Motorsport101

Forgive us for taking a little longer this year, both Dre and Cameron have been sick in recent weeks, but here is our bit first special of the year, looking back on the best, worst and everything inbetween in the 2025 M101 Awards, the 10th time we've done it!We've got the best overtake as Kamui Kobayashi makes a brilliant appearance against the best of Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc, who was the best series in Motorsport between IMSA, WEC, F1 and IndyCar? Who takes Rookie of the Year between Connor Zilisch and Isack Hadjar? And who made the biggest gains between Williams, Sauber and MotoGP's Alex Marquez!And of course the hotly contest big trio of awards, who takes the infamous Golden Cock betwen NASCAR, the FIA and Papaya Rules, as well as Max Verstappen going head to head with Alex Palou yet again for Driver of the Year... can the Spaniard finally take it?

And in our final Podcast before Christmas, Dre, RJ and Cam sit down for a nearly 3 hour long roundtable on the 2025 Formula 1 Season. The gang go team-by-team to breakdown their strengths, weaknesses, and what to expect heading into a radical 2026 regulation change. From Alpine and a miserable surrender half way through the season, to Kick Sauber's great comeback under the helm of Jonathan Wheatley and HULKENPODIUM. Aston Martin are setting up for their big crescendo under Adrian Newey, Racing Bulls had to deal with their bigger brothers mess, while Williams turned another huge corner to crack the Top 5.  At the front, Ferrari shat the bed, Mercedes still don't know how they're so fast, Red Bull's end of an era, and how McLaren dominated the season but still nearly ended up embarassed. All that and so much more inbetween in a Mega, Double length Motorsport101! Have a wonderful Christmas and we'll see you back here for the M101 Awards!

Return of the Marc, watch my flow, you know that I'll be back (Here I go...) Welcome to a bumper edition of the M101 Podcast as Dre, RJ and Cam review the 2025 MotoGP Season, with all the factories and their status spoken about as we enter a critical off-season! For Yamaha, is the switch to the V4 from their in-line history going to be enough for them to persuade Fabio Quartararto to sacrifice another two years of his prime to figure out. Is Honda going to sign a big hitter and if, which of their veterans are they going to release for them? And are they finally heading in the right direction? Is KTM about to be bought out from a new force from China, and if so, will that be enough to convince Pedro Acosta to stick around? Has Aprilia's progressed been masked by an injured Marquez? And what does Ducati do next after a messy season on and off the track?  All that and more across 2 hours on Motorsport101!

The record shows, he took the blows, and Lando did it his way. He is your 2025 Formula 1 World Champion, doing just enough to survive the final assault from Max Verstappen, who did everything he could to win the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Dre Harrison and RJ O'Connell reflect on what was actually a rather milquetoast decider, where everything the formbook suggested, just happened. McLaren played it super safe, Red Bull gambled and won one last time, George Russell and Charles Leclerc couldn't quite play spoiler. But we talk deeply about Lando Norris and the unique character that's made him a World Champion, Max Verstappen still pulling off the nearly unthinkable to end up just 2 points off the table after a 104 point deficit from Zandvoort, and Oscar Piastri's key role as the season's main antagonist.  We also talk about Fernando Alonso sneaking into the Top 6 in his final race of the year, Yuki Tsunoda actually taking a weaving penalty, and Helmut Marko being ejected from Red Bull Racing for getting a bit too keen to sign an Irish F2 ace...

No really McLaren, just wrap this shit up already. Honestly... ...Dre, Cam and RJ are back to review the penultimate race on the F1 2025 calendar at the Lusail International Circuit as Max Verstappen laid down one more victory to bring his Championship deficit to 12, and questions asked in the McLaren strategy department yet again. With the race a mandated two-stopper and 25 lap stint maximums were in effect, McLaren stayed out for "flexibility" sake and wanting to play fair, and it opened the door for Max Verstappen to punish them. Again. Cam blows his rag about putting the fries in the bag and wrapping this up, while Dre says that McLaren simply doesn't trust their riders. Is that the case, or is this just classic incompetence? There's also a hearty chat about the nasty online abuse suffered by Kimi Antonelli, Ferrari's new nadir after another hellaciously bad weekend, Carlos Sainz on the podium again for Williams and Red Bull's new driver lineup after Yuki Tsunoda says goodbye for Isack Hadjar and Arvid Lindblad heads up from F2, to Racing Bulls.

Remember folks, what Verstappens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.  Dre, Cam and RJ are back to review yet another mad twist in the Championship race. Max Verstappen overcome a wet qualifying session and a spooked Norris off the line to take a dominant win in Nevada, but with the added bonus of both McLaren's being disqualified after the race for excessive skid block wear. It turns out lifting and coasting and a really low ride height has been harming McLaren for some time. Are they at their limit, and can Norris wrap up the title this weekend in Qatar? The trio also talk about the big breaking news story - Adrian Newey is taking over Aston Martin as their Team Principal for the first time in his 30+ year career, with current team boss Andy Cowell moving into the engine department as Chief Strategic Officer. Can a 67-year old Newey steer Aston Martin to glory? Or is this a waste of the great man's holistic talents? There's also more on Mercedes double podium, Ferrari's malaise, whether Vegas is starting to fall flat and the maths heading into a Qatar GP where a 25-lap limit will be put on Pirelli's tires. 

One last ride to close out the 2025 MotoGP Season as Marco Bezzecchi takes to the front and dominates the final round of the Championship in Valencia, and seal third overall in the standings. With it he also seals Aprilia's best ever season in MotoGP, with 4 wins across the brand, the first to win two in a row, and their first 1-2 finish since Catalunya 2023. Is the most serious warning shot yet that Aprilia are coming for Ducati's crown? There's also Fabio Di Giannantonio doing just enough to keep Ducati's 88-race podium GP streak alive, and one more horrible Pecco Bagnaia weekend for the road, including a fuel tank that wasn't filled during qualifying and then being absolutely blasted by Johann Zarco on the opening lap. Welp. We also talk Diogo Moreira winning the Moto2 World Championship in a surprisingly sombre decider, the latest to come out of the Valencia test, Franco Morbidelli's embarassing crash that led to breaking a bone in his hand, and Joan Mir's kamikaze Sprint crash with his own teammate that pisses off one Cameron Buckley...

And to complete the pre-race festivities, it's Miguel Oliveira, and a boat. It was a weird MotoGP weekend in Portugal in the sport's first ever 21st round. We had one of the greatest Sprints ever with Pedro Acosta and Alex Marquez in combat for the win in what was a classic... followed by a completely boring GP where Marco Bezzecchi tinkered with the bike overnight and then dominated the opposition. As you do. Dre and Cam throw out their usual script for the episode and decide to just wing in. And in doing so, talk about that great sprint, the state of Acosta's current form, whether Aprilia can keep up this challenge, and more.  There's also a discussion about Miguel Oliveira leaving MotoGP for World Superbikes and that pre-race celebration before the off, and an update on Jose Antonio Rueda and Noah Dettwiler with both riders now at home to continue their recoveries. 

Oh boy. Lando Norris is on a rampage. Six races ago, it looked like it was Piastri's to lose. Now there's a bigger chance that Lando Norris wraps the Championship up earlier.  How did we get here? A perfect 33-point double victory weekend for Norris, who dominated Brazil, leading every single meaningful session in the process, with Piastri spinning in to the outside wall during the Sprint, and then limping home 5th in the Grand Prix after a 10-second penalty for causing a controversial collision with Kimi Antonelli. Dre, Cam and RJ break it down on a special Monday recording edition of the Podcast! We also talk about Antonelli's breakthrough weekend, as well as the spicy comments made by Ferrari chairman John Elkann, who claimed his drivers needed to focus more and talk less in the fight for second in the Championship. We discuss why that's nonsense. Also, Ollie Bearman finishing the season red-hot in P6, and the great 9 car tailback at the end of the race!

It's been 11 years of Motorsport101 in your listening world, and to celebrate the occasion in a free week of F1 and MotoGP, Dre Harrison and RJ O'Connell sit down to rewatch a iconic race of the turbo-hybrid era - F1's 2015 Malaysian Grand Prix from Sepang International Circuit. It was iconic for many reasons. Sebastian Vettel won for Ferrari in just his second ever start in red, after spending almost his entire career to date in the Red Bull umbrella, and he single-handedly injected some hope into the sport again after a brtually dominant start to the V6 era in 2014 - Where Mercedes won 16 out of 19 races, with Lewis Hamilton winning six out of the final seven to take his second World Title. But after a dreadful 2014 for Ferrari, Seb was the shot in the arm that Maranello, and maybe the whole sport needed. Dre and RJ talk about how Seb might now be underrated by modern-day metrics, how dominant the Ferrari was that day in terms of tire wear, just how surprisingly racy Sepang and the cars of 2015 were back then, and a whole lot more as they rewatch Sepang 2015 in full, and you can follow along too via the F1 TV access, listen in to hear how we did it!

Wish this was a brighter and perkier episode of Motorsport101, but sometimes we get no choice in the matter. This episode is dominated by the horrific accident between Noah Dettwiler and Jose Antonio Rueda during the Moto3 sighting lap last week. Dettwiler's bike had a technical problem and was slow on the outside of the track, Rueda didn't know that and ploughed into the back of him at near full racing speed.  Thankfully, since the time of recording this on Wednesday, Rueda's injuries are not life-threatening with a concussion and broken hand, with Noah now out of intensive care after suffering an open fracture to the leg, multiple cardiac arrests and a broken neck.  Dre, Cam and RJ talk about the nature of Moto3's diminishing coverage and why dropping Sunday warm-ups may have indirectly contributed to the accident, what it could potentially take for a race to be cancelled and the nature of a horrible year in bike racing for injuries.  There's also a brief review of the Malaysian GP itself as Alex Marquez and Pecco Bagnaia split victories, with the latter suffering a rear puncture of all things, Joan Mir getting back on the podium for Honda, and more. And of course, our continued best wishes to Noah and Jose. 

What a time for Lando Norris to break out arguably his greatest weekend in his F1 career. Not once across the three days, even giving up a practice session for Pato O'Ward deterred Norris from dominating the weekend, taking pole by four tenths of a second, before leading every single lap enroute to a 30-second victory, the biggest win of the 2025 season so far. Across the garage though, Oscar Piastri could only manage fifth in another struggling weekend for the Australian, and with it, he loses his Championship lead for the first time in 17 races. It's a four-race shootout for the crown, with Verstappen still just about in contention, 36 points back. Who takes the title? Dre, Cam and RJ also breakdown a manic start and climax to the race involving grass shortcuts, debated stewarding calls and a VSC with 2 laps to go that ended two high tension fights for the podium. More on Carlos Sainz' disasterclass, a career-high P4 for Ollie Bearman for Haas, and yet another questionable moment for the rulebook as Verstappen and Hamilton clash on track again. 

After four years, the greatest Moto2 Rookie Season of all-time, three different times, and two different brands, Raul Fernandez finally reached the mountain top and took his first Premier Class victory in MotoGP, and in dominant fashion. Because 2025 hasn't finished being weird yet.  Dre, RJ and Cam talk about what led Fernandez down the road of making him a MotoGP race winner, ponder whether Aprilia is back to compete for major honours, and the latest difficulty that faces Pecco Bagnaia after another nonsensical and poor weekend. I mean, at one point being as slow as Michele Pirro?! Really? There's also a big catchup on Philip Island and why its days on the MotoGP grid may be numbered, Toprak taking his third World Superbike Championship over Nicolo Bulega and why KTM might be in more financial trouble... 

Uh-oh... why do I hear Jaws music playing in the background? Just when McLaren badly needed a normal weekend just to restore some feeling, they wipe each other out in the Sprint, go slow in Qualifying, and then have a mediocre race so that Max Verstappen is now within 40 points of the title, an unthinkable prospect given he was 104 behind in Zandvoort barely two months ago. What the hell?! Dre, Cam and RJ break down Max's dominant weekend, taking Pole and Win in both the Sprint and GP. Fun Fact: No-one else has ever done that in an F1 weekend, and Max has done it four times. For someone who hates the Sprint format, Max is devastatingly good at it. Oh and more on the Sprint crash seen around the world as Piastri's cutback led to a four car wreck, three DNF's, and a rattled Woking.  Sadly, we can't talk about the Apple TV deal due to Cam-related reasons, but we also talk Hulkenberg getting back in the points, Alpine and one of the worst Team Orders calls we've ever seen, and Charles Leclerc still showing he has that dawg in him.

First of all, sincere apologies, this took about two weeks longer than we would have liked, a combination of commitments from our man RJ, me coming down with a cold, and Cam coming down with COVID meant this got pushed back a little bit. Won't happen again, I promise, and sorry for the wait - Dre It's time to review one of the greatest seasons of IndyCar ever... if you're Alex Palou that is! It's hard to ignore the elephant in the room when one man dominates so thoroughly, but we still have 26 more drivers to review as well! We go team-by-team across IndyCar to bring you what worked and what didn't from their 2025 season. From Prema and their very existence coming under question, to RLL and their contiuned struggling, and whether Mick Schumacher may be coming to town. There's also more on the disaster that was Penske 2025, Meyer Shank returning to the top-tier of the sport, and a new era for Andretti as their starboy Colton Herta heads for Europe. Sincere thanks to everyone who's listened to our IndyCar coverage this season, and we'll be back in February for more! Until then!

Just when you thought this season was done throwing up surprises - Fermin Aldeguer becomes MotoGP's first rookie winner since Jorge Martin in 2021! It was an unpredictable weekend in Mandalika for the Indonesian GP, and Aprilia's Marco Bezzecchi had more pace than he knew what to do with. He nearly botched te Sprint but came back from 6th on the opening corner to win it on the final lap. But a huge crash with Marc Marquez in the Grand Prix's opening lap left the path clear for Fermin Aldeguer to dominate proceedings - A win by seven seconds for one of the biggest in 2025. Dre breaks down what it means for Fermin's star status, Bez's impact, and Gresini as a whole, who have now won with every rider they've had in the "Padovani" era of the team, and crew chief Frankie Carchedi's fourth different winning rider he's partnered with.  We also talk Marc Marquez being injured for the Australian and Malaysian GP's, Pecco Bagnaia's new nadir after crashing from last in the race fresh off his Japanese win, and Manu Gonzalez being DQ'ed in Moto2, blowing their title race wide open!

A surprisingly loaded episode of the Podcast off the back of a relatively tame GP. Funny how these things happen. With RJ on the way to Atlanta for Petit Le Mans, Dre and Cam have you covered for F1's latest Singapore GP, and it was a dramatic one in some strange ways. First of all, completely out of nowhere, George Russell dominated the weekend to take his second victory of 2025. To follow that up, Max Verstappen was able to hold off Lando Norris for second place under immense pressure. But not before another inevitable internet debate about Papaya Rules and McLaren's drivers. Lando Norris was boxed in against Max Verstappen's Red Bull and Oscar Piastri's McLaren at Turn 3, and made contact with Piastri on the outside. Piastri complained and called for a position swap, and was denied by McLaren. Is this the end of Papaya Rules, hypocrisy from McLaren's bosses, or much ado about nothing? There's also more on Alex Dunne walking away from McLaren's driver academy with a Red Bull deal in the works, Ferrari's braking issues headlining another drab weekend, and why Mohammed Ben Sulayem's about to win the FIA Presidency for a second term unopposed. 

The inevitable finally happened. After 2,184 days, 4 surgeries, 2 bouts of Dipalopa and over 100 crashes, Marc Marquez wins his seventh MotoGP World Championship, and his ninth overall as a MotoGP rider. Dre, Cam and RJ breakdown what's made Marc Marquez's season so special, as well as the nature of his six-year long comeback and return to the top of the mountain. Is this one of the greatest comebacks ever seen in sport? And is Marc Marquez now the greatest of all-time?  There's also some tight ends to discuss from the weekend itself, and Pecco Bagnaia's perfect weekend to score his first victory since the Circuit of the Americas back in April. Is the former Champion finally back? There's a secret weapon revealed on the pod. There's also more on Joan Mir's first podium for Honda since Marquez's departure, and Miguel Oliveira on the move to World Superbikes and BMW. 

Just when you thought Max Verstappen was out of the title picture, McLaren gonna McLaren. Again. Dre and RJ are back to review the 2025 Azerbaijan Grand Prix from Baku, and with it, a weekend that had McLaren score the least amount of points in a weekend since Las Vegas 2023.  There was a qualifying session with no less than SIX red flags, lasting 118 minutes as Alex Albon, Nico Hulkenberg, Franco Colapinto, Ollie Bearman, Charles Leclerc and Championship leader Oscar Piastri all crashing into a wall across the session. And with it, gift-wrapping Max Verstappen pole position by nearly half a second over Carlos Sainz (!!) and Liam Lawson.  In the race itself, a mach calmer affair. Piastri hits the anti-stall on a jumped start, and then goes into the Turn 5 wall to crash his second car of the weekend, and Max Verstappen goes onto to take a Grand Slam victory by 15 seconds over George Russell and Carlos Sainz, Williams first podium in over four years. With Max now just 69 points off the lead of the standings... he couldn't, could he?  There's also more on Ferrari's latest screwup, botching a position swap on the final lap, whether Yuki Tsunoda hitting form might have come at just the wrong time, and Lando Norris failing to capitalise on a golden chance to slice into what's now a 25-point deficit in the standings. 

"They define themselves" - Marc Marquez Dre and Cam sit down for a heated and emotional Grand Prix weekend in Misano for the GP of San Marino. During it, Marc Marquez actually crashed during Saturday's Sprint Race, won by Marco Bezzecchi and led to a huge number of his and Valentino Rossi's fans booing as he hit the deck. Was that okay? Is booing in sport a fight worth having?  Marc would take revenge in the Grand Prix, in a dragged out war with Bez's Aprilia, with both men pushing to the absolute limit, but Marc ultimately came out on top, and with it, puts himself on the brink of his 9th World Championship. Also in the episode, more on Pecco Bagnaia's struggles, KTM and the story of three chains breaking on their bikes over the weekend, and the strange decisions from Liberty Media in regards to focusing on the Premier Class of MotoGP and pushing Moto2 and 3 into less air time, temporary garages, and a new MotoGP Hall of Fame that focuses on Premier Class achievement. Is that a good idea for the series in its attempts to grow like F1?  All that and more in a new, M101!