Sidepodcast

Daily: 20th March 2010

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.

Daily: 6th March 2010

The weekend is here, and whilst I am still fighting off germs, we're busy gearing up for the racing to start. This is the last weekend before everything kicks off in Bahrain, so I hope you're making the most of it! Here are some of the things we're talking about, in a super duper extended daily:

• A quick plug before we get into the motorsport stuff, I quickly posted a new episode of Media Future Change last night. It had been delayed a few days because of voice issues but finally made it into the public domain. Hope you enjoy listening, and as ever, feedback is always appreciated.
• I finally got round to updating the about page on I Heart Franck to feature more information about who I am, obviously, and how I discovered Monsieur Montagny. Not that I discovered him or am taking credit for his success or anything. I was tempted to write a bit about how I would faint on sight of FKM, but then I remembered he has read the site in the past, and that wouldn't really be a great opening line.
• Whilst we're talking about yummy people, Lucas di Grassi has partnered with some watch people. They sponsor Renault as well, which is slightly odd, although he was a development driver for them. I wonder if this will affect his position in the rankings.
• We often get people asking if we're bringing back the video previews and at the moment the answer is still no. Teams aren't really giving out as much footage as they used to, and now we know why. Red Bull kept it all for themselves! They have shared the packaged video with us, though, and it's pretty awesome. We'll let them off, especially as they intend to do it for every race.
• Don't forget the competition to win a signed copy of Joe's book. It closes on Tuesday, so if you haven't already entered, make sure you do!
• Whilst we're doing reminders, it's worth mentioning the Fantasy Racers league. We'll be doing a roll call of all the teams signed up in this weekend's show, so if you haven't yet joined, are planning to, and want a shout out, make sure you join the Panda Racing league before Sunday.

That should keep you going for now - double the usual number of items! Let us know how your weekend is going, and I will see you in the comments.

Daily: 25th February 2010

We have reached Thursday, and for once, I am determined that it won't be a bad day. For a start I'm not at work today, so that helps. Also, testing in Barcelona gets underway today, so that is also going to make it awesome. Watch out for a dedicated thread appearing later on this morning. Elsewhere:

• The second part in Jackie's Safety First blog series appeared yesterday, this time taking a closer look at Driver Aids, and more particularly accelerometers. It's a great read, as is the first in the series about safety at circuits, so make sure you check them both out if you haven't already.
• Not really F1 related at all but I wrote a quick piece on I Heart Franck yesterday regarding Peugeot and their plans for the year. It looks like we'll be live commenting at least one Franck race in 2010, and the real challenge will be to see how much of the 24 hours I can stay awake for this time round.
• It's that time again, time to promote the latest part of Life in the Fast Lane. We're drawing the story to a close now, just two more sections to come and one more vote after this one. Things are getting serious and the decisions are getting more important! If you haven't already, head on over and get your vote in to direct the path of Part 9. (Which, by the way, will be late as it is due on Friday, and we'll be concentrating on Joe that day.) Also a quick shout out to Lindsay Rumbold who in turn gave my story a quick shout out as well. She has a motorsport book due for release soon-ish, so keep an eye out for it.

That should do it for now. Hopefully I won't forget Baby Panda Thursday this week, so it might be a better day for everyone. See you in the comments!

Thursday Thoughts - Christine's Ideal Team

Journeyer asked the question this week, and it's fallen to me to answer it on behalf of Sidepodcast. The question revolves around a dream F1 team, which drivers would be the ideal choice to make the best team, assuming money is unlimited, and everyone is available.

Well.

Hands up who thinks I'm going to say Franck?

Actually, I've been giving it some serious thought, and although a good looking, rather speedy French driver would be an asset to the team, I'm not going to go with Mr Montagny. He has unfinished work to do in Le Mans, and I'd rather he concentrated on that for now.

My wish list is actually quite a simple one - I only want drivers in my team who are on Twitter, and use it a lot. The added communication, the contact with the fans, the feeling of inclusion in events is something that is extremely valuable to a team. Just ask Mr C how he feels about Claire Williams after watching her Twitter feed all week.

So, drivers that tweet on a regular basis are few and far between at the moment, although it seems to be a growing trend, which is good. I've had a good look through our new Twitter page and decided that the drivers who have tweeted the most get my spare race seats.

Barrichello has been microblogging an awful lot and racked up a whopping 18,000 tweets, which is more than I can even comprehend. I'm slightly concerned that he'll be so busy on his mobile phone that he won't actually get any work done, but if it works for Williams, it works for me. Next up is Lucas di Grassi, which means I do get a delicious driver in my team, even if it's not Franck. He has just broken the 1,000 tweet mark which means he has a way to go to match Rubens but is still ahead of the rest.

Oddly, the next most prolific driver is Jenson Button, which lands him directly in my test seat. That means the defending World Champion can't actually keep his hands on his title, unless something happens to either of my main drivers. That's entirely possible, of course, they might get repetitive strain injury in their thumbs, so perhaps Button would get the call up sooner than he might think.

That's my team - three excellent drivers, with three fabulous Twitter accounts. We'll be called Team140, and due to cost-cutting measures, we have to restrict the number of employees to 140. Everyone else in the team will have to tweet too, and together, we could take over the micro-blogging world.

Thursday Thoughts - What Features From Other Series' Would Benefit F1?

This week, Turkey Machine has taken up the Thursday Thoughts baton and presents us with this question:

What features or regulations from other racing series would benefit F1, and why?

Immediately, I panicked, because it's no secret that I watch very few other motorsport series unless they have a certain Frenchman in them. That, of course, is my way in, though. The Le Mans 24 Hours has quite a lot of bits and pieces that would be interesting to see featured in F1.

One of the most fascinating concepts that Le Mans introduced recently is the diesel powered cars. The idea has been around for a while, but Audi built the first victory winning diesel for the 2006 race, and the fuel has really taken off since then. Peugeot built a competitor to match, and the pair of them have been going head to head each year without a sniff of petrol.

For every disadvantage the diesel has, particularly being heavy and sluggish, there are advantages, and one that particularly applies to F1 is the fuel economy. With the ban of refuelling coming in for this season and beyond, fuel economy is going to be one of the most important factors of a race. Every drop of liquid on board can add time to a lap, so perhaps a switch to diesel could start a revolution.

The other element of Le Mans racing that fascinates me is the pit stops. A car has to be shut off as it refuels, which obviously makes things a lot safer for the personnel involved. F1 has no refuelling at the moment, so that isn't really an important factor, but something worth noting for the future.

There aren't enormous amounts of personnel involved in a Le Mans pit stop, compared to the army of mechanics trained to service an F1 car. A pair of mechanics run round to each corner of the car, changing the tyres. Just two men. It's quite amusing watching them dash around the car, and I think this would add something to F1 pit stops, particularly if there is to be no other action going on.

It would be particularly good if it was the same two men at each team for every race. The pressure would be on them to do a perfect job, we would be able to see who was good and who let the side down. You could even end up learning their names! Making F1 more human was an added bonus I hadn't considered when I thought this idea up.

Of course, the other thing that F1 needs to take from Le Mans is Franck, but I believe that to be a whole other blog post!

Daily: 18th January 2010

It can't possibly be Monday again, can it? It looks like it is. Apparently it is Winnie the Pooh day today, as well, which is good, although I have always preferred Piglet. Autosport International is all over, so we can return to regularly scheduled news, and here are some of the things we're talking about:

• Talking of Autosport International, Franck was spotted on several occasions at the event. This time last year, we were there and I was hiding from him behind a pillar. For 2010, I get to watch all the videos that other people got for me. I've posted two on I Heart Franck here and here, and Pat also got some footage of FKM as well. Yum!
• We promoted the brand new Sidepodcast Calendar recently, and I wrote a post explaining the ins and outs of it. This is just a quick update to say that the calendar now has it's very own page at sidepodcast.com/calendar. It's super duper easy to remember now, and it will be there forever!
• Yesterday, we were talking about the concept of testing and how it's changing. In particular, we're starting to think it has less significance. Martin Brundle thinks different though, and Autosport have video on his views of the future of testing. The video is a funny shape though.

That should do it for now. I hope your Monday is going okay, and as ever, I'll see you in the comments.

Daily: 16th January 2010

Saturday at long last, and it is still that pesky racing show taking up all the headlines. Actually there were not that many yesterday, except from a certain Jon Waldock who tweeted that he spotted Franck, and just at the thought of him being there, I got all giggly, so it's a good thing we didn't go this year. Anyway, here are some of the things we're up to:

• There seems to be a lot of talk about Twitter at the moment, as we suddenly realised there are certain members of the Sidepodcommunity who passed the 9,000 tweet mark and that pretty much blew our minds. Mr C is somewhere in the late 3,000s whilst I still have yet to reach 1k. We really must tweet more. This also seems like a good opportunity to plug the SPC Twitter list on the playground.
• We've got another great guest post from Steven, taking a look at the history of another driver in F1, and particularly at some of the safety aspects in the sport. Don't forget if you have an idea for a guest post, we are all ears!
• I also want to plug this week's Friday Fun, because although it is no longer Friday, it really is a good one. Try and fit in as many song lyrics from a particular band in a made up F1 related press release. It's sometimes easy, sometimes hard, depending on which artist you pick. If you haven't had a go already, please do, we're really enjoying reading them.

That will do for now. It turns out we're not doing a live show this weekend, so ignore what the calendar says. However, I will see you in the comments.

Daily: 5th January 2010

It's Franck's birthday! Woooohoo. Happy Birthday to everybody's favourite Frenchman. I hope he is having lots of lovely cake and celebrating as is appropriate for one's 32nd birthday. Meanwhile, I need to return my attention to more Formula 1 shaped things, so here's what's catching our eye at the moment:

• As Pat pointed out yesterday, we seem to be on a bit of a redesign tip at the moment, so it's only fair to point out the brand new Viva F1 site, that is actually the new destination for Pitlane Fanatic fans. It's a fresh year and a fresh start for the blog and forum, and they kick off with a great post about G forces, and a book review as well.
• Good news for Kubica fans as it looks like he will remain at Renault after concerns emerged at the end of last year regarding the investment by Genii Capital. His manager said there weren't any real doubts but they just had questions that needed answering, and it absolutely wasn't about money. Whatever it was about, it looks to be sorted now.
• I also wrote a post yesterday about the complaints from Peter Windsor over the summer shutdown. He has some interesting points but it doesn't look like he has much support, so I'm curious to hear your thoughts on the topic.

That'll do it for now. Don't forget to put yourself on the listener map if you haven't already, and I will see you in the comments.

2010 F1 New Year's Resolutions

Last year, we opened up the blog to your new year resolutions. They were meant to be F1 related, but as it happens, writing your promises down, and sharing them with a community, is a great way of getting the motivation to keep them up - whether they are F1 related or not. That's the theory anyway.

Recently, we ran through how successful we had been with our 2009 resolutions, and I think it can be summed up as: hmmm.

Mine, in particular, were a little over-ambitious, so I am toning it down a little for 2010:

1. Try and stay up later to take part in the best conversations.
2. Speak to Franck.
3. Keep track of birthdays and Sidepodversaries for daily post shoutouts. (Sorry Journeyer.)
4. Expand collection of F1 themed keyrings. (Don't tell Mr C, he hates junk.)
5. Try and stay more positive about Formula 1 as a whole.

These seem to be doable, and I am keen to be a much better person by the end of the year by means of these small changes. Mr C, on the other hand, is going big and setting some quite lofty goals. Here are his resolutions:

1. Stop making ludicrous bets with Lou, otherwise I'll end up wearing McLaren attire all season.
2. Read the show notes.
3. Make more use of the playground for blindingly brilliant innovations.
4. Never miss a single word that Christine writes over her many blogs, including the contents of the daily posts... and F1 Minute.
5. Finally get round to making that merchandise Christine keeps nagging me about.

That should keep him busy for a while, at least. Now it's over to you. What are your New Year's resolutions - F1 related or otherwise? As usual, we will revisit these at the end of the year and see how well we all got on, so choose carefully!

Friday Fun - Create Your Own Press Release

It's Friday Fun time again, as we try and lighten the off season - something particularly important after the week we've just had! This time, I'd actually forgotten it was Friday, but thanks to a last minute idea from Lukeh in the comments, we have a game to play. Here's the premise:

Create your own press release. Choose a driver/s, choose an event, choose a consequence/action

This is a very interesting one as it can vary wildly from serious business to something rather ridiculous, and I know we're going to see some great responses.

For now, here's an example from me:

Press Release
Rockall 20.11.09.
Sidepodracers would like to confirm that they have signed their drivers for the 2010 season - Franck Montagny and Yun Zi - the baby panda.

Understandably, we have brought Franck in for his considerable expertise and epxerience, whereas we have gone for youth with Yun Zi. We are hoping to be able to train the panda up. Our only concern is the language barrier between our two drivers.

Yes, that really is our only concern.

End.

I'm sure you can all do much better than that, though, so I look forward to seeing plenty of press releases throughout the day. Get typing!