Episodes
The latest episode of The Race F1 Tech Show takes an in-depth look at the key technical talking points from the Brazilian Grand Prix. Host Edd Straw and former F1 technical director Gary Anderson begin by taking a look at Fernando Alonso’s extraordinary defence (and then attack) of Sergio Perez’s Red Bull, and the way the Spanish veteran used all the tools available to him within his car to secure a hard-fought podium finish.
After that, Edd and Gary discuss one of this season’s big tech...
Published 11/08/23
On this week's show host Edd Straw and former F1 technical director Gary Anderson dive straight into the topic of those dramatic disqualifications to Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc in the US Grand Prix. Gary explains how each car came to have excessive wear to the planks on the car's underfloor, why the plank is there in the first place, and why it was surprising the two teams came to be in the situation.
After that, Edd and Gary discuss the major upgrades that...
Published 10/24/23
Host Tim Silvey is joined by Sean ‘Virtual Statman’ Kelly and our resident racing driver Alex Brundle to bring you fresh perspectives, performance insights and statistical surprises to enhance your enjoyment of Grand Prix racing.
On this episode, Alex muses on how the Sprint weekend format contributed to Mercedes and Ferrari running into ride height problems in Austin.
Following that, Sean lets his statistical mind run wild as he looks back on the first 200 races of the current turbo-hybrid...
Published 10/17/23
On this episode, host Edd Straw and former F1 technical director Gary Anderson dive into the subject of Andretti's bid to get a team onto the F1 grid, looking specifically at the technical challenges that they'll face if granted the final green light.
Having been heavily involved in starting the Jordan F1 project from scratch in 1991, Gary is well placed to comment on what's needed, even if he concedes it's a considerably tougher task in the modern era.
Edd and Gary also cast an eye over...
Published 10/10/23
Can anyone catch Red Bull? That’s the question everyone is asking in F1 and as it’s long been clear that won’t happen this year, what about in 2024?
With McLaren on form at Suzuka, Mercedes struggling and Ferrari the only team other than Red Bull to win this year, it’s far from clear which will be best-placed next season.
Gary discusses the Mercedes weaknesses shown at Suzuka, delves into Ferrari’s inconsistency and pays tribute to McLaren’s remarkable turnaround.
He also tackles a bumper...
Published 09/27/23
Host Tim Silvey is joined by Sean ‘Virtual Statman’ Kelly and our resident racing driver Alex Brundle to bring you fresh perspectives, performance insights and statistical surprises to enhance your enjoyment of Grand Prix racing.
On this episode, Alex explains the rationale behind the old motor racing adage, of trying to win a race at the slowest possible speed, and why in F1 going fast is sometimes about going slow.
Following that, Sean opens his statistical archives and looks back on those...
Published 09/19/23
Flexible bodywork: It's been a big talking point in F1 for years, with the rules technically outlawing it, but the teams forever drawn towards exploiting 'aeroelasticity' for performance gain.
On this week's episode of The Race F1 Tech Show, host Edd Straw and former F1 technical director Gary Anderson dig into the subject, ahead of the new technical directive issued to teams by the FIA ahead of the upcoming Singapore Grand Prix.
Amongst other things they discuss what the new directive says,...
Published 09/12/23
Host Tim Silvey is joined by Sean ‘Virtual Statman’ Kelly and our resident racing driver Alex Brundle to bring you fresh perspectives, performance insights and statistical surprises to enhance your enjoyment of Grand Prix racing.
On this episode, Sean digs into the stats to discuss F1's sometimes complicated relationship with dominance, where highly successful teams and drivers can be both celebrated for their achievements and disliked for upsetting the competitive balance.
Following that,...
Published 09/10/23
When 3D printing technology started to creep into F1 in the late 1980s, nobody would have foreseen how widespread its use would become.
Host Edd Straw is joined by Matt Jones from Stratasys, who tells us all about how additive manufacturing is used in F1 today and how much the technology has evolved over the years. It might surprise you to hear just how many parts are made using such techniques.
Former F1 technical director Gary Anderson also offers his insight into 3D printing, something...
Published 08/30/23
On this week’s episode of The Race F1 Tech Show we’re taking a deep dive into the world of F1 simulators.
We’ll hear from Kia Cammaerts, the founder and technical director of Ansible Motion, providers of the kind of high-fidelity Driver-in-the-Loop (DIL) simulation tools used by F1 teams. He tells us how the technology has developed and evolved, how teams use simulators as a performance tool, and even where the technology might take the sport in the future.
Before that, host Edd Straw and...
Published 08/09/23
On this week's show, host Edd Straw and former F1 technical director Gary Anderson jump into discussing several technical matters of the moment, including the FIA's recent 'spray guard' trial, which aims to use clip on attachments to improve visibility in wet weather racing. Gary gives his thoughts on the design, and suggests a possible improvement after reports of an unconvincing first trial.
Edd and Gary then discuss Red Bull's record run of 12 consecutive victories, noting how impressive...
Published 07/26/23
Host Tim Silvey is joined by Sean ‘Virtual Statman’ Kelly and our resident racing driver Alex Brundle to bring you fresh perspectives, performance insights and statistical surprises to enhance your enjoyment of Grand Prix racing.
On this episode, Alex discusses mid-season driver swaps, and in particular how it affects the person behind the wheel when their seat is under threat or if they are given the boot after a handful of races.
Following that, Sean gets his teeth into the subject of early...
Published 07/18/23
Having had the chance to watch cars on track together at Silverstone, host Edd Straw and former F1 technical director Gary Anderson open this week’s podcast with some eye-opening observations about this year’s pack.
They then get into the big topic of the British Grand Prix weekend - McLaren’s upgrades and subsequent jump in performance. They discuss what new parts the team introduced, how they’ve managed to make such big strides forward so quickly, and what this says about the Woking...
Published 07/12/23
Host Tim Silvey is joined by Sean ‘Virtual Statman’ Kelly and our resident racing driver Alex Brundle to bring you fresh perspectives, performance insights and statistical surprises to enhance your enjoyment of Grand Prix racing.
On this episode, Sean explains why F1 stats aren't always what they seem to be as he reveals how an oft-mentioned historical stat about consecutive laps led was discovered to be wrong - just as Max Verstappen was set to eclipse it.
Following that, Alex dives into the...
Published 07/05/23
On this week's show host Edd Straw and former F1 technical director Gary Anderson shine a spotlight on Williams, a team that once were perennial championship winners, but have spent the last decade struggling for competitiveness at the wrong end of the grid. Gary explains where Williams have gone wrong in recent times and details the steps he thinks they can make to move back towards the front, taking into account the limitations of the cost cap.
Before that, Gary shares his thoughts on F1's...
Published 06/28/23
Host Tim Silvey is joined by Sean ‘Virtual Statman’ Kelly and our resident racing driver Alex Brundle to bring you fresh perspectives, performance insights and statistical surprises to enhance your enjoyment of Grand Prix racing.
On this episode, Sean turns his statistical lens towards Max Verstappen's recent domination, and in particular the 224 consecutive laps he's now spent in the lead of Grands Prix. He explains where Verstappen's streak ranks all-time in F1, debates how long it might go...
Published 06/20/23
One of the biggest off-track stories of last season was Red Bull being hit with a 10% reduction of the aerodynamic testing allowance it was entitled to for the 2023 F1 campaign, for breaking the budget cap in 2021.
Red Bull's rivals might have hoped that the punishment would slow them down, but if anything the world champions look even more dominant this term. On this week's show, host Edd Straw and former F1 technical director Gary Anderson take inspiration from a listener's question as they...
Published 06/14/23
Host Tim Silvey is joined by Sean ‘Virtual Statman’ Kelly and our resident racing driver Alex Brundle to bring you fresh perspectives, performance insights and statistical surprises to enhance your enjoyment of Grand Prix racing.
On this episode, after some spicy exchanges over the airwaves in Spain, Alex goes deep on the subject of team radio. He discusses whether drivers talk too much during races, how team radio can help a driver's performance but also quickly become a distraction, why we...
Published 06/08/23
This year's Monaco Grand Prix had a bigger technical focus than ever, with Mercedes running its much-anticipated upgrade package for the first time. On this episode of the pod, host Edd Straw and former F1 technical director Gary Anderson take a close look at what changes Mercedes have made to the W14, the intension of these changes, and whether they'll bring the performance boost the team are hoping for.
Before that, Edd and Gary discuss the other topic that often comes up when contemporary...
Published 05/31/23
Host Tim Silvey is joined by Sean ‘Virtual Statman’ Kelly and our resident racing driver Alex Brundle to bring you fresh perspectives, performance insights and statistical surprises to enhance your enjoyment of Grand Prix racing.
On this episode, after the sad cancellation of the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix due to terrible floods in the area, Sean takes a statistical look at other occasions when forces of nature have caused races to be called off or halted, either before or during the weekend -...
Published 05/24/23
Ahead of one of the most interesting races of the year from a car upgrade perspective, host Edd Straw and former F1 technical director Gary Anderson convene to discuss the changes coming to the cars in Imola and how they’ll be assessed. Of course, there’s a particular focus on Mercedes, with the former world champions set to introduce a ‘course correcting’ upgrade to their troublesome W14.
After that we switch focus to a topic many of you have wanted to hear more about: The tech behind F1’s...
Published 05/17/23
On episode 3 of Aramco F1 Focus, the podcast that shares this feed with The Race F1 Tech Show, host Tim Silvey is once again joined by Sean ‘Virtual Statman’ Kelly and our resident racing driver Alex Brundle to bring you fresh perspectives, performance insights and statistical surprises to enhance your enjoyment of Grand Prix racing.
This week, after Max Verstappen’s win from ninth on the grid in Miami, Sean takes a statistical look at wins from low grid slots - and why winning from ninth...
Published 05/10/23
We have a double-header of sorts on this week’s episode of The Race F1 Tech Show - but with a distinctly Aston Martin flavour.
First up, host Edd Straw and former F1 technical director Gary Anderson look back on the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku, and in particular why Aston Martin suffered with DRS issues. Gary explains what happened to the team and why such a problem is so difficult to solve.
He also opines on Alpine’s struggles with bouncing and whether the lack of practice running that was...
Published 05/03/23
In this episode we’re taking a deep dive into the world of F1 braking systems - the technology that slows down F1 cars, but is paradoxically key to making them quicker.
As usual, host Edd Straw is joined by former F1 technical director Gary Anderson, who was on the Brabham team when they introduced carbon to F1 brakes in the Seventies.
Gary discusses how braking technology has evolved, why the materials have changed, and some of the challenges involved in making them work...
Published 04/19/23
On episode 2 of Aramco F1 Focus, the brand-new podcast that shares this feed with The Race F1 Tech Show, host Tim Silvey is once again joined by Sean ‘Virtual Statman’ Kelly and our resident racing driver Alex Brundle to bring you fresh perspectives, performance insights and statistical surprises to enhance your enjoyment of Grand Prix racing.
This week, following on from a stoppage filled Australian GP, Alex focuses in on red flags, more specifically on how a driver responds to them and how...
Published 04/13/23