The Bloke and A Bird Show Episode 147

We've got some important scheduling notes regarding the next few weeks.  Make sure you listen for more information.

Fernando Alonso and the Toyota Gazoo racing team win this year's 24 hours of LeMans.

Formula E brought motorsport back to Switzerland for the first time in over 60 years.

It wasn't Winnie Harlow's fault that the checkered flag came out early in Montreal - but it did mean that the race ended at the end of lap 68.

But thanks to that mistake, the FIA is looking at other options for ending a race.

Turns out that Sebastian Vettel's complaints of the VSC might have some merit to them.

Mercedes is upset over their performance and say they need to do better.

Posted on June 17, 2018 .

The Bloke and A Bird Show Episode 146

You know what's embarrassing? Representing your company who is the title sponsor for a race by driving the pace car to start the race - and crashing the pace car coming out of Turn 1 and delaying the race start by 27 minutes...

Is Force India about to be sold - depends on who you talk to...

Electric Karting is becoming an Olympic sport - a Junior Olympic sport.

FOM is looking at significant changes for 2021, from calendar, to aerodynamics, to maybe even tires?

In the mean time it looks like the 2019 season will end in December.

Two big changes coming to the Montreal Grand Prix this year - a third DRS zone and more significantly a change to the DRS rules from this race forward.

Toro Rosso is actively looking to replace Brendan Hartley.

Daniel Riccardo appears to have avoided a grid penalty in Montreal.

Max Verstappen snaps at reporters.

McLaren is struggling in Montreal because it has to go fast and slow.

Mercedes is regretting its tire choices for the weekend.

It's shaping up to be a bad weekend for Haas.

Posted on June 10, 2018 .

The Bloke and A Bird Show Episode 145

This week we battle allergies to bring you a show...

Force India didn't get out of Mercedes way in Monaco - well they did, but not because they were being kind...

Vijay Mallya is letting go of some of his roles at Force India.

Sauber has a new Technical Director

FIA will use software to figure out if Ferrari is misusing their ERS.

Mercedes is upset that the FIA leaked who ratted out Ferrari.

An engine contract for 2019 is more important to Red Bull than a contract for Daniel Ricciardo.

Miami expects to get sued - a lot - if they host a race next year.

Kimi Raikonnen files an extortion complaint in Canada.

Posted on June 3, 2018 .

The Bloke and a Bird Show Episode 144

SPOILER ALERT - Will Power won the 102nd running of the Indianapolis 500, Daniel Ricciardo won the 76th Monaco Grand Prix, and there was a NASCAR race this past weekend...

A processional race without a lot of passing - are we talking about the Indy 500 or the Monaco Grand Prix? We're talking about both this year...

Hockenheim wants a better deal in order to keep hosting Grand Prix races.

Could the MGU-H get dropped by F1? Jean Todt at the FIA is open to it.

McLaren gets a new shareholder - and he's the father of Force India's Test and Development driver.

Sergey Sirotkin is a workaholic.

Gunther Steiner insists that Romain Grosjean's position with the team is not in jeopardy.

German media is speculating that Brendon Hartley might be replaced by Pascal Wherlin, and Helmit Marko gives a lukewarm denial.

Mercedes questions oil burning practices and Ferrari's battery usage.

Red Bull was willing to let Daniel Ricciardo blow his engine instead of retiring from the lead of the race.

Christian Horner warns Max Verstappen that he needs to stop crashing.

Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso didn't like this year's race.

And Citroen fires their driver for "an excessively high number of crashes."

Posted on May 28, 2018 .

The Bloke and A Bird Show Episode 143

This year has seemed to just fly by so far...  Which may be a good thing if you're missing Felipe Massa - because he's returning to racing and headed to Formula E

Shock in Indianapolis as James Hinchcliff fails to qualify for the Indy 500.

Zak Brown says that McLaren is considering IndyCar and WEC entries in the coming years.

F1 TV launched last weekend - and it didn't go well. 

Those unique mirrors that Ferrari was running last weekend - they're now banned (and weren't really legal when Ferrari run them)

It's unlikely that Kimi Raikkonen will need an engine change even though he had a DNF after an engine failure.

Roman Grosjean gets a 3 place grid penalty for Monaco after his incident in Barcelona

Sergei Sirotkin says he's seat's why he didn't do well in Barcelona...

Mercedes and the FIA are testing new lights.

And there's already a problem with the proposed race for Miami...

Posted on May 20, 2018 .

The Bloke and A Bird Show Episode 142

We're back with lots of news from while we were gone...

Fernando Alonso had his first ever win at Spa, and it wasn't in Formula 1.

 The Red Bull drivers ended their Baku weekend on the naughty step.

Sergio Perez almost ended up on the naughty step but after looking at the rules different Charlie Whiting was ok with him taking a 5 second penalty under a safety car.

Lewis Hamilton clearly has a different relationship with Valteri Bottas than he did with Nico Rosberg.

Silly season has started - for both engines and drivers.

Ferendo Alonso's McLaren was seriously damaged in Baku - and he still got points.

Fan Vision is coming back to F1, and F1 is closer to coming to Miami.

Max Verstappen wins a lawsuit to protect his image.

And FOM has gotten a trademark on "shooey"

Posted on May 13, 2018 .

The Bloke and A Bird Show Episode 141

This week, we'll find out if once again the teams decide to do what's best for the sport or to shot themselves in the foot - again.

Teams now have permission to mount mirror to the halo - within limits

Could Mission Control rooms be going away?

Andy Palmer at Aston Martin thinks that they could be leverage against Ferrari's threats to leave F1 - we think Andy's forgetting a key fact.

Could Williams become the Mercedes jr team? Not if Claire Williams has anything to say about it.

Daniel Riccardo had to get surgery last week - and he's not talking to Ferrari about 2019 - yet.

Bernie Ecclestone is criticizing Lewis Hamilton.

Brendan Hartley apologizes for almost causing a major crash with his team mate during qualifying.

And Nico Rosberg has created a driver development program...

Posted on April 29, 2018 .

The Bloke and A Bird Show Episode 140

This week - Nico Rosberg is no longer part of Robert Kubica's management team.

Mauritzio Arrivabene's description of the ill fated pit stop in Bahrain - Ferrari says that's not really what happened.

Max Verstappen says that he doesn't need to calm down - and his father says he needs to think about his actions.

Just because he had an amazing weekend, Daniel Ricciardo isn't convinced that his future is with Red Bull - yet.

Pierre Gasly and Brendan Hartley say that there was a miscommunication that led to their crash in the Chinese Grand Prix.

Charlie Whiting says that no, they didn't call out the safety car when they did in order to mess with Sebastian Vettel's race.

Once again we're questioning Mercedes' race strategy.

There might be an agreement for engines in 2021 at the end of May.

Fuel loads will be increased next year, and there's some changes to car weights coming.

Williams is in financial trouble - or are they... Actually they really are..

Gunther Steiner doesn't want F1 to be like IndyCar.

You  might thing you've seen this year's McLaren - and you'd be wrong...

Posted on April 22, 2018 .

The Bloke and A Bird Show Episode 139

n F1 broadcasting news - ESPN will show the remainder of the races this season commercial free, and F1 says that F1 TV Pro is coming in time for the Spanish Grand Prix.

Max Verstappen's crash in qualifying in Bahrain - turns out it was due to a "right foot oscillation"

Sergio Perez and Brendan Hartley got penalties for the same confusing formation lap incident.

Lewis Hamilton was upset by Max Verstappen's bungled pass - but they're better now.

The FIA isn't bothered by smoking Ferrari's.

Mercedes didn't react quickly enough to Ferrari responding to Mercedes' strategy.

Yes, Kimi's mechanic got hurt, but he's doing well and in good spirits. Kimi got beat up over his horrible pit stop - and we don't agree with the criticism.

Red Bull wants the Renault engines to be better, Renault has told their teams that they can push the engines harder, but post qualifying in China Daniel Riccardo said he's loosing faith in the manufacturer...

Zak Brown has a new title at McLaren, and the team admits that the season isn't going as well as they expected.

Force India has a fundamental problem with their car.

And there will be historic cars on track at Silverstone this year....

Posted on April 15, 2018 .

The Bloke and A Bird Show Episode 138

What do you do with Formula E batteries when you upgrade them? Formula E says that they have plans.

Toyota's WEC car was 4+ seconds faster than the rest of the field during this week's testing - but it wasn't in race trim.

There won't be a fix for the lack of passing any time soon - and Ferrari and Renault are to blame.

Liberty has given the teams their roadmap for 2021 and beyond - and the small teams seem to like it.

Ross Brawn thinks F1 should consider making qualifying a race of it's own.

What's Mercedes' Party Mode? They tell us how it works, kind of.

Lewis Hamilton doesn't know why Mercedes is struggling this weekend - but maybe the tires are the issue?

Pirelli will have a special compound for Barcelona, Silverstone and Paul Ricard.

No new front wing at Force India this weekend - maybe?

Haas makes changes to it's pit box crew.

Max Verstappen explains how he ended up in the wall in Q1.

Russia and Monaco want grid girls - because Russian girls are pretty and children are afraid of mechanical things and Monaco pays their girls...

Posted on April 8, 2018 .

The Bloke and a Bird Show Episode 137

A big congratulations to Billy Monger who returned to racing in the BRDC F3 season opener with a third place finish.

Yes, we were frustrated by ESPN's race day coverage too.

During the race, Carlos Sainz's car tried to drown him

It's all about the data - Mercedes settled for second and Ferrari got the win - and all because of data.

Haas' wheel nut issues last weekend cost them 10,000 Euros.

Sergei Sirotkin's race was done in by a sandwich bag.

Honda says that they can build a really good F1 engine...  No, really.  Stop laughing.

There were more passes at this year's Australian Grand Prix than last year - but it's hard to get excited by 5 passes all race.

The theories as to why there's less passing could be the aero, could be the car, could be the track...

Racing could be faster at Silverstone this year.

Posted on April 1, 2018 .

The Bloke and A Bird Show Episode 136

It's here! Opening Weekend of the 2018 F1 season has finally arrived - and importantly we know the name of Sebastian Vettel's 2018 Ferrari...  He's named it Loria...  No, not Gloria, Loria...

Yeah, we thought the same thing...

Bernie Ecclestone's legal issues still aren't over.

F1 has revealed it's new theme music...  Or maybe the theme for the next Avengers movie, we're not sure which...

No F1 TV Pro this week...

Did you like the McLaren series on Amazon? There's a series coming in 2019 to Netflix that will follow the entire paddock for the whole season.

Renault is expecting another difficult season.

McLaren says that they've addressed all their problems from testing.

Helmet Marko thinks that Honda could be a viable option for Red Bull in 2019.

Christian Horner says that the teams will never fully agree on the next Concorde Agreement

Force India is still Force India for 2018.

More unintended consequences from the halo, and we're a step closer to the return of the Dutch Grand Prix.

Posted on March 25, 2018 .

The Bloke and A Bird Show Episode 135

You still have time to get your team created and join the league over at Fantasygp.com, league code 14831491.

Over in Formula E there was some controversy in qualifying at the Punta Del Este E-Prix, and Lucas Di Grassi got a penalty for wearing the wrong underwear - no really...

How is Formula E going to have races where the drivers don't need to switch cars - make the races shorter.

ESPN's broadcast schedule has been announced, and as we feared, we're loosing pre and post race coverage in the US.

The FIA is watching for teams using engine modes to gain an aerodynamic advantage, and oil burning apparently it's still a thing.

Jean Todt says that the drivers shouldn't complain about the halo because the FIA was just doing what they wanted, and he thinks that Ferrari should loose their rules veto.

Toto Wolff says it would be bad to make Sergio Marchionne angry.

Toro Rosso is realizing that it's pretty cool to be a works team.

McLaren got a flip flop maker to sponsor their halo for a race.

And Fernando Alonso said that he considered leaving F1 at the end of last season and we're not at all surprised.

Posted on March 18, 2018 .

The Bloke and A Bird Show Episode 134

This week - we got the chance to drive the Fiskar Karma this past week - originally with a starting price of over $100,000 it is easily the most expensive vehicle we've ever driven. Fiskars can now be had for much closer to $30,000 and after driving one, we're not even sure that they're worth that much...

We also drove the Jaguar F-Type R.  There's no comparison between the Jaguar and the Fiskar, the Jaguar is sporty, responsive, and refined in every way that the Fiskar is now. To quote Ferris Bueler - If you have the means, I highly recommend it...

If you haven't already, make sure to join our league at FantasyGP.com code 14831491

In the news this week - 

Carmen Jorda firmly plants her foot in her mouth and works to extract it

There's a new feeder series in the F1 ladder - Formula 3 is coming and will be promoted by the Formula 1 Group.

Liberty is holding off on plans to reorganize the F1 calendar

Kevin Magnusson wants to drive in IndyCar

Williams says that they don't think that Mercedes gives them downgraded engines

The French GP may be bringing back some old F1 traditions.

Mercedes is concerned about how their car treats the softer tires

New year, new colors, new engine manufacturer - but reliability is still a problem at McLaren

Renault has a new wing coming for Australia.

Posted on March 11, 2018 .

The Bloke and A Bird Show Episode 133

This week Formula 1 announced their much anticipated streaming service, and it looks like it will deliver on much of what we're hoping for:

  • Live streaming of races
  • Live streaming of press conferences and other coverage around the weekend
  • The ability to follow any driver we want
  • Access to past races
  • Reasonably priced
  • Available in the US and 39 other countries

What we don't know is how time shifting will work, or even if it will be allowed, but we're hopeful that this fills the gap in coverage in the US.  

For our friends in the UK you won't get access to the new service but Sky is lowering the price of F1 coverage via NowTV apparently in response to the new service.

Did you know F1 had a theme song? Well, it's getting a new one.

Bernie Ecclestone has crawled out of his cave/Swiss Hotel/Brazilian Coffee Farm and spoken to the press again.

Toto Wolf says that the FIA's message about engines last week wasn't because of something they were doing.

We saw the final car launches and liveries this week - the Red Bull looks like pretty much every other Red Bull, the Toro Rosso looks like last year's Toro Rosso, and the Force India looks like last year's Force India (but more pink and white).

Renault says that they're going to keep their engines turned down to start the season off.

Lewis doesn't like it when tracks get repaved.

Finally we take about testing - and more this year than previous years it's pretty much useless to make predictions based on testing. (Not that it will stop us or anybody else)

Posted on March 4, 2018 .

The Bloke and A Bird Show Episode 132

Do you like Jolyon Palmer? Then Good News! for you as Jolyon has a new job as a commentator for BBC's 5Live F1 coverage.  Don't like Jolyon Palmer - well, he's still got a new job as a commentator for BBC's 5Live F1 coverage.

It's in the rules - constructors can't make their customers run different software packages or downgraded engines compared to their works teams - but they still appear to allow previous year engines to be run.

Organizers at the Russian GP admit that the track isn't necessarily conducive to good racing and are talking to the FIA about how to change that - hint, they're not cancelling the race or ripping out the track and starting over.

Red Bull, Sauber, Renault, Mercedes, Ferrari, and McLaren all held their car launches this week, and Toro Rosso had images of their car leak early.

Have Ferrari and Phillip Morris figured out how to get tobacco based products advertised on an F1 car again?

Force India insists that despite the rumors this past week, they're not for sale.

Posted on February 25, 2018 .

The Bloke and A Bird Show Episode 131

We've finally gotten some details on what F1 coverage will look like in the US for 2018 - it'll look a lot like the coverage from Sky Sports - as they'll be supplying the race commentary for ESPN and ABC.  It's not clear if we'll be getting the Pre- and Post- race coverage from Sky, and we also don't know what the streaming offering will be either.  Hopefully we'll get more details soon.

At 10 races this season you might have the chance to ride around the track in an Aston Martin driven by either Max Verstappen or Daniel Ricciardo, or a McLaren 720s driven by either Stoffel Vandoorne, Fernando Alonso, Mika Hakkinen, or Lando Norris.

Zak Brown said that McLaren felt that they needed to keep Grand Prix Driver authentic and air the dirty laundry that came up during the filming - and we agree with him and applaud the team for their openness. Zak also says that more sponsors are coming to McLaren soon.

Sauber (aka AlFaub or AlFauber) thinks that Ferrari is providing them with the support they need to challenge Force India as the "giant killer" of the series.

Valtteri Bottas says that after driving a race distance in the simulator with the halo that it's not too bad.

Gene Haas is trying to clarify Gunther Steiner's comments about American drivers..

Haas and Williams both revealed their 2018 F1 contenders.

IndyCar wants to test the aeroscreen on a street course.

Cosworth is interested in returning to IndyCar - with a partner.

And WEC promoter the Automobile de l'Ouest is putting LMP1 teams on notice - if they managed to beat the sole manufacturer team left in the sport, Toyota,  that penalties will be handed out.

Posted on February 18, 2018 .

The Bloke and A Bird Show Episode 130

The 2018 Bloke & A Bird Show Motorsports Calendar is coming soon - we promise...

The next round of the Formula E Championship will be held in Mexico City - and the proceeds from the race are being donated to the reconstruction efforts from the earthquake last year.

Daniel Abt thinks there's cheating in the Fanboost system in Formula E - while Alejandro Agog the CEO of the sport says that there is no cheating...

IndyCar's new aerokit has hit the track for the first official time - and it seems that it's leading to increased tire wear.

IndyCar also tested the aeroscreen concept of a windscreen for cockpit head protection.  Scott Dixon doesn't think it was all that bad.

The organizers of the Six hours of Fuji race have moved the race a week earlier in the month to allow Fernando Alonzo to compete, and McLaren insists that Fernando is on loan to Toyota and only there to race.

Grid Girls are gone - now we have Grid Kids.

All that money that Williams is getting from Sergey Sirotkin - possibly will be going towards car development.

The FIA is tweaking the rules regarding the engines to make it harder to squeeze out extra performance.

McLaren won't have any influence on Renault's engines for a few years.

Mercedes has replaced Hugo Boss with Tommy Hilfiger as their team wear sponsor.

McLaren has signed Dell as their new sponsor and technology partner.

Haas has a sponsor! WOOT!

Kyalami says that F1 needs to be more attractive financially in order for them to host a race.

We discuss the Amazon short series Grand Prix Driver.

And finally - we want your questions for the 2018 prediction show...

Posted on February 11, 2018 .

The Bloke and A Bird Show Episode 129

Just a reminder - Amazon's tell all documentary about the start of McLaren's 2017 season "Grand Prix Driver" premiers on Feb 9.  Let us know what you think of it...

Formula E has revealed their next generation car - which features the range to make it through an entire Formula E race without require a change of cars... oh and it has a halo too... 

IndyCar also showed us the first view of their aeroscreen, which will make it's debut in testing this week...

Fernando Alonso's debut in endurance racing - saw him finish in 23rd, but he'll be joining the Toyota Gazoo Racing WEC team for the entire WEC season with the exception of Fuji, but that may change... Oh and he's still driving in F1....

Grid girls are no longer a part of Formula 1, and both Bernie Ecclestone and Niki Lauda agree with the decision.

Do you watch the UK's Channel 4 coverage? They'll be showing the races in Bahrain, Azerbaijan, Monaco, Austria, Britain,  Belgium, Singapore, Japan, the US, and Abu Dhabi live.  The remaining races will be live on Sky Sports F1 and highlight packages on Channel 4.  There's still no word on what the US coverage will look like.

Race starts have officially been shifted back 10 minutes and now we know why.

It looks like an F1 Live event will be coming to Miami this year!

Haas is talking to an unknown driver for a development role.

Rubens Barrichello is recovering from a stay in the hospital.

David Coulthard has won the 2018 Race of Champions.

Posted on February 4, 2018 .

The Bloke and A Bird Show Episode 128

It's a quiet week in the F1 world this week, but there's still motorsports action this week with drivers from F1, IndyCar and other series participating in IMSA's Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona.

Zak Brown was playing down his team's (and Fernando Alonso's) chances for a win, and indeed as we record it's looking unlikely that the United Autosports #23 will get a victory this weekend.

Zak also says what we said last week - with limited testing time, it's hard for a driver that's not in a "traditional" F1 feeder series to break into F1.

One hour - that's how long Frederic Vasseur was in charge of Sauber before he ripped up the team's 2018 engine supply deal with Honda.

Charlie Whiting inspected Holland's Assen TT circuit and think that it's close to receiving a Grade 1 certification.

The Circuit de Barcelona Catalunya was repaved over the winter - and it could cause a problem for Winter Testing.

T wings are banned for 2018 - but we could still see t wings in 2018.

Remember when Sauber and Force India filed a complaint with the EU alleging that FOM was unfair? They dropped that complaint last week.

Williams has announced their car launch date.

Could we see a Manor F1 team again? (hint probably not)

And Niki Lauda owns an airline again....

Posted on January 28, 2018 .