S12 E5: McLaren’s 1994 nightmare with Peugeot

S12 E5: McLaren’s 1994 nightmare with Peugeot

Author: The Race Media Ltd August 1, 2025 Duration: 1:26:20

McLaren’s single season with Peugeot in F1 goes down as a year to forget in the team’s great history. But even though the short-lived alliance didn’t enjoy much success, there was plenty going on to make it worth the Bring Back V10s treatment.


Glenn Freeman, Ben Anderson, and Edd Straw revisit how McLaren tried to adapt to life after Ayrton Senna, and how it nearly coaxed his great rival Alain Prost out or retirement to spearhead its new era. We also dive into Martin Brundle’s gamble to land the seat Prost rejected.


We couldn’t possibly dig into every Peugeot engine failure from that season, but we do stop off along the way at the most famous ones, and look at the fallout behind the scenes after Brundle’s car burst into flames at the start of the British GP. 


We then get into how quickly the relationship fell apart, with McLaren finding a way out of its Peugeot deal to link up with Mercedes for 1995, to the benefit of Jordan.


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There’s a particular roar that defined a generation of Formula 1, a sound that’s now a memory. Bring Back V10s-Classic F1 stories isn’t just about nostalgia for that engine scream; it’s a thorough, engaging exploration of the era it powered. Host Glenn Freeman, alongside a rotating panel of expert guests from The Race Media Ltd, meticulously unpacks the period from 1989 to 2005. This was a time when the sport’s drama was as intense off the circuit as on it, featuring colossal rivalries between legends like Senna, Prost, and Schumacher. Each episode serves as a detailed time capsule, revisiting the races, the politics, and the personalities that made this a golden age. You’ll hear stories about established superstars and the rise of future greats like Alonso and Raikkonen, blending major headlines with forgotten details that even ardent fans may have missed. The conversation in this sports podcast goes beyond mere results, capturing the atmosphere and the raw, unfiltered character of F1 during these pivotal years. It’s for anyone who wants to understand not just what happened, but how it felt and why it still matters. Tune in for a deep, thoughtful, and often surprising retrospective that brings the V10 epoch back to life in vivid detail.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 50

Bring Back V10s - Classic F1 stories
Podcast Episodes
S12 E9: Top 10 heartbreaks of the V10 era [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:27:19
For Season 12’s top 10 debate, we took a suggestion from Chris Parrott in The Race Members’ Club to rank the biggest F1 heartbreaks of the V10 era. Having then enlisted the help of many more of our members on Patreon in…
S12 E7: Malaysia 2015 -  Vettel's first Ferrari win [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:27:35
Bring Back V10s goes 'Hybrid' for the second time in its history, heading back to the 2015 Malaysian Grand Prix where Sebastian Vettel took his first win for Ferrari, and inflicted Mercedes' first proper defeat of the hy…
S12 E6: Australia 2005 - Fisichella's dream Renault start [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:03:13
The 2005 F1 season marked the beginning of a new era, as Ferrari's run of consecutive championships with Michael Schumacher was about to come to an end.And that was evident from the beginning of the year, when Renault go…
S12 E4: Brazil 2004 - Montoya's final Williams win [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:13:50
Juan Pablo Montoya and Williams brought their rollercoaster relationship to a close with a memorable victory at the 2004 season finale in Brazil, where Montoya beat his future McLaren team-mate Kimi Raikkonen in a tense…
S12 E3: Germany 1999 - Irvine's shock title charge comes alive [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:08:23
The 1999 German Grand Prix marked the first time Eddie Irvine got to be the beneficiary of team orders at Ferrari, as Michael Schumacher stand-in Mika Salo was ordered aside to boost Irvine's unlikely title charge agains…
S12 E2: Japan 1990 - Senna and Prost clash AGAIN [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:23:12
Bring Back V10s finally heads back to Suzuka for the second explosive instalment in 1989-1990 saga between F1 enemies Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost.Glenn Freeman, Edd Straw, and Andrew van de Burgt revisit the infamous 19…
S12 E1: Monza 2003 and the Michelin tyre controversy [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:28:48
Bring Back V10s Season 12 is here! We're kicking off the new season with one of our most requested topics: the 2003 Michelin tyre controversy that erupted ahead of that year's Italian Grand Prix.Glenn Freeman, Edd Straw,…
1993 Revisited: F1’s dramatic South Africa opener [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 14:35
The second season of Bring Back V10s Revisited kicks off with the 1993 South African Grand Prix from Kyalami, which you can listen to a preview of here. Glenn Freeman, Edd Straw, Matt Beer and Ben Anderson look back on t…