# 280: Behind the Scenes in F1 Media (Part B)

An episode of [The Howie Games](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1146329262), 19 Oct 2026, 30 min.

Audio: https://enrichment.soundstack.com/4vjqq8/episode.flightcast.com/sygupvvzcptgbqlt1g2t85ii.mp3

Formula 1 is one of the most intoxicating, brutal and fascinating sports on the planet. But what happens beyond the chequered flag? In this special episode of The Howie Games, we’re joined by journalist and author Stuart Bell, whose book Formula One: The World's Most Brutal Sport takes us inside the high-pressure, high-stakes world of F1 media. Stuart shares a tip for aspiring journalists looking to break into the sport, reflects on the Michael Schumacher moments that fuelled his lifelong obsession with motorsport, and tells the unforgettable story of five attempts to interview Schumacher. Plus, we explore the cultural crossover of Formula 1 and global celebrity, from Kim Kardashian and Lewis Hamilton to the ever-expanding world of F1 fandom. A special episode for all sports lovers, the aspiring sports journalists, and anyone who wants to get closer to the stories behind the sport. Get Stuart Bell's book, Formula One: The World's Most Brutal Sport, here: Purchase the book See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:02] A listener production.
[0:07] You are listening to episode 280 of the Howie Games Part B featuring F1 author Stuart Bell.
[0:12] Belly's book is a beauty.
[0:13] It is called Formula One, the world's most brutal sport.
[0:16] Get in now.
[0:17] On we go.
[0:19] Where do you sit on the new regulations?
[0:20] Regulations.
[0:22] It's a hard one because, you know, as I've said to you, we're always moving forward.
[0:26] And I think Formula One's idea, it can't be an all-electric championship because that's what Formula E is and it's got the hold on that.
[0:31] And F1 recognised that there's two billion cars on the road that are petrol-driven and so sustainable fuel is the way to go.
[0:42] It's tough because we're seeing cars downshifting on the straights.
[0:46] We're not seeing them flat out and qualifying.
[0:49] And that is really, it's disappointing because, you know, I remember being trackside at Albert Park.
[0:54] This is before it was changed.
[0:56] Turn six, the end of Sector 1, you could hear them and you could just feel them approaching the corner with absolute, they were just like a monster coming like a bullet and they would just explode into view.
[1:07] And when they were on a hot lap, it was like watching an alien craft.
[1:11] It was otherworldly.
[1:13] Yeah.
[1:13] You know, and I think...
[1:14] It was balls to the wall, wasn't it?
[1:16] Absolutely.
[1:16] These blokes have to be the best in the world at what they do to be able to actually do this now.
[1:22] Yes.
[1:23] And we're not seeing that in qualifying especially.
[1:26] The races, I think, have been quite interesting.
[1:28] I love the racing.
[1:29] And the good thing is Mercedes, we knew they were going to have an advantage coming into it.
[1:33] And we'll see if that's washed away with the compression ratio changes.
[1:38] And they've had another ban on sort of the way that they're able to manipulate the MGUK on the straights.
[1:44] But...
[1:45] Yeah, the fact that Ferraris and McLaren have been able to overtake them at the start, fantastic.
[1:50] And the change of position, I'm with you.
[1:52] I think qualifying needs to be tweaked.
[1:54] But to see, in all my years watching it, if Hamilton goes past Russell, that's it.
[2:04] Then he drives up the road.
[2:05] Now, Russell can go back past Hamilton, back and forth.
[2:08] You call it fabricated, whatever you want.
[2:10] Yeah.
[2:11] I'm not buying any of that.
[2:11] You're seeing passing on the track.
[2:13] Yeah.
[2:13] Which is what Formula One's been trying to do for 30 years.
[2:16] Indeed.
[2:16] With everything.
[2:16] With the DRS, with reducing rear wings, with everything.
[2:20] It's a try and promote overtaking.
[2:21] Yeah.
[2:21] Now they've done it.
[2:22] And they tried it with the previous era and it's trying to force the dirty air over the chasing car.
[2:29] But that was shut down by development.
[2:30] All the teams are trying to sort of stop their competitors passing.
[2:34] But yeah, we've got that in the new era.
[2:36] But I think if we can tweak qualifying and focus on that being at the absolute limit, we want to, I think Christian Horner put it best when he said a couple of years ago, Formula One needs to be man and machine at the absolute limit.
[2:49] That's what it has to be.
[2:50] And I think we shouldn't lose sight of that.
[2:52] And that should be our North Star for going forward.
[2:56] But yeah, I absolutely agree with you.
[2:57] The racing is great.
[2:58] You've had the privilege to speak to all sorts of Formula 1 drivers over the year, so let's swap experiences.
[3:04] Sure.
[3:05] I'll throw some random categories at you.
[3:07] Your favourite Formula 1 driver to interview and briefly why?
[3:12] Yeah.
[3:13] I mean, that's...
[3:15] It's David Coulthard.
[3:17] We don't know.
[3:17] It's the reality.
[3:18] You know, the pace we had in Nürburgring surprised us.
[3:21] Just the way the track conditions came to the tyre and the way the car worked and the setup, it gave us good race pace.
[3:27] That would be great if that happened again here today.
[3:29] I love that you're just giving me one name.
[3:30] Why David Coulthard?
[3:31] Well, I mean, I idolized him growing up.
[3:33] He was the driver I watched as I sort of followed the sport in my younger years.
[3:37] I love that he's expressive.
[3:39] He knows how to turn a phrase.
[3:43] He wants to give you a whole answer, and he knows – he understands how to speak.
[3:47] He's always been super professional.
[3:50] Yeah, I just find that he's engaging.
[3:52] I did an interview with him at Crown, you know, 10 years ago probably, and we just went up there and had a chat for half an hour, and he's just –
[4:00] He's a great guy.
[4:02] He wasn't obviously the most successful 13-time Grand Prix winner.
[4:05] Pretty successful.
[4:06] Absolutely.
[4:07] But just a ripper bloke.
[4:08] Okay, so you're going with Coulthard.
[4:09] I'm going to go with Hamilton.
[4:11] Okay.
[4:11] Lewis Hamilton, great to see you again as a four-time world champion.
[4:16] Look at the smile on your face.
[4:18] What does that mean to you?
[4:18] Congratulations, by the way.
[4:19] It's extraordinary.
[4:20] Yeah, I haven't seen you since then.
[4:21] No, no.
[4:22] Every time I see you, there's another world title coming out of the way.
[4:25] Yeah, definitely.
[4:26] Well, I mean, it's been a while now since I've had it.
[4:30] Yeah, I mean, there's not a day that goes by.
[4:32] It doesn't feel special.
[4:33] I don't know.
[4:34] I've probably interviewed him five or six times over the years.
[4:36] And he pretty much launched this podcast because we had an interview with him back in the channel 10 days.
[4:42] So, 2002.
[4:46] well, it's 10 years ago now, 2015, I guess.
[4:49] And we meant to have five or 10 minutes with him and he sat down for half an hour and spoke about surfing and music and fashion.
[4:55] He was thoroughly engaging.
[4:57] He looked you in the eye, shook your hand.
[5:00] And then I've told this story before.
[5:02] I bitched to the editor that we'd only see five minutes on free-to-air TV.
[5:07] And I argued with the production team who were doing after a 10-minute story on tyres.
[5:11] I'm like, well, we've got the biggest...
[5:14] athlete on the planet here at the moment speak for 26 minutes.
[5:17] I just dropped the tie story and let's make his run 12 minutes.
[5:20] And he only six minutes went to air and I was talking to a mate of mine, an editor, Jarvis Hunder.
[5:24] He said, mate, you need to do podcasts with these people.
[5:26] I was like, what's a podcast?
[5:27] And that is how this 10-year journey was launched, which is now sitting here with you.
[5:31] So I'm going, Lewis is my favorite.
[5:33] Yep, great.
[5:34] Now...
[5:37] Before we get to hardest, most intimidating, because there are some seriously, I find, intimidating characters in the Formula One paddock.
[5:45] Who have you sat down with and thought, right, belly, I've got to be on me sharpest here because otherwise this bloke or girl is just going to give me short shift?
[5:54] That's a tough one.
[5:55] I mean, look...
[5:57] I think probably Alain Prost.
[5:59] Alain Prost, the professor.
[6:01] Alain Prost has won now as he waves to receive the plaudits of the crowd.
[6:08] Yeah, I mean, look, I think I wouldn't say he's intimidating, but he's legendary career.
[6:13] Yes.
[6:14] And he's, you know, I mean, he's just done everything.
[6:16] You feel the weight of his size in the sport.
[6:19] Of course.
[6:20] But he was...
[6:21] so charismatic when I sat down with him and he just sort of likes to sort of, you know, he, he, he loves to sort of engage with you and, and sort of, you know, he's very charismatic.
[6:29] So, um, yeah, I think that's, that's definitely it.
[6:32] But, um, yeah.
[6:32] What about you?
[6:33] Shui.
[6:34] Okay.
[6:34] Shui.
[6:35] I,
[6:36] A couple of briefs you used, well, again, when I was doing the Grand Prix TV, I don't think it was with 10.
[6:43] It might have been with 10, and yeah, it would have been 10 because he was in his Mercedes days, and I'll never forget, qualifying day, rolled up, he had the white pants, the white shoes, the white top, the white sunnies.
[6:54] He's like Mr. Euro.
[6:56] Yep.
[6:56] And, you know, they sit outside the front or in the Mercedes area.
[7:00] And I had the balls to go up to him five times over the weekend to ask him for a chat.
[7:05] It would have been with Channel 10.
[7:07] And five times he politely declined.
[7:09] And as my kids would say, it was massive or a loss for me each time.
[7:13] But I just found him.
[7:14] He's the first person I ever interviewed in world sport, Michael Schumacher, which I've told that story before.
[7:19] But I don't know.
[7:21] I just found him not too...
[7:24] Not unfriendly, not kind, just very intimidating, very intimidating.
[7:32] So now we move to... Actually, I've got another one for you.
[7:36] Go on.
[7:36] And I think this, because I prepare so far in advance, I've got a set of questions there to be comfortable about.
[7:42] Yep.
[7:43] The thing I find with intimidating drivers is when they're, so many of these drivers are sort of socially maladjusted and they don't know how to engage with you.
[7:50] And I think the toughest one I ever had was Nikita Mazepin, who was the last driver.
[7:54] Yeah, super happy to be here.
[7:56] Loads of opportunities for us to look at.
[8:00] And I'm looking forward to doing my best.
[8:03] Is he Russian?
[8:03] He was Russian.
[8:04] He is Russian.
[8:05] And he was absolutely cold as ice.
[8:09] So how'd you go?
[8:10] You sit down, you try to warm him up.
[8:11] How are you going, mate?
[8:12] I mean, I think he did a business degree.
[8:14] I asked him what was the reasoning behind his business degree.
[8:18] He looked at me like I was just asking the dumbest question in the world.
[8:21] And then afterwards, his publicist gave me short shrift as well.
[8:25] Right.
[8:25] I think it's when you get into that, you know, that ice cold approach that you're just like, well, I'm not making any headway there.
[8:31] And you kind of, because I'm, you know, so easygoing, I find it very difficult to deal with characters like that, you know.
[8:37] So that's why I add that on one-on-one.
[8:38] So that's intimidating.
[8:39] Okay, now what about Hardest?
[8:41] It might be your man, the Russian to get.
[8:43] Like for me, clearly, I'll start.
[8:46] Again, everyone says this bloke on the turps is the world's best fella.
[8:51] Keep me right on him.
[8:52] Right.
[8:54] Have you ever done a one-on-one with Kimi Reichen?
[8:55] Yes.
[8:56] Okay.
[8:56] I would like to know how you go because I reckon I've attempted it three times to the point where the last one...
[9:03] He might have been at Renault at the time.
[9:05] I don't know.
[9:08] No, Lotus.
[9:08] It might have been Lotus.
[9:09] Yes.
[9:09] Lotus it would have been.
[9:10] It was in Melbourne.
[9:11] We went upstairs into their hospitality area.
[9:14] He walks in.
[9:14] He's got the sunglasses on.
[9:16] Came around and asked him to take the sunglasses off.
[9:18] I'm like, oh, no.
[9:19] Don't ask him that.
[9:20] He's like, no.
[9:21] Okay.
[9:22] And he just had no interest.
[9:24] Yeah.
[9:25] Zero interest in what he was doing.
[9:27] And I asked the first question, you know, Kimmy, great to have you back in Australia.
[9:29] You must be happy to be here.
[9:31] One word, yes.
[9:33] Stuff this.
[9:34] I've done a bit of it at this stage.
[9:35] I just said, look, Kimmy, it's obviously you don't really enjoy doing these, do you?
[9:38] No.
[9:39] Why not?
[9:40] Waste of time.
[9:41] And we didn't really get too much further than that, to be honest, with Kimmy.
[9:44] But everyone says, out with a couple of vodkas in him, you won't meet a nicer chap.
[9:48] I've heard that too.
[9:49] I had the same experience.
[9:50] And the other thing I've heard... Did you say it wasn't just my lack of talent interviewing people?
[9:54] I think... And he's also like a very sort of low-volume talker.
[9:59] Very quiet talker, as Seinfeld would say.
[10:01] And he basically...
[10:02] I had my recorder very close to him and hardly picked him up.
[10:05] But yeah, he just...
[10:06] That's part of why he does it.
[10:08] He doesn't like interviews, so he acts that way to make sure he doesn't do any more.
[10:12] I mean, why are you trying to make it so complicated?
[10:16] And you're still passionate about racing.
[10:17] The fire is still... No, I'm not, actually.
[10:20] I'm just by...
[10:23] pure uh head games for you guys i i have been designed and i'm gonna spend two years there just not being happy about that so i did it one-on-one with him but later on i was asked by like gq india they said oh we want to do this uh he won spa four times of different teams and uh so they said we want to do this thing around the belgian grand prix you know where he likes to stay where he likes to eat
[10:47] And I'm just thinking, oh, my God, this is going to be terrible.
[10:50] So I called Andy Stobin, who was at Reno Lotus, who was the press guy there.
[10:54] Yeah.
[10:55] And he was just like, look, we've got a stock list of his lifestyle questions, which included his favorite ice cream.
[11:02] Right.
[11:03] Everything.
[11:03] So I basically did a quick interview about spa.
[11:06] Yeah.
[11:06] And then filled it with the rest of these answers.
[11:08] But it was just like...
[11:10] You know what it's like.
[11:10] Yes, I do.
[11:11] You want a good chat, and so you really have to work with the talent that you've got.
[11:14] And some of the guys, they do like to talk.
[11:17] Others don't.
[11:18] And Lance Stroll, for example, is, I mean, sadly, I mean, he's been okay this year.
[11:22] But, yeah, he's very difficult.
[11:23] Hard work, is he?
[11:25] He started off very earnest.
[11:28] You know, before he joined Williams, he was very earnest.
[11:30] And he was very, you know, I remember asking him, you know, dad's obviously a billionaire, you know, like, how do you keep your feet on the ground, all that sort of stuff.
[11:37] And he was very earnest with me.
[11:38] But I think Formula One has changed him.
[11:40] I think he's been asked that question so many times.
[11:43] And you see that through the years with drivers.
[11:45] If they're not successful, they get a bit jaded.
[11:48] Like Adrian Sutil, he was in Macau.
[11:50] He was, you know, super positive.
[11:52] And then obviously he went through that difficulty of the Mint Nightclub in 2011 in China.
[11:57] And then he was just a different guy, you know, it's.
[11:59] Speaking of decisions, the Formula One driver Adrian Sutil might today be wishing he'd done things differently after being found guilty of causing grievous bodily harm and given an 18-month suspended sentence by a German court.
[12:11] Sutil was found guilty of striking an F1 team executive with a champagne glass causing an injury that needed 24 stitches.
[12:18] So I think we've seen a changing of Lance through the years, but it is what it is and yeah I don't think he's going to be winning a world championship anytime soon.
[12:27] More of Stu in a moment.
[12:28] Now, if you love Formula One or you just love good stories, go back and check out episode 29 of the show featuring F1 ace Mark Webber.
[12:37] Probably need to get Mark back on at some stage.
[12:38] Anyway, has he got some stories?
[12:42] And I just felt the front of the car go light, you know, and I thought I had never felt it go that light that fast before.
[12:48] And in a blink of an eye, I mean, obviously my reflexes aren't too bad and it just all went quiet.
[12:54] And I just had this massive compression, G-force compression with the car then starting this flip, which I knew at that time it's like this is –
[13:02] really, really bad because, you know, you've only got the guardrails, which are like, you know, a metre and a half high on the side of the track and there's just trees everywhere.
[13:12] So I'm like, if this thing goes off into the trees, I don't think I can survive this.
[13:16] I'll probably get killed.
[13:17] Here we go.
[13:18] Oh my God.
[13:19] Oh my God.
[13:20] The Mercedes has taken off.
[13:22] The car flew right up in the air.
[13:24] Over the barriers, over the wire and into the trees.
[13:27] Let's look at this again.
[13:28] This is an awful accident.
[13:30] An awful accident.
[13:32] How fast are you going?
[13:34] Well, probably took off at 300.
[13:36] Kilometers an hour.
[13:36] Yeah, 300k.
[13:37] But then the car obviously decelerates a lot when you've got that whole surface area of the car breaking against that.
[13:43] So, I mean, the speed backs off a lot, obviously.
[13:46] But you've still got this thing which weighs 900 kilos.
[13:49] like a leaf just flying around.
[13:51] So I thought that if I go into the trees, the branches, you know, I know how thin the windscreen is on this car.
[13:56] You know, these cars aren't...
[13:58] They're designed to do a lot of things in terms of a crash, you know, impact with other cars, impact with barriers, impact with lots of different scenarios, head-on, rear-on, side-on, rah-rah-rah, but they're not designed to go in trees.
[14:09] That's Mark Webber on episode 29 of the show.
[14:16] Let's get back to Stuart.
[14:18] Here's a tip for young players when we're talking about if you want to get into sports journalism.
[14:22] I find that the...
[14:24] So qualifying finishers, race finishers, drivers are immediately, all drivers are contracted.
[14:31] They need to come into their media pen.
[14:35] And as you would know, barely there might be 30 different journalists there from 30 different countries, ostensibly asking the same question.
[14:43] Here's a tip for young players out there.
[14:46] I have been amazed over the years, especially the European journalists, how, and maybe they become laissez-faire with it, but how they don't show any warmth to the driver.
[15:00] Right.
[15:00] So the driver's done two hours, 50-odd laps, put their life on the line.
[15:04] They might have come seventh.
[15:05] They might not have gone their way.
[15:07] If you have the ability just to smile at someone and before you get going,
[15:13] Lewis, really appreciate your time.
[15:14] It must have been tough out there, but you've come over and had a chat with us.
[15:17] Thank you very much for that.
[15:19] A smile and 20 words at the start of the interview can differentiate you from the 29 other interviewers who may just be firing the question in, Lewis, are you disappointed with the day?
[15:29] I never understand the negative question.
[15:32] Lewis, you must be disappointed with the day.
[15:34] You're painting him in a corner belly.
[15:36] Yes.
[15:36] Lewis, how do you feel about your day?
[15:38] And then he can say, mate, I'm absolutely spewing.
[15:40] It was a blah, blah, blah.
[15:41] Or he'll say, actually, you think I might be disappointed, but this happened and my buddy rear ring had an issue on it.
[15:50] So I didn't get where I wanted to go.
[15:51] Give the athlete the opportunity rather than put words in their mouth.
[15:55] Yeah, you shouldn't be doing that.
[15:56] That's not our job is to get what they're saying.
[15:59] I think that's the essence of journalism is we're delivering what the drivers, the players are saying with perspective.
[16:05] And, yeah, a lot of them just go in there and they've got – they're not trying to be as professional as they should be or they're a bit blunt or, you know, it's sad.
[16:13] But, you know, it's the ones who see, you know, the game for what it is and want to give the respect to the players and the drivers that ultimately stay on.
[16:21] My word, who's the next –
[16:25] I'd love this to be a less than obvious answer.
[16:27] Who's the next up-and-coming star of Formula One?
[16:37] If you look at the rookies in now that are coming in the last couple of years, Liam Lawson, Behrman, didn't work out for Jack Doohan, Antonelli,
[16:50] who are we going to be looking at in 15 years' time as a multiple world champion?
[16:55] I think you would have to say Berman.
[16:56] I mean, I spent the Australian Grand Prix weekend with him and his team.
[17:01] He's got something special, huh?
[17:02] He does.
[17:03] I think, you know, he, I mean, you'll have to see how he performed on debut for Ferrari at the 2024 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
[17:11] Feeling in.
[17:11] Look at this moment for the 18-year-old from Chelmsford.
[17:15] He would have been dreaming of hanging on, of keeping behind him Lando Norris and seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton.
[17:24] And it's points on debut for...
[17:27] He qualified just outside Q3.
[17:29] He got points, I think, on debut.
[17:33] He had Lando and Hamilton behind him on debut.
[17:37] He had no time to prepare.
[17:39] And then he had two more for Haas.
[17:42] He's a very cool character.
[17:43] I think he's delivered the standout results whenever he's gotten in the car.
[17:48] You don't have to look at Mexico last year.
[17:50] You have to look at this year in Australia and China.
[17:54] Not so good in Japan.
[17:55] But he's a very cool, calm guy.
[17:58] I was in the garage for FP2 in Australia.
[18:01] And what did you see?
[18:02] What did you see from him that made you think, right, he can be a multiple world champion?
[18:05] Well, I think his craft, but I think him just, it's all within him.
[18:10] You know, I think sometimes you see people reaching, you know, they're still not quite the finished article.
[18:16] And so, you know, you see those guys who are calm and composed and that shows confidence in, you know, I can do it.
[18:23] I've got things to learn.
[18:24] But even I had the headphones on in the garage and just hearing the way he chatted with his race engineer.
[18:30] very, very relaxed.
[18:31] And they, you know, they got the most out of the car and they were able to, yeah, they were just very focused on the job at hand.
[18:37] And that, I mean, that's obviously the same through the pit lane that, you know, I think, you know, drivers and teams are all very composed.
[18:43] You know, everyone expects F1 teams, especially in the frantic time of qualifying to be, you know, just not all over the place, but just a hive of activity when the best are relaxed and ready for come what may.
[18:55] You need the car and you need the team.
[18:58] Before I let you go, in your time in the sport, team principle, massive role.
[19:06] If you could choose one as the man you wanted in charge of your team.
[19:12] So nowadays you've got Toto, you had Christian Horner, you've had
[19:22] Various people, I go back to Ross Braun when he was in charge of Ferrari and Schumacher, that's a bit old school.
[19:29] Larger than life personalities, made larger than life by the Netflix series.
[19:34] You can choose one to run your Formula One team.
[19:38] Who are you going with?
[19:39] I think I'd go Ron Dennis, that old school McLaren.
[19:42] Old school.
[19:43] I mean, he's done everything.
[19:44] Tell you what to do, yeah.
[19:45] He's done everything from sweeping the floor at Bradham all the way up to- Designing Lewis Hamilton.
[19:50] Absolutely.
[19:50] So I'd say him, but look, Toto Wolff and all those modern principles are amazing.
[19:56] I mean, the control and the understanding of the whole ecosystem is imperative.
[20:00] I mean, even-
[20:02] Christian Horner, for example, used to approve every tweet that went out of Red Bull Racing.
[20:05] What do you really?
[20:06] Yeah.
[20:06] Every tweet?
[20:07] Yeah.
[20:08] Right at the start, he was that involved in every aspect of what was going on.
[20:13] So yeah, I think Ron Dennis, just the way that his presentation, the way he understood our Grand Prix team worked together, obviously he was a bit out on the Honda deal, so that was part of his downfall.
[20:24] But yeah, he was the ultimate consummate professional.
[20:28] One of the great mysteries was how Alpine declared Oscar Piastri was going to race for them.
[20:38] And then he ended up racing for the McLaren, which was a genius move by his advisors,
[20:44] Mark Webber and Anne, Mark's partner.
[20:48] What's your understanding of what happened there?
[20:50] Deadline day isn't quite over in the world of Formula One.
[20:54] Oscar Piastri going to drive for McLaren next year.
[20:57] Alpine have lost their appeal to the contract recognition board.
[21:01] Is that what it's called?
[21:02] Yeah, this is the body, independent body, four lawyers that rule if there is a contractual dispute potentially between two teams, which is the binding contract.
[21:11] In this case, they have unanimously ruled in favour of McLaren, saying that the only contract...
[21:17] live with regard to Oscar Piastri, this young driver, is the one that Piastri signed on the 4th of July.
[21:26] And in terms of why perhaps Alpine have been unsuccessful here, I understand key bits of paper perhaps did not have Piastri's signature on it.
[21:34] They couldn't necessarily...
[21:35] They just didn't have a signed contract.
[21:37] They had heads of contract, which was basically the... Alpine did.
[21:40] Yeah, very sort of early stage contract.
[21:43] And yeah, Weber and co, Anne, and, you know, they wanted to push to have that deal signed.
[21:49] And it just wasn't done in time.
[21:51] It was contract negligence by their department.
[21:54] You know, that's why...
[21:55] It was messy, wasn't it, when they came out and on social media said, basically, we've signed Oscar Piastri.
[22:01] Yes.
[22:02] And he came out and said, well, no, you haven't.
[22:04] Right.
[22:05] And I think they were pushing for them to sign.
[22:07] But, you know, Alpine is just, it was, it's, I mean, this is really the first year that Alpine's really been sort of had no major changes or anything like that.
[22:15] Previous, it's been just a revolving door of management.
[22:18] I mean, you know, I think it's something like,
[22:20] 10, 20 people have left there who have been all, even Prost was there as an advisor.
[22:26] Yeah.
[22:26] And each of those people have come and go.
[22:28] And now they've got Flavia.
[22:30] Exactly.
[22:30] And I think that's a very old school approach.
[22:31] Have you dealt with him?
[22:32] I've dealt with him, yeah.
[22:33] He's a serious operator.
[22:35] My word is a serious operator.
[22:37] So, but, you know, but...
[22:39] He knows what he's doing.
[22:41] He puts people in place and there's a sort of a – yeah, it's sharp orders and away you go.
[22:46] But yeah, Alpine's banking on that sort of working.
[22:50] But whether they bring in a Christian Horner or what have you to bolster that, I think they definitely – I mean – I'd like to see him back in the sport.
[22:57] Yeah.
[22:57] I think he brought so much to the sport.
[22:59] Absolutely.
[22:59] I mean I've got Steve Nilsson there who's the managing director.
[23:01] He's done –
[23:03] in the sport.
[23:04] So he's a good operator.
[23:05] But, yeah, I think Christian Horner being back, and he certainly brings a narrative in.
[23:10] Yes.
[23:11] And great to deal with.
[23:12] So just it struck me now that I was telling someone this the other day, I think it was Tom Clarkson, that when I started working in this caper, Flavio Briatore was going out with Naomi Campbell, who was the most beautiful woman in the world.
[23:23] That's the way she was marketed.
[23:24] And from what I saw, I reckon she probably was.
[23:27] But then he was involved.
[23:29] So you write about the different scandals in Formula One.
[23:35] He was involved in one of the great scandals at the very first edition of the Singapore Grand Prix.
[23:43] Yeah.
[23:44] So for those that want to get an understanding of how cutthroat it is, Billy, just explain what he was accused of.
[23:52] And I think he was punted from the sport for a while, wasn't he?
[23:54] He was.
[23:55] He was given a lifetime ban, which was overturned.
[23:58] A lifetime ban that wasn't a lifetime.
[24:00] Exactly.
[24:00] I mean, effectively...
[24:01] So explain to people what happened.
[24:03] Well, there was huge, huge pressure on Renault to get a win because they'd been uncompetitive.
[24:08] And so they advised this plan to crash at a certain spot.
[24:13] I think it was Turn 17 at the Singapore Grand Prix circuit.
[24:15] So there's two drivers.
[24:15] There's Alonso and there's Nelson Piquet Jr. Nelson Piquet Jr. And Renault's gamble looked to have paid off when Piquet crashed heavily and brought out the safety car.
[24:25] Fernando won again for the 20th time in his career with Rosberg second and Hamilton third.
[24:33] Unbelievably, it was Renault's first win since Japan 2006, but at least Pique played a part in it.
[24:40] Yep, so they devised that Nelson would crash at a certain time, the Grand Prix, at a certain place where there wasn't any crane trucks.
[24:48] So it would necessitate the safety car.
[24:51] And then basically Alonso pitted at the right time and came through and won.
[24:56] And yeah, everyone, even during the, you know, at the end of the race, people thought there was something.
[25:02] Renault have admitted that they fixed last year's Singapore Grand Prix, but did they get away with it?
[25:10] Renault team principal Flavio Briatore and engineering boss Pat Simmons paid for it with their jobs.
[25:17] Funny thing was, Alonso won the next race in Japan.
[25:20] It's back-to-back wins, Singapore and Japan for Fernando, Alonso and Renault.
[25:26] So they didn't even, you know, it just was like...
[25:29] Why'd you do it?
[25:30] Exactly.
[25:30] But you're in the moment and there's pressure on you.
[25:32] This is, again, I mean, there's, we talk about scandals and like, you know, the guys at, yeah, Ferrari.
[25:38] Spygate.
[25:39] Yeah, exactly.
[25:40] So there's lots of that sort of thing.
[25:41] How do you reckon that meeting goes?
[25:43] Pre-race meeting, you get your driver in there, there's Nelson Piquet Jr., famous name in the sport, and you just put him aside and say, now, listen, hasn't worked out for you in qualifying.
[25:55] We need you to get to X-LAP and we need you to crash your car.
[25:59] How do you really feel about that?
[26:00] Oh, my God.
[26:01] Yeah.
[26:01] That's a tough message to deliver.
[26:03] Yeah, and he's alone, you know.
[26:04] I mean, he's got Alonso as a teammate, so he's, you know, he can see his career going down the drain, you know.
[26:11] So I can imagine that, yeah, he would have been strong-armed into it.
[26:15] But, you know, I mean, he told his father and his father said someone could have
[26:18] You could have hurt yourself.
[26:19] You could have hurt someone else.
[26:21] And he said, I know, I know it was wrong.
[26:23] But under pressure, people do stupid things.
[26:25] That's Formula One?
[26:26] That's Formula One.
[26:27] Okay, Bradley, we'll finish this.
[26:28] The book is called Formula One, The World's Most Brutal Sport.
[26:31] Highly recommended from the Howie Games.
[26:32] It's a five-star.
[26:35] Finish this sentence for me to finish this podcast.
[26:38] The 2026 Formula One Drivers World Champion will be?
[26:44] George Russell.
[26:45] George Russell.
[26:47] second position will be filled by?
[26:49] Kimi O'Donnelli.
[26:51] Do you think Kimi can push him?
[26:54] I think so.
[26:54] I mean, we've seen, we saw his unbridled speed.
[26:56] He's leading at the moment.
[26:57] Absolutely.
[26:58] We saw his unbridled speed in China, in Japan.
[27:01] Yeah, he's got it.
[27:03] But I think he's still the unfinished article.
[27:06] He came in a year, really, before he's ready, given Lewis was going off to Ferrari.
[27:11] So, you know, Mercedes had to scramble.
[27:13] He's going to have that same sort of, he might have that lull.
[27:17] And George Russell, I think he's unbelievably underrated.
[27:21] I mean, I did a big feature for F1 Racing Mag, which was the Bible back in the day of magazines.
[27:27] And I spoke to Mercedes and they were just like, I was telling them, you know, he broke this record on the way, you know, when he was testing and they were just like...
[27:34] We know.
[27:34] We know what he can do.
[27:36] There was no surprise about it.
[27:38] So the wins that he's got, I think he's got six wins now.
[27:42] He's quick.
[27:43] He's smart.
[27:44] Lovely skin.
[27:45] Yeah.
[27:45] Yeah, yes.
[27:46] And he always had T-Pose.
[27:47] He does.
[27:48] But I think he's got it in him.
[27:50] But look, anything can happen in Formula One.
[27:53] We've got McLaren on the rise.
[27:55] Where's Red Bull?
[27:56] They're a known developer.
[27:57] Yeah.
[27:58] Max Verstappen, if they give him a strong car.
[28:01] I mean, he came back from Monza last year and won six of the last nine races.
[28:05] Yeah, I think you're right.
[28:06] I think there's a lot of twists.
[28:08] What will be the size of the reaction if or when Lewis turns up to a Grand Prix track with Kim Kardashian on his arm?
[28:23] It'd be the biggest thing in the history of the sport, won't it?
[28:25] Massive box office, you know.
[28:27] Imagine the combined social media.
[28:29] Like Ferrari would be hoping with every hope that this happens.
[28:35] Of course.
[28:35] I mean, that's why celebs are- Imagine the brand alignment.
[28:39] And that's where, you know, you've got the true mainstream would turn its eyes to Formula One and be, okay, what is this sport?
[28:45] They would.
[28:46] For everything that happened, it's ridiculous and it's-
[28:50] You know, I would honestly, I'd rather watch a better qualifying session than seeing Kim Kardashian in the Grand Prix.
[28:56] But what you're talking about, from a global perspective, the people that have hardly heard of this race, if she walked into the paddock in Miami, holy heck belly.
[29:06] Absolutely.
[29:08] Mate, congratulations on the book.
[29:10] Thanks for having a chat with me.
[29:12] Enjoy the rest of the season and hopefully our man, Oscar, can fulfil those discussions and become world champion.
[29:17] Congratulations, mate, on the book.
[29:19] Thank you very much.
[29:22] Something different, eh?
[29:23] A little additional offering for you.
[29:26] Gee whiz, belly, nosy stuff.
[29:27] If you want to hear more, remember to check out his book.
[29:29] It's called Formula One, The World's Most Brutal Sport.
[29:32] Until Thursday with more of the South African Test Tour Diaries.
[29:36] Peace and love.
[29:38] And we can do it if we try, try, try.
[29:45] If we try, try, try.
[29:51] If we try, try, try

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