Sidepodcast

Fantasy Racers 2010 - Our Worst Position Ever

Panda Racing 2010 made a disappointing start to the new season in Fantasy Racers, finishing in just 12th place after the first round of action. In just over two years of competition, this is Sidepodcast's lowest starting position.

New rule changes for 2010, designed to make life easier for smaller teams, has blunted our usual strategy, leaving us flailing outside of the illustrious top ten table. !Singapore F1 are currently the top personal league with an average of 712.6 points, while The Real USF1 are the top team in Panda Racing 2010's own league with 722 points.

Notably the top 24 positions in Panda Racing 2010 are held by teams who selected the option of "fixed drivers" at the start of the season. More Fantasy Racers analysis is available on Making Up The Numbers.

If you've signed up to the league please let us know how you got on.

Fantasy Racers 2010 - Bahrain Reminder

Fantasy Racers is back and this time it's blog-only! We're not going to be talking about it in the show as the rule changes make it just that little bit too wordy for a short podcast section. However, it's taking pride of place on the blog and this is where you come in. I have selected Strategy 2, which is the option to not change your drivers but have a higher starting budget. Therefore, I will run out of things to say about my team very quickly. I want you to tell me about your team, who you're choosing and why. Email your thoughts to christine@sidepodcast.com and I will publish them in the next reminder thread.

For now, though, we have a league this year called Panda Racing 2010. You can get more information on joining up on this post, and please do! We'd love to have you. My team is called Chief Operating Panda, for obvious reasons. As mentioned above, I'm sticking with the same drivers throughout so my choice was important. I've gone with:

• Fernando Alonso
• Lewis Hamilton
• Sebastian Vettel
• Lucas di Grassi

I think I've got a good mix of championship potential and deliciousness. Who are you going for?

I had a message from Simon, part of which we read out in the latest debrief and part of it I saved for this post, as it related to his Fantasy Racers. Here are his thoughts:

I went for the 45m version, as my internet access is sporadic at best and therefore may not be able to change this during the season. My team is: Kamui, Lewis, The Hulk, Rubens, Kubica.

My reasons: I thought Kamui's performances in the last two races in 2009 were outstanding, the most exciting F1 debut since Lewis. Following the yawnfest that was the arrival of Buemi, Bourdais, Speed etc. etc. it was great to see a young driver with almost no F1 testing drive that well. I am delighted that he secured a drive following the demise of Toyota - so he was a must, my first name on the list.

Then Lewis, because it would be churlish to not have the man who will win the world championship in your fantasy team. Next Nico. I have been very impressed with his performances during pre-season testing and I also have a hunch, or is it just a hope (I miss the good old days of Hill etc.), that Williams will be competitive this year.

This left me with 17m to spend. So I had two choices: get one more top driver (would have been Vettel - I couldn't bring myself to pick someone in a red car!) and then have 5m left - not enough to get another, so wasted money, or get two 'best of the rest ' drivers. Rubens, for the Williams reason mentioned above, and because Rubens came to F1 around the same time I did and I have always liked him. Kubica, because well, I definitely think he fits into the category. Not the best but not the worst.

Fab stuff from Simon. Don't forget you can send me your team decisions: christine@sidepodcast.com. I also want to point you in the direction of Lukeh's blog post about his team Amazini Barresistancello. That one is definitely worth a read.

Also, don't forget to take part in the SofaF1 championship this year, as Alex has worked hard on creating a very interactive page for selections. F1 Wolf has a great predictions game going, and check out Pat's post for other worthy games.

Fantasy Racers - Panda Racing 2010

Fantasy Racers was a mixed experience in 2009. The rule changes were of a similar magnitude to those in Formula 1 itself, and some of us adapted well, whilst others of us did not. Kathi led the way almost from the very start, and put on a really impressive show to make the Sidepodcast League the top scoring league of the competition for the second year in a row. She also completely outclassed the rest of us in the field, meaning we simply have to try harder in 2010.

Preparing to defend our Fantasy Racing title again. Click to join.

There are a couple of changes to the Fantasy Racers rules again this year, and we're also tweaking the way we play as well. Starting with the competition, though, you can now choose between two strategies, as detailed on the site:

Strategy 1 allows you to make unlimited changes during the course of the year, with a 40.0m starting budget.

Strategy 2 does not allow you to change your drivers, but has a starting budget of 45.0m. You may only remove a driver that is sacked / injured / unable to compete.

As a particularly lazy person, I have selected Strategy 2, although I have yet to choose my drivers. You are welcome to choose either option, and the selection you make will show up against your team in the league.

With the added complexity this gives the competition, we've realised it's going to be almost impossible to cover it in a sensible amount of time on the podcasts, so generally speaking, Fantasy Racing is now a blog-only thing. That doesn't mean we're not encouraging you to sign up and join in though, because we want you all to go ahead and do that now.

Sign up is free, just head on over to FantasyRacers.com, pick a team name, your strategy and your drivers - if you're thinking that far ahead already. I believe at the moment you can change your mind on the strategy front, but that will most likely be locked down at some point before the season begins.

We've created a league for everyone to join, although we want it to be less Sidepod-centric this year. Thus, we have named it Panda Racing 2010. To join the league you can simply click here, or search for Panda Racing. There's no password this year, so you can just sign right up and get choosing. Once you've done that, come back and let us know your team name and what your strategy is.

Fantasy Racers Reminder - Abu Dhabi

We were pretty much aware that Button had a good chance at being World Champion this year almost from the first few races. Likewise, in our Sidepodcast Fantasy Racers league, Kathi has had the title sewn up since the beginning.

It's been a really fun competition though, plenty of mid-field battles, and who hasn't enjoyed watching Mr C fall through the ranks each weekend? There is just one more opportunity for him to make amends and that is at the last race in Abu Dhabi.

I ditched my crazy strategy of last time, purchasing the cheapest drivers so I could have a lot of them. Now I have gone to the other extreme and am selecting the elite drivers. Well, the expensive ones anyway.

The prices are correct at the time of writing. I ended up with 2.6 million in the bank, bringing my team value to 48.5, which may be the lowest since I started. I can't be sure, though.

It is probably too late to get too involved in the competition, but if you haven't signed up yet, it might be worth checking out Fantasy Racers to see how it works and how you can get involved next year. If you have a team, don't forget the deadline is 5pm UK Time to make your driver selections. Good luck, and let us know who you pick and how you get on.

Fantasy Racers Reminder - Brazil

It's about time for the Fantasy Racers call to arms but unfortunately due to the timings in Brazil, I have not yet seen a single bit of action. That's okay though, today I am going back to one of my crazy strategies.

It's not completely unrealistic, though, not like the fun and games I had last year. I did put some thought into it, and decided that as this race is a lot of laps and very likely to be wet, I'd rather fill my team up with possibilities than cling on to those really expensive drivers. I basically bought the seven cheapest drivers, and then threw Alonso in for luck. This is the most drivers I've ever had, so it's bound to work out, right?

The prices are correct at the time of writing. I ended up with 0.6 million in the bank which brings my team value to 49 million exactly - we're on a downward trend again.

Don't forget you can still join in the fun if you haven't already. Chances are winning the league is out of the question, but there are plenty of battles to be fought and won throughout the field. All you need to know to get started is here, and you've got until 5pm BST (4pm GMT, 12pm EST) to select your drivers. Good luck everyone, and let us know who you're going with.

Fantasy Racers Reminder - Japan

Free Practice has given nothing away, with the teams preferring to save up their tyre allocation for more important sessions. That being the case, I decided to go for some quite big changes in my team.

Despite the fact that Sidepodcast Racers finally broke into the top 100 again, I've ditched three of my drivers. Glock got the boot, which I didn't really want to do, but if he is either a) not well, or b) not driving, I don't expect a top performance. Kubica also went because his price was low and I wanted someone a bit higher up. I also sold Sutil which I think I'll live to regret, but I'm taking a chance. New drivers are Raikkonen, and Heidfeld.

The prices are correct at the time of writing. This leaves me with 1.6 million in the bank and a team value of 50.1.

Don't forget you can still join in the fun if you haven't already. Chances are winning the league is out of the question, but there are plenty of battles to be fought and won throughout the field. All you need to know to get started is here, and you've got until 5pm BST (4pm GMT, 12pm EST) to select your drivers. Good luck everyone, and let us know who you're going with.

Fantasy Racers Reminder - Singapore

We're heading into the second annual night race, and it's that time of the weekend again - time to select your drivers. I actually have no clue, having not seen any of the Free Practice action, but I'll give it my best shot.

With no extra information, bar Barrichello finishing on top of FP1, I decided to stick with the drivers that I've got, hoping for points for finishing lots of laps, rather than points for results. If any of them do well, that will be a bonus.

The prices are correct at the time of writing. I still have that 0.3 million in the bank, so that brings my team total to 49.5. I may have turned a corner and be on the way up again.

Don't forget you can still join in the fun if you haven't already. Chances are winning the league is out of the question, but there are plenty of battles to be fought and won throughout the field. All you need to know to get started is here, and you've got until 5pm BST (4pm GMT, 12pm EST) to select your drivers. Good luck everyone, and let us know who you're going with.

Fantasy Racers Reminder - Italy

My drivers last race were completely useless, but given the nature of the entire weekend, I am not too mad at them. In fact, I am so calm about it, I am keeping the same drivers this time round.

I wasn't part of the set that snapped up Fisichella as soon as he was signed up at Ferrari, which means I am putting all my faith in his ex-teammate Sutil. Free Practice 2 looks good, but I'm not holding my breath. The one that worries me is Rosberg, but I couldn't decide on anyone else to replace him, so I let him stay.

The prices are correct at the time of writing. With 0.3 million still left in the bank, my team value has fallen even further to 48.2. Soon I won't be able to afford to change anyone, but that will be my own fault.

Don't forget you can still join in the fun if you haven't already. Chances are winning the league is out of the question, but there are plenty of battles to be fought and won throughout the field. All you need to know to get started is here, and you've got until 5pm BST (4pm GMT, 12pm EST) to select your drivers. Good luck everyone, and let us know who you're going with.

Fantasy Racers Reminder - Belgium

I only just made some Fantasy Racers choices, it can't be time to choose some more? Still, I hope Mr C is reading this because he went into the last race with no drivers at all.

The first thing I did was sell Vettel and Kubica. I lost quite a lot on the Red Bull and maybe gained a little on Kub. I bought Sutil straight away, then thought about it for a bit and selected Glock - because he can sometimes do quite well when things get chaotic. Finally, I bought back Kubica, which is a bit stupid but I had some cash leftover.

The prices are correct at the time of writing. I had 0.3 million left which brings my team value to 49.5. I'm still on a downward trend.

Don't forget you can still join in the fun if you haven't already. Chances are winning the league is out of the question, but there are plenty of battles to be fought and won throughout the field. All you need to know to get started is here, and you've got until 5pm BST (4pm GMT, 12pm EST) to select your drivers. Good luck everyone, and let us know who you're going with.

Fantasy Racers Reminder - Europe

Here we are, the European Grand Prix, and I almost forgot to change my drivers. More importantly, I almost forgot to remind everyone, and then you all could have blamed me for doing badly.

Firstly, an important note from Fantasy Racers chief Danny:

Just a quick reminder to any players that have Massa, Schumacher or Piquet in their team. None of these drivers will be participating in the European GP, so you should change your driver line-up before the cut-off on Friday 21st.

Last time I had Massa and Alonso, but they were gone when I went to change my team today. So, in their place I chose Hamilton and with just 4.5million remaining, I picked Kubica. I couldn't afford Sutil who I really wanted, he was 0.1 too much. That really says a lot about BMW right now, I think.

The prices are correct at the time of writing. I have no money left to spend, and my team value has fallen to 50.2. Something weird has happened whilst I wasn't looking, but I suppose that is my own fault for not keeping tabs over the summer break.

Don't forget you can still join in the fun if you haven't already. Chances are winning the league is out of the question, but there are plenty of battles to be fought and won throughout the field. All you need to know to get started is here, and you've got until 5pm BST (4pm GMT, 12pm EST) to select your drivers. Good luck everyone, and let us know who you're going with.