March 28, 2025 • 20 mins
On Sports Fix with Jason Pine and D'Arcy Waldegrave for 28th March 2025, Liam Lawson has been demoted after just 2 races for Red Bull. He'll be racing for Racing Bulls in the Japanese Grand Prix. Kiwi rally star Hayden Paddon joins the podcast to discuss the murky world of racing politics, and what this could mean for Lawson.
Piney berates Red Bull for the treatment of Liam Lawson.
And the lads are in the chamber to preview the sports weekend.
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Speaker 1 (00:09):
You're listening to a podcast from News Talks ed B
follow this and our wide range of podcasts now on iHeartRadio.
This is Sportsfix Howard by News Talk SAT.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
BE Hello there and welcome to the back end of
your working week, the start or start ish of the
working week. For me, I'm Jason pine on March twenty eight.
Where would you categorize yourself, Darcy, in terms of your
working WEEKI is seventy percent through.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
It never stops Piney. And I say that because part
of our roles is to not only talk on the wireless,
but it's to watch the sport all over the weekend.
So it's a constant. It has momentum, if you will,
and I'll challenge you on that first point, that's an
archaic concept. How many people out there actually have wreck
your nine to fives in this day and age.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
Anybody call me a caveman, Call me a caveman as
you just have. I think the point is that we're
at the start of what should be a busy two
or three day sports wise. We're going to kick around
a few of those those sporting fixtures in the chambers,
Super Rugby, NRL, but a one day cricket and other things.
Guest wise, though, I'm hoping you've jacked up somebody to
(01:17):
talk about Liam Lawson.
Speaker 3 (01:18):
Yeah, Hayden Padden is going to join us, of course. No,
Hayden very successful rally driver in New Zealand and Australia,
European Rally champion a couple of times, and spend some
time at the top level in the WRC. If anyone
knows about the cummings and goings and the politics around
high level motorsport, it's him. So we'll talk to him shortly.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
Looking forward to hearing from Hayden pattern I've got a
few thoughts as well, and well, I'm sure that there'll
be lots more to come on this. So without any
further ADO, let's get into it.
Speaker 3 (01:49):
I love the fact that you want to talk about
Formula one. You know what, next week I might even
do some opinion on football.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
And now, without any further ADO, let's get into it.
In other news, let's get underway with a look at
the big sports stories around today. Question you over Liam
Lawson's demotion from red ball to racing balls after just
two races. Team principal Christian Horner says they're protecting and
developing Liam Lawson by Demotingham. Here's BBC one Formula one
(02:21):
correspondent Andrew Benson's reaction to that this is.
Speaker 4 (02:24):
Not a duty of care, is it, by any stretch
of the imagination getting rid of someone after two races?
The duty of care is to give him chance to
try and perform a bit better. Put your arm around
his shoulder, talk to him about what's going wrong.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
Three time defending premiers Penrith have lost a third straight
NRL League match, this time twenty eight to eighteen to
South Sydney. Here's coach Ivan Cleary.
Speaker 3 (02:42):
You just haven't got any rhythm in the way overplaying
and it's still early for four weeks in.
Speaker 4 (02:46):
But until he finds some then I give you a
better understanding of what's happening.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
And Chris Wood will miss Nottingham Forest's FA Cup Football
quarter final due to the injury he suffered in the
All Whites Oceania World Cup qualifying final this week. Manager
who know, Espodito Santo says Wood's been to a specialist.
Speaker 4 (03:04):
We went on the information and see he's not going
to be a bill for this game.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
In a kiki following hard on his hip so there's
been there, so we have to wait dissecting the sporting agenda.
It's Sportsfix with Jason Vine and Darcy Waldgrave.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
And it's more Welcome to the Sports Fixed to former
WRC driver and rally champion across a number of championships globally.
His name is Hayden Padden. He joins us. Now, Hi there, Hayden.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
He does it? You're right, yeah, I'm good.
Speaker 3 (03:38):
Very interesting story this week around what's been going on
for a few weeks now, hasn't it around the young peddler,
formerly of Red Bull, now of Racing Ball. Liam Lawson.
I rang you to talk about this because you've had
experience at high level motorsport and the political games that
are being played. So you're sitting in his position from
what you know, how do you digest what's happened to him?
Speaker 5 (04:03):
Yeah? It obviously obviously it's very tough. Obviously all of
us we don't know the ins and outs of how
the team operates and the contracts and stuff, but certainly
from the outside, you know, it looks like he's been
pretty hard done by. You know, they only have two
events to find your features. Is not really fair on anyone,
even the most experience of drivers. So yeah, he's certainly
been thrown in the deep end and somewhat, but you know,
(04:27):
and there's obviously a lot of pressure and Formula One
and any professional sport where it's very cutthroat, very result driven,
and the trips just haven't quite fallen away, it seems
in the first couple of rounds. But hey, it is
professional sport, and you know, the best thing for him
there is, I guess to come out and prove a point,
and he's obviously still got that opportunity within RB they
(04:49):
come out and show everyone what he's made of, and
it's probably more about how he bounces back from this
and focusing forward rather than focusing on what's already happened.
Speaker 3 (04:56):
You get a taste of that high level like w
i C, like yourself. It must be difficult to get
that takest out of your mouth.
Speaker 5 (05:04):
It does, and you know, I think sometimes that's key
is we can take the it is a heart a
lot easier, you know. Okay, different situation, but in our situation,
you know, we had a full time contract in WC
and they got cut in half, and as much as
we didn't like it, at the end of the day,
you had to go with it. You couldn't really fight it.
You know, the piece of paper is early as much
(05:25):
as worth as much as what it was written on,
So there's an element you just have to go with it.
You just have to build relationships and make sure you've
got contacts with the right people. And you know, for
Leam now it's about I guess getting back to enjoying it.
And at the end of the day, he's still he's
still got a great opportunity there and potentially in the
less pressure environment, so you know, it's still a very
(05:46):
important year ahead from.
Speaker 3 (05:47):
Well it's quick, there's no doubt about that. It's a
matter of the tools that he's got to deal with.
And you would have been in a situation. You get
given a car and you can do what you can
with it, but there's only so far you can go
with what you've been given. You've got to make the
most of that and sometimes maybe it's a little beyond
what you're capable of because the car won't perform.
Speaker 5 (06:07):
Yeah, but you know that's the same and all you know,
it's the same in WC. When we're with Heynda, the
cars very much designed around Terry Neville and we had
to adapt and to begin with, you know we were
I guess complaining that you wanted things differently and whatnot.
And it'll be the same at Red Bull. You know,
at the end of the day, the car and homulligation
and the way that the rules are set out is
that you know, they can only design one car and
(06:28):
one set of parts, and obviously they have variations and upgrades,
but you know they have to have one design pathway.
And you've got two drivers on the team, so there's
an element where two drivers do have to work together.
And I guess when you have a full time world
champion such as Max for staff and then you're always
going to favor that that pathway to what he wants.
So there's an element. Then there's a second drive at
Red Bull that you have to adapt to drive and
(06:49):
style and change it somewhat, whereas you know, Liam might
find other cars might suit us driving style better. But ultimately,
you know, you can't complain about it. It is what
it is. And you know what I learned at Yndai
okay different and rally to formly one, but I just
had to learn to adapt and you had to learn
to make changes to yourself and how you normally would
naturally drive and adapt to the tools that you had
(07:10):
a lot of.
Speaker 3 (07:10):
People would be or they have been confused by the
idea about a car specifically designed for one driver and
how difficult it is to drive. But nuances in driving
at high speed like and rally it almost hard to explain,
and you've got to adjust what you can do. But
when it comes to the mechanical build of a car,
there's only so much you can do, right.
Speaker 5 (07:31):
Yeah, definitely, And it's it's also within a milligation. So
all these cars are tightly regulated by rules and regulations
and what they can change and can't change. So they
just can't go change anything they want for Liam because
it will be already frozen by the rules and the
design that they've already got in place. And obviously that's
the favorite of Max. So you know, every driver has
a slightly different driving style and that it goes right
(07:54):
back to how we learn how to drive go cars,
how we drove our first cars. You know, my driving
style is just something that's natural to me. You know,
I don't think about it. It's the something I've done
my whole life, and I'll be the same for Liam,
and obviously he's an element that you can obviously adjust
and change that, but that takes time. You know, if
you're trying to break a habit that you've done for
ten years, it ain't going to happen overnight. So's you know,
and we're talking the smallest things. You know, any racing
(08:16):
driver can feel every little change in the car. You know,
like maybe even one millimeter change in the front toe
for example, that you know most people wouldn't notice, but
a race driver that'll change the way that you feel
the car and how you react to how it feels. So,
you know, to drive at that ultimate level, everything needs
to be perfect and you need to be in this
complete flow state, if you like, and everything's just naturally happening.
Speaker 3 (08:39):
Well, what about the social side of things, because he's
been taken well, he's been actually getting good support on
social media, but he's also been taking a bit of
a hammering there too. How do you go about dealing
with that?
Speaker 5 (08:51):
Yeah, well, it's quite quite sad the amount of social
abuse he's been getting internationally. Obviously, Keiwis have been right
behind him and supporting them, which is great, But you know,
social media is a necessary evilness this day and age.
Isn't it that everyone's got an opinion and everyone's an
expert and you know that certainly you can see that
through social media, and I don't think many of us
(09:14):
have ever experienced it to the level that Limb's had
to over the past few weeks. So you know, it's
easy for us to say, hey, look, just don't look
at it and switch it off. But I think there's
just so much of it that it must be impossible
to ignore. So yeah, I don't don't envy limbs position
at all.
Speaker 3 (09:29):
That there's been accusations of bullying within Red Bull the
way they've treated the guy. I suppose unless we're in camp,
we don't actually know. But does that exist? Do you
get players in high level motorsport that throw their weight around?
Is it necessarily fair?
Speaker 5 (09:46):
There's a lot of things in life that are not fair,
And you know, in any any politics situation where it
being supportable, there's often someone who feels like they've been
short changed and someone who's trying to benefit themselves and
the crack of it is, and probably one of the
biggest things I've learned through some of our dealings is
that there's quite more often than not, you can't believe
a lot of stuff that is room and circulates. And
(10:08):
then because ultimately a lot of us just don't know
and we don't know the discussions that are happening behind
closed doors and they're not discussions for the public necessarily.
So when media coming out reporting on such a rumor,
then there's an element you go, is there actually what's happening?
And at the end of the day, the people who
are in you know that matter, such as a manager
and then Liam, they all know what's actually going on.
(10:30):
And I guess it's where they have to trust their
own instincts and what they're doing. But yeah, there's an
element where us I think supporting and following them, we
have to take some things with a grain and salt
and not necessarily believe everything that we see.
Speaker 3 (10:41):
Thanks for you, Tom Hayden, always a pleasure mate. You
go well, you drive quick at the radio, Targo that wait.
Speaker 2 (10:47):
Looking forward to it Sports VEX. What Red Ball have
done to Liam Lawson is an absolute disgrace. He's been
given an opportunity to be the second driver in their
team and has been given absolutely no support whatsoever, and
now he's been demoted and Yuki Sonoda has been given
a seat. You cannot convince me Yuki Sonoda is a
(11:07):
better driver than Liam Lawson. Lawson was put in there
for a number of reasons, one of which is his
mental resilience, and he's going to need all of that
now as he tries to recover from this. In many ways,
the pressure comes off of it as he goes into
the Racing Balls team. But Yuki Sonoda isn't going to
be able to drive a car specifically set up for
Max Forstaffan any better than Liam Lawson can. Lawson had
(11:29):
two races, two on unfamiliar tracks, one of which was
in pouring rain and Melbourne. It's far too small a
sample size for his driving to be accurately assessed. We're
about to get to Japan, a track he knows, and
they've taken the keys often. Liam Lawson will now recuperate
and no doubt drive pretty well for Racing Balls. But
it paints Red Ball in an absolutely terrible light. They
(11:51):
have been utterly negligent in their duty of care. And
this is where we've now reached. In such a landscape
of instant gratification, we've lost any ability to be patient
Imagine if you opened a new restaurant and after a
couple of nights you didn't get the tables as full
as you wanted, so you sacked the chef. Things take time.
(12:11):
You cannot simply say, okay, well he's had a couple
of races. He hasn't done the job. We're dropping him.
I had Mark Webber on the radio with me last week.
In the first seven years of his Grand Prix career,
he made the podium twice. In the next five years
he made the podium forty times, four to zero forty.
It takes time. Red ball have been shown to have
(12:34):
absolutely no patience at all. I know they're under pressure,
but we've lost the ability across a lot of elite
sport to hover above things and say, actually, it's going
to take a bit of time. Imagine if we'd gotten
rid of Graham Henry after the two thousand and seven
Rugby World Cup, we never would have had twenty eleven
out at the Phoenix. Coach John Culotaliana, they're calling for
(12:55):
his head now. A year ago he was top of
the pops, having guided the next to their best ever finish.
The drive for instant results is hurting players, drivers, coaches
and everybody associated with elite sport because those in charge
simply can't see past the end of next week.
Speaker 1 (13:12):
The Chamber is now in session on Sportsfax, and to the.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
Chamber we go. Let's leave the motorsport off to one side.
I think we've examined that in great detail and enjoyed
listening to your chat with Hayden Padden. Can we look
ahead to the next couple of days. Sports Wise started
with Super Rugby slightly truncated round, with three of the
eleven teams having the buy this weekend. If we're looking
for an upset, I'm trying to find where it might be.
(13:39):
I know your Crusaders are going to be too good
for more onea PACIFICA.
Speaker 3 (13:42):
A lot more on Pacific. I actually decided to play
two halves of rugby as opposed to just put in
a forty minute shift at the start or the end.
Is there a possibility that they might There is?
Speaker 2 (13:52):
There is, But they often say that you know, past
behavior is a good predictor of future behavior, and they
haven't been able to do it yet. We know they're
a free scoring side. They've scored more points than just
about everybody, but they've conceded more than anybody. And I
watch the Crusaders dismantle the Blues as I know you
did at Eden Park last weekend. I fear a little
bit for more wide Pacific at tomorrow night in christ Church.
Speaker 3 (14:14):
When you look at the new when they call it
halves in league but the half back first five eighth pairing,
this is interesting. It's Noah the hot hand Hotham in
the nine jersey with Jock James O'Connor outside of him.
I'm fascinated to see how that goes, and also what
Ethan Blackadder can do and if he can last the
whole eighty minutes. Now, I'm not taking the purse around
(14:36):
his injury told but that guy's had a rotten run
of injury, so let's hope he can get through it
at least sixty minutes and be subbed off without being
dragged off in a gurneyes that mean.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
Biney, No, No, no, not at all. I think he
plays rugby with a serious disregard for his own well
be and doesn't Ethan Blackader, so I think that might
be half the problem. But yeah, I'm delighted to see
him back in the mix, and I hope it's the
start of a decent run of games for him and
red and Black and maybe the just black.
Speaker 3 (15:03):
And sorry, the Wartar is taking on Hurricanes. War Tars
beat When does that mean that is that is an upset?
Because I don't know if that is really an upset.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
If the Warritars beat the Hurricanes, well, I guess historically yes,
because they haven't beaten the Hurricanes home are away for
ten years, a decade since they last beat the Hurricanes.
The tab certainly think it's the Hurricanes to lose. But
the Waratars, well, they beat the Brumbies last week. They're
four and one up against the side that's been stumbling
along just a little bit and has a new first
(15:33):
five and Riley Hoyhepper.
Speaker 3 (15:35):
And then there's a grootless Highlanders playing up against the Brumbies.
Speaker 5 (15:40):
That is harsh.
Speaker 3 (15:41):
You've got to feel for the Highlanders that not quite
work for them. Will it all slip into place? I
suppose we just we wait and see over the weekend.
But yet no Blues and no Chiefs, and I'm a
bit glum about that.
Speaker 2 (15:54):
Now they'll be back next week. You don't have to
be glum for long to lift your spirits. Let's talk
about the Warriors, who have the opportunity to go three
in a row on Sunday evening around eight fifteen New
Zealand time in Campbelltown. I wouldn't say their favorites to
beat the Tigers, but they could beat the Tigers.
Speaker 3 (16:11):
Tigers are sitting pretty at the moment, aren't they sitting
in the top four of the competition. But this new
wind up and behind the Warriors and the fact that
they've turned around the expectations after that train wreck of
a first round over and in Las Vegas. Who's to say,
but they they're missing not a lynchpin that no Roger
tv Us as second and he's out for eight weeks
(16:33):
and that's that's got to be a blow. But contrary
to that, Rocco berries back and he's a guy understated,
didn't cause a lot of noise, but he built and
built and built, and he's one of the most consistent
players this team has had some I'm excited about his
reintroduction after injury yourself, Yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:50):
I am too. I'm also excited to see the continued
evolution of the Luke Metcalf Shenella Harris Tavita Halves combination.
I've enjoyed it. Look, it's very much and it's infancy
if you compare it to some of the great halves
combos down the years, not only the Warriors, but right
across the NRL. But I think these two have got
a bit about them.
Speaker 3 (17:07):
Yeah, and persists in selection. And that is a brave
thing to do for Andrew Webbs to because after that
first round there were wholesale calls for the heads of
both of them, which is understandable that sports fans know
what they're like. But he start with them. He said,
we trust this combination. We've worked on it in pre season.
I think it's going to click. And it's all about
time in the saddle, isn't it, Pony.
Speaker 2 (17:28):
It is time in the saddle. You can't beat it.
They are red Bull didn't give it to leave Lawson.
But that's again backtracking to a bit of a bit
of bone of contention with both of us.
Speaker 3 (17:37):
At white a horse would be easier to drive than
their RB twenty one car I tell you, so maybe
he should get his saddle and mount up a fine stallion.
Speaker 2 (17:47):
There's a cricket game tomorrow too in Napier, so it'll
probably rain, but it's the black Caps against Pakistan, first
of three One day internationals to finish the summer. I'm
quite interested in some of the newer faces, particularly a
couple from my neck of the woods, Muhammada bas and
Nick Kelly out of the Wellington Firebirds. Reeche Martihuo out
of Canterbury's been drafted in again. We're continuing to build
a bit of white ball depth.
Speaker 3 (18:09):
White ball depth, and I think I had mistakenly suggested
that the World Cup's coming up next year. It's not
for two more years, but there are so many World
Cups and cricket these days. I understand why you lose
count and it makes sense to build this s depth
up within games up against Pakistan. And I love the
Nick Kelly story. How good is that? You would have
(18:30):
been following him for quite some time. He's in his
early thirties and he's got the cap he's always desired.
Speaker 2 (18:35):
Yeah, the weight of runs has finally paid off for
Nick Kelly. Mainly red ball runs actually, but he's been
given an opportunity and I'm looking forward to seeing him
in a Black Cap tomorrow. It's certainly been a long wait.
So a busy old sporting weekend, as they always tend
to be to get stuck into. That's us on the
chamber for today.
Speaker 1 (18:51):
We've got just the ticket. It's Sportsfix powered by News
Talks IVY, and.
Speaker 2 (18:57):
That is us for Sports Fixed today and for this
I was going to say this working week, but I
was chastised at the start of the podcast.
Speaker 3 (19:05):
Wasn't chastising you. We were having a robust discussion.
Speaker 2 (19:09):
That's the fun of those. I love those, I love those,
especially with you anyway. The next Sports Fix podcast is
available on Monday. Thank you for listening today and for downloading,
and for subscribing if that's something you've chosen to do,
and for.
Speaker 3 (19:21):
Telling your friends and your family and your workmates and
anyone on the street and whoever you want. I'll write
it down, send courier pigeons out, shout it from the ruse.
Get amongst the Sports Fix And if you want programming,
you can actually be a part of. We have Sports
Talk between at seven and eight with Piney. I got
the show Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, oh eight hundred and
(19:41):
eighty ten eighty. You can join on and you can
do the same over the weekend with Jason pine Weekend
Sport twelveth mid day through till three Saturday and Sunday.
Make it stick, Piney, have a great weekend.
Speaker 2 (19:52):
I'll be working too, trust me, kay, I'll be checking
in with you on a regular basis, just to make
sure your glued to the couch and the eyes are
glued to the screen. I don't know why I have
to check. I know that's your your normal state of
operations across Saturday and Sunday. So look look forward to
chatting with you again next week.
Speaker 3 (20:10):
I can hear the beer cans opening now.
Speaker 1 (20:13):
For more from News Talks B listen live on air
or online, and keep our shows with you wherever you
go with our podcasts on iHeartRadio
You're listening to a podcast from News Talks ed B
follow this and our wide range of podcasts now on iHeartRadio.
This is Sportsfix Howard by News Talk SAT.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
BE Hello there and welcome to the back end of
your working week, the start or start ish of the
working week. For me, I'm Jason pine on March twenty eight.
Where would you categorize yourself, Darcy, in terms of your
working WEEKI is seventy percent through.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
It never stops Piney. And I say that because part
of our roles is to not only talk on the wireless,
but it's to watch the sport all over the weekend.
So it's a constant. It has momentum, if you will,
and I'll challenge you on that first point, that's an
archaic concept. How many people out there actually have wreck
your nine to fives in this day and age.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
Anybody call me a caveman, Call me a caveman as
you just have. I think the point is that we're
at the start of what should be a busy two
or three day sports wise. We're going to kick around
a few of those those sporting fixtures in the chambers,
Super Rugby, NRL, but a one day cricket and other things.
Guest wise, though, I'm hoping you've jacked up somebody to
(01:17):
talk about Liam Lawson.
Speaker 3 (01:18):
Yeah, Hayden Padden is going to join us, of course. No,
Hayden very successful rally driver in New Zealand and Australia,
European Rally champion a couple of times, and spend some
time at the top level in the WRC. If anyone
knows about the cummings and goings and the politics around
high level motorsport, it's him. So we'll talk to him shortly.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
Looking forward to hearing from Hayden pattern I've got a
few thoughts as well, and well, I'm sure that there'll
be lots more to come on this. So without any
further ADO, let's get into it.
Speaker 3 (01:49):
I love the fact that you want to talk about
Formula one. You know what, next week I might even
do some opinion on football.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
And now, without any further ADO, let's get into it.
In other news, let's get underway with a look at
the big sports stories around today. Question you over Liam
Lawson's demotion from red ball to racing balls after just
two races. Team principal Christian Horner says they're protecting and
developing Liam Lawson by Demotingham. Here's BBC one Formula one
(02:21):
correspondent Andrew Benson's reaction to that this is.
Speaker 4 (02:24):
Not a duty of care, is it, by any stretch
of the imagination getting rid of someone after two races?
The duty of care is to give him chance to
try and perform a bit better. Put your arm around
his shoulder, talk to him about what's going wrong.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
Three time defending premiers Penrith have lost a third straight
NRL League match, this time twenty eight to eighteen to
South Sydney. Here's coach Ivan Cleary.
Speaker 3 (02:42):
You just haven't got any rhythm in the way overplaying
and it's still early for four weeks in.
Speaker 4 (02:46):
But until he finds some then I give you a
better understanding of what's happening.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
And Chris Wood will miss Nottingham Forest's FA Cup Football
quarter final due to the injury he suffered in the
All Whites Oceania World Cup qualifying final this week. Manager
who know, Espodito Santo says Wood's been to a specialist.
Speaker 4 (03:04):
We went on the information and see he's not going
to be a bill for this game.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
In a kiki following hard on his hip so there's
been there, so we have to wait dissecting the sporting agenda.
It's Sportsfix with Jason Vine and Darcy Waldgrave.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
And it's more Welcome to the Sports Fixed to former
WRC driver and rally champion across a number of championships globally.
His name is Hayden Padden. He joins us. Now, Hi there, Hayden.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
He does it? You're right, yeah, I'm good.
Speaker 3 (03:38):
Very interesting story this week around what's been going on
for a few weeks now, hasn't it around the young peddler,
formerly of Red Bull, now of Racing Ball. Liam Lawson.
I rang you to talk about this because you've had
experience at high level motorsport and the political games that
are being played. So you're sitting in his position from
what you know, how do you digest what's happened to him?
Speaker 5 (04:03):
Yeah? It obviously obviously it's very tough. Obviously all of
us we don't know the ins and outs of how
the team operates and the contracts and stuff, but certainly
from the outside, you know, it looks like he's been
pretty hard done by. You know, they only have two
events to find your features. Is not really fair on anyone,
even the most experience of drivers. So yeah, he's certainly
been thrown in the deep end and somewhat, but you know,
(04:27):
and there's obviously a lot of pressure and Formula One
and any professional sport where it's very cutthroat, very result driven,
and the trips just haven't quite fallen away, it seems
in the first couple of rounds. But hey, it is
professional sport, and you know, the best thing for him
there is, I guess to come out and prove a point,
and he's obviously still got that opportunity within RB they
(04:49):
come out and show everyone what he's made of, and
it's probably more about how he bounces back from this
and focusing forward rather than focusing on what's already happened.
Speaker 3 (04:56):
You get a taste of that high level like w
i C, like yourself. It must be difficult to get
that takest out of your mouth.
Speaker 5 (05:04):
It does, and you know, I think sometimes that's key
is we can take the it is a heart a
lot easier, you know. Okay, different situation, but in our situation,
you know, we had a full time contract in WC
and they got cut in half, and as much as
we didn't like it, at the end of the day,
you had to go with it. You couldn't really fight it.
You know, the piece of paper is early as much
(05:25):
as worth as much as what it was written on,
So there's an element you just have to go with it.
You just have to build relationships and make sure you've
got contacts with the right people. And you know, for
Leam now it's about I guess getting back to enjoying it.
And at the end of the day, he's still he's
still got a great opportunity there and potentially in the
less pressure environment, so you know, it's still a very
(05:46):
important year ahead from.
Speaker 3 (05:47):
Well it's quick, there's no doubt about that. It's a
matter of the tools that he's got to deal with.
And you would have been in a situation. You get
given a car and you can do what you can
with it, but there's only so far you can go
with what you've been given. You've got to make the
most of that and sometimes maybe it's a little beyond
what you're capable of because the car won't perform.
Speaker 5 (06:07):
Yeah, but you know that's the same and all you know,
it's the same in WC. When we're with Heynda, the
cars very much designed around Terry Neville and we had
to adapt and to begin with, you know we were
I guess complaining that you wanted things differently and whatnot.
And it'll be the same at Red Bull. You know,
at the end of the day, the car and homulligation
and the way that the rules are set out is
that you know, they can only design one car and
(06:28):
one set of parts, and obviously they have variations and upgrades,
but you know they have to have one design pathway.
And you've got two drivers on the team, so there's
an element where two drivers do have to work together.
And I guess when you have a full time world
champion such as Max for staff and then you're always
going to favor that that pathway to what he wants.
So there's an element. Then there's a second drive at
Red Bull that you have to adapt to drive and
(06:49):
style and change it somewhat, whereas you know, Liam might
find other cars might suit us driving style better. But ultimately,
you know, you can't complain about it. It is what
it is. And you know what I learned at Yndai
okay different and rally to formly one, but I just
had to learn to adapt and you had to learn
to make changes to yourself and how you normally would
naturally drive and adapt to the tools that you had
(07:10):
a lot of.
Speaker 3 (07:10):
People would be or they have been confused by the
idea about a car specifically designed for one driver and
how difficult it is to drive. But nuances in driving
at high speed like and rally it almost hard to explain,
and you've got to adjust what you can do. But
when it comes to the mechanical build of a car,
there's only so much you can do, right.
Speaker 5 (07:31):
Yeah, definitely, And it's it's also within a milligation. So
all these cars are tightly regulated by rules and regulations
and what they can change and can't change. So they
just can't go change anything they want for Liam because
it will be already frozen by the rules and the
design that they've already got in place. And obviously that's
the favorite of Max. So you know, every driver has
a slightly different driving style and that it goes right
(07:54):
back to how we learn how to drive go cars,
how we drove our first cars. You know, my driving
style is just something that's natural to me. You know,
I don't think about it. It's the something I've done
my whole life, and I'll be the same for Liam,
and obviously he's an element that you can obviously adjust
and change that, but that takes time. You know, if
you're trying to break a habit that you've done for
ten years, it ain't going to happen overnight. So's you know,
and we're talking the smallest things. You know, any racing
(08:16):
driver can feel every little change in the car. You know,
like maybe even one millimeter change in the front toe
for example, that you know most people wouldn't notice, but
a race driver that'll change the way that you feel
the car and how you react to how it feels. So,
you know, to drive at that ultimate level, everything needs
to be perfect and you need to be in this
complete flow state, if you like, and everything's just naturally happening.
Speaker 3 (08:39):
Well, what about the social side of things, because he's
been taken well, he's been actually getting good support on
social media, but he's also been taking a bit of
a hammering there too. How do you go about dealing
with that?
Speaker 5 (08:51):
Yeah, well, it's quite quite sad the amount of social
abuse he's been getting internationally. Obviously, Keiwis have been right
behind him and supporting them, which is great, But you know,
social media is a necessary evilness this day and age.
Isn't it that everyone's got an opinion and everyone's an
expert and you know that certainly you can see that
through social media, and I don't think many of us
(09:14):
have ever experienced it to the level that Limb's had
to over the past few weeks. So you know, it's
easy for us to say, hey, look, just don't look
at it and switch it off. But I think there's
just so much of it that it must be impossible
to ignore. So yeah, I don't don't envy limbs position
at all.
Speaker 3 (09:29):
That there's been accusations of bullying within Red Bull the
way they've treated the guy. I suppose unless we're in camp,
we don't actually know. But does that exist? Do you
get players in high level motorsport that throw their weight around?
Is it necessarily fair?
Speaker 5 (09:46):
There's a lot of things in life that are not fair,
And you know, in any any politics situation where it
being supportable, there's often someone who feels like they've been
short changed and someone who's trying to benefit themselves and
the crack of it is, and probably one of the
biggest things I've learned through some of our dealings is
that there's quite more often than not, you can't believe
a lot of stuff that is room and circulates. And
(10:08):
then because ultimately a lot of us just don't know
and we don't know the discussions that are happening behind
closed doors and they're not discussions for the public necessarily.
So when media coming out reporting on such a rumor,
then there's an element you go, is there actually what's happening?
And at the end of the day, the people who
are in you know that matter, such as a manager
and then Liam, they all know what's actually going on.
(10:30):
And I guess it's where they have to trust their
own instincts and what they're doing. But yeah, there's an
element where us I think supporting and following them, we
have to take some things with a grain and salt
and not necessarily believe everything that we see.
Speaker 3 (10:41):
Thanks for you, Tom Hayden, always a pleasure mate. You
go well, you drive quick at the radio, Targo that wait.
Speaker 2 (10:47):
Looking forward to it Sports VEX. What Red Ball have
done to Liam Lawson is an absolute disgrace. He's been
given an opportunity to be the second driver in their
team and has been given absolutely no support whatsoever, and
now he's been demoted and Yuki Sonoda has been given
a seat. You cannot convince me Yuki Sonoda is a
(11:07):
better driver than Liam Lawson. Lawson was put in there
for a number of reasons, one of which is his
mental resilience, and he's going to need all of that
now as he tries to recover from this. In many ways,
the pressure comes off of it as he goes into
the Racing Balls team. But Yuki Sonoda isn't going to
be able to drive a car specifically set up for
Max Forstaffan any better than Liam Lawson can. Lawson had
(11:29):
two races, two on unfamiliar tracks, one of which was
in pouring rain and Melbourne. It's far too small a
sample size for his driving to be accurately assessed. We're
about to get to Japan, a track he knows, and
they've taken the keys often. Liam Lawson will now recuperate
and no doubt drive pretty well for Racing Balls. But
it paints Red Ball in an absolutely terrible light. They
(11:51):
have been utterly negligent in their duty of care. And
this is where we've now reached. In such a landscape
of instant gratification, we've lost any ability to be patient
Imagine if you opened a new restaurant and after a
couple of nights you didn't get the tables as full
as you wanted, so you sacked the chef. Things take time.
(12:11):
You cannot simply say, okay, well he's had a couple
of races. He hasn't done the job. We're dropping him.
I had Mark Webber on the radio with me last week.
In the first seven years of his Grand Prix career,
he made the podium twice. In the next five years
he made the podium forty times, four to zero forty.
It takes time. Red ball have been shown to have
(12:34):
absolutely no patience at all. I know they're under pressure,
but we've lost the ability across a lot of elite
sport to hover above things and say, actually, it's going
to take a bit of time. Imagine if we'd gotten
rid of Graham Henry after the two thousand and seven
Rugby World Cup, we never would have had twenty eleven
out at the Phoenix. Coach John Culotaliana, they're calling for
(12:55):
his head now. A year ago he was top of
the pops, having guided the next to their best ever finish.
The drive for instant results is hurting players, drivers, coaches
and everybody associated with elite sport because those in charge
simply can't see past the end of next week.
Speaker 1 (13:12):
The Chamber is now in session on Sportsfax, and to the.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
Chamber we go. Let's leave the motorsport off to one side.
I think we've examined that in great detail and enjoyed
listening to your chat with Hayden Padden. Can we look
ahead to the next couple of days. Sports Wise started
with Super Rugby slightly truncated round, with three of the
eleven teams having the buy this weekend. If we're looking
for an upset, I'm trying to find where it might be.
(13:39):
I know your Crusaders are going to be too good
for more onea PACIFICA.
Speaker 3 (13:42):
A lot more on Pacific. I actually decided to play
two halves of rugby as opposed to just put in
a forty minute shift at the start or the end.
Is there a possibility that they might There is?
Speaker 2 (13:52):
There is, But they often say that you know, past
behavior is a good predictor of future behavior, and they
haven't been able to do it yet. We know they're
a free scoring side. They've scored more points than just
about everybody, but they've conceded more than anybody. And I
watch the Crusaders dismantle the Blues as I know you
did at Eden Park last weekend. I fear a little
bit for more wide Pacific at tomorrow night in christ Church.
Speaker 3 (14:14):
When you look at the new when they call it
halves in league but the half back first five eighth pairing,
this is interesting. It's Noah the hot hand Hotham in
the nine jersey with Jock James O'Connor outside of him.
I'm fascinated to see how that goes, and also what
Ethan Blackadder can do and if he can last the
whole eighty minutes. Now, I'm not taking the purse around
(14:36):
his injury told but that guy's had a rotten run
of injury, so let's hope he can get through it
at least sixty minutes and be subbed off without being
dragged off in a gurneyes that mean.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
Biney, No, No, no, not at all. I think he
plays rugby with a serious disregard for his own well
be and doesn't Ethan Blackader, so I think that might
be half the problem. But yeah, I'm delighted to see
him back in the mix, and I hope it's the
start of a decent run of games for him and
red and Black and maybe the just black.
Speaker 3 (15:03):
And sorry, the Wartar is taking on Hurricanes. War Tars
beat When does that mean that is that is an upset?
Because I don't know if that is really an upset.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
If the Warritars beat the Hurricanes, well, I guess historically yes,
because they haven't beaten the Hurricanes home are away for
ten years, a decade since they last beat the Hurricanes.
The tab certainly think it's the Hurricanes to lose. But
the Waratars, well, they beat the Brumbies last week. They're
four and one up against the side that's been stumbling
along just a little bit and has a new first
(15:33):
five and Riley Hoyhepper.
Speaker 3 (15:35):
And then there's a grootless Highlanders playing up against the Brumbies.
Speaker 5 (15:40):
That is harsh.
Speaker 3 (15:41):
You've got to feel for the Highlanders that not quite
work for them. Will it all slip into place? I
suppose we just we wait and see over the weekend.
But yet no Blues and no Chiefs, and I'm a
bit glum about that.
Speaker 2 (15:54):
Now they'll be back next week. You don't have to
be glum for long to lift your spirits. Let's talk
about the Warriors, who have the opportunity to go three
in a row on Sunday evening around eight fifteen New
Zealand time in Campbelltown. I wouldn't say their favorites to
beat the Tigers, but they could beat the Tigers.
Speaker 3 (16:11):
Tigers are sitting pretty at the moment, aren't they sitting
in the top four of the competition. But this new
wind up and behind the Warriors and the fact that
they've turned around the expectations after that train wreck of
a first round over and in Las Vegas. Who's to say,
but they they're missing not a lynchpin that no Roger
tv Us as second and he's out for eight weeks
(16:33):
and that's that's got to be a blow. But contrary
to that, Rocco berries back and he's a guy understated,
didn't cause a lot of noise, but he built and
built and built, and he's one of the most consistent
players this team has had some I'm excited about his
reintroduction after injury yourself, Yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:50):
I am too. I'm also excited to see the continued
evolution of the Luke Metcalf Shenella Harris Tavita Halves combination.
I've enjoyed it. Look, it's very much and it's infancy
if you compare it to some of the great halves
combos down the years, not only the Warriors, but right
across the NRL. But I think these two have got
a bit about them.
Speaker 3 (17:07):
Yeah, and persists in selection. And that is a brave
thing to do for Andrew Webbs to because after that
first round there were wholesale calls for the heads of
both of them, which is understandable that sports fans know
what they're like. But he start with them. He said,
we trust this combination. We've worked on it in pre season.
I think it's going to click. And it's all about
time in the saddle, isn't it, Pony.
Speaker 2 (17:28):
It is time in the saddle. You can't beat it.
They are red Bull didn't give it to leave Lawson.
But that's again backtracking to a bit of a bit
of bone of contention with both of us.
Speaker 3 (17:37):
At white a horse would be easier to drive than
their RB twenty one car I tell you, so maybe
he should get his saddle and mount up a fine stallion.
Speaker 2 (17:47):
There's a cricket game tomorrow too in Napier, so it'll
probably rain, but it's the black Caps against Pakistan, first
of three One day internationals to finish the summer. I'm
quite interested in some of the newer faces, particularly a
couple from my neck of the woods, Muhammada bas and
Nick Kelly out of the Wellington Firebirds. Reeche Martihuo out
of Canterbury's been drafted in again. We're continuing to build
a bit of white ball depth.
Speaker 3 (18:09):
White ball depth, and I think I had mistakenly suggested
that the World Cup's coming up next year. It's not
for two more years, but there are so many World
Cups and cricket these days. I understand why you lose
count and it makes sense to build this s depth
up within games up against Pakistan. And I love the
Nick Kelly story. How good is that? You would have
(18:30):
been following him for quite some time. He's in his
early thirties and he's got the cap he's always desired.
Speaker 2 (18:35):
Yeah, the weight of runs has finally paid off for
Nick Kelly. Mainly red ball runs actually, but he's been
given an opportunity and I'm looking forward to seeing him
in a Black Cap tomorrow. It's certainly been a long wait.
So a busy old sporting weekend, as they always tend
to be to get stuck into. That's us on the
chamber for today.
Speaker 1 (18:51):
We've got just the ticket. It's Sportsfix powered by News
Talks IVY, and.
Speaker 2 (18:57):
That is us for Sports Fixed today and for this
I was going to say this working week, but I
was chastised at the start of the podcast.
Speaker 3 (19:05):
Wasn't chastising you. We were having a robust discussion.
Speaker 2 (19:09):
That's the fun of those. I love those, I love those,
especially with you anyway. The next Sports Fix podcast is
available on Monday. Thank you for listening today and for downloading,
and for subscribing if that's something you've chosen to do,
and for.
Speaker 3 (19:21):
Telling your friends and your family and your workmates and
anyone on the street and whoever you want. I'll write
it down, send courier pigeons out, shout it from the ruse.
Get amongst the Sports Fix And if you want programming,
you can actually be a part of. We have Sports
Talk between at seven and eight with Piney. I got
the show Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, oh eight hundred and
(19:41):
eighty ten eighty. You can join on and you can
do the same over the weekend with Jason pine Weekend
Sport twelveth mid day through till three Saturday and Sunday.
Make it stick, Piney, have a great weekend.
Speaker 2 (19:52):
I'll be working too, trust me, kay, I'll be checking
in with you on a regular basis, just to make
sure your glued to the couch and the eyes are
glued to the screen. I don't know why I have
to check. I know that's your your normal state of
operations across Saturday and Sunday. So look look forward to
chatting with you again next week.
Speaker 3 (20:10):
I can hear the beer cans opening now.
Speaker 1 (20:13):
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