The Autosport F1 Podcast

The Aston Martin Autosport BRDC Young Driver of the Year Award is motorsport's most prestigious accolade aimed at recognizing and supporting young talent. Established in 1989, the award was created by Autosport Magazine and the British Racing Drivers' Club (BRDC). Its purpose is to identify and assist promising British racing drivers in their progression up the motorsport ladder. Each year young competitors are selected based on their performance in lower-tier racing series. The selection process involves a combination of on-track driving tests and off-track assessments, including fitness and professional skills. Winners of the award have gone on to achieve considerable success in motorsport, including Formula 1. Notable winners include F1 stars such as David Coulthard, Jenson Button, Lando Norris, Paul di Resta and George Russell. Whilst the likes of Anthony Davidson and Jake Dennis have become champions in other series. On today's podcast, Martyn Lee and Kevin Turner are joined by winner-turned-judge, and most recently 2023 IMSA SportsCar Champion, Alexander Sims. They talk about the award does for young drivers working their way into a professional career in motorsport, and some of the benefits of winning, such as a test drive in a modern Formula 1 car. The 2023 winner will be announced at the Autosport Awards this weekend. Previous Winners: 1989: David Coulthard 1990: Gareth Rees 1991: Oliver Gavin 1992: Dario Franchitti 1993: Ralph Firman 1994: Jamie Davies 1995: Jonny Kane 1996: Darren Turner 1997: Andrew Kirkaldy 1998: Jenson Button 1999: Gary Paffett 2000: Anthony Davidson 2001: Steven Kane 2002: Robbie Kerr 2003: Alex Lloyd 2004: Paul di Resta 2005: Oliver Jarvis 2006: Oliver Turvey 2007: Stefan Wilson 2008: Alexander Sims 2009: Dean Smith 2010: Lewis Williamson 2011: Oliver Rowland 2012: Jake Dennis 2013: Matt Parry 2014: George Russell 2015: Will Palmer 2016: Lando Norris 2017: Dan Ticktum 2018: Tom Gamble 2019: Johnathan Hoggard 2021: Zak O'Sullivan 2022: Luke Browning Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Well that's the 2023 Formula 1 season in the books and the result in Abu Dhabi won't be a huge surprise to anyone. But there are still plenty of other talking points including the constructors battle, the quality of racing in 2023 and the question of whether F1 is facing an issue with fans turned off by the lack of competition at the front. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Stuart Codling and Alex Kalinauckas are in Abu Dhabi to report on the final qualifying session of 2023. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Sam Hall joins Martyn Lee to talk about the final practice sessions of 2023 as cars hit the track in Abu Dhabi. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kevin Turner is joined by Jake Boxall-Legge and Damien Smith to delve into a year celebrated for its technological breakthroughs in F1. Today's episode begins with focusing on the Williams FW15C, renowned for its innovative features like traction control and active suspension. Next they discuss McLaren's MP4-8 and its advanced traction control system. Jake also reviews other teams, including Ferrari’s struggles and the more modest successes of Minardi and Jordan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Las Vegas Grand Prix saw multiple leaders and battles throughout the field, with incidents and penalties ultimately deciding the podium order. Martyn Lee is joined by our experts to discuss how the grand prix was won. Filip Cleeren is in Las Vegas for us, plus we're joined by Jake Boxall-Legge and Sam Hall. To grab our huge discount off your NordVPN plan - go to to nordvpn.com/autosportf1 - our code will also give you 4 additional months for free on the 2-year plan. There's no risk with Nord’s 30-day money-back guarantee! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex Kalinauckas joins Martyn Lee to talk about the grid order for Sunday and why Ferrari remain upset about the 10-place penalty unfairly imposed on Carlos Sainz. To grab our huge discount off your NordVPN plan - go to to nordvpn.com/autosportf1 - our code will also give you 4 additional months for free on the 2-year plan. There's no risk with Nord’s 30-day money-back guarantee! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

To grab our huge discount off your NordVPN plan - go to to nordvpn.com/autosportf1 - our code will also give you 4 additional months for free on the 2-year plan. There's no risk with Nord’s 30-day money-back guarantee! As the first practice session at this much-hyped track was scrapped because a drain cover destroyed not one but two cars, FP2 eventually ended at 4am local time in front of empty grandstands. Pictures emerged online of fans being ejected by police as the revised schedule meant security and hospitality staff had clocked off. To tell us what happened and what the teams, drivers and organisers say, is Haydn Cobb. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On this month’s edition of the Flat Chat podcast, Stuart Codling is joined by Mark Gallagher and Matt Kew to discuss how Carlos Sainz is winning his fight to stay at Ferrari. Mark is also fresh from visiting the track in Las Vegas and discusses how F1's return to Sin City affects the teams and the fans. And General Motors has registered to join F1 as a power unit manufacturer in 2028 via its Cadillac brand. The intention is to partner with the new Andretti F1 team, so this announcement is bound up in all the politics surrounding that. We’ve dug into the Andretti business in previous editions of the podcast but this has moved the story on a fair bit and the timing is significant. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A new Formula 1 documentary debuted today on Disney+ giving fans a look behind the scenes of the iconic 2009 F1 team. Brawn: The Impossible F1 Story is a four-part series that looks at the history of the Brawn team after Ross Brawn saved the former Honda team in 2008. Megan White sits down to talk about the documentary with Ross Brawn and Jenson Button. They talk about how their future relied on the F1 paddock coming together, how Jenson was afraid to show any weakness during his championship winning season, and the legacy that Brawn F1 left on the sport. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The British Touring Car Championship season threatened to become a one-horse race at times in 2023, such was the searing speed of Ash Sutton and his Motorbase Performance-run Ford Focus ST. But reigning champion Tom Ingram kept it just about alive right up until the final weekend, before he was forced to hand his crown back to fourth-time winner Sutton. And TOCA's support classes were once again thrilling to follow. With no Ginettas competing for the first time since 2007, there was a different feel to the TOCA support bill this year but still plenty of impressive displays from the protagonists of the British Touring Car Championship's undercard. On the podcast today Martyn Lee is joined by Marcus Simmons and Stephen Lickorish. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Autosport Awards are back next month for the 36th time, with the ceremony taking place at its usual venue of the Grosvenor House Hotel on London’s Park Lane on Sunday 3 December. But we can’t do it without our podcast listeners and readers of Autosport. On the podcast today, Kevin Turner is joined by Haydn Cobb to talk about why we need you to vote, and tell you the nominees for International Racing Driver of the Year, British Competition Driver of the Year, UK National Driver of the Year, Rookie of the Year, International Competition Car of the Year, and Rally Driver of the Year. You can vote for the candidate you think performed best in each category during the season now at https://awardsvoting.autosport.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Martyn Lee is joined by Matt Kew in Brazil, along with our F1 Reporter Filip Cleeren, to look back at the winners and losers at Interlagos for the 2023 Brazilian Grand Prix. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As Formula 1 grapples with what the sprint format might look like next year, the final outing of this iteration in Brazil provided plenty of action, at least in the midfield. Martyn Lee is joined by Jake Boxall-Legge to discuss today's race, and what the options are for the sprint weekends in 2024. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Martyn Lee is joined by our F1 Reporter Filip Cleeren to try and make sense of a qualifying session which was eventually aborted due to severe weather. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The only records left for Max Verstappen to break this year are his own ones from last year, but could he get 16 wins in one season with a Ferrari front row lockout? To analyse all the action from Sunday's Mexico City Grand Prix, Martyn Lee is joined by Alex Kalinauckas and Filip Cleeren. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A mixed up qualifying set up a fascinating (long) run down to Turn 1 on Sunday afternoon in Mexico. And could we see a repeat of the exciting battle we saw in 2021? Alex Kalinauckas joins Martyn Lee to talk about why some teams suddenly found pace as the track cooled, and why Formula 1 increasingly sees a queue of drivers stopping at the end of the pitlane during qualifying. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Martyn Lee is joined by Sam Hall to look at the first day of running in Mexico. Today saw five young drivers get a chance to not crash a Formula 1 car, and all acquitted themselves well. We also saw drama for Aston Martin, with the wheels literally not falling off their weekend before it got started. And we learned a little about the competitive order at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Aston Martin's decision to reignite the Valkyrie Le Mans Hypercar project for the World Endurance Championship and IMSA SportsCar Championship from 2025 has sent waves through the sportscar racing community. The iconic 1959 Le Mans victor is making a grand re-entrance to La Sarthe, yearning for that much-deserved title at the 24 Hours. As we delve into the episode, we journey back to Aston Martin's roots in sportscar racing during its golden era. We reminisce about the stellar performance of 1959 and victory with the DBR1. However success has been elusive since then. Martyn Lee is joined by Gary Watkins and Kevin Turner to unpick the reasoning behind Aston Martin's grand return to Le Mans and sportscar, their renewed aspirations, strategic outlook, and the envisioned path ahead. This episode sheds light on how the combined vision of Lawrence Stroll, Gabe Newell, and Heart of Racing is realigning Aston Martin's trajectory, ensuring it remains rooted in its legacy while embracing the future. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex Kalinauckas, Matt Kew and Stuart Codling are all in Austin, joining Martyn Lee to discuss the United States Grand Prix. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Haydn Cobb joins Martyn Lee to analyse the first sprint race to be held at COTA. Whilst not one for the history books, it still provided action in the early laps, and gave us plenty of insight into how Sunday's Grand Prix might be fought. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As Formula 1 heads into a late season triple-header, Mercedes, Aston Martin and Haas brought upgrades this weekend, while the issue of track limits looms large with 78 infringements in FP1 alone. Martyn Lee is joined by Alex Kalinauckas (Grand Prix Editor, Autosport) to discuss the dynamics at COTA, the intriguing grid line-up, and the unexpected performances we saw today. Will Verstappen be cursing track limits? Is Norris eyeing his maiden F1 win? And what's with the performance disparity among the Mercedes drivers? We also talk about the bumpy surface in Austin and how a Thursday night track run helped Autosport to better understand how the surface might play a big role this weekend. Use this to embed the podcast: <iframe frameborder="0" height="200" scrolling="no" src="https://playlist.megaphone.fm/?e=COMG1740698336&light=true" width="100%"></iframe> Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Martyn Lee is joined by Alex Kalinauckas and Jake Boxall-Legge to discuss the driver pairing of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri at McLaren. McLaren recently celebrated 500 podiums in F1 and, combined with their recent success bringing new parts to the car, we wanted to examine their two rising stars. The main focus is the 2023 season, as Alex applauds Piastri's debut, noting his maiden victory and strong performances against Norris. Jake discusses Piastri's growth, emphasizing his adaptability after car upgrades. Meanwhile Norris, hitting 100 grand prix starts in Austin this weekend, showcases raw talent but faces the challenge of Piastri's emerging status within the team. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On this month’s edition of the Flat Chat podcast, Stuart Codling is joined by Mark Gallagher and Matt Kew to discuss how Max Verstappen joined exclusive club of F1 champions who clinched the title on a Saturday. This month the cover star of GP Racing is Fernando Alonso. We charged our reporter Oleg with the task of finding out what makes him tick, and why Formula 1 is “like a drug to him”. And around this time of year we like to do a tech analysis of the constructors’ championship-winning car. As Matt Kew has written about recently, Red Bull’s RB19 doesn't have any one trick up it's sleeve, thereby denying the opposition the opportunity to either complain or copy. On the podcast this month we talk about how Adrian Newey continues hunt for perfection. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On a weekend when Max Verstappen clinched his third F1 drivers championship there was still plenty of action to talk about in today's grand prix. Martyn Lee is joined by Matt Kew in Qatar, along with Jake Boxall-Legge and Haydn Cobb. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For a special extended version of the Saturday podcast, we're joined by both Chief Editor Kevin Tuner, and our F1 Reporter Filip Cleeren, to discuss the highs and lows of Saturday's Sprint in Qatar. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex Kalinauckas is in Qatar to report on today's qualifying for Sunday's GP. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On this month's edition of the Flat Chat podcast, Codders is joined as usual by Mark Gallagher and Matt Kew. Mark has been to see how the Las Vegas street track is coming along. Whilst there's still work to do, he was left feeling impressed. Also this month, Andrew Benson has written an excellent analysis for GP Racing looking at McLaren's renaissance. Elsewhere, Alex Kalinauckas reports on how he was embedded in the Haas team over the Silverstone weekend to listen in to their top secret engineering debriefs and came away surprised. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Filip Cleeren joins the podcast from Suzuka alongside our Grand Prix Editor, Alex Kalinauckas, and Autosport.com Editor, Haydn Cobb, to discuss today’s Grand Prix with host Martyn Lee. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Martyn Lee is joined by Jake Boxall-Legge from Japan to talk about how the grid was formed, and the battle it sets up for Sunday's Grand Prix. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Martyn Lee is joined by Sam Hall to look back at the first two track sessions of the weekend at Suzuka. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Singapore Grand Prix delivered a race of both strategy and outright pace, at various times thanks to the expected safety car periods on the streets of the Marina Bay circuit. Martyn Lee is joined by Matt Kew in Singapore, alongside Kevin Turner and Alex Kalinauckas to discuss why the form book was thrown out of the window here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jake Boxall-Legge is at the circuit this weekend and joins Martyn Lee to talk about why Red Bull are struggling to find pace under the lights at Marina Bay. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Martyn Lee is back on the podcast following his paternity leave (thanks for covering Bryn!) and joined by Haydn Cobb, Editor of autosport.com, to talk about the early pace in Singapore. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On this month’s edition of the Flat Chat podcast, Stuart Codling is joined by Mark Gallagher and Matt Kew to discuss the unstoppable Max Verstappen. As he continues to break records, it’s striking how matter-of-fact Verstappenis about his continued success. Our panellists discuss the question faced by every other team in the paddock: is there any way he can be stopped? Also on the podcast we discuss the recent Monza Grand Prix and what happened afterwards as Carlos Sainz was attacked for his Richard Mille watch. Elsewhere in this issue of the magazine we have an interview with Alexander Wurz, the chairman of the GPDA, and a key figure is driving forward safety in the sport. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ferrari arrived at the Italian GP and threw everything at stopping Red Bull's dominance, with a highly-focussed package specifically for Monza and a pole position to ensure they led from the front. But was it enough to get their first win in over a year? Bryn Lucas is joined by Filip Cleeren in Italy, plus Kevin Turner and Jake Boxall-Legge, to analyse all of today's track action. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Bryn Lucas is back on the podcast and joined by our Grand Prix Editor, Alex Kalinauckas, to hear how the Italian fans were delighted by today’s qualifying. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Motorsport commentator Bryn Lucas is joined by Autosport.com Editor, Haydn Cobb, to discuss all of today’s track action at Monza. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Martyn Lee is joined by Matt Kew at Zandvoort, along with Alex Kalinauckas and Haydn Cobb, to review all the action from the Dutch Grand Prix. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jake Boxall-Legge has dried out from getting caught in the Dutch downpours and joins Martyn Lee to talk about what he saw today during qualifying. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Sam Hall joins Martyn Lee to update us on the condition of Daniel Ricciardo following his practice crash and transfer to hospital. Plus they talk about the early pacesetters and who can challenge Red Bull after F1's summer shutdown. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What can we learn from the data of Formula 1 so far? 12 races down there's a lot of data available to explain where Red Bull is so good, how McLaren and Aston Martin have changed throughout the season, where Mercedes and Ferrari need to improve, and how far back the midfield teams really are this season. Martyn Lee chats with Jon Noble and returning special guest Blake Hinsey / BrrrakeF1, ex-Red Bull Performance Engineer, to discuss all the biggest data points of F1 2023 so far. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Who's performing the best (other than Red Bull, duh) and who could use a big upgrade for the second half of the year? With over half the F1 2023 season now over, Martyn Lee has chatted with Alex Kalinauckas and Matt Kew to review all 10 of the F1's teams to discuss the highs, lows and everything in between. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The latest Flat Chat podcast from GP Racing magazine weighs up Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc’s next move and delves into the chaos at the Alpine F1 team. The squad formerly known as Toleman, Benetton, Renault, Lotus, Renault again and now Alpine has had many names above the door over the past 40 years. And, recently, plenty of leaders who have been shown the (revolving) door after failing to meet the aspirations of those who ultimately pay the bills. Ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix team principal Otmar Szafnauer and sporting director Alan Permane became the latest casualties. At the same time it was revealed senior engineer Pat Fry was to become chief technical officer at Williams, amid strong suggestions that a toxic atmosphere created by former CEO Laurent Rossi was a reason for Fry choosing to leave. GP Racing columnists Mark Gallagher and Matt Kew join editor Stuart Codling to analyse the implications of these latest moves. As Alpine embarks on an ambitious expansion of its road car line-up and accompanying sales, is this a sign Renault Group boss Luca de Meo wants the team to be competitive earlier than its previous 100-race target? And have the latest departures had as big an impact on staff morale at Enstone as claimed? The cover story of this month’s GP Racing focuses on Charles Leclerc’s next moves. While it’s unlikely he would move to either Red Bull or Mercedes in the short term, it’s clear the relationship with Ferrari is strained. The Scuderia and its loyal tifosi like to draw parallels between Leclerc and Gilles Villeneuve. Both brave, both occasionally prone to messy mistakes while pushing too hard – and might Leclerc, like Villeneuve, be contemplating a future elsewhere? This month’s GP Racing also celebrates Williams hitting its 800th grand prix with a package including an exclusive interview with team principal James Vowles. The former Mercedes engineer and chief strategist opens up about his fight to get into Formula 1 in the first place, early learnings at a struggling BAR-Honda, his role in changing the face of race strategy, and why the Williams team’s new owners aren’t looking to cash out any time soon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Autosport's Stefan Mackley sits down with the newly crowned Formula E champion, Jake Dennis. They delve into the heart-pounding moments of the 2022-2023 Formula E season as Jake takes us on a thrilling journey from the opening round in Mexico City to the final moments at the London E-Prix, where he fulfilled his dream of becoming Britain's first Formula E champion. Throughout the episode, Dennis reflects on his motorsport career that led him to this high point. From an early career in karting to winning the Autosport BRDC Award in 2012 at the age of 17. With two wins in his rookie season, Dennis proved his prowess in the all-electric series, positioning himself as a formidable title contender. Although the championship eluded him he would continue to rack up wins and podiums, until he was finally able to clinch the title in 2022-23. The London E-Prix proved to be a momentous occasion as Dennis secured the championship in front of his home crowd. With the competition expected to intensify, Dennis reflects on the pressures of being the reigning champion and how he plans to maintain his edge in the field. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Matt Kew and Filip Cleeren join us live in Belgium after watching the action trackside this weekend, alongside Jake Boxall-Legge talking to Martyn Lee about how the grand prix panned out at Spa-Francorchamps. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Autosport's Sam Hall takes us through the action on Saturday, which now starts with the Sprint Shootout and ends with the short-but-sweet Sprint race. He joins Martyn Lee to talk about the delayed start, tyres choices and a controversial incident. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Max Verstappen secured pole position at the Belgian Grand Prix qualifying session, despite facing a five-place grid penalty for the GP due to the fitting of a fifth gearbox of the season. This penalty, however, does not affect his starting spot for Saturday’s sprint race. Verstappen had a tense exchange with his engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase, over Red Bull's run plan, which saw him barely make it through in 10th in Q2 following the switch from wet to dry tyres in that session. In the final runs of Q3, Charles Leclerc initially took the top spot with a time of 1m46.988s. However, Verstappen, running deep in the Q3 pack, secured the fastest time with a 1m46.168s, pushing Leclerc to second place before Verstappen's grid penalty was applied. Alex Kalinauckas joins Martyn Lee to analyse all of today’s action. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It was a record-breaking Hungarian GP for Red Bull with 12 consecutive wins beating McLaren’s previous achievement. Chief Editor Kevin Turner is joined by Alex Kalinauckas and Matt Kew alongside your host Martyn Lee to look back at today’s action in Hungary. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

No spoilers! Jake Boxall-Legge joins Martyn Lee to talk about a mixed up grid in Hungary, and a tantalising battle at the front. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices