Join Codders and Mark Gallagher as they lift the lid on the world of Formula 1.
GP Racing is the world’s best-selling F1 magazine, with stunning photography, expert analysis, unrivalled journalism and exclusive behind-the-scenes access to the glamorous and adrenaline-fuelled world of F1.
41: The Unstoppable Max Verstappen
Nov 23, 2022
Show notes
On this month's edition of Flat Chat, we look at McLaren’s Aussie swap, with Daniel Ricciardo waving goodbye to a full time race seat, and Oscar Piastri coming in to partner Lando Norris in 2023. Our front cover image features Max Verstappen and we look at how he smashed Formula 1’s toughest record. Plus we uncover a lost interview with the media-shy Red Bull boss Dietrich Mateschitz, who rarely gave journalists access, favouring the spotlight being placed on his team and drivers.
40: How Lewis Hamilton is turbocharging Mercedes' revival
Sep 26, 2022
Show notes
GP Racing's monthly podcast looks at how Mercedes needs Lewis Hamilton more than ever, as they rely on his unique skillset to spearhead Brackley's revival. Stuart Codling is joined by regular co-hosts Mark Gallagher and Matt Kew to explain why those writing-off Hamilton as a spent force don't understand what drives the 7-time champ. Also on the show, the team discuss how Red Bull's deal with Porsche ultimately collapsed, and Matt Kew explains why he thinks auto manufacturers underestimate Formula 1. Plus we send Oleg Karpov to interview Kevin Magnussen at home in Denmark, where he says family life is more important than joining his F1 peers in the tax havens of Monaco or Switzerland.
39: Ricciardo Parts With McLaren - what went wrong, what next?
Aug 24, 2022
Show notes
McLaren has formally announced that it no longer requires the services of Daniel Ricciardo for the 2023 Formula 1 season, leaving the Australian to fight for his future on the grid - the cover story of the latest GP Racing magazine and the lead talking point in this episode of the Flat Chat podcast. GP Racing magazine editor and host Stuart Codling is joined by columnist Mark Gallagher and Autosport F1 editor Matt Kew to assess why Ricciardo’s stock has fallen so far since his Red Bull exit, what tailored approach is required to lift him out of the doldrums, and what he and McLaren must do next as they part ways. F1 and Netflix star Ricciardo’s own drive to survive is the cover story of this month’s GP Racing. The eight-time grand prix winner sat down exclusively with our own staff writer Oleg Karpov for a revealing 1-to-1 a year after his well-executed victory in the 2021 Italian GP arrested some of the questions being asked about his form in his first year in papaya, alongside Lando Norris. But even success at Monza this time around will come too late to save his seat at McLaren. The margins of performance to Norris adding up to huge differences over a lap and indeed in the championship fight. The summer break will have also afforded fewer opportunities than before for him to cleanse body and mind, since Ricciardo will have been busy negotiating his severance package from McLaren while looking at other options for 2023. The panel for this edition of the Flat Chat podcast also discuss the changing role of F1’s team principals in respect of our GP Racing feature shadowing Aston Martin boss Mike Krack during a race weekend to see precisely what the big wigs' job description entails. Codling, Gallagher and Kew then take a look at Porsche’s imminent arrival in F1, following the FIA World Motor Sport Council finally signing off the 2026 power unit regulations. They evaluate the scale of the coup that Porsche’s presence will represent for Liberty Media, and also opine on how the famous Stuttgart manufacturer might interact with F1 disruptor Red Bull.
38: Will The Next British Champion Please Stand Up
Jul 28, 2022
Show notes
On this month's edition of Flat Chat, we look at George Russell's career and why Lewis Hamilton says he could be the next British world champion. Our long interview is with David Coulthard, including details of how his late sister inspired his project to find the next female F1 driver. And finally we were on the Silverstone grid to witness 'our Nige' drive his championship winner for the first time since 1992.
37: Red Bull vs Ferrari - Battle Renewed
Jun 15, 2022
Show notes
As the second half of the 2022 F1 season beckons, the championship fight between Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc is hotting up. The latest Flat Chat podcast from GP Racing magazine investigates the background of what is an old rivalry renewed: Max and Charles locked horns (and wheels) in karting a decade ago but circumstances have prevented them from going toe-to-toe for a title again until now.
But who will prevail this time around? This isn’t just a battle between Leclerc and Verstappen – it’s a resurgent, and sometimes shaky, Ferrari versus the might of Red Bull. GP Racing editor Ben Anderson and columnist Mark Gallagher join host Stuart Codling to discuss the growing rancour between the two teams and the championship protagonists.
Verstappen vs Leclerc is the cover story of this month’s GP Racing magazine, featuring exclusive insight into these two characters from senior figure who have worked with both of them. You may be surprised to learn which is tipped to lift the trophy at the end of this season.
The panel also considers the plight of the number-two drivers up and down the grid. Sergio Perez now has a new Red Bull contract and won the Monaco Grand Prix – but would he have been allowed to do so if he and Max were running one-two? Leclerc and Carlos Sainz are theoretically equal number ones, but how long will this status be upheld?
Taking a wider view, given Daniel Ricciardo’s struggles at McLaren, would it have been more prudent for him to have remained at Red Bull and picked up scraps from Verstappen’s table rather than taking the course which has now led him to McLaren, where he being shown the way by Lando Norris? Sometimes drivers lack the support systems around them to take a long-term view – something which can’t be said of Verstappen, who has been guided (and often pushed) in the right direction by his uncompromising father, Jos.
The podcast guests also debate the virtues and shortcomings of the media covering grands prix ‘on remote’. There are those who say journalists need to be there to hold the stakeholders to account, and to unpick details that surprise and delight the fans. While that’s true, there’s also an argument to say remote participation benefits F1’s carbon footprint and sometimes elicits better chemistry with drivers.benefits F1’s carbon footprint and sometimes elicits better chemistry with drivers.
36: The Fall of Mercedes
May 06, 2022
Show notes
Mercedes has gone from perpetual winner to rank outsider in the space of a winter – and an aerodynamic phenomenon known as ‘porpoising’ is said to be to blame. But what does that actually mean, and how can the team lift itself out of such a drastic competitive slump? On this month's podcast we explore the struggles facing Mercedes and how long it might take to fix. We also report on the forthcoming Miami GP and discuss the future of Aston Martin, given their slow start to the season.
35: How Alonso's F1 Fire Still Burns Within
Apr 04, 2022
Show notes
The first F1 Australian Grand Prix in three years is upon us, and the latest Flat Chat podcast from GP Racing magazine kicks off the excitement.
GP Racing editor Ben Anderson and columnist Mark Gallagher join host Stuart Codling to discuss the latest developments in F1, and not just the recently announced Las Vegas Grand Prix. After several years of uncertainty Melbourne committed to host the Australian GP for the long term – but several other cities are believed to be contemplating bids. Could Australia, like the USA, host more than one race per season as F1 edges towards a 25-round calendar?
Fernando Alonso is the cover star of this month’s GP Racing magazine and, in an exclusive interview, he explains how the fire to win grands prix still burns within him. As our panel notes, he seems more mellow and philosophical nowadays when discussing his career. There’s no doubt he’s still one of the fastest drivers on the grid but, at 40, he’s well aware that time is no longer on his side – and that the last two management shake-ups at Alpine have removed the people responsible for hiring him. For all his star quality, now is the time to deliver.
One driver particularly coveting Alonso’s seat is F2 champion Oscar Piastri. The Australian’s sole contribution to his home grand prix will be to act as Alpine’s reserve driver. This month’s GP Racing features an exclusive interview with Piastri, who is rightly considered to be the best driver not on the current F1 grid. His lightning ascent of the junior ladder has certainly taken his patron team by surprise – and puts him in the same firmament as the likes of George Russell and Charles Leclerc.
The opening races of the 2022 season have presented an abrupt shift in the competitive order as the previously dominant Mercedes team struggles. How much of this is down to competitive over-reach – trying too hard to find gains that are too big? And is the W13 a fundamentally flawed car, or one with knockout potential waiting to be accessed?
Next year the F1 calendar will include a third US-based grand prix. Las Vegas will host a Saturday-night race on the iconic Strip. Our panel weighs up the significance of this and what it means for other races. Significantly, F1 is acting as promoter – is this a case of the commercial rights holders competing with its own customers? And even if not, what can we read in to the move? Two years ago the race promoters were able to band together to get a better deal from F1 – now they might not be so lucky.
34: 2022 Season Preview
Mar 10, 2022
Show notesAs the second pre-season F1 test gets under way in Bahrain, the latest Flat Chat podcast from GP Racing magazine dives into the latest developments. As the F1 season-preview issue of GP Racing magazine hits the shelves, GP Racing editor Ben Anderson and columnist Mark Gallagher join host Stuart Codling to examine the unexpected controversies already embroiling a season which promised to be revolutionary. Whenever F1 adopts new rules there are winners and losers – and unexpected twists. Our panel considers the unanticipated consequences of the new regulations, from bouncing cars to brutal arguments about innovations. No other new rulebook has been the subject of so much scientific research – including cloud computing facilities far beyond those permitted for the teams – so can it deliver on all the promises? And as some teams fitted major upgrade packages to their cars at the second test, others – including Ferrari – stuck to a gameplan of data-gathering with the original package to maximise understanding of it. Ferrari, as revealed in this month’s GP Racing, has reasons to be confident ahead of this hugely important season. Avoiding the temptation to throw upgrades at the car and go for low-fuel ‘glory runs’ is strongly suggestive of a team much more at ease with itself than in recent seasons. Our panel also considers the significance of cancelling the Russian Grand Prix. The FIA’s response to events in Ukraine was widely criticised for being light-touch, but is there more to this situation than meets the eye? For the commercial rights holder, not only cancelling the 2022 event but annulling the event going forward was a notably decisive act – and one which will have commercial as well as political consequences. In recent weeks Max Verstappen has extended his Red Bull contract until the end of 2028, a deal of unprecedented length in modern Formula 1. What does this tell us about Red Bull’s determination to keep hold of him, and the power Max now holds in determining his own future?
33: The Good, The Bad, The Unbelievable - How F1 crowned its new king in a season like no other
Jan 31, 2022
Show notes
As we await the outcome of the FIA’s enquiry into the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix debacle, what are the practical steps the governing body needs to take to restore respect and confidence in its people and procedures? And should race director Michael Masi stay or go? In the latest edition of the Flat Chat podcast, GP Racing editor Ben Anderson and columnist Mark Gallagher join host Stuart Codling to discuss the latest developments in a saga which has led to seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton considering his future in Formula 1. The final laps of the 2021 season finale overshadowed what had otherwise been a hugely successful year for F1, with a compelling and dramatic contest for the drivers’ championship. Casual viewers tuning in to the Abu Dhabi race will have been left baffled by the bizarre and shambolic turn of events – but how much of the responsibility for that lies with the competitors themselves? This month’s GP Racing magazine offers a considered analysis of the season and its contentious conclusion, and takes a look at the first hints of how the new technical package for the 2022 season is shaping up. There’s also exclusive interviews with the architects of the constructors’ championship-winning car. Mercedes’ W12 was described by Lewis Hamilton as “a monster of a diva” and GP Racing examines how the aerodynamic rule changes between seasons turned a dominant technical package into a troubled and temperamental one. Our podcast guests discuss the implications of this for the coming season – as well as debating whether Lewis Hamilton will indeed return to the cockpit. Also in GP Racing this month, Mark Gallagher interviews Jacques Villeneuve to mark the 25th anniversary of his championship-winning season. It’s a fascinating tale in which Jacques describes, among other facets of his childhood, how his father used to make him take the controls of the family helicopter when he was just 10 years old.
32: The Business of Winning
Dec 21, 2021
Show notes
Today we're talking about the new book from Mark Gallagher, The Business of Winning. Get the inside track on what it takes to succeed in a competitive business with high technology, high finance and immensely high stakes You can order your copy here: https://www.koganpage.com/product/the-business-of-winning-9781398602700 Stuart Codling and Mark are joined by David Coulthard, Dr Cristiana Pace and Neil Martin.
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