In a change to the usual Sidepodcast format, we're turning all Jackanory as Steven Roy reads you his previously published post. Some great history will come to life as Steven guides you through F1 stories that will surprise you.
Imagine if Rory Byrne, who designed the Ferraris that Michael Schumacher dominated F1 with, had found himself at Spa in 2003 with the latest Ferrari but without a driver. Now imagine that he decided with no drivers available he would test the car himself. Now stretch credibility to breaking point and imagine that he was as fast as Schumacher. Utterly impossible? Of course it is nowadays but once upon a time...
And, we're back... sort of. Apologies for the impromptu hiatus. Things got too much and we had to step away from Formula 1. This post will explain what happened and our thoughts and plans for the future.
That Man
It's clear that, for us, the return of Michael Schumacher was the straw that broke the camel's back. If anyone thinks that MS would be enough to drive us away from a podcast we adore, they obviously don't know us very well. There is a list as tall as Kubica of reasons that Formula One annoys us and Schumi's announcement came at the worst possible time. We were stressed about Sidepodradio, I've been miserable about the sport for two weeks, and Mr C no longer had the will to keep his own spirits up, let alone mine as well.
However, with a few days off, and some serious thinking, it's all become clear. We knew it would. Schumacher will not chase us away, but Mr C cannot watch him. He has some very valid reasons for this and I respect them. With that in mind, the next race (or perhaps the next few) will be covered by me as best as possible. Mr C will take part in the Debrief where he can, and obviously, without his technical expertise, I'd be screwed.
Call us petty, if you like, but we specifically started Sidepodcast after Schumacher had quit F1 because we do not enjoy talking about him. And from the state of the comments over the last few days, there's good reason for that.
The P Word
Aside from the unwelcome return of a driver, the state of the sport is putting a real downer on things in Sidepodcast Towers, and we have come to the following decision:
If Ari Vatanen does not become president of the FIA, and Jean Todt gets the nod, we will not continue.
We would see the 2009 season out, but it would have to be the end. Ari is the future, Jean is equally as much unwelcome in our world as his sometime partner in crime, and Formula 1 can't stay stuck in the past any longer. We'll be campaigning for Ari to get the role, and crossing our fingers that he does.
Burn Out
A lot of people have commented that we deserved this break because we work too hard and must have burnt out by now. I would like to clear this myth up by saying: we love the work we do. We don't get paid for this and wouldn't do any more than we wanted to do. The fact is that making shows, forming the community, and fixing the internet makes our day. Sometimes we push ourselves to the limit, but it would never be enough to make us stop. We've been going for over two years with people worried about us burning out, and let me put your minds at rest, it hasn't happened, and it's not going to.
That being the case, we're in the early stages of planning a new non-F1 show. It's come to our attention that we have other things to discuss besides cars, and we would like to share them with the world. Expect nothing for a while yet, but there will be something of a community crossover, and everyone is more than welcome to join us wherever that may be.
That's the future, and I hope you can understand our need for a break, and our reasons for the above. If you have any questions, please ask, but we do not promise to have the answers immediately. Thank you for sticking with us.
Long time paneller, first time host, Gavin takes the helm today to guide us through such topics as sports cars, swapping careers, and what could possibly make F1 more annoying. There are laughs aplenty in this show, which introduces a couple of new voices to the panel, as well.
Don't forget that the wiki is the place to be if you want to sign up for future episodes of Sidepodpanel - either as a guest or as a host. It's easy to do, all you need is access to Skype. There are a few more shows to be recorded for this series, so check your diaries for an upcoming Sunday.
You may have already seen this mentioned in the comments over the last few weeks, but this is the official announcement. Sidepodcast is going to the Science Museum!
From 11th March onwards, the Science Museum in London have a Formula 1 related exhibit called: "Fast Forward: 20 ways F1 is changing our world". It's a look at how technology is being passed between F1 and real life, and includes bikes, materials, road safety, medicine, and much more. In fact, this video from the BBC can probably explain it better.
The idea initially came from Gavin, who suggested a meetup at the Museum, and then the wiki page was started, and now we even have a date. On the 15th April, Mr C and I will be in London poring over all the sciencey stuff, times to be confirmed. If you fancy meeting up, then feel free to leave your name on the wiki. You don't have to, of course, but Mr C does like his roll calls.
If you want more information about the exhibit, there's plenty to look at on the Museum's website. There are also details of how to find the place, for those planning ahead. The best part, aside from meeting us, of course, is that entry is free.
Pictures have emerged today of a new Force India car with sparkling new livery. There's a lot more green on the car, but thankfully this new iteration remains gold-free. With Williams choosing their blue and white look rather than the dark blue we had so enjoyed in testing, this Force India simply adds to the number of white cars on the grid. The nose is heavy on colour, with orange teaming up with the green to represent the Indian flag, but ultimately, it is yet another one going with the safe option. At least the new livery lessens the risk of the VJM02 being constantly confused with the MP4-24 out on track.
It's unclear at the moment whether the pictures are supposed to be circulating or not. The team announced their launch for this Sunday, the 1st March, but an awful lot of information seems to be appearing today instead. Official pictures were released, some were taken down, others were encouraged. Either someone jumped the gun, or their organisational skills rival ours here at Sidepodcast Towers. Oh well, who schedules a launch for a Sunday anyway?
The car will be seen out on track at Jerez in the coming week, and it will be good to see some action from Force India. The team haven't been out and about since the end of last year, and their recent trip to Silverstone was kept super-secret until after the event. It makes you wonder if they have something for us to be curious about, although I haven't spotted any dodgy diffusers or crazy flip ups to question. Chances are they were simply saving money, keeping their heads down and working on the car.
Talking of money, at first glance it looks like the team have acquired some new sponsors, with Whyte & Mackay replacing Fly Kingfisher on the sidepods. On closer inspection, however, it turns out that this is yet another Mallya brand, a make of Scotch whisky, and the entrepreneur is capitalising on the advertising abilities of Formula 1 once again. I suppose in these troubled times, if you can't get a sponsor, the easiest thing is to market yourself.
The driver lineup remains the same, of course, and the overalls carry a nice shade of orange to match the car. In fact, the design is similar to that of the McLaren boys, and from a distance, you'd be forgiven for mistaking one for the other. They've moved the problem from the car to the drivers! Still, in terms of liveries, this is an improvement on last year (and on all ING sponsored Renaults), so now it is just a case of wait and see to determine whether their pace has stepped up as well.
James Allen speculated on Monday that the Virgin brand might be linked to a Honda F1 buyout. This morning according to Reuters, an unidentified source close to the Japanese manufacturer has stated:
They have made a bid to purchase the team
A spokeswoman for Branson declined to comment, with the same noises coming from Honda's direction.
As with any F1 rumours, nothing is confirmed until it's in writing, and even then you should consider it suspect. However, with Reuters running the story we have a pretty good indication a bid has been put forward. Although where this leaves Nick Fry and Ross Brawn and their management buyout is anyone's guess.
Reuters have not been able to confirm if the rumours linking former BAR man Adrian Reynard to the project are correct, although yesterday Grandprix.com pointed out that Reynard still owns land on which the team's factories are built, and possibly a building or two.
Additionally Takuma Sato, the driver that simply won't give up, gets a mention the in Reuters release, due his close association with Virgin Atlantic Japan. Could we yet see the man return to the grid in 2009, despite being pipped to the Toro Rosso seat by Bourdais?
Please do let us know what you make of it all in the comments. The Honda saga isn't going to end quickly - is Branson serious, will we see more of Reynard and would you like to see a Button / Sato line-up once again?
We're always up for something new, and this week it is the debut of yet another new idea for a show - this time it's Sidepodchat. Although the premise is somewhat similar to Sidepodpanel, we've yet to iron out all the details, so it could end up vastly different. The basic idea is to get a few people on Skype for a chat about all things Formula 1, and that's about as far as we've got.
Aside from encouraging participants to call in, we also want to interact with the comments, so that everyone can be involved. Any questions, comments, or thoughts you think up as our guests are talking, post them in the comment thread, and we'll try to squeeze them in. As I said, this is a brand new concept, so keep the ideas flowing and we'll just roll with the punches.
We intend to go live at 7pm, and hopefully, we'll see you all there.
Another launch today, and this time it's the turn of BMW. They've been keeping us amused with teaser videos, but now it's time to see the real thing. Let's hope it's slightly better looking than the ones we have seen so far, as our recent admission that "the 2009 cars are not so bad" is looking a bit shaky.
The testing should continue at Portimão, assuming the weather holds off. It is quite amusing that Ferrari claimed to stay in Italy for the weather and then got rained out themselves. However, what is the real reason that they're keeping themselves to themselves? Why can't they just play nicely with all the others?
Meanwhile, top Renault figures have called KERS is both dangerous and expensive. They even use the words "potentially lethal". With Ferrari and Williams both undecided on whether to run their devices or not, what is the future of this new technology?
This weekend's Debrief show is now available as an mp3 on this site only. The rest (enhanced show and feeds) will follow before this day is out. It's an extra long show with lots of lovely callers, so take a listen and let us know what you think.
Elsewhere in the blogosphere, Ollie has written the second of his livery development posts. We already saw the way Toyota hasn't changed a bit, and now it's a look at how the Renault turned from a respectable blue to a blinding yellow.
That'll keep us going until we lay our eyes on the BMW. Those are all the launches for this week, so we'd better make the most of them... I guess. Anyway, feel free to discuss the above and much more in the comments.
The weekend clearly took more out of us than we were expecting as the scheduled Debrief show was bumped to next week, in place of a special podcast from the karting. However, the weekend is behind us and we move on to a week of news, starting with the Ferrari launch.
The F2009 is due to be released into the wild today, and we're expecting pictures and interviews with the team and driver. This is our first official glimpse of a contender for this season, and we are all desperately waiting to find out what it's like and what is said.
It's not just Ferrari though, this week also sees the launch of the Toyota on Thursday, and the McLaren on Friday. This is all leading up to a week of testing in the Algarve starting next Monday. It's all kicking off now, the off-season is pretty much over, and F1 is back.
Davidson has been speaking at the trade show, and says that he was close to signing up at least as a test driver for Honda, but maybe even for a race seat, before the team pulled out. This raises all manner of questions. What of Wurz? Will Davidson still try for the new team? Can he really get a race seat again having failed so miserably previously?
Those should keep us going for the next 24 hours. Don't forget to vote for us in the 2008 Weblog Awards (links in the sidebar), if you still feel like doing so. There should be lots of news doing the rounds today, so I will see you in the comments.
Today was looking to be pretty low on F1 related fun, until we discovered that Fantasy Racers was up and running for 2009. There was suddenly a flurry of action as we tried to think up some new team names, decide that our old names will do, create the Sidepodcast league, and get all signed up. Either way, you can read all about it here. Elsewhere today:
Sidepodcast Diaries is back! There'll be a blog post along soon to re-introduce it properly, but if you feel like checking it out before I get round to that, then head on over to the Wiki where I've set up it's own little Diaries home.
Schumacher's words from yesterday caused a discussion in the comments over drivers moving teams. Is it easier to judge a driver if he's been through a few teams? Or is loyalty something to be commended? Check through some of the comments yesterday, and join in the debate today.
The BATRacer game still has spaces available, if you're interested. Scott has written a brilliant guide if you're a newbie to the site - like myself and Mr C - but if you've never played before or are an expert, head on over and sign up. The password is sidepodcast
That'll do for today. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for some actual F1 news, as things were very slow yesterday. However, the comments were still excellent, so keep up the good work, everyone, and I'll see you there.
