The Race F1 Podcast

Latest Episodes:

In-Car Insights: What we learned from F1's first day back Aug 20, 2026

Show notes

As a special bonus, we're making the Thursday edition of our In-Car Insights podcast - usually only available to The Race Members' Club - free for everyone to listen to.

In this episode - more accurately described as near-the-track insights - Edd Straw and Jon Noble recap the biggest storylines from a jam-packed as F1 2026 returned from its summer break at the Dutch Grand Prix.

They discuss Max Verstappen's new contract - and why Carlos Sainz signed his - plus what F1's newest team boss, Marcin Budkowski, had to say, and how Liam Lawson's feeling ahead of his surprise Red Bull Racing return.

If you like what you hear, simply head to Patreon.com/therace to sign up to The Race Members' Club and enjoy these bonus episodes (and much more besides) on every grand prix weekend.

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Tech Show: The secrets of driver-in-the-loop simulators Aug 20, 2026

Show notes

We have a special episode of The Race F1 Tech Show for you this week that includes a feature length interview with an F1 simulator pioneer.

The driver-in-the-loop simulator, or DIL, as it’s called, has become a key tool for Formula 1 teams in the 21st century. They were once in-house projects, but as the technology has evolved companies have emerged to provide state-of-the-art driver in loop simulator hardware to supply not only F1 teams, but also other racing teams and even private individuals across their product range.

Dynisma, based in Bristol in the UK, has emerged as the most significant supplier to Formula 1 teams, and in this episode Edd Straw talks to company founder Ash Warne, a key pioneer of driver-in-loop simulator technology with McLaren who later worked for Ferrari.

In the interview, Warne explains the key technological demands that make such simulators as accurate as possible, how they are used and how their use has evolved over the years.

He also talks about the importance of latency and bandwidth in ensuring that the simulator is responsive enough to minimise the lag in what the driver feels, the hexapod design with six-degrees of freedom that creates the motion, and the intricacies of how F1 teams use their driver-in-loop simulators.

We hope you enjoy it!

Get bonus F1 podcasts, extra content and ad-free listening, sign-up to The Race Members' Club on Patreon today.

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Driver market moves, Cadillac's shock change & who Mercedes should fear - Our Dutch GP F1 predictions Aug 18, 2026

Show notes

F1's summer break is nearly over! The Race F1 Podcast looks at all the big storylines heading into the Dutch Grand Prix, including whether George Russell still has any hope of a title shot, and whether it's Ferrari or McLaren that Mercedes should fear most going into the second half of the season.

Nelson Valkenburg and Ben Anderson join Edd Straw to make their predictions on both form and the remaining 2027 driver market questions. Should we expect any bombshells?

The big news of mid-summer was the shock sacking of Cadillac team boss Graeme Lowdon. We also delve into everything we've learned about the team's situation since the events of last week and look at the bigger picture questions about the power balance there.

Get bonus F1 podcasts, extra content and ad-free listening, sign-up to The Race Members' Club on Patreon today.

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Coming soon... The Race F1 Rewind Aug 17, 2026

Show notes

Coming soon, a new sister show to The Race F1 Podcast focusing on F1 history: The Race F1 Rewind. In each episode, Edd Straw and Mark Hughes will hit the rewind button and dive into an exciting chapter in F1 history before hitting fast forward again and explaining the lasting impact of the story, topic or person today. Having attended over 800 grands prix between them, we can't think of two better hosts to guide listeners back in time and add colour to the moments that mattered and we look forward to bringing you episode 1 soon!

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Driving Style Secrets: We answer your questions about five 21st century greats Aug 15, 2026

Show notes

As a bonus in the feed, we're bringing you our Driving Style Secrets Q&A episode. Driving Style Secrets is a podcast series available exclusively in The Race Members' Club on Patreon. In Season 3, which finished recently, Edd Straw and Mark Hughes took a deep dive into the driving techniques of five of F1's 21st century greats: Fernando Alonso, Kimi Raikkonen, Jenson Button, Sebastian Vettel and Nico Rosberg - and here they answer questions from the Race Members' Club about each of them!

Edd and Mark start things off by discussing who, out of our five drivers covered, dealt with Lewis Hamilton the best. They then go on to discuss how Fernando Alonso's driving style saves tyres, how much of a driving style is deliberate versus instinctive, how each driver's technique evolved over time, why Raikkonen's career arc was linked to tyre philosophy changes, and what would have happened had Vettel gone up against Hamilton at Mercedes. There's also an explanation for why the fastest F1 drivers rarely exhibit flashy car control, and why Alonso is good but perhaps not great in wet conditions.

To listen to all 3 seasons of Driving Style Secrets, sign-up to The Race Members' Club on Patreon today.

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Are these F1 conspiracy theories actually true? - The Undercut with Damon Hill and Mark Hughes Aug 13, 2026

Show notes

There's been plenty of extraordinary conspiracy theories throughout Formula 1 history - but are some of them actually true? Mark Hughes and 1996 world champion Damon Hill dissect some of the most interesting F1 conspiracies in the latest episode of The Undercut.

Get bonus F1 podcasts, extra content and ad-free listening, sign-up to The Race Members' Club on Patreon today.

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Has F1 become anti-innovation? Aug 10, 2026

Show notes

To many, Formula 1 is about engineering genius, so why does the governing body, the FIA, so often outlaw bold new ideas after they appear? Has grand prix racing become anti-innovation, or is it essential for 'the show' to control technical development?

On this episode of The Race F1 Podcast, which was inspired by a question sent in by someone in The Race Members' Club on Patreon, Edd Straw is joined by Samarth Kanal and Mark Hughes to debate whether F1 has got the innovation balance right or wrong, and to hypothesise on what would happen if the FIA relaxed the rules and allowed the teams to innovate as they wish, provided they stuck to the cost cap...

Here's the full listener question from StevieNoises that inspired the episode:

Why is F1’s strategy so anti-development? Ferrari’s exhaust wing is banned for 2027 and, to quote from The-Race.com ‘although the FIA was satisfied that the designs fully compiled with the regulations, it was mindful that if things were left untouched there was a risk of things getting more extreme and a potential tech war exploding.’

'Tech war' is negatively loaded language that perfectly describes the sport! Car performance is based on the design of the car rather than the talent of the driver (for the most part), so a tech war is what Formula 1 is. Why is the strategy to counter development? Teams cannot just spend their way out of problems now. All of the teams saw the Ferrari rear wing in testing and took time to evaluate if it is worth bringing. 10 years ago, all of the top teams would have had one on the car for round 1. With the cost cap in place, there arguably should be more freedom in chasing designs.

I understand that occasionally developments are banned because it can lead to one team being extremely dominant which you could make the argument with McLaren's system. But it's not like Ferrari have won a lot of races this year BECAUSE of the exhaust wing. This is not a development like DAS, or the double diffuser for example.

Get bonus F1 podcasts, extra content and ad-free listening, sign-up to The Race Members' Club on Patreon today.

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Tech Show: Why Mercedes should fear McLaren in F1's second half Aug 07, 2026

Show notes

In the latest episode of The Race F1 Tech Show, we evaluate two teams that took major steps forward before the summer break: McLaren and Aston Martin.

Edd Straw is joined by former F1 technical director Gary Anderson, who explains why McLaren's approach to upgrades should pay it back in the second half of the season, and why Lando Norris' stunning Hungary victory shouldn't be a track specific one-off.

Next, Gary discuss his old team, Aston Martin, and the performance step it was able to make with a heavily upgraded car. Gary explains the bold aerodyanmic choices Adrian Newey has taken with the car, and why it affords the team plenty of headroom for improvement.

And finally, Gary answers another batch of questions from listeners on differences in deployment between drivers, the 2027 rules, upgrade scheduling, hybrid technology evolution and F1’s ultimate rules.

If you'd like to ask Gary a question, send it to podcasts@the-race.com

Get bonus F1 podcasts, extra content and ad-free listening, sign-up to The Race Members' Club on Patreon today.

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What next for Aston Martin, Alonso and Honda after big F1 leap? Aug 03, 2026

Show notes

After its nightmare start to 2026, Aston Martin finally showed signs of a revival in Hungary after putting a big upgrade on the car. So has Adrian Newey finally got the Silverstone-based team on the right track, or will there be more bumps in the road, even with a new Honda power unit on the way?

On the latest episode of The Race F1 Podcast, Edd Straw is joined by Josh Suttill and Jon Noble to assess Aston Martin's current position and expected trajectory, and how that might impact Fernando Alonso’s future. Plus, we round up the latest F1 news, including how the 2026 and 2027 calendars are shaping up amid continued conflict in the Middle East and why a significant FIA figure has spoken out against F1's power unit manufacturers...

Get bonus F1 podcasts, extra content and ad-free listening, sign-up to The Race Members' Club on Patreon today.

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Race Business: How Flavio Briatore turned a 'very bad idea' into a $150 million F1 deal Aug 01, 2026

Show notes

Alpine's executive advisor and de facto team boss Flavio Briatore, is the latest guest on The Race Business's 'In Conversation With...' series. He talks about how Team Enstone has gone from an $80 million valuation to a $3.5 billion valuation, how highly he rates Pierre Gasly, why he thinks there needs to be 24 sprint races and explains how he turned a 'very bad idea' into a $150 million title sponsorship deal.

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