2 Soft Compounds
2 Soft Compounds is a weekly podcast focusing on Formula 1, hosted by radio broadcaster Rick Houghton and motorsport journalist and GrandPrix247 founder, Paul Velasco.
With a focus on unfiltered analysis, behind-the-scenes insights and expert commentary, the podcast offers fans an entertaining and informative take on the fastest sport in the world.
2 Soft Compounds
Singapore GP Preview: Is Verstappen Back in The Title Race? Or Is It Still A Two Horse Race?
This week on Two Soft Compounds, Rick and Paul set the stage for Singapore, where the championship battle could be blown wide open.
Max Verstappen looks unstoppable after back-to-back dominant weekends, even sneaking in a Ferrari GT3 win on his “time off.” Has Red Bull unlocked something that puts him firmly back in the title race? And what does that mean for McLaren, who are juggling a constructors’ title push, a messy London court case, and rising tensions between Norris and Piastri?
The guys also dive into Giancarlo Fisichella’s eyebrow-raising claim that Christian Horner and Flavio Briatore could team up at Alpine, and they don’t hold back on Stefano Domenicali’s controversial comments about F1 fans and sprint racing.
Elsewhere, Ferrari face fresh uncertainty: Charles Leclerc is rumored to be exploring options beyond Maranello, and Lewis Hamilton copes with personal loss as questions mount about his focus. Plus, could Yuki Tsunoda find a lifeline with Aston Martin?
With Nikki from @LightsOut bringing the stats that matter, Rick and Paul break down who could shine under the lights of Marina Bay, and whether Verstappen can finally conquer the only circuit he’s never won on.
Production Credits:
Presented by: Rick Houghton & Paul Velasco
Studio Engineer & Editor: Roy D'Monte
Executive Producer: Ian Carless
Produced by: W4 Podcast Studio & GrandPrix247
I don't make mistakes, I make properties that immediately turn out to be wrong. Anything can happen in Formula One, and it usually does. Hey, welcome to another episode of Two Soft Compounds with me, Rick and Paul Velasco, the founder and editor-in-chief of Grand Prix247.com. Lots to talk about ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix. There seems to be a lot going on in the background of Formula One at the moment. We're going to start by talking about Max Versteppen. We saw last time out that he is can is going to be a contender in the Drivers' Championship once again. And then what does he do when he has a weekend off? He goes and wins in a Ferrari GT3. I mean the guy's just unstoppable. And if you know if you're a if you're one of the McLaren drivers and you see him winning that race with Ferrari, uh, well, you're thinking two things. You're thinking he's definitely a threat. And if you're Lewis Hamilton, you're thinking, well, he's won in a Ferrari before I have. Ha ha ha, nice.
SPEAKER_02:Well, no, not fair, not fair. He did win a sprint. Lewis won the sprint in China. Okay, okay. So take that back. Don't be nasty. Okay. Yeah, but Max, you know, just doing wonder stuff at uh at Norch Life. If you just do Norch Life with a Staple and then you look at the people are just like over the moon. I mean, just totally gobsmacked by the guys. Yeah. And you know, it's weekend off, and the guy's doing this, you know. So honestly, hats off to him. He's going far beyond what I actually even imagined he would be doing, you know. So in terms of the championship, man, look, I'm gonna put it this way. I think they found something in that car. And I'm gonna say Monza, okay, maybe a fluke. Let's just say then Baku, very it although it's got the the the big sweeps, it's a very different track. You know what I mean? It's like to stop, go, mm-mm, and like you know, chicanes and all that kind of s narrow walls and that. Boom. He was dominant there. Okay, coincidence? Okay, I'll give it to you coincidence. But if he hammers at home at Singapore, then we've got us a championship. And I and I'm gonna do this when in doubt and I'm not in doubt, I put my money on Max. And I think Max I hope he proves me right, because that's the only thing that's gonna keep this championship non-MLaren. And although I'm a McLaren fan, I need them to win it on merit and not just because they had an ultra superior car. So if now this Red Bull, RB21, is in a window which even Yuki Tsunoda can drive, because he drove you know, he drove a reasonably good race uh in Baku and he was up there and he felt more he seemed more comfortable in the car. Uh I think McLaren are getting a big wake-up call because McLaren at the moment they got so many balls in the air, court cases, the two drivers going for the championship, you know, and the and and actually a downturn in form. Let's not forget one thing, collectively, they uh scored six points in Azerbaijan. And that's pretty much telling because that's the lowest score they've scored this whole season. And uh yeah, they got to bounce back from that.
SPEAKER_01:Uh yeah, I'll tell you what is telling about McLaren at the moment is that they've come out with a statement saying that they're confident of the performance they will bring to the Singapore race weekend. Now, to me, and I know it's not, but Singapore is is very similar to Baku in terms of trade in terms of the long straits. So I'm thinking, why they made this statement? It's it's a bit unusual to come out, you know, five days before the race and say, Yeah, we're really confident. Thanks very much. Is that for the team to give themselves a boost?
SPEAKER_02:I've got a bit of a contention. I think they AI instigate that. Say, okay, Andrea said, because honestly, it's the with McLaren specifically, it's like normally three or four sentences, how they all love being back in Singapore. I've never ever everyone said, shit, man, I can't really, I can't stand going to Singapore, I can't stand going to Suzuka. It's always the same thing. And I don't take those previews very seriously. I just think they're they're but anyway, let's see. Let's see what they bring because they really need to bring some something super serious, don't you believe?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, without a doubt. And now Mac is on a charge, and like you say, they've unlocked that Red Bull car. Yeah, I mean, this could be one of the best ever Formula One seasons, especially if it goes down to the wire at Abu Dhabi one. We're looking at three different drivers who could all win the driver's title in that final race. I mean, it's just gonna be unbelievable.
SPEAKER_02:Let's also not forget one important thing. McLaren, I think, are going to win the constructors championship. They just need 13 points, I believe. I mean, you're the maths guy, but I've heard that they just need 13 points from the weekend and they've won a constructors champion. And for that, just let's separate the current bit of kind of like wobble that they're having. Uh, kudos to Zach Brown, Andres Stella, because uh I were gonna give them a crown already because they've just done a fantastic job, and there's no one, there's no way any team's gonna close them up. I mean, Fisapin's a one-man team, um Mercedes is a one-man team, and Ferrari, like our uh zero-man team. So, you know what I mean? End of the day, uh, I just see McLaren and the success that they've got in the five to six years that that uh Zach Brown promised. Yeah. And I as a McLaren fan, I'm proud of them. I think they're good. I have that they have this uh conundrum with the drivers, but uh so be it. I don't care. The team is right up there, winning again.
SPEAKER_01:And worth mentioning, as you touched on earlier, McLaren uh in the centre of legal action uh in a London court case. This is to do with Alex Pelow. Um but I noticed that Zach Brown is on the witness list, so that could be quite juicy over the next few days.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, yeah, it's got something to do with the contract. Palu has got a drive for them, and they promised Formula One. And that listen, mate, no driver's gonna get a drive in McLaren as long as Piastri and Morris is there. And if they keep harmonious, why won't they be there for four or five years? So what's Palu gonna do? Sit there. I don't know what went down, but it was apparently promises were made, and Palu kind of had was a bit arrogant about it. But anyway, it will be a nice one to watch, you know, a good one to keep an eye on. But again, I'm asking you this question. Don't you think this all this kind of stuff just distracts? You don't need this kind of thing at the moment, do you?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, exactly. And uh, you know, if you've got Zach Brown, the team principal who's gonna have to haul himself into the witness box, that's a massive distraction heading into a you know, which it could be a could be a season-turning race that this coming weekend in Singapore. You know, if Max obliterates McLaren again, it really is game on, and you need Zach Brown firing on all cylinders.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, you know, I think Zach's a bit of a hands-off guy. I think Stella runs the show. Zach shoots his shoots it off, and Stella does. And Stella's very articulate. I love listening to him talk, you know. I'll tell you what, eh, all those guys at working, the one thing they couldn't get rid of regarding Ron Dennis is Ron speak. They're all just Ron Speak to death. You know what I mean? So uh, yeah, I mean, I think Zach doesn't I think he calls the big shots with the team, but I think the day-to-day running, I think that's Stella.
SPEAKER_01:Okay, let's move on. Uh some more Formula One news that's uh sort of broken over the last few days is uh Giancarlo Fischer Keller says that he thinks Christian Horner and Flavio Briatori are gonna end up as joint team principals at Alpine. I mean, can you imagine those two characters working alongside each other? It's just never gonna work. Yeah, I do.
SPEAKER_02:I mean, he's not way out the loop there, because another thing that's important to notice about you see, it's very important when we to understand uh when you cover the narrative of Formula One like we do on our site, where we try and get everybody, you know, you won't see Fissi Keller's quotes on BBC, you know, you won't see Ralph Schumacher's quotes on BBC or Sky or that, they've got their own narrative spoken by their own people. The thing about us is we can go and get what Brundle says, and we can go and get what Damon Hill says, and we can go and get what Ralph Schumacher says, we can go and get what Emerson Fittipaldi says, you know, because that's the way we we want to give every side of the story. Now, when you do that, you've always got to ask why is Fisikella saying this? Because these guys have to cover their asses, you know what I mean? Whether you're Ricciardo Petresi, whether Jacques Villeneuve, even to a certain or Jacques doesn't really care. Montoya to a certain extent, because he's his son is driving. They got to be slightly careful on how they opinionate themselves. And I always ask myself, what is Fisekella's connection to the story? Well, Fisikella drove for Briatore for a long time, and uh they are buddies, they are mates. So we publish that and we see what he's saying, which suggests to me that in conversations with his inner circle, which I assume would include Flavio Briotore, there's this talk that you know Horner might go there. I don't know. I think I do believe this. I believe that Alpine are basically being dismantled by Briotore, although I can't give you receipts. I'm just it's a hunch I have, so that it can be sold at as low as possible, which is very difficult now because Formula One's booming, and you know, a team that was worth half uh uh half a billion dollars five years ago is now worth two billion dollars. So, you know, and uh yeah, I don't know. I'm gonna let this one play out. I don't know. I because I can't, you know, Horner is his own man, he can do what he wants. It's like, why would he unite with Flavio Briattori? Why wouldn't he just build a much better crew? Because there's a lot of guys out there that so I don't know. I it doesn't make sense to me, but hey, if Isikella's saying it, it's not like I've invented it or our website invented it. He says it. So where there's smoke, there's a fire. Let's work on that pretext.
SPEAKER_01:Uh, another thing where you touched on Formula One management, you touched on the sport as a whole there. Um, we've had some statements coming from uh the top brass of Formula One. Um, one of the quotes I saw was Aside from older diehard fans, everyone wants sprint racing. And this debate started a few weeks ago when they were saying that younger Formula One fans don't have the attention span to watch a race that lasts nearly two hours. Um, in my opinion, and yes, I'm an old Formula One diehard fan, uh, reducing the length of the main race to something that's palatable to a 16-year-old kid who hasn't got an attention span would be an absolute disaster.
SPEAKER_02:Mate, uh that that statement from Domenicali actually really irked Jad Malek because, like you, he considers himself one of those fans that he's disparaging there. And um, yeah, I think what Domenicali forgets is that it was this base of us boomers that actually believed in the sport when everyone used to poo-poo about it. You've got to remember one thing, yeah, and you'll know this and you'll back me up. Up until the like the 2000s, everywhere in the world you couldn't find Formula One reports in the sports pages. There were sports editors who refused to cover Formula One. You know, they didn't consider it a sport for many, many, many years. We did, we sat in there, we grew the sport, we watched our legends die, we mourned when they died. We fucking we did a lot for the sport. Now to marginalize it, to make it what it is, the legends, we tell the stories of the legends, you know, and for them to turn around and say, Oh, well, the old boys, well, you know what? The young guys are gonna be old bastards one time too. They're like us, those young boys are gonna be old bastards like us. So don't wipe away the legacy of this sport and the fan base that actually supported it so thick and thin when they nearly went bankrupt, when Bernie was stealing, all that stuff that we've had to put through, you know, the tobacco sponsorships, which I applaud. But you know, if you want to look at nasty stuff that and going to dictatorships and stuff like that to go and race where no one would race. Come on, man. We stood by our sport, and because we stood by it, it didn't cave in and it didn't die, and now it's booming, and now that it's booming, he wants to kick us off the boat. Well, fuck Domenicali, mate. Really, fuck him.
SPEAKER_01:Okay, let's move on to Ferrari. Um, I'm gonna start by talking about Charles Leclerc because most of the headlines have been about Lewis Hamilton over the last few days. But I want to talk talk about Charles. Rumour has it that his management are now approaching a number of other teams, including Mercedes, including Aston Martin. Really? Yeah. Uh well that's it's what I've read over the last uh couple of days. I read that one. No, on planetf1.com. Okay. So yeah, apparently um he's unhappy with what's happening of Ferrari. Um, he's unhappy that they're not providing him with a car he can win in, and he's exploring options perhaps for as early as next year, although he has a contract with Ferrari, I think, for next year.
SPEAKER_02:Um, but yeah, that's a big, big, huge, huge story because yeah, well, let's see. I don't know. I mean, I you've caught me uh red-handed yet, so I can't say. I just think Charles going through a really sort of like uh indifferent patch in his career. I mean, you know, when I yeah, when I say these things, I always pretext it with you've got to compare it to Max Verstappen, you know, because he's the benchmark. So you so when I could look at where Max is, and Max, I don't know about you, but I just think he gets better and better and better and better. Oh, without you know, even if it's micro, I don't know, every session he just gets better. Whereas I don't see that with Charles. I've seen it with very few. I've seen it with George a bit, George Russell. I think he's been incrementally getting better now that he's loosened from the whole he's like the number one driver. But honestly, um I don't see that with Charles. I think he's plateaued, and um, yeah, he's still making mistakes as we saw in Baku that he made five years ago, you know. So um, I don't see an evolution of a driver there, but again, I think it's down to the team. Uh, I think sometimes these drivers go there and they forget that they actually want to be Formula One world champions first and foremost, not just Ferrari drivers. You know, maybe that's the thing that's happening with Charles. I don't know.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I mean, he's getting older. Maybe he's just thinking, I you know, I want to win the world championship. I need to look at the options that put me in the best car to be able to achieve that.
SPEAKER_02:You just but where's he gonna go? Where is he gonna go?
SPEAKER_01:Well, the teams I heard he was talking to was uh Mercedes, also Aston Martin. Aston Martin, though, is a bit of a sealed book at the moment in in until Sunshine buggers off. Um, but yeah, I mean, uh maybe I also heard he was talking to McLaren, but like you said earlier, no one's gonna replace Piastri and Norris in that car.
SPEAKER_02:Okay, well, that's news to me, and I'm gonna actually to get the the bottom line of that, because you know what, Planet F1, I respect them. I think they're they're a good you know website for information and uh obviously probably the benchmark of the type of site we would want to be in the future, although we just don't have the resources they have. But uh the reality is I'm not gonna discredit them. I think you know it makes me want to look, but any to get any of the truth on what's happening at Ferrari, no matter what the English media report, you've got to go to Italy, you've got to go to like Leo Torini, and you've got to go to those guys that are actually plugged into Marinella, not the guys who are just like sitting there, hey, there's no clicks, what should we thumbsuck today? I'm not saying that that's the issue with this, but you know, yeah. But it's the first I've heard of it. And uh, but I was the question where's he gonna go, you know. But anyway, let's maybe that's an argument for another time, but for now, um I'm I'll have to wait and see on that. I'll report back.
SPEAKER_01:There you go. Okay. Uh, and then continuing Ferrari and on to Lewis Hamilton, who's had a torrid couple of days, uh losing his beloved Roscoe, um, who let's face it was uh a very well-liked and spoiled pooch. He was in the Formula One.
SPEAKER_02:He was well loved.
SPEAKER_01:He missed a uh Parelli tire test to be with uh with with the ailing uh Roscoe. Um what's your views on that then, Paul?
SPEAKER_02:In my lifetime, I've lost a lot of pets, uh several, let's say, and two or three probably dying in my hands, and so I know that pain that he's going through, and I relate to him. I don't know if I would have tweeted out to 40 million followers the way he did, asking for prayers for his dog. I don't know, I'm not I'm not a religious guy, and I just feel praying for dogs. Anyway, this is not about Lewis, it's about Roscoe, and let's be honest, Roscoe was a mascot that I think almost became uh a regular in the paddock whenever Lewis could take him there, and was very much part of his peak, and uh the dog had an amazing life, if you think about it, like super amazing life, jetting to world championships. I mean, fated like a sat in a Formula One car, uh had a Jeep, you know, beautiful. I mean, really, it's a beautiful love story between Lewis and his dog. So, yeah, I'm uh I feel sorry that he's had this loss, and uh unfortunately I just find that there's something that just bugs me about it, you know, and like I love Lewis like a son. But honestly, the kids in the world in the UK let's forget Africa, UK kids don't get that kind of treatment and they're human beings. So I kind of understand and I feel for Lewis, but at the same time I just felt that it was a little distasteful, and that's all I'm gonna say on the subject.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I you know what, I think what you say actually holds a lot of credence. I think you know, if if I had a beloved pet who became ill, fell into a coma and then died this week, this week, I would probably I'd be just as bereft as Lewis. Would I use my social media to to ask for prayers and things? I don't know. Probably would actually. Probably would.
SPEAKER_02:You would. I I don't think I would well, I don't know. You can't, you know, I'm not in Lewis's position. I don't think he has many friends, to be honest with you, like genuine bros. I don't think he's got a crew, like I know Max has and Carlos has. I don't think I think he's quite a lonely guy, and I feel that that probably exacerbated the loss uh in terms of that. So yeah, I mean, you know, I hope it doesn't impact his driving, you know, because remember this comes in the wake of him saying things like I'm useless, someone has they should replace me, I'm I'm more into art than cars, and now his dog dies. So there's a lot of things weighing on him, and really he's got to bring his A game because as much as Lewis talks and says in that he's still got to beat Charles Moore regularly, as far as I'm concerned, and so we'll see what they bring to the party. I mean, you know, Lewis told you was gonna be on pole at Baku. He said it. Yeah. So maybe the car's bad and they think it's bad and they stick it on pole. This is how Ferrari operates, and maybe the cars they think it's all it's gonna be really good, and then they do nothing. So, you know, it's a team, it's a bit like I don't know, Fred's not doing a good job.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I think uh a lot of things are up in the air at Ferrari as we head into Singapore. We're gonna uh preview Singapore in a few minutes after we get some stats from Nikki from At Lights Out. Before we go to Nikki, though, uh one more story that's worth mentioning, I think. Uh Aston Martin has tell uh said that they will announce their 2026 driver roster in due course. Uh, this is after Felipe Drogovic, um, who is currently one of uh the Aston Martin reserve drivers announced that he's joining Andretti for next year's Formula E season, and that has led to a lot of speculation that the reserve driver role for Aston Martin may go to Yuki Sonoda, and that would be a bit of a life belt for Yuki Sonoda, wouldn't he? Because what other which other team's gonna take him after the performances he's put in for Red Bull this year?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I know that uh it does make sense. I I I I haven't read that report either, so maybe I should just do more digging. But uh definitely I can see that happening because Honda and Aston Martin unite next year, right? So yeah, and the only reason Yuki got such a such uh a pass during his time at um Red Bull and Toro Rossa Alpha Tower, whatever they call that thing nowadays, V-Carb racing bulls, uh, is because of the Honda deal. You know, he was he, you know, yeah, that was the deal. And uh yeah, I agree with you. I think that that's probably and listen, Aston Martin as it stands now for the next this season at least, and the next season, maybe in two, three more, because they've got newly design in the car, and as soon as uh they're scoring points, and even if Stroll scores points, unlikely even if Alonzo's winning, our Stroll probably bin it, but anyway, uh with his current form. But um it's a dead end. Drogovic was there like for four, three, four seasons, and he got nothing. It's you know, it's yeah, it's a dead end team, and um yeah, so I feel sorry that because he was he's a highly rated driver, but obviously they saw stuff in him that they don't, you know, they don't not agreeable or whatever, and uh it's like yeah, I don't think those two guys are going to be replaced for a long time, especially if the car is good next year. So it's a dead end.
SPEAKER_01:Okay, uh I had a preview of the Singaporean Grand Grand Prix. We've got uh Nikki.
SPEAKER_02:Singaporean, is it is it the Singaporean Grand Prix?
SPEAKER_01:I think you could say that, can't you? Singaporean? I'll leave it to you. Yeah, yeah. Okay, let's go.
SPEAKER_02:You learn the new word every day.
SPEAKER_01:There you go. Uh Nikki runs a Twitter feed called At Lights Out. He is constantly tweeting amazing stats and facts. He starts doing it, practice, he does it through qualifying, he does it in the race, and he provides us with some fascinating stats and facts. So here is Nikki talking about this weekend's Grand Prix.
SPEAKER_00:Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel, Sergio Perez, Carlos Sainz, Lando Norris. Those are the last five winners of the Singapore Grand Prix. With only three of those drivers on this year's grid, a win for any of the other 17 drivers would make them the sixth consecutive different winner in Singapore. Three different teams have also won here in the last three years, with Red Bull, Ferrari and McLaren having climbed to the top of the podium since 2022. One of the drivers who's never won here before is Max Verstappen. Singapore is the only race on the current calendar where the Dutchman has never taken victory. A win this weekend would make Marina Bay the 27th different track at which he has won. He sits second in the list of most different circuits won at, behind only Lewis Hamilton, who has taken victory at 31 different venues. Just like wins, Verstappen has also never previously taken pole here. Las Vegas is the only other race for which the reigning champion has never been on pole. If he takes pole for the 2025 Singapore Grand Prix, he'll overtake Sebastian Vettel for second on the list of most circuits with a pole position. It would be the 24th tracker which Verstappen has started from the front of the grid, having added Baku City Circuit as the 23rd in his collection last time out. And finally, Lance Stroll is set to make his 183rd F1 start this weekend. If he fails to win, which let's be honest seems quite likely, he'll equal Nick Heidfeldt for fourth on the list of most F1 starts without a victory. Nicka Holkenberg continues to be top of the order with 243 starts without a win. That's 35 more than Andre DeCesovis, who sits second in the list.
SPEAKER_02:Wow, thank you, Nikki.
SPEAKER_01:That's beautiful.
SPEAKER_02:Fascinating, right? Amazing. Really, really, I love it. So I pulled those numbers out. The last time there was a back-to-back winner in Singapore was when Lewis went back to back in 2017, 2018. Before that, in 2016, Rosberg won. And then from 2019, so 2018 was Hamilton, 2019 Fettel, 2022, when it came back was Perez, 23 was Science, 24 was Norris. So Piastri and and Max Verstappen. My toss up, I'll throw the coin. Uh let me just check. I'll throw oh Verstappen. Let's try it again. Verstappen. Fucking hell. Verstappen. So I'm gonna go Verstappen.
SPEAKER_01:So uh yeah, I mean after those fascinating facts from Nikki, and by the way, follow him at lights out. It's really uh fascinating stuff that he does. Um you know, after those facts, we look forward to the Singapore Grand Prix. We know that they've unlocked something in that Red Bull car, unless it is.
SPEAKER_02:Do we know is it just Borbuleska suggesting it? Or you buying into it too?
SPEAKER_01:I think when you look at Monza and Baku back to back and you think, well, they definitely found something. And the telling thing for me was Sonoda, how he was driving it at Baku and doing pretty well. That to me says they've found something, they've gone, oh, that's the problem. We've had the cog the wrong way around all season so far. Yeah, exactly. Um so you have to look at Max Versteppen of being a series contender this weekend because the circuits are so similar. Baku and Singapore, so similar. I think so. I can't remember have we ever had Baku and Singapore back to back in the in the season? I can't I don't think we have. Um so there could be a direct correlation between the two tracks this weekend. I'm seeing the same you've seen.
SPEAKER_02:I'm seeing the tracks being very similar, the car in a great window. It's uh if it was me, I wouldn't even touch it in the garage. Just say take that one and put it there because it was a dominant victory.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, without a doubt. And I think we haven't mentioned Mercedes much. Russell's still working for a contract, but Mercedes tend to do well in Singapore over the last couple of years because, as we've discussed many times on the podcast, Mercedes go well at night circuits because the temperatures are lower and their their tires don't get scrubbed as much.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, that seems to be the the rule of thumb with Mercedes. Uh, I think it's gonna be a humding of a weekend. I mean, anyone will be able to take it. I think it's gonna be one of those where yeah. Um, yeah. I I you know, on paper, it could be Ferrari, it could be Mercedes, it could be McLaren, would probably be McLaren the favourite, but then the top favourite for me is Max. So, you know, it's yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01:I thoroughly believe that Max uh could continue his charge up the drivers' championship table. Uh Ferrari will be an interesting one. Obviously, we've talked about Lewis Hamilton losing Roscoe and how's that going to affect his mentality going into the weekend. Plus, you know, Charlotte Clerk seems dissatisfied with his position at Ferrari at the moment, and they still have that issue with ride heights, which doesn't help on the long straights of Singapore. Um, and you've got the two McLaren's. McLaren, as we mentioned, had to say they've got a strong cart, they've got a strong package for this weekend, but they certainly didn't in Baku. So it's going to be absolutely fascinating.
SPEAKER_02:Indeed, it is. And I'll tell you what I'd like to do just before we sort of switch off, and uh it's just a shout out to Alpine, actually, who won this weekend, uh, WEC at Fuji, which is interesting because they're doing so bad and they it's such a shit show in in Formula One. Yet they scored their first victory, and you know who they beat? They beat Persia, which is quite nice to have, you know, because I have a very soft spot for French motorsport because there were some beautiful French racing drivers, and I say beautiful, just great characters, and um, and good-looking ones too, apart from that, if you that's your kind of thing, you know. Um but uh to see Alpine, because to me Alpine is Renault, and actually, Renault Alpine won Le Mans 30 years ago, and uh yeah, uh there's something about it that gives me some hope that maybe the Alpine brand's just not gonna disintegrate because you know the WEC at the moment is in a very, very good place. You know, there's a lot of very, very, very good drivers in very, very, very good teams. In fact, I would hazard a guess for getting Ferrari in that because Ferrari is run by uh AF Corsa, but uh and they I think they're based in Marinello. But all those teams, it's like Penskey, you know, all those guys, they are probably teams that could actually do well in Formula One if they have set their minds to it. You know what I mean? You're talking big operations running some very serious kit. And uh, I'm getting more and more enamoured with WEC and to see Alpine win, uh yeah, it was very nice. It's I think it's it it I think it should serve as inspiration for the team in Formula One.
SPEAKER_01:Okay, well we've uh we always aim to uh make our podcast around about half an hour so you can listen maybe on the way to work and on the way back from work. Um so we're gonna wrap things up. It's gonna be a fascinating Singapore Grand Prix this coming weekend. We'll be back next week, early next week, to uh to review all of the action. I think it's gonna be fascinating. Uh, from myself, Rick and Paul Valesco. Thank you so much for joining us on Two Soft Compounds. We'll speak to you again next time. Thank you very much. Two Soft Compounds was presented by myself, Rick Gorton, alongside Paul Velesco. The studio engineer and editor was Roy Damonte, the executive producer was Ian Carlos, and this podcast is a co-production between Grand Prix 24 7 and W4 Podcast Studio Dubai. Don't forget, if you want to join in the conversation, leave a comment on our Instagram page at Two Stuff Compounds. And if you haven't done so already, please do click that follow or subscribe button. See you next time.