War broke out in the Middle East on Saturday, when the US and Israel launched joint strikes on Iran. Iran retaliated with missiles and drones targeting Bahrain, the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Jordan, countries that together host four races on the 2026 Formula 1 calendar. The Pirelli wet-weather test in Bahrain was cancelled, Gulf carriers were grounded, and F1 personnel were scrambling to reroute to Australia by any path available. By Monday afternoon, Joe Saward, one of Formula 1's most independent journalists was in a Dallas airport lounge, rerouted from France around closed Gulf airspace, after filing his JSBM newsletter analysis.

In this episode, Joe walks us through what the sport is actually facing:

• Why Formula 1 improvises brilliantly in a crisis
• The real decision-making hierarchy: who actually makes the call to cancel a Grand Prix
• Why the FIA is largely irrelevant in a commercial crisis
• The Russia parallel: when F1 cancelled its Russian GP contract overnight after the Ukraine invasion, it established a standard. Joe asks the uncomfortable question about what that standard means now
• His own 40-year read on covering this sport through the Gulf War, 9/11, COVID, and the 2022 Houthi strike near Jeddah

Sabrina brings the policy lens: arguing that sport's governance framework was never designed to handle a situation where a geopolitical actor and a commercial partner are the same country, a structural problem regardless of who started what. She also drives the business and legal elements: geopolitical cancellation insurance, force majeure in hosting contracts, whether the legal framework is any clearer after Covid, and what the soft power narrative of Gulf sport hosting looks like when the countries doing the hosting are being struck by missiles.

Dick, joining late from just across “the Texas border”, adds the grounding note the conversation needs: at the end of the day, this is still just the game, and Liberty Media has enough business sense not to put people in danger for a race.

Check out Joe online:

• JSBM Newsletter
• Grand Prix+
• The Green Notebook

Send a text

Support the show

Have episode feedback or ideas? Drop them a line at: sabrina@2guysagirlandf1.com

Follow 2 Guys, A Girl, and F1 on Instagram.

Check out Dick's karting documentary, Power Drive Vegas.
Interested in Dick's return to kart racing? Check out, Begin Again.

Thanks to all who have become members of the 2 Guys, A Girl, and F1 via our “Buy me A Coffee” page. This community is growing because of you. To become a member, click here.

Like the 2 Guys, A Girl, and F1 background music? It's "An Adventure Called Life" by Score Squad. It's available for purchase at Premium Beat. Use referral code SNSAEDUB at checkout to get 25% off your first purchase.

2025 Sound Engineers: Paul Douglas and Elena Richey

Two official 2 Guys, A Girl and F1 leagues — one in F1 Predict and one in F1 Fantasy — have launched and Dick wants to see if listeners can back up what they say. Both games are free through the official F1 app or Formula1.com. He'll break down what each game involves, why thirty years in racing gives him a reasonable edge, and why Sabrina is already wrong about who's going to win. Links and codes are in the show notes. Let's find out.

F1 Predict: Link | Code: P2IA2D1FO10

F1 Fantasy: Link | Code: P4VDGBBYT08

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Support the show

Follow 2 Guys, A Girl, and F1 on Instagram.
Have episode feedback or ideas? Want to connect with 2 Guys, A Girl, and F1? Drop them a line at: sabrina@2guysagirlandf1.com

Check out Dick's karting documentary, Power Drive Vegas.
Interested in Dick's YT Channel about his return to kart racing? See this link.

Thanks to all who have become members of the 2 Guys, A Girl, and F1 via our “Buy me A Coffee” page. This community is growing because of you. To become a member, click here.

Like the 2 Guys, A Girl, and F1 background music? It's "An Adventure Called Life" by Score Squad. It's available for purchase at Premium Beat. Use referral code SNSAEDUB at checkout to get 25% off your first purchase.

2025 Sound Engineers: Paul Douglas and Elena Richey

Sabrina has a challenge for you. They’ve just launched two official 2 Guys, A Girl and F1 leagues: one in F1 Predict, one in F1 Fantasy. Both are free to play through the official F1 app or at Formula1.com. In this PSA, Sabrina will tell you exactly what each game is, why you should be playing, and why she fully intends to finish ahead of Dick on that leaderboard. Links and codes are in the show notes. See you on the grid.

F1 Predict: Link | Code: P2IA2D1FO10

F1 Fantasy: Link | Code: P4VDGBBYT08

Send a text

Support the show

Follow 2 Guys, A Girl, and F1 on Instagram.
Have episode feedback or ideas? Want to connect with 2 Guys, A Girl, and F1? Drop them a line at: sabrina@2guysagirlandf1.com

Check out Dick's karting documentary, Power Drive Vegas.
Interested in Dick's YT Channel about his return to kart racing? See this link.

Thanks to all who have become members of the 2 Guys, A Girl, and F1 via our “Buy me A Coffee” page. This community is growing because of you. To become a member, click here.

Like the 2 Guys, A Girl, and F1 background music? It's "An Adventure Called Life" by Score Squad. It's available for purchase at Premium Beat. Use referral code SNSAEDUB at checkout to get 25% off your first purchase.

2025 Sound Engineers: Paul Douglas and Elena Richey

What does it really take for a kid to chase a racing dream—and for a family to back it? In this conversation, Dick and Sabrina sit down with Amy and Matt Westfall and their son Brayden to talk about how a premature “Super B” in the NICU grew into a fourteen‑year‑old kart racer fighting at the sharp end in Texas and beyond.​

They discuss how the Westfalls swapped typical youth sports for long nights in the garage and full weekends at the track, why “seat time is everything,” and how safety, character, and school fit alongside race craft, travel, and results. You’ll also hear how the family built the Super B Racing brand, approached sponsorship and fundraising as non‑racing parents, and leaned on the karting community to turn “nothing into something” for Brayden’s future.

Check out Brayden online:

Website | Super B Racing

Facebook | Super B Racing

Instagram | brayden_super_b_westfall

YouTube | Super B Racing

Sponsors | Graphics by Kent, Oles Tex Mex Coppell, TX, Team GWR, Kart Setup Elite App, A29 Photography, Shaw stickers and stuff

Send a text

Support the show

Follow 2 Guys, A Girl, and F1 on Instagram.
Have episode feedback or ideas? Want to connect with 2 Guys, A Girl, and F1? Drop them a line at: sabrina@2guysagirlandf1.com

Check out Dick's karting documentary, Power Drive Vegas.
Interested in Dick's YT Channel about his return to kart racing? See this link.

Thanks to all who have become members of the 2 Guys, A Girl, and F1 via our “Buy me A Coffee” page. This community is growing because of you. To become a member, click here.

Like the 2 Guys, A Girl, and F1 background music? It's "An Adventure Called Life" by Score Squad. It's available for purchase at Premium Beat. Use referral code SNSAEDUB at checkout to get 25% off your first purchase.

2025 Sound Engineers: Paul Douglas and Elena Richey

What separates people who perform at their best under pressure from those who crack? Dr. James Hewitt has spent two decades answering that question—first as a professional cyclist, then through a PhD studying elite performance, and eventually as Chief Innovation Officer at Hintsa Performance, the company behind 19 Formula 1 World Championships with drivers like Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel, and Kimi Räikkönen.

In this conversation, Sabrina speaks with James, who works with F1 teams and elite performers today, about what fans completely miss when watching races. You'll discover what's really happening inside that cockpit (imagine doing complex math during a high-intensity workout in a sauna for two hours), why American hustle culture is the opposite of peak performance, and what young racers and their families desperately need to know about navigating this increasingly expensive and professionalized sport.

Check out James online:

Website | Dr. James Hewitt

Instagram | jamesphewitt

Twitter/X | @jamesphewitt

YouTube | Dr. James Hewitt Peak Performance Keynote Speaker

Book | Regenerative Performance: How to Thrive in an Always-On World Without Sacrificing Your Well-Being

Book | Exponential: Hewitt, James, Hintsa, Aki, Öhman, Jyri, Huhtanen, Mari

Send a text

Support the show

Follow 2 Guys, A Girl, and F1 on Instagram.
Have episode feedback or ideas? Want to connect with 2 Guys, A Girl, and F1? Drop them a line at: sabrina@2guysagirlandf1.com

Check out Dick's karting documentary, Power Drive Vegas.
Interested in Dick's YT Channel about his return to kart racing? See this link.

Thanks to all who have become members of the 2 Guys, A Girl, and F1 via our “Buy me A Coffee” page. This community is growing because of you. To become a member, click here.

Like the 2 Guys, A Girl, and F1 background music? It's "An Adventure Called Life" by Score Squad. It's available for purchase at Premium Beat. Use referral code SNSAEDUB at checkout to get 25% off your first purchase.

2025 Sound Engineers: Paul Douglas and Elena Richey

Would Nico Rosberg have retired if he hadn't won the 2016 championship? Do Europeans feel F1 has been 'Americanized' with three US races? These are the kinds of questions that create the best podcast conversations—and they came from listeners Heath and Drew.

In this quick PSA, Dick and Sabrina talk about why listener questions like these make the show better. Drew's hypothetical about Rosberg's retirement could fuel an entire episode. Heath's perspective on F1's expansion brings angles the hosts don't always consider. Your questions, your debates, your curiosities—that's what shapes 2 Guys, A Girl, and F1.

What F1 topics are you thinking about? What debates are you having with friends? What would you ask our upcoming expert guests if you were sitting in on the interview? Send them to sabrina@2guysagirlandf1.com. You're part of this show—let's hear from you.

Send a text

Support the show

Follow 2 Guys, A Girl, and F1 on Instagram.
Have episode feedback or ideas? Want to connect with 2 Guys, A Girl, and F1? Drop them a line at: sabrina@2guysagirlandf1.com

Check out Dick's karting documentary, Power Drive Vegas.
Interested in Dick's YT Channel about his return to kart racing? See this link.

Thanks to all who have become members of the 2 Guys, A Girl, and F1 via our “Buy me A Coffee” page. This community is growing because of you. To become a member, click here.

Like the 2 Guys, A Girl, and F1 background music? It's "An Adventure Called Life" by Score Squad. It's available for purchase at Premium Beat. Use referral code SNSAEDUB at checkout to get 25% off your first purchase.

2025 Sound Engineers: Paul Douglas and Elena Richey

Why did Formula 1 close Barcelona's pre-season testing to media and fans—and what does that decision reveal about who really calls the shots in the sport? In this conversation, Sabrina sits down with Joe Saward, one of only five journalists who attended every F1 race in 2025, all on his own dime and completely independent from teams or media companies.

They talk about the political and business calculations behind Barcelona's closed-door testing, why Bahrain's contract forced F1's hand, and whether this precedent could return in 2031. You'll also hear Joe's take on what the 2026 regulations will actually deliver—battery glitches, potential ECU failures, and why Mercedes doing 100 laps on day one with a brand-new power unit is more impressive than most fans realize. Beyond the technical side, they dig into F1's brutal travel schedule and why only five journalists now go to all 24 races, how workforce turnover is changing team culture, and what makes F1 different from any other business when teams like Mercedes are turning over a billion dollars but the people doing it would still say it beats working.

If you want to understand the politics, the money, and the real decision-making that shapes what you see on a Grand Prix Sunday, this is the conversation that connects those dots.

Check out Joe online:

• JSBM Newsletter
• Grand Prix+
• The Green Notebook

Send a text

Support the show

Follow 2 Guys, A Girl, and F1 on Instagram.
Have episode feedback or ideas? Want to connect with 2 Guys, A Girl, and F1? Drop them a line at: sabrina@2guysagirlandf1.com

Check out Dick's karting documentary, Power Drive Vegas.
Interested in Dick's YT Channel about his return to kart racing? See this link.

Thanks to all who have become members of the 2 Guys, A Girl, and F1 via our “Buy me A Coffee” page. This community is growing because of you. To become a member, click here.

Like the 2 Guys, A Girl, and F1 background music? It's "An Adventure Called Life" by Score Squad. It's available for purchase at Premium Beat. Use referral code SNSAEDUB at checkout to get 25% off your first purchase.

2025 Sound Engineers: Paul Douglas and Elena Richey

Constructors’ titles, strategy shockers, culture resets, and long‑term bets on 2026: 2025 tested team leadership as much as it did the drivers. Dick and Sabrina grade all ten outfits in their annual team principal report card, examining how McLaren converted momentum into a dominant double, how Mercedes navigated life after Lewis while developing Kimi Antonelli, and how Red Bull handled a turbulent transition at the top.

They also dig into Ferrari’s frustrating step backwards, Williams’ resurgence with Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz, the steady progress at Haas and Racing Bulls, Aston Martin’s puzzling underachievement, Sauber’s fight to stay relevant, and Alpine’s season of survival. Beyond the letter grades, they explore which organizations look structurally ready for the 2026 reset—and which ones might find that new regulations expose deeper strategic and cultural cracks.

Send a text

Support the show

Follow 2 Guys, A Girl, and F1 on Instagram.
Have episode feedback or ideas? Want to connect with 2 Guys, A Girl, and F1? Drop them a line at: sabrina@2guysagirlandf1.com

Check out Dick's karting documentary, Power Drive Vegas.
Interested in Dick's YT Channel about his return to kart racing? See this link.

Thanks to all who have become members of the 2 Guys, A Girl, and F1 via our “Buy me A Coffee” page. This community is growing because of you. To become a member, click here.

Like the 2 Guys, A Girl, and F1 background music? It's "An Adventure Called Life" by Score Squad. It's available for purchase at Premium Beat. Use referral code SNSAEDUB at checkout to get 25% off your first purchase.

2025 Sound Engineers: Paul Douglas and Elena Richey