Sidepodcast

Approaching the Start Line

We're known for being a cynical lot here at Sidepodcast, so it's down to guest writer Lukeh to provide us with his view of the upcoming season, with a well needed reminder that things are looking up.

Credit: Glenn Dunbar/LAT Photographic

Rubens surveys the scene from the Williams garage.

It’s nearly upon us once again. The worldwide travelling circus of merry men known as the collective of Formula 1 once again begins taking our attention in just a few weeks and there can’t be any denial, surely, that 2010 is going to be a huge year. Excitement isn’t anywhere near the feeling that the start of the season conjures up inside me. Everyone will have their own reasons why they’re looking forward to the new season – perhaps the return of Schumacher is the fuel to your fire, or the fact that the grid this year is jam-packed full of world champions, and also possibly Jacques Villeneuve. Maybe the new teams and their friendly feud, namely Lotus and Virgin, are adding that extra dimension of rivalry that makes the sport even spicier. It could even be just Formula 1 returning after a long winter that gets that excitement flowing! Whatever the reason, with testing already underway and most of the cars unveiled, F1 is returning very soon. For me, I have my own reason why I’m really looking forward to the 2010 season though.

Predictably, if you know me, the thought of Rubens Barrichello being at Williams is a hugely happy thought. This is a pretty odd statement considering if you asked me in October I would have said quite the opposite. As times change though so can feelings and as time has moved on since his Brawn departure, the closer we’ve gotten to the new season, the more I’ve been anticipating his first race in Frank Williams’ greatest venture. We all know of the success of 2009 for the Brazilian – it was a huge year for his career and I think, as a driver, it gave a more deserved view towards the man. It would be hard to deny that times have been frustrating over the years for Rubens. Upon his arrival into the sport, he soon lost the driver he looked up to, and more importantly his friend, in Ayrton Senna. Whilst he took the chance to prove himself at Jordan and Stewart, his move to Ferrari provided far less than he deserved. Many knew that Barrichello had the ability but, when you’re stuck under Michael Schumacher’s rule at Ferrari, favouritism is going to be a big issue. Rubens had to prove himself.

The Ferrari debacle, however, has one good side to it. Whilst he found the victories and performances when needed, Rubens never got the attention that Michael did and whilst it’s arguable if he’s a better driver or not (7 world championships don’t happen just on luck), Rubens had to prove himself at Ferrari. He had to prove himself as a newbie in the Jordan, he had to prove himself in Jackie Stewart’s lineup for Stewart Racing, he had to prove that moving from Ferrari to Honda was a move worth making, and he had to prove that the faith Ross Brawn had instilled in him in 2009 was worth paying off for. Rubens Barrichello is a driver that maybe doesn’t have the necessary assets to be a world champion, but he’s a passionate driver. He wants to race. In 2010 he will be proving once again, at the age of 37 and after 288 Grand Prix, why he still has the ability to be in Formula 1 and be just as good as any world champion alongside him, as well as joining a team that he has so long desired to be a part of because of his hero’s past. Now he has it, and it’s time once again to prove why the move to Williams after leaving Brawn was a decision worth making.

There are a few admissions from my own point of view though regarding a few issues. When it seemed that the Team-Formerly-Known-As-Honda were indeed going to make it to the grid, I did not expect Rubens to be part of the team that went on to be Brawn GP. Whilst Barrichello had experience, it seemed that the sponsorship and name of Bruno Senna would prevail as Jenson Button’s teammate. Ross Brawn went for experience, and my dream team of Button and Barrichello carried on for another year. What a year it was. Furthermore, in the previous decade Williams became very much a team that faded into anonymity for me as a fan. They attracted drivers with no huge star power and saw the performance of the car fade in comparison to decades before it. The initial announcement of Barrichello’s move to Williams was met with a great deal of dismay from myself. As I previously stated though, as time goes on feelings can change and studying this team in greater detail, I can admit I was very much wrong to ignore them.

So this is mostly for me why I’m looking so much towards the upcoming season. Sure, the car won’t be what Brawn was in 2009, but it’s another new chapter in the story of a grand prix driver who drives with a smile on his face. Schumacher's return is huge for the sport, and it’ll be interesting to see how he performs at Mercedes. The introduction of such teams as Lotus, with their striking livery, and Virgin add new layers of unexpectedness to the grid. The titanic partnerships, like Hamilton and Button or Alonso and Massa, are going to be worth keeping an eye on. As I say, for me this new chapter in Rubens’ career is one I greet with much excitement and anticipation. We all have reasons for why we want the sport to return, but as the excitement gradually builds up and as the length to the first race shortens, the feeling of knowing that first race weekend is just around the corner is one that typed words can’t describe. It’s nearly here.

As a Formula 1 fan, I say to you all - let us not enter this new season with the typical pessimism of a Ferrari tweet but of a mood that shouts out optimism and sanguinity for the sport we all love so much. Let us be assured that no matter what may happen, that we should enjoy the sport for what happens on that track with a grid full of passionate racers. Yes, the sport finds ways to annoy us from time to time, and yes, there are changes to things far too often, but in a few weeks time we will find ourselves waking up at silly o’clock, perhaps with a beverage in hand or a duvet hugging us close in the early hours, with our eyes grabbed to the souls that make up the world of Formula 1, with those fortnightly Sunday afternoons seeming a mile apart because we want each race to hurry up. A new era has begun under Jean Todt’s presidency, and a new decade of Formula 1 soon begins with that. Formula 1 is coming back, and I for one am beaming with excitement.

Are you ready?

Daily: 18th February 2010

Although it was raining in Jerez yesterday, it was intermittent and that meant we saw a good bit of running, even if it wasn't representative of anything. Virgin Racing are still struggling, and they are who I am keeping my eye on today. I hope you'll join me in the dedicated testing thread to do the same (or similar for whichever team you're interested in). Elsewhere:

• We're also keeping an eye out for any US F1 related news, as the rumour mill is really hotting up that there are bad vibes coming from Peter Windsor and the team. There is nothing concrete, and it's all speculation at the moment, but this is a similar feeling to the one's that happened before Honda and before Toyota.
• In better news, KerbRider gave us some more thoughts on the upcoming season in another great guest post - this time focusing on the relationships between the drivers in the four teams we'll all be watching closely. There are some interesting thoughts in there, and it's well worth a read. The inter-team relationships are going to be super important this year, I think.
• We were curious why Lotus ran Fauzy on their first day of testing, particularly as Heikki was at Jerez, tweeting away from the garage. Apparently, the car lacked some power steering though, so perhaps Heikki didn't want to bother when the car wasn't going to be setup right? Either way, the new team did really well, certainly won the battle of the new boys in terms of first day of testing!
• Dan Brunell has published this week's Thursday Thoughts question and it's a tough one. Head on over to his site for more detail, and leave a comment or blog your response before the end of today. Don't forget to plug like crazy if you take part.

That should do it for now. Let us know what you're up to, and how you're coping with horrible Thursday, and I will see you in the comments.

Thursday Thoughts - Is Engine Parity Necessary for 2010?

This week's question for Thursday Thoughts was posed by Maverick of Pitlane Fanatic, and relates to comments made by Christian Horner of Red Bull Racing earlier this week. Initially I thought the answer was simple and that this might be a very short post, but maybe there's more to it than that?

Horner suggested on Tuesday that his team were holding back on renewing the contract with existing engine partner Renault, until the outcome of meeting between members of the Formula One Commission next week, was understood. Specifically the topic of interest is engine parity and the team boss is adamant that a means of equalising engine performance within the sport should be found.

Which brings us to this week's question: Is engine parity necessary for 2010?

Nothing Left to Win

I completely understand Christian's stance, and although I don't for one second think he'll ink an engine deal with anyone other than Renault, I am glad he's brought the issue to the public's attention. Ever since the idea of engine homologation was first suggested by the FIA, Christine and I have been dead set against it. Sport at it's most basic level is about competition and standardising any part of that competition, for whatever reason, rarely serves to benefit the sport or those that compete.

Right now engine manufacturers are exiting the sport left, right and center. There may be a number of factors that have instigated such a mass exodus, but can it be entirely coincidental that the one engine manufacturer bucking this trend and investing heavily in Formula 1, is the one who also happens to have built the most competitive engine? The same engine that recently took both the drivers and constructors championships?

In a recent article Auto Motor und Sport noted that this year the Toyota engine was approximately 18hp down on the Mercedes. That equates to a couple of tenths a lap. In the past Toyota could have worked harder, invested more heavily or innovated in unique ways to claw back some of that deficit, but in the midst of an engine freeze their hands are tied.

Power of Goodbye

I have long argued that one of the primary reasons Honda quit this sport is because they knew their homologated engine was a complete lemon. I suspect company culture prevented those involved from openly admitting such a thing, and bailing out of the sport altogether was the lesser evil. Could Brawn have achieved what they did this year under Honda power? I very much doubt it. That engine regularly failed in hot temperatures, which was exactly where the Brawn chassis and tyre combination worked its magic.

I believe FIA engine homologation contributed to the demise of Honda. I strongly suspect it had a bearing on Toyota's decision to quit too, while BMW's legendary power advantage just a few years back was likely curtailed by the same restrictions. Add to that mix the spectre of a non-competitive tyre supplier, and the F1 development race exists solely in the domain of the aerodynamics and chassis department. Imagine working in the wind tunnel and being told you first have to claw back a 3/10ths of a second engine deficit before you start, what hope do you really have?

None of this of course answers the initial question, and in part that's because any form of agreed engine parity will simply be a sticky plaster over the gaping homologation wound. Last year Renault were allowed minor engine upgrades for exactly this reason, but clearly they didn't have the desired effect despite all teams agreeing that they would. Who's to say further tweaking will fair any better?

In years gone by, a poor engine would likely cost you a season. In the modern era, you can wipe out five or more and if that's the case you may as well walk away. Parity may offer some small respite, so kudos to Christian for trying, but I suspect exactly the same question will come up again this time next year.

Who Are They, Anyway - Mercedes Young Drivers

As we continue our quest to find out more about the young drivers who will be testing in Formula 1 machinery at Jerez next week, we turn our attention to the Mercedes drivers. We looked at the Toro Rosso duo yesterday, but now it's time to have a look at the former Brawn GP team.

Mike Conway

• Age: 26
• Nationality: British
• F1 Experience: Test driver for Honda Racing in 2007.
• Notable Achievements: 1st in British Formula Renault 2004, 1st in British F3 2006, 12th in GP2 2008, 17th in IndyCar 2009

Conway is relatively old for the young driver test, and has been linked with Honda test driver roles for quite a few years now. His career has progressed through Formula Ford and Formula Renault, to GP2 and he made the switch to IndyCar this year. He had a mixed season with just one third place podium towards the end of the season. He also had quite the crash during practice for the Indy 500 and was taken to hospital with concussion worries.

He's managed by 2MB - the company formed by Martin Brundle and Mark Blundell - and has links with the previous incarnation of this team. He's currently scheduled to run for three days, sharing each with Ericsson.

Marcus Ericsson

• Age: 19
• Nationality: Swedish
• F1 Experience: None
• Notable Achievements: 1st in Formula BMW UK 2007, 1st in Japanese Formula Three 2009, 4th Macau Grand Prix 2009

I can't seem to find any reference to Ericsson in terms of previous Formula 1 experience, so this may be his first time in an F1 car - and what a way to start, with a championship winning team. At the moment, Ericsson is competing in the 2009-10 GP2 Asia series, with events at Abu Dhabi and Bahrain.

He's so far finished 11th and 12th during the Formula 1 support race in Abu Dhabi. Not great, but at least he is getting experience of F1 tracks. Previously his British Formula Three outings saw him race at Monza, Spa, Silverstone and Hockenheim as well.

Marcus is currently scheduled to test alongside Conway for all three days of the Jerez test.

Switching Allegiances

Over the last couple of days, there have been mumblings of more bad news on the way for teams. The possibility exists that BMW may not have chosen wisely with Qadbak, whilst Joe is ringing the alarm bells for Renault. I haven't been paying too much attention to these rumours, as I prefer the facts to the speculation, but I received an email from a listener that sparked my interest.

Andrew Lane wrote to me and said:

Just read Joe’s blog about Carlos Ghosn and his comments for the future of Renault F1 and having supported Renault since the early 90’s, I am very sad.

If the team is sold I think I will have a subsequent soft spot for the new team but long term I am not so sure that will be enough. Brawn would have been the obvious choice to switch but now it is wholly Mercedes Benz some of the attraction is diminished. All the new teams, Lotus, Manor, USF1 and Campos will hold that ever strong need to support the underdog but if they all make a big hash of it it’s not going to be very rewarding. Alonso has obviously been my favourite driver of late so do I follow him to Ferrari?

Just wanted to get these thoughts in the open as they have been with me since all the uncertainty since Crashgate!

It was a difficult off-season last year, as we lived through the Honda story alongside their most ardent fans. The highs and lows, hopes and fears were quite the rollercoaster, and even though I had no particular allegiance to Honda, I was right there with those that did.

This year looks to be no different. The BMW story is ongoing, with Mario Theissen admitting he has no idea what their future holds. Toyota don't appear to want to save their team, but it was a rocky few moments for Glock fans, and Trulli fans must still be holding their breath. If Renault put us through the same thing, will there be any fans left?

It must be great to be a Ferrari fan. No wonder the Tifosi are so passionate, they have had years of practice! Meanwhile Force India fans have had to live through many iterations of the same team. Can that so-called "DNA" really be strong enough to keep your support? I'm curious if you have followed a manufacturer team, or one that has been on the market quite a lot - are you still sticking by them? Or have you been burned and never want to follow another team again? Would it be easier to follow drivers instead?

Auf Wiedersehen, Goodbye

BMW announced this morning that they will be pulling out of Formula 1 at the end of this season. There seems to be a combination of factors involved in this decision including "strategic realignment", "environmental compatability" and "future viability." For these I read: "we're not doing very well, we're not sure where F1 is going, and we're better off out of it." Perhaps I am just a big cynic.

The first thing that springs to mind with this announcement is that it hasn't had the same effect as Honda's shock withdrawal at the end of last year. Back then, we had to curtail a holiday to return and cover the story as we wanted to. Although we aren't on holiday right now, it's not having anything like the same impact.

Naturally, the big concern is the employees back at the factory, and to a lesser extent, the drivers left without a seat. At the moment it's unclear whether the team will be sold, or if they are closing completely. There's talk that FOTA are behind the team and will do whatever they can to save them, there are thoughts that the Sauber name could live on, and I've seen rumours about the unsuccessful 2010 teams eyeing a potential entry into the sport.

There seems to be a lot more options this time round than there were when Honda pulled the plug, but is that all it is? Has this rocked the F1 World in the same way? Is it because Honda were the first? Let's have a poll to see where BMW fall on the scale of shockability.

To me, this announcement simply proves that if you plan something step by step and rigidly stick to that plan, it's not going to work out. Let us know what you think!

Keeping in Touch

Back in 2007, Christine and I attended our first ever Grand Prix. We went to the British GP at Silverstone, and it's fair to say we weren't very prepared. We stayed on site for the full three days, courtesy of Honda, but had no internet connectivity for the duration.

Although Sidepodcast had only been going for a couple of months, it meant we couldn't keep the site up-to-date in our absence, and we couldn't track any breaking news stories either. Predictably, because it's Silverstone, a major story broke on the Friday (on this occasion it was news of Nick Fry's meeting with Stepney / Coughlan), and having no other means of finding out what the heck was going on, we resorting to quizzing Maurice Hamilton for info instead.

_{2007 Honda Scooters}

Twice as Nice

In 2008, we again visited the British Grand Prix, this time having had chance to try out some form of 3G connectivity at the preceding Silverstone F1 test.

Armed with a fairly clunky mobile phone and what felt like a military spec laptop, we set about keeping the site up-to-date, and passing comments about our weekend back to anyone following at home. It wasn't a massive success though, given the laptop lasted barely an hour between charges and the phone struggled once more than 500 comments had been posted.

On returning home, we were faced with what seemed like an endless list of improvements to be made before coming back.

Third Time Lucky

We've already covered in depth changes made this year to our hardware setup. Whilst in the background, Sidepodcast commenting functionality has quietly been improving to the point that it's now perfectly suited to following discussions from the grandstand at Copse - as we discovered when we settled in Friday morning at Silverstone.

During Free Practice one, we found ourselves relaxing with a Kangaroo TV in one hand, live comments in the other, 5Live commentary in our ears and race cars screaming past in front of us. We must've been the most informed people at the circuit. The folks in the media center may have had all the live timing screens in the world, but did they have a group of people watching, contributing and offering insight too?

Better yet, commenting has improved such that it's not just possible to follow, but posting and interacting was a breeze too. I fired off a quick question relating to 5Live's third presenter, and 20 seconds later received three replies that DJ Johnny Walker was in the commentary booth too.

On returning home this year, we came back without any kind of to do list.

_{Sutil Tackles Copse in 2009}

Live commenting just works. It's a fantastic thing to have with you trackside and joining in the fun is free (connectivity costs aside). Should you be interested, there are multiple ways you can contribute to the conversation:

• Live Commenting, Live... Thing - The ideal solution if you're travelling to a race with your laptop (and we spotted a few who do).
• Real-time Doohickey - Perfect for following and commenting if you have a modern hand held device (iPhone, G1, Blackberry etc).
• Real-time Mobile - A page for everyone else (especially anyone with older mobile phones).

There are plenty of races remaining this season, and if you're going to any of them, please don't forget to bookmark those links and comment to us from track. These days we live in a remarkably small world and there's no reason for anyone to feel as disconnected as we did back in 2007.

Keep in touch won't you?

Daily: 5th April 2009

Race day once again, and we're certainly looking forward to this one. We desperately didn't want rain in Australia so we could at least attempt to see the natural order of things. Although really we are still clueless, I'm not so against a downpour or two in Malaysia this weekend. Here's what we've been talking about whilst we wait for the race:

• The stewards rejected BMW's second attempt at a protest, but this was completely expected. The team put in the complaint really just as a formality so that the results of the Malaysian GP would be counted as well as the results of the Australian race - assuming things go their way at the hearing.
• Ross Brawn has done a terrible, terrible thing by using the word DNA, Brawn and Honda in the same sentence. Actually, no, he hasn't, but it looks like he's attributing a lot of the team's current success to the people that were there before he even arrived - suggesting he has only made a few changes here and there.
• Still thinking about qualifying, and how rubbish Ferrari are. What were they thinking? They can't possibly have thought that the time they'd set would see them through, could they? Was it really worth all that just to save an extra set of tyres? We do know they are hard on their tyres, but this seems the worst way to try and remedy the problem.

That'll do it for now. The racing starts at a sensible time for us in the UK, which is nice if only because at Sidepodcast Towers we really need to try and get our body clock's in order. Either way, we'll see you in the comments.

What We Did in the Off Season

Last night, in the comments, Mr C brought up the point that we have talked a lot during this off season. The comment count currently stands at 143,975, just a whisker away from hitting 144k. Steven Roy is also close to hitting the 2,000 comments over the past 30 days mark, which is not unheard of, but slightly unusual given the timing.

It is the off season, isn't it? It must be the best off season ever. Of course, the stress of following Honda, and the recent FIA madness may not make it the most enjoyable, but in terms of things to talk about, we couldn't ask for any more, could we?

So, let's make it official.

For us, it has been amazing, fascinating and brilliant, even though we didn't achieve everything we wanted. We made a list back at the beginning of November, and I can tell you now - we didn't go on tour, we didn't resurrect Sidepodquiz, we managed just one interview, the intended redesign didn't happen (yet), and LCLT is still waiting for it's upgrade.

However, we've enjoyed some great conversations, and produced some fun shows, which is mostly down to you guys. And it doesn't stop here.

We've got more fun stuff coming up, including:

• Live commenting Sebring on Saturday
• More Sidepodpanelling
• Live commenting the first GP of the season
• The return of the Parade Lap (but not in Australia, so hush!)
• F1 Minute / Big Picture going daily
• The redesign / LCLT updates and other things that haven't happened yet

It's going to be brilliant, we're glad to have you along for the ride, and if you've had better off-seasons we want to know about them.

Toyota Admits to F1 Doubt

This article was originally written for BellaOnline, but is republished here for posterity.

As soon as Honda announced their withdrawal from Formula 1, we knew things were going to have to change. FIA President Max Mosley has been pushing for cost-cutting for a long time, and it suddenly became a huge priority. At the time, we were worried that other teams, particularly those from the car manufacturers would follow Honda out the door. Thankfully, that didn't happen, and for 2009 we have a full complement of 10 teams on the grid.

Toyota were our main concern, as they have been ploughing a lot of money into Formula 1, and getting a relatively small return in terms of results. The marketing aspect is still there, in that people know of the brand and recognise it from F1, but the team have yet to score their first win.

Team Principal Tadashi Yamashina has now admitted that he had to fight hard to keep Toyota in Formula 1 for 2009. The company have been suffering at the hand of the economic crisis, and considered leaving soon after Honda had done so. Although the public statements suggested that the team were committed to their long-term future in F1, Yamashina says he had to confront the board and tell them that there was no way they should quit.

Yamashina also added that having a strong and continuing partnership with Panasonic helped, as their loyalty despite their own financial difficulties added great weight to his argument within Toyota. Other teams have struggled to secure sponsorship, and many others, such as Renault, are faced with losing their title sponsors at the end of this or the next season.

The bosses at Toyota agreed to allow the team to continue, but only if they submitted to massive budget cuts - with Yamashina saying the cuts were unprecedented, and larger than he's ever seen.

It seems as though the team have secured their future, at least for 2009, but what they really need now is to start getting some results. There is only so long you can trade off the F1 name without having anything to back it up with. To score even just one victory this season would make all the investment worthwhile, and offer a glimmer for the long-term future.