Motor Sport Magazine Podcast

Welcome everyone to our first podcast of 2012. Pat Symonds is the only podcast guest we've had more than once, and when you listen you'll realise why. He's a straight-talking F1 engineer who not only tells it how it is, but also has the ability to explain even the most technical parts of the sport to people who haven't got an engineering degree (i.e. us). We hope you enjoy it and do let us know your thoughts on everything we talk about. If you would like to subscribe to these podcasts then visit our podcast feed or our iTunes page.

It seems like only a few months ago that we recorded our 2010 Formula 1 season review in our local pub, the Chelsea Ram. But a full 12 months have passed, and to change things around a bit for this year's season review we decided to 'upgrade' to the Bluebird restaurant. This may just seem like a good excuse to enjoy the food and wine this Chelsea establishment has to offer, but there was more to it than that. Built in 1923 as the Bluebird Garage for Sir Malcolm Campbell, this Art Deco building was the place where in 2005 David Coulthard introduced Adrian Newey to Red Bull team principal Christian Horner. The negotiations that meant Adrian would leave McLaren and join the ranks in Milton Keynes came at a later date, but the seed had been sown. It's this partnership that has been a major factor in Sebastian Vettel's two World Championships and so – good food aside – it seemed a fitting place to record our last podcast of 2011. Our latest issue includes a full season review, taken from this recording, as well as Nigel Roebuck's top ten drivers and an exclusive interview with 2011 runner-up Jenson Button. Want to know who Jenson thinks is the most aggressive driver on the grid? Look out for the February issue on UK newstands on December 30. In the meantime, from all of us on the podcast team, a very happy Christmas and thank you for listening. It's been a great year for the podcasts and we hope you've enjoyed them. We'll be back in the new year with a great guest to kick us off. The first recording will be on January 19 so look out for the podcast soon after that. At the risk of sounding like a BAFTA Award winner, I would just like to thank Alan Hyde for looking after the sound so brilliantly (it's not easy making a bunch of smokers sound good) and Nigel Roebuck, Damien Smith and Rob Widdows for providing the content. More of the same in 2012, please...    

If anyone walks in now, how ever am I going to explain this? That was the question that crept into my mind as I sat facing Johnny Herbert, only too aware of the sterile emptiness that inhabited the stark white hospitality suite. Johnny, three-time Grand Prix winner and much-loved British sports car hero, was bouncing up and down in his plastic chair, screeching and wailing with total abandon, his arms jerking about wildly in front of him. My face had frozen into a fixed, rabbit-in-headlights smile of bewilderment. Was this really happening? It was. But I’m pleased to report that the 1995 British Grand Prix winner wasn’t going through some personal trauma of a mental meltdown – although had the cleaner who interrupted us a few minutes later walked in mid-frenzy he could have been forgiven for jumping to that conclusion. No, Johnny was just taking himself back to the crazy cacophony that was the cockpit of the Mazda 787B in which he won the Le Mans 24 Hours in the distant past of 1991. And it was clearly a journey he’d taken before. His impression of the banshee rotary engine squalling its way through the Porsche Curves was uncanny. He’s clearly practiced this more than most of us would ever care to admit… You’ve got to hear it. I’ve tried to describe it in the January issue of the magazine, alongside Aston Martin racer Sam Hancock’s test-drive of the bright orange and green Mazda. But no matter how hard I tried, words on the page just could not do it justice. So close the windows, lock the door (just to make sure no one walks in and wonders what the hell you’re doing)… and go to the bottom of the page. I guarantee it’ll make you smile. It’s impossible to be around Johnny and not have fun, as I found during a very special day at Misano recently. We’ve been offered tests of Le Mans winners before, but it’s super-rare to have a chance to sample the most recent car to conquer the 24 Hours – in the same calendar year it won the race. When Audi’s message landed that its stunning stealth-like R18 would be ours for a day, I almost choked on my tea. So who should we ask to drive it? Johnny’s experience and history – which includes racing Audi’s five-time Le Mans-winning R8 – made him the ideal choice. And as he hadn’t driven a contemporary prototype in anger for seven years, let alone a modern turbodiesel, we reckoned he’d offer an interesting perspective on the evolution of the breed. And so it proved. You can read how he got on in the January issue. As I write, we are preparing for the season-ending Brazilian Grand Prix and at this time of the year we naturally reflect on what we’ve seen in the past months. Our full review of the F1 season will follow in next month’s issue, but for now you might be interested to find out more about the architect of Sebastian Vettel’s stunning success in 2011. Christian Horner is the man responsible for putting the pieces together at Red Bull Racing, taking the team from the midfield mire to double World Champions in just seven seasons. He was responsible for luring Adrian Newey from McLaren and the steady hand of his leadership deserves huge credit during this super-competitive era. Simon Taylor met Christian for lunch between the Korean and Indian GPs and discovered, to our delight, that there’s no big secret to his success. Like the best bosses, Horner doesn’t get lost in meaningless management speak. He’s straightforward, grounded – and as Simon found, a true racing man with the sport in his blood. Nigel Roebuck reflects this month on the blossoming of Vettel during a season in which he has grown into a great champion – and one who has the potential to break every record going in the future. Nigel also takes us back 30 years to the bizarre story of Formula 1 in Las Vegas. At a time when Bernie Ecclestone is once again gambling on the US, with a race that might not happen in Texas next year and another pencilled in for New York a season later,

On Saturday October 8, Motor Sport hosted a readers’ evening in association with Audi UK at the Audi quattro rooms in West London. Star guests included Le Mans winners Allan McNish, Tom Kristensen and Audi factory team engineers Howden ‘H’ Haynes and Leena Gade. The documentary Truth in 24 – that everyone watched at the start of the evening – follows the factory Audi team as they fight through the gruelling race in the knowledge that their car is technically slower that its rival from Peugeot. In one of the most nail-biting Le Mans in recent history, the Audi team works together to overcome its rivals, and it is engineer Howden’s inspired tyre-change decision 23 and half hours into the race that helps the number two car to victory. After watching the film editor Damien Smith sat down with all four as well as editor-in-chief Nigel Roebuck. Here is the recording of the discussion... To see more images of the event please click here.

Ahead of our December issue – that will be in UK shops on October 28 – we sat down with Sir Jackie Stewart to record a podcast. Why ahead of our December issue? Well, Sir JYS will be the guest editor of the magazine. We won't tell you too much about the upcoming content – that will have to wait for a few weeks. However, suffice to say that it should be a cracker. The podcast went as well as we expected and Sir Jackie's opinions on modern Formula 1 remain as relevant as ever. We hope you enjoy it and as always, let us know what you think. Don't forget to watch out for the Decemeber issue at the end of October, it's not to be missed.

This podcast is a little bit special. On September 16 we took over a small corner of the Drivers' Mess at the Goodwood Revival and interviewed anyone who was passing. It just so happened that Eddie Cheever, Arturo Merzario, Martin Brundle, Sir Stirling Moss, Nick Mason, Rauno Aaltonen, Gerhard Berger, Sir Jackie Stewart, Tom Kristensen, Andy Priaulx and Emanuele Pirro passed by when we were there. As you can imagine, it was an action-packed hour and 20 minutes spent discussing everything from the new BMW DTM machine to why Sir JYS rolled a car, via what Sir Stirling thinks of some of the 'newer' cars at the Revival and why Pirro ended up sending a £5000 cheque to Goodwood. We hope you enjoy it and, as always, let us know what you think about any of the subjects we discuss.    

When we finished our podcast yesterday every member of the team agreed that it was the best yet. We weren't surprised though because chatting to Murray Walker for an hour was never going to be dull. We hope you enjoy it and – as always – let us know your thoughts.

Welcome to another 'week in motor sport'. There was plenty to talk about this week and I sat down with features editor Rob Widdows to mull over the Hungarian Grand Prix and the news of new deal with Formula 1, Sky and the BBC. I am sorry that we're back to our usual editing quality, but we're in the process of finding a budget and hope to return to the professional format as soon as possible! As always, let us know what you think about everything we discuss. Or, if you'd like to download it...

Here we are, another month, another audio podcast! Nigel Roebuck, Damien Smith, Rob Widdows and myself sat down on Tuesday July 26 to talk about the German Grand Prix, the Formula 1 form book and the future of sportscar racing. Have a listen and do let us know your thoughts on everything we discuss. Something you may want to put in your diaries is that on August 24 we will be doing an audio podcast with the great Murray Walker. It'll be online the next day and should be a cracker. If you want to ask him a question just click here.

Welcome to another 'week in motor sport'. This week I talk to Damien Smith and Rob Widdows about the British Grand Prix as well as the contact between Will Power and Dario Franchitti in the Indycar race in Toronto. There was so much to say about the Grand Prix at Silverstone that we have gone on a bit longer this month, so I'm afraid it is split into two parts. We were very fortunate to be joined by Emagine Productions this week who filmed and edited the interview. We hope you enjoy it... Part 1 Part 2 Or, if you'd like to download it...

The British Grand Prix is fast approaching and this week Damien Smith and I discuss the race and the new pit and paddock complex at Silverstone. We also talk about Williams' decision to use Renault engines next year and the new partnership between Virgin Racing and McLaren. We also have a brief look at the Imola 6 Hours and the Goodwood Festival of Speed. As always, let us know what you think about the news. Or, if you'd like to download it...

Team Lotus reserve driver Karun Chandhok is our latest podcast guest. He talks to Nigel Roebuck, Rob Widdows and Damien Smith about the role of the reserve driver, his contribution to Team Lotus’s ongoing development, the upcoming Indian Grand Prix and meeting his great hero, Alain Prost.

Motor Sport hosted a special evening in London on June 6 as a group of our enthusiastic readers joined us for a private viewing of the stunning new Ayrton Senna film. We were honoured to be joined by the movie’s producer Manish Pandey and former McLaren team coordinator Jo Ramirez, the man who somehow managed to remain friends with both Senna and Alain Prost during their incendiary two years as team-mates in 1988-89. This is the full, unedited, recording of the open discussion after the film which included Jo, Manish, our editor-in-chief Nigel Roebuck and features editor Rob Widdows. We apologise for the sound – it was recorded live! Do let us know your thoughts and keep checking the website for upcoming readers' evenings. We'll be doing plenty more.

What a weekend of racing we've had! The action-packed Canadian Grand Prix, the unbelievably close Le Mans 24 Hours and of course, the MotoGP round at Silverstone. This week I'm joined by Damien Smith and Rob Widdows who help me analyse as much racing as possible in 18 minutes! As always, let us know your thoughts. Or, if you'd like to download it...

This week Rob Widdows and I discuss the rescheduling of the Bahrain Grand Prix, Nick Wirth's departure from Virgin Racing and also the driving standards in the British Touring Car Championship. As always, let us know your thoughts and if you have a question for next week, just post it below. Or, if you'd like to download it...