The Pit Talk
The Pit Talk podcast powered by Ethara sees former Red Bull F1 driver Robert Doornbos join forces with and sports broadcaster Chris McHardy. The Pit Talk goes beyond the chequered flag and dives into every twist and turn from the entire race weekend – on and off the track. From past and present F1 drivers to team bosses and race-day engineers, the voices behind the visor are here to pull you straight into the cockpit. The Pit Talk, powered by Ethara – your ultimate guide to Formula One.
Episodes

4 days ago
4 days ago
54 min
Monaco gave us ten overtakes this year. Madrid, a brand new circuit with a ten year deal and a World Champion as its ambassador, gave us four.
Robert Doornbos was there, and he is not sugarcoating it. An industrial estate 50 minutes outside the city, a build-up that promised Macau, Monaco and Jeddah rolled into one, and then a Sunday where nothing happened in F3, nothing happened in F2 and nothing happened in F1.
Plus: Robert's five takeaways, why he is calling the title for Kimi Antonelli right now, how Lando Norris lost the race by going too fast, Carlos Sainz driving like a rookie in his own back yard, Lance Stroll's record laid out race by race, and the six foot four American F3 champion who steers with one hand.
And Ollie Millroy joins us from his hospital bed in Shanghai for his first interview since the crash. Six broken ribs, a fractured vertebra and a rib through his lung, and he cannot remember a second of it. He talks about the Dutch driver who pulled him out of a burning car, the marshals who did not, and whether he wants to get back in.
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Sep 9, 2026
Sep 9, 2026
56 min
Nineteenth on the grid. First at the flag. At the Temple of Speed, in front of a Ferrari crowd, in a Mercedes.
Chris McHardy and former F1 driver Robert Doornbos break down the Italian Grand Prix, and Robert spotted something on the onboards that the broadcast never showed you. One driver used more of the circuit than anybody else all weekend.
Plus: Charles Leclerc puts it in the wall at Parabolica again. George Russell gets beaten by a teammate who started 19th. Ferrari have no rules of engagement and it's tearing them apart. Robert reveals the real cost of reaching Formula 1 — and it's eight million dollars. The Jacques Villeneuve story. And the GT crash in China that should have killed a driver, and the rival who drove towards the fireball to pull him out.
Madrid is next. Both of them have made the same prediction.
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Aug 27, 2026
Aug 27, 2026
49 min
What does it cost to crash a Formula 1 car? Seventeen million dollars, if you do it properly. Fourteen of that is the engine alone.
Robert Doornbos takes the lid off the money in this one. What's really written into a driver contract — including the clause that said he had to stay within two tenths of David Coulthard, and the bonus he tried to renegotiate before his boss told him to name any number he liked, because he'd never collect it. He didn't.
He also takes us back to the F1 that made the budget cap necessary: one power steering unit, two Minardis, and a coin flip to decide who went without.
Plus Max signed to 2030 and what half a billion actually buys, whether Mercedes have simply run out of money, Ferrari's ego problem, and the argument the sport can't settle — Alonso is only the second man over 45 to score a point, and a 20-year-old is leading the championship. Which one is the better story?
Robert Doornbos and Chris McHardy. The Pit Talk Podcast.
The Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, 3–6 December. Tickets at AbuDhabiGP.com
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Jul 28, 2026
Jul 28, 2026
54 min
Robert Doornbos drops the biggest call of the season so far — Max Verstappen’s options are gone, and Red Bull is the only door left open.
Lando Norris and McLaren are BACK, the new floor works, and the number one on the car suddenly looks earned again. Max produces the overtake of the year on Lewis Hamilton. Kimi Antonelli somehow finds the podium from nowhere and inches closer to a title he no longer needs to win races for. And Carlos Sainz? Nine blue flags. NINE.
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Jul 21, 2026
Jul 21, 2026
48 min
The morning after the night before in Spa, and Kimi Antonelli’s made it SIX wins in ten races. But the real story? George Russell might be talking himself out of Mercedes.
Chris McHardy and ex-F1 driver Robert Doornbos break down the Belgian Grand Prix fallout: Toto Wolff’s brutal “half of it is on the driving” verdict, why Robert says George is “hanging on like a cat on the mirror,” and whether Kimi is genuinely the next Max Verstappen.
Plus: the pole time that dropped 3.8 SECONDS on last year (“that’s F2, not F1”), Alonso and Aston’s absolute mess, the truth behind Max’s Red Bull future, Isack Hadjar’s P21-to-P6 masterclass, and Carlos Sainz’s radical plan to blow up the F1 format.
Chris also revisits his own plan to supercharge F1, and it involves revolutionising qualifying. Robert’s onboard. Are you?
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Jul 6, 2026
Jul 6, 2026
51 min
The British Grand Prix delivered drama aplenty including a controversial finale that left Robert Doornbos and Chris McHardy a little short changed.
Kimi Antonelli was on course for the win of his young career at Silverstone before a snapped brake duct and a harsh penalty ended it, leaving the teenager in tears. Charles Leclerc pounced for Ferrari's 250th win while George Russell rode a safety car to clinch a first - and lucky - home podium. Max Verstappen suffered a second mechanical failure in seven days and stormed off furious, fuelling fresh questions over his Red Bull future.
Robert makes his case for why Lewis Hamilton, "a shell" of himself a year ago, could still win title number eight this year.
Plus the guys discuss McLare/ “lost” year, Christian Horner's possible return, Aston Martin's collapse (again), and unforgettable Michael Schumacher stories.
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Jun 29, 2026
Jun 29, 2026
54 min
The Austrian GP delivered drama on AND off the track, and Robert Doornbos is calling it like he sees it.George Russell takes his second win of the year, but Robert questions whether he should've even had pole after a controversial yellow-flag call. Max Verstappen grabs a relieved P2 at Red Bull's home race as the silly-season storm intensifies, including reports of an €8 million bonus to close his exit clause, McLaren circling, and why Robert believes the Mercedes window has already shut.
We also unpack Kimi Antonelli's rookie growing pains, Ferrari's Sunday collapse, Lewis Hamilton slipping behind George in the standings, and the BYD rumour that could add a 12th team to the grid — all before a huge Silverstone sprint weekend.
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#PitTalkPod #F1 #AustrianGP #Formula1 #GeorgeRussell #MaxVerstappen #RedBull #Ferrari #LewisHamilton #Mercedes #McLaren

Jun 15, 2026
Jun 15, 2026
45 min
Lewis Hamilton wins in red.
His first Ferrari victory, the oldest GP winner since 1970, and suddenly, a title fight nobody saw coming.
Robert Doornbos and Chris McHardy on the Spanish GP: Hamilton's emotional comeback, Kimi Antonelli's cruel late retirement, the first all-British podium since 1968, Leclerc's confidence crisis, and why Robert reckons Max Verstappen is the best driver heading for sixth in the championship.
Plus Robert's wild Mille Miglia story!

Jun 9, 2026
Jun 9, 2026
44 min
Kimi Antonelli just rewrote the record books in the streets of Monaco — and the rest of the grid should be terrified.
Robert Doornbos and Chris break down the weekend that crowned the YOUNGEST Monaco GP winner in history: five wins on the bounce, a 66-point championship lead, and a pole snatched from Max by four hundredths of a second.
Meanwhile George Russell talked the talk in the build-up… then qualified four tenths down and is now staring at a 60+ point gap to his own teammate. Ouch.
Plus: Charles Leclerc signs the mega money deal then bins it into the wall, Lewis banks podium number eight at Monaco, rookie Isaac Hadjar grabs his first-ever rostrum — and Robert spills how he made half a year's rent renting out his balcony for ONE weekend.

May 25, 2026
May 25, 2026
48 min
It’s the morning after the night before and Robert Doornbos and Chris McHardy are back to discuss all the fallout from a thrilling Canadian Grand Prix.
A record-breaking fourth successive win for Kimi Antonelli has Robert purring as he makes a bold claim that won’t go down well with fans of George Russell.
Robert also explains why Max Verstappen will never win motorsport’s Triple Crown… and there’s a good reason for that!
The boys also discuss the nuances of driving in F1 compared to IndyCar as Robert explains the physical and mental toll of competing in both. That in the wake of Felix Rosenqvist’s incredible last-gasp victory in the 100th edition of the iconic Indy500.








