F1 Digest - Monaco Preview
- Length: 10:30
- Size: 9.7 MB
- File: digest21.mp3
- Transcript: digest21.pdf
- Torrent: digest21.torrent
One of the most anticipated races on the calendar is the Monaco GP, and F1 Digest is here to preview the event and find out why.
Vital Statistics
- Date: 25th May
- Circuit: Monte Carlo
- Length: 3.3km
- Laps: 78
- 2007 Winner: Fernando Alonso
Preview
Vettel has already had a bad start to the weekend, Massa isn’t worried that he’s not a fan of Monaco, whilst everyone else appears to be. Both Jenson and Nico count it as a home Grand Prix.
May 21st, 2008 at 8:59 amlou said:
Super preview show Christine
i especially loved the driver interview bit! ooo im looking foreward to a wet Monaco! *fingures crossed*
May 21st, 2008 at 11:24 ambrendan stallard said:
“im looking foreward to a wet Monaco!”
Lou,
Eeeek, Monaco frightens the bejabers out of me and I hope its drizabone…….
brendan
May 21st, 2008 at 11:25 ambrendan stallard said:
Me/Christine,
How on earth do you get those driver interviews and all that stuff?
Its good enough for broadcast television, its spookily good.
brendan
May 21st, 2008 at 12:39 pmLynch said:
I guess they blag them from Allianz maybe…?! although I have also wondered that, maybe you can d/l them from somewhere??
May 21st, 2008 at 12:43 pmme said:
can’t we just say that we’re incredibly talented people, who create fantastic formula one content, whilst single-handedly pushing back the boundaries of the podcasting medium, and leave it at that?
or we might download them, whatever.
May 21st, 2008 at 1:36 pmbrendan stallard said:
Me,
Well, its damned good work.
brendan
May 21st, 2008 at 5:26 pmlou said:
Is it me, or is the title of the first photo in the f1.com monaco gallery really stupid - ‘Fans watch tyres in the pitlane’
May 21st, 2008 at 5:35 pmme said:
tells you everything you need to know about bernie’s opinion of those who follow f1.
May 21st, 2008 at 5:38 pmlou said:
Its like the tyres need to be watched just in case they get up and roll away. :/ made me chuckle though
May 21st, 2008 at 6:10 pmlou said:
Speaking of chuckling Trulli looks like he has finally lost it.
http://www.autosport.com/gallery/photo.php/id/101339
May 21st, 2008 at 6:56 pmmy FA fantasy aka Scuderia Titanic said:
Today’s press conference was even worse than “fans watching tyres”, they don’t look like fans at all, just a couple of tourists wandering around probably.
Q: Question for all four drivers: during this week, there is a lot of synergy between motor racing and cinema, due to the Cannes Film Festival, a few kilometres from here. I would like you to choose your best movie ever in your opinion and why?
FM: I love many movies, but the one I love most is the 24 Hours series. I’m crazy for that. I watch all the series and really love that.
GF: I like an Italian film, Febbre da Cavallo. Maybe one of the best films for me is Titanic which is very romantic and is a true story.
???
I had better opinion about Fisi. And Massa confirmed that he has no taste in art.
And what’s with quotes from Piquet Snr.? Piquet Jr. was probably wishing his father kept his mouth shut in the 80s.
Q: Nelson, your father said to Nigel Mansell that his wife is the ugliest in the world and said that Ayrton was gay. Do you think he was right, and would you do similar things or would you agree with me that he was wrong?
This next one is my personal favourite.
Q: Nelson, your father once described driving in Monte Carlo like flying a helicopter in the living room. And David Coulthard said Monte Carlo driving is like having a bicycle in the bathroom. I would like your own observations.
Who are those mad people and why are they allowed into the paddock?
A helicopter in the living room? Was the guy drunk?
May 21st, 2008 at 7:10 pmlou said:
Bet ‘me’ never thought he had anything in common with Fisi!
Do f1 drivers have to pass some kinda sanity test? if so i think DC and Piquet Senior were out. To be honest they are still not as bad as James Allens labrador tied to your head thing last week. I wonder what insane and annoying comment he will come up with this weekend?
May 21st, 2008 at 7:28 pmbrendan stallard said:
“Do f1 drivers have to pass some kinda sanity test?”
Lou,
When I was young: I fancied myself as reasonably fast at driving cars and motorcycling.
Through nagging and erm…..corruption and bullying: I managed to get myself a test drive in a Formula 3 car: which was at the time, the car one down from a F1 car…like GP2 is now.
I managed to catch several of their employees speeding, and went round one day….they offered me a test drive: and all was sweetness and light.
I had had drivers courses with the cops, grade 1, anti terrorist trained, skidpan you name it, I’d driven it: and considered myself quite the hot young dude behind the wheel.
I got in the F3 car and my first familiarization session was just five laps, with three more sessions of five laps each.
I could NOT keep the thing on the island, when I accelerated and hit the power band, the thing took off and I was ruining tyres left and right, sliding thither and yon in no control at all, even on the straights.
Corners were even more tragic, I was all over the place and tyre destroying with every slide.
I came in after three of my five laps: white faced in terror, the thing was uncontrollable. The other test driver got in, and zoomed off, 25 seconds a lap faster than me, easy peasy lemon squeezy.
So: these F1 guys are anything but sane, they have kudos, but sanity left the building a long, long time ago. Those things are NOT like cars as we know it.
brendan
May 21st, 2008 at 8:04 pmlou said:
Wow Brendan! thats quite a story! Lucky you! Such a great (but yeah ok scary) experience! I am very envious! Not only the fact you have driven some pretty fast cars, but just the fact you can drive. Hopefully i will be driving by this time next year *fingures crossed*
Piont taken, not exactly sane people these f1 drivers
May 21st, 2008 at 8:07 pmme said:
hehe, cheers lou, trulliometer must be low this week.
they are some flippin’ brilliant questions, wow. oh if only someone filmed it.
this one is close:
amansworldonline.com/wheels/caparo-t1-rap…
May 21st, 2008 at 8:41 pmbrendan stallard said:
LOL…..Me,
Where do you find these things.
I want one of them F1 cop cars……NOW!
brendan
May 21st, 2008 at 8:46 pmbrendan stallard said:
“Such a great (but yeah ok scary) experience!”
Lou,
I dunno wot its like for gurls: but I suspect they aren’t quite so afflicted with the ego as we men are.
It was a terrible experience and I’ve been embarrassed about it for ever, its only since I got old and didn’t care so much that it matters less.
When yer young: you think you can do anything………I think you should try everything within reason (cave diving and alligator wrestling excluded) but not make it the be all and end all…ya know?
I’m sure you will pass your test in moments and drive everyone, everywhere: very soon:)
brendan
May 21st, 2008 at 8:52 pmSteven Roy said:
Believe me the last thing you want to do is drive the Caparo. They are lethal. Jason Plato who is a touring car champion and was a successful F3 driver in his early day drove one for Fifth Gear and it burst into flames at 150mph.
Jermey Clarkson drove one on Top Gear and the floor fell off and he had a load of other problems. His view was that when it held together it was great until it had to go round a slow corner. Then is was useless.
People’s brains go to strange places in a race car. I think it was Mark Hughed in Autosport a couple of years ago did a piece about the sanity line around a race car. Outside that line you will quite happily say that if it gets too wet you will come in or if you don’t trust the person you are racing with you will back off etc. Then you step over the sanity line into the car and all bets are off. Even the most sane of us do stupid things in race cars because it seems perfectly sensible at the time.
May 21st, 2008 at 9:25 pmlou said:
oh yeah i remember that!
Thanks Brendan! i hope so! i really do! I have been a petrol head since i was about 2, and since the age of 9 i have wanted to drive.
May 21st, 2008 at 9:34 pmlou said:
What is with Mclaren changing pitlane position again!!!
May 21st, 2008 at 10:01 pmbrendan stallard said:
“A helicopter in the living room? Was the guy drunk?”
Fan,
I completely understand the point: and it is that an F1 car is completely ridiculous around Monaco. It is a small town, a completely illogical place for a GP: and an F1 car has so much power, it is throttled back for the place.
Monaco is a mad place to hold a GP, I hate it, but others don’t agree: so it is.
Its a bit like: a 9lb lump hammer to crack a nut.
brendan
May 21st, 2008 at 10:22 pmlou said:
Oh no poor Jenson hurt his ribs in Turkey
Does anyone else know of any other drivers that slightly damaged muscles or anything last weekend. Im confused as to why it just seems to be just Jenson who has sustainded injuries…. could it have been to do with his car or fitness or something?
May 21st, 2008 at 10:36 pmbrendan stallard said:
“could it have been to do with his car or fitness or something?”
Lou,
I doubt he is lacking in fitness or training: F1 drivers are all maniac fitness types nowadays: with the possible exception of Raikkonnen, who is pretty darn fit anyway.
However: I have a degree in anatomy and physiology, so I would say….any injury to the ribs or the intercostal muscles can be incredibly painful, because they are like a cut on the fingers: every time you do anything: like “breathe” it hurts.
Broken ribs are incredibly long to heal, and intercostal muscles are a blighter. I used to teach Iyengar Yoga and with the stretches, students were forever overdoing and hurting intercostals, and they were a major pain in the life.
With all the G forces the drivers suffer going round turn 8, it would not surprise me in the least if they were physically troubled.
I don’t know: I’m just offering my knowledge as it is.
brendan
May 21st, 2008 at 10:54 pmlou said:
thats what i was thinking, because im sure i read that he is fitter than he had ever been - doing plenty of triathalons etc, but i just thought it might offer an explanation.
I think he has had back problems before, and now i come to think about it, i think he broke afew ribs last year in a karting accident, so maybe it stems from that….
Thanks for your knowledge Brendan!
very useful! 
May 21st, 2008 at 11:07 pmmy FA fantasy aka Scuderia Titanic said:
I don’t think so, it’s looks great on TV, although I understand that it’s not the best time to be around in Monaco because you’ll be ripped off by the hotels and restaurants.
I watched this Williams show and it was OK, good fun. They blurred some images like opened gearboxes and other secrets but in general it was a shocking experience. The Williams F1 team factory looked just like any other factory, not the shiny Grand Prix weekend PR events. They concentrated today around a test team secretary who kept talking about her new hair (a bit like recent lily allen photos) while walking around and distributing papers for the team members, then she realised she forgot to mention the departure airport or something; as it was in German I understand only 50%, I’m still learning it you see. Then you had a truckie who kept saying how proud he was of the team and of his driving style. They showed Nakajima testing in straight line in that place in England whose name I can’t remember, Lutton, Luffield or whatever. I think Sidepodcast reported from there before the start of the season. Then they spoke to a guy who works as assembly assistant or something and everything around him was blurred - top secret stuff. After that a girl named Anja (designer of some sort, she looked like folk singer on certain substances) was chasing this guy who found something in the gearbox that wasn’t supposed to be there and she just kept saying in thick (possibly German) accent “aah! not good! not good!” Old Williams cars were painted in current colour scheme and in the end they all said a few irrelevant phrases in front of them and that was it. Next time it’s the wind-tunnel and I feel it will be another shocker for me!
May 21st, 2008 at 11:27 pmlou said:
She had got the name of the test wrong. She had put Jerez test rather than Paul Ricard
It was Luffield
May 21st, 2008 at 11:42 pmSteven Roy said:
I am surprised it has taken this long for the announcement of McLaren’s pit change at Monaco. It was clear that one of the things that helped Hamilton’s three stop strategy in Turkey was the straight exit from the pits. It may only have saved him 0.5 - 1.0s but it could have been vital. I predicted after the race that McLaren would be moved back into the middle of pit lane. Yet another example as if it were needed of Max making a knee jerk reaction and then reversing it as soon as the effects of it became obvious to him. Other people forecast this advantage in the stories announcing the move to the end pit so you have to wonder why someone as indispensible as Max had to be hit between the eyes with the evidence before he figured it out.
May 21st, 2008 at 11:44 pmmy FA fantasy aka Scuderia Titanic said:
So you saw it too then. Got anything to add to my description? It’ll probably appear on youtube soon so I’ll check it out in English. In Portugal these days one has to watch F1 and other racing series in German or Italian or French on Astra or Hotbird because it’s no longer on national free channels but rather on poor quality and terribly expensive cable tv. What can you do - it’s better to watch it in German than not to watch it at all.
May 22nd, 2008 at 12:09 amlou said:
I sure did! Thought it was pretty interesting, specially some of the stuff they were talking about. For example, i did not know that when they tested at Luffield just before the Jerez test, they were trying to maximize the performance under the 2009 conditions (less down force) in preporation for the Jerez test with slicks. i take it they were talking about the jerez test. they didn’t test slicks at Ricard did they? i got abit confused because they were talking about their confidence in the gearbox because it had survived 4 races, and they were preparing for Ricard and Monaco. But they were also talking about preparing to test slicks….
You did really well to understand the most of what they were saying in german. I would have struggled to understand any of it, specially as some of the stuff was abit confusinf in english. seriously hats off to you! you did good understanding it all! As you say better in german than not at all
May 22nd, 2008 at 5:04 amJeff Kline said:
I was lucky enough to race at Monaco in the Historic GP in 2002. I was driving a 1937 Alfa 12C GP car - it has about 450hp. Our first practice on Saturday was in the wet - when going thru the gears on the pit straight each gear was limited by wheel spin and in top gear if I gave it just a little throttle the wheels would spin - granted the car had 19″x 6″ tires. I also have had 23 of 24 hours at the Daytona 24 in the rain and 600hp and 1800lb GTP cars could spin the wheels at will.
I think the F1 car with no TC are going to be in same situation. If it is wet, this might be the best race to watch in years. I am really looking forward to it.
May 22nd, 2008 at 5:50 amMattw said:
I must admit that I thought it may have been Maclaren themselves who requested they were moved to the end pit slot back in Bahrain.
But this latest move is very strange.
Oh well, Max will actually be at Monaco this weekend so someone can ask him…
May 22nd, 2008 at 8:12 amChristine said:
Perhaps, now that Bernie and Max have declared all out war, Bernie decided to over-rule the decisions. He never seemed that happy about changing McLaren’s position in the first place.
May 22nd, 2008 at 8:27 amlou said:
its not going to be pretty is it?
May 22nd, 2008 at 8:31 amAlianora La Canta said:
my FA Fantasy aka Scuderia Titanic, could you please explain to me what the 24 Hours film is? I’ve heard of the TV series, but I never knew they made a film of it - or is it something different?
Don’t worry lou, I can’t drive either. In fact, it’ll be a while before I can afford the pre-provisional test. Having a disability, I’m required to do a basic competency test in Derby before being permitted a provisional licencse, which most other people are allowed to skip. Hopefully I won’t be told I need specialist lessons, otherwise I’d have to get to Birmingham every time I wanted a driving lesson…
My guess is that it was it was Bernie’s idea for McLaren to move down the pitlane, and now Max is getting revenge/asserting his authority by moving them back up again. Interesting…
No - but then some drivers aren’t keen to talk about that sort of stuff. For example, when Mark Webber cracked a rib in winter testing of 2005, he didn’t say anything until the Malaysian Grand Prix, by which point it had nearly healed.
May 22nd, 2008 at 8:32 amAlianora La Canta said:
And yes, the Max/Bernie war will be ugly. However, expect most of the bloodshed to be on the Max side of the warfield.
May 22nd, 2008 at 8:37 amlou said:
:s i was kinda hoping that someone would lie and say it wouldn’t
im not looking forward to it, i just wanted a quite year, where all is concentrated on racing and a great championship, not the politics.
May 22nd, 2008 at 9:03 amMattw said:
This is interesting isn’t it. I cann’t work out if this is Max and Bernie doing their usual ‘Good cop/Bad cop’ routine - or if they really have fallen out.
If they have fallen out big time - I wonder when this began? Could it shed new light on some of the controversial things we have seen earlier in the year? (Trying hard not to say anything libellous!)
May 22nd, 2008 at 9:13 amMattw said:
“Le Mans” - Steve mcQueen, Le Mans 24 hours - Excellent film.
May 22nd, 2008 at 11:34 amAlianora La Canta said:
Thank you, Mattw, for helping advance my woefully-incomplete film education.
May 22nd, 2008 at 12:07 pmMattw said:
I was only guessing
He may well have been talking about the TV series out of his ‘rear end’ of course
But Le Mans is a classic motor racing film. They filmed some of the crashes by driving real cars remote control.
May 22nd, 2008 at 12:14 pmme said:
i’m still going with the former, but it’s difficult to tell.