Inside Line F1 Podcast

What was the Force India Formula 1 Team all about? How did it get a cricket-crazy nation to love Formula 1? 

How was it to work with Vijay Mallya and Subrata Roy, the two Bad Boy Billionaires (as Netflix calls them)? How did the noise around the two owners impact the team?

What was it like to have one of the most-popular actors in the world Shah Rukh Khan promote the team? And of course, how was it to finally race at 'home' during the Indian Grand Prix?

How did the 'One from a Billion Hunt' come about & what eventually happened to the ambitious grassroots program that the team had launched? 

Soumil Arora hosted Ravikant Sabnavis and Kunal Shah (who our listeners already know), both former Force India F1 Team personnel, in a conversation that revealed several behind-the-scenes moments with one of the most-iconic mid-teams of recent times. 

The conversation will be released over three parts in the next few weeks on these dates:

• Episode 1: 31st March (deferred to 1st April)
• Episode 2: 4th April
• Episode 3: 14th April

Tune in!

(Season 2022, Episode 17 - trailer!)

What a race! What battles! And what strategy - after a double DNF in Bahrain, Red Bull Racing came prepared to take the fight to Ferrari and fight they did. Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc battled for victory - and for many, just watching them battle for laps at end mattered more than who the eventual winner was! 

(Okay, that last statement is true only for Kunal, maybe!)

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In this episode of the Inside Line F1 Podcast, Soumil and Kunal dissect Red Bull Racing vs. Ferrari - and how Round 2 of Leclerc vs. Verstappen was dictated by car setups and team strategy. And of course, how on earth could Red Bull Racing fall so easily for Ferrari's dummy (ref: Sergio Perez's unlucky pit stop).

The battle between the Alpines, Lewis Hamilton's P10 (resultant radio + stats), a retirement for each power unit manufacturer and more. 

Tune in!

(Season 2022, Episode 16)

Follow our hosts on Twitter: Soumil Arora and Kunal Shah

Image courtesy: Ferrari

Was Ferrari's form in Bahrain track-specific? Or do they genuinely have a quick car across all circuits? We'll know soon as Formula 1 races in Saudi Arabia this weekend.

And if the Ferrari is genuinely quick, Carlos Sainz Jr. needs to win the 2022 Saudi Arabian GP more than any other driver including Max Verstappen. Why, you wonder? 

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In this episode of the Inside Line F1 Podcast, Soumil (who's audio source changed unexpectedly!) and Kunal look forward to the 2022 Saudi Arabian GP and discuss why Sainz needs to win more than any other driver this weekend.

A lot of questions still remain unanswered for the 2022 Formula 1 season and we put forward some of ours in this episode. Has Mercedes found an answer to their troubles? Will Red Bull Racing reveal what dogged their cars in Bahrain? How soon before we see a three-way battle at the front? Will Mclaren & Aston Martin continue to struggle? And of course, will Alfa Romeo & Haas continue to shine? Will Mick Schumacher rise up to the Kevin Magnussen challenge? 

There's a lot more in this power-packed ~20 mins long episode. Tune in!

(Season 2022, Episode 15)

Follow our hosts on Twitter: Soumil Arora and Kunal Shah

Image courtesy: Ferrari

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A lot happened in the 2022 Bahrain Grand Prix - a Ferrari 1-2, double DNF for the Red Bulls and Lewis Hamilton's 7th consecutive podium finish. And of course, heroics from Valtteri Bottas & Kevin Magnussen.

Tune in to the race review episode on the Inside Line F1 Podcast with Soumil and Kunal.

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Topics discussed -

• Is there a pecking order falling in place after Bahrain?
• Were cars able to follow each other closely?
• What were the issues that Max Verstappen was fighting through the race?
• What was the eventual race strategy & which double World Champion predicted 3 stops pre-race?
• Why did the Alfa Romeo drivers have poor starts?
• Will 5 days be enough for Red Bull to sort out their fuel system-related issues and finally, could this issue plague other teams through the course of the season?

(Season 2022, Episode 14)

Follow our hosts on Twitter: Soumil Arora and Kunal Shah

Image courtesy: Ferrari

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Here it is, our 2022 Bahrain GP qualifying review - Charles Leclerc on pole, followed by Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz Jr.

Soumil and Kunal discuss the heroes & zeroes from today's qualifying. Kevin Magnussen, Valtteri Bottas & even Nico Hulkenberg? And poor Daniel Ricciardo, he can't seem to catch a break.

Tune in!

(This is our traveling audio setup, so pardon the quality)

We're getting closer to the start of the 2022 Formula 1 season and soon it will be time to get the sandbags off! On Saturday, we will sort of know the pecking order for the first third of the season.

On Sunday, we will know if the cars and tyres will deliver what we're all waiting in anticipation for - classic wheel-to-wheel battles. 

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In this episode of the Inside Line F1 Podcast, Soumil and Kunal preview the 2022 Bahrain Grand Prix and tell you the 5 things to watch for - this includes a possible battle between Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg!

Tune in!

(Season 2022, Episode 12)

Follow our hosts on Twitter: Soumil Arora and Kunal Shah

Image courtesy: Red Bull Content Pool

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It's RACE WEEK! In this episode of the Inside Line F1 Podcast, Abhishek Takle (freelance F1 journalist for Reuters, Mid-day & others) joins Soumil and Kunal to look forward to the 2022 Formula 1 season. 

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It's going to be a loooong season & there will be multiple story lines to follow. The trio bring back their famous 'one word association' format to this discussion. The question they answer: what's the one word you would use to describe your expectations from every team in 2022?

Yes, there are 10 teams to talk about plus the overall expectations from Formula 1 and then of course, a quick review of Season 4 of Drive to Survive. 

Tune in!

(Season 2022, Episode 11)

Follow our hosts on Twitter: Abhishek Takle, Soumil Arora and Kunal Shah

Image courtesy: Formula 1

We're nearing the business end of the 2022 Formula 1 season - and there's a lot to look forward to already in the next two weeks. The first Grand Prix of the season, of course, but also - 2nd pre-season test, Drive to Survive, Haas' second driver and more?

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In this episode of the Inside Line F1 Podcast, Soumil and Kunal list down all that you need to look out for in this week - a replacement for the Russian Grand Prix too, of course. 

And what about porpoising? Will we know the true pecking order in the second test? Tune in!

(Season 2022, Episode 10)

Follow our hosts on Twitter: Soumil Arora and Kunal Shah

Image courtesy: Formula 1

What better way to celebrate the onset of the revolutionary 2022 Formula 1 season than to speak to one of the people involved in the very making of the regulations. 

Priya Ponnapalli from Amazon Web Services (or AWS) joins Soumil Arora and Kunal Shah in this episode of the Inside Line F1 Podcast. 

Priya leads the team of humans and machines (of course!) at AWS that works with Formula 1. AWS' involvement goes way beyond the TV graphics that Formula 1 fans have witnessed in the past few seasons. 

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In this episode of the Inside Line F1 Podcast, Priya explains how the AWS-Formula 1 partnership came about, the areas the partnership has already worked in (F1 2022 regulations along with TV graphics & more) and what areas they could potentially collaborate on in the future (FIA's VAR?). 

What are the main challenges of working with Formula 1? Does AWS take learnings from their sports partnerships into other business areas like finance or healthcare? And finally, do AWS' machine learning algorithms evolve through a season just the way Formula 1 cars do? 

Tune in!

(Season 2022, Episode 09)

Follow our hosts on Twitter: Soumil Arora and Kunal Shah

Image courtesy: Formula 1

The inimitable and much-missed Steve Slater joins us as a guest on this episode of the Inside Line F1 Podcast. 

Steve was the 'voice of F1' in Asia for nearly two decades - millions of fans growing up to his '5 red lights illuminate...' start sequence. His partnership with Chris Goodwin was one of the most memorable Motorsport broadcast partnerships of its time. 

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In this episode of the Inside Line F1 Podcast, Steve joins Soumil and Kunal to relive his days of leading the commentary for the 'ESPN Star' broadcast in Asia, the story behind the '5 lights illuminate...' start sequence, commentating on the last few laps of the 2008 Brazilian Grand Prix with Karun Chandhok and more. 

Tune in!

(Season 2022, Episode 08)

Follow our hosts on Twitter: Soumil Arora and Kunal Shah

Image courtesy: Formula 1

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