Episode #4: Hamilton Wins Some Popularity Contest

I know, shocking right?

Okay, small couple of disclaimers here. First of all, the good news, I’ve removed the echoing! The bad news is, I’ve replaced it with popping! Yeah, my two main microphones are currently broken-ish. So, sadly, it’s either extreme echo, or occasional popping. Not ideal, and I apologize for that, but I think the popping is the lesser of two evils. It’ll be resolved very soon, I promise.

Also, this episode is slightly shorter, at about 50 minutes as opposed to the normal hour and a half or so. Reason being, is my lovely University mentor, Miss Sue Bowerman, said that the length might be a little long and it could be hard for listeners to digest, so I thought, “Heck, we’re still young, and experimental, why the heck not give it a shot?”, so let me know if you prefer the shorter format or if you’re okay with going long, and let me know what you all think, it really, REALLY helps. Thanks!

In this episode, me and Ryan King (@RyanErikKing) we talk about McLaren! Don’t all look surprised, we had to keep the tradition going, right? They finally revealed their driver line-up for 2015 and surprise, surprise, Fernando Alonso is official, or as I like to call it “The worst kept secret in Formula 1 history!” But alongside, in a change of heart (And probably a saved £4m a year), Jenson Button kept his seat as well, meaning McLaren now have the oldest and most experienced team in Formula 1. But what does that mean for the young blood in Kevin Magnussen and Stoffel Vandoorne?

Also, Lewis Hamilton won the BBC Sports Personality Of The Year award. I know, shocker. We talk about the glorifed popularity contest that the award now is, why he beat Rory McIlroy, and the impending “F1 vs Golf” flame war that has taken place, in what I call the “Alien vs Predator” of sporting feuds, because whoever wins, we lose. We also tie it back to the issue of tax avoidance and Hamilton living overseas, along with Marc Marquez, who may have gotten caught out by the Spanish people for moving to the Andorra tax haven, and not paying enough back home, apparently. YOU MADE THE NICEST MAN IN THE WORLD CRY, HOW COULD YOU SPAIN?!

And finally, we talk about Esteban Gutierrez joining Ferrari as a test driver, and the Formula E round from Uruguay, and how Jean-Eric Vergne just can’t catch a break, and why Matthew Brabham will now be meme’d to all eternity.

And all that in 50 minutes?! Talk about value. Enjoy!