Sidepodcast

Daily: 4th July 2009

It is Independence Day today, although Mr C and I also recognise it as the day Will Smith helps save us from aliens. Bruce has got the meteorites covered and Will knows what he's doing with those UFOs, what could go wrong? Anyway, here are some of the things we're talking about:

• What's going on with Alan Donnelly then? The story is that Virgin are moving their sponsorship, which is fair enough. Their relationship with Brawn has been dwindling almost since the first race. So, what does this Donnelly fella have to do with it?
• Over on the F1 Big Pic, we took the challenge of covering the Valencia story. What were the chances of finding a decent pic of that instantly forgettable race? I am mightily disappointed the green building didn't make the pic, but we should be able to see more of that if there is less seating around.
• Finally, Alianora has written a great post about her daily process of finding out what's going on in the world of F1, detailing which sites she visits and in which order. Would love to hear other people's routines as well.

That'll do it for now. It's Goodwood Saturday, so we'll still be keeping an ear and eye out for any pics or tweets cropping up. As always, I'll see you in the comments.

Daily: 19th February 2009

Over the hump of the week now, and we're heading towards the weekend. Still an entire Thursday to go through first though, and Thursday's are rubbish. Nevertheless, I'll be keeping an eye on F1 news to keep going. Here's what we've been talking about today:

• What would the ex-Honda team livery look like if they are bought out by Richard Branson and his Virgin Group? We've had a couple of examples already, and if you're feeling creative you can leave them in the drop.
• With testing drawing to a close in Bahrain today, the teams will be hoping to finish up what they've been working on. Toyota will probably be racking up the laps, BMW will need to find some speed, whilst Ferrari may need to work on their cooling issues.
• FOTA have announced they'll be revealing the direction they want the sport to go in early next month, as they hold a press event. I didn't realise we were expecting anything from them, but apparently FOTA have finalised all their research and have a vision of the future. What might that hold, I wonder?

As ever, keep your comments coming. They don't have to be strictly about anything I've mentioned above, or about Formula 1, in fact. We just like to hear from you. I'll see you in the comments.

Updated Honda Rumours

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

Any news about Honda at the moment needs to come with a big disclaimer saying unconfirmed, because as yet, there has been no official word on what's happening with the team. However there has been some speculation forming plenty of rumours, and any one of them could be true. Here's a quick round-up of what's been happening:

Management Buyout
Last time we checked in with Honda, it looked like Nick Fry might be heading up a management buyout, and this was causing all sorts of controversy over ethical procedures. From what we can tell, this was progressing nicely, until some new bids were entered and this had to be halted. It's unclear at the moment whether the deal is completely off the table, presumably this depends on what happens with the other potential buyers.

Bruno Senna and Sponsors
After things had been quiet for a while, it was suddenly rumoured that Bruno Senna would be teaming up with Button and the team would be saved. Senna would be bringing plenty of Brazilian sponsorship money with him, and Honda could fund the team rather than suffer the expense of so many redundancies. However, some of the sponsors have said this isn't true, and it seems as though - although Senna may or may not drive for the team in 2009 - he won't be their saviour.

Virgin F1
The latest speculation rests on Richard Branson, head of the Virgin empire, being the latest bidder. His spokespeople issued something of a denial, stating that he was constantly being linked with the subject. That isn't really a denial, of course, but that doesn't mean we can read anything into it, either. Branson would bring a certain spark to the team. He has a talent for picking up a business and turning it around, but his longevity within the sport would be questionable. The Virgin brand has tried it's hand at so many different markets, there's nothing to say that Formula 1 would be one that stuck.

As I said at the start, these are just rumours and there is nothing concrete to go on. Whilst it's obvious that business deals at this level require some discretion, it is starting to get frustrating. The lack of official news is worrying, and time is ticking ever closer to the first Grand Prix of the season.

Virgin Group Bidding for Honda F1?

James Allen speculated on Monday that the Virgin brand might be linked to a Honda F1 buyout. This morning according to Reuters, an unidentified source close to the Japanese manufacturer has stated:

They have made a bid to purchase the team

A spokeswoman for Branson declined to comment, with the same noises coming from Honda's direction.

As with any F1 rumours, nothing is confirmed until it's in writing, and even then you should consider it suspect. However, with Reuters running the story we have a pretty good indication a bid has been put forward. Although where this leaves Nick Fry and Ross Brawn and their management buyout is anyone's guess.

Reuters have not been able to confirm if the rumours linking former BAR man Adrian Reynard to the project are correct, although yesterday Grandprix.com pointed out that Reynard still owns land on which the team's factories are built, and possibly a building or two.

Additionally Takuma Sato, the driver that simply won't give up, gets a mention the in Reuters release, due his close association with Virgin Atlantic Japan. Could we yet see the man return to the grid in 2009, despite being pipped to the Toro Rosso seat by Bourdais?

Please do let us know what you make of it all in the comments. The Honda saga isn't going to end quickly - is Branson serious, will we see more of Reynard and would you like to see a Button / Sato line-up once again?