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F1: Beyond The Grid

Latest episodes

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Jul 10, 2019 • 45min

SPECIAL EPISODE: Ross Brawn on Brawn GP’s fairy-tale 2009 title success

The history of F1 is littered with great stories and improbable comebacks, and Brawn GP’s title-winning season in 2009 is right up there with the best of them. It was late 2008 when Honda surprisingly pulled the plug on its F1 project, leaving a team hundreds strong with a bleak future. That the team not only survived but emerged with a grid-blitzing machine is the stuff of legend, and on the tenth anniversary of that success Tom Clarkson sat down with the man at the centre of the story – current F1 motorsports chief Ross Brawn – for the inside story on a true sporting fairy-tale…
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Jul 3, 2019 • 1h 4min

Kevin Magnussen: "Racing-wise, I don't care what people think of me. I'd feel weird if everyone was saying I'm a nice guy..."

His F1 career began with a bang, with a podium finish on debut with McLaren in Australia in 2014. Though he hasn't hit those heights since, in the intervening period Kevin Magnussen has established himself as a hard-edged, no-nonsense racer who, after losing his McLaren drive and then spending a year with Renault, is now really hitting his stride with the American team Haas.  Tom Clarkson sat down with the Dane during a quiet period at the Austrian Grand Prix for a candid and honest talk about the highs and lows of his career to-date, including his racing origins, his growth as a driver, and - of course - that famous withering put-down of Nico Hulkenberg...
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Jun 26, 2019 • 52min

Patrick Tambay: “There was a time after Gilles’ death I felt he was in the car with me”

He raced for some of Formula One’s top teams, including McLaren and Renault, but Patrick Tambay is probably best remembered as a Ferrari driver. Having arrived in F1 via the circuitous route of downhill skiing, the US college system and the North American CanAm series, Tambay ended up driving for the Prancing Horse after the death of close friend Gilles Villeneuve. He then helped carry the team through one of its most tumultuous periods, famously providing spirit-lifting victories in Germany and San Marino.  This week on Beyond The Grid the amiable Frenchman talks us through his memorable career, regaling Tom with anecdotes of partying with former team mate James Hunt, Villeneuve’s madcap antics off-track and that turbulent Ferrari period…
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Jun 19, 2019 • 47min

Jody Scheckter: "When you first get into F1 you’ll do anything. I remember once thinking I'd rather be dead than not drive in F1…"

Jody Scheckter’s life has been anything but conventional. Having arrived in Britain from South Africa in 1970, Jody broke into Grand Prix racing in 1972 with McLaren where he caused a stir with his great speed and somewhat wild race craft. Rough edges polished, he’d go on to win the sport’s ultimate prize - the world title - in 1979 while driving for Ferrari, though in some ways that was just the beginning. Less than a year later he’d announce his retirement from F1, turning his attention instead to the world of business, where he went on to have great success, first with his firearms training company and then with his ground-breaking organic farming business.  On this week’s show, host Tom Clarkson is treated to a trip down memory lane, with stories of Jody’s 70s rivals and the danger of the era, his relationship with Enzo Ferrari and team mate Gilles Villeneuve, how he applied F1 processes to the business world, and much, much more…
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Jun 12, 2019 • 45min

Nico Hulkenberg: "Winning Le Mans was unforgettable - but I'm an F1 guy"

He arrived in F1 in 2010 as one of the hottest properties in motorsport, and showed his promise by scoring a sensational pole position before his rookie season was out. Today, Nico Hulkenberg is still regarded as one of the most talented drivers on the grid, despite the fact he's surprisingly yet to make it to the podium.  On this week's show, the driver known affectionately at ‘The Hulk’ talks Tom Clarkson through his career to date, from his early days at Williams, to his time at Force India and Sauber when Ferrari rumours swirled, to the present day at Renault, where he’s tasked with taking the French marque back to the front. There's also fascinating insight into his Le Mans win, thoughts on his fellow drivers, and revealing information about his life and interests away from the track...
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Jun 5, 2019 • 1h 14min

Gordon Murray: "As an F1 car designer I was always looking for an unfair advantage. I still am..."

This week’s guest on Beyond The Grid is renowned as one of F1’s great innovators and technical brains – perhaps the best. In a 20-year Grand Prix racing career this blue-sky thinker was responsible for introducing such things as tyre warmers, mid-race fuel stops and the ingenious Brabham fan car – not to mention a host of championship-winning machines and the acclaimed McLaren F1 road car. It’s an amazing resume – especially given Gordon Murray arrived in the UK from his native South Africa in the late Sixties with not much more than a dream to work in motor racing. So sit back and enjoy hearing the back stories behind some of the best cars in F1 history, anecdotes about working with Bernie Ecclestone at Brabham, fascinating insight into the design process, and what it was like to engineer some of the quickest drivers ever…
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May 29, 2019 • 1h 13min

John Watson: “I learned to calculate risks – I didn’t go into areas where there was no escape”

He may not be as well-known as James Hunt or Nigel Mansell, but for a good period in the late Seventies and early Eighties, after the former had retired and before the latter became a household name, John Watson was Britain’s Grand Prix hero.  Over the course of 152 starts, Watson reached the podium 20 times, winning five races – including one from 22nd on the grid! But it wasn’t all roses for the Northern Irishman – over the course of his career he saw many colleagues killed or badly injured, and that’s one of the topics that’s discussed on this fascinating episode of Beyond The Grid, supported by Bose. There are also stories about his recently departed former team mate Niki Lauda, what it felt like to drive the infamous Brabham fan car, winning in F1’s first carbon fibre chassis and much more…
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May 22, 2019 • 1h 14min

Felipe Massa: “I have no bad feelings about 2008 – but winning the title at home would have been incredible”

As a driver Felipe Massa experienced every emotion under the sun: The joy of winning races for Ferrari; the utter despair of losing a world title at the final race of the year; and the huge uncertainty of recovery from life-threatening injuries. This week on Beyond The Grid, supported by Bose, the popular Brazilian bares his soul on all three subjects - and much more besides. Recorded in Massa’s Monaco home, there are stories on his F1 beginnings with Sauber, his relationships with team mates Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso, revelations about his 2008 title near miss, and fascinating insight about former team Williams’ current plight...
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May 15, 2019 • 1h 5min

Jean Alesi: “The day I stopped driving in F1 was the worst day of my life”

With his trademark head tilt and unique grip on the steering wheel, there was no mistaking the driver of Ferrari number 27 in the early Nineties. But then in many ways Jean Alesi embodied the perfect Ferrari driver: passionate, fast and driven by heart-on-sleeve emotion. No wonder he was such a firm favourite of the Tifosi.  This week on Beyond The Grid, supported by Bose, the popular French-Sicilian regales host Tom Clarkson with stories from his stellar F1 career, including the tale of his near-move to Williams, his high jinks with team mate Gerhard Berger in boss Jean Todt’s car, the role Nelson Piquet played in his contract negotiations, and the passion of driving for - and winning with - Ferrari...
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May 8, 2019 • 1h 9min

James Allison: "For an engineer, F1 is an unending work of invention and skill"

Mercedes have been the standard setters in F1 since 2014, and this year they've started the season at a relentless pace. This week on Beyond The Grid, supported by Bose, we speak to one of the key figures in the Silver Arrows' incredible winning machine: Technical Director James Allison. In an F1 career spanning nearly 30 years, Allison has enjoyed successful spells with the likes of Ferrari, Renault and Mercedes, and knows better than most what it takes to win. So get ready for fascinating insight on life as an engineer for three of the sport's biggest teams, the inside line on working alongside great drivers like Hamilton and Schumacher, and an honest appraisal of the rivalries that drive F1's brightest technical minds to push the boundaries ever further...

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