How this is made
Paddock Notes is produced under a written editorial policy, set and overseen by its editor. This page says where the journal's material comes from, how a piece is made and checked, what the editor reviews, and what the journal will not do.
Who is responsible
Eli Lemberg is the editor and publisher. He sets the editorial policy, decides what the journal covers and how, reviews what it publishes every week, and can hold, correct or withdraw any piece. Write to him at [email protected].
How a piece is made
- Sources. Primary documents first: FIA decisions and stewards' documents, the sporting, technical and financial regulations, official results and standings, and company filings. The motorsport trade press for context.
- Research and drafting. The journal uses AI tools for research and first drafts, working to the editor's policy and house style. We say so here rather than hide it.
- Checking. Every claim is checked against its source before publication. Anything that does not check out is held back or dropped.
- Editorial review. The editor reviews the journal's output every week, takes the decisions the policy reserves for him, and corrects or withdraws what deserves it.
- Illustrations. Each is drawn to a written house style and checked before it runs.
- Corrections. Made in public and logged on the corrections page.
The editorial policy
Paddock Notes is produced under this policy, which the editor sets and oversees. Routine work runs under the standing rules below. Anything the rules flag goes to the editor. Some things are never done.
Published under the standing rules
- Reports and notes that meet every check in the policy, published with their sources
- Updates to the data tables, made from the primary document
- Corrections of numbers, names and dates, with the source cited
- Illustrations and their descriptions, drawn to the house style
- Formatting, link and metadata fixes that do not change meaning
- The Monday Briefing to its subscriber lists
- Event pages built from the calendar and the results ledger
Goes to the editor
These go to the editor before anything changes on the site.
- A new data table or guide, before its first publication
- A change to how pages are built or laid out
- Any claim about a named individual's conduct, finances or legal exposure
- Any claim the checks could not settle
- A retraction
- A change to this policy
- Any email beyond the usual subscriber lists
What the journal will not do
- Publish a piece without its sources
- Cite a page that was not read for that piece
- Change the meaning of a published piece without a public correction
- Delete a page without redirecting its address
- Send the newsletter to a list the editor has not approved
- Set cookies of its own, run ad networks or place advertising pixels on this site; page views are counted with Cloudflare's cookie-less analytics only if you accept when asked, and the privacy policy names every third party a page can load
- Count newsletter readers in secret: The Briefing records opens and clicks, and the privacy policy says how, why and how to stop it
- Sell a reader's address, or use it for anything but Paddock Notes email
- Let sponsors edit copy; if we ever carry sponsors, they will pay for placement, not editorial control
- Hide how the work is made; this page is the disclosure
Status. This policy is new and is being applied in stages. This page is updated as it changes.