Sidepodcast

It is the longest day, today, the height of summer. It will also be a very long day for our guys out on track, and no doubt for us as well. Also, from here on in, the dark days of winter will be drawing in and it feels that way for Formula 1 as a whole as well, doesn’t it? Phew, that was quite the metaphor. Here’s some F1 goings on:

• BMW have officially abandoned KERS on their car for this season. Which is odd considering they are the only team who have been “bigging it up” within the regulations side of things. The return of KERS to the car has been delayed and delayed and now it is gone forever.
• Nakajima is starting the race today from a career best position of fifth – which is notably above his teammate for the first time. A lot is made of Alonso’s dominance over Piquet but so far Rosberg has enjoyed the same teammate comparison statistics – not anymore.
• Bernie Ecclestone has confirmed completely that Silverstone will make a return if Donington fails to deliver. Which means that Silverstone will make a return. A lot of people said this as soon as the announcement was made, so does Bernie really think he is still fooling people?

That’ll do it for now. Join us for live commenting during the race, beforehand for the Parade Lap and afterwards for the live stream of F1 Debrief. It’s all go on a race weekend Sunday! I’ll see you in the comments.

With seven races under our belts, it’s looking more and more like the championships will be sealed early. However, the points margin is still attainable and it’s just a matter of another team mounting the charge and getting the job done. Is anyone capable? Meanwhile, here’s what we’re talking about:

• It’s a blog post roundup today, as RG has written a post dedicated to his favourite team BMW. They’ve been struggling so far and finally managed to give Kubica some points in Turkey. RG reviews their progress and ponders what’s in store for the team.
• Scott has started a series of posts taking a look at some of the recent E3 announcements – particular games that involve cars and racing. I am particularly bad at these games, and not that bothered about what is coming out, but Scott has a good summation with more to come.
• Dank has written an excellent round-up of Red Bull’s afternoon at Istanbul, chronicling just where it went wrong for Vettel, and how Webber made the most of what he’d got.

That’ll do it for now. Feel free to plug any other blog posts from the weekend that have caught your eye. As per the norm, I’ll see you in the comments.

The excitement from yesterday amounted to some rogue AstroTurf and a worrying mechanical failure on the Red Bull. What will FP3 have in store?

Weather Update

It looks as though things are going to remain bright and sunny for the rest of the weekend, and any earlier possibility of rain has passed us by now.

One to Watch

Vettel will have some serious catching up to do after only completing four laps in yesterday afternoon’s session. He is reluctant to rely too heavily on Webber’s data, so will want to work on his own setup.

Predictions Please

Will we see any more elements of the circuit getting in the way as the drivers attempt to navigate the track? Will either McLaren be able to top the final FP session? Will the BMWs be towards the top or the bottom?

• Length: 08:32 
• Size: 7.9 MB 
• File: digest102.mp3 
• Transcript: digest102.pdf 
• Torrent: digest102.torrent 

The Turkish Grand Prix gets underway in style, with a red flagged first session, and a low key second session, although there were some surprises in store.

Free Practice 1

A slight problem with some of the landscape gardening saw some time lost during this session but that was nothing compared to the relaxed attitude of the teams due to the dust.

Free Practice 2

Vettel was the big casualty of the afternoon, only managing to complete a handful of laps, but somehow he still managed to finish pretty high up the order.

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Here we go again, this time in Turkey. Our first anti-clockwise track on the calendar also throws up the challenge of Turn 8 and improved overtaking opportunities. But first, Free Practice.

Weather Update

So far, the weekend looks set to be warm, sunny and dry, but we have just seen one thunderstorm in Istanbul, that will have washed the track clean. Could it make an unexpected return?

One to Watch

BMW have been talking up their desire for improvements this weekend, and although they’re not running KERS, they confirm that they are bringing lots of new aero bits and pieces to try and haul themselves from the back of the grid.

Predictions Please

Will Brawn still be riding high from their Monaco victory? Will Ferrari’s improved pace continue? Will Toyota still be slow? Will these Free Practice times actually be representative of what we’ll see on Sunday?

Free Practice Day is upon us at last. Perhaps it is just me, but it feels like an age since we were watching those cars wind their way through the streets of Monaco. I’m looking forward to seeing them in action once again, but slightly worried that the weekend will be overshadowed by nonsense. We’ll see. Meanwhile, here’s what we’re talking about:

• BMW have decided not to run with their KERS device in Turkey, despite the fact that they were touting a new version that was supposed to help them out. Apparently they’d prefer to concentrate on their aero upgrades, and would rather see an improvement on that front before they put their faith in KERS again.
• It seems as though all the optimism teams had before they got to the track has disappeared. Alonso was super confident the team could get back to their winning ways, but now the Renault driver says that Brawn and Button could see an early end to the championship.
• The weather has been true to form so far, with the predicted thunderstorm yesterday. The rest of the weekend looks to be sunny, so we should be in for a dry race.

Don’t forget to test out the new live commenting system during all the sessions this weekend. It’s got moveable boxes so you can set it up however you want. I’ll see you in the comments.

Apparently, not only is it the first day of a brand new month, it is also International Children’s Day. With that in mind, we should be very aware of the cry “Won’t somebody think of the children?” which has been used a couple of times in the comments already this week. Here are some of the other things we are discussing:

• Alex Wurz and his new team Superfund are set to make a heroic entrance into F1 – if they are selected, of course. The team have funding in place but aren’t getting anything organised until they get the nod. It will be good to see Mr Wurz back in the sport, although I can’t see him in the team principal role. Mr C thinks he might be quite good as the boss, however.
• It’s also Martin Brundle’s birthday today, which is only really interesting because I was thinking about Alex Brundle and his performance in F2. I kept an eye on the results, and find myself interested in Brundle Jr, and Natacha Gachnang, and that is pretty much it. Anyone else catch it, interested in it, got a fave or already? Or couldn’t care less?
• BMW have confirmed in their Turkey preview quotes (oooh, is it that time already?) that they’ll be running the double decker diffuser. Is it going to make any difference for them? Or have they scuppered their own season this early on?

That’ll do it for now. The replay of the live streaming show we did last night is up if you feel like watching, or the edited show should be out this evening. Don’t forget to vote on the Circuit Cup semi final, and I’ll see you in the comments.

Still no barrier action around the streets of Monte Carlo, so I’ll be keeping my eyes peeled for that. Rumour has it the crowds are down this year, so hopefully we’ll see more in the grandstands today.

Weather Update

From the Force India Twitter account about an hour ago: “Qualifying day in Monaco! Clear weather for now, no rain predicted at present. Drivers yet to arrive at the circuit but won’t be long.”

One to Watch

Hamilton’s stint around the streets has cheered him up no end, and his McLaren does seem vastly improved on the slower circuit. Perhaps he can rob Rosberg of his practice crown for a change?

Predictions Please

Who will be fast out there this morning? Will the track cause problems after it’s very own day of rest? What time will the BMWs deign to leave their garage?

It’s the quiet before the storm now, with Free Practice under our belts and a whole day of confusion before we get to see qualifying. Hands up who thought it was the weekend today? Meanwhile, here’s what we’re talking about:

• The Hamiltonometer has hit the highs, with Monaco giving him a boost so he now says: “I love this place – it reminds me how much I love this sport, why I love racing and why I love Formula 1.” I dread to think what will happen when we get to Valencia.
• Following the announcement of all those new teams, now there’s a lot of backtracking going on with a few saying they have no intention of making the big leap up to F1. It’s hardly surprising that all these rumours aren’t true, but I bet Max is cursing each one.
• Trulli has said it is much too early to write off Toyota’s season as over, despite the lack of success they’ve seen recently. Today they were towards the wrong end of the timesheets, but apparently this isn’t the end of the world as we know it. BMW are also still talking the talk, with Theissen encouraging his team not to give up. At what point will they switch to 2010 though? When they’ve decided whether they’ll be in it or not?

That’ll do for now. As it’s Friday, let us know what you’re up to for the weekend – it’s a bank holiday weekend in the UK again, so plenty of time to recover from Monaco. As ever, I’ll see you in the comments.

• Length: 08:26 
• Size: 7.8 MB 
• File: digest98.mp3 
• Transcript: digest98.pdf 
• Torrent: digest98.torrent 

How would our drivers take to the narrowest street circuit on the calendar? The sun was out and the engines were ready to explode – find out who made it to the end of the sessions in today’s F1 Digest.

Free Practice 1

It was Red Bull’s turn to suffer in the morning, whilst we saw plenty of drivers struggling to keep it on the road as the tarmac turned from streets to circuit over 90 minutes.

Free Practice 2

BMW had issues during the second session, whilst Red Bull tried their best to recover. Rosberg showed his home fans how it’s done, and Hamilton continued improving.

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