Sidepodcast

• Length: 24:13 
• Size: 22.3 MB 
• File: ancillaryomnibus1.mp3 
• Transcript: ancillaryomnibus1.pdf 
• Torrent: Coming soon 

The omnibus edition of the Ancillary F1 series, looking closer at companies that help Formula 1 operate but never get any of the glory.

Here are the links to the individual show notes:

1. Bridgestone
2. McLaren Electronic Systems
3. Tilke Engineering
4. Mercedes Support Vehicles
5. Météo-France
6. Philips Lighting
7. RTV

This is the first series of Ancillary F1, I hope you enjoyed it. If you have any suggestions for future companies or feedback about the ones covered above, I’d love to hear from you.

• Length: 3:11 
• Size: 3.1 MB 
• File: ancillary6.mp3 
• Transcript: ancillary6.pdf 
• Torrent: ancillary6.torrent 

Welcome to Ancillary F1, the mini series from Sidepodcast that takes a closer look at supporting companies, those that are involved in the sport but not directly competing. Today we’re looking at Philips Lighting.

This year saw the introduction of Formula 1’s first ever night race, and Philips Lighting got the chance to illuminate the event. The company has great experience in brightening up sporting events, with their first foray into stadium floodlights about 60 years ago. Philips, based in the Netherlands, but a multinational corporation, are involved in all aspects of technology, including healthcare, electronics and as we now know, lighting. The company already has some involvement in Formula 1, as Philips Shavers are a prominent sponsor of the Williams team. They have recently announced an expansion of the sponsorship, meaning the entire Consumer Lifestyle section will be on board, their name will appear on the teams clothing, and they’ll have promotional rights with Rosberg and Nakajima. However, the company has more to offer the sport than money alone and thus Philips Lighting took the next step.

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• Length: 46:30 
• Size: 40.8 MB 
• File: episode79.mp3 
• Enhanced: episode79.m4a 
• Transcript: Coming soon 
• Torrent: episode79.torrent 

The anticipation for Formula 1’s first ever night race has been building since Singapore was announced. Now we rake over all that happened, take a couple of calls, and get feedback from the circuit.

Intro

Doing a show on a full stomach may just calm the hyperactivity.

Good Week / Bad Week

A good week for David Croft and Richard Cregan who have both secured jobs, but a bad week for, well, everyone.

Qualifying

So many incidents, which highlighted issues with the marshals and intrigue about the safety barriers. Also, we discuss Trulli driving the wrong way round the track, and why Ferrari’s can’t turn circles.

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• Length: 11:22 
• Size: 10.4 MB 
• File: digest60.mp3 
• Transcript: digest60.pdf 
• Torrent: digest60.torrent 

What was already an exciting weekend has culminated in a stunning race with more incidents than we’ve seen for a long time. We also got yet another new race winner.

The Race

A much cleaner start than we were expecting, but the action was just saved for later as first Piquet and then Sutil brought out the Safety Car. All the pit stop action meant that Hamilton lost time, Massa lost his dignity, and Alonso lost his losing streak.

Conclusions

Everyone felt like it was a difficult day, especially because it was hot, it was long, and tiring. Really, everything boiled down to where you were at the pit stops, and our drivers tell us how they’re feeling after a lottery of a day.

• Length: 11:34 
• Size: 10.6 MB 
• File: digest59.mp3 
• Transcript: digest59.pdf 
• Torrent: digest59.torrent 

We’re back to a hot and humid race, so qualifying is all important to try and make Sunday that tiny bit easier. Listen to today’s F1 Digest to catch up with who was in the wall, and who was out in front.

Free Practice 3

Raikkonen and Fisichella both struggle to get to the end of the session, with the Force India mechanics having a lot of work to do. Meanwhile, Alonso showed that Renault are heading in the right direction.

Qualifying

What qualifying session would be complete without a championship contender almost failing to get through to Q3, a pit lane controversy and a couple of drivers in the wall? These three Singapore sessions had it all.

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So far, we’ve had three sessions of Free Practice, four hours of on-track action, and many, many incidents. Singapore has already far surpassed what I was expecting, so I don’t see how it can’t live up to the hype. Who knows what Qualifying will bring, but this is the place to find out.

The only thing letting the side down at the moment is the abysmal performance of the marshals. On the one hand, it’s incredible to see so many drivers struggling, hitting the walls, and generally having issues. But every time someone goes off, we have to endure the painful sight of incompetent marshals. They look like they’re not quite sure what they’re supposed to do, or as Neil said in the comments, whether they’re even allowed to touch the cars.

Hopefully this isn’t going to be too big a problem, because it’s the only blight on what is already turning out to be a stellar weekend. The scenery continues to be stunning, and I can’t wait to see what qualifying brings.

Alonso looks completely on it so far this weekend, but we’ll have to wait and see what happens with fuel loads. Hamilton is also showing well, as is to be expected, whilst Kovalainen struggles down in the mid-field. Kovi has also used his joker engine change for this race, so hopefully he can pull his socks up a little bit. Raikkonen and Fisichella both saw early ends to their Free Practice session today, and it’s worth keeping an eye on them to see if it affects their qualifying performance.

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I don’t know how the drivers are faring, because my body clock is all messed up, and this is a relatively normal race! Presumably they are all still coping with the European time adjustments (or non-adjustments, as it should be) but we will be able to tell once they jump back into the cars for Free Practice 3.

At the moment, the weather looks to be hazy, the humidity is about 60% and there’s a bit of a wind. My weather source says there’s a chance of a thunderstorm on Saturday night (Singapore time) but it also said that yesterday and we had nice, clear track action.

Talking of which, there was plenty to behold. I imagine Webber will want to get some more running in this morning, as he was limited yesterday following his crash. I don’t think the track will be empty though, as all the drivers hit the streets of Singapore to get a feel for what it will be like. Today will see the track at it’s closest to what it will be in qualifying, and they need to get all the data they can.

If I can tell the time right, which I’m not sure I can, the gap between FP3 and Qualifying is shortened, although not as manic as yesterday’s simple hour between sessions. We’re hoping to see a bit more organisation between the marshals, as it looks like they could really slow things down. It also appears the drivers had a really long briefing with Charlie Whiting yesterday with a whole host of complaints (my guess is Bourdais was particularly vocal) about the track, so it will be interesting to see if anything is done.

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• Length: 10:47 
• Size: 9.9 MB 
• File: digest58.mp3 
• Transcript: digest58.pdf 
• Torrent: digest58.torrent 

Our first look at the Singapore circuit was a wonder to behold, as the drivers struggled to make it round in once piece, whether due to their own issues, or the bumpy circuit.

Free Practice 1

The lovely lights of Singapore are merely a backdrop for all the on track action as first Webber and then Barrichello mess up their first go at attacking the newest street circuit.

Free Practice 2

Whilst Barrichello and Webber take to the track, Glock and Fisichella mess it up, and Hamilton and Alonso continue to fight it out for the top spot.

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We learnt three things from the first session:

1. Singapore at night is undeniably beautiful. Add in a lit up track and some shiny cars, and you’ve got something pretty spectacular.
2. Just a glimpse of FP1 was better than the entire Valencian GP put together.
3. The walls might be magnetic and the marshals don’t seem equipped to handle it.

Already, we’ve seen Webber crash into the barrier underneath the grandstand in great style. Barrichello also met the wall, and both times it took the marshals over five minutes to muster up a crane and sort the situation out. Early days, of course, but considering how many slips and slides we saw, it looks like it’s going to be a busy day for the tractors, and will they be able to cope?

We’ve barely had time to digest what happened in the first session, so let’s look forward instead. Hamilton beat Massa by the smallest of margins, and Massa jumped Raikkonen at the last minute. So far, all three are looking on form and they’ll want to get the most data from the track this afternoon.

There was very little running on soft tyres, and I’m hoping to see more action with the white stripes. The projected lap times were 1 minute 45s, and we only just saw that. With a bit of soft rubber bolted on to the cars, and some hard rubber down on track, we might see some faster times this afternoon.

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Here it is, then, the start of the night action. Admittedly, things have already been confusing, as the Friday practice sessions start much later than usual.

FP1 begins at 7pm local time, so that drivers can get as much running in the dark as possible. This means a midday start in the UK, with only an hour gap until FP2 begins at 2:30pm BST. Don’t worry, though. Stay tuned to Sidepodcast, and you shouldn’t miss a thing.

What do we have in store for us today? Usually, a Friday is the quietest day with only the occasional burst of traffic out on track. With so many variables in Singapore - a new circuit, a new climate, a new time of day - we should hopefully see the teams being a little bit more proactive.

Turn 10 has been causing consternation with a couple of the drivers, and the FIA have apparently been inspecting the bumps on the kerbs of the chicane. It doesn’t look like they’ve taken any action, and I don’t suppose they have time to do anything now. I wouldn’t like to see anyone’s day shortened by simply crossing the kerbs, but hey, that’s one solution to the chicane cutting problem!

[Update: Autosport are reporting that the bumps on the kerbs have been ground down and smoothed out to solve this problem this morning.]

I think almost all of the drivers have chosen to stay on a European timezone, so for them, this will be a normal morning’s practice. They’ll have just had breakfast, and be ready to jump in the car for a few laps in time for lunch… at 9pm. It’s weird, isn’t it? This entire weekend presents a unique challenge and spectacle, and I can’t wait to get started.

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