The WTF1 post race podcast. The streak has ended. 15 consecutive race wins, but the man's a peristop to anymore is a former Red Bull man himself. Carlos Sines Jr. emerged victorious in a race that came alive after the first safety card. Thank you very much Logan Sargent. What does this mean now? Three teams in the fight for the race winner, not a stapan or a Red Bull in sight. Is this a one-off as the formbook being ripped up?
What earth is in the water or indeed the Red Bull on the streets of Singapore? Well, to dissect all the biggest WTF moments from that race alongside my self-hurry Benjamin is, as always, racing driver. Cano K.Fan, we felt it at that this week. The host of the Red Bull Racing Talking Bull podcast. Join us to give her unbiased views. It's Nicola Hume. Welcome. What really good timing to have me on. Really great. Really great timing.
So, it's Liam Lawson being sacked for out qualifying, Max for stapan. Do we have that yet or not? I don't have that not on, no, I don't have any sort of insider information on that one yet, not yet, but I will keep you up to date. Right, we'll wait and see. But okay, the biggest WTF moment, Callan, has to be that Red Bull didn't win and in fact, they struggled all weekend long. But how? That's the real question, everyone's lips. How has it changed so quickly?
I mean, I'm the first one to hold my hands up and we were discussing it on Thursday, I think it was. When I said, literally, maybe someone else is going to take part, but it's a formality that is going to win the race. And yeah, they were just absolutely nowhere. I thought it was gameplay to be honest with you. When I was watching on Friday and they were nowhere, I thought it was going to be like a grand reveal, come qualifying. They were going to be right there.
But it just, yeah, they just didn't have any pace. And obviously, Christian Horn has come out immediately this Saturday and said, oh, it wasn't a result of the new FIA ban on, you know, Flexi Wings. But maybe, maybe it's something, you know, obviously we see a lot of the teams using the Flores. Your wings are very crucial in the way that the Flores interacting create down for. So maybe this is something that's going to, you know, clip the wings of the Red Bulls a little bit.
I mean, you say that now, but let's be honest. I mean, towards the end of the race, Max caught up like 18 seconds in five laps. I don't think there's anything really wrong with that car. I think it was just complete luck of the draw. It was just one of the, just couldn't get grip and just couldn't quite get it right during qualifying and during practice. And then during the race, I mean, Czecho still struggled with it, but Max ended up doing quite well with it in the end.
I thought, I think the thing that blows my mind though is obviously like the medium tyre and they all switched to the last part of the race. You had the two Mercedes and the two Red Bulls that switched to the medium. That was the strategy to go for. It's clear that that was actually another terrible Ferrari call, but thankfully they had Charles LeClure to kind of, you know, hold up the charging Red Bulls and the charging Mercedes as well.
But I was more surprised by actually how little pace Max had with that advantage. If you know what I mean, I thought that he was going to come through and with a medium tyre, everyone else on the hard, I thought he was going to breeze through and make it to the podium easily, but he actually didn't. I was actually more surprised by how much pace the Mercedes had to be fair. But who knows, let's see, maybe I'll be eating my words again.
I feel like every time I make a prediction on this podcast, something happens in the opposite go. So I'm going to say that they're going to be back to normal in Tazuka, Max, the staff and Paul and Victorian, hopefully the opposite happens and we can have another exciting race because what a race it was. I mean, the safety car and virtual safety car, the strategy just seemed to always go against Red Bull.
But also, I mean, I get you're puttically, he was able to catch up quite quickly, but that was because signs and Ferrari were very much driving within themselves. They were holding that pack up because they knew about George Russell's and Mercedes new medium tyres. It was the first thing George Russell said after qualifying, he's like, yeah, but I've got a fresh head medium. So, you know, we're coming for you. And I thought coming on to signs, what a race.
I mean, the pressure at the end and that DRS maneuver to keep land on Norris within range. So, Norris could get DRS and defend against the Mercedes. That's what one in the race genius move. Signs is driving differently. I would say the last, the last of three races or so. I don't know if you've noticed, he seems way more relaxed, way too relaxed. Like, I don't know what's going on with his contracts kind of thing, but he seems very settled and very happy right now.
There's a part of me that thinks, because there's a rumor going around isn't there that he's going to be with Audi in 2026. So now he's just kind of living his best life and just totally chilled while he's driving. So, I don't know if that's kind of triggering things, but watching him race now is so exciting. He's got a completely different head on his shoulders. And I mean, what a confidence boost as well. He beat Le Clurk outright in terms of pace, Admonza.
And, you know, Le Clurk's obviously a winner for Ferrari there. He has that confidence going into it. I think it's exactly what you said, Nicola. There's been this shifting car, the signs where, you know, the start of the season was like, oh, well, it's clearly that, you know, the number two in the team, they favor Le Clurk. Le Clurk has a history with friend of a soul, he's the team principal in it. It kind of all spiral. But the last few races, he's had the measure of Charles, hasn't he?
And there's, Charles really hasn't had an answer for that pace. We've not seen that response yet. So maybe, maybe he's more settled. He's got his future sorted, or maybe he's now taking his future into his own hands and, and really pummeling Ferrari's number one to take that, you know, stake for the number one seat there. I've heard that the Audi job is there for Carlos if he wants it. But I think signs wants to stay at Ferrari. That is his number one priority.
He wants to stay and win with Ferrari. And I do agree. I think there has been a change in sign since the summer break, particularly. He's had, we spoke about it before, signs is like Mr. Consistent really. Charlotte Claire is able to get those wins and highlight results. But also then he can flick the switch and equally he'll crash out who have a retirement or who have a bad race.
He's sort of, he's either really high or is really low, whereas Carlos just seems to be a lot more steady, consistent. But is outright or up until this point, not as fast as LeClair. He's like a couple of 10 slower generally than Charlotte Claire. But apparently he's had like a sit down in the summer break with his engineers, to try and focus and get more out of the car and how he can hit the weekend running and be right there from FP1.
And that seems to have been the case because from FP1 in Singapore, he was on it. Whereas the Red Bulls were scrambling around. I mean, signs had to not put a foot wrong, right, Caden? Because less than a tenth between signs Russell and LeClair to get Paul. LeClair and Russell, they could have got Paul, but they made mistakes. Signs didn't and that was the difference. No, I don't, you know, watching the whole weekend through.
I don't actually know one moment where signs made a mistake from, from the, you know, that let's call it money time in Q1. I don't actually recall seeing him make a mistake, ruin a lap, a bought a lap, not be on the pace. It was just, it was a perfectly put together weekend, even down to, you know, the way, as we already said, the way that he kept Lando and the D.R.S. ranged to use Lando as a buffer for George, was just genius.
I was sad of my TV screaming when Lando was pulling away because obviously George was fighting with Lando. I was like, go back, go back, bring him back in, bring him back in. Obviously, you know, he's a far better racing driver than me to have the high and sides of it to do that while he's driving in Singapore. And yeah, it's, it's that level of confidence and execution that I think is, is making the difference.
Obviously, the last few races we've seen Red Bull, especially Max out front, but it's been very, very tight behind. And he's kind of, you know, those perfect weekends where you execute like that. That's where you have to make the most of it. And the confidence that he'll have from executing a weekend like that at a place like Singapore off the back of a pole position in Monzer in front of the Tafo seats. He's got that momentum as an e. It's starting to roll now.
And let's, let's see if, if it is, you know, the sort of new way that Red Bull are going to be struggling a little bit more. Maybe he can be the man that capitalises on it and takes the fight to, uh, to be the best of the rest for the rest of the year. Well, Ann Nicola, for our, we got there strategy right, but it came at a cost for Charlotte Claire, who was literally a sacrificial lamb. He was the sacrifice all of me. Bless him. Bless his little heart.
I think, I mean, one of them had to take one for the team, didn't they? And I think they chose the, the right sacrificial lamb, unfortunately. But it was nice to see Ferrari get it right forwards, because I remember texting, I texted you didn't know Harry. I was like, well, strategy is king when it comes to Singapore and Ferrari doesn't have a good track record with strategy, but actually, no, they did pretty well with it. But poor old Charlotte Claire, bless him.
My question though, let me throw a curveball in here. Yeah. Did they get the strategy right? Or did, um, signs win the race for Ferrari? Because actually, if you look at the way that the Mercedes closed pack up onto signs, I think Ferrari got the strategy wrong. I think if you look here where the clerk ended up, okay, obviously he got hindered by the first safety car, because he kind of had to back off because they double stacked in it.
Really hurt him while they were waiting for traffic in the pit lane. But I don't, I think the medium, the, on the last stop, changing to the mediums was the way to go. And I think Russell crews up to the back of Norris, thought he had more time. And then by the time he had those two or three laps to settle, and you kind of settle into the rhythm of the driver ahead of you, signs had worked out that he could use the D.R.S. from land to defend from him.
But I think the best strategy was actually the mediums. I just think it wasn't executed well enough by the Mercedes driver. Isn't actually, I'd like to hear your thoughts on this. I think if Hamilton was ahead of Russell on track, I think he would have won the race. I think he would have been able to clear land and clear signs. Oh, well, I mean, we have to talk about the fact that Louis handed back the place to land. Like was that an official hand? Should that have happened? I'm not sure.
But then might the way I'm looking at it is. I mean, we've all seen the photos of Hamilton in front of land. So technically he shouldn't have handed it back. But would he have gotten front if he hadn't have taken that corner too quickly to then have been to the back of the car? So I don't know. I don't know if maybe. I don't think Lewis would have won it. I don't think so. I think. I think. I think. I think. I think. Do you do not think right? You just hear me out.
So last last five six laps when they've closed up to the back of Norris. George has two or three laps to have a go at it while the tyres still fresh. Then the Mercedes switch round and go right. Well, Lewis, you can have a go if you clear them. Because I think once you get past the car, the race is one because Carlos can't use the D.R.S. to defend because it's the extra car in the way.
And I think the pace that Lewis showed to drive up to the back of George to close the gap after the final stops. For me, I just had a bit more pace. And I think the Delta with following about seven tenths, five second to seven tenths. And if you can close it to the back of George, it means you're a little bit. I don't know. I think he wouldn't have been able to exit. I don't know why I just have that feeling for Hamilton. If he would have been able to pass Norris even with Norris.
Having D.R.S. from science. Yeah. I think the last half of the race or the last phase of that last part, you know, the last five, six laps, I think Lewis had more in the back compared to George. And I think he would have been enough to clear Norris and then clear signs of when the race. So we blame George. Well, I'm not blaming George. I don't want the George Russell fans to come after me.
I do think that if Hamilton or any Mercedes had got par with him, Hamilton or any Mercedes had got passed that Norris, then the win was there for the taking. Science would have had nothing. I think he said I would have been dead meat. But then they ran out of laps in the end and it didn't happen. So in that alternative universe, it doesn't matter because it didn't happen. What didn't happen, no, didn't. What did happen was George Boy, finding the wall. I can believe it. What happened?
I forgot it for him. I forgot it. I forgot it. Well, not very clearIK people saw it for interesting reasons so it did not happen today. That moved me out at that moment. Do people really think about when we were villages phones were all open. And they neveravais real questions, half of their people, they always questioned people. And when you think about question약 that car is of legal evidence, If you're car watching, you break slightly earlier because you break when they break.
And it makes it very, very difficult to make the difference to pass through. And actually, if you listen to Orlando said, Lando actually clipped the barrier as well on that last lap and the exact same place, just not as much. And I think George had been stuck in that rhythm where he was following Lando for four or five, six laps. He's watched Lando maximize the track. You know, the F1 graphics were told you how close to the wall it was. That was super close. Zero centimeters. Zero centimeters.
And I think he was, he was just called car watching a little bit last lap, really trying to make the difference. And it was just a little bit more than what Lando did. And yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if it was, it was something like that, but what a shame for him because it was, it was a really good drive from George, I think. Actually, to drive back through the way he did. And, you know, a great call from Mercedes as well. But absolute heartbreak.
The streets of Singapore were bite at any opportunity, weren't they? Willie Bounce-Batnikler. Well, George, I think he will. I think he has to. I'm really hoping that he has a really good race in Japan because I think that'll be a real big confidence boost for him if he does. If he doesn't, that could be quite serious for the, for the last few races in the season for him, because I think he really needs it now. He had such a good qualifying. He had such a good race.
You know, he started on that front row. He was, he was destined to do really well. People were saying that this is his chance to win a race. And then all of a sudden, messes it up in the last, in the last lap. I really hope he gets back on that horse in Japan, and he does well. Yeah, I mean, there are only 24 points between Mercedes and Ferrari in the constructors after that win. And so the batter is on. As to Martin at a shock of a weekend with Russell not scoring.
That is a fight that is well worth watching. Elsewhere, one of the other things that I found really interesting in this race. And maybe if it got a different way, we would have ended with a different results. Esteban Okon, Callan, retired. He parked it up on the pit lane exit. Heartbreak for the birthday boy. He was having a good race with our pin. But he had a retirement. And I was expecting a safety car. And maybe even pit lane exit closed, because it was blocking the pit lane exit.
But it was a virtual safety car. And the pit lane wasn't closed. For me, I was like, that feels a bit like, oh, we've had one safety car. We can't have another one. I don't know. I think it comes down to with a lot of these decisions they're trying to not let the safety guy influence the race. That's kind of the whole ideology isn't it behind the virtual safety cars. It can be cleared up quicker. And it means we lose less laps.
It's a race that I know it's a bit, it's quicker now with the alterations I made to the track. But traditionally, we have lots of safety cars and Singapore. It normally is one of the races that runs very close to the time limit. And I don't know. I think where he parked it, if you looked straight ahead there was the gap in the wall at the exit of turn three. And I think it's quite slow speed, especially with everyone of the virtual safety car that feels quite spread out.
So I think that's kind of the main reason why the virtual safety car was pulled rather than the actual safety car. It was just to try and clear it up as quickly as possible to get as much racing. But it did. I think it caught everyone by surprise because everyone was kind of waiting for that call to the safety car because again, it's a free pit stop, isn't it? So everyone's kind of waiting and then it doesn't come. And it throws, it throws another kind of ball of strategy, which I quite like.
It kept the engineers on their toes, I think. Well, I mean, it came, it came out too late for the leaders to come in. Yeah. So they couldn't benefit. But I think Red Bull, Mercedes could have could have, well, they did. When Mercedes did come in for the pits, isn't it? Yeah. And I think Red Bull, I think would have benefited it way more. Had it been a safety car, not a VSC. So the staff had could have been in the fight and we could have had what was it?
The top top five drivers all fighting for the win. Now that would have been something spectacular over what was already spectacular enough. But this is what we've been saying all year long, right? Take Max with staff and, and sorry, Nick. Just get rid of him. Get rid of him. Get rid of him. Get rid of the hell of a fight. A hell of a championship on hands and not to take away anything from Red Bull. The mastery, the engineering precision that has gone into their deserved results.
But this made it good. And it wasn't all doom and gloom for the Red Bull drivers who have all of them had a bit of a tricky weekend. But a good weekend for Liam Lawson, Nicola in the Alpha Tari, staking his claim for an Alpha Tari seat next year. I mean, he's immediately landed himself in the points for the first time in Singapore, which basically like never happens to like rookie drivers never happens. I mean, he's proving himself to be a very, very impressive driver.
I mean, we all kind of knew, didn't we? Because the amount of times we'd be like, oh, just let him ever go. Come on. We know he's going to be great. And then he goes out there and all of a sudden he's smashing it. Even in qualifying, he did so, so well. So even just to land in the points and seeing him battle with Max, the staff was a bit bonkers there for a moment, wasn't it? I'm so proud of him. I feel so proud of him. And I really, really hope he gets that Alpha Tari seat next year.
Because I think he's, I think he's cracking. I really do. But what expense? Who goes? This is my next question. This is what I was going to say. Like, what do you do now if you're the people making the decision? What do you do? Because you've got Daniel Riccardo who jumped in and did a decent job. You've then got Liam Lawson who's jumped in and done an exceptional job. Who do you take for the rest of the season when Daniel's all healed?
Because surely you can't, after the job that Liam's done, you can't get rid of him. Because if he misses out on the second half of the season, it kills them a momentum. But you've got a contractual obligation to bring in Daniel. Like, what do you do? I don't know. What did they do with you, Keith? How was Daniel driving compared to you, Keith? I can't quite. Well, we didn't get enough. We didn't get enough. We got realistically one race, didn't we? Because you've been broken down for a second.
In the, in my head, head starts. What was it? There's somewhere around here. Bring up the numbers, Harry. That's what you're here for. Oh, you're here for me as that. This is what he does. So it was his way against the big bucks. That is because I'm just bloody written them. Big bucks. I think again, mate. Sonota and Ricardo won all in qualifying. And it was won all in the race. So I, I, I, I, and there wasn't enough to really tell. Equally against degrees.
It was qualifying eight to in Sonota's favours. It was also eight to in Sonota's favourite. But the way it's going to live, Lawson right now. It's two one in qualifying towards Sonota and three nil to Lawson. But I don't think that tells accurately the full story of Sonota giving the adda did not start in Monza. And he was clattered into by Perez in turn four and not one of the Singapore Grand Prix. But I see. The car by the way. Yeah, it was huge. Yeah. He was like, oh, I've got a puncture.
But actually, whoa. No, that was that was. You got to hold on the side of the car, mate. I think also the people in the right keep going every fine. The thing that annoyed me though was that Sonota was on such good qualifying lap. And then he locked up in turn 14 and mucked it up. And he would have got into the top 10. He would have qualified Lawson. I think he needed that.
But in my humble opinion, that team, I know this talk about it was a little bit of a, it was it going to become Hugo Boss or Adidas or something next year. Is it losing its identity as a red bull junior team? That's what I first want to clarify.
Because you go back to when it was literally called Toro, which is red bull in Italian, where they had, you know, Algas Wari, Bawemi, Vettel, all going through that school, Verne, Ricardo, take one, all going through that school of training and either progressing or not and going somewhere else. If that's going to stay, in my opinion, next year you have Lawson and Sonota. If it's not going to say you have Lawson and it pains me to say not including Sonota, but you have Ricardo and Lawson.
And Sonota needs to either go to a Williams or to an Aston Martin or to somebody else. He's not going to get to Aston Martin obviously. But, you know, if they were sensible, they'd kickstrial out and put Sonota or something like that. But Williams would be the other only option. Because I think what Lawson's points and three races, a former one, have already proven, is that he has the talent to get on to the pace of his teammate and beat him and be competitive in a car very quickly.
Logan Sargent, the only rookie who has not scored points, has been absolutely transformed in qualifying and the race compared to his teammate Alex Albon. And that, to me, showcases a case more for why Sargent should not be in former one next year. Oh, that's not very complicated. Yeah, basically, look, the thing with Sargent is Sargent is not wrong. No, you're right. I mean, that's the problem, right?
The problem is it's easy for us to be sat here wherever we are in the world, critiquing these amazing racing drivers for the... I just definitely job to drive here. Yeah, exactly. I played the former one game. I'm well-fast on that. You should see me around the streets of Monaco only hit the barriers ten times. But when you get the flashbacks in the automatic corners, it's easier. I love it. But it is. It's so easy for us to sit here. But they get to former one because of the best in the world.
There's lots of racing drivers who are good, but still don't make it because they're not as good as the ones that get there. It's very difficult because it's a balancing act between giving them time to learn and develop, but also it's the best sport in the world. If you get there, you've got to be ready for it. And someone like Lawson coming in, I think it, as you say, shines a light on actually how bad Logan's been, because the mistake that he made in Singapore was completely unforced.
It was an unforced era, a lock-up drive into the barriers. And it's a mistake after a mistake after a mistake that snowballs and no one's expecting him to go and out-qualify Alban by three-tenths. But you at least want to see a race free of mistakes to show that he's capable of being there.
And when you get someone that comes in and does the job that Lawson's doing, knocking out the rainy well champion from qualifying, racing with him wheel to wheel, sticking in Alphatari, you know, into the points. We always have the discussion about how do we get talented drivers into Formula One? How do we get young drivers the chance?
And if someone demonstrates the talent, but we can't find a seed for them, then it nullifies the whole system, because drivers are spending, you know, tens of millions of pounds to try and get a shot of Formula One. How can we justify not giving the shot to the kid who's showing that they have the ability to improve in themselves over the one that's bringing more money? And it's just every time we always have this discussion on the podcast, there's no right answer, is that really?
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And you put Liam in the aftertory and you give Williams more options and I think Sonoda would be a great option. I think Aston Martin would be if they could ever find a way of stacking the boss of the other son of the boss in Lancetrol. You put Sonoda in that seat alongside Alonzo when Honda are coming in as the power unit supplier obviously for Aston Martin in a few years. The Japanese link there. You look at what maybe Sonoda could have done Aston Martin.
I think he would have had a lot more points than Stroll currently does. I totally agree. Another case in point. Nicholas this weekend. Where was Lance Stroll? Glad he's okay but an unforced error when pushing hard to get himself out of Q1 and he still wasn't going to be able to do that even if he had completed his lap without that huge crash. Brilliant. He walked away but Aston Martin having to withdraw him from that race.
They're already racing around with one hand tied behind their back with Lance Droll in that second car. And now they were literally doing it in the race because they didn't have in there. I mean I know we are putting Lance Stroll. I don't know what comes over me. Sorry. You're getting sassy, mate. I know. We are putting Lance up against Alonzo, right? And Alonzo has a ridiculous amount of experience but the thing is is so does Lance. He's not alone here. He's not a rookie.
But Lance is in this permanent state of he's only had a couple of years left. I don't know if you saw the glitch on the F1 website. This was all over Twitter earlier but there's a glitch on the F1 website. It's about the constructors championships and it says the team Aston Martin all it says is Fernando. It doesn't happen. Not even a picture of Lance. Lance does have 47 points to his name. Alonzo has 170. Ironically Lance was better at the start of the year when he had a broken wrist.
Maybe they were getting a Swiss one. But every new Lance keep enduring yourself. As soon as that crash happened I could hear the entire world just sigh and roll their eyes. It was just one of those moments of, of course he's crashed the car. Oh, for God's sake. And it's so frustrating because sometimes when he has a really good race you can see that there is talent there and he is a very, very good driver.
He's just full of little cheeky mistakes every now and again and he's just not holding himself up well up against Fernando. And if you could put Yuki in that seat Aston Martin would be much further up constructors. I really do think that. I think there's this thing isn't there like with any sport and athlete you can look about like Lance he won a 4 and he won a 3 like that's a ridiculous pedigree going into Formula 1.
He's won every championship he's racing so he must be good you know they can't be terrible. But it's not so much where they were before it's measuring them based off their progress and perceived progress they should be making and is exactly what you said it's we always have this thing with the way he's like oh he's you know he's he's he's he's he's he's late 20s now he must be what 26 yeah.
Okay what point do you then go well actually it's it's it's a you know a huge privilege to have someone like Fernando Alonso working alongside you he had Sebastian Vettel to kind of learn alongside as well like when do you when do you find yourself in a situation where you can't beat the experience. 24. 24. Yeah. Okay. There are no I'm not taking it. It was 25. I think it's not. He's a 98 baby isn't he. So he's going to be 25 this year. Is Berthes on the 29th of October so next month.
Oh there we go he's 20 25. 25. Yeah. So we we race together in karting and I'm 27 so he must be so he was like on the edge of being in juniors when I moved out of you so yeah he's 25. Yeah. Yeah. Okay fine let's let's one year let's cut a bit of slack but if I like to think that it's just a rookie. He's just a rookie you know he's going to do the the rookie days the young driver to the end of the year. Stick himself he won and that's the start of the new momentum for last year.
That's if he beats Fernando Alonso that is you know. Oh I feel yeah I do just want to say obviously strong is is a good they're all good drivers. Yeah a fact that Alonso is always going to be a tough ask but I think because the gap is so big. And that team exists solely for Lundstroll so it will just just going to be a time a matter of time until Lundstroll finally realizes okay Lundst isn't going to be a world champion.
What am I going to do and whether he persuades Stroll to go and be a tennis player or Stroll decides to take an involuntary retirement. Who knows but at the moment maybe like a traveling year or something like that could be fun. You know what I mean like he gets to go all these nice places under pressure. Why not go back and see if you like enjoy the tourism taking the culture you know. Perhaps a podcast. Yeah I get it. A gap here. You're enjoying it.
I think I think the Lundstroll podcast could be could be real hit. We don't we don't need any more competition Harry come on mate. What are you doing? Well just get you out and get him in. All right. Oh no. Thank you very much. Okay. Is it going to be a return to businesses usual in Japan this weekend? Yes. Oh a Nicola who wants to go. Oh a Nicola. By all means Nicola, I'll do you please. Yes. Yes. I think it will be. Yeah. 100% question. Why are we saying that?
Because I keep making these calls and I keep getting them wrong. So that's why everyone has this opinion so that I can make a more informed opinion because I'm clearly wrong. So please tell me why. I think it all tends to be a little bit of an outlier in general I think. It's a street circuit. So naturally everyone's a bit closer together anyway, like we saw in back who Monaco.
And the only other thing that I can compare the Red Bull Singapore weekend too was Mercedes back and I think it was 2015 or something you know, during their and they came to Singapore and they couldn't even qualify in the top five with either car.
That's the only kind of connection I can make to obviously there is something that the bumpiness of the track perhaps as well and whereas comparison Japan is fast, sweeping corners, long straights, that's where Red Bull massively gain their performance comparatively to the other teams. I mean a lot of drivers train specifically for Singapore, don't they, because they know that it's a really tricky track and Max hasn't really ever performed well
at Singapore and it seems to be that track that just seems to get him every time. So I do think once once back in Japan, I just think it was just going to be back to smooth sailing and they'll just win the rest of the season. I'm honest. Done. Why, guys? We have hope. We have, we had hope and now we have no, you know, it kills you in the end. It kills. That's what gets you. No, I think you'll probably I don't think they're going to be quite as dominant. I'm going to say this and it's probably
going to be wrong, but I think it might be a little bit closer. I just have a feeling that I think they're still going to win, but I think teams are going to start closing up towards the back end of the year and I think maybe there's other stuff going on behind the scenes that's maybe
affecting Red Bull more than maybe it looks and yeah, I think Singapore was an outlier. I think it's like they're not going to be struggling to make Q3, but I think that hopefully someone's going to be able to take the fight with them a little bit more because we have we had four cars all within sort of three, four seconds over each other or battling and I really enjoyed it. I'd really like to see that again because it's the most alive I've felt watching a Formula One race this year.
Yeah, I'd agree. Well, okay, usual business in Japan then. He can't win the title though, Ken O'Maxi boy. He cannot. He has to be 180 clear and he can't do that now until Qatar. So it might be a bit underwhelming if he wins it after the sprint race in Qatar, but that is his first opportunity to claim the title just so you're aware. Red Bull will be a shock though. Is it? Is nothing to be a shock though? I mean, you say it's even underwhelming. Not one. This since round
three. Like it's already a t-shirt on the one of three printed. Nickel has already got a t-shirt ready. Yeah, and actually fun fact, his little behind the scenes here on the Talking Bull podcast, right? So I was going to record with Max on his episode in September and then we went right, well, it doesn't make sense to push it back to October because then he probably won the championship
by that point. So it's the episode got pushed back to October the 12th because basically by then he would be a world champion and it'll make a much more interesting conversation, but we moved it back. We're like, well, he's probably going to have won it by then. So we might as well just record it then. That's fair. Behind the scenes, the Talking Bull podcast there. Okay, podium time. I need please a star performer, a worse performer and a biggest surprise performer from the Grand Prix.
Nicola, you're the guest. So you may start this week with your star performer, please. I'm going to go for Carlos Sines. I think he smashed it from start to finish. You can't not give that award to him. I thought he was brilliant. The whole entire race qualified. The whole entire weekend. Fantastic. Come. Yeah, it's okay. It's Carlos Sines, but I have a couple of honorable mentions like I always do because I feel like he was one of those races. S, Maneucom, the move on
Fernando Lanzone to go around the outside of the Marais wheel to wheel. That was great. Liam Lawson and the lizard from free practice one as well. Because, because the means of fantastic, that's what a contribution, your only contribution of the season to be that big and formula one, what a, you definitely deserve an honorable mention. So yeah, but Carlos Sines in a, in a league of his
own this weekend. Okay. My star performer is obviously going to be Sines as well, but an honorable mention to maybe it was a different lizard that sadly got hit by Fernando Lanzone, hoping the best for them. And an honorable mention for Kevin Magnuson stealing the final point in tenth for Hasse, when it, when he looked down and out somehow Magnuson got a point at the end. And the Viking returns to the point, which I'm always pleased to see. And his quality was fantastic.
Oh, the two Hasse's phenomenal. Don't know what I want. Again, it's similar. What, like, what the hell? They cut, they scrapping this car. They got a new one in Austin. So hang on. Just qualified six and nine thing got, got a point out of it, which is very crucial in the battle without for a mayor. I might add. And now, I'll for Tari because they've now got five points, five more. And they're equal out for a mayor. So it's actually looking quite tight, you know,
tight down at the bottom of the, the Constructors championship. Okay, worst performer of the Grand Prix. I shall start and I will go with a stroll because he wasn't even there to take off. Oh, that's unfair. That's unfair. Didn't show up. Didn't show up. Didn't show up. This isn't called. This isn't called the post-qualifying podcast. It's called the post-race podcast, Harry. So you can't, you can't imagine a visa for qualifying.
He's taken a lot of heat and we don't really want the Ashton Martin family to come after us. So I'm not going to say it's troll. I'm going to go and I'm going to say it was Logan Sgt. You're just has to be just he's just he's just having an absolute wonder of a time. And I hope it gets better. If I say that after every time I say it, but he is the new Nick DeVries and he is proof that, you know, you can take the Latifie out of Formula One or out of the car,
but you can't take him out of Formula One, can you? So yeah, we're moving again. The new Nick DeVries is the new Nick DeVries. That's not like that. So that's so hard. I said earlier in the end, Nick DeVries was a distraction for all of us because everyone's both of us literally had a way with kind of being in a bit of a park. Yeah, you're right. You're right. He's the new Nick DeVries, unfortunately. And that
it pains me to say because I love Nick. I really, I would go to the end of the Asked Help people in Heart Island and I think Nick DeVries is, but for this season, for 2023, he's the new Nick DeVries. I can alarm to you, please. Stop me for talking. Yeah, unfortunately, I'm going to have to agree with you, though, Calum, because actually Logan's target is my vote as well. I'm so sorry. He did beat Alonso. He beat Alonso to the line. Fine. Yeah, yeah, silence on that one.
Biggest surprise performer of the Grand Prix. Then Nick, I will go about to you. Oh, surprise. I was thinking about this and I was thinking, do I go for Liam Lawson? But then, but the thing is, is it a surprise? Are we expecting it from him now? Because he, he had such an amazing qualifying. So I don't think the race was so much of a surprise. It was amazing to see it. I don't think it's his prize. He had a bad start. He fell out the points for a while.
I'm going to go surprise. I'm going to go with Lando, I think. Okay. Because he held himself so well at the top there. And it was one of those where, it was getting so close. Seeing those top four top five cars racing together, you got to a point where you're like, I just think, I think the Mercedes are going to get him. I really do. I think they're going to get it. But he held himself, and he held his position and he got himself in P2 and I think that was brilliant.
I wasn't expecting him to get that. So that was very nice. Interesting. Interesting. I'm going to be the boring one and go for Larson, just because it was a surprise. He rocked up in Zanford and I thought, if he finishes somewhere around people, he's done a good job. There is no way I thought he would go to Singapore. I'll qualify Max Verstappen. Race with Max Verstappen and get points. There's just everything in terms of preparation, experience, just said no to it.
And what an amazing job he's done. It would have been my start before my signs had done the job that he did. But the biggest surprise for me was Larson. Yeah, I mean, hard to call anything else. Maybe I would say the ass is just because of an upturn in form, just to be different. Although I wasn't surprised by the Alpenes actually. And how good they were, although it seemed like it was one or the other. Ocon's retirement meant Gazzley got a great finishing position.
But I don't think Ocon had finished where he did. I don't think Gazzley would have had it gone to the points or maybe he would have done just. So maybe I'll go Alpen. Do you think there's been a change in the vibe since upmaar has gone? Do you think it Alpen? Let me just call my friends at Alpen and see what they say. To make an upturn in the vibe. All the stories you, but the story you told us about Alpen are basically like dealing out drinks on a plane. I think he'd bring the vibes.
You know what I mean? I think he sounds like the kind of guy who'd bring some decent vibes. Maybe they've realized that actually they've gotten rid of a diamond here and the team need to start performing to stop the loss of other people. Maybe that's the vibe effect. I don't know why I keep using the word vibe, but you've used it now. I feel like I have to keep saying it. So I think it's probably, should we just say Singapore is just an outlier and we'll see
actually what's going to happen. But I was, I'd actually agree with you. I think the Alpen's Alpine. I'm not a copax now. I'm saying Alpen was wrongly. Alpen is a serial bar. Yeah. I'm not a copax. I think this is a conversation with him. Alpen. I'm sorry. You're also, while we're here, another one. Esteban Ocon. You don't say Ocon. You just say Ocon. I'm so okay. I'd, I, what's wrong with saying Ocon? Tell me where, where was Ocon? It's not his name. That's a pretty fair point.
No, it's literally Ocon. So we were together in the middle of the year. Alpen as well. Alpen. No, you don't. Why am I saying I've literally been a part of F1 Junior teams with these people for years. And I've been saying the names wrong. Is that what you're telling me? Yes. Yes. I was part of the Lotus Junior team with Alex and Esteban. I'm not going to say the last names because I'm not going to say the last names anymore. And then... You know Gwen Lagrue.
Yes. He now runs the Miss... Gwen Lagrue. Lagrue. I... Lagrue. Lagrue. He's podcast. The F1 podcast they had him on recently. Yeah, he now runs the Miss... He runs in the Lotus Junior team, but you didn't even go to the... I was... I was one of the NPCs in that I was a non-playable character, unfortunately. Maybe it's about what's to pronounce your name. Oki-vi. Oki-vi. Well, I appreciate the pronunciation lessons that you guys are giving me every week.
And I can't wait to come back next week and discuss the names that I'm saying wrong once again. Yeah. You're literally following Formula One. How can you not be able to pronounce the names? It doesn't make any sense. I think all racing drivers are stupid and that's why I'm going to hide behind that. Or I'm just an especially stupid racing driver. I've... It's all the bangs from the side of the headrest.
When you're going at high speed, your head hits the side there and I've lost that brain cells. That's what it is. Of course. Apologies for me. I will get better. I promise we have... However many races left, we're into the last part of the season. I will... By the end of the year, I will pronounce every name correctly. The last episode will do like a little list and it will be like a tick of progress. That would be nice. It's a Christmas special. You just say progress or progress.
Nicolai, I'm sorry. Thanks for coming. I mean, it's been a pleasure. I hope you've surprised, performer, was the Alpons with Stefan, O'Conn and Pair Gaisley. And Gaisley. My thanks do well. Dear Gaisley. Callan O'Kefi and Nicola Homme. I've been Harry. Ben Jamin. We were out of time. Ben Jamin. How do you say... Well, I'm going to take the heat and throw it towards you, Harry. How do you say goodbye in Singaporean? Is that the language they speak in Singapore? I believe it's...
Well, I speak... I believe they speak... Well, they have five national languages, I believe. And I think... I hope you've learned all five as we... As we do. My name is... It's one of their languages because it's so close to Malaysia. Yeah. So I'm going to say... He's talking slowly while he's Googling. Yeah. We can see you in the screen. J-jan. J-jan. J-jan. From Harry Benjamin, Canada, Cleveland, and the YouTube. I will leave it at that. Japanese Grand Prix this weekend. Set your alarm clock.
It's an early one, wherever you are. I think a lesson not in Lenshawin Japan. Make sure you're following us, subscribe to this, hasn't completely put you off. And we'll see you next time. Bye. Oh, and listen to the Talking Pool podcast. That's where you have Nick Lourid's. Please do. Because actually, the couple of weeks is the episode with Chekhov, so we've recorded that, that's going out. Not this Tuesday, next Tuesday. It's much more prepared. It's actually done, and it's much better.
And actually... Yeah, no. I would... If you need someone to listen to after that, go over there and you can hear more of Nick Lourid's. Thank you for joining us. Nick Lourid's been a pleasure. As always. A final, a final note. Too long stroll, Lauren Stroll, and the Aston Martin team, please just... I'm sorry. Um... See ya.