Episode Transcript
[00:00:04] Speaker A: All right, this F1 with source from the sofa. We're going to talk Las Vegas, Vegas Grand Prix. Jason was there for qualifying and got to check out the race in person.
I was watching it from the Jacuzzi with a few guests and some tequila. So that was a lot of fun. Aaron, I presume, was home.
[00:00:24] Speaker B: Yeah, I was home, man. I was home.
[00:00:26] Speaker A: Nice.
But fun stuff or not really fun stuff, actually, because I'm pretty perturbed that I was at a friends giving thing yesterday and someone. I was wearing a McLaren hat. I was actually wearing the McLaren hat there, you know, and sounds like, oh, your boys cheated this weekend. Like, they didn't cheat. All right. Like, oh, it's like it started like this big conversation I wasn't ready to get into, and then they start breaking down like. Like the Las Vegas Grand Prix and all that stuff. But Landon Norris was second. Piastri was fourth. They got DQ'd. What was it, like four or five hours after the race?
By the smallest margins, but from what I hear, it's actually a pretty big margin, pretty noticeable on an F1 car when. Especially when things are like that tight, fun race. So it was some drama in the first slap where Norris tried cutting off Verstappen. Went a little right on the next turn. Verstappen took advantage and then never looked back after that. You had Russell have a great race, which you guys predicted. Antonelli had a great one as well.
[00:01:33] Speaker B: We did throw that out. You know, obviously. Obviously we had the podium right when it was Norris, Verstappen, Russell, the order kind of wrong. But those three guys. Yeah, but we did point out, Jason and I towards the end, don't keep an eye on Kimmy. Maybe two Mercedes would get on the podium.
That, that, that would have been a big cashing ticket if you had that. Because I believe the odds would have been pretty good on that one.
[00:01:55] Speaker A: Could you bet on who gets on podium? Like just like kind of like horse racing?
[00:01:59] Speaker B: Yes.
The odds. The odds aren't great if you're betting the favorite because, like, obviously, like Jason got plus money before the race on Russell to win. Like Russell to get podium was like you had to bet like 200 to win a hundred.
Like when I saw the initial, like, odds like Norris, like Russell, Norris and Verstappen were all favored to get on the podium.
[00:02:19] Speaker A: Well, Antonio did get on podium. But post race thoughts on the race overall? What happened? Drama.
By the way, Vegas looks like they're renegotiating, extending that race out to 2039 at least to Kind of input, some permanent infrastructure. So they're. They're not spending as much money putting up and tearing down the track. So that might get finalized in the next few months. That's been picking up steam.
Vegas. I was on X a lot. It seems like most of the Vegas Residents don't like F1 being in there because it kind of shuts everything down.
Like, we've heard mixed reports. My friend who's a song at one of the best restaurants in San Francisco, she said, once again, it was popping. They sold the most bottles of champagne all year round for this event. Even more than New Year's, they have rappers and everything else come around or, like, any, like, Raiders game or. Or whatnot.
[00:03:14] Speaker B: So people still go to Raider games. Rome.
[00:03:17] Speaker A: Yeah, they're still busy, I guess.
[00:03:18] Speaker B: All right. I'm just.
[00:03:19] Speaker C: They're busy. Aaron there. There was a lot of Cleveland Browns fans in town. I'll be honest with you. I was there and say, yeah, yeah. Playing a little baccarat and blackjack, you know, with. With some Cleveland Browns fans in town was right.
[00:03:31] Speaker A: Daddy Dion, as Aaron called him, he was in town.
[00:03:34] Speaker B: And I told you the Browns were cash. I told you they were cash, man.
That was one game I cashed this week in Rome. Daddy Dion came through for me.
[00:03:43] Speaker A: So, initial reactions from Las Vegas.
Jason.
[00:03:47] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, I'll be honest. Yesterday type of race, I was there in person. It was exciting, exhilarating, but probably on tv, I'll say the race was probably a little boring beyond, like, really the first lap, you know, it was pretty much. It was pretty much wasn't much there. A lot of chaos going to that first turn. I was with a bunch of my friends who are not F1 fans and really, you know, explaining to them what was kind of going to go on before the race and during the race and. And I said, basically, it's into the first turn, there's going to be cars taken out. It's such a. It's such a quick start into a quick break, you know, hardly U turn and a lot of guys jockeying for position. That's what it was. So I. The. The Lando move, I think, was, you know, wasn't the right thing. He tried to basically be. Yeah, I mean, he basically tried to kind of do what Verstappen does, but obviously didn't do it as. Didn't do it as well as what he had done. I. I think the better strategy was allowing Verstappen to, if he got the good start, let him have the inside line.
Lando could have stayed on the outside around turn one, in turn two, been wheel to wheel with him going into kind of the bend, you know, down that second stretch, and really just, you know, be head to head as he was kind of with George, really. And then George had a heck of an overtake, you know, coming out of three as they were going wheel to wheel at that point. So I think it messed up there. Would it have mattered? I don't know, because you know how Jack was. The car, when you're talking about the planks in the bottom of the car is the reason that Norris and Piastri get disqualified where they already screwed from the beginning. So was all that for not because, you know, was it 22nd, 22nd gap between Verstappen and Norris by the first and second of the race because Norris had to lift and coast, you know, just to make sure they weren't wearing anymore in the bottom. So, 9 millimeter limit on this thing or. But. And it was like at 0.12 on the front run,07 on the rear. And so, you know, it happens. And I think. I know they're trying to put up a bunch of stuff because of the rain and qualifying and sessions cut short and all sorts of things, but this is. This is another thing with McLaren. I'll say, you know, this championship should have been sewed up, and they've allowed Verstappen to even be this close with two races to go.
And Verstappen was the biggest heel in Formula one. When you're talking bad guys, this is. This is the grim reaper coming for you. The biggest bad guy doesn't have the personality, just was front running with a great Red Bull car, super aggressive when he didn't have the car and just pissing people off. It showed no remorse, just total, you know, Iceman where it was. But the way McLaren's handled this thing this year between Lando and Oscar, you've made Verstappen almost a sympathetic figure to a degree. And now people are rooting for the guy to win his fifth straight championship because it's made McLaren, you know, not as likable either of the drivers. You know, we talked about it in Brazil where Orlando wins and got booed.
So, you know, there's.
[00:06:47] Speaker B: There's a lot to this boot in Mexico City, too. A little bit. Right?
[00:06:52] Speaker C: Yeah.
So, you know, Orlando should be the biggest baby face on the grid. This guy was in Formula one, didn't have the wins. Finally got that win last year in. In Miami, and now he's had A slew of them since.
And he. And he should win the championship. You know, that. That was the whole year where I said, this has got to be his year to win. This is a year to break out. It could be his only shot. You never know what this McLaren car is going to be in 20, 26 if. If they're not going to be as dominant. You got to win now. And, you know, you're coming down to it with two to go, and he should have this thing sealed up and we're not. And. And this is a little bit on McLaren because, you know, they have so focused on the constructors. They win the constructors months ago and just not having any sort of strategy between these two guys, letting them duke it out. And it's almost like they're comfortable saying, like, hey, we're not going to choose between you two.
Figure it out on the track, which is fine. But now you've let Max into the conversation. I don't know why they were taking so many. You know, I.
Obviously, us. You're not gonna get super technical what's going to go on in a Formula one car, but why are you even trying to be this close to the edge where you don't even need to win? Like, they didn't need to win in Las Vegas. If they both would have finished in, like, the top six, like, things would have been fine. So if they. If they would have done something different with the, you know, the downforce of the car, so the plank where it didn't happen and. And they finish fifth or sixth, who cares? Because you need basically zero points in Verstappen to win, like, the DQ for this to matter. And now it matters because you're putting it too much on the edge when you just need to score some points.
[00:08:19] Speaker A: Yeah, a few comments on that, because the. The gentleman I was talking to yesterday, He's a big F1 guy. He was talking about how they can actually make adjustments on that plank even in the middle of the race in a pit stop. It does add, like, an extra couple of seconds or stop, but that's something that they could have done, but they've already known that they were kind of going a little too close to that. So I'm really curious, like, did they know that in the practice rounds? Because they said, you know, because there wasn't as many practice rounds because, like, one lap was. Or, like, one night was wet. The other time, they didn't have as much time, so they didn't make adjustments. So FIA said, you know, they didn't think it was malicious. But then again they're on the radio giving hints like they already knew what the problem was. Right. Like early part of the race and that's on the radio and stuff like that.
There was a lot on X saying like this is, you know, you know, alerting FIA as well. And then for them to be off that much, like it's not a lot, it's like a hair follicle. Right. But they said with like the, with like the velocity and the advantage, it kind of gives you almost like a less than like a two second advantage like every few laps, you know, when you're racing. So like when you count that for like 50 laps, like it's a pretty big deal, even if it's like so small of a micro fracture. But since they knew all that, how come they couldn't make adjustments or you really can't make adjustments like that on the plank. That's already kind of like preset when they're refabricating the final setup for the car for the final race.
Yeah, that's a loaded question.
[00:09:44] Speaker C: It is. I, I just think you should be more conservative with it regardless.
[00:09:47] Speaker A: It could have, right?
[00:09:48] Speaker C: Yeah. You're taking things to the limit and you know, maybe it's not as simple because they didn't get that that practice time and that could be a legit excuse where it's at. But. And you know, them gunning for the win on this versus being more conservative is the biggest question. Like how much do you want to take this to the line? Ferrari's played that game since they got disqualified in China. Like that was a competitive Ferrari.
[00:10:07] Speaker A: Ferrari is known for cheating like this.
[00:10:09] Speaker C: Well, yeah, because like you we're a year, A year. We're a year removed from Red bull, Ferrari and McLaren being locked in the constructors. Like there was no clear dominant like overall team because it was Red Bull early on in the year and they fell off and then McLaren and Ferrari came through. So when you went into 20, 25, you're thinking when Lewis is there and Charles is there, like this is a car that nearly won the constructors and it at and it was fine. And Australia and then goes to China. Lewis wins the sprint and then they get disqualified in the race. And that car has never been the same because you know, whatever wear on the floor for them is in violation. Like they've been constantly worried about that. I don't know how many races they've talked about lifting and coasting for Charles and Lewis. So you get into the same thing with McLaren right now that. That unfortunately comes off here. It's not the first disqualification that you've had. Lewis and. And Charles were one, you think a year ago for Mercedes, George Russell vacated a win as well. And Lewis was the beneficiary of that. I think it was at Spa. And so it happens.
But when you're down to this title fight and you got the best driver in the world sitting right behind you at number three, it was funny in Vegas because I was with a bunch of buddies. Again, not. Not F1 guys, but big gamblers. And so, you know, they're.
[00:11:21] Speaker B: They're there.
[00:11:21] Speaker C: This is for my birthday kind of. They're doing the big birthday event for me. And so they're there for me and they're asking me all these questions. They want to play some bets. And so I'm giving them all this stuff. I'm giving Aaron, I'm giving. I'm giving my Mercedes take to them. You know, they're asking me if it's biased because I'm decked out in the. In the Merc gear. But I'm like, no. Like Mercedes has a crap car, but when it's cold, it's going to be good.
[00:11:40] Speaker B: So I'm betting George Russell in the pod man. We do a weekly show on F1man.
[00:11:46] Speaker C: Wherever you subscribe to your podcast, it's right there. But yeah, told them that, but then said likely. Hey, McLaren could. It could be. Is going to be solid. Lando's really on a run right now. You know, I like Lando as well. And I'm. And so every bet I'm telling, I'm. I'm dismissing Verstappen and one of my friends. To me it's like, yeah, really, Jay, you're just. You're telling me to bet everyone except the best driver in the world. And I'm kind of sit there and thought, I'm like, yeah, you're really right on that. He hasn't watched a Formula one race ever. And he.
And he's really nailed on the head. And so exactly. Came true. Is like you give Max. You give Max an inch and he's going to take it. And once he gets out front, there's really no stopping him.
And that's what it was in Vegas tonight. And this. This probably was. I don't want to say it's the last track because he's competitive in Qatar and Abu Dhabi. But we. In the previews, we'll talk more about those being like high speed turn tracks. The McLaren's a little bit better Better at that. This, this track in Vegas would have been one of a good one for Verstappen, which it was. So. But it's, it, it's questionable for McLaren where they're at because if they lose this driver's championship, man, I don't, oh.
[00:12:50] Speaker A: Dude, I'm gonna be so pissed.
[00:12:52] Speaker B: Well, it's bad for Lando. I mean, obviously Verstappen was a big one, but it's also a big win for Piastri because now he doesn't lose any more points. He was going to lose what, 8 or 10, 12 points to Lando. So this is actually good for him.
[00:13:08] Speaker A: It would have been a 30 point lead, Lando over Piastri and then a 42 point lead or 46 point lead over.
[00:13:18] Speaker B: Yeah, so, I mean, it's, it's, it's actually good for Piastri.
[00:13:21] Speaker C: There were, there were, there were conspiracy theories out there that it was Piastri that reported it to the fia.
[00:13:26] Speaker A: Oh, dude, there's like a, an axis saying like, oh, I could have swear I've seen Red Bull shaving off the, Underneath the car.
[00:13:33] Speaker B: Hey, I mean, speaking of Ferrari, I know you're talking about. They've been having these problems. I mean, what was up with Hamilton during. Was it practice or qualifying? Running over that cone. No wonder they got problems either riding with cones under their damn vehicles.
[00:13:45] Speaker C: It was crazy because I was, I was at qualifying live and I'm on the front stretch and I'm just like. And, and for me, like, that's the bias for me is I'm a big fan of Lewis, man. So I'm like, okay, cool. Like, what's, is he gonna get? This podium is the only year of his career. This year he had his career. He hasn't got a podium. And like, could he be do something likely it's gonna rain. You know, he's one of those veteran drivers. Like him, Verstappen, like, these guys thrive in some of these rainy conditions. I'm like, all right, maybe, maybe I, I, you know, I went to the British Grand Prix last year was rainy conditions. Lewis won. It was such an unlikely victory for him. I'm like, okay, maybe, maybe something special is coming in. And I'm sitting there qualifying and the rain's coming down and these guys are running the wet weather tires. And you know, Aston Martin smartly was the only one that put on wets to just start the session. And everyone else ran immediates, intermediates. And I'm like, holy crap. Teams are wasting time and Lewis is just in the bottom five. I'm like, what the hell is going on? And then there was all these yellow flags going on because guys going off the track. Yeah. And so initially when Lewis got the bump, I'm like, oh, man. Like, it was a yellow flag in his sector. I think he had to pull off the gas. So he gets hosed. And then my dad's texting me, and he's like, yeah, he hit a cone. It was under the car. They couldn't get it off. I'm like, oh, my God.
[00:14:57] Speaker B: Yeah. I mean, I. I watched qualifying because it was actually at a reasonable time, because usually qualifying said whatever times they have in the mornings of. So I watched it, and even LeClaire, like, his engine went dead. Like, literally. Dude was just coasting to a stop and then had to reset it for, like. Oh, like, luckily these things you can reset. He's over here pushing all these buttons. And then finally, like, 10 seconds later, he gets going. I'm like, jesus. Ferrari just can't get out of their own way, man. Even. Even when they are quiet on the. On the comms, they can't get out of their own way.
[00:15:27] Speaker A: Quick question.
Jason, the guy I was talking to yesterday, he said Ferrari has a history of cheating. And he was telling me about this, like, fuel thing that happened, like, a few years ago where there's, like, a cell or something like that, and, like, Ferrari, like, learned how to, like, beat it, where they were putting, like, extra stuff to get. Gain an advantage, and then they got caught.
[00:15:48] Speaker B: Isn't that called. Was it Nas or something from.
[00:15:53] Speaker C: I. I will say Rome knocking. The technical of that specific. I will say Formula one overall is like.
[00:15:59] Speaker A: It's just a lot of. Okay.
[00:16:00] Speaker C: Is a lot of cheating.
[00:16:01] Speaker B: Okay. What's the old saying? If you're not. If you're not cheating, you ain't trying.
[00:16:06] Speaker A: Yeah, I guess so.
[00:16:06] Speaker B: Everyone. Everyone's looking for an inch, bro.
[00:16:09] Speaker C: You think about, like, what the sport is and it's about. It's about technology and advancement and finding, like, these, you know, fractions of a second to be able to. To, you know, shave off time, you know, no pun intended for shaming, shaving off plank wear on the McLaren. But, yeah. Yeah, I think when you're coming to innovation and different things like that, like, you're looking at a rule book and you got a guy basically studying and, okay, what. What can I do?
[00:16:33] Speaker A: And.
[00:16:33] Speaker C: And how can this BS be along the rules? Like, I've recommended this to you guys a couple times. Keanu Reeves did a Formula one documentary on Hulu, it's called Bra about Braun gp.
And it was a Formula one team for one year. They're actually the, basically the, the inception of Mercedes is Braun gp. Like that's what, that's what the Mercedes team turned into and they won the world Championship. They're one year in existence.
And the entire first part of their season was basically stuff they did with the wing and the tech they have for the wing that gave them this competitive advantage that other Formula one teams took them to court over during, during that, in the middle of the season for where it's at. So I think these allegations like obviously are kind of always there, what they can do. I think that's just where they queue and take it to the limit. I mean there's always that stuff with Formula.
[00:17:23] Speaker A: The impossible Formula one story.
[00:17:25] Speaker C: Yep, that's it.
[00:17:26] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:17:26] Speaker A: Sweet.
[00:17:27] Speaker C: Great. It's a great watch. I would give it a watch like really, I mean just background inform. You want a little bit. You know, Braun was part of the Ferrari team that gave Schumacher in the Ferrari era. Like he was the big guy behind that. So great red doc. But yeah, I, I wouldn't say it's exclusive to Ferrari Rome. I think it's everybody, but I think Ferrari is going to have an interesting off season. I did see.
I, I will say it's an unsubstantiated report, but I know it's been around there for a little while, but. Charles LeClaire season and rumor. There was a rumor out there today that he's going to sign with aston Martin in 2027.
And you know, he's not. His decision isn't final, but he'll make a decision with the first like 4, 3, 4 races of the year.
[00:18:10] Speaker A: And it looks like he would be on Aston Martin potentially.
[00:18:14] Speaker C: This has been a Ferrari guy through and through, man. It's, you know, he's a young kid who grew up in, in Monaco that his dream was to be Ferrari and he spent one year at Alfa Romeo and then went straight to Ferrari and has been kind of like their guy they send to a long, long term contract. But Aston Martin, that team ton of money to get into the top four, isn't there? Rumors are Christian Horner potentially could be tapped to be team principal this weekend too. And so they're building something at Aston Martin and a lot of financial backing through Lance for. Through the senior Stroll, the billionaire who owns the team. Not Lance, but his dad, Lawrence Stroll. So a lot going on. Not official that he's going to, to Aston Martin, but the rumors are out there. So a lot of, you'll see a lot of drivers giving the evaluation of what that 20, 26 car looks like. Because, you know, if, if Aston Martin's got a good car and Ferrari's got a crap box again, you know you're gonna see or you know, whoever's, whoever's got the most ideal situation the drivers are gonna want to go to. So we'll talk a ton of that in the summer. But Vegas, Jeep Grand Prix, I think, you know, big win, Obviously, for Max McLaren, it's gonna be, it's gonna be interesting. You got a sprint race in Qatar this weekend along with the actual race in Qatar and then Abu Dhabi. So they, they gotta, they gotta show up and just get points and not let Max run away with this and don't have any mistakes.
[00:19:36] Speaker B: What time we got the racist Sunday?
[00:19:38] Speaker A: Is it this Sunday?
[00:19:40] Speaker B: I'll just look at it 8am okay. And then the next one, the following's.
[00:19:43] Speaker A: 5Am Good reason to eat on the Thanksgiving stuff.
[00:19:50] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, we got that. So, I mean, yeah, I mean, it's been just a rough year. Ferrari, man, Ferrari just had a terrible year. I mean, Hamilton's, I mean, no one, no one at Ferrari seems like they're having fun like the other teams. Like at least at some point in the year, Hamilton, they've had guys that have overachieved and like happy. Like Ferrari's like, is like somebody like a co worker that goes to work every day and just tells you how much they hate their job but haven't left there yet. That seems like the Ferrari drivers to me.
[00:20:18] Speaker A: That's what my job tried doing.
[00:20:19] Speaker B: Me. Yeah.
[00:20:20] Speaker A: So that restaurant, the last one.
Do you think so? Like, it was a funny quote from Hamilton. He doesn't want to race anymore this year. Like he, he can't wait for it, you know, for the season to be over.
But as far as back to McLaren thing, do you think they knowingly tried just getting a slight competitive edge to kind of steal this one to seal the deal or it was just like a miscalculated, you know, thing?
[00:20:46] Speaker C: I, I think it's probably a miscalculation and where they're at and just trying to get any edge possible. I don't think there's any malicious intent for it. And I think overall they just know they're trying to get the fastest car out there. Probably didn't get all the data that they wanted to and realized they made a mistake. Like it's, it's a tough track. You know, you think about the street circuits, you know, cars are regular cars are driving on portions of this circle during the day. And then we shut it down, you know, to put, you know, there. And then it was raining, the rubber wasn't on the road, and a lot of different things were happening. So the conditions, you know, weren't. Weren't the best when it. When it came to stuff for the car. So I don't know. I think. I think you call into question probably stuff every day with some of the. Or every race for some of these Formula one cars. But it's just a bad look, given where you're at in the championship.
[00:21:30] Speaker B: It seems like from what reading, most of the drivers there do not like the Vegas Grand Prix. Like, it's the most disliked track of all of them on the schedule.
[00:21:40] Speaker C: It is. Which. It was. Which I'm very surprised about.
That's crazy mentioned, but this is 100%. And I was talking about this with my buddies and stuff. This is the. This is a race. Formula One once.
[00:21:53] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:21:53] Speaker C: And Liberty. Liberty Media Group, American company that owns, you know, Formula One, they want this to be a big deal.
[00:22:00] Speaker B: And literally the celebration's 45 minutes after the damn race. I'm like, God.
I mean, they got show after show after show before they even get to the podium.
[00:22:10] Speaker C: The, The. The thing about Formula One and you guys know this, and I, I was talking to some people, you know, today that asked about the weekend as well, too, and like, it's. Formula One is. Is it's an elitist sport. You know, the. Sponsored by prestige brands that were not.
[00:22:25] Speaker A: You know, I know a lot of.
[00:22:26] Speaker B: People that don't, like, can't even pronounce 90% of the brands.
[00:22:29] Speaker C: 100. 100% like, they're billionaire race.
[00:22:32] Speaker A: You're going to support billionaires now? Like, ah, forget it, dude. Especially in San Francisco. God forbid. I mentioned, like, one thing that has money.
[00:22:38] Speaker C: Yeah. So it's. It's. It's an elitist sport. You know, it's. It 100% is. So you're. You're bringing this to Vegas to attract the biggest names and sponsors. And, you know, you think of the Monaco race. Like, the Monaco race sucks. Like, nobody likes that race. It's not even a race. It's a qualifying session. And then these guys drive around for 50 laps to the streets of Monaco. But that one's like, like, hey, you, it's yacht week, and you got billionaires with yachts.
[00:23:02] Speaker B: It looks beautiful. Drone views. Yeah. I'm not gonna lie.
[00:23:06] Speaker C: And so, like, there's no reason that race should be on the calendar at all because it's a terrible actual race. But you know, it's about the prestige of the event. And you know, you think of Las Vegas, it's, hey, it's the Strip. It's, it's, you know, the, the lights and everything like that. Like on tv, it looks amazing. Probably.
[00:23:21] Speaker A: You know, when you're looking, nobody likes it. The, the Las Vegas residents don't like it. The drivers don't like it.
[00:23:26] Speaker C: No. But the people like me who are descending in as tourists, which is what Las Vegas is about is tourism. And you know, when you come to Las Vegas, like the three of us, you know, we live in California. It's. Vegas is an easy place to go to. November in Vegas is not a hot time in Vegas. Like the pool parties aren't open, the clubs are not popping. Like this is the perfect time, this is the perfect time to bring a race to Vegas because hey, hey, I'm gonna bring in, you know, hundreds of thousands of people and sponsors and all these, like you mentioned your friend, you know, that's saw him on this thing. Like, yeah, like there, there's a high end clientele and you know, F1 fans like me, which can get a reason. There's reasonable deals to be had to go watch this race. Like there, there was. Somebody put that out there. Like it's like 60 bucks to stay at the Flamingo and then you know, a couple hundred bucks to get a seat somewhere in like the, in the Heineken Pavilion or something. Like they're like, you can make this like an affordable event if you want to or you know, you get thousand dollar seats here and there, there. So I think there is some different ways to kind of negotiate where things are at now. I'll be honest, it's a pain in the ass to get around the place because, you know, day, yeah, day one I walked to and from my seats and that, that was just, you know, that was a nightmare with the Strip being closed.
[00:24:40] Speaker A: So I had a friend who doesn't watch F1, but she's in Vegas. She's a surgeon there and got a picture with Carlos Science.
[00:24:47] Speaker C: Nice.
[00:24:48] Speaker A: Jealous.
[00:24:49] Speaker B: What kind of work did he get done after?
[00:24:50] Speaker C: Well, he's the smooth operator, so I don't know, you know, smooth operation.
[00:24:55] Speaker A: She's a cute doctor. She's always no, like, yeah, really cool stuff. Yeah, I think it was like a Rashmar Kazi or like other reporters are saying you can see at the Flamingo. I think it was $8 after fees. Ended up being like 56 and then you can go stay like a lounge and get like a decent view of the track as well if you don't want to, you know, go closer for any like the qualifying. The cheapest tickets I could find for the Saturday night race was 350though. But that was like weeks ago, month ago.
[00:25:21] Speaker C: Yeah, there was, there was still some reasonable stuff. Like I, I got tickets for the qualifying. It was like 300, you know, right on the, right on the, on the stretch by the start finish line, you know. So I mean it's not the cheapest of cheap but you know it's an event type race where you go to and you know it's, it's still there. So I get why Vegas or why F1 wants it and I think yeah, if they make some permanent structure stuff or this is going to be a big thing for a decade plus and get into it and there isn't much as much setup needed to make.
[00:25:48] Speaker A: I think it looks like a really cool track.
At least it has a potential.
[00:25:52] Speaker C: Yeah, I, I don't know how you make it better to make the drivers like it. I mean I think some drivers really like street circuits. Some like they don't. But I mean street circuits are generally a lot harder. Like there isn't a ton of runoff areas. It's a lot of walls and things like that. You know, you couldn't be doing turn one in, in the Mexico circuit where you know, everyone's driving off roading and everything in this Vegas one because there's so cool, man. There's walls everywhere in this one. So yeah, back in the calendar. But hopefully for, for a while. But we still got two more races left of this season and the championship still kind of wide open.
[00:26:28] Speaker A: Any predictions for Qatar?
[00:26:30] Speaker C: I think McLaren is going to bounce back. I think Lando particularly again these last two tracks were fate are favorable for McLaren in the high speed corners.
So I think, I think Max is going to be up there though. I think Lando and Max are going to be about it and then you'll have you know, Piastri kind of right around there. I have zero clue what the Ferraris are going to do. I have no feeling on that as well as the Mercedes and kind of where that's at. But I think, I think you see Orlando, Max kind of showdown with Oscar just kind of peeking around. I don't know, I don't know where he's going to be sitting at a certain point. I'd love to see Lewis and one of these races get the Podium so we can see him on the podium one time in his Ferrari riding this year. I, I don't know if it's in the cards. I don't know what's going on with the team.
[00:27:12] Speaker B: But that's, that's the hot money bet. Can you bet Hamilton to finish podium one of the two final races? You're gonna get great odds. You're gonna get great odds. We'll see when they come out. But I'll be rude.
[00:27:25] Speaker C: I want to talk about it more probably in a future pod but I'll say like Aaron talked about Kimi Antonelli. I don't think he's got enough respect this year for what he's done in that car. I think a lot of other people.
[00:27:35] Speaker B: He'S been great these last, what, half dozen races. I mean he's been, he's been good.
[00:27:40] Speaker C: Yeah. People, a lot of people gave him crack. Did he deserve to be in this seat because you gave an 18 year old, you know, one of the premier top four team seats which generally is going to go to, you know, a established driver. But this kid was supposed to be the prodigy next man up. Didn't have like the overwhelming dominant success in F Formula 2 or 3 whatever he was in last year. But everyone was, you know, we talked about Hajar, we've talked about Gabriel Bortoletto, we talked about, you know who else, Ali Bearman. Like this, I put some stuff and all those guys have been great for some of these secondary teams. So they're really good rookie class. I mean I, it's, I'm not trying to discount them at all. But Kimi had a lot of pressure going into a top tier team and Mercedes right now in the driver's seat to finish two in the constructors. And so you talk about him being a liability of Mercedes not taking this year seriously like them finishing second in the constructors when you know they really, they were four thing instructors last year. They weren't in contention, they were out. They were the bottom of the top four teams and you had a loaded Ferrari team with the seven time world champion and Charles Leclair and then Red Bull, you had Max basically clawing up there. But Mercedes, you know, Kimi has him in the liability. He's been really good this last half of the season after a really rough tour through Europe. And so, I mean I think the future is really bright there for what that team's trying to do.
[00:28:56] Speaker B: I'd agree. I think Mercedes, if you look at Kimmy and Russell, I think going into next season you feel good that that's the best tandem team going into next year, behind probably Norris and Piastri. And given the drama you have between those two and maybe the sabotaging of someone's championship. You know, it's interesting, but I think Mercedes is a team to look forward to.
Watch out for them.
[00:29:21] Speaker A: Nice.
Can't wait for the next race, though. Should be pretty fun on Sunday morning. Not too bad.
[00:29:27] Speaker B: We got Sunday back to back weeks. We're finishing up.
[00:29:30] Speaker A: Wait, is it. Is it back to back weeks?
[00:29:33] Speaker B: Yeah. Yep.
[00:29:33] Speaker C: Triple header.
[00:29:34] Speaker A: Oh, wow. All right, cool. I dig it.
I dig it. I'll do it, then. F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix in the books.
We'll see how the McLarens respond to the double DQ and guitar.
We're out.
