Audi blinks first! | Podcast Ep 975

I'm driving.

Rob anology, I plug it down. I don't you.

Boys and girl go to attention. Please, hello and welcome back inside the perform Apor podcast for nine hundred and seventy five. This is the time, not fast, look faster? Yes, yes, dka negative him. You know why I've asked you here tonight.

I was convinced something to just that. I'm hubs.

You only need to do Hey, grab a beer, sit down, shut up. We're going to go through this week or last week Grace's case. What do most people who listen to our podcast? Are you drinking coffee and commute or beer? Need? I have no idea, But tonight we're gonna cover this week's news because that's what we do. Before doing that, got to go all the way to the right coast nestled mirror our nation's gap. Will you know where you love her? The lovely Redoubtable?

Why, Grace? How you doing well? I would recommend that you don't drink the beer on your commute frown.

Yeah, open container law and all that.

That's bad idea, don't don't do that. But yeah, otherwise cool.

But here's a picture. See people, people, They accuse me of not being married. Because I never see Missus Camber.

So there you let her in real life. She's a person person.

I know people. Thank God, nobody could love that thing. She didn't know, or at least she does she does.

I mean, you know you made it through raising children. And when you say five animals, you're good. I mean one more tests you need.

That's it. That's it, man, that's about all the tests. I can handle it.

You're good. I'm here for that. No, how am I doing tonight? Great? Under about like ten inches of ice. But otherwise you.

Got the ice. Yeah, you got the ice. Normally where I live in Saint Louis, it comes up from Springfield to Saint Louis, there's this band and normally it's above it it's snow below it is like freezing ice. Yeah, and we always get hit with a mix of everything. This time it was just all snow. We must have got about where I live. We probably got like eleven

We got about three inches of snow and then at like eight in the morning it turned to ice and it was crazy sounding, right, because you can just hear the like ice pellets in the sleep and one hour, yeah, ten inches of ice. It was great. Shoveling was great. I could walk on it. It was it was kind of like walking on a pond, right, like you feel it kind of crack and you're like, I'm going to fall through. But yeah, not fun.

So that's kind of how it was Memphis from what I understand.

But yeah, the ice is bad. I don't recommend it.

I know I don't either. Not fun. Hey, before we get started, huge thanks to our Patreon supporters, and a huge thank you to our dear friend Jake for his support. Incredibly kind and very very very grateful for support my friend. Um yeah, just awesome, very humbling. Also, we're going to cover the news. There's news to cover, you know, the new cycles of January twenty to twenty seventh, twenty twenty six. So the new era is officially here, twenty twenty six. Cars are on track grace from shakedown.

Seven weeks after the end of last season. Here we are ready to I.

Know, we're in. Well, you know the rest is yes.

We didn't even get a chance to do that many like you know, off season random podcasts like there's no rest for the weary this off season.

I know I, you know, listeners are probably happy. But you know, for you and I, that off season, you know, we got settled in. We had time to come up with some creative podcast ideas. Oh, you know, it would be fun. It's like the wine and Cheese episode. We come up with different episodes, the whole get to know you thing that you know, some people couldn't care less.

An? I don't know.

We're gonna talk about it, you know what. We're just not gonna rant and raven armwave and make silly faces. We're going to debate whether the privates are good or not. Okay, you know that's.

Just are we checking out here?

Todd Well f ones really.

Want to I don't want to know.

This is the below the belt mixed grace.

That's between them and the doctor.

Yeah, you just keep that stuff and no, Yeah, we had the Barcelona shakedown Day one. Yeah, twenty twenty six arrow regulations, new engine, canfig can fab, all of that hit the track this Monday, the day we're recording. So day one, closed door testing, no media access, no official timing, although there was some timing leaked apparently. Oops, and I know it's leaked. Did you get that air quotes? It's leaked and the team's only get three out of five days.

Who means this? Nobody needs a.

Hond Here's our nice Honda engine, isn't it pretty?

Look at this blurry spot? Great?

You see this sort of off aluminum color. That's kind of this and it's nice.

Why is this the thing?

What cool? It's the thing? Hey?

Look, you know it's I understand maybe why Honda wants to do it, but.

Yeah, I get why Hanna wants to do it. They want to pick it up, of course, and you should.

You should the engine, that's what will big it up.

Right, Get them to sit on the you know, the the transfer case or something I don't right, that's right, you know, why not? So you had Aston Martin's gonna run Thursday and Friday.

Now, oh boy, Williams not running at all in Barcelona,

You have to wonder is it one of those moments or we've seen this before for Williams folks. Now admittedly it was in the lean years and the nays of rebuilding, but they kind of gave that whole first test, amiss. And we've seen this from other teams too. But if I'm honest, Grace, I don't know that I was expecting it this year from what.

I thought they would be there. I'm I mean, so I think that's the thing. Is that, right, there's five days, you only can reach three days. So it makes sense that Ferrari and McLaren are like, we'd like to let everybody else go first. We'd like to see what you're doing before we go out on the track. That makes sense, right, You can wait until Wednesday and Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, fine, you know, and you already told us you weren't coming today,

Yeah, it kind of does me too. They said, yeah, we're not gonna go to that. We're gonna work on some stuff. Use these days spreadsheets. Clean the factory room, right, yes, yeah, you got them out there cleaning up the shop. Oh you miss them oil over there.

That's right, Like you's run, Dennis, this is not acceptable.

Yeah. Maybe you know, maybe they're busy with S and OP trying to catalog wings, get QR code stickers on them. Who knows what they're doing, you know, entering all that into the computer and doing all that fun stuff. I don't know exactly, but they're not going to show up. So take that for what you will, start your own rumors and create your own AI slop about it.

Yeah did they say why? I'm sure they did. I just didn't want Yeah.

I think i I it's been a while and I can't remember the exactly. I think they were kind of like, you know, we're not doing it because we're still working on some development issues and pieces that we're putting together

I mean, so that's good. I mean I guess I guess you have one of two options. You need to be Alpine, who basically, like three races into the season were like we're done and we're focusing on twenty twenty six and Woms clearly didn't do that. So this is I mean, that's the ultimate thing, right they know James knows, even if I don't know that, you know, if their plan was really they were going to develop the twenty twenty five car, which they did, and they were successful,

And suffice to say that that, you know, day one absence is I wouldn't overread that. It's you know, it's it's a limited allocation test anyway. And the real tale is is how cleanly the teams execute once they choose to run, and they've already been running the engines, you know, non stop and and all of those things. It's it's different when you get on track and actually run it.

Yes, the rights just recounted about how they had to walk around the track, so like a story time with Ed as he walked.

Yeah, I saw that poor Ed, you know, sitting and sitting in the car, in their front seats of their car with shot at the noble kind of like, hey here we are. Couldn't get totally close to the track. We kept getting shooed one mile away, you know, it's too close, another mile away. You know, feel bad for them, and it's tough, you know, these guys are you know, they're they're F one journalists. They want to get up at least close enough. I think the sounds of the car.

But had to work for these six weeks right where you.

Know, yeah, yeah, right right right right. You know there's no stop in Ed. There is any train in that

Car, right, we have none of the context.

We don't have any of the contexts, right, And so it often begt that sort of phrase that, oh, you can't tell anything by testing, you know, you can't tell me. Well, the teams can tell a lot by testing not only their car but others, all right, It's just that we don't have that context as fans sitting at home watching that.

Hash and what I'm talking about.

Too, Yes, what I and the whole team is doing over there, it's fantastic. Next up your friends, Mercedes. Somewhere in that one ish laps. Yeah, a huge volume in my age.

I.

Say, because I've seen a couple of different estimates amount of laps of there. You know, the variants there in labs. I'm going to be close on that count. So a lot of folks going into this season felt in the lead up to today that Mercedes engine could be the one to beat. That Mercedes had been doing a tremendous amount of work and this bodes well for that, right.

And Mercedes is just hoping it bodes well for them this time.

Yes, yeah, as long as they get that Eraro worked out. Yes, So there's that I would say, is as happy as I am for and one hundred and fifty four laps. I am equally as happy for Red Bull. They did over one hundred laps. And why that's important, folks, is that's the first public outing of their in house forward back power unit. Lots of question marks around that. They you know, Red Bulls never built an engine, not like Mercedes, not like Ferrari, not like Honda. They've never done that,

It didn't blow up. That's good, We're good. Yeah, laps, everything was nice.

Yeah, Hunter lapse equally as good is Raising Bulls. They had eighty eight laps, that's good. It's another eighty eight on the Red Bull PU, which is good. Right, So that's good. You had Alpine with sixty laps they had I think there was maybe one interruption. Red Flag mentioned somewhere in the press that I saw regarding Alpene, But they had sixty laps in their pocket, limited running though early stoppage. Audi had twenty seven twenty eight dish in

That's right, I don't I mean That's the whole point of a shakedown, right, It's to kind of get like, where's the like, you know, where the issues where the little things that yeah that lasts like ten percent or whatever that you can really only address out on the track. That's a shakedown. That's the whole point.

Yeah. Yeah, I don't know that it's necessarily a crisis. I think no context matters more than the totals. But it depends. You know, if you showed up and the engine blew up, yeah that's a major issue. But if you show up, you run from laps, you stop, you're working on it. The reality is you make maybe coming up with a debugging punch list at this point, and you're gonna try to methodically step through that program. That

Who would exp I think we'd be more shocked if he was there. I think that would be the headline. Why is Max here? That's I'd be worried, right Like Max is here, I'm worried. I'm worried car is going

Yeah, he's the test Yeah at.

This point, that's what he's supposed to be doing.

For Mercedes headline, I would say it's all about driver Field Russell. George Russell described the new power as pretty impressive and if besides the car feels smaller, lighter while looking extremely quick through Barcelona, that's a positive thing from Mercedes.

Does Yes, yeah, driver Field?

All right, driver Field. I think I think it's good.

To get Kimmy out there. I mean I think that he had an as expected twenty twenty five, but you know you're still like shaking down the driver. You want him to get more see time, to get more comfortable in Formula one in that car. It's a new car. Get ready for twenty twenty six. So I think I would have been pushing kimnymore than just to kind of get out there and get confident.

Yeah, yeah, it's good. AUDI short day stopped as a precaution, says the issue is identified and fixable. Borletto framed it as normal early shakedown pain, no question us. So to juxtapose the two, you have Audi showing up taking over sober. They show up, develop a chassis in a brand new Formula one engine, had some issues, stopped after a few laps, said they identified it, they're going to work on it.

They got all new, all new, They are all new.

So right right right, there was there were multiple stops, just red flags out his mid morning stop, another possibly linked with racing balls, and I've seen hints in the windows and allegations, no official feed. The exact sequence was really kind of messy, if I'm honest. The bigger point is the normal new red grimlins that showed up immediately

I mean, Jonathan know how to find new hiking trails right.

Like, so yeah, he was up on a hill up there with binoculars.

It reminds me during the pandemic, right when Ted would sit in the empty Grant stands right with his monocle or you know, with this binocular not a monocle, that's something different, his binocular and like would talk to Crofting from across the track like it was great. That's what it's like. I just envision him. He's up there with

So it does bring up the thing, is the closed door approach smart? I mean, you know, certainly the teams are trying to protect their IP during a massive reset and regulations. I get that element of it, or is f one fueling rumor cycles by starving fans in the media of Basic info. On one sense, that leaked timing. I think that report had had our quickest with one eighteen nine and Russell close to that, But I think

Formula one having a light touch in the marketing press, I don't think that's really what they.

Do, right, Maybe not lighter than normal, I don't know.

Light touch from these people.

Yeah, So I think in one sense, I can understand. Look, if you're going to go out and and on the website and stuff talk about how exciting he is to have the seison back, and then anybody see it, not let me see it. That's not the funnest.

Thing, right, No, But it does. I mean, I think it does both of those things. Right. It keeps the team's ip quiet, you know, in secret, and it drums up the drama machine. Who doesn't want that? Right, So, like it's a win win for Formula One to say like, oh, look at how exciting this is, but you can't look at it, go find a hill somewhere to stand on, right, Like that's win win for them and just annoying for us, especially because again as fans, there's not much we can deduce for watching thing.

No, that that's sort of my take on it, too, Grace. I think on one hand, I could see what the criticism is. On the other hand, you know, it could

It's like no, so you can smell the barbecue, but you can't get near it. Yeah, right, what's going to make you hungrier than that?

Nothing?

Right?

Right? Right? Right? So thought I thought that was pretty good. Let's see what to watch on day two, that's on Tuesday. Ferri McLaren are possibly expected to run watch the space. Auntie's response, it'd be interesting to see, grace. Do they return immediately after the fix? How much of their their limited day allocation do they really spend and especially if if there's the forecast protecting rain over the next few days, so how much do they want to go in on that limited allocation?

Ten ice for Barcelona? I see that's going to change everything.

Right right? So does that make sense? Or do you want to take time to fix the fix?

I think if you're you can't wait, Like if you're McLaren, you could be like, oh, we came to oh it rained, Wednesday will be fine. I believe that Nabe, McLaren or Mercedes would be fine without all three days but Auntie, I think you should be there all three days. I think I'd be a little more worried. And definitely if you're kind of like, yeah, the rain, you can't. You have no space for that. I gotta get out there.

Yeah, I agree with that. Any countings run, they got to put the miles in, especially if they came up with some issues that they need to fix, you got to pound that out.

And this has to be good for team building as well, right,

Yeah. And look, you know this used to be the cyber team and they were running and and and that's all. You know, that's great. But on the flip side of that, it's a brand new Audi engine in there, so that team needs to figure out when the er code says PC load letter, they got to figure that out. You know what's going.

On these I'm just going to drop it out a window.

Yeah, yes, do that?

Do that?

Do exactly that. Let's see Cadillac watch for them. Do lap totals rise once the DBUG punch list it shrinks, let shrink over the next few days. Will their lap count rise? Certainly, we Sell has put in a lot of laps on that Furt engine. One would presume the Cadillac can do equal. So let's see what they do. Aston Martin Pressure only Thursday and Freddie an interesting announcement. Running means that they need clean, uninterrupted days and the

Think everything I just said about AUTI just pick that up and put that onto Aston Martin. That's the team that needs to shake down the humans. What is what are the you know, like, what are you doing there?

People? Right?

And especially because ol'd Larry is intense and he is not going to stand for any of this like human shakedown business. Get it together, figure it out. We're got to hit the ground running. You have time for that.

Yeah, a lot of expectations on this car. This is Adrian you know last year is kind of like when they asked him, well is Adrian helping you out with the performance of the twenty twenty five car, and ah me, he kind of looked at a couple of things, but not really. He's one hundred percent focused on twenty twenty six, so he couldn't be bothered with last year cars. It was on this car. All eyes are going to be on Aston Martin if he nailed it right. And they've

So there is that they are going to say, well, there's only one person who's interested in me. No, I have lots of calls to the prom and I'm going to take which one I'm going to take.

It's like Ralph Schumacher, all the numerous drives people are thrown at me.

Correct, that is right? Nobody was, Yeah, Ralph, but we like that you're trying to pretend that that's what was happening.

Is that what happening?

Right?

Well played, Ralph? Yeah, Well look, interest is not a deal, right, it's not.

I have lots of interests that never have been deals.

So yeah, yeah, right, it's.

Take an Alpine. I have no interest in that. But there are things I drive an interest in.

Right, I think it's got to be early days, I you know, there's a lot of discussion about the amount. I mean, the valuations of all these teams has dramatically increased since Formula one got super popular. So whatever Alpine was worth a couple of years ago, a few years ago, is now significantly more.

You know, is.

The investment capital company he owns the majority? Are they or a good portion of Are they willing to cash out sell to a group like Christian? If Christian comes in, what kind of deal? Kind of governance?

Right?

Who controls the sporting decisions? Is he in the seat as CEO? How does that impact Flavio what? You know, there's a lot to discuss there, not saying they couldn't get it figured out by April, which I think he's on gardening and leave till April. But April is not that long away.

No, I mean, doesn't Ryan Reynolds isn't his consortium also part of the Alpine?

Yeah?

Yeah, Rory McRory.

Yeah, yeah, those guys. Yeah.

Why Patrick Mahomes, Yeah, why.

Ryan Reynolds is the team principal for Alpaine? Because that's the question we really, I mean, isn't it? Yeah? Right, I don't really care if Christian Horner is going to buy into Alpaine. I don't care as much as that. I want to know who's going to be their team principal? Right that does him buying into it? Mean that's what's going to happen. That's what I want to know. Who's running this boat? Because Flamia was like, I Am not being team principal, So who's doing it?

See, I'm thinking Ryan and Robert missing an opportunity. They should just sell out Wrexham now because they cashed in with that whole documentary series. Now they should just cash out, take that money and do the same thing with Alpine that they're doing. You know, that'd be great move to really France or the Egit or whatever when no announce in Mercedes. So maybe you can't do that, but anyway, you get the point. They just get all embedded in the culture of the Alpine team and uh and do.

I want Ryan Reynolds to spend time with Flavio Briatory. Who doesn't want that?

Who doesn't want to see that? That's like that's like the movie My Dinner with Andre You know that would be hilarious, wouldn't it. I Mean the whole thing would be just like.

You know, it's just him and Rob going do you know what he said? No idea, Okay, no idea.

Yeah, the three of them Ryan, Rob and Flavio at dinner.

You know, yeah, that's like, let's say again, we'll send them on the Bonato you know, Steiner Wine tour at the beginning of a drive to survive together, the three of them, Flamio shoved in the back of a tiny vehicle. That's what I want, Like.

With the bottle of Beaujolais, I don't want this.

This is great drive to survive. Give me a call.

You know, Ryan and Robb could own that.

We were just here checking in on our investment. All right, Oh we're taking Christian too. Are put them in the back of follow you right?

So I don't know is this a genuine return to F one power play? I don't know or or I mean, look, as I mentioned, the valuations have gone through the roof. I mean, this could just be financial positioning. While the evaluations are growing. You know, they got the new Mercedes lumped the new Rugs. Interest is an all time high. Is Christian just making an investment for gains? You know, as a good investment.

I don't know.

I thought about it. I was thinking, you know, there's probably a lot of things a guy like Christian could do. You go back a few podcasts where you and I were talking about this and I said, I don't know. I you know, I'm sure there's got to be an element of it. It feels like he's got a little egg on his face. And even now that he's out, you still have Zach Brown talking shit about him and and Toto saying that it's not the way he wanted to go.

Oh my gosh, that would be great.

Christian Morner and Gunther Steiner going hammer and tongs at it and Moto GPD be hilarious.

Yeah, And to Valentino Rossie likes both of them are something right, like's who stooge is? Like? What are we doing here?

I don't know, he's got a lot of places to put his money. We'll see if he puts it left one.

You can be the six spice girl, why not?

Why not?

It could be.

He's a handsome man. He can pull it off.

I know, you know, hmm, I don't know which spice you would be. I was, I'm like, you know, I'm gonna I'm gonna try to keep this PG. So I'll just I'll just keep my ideas to myself. Which spice would Christian Horn be? I don't know?

Talk among Also, Grace McLaren signs Puma is team kit supplier. Did just see that?

I didn't, But I hope it makes some of my shoes. My sketches are pretty nice, my McLaren sketchers, So Puma, I have some high expectations for your orange.

Shoes, at least that's what I think I saw.

Or they could make them blue and then i'd have orange sketchers and blue Pumas, you know, like.

Whatever it is you need a pair of trainers or tennis shoes in.

Papaya, Yeah, yeah, another pair? Sure, I think.

That's a moral. Yeah, you could use like.

The bright orange. You can't really miss them.

Yeah, yeah, do you get to go into the whole. Well, actually these are papaya and I actually my right and left foot are equal. We have papaya rules between my right and left foot. There's no number one here. I can kick I can play kickball with my left or my right.

Yeah.

Yeah, so you got that. Uh So anyway, you know Zach doing what Zach does. If there's any one thing that Zach does, know it's out of side sponsors. Man, that's right. I mean he's a genius at that. Kudos Zach, great job. Uh let's see other Oh, it's like this whole Cadillac readiness and hiring surge. They were being interviewed and Graham was saying that, yeah, you know, we were building the team, put out some job racks and had tens of thousands of applications.

Wow, that's great.

Yeah yeah, uh who knew. I will say they never got back to me online.

I'm gonna say they didn't say how many were qualifying, Right, that's what you really want?

Like I could mind was completely I was probably overqualified. I'm just gonna put that out there.

I can't. I can't.

Maybe that's why you didn't call me back, you know.

And we can't we can't justify this expenditure.

Right, that's okay?

You know.

Uh the driver line out press both us is uh, they were. They were kind of positioning in their president stuff as sort of experienced first launch strategy with with the veteran.

And it's smart, yeah it is.

I look, they're credible development references. Right in a brand new team, the biggest risk is misreading the car and what the car is doing or chasing the wrong problem on a car. Veteran drivers tend to give that repeatable, structured feedback that can help the engineers really separate that sort of setup noise from a real design limitation, right, and not just.

Like you know, numbers on a graph sheet. You know, they all verbally know how to, you know what to say and how to work together across different cultures and the different way teams work. And they've both been in multiple teams, so they have a real sense of kind of how how this kind of works a little differently in each team. But how to, like you were saying the like no, I'm telling you this is this is the thing, or how to how to that's a real skill.

Family, Yeah, I think so, you know, being able to determine that's probably a setup or right height tissue, tigher pressure issue. They know the difference in feel versus a real design issue, right, and they'll they'll know that they'll feel it, like you said, verbally, they'll they'll talk about what the car is doing and they've cut that down and that matter, you know, even more in a new reg era where correlation is hard to come by. Right.

So no, I agree with Pedro mad I'm sure it did, but I don't what I don't know, then just do your own radio show, right, like why I have a guest on if all they're going to do is go, oh, you're right.

Yeah, I'm not a yes man. You picked the right anybody.

I mean, what's the what's the what's the point except to fuel your own ego? I guess, But I mean it's not really a conversation. It's a conversation. You say things. I say things. Sometimes we agree with sometimes we don't, like that's the point, yeah, or we see different perspectives of the same thing. It's it's not really fun if it's just like, yeah, that's great, great idea. Cool. Next topic, yep, I agree with you great, right.

And when I was in Italy and I was at Ferrari, and I was talking to their engine guys. This is right when they're getting ready to do the hybrid parry in it, and we were talking about we were at Fierano, We're having lunch, and we were talking about the development that car and the engine and all the variables that

Audi, how do you have so many sound clips with Todd? Are they all the same thing? Like, I'm very impressed by your ability to have like twenty clips that involve your own name something.

I know, I know, well you know what this one is now right right? But these stop killing Todd.

Well, look faster Todd.

That last one that's rob.

Low, Well, I mean there are I mean it's definitely roight.

Yeah. Yeah, So anyway, it's just the worst.

I think it would be a new a new Todd related quote that it's very good.

It's not a very common name. There's only about forty eight of us out there, so yeah, we're all born around the same era. That name kind of got popular for about a minute and then they couldn't unload that name quicker, you know, and it's never been heard of again except for that one little pocket of the forty eight of us out there born around that little one moment in time. And then, So if you ever meet somebody Todd, you know exactly you know he's Jen Actually yeah,

But they're also not gonna I mean right, they're not gonna say.

Yeah, we're hoping to toddle around the back until twenty forty.

We're just here for some money. We're not really here to do anything.

Right, We're here to sell eighty four's.

We're just selling some T shirts. We're just selling some

People like, oh yeah, it's enough that it gives you some space that people are like okay, but you know it's not not so far out that you're like and I'm ignoring you, right, five years is somehow that sweet spot that like you, I agree, like success is not the same as you know, a plan or you know, you can have a plan.

That doesn't mean you're gonna get anywhere. But yeah, even I usually because I hate the like, where do you see yourself in five years question? I don't know alive. I can't. I don't know what that that what you want me to say here? Still employed at this place, I don't know five years.

So every time the question I used to work for this person is she was horrible. When I say horrible, grace, I mean horrible. And she was the worst. And I had risen very very quickly, you know, came in and then went to supervisor, then manager, and I was going all the way up and my boss gave me a great review and she was just as mean as possible.

I like the phrase me too arrow, right, like, yeah they're doing now I'm going to do.

It right too.

Look at your yeah under the green red bull, the green right right, So you know you have to be an arrow leader.

Driving point Yeah, yeah, I guess right.

Driver talent. And then, as you brought up earlier about working together, just complete and synergistic operations, excellence all the way through.

From again, don't be like for you don't have your guy at the top or you know over here talking trash on your guys over here, like all together and you sort it out in the locker rooms and you don't bring that trash forward where we all get to see it, right, Like, yeah, figure out how to work together,

You do you Yeah, but look, I applaud you got to say something. I think you're spot on, grace, you got to say something. Look, we're yeah, fine, should fine. I always think those five year plans are just long enough that nobody remember what the hell you said.

I mean, I think it's a beauty of it. It sounds kind of like it gives you enough space to kind of like readjust it. You know, you can't be a year a year from now, I see myself. That's too short. That's too short. There's you're never going to be able to accomplish that, right.

So but then let's just release some reality into it. Though in reality, what it took five six seven years Red Bull after they bought Jaguar. Anybody remember that one hundred race plan that Renault had when they came in in twenty sixteen.

We're still waiting, yeah right right, yeah, So you or take a few races.

Yeah good. I'm not saying that AUDI couldn't, you know, pull the rabbit out of the hat. They could. They're they're a brilliant, brilliant company. But yeah, I love the ambition, but I'm not I won't hold it against to Audi. If you didn't win the championship.

Until it's good, it's good. They gotta you know.

Yeah, there's a lot to do there. It's like Aston Martin.

It's it is the beauty of the Ron speak. That's what you need with this five year plan, right, Like you need a little ron speak where it's like you said twenty words and none of them meant anything, but it sounded good. It made a good little you know, news bite. But you what does that mean? Nothing? Right? Right? But it sounds good.

Yeah, it does it does? All right, I'm gonna skip a story. I'm gonna go down to the headline, which is McLaren doubles down on no team orders philosophy. Oh I love the papaya rules. Fine, these have just become silly.

This is like a dog with a bone. This is the I was just really run with this thing.

I know, I know, well they kind of they kind of made such a big deal of it in the beginning. They they did, they totally.

They just doubled down on it and kept going.

Always like okay, seriously, but anyway, I was reading McLaren reiterates commitment to treating Norse and Piastre equally even after prior criticism about my strategic leverage. I think I read that in the Guardian. So I was reading it and I was like, okay, look, is fair Is fairness a competitive advantage? Culture retention? I know, is that is maybe from a from a from a team culture and retention of two great drivers. Maybe this fairness thing is a competitive advantage. I don't know.

But you don't want nonfairness. I think it's like red bull right like, so I think it's not so much to you. I mean, if it's a binary, right, it's either your you know, Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello, or your Lando Norris and Oscar Piastre. If those are your only two options, you're leaning towards the like Oscar Piastre, Lando Norris and away from the Michael Schumacher, Rubins Barrichello. So you know, I think it's not so much is

Yeah, I think you're gonna lose one if you do. But uh, I mean, but you're talking about Ferrari fans. So I don't have a problem with what Red Bull does because I, yeah, I left the shoemaker.

There was a standard purpose, like I think they went into that, right, Rubens rus that was his job, and so that's fine. Had Jar News that's his job. That's a different Then all of a sudden, now I'm gonna tell Oscar after I hired him, oh, by the way, your job is to be second. That's not gonna cut it.

He's gonna go yeah, yeah, yeah, there's just no illusions.

I know.

I've talked to Rubens. I love Rubens. Rubens Yeah awesome, dude, he really is. But you know he's not Michael Schumacher. Right well right, yeah? So anyway, uh yeah, I don't know would fans accept a harder stance if it wins titles or does McLaren's brand benefit from this principle?

What do you think fans just want wins? I don't really care, right, I mean, you're gonna I mean, if you're gonna go, we're gonna go fairness and have a buyer world and you win both championships again, great, that's my favorite strategy. If you're gonna be red bull about it and you're going to have number one and number two and you win championships, great, I'm for that. So I don't I think for a fan perspective, that's a really kind of a weird question. I think that it

Right.

So, yeah, it's easier perhaps if you have a one and a two. It's easier to say no, the number one gets it. But are you really getting what's best for your team that way? And maybe not. I think for some teams it's really just not going to work. It's going to have to work as a marriage. Although that that kind of partnership takes a lot more communication.

Yeah, I mean they come by it though naturally grace If you think that McLaren. They you know, Ron Dennis made a lot about that there's no number one drivers and it was Megget and David Coolthward it kind of knew it was Mika.

You know, David. I don't think David thinks that, but.

Yeah, I don't know, but they kind of you know, Ron, and they're press. They try to choice themselves and Pretzels suggest there wasn't, but it was kind of Meka. I mean, you know, oh yeah, absolutely, yeah, But anyway, we'll see what happens. They say they've worked out a simpler way to apply to py roles, so I think, but again, I mean.

I think even at that, like it's it's easier if you are two heterosexuals in a marriage generals or we follow generals, and then we don't have that conversation. You're the man, you take up the trash. I'm the woman and I do the dishes. But maybe that's not the best use of our resources. Maybe the man's better at doing the dishes and the woman's better at taking out

Yeah, right right, So yeah, that's.

I just don't think. I just don't think most teams there aren't that many maxers there. We all can't be Mark Marquez. There just isn't enough people with that level of talent that you can run a team that way.

No, there's not all right, Well, you know what time it is, it's time for albums cats. Why wouldn't it be This is where we talk about everything, not really f one that we saw. What do you got for st Alvin's Cats.

So, first of all, I did want to mention, as viewers may know, this past weekend was the twenty four hours of Daytona, right, yeah, and yeah, so I just after watching. I mean, I don't watch the whole twenty four hours. I do sleep, but I feel like, you know, how how do you know somebody watched the twenty fours of dayton without asking them if they watched it, Just

That I had it, I know totally. And the and the color yellow from all of the yellow flags running, you know, yes, the.

Fog, And so I was like, but I went to bed before the six hour caution and when I woke up it was at the end of the six hour caution. I was like, wow, that is a terrible time to have a caution. I mean it was pretty it was, it was foggy, but uh, yeah, there wasn't a choice. But like the graveyard shift and you're just oh my, I don't know how you. I mean, it's endorance racing. It's already about you know, keeping focus right and and yet now you're just in a caution in the fog for six hours.

Hold it together, man, there's will power out there. First one he's ever driven, driving for hours in the fall, very yellow. Good job. Well that's right, that's brutal. No hey, but big kudos to our own Paul Charsley. You had a podium for GTD as a number twenty seven, a mart on the podium, so I really, honestly I thought they were going to win it.

They were.

I did tea there for a moment.

Yeah, they were leading for the last portion of that race, and really thought they made the right move and pitch yeah, strategy got out ahead of that murk and then yeah, just oh, I just thought they had it. So anyway, but you know it's a podium, it's third place, So congratulations to job to the team. Great judge for them, absolutely.

I did also want to mention that we had Alpines launch this week, yeah, past week, and I love that. You know, it was more old school like the way the launches used to be, and it was on a cruise ship because that's one of their sponsors. Although it can't just be me that. Every time I see that it's MSc, I think, Wow, Michael Schumacher, he's out there. We need championship and running cruise ships.

Look at that too. Yeah, I either think Michael or Mixed Schumacher on the right timing screen.

Every time it's like, oh, so, I mean, I've never gone on a cruise, but if I did, I'm totally going with the Michael Schumacher guys. They even know what they're doing, right, Yeah, But so yeah, I thought, I welcome. I welcome the old schoolness of Flavio and bringing back some joy to the car launches for the kids that don't know what it used to be like before we had austerity measures and we just never went to fun.

Haven't harvested through all of the photos from all the launches to find which team set the drivers on the front wheels. I need you look, I.

Need autist like that used to be.

That used to be the de facto shot every year, but I don't see that so much anymore. So I think people are starting to listen to us. Finally, after nineteen years of talking about Formula one on here, I think people stopped doing that. But I need to go check and if any of you saw, you know, on socials, like on acts or the Facebook group or whatever, posted, because I haven't seen one yet from this year.

So it's kind of like you can make it into a drinking game, like every time yeah, I ever sits on tires or drink, which I was thinking, you know, because again for like this past week, all they've been talking about the weather that happened on Sunday and the snow and the ice, and I was like, every time they say it feels like, I'm like, man, if we've watched the Weather Channel, and every time they said, feels like we take a drink, we've been.

Dead and like thirty minutes, don't get me started.

In the fields, Like gosh, but I never paid attention to that except I know how much and rightly so I agree with you. It's annoying, but I'm just like, now, it's all everybody talked about all weekend. Yeah, I know, it feels like temperature. Yeah, it's cold out there, I know. And then my last bit, I try to be relatively non f one politically neutral, but I would like to say so, finally, my McLaren march is coming in. Finally. That was nice, nice timing there, right, Finally, O, my

Yeah, exactly, eat the tariff. Come on.

This notus expensive?

Aren't you guys supposed to be really trying to get America on board well nailing us with the tariffs on f one merch. You guys should eat that.

I'm sorry that I like a team base in England. What is this?

God?

First of all, took them so long, which I don't understand because I am I assume that they must print like they do for the Super Bowl. There will be Patriots one Seahawks one both merch will go to the super Bowl, one will get used, one gets donated somewhere else, right right right? Why did it take mclar's so long to get their merch on them and they finally do get it out, it gets held hostage because I have to pay extra tariffs. Thanks, I know, thanks.

I just over the holidays, I ordered me a hoodie from the smallest cog, which is Richard Hammond's you know, oh yeah group, and yeah, and I gotta say, Richard, well done, because whoever's doing your merch did a great job because I order it got here quickly. Of course it was expensive with the whole you know thing, but but they did get it here pretty quick, all is considered. So Richard, you know, Richard and I are.

Like this right, like this, it's great. Yeah. I love Richard Hammond, so that's good.

He's great.

Yeah. Put that out there people, all right, watch watch what you're worn from England. It's that true.

Thanks why you ought to order TPF gear att or merch store there you go, right there, I know, all right, I got some headlines for you.

All right, I'm ready.

He was nineteen, But so what Max for Stoppin's girlfriend, Kelly PK responds the comments of nine year age gap with f one as he was only nineteen. He's only supposed to blow the bloody tools off.

It is. It is not the nine year age difference, Like, yeah, there's nine years between flip and nine, but I met him in my thirties, right, Like that's a different it's different, right, Yeah, it depends on where it hits in your life. Of course that it does.

Nine years when you're in elementary school might as well be, right, nine years in midlife not a big deal. And then when I get older, nine years a big deal. It's kind of a big probably don't really think about it, but it does. And one of you is retired nine years before the first one, one of you starts having all the older people issues, and you know, it's it's it's a deal. It's a thing.

Yeah.

So anyway, it wasn't what wasn't when was?

Uh? Why did I.

Her? Well she had a whole life with Daniel.

I was gonna say, I can't think I was in convenient? Yeah, why she was convenient by that point? Like how does he feel about this?

I know, I know, Oh boy, I don't know. So let's see here's another headline and sticks out like a wart f one fans furious a divisive get this divisive feature ruining everything. In quotes on Ferrari is du car for twenty twenty six seasons, I just see.

The jaggy shark come down.

On top. Just I don't.

I don't like it, So I don't. But I don't actually like is how much Ferrari is trying to sell us on it. It's like it's like a throat. So it reminds me of the Formula one movie where they're like, well, all these things happened, yeah, over the course of like sixty years, not in six.

Races in city, right, right, right, that's I get that all.

These things did happen in Formula one, but not in one season. Not that's close together, right, that's the part that's ridiculous. So it's kind of the same thing, Like they're just like it's a throwback to it's not it's HP, We're not dumb, it's fine, just we'll move on. But the selling of us on this like historical livery we've got, and that's where the white comes from.

It's not not buying it, not buying it. Yeah, let's see and lastly, easily the worst sades, weird new liveries since F one fans and a meltdown ahead of the f A New f one season. A meltdown fans, what we're talking about? Death threats? Now? I mean, good grief.

Who am I to tell you and Paul how to run the race? Weekend shows? But you might you might want to change, like Donkey the race too easily the worst.

Easily the worst, easily the worst. I was looking at it my first impressions, and I don't know if it's intent. I don't even I'm sitting here recording live and I haven't researched any of this. I'm just talking out of my backside. But at first I saw it, it looked like the Adidas stripes. Is that who the their kit is supplied by? Is it Adidas? I mean if it is, then it kind of it ties in to the Adidas brand if it does. If it doesn't, if that wasn't

There's no this is totally like, uh, it's like boggle or something, right, like shakeshake shake adjectives, right, I don't like these are like the craziest adjectives for describing something. But you know they have to come. They can't just be like, well, I didn't really care for it.

It's not gonna yeah, it's not going to do my CPM very very well. So anyway, easily the worst.

Yeah, yes, uh, not coming to the shakedown easily the worst.

Easily the worst. Easily the worst. I agree. Let's see, Wes, I did get your message. I want to try to get when Poul's on too, so to answer your question, but I liked your question, so stand by. All right, Well that does it for this podcast is what we think about this week in the news. You can tell us what you think of the news if you see some tire sitting pictures Sinster, Grace and I. If you'd like to share your pen, you can do it at

Doing start for some other podcasts, and we don't need more competition.

Oh yeah, that's true. That's true. We're good, all right, well until next week when we come back to do it all over again. This is Todd aka Negative Camber saying, so long, grace, see you next week. Let's it man game over, Man game over.

So I feel I would I prove It's all. I don't think. I don't really want to prove anything. I started as an amateur. I have no idea or no intention of practice on the World champion. It was I was curious to find out what it was lying to drive a Comcast

To drive a start, I get to drive a certain type of com