Motorsport101

GLORY to corn! Welcome back to Iowa where IndyCar decided to get corny with a pair of races brought to you by Hyvee, who pumped a whole load of money into the place! We nicknamed this weekend "The Ballad of Josef Newgarden" because it all revolved around him. In Race 1, he led 208 out of 250 laps, stretching out a 60 lap final stint into an 80 lap stint fueling saving, and crushing the field. He was set to do the same in Race 2, leading over half the laps on the table but then his rear right damper broke and sent him hurtling into the wall. Just when Josef was back in title contention, that crash sent him hurtling back down the table. Not only that, he collapsed outside his trailer in the Iowa sun after the wreck and had to be airlifted to hospital to make sure he was alright. Thankfully he'd be fine, but we talked all about the incredible 36 hours the title contender faced. Speaking of title contenders, those two races gave us a pretty clear "Championship Six" between Marcus Ericsson, Will Power, Pato O'W

The primal scream heard around the world. Charles Leclerc while leading the French Grand Prix on Lap 18, spins out and puts it in the wall. And just like that, Charles is now 63 points behind in the Championship with just 10 races left, as Max Verstappen would go on to comfortably win his 7th race of the year. Ferrari gets another deep dive on this edition of the show, where they weren't directly responsible for this one, but we still have a go over Carlos Sainz race. Man could have had a podium from the back of the field, but an Unsafe Release penalty and some questionable strategy calls put pay to that. Is this the end for Ferrari's 2022 challenge?! We also talk Mercedes after Lewis Hamilton's 300th GP was celebrated with his best result of the year in 2nd, with teammate George Russell in the wars with Sergio Perez for 3rd. Is the double podium a sign the win is coming? Dre was NOT kind about their chances here, but an honest assessment of Mercedes is in this one too. Also a chat about France's future on

Hey now, it's been a while, but welcome back to Formula E! And we had some surprises in store when the series returned to New York City! It was a double header weekend, and in Race 1, the story was Nick Cassidy! He won the pole position final duel against Stoffel Vandoorne by 8 thousandths of a second and would then go onto control the race from the front... until rain came down with 10 minutes to go! A torrential downpour had Cassidy, Vandoorne and Mortara all hit a puddle and go flying off into the escape road, red flagging the race, and because the race was called, Cassidy got to keep the win on countback! Should we have had a restart? Jaguar were pissed they didn't, we discuss it! We also had a crazy end to Race 2 with a pileup at the end with Lucas Di Grassi, a spun around Jean-Eric Vergne and Oliver Askew's car in the wall. Race Director Scot Elkins though... didn't call for a Full Course Yellow as Antonio Felix Da Costa held on for his first win of the season from Stoffel Vandoorne second. All this a

Well, that was a shocker. The dust is only just settling on the biggest single silly season story in Motorsport. Out of nowhere, just hours of Chip Ganassi confirms they take the third year option on reigning series Champion Alex Palou's contract, Alex himself denies it on Twitter, declares he doesn't want to be there anymore for "personal reasons" and five minutes later, it's announced he's signed a deal with McLaren. But we don't know where yet. We try to make full sense of the situation, from Palou signing two deals at once. Has Chip Ganassi undersold the value of its reigning Champion by NOT renegotiating his deal after his shock sophomore title win? IS Zak Brown using his F1 team as leverage to coax the sport's younger drivers into moving over there? Pato O'Ward, Colton Herta and now Alex Palou, all 25 or younger, all actively making moves for an F1 seat that Daniel Ricciardo is still holding onto? Is this a good look for the series that is revelling in its own youth movement? It's a half hour plus disc

WARNING: Like the British GP episode, this is a Podcast that's going to include discussions of a discriminatory nature, including sexual harassment. You may find this episode upsetting. If you want to skip this discussion, you can fast forward to 20:00. Look after yourselves. F1 returned to Austria, and the weekend was overshadowed by multiple reports of horrific abuse by fans at the track including racism, misogynistic language, to full blown sexual harassment. We discuss the awfulness of these incidents, and what the sport, promoters and fellow fans can do about it. We talk the race itself and how Ferrari gave their fans another headache despite winning - Charles Leclerc nursing a car home in a dominant display after his throttle was stuck open, and Carlos Sainz's car caught fire when on the brink of sealing a 1-2 finish. It meant Ferrari not really doing massive damage to Red Bull's mammoth title lead. How big a missed opportunity was this? We also talk the stewarding again! Sebastian Vettel copped a 25

"He's an absolute idiot" - Romain Grosjean. What a Greek tragedy. Honda's Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio was infamous for all the wrong reasons, especially if you're Andretti Autosport. Alex Rossi essentially, went rogue, hit Romain Grosjean three times over the course of the race in actions so toxic, it lead to Michael Andretti calling an emergency meeting, journalists getting stiff armed out of deleting audio and drivers getting pulled from media. We try to make sense of an absolutely massive meltdown. We also talk about the state of the title race - Scott McLaughlin became just the second repeat winner of the season, taking the Bus Boys count to 5 on the year! He held off Alex Palou yet again for the win! We also had Will Power spin out on the opening lap, drop to 27th, but came back to finish an unthinkable 3rd! 7 more points gained in an another title swing! We also talk McLaren, who had a smaller, less publicised meltdown... of their engines. Felix Rosenqvist had an engine blowout just three laps in, and Pato

WARNING: This episode of the Motorsport101 Podcast contains conversations regarding racism, transphobia and bigoted behaviour. You may find this upsetting. If you feel this might be harmful, you can skip to 36:08 where we move onto other topics. Look after yourselves. This is one of the longest modern shows we've done, and for good reason. In the time between Formula 1 races, we've had Naomi Schiff racially abused on Twitter, Juri Vips lose his Red Bull Academy job after dropping an n-bomb on Twitch, Nelson Piquet Sr. was exposed in a 2021 interview to having used a racial slur to describe Lewis Hamilton. And Jamie Chadwick was caught in a Daily Telegraph interview claiming that trans women shouldn't be allowed to take part in women's sports, a take in line with her team boss Caitlyn Jenner. In a frank, open and raw 35 minute conversation, Dre, RJ and Cam break down all the incidents, relate it to their own personal lives, and ask what F1 can and should do regarding incidents of such bigotry and racism, an

MotoGP's Assen TT is one of the flagship rounds on the calendar, and one of the most important given the Summer Break falls in right afterwards. And we had another major Championship flashpoint right before the holidays as Fabio Quartararo made his first mistake of the year, crashing into Aleix Espargaro on a divebomb he was probably never going to legitimately make. Fabio was given a Long Lap Penalty by the stewards for it, and after years of political headbutting, Yamaha and Fabio FLIPPED out, even considering the Court of Arbitration for sport as a potential method of appeal. Should Fabio have been punished? Isn't this exactly what we wanted as biking fans? And why Dre thinks there's a deeper political reason as to why Yamaha has kicked up such a stink - He thinks they want Freddie Spencer gone altogether as chief steward. Listen in! We also talk Aleix Espargaro's astonishing comeback. He was 15th after the contact with Fabio put him in the gravel, but he came surging through the field to finish an incr

Well, this was a dramatic one. Formula 1's next move as the travelling circus was Montreal for the first Canadian Grand Prix in 3 years, and in it, we had a classic late Safety Car sprint finish from Max Verstappen and... "checks notes"... Carlos Sainz? Yep, with Charles Leclerc starting from the back with a fresh power unit, it was up to Carlos to try and restore some pride for Maranello... even if he just came up short. We break it down here! We also talk about judgement day for the porposing issue. The FIA did indeed step in and issue a technical directive about how the issue will be managed going forward. Floors will be monitored and discussions will be held about a maximum force of bounce allowed. Is this the right move going forward? And we also talk about a loaded midfield, with Fernando Alonso, Zhou Guanyu, Valtteri Bottas and more all involved as "El Plan" nearly came to pass for the man starting from the front row for the first time in nearly a decade. All of that and more on a loaded Motorsport1

Not going to lie to you folks, this was not a classic. Round 10 of the MotoGP 2022 World Championship brought the sport to Germany for the German GP at the Sachsenring and Fabio Quartararo broke the one man who could beat him over his knee. Francesco Bagnaia had the pole and the fastest ever lap of the track, but lost the lead at Turn 1, and by Lap 3, was in the gravel. We break it down and ask if his Championship is over? (Probably) We talk about why Germany was such a difficult race to watch. A combination of the sports technological problems dulling the product like ride-height devices (Ignoring the fact that two of them failed mid-race), the front tyre pressures playing a hand in the Aleix Espargaro/Jack Miller fight as passes were at a premium, and asking whether the sport is a bit too fast for its own good. We also talk about an all-time bad weekend for Honda Racing Corporation. For the first time in FORTY years, they left a MotoGP round without a point, and it's only that recent because that round th

What better incentive to win again for Josef Newgarden than a million dollar bonus on one of his favourite tracks? Because that's what the man did at Road America, the half way point of the 2022 IndyCar Series! He didn't have it easy, pushed nearly all the way by a back-in-form Alexander Rossi who used every trick in the book to close the gap, from undercuts to late cautions, but Josef held on to get back within a race of the Astor Cup standings, and bag a sweet $500k bonus for the IndyCar Triple Crown. Amazing when you consider, he's won 3 races and no-one else has won more than once this season. We break it all down! This was also a race of title implications. Will Power was put in the wall by Devlin DeFrancesco who completely misjudged his angle of attack. Power actually retaliated towards the end of the race too. The Rinus Veekay got hipchecked into the grass again. And Marcus Ericsson collided with Alex Palou that put the Spaniard in the gravel. Are the driving standards in the season something to ques

So, just when you thought things couldn't get any worse for the Scuderia, how about a double DNF around a castle while they were winning? Yes, F1's travelling circus headed to Baku for the Azerbaijan GP, and in it, Ferrari had another golden chance to stop the bleeding, only for Carlos Sainz Jr's hydraulics to fail, and then Charles Leclerc's engine to suffer a spectacular engine blowout to gift wrap Max Verstappen the easiest of wins! We break it down and we roast Ferrari over an open fire over it! We also talk porpoising and a new low for the series and its cars with Lewis Hamilton struggling to get out of his car after the back pain he experienced on the streets were so great his arse went numb. We discuss the difficult political decisions we could get as a result of a potential FIA intervention and the secret that the teams may or may not have turned down a minimum height rule last year. Whoops. We also discuss some great midfield performances as Sebastian vettel rebuilt the Church of Dre with a stonk

Formula E headed off to a brand new round as their 2022 season continued, as Jakarta became a well-liked and enjoyable round on the calendar. We talk MITCCCCCCCCCH BRAAAAAAAAAAAH as he claimed a narrow, but frenetic third win of the season over Jean-Eric Vergne and Edo Mortara with just under a second covering the trio over the line. We break down how he won, and how dramatic it was. We also get into an interesting debate over the track itself, and how it... wasn't really a "Street Circuit" compared to most on the Formula E calendar. There's no doubt Indonesia was well received by drivers like Nyck De Vries, Stoffel Vandoorne and others, but we the hosts got into a debate about whether its a good thing the series is turning away from its roots. We also talk Nyck De Vries probably being out of title contention after a puncture ended his race at the hands of Andre Lotterer (again). Should Mercs be telling Nyck to step aside to support Stoffel's campaign? We discuss that and more on Motorsport101!

And just like that, the Championship got a lot less exciting. Fabio Quartararo absolutely dominates the Catalunya weekend, but the real stories here happened right at the start and at the very end of the weekend. Turn 1 had Championship implications written all over it - Taka Nakagami completely botching his entry point, tucking the front and SMASHING HIS HEAD INTO PECCO BAGNAIA'S BIKE. Somehow, largely fine. But he took himself, Pecco and Alex Rins out of the race, the lattermost breaking his wrist in the process. Alex Rins was absolutely seething when the stewards decided not to punish Taka for his role in the incident and said the sport's stewards aren't fit for MotoGP. Is he right? We debate the sport's directionless stewarding at large. We also discuss Aleix Espargaro's title hopes, which took a serious blow when he FORGOT HOW MANY LAPS WERE LEFT. No seriously, from 2nd place on track, he celebrated a lap too soon and dropped to 5th place after looking at the timing tower instead of his pitboard. extr

The hangover after the Indy 500 is here and it's the final Detroit Grand Prix at Belle Isle after a 30 year run! And in it, it was a return to the top of the mountain for Will Power as he took revenge on last year's cruel finish and took a narrow strategic fight for the win! He duked it out with a return to form for Alexander Rossi, who 3-stopped his way and drove hard to turn it into a one second finale at the end of the race. Listen to us break down the most intense strategic fight of the season so far! We also talk about Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing struggles as Graham Rahal was the first DNF in a race where the entire team struggled. Is there regret over the team's expansion to three cars? We discuss! We also discuss Rossi's future - The worst kept secret in IndyCar got revealed as his McLaren move was made official as the second man in a likely three car team going forward. What do we make of it? And is Felix doing enough to get another year? Or do we go Rinus Veekay instead? And do we really think

The Italian Grand Prix for MotoGP at Mugello was overshadowed by a bombshell bit of news - Marc Marquez is going to take an extended hiatus from bike racing to have a FOURTH surgery on his right arm. It turns out, his humerus as it healed, actually turned 30 degrees as he was riding, giving the 8-time World Champion in a considerable amount of pain while he was riding. He's off the Mayo Clinic in the USA to hopefully, get it fixed. We wish him well and discuss it all in MotoGP. There was also a GP, and is was Francesco Bagnaia who came through a topsy turvy grid (Yes, Fabio Di Giannantonio really was on pole), as Fabio Quartararo continues to drag a Yamaha into contention with 2nd! We also talk about the VR46 gang challenging for the podium! We also talk the questionable attendance, with only 44,000 showing up for the race, at a venue that can easily take over 100k. Is it the effects of a lack of Valentino Rossi? The expensive tickets? Or something else? All that and more on MotoGP in Italy, on Motorsport10

Oh Ferrari, not again. The boys sit down to discuss one of the classic staples of Formula 1 - A Ferrari startegic screw up. From pole, they had the Monaco GP at their mercy with Charles Leclerc in a dominant position. But they let Sergio Perez rack up a critical undercut on the Intermediate tyres on a rapidly drying track, and a late double stack call put turned a possible 1-2, into a 2-4, as Checo would steal the Monaco GP, AND get himself a sweet new 2-year contract! We discuss it all in depth. We also discuss the standards of race direction here. We had the race start delayed due to a sudden deluge of rain, a power outage, and a mandatory Safety Car start that pissed off so many people watching. We also had Alex Albon ignore roughly 17 blue flags without punishment, and a protest over Max Verstappen crossing a pit entry line that had the wrong line of text in the notes. Eduardo Freitas came under fire, but how much of it was justiifed? And finally, we discuss Daniel Ricciardo's McLaren struggles as he l

Well, that was a surprise. Even if it perhaps shouldn't have been. But that's the beauty of the Indy 500 and how these incredible races can play out. Scott Dixon and Alex Palou, two of Chip Ganassi's strongest cars and drivers, the former history making all week. Lead 132 laps. Neither won. Marcus Ericsson snuck in, nailed a hot lap, got the front of the queue, and then survived a final 2 lap sprint to win it all. We discuss a superb 500 here, and the new chapter in the story of Marcus' career. F1 backmarker, he is not. We also talk about some of the guys who lost out. We had Scott Dixon who blew a golden chance at the win with 20 laps left, via speeding in the pitlane. We had Alex Palou get caught out with an emergency stop right as a yellow came out for Callum Illot putting it in the wall. And hell, Jimmie Johnson, the big meal ticket, made the biggest error of the race and smashed the Turn 2 wall. It nearly cost chip the W. Ooft. Speaking of Jimmie, we also talk about the controversy over his winning of

We're catching up with shows over the next few days, and first up, the 2022 Spanish grand Prix for Formula 1, and it was a newsworthy and actually somewhat interesting edition of the series at Catalunya. At the front, it was a war of attrition. A massivbe gust of wind (No, Nico Rosberg), blew over the track and put Carlos Sainz and Max Verstappen in the gravel early doors. But Max would climb back to 3rd, until a DRS wing failure caused him to be stuck behind George Russell for multiple laps... until Charles Leclerc's power unit fails from a 14 second lead. Ouch. Max would then win but not via a controversial and maybe somewhat unnecessary team orders call from Red Bull to swap him, and then race leader Sergio Perez. Right call? Wrong call? We debate that and the Ferrari's shortcomings in depth. We also talk Mercedes and their upgrades. Porpoising be gone, but they still aren't that fast. We think. It doesn't help that Lewis Hamilton was put in the gravel on the opening lap thanks to a marginal clash betw

Episode #364 takes us to Berlin and one of our favourite rounds at Templehof Airport. And for all the chaos that this series tends to provide, this was... a different affair. A calm, energy saving tactical pair of races. And the story of the weekend... was off the track. In Formula E's worst kept secret, McLaren made it official that they're joining the series in Mercedes place as we head towards Gen 3 of Formula E. We talk about the structure of the new team after just moving into Brackley themselves, as well as their potential driver lineup in the future. We know Stoffel's heading to DS Penske, but will Nyck De Vries stick around with Williams rumours persisting? Is Rene Rast, or maybe someone else joining? Also, we talk Edo Mortara. He took nearly 60 points out of Berlin and brought himself right back into contention for the title. But was this a blip for a power-dominant track or a genuine push for Mortara and Venturi? And we had to break down a unique situation in Qualifying and the duels, with Alex