F101: Formula 1 Explained

Hi, y'all! - I'm back! Where have I been and what have I been doing? Kart racing! I also do a quick recap of how the Formula 1 weekend works since there's been some changes (Sprint Qualifying!) since the last time I covered it. So happy to be talking to you again.

Opening Track: José González - Step Out Quite a few things to go through this episode - I'll touch on the Dutch GP and penalties, we had some big driver signing announcements to parse through, Monza saw McLaren return to winning form in spectacular fashion, and finally there's a big announcement about the podcast at the end. Closing Track: Vincent Carlo - I'll See You Again

That wasn't a race. That was ridiculous. I'm pretty miffed about it, but there's a few whacky things you may have seen that made you say, “what?!.” I'll explain them for you. Also, George Russell to Mercedes??? As always, do me a heavy and like & review the podcast wherever you've subscribed! And check out my Instagram!

Well, I'm back from vacation! I spent 2 weeks in Europe and caught the Austrian GP while I was there. It was a fantastic experience – highly recommended. I'll tell you a bit about that and then cover the British Grand Prix. First, we've had an experimental format for the race weekend so that's worth covering and of course I'll take you through my thoughts on Lewis and Max coming together. Glad to be back! Opening Track: Cake – The Distance

YAAASS we got ourselves a championship race! Race recap and why it wasn't Bottas' fault for finishing where he did, I'll revisit Aston Martin and their performance (complete with a quote from their media head), and then our explainer topics today are Parc Ferme and a listener question on how DRS works. Thanks for listening and be sure to rate and review the show wherever you listen to your podcasts. It helps folks find me! Get 20% OFF @manscaped + Free Shipping with promo code F1EXPLAINED at MANSCAPED.com! Their new LawnMower 4.0 keeps everything neat and tidy below your belt! #ad #manscapedpod Opening Track: Moby – Sunday (The Day Before My Birthday)

Baku told Monaco, “Hold my beer!” and we saw a second race where Mercedes didn't perform as we expect. Great to see a podium full of fresh faces! Why have Aston Martin had two consecutive good race results? I'll break that down for you. Don't forget to follow my newly re-booted Instagram page and to take the F1 Explained listener survey! Opening Track: Elbow – Grounds For Divorce

Normally Monaco is a snoozefest but it managed to be an absolute banger – for Monaco standards that is. We’ll go through the race per usual, but then I’ll also cover a couple listener questions such as why does it seem that only Bottas gets hosed on Mercedes’ pit stops? What makes a good car vs a good driver? And finally, where does George Russell go? I’ll cover the F1 driver market as it stands and what his options are. As always, rate and review the podcast as it helps others find it and visit my sponsors! Get 20% OFF @manscaped + Free Shipping with promo code F1EXPLAINED at MANSCAPED.com! Their new LawnMower 4.0 keeps everything neat and tidy below your belt! #ad #manscapedpod And, for all of your F1 fan gear, get 15% off your order at CMCMotorsports.com with check out code THEDRIFT15! Opening Track – Cults – Always Forever

Brilliant win by Mercedes. That was a showcase of just what F1 race strategists do with their day and I’ll take you through what made the win happen. I’ll also explain how the Safety Car restart procedure works. Also, visit my sponsors! Get 20% OFF @manscaped + Free Shipping with promo code F1EXPLAINED at MANSCAPED.com! Their new LawnMower 4.0 keeps everything neat and tidy below your belt! #ad #manscapedpod And, for all of your F1 fan gear, get 15% off your order at CMCMotorsports.com with check out code THEDRIFT15! Opening Track: Blondie – One Way or Another

Bit of a stinker of a race, but still plenty to talk about. Little bit of follow up touching on the new Sprint Qualifying format as well as track limits. Then diving into qualifying and the race at the Portuguese GP. As much as I don’t want to talk about Mazepin, we should. Is he too slow for Formula 1? What can be done about it? Finally I wrap things up with an explainer about “race pace” vs “qualifying pace.” What are they? Drivers and teams talk about them all the time. I’ll demystify it for you. As always, rate and review the podcast wherever you listen. Thanks! Opening track: Washed Out – Feel It All Around

Woah! What a race at Imola! I love when it rains as it typically makes things very interesting. The big story, obviously, is between Russell & Bottas so I’ll break that down for you. I’ll also break down the announcement of a second grand prix here in the US – Miami. Lastly, we may see a shakeup of the race weekend format. Listen on to find out more. Don’t forget to rate and review the podcast wherever you listen, and also fill out the F1 Explained listener survey! Opening Track: Groove Armada – Paper Romance (Black Light version)

Well! That was a great opening race. I’ll dive into things worth talking about such as why Max gave the position back, Perez’s great race, and what’s up with Vettel?? First up though we lost another motorsports great in Sabine Schmitz. Don’t forget to review the podcast on whatever catalog you found me. It helps others find the show. Sign up for the newsletter over at f1explained.com/newsletter and follow me on Twitter. Opening Track: Joywave – Destruction

I’m doing something a bit new for this episode so make sure you’re able to look at your podcast app as you listen to this episode. Well, the teams have had their only pre-season testing session of 2021 so I’ll break down for you how they all did and what to look for as we enter the season. Sadly, Murray Walker – the voice of F1 for so many fans – passed away just a few days ago, aged 97. I’ll talk about him as well. As always, leave reviews of the podcast so others can find it, follow me over on Twitter and drop me some mail at feedback@f1explained.com Opening Track: Bee Gees & Eminem – Without Alive (Hawell Mashup)I’ve been completely obsessed with this mashup lately

We are 18 short days away from F1 testing and not much farther from the first race in Bahrain. I’ll give you a run down of the teams and drivers for this year, what to watch for during testing, and what I’m going to be watching for over the entire season. Also, want the latest F1 fan gear? Order it over at cmcmotorsports.com! Listen to the podcast to find out how to get 15% off your order. As always, don’t forget to rate the show wherever you find your podcasts and follow me on Twitter! Opening Track: AC/DC – Are You Ready

Wow. F1 2020 was quite the trip. Quite a bit to cover in this season recap! – Super fun 2020 race calendar, complete with NO MONACO!– F1 technical progress made in 10 years– What’s considered “a long time” in F1 time?– My driver of the year!– When do we get to watch F1 again?!– Closing out with a special something. Opening Track: Fade Into You – Mazzy Star

I can’t describe what I saw today as anything but shocking. The violence of Grosjean’s crash and that he lived through it with only minor burns. Amazing. I’m going to go through what it took to ensure Grosjean walked away from today’s massive shunt. Opening Track: Johnny Cash – Ain’t No Grave

Opening track: Justice – Randy The 2020 season is winding down so I’ll go through what we currently know about the 2021 driver lineup. With only 3 races left it’s not set in stone just yet and a few teams have a few hard choices to make. Also, just where the heck have I been? I’ll clue you in.

Opening Track: Calvin Harris – Feels Woah boy. We thought back-to-back races at the same track could be boring and we were proved wrong thanks to tires giving up the ghost. This week I dive into tires and explain just what the heck we saw at both British GPs and how it may affect the upcoming Spanish GP. In other news I touch on an announcement by the FIA to limit qualifying engine “Party Modes” and I’m now proudly blogging for CMC Motorsports!

Lots to cover! First, a bit of news with the 2020 Formula 1 calendar getting some additions to it. Next we recap the Hungarian GP before digging into Silverstone and the British GP. Wrap up with some Q&A from listeners regarding Perez vs Vettel and if the high-rake design is done for. Don’t forget to follow over on Twitter because I live-tweet the Qualifying and Race sessions. Also, rate the show on Apple Podcasts or wherever you subscribe. It really helps people find the podcast!

Opening Track: Tame Impala – The Less I Know The Better Are you ready?! Third race in as many weeks! We had to wait awhile but we’re being treated for our patience. The Hungaroring is a technical circuit and old school – narrow, undulating. In this Race Ready episode I’ll get you prepped on what to watch for. There’s also rumors swirling as to where Sebastian Vettel will end up for 2020 – not necessarily on the sidelines after all! Have a listen to find out where the money is on him landing. As always, don’t forget to rate the podcast. It helps others find me! See you over on Twitter where I’ll live-tweet the qualifying session and race this weekend. Cheers!

Opening Track: Gin Wigmore – New Rush Holy hell. What. A. Race! If you haven’t watched the race yet, there are loads of spoilers in this episode so watch it first! Do me a favor and rate the show! It really helps others find it.

Opening Track: M83 – Midnight City It’s been 7 months since we’ve had Formula 1 racing and it’s been an excuciating wait. Thankfully we are on the cusp of that wait being over. Sunday we’ll see our first race of 2020 with the Austrian GP. I’ll update you on the latest news, what to look out for at the Red Bull Ring, and give you a bit of history from prior races here. When you’re done, you’ll be Race Ready. Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter, drop some email to feedback@f1explained.com and to review the podcast wherever you subscribe – it helps other folks find the podcast.

Intro song: Morcheeba – The See A bunch has happened in the last couple of weeks with respect to changes coming to F1 in 2021. Cost caps, technical regulation tweaks and more so I thought I’d break it down for you. Not to worry, I’ll be back just before the season (hopefully?) kicks off prior to the Austrian GP to get you Race Ready. As always, follow me on Twitter (https://twitter.com/_f1explained) as I live tweet qualifying and races, drop me email to feedback@f1explained.com, and leave a review wherever you subscribe. Enjoy!

Oh. My. Goodness. We haven’t even had a race in 2020 yet and we’re elbow deep into Silly Season again. A massive bombshell with news this morning that Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari are parting ways at the end of the season. Catch up on where the season stands so far and my thoughts on who could replace him! I’m also experimenting with changing the cover art as the episode plays so have a look at your device to see if it changes. As long as your podcast player supports chapters, it should (most do). Don’t forget to follow me at @_f1explained over on Twitter and drop me some thoughts at feedback@f1explained.com.

Opening Track: AC/DC – For Those About To Rock (We Salute You) Well, here we are with F1 2020 about to officially kick off. So exciting! After a quick bit of news about the next grand prix, I’ll take you through the track itself, what to look for, incidents in the past that have made Melbourne an exciting race, and finally when to catch it live. After listening, you’ll be Race Ready. Referenced material:Martin Brundle’s crash in 1996Ralf Schumacher kicking off an 8 car wreck in 2002 Fernando Alonso’s horrific crash in 2016 that he walked away from

Intro song: Nina Simone – Feeling Good Kicking off the 2020 series with a bang! I’ll take you through what we’ve seen thus far for 2020 including driver lineup changes, new car liveries, and a couple of bombshells dropped during the first pre-season test. I also was fortunate to have along Chris Sylt of Formula Money for a great chat. He’s been following the money in F1 for 20 years and had some great insight into teams, organizers, drivers, and how money revolves around all of them. It’s a great listen. As mentioned, the format is changing and I’ll be getting you Race Ready during the 2020 season. Expect episodes to drop the Wednesday or Thursday before the race weekend. You’ll then know what to watch for that specific race weekend. Give a rating or review over on the iTunes store – it helps people find the show! If you didn’t hear, I’ve got a newsletter! Sign up at f1explained.com Of course follow me on Twitter or drop me email to feedback@f1explained.com.

It’s February, and that means we’re getting stoked for the beginning of the new Formula 1 season!!! F1 Explained’s format is changing, but 100% for the better. Have a listen for what you can expect – I’ll be dropping the first episode of the 2020 season soon!Opening Track: Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds – Red Right Hand

F1 Explained is dead, long live F1 Explained. Don’t worry, I’ll be back with a little bit of a format evolution for F1 2020. As always, follow me on Twitter, find me on Facebook, or drop me email to feedback@f1explained.com

Opening track: Greta Van Fleet – Highway Tune It was movie night over at our place so we saw Ford v Ferrari. (Legit it may be the 4th movie we’ve ever seen together.) Is it a cinematic masterpiece? No. Is it fun? You betcha. Go see it, then give a listen as we talk about LeMans, the rivalry between Ford and Ferrari, what the movie got right, and what was hugely glossed over.

Opening track: Wax Tailor – Que Sera I’m super excited about this one as I’ve got a special guest for you, WSeries racing driver Sabré Cook. Sabré grew up karting, pursued a mechanical engineering degree, won a coveted spot in the Infiniti Engineering Academy where she’s now working for Renault’s F1 team as a composites engineer and somehow managed to find time to race competitively in the inaugural WSeries season in 2019. She’s on the hunt to improve in the coming 2020 season where WSeries will add two races to the calendar. She also shared her experience at the 2019 United States Grand Prix where she was on site for the weekend for Infiniti. Have a listen and then head over to sabrecookracing.com to find all her social accounts to follow. Don’t forget to fill out the listener survey and leave a review on our Apple Podcasts page for your chance at an Amazon gift card. Listen to the V episode for details on that.

Opening track: Örsten – Fleur Blanche Diving into the letter V, I couldn’t not dedicate the episode to Sebastian Vettel so that’s who we’ll cover in this one. CONTEST TIME! Leave a review on the F101: Formula 1 Explained Apple Podcasts entry and on 1 December 2019 I will pick one at random to receive a $20 Amazon gift card. If Amazon isn’t your thing, I’m happy to make a $20 donation to your non-profit charity of choice in your name. The upcoming W episode will have a very special guest. Listen to this episode for clues as to who it is! Don’t forget to follow over on Twitter and feel free to give feedback to feedback@f1explained.com Referenced Material:Robert Kubica’s crash at the Canadian GPThe 2010 season over on archive.orgAlonso’s thousand yard stare after losing to Seb for the third year runningMattiacci and Alonso: The Real Story

Opening track: Groove Armada – Suntoucher Going solo for this episode to bring you what happens when the race weekend gets upended by really bad weather (such as what’s happening at the Japanese GP), upcoming changes for 2020 and 2021, comparing the ultimate performance of F1 to other cars and some info on getting up close to that performance yourself! Buckle up! Referenced Materials: Vietnamese Grand Prix (Wikipedia)Dutch Grand Prix (Wikipedia)Explaining the MGH-K and MGU-H (motorsport.com)Watch David Coulthard in a Formula 1 car take on V8 Supercars and a Mercedes AMG C63 (YouTube)BMW M5 vs the BMW Williams F1 FW27 (YouTube)Ferrari Challenge wreck from the 2019 Canadian GP (YouTube)

Opening track: Ice Cube – It Was A Good Day I planned to cover so much more (as you’ll hear in the introduction) but my special guest host is so good at getting me talking that we ran for nearly an hour on just two topics! We’ll have to do another T episode at some point I guess. Also, as we wind down the A-Z we’re thinking of how else we can cover Formula 1. Let me know your thoughts at feedback@f1explained.com or over on Twitter

Opening Track: Muse – Hysteria So here we are, headed into the Formula 1 summer break to talk about Senna, Safety, Spa and of course, the Shoey! Items mentioned during this episode: Check out Top Gear’s tribute to Aryton Senna and also the Senna documentary on Netflix. Be sure to catch Frenchy & The Talent’s Shoey. Warning: It’s, uh, Australian. Also, Hugh Grant and Jimmy Kimmel doing shoeys for some unknown reason. Here’s Webber overtaking Alonso through Eau Rouge at Spa. I mention Perez having a crash at the top of Eau Rouge, but in looking for video clips, I realize I was thinking of Kevin Magnussen. Here’s the carnage from the 1998 Belgian GP as well. It was an absolutely bananas race – reminiscent of the 2019 German GP from a few weeks back. Then there’s Grosjean cartwheeling his Lotus over Alonso’s head taking out both him and Hamilton’s McLaren in 2012. Listeners, I also need your help! Let me know what you want to hear in the upcoming T episode, take the listener survey at https://f1explained.com/survey and lastly, make sure to leave a review over on iTunes. Thanks! Lastly, Dad and I are off during the F1 summer break with trips to Europe. He and mom are off to Belgium and Normandy, myself, the wife and kids off to London and Paris.

Opening track: Saint Motel – Move Today we dive into Red Bull, racing in the rain, refueling, and the latest social media dumpster fire Rich Energy. Dad’s also back with his quiz!  Listeners, I also need your help! Let me know what you want to hear in the upcoming S episode, take the listener survey at https://f1explained.com/survey and lastly, make sure to leave a review over on iTunes. Thanks!

Opening track: Daft Punk – Lose Yourself to Dance I took your questions from the various places we’re at (Facebook, Twitter, Reddit) and answered them! I also have a new guest – my wife’s best friend Bethany – who is a brand spankin’ new Formula 1 fan and pelted me with newbie questions too. Let’s roll through the letter Q on our Formula 1 journey from A to Z!

Opening track: Atlas Genius – Molecules A bit of a Montreal, Canada recap and then we dive into our topics!

Opening track: Massive Attack – Paradise Circus It takes skilled mechanics and a heap load of money to make a Mercedes that Michael Schumacher can put on Pole Position at Monaco All that and more on THE MEGA M EPISODE

We are back! With the 2019 Formula 1 season in full swing, we’re back to bring you more on the basics of F1 so you get the most enjoyment out of the sport. I’ve got a special guest this week – my dad! He’s a pretty new fan and I thought I’d have him along to bring us through Lewis Hamilton, Laps, and Leading strategies.

This episode I’ll take you through the history of Force India and where they’re at now given their recent ownership change. We’ll also talk about the inside line – what it is, why it’s important, when and when you don’t want to use it. And lastly we’ll cover ignition and how it relates to vehicle aerodynamics. Yes, they’re linked.

Right! Martin Brundle keeps banging on about putting in hot laps. What’s that?! I’ve got you covered. Heat! It’s good, it’s bad, which is it when?! Got that too. Go ahead and do an image search of James Hunt. Look at that magnificent bastard. Icon of 1970s Formula 1 and flamboyance. He’s coming your way too. Strap in, F1 A-to-Z’s letter H is here. Of course, find me on Twitter, Facebook, or send your questions to feedback@f1explained.com

Life has conspired against me to get a new episode out, but here I am and we’re going to cover Haas driver Romain Grosjean, upcoming driver changes for the 2019 grid (wow there’s a lot of changes) and Great Britain and how it’s an epicenter of Formula 1.

Back from summer break, we dive in with flags, fitness, and Ferrari.

Welcome back! This week we dive into track evolution, the Energy Recovery System (ERS) and a man who shaped F1 into what it is today, Bernie Ecclestone. Please be sure to ask questions via Twitter, Facebook, or email – feedback@f1explained.com

I didn’t intend to release an episode so closely to the previous one, but news in the world of Formula 1 has forced my hand. Daniel Ricciardo leaves RedBull. To Renault?! OMG. Listen to the episode to learn about the Driver Market and the knock-on effects that this will have to the rest of the teams.

In this episode we cover the clutch (and F1 gearboxes generally), tire compounds – particularly around how they play into strategy, and Canada! Referenced Material Senna through the streets of Monaco with a manual transmission Robert Kubica’s crash at the 2007 Canadian Grand Prix Felipe Massa and Sergio Perez’s shunt at the end of the 2014 Canadian Grand Prix Daniel Ricciardo’s first win! Patrick Stewart does a shoey on the podium Summary of Jenson Button’s win at the 2011 Canadian Grand Prix

This week we dive down the technical side by looking at brakes, hear about some Formula 1 lore with Brawn GP, and wrap up with one of my favorite race locations – Brazil – because it’s nearly guaranteed to be exciting.

Some heavy heavy topics for the first letter of our Formula 1 A-Z series! First we’ll start out with acceleration, G forces, and performance generally. I’ll do my best to compare to a top road car – the McLaren P1 – just to give you an idea of the insanity of Formula 1. Next we’ll dive in to aerodynamics talking generally about downforce and drag, then into a bit of history on Formula 1 and then into modern aerodynamics and some of the loopholes in the formula that teams have leapt through with clever aerodynamic developments. Finally we’ll wrap up with Fernando Alonso. He’s an impressive driver who has won the Driver’s Championship twice – though honestly it should be more. There’s a fascinating article about how Ferrari orchestrated Alonso’s demise at the team in order to scoop up Sebastian Vettel, leaving Alonso with no choice but to head back to McLaren. He’s also in pursuit of the Triple Crown of Motorsport. Referenced Material Difference in lateral acceleration at Australian GP from 2016 to 2017 Sounds of an Exhaust Blown Diffuser The McLaren MP4-25 – Gorgeous car! Awful crash at Brazil 2003 Fernando is faster than you Start incident at Spa where Romain Grosjean crashed into (over?) Fernando Alonso (I actually forgot that Grosjean managed to take out Hamilton as well. Pillock.) Mattiacci and Alonso – the real story I’m gonna pee in your seat! Wonderful piece BBC did for Alonso’s 200th Grand Prix Top Gear’s Richard Hammond drives Fernando Alonso’s championship winning Formula 1 car

Just testing some things out!