F1Weekly Podcast # 1143

ON TODAYS PROGRAM… WITH GIANPIERO LAMBIASES LEAVING RED BULL THE MAX ERA IN F1 COMING TO AN END… WHEN FERRARI PLAY CATCH UP…WELL WE’VE SEEN THAT COMEDY OF ERRORS BEFORE MERCEDES WILL NEVER SHOW ALL THEIR CARDS AND… FERNANDO KNOWS THE FAT LADY IS ABOUT TO SING! THIS WEEK’S NASIR HAMEED CORNER WE HAVE: ZACK BROWN before he joined McLaren and BOB BONDURANT… AND YES….OUR BONUS IS HIRO MATSUSHITA OF FORMULA 1 AND CHAMP CAR FAME! Bob Bondurant was one of America’s most influential racing figures — a driver who succeeded on the world’s greatest circuits, competed for legendary teams including Shelby American, Ferrari, and Eagle, and ultimately shaped generations of racers through education. Rising from the fiercely competitive Southern California road racing scene of the 1950s, Bondurant achieved significant success on both sides of the Atlantic and became a pivotal ambassador for American road racing. His enduring legacy lives on through the Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving, which trained hundreds of thousands of drivers — from future professionals to Hollywood royalty. Career, Bondurant was born in Evanston, Illinois, but his competitive instincts emerged early and loudly. As a teenager, he raced Indian motorcycles on dirt ovals, learning car control the hard way. By 1956, he shifted his focus to sports cars, initially racing a Morgan, and soon made his mark by winning the West Coast “B” Production Championship in a Chevrolet Corvette, claiming an extraordinary 18 victories in 20 races. His growing reputation caught the attention of Santa Barbara Chevrolet dealer Shelly Washburn, who hired Bondurant in 1961 to drive his #614 1959 Corvette. Over the next several seasons, Bondurant became a dominant force on the West Coast. His on-track rivalry with David McDonald produced some of the era’s most memorable Corvette battles. At the 1962 L.A. Times Grand Prix, Bondurant debuted Washburn’s new 1963 Corvette Z06 Stingray, and between 1961 and 1963, he won an astonishing 30 of 32 races in Washburn’s Corvettes. Shelby, Europe, and international success In 1963, Bondurant joined Carroll Shelby’s Ford Cobra team, immediately delivering results. He won his first race for Shelby at Continental Divide Raceway in Colorado, followed by an overall GT victory at the L.A. Times Grand Prix at Riverside later that year. The following season propelled him onto the global stage. After finishing second in GT at Sebring, Bondurant spent 1964 racing in Europe, campaigning Shelby’s new 289 FIA Cobras at iconic events including the Targa Florio, Spa-Francorchamps, and the Nürburgring. His most celebrated triumph came at the 1964 24 Hours of Le Mans, where he and Dan Gurney won the GT class in the revolutionary Cobra Daytona Coupé. Bondurant reached the peak of his international racing career in 1965, when he played a key role in Shelby American and Ford winning the FIA Manufacturers’ World Championship. He won seven of ten races, defeating the class-dominant Ferrari 250 GTOs across Europe. That same year, Bondurant expanded his résumé further, driving a works Ferrari Formula One car at the United States Grand Prix at Watkins Glen, followed by a start in a Lotus 33 for Reg Parnell at the Mexican Grand Prix. Formula One, film, and defining moments In 1966, Bondurant’s expertise took him beyond the racetrack. He served as technical consultant for John Frankenheimer’s film Grand Prix and personally trained lead actor James Garner to drive Formula cars for the movie’s racing scenes. That same year, Bondurant was involved in one of the most consequential moments in motorsport safety history. Alongside Graham Hill, he helped extract Jackie Stewart from his fuel-soaked wreck during the 1966 Belgian Grand Prix — an incident that directly inspired Stewart’s later campaign for improved safety standards. Bondurant also competed in five Formula One Grands Prix with Team Chamaco Collect, driving BRMs and achieving an impressive fourth-place finish at Monaco. He rounded out his Formula One involvement in North America with two races driving an Eagle for Dan Gurney’s Anglo American Racers. The crash that changed everything In 1967, Bondurant competed in the Can-Am series and returned to Le Mans in a Corvette L88 Coupé, leading the GT class until a wrist pin failure ended his race in the early morning hours. Later that year, disaster struck at Watkins Glen. While driving a McLaren, a steering arm failed at approximately 150 mph approaching the Loop-Chute section (today’s Turn 5). The car flipped eight times, leaving Bondurant with severe injuries to his ribs, legs, feet, and most critically, his back. Doctors warned he might never walk again. Bondurant refused to accept that verdict. Through determination and relentless rehabilitation, he recovered — and in the process, envisioned a new chapter. LAMBIASE TO LEAVE ORACLE RED BULL RACING IN 2028 Oracle Red Bull Racing ...