Kamui Kobayashi on Suzuka, Tsunoda and fights with world champions
Yuki Tsunoda may be the latest Japanese racing hero, but he’s got a way to go to match the achievements of Tom’s guest this week: Kamui Kobayashi. In 75 races in F1 for Sauber and Caterham, Kobayashi earned himself a podium on home soil at Suzuka, more points than any other Japanese driver in history and cult hero status among fans. He’s also the man Sergio Perez credits for teaching him the da...
52m Mar 31, 2021
52m
Andreas Seidl on his route to F1
Having joined McLaren in May 2019, Team Principal Andreas Seidl has been a key cog in the Woking team’s recent renaissance. But get to know him and it’s easy to see why.  On this week’s show the German discusses his hopes and aspirations for 2021 and why he couldn’t be happier with his driver line-up of Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo. He also opens up on his management style, what he learne...
1hr 1m Mar 24, 2021
1hr 1m
Sergio Perez on Red Bull + racing Verstappen
Beyond The Grid is back for a new season, and for our first episode we’re proud to bring you a driver who is firmly in the spotlight in 2021: Sergio Perez. No one on the grid has experienced as many ups and downs as the Mexican over the last 12 months, from being the first driver to catch Covid-19 to losing his race seat, to winning his first race to landing a last-minute dream move to Red Bull...
41m Mar 17, 2021
41m
REVISITED: Murray Walker – An incredible life, in his own words
To millions of F1 fans around the world, Murray Walker was much more than an F1 commentator. He was the man that brought their passion to life, with his unmistakable voice sound-tracking – and enhancing – some of the greatest moments in the sport’s history.  As the world mourns his sad passing, at the age of 97, we bring you Tom’s conversation with Murray from early 2019, as he looked back on ...
1hr 2m Mar 14, 2021
1hr 2m
Beyond The Grid Returns March 17!
Mark your diaries – Beyond The Grid is back Wednesday March 17 with more raw, open and honest conversations with the biggest names in F1, from world champions to new-gen sensations, engineering gods to mighty team managers. Don’t miss it!  
2m Mar 12, 2021
2m
REVISITED: Kimi Raikkonen on racing, partying and becoming a family man
In the third of our Beyond The Grid Revisited episodes, where we delve into the show’s archives, we look back on Tom’s conversation with F1’s resident Iceman: Kimi Raikkonen.   At the time of recording, Kimi was just about to embark on his first season with Alfa Romeo, after departing Ferrari. He was in extremely good spirits and, in a rare feature-length interview, was happy to open up on eve...
45m Mar 03, 2021
45m
REVISITED: Charles Leclerc on overcoming tragedy to race for Ferrari
In the second of our Beyond The Grid Revisited episodes, where we delve into the archives, we look back on Tom’s conversation with a fresh-faced Charles Leclerc in October 2018.   At the time, Leclerc was still enjoying a first season of F1 with Alfa Romeo Sauber, but with one eye on Ferrari after signing a deal to race for the Scuderia in 2019. Listen to him discuss his hopes and emotions ab...
48m Feb 24, 2021
48m
REVISITED: Lewis Hamilton opens up on his F1 journey in 2018
In the first of our Beyond The Grid Revisited episodes, where we delve into the archives, we turn the clock back to our very first episode in 2018 to hear from Lewis Hamilton - then only a four-time champion.  The Briton discussed how the sport had shaped him, how his interests away from F1 keep him grounded and much, much more.  Beyond The Grid will be back with a new series in March.
53m Feb 17, 2021
53m
The Best of 2020: Tom picks some of his favourite moments from Season 3
This is our final episode of 2020, and my goodness what a year it’s been, both in F1 itself and on this very podcast.  We’ve had lots of great guests, lots of wonderful anecdotes, lot of laughs and quite a few tears too. And - we hope you agree - some real insights into some of the sport’s high-rollers. On this special episode, Tom has picked some of his favourite stories and anecdotes from the...
59m Dec 16, 2020
59m
Mattia Binotto on the pressure of leading Ferrari
The job of Ferrari team principal is arguably the most prestigious in Formula 1 – but it’s also the one that undoubtedly carries the most pressure. The man whose task it is to lead the Scuderia right now is Mattia Binotto. Binotto is a Ferrari lifer, having joined the team straight out of university and worked numerous roles over his 25 years stay. He tells us all about that journey, which incl...
55m Dec 09, 2020
55m
Lance Stroll on answering critics and his father-son journey to F1
He’s one of the most exciting young drivers on the grid, with two podiums and one stunning pole position to his name, and yet Lance Stroll has had to deal with a minority of critics throughout his time in the sport. On this week’s show, the Canadian explains how he deals with those voices, how he’s evolved as a driver and person since his debut in 2017, how he was forced to learn from his mista...
51m Dec 02, 2020
51m
Lord Hesketh on James Hunt and F1’s original party team
When Hesketh Racing burst onto the F1 grid in the 1970s, they took everyone by surprise. They appeared to be playboys, having fun on and off track. But away from the yachts and the parties, was a small, well-organised group of passionate racers who were determined to win. With James Hunt at the wheel, they did. Lord Alexander Hesketh, who bankrolled and ran the team, tells Tom Clarkson how he ‘...
1hr 9m Nov 25, 2020
1hr 9m
Renault stalwart Alan Permane on 30 years of stars, success and struggles at Enstone
He joined Benetton in the late 1980s as a bottom-rung mechanic and he’s been with the team ever since, as it morphed into Renault then Lotus and now back to Renault. Alan Permane, Renault’s Sporting Director, has seen and done it all in his time at the Enstone factory. He was Michael Schumacher’s mechanic, Giancarlo Fisichella’s race engineer, and he stepped up to lead the team after the Crashg...
1hr 25m Nov 18, 2020
1hr 25m
Jochen Mass on a career tinged with tragedy, racing Lauda and mentoring Schumacher
Jochen Mass’ F1 career began with a bang and ended more than a decade later in a fiery crash. In the 1970s he shared podiums with the likes of Lauda, Hunt, Fittipaldi and Scheckter. His talent deserved more than a single victory, which came on a dark day in Spain in 1975. Tragedy struck again in 1982, when Jochen played a blameless part in the crash which killed the legendary Gilles Villeneuve....
1hr 19m Nov 11, 2020
1hr 19m
Eric Boullier on managing Raikkonen, Kubica’s accident and switching from Team Principal to Promoter
Eric Boullier was Team Principal at Renault and Lotus before he became the Racing Director of McLaren. He resigned from that role in 2018 before switching camps to Paul Ricard, where he is now managing director of the French Grand Prix. In this episode, Tom probes Eric about his life in the sport, from the challenge of managing Kimi Raikkonen to dealing with the aftermath of Robert Kubica’s acc...
48m Nov 04, 2020
48m
Safety car secrets with driver Bernd Maylander
He's led hundreds of laps in F1 – but you may never have heard of him. That’s because Bernd Maylander is the Safety Car driver, and has been for the last 20 years. When the weather is bad or there’s a serious incident, Bernd takes to the track to lead the field around at a safe speed – not fast by F1 standards, but still seriously quick. He gives us the inside line on his job, revealing who is ...
52m Oct 28, 2020
52m
Toto Wolff on Hamilton, Rosberg, Lauda and breaking records
He’s a workaholic, whose team is about to win a record seventh consecutive constructors’ championship. Yet his desire for more trophies remains all-consuming. We welcome back Mercedes boss Toto Wolff for an intimate and relaxed chat at his home in Oxford. Topics up for discussion include his future, how Niki Lauda remains a big influence in his life, the realities of the Rosberg/Hamilton relati...
42m Oct 21, 2020
42m
Chase Carey on his role in shaping F1’s future and guiding the sport through a global pandemic
Chase Carey has been CEO and Executive Chairman of Formula 1 for the last four years, and it’s fair to say he’s been busy in that time. New rules – including F1’s first ever budget cap - have been crafted, a new governance structure has been negotiated, and new races have joined the calendar – and that’s before you consider having to navigate through a global pandemic. On this week’s show – the...
55m Oct 14, 2020
55m
Sebastian Vettel on leaving Ferrari, life outside F1 and changing goals
He’s a four-time world champion and racing icon, yet Sebastian Vettel’s fiercely private nature means we don’t know as much about him as we do many of his rivals, whose lives are plastered all over social media. We get to know the German racer a little better, discovering how his attitude to F1 has shifted over his 250 Grand Prix starts, finding out how he likes to spend his time away from the ...
46m Oct 07, 2020
46m
Zak Brown on running McLaren, billion-dollar deals and his F1 car collection
A sponsorship guru for more than 20 years, Zak Brown landed his dream job in 2016 when he became executive director, and later CEO, of McLaren – the team he’d supported as an F1-mad kid in California.  On this week’s show, Brown discusses how he’s guiding McLaren back to the front of the grid and why he made the moves he has in the driver market. He also gives us the lowdown on his own racing ...
1hr 3m Sep 30, 2020
1hr 3m
Racing for Ferrari – Part 2: Mansell, Prost, Vettel and more on the modern era
In the second of our special episodes chronicling what it’s like to drive for Scuderia Ferrari, F1’s most storied team, we fast forward into the modern era, to hear what it’s like to race for the Prancing Horse without founder Enzo at the helm. There are superb stories from Nigel Mansell and Alain Prost, who guided the Maranello team into the Nineties, plus eye-opening insight from fan favourit...
58m Sep 23, 2020
58m
Racing for Ferrari - Part 1: The Enzo Ferrari years, with Andretti, Scheckter, Brooks and Berger
They’re the most storied team in Formula 1 history, the one that’s been around the longest, the one with the most wins and championships, the one that generates the most headlines, and definitely the one with the most mystique. But what’s it like to drive for the biggest F1 team on the planet, Scuderia Ferrari? In the first of two special episodes, we speak to those who have been there and done...
44m Sep 16, 2020
44m
Antonio Giovinazzi on learning from Raikkonen, his unusual route to F1, and how fast food shaped his career
Think you know Antonio Giovinazzi? Think again. Most of you will know that he’s an Alfa Romeo driver. You might also know he’s the only Italian driver on the grid – the first since 2011. But what else do you know about him? On this week’s show we get to know Kimi Raikkonen’s lion-maned team mate a little better, finding out about his unique path to F1 via a stint in China, the inside line on hi...
1hr 13m Sep 09, 2020
1hr 13m
Jochen Rindt remembered - by Helmut Marko, Jackie Stewart and Bernie Ecclestone
September 5th marks the 50th anniversary of Jochen Rindt’s death, during practice for the 1970 Italian Grand Prix. He’d go on to be crowned F1’s first – and thankfully only -  posthumous world champion – but his legacy is much more than that.On this very special episode, we look back on Rindt’s rebellious upbringing and racing origins with friend and current Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut M...
58m Sep 02, 2020
58m
Mercedes engine guru Andy Cowell on the art of creating the perfect F1 power unit
This week’s guest is one of the grid’s most influential people.  In fact, he’s arguably one of the most influential people in F1 ever. Since the dawn of the turbo-hybrid era in 2014, Mercedes engines have won 80% of all Grands Prix, and the man overseeing that success is Andy Cowell, Engineering and Programme Director of Mercedes High Performance Powertrains since 2008. Listen as he discusses ...
1hr 2m Aug 26, 2020
1hr 2m
Johnny Dumfries, the aristocrat racer who was team mate to Senna
Many of you may not have heard of this week’s guest. To give him his official title he’s John Crichton-Stuart, the 7th Marquess of Bute – though fans familiar with F1 in the 1980s will know him as Johnny Dumfries, one-time team mate of the great Ayrton Senna at Lotus. A descendant of legendary King of Scotland Robert the Bruce, Johnny was far from your average F1 driver – though if you think hi...
56m Aug 19, 2020
56m
Fred Vasseur on finding future F1 stars
Fred Vasseur has had a huge influence on F1 for many years, having guided the likes of Lewis Hamilton, Charles Leclerc, Sebastian Vettel, Valtteri Bottas and Nico Hulkenberg into Grand Prix racing via his junior team, ART. The Frenchman tells us how he plans to get Alfa Romeo back on track, discusses Kimi Raikkonen’s future, takes us back to his days house-sharing with Mercedes boss Toto Wolff...
1hr 11m Aug 12, 2020
1hr 11m
The USA's Eddie Cheever on living his F1 dream after walking away from Ferrari
No American has started more Grands Prix than Eddie Cheever, the Phoenix-born, Rome raised racer, who took nine excellent podium finishes in the 1980s. In his long stay at the pinnacle of motor sport Cheever drove for eight teams (including Renault, Ligier, Tyrrell and Alfa Romeo), experiencing the highs of reaching the rostrum and the lows of losing fellow drivers. What’s more remarkable is th...
1hr 17m Aug 05, 2020
1hr 17m
George Russell on getting Mercedes' attention, meeting Toto and racing friends
This week we welcome one of the bright young stars of Formula 1 to the show: Williams driver George Russell. The British racer has been making waves this season, dragging his car far higher up the grid than many thought possible, and giving us a glimpse of the talent that made Mercedes sign him as a young driver. So listen in for some great stories as he describes the unusual way he approached ...
1hr 5m Jul 29, 2020
1hr 5m
Willy T Ribbs on his pioneering F1 test and the push for diversity in motor sport
This week’s guest is a man many of you may not have heard of. But Willy T Ribbs’ story needs to be heard. In 1985 Ribbs became the first black man to drive an F1 car, when he tested for Bernie Ecclestone’s Brabham team. But despite that milestone moment, he’d never crack F1 full-time, returning instead to his native US to pursue his racing dreams against an undercurrent of racism and discrimina...
57m Jul 22, 2020
57m
Pat Symonds on Fernando Alonso’s F1 return with Alpine
In 2021 Fernando Alonso returns to the F1 grid with Alpine, the new name for the Enstone team with which he won two world titles in 2005 and 2006. In this episode, the man who engineered him to those championships – Formula 1’s current Chief Technical Officer Pat Symonds – gives us the inside line on all things Alonso. With fantastic anecdotes, Symonds discusses what made Alonso such a great ra...
44m Jul 15, 2020
44m
FIA Race Director Michael Masi on mentor Charlie Whiting, driver penalties and more
As the FIA’s Race Director and Safety Delegate, Michael Masi’s job is to run F1 races – to keep an eye on everything that happens on track, and plenty of stuff off it too – including running driver briefings and dealing with protests. On this week’s show the Australian gives TC the inside line on one of the most interesting and pressurized roles in F1, discussing – amongst other things – his in...
54m Jul 08, 2020
54m
Mika Salo on giving up certain victory, racing through injury and more
Winning in F1 is incredibly hard - giving up a certain victory is even harder. Many people will remember Mika Salo from his time as a super sub for Ferrari, when Michael Schumacher broke his leg in 1999. Racing alongside title contender Eddie Irvine, Salo starred, most memorably in Germany where he was faster than his team mate, but asked to move over while leading. That was just one of the top...
35m Jul 01, 2020
35m
Stefan Johansson on racing 80s monsters, almost winning for Ferrari and tangling with wildlife
This week we welcome blonde-haired 80s Super Swede Stefan Johansson onto the show. Stefan was a 12-time podium finisher, and he would have been a race winner too were it not for team orders or Lady Luck intervening. A terrific raconteur, Stefan regales Tom with some incredible stories from his career, including fascinating insight into what made Alain Prost so good, his heartbreaking near miss ...
1hr 12m Jun 24, 2020
1hr 12m
Alex Zanardi: F1 racer, inspiration, Paralympic champion
Alex Zanardi only raced in F1 41 times, never finishing higher than sixth. But for millions of fans around the world, he remains both a hero and an inspiration. A dazzling racer, who only really showed his true talent in IndyCars, Zanardi’s career story took an unexpected turn in 2001 when he was gravely injured in a Champ Car race and had both legs amputated. But remarkably, Zanardi would batt...
1hr 51m Jun 17, 2020
1hr 51m
Riccardo Patrese on the wins, pranks and fallouts from his epic 17-season F1 career
Riccardo Patrese’s career began in the era of Hunt, Lauda and Andretti and ended 256 races later in the era of Senna and Schumacher, by which time he’d become the most successful Italian racer since double world champion Alberto Ascari.  On this week’s show he talks us through that incredible 17-season career – the team mates, the rivals, the cars, the victories. Expert wonderful anecdotes on t...
1hr 32m Jun 10, 2020
1hr 32m
Heikki Kovalainen's bets with Hamilton, his sole F1 win and rollercoaster career
Tom welcomes one-time Grand Prix winner Heikki Kovalainen onto the show to discuss the ups and downs of his Grand Prix career, which began with Renault in 2007 and took in 111 starts, with stops at McLaren, Caterham and Lotus. The amiable Finn discusses the challenges of going up against an all-time great in Hamilton – their sporting bets and what separated them on the race track – and looks ba...
1hr 9m Jun 03, 2020
1hr 9m
Technical director Andrew Green on giant killing with Racing Point, surprising with Jordan and more
When it comes to giant killing in F1, few have done it better than Racing Point in recent years – in fact in 2016 and ’17, with the smallest budget on the grid, the then Force India team outperformed many well-healed opponents to finish fourth in the constructors’ championship. One of the architects behind that success was long-running Technical Director Andrew Green, whose F1 career started in...
1hr 3m May 27, 2020
1hr 3m
Stirling Moss: A life lived at full speed (with Mia Forbes Pirie)
On the 12th April, the world of motorsport lost a giant with the news that iconic 16-time Grand Prix winner Sir Stirling Moss had passed away aged 90. In the final few years of his life, Moss stopped doing public appearances and interviews because of his health. But he did sit down for a chat with Mia Forbes Pirie, a close family friend, for what is believed to be his final in-depth interview, ...
32m May 20, 2020
32m
Martin Brundle on the best F1 cars of each decade
F1 turns 70-years-old on May 13, so to celebrate we have invited perennial favourite Martin Brundle back on the show to discuss the best F1 cars he’s ever driven. The Englishman, a nine-time F1 podium finisher, is one of the only people on the planet to have driven race-winning cars from every decade of the sport, so he’s perfectly placed to describe how the unique challenge of driving flat out...
1hr 8m May 13, 2020
1hr 8m
Daniil Kvyat on podiums, pressure and phone calls from Helmut Marko
Few drivers have experienced as many ups and downs as AlphaTauri’s Daniil Kvyat in his near century of Grand Prix starts, from the elation of three brilliant podium finishes to the dejection of demotion and losing his F1 seat. This week, the Russian opens up on the mental resilience needed to bounce back in F1, why his sabbatical year with Ferrari inspired him to fight back, that redemptive pod...
1hr 3m May 06, 2020
1hr 3m
Julian Jakobi on managing Senna and Prost
As one of the most successful driver managers in the history of the sport, Julian Jakobi has worked with the very best – including managing rivals Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost at the same time! Currently managing Racing Point’s Sergio Perez, Jakobi – who oversaw some of F1’s biggest ever deals - gives us the lowdown on how an F1 driver’s contract is drawn up, plus regales us with some must-hear...
1hr 7m Apr 29, 2020
1hr 7m
‘Quick Nick’ Heidfeld on his fastest team mates, his toughest rivals and the best F1 car he drove
This week’s guest was one of the quickest and most consistent drivers of the 2000s. In fact, Nick Heidfeld stood on the podium 13 times, which is the most any driver has in history without winning a race. But don’t think of that as a dubious honour, more a reflection of the quality of a man who went toe-to-toe in equal machinery with the likes of Robert Kubica, Mark Webber and Kimi Raikkonen an...
1hr 3m Apr 22, 2020
1hr 3m
Tech genius John Barnard on his game-changing F1 inventions
John Barnard can stake a claim to shaping all modern F1 cars. Not only was he responsible for victoriously introducing the now ubiquitous carbon fibre chassis to F1, he also was the brains behind the semi-automatic gearbox that is now an integral part of every Grand Prix car.  On this week’s show he gives us an eye-opening look into these innovations, as well as describing what it was like to ...
1hr 16m Apr 15, 2020
1hr 16m
David Brabham on growing up as Black Jack’s son, Imola 94, and the potential of Brabham returning to F1
Like Damon Hill, Jacques Villeneuve and Nico Rosberg, David Brabham knows only too well what it’s like to forge a path to F1 under the shadow of a famous father, in his case triple world champion Jack Brabham – the only driver to win the title in a self-made car.  On this week’s show, Brabs tells us about his unconventional start to racing, the perhaps surprising influence of his father, his st...
1hr 4m Apr 08, 2020
1hr 4m
Mark Blundell on F1 in the 90s, friendship with Martin Brundle, filling Mansell’s seat and more
Fans of F1 racing in the Nineties will remember Mark Blundell well as part of a brilliant ‘Brit pack’ of racers including Damon Hill, Johnny Herbert and his pal Martin Brundle. The gritty racer reached the podium in underdog machinery three times in that period, whilst also acting as test driver for the two best teams at the time: Williams and McLaren.  On this week’s show he discusses all of t...
1hr 15m Apr 01, 2020
1hr 15m
Flavio Briatore on crashgate, Schumacher vs Alonso, and winning the title for ‘a t-shirt maker’
He may have been out of the sport for a few years now, but how could anyone forget Flavio Briatore? The former Benetton and Renault boss was one of the biggest and most controversial characters in F1 throughout the Nineties and Noughties, but he was also one of the most successful, with his inimitable style leading Benetton and Renault to multiple championships.  On this week’s show he opens up...
1hr 11m Mar 25, 2020
1hr 11m
Pedro de la Rosa on spygate, Hamilton vs Alonso, and racing Christian Horner
As a racer, Pedro de la Rosa competed in more than 100 Grands Prix, and drove many, many more miles as an F1 test driver for the likes of McLaren and Ferrari. And on this week’s show the Spaniard gives host Tom Clarkson a fascinating perspective on F1, from life behind the scenes during the explosive 2007 season at McLaren, to what it was like being in the garage during Lewis Hamilton’s maiden ...
1hr 9m Mar 18, 2020
1hr 9m
Lando Norris on late nights, trolls and his pre-F1 meeting with Helmut Marko
Beyond The Grid is back, and to kick off the new season Tom Clarkson sits down with a driver who proved a rookie sensation last year, both on and off the track: McLaren’s Lando Norris.  In a revealing conversation, the British racer opens up about his hopes for 2020, whilst also discussing his love of gaming, his relationships with other drivers, dealing with Twitter trolls, and his rather extr...
1hr 4m Mar 11, 2020
1hr 4m
Beyond The Grid returns March 11!
Mark your diaries – Beyond The Grid is back Wednesday March 11. Make sure you subscribe today so you don’t miss out on Tom Clarkson in conversation with McLaren ace Lando Norris.
2m Mar 06, 2020
2m