Back at Base: 3. A Shot at Redemption

F1: Chequered Flag

BBC

Sports

4.2 • 2.2K Ratings

🗓️ 23 February 2024

⏱️ 33 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Inside the Williams and Mercedes factories, where F1 cars come to life, the workforce is putting its heart and soul into the winter tasks now well underway. There are just 14 weeks between the 2023 season and the first race of 2024 in Bahrain. In this series, we have been allowed rare access into the heart of the operations. And at the Williams facility, in rural Oxfordshire, we are about to go on a VIP tour to learn how to build an F1 car.

At Brackley, home to the Mercedes’ F1 team, the factory is united by a common purpose. Mercedes dominated F1 from 2014. But when new technical rules came in at the start of 2022, Red Bull overtook Mercedes as the fastest team on track. The desire to return Mercedes to the top runs deep - and for a very significant reason.

The motivation to get the 2024 car right is massive for both teams - but first Williams and Mercedes have to absorb the lessons from last season’s car. And each team has a very specific problem that it now wants to put right.

At Brackley, work continues around the clock on the new Mercedes and the Williams factory is also working at full capacity - with extra shifts and overtime standard at this crucial time in the car build. The factories are moving up a gear, because a new car for a new season - that’s a chance to start again.

F1: Back at Base is an IMG Production for the BBC Narrated by Joseph Fiennes Co-hosts & Executive Producers are Holly Samos and Sarah Holt The Producers are Alasdair Cresswell, Joe Aldridge and Jack Winstanley. The Senior Producer is Ollie Kneen The Executive Producer for IMG is Steve Tebb The Showrunner is Holly Samos The Story Editor and Scriptwriter is Sarah Holt The Commissioning Editor at the BBC is Stevie Middleton

Transcript

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0:00.0	Before you listen to this BBC podcast, I'd like to quickly tell you about some others.
0:05.2	My name's Andy Martin and I'm the editor of a team of podcast producers at the BBC in Northern Ireland.
0:11.3	It's a job I really love because we get to tell the stories that really matter to people here,
0:16.3	but which also resonate and apply to listeners around the world.
0:19.6	And because the team has such a diverse
0:21.2	range of skills and strengths, we have trained journalists, people who love digging through
0:26.0	archives, we've got drama and even comedy experts. We really can do those stories justice. So if
0:31.8	you like this podcast, head to BBC Sounds where you'll find plenty more fascinating stories
0:37.1	from all around the UK.
0:39.1	You're about to listen to F1 back at bass.
0:42.4	Episodes will be released daily wherever you get your podcasts.
0:45.9	But if you're in the UK, listen to the latest episodes first on BBC Sounds.
1:09.0	Music Formula One is a fast-paced, where cars reach 220 miles per hour and thrills weight around every corner. But the foundations for the racing buzz are laid back at base, inside F1's top secret
1:14.8	factories, where the race cars come to life.
1:18.7	I'm Joseph Fines, and in this series, we've been given unprecedented access to two F1 icons,
1:25.5	Williams and Mercedes, as they prepare for the coming 2024 season.
1:30.3	We're going to walk into this brown building.
1:32.3	Our guides along the way are F1 experts, broadcaster Holly Samos and journalist Sarah Holt.
1:38.3	And then we've got this lovely welcoming morning that says Williams Racing.
1:43.3	As we reveal the relentless work to go racing again
1:46.4	let's go in we're in permanent racing mode we want to be so much further ahead and there's a long
1:54.4	journey to get there this is not coal mining this is Formula bomb motor racing yeah that's as much
	...

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