The Switchback F1 Podcast

Graham and Luke return in the gap between races to catch up on some of the news items from the week. We start with Alpine's change of technical leadership structure (4:44) Our two-race takeaways from the first two races and whether the 2022 regulation changes failed (12:11) F1 set to abandon its push for 16 inch wheels in 2026 (26:07) Guenther Steiner's F1.com column and where he should la...

Graham and Luke return to review the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix. Starting with Max Verstappen, Sergio Perez and Red Bull continuing their dominance (4:38) Charlie Leclerc's 'boring' podium (9:52) Ollie Bearman's super-sub appearance and how he fared in his debut weekend (12:41) Oscar Piastri's solid P4 but McLaren's straight-line speed exposed (25:59) Fernando Alonso's meg...

Graham and Luke return to review the first race of the 2024 season. We discuss from the weekend: The Christian Horner situation (4:57) Business as usual for Red Bull and Max Verstappen (20:08) Sergio Perez doing what he needs to do (24:44) Carlos Sainz's brave podium, Ferrari, Charles Leclerc's issue (27:20) George Russell and Mercedes' optimistic start (32:04) Why McLaren are optimist...

Graham and Luke return for Part 2 of their preseason predictions podcast! Today, we ask... Can Sergio Perez save his Red Bull seat? (0:47) What does the Hamilton/Russell dynamic look like in year 3, Hamilton’s last year with Mercedes?(7:44) Can Carlos Sainz beat Charles Leclerc in his last year at Ferrari? (9:58) Does Lando Norris win his first race in 2024? (12:37) Expectations for Oscar Piastri...

It. Is. Time. Graham and Luke return for the fourth annual pre-season predictions, in which we ask many questions to predict/preview the 2024 F1 season. In part 1, we ask: Can anyone close up to Red Bull, and if so, who? (3:23) What drivers are capable of challenging Max Verstappen? (7:34) Are Ferrari and/or Mercedes ready to return to regular victories? (11:26) Can McLaren continue to move forwar...

Graham and Luke return to review F1 testing at Bahrain, looking at each team and how they fared at Bahrain ahead of the 2024 season. Not before we talk about the testing broadcast (7:12) Then we talk about Red Bull's ominous performance (13:33) Ferrari's improvements (21:06) A productive test for Haas (27:15) Mercedes' innovations (34:20) Aston's quietly solid test (40:10) McLaren&...

Graham and Luke return to review the final car launches before pre-season testing begins! We talk about Aston Martin's 2024 prospects, and the future of Fernando Alonso (4:23) Ferrari's car launch: destined to take a step or have they made a mistake? (29:00) McLaren's slightly odd launch but growing expectations (40:43) Mercedes' funeral launch ahead of a big 2024 (47:55) Finally,...

Graham and Luke return to discuss the new liveries and cars launched last week as F1 draws closer to a return First, we talk about the Horner allegations (3:07) Williams' unveiling their new livery, Alex Albon's future, and Logan's gainzzz (9:37) Sauber's eccentric launch (29:29) Alpine's car launch and more carbon fibre (38:26) RB's launch and Ricciardo's aspirations (...

Graham and Luke return after a busy week in the world of F1 Starting with some additional Hamilton/Ferrari thoughts, as well as Toto Wolff's comments and his 'Alonso-ing' of Hamilton and some interesting Antonelli comments (1:43) Andretti's rejected F1 entry....the why's, the ridiculousness of it, the fallout, the what next (21:12) Haas' car launch and why they're alrea...

Graham and Luke return to...wow, Lewis Hamilton signing for Ferrari for 2025. We talk about Hamilton's move to Ferrari, how we got here, what was said, his fit with the team, the partnership with Charles Leclerc (1:19) A hammer-blow for Mercedes: now what? What does it mean for the Silver Arrows going forward and for George Russell? (39:39) What do Mercedes now do with their vacancy? Who do th...

Graham and Luke return to review a surprisingly busy week in the world of motorsport. We start with the surprise Lando Norris extension and what it means for all parties involved. Is it a good move for Norris? (1:58) What the Norris deal means for Carlos Sainz's current standoff with Ferrari (26:39) Charlie Leclerc's deal finally announced (37:12) A fun battle to come between Marta Garcia...

Graham and Luke return as the winter break rumbles on! This week, we talk: Mercedes signing Wolff and Allison to extensions (3:03) Launch season, silly names, and McLaren's livery (16:55) Komatsu speaks for first time as TP (23:51) McLaren's continued unhappiness with the Red Bull/Alpha Tauri relationship, and a surprise ally in AT's favour (38:54) F1 Academy driver announcements (49:2...

Graham and Luke return to talk, well, mostly Haas this week and their decision to move on from Guenther Steiner. We go through what was said, what doesn't line up, where Haas and Steiner go from here, and Steiner's replacement. After that, we talk: Williams and Mercedes extending their partnership to 2030 (54:33) FIA departures (61:54) Mike Krack's interesting Alonso/Stroll admission (...

Graham and Luke return to talk all things motorsport in the off-season. This week we discuss: New Year F1 Resolutions (7:00) Stake F1 - a big year on and off the track for the rebranded Sauber (10:22) Adrian Newey's fascinating technical insights regarding the RB19, and the Ferrari contrast (37:22) Alpine's engine deficit approximated (57:45) Max Verstappen doing some GT3 testing (63:43) S...

Graham and Luke return in 2024...with a carryover from 2023 as we continue what we started last week. Before that, we have a rather large Ferrari chat (9:20) Then, we talked about a potential area of conflict surrounding Alpha Tauri and Red Bull sharing parts (38:43) We then move into Part 2 of our breakdown/lookahead of the 10 F1 teams, looking this week at Ferrari (50:02) McLaren (59:45) William...

Graham and Luke return for one last time in 2023 to round out the year with a few news stories, including: McLaren's Bahrain takeover (4:39) Why Alfa Romeo didn't stay in F1 (12:56) Alpine's continued mismanagement of talent and people (22:50) Jean Todt's recent comments and whether Ben Sulayem's position is close to untenable (38:57) Then, we take a recap of each F1 team and a...

Graham and Luke return to review our preseason predictions: the things we got right, and the thing we got, well, very wrong in some cases 😂 Anyways, enjoy, and Happy Holidays!

Graham and Luke return to hand out some non-existent silverware for the 2023 F1 season, but before that... We talk about the alleged conflict of interest story (3:10) The home of Spanish Grand Prix set to change (15:34) F1 2024 Sprint venue's confirmed (20:42) Charlie Leclerc's imminent deal (30:15) FE going behind a paywall (33:10) To the awards themselves, starting driver and team of the...

Graham and Luke return to recap on some of the news from the motorsport world now that the season is over. We talk first about Logan Sargeant's confirmation and what it means for Williams in an important 12 months for their driver lineup future (3:36) Cadillac's intention to supply Andretti with an engine...if they make it (20:55) F1's Right of Review changes (25:46) Aston Martin selli...

Graham and Luke return to review the season finale of F1 2023. We talk about the end of school vibe with Abu Dhabi (4:53) An emotional Max Verstappen wins his 19th race of the season (7:57) Charlie Leclerc and his determination in the battle for 2nd (18:11) George Russell's best for last? (26:02) Sergio Perez and his 5 second penalty (30:52) Yuki Tsunoda and Alpha Tauri's push for 7th (35:...

Graham and Luke return to review the inaugural Las Vegas GP. We talk about the issues that began the weekend (2:59) How the weekend got back on track in qualifying (10:33) Carlos Sainz's grid penalty and potential fallout (11:40) Max Verstappen wins but pushed all the way in battle with Charles Leclerc and Sergio Perez (19:18) Leclerc's race and whether he was unlucky not to win in Vegas,...

Graham and Luke return to talk all things F1 and beyond. This week: We share some lingering thoughts from Brazil (2:06) Dissect the results of Haas' Right of Review from the US Grand Prix and the bigger picture issues it highlights despite its failure (6:17) FIA appointing a well-respected F1 Commissioner (28:51) Some Pirelli deflection (33:24) Alfa Romeo/Sauber to have an all-new design for 2...

Graham and Luke return to review a wild Brazilian Grand Prix. From Max Verstappen taking his 17th win of the season (7:47) Sergio Perez's progression and titanic finish with Fernando Alonso (11:57) Lando Norris taking it to Verstappen en route to another podium (19:12) Aston Martin roar back with both cars (24:54) Alpha Tauri's electric pace: Yuki Tsunoda in the points, and why Daniel Ricc...

Graham and Luke return to review the Mexico City Grand Prix. Starting with Max Verstappen taking a 16th season win (3:03) Charlies Leclerc's pole position stat and race (5:37) Lewis Hamilton closing in on Sergio Perez (12:46) Daniel Ricciardo vaulting Alpha Tauri up the standings (15:52) Lando Norris' recovery (23:27) Alex Albon back amongst the points (27:44) Nico Hulkenburg's frantic...

Graham and Luke return to review the US Grand Prix Starting with why Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc were disqualified, the contributing factors, and COTA's rough ride (4:45) Time to talk about the sprint format, and changes we'd make to it (20:52) The sprint race's main takeaway: the penalties for overtaking off track (32:38) Max Verstappen's hard chase for win no. 50, and (pri...