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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!
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…
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...
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...
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!
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…
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.
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…
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.
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