43: F1 driver contracts: Why exit clauses are more important than money

Lando Norris tamed the chaos in Melbourne to win the opening round of the F1 season. In doing so, he put down a marker for his teammate Oscar Piastri, his rival Max Verstappen, and anyone else who wants a say in this year’s world championship. Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari debut didn’t quite go to plan, while F1’s five-and-a-half rookies (Liam Lawson being a semi) had a torrid time. From Hadjar’s tears to Antonelli’s vindication, we’ll analyse the debuts of the class of ‘25. Meanwhile, as dozens of new sponsors pour into F1, Stefano Domenicali signed a new 5-year contract to remain F1 CEO. He promptly signed the teams up to the commercial part of a new Concorde Agreement. But there is no sign yet of a governance agreement from the FIA, so what does it all mean for the sport? With James to discuss these and other talking points are Global Editorial director Rebecca Clancy and fresh-ish off the plane from Melbourne, Motorsport Editor in Chief, Ben Hunt. Remember to take part in the Global F1 Fan Survey, which we are running together with F1. Make your voice heard about F1, what you like and what you’d like to change and who your favourite teams and drivers are. Go to https://fansurvey2025-formula1.motorsportnetwork.com/ And don’t miss the chance to compete against our 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/Twitter or jamesallenonf1@autosport.com. Producers: Dre Harrison and Ben Holmes Executive Producer: Jason Swales A Motorsport Studios production for Autosport

19 Mars 40min

In this week’s edition, we look back at this November episode, exploring how F1 teams make key decisions on areas like driver recruitment, development, and race strategy and comparing it with how things are done at a top Premier League football club.  F1 is a sport built around technology, whereas, in football, the smartest teams have only begun using technology in the last decade for recruitment, strategy, in-game tactical decisions, and more. With James to compare how Mercedes recruited Kimi Antonelli with how Liverpool FC discovered Mo Salah, we have two experts in their fields. Rob Smedley, former race engineer to Felipe Massa, head of track engineering at Williams and who now runs Smedley Group which advises across the F1 spectrum on data and AI. Dr Ian Graham, of Ludonautics, was famously head of the data department at Liverpool FC for 11 years. His data analysis played a key role in building the Jurgen Klopp team that won the Premier League and Champions League. His book How to Win the Premier League is a brilliant guide to the way key decisions get taken in an elite sport.  Remember to take part in the Global F1 Fan Survey which we are running together with F1. Make your voice heard about F1, what you like and what you’d like to change and who your favourite teams and drivers are. Go to https://fansurvey2025-formula1.motorsportnetwork.com/ Also, listen all the way to the end of the show as we unveil our new range of Autosport Podcasts, you can get more information on Tank Slappers, Autosport National, Retro and Racing, right here: https://www.autosport.com/general/news/autosport-launches-three-new-podcast-channels/10701896/ Send your comments or questions to: @jamesallenonf1 on X/Twitter or jamesallenonf1@autosport.com. Producer: Dre Harrison A Motorsport Studios production for Autosport

12 Mars 51min

We’ve just returned from Bahrain, where the F1 teams did their only test last week ahead of the new F1 season kick-off in Melbourne. People say testing is boring but if you know what to look for, it’s anything but. The laps are on track, and the body language of the cars needs to be analysed. But there is also the body language of the people – the teams, engineers and of course the drivers. Will Ferrari compete with McLaren? What is Max Verstappen’s state of mind? Which of the five rookie drivers will shine? And does Aston Martin need to break glass and call in Adrian Newey to sort out their 2025 car? James joins up with some of our colleagues from around the world to go under the skin of F1 testing and look at how some of the big stories of the season are shaping up. Our man in Italy Roberto Chinchero has the inside line, Ronald Vording gives a Dutch perspective and there is analysis from Jake Boxall-Legge. Remember to take part in the Global F1 Fan Survey which we are running together with F1. Make your voice heard about F1, what you like and what you’d like to change and who your favourite teams and drivers are. Go to https://fansurvey2025-formula1.motorsportnetwork.com/ Send your comments or questions to: @jamesallenonf1 on X/Twitter or jamesallenonf1@autosport.com. Producer: Dre Harrison A Motorsport Studios production for Autosport

5 Mars 50min

This week as we digest the F175 launch and head off for pre-season testing, we speak to one of F1’s top race promoters to find out what goes on behind the scenes to stage an event for almost 300,000 people. This year is Miami’s fourth as an F1 host venue, part of Liberty Media’s drive to expand F1 in the US market and engage new fans. Miami does things a bit differently and they do it with a sense of humour, which is in short supply in F1, which can take itself too seriously at times. So how do they juggle the conflicting demands of NFL, the FIFA World Cup, the Miami Open Tennis and F1 events in the same season? What does it take logistically to put on a Grand Prix at this scale? And what sort of tickets give the fans the best deal? James sits down with Tyler Epp, President of the Miami Grand Prix to discuss how the race has gone from "fake" marina, to fan favourite. Global Editorial Director Rebecca Clancy and Autosport F1 Business Correspondent Mark Mann-Bryans join James in the studio. They also preview the F1 testing in Bahrain. Remember to take part in the Global F1 Fan Survey, which we are running together with F1. Make your voice heard about F1; what you like, what you’d like to change and who your favourite teams and drivers are. Go to https://fansurvey2025-formula1.motorsportnetwork.com/ Send your comments or questions to: @jamesallenonf1 on X/Twitter or jamesallenonf1@autosport.com. Producers: Dre Harrison, Ben Holmes Executive Producer: Jason Swales A Motorsport Studios production for Autosport

25 Feb 56min

This week F1 held its spectacular season launch event at the O2 Arena in London in a ceremony that was all about entertaining the fans, particularly F1’s new fans. Hot on its heels F1 is launching the latest Global Fan Survey, which is being conducted by Motorsport Network, Autosport’s parent company, in partnership with F1. This is where F1 fans around the world have a chance to make their voices heard. There will be many useful learnings for F1, the teams, sponsors and promoters. The 2021 survey had 167,000 responses from 185 countries, with Nielsen certifying it as the largest sports survey ever conducted. We have been conducting these surveys for many years. The 2017 survey came just after Liberty Media’s takeover of F1 and by 2021 we could clearly see the changes in attitudes and demographics among fans, who were younger and more female. So what will this new survey show? Autosport Editor-in-Chief Rebecca Clancy and Chief Motorsport writer Ben Hunt join James in the studio and we hear from an influential voice from the US on F1’s new audiences, Toni Cowan-Brown. If you'd like to participate in the 2025 F1 Global Fan Survey, you can do so by clicking this link: https://fansurvey2025-formula1.motorsportnetwork.com Send your comments or questions to: @jamesallenonf1 on X/Twitter or jamesallenonf1@autosport.com. Producer: Dre Harrison A Motorsport Studios production for Autosport

19 Feb 38min

Motor racing has a long tradition as an incubator of technology. AI is the latest example as tech companies flood into the sport as partners, helping teams harness AI to improve performance. F1 increasingly uses AI in its TV and online coverage to provide insights and content tailored for fans. The FIA is also getting in on the act; this week it announced that AI will now help the F1 race officials and play a role in sensitive decisions on things like track limits and analysis of race incidents. So what impact is AI already having on F1? Where might it get involved in the future? And should there be a limit to how far it goes? We hear from a panel of industry experts: Rob Smedley, CEO of Smedley Group, Former F1 Director of Data Systems; Ferrari and Williams engineer, Joe Carroll, General Manager, Telco, Media, Entertainment, Games and Sport, Amazon Web Services and Stephane Timpano, CEO Aspire, which runs the A2RL autonomous racing league, where the AI coders are the stars. In the studio with James are Autosport’s F1 Business Correspondent Mark Mann-Bryans and Sam Agini from the Financial Times. Send your comments or questions to: @jamesallenonf1 on X/Twitter or jamesallenonf1@autosport.com. Producer: Dre Harrison Executive Producer: Jason Swales A Motorsport Studios production for Autosport

11 Feb 51min

This week we have a special interview with newly minted F1 World Champion team boss, Zak Brown. Zak has been McLaren's CEO since 2018, but it’s taken him several attempts to get the right team structure and management team to bring a first Constructors’ World Championship since the heady days of 1998. Zak has developed into a strong leader and here he shares some of his management techniques. He used to run sports marketing businesses and was recognised as one of the best sponsorship brokers in the sport for a decade, but an F1 team has many more departments, all of which have to be high-performing. So what was the secret to finally getting McLaren in shape to deliver the title? Does he regret not being more ruthless at certain races in 2024, which might have given Lando Norris a better shot at winning the drivers’ title? Why does he feel the FIA must make serious changes to the refereeing of the sport in the stewards' room? And do McLaren start the 2025 season as Championship favourites? In the studio to analyse with James are Autosport’s Editor-in-Chief Rebecca Clancy and Chief Motorsport Writer Ben Hunt. Send your comments or questions to: @jamesallenonf1 on X/Twitter or jamesallenonf1@autosport.com. Producer: Dre Harrison A Motorsport Studios production for Autosport

4 Feb 1h 1min

Hello and welcome to the James Allen on F1 podcast, brought to you by Autosport. This week we chat to F1’s youngest team principal, Oliver Oakes. The 37-year-old was parachuted into the Alpine team in August last year when they were struggling in 9th place in the Championship. They ended the season 6th. Oli is the first to admit that there was a slice of luck involved, as the bulk of their points were scored with that amazing double podium in the wet in Brazil. But underneath that was an upward trend in car development and ultimately they deserved their finishing position. So what happens next and is Oliver a mighty Oak? Is he the stabilising force that Alpine has been crying out for? And with rookie drivers making an astonishing 30% of the F1 field, we get Oliver’s take on why F1 is going for youth. In the studio with James to discuss this are our International Editor Oleg Karpov and Marc Priestley, BBC Five Live commentator, podcaster and former McLaren F1 mechanic. Send your comments or questions to: @jamesallenonf1 on X/Twitter or jamesallenonf1@autosport.com. Producer: Dre Harrison Executive Producer: Jason Swales A Motorsport Studios production for Autosport

22 Jan 58min