Sidepodcast

F1 Debrief - What's Not to Like?

• Length: 58:26 
• Size: 53.6 MB 
• File: debrief130.mp3 
• Transcript: Coming soon 
• Torrent: debrief130.torrent 

Coming up on this week's show, we discuss Flavio Briatore, US F1, testing, rankings, tyres, pit stops and shortcuts.

Intro

Welcome to 2010! Is that two thousand and ten, or twenty ten?

Good Week / Bad Week

Good times for Jenson Button and Ross Brawn as they are honoured by the Queen, and for Toyota as they are eyed up by Zoran Stefanovich. Bad times for safety as Abu Dhabi aren't changing very much at all, and for headline grabbing news items that don't really tell us much at all.

News and Views

There's a lot of news to cover this week, as we get started with Flavio Briatore's overturned ban, and Renault's team principal replacement - Eric Boullier, Mr C's new best friend!

Meanwhile, Mercedes have a new sponsor, and a new driver who is already up to tricks by testing out a GP2 car. The new teams are trying to prove Bernie's doubts wrong, and Peter Windsor is stirring up a hornet's nest with his thoughts on the summer shutdown, whilst US F1 are simultaneously getting extra tests.

Mr C manages to get through the segment about the Castrol Driver Rankings without swearing - a first, and we discuss Ted's thoughts on the strategies for 2010, and Bernie's ideas for taking a shortcut.

Feedback

Four excellent messages - one putting us straight about CFD, one happy to hear the history from Steven, one worried about the sheer number of comments appearing on the site, and the final one concerned about a seatless Heidfeld.

Housekeeping

We tried out some F1 Minute video, and the experiment is mostly halted but slightly ongoing at the same time. Our first 2010 show wasn't live but the server will be back bigger and better - or so says Mr C.

Linkage

• Castrol Driver Rankings
• Manipe F1: Comparing Penguins and Light Bulbs
• Making Up the Numbers: Castrol Driver Rankings
• Steven Roy's guest posts
• Most Prolific Contributors
• Breakout Threads
• F1 Minute Video
• The Future of F1 Minute Video

FIA Will Launch Briatore Appeal

Formula 1's governing body the FIA, has announced its intention to appeal against a French court's decision last week to overturn Flavio Briatore's lifetime ban from motor sport.

A statement today from the FIA read:

The President of the FIA has consulted the FIA Senate and the FIA’s lawyers about the decision of the Tribunal de Grande Instance de Paris of 5 January.

It was unanimously agreed that an appeal would be prepared.

Additionally the FIA considers that the decision of 21 September 2009 remains in full effect, although they accept that, pending the outcome of the FIA's appeal, superlicences will continue to be issued to drivers who are still looked after by Flavio Briatore.

The FIA statement ends by pointing out that it intends to "take whatever measures are necessary to ensure the continuing integrity and safety of the sport".

Daily: 6th January 2010

We are halfway through the week and there is snow in the UK causing traffic chaos all around. That's why we recommending staying indoors! There is plenty going on in F1 for now to keep you occupied. Here are some of the things we're talking about:

• Flavio has managed to overturn his ban, although the FIA aren't at all happy about the ruling and are considering their options. We had a breakout thread with the news, and I also wrote a post about Renault's timely announcement of their new team principal. Share your thoughts in both threads!
• There's been a lot of discussion about Heidfeld and where he might fit in the 2010 grid. The man himself is acutely aware that the seats are being snapped up from under him, but says he is prepared for the unexpected. After the last few years in F1, so are we all!
• Dank has an interesting post encouraging you to invest some time in watching a series other than F1, and see how you get on with it. He makes some good arguments and it's worthwhile giving it a shot. I am not yet convinced though.

That's all for now, keep us updated on how your week is going, and as ever, I will be round and about to see you in the comments.

Eric's in Enstone

Credit: Drew Gibson/LAT/Renault

Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss?

Renault announced today that Eric Boullier will be taking over the team principal role, allowing temporary stand-in Bob Bell to return to his design department. I was hoping that Bob Bell might be able to stay on as boss, mostly because he has an awesome name, and also because I like how he handled the ever-so-slightly embarrassing situation when Grosjean imitated Piquet at Singapore.

Nevertheless, the announcement of a new team boss is not a surprise, as Boullier appears to come as a package deal with the new investors, having also been the CEO at Gravity Sport Management, which is also involved with Genii Capital. It's unclear at the moment whether Boullier will be leaving his role at Gravity, or any of his other interests. Eric also manages Ho Pin Tung and Jérôme D'Ambrosio, and we criticised Flavio for being a manager and a team boss at the same time. Will Eric do the same? He has already made the effort to dispel any concerns that Kubica's teammate will get a helping hand from him:

"The second driver will have to be able to score points and challenge Robert Kubica. So in fact, it might be a Gravity driver or not, but I can guarantee that it will be even more difficult for a Gravity driver to be selected as they really will have to prove their worth to be chosen as Renault’s second driver."

The timing of the announcement is also not particularly out of the blue. No matter what verdict came from the French courts today, the Renault team wanted to distract from the bad headlines of last year with something fresh and new. Particularly now that Flavio has been unbanned, the announcement sends a signal that he is not about to rejoin the team.

So, who is the Eric man, and what can he do for Renault? A quick perusal of the web gives us some more of his history. His LinkedIn profile shows that he has only been at Gravity for a few months, whilst before that he was Technical Director at DAMS for almost seven years. He certainly has staying power. He's also been involved with Team France for A1 GP, who have never finished lower than fourth in the championship. He seems to have the credentials as well.

I am fond of younger team principals, as it always seems to bring some enthusiasm and fun to the sport. I've spoken many times about Christian Horner and how he brightened up the paddock when he first arrived. He and Eric are the same age, so perhaps it is Mr Boullier's turn to do the same. He's on Twitter for a start. Well, one tweet is more than Flavio ever did.

Comparisons to Flavio are actually quite tricky, because Eric comes from the engineering side of things. He is a team principal that comes from the Ross Brawn school of thought, rather than a hands off Flavio approach. How that will see him fare remains to be seen, of course. Although he has only had one day in the public eye so far, Eric has given a good first impression. Asked to describe his approach in three words, he said:

Humility, rigorous and openness. For me, the racing is the most important thing above all.

That's what we like to hear. Let's see if he can live up to his own words.

French Court Overturns Briatore's F1 Life Ban

Flavio Briatore won his court case against the FIA on Tuesday. The former boss of the Renault F1 Team had a lifetime ban imposed by motorsport's governing body last September, but today that was overturned by a French court. Citing "irregularities" in the FIA's decision, the court awarded Briatore 15,000 euros in compensation.

In addition, Pat Symonds has also had his ban lifted, while he receives 5,000 euros in compensation. This result means both men are able to return to F1 will immediate effect, although the FIA have said it may launch an appeal.

Briatore has always denied claims of race-fixing and began his legal case in October last year.

The news comes the same day that the Renault F1 Team announced that Eric Boullier will be their new team principal for the 2010 season. Presumably the timing of the announcement isn't coincidental. Boullier's previous experience saw him work in both GP2 and A1GP, while recently he took up the position of CEO of Gravity Sport Management, a company associated with Renault F1 stakeholders Genii Capital.

Updated: As expected the FIA have issued a formal statement, of note it points out that:

The Court’s decision is not enforceable until the FIA’s appeal options have been exhausted. Until then, the World Motor Sport Council’s decision continues to apply.

In addition, the FIA intends to consider appropriate actions to ensure that no persons who would engage, or who have engaged, in such dangerous activities or acts of intentional cheating will be allowed to participate in Formula One in the future.

This news may serve to dampen Flavio Briatore's mood. Earlier this evening Briatore said he was happy and believed justice had been done.

"I would like to express my great joy with the decision handed down by the Paris Tribunal de Grande Instance

"The decision handed down today restores to me the dignity and freedom that certain people had arbitrarily attempted to deprive me of."

As yet there has been no word from Symonds.

Daily: 18th December 2009

It is Friday, and we are still waiting for the F1 news to die down this week. There have been breakout threads flying all over the place, and I don't know about you, but I'm looking forward to the weekend for a rest! Yesterday was all about another driver announcement but here are some of the other things we're talking about:

• Over on Metro F1, there's a couple of reviews for some games, just in time if you're planning to buy an F1 fan something like this for Christmas. We had our own F1 2009 review, of course, but it's always interesting to see other people's takes on it, plus a couple of other games for good measure.
• I missed this when it was initially posted, but I see that RG has been doing some detective work, and discovered a potential new design for Timo Glock's helmet. It's probably a bit early to think about helmet designs, the season is still several months away, but it's good to see some colours.
• Stuart has some thoughts on Flavio Briatore and his attempts to overturn his lifetime ban from motorsport. There are already sme disagreements happening in Stuart's comments over this, but it's an interesting topic, and will be fascinating to find out how Flav gets on.

That'll do it for now, let us know what you have planned for the weekend, and as ever, I'll see you in the comments.

F1 Advent Calendar 2009 - Day Seventeen

• Length: 3:27 
• Size: 3.2 MB 
• File: advent17.mp3 
• Transcript: advent17.pdf 
• Torrent: advent17.torrent 

Hello and welcome to the latest episode of an extended mini series from Sidepodcast. This is our F1 Advent Calendar 2009 - 25 short shows recapping the season just gone. It's time to open yet another door in our advent calendar, so let's get started with Day Seventeen - Spin Me Round.

Whilst Renault were waiting for their appeal hearing regarding the one-race ban dished out after Hungary, they found themselves in another bit of bother. Their driver of 18 months Nelson Piquet Jr, published a note on his website saying he had been let go from the team. It was a bitter letter, and although the news wasn't exactly unexpected for anyone who had seen him drive, it's delivery was slightly unusual. Piquet criticised his former team, particularly Flavio Briatore, suggesting that his boss had been demanding, uncompromising, even threatening.

Just a few days later, the rumblings of a huge scandal began. Rumour had it that Piquet Jr had been asked by his team to crash at the Singapore Grand Prix in 2008, to bring out the Safety Car that aided Alonso to win the race. It's something that had been mentioned in jest many times, but no one thought it could be true.

The FIA duly investigated, and on the 4th September, a statement was issued saying Renault would have to answer to the charges. A World Motorsport Council meeting was scheduled for later in the month, in fact just before the Singapore Grand Prix for this season.

Above anything else, I think this case will be known as the one where everything was leaked. We had letters to and from the FIA, statements from Piquet Jr and his father, documents regarding Briatore, and much more. Anything that was written down seemed to make it out into the wider world, and gave us and the media a lot to talk about. Piquet claimed that Flavio Briatore and Pat Symonds had asked him to crash the car, and he had felt pressured into doing so. Both he and Alonso were given immunity from any penalties regarding the case.

Initially, the team denied the charges. They even said they would begin legal proceedings against the Piquets, suggesting that it constituted blackmail, and the allegations were false.

About a week before the trial, Pat Symonds was offered immunity by the FIA if he would answer their questions, but he did not take it. At this point the story suggested conversations about the crash had taken place prior to the race, but that it was all Piquet's idea. The truth is yet to be known.

On 16 September, both Flavio Briatore and Pat Symonds left the team, and Renault F1 confirmed they would not contest the charges against them - essentially pleading guilty. The World Motorsport Council still met, and a mysterious Witness X - reportedly from the Renault team - gave evidence. With no defence to be heard, though, it was simply a matter of doling out the punishment. The result? A two year ban, suspended, for the team, plus bans of varying lengths for Symonds and Briatore.

Whether this was an acceptable punishment is really a matter of opinion. However, the team lost two key members of staff, several sponsors withdrew after the hearing, and worse than all of that - they had to watch Piquet's replacement, Romain Grosjean, spin at exactly the same corner during the Singapore Grand Prix weekend, just a few days later. Sometimes, you just have to laugh.

That's all for now. Thank you for listening to this F1 Advent Calendar 2009, and I hope you will join me again tomorrow, when we will see what's behind the door for Day Eighteen.

FIA Reject Allegations, Condemn Leaks

Earlier today, the Guardian newspaper ran a story claiming Flavio Briatore has accused the World Motor Sport Council and Max Mosley of being "blinded by desire for revenge". The information appears to have come from leaked documents seen by the paper, and predictably the FIA aren't happy about it.

The Guardian suggest that the allegation will be used by Briatore when he appeals against his lifetime ban from motor sport, in France's high court on the 24th November. The paper went on to say that Pat Symonds, Renault's previous director of engineering, will join Briatore's appeal in an attempt to overturn his own ban.

This afternoon the FIA put out a press release, presumably in response to the piece, refuting the claims and criticising such leaks.

The FIA press release in full:

The FIA condemns the selective leaking of extracts from Mr Briatore’s pleadings to the Tribunal de Grande Instance in Paris.

The FIA rejects the allegations made in these leaks and confirms that the decision to impose a sanction against Mr Briatore was made by an overwhelming majority of the attending World Motor Sport Council members.

In respect for the authority of the French Court, it would be entirely inappropriate for the FIA to comment further on this matter in advance of the hearing.

What the FIA haven't said though, is what they plan to do to prevent further leaks in the future. This isn't the first time they've experienced such problems, nor even the first time this year.

Daily: 17th September 2009

Thursday is upon us again, and as ever, it was not a quiet day in the world of Formula 1 yesterday. I am sure I mentioned hoping for a bit of peace, so if I do that again today, what on earth else will happen? Anyway, here are some of the things we're talking about:

• Naturally, the number one topic on everybody's lips is goodbye Flav and Pat. Naturally, there was a breakout thread, and Mr Briatore also featured on our F1 Big Picture yesterday. The conversation continues, and I guess what we really want now, is to hear from Pat.
• Elsewhere in the news, Williams are confident that going back to the higher downforce circuits will see them return to form, after a couple of races with badly behaving cars. It's funny, I don't really remember them being on particularly good form before, but perhaps they can end the season on a high.
• RG has written a great post about Paul di Resta and his chances of making it out of DTM. I don't really give much thought to drivers until they get to F1, but it is always good to take a step back and see where they are coming from (or not, as the case may be).

That'll do it for now. The usual Sidepodradio plug applies here: 0121 28 87225 for your shoutouts and transitions, please. You know we'll love you forever if you call. I'll see you in the comments.

Flavio Briatore and Pat Symonds leave Renault F1

Today, Renault F1 sent out the following press release confirming the immediate departure of both its managing director and executive director of engineering:

The ING Renault F1 Team will not dispute the recent allegations made by the FIA concerning the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix.

It also wishes to state that its managing director, Flavio Briatore and its executive director of engineering, Pat Symonds, have left the team.

Before attending the hearing before the FIA World Motor Sport Council in Paris on 21 September 2009, the team will not make any further comment.

More to follow...