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We open Episode Five checking in at the airport with Haas driver Ollie Bearman as he prepares to take off for the final three races of the 2025 Formula 1 World Championship. But there’s only one thing on his mind - will he get the dreaded middle seat? Fellow rookie Kimi Antonelli is also flying high as Formula 1 touches down for the Las Vegas Grand Prix. The Mercedes teenager takes a gamble on tyre strategy but will it pay off when the cars hit The Strip? Antonelli and his race engineer Pete Bonnington are looking back on the teenager’s rookie season in 2025. Bonnington, aka Bono, was one half of F1’s most successful driver-engineer pairing with seven-time World Champion Sir Lewis Hamilton, so how does it compare working with a rookie making his first steps into F1? While the competition is nearly over on track, the race inside the team’s top-secret F1 factories has only just begun. It’s early December, and all the teams are pushing hard to build a completely reimagined car for F1’s new era, when a new set of technical regulations are set to shake up the sport. At Mercedes, our F1 experts Sarah Holt and Holly Samos are given a guided tour by Chief Operating Officer Rob Thomas on the factory’s busiest day of the year. As the sport prepares to move forwards into its new era, the dust is settling on the 2025 season at the finale in Abu Dhabi. There’s time for Bearman and his race engineer Ronan O’Hara to also give their verdict on his rookie season and formulate lessons to take into the British racer’s 2026 campaign. But the clock is ticking on Cadillac’s F1 debut… There are now less than 100 days to go until the US team joins the grid and team principal Graeme Lowdon is beginning to feel the pressure.F1: Back at Base is an IMG Production for the BBC, hosted by Rosamund Pike Co-hosts & Executive Producers are Sarah Holt and Holly Samos

The final phase of the 2025 Formula 1 World Championship is hotting up for our rookie drivers Kimi Antonelli and Ollie Bearman with just five races to go. At the start of this episode, we’re flying high with Mercedes driver Antonelli as he boards his flight to Mexico. But when you’re a jetset driver, how do you pass the time during long-haul trips across the world? The high-altitude circuit in Mexico City also sees fellow rookie, Britain’s Ollie Bearman, climb to a career high finish with Haas, after a wheel-to-wheel battle with title challengers Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri. Before joining the F1 grid, Antonelli and Bearman knew each other well, and used to race together as teammates in the junior Formula 2 series. In an exclusive for this podcast, we arranged a fun reunion for them to compare their rookie seasons. As Bearman and Antonelli and the rest of the F1 pack head to Brazil, our guides Sarah Holt and Holly Samos are joining the Cadillac Formula 1 team back at base at Silverstone. Here the team are gearing up for their debut F1 season by competing against their rivals in a race simulation. This is a moment rarely seen in F1 history - but our podcast has been invited inside. Cadillac won’t hit the grid until March 2026 - but it’s crucial they iron out any gremlins now. In the real race in Sao Paulo, there’s another major milestone for rookie Antonelli, who finishes with the best result of his F1 career. His Mercedes teammate, 2025 race-winner George Russell, gives his verdict on the rookie drivers and looks ahead to why he and Antonelli must work together if they are to win future World titles. F1: Back at Base is an IMG Production for the BBC, hosted by Rosamund Pike Co-hosts & Executive Producers are Sarah Holt and Holly Samos.

Hollywood legend Keanu Reeves makes his entrance in Episode Three of the podcast as the actor reveals why he has chosen to document Cadillac’s journey to the Formula 1 grid in a follow-up to his award-winning 2023 series about the Brawn F1 team. Our expert F1 guides, Holly Samos and Sarah Holt, are also closely following Cadillac’s story, and they arrive at the team’s factory for a landmark moment for the team. Under the watchful eye of Race Team Manager Pete Crolla, the team are preparing to send off their first sea freight of the season from their Silverstone headquarters. They are also building the garage that will home the cars at the track for the very first time. The series continues to follow 2025 rookie drivers Ollie Bearman and Kimi Antonelli in-between the races. Bearman reveals what he’s been doing at a test session in Italy. But there are also testing times in the World Championship for the Haas racer who has picked up more penalty points on his F1 Super licence and is in danger of a race ban. Mercedes teenage sensation Kimi Antonelli finds himself in the spotlight for a very different reason, as we go behind-the-scenes at a top-secret photoshoot ahead of the 2026 season. The Italian reveals what team commitments he has outside of the car but, like all F1 drivers, he’s always looking forward to getting back to his job inside the cockpit. F1: Back at Base is an IMG Production for the BBC, hosted by Rosamund Pike Co-hosts & Executive Producers are Sarah Holt and Holly Samos.

The new Cadillac Formula 1 team reveals who they’ve chosen as their race drivers for their debut 2026 season. Returning fan favourites Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez, with more than 500 Grand Prix starts between them, are set to make history as Cadillac’s first-ever F1 driver line-up. In an exclusive for this podcast, former Red Bull race-winner Perez explains why he’s chosen to make his F1 return with the Cadillac F1 team on his first day at work at the team’s Silverstone facility. We lift the lid on life away from the track with Haas hotshot Ollie Bearman. Beside every F1 driver is a family unit that can get left behind, but the British racer’s family have taken the unusual step of supporting his career by relocating to join him in Monaco. But the move has prompted some sibling rivalry over just who gets to use the driver simulator. At Mercedes, Kimi Antonelli has been relying on support from soon-to-be Cadillac driver Bottas in his apprentice F1 season. The Finnish racer is a reserve for Mercedes in 2025 and has taken on a mentoring role to help guide the Italian teenager before his own return to the grid in 2026, when the master will take on his apprentice. F1: Back at Base is an IMG Production for the BBC, hosted by Rosamund Pike Co-hosts & Executive Producers are Sarah Holt and Holly Samos

We’re on a high-speed taxi ride with teenage sensation Kimi Antonelli as he takes series co-host Holly Samos on a thrilling hot lap around Silverstone, home of the British Grand Prix. The 18-year-old’s career is also hitting the gas, after Mercedes chose him to replace seven-time Formula 1 World Champion Lewis Hamilton and handed the Italian his F1 debut in 2025. Already a social media sensation, Britain’s Ollie Bearman is also finding his feet in F1 and co-host Sarah Holt joins him in the passenger seat at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, a summer highlight on the British motorsport calendar. When it comes to life as an F1 driver, the 20-year-old Haas driver is still adapting to being in the spotlight during his rookie season. It’s not only fresh, young drivers who are driving F1 into the future, the Cadillac Formula 1 team are also preparing to join the grid in 2026, when major new technical rules are set to shake-up the sport. On a sprawling industrial estate - just metres from the Silverstone circuit - Sarah and Holly are taking an exclusive first look at the team’s F1 factory. But founding an F1 team - even with backing from U.S. car giant General Motors - is a huge undertaking, as Cadillac team principal Graeme Lowdon reveals in this episode. - F1: Back at Base is an IMG Production for the BBC, hosted by Rosamund Pike - Co-hosts & Executive Producers are Sarah Holt and Holly Samos - The Producers are Alasdair Cresswell, Joe Aldridge, Jack Winstanley and Mitchell Marshall - Production Management from Abbie Collingwood, Katie Killeen and Giulia Duggan - The Senior Producer is Ollie Kneen - The Executive Producer for IMG is Steve Tebb - The Story Editor and Scriptwriter is Sarah Holt - The Showrunner is Holly Samos - And the Commissioning Editor at the BBC is Stevie Middleton

In this eight-part series, hosted by actress Rosamund Pike, we’re going behind-the-scenes with next generation stars, Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli and British Haas hotshot Ollie Bearman, during their rookie Formula 1 seasons in the 2025 World Championship. We are in the passenger seat with the drivers - and we do mean that literally - following the final races of their maiden campaigns and lifting the lid on driver life away from the track with F1 experts Sarah Holt and Holly Samos as our guides. Former teammates in junior categories, Antonelli and Bearman, are now simultaneously finding their feet on motorsport’s toughest grid. In this series we hear from the two drivers, and those closest to them, as their journey to the top continues. From inside the Mercedes team, experienced race engineer Pete Bonnington, aka Bono, reveals how he is guiding Antonelli to follow in the footsteps of his former driver, seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton while Driver Development Advisor Gwen Lagrue explains how he spotted the natural talent that convinced Mercedes to sign Italian teenager Antonelli at a young age. Haas rookie Ollie Bearman already has a huge social media following but the attention directed at an F1 driver is next level. The British racer, who made his F1 debut with Ferrari in 2024 as a stand-in for a sick Carlos Sainz, is feeling a lot of love from the fans as we join him at a special appearance with Haas at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. The 20-year-old can also count on family support and we hear from his younger brother Thomas, also a promising racer, and how they are deciding just who gets to go on Ollie’s race simulator. As Bearman continues to bring home the points for Haas in 2025, Haas Head of Strategy and Driver Development Ed Brand and his race engineer Ronan O’Hara explain how Bearman is growing as one of F1’s next generation stars. But it’s not only the drivers who are driving forward F1’s future - there is also a new team about to enter the top tier of motorsport. The series is also following the start-up Cadillac Formula 1 team as they race to join the grid for the very first time. Their uncharted journey is fraught with jeopardy, but they have unlocked their doors and let us inside. Fan favourites and former F1 race-winners Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez are making their comebacks with Cadillac - and we hear from both of them throughout the series. Cadillac team principal Graeme Lowdon and Executive Engineering Consultant Pat Symonds explain how the team have had a mountain to climb to make it to the grid in 2026, when major technical regulations, governing how the cars are designed and powered, are also set to shake up the sport. Hollywood legend Keanu Reeves is following in our tyre tracks as he documents Cadillac’s journey to the grid. The actor is also predicting drama as F1 enters a new era in 2026. We hear from him in an exclusive interview as he anticipates that the “hopes and ambitions” of all the teams up-and-down the grid will be tested by the sport’s new rules. As one season ends another, fraught with uncertainty like never before, lies just around the corner. In this series, we journey with the Cadillac F1 team and drivers Antonelli and Bearman over the winter as they prepare to go racing in F1’s new era. - F1: Back at Base is an IMG Production for the BBC, hosted by Rosamund Pike - Co-hosts & Executive Producers are Sarah Holt and Holly Samos - The Producers are Alasdair Cresswell, Joe Aldridge, Jack Winstanley and Mitchell Marshall - Production Management from Abbie Collingwood, Katie Killeen and Giulia Duggan - The Senior Producer is Ollie Kneen - The Executive Producer for IMG is Steve Tebb - The Story Editor and Scriptwriter is Sarah Holt - The Showrunner is Holly Samos - And the Commissioning Editor at the BBC is Stevie Middleton

Who will be crowned the 2025 F1 champion? After Max Verstappen puts it on pole, Steve Crossman, Harry Benjamin, Rebecca Clancy and Rosanna Tennant look back at qualifying and assess how it shapes Sunday’s title decider. They hear from all three championship protagonists and discuss how the race might play out.

Will it be Max? Will it be Lando? Or will it be Oscar? Steve Crossman and the BBC F1 team look ahead to the final race of the season, hearing from all three title contenders and asking who might have the edge. Plus, they reflect on what we learned from the trio as they faced the media on Thursday.

Steve Crossman is joined by British racing driver Sam Bird and the BBC’s F1 correspondent Andrew Benson to get an insight into exactly who Lando Norris is, as he challenges for the 2025 drivers’ title. What makes the British driver tick? How has he got to the top of the sport? And can he become a champion? Plus, hear from Norris himself as well as some of those who know him best, including friend and former team mate Carlos Sainz and McLaren team principal Andrea Stella.

Jennie Gow sits down for an in-depth chat with F1’s Deputy Race Director, Claire Dubbelman, to speak about her role and how to get more women involved in motorsport. Claire discusses her career to date and how she became part of the race director team alongside Rui Marques. From controlling the chequered flag to directing safety car driver, Bernd Maylander, Claire discusses exactly what a race director does. Plus, Claire speaks passionately about female participation in motorsport and how she hopes her high-profile role in F1 will encourage more women to get involved in the sport.

In this special bonus episode of F1: Back at Base, Sarah Holt and Holly Samos tell the behind-the-scenes story of the upcoming F1 movie. Through exclusive interviews with key figures, including legendary producer Jerry Bruckheimer, Oscar nominee Kerry Condon, and F1 President and CEO Stefano Domenicali, we document how the new movie was made. From the idea originally being presented in a London cinema, to choosing the actors, shooting the movie, and the battle to make the film authentic, mixing the real world of the sport with their Hollywood counterparts.

With two race wins from two at the start of the 2025 F1 season, McLaren couldn’t have got off to a better start in the defence of their constructors’ world title. So what better time to look back on exactly how they achieved that success in 2024? In this bonus episode of F1: Back at Base - How To Go Racing, Holly Samos and Sarah Holt take you behind the scenes at McLaren as they finally became World Champions again after a 26-year wait. McLaren are one of the most decorated teams in F1, winning 21 World titles in total, and in this bonus episode hear exclusive interviews with Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri, Andrea Stella, Zak Brown, and more insight from those driving the championship from inside the McLaren Technology Centre and how they plan to do it all again in 2025 and beyond.

In the desert kingdom of Abu Dhabi, the sun is about to set on a record-breaking Formula 1 season. After an intense battle across 23 races, just one will now decide which team will be crowned World Champions. Formula 1’s oldest rivals, McLaren and Ferrari are, once again, pitted against one another in a title fight. The Scuderia have 31 titles and McLaren 20 – but only one of them will claim the Constructors’ crown in Abu Dhabi to add to their tally. The pressure is on McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. Norris, fresh from his fight with Max Verstappen, must now keep his Ferrari rivals, Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc, at bay. The British star will need all the help he can get from his teammate Oscar Piastri as both of them must work together to bring the Constructors’ Championship back to McLaren for the first time since 1998. McLaren are protecting a 21-point lead at the top of the table – and to win they must outscore Ferrari by 15 points. F1 experts Sarah Holt and Holly Samos speak to the McLaren drivers on the eve of the biggest race of their lives. McLaren CEO Zak Brown and Team Principal Andrea Stella can only watch from the pit wall, the team’s fate now out of their hands. The nerves are also building back at base. McLaren’s Championship push is also the work of the hundreds of staff working at the factory, many of whom we have met during this series. If McLaren can win the title, it will have been fuelled by people power. When our guides Sarah Holt and Holly Samos return to the McLaren Technology Centre for a final time, will there be celebrations or commiserations? At Aston Martin, the team is preparing to reveal the final part of the puzzle that will complete the transformation of its Formula 1 factory. After opening the doors to our series for unprecedented VIP access to its factory, Aston Martin has cut the ribbon on new buildings and facilities - and announced major new signings. There is now one final revelation which the team hopes will set them on the road to becoming champions. The ambition to return to the front of the grid is also shared by drivers Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso. The curtain is about to fall on the 2024 Formula 1 season. A rollercoaster ride through 24 grands prix across the world. Now, the teams and drivers are going into hibernation - before the quest to become the best in F1 begins again in 2025. F1: Back at Base is an IMG Production for the BBC Hosted by Josh Hartnett 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 Story Editor and Scriptwriter is Sarah Holt The Showrunner is Holly Samos The Commissioning Editor at the BBC is Stevie Middleton

In just 15 days’ time, the final chapter in the story of the 2024 Formula 1 season will be written. A triple header of races - from the bright lights of Las Vegas to the heat of Qatar and Abu Dhabi – will decide the World Championships. It’s late November, and time for Formula 1 to take up residency in Las Vegas. The sound of engines roaring down the city’s world-famous Strip will soon bring in the crowds. Unlike other races on the calendar, which are organized by local promoters, the Las Vegas Grand Prix is run by F1 itself. So the pressure is on the event’s CEO Renee Wilm to get everything just right. There will be extra focus on this year’s Grand Prix, as Las Vegas is the first race where the 2024 Drivers’ Championship can be decided. The season has seesawed between Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and McLaren challenger Lando Norris. But it’s Verstappen who can defend his World title, simply by finishing ahead of his British rival in the Grand Prix. Back at base, McLaren are studying the data as they prepare for another crucial event in the U.S. Aston Martin race engineers Chris Cronin and Andrew Vizard are also doing their homework ahead of the Las Vegas Grand Prix. It’s not just the racing that the teams are preparing for back at base. At every Grand Prix across the season, the team's wine and dine guests and there are some big celebrity names on the Las Vegas guest list. But when night falls for the Las Vegas Grand Prix, and the starting lights go out, all eyes will be on Norris and Verstappen. The penultimate race of the season for the F1 teams lies 8,000 miles east of Vegas in Qatar. The 2023 race around the Lusail Circuit, which was held earlier in the year, was brutal. Aston Martin driver Lance Stroll and his Performance Coach Henry Howe reveal how they are preparing for the rigours of the desert race. The 2024 Formula 1 season is also the longest in the sport’s history, with 24 races on the calendar. McLaren driver Oscar Piastri is taking it all in his stride but the Australian does have a unique take on the brain power that is needed in F1. McLaren are aiming to flex their muscles this weekend because Qatar offers the first chance to clinch the Constructors’ crown. To do that they need to out-score rivals Ferrari by 45 points. The heat is on, in more ways than one, in Qatar. F1:Back at Base is narrated by Josh Hartnett. It is created and produced by Sarah Holt and Holly Samos and is an IMG Production for the BBC.

The McLaren and Aston Martin Formula 1 teams are preparing for a “Super Sunday” in Brazil. For just the sixth time in the sport’s history, both qualifying and the race are taking place on the same day. Stormy weather is testing the teams’ resources and resolve at the Interlagos Circuit, home to the Sao Paulo Grand Prix. The teams and drivers arrive at the track at the crack of dawn, ready to think on their feet in a marathon day ahead. After a well-orchestrated performance in Saturday’s Sprint Race, Championship contenders McLaren are looking to seize advantage on Sunday. Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri know they must work together to claim maximum points for the team. At Aston Martin, Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll sense an opportunity in the wet. All the drivers know that rain can level the playing field at any grand prix, and this weekend is no different. It’s the Monday after the race before. Brazil’s historic Interlagos circuit staged another epic grand prix, and one which may prove pivotal in McLaren’s hunt for both World titles. Now, it’s time for the Aston Martin and McLaren teams to return to their factories. Back at base, they can analyse their performance with the bulk of the team who don’t travel to the races. Aston Martin race engineers Chris Cronin and Andrew Vizard explain how vital the factory debriefs are to understanding what went right - or wrong - after every race, and how to take the learnings into the next event. Drivers Stroll and Alonso may be taking time to recuperate after an epic race weekend but they stay in touch with their engineers and work going on back at base. At McLaren, team boss Andrea Stella is making it his mission to create a winning culture at the factory, as well as at the track. The Italian is only in his second season as team principal but has driven the team into title contention. Back at base, he shares some of the secrets to his success so far. Aston Martin are also plotting a renaissance under new Group CEO Andy Cowell. Our guides Sarah Holt and Holly Samos are given a VIP pass to join the workforce assembled at the heart of the factory as Cowell makes his first address to the team. While Aston Martin are looking to the future, McLaren must focus on the present. This is a team who has won multiple World titles. Now the factory is fixed on ending the 26-year wait for the next Constructors’ crown and they are determined to protect their lead over rivals Ferrari and Red Bull. British star Lando Norris hasn’t given up his hopes of reeling in reigning champion Max Verstappen in the drivers’ standings. With three races left to go in the 2024 season, there is still all to play for. F1:Back at Base is narrated by Josh Hartnett. It is created and produced by Sarah Holt and Holly Samos and is an IMG Production for the BBC.