July 2014 recap - Chaos and quiet in equal measure - Keeping a handle on Formula One during the summer months

Published 3 August 2014 by Christine

With three F1 races packed into the month of July, there was a lot to keep track of in terms of schedules, posts and comments. On top of all that, I disappeared off for another week working away, leaving Mr C in charge of the site and the Sidepodcast Twitter account. It was a crazy month, for us and for F1, that leads us into the summer break nicely. A quick recharge of the batteries and we should be good to go again.

Formula One in July

The British Grand Prix seems like such a long time ago now, but it was crammed into July - right at the start. After the action from Silverstone there was the standard two week break before back to back racing. Hungary followed Germany in quick succession, signing off the first half of the season and leading into the summer holidays.

Date	Event
6 Jul	British Grand Prix
20 Jul	German Grand Prix
27 Jul	Hungarian Grand Prix

F1Minute in July

The sixty second news round up had a bit of a stop/start month, but hopefully all the important stories were covered. From re-signed contracts, to shuffles within teams, from tyre selections for the future, to drivers complaining about other drivers, July was packed full of headline-grabbing news!

Features in July

Adam's fine work continued through the month of July, with a round-up of each race and discussion about the driver of the day for each weekend. With such great racing action, it's getting harder and harder to decide who deserves the crown but Adam does a great job of analysing those in contention every Sunday.

For the British Grand Prix, it was all about Lewis Hamilton, whilst the German race saw more headlines for the younger crowd. The last race before the summer break in Hungary focused on the battle at the front, and of course, the eventual winner.

Sidepodcast in July

Now, you'll have noticed I'm sure that there were no podcasts this past month. As mentioned above, it's been a crazy month preceded by an equally hectic four weeks. To podcast, we need three main things: 1) time, 2) energy, and 3) quiet. Time has been lacking, but hopefully we're turning that around now. Energy has also been spent on real life activities, such as working for a living and keeping a household running - those über boring grown up things. But again, we may be getting that life/work/Sidepodcast balance in check.

Quiet is something of an issue, as I picked up a nasty cough on my last work trip that continues to linger. There's also a rogue dog moved in nearby and it doesn't quite understand the need for hush during podcast appropriate recording times. Assuming the dog is here to stay and isn't just visiting, we're looking at ways to improve our sound-proofing. I'm trying to work out how we can squeeze a vocal booth into our house. Beds are over-rated, right?

All this to say that I know we haven't kept up the podcast part of the site title, but everything is moving in the right direction for improvements over the next few weeks.

In slightly more fun news, I discovered the joys of Canva this month and have already snuck a design or two onto the site. It's essentially super layout designs made easy with a wealth of customisable options to choose from. I started with something basic on the latest pick and mix post but the possibilities are endless!

Posts in July

Where podcasting still eludes us a little, I've really found my motivation for writing returning steadily. This month there was thoughts on the safety car and on the fantastic battle at the front of the grid. Plus, Lukeh wrote a great post about the latest edition of Codemasters' F1 game.

Hidden gems in July

We finished off both the World Cup and Wimbledon in early July, but that wasn't all the sport available to us. Moments later, it was time for the Commonwealth Games, with almost all the fun of the Olympics squeezed into a handful of days in Glasgow. We also kept up the IndyCar coverage with Lukeh's fantastic live threads.

We kept an eye on what the drivers were doing during their downtime, and found some great snippets to share. This month there was yet more cake, a new partnership for Rob Smedley, team Twitter accounts sharing the love, and last but certainly not least, Daniel's dancing.

As always, the best of the above are collected together in a handy reading list, which you can download to the ebook reader of your choice - be it computer, tablet, phone or dedicated device, just click the link below and get perusing all the content from July.

Download July's links from Readlists