The Autosport Podcast

This weekend at Monza sees the second sprint race format, so Friday afternoon was all about setting the grid for Saturday’s sprint qualifying.  The pole sitter tomorrow isn’t officially on pole, instead he earns the title of ‘speed king’. Ariana Bravo is in the paddock in Italy and she’s talking to Jonathan Noble (F1 Editor, motosport.com) about the action. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What better way to get in the mood for an Italian Grand Prix at Monza, than an Italian who has driven the track. We’re joined by Vitantonio Liuzzi. Enjoying drives for the newly birthed Red Bull Racing team, Toro Rosso, Force India and HRT, on the podcast today he looks back at a Formula 1 career which he says was often defined as being in the right place at the wrong time. Tonio talks about what it's like to race at Monza with the passion of the fans behind you, his best lap around Monza, why he credits Michael Schumacher as the key to his early success, the events which stopped him from rising up to be a team leader in a main Red Bull seat and remembering the famous Turn 1 crash which took out Nico Rosberg.   Finally he tells us why 2010 was the year he drove most of the season with just one hand on the wheel, and his duties this weekend as an FIA steward. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On today's Autosport podcast, we're bringing you something from our sister podcast channel Gravel Notes. Tom Howard talks to Molly Taylor who is currently competing in Extreme E and this weekend's WRC Acropolis Rally Greece. Molly reveals how a facetime call from Nico Rosberg got her interested in Extreme E, how successful female drivers can inspire a generation of young girls who see them as role models, and she previews this the WRC action this weekend. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Formula One will have new power units from 2025 that will run on 100% sustainable fuels.  So how big a change is that going to be? As great as the shift from V8s to hybrids? And while many governments around the world seem to speak today only of electric cars as the future, how powerful a message will Formula One be sending that the future of cars and mobility doesn't have to be all-electric? To help us answer this, we spoke to Scuderia Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto and his F1 fuel partner István Kapitány, Shell’s Global Executive Vice president for mobility. Your host as always on #ThinkingFoward is James Allen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's Monday 6th September and a breaking news episode on today’s podcast. Ariana is currently flying from the Netherlands to Italy to prepare for hosting this weekend's TV coverage, so you've got Martyn to introduce the news today. Well it's the announcement we thought was coming but you never know until it's a done deal. George Russell will be driving the Mercedes-Benz next to Lewis Hamiton and Valtteri Bottas will join the Alfa Romeo Formula 1 team in 2022 at the start of what the Swiss outfit says is a multi-year deal. The Finn's departure from Mercedes has been expected for some weeks, and a return to Williams was also a potential option before it became clear that his destination was Alfa Romeo. Kimi Raikkonen's retirement announcement on Wednesday was the first in a series of pieces of the driver market puzzle fall into place. Confirmation from Mercedes that George Russell is to join the world champion team as replacement for Bottas will follow this week. Bottas is reunited at Alfa Romeo with team

Formula 1’s return to Circuit Zandvoort is all thanks to the Max Verstappen fever from his home fans, but did they go home delighted or despondent? Ariana Bravo is joined for our review podcast by Luke Smith (F1 Reporter, Autosport) and Jess McFadyen (Director of Digital Strategy, Motorsport Network)  to analyse all the action down the grid.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ariana Bravo and Matt Kew are both at Circuit Zandvoort to witness the action and passion from Verstappen’s orange army. No spoilers here, but it was a tight fight for pole, although Matt argues why a technical issue and driver error robbed one of the Top 3 of a large chunk of time.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ariana Bravo is joined by Jonathan Noble  (F1 Editor, motorsport.com) to look back at F1's return to Zandvoort. Friday was regularly interrupted by red flags due to car failures and driver error, which will add to the tension of the weekend as teams try to gather data ahead of qualifying. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Calling Sunday’s track action a ‘race’ is stretching the definition according to many of those who sat through hours of delays, only to see the absolute minimum done to achieve a result. However, an official classification and podium ceremony was held after the shortest race in the history of Formula 1®. Despite that, there’s a surprising amount of questions our readers and listeners want answered. Listen to today’s podcast as Ariana Bravo is joined by Luke Smith (F1 Reporter, Autosport) and Jess McFadyen (Director of Digital Strategy, Motorsport Network) to discuss a controversial day. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ariana Bravo is joined by Alex Kalinauckas (Grand Prix Editor, Autosport) to look back at how the grid came together on an eventful Saturday at Spa Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Formula 1 teams are back in action after the summer break and today was two practice sessions which told us quite a lot about the possible form. Ariana Bravo is joined by Jonathan Noble (F1 Editor, motorsport.com).  There’s good news for drivers who have been able to announce contract extensions, and bad news for teams who are facing the prospect of grid penalties as they exceed their allocation of three power units for the season.  The midfield battle looks tight once again, and can Alpine keep their momentum of a victory last time out?  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

15A fourth consecutive Toyota victory was by no means certain as, with hours to spare, the #7 car was secretly hiding a potential show stopping issue. Tom Howard talks to our man at the track, Gary Watkins, to find out how Toyota avoided a repeat of previous fuel pickup issues. A podium for Alpine sets them up well for the future, and some strong times for the Glickenhaus cars showed they were on the pace when the track conditions suited them. All that and a lot more on today's Autosport podcast. You can read all our coverage of Le Mans here: https://www.autosport.com/le-mans/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

James Newbold is joined by sportscar legend Gary Watkins to preview the 89th running of the world's most famous endurance event. The 2021 Le Mans 24 Hours marks the dawn of a new era for the world's oldest and most famous endurance race, as the Hypercar class replaces LMP1 as the top of the endurance racing pyramid. Toyota goes into the event aiming to take a fourth straight victory, having been the dominant force at Le Mans since the withdrawal of Porsche in 2017.  Whilst they might be favourites, Gary explains why you shouldn't be surprised if Glickenhaus pull off an unlikely victory. When is the Le Mans 24 Hours? Date: Saturday 21st August 2021 – Sunday 22nd August 2021 Start time: 3:00pm BST, 4:00pm local time Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week's edition of Autosport magazine is now on the shelves (and the doormats of subscribers) so Tom Howard picked out three of his favourite pieces to discuss on the podcast today. Kevin Turner (Chief Editor, Autosport) examines British F1 team BRM and their last hurrah. Marcus Simmons (Deputy Editor, Autosport) talks to BTCC title contender Jake Hill on his passion for all things motorsport. And Tom looks at WRC and the hybrid Ford Puma they hope will get them back at the front of rallying. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Half way through the 2021 Formula 1 season (pedants would like it known that exact moment is sometime during practice at Spa) we're using the Summer break to reflect on a breathless start to the season. Ariana Bravo is fresh off the plane from Budapest and joined by Alex Kalinauckas (Grand Prix Editor, Autosport) and Stuart Codling (Executive Editor, GP Racing). All three have spent time back at racetracks this year and give us their inside scoop on life in the paddock.   On today's podcast we discuss: How Max Verstappen has lost too many points If Lewis Hamilton is as challenged as 2016’s Nico Rosberg defeat How their teammates have played the support roles Which team is winning the midfield battle Where Autosport readers have ranked the drivers after 11 races Who will be racing alongside Hamilton at Mercedes in 2022 ...and a lot more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ariana Bravo is joined by Luke Smith (F1 Editor, Autosport) and Jess McFadyen (Director of Digital Strategy, Motorsport Network) to make sense of the chaos & carnage from a first lap crash which would give us a totally unpredictable podium. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ariana Bravo is joined by Alex Kalinauckas (Grand Prix Editor, Autosport) to talk about today's action. It resulted in a relatively predictable top 3 positions but we won't say what order - no spoilers! Alex thinks that some teams underperformed today, including one of the front runners not being able to switch on their front tyres  in the heat of Hungary. There was also a flashpoint in the post-qualifying press conference with Max Verstappen getting angry with the moderator for asking about the potential for a first lap incident. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ariana Bravo is joined by Jonathan Noble (F1 Editor, motorsport.com) to look at the on-track action in Hungary, but also the war of words which continues between Red Bull and Mercedes Benz following the Silverstone crash. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This weekend is the largest historic motorsport of the year, as we prepare for three days of track action at the Silverstone Classic.  Before he travelled to the event Kevin Turner (Chief Editor, Autosport) was joined by two guests who have raced there in previous years - Marcus Pye and Ben Anderson.  Ben shares his memories of racing a Chevron B37 around Silverstone, and all compare their favourite circuit layouts over the years.  Also as it's the 60th Anniversary of the Jaguar E-Type, we recently put Ben in two examples at Brands Hatch to tell us about the experience. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

12-times F1 race winner Carlos Reutemann died at the age of 79 earlier this month. Carlos Reutemann raced in Formula 1 for Brabham, Ferrari, Lotus and Williams. He won 12 grands prix and, although he came within touching distance of the title, he was never crowned world champion.  On today's podcast he is remembered by two people who knew him well. Marcus Simmons (Deputy Editor, Autosport) is joined by five-time Grand Prix winner John Watson, and Argentinian journalist Tony Watson. Read:  Race of my life: Carlos Reutemann on the 1974 South African GP Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices