Episodes

  • 50: Immortalising the man who made Ferrari great again

    50: Immortalising the man who made Ferrari great again
    Sep 24 2025
    This week James Allen welcomes Manish Pandey, the film maker and master storyteller who shot to prominence with the award-winning 2010 documentary Senna, which he made with Asif Kapadia and James Gay Rees of Drive to Survive fame. Since then Manish has followed up, gaining exclusive access to F1’s ringmaster Bernie Ecclestone, to tell his behind the scenes story in the streaming series Lucky.
    Now he’s done it again with a new film, Seeing Red, about another of F1’s biggest characters, Luca Di Montezemolo.
    Montezemolo was only 28 years old when he won the 1975 F1 World Championships as Ferrari team manager with Niki Lauda. He then came back in the 1990s to lead Ferrari’s renaissance, putting in place the “Dream Team” of Jean Todt, Ross Brawn and Rory Byrne that dominated F1 with Michael Schumacher. At the same time he brought the magic back to Ferrari’s road car fleet.
    Manish talks about what has drawn him as a film maker to tell the stories of Senna, Ecclestone and Montezemolo, what they have in common and how their stories intersect. He reveals the conversations that Montezemolo and Senna had in 1994 about the great Brazilian joining Ferrari and looks at the Ferrari of today and asks: how important is it that the person at the top of Ferrari loves F1?
    Seeing Red is on a limited cinema release via Everyman Cinemas in the UK and will be released on major streaming platforms soon.

    Send your comments or questions to: @jamesallenonf1 on X or jamesallenonf1@autosport.com.

    A Motorsport Studios production for Autosport
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    44 mins
  • 49: Confessions of an F1 TV Pit Reporter

    49: Confessions of an F1 TV Pit Reporter
    Sep 17 2025
    This week we welcome Ted Kravitz, a bona fide sports broadcasting legend, who has carved his own niche since 2001, patrolling the F1 pit lane for Sky Sports F1, BBC and ITV Sport.
    His Ted’s Notebook segment on the Sky coverage is a must-watch for all fans of the sport, from the US to the UK, Australia and beyond.
    He’s just released a new book, F1 Insider, telling his story as well as some great stories and anecdotes from his 25 years as the voice of the F1 pitlane.
    James Allen, who mentored Ted early in his TV career, chats to him about the F1 personalities that have stood out, moments of high drama that he found himself in the middle of and the toughest moments he’s faced. Ted lifts the veil on how live F1 TV coverage works behind the scenes.
    He also looks ahead to the final three months of the season and his gives thoughts the battle for the F1 Drivers’ Championship.
    F1 Insider: Notes from the Pit Lane is out now, published by Octopus Books.
    Send your comments or questions to: @jamesallenonf1 on X or jamesallenonf1@autosport.com.
    A Motorsport Studios production for Autosport
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    50 mins
  • 48: Who will be the first F1 team post-McLaren to win the World Championship?

    48: Who will be the first F1 team post-McLaren to win the World Championship?
    Sep 10 2025
    McLaren are poised to win the F1 Constructors World Championship with a record seven races to spare. Given that this is the final year of these regulations, where the margins are supposed to be tight, how have they done it?
    Will McLaren’s dominance continue in 2026, when new regulations are introduced? And if not – which team will be the first post-McLaren to win a Constructors’ Championship?
    With James Allen to discuss this we welcome back friend of the pod, former Aston Martin technical director and head of aerodynamics at Red Bull Racing, Dan Fallows and Autosport’s F1 writer Jake Boxhall Legge.

    Send your comments or questions to: @jamesallenonf1 on X or jamesallenonf1@autosport.com.

    A Motorsport Studios production for Autosport
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    42 mins
  • 47: Who’s fast and who’s furious after intense Dutch GP

    47: Who’s fast and who’s furious after intense Dutch GP
    Sep 3 2025
    F1 is back in racing mode after the Summer Break and this week we are in between two fast, intense races; the Dutch GP at Zandvoort and the Italian GP at Monza, the race with the highest average speed lap on the calendar and the home of Ferrari.

    Alongside James Allen we’ve brought in to of our fastest thinkers: Our F1 writer from the Netherlands Ronald Vording and our man in Italy Roberto Chinchero.

    The team discuss the mood music at Zandvoort, the championship balance between the McLaren drivers, growing pressure on Hamilton and Antonelli ahead of Monza and why Toto Wolff appreciates deepfake images of himself on the internet.

    Send your comments or questions to: @jamesallenonf1 on X or jamesallenonf1@autosport.com.

    A Motorsport Studios production for Autosport
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    44 mins
  • 46: What makes a great racing movie and which one is the best?

    46: What makes a great racing movie and which one is the best?
    Aug 27 2025
    In Part Two of our Summer Special featuring a panel of movie industry experts, we analyse the most cherished racing movies; the classic Grand Prix (1966) as well as other celebrated motorsport films Rush (2013), Days of Thunder (1990) and Le Mans (1971). Are they any good as movies and what does it take to create a film that appeals to all audiences, not just motorsport enthusiasts? And what, if anything, did this summer’s Apple blockbuster F1 Movie with Brad Pitt take from them?

    We explore how well the various stories and plotlines work and the all-important action sequences. We reveal which cues they take from each other. How are female characters depicted and how does their treatment compare across the decades? Which films were commercially successful and which ones flopped?

    Finally, if the master rolls of all these films were in a burning warehouse and only one could be saved for posterity, which one would the experts rescue? The answer may surprise you.

    With James Allen in the studio are:

    Eddie Hamilton, editor of Top Gun Maverick and the two most recent Mission Impossible films.
    Adrian Wootton OBE, runs the British Film Commission (encouraging productions like F1 to film in the UK).
    Mark Lane is an award-winning movie producer, with over 40 credits including I am not a serial Killer and The Cut.
    Nick Manzi is a producer with a string of hits from Blitz to Salmon Fishing in the Yemen and a lifelong F1 enthusiast.

    Don’t miss the chance to compete against our expert writers on Motorsport’s hugely popular F1 Fantasy League. https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/race-our-writers-motorsport-launches-its-first-ever-featured-league-on-f1-fantasy/10702182/

    Send your comments or questions to: @jamesallenonf1 on X or jamesallenonf1@autosport.com.
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    45 mins
  • 45: What happens when film industry experts break down the F1 Movie?

    45: What happens when film industry experts break down the F1 Movie?
    Aug 20 2025
    This week we gather a stellar line-up of movie industry insiders as we break down the summer blockbuster F1 Movie, which has now earned over half a billion dollars at the box office, so deserves some deeper consideration.

    Having earlier looked at it from the point of view of journalists and fans, we now get the movie experts to cast an eye over it; is it technically a good film?

    How well does the story work, and what about the all-important action sequences? How does the treatment of female characters compare? And do movies like this do any long-term good for the sport?

    In Part II next week, the panel will compare it with the 1960s classic Grand Prix as well as other classic motorsport films Rush, Days of Thunder and Le Mans. Are they any good as movies? And what does it take to create a movie that appeals to all audiences, not just motorsport enthusiasts?

    With James Allen in the studio are:

    Eddie Hamilton, editor of Top Gun Maverick and the two most recent Mission Impossible films.

    Adrian Wootton OBE, runs the British Film Commission (encouraging productions like F1 to film in the UK).

    Mark Lane is an award-winning movie producer, with over 40 credits including I am not a serial Killer and The Cut.

    Nick Manzi is a producer with a string of hits from Blitz to Salmon Fishing in the Yemen and a lifelong F1 enthusiast.

    Chapters
    00:00 Introduction to F1 Movie Discussion
    03:00 Audience Reception and Expectations
    05:58 The Art of Filmmaking in F1 Movies
    08:59 Motorsport as a Cinematic Backdrop
    11:55 Elements of a Successful Film
    14:51 Character Dynamics and Storytelling
    18:08 Technical Achievements and Authenticity
    20:46 The Role of Female Characters
    23:59 Budget and Financial Aspects of F1 Movie
    26:51 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

    Don’t miss the chance to compete against our expert writers on Motorsport’s hugely popular F1 Fantasy League. https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/race-our-writers-motorsport-launches-its-first-ever-featured-league-on-f1-fantasy/10702182/

    Send your comments or questions to: @jamesallenonf1 on X or jamesallenonf1@autosport.com.

    A Motorsport Studios production for Autosport
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    45 mins
  • 44: Why is Lewis Hamilton writing documents for Ferrari?

    44: Why is Lewis Hamilton writing documents for Ferrari?
    Aug 13 2025
    F1 people are enjoying their summer break as the three-week Shutdown enters its second week.

    But one man who has not shut down is our F1 Writer Ronald Vording, who joins James Allen from the Netherlands to take stock of the season and look ahead to what we can expect when the racing starts again later this month.

    Max Verstappen confirmed before the break that he’s not looking to move teams for 2026 and he will race for Red Bull next season. What went on behind the scenes in his decision-making process? What is Max’s state of mind now with 10 rounds to go and no chance of winning the title?

    We answer some listener questions and talking points on how McLaren shows no favouritism towards its drivers as they duel for the World Championship.

    Where is Lewis Hamilton now on the Motivation-ometer and why is he writing “documents” for Ferrari?

    Send your comments or questions to: @jamesallenonf1 on X or jamesallenonf1@autosport.com.
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    45 mins
  • 43: F1 driver contracts: Why exit clauses are more important than money

    43: F1 driver contracts: Why exit clauses are more important than money
    Aug 6 2025
    This week as F1 starts its Summer Shutdown we look in detail at how F1 driver contracts work and why this period of the season is critical for options being triggered (or not), renewals being signed and decisions being taken by drivers and teams about next season.
    To help James Allen go deep into F1 driver contracts is one of the best known and most successful driver managers in F1 history. Julian Jakobi has managed dozens of great names like Ayrton Senna, Alain Prost, Jacques Villeneuve, Juan Pablo Montoya and more recently Checo Perez. He continues to manage a stable of drivers across multiple race series.
    What does a driver manager do? What is in the scope of the role? What kinds of considerations do teams have around drivers during the Summer Shutdown?
    And what was it like to manage Senna and Prost at the same time, while they were in open conflict?


    Chapters
    00:00 The Role of a Driver Manager
    08:45 Understanding Driver Contracts and Options
    12:05 The Impact of Rookies in F1
    14:47 Key Clauses in Driver Contracts
    18:14 The Influence of Team Management on Drivers
    21:39 Future Driver Moves and Team Strategies
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    27 mins