Q&A: Is Japan made for Lewis Hamilton?

0:01This is a Global Player Original Podcast.

0:30Thinks it's original, but it's been done before. Couldn't care less. When you put two exceptionals together, it's a dream scenario for a team principal, but it's also a nightmare. They will end up falling out.

0:54It's Will. It's David. It's Jolie. Welcome to Up to Speed. Well, it's the Japanese Grand Prix this weekend, so we are going to be answering all of your questions today. And thank you, as always, for sending them in. Later on this week, on Thursday, we're going to be getting into what emerged pretty much out of nowhere and very, very quickly as the hot topic of the week, which is Aston Martin, Audi, and seemingly the team principal conundrum, which made our WhatsApp group absolutely kick off over the weekend. huge intrigue there I mean we were making bets you weren't I'm too old and too wise to be wasting money on speculation but I definitely think very unusual to have the immediate exit of Jonathan Wheatley who I think had done a very good job as far as I can see in his time in that crossover from Sauber into Audi and then of course the stepping down from team principal of Adrian Newey which actually was more confusing him stepping up to team principal for me than him stepping down because he is a technical guru, genius, pick your favourite word for him.

2:02And at no point in the 30-odd years he's been in Formula One has he ever said or appeared to be a team principal. No, you're absolutely right, mate. And obviously Aston Martin is a total mess this year. And, you know, how much capacity has Adrian got to be dealing with that and having to talk to the media about that? How much does he even want to be doing that where actually his primary concern right now is fixing that car, doing what Adrian Newey does best. But on the flip side, you've got Audi who have come in absolutely swinging this year, really good results off the bat. Jonathan having done a really solid job there.

2:38There's just so many different kind of component parts of both of these stories and the fact that they're now being meshed together into one sort of evolving narrative. I find it absolutely fascinating, particularly two races into the season. It's kicking off now. Well, I think if we just take a step back, in my opinion, and tell me if you agree, team principle for me is the public face of the team. They are the vocal final sort of point of this is the position of the team. So they have to do the media side. They also have to be visionaries across their technical department, their drivers, see longer term as to putting all the right people in place.

3:18So they have a multitude of responsibilities rather than a technical director being specifically looking at what do the regulations say, how do we exploit them? Yeah, I mean, what's wild to me is social media can be so awful with its timing sometimes because the algorithm was playing back a video coming to the top of everyone's feed of Audi posting, you know, a clip of Jonathan saying, we're in this together, this is so exciting that they literally posted three days ago. Oh, yeah. So I don't think anyone expected this to happen. Even Jonathan himself had done a post, you know the Audi Quattro was in the in the factory and talking about you know pride history as you say in it as one the responses to that some were like you know good luck for the future Jonathan others were you know turncoat um traitor oh wow oh no people were you know people have taken it shock people on social media have taken things very personally otherwise I would be I'm I get very emotionally touched by any of that.

4:22Well, there is your little reminder to be kind on social media. But for now, we're going to dive in to our questions from our amazing listeners, starting with Tom underscore Offen, who says, Will Oscar drive? No, of course he'll drive. You know, he's been unusually unfortunate in the first two Grand Prix's, not even starting. But actually, go back a decade or so ago, people could go probably three or four Grand Prix's with not starting. Such was the reliability. so I think it's just a little bump and yeah, he'll bounce back and score some points. I love the fact that Oscar said he's never, or can't remember a time when he's actually been able to watch two Grand Prix in a row, because he's sat on the sidelines.

5:02He'll definitely do practice, he'll probably do qualifying, whether he'll race or not is another point entirely. I mean look, we've reached this incredible level of reliability in the sport, but with these regulation changes particularly on the engine side there's just no guarantee of that But McLaren will have looked into the issue. They will have gone back to Mercedes. Issues. Issues. Well, yeah, but like it was a similar issue coming from a slightly different place that affected the same thing. It seemed like it was all engine related. So it was very much McLaren going, hey, our engine supplier.

5:35Hey Mercedes, you're absolutely fine. So what's going on over here? Yeah. But I mean, it stems back to what they've been talking about since pre-season testing, which is they don't have the same instruction manual as factory Mercedes. You know, how is factory Mercedes getting this performance out of their engine and all of their customers are lagging so far behind? Yes, the Williams is overrate. The Alpine is not as competitive as it could be. The McLaren is clearly having a lot of issues as well. But what's that contract like? What is the factory versus customer contract? They have to be the same power units.

6:08But as DC was saying, you know, when we broached this subject a few weeks ago, just because they're the same doesn't mean you've got the same level of understanding as to how to maximise it and draw the most from it. And I think that's ultimately what's frustrating, is they've been given an engine and it's a little bit like, well, there you go, lads, figure it out. Yeah, I think that was my takeaway, that they were given, it has to be the same spec when you enter the Grand Prix. So everything was delivered to them in Melbourne, which was not the case when they were testing in Bahrain. So it's a scramble to try and figure out how to make best use of it.

6:43And that is going to be an ongoing scenario for the next few Grand Prix's. I think how people harvest and deploy, because that's been, I think, some of the complaints from the drivers, that you make a mistake and that mistake is rewarded by having more performance somewhere around the track. So it's counterintuitive. But what doesn't make sense to me as well is, you know, you have such limited testing time. You've got brand new power units. Why wouldn't you give your customers all of the information? Don't they're going to beat you. Yeah, but they're test beds. They're ultimately test beds. And the more information that you have, the better you will be with what you have.

7:20Look at Haas and look at the Haas performances this year with a Ferrari engine. They're not complaining about, you know, Scudera Ferrari having all the knowledge and all the information on that power unit that they don't. Oli Berman's fifth in the driver's championship. Right? Super impressive. Super impressive from Oli, but also really, really impressive from Haas. And that is a team who have got all the information they need on that power unit. And are making it work. Yeah, they're a big customer to Ferrari. They buy as much as they possibly can. So maybe there is a better, let's say, understanding between them.

7:51I cannot have been comfortable the last couple of years for Mercedes to watch McLaren with their power unit getting the results. So I kind of get it in a way. And also Mercedes have transient dynos, you know, which effectively means they can run all of the simulations with a full car to know what the track is going to do. You know, you basically you could have the driver effectively sitting in there if you wanted. So I think they've probably gone enough is enough. This is about Mercedes Grand Prix now. And I mean, talking about McLaren, we've started this talking about, you know, will Oscar even drive?

8:24How rusty is he going to be? He's missed two Grand Prix. That's a good question. It's such a mental game as well. I mean, we saw it with Lando last season. He's going to be so nervous, no? Or shake it off, you're fine. He won't be nervous. But I do think you've got a point that maybe running down to the first corner of a Grand Prix, could we often say, historically Melbourne has been the first Grand Prix many, many times. And, you know, you have a first corner shunt and you go, well, it's the first day back at school. Hopefully that doesn't happen. He hasn't taken a race start since Abu Dhabi.

8:58you know that's I like to call it abby dabby doo abby dabby doo it feels fun that way you're like scooby dooby doo so we've got a follow up question as well from Boothy30 who says will Zach be under pressure if McLaren have another bad weekend I mean that's an obvious yes no look Zach was under pressure when the team wasn't performing they've just won two constructors championships back to back and delivered the drivers championship you're only as good as your last win the only thing that's under pressure with Zach is his bank balance. He's had so much success the last couple of years that in sport, it never lasts forever.

9:33You know, how often have we had football teams, you know, win the premiership and then the next year they're struggling to stay in the top 10? Yeah. Historically, and as we spoke about this pre-season, when you have big regulation change, actually the fact that they seem to be there or thereabouts, you know, I would say the running order is Mercedes, Ferrari, then McLaren, if they can actually get the car to the start. So I think they're within shouting distance. I don't think Zach's under any pressure at all. I'd ask if James Vales is going to be under a bit of pressure, given where Williams were at last year, the disappointing start to the season that they've had, the fact that, you know, he's not an owner at the team.

10:10And Zach obviously has ownership of McLaren. So that kind of alleviates a bit of pressure. Yes, you know, obviously there's a board that he's answerable to. But for someone like James, you know, they were hoping to springboard from where they finished last season and move up the order. They've demonstrably slipped down the order. I would say there's more pressure on someone like James than there is on someone like Zach right now. But his saving grace is, and I remember Ron Dennis, who used to be an owner and team principal of McLaren back in the days, saying to me when we were struggling in 96, I think it was, he went, I don't design the car.

10:45I don't build the car I don't drive the car therefore I'm struggling to understand which part of this problem is me which is what James could say if the car is overweight and not performing he hasn't designed it but he is ultimately responsible for the team that does that's the pressure you take on when you agree to be a team principal it's like what the Spurs manager is saying at the moment but on that note we'll move on to the next question yeah if only that I mean imagine there was relegation in Formula 1 imagine you were one point above the relegation zone g fosters has sent us a little clip on instagram

11:22hi david naomi jolly and will this is george foster here um huge fan of the podcast and massively into formula one just want to ask a quick question about this weekend in japan since that's such a era efficient track do we expect potentially a closer battle between Ferrari and Mercedes this weekend? Good one. I like that question. Yeah. I really like that question. That man knows his tracks. It is a brilliant track. Absolutely awesome. One of the best tracks in the world. Interestingly, designed by the same Dutchman who designed Zanvoort. Zanvoort, another great racetrack. I'm going to go with that.

11:58I knew it was the same man. I didn't know his name. That's the name of the corner in... That's a big one nail, that is. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, right. So what about Suzuka? In terms of challenge, I think if anything it will allow Mercedes to stretch their wings. I think they have a little bit in hand. I think there was a little bit of concern about what would the harvesting be like in terms of recharging the battery. But what we've now discovered is all of these medium speed corners is actually a big potential. So if you have a small lift in a medium and high speed corner, you're getting a huge amount of recharge outside of what we had in the previous formula where it was all about big braking.

12:35That's where you got the recharge into the battery. So I think it will still be advantage. Mercedes, I've seen, and this will be one for you, Julie, I've seen Lewis Hamilton cruising around Tokyo with these new love interests. So maybe he'll just be bubbling with energy when he hits track. Are we going to see Kim Kardashian in the paddock for the first time? Don't care. Will says he doesn't care, but he does. Will does care, but we're going to talk about that a little bit later on. So I'm going to bag Ferrari purely because I think in the medium to high speed corners that we saw in China, Ferrari were really good.

13:11Mercedes clearly have an advantage on the straights. I think that's fair to say. When you look at the onboards with George and Kimi down that long back straight. But I'm hoping that the nature of the medium to high speed corners at Suzuka play into Ferrari's hands and we get a battle for more than the first 10 laps. Like I went back to watch just the highlights before we came in today of China, just as a kind of a refresher. And I think about 75 % of the highlights reel was the first 10 laps in China, which I think shows kind of where we're at at the moment with the battles on track. So let's see.

13:51Hopefully Ferrari can get their strategy right and can maintain, at least maintain, a longer battle with Mercedes because for those first 10, 15 laps, it looks close. It looks great. I just want to see that. I think the key thing you said there is the strategy. It depends, you know, what Hamilton and the clerk are doing on track. If they're battling each other for so long like they did in China. That's a really good shout. It hurts them. Yeah, it does. You know, how much are they thinking as a team at the moment and how much are they thinking as individuals? Because if they work as a team, they've got a better chance of taking the fight to Mercedes than they do taking it on as individuals.

14:24Yeah, I think that's an absolute fair comment. I think if I was them right now, I'd be looking at the big picture. Can we get one of our cars to win? because if you can get one of your cars to win, that will energize the team. It will give you so much information. Where it felt like in China, they were battling each other and it was like, well, Mercedes are going to win this anyway, so let our drivers get on with it. Well, big picture, I think that may cost them a little bit in performance. What I'm actually more concerned about is, given that Suzuka for me is one of the great challenges of the world, it's up there with Spa, it's up there with Silverstone, where the greats have been able to hang it out and find something extra.

15:03On the edge. Absolutely on the edge. Now, in this harvesting world that we've got at the beginning of the season, is it going to be a case of where they're actually driving a little bit slower through the medium and high-speed corners because they can harvest more and then deploy that down the longer straights and get a net win? If that is the case, then that's going to be slightly worrying about, you know, the guys who are just absolutely excellent at exploiting a bit more potential. Yeah, I'm totally with you on that. If they're having to back off 75 % through corners where if you could take it 98, 99, dare you take that extra half a step and hang on to it, that defined or separated the greats from the good.

15:49And I think that's the biggest worry at the moment with these regulations is you can drive a car to the maximum within these regulations, but are we seeing drivers able to separate themselves as great from good if you've removed that, you know, that defining characteristic of Formula One, which is that ability to do what the others couldn't or daren't do. Well, we'll see who does that this weekend. Now we're at my favourite part, my favourite question, which is from mturner0512, a little bit of a tongue twister, on Instagram, who says, who do you think could surprise people in the next race? So I'm going to add to that.

16:30Predictions. I want your winner and I want your wildest prediction. Oh, okay. Now, I'm happy to go first. Go for it. I'm going to go in. I'm going to say my wildest prediction is that Ollie Bearman ends up on the podium. Dammit, I was going to say that. I was going to say that. Yeah, I wasn't going to say that. Okay, that's my wildest. And my winner, I'm going to go for Sir Lewis Hamilton. this weekend. Very nice. Well, I think that would be a popular prediction because a winning Lewis and a winning Ferrari is fantastic for Formula One. But I'm going to go with what I believe will be the outcome, which will be George will win.

17:04He needs to reassert himself within that team. The Kimi, you know, it's all nice and cute getting his first Grand Prix victory. He's getting in the way of him trying to win a world championship. And then as an outside, Hadja, I'm going to go for podium. Your wildest. Hadja for podium. All right. Okay. Look, you'd be mad, utterly insane to pick anybody other than one of the Mercedes drivers to win at the moment. So with that in mind, I'm going to agree with Joly and pick Lewis Hamilton for the win. You're both mad. I wasn't sure where it was going there. I'm going to keep doing this as my wild prediction until it bloody happens.

17:39Cadillac to score points. Hey, they were, what, 12th, 13th? Yeah. At the last race, second time out. There was a lot of cars also not racing. Yeah, but that's where we're at with Formula One right now. So, you know, do I expect every car to reach the finish in Suzuka? Absolutely not. Do I expect every car to make the start in Suzuka? Absolutely not. I reckon right now I've got more chance of scoring points than Cadillac. Or Aston. I mean, can we also discuss the fact that it is obviously Honda's home race? I think their plan was to have a special livery. I'm not sure Aston Martin or Wittsing. A non-shaking engine would probably help them more.

18:15Any resource on that. I mean, how do we think their reception's going to be? Sorry, I've diverted from the questions there. I've got my own question. I think the Japanese are very loyal, loyal to their own. I think they're head down and hardworking. It's not the first time they've had some adversity. If you look through the history of Honda's run in Formula One from way back in the 60s, they've always had to climb a steeper hill, I think, to get results. But yeah, look, it may be a celebration of liveries that was planned. it's not going to be a celebration of results. I think they just need to keep their head down and keep working.

18:49I think the biggest issue for them right now is that their major rival for Japanese affection in the motorsport community is Toyota. And Toyota have this big association now with Haas. And Haas are doing great things out on track. Well, obviously, Will, one thing that we have agreed on now is Behrman third. That's our wildest prediction. And we touched upon it earlier, but I think he deserves more credit, more of a shout out. He's fifth. You know, the Ferraris and the Mercedes are the only ones in front of him. He's absolutely killing it. Yeah, superstar. I mean, we've known that from, you know, when he stepped up last minute in Saudi Arabia to stand in for Carlos Sainz, who'd had his appendix out.

19:35The kid has got it all. You know, he is mature beyond his years. He is supremely talented. Other than when he's in a media interview, may I add, which by the way, Ollie's team, if you are listening to this, never media train him. It's the best thing I've ever seen. He swears and then he's like, oh, I shouldn't have said that. Oh, sorry. And it's amazing. He's lovely. But he's a phenomenal racing driver. And Ferrari have got a star on their hands. The question isn't, you know, will they promote him? It's when, you know. They don't really miss that opportunity though. And that's one of the pressures they have with Lewis.

20:14And I'm assuming it will be Lewis that's the one that will eventually step down. Because, you know, when a star is ascending, you've got to catch that wave. And if they stay too long, not being challenged, because let's be frank, there's a big difference in pressure when you're at Haas and overperforming than if you're at Ferrari and you're half a tenth lower than your teammate. Everything changes. so getting that moment to bring him into the spotlight the real spotlight and the real spotlight is way way hotter than any of these guys in the big grid can really believe and if they wait too long and he believes he's ready for that chance what's going to stop somebody else from swooping in and stealing him whether that's a Red Bull or Mercedes or McLaren or whoever you know you don't want to let a talent like Oli go so Ferrari got some big decisions to make well we are definitely an Oli at Bearman fan club here.

21:06We're bearers. I think that's what he calls them. Bearers. Part of the bear team. Whatever we'll go with. That's not going to stick. No, that's really not sticking. Yeah, apologies on that one. Let's just use his full name and say we're a fan of Oli Bearman. Yeah, we like Oli Bearman. We like Oli Bearman. That's it. Now, Lulu on TikTok. Lulu. Lulu on TikTok has just said. Lulu Hamilton. Well, oh, maybe it's Lulu's biggest fan. I said, could we see Kim Kardashian in the paddock this weekend? I don't care. Oh, well, maybe she could give Toto some modelling tips. I don't think Toto needs modelling tips.

21:37We'll come back to Kim K because I want to talk. Look, I'm an Adidas girl through and through. I'm not going to hide it. And Mercedes have done a collab with Y3. I was actually fortunate enough to go to the fashion show in Paris with Adidas and see the collection. Did you feel special? I did feel very special. It was a bit of a pinch me moment that weekend. I got to take my mum. Anyway. And the collection is sensational. And the way that they've released it, usually they've got the drivers, right? They have the drivers modelling it and that's kind of a team But it's a bit Star Wars, is it not?

22:06A bit Darth Vader? Is that why they use Toto? Toto's the first photo. Toto, they're like, you know, our drivers are good, but Toto. I'm going to show you something. Darth Toto. You guys all think this is happening for the first time. Is this you at Times Square again? No, I'm going to show you Ron Dennis wearing a black leather outfit, Mika Hakkinen and I. This was Hugo Boss back in the 90s. And basically when I saw the Toto one, I went, my God. everyone thinks it's original but it's been done before Y3 are going to be sending you any of their merch but I have to say I love it I think it's great and how did we get onto this?

22:46we got onto this because someone asked if we could see Kim Kardashian in the paddock and we changed the subject because we don't care actually you know what it's reminiscent of? did Lewis not wear a black leather trench coat when he got launched at Ferrari? so all that basically Mercedes are doing is going well that got a lot of likes so we better put Toto on a black leather outfit I think ultimately the conclusion is... Copy each other. Toto's just a gorgeous specimen of a human being. Can I just go back a bit? I know you don't care. He's a very good-looking man. Man-crushing? Oh, mate. We're all crushing.

23:13100%. We're all crushing. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Toto's a beautiful human. Inside and out. I will agree with that. But can I just say, I know you don't care, and I know that they'll... I couldn't care less. One minute, one minute. I understand that there are going to be some fans that don't care, right? That are more interested in the engine side or what's happening on track. Yes. But for the younger generation, this is a cultural moment. It is, which whenever you look at it, it's getting new fans into the sport. I'm talking about Mercedes. I'm talking about this Y3 collection. I'm talking about Kim Kardashian.

23:42It's all an avenue. I don't know which one to buy first. Do I buy a new Mercedes? Do I buy an Adidas Trench Corp? Do you buy something? Can I say one thing? Skins. Skins? Is that what it's called? It's not Spanx. Right. Anyway, one thing we can all agree on. Posh Spanx. It's bringing new fans to a sport we all love, right? And it's making the sport we all love bigger. So whatever avenue they're coming from, it's all the same game. I want to know what Kim really feels about the super clipping. I want to know deep down what she feels about the tired egg. Listen, we don't even know if they're dating.

24:16They might just be mates. She might be turning up. Friends with benefits? Whatever. I'd be interested in the conversation, like if she's there and wants to be interviewed. Do you know what would be amazing? You'll not get past security. If Kim Kardashian turns up and deigns to give an interview, let's say to Martin Brundle on a grid walk, and he says, Kim, great to see you here. You know, what do you make of Formula One this year? And she says, listen, I know there's a lot of controversy about the super clipping, but, you know, Ferrari are doing great right now. Lewis is loving driving the car.