Sidepodcast

Live: Jerez Testing - Day One (February 2010)

The second round of 2010 F1 testing gets underway today, this time at the Circuito de Jerez located in the city of Jerez de la Frontera, Spain. Red Bull will likely be the star attraction, unveiling their RB6 chassis to the media for the first time, before action gets underway.

Update: The Williams team today launched an official live timing page for up to the minute test information. This includes driver position, gap, best time, most recent time for both the Williams car and for the rest of the field. See the team's website for more detail.

Credit: f1photos.org (creative commons)

Jenson gets a soaking.

Virgin Racing will be the first "new team" to turn a wheel at a test, when Timo Glock sizes the VR-01 up against the competition. Force India will also be on track, running the VJM03 that was revealed to the world, yesterday.

Tyres will be of specific interest to teams and drivers as the aggressive layout of this circuit will stress rear tyres to a greater extent than last week. Additionally the weather will like play a key part as rain is expected to fall in the region at some point before the end of the test.

On track action begins at 9am CET (8am GMT).

Credit: f1photos.org (creative commons)

Alonso finds little grip in Jerez

Circuit Information

• Track length: 4.428km
• Corners: 13
• Lap record: 1:23.135 (Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Williams, 1997)

Circuito de Jerez is located to the South of Spain, close to border of Portugal.

Drivers and Teams Attending

The following teams and drivers are confirmed for testing on Wednesday

Useful Links

• Official Circuit Homepage
• Williams Live Timing (official timing updates)
• Autosport Live
• F1 Today
• Motor 21
• The F1.com

F1 People Who Are Tweeting from Jerez

Twitter has become the medium for accessing up to the minute testing insight. We recommend keeping an eye on James Allen's Twitter service, as well as the following accounts.

• The Fifth Driver - Vodafone McLaren Mercedes
• Red Bull F1 Spy - Red Bull Racing
• Toro Rosso Spy - Scuderia Toro Rosso
• Mercedes GP Petronas - Mercedes GP
• Inside Ferrari - Ferrari
• Racecar Engineering - Racecar Engineering
• Edd Straw - Autosport
• Jon Noble - Autosport

Don't forget you can also subscribe to Twitter lists containing tweets from F1 Teams, F1 Drivers and the F1 Media.

As ever, keep a close eye on the comments throughout the day, and don't forget real-time commenting to save refreshing this page.

Force India Reveal VJM03 Online

The Force India F1 Team officially unveiled their 2010 challenger during an online-only launch on Tuesday. The team's website carried details of the new car which takes many design cues from last year's chassis.

Credit: Force India

The VJM03 debuted with minor revisions to the livery and a different nose, but what is hiding at the rear?

The rear of the car though, is of key importance to the team. Design director Mark Smith noted that the car was very much an evolution of last years chassis, but also that "the double diffuser is a key development aspect of the car", and the team had gone into the 2010 season much wiser as a result of lessons learned in 2009. Smith also pointed out changes to refuelling regulations heavily impacted the design of the car.

"The removal of refuelling from races increases the amount of fuel needed to be stored in the cars – almost twice the amount we ran in 2009. There is a compromise now: either make the car much longer or wider, or, as we have done, a combination of both. This of course has influenced the mechanical design solutions and also the aerodynamics, specifically with respects to the diffuser and bodywork."

Last year the car handled well on the low downforce tracks, but struggled elsewhere. The VJM03 has been designed to be an efficient car under all conditions.

Credit: Force India

Staring down the nose of the VJM03. It would appear a lot of work has gone into the front wing detailing.

Like all drivers, Adrian Sutil is looking forward to competing this season, and he sounds very pleased with how things within the team have been progressing.

"It's the first time we have been completely on schedule so I feel this will be the first season when I can show from the beginning to the end what is possible with the car and what I can do. Of course we will have updates and performance packages from this point on but I hope we will be strong from the first practice session rather than compromising at the start."

Others might argue the team are still effectively behind those who ran at the first test of the year.

Credit: Force India

A look at the 2010 Force India chassis and livery from the side.

Finally, Tonio Liuzzi remains realistic, as this will be the first time he starts a full season with the team.

"My objective is to be as strong and consistent as possible and give good feedback to the team to help them improve. For sure scoring points as many times as I can is going to be the key and you never know, perhaps we can get something more as well if everything comes together."

In addition to providing static images, the official Force India YouTube channel uploaded the following video to accompany the launch of the car. Sutil, Liuzzi and recently confirmed Friday test driver Paul di Resta all feature.

The car will begin its first track test on Wednesday, at the second official F1 test of the year. Tonio will handle driver duties for the first two days before handling over to Sutil for days three and four. Paul di Resta won't take to the cockpit until 17 February.

Daily: 28th November 2009

Hello! RG here and as today’s first ever guest writer for the Daily, I believe it is my duty to welcome you to the weekend. For me, I am delighted it is the weekend, having spent the past day and a bit stuck in bed feeling ill. Not ideal, but yesterday saw some awesome news to keep me happy.

• The brilliant ‘Tonio Liuzzi was confirmed at Force India alongside Adrian Sutil. Fantastic news there, Force India managing to keep two decent drivers and with more testing for him, I do think Liuzzi will go out in 2010 and score a few good results. Especially since he is awesome.
• Then there is the news of Montreal being confirmed for the 2010 season. Brilliant. One of my favourite tracks on the F1 calendar returns. Of course, that is where BMW Sauber scored their one and only victory in 2008. All we need now is a race in the USA and to get rid of a few other circuits. I am looking at Valencia and Abu Dhabi for starters.
• So to top that off, there will have to be something really special. That something special came in the form of BMW selling the team back to Peter Sauber. To a lifelong fan of the team, this is simply the best news ever and has kept a smile on my face. Of course it is with conditions, but I am certain Sauber will be on the grid next season. Can’t wait to have Sauber next year, perhaps a return to the popular blue liveries? I have my fingers crossed.

Of course, I won’t go away without some plugs. My Timo Glock dedicated blog at Only One Timo Glock and my general blog The Northern Waffler. Do also check out one of the ten kazillion posts that were wrote yesterday, a personal favourite of mine being Predictions Revisited, showing how many of us were wrong more or less this time last year. Have a fun Saturday!

Oh, nearly forgot to mention, it is the birthday of a certain Rob Smedley.

Force India Confirm Liuzzi and Sutil for 2010

Force India have announced their line up for next season, continuing with the two drivers who finished the 2009 season for them - Adrian Sutil and Tonio Liuzzi.

Regarding the announcement, team boss Vijay Mallya said:

"We are very pleased to retain the services of both Adrian and Tonio for another season. We have always maintained that consistency is key at this stage in the team's development and for the first time in many years we will have the continuity of not only the same drivers, but also the same engine and senior management. With this stability now in place I truly believe we have an excellent platform to build on and move forward on our strong 2009 performance. I am sure we have one of the most dynamic line-ups on the grid and I hope this will stand us in good stead in what we all hope will be a transitional year for the team."

Sutil is confident that the team are heading in the right direction and is looking forward to next year:

Next season I want to be in the points on a regular basis, maybe even challenging for the podium, and the team has exactly the same goals.

While Liuzzi is keen to pick up from where the team left off in 2009 and show everybody what he feels they can do:

It was always my goal to be back racing in 2010 and I’ve finally achieved it. I feel the five races I did in 2009 were a bit of a warm-up; get back racing, learn the car, get the feeling back. Now I’ve done that I feel ready to really push next season.

Not a surprise, I'm sure, but it's good to get more 2010 seats confirmed for our wiki page. The team also added that an announcement regarding the third driver will be made following next weeks young driver test.

Live: Singapore - The Race

Qualifying was going well until Barrichello threw a spanner in the works. Grid position is oh so important in Singapore, so what will happen during the race?

Weather Update

The weather forecasts I can find still say rain is due, but I haven't yet seen any at the track. I think we could do without the chaos, but you just never know what's going to happen.

One to Watch

Vettel needs to make an incredible start if he is to get past Hamilton and make his light fuel load work. Equally, keep an eye on Liuzzi at the back who has a crazily small amount of fuel.

Predictions Please

Who'll win this race? Will we see any crashes - predetermined or otherwise? Will the marshals ever do a good job? Will it rain? Can Button limit the damage his poor qualifying suggests?

Live: Italy - Free Practice 1

Life goes on, even if there seems to be more politics this year than there ever has been before. We're back to racing now, and Free Practice is where it's at.

Weather Update

Friday is still shaping up to be a good day in terms of the weather. Whilst that means we may see plenty of running from the teams, it will be useless for them if it rains later in the weekend.

One to Watch

I would keep my eye on Tonio Liuzzi, as yet another new driver, he gets to take the first lap test. We laughed at Alguersuari, who was slow around his first lap. Badoer was better, but where is he now? Let's see what Liuzzi can do.

Predictions Please

Will Brawn GP be able to recover some of their form? Will the KERS cars be on top right from the start? Will it be McLaren, Ferrari or Red Bull who are scrapping for the headlines in Free Practice?

Daily: 9th September 2009

We are midway through the week now, which will make Mr C happy as he thought it was Wednesday yesterday. He's gained a day! Meanwhile, the rest of us know what day of the week it is, and are talking about more sensible things:

• The Trulliometer has taken a bit of a downward turn as the Italian says he has given up predicting when Toyota are going to win. He thinks there have been so many missed opportunities that it's not worth repeating "maybe this time". Poor Trulli.
• Liuzzi  has expressed his gratitude that his first race will be Italy and not Singapore, as he feels he's ready to race round Monza, whereas the street circuit will be a bit tougher. He says he will be right up to speed though, and on the pace. The good thing for Tonio is, he only has to be less than two seconds off the pace, and he'll be doing okay.
• Finally, Massa underwent his surgery a couple of days ago, and Ferrari issued a simple statement to say it was successful and that the Brazilian would have a short stay in hospital before returning home when his training can begin in earnest. Yay for Massa! There was also an in-depth interview with him in The Guardian yesterday that is well worth a read if you haven't already.

That's all for now. We're heading straight towards the Italian GP action. There should be a digest preview out later today, plus a schedule of what we're doing over the weekend. Keep your eyes peeled and I'll see you in the comments.

Daily: 8th September 2009

Today is apparently National Literacy Day, so... why not read a book, or something? Anyway, useless fact of the day out the way, here are some of the things we're talking about at the moment.

• Liuzzi finally has the second chance he's been looking for, with his confirmation as Fisi's replacement at Force India. The universal opinion on Sidepodcast appears to be a resounding: yay! So, let's hope Liuzzi can live up to his potential.
• The ongoing Donington saga continues, with Simon Gillett continuing to assert that plans are on schedule for the track to be ready. The quote: "Donington has moved forward an awful lot and we are really comfortable." I feel better, don't you?
• James has written a great silly season starter, with the six drivers we know have contracts, and a lot of speculation about the rest. It took me by surprise to note there are 20 seats without a driver at the moment. 20!! We have some fun and games ahead of us.

That'll do it for now. As ever, you can use this thread for any topics you want to talk about, but if there is some F1 news that requires a breakout thread, let us know and we'll get one started. I'll see you in the comments.

Liuzzi Confirmed at Force India

Force India have confirmed that Antonio Liuzzi will step up to fill the seat left by Fisichella, who as we know has moved up to Ferrari. In the statement released by the team, Mallya said:

I’m delighted to give Tonio the opportunity to get back into a race seat, which I know he has been itching to do for the past two years. Force India is now in a very competitive position and we need a driver who can continue this momentum.

Meanwhile Tonio is looking forward to getting behind the wheel in anger again:

I’m very motivated, I’m in good shape and hungry to get some more points on the board. Although it’s unfortunate that this came about as an direct result of Felipe’s accident, this is my opportunity to show people what I can do and I’m really looking forward to it.