Episode 77 - The National Anthem of Formula 1
- Length: 53:26
- Size: 47.6 MB
- File: episode77.mp3
- Enhanced: episode77.m4a
- Transcript: Coming soon
- Torrent: episode77.torrent
The weekend that Formula 1 needed was exactly what we got, and for once, everything fell into place. This week we discuss Max Mosley, FOTA, and the race in Italy, plus catchup with Fantasy Racers and your feedback.
Intro
It rained in Monza, and 5live almost got washed out, but thankfully, we’re nice and dry!
Good Week / Bad Week
Good week for being timely, and for being the boss, but a bad week for Honda staff and the German Grand Prix.
News and Views
Max Mosley is back, says we’re stupid, and that he’s not going anywhere. Meanwhile, the FOTA get their act together, choose their leaders, and decide what they’re going to do. The big question is, when will they start doing it?
Qualifying
Qualifying was wet and would you have thought Fisichella would not only be the Force India driver to get through, but also to beat Hamilton and Raikkonen in one fell swoop.
The Race
We talk about safety car starts, all those tyre choices and changes, Hamilton’s unbelievable overtaking manoeuvres, and Vettel’s wonderful win. We also take some calls with thoughts on Vettel and Kovalainen.
Feedback
A voicemail and several emails this week, regarding Piquet and his tyres, NASCAR style results, and BMW strategies.
Housekeeping
We both love identi.ca and you should too.
September 16th, 2008 at 10:15 pmlou said:
I haven’t listen to the podcast yet but i just wanted to say congrats to Dom who correctly guessed the length of this weeks podcast :)… i said 52mins… so i was close.. but not as close as Dom
September 16th, 2008 at 10:19 pmme said:
cheers for the reminder lou. we ought to be keeping track of these correct / closest guesses.
September 16th, 2008 at 10:19 pmChristine said:
Is it Mystic Dom now then?
September 16th, 2008 at 10:20 pmChristine said:
I’ll start a Google Doc
September 16th, 2008 at 10:23 pmlou said:
yep
September 16th, 2008 at 10:25 pmJeremy said:
If I write “Go Lewis” one more time will you ban me? Or just laugh?
I (finally) finished watching the live show last night and the edited version comes just in time for my 2.5 hour drive to Canberra today.
It is fun watching the live version whilst scrolling through the comments made at the same time but frustrating when I think of something clever or funny to say and realise I’m days behind…
I really like how professional your end result sounds, especially after recalling the actual recording for each segment and knowing which ’substances’ are consumed during recording
September 16th, 2008 at 10:28 pmR.G (Penguins and Depressed) said:
Took your time didn’t you
Nice bedtime listening. Much like a radio show with two fantastic presenters that will surely win everything in the Podcast awards. (I think the Best Sport might go to the Spurs Show actually) Only kidding
September 16th, 2008 at 10:40 pmme said:
just laugh mostly, especially if ladysnowcat follows it up with a cheeky response
out of interest (and apologies if you’ve already explained this, i’m behind on the comments) how is that technically possible?
also, driving and watching?
we’ve not even been nominated yet! i admire your optimism though.
September 16th, 2008 at 10:41 pmMystic Dom said:
Just listening to the podcast now
yay! 53 mins! I even put some thought into that time
Now why can’t I do the same on fantasy racers?
September 16th, 2008 at 10:50 pmMystic Dom said:
You could be slighty-mystic lou
September 16th, 2008 at 10:56 pmJeremy said:
I’ve actually been downloading the FLV video file with MPEG Streamclip (www.squared5.com) and watching while scrolling through the comments made at the time in a separate window.
But just opening two browser windows would work as well.
I hope you don’t mind that I have sometimes converted the live show to watch on my iPod, or just to an audio file if I have a long drive. Personal use only - I promise!
I can’t say I’ve never watched (really just glanced at occasionally) while driving but of course I wouldn’t advocate it. The road to Canberra is 110 km/h freeway for about 1.5 hours…
Besides, Christine recorded from her car! That was soooo cool!
September 16th, 2008 at 10:57 pmme said:
moderately-mystic lou?
September 16th, 2008 at 11:00 pmme said:
so you have a laptop in you car?
no probs. would it help if we put the shows up as an mp4 to start with? there’s no reason why they can’t be, inside track is in that format already. never really gave it any thought.
nuff said.
September 16th, 2008 at 11:04 pmScott Woodwiss said:
on the subject of Fantasy Racers: you know i chose my team for monza on people who i knew were good in the wet? Well, I’m using my nonce again and have already selected 4 people who have done well at circuits like Monaco and Canada, which essentially is what Singapore is, like Valencia but with closer barriers. So, taking that into account and doing some research on this and last season’s results, I have decided to pick as a base:
Hamilton
Kubica
Vettel
Trulli
I was thinking about Bourdais in there somewhere since he’s run at Le Mans a few times and this is a night race and all, but I decided to leave him out.
Great podcast as always btw
September 16th, 2008 at 11:22 pmScott Woodwiss said:
guys, a question - how do you talk to someone on identi.ca?
September 16th, 2008 at 11:24 pmScott Woodwiss said:
never mind, found it
September 16th, 2008 at 11:36 pmOllie said:
Re: Massa & Rosberg incident where race control told Ferrari to tell Massa give the place back to Rosberg (~19:15).
I thought Charlie Whiting had no authority over these matters and he can only have an opinion. I thought it was up to the stewards to decide if any wrong-doing had happened by investigating the matter and if necessary, handing out a penalty.
Or do I not yet understand the rules?
September 16th, 2008 at 11:54 pmSteven Roy said:
I think it should be Mildly Mystic Lou
Max said that McLaren should not have disturbed Charlie at Spa because he should be directing the race. So why is he still taking/making calls?
September 16th, 2008 at 11:58 pmlou said:
The same thing happened to Jenson when he overtook Piquet apparently he was told to let him pass again… i didn’t notice tbh, not sure if Honda told him to do that of their own accord or after advice from Chartlie…
September 17th, 2008 at 12:00 amOllie said:
Why can’t the FIA make up their bloomin’ minds, for crying out loud!?
September 17th, 2008 at 12:02 amMildly Mystic lou said:
btw - ‘me’ have you disabled comment editing? i’ve just noticed it isn’t there anymore…
never mind….. it’s back now…. :s
September 17th, 2008 at 12:04 amme said:
never touched nothing
September 17th, 2008 at 12:04 amFlibster said:
Aaaand the FIA say they’re not scripted!
September 17th, 2008 at 12:05 amMystic Dom said:
Does that mean they can’t check with anyone to make sure they’re okay?
September 17th, 2008 at 12:05 amScott Woodwiss said:
lol, me’s like “I didn’t do it no one saw me you can’t prove anything…”
September 17th, 2008 at 12:07 amMystic Dom said:
Also, how come Max has only started speaking once the FIA got into trouble? I can understand he wants to defend them but it’s almost as if he enjoys being the center of controversy.
September 17th, 2008 at 12:12 amOllie said:
Really!?
Well now that is a surprise! [/sarcasm] 
September 17th, 2008 at 12:19 amScott Woodwiss said:
as i’ve pointed out on identi.ca, in our fantasy racers league christine is now just 8 places ahead of me. my target now - BEAT HER!
How embarrassing will that be - christine getting beaten by someone who didn’t start until barcelona. mind you, i guess with the amount of people joining at this late stage, anything’s possible…
September 17th, 2008 at 12:21 amMystic Dom said:
Not like him, is it?
In totally un-related news Johnathan Palmer, founder of the palmer audi series, has had his bid accepted by the FIA to supply the cars in F2. Sounds like this is actually going ahead then. Has Bernie spoken out about it yet? (I suppose it would be wise if he didn’t, but this is Bernie…)
September 17th, 2008 at 12:23 amJeremy said:
not quite sure where you got that from… My MacBook Air does go everywhere with me and I do have a 3G USB Modem but I rarely fire it up in the car
I usually watch it at home on the laptop but I did once convert it for the iPod and listen to the ‘live’ version, then the edited version during one road trip.
I have an iPod Touch in a Griffin RoadTrip (http://www.griffintechnology.com/) when I’m in the car. I prepare thoroughly for my trips by downloading podcasts etc.
iPod friendly format would be awesome! I’m not sure if the file size would be any larger though.
Too many product placements?
September 17th, 2008 at 12:26 amScott Woodwiss said:
this just makes me think Formula Palmer Audi but on a bigger platform. mind you, i hope they bring over the boost buttons.
September 17th, 2008 at 12:30 amme said:
riiight, sorry. i thought you were watching the live show, and scrolling though comments whilst driving to work!
we’ll do some tests
never.
September 17th, 2008 at 12:31 amFlibster said:
Palmer is such a nice bloke too. Had a very nice dinner with him and the Astra fireworks directors in a seriously expensive resturant in Portugal MANY years ago when he raced for Tyrrell
Sadly, during the race before the meal he ended up in the gravel.
September 17th, 2008 at 12:34 amMystic Dom said:
ooh, that would persuade me to watch. I get the impression it’s gonna be more of an entry into GP2 for less well-known drivers, rather than another F1 feeder series, which i’m guessing is what max wants.
September 17th, 2008 at 12:38 amScott Woodwiss said:
like franck?
Actually that gives me an idea - would it be a good idea for franck to do a season of GP2 first before going back to F1? Glock did it and won, Pantano has too, so why not Franck?
September 17th, 2008 at 12:45 amMystic Dom said:
I was just about to say that.
He might have given up on F1, but if he did enter GP2, he’d stand a good chance.
September 17th, 2008 at 12:47 amScott Woodwiss said:
I’m tempted now to e-mail Franck from his website and ask if whether he could consider running in GP2.
September 17th, 2008 at 12:51 amScott Woodwiss said:
just messaged him on his site, might get a response
September 17th, 2008 at 12:52 amJordan Allen said:
You will learn grasshopper, true embrassment for Christine will be only obtained by someone beating her with Sato and Davidson on their team….
But as you say, anything is possible.
September 17th, 2008 at 12:55 amScott Woodwiss said:
do you think for brazil i should put them in there just for the hell of it to really wind her up?
September 17th, 2008 at 1:23 amFlibster said:
Just added a few images from the Lotus party onto drop.io with a bit of badly typed description.
I’m not overly happy with a lot of my photography this weekend. Crutches make everything much harder.
September 17th, 2008 at 1:28 amScott Woodwiss said:
they’re great pics Flibster. Looks like you had fun
September 17th, 2008 at 1:42 amLe BOL said:
Just fell from the sky - was watching Eurosport, Le Mans series from Silverstone, they said Peugeot was running a hybrid car there, similar to KERS or something, curious.
September 17th, 2008 at 1:43 amFlibster said:
I did. Hobbling everywhere.
Those are some of the best 50 or so. Out of the 800 or so I took though.
My usual keep rate is around 60% - Suday is well below 10%
Still think the Evora is a silly name, but a beautiful car.
September 17th, 2008 at 2:04 amme said:
i heard two the kers regs don’t come in to play until next season, but there was a static model on display? not confirmed though.
September 17th, 2008 at 2:06 amme said:
blimey. thankyou very much flibster.
i shall take a proper look now.
September 17th, 2008 at 2:16 amScott Woodwiss said:
just had a gander at the F1 Monza race music video edit. have to say - pretty nice
September 17th, 2008 at 2:22 amJordan Allen said:
Hmmm, an interesting enigma, grasshopper. Perhpas you would be wise not to show your hand until Christine makes her intentions clear for Fantasy Racers in her Friday podcast and look over her existing line-up?
Perhaps her then existing line-up would be advantageous to using a Sato/Davidson strike prematurely compared to your plans of using them in Brazil?
Christine’s pre-race tactics makes me think she forgot her W. S. Churchill:
“However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results.”
September 17th, 2008 at 2:35 amScott Woodwiss said:
your words are wise, sensei. i shall take all knowledge on board and retire to think over my strategy so that when the time comes, I will be ready to strike!
September 17th, 2008 at 2:50 amTesting-Ollie said:
A beautiful quote, me thinks.
September 17th, 2008 at 2:56 amOllie said:
By the way, in case that (^^) stands, it is a good choice of words, but I was just testing something for Sidepodcast.
September 17th, 2008 at 6:55 amJourneyer said:
Back to Lehman Brothers… Apparently, Barclays has bought a significant portion of Lehman Brothers. I’m not sure if this includes F1 stock, but it would be interesting if it does. Barclays is not only a British bank, but also a former F1 sponsor (first with Williams, then with Jordan), as well as the title sponsor of the EPL.
If Barclays DID get the F1 stock, would they hang on to it, or sell anyway?
September 17th, 2008 at 7:24 amPeter said:
I’m posting this again as the forum didn’t let me edit my comments (you do no have permission to edit this comment)
Lewis: I deserve to win F1 title
I read this article today and I know it all trash talk, but ‘deserve’ to win? he didn’t deserve to win last year 4 races from the end? Championships may be deserved, but the ones that count are the ones that are earned when the points are tallied at the end of the day
This is all looking like bullying tactics. He raced very aggressively in Monza and though I think he didn’t do anything wrong and he did very well from where he started from, I feel the PR machine has been told to shut up and let me be me. He feels he has to open his big mouth and tell the world how good he is and how he owns the championship before he has earned it
He seemed so resolved last year and early this year. “I’ve got plenty of time” and “I’m very young”, but he is becoming impatient and boasting a lot of steam up his own ar**
Deep down Lewis maybe sulking and feeling like the world against him (boo hoo). I definitely not saying there’s no talent as I feel he is brilliant, but someone needs to pull his head in. Let the media and fans blow his trumpet, but he shouldn’t be doing it himself.
He should ask himself if Niki Lauda deserved to win the year he pulled out of the last race because he felt it was too dangerous or Ayton Senna if he deserves to win the title after he passed. I hope he doesn’t win the title this year because of something he does wrong (pushes the pit lane limiter on the straight or doesn’t go in for tyres when he should have) so someone can ask him if he DESERVED to win it even though he lost it
September 17th, 2008 at 9:07 amme said:
talking of which. i’m still laughing about matt bishop reading his press release out loud on itv. the man reads worse than i do. how much do macca pay him to speak like a pre-school kid reading in front of class for the first time?
fair point peter.
he does appear to be risking a spectacular fall with comments like that doesn’t he?
there’s a 5 minute edit time out, soz.
September 17th, 2008 at 9:47 amFlibster said:
Welcome.
So when are you buying Christine a Diamond encrusted Lotus?
September 17th, 2008 at 10:55 amSteven Roy said:
Is this my inner cynic being overactive or is this conveniently timed to let Max know that the more he penalises them the longer Ron will stay in the job. Interesting it should appear just before the appeal is heard.
http://www.itv-f1.com/news_article.aspx?id=43996
September 17th, 2008 at 11:03 amFlibster said:
I like Ron.
I’m not surprised that something like that made him more determined to stay.
September 17th, 2008 at 12:36 pmStuart C said:
Now, now. Be nice!
I haven’t seen the clip but Matt said he had so many microphones under his nose that he could barely see his script.
September 17th, 2008 at 1:29 pmme said:
me? always.
we’ve seen him speaking at autosport int. several times and he’s always been extremely confident. it must have been more than a lack of script visibility?
daft question, but why even try and read it, how was it any more efficient than handing out a hundred copied sheets saying the same thing?
looked for all the world like macca / matt were overdramatising the event hoping for some “tv time” (which worked), but then the man couldn’t carry off the gig when it counted.
a bit harsh, but that’s how it looked to me.
September 17th, 2008 at 1:38 pmSteven Roy said:
I think the problem was glare from the rocket red victory shirt he was wearing. On anyone else it looks garish but for him it looks dull compared to his previous attire..
September 17th, 2008 at 2:02 pmSteven Roy said:
Interesting story from the Mole. At least until the last two lines.
Who knew Chris Pook was at Monza? I haven’t seen a mention anywhere.
http://www.grandprix.com/mole/mole20786.html
September 17th, 2008 at 2:09 pmme said:
ye olde motorsport blog did:
http://www.motorsportmagazine.co.uk/2008/09/17/does-chris-pook-have-an-american-f1-revival-plan/
but not sure if their post came out before the mole’s?
September 17th, 2008 at 2:22 pmStuart C said:
That would satisfy the press, but when you’ve got TV crews beating down your door wanting to speak to the boss it’s better to do the ’spokesman reading out a prepared statement’ routine. That or arrange for Ron to be airlifted out!
I must confess to amnesia regarding what he looks like. I did notice Lord Gillet of Donington doing the rounds – presumably with a view to hiring the place for the 2010 British GP…
September 17th, 2008 at 2:44 pmme said:
that would guarantee some airtime
September 17th, 2008 at 3:59 pmJordan Allen said:
I do not know if Palm Springs will allow F1 to invade their peace and quiet. A any town that has a Polo Club is not going to like too much noise that it might frighten the horses and lawsuits will sure to follow….
Palm Springs does seem to represent itself with a “new-rich” mindset…..For example:
The local Palm Springs Tourism board offers 18 Free thigns you can do at Palm Springs, and when you look at these activites you realize that well, they really should not be mentioned unless the local people have a really strange sence of blowing tons of money on nothing. They include:
Walking. Mentioned five times under various pretexts like walking the dog or window shopping or hiking.
Riding your bike.
Having a Picnic
Or my personal favourite, soaking up the sun.
http://www.palm-springs.org/pages/SimplePage.aspx?page=57&linkname=18+Free+Things+To+Do
September 17th, 2008 at 4:22 pmme said:
“…just walk outside after dark and lookup at millions of stars…”
oh my, what a fantastic page.
September 17th, 2008 at 5:07 pmSteven Roy said:
I like number one. The tourist people welcome you with their first suggestion.
Take a hike
September 17th, 2008 at 5:18 pmSteveintheUK said:
It’s is funny that they decided to put that in as No.1
Also if no.13 CHECK OUT THE LIBRARY is one of the best things they have to offer then Palm Springs really needs to spend some money on inproving what tourist have to visit rather than a Library.
Most tourist probable don’t even visit the library in they local town/city so why visit one when on holiday when you won’t be there long enough to return to finish the book and return it before you leave. What a really odd thing for a tourist board to promote.
September 17th, 2008 at 5:34 pmFlibster said:
It appears my comment has been marked as spam..
Oh well, Here we go without the link.
NO! GO AWAY MAX!
Bridgestone are pushing out all the technological advances they can for Valencia. They’re making the white stripes on the tyres reflective. Pushing the boundries there chaps.
More interestingly, all the Santander trophys given out this year have been against the FIA F1 Sporting regulations.
Appendix 3, section 4 states:
So, Australia’s trophy has been against the regs for years then? Wonder how they are going to blame McLaren for this one.
September 17th, 2008 at 5:38 pmJordan Allen said:
The real funny thing is the Hamilton, Ontario Tourist Board can promote the exact same free 18 things to do but I do not see a ton of tourists flocking here.
All my fellow Canadians please be quiet while I try to drum up some tourist dollars for my current city…. Thank you.
September 17th, 2008 at 5:39 pmSteven Roy said:
Clive wrote about the single engine thing in his blog today.
September 17th, 2008 at 5:41 pmFlibster said:
So standard engine, standard wings, standard suspension and standard gearbox…..
GP2 then?
September 17th, 2008 at 5:46 pmJordan Allen said:
Oh, oh, oh! I want Yama-grenade engines to be the sole supplier! We will have most fair F1 racing ever! Can you imagine? The person who pushes his car the furthest when the goes wins the race.
September 17th, 2008 at 5:52 pmJordan Allen said:
On the other hand, anyone else remember the good old days of Formula Ford Cosworth DFV when there was only two engines in F1 and the Ferraris where dead last in the consturctors standings of some 20 different teams?
September 17th, 2008 at 5:58 pmajh said:
Reading what Max Mosley said I think he was describing as “stupid” the people who believe in the FIA-Ferrari conspiracy theory and not stupid those who disagree with the Spa decision.
September 17th, 2008 at 6:01 pmme said:
i think max enjoys winding clive up. in fact i’m sure he does.
assuming max actually said it (clive sources f1-live!), and nothing was lost in translation (f1-live quotes a french paper), then he is either trying to create some alternate controversy, or he has an agenda re: fota and bernie.
September 17th, 2008 at 6:05 pmSteven Roy said:
My guess is if Max were to choose a single engine supplier it would be ……completely at random…..considering all the pros and cons……being fair to everyone…………what do you know it’s Ferrari.
Just like Mr green Mosley when given the choice of tyre suppliers chose the only one who didn’t manufacture in Europe but they did supply Ferrari. So in the new environmentally relevant F1 tyres are made in Japan and shipped to England to be shipped where ever the race or test is.
September 17th, 2008 at 6:05 pmme said:
i heard this a while back and forgot about it.
so they’re saying they have a luminous paint machine, but nothing that can do red or blue?
September 17th, 2008 at 6:35 pmScott Woodwiss said:
so they’ve forgotten about the red side walls they had on the soft tyres in champ car? honestly, it’s ridiculous.
If Yokohama can make coloured tyres that can create coloured smoke, then Bridgestone can at least colour code different tyre compounds. jesus christ…
September 17th, 2008 at 6:46 pmFlibster said:
They did think about the red sidewalls - but rejected them for some reason.:neutral:
Those Yokohama’s that make the smoke are really funky though. Seen some used at at drifting competition. One red and one green.
September 17th, 2008 at 6:55 pmRich said:
Which 2009 driver seats are unconfirmed?
As far as I know Macca, Ferrari, Red Bull and Toyota have all confirmed their drivers for next year.
PK - does he deserve a seat next year? On the one side he has only had one season to prove himself on the other its been an up and down season. On balance I think Flavio should wait and see what might fall into his lap and PK has reasons to be worried. In the case of Alonso it is his choice whether he stays at Renault or not.
LeSeb - in pure points earning he has had a disappointing season. The last few races he is showing there is real talent. Personally I would not swop him for an untested GP2 driver - in North America he was awesome!
Sutil - I like Adrian and he has had some stellar drives, but in reality he is usually the last man on the track. Force India have improved (at least with getting the gap down to their competitors) but they have to be looking for other talent. I think Fisi’ seat is fairly safe; Monza’s rain provided him that comfort.
Rubens and Jenson. I like Jenson, but I am starting to wonder whether the uncompetitive car has got to him. On the other hand Rubens has delivered this season given the equipment. If Alonso does not join Honda they should keep their current drivers even though they both have similar, smooth driving styles. Sadly I think Rubens has a good chance of being “relieved” of service rendered.
At Williams, they have been lucky to secure Rosberg, but what of Kaz? If it were not for sponsorship deals I think his days at F1 are numbered. I do not think he is bad, but he has similar problems that PK has - F1 is an impatient world.
We finally come to BMW-Sauber - there is no question that if Roberto wants to stay he has a seat. A lot of press has focussed on the insecurity of Nick’s seat. For an ambitious team the chance to get Alonso is just so tempting. Firstly there is no guarantee that Alonso would do any better than Nick. Realistically Nick is only four points short of the World Champion who is driving a faster car. This season the World Champion has made mistakes, as has Alonso. In contrast Nick’s only mistake is not being competitive at some tracks - mistakes often cost more than being a bit slow. Further Nick in terms of points is closer to his team mate than the situation at Macca and Ferrari (obviously they have realized continuity is going to be important). If I understand it correctly BMW-Sauber had an option for Nick for next year and this might be his biggest problem. Seems BMW Sauber have forgotten that Nick has still scored more point than Robert while they have both been at BMW Sauber. His problems are qualifying which are similar to Kimi’s at Ferrari. Finally I am not sure that Fernando and Roberto would be quite such good partners. Robert has been very vocal about number one driver status since Canada and we know that Fernando is also rather partial to this position. Next year’s cars are very different and will need some inputs from experienced drivers. All I can say is that if I was Toro Rosso or Renault I would start making my advances. Apparently Nick Fry has discounted any desire to hire Heidfeld. Assuming Alonso moves to BMW Sauber, Roberto should give serious consideration to going to Renault where he will get his desired number one driver status. Were Alonso to stay at Renault if I were Flavio I would still make advances to secure Heidfeld while the driver uncertainty exists. Having two drivers with different approaches (Alonso and Heidfeld) to scoring points could prove valuable for Renault. This leaves the final option of Nick at Toro Rosso - well his manager was seen at the BIG Motor home - you never know! Slick tyres, powerful Ferrari engines and low downforce aero specs honed by Newby the Toro Rosso cars piloted by LeSeb and Nick could be formidable I also see the two drivers working together. Since there still seems to be unfinished “History” at Williams with Nick so I doubt that is an option. However, I can also see Nick without an F1 seat next year or only a Force India seat to consider (in which case I would retire gracefully).
September 17th, 2008 at 7:00 pmRich said:
Well at least they would break down and give other drivers a chance to win. The Mercedes engine is just too reliable so there would no interest in that!
Of course if you want to be green the BMW engine is most fuel efficient and the one to choose.
Remember the Teams have to use the Macca Electric Management System.
September 17th, 2008 at 7:04 pmRich said:
Why not just get Ferrari to design and build the entire cars (all identical) for each team - then we have A1GP!
September 17th, 2008 at 7:09 pmChristine said:
Have started a spreadsheet with driver and circuit contracts for the next few years. Might help us keep track
http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=p8keuzIyql2Z5qhuNStJMMw
September 17th, 2008 at 8:00 pmRich said:
Thanks Christine - Glock has been confirmed.
Source: http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/69678
Also Force India do look as if they will retain both current drivers.
http://en.f1-live.com/f1/en/headlines/news/detail/080811141623.shtml
So one seat at Williams and Toro Rosso each and no confirmations at Honda, BMW Sauber or Renault. When Alonso confirms his desires I guess everything will get confirmed
September 17th, 2008 at 9:00 pmChristine said:
I’m absolutely not obsessed with Google Docs, but I’ve made another table.
http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=p8keuzIyql2YkMAR_9YJSew
This time it’s just to keep track of all those podcast length guesses, and see who wins each week.
I’ve done my best to pick out everyone’s guesses, but if you spot any of missed, please let me know.
September 17th, 2008 at 9:07 pmFlibster said:
How silly do the 2009 rear wings look?
Link to image
I think it’s done on maximum surface area, so we could see some wide but slim wings - but they’re all going to use the most efficient section - which is the centre….
September 17th, 2008 at 9:10 pmR.G (Penguins and Depressed) said:
It’s the 1990’s again.
It does look absolutley ugly though.
September 17th, 2008 at 9:21 pmFlibster said:
Nice to see the front wing scraping the tarmac again though.
Oddly enough, it’s almost a 2009 aero package - on grooved tyres.
Eh?
September 17th, 2008 at 9:37 pmme said:
ewww!
if that’s what it takes to bring back overtaking, i’m happy with the procession thanks very much.
September 17th, 2008 at 9:41 pmRich said:
Its the fashion and called retro!
September 17th, 2008 at 9:44 pmScott Woodwiss said:
i actually like it! yeah it’s a bit of a surprise when you actually see it for real for the first time, but I think it gives it a unique and retro look to it.
September 17th, 2008 at 9:47 pmRich said:
It will probably grow on me - especially if it really delivers more overtaking!
September 17th, 2008 at 10:18 pmR.G (Penguins and Depressed) said:
Dunno if anyone has seen this
http://5×5m.com/lp/263/grandprix.html
bout the Singapore GP
September 17th, 2008 at 10:44 pmJordan Allen said:
They must be joking. Those headlights are just going to cause so much induced drag that there will be no downforce on the front end. No big deal until you want to turn left or right…
September 17th, 2008 at 11:17 pmMystic Dom said:
That’ll take some getting used to.
September 17th, 2008 at 11:17 pmFlibster said:
September 17th, 2008 at 11:36 pmDom said:
Thats… erm… strange. Presumably McLaren don’t usually film race previews like that?
September 17th, 2008 at 11:47 pmScott Woodwiss said:
lol it’s a joke, obviously. nice to see that even in the middle of a championship battle, McLaren can still be light-hearted. I like that
September 17th, 2008 at 11:57 pmme said:
in the past they’ve been bloody awful, but they’ve found some untapped talent in that mr. whitmarsh.
September 17th, 2008 at 11:59 pmScott Woodwiss said:
if they filmed all with that kind of humour in it then I’d want to watch them more
September 18th, 2008 at 12:43 amlou said:
omg
i don’t like it. yuck!! the appearance of the cars really is gonna take some getting used new year….
September 18th, 2008 at 12:49 amlou said:
He has to go before he ruins formula 1! That would be awful…. you might as well just supply exactly the same cars to each team and we will watch 20 identical cars driving round and round and round and round….. (sorry if someone has already said this i have only skimmed some of the comments this evening)
September 18th, 2008 at 1:09 amDom said:
Hold on… Max has set out to create a racing series to rival GP2. Then he watches GP2 and says it’s what F1 should be like? I can’t keep up with his ideas at the moment.
September 18th, 2008 at 1:09 amScott Woodwiss said:
you know, if you look at next year’s rear wing for a while and then look at this year’s, it actually looks unusual compared to what we’re getting in 09.
September 18th, 2008 at 2:32 amLe BOL said:
Mosley’s mental health is deteriorating fast, I suspect he was reading Ken Kesey’s novel while in Peru.
I mean, he’s old and his skin is cold, to quote the song but after such personal drama it’s only normal.
He did his pre-race grid walk but all team bosses looked really uncomfortable shaking his hand, there are a couple of pics of MM with Flav when Flav is facing the opposite direction while speaking to Mosley. Ain’t that a shame, to quote yet another song?
September 18th, 2008 at 2:38 amLe BOL said:
The way things are going they’re gonna crucify DC.
Vettel posted 2nd best time today in the RBR car using that supposedly bad Renault engine… I wonder what’s going on?
And if Williams tested 2009 specification rear wing today I got a nickname for it: “invalid”.
September 18th, 2008 at 3:46 amme said:
is he still driving then? i forget.
September 18th, 2008 at 9:01 amFlibster said:
Is who still driving?
September 18th, 2008 at 9:45 amme said:
DC.
September 18th, 2008 at 9:51 amFlibster said:
Who?
September 18th, 2008 at 9:52 amme said:
davi.. nah it’s gone.
September 18th, 2008 at 9:57 amFlibster said:
Dave Charlton?
Duane Carter?
September 18th, 2008 at 9:59 amme said:
dan cross… a bit of a legend in karting apparently. his career faltered after coming face-to-face with mark webber, sadly.
September 18th, 2008 at 10:17 amChristine said:
Hehehehe.
September 18th, 2008 at 10:41 amme said:
nb: we updated the live commenting, live… thing this morning.
changes are as follows:
- to quote a whole comment, highlight and click on the commentators name.
- to quote part of a previous comment, highlight and click the paragraph you wish to quote.
- there’s a new splitter bar beneath the comment pane should resizing be desirable / necessary.
- the comment box now uses tinymce.
known issues:
- the splitter is clunky to drag around (especially when there’s 500+ comments).
- the tinymce popup styles match nothing else!
- tabbing through input boxes, skips tinymce completely.
- we’re 50/50 here on whether tinymce is actually preferable to the plain old text box we had before?
it’s worth pointing out that quoting previous comments is a radical departure from before, however in the past there was a chance that if you were highlighting a comment as new ones came in, the focus got messed up and you had to start again. now, quotes are copied to the comment box where you can edit as necessary.
as always, please do let us know your thoughts
p.s. this probably should’ve been a post all on it’s own.
September 18th, 2008 at 11:02 amAlex Andronov said:
the new live commenting thing is teh bomb!
September 18th, 2008 at 11:03 amAlex Andronov said:
me another new feature you’ve added is the time! So many new features you haven’t had time to list them all!
September 18th, 2008 at 11:05 amme said:
oh yeah, i forgot. how embarrassing.
September 18th, 2008 at 11:06 amFlibster said:
And it works in Google Chrome as well.
Nice.
September 18th, 2008 at 11:08 amFlibster said:
Teenyweenie smilies though.
September 18th, 2008 at 11:10 amAlex Andronov said:
Inline smilies nice
Firefox welcome back
:) 
September 18th, 2008 at 11:10 amme said:
brilliant
true, but it solves a redraw issue that alex was seeing.basically wordpress doesn’t add height and width attributes (which is rubbish programming). we will fix at some point, i swear.
September 18th, 2008 at 11:12 amAlex Andronov said:
I’m using this in Chrome!
I did have a minor issue when it first loaded the page. It never got the comments in the comment box. But worked after a refresh.
September 18th, 2008 at 11:13 amFlibster said:
September 18th, 2008 at 11:15 amme said:
yeah, christine had that issue too. sometimes the only way to remove is the “new document” option. will look into it though.
not with the rubber?
September 18th, 2008 at 11:17 amAlex Andronov said:
I used undo first time I did it.
September 18th, 2008 at 11:19 amFlibster said:
Sorry…. suffering from a lack of caffine.Espresso machine went and truly broked yesterday.
September 18th, 2008 at 11:20 amme said:
that’s actually a pretty good plan.
just noticed the comment styles on the main site could not do with a refresh. busy evening ahead then!
September 18th, 2008 at 11:50 amAlianora La Canta said:
i’m still laughing about matt bishop reading his press release out loud on itv. {me - 89 comments ago}
I suspect that Matt is being paid to prepare and deliver written information, not verbal stuff. Admittedly he didn’t sound like Abraham Lincoln delivering the Gettysburg Address, but it was the content of the statement that was needed - it just happened that due to the camera crews for highlights shows and what-have-you were still on site, they saw an opportunity to have a press release in the original audio for once. When was the last time any team’s press officer was heard on TV or radio? They have drivers, technical directors and team bosses for that chore…
September 18th, 2008 at 11:55 amAlex Andronov said:
Alianora I think there might have been some press officer stuff from McLaren last year around the spy scandle or Alonso / Lewis thing. I think that was probably the last time.
September 18th, 2008 at 11:57 amAlianora La Canta said:
Also if no.13 CHECK OUT THE LIBRARY is one of the best things they have to offer then Palm Springs really needs to spend some money on inproving what tourist have to visit rather than a Library. {SteveintheUK - 76 comments ago}
The library is in fact one of the main attractions of the area where I work because it has a historic late-30s stained-glass arty roof, which can be seen from inside. That said, the number of tourists who tear themselves away from central Nottingham’s shops, Robin Hood-themed attractions and faux-1700s-themed town hall long enough to take a peek at the area of Nottingham where I work is rather small…
September 18th, 2008 at 11:59 amAlex Andronov said:
Alianora I have been to Nottingham several times but I have never seen the library for shame
September 18th, 2008 at 12:02 pmAlianora La Canta said:
So, Australia’s trophy has been against the regs for years then? {Flibster - 75 comments ago}
It may well be that the individual circuits used the exemption arrangements. Circuits are allowed to request changes to aspects of the race weekend arrangements to the FIA, who in turn may accept or reject. This is how it was possible for Bahrain to reconcile the need for champagne on the podium with the fact that champagne (and all other alcoholic drinks) are banned in Bahrain.
Still think that it is abusing the exemption for the FIA to permit the same trophy type to be handed out at three different races…
September 18th, 2008 at 12:07 pmFlibster said:
It’s just odd that all the commotion about this has only just appeared at Monza- after they gave those tropheys out twice before then.
September 18th, 2008 at 12:09 pmAlianora La Canta said:
Alianora I think there might have been some press officer stuff from McLaren last year around the spy scandle or Alonso / Lewis thing. I think that was probably the last time. {Alex Andronov - 4 comments ago}
That, if I remember correctly, was purely due to the cross-wired thing where they quoted the wrong numbers for the Renault case. Apart from that, I can’t recall seeing any press officer actually speak on camera since Arrows in 2002 (and that was on the Silverstone PA system, when the Arrows press officer had to explain why Arrows hadn’t run the previous day…)
September 18th, 2008 at 12:15 pmAlianora La Canta said:
Alianora I have been to Nottingham several times but I have never seen the library {Alex Andronov - 4 comments ago}
The library I’m talking about is Aspley Library, which is about 20 minutes from central Nottingham by bus (turqouise line, numbers 78 and 79 - bus stop right outside the library and opposite Sainsbury’s). Once you enter the library, you can’t miss it - it dominates the ceiling in the main room. The glass-and-lead part of the roof dates from 1937. The only other tourist attraction in Aspley I can think of from the top of my head is that it has a nice big park a couple of hundred meters away from the library.
Do not confuse with Nottingham Central Library, which is mostly known for having just re-opened its local studies section after it was involved in a flooding incident six months ago. There are 18 other libraries in Nottingham City, but I don’t know them very well.
September 18th, 2008 at 12:17 pmAlianora La Canta said:
It’s just odd that all the commotion about this has only just appeared at Monza- after they gave those tropheys out twice before then. {me - 2 comments ago}
That was because at Silverstone we were a) mollified by the winner getting a proper trophy and b) didn’t know that the experiment would be repeared.
In Germany we were too busy whinging about the Safety Car to notice the trophy thing properly.
September 18th, 2008 at 12:18 pmFlibster said:
We regularly hear from Luca Colajanni, Ferrari’s PR peep.
Frequently on screen as well.
September 18th, 2008 at 12:40 pmScott Woodwiss said:
just testing the new quote feature - certainly will make live commenting a lot slicker
September 18th, 2008 at 12:45 pmSteven Roy said:
There was a spy scandal last year? When? Who?
Great idea to click on the name to get the complet quote
September 18th, 2008 at 12:50 pmScott Woodwiss said:
spy scandal? i don’t remember such a thing. must have been something in the background because I never heard anything about it last year…
September 18th, 2008 at 12:50 pmSteven Roy said:
I would like to be able to shrink the box I type in. Just now it take up too much space.
Otherwise I think it is pretty fabulous.
September 18th, 2008 at 12:50 pmme said:
i’m gonna suggest that may be a good thing
and rumours say that the man who got his numbers cross-wired was…?
September 18th, 2008 at 12:53 pmme said:
i can make it smaller by default? not sure how easy it is to shrink though. will look into it for ya.
September 18th, 2008 at 12:57 pmSteven Roy said:
Thanks
I accidently quoted the paragraph I wanted to quote by highlighting in and tapping on my mouse pad thing. I didn’t mean to tap on it but I did and the quote appeared like magic. Truly awesome.
September 18th, 2008 at 1:02 pmAlex Andronov said:
The glass sounds like it is on top of your head so that should explain things
September 18th, 2008 at 1:03 pmSteven Roy said:
I was reading this http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns20787.html about the current financial problems and something occuurred to me. CVC are going to have financial problems (Lehman etc) which means Bernie is going to have financial problems. If FOM becomes insolvent I would assume it would automatically lose its rights to F1 which presumably would default to the FIA.
At the same time Max has been talking about Ferrari engines for all of F1 he has rolled out Formula Palmer Audi as F2 thereby usurping GP2.
In any crisis the cause can usually be traced to the those who benefit most as a result. Therefore Max created the whole financial crisis to punish Bernie for saying he should resign.
Once Bernie goes all will be sweetnes in light in the world again.
Optimist, Moi?
September 18th, 2008 at 1:05 pmPaul Bland said:
Just found this and thought people might like it
http://www.redbullracing.com/4th-Sector/Webber-Singapore/
Its a pretty nice simulation of the Singapore track with Webber commentating all the way round.
September 18th, 2008 at 1:05 pmScott Woodwiss said:
i’ve noticed the smilies are smaller in the live commenting…thing. was that something you did anyway or just a general glitch or something?
September 18th, 2008 at 1:06 pmAlex Andronov said:
Stephen, I’m not sure that instead of having Max and Bernie having just Max would be a cause for optimism.
September 18th, 2008 at 1:17 pmJourneyer said:
Hmmm… I doubt FOM will become insolvent. What would probably happen is that FOM negotiates with Barclays for them to either keep the Lehman shares (esp. considering Barclays has been in F1 before) or give the FOM a discounted fare on their debt in exchange for faster payment. While the latter option would mean FOM would have to loan from another bank, they’ll have less debt than when we started.
A win-win for Bernie, either way. Remember, Bernie always wins.
September 18th, 2008 at 1:31 pmAlex Andronov said:
Touche
September 18th, 2008 at 1:32 pmAlex Andronov said:
September 18th, 2008 at 1:33 pmScott Woodwiss said:
re: red bull singapore simulation
OH. MY. GOD! If the new F1 game next year looks ANYTHING like that, then I will be able to die a happy man
September 18th, 2008 at 2:18 pmJourneyer said:
You know what? I know it’s the first night race and all, but all the hype for Singapore is making Valencia look like Bahrain in comparison to them.
September 18th, 2008 at 2:46 pmme said:
that’s not a coincidence journeyer. singapore put together a massive online advertising campaign during the weeks surrounding the valencia gp.
they seem to be taking no prisoners when it comes to being the race of the year.
have you noticed there’s no early race videos kicking around the web in the same way as there was in valencia? coincidence? nope, i suspect they deliberately haven’t run any support races.
if you want to see the track in action, you’ll have to wait until the race weekend. all we’ve had is the quick demo run from mika earlier this year… during the daytime.
September 18th, 2008 at 3:03 pmFlibster said:
Damn that looks good.
*emails round office*
Still not sure about racing at night though.
September 18th, 2008 at 3:08 pmAlex Andronov said:
That really really does look amazing… I must stop getting carried away! But that does look great!
September 18th, 2008 at 3:10 pmJordan Allen said:
I am glad that Webber was racing Le Seb in that sim…. Vettel would have kicked his behind into that grandstand they race under.
Very accurate simulation. Notice how DC was nowhere to be found?
September 18th, 2008 at 3:16 pmFlibster said:
Just mentioned that in the office - didn’t go down well with the token haggis muncher.
September 18th, 2008 at 3:29 pmme said:
who?
September 18th, 2008 at 3:58 pmJourneyer said:
good point. but so far, valencia’s appeared to be more organized than singapore. (remember the ticketing fiasco last Valentine’s Day?) even if the race was boring, the spectators enjoyed themselves a lot (just ask wolf/milos). so if singapore hasn’t learned its lessons yet, all the hype may just be setting them up for a higher fall.
and that doesn’t even count. mika’s demo WAS on a part of the track, but it’s nothing more than a straight piece of road!
I think he meant Dan Cross.
September 18th, 2008 at 4:04 pmme said:
singapore organisers annoyed wolfie before he even got hold of his tickets. i’d imagine they have a lot of making up to do before they start.
mind you he is tipping force india for a win at this race (i heard him say it).
September 18th, 2008 at 4:05 pmAlex Andronov said:
I believe his name is David Crashhard.
September 18th, 2008 at 4:05 pmScott Woodwiss said:
OH NO! I have erm, kind of good and bad news regarding Bridgestone’s way of telling the soft and hard slick tyres alike.
Good News: They’ve managed to work out how to make different colours
Bad News: It’s only 1, and it’s not a good one - PINK! AAAH! *runs away quickly*
September 18th, 2008 at 4:06 pmJourneyer said:
the organizers annoyed me too. what kind of a ticketing system was that?!? but i’m wiping the slate clean, and giving them a second chance. but they can’t screw it up again this time.
September 18th, 2008 at 4:07 pmme said:
good to hear. out of interest, fif1 to win too?
September 18th, 2008 at 4:38 pmJourneyer said:
Heck no! But I’ll still be a bit extreme: Vettel to win again.
September 18th, 2008 at 4:39 pmFlibster said:
So, anyone know which drivers are Metrosexual enough to get away with pink?
I’m thinking Button.
September 18th, 2008 at 4:48 pmJourneyer said:
I’m thinking the brothers Schumacher!
September 18th, 2008 at 5:08 pmScott Woodwiss said:
with the shirts he wears I reckon Michael could get away with it
September 18th, 2008 at 5:28 pmJourneyer said:
I believe Michael wore pink once or twice in 2006, during dress-down Thursdays.
September 18th, 2008 at 5:40 pmFlibster said:
Could it have been a Ferrari one that he’d accidentally bleached?
September 18th, 2008 at 6:48 pmme said:
good news on next weekend’s podium:
http://www.yourcommunicationnews.com/news_item.php?newsID=10765
“Singapore Telecommunications Limited (SingTel) today unveiled the winner’s trophy for the world’s first ever night race.”
“At the heart of the trophy is a tapered scalloped core carved from solid billet using a computer numerically controlled machine. Three sections stacked together make up this structure with the mid section twisted at an angle to create additional dimension to the sculpture.”
phew.
September 18th, 2008 at 10:46 pmlou said:
omg! That looks awesome!! I really can’t wait… i’m a little upset i’m probably gonna miss FP1 (and maybe FP2) though… stupid education!
September 18th, 2008 at 11:28 pmFlibster said:
Been sent an image of the trophy. Looks absolutely fantastic.
http://img155.imageshack.us/my.php?image=sin1030918041024×768mg4.jpg
Which of those 4 does the runner up get as a consolation prize?
September 19th, 2008 at 12:52 amAlianora La Canta said:
nope, i suspect they deliberately haven’t run any support races. {me - 21 comments ago}
They deliberately haven’t run any support races to avoid upsetting the locals. I gather from my Singaporean friends that the people find losing their streets for an entire weekend a radical enough idea - for something as trivial as a motor race - without losing them for other races as well. I don’t think marketing considerations have played any part in the decision.
September 19th, 2008 at 12:55 amAlianora La Canta said:
mind you he is tipping force india for a win at this race (i heard him say it). {me - 15 comments ago}
I’d be very happy about that, but even I have to admit it’s rather improbable…
September 19th, 2008 at 1:46 amme said:
if they do i shall eat my hat, or several in fact.
September 19th, 2008 at 2:02 amSteven Roy said:
Franck?
September 22nd, 2008 at 1:50 amPeter Restaino said:
With a Mclaren ECU!!
September 22nd, 2008 at 2:19 amme said: