Alt+F1: 09 - 05/06/2014 - Google Machines

As promised.

Fuck yea.

HOT "THE POINT" EXCLUSIVES DROPPED IN THIS EPI

(i want it to be clear that i'm just funnin around and i LOVE the point good job danny on the point)

Here's the bonkers MotoGP clip I mentioned (sorry, embedding disabled).

I love the irish Riverdance with 0 context. I can just imagine what insanity yall were talking about.

awww yisssss

Goddamn Eurovision. Just rename it to the politics song contest or something.

@pepipopa: Haha yeah I'm sure I'll crack up tomorrow at work when I find out.

All the Crazy DogeCar gifs from sunday that you need! < must see the doge heroics

I felt weird once people started pronouncing Doge like that. I always thought it was with a "J" sound, like the Italian "doge." I guess I played too much Assassin's Creed in Italian. It makes that dog seem more lordly!

On topic: Getting stoked for my first live GP! Damn you Danny & Drew for hooking me.

For a second I thought that guy in the screencap was Danny.

@dannyodwyer Zanardi is still racing cars! He is racing in the Blancpain Sprint series this year. Dude is a god damn legend.

Alt-F1: Weird European Shit. I love where this podcast is going

Fantastic stuff this week!

Heres a non-riverdance tune by the same composer, Michael O'Suilleabhain. Can't embed coz I'm on the tablet =(

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yhrzf5kyQC0

I think I bought my mom the Riverdance VHS for Mother's Day a decade I'm sorry TWO decades ago...

Still, the best thing the Irish have contributed to the world's music scene is The Best Is Yet To Come from Metal Gear Solid.

@dannyodwyer: Sure you post this, but not the race you devoted a podcast to. This site is run by crazy people!

Cool video of Catalunya to get a feel before next weeks race.

I was always under the impression that the European race was named that because there is a F1 stipulation that no country can host two grand Prix. Same with San Marino which is technically a second Italian race.

I'm not sure if I'm sad or stoked that I immediately recognized that image as the Romania Eurovision guy from 2012. What a show :P

@sil3n7: How long does it take to fix an animation?

Here's those eurovision songs Drew was talking about at the end. I personally prefer the dubstep/falsetto entry from Romania.

Alex Zanardi is racing in the Blancpain GT3 sprint series this year. Pretty amazing how fast he is considering how he has to drive.

Why is there a man from Deus Ex 3 in the thumbnail

I mean, Moldova's entry into 2010 Eurovision is kinda the best one, right? It gave us the Epic Sax Guy meme. And all that spinning violin and tenuous grasps of the English language!

Also, @dannyodwyer kinda blew my mind when he was lamenting how Michael Flatley is the world's most famous Irish dancer and he's not even Irish. Wikipedia says he was born in Chicago but is ethnically Irish, which I guess counts. Also apparently he was an amateur boxer so he could probably kick all of our asses.

With that said, I just joined an F1/Formula 1 Meetup group this week and they're having their Spanish Grand Prix event this upcoming weekend. I'm in NYC so it makes viewing it a bit easier, but the event is still kinda crazy early. Now I have to try to either find a place that is showing EuroVision, or watch the finals online. Are the finals the best part? That's the part everyone talks about, right?

@failxadrian: I'm also impressed that he does the whole race by himself since swapping drivers is wholly impractical for obvious reasons (all the other entries are 2 driver teams)

I'm officially in love with this podcast, F1 and Eurovision all in one! <3<3<3

Question @dannyodwyer. When is the football podcast coming?

@cooljammer00: Moldova have been on point the past few years. The one from the year after that is fantastic, their trumpet game is too strong.

Being from Copenhagen, means everything I see and hear this week is all about the Eurovision Song Contest so let me correct a few things.

It is true some countries' national broadcasters' selects a contestant on their own, but other countries do indeed have tournaments. Here in Denmark we have one final, usually with ten songs, and we vote for our favorites. Sweden on the hand uses something like five or six Saturday evenings to find a winner.

The reason why Israel can compete in the Eurovision Song Contest is because the channel broadcasting the event is a member of the EBU (European Broadcasting Union) who is responsible for the entire contest. If you are a member of the EBU you are eligble to compete in the contest. Lebanon is another example and they have actually competed in the ESC before.

Oh and yes. The voting is always highly political but they couldn't wait for the voting yesterday during the first semi final. The audience booed the Russian twins when it was announced that they went through to Saturdays' grand final. Russia on the other hand will then give Austria 0 points. Austria is sending a man dressed like a woman with a beard and some few eastern European countries think that will corrupt the brains of their children...or something.

Let me also use this oppurtunity to shamefully promote Wonderful Copenhagen! Because that is the true reason why the participants wants to win the ESC. #JoinUs this Saturday for cringe worthy jokes from the hosts, forgetable 3 minute long songs and throwing stuff at the tv if Sweden ignores Denmark and gives the other Nordic countries points.

Poland has my vote.

I can't wait for this race, seems like it's been too long between races!

@dannyodwyer@drewbert Talladega is not necessarily a great example of NASCAR racing since its one of only 2 Super Speedways in the season, and they are only 4 races out of the season (Daytona being the other). The cars use restrictor plates in the carburetor to reduce HP and keep the speeds under 200 MPH, which is what creates the large pack of cars grouped up, and makes passing more about using the draft and the momentum of the line of cars you are in as opposed to brute horsepower or maneuvering. It does make for high tension however, since the cars are basically running full throttle for the entire 500 miles, while averaging less than 2 feet of space on any side, and this is what creates the large wrecks these tracks are known for.

One of the enjoyable things about NASCAR is the fact that rivalries and aggressive driving are more encouraged than in open-wheel racing, since you can use the chrome bumper with less risk of utterly destroying cars and harming people. The fight between Marcos Ambrose (an Aussie) and Casey Mears a couple weeks ago is a good example, or the slamming around between Matt Kenseth and Brad Keslowski at the end of last weeks race.

I enjoy the hell out of NASCAR races, and when I lived in Napa, I attended the races in Sonoma every year. You guys should hit that race up this year, and bring us back some info for the Podcast.

Not sure what you mean. I didn't create the video.

You're gonna lose your virginity?

Daaaaaamn, @dannyodwyer.

@sil3n7: I meant the stupid shifting.

Maldonado won the Spanish GP in 2004 and he'll do it again! This is his track and I guarantee a points finish this weekend... If not a win!

Tried watching Nascar this weekend and the wrecks were the worst part, they took absolutely forever to clean up and just made so much of the action feel pointless. Ended up giving up.

Drew should twitch live stream him racing the track in F1 2013 prior to the event. Nice to learn all the corners in game before a race.

To me it seems like the opposite. Every time a car touches another one slightly they spin of the track becouse they are impossible to manoeuvre at those speeds and safty car comes out for the 10th time.

If you want to see contact and agressive driving then you should watch touring car races like BTCC or DTM. NASCAR is all about the crashes.

I remember watching the Senna crash with my grandad. I must have been four or five at the time.

I'll never forget Murray Walkers commentary. I also think that was the moment I was exposed to the concept of mortality. That race is seared into my memory.

Sorry for such a depressing post.

Is there a reason that yesterday's bombcast is not on the premium feed? Are we meant to subscribe to the ad-containing feed to get the bombcast now?

@jonabbey69: There were no ads in the podcast, so there wasn't a need for an ad-free premium version.

@jchenderson: Yeah, I think that's the case, because for a lot of the early 2000s the European GP was at the Nurburgring while the German GP remained at Hockenheim. It's alternating tracks for the German GP now though. Spain were supposed to go that route with Valencia and Barcelona, but Valencia pulled out of the deal and couldn't afford to keep it.

@jonabbey69: There were no advertisements on this week's Bombcast, so no reason to put a separate upload in the Premium feed.

Vettel's got a new/upgraded chassis for Spain so you can change some things

I request, nay, DEMAND an Eurovisioncast.

maybe i misunderstood the Qs, but teams can make significant changes to the car, pre-race weekend, teams can change engines/gear boxes out of their allotted amount per season, and most teams will probably bring aero upgrades for the car, such as new front wings and wee bits and pieces here and there, and since this is the first European race most teams will have upgrades, obviously during race weekend engines/gearboxes cant be changed or teams will get a penalty, but wings and stuff can still be changed

@willboweird: That means that those of us who are paying for membership have to subscribe to both to make sure we don't miss anything. That seems like a bug to me.

My parents dragged me to see lord of the dance twice when i was a kid, once at Wembley and once at Hyde park.

So fuck that guy.

I'm so happy that Drew is still into Eurovision, i'm from the UK and hate pop music, but i love Eurovision for the same reasons, it's so serious, and so dumb, and fantastic.

Austria has a bearded woman this year.

The Eurovision song contest isn't the same without Terry Wogan's cynicism and droll wit.

Also - My lovely horse. The Father Ted eurovision episode (A Song for Europe), is still one of my favourite TV comedy moments.

I am 20 years older, remember Gerry Ryan is died, and I now feel old. Dammit Danny.

Charlie McGettigan, one of the guys that sang "Rock and Roll Kids" that year, now does a show on a local radio station around here.

I've grown to like Marty Whelan (RTE) more than Graham Norton (BBC) doing the voiceover since Wogan stopped.