Sidepodcast

Daily: 14th February 2010

Today is Saint Valentine's Day, which is traditionally a time for celebrating love and stuff. As the Sidepodcast Daily Post is well into its second year, it means last years random act of kindness has come back to haunt me in the shape of "an annual tradition". So here I am writing another one.

According to the official Sidepodcast Calendar, today is also Milkybar Day. A day when I offer the gift of Milkybar in place of anything requiring much more thought, effort or expense. I'm a nice guy like that.

While I nip out to buy one, here are some things that have caught my eye this weekend.

• Yesterday we spent the evening watching the very lovely Danica Patrick take part in her first NASCAR Nationwide Cup race. Unfortunately the poor girl managed just 69 laps before getting caught up in another racing incident ahead of her, and that saw the end of her day's running. It also marked the end of our interest in the race. Did I mention how lovely she is?
• In Jerez on Saturday afternoon, Claire Williams said goodbye to the Twitter masses, as she boarded a plane for England. Boo for less tweeting next week, but at least she'll be able to poke the people running the teams website into action. Did I mention how lovely she is?
• Jenson Button's girlfriend Jessica Michibata appears to be dropping our favourite World Champion a hint or three with this tweet yesterday. She points out that "a guy has to ask a girl what she wants and be willing to give it to her". Clearly Jessica's got her sights set on a Milkybar too. Did I mention how lovely she is?

I think tradition states at this point in the daily post, I say I'll see you in the comments. Unless there was anything else?

I guess I should mention Christine too.

Of course, I cannot pass up the opportunity to show my love for Ms. Christine Blachford. I get to spend heaps of my free time, day in day out, working closely with her on all sorts of fun projects, including this one, and she is a fantastic girl to be around. I cannot imagine writing or recording or working on things alone ever again, because everything we do and have done for the past three (and a bit) years has been a joint effort in every way and the results really do speak for themselves.

Everything that Sidepodcast has become is a direct result of Christine's amazing personality, she is gorgeous, and fabulous and brilliant all at once, and I really hope she understands that nothing I buy her today can show just how important she is to me - so a 49p chocolate bar will just have to do. I still have no idea why she agreed to marry me, but I'm so very glad she did. Did I mention how lovely she is?

Happy Milkybar Day, Christine x

When is a Team Not a Team?

Yet another story emerged yesterday about a potential new team for Formula 1 and we all sighed just a little bit. Bassano raised a good point in the comments, suggesting that perhaps if he said he'd like to start an F1 team, that would also hit the headlines.

Naturally, Aguri Suzuki's past in F1, and the fact that he dramatically swore off the sport when he left in 2008, have made this a topic worth discussing, but the initial quote that sparked 1,000 articles was: "If it's physically possible I would certainly like to."

It might surprise you to know that I don't actually want to get into a discussion about the merits of creating fictional news from simple statements, but what this story did make me ponder was when we should actually start caring about a team. When do we start believing it really could happen?

The Light Bulb Moment

Just recently, a plethora of names have emerged suggesting they'd like to (re-)enter F1. Lola, Prodrive, USGPE, these are all companies who are supposedly considering snapping up a spot on the grid. GP2 teams might make the jump if the budget caps are right, and Super Aguri are going to make a glorious return and prove us all wrong. Or are they?

When a team owner/former F1 personality/rich person suggests that F1 might be fun, that doesn't seem to be the right time to sign up to the mailing list and purchase a baseball cap from the merchandise store. However, if Bassano says he's going to enter F1, then I whole-heartedly believe him.

I Can Draw Too

USGPE started out with just a name and a logo. The name changed, of course, but the logo seems to have stuck. They also are planning buildings, recruiting staff and designing cars. The talk of funding has been a little bit quiet, but perhaps that is because it doesn't need discussing. Donington wouldn't shut up about their capital plans and that hasn't worked out so well, just yet.

Perhaps it is different with Peter Windsor's team though. They are being created specifically for a Formula 1 entry, and thus you can tell the intent is genuine. What about Prodrive, where Dave Richards has plenty of other interests to keep him occupied? Will he just rock up one day and say the time is right? Or will we see the gradual progression of logo and car and sponsors?

Sign Me Up

For me, a team becomes real when it has an F1 entry secured and is testing out drivers. None of this: "we'd love to get Danica in the car." I want to see helmets on, laps completed, contracts signed. The FIA are increasing the number of teams to 13 next year, so they clearly believe interest is going to be raised. As yet, I haven't got as much faith as Mr Mosley. This month, the teams have to sign up if they want to get involved, and I can't believe that any of the names we have heard so far are ready to jump on board the F1 bus and get going. F1 is a sport of looking far into the future (although recent regulation changes would have you believe otherwise) and this just feels like too short notice.

Perhaps even being on the grid isn't enough though. Super Aguri's future was never really secure, even when they were trailing each Grand Prix. Maybe we should look to teams to start winning before we begin to put any faith in them sticking around. The unexpected will always happen, but once a team gets a taste of the champagne, it must make them more keen to stick around.

How do you feel about new team rumours? Any of them particularly grab your attention? Do you think Prodrive (or Aston Martin as they may be called) would be ready to sign on the dotted line? Are USGPE's car designs going as well as their logos? When should we really start to put our necks on the line and switch allegiance to a new team?

USF1 Interested in Danica Patrick

This article was originally written for BellaOnline, but is republished here for posterity.

With the new USF1 team gathering steam, talk has turned to who they would possibly sign up to drive for them, if and when they hit the grid. Co-founder Ken Anderson has said he wants the team to have American drivers, and all the discussion at the moment revolves around Danica Patrick.

The IRL driver is currently one of the top female racing drivers in motorsport, and is the only woman to have won an IndyCar race, which she did so in 2008. Patrick does court controversy though, as she isn't afraid of using her good looks to attract media attention. She is a regular in the Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition, and has modelled for several magazines in a similar fashion.

The controversy comes over whether she is good enough to drive in F1. There is no doubt that she has talent, and winning a race certainly boosted her career, and opinions of it. However, the statistics do seem to show a tend to do better on oval racing rather than circuit racing, such as would be required in F1. There's nothing to say she couldn't do it, but as yet, we don't know.

When the USF1 team expressed an interest in Danica, they did so by suggesting she creates a lot of media hype. This isn't exactly a testament to her driving skills, but even so, it could be just what the sport needs. Bernie Ecclestone has done his best to strip F1 away from North America, so creating a stir with a new F1 team and the first female driver for over a decade would be a real boost.

Patrick was scheduled to have a test drive for the Honda team at the end of 2008, but that was scrapped when they withdrew from the sport. As of now, she says she hasn't been approached by USF1, but is extremely flattered by any rumours linking her to Formula 1. She has said that she's not necessarily interested in travelling the world, though, and a global sport like F1 needs someone willing to travel and enjoy the spectacle in all the different countries that they visit.

Personally, I think it's too early to tell whether Danica would be a good fit in the car or not. It would be great for there to be a female F1 driver, but she shouldn't be there for that reason alone. Perhaps once we have seen a couple of tests, we'll know more.

Daily: 17th February 2009

So far, we have all the signs of a slow news week, but as it is only Tuesday, things could soon pick up. Most of the stories we heard yesterday were speculation and rumour - but when has that ever stopped us?

• USF1 suggested they would love to test Danica if she was interested, mostly because she generates a lot of press. Okay, that's not the biggest compliment in the world, but if she were to line up on the grid - how competitive would she be? Who would she be on a level with, and would she be able to win?
• The Honda rumours continue apace, with first Petrobras coming out to dismiss the Senna backed contemplation, and then Grandprix.com suggesting that Richard Branson would be bringing his Virgin brand into the mix. As of yet, we know nothing concrete, and I know there are many getting frustrated with the lack of actual news.
• Meanwhile, the confirmation from ING that they will be pulling out from F1 completely at the end of this year has cast doubt over Renault's future. Briatore says the cost cutting measures will keep the team in the sport for a few years yet, and Bob Bell has predicted a good, strong few races to start this season off with. If they win, things should be fine, but if the start of the year is anything like 2008 - the bosses won't be happy, will they?

That'll do for now. There'll be some testing updates from Bahrain, no doubt, although I have to admit it's not quite as exciting now they're actually getting some running in. Nevertheless, I will see you in the comments.

It's Hard to Get by Just Upon a Smile

I've had quite a bad day over here at Sidepodcast Towers, and in order to release some of the tension, I'm gonna pick on a couple of news stories that have wound me up today.

More Stories From Nothing

As ever, Autosport has managed to extract as much as possible out of a single situation to make as many stories as possible. In this case, Hamilton's reaction to questions about whether he's expecting a bad reception in Spain.

Hamilton: "No."

Autosport: "That's all we needed to know."

Wonders Will Never Cease

Danica Patrick won a race last weekend, which is brilliant for her, for motorsport, for womankind, etc, etc. But apparently, the BBC think she may not be worthy of a namecheck.

Woman.

A woman did it.

I'm assuming they thought writing Patrick would lead readers to think it was a man, and they'd be less inclined to click. So they chose woman.

I Thought of it First

Flavio is getting married between the Canadian and the French GP.

I just want it noted that Sidepodcast was planning their wedding between races before Briatore had even thought about it.

Thanks for listening. I feel better now.