Alonso finished at the top of the sheets, and with the Renault looking particularly good in the changing conditions, he’ll be hoping for more of the same this afternoon.

As for the rest we’re probably not in the best position to be passing comment, but with Kimi in 9th and Kubica in 19th, we’re as confused as anyone else as to who’ll have the upper hand this afternoon.

Qualifying starts at 1pm in the UK. Lord knows where we’ll be watching, but we’re going to miss all of ITV’s build up, available online. Don’t forget Bernie’s token fan guesture on F1.com too. Radio 5Live will also have commentary from 1pm with Davidson in the box.

As always, we’re keen to know where you’re watching and all your qually predictions.

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We woke up to pouring rain, which has cleared up now. The wind has picked up considerably though, and with a wet track, the question is who will brave the tarmac to provide a dry line? If the weather stays fine it should dry up before qualifying, but today’s first session is another story.

As it’s FP3, we’re looking for yet another spot to watch the action. We know for fact the BBC will be offering commentory, Bernie has live timing online, but there won’t be anything coming from ITV’s direction until qually. More information can be found on our F1 on the Internet page.

Yell if you’re around, we can see but one small part of the circuit and anything you spot is welcomed.

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F1 Digest was all done, written and ready to record, but we had to wait for the 5live folks to finish their extended broadcast for the British GP. It was actually fun, because there’s free beer and we got to listen in. However, just as they finished up and cleared the media tent, so the fireworks and the live music started. Presumably this was no coincidence, but unfortunately we at Sidepodcast do not have the power to ask them to hold off for ten more minutes!

So, apologies are necessary for the lack of an audio show, but if you missed any of the action today and want to know what will be said as soon as I get a chance to record it, I’m providing the transcript. Releasing the words before the show is even recorded is a first for me, but there you go. This post will be replaced when it’s all ready, and everything will be normal. Thanks for your patience.

Intro

This is the second edition of F1 Digest for the British Grand Prix weekend, and this time we’re coming to you live from a field just outside Silverstone itself. The height of glamour, you know? We got to see the action first hand, but we also managed to keep in touch with the live comments. Hopefully this show can combine the best of both worlds.

Free Practice 1

As seems to have been the case for the last few races, there’s a constant talk of rain ahead of the event. Although there’s a possibility of it appearing at some point over the remainder of the weekend – we’re camping, it’s bound to rain – Friday was clear, bright, hot, but a little breezy. Just before the session started, the track temperature was hovering at 18 degrees C, whilst the air temperature sat at 19.

The Force India boys kept up tradition by leaving the garage first, but they were only the first in a long line of drivers to complete an installation lap before heading back to the pit lane. When Lewis hit the track, the air horns in the crowd were evident, but they also emerged for Coulthard, Button, Kovalainen, and interestingly Raikkonen. After ten minutes, it was only the two Ferrari drivers and Timo Glock who hadn’t tested out the Silverstone tarmac.

There was the traditional gap before the action commenced. Lou left a comment on Sidepodcast.com: “Piquet not bothered by all this practise stuff…. just reading the red bulletin….” Five minutes passed and then did Vettel decide to be the first man to return to the track for a full lap. It was no use getting our hopes up though, it was yet another five minutes before Nakajima took his Williams out for another spin, and then a few more before Sutil joined the fun.

After a couple of solid laps, Sutil ran wide onto the grass, and he was not the first we would see. Nakajima also struggled to keep control of the car, and Glock spun a complete 360 degrees. That didn’t harm him too much though, because he took the top spot a few minutes later.

Kimi Raikkonen put pay to that though, on his first flying lap, as you would expect. That is including a few seconds getting past traffic in the shape of Kovalainen. Piquet took second, although Kovalainen pushed Raikkonen out of first, which in turn pushed Piquet out of his position. Hamilton settled for third, just ahead of the Renault.

It was almost fifty minutes before we saw any sign of Alonso, Massa and Coulthard, with the Red Bull driver having a slight off on his first lap. He still managed to slot into sixth, though, pushing Webber into seventh. Massa’s first lap put him into fourth, and the newly emerged Kubica was held up by the Ferrari on his own attempt at a time.

Alonso appeared to be doing well, slipping easily into ninth, and then improving to fifth, but a few minutes later, the Renault slowed and stopped out on track with smoke pouring from his engine. Yet another engine failure from the Renault team. Alianora left a thought on the Live Comments: “It must be bad - Renault aren’t laughing as the Renault fails at Copse. Glock slides on the oil.” Glock wasn’t the only one, as the resulting oil from Alonso’s car left a slippery trail out on track that caught Massa out as well. The Ferrari’s back end slipped away from him, the car turned fully around, and Massa ended up in the barriers backwards. It was a fast and heavy crash, but he was unhurt, and stepped out of the car. He joined Alonso in waiting for a lift back to the pit lane, while the red flags came out for the car to be cleared. Scott in Italy summed up the damage to the car over on Sidepodcast.com: “Wow. the ferrari is really damaged from just behind the drivers cockpit, all the way down on the right side. the impact really didn’t look that bad, bad angle I guess.”

Arguments commenced amongst the remaining drivers and their engineers whether it would be worth returning to the track once the green lights came on. Kubica strongly disagreed with his team saying it would be pointless attempting a lap with the track in the condition it was. Nevertheless, the cement powder was put down, and once the lights went green, we did see Fisichella return to the track.

A few others joined him, and all avoided the cement dust, until eventually Fisichella took the initiative and braved the racing line. In the end, there were plenty of drivers out on track, but with the oil spill seriously compromising the conditions, no one could beat the previous fastest lap set by Massa. Even though he could take no further part in the session, he managed to set the fastest time. The fastest five therefore, were Massa, Kovalainen, Hamilton, Raikkonen and Kubica.

Free Practice 2

Between the end of the first session and the beginning of the second, the sun came out in a big way. The track temperature rose to 28 degrees C, as the light at the end of the pitlane went green. Glock and Fisichella hit the track first, but most of the attention centred on whether Massa would make it out at all in the afternoon or not. In the first few minutes of the session, his garage was amass with mechanics doing what they do best and things were looking somewhat hopeful.

Installation laps were no longer the order of the day, with Glock setting a lap time after only a few minutes. Kubica then went faster, and Rosberg even better than that. Alonso did complete just a test run before diving back into the pits, but that’s understandable given the problems from the morning.

Kovalainen went fastest, then Rosberg, then Hamilton, and all this before ten minutes are even up. The wind was picking up slightly, with Bourdais and Hamilton both working extra hard to keep their cars on track, whilst Alonso took an extra long trip around one of the run off areas.

After 20 minutes, Glock pulled to a stop on track, his Toyota suffering from gearbox issues. The car was recovered under yellow flags and the session continued. However, it started to turn slightly strange, with Webber topping the timesheets, only to be knocked down by Vettel. Amazingly, Hamilton took to the track on soft tyres and still couldn’t beat Vettel’s time, whilst Kovalainen made that tyre selection work for him by pushing to the top spot. Alianora spotted something in the comments: “Wind speed’s picked up a whole metre/second from the start of the session 13 minutes ago. No wonder Hamilton got caught out again.”

An improvement for Honda saw Barrichello slot into fourth, and Rosberg on the harder tyre picked up third position. Lou also noticed that Button was faring better as well: “ahh nice slow mo of Jenson there… even if it was showing his oversteer.. However it gave me enough time to see that Honda are running the lower nose today… That must be making some difference ”

After forty minutes had elapsed of Free Practice 2, Massa finally returned to the track, an impressive feat from the mechanics given the state the car was in when it entered the garage. Massa spent the majority of the rest of the session diving between the track and the pits as improvements continued on the Ferrari.

With Toyota already having a bad afternoon in the form of Glock’s gearbox, Trulli then found himself in the barrier with his rear wing halfway across the track. A brave marshal collected the offending piece of bodywork, and the Toyota was removed from the track under yellow flags. Nakajima suffered a similar fate, spinning on track and crashing into the wall. He managed to get the car back to the pitlane without any external help, however. Scott left a comment on Sidepodcast.com regarding Trulli’s troubles: “Jarno really doesn’t like Silverstone. I guess it comes mainly from the accident he had whilst at Renault. Up until that point, he was driving for a top team and giving Fernando Alonso a run for his money.”

The times continued to baffle us, with Webber moving up to third, and then Kovalainen stealing the top spot from him. The last ten minutes were relatively quiet. Glock returned to the track, Trulli did not, and no one managed to push the McLaren out of the top spot. The final fastest five were: Kovalainen, Webber, Hamilton, Coulthard and Rosberg.

The final glimpse of cars out on track was yet another safety car simulation, testing out the proposed new ECU solution to the current lottery that is pitting under the safety car. As ever, it was impossible to see whether it worked or not, and to be honest, the cars didn’t look that much slower to me.

Conclusions

Let’s start with Honda, as they are our very kind hosts for this Grand Prix weekend. It’s actually a much more positive start to the weekend for the team, although Button seems to be taking it with a pinch of salt. “We may be seventh on the timesheets today but that doesn’t necessarily reflect our level of competitiveness, and we have a lot to achieve overnight to set ourselves up for qualifying.” Barrichello agrees, with the added fact that he didn’t have much running in the first session, due to a problem with the rear suspension. He says it’s hard to know where they are compared to the other teams.

Hamilton was fully supported out on track today, with the fans showing their feelings through flags, air horns and general cheer. And he obviously appreciates it: “It was good to see so many fans at the circuit so early this morning! Although we’d only tested here last week, the track felt quite different today. The car’s balance felt very good despite my having a little grassy moment at Turn Eight.” Kovalainen is happy to be first at the end of the day, but does say he’s not going to get carried away by the whole thing.

Raikkonen isn’t sure what’s up with his car or why he finished the day in 12th. “This morning things were not so bad, while in the afternoon I had a bit of a struggle to find the best settings on the car, which was not working as well as it had done at last week’s test. We have to look at the data to understand why.” Massa, meanwhile, is simply recovering from his crash. “It was a big crash, but that’s part of the game and I have had much worse accidents in my career. I didn’t see any flags and I had approached the corner in the usual way and then I totally lost control of the car under braking. I tried to slow down, but the impact was still pretty violent. “

Vettel completely outshone Bourdais today, if you take the finishing positions on face value. Bourdais defends himself though: “This morning I had a lot of understeer in the high speed corners and this afternoon we dialled a lot of it out, but that has made the car worse in other areas, so our lap time is no quicker.” Sounds like he can’t win. Vettel’s happy to finish in 6th, as you would expect, especially as last week’s test was his first time on this track. Apparently, he likes it.

Alonso praises his mechanics for getting his car ready to go out again in the afternoon, and says he mainly concentrated on tyres and setup work. Nelson finished in 18th but said: “Our times today were not especially significant as the main priority was to complete the programme, which we did. Overall, I am rather optimistic as we approach the weekend.”

Clearly, Glock and Trulli struggled today. Chief Engineer, Dieter Gass, sums up the problems for us: “This was obviously almost the worst case scenario for us today as we missed most of the second session with both cars. Timo had a clutch problem and the mechanics did a very good job to fix that in time to get the car back out and give him a chance to try the option tyres at the end of the session. With Jarno we had a problem on the rear wing. He was running with a new part so we reverted to the standard spec with Timo and we will continue with that for the rest of the weekend.”

I know I’ve said this before, but it is the fact that both Force India drivers are so understated. Fisichella: “It was a normal Friday for us.” And Sutil: “Overall, it was not such a bad day.” And Mike Gascoyne joins in the fun with: “It was a very productive day with no real problems on either car.” That’s all you need to know.

For Williams, Nico Rosberg accounts for his 5th position by saying the test last week meant definite progress for the team. He’s hoping they will be a step ahead of where they were in France, so his 5th and Kazuki’s 9th will definitely help that goal. Nakajima isn’t too worried about his accident, except for the fact that the loss of track time quite irritates him.

Although BMW’s timed laps can never be relied upon as evidence of their performance, Kubica in 11th and Heidfeld in 13th may be a slight concern. Willy Rampf, currently Technical Director for the team says that Kubica had a suspension problem in the second session which cut out some of his running time, whilst Heidfeld says that the wind was a real factor in setup today.

We’ll finish with Red Bull, as a second and fourth place at the end of the day is something to celebrate. Webber says: “We had a look at a few different settings, as conditions were not the same as at the test, but that’s normal. After a small electronic problem this morning, we had some better running this afternoon when I was much happier with the car.” And Coulthard: “It was good to get some more running time, after missing a lot of track time at the test due to various problems we had there. I didn’t have a chance to run the option tyre during the test, so that was my first look at it today.” Finishing in fourth is a pretty good first look, I’d say.

That’s it for this Free Practice edition of F1 Digest. As ever, Live Commenting will continue through FP3, all of qualifying and the race, and we’d love it if you could participate. We are doing our best to keep up from the side of the track, so your thoughts from wherever you are watching are greatly appreciated.

I will be back tomorrow with a full round up of the day’s action, that’s assuming that I get any sleep in my tent tonight. See you then.

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Alonso’s earlier blowup caused much havoc, especially with Massa’s rear end. We’re hoping for a whole lot of on track action as teams and drivers play catchup for the lost time.

Vettel gets much respect for his mornings effort, while Piquet seems to be on a high after his points finish in France. Will Ferrari have time to get Massa running again though?

Today’s second 90 minute session should give us a better idea as to what’s what this weekend. From 2pm in the UK we’ll be following all the action somewhere near a fast section of the track, while live timing details the facts and ITV provides the video coverage.

Shout if you’re around this afternoon, we’ll be checking as frequently as possible.

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The sun is up this morning and the sky is very blue. We’ve no idea what the weather holds in store so we’ve packed flip-flops, sun cream, an umbrella and some wellies. A typical English summer day then.

On the driver front, many will be overly familiar with Silverstone given the amount testing done there last week. How much action we’ll see this morning is anyone’s guess, but hopefully the unpredictability and instability of the climate may help us here.

As you may have already gathered we’ll be at the circuit for the whole weekend, while Christine’s Mother-in-Law is manning the servers back home. Do be nice to her, it’s her first day after all.

It’s a 10am start for anyone following in the UK. The two of us should be positioned around the back of the circuit but you’ll probably have a better view watching ITV’s live stream and following the geeky stats online. Details of other means to keep up with the action are listed on our Formula 1 on the Internet page.

Remember to keep the Allianz track guide close and don’t forget you can find this and other useful resources in our Drop.io box.

Yell if you’re around, either at home or at the track.

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I get the impression that DC fully intends to enjoy his last few months racing in F1, as yesterday’s visit to his old team’s headquarters will attest. Today’s official press conference came across as a pretty relaxed affair with just the three British drivers in attendance. Plenty of banter ensued, that culminated in Lewis offering to go head-to-head against Jenson in a future triathlon, while David wisely avoided the proposition.

I’m hoping that some of DC’s good vibes will wear off on the rest of the paddock, giving us a nice and chilled out second half to the year. Max, apparently has other ideas though, trying as he did today to quash David’s announcement (and his personal thanks to Bernie), with a poorly timed “open-letter” to the teams on the subject of cost cutting (another shining example of transparency when it suits).

Regardless, we shall not be dragged down by yet more politics. There’s much to look forward to and one of those things is David Coulthard’s very last British Grand Prix.

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It’s Sidepodcast’s home race, along with a few of the other teams and drivers, so this preview takes a closer look at one of the classic motorsport races.

Vital Statistics

• Date: 6th July
• Circuit: Silverstone
• Length: 5.1km
• Laps: 60
• 2007 Winner: Kimi Räikkönen

Preview

As a complete contrast to the last race in Magny-Cours, the British GP at Silverstone seems to conjure up a lot of confidence and emotion in many of the drivers, even those for whom it is not their home event. There’s also the added bonus of having a three day test the week before the event to make sure they’re all fully focused.

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• Transcript: Coming soon

Share:

It’s a sort of homecoming for Formula One this weekend, as racing returns to Silverstone 60 years after the circuit hosted the first ever race of the first ever FIA Drivers’ World Championship. In its honour Sidepodcast actually visits the circuit for this special episode of Inside Track.

We look back at the preparation for last year’s British GP with Red Bull’s very own Ole Schack, as well as finding out what to look out for in 2008 with all the boys from Toyota. There’s the usual lap of the circuit plus a quick championship refresher. In short, everything you need to know about the next race on the F1 calendar.

Special thanks to Allianz SE, Toyota Motorsports GmbH, Red Bull Racing and RTV GmbH for the use of their video footage and photographs.

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The British Grand Prix is almost upon us and we’re fired up for a classic weekend. There’s a four way battle at the top of the drivers championship and there’s rain predicted for at least part of the weekend. Now I’m not one for encouraging the bad weather, but if it helps mix up the status quo, I’m more than prepared to suffer.

As we’ve already mentioned, because we’ll be on the ground at the track this weekend, live commenting is likely to be a riot. We’ve done our best to cover all eventualities but just to reiterate, we have with us two 3G connections, mobile SMS capability and the ability to phone my mum. Sadly we didn’t have time to train a carrier pigeon.

F1 session start times for the weekend are as follows:

• Free Practice 1: 10am BST
• Free Practice 2: 2pm BST
• Free Practice 3: 10am BST
• Qualifying: 1pm BST
• The Race: 1pm BST

Live commenting threads should open about 30 minutes before each session begins. We’d really appreciate it if you’d join us this week.

As for the other bits, F1 Minute should be straightforward to record in the field, and the upload should be doable, however F1 Digest may be more tricky. As ever, we’ll try our very best.

For a brief overview of the mischief we got up to last year, here’s how we covered the 2007 British GP weekend:

• Weekend at Bernie’s - The post before the storm
• Episode 25 - Britain GP Special - The very long audio round-up
• Friday @ British GP, 2007 - Christine’s event diary (day 1)
• Saturday @ British GP, 2007 - Christine’s event diary (day 2)
• Sunday @ British GP, 2007 - Christine’s event diary (day 3)
• Video 9 - Britain Preview Special - The obligatory preview video
• Video 11 - Faces For Charity - A look at Red Bull’s unique Silverstone livery
• Friday @ British GP, 2007 - The Flickr set (day 1)
• Saturday @ British GP, 2007 - The Flickr set (day 2)
• Sunday @ British GP, 2007 - The Flickr set (day 3)

We’re already planning on meeting up with maybe half a dozen people during the weekend, if you’ll be there too please let us know, and also if you spot us wandering around don’t hesitate to poke us and say “hi”.

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A few days late, due to us both attending various days of the Silverstone test. Of course, that means this show is packed full of the gossip from the track.

Intro

Apologies for being slightly late, but there’s plenty to talk about.

Good Week / Bad Week

Good week for Raikkonen’s engine and BMW demonstrations, but a bad week for BMW and the FIA.

News and Views

We quickly run through the World Council findings at their Paris meeting last week, including the calendar, entry fees and Formula 2.

Plus, he was at testing for all three days, while I managed one, but I still have plenty to share with you (pictures included) from our day out, along with a live interview with a couple of Renault fans.

Feedback

Join the Facebook group if you haven’t already, we need 300 members by Sunday. All quiet aside from the emails, one of which is an inspirational song.

Linkage

• FIA Provisional Calendar
• Silverstone Racing Club
• Fraggle’s Flickr Pictures
• Sidepodcast’s Flickr Pictures
• Mark Webber Forum
• Renault F1 Blog
• Sidepodcast’s Facebook Group
• Sidepodcast’s Drop.io
• Lewis Hamilton’s Song

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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.

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Fernando Alonso

Alonso had a rough day testing, first his engine expired in the morning wiping out a large portion of the days running and then his final lap was compromised when the Renault powered Red Bull gave up in the closing minutes.

The man didn’t appear to be a happy camper in Silverstone, he left the circuit quickly after one of the shortest debriefs in the paddock.

Lewis Hamilton

Quickest of the day, on the only outing prior to his home Grand Prix, Lewis was very aggressive with his tyre warm up on exiting the pitlane. He appeared to lay more rubber than the rest of the drivers put together.

McLaren tried out all sorts of aero updates ready for the upcoming Grand Prix. It seemed like every time the guy went past he was carrying a different front wing configuration.

Kimi Räikkönen

Only managing the 3rd fastest time, and completing the least amount of laps bar Couthard (who crashed, and then broke down), left Räikkönen looking for a way home as quickly as possible.

Due to a slight misunderstanding with an oncoming van, Kimi’s driver was forced to wait amongst the crowd for a clear exit. Kimi was seen holding a phone to his ear during the very long delay, maybe he had a lot of messages to check?

Red Bull Hospitality

Wandering up and down the paddock, it was blatantly clear that Red Bull is the place to hang out. They were the only ones with a purpose-built motorhome (even McLaren had just a bus / awning), and they were also the only ones with a roof.

Actively encouraging the media will, I’m sure, sway many a journalist. The late night opening hours are a bonus too.

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Nelson Piquet

Piquet was on duty for day two of testing, and for the second time his running was curtailed due to car failure (probably engine related).

The man took an unusual line into the pits in this shot, drawing alongside much earlier than usual. As he blasted by he showered us in what might have been carbon brake dust.

Jarno Trulli

Toyota managed to finish 2nd in the running on day two and it was Trulli who put them up there.

The fences around Silverstone are, like most tracks, a pain for photographers. This shot was taken high up on the main grandstand as Jarno was about to start another lap.

Felipe Massa

Ferrari had a quiet Wednesday at Silverstone, they finished the day 7th having spent a lot of time on longer fuels runs.

I always like a driver with his visor open, but I swear the man’s asleep at the wheel here. Rumour has it that Tuesday afternoon’s testing was delayed after Massa overslept - I guess this track bores him.

Nico Rosberg

The Williams’ pitwall always seemed to be busy during the three day test. They had more personnel up there than any other team and frequently the drivers jumped up for a chat too.

Looking at this shot, you do have to wonder if the higher cockpit sides really make much difference to drivers safety this year. Although not the tallest driver on the grid, Nico’s head still clears the protection by some margin.

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We’re taking shelter because of the weather, although it looks like it’s brightening up. Now that I’ve said that, it will start pouring again, and I will be lynched. However, it’s time for a quick sit down and recap over what we’ve seen so far.

We’re learning some new stuff about the camera, and ways to get better shots, but at the moment we don’t have time to evaluate them. That will come later.

We thought it would be really clever to film Inside Track here, what a great way to preview the Grand Prix than to be at the track itself. However, it’s dark and windy and it’s not going so well.

More to come soon… when it’s sunny again.

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Driving today, we have:

• Nico for Williams
• Vettel for Toro Rosso
• Jenson for Honda
• Kubica for BMW
• Massa for Ferrari
• Piquet for Renault
• Fisichella for Force India
• Trulli for Toyota
• Webber for Red Bull
• Kovi for McLaren

Vettel is packing in the laps, having suffered yesterday with a lack of running, and apparently he’s also hijacked some of Bourdais’ time as well, which is slightly unfair, I feel. We have yet to see McLaren, but I’m sure they’ll be making an appearance soon.

Stay tuned for further updates in the comments and also in the following post too.

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Nelson Piquet

Up close and personal with Nelshino. The guy was in a surprisingly good mood until his engine went ‘pop’ on the main straight around 3 o’clock and that was after he had a slow start to the morning session.

When sitting in the pits the helmet visor can be used much like a pair of sunglasses, obscuring the drivers eyes as he waits patiently for the mechanics to go about their business. It was nice of him to open the lid for a brief moment before he set off for another run.

Jenson Button

The Honda engine sounded absolutely awful as Jenson made his way down the pitlane. Rumours were abound that the team were testing an early version of next years KERS device, or possibly a new mixture of bio-fuel.

It was nice seeing this years Earth livery in person. I didn’t like the 2007 skin either from a distance or up close, but this one looks lovely and the orange camera mount stands out a mile.

Renault’s Lollipop

Renault use a traffic light system on their pit lollipop to indicate when a driver should engage first gear, instead of flipping the paddle over. This presumably prevents a driver reacting prematurely and heading off too early.

There appears to be an inherent problem that if the lights aren’t pointing directly at the driver, he may struggle to see their status, hence the extended funnels protruding far from the disc.

Wheel

A detailed look at Kubica’s front left wheel shows the slightly different approach the team have taken creating front wheel bins to cover the rims. You can see how the disc protrudes slightly above body of the wheel giving it all-round clearance.

Silverstone is notoriously heavy on the right hand tyres, the rears suffer more, but even though Kubica was running relatively short stints you can see the rubber has already taken considerable punishment.

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The laptop used to post the previous pictures died, but not before capturing some live video. Check it out:

I can also tell you that it is nigh on impossible to hold a sensible telephone conversation with someone standing near the track of an F1 test. However, we shall do our best to remain in touch, and keep you in the loop as well. Stay tuned.

Update: 1:30pm - All quiet as the teams go to lunch. Well, that’s not true. The pit lane is accessible for an hour over lunch, and all but Force India have put up screens to shield their work. This means Force India are now our favourite team, ever.

Elsewhere, Vettel is struggling with a gearbox problem, and is really frustrated because he wanted to spend the time learning the track. Apparently he’s not impressed with the lack of marker boards around the circuit, he wants more time to practice, but has so far only done 10 laps.

Update: 3:15pm - Nelson Piquet has broken down on the pit straight. His [direct quote from my man on the ground] “engine made an odd noise.” The session has been stopped as a result.

Also, he has bumped into Fraggle and AMC (not sure of the correct placement of capitals here, apologies if it’s wrong) from the Renault blog, and they were just off to chase after Nico Rosberg for a picture.

Final Update: 5:45pm - He’s on his way home now, and has very little news of testing because he spent the afternoon in the Renault garage! I have no further information on that, so I look forward to finding out what he got up to.

What he did say about the on-track action was that Ferrari stopped out on track (fuel?) and caused a red flag. Renault were apparently laughing at that, but then, they laugh at anything, don’t they? Also, the Honda engine sounds, shall we say, different to the others, and not in a good way.

That’s all I can tell you for now, but I’m sure we will have pictures and more information as soon as we can.

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A number of cars have done installation laps and returned to the pits. All is quiet at the moment. The sky is clear and the sun damn hot. Below are a couple of pics to start the day off. I’ll add some more as and when. If you’re in the area, please yell, also if you have any questions / photo requests I’ll do me best to check back frequently.

Update: 10:15am - Plenty of action now on track. Today we have:

• Nico for Williams
• Kobayashi for Toyota
• Kovi for McLaren
• Vettel for STR
• Liuzzi for Force India
• Jenson for Honda
• Massa for Ferrari
• Kubica for BMW
• Webber for RBR
• Piquet for Renault

As I write Kovi is fastest ahead of Massa and Kubica. Force India are not running the rumoured shark fin as yet. Piquet managed one installation lap, but has failed to return to the track. Robert just made a hash of his pit entry spinning dramatically with a full 360.

Further updates and live video are available on this post.

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As I attended on my lonesome last year, Christine’s never been to a test before, so we’re planning a whole bunch of coverage for you this week. Wednesday is the big day and if you’re in the vicinity of Northamptonshire please don’t hesitate to stop us and say “Hi”. We’ll be packing both audio and video equipment, so if you’re up for an interview then all the better (no pressure, although we have been known to offer bribes).

I should point out that the organisation was nothing less than chaotic last year. A last minute announcement from McLaren suggested Lewis would be attending, and the place went crazy. Logistics simply couldn’t cope with the unexpected influx of fans, which was both a blessing and a curse as on the one hand it was easy pickings to wander around the whole track, while on the other the place was severely lacking in basic amenities.

This year the situation may be even worse because, although the test is sold out and there shouldn’t be any unexpected crowds, the close proximity of testing to the actual GP weekend means that many sections of the track will be out of bounds. Originally, rumour had it that we’d be confined to the area known as Farm, but it seems unlikely that such a large number of people could be squeezed into such a confined space, so it’s possible larger areas will be opened up.

The forecast is currently showing three days of fine weather and as ever, we’ll do our very best to bring you all the gory details, good or bad.

To whet your appetite, here’s how we covered the event last year:

• Sidepodcast @ Silverstone - A post reflecting on the first day of testing
• More From Silverstone - A follow-up piece from day two of testing
• Episode 24 (Part 1) - France Qualifying - The audio discussion covering testing
• Video 9 - Britain Preview Special - Featuring video shot at the test
• Silverstone Testing - June 07 - The Flickr photo set

Hopefully we’ll have even more photos, videos, audio and words to document the goings on this year. If you’re going too, please let us know in the comments.

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• File: episode67.m4a
• Length: 40:32
• Size: 37.5 MB
• Transcript: Coming soon

In a week where there is no news, we discuss all the events of the race weekend in France, including the many penalties, how drivers stack up against their team mates, and what did we really learn from the safety car test?

Intro

We got a shout out on 5live thanks to Scott.

Good Week / Bad Week

Good week for France, bad week for… No, wait, there is no news.

Qualifying

The safety car test during Free Practice didn’t reveal as much as we hoped, and the drivers are also wary. We had an insider at the track, and Ferrari appeared to have it all under control.

The Race

A great start to the comments in Murray Walker fashion, some overtaking, some exhaust issues, and some really poor weekends for certain teams. Plus, a Fantasy Racers update.

Feedback

Matt leaves us a great voicemail in three parts, Andrew is discussing one car teams on Facebook, and the anonymous drop.io images are claimed.

Linkage

• F1 Racing
• About.com: Formula 1
• Fantasy Racers
• Mark Webber Forum
• Sidepodcast’s Facebook Group
• Sidepodcast’s drop.io

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• File: digest32.mp3
• Length: 10:05
• Size: 9.3 MB
• Transcript: Coming soon

It’s been a while since the French GP has been eagerly anticipated, but with such a mixed up grid, today was one of those days. Tune in to F1 Digest for a recap of all the action, plus driver reactions.

The Race

A race of some serious fighting, Raikkonen battling his machinery, Hamilton trying to get through the traffic, Trulli holding off Kovalainen.

Conclusions

Whilst Honda and Force India seem to be feeling pretty low right now, Toyota and Toro Rosso are flying high. The others fall into various moods in between.

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Today’s grid was always going to be a mixed up affair given the 10-place drops imposed on Hamilton and Rosberg, but Kovalainen’s unexpected 5-place penalty for impeding Webber really puts the silver cats amongst the pigeons. Two out of position McLaren’s could see us witness a masterclass in overtaking this afternoon.

Also coming to McLaren’s aid (and providing us some additional drama) could well be the weather. As Stuart pointed out in the comments earlier there was a little rain falling on the circuit earlier this morning and the clouds overhead aren’t looking very friendly.

The woes of one team are benefiting many others, with both Renaults now joining two Toyota’s and two Red Bull’s in the top ten. The opening laps in the mid-field pack should be blink-and-you-miss-it stuff, as everyone tries to capitalise on McLaren’s poor fortune.

The fight for the win will also be worth keeping an eye on. It looks to be a Ferrari walk-over up front, but which of the two drivers will take ten points?

A selection of useful links for today’s race:

• Official live timing
• ITV video feed (UK)
• ITV video feed (Worldwide)
• TVlizer channel 335
• Radio 5Live

We’re opening this thread early today, because there’s plenty to discuss this morning. Let us know all your thoughts, predictions and expectations for this afternoon’s action in Nevers.

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• File: digest31.mp3
• Length: 10:36
• Size: 9.8 MB
• Transcript: Coming soon

When qualifying is preceded by a Free Practice with Piquet on top, you know you’re in for a fascinating day. Listen to today’s F1 Digest for details of the highs, the lows, and the many, many penalties.

Free Practice 3

Piquet led the way today, in a session where none of the regular’s made an appearance in the top four, and there was no apparent reason for it.

Qualifying

Knowledge of prior penalties, plus one handed out after the event spiced up the results today, and keep us all guessing over strategies.

Conclusions

The usual mix of optimism and disappointment. Hamilton is apologising, Bourdais is worried that it’s just too competitive and Raikkonen is honoured to help Ferrari hit 200.

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There did seem to be less off-track rallying action today, with the majority of drivers figuring out the quickest way around this place is to stick to the asphalt. The soft tyre appears to be causing headaches up and down the pitlane, with the quickest time being set on the harder of the available compounds. That’ll probably be the story of qualifying this afternoon. Who can make the soft rubber last a single flying lap?

In terms of the midfield, Lewis Hamilton will be the man to watch. McLaren have a variety of strategies they can use to help Hamilton fight back from his 10-place penalty, from fuelling him light and fighting through the traffic, to going long and bagging as many points as he can. We’ll have a better idea which way the team will go in less than two hours.

Keep an eye also on the BMW drivers. Yesterday Kubica’s running was curtailed by a misfire while today the cars look a handful, but they’ll be hoping to build on the win in Canada and may try something aggressive for tomorrows race.

Qualifying starts at 1pm in the UK (2pm local time). We’re watching ITV’s qualifying show and build up, which is available online. If you’re outside the UK you’ll be after stream.ra1kkonen.com and don’t forget Bernie’s idea of acceptable web coverage on f1.com too. Radio 5Live will also have commentary from 1pm.

As always, we’re keen to know where you’re watching and all your qually predictions.

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The highlight of yesterday’s running was Alonso’s late flyer in FP2, netting him the top spot in the timesheets. The track is supposed to get slower as the day goes on, but evidently no-one informed the Spaniard. There’s no doubt that the lap was designed to keep the big Renault cheeses happy, but until we see the real pace of the top cars here, it’ll be hard to tell just how fast the guy is.

Kimi also managed to put in some very quick sectors yesterday, but never managed (or tried?) to hook up a complete lap. His weekends always go well when Friday’s run as planned, so his will be the times we’ll be watching this morning.

Yesterday’s initial safety car test is expected to be augmented by a second run this morning, although if anyone has the faintest idea what the FIA learned from the first one please do let us know.

As it’s FP3, we’ll be following live timing online, and as ITV don’t / won’t / can’t cover this session, it’s TVlizer streaming or TVU access for us today. More information on our F1 on the Internet page.

Yell if you’ve got yourself some coverage and let us know where you’re watching the action from.

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• File: digest30.mp3
• Length: 08:56
• Size: 8.3 MB
• Transcript: Coming soon

Alonso was the main talk of today, with a breakdown and a fastest lap in two very different sessions. The only other notable thing was the track, but you can hear all about it in today’s F1 Digest.

Free Practice 1

A very slow start to a pretty uneventful session. Alonso had the major problem, whilst the others just seemed to struggle for grip.

Free Practice 2

More grip issues, due to a much warmer track, but that didn’t stop Alonso taking the top spot, despite his earlier problems.

Conclusions

Some unusual faces towards the sharp end of the timesheets, with Vettel showing particularly well, and very happy about it.

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The only things worth noting from the mornings running is that Alonso made his engine go bang so close to the end of the session it almost looked to have been planned, while both McLaren driver struggled with front locking to the point that Heikki met first the gravel trap and then almost the wall.

Further back, things were business as usual although Vettel managed to punch above his weight, taking himself up to the dizzy heights of 8th, while Button languished near bottom of the order, with only the two Force India’s for company.

The next 90 minute session should offer more information as to how the land lies this weekend. A quiet start to the day leaves teams with much to do, so from 1pm in the UK (2pm local) we’ll be following all the action on live timing as well as watching ITV’s online (and slightly unreliable) video coverage. Radio 5Live are offering us a better service this week and you can catch their commentary on Sports Extra.

Yell if you’re around this afternoon. We were expecting less interest given that it’s Friday and people should be working, but earlier proved that F1 fans are a damn dedicated bunch. Where are you and how are you watching?

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Depending on who you feel like believing, Sunday will either bring bright sunshine or thunderstorms, but either way, there’s no arguing today’s forecast - it’s fine and dry.

Sébastien Bourdais is driving on home soil for the first time in F1 this morning, and based on previous outings from STR’s newly updated machinery, he’s going to need all the time available and more. We saw BMW changing their approach to Friday Practice last time out in Canada, hitting the pace almost immediately, and boy did that work out for them. Watching their weekend strategy unfold will certainly be compelling stuff, while no doubt Ferrari’s confidence at this place will see them sit out large parts of the day.

Free Practice 1 is a 90 minute session, and earlier this week we we’re led to believe that times from FP1 will be used to calculate the target for this afternoon’s safety car test. As yet though this hasn’t officially been confirmed, but we’ll keep one eye on how this unfolds.

It’s a 9am start for anyone following in the UK, or 10am in France. The two of us will be watching ITV’s live stream and following the geeky stats online. Details of alternate resources to follow the action are listed on our Formula 1 on the Internet page.

Remember to keep the Allianz track guide close and don’t forget you can find this and other useful resources in our Drop.io box.

Shout us if you’re about, especially if you’re supposed to be working.

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As an F1 nut, I would love to go to the Park and experience it. I’ve heard great things, and any opportunity to get closer to the cars, and the team is something I want to be doing. Plus, there’s a pit stop challenge, and we all know I can’t resist a challenge. It seems like a really fabulous way to spend some time, and I’ve been wondering when they’d turn up at location I could get to.

Unfortunately, however, I won’t be in Manchester during that July weekend. I will be engrossed in that pesky business of actually racing. Which leads me to the point of this post.

Why must teams schedule things at the same time as the Grand Prix?

Now, on the one hand, I can understand the logistics of taking everything to the same country at the same time. On the other hand, the race team and the demo team are completely separate so I don’t understand this decision.

If fans are at the race at Silverstone, they won’t be at the Pit Lane Park in Manchester. And if they’re not at the race, surely they should be watching it somehow? On TV or online? Bernie can’t be impressed with BMW trying to steal away his viewing figures, can he?

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• File: digest29.mp3
• Length: 08:34
• Size: 7.9 MB
• Transcript: Coming soon

You either love or hate this track, and within today’s F1 Digest preview, we experience both sides of the coin and see who falls on which side of the fence.

Vital Statistics

• Date: 22nd June
• Circuit: Magny-Cours
• Length: 4.4km
• Laps: 70
• 2007 Winner: Kimi Raikkonen

Preview

It’s very quiet out there in paddock land, mostly because the team’s are really not digging the French circuit right now. Some say they are, but there isn’t the usual excitement that a Grand Prix stirs up.

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