Sidepodcast

• Length: 1:12:02 
• Size: 62.0 MB 
• File: episode80.mp3 
• Enhanced: episode80.m4a 
• Transcript: Coming soon 
• Torrent: episode80.torrent 

This week we discuss Canada’s removal from the calendar, and all the action from the Japanese Grand Prix, plus we have a record number of call about the subjects too.

Intro

Of course we’re tired, but that still doesn’t mean I’m important enough to be in good week / bad week.

Good Week / Bad Week

A good week for test drivers and sponsorship deals, but a bad week for Renault and the other manufacturers.

News and Views

It’s all about the lack of Canada on the ‘09 calendar this week, and pretty much nobody is happy about it.

Qualifying

We talk about the tyres, what we were expecting from Fuji (which wasn’t much), the few incidents that were worth talking about, and of course, our race predictions.

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What a turn up for the books, Fuji was all things bright and beautiful. I could even see the top of the mountain. It’s a very pretty circuit once the clouds clear, although 5live did say that they may be returning so we’ll have to see what happens ahead of FP2.

In terms of the action, it was off to a slow start, surprising given how little dry running the teams have done at the track. In fact, apparently there has never been a dry grand prix at Fuji, so no one knows what to expect, really.

It looks like the usual McLaren/Ferrari battle up front, with Hamilton getting first dibs at the top spot earlier this morning. Massa has the legs on Raikkonen, but so, it seems, does Kovalainen. Meanwhile, the Japanese contingent, Toyota and Honda both finished in 15th and below which isn’t exactly impressive showing. Nakajima had us worried for a while, running around at the back, but he pulled it out of the bag and slipped into the lofty heights of 10th.

There were no major incidents during the first session, a few drivers explored the run off areas, but no one came to any harm. The main issue was the green tyres. Whilst we’ve made fun of them, and called them ugly, they’re actually useless. It appears that no one ran soft tyres in FP1, but there’s no way of knowing because firstly, from a distance the green isn’t significantly different from white, and secondly, the stripes rub off after only a couple of laps. David Croft of 5live said we could quote him: “It’s rubbish for the sport.”

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Hands up who thought they were going to get a break after the great racing in Singapore? Me too, but we haven’t had a chance to blink. Following Alonso’s amazing win, we’ve had controversy with the calendar, Ferrari admitting their pit stop failures, and the confirmation of a couple of team lineups.

Now though, it’s time to return to the track and today we’re at Fuji. The poor old Speedway has two major problems. Firstly, almost everyone prefers Suzuka and secondly, there’s the big mountain that threatens the weather at every turn. Last year wasn’t the best race we’ve ever seen, so hopefully the weather will hold off this time around.

At the moment, it’s looking like Saturday is the only day with a chance of precipitation, but forecasts can often be wrong (especially the way I read them), so it’s best to wait and see. If it does rain, we at least will be spared the sight of Bridgestone’s luminous green stripes, but I believe that would be the only benefit.

Elsewhere, we have already discovered that Glock will be taking his freebie engine this weekend, and I’m expecting to hear more announcements as we progress through the Free Practice sessions. There are only three races left, and they can’t use it in Brazil, so now seems like the opportune moment.

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• Length: 06:05 
• Size: 72.1 MB 
• File: track16.m4v 
• Transcript: track16.pdf 
• Torrent: Coming soon 
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Formula 1 continues its relentless tour around the globe, this weekend taking in the sights and sounds of Japan. Fuji Speedway is the destination and while it’s not a classic venue by any stretch, the scintillating battle for the title means there could be more to this weekend than meets the eye.

As ever Sidepodcast provides the full rundown of the current state of play, what to expect before Sunday and a detailed look at the track that sits directly beneath a mountain. We catch up with local hero Nakajima as well as hearing the thoughts of a man who knows things.

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Ah, the beauty of Japan and China, where we get to indulge in some more night racing antics. Of course this isn’t half as much fun as Singapore night racing, but simply us European viewers having to get up at crazy o’clock to get some on track action.

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• Length: 3:40 
• Size: 3.5 MB 
• File: ancillary4.mp3 
• Transcript: ancillary4.pdf 
• Torrent: ancillary4.torrent 

Welcome to the Sidepodcast mini-series Ancillary F1. This series is all about the companies the sport couldn’t live without, but who get none of the glory. Today, though, we’re looking at a company who do provide a car and sometimes take part in races.

Mercedes Benz have been providing the Official Safety Car to Formula 1 since 1996, along with the Official F1 Medical Car. The Safety Cars services are called upon when weather conditions, or an accident, mean that drivers shouldn’t be running at full speed. Since 2000, Bernd Mayländer has been the man behind the wheel of the safety car, with a co-pilot by his side. The pair are in constant contact with race director Charlie Whiting, to determine when the car is needed and when it should pull aside.

Since 1978, and Ronnie Petersen’s fatal accident, the medical car has been dispatched behind the grid on the first lap of the race. The first is notoriously the most incident prone lap, so it makes sense for medical attention to be as close as possible. At the end of the first lap, the medical team pull into the pit lane, ready for any further call to action. There are four personnel manning the medical car, Dr Jacques Tropenat, Dr Gary Hartstein, and two assistants.

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