This week we go inside the minds of the competitors for the F1 World Championship. We explain some of the things that happened during an intense Las Vegas GP weekend – including the dramatic double disqualification of the McLaren cars that sets up an incredibly tense final two rounds for the World Championship And we look ahead in depth to what happens next. We focus particularly on two areas: which teams will have the best car for the Qatar and Abu Dhabi circuits? And with so much pressure riding on it, what is the mental game here? How do the drivers and their trainers cope with the 11 hour time difference from Vegas to Qatar so they can maintain peak performance? How do they cope with the stress and the pressure? And with McLaren making such a costly mistake in Vegas, how do the leaders make sure the team doesn’t lose confidence? With James Allen in the studio to discuss this we have two real subject matter experts. Nick Harris, who trained and mentored many great drivers in the past 20 years from Mark Webber, David Coulthard and Eddie Irvine to Fernando Alonso and Nico Hulkenberg. And Autosport’s F1 writer who can demystify the technical side, Jake Boxhall Legge. Send your comments or questions to: @jamesallenonf1 on X or jamesallenonf1@autosport.com. A Motorsport Studios production for Autosport
This week, we have the latest in our series of F1 team principal interviews as we meet Ayao Komatsu at the HQ of Haas, F1’s smallest team. What Haas may lack in headcount, they more than make up for in team spirit, as this engaging interview reveals. Ayao has been at Haas since the team debuted in 2016. Last season Gene Haas picked him to succeed the charismatic, but sweary Guenther Steiner as team principal. Ayao was born in Japan and moved to England as a teenager to study English and pursue his dream of working in F1. He rose through the ranks as an engineer with Lotus and Renault, where he worked closely with Romain Grosjean. As a highly competitive F1 season comes to a close, Haas is fighting Aston Martin and Racing Bulls for 6th in the Constructors’ Championship. Ayao reflects on some key decisions taken earlier this season, which have boosted Haas’ recent competitiveness. Ollie Bearman equalled the team’s best ever result with P4 in Mexico and then backed that up with another strong points haul in Brazil. Joining James Allen in the studio for a wraparound chat is former Red Bull and Aston Martin F1 technical leader Dan Fallows. Send your comments or questions to: @jamesallenonf1 on X or jamesallenonf1@autosport.com . Producer: Ben Holmes, Andrea Sidler A Motorsport Studios production for Autosport
This week we discuss some of the significant developments that took place during the Brazil GP weekend, which saw Lando Norris take command of the F1 Drivers Championship and look ahead to the Las Vegas Grand Prix. In particular we delve into the role influencers are playing on helping F1 to reach new audiences in the United States, enlarging the fan base well beyond the traditional motorsport audiences. We hear all the time about the growing role of influencers in the coverage of the sport. F1, the teams and brands all now regularly invite them to attend races and interact with the stars. This is especially true of influencers in the US, some of whom have followings as large as mainstream media platforms, among demographics that F1 has not previously reached. How much more growth is there in F1? To find out more about their role and what the life of an influencer is about, James went to meet Brian Muller and Matt Elisofon, who host the popular Red Flags podcast, featuring former F1 team boss Guenther Steiner, to get their take on it. We also welcome back our F1 writer from the Netherlands Ronald Vording, For details on how to be part of the prize draw to win the replica Jackie Stewart helmet signed by all 20 living world champions go to https://win.raceagainstdementia.com/ Send your comments or questions to: @jamesallenonf1 on X or jamesallenonf1@autosport.com. = A Motorsport Studios production for Autosport
This week we meet one of the small group of broadcasters who can call themselves an F1 TV commentator. Alex Jacques is the voice of Channel 4’s F1 coverage in the UK and his commentary is carried on F1 TV in the US and around the world. He works alongside former F1 drivers David Coulthard and Jolyon Palmer. Alex worked his way up through F2 and the W Series and by 2018 he was a full time F1 commentator. He was voted Commentator of the Year in the 2022 Broadcast Sports Awards and his voice has appeared in Drive to Survive and F1 video games. Alex’s new book Grid to Glory, highlights 75 key moments from F1’s 75 year history. But it’s not one anecdote per year, it’s much more interesting than that. He describes the kidnapping of the F1 World Champion driver, the day the F1 drivers went on strike, the Grand Prix that featured just six cars and many other great tales. Send your comments or questions to: @jamesallenonf1 on X or jamesallenonf1@autosport.com. A Motorsport Studios production for Autosport
In this special edition of the James Allen on F1 podcast we hear from Aston Martin Chief Technical officer Adrian Newey, who shares some insights into his process and defines what has made him so successful. He reveals fascinating detail on what he learned from failure. He also names out the greatest driver he has ever worked with. We also hear about a unique new initiative from Sir Jackie Stewart to raise funds for his charity Race Against Dementia. Jackie and his son Mark have managed to collect the signatures of all 20 living F1 World Champions – including Michael Schumacher - on one of Jackie’s race helmets. This unique piece of F1 memorabilia will tour the world next year in the F1 Exhibition, but not before a one-off replica has been created which fans can win in a prize draw. The competition is live now and closes on 23 November 2025. The winner will get an all expenses paid VIP trip to the season finale Abu Dhabi GP in December to collect it and witness the final signatures of Sir Jackie and the 2025 F1 World Champion – likely to be either Oscar Piastri or Lando Norris… or could it be Number 5 for Max Vertstappen? For details on how to be part of the prize draw go to https://win.raceagainstdementia.com/ Send your comments or questions to: @jamesallenonf1 on X or jamesallenonf1@autosport.com. A Motorsport Studios production for Autosport =
This week we have a special edition featuring interviews with Toto Wolff and Eddy Cue from the Autosport Business Exchange event we hosted recently in New York. It was a gathering of leaders from across motorsport, exploring the intersection of sports, entertainment and culture with the theme of the “Rise of Racing in America.” Mercedes F1 team principal and CEO Wolff gives his take on how F1 has exploded in the US, the potential for further growth and why he’s keeping the same drivers next season. As a one third shareholder in the team he receives a dividend every year of around £50 million and he has seen his team’s valuation soar to the point where his holding is worth over a billion dollars. Eddy Cue is the senior Apple executive who signed the Brad Pitt F1 movie deal and followed up by clinching the five-year exclusive US TV rights deal. The interview on stage at ABX was 36 hours before that deal announced, but Eddy was happy to share plenty of detail about how Apple sees F1’s potential and what the movie has done for the company for F1. Send your comments or questions to: @jamesallenonf1 on X or jamesallenonf1@autosport.com. A Motorsport Studios production for Autosport
This week we have the latest in our series of F1 team principal interviews as we sit down with Sauber boss Jonathan Wheatley. He has been in F1 since 1991 and contributed to eight Constructors’ World Championships and 153 Grands Prix victories in various roles with Benetton, Renault and Red Bull Racing, where he won six of those titles. He started life as Team Principal with Sauber in April this year, shortly after the Japanese GP, arriving at work on his first day in a classic Audi Quattro. Since May, the team has seen a significant uptick in form. From 2026 the team will be rebadged as Audi, with a bespoke engine and, along with Chief Technical Office Mattia Binotto, Wheatley will carry the hopes of one of the world’s leading manufacturers in their first foray into F1 racing. What skills has he had to learn? What are the advantages and disadvantages of having such a long drawn-out transition from Sauber to Audi? And how high does he feel Gabriel Bortoleto’s ceiling is as a driver? Joining James Allen in the studio to discuss the interview are Autosport F1 writers Ronald Vording and Jake Boxhall-Legge. Send your comments or questions to: @jamesallenonf1 on X or jamesallenonf1@autosport.com. A Motorsport Studios production for Autosport
In F1 the numbers never lie – whether it’s the number of zeros on your pay cheque, the thousandths of a second on the stopwatch or the points of downforce on your new front wing. By looking at the underlying numbers of driver and team performance we can spot trends and learn more about what’s really going on this season. We did this at the quarter stage and half stage and now after three quarters of this F1 World Championship we look again. To help James Allen find the numbers that count are friend of the pod, former Ferrari and Williams engineer and now data guru Rob Smedley. Autosport’s technical editor Jake Boxhall Legge and F1 writer Ronald Vording joins from Singapore. What is the most important number when it comes to Max Verstappen? What record could the pairing of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll break later this season? Williams, Racing Bulls and Sauber have all made big points gains, but at whose expense? Send your comments or questions to: @jamesallenonf1 on X or jamesallenonf1@autosport.com A Motorsport Studios production for Autosport
This week James Allen delves into a topic that has always fascinated him - the way F1 teams and drivers present themselves – in other words their identity. The F1 season launch at the O2, London in February showed which teams had figured out their identity and those who hadn’t. F1 teams go to endless lengths to refine the tiniest details on their car to gain performance, but could they be doing much more to make the cars and drivers look good to fans and sponsors? Is an F1 car livery just a blank canvas to showcase a team’s sponsors, or should it say much more than that about the team? How teams show up and what they stand for is really important. Think of the change McLaren went through when Zak Brown took over and switched to papaya orange or when Mercedes switched from Silver Arrows to black cars. We explore this in the company of celebrated designer Nick Downes, who has been creating F1 car liveries and logos for over 30 years, including the iconic yellow “snake” livery for Jordan in the late 1990s, the Jaguars in the early 2000s and more recently for Williams. Send your comments or questions to: @jamesallenonf1 on X or jamesallenonf1@autosport.com. A Motorsport Studios production for Autosport
This week James Allen welcomes Manish Pandey, the film maker and master storyteller who shot to prominence with the award-winning 2010 documentary Senna, which he made with Asif Kapadia and James Gay Rees of Drive to Survive fame. Since then Manish has followed up, gaining exclusive access to F1’s ringmaster Bernie Ecclestone, to tell his behind the scenes story in the streaming series Lucky. Now he’s done it again with a new film, Seeing Red, about another of F1’s biggest characters, Luca Di Montezemolo. Montezemolo was only 28 years old when he won the 1975 F1 World Championships as Ferrari team manager with Niki Lauda. He then came back in the 1990s to lead Ferrari’s renaissance, putting in place the “Dream Team” of Jean Todt, Ross Brawn and Rory Byrne that dominated F1 with Michael Schumacher. At the same time he brought the magic back to Ferrari’s road car fleet. Manish talks about what has drawn him as a film maker to tell the stories of Senna, Ecclestone and Montezemolo, what they have in common and how their stories intersect. He reveals the conversations that Montezemolo and Senna had in 1994 about the great Brazilian joining Ferrari and looks at the Ferrari of today and asks: how important is it that the person at the top of Ferrari loves F1? Seeing Red is on a limited cinema release via Everyman Cinemas in the UK and will be released on major streaming platforms soon. Send your comments or questions to: @jamesallenonf1 on X or jamesallenonf1@autosport.com. A Motorsport Studios production for Autosport
This week we welcome Ted Kravitz, a bona fide sports broadcasting legend, who has carved his own niche since 2001, patrolling the F1 pit lane for Sky Sports F1, BBC and ITV Sport. His Ted’s Notebook segment on the Sky coverage is a must-watch for all fans of the sport, from the US to the UK, Australia and beyond. He’s just released a new book, F1 Insider, telling his story as well as some great stories and anecdotes from his 25 years as the voice of the F1 pitlane. James Allen, who mentored Ted early in his TV career, chats to him about the F1 personalities that have stood out, moments of high drama that he found himself in the middle of and the toughest moments he’s faced. Ted lifts the veil on how live F1 TV coverage works behind the scenes. He also looks ahead to the final three months of the season and his gives thoughts the battle for the F1 Drivers’ Championship. F1 Insider: Notes from the Pit Lane is out now, published by Octopus Books. Send your comments or questions to: @jamesallenonf1 on X or jamesallenonf1@autosport.com. A Motorsport Studios production for Autosport
McLaren are poised to win the F1 Constructors World Championship with a record seven races to spare. Given that this is the final year of these regulations, where the margins are supposed to be tight, how have they done it? Will McLaren’s dominance continue in 2026, when new regulations are introduced? And if not – which team will be the first post-McLaren to win a Constructors’ Championship? With James Allen to discuss this we welcome back friend of the pod, former Aston Martin technical director and head of aerodynamics at Red Bull Racing, Dan Fallows and Autosport’s F1 writer Jake Boxhall Legge. Send your comments or questions to: @jamesallenonf1 on X or jamesallenonf1@autosport.com. A Motorsport Studios production for Autosport
F1 is back in racing mode after the Summer Break and this week we are in between two fast, intense races; the Dutch GP at Zandvoort and the Italian GP at Monza, the race with the highest average speed lap on the calendar and the home of Ferrari. Alongside James Allen we’ve brought in to of our fastest thinkers: Our F1 writer from the Netherlands Ronald Vording and our man in Italy Roberto Chinchero. The team discuss the mood music at Zandvoort, the championship balance between the McLaren drivers, growing pressure on Hamilton and Antonelli ahead of Monza and why Toto Wolff appreciates deepfake images of himself on the internet. Send your comments or questions to: @jamesallenonf1 on X or jamesallenonf1@autosport.com. A Motorsport Studios production for Autosport
In Part Two of our Summer Special featuring a panel of movie industry experts, we analyse the most cherished racing movies; the classic Grand Prix (1966) as well as other celebrated motorsport films Rush (2013), Days of Thunder (1990) and Le Mans (1971). Are they any good as movies and what does it take to create a film that appeals to all audiences, not just motorsport enthusiasts? And what, if anything, did this summer’s Apple blockbuster F1 Movie with Brad Pitt take from them? We explore how well the various stories and plotlines work and the all-important action sequences. We reveal which cues they take from each other. How are female characters depicted and how does their treatment compare across the decades? Which films were commercially successful and which ones flopped? Finally, if the master rolls of all these films were in a burning warehouse and only one could be saved for posterity, which one would the experts rescue? The answer may surprise you. With James Allen in the studio are: Eddie Hamilton, editor of Top Gun Maverick and the two most recent Mission Impossible films. Adrian Wootton OBE, runs the British Film Commission (encouraging productions like F1 to film in the UK). Mark Lane is an award-winning movie producer, with over 40 credits including I am not a serial Killer and The Cut. Nick Manzi is a producer with a string of hits from Blitz to Salmon Fishing in the Yemen and a lifelong F1 enthusiast. Don’t miss the chance to compete against our expert writers on Motorsport’s hugely popular F1 Fantasy League. https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/race-our-writers-motorsport-launches-its-first-ever-featured-league-on-f1-fantasy/10702182/ Send your comments or questions to: @jamesallenonf1 on X or jamesallenonf1@autosport.com.
This week we gather a stellar line-up of movie industry insiders as we break down the summer blockbuster F1 Movie, which has now earned over half a billion dollars at the box office, so deserves some deeper consideration. Having earlier looked at it from the point of view of journalists and fans, we now get the movie experts to cast an eye over it; is it technically a good film? How well does the story work, and what about the all-important action sequences? How does the treatment of female characters compare? And do movies like this do any long-term good for the sport? In Part II next week, the panel will compare it with the 1960s classic Grand Prix as well as other classic motorsport films Rush, Days of Thunder and Le Mans. Are they any good as movies? And what does it take to create a movie that appeals to all audiences, not just motorsport enthusiasts? With James Allen in the studio are: Eddie Hamilton, editor of Top Gun Maverick and the two most recent Mission Impossible films. Adrian Wootton OBE, runs the British Film Commission (encouraging productions like F1 to film in the UK). Mark Lane is an award-winning movie producer, with over 40 credits including I am not a serial Killer and The Cut. Nick Manzi is a producer with a string of hits from Blitz to Salmon Fishing in the Yemen and a lifelong F1 enthusiast. Chapters 00:00 Introduction to F1 Movie Discussion 03:00 Audience Reception and Expectations 05:58 The Art of Filmmaking in F1 Movies 08:59 Motorsport as a Cinematic Backdrop 11:55 Elements of a Successful Film 14:51 Character Dynamics and Storytelling 18:08 Technical Achievements and Authenticity 20:46 The Role of Female Characters 23:59 Budget and Financial Aspects of F1 Movie 26:51 Conclusion and Final Thoughts Don’t miss the chance to compete against our expert writers on Motorsport’s hugely popular F1 Fantasy League. https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/race-our-writers-motorsport-launches-its-first-ever-featured-league-on-f1-fantasy/10702182/ Send your comments or questions to: @jamesallenonf1 on X or jamesallenonf1@autosport.com. A Motorsport Studios production for Autosport
F1 people are enjoying their summer break as the three-week Shutdown enters its second week. But one man who has not shut down is our F1 Writer Ronald Vording, who joins James Allen from the Netherlands to take stock of the season and look ahead to what we can expect when the racing starts again later this month. Max Verstappen confirmed before the break that he’s not looking to move teams for 2026 and he will race for Red Bull next season. What went on behind the scenes in his decision-making process? What is Max’s state of mind now with 10 rounds to go and no chance of winning the title? We answer some listener questions and talking points on how McLaren shows no favouritism towards its drivers as they duel for the World Championship. Where is Lewis Hamilton now on the Motivation-ometer and why is he writing “documents” for Ferrari? Send your comments or questions to: @jamesallenonf1 on X or jamesallenonf1@autosport.com.
This week as F1 starts its Summer Shutdown we look in detail at how F1 driver contracts work and why this period of the season is critical for options being triggered (or not), renewals being signed and decisions being taken by drivers and teams about next season. To help James Allen go deep into F1 driver contracts is one of the best known and most successful driver managers in F1 history. Julian Jakobi has managed dozens of great names like Ayrton Senna, Alain Prost, Jacques Villeneuve, Juan Pablo Montoya and more recently Checo Perez. He continues to manage a stable of drivers across multiple race series. What does a driver manager do? What is in the scope of the role? What kinds of considerations do teams have around drivers during the Summer Shutdown? And what was it like to manage Senna and Prost at the same time, while they were in open conflict? Chapters 00:00 The Role of a Driver Manager 08:45 Understanding Driver Contracts and Options 12:05 The Impact of Rookies in F1 14:47 Key Clauses in Driver Contracts 18:14 The Influence of Team Management on Drivers 21:39 Future Driver Moves and Team Strategies
This week we look ahead to the F1 summer shutdown, which starts after the chequered flag falls in Hungary until Zandvoort at the end of August. But rather than use it as an excuse for tired old repeats, we are embracing the shutdown and looking at its significance to F1. This week we look at what the F1 drivers need to do during the break; how they recover after 14 gruelling races in five months, how they stay in shape while recharging. We also explore more broadly the physical and mental challenges on F1 drivers today. Is it true that F1 drivers are among the fittest athletes in sport? Taking James Allen deep into this fascinating topic is Nick Harris, who has trained and mentored many great drivers in the past 20 years from Mark Webber, David Coulthard and Jenson Button to Fernando Alonso and Nico Hulkenberg. He has also worked with top performers from other sports, like Andy Murray and Maria Sharapova. To view the highlights of the 2025 Global F1 Fan Survey and to download the Whitepaper, go to https://fansurvey2025-formula1.motorsportnetwork.com/ Don’t miss the chance to compete against our expert writers on Motorsport’s hugely popular F1 Fantasy League. https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/race-our-writers-motorsport-launches-its-first-ever-featured-league-on-f1-fantasy/10702182/ Send your comments or questions to: @jamesallenonf1 on X or jamesallenonf1@autosport.com. Producer: Dre Harrison A Motorsport Studios production for Autosport
In F1 the numbers never lie; whether it’s zeros on a paycheck, thousandths of a second on a stopwatch or points of downforce on a new front wing. At the halfway stage of the F1 World Championship, the points tables for drivers and constructors tell their own story. McLaren are well ahead in both; Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull trail badly. But by looking at the underlying numbers we can spot trends and learn more about what’s really going on this season and what might happen in the second half. We did this at the quarter stage and now at we look again, after 12 rounds in this 24 race F1 World Championship. Joining James Allen are special guest Dan Fallows - one of the top F1 engineers of the last two decades, he headed up the Red Bull aero department from the Sebastian Vettel era up to the first ground effect car in 2022 and was most recently Technical Director of Aston Martin F1 team. Also joining us are F1 data guru Rob Smedley, of Smedley Group and Autosport’s Jake Boxall-Legge. To view the highlights of the Global F1 Fan Survey and to download the Whitepaper, go to https://fansurvey2025-formula1.motorsportnetwork.com/ Don’t miss the chance to compete against our expert writers on Motorsport’s hugely popular F1 Fantasy League. https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/race-our-writers-motorsport-launches-its-first-ever-featured-league-on-f1-fantasy/10702182/ Send your comments or questions to: @jamesallenonf1 on X or jamesallenonf1@autosport.com. Producers: Dre Harrison, Ben Holmes A Motorsport Studios production for Autosport
On this week’s podcast we speak to the most powerful woman in F1 today and the American who plans to be one of the two most powerful men next year. As Chief Commercial Officer of F1 and CEO of the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Emily Prazer is responsible for bringing billions of dollars of revenue into the sport. She tells us her plans to make Vegas bigger and better this year and reveals its economic impact. Meanwhile Tim Mayer will face off against Mohammed Ben Sulayem in December’s election for FIA President. He faces an uphill task, but he strongly believes the FIA can be more professionally run. He explains why he has decided to run, what he would do differently from the current President and how he would avoid conflicts with F1 drivers over topics like jewellery and swearing. James Allen is also joined in the studio by Autosport’s F1 Business Correspondent Mark Mann-Bryans. To view the highlights of the Global F1 Fan Survey and to download the full Whitepaper, go to https://fansurvey2025-formula1.motorsportnetwork.com/ Don’t miss the chance to compete against our expert writers on Motorsport’s hugely popular F1 Fantasy League. https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/race-our-writers-motorsport-launches-its-first-ever-featured-league-on-f1-fantasy/10702182/ Send your comments or questions to: @jamesallenonf1 on X or jamesallenonf1@autosport.com Producer: Dre Harrison A Motorsport Studios production for Autosport