Sidepodcast

Honda recently announced that they have achieved ISO 14001 certification, something that the entire Honda brand is working towards. ISO’s have always been a bit of a mystery to me. I can see the hard work that goes into them, but I’ve never really understood the concept. I did some introductory work on ISOs for a small business, and from what I could tell it was all about putting systems in place, and not really about achieving anything. As long as you’ve got a flow chart, it doesn’t really matter what happens afterwards.

I may be completely wrong on this, but the official ISO 14001 site can’t even clarify. It says [emphasis mine]:

ISO 14001:2004 does not specify levels of environmental performance. If it specified levels of environmental performance, they would have to be specific to each business activity and this would require a specific EMS standard for each business. That is not the intention.

I can understand the logic, of course, but if you’re not setting specific targets, I don’t see how you can measure the environmental efforts of a company. What this says to me is that Honda have managed to make themselves an officially green team (although they did that with the shorts!) without actually having to meet any green targets.

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• File: world7.mp3
• Length: 03:06
• Size: 2.9 MB
• Transcript: world7.pdf

This is F1 and the World, a mini series brought to you by Sidepodcast. We’ve been looking at how Formula 1 fits into the world around it, from the environmental effects to the economical benefits. Now we have covered all our topics, it’s time to rustle up a quick conclusion to our findings.

There’s no denying that Formula is not the healthiest sport on the planet for the planet. It does use up resources and energy, but what we’ve learned in these six shows so far, will hopefully go some way to defending it.

The FIA are fully aware of the impact F1 has on the world around it and are doing their best to reduce any negative side effects of the sport. They already have projects on the go, both for the environment and for road safety, and where they can see gaps, they are looking to the future with new technologies and extensive research.

Individual team efforts vary across the grid, with Honda appearing to make the most effort. Their Earth Dreams initiative has raised large amounts for green charities and looks set to continue. However, other teams do their bit, reducing waste and looking for any way to tighten up their procedures and make things that little bit better.

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• File: world6.mp3
• Length: 03:55
• Size: 3.7 MB
• Transcript: world6.pdf

This is the sixth episode in the Sidepodcast mini series F1 and the World. We’ve already looked at how F1 is affecting the world around it and what the relevant people are trying to do about it. Now it’s time to gaze ahead to the future and think about what can still be done.

It’s easy to see how Formula 1 has helped in the past. It was fundamental to a lot of safety improvements and innovations that transferred over to road car technologies. It’s harder to see how Formula 1 is helping right now in this decade, but that looks set to change.

The FIA are planning many new rules and regulations that will introduce some energy saving techniques to racing. Things like the Kinetic Energy Recovery System, the idea of reusing the energy that would normally be lost from braking, are pushing the sport forward. The amount of investment in researching and developing these ideas would be nowhere near as high if it was left to the road car industry themselves. Things happen a lot quicker in Formula 1, as well. Whereas a car manufacturer could think about developing a technology over a couple of years, F1 teams need the updates tomorrow, today, or preferably yesterday, so they can remain one step ahead. The competition ensures that development is always moving forward and is always at a rapid pace.

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• File: world5.mp3
• Length: 03:18
• Size: 3.1 MB
• Transcript: world5.pdf

Welcome to F1 and the World, the latest mini series from Sidepodcast looking at F1 and its place in society. We’ve already covered the effect that sport has on the economy and the planet, but what relevance does it hold for technology? Today we will investigate.

A lot of arguments for F1 centre around the fact that the useful technology that is created trackside can then be passed on to the cars we drive today. I think I’ve already alluded to that in this mini series already. But if we’re being perfectly honest, some of today’s road cars are actually more advanced than an F1 car, especially when it comes to technology. F1 is all about speed and aerodynamics, whereas road cars introduce parking sensors and integrated iPods. It’s not really the same thing.

So what technology is F1 helping? Let’s start with Force India. Vijay Mallya is the head honcho of Kingfisher Airlines and the owner of the newest F1 team on the grid. It’s no coincidence that aerospace and F1 are often seen in the same sentence together. Force India have alliances with EADS and Airbus to share resources, data, and technologies. In 2004, Renault F1 and Boeing formed a research partnership to quote: “collaborate on a number of advanced design and manufacturing technologies.” McLaren have partnered with BAE Systems for years.

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• File: world4.mp3
• Length: 03:18
• Size: 3.1 MB
• Transcript: world4.pdf

Welcome to F1 and the World, the latest mini series from Sidepodcast. We’re investigating all the different ways that F1 affects the world around it, for better or for worse. Today we’re looking at the effort the teams are making to reduce their impact on the environment.

The FIA aren’t the only people making an effort to reduce the sport’s impact on the world. Individual teams have invested in some processes to help as well. Naturally, some do more than others, with Honda being the most obvious and prime example.

The Earth Dreams initiative began in 2007, as myearthdream. At the start of the season, fans were encouraged to pledge a simple eco-friendly promise – to turn off lights when they’re not needed, or shut off the water when brushing their teeth. A donation to the site meant you could also get your name on the car, although it was only small and hardly visible at all. The money raised throughout the season was added to by a donation from Honda, and then split amongst environment charities. This year, the idea is evolving, the title has been reduced to simply Earth Dreams. They haven’t announced specific plans as of yet, but they have confirmed that the idea is a long term initiative.

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• File: world3.mp3
• Length: 03:40
• Size: 3.4 MB
• Transcript: world3.pdf

Welcome to F1 and the World, the mini-series from Sidepodcast examining the effect that F1 has on the world around it, from environmental to economical issues. Today we’re looking at what the FIA are doing to make F1 that little bit more friendly.

The FIA, Formula 1’s governing body, have been carbon neutral since 1997. What does this actually mean though? They work closely with universities to calculate the precise amount of carbon produced by the sport. This includes running the cars over test and practice sessions, and covers all race weekends. It also includes the transportation of personnel across the globe to attend races. Once calculated, the FIA work with reforestation projects in Mexico, and are therefore carbon neutral. As of last year, the annual figure to be traded off was 20,000 tonnes of carbon, not a small figure by anyone’s standards.

Being carbon neutral isn’t everything. Motorsport uses up plenty of fuel. Just recently the structure of qualifying sessions saw the cars topped up with fuel, then emptied over 20 minutes to get the best lap out of the lightest car. The fuel would then be reintroduced to the cars. A complete and utter waste of time and resources. The FIA have taken this on board and the qualifying session has been adjusted accordingly, to remove the element of fuel burning.

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• File: world1.mp3
• Length: 03:02
• Size: 2.9 MB
• Transcript: world1.pdf

Welcome to a new Sidepodcast mini-series: F1 and the World. This first show is an introduction to the topic and a preview of some of the things we’re going to cover.

There’s never been a better time to talk about F1 and the effect it has on the world around it. Being eco-friendly is in vogue, and motorsport is an easy target for environmentalists. High performance cars burning up energy to go round in circles doesn’t sound like an excusable way to spend a Sunday afternoon. But Formula 1 has its place, and this series is going to investigate the arguments that surround the pinnacle of motorsport – both for and against.

The most well-versed argument I hear is “What is the point?” You can argue that with any sport, football is simply 22 men running around a field kicking a ball. Golf involves silly jumpers and much too much patience. Boxing is merely two people beating the living hell out of each other, and don’t even get me started on curling. Formula 1 is no different, it can easily be conceived as a complete waste of time.

But we also need to look at what F1 gives back to society. In the world of motoring, Formula 1 technologies have given plenty to the road car industry to make our automobiles safer, more efficient and easier to use. Max Mosley’s current plans aim to improve green technologies for the future both in and outside of the sport. With kinetic energy recovery systems, longer life components and the introduction of bio fuels, there are plenty of things to look at for the long term.

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• Length: 3:50 
• Size: 3.6 MB 
• File: history7.mp3 
• Transcript: history7.pdf 
• Torrent: history7.torrent 

Welcome to Sidepodcast’s History of F1. We’ve covered the entire history of Formula 1 from the early beginnings in the 1900s, through the inaugural championship in the 1950s, and the safety fears of later decades. Now we’re catching up with modern F1, the 21st century, and where it might be headed in the future.

We left 1999 with a new championship winning pairing of Michael Schumacher and Ferrari. Between 1999 and 2004, they won 5 consecutive driver and 6 consecutive constructor championships. Michael Schumacher could not be stopped. He made records and broke them, overtaking many famous names to grab most Grand Prix wins, most driver championships, most wins in a single season, and many other titles.

It wasn’t until 2005 that it looked like Ferrari’s dominance might be under threat.

The rules of the championship kept being changed. The FIA couldn’t settle on a way forward to improve the racing and make it more of a show. They wanted to cut costs but keep the fans happy, and they could not decide how to do it. So, instead of picking a course of action and sticking with it, they tried any number of things. One of the changes for 2005 was that the teams could only use one set of tyres through an entire race.

Ferrari struggled with this new ruling, and it allowed Renault to dominate the season, and Fernando Alonso to become the youngest champion. They repeated the feat in 2006, although it was a much tighter contest.

Other rule changes include constant revamps of the qualifying format. It started as an hour long session where everyone bundled out on track to get the best time they could. Except they didn’t bundle on track until the very end, and viewers were left bored. They switched to a one lap format, where each driver took his turn, and this allowed for very interesting grids, but the action was slow. The current format of three knockout sessions seems to be a compromise between action and strategy, but there are still complaints floating around.

Team orders were banned in 2002. There were several incidents that were questionable in terms of race manipulation, but the one that turned most people off was the Austrian Grand Prix of that year. Barrichello led the race and was a clear winner, until he was asked to let Michael Schumacher through for championship reasons. Needless to say the negative impact this had on the sport rustled the FIA into action.

The grid these days consists of many manufacturer teams. Road-car makers such as Honda, Toyota, BMW and Renault are firm favourites on the grid. Independent teams such as Williams are struggling to keep up with the ever-changing and ever-expensive world of F1. Red Bull Racing are an independent team but backed by a fortune of money, so it will be interesting to see how long Williams can hold off the giant companies taking over the sport.

The FIA are determined that we should go green, so the future of F1 looks set to include many more regulation changes to try and save both the planet and money at the same time. Making F1 technology more relevant to road cars is something they’re going to be pushing for.

In terms of the drivers, they continue to get younger and younger, fitter and stronger, but there is still room for old favourites like Coulthard and Barrichello, who could still be successful if only they had the right car beneath them. But then, they all say that, don’t they?

That’s all for this series. I hope you’ve enjoyed Sidepodcast’s History of F1, I’ve certainly learnt a lot about where it all started, and tried to share the important points with you. Don’t forget to leave your feedback, opinions and comments over at Sidepodcast.com, and check out our other audio and video podcasts while you are there.

Theme music: Friction Bailey, Hope in my History.