F1 Beyond The Grid

F1 Beyond The Grid

The risk-takers, late-brakers and history-makers of Formula 1 slow down for in-depth interviews. Tom Clarkson brings you revealing, feature-length conversations with drivers, team bosses, engineering experts and F1 legends. Hit the follow button for the fastest way to get new episodes. Watch episodes exclusively on the F1 YouTube channel. An official Formula 1 podcast. For race reviews + previews, listen to F1 Nation. To learn more about how F1 works, listen to F1 Explains

Episodes

November 25, 2025 62 mins
Winning four Formula 1 World Championships is a feat only six elite drivers have achieved. Competing under the highest pressure, year after year, has given Sebastian Vettel rare racing insight. Since retiring from the sport in 2022, he’s been raising awareness of causes he cares about, and reflecting on his career – the peaks, how he learned to balance risks and rewards, and the years where his competitive fire started to fade...
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Every driver who wants to win with Red Bull needs to impress Helmut Marko. The veteran Motorsport Advisor oversees the team’s young driver programme and helped launch the careers of Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen. A former F1 driver himself, he knows what it takes to race under the highest pressure.

Helmut tells Tom Clarkson about his life in racing: childhood adventures in Austria with future world champi...
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With three rounds left of the 2025 season, Oscar Piastri is still in contention to become Formula 1 World Champion for the first time.

So what’s it like being in the thick of an F1 title fight with so much at stake?

Speaking to Tom Clarkson before the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, Oscar opens up about the pressure of a title battle and why fighting a teammate is different to racing against any other driver.

...
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McLaren have won back-to-back Constructors’ titles for the first time since the early ‘90s.

Just eight years ago, in 2017, they finished second to last, so how exactly have they transformed into World Champions since then?

Speaking to Tom Clarkson at the McLaren Technology Centre, CEO Zak Brown and Team Principal Andrea Stella outline how they’ve masterminded McLaren’s remarkable turnaround toge...
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30 years ago, a 120mph puncture sent Mika Hakkinen’s car spinning over a high kerb and into a wall of tyres. His McLaren did not have many of the safety devices modern F1 cars have. Mika suffered serious injuries which left him in hospital, unsure if he would ever race again.

Mika tells Tom Clarkson he thinks about his crash at the 1995 Australian Grand Prix every day, and he remembers the moment he lost contro...
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Ahead of a new era of Formula 1 in 2026, Italian engineer Enrico Cardile moved from Ferrari to Aston Martin. Working alongside Adrian Newey as Chief Technical Officer, his aim is to turn Aston into winners.

Enrico tells Tom Clarkson how he studied Ferrari at university, before joining the company as a young engineer in the road car division. He moved on to the F1 team, developing single-seaters which took Kimi ...
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October 14, 2025 77 mins
Serial winner in sports cars, Formula 1 driver and all-out racer: Allan McNish is using his experience to give Audi a fast start in F1. A Le Mans and World Endurance Championship-winner with the manufacturer, Allan knows how ‘the Audi way’ of racing will translate to F1.

Allan’s own journey to F1 began with a McLaren test alongside Ayrton Senna. 13 years later, he finally made his Grand Prix debut. Allan tells ...
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With 16 Drivers’ and Constructors’ World Championships combined, Williams are the third most successful team in Formula 1 history – behind Ferrari and McLaren.

But they haven’t won a title since 1997 and it’s 13 years since they last won a race, so Team Principal James Vowles is on a mission to bring the glory days back to Williams.

In 2025, the team have taken big steps towards success. Carlos ...
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A whirlwind rise to Formula 1 with its most famous team in the 1960s, and one of the greatest sportscar racing drivers in the world during the ‘70s and ‘80s, Derek Bell has established an incredible legacy in motorsport.

Speaking to Tom Clarkson, Derek talks about being personally picked by Enzo Ferrari to make his Formula 1 debut for the team at their home race and what it was like going out for dinner with Fe...
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Franco Colapinto didn’t take long to make a name for himself in Formula 1.

He became the first Argentine F1 driver in 23 years when he debuted with Williams in 2024. It only took him two races to then become the first Argentine points scorer in the sport since 1982.

More than a year since his incredible breakthrough, and now racing for Alpine, Franco tells Tom Clarkson the story of how a boy fro...
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Six months before their first race, the new Cadillac Formula 1 Team is already moving fast. The drivers have been signed, the car is being developed on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, and engineers are running simulations to prepare for Grand Prix racing.

Leading Cadillac to the Formula 1 grid is Team Principal Graeme Lowdon, who knows how to launch a brand-new team. He did it in 2010 with Virgin Racing, whic...
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Aged 11, Gabriel Bortoleto left Brazil, determined to make it in motorsport. His family’s passion, hard work and sacrifice gave him a start. His talent saw him accelerate towards a racing career. A two-time World Champion saw he was special, and helped guide him to Formula 1.

Speaking to Tom Clarkson, Gabriel looks back at his childhood, how his parents worked hard to fund his racing dream, how he made the diff...
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‘Pressure is the best motivation for all of us’. Fred Vasseur knows all about pressure.

He leads Formula 1’s most storied team. At the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, the tifosi – Ferrari’s passionate fans – want to see Charles Leclerc or Lewis Hamilton on the podium. But what they, the rest of Italy and Ferrari fans all over the world really want Vasseur to deliver is the Formula 1 World Championship.

F...
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Today he's on F1TV giving us expert racing insight. But 10 years ago, James Hinchcliffe suffered a near-fatal accident during practice for the 2015 Indy500, which left many people doubting that his racing career could continue.

A year later, he scored a sensational pole position at the very same racetrack.

Speaking to Tom Clarkson, James talks through the freak injury he suffered and how he made such a miracu...
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Jacky Ickx didn’t grow up wanting to be a racing driver, so how did he become Belgium’s most successful Formula 1 driver and one of the most versatile racers in the history of motorsport?

Competing in all types of cars and competitions, not only did Jacky win eight F1 races and finish runner-up in the Drivers’ Standings twice, he was also a serial winner in Le Mans, the World Endurance Championship and even the...
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Adrian Reynard's motor racing outfit were one of the best in the world during the 1980s and '90s – winning multiple championships across Formula 3000, F3 and IndyCar.

Reynard Racing Cars also held an impressive record of winning the first race of every major single-seater competition they entered. 

But when Adrian helped create the British American Racing F1 team in 1999, expectations were high and tha...
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Alex Albon went into 2025 facing one big question. 

With the arrival of Carlos Sainz at Williams, how would he measure up against his most competitive teammate since racing alongside Max Verstappen at Red Bull?

So far, Alex has answered that question on track – having the edge over Carlos in qualifying and on race day in the first half of the season. 

But Alex never doubted his ability to rise to tha...
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He drove for one of the least competitive teams in F1 history. He never started a race. Just making it to Formula 1 was ‘a million to one’ shot for Perry McCarthy. Through extraordinary determination, he did it.

When his raw talent behind the wheel was spotted at his local racetrack, McCarthy set his sights on racing at the top. He worked on a North Sea oil rig to raise money to fund his career. Racing in Formu...
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Racing twice in 2002 with Minardi and once again three years later with BAR Honda in 2005, Anthony Davidson’s Formula 1 career had a few false starts. But in 2007, he finally got a full-time shot with Super Aguri.

Although his F1 career ended just over a year later, Anthony is rightly proud to have reached the top of motorsport.

Speaking to Tom Clarkson, he discusses the ups and down of his time in F1 – telli...
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To celebrate 75 years of the Formula 1 World Championship, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer invited drivers, Team Principals and others from the sport to 10 Downing Street - the heart of government in the UK. 

In a special episode of F1 Beyond The Grid, the Prime Minister tells Tom Clarkson why he's 'proud' of the sport's success and its £12bn annual contribution to the UK economy. Williams Team Principal James Vowles ...
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