Alex Andronov guides us through his experience at a rather swanky event in London, where two veterans of motorsport were about to meet and share their memories with a select few.
After Sidepodcast announced the once in a lifetime chance to hear Murray Walker interview Sir Stirling Moss, I girded my bank account into action and booked my ticket.
The venue was to be the RAC - a members only club - in central London. A very swanky part of London. The dress code required a tie and so I got dressed up and headed to the venue. The RAC is a pretty swanky venue steeped in car history. They even have old cars just sitting in the lobby. I would like to tell you that I made copious notes about what this car was but sadly I got distracted by something else.
As I delicately supped at my glass of Champagne, I discreetly made a few comments on Sidepodcast just to let everyone know what was going on. After a while I decided to check if I could actually see Murray or Stirling. So I had to look away from my iPhone (other mobile doohickey devices are available) and look around the room.
Suddenly there they were. People were all being very polite and not approaching, they looked like they were in conversation with friends. But of course, let's face it, they were probably just in conversation with people who were more pushy than me. I tried to very subtly snap some pictures. It would appear that clandestine reconnaissance is not in my immediate future. For me subtle = shaky!
Slowly the room started filling up and I got chatting to a number of Formula 1 fans. I recommended that they all immediately check out the website of the greatest Formula 1 podcast in the world. The general consensus was that now they were here they would check out the talk, but they would check out the site afterwards.
While I had been chatting to these people the crowd had increased in size and a line had appeared for photos with Murray.
I passed my iPhone to a young guy who looked like he could deal with the modern technology.
There we had it. The key shot, bit blurry perhaps but it was proof nevertheless. I didn't get a chance to talk to the man himself because he was being distracted by the lady in the previous shot who had switched over to his other side. It didn't matter, I was happy!
I wondered about taking a few more photos (and even some video) while I waited for dinner.
Suddenly, we were whisked into a large dining room with lots of enormous round tables and plenty more new people to meet. I was sitting between a guy who didn't like Formula 1 anymore and a guy who was one of the James Bond stunt drivers. They were both very interesting to talk to. Dinner arrived.
I wasn't sure what was going to happen next. It seemed that there was some kind of rostrum ready for them to speak on. In all of the excitement I managed to spill gravy on my tie. The main attraction of the evening began with a short film talking about Sir Stirling's career, and after that Murray and Stirling took to the stage.
They started going when the microphones weren't working properly and so it was hard to work out exactly what was being said. Murray asked him how he got started in racing and he talked about his dad. Murray asked if Stirling had been pushed by his father and Stirling said that his dad was hard but fair. Put it this way, he said, if he had done something wrong he would get his mother to talk to his dad for him.
Then, thank goodness, they fixed the microphone and I managed to record the rest of the session. There were some absolute gems in the recording, and although the quality wasn't great, it was worth it.
With that, the mingling really got going. It was a great evening so thanks to Sidepodcast for the tip off and for all of the comments through the evening.
The two men are legends, and when you get a chance to listen to legends it isn't expensive, it's priceless.
Alex has very kindly passed the audio recording to us, and we will be releasing it as special podcast all of its own very soon.
The last day of June has rolled around (already!?) and it is Ralf Schumacher's birthday today. Yes, him, the other Schumacher. I wonder what he will be doing to celebrate his 34th birthday. Anyway, here are some of the things we've been talking about:
- Mario Theissen has become the next team boss to admit that the overtaking rules need some work. We can all see it, obviously, but it means a little bit more coming from the people who help to shape the rules in the first place. He does add that the fact the field has closed up so much is unexpected and has made things a lot more excited. Qualifying, yes, Mario. The race, not so much.
- Following on from Heikki's triumphant attempt at the Ask the Expert quiz on F1.com, Adrian Sutil steps up to have a go. He's not so hot on getting the correct answers, as Heikki managed to top the field of drivers asked so far, whilst Sutil falls way down the bottom of the order. Sounds familiar, no?
- I was thinking, you know those games where you take the best parts of various people to make an über-person? Who would make up your ideal driver? We're talking qualifying skill, overtaking ability, temperament, helmet colours, anything that makes up a driver. What do you reckon? I'm giving it some thought, let me know what you come up with.
That'll do it for now, I reckon. Feel free to discuss how quickly June has gone for you, I know it has absolutely flown for me. As ever, I will see you in the comments.
Jackie Stewart gave Formula One's top men both barrels in an interview with The Times today, calling for both Max Mosley and Bernie Ecclestone to step down.
The former World Champion doesn't hold back in his condemnation, suggesting Bernie is so focused on complete control that there's no way for a succession plan to be even considered let alone executed, and that Ecclestone is, well... getting old.
Stewart continues his criticism suggesting Bernie and Max are so close as to be "Siamese twins" and offers the damning verdict that:
They haven't looked after the house properly and the foundations are built on just this two-man working relationship.
This has evoked concern and apprehension on the part of those involved in the sport. When Max Mosley had the scandal erupt around him, how many team principals or owners spoke out?
None.
Furthermore Jackie fears that if the FIA could find an unsavoury past history to use against him, they would do. Nothing, it seems is off limits in this interview, and other highlights include:
- Revenue distribution comes under the spotlight, and is described as "untenable".
- The lack of a North American F1 race in 2009, is "ridiculous".
- While Max should "remove himself from the FIA completely and from motorsport and the motor industry".
This is gripping stuff. Everything spills out onto the page like someone popped the champagne cork, then couldn't stop the words from flowing. Finally somebody with a voice has spoken out and the criticism couldn't come from a more experienced, intelligent and respected man than Sir Jackie Stewart.
As you can imagine, I highly recommend you read the full text of the interview and absorb every single word - things like this don't come along that often. I think I may even have to go and buy a paper copy for posterity too.
One can only imagine the look on Bernie and Max's faces.
On his site today, DoctorVee offers a fine analysis of a recent in depth Mosley interview conducted by Adam Parsons of the BBC. It's well worth a read, but there's one point I'd like to add after watching the video myself.
It's clearly not coincidental that the only visible prop used in the shot is a scale model of a Ferrari, Max appears more than happy to face the FIA's Ferrari International Assistance criticisms head on. What I do find odd though, is the decision to display the back-end of the car.
It's clearly a pre-2008 model (maybe someone could name the year / chassis?), because it features blatant Marlboro decals on the engine cover and rear wing. I have to ask though, what statement is Max trying to make, is he personally sponsored by Philip Morris and why did the BBC allow such shameless and blatant advertising? Especially given that their advertising policy states:
The BBC is not permitted to carry advertising or sponsorship on its public services. This keeps them independent of commercial interests and ensures that they can be run instead to serve the general public interest.
Add to the mix the fact that tobacco sponsorship has been banned in the UK since the summer of 2005, and you have a right mess of conflicting ethics coming from auntie.
Doubtless, prior to filming, the camera crew spent considerable time picking a prime location for the interview and then lighting the set correctly. Even then, if a mistake had been made, the branding could easy have been blurred post-production, as is frequently the case in news bulletins. You could argue that the logo isn't clear enough to be of any concern, but with Ferrari happy to run around the world displaying a set of subliminal stripes, the appearance of the infamous Marlboro typeface should be more than enough to set alarm bells ringing.
The beeb ran this video as it's lead motorsport story yesterday and they appear to be happy to promote a certain brand of cigarettes with impunity. I guess those F1 rights didn't come cheap at all.
The second week in a row in which we feature a guest, and this time there's some insight into turning old technologies into the future.
Intro
There's this new idea about gathering together news stories and separating them into those that have been good and those that have been bad. Where have we heard that before?
Good Week / Bad Week
Good week for Ferrari and Takuma Sato as they're both sorting out their drives for next year, but a bad week for Nurburgring and Valencia as the organisers have some work to do.
News and Views
A quick catchup of testing this week at Monza, which Renault's determination to go slowly whatever the costs, and Force India possibly evaluating their drivers. We talk to Scott Woodwiss about his thoughts on this season compared to others, the regulation changes, and how F1 can get back to America.
Prost Questionnaire
Thanks to Alex Andronov, our guest from last week, we have a new feature for guests in which they are subjected to ten quick-fire questions.
Feedback
A voicemail from Shaun, some more You Know You're an F1 Fan... entries, and TV coverage in Mexico.
Housekeeping
With a brand new Sunday show on the way, this one becomes F1 Debrief, and look forward to The Parade Lap next weekend.
Linkage
Amongst all the chaos of the back-to-back races we've just enjoyed, Christine somehow managed to fit in an interview about Sidepodcast for BBC's Radio Five Live. The show, called For the Love of Pod was broadcast in the UK yesterday (Easter bank holiday Monday) and discussed the world of podcasts and podcasting.
Presented by Radio 1's Colin Murray, and featuring the likes of podcasting stalwarts Ask a Ninja and Adam Curry, the hour long show took a look at how podcasting is changing the way we consume media and how it might shape broadcasting in the future.
Christine managed to take up almost two minutes of prime BBC air time, which is a pretty impressive feat considering who else was on the bill.
Here are some of the the best bits of her interview:
Hopefully we won't get into too much trouble for playing that. To redeem ourselves slightly, might we suggest that the full show can be downloaded as part of the Pod's and Blogs podcast, and we encourage you to listen to the whole thing.
We have to say a massive thank you to FiveLive (really I don't know the correct way of writing that name, can you tell?), although possibly not so much for playing a clip of the very first show we ever recorded - which was honestly quite embarrassing.
If you have chance to listen, feel free to leave us comments and thoughts about the show.
