Sidepodcast

• Length: 1:12:02 
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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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• Length: 10:26 
• Size: 9.6 MB 
• File: digest64.mp3 
• Transcript: digest64.pdf 
• Torrent: digest64.torrent 

With just three races to go, the championship battle looked like it was going to be won or lost here. Thankfully, all it’s done is got just that little bit closer. Listen to today’s F1 Digest for a rundown of all the race action.

The Race

Considering we were expecting a dry race at Fuji to be on the duller side of things, the racing action was amazing. The first corner had an impact throughout the rest of the race, as drivers spent ages trying to restore the chaos of that initial turn.

Conclusions

A few penalties here and there, and a few surprises to be aware of, we take a look through the driver quotes post-race and find out how people are feeling going into the penultimate race of the season.

It looks like this weekend is going to decide whether the championship gets even closer, or is pretty much over in Hamilton’s favour. He leads to Massa’s fifth, and whilst Raikkonen and Kovalainen are both in the middle of things (in more ways than one), it looks like this could be the deciding moment.

So far, Fuji doesn’t seem to be a particularly thrilling race track. We’ve seen a couple of spins, and some running wide at Turn 1, but there doesn’t seem to be too much to challenge our drivers. Plus, that long straight is particularly yawnsome. The weather was supposed to play a factor, but with most forecasts suggesting a dry race, this seems highly unlikely.

However, you never know what’s going to happen, and it’s always worth getting up at 4 in the morning to see what’s going on. Both Toyota and Toro Rosso boys have made it into the top ten, and they may be able to wreak some havoc with the natural order of things. Coulthard is only just out of the top ten, and if he feels like doing some overtaking, we could see all manner of incidents.

It may be that the race comes down to action in the pit stops rather than on track. Ferrari have already had some worrying glitches with their reinstated lollipop, however that may just be the guys blowing the dust off and getting ready for the real action to begin. Honda have decided not to race with their new traffic light system, so it will be lollipops down the order, and here’s hoping that everything goes smoothly, and no mechanics get hurt.

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• Length: 10:16 
• Size: 9.4 MB 
• File: digest63.mp3 
• Transcript: digest63.pdf 
• Torrent: digest63.torrent 

The Fuji Speedway sees only a smattering of rain which clears up for both Free Practice and Qualifying. It looks like McLaren have the edge so far, but listen on to see who’s feeling confident ahead of the race.

Free Practice 3

The drying track meant for a slow start to proceedings, quite a few drivers taking it very easy and not wanting to get wet, and a bit of a surprise grid. Glock was up at the top a lot, as was Piquet, but it was Kubica who made it stick.

Qualifying

Only one major surprise in qualifying, was the BMW split, with one into Q3 and one not out of Q1. At the top, though, the championship battle is really hotting up, with team policies looking like they might come into play.

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All my forecasts for rain on Saturday have come true! I should have been a weathergirl. However, the rain arrived prior to Free Practice 3, so although the session was declared wet, the track dried out as time wore on. In the last few minutes, things went a little bit crazy and we saw Piquet in P1, with Coulthard in P2. Weird. Things righted themselves slightly and Kubica finished top with Glock close behind. Considering the Toyota’s strong form in all conditions, I’m holding out high hopes for Glock this weekend.

Ferrari left it late before they came out of the pit lane, which was hardly surprising. Lewis Hamilton finished in 11th during the morning session, as he obviously felt comfortable after doing just 8 laps. While his teammate also took it easy in the latter stages.

So, what does that mean for qualifying? It doesn’t look like they’ll be any more rain, so the track will have more time to dry. Grid positions are super important as the action is so close, and if there is any more precipitation, things have the chance to get mixed up even more.

Needless to say, we want your predictions. Who will win the battle at the top? Will the championship be all but sewn up here? Who will get pole for a Fuji?

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This is the last chance for our drivers to get their setups right before qualifying later in the day. Many struggled with tyre wear and grip yesterday, so finding the optimum setup is going to be crucial.

We saw Hamilton and Glock lead the Free Practice sessions, with Glock actually showing very well in the morning as well. Looks like Toyota know what they want at their home race, and they’ve got just the guy to do it. Whether this momentum will last through Saturday remains to be seen, but my guess is that the Trulliometer is slightly low. He says there’s no pressure to do well in Japan, but who’s he trying to convince?

Meanwhile, the McLaren’s seem to have their car hooked up much earlier than Ferrari, with even Kovalainen getting towards the top end of the timesheets. Ferrari seem to be taking it easy so far, Massa certainly wasn’t in a hurry to set any times yesterday, and although slightly behind at this early stage, there’s plenty of action still to come. With tyre wear such an issue, the difference between McLaren and Ferrari handling could become very obvious. Never count out BMW though. Their FP times weren’t stunning, but when are they ever? Kubica seems to have Heidfeld under control, and will be looking to do well in qualifying to keep his championship hopes alive.

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• Length: 8:13 
• Size: 7.6 MB 
• File: digest62.mp3 
• Transcript: digest62.pdf 
• Torrent: digest62.torrent 

A bright and sunny first day of action in Fuji, which meant there was actually very little of note. However, F1 Digest takes a quick look at what we saw and what the teams thought of their day.

Free Practice 1

A very quiet session, with Massa leaving it the longest before setting a lap time. Hamilton got an early glimpse of glory, whilst a couple of drivers ran wide off track.

Free Practice 2

Much more action, and the hot debate over which driver was on soft and hard tyres, impossible to tell. Glock and Trulli gave the plans plenty to see in FP1, and the former made it stick through FP2 as well.

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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 
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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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