Sidepodcast

• Length: 10:05 
• Size: 9.3 MB 
• File: digest32.mp3 
• Transcript: digest32.pdf 
• Torrent: digest32.torrent 

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.

It’s raceday in France and we’re just a little bit excitable this morning. When was the last time anyone said that prior to the French Grand Prix?

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?

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This mornings one hour practice essentially told us nothing in terms of who has pace and who’s having problems. Without wanting to pick on the guy too much, you know something’s not right when the first name on the timing sheet is Nelson Piquet Jr.

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.

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Saturday dawns then, and seeing as this is the home country of the FIA’s preferred forecasters Météo France, you’d expect this weekends predictions to be pretty accurate. However, no-one seems to know if it’s going to be a wet or dry weekend. Stuart pointed out in the comments earlier, it’s clear skies and bright sunshine at the moment, so we’ll go with that.

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.

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After the worlds most uneventful first practice, we soldier straight onto FP2 in France. The weather down that way is still mild and the sun may break through shortly.

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.

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It’s Friday morning, and Formula One returns to the middle of nowhere for more racing action. Round 8 of the F1 Calandar and the destination is Nevers, France.

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.

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• Length: 8:34 
• Size: 7.9 MB 
• File: digest29.mp3 
• Transcript: digest29.pdf 
• Torrent: digest29.torrent 

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.

• Length: 06:14 
• Size: 71.8 MB 
• File: track8.m4v 
• Transcript: track8.pdf 
• Torrent: track8.torrent 
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Last year Bernie Ecclestone claimed there would be no more outings to the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours, yet Formula One returns there once again. In honour of the track that, despite being almost universally loathed amongst paddock regulars, will not disappear, Sidepodcast takes a spin around rural France to see what’s there to amuse our drivers this time out.

We also catch up with the sole French driver on this year’s grid, Sébastien Bourdais. Hear his thoughts on his debut F1 season, the support of the fans and the French federation as well as racing in Magny-Cours. If one man (other than Bernie) can save France’s place on the racing calendar, it’s likely to be Le Seb.

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Just over a week ago Christine pointed out on F1 Minute that revised safety car procedures would be tested out during the French Grand Prix weekend. Details were sketchy at the time, although she did say that it would likely involve the use of the standard ECU.

A regulations revision is needed in order to work around a side effect of rules introduced at the beginning of 2007, which, in an effort to remove the incentive for speeding back to the pits, sees the pitlane closed to anyone wishing to take on fuel. The problem of course is cars already running on fumes have no choice but to stop, and this has already ruined races for Kovalainen and Heidfeld this year.

Practice Makes Perfect

During this week’s Renault podcast, the team’s sporting manager Steve Nielsen divulged a few more details about what might happen next weekend in Magny Cours.

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If I said that December 15th 2002 was a significant day in the history of Formula 1, you might struggle to recall why. If I also said that January 9th 2003 was an equally important day, you might start to believe I was losing my mind. That may well be true, but first a brief history lesson.

At the tail end of the 2002 season a certain Flavio Briatore was coming under pressure from his paymasters to bring some French blood into the team. The Renault brand had recently returned to the sport and there was an apparent desire to see an injection of national identity.

As the team’s test driver, Fernando Alonso, was being promoted to a race seat, an opening had appeared for such a talent, and Mr. Briatore opted to try two up-and-coming Frenchmen for the role. One was reigning Formula 3000 champion Sébastien Bourdais, while the other was the 2001 World Series champion Franck Montagny.

On the 15th December 2002 the two went head to head during a test at Jerez, and although Franck had previously got the better of Sébastien while they were team-mates in Formula 3, Seb managed to come out on top. He finished both ahead of Franck, and also in front of Fernando.

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