Allan McNish: winning ‘the Audi way’

F1 Beyond The Grid

karenellenbevan

Leisure, Sports News, News, Sports, Technology, Automotive

4.8 • 5.2K Ratings

🗓️ 14 October 2025

⏱️ 78 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Serial winner in sports cars, Formula 1 driver and all-out racer: Allan McNish is using his experience to give Audi a fast start in F1. A Le Mans and World Endurance Championship-winner with the manufacturer, Allan knows how ‘the Audi way’ of racing will translate to F1.

Allan’s own journey to F1 began with a McLaren test alongside Ayrton Senna. 13 years later, he finally made his Grand Prix debut. Allan tells Tom Clarkson how his sportscar career eventually led him to F1 with Toyota, and seeing a young Fernando Alonso’s unique driving style up-close while at Renault.

Plus, Allan explains his work with the new Audi F1 team ahead of their 2026 debut, and why he thinks Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto are the perfect drivers for the team.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Sharing intimate photos of her without her consent.
0:02.9	Unwanted touching. Unwanted comments. Unwanted nudes.
0:06.6	Controlling what she can and can't wear.
0:08.5	Controlling who she can and can't see.
0:10.3	Threatening her.
0:11.6	Enough. This is abuse.
0:14.2	If you think it's wrong, act on it.
0:16.5	Call it out, show support, report it.
0:19.4	There are many ways you can safely tackle violence against women and girls.
0:23.4	Find out how at gov.uk slash enough.
0:27.3	If someone is in danger, call 999.
0:33.6	His first taste of Formula One was alongside one of the greatest there's ever been.
0:43.8	It was McLaren and the other side of the garage was I-eart in Senna.
0:47.5	Looking back on it, you think, wow, what a baptism of fire in a way, but at the time you just
0:52.2	get in and do it.
0:53.7	When he drove, his level of feedback, he was actually going into a lot more detail.
0:59.0	And that was where I realized, actually, if you want to be in this sport, then you've got to put in so much more effort.
1:07.0	But soon after witnessing Senna's genius, Alan McNish suffered a severe setback on his Formula One journey.
1:15.6	Unfortunately, when I was 21, I was ill. And I had a virus that knocked a lot of the momentum out of my career.
1:23.1	Just had no energy. My joints were swollen up. I couldn't put pressure onto the pedal to be lifted out
1:29.2	of the car in Hockenheim. I think the spotlight and the momentum went in that era.
1:36.7	More than a decade later, in 2002, Alan finally made his Formula One breakthrough with Toyota.
	...

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