EP 137 - The One Where Karl Refused to Get Naked

Hold onto your helmets and unplug the Wi-Fi — Episode 137 of The Monkey Seat has arrived, and it’s already gone off the rails before the lights have even gone out.This week Tom and Karl look ahead to the 2026 Formula 1 season, but before they can pretend to be experts about the future, they first revisit their 2025 predictions… which age about as well as milk in the Bahrain sun. Turns out predicting F1 is hard when you don’t know what you’re talking about.With reputations already in tatters, the lads dive headfirst into their 2026 predictions: champions, disasters, surprise heroes, and the inevitable chaos that comes with new regs. And yes… Sergio Perez is back, which is great news for Checo fans and terrible news for Tom, who reacts with all the calm restraint of a man who has definitely not been ranting about Perez for several years straight.But the real scandal? Karl betrays the audience.After losing a bet, he was supposed to record an episode completely naked… and he’s bottled it. The excuses are flimsy, the disappointment is real, and justice may yet be served.As if that wasn’t enough, this episode features brand-new podcast tech, experimental setups, and Irish internet held together with duct tape and hope. The glitches, dropouts, and audio chaos aren’t problems — they’re features. Think of it as immersive realism: the sound of two grown men wrestling with technology they absolutely should not have bought.Expect bold predictions, terrible reasoning, tech meltdowns, and the usual Monkey Seat nonsense — because if the 2026 season is half as chaotic as this episode, we’re in for a classic.Looking for serious F1 analysis? Go listen to Grid Talk. But if you want predictions with zero accountability and more technical difficulties than a Ferrari upgrade package, you’re exactly where you need to be.Catch Tom and Karl pretending to be professional on the Grid Talk Podcast @gridtalkuk on all socials.For real motorsport journalism, head to f1chronicle.com, and for everything Grid Talk, visit linktr.ee/gridtalkuk.Find The Monkey Seat on Spotify, Apple Music, Pocket Casts, YouTube, Anchor, Castbox, Radio Public, TuneIn, Breaker — or just shout “CHECO IS BACK” into the void and wait for Tom’s blood pressure to spike.