Volkswagen smashed the Goodwood Festival of Speed course record today in their all-electric ID.R race car. After setting a blindingly fast time up the hill in 2018, the team returned this year with a plan to crush a long standing record Nick Heidfeld set in an F1 car way back in 1999.
At the start of this year we mentioned that we didn't have any specific plans to cover motorsport in 2018, but were open to enjoying any racing that inspired us. As it happened, very little managed to grab our attention these past twelve months. Repetitive storylines were played out on all too familiar stretches of asphalt, the results as predictable as ever.
With a selection of UK-based F1 teams and Formula One Management having reported their gender pay gap data for this year, we can look beyond the headline figures into some of the additional detail provided.
F1 teams including Red Bull, McLaren and Mercedes have submitted their 2017 to 2018 gender pay gap information. Results show that median hourly pay amongst UK staff is between 17 and 27 percent lower for women working within these three teams.
It's a new year and that means we can look forward to a new year of racing fun and games, kicking off with Daytona this month. Fernando Alonso is upping sticks and taking part in another extra-curricular series in 2018, this time heading to Daytona at the end of the month. There are a couple of links about that amongst the bumper selection below, as well as reviews and resolutions, Roborace and more.
It's fair to say Sidepodcast's 2017 finished a whole lot better than it started. For Formula 1 the opposite was arguably true. All the intrigue and promise of the opening races rapidly withered on the vine, culminating in what was by all accounts an unwatchable race. I won't pretend we even tried.
It's Christmas week and that means it's hard to concentrate too much on full length articles about motorsports that have long since calmed down for the winter. That being the case, I have a selection of links for you today that are predominately audio and video. A few wordy posts have snuck in, but settle in for some audio/visual entertainment as you snaffle another mince pie.
It's almost time for the festive holidays, and that being the case, I wanted to provide you with a handful of great links to peruse whilst waiting for your turkey dinner to be ready or avoiding conversation with forgotten aunts and uncles. Instead of joining the festivities, have a look at the below selection of choice cuts from around the motorsport web - from the ongoing debate about grid girls, through a disappointing message from the lawyers, to a nice end-of-season quiz.