It's Monaco Race Week, Tim. You froze for a second. Or the thing froze, and I didn't see that the countdown had started. But anyway, hi. Listen, Tim, I want to tell you about my drive in here today because it's really, really important. It matters to Monaco. Let me tell you. So yesterday- Toronto is like Monaco right now.

A lot of congestion, really tight.

Windy, that thing. Can't pass anyone. But I was driving in in my wife's Honda Fit because because my F150 was broken into last night, or sorry, yesterday evening, and they didn't really take much. There wasn't much to take, to be honest with you. Thankfully, they didn't take the truck, and I'm getting the glass replaced, so I got to drive her little thing, and I'm I feel in the road in a Honda. Yeah, you were driven a Honda Fit?

No.

You are so close to the road, Tim, and you're winding through the streets and you're like, wow, this is what it must feel like going 40 kilometers an hour, just pulling crazy turns out because the smaller the car, the more you feel like I am one with the road, right? Yeah. I felt like on the way here, I was exhilarated in a way that I felt like I might be if I was a Formula One driver going down that chicane and then into the straight away in Monaco. So very excited, very pumped up. I feel like I lived it on the way here, and I'm thrilled about that.

You need a small car for Toronto, Adam. You do. It's the only way to get around. It's the best. It's the best. You can't park anywhere. Where else are you going to park? I don't know how you park your truck, man. Honestly.

Slow. Very slowly.

But if you're looking to park somewhere on the street and you're more likely to squeeze a little car into a spot somewhere than you are a truck. So I don't know how you're able... I don't know how you're doing. Also, second of all, Adam, I heard you got a problem with Neil Young.

I don't have a problem with Neil Young. All right. For anybody that didn't catch this.

I was told to bother you about this.

Are you a Neil Young fan?

Well, yeah. When I was a kid, I listened to Crosby, Still's, Nash & Young. Of course. I actually like Crosby, Still's, Nash & Young more so than I like Neil Young on his own.

Okay. So first off, Neil Young fans, they're going to be outside your house with pitchforks and flames. But yeah, no, I a concert, Tim, and so Neil Young has so many hits, so many hits. And he just decided, We're not going to play any of those tonight. I think I got three or four of them throughout the entire night. And then there was some B-side stuff. And And basically, most of it was his new album. And it's funny, he got a good write-up in the Toronto Sun. He got a good write-up in another newspaper. I was like, You guys were at the same show we were, right? I think it's like, and I don't blame the writers themselves themselves because it's one of those artists that you're not allowed to say anything bad about. You just can't because their fans, they'll fight you. And the reality was the performance itself, when he does his hits, he can still do them. He's 78 years old. That's really impressive, right? Really impressive. But when you aren't playing a song that I know and you have 50 years of bad catalog to pull from, that's frustrating, especially when I Well, I didn't spend it.

It was my brother and sister-in-law bought us tickets, 100 bucks per ticket for the lawns. To sit on the lawn. We didn't even get a chair. Anyway, that's the story. I'm glad that you're not a hardcore Neil Young fan and not lecturing me on, well, you should like his new music, too. And it's like, no, I don't have to, actually.

Well, I was just going to ask you, we'll get into the racing in a minute for everyone to tune in. And for those listening on the opposite side of the world, because we have a lot of people who live in Europe who listen to the show, Neil Young, big Canadian rock legend.

Icon, North American, I would say.

I'm sure people in Europe have heard of Neil Young as well.

But I digress. If you were in the '50s Woodstock era movement, you'd know Neil Young, Buffalo Springfield, some of that stuff. So go ahead, Tim.

My question, Adam, is, is the new stuff good?

It's fine.

But is it good, though? Is it like, hey, Neil Young. Because an art looks... Look, I go to a lot of concerts, played piano, saxophone, baritone saxophone, bass guitar, guitar as I was growing up still.

Wow, I didn't know that.

Look, music, to me is extremely important. But for an artist, you can tell if they really dig it. If they like their new stuff and they go to a concert and they're like, We're going to play some new stuff, and they're very confident with it, and you listen to it and you're just like, Yeah, this is really good. I can see why they chose to play it. But then you know that there are other parts of that new album or whatever they shy away from because they know it may not be for the crowd that we have in front of us because these folks paid a lot of money to come and see us and we want to make sure they're entertained. Sometimes, look, I get that. Sometimes an artist, you'll have certain type of music that just doesn't really suit the crowd. And you got to pay attention to that as an artist, I feel. Adam, the question, again, is, is it any good I think it's good.

I think that he... I would be wrong if I said that they didn't perform the new album songs well. It was poor song selection. That's what it comes down to. But I'll give him credit. They play hard. And again, this guy's in his late '70s, right? So we're grading on a curve here, but he sounds exactly like he's always sounded. And Crazy Horse sounds as grungey and dirty as they always have. And that's great. That part's great. So, yeah, Tim, I know what you're saying there. It's like, We're playing this new song, but we're not really confident in this new song. Yeah, and it's just like, We don't really know what you guys-They were completely confident.

Okay, well, then he must know that folks like it, folks like the new stuff. That's probably why he played it.

But again- Or they paid and they didn't check the setlist beforehand.

Yeah, I was just going to say that part. But those listening, if you ever come to Toronto, Budweiser Stage is a really cool place to go see a concert. It's outside. It's on its own little island out in Lake, Ontario. It's a really beautiful place to go to a concert. Going to see the War on Drugs there in September.

Oh, I like them a lot. They're great. Their first album, especially, was awesome. He's very Bob Dylan sounding, the lead singer.

He's great. I love the War on Drugs. They're great. Sorry. Okay, digress.

Tim, you're going to have to do a saxophone. You're going to have to do a little saxophone session for us on this show.

Oh, dude, that was a long time ago. That's a long guitar now, saxophone.

She's going to say, Is that how you-We're going back 20 years. Did you meet your girlfriend in a sax bar? Just ripping it? I did not.

We met at the Vancouver Auto Show. Oh, really? She was a representative for a very big-time car brand, and I was the brand ambassador for that big-time car brand. That's how we met.

Oh, that's very cool. What a story. I like that.

How long have you been together? She was the only one who could get the... Okay, so I don't know if you've got it. I don't know if you ever had this on your car, Adam, but there's an option where you can wave your foot underneath the back of a car and the trunk will open. So let's say you have grocery bags and you're coming out of the grocery market and you're like, Oh, dang, I can't get my keys. And so I'll stick my foot under here and it'll open the trunk. So it does that. And she was the only one who was able to get that damn trunk to open. And oh, my God, dude. Like the President of the car brand was there and we're all just dying laughing. She He was the only one who could get it to work. Amazing. I was like a brand ambassador and I couldn't even get it to work.

I'm pretty sure I know the brand, but I won't say it. I'm pretty sure I know. They haven't advertised it for a while. We'll put it that way.

I don't think they ever did, but they eventually ended up getting it working, and it works awesome now. I think everything that car brand has is like, I would take one of them in a minute. You've asked me twice. I'll take one of your cars in a minute.

Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. So Tim, Monaco Race Week, and I think it's important that we mentioned that we are going to be live streaming, sidecasting the Monaco ground. And I always love in the comment section, people are like, How come you can't just show the game or the race or whatever? It's like, well, because we don't have billions of dollars to buy the rights. We won't be doing that, but we are going to be... No, we're definitely not going to do that. But we are going to be watching and commenting on it as it happens. And I I think the fun part about a side cast, or I guess in the industry, they're called mega-casts.

Is that what it's called?

Yeah, I didn't know that. The other day, somebody was like, well, you guys do a lot of mega-casts. I'm like, What's a mega-cast? But anyway, We just call them side streams. But basically, we're going to be able to run you through and talk about the most relevant part of the actual racing in Monaco. Because, Tim, it's so difficult It's really difficult to pass with these cars being as wide as they are, especially the way Max... Listen, Max could take a car half that size and make it look that size. He can drive so wide sometimes and really hold people back. He's a very good defender. But the What will be fun is to have your insights on what's happening when and why through Q1, Q2, and Q3. And I think we're really excited about that. Now, starting from the top, we obviously know we Every weekend, Red Bull is the favorite. What's interesting at Red Bull is the two main points of contact with the media, the two leaders of the team, both think a different team will be their main challenger this weekend.

Yeah, that's true. Helmut Marco thinks that Ferrari is going to be very strong and be their closest competitor this weekend, while Chr. Horner is on the opposite side of that coin, and he thinks McLaren is going to be the stronger team. It It is that close. I can understand why both of them are choosing different teams and Red Bull bringing a track-specific upgrade for this weekend. For those listening who don't know what that is, essentially, it's going to be a rear wing for Red Bull, and I'm assuming beam wings as well. Essentially, this rear wing is specific for Monaco. Now, usually when a team brings a track-specific upgrade to a car, it usually means they'll be able to use it again somewhere else down the line, because we are in the cost cap era now. Teams have to be understanding of where they're spending their money. If it's worth bringing one specific upgrade, which is big for a rear wing. It's the rear end of a car, and spending the money on that just for one race. Now, granted, it is Monaco, so when you win, all of the marketing dollars behind all of that wind and stuff come flooding in at the same time.

So that's also something you have to take into consideration. But at the same time for a team like Red Bull, which we've discussed on this podcast, Adam, at length, that may be in a pretty close fight for a constructor's Championship here with now two other teams. Is that a good idea to spend your money on one specific thing where later on down the road, that could bite you in the ass? So So for this particular race, all the teams are going to be running as much downforce on the car as they can possibly get onto it. So everything's going to be at its max.

A lot of grip.

A lot of grip. You're looking for grip. You're looking for, and specifically for qualifying, which you and I are going to be commentating on, is essentially you want to make sure you're prepping the tire properly and getting the tire ready and in the right window so you can nail that one qualifying you're going to have an opportunity for. Traffic is going to be a problem in Q1 and Q2, there's no doubt. So you're going to see some drivers are going to get screwed by that. And you're also going to see some drivers who are really great drivers not do well here simply because of that tire prep that I talk about. So Friday's practice sessions are going to be extremely important. I would say for this entire year, this is the most important Friday and Saturday of the whole year. Not Sunday, but Friday, Saturday, Adam.

And so when you To get the chance to on TSN in Canada or Sky Sports elsewhere or F1 app or however you watch, watch free practice and watch what they're testing. If you're really nerdy about this, and I know free practice can be hard to watch because maybe you're work. But it's something that is so great to have on in the background while you're doing work. It's just like having a podcast on. You can listen and look over because there's lots of times where things aren't happening, but you're hearing the announcers talk through and you're watching the teams work through what the track is going to be, how the tires are going to react this year. They're going to talk about weather reports because rain is always a threat. And in the last couple of years, we've had some pretty massive downpours. So it's-It could be again this year, too.

Oh, yeah.

Is it in the forecast? Yeah. And I love this week because they always do that beautiful shot from the mountains in Monaco down into the Harbor, and you just see all the super yachts rolling in. I can't imagine what the docking fees must be for those yachts for this weekend. Just must be bonkers. It's outrageous. Oh, outrageous. Outrageous, Tim. But the the excitement around it, even though the race isn't usually great, it usually is a bit of a tour, the excitement around this race just can't be matched. There's something about this race that feels Formula One, but feels classic Formula One. Why is that?

It's the glitz in the glam of the Principality, Adam. I mean, everyone's rolling in from all corners of the Earth to see this thing. So you're going to get lots of celebrities showing up, lots of athletes. I believe we've seen Tom braided there in the past. People come to this event because of that, right? It is a crown jewel event for motorsports at the same time. And so there's only about three of those in motorsports, crown jewel events. And so This is really important. It's an important to get a win here. If you can win here, that's huge to have on your CV. That's right up there with an F1 Championship. You know what I mean? Maybe not as close, but it's still very, very important.

Did you win a race or did you win at Monaco? It is a step above.

Yeah, for sure. 100 %. And there's just so much that goes into trying to get a win at Monaco. You have to be perfect the whole weekend. You were mentioning free practice sessions there, Adam. They are It's important to watch because you can see how a driver builds the confidence, gets the confidence to nail a push lap. You can also see the driver get the car into a balanced window where they're happy with it. Let's say in free practice one, they may struggle the first 30 minutes, but then as you get 25 minutes left to go or whatever, you start to see the car come to life or you start to see the driver being able to push in certain areas a little bit more. That, to me, speaks of where they're at with the where they're at with their confidence. Because with Monaco, confidence is everything, and the driver makes the difference in Monaco. So if the driver can get confident with the equipment that they've got underneath them, then going into qualifying, you're really going to see some stuff. So that's why I say Friday, Saturday in Monaco is probably the most important Friday, Saturday we see in Formula One all season long.

But yeah, like I said, I really encourage people to tune in to Free Practice One, Free Practice Two, Free Practice Three, because you learn so much in those moments. Free Practice 3, towards the end of it, you'll start to see, okay, who could be in contention in qualifying for pole positions or moving on to Q3 or being strong. So they are important to watch. I know some folks just like, oh, practice. It's just practice. I'm like, it's not just practice, though. No, it's fun.

It's also fun to watch.

There's so much more going on. There is just so much. As an F1 fan, obviously, and then obviously on top of all that, I got to cover it. It's just you get to see the evolution of the weekend for the driver.

Now, can you name the podium from last year's Monaco Grand Prix?

Let me see here. We had Verstappen, Alonso, Ocon.

That's correct. And isn't it funny to think how one team has continued on And two teams have had some struggles since then. I mean, you could argue that last year's Aston Martin second-place finish at Monaco was the highlight of the year, and it was a good start to the year. But the upgrades that they did afterwards didn't quite take the same way that they had hoped. And they ended up finishing fourth, but they were a real threat at first to finish second. I mean, they really did. It was amazing what they did. And then Alpine, which looked to have a strong car in 2022 towards the end, looked to have a stronger car last year, and it's just fallen off a cliff, although there are some signs of life in the last couple of races. Hard to imagine a poll or a top three like that this year.

That's the thing with Monaco. If you can qualify the car reasonably well, I thought strategy played such a crucial role for Ocon to be able to get that P3. It's not that Esteban was one of the faster drivers or was P3 fast. He was just right place, right time, right strategy, drove well, kept it out of the barriers for the most part, and execute it properly. Essentially, if you can get yourself into that top 10 position for the race itself, and then you get a bunch of crazy stuff happening within the race weather, safety cars, red flags. You can chop away at the field if you keep your nose clean. That's the thing about Monaco. He's got to keep it out of the barriers. But I was rewatching part of last year's Monaco Grand Prix on TSN a few days ago, which is cool. I'm glad they actually replayed that on the network. It was fun to watch. And I was conversing with someone on Twitter, one of our listeners, and they made a good point about just how critical all the yellow flags were when the rain came and all that stuff. But then I made a point of, Well, look, when Kevin Magnuson parked it up at the second last corner, I mean, safety car had have been thrown then.

That would have changed the trajectory of that entire race. The whole thing would have been flipped on its head. People who were in the top 10 probably would have been up on the podium or leading the race. That's That's how much Monaco can really turn around. And even as a strategy, if we go back to... Sorry, Charlotte Claire, 2022. And what happened there, Charlotte Claire.

I just hurt for the man. I shouldn't laugh. I hurt for the man.

Yeah, I feel really bad for the guy, too. But that being said, the team just really blowing it on strategy in Monaco when he was on his way to his first ever Home Grand Prix victory.

And by the way, he had a bunch of DNFs with Alfa Romeo and a bunch of DNFs in Formula 2 as well. It was a miracle.

I'm just trying to remember, he started on poll, what? 2021. And I believe that was the DNS.

And then 2022, he got it but couldn't start, right?

Because of the crash. No, that was 2021. That was 2021, the DNS. Yeah, and then 2022, he was on poll again. And then the team's strategy really screwed him, like badly.

Oh, my God. And that's the thing. I do root for him because I do want to see him win here. I do want to see him win at home.

Well, he did win the F1 '24. What was it? The 10 Racers Simulation Race. Oh, the EA Sports one. Yeah, yesterday. He did win that.

Which is crazy.

And that was around Monaco, too. I tweaked out. I was like, Hey, you never know, right? This could be Charles Leclerc's weekend. It could be. I'm thinking, Helmut Marco is backing that up with, Yeah, Ferrari is going to be strong here. I'm thinking, All right, Let's go, Charles Leclerc for the victory.

You know what? As a McLaren fan, I would still be down. I would still be good with it because you want to see that stuff happen. It was like, I want to see a celebration like we saw in 2018 when Ricardo won. You want to see somebody who's just pure joy winning this race. And Max, God love him. He's done it. When he wins a race, he's like, Yeah, I've been here. And he has. I mean, this could be his 60th race win, which is really unbelievable when you look at it. It really is a spectacular amount because the last time, Tim, he was in Monaco when he won, it was his 39th. And that's how many races he's won in the last year.

That's crazy. I mean, his percentage of winning is off the charts. We did a feature of it on TSN. What's his percentage of wins compared to other past champions? And he is the highest. I mean, that just shows you how dominant he was last season. This season, obviously, I think will start to become a different story the more we get into it. But again, it just shows you he's on top of his game. You go back to Emula and we discussed it on here, and Max was incredible. That was all him. That wasn't the car. That was Max. Max really dragged that win out. If there had been a few more laps and McLaren had done things a little bit differently or Lando had done things a little differently, We would have been talking about a different winner, I think. Same with Ferrari. They were having a lot of battery issues in deployment with their car. I don't think necessarily that will affect Ferrari this weekend. Straits aren't long enough, but if If you go back to Eimear, yeah, for sure, we would have been talking a whole different story. But again, I digress. I think for Max, obviously, we talk about him at length of just how great he is.

And Monaco really shows you how great a driver can be because it is such a driver-specific track at him. They make the difference. So if Charles Leclerc is hungry enough and he's going to be able to get the car underneath him, I definitely could see a Charles Leclerc victory. He's great here in qualifying. He's showing that.

He always is. Yes, yes. Spectacular in qualifying. And there's that really famous, and I think this was 2022 because it was sunny, that really famous just inches from the barrier along the back straight where there's the chicane and-Swimming pool.

Swimming pool section.

Swimming pool. That's it. So you know all the corner names. I still don't know all the corner names. I don't have a memory that allows me to do stuff like that, to just pull things. I don't know what it is, but my brain has never worked that way. I can't pull... If you're watching a TV show, I've got friends, Steve's one of them, that if he watches a show, he can remember the funniest line in that show 10 years later. I can't do that. I just can't do that. So I'm terrible with these details. But that little inches shot is it's part and parcel about what Monaco is. And I have to tell you, in the EA Sports game, in Formula One, I think the last one I bought was in 2022, I hate that track. I can't stand it because it's so hard. It's very, very difficult, especially for a hack like me, not to screw something up. There's so many little details. So, Tim, this track feels like a track that lends itself to veterans, to guys who have been there before. If there's somebody not in the, let's say, the top three.

Red Bull is looking at both Ferrari and McLaren as their biggest competitors. I would expect Oscar Piastri is going to be a lot stronger at Monaco this year just because he's got more time under him. Lando has obviously put on a great performance last week. His record at Monaco is mixed, but I think that's also because the car has been mixed. We Obviously know Charles can do it. We know Carlos is pretty good in Monaco as well. Actually, I'm going to switch my question. Sergio Perez. To me, he's the driver to watch this weekend. He had a really bad email. And we talked about it on Monday about if he can't pick it up, Red Bull's constructor's title is under threat. Perez has won this race. He has pulled on this race. I think he's pulled on this race.

I don't think he's had a pole position in Monaco, but he has won it.

Remember when you were discussing- And now qualified max and he crashed, right?

Yeah. And then he had that crash. I want to say it was down by the tunnel. So that was 2022. And because of the Ferrari strategy snafu, that allowed Sergio to eventually take over net race lead and obviously won. And obviously, Max is pissed for the rest of the season about that. But again, you're right, Adam. I think coming off of the weekends that Sergio had in Imala, his contract's not confirmed for next year. Although it does sound like Christian Horner will be the one who makes a decision on that one, not Helmut Marco, which is a separate storyline, I think, for another time. But I think Sergio needs to have a good raced weekend here. He has to be strong. He has to be close to Max. He does. I mean, if we look at the Championship standings, Adam, and there are people right now, as we're recording, asking Max Verstappen if there's a title battle against Lando, and Max says, They are really in the mix. You suddenly start winning, it can turn around on you quite quickly. So if you look at the Championship standings, Verstappen with 161 points, and then you got Charles Leclerc in second with 113, and then you've got Sergio with 107, and then you have Lando right there with 101.

So if the tables were to flip here, and Let's say that, like we had talked about last show, if Ferrari McLaren somehow are up in that top five, your constructors is going to start looking a lot different. That narrative is going to change. And then so is your driver's Championship battle, which I can't believe I'm actually saying that, which I still, at the end of the day, I think Max is going to win this Championship. I'm just going to put that out there. And it's going to be really close between Red Bull, Ferrari, and McLaren for constructors. But these things can start changing really quickly, and that puts pressure on your team. And so that's where you need Sergio to assert himself, to make sure that he's protecting Max, he's helping to protect their Championship leads in both drivers and constructors. And so that's his job right now. He's not battling for a Championship. They've got all their money on Max at the moment. And that's tough as a driver, too. I mean, that sucks. But at the same time, it's his job, right? And this is what he's got to do. And he wants a ride for next season.

I think this is an extremely important weekend for Sergio Pérez.

Yes. Yeah. And you know what? It was a couple of years ago, too. I mean, Drive To Survive even profiled it. It was coming into the Monaco weekend, he had low confidence, and they weren't sure if they were going to resign him, and he was able to put a good weekend together. And the rest of the way, he seemed to get back together. And that's where I think with Sergio, he's a good veteran driver who suffers from sometimes lack of confidence and getting a handle on some of these cars. At least that's what it seems like from the outside.

Charles Leclerc was asked, what would a podium at home mean for you? And he responded with not much.

Stop it, Charles.

Second or third is not something that excites me.

Oh, get out of town. I'm sure he'd be thrilled. Get out. By the way, a lot of people don't know this. When you win in Monaco, you're invited to a dinner with the royal family afterwards. And Mark Webber in his book talks about winning Monaco unexpectedly and only having jeans and a T-shirt. So he showed up to a dinner with the royal family with jeans a T-shirt on and was relentlessly made fun of for it. But very Mark Webber of him, I think.

I got to get him on this show, man. That's the last thing I do. I got to get Mark Webber on this show.

Tim, I'm dying. Dying to talk to Mark Webber. Are you kidding me?

I am, too, man. I run into him in the paddock and stuff. I'm like, Got to do the show. Got to get him on here. He might have the most chiseled jawline of all time, too. Still does.

Yes. Still does. When they show off what a Chad is on the internet, Like that meme, that's Mark Webber. That's Mark Webber's shit. So I talked about veteran drivers and how important they are. Outside of the top three, we got seven other teams that are having varying degrees of success. And it's interesting because you seem to have a top three this year that are pulling away. And then you've got Aston Martin, Mercedes in the same category. And then I think you'd have Racing Bulls and Haas in the same category. And then Williams has really taken a step back, and obviously, Kicksauber and who am I missing? Alpine. Just depressing with Alpine, the way they've fallen. Who do you think of the drivers from those teams has a shot at something like fifth place to really surprise. Who do you think is really going to pull it out?

In this specific weekend, if we're looking at that bottom five, so Championship order would be R. B, Haas, Alpine, Williams, Sauber.

Yeah. Who can surprise?

I think Alex Albon can for sure. He's a great qualifier. And I think if he gets the car and the understanding and the confidence, he'll be great. Same with Esteban O'Khan. Hulkenberg, lately, Adam, for just... Him in qualifying lately, he's been unbelievable. This is the best he's ever been in qualifying, in my opinion. He's been fantastic how good he's been. I would also go with Daniel Ricardo as well, just because of that experience factor that you spoke of. Yuki has been awesome, too. He's been amazing. So watch it for him. He's been amazing. But Daniel, obviously, he's won here. And yeah, he almost won twice. He almost won twice. Don't forget that. So I think for that, Ricardo goes well in Monaco For the most of the time. I'm trying to remember what year it was. If it was 2019, I think it was, where he was missing a couple gears, and he had Sebastian Vettel breathing down his neck for like 30 something laps. And Daniel had to drive the car completely differently in that last stretch to keep Seb behind him, couldn't make one mistake, came away with the win. I think he said redemption day or something like that.

I can't I don't know what his quote was, but it was awesome. But I think Ricardo is also another driver to watch out for here. Yeah.

The more that we get into the season, the more I think And I'm going to call them Racing Bulls because I hate the V-Card name for some reason. Just say, R-B. R-b. The R-B team. The more I see that racing, that pair, the more I think they should both be back at this team next year. And it's interesting because there were rumors this week, Tim, about Yuki Sonoda, because there seems to be a reluctance to bring him up to the Red Bull senior team. And I think part of that is probably due to the Honda partnership and the fact that that is ending, and they're a major backer of him, and Honda wants a Japanese driver on the grid. The second thing is, I don't blame him or his camp for saying, Hey, wait a second, we deserve a shot. When you look at how great he's been this year, however, However, I've heard that Haas's name has potentially come up as a potential Yuki Sonoda landing spot just because of how competitive they've been.

I definitely believe that as well. You do? Yeah, for sure. I think that seat of Kevin Magnuson's Adam is open for business, in my opinion. He's really struggled this year, and I like KMeg, and I like him as a driver on track I appreciate how aggressive he is with his competitors. He's a racer's racer, and I love that. And so I think Haas as a team, you have to compare where the two teammates are. Also, at the same time, Kevin has done a great job of defending for Hulkenberg so he can keep points in certain races. But Yuki has been just so damn impressive this whole season up to now. He's been so good. That, like I say, talent will always find a way, and it will find a spot. I can see Yuki back at Rv next year. I don't know about Daniel, though. I don't know about Ricardo. The only reason I say that is because of Liam Lawson's deal that they've got. Liam Lawson, actually, if he's not confirmed for one of those Red Bull seats for next year, he has the option to go somewhere else immediately and look at other teams.

So that would then throw another driver into the whole mix of this musical chairs that we're in right now with Carlos Sainz really being the one who's dictating that storyline at the moment. Like, wherever he goes, then more dominals will start to fall. Does Botas go to Williams? Does Does science decide on signing this Sauber deal, which looks like it probably will happen?

What's going to happen with that Mercedes seat?

Yeah, that's the other question. What's going to happen? Is Kimi Antenelli in line for that seat? Some people seem to think he is. No one's really come out and said he will be in the car next year. And they're still trying to get Max Verstappen. Mercedes is still gunning for Max. And so if you're going to bring Kimi Antenelli in, what? You're going to only have him for one year and then that's it? What do you do with him? Put him as a reserve driver? He's not going to want to do that. No. You know what I mean? It's like, if you bring him up now for next year, are you rushing him? You have to remember, when we look at other drivers that were rushed into Formula One, and where did they go? They went to teams that were at the back of the grid. They didn't go to the best teams on the grid. I mean, Lewis Hamilton is probably the only one, but he was ready. He was ready to go. He had won the Championship that he needed to win. He had performed at the highest level, better than any other driver, and all these different Championships that he had entered.

So he was ready, and he had raced so much, too. So he had so much experience at the same time. It only made sense. But like, George Russell, where did he go? Williams. Charles Leclerc, where did he go? Did he go to Ferrari? Could he have gone to Ferrari? Should he have gone to Ferrari? Some people argue, yeah, he probably should have gone to Ferrari way earlier than when he did, but went down to Sauber, Alfa Romeo, started there. So you're taking Kimi Antenelli, and you're putting him on a A giant of an F1 team. One of the greatest teams ever, right? Albeit they've taken a step backwards, but they still have that Championship pedigree built within the team. And you're asking the soon to be 18-year-old to replace Lewis Hamilton.

Yeah.

Now, Adam, is that fair? And at the same time, if If you're total wolf, does that make sense to you?

Is it fair? It is not fair. It's not fair. But inherently in this sport, it isn't fair, right? How fair is it that that Formula 2 teams have no battery and then all of a sudden, you get into Formula 1, you got to use battery and figure all that out. You know what I mean? That's a good point. I think it's like if you're Kimi Antenelli, you take it.

You take it. Yeah, absolutely. You take it. But my point being is that, do you want You want Kimi Antenelli to be the superstar of the future. You look at Max Verstappen, same thing. Where did he go when he got into Formula One? He started at Torre Roso. You bring your young drivers in. I think you try to find them a seat further at the back of the grid. They're not under as much pressure. They're there to learn. They're going to make mistakes. So let that happen further on down the grid where they're not overcome by pressure from the team, pressure from the media, and pressure from everywhere else. It's like people need to remember, Formula One is basically Pushing everything and everyone to their limit: car, machinery, technology, and work personnel, and drivers. Everything is being pushed switched to its maximum. There is no take a shift off. There is no, Hey, have a 30-second rest on the bench before you go back in for this next play. None of that stuff If you even take 30 seconds off in a Formula One car during a practice session, forget it. Forget it. You have to be at the limit, at its peak, as soon as you leave Pitlane.

And a driver like Kimi Antenelli, you're either going to do one of the things. He's either going to really shine, and he's going to be spectacular, or it's going to go in the opposite direction because there's a lot of pressure at that team. There's going to be a lot of pressure on his shoulders. I'm just not too sure what Total Wolf does with that second seat. It's a big decision, but let's see what happens. If they feel that he's ready for it, then Well, I know Williams is screaming and yelling that they're not the second Mercedes team, and that's fine. That's a great point, though, Adam. I mean, they're not. I mean, James Valls has come in. He's taken over there. They put in a young driver program. Their young drivers aren't ready at the moment to make that step. No. And Logan's still working away at it. And I think Logan needs some more time because I think every driver needs about three years in Formula One. I've always said that. And it's It's like if you're James, you're not going to take Logan back, what's your next best option, Adam? What are you doing?

Well, I think if you want more experience, you're going Valtry Botas for a year, at least. But I can see why he'd be appealing to Mercedes as well, where you keep Kimmy in Formula 2, assuming he doesn't win. And then in 2026, new regulations, and you bring Kimmy, Antonelli, up. He's closer to 20 years old rather than 18. It's a lot. It's a lot to put a kid in that spot. And a team like Haas, who will probably end up with Oliver Beermann from Ferrari and ended up with Mick Schumacher before from the Ferrari Young Driver program. It makes sense for them because they are a slap-dash, throw-it-all-together team. Not to insult them, but that's literally their business model. It's like, we're going to buy all these parts and we're going to put together the car and we're going to make it work. That's how they do it. And that was the ethos from day one with that team. And bringing a guy like Oliver Beermann in and then bringing in a really good first driver makes things easy for Haas. And I'm going to compare Haas to Williams in a second here. Because let's say it's Yuki Sonoda and he goes to Haas.

He's the number one driver. And Beermann gets to learn from him, but also compete against him in probably for 2-3 years, maybe Lewis Hamilton retires. And if he's good enough, he moves up. That's how this probably should go. If Williams needs more time with the young driver program, I think James Valls would be Depending upon Antonelli's actual... Because I haven't really looked into it. I don't know how he's been doing in Formula 2. I could see the points, but it's about lap times. It's about how he's handling corners. It's about how he's taking criticism. It's about personality and improvements on your original times, too. It's so much more than just, oh, well, he has X amount of points, and here's what happened on the Grand Prix weekends. So I get what James Valls wants to do. I get, Logan Sargent has improved. He's still not doing very well, and his seat is under threat, and James has been about that. Do you want to, if you're James Valls, do you really want to take on a kid from Mercedes that you're going to develop that's going to go on to win championships with Mercedes? And Haas is okay with Oliver Beermann doing that because they wouldn't have access to young drivers that are that good.

But I don't know that Williams is. And that James Vowels is talking to Eddie Jordan, who is the agent of Adrian Newey. Adrian Newey, yeah. Yeah. And you know what's interesting? I've been listening to that podcast with Eddie Jordan and David Colthard. And one of the things that has surprised me is Eddie Jordan's about face on McLaren. I think he had some suspicions about Zack Brown. I think that, obviously, the way that the Honda exit was handled, maybe some other things that Zack has done along the way because Zack has had to be vicious. Mclaren were in a terrible spot when he took over. The interesting thing I'm hearing is Eddie's really warming up to what's going on at McLaren, and it makes me wonder if there are a sneaky pick for Adrian Newy. Just a thought, but it does make me wonder. He's saying, there's absolutely no way, by the way, that Adrian is even close to making a decision. He just bought a boat. That's the sixth team is what he's calling it. So that means there's five teams talking, and you have to assume that is Mercedes, McLaren, Ferrari. Williams has said they're going to do it.

Who's the fifth team? I don't know. But it's It's interesting.

It'll be fascinating to see where he ends up. Like I said, I think it's going to be Ferrari if he does decide to come back to F1. Pretty confident in saying that. I just think they're going to be aggressive. I mean, Frederick for sure has been hitting home runs at him. He's been unbelievable. For the last 12 months, just recruiting, going on this massive recruiting process. He's been doing really great with the individuals he's been able to bring in. So you would have to assume that he will be able to get Adrian in through the door. That being said, I think any team would love to have him, right? Like any team would. James Valls had stated that in Miami when we were talking to him. And I spoke with Zack Brown about that in Miami, too. Again, I'd love to have him on the team. And I think he just comes in and he just adds that special bit of magic that you need to a race car or a program that gets you over the line or gets you that extra 10th that you need over your competitor. Jumping back to Kimi Antenelli, was 10th in the sprint race last weekend in Imala, and then in the feature race He managed fourth place.

And then also, just to quickly update folks on his standings, where he is in the standings, he's sixth. Right now, 36 points with the leaders. Maloney has 68 points. Wow. And then obviously, Ali Berman has missed a big chunk of the F2 Championship. I believe he had Pole in Saudi Arabia, but then couldn't partake week because of Carlos Sainz's appendicitis. So he missed that entire weekend and that entire slate of points. So, yeah, again, then it raises the question... Sorry to jump back to Antanel even.

Oh, no.

No, no, no, keep doing it. But then it raises the question, if Kimmy Antanelli can't get into the top three or top four within the F2 Championship, so do you then just promote him to a seat like Mercedes. I don't think you do. And you've got to look at what happened to nick Devries. He won the F2 Championship in 2019.

And then it got stuck.

Went to Formula E. I don't know. Does that defeat the purpose of your ladder system for Formula One? I don't know.

I think you got to prove a win. Prove that you can do it. Prove that you can do it, I think, first.

As for Adrian Newey, though, Adam, again, we've talked about him ad nauseam that people are probably getting sick of this, but he's such a special individual to have on your team that he's the storyline, right? If we go to the next race weekend, we come to Canada, right? We come into Canada and it's like, Hey, we're here for the Canadian Grand Prix or whatever, and something happens with Adrian Neuilly, he is now the story.

Yeah.

I don't think he understands how big of a story he is, but that's what would happen.

It's a good time. It's a good time. Now, the last thing I want to hit just on the driver market before we go, Tim, because I do want to get your top three this weekend just before we go into it. But I want to talk about one thing and one thing only, and that's Mick Schumacher and his connection to Alpine, because Bruno has been singing his praises about the World Endurance Championship and how well Mick has done. And his name is emerging as a potential guy to replace either Ocon or Gasly, should they leave or should they be moved on from? And my question to you is, because I never saw Mick, at least in a haas, as a Formula One driver. I was never quite convinced of it. What are your thoughts on a guy like that?

Obviously, right now, Mick's running Alpine's hypercar program in WEC, World Endurance Championship. And I mean, he did have his chance in Formula One. And you can't say that he didn't. He did. I'm not sold on Mick coming back to F1 and being competitive right away. I think it's something that takes a bit of time. And if you're Alpine, what are you going for as a team? Are you looking to rebuild? If you are looking to rebuild, I think you need experience. If you're a Williams, you need experience to help you get back. I mean, for Alpine, they've been in such a state this season. It's good to see that they're starting to get a little bit more competitive, but you still need that core group of drivers who are going to be there, who are going to be able to extract the performance who know exactly what the team needs, who knows exactly what the car needs. So if you're Pierre Gasly, yeah, I think you do everything you can to keep him at the team. If you're Esteban Ocon, I think you need him back at Alpine. I I think if you're Alpine, you should be going back after those two drivers for sure.

I mean, if Esteban doesn't find a way of getting himself into that Mercedes seat, then you should do everything you can to hold on to him because those are two very talented drivers, Adam. I wouldn't let those two guys go.

No, I wouldn't either. But it seems like they don't have another Piastri in the system for a while. So mixed name came up. I know.

That's crazy. Adam is going in with his shots already.

I I mean, Piastri has been amazing. I mean, I can see why they were so pissed when they lost him.

Yeah, he's been awesome. Piastri has been amazing. Again, I probably should have had Paul in Imala and then gone on to the race win. That's my opinion. But again, you could just tell Piastri, you can just tell Adam, it's right there. You could tell that he's going to get that pole position, and he's probably going to get a win this year. You could just see it. He's just really hungry for it. And I think he knows it, too. There's just a couple of fine little details that he's got to iron out. But I love that kid. I think he's incredible. I think he is awesome. I shouldn't call him a kid. He's over 20. He's not a kid. He's a man. But again, I think he's generational talent, that guy.

Oh, yeah. That driver lineup is just amazing. I love that driver lineup. It's awesome.

We're going to talkWe found a way to talk about McLaren again. Always.

You always got to find a way. And by the way, I love the Senna look, by the way. Although a lot of people are comparing it to Subway's branding. They're taking the two drivers in their race suits and photoshopping a Subway logo in the background. Very funny. It's very, very funny.

Someone sent me a... I can't say who, but this person sent me a screencap of Oscar and Lando in their center gear in a Sprite can.

Yes. Yeah, absolutely.

Like an old Sprite can with yellow and green.

I remember.

I was like, Come on. I'm like, There's blue mixed in there somewhere, too. Don't be like that.

Tim, give me your top three drivers this weekend, and then we'll go because we got a big show on Saturday morning.

Oh, yeah. It's going to be sick. Okay, let's go. I'm going Charlotte Claire for the win. I'm going Max Verstappen, P2, and And Oscar Piastri, P3.

Okay. All right. I like it. I'm going to go- What's yours?

What's yours?

Yeah. You know what? I'm going to go, Charles gets his first win in Monaco because I want him to. I'm going to say Max second. I'm going to say, Lando, third. That's what I'm thinking.

If Charles Leclerc wins this weekend, I'm going to freak out, man.

Yeah. I think the whole world or the whole F1 world will. I want him to. I want it. I want it. Yeah. Such a great story. And I want a Ferrari victory this year. The sport's better when Ferrari's good.

Yes. No, but seriously, though, if Charles Leclerc wins this weekend, man, I'm going to lose my mind because I think that's an incredible story. Credible.

Absolutely. Well, we'll see if he gets a poll, Tim. So we'll see you Saturday on the Sdpn YouTube channel, youtube. Com/sdpn for a side cast or a mega cast, depending upon what you call it.

It's going to be so good, Adam. It's so jacked. Let's go.