F1 2023 calendar rotation, Schumacher, Mansell, Hil & more - with Steve Slater

'Where it all began' is the best tagline for Formula 1 at Silverstone, the venue of the iconic and historic British Grand Prix.

As a bonus feature for the upcoming 2022 British Grand Prix, the legendary Steve Slater, the 'voice of F1', joined us on the Inside Line F1 Podcast to narrate some of the finest British GP moments over the years.

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This episode is a throwback to some of the most-memorable performances at the British Grand Prix, discussions around past and present British drivers and of course, legendary British racing teams. Tune in!

Our 2022 British Grand Prix preview episode will go on-air on 1st July (Friday). 

(Season 2022, Episode 38)

Follow our hosts: Sundaram Ramaswami, Soumil Arora and Kunal Shah

Image courtesy: Ferrari

**British Grand Prix: A Walk Down Memory Lane with Steve Slater**


**The Voice of Formula One**

Steve Slater, the legendary voice of Formula One, joins the Inside Line F1 Podcast to share his memories and insights on the iconic British Grand Prix. As a seasoned commentator and expert in the sport, Slater offers a captivating narrative of some of the most memorable moments at Silverstone, the historic venue of the British GP.

**Silverstone: A Track Steeped in History**

Slater recounts his first British GP experience in 1977, witnessing James Hunt's victory from pole position in his McLaren. He vividly describes the atmosphere surrounding the race, highlighting Hunt's larger-than-life persona and the excitement generated by his triumph.

**Nigel Mansell: The British Hero**

The conversation shifts to Nigel Mansell, another iconic British driver who ignited the passion of fans with his aggressive driving style and charismatic personality. Slater recalls Mansell's 1987 victory at Brands Hatch, where he and Nelson Piquet dominated the race, lapping the entire field. He also reminisces about Mansell's 1992 triumph at Silverstone, where he secured pole position by an astonishing two seconds and led a Williams 1-2 finish.

**Lewis Hamilton: A Hometown Hero**

The discussion moves on to Lewis Hamilton, the current British sensation in Formula One. Slater reflects on Hamilton's remarkable achievement of winning eight British Grand Prix races, including his first victory in 2008. He praises Hamilton's flawless performance in that race, despite challenging weather conditions and safety car interruptions.

**Controversial Moments: The 1998 British GP**

Slater delves into the controversial 1998 British GP, where Michael Schumacher served a penalty on the final lap after passing Mika Häkkinen. He highlights the confusion surrounding the incident, with Ferrari and the stewards misinterpreting the penalty, leading to its eventual dismissal.

**Silverstone's Evolving Layout**

Slater expresses his preference for the older Silverstone circuit layout, which he believes was more challenging and exciting for drivers. He reminisces about the high-speed corners and the iconic Copse Corner, emphasizing its significance as the first corner of the race.

**The Charm of Silverstone**

Slater acknowledges the unique character of Silverstone, which is often referred to by its corner names rather than numbers. He compares it to other historic circuits like Spa and Monza, highlighting their unbroken history and importance in Formula One.

**Balancing Tradition and Modernization**

Slater acknowledges the need for modernizing circuits to improve facilities and safety, but he questions the recent trend of alternating races at historic venues. He suggests that street circuits could benefit from such rotations, while preserving the legacy of traditional tracks like Silverstone.

**Silverstone: A British Institution**

Slater concludes by emphasizing the significance of Silverstone as a British institution, representing the country's rich motorsport heritage. He expresses his hope that the circuit will continue to host the British Grand Prix for many years to come.

# The Inside Line F1 Podcast: British Grand Prix Special with Steve Slater

## Introduction

* The British Grand Prix is a historic and iconic race on the Formula 1 calendar.
* Steve Slater, the legendary "voice of F1," joins the Inside Line F1 Podcast to narrate some of the finest British GP moments over the years.

## British Grand Prix Trivia

* The British Grand Prix has been held at Silverstone Circuit since 1987.
* The race was first held in 1926 at Brooklands and has been held at various circuits throughout its history.
* Silverstone is a high-speed circuit with long straights and challenging corners.
* The British Grand Prix is one of the most popular races on the Formula 1 calendar.

## Memorable British Grand Prix Moments

* Steve Slater shares his memories of some of the most memorable British Grand Prix moments, including:
* Damon Hill's emotional victory in 1994, just days after the death of Ayrton Senna.
* Mark Webber's famous "not bad for a number two driver" race in 2010.
* Lewis Hamilton's dominant victory in 2020, which secured his seventh World Championship title.

## The British Grand Prix and British Drivers

* The British Grand Prix is a special race for British drivers.
* British drivers have won the race a record 17 times.
* Some of the most famous British drivers to have won the race include:
* Sir Jackie Stewart
* Nigel Mansell
* Damon Hill
* Lewis Hamilton

## The Future of the British Grand Prix

* The British Grand Prix is one of the most popular races on the Formula 1 calendar.
* However, there are concerns that the race could be dropped from the calendar in the future.
* Steve Slater discusses the challenges facing the British Grand Prix and the importance of keeping the race on the calendar.

## Conclusion

* The British Grand Prix is a historic and iconic race that holds a special place in the hearts of Formula 1 fans around the world.
* The race has produced some of the most memorable moments in Formula 1 history.
* The future of the British Grand Prix is uncertain, but it is hoped that the race will remain on the calendar for many years to come.

[00:00.000 -> 00:22.800] The five red lights illuminate and away we go.
[00:22.800 -> 00:26.400] That's the traditional staple line of the next guest that
[00:26.400 -> 00:30.720] we're going to have on the Inside Line F1 Podcast and Pitch the Podium. You have heard of him before
[00:30.720 -> 00:35.600] on this particular podcast. We've had him twice, firstly for our Voices of F1 series and then of
[00:35.600 -> 00:40.800] course a couple of months ago to discuss this upcoming Formula 1 season. But I'm so glad that
[00:40.800 -> 00:45.560] our next guest, well he's just going to be previewing the British Grand Prix with his most favorite memories.
[00:45.560 -> 00:48.120] But Kunal, who is our next guest?
[00:48.120 -> 00:49.680] Who are we going to have on?
[00:49.680 -> 00:53.800] Assuming that people haven't read the title, which is silly of me, but I kind of like to do an intro like this one.
[00:53.800 -> 00:54.640] It's just fun.
[00:56.040 -> 00:57.040] It absolutely is.
[00:57.040 -> 01:02.840] Our next guest, as you guys already know, is the legendary Steve Slater.
[01:03.680 -> 01:06.840] He is the CEO of the Light Aircraft Association,
[01:06.840 -> 01:10.040] but we all very, very fondly remember him
[01:10.040 -> 01:12.880] as one of the most striking voices
[01:12.880 -> 01:14.880] of Formula One over the years.
[01:14.880 -> 01:17.320] Steve, thank you so much for joining in.
[01:17.320 -> 01:20.480] Thank you for making time for us for this episode.
[01:20.480 -> 01:21.800] Oh, well, why couldn't I?
[01:21.800 -> 01:23.760] I mean, particularly, not least because my office
[01:23.760 -> 01:29.680] for the Light Aircraft Association is at an airfield 5km away from Silverstone. Come Friday when the
[01:29.680 -> 01:34.260] cars take to the track I can open my window and listen to them from my office.
[01:34.260 -> 01:38.120] When you're so close to Silverstone sir, it's very interesting that, it's something that
[01:38.120 -> 01:42.240] we just found out before the recording, that your airfield is the place where they actually
[01:42.240 -> 01:45.200] take the weather radar readings for the entire weekend.
[01:45.200 -> 01:46.800] How crazy is that?
[01:46.800 -> 01:55.360] Yeah, just at the opposite end of my car park is the Meteosat France radar unit,
[01:55.360 -> 01:57.360] which has been erected in the car park.
[01:57.360 -> 02:00.240] Three very nice French guys always turn up with it.
[02:00.240 -> 02:03.440] They're sitting there no doubt with their red wine and their baguettes now,
[02:03.440 -> 02:06.760] till the end of the weekend but it's actually quite serious.
[02:06.760 -> 02:11.220] Again being five kilometers away we're just far enough away from Silverstone
[02:11.220 -> 02:15.280] to be able to give them direct weather reports like is it raining or not and
[02:15.280 -> 02:20.440] we're directly upwind of the prevailing wind so the wind will normally come from
[02:20.440 -> 02:25.440] the southwest we're five kilometers southwest of Silverstone and also their radar,
[02:25.440 -> 02:29.440] of course, is pointing out further afield to give longer term warnings and of course those
[02:29.440 -> 02:35.840] radar maps that you see on F1. Ah, very interesting stuff actually and it's interesting how things are
[02:35.840 -> 02:40.160] so well mapped out in terms of radar and if anything we just hope that the weather can get
[02:40.160 -> 02:44.640] a little bit iffy for this weekend. We shall come to that in a second. First, it's time for a quick
[02:44.640 -> 02:47.360] message on the Inside Line F1 podcast. Be right here in a second.
[02:48.400 -> 02:52.400] Hey folks, welcome back in. You are listening to our special British EP preview
[02:52.400 -> 02:58.960] with Mr. Steve Slater, the voice of Formula One back in Asia. And so, I firstly have to ask you
[02:58.960 -> 03:03.920] about your earliest British EP memories, because, I mean, which was the first race that you ended up
[03:03.920 -> 03:07.480] watching? For me, it was 2008, and I would love to talk about that one as
[03:07.480 -> 03:12.840] well but which one was your first one? I go back a little bit earlier than that
[03:12.840 -> 03:19.960] I went as a teenager to the Silverstone 1977 that was my first Grand Prix
[03:19.960 -> 03:27.600] actually in attendance trackside on the outside of Copse Corner and that was a race where James Hunt
[03:27.600 -> 03:34.080] won from pole position in his McLaren ahead of Nicky Lauda. John Watson was another great British
[03:34.080 -> 03:39.280] hero but he had an engine failure but the other thing I remember from that was this young French
[03:39.280 -> 03:46.880] Canadian guy who turned up and got a deal together to do a one-off race in last year's McLaren.
[03:46.880 -> 03:50.920] Can you imagine it these days, a McLaren Cosworth? They allowed him to run a year-old car and
[03:50.920 -> 03:52.320] that was a guy called Gilles Villeneuve.
[03:52.320 -> 03:58.800] Wow. And that was where the legacy essentially began. But very interestingly, there was another
[03:58.800 -> 04:02.680] little lesser-known driver called Gunnar Nilsson who ended up finishing in third place. Now,
[04:02.680 -> 04:06.600] he was racing for the Lotus team and that was probably in the heyday of Lotus when
[04:06.600 -> 04:10.240] they were just a very very well constructed team back in the 70s but
[04:10.240 -> 04:13.800] just what was that whole race all about and what was the aura of James Hunt
[04:13.800 -> 04:17.520] because for all of us of this generation we've just seen it in the movie Rush and
[04:17.520 -> 04:31.600] we've just heard stories but to feel to feel it right there at the track, just what was it like? Oh it wasn't the Mansell fever or Damon Hill or Red 5 that we experienced
[04:31.600 -> 04:35.600] later in the 90s. James though was the first British in
[04:35.600 -> 04:39.440] most people's recent memory to have won or become a world
[04:39.440 -> 04:42.800] championship winner or potential world championship winner.
[04:42.800 -> 04:45.760] He'd come from Hesketh, he then had come to
[04:46.560 -> 04:50.800] McLaren, everybody thought McLaren were crazy having him because it there was this playboy
[04:50.800 -> 04:54.800] atmosphere about him and all the people he was surrounded with. I mean James was the guy
[04:54.800 -> 04:59.520] who you'd see photographed at the end of a Grand Prix sitting on the side pod of his car where the
[04:59.520 -> 05:04.480] fuel tank was with a cigarette in his mouth. I mean this was not your conventional Formula 1
[05:04.480 -> 05:10.320] hero. Oh and by the way in his other hand he would have a can of beer or a model. You know, this was not
[05:10.320 -> 05:16.000] the lifestyle that we now see with the button-down professional racing drivers. James was larger than
[05:16.000 -> 05:22.400] life. I was very lucky to get to know him later in life and work alongside him, sadly, just before
[05:22.400 -> 05:26.480] his death. And of course Gunner Niel also was another very sad case has gone it was without
[05:26.480 -> 05:27.520] doubt
[05:27.520 -> 05:30.520] uh... the man who followed ronnie peterson
[05:30.520 -> 05:32.380] out of uh... sweden
[05:32.380 -> 05:36.380] was potentially a world championship winner certainly a race winner
[05:36.380 -> 05:39.800] racing with jps lotus and sadly gonna
[05:39.800 -> 05:41.700] was diagnosed with cancer
[05:41.700 -> 05:47.000] and in fact was later in nineteen seventy seven that kind in 1977 that Gunner sadly died of testicular
[05:47.160 -> 05:53.680] cancer and in fact actually the following spring the newly reopened Donington Park Circuit
[05:53.680 -> 05:57.440] hosted a Formula One sprint. They weren't allowed to have a Formula One race because
[05:57.440 -> 06:02.280] Bernie wouldn't let them but Bernie did bring the Brabham fan car for example which was
[06:02.280 -> 06:07.740] the fastest car in the sprint and we had a number of the top Formula One drivers driving F1 cars at
[06:07.740 -> 06:11.880] Donington to raise money for the Gunnar Nilsson Cancer Charity. That's a story I
[06:11.880 -> 06:15.080] didn't know about so essentially we didn't see the first Formula One sprint
[06:15.080 -> 06:20.880] race in 2021 that happened way back when. Oh no this wasn't even a sprint race
[06:20.880 -> 06:27.800] these were cars going around one lap at a time against the clock and it was a time trial and so it wasn't a race.
[06:27.800 -> 06:32.460] There were other races that weekend, there was a race for the BMW Pro Car Series which
[06:32.460 -> 06:38.220] if you can imagine a Lamborghini built mid-engined exotic sports racing car, 20 identical ones
[06:38.220 -> 06:41.720] being treated like dodgems by F1 drivers.
[06:41.720 -> 06:46.080] There was also a historic Formula One race and demonstration and there were
[06:46.080 -> 06:50.720] things like the Mercedes Silver Arrows came out to play on that one. And there was a little
[06:50.720 -> 06:57.120] Lotus 18 being driven around very enthusiastically by one beetle on George Harrison. So that
[06:57.120 -> 07:00.440] was a pretty impressive one. But that wasn't at Silverstone, that was at Donington.
[07:00.440 -> 07:04.560] And how crazy is it that Donington did get a race, but that was officially the European
[07:04.560 -> 07:12.000] GP. But it's so amazing that the British GP has been just traditionally been associated with Silverstone, but we also had some great years at Brands Hatch.
[07:12.000 -> 07:26.480] And one of the races I want to talk to you about is Nigel Mansell winning there back in the day. Now, just what is the atmosphere surrounding Nigel Mansell like? And it's an amazing question to ask, I suppose, in terms of timing, because Mansell was just celebrated at Goodwood last week.
[07:26.480 -> 07:30.800] But that fever, that pitch in the UK, how crazy was it?
[07:30.800 -> 07:32.760] Because we can't quite tell it, right?
[07:32.760 -> 07:34.640] Because back in the day, without social media,
[07:34.640 -> 07:36.760] I've heard that the chatter was at a crazy level.
[07:36.760 -> 07:39.680] Was it really that case?
[07:39.680 -> 07:40.200] Yes.
[07:40.200 -> 07:42.680] It was pre-social media, don't forget.
[07:42.680 -> 07:45.680] Mansell mania happened because of newspapers and because
[07:45.680 -> 07:48.840] of people talking about it in the pub, but they didn't have any online.
[07:48.840 -> 07:51.720] They didn't have emails even in 1987 to speak of.
[07:52.280 -> 07:55.360] Um, and 86 Mansell won at Brands Hatch.
[07:55.760 -> 07:57.080] Um, I remember, right.
[07:57.080 -> 08:00.400] It was a slightly controversial victory, but I can't for the life of me remember why.
[08:00.600 -> 08:02.600] This was long before I was commentating on F1.
[08:02.600 -> 08:03.640] I had some to add as well.
[08:04.040 -> 08:09.280] Uh, 87, I was actually at the Grand Prix. I was working as a commentator for some of the support
[08:09.280 -> 08:14.200] races and the 87 race was epic.
[08:14.200 -> 08:23.120] This was the one where Nigel and Nelson Piquet were 1-2 in the Williams Hondas and they dominated
[08:23.120 -> 08:26.000] qualifying, they dominated the race.
[08:26.000 -> 08:30.220] Piquet got a better start even though Mansell was on pole position and that quite often
[08:30.220 -> 08:34.880] happens at Silverstone because in the old Silverstone at least on the run to Copse Corner,
[08:34.880 -> 08:37.560] the guy that was on pole actually had the cleaner side of the track which was always
[08:37.560 -> 08:43.000] a bit, sorry, had the dirty side of the track which was always a bit weird.
[08:43.000 -> 08:46.960] But these two set off, They lapped the entire field.
[08:46.960 -> 08:50.160] And then Mansell just did a series of faster laps.
[08:50.160 -> 08:52.880] He was actually lapping faster than his qualifying lap.
[08:52.880 -> 08:54.840] Lap after lap after lap.
[08:54.840 -> 08:58.960] Then got alongside Piquet on the rundown hangar
[08:58.960 -> 09:00.360] straight to Stowe Corner.
[09:00.360 -> 09:02.400] And that's the famous one you see of the car striking,
[09:02.400 -> 09:04.640] sparked, and literally rubbing wheels together
[09:04.640 -> 09:06.920] at 200 miles an hour.
[09:06.920 -> 09:12.480] And then Mansell got away from Piquet.
[09:12.480 -> 09:20.000] If I remember rightly, Mansell took the victory a little distance ahead, but he'd actually
[09:20.000 -> 09:30.560] over-revved the engine so hard, the engine actually blew up on the on the slowdown lap and Honda was so offended by the fact that that Williams have let their
[09:30.560 -> 09:35.160] two drivers race and bang wheels nearly throw away a one-two victory that they
[09:35.160 -> 09:39.640] actually pulled out from Williams and went to McLaren the next year so it was
[09:39.640 -> 09:47.840] a very eventful race that oh and by the way when um if i remember rightly that that was a
[09:47.840 -> 09:54.000] where the race were the third placeman was Ayrton Senna he was one lap down and the rest of the
[09:54.000 -> 09:59.520] field was two laps behind the two Williams-Hondas so that shows the domination of those cars.
[09:59.520 -> 09:59.840] Wow.
[10:01.040 -> 10:07.640] Coming back on tonight although the red Five year is certainly one of my biggest F1 memories.
[10:07.640 -> 10:11.640] Again, I was actually working at Silverstone as a commentator, but not commentating for
[10:11.640 -> 10:13.440] Star Sports at that time.
[10:13.440 -> 10:16.000] And that was the year of Red Five, the Williams-Renault V10.
[10:16.000 -> 10:22.320] I was very lucky, actually, that last week the Mansell car was being shaken down by Williams
[10:22.320 -> 10:24.960] on the runway in front of my office at Terwestern.
[10:24.960 -> 10:32.080] It's the ultimate noisy neighbour. And it's got to still be said, that is the best sounding F1 car
[10:32.080 -> 10:39.200] of all time. That offbeat howl of the Renault V10 is just something else. And 1992, Mansell was on
[10:39.200 -> 10:45.360] pole by nearly two seconds, repeat that, two seconds faster than his teammate.
[10:47.320 -> 10:47.760] And that was Riccardo Patrese.
[10:51.600 -> 10:51.640] Ayrton Senna was third, 2.8 seconds behind Mansell.
[10:54.480 -> 10:54.600] So he's three seconds ahead of the other guys on the grid.
[10:56.720 -> 10:57.240] I mean, that is just unbelievable today.
[11:00.560 -> 11:01.040] Patrese, again, the usual Silverstone bad start from pole position.
[11:03.280 -> 11:05.080] Patrese actually led into the first corner. And I think if I remember rightly,
[11:05.080 -> 11:12.480] it took Mansell all the six corners to get back the lead. And then he went on to win
[11:12.480 -> 11:20.360] another Williams 1-2. And that was the year, of course, he went on to win the title and
[11:20.360 -> 11:24.120] was sacked by Williams at the end of the year anyway and moved to Chamko. I mean, this was
[11:24.120 -> 11:28.480] Nigel. He could be Mr. Disaster on one hand and the most inspirational driver
[11:28.480 -> 11:29.720] to see on the other.
[11:29.720 -> 11:33.680] But that was also the race where again he was literally carried shoulder high onto the
[11:33.680 -> 11:34.680] podium.
[11:34.680 -> 11:37.320] Again, something you wouldn't see today.
[11:37.320 -> 11:41.200] Exactly, and I want to know your perspective on this.
[11:41.200 -> 11:43.320] Where were you during those particular years?
[11:43.320 -> 11:48.000] In 87 specifically, because that is looked at as Nigel Mansell's greatest moment per
[11:48.000 -> 11:51.780] se, that that whole battle with Nelson Piquet, just a swarm of fans on the
[11:51.780 -> 11:55.480] circuit after the win. Were you at the circuit sir? Were you somewhere nearby?
[11:55.480 -> 12:00.080] Yes, I was in the commentary box waiting for the fans to clear the
[12:00.080 -> 12:04.680] circuit so we could commentate on the race that closed the day's racing which
[12:04.680 -> 12:09.080] was the British Touring Car Championship. So yes I was there, I'd been watching it
[12:09.080 -> 12:12.800] on the monitors and of course the reason why the crowd closed in on Nigel was
[12:12.800 -> 12:16.120] his car stopped on the slow and down lap because he'd blown the engine up.
[12:16.120 -> 12:19.520] Again this was the classic Nigel Mansell, hero to zero and back to hero
[12:19.520 -> 12:23.520] again all in one minute. Somebody once said he was the best driver in the world
[12:23.520 -> 12:28.400] so long as you could actually zip him up in a plastic bag once you lifted him out of the car, save him for the next
[12:28.400 -> 12:29.400] one.
[12:29.400 -> 12:31.800] But Nigel was, he is what he was.
[12:31.800 -> 12:36.980] And we also forget that he was, after many years of people coming from public school
[12:36.980 -> 12:41.240] backgrounds or upper class backgrounds, being in motor racing, Nigel was a proper working
[12:41.240 -> 12:42.240] class hero.
[12:42.240 -> 12:51.360] He had a Birmingham accent, he could cut with a knife. He worked as an engineer on a production line in auto electrics before he funded his way through
[12:52.320 -> 12:57.360] Formula Ford and then Formula 3. At one point he broke his neck, had to remortgage his house,
[12:57.360 -> 13:01.760] or mortgage his house to go and buy another race car to go racing. I mean he was a true
[13:01.760 -> 13:10.140] working class hero and is today. And it was interesting this weekend at Goodwood celebrating the 40th anniversary or 30th anniversary of his 1992
[13:10.140 -> 13:13.980] victory in Red 5. He was mobbed by the fans again.
[13:13.980 -> 13:18.980] And I just loved what he said. He said, it felt like I've won the British GP and that's
[13:18.980 -> 13:24.040] the whole feeling. But it's so special. Formula One essentially comes back home every single
[13:24.040 -> 13:25.280] year to the British GP.
[13:25.280 -> 13:29.160] And I've got to talk about this whole fanfare around it
[13:29.160 -> 13:30.240] every single year.
[13:30.240 -> 13:33.520] Has it ever mellowed down, sir, throughout the years?
[13:33.520 -> 13:35.160] Because we've seen the circuit change.
[13:35.160 -> 13:36.120] We've seen the cars change.
[13:36.120 -> 13:37.320] We've seen the drivers change.
[13:37.320 -> 13:39.320] We've even seen the owners of the sport change.
[13:39.320 -> 13:43.640] But has that fever ever mellowed down a little bit?
[13:43.640 -> 13:45.160] Well, it was really weird last year of
[13:45.160 -> 13:47.920] course because there was no public access to the to the British Grand Prix
[13:47.920 -> 13:51.760] due to Covid and it raced behind closed doors but I've got to say the atmosphere
[13:51.760 -> 13:56.200] was still the same there was still this feeling that this is motor racing coming
[13:56.200 -> 14:01.280] home. At the end of the day we've got Mercedes, Red Bull, Aston Martin and
[14:01.280 -> 14:05.600] Williams all within 50 kilometers of the track.
[14:05.600 -> 14:09.920] It's their home track in very much those terms and a lot of the other teams
[14:09.920 -> 14:16.160] Whisper, Ferrari and various others. Lots of major components made
[14:16.160 -> 14:21.520] in and around Silverstone so there is very much an atmosphere this is a home
[14:21.520 -> 14:30.240] race for Formula One. You've got to remember Ross Brawn lives 30 kilometers down the road, you've got Hamilton, Russell, Norris
[14:30.240 -> 14:36.520] and even Alex Albon who is officially a Thai racing driver but was born in
[14:36.520 -> 14:40.760] London so you know it depends which passport he shows at the immigration I
[14:40.760 -> 14:47.640] guess which flag he races under. So so all of these teams have a, um, very much a home base here.
[14:48.040 -> 14:52.240] And, you know, in the past we've had guys, as you know, uh, you know, like
[14:52.440 -> 14:55.000] David Coulthard, uh, Martin Brundle.
[14:55.000 -> 14:59.460] And don't forget that Martin Brundle when Nigel Mansell finished in, uh, one,
[14:59.520 -> 15:03.960] the Williams one, two in 1992, who was in third in the Benetton Martin
[15:03.960 -> 15:08.800] Brundle beating Michael Schumacher. So, so you know there's always that great feeling of the
[15:08.800 -> 15:12.960] Brits can do good here. And we've seen that happen so many times especially in
[15:12.960 -> 15:17.440] the case of Lewis Hamilton he's just won so much he's won so many races over
[15:17.440 -> 15:22.460] here and one race that comes to mind is 2008 which I actually mentioned at the
[15:22.460 -> 15:26.720] start but Kunal I suppose you have a really fun stat on Lewis Hamilton that we all want to discuss this particular
[15:26.720 -> 15:35.600] weekend. Well I mean it's sorry go ahead yeah the fun stat it sounds fun right
[15:35.600 -> 15:40.640] now but it may not sound fun come Sunday because this stat is of course courtesy
[15:40.640 -> 15:48.080] our F1 stats guru and the stat reads that if Lewis Hamilton fails to win the British Grand
[15:48.080 -> 15:56.480] Prix this year it will be his longest winless spell in Formula One. That will be 11 races starting
[15:56.480 -> 16:01.760] all the way back from the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix last year to the British Grand Prix this year.
[16:01.760 -> 16:08.560] So a bit of a bittersweet moment if Lewis actually does not win his home race this weekend.
[16:08.560 -> 16:10.120] He's going to have like a record
[16:10.120 -> 16:12.400] he's probably never had in Formula One before.
[16:13.480 -> 16:15.160] I agree with you, but then again,
[16:15.160 -> 16:17.120] don't forget there was one break
[16:17.120 -> 16:20.320] in that string of seven wins from eight British Grand Prix
[16:20.320 -> 16:25.000] when Sebastian Vettel won for Ferrari in 2018.
[16:25.260 -> 16:26.980] Guess who won in 2019?
[16:26.980 -> 16:28.320] Lewis Hamilton.
[16:28.320 -> 16:30.820] So, you know, it may well be a temporary blip.
[16:30.820 -> 16:33.380] I don't see it as being a career stopper for him.
[16:33.380 -> 16:35.580] Exactly, but Lewis Hamilton,
[16:35.580 -> 16:38.500] he's one sensation in the British world of motorsport
[16:38.500 -> 16:41.300] we have to talk about because in his very first year,
[16:41.300 -> 16:44.940] he took pole position at the British GP 2007.
[16:44.940 -> 16:45.240] Just the storm around Lewis, was it Mansell-esque in a way In his very first year, he took pole position at the British GP 2007.
[16:45.240 -> 16:51.620] Just the storm around Lewis, was it Mansell-esque in a way or was it, how was it different?
[16:51.620 -> 16:55.640] Because in his first year, he couldn't quite get the British GP win in his bag, but in
[16:55.640 -> 16:58.740] the second year, he got it and in some fashion.
[16:58.740 -> 17:00.840] That was one race we must discuss.
[17:00.840 -> 17:06.000] Yeah, well, I've got to say say 2008 his first British Grand Prix victory the
[17:06.000 -> 17:12.700] first of the the eight and again a driver who's now largely forgotten but
[17:12.700 -> 17:16.540] I thought of as probably one of the most talented guys not to win the World
[17:16.540 -> 17:20.680] Championship which is Hekki Kovaleinen. Started from pole position with Mark
[17:20.680 -> 17:25.520] Webber in second place and Kimi Raikkonen in third.
[17:25.520 -> 17:28.480] Lewis was down there on fourth on the grid.
[17:28.480 -> 17:32.800] By the end of the first corner, he got through to second.
[17:32.800 -> 17:37.760] And I think it took him all the five laps to actually take the lead off Heikki Kovleinen.
[17:37.760 -> 17:39.040] And it was a race where there were some incidents.
[17:39.040 -> 17:40.240] There were some safety cars.
[17:40.240 -> 17:43.640] If I remember rightly, there was a nutter in a kilt walking along the track waving some
[17:43.640 -> 17:45.280] placard about something.
[17:49.440 -> 17:50.880] Um, all of those things made for a very unstable race, but every time there was a restart, Lewis was flawless.
[17:51.200 -> 17:55.080] Every time there was a caution, a safety car, the two pit stops that
[17:55.080 -> 18:01.400] were required in that race, Lewis and his team, um, were absolutely flawed.
[18:01.400 -> 18:04.360] The McLaren team were absolutely flawless all the way through that race.
[18:04.360 -> 18:06.080] And Lewis was just Mr. Cool.
[18:06.080 -> 18:09.800] He's like, yeah, well, that's what I was born to do, so here I am.
[18:09.800 -> 18:13.280] And it was a little bit like that, where Nigel was always the ultimate drama.
[18:13.280 -> 18:19.000] You'd have him trying to push the car across the finish line and collapsing on wobbly legs
[18:19.000 -> 18:23.240] on the podium in Monaco because he tried so hard to get second place.
[18:23.240 -> 18:25.240] Or he'd bang his head on the podium
[18:25.240 -> 18:28.920] of truck on the in the Japanese Grand Prix and then have Murray Walker prodding
[18:28.920 -> 18:32.360] the bump. I mean you know Nigel there was always that drama with Lewis you never
[18:32.360 -> 18:37.320] got that sort of drama it was just well yeah I'm supposed to be here. And in
[18:37.320 -> 18:41.200] that particular race I remember the weather being torrential it was just
[18:41.200 -> 18:46.020] terrible we saw guys like Kimi Räikkönen, Felipe Massa and the likes really have a tough time
[18:46.020 -> 18:49.580] and yet he was able to go out there and do such a special job.
[18:49.580 -> 18:57.060] But was that your favourite of his eight wins or would that be another different one, sir?
[18:57.060 -> 19:01.760] I think it probably is my favourite because it was such an unpredictable race.
[19:01.760 -> 19:06.240] I've got to say the conditions that that race was held in and actually Silverstone at the time
[19:06.240 -> 19:11.440] was way behind the ball in terms of facilities for anyone spectators or whatever some people
[19:11.440 -> 19:16.640] were still being dragged out the car park at midnight by tractors because it was just a swamp.
[19:16.640 -> 19:21.280] I was very lucky I had a little classic Mini Cooper which I used to drive to the race that day
[19:21.280 -> 19:29.040] and I knew there was a piece of concrete by the toilets which I could park the Mini Cooper on that no other car would fit on the bit of concrete so I had the only car without muddy
[19:29.040 -> 19:36.560] tires on the in the car park. But it's you know Silverstone of course has been my home circuit
[19:36.560 -> 19:42.480] too for you know best part of 20 years if not 30 because I've been attending motor races here
[19:42.480 -> 19:46.960] since club racing through the British Touring car, i covered the vicious formula three
[19:46.960 -> 19:48.120] championship
[19:48.120 -> 19:51.280] uh... where we had up-and-coming drivers like rubens barrichello and mika
[19:51.280 -> 19:53.100] hackiman winning the championship
[19:53.100 -> 19:55.560] so i've been very lucky all the way through
[19:55.560 -> 19:56.440] uh...
[19:56.440 -> 20:00.000] and uh... seen some great drivers coming through at silverstone
[20:00.000 -> 20:04.160] uh... not to mention of course formula one debuts at silverstone for uh...
[20:04.160 -> 20:05.520] naren karthikeyan and for karen chandhok uh... and not to mention of course formula one debuts at silverstone for uh... naren karthikeyan
[20:05.520 -> 20:07.000] and for karen chandhok
[20:07.000 -> 20:08.920] uh... and and of course faris
[20:08.920 -> 20:12.080] uh... fousey as well if i remember right now that would be in two thousand ten he
[20:12.080 -> 20:12.960] appeared
[20:12.960 -> 20:15.800] uh... at the wheel of the uh... caterer
[20:15.800 -> 20:18.920] so i've been very lucky silverstone has been a chunk of my life for a lot of years
[20:18.920 -> 20:20.760] and long may it continue
[20:20.760 -> 20:21.560] absolutely
[20:21.560 -> 20:26.040] and i want to talk about a more controversial race now because we
[20:26.040 -> 20:30.040] have to talk about the 1996 British GP the one where Michael Schumacher
[20:30.040 -> 20:34.520] actually in a way won the race but he came to serve a penalty at the last
[20:34.520 -> 20:38.680] lap like the ultimate video game move right you serve your penalty and you
[20:38.680 -> 20:43.160] finish the race in the pit lane that's it were you there at the circuit and
[20:43.160 -> 20:50.240] what was the confusion like because I've watched the replays and the commentators in the global field were just clueless.
[20:50.240 -> 20:55.680] Well not so was everybody including the FIA stewards because a lot of that was bad stewarding
[20:55.680 -> 21:00.680] and they didn't even know how to implement their own rules. Have we heard that before?
[21:00.680 -> 21:05.240] But I think it was at 98 wasn't it? Not 96. I may have got it wrong.
[21:05.240 -> 21:09.720] But yeah, that was where Schumacher started second, passed Micah Hakkinen after a restart
[21:09.720 -> 21:13.640] because there was a red flag, lap 50 if I remember rightly.
[21:13.640 -> 21:19.680] He then had received a 10-second penalty because a few laps earlier, before the race was stopped,
[21:19.680 -> 21:23.960] he'd passed Alex Wurz while he was behind the safety car.
[21:23.960 -> 21:26.400] Ferrari were quoting numerous technicalities,
[21:26.400 -> 21:31.520] not the least of which was that the information from the stewards was given to them as scribbled
[21:31.520 -> 21:36.160] bombiro on a piece of paper and passed on to the pit wall in the rain, they could barely read it.
[21:38.400 -> 21:43.440] And all of that added up to, well we think there's a penalty, we don't know whether it's a stop-go
[21:43.440 -> 21:49.560] penalty or a drive-through penalty or a time penalty that'd be added at the end of the race. And Ferrari, Ross
[21:49.560 -> 21:53.800] Braun rightly made the decision, and bear in mind, this is the guy who now runs F1.
[21:53.800 -> 21:58.160] Ross Braun made the decision that I'm actually going to stop him, but I'll bring him down
[21:58.160 -> 22:02.080] the pit lane as the chequered flag comes out. That way I pass the chequered flag, then I
[22:02.080 -> 22:05.480] can do a 10-second stop-go penalty and they can work out what to do with the times.
[22:05.480 -> 22:07.400] In the end, there was so many holes
[22:07.400 -> 22:10.960] in the Silverstone Stewards case for that,
[22:10.960 -> 22:12.620] that they had to throw it out anyway.
[22:12.620 -> 22:14.640] So actually Michael wasn't penalized.
[22:14.640 -> 22:15.720] And oh, and by the way,
[22:15.720 -> 22:18.200] he had come down the pit lane 22 seconds
[22:18.200 -> 22:20.840] ahead of Mick Atkinton, passed the chequered flag.
[22:20.840 -> 22:23.400] So even if he'd had a stop-go penalty of 10 seconds,
[22:23.400 -> 22:29.200] he'd have still been ahead. But that's just a crazy thing to think about. I mean, you watch the replays these days,
[22:29.200 -> 22:34.880] it's amazing to see how flawed in a way the sport was back in the day, but it also reminds me of a
[22:34.880 -> 22:39.040] fun time. And you're right, it's 1998. I just cross-checked and I actually made a big goof
[22:39.040 -> 22:43.200] up on that, but that's okay. What I want to talk about is the particular circuit, the layout,
[22:43.200 -> 22:49.280] because watching the replays off that 1998 race, you remember a different time where we didn't
[22:49.280 -> 22:53.740] quite have the infield section like we do today. We used to turn left into the bridge
[22:53.740 -> 22:58.320] section before we of course got to the old national pit lane. Those days, I mean, that
[22:58.320 -> 23:01.720] particular layout, were you a fan of that one or do you tend to like this one a bit
[23:01.720 -> 23:02.720] more?
[23:02.720 -> 23:07.000] I'll be honest with you, I think the current one is not as good.
[23:07.000 -> 23:14.000] And maybe it's just me being an old bloke, but I don't think this is actually as good or exciting a track layout.
[23:14.000 -> 23:19.000] It's actually almost designed to create a little bit more PlayStation overtaking maybe or something.
[23:19.000 -> 23:28.560] But I'm not quite, I personally don't believe that the architecture of the current British apparent Silverson circuit is as good as the old one. The old one was was true to
[23:28.560 -> 23:32.760] the history of this track which was built on the perimeter track of an old
[23:32.760 -> 23:37.800] World War two airfield and the actual line of the circuit as it was right up
[23:37.800 -> 23:42.080] until then was the line of the old perimeter track where the bombers would
[23:42.080 -> 23:48.020] taxi around to go to the end of the runway. It changed fundamentally when they put that new
[23:48.020 -> 23:52.240] infield section in. It changed before that of course because originally you
[23:52.240 -> 23:57.280] had the run up to bridge as it was then called as a corner. Prior to
[23:57.280 -> 24:03.120] that you had priory curve and you had a really fast chicane at Woodcut and in
[24:03.120 -> 24:10.500] fact in the oldest days and I do actually remember going to a test with my father in the mid-70s, I'm guessing it would be 74,
[24:10.500 -> 24:19.980] maybe 75 or even 76, it was 75 and seeing Ronnie Peterson in the March I think, absolutely
[24:19.980 -> 24:25.640] hanging the tail out at 160 miles an hour through the old Woodcut Corner and
[24:25.640 -> 24:29.960] what the corners we've got now are actually emasculated in comparison these
[24:29.960 -> 24:34.240] were flat-out fifth gear or sixth gear corners they were really very scary
[24:34.240 -> 24:39.480] indeed and probably actually quite you know when you saw Max Verstappen's
[24:39.480 -> 24:43.980] accident last year at Copse you realize what could go wrong if people bang
[24:43.980 -> 24:45.520] wheels in those corners.
[24:45.520 -> 24:51.600] That was a really violent accident. So in a way, maybe we are doing the right thing by going to
[24:51.600 -> 24:56.080] the modern circuit design. It's created obviously the new Silverstone wing building, a whole new
[24:56.080 -> 25:02.560] level of facilities. The original facilities at Silverstone, shall we just say, were quite rustic.
[25:02.800 -> 25:06.200] at Silverstone, shall we just say, were quite rustic.
[25:08.360 -> 25:10.160] But equally, the old Silverstone, for me, the first corner should still be Copse Corner,
[25:10.160 -> 25:12.760] because that really is a great corner where you can actually,
[25:12.760 -> 25:15.840] as Lewis Hamilton demonstrated, can take three places
[25:15.840 -> 25:17.080] if you're fourth on the grid.
[25:17.080 -> 25:20.560] So that's the sort of corner you really
[25:20.560 -> 25:22.160] want as your first corner in F1.
[25:22.160 -> 25:22.920] Yeah, exactly.
[25:22.920 -> 25:24.880] And with this whole discussion about corners,
[25:24.880 -> 25:28.880] I realized that Silverstone is actually one of the very few circuits on
[25:28.880 -> 25:33.600] the Formula One calendar that we actually tend to call it by the corner names and not numbers.
[25:33.600 -> 25:39.520] Think of the character that a Copse or a Maggots and Becketts adds instead of C14 or C13 or something
[25:39.520 -> 25:43.360] like that. It's not engineer speak and that I think in a way builds up the charm of the
[25:43.360 -> 25:46.280] British GP, doesn't it?
[25:46.280 -> 25:46.840] It does.
[25:46.840 -> 25:49.640] I'm pretty sure that in most of the cars, if you actually
[25:49.640 -> 25:53.380] looked at the circuit maps that they use for their computer downloads,
[25:53.380 -> 25:55.220] they still use 1 to 14.
[25:55.220 -> 26:02.100] But it's easier to fit on the dashboard than maggots or beckets or whatever.
[26:02.100 -> 26:04.740] But the thing, again, is all of those corner names.
[26:04.740 -> 26:05.460] And the one other
[26:05.460 -> 26:09.960] circuit, I mean the two other circuits I can think of, where as a commentator you
[26:09.960 -> 26:16.820] would automatically use the name rather than turn 13 or turn 11, would be Spar
[26:16.820 -> 26:22.340] and would be Monza and along with Silverstone those two circuits are the
[26:22.340 -> 26:26.000] circuits which have the unbroken history, the proper...
[26:26.000 -> 26:29.120] I've got to say Monaco as well, of course.
[26:29.120 -> 26:32.120] You couldn't call La Rascasse turn 15, could you?
[26:32.120 -> 26:35.200] I mean, it just wouldn't happen.
[26:35.200 -> 26:40.280] But they are the circuits with the history, the circuits for me with the heart of Formula
[26:40.280 -> 26:41.280] One.
[26:41.280 -> 26:45.920] And they're valuable circuits in that you couldn't imagine a Formula One
[26:45.920 -> 26:51.120] starting grid without Ferrari whatever their fortunes whereas you couldn't imagine a
[26:51.920 -> 26:56.400] world championship motor racing series without Monaco or Silverstone or Spa or Monza.
[26:57.680 -> 27:02.720] Which makes me want to ask you sir, what do you reckon about the idea of Liberty Media just
[27:02.720 -> 27:06.040] intending to let's say have alternate races intending to, let's say, have alternate
[27:06.040 -> 27:09.840] races at these historical circuits, let's say Silverstone for 22 and then let's say
[27:09.840 -> 27:10.840] 24 in that case.
[27:10.840 -> 27:15.000] They're intending to do that with Spa, if the rumors are correct, but do you think it
[27:15.000 -> 27:16.200] should be the other way around?
[27:16.200 -> 27:21.160] Maybe the street circuits should be alternated, but what is just your take on that?
[27:21.160 -> 27:26.320] I think actually the street circuits probably could be alternated.
[27:26.320 -> 27:31.120] Equally those classic circuits, we have lost Spar off the calendar temporarily.
[27:31.120 -> 27:33.240] Usually it's been when the money's run out.
[27:33.240 -> 27:37.640] Spar at one point was very dependent on tobacco advertising from Philip Morris
[27:37.640 -> 27:50.400] and when the tobacco advertising was banned in Europe, Spar had to take a sabbatical. The other circuits, you know, who would have thought that Nürburgring may or may not host
[27:50.400 -> 27:55.360] a Formula One race, particularly given the German ascendancy in the sport, but it sometimes
[27:55.360 -> 27:56.360] happens.
[27:56.360 -> 27:59.880] I think actually Formula One probably could survive losing Silverstone for a year and
[27:59.880 -> 28:03.800] then coming back, or losing Spa for a year and coming back, or Monza for a year and coming
[28:03.800 -> 28:12.280] back. Would a Formula One circuit at say Singapore survive not being on
[28:12.280 -> 28:17.400] the calendar a year and then coming back? Would Abu Dhabi be remembered? Would
[28:17.400 -> 28:23.240] Bahrain be remembered? Would China be remembered? You know Shanghai if it
[28:23.240 -> 28:27.760] skipped a year and some of these circuits have done it already in the past.
[28:27.760 -> 28:31.240] But what I would say is, if there are more people queuing up
[28:31.240 -> 28:33.920] than there are places to do Formula One,
[28:33.920 -> 28:36.480] or places in the calendar for Formula One,
[28:36.480 -> 28:38.280] it's the only way you're going to be able to do it.
[28:38.280 -> 28:40.880] But let's hope it's only for a one-year sabbatical
[28:40.880 -> 28:43.600] and then you straight back in again with a bigger promotion.
[28:43.600 -> 28:48.480] One of the challenges for Spa also is that it's actually geographically just down the
[28:48.480 -> 28:53.920] road from Hockenheim or from Nürburgring. So if you run a Formula One race in Spa
[28:53.920 -> 28:58.560] it takes audience from the German Grand Prix or vice versa. So that's another
[28:58.560 -> 29:01.060] thought that has to be born in mind because they may be in different
[29:01.060 -> 29:04.960] countries but they're only an hour or so apart. Even the Dutch GP for that
[29:04.960 -> 29:05.240] matter because so many Dutch fans also end up being at Spa but yeah that's a because they may be in different countries, but they're only an hour or so apart. Oh, even the Dutch GP for that matter,
[29:05.240 -> 29:08.460] because so many Dutch fans also end up being at Spa.
[29:08.460 -> 29:10.260] But yeah, that's a discussion.
[29:10.260 -> 29:12.220] Yeah, go on, sir.
[29:12.220 -> 29:13.940] You go to Adelaide and the Dutch fans
[29:13.940 -> 29:15.140] outnumber everybody else.
[29:15.140 -> 29:18.020] I mean, I've never known a population
[29:18.020 -> 29:20.180] that moves around so much with Formula One.
[29:20.180 -> 29:21.020] It's amazing.
[29:21.020 -> 29:23.780] Yeah, we've seen them almost everywhere.
[29:23.780 -> 29:25.200] If I'm not mistaken, I actually saw
[29:25.200 -> 29:29.600] tons of Dutch fans in Qatar as well last year. I mean, what's next? They might even end up coming
[29:29.600 -> 29:33.520] to Brazil, which is the other side of the world for them. It's absolutely amazing how
[29:33.520 -> 29:38.000] the support is just right there, which brings me on to the British support at the British GP.
[29:38.000 -> 29:42.400] Just the atmosphere of that, the number of fans, it still baffles me that we're able to have
[29:42.400 -> 29:46.320] in excess of over 200,000 people over the entire weekend.
[29:46.320 -> 29:51.800] You've obviously mentioned the parking troubles over there, but it just feels like the centerpiece
[29:51.800 -> 29:53.560] of the British sporting summer, doesn't it?
[29:53.560 -> 29:57.000] Just what is the environment like of being at a British GP?
[29:57.000 -> 30:03.400] Well, you have to remember it's part of the sporting calendar in the summer nowadays in
[30:03.400 -> 30:04.600] Britain.
[30:04.600 -> 30:07.640] You've got the cricket and the test match, which we won.
[30:07.880 -> 30:09.600] I hasten to point that out.
[30:09.920 -> 30:16.360] But then we, but the equally, we've got the Wimbledon on as we speak,
[30:16.960 -> 30:20.440] which means when I get home this evening, I'll have to make my own supper.
[30:21.040 -> 30:24.840] Then we've got the British Grand Prix this coming weekend.
[30:26.400 -> 30:30.720] You know, it is all part of that summer season of sport which Britain is quite famous for. But there's something
[30:30.720 -> 30:34.320] else as well and that is the British Grand Prix is still quite accessible. You can still
[30:34.320 -> 30:40.800] buy relatively low cost tickets to attend if you regard £50 or £60 as low cost. So
[30:40.800 -> 30:44.440] you can certainly attend on the Friday and see the cars in action, see the drivers in
[30:44.440 -> 30:48.240] action and say you've been at the British Grand Prix and you know that is why there
[30:48.240 -> 30:52.120] will be 140,000 people there this weekend. And there are so many drivers to choose from
[30:52.120 -> 30:55.600] as well because historically I mean British fans have been spoilt for choice, there's
[30:55.600 -> 30:59.800] always been somebody, there's been a Damon Hill or a Nigel Mansell or a Lewis Hamilton
[30:59.800 -> 31:06.680] or as it was in 95, Johnny Herbert as well. That was... I'm glad you mentioned that because I was going to.
[31:06.680 -> 31:10.680] Yeah, I wanted to talk about that race because as a kid, when I was just looking through
[31:10.680 -> 31:16.560] the F1 stats, I was always like, yeah, but Johnny Herbert, you can't quite, you won't
[31:16.560 -> 31:18.680] quite rate him as highly if you haven't quite seen him.
[31:18.680 -> 31:21.160] This is a sentiment that I've got from most people I've spoken about.
[31:21.160 -> 31:23.600] But what was that win all about?
[31:23.600 -> 31:25.600] And what was it like in 95 because
[31:25.600 -> 31:31.120] if I'm not mistaken John Alessi was close by but he couldn't quite win that day as was the case
[31:31.120 -> 31:37.840] with him quite often unfortunately. Yes you have to remember that just a handful of years before
[31:37.840 -> 31:43.040] I think it was 1998 Johnny had what everybody thought was a career-ending accident at Brands
[31:43.040 -> 31:48.620] Hatch in a Formula 3000 car where frankly he almost removed his feet and he had to
[31:48.620 -> 31:53.920] have his feet completely bionically rebuilt and you know nobody expected
[31:53.920 -> 31:57.460] Johnny to race a racing car again let alone a Formula One car he'd been right
[31:57.460 -> 32:00.980] on the edge of a test with Bennett at the time of this Formula 3000 accident
[32:00.980 -> 32:08.920] he was without doubt one of the quickest British drivers of the time. And it took him all that way to get back into Formula One.
[32:09.120 -> 32:10.840] And you have to remember that race again was another one.
[32:10.840 -> 32:19.000] Great controversy down that Woodcutt corner where Damon Hill tried to go down the inside of Michael Schumacher.
[32:19.000 -> 32:21.800] Michael Schumacher drove into him, put the pair of them off the track.
[32:22.400 -> 32:25.100] Schumacher, knowing he was ahead on the World
[32:25.100 -> 32:30.320] Championship points, basically sticking a finger in the air at the stewards.
[32:30.320 -> 32:34.280] And the Brits didn't really want to see Damon Hill taken out while he was bidding for the
[32:34.280 -> 32:37.620] lead, but then again through came Johnny Herbert to win it.
[32:37.620 -> 32:42.580] And Johnny was, again, a working class hero, Essex and East End of London, his mum and
[32:42.580 -> 32:46.920] dad would finance getting to Formula One races to watch their son race by actually
[32:46.920 -> 32:54.320] selling merchandise on a stall just outside the first corner, as it was at Silverstone
[32:54.320 -> 32:56.400] in those days.
[32:56.400 -> 33:01.240] And Stan and I can't think of what Mum Herbert was called, but they would be there with the
[33:01.240 -> 33:04.000] fans literally in the grandstand cheering their son on.
[33:04.000 -> 33:07.160] I mean, that was how homely it was.
[33:07.160 -> 33:10.020] And that was actually the race where I'd worked
[33:10.020 -> 33:12.000] into the evening on some highlights programs,
[33:12.000 -> 33:13.320] again, working around touring cars,
[33:13.320 -> 33:15.360] because I wasn't working in F1 at that time,
[33:15.360 -> 33:17.960] walking back through the paddock at the end of the night.
[33:17.960 -> 33:20.960] And forget all these Formula One entertainment stages
[33:20.960 -> 33:22.600] that you see set up at every Grand Prix now
[33:22.600 -> 33:24.900] with headline acts and all the rest of it.
[33:24.900 -> 33:32.340] Yamaha, who had provided the engines for the Jordan team had also provided a trailer with a drum kit and three sets of guitars on
[33:32.340 -> 33:35.580] It and a bunch of Grand Prix drivers were
[33:37.220 -> 33:39.380] With Eddie Jordan on the skins on the drums
[33:39.600 -> 33:49.500] We're actually doing an impromptu rock concert in the paddock on this trailer with Johnny Herbert and Damon Hill yelling, go Johnny, go. You wouldn't say that again today, would
[33:49.500 -> 33:50.500] you?
[33:50.500 -> 33:55.760] My goodness, the sport was just something different back in the day, wasn't it? You
[33:55.760 -> 33:58.560] wouldn't quite imagine something like that these days, ever.
[33:58.560 -> 34:02.760] Well, bear in mind, the public had access to the paddock in those days. I mean, you
[34:02.760 -> 34:05.520] couldn't do that now. You'd have to fight your way past the guard dogs
[34:05.520 -> 34:07.480] and the turnstiles and everything else.
[34:07.480 -> 34:09.280] I mean, even the drivers sometimes
[34:09.280 -> 34:11.920] aren't able to make their wains into the paddock these days.
[34:11.920 -> 34:12.960] So that's another thing.
[34:12.960 -> 34:14.800] But it's just that time, isn't it?
[34:14.800 -> 34:18.240] The 90s and 2000s, Formula One was, I suppose,
[34:18.240 -> 34:20.160] very rock and roll in a way.
[34:20.160 -> 34:22.800] Lots of sponsorship money, lots of extravagance,
[34:22.800 -> 34:24.720] lots of bold marketing strategies.
[34:24.720 -> 34:25.600] And in the
[34:25.600 -> 34:31.840] 2000s, just what was the aura of Silverstone like? V10s, there's of course Michael dominating,
[34:31.840 -> 34:35.920] but they're still sold out crowds as the old Silverstone. And there's all obviously young
[34:35.920 -> 34:40.400] challenges coming up every single year in Raikkonens, in your Raikkonens, in Alonzos.
[34:41.760 -> 34:44.880] Was it just the best time to be a British Formula One fan in a way?
[34:43.520 -> 34:45.560] Donzo's, it's just, was it just the best time to be a British Formula One fan in a way?
[34:47.200 -> 34:48.440] I don't think it was just the best time
[34:48.440 -> 34:49.840] to be a British Formula One fan,
[34:49.840 -> 34:52.320] it was just a great time to be a Formula One fan.
[34:52.320 -> 34:55.680] Not just Silverstone, you went to Monza at the Tifosi,
[34:55.680 -> 34:58.080] and that was just something else,
[34:58.080 -> 35:00.640] watching that tidal wave of red come down the track
[35:00.640 -> 35:01.840] at the end of the race.
[35:03.880 -> 35:05.800] There are certain races where you have
[35:05.800 -> 35:07.660] just the most amazing atmospheres.
[35:09.040 -> 35:12.400] Hockenheim, if you go into the horseshoe
[35:12.400 -> 35:15.060] of grandstands around the last corners of the lap,
[35:15.920 -> 35:17.600] you think Germans are buttoned down
[35:17.600 -> 35:19.440] and well-disciplined and all the rest of it.
[35:19.440 -> 35:21.160] Not if there's a German driver comes through
[35:21.160 -> 35:22.000] in the lead, there's not.
[35:22.000 -> 35:23.600] I tell you what, they're bonkers.
[35:23.600 -> 35:24.560] So it's great.
[35:24.560 -> 35:27.020] I mean, and that's how Formula One and that's how motor racing
[35:27.020 -> 35:29.280] that's how entertainment should be that's why I love it
[35:29.280 -> 35:34.880] Oh absolutely it'll be so much fun to be a part of that crowd and if you have
[35:34.880 -> 35:38.320] folks it's just a crazy experience and you should tell us about it on social
[35:38.320 -> 35:41.560] media but I want to talk about one race in particular sir one race that I
[35:41.560 -> 35:46.720] remember watching back here in India with you on coms, British GP 2010,
[35:46.720 -> 35:49.160] Mark Webber, where he won famously
[35:49.160 -> 35:50.480] a hair of Sebastian Vettel.
[35:50.480 -> 35:53.080] We briefly referred to it in a previous episode
[35:53.080 -> 35:54.600] on the Inside Line of One podcast,
[35:54.600 -> 35:56.940] so it's good that we're able to close the loop over here.
[35:56.940 -> 36:00.720] But that was the famous not bad for a number two driver race.
[36:00.720 -> 36:02.760] Now, in your eyes, sir, how would you
[36:02.760 -> 36:06.160] describe that chaotic weekend as a whole?
[36:10.960 -> 36:17.760] Well, you took the words right out of my mouth, not bad for a number two. And that was actually precipitated during qualifying because Mark Webber had been given the second string front wing. There
[36:17.760 -> 36:22.320] was one brand new front wing to go on the car. Webber was quicker than Vettel all the way through,
[36:22.320 -> 36:25.000] yet they put through the, dare I
[36:25.000 -> 36:32.880] say it, the German-stroke Austrian wish to have Sebastian Vettel pandered to, gave
[36:32.900 -> 36:36.640] Vettel the wing and Weber still went quicker, it's got to be said.
[36:36.980 -> 36:39.200] And that was when he said, not bad for a number two as he crossed
[36:39.200 -> 36:40.320] the line in pole position.
[36:40.800 -> 36:46.280] At the start though, again, it was one of those classic, the old Silverson circuit,
[36:46.280 -> 36:49.760] Copse Corner start, starting on the inside, so he's on the dirty part of the track.
[36:49.760 -> 36:55.320] And Vettel tried to muscle his way through, which is actually what Vettel still does a little bit today sometimes.
[36:55.320 -> 37:01.640] And Mark Webber being Mark Webber was having none of it, you know, it's either my way or the highway, mate.
[37:01.640 -> 37:06.720] And pushed him wide and then
[37:06.920 -> 37:09.540] Vettel tried to come back on and then tagged Lewis Hamilton.
[37:10.080 -> 37:12.440] So it ended up with Vettel actually dropping back.
[37:12.440 -> 37:13.680] And I'm trying to remember now.
[37:13.760 -> 37:15.320] I mean, Hamilton was in third.
[37:15.520 -> 37:17.000] I think Hamilton was able to continue.
[37:17.000 -> 37:17.340] All right.
[37:17.340 -> 37:22.200] But Vettel had a puncture and that dropped him to last place and credit to Vettel.
[37:22.240 -> 37:30.980] He still came back through to seventh place overall but in 2010 and 2012 Mark Webber was the winner of the British Grand Prix
[37:30.980 -> 37:36.140] and actually pretty much a home hero as well he to this day lives around about
[37:36.140 -> 37:40.900] 30 kilometers away from Silverstone a little village called just outside a
[37:40.900 -> 37:45.140] little village called Wendover in fact fact, you quite often see him,
[37:45.140 -> 37:46.540] there's a set of big set of woods
[37:46.540 -> 37:48.000] on the Chiltern Hills there.
[37:48.000 -> 37:49.440] And if you go walking your dog in the woods,
[37:49.440 -> 37:52.700] chances are you pass by Mark Webber on a mountain bike
[37:52.700 -> 37:53.840] out on his fitness regime,
[37:53.840 -> 37:55.400] because he's still one of the fittest guys
[37:55.400 -> 37:57.360] that's ever worked in Formula One.
[37:57.360 -> 38:00.480] He thinks nothing of riding 15 miles on a BMX.
[38:00.480 -> 38:01.760] And bear in mind,
[38:01.760 -> 38:03.940] that's after he had a major cycling accident
[38:03.940 -> 38:04.780] back in the day,
[38:04.780 -> 38:06.080] where he had a rod inserted in his leg
[38:06.080 -> 38:08.320] and he still went on to race in Formula One and
[38:09.160 -> 38:14.660] that he's just ridiculous for what he did back in the day, but in those times sir
[38:15.360 -> 38:20.880] Just in your perspective was it frustrating to see that team dynamic in both Red Bull and Ferrari
[38:20.880 -> 38:23.620] Of course, it's been evolved and we get to see this everywhere now
[38:23.620 -> 38:27.760] Every team has a number one or number two driver. But from the perspective of someone who has to share the
[38:27.760 -> 38:33.200] story of the sport, it must feel a bit chastising in a way, no? To see drivers being held back in a
[38:33.200 -> 38:40.560] way by the team. Not really. At the end of the day, it didn't hold Mark Webber back any. It made
[38:40.560 -> 38:45.280] him tougher. And I don't think Mark actually had any thought in 2010
[38:45.280 -> 38:48.720] that he was going to be treated like that. He'd have stayed on with the team, he had
[38:48.720 -> 38:52.480] other offers on the table, but equally Mark had actually had some fairly blind
[38:52.480 -> 38:56.320] alleys initially in his Formula One career, mainly because he actually was
[38:56.320 -> 39:00.480] coming to Formula One with no money. Most Formula One drivers can get a
[39:00.480 -> 39:05.840] consortium of investors behind them and people like that who will fund them and
[39:05.840 -> 39:08.320] maybe take a return on the investment later.
[39:08.320 -> 39:10.300] But Mark really had very little of that.
[39:10.300 -> 39:14.940] He had sponsorship from Yellow Pages, the telephone directory people from Australia.
[39:14.940 -> 39:18.320] That's what got him to England and into Formula Ford.
[39:18.320 -> 39:23.760] And the lady who became his wife was his PR lady and actually worked really hard to find
[39:23.760 -> 39:25.280] sponsors to keep Mark going.
[39:25.280 -> 39:29.120] They were literally living in the back of the van for a little while.
[39:29.120 -> 39:31.920] They didn't stay in hotels when everyone else did.
[39:31.920 -> 39:36.360] Mark just got in and did it and got through all of those starter categories.
[39:36.360 -> 39:39.920] He got introduced to Flavia Briatore, a lot of people remember him from Benetton.
[39:39.920 -> 39:44.480] A lot of people don't realize he managed a number of drivers which included Mark Webber.
[39:44.480 -> 39:47.200] He was Briatore and he got him on the map.
[39:47.200 -> 39:50.960] He went to Williams, he went first of all to Minardi.
[39:50.960 -> 39:53.160] You know, you're never going to win a Grand Prix driving a Minardi.
[39:53.160 -> 39:59.880] I always felt a bit sorry for Alex Young because he had two, he was number two to two teammates
[39:59.880 -> 40:00.880] in Minardi.
[40:00.880 -> 40:04.160] One was Fernando Alonso and the other one was Mark Webber.
[40:04.160 -> 40:05.640] But then he went to Williams
[40:05.640 -> 40:12.080] and unfortunately it did coincide with Williams having a dip in form and then Mark got into
[40:12.080 -> 40:16.400] the Red Bull Racing team and as they say the rest is history.
[40:16.400 -> 40:21.760] Absolutely and it's crazy to see how his career evolved from that point but speaking of Mark
[40:21.760 -> 40:28.440] Webber, speaking of tough gritty drivers, I actually want to come to someone really different in this case. I want to talk about Damon Hill, because
[40:28.440 -> 40:32.860] in all this chatter about great British drivers and British GPs, we've missed out on a really
[40:32.860 -> 40:39.000] emotional one in 1994, which was, of course, just immediately after Ayrton Senna unfortunately
[40:39.000 -> 40:50.520] passed away. Hill won in the British Grand Prix. he did something really special in this case and that race, did Hill evoke the same emotions as Mansell? Because we know that he's a bit
[40:50.520 -> 40:54.760] of a cult favourite, but the way his career panned out was just a bit tumultuous in a
[40:54.760 -> 40:58.440] way. Immediately after winning a World Championship he was dropped off. Of course at that point
[40:58.440 -> 41:03.400] he was just on the rise, but what was the Damon Hill era like? The briefest era of course
[41:03.400 -> 41:06.720] it was, but still?
[41:06.720 -> 41:10.200] Well, I've got to say, I've been a massive fan of Damon.
[41:10.200 -> 41:13.760] I've known Damon since 19, let's have a think,
[41:13.760 -> 41:18.960] 87, 88, when he was racing with the Cellnet Formula 3 team.
[41:18.960 -> 41:21.800] I knew him long before I started commentating on F1 races
[41:21.800 -> 41:24.240] for ESPN Star.
[41:24.240 -> 41:31.560] And Damon, in fact, we met not long ago, back end of last year at a technology event and
[41:31.560 -> 41:34.200] had a very good catch up and chin wag.
[41:34.200 -> 41:37.640] And he's still the same Damon as I knew him 25 years ago.
[41:37.640 -> 41:41.480] And that's the nice thing about Damon, he really is dead straight, dead honest.
[41:41.480 -> 41:48.920] If he thinks you're a pillock, he'll tell you you're a pillock. But equally, he's also moved on in the world of motor racing
[41:48.920 -> 41:51.080] to be chair of the British Racing Drivers Club, which
[41:51.080 -> 41:52.080] owns Silverstone.
[41:52.080 -> 41:54.680] So he's been and done an awful lot in his career since.
[41:54.680 -> 41:56.960] He's actually involved with a number of ecology projects at
[41:56.960 -> 41:59.800] the moment as well, which one day I'm sure we'll hear a lot
[41:59.800 -> 42:01.560] more about.
[42:01.560 -> 42:10.600] But Damon is, as you say say a very determined racing driver he used to when
[42:10.600 -> 42:13.500] he when he first started racing of course he didn't want us to be the son
[42:13.500 -> 42:17.580] of Graham Hill the three times world champion he went on motorcycle racing
[42:17.580 -> 42:21.560] and he actually won his first few races at Brands Hatch in the wet on 350 cc
[42:21.560 -> 42:28.600] two-stroke Yamaha's which that's like walking a type of not only walking a tightrope walk a tightrope covered in electrified barbed
[42:28.600 -> 42:33.800] wire you know and Damon could do that he came into motor racing the one thing
[42:33.800 -> 42:38.680] actually Damon used to hate doing was driving on the road he's he saw no real
[42:38.680 -> 42:52.280] point in driving on the road if you know he's driving a racing car was what he was there to drive. Um, but yeah, uh, coming back to, um, uh, you know, um, Damon's win in, was it 94?
[42:52.680 -> 42:54.420] Uh, he was on pole position.
[42:54.520 -> 42:58.520] And that was where, um, uh, Michael Schumacher actually got given a stop
[42:58.520 -> 43:02.280] go penalty because he'd overtaken Damon on the warmup lap, never really to work
[43:02.280 -> 43:05.040] out what was going on between the years on that one.
[43:10.400 -> 43:14.720] Then David Coulthard stalled on the grid and they had to then do another restart. David started last and I think he came through to fifth in the second Williams. But you also have to remember against
[43:14.720 -> 43:20.720] the background of Ayrton's death, the team was completely devastated. You've just had the
[43:21.280 -> 43:25.880] multiple Formula One World Championship killed in one of your cars. Imagine the morale in the team.
[43:25.880 -> 43:32.000] Damon was one of the guys who not was just a racing driver, he was a genuine team leader.
[43:32.000 -> 43:36.000] And maybe we're seeing a little bit of that with Lewis Hamilton, well Mercedes are on
[43:36.000 -> 43:38.920] the rocks in terms of their car's performance at the moment.
[43:38.920 -> 43:42.920] It's where Charles Leclerc will need to go because morale in the Ferrari team at the
[43:42.920 -> 43:49.920] moment with their reliability issues is going to be pretty low. And it shows when you've got a driver of the caliber of
[43:49.920 -> 43:53.880] Damon, they can grab the team and make the team work behind them. Michael Schumacher
[43:53.880 -> 43:58.200] did the same when he arrived at Ferrari, they haven't won a Grand Prix for about 11 years.
[43:58.200 -> 44:02.400] So you know, it the great drivers can also not just drive a racing car fast, they can
[44:02.400 -> 44:05.120] motivate the team around them. And that's what Damon did that day.
[44:05.120 -> 44:09.780] Which makes his departure after winning a world championship no less even more surprising
[44:09.780 -> 44:15.160] because he won that title and he went straight away to Arrows wasn't it if I'm not mistaken
[44:15.160 -> 44:16.160] in 97.
[44:16.160 -> 44:17.160] Yes.
[44:17.160 -> 44:19.760] That is just one of the most absurd.
[44:19.760 -> 44:21.520] Arrows and Jordan.
[44:21.520 -> 44:25.780] That's to someone from the outside world, that's so hard to explain.
[44:25.780 -> 44:30.600] Just what happened, where did his career trajectory go down in a way, because he's so talented,
[44:30.600 -> 44:31.600] such a...
[44:31.600 -> 44:34.640] He asked Frank Williams for a pay rise.
[44:34.640 -> 44:35.640] That's all.
[44:35.640 -> 44:36.640] Full stop.
[44:36.640 -> 44:37.640] Full stop.
[44:37.640 -> 44:46.320] Damon thought he was worth more, others were prepared to pay some of that money. He and Frank and
[44:46.320 -> 44:52.200] probably Patrick Head as well entered into a spiral of incorrect negotiation and it wound
[44:52.200 -> 44:59.880] up that Damon left the team just as Nigel Mansell did in 92 after he won the World Championship.
[44:59.880 -> 45:05.800] Frank Williams almost had this record of losing World Championship winning drivers.
[45:05.800 -> 45:10.400] Do you think it was a big mistake from Williams' side in that case?
[45:10.400 -> 45:13.520] Yes, absolutely.
[45:13.520 -> 45:18.680] If you have back-to-back World Championship winning drivers, then you've got a much stronger
[45:18.680 -> 45:19.680] base.
[45:19.680 -> 45:23.120] But Frank always had the light-bulb philosophy around his drivers.
[45:23.120 -> 45:25.240] Frank was not that much interested in winning World Drivers' Championship. Frank was interested, not that much interested
[45:25.240 -> 45:26.760] in winning World Drivers' Championship.
[45:26.760 -> 45:29.040] He was interested in winning Constructors' Championship
[45:29.040 -> 45:31.000] because that's where the money was for the team.
[45:31.000 -> 45:33.600] And Frank always said, a driver is like a light bulb.
[45:33.600 -> 45:35.440] If it doesn't work, you change it.
[45:35.440 -> 45:39.480] Aha, now that's opened up a big can of worms
[45:39.480 -> 45:41.200] because we're talking about the British GP.
[45:41.200 -> 45:43.600] We haven't quite mentioned the Williams team enough.
[45:43.600 -> 45:44.720] Now that we've got the chance,
[45:44.720 -> 45:47.600] I suppose there's so many fun stories to talk about. But
[45:48.320 -> 45:53.200] with Williams, there was this philosophy, of course, but then it was just what happened in
[45:53.200 -> 45:58.480] the back end that caused their decline. Did the British GP ever kind of see a decline in
[45:58.480 -> 46:04.480] popularity because Williams were never the same? And of course, it's not evident now, but it's in
[46:04.480 -> 46:06.580] a way that Formula One has forgotten Williams,
[46:06.580 -> 46:08.080] unfortunately.
[46:08.080 -> 46:09.800] What's your take on that?
[46:09.800 -> 46:13.440] Yeah, I quite agree with you on the final comment.
[46:13.440 -> 46:18.000] I think that the Williams were one of the three,
[46:18.000 -> 46:19.200] the holy three.
[46:19.200 -> 46:21.480] You had, in those days, McLaren.
[46:21.480 -> 46:23.480] Today, you'd probably have Mercedes.
[46:23.480 -> 46:26.000] You had Williams, and you had Ferrari
[46:26.000 -> 46:31.760] and they were the teams that won everything for almost a decade and anybody else was trying to
[46:31.760 -> 46:36.800] get in around the sides like Renault or I'm trying to think some of the other teams, Ligier and people
[46:36.800 -> 46:46.880] like that. But it also is a little bit like Mercedes this year. The rules change very significantly
[46:46.880 -> 46:48.280] at the end of the 2010s.
[46:48.280 -> 46:49.600] And I can't remember the specific year,
[46:49.600 -> 46:51.320] probably 2017 or something like that.
[46:51.320 -> 46:53.600] Might be, no, it's actually be earlier than that,
[46:53.600 -> 46:55.760] probably 2014.
[46:55.760 -> 47:00.560] And this was when the teams had been building
[47:00.560 -> 47:03.680] full-size wind tunnels, testing full-size actual cars
[47:03.680 -> 47:07.160] rather than wind tunnel models in the wind tunnels, running their wind tunnels 24-7
[47:07.160 -> 47:08.920] if they could afford it.
[47:08.920 -> 47:13.040] Williams invested incredibly heavy in Williams Technologies
[47:13.040 -> 47:16.760] in an additional full-size wind tunnel.
[47:16.760 -> 47:18.800] And the rules were changed.
[47:18.800 -> 47:21.600] For some reason, they didn't see the rule change coming.
[47:21.600 -> 47:24.280] And everybody else had gone down to half-size wind tunnels,
[47:24.280 -> 47:28.760] had modified their wind tunnels to accommodate the wind tunnel models rather than the full-size
[47:28.760 -> 47:34.240] cars to fit in with the rules and Williams were caught flat on their feet with that and
[47:34.240 -> 47:41.080] that was the year that Ralf Schumacher and the Red and White cars, Alex Zanardi I think
[47:41.080 -> 47:45.760] were racing and those cars slipped backwards down the order fairly quickly
[47:45.760 -> 47:47.220] because other people were able to develop
[47:47.220 -> 47:48.720] faster than Williams did.
[47:48.720 -> 47:51.320] The good news is that Williams Technologies
[47:51.320 -> 47:55.080] still has a major role in the auto industry
[47:55.080 -> 47:57.300] and in other things, including high-speed trains,
[47:57.300 -> 47:59.180] because that wind tunnel's been used for other things
[47:59.180 -> 48:00.360] other than F1 cars.
[48:00.360 -> 48:03.800] So the technologies company's still making a good living.
[48:03.800 -> 48:08.000] But the fact is that Williams have slipped to being also runs.
[48:08.000 -> 48:12.000] The simple fact is that when you start to slip down the order,
[48:12.000 -> 48:14.000] some of your brightest talent moves away as well.
[48:14.000 -> 48:22.000] And you've probably now got a lot of bright young people joining Williams
[48:22.000 -> 48:24.000] who unfortunately will stay with Williams for a year or two,
[48:24.000 -> 48:27.360] then move on to a bigger, wealthier, better paying team.
[48:28.080 -> 48:31.160] And that is the challenge that Williams find themselves in.
[48:31.520 -> 48:36.200] Force India, as were a little bit like that, as Aston Martin, they've got to find their
[48:36.200 -> 48:38.160] feet now and become a front running team again.
[48:38.480 -> 48:42.400] Even McLaren, who won everything for, you know, best part of half a decade.
[48:42.880 -> 48:45.240] They've got to find their feet again and probably actually are one of the less budgeted teams in F1 these days.
[48:49.240 -> 48:49.600] So they've got to do it with a fairly, you know, less resource than some of the others.
[48:54.000 -> 48:58.600] So it does go in, in, in, in sequences. That should be the big warning cry to, to Mercedes, of course, because you can only
[48:58.600 -> 49:00.680] have a short period of bad results.
[49:00.680 -> 49:04.000] You've got to be able to bounce back just as actually Ferrari have bounced back.
[49:04.040 -> 49:05.760] They've found the performance in the car again after a two year, Mercedes of course because you can only have a short period of bad results, you've got to be able to bounce back.
[49:05.760 -> 49:09.240] Just as actually Ferrari have bounced back, they've found the performance in the car again
[49:09.240 -> 49:10.240] after a two year hiatus.
[49:10.240 -> 49:13.740] Yeah and it's suddenly gone for a toss in the last few races but let's hope it comes
[49:13.740 -> 49:18.080] back but I've just got this niggling curiosity to ask about Williams as well.
[49:18.080 -> 49:22.400] Mid 2000s, poor management, do you reckon that was the reason why Williams couldn't
[49:22.400 -> 49:30.560] quite claw back because they had a race winning car and in Juan Pablo Montoya they had a bit of a phenomenon in a way, just
[49:30.560 -> 49:33.840] a driver who would be really great on one day and not great on the other but they had
[49:33.840 -> 49:37.360] someone who could fight but then it all just went away.
[49:37.360 -> 49:40.560] They also have manufactured backing by the way so things couldn't quite be better in
[49:40.560 -> 49:41.560] that case.
[49:41.560 -> 49:45.920] So a missed opportunity, according to you, sir?
[49:45.920 -> 49:46.880] Yeah, maybe.
[49:46.880 -> 49:50.920] I mean, BMW backing was very, very important to them
[49:50.920 -> 49:52.080] at the time.
[49:52.080 -> 49:55.480] And maybe BMW's eye went off the ball
[49:55.480 -> 49:59.320] and into looking at other things as well.
[49:59.320 -> 50:00.920] Juan Pablo Montoya, of course, I think
[50:00.920 -> 50:05.920] he was the last Williams Grand Prix winner.
[50:05.920 -> 50:11.440] And again, very talented driver, not necessarily PR friendly or sponsor friendly.
[50:11.440 -> 50:14.600] And that could have also hit Williams in the pocket.
[50:14.600 -> 50:16.440] They did lose a little bit of direction.
[50:16.440 -> 50:17.440] There's no two ways about it.
[50:17.440 -> 50:18.440] They've lost direction.
[50:18.440 -> 50:19.440] They've slipped down the grid.
[50:19.440 -> 50:22.640] At least this year, they're in for getting some championship points.
[50:22.640 -> 50:27.400] And actually in Alex Albon, they have a driver who's actually able to drive that back of the
[50:27.400 -> 50:32.680] field car way better than it deserves just as George Russell did and actually
[50:32.680 -> 50:36.240] Albon's in a no-lose situation at the moment because actually any results he
[50:36.240 -> 50:40.800] gets out of that Williams he's going to be a hero. Exactly and the team seemingly
[50:40.800 -> 50:44.720] is on the rise but before we end up sir a quick word on McLaren a quick word on
[50:44.720 -> 50:48.880] how they've been cornerstones of the British GP when you come to think of it I thought that
[50:48.880 -> 50:53.760] McLaren would have done more but if you look at the historical records they haven't quite won
[50:53.760 -> 50:58.080] nearly as enough as they have in their old Formula One history it's surprising isn't it?
[50:59.920 -> 51:08.360] Well yes it is um whether that's local pressure across mcclaren uh... another home team although they're based down in surrey on the other side
[51:08.360 -> 51:09.360] of london
[51:09.360 -> 51:10.720] uh... but
[51:10.720 -> 51:12.300] mcclaren
[51:12.300 -> 51:16.600] uh... in that's a in the nineties and uh... by sending the two thirty two
[51:16.600 -> 51:18.200] thousand
[51:18.200 -> 51:21.880] window with they were quick to go to circuits but never necessarily quite as
[51:21.880 -> 51:24.200] quick on the low down for settings
[51:24.200 -> 51:27.080] uh... around so so was that circuits, but never necessarily quite as quick on the low downforce settings around Silverstone.
[51:27.080 -> 51:32.280] Although Lewis might well disagree with you on that, because I think six of his, or five
[51:32.280 -> 51:35.720] of his eight wins were done in McLaren.
[51:35.720 -> 51:42.760] So he maybe had the answer to that, but certainly McLaren, it was a place where they quite often
[51:42.760 -> 51:45.400] would crack under pressure.
[51:45.400 -> 51:49.680] And sometimes that was tyre choice, sometimes that was just simple bad luck in the weather.
[51:49.680 -> 51:53.600] But sometimes you've got to be there to be lucky.
[51:53.600 -> 51:57.560] And as you say, McLaren, I'd like to see McLaren on the podium this weekend.
[51:57.560 -> 51:59.120] It would be great to see the team back.
[51:59.120 -> 52:00.120] Absolutely.
[52:00.120 -> 52:01.120] Let's hope for that.
[52:01.120 -> 52:04.120] But sir, thank you so much for taking all the time to come on for this particular episode.
[52:04.120 -> 52:07.520] I just have the best time listening to your stories and I hope the viewers
[52:07.520 -> 52:10.560] and the listeners have also enjoyed this as well. But thank you, sir. Thank you so
[52:10.560 -> 52:14.400] much for coming on once again. You're very welcome. Hope we can do it again very soon.
[52:14.400 -> 52:18.800] Absolutely. And folks, if you enjoyed this episode, you know exactly what to do. Leave a like,
[52:18.800 -> 52:23.120] leave a good rating, share this podcast with like-minded enthusiasts and we shall be back
[52:23.120 -> 52:26.800] rather soon on the Inside Linofoam podcast and and Pitch the Phone In. Thank you for listening.
[52:40.280 -> 52:42.340] you