Happy Goth Christmas everyone, and welcome back to Ask Dre! In this edition of the show where you, the wonderful Motorsport101 audience, ask me questions about the world of cars and bikes, who is F1’s Rookie of the Year. What to make of Pecco Bagnaia and whether Ducati will keep him long term, and the changing face of the Road to Indy and beyond! Enjoy and I’ll be back for another edition at the end of November!
“What are your thoughts on Porsche bowing out of WEC so suddenly?” – Toki
Toki knows I’m only a part-time Sportscar viewer and yet, he constantly gives me Sportscar questions. Bastard! (Affectionately)
Regarding Porsche, it sucks. For those not up on your Sportscars, they’ll be leaving the World Endurance Championship at the end of the season, but staying in IMSA. If the Porsche 963 makes Le Mans, it’ll likely have to be as a customer via Proton.
Why do you ask? Well, their Q3 earnings report came out and it was grim. An operating loss of over a billion dollars, about 50% more than they forecasted. Short answer for reasons: Stagnant sales in their EV department as the world seemed to collectively decide that the range on offer is a bit shit, so Porsche’s scaling back its EV production. Not to mention, a 700 million euro hit due to the US tariffs put in place on car sales by the stroke victim in chief. Seems Porsche are staying in IMSA as it may bolster its US sales figures if it keeps racing there as advertisement. Not to mention the links with Penske.
In the words of Hannibal Lecter: “This sucks, man”. You cannot have a conversation about Endurance Racing without Porsche, they are the beating heart and soul of long-distance racing, as well as the current WEC, and it was their return that galvanised what so many called the “golden era” of Sportscar racing. And those days are now seemingly over now both they and Lamborghini are on the way out.
Yes, there’s far more numbers in Hypercar now, with Genesis essentially taking their place for 2026, with McLaren next up in 2027, but it’s always an impact felt when one of the “big three” aren’t there anymore. Still, at least it could be fun seeing Kevin Estre and Laurens Vanthoor in the states racing a bit more often.
If Scott Dixon retires at the end of next year, who do you think is worthy to replace him in the Chip Ganassi Racing #9 car? – Narendra
Asking someone if they’re worthy of replacing Scott Dixon is asking someone whether they can wield Mjolnir. The answer for 99.9% of humanity is no and I’m not Steve Rogers!
But in all seriousness, if Dixon were to hang it up at the end of 2026, obviously, we’d have a whole extra season to evaluate the state of the field, but there’s a few names that lead the clubhouse right now if it were up to me. Right now, I think if Chip wants to go younger, Marcus Armstrong’s the move. He’s been better year-on-year since debuting in IndyCar, he clearly works well with the team’s setups and is now looking like a Top 10 driver in all disciplines. Not sure if Chip would give his teammate Felix Rosenqvist another chance after his run in the #10 car didn’t work out.
If he’s on the board at the end of next year, I’d be tempted to give Christian Lundgaard a call but not sure if he’s realistic, he’s the best road/street course guy on the board who screams “Dixon-esque” as a driver character for CGR, but McLaren will likely tie him down again. Beyond that, Rinus Veekay is the other all-rounder I’d like to see someone take a chance on, but that might be too big a leap up for home in terms of risk.
If you really want to go big, Josef Newgarden’s a free agent at the end of 2026…
Are there any drivers from the F2 or IndyNXT 2025 or 2026 (confirmed/rumoured) grid who you think will throw F1 or Indycar’s 2026 silly season into chaos? – Kieran
Short answer: Probably not, Kieran. On the European side, F1’s class of 2025 has been so good, it might actually set back junior racing by two or three years. Seven of them have moved up in the last 12 months, and besides Jack Doohan, all of them have been serviceable at worst, and pretty good at best. With that in mind, it’s hard to see a clear opening on said grid that would start a bidding war, when most teams have at least one prospect that’s locked in for the next few years (Barring Racing Bulls who have the flexibility to move talent around).
No one in F2 who’s entering their second season is ever going to move the needle, so chalk off Dunne, Browning, etc. Maybe Rafa Camara if he wins a boatload of races with Invicta, and that’s unlikely given how chaotic the series and there’s more than enough talent where 8-10 guys could win a race and it wouldn’t be a surprise (Hell, we had 18 in 2024, good luck.)
Over the pond, IndyCar just doesn’t go nuts for NXT graduates like that. Kyle Kirkwood came up in 2021 and even he was a third wheel at Foyt because Michael Andretti didn’t fully believe in him, despite being the most dominant North American junior prospect… probably ever. Kinda says it all, really.
So unless someone absolutely dominates to a historic level, it is unlikely that any junior moves heaven and earth going into 2026.
How long will Ducati put up with Pecco if he is unable to show race winning consistency next season? – Stuart Ellis
Hi Stuart, if Ducati’s history is anything to go by, patience is already wearing thin. The one thing going for Pecco is that he’s arguably the second most important rider in Ducati’s history, behind Casey Stoner. He’s their most successful rider ever, and spearheaded the brand’s recent run of terror in MotoGP. However, Ducati have been utterly ruthless in the past when it comes to dropping riders they don’t like or are underperforming.
Seriously, Gigi Dall’Igna’s rapsheet is a who’s who of Hall of Famer’s/Very Gooder’s. Jorge Lorenzo, Andrea Iannone, Danilo Petrucci and Jack Miller were all sent packing the moment shit didn’t go their way. All MotoGP race winners at worst. Hell, their former talisman Andrea Dovizoso wasn’t on speaking terms with Dall’Igna for two years before he left the team. Shit’s rough.
Pecco’s track record might buy him some time, but as I’ve said on the podcast before, Alex Marquez has a GP26 next year for a reason, and Fermin Aldeguer’s contract has a guaranteed factory bike if his 3rd year option is taken. That looks like insurance to me. No one is bigger than the brand in Bologna. Remember that, it might become important later.
With more F1-ladder talent entering the series: how will IndyNXT change competitively in the next 3-5 years, and how will this affect the status/reputation of both NXT and IndyCar? – Rogue
Well Rogue, I think that transition you’re referring to, has been slowly happening since… maybe Dean Stoneman in the 2010’s? For the last few years, more and more drivers have headed stateside as the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated what was already a junior driver market in Europe where costs were spiraling out of control. Right now, it’s north of one million euros for F3, let alone multiplying that figure by 3-5 for F2, depending on the quality of your seat. So if you need a safety valve, a cheaper series, and an actual scholarship to aid your funding if you’re betting on yourself to win, why not give the next best thing a go?
Even more so given in recent years, it’s been beyond obvious that IndyCar teams in general have head-hunted European groomed drivers because it’s an open secret that they think they’re more well-rounded than talent developed in North America. And the top end shows it in recent years. Dennis Hauger was an F3 Champion who despite winning races in F2, was a bit underwhelming for a Red Bull junior. Caio Collet was a middle of the road F3 guy. Louis Foster jumped over early, Jamie Chadwick was a midfielder after having very little proven junior talent in Europe. (And before people mention the W Series, its talent pool was at best… top heavy. Williams glossed over her for Zak O’Sullivan in terms of junior support)
Look, the good news here is that you’re ultimately going to get a higher quality of driver on the grid, even more so now that IndyNXT is a full 24-car series. It’s cheaper, and even mid-level European drivers will raise your floor. The drawback will be a likely diminishing output from homegrown talent and the Road to Indy. And I’m not sure that’s a good look for a series that has been desperate for homegrown talent to shine, even when it’s right in front of them. They can’t all be Pato O’Ward.
Is that trade off worth it in the bigger picture? You be the judge.
What happens to Yuki Tsunoda? – Debbie
(Note: Debs also included Mick Schumacher, but I’ll share a link here to last month’s question on it.)
Well, unless internal opinions have changed in the last few months, it’s loot looked good for some time. Isack Hadjar has seemingly impressed Dr Marko in recent months after a tough start to life in F1, and until their most recent upgrade package in Monza, Yuki was 18th in the standings. No matter how you slice that, it’s bad for a team that even now is still competing for second in the Championship.
Yuki had definitely improved since then, but internally I’ve heard whispers that was deemed “still not good enough”. Now if that’s the case and Hadjar’s going to Red Bull for 2026, the next question is do you bring him back to Racing Bulls? For me, the question is, do you want to bring Yuki back as a barometer for Arvid Lindblad, who seems inevitable that he’s going to RB in 26’ (Which I don’t recommend), or are you prepared to give Liam Lawson one more year, even if he’s struggled against Hadjar this season?
My gut says you give Lawson one more year and a clean off-season without the Red Bull malarkey at the senior level. Yuki’s had 100 starts and five full seasons, he’s a known quantity and I fear a lot of his fans are waiting for an awakening that’s just not going to happen. And if the class of 2025 has proven anything this year, F1 probably got a bit too comfortable in hanging onto veterans over giving new talent a chance. This might be the first sign of a deck-clearing, if Dr Marko’s eyes remain fixed on a certain Irishman in the juniors.
If he loses his seat, I don’t know. Would Alpine come calling? Slightly less likely now Franco Colapinto’s sponsors are coming through, with Jack Doohan already ruled out of a return. There’s no real other F1 seats available, and I’m not sure if Tsunoda has interest in sportscars, or single-seaters elsewhere, like Formula E, Super Formula or IndyCar? Genuinely not sure on that one.
What do you think is a realistic scenario for Stroll either getting to the level required of a champion or getting shuffled out of F1? I know his dad will do anything to keep him around but surely there has to be a limit at some point (knowing full well there probably isn’t one?) – Graham
Gotta be honest Graham, both seem about as likely as Stephanie Vaquer answering my DM’s.
I just mentioned Yuki Tsunoda as a pretty known quantity in Year 5 of his career. Lance Stroll is going to be just the 24th member of the 200 appearance club next season and in Year 10. At this point it’s pretty clear what Stroll is – A pretty average driver who on a good day can impress, but is generally quite underwhelming.
Not bad enough where they’ll be pitchforks outside Silverstone to cull him, but you’ll still eyeroll about three times a year pondering: “Why is he still here?” His only hope to win a title is if Adrian Newey absolutely nails the next set of regulations, AND Fernando Alonso has to have his hamstring fall off like a freshly cooked lamb shank.
But we all know he’s not going anywhere because his father Lawrence has moved heaven and earth to facilitate his career, and why is he going to stop now? It wouldn’t surprise me if Lance ends up with 300 starts, a full career and he retires whenever the man himself loses the motivation to race. Sorry if that’s not the sexy answer!
You’re Liberty Media. You have 5 lifetime contracts for Circuits to hand across MotoGP & F1, split them anyway you want. (For example, Silverstone would only cover F1 or MotoGP, not both unless you’d offer up 2 deals) – Where are you offering and why? – Chaz Bradley (Question of the Month)
Outstanding question, Sir Charles. Five golden tickets for five tracks on both calendars combined is a tricky task, but I think I’ve got them in mind. Here’s my list:
Silverstone (F1 AND MotoGP): This, I admit, is controversial. But I really do think that Silverstone is the best all-round track in the world for both two-wheels and four. For Formula 1, it’s the biggest single-weekend of the year, you’re guaranteed half a million over the weekend, and I think it ticks every box for a blue-ribbon event. That isn’t the case for MotoGP (Quite the opposite if recent years are anything to go by), but I can eat that purely because it is Top 2 on the biking calendar for sheer quality of races. It might even be on the same level as Phili- *shot*
Philip Island (MotoGP): See above. Even if the recent news about it potentially going the way of the dodo has me INCENSED.
Interlagos (F1): It just ticks every box as a spectacle race for F1. It tends to race very well, the Brazilian fans are some of the best in the world, it always draws well, it tends to toss up unpredictable weather, and it always made sense as a late-season thriller round. I’m not scared of F1 in general, but if I had a gun to my head and I had to pick one round other than Silverstone to keep, it’s Interlagos.
Le Mans (MotoGP): In the last decade it’s become the #1 attended a MotoGP race on the calendar. It draws over 115,000 on race day, it’s promoted excellently, and it produces superb, unpredictable racing in a range of climates. It’s really grown on me in recent years, and the last 2 GP’s there have been sensational. Tough call, but I just gave Le Mans the edge over Barcelona and Austin.
Who is looking like your F1 Rookie of the Year going into the final races of 2025? – Geoff
This is genuinely a tough choice. All of the rookies in play have had moments of brilliance, while also having very patchy moments themselves.
Kimi Antonelli has had genuine moments of brilliance, he’s also had George Russell alongside him and his middle patch of the season was poor. Ollie Bearman only dropped from 10 to 8 penalty points on Thursday and picked up 6 of them in really stupid fashion, but he’s arguably been as good as Esteban Ocon, one of the best midfield veterans on the grid. Gabriel Bortoleto has been a better qualifier than Nico Hulkenberg this season and is somehow 19th in the points despite 19 points in a rookie year.
For me, it’s probably Isack Hadjar. He had the rawest speed out of the box to start the season and has generally outclassed another solid young talent in Liam Lawson across the garage from him. The podium finish in Zandvoort was probably the clincher. Mind you, Ollie Bearman’s 4th in Mexico was still for me, the best individual drive of the class.
Is United’s season salvageable at the time I write this question to you? – Deckster
Salvageable? We’re back in Europe again at the moment!
Yes, I’m aware, this is very early days, we’re only nine games in, and this is the first time Ruben Anorim has won two Premier League games in a row, let alone three. But it goes to show you that Manchester United does have good players, playing well in a good squad, and a decent coach should have this time in the race for a Top 4 spot. With some luck, this may be Anorim and players finally figuring out this system, and getting behind the coach after a hellaciously bad start.
I still think the club lacks a quality midfielder. I don’t like the chaos and lack of control in the middle of the pack that United has lacked for years (We’ve still never really replaced Michael Carrick in my opinion), but the new attack is looking decent, generating chances, and we have some actual finishers in the squad now. Defence has been better too, and we have a goalkeeper that isn’t giving me a heart attack. A decent midfielder in January and Top 4 is doable in my opinion.
Let’s see if INEOS are actually serious for once. Thanks for reading!
