September 20, 2022 • 41 mins
It's here: The season finale of Choosing Sides: F1. In this episode, Michael and Lily watch a race together and then Michael (at long last!) decides on the team and driver he wants to support as he begins his Formula 1 fan journey. Let's go!
Special thanks to all of our guests this season. This episode was produced by Lily Herman and Senior Producer Yochai Maital. Sound Design by Yochai Maital. Mastering by Sela Waisblum. Recording at The Cutting Room Studios by Rob O'Leary II. At SI Studios, Max Miller is the Supervising and Executive Producer and Brannan Goetschius is Head of Audio. At iHeartRadio, Sean Titone is Executive Producer.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
I don't know if this is relevant, but I have
to bring it up. On the way here today I
ran into my friend who's a comedian, and he goes,
what are you doing here? You're doing a podcast and
a Formula One he goes, oh, Max for stapping and
red bull is my team. This is like a friend
of mine who knows a lot about Formula One and
it's just unbelievable. It's it's in and this happens as
(00:21):
you dive into Formula One, you start to find there's
people out there that you didn't know. That our way
into it. I don't want to use the term closet,
if there are a lot of hidden Formula One fans,
especially in the US. Yeah, where you have no idea
or it's like the most random people I know. I
have a friend WHO's like not all into sports, but
one of her parents is European and she watched, she's
watched Formula One for for her entire life. Okay, UH, Michael,
(00:42):
we've reached our final destination. We're close to the checkered flag,
to to get metaphorical here. Today you're going to make
your choice for the team and driver you want to support,
but before we do that. We're going to watch a
race together from my heart radio and sports illustrated studios.
(01:04):
This is choosing sides. One, wow, wow, hey everyone, producer here. So,
as you may have guessed, this episode is going to
go a little bit differently than our traditional format and,
(01:27):
for the love of all that is holy, if this
is your first time listening, go back to the beginning.
This is not the episode to start with. That said, okay,
how was this episode going to be different? So, for
one thing, Um, we want to share with you moments
from Michael and Lily's time watching the two thousand and
twenty two Spanish Grand Prix. Part of the reason we
chose the Spanish Grand Prix is that we were looking
(01:49):
for a great beginner race that wasn't such a big
outlier that would be hard for Michael to understand what's
going on or why certain things matter. Plus, I really
wanted to a showcase a race that had some of
the dynamics and other issues that we talked about this season,
like the whole team orders idea that Michael really hated, Ferrari,
(02:09):
strategic and reliability issues and a lot more. Yeah, so
I'll be popping in here and there just to make
sure that you've got context Um, and then later on
we'll get back to Michael's choices. So, on that note,
off to the race. Bang they're off. Holy Shit, here
we go. I mean right out of the gate there's
(02:31):
people trying to make moves. That's very interesting. Okay, oh good,
the start is always chatic. Oh Yeah, already a touch. Okay,
this is terrifying. Oh yeah, lap one, Charles Leclair of Ferrari,
starting from a very promising pole position, keeps the lead
ahead of Max for stepping further down the grid, cars
are still jostling for position. How do the cars not
(02:53):
all just run into each other there like they usually do?
They do sometimes. Oh God, Spye, k Mag that was
Kevin Magnuson. It was Lewis. Yeah, Oh my God, still
in the first lap. Further down the field, Lewis Hamilton's
and Kevin Magnuson collide. Magnusson spins out into the gravel
(03:15):
and Hamilton's struggles to the pit with the punctured tire.
Lewis Hamilton's does half timeys do that car and drops
down through the field. Jolly, so that was already Chao.
Will somebody like review that to see if any shady
ship went down. Yeah, we're going to do I would say. Sorry.
Did Lewis just say like wrap it up? Yeah, basically,
(03:35):
and they're like don't do that. Yeah, we still think
we can achieve point to say today. So he may
be better. Is he kind of a whiny bitch? Sometimes
he can be a whiny bitch. Yeah, that was Carlos
Carlos Science lap seven, Ferrari driver, Carlos Signs Jr, spins
out and drops down the field, Carlos and the gravel,
(03:55):
and just like that Carlos's race prospects seemed to vanish.
Lap Twelve, red bull orders checo Perez to let his
teammate Max tapping through. Max is now in a battle
with George Russell of Mercedes for second place. Get me
knocked out o the way, so over take quick dude.
But with Max suffering from a mechanical issue, Checko asks
(04:16):
to overtake Max to try to get the lead. Oh Yeah,
so this is drama out of the way so I
can overtake quickly. Yeah, so he's saying, Hey, I'm going
to be faster, let me in. This is gonna be
the issue. You see what you're trying about the issue two. Yeah,
father of three boy, but you let me buy have
very fish stys. I A get back weekly. So Checko
(04:39):
just checked in with his team and said get Max
out of the way. Yeah, he's like, I can overtake quickly.
Wants the fucking podium. Mr Pope in the car. Checko's
request is denied and Max makes his move to overtake
George Russell. Oh my God, Whoa? Okay, Oh my God, Whoa?
(05:04):
My God, this is like me on the four oh
five trying to get to my audition. Lap Twenty Four.
Russell and his Mercedes continues spending off Max for Steppin's
Red Bull. Meanwhile Leclair and Ferrari, having started from poll
is comfortably in control of the race. We haven't even
mentioned Charles Leclair at this point. He's just in first,
just having to having an espresso just first. It works
(05:26):
as advantage that George is kind of holding up the
Red Bulls. Now what help? What help? Lap Leclaires Ferrari
power unit gives out. What the funk happened to Charles Leclair?
I just was saying he's is he out? He's dropping.
(05:48):
That is depressing. Leclaire rolls to a stop and he
ends up having to retire the car. This leaves Russell
and Max to battle for pole position for several laps. Meanwhile,
Mike and lily turn their attention lower on the grid.
So I was really excited to watch the Alpha Romeo car,
which we haven't seen a lot of yet. Is that Valterie? Yeah,
(06:12):
so Valtorie is in it. Joe. So the rookies? Yeah,
so Valteri is in p five right now, and then
Joe is in p fifteen, and Joe is the only rookie,
so he's he's a little bit further down, as if
by dark magic, as soon as lily and Costa start
talking about jog and you. So Joe, I'm afraid we
have a technically shot slow down at boxes step. Oh No,
(06:36):
I'm guessing it was also an engine is or some
sort of car issue, because I was so sudden. The
Ferrari engine in his Alpha Romeo starts sputtering, taking him
out of the race. Poor guy. I like Joe. They
don't spend a lot of time on Joe. No, they're
like poor guy. He was running somewhere in the back lap. Thirty.
Daniel Ricardo, the always positive ausi driver, is experiencing a
(06:57):
race he will prefer to forget. Kind of prize that
Daniel Ricardo, who gets so much attention media wise, is
raising a thirteen. And Atlando, watched my whole life. But Orlando,
WHO's sick? I mean he's pitting and he's still in
p ten in the pit. Yeah, he's probably gonna end
up littleit higher once all these other guys pit. Lap
Thirty one, with Max verstappend having pitted, his teammate, Czecho
(07:19):
Perez finally manages to overtake George Russell of Mercedes for
the lead. There's Checko. He just passed George, so he's
in first now. Holy Sh it. Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton's and
Carlos Science both are slogging their way up through the
midfield after having suffered horrible setbacks at the beginning of
the race. Lewis Hamilton's is absolutely loving its six point
(07:43):
four seconds now behind Carlos Science, gaining and gaining. They're
now in p seven and p eight, comfortably within the points.
To Watch somebody creep up from P nineteen. He's in
P eights. Meanwhile, I can't believe how much more comfortable
I am watching this than just an hour ago, you know,
(08:06):
like I kind of get getting the rhythm of it. Yeah,
and I'm kind of understanding what that is, and it's
very overwhelming at first. There's a lot of stimulation. Yea
lapt Czecho Perez is now leading the race, but then
gets instructions to let Max for stopping through, handing his
teammate the lead. Oh, I don't like Max for stepping.
I mean this he's just he's an excellent driver, but
(08:30):
come on, dude, it's just this is just being served
up to him on a freaking pedestal. It's outrageous to me.
Or stoppin will remain unchallenged for the rest of the race.
Another interesting fun fact. So Max is using the number
one because he's the world champion. Lewis opted to never
use the number one during his and meanwhile Max won it,
but it was controversially how he wanted and he took
(08:50):
it and he decided to start using his like racing
boots are now gold. Oh my God this you were
just saving that to Piss me off right all of
these episodes, you've been saving that. He has golden boots
in the number one, but despite Michael's hating, on for
a step, and it is a red bull one to
(09:12):
finish with Czecho Perez and second and George Russell and third.
As Max Parks his car and jumps out to celebrate
with his team, Michael Gets his first glimpse of the
golden boots. Get those fucking boots off your feet. Following
a brief yoga session to gently lower their heart rates,
(09:32):
Lillian Michael Convene at the studio to debrief. So, Michael,
I know you're your biggest thing that you were very
disappointed in was was red bulls team orders, for basically
you got to see it in action. Sergio Checho Perez
(09:53):
was was told to let Max through and basically told
to race his entire race around Max's racing strategy out.
It just goes against all competitive spirit. You know I
mean with I said, the favorite thing that I liked
about it was that you start here, you finish here.
Who Does it fastest, and you're basically giving one of
your athlete orders to let him through, three to top one, Max,
(10:17):
three one, and guess what he does? Pulls over and
lets him through, even though he says it's unfair, unfair,
but okay, it's like that's what my daughter says to
me when I'm like it's bedtime, you know, and she's like, well,
that's unfair, but you know, you have to be compliant.
You have to be compliant. So I don't like that.
I think that's a weakness. I told Yo hi, if
(10:41):
I was the team principal, I would say hey, Checko,
I'll give you quarter of a million dollar bonus if
you can keep Max off. And I would say hey, Max,
we'll give you quarter million dollars if you can pass Checko.
Let's see that competitive spirit would be nice. I've seen
them actually have a little Ding Dong, have a little
fight buck. They could have raced it out. They could
have raced it out to even the commentators said, let's
(11:01):
let him, let him have a little Ding Dong. Well,
not check out. Thank you for that drive. Today was
a very, very strong drive again for me. So thank
you for Andin the same game as well. What done? Yeah,
what issignate them. If you're Checko Perez, it might not
wear you down this time, it might not wear you
(11:22):
down next time, but you are not going to submit
yourself to this over and over and over again. Is
there anything else that was unexpected or surprising to you
actually getting to watch the sport after hearing about it?
Holy Shit, they talk about the tires a lot. They
love they love them at tire. Yeah, I mean it
must be very, very important. Um, I was very surprised
(11:47):
at how much tire talk there is. I was very
surprised that Ferrari's car just stopped working all of a sudden.
That sucks for the Claire. That'd be like if in
a different sport, if, like I have to drop out
of the baseball game my bat is broken. It's very
odd that you can just be out of the match
race because the equipment is toast. But that sucks, but
(12:09):
that's that's interesting. Um, you know, the teammates component was
clear to me before the race, but in the race
you really see how, how, how that has a lot
of layers, especially when, like Louis was trying to pass.
(12:29):
Was it your boy valtery and they have such a
history of being a teammate and other competitor. It's like
just so much more interesting to know that. And I
think one of the commentators said like Valterie not letting
Louis passed him like he's done for so many years previous.
I was like, well, that's really interesting to see that,
because I could see how, if you leave a team
now you're like, I'm tired of laying up for that guy,
(12:51):
I'm gonna try to beat him. So it's all very interesting.
And you loved the pit stops. You're a big fan
of very cool. I hate how fast he goes into
the IT. That's Checko and it's already off. Fast. I
mean it's like, don't look at your phone. It's over
(13:13):
two point six seconds. Someone came in at one point nine.
Are they really doing anything? What if they're just stopping
and then going kind of just so, yeah, it's it's fast, fast.
That's a fast, fast sport. You've watched a million races
(13:33):
and you know all the history of all this. I mean,
what of this race was interesting to you? Um, so
one of the things that still amazes me after watching
so many f one races is what team chatter on
the radio. They choose to show us as fans and
the audience. Right, that's it. That is really fascinating. Yeah,
I and I do again. They're they're selected with what
(13:54):
they play. So the fact that they played Louis wanted
to quit a couple of minutes in. That was one
of the more fascinating sporting observations that I've ever seen
in every sport. Of all the sport I've watched, you
basically have the greatest driver of all times saying let's
quit and save the car. As someone who has never
watched the sport, here's the seven world time champion, he's
(14:17):
in nineteenth place and he goes hey, let's just save
the car. was very funny. And then the guy on
the radio has to go like it's okay, we're gonna
keep racing. Well, you can do it. It's says, these
are still boys with giant egos. I also find it
funny that then Lewis kind of has his moment of like, okay,
I guess I will charge my way up the grid
and almost make the podium. I guess I'll be absolutely
(14:39):
world class now. Good Lad, good lad. So that's people, Lewis,
was an amazing race. Amazing race. You were the quickest
car all days, probably fast grace time would have gone
for the wind. So amazing. I remember back when we
started this, I asked you what you knew about Formula
One and you said. I think there's a Michael Guy
(15:00):
from the nineties who was a big deal. So what
what do you think of F one overall? Now, I
think it's awesome. You can talk all day long, but
seeing it is visually outrageous. It is such a beauty
of machine and man and data, lots of data. Yeah,
(15:22):
the drivers themselves, the placements of WHO's moving or or
beating who. You've got how far back they are from
the car in front of them. You've got sometimes fastest laugh. Yeah,
the fastest laugh. It's hard to not keep looking at it.
It's just visually so stunning and because there's no stoppages
of play, you don't blink because you're gonna miss something.
(15:42):
I just I thought it was really, really fun, and
you're probably gonna get me to watch it now, even
after this, even even after I'm out of your life, Lily,
and that's the dark dark really went downhill very quickly.
Thank you for guiding me through it. Thank you for
being my power unit. Is that weird? I could be
(16:06):
your I'm your race engineer. That's that's a much better
that's a much better term. We got a box, box, box.
We will in fact be right back after the break. Yeah,
before we get to your favorite and you make the
final selection. On the opposite end of the spectrum when
it comes to drivers, who are your bottom three drivers
(16:29):
where you're just straight up like and unfortunately will say, uh, Max,
you know, are our Meno, Heis boss as well, as
you have decided. Nicholas the TIEF, he cannot be in this,
in this mix. We were too hard on him. Who
are your bottom three? Okay, well, one of them is
unfair because he had a terrible race, not his fault,
(16:50):
but the rookie. Goodbye. Yeah, Joan is out. Um, I'm
not saying there isn't a time for him at some point.
It's not right now. It's not with you either. It's
not and it's not. It's not with Michael Costa. You
know who the second one is? I don't think Lance
Stroll has it. I think he's a paid driver. Goodbye.
(17:10):
This one might surprise you. Are you ready for my
my third bottom? It's Daniel Ricardo. I know, I know,
because there's so much hype and so much media attention
and so much thirst trap, but he it looked like
he sucked, which I'm not saying he did suck, but this.
(17:32):
You know I wanted more from him from a performance standpoint.
Keep in mind, Ly Gentlemen, this is the one race
I've watched my entire life. So I have no idea
he's he's never won a constructor's cuver. With he he
actually has placed on the podium for the driver's championship.
He got third once or twice. You know, it doesn't
help me either. When he was on the daily show,
(17:55):
the introduction, by the way, everyone at the daily show
loves him, said he was the nicest guy ever. Um,
but his introduction was one of the most well liked
racers in Formula One. I'm like, is it a liking competition? No,
it's a racing competition. Interestingly, a bit of an update
for you since we recorded our McLaren episode. Daniel Ricardo
is out at McLaren a year earlier than his contract
(18:18):
was slated to end at the end of next season.
I knew it, I saw it coming. He's going to
be living off grid. That's why we pay you the
big books. Not Fair, Daniel, but I've gotta go with Joe.
Goodbye Lance Stroll, Goodbye Daniel Ricardo. Good on your might. Yeah,
(18:42):
Oh damn, that was that it's not fair. No, none
of these choices are fair. We're not talking about fair,
we're just talking about my initial interpretation, and that is
something that you've got to put in the Max camp
doesn't seem to give a ship what people think about him.
Doesn't seem to go for the popularity. On test I'm
going to win, and he does also because he's got
(19:04):
everything handed to him. But Uh yeah, sorry, Daniel. You
seem like a nice guy, but interesting and okay. So,
of of the drivers, is there anyone that you would
like to see be a world champion in the future
who has not yet won a world championship? I was
surprised that I liked Carlos Sands as much as I did.
(19:25):
I didn't really think I would even have a reaction
to him. Helps that he's driving the awesome Ferrari car,
but and it helps that it was his home country.
But I was like, Oh, I keep keep kind of
like my eyes keep going over there. He sneaks up
on you, I will say he did for me too.
Right again, I was kind of okay, good for Carlos,
and then I slowly over times like you know, yeah,
he's a fun guy. Everyone's intrually like him. He doesn't.
(19:47):
He's really interesting to watch drive and he doesn't. I
mean he did have that spin out and I thought
he was gonna be out and then he was yelling
to his team. He was saying check the tires, and
I literally turned to lily and I'm like, does that
mean get out the car and look at the tires?
And she's like no, they do that like electronically. Okay,
I annoyed. And then just based on yeah, like what
we've talked about this season, all the teams, all the drivers,
(20:09):
and just glimpses of what we saw watching this race,
who is the driver that you'd be most likely to
want to like get a, you know, do that shoey
when we talked about Dinna Ricardo with the champagne and
the boot, like basically, who who would you feel like
you would vibe best with if you just had to
pick up pick a fave based on vibes or aesthetic
or personality? I have my initial instinct was immediate Checko. Yeah,
(20:35):
the immediate Checko, because I feel like this guy is
an excellent, excellent driver who has been all over the place.
They cut to one of the Latin fan and she
was going nuts and you're like checko has these like
super passionate fans, and I'm like, Oh, who? I want
to know more about this guy. Like he was just
told to lay up, but yet he it's just it's
all fascinating to me. I love that he's a dad.
(20:57):
You know that. I say that all the time, just
as his third kid. I think it's there's something so
humbling about being a parent, something so where you're not
the most important person in the world when you're a parent.
And yet this profession of race car, all it is
is b number one. I mean ship. If Checho Perez
lays up for Max and then goes home and his
wife's like today is your laundry day, you better do it.
(21:17):
That's gotta hurt. You know that's gotta hurt. And then
before we get to your favorites and we pick the favorites.
So out of the team principles we've talked about this season,
is there any that you wish could have coached you
during your your tennis grip, you had to have like
that archetype. So I liked when Charles of Ferrari was
(21:40):
out of the race and he kind of walked up
to the team principle of material and they kind of
had like a secret whisper into each other's ears and
I was kind of like, Oh, I wonder what engineering
sweet nothings that he whispered in his ear. You know
who knows, and you could kind of get the sense
that that team principle is not an old school we
funked up and this is on. You know, he's more
like there's more nuance and more subtlety to it, and
(22:04):
I always would have appreciated a coach who was a
little more tactical, a little more less like uh I
the tiger, you know, a little more like this is
a nuance sport. We've got to find our openings. That's
just my sense of how he is. The fact that
he looks like Waldo probably helps that. So, Um, that's
(22:26):
my initial impression on that. And is is there any
any team principle that you feel like you would have
wanted to avoid as as an athlete? I feel like
red bull entire team it just all feels tied up
in in nefarious under belly evilness. It irks me. He
(22:48):
irks me even though I like Alpha Torre. So what then,
does that mean? You know, you're not alone. I will
say not necessarily, because I think red bull can be
very poor sularizing team like even you know, I've been
to like race meetups before where they are just like
die hard red bull people who like think, yeah, Christian,
(23:08):
he just tells it like it is. Here there with helmet.
Marco too, it might be like a sureness, like a
confidence that's almost it's almost so high it's like just
towing it down a second, and that's what I've always
just wanted to do. With Ferrari, it felt confident, but
a little more like sophisticated. So the time has come.
We've spent an entire season of a podcast leading you
(23:29):
to this moment. There's been three years of my life exactly,
and we are going to first have you choose your
favorite team and then your favorite driver. But how we're
going to do that is almost like a podium. So
for the teams, who is your your third place? You're
what is that? The second runner up to need a second,
(23:50):
take a second, I need a second. This is big.
This is big. We're all on the edge of our seats.
Ten teams, so a third of the teams here. Man
Did Williams disappoint. You know I mean, I was just
so wanting them to be good. Depth. prethidate, prethidate, press. Okay, okay,
(24:18):
I think I'm ready my third team, which means the
team that I would be cheering for, the third, if
you understand how numbers work, it's Mercedes. Yeah, third. I know,
I'm surprised at this too. When you first introduced me
to Mercedes, that was like no chance, but watching their action,
(24:39):
their team there, I was impressed. Hate their car color,
but they got their ship together that you can just tell.
It's just a well oiled machine, as you would expect,
and the professionalism of their racing team and drivers permeates.
And is there a reason why they're third from the
top instead of the top top? Probably be their car color,
(25:01):
the dumbest reason ever. I just don't like the color.
I don't, I'm not like I don't feel anything visceral
when I see it. At their car. That's fair. Okay.
So so who is the second place? Our first loser,
as they would say, Um number two. For me, this
(25:23):
was tricky one, but I'm going to go with my
gut and I'm gonna say Alfhatari, a red bull affiliated team.
How big of you. Well, that's kind of why I
like them, because I don't like Red Bull. All the
attention goes to Max and check O every time they
beat Red Bull. Every time, you know, Pierre has a
good race, it's kind of like an F for you
(25:43):
to red bull a little bit. I like that interesting
and interesting, almost inverse reason to like them. I do
like Pierre. I think it's a fun duo. They don't
seem to hate each other. That's nice. Um, and I'm
the youngest in my family. Four kids, John Christy, todd, Michael.
You don't think every time I have some small level
(26:05):
of success, I don't call all my siblings and say
take that, that's for having me sit in the car,
in the car seat, waiting while everyone else gets I
don't even know where we're going as a family, but
I'm already strapped in. And that's why I'm passionate about them.
Alpha Torii has this young brother feeling vibe the energy.
(26:26):
You know, Oh look, it's a little red bulls brothers here.
You know that time everybody called me, Oh it's Costa's brother, me,
even though I am Costa Right, but they were thinking
of my older brother. So it's like. I like rooting
for the younger brother, the youngest sibling. You know, I
love when the little guy gets in there. So that's
(26:46):
my number two. And you know what my number one is?
You know what part of me almost wishes you're going
to come in here and be like Al Paine, but
I know that's not gonna happen. So who? Who is
your number one? After this long journey we have been on?
It goes back to where we start and it goes
back to where Michael started, in his bedroom as a
young boy, looking up at the wall because mom made
(27:08):
me go to bed and I would envision this beautiful
speed demon of machine, which was some kind of Ferrari
poster on the wall that my brother Todd probably got
somewhere and it's just always in my mind. Has always
been the epitome of cool, fast and and foreign, you know,
(27:31):
like non American. That's Ferrari. So I'm a sucker for it.
They got me and testament to their long term branding,
they're not changing names every two years and I like
their drivers a lot. Their drivers are freaking awesome. I
don't know what happened to their car this time. That
was really disappointed in that, but I just think it's
just it's it is very, very pleasing on the eye.
(27:56):
So are their drivers. Let's be honest. Come on, I
have a lot of questions. You know, we have seen
Ferrari go from first race this excitement that they're going
to be a championship contender, this is their time, they're
back in business. With the Spanish Grand Prix, we start
to see those reliability issues released come through. And then
(28:17):
there's the season we've had. You know, we have at
one point an engine being on fire on the side
of a track. We've got the team at a pit
stop literally forgetting a tire for a driver. We've got
endless strategic calls that people don't understand. So why, after
kind of the mess that Ferrario season has turned into,
(28:38):
are you rooting for this team? It's just it's inside
of me, you know, Ferraris inside of me. I feel them,
I am attached to them emotionally. Why did their engine explode?
Because they run it so goddamn fast. Why did they
forget a tire? Because they burned through so many, because
they're going so fast. Why did the other bad thing happen?
(29:00):
I don't know the logical answer but I know that
I laid in my bunk bed looking up at a
Ferrari poster, this core memory from your childhood so ingrained,
and I'm aware that it's childish, but all I can
be is me. All I can be is me, sports illustrated.
I heart media, Yohi, Lily Rob. That's all I can
(29:22):
be as me. And I like Ferrari. I like the
consonants in their word. I like the F it looks
fast to me. I like their colors, I like the poster.
It somehow makes me think of my brother as well.
You know, that's Ferrari. I'm a fan now. I much
like F one. We need a brief pit stop. We'll
(29:43):
be right back after the break. So before we get
to your top three, Michael, which we're all waiting with
bated breast here, let's let's kick it over to the
booth and hear what Yohi and rob think. After all
of this time of having to listen to us, do
we have to wow Michael? That? I mean, that was
(30:06):
hurtful after all we've been through. I just wanted to
share one thing. This actually has changed my thinking and now,
like I have a clear favorite driver and EST I think. Yeah,
I mean, first of all, he's just I think he's
given up the most to be on the grid. His
parents literally were like, we're gonna sell the house and
(30:27):
live in a trailer so that we can fund your career.
And imagine racing with that on your weight, like if
you don't win this F two or f three race now,
like all of the past three years, all of the
money we've put into it's all down the drain and
you're gonna go back to being a mechanic with your dad.
And then he wins the race. So he knows what
pressure is in a much deeper level than any of
these guys and I think nobody's really noticing him. But
(30:50):
he keeps being in the points, he keeps he never crashes.
He's very rarely crashes or makes mistakes that bring him
out and at the end of the day, I think
he's gonna you world champion one day. Okay, let it
be known, rob is like cheering over here because I
found that he just said it. He said what I found.
I love this. Estebon love, who is this turned into
(31:12):
a very fun finelle. Someone asked Lee Travino, the Golfer,
like how he stays so cool under pressure with these
puts for hundreds of thousands of dollars, and he said
that's not hard. What's hard is making at put when
all you have is five dollars in your pocket, and
that is like Yohis take on Esteban ocm. There's more pressure,
(31:35):
not because of the money in the stakes, because of
what's been given up for his miss family to be successful.
I like that. Okay, so it's time the driver. Who
is your your third place driver. I'm gonna tell you
right now who didn't make it. Check O. Checko is
(32:00):
not in my top three. Something about this race and
the whole red bull thing is really irking me. You'RE
gonna have to talk to him later. Checko made a
deal with the devil, you know what I mean, and
that's his he knew it, he signed it and that's
his deal. Major bed, you gotta lie in it. It
would be interesting for Checko to write a memoir, let's
(32:20):
put it that way. My third most like driver is
Lewis Hamilton's. I know, I know, he's the greatest driver
of all time. Blah, blah, blah. I just thought it
showed a lot of uh grit, even though he's the
greatest driver, makes the most money, has the best card.
(32:42):
He was in p nineteen. Someone crashed into him and
he bitched about it for a second and then I
thought climbed all the way up to the front thought
that was really that's the kind of athlete I would
want to coach. My second driver is, I'm gonna give
you a hint. Okay, I'm stupid. I'm stupid, Charles Leclair.
(33:05):
Charles Leclair, how did I say his name? Beautifully, fine enough. Yes,
I just I'm drawn to him. He has a self
awareness that I appreciate that that almost seems contradictory to
the EGO required to drive such a rocket ship. Saying
I am stupid wins me over. I'm a sucker for
any self deprecation. He just seems like he's a good
(33:28):
head on his shoulders, you know, and I'm rooting for
that and I like him. And maybe. Is he handsome? Yeah,
he's handsome and maybe sometimes when I look in the
mirror I kind of envision a Charles Leclair. They're getting
ready to do comedy. You know, you looked into those deep,
deep eyes and you see a little bit of Michael
Costa in Charlotte Claire. You know, even though he would
(33:49):
only probably his head, would make it up to my hips.
Michael Costa's number one driver. At this point, I'm looking
at the sheet just to throw lily off. I just
like the class, the Um, the confidence and, I believe,
the the composure and the non arrogance. George Russell. Yeah,
(34:16):
I like George Russell, who I said I was gonna hate. Okay,
so basically what you're saying. Okay, well's the first of
I'll say more about George. Yes, you you like that.
George like. George is always like George was like. I
like that he went up to the team principal when
he was nine or whatever, and he was a teenager.
But yes, whatever he's he's been passionate about wanting to race.
(34:38):
I think he has probably been overlooked in some capacity
and maybe they sent him off to that little junior camp.
That was Williams. Um. I just like his path and
um I just responded to it. We're also watching him
at a fun time too, yeah, with the new team,
and he's doing great right now, right. What is he
(35:00):
like out driving a car that obviously Lewis Hamilton's, is
struggling with it. Well, that's also the thing I liked
about that today that I didn't think about previously was,
and you brought it up, was he is? He was. Well,
I mean he's he's outperforming Lewis. Hamilton's the greatest and
he's just doing it quietly and succinctly and it's pretty
(35:20):
pretty Badass. George Russell. So I have to fucking Mercedes
drivers kind of. Damn it, I'm not at myself now.
So something that's been really interesting about this podcast season
and I guess by extension, this has come up when
I've talked to listeners about how this has gone. You know,
people have a lot of opinions on your various choices
or your your takes. As we've we've gone through all
(35:42):
these teams and drivers is I've really learned just how
subjective the concept of fandom is. So there are a
few bad reasons to dislike a team or a driver
or just anyone, but on the flip side, I actually
think that there are a lot of legitimate reasons to
root for a driver team. To second your thoughts, I'm
(36:03):
surprised at how subjective my own opinions have been as well.
So let's talk about colors for a second. I follow
closely tennis. I don't even know what color anyone ever
has or wears or what color their racket is or whatever,
because I guess I just know the players so deeply
that I'm I'm above the color thing, but when it
(36:27):
comes to this sport I realized it's very elementary. It was.
It was interesting to see that that's still kind of
what drew me in was certain colors. Well, hilariously enough, well,
I don't really care about car color or whatnot. When
I first started getting into Formula One, I was actually
really intrigued by Red Bull because I drank a lot
of vodka red bulls in college. So I felt they
(36:49):
weren't even good, but I felt a connection. I said,
you know, this is your core childhood memory. That was
unlocked with the Ferrari poster of mine was the amount
of time I spent probably over a toilet bowl as
a freshman college thanks to about Red Bull. Well, the
term branding gets thrown around a lot for a lot
of different things, but really, when you brand into our brain,
when you brand into our emotional cortex, it sticks around and,
(37:13):
to be quite frank, you know we had a whole
episode where I waxed poetic about my man underrated King
Beltree bodice. I did not always feel the way about
Baltrey bodice until I looked up his girlfriend and then
got intrigued by their whole dynamic and how much they
really seem to enjoy their time together. We are complex, layered,
contradictory beings, but also we're pretty simple. They were pretty shallow,
(37:38):
like his girlfriend is cool, like they seem nice. That
that drink was what I had a lot on weekends
ten years ago. So how do you suggest like wrapping
this thing up, like a like a goodbye? How do
we say goodbye? Do we have to say goodbye? That
feels so definitive. You know, I have a lot of questions.
(38:01):
We didn't even talk about pit stops. I have more.
I want to know about this intersection of Sport and technology.
We could get into fans, we get into how the
hell they travel these how do they travel? It's not
like they're going from Kansas City to St Louis. They're
crossing oceans. Tires. We could do a whole season on tires.
(38:24):
Lily wives. Hello the WAGS, which is short for and
girlfriends the contracts. Well, I know you loved silly season. Silly,
we could do an entire season of silly seasons. Yeah, plural.
You know what, Lily, let's not cry because it's over.
(38:46):
Let's smile because it happened. Hey, listeners, if you haven't
checked out the sport you should, because I didn't know
anything about it and it's very intriguing, interesting and thank
you for listening to the podcast. I'm Michael Costa, along
with Lily Herman, Robert John Oh leary, the second Max Miller. Goodbye.
(39:06):
Thank you. Thanks, everyone. This has been the first season
of choosing sides. F One, a production of sports illustrated
studios and I heart radio. This episode was produced by
(39:29):
Lily Herman and our senior producer you. Hi, my Tom,
who also did the sound design at the cutting room studios.
We are recorded by engineer rob O leary, the second
mastering by Cello wise blue. Max Miller is the supervising
and executive producer and Brandon Getchus is head of audio
at s I studios. At I heart radio, Sean Ty
(39:52):
toone is our executive producer. Extra special thanks go to
David McLeod of the cutting room studios, Paula Keller, Laurie Dunning,
Zev leaving, Federica Sazzo and Queen Daphne Baricut. For more
podcasts from my heart radio, visit the I heart radio APP,
apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts, and don't
(40:16):
forget to rate us and tell your friends. It'll mean
a lot. I think for me, if my input is given,
my top driver would have to be Charles, because I
think he's he's a winner and he's young. Um o'con
(40:37):
will definitely be in there and I think in the
future there's there's a lot there and it could go
either way. It could fall off or it could go well,
and then I feel like I have to pick a
legend too. So out of all like the O G
s of the sport right now, I think I like
(40:57):
that all
I don't know if this is relevant, but I have
to bring it up. On the way here today I
ran into my friend who's a comedian, and he goes,
what are you doing here? You're doing a podcast and
a Formula One he goes, oh, Max for stapping and
red bull is my team. This is like a friend
of mine who knows a lot about Formula One and
it's just unbelievable. It's it's in and this happens as
(00:21):
you dive into Formula One, you start to find there's
people out there that you didn't know. That our way
into it. I don't want to use the term closet,
if there are a lot of hidden Formula One fans,
especially in the US. Yeah, where you have no idea
or it's like the most random people I know. I
have a friend WHO's like not all into sports, but
one of her parents is European and she watched, she's
watched Formula One for for her entire life. Okay, UH, Michael,
(00:42):
we've reached our final destination. We're close to the checkered flag,
to to get metaphorical here. Today you're going to make
your choice for the team and driver you want to support,
but before we do that. We're going to watch a
race together from my heart radio and sports illustrated studios.
(01:04):
This is choosing sides. One, wow, wow, hey everyone, producer here. So,
as you may have guessed, this episode is going to
go a little bit differently than our traditional format and,
(01:27):
for the love of all that is holy, if this
is your first time listening, go back to the beginning.
This is not the episode to start with. That said, okay,
how was this episode going to be different? So, for
one thing, Um, we want to share with you moments
from Michael and Lily's time watching the two thousand and
twenty two Spanish Grand Prix. Part of the reason we
chose the Spanish Grand Prix is that we were looking
(01:49):
for a great beginner race that wasn't such a big
outlier that would be hard for Michael to understand what's
going on or why certain things matter. Plus, I really
wanted to a showcase a race that had some of
the dynamics and other issues that we talked about this season,
like the whole team orders idea that Michael really hated, Ferrari,
(02:09):
strategic and reliability issues and a lot more. Yeah, so
I'll be popping in here and there just to make
sure that you've got context Um, and then later on
we'll get back to Michael's choices. So, on that note,
off to the race. Bang they're off. Holy Shit, here
we go. I mean right out of the gate there's
(02:31):
people trying to make moves. That's very interesting. Okay, oh good,
the start is always chatic. Oh Yeah, already a touch. Okay,
this is terrifying. Oh yeah, lap one, Charles Leclair of Ferrari,
starting from a very promising pole position, keeps the lead
ahead of Max for stepping further down the grid, cars
are still jostling for position. How do the cars not
(02:53):
all just run into each other there like they usually do?
They do sometimes. Oh God, Spye, k Mag that was
Kevin Magnuson. It was Lewis. Yeah, Oh my God, still
in the first lap. Further down the field, Lewis Hamilton's
and Kevin Magnuson collide. Magnusson spins out into the gravel
(03:15):
and Hamilton's struggles to the pit with the punctured tire.
Lewis Hamilton's does half timeys do that car and drops
down through the field. Jolly, so that was already Chao.
Will somebody like review that to see if any shady
ship went down. Yeah, we're going to do I would say. Sorry.
Did Lewis just say like wrap it up? Yeah, basically,
(03:35):
and they're like don't do that. Yeah, we still think
we can achieve point to say today. So he may
be better. Is he kind of a whiny bitch? Sometimes
he can be a whiny bitch. Yeah, that was Carlos
Carlos Science lap seven, Ferrari driver, Carlos Signs Jr, spins
out and drops down the field, Carlos and the gravel,
(03:55):
and just like that Carlos's race prospects seemed to vanish.
Lap Twelve, red bull orders checo Perez to let his
teammate Max tapping through. Max is now in a battle
with George Russell of Mercedes for second place. Get me
knocked out o the way, so over take quick dude.
But with Max suffering from a mechanical issue, Checko asks
(04:16):
to overtake Max to try to get the lead. Oh Yeah,
so this is drama out of the way so I
can overtake quickly. Yeah, so he's saying, Hey, I'm going
to be faster, let me in. This is gonna be
the issue. You see what you're trying about the issue two. Yeah,
father of three boy, but you let me buy have
very fish stys. I A get back weekly. So Checko
(04:39):
just checked in with his team and said get Max
out of the way. Yeah, he's like, I can overtake quickly.
Wants the fucking podium. Mr Pope in the car. Checko's
request is denied and Max makes his move to overtake
George Russell. Oh my God, Whoa? Okay, Oh my God, Whoa?
(05:04):
My God, this is like me on the four oh
five trying to get to my audition. Lap Twenty Four.
Russell and his Mercedes continues spending off Max for Steppin's
Red Bull. Meanwhile Leclair and Ferrari, having started from poll
is comfortably in control of the race. We haven't even
mentioned Charles Leclair at this point. He's just in first,
just having to having an espresso just first. It works
(05:26):
as advantage that George is kind of holding up the
Red Bulls. Now what help? What help? Lap Leclaires Ferrari
power unit gives out. What the funk happened to Charles Leclair?
I just was saying he's is he out? He's dropping.
(05:48):
That is depressing. Leclaire rolls to a stop and he
ends up having to retire the car. This leaves Russell
and Max to battle for pole position for several laps. Meanwhile,
Mike and lily turn their attention lower on the grid.
So I was really excited to watch the Alpha Romeo car,
which we haven't seen a lot of yet. Is that Valterie? Yeah,
(06:12):
so Valtorie is in it. Joe. So the rookies? Yeah,
so Valteri is in p five right now, and then
Joe is in p fifteen, and Joe is the only rookie,
so he's he's a little bit further down, as if
by dark magic, as soon as lily and Costa start
talking about jog and you. So Joe, I'm afraid we
have a technically shot slow down at boxes step. Oh No,
(06:36):
I'm guessing it was also an engine is or some
sort of car issue, because I was so sudden. The
Ferrari engine in his Alpha Romeo starts sputtering, taking him
out of the race. Poor guy. I like Joe. They
don't spend a lot of time on Joe. No, they're
like poor guy. He was running somewhere in the back lap. Thirty.
Daniel Ricardo, the always positive ausi driver, is experiencing a
(06:57):
race he will prefer to forget. Kind of prize that
Daniel Ricardo, who gets so much attention media wise, is
raising a thirteen. And Atlando, watched my whole life. But Orlando,
WHO's sick? I mean he's pitting and he's still in
p ten in the pit. Yeah, he's probably gonna end
up littleit higher once all these other guys pit. Lap
Thirty one, with Max verstappend having pitted, his teammate, Czecho
(07:19):
Perez finally manages to overtake George Russell of Mercedes for
the lead. There's Checko. He just passed George, so he's
in first now. Holy Sh it. Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton's and
Carlos Science both are slogging their way up through the
midfield after having suffered horrible setbacks at the beginning of
the race. Lewis Hamilton's is absolutely loving its six point
(07:43):
four seconds now behind Carlos Science, gaining and gaining. They're
now in p seven and p eight, comfortably within the points.
To Watch somebody creep up from P nineteen. He's in
P eights. Meanwhile, I can't believe how much more comfortable
I am watching this than just an hour ago, you know,
(08:06):
like I kind of get getting the rhythm of it. Yeah,
and I'm kind of understanding what that is, and it's
very overwhelming at first. There's a lot of stimulation. Yea
lapt Czecho Perez is now leading the race, but then
gets instructions to let Max for stopping through, handing his
teammate the lead. Oh, I don't like Max for stepping.
I mean this he's just he's an excellent driver, but
(08:30):
come on, dude, it's just this is just being served
up to him on a freaking pedestal. It's outrageous to me.
Or stoppin will remain unchallenged for the rest of the race.
Another interesting fun fact. So Max is using the number
one because he's the world champion. Lewis opted to never
use the number one during his and meanwhile Max won it,
but it was controversially how he wanted and he took
(08:50):
it and he decided to start using his like racing
boots are now gold. Oh my God this you were
just saving that to Piss me off right all of
these episodes, you've been saving that. He has golden boots
in the number one, but despite Michael's hating, on for
a step, and it is a red bull one to
(09:12):
finish with Czecho Perez and second and George Russell and third.
As Max Parks his car and jumps out to celebrate
with his team, Michael Gets his first glimpse of the
golden boots. Get those fucking boots off your feet. Following
a brief yoga session to gently lower their heart rates,
(09:32):
Lillian Michael Convene at the studio to debrief. So, Michael,
I know you're your biggest thing that you were very
disappointed in was was red bulls team orders, for basically
you got to see it in action. Sergio Checho Perez
(09:53):
was was told to let Max through and basically told
to race his entire race around Max's racing strategy out.
It just goes against all competitive spirit. You know I
mean with I said, the favorite thing that I liked
about it was that you start here, you finish here.
Who Does it fastest, and you're basically giving one of
your athlete orders to let him through, three to top one, Max,
(10:17):
three one, and guess what he does? Pulls over and
lets him through, even though he says it's unfair, unfair,
but okay, it's like that's what my daughter says to
me when I'm like it's bedtime, you know, and she's like, well,
that's unfair, but you know, you have to be compliant.
You have to be compliant. So I don't like that.
I think that's a weakness. I told Yo hi, if
(10:41):
I was the team principal, I would say hey, Checko,
I'll give you quarter of a million dollar bonus if
you can keep Max off. And I would say hey, Max,
we'll give you quarter million dollars if you can pass Checko.
Let's see that competitive spirit would be nice. I've seen
them actually have a little Ding Dong, have a little
fight buck. They could have raced it out. They could
have raced it out to even the commentators said, let's
(11:01):
let him, let him have a little Ding Dong. Well,
not check out. Thank you for that drive. Today was
a very, very strong drive again for me. So thank
you for Andin the same game as well. What done? Yeah,
what issignate them. If you're Checko Perez, it might not
wear you down this time, it might not wear you
(11:22):
down next time, but you are not going to submit
yourself to this over and over and over again. Is
there anything else that was unexpected or surprising to you
actually getting to watch the sport after hearing about it?
Holy Shit, they talk about the tires a lot. They
love they love them at tire. Yeah, I mean it
must be very, very important. Um, I was very surprised
(11:47):
at how much tire talk there is. I was very
surprised that Ferrari's car just stopped working all of a sudden.
That sucks for the Claire. That'd be like if in
a different sport, if, like I have to drop out
of the baseball game my bat is broken. It's very
odd that you can just be out of the match
race because the equipment is toast. But that sucks, but
(12:09):
that's that's interesting. Um, you know, the teammates component was
clear to me before the race, but in the race
you really see how, how, how that has a lot
of layers, especially when, like Louis was trying to pass.
(12:29):
Was it your boy valtery and they have such a
history of being a teammate and other competitor. It's like
just so much more interesting to know that. And I
think one of the commentators said like Valterie not letting
Louis passed him like he's done for so many years previous.
I was like, well, that's really interesting to see that,
because I could see how, if you leave a team
now you're like, I'm tired of laying up for that guy,
(12:51):
I'm gonna try to beat him. So it's all very interesting.
And you loved the pit stops. You're a big fan
of very cool. I hate how fast he goes into
the IT. That's Checko and it's already off. Fast. I
mean it's like, don't look at your phone. It's over
(13:13):
two point six seconds. Someone came in at one point nine.
Are they really doing anything? What if they're just stopping
and then going kind of just so, yeah, it's it's fast, fast.
That's a fast, fast sport. You've watched a million races
(13:33):
and you know all the history of all this. I mean,
what of this race was interesting to you? Um, so
one of the things that still amazes me after watching
so many f one races is what team chatter on
the radio. They choose to show us as fans and
the audience. Right, that's it. That is really fascinating. Yeah,
I and I do again. They're they're selected with what
(13:54):
they play. So the fact that they played Louis wanted
to quit a couple of minutes in. That was one
of the more fascinating sporting observations that I've ever seen
in every sport. Of all the sport I've watched, you
basically have the greatest driver of all times saying let's
quit and save the car. As someone who has never
watched the sport, here's the seven world time champion, he's
(14:17):
in nineteenth place and he goes hey, let's just save
the car. was very funny. And then the guy on
the radio has to go like it's okay, we're gonna
keep racing. Well, you can do it. It's says, these
are still boys with giant egos. I also find it
funny that then Lewis kind of has his moment of like, okay,
I guess I will charge my way up the grid
and almost make the podium. I guess I'll be absolutely
(14:39):
world class now. Good Lad, good lad. So that's people, Lewis,
was an amazing race. Amazing race. You were the quickest
car all days, probably fast grace time would have gone
for the wind. So amazing. I remember back when we
started this, I asked you what you knew about Formula
One and you said. I think there's a Michael Guy
(15:00):
from the nineties who was a big deal. So what
what do you think of F one overall? Now, I
think it's awesome. You can talk all day long, but
seeing it is visually outrageous. It is such a beauty
of machine and man and data, lots of data. Yeah,
(15:22):
the drivers themselves, the placements of WHO's moving or or
beating who. You've got how far back they are from
the car in front of them. You've got sometimes fastest laugh. Yeah,
the fastest laugh. It's hard to not keep looking at it.
It's just visually so stunning and because there's no stoppages
of play, you don't blink because you're gonna miss something.
(15:42):
I just I thought it was really, really fun, and
you're probably gonna get me to watch it now, even
after this, even even after I'm out of your life, Lily,
and that's the dark dark really went downhill very quickly.
Thank you for guiding me through it. Thank you for
being my power unit. Is that weird? I could be
(16:06):
your I'm your race engineer. That's that's a much better
that's a much better term. We got a box, box, box.
We will in fact be right back after the break. Yeah,
before we get to your favorite and you make the
final selection. On the opposite end of the spectrum when
it comes to drivers, who are your bottom three drivers
(16:29):
where you're just straight up like and unfortunately will say, uh, Max,
you know, are our Meno, Heis boss as well, as
you have decided. Nicholas the TIEF, he cannot be in this,
in this mix. We were too hard on him. Who
are your bottom three? Okay, well, one of them is
unfair because he had a terrible race, not his fault,
(16:50):
but the rookie. Goodbye. Yeah, Joan is out. Um, I'm
not saying there isn't a time for him at some point.
It's not right now. It's not with you either. It's
not and it's not. It's not with Michael Costa. You
know who the second one is? I don't think Lance
Stroll has it. I think he's a paid driver. Goodbye.
(17:10):
This one might surprise you. Are you ready for my
my third bottom? It's Daniel Ricardo. I know, I know,
because there's so much hype and so much media attention
and so much thirst trap, but he it looked like
he sucked, which I'm not saying he did suck, but this.
(17:32):
You know I wanted more from him from a performance standpoint.
Keep in mind, Ly Gentlemen, this is the one race
I've watched my entire life. So I have no idea
he's he's never won a constructor's cuver. With he he
actually has placed on the podium for the driver's championship.
He got third once or twice. You know, it doesn't
help me either. When he was on the daily show,
(17:55):
the introduction, by the way, everyone at the daily show
loves him, said he was the nicest guy ever. Um,
but his introduction was one of the most well liked
racers in Formula One. I'm like, is it a liking competition? No,
it's a racing competition. Interestingly, a bit of an update
for you since we recorded our McLaren episode. Daniel Ricardo
is out at McLaren a year earlier than his contract
(18:18):
was slated to end at the end of next season.
I knew it, I saw it coming. He's going to
be living off grid. That's why we pay you the
big books. Not Fair, Daniel, but I've gotta go with Joe.
Goodbye Lance Stroll, Goodbye Daniel Ricardo. Good on your might. Yeah,
(18:42):
Oh damn, that was that it's not fair. No, none
of these choices are fair. We're not talking about fair,
we're just talking about my initial interpretation, and that is
something that you've got to put in the Max camp
doesn't seem to give a ship what people think about him.
Doesn't seem to go for the popularity. On test I'm
going to win, and he does also because he's got
(19:04):
everything handed to him. But Uh yeah, sorry, Daniel. You
seem like a nice guy, but interesting and okay. So,
of of the drivers, is there anyone that you would
like to see be a world champion in the future
who has not yet won a world championship? I was
surprised that I liked Carlos Sands as much as I did.
(19:25):
I didn't really think I would even have a reaction
to him. Helps that he's driving the awesome Ferrari car,
but and it helps that it was his home country.
But I was like, Oh, I keep keep kind of
like my eyes keep going over there. He sneaks up
on you, I will say he did for me too.
Right again, I was kind of okay, good for Carlos,
and then I slowly over times like you know, yeah,
he's a fun guy. Everyone's intrually like him. He doesn't.
(19:47):
He's really interesting to watch drive and he doesn't. I
mean he did have that spin out and I thought
he was gonna be out and then he was yelling
to his team. He was saying check the tires, and
I literally turned to lily and I'm like, does that
mean get out the car and look at the tires?
And she's like no, they do that like electronically. Okay,
I annoyed. And then just based on yeah, like what
we've talked about this season, all the teams, all the drivers,
(20:09):
and just glimpses of what we saw watching this race,
who is the driver that you'd be most likely to
want to like get a, you know, do that shoey
when we talked about Dinna Ricardo with the champagne and
the boot, like basically, who who would you feel like
you would vibe best with if you just had to
pick up pick a fave based on vibes or aesthetic
or personality? I have my initial instinct was immediate Checko. Yeah,
(20:35):
the immediate Checko, because I feel like this guy is
an excellent, excellent driver who has been all over the place.
They cut to one of the Latin fan and she
was going nuts and you're like checko has these like
super passionate fans, and I'm like, Oh, who? I want
to know more about this guy. Like he was just
told to lay up, but yet he it's just it's
all fascinating to me. I love that he's a dad.
(20:57):
You know that. I say that all the time, just
as his third kid. I think it's there's something so
humbling about being a parent, something so where you're not
the most important person in the world when you're a parent.
And yet this profession of race car, all it is
is b number one. I mean ship. If Checho Perez
lays up for Max and then goes home and his
wife's like today is your laundry day, you better do it.
(21:17):
That's gotta hurt. You know that's gotta hurt. And then
before we get to your favorites and we pick the favorites.
So out of the team principles we've talked about this season,
is there any that you wish could have coached you
during your your tennis grip, you had to have like
that archetype. So I liked when Charles of Ferrari was
(21:40):
out of the race and he kind of walked up
to the team principle of material and they kind of
had like a secret whisper into each other's ears and
I was kind of like, Oh, I wonder what engineering
sweet nothings that he whispered in his ear. You know
who knows, and you could kind of get the sense
that that team principle is not an old school we
funked up and this is on. You know, he's more
like there's more nuance and more subtlety to it, and
(22:04):
I always would have appreciated a coach who was a
little more tactical, a little more less like uh I
the tiger, you know, a little more like this is
a nuance sport. We've got to find our openings. That's
just my sense of how he is. The fact that
he looks like Waldo probably helps that. So, Um, that's
(22:26):
my initial impression on that. And is is there any
any team principle that you feel like you would have
wanted to avoid as as an athlete? I feel like
red bull entire team it just all feels tied up
in in nefarious under belly evilness. It irks me. He
(22:48):
irks me even though I like Alpha Torre. So what then,
does that mean? You know, you're not alone. I will
say not necessarily, because I think red bull can be
very poor sularizing team like even you know, I've been
to like race meetups before where they are just like
die hard red bull people who like think, yeah, Christian,
(23:08):
he just tells it like it is. Here there with helmet.
Marco too, it might be like a sureness, like a
confidence that's almost it's almost so high it's like just
towing it down a second, and that's what I've always
just wanted to do. With Ferrari, it felt confident, but
a little more like sophisticated. So the time has come.
We've spent an entire season of a podcast leading you
(23:29):
to this moment. There's been three years of my life exactly,
and we are going to first have you choose your
favorite team and then your favorite driver. But how we're
going to do that is almost like a podium. So
for the teams, who is your your third place? You're
what is that? The second runner up to need a second,
(23:50):
take a second, I need a second. This is big.
This is big. We're all on the edge of our seats.
Ten teams, so a third of the teams here. Man
Did Williams disappoint. You know I mean, I was just
so wanting them to be good. Depth. prethidate, prethidate, press. Okay, okay,
(24:18):
I think I'm ready my third team, which means the
team that I would be cheering for, the third, if
you understand how numbers work, it's Mercedes. Yeah, third. I know,
I'm surprised at this too. When you first introduced me
to Mercedes, that was like no chance, but watching their action,
(24:39):
their team there, I was impressed. Hate their car color,
but they got their ship together that you can just tell.
It's just a well oiled machine, as you would expect,
and the professionalism of their racing team and drivers permeates.
And is there a reason why they're third from the
top instead of the top top? Probably be their car color,
(25:01):
the dumbest reason ever. I just don't like the color.
I don't, I'm not like I don't feel anything visceral
when I see it. At their car. That's fair. Okay.
So so who is the second place? Our first loser,
as they would say, Um number two. For me, this
(25:23):
was tricky one, but I'm going to go with my
gut and I'm gonna say Alfhatari, a red bull affiliated team.
How big of you. Well, that's kind of why I
like them, because I don't like Red Bull. All the
attention goes to Max and check O every time they
beat Red Bull. Every time, you know, Pierre has a
good race, it's kind of like an F for you
(25:43):
to red bull a little bit. I like that interesting
and interesting, almost inverse reason to like them. I do
like Pierre. I think it's a fun duo. They don't
seem to hate each other. That's nice. Um, and I'm
the youngest in my family. Four kids, John Christy, todd, Michael.
You don't think every time I have some small level
(26:05):
of success, I don't call all my siblings and say
take that, that's for having me sit in the car,
in the car seat, waiting while everyone else gets I
don't even know where we're going as a family, but
I'm already strapped in. And that's why I'm passionate about them.
Alpha Torii has this young brother feeling vibe the energy.
(26:26):
You know, Oh look, it's a little red bulls brothers here.
You know that time everybody called me, Oh it's Costa's brother, me,
even though I am Costa Right, but they were thinking
of my older brother. So it's like. I like rooting
for the younger brother, the youngest sibling. You know, I
love when the little guy gets in there. So that's
(26:46):
my number two. And you know what my number one is?
You know what part of me almost wishes you're going
to come in here and be like Al Paine, but
I know that's not gonna happen. So who? Who is
your number one? After this long journey we have been on?
It goes back to where we start and it goes
back to where Michael started, in his bedroom as a
young boy, looking up at the wall because mom made
(27:08):
me go to bed and I would envision this beautiful
speed demon of machine, which was some kind of Ferrari
poster on the wall that my brother Todd probably got
somewhere and it's just always in my mind. Has always
been the epitome of cool, fast and and foreign, you know,
(27:31):
like non American. That's Ferrari. So I'm a sucker for it.
They got me and testament to their long term branding,
they're not changing names every two years and I like
their drivers a lot. Their drivers are freaking awesome. I
don't know what happened to their car this time. That
was really disappointed in that, but I just think it's
just it's it is very, very pleasing on the eye.
(27:56):
So are their drivers. Let's be honest. Come on, I
have a lot of questions. You know, we have seen
Ferrari go from first race this excitement that they're going
to be a championship contender, this is their time, they're
back in business. With the Spanish Grand Prix, we start
to see those reliability issues released come through. And then
(28:17):
there's the season we've had. You know, we have at
one point an engine being on fire on the side
of a track. We've got the team at a pit
stop literally forgetting a tire for a driver. We've got
endless strategic calls that people don't understand. So why, after
kind of the mess that Ferrario season has turned into,
(28:38):
are you rooting for this team? It's just it's inside
of me, you know, Ferraris inside of me. I feel them,
I am attached to them emotionally. Why did their engine explode?
Because they run it so goddamn fast. Why did they
forget a tire? Because they burned through so many, because
they're going so fast. Why did the other bad thing happen?
(29:00):
I don't know the logical answer but I know that
I laid in my bunk bed looking up at a
Ferrari poster, this core memory from your childhood so ingrained,
and I'm aware that it's childish, but all I can
be is me. All I can be is me, sports illustrated.
I heart media, Yohi, Lily Rob. That's all I can
(29:22):
be as me. And I like Ferrari. I like the
consonants in their word. I like the F it looks
fast to me. I like their colors, I like the poster.
It somehow makes me think of my brother as well.
You know, that's Ferrari. I'm a fan now. I much
like F one. We need a brief pit stop. We'll
(29:43):
be right back after the break. So before we get
to your top three, Michael, which we're all waiting with
bated breast here, let's let's kick it over to the
booth and hear what Yohi and rob think. After all
of this time of having to listen to us, do
we have to wow Michael? That? I mean, that was
(30:06):
hurtful after all we've been through. I just wanted to
share one thing. This actually has changed my thinking and now,
like I have a clear favorite driver and EST I think. Yeah,
I mean, first of all, he's just I think he's
given up the most to be on the grid. His
parents literally were like, we're gonna sell the house and
(30:27):
live in a trailer so that we can fund your career.
And imagine racing with that on your weight, like if
you don't win this F two or f three race now,
like all of the past three years, all of the
money we've put into it's all down the drain and
you're gonna go back to being a mechanic with your dad.
And then he wins the race. So he knows what
pressure is in a much deeper level than any of
these guys and I think nobody's really noticing him. But
(30:50):
he keeps being in the points, he keeps he never crashes.
He's very rarely crashes or makes mistakes that bring him
out and at the end of the day, I think
he's gonna you world champion one day. Okay, let it
be known, rob is like cheering over here because I
found that he just said it. He said what I found.
I love this. Estebon love, who is this turned into
(31:12):
a very fun finelle. Someone asked Lee Travino, the Golfer,
like how he stays so cool under pressure with these
puts for hundreds of thousands of dollars, and he said
that's not hard. What's hard is making at put when
all you have is five dollars in your pocket, and
that is like Yohis take on Esteban ocm. There's more pressure,
(31:35):
not because of the money in the stakes, because of
what's been given up for his miss family to be successful.
I like that. Okay, so it's time the driver. Who
is your your third place driver. I'm gonna tell you
right now who didn't make it. Check O. Checko is
(32:00):
not in my top three. Something about this race and
the whole red bull thing is really irking me. You'RE
gonna have to talk to him later. Checko made a
deal with the devil, you know what I mean, and
that's his he knew it, he signed it and that's
his deal. Major bed, you gotta lie in it. It
would be interesting for Checko to write a memoir, let's
(32:20):
put it that way. My third most like driver is
Lewis Hamilton's. I know, I know, he's the greatest driver
of all time. Blah, blah, blah. I just thought it
showed a lot of uh grit, even though he's the
greatest driver, makes the most money, has the best card.
(32:42):
He was in p nineteen. Someone crashed into him and
he bitched about it for a second and then I
thought climbed all the way up to the front thought
that was really that's the kind of athlete I would
want to coach. My second driver is, I'm gonna give
you a hint. Okay, I'm stupid. I'm stupid, Charles Leclair.
(33:05):
Charles Leclair, how did I say his name? Beautifully, fine enough. Yes,
I just I'm drawn to him. He has a self
awareness that I appreciate that that almost seems contradictory to
the EGO required to drive such a rocket ship. Saying
I am stupid wins me over. I'm a sucker for
any self deprecation. He just seems like he's a good
(33:28):
head on his shoulders, you know, and I'm rooting for
that and I like him. And maybe. Is he handsome? Yeah,
he's handsome and maybe sometimes when I look in the
mirror I kind of envision a Charles Leclair. They're getting
ready to do comedy. You know, you looked into those deep,
deep eyes and you see a little bit of Michael
Costa in Charlotte Claire. You know, even though he would
(33:49):
only probably his head, would make it up to my hips.
Michael Costa's number one driver. At this point, I'm looking
at the sheet just to throw lily off. I just
like the class, the Um, the confidence and, I believe,
the the composure and the non arrogance. George Russell. Yeah,
(34:16):
I like George Russell, who I said I was gonna hate. Okay,
so basically what you're saying. Okay, well's the first of
I'll say more about George. Yes, you you like that.
George like. George is always like George was like. I
like that he went up to the team principal when
he was nine or whatever, and he was a teenager.
But yes, whatever he's he's been passionate about wanting to race.
(34:38):
I think he has probably been overlooked in some capacity
and maybe they sent him off to that little junior camp.
That was Williams. Um. I just like his path and
um I just responded to it. We're also watching him
at a fun time too, yeah, with the new team,
and he's doing great right now, right. What is he
(35:00):
like out driving a car that obviously Lewis Hamilton's, is
struggling with it. Well, that's also the thing I liked
about that today that I didn't think about previously was,
and you brought it up, was he is? He was. Well,
I mean he's he's outperforming Lewis. Hamilton's the greatest and
he's just doing it quietly and succinctly and it's pretty
(35:20):
pretty Badass. George Russell. So I have to fucking Mercedes
drivers kind of. Damn it, I'm not at myself now.
So something that's been really interesting about this podcast season
and I guess by extension, this has come up when
I've talked to listeners about how this has gone. You know,
people have a lot of opinions on your various choices
or your your takes. As we've we've gone through all
(35:42):
these teams and drivers is I've really learned just how
subjective the concept of fandom is. So there are a
few bad reasons to dislike a team or a driver
or just anyone, but on the flip side, I actually
think that there are a lot of legitimate reasons to
root for a driver team. To second your thoughts, I'm
(36:03):
surprised at how subjective my own opinions have been as well.
So let's talk about colors for a second. I follow
closely tennis. I don't even know what color anyone ever
has or wears or what color their racket is or whatever,
because I guess I just know the players so deeply
that I'm I'm above the color thing, but when it
(36:27):
comes to this sport I realized it's very elementary. It was.
It was interesting to see that that's still kind of
what drew me in was certain colors. Well, hilariously enough, well,
I don't really care about car color or whatnot. When
I first started getting into Formula One, I was actually
really intrigued by Red Bull because I drank a lot
of vodka red bulls in college. So I felt they
(36:49):
weren't even good, but I felt a connection. I said,
you know, this is your core childhood memory. That was
unlocked with the Ferrari poster of mine was the amount
of time I spent probably over a toilet bowl as
a freshman college thanks to about Red Bull. Well, the
term branding gets thrown around a lot for a lot
of different things, but really, when you brand into our brain,
when you brand into our emotional cortex, it sticks around and,
(37:13):
to be quite frank, you know we had a whole
episode where I waxed poetic about my man underrated King
Beltree bodice. I did not always feel the way about
Baltrey bodice until I looked up his girlfriend and then
got intrigued by their whole dynamic and how much they
really seem to enjoy their time together. We are complex, layered,
contradictory beings, but also we're pretty simple. They were pretty shallow,
(37:38):
like his girlfriend is cool, like they seem nice. That
that drink was what I had a lot on weekends
ten years ago. So how do you suggest like wrapping
this thing up, like a like a goodbye? How do
we say goodbye? Do we have to say goodbye? That
feels so definitive. You know, I have a lot of questions.
(38:01):
We didn't even talk about pit stops. I have more.
I want to know about this intersection of Sport and technology.
We could get into fans, we get into how the
hell they travel these how do they travel? It's not
like they're going from Kansas City to St Louis. They're
crossing oceans. Tires. We could do a whole season on tires.
(38:24):
Lily wives. Hello the WAGS, which is short for and
girlfriends the contracts. Well, I know you loved silly season. Silly,
we could do an entire season of silly seasons. Yeah, plural.
You know what, Lily, let's not cry because it's over.
(38:46):
Let's smile because it happened. Hey, listeners, if you haven't
checked out the sport you should, because I didn't know
anything about it and it's very intriguing, interesting and thank
you for listening to the podcast. I'm Michael Costa, along
with Lily Herman, Robert John Oh leary, the second Max Miller. Goodbye.
(39:06):
Thank you. Thanks, everyone. This has been the first season
of choosing sides. F One, a production of sports illustrated
studios and I heart radio. This episode was produced by
(39:29):
Lily Herman and our senior producer you. Hi, my Tom,
who also did the sound design at the cutting room studios.
We are recorded by engineer rob O leary, the second
mastering by Cello wise blue. Max Miller is the supervising
and executive producer and Brandon Getchus is head of audio
at s I studios. At I heart radio, Sean Ty
(39:52):
toone is our executive producer. Extra special thanks go to
David McLeod of the cutting room studios, Paula Keller, Laurie Dunning,
Zev leaving, Federica Sazzo and Queen Daphne Baricut. For more
podcasts from my heart radio, visit the I heart radio APP,
apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts, and don't
(40:16):
forget to rate us and tell your friends. It'll mean
a lot. I think for me, if my input is given,
my top driver would have to be Charles, because I
think he's he's a winner and he's young. Um o'con
(40:37):
will definitely be in there and I think in the
future there's there's a lot there and it could go
either way. It could fall off or it could go well,
and then I feel like I have to pick a
legend too. So out of all like the O G
s of the sport right now, I think I like
(40:57):
that all
Host
Michael Kosta
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