When Sailing and F1 Collide | Sir Ben Ainslie and Toto Wolff

[Music] and you had the the star of the show your mate g g [Music] G there's lots of oddities about America's Cup it's quite difficult to beat the winner actually yeah if they've got their wits about them it's it's harder yeah I don't think in Formula One you would be able to ever win a single Championship if the winner would make the rules the job that you really have to do is the one in adversity yeah for sure that's when you when you have to step up I mean ultimately if you don't then you're not going to be in the job much longer I think so have lifting the trophy that moment is just so much more um fulfilling than just posting a profit in a p& this is supposed to be a half hour chat between the three of us but I I need to sort of rush the first bit otherwise I feel it's going to take a very long time because I want to ask you about your experience on the boat today so you became a cycla for one day and were able to experience this America's cut booat Toto in all its anger out on the ocean waves alongside Ben who was helming and George who was helming as well for a period what was what was it like it was very impressive but I felt it's going to be um how this is all structured here and build up the you know even getting the health and safety instruction is uh I think you're safer on on your boat than uh kite surfing on some random beach somewhere so that was very impressive to th it's good to hear it's good to hear the processes are right no yeah the processes are right so you have everything in place to win okay um and then then going on the board but you can feel at least I've been around many sports and I've seen team setups and uh the operations in that looks really Top Notch and then going on the board was just pleasure I was one of the cyclists but um like semic cyclists I could could take easy if I wanted to so I had I looked around and looked at the foils working and the impressive past and that was good there's a drone camera shot of you that's literally looks like you're absolutely living your best life and having the best fun I mean did it what did it feel like I did actually know it's so weird we travel around the world in um in Formula 1 and we do lots of fun events and and stuff and lots of sport but this is what I haven't done before um I've been on hobby cats and lasers and Cat surfing and flight boards and all of that but that's nothing against going 40 knots in eight wind in eight knots wind how does that even go so and then having the involvement obviously in the development part of the boat with with you guys yeah was was something did you feel a little bit proud yeah you know your team helping us along this journey and creating that crowd yeah yeah obviously but yeah I do but also being part of the crew in the boat you know now I could I can put faces to the to it and the cyclists U sometimes you you know you you get a lot of media attention obviously the driver gets um but it's a team effort and I like how they've been pushing each other you know come on give it all then I see the Baseline of you know we're pedling along at 250 wats and now we go 500 in the corner ring which I didn't know that the cornering was so important yeah very very nice afternoon what about the performance Ben performance was performance was good I I think maybe maybe there's a little bit of misunderstanding in terms of of the cycore output requirement but what is that mean was more sufficient I don't know that's what you said to me I wasn't sure yes when I was supposed to put the power down but when you did put the power down I think it was he need clear Direction come on I need clear Direction I also I get clear directions I know what to do and not to do and here I thought I'm not feeding in actually but then I did those fun Peak wats and then they said well that was really nice you fed in a lot but only like for 10 seconds yeah I mean it's like you said it's impressive the power these these athletes put down how does that do you think that's quite nice in a way that it's very similar to Formula 1 the technology is obviously absolutely critical but there is other than the drivers like you said is more of a human element in terms of the the athletic performance which is which is driving the overall performance that's quite neat in a way I like because I like team sports but obviously in Motor Racing you're you're alone in the car and everybody works in the background but what I like in in sailing what I've experienced today is that you're driving it um but you're one part of the equation um then there's you know the other guys that doing the navigation and some of the streaming some of the sales some of the sales and then the four so you're all in this together Everybody Plays its role and you're all in the boat together which is a was a new experience and um that is that is different to Formula One Toto what would be another new experience for you is the idea that this cup for all its bizarre nature runs from one year to the next three and you only have this one moment sort of every three maybe every four years to really show what you're all about and what all the effort and Works been moving towards what what's your sort of assessment of that with Formula 1 the seasons roll into one another very quick and obviously you're always looking ahead constantly but it's a different approach so what's your assessment of of how the Cup teams have to behave in the leadup to competition and ahead of what we are now walking into which is the business end of it I think definitely there's lots of oddities about America's Cup it's clearly the peak of sailing the high-tech the the best s ERS uh most professional setups I mean this is Formula One On Water um but then the winner gets to make the rules that's interesting aspect it's quite difficult to beat the winner actually yeah if they've got their wits about them it's it's harder yeah I don't think in Formula One you would be able to ever win a single Championship if the winner would make the roles but it is what it is you you know you have to just U be better uh and then every you know this notion of every four years a little bit like the Olympics on the football World Championship is a difficult one because you never know where you stand you're setting these targets and uh is it good enough or not and then you could be starting sailing and you're just far off or you're right in the game and that can certainly lead to some frustration I guess yeah what does it feel like for you Ben because you have got that you know it's a totally different approach to how Toto would operate operate with the Formula 1 team isn't it it is this this moment in time that happens and this buildup this huge Crescendo to to that moment yeah it's very much in stages you know setting getting the rules and setting the strategy working through that strategy trying to execute on that and then this period we're in now where no one's everyone's trying to you know jostle for position figure out where they stand in the pecking order no one really knows until we start getting some more official racing or practice racing and then still in that period it might be that the the teams that are performing at in the early rounds not necessarily as you get to later rounds because there's still a lot of performance left to to gain and the conditions will undoubtly change as well we know that here in Barcelona it's really changeable weatherwise so there's a lot of variables there's a lot of as they say golf left in the hole so got to keep pushing hard last time out in New Zealand there was obviously a relationship that had begun there between Mercedes and and inos brania that has evolved how has that evolved how has that relationship at the risk of sounding like Ron a therapy couch not the relationship between you two necessarily but how is the collaboration between the Mercedes team and the sailing team really evolved over that period of time would you say Ben and I we don't need any uh uh coun counseling therapy because there's a lot of romance in our relationship I think bit romance romance a bit of romance um but sus and you always nearby so that's good to know the thing is that you know at the beginning I guess we the impares came from from gym and that it make it made a lot of sense but putting Sailors together with motor racing people isn't maybe the same isn't intuitively the thing you would do and I think it needed some adjustment time before it really before it really clicked and uh well all of us are trying to do the best possible work and and to be successful with the project for us it was interesting because some of our people weren't that excited anymore more about Formula One they wanted to do something else uh and then we were able to really good people to to give them into the put them into the saling projects is a good good way also in learning about you know different things yeah I guess it's an exciting place to put your resource isn't it to to try out different things yeah so we are pretty Limited in what we're allowed to do in Formula One outside of let's say the the regulations but the sheer fact that you're putting people on hydrodynamics when previously they would only look at down Force suddenly that need needs to lift actually is is interesting and then in formul one we do apportionment so we we can have people that work in Po and that's beneficial for our cost cap so we did some of that but in all Truth truthfulness at the end you want to give it the maximum maximum power and within America's Cup we ended up with a very very big and strong core team um so I think this is just it needs to be done and Ben from your side where would you say the biggest sort of impact has come from from the Formula 1 team well firstly you know we've learned a huge amount you know across the board from the partnership so thank thanks again and I think maybe in a in a smaller way there's been some reciprocal learning definely just you know the the the scale of the organizations is really what sticks out you know America's Cup team typically is around about a tenth of the scale of Formula 1 team team on on particularly on the technical program and so we're inevitably we're a bigger technical organization now as through this partnership and then it's been about really utilizing that that resource and putting it to where it matters because it'd be easy to go off and start looking under all of the the rocks and and getting distracted and that's really been what we've tried to focus on and and some key areas you know really fluids and simulation a little bit manufacturing as well and reli reliability which is so key in your game and it's the same for us you know we have the fastest boat in the world but if we can't get it around the racetrack when it when it matters then that's no good to us so yeah a huge amount of learning it's been a really really for me it's been a fascinating process and what about the commerciality of it as well because I think Formula One is a hop skip and a jump ahead isn't it of where the cut the cup would look to Formula 1 as a leader in in the commercial approach I mean even Toto with you know the recent life cycle of Formula 1 with the drive to survive peace and a few other ways that it's really been broadening its its audience base I mean what do you think the key lessons you could impart for Ben and the team are on the commercial Factor because that's how it's got to survive isn't it moving forward in this modern era where you know every they're clambering for space Sports I think formula one has been been around for 70 years and that is must not be forgotten uh but in the same way the cup was around for longer um but putting on a great show it's all about the entertainment factor and I think formula one has been putting on a great show uh I think when you when you look back at the you know 2020 2021 especially the big controversies that they existed and at the same time we were the only spot that was actually putting was able to putting something together whil everybody else couldn't in co uh people were watching at home Netflix at the same time um got got quite some traction and interest and you had the the star of the show your M gun G G i' I've written a forward in his book uh because he's love it he's hilarious he's probably and but that but that but you know that on a serious note you know some those teams survival relies on the entertainment Factor too right they have to be visible for sponsors to be attracted to keep those teams going which keeps Formula One going but it comes down to being authentic G is authentic he doesn't talk any any differently in in real life um and he clearly was the main standout person for for that team but I guess that the younger drivers that came in they have lots of social media activity Liberty allowed that because previously you know we it was we were very Lim Limited in what kind of content we could broadcast from the pedok and all of that came together and made the sport grow faster and bigger and mo most interestingly very different new audiences so young females is something that the sport was particularly weak in and now the strongest gr growing audience is um women between 15 and 35 um so that is that's interesting damn I'm out of that bracket never mind just join us for the performance people podcast every week for the highs lows lessons and stories from people like this lot Michael Johnson some days what I would see as a person who was a shell of what I used to be Eddie Hearn we don't operate in a business that's dangerous but we just operate in one where you got to sleep with one eye open mo Farah it couldn't get any harder than what I've gone through and at that point I just kind of just went for it Paula Radcliffe you can only control yourself wolf and Toto did once liken me to a donkey every Tuesday wherever you get your podcasts hello performance people listeners my name is Freddy Carr and I host a podcast called the inside Tech which is a podcast that follows the British Americas Cup team in Yos Britannia as we get ready for the 37th Americas cup down here in Barcelona we also follow the youth and the first ever women's America's Cup we would love you to like And subscribe to our podcast follow us on all your social media channels as we get ready for our sporting challenge of a lifetime [Music]