Dreaming The Impossible Dream

F1 Racing editor Ben Anderson and columnist Mark Gallagher join host Stuart Codling to
weigh up whether winning the world championship with Lewis Hamilton in the garage next
door really is an impossible dream. Bottas is a proven grand prix winner, but time and again
Hamilton has found an extra gear mid-season and left his team-mate eating dust.

While his challenge for the 2019 drivers’ championship is running out of road, Bottas says
he’s still developing as a driver. He’s trying to erase the weaknesses in wheel-to-wheel
combat and tyre management that have occasionally held him back during race weekends,
and he’s changed his lifestyle as well.

F1 Racing’s cover feature this month is an exclusive interview with Bottas. In it he explains
the renewed motivation he found to come out of the blocks fighting this season and answer
his critics: “’F**k them. I can do this.’ That was the mentality.”

Ferrari celebrated its 90th anniversary with a star-studded event in Milan. F1 Racing reported
from the scene and our panel ask what it is that still makes Ferrari so special despite its
often fraught existence.

The Scuderia’s long relationship with Philip Morris International and its Marlboro brand has
become a talking point again this season with the arrival of PMI’s Mission Winnow branding.
While this is a campaign to communicate that the tobacco industry is undergoing a
transformation towards a smoke-free future, rather than advertising a product, many
territories F1 visits remain uncomfortable with the idea of the tobacco industry being
involved in sport.

But the departure of tobacco sponsorship has cost F1 in the region of £300m a year, and
there hasn't been an influx of other corporates to fill that gap. F1 is still a great way to
communicate product, but can it communicate an ideal? That remains a challenge as it looks
for new partners and revenue streams in an increasingly regulated ad industry.

And as F1 continues to struggle to reach a consensus for the next set of technical
regulations, Mark Gallagher argues that it needs to innovate if it’s to remain relevant in a
rapidly changing world.