Formula One driver Oscar Piastri breaks down some of the most famous racing movies of all time, including 'Grand Prix,' 'Le Mans,' 'Cars,' 'Speed Racer,' 'Gran Turismo,' 'Rush' and F1 documentary, 'Schumacher.'Director: Chris SmithDirector of Photography: Brad WickhamEditor: Eric BigmanProducer: Camille RamosLine Producer: Jen SantosProduction Manager: James PipitoneProduction Coordinator: Tania JonesTalent Booker: Meredith Judkins; Paige KefferCamera Operator: Jake RobbinsSound Mixer: Tyson DaiProduction Assistant: Lucia DavisPost Production Supervisor: Rachael KnightPost Production Coordinator: Ian BryantSupervising Editor: Rob LombardiAssistant Editor: Justin Symonds
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00 Hey GQ, I'm Oscar Piastri and this is The Breakdown.
00:03 (upbeat music)
00:06 All right, Grand Prix.
00:11 - You have to remember that at Monte Carlo,
00:14 because of the nature of the circuit,
00:15 you shift gears over 2,600 times during the race.
00:18 - So Monaco, where this is filmed,
00:21 one of the iconic F1 circuits
00:23 that is still on the calendar today.
00:24 It looks a little bit different
00:25 to what it does back in this film.
00:27 The hay bales are now all just arm code.
00:29 There's catch fences everywhere.
00:30 Some of the corners have changed a lot,
00:32 but most of it's actually still the same.
00:33 It's one of the toughest circuits on the calendar.
00:36 I'm glad that I can race it in my cars now, not these ones.
00:40 The aerodynamics have gone a long way since this was filmed.
00:44 You can see all the suspension and all the springs
00:46 outside the car in this.
00:48 Nowadays, they're all much tighter inside the car.
00:51 And of course, there's no rear wing on this car either.
00:53 And from the car behind, there's no front wing either.
00:55 It's got like the mirrors that are just there,
00:57 which I can't imagine would do much.
00:59 But now of course, the tires for us are much bigger.
01:01 They're slick tires, there's no grooves.
01:04 You can see the pedals on the right there,
01:07 very different to how they are now.
01:09 And a manual gearbox with a H pattern.
01:13 Now we just have little paddles
01:14 on the back of the steering wheel.
01:15 You'll notice the helmets are very different.
01:17 You can't see an inch of our skin.
01:19 The cockpit's much higher,
01:20 just everything's very, very different to a modern F1 car.
01:23 Yeah, we have some more luxuries in today's world.
01:28 - Well, actually, walking the course
01:31 is just about the last thing I do on the morning of a race.
01:34 - So he's talking about doing a track walk,
01:37 which we still do today.
01:38 Maybe not everyone does a track walk these days,
01:41 but for me, especially my first year,
01:43 I've done a track walk at pretty much every circuit.
01:46 Just gives you a first look.
01:48 So yeah, it's nice to know that some things haven't changed
01:50 in 50 or 60 years in the sport.
01:53 But yeah, that's kind of like one of the things
01:55 to prepare the track.
01:56 Of course, now compared to back in these days,
02:00 we've got a lot of data logging,
02:01 so we can look at that, and onboard cameras as well.
02:04 You've got a lot more tools at your disposal these days.
02:07 Le Mans.
02:08 I've never driven a Le Mans car,
02:09 but this is how I would imagine it to be.
02:12 Le Mans looks very different back in the day.
02:15 I mean, some of these cars are awesome.
02:16 Old GT40.
02:18 So the spray in the movie is pretty well replicated,
02:22 I would say.
02:23 Modern day F1 cars, the spray is massive.
02:26 Whenever you see us race in the rain,
02:28 especially when it's very heavy rain,
02:30 it does get a bit scary sometimes.
02:32 You can't see five or 10 metres ahead of you,
02:36 so there is some element of hoping
02:38 there's no one stopped in front of you.
02:40 Yeah, it's something that we're trying
02:42 to constantly improve and work on.
02:43 It's probably our biggest safety point in the sport
02:46 at the moment that we're trying to improve.
02:48 But yeah, presents a very big challenge for the drivers.
02:55 Your attention to the pit area.
02:57 The long-tail Porsche number 25 is coming in
03:00 after having been out of the circuit for only 14 minutes.
03:03 That's one big difference from Le Mans today
03:06 and all racetracks today.
03:08 As you can see, there was a car going past flat out
03:10 and there was no pit wall.
03:12 So just a white line on the track
03:14 that separates all the teams,
03:16 all the pit crews from the track.
03:18 Obviously not particularly safe.
03:21 Of course, we have pit speed limits,
03:23 which for F1 is usually 80 kilometres an hour,
03:26 some tracks 60.
03:27 And the pit stops back in these days,
03:29 I imagine there was refuelling, or there was refuelling.
03:32 That is no longer a part of Formula One.
03:34 And it's probably much safer that it's that way.
03:37 Also the changing tyres and stuff like that.
03:40 We currently hold the record at McLaren,
03:42 which is 1.8 seconds.
03:44 I don't think you'd even be able to get the wheel gun
03:46 onto these wheels in 1.8 seconds.
03:48 I guess the professionalism of the sport in general,
03:51 you know, we've got nearly 20 guys changing tyres
03:55 at a pit stop nowadays.
03:56 And here I imagine there's probably
03:58 less than 20 people on a team.
04:00 But yeah, it's pretty crazy to see back in the day
04:02 what it used to be like.
04:04 Cars, a classic.
04:06 - We need tyres now, come on, let's go.
04:09 - No, no, no, no, no, no tyres, just gas.
04:11 - What?
04:12 You need tyres, you idiot.
04:14 - I'd probably get a similar reaction
04:16 from my pit crew or engineers if I did the same thing.
04:19 I know exactly what happens in cars after this.
04:21 So I know the consequences.
04:22 So yeah, in a Formula One race,
04:24 it's very rare you'd run into this problem.
04:26 Lightning tries to stay on one set of tyres.
04:28 Mechanics obviously aren't very happy with him.
04:31 I don't know, maybe the mechanics do get that angry.
04:33 I haven't seen, but you wouldn't run into this problem
04:35 'cause we have to do at least one pit stop.
04:37 We have three different types of tyres.
04:39 In F1 we have a soft tyre, a medium tyre, and a hard tyre.
04:43 And you have to use two different types
04:44 at least during the race.
04:46 So you'd always do at least one pit stop
04:48 because otherwise you get disqualified.
04:50 But sometimes we do more than one pit stop.
04:52 So sometimes we'll do two,
04:53 on rare occasions we'll do three
04:55 if the tyre wear is really bad.
04:57 So you can get into this problem
04:59 if it's a sort of a crossover race
05:01 between one pit stop and two.
05:02 Pretty rare you would get into this problem.
05:05 There's a few ways of being able to tell
05:06 when the tyres are getting to the end of their life.
05:08 A lot of the time you get slower
05:09 and that's usually when it's a good time to pit.
05:11 It's quite rare that you'll run a tyre
05:14 to the point where it explodes
05:16 because normally by that point you're a lot slower.
05:18 So you normally change tyres before this point.
05:20 Blowing tyres like this,
05:22 your chances of finishing the race are pretty slim.
05:25 Lewis Hamilton has finished a race on three inflated tyres
05:29 at Silverstone once and won the race still.
05:31 Definitely the first time I've seen it happen.
05:32 Maybe it's not the first time,
05:33 but I think the last time we'll see that
05:35 for quite a long time.
05:37 Speed racer.
05:38 (dramatic music)
05:41 So I guess the first thing to point out is
05:51 I would never back out to lose a race.
05:55 I get there's emotional reasons in the movie,
05:58 but yeah, I guess racing against people
06:01 I've kind of grown up watching,
06:04 people like Lewis, people like Fernando on TV.
06:07 Fernando has been reminded a couple of times
06:09 that his F1 career is longer than my life.
06:11 Yeah, it's pretty cool to watch these guys growing up
06:14 and now race against them.
06:16 Of course you try and forget about them
06:18 once the helmet goes on.
06:19 They're just another guy you're trying to beat,
06:21 but definitely it's pretty special
06:23 to race against these kind of guys
06:24 that you look up to in your junior career
06:27 or even earlier than that when you're a little kid,
06:29 first getting into F1 or motorsport.
06:31 So to now be racing against them,
06:33 it's a pretty special feeling.
06:35 All right, Gran Turismo.
06:37 - What the?
06:37 (car engine roaring)
06:40 - See ya, bye.
06:43 (car engine roaring)
06:48 - I don't really talk when I'm driving,
06:55 especially to myself.
06:56 So that might be a little bit of Hollywood,
06:59 but I don't know, I'm sure there's other drivers
07:01 that do say see you later in the helmet.
07:04 It's always nice when you can capitalize on other people,
07:09 fighting amongst themselves and then you get a clear path.
07:11 So that's quite realistic.
07:12 I have actually driven on this track in real life as well.
07:15 So that part's definitely realistic.
07:18 Yeah, I mean, it's rare you see crashes
07:20 as big and dramatic as that, but they do happen.
07:23 Definitely seen some big crashes like that.
07:26 I think it's always something you try to avoid, of course.
07:30 Sometimes it's unavoidable,
07:32 but I guess you can be in riskier situations
07:35 and having a good sense of awareness
07:37 of other cars around you is of course important
07:39 to avoid crashes.
07:40 So coming into F1 as a rookie,
07:42 I guess there's a lot of expectations.
07:44 A lot of people that don't really know
07:47 what you're capable of.
07:48 I didn't race last year, I was a reserve driver.
07:50 So there was some rustiness coming back
07:53 into the actual racing.
07:55 But yeah, you always kind of under scrutiny
07:58 whether you're a rookie, whether you're in your 20th year,
08:01 but definitely you've got to,
08:02 I guess there's some kind of wanting to prove yourself
08:05 and establish your name in the sport.
08:07 Clarence have signed me up for another three years.
08:09 So clearly they think I'm okay.
08:11 Formula 1 and motorsport in general
08:13 isn't an expensive sport.
08:14 This movie is all about a guy who got his chance
08:17 in real life motorsport through simulators,
08:20 which for us is now a very important tool,
08:22 the simulator.
08:23 By rules, we're not allowed to do much testing anymore.
08:26 So we have three days of pre-season testing
08:28 and that's it for the whole season.
08:30 So the simulator and trying to get that
08:32 as accurate as possible is incredibly important for us.
08:34 Rush.
08:35 (car engine roaring)
08:38 - Nicky Lager and James Hunt side by side.
08:50 - So fun fact about Rush,
08:53 earlier this year at Goodwood,
08:55 I actually drove James Hunt's car that is in this movie.
08:58 I'm very glad I don't have to race that car
09:00 on a weekly basis because safety has improved
09:04 a hell of a lot since then, but no, very, very cool.
09:07 And I guess now closer, deeper meaning with the movie Rush.
09:10 That's a fun fact.
09:12 - For those of you with experience know
09:13 the ring needs perfect conditions
09:15 to be even remotely acceptable in terms of risk.
09:18 On today with the rain, there's anything but perfect.
09:20 So I called this meeting to take a vote to cancel the race.
09:23 - Cancel the race.
09:24 - Oh, this is not that good.
09:26 I think as drivers, of course,
09:30 with there's 20 of us in the world
09:32 and there's not many people in the world
09:34 that have the same experiences as us.
09:36 And we're always trying to push the forefront of safety
09:40 and meetings like this on weather, on car safety,
09:45 especially in the past without those safety improvements
09:49 back in the day, we would be in a much worse off place
09:53 as a sport.
09:54 And in some ways we owe a lot of our lives
09:58 to people like Niki Lauda
10:00 in their continuous push for safety and improving that.
10:04 I think even now where we're still trying
10:06 to make the sport safer,
10:08 it's gone a long way from when this was,
10:11 but there's always things we can do to improve.
10:13 And yeah, I think as a driver, as a grid,
10:16 where we're very united,
10:17 I think we've been able to achieve some good things
10:21 for the sport.
10:22 It's our job at the end of the day
10:22 and we want to make it better for us all, safer for us all
10:25 and better for people to watch.
10:27 So I don't normally review documentaries,
10:29 but this is a very important one for F1 and for motorsport.
10:33 So, Schumacher.
10:36 - When Michael came into Formula One,
10:39 this was a time when there were big names.
10:42 Senna was world champion with McLaren,
10:46 Mansell was driving for Williams.
10:48 - So Michael's path went F1 was pretty different
10:52 to what you would see nowadays.
10:54 F3, then into sports cars and then Formula One mid-season.
10:58 Mid-season F1 debuts are not unheard of.
11:00 We had Liam Lawson this year,
11:02 who came in mid-season to replace Dan Ricciardo
11:05 when he broke his hand.
11:06 So that side of things is not unheard of,
11:08 but coming from sports cars is very, very rare nowadays.
11:12 Yeah, there's not many drivers.
11:13 It's kind of a pretty set pathway starting from go-karts
11:17 or now even sim racing,
11:19 then going to Formula Four, Formula Three,
11:21 Formula Two, Formula One.
11:23 So for me, that's what I did.
11:25 I did Formula Four, I raced Formula Renault,
11:27 which is basically Formula Three and a half,
11:29 if you want to think of it like that.
11:31 Formula Three and Formula Two,
11:33 and then yeah, got my way into F1.
11:35 So that's kind of the traditional pathway now.
11:38 I don't know, maybe we'll see someone come
11:39 from sports cars to F1.
11:41 It's pretty rare nowadays.
11:43 I guess back in the '90s, it was more common.
11:47 Mark Webber, my manager, did a very similar thing.
11:49 So yeah, it's not really something you'd see anymore.
11:51 Michael Schumacher came to the sport
11:53 when he was very young at this time.
11:56 Now I would say that that age is considered kind of normal,
12:01 if not even a bit old.
12:02 Max Verstappen joined the sport when he was 17.
12:05 So that will never be repeated again.
12:07 But the age, I guess, is now lower.
12:10 I started when I was 21 this season,
12:12 so I guess still pretty young,
12:13 but no, it's kind of cool to see
12:16 how the sport's constantly evolving.
12:18 People are getting younger, cars are getting quicker.
12:20 I mean, if I can try and repeat the success
12:23 that Michael had, I'd be a very happy man.
12:25 But yeah, coming to the sport, yeah,
12:28 came in mid-season, had to perform straight away
12:33 and sort of earn his shot in F1.
12:35 And yeah, he was able to deliver straight away.
12:37 So very impressive to watch.
12:39 Trying to do the best job that I can to do the same.
12:42 Thank you for watching these clips with me.
12:44 I hope you learned something new.
12:46 See you next time.
12:47 (electronic music)