This daily post is slightly late as I was caught up watching the Red Bull Crashed Ice final. We also live commented it, along with the 12 Hours of Sebring. You know, we are an F1 site, honest. It's Sunday, and with no racing this weekend, it seems like a pretty quiet time in terms of F1 news. Nevertheless, here are some of the things we're talking about:
Preview quotes for the Australian GP are starting to appear already, and the Hispania ones are very sweet. The team are simply aiming for one car to get to the finish, not even both. That is probably the least ambitious thing we have heard all year. It's completely fitting though, and I appreciate the team's honesty in terms of what they can achieve.
Joe has what he calls A Mish-Mash of News including discussion of Natacha Gachnang, and how the FIA will get new teams into the sport for 2011.
Ferrari allowed their three development drivers to have a go in the F2008 at Fiorano during a test session on Friday. Apparently there will be five such tests available for the young drivers and I think it's good to see Ferrari taking the approach of encouraging young talent, rather than hoping a driver who hasn't raced for ten years might be up to the job. Eh-hem.
That's all for now, I hope you're having a fabulous weekend, I know I am. As ever, I will see you in the comments.
In the midst of 2008, we took it upon ourselves to review F1 driver and team websites, searching for pages that reach out to fans, and that allow us closer inside the F1 paddock. Now almost two years on, the grid has changed significantly, as have many of the sites themselves, so we thought it was time to update our reviews.
As we go through the list, I will be approaching the sites from the point of view of a fan, looking for personality and style from our drivers. Mr C will take a more geeky approach, looking at the technical side of the various sites.
Of note, this year we've added a new metric to our reviewing process and all homepages are now tested for loading speed. We're using Safari on Snow Leopard and each page is refreshed five times with a mean average taken. All browser caching is disabled. Also new for this year, pages were tested on an iPod Touch and an Android mobile phone.
We'll be racing through the sites six at a time, in 2010 entry list order, so let us begin with the reigning world champion.
Jenson Button
Christine: Jenson's website hasn't changed enormously from two years ago - the navigation is in the same place, and the font is identical. The website was good back then, though, so it didn't need to go a huge step to improve. Jenson was one of the first F1 drivers to offer up videos from his time on the road, and he allowed lots of insight during the terrible Honda/Brawn winter crossover. Some of the flash elements are a little bit annoying but the content makes up for that. There's plenty of news and media to consume, and JB allows fans to upload their own photographs to share with others. We also know that Jenson likes to hold the occasional competition, designing his helmet for example, and that is a big plus as well.
Mr. C: The first site we look at and we're hit by the Flash problem. Jenson's site has been built using Adobe Flash, and that means neither the Touch nor the mobile are able to browse this site. Using a desktop browser, things remain larger similar to the way they were 18 months ago. Amazingly, nothing on the site yells "World Champion". There's no sign of his trophy, no mention of the WDC title anywhere in fact. The news section sadly appears to copy text from team press releases, but I do like the content contained with the "trackside" section.
The tracking statistics that adorn the right hand side of the page appeal to me. I like that it tells you the most popular day for traffic, and it's nice to know you're not alone when browsing the site. The biggest issue I have though is the mammoth load time, I just don't have the patience to wait around.
Site:http://jensonbutton.com/ Load time: 5.02 seconds Fan rating: 7 out of 10 Geek rating: 4 out of 10
Lewis Hamilton
Christine: When it first loads, there is something that smacks of an intro, which I don't really like but it doesn't last very long. The black and red looks nice, and although white text on black isn't my favourite, this isn't too garish. This is a brand new concept for the Hamilton site, compared to it's looks back in 2008, but I don't know that much has changed in terms of its direction. There is the requisite news and video sections, but none of it seems particularly personal. The video thank you messages are very staged, and quite corporate, but so far Lewis has made a career out of that, so it's not out of character.
I do like the timeline section, although I didn't find it extremely easy to navigate.
Mr. C: I like Lewis' redesign. The colour and layout work for me and I only wish he'd taken the central "LH" button further - every driver needs a logo and that's a great one. Most of the site works using a mobile phone, although a few warning messages written in blood red text make you think something really bad will happen if you don't find that Flash plugin in a hurry.
The site renders fast, and the navigation is straightforward. Of concern is just how much of the place is geared towards generating income. It seems no matter which direction you head in, there's the continual encouragement to part with your cash. From the £20 fan club membership right up the £15,000 replica helmet complete with a Steinmetz diamond encrusted #1. Essentially the site begins to feel like an extension of the McLaren e-shop rather than a place to get to know Lewis.
Christine: Back in 2008, there didn't seem much chance of Schumacher returning to the grid any time soon, but here he is and thus we have a website to review. The initial homepage is very, very simple. A photo of Michael, a signature, and some quick links to the latest news. It's not exciting, but at least it is clean and easy to use. After some further investigation, the navigation is good, there's plenty to read, and some excellent pictures as well. I like the season reviews, but there isn't much in the way of interaction with fans. Although, there are a couple of postcards to download if you are thus inclined.
Mr. C: There are very few things I hate in life more than sites that don't make proper use of screen real estate. I understand it's difficult to make content scale both vertically and horizontally at the same time, but there is never a need to do what Michael Schumacher's site does, and that is to try and squeeze everything into the smallest box available. It looks positively lost on my screen.
Credit does have to go to Schumacher though, not only for providing a multilingual site, but for providing one that works on every browser and handset I could throw at it. The only tricky moments relate to two finger scrolling inside the small boxes when using the Touch. Michael also has the fastest site we've come across so far, almost four whole seconds faster than Jenson Button's.
I do like that there's a section for Schumacher's biking adventures, and the wealth of other information shows just how many activities the man gets involved in outside of F1.
Christine: Of all the sites, Nico's is one of those that has changed the most. The last time we checked in on his page, there was some moody photographs, along with a message that Nico wasn't just a racing driver. It almost looked like he wanted to be a movie star as well. Now it seems as though the Mercedes driver has accepted his position, and although still a classy black, white and beige, the site is about being in F1. The "other side" of Nico has been relegated to at least one mouse click away.
On the main site, the font is a bit chunky and off putting, but there are links to Twitter and Facebook in easy reach. There isn't much to read other than news, but some of the items do link off to YouTube videos and items on his team site as well.
Mr. C: Here we have a site that has presumably recently undergone a redesign. Nico's homepage is chock full of social networking links and even includes direct Facebook integration, with fan images appearing on the homepage. It isn't the prettiest site in the world, but here content is king and Rosberg's "web team" provide regular, albeit brief, updates on his early season news.
The site ultimately feels unfinished. I can't for example work out what on earth the "likes" text on every post relates to, everything is equally liked in Nico's world I guess.
Additionally, the inclusion of the previous site although hidden away and rebranded as 'the other side of Nico' suggests someone isn't quite ready to accept the loss of one's concept site. The new pages do at least work on the move, even if they do take an age to load.
Christine: It bugs me that the site defaults to the news section, which is fine, except that is the second option on the navigation bar at the top. It feels like you've totally missed out on the About Me page, which is worth looking at. I did enjoy browsing through the photos of a baby Vettel in his kart. Particularly the one where he looks about the cry. Erm, what else is on there? The fan area says it is currently being updated, but there is a shop and archives to poke around in as well. My only real complaint is that if you select English as your language but accidentally click on the wrong thing, you get taken straight back to the German site. Not a major problem, but slightly annoying.
Mr. C: Seb is another driver with a logo, and I can't help but think Ayrton Senna's estate might be asking for their branding back soon. I do like the layout of pages, although you get the impression the big, bold images have been designed to hide a lack of content. A few of the links didn't work at all for me, so I've no idea what impressions Vettel had of Bahrain. More strange was the propensity of the image gallery to throw numeric alerts in my direction as if revealing some sort of code.
The site overall feels like a work in progress and no matter how hard or how often I click the "shop" link, nothing happens. On the mobile front, almost everything bar the homepage animation works as it should. At least Vettel is providing original content on his site and in multiple languages - it'll be worth keeping an eye on this one as the season develops.
Christine: MarkWebber.com has just recently undergone a redesign, and I'm relatively impressed with the results. The previous incarnation had plenty of content but was a little bit messy. Now we have a much cleaner site to contend with. The Australian has debuted a YouTube channel and has recently joined Twitter, so they both feature prominently on the homepage. I like that he has separated out on and off track news, for those that are only interested in one or the other. There aren't an enormous amount of photos to look through, and the Mark Webber Challenge is only allowed a paragraph or two. I do really like the logo though.
Mr. C: Within the first 30 seconds of using this site, I felt right at home. The layout is very straightforward and there's no sense of clutter amongst the content. A video featuring Mark in his living room, presumably filmed by his other half, adds to the homeliness of the site and instantly it's my favourite driver site thus far.
Delving deeper reveals yet more treats. Each news post allows comments, which, although not a first for an F1 driver (Nick Heidfeld offered something similar last year), is a rare occurrence and something to be encouraged in today's ever more social age.
Beyond that Mark is rating each race as the season progresses. He's given Bahrain 3 out of 5 for on track challenge and 2 out of 5 for off track entertainment. I love this idea and I'll be checking back regularly to see how the man views the 2010 season. The last thing to mention is Webber has news stories dating back to March 2008, it's wonderful that he hasn't trashed history with every redesign and I intend to go and dig through the archives at the first opportunity.
I love Mark's site to bits. It's my favourite of the day and I'm so glad we got there because things were looking predicable on the driver's front up until now. Everything on the site works well when using the iPod or the Android and even the videos play as expected. The only thing I can knock it for, is the slow initial loading speed, presumably because the server is hosted in Australia.
Site:http://www.markwebber.com/ Load time: 4.91 seconds Fan rating: 9 out of 10 Geek rating: 9 out of 10
Those are our first six reviews, we've got plenty more to come in this series. For now, though, why not tell us what you make of the driver websites we've covered so far? Who's doing the right thing and who is heading in the wrong direction?
Our long time mission at Sidepodcast is to be all about the positives, but just recently that has been hard to do. We had to bring back the F1 Happy Place to keep our heads above water after Bahrain, but thankfully it did the trick, and our faith is restored. It's time to look forward to the Australian Grand Prix, and we are sure it's going to be a good one. Here are a few reasons why.
Claire vs Liam
Claire Williams, part of the Williams F1 communications team, will be heading to Melbourne on Sunday. Claire couldn't make it to Bahrain, her boss Liam was dispatched instead. He did a good job, definitely on par with the other teams, and we spotted some 20+ mobile snaps from his direction over the course of the weekend.
We know from experience though, that Claire would have managed to post that many images per hour, so we're looking forward to seeing what comes out of Australia instead. She's heading out on Sunday, so follow Claire now if you're not doing so already.
A Redesign Required
On Friday, the FIA announced it had tightened up on the diffuser regulations (second year in a row the diffuser has been the talking point of the start of the season). McLaren and Mercedes will have to adjust the rear of their car, and Autosport speculates Renault and Force India will also take a closer look at their design.
It's likely not going to make a major difference at the head of the field, but Melbourne is far enough away that this will cause a few late nights amongst top teams. Especially if spare parts are in short supply.
Our Field Reporters
We have plenty of people on the ground this year. Amy, Paul and Alex (and hopefully Jeremy) are all set to visit Albert Park next weekend. Amy has gone so far as to buy a new phone so she can Twitpic her way through the event, and is offering to meet other Sidepodcast racegoers for breakfast each day.
It'll be just like last year, when the only Twitter access we had at the track came from Amy. Ah, good times.
An Evening with Joe
Joe is set to host his second "Evening with..." meetup. If it's anything like the first one, which we covered in great detail then everyone attending will have the best day ever.
The venue looks amazing as well - Amy went and had a good look round. Who wouldn't want to spend the evening after the race, discussing F1 with Joe, by the beach?
When Ted Talks
Mr C pointed out earlier this week that Ted Kravitz's latest blog post for the BBC actually shed a lot of light on the story of the Bahrain Grand Prix. Armed with this new knowledge, we'll be watching the Ferrari cars closely, as they got lucky with Vettel's reliability problems last race.
It seems that the Ferrari engines thirst for fuel means each driver is only able to attack right at the end of the race, when fuel loads are more equal. Qualifying well is vital for the Italian team, and anything other than a front row lockout means we should be in for a fantastic last lap showdown.
Credit: Toyota Motorsports GmbH
The New Teams
Lotus won the battle of the new teams in the first round, no question about it. I can't wait to see what happens in round two, as for me, the goings on at the back of the grid are much more interesting than what's happening at the front. Richard Branson has issued a challenge to his team - in the belief they can be fighting for the championship in a couple of years. Should he not be starting with finishing a race before he starts dreaming of titles?
Sauber too think they have a lot make up for in Australia, after their pre-season pace failed to materialise once in a competitive racing environment.
Safety in Numbers
The possibility of a safety car is much higher when you get to somewhere like Albert Park. There's usually quite a lot of chaos in Melbourne, and a safety car is a normal occurrence. We have seen at least two safety cars in the last two Australian Grand Prix, and that's what we're hoping for next weekend. One safety car, particularly if it's early on, will allow teams to pit for their mandatory stop and get it over with. If a safety car appears later on in the race, it should bunch up the field, offering drivers a sniff at a place or two.
Multiple safety cars could be even better. I just know Albert Park can deliver.
Champaaaagne Challenge
Bob Constanduros didn't get to call his usual champagne chant in Bahrain, due to the mandated rose water replacement. It's been too long since we've heard Bob's battle cry, and it's about time we heard it again. A shout of "It's the rosewater and pomegranate" simply does not a good podium ceremony make.
Only Bob can do it justice, although we did our very best to try and match him. Listen out during Sunday's podium ceremony and see how long the expert can last.
Return of the Ant
Last week we celebrated the unexpectedly great commentary from Jacques Villeneuve, but that doesn't stop us eagerly anticipating the return of Anthony Davidson to the 5live comms box. His team qualified on pole position for the 12 Hours of Sebring today, and we're following his progress right now. Here's hoping he does really well and turns up to Australia in a great mood.
If you thought Bahrain television commentary was a sedate affair, try out the duo of Croftie and Ant next weekend, and see if it transforms the way you follow F1.
That Most Important Question of All
Will Chandhok make it past the first lap?
Those are some of the reasons that we're looking forward to F1 racing next weekend, what are yours?
Last night was the Sport Relief telethon, in which recognisable names, both in sport and other fields, got together to do their bit for charity. The main challenges went to Eddie Izzard, who ran a million marathons, to the group who cycled for ages, and to Christine Bleakely who water-skiied across the channel. For us, though, the highlights came from spotting our F1 heroes taking part in all things sporting.
There are loads of videos available on the Sport Relief YouTube channel, but we've picked out a couple of our F1-related favourites.
Firstly, spot the famous faces taking part in the A Question of Sport Mystery Guest round.
Did you see that hair? I mean, really, how far does one have to go for charity? Secondly, Jenson Button reveals his true mentor.
That bloke gets everywhere. There's also the brief trailer for Sport Relief, showing Jenson on a space hopper. I want one!
It's slightly embarrassing that JB has moved on from then, and it's clear these were all filmed last year in the Brawn glory days. Nevertheless, a great effort from all involved. We also spotted Tamara Ecclestone sitting in the audience next to Eddie Jordan. I hope she took some earplugs. If you spot anything else, please let us know!
Saturday is here and the weekend has begun. We've got a week off from racing but must try and prepare for the back to back that is coming up starting with Australia next weekend. However, that is the future and now is now, and here are some things we're talking about:
It was definitely Franck Friday yesterday, as the Frenchman was confirmed at a new team for Superleague Formula. Mr C and I have barely had anything but scorn for this formula in the past but now it's the best thing since forever. They do have online broadcasting though, and the season is only 12 races long, which makes me very happy.
Given the happy news that we have another series to follow, I dutifully put all the SL events into our fabulous calendar. It's been a while since I gave the calendar a plug, so now is a good time. Did you know we do a brilliant calendar? So far, in non-F1 events, it covers rallying, the major Le Mans events and now Superleague. If there's anything missing that you'd like to see in there, please let me know, and I'll try and add it.
I'll also plug F1 Minute today, although it doesn't really need it right now. Apple made the odd decision to feature it on the iTunes homepage and in their newsletter, meaning lots and lots of new people are tuning in. Yesterday's minute focused on the FIA's attempts to tighten up the championship, whilst F1 Big Picture is all about Virgin Racing. Don't forget Tweets of the Week as well. There should be another one of those along tomorrow.
That should do it for now. We're working on some fun blog posts today, so keep your eyes peeled later on. I'll see you in the comments.
It is Friday at last, and we have reached the end of another week - almost ready to go headlong into the weekend. There's no racing this time round, but I'm sure we can find plenty to keep us amused. To get us off to a good start, here are some of the things we're talking about:
Lukeh pointed out the first in the latest series from F1.com, in which Vettel answers some probing questions. We're curious what happened in testing to get Seb so worked up, but it doesn't look like he'll be telling us any time soon.
Jim wrote us an excellent guest post discussing his first lap around the Hockenheimring. It's a good insight into how it feels to drive where the professionals have been before and still return to today.
Manipe has asked the question: how much overtaking do you want in F1? It's a topic we've touched upon many times, and particularly when there are dull races in our recent memories. There were some moves in Bahrain, but was it enough? And how far to the other extreme could we go? Don't make me mention Mr C watching NASCAR again.
Also a quick note, as spotted by RG, the future of the Italian GP seems to be on a much more secure footing than we've seen in a long while. Monza should be on the calendar until 2016!
That'll do it for now, I reckon. Just time for a quick happy birthday to Pat, who I think is off in sunny Spain at the moment. Happy birthday! Let us know what you have planned today and this weekend, and as ever, I'll see you in the comments.
Hello and welcome to Thursday. It's usually a horrid day but I'm sure today will be completely different because it is a certain Timo Glock's birthday! Happy Birthday Mr Glock. I hope that RG has bought his favourite driver a present, it seems only fair. Now you have wished Glock a happy birthday, your day is complete, but I would just like to share some of the other things we're talking about first:
Ollie has been blogging like a demon recently, and posted an interesting article about the possibility of the record books being changed this year. I hadn't really given it any thought but we have seen youngest drivers and 100th GP winners over the last few years, so I wonder what we'll find in 2010.
Over on VivaF1, Maverick has a post discussing the potential introduction of the 107% rule - how it would work and whether it would be a useful thing or not. I have never seen such a rule in practice, so I'm not sure about it, but head on over and leave your thoughts.
Finally, Lukeh has been keeping his eye on all sorts of news outlets to get information about the new F1 game, and he has collated it all here with his initial impressions. Some of the career aspects do look very interesting, but from a personal point of view, I just wish you didn't have to actually get a car round a track. It's quite impossible.
That should do it for now. I hope everyone is having an okay week so far, and as ever, I will see you in the comments.
It's Wednesday and that means we are about halfway through the week already. I had to break open the F1 Happy Place yesterday, but the good news is that it mostly worked, and I do feel a bit happier about F1. It's still rubbish, but at least there are good times to remember! Anyway, here are some other things we're talking about:
I missed this when it was posted, because it was hectic busy at Sidepodcast Towers, but I love this idea from RG, comparing the new teams in a championship all of their very own. The premise is simple - the drivers in the new teams get points based on the order they finish, no matter where they are in the overall result itself. Interesting idea and I'm curious to see what will happen at the next race.
I don't quite understand why Button is having to defend himself already. Fair enough, Lewis got on the podium but it wasn't exactly looking likely to begin with and the word lucky springs to mind. If his confidence was seriously dented after just one race, then he would be in for a really long season.
Bernie Ecclestone has jumped to the defense of F1, saying we shouldn't jump to conclusions, submit to knee-jerk reactions, and make any rash changes. He thinks that teams will get the hang of racing under these new regulations and maybe just some tweaks to the tyre rules would help. Ahh, all about the tyres as per usual!
It's St Patrick's Day today, and I believe there is meant to be a Sidepodmeetup in our capital city today, although I don't know if it's still on. Sadly, we can't be there, but we will be in the comments, as always.
Regardless of where you sit in the ongoing refuelling debate, it's fair to say that F1 is going through a tough time right now. Even if you think the Bahrain Grand Prix was fabulous, the general consensus seems to be F1 can offer more, and for it to be undergoing this backlash already is worrying. They normally wait until at least the summer before screwing everything up.
Anyway, I thought it was time to bring out the #f1happyplace, a hashtag used on Twitter to collect good thoughts and feelings about the sport. We needed this in 2009, when the politics overtook the racing. We need it in 2010 because... there wasn't any racing.
Here are some of the #f1happyplace entries I've seen flying by on Twitter:
@SauberRG: Ahh, #f1happyplace Bahrain GP 2008, Qualifying.
@lukehmuse: #f1happyplace A year ago... that sunday morning in Melbourne, 29th March... Jenson and Rubens on the top 2 steps of the podium <3
@Lou_uk: #f1happyplace When Schumacher went marching grumpily into Toyota pits coz he just saw the red +thought it was his Ferrari garage. Ha!!!
@andonida: #f1happyplace Standing in the rain at Monza watching Sebastian Vettel take victory for Toro Rosso :)
@Markenzeichen: #f1happyplace Rubens's win in Valencia last year. I've got it on my iPod, for down days. :)
@kateatthemotel: An #f1happyplace: Germany 2009, and Mark Webber's first victory - that cathartic, joyful pit radio extract is still so wonderful to hear.
@Chrislee12: #f1happyplace Vettel winning at Silverstone
@jpancoast: My #f1happyplace is the @sidepodcast comment section.
@lookingspiffy: #f1happyplace 2 days after Massa's crash, I read the 3rd paragraph down in this forum post & shed quite a few tears: http://bit.ly/au51oO
@lacanta: My #f1happyplace: The week either side of 2009's August Bank Holiday (clue: the reasons are mostly Fisichella-related)
@glhunt31: #f1happyplace Watching Damon Hill win at Silverstone in 94 from the grandstand opposite the pits (showing my age...).
@stephfarnsworth: #f1happyplace seeing Massa win the title (well I thought he did for a few seconds!)
@RocketRedhead: #f1happyplace Jenson's first podium in Malaysia 2004, in fact the whole season was really exciting!
@euis_t: #f1happyplace Looking for public spots around Marina Bay street circuit to watch FP1 in 2009. The sound, the smell, the sights = LOVE
@Booooothman: #f1happyplace Brawn GP's 1-2 in Oz last year; that sort of stuff is only shown in Disney films.
@thedementor: #f1happyplace being able to sneak away and watch the drivers parade. thanks to my vantage spot i could watch the procession twice. Happy <3
@anngilmour: My #f1happyplace - watching Nick Heidfeld's overtaking moves in a rain-soaked Spa 08 for 2nd place. And Bourdais crying over it.
@Claudia_Writes: #f1happyplace October 13, 1996. Getting up ridiculously early in the morning to watch Damon Hill win the title.
@SportTradesTalk: #f1happyplace Johnny Herbert winning the 1999 European GP (i cried when he won the race) and the last lap of the 2008 season. Go Lewis!"
@IngrydLamas: my #f1happyplace is back to 2000, German GP, Barrichello's first victory. Think there's no need to say why... Beautiful win tough
@fumi905: #f1happyplace My apartment near the uni, 9th Oct 2005, and 27th to 31st 2009, around of me!
@trippruding: Tie for my #f1happyplace 1)2001 USGP (1st and only live F1 experience), 2) 2007 Brazil GP (most exciting ending I have ever seen)
@neil_in_france: My #f1happyplace has to be Damon overtaking Scumi at Hungary in the Arrows in '97 even thought ITV were on an adbreak at the time GRRRRRRRR!
@Half_way_there: #f1happyplace Alonso going around the outside of Schumacher in the 130R at Japan 2005
@felipe_leite: #f1happyplace Piquet vs Senna, Hungary '86 - my first F1 memory. I was 6 years old then.
I'll keep this updated as I see them, and we can forever use it as a reference and more importantly, a refuge. If you're not on Twitter, please feel free to leave your happy place in the comments.
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?
