April 2014 recap - Settling into the season - Racing and security takes priority as spring arrives
Published by Christine
After the bumper month that was March, things are starting to calm a little as we get used to Formula One being back in our lives. There's an extended gap between the last race in China and the next in Spain, meaning the month tailed off a little as the F1 circus went home, and we turned our attention to other things.
Mr C has been glued to his keyboard, and we'll see the results of some of his work later in the post. I have been glued to my books, as the May recap will no doubt mention an exam or two. Meanwhile, this is what happened on Sidepodcast in April, see if you managed to catch it all!
Formula One in April
Two races occurred this month, with Bahrain offering up a fantastic and completely unexpected spectacle. China followed with perhaps the worst race of the season so far, which wasn't quite what we needed to send us into this mini-break.
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 6 Apr | Bahrain Grand Prix |
| 20 Apr | China Grand Prix |
F1Minute in April
Keeping up with all the main news in sixty second bytes, the hardest F1Minute to complete this month was the Bahrain summary. How do you squeeze all that great racing into the smallest of audio packages? Have a listen and see how I got on!
- Bob Bell set to leave Mercedes at the end of 2014
- Fernando Alonso joins Mercedes on the podium
- FIA reject Red Bull fuel flow disqualification appeal
- Lewis Hamilton takes pole position in Shanghai
- Lewis Hamilton wins incredible night race in Bahrain
- Maldonado crashes into pit entry during China practice
- NASCAR team boss Gene Haas granted 2015 F1 entry
- Pirelli announce soft and supersofts for Monaco and Canada
- Red Bull and McLaren row over head of aerodynamics
- Renault dismiss possibility of engine noise change
- Rosberg pips Hamilton to pole position in Bahrain
- Stefano Domenicali resigns from Ferrari
- Toto Wolff anticipating teammate conflict
Shows in April
F1 Debrief continued into April after its triumphant return. We're still very happy with the new format and it seems to have gone down well with listeners too. We also caught up with Joe for a similarly shorter show, getting his thoughts on all the latest F1 news.
- An Aside with Joe - Just shut up and work
- F1 Debrief - You have to be careful who you listen to
- F1 Debrief - You must drink
Sidepodcast in April
This month, we finally got around to improving the related articles associated with published content. Previously, we'd made do with a list of suggested reading, but as of April, we now have better looking thumbnail images to entice you to view more. We've also moved them from hiding beneath the comments to sit between the article and the comments, so you can't possibly miss them. Go ahead and have a look round!
Additionally, after endless amounts of tinkering, we've enabled secure (https) browsing of Sidepodcast. In English, that means you can now break through pesky firewalls at work, as well as submit comments and contact messages more securely. Browsing Sidepodcast this way is entirely optional, it's a little bit slower due to the nature of encryption, but again, head to https://sidepodcast.com and have a look round! Also let us know if anything isn't looking like it should.
Features in April
Adam has continued his sterling work rounding up the drivers who had spectacular race weekends with his Class of the Field column. For Bahrain, he ponders just how good Lewis Hamilton is, in a race that surprised us all. And when it comes to Shanghai, it's all about a certain Spaniard who attempted to impress the new boss.
Also this month, ahead of Red Bull's fuel flow hearing, Will returned with his fantastic Tech Spec column, this time with a piece on what would have happened if the Milton Keynes squad had played by the rules. Would they have lost out quite so much as they ended up doing?
Posts in April
It was a little quiet on the posts front from Sidepodcast HQ, with a focus on the actual racing coverage rather than other content. Christine's Rankings continues to present an interesting championship, very different to that out on track. We also had a great guest post from Lara, whilst I managed to take a quick look at Simona de Silvestro's first F1 outing.
- Here comes the science bit - Christine's Rankings, Week 6
- Jenny still ain't from that side of the block - Christine's Rankings, Week 10
- Just wanted to say hi - Christine's Rankings, Week 9
- Le Mans 24 Hours 2013 - Diary of a motorsport photographer
- Oranje!!! - Christine's Rankings, Week 7
- Pick and mix - Food, flags and feedback in Shanghai
- Pick and mix - From quiet to chaos in Bahrain
- Simona de Silvestro makes F1 test debut
- Shall I just keep on cooking? - Christine's Rankings, Week 8
Hidden gems in April
The live events were all about motorsport over the past 30 days, with all the F1 sessions covered, as well as two IndyCar events very kindly written by Lukeh. We also watched the first of a new series of endurance racing, with the 6 Hours of Silverstone won by Sky F1's Ant Davidson.
Aside from that, we were getting a bit nostalgic, as everybody's favourite Giggles Radio host, Alex Andronov, celebrated his Sidepodcast anniversary. That meant looking back at how far we've all come, and what great things still lie ahead.
One of those great things could be, if I had my way, an evolution of the site to become Sidepodfranck. Could happen.
That was April, and if you find it easier, you can catch up with all the best posts and articles in the brilliantly useful Readlist collection. You simple download the links into the ebook form of your choice so you can read Sidepodcast on the go!
