It is Bank Holiday Monday in the UK, granted to us because Boxing Day fell at the weekend. There is still little to go on in the news stakes, which is a breath of fresh air and means we have been able to get other stuff done. Here are some of the things we're talking about:
- The 2009 Season Review Megamix was released yesterday, featuring a summary of the year just gone from our excellent listeners. Everything from the downpour at Malaysia to the replacement of Bourdais is covered, and it's great to get views from a variety of eloquent F1 fans.
- We have a new blog to join in the F1 fun - Tom G, who recently got a mention in the podcast, has set up A Little Bit... Piquet. There's only an intro post for now, but I'm sure the rest of the entries won't be a little bit Piquet at all.
- Recently I posted a roundup of the Advent Calendar podcast - a breakdown of all the shows with descriptions for each - in place of an omnibus edition of the extended podcast. At three minutes each, that omnibus would be about 75 minutes long. I'm pretty certain Mr C would not approve of such things!
That's all for now, although just a quick reminder to everyone (but also to me) that it is Must Comment Monday today, so keep an eye on all those F1 blogs.
Mr C says he is determined to both remember and do MCM justice this week. I will do the same, and as ever, I will see you in the comments.
Happy Christmas Eve to one and all. I trust there will be no news today, right? I do hope so. I can't quite believe all this news keeps on happening. Here at Sidepodcast, we treasure the Christmas week as one where everyone else stops and we keep on going. It's not fair if they keep on going as well. Anyway, enough whining from me, here are some of the things we're talking about:
- We got to catch up with Joe, and the podcast was released yesterday. Pat has actually done a really good job of plugging the podcast, so I won't attempt to add anything and simply point you in that direction instead.
- So, you might have heard that Schumacher is attempting another comeback. Ollie has written about that over on BlogF1, at the same time confirming some future plans for his site as well. Yay for Ollie!
- Finally, with just a few minutes to spare, Gavin posted his 2009 in Review - Fuel Use article. He has spent a really long time collecting and analysing the data for this post, and his hard work shows! There's a lot of information in there, and I think I might have to read it a couple of times, but it's definitely worth the effort. Head over there now.
That's all for now. As ever, we are keen to know your plans, particularly how you are gearing up for the holidays. I will see you in the comments (and this time I really will!)
Sidepodcast listener Stuart Taylor has provided us a guest post with a difference, an absolutely fantastic illustrated guide to the 2009 Formula 1 season. Please leave caption suggestions in the comments and let us know your favourite. In the meantime, over to Stuart.
I wanted to contribute to your season review but speaking isn't my forté so I made you a little cartoon season review instead. Thanks and Merry Christmas!
Instead of us rehashing our thoughts of the 2008 season, we invited the Sidepodcast community to send in their own reviews. Bundled together, they become the best Megamix of the year. Taking part in this extra special end of year show (in no particular order):
Notably, this may be the first ever episode of Sidepodcast in which neither myself nor Mr Christine feature. I think it's all the better for it, though, so thank you to everyone who took part, and everyone who joined us for such a great season.
Featured music: Orange Is In, Final Song and Fall of Snow, You Said Nothing. Find out more about the music played on Sidepodcast here.
This article was originally written for BellaOnline, but is republished here for posterity.
McLaren needed to have a good year, as 2007 was one to forget. Although Hamilton was in the running for the championship last year as well, there were too many other issues getting in the way. Firstly there was the inter-team squabbling with Alonso trying to find his feet and failing to do so. Then there was the espionage affair with Ferrari that meant all constructor points for McLaren were stripped away. The team were very competitive throughout the season, but they must have been glad to see 2007 come to an end.
Roll on 2008, then, and having split with Alonso, the new line up of Hamilton and Kovalainen looked like they were going to be even stronger. As this season wore on, it became obvious that Kovalainen wasn't going to be the star of the team, and was actually struggling to get matching performance with his team mate. However, Hamilton was on top form for the majority of the season. There were a few lapses of judgement, for instance the pit lane exit incident with Raikkonen, but over the course of the year, he made very few mistakes.
With some questionable stewarding decisions, the championship fight went down to the wire, literally to the last corner. But Hamilton came out victorious and is a deserving champion. Now the team have to look ahead to 2009 and hope they can repeat the performance.
The consistency of keeping Hamilton and Kovalainen will help them, and the team have already been working hard on the new regulations. We've already seen them demonstrate some of the new wings, and they've been developing their KERS package during the recent tests. The chances are high that McLaren will continue to be dominant in 2009, and be one of the teams fighting for the championship. For them, this is good news. They will want to prove something to current sponsor Santander, who are leaving them in 2010 for Ferrari.
There has been speculation for a long time over Ron Dennis' role in the team. We thought he might step down after the espionage affair, but it seemed as though he felt he had something to prove. Now that they have won a championship with all the odds against them, it seems likely that Martin Whitmarsh will continue to take on more responsibility. Hopefully, the team will be in safe hands.
This article was originally written for BellaOnline, but is republished here for posterity.
On paper, BMW had a brilliant year. Their only goal from the outset of the 2008 season was to win a race, and they achieved this about halfway through. The only problem with this is that once this objective had been met, the team seemed to tail off their enthusiasm slightly, presumably concentrating on 2009.
Boss Mario Theissen always maintained that there was a plan set in stone and they were following it to the letter, and so far meeting all their targets. Maiden winner Robert Kubica wasn't happy about this, though and wanted to keep pushing, making the most of the momentum they had gained. He managed to remain in contention for the driver's title until just a few races from the end, but this was without the support of his team.
It's one of the first signs of frustration we've seen out of what has been a rock solid team. BMW is known for their consistency and Heidfeld is usually to be found crossing the line fourth or fifth. For his part, Heidfeld must have been particularly irritated that he couldn't get the debut win for his team. I tend to forget that he has been in F1 for a relatively long time, especially compared to his team mate. Although he picked up second place behind Kubica, you could tell he wasn't happy with it. We didn't hear much from him, though, when Kubica began to complain. Heidfeld keeps himself to himself and gets the job done.
For next year, BMW have already shocked the world with their 2009 spec wings. At recent tests, they debuted an example of what next season will look like with the obnoxiously high rear wing and flat, boxy front wing. They have also been working on their KERS package, and have made good progress since the incident where a mechanic received a shock. It doesn't seem likely that BMW will be able to make that next step to being a real championship contender next year, more that they will continue to be a nuisance to the top racers. However, if McLaren or Ferrari make the smallest mistake in their 2009 preparations, it could be BMWs year. I'd be very happy to see them on the podium more often.
This article was originally written for BellaOnline, but is republished here for posterity.
At the beginning of 2008, it seemed as though Kimi Raikkonen was on the right track to defend his World Championship title from the previous season. He won a couple of the early races and was showing well compared to his team mate Felipe Massa. However, things started to go wrong, and Kimi began to struggle both in qualifying and in the races themselves.
By Monaco, Massa was turning things round. He began to creep towards number one status within the team, gradually taking the best strategies and maximising his own performance. Although Raikkonen was a championship contender until very near the end of the season, it was obvious that Massa was the one to watch. He narrowly missed out on the driver's title, but his win in Brazil, and Kimi's podium finish allowed Ferrari to take their eighth constructors title out of the last ten years.
That's an incredible statistic, one that is mostly down to the formidable records Michael Schumacher achieved. Nevertheless, both Kimi and Felipe have added their part to the last two constructors titles taken by the red team, and that shouldn't be taken away from them. Sadly, there is always the edge with any Ferrari success, that the FIA are favouring them in some way. It's no secret that they are paid above and beyond other teams to remain in the sport, given their heritage and success. However, questionable penalties were given this year that favoured Ferrari, and it's unfortunate that that is the case.
The team didn't make it easy on themselves, either, though, with many mistakes in the pit lane causing Massa and Raikkonen problems. Who can forget Singapore, where we saw Massa sailing away down the pit lane with half the fuel hose trailing behind him? They'll want to improve standards in the pit lane as one of their first tasks for 2009.
Nevertheless, the record stands, and now Ferrari will be moving on. There is constant speculation that Alonso would like to join the team, and that there is already a contract in place for 2011. However, that is still a long way in the future, and the team must focus on 2009. The regulation changes do seem to be holding them up slightly. Ferrari personnel are not afraid to admit that they are somewhat behind in their KERS development, and may not even run it during the first few races of the season.
Either way, the chances are that Ferrari will still be at the top of the grid come Melbourne, and they will be yet another team to watch when it comes to the 2009 championships.
This article was originally written for BellaOnline, but is republished here for posterity.
Renault must have been really happy to get Fernando Alonso back with them, after his ill-advised year at McLaren in 2007. Alonso fitted right back in as if he'd never left and the team got straight back to work. Unfortunately, things weren't working quite as well as they were when he left them, and they spent the first few races struggling at the lower end of the mid-field.
Alonso was determined to have a good year, whether or not they got any wins, just to make up for his disappointment within the McLaren team. He was teamed with Nelson Piquet Jr, a rookie who was super confident when he first stepped into the car. After just a few short races, he realised that Formula 1 wasn't going to be as easy as he first thought. He humbled a little, put his head down and started to learn.
Renault admitted they had a problem with their engine this year, and seemed to have made a mistake before the engine freeze was in place. It meant no matter what they did to the aerodynamics, they didn't have the power pushing the car to make the difference. This was never clearer than for customer team Red Bull who rapidly fell behind the Ferrari powered Toro Rosso, despite both having the same chassis.
Nevertheless, towards the latter half of the season, things started to look up for Renault. After Vettel took his surprise maiden win in Italy, we didn't think Singapore could offer up anything more unusual. However, Alonso brought back his winning ways and took the top step of the podium at F1's first ever night race. It was a massive leap for the team, and whilst some may have called it a lucky win, their next victory in Japan was even better. Back to back wins meant the team finished the season with a massive jump in points and more importantly, a huge boost in motivation.
The announcement that the team would be retaining both Alonso and Piquet was a surprise, as the rookie hadn't been outstanding, but the consistency should serve Renault well. Times in F1 are tough at the moment, and the bosses at Renault HQ have always been slightly wary of investing so much into the sport. However, Renault F1 are sure that they'll be on the grid next year, and fighting for wins. I hope they are.
A little while ago, actually a long while ago now I come to think of it, Rich sent us an email containing his personal 2008 season review in audio. At first we figured we'd slot it into F1 Debrief along with other voicemails, but it was a long review, weighing in at nearly 15 minutes, and we didn't want to lose any of the insight. Thus the idea of an end-of-season megamix was born.
We've already discussed this plan on the past two shows, but I promised to go into the idea in more detail as well as put up a reminder, plus Dom's threatened to keep hassling me until I do.
Those who've followed Sidepodcast for a while, may remember back at the start of the year we requested listeners to call in with their predictions for the outcome of Melbourne Grand Prix. The results were compiled into a dazzling montage that set up the season nicely. It seems only correct that we should close the year with something similar.
Therefore what we're after is yet more contributions from your good selves. We promise this will be the last thing we ever ask of you, this year... probably. What we'd really like is for anyone and everyone to let us know what you loved, hated, supported or derided between the months January to December 2008. What made you cheer and and what made you jeer? Can you name the moments you'd watch again and again, and the ones you'd sooner forget?
12 months is a long time though, so just in case you've forgotten, here's a potted history of F1 in 2008 to help dust off the cobwebs:
- The banning of traction control
- The magically, magnificent, combustible Red Bull
- Kimi losing control in Monaco and taking Force India's sole chance of points with him
- Début wins for Kovalainen, Vettel and Kubica
- The resurgence of Renault and fall of BMW
- Poor stewarding descisions, pretty much everywhere
- The making of Massa
- Pitlane lights, both red ones and green ones
- The rain at Silverstone and again Monza
- Rosberg outdriving his penalty at night
- That corner, on that lap
You can tell us everything either by calling our voicemail on 0121 28 87225 or Skyping the username sidepodcast. If neither of these appeal, but you have the ability to record your voice onto computer, you can mail us by attaching an MP3 and posting to christine [at] sidepodcast.com.
It doesn't matter how long or how short you make it. We already have donations spanning from 1 minute to 20 minutes. Whatever you've got to say, we'd love to hear it.
I've put back the deadline twice already, but I swear that Sunday 14th December is the very last day we'll accept contributions and then we'll compile them altogether, and create a 2008 Megamix to keep forever.
This article was originally written for BellaOnline, but is republished here for posterity.
Compared to some of the other teams, Toyota had a pretty quiet season. They weren’t racing near the front too often, although a couple of lucky podiums saw them pick up some decent points. By the same token, they weren’t really showing up with poor performance and kept out of the headlines that way, as well.
Jarno Trulli has a lot of F1 experience, and fits in to the Toyota team well. He’s quiet and keeps his head down, racing for points and generally not for wins. He picked up one third place on the podium, when he needed it most, and wanted to tribute the trophy to the late Ove Andersson – a manager instrumental to Toyota’s F1 programme.
Timo Glock is early in his career, and managed to pick up a lucky second place in Hungary. He spent a lot of the season learning about the car, though, picking up racing experience and generally trying to blend in. Unfortunately for him, Glock will be remembered for his part in the Brazilian season finale. It’s clear that he couldn’t have helped what happened on the last lap, and my guess is he wasn’t even aware what part he was playing in the championship battle. The controversy that sprung up afterwards, speculating on whether he slowed on purpose, will not have helped his profile, but most in the sport will know that it wasn’t a big conspiracy theory.
With Honda’s exit from Formula 1, there’s speculation that Toyota could be next. The team have never really done well, and have also never shown the enthusiasm for racing that other’s have. They’ve always quietly got on with the job in hand, and never seemed as though Formula 1 was important to them. However, the team has issued a statement saying they are committed to the sport, and we should see them on the grid next year.
Whether they will be any good is hard to say. The regulations are changing so vastly that it’s hard to tell who will improve or slowly fall down the grid. The chances are that Toyota will remain as they are at the moment – a very strong midfield competitor, happy to pick up some points here and there, and give their sponsors the visibility they desire. Winning a Grand Prix would be a giant leap for them, but it’s not impossible.
