Sunday has arrived, and with it brings a live show... but not from us. Giggles Radio is scheduled to begin at 4pm today, so I hope you will join Alex as he brings us some excellent music with added chatter to go with it. Meanwhile, here are some of the things we're keeping an eye on:
Mr C has been making some more tweaks, this time the Sidepodcast Feed. If you subscribe to keep up with the blog posts, you should know find an added bit at the bottom of each entry so you can check the ratings, click through to comments and find related posts directly from your chosen feed reader.
If you've been struggling to keep up with everything from testing in Jerez, then F1 Minute is here for you! Yesterday I posted a special episode to catch up with the final day, but there is 60 second coverage for each day of testing, including who was fastest, who was slowest, weather updates, and of course, who was causing all the red flags.
It was a day of guest posts yesterday as firstly Lewis discussed two separate events at Silverstone and how they compare and contrast, and then Lukeh told us why he's looking forward to the upcoming season and why we should too. It's a great insight into the mind of a Rubens fan, obviously, but there is also plenty of optimism to go round.
That should do it for now. We should have a podcast along either later today or some time tomorrow, and as ever, I will see you in the comments.
We have been asking for your stories of racing events that you've attended. Yesterday, Lady Snowcat described her freezing visit to Sweden to watch Kimi, and today Lewis talks about two separate Silverstone events and tries to compare the two.
Credit: cmonville (creative commons)
The Peugeot 908 flies around Silverstone during the Autosport 1000km in 2008.
Silverstone. The quintessential British racing circuit. Greasy fast food, Maggots and Becketts, plagues of souvenir stands and die hard British racing fans. Having been there twice, I've felt the buzz of the field going past many times. But surely my visits can't have been any different?
I first went to Silverstone in 2008, on a typically autumnal day. I was going to watch Le Mans Series, the final race of the season, the title decider. I was going as a guest of Peugeot, and as I sat in Luffield B with a Peugeot flag and cap in my hands, the field went past at an amazing pace. The atmosphere was electric, it felt as though a lightning bolt had passed through all of our bodies. It was a feeling I won't forget.
After a while, we went for a walk. There were lines and lines of souvenir stands. Magazines, caps, flags, books, programmes. It would have taken days to visit everything. The Le Mans organisers really knew what the spectators wanted.
The paddock was open that day, a chance for fans to see what was behind the pit lane. Across the infamous bridge, we walked past motorhomes, cafés and team personnel. I felt like a VIP, even though it was public. Every two minutes, you got a complimentary car sticker, or a free flag. They catered for everything. There was even an opportunity to buy used tyres from Dunlop or Michelin. Autosport (who were the title sponsors of the event) were also fantastic. I bought their magazine, then got laden with three free books. A truly awesome day.
I came back in 2009, to watch the World Series by Renault formula. My expectations were high. Brendon Hartley (a driver that I can't wait to see in F1) was driving, and I felt the same buzz as before as I stood at Becketts, watching the twenty-strong field fly past. I was lucky enough to stand at Bridge corner and see Fernando Alonso drive past in his Renault.
It was only when we started to go walkies that it failed to live up to my impressions. The only souvenir stands were official Renault stands, and the prices were outrageous. £7.50 for a fridge magnet?! The only free thing I got was a badly made flag, and the only attractions were the 'official ING funfair' and Renault's heritage. The paddock was non-existent, only for a few manic drivers driving crates of tyres around. You couldn't buy those. Renault disappointed me. They should've done a lot better. The pressure from 'Crash-gate' perhaps? All of the souvenir stands were gone, there were none of the cheerful helpers that pointed the way to confused fans. Even all of the mobile cafés were gone (I didn't want an official ING sandwich, I just wanted a normal one).
Overall, you could see the effort each set of organisers put in to the event. I don't think I'll be going to anything for Renault any time soon. Le Mans Series? Yes.
This week, Dan Brunell has taken the lead for Thursday Thoughts, posing a rather tricky question over on his Racing Eagles blog. This week, we are tackling economics, and whilst I work with numbers, I still spent some time scratching my head on this one. The question, then:
Is government finance of Formula One events, teams, and personal a good thing for the common good of that area? What is the line between regional economic investment and the wholesale fleecing of the public?
Immediately, I think of Silverstone. Damon Hill is constantly bemoaning the lack of support the BRDC gets when it comes to running the Grand Prix for Britain. Even when Donington took over, they were allowed to fail spectacularly without even a blink from the government. The question over whether taxpayers should fund Formula One really falls back to a more general one of whether we should fund sport at all. If we're helping to pay for one, there's no reason not to pay for another, even if it is a rather expensive one. With the Olympics dominating headlines at the moment, this is really a timely question.
The thing about Silverstone is, it does help the local economy. I'd never even heard of the place until I became a fan of F1, let alone been anywhere near it. At the track itself, Porsche have invested in an incredible car and human performance facility, there is a science and technology park, with the Silverstone Innovation Centre. Plus nearby teams, such as Force India, are creating work for hundreds of people.
When Canada lost their race, their economy suffered enough for the government to turn to hotel owners to make up the difference. A tax levied on hotel occupancy, and presumably on restaurants and fans themselves.
So, you could certainly make an argument that F1 is beneficial to sport, and to the local economy. The problem arises, as it so often does, with one Mr Bernie Ecclestone. Damon Hill is miserable because Bernie is charging enormous amounts for the race and leaving little for development. If the government poured money into the circuit, it's conceivable that Bernie would increase his fees, and there would still be little room for development. I'm not in favour of the taxpayer money heading straight for Bernie's pockets any more than it has to.
Thus, I conclude, in my roundabout way, that Damon Hill is going to have to stay miserable for now. I want the government to support all kinds of sports, but Formula One doesn't have the right attitude to make that a feasible option right now.
It's a super busy day today, as testing continues in Jerez, Lotus are due to launch in London, Kimi gets some rallying action, and... well, it's Friday! It's been a subdued test so far with weather, and little running from Virgin Racing, but perhaps things will perk up today. Elsewhere:
Talking of rallying, we got some Fantasy WRC scores from the special stage yesterday, and it looks as though Mr C is last in the league. Haha! I shouldn't laugh really, as I didn't even know we'd set up a league, but at least I'm not last. If you're keen to get involved, please sign up - don't worry, we don't have a clue what we're doing either.
Scott has been working at the Classic Team Lotus factory for a while now, and has seen some exciting people come and go. Yesterday, he posted a picture of himself with Kovalainen, which is just fabulous. What is up with Kovi's hair though?
Lukeh has started a new feature on his F1 blog, in which he poses a topic, discusses whether it is a good idea or not and then asks for your opinion - Yay or Nay. The first one is about Silverstone's new layout - what do you think?
That should keep us going for a bit. I have a feeling we'll have a few threads up during the day, so I will see you in the comments.
It took Virgin a while to get information about their new car up and out on the internet, despite the fact they were hoping to do an online launch and include everybody all at once. There's no need to go over how very badly they failed at launching in style, I can highly recommend the latest F1 Debrief show for such things.
What I would like to do is highlight two videos released by the team that show the things they can do right.
Firstly, they roped in David Croft to present this intro video, which makes Mr C a very happy bunny, as you might imagine. I'm not sure why this video isn't on the official Virgin Racing account, but we had enough of that during the Virgin Twitter debacle, so let's just sit back and enjoy.
The team took the car for a shakedown at Silverstone, in the pouring rain, and produced a video whilst they were there. This is the kind of thing I want to see from teams. Great editing, up close and personal with the drivers (even presenting in the rain!), and some insight into what it's like being there.
Clearly they're not giving too much away just yet, and if you want more detailed information about the shakedown, Scott found a great video with more raw car footage in. For now, though, I'm going to go and rewatch Lucas having a cup of tea. Delicious.
There's another launch today, as McLaren get ready to unveil their 2010 car. They're streaming at a much more reasonable hour of 11am UK time, so keep an eye for a breakout thread later in the morning. Meanwhile, in much more important news, it's Jackie's birthday today, so many happy returns for the day! Hope it's a good one. Here are some of the things we're talking about:
Apparently, the organisers of the Singapore GP are considering making some changes to their circuit for the 2011 season, particularly the area where a certain Mr Piquet crashed a certain Renault. I don't mind if the track changes too much but I can't believe Singapore are considering it, whilst Abu Dhabi believe their circuit is just fine and dandy.
Yesterday was Thursday, and with such a day comes some real thinking. Dylan from Triple League Racing gave us the question and it was a good one. Read all about how I would change the calendar, and yes, I know it's not a particularly popular idea. Mr C and I are weird like that.
Some pictures of the work going on at Silverstone emerged recently, and it already looks a million times more productive than Donington ever did. It's always worrying to see a track with diggers and earth littered everywhere, but I get the feeling Silverstone will come through this one unscathed. There are some pictures to be seen over on Autosport.
That'll do it for now, I have a feeling it's going to be a busy day, but even so, let us know what you're up to and what you've got planned for the weekend. I'll see you in the comments.
I wrote earlier this week about my desire to attend pre-season testing this year, partly as a way of seeing some F1 action, and partly as a way to prove to Mr C that track testing is still relevant and interesting. Four days later and things could be going better.
Credit: Force India F1
Adrian Sutil tests the Force India in 2009
We narrowed the choices down to the sole Valencia test, and the price and the location were pretty appealing. We already knew that Red Bull weren't going to be attending the circuit for the first test of the year, and that was a sticking point. It was almost acceptable to miss out on seeing the new Red Bull, despite it likely setting the 2010 aero standard. US F1 are almost certain to remain in the States for their first test, and new team Virgin Racing have also confirmed they would delay their first taste of track time until a later Jerez test.
This is all understandable, and no one could put money on the new teams being ready in time for the beginning of February, although they are going to have to get a wriggle on because the start of the season is not far behind. Roll on the next news announcements, and cue both Sauber and Force India stating they are not planning on attending the Valencia test either. For what reason?
"It's to optimise the time in the wind tunnel as much as possible"
It seems as though on track testing is just no longer as valuable to teams as days spent in the factory, hours spent in the wind tunnel, and computing minutes spent on CFD analysis. Christian Horner proves this point for at least one of the absentee teams: "It's to optimise the time in the wind tunnel as much as possible."
From the real life experience of track time, the future now seems to be sitting behind a wall of screens. As big enthusiasts for shunning the real world, I don't suppose I can fault the logic behind these decisions. The real question, though, is what are they doing? The regulation changes for the 2009 season were so massive that I would have forgiven teams for turning round and saying: "Hold up, we need a year out for this." But the majority were raring to go as soon as the track time was presented to them. 12 months later, and you can't coax them out onto the tarmac.
Is it an attempt at keeping secrets? Surely teams are aware by now that it is almost an impossible task. Or perhaps they have learnt from the double diffuser debacle that there is the possibility of springing a surprise.
Perhaps it is simply that the track at Valencia is not particularly useful and they would rather wait until Barcelona - they can certainly reuse data collected at Circuit de Catalunya during the season, whereas maybe the Ricardo Tomo track is less useful to them. What would happen if Bahrain got their way and became one of the pre-season preferred testing tracks instead? Would the teams be more or less keen to head out there and stock up on some numbers?
It's certainly something you'd want to experience
We've seen a distinct lack of interest in testing recently, but does that mean fans are missing out? I know when we attended Silverstone for mid-season testing in 2008 it was full of excited fans, a really good day out, and although different to a GP atmosphere, it's certainly something you'd want to experience. Now it's all pre-season, more clinical, and less teams are bothered. It seems like everyone from fans to drivers to mechanics are missing out.
That being said, it wouldn't surprise me if the trend for testing is over. With cost cutting the first bullet point on everyone's agenda at the moment, extra track time, flights, cargo, fuel and tyres can't be an appealing option. If the fans aren't bothered about going, the teams would prefer to stay in the warmth of the factory, then perhaps testing really is dead. Could we get by without it altogether?
Either way, I'm going to have to admit that Mr C might be right. It looks like we're just going to have to settle for a regular old holiday. Where's the nearest wind tunnel?
Welcome to Sunday, we are three days in to 2010 already. I hesitate to say time is flying, but seriously, that is quite scary. Five minutes ago we were seeing in the new year. Still, the F1 news is beginning to wake up again, and that means we will have to do the same. It's been a good holiday, so we'll make the most of this last day. Here are some of the things we're talking about:
Tony Fernandes has been speaking about the new era in Formula 1 and he believes that the the fresh teams and faces coming into the sport can only do it some good. He said the new ideas will be a bonus to F1, and should brighten it up. I am certainly hoping so.
Elsewhere, organisers at Silverstone are hoping they can deliver a spectacular event for fans - suggesting that the circuit will go back to its former glory, despite not having super duper investments, as somewhere like Abu Dhabi does. It's easy to say though, and I suspect they are just glad to have the race back. It might take some time before we see any major overhaul.
Finally, we had a great guest post with added pictures from JPancoast, who visited the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the museum there. I am a little disturbed by a couple of the wonky cars, but the pictures are great, so I highly recommend it.
Anyway, that's all for now, I hope you are having a fabulous weekend so far, and I will see you in the comments.
Hello there. Here is your useless fact of the day, according to the people's encyclopedia. Today in Sweden and Finland, it is Anna's day - a day that celebrates anyone called Anna. Isn't that a bit mean to people who aren't called Anna? I assume there is a reason but I cannot find out why. A mystery. Anyway, here's some F1 stuff:
Mr Buxton has a post on the recent Silverstone deal, which reminds us that although it's all good news for the British GP, there is still a track that has been left as a building site with no immediate prospects. In the comments last night, we were trying to work out who was to blame for this - the Wheatcrofts, Gillett, Ecclestone - the list is endless.
Whilst we're on the subject of complete and utter failures, I have given up on Twitter and gone back to using Identica. I know there are only a select few people over there, and I won't be pushing madly for others to join - although come and say hi if you do! - I just wanted to let you all know where I'd gone.
I also updated the Daily Post Guest Writer wiki page with space for a brand new week of guest writers. If you fancy having a go, or another attempt if you took part last time, then sign yourself up. It probably won't be until January now, but get in there early to secure your spot.
That'll do it for now. Don't forget, a new advent show goes up every day until Christmas, just a few moments after this daily post appears, so head on over to relive a moment from the 2009 season. I'll see you in the comments.
The big news of yesterday was about Silverstone and the fact that the future of the British Grand Prix is now secure. I am mostly happy about this news because it means we don't have to talk about any more deadlines. I like it when things get settled. Meanwhile, here are some of the other things we're talking about:
Stuart has made quite an impact on his blog already, with an excellent post about that age old problem - the so-called F1 journalist, that stays at home and lets everyone else do the hard work for them. The more we vote with our feet, the more influence we can all have.
The edited version of this weekend's F1 Debrief was posted yesterday, and we use the brand new Disco Dan theme tune as an outtro. Thanks to Nikki and her friend Julie Mahendran - there must be drinking and there must be disco.
Stefano Domenicali has been discussing how he thinks Ferrari might fare next year, and of course he's saying they'll do better than 2009. I don't see how they could do much worse really. It was a tricky car, and they had a lot of bad luck and troubles to keep their attention off improving the car. How will they do in 2010 though? How will Alonso fit in? Stefano says he'll be a breath of fresh air.
That's all for now. Let us know what you're doing today, and how your week is going so far, and as ever, I will see you in the comments.
