Shownotes
It’s me, Mark Stone, and in this episode of the Backseat Driver Podcast, I sit down with Alex Jacques, a highly respected voice in sports commentary, to explore his journey into the world of Formula One broadcasting.
Alex shares how his early passion for motorsport, combined with a few unexpected twists of fate, steered him toward some of the most high-profile commentary roles in the sport. We examine the craft of sports journalism, the pressure of stepping into the shoes of iconic commentators, and the importance of bringing genuine emotion, insight, and authenticity to every broadcast.
We also discuss Alex’s new book, Grid to Glory, which charts 75 pivotal moments in Formula One history. Through his storytelling, he connects the sport’s defining eras, giving fresh context to the moments that shaped F1 into what it is today.
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Transcripts
I'd like to introduce to the Backseat Driver a gentleman who probably suffers from what I suffer from.
Speaker A:It's not so much they recognize you, but as soon as you speak, they know the voice.
Speaker A:So I would like to introduce a very well known voice, although some of you will recognize him, the one, the only, Alex Jacks.
Speaker A:And I shall quickly read out his brief CV from the back of his new book Grid to Glory.
Speaker A:75 milestones from Formula One moments.
Speaker A:Alex Jax is an award winning sports commentator and broadcaster.
Speaker A:He is the Formula One League commentator across both F1TV and Channel 4 as well as the preeminent voice across F1 digital contents.
Speaker A:He appears on smash hits Netflix series Drive to Survive and continues to enthrall by this most popular of sports.
Speaker A:So, Alex Jacks, the well known voice, welcome to the Backseat Driver.
Speaker B:Thank you very much for having me.
Speaker B:Yeah, great, great intro, even if I probably did write it myself.
Speaker A:Now, before we get onto the book, how did you get into commentators?
Speaker A:I mean, I know how I got into it by having done TV years ago and then by doing radio.
Speaker A:I mean how most commentators seem to commentate at times purely by chance.
Speaker B:It is by chance for a lot of my colleagues and a general interest.
Speaker B:But I've got to tell you, I wanted to do this since I was 10 years old.
Speaker B:And so this was always the thing that I held in my head that I would like to do as soon as I discovered Formula one completely by chance, flicking through the channels.
Speaker B:I don't know anyone who worked in the sport, but as soon as I knew I couldn't drive quickly, it's what I wanted to do.
Speaker B:And yeah, my dreams faded at a go kart track, local go kart track in Ipswich.
Speaker B:And I was like, right, so I'm not going to do it on the stopwatch and the racetrack.
Speaker B:So can I, can I talk about the sport that I love?
Speaker B:And I started with local radio, hospital radio, then local radio, BBC Radio Suffolk, had a sports editor there who gave me a load of chances and lent me a load of equipment and I took that equipment all over the country covering any sport that any radio editor would let me do.
Speaker B:But my first love, the thing that I love above all else is motor racing.
Speaker B:And I was very, very fortunate that the stars aligned.
Speaker B:And when Will Buxton, the face of Drive to Survive, gave up Formula 2 commentary, GP2 as it was then, Formula 2 as it is now, I was very lucky to replace him.
Speaker B:And I've worked on and off with Formula 1 management for 10 years and been very lucky to work with Channel 4 for 5.
Speaker A:Now it sounds like you're a little bit better at it than me.
Speaker A:For the simple reason I could only ever commentate on motoring and motorsport and cars.
Speaker A:My problem has always been if I've no interest in a particular sport or subject, I struggle to commentate on it because I have no background knowledge to it and basically it just doesn't interest me.
Speaker A:I mean, how did you overcome that?
Speaker B:I think when you're going through, you're earning your stripes, as it were.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:When you're doing that, you're looking at the craft as much as the sport.
Speaker B:So one thing that is so important to show people further up the chain and eventually in Formula one was that I could be sent to handball, having no idea how handball worked.
Speaker B:Learn the rules and distill it into broadcast and.
Speaker B:And you're still getting the information gathering.
Speaker B:It's, it's more, it's more journalism than the broadcasting at that stage.
Speaker B:You're showing your.
Speaker B:You're showing your skills in that regard to producers in the future.
Speaker B:But I totally agree with you and I've had opportunities that have been floated since I've.
Speaker B:Since I've done Channel 4 and F1TV in the last couple of years, and I have to admit I covered a lot of sports on the way up, but it would feel very, very strange to do football now.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:And I love football and a massive Ipswich Town fan.
Speaker B:But you get into such a rhythm and cadence and understanding when you're commentating anything with the stopwatch.
Speaker B:So if someone said you want to have a go at bobsleigh, I might be interested in that because it's, you know, it's up against the clock, it's qualifying on the ice.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:But yeah, you do, you do.
Speaker B:When you invest so much of your time and your career into something, you do have to have that connection and motivation that.
Speaker B:And I'll tell you honestly, every single time I go into a pit lane, I get a kick out of it.
Speaker B:Every single time I get to go on the grid, I get a kick out of it.
Speaker B:There isn't a commentary box in the world I don't love when it points at a racetrack.
Speaker B:And that underpins, I think, the desire to tell the story of motor racing.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:I mean, did you take inspiration?
Speaker A:I mean, when it comes to motor racing, you'll have been told this a lot.
Speaker A:Probably the absolute maestro and his late lamented sidekick, Murray Walker and James Hunt were the absolute supremals at F1.
Speaker A:Commentating weren't they.
Speaker B:They absolutely were.
Speaker B:I mean, just so, so good for so many reasons.
Speaker B:And I've got a. I've got a chapter in the book about Murray Walker and he was the reason that I wanted to commentate.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Because there were so many.
Speaker B:You know, I did a lot of analysis coming through.
Speaker B:There's so many great commentators across all sport that I admire.
Speaker B:But Murray's ability to be glass half full, to sell the positive aspects of the sport, that wasn't always fashionable, Mark.
Speaker B:That wasn't always the thing that was done.
Speaker B:There was.
Speaker B:If you go back to the era of which Murray Walker and James Hunt were beamed into British living rooms and around the world in the English language, James Hunt was telling it like it is.
Speaker B:He'd proven himself, he'd won that title and he had no one to give an inch to.
Speaker B:Murray was trying to tell you that this was the most important thing because to him it was.
Speaker B:He absolutely adored it.
Speaker B:And there's no faking that.
Speaker B:There's no faking that relationship.
Speaker B:You were getting two opposing stances that were both totally authentic.
Speaker B:And we can get.
Speaker B:We can get nostalgic, I think, completely incorrectly, about how good things were in the past.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:But the point I make in the book is that if you listen to sports commentary now, they have all gravitated towards Murray Walker's ethos.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:They've all gravitated towards positive fun.
Speaker B:Glass half full.
Speaker B:Isn't this exciting?
Speaker B:You're here and listen out for it.
Speaker B:Doesn't matter what sport you're listening to.
Speaker B:The amount of times that you'll now hear in commentary, it's a privilege to be here.
Speaker B:It's become fashionable to say it, and I don't doubt that the broadcasters mean it, but you knew it with every word that Murray Walker uttered that you meant it.
Speaker A:I think the other thing about it was, and I don't know whether you work alongside any of them.
Speaker A:The beauty of James Hunt was, as you just said, he was an F1 driver who, in many ways, he came up the hard way, but slightly, an unusual hard way, but he'd won.
Speaker A:He was an ex F1 driver.
Speaker A:I mean, don't take this wrong.
Speaker A:A lot of commentators these days commentate on a sport that they've never competed in.
Speaker A:Do you work alongside or which drivers do you work alongside that can, shall we say, take over quickly if you need them to, or you can draw advice from them, or.
Speaker A:I mean, that's one of the problems.
Speaker A:A lot of commentators now not being funny.
Speaker A:Some of the secondary commentators in F1 you know for a fact have never even sat in one and I can't take them seriously.
Speaker A:How do you get round that?
Speaker B:Well, I got very lucky with all of my co commentators the last decade because I'm standing next to people who've been there and done it and I have a very, very steadfast rule.
Speaker B:But unless it's unsafe or I believe, unfairly refereed by the race director, I will always defer to the racing driver's opinion.
Speaker B:And I work alongside David Coulthard who's been there, done it, 13 time Grand Prix winner.
Speaker B:Jolin Palmer, who's an amazing race reader, had his two years in F1 but was a Formula 2 champion, has won races on multiple levels.
Speaker B:These are people who have been there and done it.
Speaker B:Mark Webber of course, brilliant race winning Red Bull driver in the past and now the, the manager of, of Oscar Piastri step back from his doing the play by play role.
Speaker B:But you're dealing with people there who have been in the thick of it, who know what the emotions are like when you are.
Speaker B:I mean look, look at, look at yesterday.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:DC has literally been in McLaren when it's been uncertain which driver's getting the preferential treatment.
Speaker B:He's had to move over from a race lead and give it up.
Speaker B:He's been in that exact position.
Speaker B:And to be able to lean on that is so good because you've got to get the experience.
Speaker B:And knowing, knowing when you need to talk and when we need to hear from them, it's one of the key parts of the job.
Speaker B:And I've been very lucky with who I've worked with.
Speaker A:Yeah, I mean I used to race, not single seaters, I raced sports cars back in the 80s before you ask, probably.
Speaker A:Well before you appeared on the scene, excuse me, I was a number two driver.
Speaker A:I always said I was never good enough to be a number one driver.
Speaker A:And it was those days we didn't have pit to car radio.
Speaker A:You got pit boards and you'd got somebody waving them about frantically.
Speaker A:And the only time I was allowed to charge was if my teammate, my number one driver, was having problems or he dropped out or whatever.
Speaker A:Then I was told, right, go, it's your turn.
Speaker A:I mean, it does seem very strange to the public, public or those who don't understand racing as to why one driver is given preferential treatment.
Speaker A:I must confess at the moment, McLaren, it does seem very strange that the championship leader is being told to back off, to let the, the other driver do, do better.
Speaker A:If we want a better strategy I mean, what.
Speaker A:What.
Speaker A:What is the perceived strategy of this, if you don't mind me asking?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:I think it's interesting, isn't it, with McLaren, because Andreas Stella, who's the team principal there, you've got Zach Brown, who's the CEO, he's overse to the front, won the championship yesterday in Singapore.
Speaker B:But Andrea Stella has been part of Ferrari losing last race deciders.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:And I think that can be way more informative than anyone ever realizes.
Speaker B: And in: Speaker B:And the one thing that going through these 75 milestone moments, you do see the tough moments and the defeats really shaping, not just.
Speaker B:Not just the drivers, but, you know, the engineers and all of that.
Speaker B:And I think the reason that it has been so managed at McLaren has been informed by that, that sort of heartbreak in the past for Andrea Stella.
Speaker B:I think the management expired at turn three yesterday.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:When you're.
Speaker B:When you're wheelbanging and Oscar Piastri, who is incredibly polite but very intense, proven race winner, when he feels like he's getting the rough end of the stick and Lando's got to go for it, you're not going to win a title.
Speaker B:No one's going to give you the title.
Speaker B:You're going to have to barge someone out of the way.
Speaker A:Oh, yeah.
Speaker B:I think that that team harmony now, they've won the Constructors Championship.
Speaker B:You know, this is the Formula one World Championship.
Speaker B:It should be gloves off and it's only going to get more intense in the final six races.
Speaker A:Oh, yeah.
Speaker A:It is going to be fascinating to watch, shall we say, Piastri not take team orders anymore?
Speaker A:Because I doubt if he will do well.
Speaker A:I mean, was it yesterday?
Speaker A:I know Alonso did it and I get the.
Speaker A:Somebody said Piastri.
Speaker A:Did they unplug the radio?
Speaker A:They disconnected it and it's right.
Speaker A:Off we go.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:I think Jodian said in commentary yesterday.
Speaker B:So I was with Jodian Farber and David Coulthard yesterday in the commentary box and he said, well, they have to be careful because they'll disconnect the radio.
Speaker B:And then seconds later, Alonso said, if you carry on talking to me every lap, I'm going to unplug the picture.
Speaker B:So that's the driver insight right there of how frustrated they can get.
Speaker B:It's an interesting dynamic, isn't it?
Speaker B:Race engineer and driver giving the information at the right time, cajoling them into doing something they don't want to do.
Speaker B:That is a Fascinating dynamic.
Speaker B:But I think McLaren are going to struggle to get the same sort of compliance out of Piastri as they have done for the last three years.
Speaker A:I mean, the other interesting thing is when they've started to say, we'll find the drivers if they swear down the radio.
Speaker A:I've often said, fortunately, I dare say in my days we didn't have pit to car radios, but I think every driver swears with enthusiasm.
Speaker A:Because I've said to people, until you're actually out there doing it, I said, it is a very intense thing.
Speaker A:I mean, My race is 10.
Speaker A:The shortest race is either over an hour up to six hours, I said, but it is very, very intense when you're out there, I said, because you've all sorts of things.
Speaker A:These days, car management is done by the team in the garage and its bursts of information to the car from a computer.
Speaker A:In my day, you said you got to the straight and then you looked at all your clocks to make sure all your gauges were reading as they should do, and attempt to listen for any rattles of which, as you'll know, in a racing car, rattles are quite a frequent thing.
Speaker A:Yeah, but it is.
Speaker A:I mean, it's getting across to the public.
Speaker A:You can't really calm drivers down when they're out there, can you?
Speaker B:Well, they're risking their lives out there.
Speaker B:This isn't a gentle sport.
Speaker B:This is the most advanced sporting competition that we have and you can get hurt doing it.
Speaker B:So the odd word here and there, for goodness sake, there they're going through all the G forces.
Speaker B:I mean, if you think about yesterday, let's say Singapore, for example, you know, the cockpit temperature is ridiculously high.
Speaker B:Of course it's going to get flustered.
Speaker B:Of course they're going to get.
Speaker B:They're full of adrenaline, doing one of the most incredible things you can do in all of sport, let alone motorsport.
Speaker B:Yeah, I'm glad that that particular conversation topic has fallen away, because we need to.
Speaker B:We need to marvel at their driving rather than worrying what they're saying on the radio.
Speaker A:Because the other thing I said, I mean, when I raced, okay, if you've got a podium, you got to spend a bit of time doing that.
Speaker A:But apart from that, I was fortunate.
Speaker A:It's like you said, temperature.
Speaker A:I mean, I was in nine variations of Porsche 911s when you get out.
Speaker A:One of my mechanics girlfriends used to help me peel out of the Nomex overall, and I used to disappear around the back of the garage and she very kindly, being English, made Me a cup of tea and I used to sit around the back and have a cigarette and calm down because I said to somebody, I said, you're like, you're on a slowing down lap after the end.
Speaker A:I said, you're pulling over 100 miles an hour still.
Speaker A:I said, you feel like the world is in slow motion when you get out the car.
Speaker A:I said, nothing makes sense to you for about 10 minutes.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:I mean, but that's the buzz, isn't it?
Speaker B:That's the.
Speaker B:I love that image of the only thing that's going to bring you back down to earth after the thrill getting behind the wheels of Kappa.
Speaker B:That's fantastic.
Speaker A:And it was a German team I draw for, so I had to teach them about tea.
Speaker A:They weren't into tea.
Speaker B:And the color of tea is important?
Speaker A:Oh, yes.
Speaker B:Differing types, different types.
Speaker B:I've seen all sorts traveling around the world, so, yeah, that's a great image.
Speaker A:Now the book.
Speaker A:Grid to glory.
Speaker A:75 milestone Formula One moments.
Speaker A:How did this come about?
Speaker A:What suddenly gave you the urge?
Speaker A:Because, I mean, I used to write.
Speaker A:I've never written a book, but I used to write before.
Speaker A:I got purely into TV and radio.
Speaker A:Now mainly radio and podcasts.
Speaker A:It's finding time because writing is a time consuming pastime.
Speaker B:Oh, it really is.
Speaker B:It really is.
Speaker B:It seemed like a good idea at the time.
Speaker B:Let's put it, let's put it this way.
Speaker B:And then.
Speaker B:Well, I just.
Speaker B:We've got a load of new viewers in, in recent years to Formula one.
Speaker B:I keep being told this by, by.
Speaker B:And I'd written so many things for intros and features for the various broadcasts I've worked on in the last 10 years that I'd done a lot of investigation into.
Speaker B: everyone, everyone loves the: Speaker B:Let's go into that.
Speaker B:And then I thought, well, we might as well join the dots.
Speaker B:It's the 75th year of 75th anniversary of Formula One.
Speaker B:Let's look at the moments where, you know, things changed.
Speaker B:Let's look at the key days in the sports history where the direction of the sport that we have today was decided.
Speaker B:And yeah, 75, it might have been a better idea to do it for the 50th year of Animal of Solventon 1, because there's a lot to go in there.
Speaker B:But no, it was a lot of fun to go back through the history and to go into greater detail.
Speaker B:So, yeah, I've been very privileged to be in Formula One paddocks for 10 years.
Speaker B:Now, but it's so good to go back and actually revisit.
Speaker B:Okay, this is what we thought the story was.
Speaker B:Is this the truth of it?
Speaker B:Look at the big characters, the big beasts in the sports history and yeah, a lot of fun to go through.
Speaker B:Just so many amazing stories.
Speaker A:I mean, it's like a couple of things.
Speaker A:In the early chapters, Bernie Eccleston worked for the Gus Board.
Speaker A:Jack Brabham should have been a truck driver.
Speaker B:I mean it's amazing.
Speaker A:Where did you find all this?
Speaker A:Did you use any researchers?
Speaker A:Is this all your own work?
Speaker B:No, this is.
Speaker B:This is all.
Speaker B:This is all going through.
Speaker B:This is going through a lot of it.
Speaker B:Contemporary newspaper articles.
Speaker B:The Jack Brabham story is in his autobiography of how this.
Speaker B:And if you think about how impactful Brabham is, and I write it in the book not only for his three titles, but that the customer car business that he ran in motor racing, if he doesn't go into it, someone would have flogged someone else a car.
Speaker B:But the fact that they were all being flogged, Brabhams with their high mechanical standard, it meant that some names that went on to be very, very big in the future were able to buy a quality car, able to buy a quality single seater in which they could compete.
Speaker B:And the ripple effect from him not becoming a truck driver, which is what a sentence to say this three time world champion we're going to be.
Speaker B:If Oscar Piastri wins the title.
Speaker B:I'm going to be referring to Jack Brown in the final race of the season to this audience.
Speaker B:And that's half the appeal.
Speaker B:Tell the backstory of the people that we might be referring to on the broadcast.
Speaker B:So if you're one.
Speaker B:One of the newer fans, you're one of the older fans.
Speaker B:You've been watching from the start.
Speaker B:Of course, of course you know this backstory.
Speaker B:But we have so many people who joined the sport in the last five years or so.
Speaker B:It's.
Speaker B:The idea was condense it into something you can dip in and out.
Speaker B:But yeah, it's amazing.
Speaker B:A real sliding door moment for him, his family and.
Speaker B:And all of Formula one because he nearly gave it all up.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Now, as the title of the book infer 75 milestones, you have 75 chapters.
Speaker A:I would say the longest one up to press.
Speaker A:I haven't quite finished reading the book, but the longest one is about five pages.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:So I mean they are all.
Speaker A:It's one of those books you can pick up, you don't need to read it in order.
Speaker A:Although I'm old fashioned I at the front and go to the back.
Speaker A:I don't cherry pick bits and pieces.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:But the one thing I found these is it's a fascinating book and full of all sorts of facts.
Speaker A:I mean, I'll just, just digress a moment.
Speaker A:The little thing is, I have sat in about five F1 cars.
Speaker A:It's also taken two large men to get me back out of the damn things because I'm too big for them.
Speaker A:But I haven't realized it was Adrian Newey who came up with the design for aerodynamic purposes to reposition the driver in the car.
Speaker A:And most people don't realize that the modern F1 car, the driver is more or less reclined and that their feet are level with their chest.
Speaker A:I mean, it's a very, very strange seating position in a modern F1 car compared to days of old.
Speaker B:But yeah, it is, it is, it is.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:He was chasing the.
Speaker B:He was chasing the best aerodynamics and that meant repositioning the driver.
Speaker B:I would have loved to have heard that conversation the first two times the Leighton House drivers saw what he'd done to the car because I imagine he got quite a bit of verbals.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:But when they saw how much it improved it, I mean, that's like, as you know, you give any driver something that's different, you're going to get a complaint, you go out and it works, you're going to get a pat on the back.
Speaker B:So, yeah, great that he changed that.
Speaker B:And of course, in the great tradition of motor racing, one person does it, they all copy if it gives you lap time.
Speaker B:So, yeah, that's one of Newey's many, many impacts on Formula one.
Speaker A:Yeah, it's like you said, it's like the Brabham fan car.
Speaker A:It's like the six wheeled Tyrell.
Speaker A:I mean, if they truly had.
Speaker A:Well, I mean, the six wheel Tyrell did work.
Speaker A:It was just at times an infeasible thing because of the special little tyres that they had to have.
Speaker A:But if these things had worked and worked well and continue, all F1 cars would have been six wheelers.
Speaker A:So, yeah, I mean, and the thing is now to implement a new idea or a new design in F1 costs millions of pounds.
Speaker A:Do you foresee some of these designs evolving or.
Speaker A:I know they change the regs and the rules, etc.
Speaker A:Every so often, but I mean, do you get a heads up on what's changing and, and how do you go around looking at it and explaining it to people and what's the embargo on it?
Speaker B:Yeah, it's interesting that sometimes you'll, you'll hear.
Speaker B:I mean, teams will always tell you that the team two garages down are cheating and doing this and that you keep that under your hat and.
Speaker B:Yeah, I've heard that a lot across the last 10 years.
Speaker B:I think the one thing that I'd say.
Speaker B:So obviously next year we're getting a completely new set of regulations and we're going to have movable aerodynamics.
Speaker B:But the one thing I really enjoyed when you got to the 70s is that because you had so much parity with the engine, you were getting completely outlandish attempts to steal a march.
Speaker B:And I love the idea that you just rock up to a race and then suddenly there's a six wheeler, you rock up to a race and then suddenly there's a whopping great fan out the back.
Speaker B:It's just fant.
Speaker B:Romantic ideas of.
Speaker B:You're just.
Speaker B:They.
Speaker B:They would.
Speaker B:The innovation is.
Speaker B:Is so good in that era because they're trying to try to find something to steal a march.
Speaker B:And, and yeah, it's, it's a, it's a.
Speaker B:It's a great period of obviously nowhere near as safe as it is now, which is the downside.
Speaker B:The upside being that just revolution every, every race rather than the incremental gains that you get now.
Speaker B: The nice thing for: Speaker B:A way to reinvent itself.
Speaker B:But yeah, the, the, the idea that we turn up.
Speaker B:Can you imagine turning up with the championship in the balance and suddenly Red Bull have a giant fan on the back of the car in this era of the consternation.
Speaker B:So, yeah, that's.
Speaker B:I really enjoyed retelling those stories.
Speaker A:I mean, I think given the regulations, even the new ones and the rules within it all, I don't think.
Speaker A:I mean, I might be wrong.
Speaker A:You may think differently that some of these incredible innovations will appear again because the rules are meant keep everybody in line.
Speaker B:Yeah, they're going to.
Speaker A:They're.
Speaker B:Well, we went back to the Ground Effect era, didn't we?
Speaker B: then they brought it back in: Speaker B:Amazingly.
Speaker B:And this is what I found extraordinary going back through in that everyone was talking about porpoising.
Speaker B: y Mario Andretti, champion in: Speaker B:And yet he, yet all of the designers, apart from Newey, didn't manage to dial that out.
Speaker B:And you think of all the.
Speaker B:All the wind tunnel time, all the computer fluid dynamics that they have now that they can use.
Speaker B:And yet remembering the previous era was defining on Red Bull dominating the start of the new one.
Speaker B:As you say, all these ideas get repeated and knowledge of the first time they were introduced, as we saw with Adrian Newey's designs in the new ground here, it can be very useful indeed.
Speaker A:Now, the one thing I notice with this book, I, I'm getting on in my years.
Speaker A:I'll be quite honest, I'm nearly 65.
Speaker A:A lot of the drivers you talk about, I remember quite a few of the drivers, especially Rennie Arnoux.
Speaker A:I know.
Speaker A:But a lot of young fans, I mean, that's the great thing about this book.
Speaker A:If you can get.
Speaker A:Get it in their hands, it will educate them.
Speaker A:How do you find.
Speaker A:The modern young fan reacts to talking about the old drivers to a degree.
Speaker A:Most of them won't know who they are.
Speaker B:It's half the reason that I wrote it, because the one thing I remember as a kid when I discovered.
Speaker B:Formula one is that I loved hearing a reference and looking it up.
Speaker B:I loved.
Speaker B:Oh, what's that that they're referring to?
Speaker B:And I consumed any book I could get my hands on about Formula one.
Speaker B:And the idea was we're always going to be referring to these great names of the past.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And you know, you're always going to mention Rene are new.
Speaker B:When you talk about great overtaking battles, can you just give and.
Speaker B:And you said they're short chapters.
Speaker B:It's not, it's not a deep dive.
Speaker B:It's meant to, meant to dip in and out.
Speaker B:I think there's a massive interest there.
Speaker B:The great thing about motor racing is that there's, there's a hunger to have more knowledge all the time.
Speaker B:And it doesn't matter how you get that, it doesn't matter where you find it, whether you find it Reddit, whether you find it on social media, whether you find it in a book.
Speaker B:But the Formula one audience, I have found, are always hungry for more information and in.
Speaker B:Look, everyone has respect for great drivers, whether they be the drivers of old or the drivers of today.
Speaker B:And that's why I wanted to tell a few of the stories.
Speaker A:I mean, when I was growing up, when I was a kid, my hero was, and to a degree still is, the late, great Jim Clark.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:And I mean, I was only a kid when he was killed, but I can remember exactly what I was doing and where I was when Ayrton Senna was killed.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:And the One thing I find in England is motor racing fans, especially the young ones.
Speaker A:Nothing against them.
Speaker A:It must be not be funny how education works these days.
Speaker A:It's different probably from when I went to school.
Speaker A:You mention Jim Clark, they haven't a clue who he is.
Speaker A:You mention Senna and a percentage will know who he is.
Speaker A:But I spend time in France and I'm going to an exhibition in a few weeks time and the old drivers, especially old rally drivers are there.
Speaker A:Bernie d', H, Jean Claude, Andre and the kids in France know who they are.
Speaker A:They want to talk to them, shake their hands, be photographed with them, get their autographs.
Speaker A:In England it does doesn't seem to work the same.
Speaker A:Do you think there's any reason why, as I said, to use France as an example, the French racing fans, the youngsters know who the oldies are compared to the English ones.
Speaker B:I think it's down to us broadcasters to communicate those stories.
Speaker B:Yeah, it's as simple as that.
Speaker B:To me.
Speaker B:Everyone likes good story.
Speaker B:It's as simple as that.
Speaker B:We've seen that with the influx of F1 movies in recent times.
Speaker B: because it tells the story of: Speaker B:Now is it completely accurate?
Speaker B:No, no Hollywood movie is going to be completely accurate.
Speaker B:But does it tell a story of those wonderful characters?
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:And I think if you can tell a story of those wonderful characters then anyone's going to find that interesting.
Speaker A:Yeah, I mean my, my all time favorite F1 movie is, and I dare say you'll have seen it, is Grand Prix with James Doyle.
Speaker B:Grand Prix?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Apart from the innovative camera work by Frankenheimer who completely redefined how you film motor racing and that style carried on into various other films.
Speaker A:I will say that is still one of the most accurate films you will ever see.
Speaker B:It's beautiful, isn't it?
Speaker B:Yeah, it's, it's.
Speaker B:We tell the story in the book of the he's his attempt to take you to the screen and the race he got into with Steve McQueen who was trying to make a rival movie at the same time and you had this amazing situation where you had MGM and Warner Brothers trying to make an F1 movie at the same time and they had a literal race to see who could get it out first.
Speaker B:Steve McQueen can't make the movie fast enough, loses the battle, goes on to make an Oscar nominated film.
Speaker B:Grand Prix enters folklore.
Speaker B:We're still talking about it all these years later and you know, it is as you say, it is so, so if you consider that as Frankenheim's, Frankenheimer's first film shot on color, it's an amazing achievement from him.
Speaker B:Such a dynamic movie, and obviously you get to see those cars of the past taken back onto the big screen is just, just brilliant.
Speaker B:But that's why Steve McQueen had to make Lemon.
Speaker B:Yeah, that's why.
Speaker B:Because he wanted to make an F1 movie and he got beaten by Grand Prix.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:But I must say, Lamar, I, I, I shoulder to think how many times I've watched Le mans with Steve McQueen.
Speaker A:It is so, it is fascinating, I must say.
Speaker A:I like the, I like, it's not a remake, but I like Le Mans 66 or Ford versus Ferrari, as they call it in the States.
Speaker A:I think it's, I think that is an excellent film.
Speaker A:Film.
Speaker A:But I think the beauty of Grand Prix, a bit like your book, or very much like your book, it takes the reader and puts them there.
Speaker B:Yeah, that's the thing.
Speaker B:It's so immersive when you go back and see it and, and to, you know, the key thing, the authenticity.
Speaker B:Film me on the Grand Prix weekend.
Speaker B:That's what makes that movie, is that you have the documentary element of this is the real thing.
Speaker B:This is the real station.
Speaker B:They did this with the new F1 movie, didn't they?
Speaker B:They had a great thing is they got it right.
Speaker B:They didn't do it with a whole load of effects.
Speaker B:They did it on location.
Speaker B:And it, and it takes you back to that era.
Speaker B:And the, the cars and Grand Prix are amazing.
Speaker A:Well, the other thing is, on the film Grand Prix, Garner was actually driving them.
Speaker A:I mean, they did teach it, they did teach the actors how to drive them to a degree.
Speaker A:It was, I forget which driver it was, but one of the drivers said, if Gardner ever fancies jacking in being an actor, he will make a more than possible grand driver.
Speaker B:I think all the, all the actors of that era actually wanted to be drivers, didn't they?
Speaker B:Yes, you had, you had Paul Newman love driving.
Speaker B:You had Steve McQueen love driving.
Speaker B:Garner was genuinely good behind the wheel, even though he fell out with McQueen because he took the role in the first place.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:Part of the rival movie.
Speaker B:So, yeah, they were.
Speaker B:They, I think, imagine being, you know, one of the most famous actors on the planet, and all you really want to do is drive her out.
Speaker B:It's amazing.
Speaker A:Now, of all the facts you found out, which did you find the most fascinating?
Speaker B:Well, on the topic, I love the idea that Steve McQueen took film roles purely so he could Drive in club races in the uk.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:So he accepted parts in movies that he wouldn't have done purely because they were filming near Statterson.
Speaker A:I mean, I'll be quite honest, I never knew he drove.
Speaker A:I didn't know until I read your book that he'd driven at Alton park, which is my horn surface circuit and one.
Speaker B:One of the great circuits.
Speaker B:We're having this debate about the best British circuits of the commentary box the other day.
Speaker B:I won't tell you what the others said, but.
Speaker B:Yeah, who am I getting into trouble?
Speaker B:But Alton park is special.
Speaker B:Alton park is a special circuit.
Speaker B:And we're blessed in this country, aren't we?
Speaker B:We are some of the great racetracks anywhere on earth.
Speaker B:No, I just.
Speaker B:I think the.
Speaker B:I think the Jack Brabham nearly becoming a truck driver one is incredible.
Speaker B:I love the fact that.
Speaker B:But Ron Dennis decided he was going to be a manager and no longer a mechanic and an engineer because he crashed through his windscreen.
Speaker B:I think that was extraordinary.
Speaker B:He was like, right, I've got to stay.
Speaker B:He was forced to stay in bed for an extended period of time, and he's like, I've got to stop working 18 hours of the day.
Speaker B:I've got to be a manager.
Speaker B:And he went on to be one of the great team principals of all time.
Speaker A:Now, since you travel more or less to all of them.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Which is your favorite circuit?
Speaker A:I mean, I know by far, for me, the ultimate circuit is Monza.
Speaker B:But which is it for you as a venue?
Speaker B:Monza is my favorite week of the year.
Speaker B:I. I find it, funnily enough, having written a book about the history of Formula one, I love the history of Formula one.
Speaker B:And to go to a place where there's a century of it and you can go on the banking, you know, you commentate from an art deco grandstand that has been there since the.
Speaker B:Since the forties.
Speaker B:It's special.
Speaker B:It'.
Speaker B:Special.
Speaker B:And when Ferrari win in Monza, it's one of the great sights in all of sport because, you know, some.
Speaker B:Some racetracks, you hear the cheers in.
Speaker B:In Monza, you feel the ground shake and it's, you know, that's.
Speaker B:You get that with a little bit of South American football sometimes, but it is very, very rare to have that partisan ground swell of emotion that you get when they win.
Speaker B:I love Suzuka as a circuit.
Speaker B:It's a very different atmosphere entirely.
Speaker B:But Monza, the.
Speaker B:Yeah, just the.
Speaker B:It's a theater.
Speaker B:It's a sporting theater, and I love it.
Speaker A:I mean, the one thing you'll probably disagree with me about.
Speaker A:I find Silverstone the most soulless place going.
Speaker A:And you can stand on the, on an empty grid when the circuit isn't active.
Speaker A:You can stand on the grid and you just stood on a piece of tarmac.
Speaker A:You can do the exact same at Monza and you can feel the place.
Speaker A:It is still busy and active when there's not a living soul there.
Speaker B:It is strange, isn't it?
Speaker B:I did, I did that.
Speaker B:The first thing I did this year is I was filming a piece underneath the podium which obviously stretches out over the race.
Speaker A:Just butting in.
Speaker A:I went to see the general manager of Monza to interview him quite a few years ago and he just built the new podium that extended out over the pit lane.
Speaker A:And he said, come on, he said, we'll grab a cup of coffee.
Speaker A:He said, you can be one of the first.
Speaker A:And I have stood on the top step of the Monza podium with a cup of coffee.
Speaker A:Coffee.
Speaker A:There was nobody else there.
Speaker A:The circuit wasn't active.
Speaker A:And I can claim to be one of the first to stand on the top step of the new podium.
Speaker A:Nobody knows.
Speaker A:I think somebody took a picture and that's about it.
Speaker B:That's so good though, because it is, it is the best one of the year.
Speaker B:And there is just something about that place where you, you can feel it.
Speaker B:It sounds ludicrously over the top.
Speaker B:And there'll be people listening who are going, nah, come on, guys, what are you talking about?
Speaker B:It's, it's.
Speaker B:There's something in the air of that place.
Speaker B:Austin is a wonderful circuit.
Speaker B:Suzuka is sensational as a layout, but in terms of atmosphere, nothing beats Monza.
Speaker A:Now I've been on a few occasions, I try to keep me wallet in my pocket because I can't.
Speaker A:I've never have enough in it to buy anything though.
Speaker A:It has incredible history for me.
Speaker A:Monaco is now becoming, it should be the venue of that fantastic historic series that they have.
Speaker A:But in my opinion, opinion, Monaco is now past its sell by date in respect of modern F1 cars.
Speaker B:Yeah, I've heard this a lot in recent years.
Speaker B:Qualifying still something else, isn't it?
Speaker B:Yeah, qualifying is.
Speaker B:That is still.
Speaker B:When you speak to the drivers, that still moves them in a way that few other venues can.
Speaker B:Yeah, the race is obviously, the cars are.
Speaker B:The cars are long, the cars are wide.
Speaker B:They're getting slightly shorter next year, getting slightly thinner next year.
Speaker B:Which, which can help.
Speaker A:That's.
Speaker B:It's a two mile circuit.
Speaker B:It's a two mile circuit with, with, you know, Ill defined overtaking opportunities.
Speaker B:I, I, you know, again, I love the history of it and we're very lucky in that we get to see it trackside.
Speaker B:And it is, it is bewildering the first time you see a Formula one car go through the swimming pool section.
Speaker B:Yeah, it's like, it's like you've watched science fiction.
Speaker B:It's like you've watched something that cannot be true.
Speaker B:But, but you know, it's, it's an amazing spectacle.
Speaker B:I think the one thing that I'm really pleased has happened in recent times is that it is filmed by Formula One's own management team.
Speaker B:So I think in recent, you know, being able to get the helicopter up to give a different idea of just quite how claustrophobic a space.
Speaker B:They're racing around some different angles.
Speaker B:But yeah, it's, it's really exciting when you get a wet Monaco because then the speed gets scrubbed off and the drivers are doing way more through the corners.
Speaker B:We've seen that in recent times.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And Charlotte Claire winning his home race was a, was a special moment because obviously the journey and some of the heartbreak he'd been through.
Speaker B:But yeah, it's, it's one where the qualify, the epic running, qualifying decides an awful lot.
Speaker A:Yeah, but no, I mean, that's the one thing, I mean somebody, it was Eddie Jordan, I think, who said it and you look at the pictures of a, an old F1 car compared to a modern F1 car.
Speaker A:And I think Eddie described them as barges and at times, regrettably, they are of the modern F1 cars.
Speaker B:Yeah, well, they've got bigger, haven't they?
Speaker B:Because of the safety elements and the increased power unit.
Speaker B:The cars that Eddie was running at the very front of the field in Formula one, much, much lighter and nimble over the bumps in a different way.
Speaker B:And yeah, I was lucky enough to work with, with him at one of the British Grand Prix.
Speaker B:So yeah, treasure that weekend a lot.
Speaker A:And I mean on the subject of the cars, I mean it's this endless track limits.
Speaker A:But you look at the modern car at times, for them to take the correct lines around corners means they will run wide all the time.
Speaker A:The cars are just big.
Speaker A:Do you find this when you watch them?
Speaker A:You think, well, the guy's been done for track limits.
Speaker A:But the only way to get that car around there within, in the white lines is to go a lot slower.
Speaker A:And the problem will be the guy behind him will be straight past him.
Speaker B:I think get a gravel trap out there and we can start talking about the driving and not track limits.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Which is always, always my, my favorite option.
Speaker B:I want to talk about the drivers doing brilliant things behind the wheel.
Speaker B:I don't want to be seeing super slow mo replays of a car 1cm off.
Speaker B:And as we've seen with tracks like Mon Monza in, in, in recent weeks, when you have a gravel trap on the outside there, they, they find a way by.
Speaker B:But I think it's got better in recent years in that it's been uniformly applied.
Speaker B:I think where it got into a real mess is when you'd start the weekend where you could go wide at some corners and then they would change it halfway through and then they would change it again.
Speaker B:You can't move the goalpost with it.
Speaker B:Like, you know, it's.
Speaker B:I think it's.
Speaker B:I think it's in a better place than it was.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Than a couple of years years ago.
Speaker A:Alex Jack, it's been a pleasure chatting to you.
Speaker A:As I said, a great little book.
Speaker A:And the beauty of this book is it's what I would call book sized, unlike a lot of the new ones, and at £20, it's affordable even for enthusiasts who are a bit, little bit cash strapped.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:Grid to Glory, 75 Milestone Formula 1 Moments by Alex Jacks by Michael O' Mora Books.
Speaker A:It's been a pleasure chatting to you.
Speaker A:Thank you very much for your time, sir.
Speaker B:Thank you for having me.
Speaker B:I've loved talking to you.
