We’ve just returned from Bahrain, where the F1 teams did their only test last week ahead of the new F1 season kick-off in Melbourne. People say testing is boring but if you know what to look for, it’s anything but. The laps are on track, and the body language of the cars needs to be analysed. But there is also the body language of the people – the teams, engineers and of course the drivers. Will Ferrari compete with McLaren? What is Max Verstappen’s state of mind? Which of the five rookie drivers will shine? And does Aston Martin need to break glass and call in Adrian Newey to sort out their 2025 car? James joins up with some of our colleagues from around the world to go under the skin of F1 testing and look at how some of the big stories of the season are shaping up. Our man in Italy Roberto Chinchero has the inside line, Ronald Vording gives a Dutch perspective and there is analysis from Jake Boxall-Legge. Remember to take part in the Global F1 Fan Survey which we are running together with F1. Make your voice heard about F1, what you like and what you’d like to change and who your favourite teams and drivers are. Go to https://fansurvey2025-formula1.motorsportnetwork.com/ Send your comments or questions to: @jamesallenonf1 on X/Twitter or jamesallenonf1@autosport.com. Producer: Dre Harrison A Motorsport Studios production for Autosport

This week as we digest the F175 launch and head off for pre-season testing, we speak to one of F1’s top race promoters to find out what goes on behind the scenes to stage an event for almost 300,000 people. This year is Miami’s fourth as an F1 host venue, part of Liberty Media’s drive to expand F1 in the US market and engage new fans. Miami does things a bit differently and they do it with a sense of humour, which is in short supply in F1, which can take itself too seriously at times. So how do they juggle the conflicting demands of NFL, the FIFA World Cup, the Miami Open Tennis and F1 events in the same season? What does it take logistically to put on a Grand Prix at this scale? And what sort of tickets give the fans the best deal? James sits down with Tyler Epp, President of the Miami Grand Prix to discuss how the race has gone from "fake" marina, to fan favourite. Global Editorial Director Rebecca Clancy and Autosport F1 Business Correspondent Mark Mann-Bryans join James in the studio. They also preview the F1 testing in Bahrain. Remember to take part in the Global F1 Fan Survey, which we are running together with F1. Make your voice heard about F1; what you like, what you’d like to change and who your favourite teams and drivers are. Go to https://fansurvey2025-formula1.motorsportnetwork.com/ Send your comments or questions to: @jamesallenonf1 on X/Twitter or jamesallenonf1@autosport.com. Producers: Dre Harrison, Ben Holmes Executive Producer: Jason Swales A Motorsport Studios production for Autosport

This week F1 held its spectacular season launch event at the O2 Arena in London in a ceremony that was all about entertaining the fans, particularly F1’s new fans. Hot on its heels F1 is launching the latest Global Fan Survey, which is being conducted by Motorsport Network, Autosport’s parent company, in partnership with F1. This is where F1 fans around the world have a chance to make their voices heard. There will be many useful learnings for F1, the teams, sponsors and promoters. The 2021 survey had 167,000 responses from 185 countries, with Nielsen certifying it as the largest sports survey ever conducted. We have been conducting these surveys for many years. The 2017 survey came just after Liberty Media’s takeover of F1 and by 2021 we could clearly see the changes in attitudes and demographics among fans, who were younger and more female. So what will this new survey show? Autosport Editor-in-Chief Rebecca Clancy and Chief Motorsport writer Ben Hunt join James in the studio and we hear from an influential voice from the US on F1’s new audiences, Toni Cowan-Brown. If you'd like to participate in the 2025 F1 Global Fan Survey, you can do so by clicking this link: https://fansurvey2025-formula1.motorsportnetwork.com Send your comments or questions to: @jamesallenonf1 on X/Twitter or jamesallenonf1@autosport.com. Producer: Dre Harrison A Motorsport Studios production for Autosport

Motor racing has a long tradition as an incubator of technology. AI is the latest example as tech companies flood into the sport as partners, helping teams harness AI to improve performance. F1 increasingly uses AI in its TV and online coverage to provide insights and content tailored for fans. The FIA is also getting in on the act; this week it announced that AI will now help the F1 race officials and play a role in sensitive decisions on things like track limits and analysis of race incidents. So what impact is AI already having on F1? Where might it get involved in the future? And should there be a limit to how far it goes? We hear from a panel of industry experts: Rob Smedley, CEO of Smedley Group, Former F1 Director of Data Systems; Ferrari and Williams engineer, Joe Carroll, General Manager, Telco, Media, Entertainment, Games and Sport, Amazon Web Services and Stephane Timpano, CEO Aspire, which runs the A2RL autonomous racing league, where the AI coders are the stars. In the studio with James are Autosport’s F1 Business Correspondent Mark Mann-Bryans and Sam Agini from the Financial Times. Send your comments or questions to: @jamesallenonf1 on X/Twitter or jamesallenonf1@autosport.com. Producer: Dre Harrison Executive Producer: Jason Swales A Motorsport Studios production for Autosport

This week we have a special interview with newly minted F1 World Champion team boss, Zak Brown. Zak has been McLaren's CEO since 2018, but it’s taken him several attempts to get the right team structure and management team to bring a first Constructors’ World Championship since the heady days of 1998. Zak has developed into a strong leader and here he shares some of his management techniques. He used to run sports marketing businesses and was recognised as one of the best sponsorship brokers in the sport for a decade, but an F1 team has many more departments, all of which have to be high-performing. So what was the secret to finally getting McLaren in shape to deliver the title? Does he regret not being more ruthless at certain races in 2024, which might have given Lando Norris a better shot at winning the drivers’ title? Why does he feel the FIA must make serious changes to the refereeing of the sport in the stewards' room? And do McLaren start the 2025 season as Championship favourites? In the studio to analyse with James are Autosport’s Editor-in-Chief Rebecca Clancy and Chief Motorsport Writer Ben Hunt. Send your comments or questions to: @jamesallenonf1 on X/Twitter or jamesallenonf1@autosport.com. Producer: Dre Harrison A Motorsport Studios production for Autosport

Hello and welcome to the James Allen on F1 podcast, brought to you by Autosport. This week we chat to F1’s youngest team principal, Oliver Oakes. The 37-year-old was parachuted into the Alpine team in August last year when they were struggling in 9th place in the Championship. They ended the season 6th. Oli is the first to admit that there was a slice of luck involved, as the bulk of their points were scored with that amazing double podium in the wet in Brazil. But underneath that was an upward trend in car development and ultimately they deserved their finishing position. So what happens next and is Oliver a mighty Oak? Is he the stabilising force that Alpine has been crying out for? And with rookie drivers making an astonishing 30% of the F1 field, we get Oliver’s take on why F1 is going for youth. In the studio with James to discuss this are our International Editor Oleg Karpov and Marc Priestley, BBC Five Live commentator, podcaster and former McLaren F1 mechanic. Send your comments or questions to: @jamesallenonf1 on X/Twitter or jamesallenonf1@autosport.com. Producer: Dre Harrison Executive Producer: Jason Swales A Motorsport Studios production for Autosport

For the first JA on F1 podcast of 2025, we discuss Lewis Hamilton as he turns 40. The seven-time World Champion is preparing to drive a Ferrari F1 car for the first time this month. In his New Year message to fans, he said “Reinvention is powerful” So how will this reinvention for Hamilton go? What do we know so far about the 2025 Ferrari car he will be driving? And what does history tell us about F1 champions who make late-career moves; how did it work out for them? Is it possible to win a World Championship beyond 40? With James in the studio to dive into Lewis Hamilton at Ferrari are Chief Motorsport Writer Ben Hunt and F1 writer Jake Boxall-Legge. We also hear from our colleague Roberto Chinchero on the excitement building in Italy. Send your comments or questions to: @jamesallenonf1 on X/Twitter or jamesallenonf1@autosport.com. Producer: Dre Harrison A Motorsport Studios production for Autosport

Who will win the 2025 F1 Drivers' Championship? Will Lewis Hamilton score more points than Charles Leclerc? What impact will the struggles of car manufacturers, especially Europeans, have on F1 next year? How might geopolitics impact on F1, for example in the Middle East and Asia ? For our final podcast of the year, we thought that rather than looking backwards with yet another Season Review – we would immediately throw it forwards and Superforecast F1 in 2025. Joining James to look into the future are Jon Noble, Ben Hunt and Jake Boxall-Legge. Send your comments or questions to: @jamesallenonf1 on X/Twitter or jamesallenonf1@autosport.com. A Motorsport Studios production for Autosport

The F1 season is almost over. Max Verstappen has joined Alain Prost and Sebastian Vettel as a four-time world champion. But there is one very important matter still to resolve. The Formula 1 Constructors’ Championship may not have the same caché with fans, but it matters a lot to the teams; it dictates how much F1 prize money they earn. But this year it means even more; for the first time in 16 years, the two teams fighting it out are McLaren and Ferrari. This has echoes of the great years of Schumacher and Hakkinen of Hamilton, Alonso, Raikkonen and Massa. Ferrari hasn’t won the title since 2008 and McLaren hasn’t won it since 1998. Whoever wins, it’s going to be epic! Which of these great names will prevail? Who has the stronger drivers? And how did we get here, when the season started with a series of Red Bull 1-2 finishes? With James to discuss this are; Rob Smedley, former race engineer to Felipe Massa at Ferrari, BBC Commentator and former McLaren mechanic Marc Priestly and Autosport’s own Jake Boxall-Legge. Send your comments or questions to @jamesallenonf1 on X/Twitter or jamesallenonf1@autosport.com. A Motorsport Studios production for Autosport

This week we are doing something a little different. We explore how F1 teams make key decisions on areas like driver recruitment, development and race strategy and compare it with how things are done at a top Premier League football club. F1 is a sport built around technology, whereas in football the smartest teams have began only in the last decade to use it for recruitment, for strategy, in-game tactical decisions and so much more. With James to compare how Mercedes recruited Kimi Antonelli with how Liverpool FC discovered Mo Salah, we have two experts in their fields. Rob Smedley, former race engineer to Felipe Massa, head of track engineering at Williams and who now runs Smedley Group which advises across the F1 spectrum on data and AI. And Dr Ian Graham, of Ludonautics and most famously head of the data department at Liverpool FC for 11 years. His data analysis played a key role in building the Jurgen Klopp team that won the Premier League and Champions league. His book How to win the Premier League is a brilliant guide to the way decisions get taken in an elite sport. Send your comments or questions to: @jamesallenonf1 on X/Twitter or jamesallenonf1@autosport.com. A Motorsport Studios production for Autosport