F1 Beyond The Grid
Formula 1
Updated 1 day agoThe risk-takers, late-brakers and history-makers of Formula 1 slow down for in-depth interviews. Tom Clarkson brings you revealing, feature-length conversations with drivers, team bosses, engineering experts and F1 legends. Hit the follow button for the fastest way to get new episodes. Watch episodes exclusively on the F1 YouTube channel. An official Formula 1 podcast. For race reviews + previews, listen to F1 Nation. To learn more about how F1 works, listen to F1 Explains
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Episodes (436)
Alan Jones: “I was a pretty aggressive driver. If someone passed me I took it personally…”
He’s renowned as one of racing’s toughest nuts – a driver who gave his all on the race track and didn’t suffer fools off it. And this week on F1’s official podcast, Beyond The Grid, supported by Bose, 1980 World Champion Alan Jones regales host Tom Clarkson with no-nonsense tales from his extraordinary career. Having arrived in Europe from his native Australia in the early 70s, Jones worked his way into F1 before becoming a Grand Prix winner with Shadow in 1977. But it’s with Williams that AJ is inextricably linked, winning 11 world championship races for the squad, as well as their first drivers’ crown. Forthright and brutally honest, get ready for a no-holds-barred account of Jones’ career and rivals, including his flirtations with Ferrari, falling out with team mate Carlos Reutemann and his regretted early retirement. No punches are pulled! (Contains explicit content)
Sergio Perez: “There are no coincidences in F1. There’s a reason why I’m always there when there’s an opportunity to take…”
He’s known as a driver who makes the most of every opportunity – in the thick of the midfield battle, give Sergio Perez a sniff of a podium and the Mexican will normally take it. This week on Beyond The Grid, supported by Bose, ‘Checo’ tells host Tom Clarkson about where that desire and racing ability came from, taking us on a journey from his childhood in Guadalajara to his formative years in Europe, when he journeyed across the world on his own at 15 with little more than a dream to reach F1. In a revealing conversation, Perez also describes why his big move to McLaren turned sour, outlines his role in Force India’s dramatic rebirth as Racing Point, discusses his unique strengths as a driver, and reveals just why he has a steadily growing collection of watches…
1000th race special with Murray Walker - ‘The Voice of F1’
He's been called ‘The Voice of F1’ - and for good reason. For more than 25 years, Murray Walker provided commentary on Grand Prix racing for the majority of the English-speaking world - and always in his own inimitable style. This week on a special 1000th race edition of Beyond The Grid, supported by Bose, host Tom Clarkson speaks to the legendary British broadcaster, a man whose exhilarating, excitable style behind the microphone was once memorably summed up by Australian wit Clive James as akin to someone whose "trousers are on fire".But there was much more to Murray Walker's super-charged F1 delivery than an iconic voice - he also had authority, wit and incredible knowledge. So get ready for stories on sharing the commentary booth with James Hunt and Martin Brundle, forging relationships with Nigel Mansell and Damon Hill, dealing with the tragedies of Imola ’94, and his favourite drivers and races from F1's first 1000 races...
Guenther Steiner: "F1 fans like an underdog to fight with the big boys"
He's the colourful Team Principal of the American Haas team, and thanks to an unforgettable appearance in the recent Netflix documentary series Formula 1: Drive To Survive, Guenther Steiner has also become something of a fan favourite. This week on Beyond The Grid, supported by Bose, the Italian joins host Tom Clarkson for a lively conversation about his fascinating career to date, from his early years in rallying to his time at Jaguar, and from his stint in F1 with Red Bull to the foray into NASCAR that eventually led to him spearheading the Haas F1 project. So standby for stories on being hired by Niki Lauda, working with Carlos Sainz's dad and - yes - that Netflix appearance...
Luca Di Montezemolo: "Ferrari is passion, Ferrari is emotion, I thank God I worked for them"
He was handed arguably the biggest job in motor racing in his mid-twenties, when none other than Enzo Ferrari made him Sporting Director of his famous team. But rather than falter under such pressure, Luca Di Montezemolo flourished. In the Seventies, as the 'Old Man's' trusted man on the ground at races, he led the team to their first world titles in over a decade. Then in the Nineties, after several years away, he returned as President to lead Ferrari out of the doldrums and into the most successful period of their history. So sit back as Luca shares with Tom startling revelations about Enzo Ferrari, incredible anecdotes about Niki Lauda, Michael Schumacher and Ayrton Senna, and his forthright views on the last two superstars he signed for Ferrari: Alonso and Vettel.
David Coulthard: “I loved being an F1 driver - but I don’t miss the mental anguish”
David Coulthard arrived in F1 amid one of its most turbulent periods, getting his big break at Williams in 1994 after the tragic death of superstar driver Ayrton Senna. He’d go on to race in 246 Grands Prix, winning 13 of them, including two victories each at classic venues Monaco and Silverstone. But amid the champagne celebrations there were bumpy periods too – moments of self-doubt and big crashes, both on and off the race track. In this week’s Beyond The Grid, DC joins TC for an honest and open appraisal of his remarkable F1 career, including his career-defining years at McLaren battling Schumacher and Hakkinen, the special diet he adopted to compete with the best, and why being super organised is the key to success…
Kimi Raikkonen: “Racing and partying – for me it was normal“
He exploded onto the F1 scene in 2001 as a 21-year-old super rookie – barely any experience, but tons of raw speed. In the years that followed, Kimi Raikkonen became an F1 icon, winning 21 races for McLaren and Ferrari and the 2007 world championship crown before taking a sabbatical where he raced almost everything else with four wheels. Grand Prix racing’s resident Iceman remains the same unflinchingly no-nonsense character that fans have come to love. And whilst he’s famous as a man of few words, the Iceman was on great form as he chatted to host Tom Clarkson about everything from family life to partying to what it feels like to drive at 200mph...
Beyond The Grid Is Back..
Beyond The Grid is back Wednesday 13th March. Make sure you subscribe now so you don't miss out on Tom Clarkson in conversation with 'The Iceman' himself: the one and only Kimi Raikkonen.
Sabine Kehm on working with Michael Schumacher as his PR and manager
On January 3rd 2019, Michael Schumacher – statistically the most successful F1 driver of all-time – turned 50. To commemorate the occasion, last week Tom brought you a special conversation with Ross Brawn - the man who helped guide Schumacher to all but three of his 91 Grand Prix victories. This week, for our second and final special episode, Tom is back with an equally revealing chat with Sabine Kehm - one of the few people to have witnessed the public and private sides of Michael Schumacher, having worked with him first as a journalist, then as his PR and, more recently, as his manager. So get ready to peak behind the curtain and learn more about the other side of Grand Prix racing's greatest ever talent...
Ross Brawn on Michael Schumacher – the driver, the leader, the man
On January 3rd 2019, Michael Schumacher – statistically the most successful F1 driver of all-time – turns 50. To commemorate the occasion, Beyond The Grid is back with two special conversations with two people who know the great man better than most. Our first guest worked with Schumacher for all but three of his record 91 Grand Prix victories, and helped steer him to amazing seven world titles with Benetton and Ferrari: current F1 motorsport chief Ross Brawn. So sit back and enjoy as Ross discusses his enduring friendship with the driver many regard as the greatest ever, and regales host Tom Clarkson with anecdotes and stories from their lengthy and incredibly successful working relationship.
End Of Year Special: The Best Of 2018
This week marks the season finale of Beyond The Grid - but don't worry, we'll be back before you know it in 2019 with more conversations with the great and the good of Grand Prix racing (and much more besides). But before the chequered flag flies, there's just enough time for Tom to pick out some of his top moments of 2018. So stand by for a few laughs, a few tears and a few eye-opening revelations...
Otmar Szafnauer: “When Force India went into administration, my role was to keep the team together”
Though he's been in F1 a long time, you may not have been overly familiar with Otmar Szafnauer before this year. As COO of Force India, the American played a key role in turning them into one of the best pound for pound teams on the grid. But when driver Sergio Perez pulled the trigger and sent the Silverstone squad into administration in mid-2018, Szafnauer found himself on a course that ultimately led to him becoming Team Principal of a new entity: Racing Point. On this week’s episode of Beyond The Grid, presented by Bose, Szafnauer talks Tom through his ‘most stressful’ of seasons, discusses the potential impact of fresh funding into the team, his hopes for 2019, and his fascinating background in the sport…
Juan Pablo Montoya: “I was different – I guess that’s why I wasn’t in F1 long. I didn’t fit in”
He streaked into F1 in 2001; a spectacular no-holds-barred racer unafraid to go wheel-to-wheel with the biggest names in the sport. But though he made a big splash, winning seven races, including the Monaco Grand Prix, Juan Pablo Montoya’s Formula 1 career lasted just five-and-a-half seasons before he suddenly said goodbye to Grand Prix racing for good.On this week’s episode of Beyond The Grid, presented by Bose, JPM tells Tom about his short but sweet time in the top flight of racing, including his journey into F1 with Williams, his thoughts about being team mate to one Schumacher brother and chief rival to the other, why his relationship with McLaren turned sour, and just what it was like to drive the V10 cars of the day…*We experienced some issues with interference during the recording of this week's episode in Abu Dhabi. We've made some adjustments and hope you still enjoy the show!
Rob Smedley: “I cried for about an hour after Massa lost the 2008 title – it was so intense…”
This week, for the first time on Beyond The Grid, presented by Bose, we’re not speaking to a driver or a team boss, but to an engineer – and someone who’s been directly involved of some of the biggest moments in F1 in the past 20 years. Rob Smedley is probably best known to most fans as Felipe Massa’s long-standing Race Engineer, and in that role he experienced the full gamut of emotions, from the elation of race wins to the heartbreak of a narrow title loss, and the horror of seeing ‘his’ driver severely injured. We also talk to him about working for Ferrari, issuing controversial team orders, his impending departure from Williams, and why Michael Schumacher – a man he worked so closely with – was much more than a driver…
Emerson Fittipaldi: When you left the pits you had to give yourself to the sport. You couldn't think what might happen...
He's the granddaddy of Brazilian motorsport; a true trailblazer who, having become F1's youngest ever world champion in 1972, inspired a generation of exceptional talent in his homeland, including Nelson Piquet and Ayrton Senna. Emerson Fittipaldi saw it all in his Grand Prix career, from the highs of winning two world titles, 14 races, and two Indy 500s, to the lows of seeing multiple colleagues killed and his family-run team fold. On this week's episode of Beyond The Grid, presented by Bose, the great man looks back on it all, providing fascinating insight into one of F1's classic eras, and giving the inside line on the time he let Senna test his IndyCar...
Carlos Sainz: "Racing is in my blood - my father taught me a champion's mentality"
F1 has seen its fair share of second generation racers, but Carlos Sainz doesn't quite fit the mould. The natural script would have been for him to follow his famous father and namesake into rallying, but while Carlos Sainz Sr became a double world champion on the dirt, his son set his sights on F1 after being inspired by countryman Fernando Alonso. In this week's Beyond The Grid, presented by Bose, Sainz speaks about his father's influence on his career, regaling Tom with some great anecdotes that show their competitive relationship. The Renault driver also discusses his impending move to McLaren and why he's ready to be a team leader, his much debated relationship with one-time team mate Max Verstappen and much, much more...
Claire Williams: “I had no aspirations to run an F1 team - it was never in my destiny”
To say Claire Williams has racing in her blood would be an understatement. But despite being born into and raised around one of F1’s most successful teams, it’s fair to say she never expected to one day find herself taking the reins of her family squad. On this week’s episode of Beyond The Grid, presented by Bose, the daughter of legendary team boss Sir Frank Williams spills the beans on how she came to take the position of Deputy Team Principal (including the crucial role played by Toto Wolff!), provides fascinating insight into how she twins running a team with motherhood, recounts epic tales of growing up in a racing family, and lifts the lid on the driver who once lost a potential drive with the team for being too tidy!
Jackie Stewart: “I removed emotion completely when I drove racing cars – I had to…”
He’s regarded as one of the very best drivers of all-time; a man who, when he walked away from F1, had amassed three world championship titles and a then-record 27 Grand Prix victories. But that he was able to walk away at all was something of a success in itself, for so many of his friend and rivals were not so fortunate in an era when death lurked around every corner. This week’s guest on Beyond The Grid, presented by Bose, is that icon of late Sixties and early Seventies F1 racing: Sir Jackie Stewart. Now 79, the proud Scot is still firing on all cylinders, so get ready for stories of flat-sharing with fellow champ Jim Clark, his view on what made him so successful, the perils and mind-set of racing in F1’s ‘killer years’, and why he eventually founded a Grand Prix-winning F1 team of his own…
Nico Rosberg: “I don’t miss the driving, but I miss the winning…”
He’s the only man in the last nine years other than Lewis Hamilton or Sebastian Vettel to win a world title. But what makes Nico Rosberg’s story so compelling is what happened immediately after his crowning glory when, seemingly at the peak of his powers, he walked away from F1. On this week’s episode of Beyond The Grid, presented by Bose, the German talks in depth about his career, including what it took to beat childhood friend and rival Hamilton to the 2016 title, how it felt it emulate father Keke’s achievement, whether he’s had any regrets about early retirement, and how his life has changed since hanging up his helmet.
Charles Leclerc: “People say the pressure in Ferrari will be on another level - but mental strength is my biggest quality”
It takes a special kind of driver to get the call to race for Ferrari with less than a season of Grand Prix racing under your belt - especially when the man you’re set to replace is a world champion. Charles Leclerc is that driver. The young man from Monaco has shown flashes of brilliance this year while racing for Sauber, but it’s not just his skills behind the wheel that set him apart - it’s his mental fortitude too. On this week’s episode of Beyond The Grid, presented by Bose, Leclerc explains to Tom how his racing persona was toughened by personal tragedy, including losing his father midway through his title-winning F2 campaign in 2017 and the passing of godfather Jules Bianchi in 2015. He also discusses his thoughts on his impending move to F1’s most historic team, shares anecdotes of growing up around F1 drivers in Monaco and much, much more…
Johnny Herbert: “I always felt I could beat anyone, anytime, in any car. But after my accident, I never had those feelings again…”
He’s one of racing’s toughest nuts – a man who refused to let potentially life-changing injuries stand in the way of his dream of racing in Formula 1. This week on Beyond The Grid, presented by Bose, we’re joined by Johnny Herbert, a man for whom the phrase ‘triumph over adversity’ seems tailor made. Once the bright young hope of British Motorsport, Herbert’s career came to an abrupt halt when he suffered horrific damage to his feet in an F3000 crash. But he refused to give in, battling his way onto the F1 grid less than a year later with truly remarkable results. In an enthralling discussion, Johnny explains how the accident changed his life and career, discusses his hat-trick of Grand Prix wins and describes life as Michael Schumacher’s team mate.
Pierre Gasly: “The Red Bull programme tests you every day to see how strong you are. Once you get it, you know how to handle things…”
Daniel Ricciardo’s shock decision to quit Red Bull for Renault in 2019 sent shockwaves through the F1 world – but for rising star Pierre Gasly, it handed him the biggest opportunity of his career so far. After a season and a bit of dazzling drives with Toro Rosso, the young Frenchman was promoted to Red Bull as team mate to none other than Max Verstappen. On this episode of Beyond The Grid, presented by Bose, the 22-year-old tells Tom the inside line of how the move came about, discusses how a season of racing in Japan changed him, gives a fascinating insight into his relationships with other drivers on the grid, including ‘idol’ Sebastian Vettel, and much more besides…
Alain Prost: “You can’t talk about my rivalry with Senna without understanding what happened after I retired…”
The word legend is often bandied about in sports, but this week’s guest on Beyond The Grid, presented by Bose, is truly worthy of the moniker. As a driver, Alain Prost set new standards, establishing a win record that only three drivers in history have surpassed – and he did it against some of the greatest talents in F1 history. His inimitable approach earned him the nickname The Professor, but it’s for his rivalry with Ayrton Senna – his one-time team mate – that the great Frenchman is best remembered. 25 years on from his fourth and final world title triumph, Tom Clarkson sat down with Prost – now a special advisor with Renault – to talk about his epic career, including, of course, that unique and multi-faceted relationship with Senna…
Toto Wolff: "I run a successful F1 team but that's nothing compared to what other people have achieved..."
He's presided over one of the most successful F1 teams of all time - and had to manage one of the most heated rivalries in history. So what exactly makes Mercedes chief Toto Wolff tick? On this week's episode of Beyond The Grid, presented by Bose, the thoughtful Austrian lifts the lid on running a team - including dealing with the 'volcano-like' relationship between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg - gives a welcome update on colleague Niki Lauda's health, and tells Tom Clarkson about his truly remarkable journey to F1 via the business world after losing his father at a young age.
Stefano Domenicali: “Being a normal guy, I’m proud to have been at Ferrari for so long…”
Running an F1 team is a demanding job. When that team is Ferrari, the pressure rises dramatically. Stefano Domenicali knows all about that. On the latest episode of Beyond The Grid, presented by Bose, the Italian recalls his 23 years at the Prancing Horse, which peaked with him taking the reins as Team Principal. He delivers fascinating insight into working with Michael Schumacher, during what was Ferrari’s most successful period, and the hurt endured as Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso agonisingly missed out on championships. Then there’s the moment he shook the hand of all 1,000 team members after handing in his resignation from the big job…