The Race F1 Rewind

Kimi Antonelli is world champion, ending a 73-year barren spell for Italian drivers - but why has Italy had to wait so long for more title success? That’s the topic of conversation in the latest episode of The Race F1 Rewind, which explores the reasons why Alberto Ascari’s world title in 1953 - Italy’s third championship in four years - proved the last one until Antonelli came along.

We explore why Ferrari became increasingly reluctant to run Italian drivers, the shifts in the motorsport cultural landscape that led to fewer Italian drivers getting opportunities, and where the Italian drivers that did break into F1 were lacking. Plus there’s chat about how Italy’s emergence as the centre of the karting universe had the perverse effect of limiting car racing opportunities for Italian drivers. And finally, Edd and Mark hit fast forward to discuss whether Antonelli’s success will herald a new era of success for a country with such deep motor racing roots.

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In the latest episode of The Race F1 Rewind, Edd Straw and Mark Hughes dig into the truth about Michael Schumacher’s Ferrari exit in 2006, which brought the curtain down on a period of unprecedented dominance that included five drivers’ and six constructors’ world titles and 72 Schumacher victories. They explain the circumstances around the news breaking and explore the conspiracy theory that Schumacher was pushed out, before hitting the fast forward button and speculating on what might have happened if Schumacher had never left.

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Peer into the Red Bull garage on an F1 race weekend and the chances are you’ll see Max Verstappen’s dad, Jos, somewhere in the background, keeping a close eye on his son. But how much do you know about the part Jos played in Max becoming the driver he is today?

In the latest episode of The Race F1 Rewind, Edd Straw and Mark Hughes explore how Jos - himself once regarded as the hottest young prospect in F1 - used the learnings of his own underwhelming Grand Prix career to help guide his son to the top of the sport.

You’ll learn where Jos’s and Max’s careers map and then diverge, why ‘control’ was at the heart of the project, who the real driving force in Max’s climb was, and why ‘the Verstappen blueprint for success’ is not one that others should look to replicate…

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When Fernando Alonso eventually decides to hang up his helmet, he'll rightly be remembered as one of the finest drivers as his generation - but also as someone who could and probably should have won even more, had he made some different career choices. And that description could just as easily be applied to a driver from an earlier era of F1: John Surtees.

As Edd Straw and Mark Hughes discuss on the latest episode of The Race F1 Rewind, Surtees was - in many ways - the Fernando Alonso of his day: blindingly fast but also driven by passion and principle - often to his own detriment.

Listen in as Edd and Mark explore Surtees's career through the Alonso lens, explaining the parallels between these F1 greats and why statistics will never do them justice.

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On the latest episode of The Race F1 Rewind, Edd Straw and Mark Hughes examine the formative years of Ayrton Senna's F1 career, and a time when the Brazilian regularly ruffled the feathers of more established drivers with his scintillating speed and unusual single-mindedness. While his later championship-winning years with McLaren were where his megastardom was cemented, Edd and Mark explain how Senna's three seasons at Lotus (from 1985 to 1987) provided the crucial foundation for his legendary career and set the template for the 'young driver in a hurry' prototype since replicated by modern F1 greats.

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