Justin: I still think it was probably the best Monaco GP ever, or the best I've seen. The only downside is that the safety car 8 laps from the end robbed us all of what was sure to have been a dramatic finale. Instead we got the front 3 running on new tyres, having changed during the red flag period, and as such they finished in the same order. Bit of an anti-climax....which is why it doesnt stand up to Mansell Vs Senna in 92.....but they were only going at it for 5/6 laps, where as Vettel, Alonso and Button were line a stern for what, 10/15 laps?
Clearly I cannot decide which race is better....I enjoyed the 3 champions going at it, covered by a second for all those laps, yet I feel robbed of a proper ending. Alonso would have put a move on Vettel, he said as much afterwards as he had little to lose.
Does it really matter if I cannot decide which race was better? Probably not.
A nod to my co-blogger for joining me for the annual "I Was Having A Blog" live event. I think we can safely say the weekend was a success, though I'm not sure about having him knocking on the toilet door to update me when people pit.
Lewis Hamilton's post race remarks no doubt overshadowed the race result itself. I won't let him do that here...but my co-blogger and I watched in utter disbelief as Lewis proceeded to blame anyone but himself for his piss poor overtaking during the race, calling other drivers stupid idiots as well as doing a rather poorly timed "joke" about how he thought the fia were racist. Clearly not showing his best side here. Every bodged overtake Lewis tried was all his fault frankly...we clearly saw each of them.
Elsewhere Schumi started 5th and dropped off straight away pretty much, enduring another miserable weekend.
Petrov had an odd accident which looked rather slow speed to say the least. Apparently he had problems moving his legs and pain in his foot so he thought it best to let others take him out of the car rather than get out himself.
Webber again had a somewhat mixed day. He admitted afterwards that for whatever reasons he just cannot go very long on the first stint with Pirelli tyres. The big difference between he and Vettel it would seem.
Even Alonso now has said the title is pretty much Vettel's as he has now taken 5 of the first 6 race wins. Every time this has been done in the past, 4 times (?), that same person has won the world title.
Lewis is still Vettel's nearest challenger, some 53 points adrift of the German driver.
Another "what if" moment.....Mclaren's engineers had calculated that within 3 laps Vette's tyres would have "dropped off the cliff". Can't help but wonder how he would have kept Alonso and Button behind...
Onto Montreal we go.
Monday 30 May 2011
Thursday 26 May 2011
Insane - Street Fighter
Justin: Having watched practice 1 and 2 today I can report that Fernando Alonso is most definately "on it". Talk about going for it big style....sliding across kerbs on chicanes at Monaco and posting the fastest time of the day....the cream always rises to the top here....game on. If he wins he will be the only guy in history to win the Monaco GP with 3 different teams. Lets get it on!!
Tuesday 24 May 2011
Spanish Fighter
Justin: Yes, that's right, another Alonso themed blog...well to start with anyway. My co-blogger knows how excited I get watching racing so you could only imagine the jumping up and down along with the Murray Walker-esque "heeehhhheeeyyyyyyy"...as Fernando stormed into the lead from 4th on the grid at Barcelona. As Martin Brundle pointed out, quite rightly, when reviewing the start from the onboard camera, it was quite stunningly brave, reactive and instinctive racing from Fernando as he darted this way and that full throttle behind the Red Bulls. The Spanish crowd roared above the noise of the engines as he led the field away.
After 18 laps of leading the race he was relegated to 2nd by, you guessed it, Vettel and by the end of the race Fernando was lapped and down in 5th. Ferrari have relegated Aldo Costa from his Technical Director position after just 5 races of vast underperformance compared to what they expected from this year.
To my mind this leaves Ferrari somewhat up shit creek without a paddle (magic paddle??). Fernando is now a whopping 67 points behind Vettel in the title race...I say race, but thats to assume there are actually others in the fight with Vettel.
We'll have to see what Monaco brings as Fernando usually goes well there, aside from funking his car into the wall in quali last year..ehm.
Elsewhere you have to ponder Mark Webbers state of mind at Red Bull. I thought he'd landed Vettel with a bloody nose at least when he put in a great quali lap to get pole. The annoying thing about Vettel is that he is sometimes rather nice and he was pretty gracious when commenting that him not having kers shouldnt be talked about as Mark basically did a better job.
Webber ended up 4th, behind a storming drive from Button who dropped to 12th early on then went onto a 3 stop strategy which saw him surge up the field for a podium.
Schumi had a pretty good day at the office too, finishing 6th and keeping his young team-mate well behind him...he was due I guess.
I sort of drifted in and out of the race from around half way through as Alonso faded...come on it was Spain so I was rather down.
Let's have a look at Vettel and who can challenge him seriously.......at this point in time...
- Webber has the same car but is nowhere near him and needs to find something quickly.
- Button has the next best car but is being slowly left behind in the points race by Lewis and hasnt won a race for a year.
- Alonso has the 3rd best car currently and it is showing. 67 points adrift. Then again you could say he had the 2nd or 3rd best car for some parts of last season and he turned it around...BUT...Ferrari are in utter disaray right now.
- Lewis is the only guy who looks like winning a gp and challenging Vettel....but even he is having issues keeping pace with him...
Vettel's nearest challenger is 41 points behind.....
Blog closed, I am almost depressed right now.
After 18 laps of leading the race he was relegated to 2nd by, you guessed it, Vettel and by the end of the race Fernando was lapped and down in 5th. Ferrari have relegated Aldo Costa from his Technical Director position after just 5 races of vast underperformance compared to what they expected from this year.
To my mind this leaves Ferrari somewhat up shit creek without a paddle (magic paddle??). Fernando is now a whopping 67 points behind Vettel in the title race...I say race, but thats to assume there are actually others in the fight with Vettel.
We'll have to see what Monaco brings as Fernando usually goes well there, aside from funking his car into the wall in quali last year..ehm.
Elsewhere you have to ponder Mark Webbers state of mind at Red Bull. I thought he'd landed Vettel with a bloody nose at least when he put in a great quali lap to get pole. The annoying thing about Vettel is that he is sometimes rather nice and he was pretty gracious when commenting that him not having kers shouldnt be talked about as Mark basically did a better job.
Webber ended up 4th, behind a storming drive from Button who dropped to 12th early on then went onto a 3 stop strategy which saw him surge up the field for a podium.
Schumi had a pretty good day at the office too, finishing 6th and keeping his young team-mate well behind him...he was due I guess.
I sort of drifted in and out of the race from around half way through as Alonso faded...come on it was Spain so I was rather down.
Let's have a look at Vettel and who can challenge him seriously.......at this point in time...
- Webber has the same car but is nowhere near him and needs to find something quickly.
- Button has the next best car but is being slowly left behind in the points race by Lewis and hasnt won a race for a year.
- Alonso has the 3rd best car currently and it is showing. 67 points adrift. Then again you could say he had the 2nd or 3rd best car for some parts of last season and he turned it around...BUT...Ferrari are in utter disaray right now.
- Lewis is the only guy who looks like winning a gp and challenging Vettel....but even he is having issues keeping pace with him...
Vettel's nearest challenger is 41 points behind.....
Blog closed, I am almost depressed right now.
Thursday 19 May 2011
Another statistic
Phil: A quick check of the F1 stat-o-meter reveals that it's no wonder the Turkish GP was so confusing: there were more pitstops (82) than in any other race since F1 began in 1950.
Wednesday 18 May 2011
Senna, Schumacher and Vettel
Phil: As usual an excellent summary of the last race from my co-blogger, although a detailed account would take more space than we can spare. So much was happening each lap at Istanbul that even a seasoned commentator like Martin Brundle could barely keep up, and commented at one point I believe how the leader pitting doesn't even merit air time, there's so much else happening on the track.
One thing is beyond doubt, though, as my co-blogger admirably explained: Vettel is in a class of his own. I half expected he might be: he certainly had the pace last season but lacked the maturity, as his collision with Webber at Istanbul a year ago showed. A year on, however, and the confidence that being reigning world champion gives, he is in a different class. I confidently expect him to be the first driver in five years to successfully defend his world title.
The funny thing is, last year we had an enthralling, season-long battle for the title that we couldn't really call until about half way through the last race, but of the races themselves, none of them really stick in the mind. This year, although the championship will probably have been wrapped up by Hungary, you can't look away from the races for a minute.
I've said before that I don't really know why Schumi came out of retirement, and still think he'll regret it in the long run. There are two reasons why he probably un-retired: firstly, because he thought he could be genuinely competitive again, and secondly, because he simply enjoys driving a F1 car. I don't think anyone seriously expects him to win a race again, let along a championship, and as he said after Turkey: the joy isn't there. It's hardly surprising. This is a driver who broke all the records, who barring a few years in the late 1990s when he was building Ferrari into the force it is today was accustomed to being virtually unchallenged and unchallengeable. Why would he now enjoy not winning, and being outraced by men half his age? Johnny Herbert, his team mate at Benetton in 1995, thinks he'll retire permanently at the end of this season, and I think he may be right.
Speaking of great F1 drivers of the past, there's a great interview with the man some call the Gavin Winston of F1 in the Guardian (which may even be linked to this blog, or maybe not). Newey, who designed the car in which Ayrton Senna was killed, talks about how his death affected him and how he won't be watching the new film about Senna.
Finally, I think my co-blogger will agree that the only date that needs to be in anyone's diary in the next few weeks is the I Was Having a Blog live event of the year at Monaco. Well, actually in High Wycombe, which is like Monaco. Well, they're both hilly...anyway I digress.
One thing is beyond doubt, though, as my co-blogger admirably explained: Vettel is in a class of his own. I half expected he might be: he certainly had the pace last season but lacked the maturity, as his collision with Webber at Istanbul a year ago showed. A year on, however, and the confidence that being reigning world champion gives, he is in a different class. I confidently expect him to be the first driver in five years to successfully defend his world title.
The funny thing is, last year we had an enthralling, season-long battle for the title that we couldn't really call until about half way through the last race, but of the races themselves, none of them really stick in the mind. This year, although the championship will probably have been wrapped up by Hungary, you can't look away from the races for a minute.
I've said before that I don't really know why Schumi came out of retirement, and still think he'll regret it in the long run. There are two reasons why he probably un-retired: firstly, because he thought he could be genuinely competitive again, and secondly, because he simply enjoys driving a F1 car. I don't think anyone seriously expects him to win a race again, let along a championship, and as he said after Turkey: the joy isn't there. It's hardly surprising. This is a driver who broke all the records, who barring a few years in the late 1990s when he was building Ferrari into the force it is today was accustomed to being virtually unchallenged and unchallengeable. Why would he now enjoy not winning, and being outraced by men half his age? Johnny Herbert, his team mate at Benetton in 1995, thinks he'll retire permanently at the end of this season, and I think he may be right.
Speaking of great F1 drivers of the past, there's a great interview with the man some call the Gavin Winston of F1 in the Guardian (which may even be linked to this blog, or maybe not). Newey, who designed the car in which Ayrton Senna was killed, talks about how his death affected him and how he won't be watching the new film about Senna.
Finally, I think my co-blogger will agree that the only date that needs to be in anyone's diary in the next few weeks is the I Was Having a Blog live event of the year at Monaco. Well, actually in High Wycombe, which is like Monaco. Well, they're both hilly...anyway I digress.
Tuesday 10 May 2011
Racing for 2nd?
Justin: Once again, what an amazingly, erm, amazing race in Turkey. One does wonder though...at this point in time at least, it seems like those behind Vettel are squabbling for second place. Vettel all but disappears and leads from the front whilst the rest produce a hell of a race behind to see who is second best.
It also must be said, that Vettel is fine whilst leading from the front, but he hasn't had to produce a drive from the back to overtake loads of people yet. Last time he tried that he ended up nerfing his team-mate in Turkey last year and Button in Belgium!
Let this blogger go on record and say that Vettel is the fastest guy in the fastest car on the grid, but he is not the best driver. There is Alonso then Hamilton in that bracket. Anyway, I digress.
The Turkish GP was awesome, yet Vettel's win was never really in much doubt.
I have plenty of points to raise from this GP:
1) Rosberg battering Schumi
2) Mclaren fighting
3) Alonso on the podium again
4) Vettel
Rosberg qualified third on the grid, compared to Schumi's 8th with over a second between them. Schumi had a mare of a race in which afterwards he actually admitted one (of the many) coming together was all his fault. This is extremely rare, for him to admit something was his fault....ask Hill and Villeneuve! Then he went on to admit that he wasn't getting much joy out of racing right now. EJ asked DC on how he came to decide it was time for him to retire and DC just said he realised he wasn't enjoying it as much anymore. I'd say it was 50/50 as to whether Schumi quits at the end of the year. He needs better races, fast. Rosberg is making him look slow and stupid frankly.
Some fantastic fighting between Button and Lewis early on, and indeed later in the race. These two are utterly professional and once again showed how team-mates can fight on the edge without taking each other out...it was truly edge of the seat stuff and made the hairs on my neck stand up. Fantastic!
Alonso drove a sterling race to bring his improving Ferrari home in 3rd. Massa actually had a fairly good race too, but pit-stop misfortune and on track banging sent his day downhill.
You'd have to say at the moment, it's up to Webber and Alonso to take points from Vettel. Vettel stands some 33 points ahead of 2nd placed Lewis...which is kind of depressing. As Martin Brundle pointed out in his blog, with that title table in any other year people would be switching off through fear of the title being decided by half way through the season. F1 is more popular than ever now as races are fun and have plenty of stuff going on.
I'm still not sure about DRS....ok it's technology, which F1 is all about...but, let them use it wherever they want. As Webber pointed out, he isn't a fan because it was way too easy passing a guy as good as Fernando with DRS etc.
Someone has to halt Vettel soon. The 5 guys who fought for the title last year are the top 5 guys again this year. Game on then...someone step up and start winning.
Schumi should really just bugger off and retire me thinks.
EJ needs better shirts, though JB liked it!
Oh and the funny GP moment for me was the two Renault guys gesturing at each other whilst banging wheels.
Onto Spain we go!
It also must be said, that Vettel is fine whilst leading from the front, but he hasn't had to produce a drive from the back to overtake loads of people yet. Last time he tried that he ended up nerfing his team-mate in Turkey last year and Button in Belgium!
Let this blogger go on record and say that Vettel is the fastest guy in the fastest car on the grid, but he is not the best driver. There is Alonso then Hamilton in that bracket. Anyway, I digress.
The Turkish GP was awesome, yet Vettel's win was never really in much doubt.
I have plenty of points to raise from this GP:
1) Rosberg battering Schumi
2) Mclaren fighting
3) Alonso on the podium again
4) Vettel
Rosberg qualified third on the grid, compared to Schumi's 8th with over a second between them. Schumi had a mare of a race in which afterwards he actually admitted one (of the many) coming together was all his fault. This is extremely rare, for him to admit something was his fault....ask Hill and Villeneuve! Then he went on to admit that he wasn't getting much joy out of racing right now. EJ asked DC on how he came to decide it was time for him to retire and DC just said he realised he wasn't enjoying it as much anymore. I'd say it was 50/50 as to whether Schumi quits at the end of the year. He needs better races, fast. Rosberg is making him look slow and stupid frankly.
Some fantastic fighting between Button and Lewis early on, and indeed later in the race. These two are utterly professional and once again showed how team-mates can fight on the edge without taking each other out...it was truly edge of the seat stuff and made the hairs on my neck stand up. Fantastic!
Alonso drove a sterling race to bring his improving Ferrari home in 3rd. Massa actually had a fairly good race too, but pit-stop misfortune and on track banging sent his day downhill.
You'd have to say at the moment, it's up to Webber and Alonso to take points from Vettel. Vettel stands some 33 points ahead of 2nd placed Lewis...which is kind of depressing. As Martin Brundle pointed out in his blog, with that title table in any other year people would be switching off through fear of the title being decided by half way through the season. F1 is more popular than ever now as races are fun and have plenty of stuff going on.
I'm still not sure about DRS....ok it's technology, which F1 is all about...but, let them use it wherever they want. As Webber pointed out, he isn't a fan because it was way too easy passing a guy as good as Fernando with DRS etc.
Someone has to halt Vettel soon. The 5 guys who fought for the title last year are the top 5 guys again this year. Game on then...someone step up and start winning.
Schumi should really just bugger off and retire me thinks.
EJ needs better shirts, though JB liked it!
Oh and the funny GP moment for me was the two Renault guys gesturing at each other whilst banging wheels.
Onto Spain we go!
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