On January 3rd 2019, Michael Schumacher – statistically the most successful F1 driver of all-time – turns 50. To commemorate the occasion, Beyond The Grid is back with two special conversations with two people who know the great man better than most.  Our first guest worked with Schumacher for all but three of his record 91 Grand Prix victories, and helped steer him to amazing seven world titles with Benetton and Ferrari: current F1 motorsport chief Ross Brawn. So sit back and enjoy as Ross discusses his enduring friendship with the driver many regard as the greatest ever, and regales host Tom Clarkson with anecdotes and stories from their lengthy and incredibly successful working relationship.

This week marks the season finale of Beyond The Grid - but don't worry, we'll be back before you know it in 2019 with more conversations with the great and the good of Grand Prix racing (and much more besides). But before the chequered flag flies, there's just enough time for Tom to pick out some of his top moments of 2018. So stand by for a few laughs, a few tears and a few eye-opening revelations...

Though he's been in F1 a long time, you may not have been overly familiar with Otmar Szafnauer before this year. As COO of Force India, the American played a key role in turning them into one of the best pound for pound teams on the grid. But when driver Sergio Perez pulled the trigger and sent the Silverstone squad into administration in mid-2018, Szafnauer found himself on a course that ultimately led to him becoming Team Principal of a new entity: Racing Point.  On this week’s episode of Beyond The Grid, presented by Bose, Szafnauer talks Tom through his ‘most stressful’ of seasons, discusses the potential impact of fresh funding into the team, his hopes for 2019, and his fascinating background in the sport…

He streaked into F1 in 2001; a spectacular no-holds-barred racer unafraid to go wheel-to-wheel with the biggest names in the sport. But though he made a big splash, winning seven races, including the Monaco Grand Prix, Juan Pablo Montoya’s Formula 1 career lasted just five-and-a-half seasons before he suddenly said goodbye to Grand Prix racing for good. On this week’s episode of Beyond The Grid, presented by Bose, JPM tells Tom about his short but sweet time in the top flight of racing, including his journey into F1 with Williams, his thoughts about being team mate to one Schumacher brother and chief rival to the other, why his relationship with McLaren turned sour, and just what it was like to drive the V10 cars of the day… *We experienced some issues with interference during the recording of this week's episode in Abu Dhabi. We've made some adjustments and hope you still enjoy the show!

This week, for the first time on Beyond The Grid, presented by Bose, we’re not speaking to a driver or a team boss, but to an engineer – and someone who’s been directly involved of some of the biggest moments in F1 in the past 20 years. Rob Smedley is probably best known to most fans as Felipe Massa’s long-standing Race Engineer, and in that role he experienced the full gamut of emotions, from the elation of race wins to the heartbreak of a narrow title loss, and the horror of seeing ‘his’ driver severely injured.  We also talk to him about working for Ferrari, issuing controversial team orders, his impending departure from Williams, and why Michael Schumacher – a man he worked so closely with – was much more than a driver…

He's the granddaddy of Brazilian motorsport; a true trailblazer who, having become F1's youngest ever world champion in 1972, inspired a generation of exceptional talent in his homeland, including Nelson Piquet and Ayrton Senna. Emerson Fittipaldi saw it all in his Grand Prix career, from the highs of winning two world titles, 14 races, and two Indy 500s, to the lows of seeing multiple colleagues killed and his family-run team fold. On this week's episode of Beyond The Grid, presented by Bose, the great man looks back on it all, providing fascinating insight into one of F1's classic eras, and giving the inside line on the time he let Senna test his IndyCar...

F1 has seen its fair share of second generation racers, but Carlos Sainz doesn't quite fit the mould. The natural script would have been for him to follow his famous father and namesake into rallying, but while Carlos Sainz Sr became a double world champion on the dirt, his son set his sights on F1 after being inspired by countryman Fernando Alonso.  In this week's Beyond The Grid, presented by Bose, Sainz speaks about his father's influence on his career, regaling Tom with some great anecdotes that show their competitive relationship. The Renault driver also discusses his impending move to McLaren and why he's ready to be a team leader, his much debated relationship with one-time team mate Max Verstappen and much, much more...

To say Claire Williams has racing in her blood would be an understatement. But despite being born into and raised around one of F1’s most successful teams, it’s fair to say she never expected to one day find herself taking the reins of her family squad.  On this week’s episode of Beyond The Grid, presented by Bose, the daughter of legendary team boss Sir Frank Williams spills the beans on how she came to take the position of Deputy Team Principal (including the crucial role played by Toto Wolff!), provides fascinating insight into how she twins running a team with motherhood, recounts epic tales of growing up in a racing family, and lifts the lid on the driver who once lost a potential drive with the team for being too tidy!

He’s regarded as one of the very best drivers of all-time; a man who, when he walked away from F1, had amassed three world championship titles and a then-record 27 Grand Prix victories. But that he was able to walk away at all was something of a success in itself, for so many of his friend and rivals were not so fortunate in an era when death lurked around every corner.  This week’s guest on Beyond The Grid, presented by Bose, is that icon of late Sixties and early Seventies F1 racing: Sir Jackie Stewart. Now 79, the proud Scot is still firing on all cylinders, so get ready for stories of flat-sharing with fellow champ Jim Clark, his view on what made him so successful, the perils and mind-set of racing in F1’s ‘killer years’, and why he eventually founded a Grand Prix-winning F1 team of his own…

He’s the only man in the last nine years other than Lewis Hamilton or Sebastian Vettel to win a world title. But what makes Nico Rosberg’s story so compelling is what happened immediately after his crowning glory when, seemingly at the peak of his powers, he walked away from F1.  On this week’s episode of Beyond The Grid, presented by Bose, the German talks in depth about his career, including what it took to beat childhood friend and rival Hamilton to the 2016 title, how it felt it emulate father Keke’s achievement, whether he’s had any regrets about early retirement, and how his life has changed since hanging up his helmet.