Monday, and the day after the day before. F1 is back in business and we've ticked one event off of the 19 race calendar already. It will be a further 11 days before cars take to the track again. It looks like we have some time to kill.
Christine has entrusted me with daily duties, which I interpret to mean "discussing in-depth technical aspects of the site at great length". Something I shall gladly do.
This weekend, marked for Sidepodcast, the culmination of 4-6 months worth of work. During the off-season many hours were spent shoring up weaknesses of the old live commenting system, to enable the smooth experience of the past four days. I'm quite relieved it all worked as expected.
The debut of the Factbyte Factbox marks the new technical direction Sidepodcast.com is heading in. We bought a brand new server from Rackspace to host the system, and after a solid weekend's work, we'll be migrating the rest of the site there shortly. I don't remember the last time we had so few technical issues during a race weekend, and in fact the only downtime experienced was a 60 second server outage caused by the two of us attempting to publish F1 Big Picture and F1 Minute articles simultaneously. In over three years, we've never crossed the blogging streams before, and we should probably avoid it in future.
Back to the subject of F1, what's new for Monday?
- I've just been reading the latest edition of GrandPrix+, which might explain the delay in posting the daily. Joe and David are far more optimistic about what they saw in Bahrain than we have been. I understand races in days of yore used to be slow burners, building to a climax, but does the Playstation generation really have such patience nowadays?
- Lukeh debuted a new report card rating system on his blog, and he's given race number one a resounding 'D', although he is looking positively towards Australia.
- F1Photos offers a unique look at yesterday's first lap incident between Kubica and Sutil. I approve of the frame-by-frame sequence, and hope to see more as the season progresses.
- Finally, Gavin published his comprehensive analysis of the opening Fantasy Racers round. I faired better than I was expecting, so haven't started sulking about my position just yet.
That'll do for me. Don't forget to listen to Christine's F1 Digest roundup today, I don't remember the GP episode appearing as early as Sunday for a very long time. The girl worked incredibly hard throughout the whole of the race weekend, and I stand in awe of her work.
Hello Monday
hello
ooh, i just realised i didn't check the calendar. thankfully, no birthdays!
Hmmm. maybe I should add mine. Right there with JV :D
That sounds like a good trial for a new server. Didn't know it was happening but very happy it worked so well
ooh, may we?
I can, it's a good job for lunch time
well, I would if I could find the wiki page.
haven't really gone into it, so you din't miss anything. i'll maybe blog about it in more detail soon. the company were recommended by alex, they have really good support and the price is within the range we're paying for mediatemple's shoddy service.
the fbfb uses the same technology as live comments, but because it's only live every fortnight we can fix things at a sensible pace and not impact anyone.
working out well so far.
Well, now THERE is a topic for discussion. I've always been intrigued by different generations' attention spans.
*Puts Service/Change Management hat on*
Are we expecting any downtime for the migration?
Hmmm interesting. I......wait, there's something flashing over there!
Now I was complaining of boredom, but I would say I have a very long attention span. I really like dragging things out and looking forward to them. Maybe that's odd.
nope, should be seamless. max 5-10 minutes.
http://wiki.sidepodcast.com/page/SPC+Regulars
Nick? Is that you?
:D
I'm not sure i'm that regular :D
Ooooh. Like Spa for example? ;)
Cool. :D
I really can't afford it. There really is no way :P
but not for a while yet. this weeks challenge is to get the live streaming server up and running.
This is answered simply i think;
1. Yes, the 'playstation generation' (i really hate that phrase) do have a shorter attention span and less patience; however,
2. Formula 1 needs to realise (along with Motorsport in general) that it needs to appeal to the current generation too.
Yeah, I guess you mean me. I've never had a playstation :(
iphone generation?
who are?
gosh today has gone very quickly! Only 3 hours of work left and 45 minutes of that is break times! I must be working hard or something.
It means anyone under the age of 25ish
Thing is, they say the next generation has an even shorter attention span than we do. So F1 will need to adapt to that too?
And also, you have sports like golf that is also very much a "slow burn" sport, but it was hugely popular with Tiger around. Which tells me if there's a person they can follow around, they'll follow something that lasts for 4 days. And F1 is just 2 hours a race at most.
i kinda meant the PS3 generation, e.g. kids/teenagers who represent the future of the sport. people who aren't into it now because it's... quite dull.
even worse :D
*up and coming
Live Streaming! HOORAY!
that isn't really what i meant then. what should i change it to?
some sports are intrinsically (haha bad spelling) the same, as you say, golf being one of them, but the way the coverage is broadcast makes a difference too, if theres golf on you can push your red button and follow any person round the course
twitter generation?
that is interesting. although golf doesn't appeal to me in the slightest.
aha no. i hate all things that catergorise people, so you'll never find one that i like
F1 needs to be accessible to the fans too.
The fact we STILL have no HD feed is unbelievable, but is typical of Bernie's attitude, why does he need to, if he has tv companies buying the feed already ? The man needs replacing, he's had a good innings but it needs some fresh vision.
Also, the fans need more than 90 minutes F1 one action for £100 + entry fee to sit on a muddy bank. It's simply not good enough and we need more overtaking, full stop.
Eurgh golf....? Does anyone actually enjoy that? When I worked in the coffee shop, I did some cover near the Open and the people that came by all looked very weird.
no no no no no
Oi! I like golf, although playing and not watching, its quite relaxing/stressful!
ahh right. the point really is that people (like me) who like things to be constantly happening, might struggle to appreciate a slow burning race. it may be a myth that younger people get bored more easily, i have no idea.
"young folk"
is this why fota wanted shorter races? Because our attention span as a whole is bad?
Now you just sound old!
I like watching golf! But then, I watch a lot of sports, so that might not mean much in this discussion. :)
old-ish
I would think so, yes.
i think i'd include you in the bubble of people i was refering too, but i think that we as uber-fans have alot more invested in the sport than 'turn the tv on at 12 and off at 3' fans and so maybe we expect more
I had so many windows going yesterday I didn't know where to look!
They need two races, one a sprint race and the other about 50 laps. Sprint race winner is on pole for the longer race, if same drive wins both, 2 points extra or something.
there's some research kicking around that says, average attention span for cinema is 1hr 30min, tv is 1hr and computer screen is 30mins and mobile 10mins.
(or something close to that)
if more people watch races on smaller screens, they're attention span should reduce regardless of age.
No likey.
I don't agree, thats just turning it into something else, if you want querks, GP2's on after (or before, i forget)
The sprint race idea was proposed by Tony Purnell in around 2005, IIRC. It met a very... mixed response.
After in our case.
Elaborate ?
can someone write me a creative entry on how technology has changed how i support f1? I wanna win a tv but make no effort ;)
so my idea is... let's all watch F1 in cinemas! :D ;)
(Just kidding.)
It worked ever so well in A1 gp.
www.sidepodcast.com
Is this an LG TV?
Initial thoughts - LCLT/FBFB, Twitter/Twitpic, blogs (Joe, JA, Stuart).
:)
i would totally allow for slow burning races. you're onto something.
Bingo.
Just say twitter, blog blah blah
the mans right!
This is not a unique idea. I remember my local cinema showing some races maybe 3/4 years ago. I never went, as I remember it, they were charging a fortune for tickets.
ha. And where is A1GP now?
ahh yeah. we forgot about bernie.
yup, commentated on by Jonathan Palmer and Ben whatever his name was.
Websites, such as this, red button on the beeb, blogging, twitter feeds etc
No doubt because the rights were costing them so much.... But £10-15 is waaaay too much to watch something you could see at the same time on your tv for free.
Nick is a flasher? You kept that quiet
Ben Edwards, the F1 DVD commentator.
IIRC, there was a video clip of Abu Dhabi 2009 going around that was shown in the cinema and had commentary by Ben and John Watson.
Joe needs captions on the photos in GP+. I don't know what some of those old cars are.
:D
:)
That was due to money. Brands was RAMMED last year and the year before. Close, fast racing and £30 to get in.
i shall add something about sidepodcast giving me people to watch races with on the other side of the world. One thing i have learned about creativity contests is that if you can make it rhyme you will win ;)
:D Noooooooo!
I think the worst thing he's ever done is wander off in the middle of a conversation because he was convinced someone was hiding in his AC ducts....
I know that, but F1 is meant to be non gimmiky, one race, no messing.
2 races is putting the entertainment before the sport
Very much so. Good luck, Amy! :)
And that comes down to Bernie's greed again.
rhyme? like a limerick?
It is odd that as the attention span gets shorter F1's ability to be instantly gripping is lessening. As with so many things it is headed in the wrong direction.
You would think a sport would so many steering wheels would be able to head in the right direction
*Waits for Amy to come up with all the ideas before I enter*
hehe!
Perhaps, but F1 needs television audiences to survive. How we made it through the schumacher era amazes me.
because F1's better without him?
I would hate that. A grand prix should be a grand prix
Simple: a compelling personality with a compelling storyline. First, as a young gun, then as Ferrari's savior. By the time we got to the middle of his dominance, he was kinda like Tiger in that a lot of people tuned in wanting to see him win again... and again... and again...
And as Steven will tell you, Schumi fans can be some of the most... passionate out there about their man.
that's also true. we'd be tearing it up something proper if that happened now.
Daniel is nodding.
ill fight you for it, i need a tv for my lounge :D
There are cinemas showing races live in the UK
What did we come up with then? Well, we got a tyre war back, then they tried changing the car regs, then later they banned tyre changes.
Which isn't much in the great scheme of things.
you can have my tv if i get your one that you win?
14" TV/VCR combi FTW!
I already have one, so I best not win it.
I loved the tyre war and I loved the one tyre thing, it totally worked (if i remember correctly!)
true enough.
But it was so boring when Michael would streak off into the distance and just lap after lap of redness. I heard the Italian national anthem soooo many times I can hum it to myself without even trying. It was dull dull dull dull. I mean the 2000-2004 era of the mikey and jean show.
He is a paranoid flasher?
Oh yes. So, so, so, so much better without him
It helped and doomed McLaren at the same time. Although it made pitstops utter non-events.
not sure if this is significant, but just changed the homepage pic and noticed williams have a lollipop lady: http://sidepodcast.com/
at that a first? am i backwards in assuming all pit-crews were male?
I'm going to tell him you said that!
heeeeh!
Is this from Christine's sequel?
oh yeah! thats really cool!
no deal jon, i already have a 14" in there its too small! Its also not digital so i cant watch f1 on it :D
Hmmm. That's a good idea for Christine's sequel. :D
no idea. they always have helmets on, so it's hard to be sure.
As someone who would only get an f1 dose from the radio as we had lunch on sundays, I can say I was always satisfied when I heard Shumacher had won. I like people breaking records and the such.
Please don't hate me.... I was just a child! :P
You should get the Schumi spirit back, Alison! It's good! :D
I think Christine refered to the German anthem followed by the Italian anthem as F1's theme tune.
First one I am aware of. I am not aware of a woman being involved in pit stops
Grrrr. Lunch is over.
Evening all
Ooooh cool. I guess generally most of the kit is really heavy, a woman might not be able to manage it so well within that kind of timeframe.
a squished lee and a squished holly (sunglasses in front of MS): http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/97694535/AFP
aww they stick together :)
aha, A writer for F1 Racing Spain has mistakenly used @feederseries (my site) instead of @feeder_series (gp2 twitter) so I recieved the following tweet...
http://twitter.com/tabathavalls/status/10364140711
:D
Morning everyone :)
aloha
indeedydo!
I had a lovely Monday, I found out my new pay rate, and apparently I am in my temporary 2 week job until June. This makes Spa saving much easier!
Wow, you must be a good supervisor/manager. :D It's quite the magic trick to turn 2 weeks into 2 months! :)
one of the other supervisors has applied for a new job and they've told me that if he gets it then I can have his job so fingers crossed it might become properly permanent :D
WOW. Awesome stuff!
Morning....
I did not manage to avoid Slater on Star SPorts unfortunately. Nothing has changed there. He still mixes up drivers, teams, team mates. Although to be fair to him, the extra number of people racing in F1 must have made life unbearable for that guy :-)
Haha! I missed much of that thanks to the BBC feed. :D
From what little I heard though, Gary Anderson gave very good insight. What do you think?
frankly, I was so irritated by that S person that I could not care less who else is talking what. not sure how would I handle if I had to put up at the same time with irritating Slater and dull race. oh, hold on ... :-)
Morning ;)
afternoon
Hello one and all.
Morning.
♥ Mark Webber: http://twitter.com/AussieGrit/status/10504206488
Morning Christine :)
I guess him swearing is ok now then? ;)
Hmm. I don't really find that offensive. Perhaps I should have marked it as having swearing in. Apologies.
Nah, it's not that bad at all really - especially given the context!
Morning everyone. Fire alarm thing at 9am just as you settle down for a lecture is silly.
he is right though ;)
Like you would have stayed awake anyway ;)
it did wake me up to be fair
Red Bull
Eh? It was supposed to say Red Bull (Less Than) Fire Alarm!
The fire alarm stole your words :)
Tweets of the Week: http://www.f1minute.com/2010/03/14/tweets-of-the-week-14th-march-2010/
Sadly not featuring Mark Webber, but a rather spectacular tweet from Jaime.
He truly is a very shouty man.
JAIME TWEETING!!!! IS EXCITING!!!
I like that English is not his first language, and quite often he doesn't make sense, but even he knows that a lot is two words. I kind of love him for that, it's my most hated mistake.
His tweets remind me of Brick from Anchorman
Nothing from Claire?
She's been very quiet this week. Sent Liam to Bahrain.
I DON'T KNOW WHY I AM SHOUTING!!!!
I'm watching the race again. It's not any good second time either
Booo. Hope she is in Oz. We might see her!
Why would you do that?
I just noticed his bio is "GOOD RACING I PUSH, NOT GOOD MUSIC I DO NOT DANCE"
I don't have a clue what hes on about but I love it.
Not quite but close ;)
I don't remember seeing anything lat night I was commenting and watching my PC mostly.
I am going to get SO stalky that week. Twitter is going to be mighty helpful I think.
I might even start watching twitter
I agree.
No need to watch it again - we have the FBFB now ;)
Haven't seen it for a while but that was one of the best bits!§
true, and it skips all the boring bits
I might pull that line out from time to time when I am in a club. "not good music i do not dance"
Ahh. Well, if we don't hear from you for a while, we'll know you've fallen asleep.
True :D
wooooah at that a simoleon logo!
It seems like quite a good philosophy to have for life in general.
Wooo at my rubbish typing?
Tweets of the weeks are more interesting. I might turn the race off soon, they have done the pit stops.
Heikki: Got back home eventually, went around over the Geneva city a few times cos someone had reserved the runway or something...
......Lewis? :D
I didnt even know therewas a button for that!
Apparently it is this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Section_sign
SIMOLEON HAS SYMBOL!!!! I TYPE!!!!
no no... the guy with private plane living in Geneva races for Silver Arrows and wears red helmet I believe
ohh I forgot he was there too :D
Do you think he asked the pilot to Schumi Chop him in mid air?
Was Nelson Piquet at the World Champion's do at Bahrain?
Nope :D
Nope, he had better things to do, like be angry at F1
nope, he and Kimi missed
Hmmmmm. OK. Would have been interesting
Even his Brabham wasn't there!
hehe.
but Mr Brabham was
He was, and not looking too bad
Was really good to see that actually - I hear he is ill with Kidney problems...
Yep, there was a TV show about him here last year, and he seemed quite sick, so he may be managing it now
I just realised my last 5 tweets all end with a !. I need to calm down.
I think you're feeling a bit Jaime
You'll be typing in all caps next.
our names rhyme. Maybe he can help me win that TV.
Rubbish stuff from The Times calling Karun an expensive flop
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/formula_1/article7061689.ece
Oh. The race has finished (again) I missed the last 15 laps.
Will you watch it a third time?
but didn't you hear?
"that was one of the great races i have seen for two reasons. 1. it felt like forever since the last race of '09 so i couldnt wait any longer and 2. there was close racing and a lot of cars getting sideways. if you watch F1 for the crashes, you are not an F1 supporter, your an idiot."
I hope not. There must be something else on. ;-)
Nice to see Kevin Eason carry on from where the other guy left off...
?!
who said that?
Um. Apparently not :D
Was just going to ask that!
someone on the Aus GP Facebook page :D
I know it wasn't Mark Webber!
oh well there you go then!
see, that's why I'm not on Facebook. Too many weirdos!
wow...
article like that does not really deserve any attention or comments ...
his friend says ", to tell the truth this shows that you guys are not even real f1 enthusiast you rather see crashes than a good race. and last nights race i dont no if it was the tension of waiting so long for the season to start again or it was just simply a good race but last nights race was a more exciting race than most of the other races last year. "
If this is the sort of people I will be surrounded by at the track I am going to need a protective SPC barrier.
Yikes, you forgot to mention the two people agreeing with him
Internet writer of the year apparently: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/more_sport/article7054707.ece
but...the tv! ;)
Now we know where our unwelcome friend hangs out then ;)
getting 404 error on that page
Ha! That's where it is :D
"your an idiot" is my favourite fail-insult of all time.
ahem.
You're and idiot
it appears that most of the entrants missed the bit that told them to be creative. Someone from SPC has to take it for sure!
Well it worked for me. You don't need to read the article as it's briefly mentioned at the end...
Or I'm perhaps.
Correcting an error with another error
Dave Gorman does a bit on his radio show where he does spoken-word poetry from Internet Forums. It's very funny - last week he took it from Sugababes forums over the name change argument!
Blackberry is not as good as iphone for doohikey
just found out from mail from suixtil that ex GT Cup team mate of my friend is this year racing in WTCC. I should follow these series more often than once a year in Macau :-)
by the way, nice web with classic old racing photos they have - http://www.suixtil.com/passion_escuderia_suixtil.html
Guys,
My friend just told me he cannot make Spa this year. Is there anyone driving down/going in a Campervan/has a spare bunk in hotel that I could meet up with and tag along?
You're friends with Darryl O'Young? Cool!
theres still 3 spare beds in our luxurious motor home ;)
Right ... how much and where can I meet you? I am willing to fly to the UK for it...
Ping: http://sidepodcast.com/2010/03/15/a-bumper-week-for-christines-rankings/
I am driving with Mr Bassano from London, I do not know who else is driving or if there is still room in the car so he would be the best to speak to about that :D The motorhome is roughly 670 Euro so about 111 Euro each (if we get all 6 beds filled, there is a double in there so if no one wants to share we might have to max out at 5)
OK... I am very keen to join you then. Bassano, if you're reading this later, let me know what you think as well..
the place says: "On Friday and Saturday evening, a special Grand Prix buffet will be served in the restaurant of the campsite. On Saturday and Sunday morning, you can buy takeaway breakfast and lunch. Both for the buffet and the takeaway meals, reservation is necessary. On Friday and Saturday evening, there will a disco in the bar."
Food, drinks, why would you stay anywhere else? :D
And you're at the circuit, right?
What kind of GP tickets are you buying?
send me your birthday and if you want to rent bed covers from the camping site via wiki. Once you do that, I will note you down as 'for sure' and in case you can't come you have to find a replacement or pay up #isevil.
its about 8km away but they do a shuttle on Saturday and Sunday and I'm sure Friday would be easy to work something out as well.
I have gone for Gold 4. If you decide to go for that let Bassano know and he can give you the booking number to provide so you can sit with him, me, Pat and Chris.
That's a fair call. I will be going - it was just a question of waiting for my mate to say no.
By bed covers do you mean sheets etc? Are you guys doing that?
I am travelling with a sleeping bag liner because I hate hostel sheets, but I can't remember if I committed to hiring them at Spa or not :D #monthsago
Amy and me both have tone of these youth hostel slepping bags and I probably will bring an extra sheet because I'm weird like that.
You cancelled your order in time ;)
ahh, good :D
I only have GA :(
Well if I go GA you can hang out with me ;)
Kathi, message sent as requested.
I am kind of digging this new #MFC Heikki. Now that he has an official Facebook I can know his interests are "Pasta, sports, fast cars and metal music Gym, cycling, cross-country skiing and golf" and laugh at the fact that Pasta is first. :D :D
thank you
Dear Bassano, only 2 beds left ...
*cough*updatethewiki*cough*
http://wiki.sidepodcast.com/page/Spa+Grand+Prix+2010 :D :D
Thanks, have done...
:D Thank you :D I love that wiki page...
I'll resist the urge to change ours from definite then.
+1 for putting pasta first!
grrrr
What's a metal music gym? Sounds scary.
Christine have you ever found the things that went missing during moving?
My netbook bag is missing, is there any hope I will get it back and where should I look? :)
Can I just add that Pat and I have a mate on another forum who went to Singapore last year and loved it?
Even if the race is boring, it's worth going for the spectacle alone...
On Facebook they are on separate lines :D #amyfail
We still have some boxes unpacked. I kinda of assume everything I can't find is in there. Most of the time I just buy new stuff instead.
Yup, I know that. It's not just about the racing.
Although at the moment, I'm worrying enough about having to watch Australia, let alone going to Spa! :)
if it gets boring just play 'spot the Amy'.
I'll try and tackle Heikki in parc ferme, that'd get me on TV!
:D
It's your call in the end, but I see this as a once in a lifetime opportunity and I really want to attend a race and meet you all and have fun!
The one letdown from Le Mans was that the people I travelled with were more concerned with staying in the campsite than seeing the race :(
Hehehe! I will definitely look out for that!
Speaking of the man, he says "Seen a lot of comments about yesterdays race and how boring it was for spectators, I agree totally, we need to do something about it. Ideas?"
Looks like we have to tell those guys on Facebook that both Webber and Kovy aren't real F1 fans and they should just stop watching it.
:D
replied
Oh, see, if he'd done that an hour or so earlier, he woulda got extra points.
he was too busy circling the airport that a certain German had closed (we assume)
I'm not here so commenting quick. :)
I may join you.. I'm a bit frustrated at waiting for a nice place with wifi given that it'll cost more now we've waited and the options are fewer. I have this thing where I don't like people spending my money without asking.
In any case my budget has changed, and it would be nice to be in a group..
Gavin: I'm hoping to drive.
Pat: Legend. Looks like I will be flying into Gatwick... Where can I meet you (I cannot legally drive)?
I should add I'm hopeless at looking at hotels (I did try) else I'd have done it meself :)
The campingsite has wifi but I wouldn't expect to much from it :(
Send me a message through the wiki when you have decided.
I was thinking that when we get enough people to rent either one of those big tents too or pitch a small one in the luxurious mobile home's front garden.
I've no idea, we can work that out later. I assumed we'll rendezvous somewhere and convoy over?
Sounds good!
I found looking at hotels everywhere else super easy but for some reason Spa was so beyond me. I think it's because its in the middle of a forest instead of the middle of a city.
Don't forget the SPC trip to the Speights bar before we depart ;)
Good enough for me to write a quick and dirty blog post and stick a few photos online.. if there's time :)
Good idea. Give me somewhere flat and not to uncomfortable and I'm happy.. though as a driver I bagsie a nice spot!
I am rushing around today and tomorrow, will send you something soon.
That's exactly it, and I don't know French. Couldn't work out what had transfers... plus they were all pricey so I was obviously looking in the wrong places.
Deal!
I wouldn't mind sleeping in the tent and just use the electricity and maybe kitchen of the luxurious mobile home. BUT I don't have a tent.
I don't have a tent, because I don't tent. Ever.
I do have a tent just not here and it's too big. But I love it. When I was little I camped in my parent's garden during summer. #happymemories
I used to camp in the lounge, but that was inside so it didn't count :D
We had a Caravan when I was a kid, but when I got a bit older my parents bought me a small tent. It was awesome - the first day I had it I camped in the garden and I remember the nosy neighbours started washing their windows to have a look!
One time in Scotland, it was really hot and the midges were really biting, so we all moved from the caravan to sit in the tent and played cards ;)
don't worry, i can be optimistic for the both of us.
(again)
so long as the old man keeps on loosing, we're all good.
I kind of love Stuart's latest tweet a whole lot. I can't help but be a Lotus fan :D
hammer, nail, head!
So, @tonyfernandes & crew flew back via Abu Dhabi in economy, Virgin's marketing dept went business... remind me whose cars finished the GP?
This time it is not so much that I am pessimistic, but more that I can't be bothered to do something for a sport that does nothing for me :)
have to say i'm quite shocked at the reaction on the interwebs. is anyone out there trying to defend f1? it seems like the world just realised it sucked.
nah, the true f1 fans thought it was awesome, the rest of us aren't real f1 fans because we only thought it sucked because there was no life threatening crashes.
ahhh, i knew there was something missing.
Hi folks,
How's everyone feeling the day after the day before?
it feel happier than the whole of twitter it seems.
i think i'm happy that it's not just a few people who are chuffed off with the racing, but instead the drivers are questioning things and so are the teams.
no answers of course.
no answers yet...
standing by my thought that the refuelling ban is one year too early - should've been twinned with the double-diffuser ban in my eyes
even if true, that isn't going to help us in two weeks time.
i can't see why the rulemakers can't swallow their pride and just admit the changes didn't work. bring refuelling back for the rest of the season and rethink things properly
would the cars need any sort of redesign for refuelling now?
Tony Fernandes comes across really well when he speaks. I get the feeling he really wants the team to succeed and not just be a vehicle for his businesses...
the hole isn't big enough, but the main issue is the rigs aren't on a plane heading south.
Stuff it, just take all of the champions' cars that ran this weekend and race them against each other. Much more interesting!
Wonder how Branson is feeling this morning?
Well we can hope for a better race in Melbourne.
I'm thankful that there is a bit of a storm brewing on Twitter (well, it feels like it!), a lot of the journos and the drivers are starting to make their voices heard.
It cannot continue like it did yesterday.
Mandatory stops will just add more artificial ingredients to what is a dull set of regulations.
It's time for some serious action on the amount of downforce produced. The drivers don't enjoy it, the fans don't enjoy it.
agreed.
Also I think the new layout did not help at all
It won't. Australia will be better. Bahrain was never a good race anyways.
Another badly thought out idea. Sometimes it really does feel like they put slow corners in to make it easier for the cameramen to shoot the logos on the engine covers. I would not be surprised if that was actually the case.
I snorted when the prince of Bahrain told Martin on the grid he didn't want to see long straights with 90* corners.
In all fairness, the season should never start in Bahrain... ever!! For a spectacle it's just awful.
Did anyone notice when Alonso was doing his slowdown lap, he was fist out and waving - but there was no one to wave to as there weren't any stands around
Wasn't there a rumour for a while, that there were a number of slow corners per track to help with trackside advertising?
That's what I said. Any numpty except those who make the bloody circuits seems to know what makes a good one!
It was just as bad in 2006 when it started the season too. It's just a flat place.
tony dodgins is suggesting this is all part of bernie's master plan to add shortcuts...
"A shortcut you could use so many times a race so that if you really get stuck behind somebody then you could still get past. I'm pushing for it but sometimes people don't understand these things too well, they don't see the advantages." - Bernie
http://www.autosport.com/features/article.php/id/2677
I agree, I think it will be better, but after that, which is the next race that we all genuinely look forward to? Okay, Monaco is special, but rarely a thriller. I guess the next real race we probably all enjoy is Canada. By then that's almost 1/3 of the calendar gone!
Advantages = another section of track to put adverts?
will's latest post features a picture of franck:
http://willthef1journo.wordpress.com/2010/03/15/saying-farewell-to-an-old-friend/
That is an incredibly well-written article.
Can I just say again how much I love Gascoyne and Lotus?
"I think for those who said that new teams shouldn't be here, you saw Heikki fighting with Hulkenberg and all of that, well, we're here, we're racing, and **** you!"
I think the story of how Colin's son gave them his cap is so lovely! :D
It is. It's like they have officially passed on the baton.
I always liked that Buxton fella.
My money's on Damon
Mika!
I feared this would happen. We'd start with a dull race and everyone would blame the new rules. They might be right... but Valencia '08 was dull. Abu Dhabi '09 was dull. Let's see where we are after Sepang (because Melbourne always gives an odd race).
I found the race boring because there was no strategy to watch and no overtaking to replace it. How can that not be because of the refuelling ban?
not only that, all the drivers found it boring.
Pat, how does this relate to your post that you wrote last week?
Great article
Did Mika drive his McLaren? It wasn't on telly here for more than a few seconds.
It could be due to the long track? I can't work out what the strategy is for a normal track. I have an idea but I'm not certain.
I've been trying to sqaure that circle myself :)
I have no idea, I didn't see it on telly at all, and he didn't seem to be in any of the photos I quickly browsed through.
Is there going to be any? They come in, they change tyres, they go out again. Woo.
Dunno, we'll see. Perhaps it would've been better to get rid of qualifying-with-fuel, that bored me.
The other thing to note is when a big rule change happens it has the effect of splitting up the field. When narrow cars and grooved-tyres came in McLaren leapt to the front with a big advantage. I think over time the field will close up again but the testing ban won't help that.
there was a massive rule change last year and things didn't get markedly worse?
In fact, quite the opposite. The field got closer
Then I give up
:)
To be fair, no one expected that. At all. That proved to be the exception to the rule Pat stated. Most pundits said what Pat just said.
Hello, folks.
After the race yesterday and people talking about the swanky "official" F1 iPhone app, I'm right on the verge of dropping the 33$ for it. This is my last chance to change my mind.
Any good compelling reasons that it's *not* worth the price?
I didn't hear this: http://twitter.com/JRobertsF1/status/10522348288
Anyone else hear during the podium celebrations Bob Constandurous shout, "It's the rosewater and pomegranate waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrd!!!"
I'm not totally sure he's serious. :D
Worth checking though!
http://twitter.com/teamSCboard/status/10522503277
Hahaha! :D
(hearts) bob!
scarbs on petrov: http://scarbsf1.wordpress.com/2010/03/15/bahrain-petrovs-renault-retirement/
Is it possible to download the f1 calendar as icalendar file?
does kathi's guide help at all myles?
http://wiki.sidepodcast.com/page/Calendar
more nasty shenanigans from bernie?
@f1timingapp: FOM changed the feed from the spec. First we knew was when the race had started s3 was s2 and pits wasn't there. Fixed next race
I don't like to fly but I would get on that plane: http://twitter.com/karunchandhok/status/10524350714
I tend to follow the adage: "never attribute to malevolence, what can more easily be attributed to incompetence"
true enough. but his own live timing carried on just fine...
Well, it was a bit squished.
also a good point.
by the way, partly cause there were no compelling reasons not to get the app, I purchased and installed it a wee bit ago. If it's rubbish for the rest of the season, I'm going to blame Sidepodcast ;)
Really though, I wanted to spoil myself and have the nice shiny app. I really do hope it's worth it.
I Love the Stats on AUTOSPORT Plus :)
http://www.autosport.com/features/article.php/id/2676
hehe, cheers :)
i love it, it changes you perspective on the race when you know the relative distances between drivers.
it's a bit geeky for me, but they always do good post race coverage.
They just saved me a big copy and paste job!
Mr. C: are you planning a Sidepodradio this year? Because I have a pretty good idea that I'd like to work on over the next few months with some of the others here.
I am sure even if it didn't happen they would help you broadcast it (EG Giggles Radio)...
exactly, but i think we will, assuming christine doesn't jump off a cliff in a bout of no-refuelling depression :)
12 Hours of only vaguely F1 related broadcasting? I'm all for that.
Let me run my idea past you, then...
You know the Discovery channel ad... the "Boom-de-yada" song? If you do, I'd like to do a Sidepodcast version of it. With lyrics referring to the show and community members singing one line each
for reference: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=at_f98qOGY0
:)
Evening everyone. Ugh, what a day. Bob Geldof was onto something!
I like this post: http://www.stuartcodling.com/2010/03/put-sock-in-i/
If only for: "Saint Martin of Whitmarsh beat the Frystarter to it on this occasion..."
hehe. please dooo!
itv just knocked off good-week-bad-week.
see their new feature: good weekend bad weekend
hehe. in all fairness we didn't invent it either.
more surprising is why on earth ITV still have an f1 website?
Hahaha, just got a clip off the iPlayer just to see if he actually did that. he did indeed!!
I love this tweet from Karun.
http://twitter.com/karunchandhok/statuses/10527052284
Mr C... do you know about this bug... it's a minor one but if you click on a link in the doohicky to a post on a comment it takes you (quite rightly) to the comment. But if you scroll up and hit "continue reading" to get the rest of the post it doesn't seem to work...
Evening everyone :)
Hiya alex. How are you today?
I'm doing okay. I've had a very busy day today and I'm about to go out to dinner... So things are looking up :)
How about you?
Yay for dinner! Always a good part of the day ;)
I'm ok. Uni has been totally rubbish today though (I hate software egineering and UML models!!) so I'm happy to just relax at home!
I have just had a very surprising situation where a page that looks great on the computer but doesn't work well in mobile safari. I'm going to have to spend some time debugging my css. But it's quite surprising!
Debugging CSS? How is that surprising? :)
Who'da thunk it? Heikki loves his Flight Simulator - http://twitter.com/H_Kovalainen/statuses/10529055182
Leo crowd surfing at live Diggnation.
http://twit.cachefly.net/video/specials/specials0010/specials0010_h264b_640x368_256.mp4
he did it! Love that.
evening folks
Hey Leigh
What goes on Lukeh?
Not much. Keeping my eye on texts as our local football team could win the league tonight a good 2 months or so before the end of the season :)
Which just blows me away as they're usually utterly awful. How about you Leigh?
Nowt much. Just in the door, but feeling a couple of write-ups coming later on. Dinner is a priority though - has everyone calmed down yet after yesterday's race?
I feel compelled to link you to this: http://nln24.com/vidiprinter/archive
Hey all.
Oooh! Cheers RG :)
Hello all, just been uploading my latest purchase to my iPod Touch and have a suggestion for Giggles Radio H
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eq5pzufCZuY
From Karun Chandhok
:D
I think his plan is to win Christine' rankings
Could be a goer - in all fairness to the guy, I thought the way he and Bruno handled the weekend was marvellous. Hoping they get more miles in Melbourne
That.is.amazing
Evening!
Hey buddy :)
hey
Cape Town is Gorrrrrrrgeous!
Amazing food too
Sounds like you're having a good time, what have you been up to?
A final note from yesterday - the Bahrain GP had lots of desert, open spaces and slightly sparse grandstand. The Brazil IRL race sold out capacity and even had an extra 6,000 people queuing outside to get in - who loves racing!?
Hi Bassano
Beach sunsets, the harbour
Safari tomorrow
Then Robben island and Table Mountain cable car
Packed tube
A grey building with a second rate lunch
And Radio 1 blaring away through my head
Looking forward to the twitpics
Cold and snow
Database failed
people asking me for loads of random stuff
four hours of commuting.
Hmm...
Yeah, need WiFi for that now, spent 30 quid on data so far, on top of the 10MB I purchased before I left
Perhaps when you get back then ;)
Flickr choices will be hard!
Warm and sunny.
Rushing at work to get desk cleared.
Mad dash at home getting washing, packing, cleaning, cooking done.
36hrs to go
F1Wolf's game results
http://www.f1wolf.com/2010/03/2010-prediction-game-round-1-results.html
Hm. At least I beat RG.
I shouldn't have put my faith in Sauber this weekend.
Rookie error RG
;)
I believe they call it bias.
I should get back to my business. Not business. Busy-ness. Need to write 3 blogs posts and update a permanent page. 2 for now and 1 to go up next week. Erk. And hang up my washing. And call my sister on Skype. I'll be about..
I saw Christine was going to her happy place on twitter and rushed here to see what is up.
I must finish getting ready for work.
Boo to only getting 15 minute blocks of SPC. I seem to have my priorities wrong lately :)
PING: http://sidepodcast.com/2010/03/15/f1-debrief-this-is-an-absolute-nerdfest/
the 2010 f1 season didn't start with a bang.
it was more of a poof.
Yaaayyy!!!
I think it did start with a bang...
...Just a shame it was down into the foot
How did you get that done so quickly? you started redcording late last night and have been commenting. Did the FBFB edit this?
:)
hehe!
I think it exposed the terrible decisions made over the last decade with car regs. Standard engines, standard tire strategies, and loose aero regs.
I don't know if anyone saw the IRL race in Brazil this week, but it was great. One of the reasons why? They took out all of the fuel management and other computers from the car, making the drivers foot responsible for managing the engine.
I think F1 needs to put the drivers in control more. Allow them to make mistakes.
Everyone is raving about how good this race was. Gonna have to watch it now ;)
Once again RubberGoat, apologies when I gave the result away...
:(
By the way Brazil IRL race (4.5 out of 5 from me)
:)
Don't worry, if you think that F1 is predictable, the IRL is the same thing all the time. Penske / Ganassi wins!
6/5 for me, really only because of the Fantasy IndyCar. But still.
No problem - I would never have watched it if I hadn't found out it was a good race!
Aye - after years of watching CART / IRL, I'm stunned when someone else does take it. It's almost like the shock of someone other than Schuey winning in 2002 and 2004
Idea for a fix.
Get rid of the mandatory two tire compound rule during the race. Have Bridgestone bring one more tire compound option and let the teams figure it out. That way people can no stop if they want, or quad triple stop if they want if they use the super softs.
I'd agree with that - in fact I don't think that rule should have ever bring introduced in the first place.
Something else that occurred to me about drivers wanting to go for more pitstops is that the pitlane speed limit may work against that - if remember, the speed limit was only introduced from France 1994 onwards. Prior to that, it was a case of bolt down the pitlane, get tyre and bolt out again.
I have wanted that for ages. If Leis wants hards and Jenson wants softs let them have them. If Vettel wants a different compound on each corner let him have them
hello
Hi Lou
Evening :) you alright?
heyyy
Lou, how did it go?
i'm shattered and have an awful headache. Just got home.. everyone okay?
it went really well, shame i don't really like the uni.. and actually going there has put me off of it..
The speed limit is for safety. You don't want cars doing 150MPH down the pit lane.
I wasn't stating for a single second that it be withdrawn - I was stating something about the pre-'94 rules
Hello. How was Southampton?
Then it was worth going there to learn that
Oh fair enough.
Yep, I remember those races.
I meant that drivers will no longer risk 3 stops now, because the speed limit has to be taken into account now. Pre'94 that wasn't the case and drivers could bolt it...
They would risk 3 stops if the tyres were good enough and made a big enough difference. It's all about total time for the race. If you can gain enough time with a better tyre, they will do it. I'm sure Ross Brawn, for one, would try it.
Probably - but I would also love to see much of the aero removed from the cars. That is quite the priority me thinks.
Just found out i've been rejected from Falmouth :( i'm puzzled, as they basically told me i had a place.. and kinda devastated.... unis suck :(
Really sorry to hear that Lou. What are your other prospects?
That is a real shame. You should ask them why they rejected you afte telling you had a place. Don't be afraid to have a go at them and tell them you liked them and want to go there and were under the impression that you had a place. Contact the bloke they introduced you to and get his opinion.
Falmouth was my top, others are Farnham, and uni of kent :s i'm thinking i'm gonna have to take a gap year...
yeah will do in the morning.. or later in the week. I'd like some feedback, if only to prevent myself from being rejected from the others..
If they said you had a place and you haven't, it is worth calling them
Lou, I'm sorry to hear that. I bring you some smiley Jenson to help :) http://view.picapp.com/pictures.photo/editorial/sports-news-march-2010/image/8254932
(hearts)
Awww lou :(
I'm so sorry *hugs*
Today was a horrible day. I should just have stayed at home.
it's stupid, but it now makes me feel like the whole going down to cornwall thing was a waste of time, and did much more harm than good. gah!
i have a bad headache and need to sleep, thanks for all being so nice. Night xx
Night Lou - sleep well, you'll feel better tomorrow...
Night Lou. Sleep well xx
Don't think of it as that, you got to see a beautiful part of the country, you got interview experience and don't let their decision affect your interview confidence or anything like that because I can speak for everyone here when we say they made the wrong choice... you are an amazing, amazing photographer and if they don't see that then that's their problem. You'll go onto far bigger and better things. You can only move forward so don't regret the past.
Hope your headache gets better too, just don't let it all upset you too much :(
I. Cannot. Write. My. Blog. Post!!!
Think I'll head off... night.
Evening guys.
I thought I'd setup a Lap Leaders Championship. I managed to Compile the Results for Round 1
http://drop.io/startledbunnyf1/asset/f1-llc-2010-r01-pdf
It's not as much work as it looks. A little HTML and a lot of Find/Replace use. Just a bit ropey on the design front.
Rubbish stuff from The Times calling Karun an expensive flop
http://www.tim..._1/article7061689.ece {Comment #194}
I'm glad I read The Metro and The Telegraph instead while awaiting my interview this morning, then. At least they merely observed that he retired from the race (The Metro concentrated on the Alonso and boredom factors while The Telegraph just zoomed in on the boredom)...
Sorry to hear this Lou.
It's their loss.
I do like a table where Liuzzi is higher than Schumacher
If you blog that I'll link to it.
Uh oh, I did a blog update on MCM!!!
http://turkeymachine.co.uk/excitement-in-f1/
Don't expect the comments to come flooding in!
i can't see why the rulemakers can't swallow their pride and just admit the changes didn't work. bring refuelling back for the rest of the season and rethink things properly {Comment #292}
That would be a disaster - the cars would need to be completely redesigned for that to work otherwise there would be seriously unfair advantages to some teams and besides, nobody has a pit-lane-ready refuelling rig any more (so it would have to wait until at least Spain for logistical and safety reasons, or else everyone would have to refuel in the garage - accentuating the unfair advantage for some cars and also disadvantaging whoever pits second half the time).
Just found out i've been rejected from Falmouth :( i'm puzzled, as they basically told me i had a place.. and kinda devastated.... unis suck :( {Comment #447}
How disappointing and duplicitous! I'd expect more honesty from a university. A more honest university will surely see your talent for the shining wonder it is and gladly take you on board. Meanwhile... *hug*
tony dodgins is suggesting this is all part of bernie's master plan to add shortcuts...
"A shortcut you could use so many times a race so that if you really get stuck behind somebody then you could still get past. I'm pushing for it but sometimes people don't understand these things too well, they don't see the advantages." - Bernie {Comment #307}
What advantages? It's a variation on the push to pass/defend/KERS theme and that avenue may work for the likes of A1GP but it does not work for F1!
A bit basic, but here it is. I'll probably flesh it out during the week.
http://thestartledbunny.blogspot.com/2010/03/f1-lap-leaders-championship-2010-round.html
OK - but it needs a pretty graph ;)
Just before I hit the hay, one big massive excuse for me to do everything I can so Timo wins something this year. With that, night and lotsa love.
Good for him, if only they were all as straight talking as Mark, just Like EJ, JV and Swervin Irvine were ! The rest just tip toe around not wanting to offend anyone. Good for him being outspoken and spicing things up a bit.
Quelle surprise the little dwarf has stopped the grid walk with the drivers. At least no one can cause a fuss with any outspoken comments !
Bringing back refuelling doesn't necessairily introduce more overtaking, only overtaking whilst a car is stationary, that's exciting, isn't it.
Yay for overtaking whilst your rival is stationary having 12 litres per second of highly flammable liquid pumped into the car.
They need to reduce the dependency on aerodynamics for grip, so that cars can follow closely in the wake of another car.. this may just give us a chance of some overtaking. as long as the stewards agree it beforehand and no one is in ANY danger whatsoever. Couldn't have a driver chip a nail, now could we !
cool. although isn't #mcm an off-season thing? there's no chance we could keep that up all year :(
it beats knowing the race result on a saturday.