2024 F1 Silly Season Predictions

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Everybody Uh hello everybody and welcome to the wheel sports podcast Silly Season Edition where we’re going to try and predict the Silly Season of 2024 as there is a mountain of contracts up this year um as usual if you have joined us before you will know that this will

Likewise go off the deep end as we banter with chat through every single podcast because it’s more fun um so I’m joined by a wonderful chat room as per usual on this fine Sunday I was hoping to do a stream and podcast earlier in the week but uh I’ve just been finishing

Up a a documentary which I’ll be told by the comments is not a documentary but sure that’s life um and I’m very very looking forward uh if that is indeed English to uh seeing what the chat thinks of the 2024 Silly Season predictions and we can then look back on

These in September so with that being said uh if you are listening to this uh please do leave a five star review if you’re watching this and you haven’t subscribed already then you can’t chat so jokes on you um do please leave a like if you can and uh yeah look forward

To getting some videos out in a couple of weeks as well which I haven’t done since uh November hello uh M7 har who says wheel this should be interesting uh very punny very punny love it Vincenzo Martino says hello and welcome Vincenzo how are you Ana says my favorite

Irishman very good my favorite Irishman is um um H Thomas Brown apit astronaut I’ve been very I have a very bold prediction that probably no one has Max to win the 2024 drivers Championship well I mean that’s just absolutely bunkers a bit um I’m hoping that you guys can uh hear me okay

Um I hope so because I’ve been recording for a while uh wimbo welcome wimbo friend of the channel if you haven’t subscribed to his Channel please do uh um M7 har says Perez and Mick to Alpine in 2024 you’ve heard it here first that would be amazing like a basically

Complete Alpine’s goal of being the Renford rejects of Formula 1 uh Michelle K or Michael K sorry if I’m saying that wrong hello from Amsterdam very very welcome hello from Mexico uh I’ve gone for chaos chaos says vinzo Martino um there’s a couple of comments getting deleted or restricted

Or something I don’t know if that’s yourselves or YouTube if it is YouTube I’m really sorry about that I have no control over it um sometimes it just randomly restricts stuff for literally no reason other than just to annoy people um and give me some more comments

I suppose uh wimbo formula says uh wimo Formula 1 sorry says I’m watching the ads fully Jason will get his $5 yeah skip the ads it’s fine honestly please skip the ads um do not watch the ads it’s more fun to have you here for the

Banter leel hello uh and uh leel says Hey to everyone Mick anywhere with a racing seat except in h would be good for me says apid astronaut uh Mick is off to um to W right an alpian WX SE I believe um as far as I’m

Aware um but yeah yeah we’ll see YouTube premium baby yeah I I I actually I started playing paying for YouTube premium it’s really funny actually because I use the YouTube money that I get from YouTube to pay for YouTube premium so so they’re very much getting you know they’re paying it for me

Basically which is great uh love the set behind you Bobs says Lael so for anyone listening um one of the jokes from last year that will run into this year I guess because why not is that the French government has paid me support to support Alpine because no one else will

So behind me I’ve got French Flags uh Aon and Gastly and Suits uh two uh alpen cars wine cigarettes and actually there’s the one the other background I’ve made which I’ll put on for a second which is uh full of wine cheese and cash um so yeah yeah uh can’t bear another

Red Bull season winning almost every race and uh venzo uh wimbo says good job Vincenzo with YouTube premium uh yeah honestly you know obviously not paid to say this but YouTu premium I feel is well worth the money and the reason for that is it gets rid of the ads um and

Means I can download videos to like watch on trips um and also it keeps playing so for like podcasts that are out on YouTube first we can like close the the video player lock the phone and it’ll keep playing which is great um but

The main reason for me as well is it if you get that it’s like 15 EUR I think but then I don’t have to pay for Spotify because it’s got YouTube music so I think it’s Grand push care says hey good to see you back yes uh push care so I

Will be back every week streaming now uh there will be less videos and if you want to know more about that you could have watched last week’s stream anyway um but thank you so much for being here and Danny Mah says eagerly looking forward for

W5 um I’m constantly on the move so I need it says venzo yeah exactly all right well let’s start uh with uh from the top of the grid and let’s say Red Bull um the background green screen or real yes it’s it’s it’s a green screen um it’s definitely a green screen in

Fact I’ll show you there you go that’s what it actually looks like the dead giveaway I think is the fact that my t-shirt is see-through um better than see on my nipples so isn’t it uh so we’ll start with Red Bull um but M7 hard says I

Think it’d be funny to see H get bman and por chair in cars for 2025 uh though does as for those two drivers yeah so right with Red Bull the obvious one is that Max vers stappen um is here until 2028 um so uh I mean that’s the obvious Part Max

Isn’t going anywhere unless he decides to pull a rosberg um but the question becomes Sergio Perez now as many of you know and can probably see from the fact that Perez is in the background um just above the ACT ual sized Laris doll um the the

Thing you’ll notice uh is that I’m a huge perz fan but I have absolutely lost faith in the perz train uh the wife is very much saying um that he thinks or she the wife thinks the wife is a he now apparently the wife is very much saying

That Paris will stay but I think it’s a foregone conclusion that unless he has an absolutely Bonkers start to the season he’s gone on I would not be surprised if Perez they pull a Gastly and replace him halfway through the season I’m going to say and I know it’s

Quite an unpopular opinion with most people whether it’s halfway through the season or whether it’s end of the season I think Ricardo gets back in that red bull I think it’s the obvious choice for Red Bull for the moment um not their long-term strategy but I think it is to

Put Lawson into the second team the the reason that that may not happen is because obviously Ricardo will bring a lot of money to what is likely to be Visa cash app racing Bulls um which is the Alpha Tower team from before which I I think for the rest of the season if

I’m honest guys I’m going to call Toro Roso whether you like it or not um I’m not going to call it Minard because that’s ridiculous um people arguing about that are ridiculous uh but Toro Roso I think is what I’m going to call it so the the argument against Ricardo

Going into that se is that they may keep him um in the what is has renamed Toro Roso um for financial reasons but I think the go the the the thing against that is Red Bull the main team is going to have the key say on drivers at the

End of the day I I don’t care what anyone says I think if they want a driver in there they will and they are going to want to put Lawson in one of those seats and I can see them putting Lawson in where Ricardo is now Ricardo

Into the Red Bull Give Lawson a full season either halfway through 20 24 and into 2025 or the entire 2025 season to decide on their 2026 lineup I think that makes the most sense to me so I’m going to say for 2025 and perhaps halfway through 2024 it’s going to be Max ver

Stappen and Daniel Ricardo in that seat so for anyone just joining we’re talking about the Silly Season predictions and the contracts for 2025 so the first one I’m saying is I think it’s going to be Max Stapp and Daniel Ricardo for 2025 in the Red Bull do I think that that’s the

Most beneficial in terms of performance do I think Ricardo deserves the seat more than Perez or anyone else not particularly at the moment I think he still has to prove that he can bring the old Daniel back but I think it’s the most logical solution for Red Bull to

Test out Lawson in the other seat but I’ve been saying it for a while it hasn’t happened yet so let’s see uh let’s see what the comments think and let me know who you guys think will be in Red Bull for 2025 I think it’s

Obvious Max is going to be there like I said unless he pulls a r rosberg he’s contracted till 2028 but we’ll see uh please not prair he has too much talent to be wasted at H says a bit astronaut yeah um apid astronaut also thinks Perez and albon at Williams for 2025 that

Would be an interesting one H Danny Mah says I want to see czecho come back stronger than ever also I want to see Lewis get his ninth World drivers Championship I want to see Felipe Masa get his first stiring the uh so yeah let’s see pushkar says how’s your health

Yeah my my health is actually really good so uh thanks for asking I had a bit of a a random Health scare last year it wasn’t that the actual problem was you know such a major issue it was just I think it just made me think I should

Sort myself out but I’ve managed to get myself down from a body age of 39 to 38 in the last two weeks so I’m training for a 5K and and doing all those Insidious carcinogenic health things like going to the gym that people do um but yeah I’m good I’m good I’m just

Taking it easy which is why I’ve changed the content layout for this and um sold off my businesses and some other stuff So yeah thank you appreciate that Hank welcome to the chat our resident technical genius is here which I love um Red Bull uh Vincenzo says Max and albon

And he says yes I’ve lost my mind I I would love to see um Alban back but I think it’s it’s bordering on just absolutely not happening uh wimbo says Hey hanky as well what do you think about Visa Cash Up Racing Bulls um push

Car as I said I’m going to just call it Toro Roso for the rest of the season season because first of all I I think the thing is no one is going to call it the Visa cash app F1 team or the Visa F1 team or they’re just going to call it

Racing Bulls so you know it’s not going to be like Alfa Romeo as a title sponsor where we call it Alfa Romeo um or stake F1 team which I’m also just calling saber for the year um I’m not calling it stake um so yeah anyway uh I I think the

Name is terrible but they’re literally casha apping in so let’s see uh a astronaut says 2024 RB Max and Perez Toro Roso Yuki and Ricardo 2025 uh will be Max and Ricardo Yuki and Liam yeah agreed on that 2026 will be Max and whoever Toro Liam and iasa Yuki going to

Aston Martin says 8 bit astronaut Ana I think agrees with uh Ricardo and Max for next year hulkenberg and Aon at sber for 2025 says M7 har I that would be I don’t know how I feel about that actually it would be quite good but I

Don’t see it happening album back to Red Bull Perez T says Michelle k um and I hope again I’m pronouncing that right if Ricardo gets beaten by sonoda doesn’t he doesn’t get the promotion he can just earn money for Visa I think that’s a fair assessment Han yeah if he does um I

Think the interesting part will be if Coda beats Ricardo for the rest of the year and it doesn’t happen the question for me is going to be where does coda go because I think um it’s pretty clear that red bull Isn’t interested in bringing um sonoda up to the big team so

It’ll be interesting to Rosa and saber all day long says Danny and knock going to call all that kick and Visa shite fair enough yeah so I think um I think we’ll I guess we probably won’t know then until July but let let’s see what

Happens with Red Bull but I can’t I love I you know I’m I love perz I’m a huge perz fan I just can’t say after the last couple year is where he has these big dips mid-season I can’t see Red Bull keeping him because while it probably

Won’t matter in 2024 unless the other teams catch up massively uh over the off season 2025 and 2026 it certainly will matter who is in that second seat for the constructors at least um so I think it’s important let’s move on to Ferrari because Ferrari um both of their drivers

Have contracts up in 2024 now I think lur sticks around and it has been reported that lur has been offered a massive uh contract Pro to the end of 2029 um which is insane but I think I would agree and say l clur is staying science is the obvious one to say

Where’s he going to where’s he going to go um and I’ll give my opinion in a minute but let’s catch up on the chat um I think we’ll hear the announcers use the Visa cash app name due to Visa complaining about not getting their money money’s worth meme content for the

Win says Ana I love it h a bit astronaut says I would love to see sonoda have another huge step up in performance like he did in 2023 yeah me too uh Gardener family travels says uh Yuki ultimately to Aston Honda I think that makes sense because I I’m starting to get the

Feeling that even if Lan stroll gives up on his F1 Journey that um he will like Lauren stroll will keep the team because there’s just so much invested in it so I can see it’s still being asked in the Honda deal will go ahead and like even

Though again Honda doesn’t have the same say that they do in Alpha ter I could see them kind of saying well let’s give sonoda a try for 25 or 26 um so yeah I could see that happening um I think personally uh Lan stroll is we’ll get to

Actually we’ll get to Aston in a bit but yeah um L goes to pay tennis gastley takes a seat at Aston says M7 heart I think Red Bull is keeping all option options open the decisions aren’t made but will be based on this year’s result says wimbo I think it’s a fair one

Hopefully we see Perez go through the whole season um but I think if he has any way a drop off like he did last year I could see them dropping that throughout the season venzo says Ferrari lur and botas oh that would be interesting um a ason says lur and SS or

L clur and albon wheel sports virgin here howy Lads grading from County down up the north there new there you uh sorry that that wasn’t even a good accent sorry about I I apologize for that but uh free the six uh Patty BR FC welcome to the chat man uh Hank says L

Clur is waiting on performance uh Menace F1 the goat or Menace one the goat says uh Toto said MC found 2.5 seconds you think that’s enough to win the championship for 2024 I’ll chat I’ll chat about that in uh in the Mercedes section after we finish

With for Ari 8bit astronaut says I hope both for him and Aston Martin that Lance or I hope for for him and Aston Martin that Lance steps over to their wec campaign where they launch albon to Ferrari sorry signs so my prediction for Ferrari was either either

Alon or who else did I think God damn it I had a a good idea here it was e sorry yeah it was either alabon or they keep saints Saints even sign Saint um the reason I say that is I think that albon is probably slightly outgrowing Williams

And I wonder whether Williams can you know pick up the pace I also think that Alan back to a top team would be a a good way for Ferrari to kind of stamp their approval I think that Ferrari has always been a team of number ones and

Number twos and I think that when the car is still in development and floating back and forth science is very very good and we saw that but L clur definitely has higher Peaks and when the car is right lur is very very good so I think personally they could bring an albon in

Because science basically it it could be too much of a a problematic management for them now the only thing that tells me that that might not be the case anymore is that I don’t think Fred vur personally works that way as such I think he’s more logically

Minded that where the team is he’d like to have just two strong drivers and that would be a good case to keep science but I think this could be the year where science decides that okay well my choice is here especially because he’s he’s getting on to I know he’s still young

But the later part of his F1 career if you want if he doesn’t kind of make a jump up now he probably does have some sort of semblance of thinking that this team is the lur team and you know while he could sa Ferrari and try and prove

That they will very much continue to develop the car towards L clur to as as much as they’re able to do that because we’ve talked about this before um but yeah so science could make the make or break deal of saying well let’s take the huge gamble on Audi which is saber now

Go there for 2025 embed himself as the team leader um and be alongside maybe someone young or they could keep Joe for the cash and for out east Chinese market um so albon would be a great one there because they could definitely imprint albon as the number two the Williams

Drive shows he’s good he was you know while he had his problems at Red Bull he did have some great weekends in what we know was a very very difficult car um so I think we could see and I’ll put my prediction down actually screw it let’s

Go for it it’s probably going to be wrong but I’m going to say l clur and albon for 2025 in Ferrari um so let’s see uh man city are the world champions um I I haven’t followed football in a long time but man city are my favorite team TJ and uh I’ve

Gone there and like trained with the team years ago which was an interesting uh day obviously it wasn’t proper training there was like an event on we got to meet them it was cool um that was back in like 2015 uh you know I have zero predictions for this year says leel

I’m leaving it all to you on faith fair enough um wimbo says read today that Carlos science senior has spoken with Audi about Carlos science Jr I would be surprised Elite says that thumbnail is crazy thanks um Pablo traversy says SS to Audi 5050 that’s where I’m at and that’s why

I think I just want to go the less boring route because it kind of shakes up the field a bit more and say science leaves and Alon switches in um Audi relationship is really big I think that even science Junior stays at barari for 2026 he ‘ll be at Audi for 2027 says

8bit in intronaut astronaut even and uh SS and bman at at saber says Vincenzo okay so let’s talk about Mercedes um I think personally the simple fact is yes they’re both contracted till the end of 2025 um I’ve thought about this quite a bit and I think that the thing with

Lewis is that Lewis is gambling quite a lot of his post F1 career on backing from Mercedes and while you could say that if they have a really shitty year this year again and they end up miles behind or even dropping further back you could say that he decides to do uh an

Early retirement but I think that he’s got such a a massive amount of money first of all and he wants the backing from Mercedes later on and he seems to me like as as much as you could you know you could argue different things I suppose about different drivers

Including I know that put it this way the thoughts on Hamilton are quite divisive but like he comes across as a nice genuine guy um as in all of his interviews and I think he’s the type of guy that will keep his word on this so I

I think he’ll stick around till the end of 2025 George is staying there so I reckon that that team stays the same I could see Hamilton retiring at the end of 2025 I personally think he should have retired at the end of 2023 because I don’t believe that Mercedes is

Going to make it jump in fact I I’ve lost faith in Mercedes like as you guys know for the last two years I’ve been I’ve been pretty big on the benefit of the doubt that Mercedes will be the ones to fight Red Bull I think they’re going

To drop back further this year I reckon Mercedes could end up being fourth or fifth in the constructors this year um depending on you know how well L stroll does basically between the fourth and fifth if that makes sense um but I think the contracts probably stay the same um

For this year um yeah so let’s see what it everyone thinks sence Jor was uh at the finish of the daaka rally which science senior science Jor was at the finish of the daa rally which s senior uh one says Hank and still I don’t believe SS to Audi because of his age

That’s fair enough says uh Hank and uh Lewis quits after 2026 uh doesn’t pan out that that will be another one C because I suppose if he sticks around till 2025 the end of 2025 then maybe you know he could easily get a year contract I suppose with the

Team because he’s he’s such a big marketable asset anyway so I think 2026 um to see what the engine project is like uh probably makes sense my concern is that every year from after 2022 if they continually get worse he’s just kind of diluting his legacy which

We’ve seen with so many drivers I guess it doesn’t really matter in the long term because most of us when we think of schumacker think of his epic times we don’t really think of him floundering about in the Mercedes so yeah we’ll see but uh that’s what I

Think I think Mercedes sticks with the same lineup for this season anyway um if Lewis retires after 2024 I think it’ll be Russell and Aon at MC in 2025 says apid ashon I reckon they’ll get a junior in um like a real Junior Antonelli or

You know try and get someone from F2 or someone who’s just been in F1 for a year or two up because I think at that point they want two strong drivers but they probably want Russell number one and someone else number two I I reckon that

Would be the case if MC no good in 2024 says Michelle um Toto or Lewis will go I think Lewis will stick around till 2025 and I Toto signed a three-year deal um with the team and remember Toto owns like uh Toto does own I think 33% of the

Team right he owns like a massive stake of the team if I’m not mistaken and um so I could be wrong there maybe it’s less but I know he owns a decent share of the team so I think given that Toto signed a three-year deal for 24 25 and

26 I think Toto stays until the end of 2026 for the simple reason that even if they do a really bad job for from a a share point of view the worth of the team would go down if Toto left because it would look like he’s abandoning ship

So I I don’t see him it’s a same reason I think laurren stroll would stick around until there’s you know until the team is doing really well and he could say kind of say I’m I’m now handing it over to a capable team you know um because the share price would drop so

Much in Aston Martin Mercedes would be hit total a signed so I don’t think he’s going anywhere if I’m honest but we’ll see um two tall fellas says wimbo uh Aon or Antonelli I I just don’t think aon’s getting a chance in that team I think he

Was overlooked for botas and I think that’s just that’s just where it is uh paty po FC says Lewis will try to work his way into Ferrari if Mercedes don’t get their [ __ ] together this season he’s bursting to get the eight title hopefully Ferrari have more sense um I

Thought about this before and I think Lewis to Ferrari like I think Lewis to Ferrari would make sense for 2026 but then the same time does Lewis say he jumps for for 2025 could make sense so if Mercedes have a really bad season and Ferrari is closer to them

That then he would do it the problem there and I I’ve thought about this quite a bit because I think it would be an epic thing to watch um there’s a couple of problems on the part of Ferrari you have the problem that it’s a huge contract he’s probably going to

Want his $50 million a year or whatever it is it’s crazy number and I don’t know if Ferrari would be willing to pay that because you know the old driving for Ferrari is about driving for Ferrari you know Ferrari is bigger than you um and then the other side of it is again

Like I said Lewis with the contracts um that he has with Mercedes for outside stuff so I I just don’t know if um I just don’t know if he’d go to Ferrari I would love to see him at Ferrari I think it would be very

Interesting um but I I just don’t see um I just don’t see that happening uh antie uh let’s see I believe it’s 33% or so says Tyler yeah I think so Hank says antonell Direct at the Mercedes team nah uh probably not Hank maybe in 26 27 I

Think he’ll get a a go in in another car before then I think I think uh Toto will make sure of that maybe the Williams uh Menace uh W the goat says Lewis will only retire when his teammate is faster George is not faster I I disagree in

Some way I think that George is very close to Lewis and I think that we have seen between 22 23 and then yeah between 22 and 23 there has been various points at which George is faster than Lewis and at which Lewis is faster than George since the Monaco upgrade George didn’t

Suit that car um but you could say at certain points Lewis didn’t suit that car either George at the start of the Season before the upgrade was performing very very well so I think recency bias says George is not that quick but the difference is is that I think Lewis is

At the end of his career Lewis’s Peak for me was 2018 spectacular I think since then you know he’s dropped off now this is the point of this that I want to just get across here all of these people drop off to some extent um all of these

Athletes drop off to some extent the Lewis even at a dropped off level is massively massively performing still like at a a huge level I still think he’s performing incredibly but he’s not at his Peak and I think George hasn’t reached his Peak yet either so I think

George will start outperforming Lewis at some point I think it’s just inevitable um when it happens is the question though but that’s just my opinion um from watching just you know from watching F1 a long time it’s just what happens you get these drivers that are incredible

And then they start to drop off whether it be that they can no longer climatized to the car age it just happens um Alonzo is a bit of an outlier but Alonzo is a weird one I but Alonzo definitely isn’t driving at his Peak I think Alonzo’s

Peak 2012 um you know I I think that season was incredible um there’s no way of accurately predicting uh the 2024 Silly Season it’s going to be like H it’s going to like half the grid with a new driver in 2025 says Eddie 100% we’ve

Got a lot of contracts to go through so I’ll move on quickly in a minute um it’s all a bit of fun isn’t it says wimbo uh imagine if every driver with an outgoing contract just gets replaced by the F2 drivers says a bit that would be

Incredible so uh next up um is uh let me see I’ve got my list isn’t in any real order here so I’ll just go with it is Alpine we’ve got Aon and gastley um and both Aon and Gastly at Aline are uh they had their contracts up um at the end of

This year so I’m going to go out on a leg and say Gastly signs until 2026 um I think Gastly outperforms o on this season um so that’s what I’m going to say I’m going to say Gastly stays the problem is the more I think about this the more I’m not sure where

Aon goes um so I’ve thought about this a bit and I’m trying to think of where he goes but I could see Aon leaving but I’m not sure where I I think the problem I have is Aon either goes to h or Williams or retire or or doesn’t get a

Seat because there’s nowhere else for him to go really apart from maybe saber for a year so yeah what I’m going to say is uh Aon leaves and is replaced by Sergio Perez so we’ve got Perez and gastley at the Alpine Works team for 2025 that’s my prediction and I’m

Sticking with it does it make sense no I’m sticking with it uh can Red Bull hold on to newie will someone else try to poach him for 2026 uh no I think newie stays at Red Bull now until he retires he’s getting on he’s in his 60s right

Um I think he sticks around for you know the 2026 regs probably retires after that I can’t see newie uh going to anywhere else uh Patrick says Aon and Gastly will swap seats I love it Aon is not staying at Alpine lavs makes a good point of him going to H that could

Happen as well um I’ll get to that in a bit but I’m going to say for the moment before um I’m going to say Perez and gastley at Alpine becomes proper Red Bull rejects uh Perez is the experienced hand albon is the or gastley is the younger

One and they basically make a big push that they’re going to get huge Investments and so on and use it to pump up the price of the team and uh and sell it um his aggressive driving St goes very good with the H Team says eight bit

Ash before I think he hon could go to Hass or Williams and I’m going to ponder on it honder on it until I get to one of them um because as you may have imagined I haven’t actually thought about this yet I’ve just thinking about all this on

The spot um as and Jo do on says venzo Pierre and Daniel Ricardo Aston Martin Fernando and Perez wow that would be cool um Hulk and Kimmy Antonelli go to Williams the only thing I can see newie doing outside of F1 is design more Road and track cars with Aston Martin um so

That that that wouldn’t surprise me a bit and Hank says new 65 now okay and fit he will die at work tinkering yeah like I don’t mean in terms of a fitness level either I think he’s you know he’s still easily capable of of working into

His 70s my point is I think this is the tail end of his career to the point where I don’t see him going um you know and and taking up the mantle anywhere else um for another team also because he’d he’d almost definitely have to take

A long gardening leave of at least a year so um you know would it be worth it he gets a lot he basically has all of the freedom he wants at Red Bull um he’s got his own Red Bull Technologies arms basically arm that he can work on and S

To bman at uh sber says venzo Martini Martino sorry wanting I haven’t I’ve been off the drink since January 1 um and I’m going to go till February 17th so I’m just craving a martini now um let’s go to McLaren and this is going to be a quick

One um because while I thought there was a chance that Norris could bail out uh early on get bought out early on his contract or go somewhere else but more I thought about this piastri obviously is signed until 20 26 so that’s fine Norris has a contract until the end of 2025 and

I firmly believe that Norris will at least sign a contract until the end of 2026 potentially the end of 2027 the reason I say that is it wouldn’t be worth the risk of um it wouldn’t be worth the risk of Norris going anywhere else at the moment because realistically the only way up

For Norris anywhere else is to go to Red buol there’s two down downsides to that first is that he would have to compete with verstappen and I don’t think NS is doing that at at uh verstappen’s Team first of all I rate Norris extremely highly but I don’t think he’s beaten ver

Stappen at his own team maybe in a different car in the right circumstances perhaps um but the bigger reason is the fact that it would be such a risk because not only would he have to take on versen there is the chance that in the 2026 red uh RS Red Bull get the

Engine wrong and drop back and my Claren could be in a good position there because they’ll have the Mercedes engine and Mercedes could do a really good job so I think that Nara sticks around till the end of 2026 with McLaren and sees how that plans out and then makes a jump

Um hopefully it doesn’t ruin his career but that’s what I think McLaren will be Norris and piastri for as long as Stella and Zack Brown can do their or can work their magic I think that’s right says ape new has all the freedom he wants indeed he is the longest working at Red

Bull right now yeah so um I think that that’s that’s the simple fact that um you know newie he he’s literally been given full command essentially of Red Bull Technologies to work on kind of whatever other projects He wants uh with Red Bull cash so I don’t see him going

Anywhere it just wouldn’t make sense like unless unless Ferrari call him up and he decides but even then like it just I don’t think he’d go there I just don’t think so I think if he wanted to go Ferrari he would have done it a long

Time ago so I just can’t see it anywhere Pat says who will drive for Visa cash app MasterCard American Express Euro card Maestro card um oh for for 2025 I think it’s going to be uh sonoda and um and Liam and actually there you go I

Don’t need to cover that now uh so not you know I’ll just cover that really quickly so uh Visa cash app racing Bulls Toro Russo alpat ter minardi I think will be Yuki soda and Liam Lawson I think they’re uh going to keep Yuki Coda until the end of 2025 because Honda are

Still paying for it unless no yes maybe no hang on a minute no no no no no sorry I’ve got this wrong Alpha Terry I have to do Aston Martin first so I’ll do that my predictions for alfha Aston Martin is at the moment we’ve got

Fernando Alonzo till the end of 2024 and we’ve got Lan stroll until the end of 2024 now I have confirmed that uh with contacts and so on that Fernando Alonzo did in fact get a two plus one contract so he’s got this year and a plus one for

Next year so basically he has an option to renew for next year Fernando Alonzo is the person who is able to execute that option so it’s up to him and I don’t think there’s anywhere else that Fernando Alonzo could go unless Red Bull for absolute shits and giggles decide to

Give him a spot so I think he’s staying at Aston Martin um and therefore it’s going to be Alonzo in that seat alongside Yuki sonoda now the reason I say that is is Honda are paying for Yuki sonoda to be in the Red Bull at the

Moment they are not going to pay Astin Martin for Alonzo or sorry they are not going to pay Aston Martin and Aston Martin aren’t accepting money for the Honda engine in the back so Honda don’t have a say in the Aston Martin seat but I think that Aston Martin would listen

To Honda and I think that sonoda could be the right type of driver to be in that seat alongside Alonzo say before they decide where they’re going after that question becomes where does land stroll go then the obvious answer to that for me is L stroll heads

Off um to the W team that Daddy has bought from him I think that unless Alonzo goes for 2026 so basically the way I see this working is he says Lance son you’ve done great you’ve done everything you have needed to do and

What I am going to do for you now son is to build you the biggest and best W car so essentially Aston Martin is entering W for 2025 with a basically newe designed car they can pump tons and tons of cash into it give them everything he

Needs put him in that wet car Lance goes off for a year wins The W championship and then they see how Yuki Coda drives in that car and either for 2026 Lance comes back in Yuki seat or if Alonzo doesn’t stick around he goes away or Lance just enjoys wack and does some

Other stuff like Indie Car whatever um but I think Lance goes at the end of 2024 for at least a year and we get Alonzo and Yuki sonoda because it would be a good bow to Honda to say look work as hard as you can there’s your Japanese

Driver um so I think in alpat tery then we get I wasasa and we get um uh Liam Lawson we could get a big named old star like vettle comes back to Toro Roso um just because of the Visa cash out money but I doubt it I think it’s still going

To be the junior team so that’s what I think of alfat and uh Aston Martin there you go two for one uh Norris was four years long a talent and now gets hunted down by a rookie says Hank yeah it’s going to be really interesting to see piastri and naris fight this year

Because I think pastri was pretty much up to Pace immediately pastry’s biggest downfall in 2023 was getting on top of the tires which is kind of expected from any rookie now because they don’t get the unlimited mileage testing like they did before so I think it’s going to be

Interesting I still have a lot of faith in noris um but I think P could be right on him and Hank also says that stroll Junior to W indeed and Ferrari already called on newie and he declined which I think yeah I think that’s accurate apit

Asut says I think forward RBT rbpt will do pretty good with the 2026 engine RS I think that’s that’s fair um it’s just it’s an unknown and I think if if I was Norris I’d be thinking well they could get it wrong so is it worth going there and getting destroyed by verstappen

While I acclimatized the car and then go into 2026 and we get the engine wrong and Mclaren has a Mercedes and is somehow fighting with the works team of Mercedes for a title and I’ve just thrown that away you know so I don’t know if he’d do that so we’ll see

Um but yeah oops sorry we go um ason will allow Alonzo to stay for as long as he wants in F1 I think that’s true as well I think Alonzo will cling on to the idea of getting a seat for 2026 because if like if you’re Alonzo and you’re

Still driving the way he is like Alonzo’s been driving just absolutely incredibly so if he’s seen the work that this team has done now we’re getting brand new regulations in 2026 you can imagine that for 2025 Aston is going to basically switch off development and focus all of their energy on on that

2026 uh Works project if Alonzo can grasp on to a season where there is a a maybe it’s a chance in hell but there is a chance that Honda get all of the engine perfect Dan uh sorry Dan Fallows a better to sneeze so apologies when it

Comes Dan Fallows gets the uh the chassis perfect and they have a dominant car for the 20126 season I think Alonzo sticks around just to see if that happens and then if it doesn’t happen retires and I think think that for Aston Martin Alonzo is a huge Boon in terms of

Marketing anyway so why not so I I think Alonzo I I I personally I guess it’s hopium because I want to see it happen but I Hope Alonzo sticks around for 2026 because if he leaves at the end of 2025 and then they get a dominant car it

Would be such a shame because imagine him in a title fight 20 years on from his last title it would be incredible so we’ll see uh every new engine is an unknown uh though uh says Hank yeah and that’s my point I think like it doesn’t

Matter for for Norris it’s like he’s in a team that’s currently the probably predicted as like the second fastest for this year I still think ason will come out of the blocks Ferrari or there I don’t think it’ll be Mercedes but my point is like does he go with Red Bull

And and fingers crossed he can fight for stoping fingers crossed he can you know what I mean it’s just I think he’s better off sticking until the end of 20 26 then going but you’re right like everything’s an unknown it’ll just be interesting to see I think it’s a bigger

Risk going than staying with McLaren at the moment for him um if Alonzo or if Aston does good with the rag changes then Alonzo will stay says a I really hope so I I like I think Alonzo is is one of the biggest reasons to watch F1

At the moment um I love them I love them um and Alonzo drives for the love of racing says hey there’s a sneeze on the tip of my nose it’s really annoying um what are the FIA rules on allowing rookies to test older F1 cars on tracks

That are not on the calendar I think they’re they’re allowed to drive or they’re allowed to test in cars any older than three years is it it’s two years or three years so the problem with that is they’re only going to be able to test in I think it’s threeyear old cars

So I think in 2024 they’re able to test in the 2021 cars I think I could be wrong there but I think so and I think they’re allowed to test as much as they want sorry Hank just pointed out so the cars have to be two seasons old so that

Would mean right this year that um at the end is that does that mean then Hank Hank you You’re great on this stuff so Hank does that mean that in 2024 rookies could test the 2022 cars or the 2021 cars like is it two seasons you know what I mean like two

Seasons old is 2022 or does it mean like two complete season I’m just trying to think yeah I think it would be 2022 then right so that would be good they could test those cars um they can test the ground oh okay so sorry whim has already confirmed this

They can test the ground effect cars now two years old minimum okay so that that makes sense um what are the oh sorry and Alonzo will retire after this season he’s done few more podiums nah I don’t think so whim um he’s got a plus one on

His contract I I can’t see I I think he’ll stick around for 2025 the question for me is 202 because I think Alonzo like he’s got that plus one which he can initiate so he’s getting like 20 plus million a year I think so why not stick

Around for 2025 grab that 20 million cash and just walk away with it you know yeah thanks whim sorry I didn’t see your message uh until afterwards apologies about that um okay so what teams do we got left um so yeah alfha Romeo Alfa Romeo is an interesting

One because it’s sorry it’s sorry saber is an interesting one it’s not the stake F1 team so botas is there until the end of 2025 and Joe guu is the one whose contract is up at the end of the year I would have said I would have said that Joe guu is

Gone at the end of this year I think personally what they do is they get signs in for 2025 albon goes to Ferrari SS goes in and they buy out bass’s contract this is what I’m thinking now you should say Joe but Joe is bringing

In I believe and I could be way off here around 30 million to the team and I would have said that Joe is the one replaced but the fact that they’ve brought in stake tells me that they’re just bringing cash in at the moment for some reason and that Audi isn’t you know

Willing to kind of put more investment other than the buyout um until their badges on the car basically so I think they keep Joe for the money they bring SS in and use some of the Joe money to offset that and the botas biyo I don’t think would be

Massive so I reckon it’s going to be SS and guu Joe for 2025 and I I wouldn’t be surprised if the new Audi board pushes to keep Joe on board for 2026 and I have a reason for that the reason is simply that Audi is a huge

Player in the Chinese market for their cars and I think by having a Chinese driver in the Audi it’s a huge Boon and I’m worried that the new Audi leadership basically is more concerned about balancing the books which I guess they always are but you know what I mean

They’re they’re more concerned about pushing sales in China than they are about having a strong lineup so I think botas goes I think botas hasn’t really brought anything to the team and I think science could do that in reality what I think they should do for 2026 is Bring

Back carlando sign and Norris in that se but I don’t think it’ll happen so I’m gonna say SS and Guan newj Jo in the saber for 2025 I know botas is a contract till the end of 2025 but I think they could buy out a one-year contract pretty easily so that’s why I’m

Going to say it’s a ridiculous one it’s never going to happen uh but yeah um want a bet says wimbo sure uh let’s come up with a a stake on this later um if Alonzo does retire I can only see drugovich replacing him I don’t know I I

I don’t know if they’ll put drugovich in there but yeah they could do it but I just don’t know uh botas on p uh and P chair uh schumacker or hulkenberg says uh a bit for saber in 2025 um Bas and porer porer should be in

There like he should be in there um for saber uh he’s a saber yum driver he is yeah he’s a saber y driver he’s obviously talented but I just I I don’t know I that like it should be signs and prair or Bas and prair something like

That but I’ve got this weird feeling that until out actually takes over the team fully in 2026 it’s just because they took the stake branding and they shouldn’t have needed that like Audi should have been putting enough money in that it should have just been s an untainted team you know

Because there’s no other reason than just a cash grab to put stake on the car and it just it feels to me like sber is just trying to grab as much cash as possible on the exit if that makes sense or that they have to because they need

To upgrade henville and Ali is not willing to put money into that part I think they keep Joe for that money I think poror chair should be there um Stephen says uh yeah I think Honda is more likely to get 2026 right than uh Red Power Trains not only have the

Hybrid component always appeal to them but that has been a Major Tool in achieving prity with their other engine builders I think that’s fair uh H say science brings a lot of development Direct guidance as well that is absolutely true and I can see saber or

At least Audi pushing for that I think Alonzo is in a good place and I don’t think he’s ready to hang up the gloves yet says Steven I don’t think so either I think he stays there so now we have Williams and H so both of which have both of their

Drivers out of contract at the end of the season now I’ll start with Williams because I’ve already said that albon go goes to um albon heads off to Ferrari the question then becomes what does Williams do now Williams has confirmed that they are keeping the Mercedes engine by the end of the year

They’re getting a lot of investment from darlton but I could also see them looking at some ways to gain some money that could be offset from the engine or so on into capex and and that kind of thing so I think 2025 is very much going

To be a DE Vel mment year for Williams and I could see them scooping up botas um as a development driver is that the right decision maybe not but James vals has worked with him he knows he’ll fall in line uh you know uh valter it’s

James so I could see botas and Kimmy Antonelli being in Williams for 2025 Logan sent I think we’ll have to see how this years goes but I think it’ll be Kimmy and botas a proper Mercedes lineup to gain favor for 2025 um on James wells’s part he I’m probably miles wrong on this

Because James vs has kind of very much knocked out to Mercedes or Toto in any way so far but I think it could be an easy solution for him in order to just allow them to focus fully on 2026 get some backing from Mercedes ease off on

Dorlon I think that could be the way it goes I think it’s going to be um Bas and yeah bartas and Kimmy Antonelli and Williams for 2025 I’m going there I think it will be we’ll see um Stephen says Alonzo is nowhere near defeated and he has been

With Honda McLaren that makes sense that also makes sense I wonder how Honda is going to feel about having the gp2 engine man back in but in saying that the Japanese are very much okay with uh people insulting their engines when they’re accurate aren’t uh Japanese culture is very much like okay you’re

Right this is [ __ ] let’s fix it uh sber puts in effort in financial stability for the event Audi pulls out it says Hank that’s a fair point I mean it does like them taking on stake would be a red flag that perhaps they are concerned that the Audi thing won’t come off now

Audi has already as of this point put in I believe $300 million so you’d assume that they won’t pull out but I mean you know they could sell off that 50% stake that they’ll have this year for 300 million to and ready say pretty quickly I suppose so I suppose

They’re they’re probably not too worried about that eight bit astronaut says Williams in 2025 is Alon and Perez or Alon and sergeant if he has a big enough Step Up in performance that’s a fair one has will be bman and hulkenberg or bman and Aon depending on what hulkenberg

Does says a ason BS doesn’t pass on a clearly talented driver with pay or uh pay on top I think that’s fair says Hank um so yeah I think Kimmy Antonelli could be a good idea for Williams uh is is why I’m saying that I’m guessing that’s what

You think as well um damn I never thought of that botas William makes too much sense not to happen the only reason I think botas Williams doesn’t make sense is I believe that botas turned down Williams before going to um Alpa Romeo now that’s because Williams has made been there before but Williams

Working with James botas on you know botas and Williams working together on an open up with James and getting and botas getting a guarantee that he’s there for 26 27 maybe a long contract because James vs could easily say look we want you to help us develop the team

We’ll give you a contract till 2027 get it on a discounted rate but he has has some security there I think it makes sense um whether it’ll happen or not I don’t know because Bas might not want to go backwards but I don’t if he doesn’t have any other options like if it’s

Williams or H I think B has pick Williams right obviously so that’s what I think anyway um but yeah we’ll see um and then for H I think H renew the contract through to 2026 for niik hulkenberg I think that’s an obvious choice and I think then the the decision

Becomes Magnus or Aon you I’m not sure hulkenberg will be delighted to be back in with Aon again but regardless I think that I think the thing is H is all about now the decision of Gan Hass in terms of financing so the real real question I

Think then becomes who can he get cheaper Aon or Magnuson and I think uh that at that point then Aon who basically has the option of take a cheaper contract than Magnuson or leave F1 could go give me the H deal and I’ll take it but then you know it could become

Literally whereas I think km mag’s left before and I think he probably would be up for leaving again I don’t know I don’t know but I think hulkenberg has cemented himself as the team leader there or the one who you’re going to keep I think you know you don’t need

Hulkenberg and Magnuson but I don’t think H wants young drivers either uh I don’t think Jean H will bet on that again I hope H leaves the Grid at the end of this year to be honest but you know doesn’t seem like Jee H is going to go

There uh I’m I’m going to say hulkenberg and Aon um in h for 2025 but it’s it’s a tossup I mean it’s a it’s you know Beggars can’t be choosers deal so that’s what I think so yeah I think Alban Williams with uh that team improving is the best place

For him a Podium for album would be massive um says wimbo I think that’s fair and Hanks says uh B seems happy cycling so yeah I mean like either of those things could happen um Alban could stay at Williams Williams could could you know keep them around but uh I think

If if albon gets offered um a Ferrari Drive I think he’s jumping on it you know regardless so we’ll see but whether albon gets offer a Ferrari Drive is is the other question you know um no extra money for H says HK exactly and and

That’s why I could see I could see Gan H basically saying to Aon look Magnuson is accepting let’s just whatever the figures are like you know magnuson’s offer is three million a year we’ll give you two take it or leave it and I can see Aon just going well it’s that or no

Job so give me two I’ll take it you know um 8 bit says has to be sold to andred is my hope yeah I would love that but unfortunately it seems like Jean H is unwilling to S sell to andred so I just don’t don’t see it happening um

Fortunately like I think andred already offered like 650 million to H I think was the the number something crazy like that and he decided not to go with it so yeah interesting one let’s see what happens but those are my predictions uh I don’t think I’ve missed any team have

I uh no um so yeah those are my predictions um I will have another podcast on either Monday or Tuesday um I’m just waiting for a confirmation because I’ve got a uh um exciting news of a a streaming or contracts with streaming services um so I’ve got calls either all day Monday or

All day Tuesday so once I get that locked down tomorrow morning I will um sorry I will log in a stream um and ready with two team sber and H that would be great Hank uh so yeah I’m going to leave it there but thank you all so

Much for um so much for joining and watching and I will see you for a live stream um oh sorry uh Jud deil says um can you do a full grid again for those of you who are late or recap sure so what I’ve got is in Red Bull I’ve got

Max fraen and Daniel Ricardo Ferrari is L clur and albon uh George Russell and Hamilton stay at Mercedes in Al Alpine I said Perez and gastley can if you can believe it uh McLaren I said Norris And Pastry so that stays the same saber I

Said uh s and Guan Joo um Aston Martin I said Alonzo and sonoda H was hulkenberg and okon um alpat Terry was um Liam Lawson and Aya Wasa and Williams was botas and uh oh who did I put second oh Kimmy Antonelli so thank you so much

Much guys uh I appreciate you being here um who do you have at H I’ve written it all down but I got a call um so at h i put uh Aon and hulkenberg thank you so much guys um I will see you either tomorrow or Tuesday for another stream

And I will be doing a full uh live stream watch along of testing in February as well I’ve decided I’m going to do the same as last year and literally just live stream for the entire thing um so there going to be live streams every week and I have got

Some video cont content for February lined up the videos are going to be very different but I hope you enjoy them thank you guys see you next