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[Assistant] You have to design a track that suits so many different things. And first of all, what is the plot of land you've got? You might have a really thin long rectangle, you might have a square. You have to get a track to fit that. But you have to get a track that's


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Got various elements. It has to be exciting for the drivers or riders. It's got to be good for overtaking and racing. It's got to have some elevation changes. It's got to be practical from a sustainability and usage and energy standpoint as a business model.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's got to incorporate conference center, car parks, fan zones, hospitality. There's so many elements that go into a circuit project.


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[Assistant] I think it's not a given, but there are certain circuits like Suzuka, frankly, which are probably


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Fantastic on either form of motorsport. So a place like Valencia, for example, isn't a particularly fun track for a car. It's a bit Mickey Mousey, but the bikers enjoy it. So you're never going to satisfy everybody. Uh, and ultimately from my perspective, obviously I'm looking out for things from a car perspective.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You have to go back to the people who are building the track and go, right, what's your business model? If their business model is 150 days a year as bike track days, as it will be in a place like Thailand or Indonesia, then you gotta get someone from that perspective to help you.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'm a very lucky boy. I would say emotionally, it's gotta be the Mansell Red 5, the 1992 championship winning FW14B. It's a screensaver on my phone. That's a great picture. So yeah, listen, I got to drive it on several occasions.


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[Assistant] Probably the most enjoyable was on Sunday morning of the British Grand Prix in 2017. The crowd were in, and I basically had Murray Walker's voice in my head as I went down Hangar Strait. Just, that was my, my


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[Assistant] And for me, I've been lucky to talk to people like Nigel and Damon, Sir Patrick Head, Paddy Lowe, you know, all the people involved with that car at that time and just learn about it. Um, Adrian Newey, of course, you know, the aero brain behind that car. So that emotionally has got to be the best one.


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[Assistant] But I think, uh, as a driving experience, certainly driving Lewis's 2019 Mercedes is the most perfect car.


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[Assistant] But actually I came away from driving that thinking it was a bit too perfect, whereas the Montoya...


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[Assistant] In some ways, yeaah, because you got in it and everything just worked. Everything was just absolutely perfect. But it didn't give you this awe-inspiring shock, which I think Formula One cars should do. You know, I, I, as you say, I've driven a lot of F1 cars now, but when I got in that Montoya 2004 car,


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[Assistant] It scared me for the first five laps. Every time I turn the steering wheel, it scared me. Every time I did anything, it scared me.


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[Assistant] I still believe in many ways it was the peak of F1 performance 2004. You had cars that were light. They were nearly 200 kilos lighter than what we have today. You know, the cars today, I personally feel they're too big and fat.


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[Assistant] You know, the cars have just gotten so heavy and nearly a sports car weight. Whereas then it was 605 kilos as opposed to 798 now. And the BMW engineers came over from Germany and one of the guys was there in period.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] My family were into it. My dad used to race and rally, my grandfather, my grandmother used to do some racing, which, I mean, not big funny when you think of the context of an Indian


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Formula Fords and all, and they all race against each other.


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[Assistant] Yeah, 100%. And, uh, you know, my dad was in the Chevron and he was one of the big stars and they, they would get crowds. I remember going to races that you get 65, 70,000 people in this grandstand watching them drive around. There's still, I've got videos actually, which Bob Fernley


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's so far away from what actual structured professional motor racing was in Europe.


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[Assistant] 100% the outlier. My friends didn't even understand it. You know, my weekends were spent


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Traveling, my dad was also rallying, so I was traveling across the country going to rallies and, you know, watching the stages all across.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It was really funny because my interest got to the point where it was an obsession. I would read Autosport magazine.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Obsessively, but because the postage delays, you know, I read about the British Grand Prix in October or something.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I, I watched recordings of the races. We had a friend of ours called Martin Stone who got, uhm, later on involved with Carlin Motorsport, the Formula 2 team. And Martin would record races on the Beeb and, and post it to us. So again, you know, I'd be watching Phoenix in the summer and all this way out of sync, but I didn't care. I just watched these races over and over and,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, I can still probably repeat Murray's commentary from the opening lap of the British Grand Prix in 87. That's where the love for the sport came. But my dad, to his credit, recognized


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Not only was I a kid who was in love with the sport, but I was actually getting knowledgeable about it. You know, he then went on to run, we had the Midrass Grand Prix for Formula 3 cars.


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[Assistant] And I as an 93 for example, I was a nine year old and I was making decision on the drivers we would have on the team because I was watching British F3 and following British F3 via Autosport. So I knew actually what we want to be doing is speaking to, you know, Warren Hughes for 94 or stuff like that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The standard of racing in Asia in terms of the competition level is still way behind Europe. And so, you know, I did the first season of racing in India. I won the championship there.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Race in Asia won the championship there pretty comfortably on both occasions, but then you come to Europe and it's like, wow, this is a shock to the system. And, and also, you know, I went from living in the sunshine near the beach, pretty cushy life at home because I think, um,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, as most Indian kids are kind of molly cuddled at home and well protected. And I was dropped into a town of 11,000 people in Brackley. I live 300 meters from where the BAR team were at the time.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I've gone from 11 million to 11,000. I landed on the 1st of February. It's dark at 3 PM here, but I mean, I didn't understand what was going on.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So it's a culture shock as well. Didn't know anybody. You know, my friends were the mechanics and engineers I had in the team. My dad had a few friends from when he was racing. But I think, and I talked to Mark Weber about it and he's got a great phrase of,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, you would charge through walls and I think that's so apt for anyone who comes like him from Australasia or from Japan or from Brazil and Asia in general. When you come to Europe.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I think the Europeans and the Brits perhaps underestimate how much we've sacrificed, how much of a life you've given up to come. So your motivation to get your butt out of bed and go running in the middle of winter, because you're thinking, if I'm not doing it, someone else is, you know, is, is so high. And I think it, it toughens you up mentally.


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[Assistant] Yes, no, certainly, you know, we now have a, a karting championship. We have multiple karting championships for all ages. We have a national racing championship. I would say certainly in the last decade, you know, there's, there's much more infrastructure domestically. Uh, and also Asia, you know, there's a, there's a Formula Four championship here. There's a Middle East racing scene now that didn't exist back then. So yeah, certainly things have changed a lot.


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[Assistant] He's a very impressive individual. You know, I knew David socially for many years, but this is the first time I've seen him in a work context. And together with Hugh Chambers, the CEO, you know, they worked together at Prodrive for many years. And, uh, it's, it's fascinating just to.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] For me, again, see another side of the sport. I've, I've been a member of the FIA's Drivers Commission since 2013, representing the rights and views of drivers and, you know, I've been on the Single Seater Commission and all sorts of other projects.


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[Assistant] And now seeing it from an ASN standpoint. So you're not looking at a global level, a more national level, allows me to see a different side of the sport. And to be honest, I, I find it good for my personal growth actually, you know, and I'm able to have a direct impact as well. We sat down last year and said, right,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Britain's being left behind in terms of entry level single seater racing with Formula Four.


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[Assistant] When I, I came to the UK because that was the place you had to go to, to be a Formula One driver.


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[Assistant] But it was starting to get left behind. You know, British F3 is no longer what it used to be. F4 was being left behind. Formula Ford is being left behind. So last year, one of my first projects was to revive Formula 4. And this year we've hit the ground running. We had 20 cars on the grid for the last race.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I get a lot of satisfaction from that saying, you know, that was something I personally spent a lot of hours helping.


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[Assistant] The team put together and now, you know, they're off and running now. I'm not involved day to day, but there's a lot of satisfaction from that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Did slip behind, if I'm honest. Italy, because Italy's become this, such a strong epicenter for karting, a lot of kids are going naturally to Formula 4.


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[Assistant] But actually now we've done such a restructure of British F4, it's on the up and, you know, we've got a lot of the F3 and F2 teams now involved with F4, which is great because they, you know, that's how the pyramid needs to work. And all signs are that for next year there's a lot of interest, which is good.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I do, you know, I think, uh, Sky is the fifth different broadcast I've worked with in F1.


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[Assistant] But there's no question about the fact that, uh, over the last 10 years in the sport, they have established themselves as a, as a leading broadcaster really. And we've got a great team of people.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'm just very lucky that I get to travel the world talking about a sport that I've been in love with since I was three years old, working with friends of mine who, um, enjoyed following the sport.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I was quite flattered actually. I sent Laura Maki the text saying I'm quite flattered, although I'm slightly annoyed with all the hate tweets I got from the Hamilton fans after that. But, uh, no, listen, I enjoy it. I've always been someone who's very analytical in my life. I enjoy the technical side of sport.


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[Assistant] We're so lucky, Tom, to live and work in a business where we have some of the most brilliant minds on the planet.


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[Assistant] Who troubleshoot things. You know, they do an FP1 and the car's terrible. They have 24 hours to troubleshoot and make the car better before qualifying.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And put the car out there in a high pressure situation with 80 something million eyeballs that are on the planet. And they're just fascinating people to talk to.


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[Assistant] Welcome everybody to this week's F1 Beyond the Grid. I am delighted to say that we're joined by Stoffel van Doorn. Stoff, it is great to have you on the show. How are you? I'm very well and thanks for having me on the show.


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[Assistant] Now, let's start by talking shop. Let's talk Aston Martin first of all. Uhm, what's the mood in the camp in 2024?


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[Assistant] Your test and reserve driver for the team. So you're spending a lot of time in the sim.


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[Assistant] So two questions. First of all, what is this car like to drive on the sim? And...


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[Assistant] Can you tell us a little bit about your technology campus back in Silverstone and what is the sim like to drive?


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[Assistant] How important is that? The talking aspect? Because I think a lot of people watching this, listening to this will think, well Formula One is a technology sport. Why do we need to chat?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And in your own role for the team, you did drive the 23 car at Spa-Francorchamps last summer. I think it was wet, unfortunately, wasn't it? But how important was it for you to get behind the wheel, just in terms of the feedback you're giving Fernando and Lance?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Do you remember 20 years ago when we had Friday test drivers in Formula One and FP1 became this massive competition between the likes of Alex Virts and Anthony Davidson and Alan McNish? We need that back, don't we? People like you do. But when, when you were in that 23 car at Spa,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] How difficult was it for you to find the limit? Because it had been a few years since you'd last driven an F1 car.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And how had the power unix, for example, come on since 2018?


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[Assistant] A bit more cumbersome. How does that actually translate through to you, the driver?


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[Assistant] So, were you flat through Eau Rouge in the West?


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[Assistant] How different are these ground effect cars to drive compared to the ones that you drove from 2016 to 2018?


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[Assistant] And were you having to keep off some of the curbs that you might've used back in the day?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But if there's one thing they've got in common, it's that they've all got their own signature style and they love to make a stylish statement with their clothing. With wedding season coming up, you might be looking for a way to make your own statement without outshining the bride and groom. And lucky for you, Indochino makes it easy to look and feel your best in their custom suits. Get bespoke clothing without the luxury price tag.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] With suits starting at $499 and fitted shirts at just $89. If you're lucky enough to have an Indochino showroom near you, then you can book an appointment and let a style guide walk you through every step. Or like me, you can easily get online and get a tailored fit at home.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I set up my personalized measurement profile online for one of Indochino's Haley cotton stretch shirts. It was so simple to place in order. It walks you through every measurement you need, which only takes about 10 minutes in total. And when it comes to customization, they've thought about everything from the length to the buttons, the collar and the pockets.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And you know what? The shirt was a perfect fit. It looked smart and still feels comfortable and the fabric is top quality.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I love it. And any eagle-eyed viewers out there that have been watching these interviews on F1's YouTube channel might notice I've worn it for a few on-camera chats already, including this one with Stoffel. I'll definitely be adding some more to my collection.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So look your best this wedding season at the table or on the dance floor when you wear Indochino. Go to Indochino.com today and use Grid to get 10% off any purchase of $399 or more. That's Indochino. I-N-D-O-C-H-I-N-O.com promo code GRID. Now let's talk about


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Your Formula One career stuff, and there are many people in this Formula One paddock, myself included, who think you should still be racing in Formula One, not test and reserve driver. I think it was a case of right place, wrong time at McLaren for you. Do you agree with that?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You had the double whammy as well of an uncompetitive car but also Fernando Alonso in the sister car. Fernando having this amazing knack of being able to drag a lap time out of a difficult car. Did you feel very alone in those two years?


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[Assistant] With the experience that you have now, what would you do differently?


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[Assistant] So you didn't enjoy, I mean, because of what you've just said about the lack of competitiveness or...


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[Assistant] I remember there were a lot of reliability issues, particularly in 2017, but also


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I do remember you saying that the rear end of those cars, particularly was it the 18 car, was very loose. With the experience you've just talked about, would you set up the car differently now?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, you know, you've just been talking about your success in the junior formulas. I mean, like GP2 was immense what you achieved in 2015 in particular.


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[Assistant] That strikes me that you were, are an incredibly instinctive driver. One of those people that can just get in anything and be quick immediately. Is that how it feels? So if those cars, those McLarens, if you walked into a


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] A competitive McLaren. I absolutely believe that you would have been quick, as quick as Fernando Alonso.


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[Assistant] You finished in the points. I remember there being just incredible positivity around you after that race, but how much warning did you get? It was race two. Yeah. When did you know that you were going to be driving that car?


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[Assistant] And what about the steering wheel? How complicated was that?


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[Assistant] Qualifying comes around. What were your expectations? Did you actually think you could out-qualify Jensen Button?


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[Assistant] Talk us through the race. It was, it was another phenomenal day for you.


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[Assistant] Can you remember what, I dunno, what did Fernando say to you afterwards? What did Eric Boullier say? What did Jensen say?


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[Assistant] It's really interesting that you mention Ron, because he was a supporter of yours, and do you think it could have been different had Ron stayed at the team?


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[Assistant] You said that that Bahrain weekend probably earned you your contract for the following year. When did you actually sign for 2017?


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[Assistant] Do you think in hindsight that brilliant performance in Bahrain?


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[Assistant] And were you wary going into the first race because it hadn't been, it hadn't been a great winter. Let's face it. I remember lots of reliability issues. I think you had a maximum 200 laps maybe in the entire winter. I think way less. Way less because of all the trouble. I think so. Did you feel undercooked going into the first race?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So the opening races were predictably difficult. But then we, let's fast forward to Monaco because you make it through to Q3 for the first time there.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] What happened at that race to give you that extra pace? Was it a confidence thing for you? Was there something new on the car?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And what did you feel about the switch from Honda to Renault? Did you feel that they were making progress or were you in the camp that said we need to change if we're gonna finish higher up?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You scored only four fewer points than Fernando in 2017. So as you went away on your holidays at the end of the year, were you satisfied with how things have gone in year one?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And did you get distracted by all the noise that was surrounding McLaren at the time? They finished ninth, ninth in the world championship that year, you know, behind Haas, behind Toro Rosso. So there was the negativity of that. There was the management changes that we touched on a little bit earlier.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Was it difficult for you to just stay focused on your job?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Then you need Shopify in your corner. Shopify is the global commerce platform that helps you sell at every stage of your business. Whether you're just launching your online shop, opening your first bricks and mortar store, or celebrating hitting a million orders, Shopify is there to help you grow and reach your goals.


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[Assistant] In fact, Shopify powers 10% of all e-commerce in the US, and it's the global force behind Allbirds, Brooklinen, and millions of other entrepreneurs of every size across 175 countries. It doesn't matter if you're selling personalized homemade skin care or custom clothing,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Shopify helps you sell everywhere. With their all-in-one e-commerce platform and in-person POS system, you can reach customers wherever they are.


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[Assistant] Shopify holds the record for the internet's best converting checkout. 36% better on average compared to other leading commerce platforms. Helping you turn browsers into buyers like nobody else.


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[Assistant] I love how empowering Shopify is for business owners, giving you total control over your brand, allowing you to customize your online store with their flexible templates, and it's filled with powerful tools like Shopify Magic, their AI-powered all-star.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Think of it as your personal commerce assistant on hand to help you sell more with less effort by streamlining your operations and enhancing the customer experience.


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[Assistant] And their award-winning help is there to support your success through every step. Because businesses that grow, grow with Shopify.


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[Assistant] Sign up for a $1 per month trial period at Shopify.com slash Beyond The Grid, all lowercase. Go to Shopify.com slash Beyond The Grid now to grow your business, no matter what stage you're in. Shopify.com slash Beyond The Grid.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And so we go into 2018, you've got the Renault power unit now pushing you along.


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[Assistant] What were your goals for that year? You know, the competitor in you wants to make a step. What did you think was going to be possible?


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[Assistant] I love that description of a car feeling numb. So was it very difficult to set up as a result?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And does that affect your confidence behind the wheel?


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[Assistant] So are we talking about the management as in Zach Brown? Yes. His, it's his arm of McLaren we're talking about now.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And was the writing on the wall from the moment Lando Norris started doing FP1s? I think it was at the Belgian Grand Prix, ironically, your home race.


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[Assistant] Is that when you felt, meh, okay, I think my future doesn't lie at McLaren beyond the end of the year?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Stoff, can we talk a little bit about that? So you're 24.


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[Assistant] You've dominated the junior formulas. I mean, that season in GP2 in 2015, I touched on it earlier, was, I think we, we'd never seen anything like it before. There was the debut in Bahrain. There was the sort of going toe to toe with Fernando in year one. So when it all comes to an end, how tough is that for a young guy?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] How hungry were you to get back into Formula One after 2018 or did you actually want to have a break from it?


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[Assistant] Was there much F1 work while you were at Mercedes?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Because 2020, Sakia Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton gets COVID.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I remember hearing the news break and I was thinking, right, who are they going to put in the car? And I actually thought, I wonder whether Stoffer will get the call up. Of course, George Russell.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Got the call from, you know, to change from Williams to Mercedes, but was it ever a conversation that you had with the team that you would replace Lewis for that race?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I think there are some parallels between what you've gone through in Formula One and Romain Grosjean.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I was on the plane here. Let me explain. Uh, because he was Fernando Alonso's teammate at Renault in 2009 for seven races and he had a tough time.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And he had to step away from Formula One for two years before then coming back in 2012 with Lotus and actually finishing on the podium that year. And you know, we got a good few years after that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So when you stepped away and you were doing Formula E with Mercedes and you got your confidence back and, and the, you know, the winning feeling comes back.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Did Formula One then start to appear on your mindset about how do I get back in?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] If Fernando or Lance were to injure themselves so they couldn't compete in a race now, do you think you're sharp? Could you jump in tomorrow and be competitive?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And physically would you be there? Everyone talks about how demanding these cars are.


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[Assistant] You're right. And, and go on, be honest with us, right? Are you tempted to set a few booby traps or if Fernando will laugh and say, can you make me a coffee? And oh, look, the milk's a bit out of date. Okay, let's.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And does the, uh, tell us a little bit just about, particularly actually I'm interested in, um, in the sports car that you're racing now with, with Peugeot. You're going to Le Mans. Just, just how big a step is that away from, from F1?


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[Assistant] Do you enjoy the team aspect? Do you like having teammates who you actually need to work properly with?


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[Assistant] As a driver, do you get quite possessive about your car?


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[Assistant] In terms of so, so when one of your teammates is driving it, are you, are you quite concerned? Are you pacing like a father at the back of the garage?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Healthy, yeaah, healthy competition. Well look, just final one from me. Are you going to be testing the Aston again this year, 2024?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Let's hope it's dry, let's hope you can show the world what you're capable of, and Stoff, as I said, I think you deserve another crack in Formula One, but look, thank you very much for your time, it's been great to talk through it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Now before you go, new for this year, we have some quickfire questions. Good. Alright, are you ready? What else are you good at?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Running? Oh yea? Apparently. Come on, give me some time. I can run fast. Are we talking sprinting, long distance? Uhm, no, like, not sprinting.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Now which racing driver, dead or alive, would you want to be stuck in a lift with?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Leo DiCaprio? You reckon? I don't know. Are we thinking, what spec of Leo? Are we, are we Titanic Leo? Are we Wolf of Wall Street Leo? I like Wolf of Wall Street Leo. Okay. A bit crazy.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Who is the coolest person in your contacts? The coolest person? I was hoping you'd say, I dunno, Jean-Claude Van Damme. Fernando Alonso, that'll do.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Alright, look, final one. Uhm, who would be your first guest if you hosted a podcast? Maybe my dad.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You said he was at the super formula test that you did back in 2016 before you have one baby. But do you remember the sort of, did you go karting together? Were you all, was he at all your races and. Yeah, we went. Mechanicking and.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That would be a great episode, episode one. Episode one. Stop, thank you. Thank you.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'm very, very thankful that both my mom and dad supported me to come to England to follow, you know, what I wanted to do. But I didn't show much gratitude or gratefulness back then. Then before I could do that, he passed away.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So, that's hugely great, but hopefully, uh, yeaah, somewhere, he's, uh, he's proud.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeaah, of course I am, yeaah. Yeaah, I mean, I left Japan 30 years ago, as it happens, and I never imagined I'll come back to Japan for the home Grand Prix 30 years later, as a team principal, so yeaah, of course, very excited.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeaah, I guess it feels, uh, different. I don't know how to describe it to be honest, but uhm,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I never thought of like think too much about my nationality in that sense, but then so many people asked me what it means, and then


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I tend to think, like, so many people I spoke to when I go to Suzuka, like Japanese fans, when they ask me, like, oh, you know, how did you get into Formula 1? Do you think I can do it? My answer is always the same. Of course you can do it. You just have to try. You have to make that first step. Just try it, you know, without worrying about the result. So the fact that I am now,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Let's say go to this position, hopefully that fact gives encouragement to all those people who are afraid to make those first steps. Ah, you know, they can look at me and say, ah, okay, if he can do it, I can do it, you know? So I hope, yeah, it serves as like encouragement to those people.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, yeaah, I guess that guy would be, I guess pretty happy.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeaah, only plan, honestly, like when I was 13, 14, I bumped into Formula One, just by coincidence, because it was very popular, it was available on TV, and then around that time, just the drama over McLaren, Honda, Senna vs. Prost was massive. Then it became McLaren vs. Ferrari, all the drama was unfolding, and I wanted to do something international.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So uhm, that, that really hooked me into it, so from that day I really wanted to...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So uhm, then decided, uh, if I wanted to work in Formula 1, better come to England.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, I mean, my family had nothing to do with motorsport. You know, I was the first one in the family to even have a driving licence. My dad saw that learning how to drive is totally a waste of time. He said he hasn't got time or money to do it. So yeah, it was, uh, you can't be that far, uh, farther away from motorsports than my family, I think. And then, um, yeah, no, it's just, uh,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Back then, early 90s, late 80s, if you are, let's say, 11 years old, 12 years old,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Everybody was into motorbike. So you are really eagerly waiting until you get to the age of 60 and get motorbike license and buy a motorbike. So even though we weren't able to ride motorbikes yet, we are all into it. So MotoGP was big and actually my, let's say, neighbor.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] He, he later became MotoGP rider Noriko Abe. So we came from the same area.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And then, uh, we are the same age. So I didn't know him by, I knew of him because literally he was from our next door junior high school and he was, I think, racing in, uh,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] U.S. motocross. So, so that, that was all very close to us, the motorbike racing.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] One day I guess I watched a Formula One race on TV and then, wow, so for some reason I never thought of becoming a rider or driver. Then I thought, okay, if I'm going to be an engineer, I think I can better influence in car racing than motorbike racing. For some reason I thought that, then I thought, okay, this is what I want to do.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, yeah, yeah. So yeah, on the day of my sixteenth birthday, my target was to get motorbike license, yeah. And then what, ride to school and back every day or?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] For some reason, as a kid, I looked at it and I thought, I guess just generally looking at how much rider uses his body, et cetera. I didn't know anything about it, but then for some reason, it just came to me naturally that if you're an engineer, then I think you can have a better influence to make the whole thing, car stroke driver.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Much more difficult if you like. So for some reason that came to me and said, okay, if I'm going to be an engineer having an influence how to go quicker, it's better to be in car racing.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, I guess I was impatient because, uh, so when I thought, okay, this is what I want to do, what's the, what's the shortest way to get there? Then of course, then when you study, well,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Looking to it, most of the teams are based in UK, and you have to run to speak English.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And then I looked into Japanese university as well, but in Japanese university first two years, even if you enroll into engineering course, it's general studies. I didn't want to do that. I wanted to go to university and study what's relevant straight away. So, so everything made sense for me to come to UK. You were a very impatient


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But yeaah, I was, back then I was like 14, so even like, yeaah, then I thought, okay, I'm gonna still go to high school in Japan, because I wanted to play rugby. Yeaah, rugby was always a part of my childhood, so I still wanted to play rugby for high school.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I played other positions, but my, uh... Do you still play rugby now? No, no, no, no. Last time I played must have been, well, I don't know, more than 20 years ago. I broke my shoulder so many times, so it's better to stop.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] What's the hardest thing, I mean to start off is because when you are so young, you don't have your certain expectations, your lifestyle is not completely set.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So for me, everything was new and exciting. It's not like I had an expectation my lifestyle should be this. I expect this to be in this way. I didn't have that fixed concept.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I came into England really without knowing anything about the country. But everything was new and exciting so in that way it was much easier for me to absorb everything and adapt to everything.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't know, what's the hardest? I guess, for instance, one of the very first incidents I had with my host family in Japan, we don't have sarcasm, right? My landlady was very sarcastic, so.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] After about six weeks, I thought she absolutely hated me. So I went to the language school. I think my landlady hates me, so I think we need to find a new host family. And then school said, agreed, okay, fine. Then we decided to move. Then the day I told her, she was so upset because she actually really liked me.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And she was just, later I learned that, okay, that's sarcasm. And she was very clever person, and then she saw, but she was very articulate in her language, but I had no idea how to understand that bit, of course. So yeaah, that misunderstanding was one of the first instances I had.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Affiliation probably not, but the reason I chose Lafayette University was when I was doing a foundation course, I sent letter to all the Formula One teams, and then some like Autosport as well, Motoring News.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] As many people as I could think of asking which university I should go to. And then kindly those people, most of the people replied to me. And then, uh, at least, uhm, I'd say majority said Lafbara. So I said, okay, this is where I'm gonna go then.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, exactly, which university would be the best one to go to. And honestly, like, back in those days, even the technical director, because I just knew the names of technical directors, certain people in the teams, from reading Autosport, right? I wrote to them, and I wrote to the magazine publishers as well, and then most of them kindly replied.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, seriously, so, so then, looking at the reprise, the left bar seems to be a common seam, then I looked into it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Then, uh, yeaah, I went to uni. I didn't know how good roughballer was. So I went to the freshers' trial. Then because back then, because I was fit and I had skills, so I got into the selection match. Then when I played in the selection match, I realized how good they are. My opposition scrum have just absolutely killed me.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And then I was in awe. It's like, oh my god, this guy is so good. After the match, I asked him who he plays for. He said, yea, Wales under 18.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Right, not my idea. So I played for uni for a few months and then decided this is just way above me. So I played for the team in the town, which was still good level for me anyway.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Say I work in a- But it's a long team though. Okay. It should be Northampton. Okay, alright, okay, okay. No, it's just because, again, Laffpala, when I was playing our first team centre, he was full Irish international, the guy called Jonathan Bell. So, back then he's already played in the World Cup against Jon Aramu. He was our first team centre.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And then at the same time he was playing for Saints, so I supported Saints ever since.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Again for the placement, I must have applied to minimum 50 companies and then I only got 2 interviews.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, yeah, yeah, so one was Lotus Engineering, one was, I think it was Maira, and then, luckily, two out of fifty, and then one interview I had, they gave me a job as a placement, then, uh, yeah, again, luckily, the department I worked in was an active control system, so all the departments were in the days of, uh,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So that was a, that, I really liked that one then, then I realized, okay, this is the area I wanna specialize in.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But then, that's the day where I think, uh, just


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They were in a very good stage with Elise just came out I think and they are doing a SPRE V8 and so it was lots of excitement in the place and also my boss, the guy who hired me, he used to race Formula Ford and then he actually


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Same, uh, same type as the one Michael Schumacher raced in Macau.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So 901B or something, I can't remember the name. But anyway, we had that old Formula 3 car we used to race in the championship called ARP Formula 3. I remember it. It was an amateur F3 driver, so it was my boss Steve.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And his mate Bob, who was a good engineer as well, he used to be a chief designer at Dynamic Suspensions. And then me, as like an apprentice with amateur driver. So that was a amazing introduction to actually the practicality of the motor racing.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, yeah, yeah. So yeah, again, that was actually the first time I was working, you know, in a, in a race track in any capacity. So that was so exciting. That really sort of formed my foundation, really.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] No, no, I think defining moment was already in the late 80s, 88, 89, when I looked at the Senna Versus Plus and said I want to work in Formula One. So that was the first defining moment. But the first time I actually worked, worked in a very loose time because I didn't get paid or anything. It was very amateur.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Seeing the first time I worked in the circuit, I remember still Brands Hatch in the, uh, 97. That was the first time I thought, okay, I really want to work on my track side doing this.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Not this time because I met Takuma when I went back to uni the following year.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So with my experience at the placement at Lotus and both doing a, you know, day job and doing this side thing on the Amatuer Formula 3, I really made it clear in mind which area I wanted to be specialized in. So I wanted to do truck side, I wanted to focus on vehicle dynamics, performance of the car.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So then when I went to uni, I did certain final year project, but also with that practical experience.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] He just saw it happen when I was in final year. Local driver called Andrew Delahunty.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] He wanted our university department to run his car in a British national saloon car championship. So it's not BTCC, but one below the saloon car championship. So we are looking after his car.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Then because I had some truck side experience, I could mechanic a little bit, I was doing it. And I just remember one day in Silverstone when I was changing a front anti-roll van to an Easter car, I looked up and then...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Made eye contact with Sakuma, started talking because he's Japanese. Then, uh, we got talking and he said, uh, I'm gonna do British Formula 3 next year. Can we do something together? So then...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Next year, I decided to do a PhD. In the first year of PhD, I said to my supervisor, look, I'm writing all these models and simulation tools, and they want to do this optimization, but...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] This guy, I met this guy, he's gonna race in British Formula 3. Can I just spend some of my time on the weekend going racing with him so that I can get real data, real feedback, see how this theoretical work I'm doing at PhD can be used?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, or find out limitations as well in the real world. Then my supervisor was so understanding. He said, yeah, okay, I'll pay you a, uh, petrol fee. You can do that. So first year PhD, I kind of like split my time in half, in half the time at uni.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] What's the word? I didn't get paid or anything, so I didn't have a specific role, but maybe looking at data, gathering tire data from Avon, get the damper data, populating my simulation tools, modeling all the anti-roll bars and everything else on the car, trying to predict on the balance changes, et cetera, and then providing those information to, you know, race engineers at the time. So yeaah.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] At that point it was okay. I think the most struggle I had was first year at uni.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Because when I came to UK, I didn't speak English. I went to language school, fine, three months language school, managed to get enough grade to get into foundation course. But foundation course is very small and it's all, let's say, uhm, uh, foreign students. So class is targeted for somebody


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Who's, uh, first language is not English, so it was okay. But then going to first year at uni with full of British people, local people, with the classroom sometimes more than 100 people, that was very difficult.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Ah, because he was so into Beethoven, you know, Beethoven's life, music, resonated to him so much, even when he was a...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] He was a, let's say, activist against the war. You know, back then Communist Party was completely illegal. So then he got imprisoned during the war. And then imprisoned during the war, of course, he's a political prisoner. So he can't read anything political. Then only books he can get was music.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Right, because it's not political. So, but then he wasn't allowed any notebook or pencil. So what he told me was, uh, with the chalk, he was given a chalk. So he was just writing chalks on the wall, you know, then rubbing it away, writing it again, rubbing it away. Then that's how he learned German.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I wish now, I, I, I learned piano a little bit, but then, uh, after three years, I...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I, I, uh, I didn't like it anymore. I had enough of it. So then I went on to a different type of music and started playing drums. But yeah, I did grow up when I was a kid, uh, with classical music because that's what my dad played or listened all the time.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I've been to so many classical concerts as a kid. Not my choice.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I think it was most difficult during the war, of course, because the activity he was doing was illegal. So, and he had a different name, and then somebody wrote a book about him, then reading that book, it's like, is this really my dad? You know, he had a gun, he was running away from the special police.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, and he had different name, then he was sold by the spy inside the communist party, that's why he got arrested, etc. It's like...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] First time I read it, it was like, is this really my dad's story? Because he didn't really...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Talk to me about those, let's say, difficult side. I knew he was a political prisoner. I knew he was against the war.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I knew that, uh, he didn't trust what a Japanese government was saying. So again, he, he learned Russian as well. So he, he realized, okay, what the Japanese government telling him or telling everyone was not right. Then he decided, okay, I should get a bit more information by listening to Russian radio.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeaah, yeaah, I have to thank my dad for, yeaah, yeaah, that side linguistic ability.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, I'd like to think he's a little bit proud, but then, uh, yeah, I wasn't a very, uh, very good kid, if you like, when I was a teenage years. And then, uh, before,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I could kind of like repay his trust, and he passed away. So I have a huge regret in many ways how I was when I was 12, 13, 14. And I'm very, very thankful that both my mom and dad supported me to


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So that's hugely great, but hopefully, uh, yeaah, somewhere he's, uh, he's proud. I'm sure he's very proud.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So yeaah, so when I was finishing PhD, uhm,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I had a job offer from a company called TRW. That's a consultancy company because I was going to do Formula One. This was my main goal. It was very difficult. I couldn't get any offers at all.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] If I wasn't gonna do motor racing, from what I learned at Lotus Engineering as well, I wanted to do a development, so, wants to write own simulation tools, own control code, but also be able to test drive the car and develop the car by driving it yourself. You can't do that, of course, in Formula 1, but you can do that in, uh,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, passenger car field in that way. So I wanted to do that, then the TLW gave me a job. So I signed it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But then, uh, one month after I signed, their parent company changed, so I got made redundant.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So I got paid three months, which initially was good because I had three months extra.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Paid period to finish my PhD, then of course then...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But then that never- Can I stop you there? So this is-


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That never sit very well with me to work for calling calls lately. So I came back and then went into research office really thinking do I really want to leave England and work for calling calls?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, it's a race engineer in F3, it's an interesting job, but environment never...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Can you go and see Mr. Tanaka-san at the HLD he's interested in talking to you? Of course.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So that job, I was in the vehicle dynamics department because of my experience. So mainly I was with the test teams. I went to every single test. And then back then, you know, it was full in-season testing. Now we are testing development parts of every single test. So I was really looking after that side analysis. So the thing I've been doing


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't think so. No, I don't think so because...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So I did a couple of years as a vehicle dynamicist in general, and then last year at BAR, so 2005.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I was asked to focus on the tyres, which I really, really enjoyed. In the tyre war era, that was a huge performance differentiator, so I really enjoyed that one. Then when Bruno contacted me to do the same job at the Works team, which is also winning as well, it was just too exciting, too much of an exciting opportunity to turn it down.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] No, it was amazing because again, like we were testing at every other weeks, right? So it's a race test, race test, race test.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They want basically a mixture of compounds and casing, but you'd be testing like 30 sets of tires. 30? Yea, it's all short runs just to see, you know, if any of these compounds are anywhere close to being taken seriously. So first phase of the testing is short runs to basically filter out, let's say, bad ones and then select.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Several tires, either compounds or casing for the long run, then long run evaluation is really when you decide, okay, which compound and casing you're gonna take to the race.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And it's just the performance, the amount of performance you can find on tires or actually lose on tires is massive. So much bigger than any aero development you can have. So it was huge and it was exciting to be able to influence race weekend that much, you know.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Huge, absolutely huge. Obviously, you know, I was focused on data analysis, but tire is such a complicated thing where


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't know, difficult to say on a percentage. From the data, maybe you can understand 20% of it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Everything else is something like, it's just not easily shown on the data, and then the driver feel is absolutely critical. And then, in, uh, BL, Honda, so last year, I was there as a tyre engineer, I was testing with Jason Button. Then, uh, of course, Jason was a very, very good driver, but then, even then, I kind of like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I went into the limitation of the driver if you like, but when I then moved to Renault


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Tyre testing with Fernando Alonso, that was complete eye-opener. Absolutely another level. Incredible. So Alonso at a different level to Button in terms of his feedback. In terms of his feedback also, but in terms of his feel, you know, what he needs to do in, let's say,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] For the last five laps, lap 15 to lap 20, we want to be able to increase the lap time by this much, and on the in-lap, tire needs to be completely finished.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But when we are testing with Jensen again, nothing against Jensen, hopefully people don't take it in a wrong way, but Jensen would find it a bit difficult to completely hit the target if you like. Either he leaves it a bit too much, so on the in-lap tyre it's still too good if you like. That means you haven't used everything up.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Or, you use a bit too early, so on the one lap or two laps before the end of the stand, Tai has already died. Whereas Fernando, you give him that target.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Absolutely bang on. It is amazing, like, how he knows, okay, if tyre feels this way on lap 2, lap 3, lap 4, I need to drive in this way, take out this much, then I'd have exactly the performance of 20 laps.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, absolutely. It's, it was complete eye-opener. Incredible. Wow. Then I thought, okay, this is why this guy's world champion.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, Fernando definitely the most impressive, but also Robert Kubica. Even though I only worked with him for one year, it was totally clear he was something special.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah. I remember we are in Monaco back then. We used to run on Thursday. Then Friday was day off for driver. Then we run on Saturday. Then Friday normally driver only comes in for half an hour, one hour to catch up with engineers. But I remember Robert, he was in our engineering truck all day.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I remember saying to Robert, do you not have anywhere else to go? And then Robert said, no, no, no, I'm not interested. I'm just interested in this.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] How to go quicker the following day, right? And that's all he cared about. Apart from only, only the sort of like, uh, outside interest he had was his poker club with, uh, Fernand and few other drivers. Other than that, other than that, poker or just F1.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But to be honest, I didn't care, you know, because I was


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's not my problem, right? I work for Renault F1 team, I work for the best interest of the team, my driver is Vitari, what happens with Ferrari and Fernandes, not my problem.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] He, he, he used to race Lada in Russia. So he had a very, uh, uh, let's say unusual upbringing, if you like. So his feeling in the car wasn't great, I don't think. And he was pretty aggressive, but his reaction was incredible. So even though he couldn't feel what's going on in the car, he can save it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, so, and also his start, I don't know if you remember any of this, his start was incredible.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] He's all about reactions by the way. Yeah, and he was a good fighter in that instant.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] When everything falls into pieces, he can be quick, but it's very difficult for him to be consistent and understand what's going on. And in terms of race crafters as well, he struggled a bit, but yeaah, he had some incredible, uh, yeaah, natural ability in some sense.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, initially I couldn't accept in my head that it's actually Roman in the fireball.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And then I couldn't, I didn't see initially that he got out. Somebody else told me he's out. I didn't see because I couldn't believe it. Then I couldn't believe it. Then I saw in the footage that he managed to get out. But then until I actually went to see him in the medical center, somehow I just couldn't believe.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, he, he got out okay, but yeaah, it's just horrifying. I just remember, uh, after the race when the car came, or the remaining came back, it's just a smell of it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's just horrifying. It just never goes away. And then I think Kevin was the same in the sense that, uh, he couldn't believe he's alive. So after the race, me and Kevin...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] When I saw him, he was fine. He was absolutely fine considering what happened. Emotion was just a huge, huge relief that he's okay, he's smiling, his family's on the way.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Ah, it's just the smell of the Viton, you know, the burnt smell of a Viton, just horrible. And of course the car's covered with the extinction. It just both looks and smell of it. I think it just never goes away. I just looking at that car or remaining of it, you wouldn't believe somebody came out of that alive. No way.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And then his shoe, left shoe was still stuck in there. The shoe was still in the car? Yea yea, stuck in between the chassis and the pedal.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Absolutely. He was amazing. Amazing natural talent and speed. He was so quick and he didn't need many laps to get up to speed whatsoever. Any circuit, any new circuit he goes to by lap three, he's on there. He's incredible talent.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So I did every single race with him. Only one race I missed was Malaysia, when I was his race engineer, because my wife had a first child, or was having a first child, so I had to fly back. But apart from that one race, I did every single race with Roman. But I remember that Valencia, I was really impressed that this guy's got huge potential.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So obviously the first year he came back, you know, we had lots of trouble with him, uh, crashing, et cetera. And that was mentally very, very tough for him. And also I was still relatively young race engineer, so.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Looking back now, I should have dealt with it in a better way as well. So I always feel a bit of regret that I could have done a lot better to help him.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] No, it's just like understanding. It's not just as a race engineer, but as a human being. You know, I can't remember how old I was, but back then, just with all the life, it goes as a race engineer.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I guess my current job as well, you've got to use all your life experience, not just experience as an engineer, right? To help the driver who's struggling to basically, uh, uhm, conduct an opening sequence of the race. It's not just physical, it's mental as well, right?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, I kept thinking if I had, let's say, five more years of experience as a human being, life experience, I could have helped more. But then...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I spoke to him Roman last year, talking about this. Do you know what he said? He just, he was so kind. And he said that, look, we grew up together. I didn't want Ayao at that point with five more experience. And I was very happy that I had you, Ayao, of that year. Didn't want any, didn't change anything.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And he was never a slow one, he was always a quick one and emotional one, but depends because he just saw he, he's perfectionist as well and he wants to get there straight away. And when let's say FP1 grip level is low, especially like I remember India, you know, first year we went there, grip level was so low.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, but so you got to take more margins, right? But he just couldn't do it. You know, he, he, the breaking into turn one, he...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I can't remember how many times he actually made it. He was locking up, missing the corner every single time. And then I decided, okay, open up the data against Kimi. And then Kimi is braking early. And okay, Kimi's braking style is very different, but he's a pretty good driver, so it's good reference, right?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] He's breaking earlier and he's already on the rim. He said, Roman, you cannot break there. But he just kept saying to me, no, no, I should be able to break there. I should be able to break there. Maybe on Saturday.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So, Roman signed with us, and then Roman said yeaah.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Why don't you just go and talk with, uh, Gunter, see what kind of project this is. And then, uh, I, to start off is I didn't take it too seriously because I never seen new team, um, performing, let's say, in a respectable manner. So I wasn't too interested, but then once I spoke with Gunter, I saw this is quite different project and then, uh, that's got potential. Then the opportunity to,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Work in a new team, to be a part of setting up a new team.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It doesn't come around every year. So I thought, okay, you know, all the things I think, you know, I was at Enstone for just under 10 years, so there's all sorts of things like I was thinking in my head like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Why do we do certain things in this way? Why can't we, you know, try this way? Of course, there's all sorts of restrictions with the big team. So, okay, I can at least try all these hypotheses in the new team and see if it works or not. At least I can do that with my responsibility. So in the end, it was an easy decision, but to get to that stage, of course, I thought about it quite a lot.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But yeaah, in, ehm, here, in Haas' first race, yeaah. Again.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Car build was very, very tough because it's the first time obviously in a brand new team and then it was first time for Ferrari to supply customer teams in that way as well. So everything was struggle. I remember leaving a car build in Italy to go to Barcelona testing. I was absolutely


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, we didn't have confidence that we can build a car, two cars, in time, for FP1. So we front-rode it, so we didn't sleep much on like Tuesday, Wednesday. And then managed not to brake a car for you on Thursday, if I remember correctly. And then, yeah, I think if we didn't score points in that race,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So many people would have, I think, left the team, because it was a version of, most of the people were basically collapsing.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, and also, it's interesting in a sense that, of course, as a brand new team, we haven't had much chance to do pit stop practice either, right?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Beyond words, I just couldn't believe it. Couldn't believe what just happened. Not only one car, both cars. One after another. And then that was the strong car. That was, we are looking at the house's strongest race results. And then we completely, uh, yeah, destroyed it. So.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't think it's like a false expectation, but then, uh, yes, Gene thought we can do better.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't think that within itself is a wrong thing to think, obviously. And then 2019, our, I remember our launch car was okay. Then Jean did put a lot more money into the team in 19, but as a team, we really failed to use that Jean's investment correctly. And then the upgrade we are putting on the car.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Wasn't working, and then we didn't react quick enough to rectify that. So yeaah, 19 was a bit of a disaster in that sense.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't know, I don't think I've achieved anything, so I, I don't think there's any, uh,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So when this news was announced, I went to talk with our managers and everybody in the team, did as many one-to-one as possible, just trying to sit down, talk with them honestly.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Transparently, openly, and 90% of people see this as an opportunity to improve. And then we are all aligned in the sense of like, well, how we want to improve this team, how we want to go about it. So I'm just overwhelmed by the positive support I've got. I'm very, very grateful about that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] At the moment, I'm putting upgrades on the car. So, but to start off is, like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] In Italy, you have a design office and an aero department, so they basically design the car, right? And the UK facility is a race team, race engineering, and all the functionality to analyze the performance of the car. And of course,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Those two groups or those two facilities needs to work together, but that really wasn't happening.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So that was my, or still is my main focus to get.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I mean, if you had total freedom, would you set up a team in that way? Absolutely not.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, the way we are set up, you know, how we could perform from year one of the new team, that's with the...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That's working, you know, we can, even though it's not ideal in terms of Italy facilities and UK facilities.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I can still see that so many things we can improve to make it work, and then so far what's been happening in the last couple of months proves that we can do a whole lot better. At the moment I haven't hit the ceiling of, okay, this is the limit of how we set up, we need to think about how to do it differently. No.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Now, you know, once you get to know people really well, remote working, even if it's not 100% ideal, it's fine. But you got to have the foundation of a relationship, respect for each other, understanding of each other, which we are building. And then I do feel this year we are working much, much better.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And does he care how you do that or is he leaving that to you? He does care. He doesn't, he hates wasting money, right? Which is to be fair. And then if I'm honest and looking back on the past years, have we been using the money we are given or we are provided wisely?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Now some areas, there's lots of areas we can see, we can make improvement, we can improve the time efficiency, we can improve the cost efficiency. So that's what we are tackling at this minute. So again, similar to your question about the setup.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, I haven't still seen the seeding of, with the given investment we got, we haven't hit the seeding yet. So that, that's what I'm focusing on. And then if we can do to improve the efficiency, I'm sure performance comes with it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It helps a lot, but of course I am who I am, so I got to play to my strengths, then I got to be still aware about the things I'm not experienced or things I'm weaker, but clearly my strengths is my background and also the fact that I've been with the team since the...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't know if it's unique, but for me, it's a, I get enjoyment out of seeing.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Empowering people and then, you know, get best out of them, you know, then for instance, our new technical director, chief designer, deputy chief designer, I was so happy that we promoted internally because if we haven't got, you know, those talented people internally, if you have to employ everybody externally, one, it's going to take time.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, they, they can work together and they can do their best. And that moment, honestly, the improvement I'm seeing, I'm really, really happy.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Okay, yeah, I mean, before I got interested in Formula One, I, I was set to become, I wanted to become an investigative journalist.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, it came from that because like, uh, because my dad was, uh, writing books, et cetera. And then of course from a very young age I was interested in.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] In old days, he was working for Asahi Newspaper company and he was a, he was a, he did a piece on investigative journalism which basically exposed a massive political scandal in Japan back then. And then that led to so many politicians resigning and arrest and everything. Then that was like wow.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] This is what I want to do. These are the stories the police doesn't want to touch. Everybody wants to put it under the carpet. This guy exposed it. One reporter, one journalist. And then that completely changed the political landscape in Japan at that point. So, that's cool. I want to do that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I, of course I'm learning a lot, you know, I've only just started, but honestly, yes, you say political, but


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'm learning a lot, but then one thing is like, I find so many people still very helpful. You know, other team principals, other senior figures in F1, whenever I went to talk to them, they've been very, very helpful. So, yeah, that's, uh, that, yeah, I'm very grateful about that as well.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So what we're about to start off is this year, I mean, they are very engaged. I think that's part of a, let's say, new environment and then communication that making it clear how we're going about going racing this year.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Of course, I made it clear to them, they are the central part of this, you know, and then they are very engaged and even like pre-season testing when we said like, oh, we're going to just focus on understanding tire degradation. We're not going to run low fuel whatsoever. They're absolutely fine. So seeing that on the time sheet.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] P90, P20. Didn't matter to us, didn't matter to them. We knew what we were doing. And then the fact that they are so engaged that they know.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] How hard it is now to get a point. So, okay, you know, keeping...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Kevin, uh, had a bit of a scrappy rise up until that point, you know, having an incident with Arbomb.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I didn't actually know at that point that, uh, Kevin overtook Snowder going off the track. But then once we knew that we had a 10 seconds penalty for Albon incident, it was totally clear Kevin's not gonna score a point. So only chance for us to score a point with Nico. And that was pretty clear. And then gave him instructions and he, he knows.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] How tight it is to get a point, and he knows, or both of them know how important it is for us as a team. So, yeaah, perfect job from that point, from, uh, both of them.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Well, we gave him a target lap time initially, which was a bit too quick, and then we needed to go slower, but then if you look at the course layout, you know, Sector 1 is where you can lose all the lap time, which is exactly what Kevin did, and he managed to hit the new target lap time in the 36s, and then Nico's lap time was getting better and better and better, so yea, that was a very good teamwork.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, previously we had lots of graining issues. This year's tyre compounds are three soft compounds, so that's gonna be forefront of our mind. And when we go to Suzuka, Sector 1, high speed, which is not exactly our strengths at this minute, how to manage that? So I wouldn't like to say a thing of the past. We need to see after four or five races.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeaah, I'm optimistic, but, you know, you really need to be realistic and you cannot, you cannot be, uh, what's the right word? Yeah, complacent. You know, you got to really be on it to make sure we're on top of it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] What else are you good at? What else am I good at? You're suggesting I'm good at my job by the way. What else am I good at? I like climbing, rock climbing. I don't know if I'm good, I'm let's say intermediate.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Rugby because I don't play anymore and I wasn't very good, honestly. If I was good, I would have made it at least third team at left, but I wasn't even close to that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Stuck in the lift with Roman, I would say. Why? Because if he can't get out of the burning wreck of the car, we can together get out of the lift situation.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And he's a good friend. So if you're gonna be stuck somewhere, you're gonna be stuck with a good friend. So. Who would play you in a film?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Has to be a Japanese guy, doesn't it? Then you wouldn't know him, I guess. Japanese actor I like is the guy called Ryusei Yokohama, but I don't expect you to know this guy.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Recently, I don't know the English title of the film called Village, the recent one is about him being a boxer, but he used to be actually a world champion karate.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Coolest person, in my dress book. Again, you probably haven't heard of her, the lady called Yanya Gunbreath.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] She's an eight time world champion climber. She's the best ever climber, sports climber, existed in history.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, but so climbing places like Fuji is mountain, mountaineering. It's not rock climbing. Okay, if you go to places like Everest, K2, it's more of a climbing, but what I do is I'm not


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I love, I love to do alpinism, but then I have to accept I might die, right? So I can't do it at this minute. I haven't got time either to acclimatize for three months or six months. But what I do is indoor climbing gym, bouldering or rope climbing. And then sometimes when I get chance, I go to North Wales or Peak District or Lake District and climb. But yeah.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] No, everything. It's upper body strength, legs, balance and mind. A lot to do with mind. That's why I love about climbing. You have to be calm.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] 100% focused. If you are slightly distracted, everything goes, all the coordination goes. So it's, it's a very good mental training for me as well. Sounds like the Formula One pit wall.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'm probably the same person, Yanya. Because she's, for me,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's epitome of like, she's got amazing natural talent, you know? Before she came to the senior circuit, she won everything.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But in 2019, she did the unthinkable of winning every single World Cup competition. Nobody's ever done it before. Nobody ever thought it's possible because climbing is...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Unlike other sports, every single problem is very different. So like I said, some problem might be strength, some problem might be more balance, some problem might be more coordination. So it's impossible that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] One person can win everything, but she's done that in 19, but then she's then won the Olympic in Tokyo and then she's qualified for the Paris. So she, she's just.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Performance in terms of, okay, natural ability to, but the work ethic, how to get the best performance out of a human being. That's a, that's pretty interesting topic that I'm interested in. So yeah, it would be interesting to do podcast with her.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So they look like, they look like touring cars in a way. I think they do have Formula 1 cars but like the, let's say the pinnacle of remote control car racing is like touring cars and they're quick, you know, they go up to


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Probably 110km an hour on the straights top speed and the acceleration is insane and of course they only weigh a kilo and a half or something so it's...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They're pretty impressive pieces of, of kit and you stand on like a, a driver stand with your radio and obviously you control it from that and uh, yeaah, it's, it's pretty good.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, so there's no age brackets or limits or boundaries or stuff. So, uh, I was, yeah, often competing against people in their 20s, 30s. I won the national championships, I think, when I was nine. I think the next youngest guy was 18. Uh, so that was, that was nice. But yeah, like there was.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] When it got more serious, yes. When, yeah, like a similar story to how I was in karting really, you know, started out in sort of club level, remote control racing.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And then did a couple of races like in, in New South Wales, in Sydney. Uh, I think we had one race in Brisbane, but a lot of it was, was still local racing within the state. So for Australia, it's not actually that close. You know, the closest track to our house was I think 45 minutes or something like that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So it's not, not that local, but it started to get a bit more interstate at the end, but I mean compared to what carding ended up being and then obviously now the rest of my career, it looks pretty small in comparison.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] A little bit, yes, I think like the, almost the technical side of things helped at the start because


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Honestly, there's probably more things you can change on a remote control car than there are on most race cars. Um, you know, you can change springs on the, on the shocks, you can change toe camber, all the sort of normal things, but you've got tire warmers, tire additives.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I got a, let's say a, I wouldn't, wasn't an expert, but I had a, you know, a brief understanding of, of what certain setup items did. And, you know, I knew what a racing line was and stuff like that. So when I went into carding, uh, obviously it's very different standing with remote control car compared to sitting in the car.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Or go-kart, but the idea of a racing line and set up stuff like that, um, you know, I kind of had a, an introduction to it, let's say, of what, what to do.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] There's no ego. He's a funny chap. But I called him yesterday to explain to him that was a driver at Champions, and I've worked with a good number of them, and it really was. He didn't put a foot wrong at the point where he's under pressure from four incredibly fast charging cars behind on tyres that were much better state than his.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And actually some of the work he was doing on repositioning his car on exit of 10 and a few other corners was very clever.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And he recognizes that. He knows that. He's, he's obviously, uh, not someone that's gonna go and, and boast about it to the world. But for me, that was a driver of champions that he did.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] What he says is this, he's definitely bringing the car to the limit of its performance, which is what you're looking for out of a driver. I think he's very underrated and I'm incredibly happy that he's here within our organisation today and here for a long time.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Would you consider building the future of this team around Alex? Yes, I would. He's got leadership qualities to him. There's areas where he and I talk about where I think he can do more in certain areas.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] He's got what it takes to bring us forward as an organization. As I said, for certainly the future from where I am at the moment, I hope he's very much a part of it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Don't worry, I didn't allow you. Content allowed you. That's uhm, no of course you're welcome here. This is basically not as glamorous as I think you would expect. I don't know what you had in mind.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Smaller, smaller, true. And normally, well, sometimes it depends, depends how much time the team have before races. For example, we only have a week here, but sometimes I'll carpet it, make it feel a bit more homely. Sometimes we'll have a sofa, but we are on stalls. So yes, obviously my lovely, lovely suits.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That sounds like I'm a diva, but trust me, there are drivers that have a new suit a session, so uhm, we're not one of them. Problem is, we obviously have a white suit, so, and the listeners can't see this, but, uhm, shows the dirt. Weirdly, my bum has remained pretty clean. Normally, you get...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But uhm, but it is quite bad and uh, white suits aren't that smart. But they look good, so that's fine.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We're all contracted, so uhm, we all have different deals with helmet suppliers.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Generally speaking, there's a number they have in mind. It's, it's, it's, I dunno, maybe I'm low. I bet you I'm lower than Lewis. But I have about 16, 17 helmets a year. Uhm, I rarely even use that many. It's hard to use that many helmets. You don't really need it as well because actually it's nicer to use


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I use helmets because they soften up a little bit around your cheeks and your head so it feels more comfortable like a pair of jeans. Uhm, but otherwise, yes. I have 60, sometimes I go more. Depends how adventurous I am with one-off designs and all that kind of thing. But we tend to have three. You need three, one rotation every week.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Cold. Sorry, cold. I'm getting confused. Uhm, so it's nice to go out to LA. Uhm, you know, city LA is a bit, I'm not a big fan, but


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Um, more towards, um, the North side. So Calabasas, um, it's called West Lake. People know that area. Um, but in the mountains more towards Malibu area. So it's some beautiful, amazing, um, cycling roads and.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, amazing facilities, running tracks. In America, sports is so...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Well done. Uhm, you know, you speak to the high schools or the colleges and they give you some privileges, so it's very nice.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It sounds weird to say, but when we are in the middle of training camp, that's the time away from, from racing. We're kind of doing our own thing, have our routine and my girlfriend, she plays golf. And so we're kind of.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The day before the Netflix Cup, I had to practice, uhm, obviously. So...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] My girlfriend's, uhm, is, my girlfriend's coach is actually based in, in, in Las Vegas. So it was perfect. So I did a session with him. We went to a really nice course. It's called Shadow Creek. It's like a very.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Um, posh, uh, very exclusive course and I couldn't hit the ball, literally missed every single shot. This is the day before. This is the day before. I couldn't, I was shanking it. You know, I was just thinking in my head, okay, there's going to be a crowd behind us, around us. I am going to kill someone. Um, luckily, you're overthinking.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I was overthinking it and uhm, the coach said don't worry, your clubs are a bit short, we'll get you some better clubs and you'll be fine tomorrow. Uhm, I didn't believe him because why would you? I mean, you know, it doesn't really uhm, help.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But it did. Or maybe it was just that I needed that little bit more confidence. Uhm, that was the best I played for a long time and I was glad to be able to do it in front of camera.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] In front of my girlfriend, of course. Uhm, and in front of the professionals, cause eh, you know, the first hole, it was a, uhm, a scramble, so you take the best ball. I hit my ball closer than the, the pros. It was a par three. Uhm, that's, that's my takeaway. That's my, uh, claim to fame.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I wasn't going to mention it, but okay, fine. Let's go in.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That's interesting. I, I, I have the same kind of thing. When I take a long break, my first game back, I think it's because you don't overthink it. Once you start to try to pick up habits, you're trying to remember why you played well that one day and then you're trying to, you know, you're in that vicious circle. Um, I actually think, real talk now, golf is very good.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It is exactly, exactly that. It has good life lessons and it's, um, I think as I've started playing golf, I've definitely learned to not be as wound up about playing badly and things like that. I always just play golf now to have a good time, which makes a big difference. But, um, in the beginning you're too competitive.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] People thought it was mine. People thought I had two assets. With all due respect, uhm, I wouldn't need to negotiate a little bit more with James Vowles.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yes, you can. So actually, um, a shameless Williams plug, but Williams is a special edition of The Singer. So they have a, um, they have one built in America. It's, um, it takes, I don't know how long it takes, a year and a half, two years for them to build them.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'm most likely completely wrong in what I'm saying, but they are around a million.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And then they have this thing called the DLS, which is, uh, it's a lightweight edition. Yeah. You know, you know, you know, but, um, Williams did their engines. So the Williams, um, they did a collaboration and the engine is very good. So Williams, the WAE Williams advanced engineering, which was.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, very much involved in that project and them cars are built in the UK.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, and them ones, they can go over 3 million. Uhm, so, uh,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I drove, I drove the original, uhm, through the, through the kind of canyon roads around LA, uhm, very raw, so you get this feeling like you have this loud engine in the behind you, you have, uhm, you feel very connected to the road, uhm, then on the DLS,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That's, that's a different ball game. That is really special. It has double wishbone suspension. Again, don't quote me on this, I could be totally wrong. Uhm, but the way it rides kerbs, I drove it on a track, uhm, in, in, it's called Thermal, which is near LA. It's like a...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Imagine a golf course, exclusive golf course, but instead of a golf course, it's a racing track. So you pay a membership fee to have a house on the property, and then once you pay that membership fee you have unlimited


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You have a chat, you have a chat, your own private chat.


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[Assistant] Uhm, the guy who owned the DLS, so not mine. Has a membership. Has a membership, he has a house there and, uhm, was driving him out. It was for charity, so, uhm, some, some, some very kind gentleman donated some money for me to take him around and, and so that,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yes, I got sick. I had a throats infection also after, after Abu Dhabi. So it meant my winter training was coming from quite far down in terms of fitness. I really had to work quite hard to get it back up.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I wanted to start training before Christmas because I wanted to, I felt so tired and sometimes just doing nothing is not good so you want to get your body moving. Uhm, I wanted to build a good amount of


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Fitness better than how I finished in Abu Dhabi, just to make sure once I go over Christmas and New Year, which everyone takes off, uhm, there was less work to do.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] When I got back, uhm, because we had a weirdly long break, didn't we? We finished Abu Dhabi early December. So you kind of spend a month twiddling your thumbs a bit. So I, so I did a bit of a training camp. You know, I was, I was about two, two and a half kilos down from, from race one.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So I lost, um, over the, over the year, about two and a half kilos of muscle. That is all muscle. That's all muscle. Um, so I had to get that back up. Um, and then your fitness, you know, your cardio, your CO2, your sorry, CO2, the cardiovascular system, it really does your VO2 really does start to take a hit just because you can't.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Can you imagine when we do triple headers? When, when we, when we're going into the hotels and, and airports and what not and, and now that marketing here, the marketing stuff.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You, you at best get one day of training before you go into your next race and then one day of training and then you go into your next race. So on a Monday or a Tuesday after a race weekend, that's your time to train. It's not much. It's not much.


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[Assistant] So with all the training you do, you actually arrive, at least for me, maybe some people are different. I arrive at race one as fitter than I do for the rest of the year because I've spent all that time to just get out there and do my training. So you get race fit, but there's also general fitness. So your race fitness gets up. So your neck gets stronger, your core gets stronger.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But then on the other side, your, your general fitness, your, your cardio and everything starts to drop and your muscle mass starts to drop. So you, you start to lose in other areas. And I think the jet lag is actually a huge one, which people possibly don't consider as well.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] In, uh, in, uh, in London and then Tuesday, Wednesday will be SIM. Uh, Thursday we have a marketing day with, with golf, one of our sponsors. And then, um, Friday, uh, once a session with, with my trainer and then fly past the day and get rid of the week.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So we do it before, we even do it before we start flying out, so, so as we start to move around, uhm, we start doing our normal things, but you know, uhm, light's a big thing, so blocking light, shades, uhm,


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[Assistant] I'm not so big on melatonin. I don't really like the sleeping stuff. It feels unnatural to me. So I use cherry extract. It's like a natural sedative. So that worked pretty well. And will you take that just before bedtime? Before bedtime, try and get earlier. I don't actually know Australia yet, but my, my trainer, we have a sleep doctor and they basically give us.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Tell us what to do, how you eat is very important, how you sleep and hydrate and as I said exposure to light caffeine so the way you take coffee or I use coffee and it all plays a big part.


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[Assistant] I imagine it is. I imagine it is. And so there is a huge effort and I think one of the biggest things in life.


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[Assistant] Realized as I've spent time in Formula One is really putting yourself first, really taking care of yourself. I think as the, as the,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, the schedule gets busier and busier, especially the way that we treat our bodies and treat our time has been so important. So, and you know, really prioritizing your sleep, the training, which of course.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, we're Formula One drivers where we're supposed to do all these events and, and, and do what you simulate to work and whatever. So it is a balance.


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[Assistant] Being good at that management is, it takes up most of my days when I'm not driving a car, trying to be as uhm...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Self care, for sure, is one of them, and...