Formula University (FU)

What a week in France! Mike opens up with the pop quiz: What makes an F1 race boring? But we cut right to some great thoughts inspired by the great journalism at The-Race.com. We talk more about how these drivers are performing and what makes them tick. From Sainz and Leclerc to Alonso and Hamilton. There was a lot of history made recently so we definitely study up on the past so we can be ready for the future. We'll talk about how drivers get the right to demand more from their teams, and how that could impact their performance, after Leclerc's crash. We of course get into the rules and what's right and wrong regarding Russell and Checo. This plays right into our ongoing bet! And it wouldn't be an FU episode without some talk about tires and, of course, thermal degradation! Come to class again, only one race left before the summer break. We owe our fans a special episode so be sure to check back even while there's no racing!

Just in time for the French GP this weekend, we review some of the deeper knowledge we have gained as studious fans of Formula racing! Come to class in your underwear if you want, we'll cover lots of ground about sprint racing, team orders, and tire temperature (as always). Not to mention marketing and politics! We're so excited about Haas's great run in Austria and what they have in store going forward. We talk about their team orders and what must go into a decision about how to defend against Hamilton. It gets pretty political as we think about all the consequences a driver must be thinking about around any given turn. We also try to sell our souls to some sponsors (GO HAAS!) so Boeing, Northrup Grumman, ExxonMobil, BlueCross BlueShield, Winchester, Blackrock, pay attention!The future of this season is still not determined so we also make our predictions about how Red Bull, Mercedes, and Ferrari are going to fare going forward. Get some class, y'all! Join Formula University for another wild conversation between Elliot and Mike.

Without further ado, we get into the last 4 races that we missed: Miami, Spain (Barcelona), Monaco, and Baku. Each race got more exciting than the last and we definitely had to do our homework to keep track of each exciting moment. Miami was exciting because it brought, for better or worse, more US Americans into the scene, but the race was not much else beyond that. Still, we have to talk about why this is important from a race and F1 historical point of view! Spain was definitely more exciting, lots of drama from running off track to wheel-to-wheel battles between Verstappen and Russell. It was some of the first action we've seen between these two drivers in F1 but probably won't be the last. Excellent action here for both the new and old fans. Moving on to Monaco, the historic yet reserved city circuit definitely pushed teams and drivers to their limits this year. From tire strategy to driver performance, we saw two major accomplishments: a win from Checo Perez and Charles Leclerc completing his first race at home in Monaco in F1. Monaco has come under some criticism for its somewhat underwhelming contribution to the race calendar, but we definitely love it and we'll tell you why every fan should.Closing with Baku, Mike offers a controversial and signature hot take in only a way that he can. This exciting follow-up to Monaco has a place in our hearts for being an exciting race, and was a major factor in last year's dramatic conclusion. This race has started to show the true colors of Red Bull, but what does it say about Ferrari and Mercedes. What about those midfield and at-risk drivers at the back? We'll have to wait and see, but we've got predictions and some insight.As always we cover major ground in capitalism, sport economics, politics and society as we breakdown F1 strategy for our fans around the globe. This is a longer episode but there's a lot to enjoy as we recap the last 4 races. Take a nap in the middle of class, and join us once again at Formula University for our sophomoric coverage. 

Wow, what a busy couple weeks! We got to watch more historic races and see what the new car can really do. We also decided to upgrade ourselves and our podcast to Formula University (FU) which we think is more comprehensive of our approach to Formula racing. We are learning, studying, growing, thinking, drinking, partying a bit to hard, coming back for an exam the next day, missing a few weeks. You get the picture. Mike continues to wax poetic about his beloved Englishmen while Elliot continues to shun them. We bicker about what is important, power units, tyre temperature, driver skill, or aerodynamics. What does the season have in store for us, will Merc be able to kick it up a notch and claim more podiums, or will it continue to be Red Bull and Ferrari dominating? At Australia we saw some straightforward racing, but Mike has thoughts about how important it was. At Imola we saw fortunes change quickly and continue the evaluation of the sprint qualifying. We go over the entire midfield and talk about what's really getting us running on all pistons for teams like Haas and Williams. We aren't above a bit of driver drama either.Now we look forward to yet another race in the US, Miami, where tensions are hot and the engines are hotter. It's not going to be a spring break for any team.Join us once again as we profess about F1. And with that, a warm welcome to our fellow FU students!

Welcome back to Formula 1 everybody! Mike and Elliot join forces again after some great feedback from our fan(s). We talk about the pre-season, training, and the first two races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. You can look forward to the only podcast recorded this week that didn't talk about "the slap." Listen to our insights on the new regulations and how drivers and constructors have responded. We get into the geopolitics of F1, as we always do! Of course there's critical conversation of those new sidepods and what we think about downforce and power units. Don't know what those are? Find out! We place some new bets for the season, try to make predictions, and think about changing the name of the podcast before we get too famous. Join us as we kick off the 2022 season and a whole new era of Formula racing.

That's a wrap! What year. We talk about how historic this season has been, the absolutely stunning final chapter, and what's in store for next season. We go over some of the past races including Mexico, Abu Dhabi, and Dubai, and some of our favorite moments. We go on and on about how much we like our favorite drivers, and Mike concedes that he lost the gentleman's bet with Elliot. Close this year out with us in style!

We talk about the BIG  crash and decide once and for all (yeah right) whether it was a racing incident or a penalty. And, of course, our opinion matters! We have a nice drawn out conversation about how we thing the rest of the season is going to go, especially after the last two historic races. And they were historic! If you have thoughts about how important these were for this season and the future of F1, definitely let us know.We have a lot of questions for our fans, so we really hope you chime in. For example, who's right and who is wrong about who is going to get third for the constructor's championship? We want you to tell us. We talk a about tire strategy and wet weather after Sochi's flume ride. And we start thinking about some of the other technology we want to discuss on our show. Join us as we continue to get better and better about what it is to be a Formula 1 fan in this era!

After a long break and a delayed recording we look at all the events from the past few weeks including the wet day at Spa, the pedestrian race at Zandvoort, and all the driver movements announced in the last week. We record the day of the Qualifying for Monza so we talk about the current status of driver points.Elliot has been watching lots of motorsports including rally, dirt track, and even monster truck, so we get to talk about what we can learn from those other motorsports. Mike and Elliot are both playing Formula games so we talk a little about how we like them. A friendly, low-key episode ends with a friendly wager! Find out what we want to place bets on and tell us what the winnings should be!

What an exciting race this week! We start from the back of the grid and work our way forward covering the incidents, the excitement, and the history of these drivers. We talk about past performance, the forthcoming competition, regulations, technology, everything you can think of! There was so much going on this week with Hamilton, Alonso, Verstappen, Ocon, Vettel, Sainz that we could barely fit into a single episode. From tire temperature, to radio regulations, from aerodynamics to points statistics, this race had it all. For new fans this is a great time to jump in and see why now is such an exciting time to be jumping into Formula 1, and for long-time fanatics, we hope you're enjoying this season as much as we are. Join us as we walk through all the ins and outs of the Hungarian Grand Prix!

Mike and Elliot dive into details about what we don't know about Formula 1, especially the technology. We compare a lot of the new details about the 2022 car and the aerodynamics changes to the things we really want to learn about. We go into a few ideas about the aerodynamics of the car that's great for new fans and welcome input from some experts!The British Grand Prix was this week and we had a great time watching. Of course we discuss the Hamilton-Verstappen incident and a little bit about the regulations that we need to know more about. This is a great episode for newcomers so join us as we talk about what's so exciting about this season and all the things we're looking forward to. We talk about the importance of safety and some of the problems of racism in the sport.There's a lot to learn so help us figure it all out!

We talk this week about the Austrian GP, the second round of the double header at the Nurburgring! We also go into some thoughts about what we do and don't like about F1. We have a lot of questions about why things are the way they are: why is money so important, how can regulations be so unevenly applied, how are teams able to stay competitive even with such dominating cars and drivers. We look ahead to next week and we have plenty of questions for the experts out there! Tell us about Silverstone, tell us about tires, tell us about why this is the best time to enjoy Formula 1!

Mike and Elliot wax poetic about their favorite brands, or in Mike's case, why he thinks advertising is fake. We talk about some of our favorite supporters of F1 teams and what we want to know about how the money works in motorsport. We take a brief tangent into economic theory and what makes businesses tick, but it's funny, we promise.We also talk about some of the highlights of the Styrian GP in Austria and how exciting the rest of the season is going to be. Questions that stand out are whether Red Bull really does have the superior vehicle to Mercedes and how that might change next season. See how much we've learned and how much more we have to go on Episode 3! 

Episode 2 is out! We really enjoyed the French Grand Prix at Paul Ricard in Le Castellet, an exciting result and exciting race that had top racers battling through tire and pit strategy, and some great advances in the midfield.We go over what turned us into F1 fans over the last year and why we're so excited to be watching now, and how this race was a great example of what got is interested in the first place. We discuss some of the news surrounding tires and tire strategy, as well as some of the important tracks that every fan should know. And we get ready to head into the next 2 weeks of the double header at Austria. 

Mike and Elliot kick off the first episode of the My First F1 podcast where we discuss why we're interested in Formula 1 and why now is the best time to enjoy it. We've taken it upon ourselves to put our reputations on the line and talk about Formula 1 with barely any experience at all. But we hope that there are some other newcomers to the sport that will join us in learning more. We also look forward to expert fans jumping in and telling us what we're missing and what we get wrong. Topics like: What's the deal with the tires (tyres)? How do we figure all this stuff out? How do the pros figure this stuff out? What's it like being an American Formula 1 fan? How great is Netflix for F1 content?We discuss the previous week's race, the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku, Azerbaijan and the excitement that unfolded there. Between tire blowouts for Max Verstappen and Lance Stroll, to the not-so magical "brake magic" issue that led to Lewis Hamilton's demise. We also touch a little bit on the previous week's race, the famous Monaco Grand Prix and why it's such an important fixture each year for drivers to tough out. Mike also confesses his love for Sebastian Vettel.So, Formula 1 fans young and old, join us in our pilot episode on issues we barely understand and tell us what we need to know!

We cover our brief hiatus and get right into the action! So much drama has unfolded in the Queen's territory, from Canada to England. But the Italians, Spanish, and Monacans, not to be outdone, also have their own conflicts to resolve. What's going on with Ferrari's driver competitiveness? Listen to our thoughts! How far can Checo go for the championship? Only time will tell! But Mike and Elliot have laid down their bets. What's more important, team orders or tire strategy? An open debate unfolds. The merits of technical expertise in the fanbase are discussed as well. We go over our predications, evaluate the opportunities and opportunity costs of careers like Hamilton and Alonso, and Gasly and Latifi. A lot of historic moments to cover, so join us as we continue to study like any good frat boys do, the F1 2022 season.