There Are Cars Out There Too?
The pictures we’ve been posting over the three days of testing are all very well and good, but we’ve missed out two of the most important.
Bourdais
He was emerging from the Toro Rosso garage and heading towards the motorhome. I know I said I wasn’t bothered about him anymore, but he seemed to be the nicest man ever.
A crowd gathered around him and blocked his path across the paddock. He stopped, he signed and signed, kept on giving out those autographs and muttering greetings to the surrounding fans, and didn’t stop until everyone had gone. When his way was finally clear, someone approached him with a microphone and asked him if he could spare a couple of seconds. He nodded, but said they had to walk and talk, and he indicated for the person to join him in the motor home.
Why didn’t we think of that?
We didn’t get a signature, because we prefer pictures to autographs, but an entire school trip managed to get something from the Frenchman, and I was impressed with his patience.
Di Grassi
I don’t really have much to say about this guy, other than he is completely delicious.
It’s fair to say that neither of us would have recognised him if he’d walked past us in the street, and it was only because he was posing for photos that this picture was even taken.
I have confirmed this with several other female F1 fans, and it is an actual fact: Di Grassi is delicious. So there.
June 28th, 2008 at 8:45 pmlou said:
No photos of Jenson
I suppose you have a lot already 
I think I agree about Di Grassi, he is rather delicious. 
There was a school trip! A school trip to f1 testing?! That would possibly be the best trip ever!
Lovely photos by the way
June 28th, 2008 at 8:47 pmRich said:
I am glad that Le Seb proved to be such a nice guy. Its a nice photo. Surprised you did not pretend to be the press Sidepodcast news to get an exclusive interview with Di Grassi!
June 28th, 2008 at 8:54 pmlou said:
I’ve just seen some of your photos on flickr! wow! they are great! Well done
June 28th, 2008 at 9:01 pmme said:
didn’t see him sadly. he did a media interview after we left on wednesday, but we weren’t chasing him because we do have quite a few.
exactly what we said!
we should’ve, but we weren’t geared up for it. next year maybe.
June 28th, 2008 at 10:26 pmmy FA fantasy aka BOL said:
There are a lot of di Grassi female fans on RF1 blog who are there only because of him, weird.
Le Séb is cool in my opinion because he can actually speak English and express himself properly, plus he has seriously wicked sense of humour.
Although the craziest joker in F1 these days is certainly Bob Bell, just listen to the latest RF1 podcast, the guy is on it, after Irvine he’s the best stand-up comedy artist in modern Formula 1.
June 28th, 2008 at 11:09 pmme said:
haven’t had chance yet. will go listen now.
June 28th, 2008 at 11:45 pmme said:
on beemers win: “just a flash in the pan…”
on kimi: “i was hoping the thing would catch fire and take out a couple of other cars…”
love it!
June 29th, 2008 at 12:44 amlou said:
Oh no
Jenson is at the FOS on the Sunday…. and i am there on the Saturday… damn. ahh well.
http://www.hondaracingf1.com/loband/news.php
June 29th, 2008 at 1:15 pmAlianora La Canta said:
A school trip to f1 testing?! That would possibly be the best trip ever! {lou - 7 comments ago}
I wonder how the teacher got it past the relevant committee and what educational attainment targets it was supposed to hit? More to the point, what did the kids learn (other than Sebastien Bourdais is a really nice bloke?) Good creative thinking on the part of the school, and lovely to see Seb give them his time
June 29th, 2008 at 1:39 pmRich said:
Although I support BMW Sauber - there is more than an element of truth in the above statement.
Interestingly the Renault guys were clear on Hamilton’s and Kovi’s penalties.
Yes, but it was stated as a joke - they followed it with “sort of the right decision to let them go”.
June 29th, 2008 at 1:42 pmRich said:
I am sure the Teacher was the F1 fan and was creative with the “marketing” of the exercise. I can think of some good outcomes you could use.
June 29th, 2008 at 3:07 pmmy FA fantasy aka BOL said:
Hmm, fresh from watching another disastrous DTM race for Schumi Jr. - I wonder what’s going on in inside his and his brother’s mind? One keeps spinning in last year’s Mercedes DTM car and another keeps falling off the bike in some obscure amateur German championship… At least Sr. usually adopts a nickname for his falls - Marcel Niederhausen. Lovely.
On the subject of McLaren PR department: maybe the next step for them would be launching Lewis in MP4-23 into space? Great idea, they connected Le Mans and International Space Station for a bit of PR chat right before the race. Lunar GP might be the next step for Bernard. Formula One group conquers space.
June 29th, 2008 at 3:26 pmRich said:
Your are unkind to the Schumacher bros!
I think that would be a service to the F1 community - to test the feasibility of a Lunar GP.
June 29th, 2008 at 4:59 pmmy FA fantasy aka BOL said:
Yeah, but really they both look useless this year. Guys like Irvine or Hill went on from racing to entrepreneurialism (the pocket oxford dictionary) and both managed to conserve their integrity.
June 29th, 2008 at 5:05 pmGaulty said:
Completley off topic, but Mark Webber was on the British GP Speedway last night. I never realised that he liked speedway (and for the record, he predicted the winner correctly) as does Robert Kubica. Just some off topic chat.
June 29th, 2008 at 5:18 pmSteven Roy said:
A few years ago they sent DC and his car up in the vomit comet. They got a lot of news coverage of DC in the car while it was weightless.
June 29th, 2008 at 5:19 pmRich said:
Somewhere I read he had an interest in this field. I think he would be one of the more interesting drivers to be the official fan for (was my first choice).
June 29th, 2008 at 5:21 pmRich said:
You could be like PK senior and lose your road driver’s license!
Yea I used the word “entrepreneurialism” in a document to get funds recently!
June 29th, 2008 at 5:27 pmSteven Roy said:
I am sure I read somewhere that Webber met his girlfriend when she was working at a speedway event. He has mentioned in some interviews that he used to go to speedway in Australia. So I think he really is a fan of speedway and did not turn up for some celeb function.
June 29th, 2008 at 8:46 pmlou said:
I have just been watching euro 2008 (not out of choice - i have Germans staying with me so top gear is recording
) anyway… I noticed on the top right of the screen that if you pressed the red button you could choose to listen to 5live commentry rather than the BBC commentry…. I wander if they will do the same for f1 next year….
June 29th, 2008 at 9:12 pmScott Woodwiss said:
shame you missed it, was a good show tonight.
i wouldn’t be surprised if they did. although i would like a “no commentary” option so you can just listen to the cars or do your own…
June 29th, 2008 at 9:38 pmScott Woodwiss said:
completely off topic, well done spain on winning the euro’s
June 29th, 2008 at 10:10 pmAlex Andronov said:
On Sky’s football coverage they have a thing called Fanzone where a fan of each team commentates. They have the option of the tv commentary, TalkSport (I think) and this Fanzone.
Although I never watch football I did think it was quite a good idea.
June 29th, 2008 at 10:23 pmme said:
we missed it too, and before anyone asks, the show is somewhat delayed this week. more news soon.
that is a brilliant idea. exactly what f1 needs, must check that out.
June 29th, 2008 at 10:30 pmme said:
i have long thought that kevin garside is a bit of a pillock, but this article takes the biscuit:
official numbers have the total closer to 10,000 on thursday, and the three corners mentioned in that paragraph were off-limits to all but a select few punters.
the man clearly hasn’t done any research, and clearly hasn’t the faintest bloody idea what he’s talking about (not for the first time when it comes to f1).
full article here:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/ma…6/29/smgars129.xml
garside = twonk.
June 29th, 2008 at 11:47 pmmy FA fantasy aka BOL said:
Hmm, football then. I think football fans who watch this rubbish on TV must be treated equally as F1 fans who have to make do with at least 5 or 6 long commercial breaks during the live broadcast. I wonder why you can’t stop a football match to advertise garbage but in F1 it’s possible. Dunno how ’bout you fellas in the UK but I watch F1 on RTL channel and it’s getting worse this year, they dedicate more time to advertising than actual racing. I want to chase their F1 tv editor in the Red Bull F1 car and possibly run over him/her. Sorry, ME, for a bit of violence but football makes me mad. Can’t stand this so-called beautiful game.
June 29th, 2008 at 11:56 pmme said:
would it be wrong of me to let this bout of violence go, because i happen to agree with it?
oh well
June 30th, 2008 at 12:03 amlou said:
I love sky+! I am now all up to date with top gear
and the germans have left (you have to pity them really…. 12 hours in a coach = not nice). One of the best episodes of Top gear for a long time! 
That’s ok. You have had a busy week
June 30th, 2008 at 12:18 amScott said:
Fernando Alonso was at the Ernst Happel Stadion watching the match last night. Before the game kicked off, he predicted Spain would win 1-0, and suggested Xavi or Fernando Torres as the scorer. Not bad, eh?
June 30th, 2008 at 12:43 amAlianora La Canta said:
A crowd of 45,000 colonised a corner of rural Northamptonshire on Thursday {me - 5 comments ago}
Er… …the entire capacity of Silverstone is 115,000, and that’s with the entire place occupied and traffic jams for 10 miles in either direction. Maybe Mr Garside saw a zero where there wasn’t one in his Lewis-inspired enthusiasm, because 4,500 would be a plausible figure and the thought of a story that needs little justification to the newspaper executives can explain a lot of over-excited errors. And Copse, Maggotts and Beckets are the three corners a non-F1 devotee are most likely to have heard of (though you’d have thought he’d have got out of the media centre and checked where the fans were first…)
I wonder why you can’t stop a football match to advertise garbage but in F1 it’s possible. {mt FA Fantasy - 4 comments ago}
I don’t know about Spain, but the UK has a similar advert situation largely due to OFCOM regulations. They state that any live event with pre-planned breaks may only have advertisements in those breaks. Football has a pre-planned half-time, which means it falls in this categoty. However, an event with no pre-planned breaks may be interrupted by ads during any point where the broadcasters thinks there is a “natural break” in the proceedings, such as when the commentators have finished talking about one subject and have not yet picked up another. F1 does not normally have breaks in the middle of the event, therefore it goes into the “natural break” rule.
ITV have used their full ad allocation from the start, so the ads are the same frequency as before… …it’s just the combination of time with the irritant combined with the prospect of ad-free F1 next year (the BBC are forbidden from running ads because they’re mainly funded by taxpayers) make them feel about twice as long as they felt a decade before.
Sorry, ME, for a bit of violence but football makes me mad. {my FA Fantasy - 4 comments ago}
I don’t get excited by football either, don’t feel left out…
June 30th, 2008 at 12:51 amme said:
we know it was a sellout, and we know there was 5,000 GA tickets available. presumably the extra 5,000 (as reported by the beeb) were hospitality tix. whichever way you slice it, the man was way off with his opening fact.
my guess is he wasn’t within 50miles of the track.
June 30th, 2008 at 6:58 amAlex Andronov said:
Completely from memory but wasn’t there a change to the number of minutes that adverts could run for in an hour during this period? It may have only been for the non big 5 channels though.
June 30th, 2008 at 9:44 amStuart Codling said:
Morning all…
The media centre had been turned over to hospitality so there won’t have been anyone working there - apart from the people dishing out coffee and cake!
As to the numbers, I’m inclined to go for the comma-in-the-wrong-place theory. How did it make the move? Well, perhaps KG hit the wrong button at the wrong time. Or perhaps the sports editor or sub editor decided that 4,500 didn’t sound like very much and decided to multiply it by ten. You’d be amazed at how often this sort of thing happens. It’s the bane of every journalist’s life: some twit back at the office decides to fiddle about with your text, and the next thing you know an embarrassing incorrectitude is doing the rounds with your name at the top of it.
On the other hand, sports event PRs have a mania for issuing cumulative figures in their press releases.
June 30th, 2008 at 10:20 amme said:
really? in that case, the guy needs a blog or something, in order to put his unedited thoughts out there. i would’ve left a comment but the telegraph don’t appear keen on those!
thing is, this is one of the only times we were on hand to know for certain that the facts are wrong. we weren’t at the mandela concert, neither did we watch lewis sailing. i wonder how many other parts of the article have been tinkered with?
the weeks cumulative figure would still only be 30,000 though wouldn’t they?
June 30th, 2008 at 1:30 pmScott Woodwiss said:
can someone tell what the new aero update for the Honda RA108 consisted of?
June 30th, 2008 at 2:25 pmStuart Codling said:
‘Twas ever thus, I’m afraid. The system depends on a virtuous circle of trust and competence - the people out in the field should get their facts right and deliver near-enough perfect copy, trusting in the competence of the people back in the office to deliver it safely to the page. The people in the office need to trust the people out in the field to have done a proper job in the first place.
It doesn’t always happen like that. Sometimes you can submit a piece for publication and they just whack it on the page, untouched; at other times, on other publications, you can pick up the finished mag/paper and think “What on earth did they do that for?” The worst case scenario is a hatchet job performed by inexpert and/or illiterate editors. It happens occasionally.
But I do believe that, on balance, the system works – and that having a process of checks and balances leads to a better overall product most of the time. There are writers out there - some very well-known - who ought not to be allowed near a word processor without supervision. As a former chief sub editor myself, I’ve spent a significant portion of my working life gently and unobtrusively sparing such people from embarrassment.
Even the literate and careful writer often needs to be brought to heel. Nothing is unimproveable - only unimproved. You don’t have to wander too far on the internet before you start to stumble across interminable reams of self-published, self-indulgent claptrap.
Looked like another version of the ‘dumbo wing’ and a few refinements to the outboard aero devices, Scott.
June 30th, 2008 at 3:06 pmme said:
in part, the telegraph fails on this point because i cannot comment on the article. even moderated comments are better than no comments, but they haven’t even got that option.
i shouldn’t have had to post my frustration on this site at all really, but the paper offered me no choice.
this post illustrates how the error could’ve been tackled:
http://www.f1minute.com/2008/…mplona-for-bull-run/
christine: “…took their respective Red Bull cars to Pamplona in Italy today”
steven: “it was in Spain”
christine: “oh, bugger”
the error was then fixed.
whereas the telegraph are still displaying incorrect information, cue more embarrassment for garside (whoever fault it was, his name is on the piece).
June 30th, 2008 at 3:09 pmSteven Roy said:
I think the only aerodynamic device likely to improve the Honda is to strap a jet engine on each side of it.
June 30th, 2008 at 3:32 pmSteven Roy said:
Here is a nice little brain testing game. It is all written in squiggle apart from the numbers so if you don’t read the instructions here you will be very confused. I have tried it once and scored 29. I have no idea if that is good or not. I suspect not.
I have just read the instructions and the number at the end is your brain’s age. I assume mental age. To think I have been lying about my age for years and I was only two years out.
Procedure of Flash Fabrica Game:
1. Touch ’start’
2. Wait for 3, 2, 1.
3. Memorize the number’s position on the screen, then click the circle
from the smallest number to the biggest number.
4. At the end of game, computer will tell you how old your brain.
Good luck !!
http://flashfabrica.com/f_learning/brain/brain.html
June 30th, 2008 at 4:01 pmme said:
36
June 30th, 2008 at 4:25 pmRich said:
Off the subject a bit - looks like the ban on tyre warmers will not come into effect. I know of at least one driver who will be relieved, considering his major problem is getting temp up in the tyres even with warmers!
June 30th, 2008 at 4:48 pmSteven Roy said:
I am not sure that a higher number is a better score. If you click on the highest number first each time (the worst choice possible) you score 120.
June 30th, 2008 at 4:52 pmme said:
rats!
June 30th, 2008 at 6:26 pmlou said:
From what I can see in photos Honda were also testing different front wings… without ‘dumbo’ wings, and with the ‘dumbo’ wings but with a lower nose.
June 30th, 2008 at 6:48 pmSteven Roy said:
I had another go at that game and I was definitely better than my first attempt and I scored 26. So it looks like lower numbers are better.
June 30th, 2008 at 6:53 pmChristine said:
Well, I got 22, and I am no good at games, so perhaps lower isn’t better?
I don’t like a game where we don’t understand the result!!
June 30th, 2008 at 7:17 pmScott Woodwiss said:
now that lower nose without the dumbo-flugel (
) is sooo much better, agreed?
June 30th, 2008 at 7:25 pmme said:
i heard someone say that combined with the flugel, it looked more like a dumbo-trunk…
June 30th, 2008 at 7:27 pmScott Woodwiss said:
the front of the honda is just starting to become an elephant isn’t it?
Should be re-codenamed the RA108-E, for elephant
June 30th, 2008 at 8:54 pmSteven Roy said:
How do some people get on TV? The gadget show has been set the challenge of setting a new land speed record for Scalextric. The guy chose last year’s Honda as his base model because it looked like the most aerodynamic car available.
June 30th, 2008 at 9:20 pmme said:
ummm. he coulda chosen any car from last year?
June 30th, 2008 at 9:31 pmSteven Roy said:
He could have chosen any Scalextric model ever made.
June 30th, 2008 at 9:45 pmme said:
oh.
…
…
June 30th, 2008 at 10:34 pmlou said:
I have played a similar game on my ds. Basically the aim of the game is to get the lowest brain age possible…. It’s meant to reflect the ‘age’ of your brain… so if your 25 and have a brain age of 18 then thats good…. but if your 25 and have a brain age of 80 then thats not good at all
June 30th, 2008 at 10:37 pmlou said:
It certainly looks better… I just hope it works
to be honest I would not care if their car was hideous; if it improved that would be enough.
July 1st, 2008 at 12:06 amlou said:
On my first attempt I scored 21…
July 1st, 2008 at 12:07 amme said:
fine. i’m not playing anymore
July 1st, 2008 at 12:28 amlou said:
but ‘me’ I’m younger than you so my score should be lower…
July 1st, 2008 at 12:35 amlou said:
Honda eye stronger outing in Britain
Oh great. They have just jinxed it.
July 1st, 2008 at 4:44 amMattw said:
Honda did have a go at the F1 land speed record themselves recently.
But that car was from the 3 litre days?
Would be a bit embasiring if the Scalextric model becomes more successful than the real thing.
What happened in the end?
July 1st, 2008 at 7:09 amJourneyer said:
I scored 26. Hmmm… Not bad, not bad at all…
July 1st, 2008 at 10:18 ammy FA fantasy aka BOL said:
Just read DC’s latest column on ITVF1 site and he talks about “clutch slip”. ‘Scuse me? Alonso has troubles setting up his revs, DC has this clutch thing, funnily enough these things never happen on Friday and Saturday & then suddenly 5 minutes before the race they start having all sorts of problems and ruin their respective starts. Weird. It makes RBR and Renault look incompetent. I wonder who is who in this case.
Here’s what Washington DC said.
“A good opportunity to score more points in France slipped through my fingers within seconds of the start.
I qualified ninth, which became seventh after the McLaren drivers’ penalties, but we had a contamination on the clutch which caused a lot of clutch slip on both Red Bull cars.”
“Contamination” phrase is lovely - is it F1 equivalent for mad cow disease? Mad clutch disease!
July 1st, 2008 at 10:35 ammy FA fantasy aka BOL said:
Check this out - Portuguese Autosport promised a full exclusive interview with Piquet the son, gotta go and pay my hard-earned cash because it’s only available on paper, nothing on their website. Cheap trick but I want to read it.
It turns out that little Nelson refused to say a word to the Brazilian F1 journalists after the races (up until he scored his 1st points) who were raging mad about his attitude. So in France Portuguese-speaking press was rewarded with this “super” interview as they advertise it. I’m Nelson’s Nº1 fan now so I’ll just collect everything I can about him. Well, I’m a bit busy right now so I guess I should say “Maybe I’ll start collecting one day”…
July 1st, 2008 at 11:39 amAlianora La Canta said:
It’s the bane of every journalist’s life: some twit back at the office decides to fiddle about with your text, and the next thing you know an embarrassing incorrectitude is doing the rounds with your name at the top of it {Stuart Codling - 29 comments ago}
Isn’t it just? In my proofreading days at uni, I proofread an article about a music producer with two headings “Things You’ve Heard” (referring to artists under this producer’s wing that had had hits) and “Things You Haven’t” (referring to artists which still hadn’t released anything and only played live at that time). Somebody proofreading after me decided to change the headings, so when it was published, the headings read, “Things You Haven’t!” and “Things You Haven’t!” Oops…
fine. i’m not playing anymore {me - 7 comments ago}
me, it could be worse. I get a light beige rectangle and some boxes (obviously this is a Far Eastern script). Presumably my brain age is “cream”.
What happened in the end? {Mattw - 4 comments ago}
The Fifth Gear Honda Scalectrix model, based on a 2007 Honda and modified, did indeed break the speed record at Chatsworth, with an equivalent speed of 983.88 mph. It got into the Derbyshire Times and everything. Unfortunately, the TV broadcast of it was yesterday.
July 1st, 2008 at 11:43 amAlianora La Canta said:
Update: The Flash Fabrica game works in my copy of Opera. I got 35 on the first go (not good when you consider my chronological age is 22).
July 1st, 2008 at 11:45 amAlianora La Canta said:
I did even worse the second time. It doesn’t help that I have a tendency to misread some of the numbers…
July 1st, 2008 at 12:00 pmStuart Codling said:
There’s a funny story about this [bad language alert!].
At the Australian GP the Brazilian and British press people were discussing how ‘difficult’ Nelson was. One of the Brazilians told us how when he first came to interview Nelson, he said, “Would you prefer me to address you as Nelson or Nelsinho?”
“Call me what you want,” muttered Piquet Jr with grumpy dismissiveness (allegedly).
More information about Nelson’s uppity behaviour was required. And who better to ask than Bradley L, as an ex-Renault staffer? So Steve Cooper (of Autosport) quickly composed a text message:
“So – is it ‘C**t’ or ‘C**tinho’ then?”
Unfortunately, Bradley had given his company phone back when he left Renault. That phone – and number – now belongs to someone else in the organisation. So the response that came back was:
“WHAT? WHO IS THIS?????”
July 1st, 2008 at 12:33 pmDank said:
I’m getting funny looks in the office for smirking at that story
July 1st, 2008 at 12:56 pmJourneyer said:
Stuart, really funny story there! Hahaha! Did they ever find out it was Steve who texted it? Hahaha! Absolutely hilarious.
July 1st, 2008 at 12:58 pmme said:
i can just imagine the conversation in the renault factory a couple of days earlier…
“hey nelson, HR have finally found a phone for you”
July 1st, 2008 at 1:16 pmmy FA fantasy aka BOL said:
Yeah, that was really funny!
By the way, Stuart, since you’re our only source of paddock insider info, do you know a guy named Luís Vasconcelos? He claims to be Portuguese Joe Saward and writes things like “I was chatting with all the drivers all the time during this weekend and I can tell you that a lot of things will happen in F1 soon”. Then he goes on about shocking revelations and I finally got my hands on this week’s AutoSport edition where he describes Trulli/Kova battle: he says Trulli left Kova 1,75 cm of track instead of 1,80 (F1 car width) as he should’ve. How do you measure that??? Is LV real? I’ll try to leave a pic of him on “dropwhateveritscalled”.
July 1st, 2008 at 1:18 pmme said:
ahhh, have you discovered the mole’s true identity bol?
July 1st, 2008 at 1:27 pmmy FA fantasy aka BOL said:
Could be! I dunno.
Anyway, I dropped his pic on drop-ya-yer. Click on my name - I fear posting any links here, it will sink again.
http://www.drop.io/sidepodcast/asset/lv
July 1st, 2008 at 1:38 pmmy FA fantasy aka BOL said:
Cool, it works. What a lovely thing this drop-your-weapon is! I must start using it more often.
I’m glad I bought this magazine because they offer free tickets for WTCC race in Estoril this month. Tiago Monteiro says he’s talking to some F1 teams about possible race seat (not his diesel Seat racing car) in 2009, nobody believed it but I want his autograph, I’m painting a huge canvas and the only detail that’s missing is this piece of paper which I intend to glue to the canvas and maybe add some nails and then sell it for €1 million.
July 1st, 2008 at 1:45 pmme said:
yeah, can’t fault it. we’re looking at ways to better integrate it into this site too.
i’ve never seen this self-proclaimed joe saward before. i worry that he feels the need to tell us how long he’s been following f1 for. shouldn’t that come out in his writing?
July 1st, 2008 at 1:48 pmStuart Codling said:
Hmmm… I don’t recognise the name and he doesn’t have an entry in the 2008 “Who Works” (there’s a section for journalists and photographers, with permanent credential holders listed in red)… There’s no reason not to be listed in Who Works – it’s free and they pester you until you send them every detail of your life.
That said, there are a lot of people covering F1 and I’m not on first name terms with them all – and they don’t all go to every race. It could just be that we’ve never been in the same press room at the same time.
Sensibly, he tried to find out who the new owner of the phone was before he owned up!
July 1st, 2008 at 1:53 pmStuart Codling said:
If I see a Portuguese man pelting Tony Dodgins and Simon Arron with scrunched-up press releases, I’ll know who you mean…
July 1st, 2008 at 2:00 pmStuart Codling said:
Ah yes – I recognise him. I’ve definitely seen him around.
July 1st, 2008 at 2:39 pmLe BOL said:
Glad to hear that, sometimes people claim a lot of things but it’s never easy to trust what you read on various websites.
Ha-ha! A good one!
I decided to give my nickname a French taste so from now on I’m “Le BOL”, a bit like “Le Costcutter” (C. Ghosn).
July 1st, 2008 at 2:48 pmLe BOL said:
He writes mainly for this Portuguese magazine, I think he used to comment F1 races on state-owned RTP channel before they decided to go get rid of F1 coverage, after Tiago quit F1. Now F1 in Portugal is only availabe thru cable tv station called Sport TV, you have to pay like €50 a month for a very bad quality pictures. That’s why I invested €70 2 years ago in a satellite dish and now I’m learning German every time I listen to Christian Danner and Kai Ebel (who dresses like a clown if you know what I mean).
July 1st, 2008 at 3:13 pmme said:
you wanna be careful there… christine does like a frenchman.
July 1st, 2008 at 3:18 pmJoe said:
Speaking of magazines, any of you guys or girls got the latest F1 Racing? Murray’s replaced Eddie on the team : O There’s a deep look into McLaren’s HQ, a big interview with Lewis, a look into what exactly goes on during the driver’s parade before a race and loads of other awesome stuff.
July 1st, 2008 at 3:25 pmlou said:
yep, brilliant stuff
Made even better by the fact i spent yesterday laying outside in the sun reading it 
July 1st, 2008 at 3:35 pmSteven Roy said:
Get a job.
Strange where people read magazines. I spent half an hour lying in the bath reading mine last night. Murray Walker replacing EJ was a good move. You can never have enough Murray. The McLaren Technical Centre piece was good. Amazing that Ron let journalists in. It makes a change to read anything about McLaren where they mention that all the people working there seem to be enjoying themselves. Who else but Ron would have a man who only replaces light bulbs? I have heard of specialising but a light bulb replacer?
July 1st, 2008 at 3:39 pmme said:
i remember a certain someone saying “when i have time, i might write some posts for f1break.com”
July 1st, 2008 at 3:45 pmlou said:
Not much I can do. I have sent in my CV to about 5 different places… I just kinda have to wait now
I’m doing that too
but it’s lovely weather here and I had a nice new copy of f1racing sitting there on the side… what more could i do? 
July 1st, 2008 at 3:51 pmAlex Andronov said:
Lou don’t listen to them they are just jealous!
I remember being pressurised into going and getting a summer job back in the day. 3 months off is something it’s very hard to ever get again.
July 1st, 2008 at 3:52 pmSteven Roy said:
Do what all journalists do and rip off an F1 Racing story. Sorry Stuart. I meant to say write something inspired by F1 Racing.
July 1st, 2008 at 4:03 pmme said:
agreed. some companies are willing to keep your job open if you fancy taking a very extended holiday, but not always. plus how often do we get sun in the UK?
July 1st, 2008 at 4:04 pmlou said:
lol it’s always nice to know someone is sticking up for me
but I kinda want a job… I’m a bit fed up of not having much money, plus it gives me a little more independence. 
lol, I have a few ideas, it’s just finding the time to write them, I am currently in school a lot (even though I’m technically on holiday) because it’s a busy week for the drama department. I’m a lighting technician so I’m being called in for performances…concerts… anything really.
July 1st, 2008 at 4:08 pmSteven Roy said:
http://www.autosport.com/news/grapevine.php/id/68767
I found an interesting item on autosport.com Toyota are promoting the new Batman film at Silverstone. I thought Red Bull did all the film promotions at Monaco. Anyway the cars and drivers will be suitably attired and the Batmobile will be there. Shame Honda didn’t think of this. The Batmobile is probably faster than there normal car. Still, I suppose all those flames shooting out of the back are not very environmentally friendly and we all know it is better to be slow and green than to go fast and risk the environment.
July 1st, 2008 at 4:35 pmStuart Codling said:
Ha! Funnily enough, back in February we went to the MTC for a quick tour and to propose a few feature ideas. Amongst other things they showed us the McLaren F1 LM that Lewis wants to get his hands on. We thought it might make a good story for the front end of the magazine, on the grounds that although it wasn’t ‘new’ news that Lewis wanted the LM, if we could get a bespoke picture of the very car it might make an interesting spread.
Needless to say, the day after that issue of F1R hit the shelves the same story appeared in The Sun badged as an ‘exclusive’ – sorry, an EXCLUSIVE – and from there got picked up by every other paper and website under the, er, sun.
You know, the new look came in for a minor critical mauling from people in the paddock at Magny-Cours, and quite a few people complained about the return of Murray. Their beef seemed to be that because he hasn’t worked full-time in F1 for a few years, he’s irrelevant and out of touch. But I don’t buy that because he works very hard to keep himself informed about current matters. And he’s enormously experienced. And the readers love him.
In terms of our postbag the feedback has been uniformly positive about Murray’s return, and about the new look in general the ratio of liking to not liking is 15:5. That’s quite good; it’s been a big change and with a global readership in the millions you can’t please all of the people all of the time. And some of the ‘not likings’ have been about things that can be changed quite easily.
July 1st, 2008 at 4:52 pmSteven Roy said:
My first reaction to the new look is that I didn’t like it but that is always my reaction when someone changes something I like. But once I got past the look of the magazine I have to say I am enjoying it and that wasn’t the case a few months ago. Then I bought F1 Racing and Motor Sport(the first Roebuck issue) on the same day. I read Motor Sport cover to cover and then some and 10 days later I hadn’t looked at F1 Racing beyond a quick scan. I think with Roebuck and co at Motor Sport you probably have the biggest threat to your circulation ever so it is a good time to change a few things and get some attention. I wouldn’t be surprised if it helps you retain a few readers. People like me who don’t subscribe can very easily be lost especially when for the first time in a long time there is a serious rival.
July 1st, 2008 at 5:04 pmme said:
interesting, because i bought a copy after he joined and just couldn’t get into it. as far as i know christine never even picked it up.
i’d put motorsport in the same same basket as the weekly autosport mag, as it covers a whole bunch of racing categories i have zero interest in. i am f1 through and through.
July 1st, 2008 at 5:22 pmStuart Codling said:
Very tricky to get a job in the media, but anything’s possible. Remember Darren Heath started in the darkroom at Zoom Photographic!
I remember this bloke from when he was assisting Hagen Willsch: –
http://www.perschorn.com
The internet is a fantastic tool for the budding photographer to get their work out in the open. Photographers used to have to make appointments with art editors to show them their ‘book’. Now you can just send them a link (of course, there’s no guarantee that they’ll click on it).
Quite so, Steven. I think it’s fair to say that Motor Sport was permitted to wither on the vine somewhat at Haymarket because there was always a belief that it and Autosport and F1 Racing shouldn’t compete with one another. And then it began to suffer ‘Daily Telegraph syndrome’ – an ageing demographic who are quite literally dying off and not being replaced by younger readers. Hence the misconceived redesign a few years back.
It’s a very good product at the moment and I hope they do well. Some people have voiced criticism that there isn’t enough current F1 in it. That may be the case. All I would say is that the circulation probably needs to go up to sustain the quality of words, pictures and paper (it’s a big, glossy magazine and Nigel’s services don’t come cheap!) in the long term.
July 1st, 2008 at 5:25 pmStuart Codling said:
So YOU’RE one of the people who started drifting away when Jimmy and I started wittering about sportscar aerodynamics at the Autosport Show…
July 1st, 2008 at 5:38 pmSteven Roy said:
Sometimes I wish I was but anything with 4 wheels and an engine gets my attention. Although I have to admit I have lost interest in rallying owing to the mess Max has made of it and the lack of genuinely competitive drivers.
I know some people are only ever interested in F1 but once I got seriously into that I had to know where the new drivers and teams were coming from so I expanded out. It is always fun to try and spot the next big thing.
In a few years the next big thing will be Wayne Boyd. You heard it here first. Unless you read GP Wizard in which case you heard it a few months ago.
July 1st, 2008 at 7:28 pmlou said:
At the moment i’m just looking for a nice little summer job
I hoping that Jessops will accept my CV… that would be a lovely place to work…
wow! He has some amazing photography!
thanks for the link Stuart, It’s now in my favorites 
July 1st, 2008 at 8:01 pmbaz said:
hi-I need everyones help- we bought tickets to silverstone from this place http://motorracetickets.com/ we have no tickets yet- and the site has been taken offline. anyone know what the hell i can do? ? ?
July 1st, 2008 at 8:07 pmme said:
baz, that does not sound good. sorry.
the contact details for the domain name are:
Niklas Hellöre,
Box 280,
Trollhättan,
46126,
SE
Host: http://www.binero.se
no idea if that helps at all though?
July 1st, 2008 at 8:11 pmMichael said:
Apparently the Batmobile is making an appearance on Thursday. Thankfully it’s not running on Saturday otherwise Force India would never make it into Q2.
July 1st, 2008 at 8:34 pmbaz said:
feeling lost with no tickets and no money, thanks for the help tho
July 1st, 2008 at 8:55 pmIan (Growler) said:
Hi Baz - doesn’t sound promising - did you pay by credit card - if so, contact your card company’s fraud department - you may at least get your money back - and they may pursue the site owner on your behalf. Doesn’t help you getting in to Silverstone though I’m afraid - you could try ebay for that (particularly if credit card company have said they will refund your original ticket cost) - but be very careful, and if possible, find a local seller that you can arrange payment on collection with.
July 1st, 2008 at 9:11 pmbaz said:
i know, im just lost for words right now- many thanks tho
July 1st, 2008 at 9:59 pmlou said:
Oh Baz that’s an awful situation. I hope you get it sorted
July 1st, 2008 at 10:49 pmme said:
the only other thing i’d suggest, is that you may not be the only ones and it might be worth getting in touch with silverstone directly.
if those guys were genuine resellers and they just happen to have gone bust at an inconvenient time, there might be some kind of solution.
good luck, and if there’s anything we can do…
July 1st, 2008 at 11:10 pmme said:
two things to mention:
firstly, today was f1 minute’s 200th show… and we both forgot:
http://www.f1minute.com/2008/07/01/01-jul-08-toro-ros…ay-for-2009/
secondly, eddie g says they’ve found a way to clone lewis:
http://timesonline.typepad.com/formula_one…s-tuesday-it.html
July 1st, 2008 at 11:16 pmlou said:
oh wow! Congrats!
speaking of podcasts… when can we expect this weeks? or will there be a big big podcast covering testing and the race next week?
July 1st, 2008 at 11:21 pmme said:
about 2am. and i know we promised we wouldn’t do another late one, but it’s just gotta be that way
July 1st, 2008 at 11:34 pmlou said:
2am?!.. Well at least it’s not 4am or whatever it was last time. Well at the moment I’m designing some brochures for a golfing trip to Belgium my dad is arranging so no doubt I will still be awake at 2am…
July 1st, 2008 at 11:50 pmScott Woodwiss said:
i’m nowadays normally awake at 2am because i’m not tired, so i’ll have a late listen XD
July 1st, 2008 at 11:53 pmlou said:
oh yeah that too… I’m becoming one of those people who go to bed in the early hours and either wake up with very little sleep but feel fine, or wake up very late and still feel fine.
July 1st, 2008 at 11:54 pmme said:
nice one y’all. maybe we should do all shows this late.
July 1st, 2008 at 11:56 pmlou said:
please don’t make a habit of it
it’s not healthy 
July 1st, 2008 at 11:57 pmChristine said:
Really, really not.
July 2nd, 2008 at 12:15 amScott Woodwiss said:
exactly. after the recent week or so of being this late, my body clock a bit battered and bruised. heck, i was falling asleep this afternoon!
July 2nd, 2008 at 12:25 amme said:
it’s formula 1’s fault. all the events are too close together.
July 2nd, 2008 at 12:40 amlou said:
lol
you are really busy for the next few weekends aren’t you? It’s just hit me that Goodwood is in a few weeks time.
July 2nd, 2008 at 12:47 amScott Woodwiss said:
mm, just reminded me, our interview may have to be postponed a bit since i’m going to get myself a headset so you can hear me a bit better.
hopefully i can get cheap one on ebay or something.
July 2nd, 2008 at 12:51 amlou said:
I love ebay
it is because of ebay and it’s nice cheap prices Dad is buying me a nice new lens for my camera 
If only i could decide which make to get… 
July 2nd, 2008 at 12:52 amme said:
basically four weeks, non-stop. and then nothing for the rest of the year. annoying.
no problemo sir. just yell when you’re all set.
July 2nd, 2008 at 1:04 amScott Woodwiss said:
while i wait for the podcast, i’m watching some good ‘ol crash bandicoot