Sidepodcast

Sites for Sore Eyes (Part 4)

We've reached the final five websites in our mammoth task of reviewing all the drivers and their web real estate. Check out the first three parts before enjoying this last set of reviews.

Rubens Barrichello

Wow, I didn’t think websites were allowed to have scrolling information anymore. That must violate some kind of human right somewhere. Nevertheless, there’s a lot of background info on there, and a column from the man himself (at the time of writing, it was still post-Turkey). There was also some audio, although I couldn’t tell you what they were saying.

There's something very peculiar going on with the rendering of this site. Each time I navigate to a new page, there's a not-so-subtle bounce effect that happens before the layout settles down. Once or twice isn't so bad, but it becomes tiresome quickly. It's fine on Safari, but Firefox has issues.

Aside from that, I have a desire to stretch the layout and make it wider. There's too much wasted space each side of the main column. The background image is nice without ever being distracting, but the separate shop makes a poor attempt at trying to match the main site's look and feel.

Site: http://www.barrichello.com.br/
Fan Rating: 6 out of 10
Geek Rating: 6 out of 10

Giancarlo Fisichella

Given that computer screens are getting bigger and bigger all the time, I don’t really understand why this site is so small. I can hardly read the writing. Plus, for some reason, some of the news sections open in a new window, maybe because they need more space? It does look good, but I can't stand the strobe effect and I didn’t want to spend too long on there.

Giancarlo's homepage needs an epilepsy warning, the flashing may only be brief, but it's enough to quickly become painful. Here we are looking at a site that has the worst kind of Flash integration - the bulk of the pages written in the usability-challenged format while the news page is HTML and not integrated at all. I'm a fan of minimalism, but the size of typeface used here would challenge even Superman's eyesight and what's with all the bleepy noises?

Something that's a slight worry for the Italian is the fact that the Fisico Entertainment link on the right-hand side leads to a domain parking page. Someone, might have failed to renew that one, oops.

Site: http://www.giancarlofisichella.com/
Fan Rating: 3 out of 10
Geek Rating: 2 out of 10

Adrian Sutil

The first thing I saw on this site was the Dates in May bit, which seems to lead to a calendar. I’m not entirely sure why, as unless I’m missing something, it really was just a calendar for 2008. The sponsor logos are a bit omni-present which is quite annoying, and overall there didn’t seem that much to do.

Adrian appears to have inherited the Fisi disease because rolling over the menu provides a scatter gun ensemble of electronic bleeps. I had headphones on while viewing the site, and it felt like something was burrowing into my skull.

Like Christine, I'm baffled by what the calendar is telling me (beyond what any other calendar would). I found the orange theme quite appealing, pages responded quickly and the animated transitions were, well, bearable.

It's worth noting that this site has been designed by Adrian's brother Daniel, but how much difference the family touch adds is difficult to put your finger on though. Probably not much.

Site: http://www.adriansutil.com/
Fan Rating: 5 out of 10
Geek Rating: 6 out of 10

Lewis Hamilton

The Hamilton site looks good, although the lead story in the middle of the page is a warning for fans not to accept counterfeit autographed goods. That’s not really the most positive start for a site. It all appears to be a bit new, as the fan club is accepting “pre-registrations” and the charity page talks of the “Lewis Hamilton foundation coming soon.” But it seems to be a good base for when it does get going.

I was expecting to dislike this site, figuring that the "hand of Ron" was bound to have extended onto Lewis' personal site, but that doesn't appear to be the case at all. It's understated and simple to figure out. I was confused slightly by the inconsistency of the left side navigation, but apart from that it's perfectly usable and devoid of the corporate touch.

There is a significant lack of content however. You'll not find any circuit maps, nor photo gallery on this site, and some of the promised content simply points to a fan club registration form, while the Breaking News section points directly to McLaren's site. Work in progress is probably a fair summary.

Site: http://www.lewishamilton.com/
Fan Rating: 6 out of 10
Geek Rating: 5 out of 10

Heikki Kovalainen

I couldn’t really work out why you could have the page in either English or Russian but not Finnish, however that’s Heikki’s choice. There are two lots of navigation, one of which was a bit clunky to use between pages, and the other mostly led to pages under construction. Having said that, the content in the centre looks good and reads well, so all was not lost.

Heikki's site stands out amongst the crowd by virtue of the fact it doesn't appear to be very official. I mean, it's his name and he says he welcomes you in, but the site features Google advertisements and then says things like "our gallery" and "contact us". So who are these other people? A personal website should be just that shouldn't it? Additionally the website owner has a Hotmail address... hmmm, fishy.

Wikipedia says that this site is the official one, but it's a .net domain while the .com url points to Sutton Images. It's all very odd and I have to conclude the guy just doesn't care that much about the web. It's an okay site in terms of layout and design but "half-arsed" is the overriding impression. A disappointing end to our collection of reviews, no doubt about it.

Site: http://www.heikkikovalainen.net/
Fan Rating: 4 out of 10
Geek Rating: 2 out of 10

So that rounds up our final set of driver website reviews, and what a blast it has been. As ever we'd love to hear what you think, because we are not pretending to be the authority on this subject at all. However, we've shared our opinion and now we want to hear yours, so go check out these sites and tell us your thoughts in the comments.

Sites for Sore Eyes (Part 3)

This is part three of our driver websites review, looking at the good, the bad and the pointless. Check out the first two parts here, and here, and then we can get started with the next five. As ever, I’m approaching it from the fan viewpoint, checking on navigation and content, whilst the geeky one posts his usability and technical thoughts in italics.

Jarno Trulli

The homepage isn’t exactly pretty, but there’s nothing overtly horrible about it either. There are some good photos on the site, and the Toyota video feature is there as well. There’s also information about the kart that he has helped developed – which I knew nothing about! I do like that the background image is selected at random on each load.

Wow, that really is some awful music Jarno's playing there. The audio is doubly annoying on this site because it crushes any video you try and watch. It's easy to turn off, but who thought it was a good idea in the first place?

The rest of the site is okay, despite being flash only. The news section appears to be just a long list of Toyota press releases and there are far too many colours present on the homepage, giving the place a claustrophobic feel. The videos on the media page are unfeasibly small too, surrounded as they are by so much blank space.

Site: http://www.jarnotrulli.com/
Fan Rating: 6 out of 10
Geek Rating: 4 out of 10

Timo Glock

Now, I instantly dislike this page because it’s yellow, and yellow tends to hurt my eyes. However, I persevered for the sake of the exercise, but I didn’t really get very far. It seems like everything there is to look at is on the homepage already, so one glance and you’re done.

Timo's another driver who's opted to piggy back on a commercial site, forsaking his own domain name in the process.

This site takes forever to load and it's not just the homepage either. Clicking a link brings up an animated timer which serves no purpose other than to annoy. At the same time the page layout flips around like some sort of demonised rubik's cube, before proceeding to display the same information, only in a slightly different order.

Site: http://www.speed-academy.de/timoglock.html
Fan Rating:4 out of 10
Geek Rating: 3 out of 10

Sebastien Bourdais

The site is really simple and easy to navigate which makes a refreshing change! It’s also got plenty of pictures and info – I like the brooding one on the home page (that may just be me, though). There’s a forum that’s in French but seems to have plenty going on. Really, any site that has a heading called Goodies is fine by me.

Possibly the best welcome of any site so far. The opening video requires flash, but it's perfectly possible to get where you're going without it. I like that the branding is in keeping with Toro Rosso's livery, but isn't flamboyant or excessive in any area.

This is the cleanest looking website I've seen in a long while. Absolutely devoid of any clutter, whilst links to Google Maps of each circuit are a welcome addition. News still is lacking the personal touch though, as it's yet more press release material.

Site: http://www.sebastien-bourdais.com/
Fan Rating: 7 out of 10
Geek Rating: 7 out of 10

Sebastian Vettel

The English page is currently under construction, which is fair enough, except I couldn’t get back to the German page once I’d gone there.

Nothing says "Welcome" like a gigantic red cross and the word error painted across your screen in bold type does it? Makes you wonder why the there's a link to an English version of the site at all?

Life on Seb's site gets more confusing if you look at the German version, because the entire of the news section is written in English. The remainder of the pages are fine in terms of layout and content, but I do wonder if the central band of animated photography wouldn't have been better served as static images, and I can't shake the feeling as I'm browsing that the whole design is just waiting to be re-branded with the Red Bull logo.

Site: http://www.sebastianvettel.de/
Fan Rating: 1 out of 10
Geek Rating: 3 out of 10

Jenson Button

The site is very pretty, but to be honest, I spent a lot of time rolling over things going: "Ooh, that moves as well!" without actually looking at what was there. I think it’s one of those sites that while it has some good information underneath, the abundance of Flash makes it hard to find everything. The helmet competition is fun... oh wait, we did that already.

Your name's not on the list, you're not coming in. Jens has a flash only site and without it you're left looking at a plain white screen. Once over this obstacle though the site is well laid out and easy to navigate. I especially like the stats window that pulls out from the right-hand side. While I was watching three other users were also viewing the site, although the distance didn't appear to update in the way it suggested it should, maybe it's broken at the moment?

I get the impression Jenson actually cares about this site. The fan pictures section is a nice addition and Button has by far the best videos of any driver we've looked at so far. If you include his audio diaries, I suspect this benchmark will take some beating. I like that the Trackside section represents such a detailed look at circuits too.

If I have one criticism, it's that the convoluted transitions take far to long to execute, I was willing them to be over sooner. Not for the first time I'm torn with the rating of this site, I love what's inside, but getting there is too inaccessible.

Site: http://www.jensonbutton.com/
Fan Rating: 7 out of 10
Geek Rating: 6 out of 10

Three quarters of the way through now. We've trawled through the highs and lows of the internet so far, and there's still plenty more to come. Join us for part four where we look at the last five driver sites.

Sites for Sore Eyes (Part 2)

This is the second part of a project that sounded quite simple when we took it on. Check out all twenty driver websites, see what they're like, review and rate them. Turns out it was a mammoth task and this is only part two. If you haven't already, visit Part 1 to read our thoughts on the first five driver sites and then prepare to be amazed by our next five. As before, I'll be writing from the perspective a fan, looking at content and information, whilst the italics will be from the geek about geeky stuff. Let's go.

Nelson Piquet

For such a confident young man, the website is actually quite understated. I do like the graphic at the top that runs through the series and the cars he has driven in, finishing with his current Renault role. There’s lots of interactivity, however, with video, audio, and even a game! You control the Renault F1 car around Interlagos, and let’s just say even Piquet could do a better job than me. But still very fun.

Take any thoughts or criticisms you may have of this site and put them to one side for a moment. Nelson offers us an F1 game to play, and if this thing doesn't have you addicted till the small hours, something is quite probably wrong with you. I can already see a mini Sidepodcast competition in the offing.

Getting back to the site, Mr. Piquet has found an acceptable balance between usable navigation and flashy little widgets. I feel I should start rating these sites on the quality of the circuit maps, every driver seems to have them and Nelson doesn't disappoint on this score either. Points must be deducted however for the annoying repeating image that sits at the top of the page. Some people might approve, but not I.

Site: http://www.nelsinhopiquet.com.br
Fan Rating: 8 out of 10
Geek Rating: 6 out of 10

Nico Rosberg

Now, this site scares me. It says: “Begin full screen journey.” I don’t really want to go on a journey, I just want to look at some stuff about him. There is an HTML option, which I chose, and I was left very disappointed. Nico wants his site to be something different, for people to be able to see him as something other than a racing driver, and that’s fine. I respect that. But all the site actually does is show him posing with some soundbyte quotes. The photos are amazing, but not enough to sustain my attention for long.

I'm not sure I've ever described a website as 'epic' before, but Nico's surely is. I do worry about a homepage that feels it necessary to explain basic navigation before allowing you in, and thankfully a plain vanilla version is provided for the wary, but take a look inside and you're presented with a browsing experience like no other. A lot of thought has gone into this site and in terms of brand identity I'm not sure a driver has ever looked cooler, or less like a driver in fact.

The initial blank page is seriously off-putting and will be more than enough to frighten off or confuse the inexperienced. I think along the way someone confused the brief that said "design me a website" with one that said "make me a Hollywood star". Happens to me all the time.

Site: http://www.nicorosberg.com/
Fan Rating: 3 out of 10
Geek Rating: 6 out of 10

Kazuki Nakajima

Well, it’s not the best design I’ve ever seen, and apparently it has “All rigths Reserved.” A lot of the links open in new windows, or resize the page somehow, and to be honest, a lot of them point to the Williams site anyway. So, you may as well just go there.

Yikes! Every link I clicked took me to a completely different website, the first of which appears to simply be a long list of various GP results but nothing more. It's hard to think of anything good to say about this one, it reminds me of the web of yesteryear. At least nothing jumps around and if pushed I'd say the photos are... well... nice.

Site: http://www.kazuki-nakajima.com/
Fan Rating: 4 out of 10
Geek Rating: 2 out of 10

David Coulthard

I think it’s the use of frames on this site that makes it feel really out of date. However, it’s nice that he has a personal blog on there that is updated regularly, and he’s really honest about some of the things that go on behind the scenes. I was encouraged to find a video diary on there prior to Melbourne but that seems to have been a one off. There’s also a very obvious and blatant link to his column on ITV.

Pleasant, is the way I'd describe the experience of David's homepage. It doesn't try to do too much and it's reasonably straightforward to navigate, although I'd argue the left-hand links are redundant as they're simply duplicates of the horizontal menu.

The helmet that moves back and forth is a bit ridiculous, it's unresponsive and often bears no relation to the page you're looking at, while the token video is of poor quality but notable for its original take on cinematography. When was the last time you watched TV in portrait mode, I ask ya?

Site: http://www.davidcoulthard.co.uk/
Fan Rating: 7 out of 10
Geek Rating: 6 out of 10

Mark Webber

Ah, the curse of the cross promotion continues, as Webber links to his BBC column. Do you think that makes any rivalry between them even stronger? Anyway, Mark’s site is littered with links which are quite confusing to navigate, but it usually means you are never lost. It’s easy to get back to where you started from, but not so easy to get where you want to go.

I love that Mark's using a circuit layout as his site map. It's such a fine idea I feel we might even have to steal borrow it for Sidepodcast. It always helps with site content when a driver has a life outside of racing and it's here that Webber has an edge. A restaurant, his 'challenge' and his clothing collection should all make for good reading, but sadly all the links lead to other sites.

Nothing annoyed me about markwebber.com, and it worked consistently on every browser I checked it against.

Site: http://www.markwebber.com/
Fan Rating: 5 out of 10
Geek Rating: 7 out of 10

We're halfway through our list of driver websites, and I'd say we've covered pretty much everything from the garish to the dull and the sparse to the crowded. I wonder what delights await us in part three.

Sites for Sore Eyes (Part 1)

During the Monaco weekend, discussion in the comments fell to drivers and their websites, specifically a comparison between Jenson B and Nico R and their relative dot coms. We decided it’d be an interesting idea to look at all the drivers websites and compare them, and now seems to be as good a time as any (because I am fighting having to talk about Max for as long as possible).

So, for clarification, I will be approaching the website as a fan, seeing what information is out there, and the geeky one will look at, well, the geeky stuff. So, let’s start.

Kimi Raikkonen

It’s always good to be confronted with a great picture to start with, and Kimi’s site opens with the Ferrari facing you head on. It’s clean and navigation is simple, there’s the usual biography and press releases, but it’s all very easy on the eye. There aren’t many wallpapers, which makes the multimedia page a bit over the top, but there’s a shop, a forum, and info on the official fan club, so plenty of places for fans to interact.

Something odd happens when I click on Kimi's shop or forum links. A whole other website opens that seems entirely unrelated to the previous one and if I try to buy some merchandise I end up at a third one! On the plus side the forum appears to be pretty active, the general layout of the site is good, and blimey it loads fast.

Site: http://www.kimiraikkonen.com/
Fan rating: 7 out of 10
Geek rating: 5 out of 10

Felipe Massa

Argh, my eyes!! It’s garish and bright. Nagivation is simple enough but the sheer amount of flashy animation involved makes it hard work. Plus, the picture on the left keeps on smashing into pieces and falling off screen, to be replaced by another. It’s very distracting. There is a nice Ask Me feature, where you can submit a question and Felipe will answer the best ones, but I couldn’t bear to stay on the site long enough to read many of them.

Gah! The thing I dislike more than anything in the world, are websites that play music without my permission. The chances of me listening to some proper music while browsing the net are pretty high, so interruptions are always annoying.

The site itself is way too high maintenance, and feels like it's aimed at the younger F1 fan. On the plus side it is translated into three languages, but since when have you had to pay to use a forum?

Site: http://www.felipemassa.com/
Fan rating: 3 out of 10
Geek rating: 3 out of 10

Nick Heidfeld

Nick’s website isn’t flashy or pretty but it’s very easy to use and stores a lot of information. As well as the usual news and biography, there’s some articles about Nick and his own GP Diary. There’s a lot of writing about the car and the team, which is good to see, but perhaps a bit too much. I didn’t take the time to read it all. In fact, once I’d read the “Quick Nick” stats and found out his favourite food was liver, I was too put off to go much further.

You would have thought with all their money, an F1 driver could afford a proper domain name. I had to check three times that I was in fact visiting the correct site.

In usability terms Nick's place has a nice layout with a simple menu structure, although a couple of times I came across database error messages. It lacks the personal touch though, being piggybacked onto a corporate site in this way.

Site: http://www.motorsport-magazin.com/nickheidfeld/
Fan rating: 6 out of 10
Geek rating: 4 out of 10

Robert Kubica

Just like Raikkonen’s site, Kubica’s official site opens with a great close up of him in the car. It’s in Polish, and I couldn’t see any options to translate any of the articles, although there was the occasional piece in English. However, there wasn’t that much to translate anyway. Information about the season, news updates, a contact page and a countdown timer pretty much make the substance of the site. The images of the track are really good, mind you.

Pointless, is probably the best way to describe Robert's site. It's one and only saving grace is the 2008 season page which features some damn fine circuit graphics, in fact they're some of the best I've ever seen. Aside from that there's nothing to keep you around for more than 20 seconds or so.

I do love a short domain name though.

Site: http://www.kubica.pl/
Fan rating: 4 out of 10
Geek rating: 3 out of 10

Fernando Alonso

You’re presented with a lot of information on the homepage, most of it quite in your face and distracting. However, if you take some time to adjust, it’s then easy to find your way around. Whilst all the basics are there, news, biography, etc, the whole feel of the site is a bit impersonal. A lot of it is third person, and you kind of think maybe Alonso doesn’t have anything to do with it.

When I first visited the site it made a noise like a strangled animal, and I couldn't for the life of me work out why? Eventually I tracked the offending squawk to an advert at the base of the homepage... not the best welcome in the world.

I couldn't get the shop to work, and the whole place screams "sell-out" with far too much marketing and not enough substance. Ferni's history section is a superb way of looking back through his career, but has been implemented in what can politely be described as a 'unique' way.

Site: http://www.fernandoalonso.com
Fan rating: 5 out of 10
Geek rating: 3 out of 10

Sheesh, we've only done five? That seems like enough to be going on with. This may take longer than I initially thought. Never mind, though, check out part two for the second half of our driver site criticism rundown.