Sidepodcast

Live: Jerez Testing - Day Three (February 2010)

It may be the last day of the working week in Europe, but the F1 teams in Jerez are just getting into their stride. Yesterday saw a decent number of laps from the majority of the participants, and we'll be hoping for more of the same today, as it's all change on the driver front.

Vettel will get his his first taste of the RB6, Hamilton and Massa return to pick up from their teammates progress, while Sutil will take control of the VJM03 for the first time. Spare a thought though for Virgin Racing, who are experiencing a torrid first test. They're hoping that new parts will see di Grassi take to track in the afternoon.

On track action begins at 9am CET (8am GMT).

Circuit Information

• Track length: 4.428km
• Corners: 13
• Lap record: 1:23.135 (Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Williams, 1997)

You'll find Circuito de Jerez located in South of Spain.

Drivers and Teams Attending

The following teams and drivers are confirmed for testing on Wednesday

Useful Links

• Official Circuit Homepage
• Autosport Live
• F1 Today
• Motor 21
• The F1.com

News and photo updates will be posted throughout the day.

Almost A Busman's Holiday

It seems as though quite a lot of the Sidepodcommunity are taking advantage of the summer break and heading away from home for their holidays. It doesn't always work out quite so well though, and a mistimed break can mean watching a Grand Prix away from home. Sometimes this can be a blessing, as we've already heard from RG. He's jetting off, whilst the European GP takes place, and he said:

Last year they showed the qualifying and race at the poolside bar.

Jon also has a good memory from a few years back:

I think it was the Turkish GP, I was sitting at an open air bar, whilst 50 metres away from the Imola track. Pure bliss.

Bassano went big with his take on watching F1 from afar:

Brazil '06 from an Irish Bar in Hanoi

What a place that was!

This sounds good. I haven't watched a race from anywhere exotic. My house, my parents house, or my in-laws, that's about as exciting as it gets. I once tuned in to radio commentary because we were traveling. The stories I could tell you.

Seriously though, especially as we have Sidepodcast now, I am usually found taking copious notes and, of course, podcasting throughout the weekend. Therefore, I would very much like to live vicariously through you.

Have you watched a race from anywhere exciting? Do you have stories of watching from your holidays? How do those you are holidaying with react to you needing a TV nearby? Or perhaps you have decided to record the race and watch it when you get back. How on earth do you manage to stay news-free?

If you've already mentioned a location previously, don't be afraid to repeat it here too.

F1 Digest - Belgium Preview

• Length: 8:03 
• Size: 7.4 MB 
• File: digest49.mp3 
• Transcript: digest49.pdf 
• Torrent: digest49.torrent 

One of the most highly rated circuits on the calendar means we must be at Spa for the Belgian Grand Prix. With many teams counting on rain, we preview what the drivers are thinking ahead of the weekend.

Vital Statistics

• Date: 7th September
• Circuit: Spa-Francorchamps
• Length: 7.0km
• Laps: 44
• 2007 Winner: Kimi Raikkonen

Preview

The Eau Rouge corner, the fact that the track can be raining at one point and bone dry at another, the Bus Stop and the greenery of the forests. All of these are reasons why we love Spa, and the drivers feel the same. Except tester Alex Wurz, who's a bit of a downer on the eve of what should be a great weekend.

Valencia Street Circuit Review

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

The Valencian street circuit was announced with a couple of beautiful press shots, and we all remembered the spectacular show when McLaren launched their 2007 challenger there.

Unfortunately, having rushed to put the track together in about nine months, the circuit itself didn't exactly live up to expectations.

The Pros
Obviously the organisers know what they're doing, having put on a strong first event with no serious trouble. There were a couple of security worries, some track invaders the main threat, but everything was handled smoothly. The race itself, whilst not particularly good in terms of overtaking, provided it's own interest. The pit lane was the source of most of the excitement, which, whilst not ideal, at least added to the race weekend.

The track is quite unique in terms of the 2008 calendar. It's too early to say whether the racing there is dull, it was this year, but who's to say next year will be the same? There are over 20 corners, which means the drivers took a while to learn the track, but once they know what they're doing, maybe there will be even more competitive racing.

The Cons
Sadly for this race weeked, the cons strongly outweigh the pros. The track was dull to look at, mostly a lot of catch-fencing, concrete, and tarmac run off areas. The racing wasn't very good, with a wide field spread meaning overtaking was almost impossible. Whether this is the fault of the track is impossible to say.

As mentioned above, the pit lane was the source of most of the excitement, but that really is because it is too narrow. We had a driver penalised for almost missing the entrance, and another for racing side by side with a rival team. The pit lane was so narrow that both of these usually acceptable things became an issue.

Although I have weighed up the good and bad points of the track here, it is still too early to come up with a definitive review of the circuit. Next year they will have had time to put the finishing touches on everything, and that will be the real test.

The FIA and Inconsistencies

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

There were three very high profile fines handed out at the European Grand Prix. At a brand new track, it's unfortunate that most of the attention was on the sanctions given by the FIA rather than the racing, but that's the way the weekend seemed to go.

Lewis Hamilton started the ball rolling by turning up two minutes late to the Thursday Press Conference, and he received a 5,000 Euro fine. The FIA take their press conferences very seriously, and Kimi Raikkonen has also been fined this year for the same offence.

In Free Practice, the drivers were busy learning the track, and Fernando Alonso took a very late decision to enter the pit lane. He cut across the white line that a driver needs to stay to one side of, to indicate his intention of entering the pit lane. The FIA fined him 10,000 Euros and he received a reprimand. This is unusual, because although the rule is clearly there, we haven't seen a driver penalised for such an action for a long time. I've been watching for about four years now and I don't think I've ever seen it.

The final incident came in the race itself. Felipe Massa was released from his pit stop into the path of an oncoming car, which was deemed to be unsafe. The stewards announced they were investigating the incident straight away. Curiously, they then announced that they would decide the result after the race has finished. There doesn't seem to be any reason for this, and I don't believe this has happened before either. It's normal for a driver to receive a stop/go penalty, or a drive through, but this meant Massa's win was hanging under a shadow the entire race.

When they did announce the result - a reprimand for Ferrari and yet another fine - there was understandable relief that the winner got to keep his victory. But we really need to start questioning these decisions. This year alone I have seen at least two similar incidents, where a driver is released into the path of another car, and they have gone unnoticed.

It seems the FIA have suddenly tightened up on the rules, and I'm curious why they have done so now, and if they intend to carry on. Perhaps it was just for the one race, hoping to make Valencia a serious racing event. It remains to be seen if they will start to be consistent or if we will see more rules emerging as the season progresses.

Episode 74 - You're Not Supposed to be Here, I Haven't Changed Alonso

• Length: 50:23 
• Size: 44.9 MB 
• File: episode74.mp3 
• Enhanced: episode74.m4a 
• Transcript: episode74.pdf 
• Torrent: episode74.torrent 

It's no secret that Valencia wasn't what we were hoping for, and yet it still seems to have created the talking point of the season.

Intro

I said it would never happen, but we go live once again.

Good Week / Bad Week

Good week for safety and for returning to the sporting action, but a bad week for thefts and for Force India's morale.

Qualifying

Renault are still circling way too slowly for our liking, and it's not as though they were taking in the scenery. Did Ferrari get to choose which end of the pitlane they were at? Also what is up with Valencian security, because there was litter and a man or two on the track. Oh, and Trulli was awesome.

The Race

It all comes down to Ferrari really, as they dominated for pit lane reasons. You can hear our thoughts on the subject, and then an interview with Alex Andronov where he shares his own ideas on the subject. We also do a quick Fantasy Racers update.

Feedback

What TV coverage is like in Australia, plus plenty of emails. Adam tells us to give Bruno Senna a chance, Piotr shares some pictures from his time at the Ferrari Gallery, Keith the Marshall lets us know his plans for the future, and Leah finds F1 fascinating for understandable reasons.

Housekeeping

Just a quick mention of the charts and graphs available on Google Docs.

Linkage

• Brad Spurgeon - Robbery in Valencia
• Ed Gorman - Something Missing
• Tensions at Force India
• Fantasy Racers
• drop.io/sidepodcast
• sofaf1.com
• Piotr's Pics
• 2008 Season

F1 2008, Round 12 - Europe

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

The European Grand Prix has been anticipated for a few months now, due to it's location at the brand new Valencia street circuit. McLaren launched their car last year in the area and it was a spectacular sight to behold, and that kick-started the excitement over this new track.

The early free practice sessions seemed to live up to the hype. Although the track was quite grey and industrial compared to the picturesque locations we are used to, the unknown quantity was providing quite a lot of entertainment. Plenty of drivers were making maximum use of the run-off areas, and the end of day timesheets were very mixed up. In particular, the Toro Rosso team seemed to have an early head start on everyone else, with Vettel doing particularly well.

In the end, qualifying turned out to be the same as usual, with Massa grabbing pole position and Hamilton lining up behind him. Again, the Toro Rosso boys showed particularly well, with both getting through to the last session of qualifying - their best ever grid positions. Also doing well was Trulli in the Toyota, who had limited running in practice due to gearbox issues, and had to use his team mate car setup, but still managed to qualify in the top 10.

The race itself wasn't as exciting as others we have seen this year. There was very little overtaking, and not much to talk about in terms of strategy either. Some teams were particularly paranoid about the appearance of a safety car, but it never occurred. There were only a few incidents to speak of.

On the first lap, Nakajima crashed into the back of local favourite Alonso. They both pitted, but the Williams was able to continue, whilst Alonso retired. The fans weren't impressed. About halfway through the race, Massa was released into the path of Sutil, and the team received a reprimand and a fine after the race for doing so. Then Raikkonen had a disastrous pit stop when he pulled away too early, knocking over his refuelling mechanic. The man escaped with a broken foot, but was stretchered off to the medical centre. Moments later, Raikkonen's engine blew up, and his race was over anyway.

Although they got the win with Massa, and beat Hamilton to the top step of the podium, it wasn't a good race for Ferrari in terms of organisation and appearance.

Missing a Trick

There's been much consternation on this site and elsewhere around the web, relating to the various merits of the latest addition to the Formula 1 calendar. A couple of criticisms levelled at the Valencian street circuit is that it featured way to much concrete, didn't produce particularly close racing and was nothing but a let down after all the pre-race hype built around the event.

However, it wasn't until I read today's race round-up from Axis of Oversteer that I realised where Bernie and the organisers had gone wrong.

Back when McLaren were after a sensational launch platform for their 2007 challenger, they chose the city of Valencia as the place to do it, and specifically the area known as Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències. With it's stunning architecture and liquid landscapes the region provided a unique backdrop for the launch. Toyota also found a use for the area when they ran their cars around the white concrete streets earlier this year.

Sadly, when Bernie decided he wanted a race in the very same city, he chose the dockyard.

It just doesn't have the same appeal does it?

I understand the reasoning behind such a decision, not least that it may not even be possible to run a race around the City of Arts and Sciences, but I can't help feeling an opportunity was missed somewhere between the conception of this project and its realisation.

A 25 turn race track, situated on the coast of the Mediterranean should have been enough to make for a fantastic weekend of racing. Instead we got a view reminiscent of shipyards on the Tyne and a 100 minute procession that felt like the Hungarian GP we were expecting three weeks ago.

F1 Digest - Europe GP

• Length: 9:40 
• Size: 8.9 MB 
• File: digest48.mp3 
• Transcript: digest48.pdf 
• Torrent: digest48.torrent 

Race day in Valencia finally took place then after weeks of anticipation. Unfortunately it didn't live up to the hype and was marred by controversy rather than action. F1 Digest presents a full round up of events.

The Race

We were probably expecting too much, and as the field got further and further apart, it didn't look like it was going to deliver. In the end, it was a couple of retirements and some pit lane incidents that caused the excitement.

Conclusions

Only a couple of drivers had a good day, Vettel and Massa in particular. Most people were frustrated with their performance, thinking things could have gone better, and everyone is looking forward to Spa.

Live Commenting: Europe - The Race

Welcome to the inaugural race day for the Valencian street circuit. Things look to be a little brighter today in terms of the weather, with no rain expected for the afternoon, although there were some showers overnight. This will have cleaned the track of rubber somewhat, but with a couple of support races taking place before the race, it remains to be seen how this will affect our drivers.

Talking of support series, the GP2 feature race yesterday held some clues as to what to expect as soon as the lights go out. For reasons best known to himself, Mr. Whiting has decided to switch over the pole positions at the last minute. I believe it was announced just before qualifying, after the practice sessions had been observed. For the GP2 event, the pole sitter simply lined up one place back on the grid, followed by the rest of the field. At least they didn't have to have the whole place repainted!

Off the grid, the 3rd and 5th place GP2-ers got past their counterparts in 2nd and 4th, meaning that the dirty side of the grid is a real hindrance here just like Hungary. For Hamilton and Raikkonen this is not the place to be, and the start is going to be crucial.

As has been mentioned previously, a lot of teams have been tweaking their strategy to include the possibility of a safety car. In fact, some teams are positively hoping for it so they can make the most of a difficult afternoon. If there is a safety car, it's likely going to be a long one, as aside from the massive run off areas, there seems to be little room for manoeuvre around the extensive circuit.

Here are some links that might be useful:

• Official live timing
• ITV video feed (UK)
• Radio 5Live

More links available on the F1 on the Internet page.

Please let us know where you are, how you're watching, and what your predictions are, and don't forget to make full use of the Live Commenting Live... Thing.