Sidepodcast

• Length: 3:59 
• Size: 3.7 MB 
• File: people13.mp3 
• Transcript: people13.pdf 
• Torrent: people13.torrent 

Welcome to the penultimate episode of F1 People, a second series of seven short shows dedicated to profiling the important names in Formula 1. So far this series we’ve looked at both drivers, commentators, and the brains behind the car. Today we return to the latter subject, with Adrian Newey.

Adrian Newey was born on December 26th 1958 in Stratford-Upon-Avon, in the UK. He did not enjoy school, but worked hard enough to attend the University of Southampton. He gained a First Class honours degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics at the age of 22. His final thesis was on ground effects. Newey immediately joined the Fittipaldi Formula 1 team straight out of university and began working in motorsport. In 1981, he joined March and began to design the cars. His first was the March GTP sports car that won the GTP title two years in a row. Then he moved to March’s Indycar team, and worked on the 1984 car. Another successfully designed car took seven victories in its first year, and the title for the next two. Newey worked as both a designer and a race engineer, becoming close friends with his title winning driver Bobby Rahal.

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In David Coulthard’s latest column for ITV, he talks about yet another missed opportunity in Germany, the comparisons between Toro Rosso and Red Bull, and the future of KERS. But my favourite piece in his column, is just a couple of small paragraphs.

As an aside, I notice that the rear wing fell off the Toyota at Silverstone and it was a right-rear suspension failure that caused Glock’s crash at Hockenheim.

I didn’t hear of any investigation into the structural integrity of the Toyota – but presumably that will happen because when we had a suspension breakage in Malaysia we came under the spotlight of the FIA in a way that was publicly uncomfortable for the team.

Now, my first reaction to this was: “That’s because the Toyota didn’t smash into a billion tiny pieces!” Thinking about it, however, Coulthard does have a point. If there is a structural problem with the Toyota that has caused these last two failures, then it probably should be looked at.

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It’s a running joke in almost every single conversation about Formula 1 that Mark Webber is the unluckiest man on the grid. If he’s leading a race, his engine will blow up. If he’s in front of his home crowd, he will spin off spectacularly. If he needs the points, he’ll have someone crash into the back of him. If it’s just a regular day, his gearbox will fail.

My heart goes out to the guy, but I’ve been doing some thinking. It seems to me that he has made the biggest mistake of his life by joining Red Bull. The unluckiest man in F1, joining the unluckiest team?

Let’s discuss.

First, I’d like to wow you with some facts and figures.

In 2005, running two cars, RBR suffered 9 retirements. In 2006, it was 12. In 2007, it was up to 14. One race in to 2008 and they’ve already notched up 2. (Yes, alright so did a lot of teams, but stay with me, here.)

Sister team Toro Rosso had 8 retirements in 2006, 17 the following year and 1 so far this year.

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• File: Episode55.m4a
• Length: 15:04
• Size: 14.0 MB
• Transcript: episode55.pdf

Just seven days to go, this episode is of the shorter variety, as we at Sidepodcast get everything ready for next week’s podcast explosion.

Intro

The seasons almost upon us, can’t quite contain our excitement.

Good Week / Bad Week

ITV find their sponsor, whilst Force India aren’t quite free of Spyker yet. Mercedes have a new safety car, and Nigel Stepney is in the bad books.

News and Views

Trulli’s mood and some sneaky last minute preparations from Honda, Ferrari, Williams and Red Bull. Bridgestone do more white lines and we share our predictions.

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• File: Episode53.m4a
• Length: 34:29
• Size: 31.7 MB
• Transcript: episode53.pdf

Last week we looked at the drivers taking to the grid, these week we look closer at the 2008 contenders - the teams, how they’ve changed and how they will fare.

Intro

A quick update on the status of my bad luck - this week is better but I have proof that last week was the worst ever.

Good Week / Bad Week

Bernie Ecclestone gets someone onside, Super Aguri can’t find anyone, Fuji are looking to stay in the sport, and which one is Pinocchio Schumacher?

News and Views

Alonso has his main sponsor following him around, so does that means he’s a pay driver? We’re worried about the state of mind of Toyota drivers, they seem unable to stick to an opinion. And we briefly recap a very wet testing session, and discover we’re looking forward to the return of a previously disliked figure.

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• File: Episode48.m4a
• Length: 18:09
• Size: 16.6 MB
• Transcript: Episode48.pdf

This episode brings you up to date with the most recent launches, plus discussion of some of the more controversial rule change suggestions, all with an irritating helping of sampling fun.

Intro

The new keyboard, what it does and why he loves it.

Good Week / Bad Week

This week has been good for the environment, and for Hamilton’s long term future, whilst his and ITV’s bank balance look set to suffer from a bad week.

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Two days ago Christian Horner confirmed that Red Bull’s RB4 chassis will make its track debut in January. That in itself isn’t a particularly fascinating fact - announcements about new car launches rarely are. What is worth mentioning though, is the team’s new video, released today on YouTube.

A 30 second time-lapse sequence shows staff entering and leaving the factory in Milton Keynes and then confirms the car’s launch date to be 16th January 2008. The video is attributed to a user named sequencepostprod, which we can probably assume is related to the television company Sequence Post Production (SPP).

UK Formula 1 fans will probably recognise SPP as the team behind some of ITV’s title credits as well Martin Brundle’s “F1 Insight” series. Presumably the team have been brought in to work on the launch, but it’s odd that the video doesn’t feature on Red Bull’s homepage alongside the other official showreels, not to mention the fact that the production company decided to release it under their own name first.

Here’s the full clip in case you haven’t already seen it:

I wonder if this means Formula 1 teams are finally getting to grips with viral videos and social networking?

We’re looking forward to 2008 already.

• Length: 04:57 
• Size: 54.3 MB 
• File: video13.m4v 
• Transcript: video13.pdf 
• Torrent: video13.torrent 
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Prior to the Hungarian Grand Prix, Red Bull took it upon themselves to set up camp in the city of Budapest. Join Sidepodcast, as we catch up with the team to see what went down at the historical Chain Bridge when the Bulls met the Lions.

Gerhard Berger, Tonio Liuzzi and Mark Webber all hit the streets in their Formula 1 chargers while a special guest joined in to oversee the action.

Music played: Black Lab, Mine Again

Music comes from music.podshow.com, with special thanks going to Red Bull Racing and RTV GmbH for the use of their video footage and images.

• Length: 04:13 
• Size: 46.5 MB 
• File: video11.m4v 
• Transcript: video11.pdf 
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In a behind-the-scenes special, Sidepodcast takes a look at Red Bull Racing’s Faces for Charity campaign. This initiative saw more than 30,000 F1 fans sending in personal photographs to replace the racing cars traditional livery.

With insight from Mark Webber and Christian Horner, Christine talks you through how this amazing idea, that managed to raise over $1,000,000 for the Wings for Life spinal cord research foundation, came to life. From uploading her photo to a website all the way to the cars hitting the track.

Music played:

3 Blind Mice, Your Face is Not Enough
Allison Crowe, Sea Of A Million Faces

Music comes from music.podshow.com, with special thanks going to Red Bull Racing, RTV GmbH and GEPA Pictures GmbH, for the use of their video footage and images.