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.
31: The Star Quality of Charles Leclerc
Nov 25, 2021
Show notes
Max Verstappen and Red Bull’s commitment to do ‘whatever it takes’ to win the F1 title is the hot topic of the latest Flat Chat podcast from GP Racing magazine.
An exclusive interview with Verstappen was the cover feature of November’s edition of GP Racing and the tensions in the world championship battle have grown even more feverish since it hit the news stands. GP Racing editor Ben Anderson and columnist Mark Gallagher join host Stuart Codling to debate the latest developments in what is an increasingly bitter fight.
Verstappen’s on-track conduct has come under fire but his confidence has been bolstered by his team’s determination to stand by its man. Red Bull has carried on developing its car for this season regardless of the technical reset to come in 2022 – and on top of committing resources, it has thrown its political weight behind Verstappen as well, firing damaging salvos at its Mercedes rivals.
Not yet on the same competitive page as Mercedes and Red Bull but easing ever closer, a resurgent Ferrari seems almost certain to claim third place in the constructors’ title this season. That’s not where this proud and historic team wants to be but it represents real and slightly unexpected progress after a disastrous 2020.
Ferrari’s resurgence is due in part to some remarkable performances by Charles Leclerc, cover star of December’s GP Racing. Those at the top of the organisation – including Enzo Ferrari’s own son – see Leclerc as a rightful heir to heroes of the marque’s past such as Michael Schumacher, Niki Lauda and Gilles Villeneuve.
Do these comparisons cut it? GP Racing has spoken to some of Ferrari’s most senior engineers about what makes Leclerc so special – and their belief that he still has room to grow and develop into an even tougher competitor.
And as this chapter of the hybrid F1 era draws to a close, Mercedes technical director James Allison has ‘moved upstairs’ to become chief technical officer. The latest issue of GP Racing carries a full and frank interview with Allison about his fascinating career – and why he believes being fired from a job can be good for you…
30: Green Means Go: Inside Vettel's Aston Adventure
Oct 04, 2021
Show notesOctober's edition of GP Racing features a rejuvinated Sebastian Vettel on the front cover and looks at how he fits into Lawrence Stroll's ambitious plan to make Aston Martin a winning team. Flat Chat podcast host Stuart Codling is joined by Mark Gallagher and Ben Anderson (Editor, GP Racing) to discuss how the Silverstone team is transforming itself with a series of high-profile recruitments and investment into long term success. Also on the podcast today we discuss Formula 1's return to Zandvoort. GP Racing's principal photographer returns to the Dutch dunes for the first time in 36 years. Damien Smith speaks to one of the makers of the Schumacher Netflix documentary, and with Qatar added to the calendar F1 once again navigates the moral maze of racing in a controversial location.
29: The Untold Story of Michael Schumacher's F1 Debut
Aug 26, 2021
Show notes
It’s 30 years since Michael Schumacher left an indelible calling card on the Formula 1 scene at the 1991 Belgian Grand Prix, qualifying seventh at a track he’d only previously lapped on a bicycle. And he did it with a minnow start-up team on the verge of collapsing under its debts.
This month’s GP Racing, on sale today, celebrates the 30th anniversary of Schumacher’s explosive debut and features an exclusive behind-the-scenes view of the weekend with insight from Michael’s race engineer, Trevor Foster. Author and GP Racing columnist Mark Gallagher was the Jordan team’s press officer at the time, and he joins Flat Chat podcast host Stuart Codling and GP Racing editor Ben Anderson to wind the clock back to that stunning weekend in August 1991.
It’s hard to believe that the future seven-time world champion was seen as an inexperienced pay driver at the time. But Jordan had a seat to fill and bills to pay. As Mark relates, he himself didn’t see any money until after the end of the season – and only then after Eddie Jordan tried to invoice him for food consumed during the year…
Schumacher quickly found performance in the Jordan 191 car which the incumbent drivers hadn’t been able to access – much to the chagrin of Andrea de Cesaris, who became convinced there was something wrong with his own car. Exactly how Schumacher managed to break his clutch on the opening lap, and how De Cesaris came close to catching Ayrton Senna’s McLaren for the lead before suffering an engine blow-up, have never been fully explained until now.
The Flat Chat panel also looks at the parallel-but-often-separate career of Mika Hakkinen who, like Schumacher, made his F1 debut in 1991. Mika’s rivalry with Michael began in F3 but would in effect go on hiatus for several years as Hakkinen laboured in back-of-the-grid cars and then broke his neck in qualifying for the 1995 Australian Grand Prix.
Once installed in competitive machinery Hakkinen shone, and his rivalry with Schumacher defined an era – until he suddenly decided to quit. How much of that was prompted by fear of further injury, how much by the draining effect of fighting for championships with one of the greatest drivers of all time?
28: Carlos Sainz: Living His Dream With F1's Greatest Team
Aug 07, 2021
Show notes
Why has Carlos Sainz thrived while the other high-profile drivers to have swapped teams this F1 season have struggled? And how has he managed to fit straight in to a Ferrari team which is traditionally difficult political territory, especially when under pressure?
These are just a few of the angles covered in a frank and exclusive interview with Sainz in this month’s GP Racing magazine.
An exclusive interview with Sainz is the centrepiece of this month’s GP Racing magazine. In the latest edition of the Flat Chat podcast, GP Racing editor Ben Anderson and columnist Mark Gallagher join host Stuart Codling to discuss Sainz’s remarkable journey, and what Sainz describes as his “process”. The interview reveals a driver who has never relied on raw talent alone, but who has worked and fought for every break he’s had.
There’s also been evidence of a cultural change within Ferrari, one which is enabling the team to rediscover its form after years of underachievement. Our panel reckons Sainz and Charles Leclerc add up to the strongest driver partnership in Formula 1: if Ferrari can get on par with Mercedes and Red Bull’s car technology and race operations, championships beckon…
This month’s GP Racing also includes exclusive insight into the technical woes Mercedes has been battling with this season, and the innovative technologies which have enabled Red Bull and Honda to unlock latent potential within their hybrid power unit. Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff says his outfit won’t “resign” the season, despite turning off the development taps and applying a final upgrade package at Silverstone. It’s managed to nose ahead in the drivers’ and constructors’ championships but, with Red Bull still bringing vans full of upgrades to each round, can its resistance last?
Also on the cover of GP Racing there’s an exclusive interview with Esteban Ocon, who has rewarded Alpine’s faith in him – that is, a freshly minted three-year contract – with a smoothly executed if circumstance-assisted victory in Hungary. What convinced him to throw over a chance to bid for the second seat at Mercedes to stay with Alpine – and what had he done to impress Alpine so much in the months before that sensational win?
27: Silverstone Special: Formula 1's Coming Home
Jul 08, 2021
Show notes
In the July edition of the podcast it's our Silverstone special. Stuart Codling is joined by Ben Anderson and Mark Gallagher to look at the season so far for Lewis, Lando and George. The July issue of GP Racing is out now and you can get it here: https://www.gpracing.magazine.co.uk/
26: Sergio Perez Steps Up
Jun 10, 2021
Show notes
As the latest issue of GP Racing magazine hits the shelves, we congratulate ourselves on the serendipitous timing of putting Sergio Perez on the cover. Ben had an exclusive interview with Perez and this is the result. It’s even more interesting to read in the context of his win last weekend because he talks pretty frankly about how he’s struggled to adapt to the car, but he was aware that was the only way he was going to succeed because the team weren’t going to adapt the car to suit him.
Codders is joined by Ben Anderson and Mark Gallagher to talk about how Perez has settled in to Red Bull Racing, how F1 teams are coping with the budget cap and we pay tribute to Max Mosley.
25: Valtteri Bottas: Our Exclusive Interview For The May Edition
May 26, 2021
Show notes
What does Valtteri Bottas need to do to achieve his ambition of beating Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton to the F1 world championship?
An exclusive and extraordinarily frank interview with Bottas is the cover feature of this month’s GP Racing magazine.
Perhaps it’s time for Bottas to consider the long game and explore opportunities elsewhere – at teams which would jump at the chance to learn the secrets of what makes the Mercedes team such an unstoppable winning machine.
This month’s GP Racing also examines Aston Martin’s threats to take legal action against the FIA over the new F1 floor regulations. Has the team really been collateral in an attempt to hobble Mercedes, or is it simply too early to say definitively what effects the recent changes have had on individual cars?
The evidence from the early rounds suggests the changes have compressed the midfield and one driver thriving at the moment is Pierre Gasly, interviewed exclusively in this month’s GP Racing. By developing the car to suit Gasly’s strengths rather than expecting him to adapt his style to suit the car, AlphaTauri has taken its performance to another level. But what of the driver in the other car? Yuki Tsunoda’s halo seems to have slipped recently…
24: The Truth About Lewis Hamilton and THAT New Contract
Apr 19, 2021
Show notesAs the latest edition of GP Racing hits the shelves of shops that are now actually open, we look at what’s really going on with Lewis Hamilton’s new contract. We speak to George Russell, the man who might become Lewis’s next team-mate… or Valtteri Bottas’s new team-mate! And we speak to Daniel Ricciardo, the man of the moment at McLaren.GP Racing editor Ben Anderson and columnist Mark Gallagher join Executive Editor Stuart Codling to debate what happens next with Lewis Hamilton. Both Lewis and Mercedes have claimed that they’re happy with the present arrangement, which is a one-year extension and a plan to get around the table sooner rather than later. But are they really happy?We’ve also spoken to Daniel Ricciardo for this month’s issue. The partnership between him and McLaren feels like something that’s been waiting to happen for some time. He even bought a McLaren road car while he was still driving for Red Bull and he describes his clandestine visit to the McLaren factory in the piece.There’s plenty more in this month’s GP Racing, including Mark’s superbly crafted and suitably flat out tribute to Murray Walker. And because there’s no such thing as too many pictures of old buses being converted as F1 car transporters, there’s a new multi-part story covering the history of Lotus. We also have some lovely close-up photography of the notorious Brabham ‘Fan Car’. Remember it was never banned!
23: GP Racing’s 2021 F1 preview
Mar 22, 2021
Show notes
Formula 1 bursts back into action next weekend, and the latest Flat Chat podcast from GP Racing magazine digs into what’s likely to be an unexpectedly spicy season. GP Racing editor Ben Anderson and columnist Mark Gallagher join host Stuart Codling to debate whether Red Bull’s punchy performance during the Bahrain test is all that it seems. Is Mercedes really on the back foot? What version of Valtteri Bottas are we on? Can new Red Bull recruit Sergio Perez succeed where Max Verstappen’s most recent team-mates have failed? And will Honda finally win a world championship while still in it? This month’s GP Racing also analyses what’s going on in a midfield that’s been subject to remarkable change, with two teams rolling out entire new identities. Having compared Aston Martin’s launch with the infamous 1989 Brit Awards, our panel wonders whether the rebranded team will deliver a better script once it hits the track in anger. After the first test that’s still very much open to question… In the magazine Mark Gallagher describes Alpine’s plan for the next few seasons as Lazarus, The Repair Shop and Spartacus all rolled into one. New recruit Davide Brivio will be key to ensuring this happens on-track and our panel assesses how he will fit in with a long-established technical operation at Enstone and the expectations of the team’s returning star Fernando Alonso. The team also share some personal recollections of the late Murray Walker, a longtime friend of the magazine as well as an occasional cover star – and a much-loved columnist until he finally set aside his typewriter at the age of 92.
F1 vs Covid - We Count The Cost
Jan 27, 2021
Show notes
‘Flat Chat’ is back for February alongside a new edition of GP Racing magazine. Stuart Codling is joined by Ben Anderson and Mark Gallagher to talk about how F1 performed a staggering feat of financial engineering to survive in 2020. What is Jenson Button’s actual role at Williams? What is McLaren’s connection with Jerry Maguire? And why has the newly rebranded Alpine team ejected longtime leader Cyril Abiteboul? This month’s GP Racing also delves into what makes the top four drivers on the grid so much better – and what sets them apart from what is already an elite group. Why has Fernando Alonso made the cut when younger stars such as Daniel Ricciardo haven’t?
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