What am I telling you? It's Race Week. Again, finally. It's funny when you even take two weeks off, it just feels painful. Tim, I don't like it. I don't like it at all. It's horrible.

We got nothing to talk about sometimes, Adam. I tell you, it's tough.

Well, there wasn't anything not to talk about. That's the thing. Yeah, we had a lot. Yeah, the off track has been crazy this year. Tim Horeani, Adam Wild, nailing the apex. And I want to talk about first, listen, this doesn't sound as exciting as perhaps it will be, but it does involve some driver movement, so hang tight. Audi is buying 100% of Salver. Salver has been a team forever. They almost collapsed about 10, 15 years ago. They've had some things where they're one of the smaller teams, they need more investment. What's been very interesting, Tim, is how, because of the Red Bull drama, I think, how little this has really been talked about and what what the implications are. But it's a really, really big deal. And it starts with Andrea Seidl.

Just how important it was for them to do all that deal, Adam, I think it's huge and the long-term effects of it. But I also think it's big from the standpoint that they can start pouring more money into this way sooner than what they had previously projected I just think it's... Obviously, it's great for Formula One, but it's good for the team in general. So they now know the direction they can start going in with the car. They know the investments that they can make, and they know what they can do with their capital expenditures, which is also really important from behind the scenes and updating, upgrading your equipment. I think all of that is extremely important. You remember, I guess it was last year, summertime, We were getting rumors that Audi was going to pull the shoot on this whole thing. And then Alessandro Lunibravi, who's the team representative, came onto our show and he literally said, Audi is not going anywhere. They're making their investment and we'll see where else it goes. When he meant by, we'll see where else it goes, I'm guessing this is what it was.

For anybody that doesn't know, because it's a complicated cost-cap structure, Audi or Sauber right now, Audi soon to be, have a very interesting window here that they can take advantage of until 2026, which is, of the 10 teams on the grid, they're one of the teams that can spend the most amount of money investing in their team. Whereas a Red Bull or a Mercedes can spend something like 51 million over the next three years, Audi can spend 63 million. The reason that that's a big deal and the reason that the purchase means so much is because Audi obviously operates like a mega corporation that it is. It takes a while to get things put through. Andrea Seidl looked at it and said, Listen, we're a smaller team. We need to bring more people on board. We need to get better equipment. I know they just replaced their Pit Stop equipment, which is a big deal. They've had pit stop issues this year, but with cross-threading, apparently. But frankly, pit stops are huge, and having outdated pit stop guns and things like that, that's not great. But beyond all that, Tim, they have said, and they've set pretty ambitious goals.

They want to be competitive within the first three years of being on the track. They won't have that budget available to them after 2026. After 2026, everybody is the same, so they got to take advantage of it now, which means Audi taking over now, they can spend a lot more money a lot sooner and have full oversight.

Yeah, big time. I think also a part of all that is engine development to how much money can they spend spend on their engine coming into Formula One and the rules that are behind that, which are quite vast and complex, but essentially it really leans itself to a new engine provider coming in, allows them a little more flexibility, more time, more money that they can put into this thing to develop it and get it ready. It's so important, behind the scenes of, like you Adam, just so much money that they can put into this project. Because it doesn't make sense if you're coming in on this half baked idea of, Well, we'll just own 75% of the team, and that's going to be enough to get us by and make us competitive. I just think from the whole board, executives and Audi and all the way down, finally understood and came to a consensus like, No, look, no, we need to take this whole thing over for we really want to be competitive like a Mercedes or a Ferrari.

Well, and Tim, I think the other thing is that when you own 75% of a thing, you have to have a business partner that's willing to spend as well. I forget his name, the guy that owns Sauber right up until they made this agreement.

Fin Rousing.

Yeah, he's not going to have the same ability to spend the way that Audi will. Frankly, you have to get him invested in spending as much, proportionally speaking. If we're spending $10,000, well, 2,500 bucks has got to come from him.

Yeah, exactly. Basically, it's like if I'm at the moment, Fin Rousing, who owns most of this team, I'm like, Look, I'm not investing any money from our side into the infrastructure, into our CapEx for this team anymore, because it doesn't make any sense for me to do that when I have already coming on at the time in a 70 % shareholder agreement. Now, when you bump that up and you get them to commit and take everything over, it changes that ball game of, okay, look, now you're basically getting everything. And so we can maybe spend some things on infrastructure here or there. But at the end of the day, by the time we get to this cutoff line, this date, it's all yours. You've got to take this ball and run with it and do whatever you want with it. So splitting between two separate factories, two separate divisions, right? You're going to have your engine division, which will be in Germany, and then you're going to have your car division, which is going to be building your race car down in Switzerland. And so I think that will also need to be taken. They need to take a look at that because I don't think you can have those two separate anymore, Adam.

I think when we see a lot of these teams that are really, really competitive, they usually have everything all under one roof. You look at Mercedes, their factories are separated a little bit, but they're both in the UK. Then if you look at, like Ferrari, Ferrari. Everything's in Italy. Everything is on site. It just makes sense that way. I think when you look at even Aston Martin and they have Honda coming on board in 2026, I would be shocked if they didn't have a little unit or network or something set up for Honda in the backyard. That's what I think is going to take for these teams to be successful moving forward. But I mean, look, considering where F1 is right now, with the dominance of Verstappen and the dominance by Red Bull Racing, I think it's still a really positive sign to see that an OEM, so like Audi, like a big manufacturer like Audi and the Volkswagen Group, they make a full commitment to Formula One. I think that's very positive for the sport. I tend to look at things a little bit differently over the past, last year and then this year being like, Okay, are we going to be seeing...

F1 is huge right now, but is it going to get any bigger because of the product on the track? Is it going to grow? Is it going to keep going? And part of me is just like, Maybe not this year, but next year, things could be more competitive. 2026, it's going to be a totally different ball game. We have no idea what's going to happen there. I think when you're an original... So when you're a big automaker, you got to look at that. I think you got to look at what's the landscape look like and what does it look like for the next decade? And I think I think for Audi, basically going in full, it's a promising sign for Formula One.

What's interesting, too, Tim, is that based on the country that you're in, there are various tax breaks and business things and incentives and Formula One has evened out the playing field when it comes to the cost cap. It's really expensive to live in Switzerland. If Audi is really going to do all their work out of that Swiss facility, which is, from reports, smaller and out of date, and they are building a new... I think it was, was it 300, 3 million square meters or something? Is it an enormous facility that they're building with Audi. Regardless, if there are higher costs of there is a cost of living equalization. So one of the other sports, obviously, if you're just listening to this show, you've never heard of me before. I've followed NHL and Formula One. I love both of those sports. In the NHL, there is no break for different tax brackets. In Formula One, there is. It's to attract the type of talent that you need to be successful, and even that playing field out, which I think is a really smart idea because it goes beyond taxes. It factors in things like what it costs for housing, what it costs to eat.

I think that's a really brilliant way to look at it. I think that Sauber's got, or I guess soon to be Audi has an opportunity to really take advantage of that now, too. They got more money to spend than most teams, and they've got this equalization coming in. One question, I think, Tim, that people are going to have is, what does this driver lineup look like? Audi wanting to use this much in the way Red Bull, Ferrari, and Mercedes do, which is a marketing vehicle. Your team wins the World Championship. Very likely, your stocks go up. I mean, you look at even Aston Martin. Of course, Aston Martin McLaren, same thing. Aston Martin has been selling out lines of their cars because of the Formula One team, because of the surprise success, because it's reinvigorated the brand. If Audi really wants to do the same thing that Aston Martin has, they're going to need really good drivers. When you look at who's available to him at the top of the grid, with With the exception of a Carlos signs, who's going to be available to?

Yeah, good point, man.

And you're going to a team that you're not sure about, right?

Yeah, big time. I mean, and that's like as a driver, if you've got a window where you could potentially go to Mercedes, then it's like, Well, okay, well, why would you go backwards and go to Sauber soon to be Audi? That doesn't make a whole lot of sense. And so I think for them, you have look at the landscape, but you also have to really make sure that you're investing in the drivers who are going to be committed to the program. And I think that is the key thing here. And look, everyone will be like, well, drivers will drive anywhere. But it's like top-line drivers won't drive anywhere. That's not how it works. And so when you look at a driver like Alex Alba, you'd have to think, is he better off where he is at Williams? Could Would he get the Mercedes seat? Let's say the Mercedes seat for him, gone. Let's say he doesn't get that. Alex Albon would have to sit there and say, Am I better off in the position signing something that's longer term with Williams that's at the moment is on a better trajectory? It's a seven. Yeah. Has the infrastructure that is being upgraded, has the backing from the owners that they are investing, they are committed, you don't have an engine manufacturer, that's okay because you're going to be getting Mercedes, which will probably be very competitive regardless.

Do you want to take those steps back to go to a team that could really struggle next year and then have no idea where you're going to be in 2026? It could be dead last. It could be dead last. And so I think that is going to be a bit of a challenge for this team to get really top tier drivers. Look, I'm not saying that the drivers they have right now aren't top tier, but let's be honest, how much longer does Bades really have? He's not having a great start to this season. He's super talented. No doubt, but- Car sucks. Car is not very good. It's like, how long does he really want to stick around there? Zheguan Yu, it's been a little different.

He's got a valuable thing, and I think people discount this, is the Chinese market appeal, right?

Yeah, but again, it's like...

And he's a fun guy.

He's just a cool guy. Yeah, for sure. I think for... Like, Andrea Seidl is going to have a tough decision to make. It's going to have to be You want two drivers in there that are top of their class that are going to help bring this program together. That's got to be Carlos Sainz. The other one's got to be Alex Alvin. And that's what I think.

So you think that they got to go for both? Because it's interesting today We're hearing that Nico Hulkenberg, a German driver, so there's that added aspect to it, but he's had a good start with Haas. He had a good season last year. Gunther Steiner said, That's who I'd take. He could be on their radar. Part of me wonders, Tim, if Nico Halkenberg goes next year in 2025 with a guarantee for a 2026 seat, and then they revisit. Nico, in all of his years, this is a guy who deserves a lot better than he's gotten. He came into the Formula One as one of those super-rookies, and he just hasn't had that top-end win yet. He's been on the podium, right? He's never been on a podium. This is what's so crazy about it. It's so weird about Nico Hagenberg. He's never been on a podium.

I can't remember the last time he was in contention. I have to Google that right now, actually. Not as I think about it, but I think it was- He was stuck with Renault in their worst years, right? No, but there was one race. I'm trying to remember what it was. I want to say Germany, 2019, 2018. He was in contention for a podium and then spun off the track.

Oh, no.

It's really painful.

But this is the thing, right? It's a It's scary. If you're going to try to fill out that driver lineup, going with a native German for a German brand makes a lot of sense.

For sure. Yeah, 100 %.

And it's raised well.

Okay, so this is from Wikipedia. You ready for this? I'm ready. Okay. As of 2024, Nico Hulkenberg holds the record for the most Formula One career starts without a podium finish. That's at 205.

Wow.

Okay. A record he claimed when he failed to finish in his 129th race, which was in 2017, Singapore Grand Prix. And in so doing past Adrian Sultil's previous record of 128.

Wow. And he's gone 100 over that.

Oh, yeah.

Oh, boy. That's so rough.

Not a full 100, not a full 100, but- Tim, imagine this, though.

I'm going to be your marketing guy for a second. He's in the Audi, and he gets his first podium. And let's say it's a victory, too.

That'd be awesome.

Be a hell of a story.

Oh, yeah. I'd be filling everybody's inbox with that one, with PR releases.

So that's interesting. Another guy that obviously is on their radar, but I think he's probably going to be on a lot of teams' radar, is Carlos Sines. The reason I want to bring up Carlos Sines, obviously Carlos Sines' dad works with Audi on Dakar, which is... I don't know how connected that is. You know what I'm saying? But I do want to say, if you're Carlos Sines, and you're seeing that Perez is up, and you're seeing that Lewis Hamilton is leaving, it really doesn't matter. What compelling plan could Audi even present you where you would go, Sorry, Total Wolf. Sorry, Christian Horner, if he's still there. I'm going to Audi. Yeah. What do you say?

I mean, you make a great point. That's what I was referring to off the top. It's really difficult to know what do they have that will entice a driver from Ferrari to come all the way down to the ass end of the grid. It doesn't make a lot of sense for Carlos to really push for a seat there. Once you race for Ferrari, your value is extremely high. Once you've won with Ferrari, which he has, even higher. So you bring so much wealth and of knowledge with you to every team that you go to. So I wouldn't be surprised if it's a battle between Mercedes and Sauber, or Sauber trying to battle Mercedes to get Carlos That's what I think.

Who's going to have more money to spend on that seat?

I think if you're Mercedes, you got all the money in the world, right? You offer him whatever you want. You can. Is he going to get Lewis Hamilton type money? No, not even close. But will he get more than what he's getting at Ferrari? He's either going to get the same amount or a bit more. Who knows how the rest of the season is going to go at him? Let's I would say that it comes back from appendicitis and he starts kicking a lot of ass. It's like his value goes up, his stock goes up, what he wants to be paid goes up. All that stuff goes up. So it's like, as we sit here right now, I mean, He was really great in Berraine. He didn't get to show what he could do in Jetta because he got appendicitis. I mean, that sucks. But at the same time, I'm basing it off of what he's done on the racetrack, and so far, it's been pretty good.

By the way, I want to bring that up, that Jetta race, because he had surgery, and then we saw him at the race literally limping around. Was it entirely necessary for Carlos signs to be on the grid? It feels like there was something intentional about that. Not to take away from Ollie Beermann, but more to say I'm tough or don't forget about me. What do you think he was doing there, honestly?

Just what you said, Adam, for sure.

How would you think that makes a difference? Do you think teams care? The guy, he was in the hospital the day before.

I think for As a driver, I think I would care. That's something I would probably do. Now, listen, I'm not the smartest guy out there, and I've been known to make a lot of really stupid decisions, and that would probably be one of them. But yeah, I would want to go there and show everybody like, Look, I'm tough. Nothing wrong with me. I'm ready to go. Put me in the seat. Where's my helmet? Get my walker out, go over, get my helmet, put it on.

But the thing is, not racing this weekend.

Yeah, I don't think so. That's a tough thing to come back from. It took Alex Alvin a long time until he was fully, fully healthy and ready to rock and roll inside an F1 car. I'm not a doctor, right? I'm not a doctor. But if he's feeling fit enough to get in the car and go for it, then they'll let him go, right? But if he's not, then he won't be going. So that's just going to come down to what What are the doctors saying, right?

Yeah, it's interesting. I wonder if a guy... I'm looking at the driver market, obviously, in the next couple of years, and it's looking like it's going to be pretty crazy. Now, if you're Lando Norris or you're George Russell, you're probably thinking, Man, it might be good not to be under contract right now because I could be making a lot more money. Do you think that those guys, and maybe even Charles Leclerc, too, although it's Ferrari, it's McLaren, Mercedes. They're amazing seats. How could you get any better? Do you think that by signing early, they left money on the table, or do you think that they're probably well compensated and it doesn't matter?

I think they're well compensated, and it really doesn't matter because I think they're managers. They go in, they talk. They know what's coming down the pipeline before anybody else really knows. They know what the market is. They know what the values of their drivers are, and they know what's in their contracts in terms of clauses, exit clauses, and things of that nature. I think for Lando, he just got... We've discussed it on this pod, he got that payday and he took it. It's a good team to be at, and it's a good place for him to be in. I mean, being in McLaren, pretty much being the number one guy there at the moment until we see what Oscar Piastri does. But that being said, he's in a very coveted position because he can call the shots, he can get a car that is more towards his style. And then if you look at George, well, he's saying goodbye to a seven-time Formula One world champion. That team, depending on who they get in that second seat, George is going to be the guy, right? Unless they get Max Verstaappen somehow, right? George is going to be that guy.

So George is in a very good position to eventually really start calling the shots. His relationship with Total Wolf is extremely strong, and that's what they've been grooming him for. They've been grooming George to take over for Lewis once he goes.

I mean, It seems... Man, I can't imagine. I know they're friends, but I've always wanted a couple of things. What would George and Max be like as teammates? What would Lando and Max be like as teammates? And what is their relationship, the three of them, what is it going to be when George and Lando inevitably start competing with Max for real race wins?

That'd be awesome.

It'll be awesome. But are they going to maintain the friendships the way that they are? Because there is a power imbalance there right now in terms of-100%.

You are 100% right.

Not that it affects their current friendship, like one's more powerful than the other, but the cars are so different. It's easy to be friends when it's like, Well, I don't really have a chance to catch you. I can be your friend because you're not as competitive as I am, right?

Yeah. The whole thing, that whole dynamic changes when you put a championship in front of somebody because it's Formula One. You don't know how often those opportunities are going to come around. And when they do come around, what is it going to look like? And so if you've got that moment where all three of them are in a championship fight, there's no way that these guys are going off track, having dinner together, hanging out, really conversing all that much. Playing pickle ball. No chance. Maybe at the end of the season, maybe at the end of the season. Maybe when everything is said and done, they have an off-season, time to cool down, Then maybe they could rekindle all that stuff, but there's just no way. It's too much chest pumping, too much getting your chest out there. You You are the star driver. There is nobody else better than you. And that's the mentality you got to have. And I think when I was coming up through racing and things are a little different now, Adam, you weren't friends with your teammate. You weren't friends with the competitors who were your same age. You guys were racing against each other.

Sure, you could be cordial, but you weren't like buddies. You didn't text, you didn't play video games together and all that stuff. And it's a little bit different now. That culture is a tiny bit different. But once you put a championship in front of- I'm just thinking Rossberg Hamilton, like buddies forever and never the same now, right? There's no way.

I'm going to push our Mercedes topic for a second because I want to quickly update on Christian Horner and the first Stop and Camp. The Horner complainant has filed a grievance with the FIA. This person that was, obviously, she filed a complaint with Red Bull. They invested investigated it. They've now suspended her. We don't know why. We don't even really know what the accusations totally were. We think we saw the WhatsApp conversations, but we're not even sure that those are verified to be real, although nobody's denied them. There's so much going on here. Obviously, the word from Red Bull Global was that Christian Horner was exonerated and that this woman is supposed to have been suspended ended. She's gone directly to the FIA with this complaint, so we'll see where they go with this. For his part, a guy who has fanned the flames is Jasper Stoppen. He said in an interview, of course, with the Dutch website, that Max doesn't like answering questions about the Red Bull saga. Now, I find that interesting because Joss has been the one who loves answering questions about it and loves pushing this. He He said, It is necessary to regain calm in the team, but given the circumstances, it will take some time, I think.

He said, It's part of it, but it's also necessary to calm down when it comes to the power struggle at Red Bull. What's interesting about that is Yoss has been the guy banning the flames in a lot of regards. Yoss is the reason we're all wondering if Max Verstoppen is going to stay at Red Bull till 2028.

I mean, Yeah, it's interesting to hear those comments. I hadn't heard them until now. And yeah, I have to agree with you. It is quite strange to hear that. In terms of Max not wanting to talk to the media about any of this stuff, I've been in the press conferences when he was asked, during testing, during the first round, and it is nonstop, like question, question, question, question, question. And you know what? I think for him, it feels like he doesn't want to be involved. You just keep him out of it. And so why are you asking me these questions? Because I don't want to be a part of it. And so I think the straw, Adam, that broke the camel's back, so to speak, was the Helmut Marco stuff. Helmut saying to the media that Hey, look, I may be suspended tomorrow, and I may not be here. And then the journalist throwing that back to Max after qualifying, I believe it was, and Max basically saying, It's very important that Helmut stays. It is very important. And I think that was the thing, saying, Look, this has gone far enough. If this guy's gone, then you're going to lose me, too.

And who knows whether that has to do with his contracts as well, Adam. There There are some reports out there that have stated that if Helmut isn't in the team, then Max has the right to trigger an exit clause to leave the contract. There's a lot of stuff in there that we just don't 100% know. But the fact is, I'm a big body language guy, and whenever he gets asked these questions, it really looks like, Look, just leave me out of this whole thing.

Yeah, I'd rather be sim racing or real racing. Apparently, he was up till 2:00 or 3:00 AM, at least, sim racing before the Jetta Grand Prix. Obviously, the Grand Prix happens at night, so he can get his sleep. But I just thought that was hilarious. He's like, You know what I'm going to do when I go home? I'm just going to race some more. And he's like Fernando Alonso in that way. It's like, Oh, what did you do for your vacation? Did you go on a yacht? Even though he bought a yacht recently. Fernando was like, No, I went go But that's the thing, Adam.

It's interesting that you say that because when you look at some of the drivers who are just incredible, generational type talent, They don't ever stop racing or driving or driving something. In Max's case, sim racing is that type of I'm always driving, I'm always on the sim. I've actually talked to him about that. I've sat and interviewed him and being like, Look, do you get something from this? And he does. He keeps the skills sharp. He keeps the rhythm of one lap quale pace sharp. He keeps all those little tiny things just ticking those boxes He's always doing it, getting better, getting better. You look at a driver like Fernando Alonso, he does the exact same thing. Alonso is always racing something. He's always at a racetrack. He's always driving, and he's always keeping his skills finally tuned, finally sharp. I find with the newer generation of drivers starting to come into Formula One or coming into racing, a lot of them do that, too. A lot of them just don't ever really turn it off. They don't ever really stop. They're always doing something. I think, obviously, it's a lot different now than when I was racing, because when I was racing, we didn't have Sims, we didn't have all this great stuff.

We went to the go-car track and we pounded around in our carts, and that was it, to keep the skills start. But with like, Sim racing, e-sports, all that stuff. I think that has really elevated the level of driver that we see now.

Tim, going into the Australian Grand Prix, and I want to talk about the track in a second. It seems as though Mercedes car is still a problem, and it seems to be the back end again. Lewis and George both saying that they don't have confidence in the back end of this car. They're in a fight right now with McLaren. They're currently fourth, which is well below what Mercedes would expect of itself. They were first place for years and years and years, second, the last three, or sorry, the last two. What do you think they do to fix that before the end of the season? Do you think that's a problem that's correctable this year? Or is that something the drivers are going to have to manage?

No, I think it is something that is correctable. It has a lot to do with downforce, getting more downforce put onto the car. And how are they working with the ride height of the car? Now, for those listening who don't really know, ride height is essentially when car and ground meet. What is the space between ground to car? There is a limit to which these teams can get the car to the ground, but that's where all the performance is. It's It's getting the car as close to the ground as you can without causing porposing. So when the car stalls out, so you have air traveling underneath and the car gets too low to the ground, it chokes the air off, the car pops up, and then you have that happening all the way down a straight away, and that's called porposing. Now, the Mercedes does appear to have a tiny bit of that, especially in the rear of the car. And so I think, Adam, a lot of that is just experimenting running simulations, How low can they have this thing to the ground? And then what is the racetrack providing you with? Is it bumpy?

Because if the track has a lot of bumps in it, it will affect where you can run the car. Because once you start bottoming out, even more, it just makes that problem worse. And that's essentially a watered-down version of all of it, Adam.

Yeah. And I'm wondering, transitioning that into the Australian Grand Prix, is In terms of the way the track is, would you rate it as one of the more smooth or bumpy tracks?

Well, it went through a resurfacing phase not too long ago. Then while doing that, they got rid of They got rid of one of the corners to turn it into more of a longer straight away, so there could be a little more passing opportunity. For the most part, it's not too bumpy, even though it is a semi-street circuit, a bit of a road course, through a park type deal. It's interesting that way. I think when we look at it, it's fairly smooth. The asphalt, from what I'm told, is not that abrasive. I mean, it's not like Jetta's surface. It's really good, and it's not like a rain surface, which is very abrasive. It's fairly good on the tires, essentially, is what I'm trying to say. But I like the track. It's quick, it's fast. There are now some passing opportunities there, which in the past, we would wake up for us. We're watching this thing at one in the morning, and it's I follow the leader, and we're all just falling asleep at two in the morning. Come on, give us a show here. Last year's race was really good. I really liked it. I think it's going to be a good race this year.

Whose car do you think it'll benefit the most?

Obviously, it got to go with Red Bull first off, right?

Well, yeah. Sorry. I feel like every question should start with, Other than Red Bull, we get.

Other than Red Bull, yeah. I think Ferrari can be strong here. I'll be interested to see what Mercedes has done during this downtime because James Allison has said, and Andrew Shovelin as well, two of the key guys who've worked on this car, the W15, they're going to go back to the factory last week, try and figure out What more can they discover with the car with their simulation tools? Then let's see what they can do with it in Australia. That's the thing with Mercedes, you can never just count them out. Just this championship pedigree in them just always keeps them right there as the 4/3 second fastest team. I think they're going to ping pong throughout that. But I honestly have to say Ferrari is probably going to be the second fastest team because I think they are the only team that are going to be able to really challenge challenge Red Bull eventually.

Okay. All right.

How do you watch the race, Adam? Because it's like one in the morning, right? Do you PVR it and then watch it the next day? How do you do it?

Well, I know TSN reruns it in the morning. It'll depend on how my Friday night goes because am I going to be at the family cottage the next two weekends? Sometimes the nights can get a little late there. So I might just stay up and watch it and then go to bed.

All right.

We'll see. If not, I'll just have to up and watch it on TSN time because it's a lot easier that way. The Midnight Races are crazy. But you know what? Yeah, they're hard. Tim, now that we're doing this show, maybe I need to be staying up and watching it in real-time. That's the thing is When you have a race that goes overnight in your country, you wake up and you're like, Oh, I can't go on Twitter. I can't go on Instagram. I can't look at anything. I can't talk to anyone or look at any of my text messages until I watch what happens. Because oftentimes, even around the office here, the three or four of us in our F1 group chat will be commenting on things that happen, and it's like, Oh, no, this is going to spoil it for me.

I have to get on to a bit of the time zone that the F1 travels to. For me, sometimes I'll sleep until... I'll try. I'll try and sleep till maybe 12:00 PM, 1:00 PM, and then be up until 3:00 or 4:00 or 5:00 in the morning and then try to get five hours sleep if I can. And then just coffee, man. Just Espresso. Just coffee. All the caffeine I can fit into my veins. It's just like I'm sweating it out just to stay awake for this thing. And so That's usually how I have to go about tackling it. But I miss Australia being the first race of the season, to be honest with you. I really did. There was just something about it. I guess it's just the nostalgia of it all, right? But I mean, It's different now. That's all different now. But no, it's a great race. I really do love this race. I really do.

Lastly, there will be two Aussies at the race. That will be Piastri and Ricardo. Ricardo has come under a lot of pressure since Jetta. Obviously, there was the week one switch with Yuki, and the thought was Daniel was faster, and it was looking like Daniel was faster at that point. He certainly wasn't fast in Jetta. There's been a lot of conversation about it, even Helmut Marco saying he's got to give us more. What are you looking for for Daniel Ricardo this weekend?

We talked about before on our last podcast, he definitely does have to do more. It isn't looking good for Daniel at the moment. Now, he can turn that around. This could be the place that he does it. From whatever he learned from Jetta, apparently was able to figure some stuff out with the car. So whatever he's able to do there, he's definitely going to have to start implementing that in the next upcoming races. Because when you got Helmut Marco coming out and saying stuff like that, then you know you're treading on that thin ice, right, Adam?

Well, it's the same as nick Devries last year. And I just wonder, Tim, if they don't get- You got Liam Lawson waiting there, right? I was just going to say, is it possible that if... And we'll open it up to both drivers. Let's say Yuki has a bad next three weeks. You don't know, right? And then he's under fire. Is it possible this year that Red Bull do the same thing and Liam Lawson takes over midseason for either one of those guys?

Yeah, anything is possible with that team and that program. You just never know. It's like a coin flip when drivers are struggling. You don't know how long they're going to last. I think that's a bit of a shame with the younger drivers, Adam, because for the younger drivers, it just need that experience. You need more time in the car. You need a little a little bit longer. But when you're an experienced driver like Daniel Riccardo, and look, I like Daniel Riccardo a lot, and I really hope he's in Formula One. I would love to see him at the big team back again, going up against Max. I would love to see that. But when you're a driver of his caliber and if the struggles continue, it's just not good.

No. I'm dying for that storyline, but he's got to earn that. And that's the thing with Red Bull is everything is earned every inch. So we'll see what happens. So Tim, we'll catch up a little later this week and do a little bit more of a deeper preview on this one, but looking forward to it. And thank God it's Race Week, man.

Yeah. Thanks, Adam. I appreciate it, man.