Sidepodcast

We're About to Get Jealous

On this week's debrief episode, I gave a quick shout out to Alex Snell who has just embarked on the dream. He is going to every single Grand Prix this year, travelling to each country, and following the F1 circus as it meanders about the globe.

The man himself introduces the prospect on his travel blog:

I'm an ordinary guy who happens to be a big F1 fan. This year though, I won't be watching the Grand Prix from the well-worn comfort of my lazy-boy. Nope, I'll be at the circuit. In fact I'll be at all of the circuits, for every race, for every session, and for every lap.

You're envious already, aren't you?

Alex is documenting his travels via Twitter, and using the travel blog site Get Jealous, where you can find photos, journal entries and a map. From the entry prior to the race:

It's now the morning of the race and I'm typing this as the Asia GP2 cars scream past. Had a good start to the day, on the advice of one of the official photographers we plonked ourselves infront of the entrance by the stage, why? Because this the entrance all the teams use, we managed to see the Ferrari engineers, the guys from lotus, virgin, and RedBull - so pretty cool.

I've also managed to add the autographs of both virgin drivers, so that's 4 down and 20 to go for the full set!

Di Grassi's autograph? Yea, I am pretty jealous by now.

As I type this, Alex has just landed in Melbourne. One race down, 18 more to go. I'll be following along, will you?

Daily: 16th March 2010

Yesterday, I trusted the daily to Mr C and it was almost two hours late, so I have snatched the reigns back for Tuesday. The conversations are mostly still revolving around Bahrain and the impact of the refuelling ban, but there is a dedicated thread for that. Instead, I will point you in the direction of some completely different topics:

• It was a huge week for Christine's Rankings with loads of drivers moving up and down. Mr C commented earlier in the weekend that if Chandhok wasn't leading there would be something very wrong with the world. Thankfully, we don't have that problem!
• I posted our F1 Debrief show yesterday, and it's a good one, mostly because it features a lot of voicemails from our lovely listeners. Rather than listen to us whine about the Bahrain GP, we hear from you guys and what you think. More please.
• I stumbled across the return of Paddock Life. I love the behind the scenes peek, although of course we have such unprecedented access this year that it's not as special as it used to be. Still, there are great stories about Rubens being a bit cheeky, and the grid protest by the drivers.

That'll do it for now. Let us know how your week is going, and I will see you in the comments.

A Bumper Week for Christine's Rankings

With the return of Formula One, and the Bahrain Grand Prix, comes a mammoth week for Christine's Rankings. Drivers have been in the spotlight more than ever since our ranking system was introduced, and there was plenty to take note of.

Chandhok, in particular, has done very well. After such a difficult start to the season for the new Hispania driver, he carried himself well and went up in a lot of people's estimation. Meanwhile Kobayashi finally gets some points on the board this week.

Notes:

1. A breakdown of Chandhok's points: +2 for this funny Twitpic (spotted by Pat), +2 for the quote: "The more time they spend talking to me, the less time they have to work on the car", +2 for just wanting to keep out of everyone's way, +2 for being calm when all the odds were against him, and +2 for being generally quite awesome.
2. The picture of Webber looking at the McLaren plus a great tweet.
3. heikkikovalainen.com

It's been a fabulous week watching the drivers do what they do, and thanks to everyone who pointed things out that should be considered for the rankings. More of the same for next week, please.

Daily: 14th March 2010

It's Sunday at last and we are about to embark on our first Grand Prix of 2010. It's pretty exciting, and not just because the Factbyte Factbox will be making it's race debut. It was an exciting if hectic experience covering qualifying, so let's see what we can achieve over a full race distance! Anyway, here are some other things we're talking about:

• With extra teams on the grid, it looks as though the FIA have had to change parc ferme quite considerably. Adam Cooper has a good insight into the F1 spy cameras that are now overlooking the cars. We thought maybe it was a little bit Big Brother.
• Will Buxton has some thoughts on the new section of the track, particularly pointing out that: "Quite apart from the fact that there simply isn’t enough track length between corners to allow anyone to have a decent stab at a passing move, the track width is so slim that you can barely fit two cars side by side." Bahrain Fail?
• As a sort of final word on the McLaren vent, Scarbs F1 has a great explanation of how it works. I was still a bit confused but as it happens, it doesn't seem to be as important now that the McLarens didn't qualify that far up the grid anyway.

That's all for now. I hope everyone enjoys the race, and as always, I'll see you in the comments.

Daily: 13th March 2010

Well, did you see any of the action yesterday? Even if you weren't enamoured with what was actually happening out on track (not all that much, if we're honest), it was still good to see the cars again. Yes, I said that, even though I still think they are really bad looking. Today is qualifying day, the best day of the weekend. Bring it on! Meanwhile, here's what we're talking about:

• A quick link, via Joe, to GP Guide. It's essentially a big database of statistics, more than you could ever dream of needing, and they're presented in an easy to use format and free! GP Guide is normally published as a book, but this site has it all.
• The Factbyte Factbox had a fabulous launch yesterday with two successful Free Practice sessions completed. We're not sure whether we're going to be doing this for all Friday's, but we certainly intend to cover the weekends. The ability to have the highlight posts really makes it for me - check out Free Practice 1 and Free Practice 2 if you missed any of the day's running.
• As a celebration of the return of Formula One, and really because we just couldn't decide which photo to use, we decided to do an F1 Big Picture special. Instead of one, you get ten photos, with moments throughout the sessions on Friday. We like to think there's something for everyone.

That should do it for now. I don't know about anyone else, but I am exhausted after just one day. Goodness knows what we'll be like on Sunday! I will see you in the comments.

Daily: 12th March 2010

It's Friday and at long last the 2010 Season is underway. In just a few short hours we will be up again, ready to watch Free Practice 1 and from then on, it's all about the racing. Well, hopefully. There's lots of good stuff and many threads to come today, so keep your eyes peeled so you don't miss a thing.

• Jake has written another great blog post, this time talking about time spent with some of the drivers ahead of the weekend's action. I particularly find the Schumacher/Rosberg stuff fascinating because we've seen visual evidence of their distaste for each other now, and... it's scary stuff!
• It's the last day to change your Fantasy Racers teams and whilst there will be a reminder post along later, I thought it was worth mentioning now. Particularly as I want to give a shout out for Pat's fabulous post about the different prediction and fantasy F1 games that are available at the moment. I had no idea there were so many!
• All that stuff about McLaren's rear wing is coming to a head now the teams have gathered together, and there is plenty of discussion about the silver car's extra hole. Scarbs has the detail (for Mr C), whilst Autosport put it into English (for me). Ahh, controversy. Is it November yet?
• In self-promotion news, Mr C wrote a great introduction to the Force India podcast which makes a triumphant return for 2010. More audio from teams is greatly appreciated. The man also posted a breakout regarding Renault's new sponsor, and he actually managed to create a picture with no red in it. Woohoo!

That'll do it for now. I know you're excited already, so instead, why not tell me how and where you are watching Free Practice, if you are. I'll see you in the comments.

Daily: 11th March 2010

Hello and welcome to horrible Thursday. However, I believe this one won't be as bad as others we have experienced recently, as we are all focused on the goings on in Bahrain. We were super busy yesterday and we're going headfirst into the weekend in a similar fashion. Meanwhile, here are some things we're talking about:

• I was catching up on some blog feeds yesterday and discovered this excellent post from RG, discussing people in Formula One, and motorsport generally, in the north of England. I liked the post, even if it does appear that RG forgot all about Rob Smedley. Humph!
• Mr C's favourite blogger ScarbsF1 has a Bahrain Preview post up which goes into a bit more detail about the McLaren rear wing issue. We're expecting the FIA to inspect the part and make a decision in Bahrain, which is leaving it a bit late if you ask me.
• We posted plenty of fab things here on Sidepodcast yesterday, including your Bahrain Race Information. This tells you important facts and figures about the race, and highlights the TV and podcast schedule. The F1 Digest Preview was posted, and Mr C had a quick look at some of the new websites from teams.
• Also, for everyone who has been curious about the Joe Saward competition - it is now closed, but we have not yet picked a winner. We will do so as soon as we can, and let you know via the blog. If there's no post, it's because we haven't got our winner yet!

That should do it for now. Let's all keep our fingers crossed that Thursday goes okay, and I will see you in the comments.

F1 Digest 2010 Season Preview - The Calendar

• Length: 16:35 
• Size: 15.2 MB 
• File: digest147.mp3 
• Transcript: digest147.pdf 
• Torrent: digest147.torrent 

This third episode of the 2010 Season Preview takes a closer look at the calendar, whisking you on a whirlwind tour around the globe to find out which circuits are going to present a challenge, and which we could live without.

The Calendar

We begin in Bahrain, which is a change from last year's season opener in Australia. Will the dusty circuit be able to provide a chaotic start to the year or will it be less than enthusiastic? Canada is back on the calendar this year, a supremely popular decision by Bernie, and we also have a brand new circuit to ogle in Korea.

Another change sees the European race move up the calendar quite a lot, whilst Abu Dhabi remains the season finale - clearly they learnt nothing from 2009.

Daily: 24th February 2010

Today is Pedro de la Rosa's birthday, and the Spaniard is turning 39. Hopefully he won't be celebrating too hard and will instead be preparing for the upcoming test in Barcelona. It kicks off on Thursday, so he has a couple of days to eat cake, I suppose. Meanwhile, here are a couple of the things we're talking about:

• Ahead of Joe's meetup in London on Friday, we've got a competition for you! We're giving away a signed copy of The Grand Prix Saboteurs, and there's just a simple question (and a little luck) standing between you and it. You've got a couple of weeks to enter as well, but do it now before you forget!
• F1 Big Picture was updated yesterday with a couple of great photos. I am particularly partial to this one, as I do like the shadows, plus it's good to see Alonso and Webber side by side. Let's hope we can get some overtaking action in the races as well as in testing.
• Kubica has been talking about the Renault and it looks like he's hoping they have some upgrades before the racing gets underway in Bahrain. He's also keen to point out that there won't be a number on in his team, which I find odd because a) who cares? and b) he then goes on to admit that Petrov hasn't driven in F1 so he would still be learning. Bless teams and drivers always keen to show there's no favouritism.

That should do it for now. Let us know how your week is going, and I will see you in the comments.

Daily: 26th January 2010

The 26th January is apparently Australia Day, so celebrations all round for the Australian members of the Sidepodcommunity. Meanwhile, we are officially into the F1 pre-season, now the launches have begun, so we are talking about lots of things! Here are just a few of them:

• Mercedes launched their new livery yesterday, with the car due to be revealed at the first test next month. We covered as much as we could in the breakout thread, and the new livery also made yesterday's F1 Big Picture - this is the best version we could find, it looks almost acceptable in this one.
• It was interesting to note that the Bahrain circuit have made changes to their circuit ahead of the season opener in March. They've added an extra loop to the track which extends the length of a lap, and is supposed to add overtaking opportunities. This will remain to be seen, I suppose.
• The points system could be about to change as it looks like the team have agreed yet another system. The win would still be worth 25 points, but second place is slightly less, and the rest appear to be more evenly spread. It seems to encourage a win more and more, but you'd be less inclined to mess about for the other places. That's not the desired intention, though, is it?
• We have completed another new sub-page of Sidepodcast, with tons and tons of information about Twitter. Who you need to be following, and who is tweeting from the world of Formula 1, is all listed in easy to view format. Keep up to date, and get tweeting!

That should do it for now, we've got a moment of calm before more launches later this week, so let us know what you're up to, and I'll see you in the comments.