Bring Back V10s - Classic F1 stories

Latest Episodes:

S2 E4: Ferrari's Austria 2002 team orders controversy Sep 03, 2020

Show notes

Austria 2002 remains an iconic moment in Formula 1 history... for all the wrong reasons. In this episode of Bring Back V10s we look back at everything that went on around that race, from why Ferrari was so dominant in 2002, how McLaren and Williams were dropping the ball, to how Ferrari management justified its actions even though Michael Schumacher already looked untouchable early in the 2002 season. We also look at how Schumacher's version of events differed from the way his bosses were explaining it, why Barrichello thought he'd never be asked to give up a win, and the role a similar incident in 2001 had in how everyone handled this controversy a year later. There's also time to remember Takuma Sato's lucky escape in a crash with Nick Heidfeld, and how Eddie Jordan and Honda disagreed over the terms of their contract, resulting in a big payday for EJ but no more Japanese engines for his team in the future - even though it was beating Honda's favoured team BAR. Finally, we look back at the FIA hearing Ferrari faced, why it couldn't be severely punished, and why the FIA knew a ban on team orders that followed was always destined to fail.
HAVE YOUR SAY: Get your questions in for our series finale. Ask us anything about F1 from 1989-2005 using #BringBackV10s on Twitter, or leave us a podcast review and ask a question there!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

S2 E3: France 1990 - How Prost denied Newey his first F1 win Aug 27, 2020

Show notes

The 1990 French Grand Prix was the setting for one of the most remarkable turnarounds in F1 history. The plucky Leyton House team went from failing to qualify for the previous race in Mexico to coming within a couple of laps of winning at Paul Ricard with Ivan Capelli. In this episode we look at how that transformation happened - thanks to some fine work by a young designer named Adrian Newey... just before he was let go by the team! As well as tracking Newey's falling out with Leyton House and his year-long bid to work out what was going wrong with his designs, the other stories we look into include politics and fallings out at Ferrari, Arrows trying to make big moves on the recruitment front, Jordan's engine deal that nearly upset Benetton, contract dramas for Jean Alesi - including why his 1991 Williams deal fell over because of Ayrton Senna, how Leyton House came up with an almost-winning strategy to defeat Alain Prost's Ferrari, and why this heartbreaking near-miss was still a cause for celebration at the team.
HAVE YOUR SAY: Get your questions in for our season finale using the hashtag #BringBackV10s for anything to do with F1 from 1989-2005.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

S2 E2: Honda's aborted 1999 F1 team Aug 20, 2020

Show notes

Honda nearly entered F1 with its own full works team in 2000, and in preparation for that it ran a test car in early 1999 with Jos Verstappen behind the wheel. The project was part of its evaluation of an F1 project, but two months after the car ran alongside most of the grid in pre-season testing, the idea was canned and Honda signed a works engine deal with BAR instead. Glenn Freeman is joined by Gary Anderson and Scott Mitchell to look back on the 1999 Honda project, from early discussions with Eddie Jordan about buying his team (and why he turned the offer down), how it put together a test team under the guidance of Harvey Poselthwaite, why Poselthwaite's HRD group pitched for a budget as big as Ferrari's and the possible impact that had on the direction of Honda's F1 ambitions, and how the Japanese manufacturer's mind was already made up before Poselthwaite's untimely death when the test car was still running in April. We then look at how the BAR deal came together, how Flavio Briatore tried to stop it, and why Honda chose to partner up with the team that was new to the grid in 1999.
HAVE YOUR SAY: Ask a question by leaving us a review on your podcast platform, or use #BringBackV10s on Twitter to submit a question for our series finale, where we'll talk about whatever you want from F1 1989-2005.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

S2 E1: Ayrton Senna's final Brazilian GP Aug 13, 2020

Show notes

Season two of #BringBackV10s is here! The wait is over, and we're kicking things off with our first episode dedicated to Ayrton Senna. Rather than choose one of the obvious Senna stories to look back at, we're reflecting on his final Brazilian GP in 1994 - the only race he completed a decent amount of laps in behind the wheel of a Williams. Glenn Freeman is joined by Edd Straw and Brazilian broadcaster Lito Cavalcanti to trace the story of Senna's final home race all the way from the day his Williams deal for 1994 was announced, to the moment he spun out while chasing Michael Schumacher. We look at what the expectations were for Senna, McLaren's audacious bid to get him to change his mind, why he felt he needed a fresh start in F1, his awareness of the pressure he'd be under following the retirement of Alain Prost, how Prost almost ended up back on the grid with McLaren, how Senna reacted when he realised Williams had lost its advantage of the previous two years, the impressive nature of his performance in Brazil even though it wasn't going to be enough to stop Schumacher, and what Adrian Newey discovered was wrong with the first iteration of the FW16.
ASK US ANYTHING: Get your questions in for our series finale using #BringBackV10s on Twitter, or leave us a 5-star review and submit a question there too!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

SEASON 2 NEWS (+ 1990s McLaren team orders chat) Aug 10, 2020

Show notes

Bring Back V10s is... back! Season 2 is almost here, and to get you ready for our first full episode Glenn Freeman and Edd Straw get together for a quick chat about team orders at McLaren between Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard in the late-1990s. This subject came from a question asked in a review that was left on Apple Podcasts - why not leave us a 5-star review of your own and ask a question for our series finale? Alternatively, you can get your questions in using #BringBackV10s on Twitter. Get ready for season two!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

S1 E11: More of your #BringBackV10s F1 questions answered May 28, 2020

Show notes

BONUS EPISODE: It's series finale time, and to celebrate #BringBackV10s taking a temporary break before series 2, we're answering more of your questions about F1 from 1989-2005. Mark Hughes and ex-F1 technical director and car designer Gary Anderson join Glenn Freeman to discuss a range of topics, including: What made Kimi Raikkonen so good at McLaren, and why did he struggle to recapture that magic in the years that followed; how out of control F1's 'driver aids' era of the early 1990s would have got if the rules weren't tightened up; why Gary had to get drunk with Stefano Modena to prove he didn't hate him; how Eddie Irvine made his mark on his F1 debut before getting punched by Ayrton Senna; why Gary joined the group of teams sprouting the hideous X-wings in 1998; Jacques Villeneuve's stunning qualifying margin of 1.7 seconds in the 1997 Australian Grand Prix, Martin Brundle's transition from F1 driver to top-line pundit and commentator; Allegations of Benetton running traction control in 1994; Mika Hakkinen's disappointing final season, and what we'd bring back (other than V10s!) from this era to improve modern F1.
Keep your questions and episode suggestions coming in to @wearetherace on social media using #BringBack V10s, and we'll update you very soon on when series two will launch! Thanks for listening to everything we've done so far, and please tell your friends what they've been missing out on.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

S1 E10: Your #BringBackV10s F1 questions answered - part 1 May 21, 2020

Show notes

We've reached the end of the first series of Bring Back V10s, but we've been so overwhelmed with the number of questions you sent in using #BringBackV10s that we're turning our series finale into a double header! Edd Straw and Matt Beer join Glenn Freeman for part one, where we'll tackle topics including: Why Toyota's megabucks team was always destined to fail, why Benetton never recovered from losing Michael Schumacher, Jean Alesi's aborted switch to Williams, what might have happened in the years that followed if Ayrton Senna had WON the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix, Ferrari's hideous 1996 car, how Olivier Panis's leg-breaking crash in Canada in 1997 altered his career, Lola's 1997 disaster, plus our favourite cars and races from the era and much more!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

S1 E9: Schumacher v Hill - 1994's controversial ending May 14, 2020

Show notes

Michael Schumacher's 1990s rivalry with Damon Hill ignited at the end of the 1994 Formula 1 season. In this episode Andrew van de Burgt and Edd Straw join Glenn Freeman to look back at the final three races of '94, when Schumacher returned from his two-race ban with just a one-point lead over Hill. Schumacher won comfortably on his return at Jerez, but why was Hill fuming with his Williams team, and left him 'pulling teeth' trying to get an apology from management? Why didn't Williams make it clearer it believed in Hill? How did the dynamic at Williams change when Nigel Mansell returned? How did Hill pull off the drive of his life in the rain of Japan to set up the famous Adelaide decider? Who did he ask for help at the start of the crucial final lap - and what phenomenon did he experience over the first part of that remarkable lap before he 'took back control'? Why did he lash out at Williams in public before the finale in Australia? How did Williams get on terms with Benetton? What made Schumacher's car harder to drive in the title decider? What was Schumacher's explanation for the controversial collision that decided the championship in his favour, and was he telling the truth? How did Hill find out Schumacher had already hit the wall? What did he think when he first saw the footage? Did Williams consider taking action? What did Hill do the following day - that Schumacher used to his advantage when he returned to Germany? And did the right man win the championship that year?
HAVE YOUR SAY: Next week we start our 'Ask us anything' finale - which will now be in two parts! Get your questions in using #BringBackV10s to @wearetherace on social media.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

S1 E8: The backmarker madness of F1's pre-qualifying era May 07, 2020

Show notes

At the start of our Bring Back V10s era in 1989, Formula 1 had as many as 39 cars turning up trying to get onto a 26-car grid for a grand prix. After an initial pre-qualifying elimination process was introduced for the first practice session in 1988, a formalised session was added to race weekends for the following season, to narrow the field down to 30 contenders before free practice even started. Edd Straw and Matt Beer join Glenn Freeman to look back at a crazy time for F1 backmarkers. What was the crazy initial pitch for pre-qualifying that got rejected? Why did some teams that were clearly quick enough to qualify for races still have to go through the ignominy of the Friday morning session? Who were the worst teams to try their luck at getting into F1? Which driver completed a full season without ever getting through pre-qualifying? Which team's engine supplier once timed the lifespan of its engine from fire-up to failure at four seconds? Why did so many no-hoper teams try to get into F1 at this stage? What were the best results scored by teams who came through pre-qualifying? Who were the drivers who produced the best stats in pre-qualifying sessions? Who never made it onto an F1 grid in their careers despite appearing in pre-qualifying? How did Jordan turn pre-qualifying into an advantage on its way to finishing fifth in its first season? Were there really teams with works engine deals competing in these sessions? Was the shambolic Andrea Moda team of 1992 the final straw for F1? How did F1 go about raising the barrier to entry in the years that followed, creating the 'closed shop' championship we have today? Coloni, Life, EuroBrun and many more minnow teams from this era all get their moment in the limelight in this episode.
HAVE YOUR SAY: Get your questions in for our season finale. Ask us anything about F1 from 1989-2005 using #BringBackV10s @wearetherace

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

S1 E7: Mansell at McLaren - what went wrong Apr 30, 2020

Show notes

Nigel Mansell and McLaren never felt like a match made in heaven, and when they joined forces in 1995 the alliance was short-lived. Sam Smith and Jack Benyon join Glenn Freeman to discuss why this partnership went so wrong. How did Mansell go from thinking he had a Williams drive to getting a phone call from Ron Dennis? What were the driving forces behind McLaren taking on a driver who had been one of its biggest rivals? How lofty were McLaren's and Mansell's expectations, and were they justified? What did Mansell think of the car when he first drove it? What were the specific problems he described that made it so unsuitable to his driving style? Why didn't it come to light earlier that he didn't fit in the car? What was Mark Blundell's side of the story of how he found out he was being called up as a stand-in? How did Mansell manage to do over 100 laps of testing in the original chassis before the wider one was available to race? Why did he think the bigger car would solve McLaren's aero problems? How did he stack up against Mika Hakkinen? What was wrong with the car when Mansell parked it in his final GP? What changes to McLaren's radio etiquette were put in place after Mansell's 'performance' at Barcelona? Did McLaren ever get on top of the car's problems?
HAVE YOUR SAY: Get your questions in for our season finale - ask us anything using #BringBackV10s @wearetherace on social media

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Bring Back V10s – Classic F1 stories

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected