Episode 24 - United States Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton

Show Notes

Chuck Hayes and David Gould cover United States Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton, Lando Norris, Kimi Antonelli, and Ferrari on this episode of The Chequered Flag Report.

• United States Grand Prix
• Lewis Hamilton
• Lando Norris
• Kimi Antonelli
• Ferrari
• McLaren
• George Russell
• Mercedes

What is Chequered Flag Report?

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.

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The Chequered Flag Report Transcript
AssemblyAI transcript ID: e0e5dfab-bf41-4c0c-884c-a6c4b29493a1
Status: completed
Duration: 2403 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. We have a race in the United States of America, Circuit of the Americas, Austin, Texas this weekend.
[0:13] David Gould: Yeah, it's great, and I'm glad to be back because I really— these week-off situations are a little tough, I think, because, you know, once you get addicted to the racing and you start to get in your no pun intended, geared up for it, it's very difficult to like, oh, there's nothing going on this weekend.
[0:33] Chuck Hayes: Well, we want to thank our presenting sponsor, F1 on Apple TV Live in IMAX. They're going to sponsor the F1 United States Grand Prix in IMAX for us, and we're loving that. So David, as we talk about this, I guess the storyline I would look at is, first of all, welcome back to America, guys. It's been a while— guys and girls in Formula 1— since May 3rd when they ran in Miami. So it's been a while. This is show 25 for us. So you think about the amount of millions of miles, uh, not technically a million, but millions of miles that they've gone through to get back this way. And the fact that Mr. Kimi Antonelli is 102 points from clinching with a win in Austin where he could be the champion. Now there's a couple things that have to go on with that happening, his teammate George Russell must finish 9th or lower, Lewis Hamilton 5th or lower, and Max can be any position other than, uh, winning the race. So yeah, it is out there for him. Uh, David, do you think, um, that the people at, um, Mercedes want to put it away this weekend? Do you feel that they want to create that kind of anxiety to say we're going to go for it this weekend and get it done with Kimi so maybe George can relax a little bit instead of this pressure that we see week in and week out.
[1:56] David Gould: Yeah, I don't think that they're— I don't know. And the way you put it, you know, at first I was thinking, yeah, Kimi, Kimi can wrap it up this weekend. And it's, you know, it's a— there's a strong likelihood. But then when you put it that way, where all these guys have to finish a certain position or better in order to make that mathematically impossible, then, you know, you know what? I don't think he can do it. I think I think there's a distinct possibility it'll have to wait another race, maybe 2. Well,
[2:25] Chuck Hayes: we want to remind everyone, the F1 United States Grand Prix in IMAX. Everything's bigger in Texas, including Formula 1. On October 25th, experience the thrill of the United States Grand Prix in IMAX live from Austin's legendary Circuit of the Americas. Feel every heart-pounding turn, every high-speed straightaway, and every wheel-to-wheel battle like never before. This isn't just watching the race, it's being on the grid with larger-than-life images and earth-shaking sound. IMAX puts you right in the driver's seat. Big speed, big thrills, one massive IMAX experience. F1 on Apple TV Live in IMAX, October 25th. Get your tickets now at imax.com. So, David, I teased you with a little bit of saying, does Mercedes have the pressure? Uh, Toto Wolff, his quote I'm urging caution. I expect the title battle to continue past this weekend. So is he doing that to prop George up?
[3:23] David Gould: No.
[3:23] Chuck Hayes: Or just to keep Kimi a little bit calm?
[3:25] David Gould: There's— let's, let's look at it this way. When you're a driver, there's a certain amount of stuff that it's in control. You're in control of your own fate. But when it's dependent on other people doing certain things, that's out of your control. And, uh, you know, that's what makes it interesting, of course, is that the circumstances, everything has to be aligned just right in order for you to clinch. So I'm not, um, I, you know, I'm starting to side with Toto here, and I don't think he's just trying to prop up George. I think it's, uh, when you start looking at, uh, the circumstances surrounding it mathematically, he, he might be onto something there by saying, eh, I don't, I don't see him clinching this weekend. It's going to have to be another race.
[4:09] Chuck Hayes: Chuck Hayes with David Gould. We're talking Formula 1. Follow us on X @LVCheckerFlag, @LVCheckerFlag. And David, what do you say?
[4:16] David Gould: Give us some love. Give us a like. Give us a comment, by all means. We want to know what you guys think out there. And also remember to check us out on all the, all the podcast platforms because the show does go up immediately on all the podcast platforms so you can listen in if you miss the show. And I will say, Chuck, that I will be watching the race in IMAX this weekend. And if you've never experienced it, man, you're in for a treat.
[4:44] Chuck Hayes: You know, David, I think one of the great things about Formula 1 that if you're just getting into this— and the reason we started doing this, because why? Going to Las Vegas and watching F1 in the streets of Vegas is really one of the great motorsport thrills that you could possibly have. But the amount of coverage that the teams put out there in regards to storylines, we'll get into that when we go inside Dave's brain A little bit, but there's so much more information. The history of the sport is recognized, the currency of what's going on now, where these people live, how they get to where they got. The storylines are well-defined, and it adds to what we see. We saw it on the Netflix special Drive to Survive. Everyone is being educated. There's 11 teams, there's 22 drivers. There's all kinds of different manufacturers. There's the elite of motorsport, and they're all coming to Texas. And what happens when they come to Texas? They get motivated. And one of the things that happens is sometimes, even when things are going bad, you're going to want to shine a light on your story. And that is what is called the homecoming upgrade. That Cadillac Formula 1 team is rolling out a special get this, cowboy-themed livery for their home race. American driver Colton Herta will take over Sergio Perez's car during Friday's first F1 practice session. Really? So where we have talked about not having an American in this series, their 3rd driver, of course, Brian Herta's son Colton, uh, well known in the IndyCar world, will have his moment to drive that Cadillac at COTA. So that will satisfy the, what is America doing to get in Formula 1 and be recognized as a contributor to Formula 1?
[6:40] David Gould: Yes. And let's take it, let's take a look at it from 30,000 feet. Every place that F1 goes, there, at least there should be. I haven't been to every single race, but The races I have been to, everyone brings culturally what is important to that location. And it seems like F1 and the drivers and the teams, they get immersed in this. And when you go to Texas, and Texas is one of these places that has a lot of personality and a lot going on, and, and it's a, you know, everything's bigger in Texas, as they say. And one thing about Texas, about that track, is that when you're in those stands, You can see way more corners because it's how flat it is than you can see at a lot of races. Because when you're jammed into a city or wherever and you're only seeing one corner and then the rest of the race you got to watch on a monitor. But I will say that Texas has its own personality and will be bringing it. And one thing missing culturally in F1, more American drivers.
[7:47] Chuck Hayes: That's been the discussion point. We've talked about this. We're in season 4, show 25. So it's not anything that we have haven't been sensitive to. Yes. But right now we're celebrating what's going on. And, you know, the thing that we look at with the standings of this championship, with Kimi Räikkönen 340 points, George Russell 2nd with 238, Lewis Hamilton 3rd at 229, and then Max Verstappen 4th at 221, Charles Leclerc 5th with 215, Lando Norris breaking the 200 mark at 201, then it's Oscar from McLaren with 138, then Isaac Hadjar, Red Bull, 97, Liam Lawson, Racing Bulls, with 75, Pierre Gasly, Alpine, 41. But we just mentioned the livery of Cadillac, drawing attention to it with Colton Herta possibly looking into the future. But right now, Bottas, he's 22nd, no points. Sergio Perez, no points. Very disappointing. Maybe something can happen. The fact that Sergio Perez will get out of his seat in practice for Herta, I would have maybe said, hey, Bottas, because I would think that there's probably got to be a lot of Latin American fans, Mexico fans who maybe make the pilgrimage to Austin.
[9:07] David Gould: Yes.
[9:07] Chuck Hayes: Versus the Bottas fan group. But that's what they know. So,
[9:11] David Gould: look, they made a decision and I can guarantee that the race will be sold out. But it does prove one point that Cadillac Just can't waltz their way into a very old country club, throw around a bunch of cash, and think that they're going to be relevant. Because thus far, it's showing not that they're irrelevant, but that there's a lot of work to do in order to be partying with this crowd.
[9:37] Chuck Hayes: This is Chuck Hayes with David Gould. We're talking Formula 1. We want to remind everyone that our presenting sponsor, F1 on Apple TV Live and IMAX, the United States Grand Prix in IMAX is on the agenda this weekend. We're going to take a box Box, box, box. Pick up 4 fresh Perrellis, come back and go inside Dave's brain. Chuck Hayes with David Gould. Follow us @LVCheckeredFlag. Welcome back, Checkered Flag Report. Chuck Hayes with David Gould. We're talking Formula 1. We want to thank our presenting sponsor, F1 on Apple TV Live in IMAX. Why? F1 United States Grand Prix is in IMAX this weekend, and we're looking forward to enjoying another great round, this time at Circuit of the Americas. In Austin, Texas. David, let's go inside Dave's brain.
[10:21] David Gould: Yeah, well, today I was just kind of thinking about some stuff and I have some questions for you, Chuck. And the questions are more rhetorical because there's not necessarily a set answer. But let's discuss— let's discuss Max Verstappen for a moment and just say, I just want to ask you, Is Max— is Max still the best driver out there, even though he's not showing up in the standings as leading the championship? What are your thoughts on that?
[10:56] Chuck Hayes: Well, I would say that after race 250, which was Singapore Marina Bay, where he won for the first time, and when you look at it, his last 4 runs at Circuit of the Americas, 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2025 that the conversation has to be there. We've talked about this a little bit, the fact that Antonelli can be so young and have such great success and forget that Lando Norris is the defending world champion. But when they come to the track, he reminds me of a, of a player, whether it's in the NBA or in the NFL, there's certain players you always know where they are when they're on the field. That's the way Michael Jordan was on the court. That's the way Magic Johnson was.
[11:48] David Gould: And that's why I asked the question.
[11:50] Chuck Hayes: And I think that you want to outqualify him, but you don't like looking in your rearview mirror and seeing him in your, in your rearview mirror. I think he's one of those guys that You always got to know and account where he's at.
[12:07] David Gould: Exactly.
[12:08] Chuck Hayes: Now, is that the same thing that it was for Hamilton for a long time? You know, we're going back to Austin and Lewis has got 5, 5 of those trophies.
[12:20] David Gould: Yeah.
[12:20] Chuck Hayes: In that mansion that he lives in, he has his own Austin Circuit of the Americas room that you can look at and say, man, that's impressive.
[12:29] David Gould: Oh yeah.
[12:29] Chuck Hayes: But it's been a few years, David. It was, it was 2012 when he won his first race at COTA.
[12:36] David Gould: And it wasn't with Ferrari.
[12:37] Chuck Hayes: Yeah, no, before that was his previous ride. So all these things that are going on are interesting. But I would say, yeah, I think right now he's still the guy, even though in the— on the grid, he's sitting there at 4th with 221 points. I think he's the guy you're— okay, where's Max at? The first— I think when they look at the speed charts, That's the first name they're looking at.
[13:01] David Gould: Exactly. And, you know, so to move on from Max and go to, say, Ferrari. Okay. Has it paid off for them? Has it really paid off for them? Because they've got 2 of the best drivers, including Lewis Hamilton, who is arguably historically the best driver ever. And they've poured a fortune into these Ferraris, the engineering and all that stuff. And they're still kind of lagging. They're still struggling a bit. And then, of course, there's that. And then there's McLaren, which is like, hey, man, winner today, yesterday's news now. And what's going on? Is it the engineering? What's happening? You know, now they're— it's arguable that, like, well, they're leading the midfield, that kind of thing.
[13:48] Chuck Hayes: I would say I'm pleasantly surprised that Lewis Hamilton is 3rd with 229 and his teammate Charles Leclerc is 5th with 215. So he's up on Charles, who had a horrible whole spring by 14 points.
[14:02] David Gould: Yes.
[14:02] Chuck Hayes: But there was a time when we were wondering if Lewis Hamilton still wanted to do this. I think that's an interesting point. And I would say that if you were to look and say, okay, we gave up what we did, uh, we moved Carlos Sainz out of there for Lewis Hamilton— nothing against Carlos, but that's a win, no doubt. I'm sure they've made the money back. 10 times. I would just imagine within that contract and the amount of attention that one gets when you're driving for Ferrari, that Hamilton moved the needle a lot more than Carlos, you know, ever could. Unfortunately for Leclerc, that meant that he was ready to go because he was the guy. Carlos was the second guy, but don't tell him that. I mean, they were pretty close. They're, they're more like like Lewis— excuse me, with— within Lando and Oscar, uh, Charles and, um, and Carlos were very much the same kind of level of driver.
[15:06] David Gould: Yes.
[15:06] Chuck Hayes: And very competitive and winning races. But now when you bring Sir Lewis Hamilton in, man, that's a whole nother endeavor. And again, with his, uh, background and his championship, uh, pedigree, it's something That you really want to look at. And David, before we go to the next part, I want to remind everybody that F1 on Apple TV Live in IMAX is in Austin this weekend. Everything's bigger in Texas, including Formula 1. On October 25th, experience the thrill of the United States Grand Prix in IMAX live from Austin's legendary Circuit of the Americas. Feel every heart-pounding turn, every high-speed straightaway, and every wheel-to-wheel battle like never before. This isn't just watching the race. It's being on the grid with larger-than-life images and earth-shaking sound. IMAX puts you right in the driver's seat. Big speed, big thrills. One massive IMAX experience. F1 on Apple TV, live in IMAX October 25th. Get your tickets now at IMAX.com.
[16:09] David Gould: Yeah. And, you know, I know that this is supposed to be, quote unquote, my segment. But these are the things that cross my mind. And I need, I need that. I need that back and forth with you in order to suss these things out. And the next point I'm going to make, the next rhetorical thing just for, for thought, is really an overarching thing for the, for all of F1. And that's, you know, Formula 1 is supposed to reward the best engineers and drivers. But are we reaching a point where management, where managing electrical energy is becoming more important, is becoming as important Or as actually racing the car? Are we watching the world's best drivers or the world's best battery management systems? That is genuine debate and overtaking it. Energy deployment or whether regulations can deliver the kind of racing fans really want.
[17:06] Chuck Hayes: Well, you know, David, I asked that question myself when I got my power bill last month.
[17:12] David Gould: Yeah,
[17:12] Chuck Hayes: it's been a little warm in Southern California and everybody knows that Uh, that's the deal now. Okay, so with that said—
[17:20] David Gould: Yeah, go ahead.
[17:20] Chuck Hayes: With that said, I would say that, you know, F1 looked at it. They dropped the highly debated rule change after only one season of implementation, reverting the format ahead of the 2027 season. They're struggling with it. Yes, because they made such a huge investment. And I, I think there's probably a bunch of, uh, engineers and technocrats that are going What are you guys complaining about? We got the kid with 340 points, his teammates got 238, Hamilton is 3rd, Verstappen is 4th. I think it works for us. I think one of the things that if you said the racing is suffering, you might go, okay, but explain Antonelli. That's, that's the wild card of this whole thing. It's— you want to say No, they're messing it up.
[18:12] David Gould: Yes.
[18:13] Chuck Hayes: But then you look and you say, okay, we are competitive. But with the world champion last week, 2 weeks ago, Lando Norris, 40 seconds off the pace.
[18:26] David Gould: Yep.
[18:27] Chuck Hayes: Oscar, his teammate, 49 seconds off the pace. Lewis Hamilton, who had an issue and he probably shouldn't have been that far back because he overrode something, 53 seconds. Liam Lawson, 81 seconds. Nico, 83 seconds. George Russell, 84 seconds. And then Isaac Hadjar, 90 seconds. Pierre Gasly, one lap down. Oliver, um, one lap down. If that's the top 12, then your point is well made.
[19:00] David Gould: Yes, yes.
[19:00] Chuck Hayes: That's what I would look at.
[19:01] David Gould: And that's, and that, that's one way to look at it. Let's, let's look at it another way. Uh, let's look at the team standings in which we have, uh, 7 out of the 11 teams, 7 out of the 11 teams are not above 100 points. So we've got basically, uh, Ferrari, McLaren, Racing Bulls, and, uh, Mercedes controlling everything. And, you know, there has to be a winner. We, I understand that, but as far as Being competitive is concerned, as far as some, you know, and as far as making it entertaining and exciting, when you start to see these, these breakaways, it, it, I think it detracts from that. I mean, if you look at the driver standings, uh, the top 7 are in triple figures. Everything below that, double figures, including, um, you know, 13 and under are, uh, excuse me, uh, from starting from Arvid Lindblad. Who's in 11th place all the way to the bottom. We have no one above 38 points. And it's, it's, it's starting to, it really starts to wonder whether some teams are doing better in there. And of course they're not going to complain. How, why would they complain? They're winning. So it's, and as far as a fan's concerned, as a fan, I'm looking at this thing thinking, okay, where's the, where's the, I want, I want more. I want more excitement. I want more racing, more challenge.
[20:28] Chuck Hayes: I think one of the things you look at and want to follow us on X, @ILVCheckerFlag, @ILVCheckerFlag. David, what you're saying, and I don't want to go right to the wallet.
[20:39] David Gould: Yes.
[20:39] Chuck Hayes: But when you say that, I would say that those teams are funded better than the other teams and that to go fast, it costs more money.
[20:48] David Gould: Yeah.
[20:48] Chuck Hayes: And that's probably engineering and upgrades and all that goes on. We don't know that for sure. I'm sure we could do a deeper dive, uh, as we look at it and say, okay, who's spending what and what are you getting for it, you know, based on, on the value of, of what you— your success is. So I think that's that. But again, I, I come back to the Antonelli thing. If, if, if Antonelli wasn't the guy and Max was the guy on top and running away with it like Antonelli is, Right. we would have a different opinion, I think, on this, right? Oh, it's boring. Max is so dominant. He's— it's 2 years ago, you know, and that was with a better, um, uh, no, uh, electrical deployment issues.
[21:33] David Gould: Yes.
[21:33] Chuck Hayes: His 2-year-ago run, which was devastating. And as we count this down, David, I want to remind everybody to follow us, uh, as I said, @LVCheckeredFlag. We want to thank our presenting sponsor F1 on Apple TV Live and IMAX, the F1 United States Grand Prix in IMAX this weekend. So we're going to go for fresh Pirellis. We'll come back. Let's continue this discussion. Chuck Hayes with David Gould here talking Formula One. Welcome back. Checkered Flag Report. Chuck Hayes with David Gould. We're talking Formula One and we appreciate you being with us. And we want to thank our presenting sponsor, F1 on Apple TV Live and IMAX. It's the F1 United States Grand Prix. In IMAX, everyone's going to be excited about that. Okay, so what you were talking about, not only with technology, but where they're going to go to get the next superstar. And Haas decided that our guy Esteban Ocon,
[22:31] David Gould: yes,
[22:31] Chuck Hayes: was not going to be the guy in the ride. So they went out and signed a Latin American driver, Brazil's Rafael. Kamara. Uh, he's going to follow in Sergio Perez's footprints as a money printing machine. That's the way they quote it for F1 team Haas. Uh, next year there will be 4 Latin American drivers on the grid: Mexico's Perez, Argentine driver Franco Colapinto, Brazil's Gabriel Bortoletto, and now, uh, Kamara. Kamara is leading Formula 2 Championship by 7 points over Nikola Tosiloff. The 21-year-old regained the lead with a victory in the second of 2 feature races, uh, when he was at Baku. 2 weeks later, Haas confirmed he's going to replace Ocon. So from your standpoint, they take the, the blueprint, and obviously he must come from some sort of wealth where there's an investment either by the country or a family or something with that. And F1 said, okay, we'll find a ride for you. Haas said, thank you very much. Esteban, what can you bring to the table? Obviously not as much. Here's a young guy, not unlike Antonelli, 21 years of age, Formula 2, he's the leader. So he probably deserves that opportunity. But again, David, What are we going to see now in regards to Fernando Alonso? When does Aston Martin decide that when they're getting guys half his age or even more, that, that Aston Martin says, how long are you going to do this, Fernando?
[24:14] David Gould: Well, when you bring up Fernando Alonso, I keep thinking of being at a restaurant with somebody, my date, whoever. And asking the bartender, hey, has anybody paid their tab yet? Because I'd like to grab a couple of seats over here. And that's kind of the way I'm thinking about Fernando is like, has he paid his bill yet? Because I know he's going to be leaving and I'd like to grab those spots. I just think— I just think it's such a coveted place, coveted position just to get a seat Anywhere.
[24:52] Chuck Hayes: 22 of them.
[24:53] David Gould: Well, there's only 22. Think about how rarefied that air is. And of course, they have a backup driver, a test driver, if you will, for each team that has to be ready to go in should somebody get hurt or there's an issue, whatever. So, but that is— those— these positions are so rarefied. That, you know, I can understand. The guy better be good. Now, he's killing it, obviously, in F2. But think about Kimi. Kimi didn't even race in F2. That's how good he was, or at least according to Toto Wolff, that he got to leapfrog right into the big show. And not just the big show, but the winningest team right now in F1.
[25:44] Chuck Hayes: And right now, the only other team with any kind of flow in it is the Racing Bulls. We don't know what's going to happen with Liam Lawson or what's going on with Arvid Lindblad because Racing Bulls kind of has a philosophy that we kind of move our guys the way we want to move them.
[26:02] David Gould: Yeah.
[26:03] Chuck Hayes: And that's not good too. Oh, yeah, sure. I mean, there's no doubt that Isaac has earned that coming off that wrist injury. He had a strong comeback.
[26:11] David Gould: Yep.
[26:12] Chuck Hayes: Uh, to be able to do that. But there's a, a certain, um, I guess I would call it stable in the Racing Bulls, Red Bull world.
[26:19] David Gould: Yes.
[26:19] Chuck Hayes: Where you do what they say and how you go about it and feel fortunate to be able to be.
[26:26] David Gould: Yes.
[26:27] Chuck Hayes: Um, but the fact that, that Liam Lawson is 9th overall with 90— with 75 points, and Arvid is 11th with 38. Um, it means that again, Bottas is aging at Cadillac.
[26:42] David Gould: Yep.
[26:43] Chuck Hayes: Perez is not going anywhere because of that strong, uh, Mexico connection in regards to what we're gonna see. Uh, just when you thought, uh, Austin was great, wait till we go to Mexico. Those numbers go through and the merch alone.
[26:58] David Gould: Yeah.
[26:59] Chuck Hayes: Is going to be phenomenal. This is Chuck Hayes with David Gould. We want to remind everyone That our presenting sponsor, F1 on Apple TV Live in IMAX— everything's bigger in Texas, including Formula 1. On October 25th, experience the thrill of the United States Grand Prix in IMAX live from Austin's legendary Circuit of the Americas. Feel every heart-pounding turn, every high-speed straightaway, and every wheel-to-wheel battle like never before. This isn't just watching the race, it's being on the grid with larger-than-life images and earth-shaking sound. IMAX puts you right in the driver's seat. Big speed, big thrills. One massive IMAX experience. F1 on Apple TV Live in IMAX, October 25th. Get your tickets now at IMAX.com.
[27:44] David Gould: Everything's bigger in Texas, so why not see it on the biggest screen?
[27:48] Chuck Hayes: And David, that track, 3.42 miles, 20 corners, 56 laps, is going to be exciting. And
[27:56] David Gould: those are fast corners too.
[27:57] Chuck Hayes: And just the paint scheme and All right, so let's go into it a little bit. When you see the big wide racetrack and you know Kimi Antonelli has, uh,
[28:10] David Gould: a,
[28:10] Chuck Hayes: a habit, like a tell if you will, of getting outside track limits a little bit, what do you think? What would be the over-under on how many track limit violations we might see from him this weekend?
[28:25] David Gould: Well, uh, based on the last race, uh, I think he was even calculating— he had 3, did not get a penalty— but I think he was even calculating, okay, how many seconds behind am I from this guy, and how many seconds, uh, am I ahead of this guy in order to hold my position if I go off the track limits again? Um, I think there's a very good chance, uh, he will break— he will get penalized. But, you know, You never know. I mean, they'll— I'll put it this way. I know for sure the engineer's going to get in his ear and say, uh, gimme— that's, uh, 3 track violations, no more.
[29:02] Chuck Hayes: I wonder if they do that during the, uh, testing in the, in the sim. If we know when they do it, I mean, he doesn't drive— I would imagine he doesn't drive any different than what he does in the simulator.
[29:13] David Gould: Well, I wouldn't think so.
[29:14] Chuck Hayes: Again, and, and when that happens, it's, it's there on the printout. You ever see these guys look at their lap times and They're looking at their, their segments and their, and their, their corners. Yes. However, they know where they got to be and how they run it.
[29:27] David Gould: Austin is one of those tracks that has fast turns, and I think that's fast turns in general. So there may not be as many track violations as we think based on the fact that they can maintain a pretty damn good speed going through those turns.
[29:45] Chuck Hayes: Chuck Hayes with David Gould. We're talking Formula 1. Follow us on X. @LVCheckeredFlag, @LVCheckeredFlag.
[29:52] David Gould: And give us a love. Give us some— give us a like. Give us a comment. And by all means, retweet. And for God's sakes, man, you missed the— you missed the show. Catch us on the— on the podcast platforms. Okay.
[30:07] Chuck Hayes: We're going to be around everywhere, just like Mercedes with 578 points. They're leading the fray. Ferrari is second with 444. McLaren with 339, Red Bull 332, Racing Bulls with 100, Alpine with 68. We have Haas at 30, we have Audi at 23, we have Williams at 12, Aston Martin with 7, and Cadillac 0.0. All right, from your standpoint, as we look at this, is this one of those that if you were to handicap it that McLaren and what they're doing coming back from, from not being the team that they were last year, uh, they might be more aggressive this year in regards to coming in there. We know that Mercedes, uh, will equip both cars with their latest high downforce aerodynamic floor and front wing upgrades after split testing them in Singapore. Remember, at Singapore, one had the upgrade, the other didn't. I believe it was Kimi that didn't have the upgrade.
[31:18] David Gould: Yes.
[31:18] Chuck Hayes: He let it be, and George had the upgrade, and we all know how that turned out on that first little, uh, sprint race, which was, uh, very, very happy that nothing happened that came out of that. But from your standpoint, um, McLaren's got to be looking at this and saying We have to make a statement. We need to really push these, these guys because again, there's a lot of pride when you're the defending world champion.
[31:44] David Gould: Yes.
[31:45] Chuck Hayes: I've mentioned that before, that Lando, after struggling, would look in the mirror and say, I'm Lando Norris, I'm the world champion. Because a 19-year-old kid was just kicking his tail and that was not something that he was taking. And we saw that frustration in that sprint race.
[32:01] David Gould: Yes.
[32:02] Chuck Hayes: Where he took out his teammate.
[32:04] David Gould: Yep.
[32:04] Chuck Hayes: And really was kind of a little nose out of joint. But you don't want to take that out of him as the defending world champion.
[32:10] David Gould: No, you don't. Uh, and that I think is kind of, um, there's kind of a metaphor there for what's going on with McLaren in general. Uh, I just don't think all their oars are going in the same direction. They seem to be having a lot of problems internally, and it's manifesting itself on the track. What Lando did was really reckless, stupid. And then his attitude toward it, toward the, uh, when he was being interviewed was like, hey, hey dude, uh, I know you said you were diving for a space. There was no space there. And you took out, you took out your, uh, your racing partner. It's not like you took out a competitor. You took out your own racing partner. I mean, it's ridiculous. However, um, I don't know. I mean, if I'm Zac Brown and I just went out and bought myself a new $200,000 watch, I don't want to hang on the receipt because I have to return it because we didn't, we didn't do as well as we thought.
[33:08] Chuck Hayes: Right now, as they go into the Austin race, Lando Norris is 6th with 201 points and Oscar 138. It's got to be very frustrating because I looked at Oscar 2 years ago, this past year, if you will.
[33:22] David Gould: Yes.
[33:22] Chuck Hayes: As a guy that could push Lando Norris any time he wanted. And they were always having that discussion about not overdriving the situation. And Oscar was getting some of that. And then he ended up coming up short and not winning the world championship. And that's something you can never get back when you're climbing that mountain.
[33:41] David Gould: No.
[33:41] Chuck Hayes: Chuck Hayes with David Gould. We want to thank our presenting sponsor, F1 on Apple TV Live in IMAX. F1 United States Grand Prix in IMAX is going to be outstanding. We're going to come back from this short timeout. We want to thank Coach Harvey Hyde, Football Promotions of Nevada for all the support. Chuck Hayes with David Gould. We're going to box, box, box. Welcome back. Segment 4, Checkered Flag Report. Chuck Hayes with David Gould. We want to thank our presenting sponsor, F1 on Apple TV Live and IMAX. It's the F1 United States Grand Prix, Austin, Texas this weekend. All right, David. So, you know, there was a little bit of concern coming out of the F1 world about officiating and how things were being measured. And whether or not there was consistency in everything that was going on. So F1 now has officially launched a new high-tech remote operations center designed to enhance live race officiating and steward decision-making accuracy. Man, somebody got into somebody's ear because that was not something that they would always talk about publicly. It reminds me a little bit of the National Football League or college football, where now you're going to these, uh, high-tech centers where people have multiple eyes on everything that's going on.
[34:58] David Gould: It's AI.
[34:59] Chuck Hayes: Multiple games, you know, as they used to say in football, the eye in the sky doesn't lie. And so people are going to be making decisions in real time or double-checking the metrics that go along. And again, reminds me a little bit about the Manned Spacecraft Center. Uh, on that shoot to the moon and how everybody was in control. Everyone fed the information to one person, that person made that decision. So we want to remind everybody that this, uh, race that we're going to see at COTA, everything's bigger in Texas, including Formula 1. It's the F1 United States Grand Prix in IMAX on October 25th. Experience the thrill of the United States Grand Prix in IMAX live from Austin's legendary Circuit of the Americas. Feel every heart-pounding turn, every high-speed straightaway, and every wheel-to-wheel battle like never before. This isn't just watching the race, it's being on the grid. With larger-than-life images and earth-shaking sound, IMAX puts you right in the driver's seat. Big speed, big thrills, one massive IMAX experience. F1 on Apple TV Live in IMAX, October 25th. Get your tickets now at imax.com. David, this next run Round 18, Austin, October 25th, and then round 19, Mexico City, November 1st, and then round 20, São Paulo, November 8th, is really a sprint in its own right.
[36:21] David Gould: Yeah,
[36:21] Chuck Hayes: to get ready before you got 2 weeks off and then you come back to Vegas.
[36:25] David Gould: What a great lineup.
[36:26] Chuck Hayes: For round 21. So let me— from your standpoint, uh, these people are on an amazing schedule. They had a break Since Singapore, they put that Malaysia race in there to fill the gap of the earlier Bahrain Grand Prix. And it worked. And they're, you know, saying they're going ahead, round 22, round 23, Qatar and Abu Dhabi, that heightened security and the way things have been going in the Middle East. So kind of give me your mindset in regards to what you see as we go down this, this track. Is it better for the sport if they get that clinch by Kimi out of the way and then the rest of these people can slice and dice for what's, you know, remaining of the pot? Because everybody knows it's pretty much a fait accompli that Kimi's going to win the thing. Is it better to win it early, get it out of the way? You know that— No. Constructors-wise right now, that's not going to be an issue. There's nobody going to catch Mercedes at 578, I don't believe. No, it would take a miracle. The race really is between Ferrari and McLaren and Red Bull.
[37:34] David Gould: Yes. And, uh, what I think is going to be interesting is that, first of all, to answer your first question, let's get to that. I think the longer they can hold it off, the better, because I want the tension. The tension is fun to me, you know, uh, to see what everybody else can do To try and grab that brass ring before the the kid who's got the greatest advantage gets it. I still think he's going to get it, but I don't. I'd like to see see that held off as long as possible. Now back to the drivers thing. I think it's going to be very interesting to see now that Red Bull is coming on strong what they can do to possibly get into third. in the driver standings, because I think McLaren is— still seems problematic to me. I don't— you know, they've had some, some wins. They've had— they've done okay. But I don't see momentum. I see momentum with Red Bull Racing. And of course, Ferrari has been good and holding into that 2nd spot for quite some time. Mercedes obviously has it in the bag.
[38:45] Chuck Hayes: Well, the fact that, again, it's, you know, the sandwich of Ferrari, of Lewis at 3rd and Leclerc at 5th with Max in the middle, and where Max is going to go with that. You know, Max is going to push.
[38:59] David Gould: Yeah, but look at the points. That could— any one of those things could change with one race.
[39:04] Chuck Hayes: He could get to 2nd.
[39:06] David Gould: He could.
[39:07] Chuck Hayes: That would be one thing that we would look at. And then the same thing is said with, uh, with Lewis too. I mean, the guy on the pressure seat is definitely Uh, our guy George Russell from Mercedes. First of all, he knows he's not going to win, and yet I don't say that he's not going to win. He's going to win races, but he's not going to win the championship. But then he's got in the rearview Lewis and Max, uh, and even Leclerc to some point. But Dave, as we count it down, it's just a great thrill to be able to do this. We've been doing it for 4 years. This is show number 25. We're on that run. Why? Because we want to go over the hill. Then Las Vegas and watch this happen. I thank you for all the, uh, the insight today. Chuck Hayes with David Gould. We remind everybody, we want to thank our presenting sponsor, F1 on Apple TV Live and IMAX. Follow us @LVCheckerFlag, @LVCheckerFlag. And we thank Coach Harvey Hyde Football Promotions Nevada for powering the fastest hour in radio.