Sidepodcast

Fantasy Racers Reminder - Abu Dhabi

We were pretty much aware that Button had a good chance at being World Champion this year almost from the first few races. Likewise, in our Sidepodcast Fantasy Racers league, Kathi has had the title sewn up since the beginning.

It's been a really fun competition though, plenty of mid-field battles, and who hasn't enjoyed watching Mr C fall through the ranks each weekend? There is just one more opportunity for him to make amends and that is at the last race in Abu Dhabi.

I ditched my crazy strategy of last time, purchasing the cheapest drivers so I could have a lot of them. Now I have gone to the other extreme and am selecting the elite drivers. Well, the expensive ones anyway.

The prices are correct at the time of writing. I ended up with 2.6 million in the bank, bringing my team value to 48.5, which may be the lowest since I started. I can't be sure, though.

It is probably too late to get too involved in the competition, but if you haven't signed up yet, it might be worth checking out Fantasy Racers to see how it works and how you can get involved next year. If you have a team, don't forget the deadline is 5pm UK Time to make your driver selections. Good luck, and let us know who you pick and how you get on.

Fantasy Racers Reminder - Monaco

Given that Free Practice was yesterday, I've already had a good few hours to contemplate who to have in my team. I've given it some proper thought, evaluated all the options, interviewed all the drivers and... okay, maybe not.

I was tempted to take out Vettel, as Red Bull look like they've taken over all of Webber's bad luck so far this weekend. However, I still have faith in the youngster, so I kept him in. I immediately took Glock out, as Toyota haven't performed well so far. I have a horrible feeling this will be a bad decision, but never mind, it's too late now. I couldn't afford anyone that I wanted for Glock's price, so I decided instead to sell Buemi as well and opt for Massa. The Ferrari seems somewhat improved, and Monaco was his turning point last year. With Hamilton and Massa in the same lineup, this is starting to look eerily like last year!

The prices are correct at the time of writing. I have 4.4 million left over this week, and my team value is now 51.9. I think this represents the first time my overall total has gone down. It's a slippery slope, and I'm pretty sure I'm headed that way.

Monaco has confused things slightly, but the deadline for last minute changes to your team is 5pm BST (4pm GMT, 12pm EST). You can still sign up for a team if you haven't already, and join the Sidepodcast league - all the information you need is here. Once you've made your mind up, let us know who you're going for and what strategy you're employing.

Daily: 8th April 2009

All talk at the moment has been on McLaren and the FIA, and that looks set to continue until their hearing is over later this month. As a refreshing change, then, here are some of the Sidepodcast goodies going on at the moment:

• The old Batracer game (the 1986 version) came to its conclusion with Steven Roy as champion. Now it looks as though a new game is starting with the current set of cars - 2009. If you're interested in taking part, head on over to the wiki to peruse which team you fancy joining. Places are filling up fast, so get in while you can. Joining instructions are also on the wiki.
• You may have seen Mr C getting all excited about the fact that he got his photo published in yet another magazine, this time the less geeky F1 Racing. To celebrate such goings on, Alex from SofaF1 set up a page called Me and Page 22. What we want is everyone who has access to a copy of the magazine, particularly page 22, to take a picture of themselves with said page. You can read more about it over there, but please do it, because every new picture makes Mr C's day.
• Finally, we've got a guest post from Journeyer about his experiences at the Malaysian Grand Prix coming up shortly. Please keep your eyes peeled for it, because we love eyewitness accounts!

That'll do for now. Keep the comments coming, and don't forget to take a picture of yourself and page 22, if you can. I will see you in the comments.

This is the Last Time I Will Say These Words

Please don't forget to update your Fantasy Racers team.

Here we go then, the last chance to change your Fantasy Racers lineup and get maximum points in this season finale race. I honestly considered giving this race some proper thought, and picking my drivers based on what I've seen out on track. Then I thought: naaah. I promise, wholeheartedly, that next year I will actually try.

This week, I've taken the Brazilian theme and run with it, picking all three drivers for whom it is a home race. I've also picked Bourdais, just because, and Sutil because he's all I could afford with the money I had left.

That may actually be the closest I've ever managed to come to the 35m limit, so I'm secretly quite impressed. I've no idea how Sidepodcast Racers will fare this week, but let's be honest, it's not going to make much difference.

The cutoff point is 5pm GMT, which will be two thirds of the way through FP2, so don't wait until the end thinking you can be all clever and change it then. As ever, visit Fantasy Racers and select your team, but more importantly, come back and let us know who you're running and why.

We'll Have to Win it Now

As mentioned during yesterday's live show, we had an email from Nigel, who's been in touch with the team behind the Fantasy Racers site, notably Danny.

It's no secret that we're big fans of the Fantasy Racers, the competition has provided hours and hours of entertainment this season. It has a low barrier to entry and you're free to take it seriously, or not so seriously, as you see fit. As a result of everyone's involvement, Nigel was wondering if we had any feedback about the game this year, in order to gather together a list of improvements or things that you'd like to see implemented next time round.

Last year by all accounts, it was a little bit more complicated. There was no budget, and you picked five drivers from different pools of comparable names. You also selected an engine and a chassis, and gained points for all your elements. There were also points available for bonus items, like the fastest lap, and the first driver out of the race.

This year, it was simplified, with the introduction of a budget. Now each driver has a price, and you buy as many as you can afford and rake in the points depending on how well your chosen team fares.

As Nigel says:

This years system has been a lot simpler so is great for the casual observer, but I think last years had merit too and was more geared to the F1 aficionado / anorak / petrol head / geek! I suggested to Danny a combination of both would work well to bring the best of both, for example, you have a set budget limit, from which you must select x numbers of drivers, 2 engines, 1 chassis. And then these all earn points per lap as well as the bonus or minus points depending on how they finish relative to their qualifying position. Obviously the more of your budget you spend on drivers, the less you have to spend on a decent engine or chassis, and vice versa.

I thought this might be a good talking point from your other listeners as we are nearing the end of the season and we could collate the ideas and put them forward to Danny for next years competition, and I'm thinking that as we are going to win the Team League he's got to take our suggestions seriously!

Some interesting ideas in there. The only thing I would like to see added, particularly, is for driver prices to change as the season progresses. It makes no sense that Vettel is still the same price as Bourdais, as one has clearly come on a long way since Australia.

We'd love to hear your thoughts, ideas and suggestions and we'll point both Nigel and Danny in the direction of this thread.

Maybe This Time I'll Win

Please don't forget to update your Fantasy Racers team.

Last week didn't work out so well for me, and I partially blamed the fact that the Fantasy Racers site was down for a lot of the final day. However, this time it's been up for ages, and I've still only just managed to select my team for the penultimate race.

If you're interested in what crazy system I have picked this time round, then I'll tell you. Any guy that has driven for the team that is currently third in the constructors, BMW. That leaves me with:

I do appear to have a bit of cash left over, which is annoying, because I tried the system with Renault but there were too many drivers and I couldn't afford to complete the set. Nevertheless, I have a feeling this might be an okay week for Sidepodcast Racers.

As ever, don't forget to update your team, and let us know who you're going with and why.

Running Just as Fast as We Can

Please do not forget to update your Fantasy Racers team.

Sidepodcast Racers are running just as fast as we can, but let's be honest, it isn't very fast at all. We are performing pitifully, and it's all because of my crazy systems. However, that doesn't mean I'm going to stop now, oh no. I've got another random selection coming up shortly.

At the beginning of the season, I said "The Racers" were just sandbagging, but I think I might have got that confused with actually doing really badly. If we're sandbagging, we've left it a little bit late to do anything about it. Even Raikkonen couldn't make up the gap I've created to the top.

In which case, let's have some more fun. This week I've chosen:

My reasoning behind this comes from loving the battle for fourth place in the constructor's championship. Toyota and Renault are fighting it out, and currently on equal points. Therefore, I've chosen both Toyota drivers, and both Renault boys, and I've thrown in Vettel, just because I had money left over, and I like him.

Feel free to share your team, if it's not a secret, and let us know how you came to your decision. Changes must be made by 5pm BST.

Take Your Time, Think a Lot

Please do not forget to update your Fantasy Racers team.

Last week. I was ridiculed for my choice of just two drivers. The system dictated that I start at the top of the championship and work my way down until I run out of money. With Hamilton and Massa at the top, I was out of cash pretty quickly. However, to all those who laughed at me, it was one of my better points hauls, so there.

This week, with very little time to think about who I'd like in my team, as if I would anyway, I've gone for another arbitrary system. This time I'm flipping the same idea I had last week, so now I start from the bottom. You'll all be pleased to know I could afford more than two drivers, although when you see who they are, perhaps not.

It's not the strongest lineup I've ever had, although if the race plays out anything like FP1, then Sutil could be my big chance!

As ever, I'd love to know what you're basing your decisions on, whether FP1 and/or 2 will affect your choices. If you want to, share your team in the comments, and feel free to make fun of mine. Visit Fantasy Racers to make your changes of join in the fun.

P.S. 'Me' - if you don't switch out Alonso right now, before you take a nap, and before I get home, there's gonna be real trouble.

Remember, Remember

Please do not forget to update your Fantasy Racers team.

I’ve had a look at mine, and you’ll be pleased to know I have given it some thought. Not serious thought, but I did assign at least five minutes to the decision making process.

I wanted someone from McLaren and someone from Ferrari. I'm not good at predicting things, and I like to hedge my bets. From Ferrari, I picked Raikkonen, because, you know, it’s wet.

Last time I had a full team of Germans, and I liked seeing all those similar flags in a row. So today, I chose the only other Finn on offer. Kovalainen. Finnish and at McLaren – he satisfies both criteria.

And finally, as I had some cash left over, I threw Bourdais into the mix. You never know, he might bring me some luck.

Go and update your team now, or if you haven't signed up yet, visit FantasyRacers.com. I'm currently 116th, so everyone still has a chance of beating me.

Practice Makes Perfect, Or At Least Acceptable

We’ve had a few comments saying how much you liked the Fantasy Racers Sidepodcast League roll call on last week’s show. This makes me very happy because it wasn’t easy to do.

I’m sure you’re all aware we’re not afraid of a spot of editing, to keep the show running smoothly. We wanted to do the roll call in one take, no editing, because it would have felt wrong otherwise.

We can be a bit touchy feely like that.

Getting straight to the point, it took a lot of practice, and still we made mistakes. And because we’re not scared of making a fool of ourselves, I have put together a compilation of the outtakes from our numerous attempts at getting it right.

Enjoy.