Red Bull is a company that makes energy drinks, and they also own a racing team that competes in Formula One. They are known for being very successful in the sport.
The Ford Mustang is a well-known sports car that has been around for many years. It's famous for being powerful and having a tough look, making it a favorite for many car lovers.
The 2026 season is about the upcoming year in racing, where new rules and car designs will be introduced. This makes it an exciting time for fans and teams as they prepare for the races.
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The Porsche 911 GT3 is a fast sports car that's built for racing and driving enthusiasts. It's known for being very responsive and fun to drive, especially on a racetrack.
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Hello, everybody. Welcome back to the Fast and the Curious. Formula One is back
and so are we. And as always, we're going to be bringing you all of the latest from this
mad world of Formula One, bringing you the breaking news, when it happens, and also speaking to some
of the biggest names in this sport. And we are going to start here today in this episode. I'm
Betty Glover. Alongside me, as always, is my Formula One podcast husband, Christian Hugill.
Podcast husband, eh? Last season, you were my podcast boyfriend this season for our new
season. Fourth season, I think. Four years in. You've been upgraded to husband. We stepped
up the level of commitment. Oh, I'm delighted about that. I am. Welcome back to a new season on the
Fast and the Curious. And welcome to the United States of America, to Detroit in Michigan, and
specifically to the railway station in the center of Detroit, which used to have trains
running in and out of it today. It's not about trains, it's about cars, because it's going
to be the home of not just the new season launches for Red Bull and VCar, but also
a celebration of Ford's return to the sport. We're going to be telling you all about that,
everything you need to know about this giant name coming back into Formula One,
as well as having a chat to some very fun people from in and around the world of Red
Bull Ford. It is so exciting. I'm so excited. You can like feel it around here, can't you?
Like the anticipation, everyone's just so intrigued to see what this event's going to
be like, but also what Ford is going to be like back in Formula One. Yeah, so a little bit
later on the stage that if you're watching on YouTube, you'll be able to see behind us,
which at the moment has got flashy blue graphics on are going to be the drivers,
just through there. There's loads of cool, fancy Ford cars from all the different series
they race in. There's not a red carpet to welcome the VIPs here. There's a blue carpet.
I mean, obviously there would be because Ford and everybody's just very excited because it
feels like the start of something new. It's a new era in Formula One. It's a new era for
Ford. It's a new era for the Red Bull teams. It's all very exciting. Should we tell everyone
who we've got coming up? So we've got Arvid Lindblad, who's obviously making his Formula
One debut this season and also his debut on the Fast and the Curious, which perhaps is a little
bit more important. It's more important. It's certainly the thing you'll be most excited
about, I would imagine. We're also going to be talking to Max Verstappen and Isaac Hajar,
and we're going straight to the top because we're going to be talking
to Ford's big boss, the big guy. The CEO of actual Ford. He runs it all.
Jim Farley is going to be joining us on the podcast.
So stick around for that, Christian. Should we get going? I think we should. Welcome back
to the Fast and the Curious.
If you're watching us on YouTube, you will notice that we have moved and we're now
stood beside some big old Mustangs, which are quite impressive. They're so impressive.
Big beast of cars. I really enjoy them. Christian said to me yesterday,
my favourite car is a car that looks like it could kill me.
Yes. I don't want a pretty looking sports car. I want an aggressive looking sports car that
looks angry. I don't think that's very healthy. Well, I don't think my obsession with this
sport is healthy and this, you know, cars at all. So we've made a podcast on it. So,
you know, don't don't criticize. We have. So we should probably crack on.
The 2026 season is fast approaching. Lights out in Melbourne. It's getting closer
and closer and it is very exciting because this season there are so many changes that we need to
get into and talk about. So before we bring you our driver interviews here in Detroit,
which, by the way, is minus 11 degrees. So cold and proper thick snow as well,
which some Australians who are here had never seen before. I enjoyed that.
Yeah. Honestly, I've never felt anything like it. It's like cold to your boat.
Yeah. It hurts your face. It hurts your lungs. Anyway, enough about us. Let's get into some
of these changes then because so much is happening, Christian. We mentioned earlier new rules,
new cars, but also this new technical partnership between Ford and Red Bull,
which is why we've come to the USA to talk about it. Yeah. So we've got plenty of questions in
and, guys, don't forget, if you've got any questions for us, get in touch at Fast Curious
Pod. Ask us anything, probably Formula One related, but if you do want to know about
Christians love life and do go ahead. So, Grace and Kirsten and many others have asked
how have Red Bull and Ford ended up in this new partnership? Well, Honda, for many years,
were the engine supplier to Red Bull. Honda announced they were leaving Formula One,
then Formula One announced that it was changing its engines for 2026, making them more battery
dependent, making them even greener with the turbo hybrid power units. Honda thought,
I quite like the sound of that, we'll stick around. But they'd already started the divorce
process from Red Bull. They agreed to stick around for a bit and basically Red Bull will
make our own engines under Red Bull powertrains and Honda were helping them to make their own engines.
Honda have now gone to an exclusive deal with Aston Martin and Ford have stepped in to basically
help Red Bull with their engines. They're not full on like a full on power supply yet,
who knows that might change in the future, but for years now, Ford have been in and around
Milton Keynes where Red Bull are based, helping them. They're bringing their decades of experience
in making engines and in making sports car engines and racing engines from all over the world
into Formula One. So it's a technical partnership where Red Bull are basically
having a big helping hand from Ford. So Amy and Maddie say have Ford been in Formula One before?
Yeah, they have. I mean, they have long history in Formula One from winning championships
with Lotus Ford with the great Graham Hill back into the 60s. That carried on all the way through
into the 90s when they won their last championship with the great Michael Schumacher when he was driving
for Benetton, as I say in the mid 90s. They carried on in Formula One longer than that where
engines supplied to the likes of Jordan, to Stewart. They owned the Jaguar team, but then
in 2005, they basically decided the economics don't work for us anymore. We're selling our
Formula One team and they sold the Jaguar team in the 2000s to Red Bull and it's all come full
circle as who knew then that two decades later, they'd be coming back into Formula One with the
team they sold a couple of decades ago. It's a nice story. It is a nice story. Now far too many
people have got in touch and they've said why did Ford leave in the first place? It's what I
touched upon there. The economics of it simply didn't work. Formula One has worked really
hard to basically not make the sport a money pit, particularly since the change of ownership
in Formula One when Liberty Media took over. They've really tried hard to make the teams profitable
and frankly, it means that teams aren't losing money hand over fist anymore plus and we're
going to talk about this a bit later with the boss. Ford want to be seen. Audi want to be seen.
Ferrari want to be seen. All the engine suppliers want to be seen in the pinnacle of motorsport
which Formula One is and crucially the technology needs to stay real world relevant.
Turbo Hybrid is the way road cars have gone and it's why the likes of Audi, Ford, Honda
have decided to stay in Formula One and in Ford's case come back to Formula One.
So before we talk about the drivers and show you the drivers chats that we have had,
we've got to talk about the Red Bull liveries, Christian. Everyone's losing their minds over
them. We've not seen them yet. By the time you're watching this, you'll probably seen
them. There are rumours that it will change. So we'll be bringing you reaction on this
at the end of the podcast because right now we're recording this in the afternoon.
We're waiting to see the shiny new liveries for the season. Everybody always has a Red Bull
going to change their livery. Let's find out. Are you excited? I'm very excited.
After a very quick break, we're going to be bringing you Arvid Lindblad, Max Verstappen
and Isaac Haja. That's not a bad lineup, is it? Not a bad lineup at all. See you shortly.
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Max, what's happened? Welcome back to the Fast and the Curious. How was your winter break?
What did you do? Yeah, it was pretty short. Everything started a bit more early, but
it was okay. Just spending time with family, really. That was the most important target,
and I think we had a good time. You've got a young family, so was it a restful break? Because
sometimes the early stages of having a young family are not that restful. We've been very
lucky with that. She's been really, really nice. Sleeps well. Easy baby so far.
What's the best non-F1 thing that you think you've done in the last few months? Give us an
insight into your hobbies. Well, say a few months, a few weeks. I mean, besides family-related
stuff, probably just driving back in the GT3 car. Driving? This is what I can't get my head
around, how F1 drivers drive their career, and then when they have some time off, you just get back
in a car again. Do you don't want a break? Yeah, but I'm already, of course, preparing for the
season and also for the GT stuff, so I need to be involved. I like to be involved. It just excites
me. It's different to F1, a different kind of feeling also while driving. It's a big
passion of mine. Sometimes when a Formula One driver is dominating, they can become
a bit of a Panto villain. I think you've had a bit of that in your career. You probably agree
with that assessment. But last year, when you're not dominating anymore and you're the chaser,
we felt on this podcast, didn't we? People loved you, Max. People loved seeing you in
this different role. I'm aware you'd have rather won the Formula One World Championship,
but did you feel the feeling changed last year when you were in this different role?
Yeah, but honestly, I've not changed as a person. You are in a different role naturally,
because you're not winning as many races as we did before. At the end of the day, for me,
it's more important, did I change? No, I didn't. That's the only thing that I can really say
about that. Did you feel like the fans loved for you more, though? Did you feel that change?
Yeah, but I guess when you're a bit of an underdog, probably that happens a bit naturally,
but of course, it's nice. Yeah, it's nice to have people cheering instead of booing or whatever.
Did you like being the underdog in a weird way? No, no.
But was it fun in some ways? Because as much as you'll have loved the winning days,
there are races where you're up front and you check out, and new racing drivers love to race,
and in a weird way, you do more racing. Was there any part of it that was a bit more
enjoyable sometimes? It was enjoyable. The second half more enjoyable than the first half,
but for me, 23 is still my favorite season. I wonder why. Yeah, well, I mean, it was not
boring to me because I was always challenging myself. Even that's always the thing people
say, like, yeah, you're in the lead and you check out, but I'm not checking out. I'm still
fully focused and there's a lot that comes into it to try and have these kind of results.
When you came on our podcast before, I reckon it probably was 2023. I asked you a question,
probably the worst question I've ever asked. I said, do you ever get bored of winning? And
obviously you were like, well, no. But do you want that sort of winning feeling back again? Have
you got like more hunger to win again? Well, you get bored of losing, that's for sure.
But you lose more in your career than you win. So that's also a fact.
Even for you? Statistically, I guess. Yeah, I mean, you lose more than you win.
So you have to deal with it. But of course, actually, yeah, we want to,
we want, that's the target when we are there to win. You know that you can't win everything,
but the target is always to win. Some things have changed this year in Formula One. A lot of
things have changed. The new cars, the new engines, we're here celebrating Ford's return
to F1. Your uniform seems a bit bluer this year. Yeah, you won't miss me.
Well, maybe, no, it is brighter. Maybe some Ford blue in there. That's one thing that's
changed. What can you achieve? What are you going into the season looking for exactly?
Yeah, I have no idea at the moment. I mean, we're still so early on where normally I only
started training around this time. So yeah, and I never really like to think about those
kind of things too much. Well, I'm always a bit of a guy that will see what happens when
I sit in the car. I trust the people around me. I mean, they trust me to do the job
in the car. I trust them to build the fastest car possible, an engine. And that's why I don't
really stress about it too much, because I cannot control that anyway, because yeah,
like I said, you know, they don't tell me how to drive the car and I don't tell them how to design
a car or an engine. But once we go to the track, I know that we will give it 100%
and try to optimize everything that we have. Do you get quite excited to sit in a new car
and sort of not know what it's going to do? First time out always. Yeah, but I think in general
and from the first time you go out, just again, the speed, you know, it's always like, okay,
we're back. It's quick. You must not get bored of the speed and the acceleration.
Do you think that'll change with the different cars? Do you think it'll feel
any different? Are you excited to find out how different it does feel?
Yeah, well, for sure it will be quite different to drive. Also the looks of the car in general,
right? The tyres even. So there's a lot to get on top of for sure. Is it interesting for you having
Ford in the mix? Yeah, for us in general, it's all, you know, we're all very excited to get it started
and see what we, you know, what we can do. And also see of course what the competitors are
going to be like. And then yeah, just go from there. They've got a new teammate. He stood
over there behind us as we speak, doing interviews with influencers. What's he like? What are
your early interactions with Isaac Hagger? Of course, he's been around the, you know,
the Red Bull group for a year now. But what's your relationship with him like?
Exactly. That's right. I mean, we know each other already now. Of course, he's then my teammate.
But I mean, that was already very natural before. And I'm sure that it will continue like that
as well. You know, we're all now just looking forward to actually get to drive the car and
work together because, you know, we have to work together to try and optimize the car
performance. Has he asked you for any advice or anything? It's the first time I saw him
after the break. So really? Yeah. Yeah. I mean, you like to switch off also a little bit from
F1 related stuff. I can imagine. If I was you, I'd be just putting my phone, lock it in a cupboard,
not speak to anyone. I need it for other things, though. Yeah. Child, for example. Yeah. Also
that, you know, you check the camera if she is sleeping well. Oh, do you have the little
catch? Do you have the little camera? Yeah. You've got to have the monitor, right? Yeah.
Yeah. Oh, it's what we have for the dogs. It is. Right, Max, we've been told we've got a wrap
because you've got a million more interviews to go to. So good luck with that. But thank you
so much for joining us and good luck with the season. Thank you very much. See you later.
See you later.
Arvid Lindblad, welcome to Formula One, but far more importantly, welcome to the Fast and
the Curious. We're a Formula One podcast that speaks to, we're privileged to say a
lot of the drivers, aren't we? You're fast, we're curious. So we want to get to know
you a little bit if that's okay. And a lot of drivers say they really enjoy it. So,
I mean, no pressure. Enjoy the podcast or enjoy being taught, enjoy the interviews.
The interviews. Okay. You've put us under a lot of pressure now.
I know. Well, that's the view. Exactly. I've got high expectations now.
You should have said that after the interview. Oh, God. I read a lot of our listeners and
viewers have only been watching Formula One, some for six months, some for a year,
some for a long, long time. But for those who are unaware of your rise to power,
have your rise to Formula One, tell us a little bit about you. What do we need to
know? What's your potted history? I don't know. I think so. I started racing.
I started with motocross when I was three. Did you? I didn't know that.
Yeah. My dad loved that. He raced motocross as a kid. Okay. You're now my dad's favorite
driver. Congratulations. I don't come from like a racing family, but on my paternal side,
there were always, there was quite a lot of passion towards motorsport. So, yeah,
I started with motocross when I was three. There's a bit too much for my mums that died
out quite quickly. But F1's fine. I think four wheels is a bit safer than two. It is.
Motocross, trust my dad, it messes your knees up and stuff. It's very, I think all the bikes
is quite bad, but I think motocross is even worse than motogp. And F1, yeah, it's fast,
but honestly, I think it's quite impressive, the safety at the moment. So, yeah, it's a
bit better. But yeah, I started karting when I was five. And then, yeah, I don't know. I went to,
I was racing in the UK, then went to Europe when I was 11, stepped up to cars in the end of 2022
in F4. And I've come through very quickly, almost just doing one year in each category.
So, yeah, it's, it's all happened quite fast. But yeah, I'm very, very excited to be here.
How did it feel today when you were putting on this kit and you were like, right, this is it.
I'm going to be racing in Formula One. Yeah, it's, yeah, I mean, today feels like the sort of
first day, first, yeah, moment as the Formula One journey as such. So, yeah, obviously, it was,
it was cool just to sort of have the kit in my wardrobe, putting it on. Obviously,
it was a special moment. But I think it will really sink in when we obviously drive the car
for the first time, do the first test, but especially in Melbourne. I think it will be
a special moment. Yeah. But from that really young age, everybody looks at Formula One.
Even if you're in other categories, everybody sort of looks at Formula One.
Talk us through the moment where you realised it was going to happen, that you were going to
be a Formula One driver. That must have been amazing. Yeah, I was, I was told in the week of
Qatar. And, yeah, I was with my dad when I was told. So obviously, that was a very special
moment with him. I've kind of been, it's something that we were doing together from
the beginning. So, yeah, obviously, to have him there when I, when I got the news was,
was very, it was nice. And then we called my mum basically immediately as well, who was at home,
just to tell her. And it obviously was a special moment for all of us. What were your parents'
reactions then? I think they were obviously quite happy, quite... Should have they were?
Yeah, I mean, it's, I don't know, I think they were very happy. Obviously, it's, it's,
it's not been easy on obviously the whole family. I mean, do this kind of thing,
it's, it's a bit of a sacrifice for everyone. So, I guess a feeling that it was,
I don't want to say worth it, but a little bit of that is something I've been working towards
for a long time. And it was all, my parents always knew that was my goal. So, yeah.
Last season, there were obviously quite a few rookies. There were loads of rookies,
weren't they? You're the only rookie this season. Do you feel a little bit like
lonely or left out? Like you're just doing it on your own?
Not really, no. It's not really something I think about because it's not really
something I can control. It's just the way it is. So, I mean, quite a lot of the rookies from last
year, I know of them because we were kind of in the same, they're a bit older, but you know,
we were in the paddock at the same time. But in the sense of being the only rookie,
it's not really something, it's just the way it is. We have a Formula One podcast,
so naturally we like to talk about Formula One. We sort of feel we have to at times,
certainly at least some of the time. We also like to, when we speak to drivers,
find out a bit about them outside of the track. You're not allowed to say driving,
because they always say this to the answers to this question. Always. It's like,
what do you like to do away from Formula One that isn't racing? I don't know,
are you a football fan? Do you like to go birdwatching anything? What's a good weekend
off the way for me? Yeah, birdwatching's not for me. I don't know how many, yeah,
yeah, I don't think that's very Gen Z, but I don't know. I don't know. I think I,
recently I've got a bit more into skateboarding. Oh, cool. Yeah, like fashion. Great answer.
Yeah, I don't know. It's a bit different, but yeah, I like to drive on the sim as well.
No, bad answer. I didn't say the word driving. Yeah, you know, Matt, you're doing full max for
step in here. I go on the sim, I drive different things. No, Max, something else. Okay. Yeah,
the skateboarding and sort of fashion, and there was one other thing as well I forgot.
No, you've given us plenty here. I really want to pick up on fashion. Does that mean we're
going to see fun things from you on the traditional Thursday walk in, where you only
walk about 100 steps from the paddock to the Red Bull motorhome, but you're in something
cool before you've changed into your team kit? Lewis Hamilton, you know, a purple sequin number,
for example. Are we going to see some cool things if you're into fashion on that little catwalk in?
From my side, not really, no, because I don't particularly like to blend the two. When I
come to the track, I'm there to drive. So I think I'll just be maybe not quite like Max,
but I think very much sort of team kit. We're in the polo, maybe a nice pair of jeans, but
quite simple. I think that's going to change though. No, it's just a couple years in. You're
going to be there like catwalk. You're going to be looking really cool. You're not going to be
wearing the team polo. That's for sure. I don't know, we'll see. But I'd say it's more
something that I like to do in my spare time when I'm at home. I like to wear nice stuff,
but I'm quite keen on the fact that when it comes to track, I try to be professional,
but we'll see. Maybe things will change. I don't know. And are you allowed to do skateboarding
considering a lot of people? Well, a lot of the drivers used to love a bike ride,
and then a couple of them fell off and got injured. And I've interviewed drivers that have
been like, oh yeah, well, so and so fell off and they stopped us. Are they okay with
you still skateboarding? And that sort of thing. Maybe I shouldn't have said anything.
I should have kept that quiet. Maybe I'm going to get stopped now. I don't know.
Yeah, I don't ride a skateboard. I just watch. Thank you. Yeah. You listening everybody? Yeah.
Just watches skateboarding doesn't ride. Are you good at it though? Before? Not really.
No, I haven't been doing it for long. So I'm not very good, but I don't ride what you're
talking about. Oh yeah, I don't know. Sorry, sorry. Doesn't skate, just watches. What's
the thing that you're seeing me in the SLS crowd at some point? What's the thing that
you're most excited about for this season? I mean, I think obviously just
driving in the fastest cars against the best drivers is, you know,
being a Formula One driver in itself is cool. And then, I don't know, I think
something that I really enjoy about racing, obviously driving the car on the limit and
stuff, but something I really like is sort of the constant search for more performance,
looking in all the details how that you can find more. And there already is more of that in F1
than there is in the Junior Series, but I think this year in 26 because of the new car, new power
unit is going to be even more so of that. So I think it's going to be really exciting working
with the team to constantly pushing to find more performance. Just before we let you go,
I appreciate there's nerves of being a Formula One driver, but are you nervous about having
to do the now legendary RB social media stuff, which Isaac absolutely smashed. And it was just
it's one of my favourite things about Formula One nowadays. How are you feeling about diving into
this? Your favourite thing about Formula One is the V-Cublet sink. Yes, come to try, happy with
that. There you go. You should tell the social team, they'll be very happy. Oh, I don't know,
it's not really something I think about because for me, I've grown up, I guess I'm lucky in
the sense that I've grown up seeing the sport with the social media and general media being a
big part of it as all sport is now. So I always saw the sport that way. So for me, it was always a
part of the job. So yeah, there's some bits I don't enjoy, but it is what it is and it's part
of the job. Well, you've smashed this. So thank you very much. This has been great, this has
been brilliant. And you managed to avoid saying, I drive cars in my spare time. You actually
gave us fun things. So great, you smashed it. We'd love to have you back on if you'd be up for it
in the future. Oh, thank you very much for having me. Can't wait to watch you out there. That first
race in Melbourne, amazing. Yeah, we'll be buzzing. Good luck for the start of the season and good
luck with the inevitable X Factor 2011 lip-sync social media video that you've inevitably put
into at some point. I think yeah, I think the X Factor bit's done though. I think we've done
that enough times. There'll be a new one. But yeah, we'll see. But thank you very much
for having me. Thanks for that. Go out. Thank you. Good luck. See you. Isaac Hadge,
welcome back to the Fast and the Curious. It's lovely to see you. Lovely to be here. Thanks
for having me. It's the first time we've been on the podcast in person. And I don't know, I never
know how aware you drivers are of when you have like a social media moment. Like a viral moment.
I remember exactly. Go on. Tell us what do you remember? I have horrible Wi-Fi at that time.
Yes, yes. And I had a yogurt. You see, I remember this one. I didn't think you'd
remember. I actually, you know what? I kind of forgot about it and I saw it on my feed.
Like the interview itself on my feed. So that's how I remember it. It's always,
yeah. Yes, it fascinates us that the things that people, we spoke about all sorts of things
and people loved that you were so chill that you were enjoying your yogurt.
It was great. There you were. It was a good yogurt. Have you had any more good yogurt since?
I think it was Baku. Was it? Is it Baku? I can't remember.
Christian just asked you if you've had any more good yoghurt since.
Not that good. I don't think. This one was memorable. Oh, sorry.
Oh, so I'm just telling, I'm just, for those watching on the issue,
trying to gently tell us to talk into the mic. Apologies for live production.
He's a carry on. No, not as good.
What's the best food that you've eaten in your first season on Formula One?
Is there a track where they serve you great food? Yuki, I think he's, he had this departure
dinner. He invited us in Suzuka. So like V-Carbon and him. Yeah.
So he invited us over like a very good Wagyu. So yeah, he was a great move from him.
Excellent. That sounds absolutely amazing. Yeah.
And did Yuki pay for it? Yeah, of course.
He paid for it as well. Oh, he's a nice man. He's a lovely guy.
What a nice thing to do. Speaking of which, new team this season,
new colors, not just because Red Bull have changed their kit into the fancy forward style blue.
How are you feeling about this move to Red Bull Racing then? I mean,
it must be a must have been a nice phone call to get.
Yeah, it's, there's worst phone calls. I can tell you that.
There's harder calls than that. So yeah, it was great and no, I'm super excited.
It's going to be a big, big change and I'm happy to make the switch.
How, how did the phone call go? Tell us about it. Who, who exactly called you?
Did you know what they were going to say? It was not really a phone call. It was
physical. I wasn't. I saw Helmut, you know, he said, we spoke and he
told me like he was saying hi, you know, so. He was saying hi.
Yeah. So it was good news, but I kind of anticipated it at the time.
He said it, but, but yeah, still it felt like a relief.
We've, we've obviously had the winter break. We've had a short winter break,
but have you had any time to reflect on that first season because like surely you must have had
time to sit back and go, yeah, that went well because you reached the pinnacle and then
not everybody thrives at F1, but you know, you did.
Yeah, it's, it's hard to take a step back to be honest. I kind of just like fully
disconnected for like not even a month, but I kept watching a bit like what I've been doing
through the 25 season, like all the replays and stuff to see what I could have done better.
So yeah, I kept an eye on it. I was mostly looking at the things that didn't go well
and trying not to repeat the same mistakes. Are you proud of yourself though?
Proud? No, I don't think of... Oh, come on!
No, I'm not proud. I'm not like, I'm proud of myself. You know, it's not a feeling I...
Yeah, but fine. You can sit there and be a professional sportsman and go over the
things that went wrong, fine, but now you're, you're among friends. You're on a relaxed podcast.
It's a good opportunity to... I'd be proud when I retire and...
You could be proud before then. You've got time before then.
You've got a long time before you retire, I think.
What do you really want to achieve then? You've had your first season.
You're now racing with Red Bull. What's the next thing for you?
I win. Win races, like going on a race weekend and knowing that I'd been
ballparked to be winning that race. That's what every driver on the grid wants.
And for that you need a lot of things to align.
Think it could happen this year?
It can be... Yeah, of course. If there's a season, we can win. It's this year because...
And no one has a clue about the performance of their cars, so relative to the other teams,
but also it can be a very tough one.
Does that almost scare you in a way, that you're going into a season where you just
don't really have any clue? Yeah, it's obviously not nice.
That you head into the season and obviously the car is what it's going to be, right?
It's nothing like, as a driver, I can do to make it better, but I can make it better through the season,
guiding the team in the right direction, hopefully, with Max.
So it's the first time for me, I'm going to be in the heart of such a big project.
Is it a good time to go into Red Bull because we all know
people have struggled in the second seat at Red Bull in the last few years.
You know, it's been tricky for people, but you're going in when it's new for everyone.
Yeah. Do you think that helps?
Massively. That's why I consider myself very lucky to get the move done now,
because the other car is going to be what it is, and I'm used to change teams every year.
In my career in general, I've never sticked to the same car to season in a row, even
when I stick to the same championship, the car changed. So every year for me, I know
it's in my approach, it's resetting expectations and driving the best I can, the car I'm given.
Are you excited about driving alongside Max for Stappen? Have you got questions you want to
ask him? What's your relationship like again? Yeah, it's a very inexperienced against a very
experienced driver. So we see there's a lot to ask him. I'm going to make sure I make the most of
his skills to learn, and yeah, very privileged. Is it in any way scary or daunting? Because
one thing I loved about you last year is that you just looked like you were having fun.
I remember interviewing you after a practice session, and you came out, that was great,
and it was like, it's free practice too, but you still look like you were loving it,
you know, which is great. Do you just focus on that, or are there any moments where you're
like, oh, you know, I've got Max as my teammate, that is daunting. How do you balance that?
Yeah, I mean, I've never had a teammate like Max before.
And you never will again? Yeah, exactly. So it's a question, even I can't really answer.
Of course, it's a scary in a way because you're like, I'm finally going to see what's
the best in the world feels like. So to compare myself against the best at such a young age,
it's definitely a challenge, but it's what I've been looking for my whole career since
I started Go-Kart. So yeah, it's a bit scary, but it's also so exciting.
We've got to let you go, but just quickly, what's one question you want to ask Max,
maybe like a little bit of a rogue question? Is there anything?
Put you on the spot. It's the first random thing that comes to your head.
How to navigate the roundabout system in Milton Keynes, perhaps?
No, I'm pretty good at this one. Okay, that's good.
Actually, I don't know. If I can hop in his jet.
If I can hop in his jet.
Okay, right. Next time you come on the podcast, forget yogurt.
We're going to check in to see whether you've got a ride on the jet.
Forget the on track stuff. That's the barometer of success this season.
That's what we'll go with.
The question, when are you going to ask that? How do you ask that?
Come back to Nice with you.
Something like, let's see, let's see if our schedule matches.
Yeah, I'll give him a call.
You know, I could hop in a ride, you know, I might. It would work, you know.
Yeah, we'll travel together.
Practically.
Fingers crossed for you.
Thank you.
And these are, honestly, your rise last season was one of the joys of F1 2025.
It was great to watch.
So we honestly wish you all the best in this Red Bull Second Sea.
And I hope you continue to have as much fun as you did last year.
It was so fun to watch last year.
So keep on entertaining as we loved it last year.
Thank you guys.
Thank you so much. Have fun tonight.
I will.
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Hello, everybody. Welcome back to the Fast and the Curious.
Now, if you're watching on YouTube, you will notice that we are now in a shiny studio, aren't we, Christian?
It's beautiful. It's absolutely fantastic. We might steal it and take it home.
Yeah, why not? I think we should actually.
Can we pack this down and put it in our suitcase? It's fantastic.
It's quite cool. We've got all the Ford racing signs behind us.
It all looks very professional.
But it is because we are joined by a big dog, aren't we, Christian?
That is only one way. That's the only way to put it.
It's the only way to put it.
Jim Farley, welcome to the Fast and the Curious.
Love being on your show. Love listening to it.
CEO of Ford. That's a job and a half, isn't it?
I'm fascinated by this. You see the brand Ford.
He can't really leave your house anywhere in the world without seeing the iconic logo.
You've run that. I'm sort of obsessed with this.
What's it like being in charge of this mega organization?
My grandfather is an hourly worker for Ford.
He lied about his age and started 13. He was the 389th employee of the company.
Wow.
My mom went to university because of his job.
So I kind of think of it as like paying it backwards to my grandfather, who was an orphan.
I kind of think of my job as to make all the factory workers really busy.
You must be entering a new really exciting era because Ford's entering a new era with Red Bull.
Talk to us about this. Why Red Bull?
Because this is probably a bit of a surprise to people, but we just made this decision four
and a half years ago before Max was world champion.
So we picked Red Bull because it was an irreverent formula one team with Adrian
as the chief designer. Max is this young kind of non-formula one champion.
It was an irreverent team that fit in a reverent American unapologetic company.
We had been formula one with Jaguar and all these posh brands, but you know, I thought it would be
I really liked Red Bull because they were just themselves and they were not part of the formula
one establishment. They were the challengers and they were totally different and we wanted to go
racing, not to own a team, but to join them as an irreverent group and I thought,
you know, we're an American, we're a English and American, we're local in a lot of places,
but we're an enthusiast brand. People love the STs and the RSs and the Kazis and the
Sierras and hear the Mustangs and the Broncos and in Australia it's the Ranger Raptors
and I want to rediscover that magic of being our own company, not serving the middle of the market,
but having an enthusiast part of our company and I thought Red Bull was the right kind of flavor
of the paddock, kind of the part of the paddock that was different.
Yeah, I wouldn't disagree with that. I was reading an article and I saw that
your first meeting with Red Bull, you rocked up and you were wearing a Sergio Perez cap.
I was. Is that true? That's true. So you're a big fan of Sergio Perez or was that your
just your way of like, this is how I'm going to get into Red Bull?
I think it was my way of saying what we like about this team is kind of the unexpected part
and then the last four years the opposite happened. They became big and successful world champion
in the establishment and yes they had won a lot of races before but they and then there was controversy
and now we've emerged kind of like almost like a teenage or something. We've merged into
another era of Red Bull with Laurent and Max and the 26 regs and McLaren re-emerging
as a top team you know we're now in a totally different reality. I guess what I'm saying is
the logic we used and why Red Bull was attractive it kind of changed. They changed and we changed
as a company and still it makes sense. For those of our listeners and viewers who've been following
Formula One since I have since the 90s it sort of fits because you were part of the Jordan
team as well who had that exact. I have a great story about that. I have a great story that
people wouldn't know so I remember when I joined the company a couple people said we're never going
to go back into Formula One. In fact we had one chief executive we had the Jaguar model of the
Jag car in his office and said this reminds me to never go into Formula One again because we
lost so much money and so I was you know I was listening the board talk about it one of
the board members goes yeah I remember this day when we went over the annual compensation
for the top people and there was this Eddie Irvine guy who made more than the CEO Ford and no one
knew who the hell he was. That made me laugh because that just shows a lot about how different
Formula One is. Yeah so Eddie drove Eddie was a Formula One driver in the 90s and Jordan
they were that sort of rock and roll team they were the Red Bulls they were the underdogs
a bit like Red Bull now and we've had so many questions from our listeners one of which was
from Kerry sort of on this it seems a good time to ask Kerry's question of why do Ford want to come
back into Formula One now why is it different from that situation you were describing before just
then. It is different because I think you know we hopefully we're smarter and and we don't want
to own a team. Look the reality is from from a car CEO this Formula One is the ultimate in
tech and a few things that our industry is changing and I can transfer that tech from Formula
One back to my company so for a transit van in the UK I can use the Formula One logic of how
they use software and and AI to predict a component failure during a race I can use the same thing
to predict when a tire is going to go flat on a transit so it is not off the road for a
commercial customer. So it's going to help you as much as you're going to help. Yes but it's software
it's not combustion it's not the engine it's interesting that we're developing a PU but actually
the technology transferred back to the company is not the PU it's battery tech high discharge
batteries you know for 50% electric and the 26 regs high discharge batteries become really
important as a competitive advantage we're developing you know hybrid systems for high
performance vehicles we haven't shown those yet to people but we're going to have a lot of really
cool hybrids that will require that kind of technology we we've got a wrap really quickly
but I am keen to ask we've got a lot of questions in saying how are you how do you feel it's going
to go from the off do you think that you're going to hit the ground running or is it going to
be it's going to take a bit of time to sort of the truth is absolutely the second the
truth is that Mercedes and Ferrari have had decades of we're running a PU a hybrid PU
and Red Bull and Ford this is a mountain of climb as Laurent would say so I'm very humbled by this
moment but that's exactly why we did it we did it because in a company like Ford if you want to
if you want to be a great company compete against the Chinese we have to take on projects that
almost seem impossible this is almost an impossible kind of project our engineers have been there and
Milton Keynes for four years we have done everything we can but it's not just getting
peak power we got to have drivability we have to have reliability as well with that PU and this
is one of the hardest projects I've seen in my career and I think we need to stay very realistic
about what the next now I'm very proud that the team isn't you know like our competitor
down the street having a Ferrari engine uh you know I I like the fact that he could possibly be
referring to Jeff I like that we're fact that we're doing it ourselves we're taking on this
but but that doesn't mean that we're going to be successful this is a very humble moment
and like Laurent said we've never done this before in Formula One is the peak so I'm not
saying that we don't expect to win we have max for stopping right and he's not bad yeah so
he's alright isn't he yeah so he's a handy person to have in the arsenal yeah sure so so we don't
want to disappoint max especially this year no one ever does I don't like disappointing max right so
but on the other hand we need to be realistic uh we have we have upgrades every every race it's
going to be a really big engineer I'm excited oh very exciting Jim listen it's been so great
to get you on the Fast and the Key of East we know you present a podcast yourself so we
appreciate you coming on and sharing your expertise with us we appreciate it and it's great
to see forward back in Formula One you guys oh we love it it's nice and and to be here in Detroit
on a snowy day it's like everything's right in the world right this the season's right around the
corner we got you know the end of the season was so freaking exciting yeah um and wasn't it
almost like a heart attack yeah that's what we love though that's why we love this sport
endings like that exactly I love I love what you guys do I'm really glad I'm very proud
of the last four years um but we're you know this is going to be a really exciting but difficult
period of time but I am I have to tell you I cannot wait to see Bill Ford and the Ford family
on the podium thank you very much to Jim Farley CEO of Ford for joining us on the Fast and the
Key of East and of course to our three drivers Isaac Hadger Max Verstappen and Arvid Limblad
that was a lot of fun wasn't it it was and every time we talk about Arvid Limblad I'm just going
to think of pigeons and bird watching even though he doesn't like it it doesn't like it I don't know
where that came from um now you'll have noticed that it's got an awful lot louder here in
Detroit because we've now got to the end of the night we've seen the new red bull livery it's
just been unveiled to the crowd here Betty what did you think well it's been a it's been a bit of
suspense doesn't it building up we've been here all day everyone's been talking about it what's
the livery gonna look like they whip the curtain thingy off it and um it looks lovely it looks
it looks very similar all the the DJs just really ramped it up in here I can't even hear myself
think it looks it looks quite similar to last season doesn't it with a little bit of white
you pointed out and I quite like that yes I quite like that I enjoy the white round the red bull
that's a bit of a throwback to yesteryear other than that you know red bull have kept it fairly
similar which they tend to do wow it's got loud in here if it ain't broke don't fix it and I think
that's what they're but the Ford logo does look really nice looks lovely looks lovely
so excuse it we're trying they've just turned the volume so high and wow the one
if you can't answer this if you can hear me yeah the one thing I do when I ask you is we've been
sort of talking about it all day but the swearing in this song apologies for family audience they've
just started pumping swear words out really loudly carry on we'll do four more one shot the one thing
I do want to ask you is what can we expect from red bull this coming season do we think they're
going to be good like what what do you know it's far too early to tell on the chassis I think
one thing that's been really interesting is how sort of blatant if you like Ford have been
today by saying look it is going to take us a little bit of time to get this engine up to speed
we're competing against people like Mercedes and Ferrari have been doing this a while I think that
tells you something maybe expect the newer engine suppliers the Audi and Ford to be lagging a little
bit behind early doors but chassis wise it's too early to tell that's all I've got in me I think
F1 analysis wise to be fair I didn't hear a word you said but I hope you guys enjoyed it
it was great right we're going to be back soon with more episodes of the fast and the curious
gold we're also going to be back soon if we're not cancelled by the language this song we're
going to be back soon with more build up to the 2026 season we'd like to thank
Ford and Red Bull for having us here in Detroit it has been great it has been good it's been amazing
we've had a lot of fun but we've lost the use of our ears and for that reason we're now going to go
we need to leave guys thank you so much for listening and watching remember to subscribe
navigate your podcast let us know if you've got any questions we hope you've enjoyed this episode
as much as we've enjoyed baking it we're going to go bye
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About this episode
Excitement fills the air as the Fast and the Curious team covers the Red Bull Ford launch in Detroit, marking Ford's return to Formula One. Hosts Betty Glover and Christian Hugill discuss the significance of this partnership, especially following Honda's exit. They highlight the new technical collaboration with Red Bull and the upcoming changes for the 2026 season. Listeners can look forward to interviews with key figures, including drivers Max Verstappen and Arvid Lindblad, and Ford CEO Jim Farley, providing insights into the future of the sport and the new era for Ford.
Betty and Christian are in Detroit at the launch of Red Bull, Racing Bulls and Ford's 2026 season - and what a lineup! Max Verstapen tells them whether he felt the love from the fans in 2025. There's a pod debut for Arvid Lindblad who tells us his hobby before quickly realising he probably shouldn't! And Isack tells us the one question he's itching to ask Max. Plus the big boss of Ford explains to us why they're coming back to F1 - and can't wait to start beef with Cadillac!
We'll be back soon with more buildup to the 2026 season. And we've still got plenty more of our best bits to keep you busy until cars are back on track, with more Fast and Curious GOLD coming soon!