When Marc Surer reached Formula 1 in 1979, he was a rising star: the reigning Formula 2 champion from the mountains of Switzerland, surely destined for the summit of F1 success. But two leg-breaking crashes made Marc’s climb steeper and harder. He relives those crashes with Tom Clarkson and remembers his remarkable recovery and return to racing. Amazingly, he scored points for Arrows, and almost made the switch to Ferrari after the death of Gilles Villeneuve. Marc also came close to racing for McLaren after a secret meeting with boss Ron Dennis. Later, he survived a fiery rally crash in which his co-driver was killed. Marc shares stories of racing up mountains as a child in a country where motorsport was banned, working with F1 design genius Gordon Murray, driving brutal turbocharged F1 cars armed with more than 1000 horsepower and wrestling Group B rally cars on snow and ice. This episode is sponsored by: Dave: download the Dave app from the App store right now. Sign up for an Extra Cash account and get up to 500 dollars instantly. For terms and conditions go to dave.com/legal. Instant transfer fees apply. Banking provided by Evolve. Member FDIC Babbel: right now, Babbel is offering our listeners six months free with a purchase of a 6-month subscription with promo code GRID at babbel.com/play BetterHelp: get 10% off your first month at betterhelp.com/grid
Before he started, as he puts it, ‘playing with racing cars’, Jody Egginton trained as a schoolteacher. His love of motorsport led him to Formula 1, and he worked his way up from Tyrell during the early years of computer-aided design (CAD) to Technical Director at AlphaTauri today. Along the way he helped Force India achieve a stunning result in 2009, fought to keep the brand-new Caterham team afloat in the 2010s and worked with Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz at the very start of their F1 careers. He’s now driving AlphaTauri’s car development, pushing a team of engineers flat out to give Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda a car which can challenge for 5th in the F1 Constructors’ Championship. Jody tells Tom Clarkson about his approach to learning, communication, problem-solving and leadership, and shares advice for aspiring F1 engineers. Related episodes from the Beyond The Grid archive Pierre Gasly Yuki Tsunoda Franz Tost, AlphaTauri Team Principal James Key, McLaren’s Technical Director John Barnard, legendary F1 technical genius This episode is sponsored by: Calm: go to calm.com/grid for 40% off unlimited access to Calm’s entire library Hello Fresh: visit hellofresh.com/grid16 and use code grid16 for up to 16 free meals AND 3 free gifts Babbel: go to babbel.com/play and use promo code GRID for an extra six months free
Jenson Button. Jacques Villeneuve. Colin McRae. Sebastian Loeb. The list of elite racing drivers David Richards has led is long and legendary. As an F1 Team Principal in the 2000s, he, Button and the BAR team challenged Ferrari for race wins. David tasted podium champagne, but the bottle never had ‘1st’ printed on it. Not so in the World Rally Championship and at Le Mans, where his teams and drivers have won a multitude of titles. David tells Tom Clarkson the story of his incredible life in motorsport: success in rallying, decades in F1 with Benetton, BAR and Honda, and he remembers the behind the scenes negotiations to bring his own company, Prodrive, onto the grid. Plus, desert racing with Sebastian Loeb, Extreme E with Lewis Hamilton’s team and his ongoing work to make motorsport more inclusive and sustainable as chair of Motorsport UK. This episode is sponsored by: Shopify: sign up for a FREE fourteen-day trial at shopify.co.uk/grid ExpressVPN: visit ExpressVPN.com/grid right...
‘It’s a huge step… but the peak is miles away’. That’s how George Russell sums up racing for Mercedes. Since George joined the team’s young driver programme in 2017 he knew he could rise to the seat of a Silver Arrow Formula 1 car. How did he get there, and how high will he rise in the future? George tells Tom Clarkson about emotive highs with his former team, Williams, a bitter disappointment on his Mercedes debut in Sakhir and a learning moment in Italy which helped shaped him into the driver and the man he is today. Hear about the pressure George races under at Mercedes, his relationships with his colleagues, his view of his place in the sport, his principles and his ambitions in this in-depth conversation. Related episodes: George Russell’s first BTG interview from July 2020 This episode is sponsored by: Harry's: get hold of a free travel sized face wash when you redeem a free Harry’s Trial set at harrys.com/grid. All you need to cover is £3.95 for delivery
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Zhou Guanyu’s route to F1 was epic. As a child he watched the Chinese Grand Prix from the grandstands and dreamed of joining his racing heroes. But with no footsteps to follow in, he had to plot his own path. Before he was even a teenager he moved from his home city of Shanghai to the other side of the world to test his talent behind the wheel. Fighting homesickness and intimidation from his racing rivals, he proved himself. Zhou tells Tom Clarkson about the sacrifices, key decisions, victories and personal loss he experienced along the way. Now he’s racing his childhood heroes as the first Chinese driver to compete in Formula 1. Zhou has already made history for his country and, as he says himself, he’s only just getting started. This episode is sponsored by: Shopify: sign up for a FREE fourteen-day trial at shopify.co.uk/grid Athletic Greens: get a FREE 1 year supply of immune-supporting Vitamin D AND 5 FREE travel packs with your first purchase at athleticgreens.com/f1btg Calm...
During his ten year career, Belgian driver Thierry Boutsen delivered consistently. He stacked up 164 races, 15 podiums and 3 Grand Prix wins; even beating the legendary Ayrton Senna to the top of the podium when driving for Williams at the Hungaroring in 1990. Thierry has always been driven by his passions, his love of speed began racing motorbikes in rainy Belgian woodland where he would develop the skills that would eventually help him take his first victory in difficult conditions at the 1989 Canadian Grand Prix. His Formula One debut was with Arrows at his home race in Spa in 1983, the same track it would end on a decade later when he briefly joined the Jordan team. Thierry tells Tom Clarkson all about his journey to F1, the race wins that define his career, his deep interest in engineering and his close bond with good friend Ayrton Senna. This episode is sponsored by: Babbel: go to uk.babbel.com/play, and use promo code GRID for an extra six months free Shopify: sign up for a F...
With a career spanning four decades, Frank Dernie knows a thing or two about how to make a car fast. After joining Williams in the late 70's as Patrick Head's aerodynamic assistant, helping design the successful FW08 chassis, he went on to work with some of Formula One's biggest stars, greatest teams and the fastest cars on the grid. A pioneer in his field, Frank was the first person in the sport to use computer aided design and is the man to thank for bringing the Williams team's active suspension to life. His analytical and data driven mind was in hot demand in the paddock from teams and drivers alike as he developed his race winning cars. In this episode Frank lets us take a peek inside his brilliant mind as he takes us back to those early days at Williams working with Sir Frank Williams, Nigel Mansell and Nelson Piquet, testing with Alain Prost and all that fell in between. Related episodes: Nigel Mansell This episode is sponsored by: Athletic Greens: get a FREE 1 year supply of...
As a young racer growing up in America in the 60s, Bobby Rahal idolised people like Phil Hill, Dan Gurney and Mario Andretti - drivers who had made it across the Atlantic to drive in Formula 1. He dreamt of doing the same; of travelling to Europe to race at the circuits he'd read about in magazines and going wheel to wheel with his racing heroes. After making a name for himself on US road circuits and putting in some stand-out performances in Formula 3, that F1 opportunity came in 1978 when Walter Wolf offered Bobby a seat alongside Jody Scheckter at the US and Canadian Grand Prix. They were the last two races of the season and, sadly, they would be the first and last races that Bobby would contest in Formula 1. Although his time at the top was brief, Bobby’s legacy lives on as one of a handful of American drivers to have made it to F1. In this episode, Bobby addresses the need for more US drivers on the grid and he winds back the decades to reveal the passions that fuelled his lov...
McLaren technical director James Key is one of the youngest tech chiefs in Formula One. He’s very bright, he’s super-organised and he’s ultra-competitive, all attributes that he’s using to drive the team back to the top of the sport. In this episode, James opens up to Tom Clarkson about McLaren’s difficult start to the 2022 season, when their cars finished 14th and 15th in the Bahrain Grand Prix, and how the team pulled together in the days that followed to improve the MCL36. Only three races later Lando Norris finished third at Imola. James also gives a fascinating insight into what it’s like to work with McLaren drivers Norris and Daniel Ricciardo, and how they're adjusting to the new 2022-spec cars, and he hints at what we can expect from them as the season unfolds. We also hear about James' journey to F1, the technological advances he's been a part of, the highs, the lows and most importantly: what the future holds for McLaren. : Related episodes from the BTG archive: Land...