Sidepodcast

Daily: 14th March 2010

It's Sunday at last and we are about to embark on our first Grand Prix of 2010. It's pretty exciting, and not just because the Factbyte Factbox will be making it's race debut. It was an exciting if hectic experience covering qualifying, so let's see what we can achieve over a full race distance! Anyway, here are some other things we're talking about:

• With extra teams on the grid, it looks as though the FIA have had to change parc ferme quite considerably. Adam Cooper has a good insight into the F1 spy cameras that are now overlooking the cars. We thought maybe it was a little bit Big Brother.
• Will Buxton has some thoughts on the new section of the track, particularly pointing out that: "Quite apart from the fact that there simply isn’t enough track length between corners to allow anyone to have a decent stab at a passing move, the track width is so slim that you can barely fit two cars side by side." Bahrain Fail?
• As a sort of final word on the McLaren vent, Scarbs F1 has a great explanation of how it works. I was still a bit confused but as it happens, it doesn't seem to be as important now that the McLarens didn't qualify that far up the grid anyway.

That's all for now. I hope everyone enjoys the race, and as always, I'll see you in the comments.

F1 Digest 2010 - Bahrain Preview

• Length: 11:05 
• Size: 10.2 MB 
• File: digest149.mp3 
• Transcript: digest149.pdf 
• Torrent: digest149.torrent 

The Formula One season finally gets underway with Bahrain replacing Australia at the start. We've got all the information you need to know from weather to driver quotes and my own predictions.

Vital Statistics

• Date: 14th March
• Circuit: Bahrain International
• Length: 6.3km
• Laps: 49

Preview

In the first digest preview of 2010, we solicit opinions on the Bahrain circuit, recap what happened in 2009, and run through what each of the teams is hoping for from the weekend. Notably, Lotus aren't feeling that positive, whilst McLaren and Ferrari are both confident they can do well.

Daily: 26th January 2010

The 26th January is apparently Australia Day, so celebrations all round for the Australian members of the Sidepodcommunity. Meanwhile, we are officially into the F1 pre-season, now the launches have begun, so we are talking about lots of things! Here are just a few of them:

• Mercedes launched their new livery yesterday, with the car due to be revealed at the first test next month. We covered as much as we could in the breakout thread, and the new livery also made yesterday's F1 Big Picture - this is the best version we could find, it looks almost acceptable in this one.
• It was interesting to note that the Bahrain circuit have made changes to their circuit ahead of the season opener in March. They've added an extra loop to the track which extends the length of a lap, and is supposed to add overtaking opportunities. This will remain to be seen, I suppose.
• The points system could be about to change as it looks like the team have agreed yet another system. The win would still be worth 25 points, but second place is slightly less, and the rest appear to be more evenly spread. It seems to encourage a win more and more, but you'd be less inclined to mess about for the other places. That's not the desired intention, though, is it?
• We have completed another new sub-page of Sidepodcast, with tons and tons of information about Twitter. Who you need to be following, and who is tweeting from the world of Formula 1, is all listed in easy to view format. Keep up to date, and get tweeting!

That should do it for now, we've got a moment of calm before more launches later this week, so let us know what you're up to, and I'll see you in the comments.

Design and Share Your Fantasy Race Tracks

The Sidepodwiki doesn't get nearly enough promotion on this site. It's an ever expanding hive of activity, with 37 people already signed up and contributing content on a regular basis. We could and should be doing a better job of highlighting this to anyone who may have otherwise overlooked such a wonderful Sidepodcast resource.

Mind Mapping

One thing we're quite excited about, is the ability to embed all manner of plugins into wiki pages. These can include video such as the Sidepodcast Diaries or as recently showcased by R.G. - F1 Quikmaps.

The quikmaps.com site has been around for a long time, but coupling the service with user editable content offers everyone an opportunity to get creative and show Tilke a thing or two, when it comes to creating fantastic race tracks.

Here's a Miami Street Circuit that R.G. uploaded recently.

Clearly the man is a fan of bridges, and you can't question the concept of Formula One cars hopping from island to island.

No Man Is an Island

To prove how easy it is to create these things, this morning I designed a track set in the Scilly Isles. Admittedly it's compact and bijou by F1's standards and I can already foresee public transport issues being somewhat Donington-esque, but that Herman chap better watch his back.

If you fancy a little drawing project, simply sign up for a free account at quikmaps.com, pick a location and start scribbling. Once you've made something you're happy with, add it the Sidepodwiki (again, free signup is necessary, if you've not done so already).

Christine monitors the site for changes regularly, but by all means shout us in the comments if you've uploaded a masterpiece. Also if you need any more information don't be afraid to ask - after my solitary illustration I already consider myself an expert in cartography.

We can't wait to see your submissions, and by all means have a browse around the wiki while you're there.

The Greatest Karting Competition in the World

After all the excitement of Autosport International, we're now heading towards Teamworks Karting in the centre of Birmingham. The plan is to meet up with a host of familiar faces and thrash out some laps on the track.

Attendees at today's inaugural F1 Bloggers & Friends karting event include Alianora (who organised the entire thing wonderfully), Steven Roy, Andy Taylor, plus myself and Mr C, whilst Jackie joined me trackside. We were also joined by Neil, Stuart and Scott from another website.

A practice session, followed by seven heats of qualifying, led up to the race itself, and we saw plenty of action. One particular corner caused plenty of trouble, whilst we had a few bangs, prangs, cheers and tears. Okay, no actual tears, but we even saw a few appeals to the official ref (a computer who wasn't having any of it), and to top it all off, we had a black flag.

Only the Sidepodcast crew could turn a simple karting event into a politics filled evening Max would be proud of. There will be plenty of pictures forthcoming, although Andy has already posted his. We'll also have a full round up of the night's events in a forthcoming podcast. Stay tuned.

Corner Names and Numbers

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

When it comes to adding a new track to the calendar, the biggest concerns should be location and layout. Where a track is situated can make all the difference to an event. For example, Monaco wouldn't be anywhere near as interesting if it wasn't set in the glamourous principality. They layout of a track is also important as a variety of fast and slow corners and straights make for a better race.

Unfortunately, it seems that another part of track design is being missed out, and that is naming the corners. Most of the new tracks Formula 1 has been to recently featured Turns 1, 2, etc. Where are the great names?

Turkey is a prime example of this. It's been on the calendar for a few years, and is infamous for the four-apexed corner that always troubles the drivers. This corner is magnificently called... Turn 8.

At the upcoming Belgian Grand Prix, the Spa-Francorchamps circuit has names for their corners. We've got Eau Rouge, Stavelot, and the Kemmel Straight. At Monaco, there's Sainte Devote, Mirabeau and Portier. Silverstone features Maggotts and Becketts, Stowe and Luffield.

There's an argument that learning the names of corners could be harder than following the sequence of numbers, but I don't think that's the case. Giving each corner a name adds a little bit of personality to that corner, and in my opinion, makes it easier to recall. If you're going round a full lap, it's all very well to say you're at Turn 10, but if you're asked to point out a specific part of the track, Turn 10 might not mean anything.

The one problem with naming conventions these days is that they start to become infiltrated with sponsorship and advertising. The Japanese Grand Prix at Fuji will take place around the Dunlop, Panasonic, and Coca-Cola corners. These have nowhere near the right atmosphere that a traditional name should have. What happened to the days when corners were named after local heroes? In Canada there's the Virage Senna, and what about the Schumacher S at Nurburgring.

I certainly hope we can get back to naming corners, even if they do take a little bit longer to learn.

Valencia Street Circuit Review

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

The Valencian street circuit was announced with a couple of beautiful press shots, and we all remembered the spectacular show when McLaren launched their 2007 challenger there.

Unfortunately, having rushed to put the track together in about nine months, the circuit itself didn't exactly live up to expectations.

The Pros
Obviously the organisers know what they're doing, having put on a strong first event with no serious trouble. There were a couple of security worries, some track invaders the main threat, but everything was handled smoothly. The race itself, whilst not particularly good in terms of overtaking, provided it's own interest. The pit lane was the source of most of the excitement, which, whilst not ideal, at least added to the race weekend.

The track is quite unique in terms of the 2008 calendar. It's too early to say whether the racing there is dull, it was this year, but who's to say next year will be the same? There are over 20 corners, which means the drivers took a while to learn the track, but once they know what they're doing, maybe there will be even more competitive racing.

The Cons
Sadly for this race weeked, the cons strongly outweigh the pros. The track was dull to look at, mostly a lot of catch-fencing, concrete, and tarmac run off areas. The racing wasn't very good, with a wide field spread meaning overtaking was almost impossible. Whether this is the fault of the track is impossible to say.

As mentioned above, the pit lane was the source of most of the excitement, but that really is because it is too narrow. We had a driver penalised for almost missing the entrance, and another for racing side by side with a rival team. The pit lane was so narrow that both of these usually acceptable things became an issue.

Although I have weighed up the good and bad points of the track here, it is still too early to come up with a definitive review of the circuit. Next year they will have had time to put the finishing touches on everything, and that will be the real test.

Preparing for a New Track

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

As fans, I think the majority of us are really excited about the race this weekend, simply because it's a new track and we have no idea what to expect. For the drivers, and their engineers, this is probably a complete nightmare. They will be trying to setup their cars without the masses of data that is acquired over the years, and trying to plan for a complete unknown. Let's take a look at some of the things they face.

The Conditions
Although weather conditions do change depending on where a circuit falls in the calendar, it can usually be quite predictable. Turkey this year was an example of some unpredictable weather, because it was much earlier than usual. However, it's fair to say that you can expect rain at Silverstone and Fuji, and very hot, dusty weather at Bahrain. At Valencia, it's a bit of an unknown. It's thought it might be quite windy, being so close to the water, and there are sailing competitions held there frequently. It looks like it's going to be sunny but not particularly hot, but until we get there, it's an unknown.

The Track
No doubt the drivers have been practicing the track in the simulators, and Lewis Hamilton has said he will be walking the course as soon as he is in Valencia. It shouldn't be a problem for the top 22 drivers in the world to pick up this new track quickly. However, it does have over twenty corners and is a tight street circuit. It's been compared to Monaco, although it isn't quite as compact as that race. It's a permanent street layout, and there are plenty of run off areas and barriers in place. It's just a matter of learning the course, getting used to the bumps and intricacies of the tarmac, which means we might see more action in the practice sessions than we're used to.

The Strategy
It's probably hard to guage which strategy to use until the above information is more clear. However, Ross Brawn of Honda has said he is getting data from some of the previous races that were held on the track to test it out, and he's learning as much as he can from it. Some of the teams are also planning for a safety car, as the barriers are so close and it's more likely a driver will make a mistake at the new circuit.

F1 Digest - Canada Qualifying

• Length: 10:48 
• Size: 10.0 MB 
• File: digest27.mp3 
• Transcript: digest27.pdf 
• Torrent: digest27.torrent 

It was a tough day out there today, with the track literally crumbling under the force of our guys and their wheels. Vettel, Webber and Button all had issues, but we cover everything from FP3 and Qualfiying in today's F1 Digest.

Free Practice 3

Vettel and Bourdais both had terrible sessions, with the walls appearing to be Toro Rosso magnets.

Qualifying

The track slowly disintegrated, leaving the top ten really showing the men from the boys.

Conclusions

Some are convinced tomorrow will be a nightmare and the race will be completely undriveable, others are hoping the dodgy conditions will work in their favour.

Monaco - Pros and Cons

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

This weekend is the famed Monaco Grand Prix, one of the highlights on the calendar for teams, drivers, fans and celebrities alike. But is it all as wonderful as the glitz and glamour make it appear?

Pros
Monaco has a lot of history. It was the second race of the inaugural World Championship in 1950, and has been a fixture on the calendar ever since. As a playground for the rich and famous, the event hosts some A list celebrities, and the harbour is filled with the yachts of rich businessmen. There is no other race with the atmosphere of Monaco, there is no other track where you can get as close to the cars.

The circuit is full of tight corners and straights with kinks in. As a street circuit, it wasn’t built to certain specifications, but extracted from the space available in the principality. There’s a raw feel about it, that the drivers seem to like. It’s a track that highlights their skill and abilities, rather than focusing on the few tenths faster one car is over another. Any mistakes are severely punished in Monte Carlo, and we’ve seen that in the past.

Another plus is the variations that the track has over others. It’s the only one with a tunnel, for instance, which adds to the intrigue. Monaco also has one of the tightest hairpins and slows the cars right down.

Cons
Whilst the track itself is interesting, it doesn’t lend itself well to fascinating racing. Often, whoever qualifies on pole position will go on to win the race. The circuit is so tight, and there are almost no run off areas, leaving drivers unwilling or unable to risk too many overtaking manoeuvres. Overtaking is not the be all and end all of a race, and Monaco does come up with its fair share of incidents, but a safety car around the short lap is just another procession.

Safety is of paramount concern in Monaco. The crowd are very close, and as I just mentioned, there are very few run off areas if a car makes a mistake. The track runs very close to the buildings lining the route, and it’s a nerve-wracking watch as the cars speed through the streets. The marshals and safety improvements are excellent, however.

Conclusion
It doesn’t look like Monaco will be going anywhere off the calendar soon, as it remains one of the most popular destinations for Formula 1. Even if the racing isn’t top notch, it’s the entire spectacle that captures imaginations the world over.