The Autosport F1 Podcast

Joining Alex Kalinauckas (Grand Prix Editor, Autosport) is Jonathan Noble (F1 Editor, Motorsport.com) as he arrives in Austria and heads to the track, as part of a small group of global media allowed inside the Media Centre. Jon tells us how F1 is taking no risks with the virus and the common sight of face masks within the F1 bubble. The extra distance from drivers didn’t stop us asking Sebastian Vettel about his bombshell breakup with Ferrari and his admission today that “there was never an offer on the table”. Alex on Twitter: @Nauckas Alex on Insta: Nnauckas Jon on Twitter: @NobleF1 Jon on Insta: @noble__jon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As head of Formula 2 and Formula 3 Bruno Michel presides over a vital step in the pipeline of driver talents to Formula One. Recent graduates like Charles Leclerc, Lando Norris, George Russell, Alex Albon and Lance Stroll highlight the vital role that these two championships play. This weekend they start again, alongside F1 in Austria and we spoke to Michel shortly before he departed for Austria about how close the Covid-19 crisis came to shutting down F2 and F3 teams and drivers and the how the feeder series builds back better. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Four months after the cancelled Australian opener the Formula 1 season is finally getting underway. Before he caught his plane to head to the circuit, Jonathan Noble joined Alex Kalinauckas, Luke Smith and Jessica McFadyen to look at the key talking points ahead of the season-opening Grand Prix. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For today's special insight episode, we talk to AVL RACING which works with the world's leading teams and drivers. We discuss the various braking systems used across categories and how getting the brakes working perfectly can win or lose you the battle. How do simulators work with braking? And what are the new motorsport technologies changing the way drivers brake? Find out more about AVL RACING here: https://www.avl.com/racing Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the final podcast for our Le Mans 24 Hours series this month, motorsport legend Hugh Chamberlain joins us to look back on some of his favourite racing moments. Hugh has held team management roles at Le Mans every year from 1987 until 2008, and there are few in motorsport who know more about how to race there. Joining Alex is Gary Watkins to ask Hugh about the highs and lows of winning (and losing) Le Mans 24 Hours. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Two-time Formula One World Champion Mika Häkkinen joins us live on the podcast to talk about his greatest races. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Our sport has a unique ability to reach, unite and empower millions of people globally, and its return is being eagerly awaited worldwide. The world’s top sporting events are some of the world’s most watched, bringing enormous visibility. Athletes and racing drivers like Lewis Hamilton are powerful role models that inspire others and lead by example. The events of recent weeks and the support for Black Lives Matter has shown that motorsport has an opportunity to bring the world together and to raise public awareness of societal issues and solutions. We had already seen signs before the pandemic crisis that sponsors and manufacturers were looking for sport to demonstrate a sense of purpose and it is increasingly clear that in the post Covid world, sport risks looking irrelevant if it does not have a higher purpose than just entertainment. In the FIA eSport Conference MSN president James Allen tackled this subject with a panel featuring Formula E founder and Chairman Alejandro Agag, Susie Wolff, who is team principal of Rokit Venturi Formula E team and the founder of the Dare to be Different initiative to bring more females into the sport; Andrea Adamo team principal of Hyundai motorsport, Bob Bell former CTO of Renault and Mercedes F1 teams and founder of Grid4Good.org and Yath Gangakumaran, Director of Strategy and Business Development, F1 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Damon Hill makes a special guest appearance on the latest episode on the Autosport podcast to talk about his favourite drives. He also talks about his admiration for Michael Schumacher, having battled hard against him, and the current state of F1 as we prepare to go racing again. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On the show today, an exclusive conversation with Ross Brawn. Motorsport Network President James Allen spoke to Ross about the plan to go racing again in 2020. There are currently 69 signatures on the FIA F1 world champion’s trophy and whoever adds the 70th at the end of this year will have won in a truly exceptional season. Formula 1 restarts soon and in this latest interview in the #ThinkingForward series, James interviewed Ross at the FIA eConference - they spoke about the challenges of organising the first eight races, the rise of esports during the lockdown, and the complications of filling in the remaining gaps on the calendar with long haul races. Brawn also voiced the hope that this new spirit of collaboration between FIA, F1 and the teams as a result of the Coronavirus crisis, that brought about a remarkable set of rule changes and a budget cap, will continue into the future. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the latest interview for the #thinkingforward series of thought leadership discussions, Motorsport Network president James Allen and Motorsport.com F1 editor Jonathan Noble speak to Günther Steiner, Team Principal of Haas Formula One Team. Günther tells us why the COVID crisis was the biggest challenge of his career…how he feels about the new budget cap…and why he thinks Formula 1 should be experimenting with reverse grids...” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices