F1 Beyond The Grid

In a special one-off episode, we look back on the thrilling 2019 F1 Esports Series, speaking to everyone from drivers to organisers to explore what makes F1 Esports one of the most compelling and fastest growing racing series on the planet.

So here it is folks: your final episode of Beyond The Grid of the year. And what a year it’s been, with great guests every week from March to December. So what better way to bid farewell to 2019 than with Tom’s selection of his favourite moments of the season?  We’ve stuffed a Christmas cracker full of anecdotes from the likes of Jenson Button, Kimi Raikkonen, Rubens Barrichello, David Coulthard a...

 He’s that rarest of creatures: a multifaceted, outgoing personality who also happens to be a world-class competitor, beloved by fans, media and even his fellow drivers.  On this week’s show we go deep with Daniel Ricciardo on his life on and off the race track, from his present with Renault to his past with Red Bull; his relationship with Max Verstappen to his relationship with music, food and ul...

To many people, Bernie Ecclestone is the Godfather of Formula One. He transformed the sport from being the expensive indulgence of rich amateurs in the 50s into the global phenomenon it is today, watched by hundreds of millions of people on television and online.  On this week’s special show, we speak to Mr E about his incredible career, including his attempts to qualify for races as a driver, man...

This week’s guest is F1’s original iron man – a veteran of 19 seasons in the top class of racing and a record 322 Grand Prix starts. Over the course of that career, Rubens Barrichello experienced every emotion under the sun: from the despair of being injured and losing hero and countryman Ayrton Senna on the same weekend in 1994; he experienced the euphoria of winning races for Ferrari and Brawn,...

This week’s guest is a man whose name may not be immediately familiar to everyone, but it probably should be. Why? Well quite simply this is a man who has won more world titles than anyone in history - 26 in total.  In a glittering career in F1, Aldo Costa was a key engineer for both Ferrari and Mercedes throughout their dominant dynasties, and on this week’s show he spills the beans on what it wa...

He is regarded as one of the fastest drivers to ever grace an F1 racetrack, and arguably the rival Michael Schumacher feared the most. Not only was Mika Hakkinen’s commitment in a racing car absolute, particularly on a qualifying lap; he somehow came back from a horrifying accident at the end of 1995 not only to win races, but two world championships.  On this week’s episode we catch up with the F...

Putting aside Frank Williams, who is no longer in the active role at Williams he once was, Franz Tost is the second longest-serving team boss in the pit lane, behind only Red Bull counterpart Christian Horner. In his 14 years at the helm of Toro Rosso, Tost has overseen the team’s maiden pole and victory, nurtured talents like Sebastian Vettel, Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo, and helped rehab...

As motor racing stories go, Mario Andretti’s is pure Hollywood. Born in what was war-ravaged Italy in 1940, and later a refugee, he would rise to not only become arguably the greatest all-round racing driver in history, but also a household name, synonymous with speed, across America – his adopted homeland after emigrating in the 1950s.  On this week’s episode we hear the full epic tale, from the...

He’s regarded as arguably the fastest Japanese driver of all time, and yet it could all have been so different for Takuma Sato. A bike racing champion in his youth, Sato caught the racing bug watching Senna at Suzuka in his youth, and though he didn’t start racing until much later than almost all of his rivals, his talent and sheer bloody minded determination lifted him all the way to F1.  On this...

He was a driver for whom much was expected, arriving in F1 as the younger brother of a double world champion. And though today Ralf Schumacher doesn’t rate his achievements that highly, those who raced against him will tell you the six-time Grand Prix winner was one of the quickest and most under-estimated of his era.  On this week’s show, Ralf discusses being a racing dad to up-and-comer son Davi...

Our guest this week is someone who lived through one of the sport’s biggest fairy tales when, in 2009, he won the world title with Brawn, less than 12 months after the team had been put out of business by Honda. But though that season has come to define Jenson Button’s F1 career, in reality it was just one small part for a racer that clocked up more than 300 Grand Prix starts.  On this week’s epis...

As Lewis Hamilton’s team mate at Mercedes, Valtteri Bottas finds himself consistently measured against a driver many consider the best of all time. But far from being overawed, the gritty Finn actively relishes the challenge, and has become a consistent race-winning threat.  On this week’s show Bottas opens up about mental resilience, motivation and self-development, and also gives us a fascinatin...

He’s a man with one of the toughest jobs in F1: tasked with leading one of the sport’s grandee teams back to the top, under the weight of huge public expectation. But if anyone knows Renault, it’s Cyril Abiteboul. The Frenchman has worked in a variety of positions for the French marque over the years and, though just 41, is now in his fourth season as Team Principal.  On this week’s episode Abiteb...

This week’s guest is Dutch, caused a major stir when he first jumped into an F1 car, and has the surname of Verstappen… but we’re not talking about Red Bull star Max, we’re talking about his father. Jos Verstappen had the same meteoric rise through the junior formulas as his son, culminating in an F1 debut alongside Michael Schumacher at Benetton in 1994. He’d end up making more than 100 Grand Pri...

A year ago, Alex Albon didn’t have an F1 drive, and his prospects of getting one looked slim at best. He had no affiliation with an F1 team and, despite shining in F2, he was having to looking at alternative series in which to earn a living. It was not the first time his career faced a crossroads, but this time, things were turned upside down when he got a call from Red Bull – the same Red Bull th...

Pastor Maldonado was always a headline maker. The Venezuelan arrived in F1 in 2011 with Williams as GP2 champion, and the very next year delivered the team a first win in over seven years with a dazzling performance in Spain. But for all his speed, and all his talent, Maldonado also found himself on the end of a large amount of criticism, sometimes from his fellow drivers, sometimes from the press...

He raced in an era of heroes; a time when cars had no seat belts, yet could still be raced at averages of 150mph. Many he raced against in the 1950s – the first decade of the world championship – perished in pursuit of speed, but Tony Brooks emerged unscathed with six Grand Prix victories, having come ever so close to winning the world title his talents surely deserved. This week on Beyond The Gri...

 It’s the F1 summer break, and on this week’s episode Tom has trawled through the archives and picked out six of his favourite anecdotes from Season 2 so far. We won’t give anything away, but listen out for gems from Kimi Raikkonen, David Coulthard and Jean Alesi among others. So whether you’re a diehard fan or a new listener to the show, sit back and enjoy some fabulous F1 conversations with the...

He may not be a household name, but Jo Ramirez is one of those people who has seen it all and worked with them all. He broke into F1 in the 1960s, working with emerging superstar Ricardo Rodriguez. His Mexican countryman sadly perished before his star had truly emerged, but by then Ramirez was set on a path that would eventually see him work with Jackie Stewart at Tyrrell, Emerson Fittipaldi at Co...

He may never have claimed the world championship his supreme talents probably deserved, but Jacky Ickx remains one of the most revered drivers of the 60s and 70s. An eight-time Grand Prix winner, and twice runner up for the title, the lightning quick Belgian also won the famed Le Mans 24 Hours six times in arguably its most brutal era - not bad for someone who never wanted to be a racing driver......

He’s one of the most interesting characters in the F1 paddock: a podium-scoring driver who remains just as busy today as he was when he was racing. Then again, Alex Wurz was never your average racer; from his unconventional introduction to speed as a BMX world champion to airbrushing his own helmets to ensure they looked correct. On this week’s episode, the affable Austrian talks about both of tho...

Among F1 fans, Jean Todt is perhaps most famous for leading Ferrari out of their early 90s slump and into a period of unprecedented domination in the 2000s. As mighty as that period was - and don’t forget that Schumacher’s drivers’ title in 2000 was Ferrari’s first since 1979 - that success was to some extent only the tip of the iceberg for a man with one of the most impressive CVs in world motors...

From the rock ‘em, sock ‘em world of stock car racing to the pinnacle of motorsport, Derek Warwick’s career was one hell of a rollercoaster ride. In an F1 career spanning 146 Grand Prix starts, the tough Brit raced for the likes of Renault and Lotus, and stood on the podium four times, albeit always missing out on the top spot. But he’s perhaps best remembered for the bravery he exhibited: not jus...

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 tent...