Business of Speed Podcast

The 2026 Bahrain Grand Prix took place at Sepang, where a downpour and a software fault delayed the start before Max Verstappen gave Red Bull Ford Powertrains its first win. Vincenzo and Lali break down the formation lap failure, the FIA’s update to all 22 cars, and Ferrari’s tire call that left Lewis Hamilton fighting back to third. They also discuss Kimi Antonelli’s championship lead, George Rus...

Show Notes In the first live edition of Business of Speed, Vincenzo Landino and Lali Michelsen follow the money behind a busy week in racing. IndyCar’s Freedom 250 averaged 3.282 million viewers on FOX, its largest audience outside the Indianapolis 500 since before the 2008 unification. The broadcast peaked at 3.482 million, while IndyCar’s season average through 15 races is up 32 percent from 202...

The day before the Belgian Grand Prix, Vincenzo and Lali talk silly season: the rumor sending Max Verstappen to McLaren, the exit clause that could free him at the summer break, and the domino it triggers across a grid where half the drivers are out of contract. They close with podium picks and split on the winner. Vincenzo backs a Mercedes one-two. Lali takes Max.

Alwin Springer arrived in Toronto in 1965, planning to spend a couple of years before heading to the United States. He never really left racing again. On this episode, Vincenzo and Lali talk with the man Porsche calls the Godfather: a former mechanic, co-founder of Andial, and past President and CEO of Porsche Motorsport North America. Springer explains how three broken Porsche engines became his...

World Cup fever meets Austrian GP week. Vincenzo and Lali preview the Red Bull Ring: the qualifying knife-edge, the heat and cooling battle, whether Verstappen is about to come alive at home, and the upgrade gap squeezing Alonso. Then two very different podium predictions, with the title fight and Hamilton's resurgence hanging over all of it.

Karun Chandhok reached Formula 1 without ever racing a go-kart, learned the business of the sport from Bernie Ecclestone, and watched the Force India seat that fit him perfectly go to someone else. He joins Lali to cover all of it, plus where he stands on the 2026 engine formula, whether Kimi Antonelli can win the championship, and why he traded Monaco for the Indy 500.

Monaco delivered more off the track than on it. Vincenzo and Lali break down whether the race was actually worth watching, what Kimi Antonelli's win means for the rest of the season, and why George Russell's post-race comments say more about his headspace than his car. Plus, Barcelona predictions are on the table, and the answer might surprise you.

ESPN senior F1 writer Nate Saunders joins Vincenzo and Lali for a candid look at the sport from inside the paddock. They dig into the 2026 regulation backlash, Stefano Domenicali's denial in recent interviews, and why the drivers' reaction worries Nate more than the cars. He explains the Verstappen press conference ejection, what really happens at a race weekend, and the NASCAR parallel that shoul...

Alpine just sold its F1 title sponsorship to Gucci for a reported $150 million across three seasons. From 2027, the team will race as the Gucci Racing Alpine Formula One Team in Gucci's colors, ending BWT's five-year pink era. Vincenzo and Lali break down what the deal actually buys: the Briatore and de Meo reunion that made it happen, why Kering's first F1 title partnership lands now with Alpine...

Robert Jakobi grew up with Ayrton Senna at the dinner table. His father ran IMG Europe and later left to manage Senna directly, so before Robert was ten, he'd met Senna, Alain Prost, Nick Faldo, Bernhard Langer, and Björn Borg. Senna also saw the Michael Schumacher poster on his wall and got annoyed about it. Robert went on to build a career in consumer brands across the UK, scaling Itsu Grocery a...

Magnus Walker — the Urban Outlaw — just auctioned off 18 of his most iconic Porsches through RM Sotheby's. No reserve. No hesitation. And within days of the cars leaving his warehouse, he felt something he hadn't felt in years. This conversation is about what led to that moment. The years of accumulating, the slow recognition that he'd stopped driving most of them, and the quiet watch experiment h...

Jamey is one of the most recognized photographers in global motorsport, 68 tracks deep, with clients across F1, IMSA, WEC, and IndyCar. What most fans don't know is that a significant part of his work has nothing to do with the shots that end up on your phone wallpaper. Tire photography. Technical documentation. Competitive intelligence. Teams spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on it, it lives...

Justin Bell is a world championship-winning driver, the son of five-time Le Mans winner Derek Bell, a motorsport broadcaster, and someone who will tell you exactly what he thinks whether you ask or not. That combination made this one of the most honest conversations we've had on Business of Speed. We go deep on what it's really like to be a second-generation driver — not the PR version, the actual...

Tom Blomqvist has won the Rolex 24 at Daytona twice, claimed the IMSA DPI championship, and raced in DTM, Formula E, and IndyCar. He also broke Lewis Hamilton's record as the youngest Formula Renault UK champion. In this conversation with Lali Michelsen, he tells the full story for the first time in one sitting. Tom grew up between England, Sweden, and New Zealand as the son of World Rally Champio...

In this episode, Vincenzo and Lali sit down with the founder of The Paddock Journal, the Substack-turned-physical-magazine bringing fashion, culture, and editorial storytelling to the world of F1. Esmé breaks down how she went from pitching a Laura Winter feature to major publications (and getting rejected) to launching her own brand that had Alpine Stars knocking on her door within months. We get...

Shami Kalra had $10 left in his bank account, no food in the house, and a wife who told him she'd had enough. That Friday night, he designed two watches in Photoshop. By Thursday, he'd taken his first $1,000. Within 30 days, $50,000. He didn't even have a product yet. That was the birth of Omologato — the motorsport watch brand built by a fan who couldn't afford a hamburger at Silverstone, let alo...

Marshall Pruett spent nearly two decades as a crew member and race engineer before walking into a media center in 2005 with no credentials and total imposter syndrome. Twenty years later, he's the most trusted voice in IndyCar and IMSA journalism, and in this episode he explains exactly how that happens and why most people in this space never figure it out.

Mike Buckley is the newly appointed Team Principal of the US SailGP team—and a former world champion sailor. In this episode, he breaks down what separates winners from everyone else, why preparation beats talent, and how he's building the US SailGP team into the world's next iconic sports brand. We dig into: Growing up with a single mom on Cape Cod and finding salvation in sailing at Tabor Academ...

Will Buxton spent 25 years in the Formula One paddock. Now he's at Fox Sports calling IndyCar — and he's here to tell you why. In this episode, Will explains the business logic behind his move, why Fox's boss personally pushed for IndyCar coverage, and how the series averaged the same US viewership as F1 last season.  He breaks down why IndyCar is the purest form of racing, what Bernie Ecclestone...

Mario Andretti shares his remarkable journey from an immigrant to one of the greatest race car drivers of all time. He reflects on his early days in racing, the challenges he faced, and the importance of family and teamwork in achieving success. The discussion also delves into the evolution of racing technology, the significance of sound in motorsports, and Andretti's thoughts on the future of rac...

In this episode of the Business of Speed podcast, John Doonan discusses the excitement surrounding the Rolex 24, his leadership style, the importance of youth engagement in motorsports, and the growth strategies of IMSA. He reflects on the passion for racing and the community it fosters, emphasizing the need for innovation and stability in the sport. Takeaways John Doonan emphasizes the importance...