F1 Beyond The Grid23 Touko 2023

Sam Michael: engineering his rise to the top of F1

“You just think there’s no way I could be good enough.” When Sam Michael arrived in F1, he worried he wouldn’t be able to keep up. But he became an influential and experienced leader at two of the sport’s biggest teams. From a race engineer at Jordan in the late 1990s, to senior director roles at both Williams and McLaren in the 2000s, Sam enjoyed a meteoric rise to the top before leaving F1 in 2014. Speaking to Tom Clarkson, he reflects on more than two decades in the pinnacle of motorsport and reveals the people who influenced his life the most. Sam shares fascinating insight into some of the big names he’s worked with; Lewis Hamilton, Juan Pablo Montoya, and Rubens Barrichello to name a few. He explains the characteristics that separate the greatest racers from the rest, how he made drivers take a test to understand their knowledge of cars, what he misses about F1 and much more.

Follow, rate and review F1 Beyond The Grid and share this episode using #F1BeyondTheGrid.
Related episodes

Eddie Jordan
Lewis Hamilton
Juan Pablo Montoya
Ralf Schumacher
Rubens Barrichello

This episode is sponsored by:

MoneyGram: flex your finances using the only digital wallets with real cash access activated by MoneyGram. Learn more at moneygram.com/stellarwallets.

Babbel: go to babbel.com/podcast23 and use promo code BEYOND for an extra three months free with a purchase of a 3-month subscription
free.

Hello Fresh: head to hellofresh.com/grid16 and use code GRID16 for 16 free meals plus free shipping

Tämä jakso on lisätty Podme-palveluun avoimen RSS-syötteen kautta eikä se ole Podmen omaa tuotantoa. Siksi jakso saattaa sisältää mainontaa.

Jaksot(449)

LEGENDS: Nico Rosberg’s ‘terrifying’, triumphant 2016

‘Am I ever going to get another opportunity? This is the moment, don’t mess it up’. These were the thoughts in Nico Rosberg’s mind as he raced for the F1 World Championship in 2016.Ten years since his...

4 Marras 1h 6min

Daniel Ricciardo: 'refinding myself after Formula 1'

'I still don't like how it ended. But there's also a part of me which is grateful that they pulled the trigger'. Two years have passed since Daniel Ricciardo left the Formula 1 paddock in Singapore af...

28 Loka 1h 23min

Fred Vesti: 'making champions' as Mercedes Third Driver

'It's a very unforgiving job... you're helping making champions, but it's not yourself', says Fred Vesti. Through hundreds of hours and thousands of laps in the simulator, he has contributed to Merced...

20 Loka 58min

50 years since James Hunt’s dramatic title win - with Freddie Hunt

A fiery crash, a miraculous recovery, a shock disqualification, and a tense, rain-soaked title-decider. At the end of the drama-filled 1976 season, James Hunt emerged as Formula 1 World Champion.Hunt ...

13 Loka 24min

James Vowles: ‘the most difficult year of my career’

2026 was supposed to be the year Williams made a big step forward in Formula 1.They’d scored their first podiums under Team Principal James Vowles in 2025, all while prioritising focus on this new era...

6 Loka 53min

Isack Hadjar + Laurent Mekies: trust, teamwork + targets

From scoring his first podium with the team in Monaco, to missing three races with a wrist injury, and then re-signing for 2027, Isack Hadjar has had an eventful first season at Red Bull Racing.Speaki...

29 Syys 32min

Romain Grosjean: a career of comebacks

‘I did all I could to survive’. A fiery crash put his life in danger, but Romain Grosjean escaped the flames and returned to racing.As Romain tells Tom Clarkson, the crash in Bahrain was not the first...

22 Syys 39min

Yuki Tsunoda: racing for F1 return

After describing 2025 as the ‘toughest year of my career’, Yuki Tsunoda was thrilled to make his F1 comeback with Racing Bulls after the summer break – stepping in for Liam Lawson while he fills in fo...

15 Syys 36min