Sidepodcast

F1 Advent Calendar 2009 - Day Eighteen

• Length: 3:49 
• Size: 3.5 MB 
• File: advent18.mp3 
• Transcript: advent18.pdf 
• Torrent: advent18.torrent 

Welcome to the F1 Advent Calendar 2009 - an extended mini series brought to you by Sidepodcast. We are reviewing the season over the month of December, looking at a key moment each day of advent. Now it's time to open another door to find another story, we're on to Day Eighteen - Out of Practice.

Massa's recovery was going well, and the prognosis was good, but initially, there was no talk of him returning to racing. He missed the Hungarian GP, leaving an empty spot on the grid, but Ferrari had the summer break to find a replacement for the upcoming European GP.

Immediately, the name Michael Schumacher emerged as a potential candidate, and despite the fact his manager denied any such reports - claiming to be 200% sure it would not happen - it was soon confirmed that he would undergo the FIA medical, and start training for a return in Valencia.

Most people, within the paddock at least, were excited for this comeback. Hamilton said: "Michael is one of the sport's greatest competitors and a legend in his own right and it would be great to compete against him." Button added that Schumacher was brave to take up the challenge but was sure he'd be competitive.

Schumacher had a run in an F2007 chassis around the Ferrari track at Mugello, saying that although it was an old car, any experience was good for getting back in shape. Ferrari wrote to the other teams asking if they could waive the testing ban briefly, for Schumi to get some more practice in, but they quite vociferously said no. After a second go in the F2007, and just ten days before the European GP, Schumacher cancelled his comeback. The German had been in an accident whilst testing a superbike in February, and although he had hoped to be fit enough, some quite serious neck problems meant he wouldn't be ready.

Instead, Ferrari drafted in their long-term test driver, Luca Badoer. The Italian had been with the team since 1998, but had not been in the current car since December 2008. From the outset, Badoer said he relished the chance to compete in a race for the red team, but he also approached the weekend very conservatively. At each stage, he labelled the sessions as a test for him, as he learnt the car. Just a test, he kept saying.

During Free Practice at Valencia, he was consistently a couple of seconds off the pace. He qualified last, and finished the race one lap down, although ahead of Nakajima and two retirees. He never seemed to get to grips with the car, or generally being a racing driver. At one point he’d forgotten the pass needed to get into the correct paddock areas. Despite the struggles, Ferrari gave him the benefit of the doubt and allowed the Italian to race at Spa as well.

He was still slow. He qualified last, spinning on his final flying run. He kept out of trouble in the race itself, but finished 14th, which was also last. This time, Ferrari couldn't ignore the results, and replaced him with Force India driver, and fellow Italian Giancarlo Fisichella.

Badoer was quick to cast the finger of blame around - the car was difficult to drive, he was not given enough of a chance, there was not enough testing, the media portrayal of him was too negative. At least half of those were true. He turned up in the paddock at the next race - the Italian Grand Prix - but won't have gained any satisfaction from seeing his replacement qualify 14th and finish the race 9th, just missing out on the points.

The car was difficult to drive and Fisichella was better but not brilliant. He earnt himself a test driver role with the team for 2010, alongside Badoer and Gene. Ferrari have also signed up young driver Jules Bianchi following a test this month. If a similar incident were to occur next year, they want to keep their options wide open.

That's all for this episode of our F1 Advent Calendar. Please join me tomorrow, when we will hopefully look at some faster drivers, on Day Nineteen.

Who Are They, Anyway - Ferrari Young Drivers

Our series of posts about the drivers running at the Jerez test this week continues with Ferrari. I was surprised that Red Bull were only running one driver, and raised an eyebrow when Renault signed up three. However, it was not a shock to find Ferrari going one better and giving four drivers a chance, once again cementing their name for having more drivers than sense.

Jules Bianchi

• Age: 20
• Nationality: French
• F1 Experience: None
• Notable Achievements: 1st in French Formula Renault 2007, 3rd then 1st in F3 Euroseries 2008-09

Jules Bianchi was rumoured to be replacing the not-particularly-fast Luca Badoer when he filled in for Massa during the 2009 season. This didn't come to pass, of course, so the youngster has no F1 experience as yet. However, he has been putting the performances in for ART Grand Prix in the F3 Euroseries. He's also participating in the GP2 Asia series at the moment.

Bianchi has previously mentioned how frustrating the current testing regulations are for young drivers, so getting some experience should make him a bit happier.

Jules is currently scheduled to test for the first two days in Jerez.

Daniel Zampieri

• Age: 19
• Nationality: Italian
• F1 Experience: None
• Notable Achievements: 2nd in Italian Formula Renault 2.0 2007, 1st in Italian Formula Three 2009

Zampieri has been granted a one day test along with two other Italians, for their performance in the Formula Three series this year. Daniel finished in front of the others, netting five poles and setting three fastest laps in the process, not bad going considering he was also a rookie. He's currently racing in the GP2 Asia series, racing with Piquet GP.

His previous experience has been limited to Formula Renault - the Italian and Eurocup versions, and Formula Three. GP2 Asia will be a good new experience for him, as will this F1 test.

Daniel is currently scheduled in on the last day of testing.

Marco Zipoli

• Age: 19
• Nationality: Italian
• F1 Experience: None
• Notable Achievements: 2nd in Italian Formula Three 2009

Information on Zipoli is hard to come by, but he has also proven himself to Ferrari in this year's Italian Formula Three series, finishing second and earning himself a one-day test. Throughout the year, there were certainly more winners than Zipoli, who stood on the top step twice, but he scored enough points to finish runner up in the championship. He was Daniel Zampieri's teammate for the last four rounds of the season.

Marco is currently scheduled to run on the last day of testing alongside Zampieri.

Pablo Sánchez López

• Age: 19
• Nationality: Mexican
• F1 Experience: None
• Notable Achievements: 3rd in Italian Formula Three 2009

Another driver with little to go on in the way of information, but his third position in Italian Formula Three has secured himself the shared test for Ferrari. Sánchez finished the F3 series third, but with four wins - two more than Zipoli and the same amount as Zampieri. The three of them seem to be quite equal in terms of performance.

Pablo is currently scheduled to get in the car on the final day of the test, sharing the day with Zipoli and Zampieri.

Daily: 7th September 2009

I don't know about anyone else, but that weekend went way too quickly for my liking. One minute I was counting down the hours to hometime on Friday, the next it is time to wake up for Monday morning. Boo. Anyway, here are some things we're talking about at the moment.

• Poor Badoer just can't let go of the fact that he didn't exactly live up to his dream performance in the Ferrari. Whilst he says that he's proud of what he achieved and can always say he raced two GPs for a top team - he reckons the media's bad vibes about him forced the team to replace him. Hmm.
• Meanwhile, Alonso says he enjoyed giving a quick demo for Renault in his hometown of Oviedo in Spain. Mr C wanted to go to Spain to witness this marvellous homecoming but... he forgot. Oh well. Instead, he stayed in Sidepodcast Towers and fiddled around with some code. Good times.
• Don't forget that if you're a show host for the upcoming Sidepodradio, firstly you have the opportunity to write a guest post to promote your half hour slot. Secondly, if you are doing a pre-record, the deadline is this Friday for your submissions. We need time to process everything ready for broadcasting, so get your recordings in asap!

That'll do it for now. Don't forget that the daily post is your place to talk about anything and everything on your mind, whether it is F1 related or not. If you spot an F1 topic you think deserves a breakout thread, let us know and we'll do our best. I'll see you in the comments.

Ferrari to Announce Second Driver Today?

The news filling the airwaves yesterday was of Massa's imminent but non-urgent surgery which will mean he continues to recuperate as the 2009 season progresses.

Ferrari are confident the Brazilian will return next year, and would no doubt rather he did that at 100% rather than return too early.

We know they would be foolish to retain Badoer in the second seat at the team, and it appears likely Ferrari will announce their replacement driver today. We await their decision with interest.

Belgium 2009 - Qualifying Results

Badoer crashed earlier on, both McLarens were knocked out early, and Fisichella took pole position!

Fisi's Show of Force

This year has long since proven that qualifying is the best part of the race weekend. We've mentioned it many times before, but it has never been more so than this weekend in Spa. If Formula 1 is lacking the unpredictability that a lot of fans would like, then they should race in Belgium every single weekend.

Giancarlo Fisichella took pole position.

I know! Not only that but he was joined in the press conference by Trulli and Heidfeld. Now, of course, we don't know about their fuel loads yet, but even so, the grid was mixed up before the top ten were even confirmed.

Neither McLaren could get out of Quali 2 and Button starts from 14th on the grid. Alonso is just ahead of him. All big names out before the flying laps for pole began. Goodness knows what will happen tomorrow but for now, it is Fisi's moment.

He's got three pole positions to his name now, this fourth one being the first since Malaysia 2006 when he steered his Renault to a lights to flag victory. Chances are his Force India is going to struggle to do the same, and by my reckoning he'll probably be coming in on about lap two for a fuel stop.

Either way, Force India will appreciate the headlines, as we can tell they have money troubles. They've brought a garden shed as a motorhome this weekend, and there are rumours about pay packets not being distributed. Some positive news can go a long way. And for Fisichella himself, what better way to prove that he could do a lot better than a certain someone in a certain red car?

Badoer pretty much ruined everyone's final lap in the first session of qualifying by beaching his Ferrari in the gravel and causing yellow flags. Anyone else would have saved it. Fisi would certainly have saved it.

I've never been the man's biggest fan, and I would have preferred Sutil to take this maiden glory for Mallya's team. However, it's impossible not to be happy for a driver who has worked hard and struggled through in some rough cars.

I said at the beginning that qualifying was the best part of a race weekend for us, but what do you think? Do the laps of racing action beat those final few moments as you wait to see who's on pole? Let's have our own poll and find out!

We Heart Lukeh

Our Sidepodcommunity have many talents amongst them and we do like to showcase these whenever we can. Lukeh for example is a whizz on Photoshop and if anyone has a thought about something that would make a good photo, just a word or two in the right direction and he's the man who can sort it out.

In the last few days he has come up with some brilliant work regarding Luca Badoer. You can skip down and see it at the bottom of this post if you like, but bear with me and we'll work through some of his older, but timeless works of art.

Don't Take Away My Breakaway

Let us begin with this cleverly doctored article from the BBC F1 website discussing the possibility of an F1 championship breakaway.

In case the text is not clear, the image reads:

The new FOTA-created world championship that has broken away from Formula 1 will in fact be sponsored by Breakaway Chocolate, it was revealed this evening.

Current FOTA President Luca Di Montezemolo this evening confirmed rumours that the actual breakaway was inspired by the sponsorship deal with Breakaway. Di Montezemolo told reporters "They do make a nice chocolate snack, I must admit. We at FOTA had to decide what we wanted more; Max or chocolate. It was a no-brainer."

Get Me Out of Here

Next up, we're hoping Nintendo will consider releasing this Formula One related game for the 2010 season.

You know you want a go.

Time Travel, Baby. Yeah!

We have no recollection of why or how championship leader Jenson Button took on the role of The Doctor, however, he's clearly made for the part.

Now who would he have as a companion?

Just an F1 Minute

After Jon commentated at the 2CV race at Snetterton, he found the following picture.

The sign originally read 1 minute. It makes sense for a guy to be advising the drivers of the time remaining. However, Lukeh thought maybe they needed to be made aware of a rather important podcast instead.

Sacrificial Lemming

This next image freaks me out, but Mr C said we had to include it. Recently, we introduced Steven Roy to the joy that is Lemmings, and somehow those forfeited for the greater good, turned to Heikki Kova-lemming.

Naturally, it only took a few moments for this picture to appear before our eyes.

That is all kinds of wrong.

Ooh Betty

Moving on, then, to the final and most recent installment of this crop of Lukeh greatness.

Luca Badoer has caused us all kinds of merriment for the last week or so. It's easy to feel sorry for the guy, but really, he is bringing a lot of it on himself. Mr C thought that Luca's antics last week and this reminded him a little of Michael Crawford's portrayal of Frank Spencer - a walking disaster of epic proportions. Nick also pointed out this video, showing how Luca very likely made his own way from Valencia to Spa.

Lukeh is clearly a rare and exceptional talent. His creativity has made 2009 considerably more enjoyable for us than it might otherwise have been, and for that we owe him a huge debt of gratitude.

If you've enjoyed these images, don't forget to keep a close eye on the Sidepodcast drop. You can follow Lukeh on his blog or his Twitter stream. Thank you for the laughs, Lukeh!

Daily: 25th August 2009

We're into Tuesday already, and that means just minutes after finishing up the F1 podcast goodness for the weekend in Valencia, teams are already producing their preview quotes for Spa. Not exactly easing us back in gently after the summer break. Anyway, here are some things to ponder:

• Statistics ahoy, as Gavin spent a good amount of time working on this blog post to compare Barrichello and Hamilton throughout the race on Sunday. When Whitmarsh tells us they didn't have the pace to win without the pit stop blunder, is he telling the truth? Gavin knows all. Also, over on the Pitlane Fanatic blog, there's a great School Report for Luca Badoer.
• Jake Humphrey has written a roundup of the weekend's coverage, and how things went down from their side of the camera. It's an interesting read, but I'm not sure I agree with the praise of EJ. But then I never do. Still, Jake promises more to come in the way of pictures soon.
• Turning to Spa, then, as the teams are already doing, and Red Bull will be hoping for better things. They seemed a bit downbeat after the race, which is understandable. Dank has posted his Belgium Preview, and assesses the teams chances for the upcoming weekend.

That should keep you busy for now. Let us know what you're up to, and whether you're totally over Valencia and looking forward to Spa, or if you'd prefer more time to digest what happened at the weekend. Either way, I'll see you in the comments.

Daily: 24th August 2009

With Valencia out of the way, we will already be turning our attention to the next race at Spa. I thought we had got all the back-to-back goings on at the beginning of the season, but apparently it is not so. Here are some of the things we are talking about right now:

• Barrichello will no doubt be celebrating his win - the first since 2004 - in style. I love that the paddock was full of good thoughts for Rubens, and no one could have anything bad to say about our race winner. Equally, our comments were full of love for the Brazilian, and long-time fan Lukeh blogged about his own happiness alongside Rubens'.
• Red Bull are reportedly thinking about KERS, although Christian Horner was quite cagey about it yesterday. They may or may not be planning to implement it in the next couple of races, but it does mean that the technology is back in the headlines again, and maybe even back in favour.
• Although Domenicali is saying all the things that Badoer would want to hear right now, in that they don't plan to chuck him out of the car just yet, they haven't ruled out a replacement after Spa. Luca previously said he would be in the seat until Massa returned but after his woeful performance this weekend, that doesn't seem likely at all. Who will they draft in to replace him?

That'll do it for now. We are/were up into the early hours watching Franck drive in the IRL race at Sonoma, so today will probably be a tough Monday. Either way, I'll see you in the comments.

Daily: 23rd August 2009

You may know this as the day of the European Grand Prix at Valencia. Here at Sidepodcast Towers, this is known as Franck Day! The Frenchman will be lining up 8th on the grid at Sonoma tonight. There is no way I'm going to be able to stay up to watch him, but I will try my very best. Meanwhile, here's what we're talking about until then:

• Badoer is still struggling, and still insisting that he's seeing this weekend as a test session. Surely that is the wrong way to approach things, or is that just his stock excuse? He does seem way off the pace, but perhaps he will be able to pick things up when the racing gets going.
• Red Bull have started to look at the possibility of running KERS towards the end of the season. It's clear that the device isn't prohibitive in any way, now that Hamilton has won a race and taken pole position here in Valencia. This will be a decisive moment for the championship though, won't it?
• We have discovered a view of Valencia that is worth looking at in yesterday's F1 Big Picture, but the track really is an eyesore, isn't it? It's impossible to tell the corners apart. What can they do to solve this?

That'll do for now. It's going to be a big day, so make sure you're tuned in for the Parade Lap, the race, the Debrief, and Live Commenting Franck. I will see you in the comments.