Justin: Seasons greetings one and all. Not much news to roundup really, so I thought I'd say a well done to my co-blogger for announcing his wedding day which happily falls on a non-f1 weekend. No clashes with quali or races then! I doubt much thought was given to F1 when planning his nuptials, but still, it's pretty good going to sandwich it in on the weekend between the season opener in Bahrain and the next race in Melbourne. One can't help but imagine the scenario had it been on an F1 weekend.
Elsewhere I neglected to mention the sad news of Tom Walkinshaw's passing. The guy was a legend within F1 circles having been part of the team that took Schumi away from Jordan and into Benetton, as well as taking Damon Hill to Arrows after he was dumped by Williams.
I received the F1 encyclopedia for christmas - fantastic stuff! I also bought a book on the history of circuits used in the championships from the 50's to today, another great read. Also in my pile of new f1 books is the new one on James Hunt titled "Shunt" - which I am very much looking forward to reading.
In a very F1 xmas I also received a Ferarri/Fernando Alonso Polo shirt - awesome. This will go well with my Fernando baseball cap. Bring...on....2011!!!!!
Tuesday, 28 December 2010
Sunday, 19 December 2010
News Updates
Justin: A nod to my co-blogger for a fine review blog there. I bet Vettel wins International personality of the year later today on the BBC sports review of the year. I still dislike him intensely, then again many in the UK hate Alonso...brilliance polarises I guess! It's true though, Vettel was the fastest guy in the fastest car, but would he have won it, or come nearly as close as Alonso did, in a Ferrari or Mclaren? I doubt it.
Plenty of F1 news to digest as we come up to Christmas. Mark Webber was replaced at the Red Bull xmas party by a fat, unfunny comedian...apparently this was a fun joke.....If I was Webber back in Oz I wouldnt find it funny at all. Vettel was "guest of honour" and all staff members were given a massive bonus plus a huge party at a London hotel. James Corden came along dressed in Webbers overalls and helmet...for a bit of fun. Goes to show, they thought of Webber as number 2 all along. He needs to kick ass next year!
Alonso has gone on record as saying 2010 was his best ever, in a brilliant interview in Autosport recently. Though in their (Autosport) review of the year, for some reason they gave driver of the year to Lewis Hamilton, from Kubica and Alonso....erm, did I miss something?? And on the subject of Mclaren....anyone who thinks Lewis panned Button this year..forget it. Lewis was certainly stronger in the second half of the year after Button had the upper hand earlier on, but the stats don't lie. People moan about Button not making nearly as many overtakes as Lewis, but Button led 145 laps this year to Hamilton's 100. Ok, its just a stat, but it knocks away naysayers degrading Button. Button is serene and superb when leading, and clearly hasnt needed to overtake and recover as much as Lewis.
Will we have two Lotus teams on the grid in 2011? Lotus Group has bought a stake in what is left of Renault, to call themselves Lotus Renault and paint their car's in the famous black and gold livery of the old Lotus of Senna days. This was after "Team Lotus" announced its name change and livery to that of black and gold. Lotus Group has revoked Tony Fernande's rights to use the Lotus name I believe and it's now stuck in the courts. What would be hillarious is having two teams with exactly the same livery.
Lastly, Mark Webber announced via his season review book that he broke his shoulder with 4 races to go and didn't tell anyone apart from his personal physio and the F1 powers that be. He neglected to tell anyone in the Red Bull team. Sensible that. What a hard bastard too!
Plenty of F1 news to digest as we come up to Christmas. Mark Webber was replaced at the Red Bull xmas party by a fat, unfunny comedian...apparently this was a fun joke.....If I was Webber back in Oz I wouldnt find it funny at all. Vettel was "guest of honour" and all staff members were given a massive bonus plus a huge party at a London hotel. James Corden came along dressed in Webbers overalls and helmet...for a bit of fun. Goes to show, they thought of Webber as number 2 all along. He needs to kick ass next year!
Alonso has gone on record as saying 2010 was his best ever, in a brilliant interview in Autosport recently. Though in their (Autosport) review of the year, for some reason they gave driver of the year to Lewis Hamilton, from Kubica and Alonso....erm, did I miss something?? And on the subject of Mclaren....anyone who thinks Lewis panned Button this year..forget it. Lewis was certainly stronger in the second half of the year after Button had the upper hand earlier on, but the stats don't lie. People moan about Button not making nearly as many overtakes as Lewis, but Button led 145 laps this year to Hamilton's 100. Ok, its just a stat, but it knocks away naysayers degrading Button. Button is serene and superb when leading, and clearly hasnt needed to overtake and recover as much as Lewis.
Will we have two Lotus teams on the grid in 2011? Lotus Group has bought a stake in what is left of Renault, to call themselves Lotus Renault and paint their car's in the famous black and gold livery of the old Lotus of Senna days. This was after "Team Lotus" announced its name change and livery to that of black and gold. Lotus Group has revoked Tony Fernande's rights to use the Lotus name I believe and it's now stuck in the courts. What would be hillarious is having two teams with exactly the same livery.
Lastly, Mark Webber announced via his season review book that he broke his shoulder with 4 races to go and didn't tell anyone apart from his personal physio and the F1 powers that be. He neglected to tell anyone in the Red Bull team. Sensible that. What a hard bastard too!
Wednesday, 24 November 2010
Plenty to say...?
Phil: It's been a classic year. I think we can all agree on that. I think I'm right in saying also that never before have four drivers started the last race of the season with a mathematical chance of winning the title. Each driver from each of the top three teams led the championship at some point or other during the season, but the man who led after the last race (and at no other point during the season) was Sebastian Vettel.
We've talked a lot about Alonso lately, but I think we need to give Vettel some blogspace. Some have suggested that he somehow not a deserving champion. I'd agree with Stirling Moss when he said Vettel is undoubtedly the fastest driver at the moment, but pointedly didn't say he was the best. When you consider the raw pace of the Red Bull, they in some respects ought to have walked it (in a previous blog, I mentioned that the only teams to score more poles in a season were McLaren in 1988-9 and Williams in 1992-3, and we know the utter dominance of those teams at those times). Vettel sat on pole ten times out of 19 in 2010, but only converted that into a win five times. Alonso by contrast took the same number of wins from only two poles. It's become a bit of a cliche, but Adrian Newey's cars are fast but fragile, and reliability let Vettel down, probably more so than Mark. But there's also a lack of maturity about Vettel, which his predecessor as youngest driver ever to do anything, Lewis Hamilton, never showed, from day one. It was this that led him to commit the racing driver's cardinal sin - knocking off your team mate when he's in the lead - at Istanbul.
But (and it's a big but) maturity seems to be all he lacks. At 23, he's the youngest champion, race winner, driver to score a point or sit on the podium. To say he has a bright future would be a huge understatement. After the race if he's done well, one of the first to congratulate him is often Michael Schumacher. I can't lipread in German but the body language is warm and there's clearly no rivalry there - in fact, at 41, Schumi is old enough to be Vettel's father. My point is, Vettel is now where Schumacher was in 1993 or 1994, and I think he has the talent to dominate Formula 1 in the same way Schumacher did. If Red Bull continue to have the pace, and if becoming world champion gives Vettel a little more maturity, then we could have witnessed the beginning of a new era in F1.
A couple of other points, specifically about Abu Dhabi. I have very little time for the naysayers (and I note that my co-blogger isn't one of them) who think there is a Renault conspiracy which meant that Petrov deliberately kept Alonso behind him to allow a Renault-powered driver to win the title. Petrov kept Alonso behind him because he was protecting his position (both in the race, and at Renault next year), and Alonso was out of position because Ferrari cocked up his pit strategy. It's as simple as that. And I think it's an exaggeration to say that that cost Alonso the title - this season was so close that any of the mistakes that any of the leading drivers made potentially cost them the title. If, as some predicted, the Korean Grand Prix hadn't happened, Webber may well have won the title.
I think we have plenty to talk about between now and 13 March 2011. Watch this space!
We've talked a lot about Alonso lately, but I think we need to give Vettel some blogspace. Some have suggested that he somehow not a deserving champion. I'd agree with Stirling Moss when he said Vettel is undoubtedly the fastest driver at the moment, but pointedly didn't say he was the best. When you consider the raw pace of the Red Bull, they in some respects ought to have walked it (in a previous blog, I mentioned that the only teams to score more poles in a season were McLaren in 1988-9 and Williams in 1992-3, and we know the utter dominance of those teams at those times). Vettel sat on pole ten times out of 19 in 2010, but only converted that into a win five times. Alonso by contrast took the same number of wins from only two poles. It's become a bit of a cliche, but Adrian Newey's cars are fast but fragile, and reliability let Vettel down, probably more so than Mark. But there's also a lack of maturity about Vettel, which his predecessor as youngest driver ever to do anything, Lewis Hamilton, never showed, from day one. It was this that led him to commit the racing driver's cardinal sin - knocking off your team mate when he's in the lead - at Istanbul.
But (and it's a big but) maturity seems to be all he lacks. At 23, he's the youngest champion, race winner, driver to score a point or sit on the podium. To say he has a bright future would be a huge understatement. After the race if he's done well, one of the first to congratulate him is often Michael Schumacher. I can't lipread in German but the body language is warm and there's clearly no rivalry there - in fact, at 41, Schumi is old enough to be Vettel's father. My point is, Vettel is now where Schumacher was in 1993 or 1994, and I think he has the talent to dominate Formula 1 in the same way Schumacher did. If Red Bull continue to have the pace, and if becoming world champion gives Vettel a little more maturity, then we could have witnessed the beginning of a new era in F1.
A couple of other points, specifically about Abu Dhabi. I have very little time for the naysayers (and I note that my co-blogger isn't one of them) who think there is a Renault conspiracy which meant that Petrov deliberately kept Alonso behind him to allow a Renault-powered driver to win the title. Petrov kept Alonso behind him because he was protecting his position (both in the race, and at Renault next year), and Alonso was out of position because Ferrari cocked up his pit strategy. It's as simple as that. And I think it's an exaggeration to say that that cost Alonso the title - this season was so close that any of the mistakes that any of the leading drivers made potentially cost them the title. If, as some predicted, the Korean Grand Prix hadn't happened, Webber may well have won the title.
I think we have plenty to talk about between now and 13 March 2011. Watch this space!
Sunday, 21 November 2010
Not much to say...
Justin: No F1 for 4 months now and I'm not going to be carried through that period on a wave of "Fernando Fever", as he didn't claim his third world crown as we all know. I felt thoroughly flat as we watched the race unfold (thanks to our reader's folks for providing a posh lunch spread).
What can one say that hasn't been said about the race already? With Webber and Alonso pitted early and stuck behind Petrov on a track (plus aerodynamics) that is difficult to overtake on, you had Alonso driving off the circuit to try and get past Petrov. I counted around 5 actual overtakes by people during the race and there were plenty of people calling to alter the track layout after the race.
Fair play to Vettel for winning the title, but he hasn't been the best driver this year. I still think that accolade goes to either Webber or Alonso - Andrew Benson agrees about Alonso http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2010/11/who_were_the_top_10_f1_drivers.html
, as does DC. The guy in the quickest car won it, but the guy in the second quickest car (third quickest for the first half of the year) essentially lost it (or his pit crew did anyway) in the last race....he continually outdrove his car in the first half of the year, when he made some errors, then he started relentlessly pounding in wins and podiums once the car was more up to standard.
This is a fairly flat blog to round off the year, and for that I must apologise, but I still cannot believe that of all people Vettel won it. Weasel!
Oh well, it gives us 5 champions on the grid next year and a Fernando Alonso who will be more determined than ever to get his third world crown.
Incidentally, I wonder if my co-blogger watched the James Hunt/ Barry Sheene documentary on ITV the other day? Classic stuff there.
See you all in 4 months. What will we do without F1?? I for one am hoping for an f1 book or two for xmas.
What can one say that hasn't been said about the race already? With Webber and Alonso pitted early and stuck behind Petrov on a track (plus aerodynamics) that is difficult to overtake on, you had Alonso driving off the circuit to try and get past Petrov. I counted around 5 actual overtakes by people during the race and there were plenty of people calling to alter the track layout after the race.
Fair play to Vettel for winning the title, but he hasn't been the best driver this year. I still think that accolade goes to either Webber or Alonso - Andrew Benson agrees about Alonso http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2010/11/who_were_the_top_10_f1_drivers.html
, as does DC. The guy in the quickest car won it, but the guy in the second quickest car (third quickest for the first half of the year) essentially lost it (or his pit crew did anyway) in the last race....he continually outdrove his car in the first half of the year, when he made some errors, then he started relentlessly pounding in wins and podiums once the car was more up to standard.
This is a fairly flat blog to round off the year, and for that I must apologise, but I still cannot believe that of all people Vettel won it. Weasel!
Oh well, it gives us 5 champions on the grid next year and a Fernando Alonso who will be more determined than ever to get his third world crown.
Incidentally, I wonder if my co-blogger watched the James Hunt/ Barry Sheene documentary on ITV the other day? Classic stuff there.
See you all in 4 months. What will we do without F1?? I for one am hoping for an f1 book or two for xmas.
Wednesday, 10 November 2010
Red Bullshit
Justin: I think my co-blogger has already used this title once before if memory serves?? Anyway, some quality number crunching by my colleague there....and one has to remark on his last line of the blog about Lewis Hamilton and a wet race at Yas Marina. I looked at the weather forecast, and for Thursday and Friday there are actually rain showers forecast! So, Lewis for the title then eh??
I have a severe gripe with the powers that be at Red Bull. The owner, Dietrich Mateschitz, would rather see his drivers miss out on the drivers title than have to impose team orders and tarnish themselves as Ferarri have done.
One has to wonder what his views would be if Vettel were the guy most likely to win the title for Red Bull.
Every team at one time or another has given some sort of team order. Fact. F1 is a team sport. Fact. Him going on record saying this just backs up everything else we knew of Red Bull....they love Vettel so much they'd rather a Ferarri won the world drivers title. I'd have thought it would be rather nice to collect the constructors and drivers titles for the first time in the same year, but apparently the powers that be can happily do without the drivers title.
It's all very well saying these things.....they are hiding their feelings over favouring one guy over another amongst all this "we're a fair team" bullshit.
This is further backed up by Horner saying there will indeed be no team orders (essentially it seems he is going back on what I blogged about in my last blog), but that given the situation he'd hope the drivers can sort it out for themselves.
So, we're relying on Vettel to be a good guy and let Webber past if the moment arises??? Erm...I'll believe it when I see it, given he took him out at Turkey.
The question is, would Vettel rather Webber or someone in another team won the drivers title??? He has hinted he would help Webber, but with the amount of moaning and backstabbing Vettel has done this year this remark means nothing at all.
It's a load of Red Bullshit. Webber is on his own.
I have a severe gripe with the powers that be at Red Bull. The owner, Dietrich Mateschitz, would rather see his drivers miss out on the drivers title than have to impose team orders and tarnish themselves as Ferarri have done.
One has to wonder what his views would be if Vettel were the guy most likely to win the title for Red Bull.
Every team at one time or another has given some sort of team order. Fact. F1 is a team sport. Fact. Him going on record saying this just backs up everything else we knew of Red Bull....they love Vettel so much they'd rather a Ferarri won the world drivers title. I'd have thought it would be rather nice to collect the constructors and drivers titles for the first time in the same year, but apparently the powers that be can happily do without the drivers title.
It's all very well saying these things.....they are hiding their feelings over favouring one guy over another amongst all this "we're a fair team" bullshit.
This is further backed up by Horner saying there will indeed be no team orders (essentially it seems he is going back on what I blogged about in my last blog), but that given the situation he'd hope the drivers can sort it out for themselves.
So, we're relying on Vettel to be a good guy and let Webber past if the moment arises??? Erm...I'll believe it when I see it, given he took him out at Turkey.
The question is, would Vettel rather Webber or someone in another team won the drivers title??? He has hinted he would help Webber, but with the amount of moaning and backstabbing Vettel has done this year this remark means nothing at all.
It's a load of Red Bullshit. Webber is on his own.
Tuesday, 9 November 2010
The magic number is 256
Phil: As usual I agree with my co-blogger what a nail-biting finale we have to this epic season. I'd also like before we go any further to doff my cap to the appropriate angle to show some rispeck (innit?) to Nico Hulkenberg for his maiden pole at Interlagos. He's someone we'll be seeing more of in future, I think.
Now, the interesting bit. I've taken a break from my day job crunching numbers to crunch some numbers. Only these numbers aren't ordinary numbers. They're Formula 1 world championship points.
Let's start with the easy bit. If Alonso wins or is second in Abu Dhabi, he is world champion.
If he is third or fourth, Webber needs to win the race to be world champion, and Vettel cannot be world champion. As my co-blogger hinted, Red Bull may have suggest Vettel moves aside to let Webber win the race. All the indications are that they will do the sensible thing, but Dieter Mateschitz, the head of Red Bull and Christian Horner's boss, is on record as saying Red Bull, unlike Ferrari, don't do team orders. If they do, then I for one would be interested to hear Alonso's view on team orders immediately after the race.
What I really want to see, however, is Vettel first, Webber second, Alonso fifth. This would give each driver 256 points. In the event of a tie (which has never happened, the closest winning margin being half a point, Lauda ahead of Prost, in 1984) the rules say that the champion is the driver with the highest number of wins. The problem is that Vettel and Alonso will both have won five races each. So you look at second places, and third places. Unfortunately, they will still be tied even then. In fact, Vettel will win the world title by three fourth places to Alonso's two (his third fourth place being scored, ironically enough, at Monza). While I have no particular affection for Vettel and have publicly stated I want Webber to be world champion, I think this would be a suitable climax to this season.
Finally, Lewis Hamilton can only win the title if he wins the race, with Vettel no higher than 3rd, Webber no higher than 6th and Alonso no higher than 11th.
Unfortunately for McLaren, that's about as likely as a wet race at Abu Dhabi.
Now, the interesting bit. I've taken a break from my day job crunching numbers to crunch some numbers. Only these numbers aren't ordinary numbers. They're Formula 1 world championship points.
Let's start with the easy bit. If Alonso wins or is second in Abu Dhabi, he is world champion.
If he is third or fourth, Webber needs to win the race to be world champion, and Vettel cannot be world champion. As my co-blogger hinted, Red Bull may have suggest Vettel moves aside to let Webber win the race. All the indications are that they will do the sensible thing, but Dieter Mateschitz, the head of Red Bull and Christian Horner's boss, is on record as saying Red Bull, unlike Ferrari, don't do team orders. If they do, then I for one would be interested to hear Alonso's view on team orders immediately after the race.
What I really want to see, however, is Vettel first, Webber second, Alonso fifth. This would give each driver 256 points. In the event of a tie (which has never happened, the closest winning margin being half a point, Lauda ahead of Prost, in 1984) the rules say that the champion is the driver with the highest number of wins. The problem is that Vettel and Alonso will both have won five races each. So you look at second places, and third places. Unfortunately, they will still be tied even then. In fact, Vettel will win the world title by three fourth places to Alonso's two (his third fourth place being scored, ironically enough, at Monza). While I have no particular affection for Vettel and have publicly stated I want Webber to be world champion, I think this would be a suitable climax to this season.
Finally, Lewis Hamilton can only win the title if he wins the race, with Vettel no higher than 3rd, Webber no higher than 6th and Alonso no higher than 11th.
Unfortunately for McLaren, that's about as likely as a wet race at Abu Dhabi.
Monday, 8 November 2010
Down....To....The....Wire!!!!
Justin: Well fellow F1 fans, what a treat we have coming to us in a few days in Abu Dhabi! With Vettel, Webber and Fernando all finishing on the podium in Brazil these guys now take the title fight onwards. Hamilton is clinging on for dear life 24 points behind Alonso, but unless the 3 guys ahead of him all take each other off, then he hasn't much hope but the most remote.
A nod to my esteemed colleagues fine words about Fernando Alonso in his previous blog. Me thinks Lewis Hamilton was reading as Lewis spouted lots of kind words about Fernando over the weekend. Maybe he was trying to say "hey I'd like to go to Ferarri sometime"...or more likely it was him admitting defeat in the title race and saying "hey look, this guy is good"...or just F1 mind games. Mark Webber was certainly employing some honest mind games on Thursday when he swore and everything!
The race in Brazil was good, but perhaps a tad more processional than we have been used to lately. Vettel nailed The Hulk off the start, with Webber mugging him soon after. Alonso nipped past Lewis when the Mclaren man made an unforced error, then Fernando got bogged down for a few laps behind the Williams rookie and this cost him dearly in being able to take any sort of fight to the Red Bull's as they dissapeared into the distance. Interestingly, before the race Hamilton spoke of an extra spark when he and Fernando see each other in their mirrors and who knows what will happen when they are beside each other on the track.....well, Lewis will bottle it, as he has done plenty of times this season.
Webber was chasing Vettel hard through the traffic and was never more than a couple of seconds behind, but after the safety car period Webber had engine issues and Vettel raced into the distance. Alonso stayed in 3rd for the duration and brought home one of those podiums he always goes on about.
Button had a relatively good day, if being relieved of the world title can be described as that. He started 11th but finished just behind Lewis in fifth.
Elsewhere, Massa had a nightmare of a race it has to be said, whilst Kubica was relatively quiet too. The Michael finished in the points after another good showing it has to be said. If he drives next year like he has driven the last 2 or 3 races then he could do well. Alonso will swat him away though, just as he did in 05 and 06.
During the race Martin Brundle pointed out that leaving Webber behind Vettel gave Alonso an easy ride into Yas Marina and that Red Bull should switch the two drivers. Later as Vettel won though, he changed his mind and said having both drivers in contention is best for the team in case one of them falls off the track. He also said that if Red Bull arent telling Vettel to move over then equally they can give no order to Webber saying "go easy and let off a bit Mark".
Tellingly, EJ put the question to Horner after the race...."if the positions are the same in Abu Dhabi, Vettel cannot win the drivers title, so will you switch them?". In a roundabout way, Horner answered with a definite yes. Even Vettel has heavily hinted that in that situation he will let Webber by.
I thought Webber wouldnt be happy on the podium, having had a right go at Vettel on the track, but he seemed rather happy.....no wonder if those are the arrangements for Yas Marina.
Two things to say before I wrap this one up.
First is that we have a sort of, perhaps, season finale I Was Having a Blog live event on Sunday the 14th. My co-blogger hasnt confirmed his attendance but I and one of our readers, the esteemed Dr Winston, will be watching.
The second is that I just googled "I was having a blog" and we are 5th or 6th in the results that get shown!!!!!! I think this is because I referenced a link, more than once, to a BBC blogger by the name of Andrew Benson. But try it, the blog in question is one I posted a fair while ago called "Red Mist".
My prediction for Abu Dhabi......fuck knows, the way this season has gone! I won't be surprised if the podium consists of Vettel, Webber and Alonso though. Hell, they could all even end up on the same points!
A nod to my esteemed colleagues fine words about Fernando Alonso in his previous blog. Me thinks Lewis Hamilton was reading as Lewis spouted lots of kind words about Fernando over the weekend. Maybe he was trying to say "hey I'd like to go to Ferarri sometime"...or more likely it was him admitting defeat in the title race and saying "hey look, this guy is good"...or just F1 mind games. Mark Webber was certainly employing some honest mind games on Thursday when he swore and everything!
The race in Brazil was good, but perhaps a tad more processional than we have been used to lately. Vettel nailed The Hulk off the start, with Webber mugging him soon after. Alonso nipped past Lewis when the Mclaren man made an unforced error, then Fernando got bogged down for a few laps behind the Williams rookie and this cost him dearly in being able to take any sort of fight to the Red Bull's as they dissapeared into the distance. Interestingly, before the race Hamilton spoke of an extra spark when he and Fernando see each other in their mirrors and who knows what will happen when they are beside each other on the track.....well, Lewis will bottle it, as he has done plenty of times this season.
Webber was chasing Vettel hard through the traffic and was never more than a couple of seconds behind, but after the safety car period Webber had engine issues and Vettel raced into the distance. Alonso stayed in 3rd for the duration and brought home one of those podiums he always goes on about.
Button had a relatively good day, if being relieved of the world title can be described as that. He started 11th but finished just behind Lewis in fifth.
Elsewhere, Massa had a nightmare of a race it has to be said, whilst Kubica was relatively quiet too. The Michael finished in the points after another good showing it has to be said. If he drives next year like he has driven the last 2 or 3 races then he could do well. Alonso will swat him away though, just as he did in 05 and 06.
During the race Martin Brundle pointed out that leaving Webber behind Vettel gave Alonso an easy ride into Yas Marina and that Red Bull should switch the two drivers. Later as Vettel won though, he changed his mind and said having both drivers in contention is best for the team in case one of them falls off the track. He also said that if Red Bull arent telling Vettel to move over then equally they can give no order to Webber saying "go easy and let off a bit Mark".
Tellingly, EJ put the question to Horner after the race...."if the positions are the same in Abu Dhabi, Vettel cannot win the drivers title, so will you switch them?". In a roundabout way, Horner answered with a definite yes. Even Vettel has heavily hinted that in that situation he will let Webber by.
I thought Webber wouldnt be happy on the podium, having had a right go at Vettel on the track, but he seemed rather happy.....no wonder if those are the arrangements for Yas Marina.
Two things to say before I wrap this one up.
First is that we have a sort of, perhaps, season finale I Was Having a Blog live event on Sunday the 14th. My co-blogger hasnt confirmed his attendance but I and one of our readers, the esteemed Dr Winston, will be watching.
The second is that I just googled "I was having a blog" and we are 5th or 6th in the results that get shown!!!!!! I think this is because I referenced a link, more than once, to a BBC blogger by the name of Andrew Benson. But try it, the blog in question is one I posted a fair while ago called "Red Mist".
My prediction for Abu Dhabi......fuck knows, the way this season has gone! I won't be surprised if the podium consists of Vettel, Webber and Alonso though. Hell, they could all even end up on the same points!
Thursday, 4 November 2010
Heavy rain forecast for Sao Paulo on Saturday
Phil: Think that just about sums it up.
I wonder if they've got round to fixing the drain that made the 2003 race so entertaining yet (it drained standing water from the top half of the circuit and spewed it back out again on the bottom half. Fisichella took Jordan's last ever win after about half the field went off on that particular corner).
I wonder if they've got round to fixing the drain that made the 2003 race so entertaining yet (it drained standing water from the top half of the circuit and spewed it back out again on the bottom half. Fisichella took Jordan's last ever win after about half the field went off on that particular corner).
Wednesday, 3 November 2010
Fernando...Alonso?
Phil: With two races to go in this epic season, I think it's time for me to come off the fence and predict a champion (some seasons it's been all over and the fat lady has sung by now, but not this year).
I think Fernando Alonso will be world champion this year.
Don't get me wrong, I agree with my co-blogger that Mark Webber deserves to win the title more than anyone. I think he'd be a very popular champion and I would be very happy to see his career capped with a world championship. I want Mark to win, but I think Fernando will.
Let's look at the numbers. As my co-blogger pointed out, he has scored three wins and a third place in the last four races. That's 90 points out of a total of 100. If he keeps this form up, nobody can beat him. If he wins in Brazil, Webber will need to be fourth or better to stay in the title race, and Hamilton, Vettel and Button will be completely out of it.
Alonso now has 26 career victories. For the historians (which I know includes my co-blogger), his victory in Korea put him ahead of Lauda and Jim Clark (25 wins each). His previous victory in Singapore put him ahead of Fangio (24). He has now won more race than any other driver except Schumacher, Prost, Senna, Mansell and Jackie Stewart.
My co-blogger will certainly be aware that Alonso is a bit of a controversial figure, in Britain at least, and plenty of F1 fans don't seem to have a good word to say about him. It's easy to focus on his undeniable arrogance and self-centredness and lose sight of his equally undeniable talent How many other drivers could have done what he's done over the last four races? I might have said Hamilton, but then he cocked up royally at Monza, a race Alonso won.
In that respect, he reminds me of Senna, who during his lifetime was loved and hated in almost equal measures (given the nature of his death, it's easy to forget the many controversies he stirred up in life).
If he's going to win, though, it has to be by more than 7 points. Don't get me started on that one again.
I think Fernando Alonso will be world champion this year.
Don't get me wrong, I agree with my co-blogger that Mark Webber deserves to win the title more than anyone. I think he'd be a very popular champion and I would be very happy to see his career capped with a world championship. I want Mark to win, but I think Fernando will.
Let's look at the numbers. As my co-blogger pointed out, he has scored three wins and a third place in the last four races. That's 90 points out of a total of 100. If he keeps this form up, nobody can beat him. If he wins in Brazil, Webber will need to be fourth or better to stay in the title race, and Hamilton, Vettel and Button will be completely out of it.
Alonso now has 26 career victories. For the historians (which I know includes my co-blogger), his victory in Korea put him ahead of Lauda and Jim Clark (25 wins each). His previous victory in Singapore put him ahead of Fangio (24). He has now won more race than any other driver except Schumacher, Prost, Senna, Mansell and Jackie Stewart.
My co-blogger will certainly be aware that Alonso is a bit of a controversial figure, in Britain at least, and plenty of F1 fans don't seem to have a good word to say about him. It's easy to focus on his undeniable arrogance and self-centredness and lose sight of his equally undeniable talent How many other drivers could have done what he's done over the last four races? I might have said Hamilton, but then he cocked up royally at Monza, a race Alonso won.
In that respect, he reminds me of Senna, who during his lifetime was loved and hated in almost equal measures (given the nature of his death, it's easy to forget the many controversies he stirred up in life).
If he's going to win, though, it has to be by more than 7 points. Don't get me started on that one again.
Monday, 25 October 2010
One Picture
Justin: There you have it. One picture, one man, plenty of flash photography. One amazing drive!
It was a rather strange race in Korea, lets be honest. You had the guys with plenty to lose saying on their radio that the conditions were awful, you had Button (who had plenty to gain, but seemingly he didnt want to race either) saying it was awful as they were running behind the pace car...the only guy saying "lets race" was Lewis. He obviously knew the Mclaren's were the best car in the wet, or were supposed to be anyway...Button suffered big time with setup issues and tyre temperature issues and he trundled round in the midfield for most of the afternoon. Thats the way you lose world titles matey. Red Bull's go out, Lewis and Fernando are there to capitalise....where was Jenson eh?
Red Bull....well what can you say eh? Mark Webber still, in my eyes, is the man most deserving of the title this year, as he has been consistently the best, where everyone else has had peaks and troughs. He made just his second driver error mistake this year (if you can count Heiki slowing down and Webber piling into him as all Mark's fault) and paid for it with a costly second DNF...just when he didn't really need or want one. At least the straight talking Aussie faced the music and was upfront and honest about it being his mistake....he didnt hide away like Lewis did a few races ago. Bah. Anyway.
Having said that about Webber though, given my leanings towards Alonso, you have to say he is almost as equally deserving of the title now, given he has driven a champions run-in over the last 4 or 5 races.....thats win, win, 3rd, win....the guy is driving like a man possessed.
Vettel has been far too inconsistent to be deserving of the title this year for my tastes. He has had one or two failures, and far more prangs of his own doing. I found it quite amusing when his engine let go - lets be honest, we dont want a whinging little boy as our F1 champion.
I bet Webber breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Vettel go up in a cloud of smoke.
Hamilton's error when he ran wide, after he had jumped Alonso due to Alonso's dodgy pit stop, proved costly as the Red Bull of Vettel fell off the track and gifted Alonso the lead and victory.
It has been a vintage year, but it's been a weird one too.....as the race in Korea finished in essentially the same fashion as the season opener in Barhain....Vettel falling off and Alonso inheriting the win.
Still, to be first in f1, first you have to finish. Red Bull didnt learn that last year, and they still arent learning that this year it seems.
The first 3 were covered by just 3 seconds when Vettel retired, so who knows what would have happened!
My driver of the day goes to Michael Shumacher. We have had a right go at him this year, but the wiley fox was the only guy out there testing braking zones when they were sat behind the safety car in the rain (MB picked up on this).....then when the race was on, you saw him almost immediately making overtakes where we previously saw him sort of braking, sliding and nearly running off the track. He still has it.
I have to say, Massa and Alonso seemed quite at ease with each other before the podium celebrations and even on the podium. Part of all the fuss must be media stuff, but they seemed genuinely matey....does this mean that Massa is off then, and all the tension has thus lifted?
Onto Brazil next......team orders is the hot topic. Mclaren will surely ask Jenson to help out Lewis given he is 42 behind Fernando and all but out of the race. It has to be said, Lewis drove like a champ on Sunday, Button certainly did not.
The question is, will Red Bull ask Vettel to help out Webber as the latter is just 11 behind Alonso and has a much better chance of claiming the title than Vettel, who is a full race win behind Alonso and 14 behind Webber.
Alonso could even clinch the title in Brazil....then again, given the twists and turns this year, he could easily retire handing momentum back to the chasing pack.
Cya in Sao Paulo baby!!!
Thursday, 21 October 2010
Two photos
That's how good this season is. The other wall, incidentally, is at Estoril, 1986. Funny how Hamilton looks just as unhappy to be sitting next to Alonso as Senna looked unhappy to be sitting next to Prost...anyway, I digress.
I agree completely with my co-blogger about Massa's reduced circumstances. As my co-blogger rightly points out, two years ago he was one corner away from the world championship. My concern is that he might now become one of Formula 1's nearly men: a talent somehow reduced by a life-threatening crash (Herbert, Panis) or simply outshone by a faster teammate (Barrichello, Berger, Coulthard).
Finally, another statistic. Red Bull have taken 12 pole positions this year. The only other teams to have beaten that record are McLaren (1988 and 1989) and Williams (1992 and 1993) (on the other four occasions, the team took a whopping 15 poles, ie every race but one). McLaren and Williams walked it in 1988-9 and 1992-3 respectively. With that pace, Red Bull ought to have done the same this year. The viewing public's great fortune is that they haven't.
Wednesday, 20 October 2010
Massa
Justin: A nod to my co-blogger regarding the Villeneuve Dynasty tip off....I'll give it a look. There was at least part of this action on Murray's Magic Moments, which my colleague and I watched together on Sunday. You think when we're not blogging we switch off from F1? Absolutely not!
This chap that designs all the new circuits......surely someone should realise they all have one or two elements in common and perhaps someone else should be comissioned to build tracks? It all comes down to money no doubt.
Everyone might be shocked to see me giving a headline to Massa, as we know my views on him. But even I'm not sure just how broken he has been by Ferarri and Alonso this year. He has come out and said that he will support Fernando by fighting at the front with the 5 guys going for the title. This is the guy who came back from a life threatening crash...who in 2008 was a corner away from being world champion. As much a fan of Alonso as I am....even I'm not sure where Massa is coming from. I'd imagine the team told him to say these things....good PR for the team after all...is it in his contract? Does he not care anymore as he knows he will leave at the end of the season, as he stated previously he won't play second fiddle to anyone? I don't know, whatever his reasons, you think when someone who has been pummelled into the number 2 position like he has....well, when they say something like this, is it just admitting the truth they themselves dont want to admit? Either way, Alonso fan or not, I find it a bit sad.
This chap that designs all the new circuits......surely someone should realise they all have one or two elements in common and perhaps someone else should be comissioned to build tracks? It all comes down to money no doubt.
Everyone might be shocked to see me giving a headline to Massa, as we know my views on him. But even I'm not sure just how broken he has been by Ferarri and Alonso this year. He has come out and said that he will support Fernando by fighting at the front with the 5 guys going for the title. This is the guy who came back from a life threatening crash...who in 2008 was a corner away from being world champion. As much a fan of Alonso as I am....even I'm not sure where Massa is coming from. I'd imagine the team told him to say these things....good PR for the team after all...is it in his contract? Does he not care anymore as he knows he will leave at the end of the season, as he stated previously he won't play second fiddle to anyone? I don't know, whatever his reasons, you think when someone who has been pummelled into the number 2 position like he has....well, when they say something like this, is it just admitting the truth they themselves dont want to admit? Either way, Alonso fan or not, I find it a bit sad.
Dog food
Phil: Only four days until the lights go out for the inaugural Korean Grand Prix, with Charlie Whiting having visited the track immediately after Suzuka and given it the green light for this weekend's race. Sebastian Buemi hasn't been there, but he says it's another 'typical' Hermann Tilke design (overtaking strictly prohibited, then). In case you were wondering, I thought I'd get the obvious joke in early. Formula 1 is becoming an ever more global sport, with a race in India for the first time next year, and, it was announced recently, one in Russia in 2014.
The BBC's offering of classic F1 grows apace, and this week my co-blogger will be thrilled I'm sure to hear there's a double header from Villeneuve pere et fils: Gilles' maiden victory (I think) at Kyalami in 1979, and Jacques taking on Schumi and Damon Hill at Estoril in 1996.
The BBC's offering of classic F1 grows apace, and this week my co-blogger will be thrilled I'm sure to hear there's a double header from Villeneuve pere et fils: Gilles' maiden victory (I think) at Kyalami in 1979, and Jacques taking on Schumi and Damon Hill at Estoril in 1996.
Monday, 11 October 2010
Ko-wasabi
Phil: Well, I have to say, that's a sterling (or should that be Stirling?) effort by my co-blogger to sacrifice a night's sleep for a 2am quali session. I got up too, of course, and made it down to the telly just in time for a replay of Vettel's pole lap, and in my half asleep state found myself wondering why they'd sped the film up going through the Esses, then realised they hadn't.
The race fortunately had enough action to keep me awake. It also had a surprisingly high attrition rate, with Massa, Liuzzi, Petrov and Hulkenberg all being eliminated in first-corner (I watched the 1987 Austrian Grand Prix the other day, which had a similar start-line pile-up started by none other than Martin Brundle), Kubica losing a wheel behind the safety car (this is where being sponsored by Lada gets you), Rosberg's crash and Sutil's engine blowout.
I read an article by Brundle today, in which he named Kamui Kobayashi driver of the day. During the race he'd called him Ko-wasabi, a reference to the ridiculously hot Japanese horseradish paste, and invited Kobayashi to call him Trundle (eh?). By my calculation, Kobayashi overtook Alguersuari, Sutil, Alguersuari again, Sutil again, Barrichello and Heidfeld, and if it hadn't been for a dodgy tyre strategy (staying out far too late on soft tyres) could have been mixing it with Schumi. At last, a Japanese racing driver who can actually race.
As my co-blogger pointed out, Vettel is a lover of statistics. I'd imagine he likes nothing better than to retire to a private place with a nice pie chart and indulge himself. Anyway, here's my contribution to statistical bliss. I looked at drivers who are overperforming (in the car, I mean), versus drivers who are underperforming, by the only relatively transparent method - comparing them to their teammate. The percentage is the margin by which the driver is outperforming (or being outperformed by) his teammate, expressed purely in terms of points scored. Got it? Here we go.
Kubica +83%
Sutil +72%
Kobayashi +63%
Buemi +63%
Barrichello +59%
Rosberg +56%
Alonso +38%
Webber +6%
Hamilton +2%
Button -2%
Vettel -6%
Massa -38%
Schumacher -56%
Hulkenberg -59%
Alguersuari -63%
Liuzzi -72%
Petrov -83%
Heidfeld -85% (only two races driven)
None of Lotus, Virgin, or Hispania drivers are listed as none of them have scored any points.
Three closing observations.
1. Yes, I'm an accountant.
2. Massa isn't doing as badly as my co-blogger thinks he is (!).
3. However, I've heard rumours linking Massa and everyone below him in the table except Alguersuari to being given their P45s by their respective teams (confirmed rumours, in Heidfeld's case).
Only three races to go. Or is it two?
The race fortunately had enough action to keep me awake. It also had a surprisingly high attrition rate, with Massa, Liuzzi, Petrov and Hulkenberg all being eliminated in first-corner (I watched the 1987 Austrian Grand Prix the other day, which had a similar start-line pile-up started by none other than Martin Brundle), Kubica losing a wheel behind the safety car (this is where being sponsored by Lada gets you), Rosberg's crash and Sutil's engine blowout.
I read an article by Brundle today, in which he named Kamui Kobayashi driver of the day. During the race he'd called him Ko-wasabi, a reference to the ridiculously hot Japanese horseradish paste, and invited Kobayashi to call him Trundle (eh?). By my calculation, Kobayashi overtook Alguersuari, Sutil, Alguersuari again, Sutil again, Barrichello and Heidfeld, and if it hadn't been for a dodgy tyre strategy (staying out far too late on soft tyres) could have been mixing it with Schumi. At last, a Japanese racing driver who can actually race.
As my co-blogger pointed out, Vettel is a lover of statistics. I'd imagine he likes nothing better than to retire to a private place with a nice pie chart and indulge himself. Anyway, here's my contribution to statistical bliss. I looked at drivers who are overperforming (in the car, I mean), versus drivers who are underperforming, by the only relatively transparent method - comparing them to their teammate. The percentage is the margin by which the driver is outperforming (or being outperformed by) his teammate, expressed purely in terms of points scored. Got it? Here we go.
Kubica +83%
Sutil +72%
Kobayashi +63%
Buemi +63%
Barrichello +59%
Rosberg +56%
Alonso +38%
Webber +6%
Hamilton +2%
Button -2%
Vettel -6%
Massa -38%
Schumacher -56%
Hulkenberg -59%
Alguersuari -63%
Liuzzi -72%
Petrov -83%
Heidfeld -85% (only two races driven)
None of Lotus, Virgin, or Hispania drivers are listed as none of them have scored any points.
Three closing observations.
1. Yes, I'm an accountant.
2. Massa isn't doing as badly as my co-blogger thinks he is (!).
3. However, I've heard rumours linking Massa and everyone below him in the table except Alguersuari to being given their P45s by their respective teams (confirmed rumours, in Heidfeld's case).
Only three races to go. Or is it two?
Webber Vs Vettel
Justin: Just to add that I thought Webber ensuring, with his final lap, that the lover of stats Vettel didnt get the fastest lap of the race (with his second to last lap) was rather amusing. Webber isn't going to let Vettel walk all over him if this is anything to go by.
"Semi Live" Blog Part 3 - Race!
Justin: 6am and all is well after a nice kip on the sofa.
The funniest piece of pre-amble occurs when DC goes with Martin Brundle on the grid walk. They encounter the Mercedes crew guarding the back of the car...DC quips "what makes you think anyone would copy your car?" - pure class.
I feel too tired for a live note taking session!
Regarding JB's tyre choice. People seem to think the soft options will go off after around 12 laps.
Brundle made a point of waiting to talk to Alonso as Fernando said he wanted to talk (first time in ages). Alonso was very frank and honest about startline problems they may have, getting away etc.
That's the problem with little sleep.....I did indeed drift off a bit for some of the race. Ie after the stops Button was behind Lewis and Lewis had gearbox issues. When I awoke Button was 15 seconds ahead of Lewis!
The soft tyres went much longer than predicted.
Has to be said, it was a pretty dull race in terms of the top 5 finishing more or less where they started from. The top 3 were keeping each other honest enough on fastest lap times.
Lewis may have given Fernando a run for his money if it hadn't been for his gearbox playing up.
Neither Webber or Vettel were on camera for the last half an hour, aside from the final lap, as they were out on their own.
It's a good result for Webber after a rubbish start, and champions luck once again intervened getting rid of Kubica early on with a three wheel car! Webber had the same sort of fortune in Belgium when Kubica was jumped in the pitlane.
Lewis has a gearbox change penalty (probably) for Korea too after his gearbox issues today.
Lewis and Jenson are now 28 and 31 points behind Webber and with just 3 races to go it's looking more difficult for either Mclaren to win the drivers title. But we have ruled out people before only for it all to change in the next race.
Webber is on 220 with Vettel and Alonso both on 206. Onto Korea we go!
Has to be said, there isnt as much detail in my race blog this time out as I was shattered....but, it was an almighty effort to do live quali and race notes throughout the night I feel. We blog with passion here at I Was Having A Blog.
The funniest piece of pre-amble occurs when DC goes with Martin Brundle on the grid walk. They encounter the Mercedes crew guarding the back of the car...DC quips "what makes you think anyone would copy your car?" - pure class.
I feel too tired for a live note taking session!
Regarding JB's tyre choice. People seem to think the soft options will go off after around 12 laps.
Brundle made a point of waiting to talk to Alonso as Fernando said he wanted to talk (first time in ages). Alonso was very frank and honest about startline problems they may have, getting away etc.
That's the problem with little sleep.....I did indeed drift off a bit for some of the race. Ie after the stops Button was behind Lewis and Lewis had gearbox issues. When I awoke Button was 15 seconds ahead of Lewis!
The soft tyres went much longer than predicted.
Has to be said, it was a pretty dull race in terms of the top 5 finishing more or less where they started from. The top 3 were keeping each other honest enough on fastest lap times.
Lewis may have given Fernando a run for his money if it hadn't been for his gearbox playing up.
Neither Webber or Vettel were on camera for the last half an hour, aside from the final lap, as they were out on their own.
It's a good result for Webber after a rubbish start, and champions luck once again intervened getting rid of Kubica early on with a three wheel car! Webber had the same sort of fortune in Belgium when Kubica was jumped in the pitlane.
Lewis has a gearbox change penalty (probably) for Korea too after his gearbox issues today.
Lewis and Jenson are now 28 and 31 points behind Webber and with just 3 races to go it's looking more difficult for either Mclaren to win the drivers title. But we have ruled out people before only for it all to change in the next race.
Webber is on 220 with Vettel and Alonso both on 206. Onto Korea we go!
Has to be said, there isnt as much detail in my race blog this time out as I was shattered....but, it was an almighty effort to do live quali and race notes throughout the night I feel. We blog with passion here at I Was Having A Blog.
"Semi Live" Blog Part 2 - Japan Quali
Justin: 1:40am Sunday 10 Oct - QUALI
I remember when I was younger, getting up at 4/5am for the Aussie GP when it was in Adelaide. For this Japanese GP, if you want to see the race live in the UK it's a 7am start.
If you want to be hardcore, or just plain stupid, you get up at 1:30am and wait for quali at 2am, and write this blog and notes down in a pad.
Perhaps because I'm currently redundant I'm more easily able to see this as my passion, being part of the "I Was Having A Blog" team.
Getting up at this time for F1 at Suzuka excites...the anticipation of quali followed by the race easily combats any tiredness...sort of. Plus I may kip on the sofa between the two.
This is almost a live blog as I am writing as I wait for quali to come on and will write notes as and when. I shall post on Monday as usual.
After missing Japan live last year because my esteemed colleague and I were hungover, this year watching the re-run at 1pm just does not cut it.
That's dedication. I'm sat in my prescription sunglasses having left my glasses in a hotel last week.
The Chain comes on and I am now wide awake! There is sunshine in Japan, thank god. Though here is a question....what does happen if quali on a Sunday morning is rained off? How do they get a grid? Championship positions, or order of results from the last race? I expect one of the two.
Lewis has a gearbox change = 5 place grid pnealty hehe. The track is dry with a few wet patches still.
Button goes out early on inter's in Q1.
There is a rumour going round the paddock that Massa will be leaving Ferrari, with Buemi taking over next year. WTF? Eddie Jordan cannot stop talking about it. Apparently sources say that Massa refuses to play second fiddle to Alonso.
Rubens looking fast in Q1, Alonso 9th with 8 minutes to go - bit away from his 4th in practice. Hulkenberg is looking fast too.
4 minutes left in Q1 - Vettel, Hulk, Rubens, Webber, Rosberg, Massa, Alonso, Button, Lewis, Heidfeld.
More laps = the more the times come down as track rubbers in after the rain.
Q1 ends.....Rosberg and Schumi are 3rd and 6th. There was some sort of incident with Schumi and Alonso having a bit of a go at each other on track.
Q2:
The Ferrari's head out first.
Webber heads the time sheets with Button second (and looking very quick) with 7 minutes to go.
The 5 title contenders occupy the top 5 slots - Webber, Button, Vettel, Alonso, Hamilton with 1 minute left.
10th = Schumi with Massa on a final hot lap currently in 11th. Nick Heidfeld suddenly pops a hot lap in to go 10th.....then Schumi does what he used to do easily....gets a final hot lap in to scrape into the top 10 shootout.
This leaves Massa 12th and out! Does he even care though given the rumours flying about? The Ferrari president expects excellent team play from Massa for the rest of the season. To me that says pull your socks up or you're out.
Q3:
Vettel is 4 tenths faster than Webber with 5 minutes to go....a huge gap!
Vettel, Webber, Hamilton, Alonso, Barrichello, Kubica, Rosberg, Michael - 4 minutes to go - all on soft tyres.
JB goes for his first run with 3 minutes to go....on hard tyres!
Good old JB and alternative strategies...he goes 4th!
Vettel to Webber is now just a 0.068 sec gap...tiny....Ham, Kub, Alo, But, Ros, Bar, Hulk, Msc.
That's 8 poles now for Vettel....and one win from those previous 7?
Alonso is 4th, JB 5th as Hamilton drops to 8th.
JB on hard tyres means he should go a lot longer in the race.
Top ten drivers covered by a second!
At 3:25am I can safely say I won't be doing a semi live note taking blog again for a long time.
If it finishes Vettel, Webber, Alonso then Mark pulls further ahead in the title race.
I remember when I was younger, getting up at 4/5am for the Aussie GP when it was in Adelaide. For this Japanese GP, if you want to see the race live in the UK it's a 7am start.
If you want to be hardcore, or just plain stupid, you get up at 1:30am and wait for quali at 2am, and write this blog and notes down in a pad.
Perhaps because I'm currently redundant I'm more easily able to see this as my passion, being part of the "I Was Having A Blog" team.
Getting up at this time for F1 at Suzuka excites...the anticipation of quali followed by the race easily combats any tiredness...sort of. Plus I may kip on the sofa between the two.
This is almost a live blog as I am writing as I wait for quali to come on and will write notes as and when. I shall post on Monday as usual.
After missing Japan live last year because my esteemed colleague and I were hungover, this year watching the re-run at 1pm just does not cut it.
That's dedication. I'm sat in my prescription sunglasses having left my glasses in a hotel last week.
The Chain comes on and I am now wide awake! There is sunshine in Japan, thank god. Though here is a question....what does happen if quali on a Sunday morning is rained off? How do they get a grid? Championship positions, or order of results from the last race? I expect one of the two.
Lewis has a gearbox change = 5 place grid pnealty hehe. The track is dry with a few wet patches still.
Button goes out early on inter's in Q1.
There is a rumour going round the paddock that Massa will be leaving Ferrari, with Buemi taking over next year. WTF? Eddie Jordan cannot stop talking about it. Apparently sources say that Massa refuses to play second fiddle to Alonso.
Rubens looking fast in Q1, Alonso 9th with 8 minutes to go - bit away from his 4th in practice. Hulkenberg is looking fast too.
4 minutes left in Q1 - Vettel, Hulk, Rubens, Webber, Rosberg, Massa, Alonso, Button, Lewis, Heidfeld.
More laps = the more the times come down as track rubbers in after the rain.
Q1 ends.....Rosberg and Schumi are 3rd and 6th. There was some sort of incident with Schumi and Alonso having a bit of a go at each other on track.
Q2:
The Ferrari's head out first.
Webber heads the time sheets with Button second (and looking very quick) with 7 minutes to go.
The 5 title contenders occupy the top 5 slots - Webber, Button, Vettel, Alonso, Hamilton with 1 minute left.
10th = Schumi with Massa on a final hot lap currently in 11th. Nick Heidfeld suddenly pops a hot lap in to go 10th.....then Schumi does what he used to do easily....gets a final hot lap in to scrape into the top 10 shootout.
This leaves Massa 12th and out! Does he even care though given the rumours flying about? The Ferrari president expects excellent team play from Massa for the rest of the season. To me that says pull your socks up or you're out.
Q3:
Vettel is 4 tenths faster than Webber with 5 minutes to go....a huge gap!
Vettel, Webber, Hamilton, Alonso, Barrichello, Kubica, Rosberg, Michael - 4 minutes to go - all on soft tyres.
JB goes for his first run with 3 minutes to go....on hard tyres!
Good old JB and alternative strategies...he goes 4th!
Vettel to Webber is now just a 0.068 sec gap...tiny....Ham, Kub, Alo, But, Ros, Bar, Hulk, Msc.
That's 8 poles now for Vettel....and one win from those previous 7?
Alonso is 4th, JB 5th as Hamilton drops to 8th.
JB on hard tyres means he should go a lot longer in the race.
Top ten drivers covered by a second!
At 3:25am I can safely say I won't be doing a semi live note taking blog again for a long time.
If it finishes Vettel, Webber, Alonso then Mark pulls further ahead in the title race.
Japan - "Semi Live" Blog Part 1 - Quali that was never
Justin: What I mean by the title is that, I stayed up for quali and the race, no re-runs needed here, and made some notes to use directly on the blog as I went along basically.
"One Man And His Boat" - Quali, Sat 9th October, 6:30am
Up to watch the business end of quali only to find torrential rain and no quali at all. Good job I didn't get up at 5am for the start of the programme!
Difficult start for Lee Mackenzie as the BBC people increasingly struggle to find things to report on to fill in the time as they wait for the rain to cease.
Cue the surreal...Mike Gascoyne waiting years for a computer to load whilst Ted Kravitz gets really excited, then those two being interrupted by Heiki - having constructed a floating device (which I guess was meant to be a raft or a boat) out of two cans with a little flag on top....he proceeded to demonstrate said device in the pitlane river.
The camera stayed on said contraption for around 5 minutes....with Ted, Mike and Heiki all getting far too excited.
No quali on Saturday means quali on race day morning...for us in the UK thats a hardcore 2am quali and a 7am race with coverage starting at 6am.
Oh Dear!
"One Man And His Boat" - Quali, Sat 9th October, 6:30am
Up to watch the business end of quali only to find torrential rain and no quali at all. Good job I didn't get up at 5am for the start of the programme!
Difficult start for Lee Mackenzie as the BBC people increasingly struggle to find things to report on to fill in the time as they wait for the rain to cease.
Cue the surreal...Mike Gascoyne waiting years for a computer to load whilst Ted Kravitz gets really excited, then those two being interrupted by Heiki - having constructed a floating device (which I guess was meant to be a raft or a boat) out of two cans with a little flag on top....he proceeded to demonstrate said device in the pitlane river.
The camera stayed on said contraption for around 5 minutes....with Ted, Mike and Heiki all getting far too excited.
No quali on Saturday means quali on race day morning...for us in the UK thats a hardcore 2am quali and a 7am race with coverage starting at 6am.
Oh Dear!
Thursday, 7 October 2010
News Roundup before Japan
Justin: Hello all! Just a quick news blog really ahead of the championship run in starting in Japan.
Fernando Alonso first warned all his rivals that he felt in the form of his life, then he warned Ferarri that they must now take no backwards steps, only forward ones.
Mark Webber said he felt calm and confident despite Fernando closing in.
Lewis wants to ignite his championship charge in Japan. Presumably he has stopped sulking after Singapore.
Mclaren have said they will do everything to ensure both their drivers title hopes remain alive for Japan and beyond.
Kimi will not be coming back to F1 with Renault - he actually had a pop at the Renault chief for obviously using his name to give Petrov the hurry up!
An odd one here....Nico Hulkenberg's Williams drive next year is in much doubt according to the BBC rumour column. Still, Frank Williams has made several dodgy driver related decisions in the past.
Oh and something my co-blogger touched on last time out - Schumi has apparently one more year to prove he is fast enough at Mercedes, else for the third year on his contract he will be turfed out...allegedly of course.
Practice tomorrow!
Fernando Alonso first warned all his rivals that he felt in the form of his life, then he warned Ferarri that they must now take no backwards steps, only forward ones.
Mark Webber said he felt calm and confident despite Fernando closing in.
Lewis wants to ignite his championship charge in Japan. Presumably he has stopped sulking after Singapore.
Mclaren have said they will do everything to ensure both their drivers title hopes remain alive for Japan and beyond.
Kimi will not be coming back to F1 with Renault - he actually had a pop at the Renault chief for obviously using his name to give Petrov the hurry up!
An odd one here....Nico Hulkenberg's Williams drive next year is in much doubt according to the BBC rumour column. Still, Frank Williams has made several dodgy driver related decisions in the past.
Oh and something my co-blogger touched on last time out - Schumi has apparently one more year to prove he is fast enough at Mercedes, else for the third year on his contract he will be turfed out...allegedly of course.
Practice tomorrow!
Thursday, 30 September 2010
One week 'til Suzuka...
Phil: My co-blogger's thorough and insightful analysis deserves a pat on the bottom, at the very least. I agree the Hamilton/Webber collision was nothing more than a racing incident, and that having scored maximum points at Monza and Singapore, Alonso is certainly the man to beat at Suzuka. I think we also agree on the downright odd teammate relationship that Lewis and Jenson have: Lewis when interviewed after the race seemed understandably downbeat (after all, two consecutive DNFs won't do great things for his championship chances) and said he still hoped either himself or Jenson would be world champion this year. Or Jenson? Then, one day this week, I read an interview with Jenson himself telling the world what a great driver Lewis was and how much he hoped he could get his title chase back on track. Is there some patting of bottoms going on behind the scenes?
Anyway, teammate rivalries, or otherwise, lead me on to this very good, very technical opinion piece on how Michael Schumacher has 'lost it' permanently. Not only is he being outdriven by his teammate Nico Rosberg, but the margin by which is being beaten is getting wider. Is Rosberg getting faster, or is Schumi getting slower? Here it is http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/9037790.stm
Finally, I've been dipping into the BBC's archive of classic races, which are updated before every race, starting with the 1982 Detroit Grand Prix:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2010/09/your_classic_grand_prix_-_race_2.html#more
You'll think the cars are crude until you see the BBC's graphics. And why did someone at the BBC think that the best 'establishing shot', the image that says 'Formula 1' to the British viewing public, is a shot of Niki Lauda eating a slice of toast?
Plenty of overtaking though.
Anyway, teammate rivalries, or otherwise, lead me on to this very good, very technical opinion piece on how Michael Schumacher has 'lost it' permanently. Not only is he being outdriven by his teammate Nico Rosberg, but the margin by which is being beaten is getting wider. Is Rosberg getting faster, or is Schumi getting slower? Here it is http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/9037790.stm
Finally, I've been dipping into the BBC's archive of classic races, which are updated before every race, starting with the 1982 Detroit Grand Prix:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2010/09/your_classic_grand_prix_-_race_2.html#more
You'll think the cars are crude until you see the BBC's graphics. And why did someone at the BBC think that the best 'establishing shot', the image that says 'Formula 1' to the British viewing public, is a shot of Niki Lauda eating a slice of toast?
Plenty of overtaking though.
Monday, 27 September 2010
ONCE AGAIN!!!!!
Justin: With four races to go now the title race took another few twists and turns around the streets of Singapore. I felt the hairs on my neck standing upright when they lined up on the grid, the 5 title contenders taking the first 5 grid positions, the pressure and tension must have been immense on each driver.
They all got away cleanly enough with Alonso slamming the door shut on Vettel with his one allowed manoeuvre.
From there on the front two of Alonso and Vettel were in a league of their own frankly, pulling away from third place Hamilton followed by Button and Webber.
An early safety car meant Red Bull rolled the dice with Webbers strategy and they brought him in early on for a tyre change. This dropped him to midfield whilst the pacesetters roared into the distance. Webber later admitted to asking Red Bull what the hell they were doing, but it proved a good move as he easily jumped both Mclarens when they pitted later on.
Another safety car brought chaos. As they restarted Webber found himself trying to overtake a Virgin and Hamilton saw his chance and drew up alongside Webber on the outside. As I saw it (my hatred of Hamilton to one side obviously!), Lewis was ahead by a nose, literally, and Webber had every right to be where he was on the inside. Neither guy was going to yield and the inevitable happens. To be fair to Lewis, his style is great on track, he makes overtakes and goes for overtakes, as does Webber, but it's all very well going for them.....you need to make them stick to not wind up looking a bit silly. He wasn't far enough ahead to assume that Webber would yield frankly. Lewis said afterwards that Webber was in his blindspot and he didnt know he was there....well Lewis, where else would he be, parked up for you to claim the corner as your own???
The front two exchanged fastest laps throughout the race and they were never more than 3 seconds apart. On the last lap Vettel closed right up to Alonso's gearbox as they fought their way through traffic, but Alonso took his second win in a row and moved to second in the championship.
Webber came in third with Button fourth. Webber was a lucky boy me thinks, but it's those little strokes of fortune that sometimes ride hand in hand with becoming world champion. He was 5 points clear of Lewis at the top of the standings, but he is now 11 clear of Alonso. Hamilton is 20 points from the top, Vettel, 21 (?) and Button 25...so there are 5 guys still in it, with 4 races to go.
It has to be said, Webber being clear at the top reminds me a bit of Button's championship year, but this time Webber has the best car at his disposal, which the Brawn was not in the second half of last year.
Alonso is definately hunting down Webber though.
There was plenty of action elsewhere in the race, with Kubica's late surge through the midfield worth a mention. Shumacher had a nightmare of a race and if you watched the F1 forum on BBC after the race you'll know that Eddie Jordan's views on whether Schumi should carry on or not are rather strong in the negative.
The most cringeworthy moment has to be Eddie Jordan making a few inappropriate remarks to Lee Mackenzie at the end of the forum (she is taking over anchor duties from Jake in Japan whilst he goes to the Commonwealth Games)....Martin Brundle's face said it all....
My esteemed colleague usually does his skiver of the day piece, but I think it must be an obvious one this time out.....the marshalls on the pitwall when Heiki pulled up in flames....where were they??? He borrowed a fire extinguisher from Williams and dealt with it himself.
Those that watched the F1 forum will know that the Korea GP is in the balance at the moment regarding whether it will go ahead. If it doesnt, it could dramatically alter the title race.
Onto Japan we go!
They all got away cleanly enough with Alonso slamming the door shut on Vettel with his one allowed manoeuvre.
From there on the front two of Alonso and Vettel were in a league of their own frankly, pulling away from third place Hamilton followed by Button and Webber.
An early safety car meant Red Bull rolled the dice with Webbers strategy and they brought him in early on for a tyre change. This dropped him to midfield whilst the pacesetters roared into the distance. Webber later admitted to asking Red Bull what the hell they were doing, but it proved a good move as he easily jumped both Mclarens when they pitted later on.
Another safety car brought chaos. As they restarted Webber found himself trying to overtake a Virgin and Hamilton saw his chance and drew up alongside Webber on the outside. As I saw it (my hatred of Hamilton to one side obviously!), Lewis was ahead by a nose, literally, and Webber had every right to be where he was on the inside. Neither guy was going to yield and the inevitable happens. To be fair to Lewis, his style is great on track, he makes overtakes and goes for overtakes, as does Webber, but it's all very well going for them.....you need to make them stick to not wind up looking a bit silly. He wasn't far enough ahead to assume that Webber would yield frankly. Lewis said afterwards that Webber was in his blindspot and he didnt know he was there....well Lewis, where else would he be, parked up for you to claim the corner as your own???
The front two exchanged fastest laps throughout the race and they were never more than 3 seconds apart. On the last lap Vettel closed right up to Alonso's gearbox as they fought their way through traffic, but Alonso took his second win in a row and moved to second in the championship.
Webber came in third with Button fourth. Webber was a lucky boy me thinks, but it's those little strokes of fortune that sometimes ride hand in hand with becoming world champion. He was 5 points clear of Lewis at the top of the standings, but he is now 11 clear of Alonso. Hamilton is 20 points from the top, Vettel, 21 (?) and Button 25...so there are 5 guys still in it, with 4 races to go.
It has to be said, Webber being clear at the top reminds me a bit of Button's championship year, but this time Webber has the best car at his disposal, which the Brawn was not in the second half of last year.
Alonso is definately hunting down Webber though.
There was plenty of action elsewhere in the race, with Kubica's late surge through the midfield worth a mention. Shumacher had a nightmare of a race and if you watched the F1 forum on BBC after the race you'll know that Eddie Jordan's views on whether Schumi should carry on or not are rather strong in the negative.
The most cringeworthy moment has to be Eddie Jordan making a few inappropriate remarks to Lee Mackenzie at the end of the forum (she is taking over anchor duties from Jake in Japan whilst he goes to the Commonwealth Games)....Martin Brundle's face said it all....
My esteemed colleague usually does his skiver of the day piece, but I think it must be an obvious one this time out.....the marshalls on the pitwall when Heiki pulled up in flames....where were they??? He borrowed a fire extinguisher from Williams and dealt with it himself.
Those that watched the F1 forum will know that the Korea GP is in the balance at the moment regarding whether it will go ahead. If it doesnt, it could dramatically alter the title race.
Onto Japan we go!
Thursday, 23 September 2010
Stinging criticism...
Justin: I saw my co-blogger had finally blogged and I then checked the weather for Singapore for race weekend and from today until Monday it does indeed look like non stop heavy rain for the Marina Bay circuit. Fantastic! Check out the BBC weather website for details. I bet Jenson Button is fancying his chances.
Elsewhere Lewis has named Fernando as his closest rival for the title....sort of....BBC reported it as if he had said this, but he merely said "I guess the guy who won the last race".
Touching on what my esteemed colleague said about the new points system versus the new one.....Bernie Ecclestone is still ranting on about introducing a medals system for 2011 claiming that the new system has not worked at all. Twat. This isn't the olympics.....F1 should always have points for finishes as the method of tallying up the title race. End...of.
I feel I must defend myself amidst scandalous accusations from within the "I Was Having A Blog" team about my last blog and leanings towards Alonso being mistaken for arse licking. At most it was merely a friendly pat on the arse for Alonso.
Always goes well at Singapore doesnt he....
Elsewhere Lewis has named Fernando as his closest rival for the title....sort of....BBC reported it as if he had said this, but he merely said "I guess the guy who won the last race".
Touching on what my esteemed colleague said about the new points system versus the new one.....Bernie Ecclestone is still ranting on about introducing a medals system for 2011 claiming that the new system has not worked at all. Twat. This isn't the olympics.....F1 should always have points for finishes as the method of tallying up the title race. End...of.
I feel I must defend myself amidst scandalous accusations from within the "I Was Having A Blog" team about my last blog and leanings towards Alonso being mistaken for arse licking. At most it was merely a friendly pat on the arse for Alonso.
Always goes well at Singapore doesnt he....
Wednesday, 22 September 2010
It's pissing down in Singapore
Phil: My co-blogger texted me the other day to remind me I hadn't blogged for a while. There's actually very little to add to his analysis of Monza's action, and only the arse-licking to take away. All I can constructively add is that, as I predicted, Webber and Hamilton are definitely not running away with it: a win for Alonso, second for Button, and fourth for Vettel versus sixth for Webber and DNF for Hamilton means the gap has narrowed considerably.
I stumbled across an interesting calculation today (bear with me, this gets better) of how the championship would look if we were still using the old points system, which I much preferred:
Hamilton 75
Webber 74
Alonso 67
Button 67
Vettel 66
I post this as a reminder of how close this season really is: less than a win between first and fifth in the title race, with five races still to go.
A bit of an update on the mid-season reshuffle. Nick Heidfeld returns to F1, replacing Pedro de la Rosa at Sauber. Romain Grosjean takes over his testing role at Pirelli. Does this mean Schumacher is likely to continue in 2011? Heidfeld was presumably hanging on to the test seat at Mercedes on the assumption that he wouldn't last the season, so does this mean he will be back next year?
There are also rumours that the BBC are looking to replace Jonathan Ledgard in the commentary box. In case you were wondering, he is the bloke who talks when Martin Brundle isn't talking. The favourite to replace him is Moto GP commentator Charlie Cox, although from comments posted online a return for James Allen has been suggested, or Brundle by himself. My co-blogger and I are of course available, should anyone from the BBC be reading the blog. The truth is, though, that all this means is that Murray Walker is irreplacable.
It's pissing down in Singapore.
I stumbled across an interesting calculation today (bear with me, this gets better) of how the championship would look if we were still using the old points system, which I much preferred:
Hamilton 75
Webber 74
Alonso 67
Button 67
Vettel 66
I post this as a reminder of how close this season really is: less than a win between first and fifth in the title race, with five races still to go.
A bit of an update on the mid-season reshuffle. Nick Heidfeld returns to F1, replacing Pedro de la Rosa at Sauber. Romain Grosjean takes over his testing role at Pirelli. Does this mean Schumacher is likely to continue in 2011? Heidfeld was presumably hanging on to the test seat at Mercedes on the assumption that he wouldn't last the season, so does this mean he will be back next year?
There are also rumours that the BBC are looking to replace Jonathan Ledgard in the commentary box. In case you were wondering, he is the bloke who talks when Martin Brundle isn't talking. The favourite to replace him is Moto GP commentator Charlie Cox, although from comments posted online a return for James Allen has been suggested, or Brundle by himself. My co-blogger and I are of course available, should anyone from the BBC be reading the blog. The truth is, though, that all this means is that Murray Walker is irreplacable.
It's pissing down in Singapore.
Monday, 13 September 2010
FERNANDO......ALONSO!!!!!!!!
Justin:
First off, a nod to my esteemed colleague for joining me for the qualifying on Saturday, and also for him squeezing out a blog between quali and his birthday meal that same night. Sometimes I wonder just how he does it.
Qualifying was fantastic fun and proved to be a real humdinger in quali 3 when the top guys were really going for it. Fernando produced a good lap on his first outing pretty much.
The race....oh what a race! I can see some of those F1 fans less in the know saying that this was a much more boring race than the mayhem of Spa, for example. Bah, I rubbish anyone even daring to say this! Monza gave us two world champions at the very top of their games driving the hell out of their cars as one chased the other for the majority of the race.
The start saw Alonso squeezing Button off the line as much as was allowed before "firm but fair" became "shumacher-esque". I think my blogger might agree that in F1 circles its widely regarded that Alonso is rather hard on the track, but never really crosses the line to unfair racing in the way Schumi so often did.
Anyway, Button got away magnificantly and glided past Alonso in the first chicane, at which point Massa had a good look at Alonso and the two Ferrari's exited side by side....Alonso was clearly having absolutely none of Massa going by him. At this point Hamilton steamed through and clipped Massa's back wheel, thus ending his own race with a broken track rod. I was cheering at this point!
As they all came away from turn one, a part flew off Button's car (alonso had nerfed him), to which we later found out to be part of the difuser. It's unclear really as to how much this damaged his chances. The race was engrossing and thrilling as Alonso loomed large in Button's mirrors for 30 odd laps, never more than 2 seconds away, and for the most part he spent his time around a second or less away from Button's tailpipe. This of course gave Alonso two huge wobbly moments in the dirty air of Button's car, and then came the pit stops.
Mclaren pitted Button first and it was a very fast tyre change (4.2 seconds), but Alonso was released from following Button and produced a stunningly fast in lap and the Ferrari pit crew gave him an even quicker pit stop of 3.4 seconds. He emerged alongside Button and just about grabbed the lead as they squabbled into the first corners. Fantastic racing!
Yes, my readers and co-blogger, I am entitled to rant about just how good Alonso is. He had been outdriving his car for parts of this season and had made mistakes, mistakes he never usually makes. But Monza reminded us just what he is capable of. Sheer genius and raw pace and ability with an unbreakable determination to win.
This win gives us an important player right back into the title fight after he had looked out of it after Belgium. Hats off to my colleague who said that he didnt feel Button, Vettel and Alonso were really out of it after Belgium.
Thats why I love F1....F1 is IF spelt backwards!!!! After Webber and Hamilton conquered Belgium they looked like running away with the title run in between them. Monza then serves up Alonso and Button scoring heavily with Lewis and Mark scoring nothing and not too much, along with Vettel scraping a few points...so everyone that needed a good day, got one, essentially.
Hat's off to Jenson Button too. We watched quali together and Jenson looked suitably satisfied to have made his team-mate look stupid by choosing a totally different and interesting setup for Monza (2nd on the grid to Lewis' 5th). Having Fernando in your mirrors for 35 laps and driving without error proves once again just how classy Button is behind the wheel.
My esteemed colleague and I were discussing Button and Hamilton....Jenson has an effortless poise about him...a calm strategist in the Prost mould...he always seems to make the right decisions and choices, be it in car setup or tyres during a race.....it's an interesting view versus Hamilton's aggressive style.
Interesting and amusing scenes after the race, just before the podium ceremony...Button asking Stefano Domenicalli what the points standings were. It's also worth noting two things from the drivers press conference. A) Button remarking "it's good to finish where we did for both our championships, well, all three of us, regarding our title chances"...observing that Massa had come third. A cheeky remark perhaps, or more just that Button despises team orders and would rather retire than play second fiddle (an interview in the guardian paper). B) When Massa spoke, Button, being the all round nice guy with manners, actually looked at him.....Alonso did not...he sat there impassive....dismissive....as in....I'm back....and who the hell is this guy on my left?! He doesnt give a shit about Massa....and why would he really? Compare that to the "relationship" Jenson and Lewis have....which will surely be tested sooner or later.
Red Bull got all they could out of the weekend I guess....Vettel stopped on the second to last lap and came out 4th whilst Webber grabbed 6th.
Nico Hulkenberg did well in the race, providing a mobile roadblock for Webber everywhere he looked. I'm not sure driving off the track 3 times is a decent way of defending a position.
Elsewhere...Eddie Jordan was getting way too excited about "more than a few" drivers and drivers agents coming and going from the Mercedes motor home during qualifying..see Jordan's rantings here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/8991896.stm
I think it's probably 50/50 as to whether Schumi quits this season.....
So......Webber...187....Lewis 182.....Alonso 166...Button...165...Vettel 163...5 races....next stop Singapore.
2010 is a classic as we've said many times.....but...5 guys...5 races.....there can be only one guy at the end!
First off, a nod to my esteemed colleague for joining me for the qualifying on Saturday, and also for him squeezing out a blog between quali and his birthday meal that same night. Sometimes I wonder just how he does it.
Qualifying was fantastic fun and proved to be a real humdinger in quali 3 when the top guys were really going for it. Fernando produced a good lap on his first outing pretty much.
The race....oh what a race! I can see some of those F1 fans less in the know saying that this was a much more boring race than the mayhem of Spa, for example. Bah, I rubbish anyone even daring to say this! Monza gave us two world champions at the very top of their games driving the hell out of their cars as one chased the other for the majority of the race.
The start saw Alonso squeezing Button off the line as much as was allowed before "firm but fair" became "shumacher-esque". I think my blogger might agree that in F1 circles its widely regarded that Alonso is rather hard on the track, but never really crosses the line to unfair racing in the way Schumi so often did.
Anyway, Button got away magnificantly and glided past Alonso in the first chicane, at which point Massa had a good look at Alonso and the two Ferrari's exited side by side....Alonso was clearly having absolutely none of Massa going by him. At this point Hamilton steamed through and clipped Massa's back wheel, thus ending his own race with a broken track rod. I was cheering at this point!
As they all came away from turn one, a part flew off Button's car (alonso had nerfed him), to which we later found out to be part of the difuser. It's unclear really as to how much this damaged his chances. The race was engrossing and thrilling as Alonso loomed large in Button's mirrors for 30 odd laps, never more than 2 seconds away, and for the most part he spent his time around a second or less away from Button's tailpipe. This of course gave Alonso two huge wobbly moments in the dirty air of Button's car, and then came the pit stops.
Mclaren pitted Button first and it was a very fast tyre change (4.2 seconds), but Alonso was released from following Button and produced a stunningly fast in lap and the Ferrari pit crew gave him an even quicker pit stop of 3.4 seconds. He emerged alongside Button and just about grabbed the lead as they squabbled into the first corners. Fantastic racing!
Yes, my readers and co-blogger, I am entitled to rant about just how good Alonso is. He had been outdriving his car for parts of this season and had made mistakes, mistakes he never usually makes. But Monza reminded us just what he is capable of. Sheer genius and raw pace and ability with an unbreakable determination to win.
This win gives us an important player right back into the title fight after he had looked out of it after Belgium. Hats off to my colleague who said that he didnt feel Button, Vettel and Alonso were really out of it after Belgium.
Thats why I love F1....F1 is IF spelt backwards!!!! After Webber and Hamilton conquered Belgium they looked like running away with the title run in between them. Monza then serves up Alonso and Button scoring heavily with Lewis and Mark scoring nothing and not too much, along with Vettel scraping a few points...so everyone that needed a good day, got one, essentially.
Hat's off to Jenson Button too. We watched quali together and Jenson looked suitably satisfied to have made his team-mate look stupid by choosing a totally different and interesting setup for Monza (2nd on the grid to Lewis' 5th). Having Fernando in your mirrors for 35 laps and driving without error proves once again just how classy Button is behind the wheel.
My esteemed colleague and I were discussing Button and Hamilton....Jenson has an effortless poise about him...a calm strategist in the Prost mould...he always seems to make the right decisions and choices, be it in car setup or tyres during a race.....it's an interesting view versus Hamilton's aggressive style.
Interesting and amusing scenes after the race, just before the podium ceremony...Button asking Stefano Domenicalli what the points standings were. It's also worth noting two things from the drivers press conference. A) Button remarking "it's good to finish where we did for both our championships, well, all three of us, regarding our title chances"...observing that Massa had come third. A cheeky remark perhaps, or more just that Button despises team orders and would rather retire than play second fiddle (an interview in the guardian paper). B) When Massa spoke, Button, being the all round nice guy with manners, actually looked at him.....Alonso did not...he sat there impassive....dismissive....as in....I'm back....and who the hell is this guy on my left?! He doesnt give a shit about Massa....and why would he really? Compare that to the "relationship" Jenson and Lewis have....which will surely be tested sooner or later.
Red Bull got all they could out of the weekend I guess....Vettel stopped on the second to last lap and came out 4th whilst Webber grabbed 6th.
Nico Hulkenberg did well in the race, providing a mobile roadblock for Webber everywhere he looked. I'm not sure driving off the track 3 times is a decent way of defending a position.
Elsewhere...Eddie Jordan was getting way too excited about "more than a few" drivers and drivers agents coming and going from the Mercedes motor home during qualifying..see Jordan's rantings here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/8991896.stm
I think it's probably 50/50 as to whether Schumi quits this season.....
So......Webber...187....Lewis 182.....Alonso 166...Button...165...Vettel 163...5 races....next stop Singapore.
2010 is a classic as we've said many times.....but...5 guys...5 races.....there can be only one guy at the end!
Saturday, 11 September 2010
I was having a Wii...
Phil: Well, our follower(s) will undoubtedly be kicking themselves to know they've missed another I Was Having a Blog....Live! event, even if it was only a semi-official one. As usual, I doff my cap to my co-blogger for his insightful conversation and his Lewis Hamilton sandwiches.
The occasion, naturally, was quali was tomorrow's Italian grand prix. Alonso took a confident pole, with Button alongside him on the front row, running an unusual but obviously very effective high downforce setup (logic would say that as downforce means drag at high speeds, and as you spend 70% of the lap at Monza at full throttle, you want as little of it as you can get away with, but Button clearly has an insight which we don't and qualified half a second faster than his teammate). The championship leaders Webber and Hamilton start fourth and fifth tomorrow, which may allow Alonso and Button to close the gap by the end of tomorrow's race.
Afterwards, I proved you can't take Eau Rouge flat in the wet. At least on a Wii you can't.
The occasion, naturally, was quali was tomorrow's Italian grand prix. Alonso took a confident pole, with Button alongside him on the front row, running an unusual but obviously very effective high downforce setup (logic would say that as downforce means drag at high speeds, and as you spend 70% of the lap at Monza at full throttle, you want as little of it as you can get away with, but Button clearly has an insight which we don't and qualified half a second faster than his teammate). The championship leaders Webber and Hamilton start fourth and fifth tomorrow, which may allow Alonso and Button to close the gap by the end of tomorrow's race.
Afterwards, I proved you can't take Eau Rouge flat in the wet. At least on a Wii you can't.
Tuesday, 31 August 2010
Just another day at the Spa
Phil: The title of this blog doesn't really cut it, unfortunately, but it's the best I can think of.
Spa was another of this season's classics, enlivened as ever by rain and the resultant safety car incidents. Hats off to some blokes in Belgium in about 1920 for chancing across such a classic racetrack with such superb temperamental weather. Maybe they could teach Hermann Tilke's state of the art tracks in the middle of deserts a thing or two.
Hats off also to my co-blogger for such a detailed and insightful analysis, which for once I actually agree with. If I had any hats left I'd also take them off to Lewis Hamilton (who, let's not forget, actually won the race) who didn't put a foot wrong all afternoon - even if his race engineer did add a comedy moment by appearing to tell Lewis not to come in for inters too soon, just as he ran off into the kitty litter (the transmission being delayed, of course, to avoid broadcasting confidential team tactics and Sebastian Vettel saying, 'Scheisse!' whenever he crashes).
Mark Webber may have buggered up the start, but he was there ready to take Kubica's second place when the Pole missed his pit box. If you want to be world champion, it's consistently good results that count, and as my co-blogger insightfully pointed out, the smidgeon of points he got from Kubica's error may make him world champion come Abu Dhabi (but probably not before).
Hamilton may have done everything right, but Vettel and Alonso seem to have done everything wrong. I won't go over Alonso's misfortunes again, but Vettel's collision with Button was frankly bizarre - the sort of crash you have to watch several times on the replay before you can really work out what actually happened.
I'm tempted to agree with my co-blogger that with Vettel's inconsistency and unforced errors and the pressure Alonso is under coping with what's still clearly the third best car, it's a two horse race between Webber and Hamilton. However, this season is so close that a bad day at the office for Button, Alonso and Vettel makes it seem like Hamilton and Webber are pulling ahead. The reality is that the boot could well be on the other foot at Monza. It's still to early to call, and, almost unbelievably, any one of five drivers could still take the title. This season is already a classic and could be the closest ever.
Next stop is one of my favourite tracks, Monza. But before that, Ferrari have to face up to the FIA for the team orders charade at Hockenheim.
Spa was another of this season's classics, enlivened as ever by rain and the resultant safety car incidents. Hats off to some blokes in Belgium in about 1920 for chancing across such a classic racetrack with such superb temperamental weather. Maybe they could teach Hermann Tilke's state of the art tracks in the middle of deserts a thing or two.
Hats off also to my co-blogger for such a detailed and insightful analysis, which for once I actually agree with. If I had any hats left I'd also take them off to Lewis Hamilton (who, let's not forget, actually won the race) who didn't put a foot wrong all afternoon - even if his race engineer did add a comedy moment by appearing to tell Lewis not to come in for inters too soon, just as he ran off into the kitty litter (the transmission being delayed, of course, to avoid broadcasting confidential team tactics and Sebastian Vettel saying, 'Scheisse!' whenever he crashes).
Mark Webber may have buggered up the start, but he was there ready to take Kubica's second place when the Pole missed his pit box. If you want to be world champion, it's consistently good results that count, and as my co-blogger insightfully pointed out, the smidgeon of points he got from Kubica's error may make him world champion come Abu Dhabi (but probably not before).
Hamilton may have done everything right, but Vettel and Alonso seem to have done everything wrong. I won't go over Alonso's misfortunes again, but Vettel's collision with Button was frankly bizarre - the sort of crash you have to watch several times on the replay before you can really work out what actually happened.
I'm tempted to agree with my co-blogger that with Vettel's inconsistency and unforced errors and the pressure Alonso is under coping with what's still clearly the third best car, it's a two horse race between Webber and Hamilton. However, this season is so close that a bad day at the office for Button, Alonso and Vettel makes it seem like Hamilton and Webber are pulling ahead. The reality is that the boot could well be on the other foot at Monza. It's still to early to call, and, almost unbelievably, any one of five drivers could still take the title. This season is already a classic and could be the closest ever.
Next stop is one of my favourite tracks, Monza. But before that, Ferrari have to face up to the FIA for the team orders charade at Hockenheim.
Monday, 30 August 2010
What a Race!!!!
Justin: I seem to be saying that a lot this year. All but one of this years races have been fantastic.
Qualifying was a chaotic mess of cars, traffic and crashes much like a race. This was all because of rain. Good old Spa with it's ever changing weather. The race was much the same.
The fun began on the warm up lap when we heard over a pit to car radio (I forget who's) that they expected a rain shower at 8 minutes past two. Oh dear.
A pants start by Webber saw him drop to 6th, with Lewis leading them round on lap one. Button had a fantastic start and managed to get up to 3rd. Then the rain came.
It's at this point I should say whilst watching I lept up at this point and did a Murray Walker "HHHEEEEYYYYYYY", as the BBC camera panned to watch a car go by at the bus stop and the car went straight on, then around 8 other cars followed as the track became wet. Carnage and mayhem, always fun. Rubens couldnt brake and broke his own car by smashing into Alonso. This was just the start of things going wrong for the guy who had the car for a top 3 finish.
Alonso then darted into the pits for intermediates and to check his car wasn't wrecked by Rubens Williams. Unfortunately after the safety car, the sunshine appeared and Alonso came in again two laps later for dry tyres, sending him down to 20th.
It's sending me giddy trying to recall all that happened during this one frankly! Hopefully my co-blogger will cover what I fail to mention.
Button moved up to second but was holding the field up with a damaged front wing. Cue Vettel and his impatient ways to end both his and Button's races, and probably both their championship chances too. Looking at the move again, it was all Vettel's fault...the little weasel. To be fair, he did apologise afterwards..first time for everything I guess. Definately not his championship year at all...too many mistakes. The same could be said for Alonso, as DC pointed out after the race, he is driving with frustration and has made more mistakes this year than during the rest of his career.
There was a fun scrap between the Mercedes team-mates on and off throughout the race and they ended up 6th and 7th which wasnt bad at all, as they both started a long way back on the grid.
Webber gained 2nd via Kubica overshooting his pit box and clipping a mechanic. Some people will say Webber will be annoyed about the clutch issue he had at the start and not getting the win. He himself said he was very happy with 2nd, and so he should be. The difference at the end of the title race could be the luck he found in jumping Kubica in the pits, who knows?
Near the end of the race we heard Hamilton asking his pit crew "when can I come in? It's getting really wet out here", as the rain tumbled again 5 or 6 laps from the end. His team replied "we dont want to jump too soon"...cue Lewis then sliding off the road and just about keeping it going through the gravel.
At this point, or soon after, Fernando was in 8th and looking to push on and he ended up going off instead. Driver error.
It was a fantastic race. My hat doesnt come off to Lewis much at all but here it does.
With Button, Vettel and Alonso scoring no points, its looking a bit more like Lewis vs Mark for the title now. Though there are still 6 races to go of course, but with 5th placed Alonso some 40 points from Lewis at the top, its looking like more of a struggle for him, Button and Vettel.
What is interesting is the dynamics within Mclaren and Red Bull. They'll have to back Lewis and Mark sooner rather than later if the others dont pull their socks up.
Qualifying was a chaotic mess of cars, traffic and crashes much like a race. This was all because of rain. Good old Spa with it's ever changing weather. The race was much the same.
The fun began on the warm up lap when we heard over a pit to car radio (I forget who's) that they expected a rain shower at 8 minutes past two. Oh dear.
A pants start by Webber saw him drop to 6th, with Lewis leading them round on lap one. Button had a fantastic start and managed to get up to 3rd. Then the rain came.
It's at this point I should say whilst watching I lept up at this point and did a Murray Walker "HHHEEEEYYYYYYY", as the BBC camera panned to watch a car go by at the bus stop and the car went straight on, then around 8 other cars followed as the track became wet. Carnage and mayhem, always fun. Rubens couldnt brake and broke his own car by smashing into Alonso. This was just the start of things going wrong for the guy who had the car for a top 3 finish.
Alonso then darted into the pits for intermediates and to check his car wasn't wrecked by Rubens Williams. Unfortunately after the safety car, the sunshine appeared and Alonso came in again two laps later for dry tyres, sending him down to 20th.
It's sending me giddy trying to recall all that happened during this one frankly! Hopefully my co-blogger will cover what I fail to mention.
Button moved up to second but was holding the field up with a damaged front wing. Cue Vettel and his impatient ways to end both his and Button's races, and probably both their championship chances too. Looking at the move again, it was all Vettel's fault...the little weasel. To be fair, he did apologise afterwards..first time for everything I guess. Definately not his championship year at all...too many mistakes. The same could be said for Alonso, as DC pointed out after the race, he is driving with frustration and has made more mistakes this year than during the rest of his career.
There was a fun scrap between the Mercedes team-mates on and off throughout the race and they ended up 6th and 7th which wasnt bad at all, as they both started a long way back on the grid.
Webber gained 2nd via Kubica overshooting his pit box and clipping a mechanic. Some people will say Webber will be annoyed about the clutch issue he had at the start and not getting the win. He himself said he was very happy with 2nd, and so he should be. The difference at the end of the title race could be the luck he found in jumping Kubica in the pits, who knows?
Near the end of the race we heard Hamilton asking his pit crew "when can I come in? It's getting really wet out here", as the rain tumbled again 5 or 6 laps from the end. His team replied "we dont want to jump too soon"...cue Lewis then sliding off the road and just about keeping it going through the gravel.
At this point, or soon after, Fernando was in 8th and looking to push on and he ended up going off instead. Driver error.
It was a fantastic race. My hat doesnt come off to Lewis much at all but here it does.
With Button, Vettel and Alonso scoring no points, its looking a bit more like Lewis vs Mark for the title now. Though there are still 6 races to go of course, but with 5th placed Alonso some 40 points from Lewis at the top, its looking like more of a struggle for him, Button and Vettel.
What is interesting is the dynamics within Mclaren and Red Bull. They'll have to back Lewis and Mark sooner rather than later if the others dont pull their socks up.
Tuesday, 24 August 2010
It's so close I can taste it!
Justin: The boredom of Formula One-less weekends is nearly over people!!! Moto GP just doesnt cut it frankly. Thats the only time I shall mention racing on two wheels on this blog.
Seems my co-blogger and I spent our F1 forced cold turkey doing much the same. I bought the Daily Telegraph book of F1, which essentially goes back to 1950 and reprints major F1 news stories as they happened through the decades. A fantastic read frankly. Reporting on just how F1 drivers died in the 50's,60's and 70's was rather graphic and blunt frankly. There is also a fantastically amusing section on f1 driver to pit radio chats, which I'll delve into with my co-blogger at our next I Was Having A Blog Live event.
Belgium is a few days away! Niki Lauda and Ferrari have been at each others throats in the holiday period. Lauda came out and said Ferrari will be slaughtered at the World Council hearing in September. Ferrari responded by saying that once again Niki misses a chance to keep his mouth shut and said he didnt seem to mind team orders when he won the title with them. Ouchie.
It's been widly reported that if any points deductions come into play it will be for the team and probably not the drivers. I agree with this. By September Alonso could be well in the hunt for the title, and taking points away from him will reduce the battle from 5 people to 4, thus taking away from the drama I think.
Not much else going on in the news and gossip columns really. Webber cannot guarantee he will be on the grid in 2012, having signed to Red Bull again for 2011. He said he wants to get the world title, but wants to pursue other sporting goals before retiring to drink red wine in Oz. I have a feeling he might very well be defending his title next year. That could be fun, with Vettel in the team alongside him once again.
Onto Belgium we go! It usually rains here.....if it does....I think Jenson will rise to the top. Both races he won this year were in wet/changeable conditions and he made excellent decisions at the right times. He reads conditions better than anyone, where the grip is etc. If its a dry race, I see Alonso taking it to the Red Bull duo as he has done the last couple of times.
Seems my co-blogger and I spent our F1 forced cold turkey doing much the same. I bought the Daily Telegraph book of F1, which essentially goes back to 1950 and reprints major F1 news stories as they happened through the decades. A fantastic read frankly. Reporting on just how F1 drivers died in the 50's,60's and 70's was rather graphic and blunt frankly. There is also a fantastically amusing section on f1 driver to pit radio chats, which I'll delve into with my co-blogger at our next I Was Having A Blog Live event.
Belgium is a few days away! Niki Lauda and Ferrari have been at each others throats in the holiday period. Lauda came out and said Ferrari will be slaughtered at the World Council hearing in September. Ferrari responded by saying that once again Niki misses a chance to keep his mouth shut and said he didnt seem to mind team orders when he won the title with them. Ouchie.
It's been widly reported that if any points deductions come into play it will be for the team and probably not the drivers. I agree with this. By September Alonso could be well in the hunt for the title, and taking points away from him will reduce the battle from 5 people to 4, thus taking away from the drama I think.
Not much else going on in the news and gossip columns really. Webber cannot guarantee he will be on the grid in 2012, having signed to Red Bull again for 2011. He said he wants to get the world title, but wants to pursue other sporting goals before retiring to drink red wine in Oz. I have a feeling he might very well be defending his title next year. That could be fun, with Vettel in the team alongside him once again.
Onto Belgium we go! It usually rains here.....if it does....I think Jenson will rise to the top. Both races he won this year were in wet/changeable conditions and he made excellent decisions at the right times. He reads conditions better than anyone, where the grip is etc. If its a dry race, I see Alonso taking it to the Red Bull duo as he has done the last couple of times.
Thursday, 19 August 2010
Four whole weeks with no F1
Phil: So naturally I've been miserable as sin. I've been whiling away the hours reading Murray Walker's autobiography, Unless I'm Very Much Mistaken, which is excellent. Until the early 80s Murray managed to juggle his BBC commentating career at the weekends with a succesful advertising career during the week - in addition to a motorbike racing career in his youth, and commanding a tank in World War 2. He seems to have crammed several lives into one.
Anyway, the race, or lack of one. I'd forgotten all about Hakkinen's move on Schumacher - watching it again, it's startlingly simple yet effective. It reminds me a little of Mansell's move on Senna, using (I think) Stefan Johansson as a rolling roadblock, wherever that was. But that's not actually my favourite.
I usually sneer at people who watch F1 (or motor racing in general) 'for the crashes', but I'm going to make an exception and indulge myself for the opening lap at Spa in 1998. And what a bloody mess of slithery wet tarmac and chunks of carbon fibre it was: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e287pHZNUcs.
Hopefully next weekend won't be half as messy.
Anyway, the race, or lack of one. I'd forgotten all about Hakkinen's move on Schumacher - watching it again, it's startlingly simple yet effective. It reminds me a little of Mansell's move on Senna, using (I think) Stefan Johansson as a rolling roadblock, wherever that was. But that's not actually my favourite.
I usually sneer at people who watch F1 (or motor racing in general) 'for the crashes', but I'm going to make an exception and indulge myself for the opening lap at Spa in 1998. And what a bloody mess of slithery wet tarmac and chunks of carbon fibre it was: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e287pHZNUcs.
Hopefully next weekend won't be half as messy.
Tuesday, 10 August 2010
Belgium
Justin: The BBC are doing their usual "what was your fave race?", before the race takes place in whichever country. So, readers and obviously fellow blogger, what was your fave Belgium GP?
For me, picking out one, it just has to be the two supreme rivals of their time, Schumi and Mika going at it all season long in an epic championship battle that went all the way to the wire in Japan that year....the Belgium GP of 2000 gets my vote. Schumi....Mika....Zonta.....most stonking overtake ever? Mika got his balls out for that one, whilst Zonta's probably shrivelled up whilst he was thinking "shit, I'd best drive straight!".
Tuesday, 3 August 2010
Splash and dash
Phil: Blogging in my lunch break at work as I've moved yet again, and have no Internet at home, so it's going to have to be a short splash and dash.
First things first, greetings to our follower! First actual readers, and now an actual follower. This blog goes from strength to strength. If we carry on at this rate we may be starting our own religion by the end of the season.
Anyway, the race. I would have to agree with some (but not all) of my co-blogger's detailed analysis. The news since he blogged is that Schumacher has apologised to Barrichello for almost shunting him into the pitwall, and been penalised 10 grid places at the next race, at Spa. Given his current qualifying form this may well put him last on the grid.
I'm going to give a pat on the back to Vitaly Petrov, consistently outraced by his Renault teammate Robert Kubica all season to the extent that Renault have openly considered who to replace him with (Sutil? Heidfeld? Raikkonen?), who scored a 'best of the rest' fifth place at the Hungaroring.
Congratulations also to Mark Webber - make no mistake, this was the drive of a champion. Admittedly, the opportunity only arose because of his teammate's misfortune (one of the Red Bulls was inevitably going to win this race, as they were head and shoulders ahead of the rest of the field at the weekend, and I'm going to pretend I didn't see Vettel behaving like a spoilt child as took his penalty and on the podium) but the important thing is that Mark took the opportunity and turned it into a dominant win. And with the top five drivers separated by only 20 points (the equivalent of only 8 points under the old system) with one third of the season left, this is going to be the closest season finale in a long time. I can't wait.
First things first, greetings to our follower! First actual readers, and now an actual follower. This blog goes from strength to strength. If we carry on at this rate we may be starting our own religion by the end of the season.
Anyway, the race. I would have to agree with some (but not all) of my co-blogger's detailed analysis. The news since he blogged is that Schumacher has apologised to Barrichello for almost shunting him into the pitwall, and been penalised 10 grid places at the next race, at Spa. Given his current qualifying form this may well put him last on the grid.
I'm going to give a pat on the back to Vitaly Petrov, consistently outraced by his Renault teammate Robert Kubica all season to the extent that Renault have openly considered who to replace him with (Sutil? Heidfeld? Raikkonen?), who scored a 'best of the rest' fifth place at the Hungaroring.
Congratulations also to Mark Webber - make no mistake, this was the drive of a champion. Admittedly, the opportunity only arose because of his teammate's misfortune (one of the Red Bulls was inevitably going to win this race, as they were head and shoulders ahead of the rest of the field at the weekend, and I'm going to pretend I didn't see Vettel behaving like a spoilt child as took his penalty and on the podium) but the important thing is that Mark took the opportunity and turned it into a dominant win. And with the top five drivers separated by only 20 points (the equivalent of only 8 points under the old system) with one third of the season left, this is going to be the closest season finale in a long time. I can't wait.
Monday, 2 August 2010
Bloody awesome mate!
Justin: The Hungarian grand prix was a classic, no doubt about it. The safety car prevented it from being a walk in the park for Vettel, who at the end of lap 7 was somewhere near 8 seconds ahead of Fernando.
After the safety car, for what I believe was some debris on track, all hell broke loose. Before the safety it was Vettel being chased by Fernando, with Webber seemingly running his engine in fuel save mode for later on. Then you had Massa being followed by Lewis.
The safety car comes and goes and they emerge as Webber (not having stopped during this period), Vettel, Alonso, Hamilton jumping Massa in the pits due to Massa's tyres still being in the garage.
Now....step forward Mark Webber if you please! Webber starts pumping in some stonking lap times....around 25 qualifying laps one after the other. The idea behind this of course was to originally get enough time over Alonso for a pit stop and come out in second behind Vettel. This plan was to change soon enough.
Whats this? Vettel being investigated by the stewards? Another obscure, not very well known safety car rule? Vettel had been caught napping on the restart and had fallen more than ten car lengths behind the leader. Thing is of course, this isnt a very well known rule for the fans, but as DC said after the race, this is racing, these things happen, rules are there for reasons, and in the driver safety meetings they do discuss rules such as this, so Vettel would have been perfectly aware of all this. More on his weasly excuses and whinging later on.
So, Vettel gets awarded a drive through penalty, which shifts the momentum of the race away from him and towards Webber and Alonso. Alonso was pretty consistent in being the best outside Red Bull all weekend really and he managed to mix it up well with them on race day. So with Webber first and Alonso second, with Vettel not far behind at all, Webber now had to really pump in the times to get out ahead of Alonso and go for the win.
During this time, Button was crawling around in 11th and Lewis had retired with a gearbox failure. So for Red Bull and Alonso it was looking quids in for the title race.
Right up to his pit stop Mark Webber drove like a bat out of hell. He got the gap needed and emerged comfortably ahead of Alonso, who by now had the much faster Vettel up his exhaust pipe.
Now, I'm not known in blogging circles for my descriptive analysis of each race as it happened, but this is an exception as Mark Webber drove an astonishingly accomplished race. He was fortunate with what happened to Vettel, but you need to be in position to take advantage and be good enough to take advantage and he was definately both of those.
Webber has now won twice as many races as anyone else this season and stands atop of the driver standings. Thoroughly deserved stuff Mark, well bloody done mate.
Now lets get to Vettel. You fucked up mate, deal with it. Stop reacting like a child and get on with it. Red Bull knew he was going to say something stupid to the media when over the radio they told him not to say anything and we'll talk later about it. At least later on he admitted he was asleep at the restart, though I'm sure I caught a hint that he was trying to blame Webber just a bit.
One win from seven poles just isn't championship form Sebastian. You can do it on a Saturday, but you have someone over the other side of the garage who is better than you on a Sunday mate. Bonza!
This is going to be a huge blog, mostly because the race was so exciting, but partly too because the three top teams had such differring fortunes. Red Bull we have done.
Ferrari - Alonso said, as Martin Brundle pointed out on the forum after the race, after the rubbish race he had at Silverstone, that he could still win the title....did he say could...or would? Anyway, he now stands just 20 points behind Webber in the title race and you wouldnt want to put money against him really now. Yes I know, I had thoughts of almost admitting his championship was over a few blogs ago, what can I say, I'm the Murray Walker of this blogging partnership, I'm emotional sometimes. Alonso had a superb start in Hungary and that set him up for battling with the Red Bulls for the entire race.
And, lets not change the ritual here.....where the hell was Massa when Vettel had his drive through? Had he pushed like crazy and shown some of the pace that Alonso had, then perhaps he could have jumped Vettel....as Rob Smedley indicated in the radio transmission we heard...but nope...Massa just simply isnt as fast as Alonso, nowhere really near in fact.
As Brundle again pointed out, sooner or later the other teams will have to do what ferrari have already done, that is getting behind one man at the expense of the other guy. People may not like it, but Ferrari were right to get Alonso past Massa in Germany as Alonso is now well in the hunt and was and always has been this year their best bet.
Mclaren - when Lewis retired the face of the title race changed completely as the guys who had the most ground to make up were suddenly the guys with everything to gain. I don't know what Button was up to all day. In quali he complained of having no grip. This is the issue with Jenson. Put him in a perfect car to his liking and there is nobody better, anything else and he fails to drive around the issues of the car unlike a Hamilton or an Alonso. He needs to get himself sorted quickly. He was lucky that Lewis retired today really.
A quick note on quali - it is scary seeing how fast Red Bull are compared to the rest! But as Vettel knows, qualifying pace means absolutely sod all if you cannot do the job on a Sunday, whinging little weasel.
Michael Shumacher.....what can you say? I've seen all Schumi's questionable blocking techniques over the years....Hill in 94, Villeneuve in 97, lapping a slowing DC in 98 so he just rams him off the road....whilst I'm not shocked that he desperately tried to keep Rubens behind him by almost planting his former colleague into the pit wall, I am surprised that he still even bothers.
Ramming people off the road seems to be the one thing he can do in this new career as well as he did in his old career. Oh that and totally denying any knowledge of any wrong doing and blaming everything on poor Rubens. Fuck off back into retirement Schumi. It was a disgusting move on Rubens and as DC and Brundle pointed out, if the pit wall had continued that's an "aeroplane crash" right there...devastating. Alex Wurz is a steward/ driver association guy and he wasnt the least bit impressed either.
Elsewhere Hungary provided plenty of pitlane fun - Rosberg losing his tyre, the Renault lollipop guy possibly seeing said tyre bouncing towards him and releasing Kubica into the side of Sutil. Opps.
So....lets face facts....its a pure and utter vintage year of F1........5 guys seperated by 20 points....with 25 for a win and 18 for second.....its going to be a fantastic run in.
A month without F1....what will we do???!!! Nooooooooo! Don't worry, blogs will happen as and when.
After the safety car, for what I believe was some debris on track, all hell broke loose. Before the safety it was Vettel being chased by Fernando, with Webber seemingly running his engine in fuel save mode for later on. Then you had Massa being followed by Lewis.
The safety car comes and goes and they emerge as Webber (not having stopped during this period), Vettel, Alonso, Hamilton jumping Massa in the pits due to Massa's tyres still being in the garage.
Now....step forward Mark Webber if you please! Webber starts pumping in some stonking lap times....around 25 qualifying laps one after the other. The idea behind this of course was to originally get enough time over Alonso for a pit stop and come out in second behind Vettel. This plan was to change soon enough.
Whats this? Vettel being investigated by the stewards? Another obscure, not very well known safety car rule? Vettel had been caught napping on the restart and had fallen more than ten car lengths behind the leader. Thing is of course, this isnt a very well known rule for the fans, but as DC said after the race, this is racing, these things happen, rules are there for reasons, and in the driver safety meetings they do discuss rules such as this, so Vettel would have been perfectly aware of all this. More on his weasly excuses and whinging later on.
So, Vettel gets awarded a drive through penalty, which shifts the momentum of the race away from him and towards Webber and Alonso. Alonso was pretty consistent in being the best outside Red Bull all weekend really and he managed to mix it up well with them on race day. So with Webber first and Alonso second, with Vettel not far behind at all, Webber now had to really pump in the times to get out ahead of Alonso and go for the win.
During this time, Button was crawling around in 11th and Lewis had retired with a gearbox failure. So for Red Bull and Alonso it was looking quids in for the title race.
Right up to his pit stop Mark Webber drove like a bat out of hell. He got the gap needed and emerged comfortably ahead of Alonso, who by now had the much faster Vettel up his exhaust pipe.
Now, I'm not known in blogging circles for my descriptive analysis of each race as it happened, but this is an exception as Mark Webber drove an astonishingly accomplished race. He was fortunate with what happened to Vettel, but you need to be in position to take advantage and be good enough to take advantage and he was definately both of those.
Webber has now won twice as many races as anyone else this season and stands atop of the driver standings. Thoroughly deserved stuff Mark, well bloody done mate.
Now lets get to Vettel. You fucked up mate, deal with it. Stop reacting like a child and get on with it. Red Bull knew he was going to say something stupid to the media when over the radio they told him not to say anything and we'll talk later about it. At least later on he admitted he was asleep at the restart, though I'm sure I caught a hint that he was trying to blame Webber just a bit.
One win from seven poles just isn't championship form Sebastian. You can do it on a Saturday, but you have someone over the other side of the garage who is better than you on a Sunday mate. Bonza!
This is going to be a huge blog, mostly because the race was so exciting, but partly too because the three top teams had such differring fortunes. Red Bull we have done.
Ferrari - Alonso said, as Martin Brundle pointed out on the forum after the race, after the rubbish race he had at Silverstone, that he could still win the title....did he say could...or would? Anyway, he now stands just 20 points behind Webber in the title race and you wouldnt want to put money against him really now. Yes I know, I had thoughts of almost admitting his championship was over a few blogs ago, what can I say, I'm the Murray Walker of this blogging partnership, I'm emotional sometimes. Alonso had a superb start in Hungary and that set him up for battling with the Red Bulls for the entire race.
And, lets not change the ritual here.....where the hell was Massa when Vettel had his drive through? Had he pushed like crazy and shown some of the pace that Alonso had, then perhaps he could have jumped Vettel....as Rob Smedley indicated in the radio transmission we heard...but nope...Massa just simply isnt as fast as Alonso, nowhere really near in fact.
As Brundle again pointed out, sooner or later the other teams will have to do what ferrari have already done, that is getting behind one man at the expense of the other guy. People may not like it, but Ferrari were right to get Alonso past Massa in Germany as Alonso is now well in the hunt and was and always has been this year their best bet.
Mclaren - when Lewis retired the face of the title race changed completely as the guys who had the most ground to make up were suddenly the guys with everything to gain. I don't know what Button was up to all day. In quali he complained of having no grip. This is the issue with Jenson. Put him in a perfect car to his liking and there is nobody better, anything else and he fails to drive around the issues of the car unlike a Hamilton or an Alonso. He needs to get himself sorted quickly. He was lucky that Lewis retired today really.
A quick note on quali - it is scary seeing how fast Red Bull are compared to the rest! But as Vettel knows, qualifying pace means absolutely sod all if you cannot do the job on a Sunday, whinging little weasel.
Michael Shumacher.....what can you say? I've seen all Schumi's questionable blocking techniques over the years....Hill in 94, Villeneuve in 97, lapping a slowing DC in 98 so he just rams him off the road....whilst I'm not shocked that he desperately tried to keep Rubens behind him by almost planting his former colleague into the pit wall, I am surprised that he still even bothers.
Ramming people off the road seems to be the one thing he can do in this new career as well as he did in his old career. Oh that and totally denying any knowledge of any wrong doing and blaming everything on poor Rubens. Fuck off back into retirement Schumi. It was a disgusting move on Rubens and as DC and Brundle pointed out, if the pit wall had continued that's an "aeroplane crash" right there...devastating. Alex Wurz is a steward/ driver association guy and he wasnt the least bit impressed either.
Elsewhere Hungary provided plenty of pitlane fun - Rosberg losing his tyre, the Renault lollipop guy possibly seeing said tyre bouncing towards him and releasing Kubica into the side of Sutil. Opps.
So....lets face facts....its a pure and utter vintage year of F1........5 guys seperated by 20 points....with 25 for a win and 18 for second.....its going to be a fantastic run in.
A month without F1....what will we do???!!! Nooooooooo! Don't worry, blogs will happen as and when.
Monday, 26 July 2010
No room for sentiment in F1
Justin: I think we can all agree there is plenty to discuss following the Ferrari 1-2 in Germany. I received two rather colorful text messages from people not liking what happened at all...but they both seemed to blame Fernando Alonso rather than the powers that be at Ferrari.
First off.....Massa bashing yet again...but if he'd have been a lot faster over the first half of the year, the chances are that he wouldn't have had to endure yesterday. Fact, Alonso has panned him good and proper and is the only one even remotely looking like pushing for a title challenge. Fact, Alonso has found himself behind a much slower Massa in a couple of races before now and Ferrari did absolutely nothing. If they kept on doing nothing, Massa might crawl back up to 7th in the title standings, but Alonso would well and truly lose all fading hopes of a third title.
Even Martin Brundle himself observed that he would do exactly the same as Massa was backing Alonso into Vettel and to protect maximum team points he'd swap the drivers over and deal with any fallout later on.
Now, don't get me wrong, I don't like seeing blatant swapping of positions based on orders at all....but it does happen a lot more than anyone probably realises. See DC's remarks about it after the race.
Whilst I was searching around for news about the fallout from the race, I read Andrew Benson's BBC blog (seriously Andrew come and join us for a guest blog) and he made an excellent remark stating that this is no different from 2007 where Massa moved over for Kimi to win the title. If Massa had stayed in first, Hamilton would have won the title, yet nobody even noticed or cared about this blatant and brazen team order. Alonso is the best hope by a country mile for a Ferrari tilt at the drivers title, so what happened...happened...yet everyone is disgusted. Why werent people disgusted when Massa moved aside in 2007 to gift Kimi the title?
Even Schumi himself.....dear god am I really looking to him to aid my arguement?? stated that team orders still happen and should happen - balance this with him also saying he could definately see why people complained so much about his 2002 mishap to which my co-blogger refers.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2010/07/team_orders_rule_ties_f1_in_kn.html.
What the result does is give Alonso hope - he is in a good car now and he will look to push on with another win in Hungary. Mclaren look off the pace and in Germany Ferrari were easily the fastest out there.
I think part of the reason there was a big uproar was that it was Massa being asked to move aside. Unfortunately, coming back from a huge crash there is no fairytale ending a year on with a win in Germany. As we all know, there is no room for sentiment in formula one.
As for Alonso, I shall defend him, as nobody else seems to amidst all the character assasination. All he did was get utterly frustrated and utter "this is ridiculous" when he kept trying to get past massa all the while falling prey to Vettel. We all know the Latin blood boils when being stuck behind the mobile chicane that is Massa.
It made some sense. Massa was struggling throughout with his second set of tyres and was frankly all over the shop on some laps as Alonso lurked with intent. This has been his issue all year, getting tyres quickly up to temperature.
What I think is totally disgusting is the way Ferrari said it was Massa's idea! We all know this to be utter bullshit. As anyone that has read DC's book knows, its not in an F1 drivers nature to move over and let someone else win, especially your team-mate.
Rob Smedley really needs to work on his code system though! Another point here is that DC criticised Ferrari for putting the message via the driver engineer. When he got the instruction at Mclaren it was always someone in management that did it. Stefano Domenicalli is a bit cowardly when it comes to this then.
See look, I have defended what happened whilst bashing Ferrari too....a reasonable stance given Alonso is a fave of mine.
First off.....Massa bashing yet again...but if he'd have been a lot faster over the first half of the year, the chances are that he wouldn't have had to endure yesterday. Fact, Alonso has panned him good and proper and is the only one even remotely looking like pushing for a title challenge. Fact, Alonso has found himself behind a much slower Massa in a couple of races before now and Ferrari did absolutely nothing. If they kept on doing nothing, Massa might crawl back up to 7th in the title standings, but Alonso would well and truly lose all fading hopes of a third title.
Even Martin Brundle himself observed that he would do exactly the same as Massa was backing Alonso into Vettel and to protect maximum team points he'd swap the drivers over and deal with any fallout later on.
Now, don't get me wrong, I don't like seeing blatant swapping of positions based on orders at all....but it does happen a lot more than anyone probably realises. See DC's remarks about it after the race.
Whilst I was searching around for news about the fallout from the race, I read Andrew Benson's BBC blog (seriously Andrew come and join us for a guest blog) and he made an excellent remark stating that this is no different from 2007 where Massa moved over for Kimi to win the title. If Massa had stayed in first, Hamilton would have won the title, yet nobody even noticed or cared about this blatant and brazen team order. Alonso is the best hope by a country mile for a Ferrari tilt at the drivers title, so what happened...happened...yet everyone is disgusted. Why werent people disgusted when Massa moved aside in 2007 to gift Kimi the title?
Even Schumi himself.....dear god am I really looking to him to aid my arguement?? stated that team orders still happen and should happen - balance this with him also saying he could definately see why people complained so much about his 2002 mishap to which my co-blogger refers.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2010/07/team_orders_rule_ties_f1_in_kn.html.
What the result does is give Alonso hope - he is in a good car now and he will look to push on with another win in Hungary. Mclaren look off the pace and in Germany Ferrari were easily the fastest out there.
I think part of the reason there was a big uproar was that it was Massa being asked to move aside. Unfortunately, coming back from a huge crash there is no fairytale ending a year on with a win in Germany. As we all know, there is no room for sentiment in formula one.
As for Alonso, I shall defend him, as nobody else seems to amidst all the character assasination. All he did was get utterly frustrated and utter "this is ridiculous" when he kept trying to get past massa all the while falling prey to Vettel. We all know the Latin blood boils when being stuck behind the mobile chicane that is Massa.
It made some sense. Massa was struggling throughout with his second set of tyres and was frankly all over the shop on some laps as Alonso lurked with intent. This has been his issue all year, getting tyres quickly up to temperature.
What I think is totally disgusting is the way Ferrari said it was Massa's idea! We all know this to be utter bullshit. As anyone that has read DC's book knows, its not in an F1 drivers nature to move over and let someone else win, especially your team-mate.
Rob Smedley really needs to work on his code system though! Another point here is that DC criticised Ferrari for putting the message via the driver engineer. When he got the instruction at Mclaren it was always someone in management that did it. Stefano Domenicalli is a bit cowardly when it comes to this then.
See look, I have defended what happened whilst bashing Ferrari too....a reasonable stance given Alonso is a fave of mine.
Sunday, 25 July 2010
The wrong order
Phil: Had to blog, to get something out of my system.
I was astonished to find myself actually agreeing with Eddie Jordan after today's race when he described the result - or, rather, the Ferrari team order that engineered the result - as repugnant.
Here's why I found myself booing the telly this afternoon as Alonso passed his teammate. Firstly, since Ferrari's similar exercise ensuring Schumacher scored more points than Barrichello in Austria in 2002, team orders have been illegal. Whether you say, 'your teammate is faster than you, let him through', or, 'your teammate is faster than you, do you understand?' it's still a team order. Nobody is seriously suggesting that Felipe's foot accidentally slipped off the throttle or that he allowed his teammate through on his own initiative.
Secondly, it was completely unnecessary. Apart from Alonso himself very few people give him a realistic chance of being champion this year. Even my co-blogger doesn't think so. Today's 25 points still leave him no higher than fifth in the title race, 34 points behind the championship leader Lewis Hamilton. The whole exercise was pointless.
Thirdly, today is the anniversary of Massa's accident in Hungary last year, which almost killed him. What better way to prove the doubters who thought he would never regain the form he had in 2008 than with a victory today?
Fourthly, Ferrari took their first 1-2 finish since the first race of the season today. How pleased did they look on the podium? Massa was understandably sullen, Alonso embarassed and Stefano Domenicali who collected the team 'honours' tried his best to put a brave face on the whole thing. Contrast that with Red Bull's effort after their 1-2 at Monaco which saw both drivers and most of the team in the swimming pool on the team's boat. The atmosphere today reminded me more of a race where a driver has crashed and been and helicoptered to hospital, and nobody knows how he is, and they don't feel like celebrating.
Hopefully the stewards will investigate this incident after the race. But they had plenty of opportunity to do so during the race, and didn't.
I was astonished to find myself actually agreeing with Eddie Jordan after today's race when he described the result - or, rather, the Ferrari team order that engineered the result - as repugnant.
Here's why I found myself booing the telly this afternoon as Alonso passed his teammate. Firstly, since Ferrari's similar exercise ensuring Schumacher scored more points than Barrichello in Austria in 2002, team orders have been illegal. Whether you say, 'your teammate is faster than you, let him through', or, 'your teammate is faster than you, do you understand?' it's still a team order. Nobody is seriously suggesting that Felipe's foot accidentally slipped off the throttle or that he allowed his teammate through on his own initiative.
Secondly, it was completely unnecessary. Apart from Alonso himself very few people give him a realistic chance of being champion this year. Even my co-blogger doesn't think so. Today's 25 points still leave him no higher than fifth in the title race, 34 points behind the championship leader Lewis Hamilton. The whole exercise was pointless.
Thirdly, today is the anniversary of Massa's accident in Hungary last year, which almost killed him. What better way to prove the doubters who thought he would never regain the form he had in 2008 than with a victory today?
Fourthly, Ferrari took their first 1-2 finish since the first race of the season today. How pleased did they look on the podium? Massa was understandably sullen, Alonso embarassed and Stefano Domenicali who collected the team 'honours' tried his best to put a brave face on the whole thing. Contrast that with Red Bull's effort after their 1-2 at Monaco which saw both drivers and most of the team in the swimming pool on the team's boat. The atmosphere today reminded me more of a race where a driver has crashed and been and helicoptered to hospital, and nobody knows how he is, and they don't feel like celebrating.
Hopefully the stewards will investigate this incident after the race. But they had plenty of opportunity to do so during the race, and didn't.
Friday, 23 July 2010
FERNANDO.....ALONSO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Justin: There you go....ok its only practise, but he looks very fast! He has his back against the wall and knows he has to produce now. Isnt that just the way Fernando likes it?
Sunday, 18 July 2010
Villeneuve Racing for 2011??
Justin: My co-blogger should also have said I was pretty tipsy by the time the quiz got going :-). They say don't drink and drive, but you really shouldnt drink and quiz!
I don't know why I forgot about Minardi....well...see above I guess.
The big news in between my last blog and now is that, having picked up Autosport, and indeed seen it on the bbc f1 website....Jacques could be back running his own team in 2011! Not sure if he has asked Alain Prost how to do this or not, but he has apparently passed all money and setup checks etc and his cause could be helped by the fact that Hispania are allegedly struggling financially which could open up two new team slots for next year. I'd imagine he will return as one of his own drivers, given he has been gagging to make a comeback for a year or two now.
In today's papers Mark Webber has again warned that his relationship with Vettel could turn at any given moment. For now though, the status quo remains and Webber will enjoy number one status at Vettel's home gp next weekend....erm...
I don't know why I forgot about Minardi....well...see above I guess.
The big news in between my last blog and now is that, having picked up Autosport, and indeed seen it on the bbc f1 website....Jacques could be back running his own team in 2011! Not sure if he has asked Alain Prost how to do this or not, but he has apparently passed all money and setup checks etc and his cause could be helped by the fact that Hispania are allegedly struggling financially which could open up two new team slots for next year. I'd imagine he will return as one of his own drivers, given he has been gagging to make a comeback for a year or two now.
In today's papers Mark Webber has again warned that his relationship with Vettel could turn at any given moment. For now though, the status quo remains and Webber will enjoy number one status at Vettel's home gp next weekend....erm...
Friday, 16 July 2010
The best thing since Minardi
Phil: Greetings to both our readers, who've missed out on the second of our I Was Having a Blog live events, the Grand Prix Trivia pub quiz. Congratulations to my co-blogger who scored a creditable second place, and shouldn't pay any attention to the old adage that second place is the first loser, particularly given that he was faced with questions about, for example, the 1968 Moroccan Grand Prix*.
Any, we discovered last night that my co-blogger was curiously ignorant of the existence of Minardi, so to enlighten him, here is my Minardi featurette about a team that competed for two decades and achieved pretty much nothing, apart from helping launch the careers of some great drivers. Here are a few of them.
1. Fernando Alonso. When Alonso took his first world title in 2005, his old boss at Minardi, Paul Stoddart, joked that he was Minardi's first world champion. His début season at Minardi in 2001 was less succesful, eleventh place at the last race of the season in Japan being his best finish, but as has often been the case, opened the door for him at Benetton, and the rest is history.
2. Mark Webber. Alonso's replacement at Minardi might very well be Minardi's second world champion, and perhaps as early as this year. Mark impressed at his very first outing for Minardi, taking fifth place at his home grand prix in 2002, the team's first points for nearly three years, and 16th place in the championship.
3. Alessandro Nannini. Nannini drove for Minardi in early days of the team, in 1986 and 1987. Like Alonso he went on to Benetton, and took his only grand prix victory in Japan in 1989, after Prost's and Senna's infamous collision. He retired from the sport a year later having been seriously injured in a helicopter crash.
4. Giancarlo Fisichella. Fisi drove half a season for Minardi in 1996, before being replaced by a pay-driver. His best result was eighth at Montreal, but it was enough for Jordan to sign him for the following season. A career of midfield mediocrity, punctuated by occasional moments of brilliance, beckoned.
5. Jarno Trulli. Long before Jarno Trulli got old enough to need naps in the middle of races, he started his first six races at Minardi in early 1997, scoring two ninth places. When Olivier Panis crashed at Montreal, and would miss the rest of the season, Alain Prost chose Trulli to replace him.
One final factoid about Italy's number two team: nobody ever stood on an F1 podium, wearing Minardi overalls. Ever.
*Made considerably trickier by the fact that the only Moroccan Grand Prix actually took place in 1958.
Any, we discovered last night that my co-blogger was curiously ignorant of the existence of Minardi, so to enlighten him, here is my Minardi featurette about a team that competed for two decades and achieved pretty much nothing, apart from helping launch the careers of some great drivers. Here are a few of them.
1. Fernando Alonso. When Alonso took his first world title in 2005, his old boss at Minardi, Paul Stoddart, joked that he was Minardi's first world champion. His début season at Minardi in 2001 was less succesful, eleventh place at the last race of the season in Japan being his best finish, but as has often been the case, opened the door for him at Benetton, and the rest is history.
2. Mark Webber. Alonso's replacement at Minardi might very well be Minardi's second world champion, and perhaps as early as this year. Mark impressed at his very first outing for Minardi, taking fifth place at his home grand prix in 2002, the team's first points for nearly three years, and 16th place in the championship.
3. Alessandro Nannini. Nannini drove for Minardi in early days of the team, in 1986 and 1987. Like Alonso he went on to Benetton, and took his only grand prix victory in Japan in 1989, after Prost's and Senna's infamous collision. He retired from the sport a year later having been seriously injured in a helicopter crash.
4. Giancarlo Fisichella. Fisi drove half a season for Minardi in 1996, before being replaced by a pay-driver. His best result was eighth at Montreal, but it was enough for Jordan to sign him for the following season. A career of midfield mediocrity, punctuated by occasional moments of brilliance, beckoned.
5. Jarno Trulli. Long before Jarno Trulli got old enough to need naps in the middle of races, he started his first six races at Minardi in early 1997, scoring two ninth places. When Olivier Panis crashed at Montreal, and would miss the rest of the season, Alain Prost chose Trulli to replace him.
One final factoid about Italy's number two team: nobody ever stood on an F1 podium, wearing Minardi overalls. Ever.
*Made considerably trickier by the fact that the only Moroccan Grand Prix actually took place in 1958.
Senna!
Justin: Apparently, the reason for his sitting out the British GP was him sending an email to his boss by accident! Whoops! If this is to be believed of course.
I was having a quiz...
Justin: I'll leave it to my esteemed colleague to blog about the I was having a blog live quiz in Wycombe last night.
Onto my news roundup.
Webber has allegedly cleared the air with his team. Until next time eh! He has his hindsight goggles on, so its all good!
Interesting....the night my co-blogger mentions that Buemi is attracting interest from Renault for next year....is the night Toro Rosso sign him on for 2011...Does my colleague move in circles closer to F1 than any of us realise?! Ha, in fact, the Renault looking at Buemi news is on yesterdays f1 bbc gossip column, and today it has been announced that he is staying put. Perhaps Toro Rosso read BBc too!
Bit quiet on the old news front today really, looking around.
Onto my news roundup.
Webber has allegedly cleared the air with his team. Until next time eh! He has his hindsight goggles on, so its all good!
Interesting....the night my co-blogger mentions that Buemi is attracting interest from Renault for next year....is the night Toro Rosso sign him on for 2011...Does my colleague move in circles closer to F1 than any of us realise?! Ha, in fact, the Renault looking at Buemi news is on yesterdays f1 bbc gossip column, and today it has been announced that he is staying put. Perhaps Toro Rosso read BBc too!
Bit quiet on the old news front today really, looking around.
Tuesday, 13 July 2010
Christian Horner is a weasel and disgusts me!
Justin: My esteemed co-blogger pointed out that I'd most likely be covering the shocking events surrounding Fernando and his subsequent dropping out of the title race...as lets face it, at 47 points behind Lewis it will take quite a turn around now considering Fernando has not won since the first race and the Red Bulls and Mclarens are picking up points at all races now. Yes you heard it hear first, I havent lost faith with Fernando at all, I've lost faith in the car he is outdriving at most races these days. If you want to see just how shit the Ferrari can be in the wrong hands, just look at Massa...sorry...more Massa bashing. Its true though, Fernando is driving that car to the best of it's abilities. Ok, his start on Sunday was shockingly poor and his race didnt really recover thereafter, but still, when you are desperate to stay in the title fight and outdriving a car that doesnt go as fast as your rivals, then mistakes happen.
Anyway....Red Bull's treatment of Mark Webber is shocking. I only saw a bit of the pre-amble on quali on Saturday and I saw EJ interview Horner about the wing. I was watching final practice and saw when the wing came loose from Vettel's car. With whats gone on before, its a simple answer....Red Bull blatantly favour Vettel. If they were equal, Horner would have said to Vettel "sorry mate we only have two wings and you broke yours"......not "oh sorry Seb you broke your front wing, lets nick Marks!".
One word for the way Horner carries himself, talks to the cameras...lies to the cameras about team orders and number one's etc......(fucking) disgusting!
I like Mark Webber a lot....he is a thoroughly likeable chap, straight down the middle honest, and he is fast and quite capable of being champion this year. So he is 33? So what? Mansell and Hill both blossomed later in their careers.
To my co blogger and readers......that first corner....wasnt that Mansell-esque balls out racing by Webber as Vettel tried to go round him and Webber maintained his ground and said "no fucking way mate"? Sheer Aussie grit and determination that was!
I was watching in a cafe in London and the cheers when everyone realised it was Vettel that went off were fantastic! I dont think he is liked too much. Perhaps that was because most people were following Hamilton...fools!
Fernando....what can you say? He has been extremely unlucky with rulings these past two races (as Mark Webber would say...karma for previous incidents?"), but whatever has happened, the Ferarri is nowhere near fast enough and the fact now remains that Alonso is two wins away from Lewis at the top. At this point in time I dont see Alonso winning a race...I would say a Ferrari winning a race, but that assumes Massa has the capability...blatant massa bashing again but hey its true.
Agreed co-blogger....a fantastic drive from Jenson from 14th to 4th.....the drive of a (double) world champion? These are the sorts of races that really count when you are on damage limitation.
Onto Germany in two weeks now...Go on Mark....you owe Vettel a thrashing in his home race! Can you tell who I want to win the title now Fernando seems a bit out of it? Dont get me wrong....never write off Fernando's abilities, he may come back after just one dnf from Lewis...it all changes in an instant if someone from the front fails to finish and others score big...I like this new system...but at the moment Fernando is severely down, if not out.
I shall blog again soon after having soaked in the news roundups.
Anyway....Red Bull's treatment of Mark Webber is shocking. I only saw a bit of the pre-amble on quali on Saturday and I saw EJ interview Horner about the wing. I was watching final practice and saw when the wing came loose from Vettel's car. With whats gone on before, its a simple answer....Red Bull blatantly favour Vettel. If they were equal, Horner would have said to Vettel "sorry mate we only have two wings and you broke yours"......not "oh sorry Seb you broke your front wing, lets nick Marks!".
One word for the way Horner carries himself, talks to the cameras...lies to the cameras about team orders and number one's etc......(fucking) disgusting!
I like Mark Webber a lot....he is a thoroughly likeable chap, straight down the middle honest, and he is fast and quite capable of being champion this year. So he is 33? So what? Mansell and Hill both blossomed later in their careers.
To my co blogger and readers......that first corner....wasnt that Mansell-esque balls out racing by Webber as Vettel tried to go round him and Webber maintained his ground and said "no fucking way mate"? Sheer Aussie grit and determination that was!
I was watching in a cafe in London and the cheers when everyone realised it was Vettel that went off were fantastic! I dont think he is liked too much. Perhaps that was because most people were following Hamilton...fools!
Fernando....what can you say? He has been extremely unlucky with rulings these past two races (as Mark Webber would say...karma for previous incidents?"), but whatever has happened, the Ferarri is nowhere near fast enough and the fact now remains that Alonso is two wins away from Lewis at the top. At this point in time I dont see Alonso winning a race...I would say a Ferrari winning a race, but that assumes Massa has the capability...blatant massa bashing again but hey its true.
Agreed co-blogger....a fantastic drive from Jenson from 14th to 4th.....the drive of a (double) world champion? These are the sorts of races that really count when you are on damage limitation.
Onto Germany in two weeks now...Go on Mark....you owe Vettel a thrashing in his home race! Can you tell who I want to win the title now Fernando seems a bit out of it? Dont get me wrong....never write off Fernando's abilities, he may come back after just one dnf from Lewis...it all changes in an instant if someone from the front fails to finish and others score big...I like this new system...but at the moment Fernando is severely down, if not out.
I shall blog again soon after having soaked in the news roundups.
Monday, 12 July 2010
Not bad for a number two
Phil: 'Not bad for a number two driver', if you haven't heard, was how Mark Webber sarcastically described his achievement in winning the British Grand Prix. Well Mark, at this blog we love a good number two.
The infighting at Red Bull seems to have returned with a vengeance, and the clearing of the air that followed Webber's and Vettel's collision in Turkey seems to have been only temporary. Fair enough, there was only one new front wing, but it's looking more and more like Vettel is the unofficial number one driver at the team. To me, Christian Horner's congratulations message to Mark which immediately preceded his 'number two' remark seemed very empty and lacking in enthusiasm.
I'm going to leave the Alonso penalty to my co-blogger, as I know he'll want to take issue with it. Instead, here are a few things which for me brightened up the afternoon at Silverstone: it was good to see Button make his way back from fourteenth on the grid to fourth in the race, in a car which he described after quali as 'undriveable'; it was good to see Barrichello and Williams as high as fifth; it was good to see Stirling Moss up on the podium dodging the champagne; and finally it was good to see guest steward Nigel Mansell threatening to fine Eddie Jordan for his poor dress sense (something we've been complaining about all season - at last the stewards are taking note).
The infighting at Red Bull seems to have returned with a vengeance, and the clearing of the air that followed Webber's and Vettel's collision in Turkey seems to have been only temporary. Fair enough, there was only one new front wing, but it's looking more and more like Vettel is the unofficial number one driver at the team. To me, Christian Horner's congratulations message to Mark which immediately preceded his 'number two' remark seemed very empty and lacking in enthusiasm.
I'm going to leave the Alonso penalty to my co-blogger, as I know he'll want to take issue with it. Instead, here are a few things which for me brightened up the afternoon at Silverstone: it was good to see Button make his way back from fourteenth on the grid to fourth in the race, in a car which he described after quali as 'undriveable'; it was good to see Barrichello and Williams as high as fifth; it was good to see Stirling Moss up on the podium dodging the champagne; and finally it was good to see guest steward Nigel Mansell threatening to fine Eddie Jordan for his poor dress sense (something we've been complaining about all season - at last the stewards are taking note).
Friday, 9 July 2010
Money talks
Phil: Don't worry, my co-blogger wasn't talking about our relationship. We are still very much loved up.
In answer to where all the romance went, it's tempting to identify one of Bernie Ecclestone's more private parts. But the truth is, I don't think it was ever there: cash has always been king in Formula 1. We both know why Hispania dropped Bruno Senna, and it's nothing to do with his performance on the track. Sakon Yamamoto's sponsors (who are rumoured to include Honda*) simply offered more money than Senna's, and for a team such as Hispania which is unlikely to achieve anything this season anyway and who probably struggle to pay the wage bill each month, that's all that matters.
Hispania's car has been so dire that it's all but impossible to get any idea of how good, or otherwise, Senna actually is. But I feel optimistic we haven't seen the last of the Senna name in F1.
*Honda have a habit of favouring crap Japanese drivers over promising non-Japanese ones: my co-blogger, who was raised on F1 from an early age, will probably recall Satoru Nakajima's distinctly unmemorable tenure at Lotus in 1987. His teammate? None other than Ayrton Senna.
In answer to where all the romance went, it's tempting to identify one of Bernie Ecclestone's more private parts. But the truth is, I don't think it was ever there: cash has always been king in Formula 1. We both know why Hispania dropped Bruno Senna, and it's nothing to do with his performance on the track. Sakon Yamamoto's sponsors (who are rumoured to include Honda*) simply offered more money than Senna's, and for a team such as Hispania which is unlikely to achieve anything this season anyway and who probably struggle to pay the wage bill each month, that's all that matters.
Hispania's car has been so dire that it's all but impossible to get any idea of how good, or otherwise, Senna actually is. But I feel optimistic we haven't seen the last of the Senna name in F1.
*Honda have a habit of favouring crap Japanese drivers over promising non-Japanese ones: my co-blogger, who was raised on F1 from an early age, will probably recall Satoru Nakajima's distinctly unmemorable tenure at Lotus in 1987. His teammate? None other than Ayrton Senna.
Where has the romance gone?
Justin: Bruno Senna has been dumped by Hispania for the British GP. As yet theres no news whether this extends beyond this race or not. Apparently its something to do with funding that the driver brings not being received by the team. You do have to wonder sometimes about F1 becoming too much of a strict business. Drivers bringing money in for a near bankrupt team is nothing much new, but dumping the nephew of a the greatest driver in history just shows theres no room for sentiment....even if Aryton did once say that his nephew was faster then he! Just kind of depresses me really. Lets face it, Hispania are a shit team with a bucket of shit car. The ONLY GOOD THING about this team is Bruno Senna.
Wednesday, 7 July 2010
Bog wash, the tortoise, a fresh blog and news rounded up
Justin: I absolutely love the build up to a race!!!! It's the week before....its the anticipation, its the news stories filtering through as drivers do their PR work for their teams. This weekend there is a small event taking place in an old airfield somewhere north of London.
If you've been reading the papers, you'll have read about Damon Hill analysing the Button vs Hamilton axis. He thinks their feud could be about to boil over and he then labelled Button the Tortoise to Hamilton's Hare!
Then, in the news today, a fantastic article about Button and Hamilton visiting Great Ormond Street hospital and neither of them knowing what to say when asked by one boy "do you have a bet on to see who will win the title?"....he then said "the loser should be bogwashed by the other"....Button replies "did he just say that? Well, if that happens to me, I'll get my running shoes on"....classic stuff from the British duo at Mclaren! :-).
Incidentally, the bbc website lists classic race moments for each GP and we pick one out to be replayed - Hmmm, British GP classic race? There is only one....Mansell, balls out overtaking around the outside of Nelson Piquet in 87 baby! That was one time of many with Mansell where you could hear the crowd roar over the noise of the cars. Amazing!
Looking at the news coverage, you wouldnt think anyone else was competing in this GP, other than Hamilton and Button!
In other news, Lewis said he and Fernando are "cool" as they "texted" to sort out their differences. Mysterious!
Roll on quali on Saturday baby!!!!!
If you've been reading the papers, you'll have read about Damon Hill analysing the Button vs Hamilton axis. He thinks their feud could be about to boil over and he then labelled Button the Tortoise to Hamilton's Hare!
Then, in the news today, a fantastic article about Button and Hamilton visiting Great Ormond Street hospital and neither of them knowing what to say when asked by one boy "do you have a bet on to see who will win the title?"....he then said "the loser should be bogwashed by the other"....Button replies "did he just say that? Well, if that happens to me, I'll get my running shoes on"....classic stuff from the British duo at Mclaren! :-).
Incidentally, the bbc website lists classic race moments for each GP and we pick one out to be replayed - Hmmm, British GP classic race? There is only one....Mansell, balls out overtaking around the outside of Nelson Piquet in 87 baby! That was one time of many with Mansell where you could hear the crowd roar over the noise of the cars. Amazing!
Looking at the news coverage, you wouldnt think anyone else was competing in this GP, other than Hamilton and Button!
In other news, Lewis said he and Fernando are "cool" as they "texted" to sort out their differences. Mysterious!
Roll on quali on Saturday baby!!!!!
Wednesday, 30 June 2010
A nice fresh one for you
Phil: The link my co-blogger has shared offers a detailed, balanced analysis of what actually happened at Valencia. There are only two points I'd add: firstly, it's far from guaranteed that Alonso as undisputed team leader at McLaren would have won two further world titles to add to the two he already has (presumably 2007, when he narrowly lost to Raikkonen, and 2008, when Massa narrowly lost to Hamilton; McLaren were off the pace of Brawn and Red Bull in 2009).
Secondly, Alonso's Achilles heel in my view is what his fans, including my co-blogger, might call his Latin passion and fire, and everyone else would probably call his hot-headedness. He has a tendency to make a lot of noise and act as if he's been cheated when things don't go his way: consider his comment in 2006, that has been quoted a lot lately, that F1 is no longer a sport (he went on to win the world title that year). This also shows his lack of perspective where the rules are concerned: Alonso and Ferrari have called for Hamilton's punishment for overtaking the safety car to be proportionate, yet a proportionate punishment for Singapore 2008, when he would not have won the race had others in his team not cheated in the most shameless way possible, would have been disqualification at the very least.
This time next week, the trucks will be rolling up the M40 ready for Silverstone....
Secondly, Alonso's Achilles heel in my view is what his fans, including my co-blogger, might call his Latin passion and fire, and everyone else would probably call his hot-headedness. He has a tendency to make a lot of noise and act as if he's been cheated when things don't go his way: consider his comment in 2006, that has been quoted a lot lately, that F1 is no longer a sport (he went on to win the world title that year). This also shows his lack of perspective where the rules are concerned: Alonso and Ferrari have called for Hamilton's punishment for overtaking the safety car to be proportionate, yet a proportionate punishment for Singapore 2008, when he would not have won the race had others in his team not cheated in the most shameless way possible, would have been disqualification at the very least.
This time next week, the trucks will be rolling up the M40 ready for Silverstone....
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