F1 Racing Podcast: Is Vettel's Ferrari F1 career mirroring Alonso's?

Star columnist Mark Gallagher joins F1 Racing editor Ben Anderson and host Stuart Codling to get to the bottom of what's eating Sebastian Vettel and his team.

Spa-Francorchamps ought to play to the strengths of Ferrari's low-drag car concept, but how often has this troubled team plucked defeat from the jaws of victory this season?

As Charles Leclerc builds a case to receive at least equal treatment, Vettel now stands at a crossroads in his career - and he's in a similar place to where Fernando Alonso was after five similarly frustration-filled seasons in rosso corsa.

F1 Racing's cover feature is based on an exclusive interview with Vettel and our expert panel dissects the findings.

Esteban Ocon is also in the spotlight at the moment having sealed his return to the F1 grid with Renault.

But this year he's spent a season on the sidelines as Mercedes' test and reserve driver, and this month's F1 Racing carries an exclusive interview with him about exactly what that involves.

Thousand-kilometre stints in the factory simulator followed by 4am airport runs has been his way of life this year - our guests debate how long is too long to be out of actual racing before a driver loses their edge.

Formula 1's new 22-race calendar comes under scrutiny as 'Codders' argues that it's easy enough for F1 bigwigs who travel in private jets to stack up the back-to-back races - but what about the team workers who have to arrive first and leave last?

And as the Rich Energy saga reaches a new depth of strangeness, Mark reveals some of the peculiar encounters he's had with eccentric sponsors over the years, from distressed-asset opportunists to porn barons.

The F1 Racing podcast, released monthly, is available to subscribe to free via iTunes, Spotify and other podcast platforms - just search for 'Flat Chat with Codders'.