The Race F1 Podcast

In the latest episode of The Race F1 Podcast, we discuss the news that Red Bull has been declared Formula 1's best engine under the Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities (ADUO) system, meaning that rivals Mercedes and Ferrari will both get engine upgrades during the 2026 season. Given the Mercedes power unit is considered the standard-setter and the Mercedes team has won every grand prix this year, the decision has understandably baffled a lot of people - so what exactly is going on? Edd Straw is joined by Mark Hughes and Scott Mitchell-Malm to unpick everything we know.

Edd, Mark and Scott also discuss the driving style problems George Russell referenced in Monaco, and ask whether he could see an upturn in his fortunes in Barcelona this weekend. There's also a host of listener questions to answer, with topics ranging from whether McLaren have a power unit issue brewing to whether Alex Albon should leave Williams for pastures new.

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In the second instalment of our Driver Rankings podcast, Ben Anderson grills Edd Straw on how he ranked the drivers after the Monaco Grand Prix.

One driver's ranking proved particularly controversial to many people in The Race Members' Club - but does Edd agree that it's one of the boldest calls he's ever made?

Ben also challenges Edd on the rankings of Charles Leclerc and George Russell, gets Edd to explain how much penalties and driver luck feed into his decision making, and spotlights two drivers who he thinks could have been ranked very differently.

There's also a look at the updated driver rankings championship, with one driver in particular jumping several places up the order after Monaco.

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From Monte Carlo, Jon Noble and Scott Mitchell-Malm join Edd Straw to discuss an intriguing Monaco Grand Prix that saw a runaway race winner, disappointment for the home fans, a slew of costly penalties, and concerns about the track surface - amongst other things...

Kimi Antonelli became the youngest-ever winner of the Monaco Grand Prix as pre-event favourite Ferrari floundered and title rival George Russell came away with nothing. But was there ever any chance of stopping the Italian? Edd, Jon and Scott tackle that question as well as discussing Lewis Hamilton's strong showing, miserable outings for Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen, podium heartbreak for Pierre Gasly and much more.

Plus, there's the usual batch of listener questions to answer.

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As a special bonus, we're making the Thursday edition of our In-Car Insights podcast - usually only available to The Race Members' Club - free for everyone to listen to.

Full disclosure, this episode wasn't actually recorded in a car because in Monaco, Jon Noble and Scott Mitchell-Malm stay down the coast, and commute to the track via public transport. So instead, Jon and Scott recorded Friday's episode outside a kebab shop, as they waited for dinner (with Josh Suttill dutifully collecting food in the background).

Listen in as the guys debrief an extremely busy Friday in Monaco and look ahead to the all-important qualifying session and what's to come for the rest of the weekend...

If you like what you hear - and we're confident you will - head to Patreon.com/therace to sign up to The Race Members' Club and enjoy these bonus episodes (and much more besides) on every grand prix weekend.

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The Monaco Grand Prix provides F1 drivers with a unique challenge, but they'll have one less thing to think about this year after the FIA decided that there will be no straight mode zones in the Principality, and hence no opportunity to use the active front and rear wings that are a feature of the 2026 regulations. Is that the right call? One man who doesn't think so is former F1 technical director Gary Anderson, who explains why to Edd Straw in the latest edition of The Race F1 Tech Show.

Edd and Gary also discuss the implementation of the 'Rev 1' engine map for this weekend, explaining what it is and why it's being used, plus there's a wider look at the unique engineering challenge that Monaco provides compared to other circuits.

And, as ever, we round off the episode with our listener questions section, in which Gary tackles questions on Ferrari's curious engine smoke, car ballast, the purpose of ADUO and limiting outwash.

If you'd like to ask Gary a question, send it to podcasts@the-race.com

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