Sidepodcast

Silverstone vs. Silverstone

We have been asking for your stories of racing events that you've attended. Yesterday, Lady Snowcat described her freezing visit to Sweden to watch Kimi, and today Lewis talks about two separate Silverstone events and tries to compare the two.

Credit: cmonville (creative commons)

The Peugeot 908 flies around Silverstone during the Autosport 1000km in 2008.

Silverstone. The quintessential British racing circuit. Greasy fast food, Maggots and Becketts, plagues of souvenir stands and die hard British racing fans. Having been there twice, I've felt the buzz of the field going past many times. But surely my visits can't have been any different?

I first went to Silverstone in 2008, on a typically autumnal day. I was going to watch Le Mans Series, the final race of the season, the title decider. I was going as a guest of Peugeot, and as I sat in Luffield B with a Peugeot flag and cap in my hands, the field went past at an amazing pace. The atmosphere was electric, it felt as though a lightning bolt had passed through all of our bodies. It was a feeling I won't forget.

After a while, we went for a walk. There were lines and lines of souvenir stands. Magazines, caps, flags, books, programmes. It would have taken days to visit everything. The Le Mans organisers really knew what the spectators wanted.

The paddock was open that day, a chance for fans to see what was behind the pit lane. Across the infamous bridge, we walked past motorhomes, cafés and team personnel. I felt like a VIP, even though it was public. Every two minutes, you got a complimentary car sticker, or a free flag. They catered for everything. There was even an opportunity to buy used tyres from Dunlop or Michelin. Autosport (who were the title sponsors of the event) were also fantastic. I bought their magazine, then got laden with three free books. A truly awesome day.

I came back in 2009, to watch the World Series by Renault formula. My expectations were high. Brendon Hartley (a driver that I can't wait to see in F1) was driving, and I felt the same buzz as before as I stood at Becketts, watching the twenty-strong field fly past. I was lucky enough to stand at Bridge corner and see Fernando Alonso drive past in his Renault.

It was only when we started to go walkies that it failed to live up to my impressions. The only souvenir stands were official Renault stands, and the prices were outrageous. £7.50 for a fridge magnet?! The only free thing I got was a badly made flag, and the only attractions were the 'official ING funfair' and Renault's heritage. The paddock was non-existent, only for a few manic drivers driving crates of tyres around. You couldn't buy those. Renault disappointed me. They should've done a lot better. The pressure from 'Crash-gate' perhaps? All of the souvenir stands were gone, there were none of the cheerful helpers that pointed the way to confused fans. Even all of the mobile cafés were gone (I didn't want an official ING sandwich, I just wanted a normal one).

Overall, you could see the effort each set of organisers put in to the event. I don't think I'll be going to anything for Renault any time soon. Le Mans Series? Yes.

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...

FIA Call Extraordinary Meeting of the WMSC

The ING Renault F1 team have been summoned to appear before the World Motor Sport Council in Paris on the 21st September. This afternoon the FIA put out the following statement:

Representatives of ING Renault F1 have been requested to appear before an extraordinary meeting of the FIA World Motor Sport Council in Paris on Monday, 21 September 2009.

The team representatives have been called to answer charges, including a breach of Article 151c of the International Sporting Code, that the team conspired with its driver, Nelson Piquet Jr, to cause a deliberate crash at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix with the aim of causing the deployment of the safety car to the advantage of its other driver, Fernando Alonso.

The hearing will take place the Monday prior to this year's Singapore Grand Prix.

Updated: Renault have responded to the FIA's request to appear before the WMSC:

The ING Renault F1 Team acknowledges the FIA's request for representatives of the team to appear before the FIA World Motor Sport Council in Paris on the 21st of September 2009.

Before attending the hearing, the team will not make any further comment.

Daily: 17th February 2009

So far, we have all the signs of a slow news week, but as it is only Tuesday, things could soon pick up. Most of the stories we heard yesterday were speculation and rumour - but when has that ever stopped us?

• USF1 suggested they would love to test Danica if she was interested, mostly because she generates a lot of press. Okay, that's not the biggest compliment in the world, but if she were to line up on the grid - how competitive would she be? Who would she be on a level with, and would she be able to win?
• The Honda rumours continue apace, with first Petrobras coming out to dismiss the Senna backed contemplation, and then Grandprix.com suggesting that Richard Branson would be bringing his Virgin brand into the mix. As of yet, we know nothing concrete, and I know there are many getting frustrated with the lack of actual news.
• Meanwhile, the confirmation from ING that they will be pulling out from F1 completely at the end of this year has cast doubt over Renault's future. Briatore says the cost cutting measures will keep the team in the sport for a few years yet, and Bob Bell has predicted a good, strong few races to start this season off with. If they win, things should be fine, but if the start of the year is anything like 2008 - the bosses won't be happy, will they?

That'll do for now. There'll be some testing updates from Bahrain, no doubt, although I have to admit it's not quite as exciting now they're actually getting some running in. Nevertheless, I will see you in the comments.

ING to Cut Back on Sponsorship

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

ING entered Formula 1 becoming the title sponsor of Renault, and they were soon plastered across the entire calendar - advertising at Grands Prix, and being featured on the TV coverage at Singapore.

Now, with financial troubles hitting F1 from all angles, the sponsor have decided to cut back on their sponsorship budget for the upcoming year. They announced a forecast of a massive loss and have had to admit to redundancies as well.

This will undoubtedly affect Renault, although the Dutch company hasn't said what exactly their plans are for continuing their title sponsorship. The official statement simply said: "The remainder of the expense reduction comes from decreasing costs for our head office, marketing, the Formula One program, consultancy..."

It's a bad time for Renault, as they are hitting the headlines for all the wrong reasons. They were particularly slow at the recent test, and have had to come out and say they aren't concerned. However, they were spotted at a small airport in the UK doing some straight-line testing. It's not unusual for teams to do a little extra testing like this and we shouldn't read too much into it. I think it's too early to suggest that any one team are struggling, as testing times during the off season are not really representative of how things will turn out in Australia.

However, the other aspect of F1 that will be affected by ING's decision to cut back is some of the circuits. ING are the title sponsor for several of the races, and advertise at almost all of them. For 2009, they are scheduled to host Australia, Belgium, Hungary and Turkey. Whether this will be affected at all, has yet to be seen.

Organisers of the Belgian Grand Prix are particularly concerned. They have been struggling recently, and know that corporate tickets make up a lot of their overall sales. Roughly 3,000 tickets are snapped up by ING each year, and Belgian organisers are worried that they may not be interested in picking up so many tickets for employees and entertaining this year.

Renault Testing in the UK Today

As Grandprix.com pointed out this morning, Renault were putting the R29 through its paces at Kemble Airport in the Cotswolds today.

After a tip-off from someone who works at the site, I arrived early with our camera. Piquet was on hand to do a number of short runs on a damp runway, before the sun came out around midday. As noted in the article above, the team arrived with a total of five transporters, although if you look at the pictures of Williams attending a similar test last year, they brought four, so it doesn't appear Renault have turned up with an especially high number this time around.

It's the first time I've seen a 2009 specification car up close, and I can't say the Renault looks any better in the flesh than it did during the launch. The livery is striking, especially in overcast conditions, while the (presumably now retuned engine) sounds astonishing.

I've not been near a living F1 car since Goodwood FoS so I'm somewhat excited to have heard and smelt the fantastic machinery today. I can tell you that as I left the test I could still hear the engine screaming away in the distance when I was over 4 miles away.

Update: Here's a video taken from one of the morning runs. The sound is a little messed up by the wind, and you'll probably want to hit the download button to watch in high-definition, it's the only way you'll see the car.

The fact Renault turned up with five trucks today appears have created a significant amount of buzz around the web, so let's take a look at them.

Lovely, aren't they? I guess you could argue it flies in the face of the FIA's attempts at cost cutting measures, but is it inherently wrong and should there be a limit applied to straight line testing too?

Video 6 - Canada Preview

• Length: 05:58 
• Size: 68.5 MB 
• File: video6.m4v 
• Transcript: video6.pdf 
• Torrent: video6.torrent 

It's time to leave the fair shores of Europe and head West, as the Formula 1 show crosses the Atlantic to Canada and the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Allow Christine to take you around the sights of Montreal and a lap of the track, as Sidepodcast does F1 - Canada style.

We'll also take a look at the unique braking demands this track poses for drivers, as well as catching up with the ING Formula 1 Race Index to compare how the asphalt across the Atlantic stacks up to streets of Monaco.

Music played: Derek K. Miller, Fresh Snow in the Valley

Music comes from music.podshow.com, with special thanks going to Allianz SE, Brembo and Toyota Motorsports GmbH, for the use of their video footage.