Sidepodcast

F1 Advent Calendar 2009 - Day Nine

• Length: 3:14 
• Size: 3.8 MB 
• File: advent9.mp3 
• Transcript: advent9.pdf 
• Torrent: advent9.torrent 

Hello and welcome along to the F1 Advent Calendar 2009 - an extended mini-series from Sidepodcast where we open up a new door each day of advent to find a key story from the 2009 season. Yesterday was all about politics, so let’s hope for some racing action this time, on Day Nine - The First Time.

With the future of Formula 1 back on an even keel for now, attention turned back to the racing. The British Grand Prix had been a sombre affair overshadowed by the politics, so it was down to the German race at the Nurburgring to pick things up again. Vettel had won the race at Silverstone, and the Brawn dominance was beginning to look a little shaky, although their championship leads were still very much in tact.

Qualifying was a wet affair, and played right into the hands of Red Bull. Webber and Vettel made it a very strong 1-2 until last minute laps from the Brawn boys split them up. Webber retained his pole position, followed by Barrichello and Button, with Vettel winding up fourth. Notably, Sutil managed to qualify up in 7th, which was the highest Force India grid position since it’s inception.

The race was dry, and got underway with a collision between Webber and Barrichello. The pair of them got off the line essentially together, and whilst Barrichello kept it in a straight line, Webber moved across and bumped into the Brawn. Still before the first corner, Hamilton came flying past both of them, but Webber’s front wing nicked the McLaren’s rear right tyre. Hamilton overshot the first corner, ran wide, and then limped back to the pits with a puncture. He returned to the track one lap down and finished in 18th, which was last with two retirees behind him.

Barrichello didn’t seem to have been too affected by the incident with Webber initially as he took the lead. Webber received a drive through penalty for that first corner incident, so had to make an extra stop, but despite that he kept the pace up and his strategy saw him continuing to fight at the top. Barrichello, though, was beginning to slow, and holding everyone up. Ross Brawn was on the radio telling him he was going too slowly and if he couldn’t overtake, he needed to let Button have a go.

Sutil, having started seventh, had made his way up to second place, but after coming out the pits for his first stop, found a fast moving Raikkonen coming up behind him. The Ferrari had to take avoiding action and went round the outside at the next corner, but it wasn’t quite wide enough, and the pair collided. Sutil was knocked down to finish in 15th, whilst Kimi later retired with engine troubles.

Finally, it was Webber who crossed the line first. Despite losing places at the start, bouncing off a couple of cars here and there, and receiving a drive through penalty, he had fought hard and worked his way back to the top to take his debut victory. He was joined on the podium by teammate Vettel and Felipe Massa. After the race, team boss Christian Horner paid tribute to the Australian: “I think lying in a hospital bed in Tasmania in November, he could never have dreamed about today... The comeback that he has had has been remarkable - and it is testimony to his determination and commitment that he has got himself back, he has got himself fit and he is driving better than ever.”

That is all for this episode of our F1 Advent Calendar. We have peeked behind nine doors so far and tomorrow we’ll start again with Day Ten.

Live: Germany - Free Practice 3

An amazingly interesting Friday, compared to what Free Practice usually offers up, leads into the best day of the weekend - qualifying day.

Weather Update

Clubforce tweets that the: "Weather much better this morning, warmer and sunny. Chance of rain later." Sounds par for the course at the Nurburgring.

One to Watch

Following yesterday's exploits, there are so many! I want to put Force India again, but I am going to go with Rosberg. Williams confirmed that they aren't doing low-fuel runs anymore, so where will he legitimately end up?

Predictions Please

Will Free Practice have any resemblance to qualifying? Will there be any crashes? Will the weather hold out? Can any Germans wow the crowds?

Live: Germany - Free Practice 2

Free Practice 1 was actually much more interesting than anticipated, plenty of action, some cars unable to stay on track, and even some fans in the grandstands!

Weather Update

There were dark clouds hovering throughout FP1 and we saw some light rain to test the drivers' wits. It didn't pour down though, and it looks like this afternoon will be much of the same.

One to Watch

Webber was the fastest man at the end of the day, but Fisichella was right up there. The Force India car was looking particularly handy at various points through the session, but was it just a one off?

Predictions Please

How many other Germans will fall off the track this afternoon? Will the rain spoil things for the fans? Will Rosberg get to top a timesheet this weekend?

Daily: 9th July 2009

It's tough being an F1 fan at the moment. If you're on Twitter, all you need is the hashtag #f1happyplace and you'll be fine. Whilst you're having a look at that, here are some SPC things to chat about:

• Once again, Jake Humphrey has provided some great insights into the life of a BBC anchor, and what one gets up to when there's no racing to get excited about. Good to know that he misses F1 when it's not around.
• F1 Punter has some thoughts about the upcoming race and the chances of seeing the safety car. We know that last year's German GP helped Piquet to his first F1 podium, all thanks to the SC, but this time we're at the Nurburgring rather than Hockenheim, so how will that affect things?
• On the very sore subject of politics, Maverick has some interesting thoughts on the Pitlane Fanatic Blog, and Joe has also summed it all up in a great post, and really... in the title itself - SOS in morse code..

That should do it for now. It's really tme to start turning our attention to the German GP (the Preview Digest will help), so let us know what you are expecting from the upcoming race. I'll see you in the comments.

F1 Digest 2009 - Germany Preview

• Length: 06:43 
• Size: 6.2 MB 
• File: digest109.mp3 
• Transcript: digest109.pdf 
• Torrent: digest109.torrent 

Finally, we return to the racing action, when all involved with the sport want to focus on what they are good at. With so many drivers and teams sharing the Nurburgring as their home race, it's bound to be a sight to behold.

Vital Statistics

• Date: 12th July
• Circuit: Nurburgring
• Length: 5.1km
• Laps: 60
• 2008 Winner: Lewis Hamilton (at Hockenheim)

Preview

Quite a lot of the drivers are hoping to improve on their performance from Silverstone, but only a few are bringing new updates to the track. Some, Brawn GP in particular, are hoping that the requirements of the Nurburgring will suit their car this time round.

Germany 2009 - Schedule

It's been a while but Sidepodcast swings back into action as the racing turns up to Nurburgring for the first time since 2007.

Despite the fact that Formula 1 is slowly imploding, we'll be keeping it together by attempting to stick to these two schedules. The first is the BBC coverage, which will dictate when the live threads will start. The second is an estimate of when each podcast will come out throughout the weekend.

TV Schedule

As ever, it's the BBC online streaming and radio 5live for us, let us know how you are tuning in.

Podcast Schedule

Here are rough estimates of when the shows will be released over the coming few days:

Join us for live commenting each and every session if you can, and above all else, have a great weekend.

Daily: 7th July 2009

Today is the seventh day of the seventh month, and things are looking up in terms of Formula 1 news. Teams and drivers are starting to look forward to Germany, and in that case, so should we:

• Ross Brawn has admitted that finishing third and sixth at Silverstone was not really good enough for the team and they are hoping to bring some more updates to the car to take them back to their winning ways. I wonder at what point we stop saying - who would have thought finishing third wouldn't be good enough for them?
• Meanwhile, Fernando Alonso has admitted that the Nurburgring isn't the most exciting track on this year's calendar, but he says the circuit has a little bit of everything so it could be a good race. Also, it will be Piquet's first F1 race there as we were at Hockenheim in 2008, so what kind of chaos can he cause?
• Although the Red Bull team are Austrian, they are based not far from Silverstone so for Vettel, it is like going from one home turf to another. The German is looking forward to racing in front of the home crowd and says it gives him even more motivation to do well.

That'll do it for now. We're starting to see pictures uploaded from the weekend's excitement at Goodwood, so please feel free to post your links if you've got some to share with us. I'll see you in the comments.

Daily: 26th June 2009

It was all going much too well, and then Max came along and ruined it. It was bound to happen on Thursday, because that is never a good day, and now we are left with the repurcussions once more. Bah. Instead, I will talk about other things going on in F1:

• There's a lot of talk about iPhone apps at the moment, with the official F1 in high demand, and a new Red Bull one as well. James has a quick rundown of what to expect, and we'll be doing a review of the F1 app shortly. Stay tuned for that.
• McLaren have said that it was simply a matter of circumstance that saw the KERS initiative fail. Whitmarsh said the concept was good, but the timing was just a little off. It seems as though the system is officially dead to F1.
• We saw a prime example of reporting going wrong yesterday when it was rumoured that the Nurburgring would be naming a grandstand after Vettel. As it turns out, it's a Red Bull package, with fans paying a price to get a special Red Bull themed weekend, hence the name of the grandstand, plus a "free" hat and things like that.

That's all for now. I think we have moved beyond the capabilities of the happy place, and therefore, I will see you in the comments. Maybe.

Circuit Cup - 2009 Winner, Spa

We reduced the length of the competition by several days, putting two matchups in some of the earlier heats, but it didn't make this Circuit Character Cup any less exciting. Spa-Francorchamps has emerged victorious of all the 2009 circuits (bar Abu Dhabi).

There was only one circuit it could face in the final, and that was Monaco, but the end result wasn't even close as Spa romped away to victory.

Some of the earlier heats were much less obvious, though, and it was a fascinating journey around the globe as we narrowed down the calendar to just one characterful circuit.

How did Spa do it?

It was the initial matchup to end all matchups - Spa and Silverstone meeting in the first round. As soon as the draw was made, the hype began, and we knew it would be a good one. As it turns out, it created some great conversations, but the eventual voting was not that close, and Spa took the victory by over 100 votes.

The Belgian track then had to face off the inaugural night race, but history won out over novelty, and Singapore was also consigned to its fate. A quick semi-final against Monza, and Spa sealed the victory to become the 2009 champion.

It's All About the Fans

We saw a few other tracks make it a fair way through the competition, with both Monza and Suzuka faring well at their respective ends of the matchups. Albert Park was also a popular destination, but the real surprise came in the form of the Hungaroring.

Having been mentioned on a Hungarian site, the polls were bombarded with some Hungarian votes. Whilst some were worried this would skew the competition beyond repair, it only threw the new Nurburgring out of the first round - not a huge loss, I'm sure you'll agree. Plus, it just goes to show how loyal fans can be. Bernie could learn a lot from this.

Statistical Evidence

• Total votes cast: 2,549
• Lowest voted poll: Suzuka v Albert Park (86)
• Highest voted poll: Hungaroring v Nurburgring (518)
• Closest vote: Monaco v Suzuka (11 votes)
• Largest split: Hungaroring v Nurburgring (272 votes)

Thank you to everyone who joined in the fun and took the time to vote. We had almost 1,000 more votes than last year, and that wasn't all on the Hungarian matchup. If you've got any ideas of future Cups we could run, then please feel free to leave them in the comments. Otherwise, we'll simply be looking forward to the race at Spa this year.

Circuit Character Cup - Round 1 - Hungaroring, Nurburgring, Bahrain, Monaco

We are now into the final heat of round one (isn't it nice how the first round went by so much quicker this time?), and our final two matchups. This time we're pitting the two 'Rings against each other, and it's another case of old versus new.

Hungaroring vs. Nurburgring

The Nurburgring no longer has a permanent seat on the calendar, finding itself stuck in a timeshare with Hockenheim. Although the track has been slashed from it's former glory, there's plenty to make it stand out. Can you say the same about Hungary? Only one way to find out.

Bahrain vs. Monaco

Bahrain never seemed like a likely candidate for holding a Grand Prix but of all the new additions to the calendar, it is holding it's own nicely. A baby of a track compared to Monaco, though, which has a place throughout the history books.