Peter Collins on working with Colin Chapman, Driving Greats | Beyond The Grid | Official F1 Podcast
514This week’s guest may not be a household name, but for 20 years he was at the epicentre of Formula 1. Between the late 70s to early 90s, Peter Collins worked for Lotus under Colin Chapman, then Williams under Sir Frank, then Benetton alongside Flavio Briatore, before returning to run Lotus. In various managerial roles during that period he worked with some great drivers too: Keke Rosberg, Nigel Mansell, Gerhard Berger, Mika Hakkinen and Johnny Herbert. And the great news for us is that Peter has great anecdotes about all of them! So settle in for fabulous insight into a golden era of the sport – including the time he dispatched Hakkinen to do the school run…
3:56 – The artistry of a stunning pole position lap
08:01 – Racing with Mario Andretti at Lotus in 1979
12:38 – Building the ‘fantastic’ twin chassis Lotus with Colin Chapman
17:19 – The genius of Colin Chapman, and the passion of Frank Williams
23:58 – Working with the ‘demanding’ Keke Rosberg at Williams
27:27 - Leaving Williams and a rift with Frank
36:46 - Joining Benetton and working with Flavio Briatore
44:09 – Why Peter championed Johnny Herbert after his 1988 accident
48:26 – Racing and living with Mika Hakkinen, and breaking him out of jail…
56:45 – Falling out and reconciling with Colin Chapman
1:03:23 – Peter’s current project – seeking future stars
1:07:35 – Tom reads your messages about Charles Leclerc’s Beyond The Grid interview
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