About Sidepodcast

Christine Blachford

All for F1 and F1 for All

Sidepodcast is a community focused motorsport website, enabling better conversation through innovative application of technology.

From unrestricted, internationally available audio and video broadcasts, through to interactive discussion solutions, Sidepodcast continually tries to push the boundaries of motorsport coverage.

Along with regularly delivering hundreds of gigabytes worth of data over the internet to consumers every month, the dedicated race coverage, inside line on paddock gossip and interactive roundtable discussions, mean Sidepodcast has modern F1 all wrapped up.

Mission Statement

To create, maintain, and further conversation about Formula 1

Are You Sitting Comfortably?

Sidepodcast began life at the tail end of 2006, as a means for show anchor Christine and co-host Mr. C to air their views on all things Formula 1. Starting out as a single news and opinion show, output has increased year-on-year to form what is now a network of more than a dozen live broadcasts and pre-recorded shows.

In depth podcast information is available on the shows in detail page, while the archive contains everything produced to date. To make sure you never miss out on new content, the guide to subscribing, viewing and listening can be indispensable.

Sidepodcast is backed by a strong and prolific community, eager to take part in live phone-in shows, authour fantastic guest posts and write endless streams of comments. You too can be part of this brilliant community by joining in the realtime discussion, getting in touch or contributing to the wiki.

If all of this seems overwhelming, the quick start guide covers everything you could ever want to know about joining in the fun.

Who is Behind Sidepodcast?

Christine Blachford - Show anchor Christine has been a regular on the social networking scene since 2002 and she's been actively writing ever since. An avid follower of Formula 1 from early 2003, you'll find Christine putting her experience with words to good use as editor-in-chief of Sidepodcast.

Christine became interested in podcasting when the concept was still in its infancy. She immediately saw the benefits of low-cost, on-demand distribution and now listens to well over 30 different shows a week. Her first foray into the world of podcast creation was through LibriVox, volunteering audio readings of books in the public domain.

Writing and producing her own podcast was the next logical step, and Sidepodcast came to life at the tail end of 2006.

In 2009, Christine wrote the song Felipe Baby for Ferrari engineer Rob Smedley. BBC Radio Tees picked up on the track, played it to Rob and spoke to Christine about it. Smedley met Sidepodcast at the Silverstone Grand Prix and was very lovely about the whole thing.

Mr. C - Christine is joined by the mysteriously named Mr. C, who very much likes to keep out of the spotlight. He keeps his identity a secret and his only two recognisable features are his dulcet tones, and the fact that he refuses to use capital letters. He never had plans to host a podcast, but Christine made him anyway.

Additionally, keep an eye out for Formula 1 journalist Joe Saward, whose regular An Aside with Joe has become one of the most popular shows on the site. While housewives favourite Alex Andronov keeps the tunes pumping with the omnipresent Giggles Radio show.

Contact Us

The best way to get hold of us is by posting comments in the most recent daily post. We'll always try and answer as soon as possible.

If you prefer, you can email Christine on christine@sidepodcast.com, or leave a private message using the form below. We read each and every contact message and email we receive.

You can also call our voicemail line and leave your comments for the show.

From the UK on 0121 28 TRACK
Internationally on +44 121 28 87225

We're always open to ideas, suggestions and opinions. We love to hear your audio comments. If you're a Skype user, you can leave a message for free, by calling the username sidepodcast.

Contributors to Sidepodcast

The following individuals have all written posts for this site. Select a name to view their latest submission.

We're always keen to receive original pieces from fantastic writers. Please let us know, if you are interested in writing occasional or regular content.

Statistically Speaking

More than 3,000 posts have been published on Sidepodcast.
The most highly rated post to date is The Illustrated 2009 F1 Season Review which 24 people gave an average rating of 5 out of 5.
Well over half a million comments have been submitted since 2006.
The most prolific commenter in 2008 was Lou, posting 10,064 responses in 12 months.
That number was topped in 2009 by Steven, who submitted a massive 32,889 comments in just 52 weeks.
According to site statistics, the average reader spends 26 minutes on Sidepodcast per day.
The most viewed post from last year was McLaren Testing at Kemble.

Generous Donations

The Sidepodcast website and associated shows run without any forms of advertising. We therefore rely heavily on the support of others to cover all recurring expenses. Any donations, no matter how small are always gratefully received and very much appreciated.

You can make a contribution using a Paypal account or a credit card, either on a regular basis or one time only. In the name of transparency, the following posts detail what we've spent donation income on so far.

We Do a Lot of Work for Charity

Where possible, Sidepodcast likes to help out motorsport related charities. In 2009 the F1 community got together to take part in a 12 hour radio marathon to raise money for a good cause. Following the successful completion of the broadcast, the community voted to give all £680 of collected proceedes to the Wings for Life Foundation.

Wings for Life was founded in 2004 by Dietrich Mateschitz, owner of the Red Bull Racing Formula 1 team. The team recognised the efforts of the radio marathon on their website.

A Short History of Nearly Everything

2006
- Christine blends the terms Sidepod and Podcast. One domain name purchase later and Sidepodcast goes live
2007
- A weekly audio show forms the backbone of the content, augmented by an initial foray into video production
- Honda Racing provide us with posh-camping accomodation for the British Grand Prix
- F1 Minute, a sixty second Formula 1 audio podcast makes its public debut
2008
- Live commenting of all F1 sessions begins with first practice at the Australian Grand Prix
- Christine and Mr. C get married
- We podcast live from the middle of a field in the middle of nowhere as Honda Racing provide us with posh-camping accomodation for the British Grand Prix (again)
- Live streaming of shows begins with a behind-the-scenes look at making videos
2009
- Sidepodcast is nominated in two categories in the 2008 Weblog Awards
- An Aside With Joe makes its debut
- Christine meets Rob Smedley at Silverstone, while Honda having quit the sport provide us with nothing
- Sidepodradio raises £680 for the Wings for Life charity
- The daily thread makes its debut
2010
- The most in-depth and accurate global driver ranking system ever produced (probably), appears for the first time
- The all new Factbyte Factbox provides play-by-play commentary on F1 sessions