Mike Elliott

Reflections from Ricciardo. Stories from Susie Wolff. Memories from Mansell. On F1 Beyond The Grid, the sport’s fastest stars slow down and open up in feature-length conversations with Tom Clarkson. In this end-of-year special, Tom chooses his highlights from 2022. Daniel Ricciardo lifted the lid on his McLaren struggles. Legendary designer Steve Nichols remembered triple World Champion Ayrton Senna’s first drive in his 1980s McLaren ‘wonder car’. Sebastian Vettel talked about his strongest ally and his most talented teammate. The clips in this episode come from the full episodes listed below. Thank you for listening in 2022. F1 Beyond The Grid will return in 2023. Carlos Sainz: ready to win with Ferrari  Nigel Mansell: World Champion, through the pain  Kevin Magnussen: a no-fear F1 comeback with Haas Steve Nichols: engineering domination for McLaren Mike Elliott: how Mercedes’ ‘mistake’ is making them stronger  George Russell: rising with Mercedes Lando Norris: working on winning with McLaren Gilles Villeneuve Remembered  Susie Wolff: racer, role model, risk taker  Nicholas Latifi: limits, lessons + leaving F1  Nyck De Vries: seizing his F1 chance  Christian Horner: putting Red Bull back on top  Daniel Ricciardo: not done with F1  Sebastian Vettel: around the next corner  This episode is sponsored by:  Shopify: sign up for a FREE trial at shopify.com/beyondthegrid and start selling online today SmartNews: download SmartNews for free today in the app store to get the news that matters most.

As soon as the 2022 Mercedes F1 car hit the racetrack, the man who oversaw its creation realised it had problems. ‘We made a mistake’, admits Technical Director Mike Elliot. In finding fixes, Mike and his team of engineers have improved Mercedes’ results and learned a lot about themselves. Mike tells Tom Clarkson how they traced the car’s problems to a single design decision, how a year of not winning has helped the people at  Mercedes develop, and how he craves a return to the team’s championship-winning form. Looking back, Mike remembers why he chose a career in F1, and the remarkable day two top teams offered him a role. That led him to work in aerodynamics for McLaren, and he recalls a surprising early conversation he had with the team’s young test driver, Lewis Hamilton. McLaren’s former leader Ron Dennis, legendary car designer Adrian Newey, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff and drivers Michael Schumacher, Nico Rosberg and George Russell also feature in Mike’s story. He explains how F1 engineering has become ‘more specialised’ and has advice for anyone who aspires to work in F1 car design. More BTG interviews with F1 Technical Directors: AlphaTauri’s Jody Egginton  McLaren’s James Key  Alpine’s Pat Fry James Allison, former Mercedes TD This episode is sponsored by:  ExpressVPN: secure your online activity by visiting ExpressVPN.com/grid TODAY and get an extra three months FREE