Back At Base: 5. A New Year Begins

Back at base, Williams and Mercedes are returning to work after the winter shutdown. Now is the time for new beginnings – and whatever lies ahead for our two teams and the cars they are busy bringing to life inside their high-tech facilities. F1 experts Holly Samos and Sarah Holt are our guides as we catch up with the teams.At Mercedes, there is one very familiar face that everyone is pleased to see - the team’s popular star George Russell. The British racer fell ill at the penultimate race of the 2023 season in Las Vegas and has been recovering ever since. George and his performance coach Aleix Casanovas have had to adapt their plans over the winter to get ready to go racing again.Williams driver Alex Albon - who reveals he competes against his old friend Russell in other sporting contests - is also building up the strength and conditioning he needs to go racing. January is the most crucial time of the year for the drivers to get race fit. This winter it feels more important than ever, as the 2024 Formula 1 season will place even bigger demands on the drivers with a record 24 races on the calendar. Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali joins the podcast conversation as the sport continues to grow. Lewis Hamilton has been preparing for the new season in America, away from his Mercedes team. But on his last day at Brackley, the seven-time world champion spoke to this podcast about the crucial weeks ahead.It’s not only the drivers who are operating at 100 percent. Williams team principal James Vowles and his Mercedes counterpart Toto Wolff have come back from their holidays with tales of how they spend their time outside of their demanding day jobs. As our four star drivers do the hard yards to get race fit, it’s important to remember that they rarely drive an F1 car outside of the race season. BUT there is another tool at their disposal - the simulator. This is another top-secret facility closely guarded by the teams but for our podcast Williams driver Logan Sargeant is showing Holly Samos and Sarah Holt around. The drivers are doing all they can to prepare for the new season - but have the cars that they’re getting ready to race been built yet?F1:Back at Base was created and produced by Holly Samos and Sarah Holt and is an IMG Production for the BBC.

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Your go-to destination for Formula 1 news, interviews and reactions.F1 Chequered Flag from the BBC offers expert analysis of every F1 race, with exclusive insight into every twist and turn of the F1 season. Each episode brings you in-depth race reviews, breaking down the strategies that shape each Grand Prix and the key players making headlines. Hear from F1 stars like Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris, and the bosses of powerhouse teams like Red Bull, Mercedes, Ferrari and McLaren. And get up to speed on the cars and tactics changing the game. Coming up this season: what will it take for Max Verstappen to win his fifth consecutive world title? Can McLaren retain their lead from the 2024 Constructors Championship? Will Oscar Piastri or Lando Norris take the lead, the two McLaren team-mates turned rivals? How will Lewis Hamilton perform after his shock switch to Ferrari? And what can we expect from this season’s rookie drivers, Oliver Bearman, Kimi Antonelli, Jack Doohan, Isack Hadjar and Gabriel Bortoleto?Stay tuned for the latest F1 updates, straight from the track.