Sidepodcast

• File: episode69.m4a
• Length: 01:22:20
• Size: 76.1 MB
• Transcript: Coming soon

This past weekend we went to the British GP for all three days and had an amazing time. It was action packed both on and off the track and this bumper show is packed full of our experiences there.

Intro

The show is late because the British GP was brilliant and exhausting.

Good Week / Bad Week

Good week for Teams and Coulthard (although McLaren may not see it that way), and a bad week for Dutch courts and the independents.

News and Views

We talk about David Coulthard’s decision to quit, who will replace him and what he will do now. Discussions take place regarding the Silverstone vs. Donington debate, and that’s not the last you’ll hear of it this show.

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• Length: 9:53 
• Size: 9.1 MB 
• File: digest36.mp3 
• Transcript: digest36.pdf 
• Torrent: digest36.torrent 

It was wet and cold and for those of us camping, not a particularly pleasant experience. But what a race! Every single second of that Grand Prix made up for every drop of rain, and today’s F1 Digest aims to cover all the action.

The Race

What a stunning mix of strategy problems, tyre issues, and overtaking maneouvres. I don’t think I’ve ever seen quite so many spins in my life, and poor Massa’s reputation is ruined once more.

Conclusions

Interestingly, many of the drivers out there seem to have had a bad day. Even race winner Hamilton says that it was one of the toughest races he’s ever driven. Only Nakajima seemed to enjoy himself, but that’s okay, because I know the crowd did even more.

I can’t actually think of a particularly justifiable reason for including a picture Tamara Ecclestone in this post, but she was helping Jenson raise funds for the Make a Wish foundation during the Silverstone weekend, and frankly that’s all the excuse one needs.

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One of the most unique experiences of our entire Silverstone weekend was this year’s Honda Dreamfields campsite. For 2008, in order to support their Earthdreams marketing programme, the team hooked up with a company called myhab to provide us with our weekend accommodation.

We’d never heard of them prior to the event, but a bit of Google due diligence informed us that myhab provide luxury festival accommodation that’s green and hassle-free. Or to put it another way… they make tents out of cardboard!

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• Length: 9:49 
• Size: 9.1 MB 
• File: digest35.mp3 
• Transcript: digest35.pdf 
• Torrent: digest35.torrent 

A wet final Free Practice session turned into a damp qualifying, with some new faces ending up at the front of the grid.

Free Practice 3

Some very unusual timings Alonso and Webber towards the sharp end, and some of the usual suspects struggling more than you’d expect.

Qualifying

The rain held off for the majority of the session but appeared just in time to ruin Honda’s day. Webber was so close to making the front, but Kovalainen really wanted his maiden pole position.

Conclusions

Williams are less optimistic than they were yesterday, whilst BMW are hoping they’re on the way up. Ferrari are not at all happy with how the day went, whilst McLaren are reasonably satisfied. Listen to today’s show to find out how the other teams feel after the days events.

We’ve fallen slightly behind over the last couple of days, and we’re in catch-up mode at the moment, but I just wanted to put this picture up as I think it perfectly encapsulates our entire weekend.

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After what might possibly be the season’s most dramatic qualifying session, we now head into race day.

Right now it’s raining a lot, and doesn’t show any immediate sign of stopping. The sky is very grey, with no glimpse of a break on the horizon. It’s also blustery and cold. Not the perfect conditions for a Formula 1 car by any means!

While the line up at the front of the grid is certainly one for the history books, we’re looking forward to the run through the first section all the way down to Stowe. What can the out of position Massa and Kubica bring to the race, especially considering Felipe’s charge through the field last year? It may be DC’s last home GP but he’s been outclassed by his teammate so far this weekend, he’ll be looking to make amends on a heavier strategy.

We’re sitting in the grandstands overlooking Magotts and Becketts, wave if you spot us on TV.

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With a wet start to FP3 and a dry end we were treated to some great insight as to how the cars may fare in Qualifying this afternoon. It’s all weather dependant of course - at the moment it’s cold and windy but hopefully will be a dry start to Q1.

Alonso finished at the top of the sheets, and with the Renault looking particularly good in the changing conditions, he’ll be hoping for more of the same this afternoon.

As for the rest we’re probably not in the best position to be passing comment, but with Kimi in 9th and Kubica in 19th, we’re as confused as anyone else as to who’ll have the upper hand this afternoon.

Qualifying starts at 1pm in the UK. Lord knows where we’ll be watching, but we’re going to miss all of ITV’s build up, available online. Don’t forget Bernie’s token fan guesture on F1.com too. Radio 5Live will also have commentary from 1pm with Davidson in the box.

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At the time of writing, this is what we know. Massa, Trulli, Alonso and both Toyota drivers had a scrappy Friday, all spending time out of their cars. BMW appeared to be lacking pace, but that wouldn’t be the first time on a Friday and Vettel’s outclassing his French team mate, while Kovi looked impressive in FP2.

We woke up to pouring rain, which has cleared up now. The wind has picked up considerably though, and with a wet track, the question is who will brave the tarmac to provide a dry line? If the weather stays fine it should dry up before qualifying, but today’s first session is another story.

As it’s FP3, we’re looking for yet another spot to watch the action. We know for fact the BBC will be offering commentary, Bernie has live timing online, but there won’t be anything coming from ITV’s direction until qually. More information can be found on our F1 on the Internet page.

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F1 Digest was all done, written and ready to record, but we had to wait for the 5live folks to finish their extended broadcast for the British GP. It was actually fun, because there’s free beer and we got to listen in. However, just as they finished up and cleared the media tent, so the fireworks and the live music started. Presumably this was no coincidence, but unfortunately we at Sidepodcast do not have the power to ask them to hold off for ten more minutes!

So, apologies are necessary for the lack of an audio show, but if you missed any of the action today and want to know what will be said as soon as I get a chance to record it, I’m providing the transcript. Releasing the words before the show is even recorded is a first for me, but there you go. This post will remain, but you can find the finished show linked at the end of the transcript.

Intro

This is the second edition of F1 Digest for the British Grand Prix weekend, and this time we’re coming to you live from a field just outside Silverstone itself. The height of glamour, you know? We got to see the action first hand, but we also managed to keep in touch with the live comments. Hopefully this show can combine the best of both worlds.

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