F1 Digest - Europe Preview
- Length: 6:47
- Size: 6.3 MB
- File: digest45.mp3
- Transcript: digest45.pdf
- Torrent: digest45.torrent
The European Grand Prix takes place this year at Valencia, and we are all to witness the inaugural F1 race at the street circuit. This preview takes a look at how all the drivers plan to cope with the new track.
Vital Statistics
- Date: 24th August
- Circuit: Valencia
- Length: 5.4km
- Laps: 57
Preview
Everyone appears to be anxious to get going on the new track, learn it’s intricacies and experience the bumps. Kovalainen and Glock are hoping to keep the momentum going from their success in Hungary, but after a three week break, it’s a matter of getting back into the swing of things and making the most of the remaining races.
August 21st, 2008 at 10:03 amme said:
off topic (already), but grandprix.com are today reporting that mclaren are using something called an “inertia damper” on their car. and get this, they’re reporting this as a genuine news story.
can we have a collective thursday morning wtf? for joe and the boys please?
assuming you’ve been living on mars and didn’t bother to read this information when the fia made it publicly available this time last year, then you can read today’s unofficial mclaren blog entry here:
http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns20669.html
somebody shoot me now.
August 21st, 2008 at 11:11 amAlianora La Canta said:
Oops. Joe Saward will not be pleased when he realises this…
August 21st, 2008 at 11:28 amSteven Roy said:
He must know that this is just a space filler and that eveyone on the planet knows how a J damper works. Well except for Renault who can’t make it work despite stealing the drawings from McLaren. There is surely no way Joe Saward can think this is news. Presumably someone in the F1 press room has discussed this with him in the past.
August 21st, 2008 at 11:44 amAlianora La Canta said:
The thing is that he’s put up two other stories for the same day, so it doesn’t even work as a space-filler.
August 21st, 2008 at 11:47 amme said:
good point, his name isn’t on the article. thing is, neither is anyone else’s.
i think he’s re-positioned his business model to mimic f1-live
August 21st, 2008 at 11:55 amChristine said:
Force India predict three tenths gain
It’s gone up a tenth… still not quite two seconds though, is it?
August 21st, 2008 at 12:27 pmme said:
autosport have started embedding their tv channel on thetimes website:
http://drop.io/sidepodcast/asset/autosport-tv-on-the-times
the player looks lovely, but the content’s still suffers from the awful stretching effect when you stick 16:9 footage into a 4:3 window. if the earth really was that shape we’d be in some serious trouble
still, they’re learning.
August 21st, 2008 at 12:34 pmme said:
something of note from the autosport forums, relating to the beeb’s coverage next year:
http://tinyurl.com/autosportforum
no idea how legit the original post is, but a studio based in london is pretty much what we were expecting, and we’ve been saying for months that the red button isn’t a magic button that will simply fix everything.
it might all be nonsense of course, but i suspect we’re in for some pretty bad coverage in 2009.
August 21st, 2008 at 12:38 pmme said:
finding a tenth during a testing ban is no mean feat, i’m impressed.
August 21st, 2008 at 12:58 pmSteven Roy said:
They tested the seamless shift box on the Friday at Hungary so they have not found any more time during the ban. The only difference is that their original omment applied to Hungary where the new comment applies to Valencia. Valencia is a longer track with more corners therefore there are more gear changes therefore you save more time with a seamless shift. No real gain just the same gain. There are fewer laps at Valencia so over a race distance the gain will be about the same.
August 21st, 2008 at 1:19 pmSteven Roy said:
We have all heard the stories about using the London Olympic facilities to host a GP and we all know Bernie has been glad handing his way around Beijing this week. It looks like one of the things he has been discussing is a 2011 GP in Beijing using the Olympic facilities. I wonder if Bernie plans on letting or encouraging the IOC to give him a new track every four years.
http://www.grandprix.com/mole/mole20666.html
August 21st, 2008 at 4:05 pmJordan Allen said:
Speaking about Fantansy Racers, someone in this group needs to claim a prize for having the highest score at the Hungarian Grand Prix, so wake up, Ali!
August 21st, 2008 at 7:19 pmJoe said:
Just reading the press conference with some of the drivers, and Rubens had this to say when asked about the run-off areas:
“Obviously if you have problems in turns nine and ten which is the bridge – if a car parked there – I think you would have to stop the race because it’s not even a safety car issue. You would have to take the car away and bring trucks onto the bridge. It might be a bit of an issue”
Interesting.
August 21st, 2008 at 7:29 pmme said:
good spot joe. you’re not going to get a crane near there, but unless the car’s stuck in gear or damaged, i guess marshals could push it out of the way.
it’s basically the same problem that the monaco tunnel presents isn’t it?
August 21st, 2008 at 8:15 pmme said:
i don’t want to sound like a guy who bitches about other people’s formula 1 videos all day. but i’ve just seen the valencia preview show from usp content:
http://tinyurl.com/uspcontent
dear lord, what is it with people squishing our planet today?
August 21st, 2008 at 8:17 pmJordan Allen said:
It does help that it it s swing bridge, just rotate the bridge 45 degrees and Button’s Honda is fed to the fishes, and rotate the bridge back. I think this coulds be done under a full course yellow…
But really, if there ae such things as dredges, which is basically an electric shovel on a boat, how hard can it be to find a floating crane and have it sitting at anchor by the bridge?
They did close access across the swing bridge to boating traffic for the race weekend did they?
Now there’s a thought…. Button in the lead and the bridge is open….
August 21st, 2008 at 8:21 pmme said:
that’s a dick dastardly plan!
a good point. maybe they’ll do that, but no-one told rubens.
August 21st, 2008 at 8:22 pmSteven Roy said:
I think you have picked the wrong day to try to wind up Lou. With the results she got today she will be in a good mood until Jenson screws up on Sunday.
August 21st, 2008 at 9:02 pmDan Brunell said:
I know I have said this before, but this track reminds me a lot of a long, more F1 friendly version of the Long Beach track in California. The high fences, the long straight, heavy breaking zones, the docklands, the weather, and a beach all to boot. This race is going to be facinating both on and off the track.
Personally I think it would be a lot cheaper and faster to get a helicopter with a winch to carry the car off the bridge.
Don’t worry, they probably have 20x’s the resources than you guys but you still do a better job. In terms of information, you beat them hands down. I’ve seen the lady from that video (I think her name is “Merric Hurrley”) over on Keith’s site. Se is OK but that guy in that video is awful. He looks like the type of guy who wears way to much smelly body spray and goes to way to many night clubs hitting on other people’s girlfriends.
August 21st, 2008 at 9:13 pmJordan Allen said:
You are right, me! If these people had their way, your enitre Canadian continent would be living on the North Geographic Pole!
And what are you complaining about? We are ones who get asked about “Where are the Polar bears?” from “unknowledgeable” Tourists….
That reminds me, I have to check my commission from the Toronto Zoo for leading the said Tourists to their Polar Bear exhibit….. Closest thing you can get to to printing your own money and still be legal…..
August 21st, 2008 at 9:23 pmme said:
could be windy though. tap the rbr against the struts and you’ve got a hell of a mess on your hands.
i did check actually, just in case it was evo that squished the earth, but he hasn’t uploaded one this week (probably very wisely).
i’m not sure what happened with the additional guy (was he introduced? does he have a name?), but they’ve been making these videos since june last year so there should be no excuse for turning the place we call home into a rugby ball.
August 21st, 2008 at 9:24 pmJoe in Florida said:
Help!!!! My computer took a dump and I am on my laptop, what is the live feed from ITV to watch practice, qualifying and the race in Valencia. Are more than FP2, Quali and the race shown on ITV that I can link to?
Thanks for your help
August 21st, 2008 at 9:42 pmme said:
just for kicks:
http://drop.io/sidepodcast/asset/the-earth-according-to
i fear for next year’s autosport international. we’ll all be in birmingham and they’ll be somewhere near iceland.
August 21st, 2008 at 9:48 pmJordan Allen said:
Dick Dastardly ==> Why does he sound like some second rate villian that ties damesels to railway rails and is caught by some Dudley-Do-Right of the North-West Mounted Police before he finishes his donut?
August 21st, 2008 at 9:48 pmme said:
hey joe. best thing is to jump onto live commenting tomorrow and ask then. it usually takes us ten mins to figure out what’s what and who’s going to be streaming from where.
August 21st, 2008 at 9:50 pmme said:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Dastardly
August 21st, 2008 at 9:55 pmJordan Allen said:
Oh, that’s the reason why Lou is floating at the ceiling…. I wish you told me that before I called the Priest to perform the exorcism….
August 21st, 2008 at 10:12 pmSteven Roy said:
Dick Dastardly in action
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNExu8tIx1k
August 21st, 2008 at 10:23 pmlou said:
Lol, yes you’re right Steven
but one thing. Jenson isn’t going to screw up on Sunday 
hahaha
August 21st, 2008 at 11:35 pmDan Brunell said:
With DC driving, there is a very good chance of that. Actually, I wish the bridge was a draw bridge. There would be nothing cooler than an F1 car doing a jump over the harbor.
August 22nd, 2008 at 12:08 amJordan Allen said:
Except barrel rolls a la “Live and Let Die”.
August 22nd, 2008 at 12:23 amJordan Allen said:
On that’s why. He is a second-rate copy of Dudley Do-Right’s villain, Snidely Whiplash.
August 22nd, 2008 at 12:55 amJoe in Florida said:
Okay, another question. If I log on at 0400 EDT (US), will there be a chance that I could watch Free Practice 1 via a feed on the internet. Or is F1 broadcasting restricted in Europe just like the US to FP2, Qualy and the race
August 22nd, 2008 at 1:03 amme said:
good question. we’ve had more luck with fp2 during previous races, so i wouldn’t want to guarantee it. and 4am is damn early to wake up.
August 22nd, 2008 at 1:05 amSteven Roy said:
ITV show FP1 and FP2 on Friday then qualifying on Saturday and the race on Sunday. For some reason they don’t show FPs on Saturday morning. So if you can get up at that time and someone can find a suitable proxy server you should be able to see FP1.
August 22nd, 2008 at 1:09 amJoe in Florida said:
I’ve tried to go directly to ITV website to watch the FP’s, but ITV will not stream internationally. No problem getting up at 0400, I’m at work.
August 22nd, 2008 at 1:11 amme said:
the site that seems to work for most people is the streaming site justin.tv. the downside is you can’t really search until people start broadcasting.
August 22nd, 2008 at 1:22 amJoe said:
A thing about proxies, I can never get them working, so I probably wouldn’t go down that route again. The Justin.tv link was great for Hungarian qualifying and the race, but I only got from Me during qualifying, so I dunno if it’ll show practice. I have it in my bookmarks anyway.Hopefully we’ll get some video feed for us non-UKers.
August 22nd, 2008 at 1:26 amme said:
that was the turkish / polish feed right? i think that one work really well for me too.
August 22nd, 2008 at 1:34 amJoe said:
Nope, the English one. It had the ITV feed, with Ryder and Blundell etc
August 22nd, 2008 at 1:41 amme said:
oh right! in that case, i mighta forgotten where that one was.
it’s a miracle i ever got through free practice by meself last year isn’t it?
August 22nd, 2008 at 1:46 amJoe said:
Heh, well hopefully we’ll be sorted with that feed until the end of the season at least. I did prefer the Ra1konnen one though, at least then I was sure I’d be able to watch practice. I won’t know until tomorrow if the justin.tv one works.
August 22nd, 2008 at 1:48 amlou said:
This may sound like a very stupid question, but last year was it just live timings? or was there a video feed too. I know ITV didn’t have a feed but did anywhere else? Cause before this year i didn’t really pay much attention to free practise, i only really knew what was mentioned on the podcast.
August 22nd, 2008 at 1:55 amme said:
live timing plus five live (who started from something like spa onwards).
so far as i know, tv streaming from elsewhere wasn’t that common, but possibly i didn’t look hard enough.
it’s likely that was as much as i knew too. i pretty much noted down everything i could
August 22nd, 2008 at 1:57 amScott Woodwiss said:
has anyone seen in today’s autosport what their interpretation of a 2009 F1 car looks like? I actually kinda like it, especially for some unknown reason the thinner, taller rear wing. Kinda makes me think back to the mid-to-late 80s/early 90s F1 cars.
Plus no bargeboards, shark fins, winglets and all that and slick tyres and no curving, swooping sidepods. just a good old-fashioned bog standard F1 car. Now that I like
August 22nd, 2008 at 2:01 amme said:
we honestly haven’t bought the weekly mag since silverstone when we twigged they put all the interesting content online a week later.
the articles are a 7 days late, but normally they’re not time-sensitive and we save trees to boot (although presumably are less fitter as a result of not leaving the desk).
August 22nd, 2008 at 2:03 amme said:
nice one. although isn’t the a1gp car going to look futuristic by comparison? assuming it ever makes the track of course.
August 22nd, 2008 at 2:07 amlou said:
I gave up too.
I would rather spend my money on a mag that I am going to read all of (not just a small f1 section), and that doesn’t contain all the same stuff that is on the internet. Anyway I’m saving up 
However i did spot that they had a bit on the 2009 cars when i was in the newsagents today.
August 22nd, 2008 at 2:12 amlou said:
Ah right, so it’s only really been this year with coverage of free practise then. Well i hope the BBC will improve on it still…. some how I doubt it…
I don’t like the sound of having a studio in London.
I immediately thought it looked like a cross between an A1 GP car and an early 90s F1 car.
August 22nd, 2008 at 2:13 amme said:
walking to town and reading in whsmiths might solve my exercise issue too
August 22nd, 2008 at 2:15 amlou said:
lol i always try to have a quick browse through just in case there is something really interesting in there
August 22nd, 2008 at 2:20 amScott Woodwiss said:
seeing as it’s passed the crash tests, I’d say yes. Besides, it’s already been testing anyway.
Oh and when i said about that whole late 80’s/early 90’s thing, i meant the rear wing, not the whole car
the whole thing looks like in general a 2001/2002 f1 car with, say a 1992 rear wing stuck on the back
August 22nd, 2008 at 2:21 amme said:
my guess is… at the races = 4 people in the box (x2 commentators, x1 producer and a spotter), x2 people on the ground in the pits (basically being ted and louise). then have many more people in a studio in the uk.
couple of advantages to this:
- you don’t have to pay an anchor (e.g. steve ryder) megabucks in business class airfare.
- there’s a larger pool of talent to call upon (because they don’t all need flying out).
- dc can spend time in the rbr factory and be on hand, and spend time with his family.
most important though is this one:
- you don’t need to send a high-def film crew out to races (simply take the HD world feed coming in via BT tower and then film all high-def pieces to camera in the studio).
to me this last point is the kicker. if the beeb want to do HD and put people at the track, then they need to send the expensive high-def trucks / crews to every race. keeping everything local, keeps costs under control and bernie deals with the headache that is 5.1 surround sound.
August 22nd, 2008 at 2:23 amJordan Allen said:
Okay Everyone! Surround all the W.H. Smiths in the UK. Now we shall find ME secret identy once and for all. I will co-ordinate your efforts from Jordan F1 HQ!.
August 22nd, 2008 at 2:28 amme said:
you’re asking lou (who’s met me), to stake out every newsagent in the land in order to find me?
wouldn’t you be better off bribing her for a photo?
August 22nd, 2008 at 2:34 amJordan Allen said:
Me,
Can’t you at least wait a few minutes for my multi-leveled plan of evil to come to fruit before poking holes into it…
I really wanted to see how many people I could I could get involved into this scheme….
Besides, you probability sworn her into silence as a matter of national security or something, Mr. MI-6….
August 22nd, 2008 at 2:38 amme said:
sorry yes.
what i was thinking was:
- lou offers you a pic of me for, say, some imaginably high sum of money.
- you pay up.
- she sends you a picture jerry seinfeld.
- we split the profits.
you have lou’s word that’s what i look like (and have no means of proving her wrong) and we both made a tidy sum…
August 22nd, 2008 at 2:39 amme said:
i just said that out loud didn’t i?
August 22nd, 2008 at 2:44 amSteven Roy said:
No it is just a thought whizzing round in your head. No-one else knows.
August 22nd, 2008 at 2:48 amJordan Allen said:
Impressive, you learn well, young apprentice.
But I was already expecting a double cross, see I know gal that was into drama class, and well, I think she went way overboard with coloured tinted contacts. Let me put it to you this way, to this day, I think her eyes natural colour was brown. What I do remember was they where at one time or another: brown, green, blue, L brown/ R blue, L Blue / R Green, etc.
August 22nd, 2008 at 3:32 amDave Monks said:
I am surprised at how excited I am about this track and race. I can’t wait. Even the practice sessions will be worth watching. I am like a little kid again.
August 22nd, 2008 at 3:33 amme said:
changing the subject slightly, i’ve updated the live comments page to automatically fill in your user details (if you’ve commented here before).
the page should now remember your name, email and website. also if you change any of those values during live commenting, they should be reflected in the normal pages too.
hope that makes sense. please yell if you spot anything odd.
http://www.sidepodcast.com/ria/ajax/
August 22nd, 2008 at 3:35 amme said:
me too dave. glad to hear i’m not the only one.
i swear the calendar should mandate at least two new tracks a year. mind you last year we had fuji, and i wasn’t overly excited about that one
August 22nd, 2008 at 3:40 amJordan Allen said:
Hey! Great job, Me!
August 22nd, 2008 at 3:41 amme said:
no probs. still more work to do, but hopefully we’re getting somewhere.
August 22nd, 2008 at 3:58 amme said:
one other enhancement that may be of interest, but isn’t finished yet, is shortcut keys.
if you highlight a word in the comment box and hit either alt+b or alt+i, the text will be wrapped in geeky bold or italic html code.
for some reason to do with browser focus, it doesn’t yet work for quoting text though. also i’ve only done some basic cross browser testing, so results may vary.
as ever, shout us if all is not well and we’ll look into it.
(p.s. mac users need to hit ctrl+b and ctrl+i, just cause that’s the way life is)
August 22nd, 2008 at 8:15 amDank said:
Dank’s Betting tip for the weekend!
Over at ExtraBet.com they are offering odds of 4.5 (I don’t do fractions!) for DC to end up in a points position this weekend. This for me seems quite generous given that it’s a fast street circuit where a few safety car periods are almost guaranteed.
I’ve put £10 on it. And… the best bit is that if you sign up to ExtraBet.com via Quidco you will receive £25 just for wagering £10 in the first place. A win-win situation!
August 22nd, 2008 at 11:07 amlou said:
hehe I like that plan. Too bad everyone knows about it now
August 22nd, 2008 at 11:08 amme said:
hmmm. would you still do that after seeing fp1?
August 22nd, 2008 at 11:09 amme said:
i gotta work on that some more. how about we do this…
August 22nd, 2008 at 11:12 amlou said:
lol sounds good
August 22nd, 2008 at 11:37 amAlianora La Canta said:
someone in this group needs to claim a prize for having the highest score at the Hungarian Grand Prix, so wake up, Ali! {Jordan Allen - 56 comments ago}
*opens eyes and yawns theatrically*
Er-what? Oh, yeah, I’ve just sent the e-mail with my address and item request. So it will eventually arrive at the Dragonteam admin house.
Obviously if you have problems in turns nine and ten which is the bridge – if a car parked there – I think you would have to stop the race because it’s not even a safety car issue. {Rubens Barrichello, quoted by Joe}
Ooh-er. We all know how much race control hates red flags - does anyone else think they should have thought this one through a bit better?
Now there’s a thought…. Button in the lead and the bridge is open…. {Jordan Allen - 3 posts after the Rubens quote}
Not if Valencia intends to be on the calender in 2009…
August 22nd, 2008 at 2:15 pmDank said:
Probably not! Don’t think that ExtraBet are taking any more bets now though anyway. Hey it’s win-win, even if DC doesn’t score I still make a few £££ from Quidco!