Inside Line F1 Podcast - Why Ferrari Codenamed Their Car '670'

Ferrari's '670' (or their 2019 Formula 1 car) will be unveiled to the public on 15th February, 2019. But what significance does the number '670' have for Ferrari? We try to decipher further in this week's episode of the Inside Line F1 Podcast.

Photo: Octane Photography

Also in this episode, we replace the What Wolff Said This Week section with What Marko Said This Week, because he did say one thing too many and everything too funny! Charles Leclerc's target of '2 wins in 2019' seem unambitious, we tell you why. Could Brendon Hartley be Porsche's Formula E driver for next year? We share an important life lesson from his Motorsport career. And finally, did you know that Lewis Hamilton is open to playing second fiddle in Mercedes? Tune in!

(Season 2018, Episode 41)
Subscribe to the Inside Line F1 Podcast on iTunes, Google Podcasts and audioBoom (RSS feed) for your weekly dose of Formula 1 humour

Here's what's in store for you in this week's episode:
0:00-3:00: A teaser for the 2018 Inside Line F1 Podcast Awards

3:00-6:00: We speak Formula E; the only series that rewards drivers for racing off the line? Are Formula E cars as strong as go-karts?

6:00-9:00: Why have Ferrari codenamed their 2019 F1 car '670'?

9:00-12:00: What Marko Said This Week - are Red Bull really not interested in Mick Schumacher? Are Red Bull drumming up unnecessary PR with regards to their Honda partnership?

12:00-15:00: WHAT IF Verstappen gets an unreliable and slow engine in 2019?

15:00-18:00: All the funny PR stories from Formula 1 in the last week! Also, we tell you why Charles Leclerc's targets for 2019 are disappointing

18:00-21:00: Life lessons from Brendon Hartley's Motorsport career; will he be Porsche's Formula E driver? Lewis Hamilton is open to playing second fiddle at Mercedes, did you know?

21:00-24:00: Ashley's 2018 Formula 1 Season review

Inside Line F1 Podcast - The Felix Rosenqvist Interview

Felix Rosenqvist, the Mahindra Racing driver and the current Formula E Drivers' Championship leader, joins us on the Inside Line F1 Podcast. Yes, we are a Formula 1 podcast and this is exactly why we have Rosenqvist on the podcast - he deserves every bit of an opportunity in Formula 1 and our podcast is a good place to have him start from!

In this episode, Rosenqvist shares his title aspirations in this year's Formula E season, his title rivals and how Mahindra Racing is working with him to remain ahead of the competition. Also, Rosenqvist shares his ambitions of becoming a Formula 1 driver and how he is attempting the reverse of what most professional drivers have done previously - go from Formula E to Formula 1.

The Swede also shares his secret about mastering street circuits, how different it is to race a combustion engine car to an ell-electric car and lastly, he tells us why he dislikes Kimi Raikkonen since the last few months. Tune in!

(Season 2018, Episode 3)

Subscribe to the Inside Line F1 Podcast on iTunes and on audioBoom for your weekly dose of Formula 1 humour. 

Inside Line F1 Podcast - Red Bull Supports Vettel, Where's McLaren's Support For Hamilton?

We're back! After a couple of weeks' break, we're back with this week's episode of the Inside Line F1 Podcast. Red Bull Racing has publicly supported Sebastian Vettel in his title battle against Lewis Hamilton. Will McLaren come out in support of Lewis Hamilton too?

Reports suggest that Vettel is keen on a one-year contract extension with Ferrari. Is this a learning from Fernando Alonso's Ferrari career, or to leave a door open for a Schumacheresque switch to Mercedes? Btw, our friend and listener, Lucien, shares an interesting numeric perspective on Ferrari's use of team orders in Hungary.

Will Formula 1 and Formula E merge someday? Can Formula 1 become Formula E by just switching to electric motors? And with the 'halo', is Formula 1 moving towards 'closed cockpits'? We discuss these points while applauding manufacturers' interests in the all-electric series which is garnering fan interest slowly and steadily.

And apart from our humourous and funny 'McLaren-Honda-Alonso' section, we also have an 'I Know What You Did This Summer' section. Tune in!

(Season 2017, Episode 29)

Subscribe to the Inside Line F1 Podcast on iTunes and audioBoom for your weekly dose of Formula 1 humour. 

Inside Line F1 Podcast - Sergio Perez Reveals His Prankster Self

After bringing to you Nico 'The Hulk' Hulkenberg last week, we bring to you Sergio 'Checo' Perez this week. Tune in to hear Checo's favourite radio message and how he played a prank on his former team, Sauber. And of course, no prizes for guessing which driver's radio he would enjoying listening to the most.

Apart from Checo's bytes, Mithila and Kunal discuss how Felipe Massa might just go from Formula 1's 'shortest ever' (in terms of time) World Champion to logging the sport's 'shortest ever' (again, in terms of time) retirement. To think of it, it was Jenson Button who was seeking a sabbatical and not Massa!

We empathise with Pascal Wehrlein - who must be feeling like shit after being snubbed by Force India and now Mercedes and possibly Williams too. On the other hand, Stoffel Vandoorne might not be doing himself many favours by selecting the number '2' as his driver number in Formula 1.

If the future of the road relevant Formula 1 engines could be electric, why are we not following Formula E already?

And finally, do remember to subscribe to us on iTunes or audioBoom as we work towards bringing to you our ever-popular Inside Line F1 Podcast Awards in the New Year.

Merry Christmas!

Tune in!

(Season 2016, Episode 44)

What F1 can learn from Formula E

"We don't want comparisons", said the Formula E series CEO Alejandro Agag recently of those that might be made between his own category and its formidable old motorsport relative of F1.

And he has good reasons to think that way. Comparisons between motorsport forms aren't always helpful, at the very least they need to be applied with caution. Different categories have their different place in the landscape, and something that works for one may not be sensibly transported into another.

F1 has some things to learn from Formula E
By Avda - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.
wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=40410786

Take BTCC for example. It's popular and exciting, but much of its excitement is linked to rather interventionist measures like success ballast and often rather Destruction Derby-type racing. Whatever F1's problems few think it should be doing something similar, it's simply not in its DNA. Even at the other end of the scale for all of WEC's success and growth importing things wholesale into F1 wouldn't necessarily be helpful, as was explained in this excellent article by Edd Straw.

In other words, all motorsport forms have a right to exist in their own terms, at least to some extent. But it doesn't stop us trying to make comparisons, particularly with F1 which all psychological roads in motorsport seem to lead to.

As these Formula E highlights show there has been plenty of drama and associated stories in FE's almost-two seasons of existence. The on-track racing has been good, and this campaign shed a lot of the amateur hour and repeated crashing that some accused it of in its opening season in 2014-15. Its driver line-up is a strong one also, aided by F1's tendency to discard or even not let in in the first place rather worthy pilots. Yes I'm looking at you Helmut (though Dr Marko in fairness is far from the only one).

Formula E: Electrifying Motorsport? - a guest post by Josh Evans

When it hits the track next year, the FIA Formula E Championship will be hoping to kick off a new era of environmentally friendly motorsport. But can it capture the fans’ imagination too?

The cars look like no-frills F1 machinery, though the crucial difference comes in the lack of an engine, with batteries mounted in the side-pods providing power. It’s already up and running, claiming to hit 60mph in under three seconds and with a top speed of 130mph.

The Formula E car
Credit: David Merrett / CC

So in a way it’s just a slower version of F1 with an alternative energy source – but it also plans to do some things very differently.

For a start the series won't race on traditional circuits, with all 10 ‘e-Prix’ set to take place on the streets of major cities like London, Miami and Rio de Janeiro.

And, as opposed to the three-day F1 schedule, Formula E will pack all the action into a single day. Drivers will practice in the morning, qualify at lunchtime and then race later in the afternoon. The events will feature a range of entertainment, including live music and DJs, with the racing forming only part of the package.