The Autosport F1 Podcast

The latest Flat Chat podcast from GP Racing magazine leads on Valtteri Bottas becoming the first and possibly the last F1 driver on the cover with a moustache and mullet.Bottas is the subject of an exclusive no-holds-barred interview (and an unusual photo shoot) in GP Racing this month. Now free of the corporate leash he’s enjoying life – and racing – once again. He explains why he rejected advice to ‘be more evil’ while at Mercedes and why he’s taking a stand for drivers to be able to express themselves.GP Racing columnists Mark Gallagher and Matt Kew join editor Stuart Codling to discuss this latest incarnation of Bottas as well as some of the most recent developments in F1.As senior Ferrari engineer David Sanchez leaves for McLaren, the panel reflect on the chaos which seems to be enveloping the teams currently in the wake of the dominant Red Bull outfit. If former Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto was as much a victim of regime change in the boardroom as of operational problems on track, why is his successor Frederic Vasseur – the preferred choice of the new executives – seemingly at loggerheads with CEO Benedetto Vigna?While team principal and senior executive squabble over peripheral topics such as who gets a paddock pass, the team has bigger issues to face: a car concept that may not be working and a lead driver, Charles Leclerc, who may be on the verge of throwing Ferrari over for a better offer when his contract expires.At McLaren, meanwhile, what is the thinking behind yet another management restructure? Having dropped the much-derided 'matrix management' system three years ago in favour of a conventional top-down hierarchy, McLaren's decision to have three technical leaders represents a major pivot.Elsewhere on the grid another team with a new leader, Williams, has enjoyed an unexpectedly positive start to the season considering the latest upheaval over the winter. First impressions are that new boss James Vowles is taking exactly the right approach to dealing with the problems which have pegged Williams back in recent years: measured and diplomatic, but decisive, as befits a leader with a background in engineering and strategy. It’s the opposite tactic to that recently adopted by AlphaTauri boss Franz Tost, who seems to be following the playbook of Antonio Conte at Tottenham Hotspur by throwing his backroom staff under the bus… Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Martyn Lee is joined by Kevin Turner, Alex Kalinauckas and Filip Cleeren to analyse the biggest talking points from Formula 1's race under the lights at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In today's Formula 1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix qualifying at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, it was a Red Bull on Pole Position but not the world champion. One year on from his first pole position came the second pole for Sergio Perez. The Mexican driver posted a stunning lap time of 1:28.265, narrowly edging out Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who will start 12th because of a 10 place grid drop. Third was Fernando Alonso, 0.4 seconds behind Perez, but he moves up to start second, for an Aston Martin on the front row.Max Verstappen suffered a dramatic Q2 exit due to a driveshaft issue and will race from a disappointing 15th position.Martyn Lee is joined by Autosport’s F1 Writer, Jake Boxall-Legge, who is in Saudi Arabia to witness the action first hand.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Martyn Lee is joined by Editor of autosport.com, Haydn Cobb, to recap today's action at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit. They talk about the biggest stories from Red Bull, Ferrari, Mercedes, Aston Martin, Alpine and Williams. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Martyn Lee is joined by Kevin Turner, Matt Kew and Jake Boxall-Legge to look back at the first race of the 2023 season and assess what it means for the year ahead. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Listeners of the Autosport podcast asked us to tell them more about what it's like doing our job, behind the scenes. Our Grand Prix Editor, Alex Kalinauckas, has been in Bahrain since he flew out to cover F1 testing. So we asked him to record a few comments at the end of each day and explain about the tasks our Autosport staff do to bring Formula 1 to your screens or magazines.At the end of the podcast today we come up to date with his analysis of Saturday evenings qualifying and what kind of race we could expect tomorrow. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso emerged as the fastest driver in the second practice session for the 2023 season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix, ahead of Red Bull's Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez. The session saw the top 13 drivers finish within one second of each other, with Charles Leclerc of Ferrari in fourth place. Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg produced an impressive effort to come fifth. Temperatures were down to 22C in the evening running under lights, prompting several teams to immediately head out on the soft tyres. Alpine's Esteban Ocon used the softs to take first place, followed by Lance Stroll of Aston Martin, who had set the first-place benchmark on the mediums a few moments earlier. The first round of performance runs saw Leclerc surge ahead of his teammate Carlos Sainz and take the lead, which lasted for 20 minutes. Perez then shot into first place before Alonso took over the lead with a time of 1m30.907s, which remained unbeaten for the rest of the session. The drivers then completed the typical late-FP2 long-run data-gathering exercises. The stewards will investigate a pitlane incident where Nyck de Vries's AlphaTauri was released into Lando Norris's path. Alonso’s time followed his impressive performance in the first practice session where he split the two Red Bulls. Despite attempts by Alonso and Aston Martin to downplay their impressive pace from testing, they continue to be strong contenders. Aston Martin had two cars in the top six, with Lance Stroll finishing sixth in his second session back in the car. However, there were some concerns about Stroll's mobility, as he replied "I can't" when asked to compromise his line for Turn 1 later on in the session. Red Bull's pace on long-run simulations still appeared to mark them out as the team to beat. To discuss the action on track is Martyn Lee and the Editor of Autosport.com, Haydn Cobb. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode, we're getting ready for a new season of racing and looking at the season-preview issue of GP Racing magazine. Our cover features Red Bull, who seem to be the ones to beat based on their form and pre-season test. But with 23 races scheduled, there's still hope for an exciting year of competition.Joining Stuart Codling to discuss the pecking order are special guests Mark Gallagher and Matt Kew. We'll be looking at the second year of the new technical regulations and whether they have succeeded in bringing us closer and more competitive racing. We'll also be discussing Red Bull's penalty for breaking the budget cap in 2021 and whether it will affect their performance this season.Testing has given us a glimpse of what to expect in the season opener, with Red Bull looking fastest, Ferrari close behind, and Mercedes potentially lagging. We'll be exploring how the teams have adapted to rule tweaks that aim to slow the cars down and reduce bouncing.We'll also be discussing the new Aston Martin factory and whether they can manage the logistics of moving in during a month with three GPs. Plus, we'll take a look at the revolving door of team managers and the transition to a football manager-style culture of regular hirings and firings. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Join us in this F1 analysis podcast as we break down the data from the top F1 teams, including Red Bull, Ferrari, Mercedes, Aston Martin and McLaren to give us a glimpse into the upcoming F1 season.From analysing fastest laps to understanding the impact of pace vs degradation, we leave no stone unturned in our quest to uncover the insights hidden within the data.We’re joined by an expert panel of guests, including Blake Hinsey, ex-Red Bull Performance Engineer as well as Autosport’s Jon Noble and Martyn Lee, to share their perspectives on the data and offer predictions for the upcoming season.Whether you're a die-hard F1 fan or just curious about the science behind racing, today's podcast brings you some valuable insights and analysis. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Martyn Lee is joined by Matt Kew who is now back in the UK and Alex Kalinauckas who stayed in Bahrain to cover the first race this weekend. Today we look at five of the biggest questions we have before F1 goes racing this weekend in Bahrain:  Are Red Bull as quick as everyone is saying? What do Ferrari have to do in order to leapfrog Red Bull Why can nobody work out if Mercedes is looking good, bad or ugly? Who predicts Aston Martin could be a dark horse this year? How can McLaren dig themselves out of a pre-season funk? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices