Otmar Szafnauer lands new role as former F1 presenter makes surprise return

Former BBC F1 presenter Jake Humphrey has launched a new F1 podcast along with former Aston Martin and Alpine team principal Otmar Szafnauer and ex-Ferrari man Rob Smedley.

Humphrey fronted the BBC’s Formula 1 coverage for four seasons between 2009 and 2012, forming a popular partnership with the late F1 team owner Eddie Jordan and former Red Bull and McLaren driver David Coulthard.

Jake Humphrey launches new F1 podcast with Otmar Szafnauer and Rob Smedley

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The 47-year-old turned his attention to football presenting from 2013 before emerging as a leading voice in the podcast industry.

Ahead of the resumption of the F1 2026 season in Miami next weekend, Humphrey has launched a new F1 podcast, High Performance Racing, along with Szafnauer and Smedley.

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In a statement provided to PlanetF1.com, Humphrey said: “The four years I spent fronting the BBC’s F1 coverage were the most incredible of my career.

“I have waited a long time to return to the sport and this new show is the perfect moment.

“No other podcast brings the knowledge of a race engineer and team boss to the audience.

“Rob, Otmar and I have almost 50 years combined F1 experience and we’ll bring it all to High Performance Racing.

“I can’t wait to take our audience to the heart of the greatest sport on earth at a time when it’s generating more opinion than ever before.

“I hope you come along for the ride!”

Smedley memorably served as Felipe Massa’s race engineer at Ferrari between 2006 and 2013 before following the Brazilian driver to Williams.

He left Williams in 2018 and has since gone on to establish a low-cost karting series, Total Karting, which uses electric-powered karts.

Szafnauer, meanwhile, has not held an active role in F1 since being brutally sacked by the Alpine team during the Belgian Grand Prix weekend in 2023.

The 61-year-old previously worked for the Aston Martin team, with which he held a senior role stretching back to 2009 when it competed as Force India.

As reported by PlanetF1.com, Szafnauer joined the Van Amersfoort junior team last month in the dual role of chief executive officer and managing partner.

Szafnauer has made no secret of his desire to return to F1 with a potential 12th team, revealing in an exclusive interview with PlanetF1.com last year that he is working on a possible new entry.

He said: “I’ve been working with some American funders and some car manufacturers to look at a 12th team for the future.

“At the time, when I started the project, it was going to be the 11th team, but now Cadillac is in so they’ve got the 11th spot.

“So when they open up the process of adding the 12th team, I hope to be able to put in a robust case to allow the 12th team to go to the people that I have funding it, as well as the manufacturer that I’m working with.”

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