Inside Line F1 Podcast

The 'low rake vs. high rake' chatter seems like a thing of the past. Mercedes seem to have found their way around the rule changes for 2021 and regained the 'title favourites' tag from Red Bull Racing. And of course, Lewis Hamilton delivering superlative performances race after race. After claiming his 100th pole position in Spain, Hamilton went on to claim his 98th win in Formula 1. His win was a lethal mix of race strategy + overtaking. Yes, it was Hungary 2019 all over again! 

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In this Pits to Podium segment of the Inside Line F1 Podcast, Soumil and Kunal discuss if Red Bull Racing could have acted differently to Mercedes' strategic play in the 2021 Spanish Grand Prix. Pierre Gasly's P16 to P10 in the last stint, Charles Leclerc's fine fourth and battle with Valtteri Bottas, Perez-Ricciardo's race-long fight for P5.

Did Mercedes and Red Bull Racing make an error each in race strategy? Will Red Bull missing a 'second driver' in the battle of strategy headline for one more season? And of course, more mid-field chatter as we look back at the 2021 Spanish Grand Prix. Tune in!

Follow our hosts on Twitter: Soumil Arora and Kunal Shah

Music courtesy: Lucien Byfieldt

Image courtesy: Mercedes AMG Petronas

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The first double header race weekend of the 2021 Formula 1 season is here. After Portugal, it's time for Spain to host its annual Grand Prix. The Circuit de Catalunya doesn't always deliver exciting races, but in this episode, Soumil and Kunal tell you the '5 things to watch for' in the race this weekend. 

(The episode description follows after the promotional messages)

Use 'PUMAINSIDELINE' to avail a 5% discount on Puma's Motorsport merchandise collection (exclusive for our listeners in India). A special contest is coming up for the 2021 Monaco Grand Prix. Follow our social media profiles to play and win. #F1 #Merchandise 

For our global audiences, get 20% OFF at Manscaped + free Shipping with promo code TRIMINSIDE at MANSCAPED.com! #ad #manscapedpod

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In this Pits to Podium segment of the Inside Line F1 Podcast, the duo tell you the ONE thing they both are looking forward to in the Mercedes-Hamilton vs. Red Bull Racing-Verstappen battle. Has Alpine successfully joined the mid-field battle or was their pace in Portugal a one-off? How tricky will the tyres be this race weekend? Why is track position and qualifying so critical? What's the pit lane time loss? All this and more in our race preview episode. Tune in!

(Season 2021, Episode 27)

Follow our hosts on Twitter: Soumil Arora and Kunal Shah

Music courtesy: Lucien Byfieldt

Image courtesy: Red Bull Content Pool

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Use 'PUMAINSIDELINE' to avail a 5% discount on Puma's Motorsport merchandise collection (exclusive for our listeners in India). A special contest is coming up for the 2021 Monaco Grand Prix. Follow our social media profiles to play and win. #F1 #Merchandise 

For our global audiences, get 20% OFF at Manscaped + free Shipping with promo code TRIMINSIDE at MANSCAPED.com! #ad #manscapedpod

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Lewis Hamilton stole the show in the 2021 Portuguese Grand Prix. His overtaking moves were decisive and lethal. But is Max Verstappen making too many mistakes? The count is up to 4 from the opening 3 races. Yes, they're marginal errors, but have they cost him the lead in the Drivers' Championship? After Portugal, he trails Hamilton by 8 points. 

Also in this Pits to Podium segment of the Inside Line F1 Podcast - why couldn't Bottas convert his pole position to victory? Why did Carlos Sainz Jr. go from 5th at the start to 11th at the finish? We shower affection on our star of the season yet - Lando Norris. Of course, Alpine's double points finish and Mick Schumacher's P17 - ahead of Nicholas Latifi. Tune in! 

(Season 2021, Episode 26)

Follow our hosts on Twitter: Soumil Arora and Kunal Shah

Music courtesy: Lucien Byfieldt

Image courtesy: Mercedes 

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Subscribe to our newsletter! It's free, informative, insightful and visually appealing. You can read more and sign up.

For our listeners in India, use 'PUMAINSIDELINE' to avail a 5% discount on Puma's Motorsport merchandise collection. A special contest is coming up for the 2021 Monaco Grand Prix. Follow our social media profiles to play and win. 

The buzzword for the weekend of the 2021 Portuguese Grand Prix has to be 'rollercoaster'. Seemingly, there's no better word to express the joys of racing a Formula 1 car around Algarve. But of course, we're just taking the word of the 20 drivers who get the chance to do so, aren't we? 

In the same vein, we hope you take the words of Soumil and Kunal from this episode for the '5 things to watch for' in this weekend's race. Could we see a new podium sitter? Will Lewis Hamilton complete a century of pole positions? Are Ferrari and Alpine genuinely in the fight with Mclaren? What could race strategy look like and will someone finally convert a pole position to victory this season? Tune in! 

This is a Pits to Podium exclusive for the Inside Line F1 Podcast. 

(Season 2021, Episode 25)

Follow our hosts on Twitter: Soumil Arora and Kunal Shah

Music courtesy: Lucien Byfieldt

Image courtesy: Algarve International Circuit / Twitter

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Subscribe to our newsletter! It's free, informative, insightful and visually appealing. You can read more and sign up.

For our listeners in India, use 'PUMAINSIDELINE' to avail a 5% discount on Puma's Motorsport merchandise collection. A special contest is coming up for the 2021 Monaco Grand Prix. Follow our social media profiles to play and win. 

Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton have scored a pole position each. Also, both drivers are yet to convert a pole to a win. As the 2021 Formula 1 season progresses, the story lines and narratives keep evolving. It is without a doubt that Mclaren and Ferrari's revival is a key talking point. "Ferrari and Mclaren are Formula 1," quipped Ajit Devadason, our guest in this episode. 

In this week's episode of the Inside Line F1 Podcast, Soumil and Kunal are joined by a special guest, Ajit Devadason. Ajit is an FIA-accredited journalist and pens his Formula 1 column for The New Indian Express. 

The trio discussed teams-drivers who have impressed and those who need to improve form and results in 2021. Yes, only two races have been contested yet but early trends have already emerged. Tune in!

Follow our hosts on Twitter: Ajit Devadason, Soumil Arora and Kunal Shah

Music courtesy: Lucien Byfieldt

Image courtesy: Mercedes 

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Subscribe to our newsletter! It's free, informative, insightful and visually appealing. You can read more and sign up.

For our listeners in India, use 'PUMAINSIDELINE' to avail a 5% discount on Puma's Motorsport merchandise collection. A special contest is coming up for the 2021 Monaco Grand Prix. Follow our social media profiles to play and win. 

George Russell-Valtteri Bottas' crash brought out the red flag - one that effectively split the 2021 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix into two halves. If Max Verstappen was the hero of the first half, Lewis Hamilton was the hero of the second half. However, there was one driver that shone in both halves of the race - Mclaren's Lando Norris. Soumil and Kunal review the 2021 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in this Pits to Podium segment of the Inside Line F1 Podcast. 

Also in this episode, our view of the Bottas-Russell crash, Sebastian Vettel's continued bad luck, Sergio Perez's hero-to-zero moments, Latifi-Mazepin's clash, rookies finding the barriers, Leclerc-Sainz's brilliant run to 4th and 5th, Mclaren's team orders and finally, Kimi Raikkonen's complicated time penalty. Tune in!

(Season 2021, Episode 23)

Follow our hosts on Twitter: Soumil Arora and Kunal Shah

Music courtesy: Lucien Byfieldt

Image courtesy: Mclaren 

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You've been hearing us for years. Now you can read us as well! We have started our own Formula 1 newsletter service. It's free, informative, insightful and visually appealing. You can read more and sign up!

For our listeners in India, use 'PUMAINSIDELINE' to avail a 5% discount on Puma's Motorsport merchandise collection. A special contest is coming up for the 2021 Monaco Grand Prix. Follow our social media profiles to play and win. 

It's time for the 'Formula 1 Pirelli Gran Premio Del Made In Italy E Dell'emilia Romagna 2021' or in simpler words, the 'Imola Grand Prix'. In this pre-race episode, Soumil and Kunal tell you the '5 things to watch for' for this weekend's race. 

Will the Red Bull Racing vs. Mercedes battle continue? Let's hope it wasn't just a Bahrain thing! And of course, let's hope that Max Verstappen has used up his bad luck of racing in Italy with the retirement in FP2. Is the RB16B fast but fragile?

Will the cooler air and track temperatures influence form factor in the uber-competitive mid-field? Since overtaking is difficult, we expect 'track position' to be key - in qualifying and for race strategy. Also, some key track information that will impact race strategy.

Finally, how many times do you think will Nikita Mazespin this weekend? He's already had two on Friday. Write to us via our Facebook page and let's know how many more spins do you think he will add to his name. 

Tune in!

(Season 2021, Episode 22)

Follow our hosts on Twitter: Soumil Arora and Kunal Shah

Music courtesy: Lucien Byfieldt

Image courtesy: Alfa Romeo Racing 

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You've been hearing us for years. Now you can read us as well! We have started our own Formula 1 newsletter service. It's free, informative, insightful and visually appealing. You can read more and sign up!

In this episode of the Inside Line F1 Podcast, we have a special guest - Chetan Narula, a seasoned sports journalist and the author of the book 'History of F1: The Circus Comes To India'. 

For our listeners in India, use 'PUMAINSIDELINE' to avail a 5% discount on Puma's Motorsport merchandise collection. 

Chetan joins Soumil and Kunal to discuss 'driver perceptions and media portrayals' in Formula 1 and sport (also, life!?) overall. This is an opinionated episode but one that raises a pertinent question about the media's role in shaping personalities, celebrities and their fandom. The most-recent case of Nikita Mazepin - is he a bad driver, a bad human or both? In fact, does the Russian media portray him as a hero for being the sole Russian racing in Formula 1? Lando Norris' support of Mazepin did change the tone of chatter around the Haas driver's opening lap crash at the first race in Bahrain. 

We also discuss Romain Grosjean's long-lasting memory of being a crash kid and his infamous crash behind the Safety Car at Baku (2018). Unsurprisingly, reactions to Grosjean were a stark contrast to a similar gaffe by George Russell at Imola (2020). Does media have a more responsible role to play in building driver perception? Is it easier for the drivers to manage their perception and portrayal via social media or is that a double-edged sword? And of course, what role do the fans have to play? Tune in! 

(Season 2021, Episode 21)

Follow our hosts on Twitter: Chetan Narula, Soumil Arora and Kunal Shah

Music courtesy: Lucien Byfieldt

Image courtesy: Motorsport Week

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SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT!

We are proud to announce that Puma joins the Inside Line F1 Podcast and Pits to Podium as a partner!! Enjoy a 5% discount on Puma's Motorsport merchandise collection. Use 'PUMAINSIDELINE' on Puma's online store. (Offer for Indian territory only) 

Also, we have launched our own newsletter subscription. It's free! Read more and sign up. 

3 days x pre-season testing + 3 days x 2021 Bahrain Grand Prix = several quirky moments of the 2021 Formula 1 season already; Sergio Perez's restart on the formation lap being one of many. While recording this episode, we realised how important a role Windows & Bill Gates have played in our lives by teaching us the ever-crucial 'restart' action! 

To give you a hint of the other stories in this episode - Fernando Alonso's wrapper-gate, Daniel Ricciardo's pre-race printed notes, Mclaren's 'boys in orange' radio to make sure RIC doesn't drive into the Renault pit box, Sebastian Vettel's Capt. Planet mode, Kimi Raikkonen's random number selection, Valtteri Bottas' 'undriveable' message and of course, Lando Norris coming out in support of Nikita Mazepin and more. 

This Pits to Podium segment of the Inside Line F1 Podcast is hosted by Soumil Arora and Kunal Shah. 

(Season 2021, Episode 20)

Follow our hosts on Twitter: Soumil Arora and Kunal Shah

Music courtesy: Lucien Byfieldt

Image courtesy: Alpine F1 Team

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The 2021 Formula 1 season got off to a blockbuster start with the opening round in Bahrain. It delivered to the pre-season hype - a Red Bull-Verstappen vs. Mercedes-Hamilton battle. Yes, Hamilton won - but had to fight for it every inch of the way. From what we saw, we expect this to be the rivalry that will headline through the season. 

However, the post-race focus shifted from the battle of the two generations to the FIA's inconsistent policing of track limits at Turn 4 - the very spot where Verstappen overtook Hamilton only to be forced to relinquish it later. We explain this controversy, of course. 

The 2021 Bahrain Grand Prix also delivered at least one positive story for every Formula 1 team. Now that's rare for an opening race - but that's exactly what Soumil and Kunal discuss in this week's Pits to Podium segment of the Inside Line F1 Podcast. 

Fernando Alonso's Alonso-esque performance, Sebastian Vettel's continued embarrassment, Charles Leclerc's superlative drives, Nikita Mazespin, Lando Norris' lonely race to P4 and the crucial overtake of Daniel Ricciardo on the opening lap, Sergio Perez converting his bad luck and qualifying misery into sublime race form, Yuki Tsunoda's points on debut and more. Tune in! 

(Season 2021, Episode 19)

Follow our hosts on Twitter: Soumil Arora and Kunal Shah

Music courtesy: Lucien Byfieldt

Image courtesy: Mercedes 

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