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Bring Back V10s: Fisichella's dream Renault start at Australia 2005
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The 2005 F1 season marked the beginning of a new era, as Ferrari's run of consecutive championships with Michael Schumacher was about to come to an end.
And that was evident from the beginning of the year, when Renault got off to a dream start with Giancarlo Fisichella easily winning from pole position, and Fernando Alonso charging through from a lowly grid position to almost complete a one-two.
Meanwhile Schumacher was a high-profile victim of changeable weather on F1's first aggregate qualifying weekend, and his race ended with a clumsy collision with new Williams driver Nick Heidfeld.Glenn Freeman is joined by Matt Beer and Mark Hughes to look back at the start of the 2005 season, with a race that won a members poll on Patreon by just two votes!
Off-track, the big topics were how Ferrari would get on starting the year with an updated 2004 car, how Bridgestone and Michelin felt about in-race tyre changes being outlawed, and Minardi's war with the FIA that featured an in-weekend court case, and the entirety of international events in Australia coming under threat!
There's also Red Bull's impressive F1 debut, BAR's cheeky intentional double retirement, Williams starting rumours about BMW and Sauber, and how Eddie Jordan found his first race weekend after selling his team and no longer being part of the paddock.
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Tech Show: Assessing Red Bull's recent upgrade and the reason for Cadillac's brake 'cooking'
53:20|On the latest episode of The Race F1 Tech Show, Edd Straw and former F1 technical director Gary Anderson take a close look at the upgrade package introduced by Red Bull in Austria, and try to diagnose the reason behind Cadillac's race-wrecking brake issues.We also hear from Cadillac's reserve driver Zhou Guanyu, who tells Edd all about his recent outing testing tyres for Pirelli and provides an update on the team's 2026 progress and developments behind the scenes.And finally, Gary tackles questions from listeners on what elements constitute a power unit and whether McLaren have an underlying gear ratio issue. If you'd like to ask Gary a tech question, send it to podcasts@the-race.com.Get bonus F1 podcasts, extra content and ad-free listening, sign-up to The Race Members' Club on Patreon today.
Verstappen + Antonelli? Our take on F1's next big driver moves
58:59|After news broke in Austria that Max Verstappen's management have met with McLaren, we explain what’s really going on behind the scenes when it comes to the four-times world champion’s Formula 1 future.Joining Edd Straw, to discuss what it all means for the wider driver market, are Josh Suttill and special guest Nelson Valkenburg, F1 commentator for Viaplay Netherlands.There's also another batch of listener questions to tackle, with the future of the Williams drivers, Isack Hadjar's form, Russell's in-race pace fall-off and more on the agenda.Get bonus F1 podcasts, extra content and ad-free listening, sign-up to The Race Members' Club on Patreon today.
Driver Rankings: Who was the most impressive driver in Austria?
40:53|George Russell and Max Verstappen returned to the front in Austria - but will either of them claim the coveted top step of the podium in our driver rankings, or will it go to someone else entirely? Matt Beer, armed with questions from The Race Members' Club, joins Edd Straw to run the rule over his Red Bull Ring driver rankings, including whether he got the top two in his rankings the right way around and whether one driver is being unreasonably picked on when it comes to deciding who comes last...If you'd like to take part in the driver rankings fun, get bonus F1 podcasts, and enjoy ad-free listening, sign-up to The Race Members' Club on Patreon today.
Austrian GP: Russell wins - but are Red Bull and Verstappen back?
01:20:57|Edd Straw, Jon Noble and Valentin Khorounzhiy gather at the Red Bull Ring to review an entertaining Austrian Grand Prix. It was a race in which George Russell finally took his second win of the season, but with Max Verstappen posing a serious threat and finishing just 1.6 seconds behind, can we now say that Red Bull are back? And what happened to Ferrari's speed? We tackle those questions, plus we take a close up look at some of the weekend's other big storylines, including the qualifying yellow flag saga and the team orders disagreement at Racing Bulls that was missed in the TV coverage...Get bonus F1 podcasts, extra content and ad-free listening, sign-up to The Race Members' Club on Patreon today.
In-Car Insights: Is Ferrari sandbagging or just struggling in Austria?
14:23|As a special bonus, we're making the Friday edition of our In-Car Insights podcast - usually only available to The Race Members' Club - free for everyone to listen to.Mercedes ended practice day at F1's Austrian Grand Prix on top, but could McLaren be a threat and is Ferrari holding something back with its upgraded engine? Edd and Jon discuss the pecking order at the end of Friday at the Red Bull Ring, plus explain why F1 has banned both Mercedes and Ferrari innovations.If you like what you hear - and we're confident you will - head to Patreon.com/therace to sign up to The Race Members' Club and enjoy these bonus episodes (and much more besides) on every grand prix weekend.
Bring Back V10s: The rise of Williams-BMW
01:09:49|Bring Back V10s looks back on the first two years of the Williams-BMW partnership in 2000 and 2001, with the help of our members!We asked them what they wanted to know about how this partnership started across its first two years, and from that we created a list of subjects for Glenn Freeman to put to Edd Straw and Mark Hughes to explore what was going on both on track and behind the scenes.We cover the expectations ahead of BMW's F1 return in 2000, and why there was tension between the two parties from the very beginning. We look at how the first year laid the foundation for the huge step that came from BMW in 2001 with its incredible P80 engine, and if Williams did enough on the car side to hold up its end of the bargain.We also discuss Williams's three drivers during this time, looking at how Ralf Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya fit into the sometimes divided dynamic between team and engine supplier, and wonder what Jenson Button could have achieved if he'd stayed on board for 2001. Get bonus F1 podcasts, extra content and ad-free listening, sign-up to The Race Members' Club on Patreon today.
Mercedes vs Ferrari: Why battle could be tighter than ever in Austria
54:31|As F1 heads to Austria, Ferrari could have the help of an engine upgrade to boost its chances of turning Lewis Hamilton’s Barcelona win into a title push. But will Mercedes hit back, and if so can George Russell find a way to turn the tide against team-mate Kimi Antonelli after being fortunate to gain 18 points last time out?Those are the key questions tackled by Edd Straw, Ben Anderson and Josh Suttill in the latest episode of The Race F1 Podcast.There's also the latest on the Monaco GP pitlane speeding penalty controversy, plus Edd, Ben and Josh tackle another batch of questions sent in by The Race Members' Club.Get bonus F1 podcasts, extra content and ad-free listening, sign-up to The Race Members' Club on Patreon today.
Lewis Hamilton's extraordinary F1 turnaround explained
01:05:26|With a revitalised Lewis Hamilton still basking in the glory of his first Ferrari grand prix win, we explain how the Briton has been able to turn his fortunes around so spectacularly after last year’s struggles.Edd Straw is joined by Mark Hughes and Scott Mitchell-Malm for an in-depth look at the seven-time world champion, and the changes that have been made off-track and on to enable him to re-find his form.Edd, Mark and Scott also speculate what the recent success means for Hamilton's future, and look at the reasons why the 41-year-old's revitalised form has coincided with a slight dip for his team-mate Charles Leclerc.Get bonus F1 podcasts, extra content and ad-free listening, sign-up to The Race Members' Club on Patreon today.
Sport or entertainment? Why levelling the playing field is problematic for F1
40:33|Red Bull was recently declared Formula 1's best engine under the Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities (ADUO) system, meaning rivals Mercedes and Ferrari will both get engine upgrades during the 2026 season. On the latest episode of The Undercut, Damon Hill and Mark Hughes discuss whether such a mechanism should exist at all, and whether F1 can still be considered a sport if the regulators are trying to artificially level the playing field. They also tackle the thorny topic of whether teams have been actively ‘gaming the system’…Get bonus F1 podcasts, extra content and ad-free listening, sign-up to The Race Members' Club on Patreon today.