Pat Symonds: Royal Automobile Club Talk Show in association with Motor Sport

Ahead of the Dewar Trophy and Simms Medal presentations, the podcast team sat down with Williams' Chief Technical Officer Pat Symonds to discuss the winners of the two awards as well as Formula 1's 2017 regulations.
We also cover the greatest racing driver excuse of all time, courtesy of Ayrton Senna, and Pat's time at Benetton. It's the eighth time Pat has graced the microphone on this site and his ability to distill technical discussions into something even we can understand remains undimmed. Enjoy.

[@A.Santos1]

59:55 "The wall moved"

[@DuncanCunningham]

I love these 'long form' productions, the questions and guests.

[@kimiraikkonen5544]

I love this channel. honestly this is the best Formula 1 tech/info place amongst other topics on KZbin. thank you

[@arthurlunn9430]

²20Details ywwwywwywttwtwt2tw922t2

[@arthurlunn9430]

²q

[@A.Santos1]

I couldn't agree more

[@jasongillard6185]

What a fantastic interview. Just raw engineering explained in such a good way us joe public understand. Mr Symonds is a legend with the best of them.

[@RikiNewtonMusicianSongwriter]

That was just so interesting. Pat Symonds is such a top dude. Well worth the time. Great info for anyone who loves all things F1. Thanking you kindly for uploading these great podcasts. Rx

[@HammyMansell80]

He's a convicted cheat in the sport......Not sure why he came back after being banned.

[@almierhunter]

amazing content as always

[@66PHILB]

In relation to F1 pit stops 1:04:44, Brands Hatch '82 was in fact the first time Brabham were ready for a planned stop. Patrese went out at the start & Piquet led the race for 9 laps before an engine failure.

[@krontenbel]

Very interesting insights. Thoroughly enjoyed watching this!

[@HammyMansell80]

Why this man is respected so much, I don't know.....Cheated in 1994 with Benetton, cheated again in 2008 with Renault (same team effectively) and was thereafter banned from F1....

[@michaelastockbauer672]

Andrew Dalton today its well known that Benetton did not cheat in 1994... all these stories were put right several times by the people involved and explained why and where all these accusations came from and that they were wrong... In 2008 - Renault indeed cheated! But that was Flavio Briatores order, he was Pats boss. Pats fault was to execute his orders. He did not refute. But the "cheating" it self was the order of the team principal, and he as technical director followed that order. That was Pats only fault in many many years in F1... And by the way - in F1 it always just a small step between cheating and building a fast car or fighting hard...and anyone in F1 knows this.

[@ArtEmis55K]

@@michaelastockbauer672 'Well known' by who? Benetton under Flavio Briatore were better known for a lot more than not cheating. In all professions, there's a requirement for professional responsibility to your organisation and yourself. If you're saying that the first mistake Pat made was in 2008 to follow Flavio's order that's like saying that a person's first mistake was committing a crime for the mob. If you don't have the personal integrity to not be involved with a crook, then you're bound to end up behaving badly. That's what Pat did and he's never been seen in the same light since. Pat knew where the line was and he ignored it. Now his decent career and his reputation are in a ditch. He'll always get work and be able to do interviews like this but behind closed doors - he's regarded as a weak loser who can't take the heat. I'd not want to be him.

[@gearsau]

Could you please set the camera level. ? Good podcast . I'm starting to catch up with a few of the older podcasts. Very interesting

[@ArtEmis55K]

Surprised the RAC have guests like this

[@munnibloke9852]

MANUAL STICK SHIFT GEARBOX seems to me everybody is missing the point about driving on a track In my mx5 its more effort and judgement to get the gearchange right coz its manual My m3 is faster power wise ect but changing is boring , because its a flappy semi ! get my point ? Racing needs to stay manual

[@caltrops11]

Mate I'm not sure of you know this but the redline is where you shift. I'll give you matching revs/speed on the downshift but realistically there's not much judgment involved in upshifting. You reach the limiter and move on to the next gear.

[@Mrjpxa]

i think Pat said 5 mm instead of 5 cm. i could be wrong but 5 mm seems a bit too little

[@Motorsportmagazine]

He did mean to say 5mm. Yes, unbelievable as that sounds!

[@swash55]

I drive a kart once in a month and after 10 laps on one track I can see the difference in cm around a corner so 5mm is for sure what he was reffering to.Yes, the speed difference is big between a kart and a formula car, but still, I`m a newbie and I can see/feel the distance in cm between me and the wall.

[@RikiNewtonMusicianSongwriter]

You obviously don't understand just what precision top flight Grand Prix drivers require in order to be brilliant - like Ayrton Senna. Yes it's millimetres not inches. That's how good he was at his profession - & why he's revered the world over & missed by millions - still !!

[@brighthouse1645]

I'm writing a book on the 1994 F1 season in case your interested www.1994f1.com/

[@promotedfacepulling2913]

The level of comprehensive wrongness and corresponding wrongness here is almost painful, from all sides of the table. If anyone ever needed an encapsulation of the reason F1 destroyed itself and no longer exists except in a fittingly rejigged logo, here it is. Well done, lads. Well done. If you need to ask for an explanation, you probably can't afford it.

[@doginu]

Pat should worry about Williams performance ....

[@Alenyaa]

Much as I respect Pat in terms of his work, his justification of moving from V10 over V8 to V6 is absolute horsecrap. Formula 1 is the Pinnacle of motorsports, the arguement of social responsibilty does not apply to 20 or 22 cars racing on fossil fuel 20 times per year nearly as much as it does to the logistics of it, or its entertainment value.

[@jackytwix5956]

IF steel brakes are as good as the carbon ones these days why the hell are they wasting a fortune running the carbon ones. when theyare alwasy crying about costs.

[@66PHILB]

Because carbon brakes are much lighter.