F1 Beyond The Grid

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Mike Elliott: the 2022 ‘mistake’ making Mercedes stronger Oct 05, 2022

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As soon as the 2022 Mercedes F1 car hit the racetrack, the man who oversaw its creation realised it had problems. ‘We made a mistake’, admits Technical Director Mike Elliot. In finding fixes, Mike and his team of engineers have improved Mercedes’ results and learned a lot about themselves. Mike tells Tom Clarkson how they traced the car’s problems to a single design decision, how a year of not winning has helped the people at Mercedes develop, and how he craves a return to the team’s championship-winning form. Looking back, Mike remembers why he chose a career in F1, and the remarkable day two top teams offered him a role. That led him to work in aerodynamics for McLaren, and he recalls a surprising early conversation he had with the team’s young test driver, Lewis Hamilton. McLaren’s former leader Ron Dennis, legendary car designer Adrian Newey, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff and drivers Michael Schumacher, Nico Rosberg and George Russell also feature in Mike’s story. He explains how F1 engineering has become ‘more specialised’ and has advice for anyone who aspires to work in F1 car design.
More BTG interviews with F1 Technical Directors:
AlphaTauri’s Jody Egginton
McLaren’s James Key
Alpine’s Pat Fry
James Allison, former Mercedes TD
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Martin Donnelly: unbroken and unstoppable Sep 28, 2022

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He’s a survivor, who fought back from a crash which could have broken his spirit. Martin Donnelly’s racing career was cut short at the 1990 Spanish Grand Prix, when his Lotus left the track and hit a barrier at 160 miles per hour, throwing him from the car. Martin tells Tom Clarkson his memories of that fateful weekend, and the great lengths he went to as he tried to return to racing – including treatment from the doctor who had helped Niki Lauda after the Austrian’s life-changing crash. He reflects on his close friendship with Ayrton Senna, who rushed to the scene that day in Spain, and on his brotherhood with fellow racing drivers like Damon Hill and Johnny Herbert, alongside whom he rose to Formula 1. Support from his father and deals with shrewd team owner Eddie Jordan shaped his career. His time at the top of motorsport was short-lived, his potential never fully realised, but Martin never stopped racing.
Related episodes:
Eddie Jordan
Damon Hill
Tommy Byrne
Johnny Herbert
Derek Warwick
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Christian Horner: putting Red Bull back on top Sep 21, 2022

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It’s been a dramatic year for Red Bull Racing, from the titanic battle Max Verstappen fought with Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes for the 2021 title, to setting up their own power unit arm, before taking a commanding lead in both championships this season – with a flirtation with Porsche thrown in for good measure. Team boss Christian Horner tells host Tom Clarkson all about that incredible 2021 title fight from Red Bull’s perspective, including his thoughts on rival team boss Toto Wolff, and that intense Abu Dhabi season finale. He also reflects on whether Verstappen approaches racing Charles Leclerc differently to how he takes on Hamilton, what he makes of Daniel Ricciardo’s early McLaren exit, and why Red Bull decided now was the right time to set up their own engine division. Plus he reveals what happened to the proposed Porsche partnership, touches on some of the company’s non-F1 projects – including designing a submarine – as well as how it feels to have led the team back to the brink of championship glory once again.
Related episodes:
Christian Horner in 2021 and 2018
Sergio Perez
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Timo Glock: ‘game over’, last-lap drama + F1 podiums Sep 14, 2022

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He was part of one of F1’s most dramatic finales, but there’s so much more to Timo Glock’s story than that rain-soaked lap in Brazil. A relative late-comer to racing, he quickly showed speed, made smart sponsorship deals and caught the attention of F1 teams. Timo tells Tom Clarkson about the surprise phone call which led to his points-scoring Grand Prix debut, the disappointment of dropping out of the sport, the moment he felt it was ‘game over’ for his racing career, and an all-or-nothing season which gave him a second chance at F1. With Toyota in 2008 and 2009, Timo scored podiums which proved he was worthy of a race-winning car. He reveals how agonisingly close he came to a career-transforming move in a pivotal period at the end of 2009, only to find himself racing at the back of the grid in 2010. Plus, his friendship with the Schumachers, the moment lawyers decided his F1 future and that final lap in Brazil in 2008: the ‘impossible’ action, the crazy reaction and an unlikely friendship that followed, ten years in the making.
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Jan Lammers: F1 record-holder, Dutch GP hero Sep 07, 2022

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He’s a Zandvoort ‘beach boy’, who became a local hero in F1. Racing in the Dutch Grand Prix was a dream come true for Jan Lammers, but he struggled to show his speed in Formula 1 and dropped out of the sport after 4 difficult seasons. He was always determined to return to motorsport’s pinnacle and waited a record 10 years for his chance. Jan tells Tom Clarkson about his rise from junior European champion to F1, the impact impatience had on his career, how bad luck repeatedly ruined his best chances of a life changing F1 result, and how a change in attitude and focus on learning helped him take Le Mans victory in 1988 and return to F1 after his decade away. Today, Jan is Sporting Director of his hometown racetrack, Zandvoort, and is working to make the Dutch Grand Prix a spectacular and sustainable event.
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René Arnoux: wheel-to-wheel 'war' with Villeneuve, Lauda + Prost Aug 31, 2022

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He fought one of F1’s all-time greatest duels, was often untouchable in qualifying, and his victories were celebrated by entire nations. René Arnoux spent a decade racing the likes of Gilles Villeneuve, Alain Prost and Niki Lauda. He raced and won for both Renault and Ferrari, leading the Scuderia to a world title in 1983. René passionately and vividly talks Tom Clarkson through his remarkable career, remembering his epic wheel-to-wheel battle with his great friend Villeneuve in 1979, negotiations with Enzo Ferrari, his lost chance to become World Champion and his rivalry with Renault teammate Prost. Arnoux also picks the 2022 F1 driver he thinks is most like himself
Related episodes

Gilles Villeneuve Remembered
Racing for Enzo Ferrari
René’s pick of 2022: Lando Norris
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Lando Norris: working on winning with McLaren Aug 24, 2022

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He’s an F1 star, and he’s still getting brighter. Lando Norris is on a mission with McLaren, determined to deliver trophies and titles. He’s twice come agonisingly close to his first F1 victory. That is just fuel for his fire. Lando opens up to Tom Clarkson about the races he feels he should have already won, his moments of self-doubt, his ambitions, his attitude to life and work, and how he’s seen by the public and his fans. Lando reveals he sometimes dwells on past frustrations, but his focus is fixed on future glory. He’s honest and illuminating about things he and his team can improve. One day soon, he says, ‘there won’t be any excuses’. Working on winning will ‘make things sweeter… a much cooler story’. As you’ll hear, the hard work has already begun…
Have a listen to Lando’s first F1 Beyond The Grid appearance in March 2020
Plus other related interviews from the BTG archive
Daniel Ricciardo
Carlos Sainz
McLaren CEO (and Lando’s golf buddy) Zak Brown
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Beat Zehnder: 30 seasons with 1 team, Leclerc, Vettel, Raikkonen + Kubica Aug 03, 2022

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Since South Africa 1993, Beat Zehnder has not missed a Formula 1 Grand Prix. Hungary 2022 was his 538th race weekend, and he’s spent them all with the same team. Once it was known as Sauber, today it’s Alfa Romeo. Before joining Sauber, Beat was a ship engine mechanic. He was kicked out of his first job interview with the Swiss racing team because he had no interest in motorsport. How and why, then, has he spent so long in Formula 1? Beat tells Tom Clarkson incredible stories of the tiny Sauber team’s amazing entry into F1, and its repeated struggles for survival. Schumacher, Frentzen, Raikkonen, Kubica, Vettel and Leclerc are just some of the drivers Beat has worked with, but who does he call ‘the most complete’ of them all? Beat’s love for the sport was shaken at times of tragedy, but his loyalty and love of teamwork have never faltered.
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Mike Krack: Vettel + Massa’s mentor, aiming high at Aston Martin Jul 27, 2022

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He’s the newest member of ‘The Piranha Club’ – the nickname for the ruthlessly competitive group of F1 Team Principals. Aston Martin’s Mike Krack is not a newcomer to F1, however. A former European go-kart racer, Mike earned his engineering stripes with Sauber in the early 2000s, where he moulded and mentored a young Felipe Massa. He witnessed the supreme strength and skill of Robert Kubica, and steered Sebastian Vettel through his Grand Prix debut at BMW in 2007. Vettel and Krack are now back together at Aston Martin, and Mike has illuminating insight into how the four-time champion has developed as a person and as a racing driver. Mike tells Tom Clarkson about his life leading major manufacturers’ racing programs, including the reason he previously walked away from Formula 1. He explains how he’s ‘finding his way’ as boss of the sport’s most ambitious team, charged with fulfilling owner Lawrence Stroll’s aims of challenging for the World Championship.
Related episodes from the F1 Beyond The Grid archive:
Sebastian Vettel
Robert Kubica
Lance Stroll
Lawrence Stroll
Felipe Massa
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Marc Surer: surviving tough breaks and tragedy Jul 20, 2022

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When Marc Surer reached Formula 1 in 1979, he was a rising star: the reigning Formula 2 champion from the mountains of Switzerland, surely destined for the summit of F1 success. But two leg-breaking crashes made Marc’s climb steeper and harder. He relives those crashes with Tom Clarkson and remembers his remarkable recovery and return to racing. Amazingly, he scored points for Arrows, and almost made the switch to Ferrari after the death of Gilles Villeneuve. Marc also came close to racing for McLaren after a secret meeting with boss Ron Dennis. Later, he survived a fiery rally crash in which his co-driver was killed. Marc shares stories of racing up mountains as a child in a country where motorsport was banned, working with F1 design genius Gordon Murray, driving brutal turbocharged F1 cars armed with more than 1000 horsepower and wrestling Group B rally cars on snow and ice.
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