Kalle Rovanpera clinched a fifth win from seven World Rally Championship rounds with a masterclass display to defeat Toyota team-mate Elfyn Evans at Rally Estonia. The WRC championship leader produced yet another stunning performance, despite starting first on the road in changeable weather conditions, to beat Evans by 1m00.9s on Estonia’s fast gravel roads. Martyn Lee is joined by Tom Howard to discuss all the action, and we hear from the top three of Rovanpera, Evans and Tanak.
Round 7 of the World Rally Championship in Estonia kicks off tomorrow just after 6:30pm UK, and Martyn Lee is joined by Tom Howard to preview the action. Safari Rally Kenya was a car-breaker with harsh conditions hurting many teams and drivers, whilst 2022's sensation Kalle Rovanpera dominated from first on the road. Can home hero Ott Tanak fight back at an event he has won multiple times, and will Toyota's upgrade package be another blow for the teams playing catch up? On the podcast today, Tom is joined by M-Sport Team principal Richard Millener, reflecting on Safari and looking to Estonia. We'll hear about their solutions to reliability issues and how he is expecting Craig Breen to deliver in Estonia. Tom has also spoken with Hyundai Deputy team director Julien Moncet about the parts shortages causing a supply "nightmare".
Martyn Lee is joined by Alex Kalinauckas, Jess McFadyen and Megan White to analyse how the Ferrari pace was different between the Sprint and the Grand Prix. Max Verstappen came home second as Charles Leclerc ended his barron run of races to win from second on the grid. Carlos Sainz escaped unharmed from a fast-spreading fire as he pulled off the track but couldn’t jump out until help arrived because of the pitch of the service road. And we talk about Mick Schumacher who won driver of the day for his best finish in Formula 1 so far with sixth place, behind Lewis Hamilton (3rd) , George Russell (4th) and Esteban Ocon (5th).
Luke Smith and Matt Kew are fresh (or perhaps, no SO fresh) from running the track this evening, having witnessed a frantic Sprint in Austria. We hear about their conversations with Verstappen, Leclerc and Sainz and how today’s finishing order will impact how teams attack the Grand Prix tomorrow. The Mercedes garage had to rebuild both cars after qualifying shunts and Toto Wolff talks about the effort required. Plus both Haas drivers continue to impress our hosts with the pace they’re extracting from a car which hasn’t been updated as much as it’s rivals.
It’s a sprint race weekend! That means today was Free Practice 1 and then the teams were straight into qualifying for the 24-lap sprint race on Saturday afternoon (3:30pm BST). With track limits once again being a controversial topic, and a double shunt for the Mercedes pair of Hamilton and Russell, there’s plenty to unpick on the podcast today with Martyn Lee and Haydn Cobb.
Kevin Turner and Haydn Cobb join Martyn Lee for a look back at a thrilling British Grand Prix.
Between dodging the heavy rain which blessed Silverstone qualifying today, our editors Alex Kalinauckas and Stuart Codling join Martyn Lee in the GP Racing Fan Village to look back at a wet and wild session which saw Carlos Sainz achieve his maiden grand prix pole.
The Autosport Podcast is coming live from our temporary studio in the GP Racing Fan Village. OK, we'll admit it, we're in a marquee which looks like it's normally used for wedding receptions! Situated on the outside of the Maggotts/Becketts complex, Stuart Codling and Matt Kew have hot-footed it from the paddock to join Martyn Lee for a special edition of the show.
Kalle Rovanpera enhanced his World Rally Championship title credentials with victory at a gruelling Safari Rally Kenya, as Toyota locked out the top four positions. Tom Howard is back on the podcast to review a weekend of attrition and superb performances. Your host is Martyn Lee
Tom Howard is live from Africa as he previews all the action for this weekend's Safari Rally Kenya