Episode 60 - As Far As I Can Tell, It’s Massively Complicated
- File: episode60.m4a
- Length: 19:59
- Size: 18.7 MB
- Transcript: Coming soon
It’s good to be back and talking about Formula 1 instead of weddings. Oh, except for all that wedding talk.
Intro
Nothing to report here, honestly.
Good Week / Bad Week
Good week for France but a bad week for potential teams, all because of Max. Also, Coulthard may fall at the hands of Vettel.
News and Views
Super Aguri are again lacking the budget to do anything worthwhile, is this a story we’ve heard before? Max is interfering in regulations again, and we recap the four day test in Barcelona.
Housekeeping
Apologies for the mini series delay, we Join the Pact with Lewis but aren’t impressed by Schumacher’s claim that Champions Drink Responsibly, and yes, your marriage questions answered.
April 21st, 2008 at 1:01 amme said:
minor point, but during the show christine erroneously refers to the johnnie walker site url as signthepact.com when she really meant jointhepact.com. you do have to sign the pact in order to join, so it’s a bit confusing.
the url in the show notes, and also within the enhanced podcast, is correct should you feel like clicking.
April 21st, 2008 at 1:23 amJourneyer said:
Thanks for answering our questions! Interesting stuff indeed.
Since Christine kept Blachford, we can call ‘me’ ‘Mr. Blachford’ now. Hahaha! And, yes, Christine, you ARE famous. My golly, the White Stripes analogy is fitting you guys more and more everyday.
Now, back to F1. I’m not particularly crazy about removing tyre warmers. Although F1 is the only series to use it, I guess I just have this certain fear of someone going off in the worst way because of cold tyres. It was raised as one of the potential causes of Senna’s death, so who knows what can happen if we remove this rule?
And then there’s KERS. Max wants a push-to-pass button, as you mentioned. Just 2 things: One, most teams already have this, albeit not in the form of a button. Instead, engineers on the pitwall raise the revs available to the car and driver to make passing easier. Two, someone mentioned on Keith’s blog that chances are drivers will use push-to-pass at the same time (i.e. EVERY time if it’s unlimited, while if it’s limited, it will always be used by both the car in front and behind during overtaking attempts). That would mean we might see even less overtaking than we do now…
April 21st, 2008 at 1:34 amme said:
as i understand it, slicks will need to be made to work better when cold, which would actually help prevent something along the lines of senna’s accident happening again. wouldn’t it?
push-to-pass is a whole other discussion, and there’s certainly an argument that all the recovered energy should go back to the powertrain. boost button’s are also in no way road relevant (knight rider excluded).
my big issue though, is why restrict development at all? given teams still have to work within the boundaries of size, weight and all the other things in the f1 rule book. why not just say “if the car passes all current rules, then do whatever you can”.
the end result will probably be more innovative, and road relevant than anything created inside such a controlled environment.
i don’t know why max just doesn’t design the bleedin’ KERS thing himself, such is his desire to mandate every tiny little detail.
April 21st, 2008 at 1:56 amScott Woodwiss said:
Hi guys, great podcast as always.
I just remembered that I need to let you guys know that I can’t make the live commenting this coming weekend for the Barcelona GP
…..because I’m off to my local track, Snetterton, to support my dad, who will be racing in the Dunlop Great & British Festival race meeting! 
He going to be taking part in the Mini Challenge 
and I’ll be going along to cheer him on!
I’ll be sure to take some pics and send them to you, and I’ll leave a few comments letting you know what happened each of the 3 days (might be only 2 I’m going because of possible work, if that makes any sense).
I was thinking of putting Sidepodcast’s web address onto my dad’s Mini Cooper race car, but it might be a little late since the car’s probably painted up already. Thought about giving you guys a little more publicity, adding to the legion of F1 fans you already have.
April 21st, 2008 at 1:58 amlou said:
Yes thanks for answering our questions
Your wedding sounds perfect!
It is nice to have sidepodcast back in my ears!
Yes Christine you are famous! Famous in the world of f1 podcasting and blogging! But then again so is ‘me’.
On anouther subject - Tyre warmers
i don’t see a problem wth removing them i mean as long as Bridgestone devlop tyres that work better cold then whats the problem? It will gives the drivers a new challenge like no traction control/ driver aids has this year. I can see this increasing the number of spins if they are not up to temperature, but thats all part of the fun surely?
Surely the chances of such a horrendous accident are significantly less now because of the much improved safety of the cars. I could be wrong but was it not the weekend of Senna’s death that prompted more tighter safety in the cars?
April 21st, 2008 at 2:04 amlou said:
Argh that reminds me…I will be in lessons throughout Friday
so FP1 is totally out of limits to me. This just means I am going to spend the whole lesson thinking about it. However FP2 coincides with lunch, so hopefully I will grab a quick lunch and dash to the nearest computer. Luckily for me they have just unblocked sidepodcast, I think it was originally blocked because it is a blog?? Who knows…anyway its very good news for me! Unfortunately not a single computer has java so that means no live timings so I will be relaying on sidepodcast for updates 
Can’t wait till the race! a nice welcome break from revision i feel!
April 21st, 2008 at 2:04 amme said:
genius, if it happens you’ve got to send us some pics!
no probs re: live commenting, we’ll be here for all of the sessions so you can just catch up and throw in opinions when you’re back… or phone
April 21st, 2008 at 2:06 amme said:
how odd, glad it’s back though.
count on it, no more hiatus for us
April 21st, 2008 at 2:12 amme said:
it was, and in terms of force, kubica’s shunt in montreal was well over and above that experienced by senna.
i was most surprised by schumi’s comments about tyre warmers, in fact. the guy doesn’t even have to drive the damn cars any more, yet still he’s sticking his nose in.
if he, or any other driver isn’t up for it then the circuit gates are just a scooter ride away. i’m sure there are plenty more who’d happily take their seats (which is in fact exactly what happened with schumi and i don’t hear kimi complaining about cold rubber).
April 21st, 2008 at 2:12 amScott Woodwiss said:
Mm, IF it happens. I just went onto the Mini Challenge website and they had a story on there which said about a pre-season test they held at Snetterton - a test my Dad said was being re-scheduled. Now either what he meant was there’s going to be another session on the Friday before practice, or he’s not being 100% honest….
April 21st, 2008 at 2:14 amme said:
no probs, let’s put it another way. if it ever happens then send us the pics and we’ll make a special header for the site or something.
you’ve hit upon a fantastic idea there
April 21st, 2008 at 2:16 amScott Woodwiss said:
OK, will do. As you said, if it ever happens, as soon as the pics are on my laptop, they’re coming you’re way
April 21st, 2008 at 6:17 amJordan Allen said:
Hey Mr. and Mrs Me !
Good to hear that you did not complain about the Sea state, as we get some hairy storms from time to time on our lakes so I can only wonder what the middle of the Ocean is like…
I think I have figured out why Max wants to have a evolutionary development of the KURB’s system, and he’s really quite cleaver of doing the best he can with the mess he’s got.
I grant that the first three years where they just work on recovering the energy from the axles do not make sense to me, and the same with the coolant system. However, the exhaust systems to be modified for use as a source for energy recovery starting from 2013 does make sence in that it will be after the 5 year freeze in engine development will be over.
So “me” my question is this “Do you think we are going to see Turbo engines in Formula 1 again and crappy drivers winning races just because they drive slow enough to have some drops of fuel left in the tanks as they cross the finish line?”
Bring back Jacques, grab Thomas, and keep Nico, Nelson and Kazuki racing until then and you could almost throw back time to 1982, for Cryin’ Out Load! Easier than finding a DeLoren…..
Jordan (Allen) F1.
April 21st, 2008 at 6:38 amJourneyer said:
I think the reason they’re doing this is twofold: One, to ensure that they can limit dangerous development that can either make the cars too fast, thus, too dangerous. Two, if none of the other teams what a certain Team A developed, that could cause a serious problem: Team A might become way too dominant, and that might make races even more boring than they are now. I’m sure that restrictions have good intentions, it’s just that they may have bad side effects.
You have a point, lou, but here’s my point. Watch any Formula 1 season review from 1983-1993 (where there were no driver fatalities on F1 race weekends). They will keep on mentioning how unbelievably safe F1 was then and how many a driver would walk away from such a huge accident. But 1994 burst that bubble, and violently so. I’m pretty sure that, given the right conditions, drivers can still die while driving an F1 car. Of course, we’d never want to see that, but if we promote these ‘right circumstances’, the risk drivers would be facing might be doubled or tripled. Also, we may not like the drivers complaining (which actually includes Michael Schumacher), but remember, it’s their lives that are on the line, not ours.
All in all, I’m ok with the no-warmers rule, actually, so long as the drivers are fully satisfied with the grip it gives. Otherwise, I think we’re just unnecessarily playing with fire.
April 21st, 2008 at 6:52 amDan Brunell said:
First off again, congratulations. You guys got away with my dream wedding… no family, people, reception hall rentals, fighting over music, churches with nosy priests, overpriced cakes, terrible music, friends infighting, or all that fuss. It is nice to know there is at least two other sane people in the world.
I have to ask “me.” This is a question that has been brewing for awhile… What is the reason you anonymous nature? Are you in witness protection? Do you work for Her Majesties Secret Service? Do you follow the ancient Native American belief that any camera or video device will steal your soul? Is you name Howard Hughes by chance? Did you kill a man in Reno? Or are you the elephant man? Or is this all some sort of ruse? My imagination is rife with intrigue.
April 21st, 2008 at 8:34 amme said:
yeah not good
not while the energy goes into a button, no. because that’s additional to the fuel.
didn’t that used to happen in the era before fuel stops? apologies, my knowledge from that era is less than useless.
April 21st, 2008 at 8:38 amme said:
pretty much covered this in my post on saturday, although now i’m liking journeyer’s ‘white stripes’ idea so much i’m actually thinking of taking christine’s surname too.
not sure if that wouldn’t count as stealing her thunder though, hmmm.
April 21st, 2008 at 9:45 ambrendan stallard said:
“i don’t know why max just doesn’t design the bleedin’ KERS thing himself, such is his desire to mandate every tiny little detail.”
Me,
Oh: Max needs a mandate too?
Will the horror never cease?
brendan
April 21st, 2008 at 9:50 amJourneyer said:
Nah, I don’t think so. I mean, we all know who the first Blachford was. :p
April 21st, 2008 at 9:55 amJourneyer said:
Just kidding! Darn edit button.
But seriously, “me”, why not? I think it’s a brilliant idea.
April 21st, 2008 at 1:19 pmNONSENSE said:
Unfortunately, it was me who raised the question of bodyguards for Lewis in Spain - right after Bahrain race. I still think it’s a good idea.
And you guys sailed along the coast of Portugal, hmm, did you stop anywhere? Porto? Figueira da Foz? Lisboa? Sailed past Nazaré? Or was it Algarve coast in the south?
April 21st, 2008 at 1:21 pmJordan Allen said:
Something even more cool than that Brenden, I am pretty sure that Christine’s married to “The (White) Stig!”
, and thus, if The (White) Stig where ever to say anything in Top Gear , all of Sidepodcastland would instantly recognise that voice….
Sorry, I was refering to the 2013 season and beyond, when energy can be taken from the exhaust sytems from a car. I reember that the whole idea behind the turbo systems of the day was to use the exhaust gases to spin a generator which provided power to a suction pump in front of the engine. Idea was to feed air at over atomsphereic pressure into the engine for higher combustion ratios and more power. This also increased fuel consumption at a time when as you pointed out, cars whre only allowed a certain amount of fuel.
See you around, Stig!
April 21st, 2008 at 1:27 pmme said:
yup, lisboa. we considered sending you your signed photo from a portuguese postal address, just to freak you out
April 21st, 2008 at 2:06 pmNONSENSE said:
He-he! That would be crazy! Lisboa’s a crazy place anyway. Estoril is much better, Sintra/Cascais - I’d like to live there one day but it’s far too expensive for my budget.
April 21st, 2008 at 2:12 pmJordan Allen said:
Hey Stig:
Considering that your married now, would it not be safer to cover your backside by suggesting that the teams returns Max’s KERB’s system proposals with the suggestion that the paper be used as toliet papaer? For the same basic idea put across, your wife does not get the same mental imagary.
Jordan (Allen) F1.
April 21st, 2008 at 2:14 pmme said:
we wanted to go, but the stop was too short, just a couple of hours. one day hopefully.
April 21st, 2008 at 2:40 pmScott Dryden said:
Haven’t had a chance to listen to the podcast yet, but in light of some of the recent discussion on here, I thought you might like to check out a promo clip a new F1-based reality TV show, called The Factory, which starts this weekend.
http://www.driveway.com/h5j4k9m3n6
Eurosport have commissioned a monthly programme, focusing on the Williams team. There won’t be opportunities to vote someone into a job, or anything like that; it’s a look behind the scenes at life in the factory.
April 21st, 2008 at 2:55 pmme said:
hey that’s a pretty good start, although they’re poor job of promoting it on their site.
worth watching for certain.
April 21st, 2008 at 3:13 pmScott Dryden said:
Yeah, the promotion side of things is pretty poor. Hopefully they’ll make episodes available to watch on their website, as they’re pretty good at making their content available on demand.
April 21st, 2008 at 5:05 pmbrendan stallard said:
“bodyguards for Lewis”
Non,
What makes you think that Lewis does not have bodyguards?
Hiding in plain sight can be most effective:)
brendan
April 21st, 2008 at 5:29 pmlou said:
@ Journeyer
I totally agree, as you say it’s not our lives that could be in danger. I was just stating that I felt the cars be safer than they were back then, not that there could not be potentially fatal crashes.
April 21st, 2008 at 7:49 pmScott Woodwiss said:
Aww, little Mick Schumacher’s started following in his daddy’s footsteps
http://en.f1-live.com/f1/en/headlines/news/detail/080421171946.shtml
April 22nd, 2008 at 12:11 amDan Brunell said:
To all of you that had you heart broken by Christine or “me” the last week upon the announcement of their marriage, I dedicate this song to you…
LINK: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64a_1fWTsls
April 22nd, 2008 at 12:22 amme said:
hehehehe, love it.
“i’m not weeping because you won’t be here to hold my hand, for your information there’s an inflammation in my tear gland”
ahhh, you can’t top a line like that can ya?
April 22nd, 2008 at 7:32 amDan Brunell said:
Actually, while I am at it, here is three more.
This is dedicated to Christine and her Francophilia:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5hrUGFhsXo
Just for the hell of it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84EoBQfdrb0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-jVAHAuiS4&NR
I would link “Business Time” but this is a family website now.
So how does this relate to F1, well… ah… ah…. well…These guys are the best thing to come from New Zealand since Jack Brabham. There we go.
Back to normal F1 programing… Also a reminder with F1 Fantasy Racers, be sure to get your teams set up!
April 22nd, 2008 at 2:37 pmClive said:
Brilliant. Thanks, Dan - you just wasted an hour of my time, chasing their songs through YouTube…
April 22nd, 2008 at 2:40 pmClive said:
Try Sello Tape.
April 22nd, 2008 at 6:21 pmJordna Allen said:
Time to call in the nice folks with the white coats for you Dan! “BlackJack” Brabham was born in Hurstville, New South Wales, Australia. That makes him an Aussie.
Sad too because Hulme would be hitting F1 later than Brabham, and the man who created the ohter half of the “Dark Side” of Formula 1, Bruce McLaren is also in F1 at the same period as Brabham. In a few years they would be joined by the greatest Kiwi driver, Chris Amon, who left us the ultimate riddle in F1, “How can a guy of his abilities” not win a Grand Prix that counts for championship yet win non-championship races with everything else being equal….
April 22nd, 2008 at 8:59 pmDan Brunell said:
SOB, you are completely right Jordan. Next time I will check Wikipedia before posting… Sorry for the miss-information.
April 22nd, 2008 at 9:13 pmme said:
all that youtube rotted yer brains
your mum warned you of such things, i’m sure.
April 22nd, 2008 at 9:23 pmDan Brunell said:
I would like to apologize to the nation of New Zealand… I for one know that they are not all wizards and elfs as so inaccurately portrayed in film.
The Australian / New Zealander confusion reminds me of an old history joke:
“The greatest thing that Austria ever did was to convince the world that Hitler was a German and Beethoven was an Austrian.”
April 22nd, 2008 at 10:51 pmJordna Allen said:
Dan:
Kiwi joke here.
You have been sentenced to “Transportation” to the interior of New Zealand’s “West Island” until you learn the error of your ways.
Jordan (Allen) F1.
April 22nd, 2008 at 11:03 pmJordna Allen said:
Dan:
The Aussies might be going after you for having their F1 drivers being compared to Kiwis….especially since I told them you drive trucks full of Fosters!
Jordan.
April 23rd, 2008 at 12:42 ambrendan stallard said:
“i was most surprised by schumi’s comments about tyre warmers, in fact. the guy doesn’t even have to drive the damn cars any more, yet still he’s sticking his nose in.”
Me,
M Schumacher has the finest record of success in F1, more poles, more wins, more fastest laps, more WDC’s.
Purely from a pragmatic viewpoint, if I were holding a public enquiry the safety or otherwise of F1, it seems to me that calling upon those with recent and relevant experience would be the smart thing to do.
For what reason would you deny his right to offer an opinion?
brendan
April 23rd, 2008 at 2:14 amJordna Allen said:
Brendan:
While I would not deny his right to offer an opinion on the safety aspects of F1 I would pointly commet one interesting fact:
What are the chances of a championship leader crashing into his nearest competitor accidently due to a lack of tyre warmers compared to the chances of a championship leader crashing into his closest competitor on purpose becasue he had tyre warmers?
And for this question, I gladly recognise Michael Schumacher’s expertise on the subject matter.
April 23rd, 2008 at 8:23 amme said:
because i don’t believe his opinions are solely to do with safety.
he doesn’t race, he doesn’t have to go out there every week, the rules don’t affect him.
however, he is still tied to the red team, a team that *might* have been doing some dodgy things with warmers in the past, a team who still have a close relationship with the incumbent single tyre manufacture, and a team that potentially have the most to lose due a lack of warmers.
the GPDA are the people to advise the FIA on this and he’s not a member because he’s no longer a grand prix driver. apparently no-one appears to have mentioned that to him.
April 23rd, 2008 at 10:13 amAlex Andronov said:
On the Brabham front we pointed out back last year that McLaren don’t even know what they’re talking about:
http://www.sofaf1.com/2008/03/historic-mclaren.html
McLaren haven’t fixed it despite us mentioning it to them a few times. Perhaps we should call in the FIA?
April 23rd, 2008 at 10:28 ambrendan stallard said:
“however, he is still tied to the red team, a team that *might* have been doing some dodgy things with warmers in the past, a team who still have a close relationship with the incumbent single tyre manufacture, and a team that potentially have the most to lose due a lack of warmers.”
Me,
Then to be fair: that’s what your original words should have said: I can certainly see the validity and bias in that: and I admit ignorance of that POV previously.
Your previous comments simply sounded like anti Schumacher bias, now you’ve explained them, I can see why you made them, I just wish you’d filled in the corners.
“the GPDA are the people to advise the FIA on this and he’s not a member because he’s no longer a grand prix driver. apparently no-one appears to have mentioned that to him.”
Does that disqualify him from comment, entirely? He was from my memory, pretty good at keeping the car out of the barriers, while going a fair rate of knots.
brendan
April 23rd, 2008 at 10:42 amme said:
there is a bit of that too. i’ve always said that i can’t stand the bloke, he’s been annoying me for almost a decade and still won’t go away.
but i do take your point, i should’ve been more clear.
my opinion is the ‘no tyre blankets’ rule has been implemented due to complaints of foul play, and rubens’ quote re: “a fixed maximum temperature” also lends credence to the fact someone’s been fiddling (and he used to drive for…?).
no, but as i’ve said a million times when we have these discussions, it’s an opinion. i appreciate you don’t agree with some of the sides i take, but i’m open about them from the outset and it’d be a dull show if we sat on the fence for 20mins each week.
April 23rd, 2008 at 10:44 amme said:
they haven’t even responded to you?
disappointing.
April 23rd, 2008 at 12:55 pmbrendan stallard said:
“my opinion is the ‘no tyre blankets’ rule has been implemented due to complaints of foul play, and rubens’ quote re: “a fixed maximum temperature” also lends credence to the fact someone’s been fiddling (and he used to drive for…?).”
Me,
Be real nice to have some good evidence of that before implementing a block ban that seems without question to reduce safety. Hopefully, the lads will work out a way to get the things hot.
“no, but as i’ve said a million times when we have these discussions, it’s an opinion.”
To which you are entitled: especially as you are the tech expert. I am free to offer a different opinion: especially when I think yours is biased, as mine admittedly is: toward the Vile Spaniard…..
Whom it seems is casting his worms upon the water without much of a bite, of late.
brendan
April 23rd, 2008 at 1:04 pmme said:
i don’t think that’s the sole reason, as stated, F1 is one of the only, if not the only series that use the damn things. loosing them does even up the competition though and that’s bound to upset the red boys (who’s knowledge is primarily based on having them).
maybe, maybe not. could just be part of a bigger bartering process. flav’s not had a lot to say has he?
spain is a big market, offering plenty of return for those who’ve invested wisely. fernie is the key to unlocking that return, and he knows it just as much as the investors.
April 23rd, 2008 at 1:28 pmbrendan stallard said:
“F1 is one of the only, if not the only series that use the damn things.”
Me,
Really? That would seem significant.
If the other racing series: which while perhaps not as out and out fast and furious as F1, are surely pretty darned fast.
My fear is that we’ll have slower cars for two laps coming out of the pits, getting terribly in the way of zooming cars mid way through their lapping periods.
However: if the other open wheel racing series do without them: I guess it can’t be that big an issue.
“upset the red boys”
I’m always up for a bit of that, they’ve cheated their way through F1 for ever.
brendan
April 23rd, 2008 at 1:42 pmChristine said:
“Fernie” is a great name.
April 23rd, 2008 at 6:53 pmSteven Roy said:
If the ban goes ahead Bridgestone will come up with tyres that don’t have the performance drop off of the current rubber. Personally I think it is safer for drivers to be in the habit of driving on cold tyres and learning how to do that than for them to have to learn it heading into the first corner mob handed after being stuck behind the safety car for half an hour at Fuji.
It would appear that there are people in F1 who think that the status quo is as safe as it is possible to be as every change of any description is instantly labeled as reducing safety. I expect if it was suggested that because no-one could see the tail light of the car in front in the spray at Fuji that next year the FIA will mandate lights that are 3mm wider and 1% brighter we would have a string of people claiming this would be reckless. Of course what they would really be saying is this will affect our aerodynamics.
April 24th, 2008 at 2:41 amme said:
agreed on all counts steven.
brundle’s take is slightly different:
i’m surprised massa isn’t making more fuss
April 24th, 2008 at 4:50 amJordan Allen said:
As to mssing tyre warmers, well, on an abnormally cool day the whole shooting match just becomes a total farce. Your North American Rabid Racing Fans will recall with relish the first year of the Cnampcar / IRL split. Both series had a 500 mile race on the same May 24 weekend. I think it was in Michigan where the Champcars where racing, but there was a dip of arctic air setting around Michigan for a few days before the race so the track and tyres were cold.
A car spun out and crashed on the first of four formation laps. Champcar tossed out a full course yellow, the cars where still on the track, with the tyres getting colder and colder, and another car spun into the wall, and crashed. 2 cars out and 1 lap to go before the race starts….
Raced started under caution. The safety car was on track and a couple more laps and the green came out on lap 5. lap 7 car spun into the wall and crashed. Yellow flag, cars slow down, tyres loss temperatureand I gave on I champcar then and changed the channel to see that then awesome chick driver, Sarah Fisher race in IRL (Danica was not known back then…)
Jordan (Allen) F1.
April 24th, 2008 at 4:54 amJordan Allen said:
Like Massa needs tyre warmers to spin out and crash? Stig
April 24th, 2008 at 9:32 amme said:
massa finally pipes up:
the world feels right again doesn’t it?