Sidepodcast

F1 Advent Calendar 2009 - Day Sixteen

• Length: 3:28 
• Size: 3.2 MB 
• File: advent16.mp3 
• Transcript: advent16.pdf 
• Torrent: advent16.torrent 

This is the F1 Advent Calendar 2009, brought to you by Sidepodcast. We are working our way through the 2009 season by means of peeking through a door for each day of advent, and recounting a key moment from the year. Yesterday we were looking at politics, and it's not quite time to get back to the racing yet. Here's Day Sixteen - Goodbye From Us.

At the end of July, BMW quit Formula 1. It was eerily similar to the way Honda had quit, in that rumours began a couple of days beforehand, and then it was confirmed by the team and the parent manufacturer. The BMW board held a press conference, with Mario Theissen present, and Dr. Norbert Reithofer used a lot of long words: "Premium will increasingly be defined in terms of sustainability and environmental compatibility. This is an area in which we want to remain in the lead. In line with our Strategy Number ONE, we are continually reviewing all projects and initiatives to check them for future viability and sustainability. Our Formula 1 campaign is thus less a key promoter for us."

Or... we haven't really been getting the results we want. BMW, the team, always had a plan, and had been sticking to it pretty well. They wanted to get points, then the next year they wanted to get a win, then the next year they wanted to win a championship. Ah. When things didn't go to plan, they weren't amused. Kubica has frequently admitted how impatient he got with the team when following their one win, they were happy to check that to-do off their list, and focus on the next year. Never mind the job in hand.

Anyway, having confirmed their intention to leave at the end of the year, BMW continued to race the rest of the season. Heidfeld kept on racking up the points, and Kubica kept on complaining about the car. Mario Theissen said they were looking at offers from interested buyers for the team, and in September, they announced they had been bought by the mysterious Qadbak Investments. To look into detail at the strange and unreliable nature of these investors would be a whole other mini series in itself, but suffice it to say, no one, bar Theissen, was really convinced.

Mario was confident they would be on the grid in 2010, despite the fact the team had declined to sign the Concorde Agreement in the summer, and that all the grid slots were filled, including the three new ones. He signed up Ferrari to supply them with engines. Kubica, though, was ready to move on, confirming his move to Renault for next year before the season was over. Nevertheless, the team wound up the rest of the season in continued unspectacular fashion.

In the middle of November, it became clear that the Qadbak deal was not going to happen. There were a few days of concern, but on November 27th there was good news. Original owner Peter Sauber was prepared to buy back the team from BMW, on the condition that they had a grid slot for 2010. It was clear that the announcement was a big relief for Sauber, who had been concerned about the future of the team, and had tried to come to a deal with BMW beforehand. With the team back under his control, he said: "Our staff here are highly competent and motivated, and I look forward to taking on this new challenge together with them. I would like to thank BMW for four shared years that have in the main been very successful."

With the post-season news that Toyota were leaving the sport, Sauber were granted that oh-so-important 13th grid slot, meaning they will still be around next year.

That's all for this episode. Thank you for listening to our F1 Advent Calendar 2009, and I hope you'll join me tomorrow to look through the door of Day Seventeen.

F1 Advent Calendar 2009 - Day Fifteen

• Length: 3:26 
• Size: 3.2 MB 
• File: advent15.mp3 
• Transcript: advent15.pdf 
• Torrent: advent15.torrent 

Hello and welcome along, thank you for joining me for another episode of our F1 Advent Calendar 2009 mini series. We're about midway through December now, and moving on from the Hungarian Grand Prix - at last! What will we find behind the door of Day Fifteen - Take My Place.

Max Mosley had already confirmed that he would not be running for the FIA Presidency again, seemingly as part of the deal to halt the FOTA breakaway. He's said things like that before, though, and it wasn't until potential replacements began popping up, that I really thought it might happen. Jean Todt was the obvious candidate for the role, but it was Ari Vatanen who peaked our interest.

The Finn announced his intentions in late July, saying: "I think the time has come for a change. My main focus is to reconcile views within the FIA and bring transparency to its stakeholders. The duty of President is to defend a billion automobilists and the great sport of ours." As a former World Rally Champion, Ari certainly had the credentials on the sporting side, but it was the political side where he faced most of his opposition.

Ari said a lot of good things. He appealed to fans, and he was a fresh face in what has become an increasingly stale organisation. He talked the talk and he hit out at Mosley, which went down well in a sport that has been dominated by the man and his decisions.

His campaign started out well, but he began to run out of steam. When he announced his cabinet, most of the names were a bit of a mystery, and although he had some support, it seemed to be less vocal than the support for Todt. The lack of momentum put pressure on Vatanen, who responded in less than ideal ways.

Firstly, he criticised the FIA Foundation, suggesting that hiring a private jet to fly Jean Todt's girlfriend around the world might be showing a bit of favouritism. The Foundation rebuffed the claims instantly. Michelle Yeoh was an ambassador for the foundation, and an actress and name in her own right, not just Jean Todt's girlfriend. Whoever is right in that argument, it didn't reflect well on Mr Vatanen.

Next, he complained again about favouritism - this time suggesting that Mosley had told him he had already pledged allegiance to Jean Todt. The instant reaction to this is to wonder about whether the current president should be expressing such an opinion, but it was the circumstances that rebounded on to Ari. He revealed that in asking Mosley to favour him, Mosley had said he favoured Jean. Ah. That's slightly different.

Jean Todt and his cabinet capitalised on this, with a letter to member clubs saying: ""In our campaign, we have emphasised teamwork and the need for the mobility and motor sport pillars to work together. In contrast, the negative tone of our opponent's campaign risks undermining the unity of the FIA. Our team recognises that there is far more that unites than divides the clubs of the FIA."

Once again, it was not a surprise when October rolled around, the elections took place, and Jean Todt became the new FIA President. We had been backing Vatanen from the start, but Todt's campaign made more and more sense as the weeks passed, and it was clear that Vatanen wasn't quite right for the role. As yet, we don't know whether Todt is the right man either. We will have to wait and see... either way, no more Max.

That is all for this episode of our F1 Advent Calendar. I hope you're enjoying the series so far, feel free to email me your comments at christine at sidepodcast dot com. I will be back tomorrow with Day Sixteen.

F1 Advent Calendar 2009 - Day Fourteen

• Length: 3:24 
• Size: 3.2 MB 
• File: advent14.mp3 
• Transcript: advent14.pdf 
• Torrent: advent14.torrent 

Welcome to another episode of our extended mini series, the F1 Advent Calendar 2009. Each day, we're running through a key moment from the 2009 season, as found behind the door of our F1 advent calendar. Today, we're on to Day Fourteen - Not Quite Banned.

The fallout from the Hungarian Grand Prix continued for a long time afterwards. The qualifying timing incident was cleared up pretty quickly, and attention focused on Massa’scondition. He began to improve, much quicker than anticipated, although it seemed as though it would still be quite a long road to recovery. With all that going on, what we really needed was a little bit more controversy.

Yesterday, we ran through what happened on Sunday in Hungaryitself, and touched upon the loose wheel that flew off Fernando Alonso's Renault, after not being secured properly during a pit stop. It could have been a pretty dangerous incident, there were spectators, marshals and other cars around at the time, but thankfully, the errant wheel avoided contact with anything other than the barrier.

Alonso finished his lap on three wheels, pitted for a new one, but retired later with an unrelated problem. Afterwards, the team were called to the stewards. Now, things flying around the track was a very sensitive subject at the time, with Massa's welfare praying heavily on people's minds, and the tragic death of Henry Surtees just a week earlier being caused by a stray wheel. It was not a surprise then, when the stewards gave Renault a one-race ban - they would not be allowed to participate in the European Grand Prix.

The reasoning behind the ban was that the car was released from the pitlane without a wheel-nut retaining device, so the team must have known it wasn't safe. They didn't make the driver aware, try and stop him, or recall him, and allowed Alonso to continue in a dangerous car.

With the European Grand Prix at Valencia, one of Alonso's home races, the timing of the ban couldn't have been more harmful for the team. Renault immediately appealed the penalty, and even the organisers of the Valencia race got involved, arguing: "It would be a shame if he missed the race and we are confident that he will be able to race, although we know it will be hard especially considering the other accidents that took place over the weekend. What happened is serious, but we hope it doesn't hurt the European Grand Prix or the fans."

Thankfully for them, the traditional Formula 1 summer break came next, which meant the FIA could schedule an appeal hearing before the race itself. This came on the 17th August, where Renault's lawyer, Ali Malek, defended the team: "Was there a conscious wrongdoing from Renault? There was none what-so-ever. The only persons who knew were the two mechanics. Nobody on the pitwall knew there was a problem and the driver did not know either. "There was a series of unfortunate events but no conscious wrongdoing."

The FIA examined all the arguments, and decided that the best course of action was to overturn the penalty, meaning Renault could race in Valencia after all. Instead, they were given a $50,000 fine, with the FIA stating there was not enough proof that the team released Alonso knowingly, and they had also received four letters of support from rival teams - with two of them admitting they were changing their own pit stop procedures in the wake of what had happened.

For a short while, at least, Renault had the support of their fellow racers.

That is all for this episode of our advent calendar. I think we may be moving on from Hungary in tomorrow's show, but you'll have to join me then to find out, as we open the advent door for Day Fifteen.

F1 Advent Calendar 2009 - Day Thirteen

• Length: 3:19 
• Size: 3.8 MB 
• File: advent13.mp3 
• Transcript: advent13.pdf 
• Torrent: advent13.torrent 

Hello, this is our F1 Advent Calendar 2009 and we are right in the middle of it. This extended mini-series takes a look behind a different door every day of advent to remember another key moment from the 2009 season. We’re on to Day Thirteen - Back on Form.

We’ve been looking at the Hungarian race weekend in quite a lot of detail so far - qualifying was quite a key moment in the year, with Massa’s accident and a major live timing fail. Now, we’re actually going to look at the Grand Prix itself.

Alonso was on pole for the race, with Vettel and Webber behind him, and the Renault driver managed to retain his lead through the first corner. It was Raikkonen who made the best start though, flying past cars from seventh on the grid to move up towards the front. Vettel fell backwards a couple of places, and Kimi found himself squeezed between Hamilton and Webber.

The Finn gave up that fight, dropped back a little, and found himself touching wheels with Vettel. It was a incident somewhat similar to the penalty given to Webber at the German Grand Pix, but Kimi was not investigated until after the race, and then no was penalty given.

Alonso pulled away at the front of the field, whilst at the back, Sutil retired after just one lap. Hamilton was hustling Webber for second place, and on lap five, he made best use of his KERS device to get past the Red Bull. It's fair to say that KERS wasn't having the reception that was anticipated in Formula 1. The device left fans in the dark, and although on-screen graphics were brought in to try and help matters, they weren't always on screen, and therefore it wasn't always clear when it was being used. However, the cars that had KERS fitted could sometimes gain the advantage, and Hamilton used to to perfection to pass Webber. He then started to hunt down Alonso.

Lewis was gaining on the Spaniard, but the Renault car was experiencing difficulties. The early race pace had damaged the tyres, and a fuel pump problem was causing concern on the pit wall. Fernando came in for his first pit stop on lap 12, and although most of the stop was good, there was trouble in the tyre department. The front right wheel had been incorrectly attached, and the wheel spinner was clearly wobbling around as the car exited the pitlane. The loose part fell off after a couple of corners, followed by the entire wheel just a few turns later. The wheel bounced down the track, thankfully missing any major targets. It came to a stop by the barrier.

Alonso continued round the track very slowly on three wheels, and the mechanics fitted him up with a spare and sent him on his way again. He retired later, though, as the fuel pump problem returned.

Hamilton was promoted to the lead, whilst Raikkonen was getting into trouble again. This time, Red Bull released Webber from his stop into the path of an oncoming Ferrari, and the pair narrowly avoided contact. Hamilton continued to romp away at the front, as Vettel retired and left Raikkonen as his nearest competitor - some ten seconds down the road.

The defending champion took his first win of the year, and it was also a first for KERS. McLaren and Ferrari made it a KERS 1-2, which, although not proving the device was useful, at least proved that it wasn't detrimental to achieving those vital victories.

That's all for this Advent episode. I hope you're enjoying the series, thank you for reliving the 2009 season along with me. I will be back tomorrow to open the next window on our calendar - Day Fourteen.

F1 Advent Calendar 2009 - Day Twelve

• Length: 3:00 
• Size: 3.5 MB 
• File: advent12.mp3 
• Transcript: advent12.pdf 
• Torrent: advent12.torrent 

Hello and welcome to our F1 Advent Calendar 2009, brought to you by Sidepodcast. We’re in the middle of an extended mini series, where each day we open the door on another story of the 2009 season, picking out the key moments that shaped the year. Today we’re moving right along to Day Twelve - In the Dark.

Although qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix was overshadowed by concern for Felipe Massa after his accident during the second session, there was more to come from the action on Saturday.

Previously to that, McLaren had been on top form during Friday practice - Kovalainen fastest in the first session and Hamilton in the second. Lewis was also strong in Saturday practice, so was feeling very confident for qualifying.

Rosberg was fastest in Q1, whilst both BMWs, Force Indias and Alguersuari were all knocked out of the running. In Q2, the yellow flags caused by Massa’s accident did cause a few problems for other drivers, and it was Barrichello, and the Toyota drivers who fell by the wayside. Massa was quick enough to get through to Q3, but by that time he was en route to hospital, so only nine drivers hit the track for the final session.

There was a delay before Q3 got underway, as the marshals had to rebuild the tyre wall, but finally the last ten minutes were ticking on, and the timer hit zero. Thing is, no one knew who had crossed the line fast enough to take pole position because the live timing had died. For us at home, for the commentators in their box, for the teams in the garage and on the pitwall and for Race Control who were trying to keep order.

It was between Alonso in the Renault, two Red Bulls, and Hamilton in the McLaren. Alonso climbed from his car and approached the nearest driver, asking: “What was your time?” They get a read out on the dash of their car, but could it be trusted? They hovered around the parc ferme area, waiting to find out who was on pole, and asking each other if they could remember their times. It was absolutely chaotic, complete nonsense, but also slightly brilliant.

After a good few minutes, they finally confirmed that Alonso had taken pole, with Vettel and Webber behind him, so the three of them posed together in front of the bemused crowd. Fabrice Lom - the Renault engineer for Red Bull - summed up the confusion: “A very strange qualifying session today with Massa’s accident and the collapse of the timing, but in the end, it was a one, two, three for Renault, so we can only be happy.”

After investigations later, FOM were keen to explain what had happened: “In the closing minutes of the third part of the Formula 1 qualifying session yesterday the finish line sensor suffered a mechanical failure in the form of a damaged cable. Standard procedures were followed and the back-up sensor used. Once the verification procedures were complete, the full results were published. At no time was any timing data lost.” They seem keen not to blame LG - the official timekeeper.

That brings this particular story to an end, I hope you can join me again tomorrow when we peer through another door on the F1 Advent Calendar 2009.

F1 Advent Calendar 2009 - Day Eleven

• Length: 3:37 
• Size: 4.2 MB 
• File: advent11.mp3 
• Transcript: advent11.pdf 
• Torrent: advent11.torrent 

Welcome to our end of year extended mini-series - the F1 Advent Calendar 2009 - where we are opening a door each day to find a key story of the 2009 season. It’s our version of the traditional season review, and I’m keen to find out what’s behind today’s door - Day Eleven - Accidents Happen.

The Hungarian Grand Prix has a bit of a reputation for being boring, although the last few years have seen races that are a lot worse - this means you Valencia. In 2009, qualifying has taken on more importance, both in terms of racing results, and in terms of interest in the weekend. Unfortunately for Hungary, Felipe Massa’s accident overshadowed everything, anyway.

In the first part of qualifying, Alguersuari suffered an hydraulic failure that ended his session early. Rosberg topped the times, and Felipe Massa easily got through to the second session. He was also easily through to the third session, but in the last few minutes of Q2, the World Feed cut to an image of the Ferrari crashed into the tyre wall at turn four. It took a while to piece the story together, but after replays it became clear that a piece of debris had fallen off the Brawn car he was following, and struck him on the helmet.

He was knocked unconscious almost immediately, and thus took no action to avoid the barriers. It took a while, but he was extracted from the car and airlifted to the nearest hospital in Budapest.

The accident was all the more eerie coming just a week after the tragic death of Henry Surtees, who was involved in a fatal accident in the F2 series at Brands Hatch, when a wheel struck his helmet after coming loose from another car. In Massa’s incident, it turns out the debris was a heavy duty spring from Barrichello’s car. Brawn confirmed this to be the case, and submitted to an FIA investigation during the third session of qualifying, to ensure Button’s car was safe. In doing so, he only had one run and attempt at pole position. He qualified eighth. Massa actually qualified tenth, but obviously could take no part in the rest of proceedings. He was also missing from the race as well.

At the hospital, he underwent emergency surgery, as the spring had made contact with the helmet around his left eye. There were many stories later that if it had been just a tiny bit lower, things could have been a lot different. His pregnant wife, Rafaela flew out from Brazil to be at his side.

Thankfully, despite his injuries being classified as life-threatening when he first arrived at hospital, he began to recover very quickly. After just a week, he returned home to Brazil, for further recuperation. His condition continued to improve, and whilst he would have been okay without further surgery if he was just going to live a normal life, Massa was determined to return to racing. Talking about missing being behind the wheel, Felipe said: “It’s not easy. I want to be in the car, driving, especially here in Brazil, it would have been fantastic to come back for this race, but unfortuantely we need to wait a bit more. It’s not easy to be outside just looking, not doing anything, just discussing what is happening in the test.” It must have been made harder by the offer for him to wave the chequered flag at the Brazilian GP, which he did as Webber took the win.

Massa was operated on again to put a plate above the eye, but it wasn’t long before he was back training. Just recently, he returned to karting, he’s had a go in the F2007 with GP2 tyres on, and he came third and first in his charity karting event - beating Michael Schumacher. He has also become a father, with wife Rafaela bringing Felipe Jr safely into the world.

That’s all for this episode of the F1 Advent Calendar 2009. Thank you for listening as we make our way through the 2009 season. Join me tomorrow when we open the door for Day Twelve.

F1 Advent Calendar 2009 - Day Ten

• Length: 3:01 
• Size: 3.5 MB 
• File: advent10.mp3 
• Transcript: advent10.pdf 
• Torrent: advent10.torrent 

This is the Sidepodcast F1 Advent Calendar 2009, welcome. We’re running an extended mini-series for each day of advent, taking a closer look at the story of 2009, one short show at a time. We’ve reached double figures now as we peer behind the door of Day Ten - So Long, Farewell.

In the last episode, we discussed the German Grand Prix, which debut winner Mark Webber took by storm - heading up a Red Bull 1-2. In their sister team, things were quite different and much less jubilant. Buemi did the best he could, finishing 16th, which was ahead of Trulli and Hamilton, although only one place up from where he started. Bourdais, though, finished last, retiring on Lap 18 with a hydraulics problem.

Of course, this mechanical failure was not his fault, but when he returned to the garages, stopping by the pitwall, the consolatory hugs he gave his engineers were tinged with a sadness more than just frustration about the retirement. These were goodbye hugs.

There was no mention of anything out of the ordinary in the post-race press quotes, but just four days after the race Toro Rosso confirmed that they were parting company with the Frenchman. Team boss Franz Tost said: “In Sebastien’s second year with us, the partnership has not met our expectations and therefore we have decided to replace him as from the next round of the world championship, the Hungarian Grand Prix.”

Up to that point, Bourdais had retired from three races, finished eighth in two, and finished 10th, 11th, 13th and 18th. It’s not a great record, but Buemi wasn’t exactly doing much better. He had a 7th and 8th finished, and just two retirements instead, with the other results down in the late teens.

It wasn’t completely unexpected, then, when Bourdais came out and said Toro Rosso’s decision was a complete surprise to him. He said: “I am very disappointed and shocked by the decision taken by STR of not allowing me to drive for the team until the end of the current season. I consider that, in doing so, Scuderia Toro Rosso has breached its contractual duties towards me; also I believe that nothing in my behaviour would legitimate a decision of the team to terminate the contract.”

He got his lawyers involved, and Toro Rosso decided to settle, with the rumoured deal to be his salary plus damages of just over $2 million.

Bourdais moved on to race in the Superleague Formula, winning a couple of races for the Sevilla FC team. His plans for next year are as yet unknown. Meanwhile, Toro Rosso brought in Jaime Alguersuari, but if they were expecting great things from the Spaniard, they were sorely disappointed. Of the eight races left, Alguersuari retired from five and finished 14th, 15th and 16th in the others.

It could be argued that Bourdais would have achieved results similar to that, but the team were clearly ready to move on, and they were willing to pay over the odds to make that happen.

That’s all for this episode of our F1 Advent Calendar 2009. Thank you for listening and I hope you’ll be back tomorrow when we look behind the door of Day Eleven.

F1 Advent Calendar 2009 - Day Nine

• Length: 3:14 
• Size: 3.8 MB 
• File: advent9.mp3 
• Transcript: advent9.pdf 
• Torrent: advent9.torrent 

Hello and welcome along to the F1 Advent Calendar 2009 - an extended mini-series from Sidepodcast where we open up a new door each day of advent to find a key story from the 2009 season. Yesterday was all about politics, so let’s hope for some racing action this time, on Day Nine - The First Time.

With the future of Formula 1 back on an even keel for now, attention turned back to the racing. The British Grand Prix had been a sombre affair overshadowed by the politics, so it was down to the German race at the Nurburgring to pick things up again. Vettel had won the race at Silverstone, and the Brawn dominance was beginning to look a little shaky, although their championship leads were still very much in tact.

Qualifying was a wet affair, and played right into the hands of Red Bull. Webber and Vettel made it a very strong 1-2 until last minute laps from the Brawn boys split them up. Webber retained his pole position, followed by Barrichello and Button, with Vettel winding up fourth. Notably, Sutil managed to qualify up in 7th, which was the highest Force India grid position since it’s inception.

The race was dry, and got underway with a collision between Webber and Barrichello. The pair of them got off the line essentially together, and whilst Barrichello kept it in a straight line, Webber moved across and bumped into the Brawn. Still before the first corner, Hamilton came flying past both of them, but Webber’s front wing nicked the McLaren’s rear right tyre. Hamilton overshot the first corner, ran wide, and then limped back to the pits with a puncture. He returned to the track one lap down and finished in 18th, which was last with two retirees behind him.

Barrichello didn’t seem to have been too affected by the incident with Webber initially as he took the lead. Webber received a drive through penalty for that first corner incident, so had to make an extra stop, but despite that he kept the pace up and his strategy saw him continuing to fight at the top. Barrichello, though, was beginning to slow, and holding everyone up. Ross Brawn was on the radio telling him he was going too slowly and if he couldn’t overtake, he needed to let Button have a go.

Sutil, having started seventh, had made his way up to second place, but after coming out the pits for his first stop, found a fast moving Raikkonen coming up behind him. The Ferrari had to take avoiding action and went round the outside at the next corner, but it wasn’t quite wide enough, and the pair collided. Sutil was knocked down to finish in 15th, whilst Kimi later retired with engine troubles.

Finally, it was Webber who crossed the line first. Despite losing places at the start, bouncing off a couple of cars here and there, and receiving a drive through penalty, he had fought hard and worked his way back to the top to take his debut victory. He was joined on the podium by teammate Vettel and Felipe Massa. After the race, team boss Christian Horner paid tribute to the Australian: “I think lying in a hospital bed in Tasmania in November, he could never have dreamed about today... The comeback that he has had has been remarkable - and it is testimony to his determination and commitment that he has got himself back, he has got himself fit and he is driving better than ever.”

That is all for this episode of our F1 Advent Calendar. We have peeked behind nine doors so far and tomorrow we’ll start again with Day Ten.

F1 Advent Calendar 2009 - Day Eight

• Length: 3:25 
• Size: 4.0 MB 
• File: advent8.mp3 
• Transcript: advent8.pdf 
• Torrent: advent8.torrent 

Hello and welcome, this is our extended mini series - F1 Advent Calendar 2009. We’re opening up a new door every day to find bite size snippets of the 2009 season. So far we’ve covered all the goings on up until the Monaco Grand Prix, and now we’ll have a peek at Day Eight - Two Tribes.

The 2009 season had only been underway for a couple of months, and already attention had turned to the following year - and it was turning out to be a contentious issue. The FIA had opened up the grid to three new teams, and in trying to entice new entrants to the grid, had revised the regulations significantly. The idea was that teams signing up to a proposed budget cap had a lot more freedom when it came to engine and aerodynamic regulations. Those that didn’t sign up to the budget cap could spend what they wanted but were seriously locked down when it came to what could be on their car.

From the outside, this seemed completely ridiculous - potentially allowing the unrestricted teams several seconds advantage. From the inside, it was also an unpopular decision. The existing teams - in a new group known as the Formula One Teams Association - announced the so-called two-tier championship was completely unacceptable, but they were willing to work with the FIA on ways to reduce costs and still keep things fair.

They refused to enter the 2010 season until they could sort the matter out but it was to be a lot harder than that. They met up on Flavio Briatore’s boat during the Monaco Grand Prix weekend, to discuss the matter, and subsequently offered a combined conditional entry. So if one pulled out, they all pulled out. And the conditions were that the rules were basically the same as the 2009 season with maybe a few tweaks.

Williams and Force India both signed up independently of FOTA and were subsequently suspended from the association. Williams in particular defended themselves saying they owed it to their sponsors and employees to continue in Formula 1 regardless of how the regulations evolved.

Fast forward to June the 18th, and with no agreement forthcoming on the rules for 2010, FOTA announced they would be setting up their own breakaway series. At the time, a statement was issued saying: “These teams therefore have no alternative other than to commence the preparation for a new Championship which reflects the values of its participants and partners. This series will have transparent governance, one set of regulations, encourage more entrants and listen to the wishes of the fans, including offering lower prices for spectators worldwide, partners and other important stakeholders.”

Sounds like heaven, doesn’t it? Well, it was not to be.

The FIA considered launching legal action against FOTA, they re-entered talks with each other and the entire mess dominated and ruined the atmosphere during the British Grand Prix.

Just six days later, another statement from FOTA confirmed they wouldn’t be breaking away after all. The regulations would continue as they were, with added cost cutting measures such as reduced personnel and less wind tunnel usage. Technical help was offered to the new teams who were signed up under the budget cap regulations. More crucially, though, Max Mosley was prepared to stand down from the presidency of the FIA, with FOTA urging for a fresh start come the elections in October.

That’s all for today. I hope you’re enjoying the F1 Advent Calendar 2009, and the chance to remember both the good and bad of the season. I’ll be back tomorrow with Day Nine.

F1 Advent Calendar 2009 - Day Seven

• Length: 3:09 
• Size: 3.7 MB 
• File: advent7.mp3 
• Transcript: advent7.pdf 
• Torrent: advent7.torrent 

Welcome to the seventh day of our F1 Advent Calendar 2009. This is an extended mini-series breaking the season review down into 25 short shows - one behind each door of advent. We’re moving right along to Day Seven - Keep on Running.

It’s fair to say that, despite the fact Red Bull took a win in China, by the time the Monaco Grand Prix arrived, we were beginning to wonder if Brawn were completely unstoppable. They had won four of the five races so far, and were still looking very, very strong. Plus, Button was turning up to Monaco with a lot of determination as it is one of his home races.

His closest competition continued to be Vettel, and Red Bull had finally managed to bring a double diffuser to the car. However, it was Barrichello on top in Free Practice 1, and Button was just pipped to the top by Alonso in Free Practice 3. Normality resumed in qualifying, though, with Jenson Button leaving it to the last minute to take his fourth pole position.

Other notable qualifying incidents included defending champion Lewis Hamilton crashing out at the Mirabeau - meaning he couldn’t participate in qualifying any further and started 16th. The BMWs and Toyotas were remarkably slow, considering Trulli and Glock had been fighting for podiums up until this point in the season.

The race began, then, with Button retaining his lead and zipping away from hte rest of the pack. Vettel had super-soft tyres on and really began to struggle for grip after only a few laps. With Monaco being so very overtaking unfriendly, the slow Vettel allowed the leaders to make quite the gap, and then he crashed into the barriers and retired from the race. Not a great race for poor Vettel.

Kovalainen and Nakajima also crashed out during the race, but it was Button’s day as he crossed the line and took the chequered flag, ahead of teammate Barrichello and Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen.

Now, Monaco has a slightly different slowing down lap procedure than other races. Instead of coming in to the pitlane and stopping the car in parc ferme, the top three finishers pull to a halt on the main straight where the podium is hastily erected and the red carpet pulled out. Button hadn’t been on the podium in Monaco since 2004, and was pretty used to the normal procedure, having been on the podium so often in 2009. He made his way to the pit lane, and parked up... in the wrong place.

To get to the podium, he had to jog out of the pitlane, and down the main straight towards where the crowd and Prince Albert of Monaco were waiting for him. As he jogged, he waved at the crowd, making the most of the opportunity. It was quite the moment - one of the highlights of the year, always up there when you ask people to name their top memories of the 2009 season. We almost want to start a petition to make all drivers run a lap of honour when they win a race.

They may not be in favour though, as straight after the race Button said: “It’s been an unbelievable day, capped with my impromptu sprint down the pit straight to the podium. I can tell you it’s a very long way!”

That’s all for this episode of our F1 Advent Calendar 2009. I will be back tomorrow with another peek behind an advent window to find out what the story is for Day Eight.