Essential F1

With the biggest change in rules for years, there's a lot of new stuff to get our heads around for Formula One this season. Ben, Tommo and Vicki are here to tell you about all the tech including aero, energy recovery and boost.

New Season. New Rules. New Studio! We are back with Essential F1 - the Formula 1 podcast that's essential for everybody who's into F1. The Oracle - Ben Edwards, is here to guide us through what will be a very interesting season, with the biggest set of rule changes in a generation. Joining Ben to discuss what pre-season testing has shown us and to run through all the teams, is ‪@TommoMcCluskey‬...

Congratulations to Lando Norris, the 10th British driver to become Formula 1 Champion. With the whole season coming down to the last race, Lando, Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri were all in contention. All Lando needed to do was keep his cool, and that's exactly what he did to win the title and 2025 F1 Drivers' Championship. As it's last episode of Midweek F1 for the 2025 season we thought w...

What a weekend at Lusail for the Qatar Grand Prix! McLaren had it in the bag, but what went wrong and what does this mean for the final race of the season? This is even more like a Hollywood F1 movie than the actual Hollywood F1 movie. Oscar Piastri, Lando Norris and Max Verstappen have all had an incredible 2025 season in their own way and any one of them could be crowned Formula 1 Champion ...

What a weekend in the desert of Nevada for the Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix. McLaren F1 will certainly hope that what happened in Vegas stays in Vegas. Although it wasn't the most exciting race of the year, there's lots to talk about between now and next weekend in Qatar. Thanks to both McLaren's being disqualified, the Driver's Championship battle goes on. Could Max Verstappen achieve the s...

What a race weekend in Brazil, overtaking for fun, crashes and penalties! It looked like a clean start then turned into an early safety car, and the restart was bonkers with Piastri, Antonelli and Le Clerc going three wide, with Le Clerc out as a result.  Then there was a virtual safety car, Max got a puncture and changed tyres, he then ripped through the field.  Piastri got a 10 second penalt...

It's advantage Lando Norris as he leads the 2025 F1 Championship by 1 point after a fantastic race weekend in Mexico. And we've got not just one, but two voices of Formula 1 in the studio this week as we welcome back BBC 5Live and Sky commentator Harry Benjamin to join Ben Edwards and Nicola Hume. The Mexico GP was like a Rallycross race with so many people on the grass, and then lots of penal...

The Cowboys were out in force for the United States Grand Prix in Austin this weekend and the Sheriff was most definitely Max Verstappen with a sprint race win followed by a Grand Prix victory. The drama started a day early in Austin with a first lap crash in the sprint race that took out both McLarens, compounded by Max winning again!  Giving him a further 8 point swing in the championship. T...

We are back after a hot and humid weekend in Singapore and we welcome back Mr Sniff Petrol himself, Richard Porter to the studio. It was every man for himself this weekend, with smooth George Russell sailing onto the podium and a well earned club sandwich, while Lando Norris went for the 'just push them out of the way' approach with both Max Verstappen and his own team mate Oscar Piastri. Just ...

The Azerbaijan Grand Prix threw the 2025 F1 play book out of the window with a record number of red flags during qualifying, a Williams on the front row, Liam Lawson in third and a terrible start from Oscar Piastri. Plus DRS trains, possible rain, poor pitstops but in front of it all was Max Verstappen taking his second victory in a row. Does this mean that McLaren should be worried? Joining F...

What a weekend at the 2025 Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix. Max Verstappen nails the fastest pole position lap of all time that looked unlikely up until Q3, Then some elbows out action at the first corner, Charles Leclerc nicks 3rd off Oscar Piastri, and they have a punchy battle, Rookies under achieving, rookie’s over achieving.  Then throw in undercuts, overcut pit strategies, comings together f...

It was an incident packed race on the beach in Zandvoort for the Dutch Formuia One Grand Prix and after that Mclaren oil leak it looks like Lando Norris' F1 Championship has just gone up in smoke. Ferrari had a shocker as well, but we saw a rookie on the podium, with Isack Hadjar's third place. So much to discuss with this week's special guest, BBC 5 Live's Jennie Gow, who pulls no punches on ...

Joining Ben Edwards, Nicola Hume and Producer Jim in the guest seat this week is F1 YouTuber and Nicola's Red Bull podcast co-host, Tom McCluskey, known to millions as Tommo. The Hungarian Grand Prix may not have been the most exciting race of the 2025 Formula One season, but there are plenty of things to discuss including Ferrari's horror show, Lando v Oscar, Alonso's Sunday driving, and whet...

Joining Ben and Nicola for the lowdown from the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa is Martin Donnelly, who is the inspiration for Brad Pitt's character, 'Sonny Hayes', in F1: The Movie. The Belgian Grand Prix weekend was an interesting one with lots of weather, safety car, and pit lane starts but did it all become a bit of a damp squib? Ben, Nicola and Producer Jim have lots to discuss including Oscar ...

A home hero, the incredible Hulk and horrendous weather - the British Grand Prix had it all and delivered one of the best races of the season so far. F1 oracle, Ben Edwards, and Red Bull F1 presenter, Nicola Hume are joined by Sky F1 presenter Rachel Brookes to talk about all the major stories from Silverstone, including Nico Hulkenberg’s amazing first podium finish, Oscar Piastri’s 10 second p...

Kimi Raikkonen's former F1 Race Engineer Julien Simon-Chautemps joins Ben Edwards and Nicola Hume on this week's episode of Midweek F1 to give his unique perspective on the Austrian Grand Prix. Lando Norris is now only 15 points behind Oscar Piastri in the Drivers Championship, so is Max Verstappen now too far away to challenge the McLaren pair for the Championship?  What about the school boy ...

While Nicola is on a jolly at Le Mans, Claire Cottingham is back to join the guru Ben Edwards and our special guest, Formula E host, Nicki Shields to chat through a compelling Canadian F1 Grand Prix and take a look ahead to the Austrian GP. We have a fourth Grand Prix winner this season! Mr George Russell saw off early pressure from Max and controlled the race from the front.  Meanwhile it was...

Well that was quite some weekend in Spain to wrap up the triple header! So much to discuss, and while Ben Edwards is away, fellow F1 commentary voice Harry Benjamin joins Nicola Hume and YouTube legend and massive F1 fan, Colin Furze who is back in the guest seat to chat through all the major talking points including: -Turn One -Return of the Hulk -What happened after the safety car?! -Should...

The tame racing driver who never speaks has plenty to say in this week's episode as Ben Collins joins Ben Edwards and NIcola Hume to discuss the jewel in the F1 crown - Monaco. But was it really a great race or just a 78 lap drivers' parade? Plus he shares a great story about Jeremy Clarkson that he probably shouldn't be telling us. Probably the biggest first corner of the year in terms of pot...

It's exam season, and after an action-packed Formula One race weekend in Italy, Vicki Butler-Henderson is back in the guest chair, armed with her big red pen and some exam results for all the drivers and teams so far this season. Some of her grades may well surprise you, so feel free to leave your own F1 grades in the comments! Ben and Nicola also have plenty to discuss from Imola including: ...

What a weekend! So much to talk about from the first corner tussle that probably cost Lando Norris the race, to Lewis Hamilton's tea-break and the star that was born in Miami. And as if that wasn't enough our special guest this week is Mr Sniff Petrol, Richard Porter who has some fascinating F1 stories to share. Plus we look ahead to Imola. Nicola is on a jolly in Paris, so Claire Cottingham si...

This week everyone is working from home as it is a holiday weekend, but the racing doesn't stop and Jeddah provided the backdrop to some heat in the desert for the Saudi GP along with an appearance from F1's latest A-list fan, Jennifer Lopez. Joining Ben Edwards and Nicola Hume to chat through the weekend is BBC 5 Live's Jennie Gow. We also take a look ahead to the Miami GP with some interestin...

Bahrain did not disappoint and it might just be BTCC Champion and Legend, Jason Plato's favourite new race. He joins Ben Edwards and Nicola Hume to give us some really interesting thoughts on the F1 grid from a racing driver's perspective and shares his predictions for the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix this coming weekend. Plus he's been in Enzo Ferrari's legendary apartment and shares the very uniqu...

This week we have not just one, but two of the voices of F1 together as BBC 5 Live commentator Harry Benjamin joins Ben Edwards and Nicola Hume in the Midweek F1 studio to take a look back at Suzuka. Was it a McLaren mistake that handed Max victory and what is Nicola's 20,000 Euro question? Plus we'll take a look ahead to Bahrain and Harry tells us why he thinks it's going to be like 2014 all o...

What a weekend in China! You literally win some and lose some! Joining Ben Edwards and Nicola Hume this week is motorsport television presenter and journalist Louise Goodman. Louise has been in the sport a long time and knows everybody. In fact her old boss was Eddie Jordan and she shares a couple of great stories that could only have happened to EJ! We take a look ahead to Suzuka which is shap...

What a start to the new F1 season! The early start was definitely worth it for a crazy first race and joining Ben and Nicola to dig through all the action and look ahead to China is YouTuber, inventor and massive F1 fan, Colin Furze.

Join Ben Edwards, Nicola Hume and our very first guest, Vicki Butler-Henderson for the Melbourne Season Opener preview on the Midweek F1 podcast. It's going to be a Formula One season to remember, and Midweek F1 is your essential guide between every single race. This week it's all about the runners and riders ahead of the first race in Australia. Plus of course, plenty of conversation about the...

The 2025 F1 season is going to be a big one. There's so much to talk about with the driver team moves, the rookies and F1's 75th anniversary and who better to talk about them than F1 commentary legend, Ben Edwards and F1 team podcast host, Nicola Hume. Make sure you follow us now and don't miss a thing!