F1 Beyond The Grid

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Arvid Lindblad: fast, fresh + fearless Apr 28, 2026

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‘I’ve always been the youngest, the new kid, the underdog. It helps me not be intimidated’. Arvid Lindblad, the fourth-youngest F1 driver in history, is full of confidence. In his first race he fought wheel-to-wheel with World Champions. The Racing Bulls driver has made a fast start to his first season in Formula 1. He always believed he’d race at the top. He’s living his childhood dream and he’s loving it.
Arvid tells Tom Clarkson how he went from watching F1 on TV aged 4 to racing in F1 aged 18, inspired and supported by his family, his coach – the racing driver Olly Rowland – and Helmut Marko, Red Bull’s former Motorsport Advisor. He explains the coaching which helped him beat more experienced drivers as he progressed up the motorsport ladder in ever-faster cars.

Arvid also looks back to his Formula 1 debut in Australia, where he overtook Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris at the start and scored points at the end, and relives the stunning qualifying lap in Japan which saw him eliminate Max Verstappen.

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Colton Herta: 'my goal is Formula 1' Apr 21, 2026

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Formula 1 has always been a dream for Colton Herta. Walking away from IndyCar to race in Formula 2 is a gamble. His reward, should he prove himself, could be an F1 drive with Cadillac. Colton has come close to F1 before. This time he’s determined to make it.
Speaking on the day he had a seat-fit for Cadillac’s F1 car, Colton Herta tells Tom Clarkson about growing up at racetracks with his father, IndyCar legend Bryan Herta, his love of motorsport and F1 deals that never happened with Sauber and Red Bull’s junior team.

Colton also remembers leaving the US as a teenager to race in Europe, where he was teammates with a young Lando Norris in junior categories, and he looks forward to making his F1 practice session debut for Cadillac later this season.

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Bernd Maylander: 500 races in the Safety Car Apr 14, 2026

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At this year’s season-opening Australian Grand Prix, Bernd Maylander reached a remarkable milestone of 500 races as the FIA Safety Car Driver.
Speaking to Tom Clarkson, Bernd reflects on how the Safety Car and his job have evolved since his first race back in 2000 and some of the most iconic races he’s been involved in over the last 25 years.
He talks through what a Grand Prix weekend looks like for him, the role his co-driver Richard Darker plays and some of the challenges they face – like picking up the leader when the Safety Car is deployed and judging wet conditions.

Bernd also reveals what it feels like to have the fastest drivers on the planet right behind him and how he handles them complaining about his speed.

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Doriane Pin: F1 ACADEMY champion, still pushing Apr 07, 2026

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From the first time she sat in a kart, aged 9, Doriane Pin has wanted to race in Formula 1. F1 ACADEMY champion, Mercedes Development Driver, poised to drive an F1 car for the first time - Doriane is getting closer and closer to that dream.

Doriane tells Tom Clarkson her racing story so far, from feeling like a 'superhero' in her kart, to seeking sponsors at the age of 11, taking on the Le Mans 24 hours, and being spotted by the Mercedes Junior Programme.

In F1 ACADEMY, Doriane switched to racing open wheel cars on Grand Prix circuits, supported by Mercedes teammates Lewis Hamilton, George Russell and Kimi Antonelli. Susie Wolff's advice helped her score points in every race, and become champion at the end of her second season.

Now Doriane is Development Driver for Mercedes and is preparing for a first F1 test. Her dream remains the same: a seat on the Grand Prix grid.

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Laurent Mekies: relishing Red Bull challenge Mar 31, 2026

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Red Bull Racing were at a crossroads when Laurent Mekies took over as Team Principal halfway through 2025. After a difficult first half of the season, should they continue working on their 2025 car or write that year off and prioritise the new regulations for 2026?
Their decision to stay focussed on the ‘25 car paid off, with Max Verstappen going from more than 100 points behind to missing out on the title by just two points. But in this new era of Formula 1, Red Bull have fallen down the pecking order after a difficult start to the season.
Speaking to Tom Clarkson, Laurent explains why they didn’t switch full focus to 2026 earlier and whether they’re now paying the price for last year’s turnaround.
Laurent also talks about how different his experience as a Team Principal is at Red Bull compared to Racing Bulls. He shares insight into what Max Verstappen is like outside of the car, the Dutchman’s future with the team and how Isack Hadjar is settling into his new surroundings.

Plus, with Red Bull making their own power units for the first time this year, Laurent tells Tom why he describes their Powertrains project as a ‘crazy challenge’ that only a team like Red Bull could take on.

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Ayao Komatsu: aiming high with Haas Mar 25, 2026

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Haas Team Principal Ayao Komatsu is Tom Clarkson’s guest on this week’s F1 Beyond The Grid.
Ayao has been with Haas since their debut season 10 years ago, but he’s only been in charge since 2024. What has he learned about leadership in that time? How did he guide the team’s recovery from such a difficult start last season? And what are Haas’ targets in the new era of Formula 1?
As for the drivers, Ayao tells Tom what he wants to see from Esteban Ocon this year and how long they can hold on to Ollie Bearman if his eye-catching performances continue.

Ayao also reveals a lot about his relationship with owner Gene Haas and what Toyota bring to the table as the team’s technical partner.

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LEGENDS: How Jacques Villeneuve shook up F1 Mar 18, 2026

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The son of a motorsport legend, a racer since childhood, Formula 1 was Jacques Villeneuve's destiny. In 1996, the young Canadian arrived at his first Grand Prix and immediately proved he belonged there by taking pole position.

In his rookie season Villeneuve won races, went wheel-to-wheel with Michael Schumacher and took Williams teammate Damon Hill to a final race title-decider. 30 years on, he sits down with Tom Clarkson to remember how he shook up the sport.

Jacques explains why he left IndyCar as reigning champion to join Williams in Formula 1, and how racing on ovals influenced how he drove Grands Prix. He talks about working with race engineer Jock Clear, and experimenting with his throttle pedal and steering wheel paddles to find extra performance.

Tom asks Jacques about the highlights of his first year in F1: his first pole position, his first race win and the spectacular pass he made on Michael Schumacher - an overtaking move still regarded as one of the best in F1 history.

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Dan Towriss: the ‘passion and drive’ behind Cadillac F1 Team Mar 11, 2026

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The newest team in Formula 1 are here to compete. Cadillac have earned the respect of their rivals. Now they’re pushing to get faster.
CEO Dan Towriss takes Tom Clarkson back to the start of the story - how he and his TWG Motorsports company first became involved in discussions about F1, conversations with General Motors and Cadillac, the work to build a team, choosing their race drivers and making their F1 debut in Australia.
Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas are the first Cadillac F1 drivers. What do they bring to a new team? What does the future hold for the team’s reserve driver, IndyCar star Colton Herta?

And what are the team’s aims in their first season? The learning curve is steep at the pinnacle of motorsport, but as Dan says, ‘no part of this should be easy’.

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Carlos Sainz: pushing for progress with Williams Mar 04, 2026

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Five years after Carlos Sainz left McLaren, his former team and his former teammate are the reigning Formula 1 World Champions. As he watched Lando Norris reach the summit of world motorsport, did he ever think ‘that could have been me?’.
Speaking to Tom Clarkson, Carlos reflects on leaving McLaren and becoming a race winner with Ferrari before joining Williams. He remembers feeling ‘powerless’ during a difficult start to the 2025 season, and reveals the work which led him to stand on the podium later in the year.
Carlos gives his first impressions of the 2026 F1 cars and explains why he wants to use the ‘peak’ of his career to take Williams back to the top.

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Lando’s champion evolution, Vowles’ podium pride + Brad Pitt’s ‘need for speed’ – The Best of 2025 Dec 17, 2025

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A title fight full of twists and turns, a new World Champion, rookies reaching major milestones and Formula 1 on the big screen.
The 2025 season was nothing short of dramatic on and off track. Here, on F1 Beyond The Grid, Tom Clarkson has sat down with the people in the thick of all that drama and in this end-of-year special, Tom picks out his highlights.
You’ll hear from the new World Champion Lando Norris, who reveals how he changed his mental approach to racing, and his race engineer Will Joseph. Lando’s title rival and teammate Oscar Piastri explains how he made so much progress from 2024 to 2025. And McLaren CEO Zak Brown and Team Principal Andrea Stella tell us how they’ve managed to get Lando and Oscar to buy into the team’s racing philosophy.
Away from the champions, Isack Hadjar reflects on how he bounced back from a nightmare F1 debut in Australia. Esteban Ocon and his race engineer Laura Mueller explain how they’ve built a relationship in their first year working together at Haas. And Valtteri Bottas tells Tom why he’s got unfinished business with F1 ahead of his return with Cadillac in 2026.
From the cockpit to the pitwall, Williams Team Principal James Vowles shares his pride after Carlos Sainz secured the team’s first podium since 2021 and Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur gives his thoughts on Lewis Hamilton’s first year in red.
Plus, four-time World Champion Sebastian Vettel reflects on the highs and lows of his career and Hollywood icon Brad Pitt reminisces on what it was like becoming F1 driver Sonny Hayes for F1: The Movie.
Thank you for listening in 2025. F1 Beyond The Grid will return in 2026.
To hear the full interviews with the guests featured in this show, click on the links below…
Lando Norris
Oscar Piastri
Andrea Stella + Zak Brown
Helmut Marko
Fred Vasseur
James Vowles
Brad Pitt
Sebastian Vettel

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