Hello and welcome to the Sky Sports F1 Podcast with me, Matt Bacon. Joining me for this one is still with Red Confetti in his hair from the podium celebrations in Monza, the 2016 Formula One World Champion, Nico Rosberg, alongside our very own Natalie Pinkham, who I both learned and Crofty will be pleased to hear this. Are Swifties? You both went CTALA Swift? We did, that's last time we saw each other.
It was huge, so, when we were 90,000 people and thinking in the middle of it, I was there with my two daughters and with my wife Vivian and that was awesome. A bit long, so my poor little daughter, her favorite song was Bill Lujin or something like that, I don't know what it's a, and it was the last song and she was asleep by that, no she just did, that was her, like it was the most important thing in the world for her to see that song, but she couldn't, she didn't last.
So she fell asleep just before it. Three hours set is quite impressive isn't it? Yeah, incredible. I seem to be the only part of this guy's sports F1 team who didn't get a ticket for that for Taylor Swift. Everyone else has gone Crofty when, Antwen, Rachel when, Ted's a Swiftie as well, next time. All right, Nico, let's, I want to get your thoughts on the race this weekend. You said post-race in the interviews that F1 was back to its very best, so how much did you enjoy this weekend at Monza?
No, it's amazing, it's really amazing because you have four teams who can go for race wins. Four, I mean, when has that been the case? Like never. And, and you go into every weekend and you just don't know who's going to get the win. And this weekend again, it was the surprise challenge from Ferrari, you know, and even during the race, you still didn't know who's going to get the win. So it's just so exciting every weekend, I mean, unreal and this is, it's perfect.
But we just, the only thing we need now is, is Lando to get a good run on Max for the championship. That's the only thing that's missing and we'll get into that later, but we need McLaren to, to, to switch things around a little bit. Yeah, they're not doing the best of jobs to give Lando a great chance for the championship. And, and closely following the unpredictability in terms of entertainment, for me, is having Nico on the SkyF1 team because you, my friend, were seriously punchy.
You were brilliant. You loved it hugely entertaining. Okay, thank you very much. I appreciate that. Okay. Asking all the right questions, pulling no punches, exactly what we need. Thank you very much. Which way? You say what you think Nico, which I think people appreciate, certainly at home, fans, fans enjoy watching it. And look, here's what's coming up on the show today. We're going to talk about my McLaren, as Nico mentioned and, and, and ask, is it time for team orders?
We're also going to discuss what's going on at Red Bull, how their car has become so difficult to drive. And we'll also talk about the win for Charlotte Claire and what that means for Ferrari going forward. But let's, let's start with the McLaren team orders, because I think that's the hot topic. And we did a championship check-in last week, last week on the podcast. So let's do another one here in the drivers. Verstappen is now 62 points ahead of Norris in the constructors.
McLaren are only eight behind Red Bull, but Ferrari, with that weekend, have also been, have, have crept up, is it worth, then our 30, 39 points behind Red Bull. So I guess the big question here, Nico, is it time for, for McLaren to start imposing team orders? OK, so first of all, as fans, of course, we, we love to see the Biaz three time against Norris battle in turn four. Yeah, I mean, you, we were on the edge of our seats. Yeah, I mean, that's like awesome stuff.
So from that point of view, respect to McLaren to let them race great. Yeah. And then, I think, I think, is even more important for all of us is that Lando gets a shot at the championship and joins that championship fight against Max. Because that would be the most thrilling thing. The two friends who are already stopping friends for a while after Austria, then, then fighting it out for the championship. That would be like absolutely spectacular.
And for that to happen, we need McLaren to be a bit more supportive of Lando and, and start introducing the occasional kind of hold position action. And, and actually this weekend, them allowing their two drivers to race probably may have cost them, cost them the win. Because by Oscar and Lando fighting, Lando dropped behind Charles and that gave him about two and a half seconds of extra race time, because he got in front of Lando in the early part of the race.
And at the end of the race, he was two and a half seconds in front of Oscar. You know, so, yeah, there's that as well. Now, is it a case of McLaren need to seize these opportunities while Red Bull are struggling? Because this doesn't come along very often, does it? The fact that Red Bull who've looked imperious for the last couple of years in Formula One are in a state of, well, we'll come on to what they've said about the car, but that, but they are struggling. Max for stepping is struggling.
Is it a case that they've got to seize these opportunities while they exist? Well, absolutely, but, and because, right, we want it all. We want that fight on the track. We want the bigger picture. We want a bit of everything this season, but we are getting it. And for me, seeing the McLaren faces on the podium after the race spoke volumes, because here were two very frustrated drivers still on the podium.
I mean, could you believe that a year ago that they would actually be lamenting the fact that they were second and third? So that is a sure sign of where they've come from and where they're going. Perhaps we shouldn't be rushing in them. Perhaps next year's their year. Perhaps this is just a building year. I mean, even at the beginning of this year, Max was entirely dominant. We could never have foreseen the fact that we would be talking about land being in a championship fight with Max.
So let's be patient. This fight will continue into next year. And again, we'll talk more on this later when we talk about Red Bull's woes, because not much is going to change in 2025 in terms. There's no big regulation overhaul. So actually, what we're seeing now is sewing the seeds for next year. It's building momentum. And maybe McLaren have to be patient in that respect. But wow, I mean, you'd have to say they would only, he would only be 52 points behind.
And you know, if you think about the extra seven points from Hungary, you know, you're chipping into this lead. And it could just tee things up beautifully for a massive showdown and Abidabbi. I mean, can you imagine a showdown and Abidabbi Nico? Absolutely. That would be pretty, we haven't had one of those in a few years, right? But, um, and but not really, I'm so sorry. You know, I like disagreeing with people, yeah?
So I think McLaren should be impatient because they have a shot at getting the constructors championship here and the drivers championship. There's a sniff of a real, real sniff of a chance here. And you don't know you can't come next year Mercedes might be. Yeah, it's true. Or Ferrari might continue the progress they're having. So you cannot just like be patient and all, let's just build it up for next year.
You know, like, I really think they should be impatient and like seize the moment, maximize the moment, pounds, pounds on Red Bulls, weaknesses and go for it. You never know enough one if you get a second chance. You're right. You're right. I was perhaps saying more that we should be patient as fans. We want it all, don't we? Can I disagree with that as well? But you can see it in his eyes. I mean, you can see that he wants this badly. I was really interested as well.
After Miami, obviously that first win, getting that first win is a huge monkey off his back and he was able to just go mad and celebrate. But actually what I've really noticed is a real calming down from him, like when he won a Holland, he was like, okay, that's another win, but it's just another win. And what I want is nine more. And actually then you could see his frustration. So regardless of the fact he doesn't like being asked about the championship, his eyes are on the prize. You're right.
There's a big shift there, a big shift. Very quick shift already also. A couple of months ago, as you said, wow, we want to race. And now, no, no, we want the championship. I thought it was worth mentioning what Andre Estella said after the race on Sunday, because actually McLaren it emerges all now considering team orders. When he spoke to the written media, he said, lando is obviously in the best position from a numbers point of view. We are fighting Max Verstappen.
So I think we want to give to support to one driver. We certainly have to pick the one who is in the best position. And lando has been doing well. I do want to Nico, how would you feel if you're lando-nourished? What do you, is it just a case of if you're a driver in the situation, you want the team to start favouring you? And you don't really care about the repercussions. Like what will lando be feeling at the moment? So at first of all, I'm surprised by those words from Andre Estella.
I missed, I didn't hear them until now. And I'm very surprised that he would be so clear in saying that they're now finally considering to give priority to lando after they clearly didn't on Sunday. So that would be quite a change. And we would obviously welcome that. You know, in lando situation, yeah, of course, you want to be winning races by merit and not because your teammate is helping you.
But there is help and there's like, there's two different, I mean, like turn four, for example, you wouldn't necessarily see it as your teammate helping you. If the team said, you know, hold position, calm things down by the time you get to turn four so that we make sure that we keep the fraries behind or whatever, that's not really your teammate helping you. It's just stopping your teammate from doing a crazy, awesome move. You know, that's it. Which puts everything at high risk.
And that's where you want to avoid, I suppose. So, yeah, so that's okay. It's interesting, isn't it? Because help is what we saw at the very start of the race, which was Oscar covering off George Russell. I mean, that was magnificent teamwork because they both benefited from it. But as you say, just a few corners later, things seem to change. And it looks a difficult one, isn't it? Because you don't want to alienate Oscar.
And he clearly is an audacious talent who has the capability of becoming a world champion one day. But equally, you have to be realistic about these things. And it's all very well saying we've got two number one drivers. I mean, what does that even mean? Yeah, has it ever worked? I suppose it's like saying you've got two number one kids. You don't have a favourite, but Nico, do you have a favourite? Do I have a favourite kid? No, definitely not. There you go.
But it's not realistic though in Formula One to say that you don't side or place your bets with one driver because ultimately only one can win the world championship. I think the thing that surprises me is that there has been a change of tack, a change of heart through the season. I mean, why not have this conversation at the beginning of the season, particularly when you see those massive upgrades working in Miami, go, OK, guys, we could actually be onto something here.
We could actually take the championship to them. We need to be clear in our strategy about if we are going to favour one or the other. And perhaps that is done purely by who qualifies ahead of the other one. To the next couple of races. It is hard though on Oscar, because Oscar in his contract, he will have a number one contract. It won't say in his contract that you need to help Lando. And Oscar is driving brilliantly also.
So he deserves actually every opportunity, just from his point of view, to get race wins. Plus, let's also remember mathematically, he can still be world champion. So there's also that. I mean, he's not that far behind Lando. It's like, what is it? 40 points or something that is behind Lando, if I'm guessing now, something like that? So it's not that far behind either. So it's hard to, it's a hard ask on Oscar, to start for fitting race wins. It potentially, you know? Absolutely.
I mean, you don't want to see your teammate win a world championship in a car that you knew you could potentially have won it in as well. Yeah. And then that's got to be the worst. Yes, Natalie. That is the worst. It's actually quite horrible, Natalie. I know. Sorry about that. I was getting you back for earlier. Nico, why do you think McLaren have been so hesitant in favoring Norris? Like, obviously, I've just told you what Andre Estella said on Sunday. So what, why is it taking this long?
Why do you think there's, there's been this indecision within the two? What's the advantage of not pursuing, say, just, just Norris' world championship? First of all, the situation is totally unexpected to them. And their DNA of going racing has been, we go racing with two number ones and both have equal opportunity. And they certainly did not see this situation coming at all.
So they really have to know it's a big learning process for them and big, big requirement to think a lot about it and see what the best approach is. But it goes against their DNA because their DNA is two number one drivers. Everybody has the same opportunity. But even after Miami, Nico, as soon as you saw how competitive they were at Miami, I know that he benefited from the safety car. But as soon as they thought wins were on the cards, should they not have had the discussion then?
Or maybe they did behind closed doors? Well, perhaps that was a bit early because at that point, no one would have thought that Lando has a real chance of the championship or even in the Constructors' Championship. So I think that was a bit early, but certainly now, because it's so clear that first of all Constructors' Championship, they are the absolute favorites now, which is huge. And even the drivers' championship is a real possibility now since a couple of races.
So certainly now they have to be discussing that. And both Andrea and also Zach clearly are starting to think strongly about it because Zach also in our post-race interview acknowledged that yes, they gave the win this weekend to Ferrari by allowing their drivers to race potentially. It's quite possible. Given what happened in Hungary, for example, Norris Leicestery threw to take the win, do you think almost this is a time for it to be paid back? Was this the opportunity for that to happen?
It's interesting, isn't it? Because you heard, well, Joseph say, you're going to need Oscar. And this is actually the time that he needed him, isn't it? But you tell me, Nico, it must go against every fiber of your being to support your team mate, particularly when you know that you're still in with a chance. More sure, it's the most horrible thing. I mean, look, in my championship year, I was in a direct championship fight with Lewis, and I was running second in Monaco in the rain.
And Daniel Ricciardo was disappearing in the distance, and our team rules meant that I would have to leave Lewis by in that moment. So I actually let Lewis pass on team orders my direct championship rival. That's horrible. In the car, it is just horrible. So yeah, it's definitely not fun. It must be a very strange feeling, isn't it? It's against everything you've been trained to do. It's a racing driver, yeah. 100%. And everything that you've promised you also when they win and brought you on.
And also, when you consider that Oscar is mentored and managed by Mark Weber, fiercely competitive individual himself, there's no way that he's not going to be in his ear saying no way, buddy, we're fighting for this every step of the way. Yeah, yeah. He will know it more than anyone, won't he? What about on the subject of PS3, and obviously being 23 years old, it's his second season in Formula One?
Do you think there is some sense in perhaps not having a number one driver, Nico, in the fact that actually perhaps he's the future of the team, but you know, they don't want to give him, make him feel like a number two, so early on in his career, perhaps, and he might, he might in the future say become a world champion with McLaren. No, of course, you need to be very, very careful.
You need to be very careful because you can also destroy a young driver mentally if you suddenly, yeah, don't treat him fairly. So it does, it can really break a trust. So it's something very, very delicate, and that's why it's so difficult to manage for them. And this is a young driver who's very used to winning. I mean, he's not in everything that he's done all the way up to Formula One. He's not used to coming second up being told that he can't win. No, exactly.
But let's remember also that all of this discussion also started in a way because of a slight mistake again from Lando. So Lando, I think, is the stronger driver overall against Jastry for now if you really look at the big picture. But he has that one or other mistake always creeping in. That's the little weakness that Lando has.
And I think one could say that it's a mistake again on, on, well, a little bit of a mistake again that he was too conservative, not really expecting Oscar to lunge down the outside and turn four because Lando break very early looking at it. So a small, small error on his behalf also that's led to all of this because when you're on the inside and you're even a little bit ahead on the inside, it's still a quarter really.
And by his own admission, I mean, he's the first to say, look, I'm not driving like a world champion should at the moment. He is making those small mistakes that, you know, he's publicly quite self-critical, isn't he? Which, you know, there's pros and cons to doing that. It's great to be open and honest and transparent. But on the other hand, I feel that something like a self-affilling prophecy, like you say, I'm weak, I make mistakes. You then are weak, I make mistakes.
You actually need to project the strongest sense of self and buy into that. But you're like a, you're like the words of a sports psychologist there, Natalie. They will tell you that you really start to believe what you say. And that's why, yeah, I'm always, I even, I told on the show that I wrote Lando a DM actually just because I've thought that my, my experience could be interesting for him, because I've been through all that.
And I wrote him that, that, because for him, the glasses always have empty rather than have full. And the best example is, look, and he's very authentic, you know, which of course is lovely, where you can be authentic and be glass half full rather than have empty. And the best example is the qualifying lap. Look, Lando puts her on pole and focuses his post qualifying talk a lot on, yeah, I messed up the beginning of my lap and actually was a scrappy lap and I apologize to the team.
And so I was down after turn one and two. So, but he could have just as much said, actually, most of the lap was perfect. So awesome, we're on pole position. Both is the truth. Yeah. Yeah. But he decided to just focus on his mistake and on the bad part of it, which was just to turn one and two and not really so much on the rest, which was absolutely awesome world championship driving world class. So both ways would have been the truth and authentic.
And it's just a matter of how you how you put it out there. And so I would hope and encourage him really to have a think about that. And because you can't stop what you're thinking. So his thoughts will remain half empty. That's for now. That's the way he is. It's the way I am, actually, as well. But you can definitely have quite an impact. Nevertheless, if you adapt what you're saying, because that's something you can choose on. So what to say.
So if you consciously adapt what you're saying, you can have quite a quite a positive spiral there, which eventually hits your impacts, your thoughts as well, actually, as we said before. 100%. And also, I think other people buy into it. So it's a good way to position it positively for the rest of the team as well. So Matt, after this podcast, if someone asked you, how was your podcast? You say, you know what, it was great.
They might not even listen to the podcast, but they've gone away with that thought. Matt said he had a great podcast and that becomes Matt did have a great podcast. That's a great podcast. And do you see what I mean? The positive rip in the face. 100%. It's very powerful. Yeah. Nico, I mean, I'm intrigued. When did it change for you? How did you work on changing your mentality?
Well, I worked with a sort of sports psychologist for 10 years during my career and really intensified it in the last year, actually. And yeah, it was, it was a lot of effort. I mean, it was like two hours of coaching or learning, coaching, working on it, two hours every two days through the whole winter. So it was more intense than actually the physical training. It was incredibly demanding, but so worthwhile and really valuable.
Not only for the sport, it went well, well, beyond the sport from my whole life. I just learned so much and made so much progress. So it was super, super valuable. I think, and this is definitely wrong. I still want to keep the cards close to the chest and not go public about it. So I do know a handful in the paddock at the moment, but it's important to be discreet on that.
But I think until we normalise it, mental health generally, not just of elite athletes, but of laymen and women, won't improve. I think we should all be honest. I love the fact you spoke and openly about it, Nico, because I think everyone says, you know, even a world champion needs a bit of support. Yeah, the problem is for me, it's easy now, because I've won that championship, but I'm out of there.
So it's easy for me to speak about it, but I would never, ever, ever have mentioned it at the time, because it would be like, oh, look, he's weak in the brain. Yeah, but you know what? I think the opposite. If I hear that people are getting that extra level of support, actually, oh, they've got an advantage over me as my competitor, perhaps I should be looking into that too.
I think that just shows you've got an open mind and you're prepared to go to all the lengths required to secure success, however that looks in your life. And I think this is the shift we really need in mental health generally in this country and beyond. And it was also eight years ago, wasn't it? So perhaps and hopefully the conversation has moved on a little bit since then, and attitudes are changing and progressing.
All right, that's fascinating, Chad. But all of us, since I last was the next one. I was just saying, you still look great, Nico. Can you believe that? I mean, I remember it like it was yesterday. I can't believe it's been eight years, stop it. Oh my God. But nine, is that nine million? Yeah, I don't know. Yeah, we'll be nine by the end of this year. Yeah. It does move quickly. Let's move on. That was a very interesting chat about what's going on at McLaren.
Sort of the overwhelmingly positive story of the weekend or the amazing pictures that we're going to be talking about for years to come. Was Charlotte Claire getting the win for Ferrari? I guess for him, Monaco, Montmonza, two wins for Charlotte Claire to get in the 2024 season. You couldn't really have done any better, could he? From your perspective, Matt, just incredible pictures, an incredible moment for Charlotte. And it was so lovely to see, wasn't it? One of those will remember.
I mean, it really was. If you're not going to win the world championship, although, you know, they could still potentially win the constructors. The win your home race and then your team's home race is a fairytale. And it was incredible to watch, you know, the scenes on the podium. It's like nowhere on earth, is it? He managed the tyres to perfection, although I think they had nothing to lose, right? They just were like, can we make this one stop work?
If we can't, we'll be third anyway, so let's just go for it. And actually, that's my big takeaway from the weekend. Always believe in the one stop. We saw it in the spot. We see it again here. It's never rule out of one stop. It's interesting though, isn't it? How the tyres can grain and then come back to you later in the race and actually like, hang on a minute. This is, we're on here. So yeah, it was great to see. He's such a lovely guy as well as such wholesome images of him.
And actually, to hear him on team radio, he almost sounded more emotional on team radio, although it was all in Italian, so it just sounded magnificent. Then he did in Monaco. So yeah. Wonderful to see. Yeah, awesome. I mean, that's such a special place with the T4Z there. And the passion that the country has for Ferrari, which is the only place in F1 where a country has such a passion for the race team. Usually it's always for the drivers.
And no other team has a similar kind of passion and following and Ferrari in Italy. It's just mad. I mean, wow, it's so wonderful. And as I said, Charles is now the king of Italy. The whole country is like looking up to him and celebrating him. Incredible, incredible power. Yeah, the Italian king, Charles. And Nico, you said something post-race, which I thought was quite interesting about the impact of Fred Viser on Ferrari's strategy and race craft.
And I just wonder how much influence do you think Fred is having on say that one stopper yesterday on Sunday? Yeah, that was certainly be Fred's influence. Because Fred is a racer and he doesn't need to follow what a computer is telling him. He goes by feel and by what he sees. And so it's a nice contrast to some of those, please allow me to say nerdy engineers who are really in their numbers and in front of their screen. And sometimes forget to look outside at what's really happening there.
And so I think that would definitely be like Fred's influence there. So it's a big decision to make because it was more, I mean, it was less, I would say, less than 50% chance that they would actually get the win by doing that. So it was really going for rolling the dice and looking at the odds and saying, okay, it's worth a try here. We're in Monza. There is a 35, 40% chance of winning if we do try this. So let's go for it. And it worked out. But it was a gamble.
I wonder, now, when Ferrari looked back at this season, I know we still got eight races left. So let's not discount the fact they might win a few more. But for a team like Ferrari, winning in Monza and Monaco, and obviously they got the win in Australia as well, like those are such emotional, incredible moments for a team. And I just wonder if the value of those, you know, maybe this would have been an average season with three, with three wins.
But the fact that they got those wins in those places almost means this season could be celebrated as a big success. Is that fair? Oh, yeah. I mean, look, you can't take away from Charles ever that he's now finally got that made and win in Monaco. And you can never take away from him and the team that they've won at Monza. His, obviously, his second, they're on, on home soil for the team. So they're huge moments for the team. They want them all consistently.
And I think the biggest problem that Ferrari have had is this, this, Ebbing and flowing throughout the season, not being able to fully understand the car. And then we've spoken to Charles or Carlos, he said, we don't fully understand the car, even when it's quick. We don't wear this race pace that's come from. And I think that has been sort of niggling them at the back of their minds. But they're evocative images.
They will really pull the team together and hopefully propel them forward for 2025 and beyond. Nico, it's a podcast. We've got to ask this question. We've got to stare the thought of it. No, he's done not this one really, Matt. I've been dreading this one since I last night. How do you know what it is? You'll be OK. I reckon you'll cope. Ferrari constructs his champions. Could it happen? By the way, that was a joke, by the way. I had no idea. Yeah, this is not as painful as I was thinking.
So yes, of course it can, of course, it could happen. I mean, with the form that they have, they're definitely not the favourites because McLaren by far are the favourites. But this, it all depends a little bit on this upgrade. The upgrade from Ferrari is looking good, but Monza is such an outlier as a track. This is the upgrade also going to be good in all the other places. And we need to wait to have that answer.
And if it really is working so well, then they could have a little outsider shot at actually taking the constructors as well. We've got Azerbaijan coming up. We've got Singapore, of course, where they won last year. So yeah, it's going to be, it's going to be very interesting to see how Ferrari do. Final sort of topic. I just want to get your thoughts on guys. Red Bull and the problems that are existing there at the moment.
And this quote, I kind of had to double take it this quick because I thought it was so incredible. For Stappen called the car an undrivable monster after the race on Sunday, Nika, you got a right smile there. An undrivable monster. I mean, when you're a driver in a car, it's particularly when you're Max for Stappen and you're used to having a car that literally does whatever you want it to do and you've won world championships with it. What will be going through his head at the moment?
How will he be feeling knowing that the car underneath him is not necessarily going to allow him to win races? Yeah, I mean, he will be shocked and you can see him getting angry a lot. Like after qualifying, I think he was, where was he hitting his, oh no, no, after the pit stop, the slow pit stop yet in Monza, he was hitting the steering wheel during the race. So he's getting angry and impatient because of course he's used to only winning.
So going back from winning is not going to be, it's not easy, yeah, for a driver who's just used to winning. But the whole team is getting impatient and the stress levels rise and the panic rises. And it's incredible because they just don't know also what's going on. They don't understand it. There is a little bit of, I mean, let's just wait a little bit because let's remember in TAN4 they still finished second, fair and square, you know, they were still, still had a good car.
Yeah, it was only beaten by Lando. So let's wait because... Yeah, but still by nearly 23 seconds. Yeah, yeah, sure. But as long as it's just Lando, because, yeah, I mean, Monza again is a complete outlier, so we shouldn't like focus too much on the performance deltas from Monza because then we're going to get some, although all the tracks coming up are complete outliers. I mean, Baku is completely outlying, Singapore as well. Anyway, so let's wait and see.
But I still think that he can, he would be, he will be able to race for a second place, maybe even the odd win in the next couple of races. I mean, I just think for Team Morale, it's pretty awful to be finishing 37 seconds behind the race winner with your teammate of other two places and 13 seconds further back. This is a race where he took his 10th consecutive win last year. So what a swing.
What a difference a year makes in Formula One and I suppose for Max, the frustrations will be if a disconnect between him and the team emerges. And if he's giving feedback to the team, as early as China to say, look, we are going down the wrong route here. There are problems, fundamental problems with this car. You can't just expect to iron those out and it's gone from being dominant to a monster, you know, in the matter of less than half a season. So it must be hugely frustrating for him.
And you know, as you say, he's not used to not winning. So he's having to dig deep and actually he was taking great results like the Sanvort, you know, which isn't a great result compared to the rest of his career, but a great result for him at this stage of the season in spite of the car, not because of the car.
And we're seeing a different type of driver in Max Verstappen, you know, he's digging deep and he's doing the very best he can with one arm behind his back, limited resources, limited machinery, if you like. So we're learning a lot about him as a person and a driver, but he will inevitably get frustrated. And I suppose the really worrying thing is, is if this will inevitably carry on into 2025. Final point on Red Bull Nico that I just want to get your thoughts on.
Obviously Sergio Perez has had a tough season hasn't he's been struggling this year. I wonder if perhaps the fact that now Max is struggling, does that perhaps alleviate some of the pressure on check out? Does the people now go, oh, actually, maybe that car isn't as invincible and bullet pre-fers as we thought it was? Oh, check out this was a good weekend in Monza because he was close to Max and qualifying and for his, for his, whatever, he's close to Max also in the race.
So for check out, it was a good weekend in Monza. Yeah, and actually, check out said to us that for Max to put it second in Sanvort was incredible because this car is so difficult to drive. And you know, if anyone can Max can, but when Max can't, you know, no one can. I lost the thread because my daughter came in and said we lost the bunny. The bunny is gone. So that's why gone gone gone gone gone just momentarily lost. Yeah, yeah, but it's a big, it's not a, not a small place here.
So, so I, after this, I need to go bunny. Go find the bunny. Yeah, just don't tell you then about what's coming up on SkySports F1. No race this weekend, but we then got a double head of four either weekend after between the 13th and 15th of September. We're in back you and then Singapore follows the weekend after. And Nico, good luck with finding the bunny. I hope you say a few and your child able to find that all okay. I buy that. No, probably not as exciting after noon.
I don't know, but as bunny hunting, but I hope you have a nice passport office. No race, no race this weekend, but Croftie's wedding. So they're delightful, delightful. Thank you both, great to have your company. We'll be back as always, of course, next Tuesday. Hope you can join us then. Bye for now. Bye bye everybody.