The Beyond the Grid has Johnny Dumfries talk about his F1 and Le Mans 24 Hours career, Ayrton Senna, Ferrari role regret and more.
- The guest on the episode of F1: Beyond the Grid was an atypical one on the week of August with Johnny Dumfries, the Scottish aristocrat formally known as John Crichton-Stuart, the 7th Marquess of Bute, joining in.
- The very first question on the episode was with regards to how he reflects on his period in the sport, and Dumfries spoke of the learning he had in his F1 career, as he gained a better understanding of key life values.
- Then on a lighter note, Dumfries – a former teammate of Senna’s detailed the emotions one feels as they are about to embark on a qualifying lap, which the Scottish Crown-bear says requires immense focus.
- The 62-year-old addressed the circumstances under which he debuted, as he first drove alongside Senna in the turbocharger era – precisely when the cars were unbelievably difficult to drive.
- Dumfries covered his numerous tests for various F1 teams, and as he gave context to each and every of his tests, he commented that he had signed a test deal with Ferrari, which turned out to be a waste.
- He regretted his decision – largely driven by a naive desperation to work with Ferrari – and discussed his first time arriving in Maranello. He also chatted about driving for Bernie Ecclestone in a Brabham test at Kyalami.
- He acknowledged that he was offered a spot at Tyrell to replace Martin Brundle after his accident at Dallas, and admitted that he should have agreed to that, but that his loyalty to other projects and blind faith that more opportunities would come held him back to a certain extent.
- The former Lotus driver stated that he was intimidated by his teammate Senna, who was colder, and more coy with regards to set-up information and anything that can offer a true advantage.
- Immediately, Dumfries stated plainly that his equipment was different to that of Senna – something he noticed after countless DNFs at the F1 season’s start.
- He did, though, accept blame for his struggles that year, saying that he seldom pushed hard enough for fear of being the rookie that needlessly ended his race with his nose in the barrier.
- He chatted about some of his relationships with other F1 drivers, which was excellent for some, but less so for others, as is the case in life.
- After this, he explained that he thought his single-seater career was over after a break from F1 with Tom Walkinshaw racing.
- Having chatted about his career, Dumfries then covered where it all began, and how he got into racing in the first place, as well as his competitiveness from the get-go despite his laid-back upbringing.
- He discussed his cousin’s involvement in racing, and the connections he established with those in the racing world early on. After this, he covered his 1988 Le Mans win, which was an incredible opportunity.
- He said that, after his Group C success, there were still no meaningful offers from F1 teams, most of whom were ignoring this racing.
- Dumfries did, though, test for Benetton, who were trialing the new active suspension system – he covered this, before the podcast ended.
Here’s the link of the podcast as FOM doesn’t allow to use it: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9hdWRpb2Jvb20uY29tL2NoYW5uZWxzLzQ5NjQzMzkucnNz/episode/dGFnOmF1ZGlvYm9vbS5jb20sMjAyMC0wOC0xODovcG9zdHMvNzY2MDg3OA?hl=en-IN&ved=2ahUKEwjmurjo7qnrAhVOWX0KHSzVBrwQieUEegQIBBAE&ep=6
Here’s the last episode of F1 Nation
Here’s F1 Beyond The Grid Podcast with Frederic Vasseur