Scott Speed: Red Bull’s American prodigy

F1: Beyond The Grid

karenellenbevan

Leisure, Sports, Technology, Automotive

4.8 • 5.2K Ratings

🗓️ 16 May 2023

⏱️ 65 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

‘I was a super cocky, arrogant kid’. Fast by name, fast by nature. Scott Speed was born to be a racer. He had natural talent and raw pace. But he didn’t need telling. After being discovered by Red Bull as America’s next star, Speed arrived in Formula 1 with a ‘massive ego’. Debuting for Scuderia Toro Rosso in 2006, he lasted just 18 months. With no World Championship points to his name, Speed was replaced by Sebastian Vettel after the 2007 European Grand Prix. Rallycross is the epicentre of his most notable achievements since then – he’s a four-time champion and three-time X-Games gold medallist – but Speed has also raced in NASCAR and IndyCar among other competitions. Speaking to Tom Clarkson, Scott relives an exciting journey into motorsport that begins with his father’s infectious passion for racing. He explains very openly how a bad attitude, a lack of motivation, and a struggle to adapt to life in Europe cost him more time in Formula 1. Plus, Scott reveals how he’s helping today’s generation of drivers avoid the same mistakes he made.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Brutally honest, an open, Scott's speed doesn't hold back when reflecting on his time in Formula
0:11.6	1.
0:12.6	How young I was, an uneducated, massive ego.
0:17.2	I didn't have the drive to keep getting better, I didn't have the drive to keep pushing
0:21.1	myself.
0:22.1	I just look back at a silly kid, it's got to embarrass him, honestly.
0:26.5	Having for Toro Roso, he contested 28 races over 18 months.
0:31.2	He was quick and he was intelligent, but he didn't manage to score any world championship
0:36.0	points.
0:37.2	There were of course many reasons why his Formula 1 career came to a premature end, and
0:42.7	some of it came down to his attitude.
0:45.8	He was in his own words, a cocky kid, but having learnt the error of his ways, Scott's
0:51.6	now helping others avoid the same mistakes.
1:15.5	Hello and welcome to F1 Beyond the Grid.
1:20.0	I'm Tom Clarkson and this week I'm speaking to someone who, with a name like his, was always
1:26.2	destined to be a racer.
1:28.4	Californian Scott's speed was discovered by Red Bull's US driver search program 20 years
1:34.0	ago, after which he won some championships and catapulted up the ranks, and in 2006 was
1:40.6	given a seat at Toro Roso, the team now known as AlphaTowery.
1:46.0	Scott knew he was fast and he knew he had a lot of ability, but there's a fine line
1:51.2	between confidence and cockiness, and the latter proved to be his downfall.
1:56.6	A year and a half in, Scott was replaced at the team by Sebastian Vettel.
	...

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