F1’s naughty 90s: prison, princesses and pitlane punch-ups

28:01yeah that seems mental to me because i thought ed and tanner's death was a massive deal yeah i mean so afterwards they it does result in the introduction of a lot of new safety measures and there are no more deaths until 2015. Oh, so this is when... Jules Bianchi was killed in... Well, he just crashed in 2014 and died a year later. So this is when F1 really takes... This is when BBC probably get rid of the crashes and the highlights. Yeah, yeah. Next season. Not such a big sale. I want to tune in next week and see Rubens Barrichello getting helicoptered to hospital. it is i mean it's an interesting point really because obviously that is like a big part of the selling point of f1 and i mean it's like now it is like ultra safe and it's a bit more boring it's not something it has like obviously nobody wants to see like people getting seriously injured but you do want to see a good crash yeah in a way driving's got like that in general hasn't it it's a lot safer and it's a bit less fun probably on balance prefer that yeah yeah it's probably um yeah just making my case for you les and 24 20 mile an hour so stick but yeah you're right f1 has obviously lost the key frisson which is like they could die yeah could they um a good thing good thing there is less death obviously Ayrton Senna's death this crash does send shockwaves around the world it's a tragedy back in Brazil he gets a state funeral by some estuars 2 million people line the streets of Sao Paulo for his funeral is this one of those where he was already a national hero you know what I mean because obviously death can slightly change people's perception yeah I mean it's he's a goat he's a go he is eight years ago um the season uh much like the race itself just continues no break no break at all they just crack on again a couple of weeks later and any sort of like gestures towards Ed and Sonis um don't know actually yeah yeah I think the champagne was back at the following race yeah down down down yeah different times um do you think it's a bit like uh You know how when you look at like birth records from the Victorian era and people had like 13 kids and like six of them just died.

30:33Yeah. It was just sort of taken as given that that was like... You're playing the part of life. Yeah. You've got to throw a bit at the wall. And you just like, it doesn't really touch the sides when people get killed. Yeah. You just have to get used to it. No, I think it is. I mean, they always say, there's that quote about the plague when it was like seeing a dead body in the street was no weirder than seeing like a dead goat. Yeah. Taking a stand away, Drew. A dead goat. Life was changed. Speaking of dead goats.

31:09Just walking down the pit like, there's another dead goat.

31:17I've got a dead goat at turn four.

31:25Can we get the... Clear that up. Can we get the goat clear? Clear that up. We'll get the race going again.

31:36Oh, God. What is it with Brazil and goats? They're not fucking them. They're not losing their virginities to them. They're killing them off. so the season carries on season season carries on Michael Schumacher wins his first New Goat New Goat and it's Michael Schumacher wins his first no comment so I'll go down that road New Goat on the scene yeah

32:05Mountain Goat Mountain Goat I was about to say the same thing

32:13turns out not much of a Mountain Goat

32:18so yeah so Schumacher wins oh so this is where Michael Schumacher sort of becomes this is his yeah it's his first title okay they always say it was the worst car to win a world title he had three different teammates during that season including Jos Verstappen Max's dad a bit of a nutter shit we've talked about him before in other episodes he's a real real nasty piece of work actually Going into the final race, Schumacher's one point ahead of Ayrton Senna's teammate, Damon Hill. And on lap 36 of that race, they collide. That looks Schumacher's off. Schumacher's lost time. Hill goes by. Oh, out goes Schumacher.

33:02The German is out of the Australian Grand Prix. So if you listen to this on audio, there's a crash, a turn, and the two of them basically collide. Schumacher goes straight off into the tires and Damon Hill actually continues, but his car ends up being so badly damaged that he also retires. So the two of them are out of the race, which means, of course, that Michael Schumacher wins the title. But, you know, this is obviously causes massive controversy because that was, I mean, it suited Michael Schumacher very well. and there are some allegations swirling in certain circles that Schumacher maybe had that on his mind from the start yeah he kamikaze'd him didn't he?

33:47a bit although he always denies it and apparently Damon Hill also denies that Schumacher was trying to take him out but if you look at it he just I'm no expert but like he really just like tries to cut him off from the corner and it works I mean Schumacher he's famous for these really aggressive moves we'll come on to it later but he um it's it's kamikaze yeah he's super super aggressive and kind of pushing other drivers into just backing off I remember this being like I I guess this becomes the sort of like the origin of like Schumacher hate in England because he'd done it to a British driver yeah um and he sort of yeah he gets gets a bad rep from that point onwards uh that that was Murray Walker commentating as well we haven't talked about legend voice of F1 commentary yeah he was F1 commentated for like 25 years.

34:37It's weird. He's got a really recognizable, distinctive voice and he was doing it for a long time. That's how good a commentator he was. He had a bit of a rep for like Michael Owen style, like commentary gaffes. Got a couple here. He said, there's nothing wrong with the car except it's on fire. And then he said, the lead car is unique except for the one behind it, which is identical.

35:02And yeah, that voice just immediately brings back the nostalgia. I think he was quite anti, quite pro Damon Hill and quite sort of neggy about that Schumacher thing. Fair enough. Yeah. Bastard. Also, Damon Hill's teammate had been killed in a crash earlier that season. It's like, oh, fuck hell. I'll crash into him. Yeah. Pretty ruthless bastard, really. He was a ruthless bastard off the track as well because he ended up marrying his rival's ex, Heinz Harold Frensen. Do you remember him? You know, if that wasn't bad enough, having nicked his girlfriend in the mid-90s, he then drives Frensen off the track in 1998.

35:37We got a clip of it here. So he's coming out the pits, Schumacher. Nine seconds stop, if you're wondering. Quite a long stop. Oh, here he comes. He literally just goes straight across the track. You cannot do that. You cannot do that. And Heinz Harrell Frensen's off. Fucking hell, these Formula One graphics, for me, are the really nostalgic ones. That and the sort of yellow. Yeah, yellow squares and blue ovals. This is unbelievably... He comes straight across the track. He comes straight out of the pits and just... Closes him off. Frensen's coming down like the home straight, fastest part of the track, and Shiloh just cuts in front of him and pushes him into the gravel.

36:15I do think Hintaro Frensen is a name that really transports me. There are some great names. Giancarlo Fisichella was one I saw earlier. Yeah, Giancarlo Fisichella. Honestly, these names just put me back onto being 10 years old, sat on the sofa, watching F1 who else is there? Johnny Herbert I saw Johnny Herbert maybe a bit early Yarno Trulli Yarno Trulli wait can we actually get up the F1 standings F1 grid what year do you want? what 2000 I mean this we're doing a 90s episode maybe 2004 it's more more yeah Olivier Panis Mark Webber Juan Pablo Montoya Montoya Nick Heidfeld Nick Heidfeld yeah Olivier Panis there is Villeneuve he's coming up Takuma Sato.

37:06Takuma Sato. What a name. You're also stepping there, isn't it? There are some unbelievable... I think... I mean, Rubens Barrichello for me is just such... Yeah, that's... Micah Hackenden. Micah Hackenden. Timo Glock. I saw earlier. It's so weird because I was thinking about these names. I've literally not heard them since like... This is basically like naming mid-table Premier League players from the noughties. Amika Sarlow. Yeah. Eddie Irvine. Alexander Wurtz. Johnny Herbert. Oh, Jean Alessi. Jean Alessi, yeah. Gaston Mazzacane. Pedro Diniz. Like the way they're delivered on F1 commentary, just like the excitement in the air and like with the sound of the cars whizzing past.

37:45Giancarlo, Fisichella. Fisichella. Fisichella on the outside. Yeah, it is like naming random mid-table players, isn't it? Our yoga instructor challenged us to find inner peace. I found it faster than anyone. After four seconds, I stood up and screamed, I found Irvana, I win! They asked me to leave. I guess they don't respect winning. Bet365 does, though. New customers get$150 in bonus bets just for betting$10. Namaste, losers. Bet365. Winning is everything. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER. 21 plus only. Must be physically located in Illinois. TNCs apply. In-app only. These days, you've got two choices.

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39:07Copilot shows Hank where the money's going and which little extras make the dollar slice work. Now Hank's has a line out the door. Hank makes the pizza. Copilot handles the spreadsheets. Learn more at m365copilot.com slash work. Anyway, Schumacher is sort of the king of them. He does usher in this new era, right? Where like the playboys of sort of the early nineties, late eighties have been replaced by this new wave of uber professional soulless corporate fucks. Cause Michael Schumacher is a bit like, he's like the sort of Tiger Woods, Johnny Wilkinson thing, which is like, I'm going to elevate this sport to new professionalism.

39:46It's like the Arsene Wenger of F1. Yeah, the Miles Bars are banned and in they come. So Mika Hackinen, bit of a boring fuck, I think. He said, I want to be world champion and I'm dedicated to that. You don't have room to play around and do crazy things as well. Yeah. Boring. He did win the title a couple of times, didn't he? Actually, Schumacher did have a bit of a party streak, to be fair to him. There's this famous party he threw after winning 2003 title. He was in Suzuka. And him, Kimi Raikkonen and Ralph Schumacher and the Ferrari crew had like this mad party where, you know, they're having beers and Cuban cigars in the garage.

40:20And it ended, Ralph Schumacher threw a TV out the window. It's quite rock and roll. Yeah. Yeah. Michael stole a forklift truck. Have you seen those pictures of him before? Driving it around. You know. There's a good photo of Michael at that party with his like still wearing his overalls, but like ripped open, covered in champagne. Yeah, it's pretty good. I'll give him that. Luckily, there are still plenty of playboys on the grid. They're just not the ones winning the races. And actually in 1994, Grand Prix magazine ran this unhinged article about the secret sex lives of F1 drivers. I'll read up.

40:54this is the subheading of the whole article. Are the drivers as hungry for sex as they are for success? And are they constantly pestered by drooling pit lane popsies, begging for a sound seeing to, or have the F1 heroes of today discovered AIDS and monogamy?

41:13I mean, I've got to say, if you read that as a byline to a, to an article, you are reading, that is an incredible sentence. Drooling pit lane popsies, begging for a sound seeing to. I've never heard popsy popsy's drooling yeah I sort of get it I also just love the residual fear of AIDS at all times at all fucking times kind of remember that from when I was younger like I was born in 89 I was actually born on an AIDS ward but yeah because they you know have you ever watched It's a Sin and those wards they like lock people on it's really horrible but they also then got used as just like overflow in hospitals so yeah I was born on one of them alongside AIDS people no no no No, I think it was cleared.

41:55Weird tangent. But I do remember, like I remember my dad like sharing this like, I want to say it was a fax and it was like, it was kind of like a viral email type thing being like, there are people planting AIDS riddled syringes in cinemas and stuff. Like be careful. Everyone was scared of AIDS back then, is my point. Anyway, elsewhere in this article, we hear that Martin Brundle, beloved sort of pit lane interviewer and pundit, uh, Brundle has quote, no restrictions when it comes to shagging. What does that mean? Anything goes. If it's not nailed down, it's going in his ass.

42:37No restrictions. I mean, looking at his now, his sort of like cheeky pit lane persona. He doesn't, he doesn't strike me as a man. He has no restrictions. Switches the DRS on in the bedroom. I don't even really want to picture that. I love it. it's sort of yeah it's a bit of like imagining your parents having sex that isn't it Martin Brundle yeah sort of a cuddly incredible chassis the article also says that in the early 80s an unnamed but leading F1 driver was late to a race because he was having sex with a Monaco princess on the bonnet of his car in an underground parking lot I mean that's that's that's glamorous that's that's top tier that's that's like the era when F1 and James Bond were pretty pretty similar that could be a James Bond plot yeah how many Monaco princesses are there I feel like that narrows it down quite a lot Grace Kelly was she queen by then I feel like there's probably only a few yeah I reckon the driver's probably someone we've mentioned in this episode if I had to guess I mean Alad Prost Alad Prost I wouldn't be Princess Grace could have been her can't lie about all the dead yeah if I had to guess I'm going Prosty or Senna yeah could be There was also a quote from the article that said, in one current F1 team before every session, the two drivers find the PR girl and beg to fondle her breasts, telling her, we might be killed in this race.

44:03Just casually cashing in on that colleague's death there. That's why this article is 94. This is the same season that Senna died. Yeah. And they're using his death to... You'd have to say Ayrton Senna's death was not greeted with the sort of reverence it deserved. The gravity. The levity. You're either back on the track spraying champagne or you're like cashing in on it to shag a piaga. There is something quite, again, quite RAF 1940 about that. It's quite bad in Britain, isn't it? Yeah, yeah. Before I get in my kite, let me have one more, one last grope of the typist. Yeah, I mean, it was dangerous.

44:39They had a point. Yeah, they had a point. They had a point. Anyway, back on the track, the following season, Hill and Schumacher collide twice again. It's like this running thing. Yeah. that Schumacher's colliding with his rivals. But in 1996, actually, Damon Hill does finally win it. He beats his teammates, Jacques Villeneuve. He beats him in second. Jacques Villeneuve's dad died racing as well. In the 80s, yeah. Yeah, it's crazy. And actually, Damon Hill's dad was a famous driver as well, Graham Hill. And then the following season, it's Schumacher and Villeneuve who are vying for the title. And it's the exact same situation going into the final race.

45:14One point separates them. Schumacher in the lead. and so Shuey the wily old fox that he is he only goes and tries the same old trick of deliberately colliding with Villeneuve this time it doesn't go so well 5-9 on that last lap I wonder if he's got something like a slow puncture or some kind of gear shift problem because Villeneuve is all over him look he's going through oh yes that didn't work you hit the wrong part of him my friend I don't think that will cause Villeneuve a problem Two thoughts there about the commentary mainly. Murray has let the occasion get to him. He comes out so high pitched and then he can't really gather himself.

45:55He's Team Villeneuve, isn't he? Yeah, well, Martin Brundle certainly is. He's literally like, that didn't work. I think it's, that's for Damon. Serves you right for Muscat sort of flavour to him. Got to say, in that one in particular, you can see Chumac is swerving. They're both coming around the corner and you see the moment where he just goes. Yeah, so apparently that one he later admitted was deliberate. But he's never owned up to the Damon Hill one. Really? Okay. I mean, could it be that the Damon Hill one was just... It was actually... Damon Hill thinks so. But yeah, Schumacher apparently later was like, yeah, that one, I did that on purpose.

46:30I watched that live, I remember, and there was a big sense of like, have that, you fucking cunt. Justice, serve you right for Moscow. Could see Martin Brundle just absolutely reveling in it. When he's not getting up to all sorts. when he's not clutching a bottle of baby oil. One of Martin's fruit-offs. Pitlane interviews with Pink Panther-esque taking on a different vibe now. Anyway, if you're hoping that Jacques Villeneuve celebrates with champagne-fueled excess, you're going to be disappointed, right? If you're hoping that Jacques will celebrate with a bit of champagne-fueled excess, you might be a bit disappointed.

47:11Because Jacques, he didn't really live up to the sort of F1 Playboy stereotype. So he dated Danny Minogue for a little bit. That's quite, that's quite, that is quite, you know, that's quite A-list, B-list. B-list, I think is it? Not quite A, but still. Danny actually ended up dumping him though because basically it was too much of a boring fuck for her. So she did an interview after they broke up in the News of the World where she said, there'd be me still wanting to go out with my mates to parties, go to the cinema. But for Jacques, when he wasn't away, she likes to play Dungeons and Dragons for hours on the net Jack likes to shut himself away where no one could see him love it on the net surfing the web so he's an early early adopter of the internet all she wants to do is go to the cinema she's not asking for like a fucking all night bender we should go and see Titanic Jack no Dungeons and Dragons on some dial up internet computer I'm picturing it yeah it's quite like comic book guy in The Simpsons isn't Verstappen a big Verstappen's a big like gamer is he yeah I'm sure I remember probably Fortnite when he was first coming up he celebrated a win by just gaming like all night it's a bit like yeah that's not what you want not getting Danny Minogue with that sort of antics actually Jacques Villeneuve also went out with Natalie Imbruglia so Australian singers yeah got a type yeah weren't they both in Neighbours maybe who cares fortunately there are a couple of others sexing things up on the grid including we mentioned before eddie irvine the the irish heartthrob so eddie he joined ferrari in 1986 where he was partnered with michael schumacher unstoppable at that point uh eddie said said later partnering michael's just like arriving at every race and getting hit on the head with a cricket bat for four days which you could read it a number of ways judging by michael's driving on the track i doubt he does his teammates many favors no i don't think so um yeah it's just imagine even even in even on the test runs michael's probably unscrewing eddie's wheel bolts and anyway while michael might have had eddie's number on the track off it there was there was no competition really So Eddie, who's rumored to have hooked up with, among others, Kate Moss, Kylie Minogue, Liz Hurley, Pamela Anderson.

49:44That's like the top four, isn't it? Of the era? It was. It was. Yeah. I'm struggling to think of bigger names than that. Well, Claudia Schiffer, who he was a bit less flattering about, actually. He said, to be honest, I was disappointed in Claudia when I met her. I just thought she was fat as a pig it's awful it's not fat as a pig it's quite I mean Claudia Schiffer is not fat as a pig no was she ever I don't think so no she was yeah do you think she turned him down fat as a pig that's mental he said it's awful well like he's actually quite sad that's absolutely mental it's just yeah actually there's there's a few of his comments that say haven't aged particularly well so he did an interview he was asked about his success with women and he replied you've got to knock them back a few times and if a woman lets you walk on her you walk on her and then you walk away women like being treated like pieces of shit what's the context for saying that just like lads mag interviews I think it yeah treat them mean that's his policy different times it definitely was 1999 he did finally win his first Grand Prix with Ferrari and you know it's a an amazing moment for any driver.

51:03It's what you dream of really growing up. And he was asked to put it into words by, by a reporter and he replied in a very Eddie Irvine fashion. Incredible. Like having sex with the best 10 girls in the world. Then again, I'd like to try that as well, just to be sure. To be fair, he has had sex with the best four. I'll give him that. That list is insane. I don't know. With Eddie Irvine, I sort of, I mean, no doubt he he did have quite a few conquests but I do wonder if he's one of these people who talks so much about having sex that you just I don't know it's like did that actually happen? It's also a bit Pound Shop George Best isn't it?

51:42And I guess because Eddie Irvine's from Northern Ireland isn't he? Yeah he's Do you think there's an element of like I need to be the two people I think he's trying to riff on are George Best and Sterling Moss the driver from an earlier who's all about his crumpet although I always find so weird about Sterling Moss is he kept a little black book in which he recorded every conquest. Yeah. Which loads of people are always like, that's fucking awesome. It's like, that's fucking weird. Yeah, it's very, very strange. Sort of autistic womanizer combo. It's quite unusual. Anyway, I think Eddie Irvine is trying to do the George Best thing.

52:13Yeah, yeah. He's not quite as good at the like lyrical finish. I don't know. I mean, I did see, I was going through like tabloid archives looking for Eddie Irvine's stories and there were, he cropped up in a couple of like interviews with other 90s female celebs, just like Q &A type things. And it was like, who's your celeb crush? And a couple of them, it was like that Irish F1 driver, Eddie Irvine. He was good looking. He was a good looking guy and he's a famous F1 driver. I believe that he jagged a lot. Yeah, it's not. Can't be too hard. Not questioning his record. So actually that 99 season is Eddie's best ever.

52:53Narrowly misses out on the driver's championship to Mika Hakkinen comes down to the final race. Oh, yeah. Part of the reason that Eddie was even in the hunt, though, for that season was because Michael Schumacher missed six races with a broken leg. Oh, right. Yeah. So this is the Mika Hakkinen era. Yeah. Yeah. Mika Hakkinen won back-to-back titles in the late 90s. But as Eddie was in the midst of this tight title race with Mika, you'd think that he'd have the whole of Ireland behind him dreaming of an Irish champion. Although there was one Irish hero who was not in Eddie's corner and that was Ronan Keating.

53:34Because at the end of that season, Eddie published his autobiography where he revealed that he'd shagged Ronan Keating's wife, Yvette Connolly, just before they got married. It's in his book. In his book, yeah. Didn't go down too well with Ronan. So Ronan did an interview afterwards where he said, I feel sorry for Eddie's mother and father having someone like that in their family. He's spineless. He's just a spineless slimeball. He doesn't deserve success. So literally the two of Ireland's favourite children, favourite sons at war. Exactly. Truly Yvette's got to take some blame. Ronan. Yeah. You're listening?

54:10I don't know what became of their marriage. It's not a great start. No. What I think is interesting is that he just whacked it in his book. Yeah. Fuck it. I mean, he's, yeah, I kind of, like we said, he's, he's one who likes dining out on those stories. Yeah. But also it's just an era where people are just so much more outspoken and like candid and almost like outrageous to the press for fun. Yeah. You know what I mean? Yeah. I mean, I guess at that point it was like, they actually made money off their book. So putting in those sort of details is good. Whereas now it's just like, if you talk about that in any interview, then it's going to be clipped up on TikTok within minutes.

54:47be on the pod Eddie's pretty liberal attitude towards sex possibly explains his response when one of his young Jaguar teammates was caught curb crawling in Northampton a few years later where Northampton Northampton he got sacked it was one of the one of the Jaguar test drivers I think and he got got sacked for it oh because that's where all the teams are based isn't it Northampton yeah I think it is I just think if you're going curb crawling and you're very good at driving a car fast go a bit further well I think you and Eddie might be agreed on that So Eddie's response when this guy got sacked was, that's a shame for the boy.

55:22I think it's a big penalty to pay for something like that. In the 21st century, it's quite ridiculous, really. I think he should live in Milan. It's a lot cheaper there and there's a lot more selection.

55:35It sounds like he's talking about food. Yeah. Selection. To be fair, I'm willing to believe there's more selection than Milan and Northampton. seems like a mental place to have a sort of curb crawling district that also I like the way he's like it's the 21st century as if like we've had we've had women's rights now what about curb crawling what year is it that we're still we're still condemning curb crawling shows how much things have changed yeah it will surprise you to hear that Eddie Irvine popped up on the Epstein list so he admitted that he was actually fairly good mates with Gisele Maxwell and went to parties with her and with Epstein and I believe Bill Clinton as well in New York.

56:18So this isn't like his name's in the emails because of an alert about an F1 race. This is like, hey Eddie, there was like correspondence. My place at night bring the fucking baby oil. Yeah, I don't know if, I mean there's much like a lot of these people who've cropped up in the Epstein files. No suggestion that Eddie did anything wrong at all. No, I think he said that he never saw anything. And we apologize. Underage. We apologize to him and his family. he's still going towards the end of his career his womanising was still in full swing although he did did actually say he said my worry is becoming the oldest swinger in town I don't want to grow into one of those sad characters with a model young enough to be his daughter on his arm 2015 he was photographed on a 12 million dollar super yacht with three topless models who were about 20 yep so there you go yeah he's having fun though isn't he he pops up occasionally in coverage yeah yeah he's um a bit like a bit like david coultard to me in my mind they were in the similar category which is like i mean eddie sort of irish but they're from the british isles they were always finishing sort of like fifth um i'd actually say coultard never really quite hit irvine's heights in in racing or shagging but he was a bit of a playboy uh literally so i found an interview with him in 2010 when they asked him who his hero was and he went for hugh hefner and then I also found an old kiss and tell on Coulthard from when he was still driving where they're describing I wouldn't quite call it an orgy but it's basically like him and a group of mates they're all shagging in this like hotel suite they're not really swapping around so I don't know if you'd call that an orgy it's a bubble bath shag fest there's a lot of bubble baths and the girl who sold the kiss and tell because Coulthard was engaged she said I don't really like the idea of comparing making love to driving a Formula One car but I suppose you could say he had a race plan.

58:12Right. I don't like it, but here you go. There's a clip of Coulthard dropping a little innuendo into an interview. I say innuendo, just hear it for yourself. You've been practicing with that pit lane speed limiter. Yeah, I have. I've just been imagining it's your nipples so I'm being a bit more gentle with it when I take my finger off at the end of the pit lane. Thank you very much, David. Thanks for you. Yes, thanks very much indeed for that one, David. That's fantastic. so i love jim rosenthal presenting f1 me that's absolutely fantastic thank you um yeah i always i've always viewed cooltard as a bit of a sort of pantomime dame figure i don't know it's just me like quite yeah he is he does a lot of innuendo we're looking at a picture of him naked on a beach where he said something he said something about being cheeky i just think you put a bit of blue eyeshadow and a feather boa on that guy.

59:05Yeah, I know what you mean. There's a campness there. He's a bit, ooh, matron. Yeah. But yeah, I think big shagger. So I wanted to mention him. However, just as Coulthard's hitting his racing peak in the late 90s, a new sex symbol emerges in F1 to blow all the others out of the water. And no, I'm not referring to Giancarlo Fisichella. It is, of course. Yeah, I know, truly. Takuma Sato that's X symbol it's Mr Nick Heidfeld Mr Felipe Massa it's Heinherald Frensen everybody no Katie Heinherald Frensen is probably the least sexy name on the grid Frensen and Fisichella for me I couldn't tell you anything about them apart from their names yes Katie Price's time this is moment.

59:59It's when Jordan arrives on the scene. So, Lads Mags have come to really dominate. They're selling so many copies. And Eddie Jordan, wily fox that he is, notices this trend and decides to capitalize it and starts marketing the Jordan team with more sex. I said before, Grigel's been around for a while, but this is like a much brashier way of draping them over the cars in hot pants. It's less Bond girl and more page three girl. So, Melinda messenger is another popular choice for him and katie price so katie price had already she was already getting quite big through glamour modeling basically she'd done page three since she was 18 um two years later she first appears on the f1 grid at the spanish grand prix here she is straddling a yellow jordan car in hot pants the number of photographers that are around yeah it's you could see this is i mean it is that was basically his plan eddie jordan wasn't it to inject this like glamour and get get jordan on the front pages i mean that's where that's where she got the name jordan yeah that's why she's called jordan yeah she's she's named after the team she she really cuts through in a way that none of the other ones do but yeah it's just like more people are going to see the bnh ad so i can sell yeah sell more sponsorships that picture is like feeding time at the zoo though the amount of photographers just um anyway so katie becomes a megastar very quickly what i've realized looking through old newspaper cuttings is basically the son put her on page three a lot and then would do like coverage about her.

1:01:29They basically turned her into a celebrity. The daily mirror described her as bazooka chested Brit glamor model. Um, who she started off at 32 B and become, she basically becomes famous for the boob jobs at the start because she goes all the way up to a 32 double F. Um, the son, the son start holding referendums on her boob jobs. So it'll be like, well, whether she should go up another size, They'd literally be like, Katie's currently a 32C, but she's got a four grand operation booked tomorrow. And we want you to decide whether she should go ahead with it or not. And it's like her boyfriend being like, no, I like how she is.

1:02:05The headline was, my boobs are in your hands, which is good. Actually led to the Sun to have a bit of an identity crisis. So they hold a poll called, should the Sun page three be a Silicon free zone? Okay. You wondering who wins? It's not obvious. I don't think. I kind of feel like that's what they go in for, really. Well, you'd be surprised because they hold it. You can phone in for one or the other and it is a landslide win for the big naturals. 82 % of the vote. And the Sun promptly banned Boltons from page three. No more Silicon. Although I should say they do cheat a bit. Is this going to be one of those things like more people turned out for that than the general election?

1:02:46No, I actually looked and it was like 5 ,000 votes. Yeah, so the local elections. Yeah. I noticed they, they also categorized it that women were even more in favor of, of no, no bolt-ons. Okay. they do cheat a bit. I should say, because they just start putting women with boob jobs topless on page seven instead of page three. Cause they did only say page three. Yeah. Sort of cheating. Um, anyway, Katie doesn't care. So she goes, she does a couple of these referendums and she like, sort of like steps down at the last minute, doesn't get the boob job. But then once she starts breaking through an F1, She sort of moves beyond page three, doesn't need them.

1:03:24And she's moving on to bigger things. She's actually getting quite close to the drivers, especially Ralph Schumacher, who's driving for Jordan. So Ralph, obviously Michael's younger brother, not quite as successful, but a big name from the era. So, you know, not even the best driver in his family. And Ralph Schumacher, he takes a real interest to Katie Price. Unfortunately for him, Katie has a boyfriend. She is, of course, engaged to Ace from Gladiators. Of course. and they're really loved up but Ace starts to get a bit suspicious when he answers Katie's phone a few times and a voice on the other end of the line says it's Ralph can you get Kate and he's like who's Ralph and she's like a guy from work which when you work in the industry Katie Price works and that could be anyone but yeah he notices there's some chemistry and eventually she bloody jilts poor Ace ditches him and starts dating Ralph Schumacher we're looking at a picture of them here where ralph is carrying katie after a race she's got like sort of knee-high sort of lara crofty boots this is her like it's a great it's a great picture really conjures up the era they're in that iconic yellow you got benson and hedges but it turns out that dating ralph schumacher is not exactly life in the fast lane here's a newspaper article from the time topless model jordan eased her beautiful chassis between the sheets for a night of passion with Grand Prix ace Ralf Schumacher, then discovered his pistons weren't firing like she'd hoped.

1:04:52The stunning brunette thought she'd have a full throttle experience when German speed king Ralf invited her for a cosy break at his home in Monaco. But she was amazed when the 23-year-old driver put his arms around her body, gave her a cuddle, and fell asleep! And it didn't just happen once. Jordan felt like she was going around in circles when it occurred four nights in a row. Damning. and then they break up eventually and she gives another interview about it and she said nothing's ever happened though some men don't make moves because they're either very respectable a virgin or gay and fast forward 25 years I'll just read out a headline for you F1 legend Ralph Schumacher to marry boyfriend after coming out as gay in 2024 so yeah Casey you were a gay dog still working wasn't so accurate Peter Andre always got kind of that vibe from but good month oh good for good for Ralph yeah it took him a long time to come out because he was married for a long time was he yeah yeah but all's well ends well he's getting married yeah because I listened to a Katie Price was on the Louis Theroux podcast I listened to her a little while back and she I think it must have been before Ralph had actually come out because she was very much insinuating it there as well oh really that he was gay yeah so she clocked him I think she must have done yeah Ace from Gladiators has got to be fuming like don't I'm sure Ralph didn't fully understand himself back then, but it's like, don't take her and then waste it.

1:06:21Yeah. Poor old Ace. I don't know what became of Ace from Gladiators. No. Someone told me that Rhino runs a taxi firm called Rhino Cabs. Really? I just never. I reckon it's a bit before your time. Yeah, I didn't really. Here we go. Ace from Gladiators, real name Warren Furman. Born again Christian and runs. What, he's a vicar? Oh my God. Yeah, he's now a vicar. He's now an even evangelist. sounds unqualified to me involved in Christian ministry sorry he runs a cult yeah that's quite a journey from dating Katie Price having her stolen from you by Ralph Schumacher to now vicar does that drive you to become a boy to get Christian yeah yeah you gotta see the light after that that's mental yeah imagine meeting up with your vicar and him revealing that used to be a gladiator also used to be ace from gladiators that's wild anyway so that's yeah I mean Katie Price after that she sort of moves on to bigger and better things I think we're going to do an episode I think we've got to we've sort of flirted around skirted around the idea for a while while researching this I found some very funny Katie Price stories from that era but we'll save those the sort of alternative Queen of Queen of England anyway by by the noughties the 90s the sort of real naughty 90s era was was coming to an end the likes of Eddie Irvine were retiring Murray Walker hung up his mic as well.

1:07:42I remember Jordan. I'm sorry. I watched the documentary with Murray Walker after he retired like two years later they're catching up with him and it was just him in his front room watching the Grand Prix and just commentating to himself. I like that. Why stop? Arguably the naughty 90s era really ends when Sauber banned Raikkonen and his teammate from sex before races. Oh yeah. It's always a big obsession in F1 isn't it? Do you shag before races? I mean yeah. I feel like in the 90s there was quite a lot of obsession with it in sport in general. Yeah, I remember hearing that Rude Hullet banned the Newcastle squad from shagging before games and being like captivated by this fact.

1:08:17I was about nine. Didn't even really know what it meant, but I was just like, wow. But I then was so captivated by it that we had some like family friends around for lunch and they were girls my age. And I told all of them about it. I said, Rude Hullet has banned the Newcastle squad from having sex for a game. And they were like, what? And then like later that day, my mum took me aside and was like, don't say stuff like that to girls. and I still don't know today did she overhear me or did they go to their mom and be like what does that mean yeah who's Rue Turner who's Alberto Solano and why is he not having sex before the big league cup game but yeah I do think a lot of we read a lot of 90s press coverage and a lot of sports coverage was like he does having sex before a game ruin your edge which now I feel that's a bit like who cares yeah yeah do what you want really yeah just be careful because AIDS is still a risk.

1:09:13Don't pick up syringes in the cinema. Alternative end to the 90s. You know how sometimes they say that decades end, like the millennium ended with 9-11. The 90s ended with it. The 90s ended with 9-11 type thing. Alternative ending when Eddie Jordan sells Jordan in 2005. Because he was like, he was sort of the last of those great buccaneering teams that we mentioned all became after that quite major manufacturers because there was a PROS team in the 90s there was Sauber yeah a lot of those bar Honda yeah although I think that's actually owned by British American tobacco you're right yeah it's about as evil corporate as it gets but still yeah those like startup he was yeah arrows yeah so Eddie he ended up selling the team to this Russian oligarch new era really in 2005 but even then he had one last trick up his sleeve so So he sold this Russian oligarch, the factory, which was opposite Silverstone.

1:10:14But in the deal, he didn't include the land around the factory and then erected concrete bollards across the entrance and apparently charged them extortionate rent to use their own driveway. That's amazing. The factory is great. That's quite sort of Blavio Briatore vibe, Bernie Eccleston crew. I guess they were all mates. We haven't talked about those guys because obviously, you know, maybe the end of the F1 era is where Max Mosley gets caught in his Nazi orgy. Which we should do a separate. I think we can do a whole episode. I think we should do an episode on those sort of owners and blazers, guys.

1:10:50The Ecclestons, the Briatore's, because there's quite a lot in there. There's plenty more, yeah. Yeah. But yeah, that's kind of the end of it, isn't it? Now it's quite nerdy now. It's lost me. Yeah. I mean, I loved it in the noughties and I, yeah. I think once Takuma Sato is hung up is yeah it's not the same without yana truly for me um yeah i mean it's drive to survive has sort of tried to inject back in a bit of that like personal behind the scenes drama but i don't know for me it's it's too clean it's too christian horner maybe apart from christian horner yeah yeah um it seems like a lot of it comes down now to just rules and i mean it was obviously always down to like engineering and you saying there's not enough like crashes yeah yeah i think even the christian horner sex scandal was a bit like it was just like a man like jizzing his pants on a plane sort of thing do you know i mean it was private jet it was a bit fucking like solo mobile phony rather than being like out there in a club yeah yeah yeah kimmy reichmann we could do an episode of him he's got some funny stories yeah uh yeah i think i think this was the last great glamour as you said at the beginning it's where the money's coming in so they're enjoying the like mad lifestyle but they haven't yet become like yeah the mars bars haven't been banned quite yet right era yeah take me back take me back favorite character before we go oh apart from you know your physicality apart from apart from Juan Pablo uh oh god who are we talked about i think uh kate price aside um she's not a driver um i think i'm going for i think i've got a stick to my boy ralph schubacher uh gerhard burger for me prankster prankster the cock and balls passport fight yeah that is good yeah stuff yeah classic i'm glad i'm glad they all just like had had a wild old time i think eddie ervine was showing off he'd had too much you know too much sun he was overtired too much sunny delight yeah and he was playing up to it i think he's probably all right yeah i think i mean he does he comes across as he's a bit of a cheeky chap yeah i'm sure it was the 90s yeah um all right uh well thanks a lot thank you we did do another f1 episode about um earlier era so if you if you want more of that if you want like the era where it is proper sort of like fighter pilot a lot of us will die and there are some quite like wacky racers moments.

1:13:22There's people doing like the Le Mans 24 hour where they're like necking coffee and whiskey to like stay awake but also relaxed and I don't know. There's some other sort of like japes. That's a good one. I think it's called Romans of F1. We did it quite a long time ago. Bad Boys of F1. It was about 18 months ago. So check that out if you want more. If that's not enough petrol for you. Otherwise, thanks a lot, Zach. Thanks a lot. Thank you.

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