Credit: Rubbergoat/Gavin Brown
How can this possibly be a year ago already?
Hello once again! My appearance writing this daily must been it’s Friday once again, and you’d be right to think that. Today is most exciting though, because as I’m sure you’re aware Formula 1 is back following the summer break! Woohoo! But there’s so much happening this weekend I may just explode and not survive – I mean, we’re back at Spa, Doctor Who returns tomorrow night, the race on Sunday as well as Man Utd vs Arsenal, and then Muse are on BBC3 live Sunday night, and then a Bank Holiday to round it all off Monday on which the US Open starts too! There are no words to describe how awesome the next few days are going to be and beyond. For now, let’s make today just as awesome.
Paddock News
Bruno’s Back, Baby! - Whilst I do feel very happy to see Bruno getting a go in the Renault, you can’t help but feel sorry for Nick Heidfeld for being shafted out of his drive for Renault. Poor guy. It seems he’s taking Renault to court over this and going down the legal route , so there’s our court event of the F1 year all sealed up. But hey, at least Bruno might have a chance in a car that isn’t going to just fall away at the back of the grid! I say that now...
Twenty Years of Darth - Can you really believe Schumacher has been around 20 years? In theory, that means he’s been in F1 longer than Rubens and yet Rubens easily beats him on race starts so nyeh! He finally wins something! But it’s still a fair accomplishment so congratulations to Michael on his 20 year reign, even if he is a shadow of his former self at the moment and annoyingly likeable at times these days (I’m looking at you Canada gridwalk!). Of course, one Hungary ’10 moment could ruin all that...! I do very much recommend reading the VivaF1 look at Schumacher’s entry into the sport though. Good bit of writing from Mav, and a nice link to the Senna/Nick affair.
Elsewhere...
A Successor to the Successful? - An interesting little post popped up here on this wonderful site in which Christine pondered just who the successor could possibly be for Bernie when he eventually steps down in the next 5 millennia. There’s a few interesting possibilities in there as to who could step into those very, very rich shoes. Me? Oh I think it’ll be Brian Blessed. Why not? Yeah, exactly. But as well as that, Bridget has absolutely treated us all with a fabulous mid-season review looking at results, retirements and lots more in lots of pretty graphs too. Awesome bit of effort worth reading! Who knew Crofty was wrong all along, eh? And as well as that, as if you weren't being treated enough, why not take a read of Gavin's proposal of coming to say hello to both himself and his lovely wife for the Japanese GP weekend over in Copenhagen?
Origin of Awesomeness - As I previously mentioned, one of the big things I’m really really looking forward to this weekend is Muse headlining the Reading Festival on Sunday night, live on BBC3. Dom and Chris found themselves this past week on the Steve Lamacq show hyping the gig up and everything. Normally it’s just awesome enough they’re on TV but this is a very special gig – as Muse will be performing the entirety of their second album Origin of Symmetry, playing many songs they haven’t played in 4 or 5 years, some songs 7 or 8 years. It should be quite something, seeing as Muse seem to be allergic to playing some of their older stuff most of the time, and as you can imagine I am really quite excited!! Eeee!!
Posters from the Past of the Future - These type of things I find absolutely awesome. Don’t you just find that whole retro poster, rough look type of thing incredibly cool? These are some alternative posters with a really nice retro taste to them for various famous films and when I saw them I just had to share. You can even get prints of them and everything. Tempting... oh so tempting. I think my favourite one is for Moon.
And Finally
Some itty bitty little things to send you out on...
- The geniuses (Genii?) at Telltale Games are bringing more titles to the Wii and the PS3 finally, and what better way to start things off than with the entire Back to the Future series’ of episodic titles for the Wii?! Great Scott!!
- Did you know Studio Ghibli are working on their first ever game? It looks just as beautiful as you’d expect from the studio, but it seems it’s only going to be coming out in Japan. Boo!
- The BBC have been looking at 3G coverage across the UK and they seem convinced it may not be as good as phone providers may insist. Their detail on the Cardiff to London train line phone signal issues is one I greatly agree with!
- And finally, we round off my 7 Days of Formula 1 celebration today! We’ve had Tracks from the Past, BBC thoughts, Music related to motorsport, Helmets in f1, F1’s Wikipedia in 2028, Underrated Drivers and Cost Cutting Measures, with one final seventh blog post coming later today. I hope you’ve enjoyed them and the final one today!
Phew, hope that keeps you nice and entertained. It was on this weekend last year many of us commenters found ourselves heading to the Spa Francorchamps circuit in Belgium for an absolutely fabulous weekend away at the F1. I do wish we could be there again, many happy memories. For now though, I’ll simply bid you farewell and see you in the comments!
PING!!
Well belated ping for Lukeh's daily
I think I am officially Korea buddyless. Worst day everrrrrrr
it should not be this hard to find someone available to go on an (almost) free trip. anyone out there able to cooooome? :D
You can chat to Heikki for twice as long if you don't get a buddy
It would be nice to have a friend to chat to while he's in the car though ;)
great and unexpected, Senna movie is out on DVD here !
Can't believe it would be so hard to find someone
Yes.
Can I get away, no :-(
Stupid "being the boss" job.
thats the main problem! Heaps of people who want to come, zero who have bosses as nice as mine.
I am crossing my fingers lots and lots that my friend who just got offered a new job can push her start back by one day, they want her to start the Monday after the race. One day isn't a big ask, but I guess it is when its a new job :(
I can be very nice boss to myself :-) but at the time of Korea my clients are my bosses, can't get away from Hong Kong/China :-(
How annoying.
Obviously none of us plan ahead as well as you
theres a few people at work interested but as nice as a nice boss is, they do prefer it when only one of us is away at a time. Plus most of them just want a trip, they aren't F1 fans and it seems such a waste to take someone who wouldn't understand that the paddock is the holy grail of the trip.
yeah plus F1 race and sight-seeing dont normally mix.
Won't you just be hanging out with Katherine? (if that's her name)
heheheheh no
have they actually said stalking is not allowed? ;-)
oooo I hear Crofty!
How well do you know your Formula 1 history?
The book That'll be the Day: 365 F1 Stories takes a look at significant moments or quirky happenings on this day in Grand Prix history. Can you guess what event the following describes?
There must be something about this weekend.. I'm not in Belgium but a storm has just arrived anyway. :)
And back in the land of the Daily
Results: http://sidepodcast.com/post/belgium-2011-free-practice-1-results
fixed one of the two problems we had today. i think that's pretty good going. :) hope everyone is having a good day!
I am seeing links to the photographers post on twitter again. Either I'm in a time machine back to May or the photographers still aren't over it :D
Interesting update from Joe
http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2011/08/26/lotus-and-lotus/
oh goodness really?
i just saw... jeeezzz :(
Tom Cruise! In an F1 car! The video!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyW8FdzH9dg&feature=share
Russell batch tweeted it to Darren Heath who replied, then his reply was for some reason retweeted by travelf1
*sigh* :(
F1 photographers seem to be a real bunch of charmers
I like the silent ones, like Emily, who only tweet about their work and things.. they don't upset anyone and do great work. I'm gonna be like them :)
Well, Tony gets to keep his F1 team AND gets the Malaysian flag carrier airline. That's a pretty darn good deal.
Not to mention the government will probably have to ask him to save Group Lotus too once they realize Dany Bahar won't manage to keep his promise. As it is, they may even be ahead of schedule with Enstone's implosion.
In which case we may get a 2-team relationship ala RBR-STR.
Sad that the Lotus name will end up in the wrong hands, but hopefully, fate will correct its course in the very near future.
Great to see someone like that push the car to the point that they have an off.
A bit odd that he is not wearing a helmet in the helicopter when the experienced pilot is
:D
We have FP2 video and it is dry-ish
did gavin remove his post?
Ooh, it's in daily which is why it's not showing up on the homepage. I fix.
ahh, couldn't find it.
I like this photo, another sort of McLaren at Eau Rouge, their GT car in classic orange (found at BritsOnPole).
http://www.britsonpole.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/24spa-mclaren-10.jpg
that car is very pretty
Wowzers
http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2011/08/26/silverstone-leased/
Wow, didn't expect that one. 100 years. Blimey.
F1M ping: http://www.f1minute.com/news/michael-schumacher-and-mark-webber-lead-damp-belgian-free-practice
How did you get all that into a minute? That should not be possible
I want one. I love the look of that car, too.
Ping: http://sidepodcast.com/post/sporting-social-guidelines
30 minutes of the working week remaining and I have been left alone in the office, with cake
I expect big things from it. They should make a GT2 version.
did we know heidfeld had commented on the renault thing?
I was surprised by the Team’s intention to replace me and regret that things have developed this way. I just wanted to be in the cockpit to get the best result for the team and me. I still have a clear contract and I want to drive.
Finally, I would like to thank for all the support I have received in this matter from all over the world in these days.
apologies if this has been discussed, have only just woken up :)
link: https://www.facebook.com/sidepodcast/posts/143041442453183
Was Heidfeld on FP2 in the end?
*shrugs* i slept through it.
You don't get away with it that easily - http://sidepodcast.com/post/belgium-2011-free-practice-2-results
:)
Nope.
If he really does have a contract that's not a very impressive thing for Boullier to do.
Natalie interviewed him in FP2. He said he couldn;t comment on anything but he expected to be in the car for Singapore
poor, poor showing.
http://sidepodcast.com/post/live-belgium-2011-free-practice#comment-1160283
cheers.
Not the most in depth interview ever. She asked him 3 or 4 questions and he said he couldn't comment. And this was a planned interview. Why consent to an interview to say nothing?
@alanbaldwinf1 Talked to Eric Boullier at Renault. His assessment of 'Quick Nick' was that not enough speed or leadership shown, change had to be made.
hard to argue against that, but a contract is a contract.
Hi all, happy Friday! :D
Hello
Did Alison get hold of you about flights?
Nope
Today? There's nothing in the Daily comments
She was looking for a flight to Dubai. Yesterday she got her invoice for her uni fees so she was talking about not going now since the invoice acted like a bucket of cold water
Yesterday or the day before
Nothing yesterday. She has my email or mobile if a heading isn't working
Agreed.
Just got home, I may open a beer
Me too, great idea. Cheers!
Happy Friday!
Evening all!
#rankings points... i think?
http://yfrog.com/18ng5zj
I'm glad to see Madame Tussauds trying new things
No wonder he was complaining to Eric during the session.
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/93976
any idea what causes that?
Hi Lukeh
No and neither did the team
Sounds like power steering, did they give him Trulli's?
"Then I did Turn 16 flat when it was getting dry and my steering wheel was stuck. You couldn't turn it left or right, and I thought I was going to be in the wall. It wasn't moving, but then I lifted and it moved. It was strange."
:)
The power steering only works when you lift the throttle?
Well no, but power and speed affect how the assistance operates. Could be related or it could be Quick [Fit] Nick playing with spanners :)
does schumi have a helmet that looks just like nico's? #confusing
good memories - http://yfrog.com/gza9pboij :)
It's Gold plated isn't it?
yep. but apparently it's gold ;)
also.. am i the only one that feels like it really isn't his 20th year racing?
ugh, I have just noticed that looking at the videos of practise. #determinedtomakemedislikehim
It isn't. It's 20 years since his first appearance. Not the same at all
ha!
It's gold but it looks like paint rather than plated
ohhh! :D
He's cheating, ironically
ohhh but i have to like a part of him now, sadly. He's given Bono a better job! woot woot!
He ran 3 years of not racing off the track?
I don't know why but it makes me laugh seeing Jock Clear with Michael Schumacher. :)
I think we can all agree that he saw how lovely Rubens' Spa celebrations were last year and he's had a year to think of a devious plan to out celebrate Rubens at Spa and this is all he could come up with. Must do better. ;)
You should have heard Crofty's reaction after we saw a shot of Jock's back. "Is that Jock Clear? On Schumacher's car?" Followed by a load of stuff about how Jock hates Schumacher
hehe Ted was as surprised too!
I'm sure Jock once had a proper go at Michael when he was back with Jacques. Just seems kind of surreal them being engineer and driver together even if it's temporary
He definitely had a few rants
I would love to hear what JV says when he finds out
JV's opinions are even more surreal than this situation
Bet he's squirming..
it's almost like some people can forgive and forget. can't fathom it myself.
We have to see what kind of car Schumacher has on Sunday before we can think Jock has forgiven him. He may find the odd slick in a set of inters
Enjoy a little something from the Sidepodcast back catalogue.
- Australia 2009 - Schedule
Originally published 25 March 2009.
well Bono is his engineer right? so i'm not sure what role Jock is playing? with Shov promoted and Jock moved from race duty maybe Jock was the only one available and qualified to do whatever he's up to. Would have loved to have heard that first convo between Schumi and Jock. :)
Jock is there to help with the transition. I think it is only for one or two races
"Jacques sends his regards"
Oh goodness me. Picked up a new game on the way home and the main character is called Jensen...
...they've spelt with an e! An e!!
I hope Brundle grabs Jock on the grid walk
:)
ah there we go. not a complete forgive and forget thing. Suppose it's tricky to say 'no i don't want to work with one of our drivers' when told to.
it can be spelt both ways? like the car :)
Team radio
"Who is the car ahead of me?"
"Jerez."
"Perez?"
So is Lou's Jensen
Oh yeah! I'll let them off for now.
:D
i love lukeh's picture in the daily. makes me smile every time i open it :)
Surprised the hell outa me!
heh!
The first thing I think of every time I see anything about that trip is your reaction to Jake twitpiccing all of them with Brunde
we need a delorean so we can go back a year and do it all over again :)
I remember spotting Brundle's E-Type and swinging round the roundabout. Then doors flying open leaving bags, phones and everything behind and we piled up to say hello :D
Do you remember the awesome car to car radio that barely worked, if at all? Box box box! :)
We didn't even know you had arrived and Jake's first twitpic from Spa had all of you in a line. Mr C was very happy and surprised when he found it
That will be why Lou was so excited when someone ended a radio message with box box box today
Oh God, don't remind me :)
Hehehe!
See, even the paddock knows of sidepodspa really ;)
We'd just spent 10 or 15 minutes trying to find the entrance, and there they were parked by one of the gates
In retrospect it was probably a bad idea to put everyone with a mobile talk plan in one car and everyone with a mobile data plan in the other..
That is genius planning. I guess Amy was not in charge of communications
I remember following you around the roundabout (again 'cos you'd done it down the road too :) :)) then everyone jumped out yelling 'Brundle!' or 'Jake!' and I tried to find somewhere to put the car.
I really enjoyed this month's MotorSport podcast with Murray Walker. You can tell how detached fro technology these guys are when one of them asked is it tweeter or twitter? But the good thing is they are trying things like podcasting even though it is alien to them.
http://www.motorsportmagazine.co.uk/2011/08/25/augusts-audio-podcast-with-murray-walker/
They need to get on iTunes [Renault too]. I chucked it on Dropbox so I could listen to it easily in the car but I wasn't that impressed with their previous efforts
Technology [walkie talkies] wasn't ready for us :D
Jack from AnF1Blog is back from his holiday so has now posted the thing I wrote for the Swap Shop last week :)
http://www.anf1blog.com/2011/08/in-control-are-f1s-race-control-and-stewards-rooms-really-that-bad/
I find them interesting but the production is not great
I've downloaded it from iTunes this month. Very good chat with Murray
I did manage to speak to Jeremy via Skype from a petrol station though. The car car, incommunicado
Who knew Science Museum branded (probably kids) radios wouldn't be any good!
*other car
Shocking isn't it? That place constantly lets us down ;)
Oh, ok, thanks. They should link to that in the post, silly billies
I am sure walkie talkies were around before this time last year. I can remember playing with them in primary school and that was at least 4 or 5 years ago
Be careful it's under Motor Sport Magazine. If you search for Motorsport it doesn't come up.
Probably because they didn't understand French
That's stoopid [probably as there's a German one too]
Very likely
This is fantastic!
Subtitle glasses for deaf cinema goers
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-14654339
What a great idea
Brilliant
A very fair appraisal on Danica Patrick leaving IndyCar, a good post with pros and cons, if you're looking to find out - http://morefrontwing.com/2011/08/25/free-at-last/
This is the first I've listened to apart from one of the early ones, they echoing has got better but there's still way too much of it!
Good that they are doing it.. and £46 for a 1yr sub doesn't sound bad, when I cancel Autosport maybe I'll get this instead.
Has everyone had a go on the Mobil 1 challenge?
http://www.mobil1.co.uk/performance/ultimate-track-challenge.aspx
Korean GP package as prize for best time
Ordering quality Pizza from your mobile and being given a 25% discount... rulez!
Thanks Firezza
i have i'm rubbish at it :(
it would be the perfect birthday present to myself too!! if only i was actually good at racing games :(
Evening everyone
:)
Evening leigh
Jealous!!
Also good evening :) Is FP worth checking out or should I just skip it?
FP is always good to listen to... like a high quality soap opera. Especially after a 3 week drought.
Lots of rain. Only two drivers got a dry lap in FP1
Is THAT why they were 6 seconds faster than everyone else?
I agree with Ant... I much prefer the old bus stop.
Yes. For most of the session they were 20 seconds faster
Definitely
I also notice that the end of the pit at Spa is much like that of the new Silverstone, i.e. the pit wall gets higher and it can make visibility (for the spectators) an issue. Not a word,,wine or winge.
It's also the reason Senna and di Resta didn't get spectacular times. They both crashed out, Bruno first, so didn't get a chance to drive when it was starting to dry.
Oh, great! Spoil it for me... I just watched Senna go off... 30 minutes left.
I think the difference is there is not a flat bit of ground at Spa where the whole of Silverstone is flat and any gradient has been deliberately added. That and the new pit complex was hyped to death and so people bought tickets for that area with an expectation of being able to see the pits
I'm sorry! I didn't realise you were watching it...you seemed quite unenthusiastic in your earlier comments.
It's OK. I jest. I always tape-delay FP1, since it is usually on at 04h00 local. I can usually pick up FP2 via "alternate sources" from work. I was out early this morning, so I have both to watch. "have to" not being the correct term.
I always find it odd that people discuss F1 here and are surprised when someone else contributes to the discussion.
Okay, cool. I hate when people tell me the end result of stuff (incidentally, why I didn't enjoy watching Armageddon), so I was afraid you'd be upset. FP1 really is the loveliest practice session to watch!
Managed 23.6 but that is not fast enough
I guess you hated Titanic and Senna!
My reference to soap opera, is that in FP1-2-3 there is a lot of gossip and great guests. I can nearly, though I don't want to, see Crofty and Ant in drag doing a Pythonesque bit (think burrying the cat)
No, loved both (don't enjoy Titanic so much anymore, now that I'm no longer 14 and have moved on from thinking Leo di Caprio is lovely). With those two, I knew the approximate out-come, but it was pleasing to see how the story came to its conclusion in the eyes of the film-makers. With Armageddon, (SPOILER ALERT) I was told "yeah, in the end the detonator won't work and [the dad] throws [the boyfriend] back into the space ship so he could marry Liv Tyler." Kinda ruined the point of the film for me.
5Live practice sessions are great; you feel like you're part of the conversation, rather than simply a listener. I've never met Ant, but Crofty is lovely...and now I have a fleeting image of him in drag (which I'm not sure is a good thing.
I was getting a hand injury trying to control the car with the arrow keys.
My middle finger locks out after a while. I found I gained most time by ignoring the hand brake except for two left handers in the second half of the lap
#sidepodspace
One of the reasons that people think will justify spending on space travel is access to the resources out there. So you have to ask whether there would be trouble getting a budget for a mission to a planet the size of Jupiter that is one huge diamond
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/astronomers-discover-planet-made-diamond-014913051.html
No D batteries on the east coast, looks like. Luckily my clock radio iPod dock has AAA backup.
Bottled water sold out, too.
"Oh no, how will we get any water??!"
"Oh, you mean the stuff that comes out of the tap that you can put in your own bottles?"
Those earthquakes caused panic buying?
The hurricane has everyone buying it. I think after that little shake we got here people are respecting Mother Nature.
It looks like it will be pretty bad. CT will stop all public transport tomorrow evening, a section of NYC is being evacuated, and the state of emergency has been put in place for 5 states as of yesterday. And it will hit us at high tide Sunday morning from 2am to 2pm, and the ground is soaked from lots of rain this summer. The flooding and storm surge could be bad.
The first day of school is supposed to be Tuesday. We'll see.
I had no idea it was that bad
Sounds unlikely
I'm most concerned about the high winds knocking over trees onto my apartment.
I don't like it when governors say 'this could be a once in a century storm'.
Boo.
We seem to have that every couple of years
Maybe the Mayans were on to something?
hehe
The space shuttle got some good shots of it,
http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_2043.html
Station not shuttle.
sorry, yeah.
I have a headache from being so stressed out trying to get everything done to prepare in 2 days rather than the 3 professional development days we get. They canceled Monday's meetings so we will make those hours up later in the year.
So you et less time to prepare even though school may be late in starting
:)
We can't be in school where most of the work needs to be done. I took home all I could, but this has been a very, very stressful few days. I'm not usually worried about storms, but I'm worried about this one.
You should move somewhere that doesn't have huge storms
ok :)
Oh, I hadn't heard that NYC is stopping mass transit tomorrow at noon. They expect flooding in the subways.
I have never heard of them doing that before. Is it a normal precaution?
No. I've never heard of most of the things states and cities are doing.
11 states have declared emergencies.
I wonder how Turkey Machine is weathering it in North Carolina. It's hitting there now or soon.
I assume he has arrived by now
Evening folks,
Dropped off for a while - taking n IndyCar FP1 at the minute
How's everyone?
oh my goodness! i hope you'll be okay Kai! :)
yeah, I just wonder how badly they'll be impacted by it.
They're saying to be ready not to have power for a week around here. :(
Lots of trees. Lots of telephone/electrical poles. They have crews from as far as Kentucky ready to come help us.
I will skip that. I think I will settle for just watching the race
By the way, Giorgio Pantano is P4 with 12 minutes left. Simona de Silvestro is not racing due to to VISA issues. She was denied re-entry to the USA today.
I wonder how much racing I'll get to watch this weekend. It depends on when the power goes out.
At least they are planning for it. Too often these things come as a complete surprise to the authorities.
Q right?
charge everything, just in case
Boo for Simona! I wonder what that was about? :(
they'll always be a spare room here for you fancy popping over from the other side of that big pond that separates us ;)
Seems odd considering how much time she spends there
FP1
No clues yet
Yes, very true. I do think the best thing about the freak out by pretty much everyone is that people are ready.
Thanks. I have co-workers who live fairly close. It's good to have friends with generators. :) So I'll have help if I need it.
And the usual next stage would be the storm turning sharply and not hitting any of the prepared areas
I'm charging everything, cooking food that could spoil, filling up water containers and I'll do laundry tomorrow because the next day we go to school is for the first day, whenever that will be...
I hope things aren't too heavy where you are right now
:/
Aw, thanks!!!!!! I may just take you up on that at some point.
yeah, I was really hoping for that. :)
Thanks. It will begin tomorrow night overnight (oh goody, arriving at 2am, in pitch blackness) and it will go from then until about 2pm Sunday EST. I can live comment it.
That may not be entirely necessary...
:)
The storm is the size of Europe!
!!!
OUCH
You don't care if I'm okay? :)
Don't worry, I'll probably lose power pretty early on so I won't be able to.
Well, I have gone through FP1 and FP2... Might as well watch BBC GP Classic F1. Spa 1998... This will be fun! maybe Montreal 2011 will be a classic in 15 years.
don't want to spoil it for you, but FIIIIIIGGHHT!
no jokes, honestly do one day you'd be more than welcome!
Piquet and Salazar were at Spa '98?
Hockenheim 82
not exactly.
ok so NEARLY FIIGGHHT! (had there not been people in the way)
!!!!!
okay so who is flying the plane to go rescue kai? ;)
Well now it's just a matter of when.
#you'rethebest
Spa 98 is possibly the only brilliant move Ralf ever did!
If the pilot's name is Irene, don't get on it.
#HurricaneIrene
sometime when I'm not at uni ;)
:D