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The Chequered Flag Report is the fastest hour in Formula 1 — a weekly podcast and radio show built for fans who want more than the highlight reel.
Co-hosts David Gould and Chuck "Iron Man" Hayes break down every Grand Prix the way it's talked about in the paddock: race previews and predictions, post-race analysis, driver market rumors, betting lines, sponsorship and the business of the sport, and the storylines the mainstream coverage doesn't get to. Bahrain to Abu Dhabi, Monaco to Vegas — wherever the lights go out, the Chequered Flag Report is calling the race.
David brings 30+ years across business, radio, and the worlds of luxury and sponsorship — the voice behind the business of Formula 1. Chuck brings three decades in Las Vegas media, a CBS Sports Radio chair, and a deep motorsport pedigree from a family that co-owned race teams alongside legends like Dale Earnhardt and Mark Martin.
New episodes every race week. Broadcast on KMET 1490 AM in Southern California and K-DAWN 101.5 FM in Las Vegas. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.
The Chequered Flag Report Transcript
AssemblyAI transcript ID: c12d0017-4546-4d6a-9dad-5ce2eb9c176e
Status: completed
Duration: 2371 seconds
Speaker mapping: A = Chuck Hayes, B = David Gould
[0:00] Chuck Hayes: Welcome to the Checkered Flag Report. This is Chuck Hayes with David Gould, and we're here talking Formula 1. David, great to be with you. Why? Because it's a work week. The vacation is over.
[0:10] David Gould: Just about. I imagine it's not quite over for us, but for the drivers, definitely. They're getting ready for the Dutch Grand Prix, man.
[0:19] Chuck Hayes: Phenomenal. You know, we waited since they finished up in Hungary on July 26th, and a lot's been going on as everyone gets their act together and makes their way to Zandvoort. Zandvoort in the Netherlands. And we want to remind everybody, the Dutch Grand Prix, August 21st to 23rd, the sprint race, 24 laps, 63.5 miles. And then Sunday, the Grand Prix of the Netherlands, the Dutch Grand Prix, 190.4 miles, 72 laps on the 2.64-mile circuit. And Dave, we want to thank our presenting sponsor Chavez Realty Development. Apartments, Business Affairs, Real Estate Assessment at 626-440-1545. 626-440-1545. Okay. So, you know, anytime you get out of your normal routine, things can happen. And that doesn't make a difference if you're the driver, if you're the chief engineer, if you're the left rear tire changer. Yeah, you got to have your head in the game.
[1:24] David Gould: That's true for, for race day and for sprint day. And for all the, uh, basically all the on-track stuff. But I will say, I don't think their head's too far from the game during this offseason. There's just too much at stake. Uh, 3 weeks off, uh, uh, as we'll cover later, as I'll cover later, that, uh, Aston Martin basically has a brand new car. So you can't tell me that they've been sitting around. They had to crash test that thing. They had to do a lot of stuff. Uh, they weren't just sitting around. It was, it was, it was go time.
[1:54] Chuck Hayes: You know, David, as you do the research on this, we want to ask everyone to follow us on X @LVCheckerFlag, @LVCheckerFlag. And as David says, please give us a like and a retweet. David, you can say that too if you like.
[2:07] David Gould: Yeah, please give us a like. Give us— show some love, will you? Show some love out there.
[2:11] Chuck Hayes: You know, you have such an authoritative presence that I think people are rushing to hit follow.
[2:15] David Gould: All right, Chuck, knock it off now. And, and retweet, please.
[2:19] Chuck Hayes: There you go. Now, I just want to let people know about this because as I was doing some research like David has, and David's got a ream of information to go inside Dave's brain in our second segment, I'm going to throw a couple of things out here, which I think are very intriguing. First of all, the most poles at Zandvoort by active driver is Max Verstappen. He's 3 for 3. When he's been on the pole, he wins. Lando Norris on the pole in '24, he won. Year '25, 2025, Oscar Piastri, he won. So there's a little bit of a trend in regards to this field, these drivers. But get this one, David. Lewis Hamilton in his entire career has only had one podium at the Dutch Grand Prix. Wow.
[3:09] David Gould: I wonder why. I wonder what about that track?
[3:11] Chuck Hayes: In the whole history of him driving in Formula One. He has one podium. I think that could be the most incredible stat that I've seen since we've been doing this for 4 years.
[3:23] David Gould: Well, considering that, you know, look at Silverstone or someplace like that where he's got multiple wins. It's—
[3:29] Chuck Hayes: no, no, one podium.
[3:30] David Gould: I know, I know.
[3:32] Chuck Hayes: There's only 3 spots and he's not on the top spot. Well, and he's not on the second spot and he's not on the third spot.
[3:38] David Gould: Except for once.
[3:39] Chuck Hayes: One time. Yeah.
[3:40] David Gould: Yeah.
[3:40] Chuck Hayes: Does he have that trophy in a special place, I wonder?
[3:43] David Gould: No, but he has a lot of He has a lot of room in that room, in the, uh, in the Zandvoort room.
[3:48] Chuck Hayes: And you know, after this year, that Zandvoort rule room will have a different, uh, security code on it because there will be no more Dutch Grands Prix.
[3:57] David Gould: That's right. It's, it's over after this. And, uh, tragic to say, but you know, whatever. When one, uh, when one door closes, another one opens. And we'll be interested to see, uh, where this goes. And this is a period of adjustment for F1, given that, uh, the Middle East stuff is going on and they're gonna do some, uh, redirecting of races. And, uh, you know, we'll see.
[4:21] Chuck Hayes: And just from a responsible reporting standpoint, Valtteri Bottas won podium at— in Zandvoort. George Russell won. Pierre Gasly won. Fernando Alonso won.
[4:34] David Gould: Wow.
[4:34] Chuck Hayes: Lando Norris won. Oscar Piastri won. Isack Hadjar won. So that's a pretty good company.
[4:40] David Gould: Yeah.
[4:41] Chuck Hayes: And when you look at that and you watch this development, you know, Ferrari historically, they've had 7 poles. And again, if you get to the pole, there's a good chance that you're going to have that opportunity. This is Chuck Hayes with David Gould, and we're talking Formula 1. And David, I just love the fact that you could get in there and start using the stats and then analysis that before we just kind of took things for granted. And then all of a sudden, analytics came into sports. And I'm a guy that fights analytics sometimes, but some of this stuff is really, really interesting.
[5:14] David Gould: Well, it's interesting because the cars are so technical and there's no longer— these aren't the sandwich board days. Those guys in the booth often know what's going on with the car before the driver does. And it's just there's a wealth of information, almost too much, frankly.
[5:32] Chuck Hayes: want to remind everybody that, uh, during this vacation week, the standings did not change. Kimi Antonelli still at the top of the field with 219 points. Sir Lewis Hamilton is 2nd with 169. George Russell for Mercedes is 3rd with 160. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, 135. Lando Norris is 5th in McLaren, 128. Max Verstappen is 6th with 109. And when it comes to constructors, the top 4: Mercedes with 379, Ferrari with 307, McLaren with 220, and Red Bull with 177. So David, on the off week, we talked a little bit about who's got the momentum coming into Zandvoort, and the fact that McLaren has won 2 years in a row, and the fact that Lando Norris won, uh, his last race in Hungary, and Oscar Piastri was running so well until he had just a bad mechanical failure, or there was a great possibility that he was going to be the McLaren that won that race.
[6:32] David Gould: Yeah.
[6:32] Chuck Hayes: And that they were going to have 2 drivers on, on the podium. So from your standpoint, uh, if you're buying stock in a team on the rise, is McLaren one of those that you say, okay, uh, despite Red Bull and what Max does, despite Ferrari with what Lewis and Charles have been doing, and Mercedes, that Red Bull is— excuse me, McLaren is that team on the rise?
[6:56] David Gould: Well, I think they're one of the teams on the rise, and one of the Crazy things about F1 racing these days, especially with these, these new cars, which are so controversial, is it's almost, um, what happens to other guys as much as what, what, how well you're driving. What happens to other cars, uh, whether they're going to, uh, crap out or have a problem or have some sort of a, you know, rear-end lockup. Um, it's, it's so unknown. It's so Uh, uh, just, I don't know. It's, it's just, it's hard to get a grip around it when, when you're, when you're trying to, uh, determine whether this, just like you said, whether they're on the rise or not.
[7:37] Chuck Hayes: This is year 4 of us doing this, show number 17. And I don't think I can honestly say, and you always have to watch it when someone says that, that I am looking so forward to the sprint race because we haven't seen any action and qualifying is qualifying. I don't like the way they qualify in F1.
[7:58] David Gould: Yeah.
[7:58] Chuck Hayes: Um, I'm a big one-lap person. Like, you go out there, you lay down your best lap, you have the track completely, uh, open.
[8:05] David Gould: Yes.
[8:06] Chuck Hayes: So that there's no people cutting people off or slowing down or having a mechanical issue. And again, I come back to the days of, of NASCAR at Fontana when I would watch them do one-car lap, uh, uh, qualifying.
[8:21] David Gould: Yeah.
[8:22] Chuck Hayes: And, uh, they always did it during happy hour time when There was a lot of grip and it was just so fun to watch, to watch people go right to the edge to be able to get a pole award. Because what happened in Cup is if you got a pole award, you would race in the Clash the following year at Daytona. Sure. And that was potentially money to win perhaps more than $1 million. Yeah. Now, Formula One, the money's a lot different. You know, the purses are different. But from that standpoint, and I want to show you something from a stats standpoint.
[8:53] David Gould: Yeah.
[8:54] Chuck Hayes: The farthest that anyone has ever won in Zandvoort, René Arnoux driving for Ferrari in 1983 started 10th and won. Now that's impressive. Niki Lauda did it for McLaren in '85 and started from 10th. That's the farthest back that anyone has ever won from.
[9:12] David Gould: And that's— and see, this is my— I'm with you all the way when it comes to qualifying because they have this elimination process Where if you're having a bad run, you're— and you're in the bottom, bottom 6, I mean, it gets down to the top 10 and then it's a shootout to see, uh, to see who gets pole. But, you know, this, this eliminating the guys at the bottom doesn't give them a second bite at the apple, which they could very easily come back and make something very interesting out of it. But they eliminate them immediately. And guys like, uh—
[9:45] Chuck Hayes: Welcome back. Checkered Flag Report. Chuck Hayes with David Gould. We're here talking Formula 1 and we're very, very excited. Why? It's race week. Dutch Grand Prix, August 21st to 23rd in Zandvoort in the Netherlands. Sadly, it'll be the last race for the people who attend the Grand Prix there. They've run from 1952 to 2026. It's been a McLaren stranglehold the last couple of years at this point. Again, we want to thank our presenting sponsor, Chavez Realty Development Apartments, Business Affairs, Real Estate Assessment, 626-440-1545. And we get a drum roll, please. It is time now to go inside Dave's brain where he's been working on his, uh, interesting comments and analysis from what's been going on off track and with some updates from his vision.
[10:37] David Gould: Well, You know, we gotta, we gotta take it easy on those, uh, big buildups there. I can't, I don't know if I can, uh, live up to that. Anyway, uh, I got a few items to cover. And the first big item I think is the new car on the track for Aston Martin, which they are, um, you know, if you've seen anything, any of the details about the car itself, it was a total refit from Honda and all this stuff. It's a, it's a totally different car. I mean, it is, it is so, you know, I think it's radically different. Uh, you know, the, the front end, the nose. Let's see what I got here. Um, I see that, uh, the car, it's got a basically got a new chassis. The, it has new front wings. The actuators are still, uh, um, enclosed. Um, but it looks like a bird's beak. It's really, it's the craziest looking thing and it's super narrow, super narrow. So all the, uh, All the front-end stabilization stuff is within that, a much narrower cone. But the tires are— the tire sensors are now outboard. There's a new structural— new structural for the wheels.
[11:51] Chuck Hayes: New—
[11:51] David Gould: I can't even read my own writing. Okay. New control package. New heat control package. Okay, that's it. They put in a bunch of new louvers and new heating— heat— heat bleed systems for the braking systems for the engine, new brake ducting. And it's, it's all modified within the, within the frame, modified engine housing. It looks like it's, it's, it's like hugging the engine rather than actually giving it— like they've decided that they're gonna not give it a lot of space in there. In fact, there's like little tiny little bumps, you know, where there are certain parts of the engine that had to protrude just ever so slightly. So it's kind of— it's crazy. And it all leads me to one question. Okay, these guys are saying— what are they saying? That it's gonna— it's that the track improvement is gonna give them 2 seconds, that they're gonna be 2 seconds faster, which in the world of racing here, that's a huge difference. However, from where they were, we're talking about jumping ahead of Cadillac and maybe one— I mean, they're still— there's a long way to go. And let's say As you and I've discussed, let's say that, that all of a sudden they start making some, no pun intended, some real traction with this stuff and making huge leaps into the top 10, into the top 5. I'm wondering if there are not going to be some protests from some of the other teams about this design being too radical.
[13:17] Chuck Hayes: All right, Dave. So here's what we're going to do. We're going to look at Sir Lewis Hamilton's time in 2021, 1 minute, 11 seconds, 0.097. which is the lap record. And the track record for Oscar Piastri in '25 was 1 hour, 8 minutes, 662. So when we look at that lap record, if we see Aston Martin laying down something in that time frame, yeah, then you'll know it worked. And we wonder in the sim what they had to do to get rid of all the other information Yeah. Bring this new information in. And remember, Aston Martin was the team that could not even get laps in when they were in Melbourne. They couldn't get out to start the year. They had to pull off because they didn't want their drivers experiencing permanent injury to their hands. Now, I've gone through the last month with a slight left-hand carpal tunnel issue.
[14:18] David Gould: Sure.
[14:19] Chuck Hayes: I was taking care of it and, you know, monitoring it and how it would be and wearing a little brace now and then. And it worked, right? But I can't imagine if I'm driving a Formula 1 car and I have that kind of pain. And for those people out there who work and do repetitive with their wrists in regards to their iPhone or their Android or even on their, on their laptop or their scrolling, however it works, if your hands ache, you know, you got to take care of them. But imagine having to run at the level that these drivers are doing where you're running 72 laps.
[14:53] David Gould: Yeah.
[14:53] Chuck Hayes: And high vibrations and how you deal with it. So let's look at the number, David. Let's look at, um, the 1:11 mark in regards to, uh, what, uh, Sir Lewis did, and we'll see how Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll go about that. So we'll note that. Yeah. Next one.
[15:11] David Gould: And Fernando Alonso was the one most vocal about the vibration. I mean, he was saying that if we continue this, he was going to have permanent nerve damage. And if you've ever— not that anybody's— a lot of us have ever worked a jackhammer or anything, a tool of that sort where there's consistent vibration, what that does to your wrists and your hands and your joints, it'll wreck you. Anyway, back to the point. All this new car and all the upgrades and stuff leads me to 2 questions. First of all, if they start gaining ground, Are there going to be protests from the other teams about, about a radical design change? And did they have a chance to mimic that? Because I'm assuming that they're doing all this with the FIA's blessing. But the other question I have is, is this enough? All this stuff you're putting into this, is this enough to overcome a 50/50 engine, which has been, I think, the most significant problem throughout the year? is the fact that the actual power plant is not reliable. So I don't know, maybe this is a lot of— a lot over nothing. Maybe they pick up just a couple of seconds and, you know, they're not dead last, but they're somewhere in the last 5.
[16:30] Chuck Hayes: Okay.
[16:30] David Gould: But if they start gaining ground, it's going to raise some questions. I think.
[16:34] Chuck Hayes: We want to remind everybody to follow us on X @LVCheckerFlag, @LVCheckerFlag, and give us a like and a retweet. And reminder, This show is powered by Coach Harvey Hyde Football Promotions of Nevada for the fastest hour in radio. David, Cadillac, they want to go faster. They made a little bit of a change. They moved a nameplate out of one door and moved it to another one.
[16:54] David Gould: Yeah, they let Mr. Loudon go to another position, or I don't know, maybe the unemployment line. But they brought in this guy, Marcin Budkowski. Budkowski. I hope I pronounced that correct. And this guy's got a long history with Alpine, Ferrari, and McLaren and has some success with those teams. And his philosophy is one of like kind of back to basics. So this is a huge shift for a team that's brand new. And you got to wonder, you know, people are just going, wow, this is— it's a big deal when the principal gets shifted. So his mantra is like, we're going back to basics. And we're going to open up a dialogue with the factory and the track. So there's going to be more openness about what's going on. So basically what he's saying is that don't expect miracles, don't expect miracles overnight. It's just not going to happen.
[17:49] Chuck Hayes: Well, they're at 0.0. They're in the Dean Warburton category, the only one that has it. And remember, they had their choice when they started this team. They brought in Sergio Perez. who obviously had been in the Red Bull system and knew exactly how to shake down a car because he kept telling them, hey, the car's not very good. And Max was doing what he was doing, and then suddenly Max said, hey, the car's not very good, right? And it's exactly what Sergio was talking about, right? And they brought in, uh, Valtteri Bottas, the veteran who had been at Mercedes, had been the test driver, so he obviously was aware of all the Mercedes work going in. They bring them in and all of a sudden, do you want these gentlemen who have years of F1 experience saying, this is not right, I don't like this, I'm driving it, I'm telling you, I know what fast is.
[18:46] David Gould: Yeah.
[18:46] Chuck Hayes: This is not fast. And then all of a sudden now we have a new person to report to. And I— for me, the first thing I would go to those 2 and I go, okay, What are you hearing? What do you feel? And looking back, it's like a coach looking at film work. If you're in the simulator from the beginning of the year and you're not seeing the amount of time that you need to be competitive in quali or how they're running during a race, that is a red mark where you can see it and they show it in the algorithms. You can see the braking and the acceleration and where they're going.
[19:24] David Gould: Oh yeah, they have all the data.
[19:25] Chuck Hayes: It's almost to the point where Well, in this section of the track, you're not doing this. And the driver's like, well, I'm trying to do it, but the car won't do it. Just like you're talking about.
[19:35] David Gould: Sure. And, you know, when you change the principal of a team, I mean, can you imagine changing, saying, hey, Toto? I mean, that's not going to happen. The principal from McLaren, he's going nowhere. I mean, this is— and it shows you how the teams are structured differently. Like, this principal obviously did not have the gravitas to say, no, we're going to do it my way. But, you know, in a team like Mercedes where you got Toto Wolff, hey, man, he's not going anywhere and they're winning. So, and, you know, the last thing I want to bring up really quick is, is that we're getting, you know, there's rumors of musical chairs with the drivers. And the biggest, the biggest wildcard is, of course, Max Verstappen, who has made his The fact that he's unhappy with Red Bull and what's going on over there, he's made that very, very clear. You can see it in his body language. You can see it in his expressions. And of course, you can see it in the lack of wins. But when you look at the thing in total, you go, well, where the hell— where is he going to go? He's not going anywhere. There's nowhere— there's no openings of reasonable teams to take him.
[20:43] Chuck Hayes: You're talking about the merit part about where he'd want to be. And again, it kind of reminds me a little bit of the Tom Brady scenario when he was with New England. the end of his career. Yeah, where New England was not perhaps, uh, doing what he thought was the best for him and his team. He went to Tampa, had a lot of support there, and was able to take him to the next spot. Now when you look at this group and you were to pick somebody, you saw what Carlos Sainz did when he left Ferrari because he got pushed out by Hamilton and ended up at Williams. And now he's kind of in the same scenario.
[21:17] David Gould: Yeah.
[21:18] Chuck Hayes: It's a wait-in-line. There is a pecking order, and that's the most important thing to remember.
[21:22] David Gould: Yeah, yeah, it's, it's, it's a very crazy thing. So we'll see what happens. But right now there's nowhere for Max to go.
[21:29] Chuck Hayes: Chuck Hayes with David Gould. Follow us @LVCheckeredFlag. That was Inside Dave's Brain. Another look inside F1 from his viewpoint. We're going to stop for 4 fresh— Welcome back. Segment 3, Checkered Flag Report. Chuck Hayes with David Gould. We're talking Formula One and we're back to work, David. Not that you ever take a day off. You are one of the most competitive people I know. And that's why when I dive into that first turn, I am not breaking. I'm going to get in there and you're going to be behind me. But in all seriousness, David, that's the first part of the weekend. After we get the qualification down for sprint race, they got to be sharp because they're going to get after it. And that sprint race is going to tell us a lot all the way through the field on how everybody's feeling. We saw it when George and, and Kimi had some issues. And we heard the talkback, hey guys, take it offline. I don't want to hear this.
[22:24] David Gould: Oh yeah.
[22:24] Chuck Hayes: So from your standpoint, where do we see coming out of the blocks here?
[22:28] David Gould: Well, um, I'm a big George fan. I like the way George races. Uh, I think he's a great driver. I think he has been, has been dealt kind of a lousy hand with some bad luck, some engine failures. Um, and, uh, you know, so I cut him some slack when everyone's saying, oh, he's whiny, he's complaining, he's always, you know, and then this 19-year-old phenom is, you know, is kicking his butt. And like, you know, so I'm going to give the guy some slack because I'd like to see how well it would go with cars that were much more reliable and a little bit, maybe a little bit less complex with this energy deployment system that they've got. Um, so yeah, I, I hopefully would see something, some more competition, but right now I don't see anything stopping, uh, Antonelli.
[23:21] Chuck Hayes: All right, so let me ask you from your standpoint, uh, you're a George Russell guy, you're looking at this, is George going to be a little icier the second half of the year to the teammate? Not that it's a personal thing, it's just that George's, uh, his career's on the line a little bit. I don't mean it to be so dramatic, than that, but he's not been happy. The car's not been great. And all of a sudden, where he thought he was going to be the dude when Hamilton left to go to Ferrari, Yep. All of a sudden he wakes up and there's this kid that he went, are you kidding me? How is this even happening? And I really believe this could be one of the more interesting stories in the history. That sounds dramatic. In the history of Formula 1, what he's accomplished the first half of the year 2026.
[24:14] David Gould: Without a doubt. I don't think there's been any driver like him. And I was listening to something about him and they were really dealing with this guy. They were getting him shrinks. I mean, the kid, to keep him focused, to keep him from getting pretentious. to keep him from getting distracted by the glamour and the glitz. I mean, the guy's walking down the pit road and there's Bono. So it's like, hey, high-five Bono, whatever. But getting too absorbed in that stuff and staying focused. They have been cultivating this guy for a long, long time. And as far as Russell's concerned, yeah, he's been the Prince Regent for a long, long time now. and not the king. And now here's his shot to get to be the king. And boom, Antonelli just swoops in and takes it. And it's got to bother you. I mean, really, you've been at this for years now, and this newbie's coming in there and just killing everybody.
[25:17] Chuck Hayes: Chuck Hayes with David Gould. We want to remind everybody, follow us on X @LVCheckerFlag. And again, our presenting sponsor, Chavez Realty Development Apartments, Business Affairs, Real Estate Assessment. 626-440-1545. That's 626-440-1545. So as you speak about this, it reminds me a little bit of last year's McLaren situation with Lando and Oscar because they were 1 and 1A.
[25:45] David Gould: Right.
[25:46] Chuck Hayes: And whoever was going to win the world championship was going to have that first opportunity to be that guy. And Lando Um, personality-wise, a little bit different from Oscar, much like, uh, there's an age difference, uh, between Antonelli and Russell.
[26:03] David Gould: Yeah.
[26:03] Chuck Hayes: There's more of a personality vibe in the McLaren camp. And then when you go to the Ferrari camp and you got Charles Leclerc, who, uh, was the guy, and then Hamilton comes in and he's having a great season, uh, he's at 169, Charles is at 135. Charles had the worst spring, very Russell-esque spring for him. And so now he's starting to get it back together and be that guy. And we always kid about the fact that when you come into the factory or the office, and in England it's 10 teams and Italy there's 1 team, right? That shows you the pressure point on this. And Leclerc having to watch the whole fashion-forward Lewis Hamilton, the style, the lifestyle. Charles is quiet. I think he got engaged or he was getting married, one of those things. I'm not sure about that. Yeah, but he goes about his business. Those are all part of these. And then you go to Max and Isack Hadjar, and it's obviously one— and then nothing against Hadjar, but he's doing a great job.
[27:15] David Gould: Yes.
[27:15] Chuck Hayes: But way, way below the pecking order. But asked to do more of the dirty work probably than anybody.
[27:20] David Gould: Well, yeah. And, you know, maybe it's a case of paying your dues. I mean, it's, it's an interesting thing to say because when you look at the world of F1 and the body of drivers, there can only be 3 guys on that podium. There can only be 1 world champion. Are you okay with being a role player and still being part of the play? Or is it like a guy like Max, that's not going to work? A guy like Max, it's just not going to work. Hamilton's got a different personality, but Hamilton's kind of the same way in that, you know, with his record, you know, 7 world championships, they're going to build the— they're going to build the team around him. Sorry, Charles, but that's just the way it is. So do you accept being a role player or do you— and succumb to your competitive nature to win? Or do you fight? And like, I can see Russell and Antonelli going at it. I really do.
[28:20] Chuck Hayes: Is it going to happen this year?
[28:22] David Gould: I think it's going to happen. And I think that it's going to— it's anybody's guess who's going to take it. Because if you see, I mean, look at Antonelli's racing style, the guy is constantly breaching boundaries. He's— you're allowed, I think, 4. And he's constantly asking, okay, you know, coming into the— calling the pit, like, okay, how many do I have? You got 2, so watch it. And Russell has definitely taken some risks of his own trying to maintain that, maintain the edge. So it's going to be interesting to see what happens. But it really, you know, some of these guys must like, hey, man, I'm getting paid. I'm not the top driver, but at least I'm racing in Formula 1, for God's sakes. Talk about rarefied air.
[29:05] Chuck Hayes: Phenomenal. We saw what Liam Lawson had to go through when he moved up, got Max's second ride, and then he got blown out and Hadjar came in, and now he's in the Racing Bulls and he's doing a good job. And just remind everybody that for our friends in the Netherlands, they've been holding this race from 1952 to this year, 2026. It's been a McLaren stronghold, stronghold rather, A strangling of their, uh, their trophy that's been in the hands of Lando and Oscar for the last 2 years. Max from Red Bull had a nice run, '21, '22, '23. David, it's a matter of economics in, in the Netherlands. The sprint race, in order for them to run it— and I think there was something that probably F1 looked at and said, you know what, we're not coming back here again, let's give them a sprint race— it cost them $600,000 above the cut line to be able to do that. $32 million to put the race on. If you're going to a new track, Formula 1 is expecting investment of anywhere from $70 million to $75 million.
[30:08] David Gould: And there are countries and cities willing to do— very willing to do that to get them to come. And I think that— I think this is a mistake. You know, this transcends this and gets into politics. So that's really what it's about because Formula 1 expects these, these cities to pony up and make them feel warm and fuzzy.
[30:29] Chuck Hayes: When you see that crowd and you see what we've seen over the first part of the year, I don't think there's been a place— and remember, they're coming off of a postponement, round 4 in Bahrain, and then round 5 was in Saudi Arabia. And of course, what will happen now is round 16 in Bahrain will be October 2nd. to October 4th, and that race will be held in Singapore. So these are all—
[30:54] David Gould: check that, Malaysia.
[30:55] Chuck Hayes: Malaysia.
[30:56] David Gould: Yeah.
[30:56] Chuck Hayes: And then Singapore will, will come down the road after, uh, Baku. So these are all the geopolitical economics of what goes on and where, who gets paid where, and right, you know, how things are handled.
[31:09] David Gould: Um, and the Middle East, the Middle East handles this differently because to them, and I, I hate to put it this way, like money is no object. But to them, this is a crown jewel. This is a— this is something to be— for them to be proud of.
[31:23] Chuck Hayes: And isn't this why we love this so much? When they decided they were going to come to Vegas, yeah, we said, Dave, we got to get in on this. Oh yeah, this— first of all, we love Vegas.
[31:33] David Gould: Sure.
[31:33] Chuck Hayes: And then to add this to Vegas and how it works, yep, and the world coming in and all these manufacturers and For those people out there listening, there's 11 Formula 1 teams. There's 22 drivers. There was an addition of 2 this year with Cadillac. Next year, there could be another team coming in. That's going to be another storyline.
[31:52] David Gould: And with Vegas, let's face it, it's all business. It's all about the bucks. So if Vegas is bringing you in, they must see a way to make a very, very healthy— and shutting the Strip down for 3 days, they see a way of making a very healthy profit out of this.
[32:09] Chuck Hayes: And David, your timing on this is phenomenal because reminder, this show is powered by Coach Harvey Hyde and Football Promotions of Nevada. And what says Vegas more than Coach Hyde and what we've done to be able to get here? 4th year doing this.
[32:21] David Gould: The chief, our boss.
[32:22] Chuck Hayes: 17 races in and we are just chomping at the bit to get to this weekend.
[32:29] David Gould: Oh yeah.
[32:30] Chuck Hayes: You've just been, David, frankly, a little annoying, you know, in regards to having to be off-put a little bit because we didn't have anything to talk about.
[32:37] David Gould: We don't have a radio simulator.
[32:39] Chuck Hayes: We dug in. We dug in. We found information for you that you're sitting there going, why are they talking about this?
[32:45] David Gould: Why?
[32:45] Chuck Hayes: Because we don't have results yet. We're going to have it on.
[32:48] David Gould: Oh, it's important. We're talking about important stuff.
[32:51] Chuck Hayes: No doubt about it. Follow us on X @LVCheckerFlag and give us some love, man.
[32:56] David Gould: Give us a— give us a like and please, please retweet.
[33:00] Chuck Hayes: It's amazing. And we're going to see this. The mistake, I think it was 2 years ago. that Kimi made coming out of the pits in regards to getting in front of somebody and crashed somebody out at, at Zandvoort his rookie year. Probably the most visible mistake that he's made. And I'm sure he's relived that a few times. So we're going to stay tuned here. We appreciate you following us every week. We're going to box, box, box, get 4 fresh Pirellis, come back, talk about the remainder schedule of the— Welcome back. Checkered Flag Report. Chuck Hayes with David Gould. We're in our final segment. We want to get right after it and thank our presenting sponsor, Chavez Realty Development Apartments, Business Affairs, Real Estate Assessment, 626-440-1545. 626-440-1545. Okay, Dave, once we get— we're not rushing through Zandvoort in the Netherlands. Yeah, we got a little bit of a break and then we're going to come back and go round 15 in Monza, Italy, September 4th to the 6th. And that's going to be an interesting opportunity because Again, it's Ferrari. And whenever you talk Formula One and you talk about excellence, nothing against the other 10 teams, but Ferrari is just a little bit different. And then we go back to Spain for September 11th to 13th in Madrid, then September 26th to 27th, Baku, Azerbaijan. Right. Did I nail it?
[34:26] David Gould: Azerbaijan.
[34:27] Chuck Hayes: There you go. I always— I should have just deferred it to you on that one.
[34:30] David Gould: Okay.
[34:31] Chuck Hayes: September 25th to 27th. Always interesting, a very narrow racecourse. You see all that great historical architecture that's there. Phenomenal.
[34:41] David Gould: Not a lot of boundary.
[34:42] Chuck Hayes: No, there's not a lot of runoff room. And then we get into a situation where round 16, uh, the Bahrain race, uh, will be held in, uh, Malaysia, and that's going to be October 2nd to October 4th. And then we go to round 19 '18 in Singapore, October 9th to 11th. And then back to the good old US of A, David. Circuit of the Americas, October 23rd to 25th, United States style in Texas. Tell me your feelings about COTA, Circuit of the Americas in Austin.
[35:17] David Gould: Who was, um, who was the driver who was on the— who always wore the cowboy hat?
[35:24] Chuck Hayes: That would be your buddy Daniel Ricciardo.
[35:26] David Gould: Daniel Ricciardo, right?
[35:28] Chuck Hayes: Yeah. Remember Daniel?
[35:28] David Gould: Boy, I miss that guy.
[35:29] Chuck Hayes: What do you miss about Daniel Ricciardo?
[35:31] David Gould: No, the guy had a great personality. He's a lot of fun. You know, he was always having a good time no matter where he was. Slapped on that cowboy hat, you know, quickly. And, you know, next thing I know, he's like riding a bull or something.
[35:44] Chuck Hayes: Well, talk about riding bulls, David. The following week, we go down to Mexico City. Yeah, October 30th to November 1st, round 20. Now Sergio Perez returns to Mexico in a Cadillac.
[36:00] David Gould: God, would that be great to see him at least place, at least get on the podium. That would be fantastic.
[36:06] Chuck Hayes: Phenomenal. Watch that one. And then November 6th to 8th, and I don't want to jinx Mexico, I think they could break the record for attendance. I think with him back in There's going to be a big push that way. Yeah, we come back and we go to São Paulo, November 6th to 8th, Brazil, Round 21. And then of course, what more can we say? This is gonna be a whole Inside Dave's Brain segment coming up. Round 22, Las Vegas, Nevada.
[36:35] David Gould: Yep.
[36:35] Chuck Hayes: David, I can still see, see you sitting outside the paddock. Yeah, just taking it all in. What were you thinking about? When I look at that picture—
[36:45] David Gould: Well, I remember—
[36:45] Chuck Hayes: Of you being inside there and it all happening around you. Elvis impersonators, Blue Man Group, ice sculptures, the, the showgirls.
[36:55] David Gould: Yeah, the showgirls with the heads.
[36:57] Chuck Hayes: How many autographs did you sign?
[36:58] David Gould: No, I, I didn't sign any autographs, but I remember being there and like, you know, seeing Gordon Ramsay running back and forth. I mean, it was just— I've never seen that many celebrities in one place ever in my life. It was nuts.
[37:13] Chuck Hayes: Wouldn't you say Vegas Formula 1, there's something for everyone. Oh sure, whether it's the music, the food, the Sphere, the competition, the ambiance, the elegance. And kids and most folks in Vegas, write that date down, Saturday night, November 21st, because the greatest fireworks show that I've ever seen—
[37:39] David Gould: Yeah, I was at that—
[37:39] Chuck Hayes: Happens after victory has been clinched. And then they go and they take them in the Rolls-Royces and they take them to the fountains.
[37:49] David Gould: Yeah.
[37:49] Chuck Hayes: And then the fireworks show goes off and that is worth the price of admission alone.
[37:53] David Gould: Yeah, it's, it's— I will say nobody does it like Vegas. It is a spectacle. And some would say, oh, it's gaudy, it's this, it's that. I'm telling you, man, when you're on the inner sanctum of that thing, it is nothing but pure class.
[38:06] Chuck Hayes: Chuck Hayes with David Gould. Follow us @LVCheckerFlag, @LVCheckerFlag. We want to thank Coach Harvey Hyde. Football Promotions of Nevada powering the fastest hour on radio. Okay, so we wrap up the year November 27th to 29th in Lusail, Qatar, and then the season ends at Yas Island December 4th to 6th, Abu Dhabi. And by the time they get to that point, they're already getting the cars ready for 2027. David, we've got less than a minute left. Your feelings as we come into Zandvoort? I don't want to have you project a final winner. Yeah, just maybe a yes or no. Will Kimi Antonelli hold serve and finish the year as the world champion?
[38:50] David Gould: Yes.
[38:52] Chuck Hayes: Okay.
[38:53] David Gould: I believe so. I think if— unless there's some sort of mental breakdown or, or some sort of mechanical issue with his cars, I think he's going to continue this run.
[39:04] Chuck Hayes: And if Mercedes keeps running that well, will George Russell at 160 Overcome Lewis Hamilton at 1:69 with 20 seconds left?
[39:13] David Gould: I think that's a possibility. I'd like to see George do it. And nothing against Lewis. I just think that George is equally as good.
[39:20] Chuck Hayes: Chuck Hayes with David Gould. Thank you for joining us. Follow us on X @LVCheckerFlag. We'll see you next week and talk Dutch Grand Prix.