 But once you get out there, it's like on. Oh yeah, it's on. And it's like, it's brutal racing. Yeah, we had a good battle on Sunday. I love that. Hey everyone, so that's the new series, Meet the Drivers. And today I've decided to go with Scott McLaughlin. Is it McLaughlin or McLaughlin? McLaughlin. But you French guys, you always say McLaughlin. Which is... What's a DH? Yeah. Well, and the Americans say it as well like that. Yeah, maybe. So it's like, you just gotta remember the lock. McLaughlin. It's like a broken gap. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So you gotta ride most of the time. Okay, good. And the funny thing is the first time I heard about you, I didn't like you. Yeah. Because when you got to view your supercar, I was really good friends with Alex Pramar. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then when you joined GMR, you were starting kicking his butt. Yeah. And when he races, I was like, who is that guy? But you know, Alex is one of my best friends now. Like, it's like we, I just was with him in Vegas, as you know, for his 40th birthday. And yeah, he was a great teammate, right? And that's where I met you. I don't know if you remember. I met you at 25. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I met you there for the first time. Yeah, that was the first time I was in an F1 paddock and I was checking it all out. I was just in awe. I think I met Neko, Rosberg, a breeze past Hamilton there for a little bit. It was amazing. It was amazing. And the funny part of that paddock is we are a bit too good to be a supercar paddock just to see, you know, the cars. Yeah, but you're too popular. When you guys leave, you like just get hammered, right? It's a bit of a problem in a supercar paddock. So yeah, first when I hear about you, I didn't like you. And then you started winning races and then you won Bathras with Alex and Mon Panorama. Yep, that's the place you've got to go to. Yeah, I need to do that one. Yeah, you should do Bathras one day. On surface part days, we won, yeah. Bathras on surface part days, yeah, we won. And how many wins do you have in here? 50, 53? I think we had 55 wins in supercars. And you had the record of pole position. Yep, we had the record for the... You were the youngest winner. Yep, youngest winner. The most wins in a season. We had 18 wins one year. And then most poles in a season, which is the same, so 18, I think. So it was, we had a great run and Alex was along the way for that. He was my co-driver for three, four years. Longer actually, we did a couple of co-driver instants in Volvo back in the day. Blue car, beautiful car. So six years, I think we were together. And then obviously teammates. So we had some good fun. Supercars were an amazing car. Highly recommend them going back and racing them. But got the opportunity to come over here and I always wanted to be in America. I didn't want to... It's weird because I just thought it was the big leagues and I had such a good base down in Australia and I could have been there for 15 years, a long time making good money and doing things. But for me, it wasn't a challenge anymore. Like I knew, probably understand it. Like you've done what you wanted to achieve. I want to challenge it. I want Bathurst, which is basically Indy 500 or Monaco or Le Mans, whatever. It's the big race. And for me, I checked it off, you know? And it was about now extending myself and trying something completely different. That was Indy car. Did you want to come to the US before? Because your wife is American, right? Yes, yes. So did you want to come before you got to meet her and got married or was it something that came because she spoke about America? Yeah, no. So I met Carly in 2016. And we obviously hit it off and whatever. But before that, I was way entrenched in America. My mom and dad really, I grew up basically, I live in America because of my dad had hot rods, like old cars and loved movies like America of Feedy and Greece. And it was just like the American way of life that was quite cool for us. And from a little family in New Zealand, like it's like a big country compared to what we're used to. I mean, there's five or six million people in New Zealand. And you know, there's like 200 million. Yeah, exactly. There's like 200 million here. It's just a crazy place. So I first came here in 2013. And after that, I was actually to race supercars at Kota. And after that, I fell in love with the place. And I was like, no, I've got to be back here one day. And then the short story, Roger Petski was entering the series in Australia. I messaged Tim Syndrick and said, hey, these are my details. One day I'd love to be a part of the organization in any capacity. And then from that point on, he messaged me in 2016. And basically when I met Carly and we did the deal and I drove for Petski and that opened the door to here. So what's obviously, they're very different cars. Yeah. What was the hardest part to adjust initially? The downfalls. Yeah, the downfalls, trusting the aerodynamics, trusting like when you break on like a clean, like little passes, I watched you, a lot of your passes last year, like, you know, how you use the grip on the outside compared to the guy on the inside, you know, you can really command position by doing that, but trusting the aerodynamics to pull you up. So I felt like I got onto the speed and doing the one lap pace in some ways quicker than I probably thought. But trusting the aerodynamics in a race situation, where to position your car to be, you know, defense and defense and attacking, that's what I had to learn. And then the proximity of the car against the walls. And I'm so used to be on the right side of the car, right up against it, scrubbing my mirrors. We're here, it's like you scrub your wheels, you know? And it all clicked for me with St. Pete. And when I polled and, you know, I felt like I hadn't, you know, all my proximity, you know, ready well, so it was good. I'm an awful, as you've always been good, because the first one in Texas last year finished second, which pissed me off back home, because I was like, bloody hell for the rookie championship, that's it. It's probably welcome here across the line. Yeah, so you just, it was just natural, right? Yeah. Some people, it's very hard, and for some, it's very natural, I guess. I think, like, I was just, I don't know, just like, I had no bad habits for the oval. It was just a blank sheet of paper, kind of like yourself probably, you know? Like you don't have preconceived ideas of what an oval's gonna feel like. It's just, you get told what to do this, how you drive the car, we're gonna set it up this way. And you just tell us if you need a bit more turn or if the car's a bit free and we'll just work it in. I was very lucky, I was on Petsky, you know, and you're on, you know, with Coin, but you know, now with Andretti on your first oval venture. It's good being with a big team, with a lot of data, a lot of setup knowledge, all walks of setup knowledge is, you know, like going from one car to another. I'm sure Rossy drives a lot different to Herder and whatever. For me to have Simon, Will, Joseph last year to bounce feedback off, guys that have all nearly won, all won the Indy 500 championships, it was, you know, it was great for me. So like I said, it was just no bad habits, blank sheet of paper and just make it happen and now I felt already comfortable straight away. Yeah, you did. You did it. Now we're here, Indy 500, it's a big one. Yeah, yeah. It is bigger than you can imagine, right? Yeah, yeah, all right. I'm so excited to see you on race day because I think, I mean, you've seen some big races, don't get me wrong, but like I think when you see this place, like I saw a half full last year, I was like, wow, like it's crazy. Like I think when you go out for driver intros, you're waving and all that, it's just, it's so goosebumps. And then as you've seen is we've gone across this calendar all across America, like they're so patriotic and the troops and we're racing on Memorial Day and honestly, man, like I was like emotional last year, like crazy, I don't get emotional very much and like it was just like the whole, the aura around the event. So I'm excited with mum and dad, they're gonna be here for the first time, you'll meet them probably. My dad'd be here though. Yeah, really? Yeah, first Indy car race. Is it? Yeah, yeah, same for us. So like, I mean, I'm so pumped, like two and a half years I haven't seen them before. So it's gonna be a bit of a reunion, that's for sure. Okay, so coming from Formula One, the atmosphere between the drivers is very different in Indy car in Formula One. Apart from you guys, but I'm more impressed with the name. But how is it compared to you in supercars? Is that as friendly in Australia? Because for us Australia, there are Australian people that are all cool. Yeah. And in Australia it's easy going, I love that. But how is it into the race? Australia battles with a syndrome, it's called tall poppy syndrome. So if you're going really well, you know, people like will shoot you down or try and bring you down or you know, talk crap behind your back or whatever you know. And I had a lot of that. I probably didn't help myself sometimes, but there's definitely like a lot of jealousy and I mean, I'm always wanting to like knit back and you know, defend my team, defend me, or you know, and I'll say what I think when I need to. And it's part of it, right? And sometimes it didn't sit well with the drivers back there and I probably wasn't the most popular there. That's for sure. And I think that a lot of that was due to our success and how we went. Yeah, I think you are. You got down, as I said, in the initial I didn't like you because you were beating Alex at the frame up. But you're probably one of the most successful out there. Yeah, with Jamie Winkup? Jamie Winkup, he was the, he's for me is the greatest of all time. Like he's good, good, solid, professional. No, he's going to. But isn't it crazy though? Like him, Vanguz, a couple of other guys, but mainly those two were the, I was the most closest with out of everyone. And we were the ones battling for championships for since 2017, you know? And I think that goes to show the respect between you know, guys that are either winning or not, you know, and the difference in the mentality and that. I find there's a lot more jealousy in that paddock than there is sort of here. And here it's very welcoming, as you know, like everyone's, but what I like here, it's professional. You come in, you can have a beer, you can hang out and talk, talk whatever with the guys and girls. But once you get out of there, it's like on. Oh yeah, it's on. And it's like, it's, it's, it's brutal racing. And I'll race, I'll rate that. Cause once it's done, everyone's like, yeah. Like, apart from, you know, you've had a few moments or, you know, but that's racing and it always happens. So I respect that. And I like, I like how they go about the race. Thanks Scott. I shouldn't say it up, but I think if you make it to Formula 1, you'll be successful. Formula 1 North talented guy that I've ever. Appreciate that. Everyone went through. I mean, you know, coming from VA to IndyCard, doing what you do now, as I told you after the IndyGP race was amazed by your capacity of racing now. Cause last year it was, it wasn't easy to pass you, but it was, you know, I could, I could get you from a bit of experience. All right now it's like, okay, now I need to dig deep, right? Yeah, we had a good battle on Sunday. I love that. We spun on the safety car. Oh yeah. I mean, if you were going to do it, it would be okay. Yeah, it was atrocious. But now I appreciate it. Honestly, you've been a great friend this whole time and I'm excited for more battles. Yeah, me too. I guess we're going to fight for the championship in the future. Let's make it happen. Maybe this year. Cheers, brother.