Rookies Reunited | Catching Up With George, Lando and Alex!

You good? Long time no see. Okay, here we go. This feels like very Top Gear style. Definitely James May over here. You're James May. I'm not James May. You are. He's James May. I think you're James May. I'm Hammond. Yeah. I don't look like a Jeremy Clarkson. I think you do. Alright, moving on. Five years ago, we were fighting each other for the... We've been fighting for strong work. Five years ago, we were competing against each other for the Formula 2 title and a place in F1. How did that year feel, being so close but with no guarantees? It was good, mate. I mean, George had the best engine. Yeah, that's true. You had a good one to start with and then you lost it. You definitely had a good one to start with. You two were just like... No, in Race 1, I remember Landa. I was flat in quality in Turn 12 in Bahrain and lost a tenth and a half to Landa. Too much scrub, mate. That's just... It's not. We saw it. That's because you're, like, 0-1. Anyway, so, how did it feel? I don't know how you felt. I wasn't really thinking about F1 that much. I was only thinking about F1. Yeah, that's why you didn't win a championship. The dream's too big. He's already thinking years ahead. I am. I mean, for you, as you were, like, McLaren golden boy, you still are. You know, there's a guarantee. I think it was... Going into that year, there was so much hype. For both of you. I remember, just from someone who wasn't in that hype, I was like, OK, these boys are clearly big dogs. And then Bahrain, it was like, you guys qualified, like, first and second, I think. I was third, actually. And I was a little bit like, ooh. If it starts off like this, this is not good. Yeah, I was pretty fast in Bahrain when you put it on pole. Really? Why? You had a really bad first race. I had a really bad first race. I saw it. An awful start there for George Russell. He's lost a major crowd. Great start for Norris. And look at the lead. He's already got into Turn 1. Who was told they'd be becoming an F1 driver first? Did you tell the others? You two were more guaranteed than I was. When were you guaranteed that year? I think you were the first. I was Monza. You were Monza. I was Sochi. But I signed in Monza. I didn't win and got released. I signed in Sochi. I signed in Barcelona. I went to Tesco. The year after. Mind games. Mind games. I'm already an F1 mate. Yeah, exactly. No. No, we didn't. I don't want to say this one. What? No. What an outrageous statement. I don't want you guys... I can hear you guys' ego. George. They've definitely planted this. This is dirty. You won the F2 title, but then had the least competitive car to start with in F1, I'm guessing. Was there any jealousy towards the others? Yeah, a bit. Especially with this guy. Straight in. I don't think that was a good thing. And Alex was... Alex just came from full Randy Orton out of nowhere. Watch out, watch out, watch out. Straight into Red Bull. Whoa, what is going on here? I remember the first race, getting lapped three times. Qualifying three and a half seconds off pole in Australia. Look where you are now. Well, look where we all are. You're lapping me three times, yeah. I don't know, I don't know. It was definitely frustrating, but equally, I think, like, as much as you were enjoying points week in, week out, you probably weren't satisfied. Yeah, I guess you're never satisfied. Unless you're winning championships, it's like... And then, like, now Max, he's probably not satisfied with... I think he's already satisfied. I think he's back out to satisfy himself. I think he's satisfied, but, you know what I mean? It's like, there's always... You always want more, basically. Lewis, as an example, you know, he wants more than seven championships. Yeah, that's just greedy. That's just greedy. That's just not cool, is it? But, you know what I mean? So, I was like, I was a bit frustrated, but equally, I was like, until we're winning, it's sort of... Yeah, but you're still happy you're in F1. Yeah, yeah, you're grateful for that, but then you're on to the next, it's like, you know, I want more now, I want more now. True, true, true. As we all do now, I guess, kind of. Next. Next, all right. What has been your highest high? The highest high? Because there's so many of them. Did you ever... Sorry, P21? Qualifying. That's the lowest level. Qualifying. Qualifying, yeah. Didn't mean that. Qualifying. We were one in three. We were one in... P1 and P3, we were... Where were you that day, mate? I was in basic. Oh. I did that, I forgot that. Okay, Virginia... Okay, what's been... Highest high? Honza? No, because your teammate won it. No, I think our first podium. Or Silverstone. Silverstone was like... You had a good first podium, to be fair. That was a cool one. First one after COVID. 2020. Was that like the fastest lap thing? Like the last lap? Last lap, last lap. Yeah, that was pretty Tom Cruise. Strat seven. Tom Cruise. I was saying... Yeah, yeah, that was good. That was a cool one. Or Silverstone. Yeah, I'm a bit envious of both of those, to be fair. They were good ones. Alex? Not really. He had like a high high, to be honest with you. T-Bone by LH in Brazil. Oh, and Lewis Hamilton makes contact with Alex Elb on his first podium in Formula 1. It's said spinning and drifting away. Best day of my life. I would say... My race, my first race at Red Bull. Yeah, Spa 2019. More because of the expectations. I still remember the overtake. On the grass. Was that Daniel Ricciardo overtake on the outside? Exactly. So you DNF'd that race. You were running... On the last lap, on the last day. That was me, huh? I mean, obviously winning my first race was like... It doesn't stop going on about it. Jeez. Probably the highest high, the most unexpected thing was probably the qualifying lap. Here? Here, two years ago. But what a lap from George Russell. He just kept pumping in the times. You've out-qualified Mr. Hamilton. George Russell, P2. Come on! Yes! That was a lap. Did it feel a good lap? Yeah, it felt a good lap. I mean, it felt a good lap, but I did many good laps. I felt like I did many good laps. Oh, you did many good laps. But it was like a P12, a good lap before. And even that, I was like celebrating. It looked good to watch. From the medical centre. Yeah. That was meant to be Lando's day, but thank you. That was. I was so selfless, mate. And your lowest low. Lowest low. Jesus. Next. Next question? Yeah, no, let's get deep. Let's go... Do you have a psychologist? Russia. Russia 2020. Yeah, straight in there. 2021? 2020? 21, wasn't it? Yeah. 2021. Look how heavy the rain has come down and how much spray is out on the track. And Hamilton takes the lead of the race as Lando Norris slides off the track. Oh, this is tragedy for Lando Norris. For me, I mean, it wasn't a lowest low, but the one I was probably most f***ed up about was Hockenheim 2019, where all year Robert and I finished last and second to last. I beat him, I think, in like 19 out of 21 races, or maybe a bit less. But when it counts. But then, there was... No, no, but listen to this. A true driver. So we finished. He rose to the... I made a mistake with five laps to go. You did, mate. Fine. We finished 12th and 13th. All right, no biggie. He's finished 12th. And then two cars get disqualified. Like, what is that? For what? For something to do with their start or something. Oh, my God. So then I get a phone call from... It was actually from James Vowles to say, oh, well done, you just scored your first point. I was like, no, no, no, Robert beat me. So he finished with no points. And I did it. I was like... So he called you with the expectation that you were just... Yeah, I don't know if he was like trying to mess with me or what. He was like, yeah, well done, your Alfa's just been disqualified. So you've got points. Me, there's a few. All right. How long we got? 2021, literally the first race. Like, just watching everyone else race. Like, watching you guys drive in Bahrain. I was like, this is going to be a long year. Because I was out. Because I wasn't racing. I'm going to well up here. In five years, who's most likely to have a world championship under their belt? Depends where Lando signs to. Yeah, exactly. I reckon that has to be you, George. You're in a bit of a dip right now, the team. Oh, I feel awkward saying that as we're here in Mercedes. I mean, I take pride that you say we're in a dip. Yeah, we're still P2 in the championship. Are you still P2 in the championship? Mate, we're 40 points ahead of P3. Lewis must actually be doing a good job. To be fair, he's well ahead of me in the championship this year. I think Formula 1's like... At the start of this year, no one would have said Aston Martin would have been so quick. And with you guys, so slow. And then suddenly, how that's just reversed from nowhere. Do you think you can keep that? I think so. I think it was just sandbagging at the start of the year. True. For Netflix. What the hell? Is it this one? Yeah, this is... I mean, if I can get in my head, these questions was... What was your reaction when Red Bull promoted Alex after 12 races? And then, my next question. What was your reaction when Red Bull dropped Alex after 2020? Oh my god. Alright, this is... Who was the best driver entering Formula 1 and who is the best now? I'll let you guys answer first. We have to say apart from ourselves. It's literally about ourselves. It's about us. Who? Sorry. Who do you think the interview's about? I thought it was just in general. Yeah, I think Ralph Schumacher was really good. This is just for us. Tough one, that's true. I think I hate these type of questions because you sound so arrogant. No, but it's true though. If we were all in a McLaren, probably Lando would be the quickest. If we were all in a Mercedes, probably me. If we were all in a Williams, probably you. You don't get the chance. You never know. You never truly know. Until your teammates. Maybe... Three-car teammate. Three-car team. MotoGP. Yeah, should we do three-car team? Who are we doing? Williams. You haven't had a Williams drive yet. I haven't. You might be at home in a Williams. We have talked about it in detail and I think our cars aren't as far away as you think in terms of driving. No? No, similar limitations. Should we do a three-car team? Or two Williams? We'll join ApexGP. ApexGP. We'll go to ApexGP. Pick out Brad. What's his name? Sonny Hayes. Sonny, yeah, Sonny. Alright. I think be like really bored. Like you can't give a ****. Should we get one road cap with your signature on it? Do you want it? Yeah, do it. Who is this to? Tototo. I'm 3 in 25. Someone's going to get a lucky hat here.