Betty Glover didn’t think she could possibly fall further in love with Formula 1. But then, at the Australian Grand Prix, the first race of this season, she presented the F1TV race broadcast for the very first time. “I was on the grid doing my first build-up, then throw to commentary and I had all the cars around, and I was standing next to George Russell’s Mercedes just thinking, “what the f**k is going on? Oh my god, this is the best feeling I’ve ever had in my life.””
Glover is one third of The Fast and the Curious, one of the sport’s most popular podcasts amongst fans. But, up until this season, this was as far as her broadcast experience went in F1. So, when the phone call came in asking Glover to present on F1TV while Laura Winter was on maternity leave, she, obviously, said yes.
“I actually didn’t really know what to expect because all of my experience has been working for official broadcasters, mainly the BBC,” she tells The Paddock Journal. “I was like, “oh, I just don’t know how this is gonna work. I don’t know their processes, etc.” It’s a lot of unknowns.”
The anxieties quickly wore off, however. “As a sports broadcaster, it’s everything that you could ever dream of,” she explains. “You’re amongst the action, you’ve got incredible access, you’re live on air, you don’t have a script, you don’t have an autocue, you’ve just got a camera pointing in your face and Juan Pablo Montoya next to you.”
Glover has covered many of sport’s greatest events, from the Euros to the Olympics. In fact, she’s just arrived back in England following a six-and-a-half week stint in America covering the FIFA World Cup. Sure, it was intense, with early mornings and very late evenings. But, that’s half the thrill. “I love football and the World Cup is just celebrating football, isn’t it? So, you can’t hate a World Cup in my opinion.”
The Paddock Journal: It’s the F1 summer break currently, so we’re halfway through. What’s been the most thrilling moment of the season so far?
Betty Glover: I like the whole storyline around Kimi Antonelli and I feel like people aren’t appreciating the story for what it is. It’s so easy to be like, “right, we’ve got one team that is sort of dominating, we’ve got one driver that is so far ahead.” But actually, you’ve got a 19-year old who’s only in his second season in Formula 1 that is absolutely dominating here, you can’t underestimate how big that is as a storyline.
TPJ: What are some of your predictions for the second half of the season?
BG: Well, I want to say that Lewis Hamilton is going to start putting a little bit of pressure on Kimi and close that gap. I don’t know if I believe that, though. That’s the problem. I want to say that, but I don’t know if I believe that in my heart of hearts.
I think George Russell’s going to have a really good second half of the season. He’s been really unlucky and I think he’s going to have this break, he’s going to reset, and he’s going to come back.
TPJ: Earlier this season, on The Fast and the Curious, you said you felt the Monaco Grand Prix was like a “procession” of a race. What makes you say that?
BG: I, obviously, really love the history of [Monaco], what it stands for in that sense. It feels quite special. I think it’s one of those where you’ve got to be there to appreciate it, and the majority of fans don’t get to go to races.
Formula 1 is all about the fans, sport generally is all about the fans, and I think if you’ve got a race that isn’t a good product for the fans at home, then I don’t like it.
TPJ: So, what tracks do you like?
BG: I really like Singapore. Silverstone’s my favourite, but I think everyone says that. I don’t like Vegas as a race, but I think the track at Vegas is really good.
TPJ: In light of obvious recent events with Malaysia coming in to host the postponed Bahrain Grand Prix, other conversations about Imola, and even Hockenheim is now also back in the conversation, which tracks would you like to see make a return?
BG: I really want to go to Malaysia and I think that would be so good, they’ve done us a solid there, getting that back. Turkey’s back next year, and Portugal. I’m really excited about Portugal, but I’m excited for Turkey because it’s got good history.
TPJ: As someone working in both Formula 1 and football, what are some big differences between the two sports?
BG: The access that the media and people in general have to Formula 1 drivers absolutely blows my mind – the amount of access that everybody has to them, the amount of interviews that they’ve got to do before getting in a car, the amount of selfies that they have to take before getting in a car. They’re walking through the paddock and you’ve got influencers, celebrities, people that have paid a lot of money being like, “Oh, Lando, Lando, Lando, can I have a photo, can I have a photo?” And I just think, “oh my God, when do they get a break?”
In football, obviously you have your pre-match interviews, but you’ve got one player that will do that out of a team, it’s three questions and it’s done. Football would not put up with the amount of access that Formula 1 allows people to have to the drivers.
The eyes that are on Formula 1 now in comparison to 10 years ago is ridiculous. Formula 1 drivers have it so much more intense because if you’re a player for, let’s just say Chelsea for example, you’re sharing that load with your teammates. There’s 11 of you on the pitch at that one time, whereas when you’re a Formula 1 driver, obviously you drive for a team, but you’re really just representing yourself, because there’s no bigger rival in Formula 1 than your teammate.
TPJ: Are there any similarities at all?
BG: I don’t think there are any similarities between Formula 1 and football, they’re so incredibly different. Both have so much money invested into them, so many incredible, passionate fans, but in football, fans support a club - you might love and hate players within your team, and obviously you criticise them but also celebrate them.
But in Formula 1, people are fans of the driver, so then a lot of it has to do with sponsorship, how popular you are, and that’s going to affect whether a team takes you on. So, it’s so different.
TPJ: Speaking of both sports, earlier this year, you interviewed Lando Norris alongside Arsenal’s Declan Rice at the McLaren Technology Centre. How was that, working with the two of them at the very same time?
BG: That interview had been such a long time coming for McLaren and Arsenal, it was both of their ideas, and they’d been trying to arrange it for years and they could not get a time when both Lando and Dec’s schedules would match.
Declan Rice was a bit staggered by how well Lando could talk. I would ask a question and Lando would be able to give a really good, elaborate answer, he could play the game, and Dec was just like, “wow.” Footballers obviously do a lot of media, but compared to Formula 1 drivers, they barely do any.
It had to be quite a timeless interview, but I sort of said, “obviously Lando, you’ve won a World Championship last year. Do you have any advice for Declan Rice, who’s trying to win a Premier League title with Arsenal?” It is a bit of a stupid question in a way, because they’re two completely different sports, but I had to find a way of linking them. Lando gave this incredible long answer, but the only thing they really wanted to talk about was playing golf with each other! That’s all they wanted to talk about, golf.
I was like, “for God’s sake, guys, I need to talk to you about football, and I need to talk about the pressures within the sports, and all of this media intrusion, what it’s like fighting for a title, being under that pressure”, and they were just like, “yeah, but we love golf and we wanna play golf together.”
TPJ: They found common ground!
BG: Clearly, they really liked each other. We didn’t have long with them at all, and Lando was basically straight off to go on a private jet back to Monaco. Whereas Dec hung around for ages afterwards with his team, having pictures with different people.
TPJ: How do you manage to keep up with all the news and goings-on in multiple sports and multiple leagues?
BG: It’s almost like when you’re at school and you’re trying to prepare for GCSE exams when I’m prepping for a football game or for a race. I have pages and pages of notes, and I write everything out. I’ve got a notebook which is an F1 notebook, so after every race, I will write down notes just from that race. I’ve got a World Cup book, a Euros book, a netball book, a gymnastics book, a Premier League book, an EFL book.
I’ve got a terrible memory. If you asked me what happened last year in China I’d be like, “I don’t have a clue”, but I will research it and remember and then be able to ask questions. In this job, you’re not an expert. You’re not trying to say to somebody, “I know everything and I have the best knowledge in the world about sport.” My role is to ask questions, get the best out of the people I’m talking to, and make people feel comfortable, entertain, provide knowledge, and get us from A to B if I’m presenting a programme.
TPJ: What’s your biggest tip for an aspiring sports journalist?
BG: Buy a newspaper twice a week and read the back pages and you will find some really good stories about sports that you don’t even follow or something that doesn’t pop up on Twitter, but it’s a good bit of journalism and knowledge.
TPJ: What keeps you motivated in your career?
BG: My biggest passion is getting women and girls into sport. I believe that every young girl loves sport, they just don’t know it yet. Sport is this amazing thing that gives you this outlet from your everyday, boring, mundane life. You might have something really tough going on in your life, and then you might watch your team win a Premier League game they’re not supposed to win, or you might watch your favourite driver come from P5 to win a Grand Prix for the first time. Whatever your situation is, it gives you this ecstatic feeling.
You might be new to the sport, but that doesn’t mean that you have no place there. You absolutely bloody do. That’s the key thing, it’s for everybody. Nobody owns sport.
Photography: Esme Buxton
Stylist: Sophia Boleaga
HMU: Jessica Rose @jessicarose.makeupartist
Assistant: Nico Wyatt
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