And, we're back... sort of. Apologies for the impromptu hiatus. Things got too much and we had to step away from Formula 1. This post will explain what happened and our thoughts and plans for the future.

That man

It's clear that, for us, the return of Michael Schumacher was the straw that broke the camel's back. If anyone thinks that MS would be enough to drive us away from a podcast we adore, they obviously don't know us very well. There is a list as tall as Kubica of reasons that Formula One annoys us and Schumi's announcement came at the worst possible time. We were stressed about Sidepodradio, I've been miserable about the sport for two weeks, and Mr C no longer had the will to keep his own spirits up, let alone mine as well.

However, with a few days off, and some serious thinking, it's all become clear. We knew it would. Schumacher will not chase us away, but Mr C cannot watch him. He has some very valid reasons for this and I respect them. With that in mind, the next race (or perhaps the next few) will be covered by me as best as possible. Mr C will take part in the Debrief where he can, and obviously, without his technical expertise, I'd be screwed.

Call us petty, if you like, but we specifically started Sidepodcast after Schumacher had quit F1 because we do not enjoy talking about him. And from the state of the comments over the last few days, there's good reason for that.

The P word

Aside from the unwelcome return of a driver, the state of the sport is putting a real downer on things in Sidepodcast Towers, and we have come to the following decision:

If Ari Vatanen does not become president of the FIA, and Jean Todt gets the nod, we will not continue.

We would see the 2009 season out, but it would have to be the end. Ari is the future, Jean is equally as much unwelcome in our world as his sometime partner in crime, and Formula 1 can't stay stuck in the past any longer. We'll be campaigning for Ari to get the role, and crossing our fingers that he does.

Burn out

A lot of people have commented that we deserved this break because we work too hard and must have burnt out by now. I would like to clear this myth up by saying: we love the work we do. We don't get paid for this and wouldn't do any more than we wanted to do. The fact is that making shows, forming the community, and fixing the internet makes our day. Sometimes we push ourselves to the limit, but it would never be enough to make us stop. We've been going for over two years with people worried about us burning out, and let me put your minds at rest, it hasn't happened, and it's not going to.

That being the case, we're in the early stages of planning a new non-F1 show. It's come to our attention that we have other things to discuss besides cars, and we would like to share them with the world. Expect nothing for a while yet, but there will be something of a community crossover, and everyone is more than welcome to join us wherever that may be.

That's the future, and I hope you can understand our need for a break, and our reasons for the above. If you have any questions, please ask, but we do not promise to have the answers immediately. Thank you for sticking with us.