No Grip is a Formula 1 culture podcast hosted by Lily Herman. Each episode dives into the wacky and dramatic mishaps, scandals, and sagas surrounding the sport, both on the track and far away from it. From the ever-expanding world of F1 romance novels and the cataclysmic 2023 event Lily calls WAGageddon, to the infamous missing Monaco Grand Prix diamond and the astrology of the grid, No Grip dives headfirst into Formula 1’s under-explored cultural pockets. Episodes publish the Wednesday before any given race weekend. The show is produced, edited, and sound-designed by Yochai Maital. Max Miller serves as executive producer.
We've got some exciting news while we're on hiatus: No Grip is a finalist for the Signal Awards! (https://vote.signalaward.com/PublicVoting#/2026/shows/genre/fan-podcast)
If you've appreciated what we do, please consider voting for us. As a show about F1 Culture and Fandom, we'd be nothing without our listeners. Voting takes less than a minute and it'll mean a lot for us. Just click the link and vote for No Grip! https://vote.signalaward.com/PublicVoting#/2026/shows/genre/fan-podcast (https://vote.signalaward.com/PublicVoting#/2026/shows/genre/fan-podcast)
5 Aug 2026
Should we be more sympathetic to George Russell?
Host Lily and The Athletic's Senior Formula 1 Writer Luke Smith explore the shifting fan perception of Mercedes driver George Russell.
22 Jul 2026TRANSCRIPT
Why are there suddenly a million F1 romance novels?
Host Lily chats with romance author Andie J. Christopher about the surge in Formula 1 romance novels and their appeal to readers.
8 Jul 2026TRANSCRIPT
Has Ferrari recovered from its 2019 cheating allegations?
Host Lily interviews podcaster Ben Bowlin to explore Ferrari's 2019 cheating allegations and their lasting impact on the team's future.
24 Jun 2026TRANSCRIPT
How have LGBTQ+ F1 fans made the sport their own?
Host Lily interviews F1 content creator Tasia Johnson about how LGBTQ+ fans create community and find belonging within Formula 1.
10 Jun 2026TRANSCRIPT
What's F1 losing without a great rivalry?
Host Lily speaks with livestreamer and podcaster Ashley Kalita about how Formula 1's lack of iconic rivalries impacts the sport's narrative and appeal.
3 Jun 2026TRANSCRIPT
Where's the 2004 Monaco Grand Prix's missing diamond?
Host Lily and guest Byrd Pinkerton explore the 2004 Monaco Grand Prix's missing diamond mystery, uncovering a desperate F1 team's risky gamble.
20 May 2026
What exactly is the point of the Cadillac F1 team?
After a very public multi-year saga to get on the grid, Cadillac is currently making it way through its first season in Formula 1. On the surface, its results seem lackluster, to say the least. But is there more to this crew than meets the eye? And could it mark a turning point for U.S. teams in the sport?
For this week's episode, Lily talks to The Athletic's Formula 1 staff writer Madeline Coleman and American F1 fan Zach St. Clair to get to the bottom of why Cadillac is deserving of a second look, why there's so much emphasis on having an American team on the grid, and what it even means for a team to be "American" in spirit.
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6 May 2026
Does Susie Wolff's memoir tell us anything new?
These days, conversations about women in motorsports are never complete without mentions of Susie Wolff. Susie is the last woman to participate in an official Formula 1 race weekend more than a decade ago, and now runs F1 Academy, the highly visible Formula 1 support series. She's long been held up as a paragon of motorsports girlbossdom, but is there more to her story?
In this bonus episode, Lily and her pal Indiah Porter go over Susie's new memoir 'Driven,' which came out in the U.S. in late April, to unpack more of her background as both a racing driver and a business executive. But as they soon find, what Susie doesn't say in her book ends up being just as important — and much more interesting — as what she does.
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29 Apr 2026
Does Katherine Legge think F1 Academy is doing its job?
When it debuted in 2023, the women-centric support series F1 Academy (F1A) was branded by Formula 1 and the greater racing ecosystem as a giant step forward for visibility and opportunity in motorsports for women. It even came with its own digital broadcast channels, major corporate sponsors, and attention from F1 teams. Three years later though, the promising championship has drummed up more questions than answers. Is it actually helping its participants level up in their careers long-term? Does anything about this series give these teen girls and young women the skills needed to transition to other racing series? And who's actually getting all of this corporate money?
This go-around on No Grip, Lily talks to Katherine Legge, the iconic racer and Throttle Therapy (https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-throttle-therapy-with-kat-253096903/) podcast host who's taken part in what feels like almost every motorsports series under the sun and has plenty to say about what's missing from conversations about F1A, sexism, visibility, and mentorship.
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15 Apr 2026
How did the 2023 WAGageddon shift F1 culture?
Formula 1 has gone through several major cultural shifts over the past decade, from its acquisition by Liberty Media in the mid-2010s to the 'Drive to Survive' boom that followed a few years later during the pandemic. But there's a major cultural event that doesn't get talked about as frequently and yet really helped bring the sport's current cutthroat capitalist era to new heights: The 2023 phenomenon that Lily has dubbed WAGageddon.
For this episode, Lily is joined by Kate Byrne, one half of the podcast and brand Two Girls 1 Formula (https://twogirls1formula.com/), to explain why some people care so much about professional athletes' romantic partners and how following them can actually explain a great deal about what's happening in the paddock.
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8 Apr 2026
Why did F1 drivers go on strike in 1982?
Though we're only three races into the 2026 F1 season, many drivers have been vocal about their hatred of the sport's brand-new rules and regulations. But what power do they actually have to change them? And how far would these racers go to get what they want?
Today's drivers don't seem to have much agency as individuals or as a group to alter their circumstances, but that wasn't always the case in Formula 1. In fact, maybe the 2026 grid could learn a few things from previous generations who came before them — particularly those from back in the early 1980s.
For this episode, Lily sits down with Elizabeth Blackstock, the motorsports journalist and historian behind Deadly Passions, Terrible Joys on Substack (https://deadlypassionsterriblejoys.substack.com/) and YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@eliz_blackstock), to discuss the 1982 F1 drivers' strike, where racers came together to force the hand of the sport's higher-ups, changing Formula 1's trajectory forever.
See omnystudio.com/listener (https://omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information.
25 Mar 2026
Is this the worst motorsports movie of all time?
Is there one motorsports movie out there that's worse than all the rest? Several years ago, Lily sought to find this out, and after plenty of research, one film kept coming up: 'Driven,' the 2001 box office bomb written by and starring Sylvester Stallone. But is it really that bad? And did a certain Academy Award-winning motorsports movie actually take a lot of inspiration from this cinematic disaster?
This week, Lily talks to actor, podcaster, and motorsports content creator James Coker (https://www.jameswcoker.com/) about the magic (and pitfalls) of filmmaking and all of the different factors that made 'Driven' such a mess. Meanwhile, Yochai saves his haterade for a different film in motorsports canon.
(You can also more of James's work on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/thisjamescoker/) and YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@TempleOfVroom).)
See omnystudio.com/listener (https://omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information.
11 Mar 2026
What does astrology say about the 2026 F1 grid?
There’s no shortage of ways to analyze the state of the Formula 1 grid nowadays, with everybody weighing in on lap times, aerodynamics, tire degradation, pitstops, overtakes, and a whole lot more.
But during an era of new rules and regulations when so much is uncertain, the planets may actually offer a fresh perspective on what’s happening on the track. This week, Mikaela Kostaras, an astrologer and the popular content creator @shelovesvrooms (https://www.instagram.com/shelovesvrooms) on Instagram and TikTok, takes Lily (and a skeptical but open-minded Yochai) through what an astrological lens can provide F1 fans.
From understanding what gives certain driver pairings strong chemistry to learning more about why Leos always have such good hair, Mikaela is shedding light on a different side of the grid.
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4 Mar 2026
What went wrong for Daniel Ricciardo?
For much of the 2010s and the first half of the 2020s, Australian driver Daniel Ricciardo was the belle of the ball in Formula 1. Initially beloved for his cheeky personality and mesmerizing driving style, he eventually started to build a larger empire for himself that included a sought-after merch line, an F1-inspired Hulu pilot, and a number of high-profile brand partnerships. However, while Ricciardo’s celebrity profile was blossoming, his on-track performance was suffering, and over the years, he eventually went from being a World Drivers’ Championship contender to being unceremoniously dumped mid-season by a lesser team.
But is the tale of Daniel Ricciardo a success story centered on a driver who got nearly everything out of the sport, a cautionary tale of what happens when the quest for fame overtakes the need to perform well in a high-stakes environment, or a combination of both?
With a little help from Two Girls 1 Formula (https://twogirls1formula.com/) co-creator Nicole Sievers, we’re diving into what we can learn from the chaotic career of the man known as the Honey Badger.
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25 Feb 2026
Introducing: No Grip
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Who has been a guest on No Grip: An F1 Culture Podcast
Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.
Luke Smith
Andie J Christopher
Ben Bowlin
Tasia Johnson
Ashley Kalita
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Apple Podcasts (US)
4.7 / 5
39 ratings
Spotify
4.8 / 5
49 ratings
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