Our Daniela Loffreda sits down with Formula 1 journalist and Nottingham Trent University graduate Christian Hewgill to chat about his chart-topping motorsports podcast, The Fast and the Curious, working with Greg James, and studying in our fair city…
Formula 1 has exploded in popularity over the last two years. But, while the general public has come to love the high-speed, wheel-to-wheel racing, it has a reputation for being a little bit complicated at times.
Thankfully, the sport has been blessed with a number of great podcasts that are dedicated to making racing easy to understand, accessible, and welcoming to all. The Fast and the Curious, hosted by BBC Radio 1 presenter Greg James, BBC Sport’s Betty Glover, and, most importantly, Nottingham Trent University graduate Christian Hewgill, is one such podcast - and has taken the Formula 1 community by storm, proving an instant hit with newbies and veteran fans alike. Christian tells us all about it…
Yourself, Greg, and Betty have such different paths and journeys into the sport. How did the idea for a podcast come about, and how was the team formed?
I got to know Greg James when I was working on Newsbeat for Radio 1. In my last eighteen months or so, I was regularly reading the news on his breakfast show, and we got to know each other. There was one morning when I was reading the news - and you have to remember those shifts started at four o'clock in the morning, so I'd be getting ready at three o'clock in the morning, and I would literally throw any item of clothing on my body I could physically lay my hands on - and I chucked on a Mercedes gym top. When I got into work, I saw Greg and he said, “Oh, you've come to work dressed as Toto Wolff!” And I was like, “Oh, you're a Formula 1 fan?! I didn't realise that.”
I later announced that I was leaving Newsbeat and Greg messaged me that day and said, “I’ve been thinking this for a while, but you should be on a Formula 1 podcast. Should we do one?” And I was like, “Absolutely, yes!”
Tell us about how you put the team together, and what the plan for the podcast was…
Greg and I chatted for around six months, on and off, about how we wanted it to sound and what we wanted to do. And I sort of came to the conclusion that most F1 podcasts out there - and there are some amazing ones - were largely hosted by three motorsports geeks (admittedly, like me). So I said I think we need to try and do something different.
We knew we wanted to get the drivers on, and I wanted people alongside me that I'm friends with, so we have that chemistry - so I spoke to my mate, Betty, who's an amazing BBC Sport broadcaster, and asked her if she’d be up for it. She said, “Well, I don't really know F1.” And I was like, “That’s perfect - that’s what we want!” She was a casual fan, and I told her I wanted her to learn more as she goes, because there are so many new F1 fans at the moment - so Betty basically became the audience’s representative on the team.
For newer fans of Formula 1, this is the podcast that will explain the complicated aspects of the sport
As you say, the podcast is about appealing to a range of F1 fans. How important is it to you that you remind people that not only F1, but sport in general, is for everyone?
I grew up as a massive sports fan. I was a season ticket holder at Leicester City. I was involved in kart racing. I've always had some involvement in motorsports. But then, when I slowly but surely realised I was gay in my teenage years, I genuinely thought - and not even up until that long ago - that you couldn’t be gay and into sports. I didn’t know there were any gay male sports presenters on the telly - it didn’t feel like there were any role models. So, whenever I’ve done sports broadcasting, I’ve tried to make the effort to just normalise it a little bit. I just think back to the fifteen-year-old me; if I’d seen that representation, it would have made my life a whole lot easier.
We didn't set out to be the inclusive, diverse podcast; we set out to do a Formula 1 podcast - but it just sort of fell together that way. It’s something that means a lot to me, something that I’ll always care about so much.
How do you strike the balance between keeping the podcast accessible for new fans, but also engaging for those who have watched the sport for a long time?
It's tricky. You have to tread the line between explaining things for newer fans, and not over-explaining things for more experienced fans. I would like to think that our listeners who have been involved in Formula 1 for a while will forgive us and understand. For newer fans, this is the podcast that will explain the complicated aspects of the sport. What I like to think you get, which you don't really get anywhere else, is the driver interviews that we do: we aim to bring out the personality of and sides to the drivers you don’t see anywhere else.
You graduated from Nottingham Trent University in 2013 with a degree in Broadcast Journalism. How did you find your time here?
I can talk to you all day about my time at Nottingham Trent. It was brilliant. I love being able to look back on my uni experience and think, ‘I had the best time.’ I’m so glad I went to Trent, it’s the best decision I’ve ever made in my life. The course gave me the perfect grounding for, and the perfect start to, my career. And I love the city of Nottingham, I’m so passionate about it.
You can find The Fast and the Curious on all major streaming platforms
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