Sidepodcast

F1 Digest 2010 - Bahrain Preview

• Length: 11:05 
• Size: 10.2 MB 
• File: digest149.mp3 
• Transcript: digest149.pdf 
• Torrent: digest149.torrent 

The Formula One season finally gets underway with Bahrain replacing Australia at the start. We've got all the information you need to know from weather to driver quotes and my own predictions.

Vital Statistics

• Date: 14th March
• Circuit: Bahrain International
• Length: 6.3km
• Laps: 49

Preview

In the first digest preview of 2010, we solicit opinions on the Bahrain circuit, recap what happened in 2009, and run through what each of the teams is hoping for from the weekend. Notably, Lotus aren't feeling that positive, whilst McLaren and Ferrari are both confident they can do well.

Bahrain 2010 - Race Information

Formula One has returned! We are gearing up for the first race of the season and by all accounts, it's going to be a spectacular one. Although Bahrain has a lot to live up to, replacing Australia as the season opener, there is so much going on, it's bound to be a fantastic weekend.

The Weather

The long range forecast for the weekend suggests there will be nothing but sunshine for F1 to look forward too. Saturday might see a little cloud, but nothing that should make a difference to the action and the high appears consistent for both Saturday and Sunday.

Regularly updated weather information can be found on the BBC.

The Circuit

This year, the Bahrain circuit sees the first major change to its layout since it began hosting F1 races in 2004. The track has been extended by nine corners and the number of laps reduced accordingly.

Credit: Bridgestone Corporation

Bahrain Circuit Map

Event Schedule

An F1 weekend comprises of events spanning three days. Action begins on Friday and ends on Sunday.

Support races for this event include GP2 Asia and the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup.

Press Conference Schedule

Official press conferences are organised by the FIA and happen four times during the weekend.

The qualifying and post race press conferences will take place after the television unilateral interviews.

Podcast Schedule

Sidepodcast provides comprehensive coverage of every Grand Prix weekend with free audio podcasts.

Following Live

A thread will be created on Sidepodcast.com for every session and every thread is live enabled, meaning you can follow along and contribute to the conversation without refreshing the page.

Additionally, for every session this weekend we'll be providing up-to-the-minute F1 information via the all new Factbyte Factbox.

Daily: 10th March 2010

Say hello to Wednesday as we reach the middle of the week. Who is getting unbelievably excited for Free Practice on Friday then? Yesterday we were discussing whether it was acceptable to leave a wedding early so you can watch qualifying. I say yes, how about you? Meanwhile, here are the other things we're talking about:

• The Factbyte Factbox had a radical overhaul yesterday and finally completed the goal we had in mind for it since it debuted a year ago - live updates. There's more information about what we're trying to achieve, and what happened during the brief test last night on this post. Don't worry if you missed it, though, it'll be back plenty of times during the season!
• It was a day for refreshing websites yesterday, as McLaren launched their new site, Williams had a fresh lick of paint, and Autosport introduced a new 2010 Season Guide. The new season preview edition of Grand Prix Plus emerged yesterday as well, so make sure you check that out if you haven't already. All good stuff that should keep you busy for a little while!
• Whilst doing a bit of admin for F1 Big Picture, it occurred to us that we'd fallen into our trap of introducing concepts and not really telling anyone about them, so we decided that for 2010 we'd try and be a bit more transparent - or at least plug things more. This post over on F1 minute explains the pattern our Big Pictures take ahead of each race.

That should do it for now. There's more good stuff to come today, so we'll be keeping busy, but I will see you in the comments.

Introducing the Factbyte Factbox

Sidepodcast is today turning its F1 coverage up to eleven, with the release of the all new Factbyte Factbox. The interactive web panel enables us to provide real-time updates on any live event, be it an F1 session, another motorsport event or live streaming podcast.

Factbyte Factbox (FBFB) was first proposed back in April 2009 and has been something we've been keen to see launched for a very long time. Back in April, we described it thus:

Designed to take live shows and live racing to the next level, the FBFB will provide a secondary stream of information, highlighting any relevant data depending on circumstance. For example, offering up-to-date scoring during a panel show, or listing the closest battles during a race.

Almost one year on and that is exactly what we're launching today. Additionally, we're planning on using the tool to augment future live streaming podcasts, providing real-time show notes and enabling interaction via live voting, results of which will be fed back into recordings.

We should point out that what we're launching today isn't the final iteration of the web panel. It carries a "beta" tag because it is a service that's still undergoing heavy development. However, we felt that this was something that should be available from the very start of the F1 season, and thus we're opening the doors today. We're expecting teething troubles coupled with rapid development for the next few months.

If you're interested in seeing what all the fuss is about, the live commenting page currently houses the FBFB. The plan is to make it available via other pages in due course. Furthermore, we'll be running a live beta test at 21:45 GMT, should anyone be available to offer feedback.

Updated: The live test has now finished, but you can view the full list of updates below:

Daily: 9th March 2010

Tuesday has arrived and before I do anything, I must point you towards yesterday's F1 Debrief. The show itself is marvellous, of course, but in the show notes there are some rather excellent outtakes - if such a thing exists. Actually, I might just post them again now anyway. Mr C and I could do with the embarrassment.

Now, on to other topics:

• Adam Hay-Nicholls has an unusual post on his Metro F1 blog - spending some time with Tamara Ecclestone. She has some rather forthright views on Jenson Button, but if she's anything like her dad, I don't suppose she worries about what she says.
• I mentioned yesterday that Mr C had spent some time watching NASCAR, and it looks as though that sport has just as much politics as F1. There was an incident involving Carl Edwards that he admits he caused on purpose, to try and knock his opponent out the way - revenge, if you will, for an early incident. Leigh has some thoughts on the concept of on track payback, and suffice it to say, it's not a good idea!
• Today is the last day for the Joe Saward competition, where we are offering you the chance to win a signed copy of his book The Grand Prix Saboteurs. We've had tons of entries, but there's still time to get yours in, and you never know, luck might be on your side.
• Finally, a quick plug to the TOTAL 2010 Grand Prix Travel Guide. It's clearly a marketing ploy, but has plenty of useful information in there including: "Where to stay in Korea? Where to get a drink in Bahrain?" The things you need to know.

That should do it for now. I hope your week is going smoothly, and as ever, I will see you in the comments.

F1 Debrief - Puffle Piffle Poffle Puffin F1

• Length: 52:12 
• Size: 48.0 MB 
• File: debrief136.mp3 
• Transcript: Coming soon 
• Torrent: debrief136.torrent 

Coming up this week, we discuss team members departing, really dodgy names, Hamilton opening up, an evening with Joe, and those dangerous new teams.

Intro

This time next week the first race of the season will already be over! It's pretty exciting. Before that though, lots of news to get through plus some Fantasy Racers roll calls.

Good Week / Bad Week

It's been a good week for the Korean GP as they reckon they are on schedule, and for Renault who have managed to find a little bit of sponsorship in the form of Lada. It's been a bad week for Force India though, who haven't quite worked out how to use bit.ly yet, and for Willy Rampf who is leaving BMW Sauber.

News and Views

We discuss a few conclusions from testing, although nothing particularly groundbreaking. The fastest drivers, and those that completed the most distance. We contemplate some Ferrari developments and Red Bull stickers. We also wonder whether anything will come of the McLaren aero complaints.

The topic of US F1 can't be avoided any longer, if only because this may be the last time we get to talk about them. Anderson and Windsor appear to be to blame for the sinking of the ship, and with no Stefan GP either, we're looking at a slightly smaller grid. We discuss Campos' new change of name and image, although we don't particularly like it, and we briefly look at Hamilton's new openness now he's out from his father's management.

Feedback

Loads of feedback including: Jonathan sends me a picture of a marmot, Steven wants to know what LOST podcasts we listen to, Toastboy bets on Jenson, Iain looks into his crystal ball, Lisa's spotted a problem with Zencast, John has a Zune, Andy is being volunteered to get involved, Pete says a quick hello, and Simon is travelling the world.

Housekeeping

Bassano leads us in to a brief discussion about the excellent evening out with Joe, plus we plug the competition. All of Sidepodcast is now live so you never have to refresh again. We do a quick reminder about the show notes, plug a couple of fantasy F1 type things, and say goodbye until next week.

Outtakes

Those Fantasy Racers Roll Call sections were a little bit tricky. We knew there would be outtakes galore, but we didn't know there would be six minutes worth! Here they are in two parts.

Part 1:

Part 2:

Linkage

• ScarbsF1's blog
• Viva F1: Testing
• NY Times: Testing Ends in Jerez, as Bigger Tests Continue for US F1
• Who Are You, Anyway? : Calling Planet Anderson...
• F1 Pulse: Bernie Always Has an Agenda When he Speaks
• The (not so) fast lane: Most Hair-Raising Season Ever?
• Marmot photo from Jonathan
• Media. Future. Change. : A Conversation with Leo and Mr C
• Sidepodcast: Win a Signed Copy of The Grand Prix Saboteurs
• Fantasy Formula One

Jenson Button in Sandwich

We heard Jenson Button would be teaming up with Walkers Crisps to film some adverts, and the tabloids have been full of sneak peeks at Jenson in a tailor-made cab. I even referenced one particular picture for Christine's Rankings this week - marking JB down for the corny cab name.

With perfect timing, Walkers posted the first video to their YouTube channel.

Initial thoughts range from amusement at watching Button in action, confusion over the lack of Walkers branding, and bemusement over McLaren's use of taxis in a viral F1 video yet again. Are marketing departments that unoriginal?

Let us know what you think of the ad, of cabbie Jenson, and if it makes you hungry for a potato chip or two and thanks to Maverick for the heads-up.

Chandhok Makes His Christine's Rankings Debut

It's been a busy week in Formula 1, with the demise of US F1 and the rise of HRT F1. Terrible name, interesting driver pairing. Bruno Senna and Karun Chandhok were both present for the launch and some interesting tweeting occurred.

Elsewhere, there is movement upwards for Webber and Glock, whilst the McLaren boys finally get some points on the board - not all good though. I know plenty of people have been keen to see Hamilton and Button drop the 'N/A' status, and this is their week.

Notes:

1. If it's good enough for Senna, it's good enough for Timo: gaming and fitness collide.
2. A Lap of Bahrain with Mark Webber
3. It's not a great pic but I like it anyway: http://twitpic.com/16kpv1

This time next week we will have seen the first race of the season, so expect plenty of driver movements. If you spot anything I should include on the list then please let me know in the usual ways! I'm always open to suggestions.

Daily: 8th March 2010

Ah, Monday again, but there's no chance to be miserable this week as it's the return of F1 and that can only be a good thing! Yesterday, Mr C got caught up watching Montoya doing some NASCAR thing, and threatened to watch more during the year. Thank goodness F1 is coming back. Here are some of the things we're talking about:

• As ever, don't forget to check out Jackie's fabulous Something For the Weekend series. Although it's not technically the weekend anymore, it's always worth browsing through the links on there, as they always select the best stuff over on Viva F1. I should also do a quick shout out for the quiz-formerly-known-as Pitlane Fanatic. It's returning in a new VivaF1 shape, so stay tuned to Viva F1.
• I'm offering up a quick shout out on behalf of Mr C to Vanquish's blog. There are some fabulous stories on there, with the last one being all about Sir Stirling Moss. The entries are quite long, so you need to grab a cup of tea and a biscuit, settle down and get reading.
• On a self-promoting tangent, I posted an unusual item on Media Future Change yesterday. Mr C and I had been having a conversation, but he was too busy to turn it into a blog post so instead I recorded his words and turned them into a transcript. At some point he will be appearing on the podcast with me, but for now, it's a great way to be a fly on the wall as we discuss media future changey type things. I like the way it's turned out, let me know what you think!

That should do it for now. With the weekend over, it's time to focus fully on the countdown to Free Practice on Friday. Let me know how you're passing the time, and I will see you in the comments.

Daily: 7th March 2010

My calendar tells me that it is Neil Denham's birthday today, so happy birthday to Neil. I hope you're celebrating it appropriately - cake and presents. Here at Sidepodcast Towers, it is the calm before the storm. Or maybe the storm before the storm. We are scurrying around making sure everything is ready for the season to begin. We're getting there. Anyway, here are some links for you:

• I was a little bit told off yesterday for not featuring the Mexico rally in either of my daily posts so far. The rally has been going on since Friday, and I'm now giving it a well-deserved shout out. Kimi has been struggling, I think, although I must admit I've not been following it as well as I should. I know Mr C is rooting for Kimi as he has him in his Fantasy Racers team.
• Meanwhile, if you are gearing up for the season ahead then it's worthwhile reading Jake Humphrey's post. He is super excited for the racing to get going, although he seems to be a bit at odds with himself. Sometimes he's saying he misses F1 so much, and in the next sentence saying it's five minutes since he was in Abu Dhabi. Well, Jake, it will be five minutes and you'll be in Bahrain. Woo!
• Finally, I didn't mention this yesterday, as there's no way I would have remembered such a thing, but it was the anniversary of the creation of Brawn GP. Lou has written a fabulous post about the event and why we should recognise it, and I am just sorry I missed out on putting this in the correct daily!

Anyway, that will do it for now. We're back to our regular size daily for today. I will see you in the comments.