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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: a8a2c764-f1e6-4e7d-b4e5-a15ad65ea139
Status: completed
Duration: 2398 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 to talk Formula One. The Checkered Flag Report airs every week, same time, same channel. We appreciate your patronage, David. Great to be with you today.
[0:15] David Gould: Yeah.
[0:15] Chuck Hayes: And even though you're in vacation mode, I know you've been grinding.
[0:19] David Gould: Yeah, vacation mode only because the drivers are on vacation. F1 is on vacation. However, you and I, not so much, we're not on vacation.
[0:29] Chuck Hayes: And we want to thank our presenting sponsor, Chavez Realty Development Apartments business affairs real estate assessment at 626-440-1545 that Chavez Realty Development, 626-440-1545. So we're in week two of the vacation. The drivers are getting it all together around the world and doing what they do. And you know, know, David, we will go to all ends to follow on social media and we ask everyone to follow us at lvcheckered Flag on X. At lvchucker Flag. And David, what do you say when we ask that request?
[1:05] David Gould: Just give us some love, will you? Just, just give us a like and please, please retweet.
[1:10] Chuck Hayes: And where else are you going to find cool content like Kimmy Antonelli being woken up on, on a yacht and then him running the length of the yacht and diving off the back in his jammies. Well, I don't know exactly what kind of designer togs he was. He was, there were no logos on him from what I could see. Yeah, but that's one angle on it. Now again, if I auto the yacht and at some beautiful bay and I can go out there and of course everyone holds their breath because things happen. Oh, yeah, we've heard this before. Lance stroll on a bicycle in Spain, broke his, had a broken, broken issue there. So we want to make sure everyone's together because why we're looking forward to the Dutch Grand Prix. David, last Dutch Grand Prix of what is a schedule that we've seen over the next couple years. So we're looking forward to a sprint race which is going to be 24 laps, 63 a half miles. The Dutch Grand Prix, 72 laps, 190.54 miles. And that's coming up in a couple weeks. But we still got to address the topics at hand and we've got a lot of freedom to do this, this show. And so we're getting everyone back on the same page. You know, nothing's changed. It's still Kimmy Antonelli, 219 points. Lewis Hamilton 169. George Russell 160. Charles Leclair with 138, Lando Norris 128 and Max Verstappen at six with one. It's Mercedes 379, Ferrari 307, McLaren 220 and Red Bull 177. With all that said, David, we're going to ask you to bring me some insight in regards to the business of what's going on. And then when we take our first break in a couple minutes, when we get four fresh Pirellis, we're going to go deep inside Dave's brain for your segment of, I guess it would be associated value assessment of what's going on in the world. But as you take this break and you're able to step BS and step back and see what's going on, how are you feeling about what we've just gone through to get to vacation?
[3:27] David Gould: Yeah, it's, has not been a very straightforward season. There's been lots of problems. Lots of issues with the cars, of course, and lots of issues with F1 and all the regulations. Frankly. There's, there's, you know, all kinds of crazy penalties going out there that a lot of people don't think. I don't think that any of them think that they're fair when that, when they get laid down. However, a lot of them have been questionable based on quirky behavior with the cars, quirky behaviors with sensors and just some kind of, you know, you got to wonder if they're, if they're, they're overlording a bit too much and what's that, what effects that's, that's going to have on the teams and so forth.
[4:12] Chuck Hayes: When we look at standings and we look at constructors. If I was to put it out to you with what is the biggest surprise of the year, what is the biggest disappointment of the year and what is the team that in the second half of the year is going to make hay when the sun shines? What of those three? Can you give me a biggest disappointment of the year?
[4:36] David Gould: Biggest disappointment I think is there are two drivers, one being Verstappen and one being George Russell that I was expecting more from. And for a variety of reasons that which may or may not be their own, they're not really living up to their hype. You know, there was the year that Verstappen led everything, won everything. And frankly, it did get a little tedious. But watching Max and how he drives is so entertaining because he's very, his mindset is very old school, which is, which is almost Bloodsport, like, I mean he just goes at it with, with a tenacity that is, is, is vicious. And it's awfully fun. It's. As a fan, it's awfully fun to
[5:22] Chuck Hayes: watch one of those things that. It'd be interesting to find out, David, and I want you to picture this. Take your mind's eye and go to Max Verstappen's mansion or his home, either one. And he probably has, I would call him a butler or a valet that handles all his luggage and things that come to him.
[5:45] David Gould: He has people.
[5:45] Chuck Hayes: He has people, right. I don't know if he has an umbrella person. I haven't seen that yet. But I do know that a decision has to be made on a weekly basis is once they ship the trophies back, what his guy says to him, as he did last week when he picked up a second beautiful porcelain in Belgium porcelain trophy. Not the, not the big one. Yes, the second biggest one.
[6:15] David Gould: Right.
[6:16] Chuck Hayes: Mr. Max, what would you like me to do with this one? Yeah, you know, I just, I mean, I picture that, you know, that's, that's quite the question at the room. I mean, because you know that there's just like this, not unlike Lewis Hamilton where he has multiple rooms just upon the tracks and he's 1 at 6, 7, 8. That when you get the ones that you didn't win for.
[6:39] David Gould: Right.
[6:40] Chuck Hayes: What happens to those? Do they go to charity? Do they go to his mom for like a planner for new flowers? I mean, you know, where does that go with that? I know that sounds ridiculous.
[6:50] David Gould: Yeah.
[6:51] Chuck Hayes: But those are first World War world champion type problems.
[6:54] David Gould: Well, in their minds, which are if you're a good racer, you are, you have a, you're single minded. In other words, winning is everything. It's not, it's second place as the great. Was it Mario Andretti who said that? Who, who was the great driver who said second place is losing well again or, or first runner up to losing
[7:14] Chuck Hayes: or something like that.
[7:15] David Gould: Right.
[7:15] Chuck Hayes: And the late Kyle Busch would say second is first losing.
[7:19] David Gould: That's what I. Yeah. Yes. First losing. Right. So I think that that mentality does, does sit with Max because you know, he's, he's just that kind of guy where winning is everything and he, it's just, it's almost like he's not the kind of guy who relaxes who, who can relax easily. You know, that's, that's the way they're, they're geared that way throughout life. Not just for racing, but throughout life.
[7:45] Chuck Hayes: Chuck Hayes with David Ghoul Follow us at lvchecker Flag. We want to thank Coach Harvey Hyde, Football Promotions of Nevada for powering the fastest hour in radio. And in fact, it's Jerry Seinfel has a bit about the Olympics and the medal ceremony where the winner gets gold, the second place gets silver, and then the third place is bronze. And you know how he can understand, you know, the third guy with the bronze, like, hey, congrats, Pat on the back, good job. But the second guy, like, that's a story forever.
[8:19] David Gould: What happened?
[8:21] Chuck Hayes: Yeah, why did. What, why, what? What's the deal? What are we, what are we dealing with here? And I got that feeling when I watched them even going to the cool down room and they in F1 for those people who don't know, they take the three top of the podium people and there's a special cool down room where you, the first place winner puts his helmet and picks up his hat. And then second and third and then they have assigned seating and it's where they debrief and watch the race, get a cool drink before they head out for the podium ceremony. And it, it's even where they, where they park the cars. You're one is a little bit ahead, two is there, third is behind.
[8:59] David Gould: And this is as it should be too.
[9:01] Chuck Hayes: And how do you feel about that, Dave, when you pull into a parking spot and you're looking around like, did you win? Do I get to pull one?
[9:07] David Gould: But you know what? There's something poetic about that, something very just about that because our society where everybody gets a trophy, doesn't honor that enough. In other words, we, we are a country that was built on winning on app on winning. And I'm not trying to get too political here, but that's the history of the country is based on winning and, and, and when, when, and, and it's great that racing does mirror that. That. Yeah, the top dog gets the highest podium. The top dog gets the, gets the, gets to park his car ahead of the other two cars.
[9:47] Chuck Hayes: So Chuck Hayes with David Gould. We're going to box, box, box, get four fresh Pirellis. We come back, we're going to go inside. Dave bra. Dave's brain. Follow us at lv. Checkered flag at lvch. Welcome back. Checkered flag report. Chuck Hayes with David Gold. We're talking Formula One. And David, it's just a great thing to be able to do because this is one of those unique topics. Formula 1, 11 teams, 22 drivers. This is season number four for us. Show number 15. So we're in the season right now with a break going on. And so this gives us a time to really kind of flex a little bit and explore topics that have been either on your mind or bugging you without the pressure of reporting a result. Not that we don't love results because just a result driven business. And the next time we'll be reporting results will be when the Grand Prix of Zandvoort, Netherlands runs on August 21st to 23rd. We have a sprint race on Saturday, 24 laps, 63 and a half miles. And then the Dutch Grand Prix, 72 laps, 190.54 miles. David, take us inside Dave's brain. What have you been thinking about?
[11:00] David Gould: Well, a few things. First of all, with the vacation here, it creates a vacuum. And wherever there's a vacuum and there's nothing going on, it leads to questions, dialogues or sorts of ancillary things that would normally not come up during the season. But one of them that hits my mind is the fact that of the, the subject of free agency now, these guys are under contract, so it's not like other sports where they do have mid season lateral moves at times. But, but it does, it does spark the conversation about guys who aren't happy where they are, cars who are not performing up to the driver's expectations, teams that aren't performing up to expectations. So I think of two teams. Number one, I think of Max with Red Bull and he, I think he's clearly not happy with the way the car has been performing. I think he is such a stellar driver that he has, you know, put himself. Where is he? He is in, he is in sixth place in the points, which is certainly a disappointment for Max. But in the context of, of all the drivers that's still competitive with 109 points, he may not, he may be so far away from Kimmy that he can't reach it, can't reach the championship, but he can certainly get into the top three if things were to, to turn around for him in a couple of races. But I see his frustration and. You got it. Makes you wonder given that there's a rumor of him partying on Toto Wolf's yacht during this vacation.
[12:43] Chuck Hayes: Alleged partying.
[12:44] David Gould: Well, whatever, whatever.
[12:46] Chuck Hayes: A discussion like anyone talks.
[12:48] David Gould: Right, right, right.
[12:49] Chuck Hayes: You know, hey, how you doing?
[12:51] David Gould: Right.
[12:51] Chuck Hayes: You're not going so well, my mate. How's it going?
[12:54] David Gould: Right, right. Yeah, let's, let's hang out a little bit. You know, I think that that's, you know, I think it's very, very strange given that George Russell who is with Mercedes is struggling right now with the car, with the problems with, you know, battery issues, with the fact that. And you hear a lot of complaining out of George and frankly, if I were George, I'd be complaining too. I think he's got a valid argument. But I think it's, it's such a weird thing to have Max on your. Max on your boat, on the team owner's boat, who also happens to be the boss of one of the drivers who's having the biggest problems and would like to see some solutions. Okay, that's. So there's that, there's that issue and, and, and the other issue or one of many issues I've got is who are the teams to watch. And I think the number one team to watch right now is Ferrari because Ferrari has been reborn according to, according to LeClaire that Ferrari has really changed their attitude. They're pushing, they're taking chances, they're innovating there and it's starting to show because we got Hamilton in second place with 169 points and we've got Sean or Charles. Charles, excuse me, not Sean Charles in fourth place with 138 points. So those are the, those are a couple of things to be, to be looking at. The other thing that I like. Well, it's, it's unfortunate that you have to like this, but when you're, when your first place guy comes in, when Kimmy comes in in the last race and the second place guy comes in, which is max at 15 seconds, second place is 15 seconds away. That's not great racing. There's something wrong. Okay, so that shifts my attention to mid pack racing which I find to be very, very entertaining. And, and the four guys you, that I want to see that I noticed so much is Hajar, Lawson, Lynn Blad and Gasly. And two of those guys are with one of them of course is the second to. In Red Bull racing to Max and, and ha just teared it up. I think he's having a great season. A great. Yeah, a great season. And Lawson, Lawson and Lidblad for raising bulls, man. I mean it just doesn't get more entertaining than that, so. And Gasly's doing quite well with Alpine. Anyway. Go ahead.
[15:20] Chuck Hayes: Chuck is with David Gould inside Dave's brain. Follow us at lvcheckered Flag. At lvchecker flag. And David, this one I think is our message to the community of watching Formula one where if you don't want to be a front runner or you don't like Mercedes or you're not a McLaren person or you're not a Ferrari person and you're looking for something to get involved with. That is cool storylines because when you look at it, there are great stories all the way through the 22 drivers.
[15:49] David Gould: Yes.
[15:49] Chuck Hayes: Now there's a lot of frustration also.
[15:52] David Gould: Yes.
[15:52] Chuck Hayes: And it almost, you know, you want to have a plot for F1, the movie part two. Part two, part two, where you have these issues play out and it's not always cool. We saw the reaction when Max was just dominating. People were getting bored. They were saying, why are we watching this? This is going to be the same show. Now that he's struggling, people are saying, well, this isn't as good because he's not doing so well. And yet you got a 19 year old kid with 219 points. Lewis Hamilton is reborn.
[16:29] David Gould: Yeah.
[16:29] Chuck Hayes: In second with 169. So you have a great battle there between Mercedes and Ferrari. And then the cast and Jammer kids, the Papayas, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri are on a run. They're starting to come back. And with Lando's big win and not breaking anything in, in Belgium and having a champagne celebration was just invigorating because it wasn't too long ago where he was looking in the mirror and said, I'm the world champion.
[17:00] David Gould: Yeah. And look at the, look at the bottom of the field, though. And that's the other thing is like, you know, Haas, Audi, Williams, Austin, Martin, Cadillac, no points. I mean, these guys aren't even breaking in, breaking into the top 10. It's, it's, it's a, it's a problem. Or, excuse me, top five. It's, it's, it's really a problem, especially for Austin, Martin and Cadillac. I mean, those guys, they've really got to get their act together. And I know Cadillac's a brand new team and you know, they got to get their feet wet and. Sorry, there's no, there's no, there's no time for that. This is, the money is too big and the stakes are too great for you to be not even scoring anything. Nothing.
[17:44] Chuck Hayes: Well, Fernando Alonzo with one point and that was because he finished 10th.
[17:49] David Gould: Right.
[17:50] Chuck Hayes: In Monaco, big celebration in Aston Martin. They brought an upgrade.
[17:55] David Gould: Right.
[17:55] Chuck Hayes: And they were able to get into Q2. So for, for Fernando, I mean, so that's what the whole year's been.
[18:01] David Gould: Yeah. We get.
[18:01] Chuck Hayes: How many races were in show number 15. And Alonz was one of the greats.
[18:06] David Gould: Eliminated immediately.
[18:08] Chuck Hayes: And then he went to Q2 and everyone's celebrating. That.
[18:11] David Gould: So, so if you look at that, if you look at the, the, the, the point standings, the, the point standings are wins or, or podiums from Red Bull number five down. You have one, which is Alpine. You have one podium one. I mean, that's, that's not, that's not looking good. That, that isn't good for F1 or it isn't good for fans.
[18:35] Chuck Hayes: Well, there's definitely a line in the sand there. And yeah, we've seen the workers when there is sand on the track and gravel come out and try to sweep it up.
[18:45] David Gould: Right.
[18:45] Chuck Hayes: But those are, those are real things. Okay. So, David, let me go the other way on this for you.
[18:51] David Gould: Sure.
[18:51] Chuck Hayes: The last time I checked, getting a ticket to the last group of races that we've seen, beginning in Miami, then Canada, then Monaco, then Spain, then Austria, Great Britain and Belgium. Not a lot of empty seats. Unlike nascar.
[19:11] David Gould: Right.
[19:12] Chuck Hayes: Where they went from a quarter million when it debuted in INDY, down to 70,000 and at the height of their biggest short track, Bristol.
[19:22] David Gould: Yep.
[19:23] Chuck Hayes: Where it used to be 140, now it's 70. Where are we at in regards to that? Because everything you say is all viable inside Dave's brain, but they put your hand in your pocket there, and if you're F1, I don't know, you could get through the hundreds there.
[19:40] David Gould: Well, yeah, that's. And that's, that is a great thing and a problem all in the same.
[19:46] Chuck Hayes: Isn't this called show business?
[19:47] David Gould: Well, it is show business. And. But when the, when the money blinds you to problems, significant systemic problems, you've, you've, you've got a big, you've got a big headache there because you. People vote with their feet. And that's what NASCAR is seeing, is people are voting with their feet. If there's, if it's. Not exciting, if it's not working for them, they're not going to go. And the last thing, the last thing F1 stunts F1 wants to do is wait until that moment where they start seeing empty seats and then, then. Because by then they've got a much bigger problem to solve. Not necessarily impossible, but it's a, it's, it's, it's grown beyond their ability to control it.
[20:31] Chuck Hayes: Chuck Hayes with David Gould. Follow us. Lvcheckered flag. We're inside Dave's brain now where we're dissecting what is an interesting dynamic where you've got millions and millions invested in these cars and simulators and driver salaries and there's no production.
[20:47] David Gould: Yeah.
[20:48] Chuck Hayes: And yet the sponsorships all across, deliveries are looking pretty spectacular. Everybody looks healthy. The concessions look good at the tracks. People are packing it in, coming from a long ways away to be able to have that. But we're going to see this. And. And they don't normally publish the exact attendance, but they'll give you like a massive 450,000. Yeah, they'll round it, that kind of thing. So we're going to stay with this topic as we continue. And when you talk about this, David, it makes me realize how much the sport has grown from those days of black and white television, when the Grand Prix of Monaco was the only thing you could ever see. And that's how I grew up watching it. And this explosion on Apple tv, on imax, all these great things that we're involved with. So we come back from picking up these four Pirellis. I want to go back into the history of the Dutch Grand Prix because sadly, this is going to be the last run at Zandfort for a while. Who knows if they'll get back on the schedule. Chuck Hayes with David Gould. Follow us. VCheckered Flag. VCheckered Flag. Welcome back. Segment three, Checkered Flag report. Chuck Hayes with David Gould. And we want to thank our presenting sponsor, Chavez Realty Development Apartments Business affairs, real estate assessment. 626-440-1545, that Chavez Realty Development, 626-440-1545. Okay, this is one of the great traditional tracks out there at Zan Fort, the Netherlands, the Dutch Grand Prix. And it's going to be the last race. And this is an economic situation because from what I understand about the business of F1, this is one of the few races that is not subsidized by a nation or a city or a combination of those. This is all done with private sponsorship. We're in round 12. We're at the Dutch Grand Prix. The first time running was in 1952. This tells you the history of the sport. Jim Clark, the late Jim Clark, he won four times. 1963-1964-1965-1967. The next group of three is Sir Jackie Stewart, Nikki Lauda, they all won three and then, including Max Verstappen with three. 2021, 2022, 2023. And then the last two years, it's been a McLaren party. David Lando Norris in 2024, Oscar Piastri in 2025. We get a sprint race, 24 laps, 63 and a half miles. And then the Dutch Grand Prix goes off Sunday, 72 laps, 190.54 miles on a 2.64 mile track where it is a party, a party and another party going on.
[23:50] David Gould: Well, it's, it's, it's very interesting that you bring this up with that history. I mean, that's a real rich history. And the guys you just mentioned, any one of them could be on the Mount Rushmore of racing. I mean, that's how, you know, Jackie Stewart, Clark, all the, I mean, unbelievable, unbelievable drivers. But you bring up something very good that, that if the, if the government isn't sponsoring this thing and the other, other locations, the local and, and, and federal, whatever larger governments are, are subsidizing a lot of this stuff. And they're doing it because the revenue that it brings in through taxes, through tourism and all this other stuff. It's a very interesting examination of the structure financially of the sport. Because if, if the Dutch Grand Prix ends up not being the outlier in that sort of situations, it really makes you wonder how many of these things would survive without that sort of intervention. And, and I, you know, I hate to see something like the Dutch Grand Prix go away with that, with a history like that, with those names that you were mentioning.
[25:06] Chuck Hayes: So it's so exciting. I mean, when you look at the culture and what happens in regards to this and where people come from. And I had a, A person I know who wanted to go to the Dutch Grand Prix and he felt with airline tickets and race tickets that it was less expensive. And I know that our friends in Las Vegas are trying to eliminate that item that it's so overwhelming.
[25:33] David Gould: Yes.
[25:34] Chuck Hayes: Because it is up there in the top three.
[25:37] David Gould: Oh, yeah.
[25:37] Chuck Hayes: With Monaco.
[25:38] David Gould: And expense. Yeah.
[25:39] Chuck Hayes: In regards to expense, but I think it's number one. It could be the passion of the fans. And I love that opening shot when they're covering it on Apple TV and they have that drone shot from way above and it comes in on the, on the racetrack and you can see all the fans and their corners and, you know, really sporting their colors, celebrating.
[26:03] David Gould: Say what you want about Vegas, but when you're driving in and you're coming over the hill and you see the lights, man, and you can almost. It's almost palpable. You can feel the excitement. And this is without the race. I'm just talking about Vegas on its own. You can feel the excitement of, of you're going to a place of high,
[26:20] Chuck Hayes: high energy and high expectations. If you. Oh, yeah, because, you know, everyone knows that if you go to Vegas, the first question anyone's going to ask you, how'd you do? Did you win or what? And what'd you play? You could hoist the trophy in Vegas. It is something special, just as it is everywhere. And. And we want to again thank everyone out there who follows, follows us at Lvchecker flag at LV Checker flat on X. And I want to thank all the content creators who are out there doing Formula One. And believe me, there's so many unique viewpoints of this.
[26:57] David Gould: Yes.
[26:58] Chuck Hayes: And we're just two people that love the sport. We want the people that are within our listening area to embrace what. What is cool. Whether it's one team out of 11, it's 22 drivers, it's a kind of car, it's a number, it's a color. All the things that make Vegas great. Yeah, Formula one has that. And then also, if you want to get younger people into this, get Google Maps and do a geography. I just wish this would have been a subject. And who knows? I may go back and teach an F1 tag team with you for. For students that. That want to learn about geography through motorsports.
[27:37] David Gould: Yeah, that would be a very interesting way of traveling the world and seeing the world by going to every one of these places.
[27:44] Chuck Hayes: Have you seen my bucket list, David? Right, that's on there.
[27:48] David Gould: Funny. Funny how every. There's a race at every location, Chuck,
[27:51] Chuck Hayes: where you need to go. And again, remember, if you haven't been paying attention, it started in Melbourne on March 8, and then it went to Shanghai, China on March 15. Then it was Suzuka, Japan, on March 29. We had a little bit of a break because Bakur, Bahrain was canceled. Jeddah, Saudi Arabia was canceled. But our great friends in Miami, Round six was phenomenal. And then Montreal, Memorial Day weekend was great. And then this time of. For first time, they delayed Monaco to. After Memorial Day weekend. Then it was on to Barcelona, and then Spielberg, Austria, Silverstone and Great Britain. We just got through with SPA in Belgium, and now Budapest, Hungary, as we wait for Zanfort and the Netherlands. So as you watch this and you see this continual development of what you've seen here, doesn't all signs point now to a McLaren revival at this time of the year? It just kind of feels like for me, the energy has shifted and maybe because whatever happened last, you know, Oscar Piastri got dealt a bad hand, much like George Russell did it. Yep, he could have won. Yep, he could have won in, in. In the, in the Belgium Grand Prix. But his teammate ended up winning. He had a better car until he had that mechanical issue. Who do you feel right now. Do you feel it's Mercedes, the hunted right now? Because they're the top of the, of the pylon Ferrari. You said it. Charles and Lewis are getting it done, but McLaren has got to be feeling that maybe they've broken through. And then Isaac Hajar, is he the wild card of this? Can Isaac Hajar. And if you're. You're McLaren or you're Red Bull and you're going, okay, Max, be who you are. But I've seen the future. It's just Isaac Hajar. Is he the guy to battle Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri?
[29:57] David Gould: Well, it's possible. I think what you're setting up is a situation where you have the. It's almost like a hunter and a predator. Now, these guys at the top, as well as they're doing. They're the prey. They're the predators or they're the prey, rather. And the predators are everyone who's trying to get them, which would be guys like Haar and Verstappen is close enough to get in there and capable of anything. You know, Piastri, I think Will. Will show since, since it looks like McLaren may have their act together. And that's what, see, that's what the next couple of races is going to show. That's one thing winning a race and then you're an outlier. I mean, when, when Kimmy started winning the first couple of races, he was still in that, that those were considered outliers in my mind because he was so young and it was so new. But then, now the guy's won six, seven races. It's no longer, it's no longer anecdotal. It's, it's, it's a pattern. And I think that pattern is going to continue. I think that those top three, Russell, I think those top two Russell and, and Antonelli. It. I don't know if Russell's going to be able to solve these problems or, or, or Mercedes going to be. Solve these problems for him. But LeClaire is on the, is on the, is on the rise. Norris is on the rise. Verstappen is right in there. So it's going to be the, the Hunter and the Hunted.
[31:22] Chuck Hayes: I think it's this time of the season where this vacation, next couple weeks is maybe a good time to go out and watch the Netflix series again from last year. Yeah, that was, it was airing this year from last year's Races. Watch the Brad Pitt vehicle F1 the movie, and then go back and watch Rush, the Ron Howard movie about Niki Lauda and James Hunt. And then back to the days in the 60s of the Grand Prix with James Garner in there and all those storylines to get a kind of a reference point as to where we're at. Yeah, I think there's a lot of information out there. And then you could pretty much cast right now, the hunted is Kimmy Antonelli.
[32:07] David Gould: Absolutely.
[32:07] Chuck Hayes: And where is that experience been? It's never been. He's never been that guy where he's had to hold off and this is all new territory for him.
[32:19] David Gould: Right.
[32:20] Chuck Hayes: And you have the best in the world watching him. And he has a target on that beautiful silver Mercedes.
[32:29] David Gould: Oh, yeah.
[32:30] Chuck Hayes: And they're coming after him, including his own teammate.
[32:32] David Gould: Absolutely. And, and that's what makes it interesting. You know, and I've said this before, you don't. You're not a real driver until you've, till you've experienced defeat, until you've experienced problems that were necessarily unfair and knocked you out of a race, whatever, where you've been on top, you've knocked on top, and then you rise like the phoenix out of the ashes to, to live again and win again. That's the experience of real driving. And Kimmy's yet to experiencing that. And with all due respect, the guy's 19. He's, you know, he's tearing it up. But that in the end, throughout his career will be what defines him are
[33:15] Chuck Hayes: those things in the year 2026. This season will tell the tale because we saw at Monaco when he was on the podium and Lewis was on there and Max was on there, that you saw the future, the greatness of both Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen and the torch being passed, if you will. But right now, if you're Lewis Hamilton and you're sitting there 169, yeah, you got a long way to go. But it's telling season for Lewis Hamilton also. And we're going to count this down. David, we got six seconds before we go to break. We come back. Box. Box. Box. I'm sure you. Welcome back. Final segment, checkered flag report. This is Chuck Hayes with David Gould. We're talking Formula One. This is season number four show number 15, and we're having a blast. We want to thank our presenting sponsor, Chavez Realty Development Apartments Business affairs, real estate assessment. 626-4401-545-626-4401-5545 so, David, I put that up. I, I served it up to you in regards to Lewis and the break and where he's Headed in what is an interesting run with him being at second spot behind Antonelli, 219points to 169. So you've got, coming up, you've got the Netherlands, you've got Italy and then you got Spain before you get to Baku. Do you think the next three races, I put it out there hypothetically is can Hamilton make inroads on Antonelli one on one mano Emano in the next three races that we see?
[35:02] David Gould: Well, if it worked mano a mano all the time, we could have a, maybe a more specific discussion about it. But it's really about conditions too. I mean all it takes is one guy to lose and one guy not to lose to change those point standings. One guy to lose, one guy to win really changes those point standings. So it's a little bit precarious in terms of mechanics of the car, that sort of thing. So I think as long as the, as long as Mercedes keeps those, keeps the car running and running well, I think Kimmy's going to continue his run in terms of getting podiums, maybe not wins, but podiums definitely. And Hamilton is definitely on. Has momentum. He's a momentum based guy. And with what I said about Ferrari earlier and it looks like the, the culture and philosophy of the team has changed to taking more chances, listening to the drivers making adjustments and great communication between the drivers and the, and the engineers, they're, they're. It's going to be interesting to see how it plays out.
[36:17] Chuck Hayes: Follow us on X at lvchecker Flag. At lvchecker flag. And what do you say, David?
[36:22] David Gould: Well, please give us some love because we need love. So give us the likes and, and please retweet.
[36:27] Chuck Hayes: And we want to thank Coach Harvey Hyde Football Promotions of Nevada for powering the fastest hour in radio. So what I look at in regards to this is that right off the bat, whoever qualifies for that sprint race and we're going to go 24 laps, 63 and a half miles. This will be the first competition back from the break and it's co, you know, great to see a sprint race there.
[36:53] David Gould: Yeah.
[36:54] Chuck Hayes: With 63 fast miles, 24 laps to get it going. One of those that maybe you don't take as lightly. And I'm not saying they take it lightly in any other time. It's a race and they go out and they qualify to the best of the ability and then they race to the best ability. But would you want to pump your guy up? You know, they always say you can't win the race on the first lap, but you could certainly lose it.
[37:24] David Gould: Yes.
[37:24] Chuck Hayes: What would be your mindset? The. I'm going to give you this way. If you're talking to Antonelli, you're the principal in regards to the sprint race. You got you to talk to Antonelli, you to talk to Lewis, you to talk to Max. What would be your message to each three of those? I want to let you riff on that.
[37:43] David Gould: Well, first of all, Lewis or Max, you're not telling anything to because Max is too strong willed. He's going to go all out because he's, like I said, he's singular focused. It's all about winning. It's winning or nothing. And so I can see Max doing well in these sprint races, actually because the sprint races are a different set of rules, shorter, a little bit less technical nonsense. And there's a possibility he can, he can do really well in those things. Antonelli is the guy that might listen to you because Hamilton might not listen to you, but he'd never, he's not the guy who's going to tell you, hey, you know, stuff it, go pound sand. I'm going to do what I do. He's just going to kind of nod his head. He's a very agreeable guy. And Antonelli I think is a guy who would listen to the principal. But whatever, whatever he's doing, he's doing well. How many sprint races has Antonelli won? Is a good question.
[38:47] Chuck Hayes: And the way he had to deal with George Russell that last time out, that's the other part. The weird part is that not only is he competing with Max and Lewis and Charles, but his own guy, George, right. Is fighting for his life within his own organization.
[39:02] David Gould: And let's face it, when it gets down to it, we're talking about dollars and cents here. We're talking about winning and losing. It doesn't matter that it's your team partner, you want to win. And if this guy's giving you a problem and you're in the. And he's in the way, look out.
[39:15] Chuck Hayes: That's what happened the last time we heard it. What did, what did we hear? The talk on the radio. Keep it to yourself. Let's not be. You be smart about this.
[39:24] David Gould: Yeah, we'll talk about this in the garage.
[39:25] Chuck Hayes: Right. We'll deal with this later on. So this is all the cool stuff that we're again Monday morning quarterbacking, speculating on. Why. Because that's what you do when you're on vacation.
[39:35] David Gould: Yeah. We have no other choice.
[39:37] Chuck Hayes: We don't have any other numbers. We've given you everything we could from a spec standard standpoint. Again, David, a pleasure seeing you. I love the fact you came ready to play inside Dave's brain is something I really love. We're going to count this down. We're going to take the checkered flag and say, at lvcheckered flag, follow us, David, till next week.