The Athletic

We've reached the end of another season of Bring Back V10s, but don't get too sad just yet,

because we're signing off in style with another top 10 debate,

and this time we're debating the biggest rivalries of the

V10 era. As you might expect, many of the biggest names from the 90s and 90s will feature

heavily. So this is going to be a lot of fun. I'm your host, Glenn Freeman, and as always, I'm joined

for our now traditional end of series debate by Matt Beer, Ben Anderson and Ed Straw.

Matt, let's quickly set the scene a bit here.

What makes a great rivalry for you other than, of course, someone taking issue with Nigel Mansell?

Oh, straight into Mansell, excellent.

So two factors. Anxy tension. It's going to have a bit of needle about it. And not equivalent talent, but near enough that you know it's a real contest. Ben, what do you want from a great rivalry? It's got to be high stakes. It's got to be enduring. It can't be a flash in the pan thing.

Ideally, you've got a bit of on track and off track to it.

There's some animosity, which is something Matt mentioned with Needle.

And it's got to have kind of some iconic element to it.

It's got to have consequences that go just beyond itself.

Nice.

Ed, presumably you're disappointed that Gabrielli Tarkini versus qualifying for races wasn't included in that shortlist. Well, I did try and lobby for that sort of thing, just as I tried to lobby for Matt Beer versus Nigel Mansell. But I didn't get anywhere on those. But, yeah, I think in terms of rivalries, you are looking for high stakes. I know Ben's already said that one. You're looking for a personal element. You're looking for real competition. And it needs to be consequential. It needs to be mattered. It needs to be remembered and be enduring as well, as Ben said. So it needs to be sustained with multiple chapters. I'm a little bit worried. I'm a little bit on similar ground to Ben here, which is never a good place to be. Yeah, get off my turf, Ed. These episodes, but I think people know I love a stat, and I think this is something that very much defies any kind of statistical analysis. It's very much, I think, storyline based. Yeah, so you're outside of your comfort zone, which is maybe why you've ended up on Ben's turf. I love that Ben's being protective of his turf, whereas Ed's going, well, I don't want to be on your turf. I'm petrified and lying with you in a top 10. Too many fives. Too many vibes. A stock is right twice a day, isn't it? Sometimes Ben will be right. I mentioned a shortlist there. It was actually much shorter than usual for this one,

as we only had 12 rivalries to choose from. We usually tend to have sort of 15 to 20 on our shortlist.

But when a rivalry you're desperately hoping we include hasn't made the cut, don't get annoyed,

because if you're in our members club on Patreon, you'll be able to suggest rivalries we missed for an exclusive bonus episode where we'll discuss your suggestions. And if you're not yet part of the members club, now is a great time to check it out, as we have a pre-season offer running where you can get 90% off your first month. So head to the link in the description of this episode to get involved.

While you're there, you can also check out our new Bring Back V10's Debrief, where I take member

questions after each episode. Plus, there are lots of other benefits and bonus content from

...