08] Speaker D: Yeah, I think it's fair. I think they have two great young drivers. Lawson I think mentally was probably just fried after he got kicked out of Red Bull but I, I think they've had a plan for him and he's had some better results recently and gotten to the points. [00:42:21] Speaker B: Yeah, he sounds good in interviews. He, I mean I, you know, credit to him. I thought he would just. That's a hard, that's just, that's hard to shovel that kind of shit. And yeah, he seems like in a healthier mindset now. I think they've settled so. Yeah, yeah, I think Racing Bulls has potential. Just tire dag, things like that. Like if it, if it comes their way it will. Yeah. And again I think Hulkenberg is going to stick around so I mean there's incentive for him to turn out as well. [00:42:47] Speaker A: Yeah, like Racing Bulls, they've been pretty consistent so if they keep up with. [00:42:51] Speaker C: It then be interesting finish for fifth. [00:42:54] Speaker A: They could probably get. [00:42:56] Speaker C: It's going to be interesting. [00:42:57] Speaker A: I think Racing Bulls could get up to sixth. [00:43:00] Speaker B: I'm sure they can do some creative accounting either way and get Racing Bulls the money from the, their, their sister team if they needed to. [00:43:07] Speaker A: Right, Very like that. They don't eat it. [00:43:12] Speaker D: All right, cool. On to the next topic. Rookie of the year so huge rookie class. We got into Formula one this year a ton of change with all these teams. Brought on a bunch of new drivers that were, you know, highly touted guys in some lower series, you know, successful people in Formula 2 like Gabriel Bordelletto, you know what chosen next ones drivers like Kimi Antonelli haven't talked about him yet. Isaac Hadjar had, you know a memorable, you know, bad start to his season but really bounced back and had some great results with Racing Bulls. Liam Lawson, you know, a little bit of experience rookie, a little last year but this is his first full season. Not a great start but has come on late. I think you got Ali Bearman in the discussion as well. Out of all that, Andrew, who's your rookie of the year thus far. And who do you think gets it if we think the end of the 2025 season? [00:44:07] Speaker B: Yeah, it's a great question. You know, like, I don't feel. I don't feel committed to any one rookie. I'm enjoying watching the field. It would be very easy for me to choose like, Antonelli at the start of the year just based on like the hype and generational talent. Stuff like, that's just always fun to watch. So that would have probably been my start. And then I was curious about Hajar and then that seemed to kind of be bottled a bit. And then like you said, he seems to be kind of leveling out. And now I think just like kind of on a good, on a good run. Bordoletto, I just wasn't sure where to place him and now I'm like, look at this kid. So, yeah, I think for me, I still. It's just hard because, like, Antonelli had an explosive start, but then now he's in a position where it's almost like he kind of has to justify himself. Like we, like, from, like, from, from Cinderella to like wench, like in the course of like half a season, like so. Yeah, I think if he had to peg me on it, I'd say Bortoletto right now. I would say it was Antonella to start. I really don't know how it's going to shake out. I'm really loving that we have a big freshman season of rookies compared to, what was it like the year before that that we had like no changes on the grid for the first time. So, yeah, so I'm just, I'm a glutton for choice right now with these rookies. None of them have been one note, I will say that. So that's good. [00:45:42] Speaker D: Yeah, I think everyone has had their moments so far. Antonelli, I think, has the best car. So if we look at results, he's topping the points out of any of the rookies right now. [00:45:52] Speaker B: He. [00:45:53] Speaker D: He's the only one with the, with the podium finish. Everything with him obviously was hype. Generational talent. This is the next Verstappen, the next Hamilton, the next Schumacher, whatever you want to say. And it's just been up and down now, a couple blown engines. Probably not his fault. Mercedes had some blown engines down the middle of the season. He's made his mistakes here and there, but down the stretch we play in a couple. You know, the Mercedes, for whatever reason, gets his act together when the track is cold. Canada, for example. George Russell winning in Las Vegas last year. That Vegas race is going to be cold as hell in November later this year. So I think there's an opportunity for Antonella to score some points. We talked about our kick salber conversation with Bortoletto. For me, I think it's between those two to win it. Bortoletto is not going to outscore points Antonelli. But I think based on like drive craft and things like that, I think you'd be looking at what can he impressively do with the kick Sauber. But I expect Antonelli to be the highest scoring point finisher of the rookies because he has the best car and he's done some performance in it to earn that as well too. You see the talent for him, it's going to be just consistency. [00:46:59] Speaker B: And I will say just for all the fans out there, I am so sorry for the Kalapinto erasure. I did not even realize that I had left him out. [00:47:06] Speaker D: No, I. No, I left him out. That's my bad. [00:47:08] Speaker B: Okay. You know, I just totally. It's like cheese. But that's telling in its own way. So. [00:47:16] Speaker D: Well, the. The Cola Pinto thing's crazy because he came in like a force in Williams in like his first couple starts and then he was destroying cars left and right. He doesn't get a contract, gets the reserve they boot jack do in over a couple races. You know, Kylo Pinto rumors are he's just getting, you know, the money funneled because you got interest in Argentina. Probably paying Alpine to get him a seat. That's how some of this formula one stuff works behind the scenes. [00:47:41] Speaker B: And so yeah, I. Carlos Slim Sergio Perez is backer. [00:47:46] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:47:47] Speaker B: That was where that money. [00:47:47] Speaker C: Oh, he's. He's coming back. [00:47:50] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:47:50] Speaker B: So, yeah. So that. That also does not bode well for Colpinto with the Paris return. But we can go into that with Cadillac. [00:47:56] Speaker D: Yep. But yeah, I'll. I'll put you on that. Rome, Aaron, rookie of the year so far. End of the year, who you got? [00:48:06] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean beginning of the year, Antonelli was good, looking good, you got the podium. But you know, we kind of look at. We kind of remember how you finish and how you look now, not how you started three, four months ago. And right now the guy that's riding strong is like you guys said, is Portalelo. He's the man. He's doing his thing. So right now I've got him as my rookie guy. [00:48:32] Speaker A: Yeah, there's just a lot of bang with Antonelli. Got all the publicity, the fancy car, fancy suits, the Fancy hair, the fancy name. He'll take it away. That's all I got. Why are you laughing, Jason? [00:48:50] Speaker D: I don't know. The fancy hair, the fancy suits. I don't know. You're just gonna. You're doing a whole thing right here. [00:48:55] Speaker A: I am. I'm in a weird space right now. I did stand up earlier today, by the way. Real quick, before you guys talk about the next topic. Andrew, we're doing a little bet right now on what you got in that coffee cup, and we want to know what you're drinking. [00:49:13] Speaker B: It's. It's an herbal green tea. [00:49:15] Speaker D: Let's go. [00:49:17] Speaker B: No, no, it's. It's a beer. [00:49:23] Speaker C: Aaron. I told you. I heard that. I heard that. Can open, man. [00:49:27] Speaker A: Yeah, I was thinking, like, for the YouTube algorithm, but I was like, like, if there's some guy drinking tea on this pot, it's gonna be this guy. [00:49:37] Speaker B: Yeah, but now I came home from school at 8pm and I was like, I'm drinking a beer. I'm gonna put in the coffee mug. Because I'm not. I'm not an animal. [00:49:44] Speaker A: But you're drinking, like, tea. What kind of beer is it? [00:49:48] Speaker D: Aaron's ear. Aaron's with a quality ear, listening for the. [00:49:53] Speaker C: Oh, I told you. [00:49:55] Speaker A: Oh, man. [00:49:55] Speaker C: Hey, when you. Wait, when you ain't got in no hair. We ain't got no hair. Your ears work pretty good, you know, that's the trick, you know, just. Just an FYI. What do you hear a little bit better? [00:50:04] Speaker A: Really good San Francisco beer. [00:50:06] Speaker B: I. You know what? But I was like, hey, if this is gonna go on YouTube, I was like, I'll put in. I'll put it in a mug. [00:50:12] Speaker A: You know, I didn't think about that. [00:50:16] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. [00:50:20] Speaker A: Not free publicity. We'll shout the clips of them as well. [00:50:26] Speaker D: All right, last topic we got in the agenda today. We talked about a little before. Cadillac Formula One team, the 11th team on the grid in 2026, finally made their big announcement of who their two drivers were going to be. Did not go with any kind of rookie or project. They're going to bring two veterans of the game, two of the best number twos of all time. Sergio Perez finished second in the driver's championship behind Max Verstappen and was his number two at Red Bull. And Valtteri Botas, who was the number two man behind Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes during the glory days of the Mercedes team winning the seven or eight Constructors titles in a row and him being a major part, I think, of three or four of those so interesting driver lineup. I think it's number one for me. I, I think it's probably the best that Cadillac can do. Knowing this par is probably not going to be great for the first year, probably not the second year as they are just getting into the sport and building the foundation for this team. But you're bringing in two veterans, you know, who know how to drive the car and get the most out of it and provide the feedback. Andrew, your thoughts? [00:51:35] Speaker B: Yeah, I think one, one word is just safe, right? It's a safe, it's a safe ass safe, just vanilla pick, which I'm not mad at. It's like you said, between the two of them they've got a load of experience, podiums, race starts, etc. Bottas, especially with his reserve role, kind of staying in the mix with simulation and driving and, and just being in the garages and being ready to go. I think that if you're Cadillac and you, I think they are Ferrari customers if I'm not mistaken. Right. [00:52:14] Speaker D: They will be for the first four or five years I think before they make their own engines. [00:52:18] Speaker B: 2028, 2028 is the, the, the, the development pipeline for the target anyways. But yeah, so it's, it's like it's twofold because on the one hand if you're entering a sport, having veterans to correlate your data with people who have had experience is very sensible rather than trying to gauge a newcomer and being like does our car suck or is the driver just like half cooked? So it makes sense to put some veteran middle of the road drivers. No disrespect to either one of them. I think they're, they're very, they're not simply middle of the road drivers, but they're not bad drivers. Maybe they haven't been in a position to be great drivers through, through their, the teams that they've been on. But yeah, so if you're trying to, like, if you're trying to wind up an operation, you want people that have some miles on them that you can kind of like gauge your car development against the joke, the cynical take I heard was Botox has the tick tocks and Perez has the money. So if you were trying to do this like as a, as a marketing budget, this is a pretty, pretty like safe way to kind of launch, soft launch your team before it actually starts to get real. Because ultimately I think that Cadillac's ambition is probably to have an American driver to timeline with when they're doing their own GM developed power units. So, but that's like, yeah, that's down the road. So the, the question of here and today as far as like Cadillac's choice to put on Botas and Perez, great. Like, who doesn't like those two guys? Like, nobody like, hates those two guys. They're pretty. They're pretty, they're easy to look at. You respect that they put some time in, in the game. Maybe they lack a little bit of edge or flavor, but again, like, I think it's not easy to join this Sport as an 11 team. Like, that's huge. It's historical. So, yeah, they could have done worse. It's easy to be cynical about this choice. I'm not. I think it's great. I'm glad Cadillac's here. I'm glad we have two more seats. But I think that I'm more excited about what the next step then is for Cadillac in two to like two to four years. [00:54:29] Speaker D: Rome, your ears perked up when he talked about Botas bringing the TikTok and Perez bringing the dough, man. What was, what was your thoughts on that? [00:54:38] Speaker A: Well, I don't know too much about Botas, so, But, you know, and Aaron were brand new to the sport, barely less than a year still. And I think when you brought us on board, that's when we kind of caught the end of like the struggle of Perez on, on Red Bull. But he has experience, you know, with McLaren and I, I, I don't know what other teams, but he's really well respected and, but he did race like shit last year, so he wasn't great. [00:55:08] Speaker D: For a good year and a half. But I think the best thing for, for Checo right now has been that the two people they put in this car since him have not been great either. They've been worse and so true. There's something about the Red Bull car that is, you know, specifically for Verstappen. And I think the other thing somewhat unearthed is that the prioritized development of Verstappen's car versus the second car is that Sonoda wasn't getting certain upgrades this year. Checo seemingly confirmed it was the same with him him last year. So as much as maybe we were critiquing some of his performance, there was stuff that he wasn't getting that they were only giving to Verstappen. And it was a clear one versus two operation in Red Bull. That was going to be what it was. But when you think back when Red Bull was dominant, Checo had the car to be second in the driver's championship, you know, the same With Botas when he was at Mercedes, finished second behind Lewis. So when they have good cars, both of these guys can drive. And I mentioned, like, the feedback portion of it because I think Andrew's watched Drive to Survive, but I think it's seen in early seasons of Drive to Survive when Gunther Steiner at Haas decided to get rid of his veteran drivers and bring in like two rookies. And it went awry because these guys were damaging cars as rookies do and just costing tons of money in repairs. But also you're not getting maybe the right feedback to develop the car at the same time. So to Andrew's point, maybe it's not the most exciting choice because there's not, oh, this is some hot name, but I do think it's giving. You guys are going to help build that foundation and help understand to build the car. But while we may not think the names are hot in Mexico, Checo's a God, all right. This guy. So when it comes to, you know, this is team Cadillac down in Mexico, that's going to be going forward. So I'm sure you know, when you're thinking merch sales for, for Cadillac, he's going to bring those dollars. [00:57:00] Speaker A: You don't need any help selling to Mexicans. [00:57:02] Speaker B: I, I will tell you. I will tell you. So two things. One, I believe it's been the case that, well, was the case that Checo has outsold merchandise. This even during Verstappen's reign of terror, Checko has outsold Max versus, I think, eight to one. [00:57:18] Speaker A: Wow. [00:57:18] Speaker B: Like, he just. South America, Central America and South America loves Checo. Checo is a regional product. Like, you know, Jesus is like, if you are, if you are any type of Hispanic, then like, it. Checo is just like, you don't get a. You don't get a choice, bro. Like, that is like, that is the man you support. And I, I've talked to so many people, like grocery store parking lots and crap. Like, they just, it's just like, yeah, love Checo. Like, don't care about the crazy circumstances. [00:57:48] Speaker C: It makes sense. You talk about a spectacle. I could have heard. I could have sworn I heard Rome mentioning his name while he was sleeping in Vegas kind of moaning. So it, it makes a lot of sense. Now. [00:57:57] Speaker B: Listen, yeah, he's a, he's a cultural expert. But, you know, and I, I will say, like the second point, my second point was like, that man will sell a lot of Cadillacs that I just, you know, you're gonna throw him in a black T shirt with a collar In a Cadillac. Like we're gonna see a bunch of those commercials. But. But jokes aside, it is interesting. This is just like a shower thought I had like, you know, I have not. [00:58:25] Speaker A: What is the shower thought? [00:58:27] Speaker D: He's in the shower just enjoying himself and just. [00:58:30] Speaker B: You just, you just like, think of it. I was like, I just had this. [00:58:33] Speaker C: I haven't heard shower more like a bathtub one. [00:58:36] Speaker B: But not like, you know what? I wish it was a bathtub, a bath thought. But it was just this thing of like, you know, if you think about like legacies and stuff, like, like there's a lot of interesting. And we can like, this is a down the road, like conversation. But like Cadillac's entry, the American angle of the sport, like how we talked about drive to survive. There's this growing contingency of like just the plurality of new fans. Like women, American wide age age group. Cadillac entering is like a storied American manufacturer, GM by proxy. Right. Ideally getting an American driver in. I mean the rights for F1 are owned by an American media group. Right. Liberty Media. So yeah, I just think that there's just a lot there. And if you think like Mercedes as far as like Mercedes has really eaten Cadillac's lunch for the like de facto luxury vehicle and sort of brand and heritage and like since I think Cadillac has had. It's like, you know, like it's had like it's early 2000s, like the Escalade and it's. It kind of like I just feel like there's an opportunity there for if Cadillac is serious, if the money is really there and if they're. Again, this is all just guessing but like there's an opportunity for like, for. For Cadillac if they're hungry enough to really capture some racing and like performance heritage through this launch as an 11 team, which is not like, this is not like. And everyone gets to join. So I guess for me it's just like that's exciting because you could. They could squander this. I think there are people smarter than me and paid more than me to know that it would be foolish to do so. So yeah, this is an exciting opportunity. Having Perez again, like associated with an American company like Cadillac. That's just good. And botas. Yeah, like, he's just, he's a likable guy. Like nobody hates him. So. So I think this lineup is safe. But if you believe, if you're casually curious, like, I would love to root like for me personally, I would love to root for an American driver like in F1, right. Like that would just be exciting to kind of just like, earn our, our place on that stage. So while I may not be excited by this, like, prologue chapter for Cadillac, I absolutely, absolutely understand that this is more of, like, organizational housekeeping. Like, you bring in some marketing dollars, you generate some interest. You don't have two young kids exploding cars on the side of the road for a new company. [01:01:05] Speaker D: Yeah, I, I agree with Andrew. As far as, like, the marketing arm of GM and Cadillac. When. When GM was announcing you want to get involved with Formula One and they talked about Cadillac, people like Cadillac, I don't think of, like, racing cars, but, like, Formula one is prestige. Everything's about prestige brands. When you talk about who sponsors, like, you know, Richard, Millie watches Rolex, watches luxury hotels, like, everything's about. Everything's about prestige when it comes to it. So I, I think there's something about the marketing aspect. And Andrew's right. No one just gets into Formula one. Cadillac was coming into Formula one with Andretti Autosport, who is an Indy car team used to be run by Michael Andretti, you know, one of the great American open road racers of all time. And he, he was trying to bring this F1 team to life, and they would not let him in. And it was almost a personal thing against him, even though it was a joint Cadillac advent venture. And then Andretti decides to resign as head of Andretti Autosport. And they kind of said, okay, we're not doing this F1 thing. And then Cadillac just sit down, take her to on their own. So it's a very, you know, it's a very thin thing that you have investment inside Formula One. They only let certain people in. Basically, it's an exclusive club. And they're going to want this to work because they see the dollars from Formula One from an American side because they know they got Europe. And some of these other countries are going to watch this in droves. You know, us sitting around in the U.S. now talking about this is where the growth of Formula one comes, and that's why we have three races now. [01:02:31] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. There's a. There's clearly an appetite to support an American team or an American driver. So it's not any. There's no win button for doing that. But I do think that, like, you know, Colton Herta and like, other drivers, like, there's all these names that we put on as potential American drivers. I think the reality is, like, their best bet is to put these placeholders in and then like, just develop and like, sort of research who could be that like that potential first official batch of drivers they believe in long term but they're not there. They have, they have, they have buildings to build, engines to spec, things like that. [01:03:09] Speaker D: So Colton heard a rumor to be leaving IndyCar to go to Formula 2. So he gets enough points on his super license to be. Super license to be Formula one eligible. That's kind of floating out there in the ether for as the IndyCar series finale comes this Sunday as well. [01:03:27] Speaker B: And what he's 25 so you know. Yeah, I mean still in the realm. He could be like the older brother driver. If he gets in, they could hold him there for three to five years and then, you know, get a kid in there. Well, I don't know. Well, we'll see. [01:03:39] Speaker D: Well, the other hot rumor I was saying like, and I know rome again, Formula One podcast. But I try to rid the IndyCar a little bit because IndyCar surged in the United States. Four time IndyCar champion Alex Palo won the Indy 500 this year, which I was in attendance for. He just clinched the fourth championship here recently rumored, potentially an interest in him getting the second Red Bull seat behind Verstappen. That's been making its way around the old Formula one rumor mill as well too. So yeah, so don't know. Palo famously was, was supposed to go to the McLaren IndyCar team and he was getting made promises by Zach Brown to potentially get a Formula one ride. Backed out of his contract and I think it's still some legal dispute as he stayed with Chip Ganassi Racing. But after he clinched his four championship it was so dominant in IndyCar this year I think the interest got re renewed. You know, he came up racing with Carlos Sainz in Spain and he's been dominating IndyCar like no other the past couple seasons. So interesting. I don't think he does it. I think he stays in IndyCar and he's probably try to be the, the one of the greatest IndyCar champions of all time. But it was an interesting rumor because a lot of people think, you know, this guy could take those talents to Formula one. [01:04:52] Speaker B: Very cool. So yeah, there's a storm brewing. There's a storm. There's an American storm brewing, that's for sure. [01:04:59] Speaker D: All right, Rome, you allow me to run the ship here a little bit on the Formula one show. We didn't have a name for it yet. I was trying to throw things out, but I don't got a name for it. I was thinking, you know, the sources from the Sosa sources from the Sosa Grand Prix aisle, Grand Prix hour. I don't know. Maybe, you know, but, you know, we'll think about it. You brainstorm it. [01:05:17] Speaker A: Yeah, let's brainstorm. [01:05:18] Speaker B: Man. [01:05:19] Speaker A: I'm pretty happy with this. It was a lot of fun. [01:05:22] Speaker D: I just love that you guys came prepared with your papaya McLaren hats ready to go, you know, as we have the proper wardrobe to talk motorsport. [01:05:33] Speaker A: Aaron, I thought you're going to bust. [01:05:34] Speaker C: Out the T shirt coming later, man. It's coming later in the season. [01:05:39] Speaker A: All right. I'll try to get some work here too. Orange is not my color though. I'm have to get all black. [01:05:45] Speaker D: But it's a cool hat. Nice papaya, I think Rome, you look pretty good in the, in the papaya. I know you. Maybe the orange shade isn't your color, but I think it's good. [01:05:54] Speaker A: Thanks, man. I appreciate it. Feel less insecure. [01:06:00] Speaker B: All right. [01:06:01] Speaker A: Is that it? [01:06:02] Speaker B: I will say one last thing. One last thing. Just, just, just, just. Nerd. Nerd. Is this the conversation I heard that were in the pit lane speeds being increased from 60 kilometers an hour to 80 kilometers an hour? [01:06:16] Speaker D: I had not heard that. [01:06:17] Speaker A: I've not heard that either. [01:06:18] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. So, I mean, that's so. And this, maybe we can, we can put a pin in this. But that why that matters for, for nerds is that like the whole one stop versus two stop pit strategy is often negated by the time that you lose by slowing down to get in there and slow and take your pit stop. 80 kilometers an hour is like 50 miles. 50 miles an hour. So while it's a small from 60 to 80, that's like a three second shrinkage, I think was the, the stat for, for pit lane stoppage. So now when you have these teams hedging, hemming and hawing about whether to do a two stopper or one stopper. When you're talking like a 20 second pit stop, 18 seconds pit stop and you're shrinking two to three seconds now all of a sudden you're gonna like. And again, back to the midfield conversation. Now you might have people who just throw in some softs and just try to get at it the way that Hulkenberg did in a more regular environment. So I, I don't know what the timeline is on that, but I just caught conversation about that and I was like, that's such a dumb thing. Oh, wait a minute. Actually, like, we love that stuff as nerds. [01:07:26] Speaker A: Well, I'm against anything that's three seconds of shrinkage. So I'm too, too mature to handle that statement. [01:07:32] Speaker D: I will Say I. It was some great info, Andrew. I appreciate it, but you started nerded out and Rome damn near had a heart attack on the air. I don't know what the hell happened. He clutched his chest. He had a hard time breathing. Then you said 3 seconds in shrinkage and he lost his mind. I don't, I, I don't know what happened here in this last segment, but I appreciated the stats bringing. Bringing that to the. The table. Yes, that. That will change strategy quite a bit if that were to happen. [01:07:59] Speaker B: Sure, sure. But yeah, I'm really glad to be here. Thank you guys for your. For having me. [01:08:04] Speaker A: All right, Andrew, good to have you. [01:08:05] Speaker C: Good to have you, man. [01:08:06] Speaker A: Thank you. Let's get a round of applause. [01:08:08] Speaker D: Yeah. [01:08:11] Speaker A: Let'S find. Getting you back on the pod, man. [01:08:13] Speaker D: I, I do got to say Andrew though, before he goes. L. We talked about. I know r you're trying to finish up if you're putting this on YouTube. Andrew's got a little bit of the Valtteri Botas look going on. I don't know if you guys want to Google this. The blonde hair, the, the, the, the. The brown mustache. I, you know, you want to look. [01:08:32] Speaker B: Yeah. The Mercedes. [01:08:33] Speaker D: Drinking. [01:08:34] Speaker C: Drinking a cold one out of a little coffee mug. Yeah. [01:08:37] Speaker B: About to go take my bike around. Yeah. [01:08:39] Speaker A: Is that, is that a lava lamp behind you, by the way? [01:08:42] Speaker B: No, it's actually. What's it called? A. Like a planetarium. Like the. I bought for Emma's birthday party. [01:08:50] Speaker A: Oh, nice. [01:08:51] Speaker B: And I was like, if I can get to go red, that'll be Ferrari esque. [01:08:55] Speaker A: So I appreciate it. Actually, we're working on that for everyone else. [01:08:59] Speaker B: No, I'll get some more. Some more gear. [01:09:02] Speaker A: Sweet. Any last comments? [01:09:05] Speaker D: They were good to go. [01:09:06] Speaker B: This has been great. [01:09:08] Speaker A: Awesome. F. One of the books, man. Second half coming up. A source for the sofa. We're going to kick it in another gear to close out the year. We are out.