Ready for the Big Time: F1

For the season finale of Ready for the Big Time: F1, host Andrew Lawrence considers the road ahead—the future of Formula 1. No, he’s not talking about the engineering or technology of the sport, but rather, the actual composition of the sport—the people who will not only be watching the sport in the years ahead but participating as well. To help us across the finish line, Andrew speaks with the only American driver in the W-Series driver, Chloe Chambers, essentially an F1 sister series for women racers, and newly signed Red Bull Racing content creator, F1 Elly. Expect cameos from Amanda Mull, staff writer of The Atlantic magazine, F1 journalist, Jennie Gow, and Mario Andretti.

We're still stuck on this whole American F1 driver drought thing. This episode explores the era after the Red Bull Driver Search and Scott Speed’s historic and all-too-brief time driving in F1 during the early aughts. Host Andrew Lawrence speaks with racer Alexander Rossi, Red Bull American Driver Search finalist and current IndyCar driver, and Jak Crawford, a Formula 3 driver on the Red Bull Junior Team.

What if there was a reality show that sparked US interest in F1? Two decades before Drive to Survive dominated American F1 attention spans, Red Bull engineered a search to find the next American F1 driver, and along with it, a scrapped reality TV show. Host, Andrew Lawrence, speaks with racer Scott Speed, the winner of the Red Bull Driver Search, and Maria Jannace, the brains behind the program.

Porpoising might be F1’s reining buzzword for 2022, but how did a water animal make it into motorsport? In this episode, host, Andrew Lawrence, breaks down the technology behind F1, from aerodynamics to fitness. The guests for this episode come right out of the garage and include Jody Egginton, Scuderia AlphaTauri’s technical director and Pyry Salmela, performance coach for AlphaTauri driver, Pierre Gasly. This episode also welcomes back Mario Andretti and F1 reporter, Hazel Southwell.

There’s no doubt that Formula 1’s popularity is rising in the United States. Much of that awareness is credited to the wildly popular Netflix reality show, Drive to Survive. Host Andrew Lawrence speaks with the executive producer of Drive to Survive, James Gay-Rees of Box to Box Films, F1 journalist Jennie Gow and writer Amanda Mull of The Atlantic.

In this very special episode, the Red Bulletin team went to Miami for the premiere Grand Prix in Magic City. Host Andrew Lawrence speaks with two Red Bull athletes: one is NBA shooting coach Chris “Lethal Shooter” Matthews and the other is racing OG and former F1 driver, Scott Speed. Here they discuss the rising fandom in the US, the physical intensity of the sport, and the surprising parallels between F1 and the NBA.

The second episode of the Ready for the Big Time podcast is a Formula One CliffsNotes of sorts. Host Andrew Lawrence dives into F1's surprising American origins, the rules of the road and cuts to the real chase: the game within the game. Featured guests include motorsports writers Jordan Bianchi (The Athletic) and Hazel Southwell (The Drive).

For the pilot episode of Ready for the Big Time: Formula 1, we checked in with America’s last F1 superstar, Mario Andretti, who shared his seemingly improbable story of success, from a refugee longshot to becoming the biggest name in American motorsports.

What’s it going to take for F1 to make the big time in the US? In a new podcast by The Red Bulletin, host Drew Lawrence (Sports Illustrated, Car & Driver) explores the history, people, technology, and fandom that has catapulted what was once considered a niche showcase in America to a must-see event.