This week we have a special episode with two conversations from the Autosport Business Exchange in London.

ABX is a gathering of leaders from across motorsport, exploring relevant themes. It takes place in London, Monaco and New York every year.

As we head into a new season with so much renewal and so many question marks, the theme for London this year was The Powershift. 

We hear from Red Bull Racing CEO and Team Principal Laurent Mekies, who was parachuted into the team mid-season in a moment of crisis and almost pulled off the most incredible comeback in the history of F1.

And with the Mercedes team achieving a $6 billion valuation recently, teams have become a highly desirable asset class, driven by scarcity value, burgeoning revenues and effective cost control.  

The JA on F1 Podcast will be taking a break for a while.

Thanks to Producer Ben Holmes and Executive Producer Jason Swales. And thanks to you for listening. 

Until next time.

This week we meet a woman who has worked in F1 for Ferrari, Haas and Sauber. She has been at the heart of decision making on the pit wall as head of race strategy and has now turned that into a new role as an F1 TV commentator and content creator. 

Ruth Buscombe can speak to the vast new audience of F1 fans that have discovered the sport in the last five years as well as to the most committed and knowledgeable purists, with her unique insights into what is going on in F1 races.

After getting a 1st in Engineering at Cambridge University why did she choose a career in F1? What was it like to advise the lead actress in the F1 movie? What is it like to make a high-pressure strategy call on the pit wall, knowing that you could make or break the entire team’s race weekend? How many bad races per season are strategists allowed before they get fired? Ruth answers all these questions and more in this fascinating insight and provides a window onto what fans can expect on track from the 2026 season under new F1 rules. 

Watch out next week for news and highlights from the Autosport Business Exchange and Autosport Awards events taking place in London on 21 January.  

Send your comments or questions to: @jamesallenonf1 on X or [email protected].

A Motorsport Studios production for Autosport 

It’s the first week of January, the slate has been wiped clean, a whole new year of F1 lies ahead. Before a car is launched and a wheel has turned everything is possible and at all the teams and drivers are equal.

At this stage we like to look ahead to the new season and do some superforecasting. 

We did it last year and some of the forecasts were pretty accurate, while others haven’t aged so well... 

Who will win the 2026 F1 Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championships? What percentage of Max Verstappen’s points total will new team-mate Isack Hadjar achieve? Checo Perez got 49% in 2023 while Yuki Tsunoda managed just 8% last year. 

What will be the most high-profile driver move this year and which drivers will we be saying goodbye to? 

Which F1 team bosses will not be in post in 12 months from now?

To help us today we have a couple of subject matter experts, former Aston Martin Technical Director, Red Bull Head of Aerodynamics and friend of the pod, Dan Fallows and our F1 writer attending races around the world, Ronald Vording. 

Send your comments or questions to: @jamesallenonf1 on X or [email protected].

A Motorsport Studios production for Autosport