Latest / Rusty's Garage / The Motorsport Brief | F1 The World’s Most Brutal Sport

Transcript

The Motorsport Brief | F1 The World’s Most Brutal Sport · Rusty's Garage

• 0:02
  A listener production.
• 0:04
  Welcome to the Motorsport Brief, a bonus app during a period of unexpected downtime for Formula One.
• 0:12
  G'day everybody, Rusty here.
• 0:13
  With the cancellation of the next two races on the calendar, we have a month with no F1s.
• 0:18
  So today I thought we'd chat to Stuart Bell, someone who's been a regular in the paddock since the late 90s, covering it for print media, digital, social and television.
• 0:28
  His clients have included the Associated Press, Sky Sports UK, publications in Hong Kong, India, for News Corp, Top Gear, GQ and more.
• 0:39
  Just before we launch into the chat, we've released two terrific episodes in recent days around Easter.
• 0:44
  So quick plug for those.
• 0:46
  Shortcasts that don't stick strictly to that definition.
• 0:50
  One with Tabitha Ambrose, Marcus's daughter, on her own motor racing journey.
• 0:55
  And Brad Johnson, AFL legend, Hall of Famer, whose son isn't pulling on the footy boots and following in Dad's footsteps.
• 1:02
  Jack is racing a McLaren in GT4 in Australia today.
• 1:06
  And he really turned heads at the opening round with his performance.
• 1:09
  Both Epps look at the blessing and pressure, the kind of immediate spotlight that comes with a famous surname and how professional athletes like Marcus and Brad are sharing some of that knowledge, the learnings they had with their children as they embark on their own careers and how Brad is finding it in a very different landscape.
• 1:31
  The Johnsons are loving their motor racing.
• 1:33
  Check those out.
• 1:34
  Both are really nice conversations.
• 1:37
  Now Stuart Bell has a fantastic new book out called Formula One, the world's most brutal sport.
• 1:43
  Gunter Steiner actually wrote the foreword and he reminds us straight away that brutality can mean many things.
• 1:50
  It's a game with huge public interest now so there's no hiding when it comes to failure or things going wrong.
• 1:56
  It means immense pressure in all facets of the business.
• 2:00
  Sure, for the drivers, there's huge physical forces that come from racing the fastest cars.
• 2:04
  There's danger, insane cockpit working temps and so on.
• 2:09
  It is cutthroat, this business, not to mention the gruelling schedule, the demands on the teams 24-7.
• 2:15
  This is good subject matter.
• 2:17
  The book is published by Penguin, so look out for it in all the usual places.
• 2:20
  And the proud author is with us in the garage studio.
• 2:25
  You and I kept running into each other and have done for many, many years in the paddocks.
• 2:28
  So firstly, welcome to the podcast.
• 2:30
  But in telling a bit of the story around this fabulous new book of yours and the brutality of Formula One, it's worth sharing a bit of your own journey and how it all sort of started for you.
• 2:39
  How did you end up around motorsport, around Formula One?
• 2:42
  I mean, there's no history of racing or cars or journalism in my family at all.
• 2:48
  Really?
• 2:48
  Yeah.
• 2:49
  So I've sort of pursued this, not all my own because I've had lots of mentors, but I went to the 97 Australian Grand Prix.
• 2:56
  It was absolutely transfixed.
• 2:58
  And I was doing economics at uni and basically I started writing for the local...
• 3:03
  Monash Uni newspaper and then, yeah, it just started sort of dovetailing into that.
• 3:07
  I moved to Japan in 2004, went to that year's Japanese Grand Prix with the huge typhoon that was there and then went back to Tokyo and just downloaded all that sort of information.
• 3:19
  Uh, and then got in contact with F1 racing.
• 3:21
  That was my sort of Bible that I was reading at this legendary magazine, legendary, absolutely.
• 3:26
  Glossy, beautiful, just, you know, those double page spreads.
• 3:28
  And then yeah, contacted, uh, Steve Cooper, who was the news editor.
• 3:32
  He's now at Aston Martin and he, I sent him a huge, you know, 5,000 word essay and he was just like, it needs to be cut down completely.
• 3:40
  And, uh,
• 3:40
  gave me all that sort of feedback and then basically yeah from there I contacted papers and got it in the paper and I knew the system worked at that point and I was like okay I can get published obviously a long way to go but yeah from there I just he suggests I do all the junior categories and I did the the state racing for motorsport news excellent
• 4:01
  And, you know, it was hard yards.
• 4:03
  You know, you know, it's like being, you know, coming up through the categories and trying to establish yourself.
• 4:08
  My eyes were always on Formula One.
• 4:10
  So that was where I wanted to be.
• 4:12
  And yeah, from there, just sort of pitched voraciously to everywhere in the world to try and get some sort of like a foothold in.
• 4:21
  There were a couple of people that helped along the way, maybe in a, I don't know how big a sense, but I mean...
• 4:27
  I think there's a bit of a yarn around Michael Schumacher, maybe Mark Webber.
• 4:30
  Tell us about that.
• 4:30
  Absolutely.
• 4:31
  So, you know, I've been pitching and doing a little bit of work here and there, but basically one of the people I pitched to was Noel Prentice at the South China Morning Post, and he said, look, if you can get me a quote from Michael Schumacher, who then was the biggest sports star in the world, that was 2060s last year with Ferrari, then I'll publish you.
• 4:52
  And so I thought, well, this is either the bullet in the career or I can take that challenge on.
• 4:57
  So I contacted Sabine Cam and pleaded the case.
• 5:01
  And they gave me a quote.
• 5:03
  And so that got published.
• 5:04
  That got me into the pass, into the Grand Prix.
• 5:07
  And then from there, I mean, at that stage, Formula One wasn't a sexy sport.
• 5:10
  Like it is now.
• 5:11
  To us, it was sexy.
• 5:12
  Yes, yes, yes.
• 5:13
  But to the mainstream, it was still very much an e-sport.
• 5:17
  So I was selling articles hard into all the lifestyle mags.
• 5:22
  And Anne Neal and Mark Webber were very supportive of getting my coverage out there.
• 5:26
  Obviously, that helped them with sponsorship and whatnot.
• 5:28
  But they really sort of gave me that sort of foot up to interview a Formula One star and to sort of expand my coverage from there.
• 5:36
  So it was sort of...
• 5:37
  I've been in the shadows and continue to be in the shadows.
• 5:39
  And that's where I love to be because it just keeps me able to do my job.
• 5:43
  And I'm not a presenter, but I absolutely love Formula One.
• 5:46
  And, you know, it's these mentors, these people have given me help along the way that have allowed me to sort of establish myself.
• 5:52
  Come back a step.
• 5:53
  Two things here.
• 5:54
  Firstly, we're talking a day after the Japanese Grand Prix.
• 5:57
  I mean, the fans up there, the energy around it, a legendary track.
• 6:02
  I mean, what was that like in those early days for you going to that place?
• 6:06
  It was unbelievable.
• 6:07
  I'd seen Albert Park and that international atmosphere that you know so well.
• 6:12
  It's gigantic.
• 6:15
  But when you go to an iconic track like Suzuka, you're just blown away by the elevation change, by the fans, by the...
• 6:24
  The power.
• 6:24
  passion that they have.
• 6:26
  Absolutely.
• 6:26
  And we, you know, it was a typhoon coming through.
• 6:29
  So one of the days was cancelled, but you know, we were still there just, you know, I was just as a fan, you know, so we were there with a tarpaulin over us and trying to stay dry.
• 6:38
  The Japanese fans are all doing that along with you.
• 6:41
  And that really sort of cemented my love of the sport.
• 6:44
  I mean, I'd obviously been to, you know, many Grand Prix before that, but, you know, it just really showed me that.
• 6:50
  wow, this is a global sport and I want to be part of it some way.
• 6:54
  Before we come to the book, I want to touch on a couple of things that you've brought up here in the conversation.
• 6:58
  Firstly, when you talked about China there a moment ago, they have in a percentage terms of love or connection for the sport.
• 7:07
  Now that has exploded up there.
• 7:09
  But back then it was very new to them.
• 7:11
  Motor racing generally, I think was very new to them.
• 7:14
  I've
• 7:15
  quite a funny story on a personal note where at the very first race ever there for F1 in Shanghai, I went and we were lucky enough to go and cover it.
• 7:24
  And in the bullpen interviews post-qualifying, you know what it's like.
• 7:28
  There is like a pecking order kind of thing.
• 7:30
  I can't remember who was in the queue there, but Louise Goodman probably was in front of me and a few others and I was down the chain.
• 7:36
  And Schumacher came out and as he walked down the line, um,
• 7:40
  everyone tended to ask the standard quality question, how it had gone or whatever else.
• 7:44
  And two or three down from me was a young Chinese journalist.
• 7:48
  And what you and I would probably refer to now as like an auto journalist, you know, had his own camera and microphone, and he's asking the questions.
• 7:55
  And while the rest of us were in the now about what had happened in qualifying, he opened the batting with Michael, why is your car red?
• 8:02
  And Michael kind of ever the pro
• 8:05
  was a bit wide-eyed, obviously, by the question, but gave a beautiful answer about, you know, Ferraris, the best Ferraris are red or something along those lines, you know.
• 8:12
  But it was just a reminder of how green, how new it was for China at that stage.
• 8:16
  And it has become massive for them, mate, hasn't it?
• 8:19
  Absolutely.
• 8:20
  You go there, I went there last year with the double header and
• 8:23
  the amount of local interest is huge.
• 8:25
  I mean, they used to fill the sands with military and school kids.
• 8:28
  Not now.
• 8:29
  No, absolutely.
• 8:31
  The area behind the main pit straight is absolutely awash with people.
• 8:35
  Everyone knows about Formula One.
• 8:36
  There's a station inside the circuit.
• 8:39
  It's all very well connected, and it's so easy to get around in China.
• 8:42
  I was amazed.
• 8:43
  But, yeah, all of these nations that have taken on Formula One are just building their support bases, and it's just awesome to see.
• 8:51
  I mean, even just...
• 8:52
  going back to Australia, I mean, seeing the young, the next generation of fans, the, you know, the, the young girls and boys coming into the circuit in groups, it just, you know, it fills my heart with joy, you know, cause we love the sport so much.
• 9:03
  And to see that next generation come through, which, you know, previously it was, you know, older sort of middle-aged guys who love Formula One, but to see that next gen coming through is just awesome.
• 9:12
  I love how you've embraced that too, right?
• 9:14
  Because sometimes we get a bit of this, oh, they're a drive to Survivor, or we're a purist, we've been around for whatever.
• 9:21
  It is great for the game, full stop.
• 9:24
  The saying I've probably overused is that it is box office at the moment.
• 9:28
  It is absolutely massive.
• 9:29
  So to think in that period where...
• 9:31
  you really started to get in boots and all in the late 90s to what it is now.
• 9:35
  You've witnessed quite a bit of change, mate, haven't you?
• 9:38
  Massive change.
• 9:38
  And it's great for Formula One because there was plenty of talk 10, 15, 20 years ago that Formula One was going to sort of not die a death but stay a niche sport and then certainly come in front of the mainstream.
• 9:51
  And, you know, I mean, even 10 years ago, people at the cafe, you know, you would say to them, they'd say, why are you so tired?
• 9:56
  You'd say, I've been up watching the Canadian Grand Prix.
• 10:01
  This happened in the Canadian Grand Prix.
• 10:04
  So that's the real change is that people are chatting about it, friends are asking about it, and they have no prior fond knowledge.
• 10:10
  So it's great that the sport has grown to such a behemoth that it has.
• 10:14
  The book invariably takes up a lot of time to compile, but you have...
• 10:19
  a multitude over 20 plus years of quotes and things that you can rely on.
• 10:24
  What does, before we dive into that, what does sort of Monday to Friday look like for you beyond this now?
• 10:30
  Because there's been sort of, I think, an involvement in the background around television shows and all sorts, hasn't there?
• 10:33
  Yeah, absolutely.
• 10:34
  I produced The Inside Line, which is a weekly TV show on F1.
• 10:37
  It goes out to 30 broadcasters around the world.
• 10:39
  We've got 167,000 subscribers on YouTube.
• 10:42
  And so that's a full-time job in itself.
• 10:45
  But to write the book was a very, very compressed deadline.
• 10:49
  So 5,000 words a week, every week for four straight months.
• 10:52
  Which started when, mate?
• 10:54
  May, May, and then through to August, the end of August into September.
• 10:59
  So, I mean, but that's always been what I've had to do.
• 11:02
  You know, when I was pitching stuff to magazines back when I first started, I had a full-time job, you know, and I was writing 128-page magazines.
• 11:11
  And so it's just the grind.
• 11:12
  You know what it's like.
• 11:13
  Yes.
• 11:13
  That is what this book is all about.
• 11:15
  Formula One is glamorous.
• 11:16
  We love it.
• 11:17
  You know, it does draw the best from people that are going to involve with it.
• 11:22
  But I think it's, you know, I'm trying to show that, hey, there's a real sort of intensity and super hard work behind everyone who's in the paddock.
• 11:30
  And that's what this book is all about.
• 11:31
  It is, I think.
• 11:33
  world's most brutal sport, but not just for what happens necessarily in the competition or in the cockpit.
• 11:40
  It is an intensely political game and so on.
• 11:43
  Trying to come up with just the concept of a book when there are many in that space, was this theme, the brutality that resonated with you for a long time?
• 11:51
  What made you sort of go with that style of theme?
• 11:54
  Well, I think last year we saw a lot of sort of huge mid-season driver changes.
• 12:01
  We saw Liam Lawson jettison from the Red Bull Drive.
• 12:05
  Two rounds.
• 12:05
  Two races.
• 12:06
  We saw the Christian Horner Furore come to a head.
• 12:09
  And I thought, really, it is the time to sort of look at how the alternative view of Formula One is.
• 12:17
  not to demonize the sport, but simply to give it more of a reality sort of check of what is actually going on behind the scenes.
• 12:24
  You know, it does, you know, it is a hustler's lifestyle, you know, for all of us who push, push, push from day to dusk and, you know, and beyond.
• 12:34
  And so really with all that was going on in Formula One, it really seemed like the perfect time to sort of tie it all together.
• 12:41
  Look at, you know, it's cut into two halves.
• 12:43
  So the first half looks at sort of the life cycle of a driver, right from when they get the bug all the way through to retirement.
• 12:49
  And the second half really is about the teams, you know, sort of the mechanics and engineers, the tech side of it, but also the commercial side in terms of, you know, these commercial teams have to pull down $100 million deals.
• 13:02
  So it is an intense ride for everyone.
• 13:04
  Was there along the way as you started to bolt this together and to write all those words, were there things that even opened your eyes around the brutality of it that you perhaps hadn't maybe thought about as deeply or whatever over that period from the late 90s to now?
• 13:18
  I guess, you know, the advent of social media, you know, there was a conversation in there that I had with one of the ex-team member about, you know, the effect of social media on the drivers.
• 13:29
  And one driver in particular...
• 13:30
  In a good and bad way?
• 13:31
  In a bad way.
• 13:31
  They were basically encouraged to get off social media, to remove the apps from their phone because they were basically doom scrolling in their driver room to, you know...
• 13:41
  understand what's being said about them and that sort of thing.
• 13:44
  So I think that surprised me a lot.
• 13:47
  That was a conversation I had last year and it's fascinating, you know, because of, I mean, the driver's already in front of the media and the cameras every time they're at the track, but you don't really think about the sort of the drawbacks of that fame or what they're doing in their private lives.
• 14:04
  Yeah, that's actually a really good one that...
• 14:07
  I can't stand the whole social hate thing.
• 14:10
  I realise that people are passionate about it, but I'm a huge believer in, okay, passionately wear the colours, support your favourite driver, no problem at all, but also be open to alternate views.
• 14:20
  You and I can sit here across the desk and have a podcast chat today.
• 14:23
  We might agree to disagree on something, but that's a great passionate discussion.
• 14:27
  I don't have to get nasty to you about that.
• 14:29
  There's absolutely no need for that.
• 14:30
  In talking brutality, not everybody that is a newcomer to the sport appreciates the physicalities of it, just how the volume of weight a driver might lose during the race, the fluid they'll consume in the race and so on.
• 14:44
  The brutality of actually just being one of those 22 players, that is a brutal climb in itself to get that, isn't it?
• 14:52
  To even be considered to get one of those spots, that's tough.
• 14:56
  Absolutely.
• 14:57
  I mean, in the book we go through sort of the, if you're not picked up by a driver academy of which all the teams have won or most of them have won, you know, you are spending $8 million to get from, you know, from karting all the way through to F2, you know, and that's top drives and that's assuming that, you know, they win each of the championships and it's a logical progression.
• 15:19
  Yeah.
• 15:20
  It's an incredible push.
• 15:22
  And these kids, they're so young, they're focused on their racing, and they're not allowed to mentally develop as broadly as we are.
• 15:32
  So they're a bit socially maladjusted.
• 15:34
  They get into this cockpit.
• 15:36
  The pressure is on them.
• 15:37
  They're pushed to their limits.
• 15:39
  From a physical point of view, you know, I spoke with Phil Young, who was Jensen Button's physio, and he talks about all sorts of bringing them up to speed in terms of their physical preparation and that is super, super intense.
• 15:53
  And then you've got the mental pressure, the media, you know, I mean, there's secrets you want to hold back, there's things you shouldn't be telling, there's, you know, the global spotlight is upon you.
• 16:02
  The art in that is tough, mate.
• 16:04
  That is really hard sometimes because they fossick in unbelievable ways to find things out.
• 16:08
  And how you authentically shield that is not easily done at times, is it?
• 16:13
  No.
• 16:13
  That's it.
• 16:14
  And I think, you know, even in the book we talk about Daniel Ricciardo, who I covered, you know…
• 16:19
  very, very closely all the way through his career.
• 16:20
  And, you know, we talked about sort of contract negotiations through there and, you know, there's, yeah, there, there was a lot of pressures on them.
• 16:27
  And even when he went to McLaren, seeing him change from the happy, you know, happy sort of larrikin, you know, the boy next door to a very pressured sort of, if I can just work hard enough, I can get through this, but it was a sort of a futile operation and speaking with people on the team afterwards, you know, they absolutely
• 16:46
  They adored him because he was so positive.
• 16:49
  No matter what was going on in the car, he would come in and just be like, let's do this.
• 16:53
  And he even showed Lando Norris how to go about it because Lando would come in quite grumpy and sort of not understand why the team was lined up behind Daniel.
• 17:04
  And that really showed him, hey –
• 17:06
  If you come in here positive, ready to just go for it, then you're going to get the team's full force behind you.
• 17:15
  What you ooze in that regard is so powerful, mate, isn't it?
• 17:18
  But I mean, that's tough because you're drawing from a cup that isn't bottomless.
• 17:23
  It must be enormously hard for the drivers in that sense.
• 17:26
  You talked teams there a moment ago too.
• 17:28
  I mean, I know we've lost two rounds this year, obviously, but fundamentally 24 races every year, the brutality of...
• 17:33
  on the teams, the taxing nature of moving the business all the way around the globe is huge.
• 17:39
  Absolutely.
• 17:40
  It is monumental.
• 17:42
  I mean, it's a well-oiled machine from the logistics point of view, but you see after three, four, five rounds, everyone in the paddock's sick.
• 17:49
  That's just from being run down.
• 17:50
  It's a natural occurrence of pushing yourself to the absolute limit.
• 17:53
  And regardless of, you may not be a driver, but you are working long hours of the track in all different conditions.
• 17:59
  I've seen press officers look like they're sedated.
• 18:01
  They're so extremely tired.
• 18:03
  I actually asked whether, you know, are you okay?
• 18:05
  But, you know, he just had a massive build-up to the Australian Grand Prix at that time.
• 18:10
  In terms of having a relationship even, you know, it makes it very, very difficult.
• 18:14
  A lot of people just have a relationship within Formula One, you know, a partner there.
• 18:17
  It's so hard to have a normal life.
• 18:19
  And the proliferance of double and triple headers mean you're away for longer, you know.
• 18:23
  And especially if you're not an engineer or team boss who's going back to base first class or business class, it makes it very difficult.
• 18:30
  So it is a nonstop fight.
• 18:34
  We'll squeeze an F1 spec pit stop in here.
• 18:36
  More in a moment with F1 journo Stuart Bell here on Rusty's Garage.
• 18:43
  For this bonus edition of the Motorsport Brief, we're talking about the unrelenting, unforgiving business of Formula One in every area and aspect.
• 18:51
  It is the subject of Stuart Bell's new book.
• 18:54
  Let's get back to the chat with him now.
• 18:57
  Just around the commercial brutalities of it, I mean, it's not uncommon across motor racing generally to sometimes see sponsors switch from teams, you know, people poaching and so on.
• 19:07
  That's quite normal.
• 19:08
  But you rattle off a couple of numbers there before.
• 19:10
  I mean, we're talking massive numbers now, not just the value of the team and what they are now.
• 19:17
  worth from COVID to now, I mean, billions of dollars, teams are worth billions of dollars, but the cost of space on the cars, on the apparel, on whatever, is massive now.
• 19:27
  Yeah.
• 19:28
  I mean, Oracle signed with Red Bull Racing, I think it was 22, five-year deal, 500 million US dollars.
• 19:33
  So it's just astronomical figures.
• 19:36
  And the way they keep them, you know, it used to be just, you know, logos on the car and some hospitality, but now it's...
• 19:42
  No, exactly.
• 19:43
  You see, staying with Red Bull, if you look at Yeti, they look at how they can sort of benefit from a sustainability point of view.
• 19:50
  There's a lot closer interaction between the brands and the teams and how they can sort of- Maximize that.
• 19:56
  Absolutely.
• 19:56
  So it is a shifting world in terms of the way everyone goes about business, but especially about Formula One.
• 20:03
  It's about how they can share data, the synergies that they can work out, sponsors can work together together.
• 20:11
  to maximize their business outcomes.
• 20:12
  So it is just an entire ecosystem that is built on that paddock.
• 20:17
  I won't have over time the list of people that you've been able to talk to, mate.
• 20:21
  I'm envious in that regard.
• 20:23
  I have a little thing that I'm proud of.
• 20:25
  I went to France some time ago now and to an ice racing event of all things.
• 20:30
  And Alain Prost was there back then, and I was very fortunate to sit down with him for, I don't know, a good half hour, 40 minutes or thereabouts.
• 20:38
  He was in a great space in that stage of his life and just had a wonderful conversation with him.
• 20:43
  He's contributed to this book.
• 20:44
  You've got quotes from your archive, hasn't he, that you've included here?
• 20:47
  Absolutely.
• 20:47
  I mean, you know, the fact that I've done stuff across the mainstream has allowed me sort of to cover a lot of ground, just as you have.
• 20:55
  And yeah, Alan Prost, what an absolute legend.
• 20:57
  And the way that he converses with you, you know, he's very- Engaging, mate, isn't he?
• 21:01
  Absolutely.
• 21:01
  He's sort of touched-
• 21:02
  sort of touch tapping your sort of your shoulders as he chats with you and he just oozes charisma and uh he's he's yeah his career is just legendary but we were speaking about team building uh you know how how you sort of build all those synergies between departments and yeah he he's um i mean he has his own team there and he's obviously been an advisor to to reno and alpine and and whatnot but and mclaren but yeah
• 21:27
  Yeah, what an absolute legend.
• 21:29
  Totally.
• 21:30
  But it is just a treat to speak to these people.
• 21:32
  People.
• 21:32
  And I think the hard thing is when you start is just you see people on television and it is terrifying, but you've got to strip that away to be able to connect.
• 21:40
  And, you know, I think that's a natural evolution of the journalist.
• 21:43
  But it's, yeah, what an ability to speak to, you know, heroes.
• 21:47
  But what's that great old line about they still put their jeans on one leg at a time like us, mate?
• 21:51
  You know, I think that there are moments there, if you can crack it with them, they must get it.
• 21:55
  over all those conversations, but where they just enjoy a normal chat.
• 21:59
  Yes, it's a journalist talking to you at the end of the day, but if you can spark a bit of something in them that they really enjoy.
• 22:04
  I mean, in terms of brutality too, that period of he and Senna kind of going head to head and then him being a pallbearer at his funeral and stuff.
• 22:13
  I mean, unreal.
• 22:14
  It's fantastic that you've had...
• 22:17
  you know, a contribution, if you will, from him into this book.
• 22:20
  My lovely mum is in her 80s.
• 22:22
  And for whatever reason, I don't know why, I mean, she knows what her son does, obviously, but she's taken to Formula One in the last little while, right?
• 22:29
  So I'll get messages, oh, do you think Oscar's going to be okay tonight?
• 22:32
  And all this sort of stuff.
• 22:34
  She's an Oscar fan, which I love, right?
• 22:36
  And you've had a contribution from him in this too, haven't you?
• 22:39
  Oh, absolutely.
• 22:40
  I mean, he is just such an unbelievable talent.
• 22:44
  Very serious, you know, very different to Danny Ricardo in terms of the way he approaches things.
• 22:48
  But, yeah, he's just a phenomenal talent.
• 22:51
  And, you know, obviously last year was tough for him.
• 22:53
  He sort of seemed to run out of steam a little and sort of, you know, the momentum left from him through the U.S. rounds.
• 23:00
  But, yeah, what an amazing guy.
• 23:02
  And, you know, he is also very engaging in terms of just a very dry sense of humour.
• 23:08
  Humour.
• 23:09
  Yeah.
• 23:09
  And yeah, just an amazing guy.
• 23:11
  Yeah.
• 23:11
  And we wish him well in season 2026.
• 23:14
  I think there are a lot of learnings that will come out of there.
• 23:16
  There were some very tough moments for him.
• 23:18
  And the car, as you and I chat here, has shown glimpses of looking like it's going to be better than what we first thought at the season opener.
• 23:26
  Can we finish with just maybe a thought on season 2026 from you?
• 23:30
  I mean, they've obviously gone to fairly significant regulation change.
• 23:33
  Everyone is talking about that.
• 23:34
  Some are happy, some are not.
• 23:35
  Just your thoughts so far on this year?
• 23:38
  Well, I mean, I think we sort of, we saw that Mercedes was going to be a real protagonist this year.
• 23:44
  And it's been difficult, I think, for the general fan to see sort of the energy deployment, the difference in speeds, the closing speeds and whatnot.
• 23:51
  That's been difficult, I think, for a lot of fans.
• 23:53
  But we've seen some great racing.
• 23:55
  I mean, look at Ferrari being able to...
• 23:57
  And even look at Piastri, the McLarens at the Japanese Grand Prix, able to sort of just jump the Mercedes and put the fight in.
• 24:04
  So it's been some very close racing, despite the concerns around closing speeds and all the harvesting and drivers being able to properly attack and qualifying.
• 24:13
  But I think it's been a fantastic season so far.
• 24:16
  And obviously there's a big break until Miami.
• 24:19
  But if these races continue to be as exciting as they are, then the regulations have largely been a success.
• 24:27
  Finally, is there a zenith moment for you?
• 24:30
  Maybe a season, maybe a thing that you've done.
• 24:32
  Maybe it was just a little interview that you walked away from where you have this very vivid memory from a career that's spanned decades, mate, so far.
• 24:41
  Oh, I mean, look, you know, the big memories for me are the projects that I've been involved in, whether it's being editing the Australian Grand Prix programs, whether it's working for Formula One.
• 24:51
  So I did the history of Formula One at the 1000th Grand Prix, the script for that.
• 24:56
  I did a script for when Lewis Hamilton won his seventh world championship for F1.
• 25:00
  So it's those moments.
• 25:01
  But really, I mean, I followed David Coulthard growing up.
• 25:05
  He was my idol.
• 25:06
  I just loved how put together he was.
• 25:09
  Super professional, smooth on track.
• 25:12
  And just, you know, I had half an hour with him.
• 25:14
  It was a very impromptu interview for the Herald Sun.
• 25:18
  And just to sit there with him at the conservatory at Crown Casino.
• 25:21
  Excellent.
• 25:21
  and have half an hour with him.
• 25:23
  He is just an unbelievable intellect.
• 25:26
  He's super charming.
• 25:27
  And, you know, people say you shouldn't meet your heroes, but, I mean, he is a legend of the game.
• 25:31
  He didn't win a world championship, but he is a superstar as far as I'm concerned.
• 25:36
  And he's absolutely, for the younger ones listening, a great example of how you give longevity, how you maximise your brand.
• 25:44
  I don't know whether he necessarily thinks of it like that, but, I mean, when you see him, even now at the Grand Prix in Melbourne,
• 25:50
  He is a machine, mate, from broadcast to turning up to a corporate suite to emceeing something or being a guest speaker at Crown or wherever it might be.
• 25:59
  He is busy, mate, even now, isn't he?
• 26:02
  Absolutely.
• 26:02
  And just, you know, yeah, he does the PR.
• 26:05
  He does broadcasting.
• 26:06
  He is just he has a good word for everyone.
• 26:08
  And that's really a model for all of us.
• 26:11
  Our guest today has been Stuart Bell.
• 26:12
  The book is called Formula One, The World's Most Brutal Sport.
• 26:15
  People can find that courtesy of Penguin in all good bookstores now.
• 26:19
  A little something that could be a Mother's Day present if it's someone like my mum who's in love with, or a big fan, I should say, of Oscar Piastri.
• 26:27
  And a little bit further down the track, Father's Day too, mate.
• 26:29
  It's been lovely to, we pass each other in the paddock all the damn time, but I don't often stop to appreciate the career and the journey and where you've come from.
• 26:38
  And I love the fact that all these years later, you still love...
• 26:40
  the sport immensely congratulations thank you very much i could talk about that stuff for hours you know it's brutal in every way when you get involved and when it kicks you down the real test is how you get back into it how you get back up adapt and show that thicker skin that it invariably gives you
• 26:59
  That is it for today.
• 27:00
  Kevin McGee, 1988 Spanish Grand Prix winner, is our most recent feature ep.
• 27:05
  He talks about frightening crashes, wins in superbikes and a whole lot more, and breaking a blindfolded riding world record with a vision-impaired star, Ben Felton, and much more.
• 27:16
  Check it out if you haven't already.
• 27:18
  Bye for now.