On the face of it, yesterday was a pretty dull day. The weather brought proceedings in Portugal to a halt, and the teams all packed up and went home, their testing finished with. However, elsewhere, little tidbits of F1 news were beginning to surface.
- Bernie has told the BBC Asian Network that there definitely will be an Indian GP in 2011. After the idea seemed to be off the cards, with development halted, it now seems like it's all back on. Mr E does admit that F1 will have a tough time against the national sport of cricket, though.
- Ferrari have suddenly decided that their KERS device may not be so bad after all. They've spent the last few months complaining that they were nowhere near ready running it, but after their lonely test in Mugello, apparently they're now pleased with the progress.
- Alonso went training with the winner of the 2008 Tour de France on Tuesday, which meant spending some time on a bike. I would have thought drivers would be keen to stay away from bikes, after Webber's mishap. Still, he came away unharmed and cyclist Carlos Sastre was invited to the test in return.
That's it for today. It's Friday which means the week is almost over, and that makes me happy. Therefore, keep chatting away, and I'll see you in the comments.
Toes Go In First!
:(
C'Mon! That was funny - Thank God Its Friday!
it was original.
and there's me assuming you're looking for unique ways to sneak "first!" into a comment ;)
I'm quite sure that Force India do not stand a decent chance of getting a podium at the Indian GP if it happens, even if it is Mallya's aim. Maybe with rain and Sutil at the wheel, but on pace, I don't see them jumping that far in 2 years, BMW they are not.
You've caught me out :-)
There is some blond joke out there about TGIF = toes go in first instead of thank god it's friday. I felt very clever for a few seconds but Zoe quickly groaned her disapproval when I told her.
But McLaren they (mostly) are!
hehe.
if the man's already talking of leaving... what of the chances it'll still be called force india by the time we get there?
in that case i vote zoe does first comments of the day from now on ;)
You mean he didn't get in an F1 car to race the bike?
ouch!
:D
ahhh, one smiley isn't enough :D
I don't think I'm slow with F1 news, but I have not heard such talk, although I'm sorry to say that I wouldn't be surprised if the team was sold within 5 years, just annoyed and disappointed.. Got a link handy?
discussion a couple of days ago:
http://www.sidepodcast.com/2009/01/21/daily-21st-january-2009/#comment-178869
mostly speculation about long term commitment, nothing concrete though. apologies.
Fair enough. I don't see that team making big progress in the next 2 or 3 years though unfortunately. I can't see any team from the ex-Jordan crew doing so, mainly because of the history of buying and selling. Shame, I like Mallya, but since Midland, I've lost most of my compassion for that team.
what would it take to bring it back? essentially they still have the same staff, and we were chuffed when they did well in italy. they seem to throw some cool parties and they should be as exciting as reb bull, but somehow they haven't quite captured the magic i guess.
A Bollywood movie trailer perhaps?
You think Fisi might be a better actor then Jarno? ;)
website just died at exactly the point i updated doohickey. for a second i thought i brought the internets down.
just making sure lclt still works too.
I think you have a problem with the doohickey it's posting comments from Feb/08 now but you probably know that already.
hmm? i don't see them aitch. what am i missing?
When I fired up my computer this evening I got nothing no lclt,doohickey or website 1/2 hr later lclt & website working but I got this message from the doohickey. server error requested method "wp_get recent comments" does not exist. couple minutes after that message comments started coming in from Dec 20 2007.
very strange. can you do me a favour and try refreshing your browser on the realtime page please? i'm not seeing any of that. :(
That seemed to do the trick, I don't know why I didn't try that oh I know why I think I'm computer illiterate. :)
tis my fault. sounds like i didn't account for browser caching! glad it's ok now though :)
Me too as in me Jackie not "me" Mr C, Oh wish I'd not started that sentence LOL. Morning :)
Bernie's divorce still seems to be on the cards!
Here's a link to a Telegraph story http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/celebritynews/4317300/Bernie-Ecclestone-hires-Guy-Ritchies-divorce-lawyer.html
Just back from seeing the new Tom Cruise movie - Valkyrie. I resisted the urge to live comment from inside the theatre. I would describe it as a very powerful movie but please keep in mind that I am easily entertained.
It's a little weird that they all speak English with either American or British accents. The conspiracy theorist in me thinks that they chose an English actor (Bill Nighy) to play the part of the 'weaker' General because it's an American made film.
Admittedly I'm a couple of days late on this one; but I wonder why Renault decided to ditch di Grassi for Grosjean as reserve driver this season? di Grassi was probably the best driver in GP2 in 2008 whilst Grosjean never really found the form he showed during the Asia Series earlier on in the year.
Video from yesterday: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=y34tgqWXGHg
maybe he did a 'bourdais' and refused flav's contractual advances?
awww, don't let christine see the heikki. she'll want one too!
Bless.
What the... http://drop.io/sidepodcast/asset/bmwhatthe-jpg
Caption competition time! :-)
Ah ha ha. Love it.
that's gotta be embedded:
When BMW said they wanted young new recruits for their pitcrew, this isn't exactly what they had in mind...
You haven't seen the 2009 cars yet? This is what they look like!
:D
"I really wanted to join the Cirque du Soleil, but I was too tall!"
Here we see the Stig(s) in his(their) natural habitat.
I just posted and got told I'd already made that comment. Using the standard daily post page.
:D
odd. i see your comment.
Police are looking for a balding, middle aged man wearing a grey mercedes jacket who has been seen lingering suspiciously around a local playground
we may not be able get hold of, or even afford the ING survey results. but apparently whitmarsh may have:
"There are a number of different surveys that have been interesting, but the teams themselves are funding market research looking at race format, qualifying format, what's important, and what are the cardinal points of Formula One that we need to make sure we retain"
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/72960
another bad interview translation coming up then... on the subject of the new algarve test track:
The circuit is characterized by its height. Pinheiro deliberately designed the job on the hills that were already there.
"We wanted to build a circuit that was different than the other circuits. We also wanted a circuit that is challenging, and we want drivers like to come back. That is our successful, given the reactions of the Formula 1 drivers"
sounds like f1 has a viable replacement for tilke right there :)
also, food for thought re: donington:
"We started in February 2008 and the circuit was in October 2008. That is indeed quite fast"
more here: http://www.f1today.nl/nieuws/2009/01/22/exclusief-interview-met-circuitdirecteur-algarve/
artic rally
They've finished the second special stage.
Kimi is 16th 1Min09 back
JJLehto 19th 01.13
Mika Häkkinen 20th 01.24
Mika Salo 22nd 01.37
'BMW take new extremes in finding new ways to speed pitstop times'
:D
Also, I've just picked up F1 Racing (boo hiss boo etc) and Murray's article has a nice writeup about Honda and Rubens. :)
New recruits at the Stig training school
BMW mechanics explain to the new guy what happens when you get 60,000 Volts up you arm.
Wow, all relatively close to each other then. Interesting as well that Kimi is quicker than Mika who's done rallying before :P
Why don't you like F1 Racing?
According to the guy trying to do a handstand, it shoots out of your bottom :-D
Wouldn't Kimi's driving style suit rallying though?
it's all kicking off in the gpda:
"Formula One drivers are refusing to sign their mandatory FIA superlicences amid a fresh dispute with the sport's governing body about their price, autosport.com can reveal."
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/72964
...Although the 2009 increases are purely the result of inflation, it is understood that the Grand Prix Drivers' Association (GPDA) is deeply unhappy about the price increase. Under the current fees, world champion Lewis Hamilton will have to pay 218,920 Euros for his licence fees this year...
How much do these guys earn and how much do they save in tax when they live in Monaco or Switzerland?
Having said that, I would like to see a breakdown of costs from the Superlicence money taken last year...
way too much to be complaining this much.
however, on the flip side the fia send drivers out testing in cars that have failed mandatory crash tests. so they've hardly put this year's extra income to good use have they?
So the Renault never passed the Crash Test? Interesting...
""We spend a fortune on safety and most of it is for the benefit of the drivers," Mosley explained. "A lot of the people who have otherwise been meeting the bill said 'Hang on a minute, these drivers are all earning megabucks and we are spending a fortune to try and make sure they are safe. So hence the increase.""
They should have taken action last year. Max's argument about safety costs is ludicrous. The FIA is responsible for providing a safe environment not the drivers. I think before Max finds out what the drivers earn he should provide us with full details of the FIA's F1 income against what it could have got for the commercial rights in an open market instead of his behind closed doors deal with Bernie. He should also provide open access to his finances before he tries to find out about anyone else's.
I would love to know what you can insure an F1 driver against for less than 3000 Euros. That wouldn't cover sporting injuries sustained in a lift.
as yet, we don't know. but it's unlikely they could've fixed the car between the failure and the unveiling.
i think steven or alia pointed out, cars testing can be whatever the teams want them to be.
if the team say you're going around on a unicycle, that's what driver's have to do.
It failed two of the three mandatory crash tests but they are still allowed to test it. This is the world of Max the great instigator of F1 safety.
I love it! I just got the feeling that it wasn't liked so much here. Last time I mentioned it it got compared to a comic book :(
twas ladysnowcat, but she pointed out she's in the minority :)
christine's take:
http://www.sidepodcast.com/2008/05/20/f1-racing-to-recovery/
What they earn is irrelevant. Apart from anything else what they pay is in no way related to what they earn. Alonso is one of the biggest earners but he will pay a lot less than Kubica who is not. Last season had Lewis Hamilton not been able to agree a massive increas in salary his license fee would have been more than his salary.
There is absolutley no reason for a license to cost more than a nominal fee. There should be a flat cost for a license. What difference does it make whether someone is successful or a rookie? All they need is a piece of paper to say they are capable of racing. In fact the more successful drivers have a case for arguing for a lower fee than the rookies. Take the example of Lewis Hamilton in 2007 and lewis Hamilton in 2008. For 2007 the FIA had to assess him over the first few races to make sure he was up to the job. That is a cost they did not have the following year because everyone knew by then he could do it.
It appears i've jumped to a conlusion there then, apologies for that.
Also, it doesn't matter whether we like it or not. If you like it and have something to say, we want to hear it :)
Is it possible that the doohickey could be modified so that when I click on a link it opens in a new window or tab. That way when I am dinished reading it and hit ctrl W and the pages disappears i won't have lost the doohickey again?
I personally do like F1 Racing, I have returned to it after a 5-year layoff. This is because I was disgusted with the fact that in 2002 the Magazine went out of the way to defend what happened in Austria, only to have the exact opposite viewpoint by the end of the year.
But I picked it up to read on the train one day this year and was pleasantly surprised by the changes that had been made - the magazine is a lot better now and I actually look forward to each month's issue again :-D
What's wrong with a 'right-click'? Are you 'left-clickist' all of a sudden ;-)
normally i right click, and open in new tab. but it's probably an easy change.
is it more reliable for you today? mines been polling since this morning and hasn't missed a beat.
It has been fine but my first post was less than an hour ago. I will be back later and I will leave it open fr a few hours and report any problems.
My problem is that some of the sites I use automatically open into a new window, some automatically open into a new tab and some just open in the same tab. I am easily confused and because I tend to use keyboard shortcuts rather than a mouse wherever possible by the time I realise that I didn't want to close a tab I already have.
Probably just me being slow, but I've only just noticed this on the Williams.
http://www.autosport.com/gallery/photo.php/id/121939
me too!
also, rear wheel blankings?
i guess the guy needed some additional rally experience?
http://www.autosport.com/gallery/photo.php/id/121860
Honda considers withdrawing from other categories as well (except MotoGP)
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/72952
No you're not. Interesting...
Good riddance to them. No loyalty or heritage whatsoever - they just come in, attempt to dominate, and then leave when they start losing :-(
Kimi's third ss didn't go so well.
Also someone else has noticed that the Williams in that shot isn't running the pelican nose? Something more Ferrari-esque instead. Hmm...
Well, we knew that the 'launch cars' would be a lot different to those we see in Melbourne...
rally update after 3 stages:
17. JÄRVILEHTO J 01.58,5
20. RÄIKKÖNEN K 02.00,8
21. SALO M 02.42,3
24. HÄKKINEN M 03.01,4
Is that J.J. Lehto?
Yes
Jyrki Järvilehto = JJLehto
yes
This site doesn't like complicated Finnish names :)
doh. how should it look then?
My comment with his full name was moderated
oh i see :)
found it.
quality rally pics in drop.io btw :)
rally update stage 4/6:
16. JÄRVILEHTO J 40.06,4 +02.13,3
19. RÄIKKÖNEN K 40.24,8 +02.31,7
21. SALO M 41.04,5 -03.11,4
24. HÄKKINEN M 41.48,8 -03.55,7
Right clicking! Really?
Are you sure you're a Mac user? ;)
rally update 5/6
14. JÄRVILEHTO J 55.22,8 +02.50,9
18. RÄIKKÖNEN K 55.59,5 +03.27,6
20. SALO M 57.02,4 +04.30,5
23. HÄKKINEN M 58.12,3 +05.40,4
Force India on the front row again!
hands up who's embarrassed today then!
Could you have imagined the performance parts company HKS building an F1 engine? Well they did, and here it is!
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=J3s8NSY06SA&feature=related
Man, that sounds as good as the V12 Ferrari produced!
insightful post from joe on superlicences:
http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns21133.html
of note, this paragraph:
"If one compares that with the money that journalists spend to visit the races ($40,000 a year) in order to make two or three times that amount if they are lucky, the Superlicence fees seems a very reasonable sum of money."
$40,000 to attend a seasons worth of races? holy smokes, how pricey are these hotels??
Wow! Kimi is currently 4th on the last stage. It's the shortest only 3,7 km so he can't make up much time but still ...
he's missed his calling in life, hasn't he?
All the teams will switch between running the shark fin and not running it deending on the circuit and the set up they need.
Good spot
What kind of idiot puts musac over that?
Kimi finished stage 6 0,4 seconds behind the winner and is 16th overall.
full result
Tomorrow the majority of the runs will be the same as today but when it's still light. I wonder if that will make a difference.
i wish it were broadcast online, sounds like a lot of fun. are you watching all of it?
A couple of interesting points in this weeks Autosport. Honda and BMW were telling us last season that they expected to be competitive this season because they had started on their 2009 car early in 2008. In an item on the launch of the new McLaren Ron Dennis is quoted as saying tat they had started on their 2009 car 18 months ago and are already 2 months into their 2010 car.
On the Renault launch item they are making big capital of their new CFD super computer and saying that they can't understand why teams are spending money on a second wind tunnel when CFD can do the same job at half the cost. The most interesting quote comes from Bob Bell who says that they are still light on headcount to get the most out of it. This seems like an odd quote to appear in a magazine the same week they announced massive cuts in their aero department. It looks like Bob Bell did not know those cuts were coming and he clearly thinks they need more people not fewer.
Based on the results Kimi is in a different class of car to the other F1 people. It looks like he is in a slower category.
I wish V12's were standard in F1 cars. The sound of V12's were the whole reason to watch Superleague 'Formula'...
There is a brilliant quote from Ron Dennis in F1 Racing. He is answering questions from fans and someone asked how it felt to have invented a language:Ronspeak. Ron replied -
[Laughs] Adherence to a homogeneous lexicon axiomatically optimises messaging consistency. So it feels good.
He is in the same class (Lk1) but has a different R ;) (I will try to find out what exactly that means)
It's not broadcasted at all and Rovaniemi is 9h away (by train) so watching it live isn't really a possibility either. Just following live timing and what pops up on the news sites.
Seriously?
wow!
where be live timing?
The results sheet says S2000R next to his name and the guy in the Peugeot where everyone else has N1.
Yep. Ron making jokes about Ronspeak. What is the world coming to. He is not meant to have a sense of humour.
here
Choose Lk1 - Kaikki - Class 1 - All and then the stage you're interested in. The last column in the table is the start time of the stages.
I bet he prepared it in advance :)
http://www.autoblog.com/2009/01/16/raikkonen-to-drive-the-arctic-rally-in-a-punto-abarth/?=
I guess the disadvantage of being a Ferrari driver is while everyone else can rally something sensible like a Subaru or Mitsubishi you have to drive a FIAT Punto. Still if you are picking up £20 million a year you have to make the odd sacrifice.
ahh, thanks you.
please do keep us up-to-date with times tomorrow though. much easier to follow :)
Evnin all, my hand still in bandages, but all okay.
I don't see the big whatsahummy about Sutil and the rain. It rained at Britain, Spa, Brazil etc. and did absolutly nowt in the other wet races aside from Monaco.
I could swear I left the car here... I know, has anyone got the keys so we'll find it when it bleeps. What do ya mean its and F1 car?
F1 Racing is alright, nothing majory spectacular but the best F1 mag out there.
Not me, 8th is like my second best qualifying. Oh gawd that says a lot.
He's doing well in a FIAT Punto to be fair.
In the first line it says R and underneath Lk. Lk is the class and it is the same for all drivers but the R is different for Kimi and the other guy compared to the rest. But I don't know what that exactly means and if his car is weaker.
For one he's beating Hakkinen who's in a full-blown Evo ;)
:D
Massa testing the F60 at Mugello
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=m8wz1zy71IU
Is it just me or does it seem odd that according to the pics Kimi is driving a pure white car in the Arctic Rally? I would have thought you would want something slightly more visible in case of a serious accident.
Well given that that was last year when £1 would buy nearly $2 that's £20,000... not too bad for 17 or 18 races...
No need to pay for grandstand tickets...
That wouldn't cover Business Class...
They'll be on site for several days...
Seeing the hotel prices for Abu Dhabi it'll be more expensive this year...
Ahhh...
Just tried to post a youtube link to a brief glimpse of Kimi on the rally but it disappeared....
the one from HS?
Nope...
Youtube...
A brief action shot in the snow....
Here?...
No ...
A youtube action shot....
You know you're an F1 fan when...
http://drop.io/sidepodcast/asset/alexandronov-youknowyoureanf1fanwhen-jpg
thank you ladysnowcat.
pat would be proud of that one :D
Excellent...
Thank you....
Oooh, I like illustrated ones :)
This is becoming a cult phenominan, or however you spell phemoninam
Warm up runs complete Scott. Well apart from those I couldn'y do due to lack of time after repairs and of course the one on which I splattered the car over half of Germany.
Lousy Q3 followed by trashing the car. Not my favourite race so far.
I crashed out in qualifying and I'm starting at the back of the grid, and, just to rub a bit more salt in my wounds, only got to do one solitary lap in warm-up.
Watch me win.
My Q1 and Q2 were not spectacular then I slid wide in Q3 and start 10th for the second race in a row. The race before that was OK and the one before that I trashed the car in the first lap of Q1 and started last.
I think it was Gavin who said on last week's sidepodmegashow that someone in the know said the Ferrari looke better than the McLaren. In Autosport Alan Jenkins who was Technical Director at Arrows and Stewart reckons that the McLaren and Ferrari look a lot better than anything else and that the McLaren looks better.
If Honda have this fab car they have been promising us why don't they show it to the world to see if it generates some interest? I know they are looking for a buyer but if the car got a good reaction that has to help convince a buyer of the value of the team and maybe even flush out some new bidders. Of course if it was yet another Honda dog it may have the opposite effect.
Wasn't me... it was Andy Taylor.
My only comment was that if Andy had a Ferrari source it was probably a pasta 'sauce' :-D
Have you discussed the super licence "strike" yet....
Can't see it myself...
Things have gone worryingly quiet with 'Honda'. One wonders why, if the team are still funded by Honda for another month or so (while they look for a buyer) that the team haven't done any testing?
Just been watching the brilliant vid of Massa's helmet cam @ Mugello on YouTube from a couple of days ago...
Does this mean that every driver will be fitted with one this year? Hope so! When Massa looks in his mirrors you get a nice 90 degree action shot because he has to turn his head so far sideways :)
We discussed it about lunch time
What would you like to add?
not very aerodynamic sadly. the best we can hope for is more DC cam ala brazil.
however, considering FOM don't even provide cameras for every car (see bourdais / massa incident in fuji), i can't see them doing so for every helmet this decade or next :(
Right guys,
I have found this awesome helmet quiz on Facebook (through Midweek Motorsports) which I have drop.io'd for you guys to have a go.
It's in Portuguese, but the instructions are simple - enter the surnames of the F1 driver's helmet you think it is and it tells you if you are right or wrong... I have managed to get them all but you'll need to do a bit of research to help you :-)
Good luck and have fun!
Funny really... in Aussie V8's every car carries an official camera (kinda like a black box) which the TV doesn't have direct access to (but they often release the footage later). I remember that Paul Tracy used to carry a helmet cam in Champ car in 2002 - so why can't they put one in the padding or in the helmet above the visor or something?
Honda wouldn't fund any such testing, only the new owner would - and given that due diligence is probably ongoing, no such funding would be on the way. Fry and Brawn have already said that they probably won't test before Melbourne.
I like it! Tons of helmets though! I'll see what I can answer without peeking. :)
Hmm... so the money Honda is providing only keeps the team ticking over then?
How will that work, when testing is banned after the season starts?
Hmm... so the money Hon
I got 50 without 'peeking' :-)
I only have 19% until now :(
Yep.
Good point. But they did say 2009 is about survival, so they may go all Aguri on us and limit running.
Oooh I so hate you.
Cheers ;)
Ooh, went a bit mad when I got 41 right.
65% on the first go. Not bad.
Here's a tip: if in doubt, check out the sponsorship on the helmet. If you can figure out which team had them and in what season, you'll end up having probably a 50-50 shot at who it is.
Some helmets are also repeated... and some may not be the latest version :-)
oh christ...
*cancels plans for the evening*
he says now
I said nothing about the source's employer. As it happens they may or may not work in F1 at all. ;) They are sufficiently knowledgeable to know a good car when they see one. Or are they? :)
Agreed. Some are even one-off versions, so some knowledge of F1 history can go a looong way. :)
it evens works in iWork... what are the chances!
I hope the source has nothing to do with GMM... ;-)
I think I have the one's back to 2000 and a few obvious one earlier than that. Other than that, educated guesses.
moderated :-(
:D
Having gone through it a 2nd time (and peeking at the clues where available but not researching), I'm up to 72%.
Long way still to go.
Damn. I was counting on it opening in iWork but with the hidden cells, um, in plain view IYSWIM :)
Make that 73. :D
?
don't worry, i get it :)
I'm proud with 31% here and you make me feel sad ;)
So you can see all the answers? :-(
yeah.
Bugger. I really wanted you and Christine to have a go at it :-(
Aw damn... Can you pretend you didn't see it? Heh. :P
Ha!! Do you know me at all? I would get 1 right... probably... if I'm lucky.
Well I think that the GPDA is struggling not to be irrelevant...
They were having problems prior to the credit crunch with a large dose of disinterest amongst the really top drivers...
Is this a bid to seem relevant and possibly be seen to act for the good of all?....
I actually think it is rather ill advised in the current climate...
With pay under criticism in the Press to argue about the super licence doesn't send any of the right signals does it?....
I wonder who amongst the drivers would really get behind this?...
Obviously the GPDA directors I guess... but who leads them?... isn't it Pedro... but he hasn't got to pay much at all as he has nil points... he'd probably love to have to pay pots for a super licence as that would be part of being a successful driver...
If they have to do anything they should ask for the money to be used in a particular way...
A way that could get really good PR and be seen as a break for the fans.... given the current focus on making F1 a better spectacle...
I am tempted to suggest funding a fans representative as a steward....
We'd all support that wouldn't we?....
no no. we can.
andy was hoping iWork would give away the answers, but it doesn't. it works perfectly.
I can guarantee you will get at least one right ;-)
And if you don't, I think we may need a new host of Sidepodcast ;)
You'll get AT LEAST one right, I guarantee it. Then you'll get another 10-20 just by watching from 2006-2008.
Then it gets trickier.
Where's Steven Roy and Scott Woodwiss all of a sudden? I'd love to see how they do...
you have to spell them correctly too?
Of course!
You may might hope to find 'Minardi Drivers from 1985-2005' on Mastermind
Oh aye
Another youtube of Kimi....
Here....I hope...
ahh yes. she will get one of them :)
Is it pink?
71% on a first pass
22%
Impressive! :D
You might break 80 without research! :)
I've slowed down, a lot. I'm now at 77%.
Yes. I'm beating someone
I'm disappointed!
The thing that is really annoying me is I can't remember who wore the first one and i can't remember the name of that ******* from the pasta family.
I actually should have 72%. i spelled Hamilton wrong. OOPS
Now that was basic.
Realised number 1. Now on a dizzy 34%
Not too many drivers have driven for that team. Many of them are in the quiz too. Once you figure the others out, this will be easy.
Eh? :-/
and a Japanese driver as well. I really should check that the little green thing pops up before I move on
did you spell it SENNA?
:D
I give up. WHO CARES ABOUT HELMETS ANYWAY?!?!?
You mean Barilla? I don't think he's in it....
:D
:D
Did you get all the Finns and Germans?
Certo :-)
It looks nothing like Senna's helmet!
I did get all Finns. I had no idea Glock's helmet looked like that
I think it's not his latest...
Yup, it does. Interesting, no?
After some (read: a lot) of guessing, I'm now at 80%.
Sennaesque
That's the chappy.
For those of you who don't know who he is: F1 Rejects Profile
oooh :) real time is back
Sorry if this is a random thing, but why don't F1 teams test in the rain? I can think of no better test of a chassis stablity and control then it on a slicker surface rather then a dry, rubbered in track. Also, there is always a few races ran in the wet during the season. Why not take advantage? Get the practice in for wet situations and set ups? Am I missing something?
It's been working most of the day, right?
not on my computer,it hasnt worked at all
It never rains during an F1 season so why test in the wet? You can't even use slicks!
ahh, did you have aitch's issue? something about a "wp_ error"?
sorry, just needed to refresh your cache. apologies.
yer that.
They need dry running to get good data. If the grip is poor it interferes with the accuracy of the data they collect. Things like temperature and humidty can be factored in but there are so many degrees of wet/slippy that they can't compare it to anything they have done before. They also don't know if any change in lap time is due to some change they have made to the car or a change in the grip of the track.
parts are scarce and they face an engine limit. can't risk crashing :(
Right, given up at 38%
very sorry jon. if it helps, it's now more stable, but yell if you spot anything amiss.
thats ok, dont worry about it! :) consider my cache well and truly cleared!! :D
what have i missed today then? lol
I should follow up, that if I was a team like Force India, Toro Rosso, or someone on the fat end of the grid; I would be taking advantage. Look at what happened at Monza last year where Toro Rosso got it right and Ferrari, McLaren, and BMW didn't.
That still is very baffling how that happened...
I thought the engine limit was just for the season and didn't include preseason testing.
Umm, Helmet quiz, Kimi Rallying, the GPDA and a caption competition...
another video2
Can't get it to play though
Up to 82% and struggling badly
I've been moderated :-(
Wikipedia?
They're all F1 drivers...
Picture and no sound for me :-(
I have sound but no picture
New SPC diary is up on the wiki
http://sidepodcast.wetpaint.com/page/Diary+%2314
Can Christine go a diary with out mentioning Franck?
If I can't figure i out myself there is no point in doing it. Once I reach a point where I need to do research I will quit
Hehe, the last bit where Christine's dreaming of being that girl with Franck is good :D
Can't believe the second comment on the video is already a criticism. :/
on youtube? am surprised the first isn't :D
Now I have a picture of you pacing around the room, rubbing your temples saying random things trying to recall which driver it is :-D
I'm amazed theres only been 3 views from that as well.
I've left a comment and a nice little something for the haters. :P
I haven't stood up yet but i was muttering away about a certain Italian who got killed in a certain sportscar and chose hie helmet colours as a tribute to a certain dead Scaninavian driver. I could have told you anything about him but it took about 15 minutes to get his name.
Yeah I had a few of those...
It's interesting how many helmets are 'tributes' to other drivers...
There are quite a few and a few with odd stories behind them. There is one with three leaves on it and that was because the driver's father was a Scandinavian called Leif and the driver was known as little Leif even though that was not his name
It's GMM, but...
http://formula-1.updatesport.com/news/article/1232703631/formula_one/F1gossip/Renault-to-bow-out/view.html
Don't tell me another one's on the way...
Exactly
Oooh lovely. Got any more?
How many times does one story say 'Souces'
That is a certainty. Since Honda went I have said Renault will be next. Renault have already quit F1 twice so it can hardly be a surprise if they fo it again.
That's true. Can't they stick around for more than approx. 10 years?!
And still, if there is teams gonna go next, Renault is up there. As Steven said, they've went twice, who's saying that the big guys at Renault are going 'Hey, this is costing us a lot, we look average, not good enough' and pull the plug.
i refuse to believe it! I refuse! i will not get panicked by it... because i have already decided that if honda don't make it i'll be supporting renault + alonso...
grrr stupid GMM grrr. :P
that's the spirit ;)
I'm curious Lou - why do you like Honda so much?
The only other one I can think of on a quick scan is the stripes and colours on Damon Hill's helmet which are copied from his father's helmet. Graham Hill's wife Bette rowed for the London Rowing Club and Graham copied the club cap for his crash helmet design. The stripes are in fact oar blades and there are eight of them representing the classic rowing 8.
Jenson ;)
I know two for the French drivers - one is a tribute to Chris Amon and the other to Elio de Angelis.
Lou a bad curse on teams. Everyone she supports gans?
It'll be in the Sun and everything
Of course the question must be how motivated will the team be if the news is true that Renault are pulling out for 2010... but I think their take on things is wrong in any case....
Now the story talks about losing staff but then talks about the test team... which is a given for most teams following the in season ban which negates the need for two teams of engineers anyway...
And aerodynamicists which could be due to the wind tunnels rules....
So the job cuts they quote are just the expected ones per the rule changes....
And actually you'll recall that Renault expressed interest in the Cosworth standard engine and we opined at the time that Renault were looking like running a pared down operation without the engine facility which, I believe, is in France and not at Enstone....
Gilles Villeneuve's wife Joann decided that he would look more professional with his own helnet design. She started with an inverted V for Villeneuve and the rest followed from that.
I didn't know about the Chris Amon one but when you think about it it is obvious
I met Chris Amon a while ago when he did the Targa NZ with Murray Walker as a co-driver. He's a character!
I know a lot of people thought he was the next best driver after Jackie Stewart in the early 70s but his legendary bad luck meant he never won a race.
Oh the doohickey has run without any problems for the last 3 or 4 hours.
wonderful. v.good to hear. should also be more robust for anyone doohicking via a 3g mobile.
next on me list is sorting out moderation queue.
doohickeying.
oh god, what a question. :) tbh it was originally because i supported Jenson, but it just kinda stuck. The team just appealed to me, it seemed different to the other teams, more friendly and optimistic. There is/ was something so special about them. It’s hard to explain really.
haha :D :D
That's 'Murray Walkered' it!
haha, not strictly true, i supported both renault and honda in 05 + 06 :)
Right all, how are we doing with the helmet quiz?
84
helmet quiz?
By yourself?
See drop.io. It's awesome :-)
Yes
Wow!
will do. :)
Anybody here play Facebook Poker?
gave up at 40 :(
Which ones are you missing?
1
10
19
23
25
26
28
41
44
65
69
73
84
91
95
The annoying thing is that there are at least 5 that i recognise but can't name. There are 2 or 3 I would swear i had never seen before
'me' out of interest has the doohickey always shown how many new messages there are when the window has been minimized? I'm using Firefox today instead of chrome as it keeps crashing, and not noticed it before. it's very useful.
Can I give hints? At least for the ones I have.
I've got 1, 44 and 84. There quite simple if you think about it
introduced about an hour ago :)
only tested on ff3, i know it doesn't work on safari because that has dodgy support for window.blur() events. was gonna announce after some more testing.
nothing gets by you ;)
That will cheer him up :)
Though I've only got 38, so its nowt much compared to 84.
There are hints in Portuguese, but OK here's some clues:
1: got injured
10: Likes to hold people up
19: Is now in Touring Cars
23: Isn't good at crossing the road
25: Has been relegated
26: The lion sleeps tonight
28: Raced in 2005
41: He was hungry for some action
44: Might be a bit square
65: Give it some Gas...
69: Races in Speedcar
73: Has a girly name
84: sounds a bit anatomically named
91: Christine can tell you who that is
95: Two-face
ah i see. it's really cool. i'd see if it works ok on chrome but as i say at the moment my laptop is being an awful pain. it keeps coming up with a message saying that there is not enough memory, i take it it's something to do with RAM or something. stupid stupid useless laptop.
where is this helmet quiz?
Drop.io!
The thingy works as well.
good stuff.
I got a couple from those. I can't believe I didn't get the pink helmet from the 2007 Xmas message.
I'm stuck on - 4, 14, 25, 43, 63, 72, 92, 29, 50, 70, 80, 90. All the rest I know :P
If anyone wants hints for any of th others just give me the numbers.
You ask where the quiz is and 8 minutes later you have only 12 to go?
:D
ffs.
I don't like you :( Which is why I'm not giving you any hints for them.
Another fact for that is I don't know them, but my first argument is good ;)
I'm doing Scott's...
I think going by the number sequence we are being wound up
seconded :D
Seriously, only those 12 are the ones I don't know. All the rest I do know. :)
4: French driver
14: Raced for Renault
25: Has been relegated
43: Commentates
63: Named after the town he was born in
72: Joined forces with his brother
92: More successful as a Swedish Team owner
29: F1 Reject
50: Won the World Sportscar Championship
70: Probably good friends with Tom Kristensen
80: Legendary at Le Mans, lousy in F1
90: I hope he likes Coffee
Oops, I meant 73 not 72. :P I definately know 72 ;)
I hate you even more now ;)
73: Has a girly name
I should think you know 72!
I have been modded again :-(
give it a refresh
Weird, all my links work but freetext comments keep getting modded?
Never mind, try this .. good for stress LOL http://www.emergencyyodel.com/
Oh geez ... I had enough of that at New Years (I was in Austria) :-)
don't worry. next week it should be sorted, hang in there.
That is just wierd
that won't get the problem fixed any faster!
It's so weird it's fantastic! keeping a website going just for that.
*sighs* I miss home :)
It reminds me of the secret santa pressie my wife got from her work. It's a Minaret alarm clock that has a very loud prayer call as it's alarm... I keep randomly setting it off just to see her face :-D
You would have loved my New Years' - a Five-Course meal in an Austrian hotel with a yodelling trumpet player singing German 'hitparade' :-(
I prefer to miss it from afair. Far far afar
Can't believe it took me this long to get 44
Did my clue not help?
No. Way to subtle for me
looks like mentioning fantasy racers on the show did the trick... 107 entrants and counting :)
I guess that was my aim ... didn't want to make it too easy...
And only 209 overall. We still have more than half of all the entrants
Night all, have fun with the helmets ;-)
night gavin. thanks for the spreadsheet!
Nite Gavin
Good night Gavin
I've just noticed I'm on the top 5 commenters list. Fear.
your plan is working!
Oh yes. I'd forgotten about that. I'm still way behind though.
she's prolific that girl.
if the team say you’re going around on a unicycle, that’s what driver’s have to do. {me - 281 comments ago}
They probably wouldn't (assuming it was an F1 test), but only because the circuit's insurance company would go berserk, not because any regulation of the FIA's prevents it from happening.
what if they all unicycled together? climbing eau rouge would be amusing :)
http://www.formula1.com/services/play_video.html
A few vids to keep you busy til the action starts
You think Fisi might be a better actor then Jarno? {Dom - 327 comments ago}
I didn't know Jarno had acted (or attempted to act) in his life...
The launch video for the new car with Glock.
Force India on the front row again! {Lukeh - 241 comments ago}
Not to worry - I was as surprised as you were. I wasn't expecting to make second row, never mind first row. I don't understand why Kamalsky's down in 12th though - his car has the same potential as mine...
hands up who’s embarrassed today then! {me - 241 comments ago}
The other thing I don't understand is how BATRacer has the nerve to call a lap that resulted in 21st position "Excellent"...
$40,000 to attend a seasons worth of races? holy smokes, how pricey are these hotels?? {me - 240 comments ago}
If Bahrain's $2000 for a minimum four-night stay is typical, then that doesn't leave much change for plane tickets, internet access at venues, visas and so on...
The most interesting quote comes from Bob Bell who says that they are still light on headcount to get the most out of it. This seems like an odd quote to appear in a magazine the same week they announced massive cuts in their aero department. It looks like Bob Bell did not know those cuts were coming and he clearly thinks they need more people not fewer. {Steven Roy - 232 comments ago}
Perhaps the people they need are CFD experts rather than wind tunnel experts...
I should follow up, that if I was a team like Force India, Toro Rosso, or someone on the fat end of the grid; I would be taking advantage. {Dan Brunell - 72 comments ago}
Neither Force India nor Toro Rosso has a full-size car to test yet. Though F1 Racing has got a half-scale model of Force India's new car in suitably moody shadow (either that or the caption is wrong).
what if they all unicycled together? climbing eau rouge would be amusing {me - 9 comments ago}
That would be OK and it would be very amusing :D
The launch video for the new car with Glock. {Steven Roy - 7 comments ago}
I missed that. Maybe I wasn't missing much...