Lawrence Barretto is either being paid off for these takes or he’s a terrible journalist. At this point there’s simply no other way he churns out these takes. Everyone who watched that race knew that Charles vs. Carlos was not a strategic battle, but the result of the two drivers running completely different races.
It’s embarrassing this incompetent man has a platform, never mind the fact that he’s providing race journalism for F1 the organisation itself.
Bernie, have you ever had one of your debriefs delayed by an overrunning Lawrence Barretto interview?
It's not been specifically brimmed on Lawrence, but many of the debriefs have been delayed by drivers. But I think that drivers tend to blame it on the media. And maybe it's just that the driver's gone for a coffee or the driver's having an extra stack or whatever the case is.
Thanks, Bernie. I appreciate that. Thanks for standing up for us.
Bernie, you couldn't be more right, because there are two guilty parties, in my view, and I'm very happy to name and shame them. In terms of where I have arranged an interview... And also, each F1 driver has their own press officer who will help them through all of these arrangements. And their press officer will say to us, as the media, you've got ten minutes. And it's like, it's got to be a hard out at this point. And often it's the journalists who will say, yes, no problem at all. But then the drivers find themselves, they've got to be in the bonnet about something or want to talk about this. And the two worst for this: Alex Albon. Once you get Alex Albon talking, sometimes you can't stop him. And Oscar Piastri as well, both very good at just going off on tangents. And then you realize you've had a text from the press officer saying, last question, and it's like, "yeah, I haven't spoken for five minutes". Sometimes they very much do blame the media when in fact, they've just got into a rant about something. The most unusual example with me was Alex Albon once started ranting about the roundabout system in Milton Keynes, near where the Red Bull factory is based, and couldn't stop him talking. So, yeah.
If I hear another commentator put down Charles again, I swear some heads will roll. Lawrence Barretto calling him "emotional" and "down"... Just shut up. Ugh.
Lawrence Barretto wonders why Lance spends barely any time in his interviews and then you see the questions he asks him, is it really that much of a surprise? Like you can see Lance's face actually drop at one of the questions "I was gonna ask, is it a confidence thing?"