The Race F1 Podcast

We wanted to let you know about a new podcast from The Race. With so much going on in Formula 1 these days, it's not always easy to keep your fingers on the pulse of all the big talking points. Introducing The Race F1 Briefing, designed specifically to provide an overview of the key stories that matter from Thursday to Sunday on F1 race weekends and every day during pre-season testing. The first e...

The wait is over - F1 pre-season is finally here! Join Edd Straw and guests Scott Mitchell-Malm and Ben Anderson as they look ahead to the first official track running of 2024 in Bahrain. They pick the cars they are most looking forward to seeing, what to watch for over the three days of action, and the off-track storylines that could flare up in the heat of Sakhir. FEBRUARY IS FREE! Join The Race...

Edd Straw is joined by a trio of guests to talk about reigning world champions Red Bull, who finally revealed its 2024 challenger - the RB20 - to the world on Thursday. First, Edd is joined on the ground at the launch by TV commentator Nelson Valkenburg, who gives his feedback on an 'uneasy' event for Red Bull (what with the ongoing investigations around team boss Christian Horner) and a Dutch per...

Silverstone was a hive of activity on Wednesday as both Mercedes and McLaren rolled out and then ran their new F1 cars. Join Edd Straw and guests Mark Hughes and former F1 technical director Gary Anderson as they cast a critical eye over the W15 and the MCL38, discuss the design direction each team has adopted, and explain why both have now given themselves a much better chance of challenging worl...

Scott Mitchell-Malm and Ben Anderson join Edd Straw for a chat on all things Ferrari, after the Italian team opted for a low-key launch of its new car, the SF-24. They discuss how the Scuderia are shaping up for this season, the potentially worrying aspect of its new car that leaves Ferrari as a clear outlier compared to its main rivals, and how much the shadow of 2025 signing Lewis Hamilton hung...

Mark Hughes and former F1 technical director Gary Anderson join Edd Straw to pore over the new Aston Martin AMR24, which was unveiled ahead of a shakedown at Silverstone on Monday. They discuss how it has evolved from its predecessor, and what clues it offers up about the new Mercedes, with which it shares several parts. And finally, there's chat about where Aston might be in the pecking order in...

Scott Mitchell-Malm and Ben Anderson join Edd Straw to reflect on the snappily titled Visa Cash App RB F1 Team's limp car launch, which took place in Las Vegas - not that fans could watch it. They discuss how a team looking to re-launch itself with a new identity could get it so wrong, why its indicative of wider changes in Red Bull, and whether everything points to this team ultimately being for...

Edd Straw is joined by a host of guests to review Alpine's 2024 F1 car launch and cast an eye over its new challenger: The A524. First up, Edd is joined on-site in Enstone by Damien Smith, who shares his thoughts on the launch event itself, which the Anglo-French team held at its UK base. After that, Edd catches up with Mark Hughes and former F1 technical director Gary Anderson, who pick over the...

Scott Mitchell-Malm joins Edd Straw to round up the latest news and look back at the latest pair of F1 launch events. First, Edd reports back from the Sauber/Stake F1 Team launch event in London, where the team took the covers off the striking black and fluro green C44. We hear from technical director James Key, drivers Zhou Guanyu and Valtteri Bottas, and team representative Alessandro Alunni Bra...

Scott Mitchell-Malm and Glenn Freeman join Edd Straw to discuss the news that Formula 1 has rejected the bid for a new General Motors-backed Andretti Global entry, despite the FIA’s prior approval. They meticulously pick through the reasons F1 gave for rejecting the American team's bid for a grid slot (and the validity of those reasons), explain what the Andretti camp's reaction has been, and deba...

Edd Straw joins Mark Hughes and former Jordan and Jaguar technical director Gary Anderson to pore over images of the first F1 car to break cover in 2024: The Haas VF-24. They discuss the design direction the American team have taken with their new machine, and whether any of the changes made are likely to propel them up the grid, after a disappointing 2023. Before that, we bring you the latest on...

Mark Hughes and Scott Mitchell-Malm join Edd Straw to discuss the seismic news that Lewis Hamilton is to switch from Mercedes to Ferrari for 2025. They outline the likely reasons why Hamilton has decided to make such a move, what it says about Mercedes, and what this means for the driver market, with outgoing Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz now looking for a drive and Mercedes looking to fill a seat....

Legendary race engineer Rob Smedley, famous for working with Felipe Massa at both Ferrari and Williams, is our very special guest for this episode of The Race F1 Podcast. He joins fellow North-Easterner Mark Hughes and host Edd Straw for a wide-ranging chat on the topic of engineering in F1, including how the task has changed in the past 25 years, why there are fewer and fewer 'generalist' enginee...

Scott Mitchell-Malm joins Edd Straw to discuss the news that Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc have committed their long-term futures to McLaren and Ferrari respectively. They explain why they've both put pen to paper at this particular point in time (particularly when, in Norris' case, there was still a lot of time left on his existing contract), why their teams have chosen not to reveal the lengt...

Gary Anderson, co-host of The Race F1 Tech Show and former technical director for the Jordan, Stewart and Jaguar teams, joins Edd Straw and Ben Anderson to pick a key priority for each of the 10 teams on the 2024 F1 grid to address in the coming season. Follow The Race on  Instagram ,  Twitter  and  Facebook Check out our latest videos on  YouTube Download our app on  iOS  or  Android Click here  ...

McLaren sprung a surprise for fans on Tuesday with an unexpected reveal of its revised 2024 F1 car livery. So what better time for a catch-up on all things papaya, with Scott Mitchell-Malm and Ben Anderson joining Edd Straw for a wide-ranging chat. They explain why McLaren's decision to kick-start its 2024 preparations without showing a car could actually be a good thing, and, with Scott and Ben h...

The 2024 F1 season is still over a month away, so what better time to start thinking about 2025! Join Edd Straw, Scott Mitchell-Malm and Ben Anderson for some driver market fun as they debate and discuss how the 2025 F1 grid might look, taking into account current contractual arrangements, behind-the-scenes rumours, and a variety of other factors. Will our 2025 grid end up looking anything like th...

Scott Mitchell-Malm and Mark Hughes join Edd Straw to discuss the bombshell news that Guenther Steiner has left his role as Haas team principal, with engineering chief Ayao Komatsu stepping into the role as the charismatic Austrian's replacement. We discuss the reasons behind Steiner's departure, owner Gene Haas's long term plans for the team, and where this leaves the squad heading into the 2024...

Mark Hughes and Scott Mitchell-Malm join Edd Straw to round up a host of F1 news stories doing the rounds in early 2024. They discuss the ongoing political friction between the FIA, F1 and the teams (including the whispered rumours of a breakaway series), Sauber's recent rebrand to Stake F1 Team, and the sad passing of former McLaren and Honda man (not to mention IndyCar and Indy 500 champion) Gil...

As the calendar rolls into 2024, Scott Mitchell-Malm and Glenn Freeman join Edd Straw to pose (and attempt to answer) several big questions about the upcoming F1 season, including whether Mercedes will get their car concept right, whether Ferrari are back on the path to glory, and whether Alex Albon could be a pivotal player in the driver market. Follow The Race on  Instagram ,  Twitter  and  Face...

Ben Anderson and Scott Mitchell-Malm join Edd Straw (with bonus contributions from Mark Hughes!) to cast a critical eye over the 10 teams on the 2023 grid and hand out some grades for their performances relative to expectations. The question is, who will be top of the class and who will score that dreaded low grade? NOTE: Barring any breaking news, this will be our final podcast of 2023 - but don'...

Scott Mitchell-Malm and special guest Sean 'Virtual Statman' Kelly join Edd Straw to run through a list of seven important things we learnt about F1 in 2023, including who the fastest driver is over one lap, what the dominant Red Bull team's only weaknesses are, and why the current rule-set isn't working as hoped. Follow The Race on  Instagram ,  Twitter  and  Facebook Check out our latest videos...

Scott Mitchell-Malm joins Edd Straw to discuss the surprise early controversy of the F1 off-season, with the FIA beginning an investigation into allegations about “information of a confidential nature being passed to an F1 team principal from a member of FOM personnel” (named in the media as Toto and Susie Wolff) - allegations that have been emphatically rejected by Formula One Management and all...

We've got a bumper episode for you this week, as Mark Hughes, Scott Mitchell-Malm, Ben Anderson and Josh Suttill join Edd Straw to present The Race's Top 10 F1 drivers of 2023. We created our list by asking each of our guests to rank all of the drivers on the grid, with their scores then combined to produce a top 10. But which drivers made it in and which missed the cut? And are there any big surp...

Scott Mitchell-Malm and Glenn Freeman join Edd Straw to round-up the final track action of the 2023 season: The end-of-season test in Abu Dhabi. They discuss whether any of the young drivers who got a run-out are likely to make it to F1 and what's potentially blocking them from doing so. They also debate whether Pato O'Ward's ongoing McLaren outings might help him earn him a race seat in the futur...