The Drama, Mishaps And F1 Scandals The Podcast No Grip With Lily Herman

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See different podcasts to choose from, one of them being something our parents would say, all of those things that even your grandparents would pop up from out of nowhere and you're like, what's?

It makes sense, but really what? It shocks me when I have to go back three and 400 years to find the roots of something like this, something our parents would say only on arrow.net, ARROE.net, enjoy your exploration.

Lily, when it comes to weather like this, I mean, you're out there, aren't you with F1? I mean, thunderstorms don't get in your guys's way, does it?

You know, rain doesn't thunderstorms depend depends on the how close they are, but they will they will stretch it to the limit as far as having to cancel a race or postpone or pause a race, but yeah, they will race in the wet. No doubt.

I got to give you a big kudos and compliment with no grip in the way that you are helping to educate. We people who are not really 100% educated on F1 racing. We know what it is, we've seen movies, we've watched it on TV, but my god, Lily, you really give us a story here.

Well, thank you. That's that's very nice to hear.

And what is your connection to that? Because I mean, I mean, for you to to really bring it to a level, because I'm down here in NASCAR country, we think every race should be like NASCAR. Well, that's not going to happen at the F1.

No, they, well, they don't do ovals in F1, right? They actually, you know, they they have attempted in the past to do to do ovals in F1, it did not go well generally speaking. So, but yeah, you know, F1.

Yeah, very, I think, I think NASCAR, I do fall a little bit of NASCAR has its own really high points and interesting storylines and whatnot. I think F1, there's something about how global it is, how kind of intriguing. It's also a little glamorous in a very European way, I would say.

They will say they they're very European, but they love American money and they love they love to take hours.

But yeah, I think, you know, it's what I love about Formula One is that.

Obviously, you see a lot of really great racing, right? And this is what's been around for over 75 years at this point.

But I found that if you understand a little bit of, you know, the culture, what's going on in the paddock or outside of the track, you actually get a better racing experience reviewing experience of races.

Since you, you have a better idea of, okay, who, yeah, who's just struggling outside of this car or who, which two drivers are, you know, known sworn enemies or rivals and are now duking it out on the track, right?

We have, you know, we're talking last week, the big news in the first race, or one of the big storylines was, you know, Esteban Ocon, Pierre Gasly, they were friends in their youth who then had some major falling out in their teens.

And they've been having a racing, you know, against each other for years and sure enough, you know, they're both French.

So they're a little bit spirited in that way and they came real to wheel in Australia. And of course, love to see it because that's just a fun, a fun rivalry and a fun beef.

I'm so glad that you brought up Australia because that's your first episode. I mean, you take us down under.

Many of us don't realize, like you said, this is a global sport. And even though like we've seen it in movies or we've seen it like when I was a kid, it was on wide world of sports.

You still take us to Australia and give us a different vibe about it.

Yeah, every race, different, different vibe, different fans that you were just in China, they're about to be in Japan.

And yeah, just a different, and obviously all the tracks are different too. So you, you have to know not just obviously the climate, the fans, you have to know the circuits themselves can really, really differ.

And all these teams and drivers are up against new rules and regulations this year, which the drivers have had much to say about those.

So with Australia, we really didn't know we were getting, right? And it turned out to be, I found it to be a very entertaining race and a fascinating race.

But yeah, you really, you really get a different sense of place with every single race weekend in the sport.

What do you do in a situation like we just had when the Iranian war was shut down the race? How do we make up that race?

Do you move it to a different country? Everybody including the fans?

They typically do not, because it's just, well to your point, it's global, right? So they have these, you know, these F1 teams have these massive operations logistics departments, right?

And they already are working overtime to figure out how to get cars from Australia, to China, to Japan. They have multiple teams with different cars and equipment going to different places at the same time.

So in the past, when they've had to, excuse me, to cancel things pretty late, you know, the season's already going, they just sort of said, you know what, we're just going to drop it.

It's going to be, you know, in this case, like a 22 race season for now, just because it's so hard to plan around, particularly because the season goes from March to December already, right?

So, yeah, it's hard to, and they have some mandated rules around, you know, a summer break and whatnot. So, you know, obviously the teams, you know, the sponsors, Liberty Media, which owns F1, they don't want to cancel a race.

That's a lot of money to lose, but unfortunately they don't really have a choice in this case. And I think their decision to cancel those races was the right one.

They did have a race a few years ago in Saudi Arabia where there was some explosions nearby and there were some bomb threats.

Yeah, really close to the circuit. And obviously the drivers wanted to meeting with the higher ups, because they want to make sure they are not going to, you know, get a good situation.

They want to be alive at the end of the race that they start. So that race did go on, but I'm not surprised that they decided in this case that maybe it wasn't the best, best call to keep those going.

Daniel Ricardo, I call him the Mario and Dready of this generation only because of his personality. Mario made us love the sport. And I just really like that. Daniel is going to do the same thing with the new generation of fans.

Yeah, you know, it's, I love that episode that we have to start with it because I think, you know, his, his story is so fascinating given that now, you know, he's, he's like, I'm out of motor racing. I'm retired. It's like, I don't know if you will be forever, my guy.

But, but you people who, yeah, like I have friends who, who, including the person who was our guest for that episode, who really came to find their love for the sport through Daniel Ricardo and through his racing.

So it's, yeah, it's been interesting to see, you know, what, what came with him over his time, you know, in F1 and the fact that it ends on this sort of weird kind of sour note is interesting.

But I like to think his story is more of a, to be continued than, you know, a, a period on it. I would, I would love to see him back in some capacity, even if it isn't some other racing series.

Yeah, you know, he's doing play by play or something. He's out there on the field with that microphone in his hand. There's just something about his, his experience that thickens the storytelling.

I mean, he can get the dirt. The rest of us are sitting here waiting for the dirt. I think he could get the dirt.

He also knows when, when and how to stir the pot. Yeah, absolutely. Now I would, I would love to see him back in some capacity there. Yeah, like I honestly, I was kind of ruining firm for a bit to go to an indie car or some other series.

But like I said, I think for right now, maybe he can you did a beat to, to figure out what would life looks like post F1, which, hey, a lot of people need, need that time too.

So am I being just a critic at, you know, armchair quarterback when I say that Brad Pitt almost got it in that movie. I just felt like it was missing something because what I see and what you guys deliver with F1.

I didn't feel it in that movie. What about you because I'm feeling something with your podcast and it's more than what I got out of that movie.

Yeah, it's fun. You should mention the movie because we do our next episode coming up next week ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix is about the worst motor sports movie of all time.

It is not the F1 movie. I will say my, my producer, yo, hi, for him, it is the F1 movie and he was very upset when I said it was not what I wanted to cover.

You'll hear him be very passionate about his dislike for the F1 movie in that episode for a little bit. But yeah, you know, I, Brad Pitt, well, first of all, Brad Pitt is not older than even the oldest drivers are.

So it's kind of hard to ignore that you've got, you know, like a kind of late 50s, maybe even 60 at this point.

You know, driving around the sport where the oldest drivers are, you know, early mid 40s and that's considered like, oh, you're, you know, on the, really stretching it at this point in pro sports, especially something like F1.

So I think also, you know, that movie, just speaking as far as race logistics.

An F1 race weekend last three days that movie only shows the races. You don't show, for instance, how do you qualify?

Why is, why is Brad's F1 team, you know, always in the back? Like, how do they end up there? Why can't they just go to the front? If I'm not an F1 fan, I'd be wondering why can't I have to start back there in the first place?

Like, why can't they just drive to the front and call today?

So, yeah, I will also say he, he seems to be wearing veneers in that movie and they're very blinding.

I struggled a little bit with the veneers because I was watching on, you know, like a giant iMac screen and I was like, man, I need sunglasses in this theater whenever he's kind of smiling at night.

But, yeah, you know, I, I enjoyed it. I, you know, I watched it in like a heavily air conditioned suburban movie theater when I was visiting home over the summer.

And it's a good blockbuster for that. But, yeah, I, I don't know many people who weren't into F1 who are now, like, deeply into Formula One, the series, you know, the racing series because of that movie.

Yeah.

Please do not move. There's more with Lily Herman coming up next.

The name of the podcast is No Grip. We are back with Lily Herman.

There are convinced that the reason why you're such a brilliant storyteller with No Grip is because you had the experience before this, like when you were doing friends to lovers, that podcast, that that's where you learned how to create the relationship that you know the story and somehow some way you've got to get that listener to buy into the story.

And you've mastered that art. Do you, do you agree with that that it took those other podcasts and other things that you did in order to make this one such a brilliant display?

Oh, well, thank you. It's very kind. Yeah, friends to lovers was a fun, you know, early pandemic project choosing sides, which was the other F1 show I worked on.

Yeah, that one in particular, I think, was was really instructive and understanding, you know, how do you tell the history of something that has a very, very long history in a way that is entertaining for people who maybe don't have.

Previous context right like how do you know in that case for those who don't know I had enough one show during the 2022 F1 season called choosing sides of one my co host at the time was Michael Costa who is a correspondent on the daily show.

And he knew nothing about F1 is actually a tennis guy and so the point of the show was can I take Michael through all of the teams and drivers on the grid that season.

And yeah, and at the end he had to pick a drive favorite driver and a team to root for.

And but yeah, a lot of these teams have histories going back in some cases over, you know, at this point 70, 80 even 100 years.

How do you condense that into a 40 minute episode? I think that's really interesting. And also how do you make it?

You know, we have to persuade him, right? And you have to find high points of every team to make Michael interested.

So that was I think a really fun experience as far as yeah, and also I have my own biases and whatnot.

How do I make maybe drivers or teams I'm not as interested in or maybe aren't my favorite?

How do I make them appealing to Michael so that I can be a good, you know, steward of the sport and shepherd him into it to find what he likes best.

So yeah, that was I think a really formative experience that I'm excited to bring some of that energy to no grip even though it is is a different show tackling more specifically F1 culture.

Oh my God, you said that you know, you called yourself the steward of the sport. I call you an ambassador of the sport.

I'm going to I'm going to take you higher because because you are representing something that we, you know, first is that you could sit here.

And you could talk about Mark Weber, but because you've been and had that experience with Mark Weber, we now get something that that ESPN isn't going to cover because it's bigger than a three minute story.

Yeah, I think it's Mark Weber, great example of, you know, he's Australian driver, had some interesting radio, but he also, for instance, is the manager of Oscar Piastry, right?

Who is the Aussie on the grid? If you don't know that, that adds a little bit of more color commentary to Oscar Piastry.

And you know, he had a bit of an interesting entry to the sport where a different team claimed apparently without his sign off that he was joining their team Alpine.

This is a couple years ago, it became a very iconic incident in F1 and, you know, Mark Weber was the one behind the scenes managing that whole situation.

So if you, if you don't know these little details, you know, and these inner workings and the interpersonal relationships, you do miss a fun, fun little thing, right?

You can still enjoy Oscar Piastry's racing or maybe you enjoyed Mark Weber's when he was on the grid, but if you don't have that connection, you're, you might be missing a bigger piece of the story there that makes it a lot more enjoyable to watch Oscar.

Now, of course, Oscar, unfortunately, has not started either race this year so far. So we'll see if he does any racing in in in 2026.

That always has my attention because when they're not making the racing, that to me tells me there's new people on the horizon and they're all coming in with more competition.

And it's and that's what I love about F1 is that with it being so global, you don't know what that playing field is going to be like this weekend.

You can think, you even have a car that gets you on the podium one week and then the next week you'll be on different track, different climate, different, you know, it's a race circuit versus, you know, a standalone circuit, you know, the, you're a circuit circuit.

I mean, you can see anything going on any given week to week. And that's, that's also the fun of it is people will try to make predictions, right?

Like, you know, this, this team did well this week, therefore, and it's like, you know, more than almost any other sport, you really don't know past a certain point.

Most seasons, you know, how certain things are going to shake out. But yeah, and certain drivers, your points and drivers love to race in wet weather.

When it's rainy and gross out, some others completely crumble the second that there is a drop of rain on the track. So, yeah, you never know what you're going to get.

See, that's the difference between North and South Carolina here. North Carolinians can drive in the rain. South Carolinians forget it. Get off the road quickly.

You're going to, you're going to get injured out there because they just can't drive in South Carolina.

Well, I grew up in Florida where you'd think they know how to drive in the rain and yet, and yet.

Like, they, it starts raining and they act like they've never seen water before.

So now, what is it like for you to walk through the pits and stuff? Do they look at you, Lily, and just go, oh, God, or do they go, come over here?

You haven't covered my story yet. Get over here.

I'm not really in, I've been to a couple races. I'm not really ever in, in the paddock itself.

But, you know, I will say, I am aware of, you know, I also have an F1 culture newsletter called Engine Failure.

It's been around for about half a decade now. Yeah.

And I know, I know some teams are subscribed to it. I know they read it. I'm aware of which ones and who.

But, yeah, I think I, you know what, I'm known to put out opinions and they're well informed opinions and, you know, ones that I thought about a lot

and they're well researched and all of that. But, you know, that doesn't mean that the teams like those opinions. So, you know, it's interesting in that.

Yeah, I sort of like to keep my distance, but you actually, in that way, and not maybe directly interacting with the teams and drivers.

You can actually learn a lot more, right? Because if you interview, these drivers have been media trained to, you know, the point, a point of absurdity, right?

They're not going to give you much. But, if you know, you know, some of the, the biggest gossip, everyone has concepts in the paddock, but the biggest gossip is always going to be the lower level people that you wouldn't expect.

And they give you all the good, yeah, the good, the good intel or tell you what to look for or tell you what's coming down the pike.

So, I personally prefer that, you know, the, the drivers team principles, whoever else at the top won't necessarily, you know, give you much.

And it'll typically be an answer they've given everyone else to before you. So, that's, that's at least where I, where I try to report from.

One of my favorite things to do with a racer is, is when, when, when they want to just give you those short answers and stuff, because you know right away that they're going to give you those answers.

So, what I'll do is immediately, I'll jump into, I won't talk about racing. And so, so you, so you start talking about other things in their life, boom, boom, boom, get them talking, make your way back.

I mean, it's, you've got to play a mental game with them so you can knock them off that. Well, you know, when we're out there on that field, say, I don't want to hear that junk. We've heard that before. What do you do?

Yeah. Oh, yeah. It's, goodness. You know, my interview styles have changed over the years. And we do have a couple of, of bigger named people potentially coming on the show in the future. I think that, listen, I try to be really straightforward from the jump as to what's going on. I never, I personally struggle with, I never want to gotcha anyone, because you actually often don't get good answers from that either.

You know, because they're just so flustered that kind of stumble over it. So I think it's, it's like, you want to build a rapport, but I don't want to be anyone's friend, right? I'm no one's, I'm no one's bestie, because that can also be its own, its own issue, but you do have to kind of build up a vibe quickly.

That's at least been my approach. I've actually, I've interviewed fewer F1 servers. I've actually, I have done a bunch of entertainment reporting in, in previous lives. So I have, you know, when you're sitting there, you know, staring at Channing Tatum, you know, over Zoom.

When you've got, you know, 25 minutes to chat with him, you're like, okay, I need to, I need to figure this out quickly.

So, but yeah, no, it is, it is interesting, because yeah, F1 drivers can be a little tight-lipped. Not always the biggest fan of press.

And they, they think they know how to play at this point, which day a lot of them do, and a lot of, you know, motorsports folks don't necessarily press them on at this point.

So, yeah, I'm definitely curious to see how, how that relationship evolves between media and these, these F1 drivers and these team principles, especially given, you know, the rise of content creators and influencers and whatnot, because they're in the paddock in drops now.

Well, that's why I rely on, on no grip, and I rely on these reporters. And the reason why is because I want them to help fans understand that through thick and thin, no matter how big the drama, the mishaps are, the scandals, it's still a business.

So, when I heard the story about, you know, the, the owner that fires two drivers, I'm, I'm going, okay, it happens. It is a business, business has to come first.

Oh, yeah, it's a, it's a ruthless sport. Like, I, no, obviously being in the States, I'm used to following what happens with our biggest sports here, right? The NFL or the NBA and whatnot. But F1, they, they will just cut you and never talk to you again.

In his way that is very, but they're also all in the paddock together. So they're kind of avoiding each other. There's a lot of yellow money changing hands. F1 is also a very long history of sketchy sponsors, right? They have a, they had a years ago, they had a literal Nigerian print scam in the form of an F1 sponsor, right? Like, we all hear of that as far as like early email scams. No, no, they, they had a guy pretending to be a Nigerian prince essentially in their paddock who had no money.

They had a whole, yeah, a whole drama with a fake energy drink sponsor, one of the teams a few years ago.

So yeah, it's, you've had a lot of money changing hands, a lot of bit of dubious origin, which is also really fun to watch.

And yeah, it's, and it's just so much money, too. Like, that's the thing is, you know, compared to NASCAR, IndyCar, which, which also, you know, pulling a fair chunk of change, you are, you know, you're looking at, just, you know, so much dough on the table in the sport, which I, I personally find it fascinating.

And yeah, I love a little, a little sponsored drama.

Where can people go to find out more about you because 20 minutes with you is never, never, never going to be enough?

Well, that's very kind. Yeah, so no grip is, is on the I hard app. It's on Spotify, Apple podcasts everywhere else you get your, your podcasts.

I also do write in F1 culture newsletter called engine failure. You can find that engine failure F1.com and our show on social media is that no grip podcast. So lots to look forward to.

And yeah, it's going to be a really, really fun season.

Oh, I can't wait to talk with you again, because one of these days we need to break down that newsletter in the way that I call you the backstage pass that everybody wants, and they've got to find you. And that's what I want people to do.

I want people to get to this newsletter so they understand the sport and they can grow with it.

That's very kind. Yes, everyone join us. There's a lot of, a lot of counts and a lot to cover.

I love it. Please have a brilliant day today. And please come back to the show any time in the future.

Thank you so much for having me.