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Clark Rodgers

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OCT 4, 2026
F1Weekly Podcast # 1168
ON TODAYS PROGRAM… MAX MAKES HISTORY WITH THE FORD PACKAGE! THE START OF THE RACE WAS SOO EXCITING GEORGE FOR A MOMENT HE THOUGHT HIS LUCK WAS TURNING AROUND! THE SOFTWARE BLUNDER IN THE WET WAS HILARIOUS! LCH FIGHTS BACK FOR A WELL EARNED PODIUM AND…FERNANDO BRINGS HOME THE ASTON TO P8…! THIS WEEK'S NASIR HAMEED CORNER... LANDO NORRIS AT SILVERSTONE AND RICKY COLLARD BRITISH F3. AND YES WE DO NEED YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS TO KEEP THIS PROGRAM ON THE AIR, JUST CLICK ON THE SUPPORT F1WEEKLY TAB YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO. Verstappen Holds Nerve For First 2026 Win At Dramatic Rescheduled Bahrain Grand Prix In Malaysia! Max Verstappen held his nerve in the chaos of Sunday's rain-hit rescheduled Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia to bank his first win of the 2026 FIA Formula One World Championship season. The Dutchman started on pole position and initially lost the lead to Mercedes duo Kimi Antonelli and George Russell in the run down to Turn 1, however picked them off comfortably in a race that had two safety cars and a virtual safety car. The four-time world champion then held on to win by 2.307s from title leader Antonelli with Oracle Red Bull Racing teammate Isack Hadjar moving up the grid to fifth after starting out in eighth place. Visa Cash App Racing Bulls driver Liam Lawson enjoyed a productive race as he moved up to finish seventh, while British teammate Arvid Lindblad earned a gutsy point for finishing in 10th place. MAX VERSTAPPEN - 1st"What an incredible result! The race was not made easy for us with all the decisions we had to make and then the Safety Car at the end on top of everything. But we made all the right calls with the tyres, kept our cool, and it all paid off. Of course, to win a race in the first year of being a new power unit manufacturer is honestly just incredible and something everyone should be really proud of. We knew from the start that Red Bull Ford Powertrains built a strong engine and also knew the limitations too. Although it was hard at times, and we sometimes didn't believe we could get this win, we kept pushing. The Team has also been working hard to understand our issues and brought performance upgrades to the car. Step by step, we have been getting closer and today we did it, which is really special and an emotional moment. It is an incredible project and winning in our first season together is a fantastic feeling." ISACK HADJAR - 5th"Even though we managed to score P5, I am obviously frustrated. The car didn't feel as good as it did on the previous days, and then I didn't have the power after the restart at the end for two laps. If this hadn't have happened, I am sure I would have been on the podium. Despite this, it was a good overall result for the Team. I can't wait to look at the data and see what happened, then regroup and go again in Singapore. It is a track that I really, really like, so I will of course be pushing for the best result possible there." LAURENT MEKIES - CEO and Team Principal"This is another milestone moment in the history of this Team: the first victory for us as a power unit manufacturer with Red Bull Ford Powertrains in its very first season! The credit goes to all the people involved who have been working incredibly hard on this project over the past five years. Everyone in Milton Keynes and at the track deserves this moment and should celebrate it as an important step towards many more victories in the future. "The first win of the season is a great way to finish what has been an extremely successful weekend overall. After showing strong pace in every session and securing our first pole position of the season yesterday, Max converted that performance into an outstanding P1 today. In often chaotic circumstances, he remained in control throughout the race, managed the conditions brilliantly, showed the strongest pace and delivered exactly the kind of performance we know he is capable of. "More broadly, this result confirms the progress we have been making in rec
75 MIN
SEP 28, 2026
F1Weekly Podcast # 1167
ON TODAY'S PROGRAM... GEORGE BEATS MAX BY 1 TENTH MAX BEATS 100... HILARIOUS! HADJAR BEATS THE ODDS OUTQUALIFYING MAX AND BECOMING A TEAM PLAYER! NORRIS QUESTIONS COLAPINTO'S QUALIFICATIONS AND... FERNANDO CAUGHT...SCREAMING IN A PAPER BAG! THIS WEEK'S NASIR HAMEED CORNER... A FANTASTIC CONVERSATION WITH F1WEEKLY LISTENER, EDUARDO ALVAREZ AT THE AUTODROMO HERMANOS RODRIGUEZ IN MEXICO CITY... BRAVO! GEORGE WINS IN BAKU... George Russell led from start to finish as he dominated the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. The victory reduced the championship lead of his Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli to 66 points - from 81 - after the Italian finished fifth, although he had recovered from starting 16th on the grid. Max Verstappen pushed Russell for the win as he took second place, less than two tenths of a second behind. Fellow Red Bull driver Isack Hadjar completed the podium by finishing third on his return to racing following a wrist injury. Yet dominance isn't a word often used when the margin of victory is as small as the gap separating the duo when the chequered flag flew at the end of 51 laps of the Baku City Circuit, four-time champion Verstappen just 0.196s down on the Merc driver having launched a late attack following two safety car interventions. George Russell It's been an incredible weekend and probably one of the strongest of my career so far. I really enjoyed that race and that final stint was some of the most fun I’ve had in a Formula One race. We had strong pace throughout and were able to build a good gap, so when the Safety Car came out it was a little frustrating, but around a circuit like Baku that's always a possibility. The restart was probably the most stressful moment of the afternoon with Max right behind me, but I managed it well and from there it was all about staying focused and not making any mistakes. In the final stint we were both pushing hard, and whilst it was intense in the car, those are the moments you enjoy as a driver. I've felt comfortable all weekend, and at the moment things seem to be coming naturally behind the wheel. We're in a good place, but Formula One changes very quickly so you have to keep pushing. The aim is to keep working hard, keep building this momentum and hopefully continue fighting at the front over the races ahead. Verstappen and Hadjar celebrate double podium in Baku Team quotes as Oracle Red Bull Racing celebrate both drivers on the podium for the first time in 2026 at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Oracle Red Bull Racing celebrated their first double podium of the 2026 F1 season as Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar finished second and third in Saturday's Azerbaijan Grand Prix at the Baku City Circuit. With both RB22 cars showing great speed on the ultra-fast Baku street circuit, Verstappen in particular made great early passes after the lights went out, quickly advancing from his eighth place starting spot. As the race went on, mistakes began to happen regularly and the final quarter of the Grand Prix was a chaotic one, with two Safety Car periods happening in quick succession. That was all the invitation the Oracle Red Bull Racing drivers needed to make a perfectly executed double pit-stop and effectively secure a 2–3 finish. However, with race leader George Russell firmly in his sights, Verstappen never gave up the chance in the final laps and pushed the Mercedes driver all the way to the line, finishing just +0.196s from victory. As Oracle Red Bull Racing celebrated their best team result of season to date, Arvid Lindlbad also delivered another strong points-scoring drive for Visa Cashh App Racing Bulls. The British rookie started down the field in 15th place on the grid, but drove a smart and controlled race to avoid the mid-pack chaos late in the race to end the Grand Prix in an excellent seventh place while team-mate Liam Lawson missed the points in 12th
61 MIN
SEP 20, 2026
F1Weekly Podcast # 1166
ON TODAY'S PROGRAM... MAX WILL PASS HIS RED BULL SEAT TO ROBIN WHEN READY! YUKI TO HAAS FOR 2027? COLTON HERTA THROWS IN THE TOWL ON HIS FORMULA 2 CAREER LAWRENCE STROLL IN PANIC MODE LOOKING AT MERCEDES OR FORD AS A REPLACEMENTS FOR HIS HONDA HEADACHE! AND...FERNANDO SO TIRED OF HIS SLOW ASTON MARTIN BUYS A BUGATTI VEYRON GRAND SPORT! BRAVO... THIS WEEK'S NASIR HAMEED CORNER A MOMENT IN MOTORSPORTS HISTORY...THE GILLES VILLENEUVE REPORT AND INTERVIEW WITH JACQUES VILLENEUVE. GRACIAS! Fernando Alonso's aluminium Veyron sat unsold for 27 months before it reached Monaco! Fernando Alonso has taken delivery of the Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse that a German dealer has been calling the most expensive Veyron ever built since it went on sale in June 2024. A video filmed near the Casino this week shows the Aston Martin Formula 1 driver easing the polished-aluminium car through Monaco traffic. When Mechatronik of Pleidelsheim listed it, the odometer read 750 km after nine years. Chassis 8.100 is a Grand Sport Vitesse with 20 tonnes of aluminium behind it The car Mechatronik lists as chassis 8.100 was ordered from Molsheim in 2014 and delivered in 2015 with a front bumper and seamless side panels milled from solid aluminium blocks, then polished, on a body that is otherwise exposed carbon fibre. More than 20 tonnes of aluminium went to Molsheim to produce those panels, Bugatti had to write dedicated CAD programs for them, and it spent longer building this Veyron than any other. Underneath it is a standard Vitesse: an 8.0-litre W16 with four turbochargers, 1,200 hp, 1,500 Nm and 410 km/h with the roof in place. The options bill alone exceeded the Vitesse's list price of about €1.69 million before tax. The first owner held all six Veyron Legends editions and used them as leverage The car exists because of an ultimatum. According to Mechatronik, the first owner already had a Veyron Pur Sang and had ordered all six Grand Sport Vitesse Legends editions, the 2013 and 2014 series built three cars apiece, along with several Super Sports. Bugatti declined the aluminium body as too expensive, and the client answered that the rest of his order book would go elsewhere if it did not build the car. It built the car. It then covered 750 km in nine years before it was consigned to a showroom near Stuttgart. Bugatti's own La Maison Pur Sang restoration programme now treats twenty-year-old Veyrons as classics, and this one arrived at that status without ever being used. Alonso said at Goodwood in July 2024 that he wanted 'a small collection' Alonso set out the shopping list himself, a month after the Veyron was listed. Interviewed at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in July 2024, he said he was 'in the moment of my life where I'm really looking forward to having a small collection', and added that some of the luxury brands he had driven for 'went into a different direction: bigger numbers', whereas he liked makers that 'treat the customer like unique customers'. The list that followed was an Aston Martin one: a Valkyrie due around his 29 July birthday, one of the 38 Valiants he commissioned with a manual gearbox he admitted he never drives, and a DB5 he was chasing through the heritage department. Two years on, the cars that have actually arrived are a one-off Pagani Zonda Roadster Diamante Verde in May and now a one-off Bugatti, both bought from Mechatronik and both delivered in Monaco. A Veyron built on one customer's ultimatum fits Alonso's own definition of luxury Chassis 8.100 is the most literal version of what Alonso said he valued: a factory that built exactly what one client wanted and never repeated it. Bugatti made 450 Veyrons between 2005 and 2015, and the Pur Sang of 2007, five cars in bare aluminium and carbon, was the factory's own earlier experiment in showing the metal. That is the same instinct that produced design director Frank Heyl's bespoke Veyron, and it explains why a car that spent 27
60 MIN
SEP 13, 2026
F1Weekly Podcast # 1165
on today's program... KIMI OVERCOMES FIRST LAP CHAOS TO WIN AT THE MADRING! MAX SPARS WITH LCH IN THE OPENING LAPS AND HANGS ON TO P2 NORRIS SAYS SIMPLY BAD LUCK WITH VSC AND... FERNANDO SAYS...I'M STICKING AROUND...I THINK... THIS WEEK'S NASIR HAMEED CORNER...MORE MOTORSPORTS HISTORY, MARTIN AND, ALEX BRUNDLE AT THE AUTOSPORTS SHOW IN THE U.K. Formula 1 made its first trip to the new Circuito de Madring, about 10 miles outside of the Madrid city center, on Sunday, and Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli christened the track with a win. The championship leader now owns an even more comfortable lead and picks up his eighth career race win, one week after he won the Italian Grand Prix. Max Verstappen finished second after holding off Lando Norris, who was on pole after Saturday's qualifying session, but an unfortunate pit stop contributed to his third-place finish. Ferrari's Charles Leclerc finished fourth, and Antonelli's teammate George Russell came in fifth. Kimi Antonelli It was great to get the victory today, but we know we were a little bit fortunate with the timing of the Virtual Safety Car. Lando (Norris) was in control at the front, but we were able to dive into the pits just as the Virtual Safety Car was deployed, make the cheap stop onto the Hard, get the net lead and run to the end. We probably didn’t deserve to win therefore but we will of course take it. We can also be happy with our pace today. We know we are still out of step with other teams in terms of upgrades, but we have been able to win the last two races at very different circuits. That is encouraging as we continue the season; we have a good position in the championships but we know there is still a very long way to go. MAX VERSTAPPEN “It was a great result, and we really maximised our performance, with finishing P2 on this track a solid way to wrap up a good weekend. At the start, Lewis clipped the kerb and jumped back onto the racing line, I had to go off track, otherwise both of us would have taken damage. I don't think we had the pace to challenge for the lead anyway, Kimi and Lando were faster than me throughout, so I'm happy with second. It's a circuit that's very difficult to pass on; if you position yourself in the middle, there isn't really a way through, so I was able to hold off Lando until the end. This double header has been a positive one. The car has been in a decent window both weekends, and we've been able to score consistently good points over the last few races. A podium is a nice way to end the European swing." LIAM LAWSON "I think it was a decent race. We had good speed through parts of it, but I just think we weren’t on the ideal strategy today. We went for the alternate strategy, starting on the Hards. At the start I lost the position to Franco and lost a lot of time as it was, but by the time I cleared him the VSC came out and they’d boxed, so it was just tricky from there. The start was exciting and I had to take a lot of risks to get the move done on Franco because it’s quite difficult to overtake here. It would’ve been nice to start a bit higher, but considering where we did start, the result today was good and I’m happy we managed to gain two places in the Race. I’m much more confident in the car this week, we’ve made a couple of great steps, so there are some good things to take away from the weekend." LAURENT MEKIES, CEO & Team Principal “After Monza another strong result from the whole Team at the end of a tough race. Once again, Max extracted absolutely everything from the car, as he always does. There was obviously some frustration at the start when he had to give the place back to Lewis, but the Team on the pit wall took a good look at it and, credit to them, made the difficult call. It was painful at the time, but Max immediately got himself back into the fight and was outstanding all the way to the flag, including a great defence against the McLaren in the final laps. It was also
54 MIN
SEP 7, 2026
F1Weekly Podcast # 1164
ON TODAY'S PROGRAM... ANTONELLI WINS AT MONZA FROM 19TH ON THE GRID! BRAVO! FERRARI FAIL AGAIN AT MONZA BUT...THERE COULD BE HOPE GEORGE SEES HIS CHAMPIONSHIP HOPES FIZZLE FREE MCLARENS GIVEN TO MOTORSPORTS TRIBUNAL JUDGES! AND...FERNANDO SAYS...GP2 ENGINE GP2... THE NASIR HAMEED CORNER FEATURES: NICO HULKENBURG AND F1W LISTENER RICHARD BRIGHT WHO, BUMPS INTO NASIR IN COLOGNE! BONUS: DESIREE'S MONZA TRACK HISTORY! AND...YES WE DO NEED YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS TO KEEP THIS SHOW ON THE AIR, JUST CLICK ON THE SUPPORT F1W TAB, YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO! F1W TAB Kimi Antonelli's stunning victory in the Italian Grand Prix from 19th on the grid will go down in Formula 1 folklore - and, remarkably, his team boss Toto Wolff said that he had seen it coming on Saturday. After Sunday's race, Wolff said that beforehand he thought that one of his two drivers was going to be standing on the top of the podium. It was an eye-opening statement given they started the race 17 places apart on the grid, George Russell on the front row alongside shock pole winner Pierre Gasly's Alpine; Antonelli on the penultimate row. "I thought one of the two is going to win," Wolff said. "Either George, because he was on the front row, or Kimi because he's going to walk over water, here at Monza. And I felt that yesterday also." Wolff was asked to explain why he felt a performance he was comparing to a miracle was on the cards. "It's been a while that I've seen drivers," he said. "Energy levels, mindset or behavioural pattern. I knew that was his mission today, to win the race. I chatted with his father yesterday. The father also saw that coming. "These are the moments where you can see how a weekend is panning out through the sessions that a special moment can come." “I will remember forever” – Antonelli’s joy of winning the his home race from the back of the grid The Italian GP podium is always a special one, but for Kimi Antonelli to win his home race after starting all the way down in 19th place, the young Mercedes driver let out all his joy over the radio, and couldn’t hide his emotions even after the race, saying the fans just add “that little bit extra” emotion that spurred him on to a success he “will remember forever“: “I think this is the most special podium of the season,” he said in the press conference after the race. “To see all the fans on the straight, it’s just incredible. And then, of course, you know, being at home, it adds that little bit of extra. And, yeah, super, super happy with that.“ When asked if this was the best race of his career, Antonelli was quite philosophical in saying the best one is “yet to come“: “I mean, the best one has yet to come, but I feel like it was one of the best races I’ve done so far, and one that I will remember forever. “I think definitely the fans gave that little bit extra to push more. “For sure, the support has been great this weekend. So definitely, seeing the grandstand cheering every lap, for sure it gave that little bit of extra to push more and to try and do even better to win it.” McLaughlin Ends DroughtWith Dominant Laguna Seca Win MONTEREY, Calif. (Sunday, Sept. 6, 2026) – Scott McLaughlin ended a long winless streak and the 2026 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season in style, dominating the Mission Foods Grand Prix of Monterey for his first victory in more than two years. Pole sitter McLaughlin drove the No. 3 DEX Team Penske Chevrolet to victory by 1.3739 seconds over the No. 27 Sam’s Club Honda of Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood. The win was the eighth of McLaughlin’s INDYCAR SERIES career and his first since Sept. 1, 2024, in the second race of a doubleheader weekend at the Milwaukee Mile, snapping a drought of 36 races. SEE: Race Results “My little girl (Lucy, born in October 2024) hasn’t seen me win yet, and now she has,” McLaughlin said. “So, Dad’s coming home with a trophy, baby. Let’s go! “These guys and girls at Team Penske have stood behind me the whole
68 MIN