F1blag is joined by Sam Cooper from Planet F1 to share his journey with our listeners...

1. First F1 memory/ heroes

2. How got into F1 journalism

3. Working for Mail / Independent?! Why did he leave for freelance?

4. Planet F1 - How's it going? What are your aspirations?

5. Give us the inside scoop on what it takes to succeed in F1 media

6. Views on the current season / regulations

7. Pineapple on pizza

Mechanical Engineer by degree from Technische Universitat Munchen (Technical Uni of Munich)

Where did your passion for motorsports begin?

Cut your teeth in motorsport in the mid 80’s with BMW working in powertrains (M3 and M5)

Late 80’s joined Porsche racing division to run Carrera and Supercup series, and in 1994 were team manager for Porsche Le Mans winning with the Dauer 962, believe similar to group C Porsche 962

Recently we saw Ferrari win at Le Mans for the first time in 58 years. How hard is it to win at Le Mans and what is that experience like?

In 1996 joined Sauber F1 team, from 1998 to 2001 COO of RedBull Sauber

RedBul Sauber started in 1995 with Dietrich Mateschitz throwing his hat into the Formula 1 ring. Looking at how RB has come from just a F1 drinks sponsor to 4th in the constructors in 2001, then a full racing team in 2004 after the purchase of the Jaguar Racing team. Unfortunately we lost Dietrich in October of 2022, but what sort of interactions did you have with him, and what part of the success of RedBull do you see in who Dietrich was?

2001 Ford Motor Company during which F150 Raptor, and Mustang Shelby GT500 were born

Director of motorsport with VW from 2012 to 2016 leading to 3 World Rally Cross championships during those 4 years.

For our listeners that aren’t so familiar with WRC, what does it take to win a championship in rally cross? What is the most important aspect to being successful? Driver, reliability, etc?

Left for McLaren with a chance to work for Ron Dennis, before management reshuffling pushing him into planned retirement January 2017

Ron Dennis built the McLaren portfolio into what it is today, but most notably (in F1) team principal of McLaren F1 team building it to success in 4 years from 1980 to 2009.

Tell us about Ron Dennis. What makes him so special?

June 2017 VW , before joining Williams February 2021.

Let’s camp here for a bit. What made you decide to come out of retirement and come back into Motorsport with Williams?

August 2021, the Belgium grand prix, SPA, George Russel lays down a stonking qualifying lap mixed wet/semi dry qualifying to end in P2, and after a rain-soaked race Sunday, and a few laps behind a safety car, end with a podium P2. What was that like for the team?

Q1 and Q2 was in the top 10 on intermediate tyres

Q3 on intermediate tyres, and some amazing driving skill from George

Let’s talk about George Russel. He left Williams and is now with Mercedes. What kind of Driver is George Russel and can he be a future world champion with Mercedes?

2022 the new updated regulations are enacted bringing major changes to the aero package of the car. The FW44 is released with a very interesting sidepod design. Not quite the No-Pod of the Mercedes but something close. June of 2022 the sidepod is changed to the RedBull style downwashing design. People talk about copying designs, but this is really just design convergence. How do you assess the designs on the grid and decide what elements to take?

You Signed Alex Albon for the 2022 season after a year sabbatical, and it has turned out to be an inspired signing with a P10 in Spa 2022. AT the time there was some specuation you would sign a driver linked with your engine partner, Mercedes, either Vandoorne or De Vries. Can you tell us about the selection process and why you ended up choosing Albon, and what he brings to the team to help shape a young driver like Logan Sargeant?

Now James Vowles takes over for you at Williams. Tell us a little bit about James, and what sort of a challenge lies ahead for him?

General F1 Questions:

Since the release of these new aero regulations in 2022, there has been a lot of mixed messaging from drivers and teams as to the success of them. What is your opinion on how these are working?

2021, the Cost Cap begins, in an effort to help some of the less financed teams catch up, and prevent the bigger budget teams from just running away in a development war. Is the cost cap working

How did you get into motorsports? Who were your heroes growing up? What did you like most about F1, both in the past and today?

You’ve made a very successful career from not only journalism, being an author but also working at historic teams such as McLaren and Aston Martin! Where did the journey begin and how did these opportunities come about? What was the transition like from fan to actual part of the sport?

So obviously, it’s Pride Month, and many brands are taking the opportunity to express a message of inclusion. However, we know that a lot of it is pinkwashing and that we have a long way to go. I’m particularly reminded of the recent backlash against drag queens and rampant transphobia. What do you think is the goal of F1 and the FIA in that regard? And what do you believe to be the biggest obstacle or challenge they’re facing when it comes to making the paddock and race events safe and welcoming to all types of marginalized folk?

Matt, you’ve described yourself as “the only gay in the F1 village” in 1996. How did that notion shape your day-to-day experience or behavior in this macho-esque industry? And how and when did you feel like things were shifting?

We all know Sebastian Vettel became a huge LGBTQ ally in the later stages of his career. I wanted to know what the partnership between you and Seb was like? What impressed you the most about his commitment to the message, and where do you see his advocacy going in his life after F1?

You're a vocal part and Ambassador of Racing Pride, an organization that promotes LGBTQ inclusivity in motorsports. Tell us about your involvement with Racing Pride. How pivotal was Aston Martin with their Partnership? What’s the long term goal? And do you think the Aston Martin is still working towards that goal even without you at the helm?

Lastly, I’d like to touch on W Series, which was a single-seater championships for women. And you, of course, were part of its founding members. From the get go, W Series had openly queer representation with drivers such as Jessica Hawkins, Abbie Eaton and Sarah Moore. Why do you think it’s easier to have a message of LGBTQ rights when you have women at the forefront? And what can F1 learn from W Series?

Lightning round

What is your favorite F1 innovation that you think needs to be brought back?

Taxi, Dinner and Dishes

Name a person from the LGBTQ community would you want to wave the chequered flag and at which race?

Pineapple on pizza?

For the final words, the floor is yours. A message to our listeners? Upcoming projects? Where can our listeners find you?

Hey so these are the questions we have for you...

Business Owner of Z-Lines Classic Car Bodywork Restoration Martin Wilcox joins this time to talk about:

1 - Tell us more about yourself? What were your earliest childhood memories in relation to either motorsport or cars? What were your dream/poster cars growing up?

2 - What is Z-Lines and what was your inspiration behind its inception as a service and business?

3 - What’s your favourite project been that’s come through the workshop doors? How long does a restoration normally take?

4 - A lot of car journalist give modern day cars a lot of criticism, either because the body designs are too similar or lacking innovation, what’s your view on this and what makes classic cars like the original Ford GT40 or the Aston Martin DB5 a timeless classic?

5 - What’s the trickiest restoration build you’ve worked on and how difficult is it to restore classics that get totalled at the likes of Good Festival of speed

6. How do you choose which vehicle to be restored and what are the conditions you need to check before starting a restoration project?

7. Pineapple on pizza yay or nay

8. Your personal favourite car by far?

On this episode of Stripping The Dipping with AMG Denz;

- Kubica🇵🇱 vs Ricciardo🦡

- Onlyfans Sponsorship💰

- Starting a Race Team🏎️

- Law and Racing👩🏻‍⚖️

- Representation of Women In Motorsport🤔

- Marshall Appreciation🙌🏾

- Meeting Nicholas Hamilton🤩

On this episode with our returning guest Vincenzo Landino...

1 - Intro - How’s life? How’s Amy? Dad Update? What have you been getting up to in the 3 week absence we’ve had away from F1?

2 - New Sprint Weekend format for Azerbaijani GP? What’s your initial reaction? What’s was FOM intention with this change?

3 - What rules would you like to see changed in F1? Special exhibition event for the Las Vegas GP with the drivers and teams, what would you schedule?

4 - Any updates/news on the Las Vegas GP? Are you going? What are the expectations?

5 - Taylor Swift and Fernando Alonso rumours? What do you know? Could there be a potential truth in the rumours of a romance brewing?

6 - 25 races a season, is it realistic and feasible? Kylami in but Spa potentially out? Is there a way to keep some of the traditional circuits?

7 - Rumours about FOM looking to buy Indycar and turn it into a feeder series into F1? How true is this? What could the potential benefits be if Indycar was owned by liberty media or managed by FoM?

8 - Ferrari Life - what have you made of their start to the season? Plagued by reliability and clumsy set of crashes in Australia? When will the pressure increase on the team? Where do you realistically see the team this season based off the recent performances? Charles Leclerc releases new music? Have you listened to the song? Is this uncharacteristic of Ferrari letting their drivers do something like this outside the sport?

9 - Azerbaijan GP Predictions

10 - Stuff outside F1? Any upcoming projects? Where can our new listeners find and support you?

Our returning guest from S1 Olabode George Brown is joined by AMG Denz and this episode can be named as the North London Boys episode...

1 - How’s everything been since we last caught up? How’s life and the Design Engineering World keeping?

2 - For our new listeners you might not be aware that our special guest is a Design Engineer for a very esteemed F1 Team! You can find out which team that is by checking our S1 episode! Could you give us a recap of what your role entails?

3 - 2026 Engine Reg changes? How big are they? How far ahead of time do team generally start developing and prepping towards this? Do you anticipate one manufacturer might get a jump like Mercedes did at the beginning of the turbo hybrid era?

4 - George Russell has a Power Unit failure at the most recent race in Australia. Sources have put this down to debris getting into the engine and causing it malfunction catastrophically. What does the autopsy process for a failed engine generally look like? How easy is it for debris to get into these compact modern day packaging? What actually happens to the power unit in the end? Is it recycled, is it destroyed? Can it sometimes be repurposed for the car or for another chassis?

5 - In the world of GT Sports car racing there’s a been a changing of the guard from naturally aspirated to turbocharged powered engines. The sporting body SRO implements a BOP, to level out the performance advantages of the cars. What is the benefit of running a naturally aspirated unit to a turbo charged one? How does altitude also effect how a power unit will perform/produce power

6 - Kyalami Update - How excited would you be to see the sport return to South Africa? What are the biggest challenges automotive engineers face when building engines for unique circuits like this?

7 - What is the best sounding sports/race car engine - a) Ferrari F1 04 V10, b) Mazda 787b Rotary Engine, c) Dodge Hellcat V8 d) Wildcar choice of your own?

8 - FIA dream Engine Spec Formula - Describe to the listeners, what type of engine you’d want to bring into F1 and what advanatages would this have over the current Turbo Hybrid V6 units we currently have?

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Dive into the world of data engineering in the industry of Motorsport...

Let's start this conversation with our guest Lucy O Connor...

- 1 - Talk about your earliest motorsport memories? Do you have any family members that have either mechanical or engineering backgrounds? Who was your motorsport idol you followed or looked forward to when you were a kid?

- 2 Tell our listeners more about the uni experience? Your favourite modules? Some of the practicals you’ve been able to do or be part of as a result of doing the course?

- 3 - The long-term goal is to become a data/performance engineer within a high-performance racing team . What do you feel would be the most rewarding part of the job?

- 4 - You mentioned wanting to work in a high-performance team, pick an F1 team and alternative motor racing team from a different motor racing discipline you’d like to work with?

- 5 - You did a stint as a trainee data engineer with VR Motorsport as a part of their Praga team within the Britcar Endurance Championship - very competitive racing series stating the likes of Jimmy Broadbent What were the most valuable things you learned from the experience, and how did you go about gaining the opportunity to do this one?

- 6 - in your time with VR motorsports you headed ECU monitoring, static pitstop calculations, fuel usage and driver coaching using both AIM data and video - could you talk to our listeners more about these individual roles? How easy it to coach and work with different personalities in drivers, if they have an ego, or their lacking confidence in the car/setup?

- 7 - Before we get into your other motor racing work experience, we want to glance over the importance of soft skills. Would you say the soft skills you gained from working in retail also transfer over to the work you’ve done on the motorsport side of things? Communication? Dealing with high-pressure situations? Having to report to more senior people within the team? Etc etc

- 8 - Idola Motorsport - Reliability Engineer - what was the highlight of this experience and would say the dynamics of this racing team were any different from those at VR Motorsports?

- 9 - Women in Motorsports - Hannah Schmitz (red bull lead head strategist) Bernie Collins (ex Aston Martin strategists), Ruth Buscombe (Ferrari, Haas and Alfa Romeo lead strategist), Stephanie Travers (lead engineer for Mercedes-AMG F1 with Petronas (for- how important is it to have these strong, successful women in positions of power within motor racing? What do you feel could be done to give people from less represented backgrounds more opportunities into the world of motor racing? Scholarships

- 10 - Advice for fellow students, people trying to break into this career?

On this episode we take a route down the historical road and well you're in for a great listen...

1 - Where did your passion for motorsport originate? Describe your earliest motorsport memories

2 - You run a lovely website (Racing http://Daydreams.com) - where did the inspiration to start the website begin? What type of content is posted there? What’s your favourite article or content piece on there?

3 - Racing Legends - There are many racing legends that have unfortunately gone before their time (Aryton Senna, Colin McRae, Giles Villeneuve, Jochen Rindt), but who would say is the most underrated driver that died at before they achieved success?

4 - Mercedes have a rich history in motorsport - DTM, F1 and FIA GT1 - Other than Lewis Hamilton, who’s the greatest driver to race for the German outfit in any other motorsport series?

5 - Audi have been confirmed as an entry for F1 for the 2026 - given the new engine regulations coming in, do you think they return to the sport will be a success? What do Audi have to do differently, to ensure they don’t fail like Toyota, BMW and Peugeot?

6 - Taxi, Dinner Avoid (historical version)

7 - Pick a classic race to re-live - what race would you go back to be a part of?

8 - Where do you see the future of motor racing? Could we see the return of bigger displacement engines in series like F1 but with bio sustainable fuels? So many series have come and gone like the change to DTM, The removal of the GTE Class from WEC championship etc etc

9 - Thoughts on the F1 23 season so far? What’s missing from the season compared to other amazing seasons in the past?

10 - What content can our listeners look forward to for the imminent future on Racing Day Dreams and how can listeners connect with you with their favourite historical motor racing moments or Tales?

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We had the opportunity of having an amazing interesting person to share the passion of motorsport this time on this episode of Stripping The Dipping S02. He's a founder, chairman and a president but most importantly he creates automotive experience...check out the story of William Ross...

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