Interview with Peter from Auto India Sports.

So this months interview is with Peter Santamaria-Woods who along with Nikhil Pai and Darshan Chokhani runs the Formula One blog Auto India Sports and since it's the first Indian grand prix this weekend what better time to talk about Indian motorsport then now.

Enjoy.

So since three people run Auto India Sports... How did you, Nikhil and Darshan meet?

Well I am based in England where as Nikhil is based in Bangalore and Darshan lives in Calcutta. Amazingly we have never actually met each other in person! We met through interactions on the Force India facebook page - the three of us have been posting there pretty much since the page was created and we all usually have similar opinions when it comes to F1 so we decided to create the blog.


Why did you decide to focus more on the Indian side of motorsport?

Nikhil and Darshan are both Indian and I myself am half Indian so it was a logical step to focus on the Indian side of motorsport. I was the person who initially suggested the idea of a blog purely because I could not find any other comprehensive motorsport websites for India. There were some out there however updates were infrequent and some information was missing.


What has been your most successful blog post?

Our most successful blog post was a post about Nikhil's first F1 experience when he saw Lewis Hamilton in Bangalore (http://autoindiasports.blogspot.com/2011/09/sight-sound-and-smell-of-f1-car.html). That's most successful in terms of both views and comments. I was surprised as that was infact Nikhil's only ever post for the blog so far as his job is to focus on blog promotion rather than posting.
I would have thought that the exclusive interview we had with Karun Chandhok (http://autoindiasports.blogspot.com/2011/09/karun-chandhok-interview.html) would have been most successful but as long as we get the visits I'm happy!


How excited are you about the Indian GP this weekend?

It's going to be such a proud moment for over a billion people when the cars take to the track on Friday morning! I can not put into words how excited I am about this race, although having said that I did try to put it into words via our F1 preview here (http://autoindiasports.blogspot.com/2011/10/f1-weekend-preview.html).
I've been a crazy F1 fan ever since I was old enough to remember things and I want motorsport to try and challenge cricket in India as the number one sport. It will take many years, but it is possible and I know both Darshan and Nikhil share my passion.

Do you think an Indian GP will help raise awareness of motorsport in India? Is India excited about the race?

Naturally it will! Infact it has already started to raise awareness! In recent months we've seen lots of hype surrounding our drivers Karun and Narain and have also seen new Indian sponsors come into the sport (Amul at Sauber and Sahara at Force India) and a story that doesn't seem to have had much publicity because of the Indian GP hype is that Mumbai also want to build an F1-spec track so clearly things are improving in terms of awareness. This is only the tip of the iceberg though we hope!

India is very excited about the race, it's going to be a once in a lifetime experience for many Indians travelling to the race and for many others it will be an education in our great sport. These people are the ones who will become diehard fans. I hope the race organisers do something special to get more children involved as they are the fanbase of the future, the ones who can develop Indian motorsport even further.

Are you happy that Narain will drive in the Indian GP or are you looking forward to future Indian F1 drivers?

Yes to both questions! Delighted that Narain will be driving at the first Indian GP! Surprised and upset that Karun will not be taking part in the race though, considering the event probably wouldn't have happened without him and his father Vicky Chandhok so it's a great shame.

As for future Indian F1 drivers I'm sure with time we will see more and more. In my opinion the brightest young Indian talent at the moment is Parth Ghorpade who is currently racing in French F4 and was recently selected for the shootout to join the 2012 Young Driver Excellence Academy run by the FIA - we have high hopes for him!


Are pleased with Force India's performance this season or have they been disappointing?

I think Force India have been very impressive this season! One of the main question marks heading into 2011 was how would Paul Di Resta cope in single seaters after racing in DTM in 2010. Personally I had expected him to be slower than Adrian Sutil at first, closing the gap through the season. However in actual fact Di Resta was instantly on the pace of Sutil and now I think we have the two most evenly matched drivers on the grid.

The team are now sitting 6th in the championship which would be their highest ever constructors finish. Every season they have been in F1 they have improved their position and based on the current trend in two or three seasons they could be fighting for regular podiums and maybe even race wins.

So to sum that up, very pleased with this seasons performance but they need to keep pushing for the future.


And finally are you pleased with your blog success, and what are the plans for the future of Auto India sports?

I'm delighted with success of the blog so far. Our facebook "like count" is going up and up (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Auto-India-Sports/156016607805433) - probably faster than Darshan, Nikhil or myself ever expected.

The plan for Auto India Sports is to keep growing and keep informing people about Indian motorsport. We're trying to educate fans here aswell as providing news. The ultimate aim is to try turn the blog into the main place to go for everyone associated with Indian motorsport (be it fans, drivers, media or officials). It's going to take time, but I think we can do it!

Marco Simoncelli 1987-2011

In this dark week of motorsport we lose another driver. This time in Moto GP.

Marco Simoncelli was just twenty four when he was struck by Colin Edwards and Valentino Rossi at the Malaysian GP.

Marco was really up and coming in Moto GP and was definitely one to watch for the future.

It was such a gruesome crash that Sky news didn't even show it and when I did see the crash in full on Euro News. I actually felt physically sick.
Seeing Simoncelli without his helmet, whilst laying lifeless in the middle of the track is something I will never forget.

Now I don't watch Moto GP very often and I know that motorbikes are infinitely more dangerous then other forms of motorsport but it's still a shock to the system to have another driver die within a week.

I don't know how Moto GP can ever really be safe, after all when the drivers have an accident they don't have a monocoque to protect them. Only themselves.

The scariest thing is that Marco was the same age has me. Twenty Four.

That's no age to lose a life, especially when life hasn't truly begun.

My thoughts go to Marco Simoncelli's family and friends.

In the blackest week that motorsport has faced in years.

Dan Wheldon 1978-2011

This post will seem a little late in coming, but without the internet at my new home. I have had to travel back to my old house to steal it.

The next part of this post was written down ready to tell you now.

"It's half twelve on Sunday the 16th of October and I'm laying in my bed writing this down.
At about half past ten. I saw on facebook on my phone that there had been a 15 car pile up in Indycar race in Las Vegas.
From the looks of the footage it was a bad one, I was also told that Dan Wheldon was seriously hurt.
The next thirty minutes was a flurry of trying to find any news I could about the accident without the internet. Twitter on my phone was down and Sky news had nothing about the crash on its sport segment. Funny enough the only place I found some infomation was on Aljazerra TV. (Strange)
Then as I went to bed at midnight, I checked my phone to find out that Dan Wheldon had died aged just 33."

In that moment I dropped my phone and burst in tears and at that moment a little part of my heart died.

I may not know much about Indycar but I do know one thing. That no matter what the motorsport. No race should ever end in a lost of a life. Ever.

Two deaths in five years in Indycar. This figure should of been none.

Any big crash or even a fatality should be a massive reminder that safety in motorsport can never stall or be made light of.

In this dark day in motorsport.

My thoughts are with Dan Wheldon's wife, two children, his family and his friends.
Gone but never forgotten.

Let's put our fingers together.

Last weekend Vettel won the Championship title.
Last weekend I was hastily making plans to move house.

This week is my move, so for the last few days I have been clearing out my room and in a box under my bed.
Was some very interesting finds.
(Don't be so dirty minded by the way, it's all F1 related)

One find was a signed Jenson Button photo from his Williams days. No idea if the signature is even real but it's great to remember how baby face Jense used to be. (Bless his cottons)

The other find. Lead me on a thought path. 

In the box along with the Jenson photo was a pile of old F1 racing magazines from 2006/2007

And on the front of the October issue was this.

We now know this pose has Vettel finger.
But it definitely wasn't Vettel finger.
It was Alonso finger.

And this got me to wondering.
Who started this in F1?

Is it every World champion?
Or most race winners?

So I have created myself and my readers a small challenge.
I want to see how many F1 drivers have done the number one finger.
I will then compile a blog post with has many as I and you can find.

Now I may be slightly internet-less for a while.
But I still have twitter on my phone.
So if you see any Number one F1 poses. Then tweet me @squiffany with your best ones.

"It's like Where's Wally but worse"

Interview with Tom from wtf1.co.uk

In a new monthly feature to Female Formula Fun I will be talking to members of the F1 media community.

So this month I am talking to Tom Bellingham who runs wtf1.co.uk
A brilliant website that takes a comedic look at Formula One.

So now I have wet your appetite
Here's our interview.

Firstly how did you get into watching/liking F1?

I saw a trailer for the 1996 Australian Grand Prix, I was only about 7 but it looks really cool. I watched the race with my parents and we were all hooked ever since.

Who's your favourite driver/team this year?

I've supported Vettel and Hamilton since 2007, through the highs and lows of both their careers. My favourite team is Toro Rosso so you can imagine what Monza 2008 was like for me.

So how did the idea for wtf1.co.uk come about?

I have been a big follower of the F1 Fanatic blog as well as a geeky technology blog called Geekologie. Every time I went on it I wished there was an F1 blog in that style, so a few months later I thought I'd set one up myself.

Why did you decide on a more comedy approach with wtf1.co.uk rather then taking a serious look at F1?

I didn't see the point in doing a blog about F1 news and race analysis as there are already so many out there. I wanted to do something completely different and original so I didn't have to compete with all the other F1 blogs out there. Also if I had any news it'd only be what everyone had already read on Autosport hours ago.

How much time do you spend on wtf1? Do you run it full time/part time and do you run it single handedly?

I run it on my own when I have some spare time. It works well not being based on real time news as I'd never be able to keep it 'up to date'. If I get a lot of time off I'll usual write about 5 or 10 articles in a day and then publish one each day, otherwise I'd end up posting 10 articles in a few days and then nothing for weeks.

Congratulations on hitting half a million views recently. What has been your most popular post on the site?

The single most viewed post is the fatboothed F1 drivers, people really took well to them. Jake Humphrey from the BBC also shared a cartoon that 'Chainbear' drew and it pretty much crashed the site, so that was another popular one. Any photoshop post goes down well too, I guess that's become the signature wtf1 post.

Have any F1 drivers seen any of your posts or videos?

Yes actually, I had a conversation with McLaren's @thefifthdriver about a Lewis Hamilton Cool Running's video I made. He shared it on Twitter and told me that Lewis himself had seen it and loved it. That was probably the most rewarding bit of news I've got since running the site.

What is your personal favourite post?

I really do like the photoshop posts. The guys at the Autosport forums always come up with some absolute comedy gold.

Since running wtf1.co.uk has it gained you any F1 perks? Eg: Trips, freebies or meeting any drivers?

I've been lucky enough to visit the paddock on 4 separate occasions and go to the Red Bull and McLaren factories, I'd love to say it was a 'perk' of running wtf1 but it's just because I'm a lucky bugger and won some competitions.

Your a known twitter-er. How has twitter helped in promoting wtf1.co.uk? Has it brought you closer to your fans?

Without Twitter wtf1 would have completely failed. It's a great way to get people viewing the site, I think without Twitter no one would be able to hear about wtf1. For me it's the best, the fact that so many F1 fans are on it too is just amazing.

Do your fans send you ideas and suggestions for posts/videos/photoshops? 

Occasionally, it's certainly something I like to see. More please! :)

What do you enjoy making more. Your own photoshops or your own videos?

I'm pretty rubbish at photoshop and I really enjoy making videos, so I'd have to say the videos. The annoying part is trying to get it on YouTube without FOM removing it.

Just like Female Formula Fun, Wtf1.co.uk has gone international, which countries love your website the most?

I've been using Google Analytics to check site views, it's a great tool if not a little scary. The site has been viewed in over 150 countries now, UK is easily the most popular, followed by USA, Brazil, Spain, Australia and then Poland. What I find weird though is seeing views from places like Uganda and Mongolia. Amazing.

Now your website is gaining more hits daily then Sniff Petrol and Badger GP, what's next for wtf1.co.uk?

Keep getting more fans and followers. I'm hoping to get to the stage where I get a lot of fan interaction, sharing ideas and posts on Facebook, Twitter and emails.

So if you fancy taking a look at Tom's website (Because after reading this interview why wouldn't you?)
Check out wtf1.co.uk or the facebook and twitter pages. 

Fancy being next months interviewee?
If you run a F1 related blog, website or anything F1 media based.
Then contact me at squiffany87@gmail.com