Sidepodcast

A Singularly Silly Solution?

It emerged today that members of the Teams Association sadly hadn't forgotten their common car launch idea. The subject was discussed at a FOTA meeting in Monaco today, and they concluded that a single launch in Valencia was the way forward.

Credit: Glenn Dunbar / GP2 Series Media Service

Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències in Valencia is lit up during the 2006 GP2 launch party

We previously discussed these plans after a Thursday Thoughts question, and this afternoon shared some opinions in the breakout thread.

You would think there wasn't much else to add, but F1 journalist Will Buxton is a man who has experience of organising launches in the city of Valencia and he's written some very detailed insight into how he see's the event working. The argument does manage to put a new spin on things.

To my mind, it would make sense to limit team launches to a maximum of 30-40 minutes and get them all out of the way in the morning in one hour time allocations. By utilising the Opera House, the Hemesferic (which can be split into two launch venues) and the main Science building (which can be split into upwards of three separate launch venues), you have individual launch venues within walking distance of each other.

He goes on to say the afternoon could feature the media interviews, but it would have to be run for three consecutive days for everyone to be able to see everything.

To find a definitive answer, we're going to offer up one of our ever so scientific polls.

Teams will be spending the next couple of weeks working out the finer details, are they wasting their time?

Daily: 29th November 2009

It's been a very long time since I was left in charge of covering daily duties, I was beginning to worry Christine no longer had faith in me. I shall not let the good ship Daily Post down though, despite very little happening in the F1 world.

Before dishing up a couple of noteworthy links, I would like to plug some site updates that have been consuming vast amounts of time these past few weeks. Ever since we introduced our first on site opinion poll the damn things have been causing us grief. As a result we've rebuilt the polling system from the ground up, it still has issues but it's good enough to make its debut today. I've sneaked a little poll into the bottom of this post (a first for the daily?), by all means give it a try and yell if you spot anything amiss.

• Felipe Massa made a triumphant return to competitive racing yesterday, finishing third in his own kart race, behind Michael Schumacher (bleugh) and the legend that is Liuzzi in second. A number of other F1 drivers took part in the event including Rubens Barrichello and those of an altogether lesser significance. After the event Massa was happy with his work "It was a great return to racing. I wish I could've won the race, but it was a victory to come from the back and finish where I finished. I felt 100 per cent and I'm ready for the next one." It looks like a fine day was had by all, and the action continues with a second race today.
• Joe's super pleased about the return of Canada to the calendar and speculates that it can open the right doors to allow for the reappearance of a Grand Prix in the USA. Formula One fans stateside deserve no less, so let's hear it for the achievements of race organisers in Montreal, and keep our fingers crossed for even more good news in the future.
• I struggled to find any notable news beyond the above and I'm still 18 links short of my daily quota. However, the eagle-eyed among you may have noticed the small "quote box" that appears further up the page. There's probably a fancy official name for it, but it beats me what that might be. We're playing around with the idea of highlighting small parts of an article, Christine is less sold on it than me, but do let us know if it works for you. What's the best way to give feedback you say? Why, a poll of course.

I believe that covers anything and everything that comes to mind. A certain lady seems to be on a mission to post more articles in a week than we normally do in a month, so keep an eye on the homepage for more updates throughout the day. As ever, let us know what you're up to, and don't forget to plug any blog posts you've published recently.

Would You Like More Races a Season?

It seems as though a hot topic at the moment is about the calendar and whether it should be expanded or not in the interests of the sport. Here, Jeremy takes up the idea, and offers us a poll on the subject.

There has always been discussion on whether we should have more races in each F1 season, and I am firmly in the 'yes' camp.

I am lucky in that I have been able to schedule my working week to run from Tuesday to Saturday, and I think that a race every second weekend would be brilliant. Can you imagine 22 races a year, with the season running from early February to late November? They wouldn't have to be a week apart though - we could have some races back to back (where it makes sense to do so) and thus have a break mid season (boo!).

Now, here's the kick. The cars are developed at a tremendous rate. Everybody says that there aren't that many good tracks. So re-visit the same tracks later in the season! We then only need 11 great tracks, and we get to see exactly how much faster the cars are later in the season, instead of guessing.

I know that this idea won't go down well with everyone. Especially those who work incredibly hard in their spare time to produce a blog and podcasts about F1. But what do you think?

What are the pros and cons of this idea for the teams, the fans, the money makers? What about the environment? Who else would this affect?

More importantly though, which tracks would we use? How would new tracks get a look in? Surely some tracks wouldn't want two races in a season unless it becomes hugely profitable? How do we make the sport sustainable if this idea were to come about?

Which Circuit Hosts the Best Championship Showdown?

This weekend may see a brand new Formula One World Champion crowned, and what better place to witness the event than Interlagos, Brazil. The Autódromo José Carlos Pace has played host to the last five title deciding races, most notably the unprecedented battle between Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa in 2008.

However, if things don't go Jenson Button's way on Sunday the decider will run into the final race of the year at the Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi.

Whilst we have nothing against new circuits and we have yet to see what Abu Dhabi has on offer, it does feel fitting that Interlagos should again be the place that the championship winner gets crowned. Having said that, I believe a lot a people felt the same thing about the race in Suzuka a fortnight ago.

In the comments during Free Practice 2 today, Journeyer offered up a tough question that we figured should be put to vote - of the two historical circuits, both of which recently hosted championship deciding races, which track would you prefer to see crowing the WDC?

Just in case you're easily led, Journeyer had this to say on the subject:

It's a tough one, but I'm picking Suzuka. It beats Interlagos in terms of quantity and quality. Not only did it bear witness to 10 title deciders, they were mostly epic too. Who could forget Senna and Prost colliding in 1989 and 1990, Damon Hill's tearful victory in 1996, Schumacher stalling in 1998, then gaining the ultimate glory for Ferrari in 2000? These, and many other memories, are the reasons why I choose Suzuka.

Do you agree? Get voting now.

We have taken the liberty of adding a third option of "other", on the off chance someone might actually want the title to go down to the wire and to the final race of the year.

As well as voting we'd love to hear your reasons, so please don't be afraid to say why in the comments.

Sidepodradio - The Charity

In the last Sidepodradio post, I touched upon the fact that we raised an awful lot of money for charity. It was much more than we expected, and the astounding generosity of people makes those 12 hours even more special.

It started out as a quick donations drive raising money to cover the cost of production - £120 to be exact. It soon exceeded that, and we knew donating to charity would turn it into the proper radiothon we wanted it to be. As it turns out, the server really didn't hold up as much as we thought, and therefore, it doesn't deserve any money. We'll return that £120 to the kitty, and round it up to the nearest ten, meaning our total for charity is:

£680!

That is an amazing effort, and everyone should give themselves a big pat on the back.

There's just one more step to go through, and that's deciding the motorsport charity who will benefit from the Sidepodradio event. We've had some great suggestions in the wiki, where there are links to find out more about each charity, plus a breakdown of the donations and how we reached the total.

Now, though, it's time for the vote.

Once again, thanks go to everyone who got involved in Sidepodradio from those who were on practically every show to those who just left a single comment. Everyone was part of it, and it's down to all of you that we have raised this money. We'll close the poll at about midday on Wednesday, and let you know the results. Get voting!

Fisi's Show of Force

This year has long since proven that qualifying is the best part of the race weekend. We've mentioned it many times before, but it has never been more so than this weekend in Spa. If Formula 1 is lacking the unpredictability that a lot of fans would like, then they should race in Belgium every single weekend.

Giancarlo Fisichella took pole position.

I know! Not only that but he was joined in the press conference by Trulli and Heidfeld. Now, of course, we don't know about their fuel loads yet, but even so, the grid was mixed up before the top ten were even confirmed.

Neither McLaren could get out of Quali 2 and Button starts from 14th on the grid. Alonso is just ahead of him. All big names out before the flying laps for pole began. Goodness knows what will happen tomorrow but for now, it is Fisi's moment.

He's got three pole positions to his name now, this fourth one being the first since Malaysia 2006 when he steered his Renault to a lights to flag victory. Chances are his Force India is going to struggle to do the same, and by my reckoning he'll probably be coming in on about lap two for a fuel stop.

Either way, Force India will appreciate the headlines, as we can tell they have money troubles. They've brought a garden shed as a motorhome this weekend, and there are rumours about pay packets not being distributed. Some positive news can go a long way. And for Fisichella himself, what better way to prove that he could do a lot better than a certain someone in a certain red car?

Badoer pretty much ruined everyone's final lap in the first session of qualifying by beaching his Ferrari in the gravel and causing yellow flags. Anyone else would have saved it. Fisi would certainly have saved it.

I've never been the man's biggest fan, and I would have preferred Sutil to take this maiden glory for Mallya's team. However, it's impossible not to be happy for a driver who has worked hard and struggled through in some rough cars.

I said at the beginning that qualifying was the best part of a race weekend for us, but what do you think? Do the laps of racing action beat those final few moments as you wait to see who's on pole? Let's have our own poll and find out!

Auf Wiedersehen, Goodbye

BMW announced this morning that they will be pulling out of Formula 1 at the end of this season. There seems to be a combination of factors involved in this decision including "strategic realignment", "environmental compatability" and "future viability." For these I read: "we're not doing very well, we're not sure where F1 is going, and we're better off out of it." Perhaps I am just a big cynic.

The first thing that springs to mind with this announcement is that it hasn't had the same effect as Honda's shock withdrawal at the end of last year. Back then, we had to curtail a holiday to return and cover the story as we wanted to. Although we aren't on holiday right now, it's not having anything like the same impact.

Naturally, the big concern is the employees back at the factory, and to a lesser extent, the drivers left without a seat. At the moment it's unclear whether the team will be sold, or if they are closing completely. There's talk that FOTA are behind the team and will do whatever they can to save them, there are thoughts that the Sauber name could live on, and I've seen rumours about the unsuccessful 2010 teams eyeing a potential entry into the sport.

There seems to be a lot more options this time round than there were when Honda pulled the plug, but is that all it is? Has this rocked the F1 World in the same way? Is it because Honda were the first? Let's have a poll to see where BMW fall on the scale of shockability.

To me, this announcement simply proves that if you plan something step by step and rigidly stick to that plan, it's not going to work out. Let us know what you think!

Circuit Character Cup - The Final - Spa vs. Monaco

Here we are then - the moment we have all been building up to. This may have been the final that anyone could have predicted from the beginning of the cup, but both tracks have come on quite a journey to make their way to this last round. Who will be victorious and claim the 2009 Sidepodcast Circuit Character title? (There's no trophy.)

Spa vs. Monaco

Spa has fought past several heavyweights throughout this competition, seeing off Silverstone in the first round and Singapore in the second. It has led the way through the top half of the matchups. Monaco had an easy first round, but faced off the challenge of the mighty Hungaroring to make it's way to the final. Make your vote count!

Circuit Character Cup - Semi Final - Suzuka vs. Monaco

Our next semi-final pits the "glitz and glamour" of Monaco, against the unique figure of eight at Suzuka. The winner of this matchup will join Spa in the final.

Suzuka vs. Monaco

Suzuka has made it past two relatively easy tracks, although Albert Park put up more of a fight than Barcelona did. Now it meets it's first real heavyweight of a track in the principality of Monaco. The street circuit itself has fought past Bahrain and the Hungaroring - which is more of a feat than we'd anticipated it to be. Who will be victorious and make it to the final?

Circuit Character Cup - Semi Final - Monza vs. Spa

We're into the semi-finals now, pitting the circuits against each other for a place in the very last matchup of the cup, and that means we're down to one heat in each post. Today we're voting between two European tracks, and I think it might be a tough one.

Monza vs. Spa

Monza has easily seen off competition from Shanghai and Interlagos, but now faces perhaps it's toughest competitor yet. Spa has proved to be popular throughout the competition, even against it's first round opponent - Silverstone. So far, the Belgium track has enjoyed a larger margin over the losing circuits than Monza has, but this could be the matchup that changes all that.