Not From Chicago, But Close Enough

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Not From Chicago, But Close Enough. Episode 2. The Great Chicago Fire | Oct 22, 2024.

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Not From Chicago, But Close Enough. Episode 1. The Founding of Chicago | Oct 15, 2024.

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This is the final episode of On the Gravel for the foreseeable future. We are still going to be around, maybe making some content here or there for the YouTube and some blog posts on the Alithio Network. Raven and Oliver say their goodbyes to the listeners, recap some of the memories made along the way, and ultimately give their unfiltered thoughts on the Azerbaijan GP. Thank you everyone, we will catch you around sometime, On the Gravel

This week On the Gravel was a dip between last week's Italian Grand Prix and our trip to Baku next week for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. In and around the paddock, the final episode of The Grand Tour airs this Friday, Mattia Binotto believes youth may be the answer for the final Audi seat, and Adrian Newey’s move to AMR is being further confirmed this week. One more conversation on the flex wings used by McLaren and Mercedes, a staffing shake up at Ferrari, and Red Bull sacrificing next year's car to fix its current issues finished up our news portion. New this week was a segment centered around memorable moments, a rookie spotlight, and race predictions for the week's upcoming circuit. The week ended with recaps of EKO Acropolis Rally Greece (WRC), Lone Star Le Mans (WEC), and Formula Drift Utah to carry us over to next week at Baku. See you there!

Round 16 of the Formula One World Championship took us to the Autodromo Nazionale Monza for the Italian Grand Prix, the home of the Tifosi and a race in which everyone roots for Ferrari. It didn’t seem as it would be the day for the boys in scarlet red as the McLaren’s were once again dominant, locking out the front row and controlling most of the race, but one strategical error was all it took from the pitwall, with the team bringing in both drivers for a two stop and Leclerc opting to hang it out on an old set of hards to make it to the end just 2.6 seconds ahead of Piastri. Pure euphoria. Elsewhere around the paddock, we saw the rewards of a large upgrade package for Ferrari, Antonelli was officially signed to Mercedes for 2025 onward, and F2 rookie Franco Colapinto replaced Logan Sargeant at Williams for the remainder of the season. The rookie sprint at Abu Dhabi is now in planning, Alpine employees came out to protest Renault’s desire to draw back on their engine development and Bottas may be staying with Sauber for another year. A fantastic Italian GP left us ready for more and we can't wait for Baku in 2 weeks time. Thanks as always for stopping out On the Gravel with us!

Round 15 of the Formula One World Championship took us to the Circuit Zandvoort in the Netherlands for the Dutch Grand Prix, a race that has only been won by Max Verstappen since its reintroduction to the sport in 2021. However it was not to be the Dutchman’s day at home, with Norris taking a convincing pole and victory to fully stamp McLaren’s authority and ambitions on the main stage. Could Lando still be in contention for the WDC? Around the paddock it was a light week with Helmut Marko all but confirming Lawson will be in a Red Bull or VCARB next year, Max has stated he’s in the latter half of his career already, and Liberty Media is selling a 630,000 Euro stake of the company to fund the recent MotoGP acquisition. On top of this, the Uralkali/Haas drama resurfaced to all new levels this weekend, plenty of upgrades over the summer break were discussed, and Sargeant’s seat is truly in jeopardy after his massive crash in FP3. A very light week of racing to bring us back to speed, something that we will see the pinnacle of next week at Monza for the Italian GP, and we hope to see you there On The Gravel!

A few weeks spent off the gravel gave Raven and Oliver some time to decompress and pile together a load of mid season reactions and news. This week started off with our mid season driver ratings, top races and biggest gainers and losers. News around the paddock was plentiful with Alpine securing Oliver Oakes as their new team principal and all but confirming Jack Doohan’s 2025 contract, Andrea Stella resigned for McLaren,  and Jonathan Wheatley was named as Audis new TP. Antonelli seems a done deal for Mercedes, Domenicali has hinted at up to eight sprint races on future calendars, and Adrian Newey seems to be heading to AMR. It’s finally race week again, and we can’t wait to take you out On The Gravel for the Dutch Grand Prix next week!

Round 14 of the Formula One World Championship took us to the Circuit de Spa Francorchamps for the Belgian Grand Prix with another slow burn with the inclusion of a shocking twist after the race. A masterclass in strategy from George Russell and Mercedes saw the Brit go on a one-stopper and whisper his hard tires for over 30 laps to hold off the charge of teammate Lewis Hamilton and the McLaren of Oscar Piastri right to the flag. It wasn't to be however, with Russell suffering a post race DSQ as his Mercedes was found to be underweight, promoting Hamilton to his 2nd win in the last 3 races. Elsewhere around the paddock, Alpine ran a special Deadpool livery around Spa and are debating moving to Mercedes power, Alonso came out criticizing the FIA once again, and the internet was outraged at Max Verstappen's sim racing sleep schedule. Mattia Binotto has officially joined the Audi F1 project, the points system will not be changed, and Ocon officially signed with Haas. Formula 2 coverage wrapped up a great week On The Gravel as we head into the summer break and some quality time off before the Dutch GP at the end of August. We hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

Round 13 of the Formula One World Championship took to the Hungaroring for the Hungarian Grand Prix. A second new winner this season, with Oscar Piastri taking his maiden win over a frustrated Lando Norris that brewed up a bit of drama on the McLaren pitwall. A 2021 style collision between Verstappen and Hamilton topped off a fine weekend out in Budapest that now puts us at 7 winners in 13 races. Elsewhere around the paddock, Audi are taking BP as their fuel supplier, Kevin Magnussen announced his departure from Haas and Esteban Ocon received his 2021 Hungarian GP race winning car. Yuki Tsunoda has potential for a Red Bull promotion in 2025, the 2026 regulations have gotten even worse, and our famous friends from The Grand Tour have disbanded after decades together on television. This week wrapped up with coverage of F2, WRC, WEC and Formula Drift as we coast into the Belgian GP week next week before a few weeks Off The Gravel for the summer break. Enjoy and take care!