Sidepodcast

Live: Bahrain 2010 - Free Practice 2

Even if Free Practice 1 was a low-yielding round in terms of laps, there was still plenty of interesting things to chat about. You can relive the session via the brand new Factbyte Factbox highlights, and get ready for FP2.

Weather Update

Things took a turn for the scorching during FP1. The track temperature started around 30 degrees and shot up to 40 degrees by the end of the session. The air temperature remained around the 30 degree mark, so it's fair to say it's pretty hot out there.

One to Watch

Mr C was hilariously wrong about Webber, phew! I'd keep an eye on Michael Schumacher for this session as he appears to be slightly behind Rosberg at the moment. Pit lane suggests he was in a bad mood, and the car was bottoming out severely, so he's got some work to do.

Predictions Please

We didn't see anyone properly crash, the large run offs help that - will there be any accidents this afternoon? Will Sutil be able to retain his P1 position? Will Chandhok actually make it out of the garage? Let us know what you think!

Circuit Guide

Bahrain Circuit Map

Don't forget that comments automatically update on this post, there is no need to refresh the page this year. You can also follow up-to-the-minute session updates via Sidepodcast's Factbyte Factbox

Live: Bahrain 2010 - Free Practice 1

F1 is back and it's in Bahrain! The season returns with the desert replacing Albert Park as the opening round. Free Practice gets underway with 24 drivers ready to hit the track and show everyone what they can do.

Weather Update

Bahrain is all about the sunshine and FP1 should have good weather throughout. The temperature looks to be around the 30 degree mark, whilst humidity is high at roughly 85%.

One to Watch

When we were testing out the Factbyte Factbox, we ran through a dry run of today's Free Practice 1, and Mr C declared that Mark Webber was the fastest at the end. I am curious to find out if that comes true. If it is, Mr C is buying us a lottery ticket.

Predictions Please

It's the first proper track action of the year, we need to know what you think will happen. Who will be the first to fly off the track? Will all the cars make it to the end of the session safely? Who will be the fastest and get the first headlines of the year?

Circuit Guide

Bahrain Circuit Map

Don't forget that comments automatically update on this post, there is no need to refresh the page this year. You can also follow up-to-the-minute session updates via Sidepodcast's Factbyte Factbox

Chandhok Makes His Christine's Rankings Debut

It's been a busy week in Formula 1, with the demise of US F1 and the rise of HRT F1. Terrible name, interesting driver pairing. Bruno Senna and Karun Chandhok were both present for the launch and some interesting tweeting occurred.

Elsewhere, there is movement upwards for Webber and Glock, whilst the McLaren boys finally get some points on the board - not all good though. I know plenty of people have been keen to see Hamilton and Button drop the 'N/A' status, and this is their week.

Notes:

1. If it's good enough for Senna, it's good enough for Timo: gaming and fitness collide.
2. A Lap of Bahrain with Mark Webber
3. It's not a great pic but I like it anyway: http://twitpic.com/16kpv1

This time next week we will have seen the first race of the season, so expect plenty of driver movements. If you spot anything I should include on the list then please let me know in the usual ways! I'm always open to suggestions.

A Lap of Bahrain With Mark Webber

Red Bull have produced a stunning track guide for the first race of the Formula One season in Bahrain. Mark Webber is in the hot seat, and the two minute video takes viewers on a lap of the revised Bahrain International Circuit, from the cockpit of the team's F1 Simulator.

• Length: 02:17 
• Size: 26.8 MB 
• File: video27.m4v 
• Transcript: video27.pdf 
• Torrent: video27.torrent 

Production quality in the clip is second to none, and Webber does a fine job of covering the tricky points of the track. F1 simulators are becoming significantly more important as testing becomes ever more restricted, and this footage offers a great insight into the steps a modern F1 driver goes through to prepare for each race of the season.

There is a lot of information to take onboard in the lower third of the screen, and it's worth watching this one more than once. A fantastic effort from those involved and the only worrying thing is that there's nothing left for us to add.

Live: Barcelona Testing - Day Four (February 2010)

Sunday marks the final day of F1 pre-season testing in 2010. In a two weeks time the cars will be lining up for the first race of the year, so today offers the very last opportunity for teams and drivers to get some testing milage in.

Yesterday's action was punctuated by red flags and rain showers, it's hard to get a decent long run in with 11 teams on track, some of whom have been more reliable than others. Here's hoping for reliable cars, fine weather and plenty of Sunday running.

On track action begins at 9am CET (8am GMT).

Circuit Information

• Track length: 4.655km
• Corners: 16
• Lap record: 1:21.670 (Kimi Räikkönen, Ferrari, 2008)

You'll find Circuit de Catalunya located in the North East corner of Spain.

Drivers and Teams Attending

The following teams and drivers are confirmed for testing on Wednesday

Useful Links

• Official Circuit Homepage
• Autosport Live
• F1 Today

Daily: 26th February 2010

Webber was fastest in testing yesterday, and if that is the first meaninful testing time we've seen so far, then it's looking like a good start for Red Bull. There will be another dedicated testing thread along for day two in Barcelona, and I'm intrigued to see who will be fast on the second outing. Meanwhile, here are some things we're talking about:

• Talking of Webber, it appears the Australian has gone and got himself a presence on Twitter. The name @aussiegrit is already causing some confusion. I've seen people think it says 'girl' or mistake it for not having an 'r'. Perhaps MarkWebber was already taken? Still, good to see him on their, and as one of the more outspoken members of the paddock, there may some real gems to come.
• Meanwhile, di Grassi was being pretty useless out on track in Barcelona, although the team were quick to say they had been trying an experimental setup so it wasn't his fault. He crashed into the wall and wrecked the car, meaning the team had to sit out the rest of the day, and are hoping to be ready to go again tomorrow. What else can go wrong for Virgin?
• Mr Stefanovic still thinks he's in with a shot of getting a grid slot, but he says time really is tight now. Apparently to be ready for Bahrain they need to be packed by next Wednesday, and he's sure they'll have something sorted by then. Really? I suppose this can only coincide with the fact that the employees at US F1 have so little to do without a car that they really are going to make a toaster. I don't know about you but I would buy that toaster.

That should do it for now. We're out in London today, but will be keeping an eye on the site and hopefully feeding back as much as we can. I'll see you in the comments.

Daily: 24th February 2010

Today is Pedro de la Rosa's birthday, and the Spaniard is turning 39. Hopefully he won't be celebrating too hard and will instead be preparing for the upcoming test in Barcelona. It kicks off on Thursday, so he has a couple of days to eat cake, I suppose. Meanwhile, here are a couple of the things we're talking about:

• Ahead of Joe's meetup in London on Friday, we've got a competition for you! We're giving away a signed copy of The Grand Prix Saboteurs, and there's just a simple question (and a little luck) standing between you and it. You've got a couple of weeks to enter as well, but do it now before you forget!
• F1 Big Picture was updated yesterday with a couple of great photos. I am particularly partial to this one, as I do like the shadows, plus it's good to see Alonso and Webber side by side. Let's hope we can get some overtaking action in the races as well as in testing.
• Kubica has been talking about the Renault and it looks like he's hoping they have some upgrades before the racing gets underway in Bahrain. He's also keen to point out that there won't be a number on in his team, which I find odd because a) who cares? and b) he then goes on to admit that Petrov hasn't driven in F1 so he would still be learning. Bless teams and drivers always keen to show there's no favouritism.

That should do it for now. Let us know how your week is going, and I will see you in the comments.

Daily: 23rd February 2010

Today is Tuesday, and I can't quite believe that it's almost the end of February already. That's both scary, and also very cool. The season will soon be here and I can no longer moan about the countdowns. It's close enough that counting down to the season is acceptable. Meanwhile, here are some of the things we're talking about:

• This week's F1 Debrief is all up and ready for you to listen to. We discuss plenty of news from the past week and gather a lot of lovely feedback as well. If you're keen on the outtakes, I posted a couple on the daily post yesterday, and am pointing them out here as well: Mr C can't speak and Christine can't speak.
• I also updated Christine's Rankings yesterday, in which Heikki Kovalainen got the most points. Unfortunately for him, they weren't all in the right direction. There are also notes on the Virgin Racing drivers, plus Webber gets his first (minus) points as well.
• It looks as though Stefan GP have postponed and/or cancelled the test of their new car in Portimao. Apparently the downfall is the lack of tyres, which is down to Bridgestone. The tyre supplier aren't allowed to give them F1 tyres, and couldn't get GP2 replacements in time, so for now, the Stefan test is off.

That's all for now. Don't forget to vote on the latest part of Life in the Fast Lane. We're getting towards the end of the story now, so each vote is more and more important! I will see you in the comments.

A Mixed Result for Heikki on Christine's Rankings this Week

It's been a pretty quiet week in the world of Christine's Rankings. Most of the drivers have been keeping to themselves, busy with pre-season testing. There haven't been any launches which means no major public appearances, but that doesn't mean we haven't been eagle-eyed.

Heikki Kovalainen has been brought to my attention the most. Firstly, he joined Twitter which was good news, particularly as he was tweeting from the garage in Jerez when he wasn't even driving that day. However, then he went and starred in a video for MTV3 and some of these pictures are quite scary. A horse!

Heikki isn't the only one to be moving around on the list though. Di Grassi and Glock both make a move, whilst Webber and Hulkenberg join the rankings.

There's just one more week of testing left for our drivers to get onto my radar before the season begins and the real points start flying around. Don't forget you can let me know if you spot anything I should be aware of for next week's rankings, be it video, interview or photographs. Leave a comment below, or email me christine at sidepodcast dot com.

Live: Jerez Testing - Day Seven (February 2010)

Heikki Kovalainen managed to make a bit of mess of Team Lotus' testing plans yesterday. He's scheduled for more car time today, but if I were Mike Gascoyne I'd be calling on Jarno Trulli to hop in that (slightly damaged) seat a day early.

Elsewhere in the pitlane it's all change again, as Button takes over from Hamilton, Webber's in for Vettel and Alonso will keep Massa's seat warm. Notably Kamui Kobayashi will be manhandling the Sauber C29 around what likely be a wet Jerez track, while Ferrari's man on the ground bemoans, well, everything.

On track action begins at 9am CET (8am GMT).

Circuit Information

• Track length: 4.428km
• Corners: 13
• Lap record: 1:23.135 (Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Williams, 1997)

You'll find Circuito de Jerez located in South of Spain.

Drivers and Teams Attending

The following teams and drivers are confirmed for testing on Wednesday

Useful Links

• Official Circuit Homepage
• Autosport Live
• F1 Today
• Motor 21
• The F1.com