43: The Quick List: Our 50 Fastest Grand Prix Drivers

The latest Flat Chat podcast from GP Racing magazine analyses a chaotic scene: half of the grid is swapping managers while F1’s stakeholders argue over how much it’s worth.

GP Racing columnists Mark Gallagher and Matt Kew join editor Stuart Codling to discuss the latest developments in F1, from FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulyayem vs Stefano Domenicali to the (James) Vowles movement at Williams and much, much more.

It’s remarkable that Alpine’s Otmar Szafnauer, who has been in post for a year, is now the fifth longest-serving team principal in F1. Some have likened the sweeping changes at the top of several teams to a football-style rent-a-manager culture. F1 teams were once run by the individuals whose names were above the door but now, with more corporate involvement, team principals are seemingly now disposable assets answering to higher masters. Our panel asks if this gives managers the time required to effect change – and examines the prospects of former Mercedes strategist James Vowles importing some of that team’s winning culture to the struggling Williams organisation.

Is $200million now too cheap a buy-in for aspiring new entrants? And is F1 worth the widely mooted figure of $20billion? These two questions are interlinked and the source of the apparent rancour between the FIA and the commercial rights holder, exposed and exacerbated by the FIA’s president freely expressing his thoughts on social media. F1’s legal department responded with a stiffly worded letter saying commercial matters are not within the FIA’s bailiwick – but how accurate is that, given the governing body’s role in policing the budget cap which is so vital to F1’s commercial ecosystem?

Speed is the theme of this month’s issue of GP Racing, which courts controversy by assembling an international panel of experts – from journalists to engineers and team managers – to vote on the 50 fastest grand prix drivers in world championship history. While the identity of number one may not provoke too much anger, the list’s reach also includes many drivers whose sheer speed over a lap wasn’t reflected in race wins and championship trophies.

Refocusing the frame of reference on last season, this month’s GP Racing also ranks the drivers on the 2022 grid scientifically in speed order and examines the significance of the fastest pitstops of the year. The findings may come as a surprise.