F1: Beyond The Grid

Matching Daniel Ricciardo in the same car and twice finishing 6th in a Grand Prix is a Formula 1 record to be proud of. But looking back at his three seasons driving for midfield team Scuderia Toro Rosso, Jean-Eric Vergne thinks he could – and should – have done better. In an honest and unflinchingly self-critical interview, Vergne tells Tom Clarkson how his mentality and even his physical size negatively affected his F1 career, and recalls the many things he wishes had turned out differently...

New team, new trophies, new targets: a lot’s changed in Daniel Ricciardo’s mind since his first Beyond The Grid interview in 2019. But one thing has stayed the same: his will to win. Daniel relives the ‘relief and happiness’ brought by his Monza victory and explains why it meant so much to him and his McLaren teammates. The ‘bitter’ feelings of the past are gone, he says, and his mindset has shifted; he’s now driving for much more than just World Championship points...

Aston Martin is ‘the next big thing to happen in Formula 1’. So says Lawrence Stroll, who’s brought the historic brand back into the sport. Stroll first entered the F1 world as a clothing sponsor for Lotus in the 90s before teaming up with Ferrari and Michael Schumacher. A life-long lover of beautiful cars, he tells Tom Clarkson what two things convinced him to buy the Force India team and transform it into Aston Martin...

In his long career, Emanuele Pirro has experienced everything motorsport can throw at a driver. In the 1980s, the Italian raced for Benetton while simultaneously helping to develop Prost and Senna’s mighty McLaren Honda MP4/4. Later, he battled soaking conditions at the infamous 1991 Australian GP and won Le Mans five times. Emanuele has enjoyed an incredible career, and has great stories to tell...

Sebastian Vettel's first Ferrari victory, Haas' points-scoring debut, the race that saved Sauber - all masterminded by race strategist, Ruth Buscombe. Today, as Alfa Romeo's Head of Race Strategy, she's the unseen hand that helps guide the teams race fortunes. Ruth dissects how race strategists operate, how they use data to plan for and react to wild races, what a race-winning strategy call feels like and the rivalry between strategists...

Nikita Mazepin has spent his first year in Formula 1 fighting at the back of the field. He has big ambitions, and is determined to get to the front. Ahead of the 2021 Russian Grand Prix, he tells Tom Clarkson how he’s finding the ‘huge step’ from Formula 2 to Formula 1, and what he’s learning on and off track...

This week’s guest is that rarest of creatures: a man who was both a Formula One driver and a team owner. Jackie Oliver’s F1 journey started in the worst possible circumstances when he had the unenviable task of replacing Jim Clark at Lotus in 1968, after the Scotsman had been killed at Hockenheim. He went on to start 50 GPs for Lotus, BRM, McLaren and Shadow, scoring two podiums, before hanging up his helmet to start his own team: Arrows...

In 1961, Phil Hill became the first American to win the Formula 1 World Championship after triumphing for Ferrari in the Italian Grand Prix at Monza. But that moment of monumental personal achievement was extraordinarily bittersweet, with team mate and title rival Wolfgang von Trips losing his life, along with scores of spectators, in the very same race. In this special episode of Beyond The Grid, Phil’s son Derek Hill tells Tom Clarkson how his father coped with both the win and the loss...

His father is a tough act to follow, but Mick Schumacher is loving writing his own Formula 1 story. In his debut season he’s often out of the spotlight at the back of the grid, but he’s proving he’s got what it takes to compete with the front-runners. Mick tells Tom Clarkson about adjusting to life in F1, the lessons he’s still learning from his father’s career, and drops some hints about his future...

The story of how Michael Schumacher made his debut, 30 years ago this week in Belgium, could have been lifted from a Hollywood movie. The German rookie got his chance when Jordan’s regular driver Bertrand Gachot was dramatically sent to prison on the eve of the race – the rest, as they say, is history...