Rob Smedley is the man responsible for making Formula 1 more accessible: his current role with the sport’s promoters involves making technical information clearer to fans, as part of efforts to make F1 more understandable — and more interesting.
He’s a man who has lived through interesting times: in the latest podcast, Smedley recalls encountering a “baby” Fernando Alonso in an F3000 test, and becoming his race engineer, before moving to Formula 1 where he worked for the “utter lunatic” Eddie Jordan. Smedley moved to Ferrari where he was race engineer to Felipe Massa, helping the Brazilian to cope as team-mate to Michael Schumacher and then to get within a whisker of the F1 world championship.
Smedley describes how he became front-page news thanks to the famous “Fernando is faster than you” radio call, and gives his thoughts on how Williams can improve, following his stint at the team as head of vehicle performance.
What is the greatest grand prix from seven decades of the Formula 1 world championship? Have your say and vote now
Aston Martin's shake-up could see the company seize the game-changing opportunity offered by Formula 1. Could we see a World Champion come along for the ride?
McLaren will reduce the size of its workforce as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, but also to prepare for the F1 cost cap
Further changes to next year's F1 regulations should reduce the yawning gap between the smaller teams and the top three, writes Mark Hughes
