Rangers vs Celtic 2026: Ibrox Draw & F1 2026 Predictions

Podcasting from Studio 2520.

Bringing you all the latest in motorsport soccer, this is Tackling the Chicane.

So here we go. We have F1, uh, close eye in the background on the new Apple TV app. Seems familiar, uh, familiar, right? Yeah, I mean, no real change in what we're used to, just a different host, so doesn't really affect much for me anyways, so Uh, we'll get into F1. We've got a whole predictions segment coming up as we are on the precipice of the mythological 2026.

We've been talking about 2026 since the show started, quite some time. Yeah, so it's nice to finally have it here and we can shut the fuck up about new regs and Cadillac this and— yeah, and just talk about racing. Seeing some Cadillac cars on the circuit here in the background looking, uh, fairly decent at this point. Um, super excited to see how this new team is going to inject something into the series. Um, you know, we've got lots coming up, lots to discuss and talk about as we unveil this first race here.

Yeah, so we are watching FP1 as we record here, uh, in Australia. Uh, not here as in we're actually there. I mean, maybe, maybe one day, but, um, uh, so looking forward to that. Like I said, we got a whole shitload of F1 to get into. We'll also talk IndyCar, the opening round of the 2026 season from St. Petersburg from last week, which we will discuss.

Um, spoiler alert, a guy you know quite well has won the first race of the season, so we'll get into that as well. But let's start in Glasgow with Rangers and Celtic in what is still Uh, a Scottish Premiership where the title race I think could land in at least 3 places at this point, uh, potentially 4 with Motherwell. Just taking a look at the table before we dive into this match, it's still Hearts who probably benefited the most from this past weekend's results, getting their win 1-0 against Aberdeen at home. And they needed a draw to expand their lead against both teams, Celtic and Rangers, that is. And that is exactly— excuse me— exactly what they got.

So the top 3 are all on 29 games played. It's Hearts on top with 63 points. 5 points back is Celtic in second. In third Because Celtic won their game in hand on Wednesday, 3rd sits Rangers on 57 points, 1 point behind Celtic. And then kind of lingering in the background, it's Motherwell on 53 points.

They have a game in hand which they will play this weekend, uh, and I still think they're floating around. So still couldn't really call it anyway at this point with 9 games remaining. Yeah. So what say you about this Celtic team?

We're not solidly in second place, but we're, we're, it seems like we're sort of escaping some terroristic matches. This Rangers v Celtic match, I didn't expect a draw in this one, especially as it started. Yeah, yeah. Um, I don't know where I stand right now with Celtic. Like most of this season, we're now in March.

We've got about 2 months left in this campaign, 9 matches in the league. We've got our Scottish Cup quarterfinal this Sunday against Rangers again, at Rangers again. Um, so minimum 10 games left. If we lose, then, you know, it's, it's all about the league. Um, I don't know.

I don't know. Obviously, it's, it's no secret that Celtic clearly, uh, were knocked back on their ass a little bit in the first half of this one. It was Yusuf Tchouaméni getting Rangers up 2-0 within, you know, 26-odd minutes. He's been a player that has really come into form in 2026 with Rangers.

He's a silver bullet. Yeah, yeah. I mean, he's a problem, certainly. And again, that'll be the case Sunday, I would imagine. I don't know.

I still— I'm not amazingly confident that Celtic go and win the title. I think Hearts are still— it's theirs to lose. Rangers, they're kind of hard to, to get really any grasp on because it seems like anytime they make up ground, they, they lose ground the following week. And this occurred— this particular match was a really good example of that, where they went up quickly and, you know, the Celtic team battled back Is there one player on this Celtic team that stands out to you as somebody who can elevate them from 2 to 1?

Or not a ton. Kieran Tierney, I think at left back has been terrific this year. 5 goals, 11 assists across all competitions. I think our wingbacks, or not wingbacks, but our, our right and left back fullbacks respectively have been pretty probably the best 2 positions in the new year. Julian Araujo coming on loan from Bournemouth has been fantastic.

You saw him get into the scrap at the end of this one. I, I— he's a guy that I feel like has kind of— he, he seems to know what the Celtic shirt is about and and plays to that level. Benjamin Negren has an assist in this one. He scored in midweek against Aberdeen, something like 14 goals this year in the league. So if I'm gonna point to anyone on the squad, it's probably those 3 players.

Everyone else has been okay to just bad, and that is largely why we sit where we sit. And the back— the center-back pairing is still bad. I mean, the goals we gave away were rough, although the first goal Chermedi scores, that bicycle— yes, one of the better goals you'll see. Yeah, or if not the best goal of this season that we've seen and probably will not be able to duplicate. Yeah, certainly in, in Scotland this year, that's probably the best one I've seen.

Yeah, that speaks to the the talent of this player and that he's ever-present, which I find interesting. The other thing I'll say is this Celtic team, good or bad, just doesn't seem to go away. No, no, that's been one of, especially recently, they've been able to kind of claw results out of particularly bad-looking opportunities. Now, of course, you have that loss against Hibs not too long ago, but they still kind of find a way to avoid the worst of the worst. But at some point, you know, I think, I think the luck runs dry, and I've been kind of saying that for weeks.

Yeah, let's talk a little bit about the management of this team. And so, you know, we had At the beginning of the season, we had sort of a weird flux. This particular skipper seems to be or have his head on correctly for these players. Martin O'Neill, his record stands as it is.

He's negotiating wins at some point. Yeah, I mean, I think he's done about the best he can given the— what he's been thrown into. Remember, he comes in October after Brendan Rodgers resigns and steadies the ship. I think he won 7 of 8 games. And then we have Wilfred Nancy come in and that went how it went, losing 6 of 8, um, which is still the reason that 33 days he's in charge, um, is the reason Celtic aren't in first.

And interestingly, how— so how do you, how do you think that that played out the way it did? I mean, was it strictly a strategy issue, or— I'm less— clearly it wasn't working with Nancy, and I, I don't really blame anyone for getting rid of them. Him when we did, you know, I don't— there wasn't any signs that the results were going to improve. So I get it as a business decision. However, I do think that this squad kind of quit on him pretty fast.

He went to a back 3, played a 3-4-3, which Celtic haven't played ever, um, and the players didn't seem to ever actually seem to care to learn the system. They clearly were too incompetent to know what to do, or so, or possibly just not happy with that particular way of playing the game. Yeah, I mean, I think that's exactly what it was. I, I think after 3 or 4 games they realized, okay, we, we aren't really equipped to play this system. He doesn't seem to want to change that.

Um, you know, and, and I think they kind of quit on Wilford Nancy, quite frankly, um, because the results have been good on either side of him, or okay at the least. Um, this squad still just is not good by any means. I mean, look, even from last season when we're Taking Bayern Munich for all they have, um, win the league at a trot, um, the Ange days, you know, finishing the season with 98 points and winning a treble. This team's nowhere near that, you know. At, at the, at the, at best, they scrap out this league Let's see what they do Sunday in the Cup.

I don't really have any— I don't have a huge belief they'll win, quite frankly. I don't, I don't think Rangers get bested twice at Ibrox because that, that draw felt more like a win for Celtic, just the way that game played out. And I think Rangers know that that was a huge chance that they missed, an opportunity to stamp their authority on the title race and keep Celtic at bay, and they didn't take it. And I, I just, I think you play a pissed-off Rangers this Sunday, and if, if Celtic don't match that intensity, it could get ugly. Yeah, so that's interesting that they are going to come back and play Rangers again just on a quick turnaround.

Yeah. I will say this. There was an interim match this week, right, that they played and got the win. Yeah, it was a league match against Aberdeen. It was a makeup from a month ago.

They did get the win again, not amazingly convincingly, but 3 points is 3 points, especially on the road. Um, gave away a penalty for Aberdeen to equalize, and then they, they got the, the second goal. Uh, Kieran Tierney scored, and then Negrin, uh, very close offsides call, um, and then absorbed some pressure at the end.

So I mean, it could be worse. Yeah, I think they are still well within odds of winning the title. And they, you know, if you're betting, they probably have shorter odds than Hearts. But it's going to come down to the split. When the league splits into the top and bottom 6 for the last 5 fixtures, which it does every year, it's gonna be fucking mayhem.

It's going to be a bloodbath. And the toughest team. I think the team that comes out with the best form in the split probably wins the title. And that's— it's probably good that we're at that point here in this league where we would like to see some of that scrappy football. I think so.

I mean, you and I both know we like winning trophies and seeing Celtic do well, but I don't think anyone wants to see one team be up 15 points in March and the title's done. No, no one really. I don't think anyone deep down in their hearts truly likes that. No. So with that being said, I think this is one of the more interesting fixtures, interesting years of this particular league.

Yeah. Um, all albeit frustrating at points, um, we, we could be in a worse position than we are now. I think, you know, for them to be where they're at, uh, at this point is probably the best we could have hoped for given the, the Nancy reign. Yeah, you can't be all that upset. Uh, I still think Celtic probably drop quite— I won't say quite a few, they'll drop a few points from now until the end.

And it really comes down to what do Hearts do, what do Rangers do, what hell, what do Motherwell do. I mean, they're in the best form in the league, um, of recent, um, time. So it— you start looking at the fixtures in the future. So Motherwell play Dundee this Saturday when everyone else is involved in the cup or in Hearts' case are out of the cup.

So if they win that game in hand, they're 1 point behind Rangers, 2 points behind Celtic, and 7 points behind Hearts. And then you have the week after, so this is March 14th. Celtic play Motherwell at home, so that's going to be a huge test. Hearts are away to Kilmarnock, who really are not good. They are bad.

Rangers have, I would say, a fairly tough away match against St. Mirren. So if you take it game by game at this point, and you know, whoever's meant to win this title at the end of the year will, um, I don't know, it's starting to feel like a reality. That Hearts could do it, which, you know, when we predicted the league late July, you would have looked like an idiot if you predicted Hearts. So for them to be in it in March is insane. Um, and I guess at this point, may the best team win, and that's where I'm at with it.

Yeah, and I'm, I'm fine with that, and I'm I'm fine with the fact that, you know, we've, we're battling still.

It just, this league is going to be what it is for this year. My big question is, is coming out of this particular campaign, are we going to see a camp, some kind of a New manager position. Well, you'll, you'll get a new manager. The, the question is who at the board keeps their job, you know, the front office, so to speak. Um, if Celtic don't end up winning the title, they probably all leave.

They probably all fuck off, um, because the writing's on the wall at that point. Uh, if they manage to I'm almost more worried if Celtic win the title because the board will just go, well, see, we still won even though we spent no fucking money and crashed out of the Champions League. Do you think they exit this manager though at some point? Or— I mean, I don't, I don't think they're gonna sign him permanently. He's just, he's too old.

I don't think he wants the permanent job. What, at 74? I don't know if I'd want it. Um, so no, I don't think he is the manager come next season, and that was never really the point. Yeah, he's, he's, he's a stopgap.

He's a Band-Aid. Anyone in play for Motherwell's manager potentially? Um, you know, let me quickly pan over to get his name correct. Um, but yeah, Motherwell have been fantastic this year. And most of that I would say is on the manager, who his last name is Askew, Swedish I believe.

And I'm— let me— I'm almost there. Uh, Jens Bertil Askew, and it probably messed that up a little, but yeah, he's been fantastic. And I think Celtic probably go in for him. At least give him a ring and see what he says. Um, but other than that, who knows?

I don't know. But, um, yeah, a lot to sort out from now until May, and we'll be here for that ride. Uh, before we shift into racing, I just want to briefly touch on the Premier League title race and other things. Arsenal Uh, have won their last 3, and Man City drew to Nottingham Forest last night, which means that currently Arsenal have a 7-point lead at the top of the table. Um, City do have a game in hand, but I still think Arsenal are the team to beat in the Premier League with just 8 matches to go for Arsenal.

Meanwhile, folks, it's not a joke anymore. Tottenham Hotspur could genuinely be going down. They are one, one, uno. I see that. One point above the relegation zone.

It is March. There are less than 10 games to go. They are 1 point above the relegation zone. What an incredible downfall for this team who in the past has shown themselves to be scrappy and in the mix. And now as we see the bottom of this table, just 1 point from Nottingham Forest.

And then the relegation teams, as we see it now, are West Ham, Burnley, and Wolves. And to see this Spurs team just be right above that level is, is something. Yeah. And they, they lose today against Crystal Palace 3-1 at home, I think. Uh, which is a horrible result.

And they play Liverpool at the weekend as a little, um, you know, sorry that you lost and you're now in a relegation fight. Your reward is Liverpool, who themselves have not been in exactly sterling form recently, actually lost to Wolves, the bottom of the table team, last weekend. But Tottenham probably loses against Liverpool if I'm putting money on it. You get West Ham to get a result against admittedly Man City, which is a tall order but I guess not impossible, or Nottingham Forest to get a result against Fulham, all of a sudden you, you might be, you might be going into into the relegation zone with 8 matches to play. And if Tottenham, a team like Tottenham, get relegated, that is seriously— that's, that's shit you would only see in a video game.

So imagine if that happens in real life. We're seeing 2 absolutely crazy things unfolding in Scotland and England, um, and it feels weird to even be on here talking about it. I, I feel like this is one of those seasons where You know, if this show still remains in a few years, you go, remember 2026, March, and Tottenham are in the relegation zone and Hearts are top of the league. That's one of those things you, you talk about for years to come. And here we are talking about it in real life.

So yeah, who knows?

Good stuff. I mean, that's what this is mostly about. Um, and I think the, the shakeup in both of these leagues with a team like Spurs who's potentially on the relegation zone and to jump to the other league, have, uh, the top 3 teams that are just kind of volleying back and forth. It's, um, yeah, it's It's okay. Yeah, not bad.

We've been wanting that for a while. We finally got that in F1 last year, and, uh, you know, that was fun. We're getting that on the soccer side of things. So let's put a pin in that for now. Of course, we'll, we'll talk the Rangers-Celtic rematch next time in the Scottish Cup, so nothing to do with the league.

Um, And then we'll probably have a little Premier League update. But of course, we have the opening round of F1 to cover and an IndyCar race as well. Uh, I, I want to quickly get your thoughts on IndyCar in St. Pete for the opening round of the 2026 season before we head into F1 2026, uh, predictions. Um, spoiler alert, Alex Palou wins to the surprise of no one. Um, Scotty Mack on pole, he finishes 2nd.

What were your thoughts on this one? Well, I thought it was a good race, first of all. Um, I have a little bit of a bias, you know.

I'm— you can't help the fact that Pillow is just sort of a genius and he's got the right car, the right team, the right engineering.

Seems a little sad that it just— it's almost like a blueprint stamp that Pillow's going to win. That kind of hurts me as an IndyCar fan. Excuse me. But, um, you know, it's, it's much more than a driver in a car. It's, it's strategy.

And they have, they're on point every time, every single time. They're never not on the right strategy. Every per— every call that they make strategy-wise seems to work. He's also the best at managing tires, which is huge in IndyCar. Um, he— the series knows, everyone else knows he's the best.

He's the only one that's been able to figure it out to that level. He, like, he's the first racer I've ever seen where he prefers to be on the hard tire, which is a slower tire, because he can manage them better. And still get insane lap time. Yeah, it's all about deg. And I mean, that's a buzzword or a buzz term now is tire deg, degradation of your tires.

But they obviously have that already in this first early part of the series, have that figured out. Yeah, um, he's just unbelievable. And I I don't get mad that he wins. You know, these— again, these— they talked about it a little bit on the broadcast, but like, these are the guys that 20, 30 years from now you sit around and go, remember when Alex Palou was dominating the series? It's kind of like, you know, your kids and grandkids, you go, okay, well, that guy's good, but there was a guy called Alex Palou.

When I was, you know, back in the day type deal. And I'm sure this has happened historically. Yeah, well, think about it, you know, not even that long ago you have Scott Dixon winning every damn race, it seemed like. Uh, a Dario Franchitti. You go back like, uh, Al Unser Sr., fucking Mario Andretti.

So I mean, that's just always the way it is. Every generation has their dominant figure, but He seems to be just leagues above everyone else at the moment. And I'm, I'm, I'm really fine with the fact that it's a CGR guy. You know, we have those of us that are IndyCar-centric, you know, we have our, our teams that we sort of we talk shit about. And I mean, I know Penske is one of those, but McLaughlin finishes in P2.

We had Kyle Kirkwood in P4 with, with Andretti Global and Pato O'Ward, Arrow McLaren in 5.

We had a pretty rounded 10. You know, top 10. We had a Grosjean from Dale Coyne Racing finishes 8th. Dale Coyne are kind of the story of the weekend. They had Dennis Hauger, their rookie who won Indy Next last year, qualify 3rd and finish 10th, I believe.

2 Dale Coyne cars in the top 10. Yeah. That's unbelievable. Which, that's a, compared to the stalwarts, that's a pretty small team. The smallest.

Um, and it's a rookie in Grosjean who hadn't been in the series for almost 2 years. So that's a pretty unbelievable finish for them. Uh, as for my guy David Maloukis, not the best start in the world for his Penske career. Uh, flat-spotted a tire early in the race that then blew up. Ended up, yeah.

And put him into the wall. He was able to recover back to P13, but probably a weekend he'll forget. And I, I think that speaks to a road course, and especially this particular road course where he was not the only person to lock a right front. It just didn't pan out. The streets of St. Pete are not particularly forgiving.

And, um, yeah, they're not. But I mean, I'm also seeing Rinus VK from for Yunkos Hollinger in 9th, Meyer Schenk in 11th and 12th. So I, I'm not their best day, not their best day, but okay. Not terrible either. Yeah.

I mean, there were a lot of people that big names that struggled. Will Power, you know, bad day for him with his Andretti debut. Dixon, Mick Schumacher's day lasted 4 turns because of Stingray Rob. Right. And let me, let's go back to that.

Lap 1.

Yeah. Turn 1.

This effing guy who tends to ruin people's race day. And then he's the one that transcends the wreck and comes back out on— He's able to continue. Yeah. And he fucks Schumacher. And, um, Ferrucci.

And Ferrucci. So I've never been a fan of this particular driver because I see this a lot. I— but we've seen this a lot from him. Yeah, he's, he's usually involved in something. Uh, it was— I, I wish, you know, Schumacher could go more than 4 turns on his debut race.

He's just looking for seat time at this point. You know, there's limited testing in any car, but in that particular situation, there's nothing that he could do. No, I mean, that's racing. That's racing. Sometimes you get collected into other people's shit.

But why does it always have to be Rob that takes fucking people out? Uh, because he's not very good. Uh, but we go IndyCars, it's a hot start. This year. Phoenix, then Arlington the week after.

So 3 races in 3 weeks, then a week off, then Barber. So we've got an oval, and, uh, not new to the series but new to most of the drivers. We— I don't think they've raced there since 2017 at Phoenix. So oval week 2, I'm looking forward to that because frankly, I don't think Palou wins. At Phoenix.

He's not a short oval guy. He did win at Milwaukee last year, but this is a brand new short oval. I look to— look to a Penske to win, probably, if I had to pick this, this weekend, like a Newgarden or McLaughlin. Hell, maybe Malukas. But, um, that's gonna shake things up, make it interesting, and hopefully Schumacher can log a few laps.

Um, looking forward to that. That's Sunday— or no, Saturday for IndyCar, and the NASCAR race at Phoenix is Sunday. So there you have it. Anything else on IndyCar before we move to F1 2026? Yes, predictions, predictions coming for F1, and I have my paper set here.

So I guess we'll get right into it. And the first prediction is who will be the top 3 drivers in 2026?

Uh, Lawrence Barreto has chosen, um, George Russell, Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton.

I won't go through all of these.

Alex Jocks says Russell, Leclerc, Antonelli, which is interesting. David Tremaine, who's a Hall of Fame F1 journalist, says George Russell, Oscar Piastri, and Kimi Antonelli. As well. So what say you about that, and what are your top 3 drivers? So the reason that you're seeing a bunch of Mercedes drivers pop up, if you read articles— and I've watched videos on testing and stuff— the Mercedes powertrain has shown to be the best so far in testing.

So people are really high on Mercedes. So that's why a lot of guys have Russell and Antonelli. I don't think Antonelli, not in year 2, I don't think he's a top 3 driver. Um, for me, um, it's tough, it's tough. I, I really don't think Russell is a world champion.

I'm gonna go— no, I don't like this, but I'm gonna go Norris defends his crown, then I will go Russell Verstappen. Interesting, because I have this penned right in on my paper here. Norris, Russell, Verstappen. Yeah. Okay.

So, you know, we're on the same page. Yeah. I just, when you win a world championship, there's a certain confidence and swagger you have the next year. And McLaren, remember, they run a Mercedes power unit. Interestingly enough, we, in that top 3 that you and I have just spoken about, we did not say the word Piastri.

Yeah. And I'm thinking about that and I just, I still can't, I can't really bet against Verstappen. I still think he wins 2 to 3 to 4 races. Even if Red Bull are behind the 8-ball early in the year, they'll develop. They'll develop.

And he's— and it's Max Verstappen. Yeah. He's a machine. Piastri is sort of a dark horse wildcard. I think he can win a championship.

He kind of proved it last year, but I'm sort of buying that Mercedes hype. And I think a Mercedes is in that top 3. So that's why. I don't disagree with that at all. And now we'll go to who will be the top 3 teams, constructors in 2026.

Lawrence Barreto says Mercedes, McLaren, and Red Bull. Let's see here. David Tremaine says Mercedes, McLaren, Red Bull. Also. And what say you about those— this pick?

Uh, so I just said I'm buying into the Mercedes hype, so I, I am gonna put them first.

Um, not by much. I think if they win it, it's by 20 or less points. I will go McLaren second, best driver lineup in the entire series.

And I will go Ferrari third because I think Isaac slash Isak Hadjar, um, I think he struggles like most of the second drivers at Red Bull tend to do, at least early in the season. And I think they lose some points because of that. So I like Ferrari to finish 3rd. Oh, okay. I like that.

I concur with some of the pundits and I think it's going to be Mercedes, McLaren, Red Bull, 1, 2, 3 in the constructors. So you're still buying into the Red Bull, um, Red Bull, you know, I, you know, like I said, I think Verstappen still wins quite a few races. Yeah. Hadjar, what do you think of that as the number 2 driver? Pretty impressive last year as a rookie.

Yeah, well, we'll see. Yeah, he's had a little bit of fault here and there, but this 2026 car and season is going to bring a lot of people into the mix.

Um, I cannot read that column from here on this practice. Yeah, Hamilton is top. Are we seeing any Cadillacs there in the top?

Uh, uh, I don't— I see a couple of, uh, Haas cars, 18th and 20th. Okay, so, but it's FP1. Sure, but that's probably where they'll be. Anyways, well, I, I trust, uh, the fact that the 2 drivers for Cadillac are pretty decent. Yeah, but I, I— when you have that car is gonna be slow.

That car will be slow. Hopefully not a tractor. Possibly. Well, we'll get into it. We'll get into it.

Okay, uh, prediction number 3: what will be the biggest surprise of the season in 2026.

Lawrence Barreto thinks that Alpine will benefit from turning their attention to, uh, rules plus Mercedes power. They— he thinks that they're going to jump from last place to the top of the midfield.

Well, that is not far away from what I'm thinking.

Uh, Tremaine says Alpine will get things right with Mercedes and make the top 5 overall in constructors. So I think Alpine, um, will not be in the top 5. Um, so my 3 predictions are Um, the biggest surprise is going to be, uh, Williams victory. I think we're going to see a victory from the Williams team. Victory from Williams.

Not just the podium, but I think we're going to see a victory, and that's going to come from Carlos Sainz.

Uh-oh, Sergio Perez spun out. Thought he was in the wall. He's not. Um, okay, so that's your surprise. I don't think Williams win a race this year.

I'm sorry, I wish.

I think the top 4 are probably going to be pretty far and away from the rest of the pack. It's not impossible, but, um, I feel like that would come later in a regulation cycle.

But, you know, let's see what happens. Uh, for me, biggest surprise— I actually do have Alpine finishing 5th. I'm buying into the Mercedes powertrain hype now. Sometimes those don't often, um, work out, the, the preseason hype. However, I recall in 2023 everyone being very high on Aston Martin, and they ended up being a big fucking deal that year.

So I, I'm gonna trust the experts and buy into that Mercedes hype. So I got Alpine finishing 5th, um, and I actually have Haas finishing 6th, and I think Haas are going to be very competitive this year. So I guess that'll be a secondary biggest surprise for me. Yeah, I don't disagree with that. I think with the influx of, uh, Gazoo Racing from Toyota in Haas, I think they're gonna hopefully, um, make some in-rows there.

Um, let's face it, this is a team that's no longer the young startup. Not anymore. Can't play that card. Can't play that card anymore. So, um, it comes down to how much money they have and how much— what they can do on track.

Um, I think they have the right leader in place, and I'm really happy to say that I think that My bold prediction, that is the, the last of our predictions, and these will be folded and sent to an envelope until further notice after we do this. Um, bold prediction is going to be Haas to possibly 6th position in Constructors, and I believe Cadillac is going to finish Not in the 11th position, but in the 10th position. Yeah, okay. I thought you were gonna be more bold. I'm— I can't really, you know, 10th versus 11th, I'm not gonna argue too hard on that.

Um, so who would finish bottom for you? Um, I think the Audi team is gonna struggle. Um, You're not buying into Audi? No. Ferrari powertrain, I believe.

Um, I have my full 11 table drawn out here, just saying, and we'll run through that real quick. Now you just heard my— you heard my top 3, so it goes as follows. Bottom, Cadillac. Sorry. Um, new team.

That's really all there needs to be said. I think a new team is going to be the worst. I don't think that's really that crazy to say. I think their driver lineup is rock solid. Race, race winners, multi-time race winners in F1.

But I think we're going to see something from Valtteri Bottas in this car. Really, if they have developed it as we've been told offline, I, I really— and, and maybe it's, maybe it's just me being, yes, I want this US-based team, United States-based team, to maybe have some chance at it, but I think Bottas and Perez are the right guys in the seat. Yeah, I mean, I, I— you can't really fault them for a driver lineup. It's, it's funny, it's kind of going exactly how testing is going, at least the bottom within FP1 right now as we record. Well, everyone was talking about how bad Aston Martin looked with their Honda power.

They're 22nd and 21st, and then it's the 2 Cadillacs, so Uh, there might be. I think it'll be a scrap between them and Aston for last.

Nothing would make me happier than to have Aston Martin be gobbled up by this new Cadillac team. Alonso's not even set a time, so I don't know what the deal is there. But yeah, yeah, I think that would be— that's their, that's their one pin in the map is Alonso. He can He can drive anything and he always ends up mid-pack and scoring points. So, well, it's up to this Cadillac team to, to try to figure out a way to get past that.

It's going to be harder to score points this year because they didn't extend the points-paying positions and there's 2 extra cars, which I think is a little silly. I think you have to add at least one more points paying. I think 12 should score, frankly, um, but what do I know? So I have Aston finishing in 10th, not too far ahead of Cadillac. Audi 9th, the new Audi team as they are called, um, you know, it's, it's, it's Sauber with a different livery.

Really. Um, RB, which I think is what they're being called this year, who knows. Uh, Red Bull Junior team with, uh, what is it, Arvid Lindblad, or— I'm sorry, really, um, looking like we're, uh, prepared. Arvid Lindblad. Okay, yeah.

Uh, I think he's racing under the British flag, but he is only 18 years of age. He's kind of the Kimi Antonelli of, of this season.

And I think he, you know, he'll struggle a little like any rookie, but clearly some talent there. I have Williams finishing 7th. I think they regress a little bit from last year. Haas 6th, Alpine 5th, as we talked about with their Mercedes power. Red Bull 4th, because of, uh, Hadjar, honestly.

Ferrari 3rd, McLaren, then Mercedes. And I don't feel amazing about it, but that's who I'm going with. Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton top FP1. I didn't see who rounded out the podium there because they cut away, but 2 Ferraris top of FP1. Of course, just a practice session.

Yes. Well, I'll take that. And I mean, we talked, you talked about Audi and we have Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriele Bortoletto as the 2 drivers there. Um, Hulkenberg has shown, um, some shines of, of brilliance. Podium last year.

Yeah. Can he bring this car to that same specter? I guess we're going to have to see. It's certainly a possibility. If I had to call a team out for who I just don't want to do anything well, I can't fucking stand Aston Martin.

Lance Stroll. It's just your favorite driver. He's not my favorite. He's your favorite driver. Really did.

Papa brings the seat to Lance. So, and I wouldn't be sad if Alpine came up through the ranks a bit. I like Franco Colapinto. Pierre Gasly is, he's, you know, he's put his time in. He deserves something at this point.

Yeah, I, I guess if I had to back a really dark horse, I would love to see Perez do something at Cadillac and make a mark for himself. He's a great driver. He really is. Yeah. Yeah.

I think he's the one that's more likely to do something than Bottas this year. I think he, you know, if they're scoring points, it'll probably come from Perez. Um, if we go to Williams too, um, you know, Carlos Sainz really deserves a win or two with this team. Yeah, I think so. And Albon's been pretty great for them as well.

Um, I, I would love to see that happen. I just don't think it's in the cards this season. A lot of good teams are, you know, and who knows, who fucking knows with new regulations, a new team in the fold. FP1 is finished for this opening round. I— can you really take anything away from FP1?

History says not really. No, maybe the, the slow cars, certainly not the fast. It ends with Leclerc and Hamilton, the 2 Ferraris, then Verstappen, Hadjar, 3-4, Lindblad 5, Piastri 6. Then the 2 Mercedes, then the 2 Audis round out the top 10. Your bottom 2 are Aston Martin, then Perez, Norris, Gasly, Bottas.

So we will wake up to more information when FP2 is done, unless— yeah, maybe you'll stay up till, uh, 1 AM to watch FP2. Um, and then qualifying, as we record in the East Coast is, um, early. It would be midnight Saturday, um, and then the race is 11 PM Saturday. I'll probably— I'll, I'll stay up for that. I think, um, it's not, uh, the worst start time in the world.

You're in bed by probably 1, so I'll give that a whirl. Um, but yeah, I'm looking forward to this year. I think it's potentially wide open, and maybe in 6 months when we're deep into the season and a team has a 300-point lead at the top, we'll look like idiots. But that's, that's the beauty of predictions, right? Yes.

And our predictions last year were Surprisingly, I would say marginally good. I did predict Lando to win the championship. I don't know how I did that, but right. Yeah, I mean, fuck it. I don't know.

New regulations kind of throws a wild card into it. Yep. New car, new teams.

Um, as we normally do, uh, let's talk a little bit about this particular circuit. 5.2 and change kilometers. First GP in 1996, 58 laps. Fastest lap time recorded is Charles Leclerc, 2024, at 1:19.8. Race distance is 306 and change kilometers.

Uh, what is this circuit about? Um, Not really any straights to speak of. There is one split sector, um, in the front of this track that is a bit of a straight, but most of it is very technical. So we'll see what happens with that.

Um, I feel like Australia usually is an interesting race. Yeah, last year with the rain it was It's incredibly interesting. Yeah, I— so we'll see, we'll see. It looks sunny, sunny right now. I'm actually— let me pull up the weather real quick because I have Melbourne saved on my phone from last year.

Um, 75 and sunny right now. No chance of— well, no real chance of rain. For the race day, so it should be sunny.

Okay, well, hey, getting back into it and looking forward to this race weekend. We have Apple TV subscribed to the tune of $160, which is about double what F1 TV cost me last year, but I guess I'll get to watch last— Ted Lasso. In MLS.

So yeah, why are you bitching? I'm not really bitching, but all of it— yeah, everyone says the Lasso is supposed to be good. I don't know, I just don't really care. We'll see. Um, I think my takeaway is I paid $89 for this last year and now I'm paying Almost double.

Almost double. So, um, just a curiosity, what were you paying a month for cable? Um, so my last recollection of— it's Spectrum now, but it would have been something else back then. Um, the problem was the equipment. You had to have a box for every TV.

And it was nearly $200 a month. Was that factoring in internet though? I'm sure those were, um, no, I think I had separate internet. Damn. So you are getting kind of microtransaction to death now, but I— it probably still works out to be cheaper.

I think— I mean, if I— $200 a month or almost If I had, um, so I have Netflix, I have Hulu Live, right? Which I don't know what that is a month. It's almost $100. Yeah. Uh, Netflix, Hulu.

Now I have Apple TV. You have— I have Peacock, Paramount, and, um, Something else that is escaping me. So yeah, what, what do you pay? What are you paying? Oh, I did have ESPN Plus.

I canceled it though because we have the bundle with Hulu. Uh, Peacock is not that expensive, maybe $9. Paramount's $10 or $11. Um, ESPN was kind getting up there when I canceled. They were the ones that were upping the price all the time.

But it's through who? Our— my Hulu. Yeah, we have a bundle now, so I just canceled it. I was barely using it anyways because I'm not watching much Bundesliga or La Liga these days. But so I, I'm thinking with my Hulu, Netflix, and Apple TV, I'm probably paying like $100 and $30 a month, which is still better.

Yeah. I mean, it's, it's all— and I have HBO, which is the most, but it's all relative. Yeah. And honestly, the amount of content in those 2 or 3 apps is, it's, you, you can't possibly, you can't possibly watch everything that's available to you. I'm really only— I only have most of the shit for sports.

Yeah, if someone just— I'm not a, you know, this isn't an advocate advocating for a monopoly, but like someone just buy fucking everything. And honestly, I, you know, if your mother wasn't so addicted to live TV, I would cut the Hulu Live because There's so many other free streaming things out there that have shows. Well, you can get most— you can get most live sports on some streaming service anyways. Yeah, most, not all. Hulu does come in clutch for a couple of things.

Weirdly, the Scottish Premiership, those CBS Sports Network games we would be up shit's creek. Yeah. So, so here's the shitter with Hulu is if you have more than 2 or 3 screens, that's where the premium comes in. Yeah. And we have like 6, more than anyone needs, but you know, whatever.

But I mean, it's all relative. I mean, if even if I brought it down to I'm paying $170 for the content that I get. I mean, it's totally better than it used to be when I was paying Time Warner Cable, you know, throwback, that much money. And the, the way the, the stuff is sent to each screen is so much better than it used to be. I mean, you used to have it— have to have equipment and a box and a remote for every TV.

Now it doesn't matter if I'm down here in the studio or from upstairs. Everything is, you know, linked concentrically together, which is nice. Um, I don't know. Shit. What are you going to do?

Whatever. Pay the money. Yep. Okay, I think that'll do it for this time. So next time out, we will have full reaction to the opening round of the 2026 F1 season.

We will talk IndyCar at Phoenix. We will discuss the rematch between Rangers and Celtic in the Scottish Cup quarterfinal and updates in Scotland in the English Premier League as well. So it'll be a full agenda for next time, but for now I think we are done. So you can take it. Oh, so John Ruhnfeldt, come on in.

For executive producer Richard Tanaka, this has been Tackling the Chicane, Studio 2025, copyright 2026. 25-20. 25-20. It's all numbers. We'll see you next time.