Two Girls 1 Formula

• Let’s address the 900# cup in the room – Tell us how you became F1 Fans?
• Why start an F1 podcast if you weren’t into racing? Was Drive to Survive an influence?  DTS – convince Eric!
• Who is the GOAT (OR GOATIFI)?
• Has F1 changed your appreciation for the car hobby?
• As we’re closing out the 2022 season – thoughts on the year at large? Best moments / Worst moments
• Outside of DTS what can Motorsport do to make it more inviting for Women?
• Now that the “W-series” has been suspended, what are your thoughts on that? When are we going to see a female F1 driver? And who’s your #1 candidate?

and much, much more!

Crew Chief Brad: [00:00:00] BreakFix podcast is all about capturing the living history of people from all over the autosphere, from wrench turners and racers to artists, authors, designers, and everything in between. Our goal is to inspire a new generation of petrolheads that wonder. How did they get that job or become that person?

The road to success is paved by all of us because everyone has a story.

Executive Producer Tania: They started a safe space for F1 fans who felt marginalized in male dominate spaces to connect, make friends and discuss races, drivers, team drama, future goals and aspirations, and everything in between. Their specialty is connecting formula one. To pop culture and exploring the lighter, more fun side to the world’s most elite motorsport.

Crew Chief Eric: That’s right, Tanya. Kate and Nicole of Two Girls, One Formula podcast fly their fangirl flag loud and proud and are never ashamed to get the label. They understand that you can respect the technical side of [00:01:00] the sport and think the drivers are cute too. And they’re joining us tonight for a special BrakeFix crossover episode.

Brad, Tanya, and I want to welcome you both to BrakeFix. So how are you doing there, Nicole and Kate?

Nicole (TG1F): Hi, thank you so much for having us. We’re super excited to be here.

Crew Chief Eric: Yeah, it’s always fun to do a crossover with another show, especially if it’s motorsport related. Absolutely. Absolutely. So as our listeners know, Tanya and Brad are our resident Formula 1 subject matter experts because they talk about it on every drive thru episode since.

The very first one,

Executive Producer Tania: there’s that expert word again,

Nicole (TG1F): I was going to say, I can see Tanya rolling her eyes a little bit about that strong

Crew Chief Brad: word. Yeah. Eric, you’re setting us up to be shamed on our own show.

Crew Chief Eric: Even if you watch five minutes of F1, you’re still more expert than I am. It’s five years more

Crew Chief Brad: than you’ve seen in the last 10 years.

Nicole (TG1F): It’s all relative. What I’m hearing here is we’re all going to gang up on Eric in this episode.

Crew Chief Brad: So actually the whole [00:02:00] premise of the episode is to convince him why he should watch F1. And I have to tell you using the F1 drivers is cute. Might get your foot in the door. It might be a good opening for him.

Crew Chief Eric: I love that drive to survive definitely will not be the way in. I will tell you that right now.

It is a known fact on this show that I refuse, even though Brad has tried and multiple attempts unsuccessfully to get me to watch drive to survive. It’s not going to happen.

Nicole (TG1F): What’s the reasoning behind that? Are we going to get into that later? Hardheaded stubbornness, but we can talk more about it. All right, we won’t jump the gun on it.

Well, we’re going to unpack that though. Yeah, yes, we have to unpack that.

Executive Producer Tania: He just doesn’t watch F1 anymore because let’s Not try to talk about, like, F1 20 years ago, because you’ll put us all to shame.

Nicole (TG1F): Got it. Absolutely. Got it. Yes. Yes. Setting the scene. I’m got, my wheels are turning. I’m, I’m building the case.

I’m ready for this.

Crew Chief Brad: Great. Great.

Nicole (TG1F): Great.

Crew Chief Brad: We’ll stop picking on Eric for now. We’re going to go back to that. But let’s address the 900 pound cup in the room. [00:03:00] Tell us how you all became F1 fans.

Nicole (TG1F): Yeah. So a little bit of a long story, a little bit of a backstory is that I was dating someone in 2015 and he was a huge Formula One fan.

I had never heard of the sport before, and I thought that racing cars was pretty dumb. I was like, this is what you choose to spend your time on. Okay, great. Eventually our relationship got pretty serious. We moved in together and my weekends were just. dictated by qualifying and when the race was on. So I was like, okay, well, if this is going to be my life now, then I might as well pick a favorite driver and just really get into it because I’m going to have to watch this sport every single weekend.

And my ex boyfriend was like one of those people who consumed every single interview. He like watched all of the race highlights, every piece of content. And so I started picking up on the fact that Daniel Ricardo was like one of the more enjoyable humans to [00:04:00] watch on the screen. And so I was like, he has the best personality.

That’s my guy. I’m going to start cheering for him.

Crew Chief Eric: I have heard it said before by other female fans of Formula One. It’s the smile that launched a million fans.

Nicole (TG1F): I believe it. I believe that. You know, I was just, I would watch the press conferences and, you know, Lewis is very serious and you’ve got Seb and, and they take their job seriously, but Danny’s up there cracking jokes.

And I was like, all right, well, he makes this enjoyable for me. So I’m going to watch for him. I ended up going to my first race, which was Montreal, 2017, 2016. That was kind of when it clicked for me and I was like, I get it being there, hearing the cars in person, like seeing all of the people who came from all around the world, the sense of community was incredible.

That was just a really fun environment. And so that kind of clicked for me and I was like, all right, I’m in it. So Montreal was my first race. Then I got to go to Silverstone and then. Kate and I lived next door to each other. So her and her boyfriend at the time now fiance live next door to my boyfriend and I in South [00:05:00] Boston.

And we were basically just like, come over, watch the race with us. We like to spend time together anyway, and we want more people involved. So like come over and hang out. And so Kate will take over the story now.

Kate (TG1F): Yeah, so Nick and I started getting into it just because we would hang out with Nicole and Alex.

And at first I was like, this is really just an excuse for me to hang out with my friends. And like, I don’t really care what’s happening on the TV. Like if you’re going to feed me and also make me cocktails at 8am, I will be there. And I don’t care about anything else. I mean, we were just there and Alex and Nicole were so into it that it was hard not to be on our end.

And my fiance is huge into sports. So this was just like another sport for him to love.

Crew Chief Eric: So did you have, like, a cool name for it? Like, Brunching with Botas?

Kate (TG1F): I wish. No, it was just Sunday Brunch, I guess. Yeah, it was just, it was just Well, it was like our Sunday couple friends day. Yeah. We had, like, yeah, so we would just, like, would watch the races in the morning and then hang out the rest of the day and, like, go get food and do whatever.

We got really [00:06:00] into it. And then, I think this was, what, 2018, Nicole?

Nicole (TG1F): Yeah,

Kate (TG1F): was like when we first were getting into it because I remember one of the first races I ever watched Kimmy one. Yeah, it was Austin 2018. Yeah, and he won and I was just obsessed with him. I was like, this dude doesn’t care. He doesn’t care that he just won.

No emotion was just like. Awesome. And I was like, I love his vibe. I love this man’s vibe. I love him now. He’s my favorite after that is when drive to survive came out. And so we got a chance to like dive a little deeper into it and get to know the players a little bit better and team principals and the drivers and kind of everyone involved, which sealed the deal for us.

And then I’ll pass back to Nicole for the remaining part of the story.

Crew Chief Brad: Before we pass it to Nicole, did you stick with Kimmy into his NASCAR era, I guess, a couple months ago?

Kate (TG1F): We really wanted to go to Watkins Glen. I don’t remember why we couldn’t, Nicole. I think you had a Batswrap party. Ugh, you’re right.

I had like, I had seven weddings this year and I was in a few of them and had bachelorette parties and [00:07:00] every single weekend for the past, like five months has been taken up. So we did want to go see Kimmy mostly because I like wanted to see him, but I also really wanted to see his family because Minto and the little ice cubes, they’re just the best.

And so I was like, if they’re going to be there, I have to be there. So unfortunately it was not there, but I wish I was.

Crew Chief Eric: So I just want to clarify for the audience. Nicole, you were actually sort of physically involved with Formula One before Drive to Survive.

Nicole (TG1F): Yes.

Crew Chief Eric: And then Kate came about it sort of through you guys, the fandom, and Drive to Survive, and then went to your first kind of in person race after that.

So it’s a bit of a… You know, one side or the other. Okay, cool.

Nicole (TG1F): Right. Yeah. And so then my boyfriend at the time and I went to Monza and I was thoroughly convinced we were getting engaged. I know Kate was also convinced we were getting engaged. Plot twist, we break up. He has been cheating on me and we break up the night before the Grand Prix.

So I’m like, well, [00:08:00] I’m still going to go to the Grand Prix because tickets are expensive and we’re here now. And so obviously I didn’t really enjoy my time in Monza. I did see Charles Leclerc’s last win at the time. Obviously he went through a dry streak. So I felt we were kind of cursed together. So after that I came back and rightfully so I couldn’t really watch Formula One My heart was broken.

And so I kind of distanced myself from it a little bit. And then come 2020 season, obviously we have the COVID situation, everything shut down. Kate basically came to me and she was like, Hey, I miss watching Formula One with you. Can we reclaim this and like, make it our thing instead? Like, let’s go back to doing brunches.

I think it’d be really fun if we did themed brunches around this. And I was like, absolutely. I’m ready to get back on the horse. That summer when in 2021, they were like, all right, we finally have gotten it together. We’re going to start racing again. Kate and I were like, all right, well, we send each other so much [00:09:00] formula one content back and forth together.

We might as well just start an Instagram page for it so that we can separate our main feed and not bother all of our friends with this formula one content. Let’s just find like minded individuals through our dedicated Instagram, which is kind of where two girls, one formula came into play. It started basically because we were just working together out of my kitchen and Kate turns to me and she goes, how funny would it be if we had a blog called two girls, one formula?

And I said, I’m buying the domain right now. And that was the end of that conversation. We literally didn’t think about it at all.

Kate (TG1F): Yeah, we may or may not have shot ourselves in the foot with the naming decision that day, but it’s stuck. And that’s what we’re here with now.

Crew Chief Brad: It’s definitely unforgettable.

And

Nicole (TG1F): so, you know, our thought process around that is obviously that was a cultural moment, however you view it. Everyone knows. It’s the reference, especially if you’re in a certain age group. And so we aim to be [00:10:00] that viral moment within Formula One and just make sure that no one can forget who we are.

Crew Chief Eric: We’re going to pause here for a second for our first Pit Stop question. And this one’s coming out of left field because if you do follow the two girls, one formula Instagram, there’s something very apparent outside of all the memes and the shirtless guys and everything else is the discrepancy in your guy’s height.

Which makes you guys very similar to me and Brad. So, Nicole, how tall are you?

Nicole (TG1F): I am 5’9

Crew Chief Eric: Ah, so Kate, then how short are you?

Kate (TG1F): Uh, I am 5’1 and a quarter. There it is.

Crew Chief Eric: It’s

Kate (TG1F): a quarter and a quarter.

Executive Producer Tania: Not how short she is, it’s how less tall she is.

Crew Chief Eric: Yes, because Brad tends to tower over everybody in our organization.

So I feel you there, you know, scrolling through your guy’s Instagram, it’s full of all sorts of interesting stuff. So very cool.

Nicole (TG1F): Thank you. Thank you. You know, the whole point of two girls was also a [00:11:00] little bit of spite for my ex boyfriend was that I wanted to be so ingrained in this. Ford that he really wouldn’t be able to escape my success.

So it started as a little bit of a revenge plot, but it has grown into something so much more beautiful and really impactful for the Formula One and motorsport community. I have to thank him for. Breaking my heart, because without it, we would not have Two Girls, One Formula today.

Executive Producer Tania: You know, for people who want more on that backstory, catch, you know, their first episode, essentially.

And there’s even more to hear about this somewhat traumatic Monza event. There’s a little Italian lady with an umbrella. There’s a whole thing going on with that. That was a beautiful moment. I like That it was

Nicole (TG1F): really, it really was. And for context for anyone who’s listening, there was a moment. It was very theatrical American in Paris.

Yeah, exactly. I’m sitting at the bus stop waiting for my now ex boyfriend to go figure out how [00:12:00] we’re getting from the train station to the track. It’s pouring rain. My jacket is not waterproof. It’s just water resistant. I’m soaked through. I don’t have an umbrella. I’m waiting at the local bus stop.

You’re crying. I’m crying. This woman just comes up to me and she just, like, doesn’t speak a lick of English. She just stands next to me and holds her umbrella over me. And I was just like, this is one of those, like, humanity is really good moments. And so I think about her often.

Executive Producer Tania: Any plans to return to get your vindication, as you said?

Nicole (TG1F): Yes. We definitely need to reclaim Monza. We’re Thinking we’re hoping to do next year, the Monza Grand Prix, just to reclaim it.

Executive Producer Tania: Are you going to stop by that bus stop? I mean, it’s

Nicole (TG1F): right. It’s right outside the train station in Monza where you take it if you’re coming from Milan. And so it’s hard to miss.

So I will definitely be passing by and saying a little prayer. [00:13:00]

Crew Chief Brad: You should take your own umbrella in case it’s raining and then you should pay it forward to the

Nicole (TG1F): Yeah, you have to hold it over someone else. You’re so right. I’ll just leave it there for the next person. With a

Crew Chief Brad: little note saying thank you.

Nicole (TG1F): Yeah, exactly. That’s it. Yeah.

Crew Chief Eric: Since you guys are in the podcast biz as well. Take us through the difference between episode one, as we’ve sort of been highlighting here, to your 50th episode. Congratulations, by the way.

Kate (TG1F): Thank you. And

Crew Chief Eric: here’s to 50 more. So what did you learn 50 episodes later?

Kate (TG1F): A lot, but also not that much.

You know, it’s funny. I haven’t really listened to our first episodes in a long time because they just kind of make me cringe. Because we literally had no idea what we were doing. We had no scripts, no agenda, no like… Anything we just would get, I mean, the first. 3 episodes that we recorded. We recorded them all within a week at Nicole’s apartment in Brooklyn.

I went there. Some of them we were [00:14:00] just like laying in her bed

Nicole (TG1F): right here in this in this room. Yeah, in that room.

Kate (TG1F): We’re just laying there recording. I don’t even know what we’re talking. We had like grand plans. Like the 1st episode is going to be about. Us. And the second one is going to be all about F1.

And the third one is going to be all about the people you need to know. And it was just chaos. And they’re really funny. I need to go back and listen to them. To

Nicole (TG1F): be fair, we literally were like, who knows how many of these episodes we’re going to do? A couple of people had asked us to start a podcast and we said, all right, fuck it.

We’ll do a podcast. And so we like bought mics. We weren’t sure what equipment we needed. 15

Kate (TG1F): off Amazon. And we’re like, we’re just using our computers. These Crappy mics, we’ll see what happens. And I mean, I like to think that in the past 50 episodes, we have kind of found our voice and our niche and exactly kind of what people care about, the ways to talk about things that are interesting, but still educational enough that people know what’s going on.

We still don’t totally do agendas. We’re working on [00:15:00] it. We’re really trying. We do have like a shared notes app that we will like pop things in and we try to organize it, but it doesn’t totally work, but I think we’re trying to learn how to do like segments and like segment our thoughts. I mean, the thing that I think people like about the podcast for us is that it’s very much just a real conversation between the two of us.

The conversations that are on our podcast are literally conversations that we have just like every single day on the phone. Like, I will just like in the middle of the day, FaceTime Nicole, just cause like I am bored and we’ll just like talk and afterwards we’ll just be like, that should have been a podcast episode.

Like that was funny. So it’s just like, that’s just kind of how it feels. So in some ways I’m like, I don’t think we’ve learned too, too much because we haven’t really tried to be anything that we weren’t when we started the podcast. But I do think hopefully we’re. A little better. I think we’re a little better at editing.

I think Nicole has really honed her skills in editing the podcast, um, because we used to only get comments like, your sound quality is so bad. [00:16:00]

Crew Chief Eric: Well, I think there was one of the episodes where you guys were like, you should really listen to this in like 2x and I’m like, what? I’m like, okay, like, all right, but I will say that it’s kind of funny how, when we all get started, we sort of have a similar story.

I bought the cheapest thing I could find at Walmart or on Amazon, and we just threw it up against the wall and saw what stuck. And the same thing, Brad used to always say, you know, it’s kind of BSing in the basement, and I think we all apologized for our first season, right? We’re kind of like, yeah, it wasn’t great, but you know, it got me to where I am today.

I will say Tanya pointed out as we were all reviewing and following your show that there has been a big transition. You can see it. The show has matured quickly in 50 episodes. So you guys are definitely on the right track and we’re really curious to see, you know, how that perpetuates. Thank

Kate (TG1F): you.

Crew Chief Brad: One of my favorite episodes was the road trip, one of the most recent ones, the road trip from Dallas to Towson.

The sound quality was great on that one. I’m sorry the mic didn’t stick to the steering wheel for you though. [00:17:00] Oh my,

Kate (TG1F): that was probably the funniest thing that’s ever happened. We are so proud, we’re like, this is… Perfect. Like I had it in the steering wheel, like perfectly hooked up and then immediately had to back up and like back out of my parking spot.

So I had to like turn the wheel. So the microphone is like spinning and the cord is pulling and the laptop’s moving and we’re like, this is a

Nicole (TG1F): disaster. I think the road trip episode is a perfect, like encapsulation of our brand a little bit, where it was just kind of like. We’re getting the authentic us and, uh, you know, people were commenting, like, replying to us and they were like, this has been my favorite episode yet because it’s just so chaotic.

Executive Producer Tania: Did you guys have like a camera hooked up watching you guys? It would have been funny to see Nick in the backseat. No, we should have. We had

Nicole (TG1F): grand plans to like… GoPro and like do all of this and then we just never got our shit together in time to like do it. Yeah. I mean, we were listening to this like murder podcast the whole time and just like singing musicals.

Like that’s, that was the [00:18:00] vibe.

Kate (TG1F): Like I wish we had a camera because That’s what you guys are doing. I’m, I was just like driving one hand, holding a microphone. Like anyone that drove by us was definitely like, what’s happening in that car. It was, Nick was just laying across the back seat. It was

Crew Chief Eric: two girls, one car.

I mean, come on. It

Nicole (TG1F): really was. It was fun. And I think, you know, we’ve learned a lot. We’ve had the opportunity to have a handful of guests on the podcast. And so I think we’ve also learned how to be better interviewers and like how to pick. Guests who are going to be like enticing and interesting for our audience members.

We’re continuing to grow and learn in this space. Just like you guys probably are as well.

Executive Producer Tania: Now you guys live apart. You guys used to be, you know, next door neighbors, right? So you could get together, do your brunches, your lunches, your late afternoon, maybe even middle of the morning, 2 AM, depending where the race was being held.

What are, uh, some food tips for people if they want to hold a little F1 brunch? Did you guys have like [00:19:00] actual themes per race or was it like Brazil? So we’ve got something Brazilian. It’s Italy. We’re getting pizza.

Kate (TG1F): Yeah, it started out pretty simple where we would just, we would say, okay, race is in Russia, so like, let’s look up what.

People in Russia usually have her brunch and we’re going to make it.

Crew Chief Eric: And then you ordered something else, right?

Kate (TG1F): No, we made them. We did.

Nicole (TG1F): We had white Russians on 7 a.

Kate (TG1F): m. Rod’s listening now.

Crew Chief Brad: You have my attention. That is the drink of choice. Yes.

Kate (TG1F): Because this all happened like when the pandemic first. Kicked off and so I was living actually here on the Cape.

My parents live here and I live on their property now. But we were here living with my parents for a while. And Nicole basically came and lived with us too. Much to the chagrin of my parents. We would be up at like the crack of dawn, just making the most. Random foods that everyone’s like, what is this?

One of them, I forget what [00:20:00] it was from. I think it was like Azerbaijan. It was the, the sweet vermicelli noodles. Yeah. You, you knew exactly what it was going. It was like noodles that were like coated in cinnamon sugar with an omelet on top. Yeah. Delicious, but so strange. And we’d be like, surprise everyone.

We made brunch. This is your breakfast. And everyone’s like, what? Are you serving us? So that was really fun. You know, over time we kind of formalized it and figured out a better way to do it. So now on our Instagram page, every Tuesday before a race weekend, we will post a menu with some like traditional foods, but accessible foods.

So nothing that’s going to be like, you can only make this if you’re in. Brazil country, just like things that like you can pretty easily adapt. And hopefully you have most of the things in your pantry. If not, like most grocery stores will have them around the world. So we’ll do like some snacks and appetizers, some main courses, and at least one drink that’s like kind [00:21:00] of traditional to that country.

And then we’ll also share some facts about the track and the race itself. And then the country that they’re racing in, just. So people can kind of eat the food, but also appreciate the culture and hopefully learn something. So yeah, if anyone’s looking to do a brunch, watch long party and cook something, we have got you covered with menus for every single race.

Nicole (TG1F): Yeah. And we’re lucky enough to have an audience from around the world. And so we’ll ask for advice from people who live in those countries. What is something traditional that you think we should include in the menu? And so we oftentimes get a lot of really good responses from that. And so that kind of helps us build our menu as well.

Executive Producer Tania: So have you guys figured out what the actual drivers are eating?

Nicole (TG1F): Quinoa and, uh, lettuce, protein bars,

Kate (TG1F): and that’s it. They got to stay lean. Yeah, they’re not eating anything. Basically. Uh, we’re good at having all the fun

Executive Producer Tania: and that’s a lot of quinoa to get the calories in.

Crew Chief Eric: I wouldn’t want to eat a whole bunch of flaming hot nachos before going out on track.

Either. So

Crew Chief Brad: you do it anyway. [00:22:00]

Crew Chief Eric: Red bull, right? Or no, I’m sorry. A

Crew Chief Brad: rich, rich energy gummy bears. Got

Crew Chief Eric: to

Nicole (TG1F): have a rich energy. We’re a rich energy family over here.

Crew Chief Eric: Our diet is very simple here. It’s monster fig Newtons and Haribo gummy bears. I mean, the three major

Nicole (TG1F): food groups. That’s all you

Crew Chief Brad: got to add the acre when the track goes cold.

Crew Chief Eric: Yes. After the checkered flag, you add the Yeager a hundred percent.

Nicole (TG1F): I love that. Yeah. So brunches, you know, kind of whatever. And Kate and I used to do it together. Now, sometimes we trade off like Kate has mentioned, she’s been very, very busy in a lot of weddings. So I also have a deep passion for cooking.

So more often than not, I’m the one who’s cooking. She’s way better. She’s way better. So, you know, I’ll just, I’ll take the opportunity to do that. And since Kate and her fiance live on the Cape, they don’t. have as many people around. So sometimes I’ll make a really big spread and invite a bunch of people over to enjoy the spread and to also convince them that they need to start watching Formula One as [00:23:00] well.

So it’s a little bit of a trap. You’re an evangelist. Exactly. So if I can get you up and Adam by 9am for food at my home, then you’re trapped here and you have to watch the race.

Executive Producer Tania: All right. So second pit stop question. Do you guys have a bucket list? Of any car, any track you want to see or be at.

Crew Chief Eric: Your ultimate F1 race, what is it?

Nicole (TG1F): A, I’m not super knowledgeable on a variety of cars. I know names and that’s basically it. And I’m also not very good at historical, like, versions of the F1 cars. I can’t say that I have, like, a dream car. But. I would love if the Nuremberg Ring came back because that is one that I am dying to go to, so maybe if there is another series going on there, I’ll make my way over there to go see it just because I think it’s a beautiful, beautiful track.

Kate (TG1F): I would love to go to Suzuka and Singapore. I think those are the two that I would just like [00:24:00] love to go to. I think they’re so fun. Like I would love to see Singapore like at night and I think it’s just such a cool city and I love the vibe that F1 brings to cities and I think that at Singapore would be crazy and I just think Suzuka is so fun and those are the two.

I think that are. The most bucket list, because I think they’ll probably be the hardest ones for me to get myself to. I’ve got a photo of somewhere of

Executive Producer Tania: a

Kate (TG1F): part

Executive Producer Tania: of

Kate (TG1F): the

Executive Producer Tania: Singapore track from my hotel room when I was there a number of years ago, you could just see like, Oh, the bumpers and like, it disappeared under whatever, like bleachers to the soccer stadium or something.

It was pretty cool to see that.

Nicole (TG1F): You’ll have to find it and shoot us an email with it.

Executive Producer Tania: I’ll have to dig deep for it.

Crew Chief Eric: Brad and I want to do a dueling GTIs at Yasmarina. So it’s a whole different experience. Okay. Yeah. As I mentioned at the top of the conversation, I have yet to watch a single moment of Drive to Survive, but you guys are both fans and you’ve been to races in real life, [00:25:00] so let’s do a little bit of this versus that.

Drive to Survive versus IRL or in real life. What do you guys think?

Nicole (TG1F): Okay. So here’s the thing. I know Drive to Survive gets. a bad rep. People who have watched it before get angry that there’s so many Drive to Survive fans. However, as someone who didn’t have anyone in their life who watched it before, I just had my boyfriend and I, and I was desperate for my friends to be a part of this.

I am grateful that Drive to Survive came around because it welcomed so many new people into a sport that is historically kind of tricky to get into. There’s a lot of terminology that you can’t Pick up right away, especially if you’re not in tune with car culture at all. It’s very technical. You’re kind of thinking, especially as an American fan, what do we have?

We have NASCAR, we have IndyCar and barely anyone knows about IndyCar. Well, now they do, but I feel like prior to that, it was like just NASCAR. So you’re like, okay, they’re going around in circles, whatever, you know, to have this show [00:26:00] be an accessible way for so many of my friends and loved ones to be like.

Okay, like I understand the appeal of this. I’ll wake up with you at 7am to watch this sport. So for us, we’re like, great. I love that this is a tool in my toolkit to convince people to want to be fans of this sport. Do I think that you should also get your ass to a real race? Absolutely. Because like I said earlier, that was kind of the moment for me where it clicked.

Hearing the cars, feeling the environment, seeing the drivers in real life is just like taken from your screen and you really get to experience that. Now, not everyone has the ability to go to a race, they’re getting more and more expensive. And, you know, some of them are in the far reaches of the globe.

And so I think drive to survive is a great way for people to connect with the sport.

Kate (TG1F): In America, we love stories and we love TV and we love rooting for an underdog. We like to get to know people’s stories. Like, I mean, that’s why [00:27:00] reality TV is so huge. Like we like to know everything. about people and about things that we care about.

And so I think Drive to Survive kind of hit the nail on the head in order to get American fans involved and invested, because you can watch races and you can watch press conferences and you can be like, Oh, like, so and so does this a lot. And like, I know this person, but To have Drive2Survive kind of going behind the curtains, even if it is a bit contrived, it’s obviously not fully real conversations, but I don’t think they’re fake.

Like, I think the situations are real and maybe it’s just like, Oh, we’re going to film you guys talking about this. So you’re not going to have like a totally natural conversation. To be able to have that, to be able to get to know different people involved in the sport is huge for people to get invested and choose someone to care about because you can see their personality a little bit more.

Like Nicole said, a great educational tool for people that have no preconceptions about what this is. I personally have been trying to get more into other motorsports since, you know, loving F1 [00:28:00] and I really want to get into MotoGP. Like I want to be like a huge fan of MotoGP so badly. For those

Crew Chief Eric: that don’t know what that is.

That’s the Formula One of motorcycle racing motorcycles.

Kate (TG1F): Yes. I want to be a big fan of MotoGP really bad. I think the athletes there are so cool and so fun and like, are a little bit more like personality and spirited than F1 drivers, like they just feel like they have such huge personalities.

Executive Producer Tania: Cause they’ve got much huger balls.

Yeah, they’re

Kate (TG1F): like, Oh, I just broke the entire right side of my body, but like, I’ll be back in three weeks. And I’m like, that’s. Crazy to me.

Crew Chief Eric: So does this play into the whole, you know, Hemsworth when he was playing James Hunt and the quote from Rush where he’s like, women are attracted to race car drivers because they’re so close to death.

So do the motorcycle guys like take it to the next level that they’re even hotter?

Kate (TG1F): Because I’m like, yeah, and let me tell you, they work out to be able to have that core strength. But for me, I was like, I’m watching the races and I tried to just like [00:29:00] dive in and be and like follow people on Instagram and watch the races.

And I was like, I have no idea what’s going on. And things are happening so fast. The announcers are talking so fast. I don’t really know what’s going on. Amazon Prime did a series on MotoGP that was very similar to Drive to Survive. It was awesome for me to be able to watch that and like get to know who the different riders are and who the different teams are and kind of the dynamics between them and how things work and like what is big drama there and like what is something to watch out for and like if that happens like that’s not normal or like if someone falls off a bike.

That’s pretty normal in a race where like in F1, I feel like if there’s a really big crash that doesn’t happen every single race, but in MotoGP, it’s like, it’s pretty common. I feel like

Crew Chief Eric: we just like canceling Haas altogether. I mean, when we get to that later, there’s literally a wreck. Every race

Crew Chief Brad: they wreck before the race though,

Crew Chief Eric: semantics.

Now I see what we’re doing, but at the

Kate (TG1F): same time [00:30:00] in F1, if there’s a big crash, it like. Halts the race.

Crew Chief Eric: Yeah.

Kate (TG1F): Yeah. I mean, there’s safety cars with MotoGP. They’re just sliding off the track and they’re just kind of, you’re good because it’s not like a huge car with like things. They’re just like on their butt sliding across.

I think that drive to survive has its value in the way the MotoGP series had for me that I was able to like get more into it and like understand the ins and outs a little bit better as someone had. No knowledge about it before,

Crew Chief Eric: so it’s funny you say that because I’ve also heard the counter argument that there are other sanctioning bodies of motorsport that are trying to replicate the drive to survive success formula.

1 of those being NASCAR. And unfortunately, it has failed miserably. Does it have more to do with the personalities?

Executive Producer Tania: Because NASCAR doesn’t need a reality TV show, it already is a reality TV show. I

Nicole (TG1F): mean, I’m sorry, what do you mean? They had Ricky Bobby. They had that movie years [00:31:00] ago. That was the

Executive Producer Tania: documentary.

Exactly. It was a

Nicole (TG1F): documentary. Days of Thunder. Yeah, exactly. So I think NASCAR has a certain. Brand that is very different to what Formula One brand is, right? Like Formula One is elite motorsport. It’s for super rich people. It’s an aspiration to be able to go to these races that you see the celebrities.

Obviously in America, we have an obsession with celebrity culture. Whereas I don’t think that that reflects the same as it does in NASCAR, where it’s like you’re drinking Bush light in your cutoff shorts. And your sunburn and it’s trashy and that’s fine. And I think it’s great. I’d love to go to a NASCAR race and experience that.

And that’s his charm, but it’s very different. And I think people think about when F1 kind of blew up and they’re thinking about the Austin Grand Prix. And we think about last year and all of the like crazy, stupid American stuff that F1 drivers do. And the rest of the world was like, look at. The Americans and like, [00:32:00] look at how dumb they look with our elite motorsport.

I think a lot of people just considered F1 to be similar to NASCAR. And that’s kind of why they didn’t consider it a fun sport, but now they see that it’s different. But I think F1 is the gateway drug into other motorsports. And we’ve seen that with our community and that so many people come in through drive to survive through F1, but then are like, okay, I’m interested in IndyCar.

I’m interested in the feeder series. I’m interested in. MotoGP. And so like our discord has channels for basically all types of motorsport because they’re eager to learn because they’re interested in formula one. So

Crew Chief Eric: I’m definitely picking up on that. And I can honestly admit that I’ve converted a lot of people to multiclass endurance racing because these were like diehard formula one people.

And they watched their first sail in six hours or 12 hours of Sebring or the Rolex 24, even Le Mans. I’m like, how did you live this long and not watch one of these endurance races? But when they watch it, they’re like, Oh my God, the [00:33:00] action and the passing and the strategy. And there’s all this stuff going on and it’s just super chaos.

And it’s not 90 minutes of a conga line because that’s what a lot of diehard F1 fans are faced with. They’re like, wherever you qualify is where you finish this part. Don’t

Executive Producer Tania: talk about Alonzo like that.

Crew Chief Eric: My thing is. I can’t watch spec racing anymore. Right. I gave up on formula one really after the V10 era.

So in the old days, you had a mix of stuff. You could do VH, could be six turbos. You could have six wheel tierals. They were at the cutting edge of technology. Now it’s like, well, there’s three chassis builders and three motors and we debate this all the time. So for me, I see it as, I hate to say kind of boring versus multi class.

Endurance racing, you’ve got Porsche and Ferrari and Corvette and Lotus and whoever and all these people. It’s kind of cool to see them going at each other and you can distinctively tell the difference between them. The other thing I kind of take issue with with drive to survive, since we’re speaking candidly about this and I don’t bring it up too often on the show,

Executive Producer Tania: he’s never watched.[00:34:00]

Crew Chief Eric: It’s because maybe I’m a little bit of a purist because I feel that drive to survive ripped off. Truth in 24, because if you look at what Audi, Netflix and Jason Statham did many years before drive to survive came out, it’s a condensed version of drive to survive. And so it’s nothing new, but I’ve also felt like Formula 1 didn’t need this.

It’s sort of like when we talk about celebrities. Partnering with certain brands. And we’re like, we didn’t need you to tell us that this car manufacturer was cool. It was already cool.

Nicole (TG1F): Well, here’s the thing I will counter with saying that F1 didn’t need that because they did need that because F1 was a failing brand with Bernie and Liberty media bought it and their stakeholders were like, you gotta make money.

And they said, we got to expand the American markets and how can we do that? And they said, Netflix and Netflix brought in all of the money for them. And they turned that frown upside down. And now F1 is [00:35:00] booming company for them.

Executive Producer Tania: I hope Netflix got a good cut. Cause F1 owes them something. Exactly. So

Nicole (TG1F): I think the sport was stale and I think before Liberty came in, social media was not a thing that drivers were really allowed to participate in.

They kind of were just. formula one drivers and you didn’t know them outside of that. And now this whole new version of formula one has kind of come to the surface. And so I agree with you. I do think that sometimes it’s a little bit boring, but I think that it’s only going to continue to evolve whether or not people agree with this, you Eric, with the purist situation.

And that I think a lot of decision making is going to go into it to make it. And we’ve even seen with. Abu Dhabi last year with the Lewis and Max finish that things are going to start to happen for dramatics and to make it more of an exciting sport to watch at maybe the detriment to the driving itself, we are used to now having this very, you know, I think of the bachelor season, the most dramatic season yet, [00:36:00] which is how I think formula one is like starting to feel that way.

Executive Producer Tania: It’s a dangerous line that they need to not cross becomes NASCAR.

Nicole (TG1F): Right.

Executive Producer Tania: Drama,

Crew Chief Brad: they almost crossed it last year at the final race. Yeah. I had mixed feelings about

Nicole (TG1F): that. So, you know, but if you think, okay, if that had finished under a yellow flag, that that would have been so anticlimactic to a pretty exciting season.

Obviously the way that it finished. Was shitty. And so I think there’s still a lot of things that need to be kind of ironed out, but it’s interesting.

Executive Producer Tania: And to your point, there’s no way. I don’t think this many Americans would be on the F1 bandwagon without that show. Because right now I think there’s rumor that the Las Vegas race next year could possibly be bigger, more expensive than Monaco.

Kate (TG1F): Oh, I believe it. I believe that a hundred percent.

Executive Producer Tania: And that’s drive to survive. Yeah.

Crew Chief Eric: Yeah,

Executive Producer Tania: 100%.

Crew Chief Eric: Here’s my problem. We’ve gone to some F1 races in person. I still watch them occasionally. Again, I don’t subscribe or watch Drive to [00:37:00] Survive. But what I take away from that is there’s all that hype and the drama, and it keeps the excitement going throughout the season.

But if you take that away, Formula One is still boring. The racing to me is not as exciting. Some of the other disciplines like MotoGP, like WEC or IMSA, or some of the other ones where there are these real battles and you’re rooting for a manufacturer that you can identify. Because if you can tell me the difference between the Alpha Tari, the Red Bull and the Toro Rosso.

God bless you. Because to me, it’s like watching Spec Miata racing. They’re all the same.

Nicole (TG1F): Well, I’ll say this is kind of where we come in. We care deeply about the individuals as well, which makes the sport not so boring for us because we’re like, we want to know what Pierre’s doing the whole weekend. We want to see what outfits Lewis is wearing to the track because like we care about not just the action on the track.

Like we care about everyone involved in the sport as well, which. Gives us a lot of content to talk about, right? Like we talk about [00:38:00] the wives and the girlfriends and we talk about things like peripheral people in the sport, like their trainers. And like, if we were just watching for the racing, yeah, I’d probably be pretty bored, but the fact that we have kind of an emotional investment into the people behind the sport.

Gives more value to the sport as a whole.

Kate (TG1F): I think it’s like priorities and true interests and like what you care about the most. And like, I think that if you’re someone that really cares about cars and auto manufacturers and evolution in that space, then yeah, Formula One probably right now is super boring because they have cost caps.

They have only a certain number of manufacturers. They have all these things that’s like, there’s not a ton of innovation happening, really. So I can see why you might be bored by that, but I think that if you’re kind of in it for the lighter side and for the people, then it’s not super boring. So I think it’s just kind of which way you’re looking at the sport from for that.

Executive Producer Tania: So here’s what you have to do, Eric. You only need to watch like the [00:39:00] first 10 laps. It’s super exciting. You’re like, damn it. Ferrari’s got this. They’re going to do it. And then some shit happens and then you’re done watching. You can just walk away. Exactly.

Kate (TG1F): Yeah. And then maybe the last lap, just in case, just in case.

Crew Chief Eric: And I can watch that dude on YouTube and that’s all I need. He does the funny impressions. Exactly.

Kate (TG1F): He’s so funny.

Crew Chief Eric: I’m a little jaded because I grew up in a certain era, the groupie rally era, the. Group C prototype era and Formula One at the height of Senna and Prost. There didn’t need to be drive sur survive back then.

You knew that every event Prost and Senna were literally like good and evil. They were trying to take each other out all the time and you could see it in their driving and you could see it in the post session interviews and this stuff. There was just this anger. There was this angst and there was this emotion that was captured without the need of all the drama.

But then again, that was the eighties and the nineties. And it was a totally different time. Right. So I get it. I get it, but [00:40:00] it does kind of lend us into talking about the past.

Crew Chief Brad: Yeah. So has your increased interest in formula one in the modern era, have you thought about going back in time and seeing where its origins are from, you know, some vintage F1 and not even just the racing itself, which I know is what Eric would you be interested in.

But like, there’s a lot of drama back then as well. I mean, with the louder and hunt and, you know, and prost and Senna, I mean, have you gone back and looked at any of that?

Nicole (TG1F): Yeah. I don’t know if you can see, I have this photo of James hunt on my thing here, but we have a friend, Elizabeth Blackstack. I don’t know if you are familiar with her.

Crew Chief Brad: We had a conversation with her.

Nicole (TG1F): So she is a huge vintage F1 fan. She says. Really solidified for her was Rush seeing Chris Hemsworth play James Hunt was it for her. And so we had her on, we used to stream on Twitch over the summer and she came on and did a whole presentation for us on all of her vintage F1 fits.

And we [00:41:00] looked at all of the drivers and all of the best outfits from all of the eras. That was really fun for us. And I think we’re starting to explore the more historical side of F1 because obviously we’re in it all the time, but as we continue to grow and learn with our community, we’re like, okay, well, let’s take a step back and like, see how we got to where we are today.

Leaning into that and learning more about the different eras of the cars is something I think we’re looking forward to exploring more during the off season.

Executive Producer Tania: So if you guys. Caught up on any of the documentaries that are out there on some of the older stuff. Like, okay, you could loosely say Rush Hunt vs.

Lada. Definitely a good film to watch. Like, Netflix has got a couple. They’ve got the Senna documentary that goes over that. I don’t know if you guys have seen that.

Kate (TG1F): Yep. Yeah.

Executive Producer Tania: Then there’s even the older one, I think it’s still out there, the one Manuel Fangio documentary. I haven’t seen that one. So that’s even, that’s like origin story.

Way back, yeah. Essentially. So that’d be another good one if you’re looking to.

Crew Chief Eric: And you know what’s really great about the Fangio documentary, which I wrote an article about a [00:42:00] couple years ago when it came out, it debuted right at the beginning of COVID. And one of the things they did in that episode is one of our new favorite Pit Stop questions, which is goat or goatee fee.

And so they ask a lot of the drivers who is the greatest of all time. So I want to pose that question to you guys as well.

Executive Producer Tania: Whatever you think that definition is. And the answer is not goateefy. Everybody

Crew Chief Brad: has an opinion about who,

Executive Producer Tania: or it could be goateefy.

Crew Chief Brad: I saw that you all think the goateefy is quite attractive and you’re, you’re,

Kate (TG1F): let me tell you, we saw him in person

Nicole (TG1F): and yeah, we saw, we saw him and we’re like, so

Executive Producer Tania: he’s, he’s one of those people that’s better looking in person.

Yes. Yeah. Okay.

Kate (TG1F): Yes.

Crew Chief Brad: Well, I have to say from the images that you all sourced for your Instagram posts, they were quite. Favorable to him, I would say.

Kate (TG1F): Streamer Nikki really has got it going on.

Crew Chief Eric: I’m like, what is it, DJ

Nicole (TG1F): Lando? DJ Little Landy, as we call him. Okay, to answer the question about who the greatest of all time is, I think, honestly, I’m torn between [00:43:00] Schumacher and Senna, just because I think…

That they had such a cultural impact on the sport, you know, you bring up Michael Schumacher to almost anyone and they know that name doesn’t matter if they even know that he was a Formula One driver, like they most certainly like know who that person is. And even just looking at his record of being the most winningest F1 driver tied with Lewis is really, I think, it for me.

And Senna obviously was, it’s a shame that he had to leave us so early because I can only imagine what he would have been able to accomplish.

Kate (TG1F): And I would also be between two people. Neither of the two that Nicole just said, I totally agree with what she just said. And I think that like Michael Schumacher is a very obvious, like, that’s probably who’s the greatest of all time in the sport.

But for me, okay, well I kind of have three, so I’m really not paying my name right. Number one, from a long time ago, I would say Nicky Lauda. Like I love his story. I think that he was an incredible driver, but I [00:44:00] also just think he was an incredible mind for Formula One. And I think that he was. So talented on the track, but equally, if not more talented off the track and the way that he was able to work on the cars and figure things out and be like, you’re doing this wrong.

And I can make this go faster. Just let me do it. And then to be able to come back and like, have such a long career. Staying in Formula One, being an advisor, just working with these different teams. And I think it just goes to show like the fact that he was still working with Mercedes when he died is just like a testament to how valuable he was to the sport.

My second choice is Kimi Raikkonen. Not just because he was my favorite, but I just think he’s the GOAT. Like he came in first season was just like, what if I just won? Everything incredible. And then he was like, all right, I’m going to fuck off for a couple of years and like, try something else just for fun.

Comes back almost completely bankrupt Lotus because he’s so [00:45:00] fast. They were like, we don’t really know what to do because we don’t have enough money to pay you everything that we promised we would based on how many points you would get. Then he’s just like, I don’t know. Maybe I don’t want to do this anymore.

Goes on, just like continues winning, continues being amazing. And then just like decides to leave when, when he decided to leave and was just like, you’ll never see me again. And we basically have it. And I think he’s been like one race, but he was like, I’m done. I’m out of here. And he, he was a funny person.

He was a funny like character in the paddock, kept to himself, always kept it interesting, but also didn’t like subscribe to. The evolution of F1 and was just like, I don’t do media. Actually, I don’t want to do that. And I won’t be on social media. You can try, but I’m not giving you anything. And I think he just stuck true to who he was.

And so I think he just personality wise, greatest of all time. And then my. Final person that I would put on this list that I think years from now we will say greatest of all time is Lewis Hamilton. And I think that he’s had to do things in this sport that no one before him has ever, ever, [00:46:00] ever had to do.

He’s had to overcome so much and he’s also been the biggest star in the time frame of F1 where F1 is Global on social media. It’s 24 7. You’re not just being looked at through the eyes of a newspaper or a camera crew on the weekends. And, you know, people that are there, but you’re being looked at by everyone all the time, no matter what you’re doing.

And I think he’s handled it really well and has had incredible results and has kind of always. done things with grace. And so I think that in 20 years from now, when we look back and ask people this question, he’ll be one of the top names that people say.

Crew Chief Eric: I mean, I don’t disagree.

Kate (TG1F): It sounds like you might.

Crew Chief Eric: I mean, just a, just a touch. I mean, Hamilton has had an interesting evolution because if you go back to the early days. Especially when he was a young pup and they had him on top gear, you know, a star at a reasonably priced car and things like that when he was first starting out, he was very different than he [00:47:00] is now.

Right. And they say money changes people and fame and celebrity as well. And then there was that kind of dark period in the middle of his career where he was like, I don’t want to talk to anybody. He’s very standoffish. And he was trying to be like Senna because Senna was very closed. He was very reserved.

Senna didn’t talk a big game. He would show up and just kick ass. And that’s The, his style, but Senna is still, and I think always will be regarded as like a God and not a goat. Like he was super human. Oh, you’re

Kate (TG1F): adding a new category. Okay.

Crew Chief Eric: 100%. And even somebody like Tanner Faust, who just recently drove Senna’s McLaren MP4 on a test day.

He got out of the car. He goes, I don’t know how this guy did it. Yeah. He was super human. The thing about Schumacher to Nicole’s point is that he was. Always in Senna’s shadow, he was studying Senna and he became good. He had a lot of time in the trenches, but what offset Schumacher as not a God or even a goat, he’s like a national [00:48:00] treasure.

He was adopted by the Italian people, right? And so he’s this like point of national pride. And there’s just, he’s an idol. It’s totally different. So he has the merit and the resume to be a goat. Again, I think he’s in a different category. Just like Fangio’s in a different category, like Lauda and Hunt.

They got the records and the personality and the panache, but they’re not, it’s not quite there. Right. And there’s other names that go there, even Andretti, Fittipaldi and others that are Formula One champions, but it’s just like, there’s these, these other levels. I think Hamilton’s almost there. What hurt him?

Is the 10 years that he’s been doing this and how much he hasn’t stayed the same. Senna stayed the same. Schumacher stayed the same. Fangio was always Fangio to your point about Kimmy, where Kimmy’s Kimmy and he always will be Kimmy.

Kate (TG1F): Yeah.

Crew Chief Eric: So that’s where I, I kind of diverge on that, but you’re, you’re making very valid points across the board.

Crew Chief Brad: But Hamilton. Has had to [00:49:00] change because of the way the world has changed over the last and the

Kate (TG1F): way he’s gone

Crew Chief Brad: from just like an F1 champion and superstar to like a social justice hero for the people that don’t have a voice. And he’s using his voice for that. And I, you know, so he’s using the platform and, you know, Ecclestone’s gone.

So the collar’s off and now people can do what they want. And he’s using his platform. To try and do good in the world. So that’s, he probably would have been doing those things before if he was able to,

Nicole (TG1F): I’m going to be honest. I didn’t love Lewis that much when he was Nico’s teammate. I just thought this guy is insufferable.

I didn’t particularly enjoy his personality. And then he did. I watched that show. Is it Larry David? I’m trying to think. And my next guest is who is that? David Letterman. David Letterman. I would love to see Larry David. Sorry. I was like a late night host. I could not remember. David Letterman. And my next guest is, and Lewis was on it and I [00:50:00] watched it and it was kind of a different side to him.

And I think that was kind of a turning point for him where they were kind of like, we’re changing your PR and we’re like. Diving deep into like this softer, more personal side of you. And ever since then, I feel like he has been a different person who has been more outspoken about his struggles and other people’s struggles to your point, Brad, about like being a voice for people who don’t necessarily have access to the platform that he does.

Speaking

Executive Producer Tania: of insufferable people, uh, Russell, his teammate, that’s personal opinion, but yes, and he might be the answer to this question, but I doubt it. Sexiest F1 driver of all time.

Nicole (TG1F): Let me tell you, I saw Jensen Button in person in the paddock in Austin, and I was like, Yeah, that man is handsome as fuck.

He’s tall, too. And I was just like, yeah, he’s top of the list for me right now. But Mark Webber also is really up there, too. [00:51:00] Yeah,

Kate (TG1F): yeah, yeah, yeah. A young Jackie X. will always do it for me.

Crew Chief Eric: I’m too busy like choking down my laughter over here because I can guess for Tanya who it is and it’s not Ayrton Senna.

It’s Nigel Mansell. She loves that Tom Selleck mustache, broom mustache.

Nicole (TG1F): Well, Kate and I were literally talking earlier today about we need the return of the short shorts.

Crew Chief Eric: Yes. David Coulthard.

Crew Chief Brad: No. Yes. The chin. It’s the chin.

Executive Producer Tania: It is quite impressive. I did walk by him one time. But, no.

Nicole (TG1F): I can’t say David Coulthard is the sexiest epilogue I know.

I can’t say that. No. In full confidence.

Kate (TG1F): But I also will say, young Jackie Ickx, I love him, but also, and I’m gonna bring him up again, Kimi Raikkonen, he went through a phase when he was younger, he had longer blonde hair that it was sometimes spiked, sometimes not, sometimes just a little bit long. There is one photo of him wearing a White wife [00:52:00] beater, tight pants, and a fur coat.

I don’t know if you can say that, Kate. I don’t know if we call them that anymore. I don’t know what else we call them. Dang dog? It’s a wife beater, sorry. Um, I’m not saying character wise, but that’s what they’re called. And it’s like the best photo I’ve ever seen. And he went through a big fashion phase.

So he’s my favorite. And I think he’s so sexy. Kimmy was, you

Crew Chief Eric: guys got to go back in time. Take a look at Eddie Irvine and Alex Zanardi and Damon Hill. And some of those guys,

Kate (TG1F): Damon Hill is here’s the thing. Here’s the thing you asked for the sexiest. And I’m answering,

Crew Chief Brad: I’m surprised you didn’t say Leclerc.

Kate (TG1F): He’s

Crew Chief Brad: beautiful. Okay. I

Kate (TG1F): think he’s like, yeah, he’s like, he’s not sexy though.

Executive Producer Tania: He needs a couple more years to mature into himself.

Kate (TG1F): Yeah. I’m like, I think he’s like too young for me to say that he’s like the sexiest.

Crew Chief Brad: His personality ruins it. For me though, I don’t like the clerk as a person.

Nicole (TG1F): All right.

Crew Chief Eric: So [00:53:00]

Nicole (TG1F): before a fight starts, has

Crew Chief Eric: F1 changed your appreciation of the car hobby?

Nicole, you said at the beginning, you weren’t really interested in cars when this all first came about. So has your opinion changed

Nicole (TG1F): a little bit? My ex used to play this game where he would just see a sports car on the street and he would be like, do you think I would be hotter if I drove Car and I would always be like, no, because I don’t care about sports cars that much.

I still don’t particularly care that much. I don’t think anytime soon I’m going to get into like rebuilding my own car, but I think that I have learned a lot more. about the car hobby. There’s so much going on that I simply don’t have time to dive too deep into all of this because I will literally not have a life if I do that.

Crew Chief Eric: You’ve just defined our entire show. Yeah.

Nicole (TG1F): I still have to do other things and so that’s the extent of my [00:54:00] car hobby. situation. What about you Kate?

Kate (TG1F): Pretty much the same. I’ve never been super, super into cars. I think I have an appreciation for like nice vintage cars now. Like I think like looking at them, I’m like, I can recognize more cars on the street and be like, Oh, that’s this.

That’s cool. Or like, Oh, that looks like an old version of like this kind of car. And like, I know that that’s cool, but like, I can’t totally tell you why. Nothing crazy. Like I’m like, I can tell that something is like a Corvette and like, that’s pretty easy. But I did buy my first car, owned a car before, but I bought a car by myself.

For the first time ever this summer. And I did get the sport version. Um, so I feel like I probably wouldn’t have done that if I wasn’t into F1.

Crew Chief Eric: I’m not going to ask you what it was. I don’t want to embarrass you.

Kate (TG1F): Oh, no, it’s a cool car. I love it. Tell you it’s a Hyundai Tucson 2022, the end line, which is their sport version.

It has nice red piping around it for [00:55:00] Ferrari for me. And it has sports mode that if I want to go, I can click a little button and I’m in sports mode.

Crew Chief Brad: Yeah. That’s what

Kate (TG1F): DRS is enabled. Exactly.

Crew Chief Eric: It’s your encyclopedia of car design is. to the hobby. Normally, we would ask people, you know, sexiest car of all time to kind of go in line with our sexiest F1 drivers that we were talking about.

I think it might be easier to ask you this other fan favorite. What’s the ugliest car?

Kate (TG1F): Kia Soul. Damn, that was fast! I was first. You guys, I’m sorry. Was that your first car? No, I just think they’re so, so hideous. Like, you’re never, ever, ever, ever, ever Ever going to see a normal colored Kia Soul. It is always going to be that pukey lime green.

Yeah. Or

Crew Chief Brad: shit brown.

Kate (TG1F): Yeah. It’s just always the ugliest color. And I’m just like, who’s buying these? Like, how did they get you to buy this car? It’s so hideous. All I can think about is that when I was looking to buy a car this summer, I [00:56:00] test drove one. It was this horrible red. It was like bright, bright, bright red, but it was, it was, Oh my God.

It had this weird shimmer to it. I hated it so much. And they were like, this is the only one of these we have, like this car that’s like here because there’s like no cars anymore because there’s import craziness happening, I don’t know. And I was like, okay, I love it, but I. hate this color. And the guy was like, well, when you’re driving it, you won’t even know that it’s red.

Nicole (TG1F): You’re like, that’s not the point. And I was like,

Kate (TG1F): that’s a horrible, horrible, horrible sales tactic to say to me. I’m not, I’m relying on principle now because you just said that to me, but that’s how I feel like they get people to buy Kia Souls. They’re like, you can basically have this for free. You just have to know that it’s puke green with shit brown interior.

I’ll pay

Executive Producer Tania: you to take this Kia.

Kate (TG1F): Literally,

Nicole (TG1F): they’re like, please take this from us. I think that’s a pretty good one. I don’t know if I feel as passionately about any, I feel more passionately towards colors of cars. And I really hate when people [00:57:00] have like burnt orange, because I’m like, why would you choose that color out of all of the colors that you could have possibly gotten for a car?

It’s like the

Crew Chief Eric: number one color that the Honda Element was sold in.

Nicole (TG1F): So ugly. So, I, I think Kia Soul, yeah, I’d probably, cause I just think of the hamster commercial.

Kate (TG1F): I’m

Executive Producer Tania: like, which isn’t even a good commercial. Like, how does that help sales?

Kate (TG1F): I’m like, you’re getting weird hip hop hamster rats. Like, why are we, what’s

Crew Chief Eric: the, what are you trying the rapper

Crew Chief Brad: on the playstation.

Yeah. Who is the market for that commercial?

Nicole (TG1F): Yeah, exactly. Clearly at work, people are still buying Kia Souls today. So everybody that

Crew Chief Brad: surrounds Kate is buying Kia Souls.

Crew Chief Eric: It’s because they’ve been sitting on the last. For so long. There’s nothing else to buy.

Kate (TG1F): There’s nothing else. I know. I’m like, I’m on Cape Cod.

So I’m in like retirement country too. I’m like, this is old people, bamboo. They’re, they’re just getting swindled into these Kia Solas. It’s like a bait and switch. They were guaranteed one car and then they got delivered a Kia. They don’t know what to do about it, so they just keep it. I’d know it. There’s no one out there that’s willingly buying a [00:58:00] Kia Soul, and if you’re one of those people, please contact me.

I have to talk to you.

Crew Chief Eric: It’s our next crossover episode, we’re doing

Nicole (TG1F): that one

Kate (TG1F): together. It’s an intervention for anyone who’s bought a Kia Soul. You need to like, talk to the president of the Kia Soul fan club or something.

Crew Chief Brad: I guarantee you there is one.

Nicole (TG1F): There is one,

Kate (TG1F): for sure. There has to be one

Crew Chief Brad: out

Kate (TG1F): there.

I’m going to bring them to therapy with me and be like, I need to get to the bottom of your brain.

Crew Chief Brad: So back on topic, as we’re closing out the 2022 season, what are some of the best moments? Worst moments in your opinion?

Nicole (TG1F): Great question. Best outfits,

Crew Chief Brad: worst outfits.

Nicole (TG1F): It’s so funny. Cause we actually just ran this poll on our Instagram where we were like over the 2020 season, what were the best moments for everyone?

Obviously, I think one of the ones that comes to mind is Danny arriving in Austin on the horse. You know, I’m going to really miss his theatrics in the paddock when he’s gone. Thinking about, you know, one of the most impactful moments for me personally. Was [00:59:00] Joe’s crash where he flipped over and then basically like slid into the barricades.

That’s right. He ended up over the barricade. And

Kate (TG1F): then George got out of his car and like ran over and was like trying to call for help and was like, didn’t leave until someone had gotten there. That was. That moment was crazy.

Nicole (TG1F): Huge moment about like the safety features that had been implemented in the sport and just proving that these are necessary and like how life saving they actually are because he would have been so dead if the halos had not been implemented.

And so for me, that was very cool to see. Even though the drivers rallied against the Halo for so long, I think they’re finally like, okay, this has saved people’s lives a handful of times. Yeah. I think we can get over it. So that was a really, really memorable moment from this season.

Kate (TG1F): For me, I loved when Charles was leading the championship for a little bit.

You know, there was a, there was like a month or so that he was doing that. And that was huge for [01:00:00] me. And also I loved the return of Kevin Magnuson. Like, I mean, best part of the season was when they said, Nikita Mazepin, isn’t coming back. Number one, like no questions about it. Them saying he’s been terminated really did it for me.

But then them bringing Kevin Magnuson back, I was like, Oh, Hey, Megan Gunther back together, getting the gang, the band back together. It was like really great for me.

Executive Producer Tania: And then the second best announcement was Latifi leaving.

Nicole (TG1F): I mean. We were all waiting for it. It’s time for him to go. It’s time for him to go

Executive Producer Tania: it.

It’s pretty sad when your backup driver, you know, comes in for your teammate who’s out in appendicitis and scores points. Yeah.

Kate (TG1F): Yeah. It’s so tough on his

Executive Producer Tania: maiden F1 race. Exactly. Yeah. Lat, you know what?

Kate (TG1F): I’m glad that Latifee was in F1 for the Solf fact that he kept Williams of float for a while. Mm-Hmm.

And they really needed that . Yeah. So thank you to Latia for that, but time to go. Time for you

Executive Producer Tania: to move on. .

Kate (TG1F): Yeah.

Crew Chief Eric: And that brings us to it’s amazing. They still exist. [01:01:00] So let’s talk about the Toad, Haas, and Christian Horner. Let’s talk about it. Brad’s three favorite things.

Crew Chief Brad: No, I talked about rich energy all the time.

Nicole (TG1F): What’s the difference? Same.

Crew Chief Brad: We’re new to MoneyGram. We talked about MoneyGram.

Nicole (TG1F): Yeah, that’s their new, their new sponsor.

Crew Chief Eric: Probably nobody has kind words to say about any of those three.

Nicole (TG1F): No, here’s the thing. I’m actually an advocate for Haas. We love Haas. Here’s why, and you’ll learn this in Drive to Survive if you watch it, Eric.

Gunther is a girl boss, okay? Oh,

Crew Chief Brad: Gunther’s awesome.

Nicole (TG1F): Gunther said, I’m gonna be a team principal if it’s the last thing that I do. And he put his ass into gear and he convinced Gene Haas. To buy a team and make him the team principal.

Executive Producer Tania: He seems like the most unlikely team principal person too.

Kate (TG1F): With no prior experience, no qualifications, he was just like, I want this.

He was like an engineer, so he

Nicole (TG1F): kind of has a little bit of experience, but he basically was like, you know what? I’m going to fast track [01:02:00] this and I’m just going to get someone else to buy a team for me. He’s basically like the Lance Stroll of team principals, where he went to Gene Haas, got him to buy the team and install him as the team principal.

And so I appreciate that about Gunther and I appreciate that about Haas. I think Gunther continuously gets the shit beat out of him by how horrible his team is. Still, he rises in the words of Lewis. And I just appreciate that about him.

Kate (TG1F): I also think Haas has no pretenses. They’re not trying to be better than they are.

They know that they suck. They’re not gonna ever say they’re better than anyone. Or like, any of them. The bestest

Nicole (TG1F): season when Gunther was like, Oh, they’re talking about me? That just means that they’re jealous. When Haas was like, doing well for a little bit. He’s like, If there’s rumors starting about me, that means that I’m doing well.

So keep talking.

Kate (TG1F): He was like, no presses, bad press, baby. And then they’re like, what if we took sponsorship money from these like tiny boats in like weird houses and we just like take pictures in front of them? They’re like, we’re not too good to That was for the Aldi catalog. Yeah. They’re like, we’re not too good to take some [01:03:00] photos for Aldi.

Like, Haas is never going to say that they’re too good for something. And I appreciate them for being self aware and just being like, we’re the shitty team and we’re going to do what it takes.

Crew Chief Eric: But on the other side of that coin is Williams, who needs to fess up and quit being in denial about how they suck too, but they have a ton of pedigree behind them and actually Haas does as well, because if you go back in time and look at when it used to be Newman Haas racing, especially stateside and things like that, there is a lot of background to that brand and to that family name.

But to your point, I mean, we’re talking at the. The bottom of the bottom. So what do you think about them potentially becoming someone else? You know, there’s all these rumors about Audi and Porsche and all this, all these musical chairs going on.

Nicole (TG1F): I think that there’ll be Haas for at least another couple of seasons until Jean is.

Like, I have absolutely no more money to give to this team. I have nothing left to give. Andretti

Executive Producer Tania: can come buy it.

Nicole (TG1F): Yeah. And then everyone’s going to say, no, Andretti, you cannot join F1. It doesn’t

Crew Chief Eric: matter, right? Because they got a [01:04:00] team and then they don’t have to worry about the money because they don’t have drivers.

So they can hire. Mario Andretti, we already saw that at Laguna Seca. Might as well put him in the seat and start the Andretti franchise that way. Haas is like so dysfunctional, right? I mean, to go beyond what Kate was saying. Let’s go there. You know, we already talked about he might spin or excuse me, Maza spin.

Mick Schumacher is on the unemployment line right next to Danny Rick.

Nicole (TG1F): I know. Kate and I just talked about that earlier today. We recorded our weekly episode and we were just saying not looking good for Mick.

Executive Producer Tania: So in the beginning of the season, yeah, there was a lot of crashing, but he’s actually been doing really well.

He hasn’t

Nicole (TG1F): done that bad. And Gunther basically gave him the ultimatum is that he had to win a race to stay at Haas. And you’re like, that’s not even possible. Like you’re asking him to do the impossible here. But

Crew Chief Eric: is it though? Because we speculated about this on several drive thru episodes where we said.

What if you put Lewis or put Max in the Haas car to [01:05:00] prove whether it’s the drivers or the chassis?

Nicole (TG1F): Okay, well look at how Lewis has been doing in his current car. I do not think that he would do well in the Haas at all. There’s

Executive Producer Tania: no way. There’s no way. The Red Bull is like… Cheater program they’ve got in it.

Like, yeah, I think Max is.

Nicole (TG1F): And so this is why I think Kate and I have talked about this. Why George is 15 points ahead of Lewis is that George came from a shitty car. He’s here to go from shitty to good, then good to shitty. Yeah. And so he knows he’s like, this is an increase. Like, this is 10 times better than what I’ve been working with, so I can work magic on this.

Meanwhile, Louis is so used to being ahead and winning, he doesn’t know how to be in the middle of the pack in a kind of shitty car.

Crew Chief Eric: Okay, so we’ll flip it the other way. You put Mick On the test track in a Mercedes and all you need to do is look at his lap times. If he can’t qualify at the same level as the current drivers of those cars, then is it the driver or the car?

I mean, the proof goes either way. Well, to your point, it’s harder to put Max in the Haas because the Haas is [01:06:00] basically handicapped compared to the rest of the cars in the fleet. But again, if we flip it the other way on a private testing day. And he can’t put the numbers down, then he’s not qualified to be there.

Nicole (TG1F): I agree with that. And I think that that would be a fantastic way to judge people. Everyone gets the same car.

Crew Chief Eric: It’s how it used to be done. Just throw it out there.

Nicole (TG1F): Bring it back. Bring it back.

Crew Chief Eric: We’ll start the petition. There’s a lot of upheaval. I mean, that’s my outlook on the 2022 season with a lot of names disappearing.

Who’s going to be filling those seats? Again, you got Audi and Porsche can’t figure out. Yeah.

Executive Producer Tania: Well, no, I mean, well, Porsche. Played a game that they lost at and now they they’re crying and they want back at the table. Audi is committed. I was going to say, isn’t Audi

Nicole (TG1F): coming in with a Red Bull? Did it? Sauber.

Sauber.

Executive Producer Tania: Sauber. So in 2026, they’ll be here and I can’t wait because now I have to root for Audi. And

Nicole (TG1F): Ferrari and be busy. Well, you’ll just have to root for whichever one is doing better.

Executive Producer Tania: Exactly. Whoever’s in the lead [01:07:00]

Crew Chief Brad: I’m rooting for.

Nicole (TG1F): Until they blow

Crew Chief Eric: up.

Crew Chief Brad: Twice the chances to root for a number two.

Crew Chief Eric: Again, but it’s chicanery all over the place. Cause even there, some of those petitions have been, well, we’re going to put stickers on the blah, blah, blah chassis with the Honda power plant. We’re like, well, is that really? Horseshoe? Like, what is that, right? So, I think there’s a lot of, I’m gonna, I’m gonna use a football phrase.

It’s a rebuilding year. So, hopefully, 23 is a better year for motorsport in general, especially Formula 1. I’m really curious to see how it turns out. Now, granted, I have my sights on the big stage right now, because… Next year is the hundredth anniversary of Lamont’s. So I think that’s going to eclipse a lot of things.

Everybody’s talking about the new cars, the new cars, new cars. Formula one came out with their new cars this past season. We’ll see where that goes.

Crew Chief Brad: So in listening to your most recent episodes, you were doing the, uh, I guess the press conference, the drivers, and you all caught Pierre taking a picture of you guys.

Did you happen to get [01:08:00] a copy of that picture? And do we know what he was taking a picture of?

Nicole (TG1F): Yes, we did get confirmation. He was taking his be real. And now I don’t know if you guys know what be real is. It’s an app that basically at some time during the day, you get a notification. You have two minutes to take a photo.

The story goes, you know, as you heard in the podcast, Kate and I were sitting in the room, I look up. Pierre is taking a photo. We have a bit on our podcast that Pierre is TG1F’s number one fan. He’s liked a handful of our Instagram photos, and this was before the heyday of liked by Pierre Gasly. We were actually also in his Miami GP photo dump as well.

And so we’re like, Pierre loves us. We were joking that he obviously saw us in the press conference room and had to take a photo of us.

Crew Chief Brad: Of course. You’re celebrities to him. Yeah, exactly.

Kate (TG1F): And he did post his Austin Grand Prix photo dump. Lo and behold, there was the be real photo. And there we were.

Nicole (TG1F): So we’re, we’re two for two [01:09:00] on USGP photo dumps for Pierre on Instagram.

I think he is your number one thing. I mean, what else is there to say? Like he’s not. Beating the allegations.

Crew Chief Brad: Yeah. He’s not taking pictures of other podcasts. No, no.

Nicole (TG1F): And if he is, he’s not putting them in his public photo dump. So you guys will be in the next roundup promise.

Executive Producer Tania: So I guess shifting gears a little bit,

Nicole (TG1F): pun intended, pun intended, totally

Executive Producer Tania: not the formula.

One cars have a traditional shifter anymore.

Crew Chief Eric: It did in my day. I walked uphill in both directions at school. Shut up, Boomer. Old

Nicole (TG1F): man screaming at the clouds. Freaking Boomer.

Executive Producer Tania: I will say, I do wish they still had to use the, uh, left foot.

Kate (TG1F): Yeah.

Executive Producer Tania: For clutch, because it would make the races more interesting when someone misses a shift.

Kate (TG1F): Yeah.

Executive Producer Tania: Instead of calling on the radio and whining, my shifter box, can you change the program? No .

Crew Chief Brad: Y’all are talking about Be reals. Eric doesn’t know what MySpace is. [01:10:00]

Nicole (TG1F): be real right now. You don’t know what MySpace is, ? No, he does. Okay. I was like, he jokes. He jokes. I was like, we need to have a serious conversation.

I, this, I just,

Crew Chief Eric: I

Executive Producer Tania: just ,

Crew Chief Eric: I refuse to do TikTok just like Dr. To survive.

Kate (TG1F): I don’t go down that, that rabbit hole. I don’t do Tik Tok either.

Crew Chief Brad: Eric’s is old fashioned is the rally that he watches. Rally

Nicole (TG1F): is still a thing.

Crew Chief Brad: Is it? Not in the U. S. When was the last time there was a U. S. rally?

Nicole (TG1F): That’s one of the motorsport series that I want to get into.

I want to get into rally racing. It

Crew Chief Brad: needs it. It needs a drive to survive.

Nicole (TG1F): Any

Crew Chief Brad: motorsport needs a drive to survive. I

Crew Chief Eric: will give you the shortcuts. Very simple. Download the Red Bull app. They condense everything for you. If you want to watch the long format, you want to get in the car with the drivers, which is super cool to watch them and the navigators doing their thing.

Red Bull TV, everything’s shot in 8k. Now it’s like super crystal clear. It is fantastic. And I will give you [01:11:00] one thing. If you want to find a new fan, even though he retired last year and now he’s a team principal, go back and watch the in car footage of Yari Matilapala. He is known as the madman of WRC for a very good reason.

I don’t want to spoil it for you.

Nicole (TG1F): Okay. I’ll get into it. It’s awesome.

Executive Producer Tania: Did you get the sense of excitement?

Nicole (TG1F): I did. And he’s sold me on it. So I’m going to go do that. And then I’m going to follow up later.

Executive Producer Tania: You guys did not sell him on Drive to Survive though. I’m going to point that out. No offense.

Nicole (TG1F): You know what?

We did our best and maybe one day we’ll wear him down. Can’t teach an old dog, new tricks,

Executive Producer Tania: you know, So speaking of old dogs and new tricks, besides drive to survive and all that kind of thing, you know, from your perspective, women in motorsport, what can be done, it’s been traditionally kind of a boys club, right?

The old dogs. How can it be more inviting in your guys opinions? You guys are making it more inviting with your podcast. Well done. Kudos. But I guess [01:12:00] outside of that, the greater motorsports industries, what do you think they could do?

Kate (TG1F): I mean, I think the first thing is just visibility. And I think there’s like There are a lot of people that are out there that are like, we need more women in F1.

We need more women in F1. And I think that that is fair and we probably do. But I think even more than that, we need just visibility into the women that are already in F1 that are already doing the work that are already have made it there. And we need to kind of uplift those platforms and those women. I mean, the whole thing is visibility.

If you can’t see it, you can’t be it. And like people need to see representation in order to. Think that they have a chance and you know, not everyone needs that. Some people can just like kind of take the bull by its horns and do it. But there are so many women that are already in F1 and various leadership positions in, in various team positions that I think it’s just recognizing them more and seeing them more from.

The teams, Red Bull has done a good job this year of highlighting Hannah Schmitz. And I think that’s been great and huge for people to actually see like recognition for [01:13:00] someone in her position, but even press officers, even like heads of communication, Susie Wolf is doing a great job, just kind of like being more vocal and being more kind of as a figurehead.

But I think it’s these teams responsibility to showcase the different people that they have on their teams. Um, and give them more visibility to people so we can see kind of who’s already in there. So then once we can lift those people up and show their value and their worth and show people what’s already going on, then that just kind of opens the door for other people to think, I could do this and I’m going to pursue a career in this and, and try to get in there and have all of the same skills, same qualifications, and go in there and say, I’m going to do this as my career too, and not really think about it, not give it a second thought.

To

Nicole (TG1F): that point too, around visibility is like getting new fans in, right? Traditionally, like you said, it’s been a boys club because I think cars are traditionally billed as a boys thing from, you know, a young age, whereas women may get into it later. And sometimes it’s [01:14:00] a little hard to approach because.

You’re later in life and all of these men have already been doing it and they know all this terminology and you try to ask questions and they make you feel dumb. With our spaces, like, there are no dumb questions. Doesn’t matter what your level is as long as you are willing to answer other people’s questions.

Like, Phenomenal. We have people in our community who have interests that range from how the financials work to how the engines work and everything in between. And like, they’re willing to answer any single question that anyone has, even if it’s just like Why does F1 cost so much money to from like the bare bones type of questions and having these spaces where it’s easy to ease in to the conversation coming from the female perspective is just very crucial.

And I think, you know, F1 continuously putting out new resources about how to get into the sport and find. People to connect with is crucial.

Crew Chief Eric: So do you think the same thing exists [01:15:00] as you begin to investigate other motorsports, Kate mentioned MotoGP, you know, we were joking about world rally. We talked a little bit about sports car racing.

There’s so many different disciplines to motorsport, whether it’s the off road community, drag racing, et cetera. So do you see it in the same way as formula one or have other disciplines made more strides?

Nicole (TG1F): Honestly, I think that F1 is probably doing the best with women in the sport. And as fans, I don’t think that we’re seeing as much growth in the other areas, other than I would say IndyCar is a close second, because I think a lot of.

Women feel that IndyCar is also very accessible and it’s kind of close to Formula One. That’s generally the next path for them. But I would say that all motorsport are facing the same problem is that they’re not doing enough to support the female fans and not doing enough to showcase. women in leadership or higher roles within the [01:16:00] organizations.

Crew Chief Eric: All very valid points. I do think there’s a discipline of motorsport that might actually be doing this better than IndyCar and Formula 1, and it’s less recognized, although On the big stage. And that’s actually sports car racing, because if you look at it, the barrier to entry for female drivers, you’re

Nicole (TG1F): right.

Yes.

Crew Chief Eric: Is a lot lower. We’ll just look at last year’s Lamonts with the iron dames and all the other females that are running on various teams at different levels from the production based cars to the prototypes and everything in between. So I think sports car is embracing women without making it apparent.

They’re just doing it without bringing attention to it. And here’s my biggest. Problem with the open wheel community, it’s formula W right. And as a father of girls, I look at it and go, why can’t motorsport be co ed? Why does a formula W have to exist? Why aren’t these women running alongside of LeClerc and Latifi?

I’m sure they’re all better than [01:17:00] Latifi, you know, and so on down the line, I don’t like that segregation where it’s like, it’s like the WNBA. Why can’t they just play with the men? And I hear the excuses on, I call them excuses, the justifications and rationalizations on both sides. But to me in motor sport, motor sports always been about run what you brung.

It doesn’t matter who’s behind the steering wheel. And I think formula one in contrast to what you were saying is actually behind the curve because formula W exists.

Nicole (TG1F): No, I would agree with that. And Kate and I have this conversation all the time that like, I can kind of see the justification for the WNBA and the NBA because they’re playing on a more physical kind of level.

Whereas you’re driving the car, the car is not gendered. You do not have to be a certain gender to drive a car. People always ask us about W series and like, if we like it or not. And we’re like, well, we appreciate that there is something. For women, but we don’t appreciate that it is seemingly lower than F3 and it is that [01:18:00] there’s no direct, no direct pipeline.

Kate (TG1F): Yeah,

Nicole (TG1F): it’s seemingly no one wants to support these female drivers. No one wants to give them an opportunity. And so, yes, I a hundred percent agree with you on the fact that that is. Behind

Executive Producer Tania: it’s a check the box to say we’re being diverse and inclusive. Like,

Nicole (TG1F): okay. I mean, that’s across the board with basically all their initiatives.

Crew Chief Eric: And to speak to the sports car world in terms of the path and the growth forward, there is actually a path again, they’re not doing a good job of. Advertising it and putting in people’s faces, but as a female driver, you’re listening to this going, well, how do I get out of club racing with STCA and NASA into the world of sports car racing?

If that’s what you like, go to world challenge. You start touring car, and then you work your way up to GT cars and then so on the line. And then world challenge is a gateway to IMSA and WEC and so on down the line. And so there is a progression path there, but again, they’re not. In my opinion, not doing the greatest job of bringing it out there and saying, Hey, look, what we’ve got comes

Nicole (TG1F): back to visibility.

Right. And [01:19:00] like showing people what the options are and showcasing that this is a path forward for men, women, whatever you are. Honestly, that’s kind of our hope with the growth of two girls. One formula is that we’re expanding outside of just formula one and. Showcasing all of the different avenues that are possible for women in the motor sport world.

But obviously we cannot do everything all at once. And so it’s definitely something we’re looking towards the future and helping gain some visibility for our mostly female audience to be like, here are all of the options. It’s not just formula one. If you’re interested in cars, like here’s how you can get involved.

And here’s a career. Path for you.

Crew Chief Eric: And one of the things that sort of rubs me the wrong way is when people say, well, when are we going to see the first female formula one driver? And we even talked about this not too long ago. Tanya brought it up and she’s like, that already happened. Right. That happened in the seventies.

Yeah. Like, what are you talking about?

Kate (TG1F): That’s I think where I get frustrated [01:20:00] is like, I think there’s a lot of people out there. We see a lot of like content creation around, like, we need more women and we need a woman to be driving a car. And like, we need to see the first female F1 driver and like, we need all these things.

And it’s like, we’ve been there and we’ve had these things, so let’s celebrate them. Let’s talk about them. Let’s bring that back into conversation so that more people know that that has happened. And then because we’re talking about it, there’s seen to be a demand for it. And that’s only going to show people that are in power, that there’s a demand for it, there’s a need for it, and that people are looking for that to happen again.

And I think honestly, it’s just kind of disrespectful to the women that have already been there and have already done the work and have like. Done these incredible things to say like, yeah, yeah, yeah, you did that, but we need another one right now. And like, we need to be in there and like, we need more of this when it’s like, don’t discount what’s already happened.

Like, don’t discount progress that’s been made. And, and even if you’re, hasn’t been as good and like, maybe it hasn’t been like prolonged [01:21:00] and the sport hasn’t taken hold of it. Like, don’t take that away from the people that have already. had those accomplishments and been the first Formula One female driver or been these people that have done these things because to discount those and say that that’s not enough is saying that those people are not enough.

And I think that is like the problem that I have with a lot of the discourse around this topic.

Crew Chief Eric: And I think that’s where organizations like Women in Motorsports North America or WMNA who You know, it’s headed up by Lynn St. James and other veteran female racers is setting itself apart from a lot of these other organizations.

Like you’re talking about, there may be a little bit more superficial. Look at us, look at us. You know, we’re, we’re starting the trend. It’s like, no, the trend was started a long time ago with people like Michelle Mouton and Janet Guthrie and Lynn herself and other people. And they’re like. This is how we need to do this ladies.

This is how we get the job done. And so I look to those organizations as inspiration, hopefully for the future and, and that we get the word out there that it exists and that women can go there as a useful [01:22:00] resource to building their career in the motor sports industry.

Nicole (TG1F): Absolutely. Yeah.

Crew Chief Brad: And to, I guess, continue this conversation, we’ve got another Pitstop question for you.

So of all the successful women that have raced over the years, and we call them the glorious ladies of racing. Are there any on your bucket list that you’d like to meet and talk to interview with, maybe have as guests on your podcast, you know, things like that.

Nicole (TG1F): Well, first of all, we’d obviously love to have Jamie Chadwick on the podcast because she has just been the number one champion the past three years in a row for the W series, and she’s absolutely crushing it.

You know, we used to joke that we were gonna get into crypto and started Dow to buy Haas. With

Crew Chief Eric: Dogecoin. Brad’s got some. Yeah, exactly. From his Cybertruck, uh, allotment. Perfect.

Nicole (TG1F): We’re gonna kick Nikita Mazpin out and instill Jamie Chadwick. This was before he got fired. You would not believe the backlash we received on the internet for this joke.

We posted a reel from our podcast where we were talking about this bit, [01:23:00] and we just got, like, decimated. By death threats

Kate (TG1F): of people being like, you are the stupidest people in the world. You’re so like, I can’t believe that you’re such idiots. Like you don’t even know anything. You don’t know all the steps you would have to take.

You can’t just buy a team and put someone in there. We were like, have you literally ever heard of a joke?

Crew Chief Eric: Have you ever looked at the history? of any of these Formula One drivers. I was like, oh

Kate (TG1F): my god! Yeah, like, I’m like, I’m sorry, Lance Stoll’s dad bought him a team and put him in there, so like, I think I could probably do that for Jamie, alright?

I’ll be her dad!

Nicole (TG1F): So, we were, it was just like, we had to delete the video because they were just like, spreading our, they were like, we hope they get cancer, we hope they die, like, it was like, so, so bad. That was a real day to be a woman on the internet talking about motorsport, but she is one of the leading ladies of the females in motorsport right now.

And so I think that she would definitely be someone that we would love to [01:24:00] talk to because we’re eager to help support these women in their journey to become Formula One drivers or, you know, more professional drivers in whatever series they’re looking to do. And obviously, you know, we had Danica Patrick, who’s.

You know, been pretty successful in her career. How can we spread the good word and, and help Jamie get to where she needs to be?

Crew Chief Eric: I really thought Danica was going to be the next female in formula one, not to say the first, but the next, the next,

Nicole (TG1F): yeah. I mean, it looked pretty good for her for a while there.

Crew Chief Eric: And then she took that left turn and then she made another left turn. I had another left turn, all of the left turns. That was it.

Kate (TG1F): She went left, left, left, left, left. Yeah. I love Tonya Bradinger. I think she’s really cool and like, is bringing a whole new vibe to women in motorsports. She’s a race car driver, but she also like, has all of these like, beauty brand partnerships and has like, worked with like, fashion houses and like, is just kind of bringing like, a new Spin to motor sports and saying like, I’m a woman that [01:25:00] drives the car, but that doesn’t mean that like, I don’t care about my hair and my makeup.

Like I can be both and I multi dimensional and I care a lot about what I look like and do all these things. But like my job is that I drive race cars and I think she’s really cool and it’s kind of starting a new conversation around that. Hopefully I think more women that do that will show brands that like they can sponsor women in different ways.

And it doesn’t just have to be like monster energies. Sponsoring this girl, you can be kind of multifaceted as a woman. And I’m really excited to start seeing hopefully a diverse set of brands getting into the space of motorsport, which is exciting. And then obviously we’d love to talk to Susie Wolf.

Like I have to talk to her someday. Like I have to have her on the podcast and I don’t even want to talk about Toto. I don’t. I kind of do, but I don’t. I want to talk about, like, her career and, like, the steps that she’s, like, carved her own path, and she’s driven F1 cars. Like, she’s one of the women that have done that, and, like, I think she has done a great job of keeping visibility on women, [01:26:00] so I’m trying to talk to her.

Executive Producer Tania: When you were mining your Bitcoin, and you were going to buy your team, you were going to put Jamie in the seat. Who else would you put in the seat? You got your team. You got to have two drivers. You got two cars. Well, it was still

Nicole (TG1F): going to be Mick at this point. So we were just going to kick out Mazipan and keep Mick.

Executive Producer Tania: Well, you’re going to do an all female team. So you got to kick Mick out.

Nicole (TG1F): Well, so then it was going to be Tony, Jamie and Tony. Yeah. Yeah, but why not?

Crew Chief Eric: So would you guys go totally cliche and you’d go back to the old force India livery where they’re like all pink or do something different?

Nicole (TG1F): We did discuss that our car was going to be, we’re going to bring back the bubble gum pink and it was going to be an all pink car.

And we were really just going to lean into the girly vibes and we were going to get sponsors. Like I got

Crew Chief Eric: one for you. I got one for you.

Nicole (TG1F): Okay. Tell us.

Crew Chief Eric: Splayed across the side. Kotex, the best.

Nicole (TG1F): Okay. Ricky. It’s Tampax, we’re really lean into it. Well, it was just going to be the two girls, one formula team.

We’re going to hypothetically have enough money that we wouldn’t need [01:27:00] any other sponsors in this fantasy world that we had created.

Kate (TG1F): Yeah.

Crew Chief Eric: That’s the same thing we do when we have our three car garage fantasy. So yeah,

Nicole (TG1F): exactly. So it’s just going to be team TG1F. No other sponsors.

Crew Chief Eric: So ladies, we’ve come to that point in the episode where I like to ask if you have any shout outs, promotions, or anything else you’d like to share that we haven’t covered thus far.

Nicole (TG1F): Give us a follow at two girls, one formula on Instagram and tick tock. Unfortunately, it’s we’re not at two girls, one formula on Twitter because. You can’t have that many letters in your username. Give us a follow, check out our podcasts. If you’re at all interested in pop culture side of things. And another plug is that we do have a website to gross one formula.

com where we do sell some pretty fun merch. If you’re looking for some, not. Team branded Formula One merch.

Kate (TG1F): We always have new collections. And also just as a quick aside, two girls, one formula is spelled [01:28:00] T W O and then the one is a numerical one. There is someone else that has numerical two girls, numerical one formula, and that’s not us, but you’ll know because they haven’t posted in over a year.

Three years,

Crew Chief Brad: the two girls, one formula community is inclusive, welcoming, and accepting of all types of fans. It doesn’t matter if you started watching yesterday or 20 years ago, they’re here for you to find people to connect with in a meaningful way. So learn more about Nicole and Kate and keep up with all things formula one with their unique perspective on this great discipline of motor sports.

Be sure to tune into their show, two girls, one formula on all your favorite podcatchers and music apps. You can also find them on social that. Two girls, one formula that’s Alpha two girls numeric one formula on Instagram TikTok and visit their website www.twogirlsoneformula.com. Go for the F1 and stay for the friendships.

Crew Chief Eric: That’s right Brad and Kate and Nicole, I can’t thank you enough for coming on Break fix. This has been a lot of fun. We [01:29:00] enjoy doing crossovers. I also want to say that. We’ve been very fortunate to have a lot of women on this show and you guys are joining an elite cast of folks and what you’re doing for the community at large is absolutely amazing.

I know it’s going to have a positive impact for years to come. And I, again, I want to celebrate your guys, 50 episodes and here’s to 50 more. So thank you. And congratulations.

Nicole (TG1F): Thank you guys. Thank you for having us and all of the kind words. This has been really, really fun. And thank you for being kind to us for not knowing as much about cars as you all do.

So thank you for going easy on us. We’re still early in our car journeys. So we’ll have to come back on in two years and revisit all of these harder car questions. See if Kate gets a Kia Soul or not. Yeah, exactly. We want to know

Crew Chief Eric: about Monza. That’s what we want to know. We’ll circle

Nicole (TG1F): back after I reclaim Monza and see where we’re at then.

Crew Chief Brad: If you like what you’ve heard and want to [01:30:00] learn more about GTM, be sure to check us out on www. gtmotorsports. org. You can also find us on Motorsports. Also, if you want to get involved or have suggestions for future shows, You can call or text us at 202 630 1770 or send us an email at crewchief at gtmotorsports.

org. We’d love to hear from you.

Crew Chief Eric: Hey everybody, Crew Chief Eric here. We really hope you enjoyed this episode of Break Fix and we wanted to remind you that GTM remains a no annual fees organization. And our goal is to continue to bring you quality episodes like this one at no charge. As a loyal listener, please consider subscribing to our Patreon for bonus and behind the scenes content, extra goodies, and GTM swag.

For as little as 2. 50 a month, you can keep our developers, writers, editors, casters, and other volunteers fed on their strict diet of fig newtons, gummy bears, and monster. Consider signing [01:31:00] up for Patreon today at www. patreon. com forward slash GT Motorsports. And remember, without fans, supporters, and members like you, none of this would be possible.

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