Inside Line F1 Podcast

We get it. Lando Norris is probably bitter at how his Drivers' Championship challenge is turning out to be. But how could he not identify what a great drive Max Verstappen put in, in the wet weather, to go from P17 at the start to P1 at the finish. Even Verstappen's arch-rival, Lewis Hamilton, doffed his hats off to Max for a mega race. Let's add Fernando Alonso, Charles Leclerc and even Nico Hulk...

Ferrari has won 3 races in a row only two times in the last 2 decades - in 2008 and then in 2019. Could they do the unthinkable and win again at Interlagos? The final race of the ongoing triple header, the 2024 São Paulo GP, is upon us, and of course, it's also a Sprint weekend format. Lando Norris needs to out-score Max Verstappen by 12 or more points every race weekend to clinch the Drivers' Cha...

The 2024 Formula 1 season is turning on its head, and how. It's almost as though we don't want this season to end. Red Bull Racing was the fastest in the first third of the season, McLaren followed in the second third. Could Ferrari be the fastest in the last third of the season? It might just be so, and if it is so, how high can Ferrari and their drivers finish in the World Championship? Ferrari...

"Monaco levels of downforce, Monza levels of top speed" - this phrase will be overused for the weekend of the 2024 Mexico City GP! Will the "high altitude" impact the pecking order? Long straights followed by low speed corners, will McLaren bounce back? Or will Ferrari continue to be the class of the field? Will these two teams and their drivers take points away from Red Bull Racing and Max Versta...

Ferrari's 1-2 finish in the 2024 United States Grand Prix needs to be celebrated, for the result itself, and how Ferrari set themselves up for victory. After mid-season struggles with bouncing, Ferrari backed their "Monza" upgrade to deliver in Austin, and it did. Ferrari was the quickest car around the Circuit of the Americas. Charles Leclerc shot off into the lead after Max Verstappen ran Lando...

Formula 1 is back again! And of course, to make up for the weeks of no racing, we're straight into a triple header of races in the Americas. It is expected that all teams will bring upgrades to Austin, after all, they've been working through the autumn break. Will the upgrades change the pecking order? Can Red Bull Racing's upgrades bring it back in the fight with McLaren? In fact, will McLaren's...

Is Formula 1 playing "reverse psychology"? After years of complaining that "24 races are too much", we're in another break period where one might feel that Formula 1 could've well slotted in a Grand Prix between Singapore and Austin - the 25th Grand Prix of the season. Also, the much-anticipated 10-car "rookie" race post-season was given a no-go by the FIA. After the Andretti-fiasco, that would've...

The 2024 Singapore Grand Prix - was this Daniel Ricciardo's last Formula 1 race? If so, it's unfair that Ricciardo and his legion of fans didn't get a chance to bid him a proper farewell at a race and on-track. Truthfully, a decision doesn't seem to be have been made; and Red Bull's driver move could be more towards retaining Liam Lawson for the long term, than dropping Daniel Ricciardo. And of co...

Frankly, the 2024 Singapore Grand Prix is Lando Norris' best chance to make BIG inroads into Max Verstappen's 59 points lead in the Drivers' Championship. If McLaren score 1-2 (Norris-Piastri), and they're capable of doing so, they will score their 50th 1-2 in Formula 1 history. But crucially, if Max Verstappen 7th or 8th (assuming Red Bull Racing is the fourth fastest car + all cars finish), then...

We're 24 hours too late with our 2024 Azerbaijan GP review episode, however, we've covered more than just the racing on-track. Did you know that Naomi Campbell, the celebrity who waived the chequered flag in Baku, was once engaged to Flavio Briatore? Yes, lots of such stories in our near hour-long episode. On a weekend when "papaya rules" could have been used against him, Oscar Piastri drove one o...

Legendary Formula 1 engineer & designer Adrian Newey will team up with Fernando Alonso, Lance Stroll and several other star engineers at Aston Martin F1 Team from 2025 onward. Will it be yet another winning combination for Newey? A mega coupe by Canadian billionaire, Lawrence Stroll. Also, it's "race week" for Baku, the venue of the 2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix. The "City of Winds" has always entert...

2024 marks 20 years since the inception of Red Bull Racing. Who better than Helmut Marko, one of the main architects of the team, to narrate some stories about the multiple World Championship winning team? In this episode of the Inside Line F1 Podcast, Dr. Helmut Marko takes Soumil Arora, @f1statsguru and Kunal Shah back in time to discuss the origins of the team, the culture, their almost power u...

Could McLaren have one-stopped their way to win the 2024 Italian Grand Prix at Monza? How did Charles Leclerc and Ferrari manage to snatch a surprise win at home in front of the tifosi? We dissect LEC's super-consistent lap times on the hard tyre - the one that gave him the win. McLaren and team orders - are they too late in implementing one? And of course, Oscar Piastri's massive overtake on Land...

One of Motorsport and Formula 1's most-influential figures Dr. Helmut Marko returned as a guest on the Inside Line F1 Podcast. Dr. Marko, who is Red Bull's Motorsport Advisor, took time to discuss several topics with your regular trio of hosts - Soumil Arora, @f1statsguru and Kunal Shah. In this episode of the Inside Line F1 Podcast, Dr. Marko spoke about Red Bull Racing's shocking loss to McLaren...

This episode is a double - the 2024 Dutch GP review and the 2024 Italian GP preview. Yes, it's a double header, and we're making space in our publishing calendar. But making space for what or for who? Well you'll know soon. Check out the Inside Line F1 Podcast on Thursday this week...and Thursday next week. We're getting one of our headline guests back on the show. How did McLaren win by 22 second...

After weeks of traveling to other race venues to cheer for Max Verstappen, the "Orange Army" finally gets a home race to cheer for...Max Verstappen! Let's face it - the Dutch Grand Prix exists only for one reason. That reason is Max Verstappen. Don't believe us? Hear the story of the 2020 Dutch Grand Prix in the episode for more. Yes, the 2020 edition of the race. The one that didn't happen. It's...

A week to go before the start to the 2024 Dutch Grand Prix race weekend. Here's part 2 of our ever-popular mid-season review. In this episode of the Inside Line F1 Podcast, Soumil Arora, @f1statsguru and Kunal Shah re-live moments, controversies, facts-stats from the first 14 races of the season. After covering 4 teams in part 1, the trio speak about the remaining 6 teams in part 2. A lot will hap...

Yes, we're all missing Formula 1 in this forced summer shut down period. It is forced - at least for the fans. And after the run of races we had before the summer break, we're not alone in wishing that there was no summer break at all! But, do you remember the most fun, controversial and shocking moments from the 2024 Formula 1 season? In this episode of the Inside Line F1 Podcast, Soumil Arora, @...

Driver 44, Lewis Hamilton, won the 44-lap long 2024 Belgian Grand Prix after the FIA issued document number 44, that disqualified the original race winner and Hamilton's George Russell from the race. Yes, numerology was at play, if you believe in it that is, at this weekend's race around the legendary Spa Francorchamps. Btw, Oscar Piastri's slow pit stop was 4.4 seconds long!  Lewis Hamilton becam...

We're onto our 5th Grand Prix in 6 weekends; are you complaining!? At this weekend's 2024 Belgian Grand Prix, McLaren will be taking on Red Bull Racing in their den at the legendary Spa Francorchamps circuit. Max Verstappen has won 3 consecutive Grands Prix at Spa (yes, we're counting 2021 even though it wasn't really a Grand Prix!). Red Bull Racing-Verstappen have won the last races at Spa despit...

We called it! In the week leading up to the 2024 Hungarian Grand Prix, we had our "we told you so" moment when we predicted an Oscar Piastri win in Hungary. But what no one could have predicted is "how" he could go about clinching his debut win in Formula 1. The 2024 Hungarian Grand Prix offered edge-of-seat action for various reasons. First, a chasing Max Verstappen in his Red Bull Racing car. Se...

Mercedes has never won "three in a row" in this era of Formula 1. Can they claim this stat by winning the 2024 Hungarian Grand Prix?  Based on the 2024 British Grand Prix, Mercedes is one the fastest teams in Formula 1, if not the fastest. But of course, they won the 2024 Austrian Grand Prix only because Max Verstappen-Lando Norris had a fallout on track (and George Russell was 15 seconds behind t...

Indian Cricket legend & Formula 1 fan since the ages Ravi Shastri predicted a Lewis Hamilton victory on the Saturday of the 2024 British Grand Prix on the Inside Line F1 Podcast. Ravi, who has previously been a guest on our show, joined us from Silverstone where he was a guest of the Stake Sauber Kick F1 Team. Soumil Arora hosted Ravi where the duo spoke about athlete mindset and how an "older" st...

What an emotional win for Lewis Hamilton in front of his home fans at Silverstone! The 2024 British Grand Prix will go down in memory as one of the most-special races in history. Yes, a British driver won the British Grand Prix for the 30th time in history, but what makes it special is that Hamilton won at home, his 9th such victory, with Mercedes - a team he has actually given up on! Also, Hamilt...

The Lando Norris-Max Verstappen battle will continue at one of Formula 1's most-legendary and oldest circuits on the calendar, Silverstone. Lewis Hamilton's reaction to the Norris-Verstappen incident from Austria will make headlines. But will he comment at all? A lot at stake for the title protagonists, Formula 1 and the British fans at this weekend's British Grand Prix. In this episode of the Ins...