Why are Mercedes making Kimi Antonelli start last in his home race Monza?

0:00Best thing that's ever happened to you financially. Go. Easy. Sold my car on Carvana. Amazing offer. Really? I hit 200 on a scratcher. Did the scratcher come to your house and hand you a check? No. How many scratchers did you hit to get that? I hit a button on Carvana.com once. Okay, that's fair. It's like the lottery, except you always win. Not like the lottery at all, actually. Exactly! Inexplicably good. Offers worth bragging about. Sell your car today on Carvana. Pickup fees may apply. This is a global production. Mercedes allowed to make their upgrades. And Red Bull kind of sitting there, like, well, we don't have the best car.

0:40Why can't we make our upgrades? It's like, why? Doesn't seem that fair, does it? The sport feels a little over-policed, maybe a little over-regulated. Are we losing that absolute need to win? Toto coming out saying we can't afford these upgrades. Kimmy might be starting last in Monza. Isn't it extraordinary? This keeps things spicy, this keeps all the teams sort of in the game. If they really have nothing more to give, they're at a massive disadvantage.

1:13Up to Speed.

1:18It's Naomi. It's David. It's Jolie. Welcome to Up to Speed. Well, today we're going to be talking all things upgrades because it is all kicking off in the development race. The ADUO findings, which is the additional development and upgrade opportunity findings, have come out for a second time this season already, and Red Bull still do not have an upgrade for their engine. So lots to discuss over there. And then besides that, Toto saying they've got no money left to spend while Kimi might be starting last in Monza. Later on, we're going to be talking about Lewis apologizing for his radio messages, Lando's extension, and Max taking on 100 drivers.

1:59Are you two participating? There's an age limit. yeah either side actually okay well we're gonna get into that a little bit later but for now should we talk about the aduo obviously they've come out with their second period findings which doesn't allow anyone additional upgrades but it still suggests that red bull aren't able to make an upgrade at all since the beginning of the season so where do we sit on that given you know the results kind of speak a different story than what the ado says even though we know it's package how are we feeling about that i i hate the line it doesn't seem fair because i'm not one of a well it's me but it doesn't seem that fair does it i mean they're currently fourth you've got obviously the likes of mercedes allowed to make their upgrades ferrari allowed to make their upgrades mclaren allowed to make their upgrades and red bull kind of sitting there like well we don't have the best car why can't we make our upgrades it doesn't seem like a fair or correct metric anymore yeah i would agree and it's clearly it's the engine um there's an old expression in formula one that aero is king and that's always been the sort of mantra that we always tend to talk about aero um rather than the horsepower per se and there's been examples of teams winning world championships not with the most powerful engine but what uh i think feels a bit like there's been a missed opportunity and it has been explained by the FIA it was requested by the teams to have as simple a mechanism as possible which fell to being only the internal combustion engine element of the power unit which that to me just isn't about being fair if they've all agreed to it it's it's like why it's like it's like saying we're going to uh I don't know set some kind of limit based on one body part or something in athletics even though the whole body's used oh my mic's gone uh even though the whole body's used um in in the actual competition so the power unit as a whole isn't just about the internal combustion it's also about the electrical storage capacity so for me really it's more about it doesn't seem the fairest mechanism to monitor power unit output because it's just the internal combustion engine and that's part of the power unit, which clearly is electrical energy deployment, harvesting.

4:27That is massively complex. And we know from McLaren at the beginning of the year that they were frustrated that they were getting the same power unit, but they were getting all the information on the power unit the week before the race. And it just wasn't enough time to be able to run the simulations, to work out the best way to deploy the energy. And I hit my mic again. I'm so sorry. I'm overexcited this morning. so what we find we're in this classic sort of scenario where we all have to sit there going this doesn't seem really the best in this world of technology we've landed there which also if I can just lead us into the fact that Mercedes have a power unit change in Monza which means that Kimi Antonelli will start at the back of the grid that whole penalty system of places on the grid and if you change certain parts, was brought in when we were trying to make the sport more reliable because it was fair to say during my generation, it was, you know, the engines were like hand grenades very often.

5:27It feels that we've moved on from that now. And if you are Italians who've saved up your money to go and see Kimi Antonelli racing, now maybe it's exciting to see him come through and he certainly will come through, but it becomes very challenging for him to win the Grand Prix. And okay, just because he's Italian in Italy, that's not necessarily what's going to be. By the way, it's also his birthday weekend. Oh, there you go. So hopefully he does win on his birthday weekend. So there's a number of rules and regulations which have been agreed by FIA and the teams, which probably are outdated now.

5:59Yeah. I mean, I think you said this earlier on in the season, DC. It might have been you or Will. I can't exactly remember that. The sport feels a little over-policed, maybe a little over-regulated. And I saw a quote from Laurent Mecquist suggesting that he hadn't seen a set of data that proved that their engine was any quicker than Mercedes. If anything, it was two to three tenths slower. Now, again, onto your point, obviously, it's difficult to figure out, you know, which part of the package delivers that additional performance. But in terms of the internal combustion engine, there's at least in the first period seem to be the quickest.

6:34We haven't actually seen a ranking for the second period. It just suggests that no one has crossed the next threshold. But there's something that it's a bit funny to me about to some extent incentivizing teams to underperform I know that none of them really seem to be doing that but it kind of rewards those who've not done a great job and punishes those who've done a good job which always seems a little bit backwards to me because isn't the point of the sport to come up with the best technology out there totally agree totally I mean I understand there being regulations in place like in all sport you know football obviously there's big cost caps and I mean we've got that in f1 as well but there's transfer window rules etc but I'm I think look we're totally aligned on this with the three of us and you know I don't want to speak for Will but I feel like this could be one topic where we're all really together on we are it does feel like we're aligned because it doesn't feel like the the right thing for the sport for you know let's talk about it as showbiz for the entertainment of everyone I mean talking of Kimi this weekend look Monza's one of the easier circuits to overtake on so if anything it's the least painful place to take it and you know it could be very exciting for everyone watching but I'm sure he'll be going into this absolutely gutted I mean it's his home race he's obviously leading the championship it's so important every point is crucial and it just feels like such a shame for not only the entirety of Italy but for everyone watching the sport and the excitement of this championship battle that things that are so out of Kimmy's control are happening and I think that's where I get slightly frustrated with any sport when you know the athletes are punished for something that is out of their control.

8:22Yeah I totally agree with that and just reflecting on the fact you say it's his 20th birthday I was sort of digging back in my mind I was in Formula 3 at 20 I was living in a house with a family, the Parias family, who very kindly allowed me to share their spare room as friends of the family. And I was a boy, you know, several years away. I don't think I really became a man until I was 30. But of course, they grow up much more quickly nowadays. Have you become a man, DC? I was going to say, I thought you were going to say 60. Yeah, it's coming, yeah. But isn't it extraordinary? Isn't it extraordinary?

8:58His level of professionalism, maturity, performance for a 19 years old. Absolutely fantastic. So let's hope he has a great weekend in Monza. Yeah, I think we all kind of prematurely presumed we'd see a little bit more cracks appearing on the surface because of his age and his sort of lack of experience as opposed to the others in Formula One anyway. But that just really hasn't been the case. So you're right, TC, he's been utterly impressive, both on track and even more so off track, I would say this year. But let's just talk about Mercedes for a second. As you mentioned, Jolie, you know another you know regulation we have is the cost cap regulation and this is one that i think i feel like i do agree with i think it's good to put a limit on spending in some ways because you know we do want to avoid utter domination across the board otherwise you know the sport you know becomes a little bit should i say boring um you know this keeps things spicy this keeps all the teams sort of in the game but has this cost cap backfired a little bit on Mercedes given you know the others clearly are catching up McLaren have won the last two races it feels like Mercedes front loaded their upgrades at the beginning of the year and wanted to more so play the defending game for the rest of the year but you know they didn't I don't think that they optimized their opening part of the season of course they won a lot of races but they also you know lost a few points on the board for because of reliability and then on top of that they've got this engine penalty that they're taking in Monza so hopefully that won't backfire on them in the long run yeah I mean I think like Toto coming out saying we can't afford these upgrades and then there's you know the rumor treadmill that falls from that other team principals not believing him I mean Mercedes obviously won the first six races and then since then have won two out of the last six so it feels if they really have nothing more to give They're at a massive disadvantage.

10:51But I'm a big Toto fan, but I'm kind of inclined to also not 100 % believe him because he's a very intelligent man. He's been in this sport for a really long time. He knows what it takes and how to win. There's no way that he laid all his cards out and then was like, okay, that's it. We now can't afford anything else. We haven't budgeted it for the rest of the season because that's not a position you want to be in. No, no, no. I think that it's a little bit confusing, isn't it? Again, it's another one of the rules and regs that I think Zach was probably one of the most strong, strong campaigners to bring in a cost cap at a time when McLaren were in the dole rooms.

11:30They didn't have many partners and sponsors and they were, you know, as a group losing money. So now the Formula One teams, even those that have got smaller facilities and budgets, they all have valuations beyond what has been invested. And therefore they are profitable franchises. so are we are we now in a period of you know the the owner the owner um racers you know the frank williamses and people like that who would basically remortgage their house to go racing um because of the passion and desire has it all become a little bit like i think it used to be in auto car magazine or something where car of the year would sort of flip between a nissan and a renault and a peugeot and whatever the brands were it just felt like the love was spread to keep everyone happy so are we losing that absolute need to win is your point that you're just saying that everyone should just kind of be able to spend well my point is life isn't fair and life doesn't give everyone a fair crack and if you try and regulate life then we wouldn't have the the you know the the traumas that we have around around the world so it's sports you know should i don't What would you want this one?

12:44Well, what I'm basically saying is just because you enter Formula One doesn't mean that you will have success. And in controlling, seeing the budget caps there, that is for operational cost of going Grand Prix racing. It doesn't include the most senior technical people in the team, the team principal. It doesn't include the driver salaries. So if you're not spending it on going operating for Grand Prix, it doesn't mean you're not spending as much as you want on the thousand people that are back at the factory. You know, so it's slightly misleading in a way. The big teams will still spend hundreds of millions to go the business of Formula One, whilst they may only spend 140 odd, whatever the budget cap is, to go racing, which will be the same as Haas has got available to them.

13:30But Haas will only spend a fraction of the money to operate the Grand Prix team and develop and build the car. But you've got to say that it does to some extent level the playing field, right? I mean, obviously, you're right that the teams will still spend that money, they'll still be able to buy the biggest brains in the paddock and that will all add to their performance on track for sure. But you kind of would like there to be a level of, you know, parity to some extent, because Formula One is obviously unique or motorsports in general is quite unique to a lot of other sports where there is the element of technology that it isn't all physical.

14:06It doesn't all come down to the driver. And so you could just have two teams dominating for the rest of time. And then what impact does that then have on the viewership? What impact does that then have on the sport over over a long period of time? I think, I don't know, I think that that's partially why I buy into the cost cap idea. Yeah, I think, look, I don't agree with you on this one, DC. Unfortunately, we've been cut in half. With winning comes more money, comes bigger sponsors, comes better deals. And it's kind of a never ending cycle if you never get off of that train. and I think the cost cap cost cap is so important to allow other teams to come into this come into it the sport to grow the viewership to grow and it to be more exciting it would be boring we all are advocates for Formula 1 and motorsport but it would be boring if one team was winning every single weekend yeah no I understand that that's absolutely I agree if someone's winning all the time if it's not your team what happens though if you do win in Formula 1 you're restricted the following year on the amount of wind tunnel time So, you know, it's like saying, OK, Chelsea, you've won the premiership four years in a row.

15:13I know you haven't recently, but back in the day when you were winning. So the next year you've got to do the first half with only 10 people on the field because you've got a team advantage. I think we can agree it's really difficult to try and regulate success because coming back to my point about the world not being fair, the world isn't fair. Some people are born into great opportunity. Some people are born into adversity. And the world keeps turning. And, you know, commerce keeps allowing certain people to have great success there. I think it was Lewis actually recently said that he didn't think people should be allowed to be billionaires, which is, I don't know.

15:55I don't know how many numbers in his bank account, but it's easy to say it. But if you really feel it, then you can give away your wealth. There are examples of that, people that have given away their wealth in their lifetime. So we've gone from sport into life in general. But I think we should probably move on to the next point, which Naomi is going to raise for us. And then we can debate that. Well, look, listen, these are a lot of problems that I wish I would be having to debate over personally. But billionaire is not anywhere near me at the moment. Let's see what happens in the future. But OK, let's stick to talking about upgrades.

16:33And I mean, I guess the cost cap plays a role in this point as well. But, you know, when we're talking about Mercedes potentially having decided to give it a go at the start of the season to put all into it and then hope that the others have to play catch up. How difficult is it to decide when you're going to bring those upgrades, which circuits you want to bring them to, especially in a year where we've had two Grand Prix's cancel. We're now having one come back in Sepang. And of course, there's still the question mark of is Qatar going to go forward? is Abu Dhabi going to go forward? Are they going to get cancelled?

17:05If they do get cancelled, are they going to get replaced? Where are they going to be if they get replaced? So how do you map out your development strategy when actually the future is a little bit unclear? Very simple. You do everything you can as quickly as you can. You never delay bringing something because it may be that it doesn't deliver exactly the performance level that you were expecting for whatever reason. That's why you still see the Formula One teams during the course of the year running FlowViz, that luminous green paint that they put on, or they have the big aero tapping sensors that they put behind the front wheels to see how the airflow is coming off.

17:44You will bring it as soon as possible because you need to know if it's going in the right direction. And it not only affects this year's performance, but it's building blocks into next year's performance as well. Well, yeah, I mean, I guess that's exactly the point, right? And maybe that's why the likes of a McLaren are potentially at an advantage right now, because they are bringing upgrades and they are then therefore learning from those upgrades as much as they're finding out whether those upgrades work or not so do we think that Mercedes is in a tricky position here or do we think that you know the likes of the other teams are correct and thinking Toyota is over exaggerating and actually they've probably got some stuff up their sleeve that's coming soon well I mean I wouldn't want to be in a position of Mercedes if it is the case that they're not going to be upgrading the they're now staying still everyone else is learning as I I think you mentioned a great point, Naomi, about all the uncertainty for the rest of the season.

18:34We don't know where we're going to be racing. I'd much rather be in McLaren's boat right now. I mean, obviously coming off the back of a back-to-back win. Back-to-back-to-back-to-back, because there's lots of backs there. But I'd rather be in that scenario. I mean, obviously, Mercedes, Kimi's still leading the championship. But to stand still when everyone else is moving, pardon the pun, at reckless speed, feels like a very dangerous situation to be in. And I guess that leads me on to my next question. How much of a say to George, to Kimi, do the drivers get in their upgrades and when they're going to happen and what they're going to do?

19:11I mean, we'll come on to Lando later, but he's obviously come out recently and said how much almost power that he has within the team. And the longer you're there, we know how much sway Max has. But how much of a say do we think that they have in the upgrade scenario? Well, they are the voice of the car. So the drivers definitely influence what is needed to go faster. And I think in modern Formula One as well, there's so much data that shows you through sound analysis and GPS data where your performance. And we see these little graphics that says, you know, how the lap is as one. And sometimes you'll see that a particular car is quick in the high speed corners.

19:50Maybe it's lacking a bit on the straights or maybe it's good in the slow speed corners. So you become very focused on understanding where the performance is. And again, on top of that, with all of the simulation technology, that they work out the best place to deploy the electrical energy. It's such a science now that literally the driver will have no input in, oh, I need this shape of front wing or I need, you know, whatever it is on the rear suspension. Even the suspension is put in place largely defined by the aero needs of the aero department. And then you figure out how you manage to bolt the wheel into a place where it will cause the least amount of disruption.

20:28So the drivers become a trusted, consistent validation of what is put on track. But just to be absolutely clear, no driver is sitting in the wind tunnel and going, try this. Or no driver is in the design office going, I've had an idea. Yes, it's the trust in the design engineers. Yeah, look, I think it's a lot of responsibility as well on their shoulders if they'd have to make those decisions as well as the ones in the car. But it is a collaborative effort, obviously, as DC is saying. Now, let's talk about Monza for a little bit. This is obviously not our Monza episode. We've got that one coming later this week.

21:03And you guys can send us your questions if you have any that you want to hear from us about Monza. That'll be coming up on Thursday. But let's discuss the fact that Kimi is obviously taking his engine penalty in Monza. Minimum of a 10 grid penalty, which is likely to put him right at the back of the grid. But then obviously Ferrari are also apparently bringing their ADU upgrade to Monza. So a circuit that typically probably wouldn't have suited them given their engine was, or their power unit, I should say, was their Achilles heel. Could this be that turning point? Is this the right time to take it?

21:37What do you both think about both of those points? I mean, I'm excited that, you know, Ferrari could be taking upgrades. I was actually in Monza when Leclerc won a couple of years ago. And I have to say, there's nothing quite like hearing the Italians sing that national anthem. Yeah, it was amazing. Absolutely insane. You know, they say Ferrari's a religion out there. And I think when you witness Monsanto, we've all been lucky enough to do so, especially to see that Ferrari win. It's super special. So I'm excited by Ferrari. We know how I feel about Kimmy. and don't need to bore you all with those details.

22:20But look, it's an exciting track where it's easier to overtake and I think it's going to be a brilliant race. Yeah, look, it makes sense for Mercedes to take penalty there as opposed to doing it in a Baku or somewhere where, yeah, well, actually Baku is probably a bit unfair because there is overtaking opportunity there. But it's a street circuit, of course. So, yeah, I think it becomes a sort of path of least resistance. it's a bit like taking an engine penalty in Spa or any of these other fast tracks yeah look Ferrari bringing an upgrade to the Italian Grand Prix makes absolute sense they've got to say they were pretty fair and not really being too vocal they have a smaller turbo which enabled them to be better at the beginning of the year in getting off the line then start procedures were changed to let's say take away the danger and Ferrari instead of digging in and going, well, hold on a minute, we, let's say, compromised ourselves by having that smaller turbo for the interest of going racing and now we're being penalised.

23:21They now have the chance to change that. So you could say that's why they probably didn't complain so much at the beginning of the year because they knew that the opportunity to adapt and change would come later in the year. But yeah, it's a very different track. Monza, there is opportunity for overtake. We're going to see a lot of power limitations. so remind ourselves the beginning of the year where you've got people overtaking like looking like one's just you know going like a rocket ship and the other one's you know a steam train in comparison and so yeah it could be a lot of pass and repass pass and repass like we've seen at the beginning of the year a little bit more of yo-yo racing well let's see how it goes obviously things seem to feel like they have got better obviously the last two circuits were uh you know energy plenty so there wasn't so much the case and we got to see some great racing where the drivers were flat out most of the time as you say dc monza is probably going to be slightly different again but let's wait to see because there have been some circuits where we anticipated it might be extensive yo-yo racing a bit like silverstone and in the end it didn't actually look as bad as i guess we we had all anticipated so let's wait to see um just on kimmy i think there's been a lot of outrage is obviously too dramatic to say but people being a bit surprised that mercedes chose Monza, which is his home race to take the engine penalty.

24:42I guess from one perspective, it's a little bit harsh because I'm sure he would have loved to, and he's obviously still not out of contention to do it, but stand on the top step of the podium and put himself in the best place position to be able to do that. But do we feel like now's the right time? Because as you both mentioned, it's a place where you can overtake. On top of that, it potentially takes off a little bit of the pressure of the home crowd and he's got a 59 points cushion in in the championship right now I guess it's better to do it now than when things potentially get tighter or you know you're at a title sort of deciding point um and then you've got to take an engine penalty so is now the right moment or is it a bit of a shame to do it at home well they've come out and they've said calculations didn't take nationality into account and I think that's fair look George is also going to have to take a penalty at some point they haven't announced when and i look as as much of a shame that it is that they need to do it there's no no time is a good time what's the saying there is definitely a saying yeah i think you've just got to cut a stick when you see it um i don't know where that expression comes from but you you you know you have to take a penalty monza as we've said is uh let's say offers more potential they have good let's say power unit deployment understanding that was what gave them such an advantage over the other Mercedes teams like McLaren and Williams and Alpine at the beginning of the year.

26:07So that I think is where McLaren have made some of the biggest strides is understanding how to use the power unit. And we will find out very soon who comes out victorious from that particular race. We will do indeed. Right. So don't go anywhere because in a minute we're going to talk about lewis apologizing for his radio messages in zanford and max taking on a hundred drivers in the meantime head over to our social media platforms it's at up to speed show and let us know do you think you could beat max in a karting race we want to hear from you let us know what you think and if you're not subscribed to us yes on youtube please go over and do that right now by hitting the red button

26:51Queen Carvania stood haloed by the morning sun. An army hung on her every word. My champions, I have sold my chariot on Carvana. T 'was a lovely SUV, an inexplicably queenly offer. They're even coming to the castle to collect it. Tonight, we feast. An offer you can feast on. Sell your car today on Carvana. Pickup fees may apply. Okay, so I'm sure we've all seen what Lewis came out and said following his radio message, but if you haven't, here's what was said. I've listened back to some of my radio and TV comments. In the heat of the moment, frustration can come out, especially when you care as deeply as I do, but that wasn't the best version of me.

27:38I take responsibility for that and I'll be better. All right, initial thoughts on Lewis's apology. I think through the history of time, we've had drivers react in the heat of the moment. There's a lot of adrenaline, a lot of emotion. If we go back to James Hunt, Marshall coming up to him after he's just crashed his car, coming from behind, putting his hand in his shoulder, James instinctively turned around and punched the poor guy. And then as quickly as he punched him, he then helped him back up and was going, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. there is a lot of energy and adrenaline when you're driving we make it sound like we're very calm you know it's that kind of swan above the the the surface of the water and then you know paddling away furiously below so no harm in apologizing no harm in speaking your mind we all know that those radio messages are transmitted um so we heard i'm trying to recall actually at the weekend was it Ferrari but was Fred Fassour who said that they didn't want to explain the strategy decision could they know that other teams are listening well with armed with that information there's other ways of communicating you can use your pit board you can use code you know they've used codes through the history of time and war haven't they so you know in the battle the war that's on track there are ways of getting that information to the driver I would still say that the fact that we're a year and a half into his Ferrari relationship and he's still not getting the sort of feeling of communication that he wants comes comes down to long conversations between himself and Fred and the team.

29:27you know what is it that they haven't managed to sort it's almost like they go right we know we've got a communication issue but let's not talk about it yeah there you go perfect way of summarizing it that's how it feels from the outside what do you think Naomi well I don't know I guess it is really complex because you know if we nitpick at each element it doesn't really sell the full picture which I guess is the point here is that when you're in the heat of the battle as you say DC You've got the adrenaline going on. And I think that often the information that the driver is giving across the radio can be and is very factual.

30:03The problem is they don't have access to all of the data and information that the team have. So what from their point of view is just based on, you know, their tire life, the car in front of them, the gap that they can see in front of them, behind them, the pace that they're currently driving at, you know, their sense of frustration or what they feel can be completely accurate, but they just don't have the full picture. So often when you come out of the car and that adrenaline drops and the heat of the moment is over and you get more information, then all of a sudden you go, oh, actually, well, maybe I shouldn't have said that or maybe I should have said this.

30:35I think for me, the only mistake that Lewis made in in his communication at the time was when he directly pointed out how well Mercedes had handled their team orders as opposed to Ferrari. I think that that was maybe a little unnecessary to compare the two teams like that. but again you know you can't really judge them and obviously by the time the drivers get into the media pen you know they're walking into there with their press officer who's already given them the team line you know this is what we'd like you to say ideally this is our perspective etc so half the time you don't know whether you're getting the truth from the drivers you don't know whether this is the team line whether this is what they currently want to put out there to not have any drama I don't know maybe I'm just going on a rant right now but I think it's quite refreshing when drivers speak their minds and i don't think we should bash them for doing it because then we just get scripted lines and that's just well you know like we don't whatever that's boring and great for lewis to take um what's the word accountability for you know maybe having stuffed up there and so we move on but in terms of why there's this communication issue i think things have gone better at ferrari for him you know they obviously changed his race engineer things have felt like they're on the right track but maybe the system that's much bigger than even what we see on the pit wall you know you've got a whole base uh back in italy who are working you know throughout the race with live telemetry giving information telling them what to do and so if the communication with his race engineers are great that doesn't mean that his race engineer is going to always tell him what he wants to hear or give him the information he needs because there are people in and around and above him that are making other decisions and so it's complicated but yeah they need to figure it out don't they yeah but that's that's leadership um there's many examples of of sports that are highly complex and businesses which are highly complex communication is key you you've got to have a clear line of communication and having a strong point of view is about leadership because if everybody just sits on the fence looking at each other and agreeing then maybe a decision doesn't get made so i i totally agree i don't i enjoy when when a driver speaks their mind.

32:43And I enjoy when the team then respond by giving them a bit more information. But there's always learnings out of this. And he wouldn't be frustrated if he was, as you say, Naomi, aware of all the information at that moment. Well, whose responsibility is it to give them all the information? The team. And yes, the risk is you give away some of your strategy to your competition. But in the end, you can also, if they react to that information, you can deviate to another strategy, you know, so it's like a bluff. So long may it continue. I've definitely said things on the radio that I've apologised to the team afterwards.

33:20But that's what you felt at that moment. I remember a point earlier in the season, I think it was Canada, where Kimi was getting quite frustrated over the radio. And we were all pretty impressed by that because it just showed that he wasn't going to, you know, just accept whatever and he was going to fight for his stake in the game. and I feel the same way about Lewis in the sense that actually that burst of emotion that we saw from him and I think that actually at this point in his career he's I think he feels like he smells the blood and he's like I'm actually potentially in this and so that's why I'm like giving it everything because I desperately want to make this work and so I feel like it's a revived Lewis you know the Lewis we saw over the last couple of years was not the Lewis that you know most people had come to learn and love and the driver that we always saw at the front of the grid on top of the top step of the podium you know we hadn't seen him for a while and so I think just getting that bit of emotion from him shows that he's he's in the fight guys he's in the fight and that's you can say whatever he wants as long as he's in the fight it's all good yeah the sands of time are definitely running for for him and he'll be very very aware of that so his uh staying power is is very impressive.

34:29Hey guys, what did you think of that huge breaking news that Landa Norris is staying at McLaren? Talking of staying power? I saw yeah, I saw something hilarious it was like a meme it was like, breaking news, water is wet

34:50I mean, it doesn't really feel like silly season, does it? I mean, all these announcements that I feel like they're kind of being announced for the sake of being announced. I'm like, huh? No, it was that. He's been part of, I remember doing an event with Zach at Paul Ricard with some of his classic cars when Lando was pretty much still in karting. So he's been part of that journey with Zach for most of his career. And they've taken that partnership to its ultimate goal of winning a world championship. and he's driven like the world champion he is in the last two Grand Prixs now that they've got the opportunity with the machinery.