The Flying Lap with Peter Windsor

To celebrate the first US Grand Prix at the brand new Circuit of the Americas, we will be airing Episode 90 live from downtown Austin, Texas.  Our special guest will be Bob Varsha, anchorman and analyst of SpeedTV's high-acclaimed F1 coverage since 1999 and a gentleman steeped in the F1 tradition from the Speedvision and ESPN days.  Articulate, intelligent and a passionate motor racing enthusiast, Bob, like the rest of the SpeedTV team, sees this US GP as part of his network's F1 swansong.  We'll be looking back, therefore, at some of the highlights of the past 12 years as well as forward to this stellar new race.  

No-one has a better understanding of Kimi Raikkonen's driving technique than Rob Wilson, the British-based coach who appears regularly on The Flying Lap.  Rob has worked extensively with Kimi at various stages of his career and predicted months ago on the show that Kimi would win again before season's end.  Join  Rob Wilson live from Bruntingthorpe, therefore, as we celebrate Kimi's brilliant win in Abu Dhabi with a close-up view of what makes Kimi so sublimely special.   Championship contenders Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso also had big races on the Yas Marina circuit and to discuss those events - and more - we're delighted to welcome to the studio Nigel Roebuck, the pre-eminent F1 journalist, columnist and author.   Nigel's encyclopaedic knowledge of Grand Prix racing and down-to-earth witticisms have left their mark on F1 fans around the globe for the past 41 years via numerous books, columns and feature articles.   Today he is Editor-in-Chief of the world-famous motor racing monthly magazine, Motor Sport.

The 2012 F1 season now reaches perhaps its toughest phase:  two double-headers, on four different continents, pose not only an immense logistical challenge but also a true test of human stamina and endeavour.  To introduce us to this Sunday's Indian Grand Prix, Karun Chandhok joins us on line from Shanghai, China, where he is preparing for this Sunday's World Endurance Six-Hour race with the JMR team.  Karun has spent the past week in India, promoting the race, meeting the press and working with sponsors, and has high hopes for the future of F1 in his home country.  We'll also be talking to WilliamsF1 Strategy Engineer, Mark Barnett, about the challenges of the Buddh circuit - and to Lotus F1 Third Driver, Jerome d'Ambrosio.  Jerome joins us from Delhi, where he has just arrived after a long trip from Austin, Texas, so there will also be lots of talk about the Circuit of the Americas, too - about the brand new circuit that forms the first part of the year's final double-header.  Jerome last weekend became the first F1 driver to lap the Texas circuit in an almost-current car (the Renault R30);  and he spent some time in downtown Austin, too, looking up old friends.

We'll be bringing you a special edition of The Flying Lap this week - live from Silverstone, where WilliamsF1 will be staging a day for team Partners, the media and other lucky invitees.  Pastor Maldonado, Bruno Senna and Valtteri Bottas will be on hand to drive "hot laps" with guests in Renault road cars  - and there will be plenty of Williams F1 cars on active service, too, including an FW08, an FW18 and last year's FW33.   Susie Wolff will also be having her first taste of F1 power;  and there'll be plenty of chat - you can be sure - about Sunday's Korean GP.  It wasn't a great one for Williams but the energy of that race - of the title fight between Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso; of Felipe Massa's contract renewal; and of Ferrari's driver line-up from 2014 onwards - will be there for us to savour.  Join us, then, on the F1 fan's Ultimate Day Out.  Not everyone will be fortunate enough to be present but on The Flying Lap we'll be endeavouring to take you as close as possible to the heart of the day (at the slightly earlier start time of 5:30UK).