Sidepodcast

F1 Advent Calendar 2009 - Day Seventeen

• Length: 3:27 
• Size: 3.2 MB 
• File: advent17.mp3 
• Transcript: advent17.pdf 
• Torrent: advent17.torrent 

Hello and welcome to the latest episode of an extended mini series from Sidepodcast. This is our F1 Advent Calendar 2009 - 25 short shows recapping the season just gone. It's time to open yet another door in our advent calendar, so let's get started with Day Seventeen - Spin Me Round.

Whilst Renault were waiting for their appeal hearing regarding the one-race ban dished out after Hungary, they found themselves in another bit of bother. Their driver of 18 months Nelson Piquet Jr, published a note on his website saying he had been let go from the team. It was a bitter letter, and although the news wasn't exactly unexpected for anyone who had seen him drive, it's delivery was slightly unusual. Piquet criticised his former team, particularly Flavio Briatore, suggesting that his boss had been demanding, uncompromising, even threatening.

Just a few days later, the rumblings of a huge scandal began. Rumour had it that Piquet Jr had been asked by his team to crash at the Singapore Grand Prix in 2008, to bring out the Safety Car that aided Alonso to win the race. It's something that had been mentioned in jest many times, but no one thought it could be true.

The FIA duly investigated, and on the 4th September, a statement was issued saying Renault would have to answer to the charges. A World Motorsport Council meeting was scheduled for later in the month, in fact just before the Singapore Grand Prix for this season.

Above anything else, I think this case will be known as the one where everything was leaked. We had letters to and from the FIA, statements from Piquet Jr and his father, documents regarding Briatore, and much more. Anything that was written down seemed to make it out into the wider world, and gave us and the media a lot to talk about. Piquet claimed that Flavio Briatore and Pat Symonds had asked him to crash the car, and he had felt pressured into doing so. Both he and Alonso were given immunity from any penalties regarding the case.

Initially, the team denied the charges. They even said they would begin legal proceedings against the Piquets, suggesting that it constituted blackmail, and the allegations were false.

About a week before the trial, Pat Symonds was offered immunity by the FIA if he would answer their questions, but he did not take it. At this point the story suggested conversations about the crash had taken place prior to the race, but that it was all Piquet's idea. The truth is yet to be known.

On 16 September, both Flavio Briatore and Pat Symonds left the team, and Renault F1 confirmed they would not contest the charges against them - essentially pleading guilty. The World Motorsport Council still met, and a mysterious Witness X - reportedly from the Renault team - gave evidence. With no defence to be heard, though, it was simply a matter of doling out the punishment. The result? A two year ban, suspended, for the team, plus bans of varying lengths for Symonds and Briatore.

Whether this was an acceptable punishment is really a matter of opinion. However, the team lost two key members of staff, several sponsors withdrew after the hearing, and worse than all of that - they had to watch Piquet's replacement, Romain Grosjean, spin at exactly the same corner during the Singapore Grand Prix weekend, just a few days later. Sometimes, you just have to laugh.

That's all for now. Thank you for listening to this F1 Advent Calendar 2009, and I hope you will join me again tomorrow, when we will see what's behind the door for Day Eighteen.

FIA Reject Allegations, Condemn Leaks

Earlier today, the Guardian newspaper ran a story claiming Flavio Briatore has accused the World Motor Sport Council and Max Mosley of being "blinded by desire for revenge". The information appears to have come from leaked documents seen by the paper, and predictably the FIA aren't happy about it.

The Guardian suggest that the allegation will be used by Briatore when he appeals against his lifetime ban from motor sport, in France's high court on the 24th November. The paper went on to say that Pat Symonds, Renault's previous director of engineering, will join Briatore's appeal in an attempt to overturn his own ban.

This afternoon the FIA put out a press release, presumably in response to the piece, refuting the claims and criticising such leaks.

The FIA press release in full:

The FIA condemns the selective leaking of extracts from Mr Briatore’s pleadings to the Tribunal de Grande Instance in Paris.

The FIA rejects the allegations made in these leaks and confirms that the decision to impose a sanction against Mr Briatore was made by an overwhelming majority of the attending World Motor Sport Council members.

In respect for the authority of the French Court, it would be entirely inappropriate for the FIA to comment further on this matter in advance of the hearing.

What the FIA haven't said though, is what they plan to do to prevent further leaks in the future. This isn't the first time they've experienced such problems, nor even the first time this year.

Daily: 17th September 2009

Thursday is upon us again, and as ever, it was not a quiet day in the world of Formula 1 yesterday. I am sure I mentioned hoping for a bit of peace, so if I do that again today, what on earth else will happen? Anyway, here are some of the things we're talking about:

• Naturally, the number one topic on everybody's lips is goodbye Flav and Pat. Naturally, there was a breakout thread, and Mr Briatore also featured on our F1 Big Picture yesterday. The conversation continues, and I guess what we really want now, is to hear from Pat.
• Elsewhere in the news, Williams are confident that going back to the higher downforce circuits will see them return to form, after a couple of races with badly behaving cars. It's funny, I don't really remember them being on particularly good form before, but perhaps they can end the season on a high.
• RG has written a great post about Paul di Resta and his chances of making it out of DTM. I don't really give much thought to drivers until they get to F1, but it is always good to take a step back and see where they are coming from (or not, as the case may be).

That'll do it for now. The usual Sidepodradio plug applies here: 0121 28 87225 for your shoutouts and transitions, please. You know we'll love you forever if you call. I'll see you in the comments.

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...

Pat Symonds Offered FIA Immunity

The ongoing Renault saga now focuses in on head of engineering Pat Symonds, who has reportedly been offered immunity by the FIA if he answers some questions. A steward's report seems to hint he knows too much:

"On 28 August, Mr Symonds was summoned back before the Stewards to be asked if he wanted to give further information on the questions he had declined to answer. Mr Symonds again declined to answer the questions."

A transcript of the conversation between FIA representatives and Pat Symonds has also been published. It includes an awful lot of "don't", "won't" and "can't" quotes.

Ancillary F1 - Météo-France

• Length: 3:40 
• Size: 3.5 MB 
• File: ancillary5.mp3 
• Transcript: ancillary5.pdf 
• Torrent: ancillary5.torrent 

Welcome to the Sidepodcast Mini Series Ancillary F1. Already this series we’ve had a look at Bridgestone, Mercedes and Tilke Engineering, and today it’s the turn of another company who help the world of Formula 1 without ever taking home a trophy.

Météo-France is the official national meteorological service in France, and is the weather data supplier for Formula 1 teams. The organisation has been in existence since 1993, with headquarters in Paris, and funds most of it’s 300 million Euro budget with state grants, royalties, and commercial services.

One of those commercial services began in alliance with Toyota. In 1997, the team manager of Toyota was Ange Pasquali, and he brought Météo-France on board to provide weather information for Le Mans. The company soon progressed onto Formula 1.

Eight of the teams currently contribute towards the cost of the weather service, although when the FIA discussed a potential increase in the cost of Formula 1 entry fees recently, it was suggested that teams pay for the system in it’s entirety and estimated its annual cost at 485,000EUR per year.

Météo-France supply data to the FIA from a small unit within the circuit and measure the weather to internationally accepted standards. The information gathered isn’t supposed to be used in regulatory matters, as that is the job of FOM supplied weather data, which can be found on page 3 of the pitlane timing screens. However, controversially both the Williams and BMW teams relied on the supplied information for their “cool-fuel” defense following the 2007 Brazilian Grand Prix.

The main problem for Météo-France is that the FOM supplied information and their own quite often disagree. Race Control can provide us with the standard “No rain expected in the next thirty minutes” messages, but, the service has a reputation for being a bit unreliable.

Some people within the paddock aren’t happy with either system mind you. In 2006, Pat Symonds wasn’t shy about mincing his words. When asked how useful the information was, he said: “Rubbish. Absolute rubbish. There is just nothing here. We don't subscribe to the Météo-France system, because we normally bring our own weathermen." But then talking of the FOM supplied system, in October of 2007, Pat said “The equipment that is used to display the temperature on page 3 of the timing screens is very, very old. It’s not cared for, it’s not been calibrated for years.”

In addition to turning up to races, the French weather provider is also on hand at the Paul Ricard High Tech Test Track. The nearby airport has been using the services for some time and in the summer of 2007 the HTTT’s Intranet system was upgraded to supply teams with essential weather information.

This gives us a good example of what Météo-France can do when they get it right. Paul Ricard gets a four-day forecast which is updated every few hours, and is constantly rolling forward. There’s also a seven day forecast covering a much wider area. If the weather looks like it’s getting serious, Météo-France can issue the circuit with various warnings and red alerts. The intranet side of things also boasts some radar images, to allow officials at the circuit to make their own mind up about conditions.

In real life, no one ever believes what the weather man says, but when it comes to Formula 1, getting accurate information is vital to race strategy and ultimately results. Whilst we might complain about Météo-France, FOM and their weather systems, the question is, could anyone do it better?

That’s it for this show. I’d love to hear your feedback about the weather information supplied during races, leave your thoughts on 0121 28 87225 or at Sidepodcast.com. See you tomorrow for another ancillary company.

Theme music: Porter Block, Second Wind.

Podcast Review - ING Renault F1 Team Podcast

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

Podcasting Formula 1 is incredibly difficult. The ING Renault podcast began this season, with Holly Samos from BBC Radio 5 Live at the helm. She would be at the circuit for each race, and would talk to both the drivers about their feelings towards the race and then after the race. She would also catch up with the engineers and mechanics and would bring us all the gossip and behind the scenes information.

The problem is that Bernie Ecclestone has huge copyright issues when it comes to anything and everything surrounding F1. There are rights issues when it comes to broadcasting anything that takes place inside the circuit – including the sound of F1 cars. He owns all the video that takes place inside and there are just serious copyright things to take into consideration.

For a moment, it looked like the Renault podcast was going to have to fold, and they released one show that was only 12 seconds long, saying they would be back with a new, reformatted show. Which basically means that it was no longer inside the circuit.

The new show was more of a roundtable show with the same level of interviews and behind the scenes tidbits, but it felt a little bit less cutting edge.

The good thing about team podcasts is that it’s another way to get closer to the teams and really feel like you are involved and that they want to share their experiences with you. With F1 being such a secretive sport, with spies always ready to catch the latest technological development, it’s a great thing to see the teams opening up a bit more.

It is harder now that the shows can’t come directly from the track – because what better way to gather all the team together and get the best information about the latest races. But I think they have really pulled the best they could out of a difficult situation. Renault are quite often at the forefront of the media and technology – they have recently announced they are launching a factory in Second Life – and this just cements their reputation.

The most recent show talked with Pat Symonds about some of the technological issues that the team has been facing, and how they are working to get back some of the pace they have lost from last year.

It’s definitely worth checking out, whether you go to the blog or through iTunes, because even though it lacks the excitement of being on location, the actual content of the show has not suffered at all.