Justin:
Headline. Ricciardo fails to smile after race.
You can't blame him at all. Red Bull fucked up big time and cost him what was looking like his first win at Monaco.
He said he didn't like being the miserable guy in interviews, but he just wanted to get out of there and skip the team de-brief. He just didn't want to hear what they had to say. I read somewhere that he told them on the radio not to say anything, as nothing they had to say would help. Crikey.
Driver of the day
Goes to either one of the first three frankly. Hamilton was on fire, plain and simple.
After being released by Rosberg, Lewis dropped him like a dead weight and began reeling in Ricciardo bit by bit. Hamilton was at one with his machine and the elements. The cream rises to the top in the wet at Monaco. Case in point, Perez storming to third. Fantastic.
What of Rosberg? He clearly had a bad day at the office. He was due one. He struggled with break temperatures, tyre temperatures...you name it. He also said he just didn't have confidence in the car to push hard, otherwise he would have been in the barriers.
It's not like he is shit around here, having won the last three Monaco races. However, in one swoop Hamilton has nearly halved his deficit in the points standings.
Fifty and still going
Well done McLaren. Alonso and Button and both got points finishes. Alonso probably quite enjoyed keeping Rosberg behind him in the closing stages.
News (9 June)
The driver merry-go-round has started for 2017, or as we all call it, silly season.
The facts are this:
1. Nico Rosberg and Kimi are the only guys out of contract for 2017 at one of the top 3 teams (Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari). I'm calling Red Bull the second fastest now, as frankly they are on top of Ferrari right now.
2. Rosberg is highly likely to sign again for Mercedes. He has said as much, and Mercedes have said they wish to keep him. Why would he leave? Nowhere else would give him a car as dominating as the Merc. There was a brief rumour that Ferrari were sniffing around him, to replace Kimi. I really don't see that happening. It does make more sense for Ferrari than Nico though.
3. Kimi holds the key to the top line driver market. He wants to stay, Ferrari feel his relationship with Vettel works well. So, signing him for 2017 should be going ahead right? We'll see. He is still quick that is for sure.
4. There are a whole host of potentially better drivers wanting that Ferrari seat. Perez has done his top team hopes no harm at all recently. The 2013 McLaren was a bag of shit and I feel that perhaps a top drive came at the wrong time for him - He was on the way up, McLaren were well on their way down! Nico Hulkenberg, Romain Grosjean and Valtteri Bottas are all waiting for that top drive.
Though, Kimi is ahead of Vettel in the standings right now.
5. Ferrari need to decide - Do they maintain the status quo for the sake of the team, or do they draft in a hungry, younger racer to come and shake things up? Who knows?
6. Button is out of contract at McLaren. What he does not deserve at all is being treated like shit yet again in a "will they, won't they?" sign him for another year...
He is a champion and deserves only the best treatment frankly.
Rumour is that Williams will let Massa go and draft in Button when Vandoorne takes his seat.
7. Will Kvyat be at Torro Rosso in 2017? He has been slagging Red Bull off here and there non-stop since being sacked by the big team. We shall see.
Round 7: Canada predictions
Monaco was the place where a powerful engine matters least.
I cannot see Red Bull ruffling the feathers of Mercedes as much in Canada.
Hamilton knows how to win there, that is for sure.
You heard it here first! Top two will be Mercedes (I cannot predict which way around), then Ricciardo in third.
Showing posts with label montreal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label montreal. Show all posts
Thursday, 9 June 2016
Monday, 30 April 2012
"Salut Gilles"
Phil: ....as it says at the start/finish line of the circuit which bears his name, in his native Montreal.
I regret being ever so slightly too young to have watched the elder Villeneuve race. Jeremy Clarkson (who whatever you may think of him does genuinely know his stuff when it comes to F1) rates him as the greatest driver ever. I haven't yet watched any of my co-blogger's clips (the roar of a Ferrari V12 isn't really appropriate for work) but if they don't include the titanic scrap between Villeneuve and Rene Arnoux over second place at the 1979 French grand prix then I would urge him to seek it out. Suffice to say today they would both have been hauled in front of the stewards.
When Alain Prost began racing in 1980 his two best mates were his fellow French-speakers Villeneuve and Pironi. Prost's approach to racing was definitely the complete opposite to Villeneuve's - cool, measured, happy to play the percentage game and collect a single point if a single point was all that was needed or could be achieved (an attitude more than likely informed by Villeneuve's death and Pironi's career-ending injuries, both within months of each other in 1982). Prost tells a story that while testing at Paul Ricard, the three of them entertained themselves by taking their hire cars out onto the track, and then deliberately crashing them into a vineyard next to the track.
There's another story that when the Grand Prix Drivers' Association went on strike at some point in the early 1980s and the drivers locked themselves into a hotel near the track until the FIA relented, due to the shortage of rooms Prost and Villeneuve, who everyone knew were the best drivers of the day, shared a double bed. Paddock comedians speculated what sort of super-talented infant driver would emerge from such an unnatural union.
I regret being ever so slightly too young to have watched the elder Villeneuve race. Jeremy Clarkson (who whatever you may think of him does genuinely know his stuff when it comes to F1) rates him as the greatest driver ever. I haven't yet watched any of my co-blogger's clips (the roar of a Ferrari V12 isn't really appropriate for work) but if they don't include the titanic scrap between Villeneuve and Rene Arnoux over second place at the 1979 French grand prix then I would urge him to seek it out. Suffice to say today they would both have been hauled in front of the stewards.
When Alain Prost began racing in 1980 his two best mates were his fellow French-speakers Villeneuve and Pironi. Prost's approach to racing was definitely the complete opposite to Villeneuve's - cool, measured, happy to play the percentage game and collect a single point if a single point was all that was needed or could be achieved (an attitude more than likely informed by Villeneuve's death and Pironi's career-ending injuries, both within months of each other in 1982). Prost tells a story that while testing at Paul Ricard, the three of them entertained themselves by taking their hire cars out onto the track, and then deliberately crashing them into a vineyard next to the track.
There's another story that when the Grand Prix Drivers' Association went on strike at some point in the early 1980s and the drivers locked themselves into a hotel near the track until the FIA relented, due to the shortage of rooms Prost and Villeneuve, who everyone knew were the best drivers of the day, shared a double bed. Paddock comedians speculated what sort of super-talented infant driver would emerge from such an unnatural union.
Friday, 10 June 2011
Villeneuve
Phil: Gilles, of course.
I devoured my co-blogger's analysis of Senna, which I personally can't wait to see. I must have watched the trailer online half a dozen times now - is Barrichello's crash the one that's in the trailer, dubbed with Senna saying something like, 'if you're not prepared to take risks, then you're not a racing driver'?
We seem to be delving deeper and deeper into the history of the sport, and this week, a mere quarter of a century after my co-blogger, I got round to watching the 1985 European Grand Prix. It's on BBC F1's excellent classic F1 feature - keep your eyes open for Nigel Mansell's dad...
This week's classic F1 features Paul di Resta's top 5 favourite races, and as he's barely driven 5 grands prix in his career he's naturally picked some old stuff. The one they've gone with, as we are going to the circuit that bears his name, is one of Gilles Villeneuve's classic drives, the 1979 French Grand Prix.
And it's raining in Montreal.
I devoured my co-blogger's analysis of Senna, which I personally can't wait to see. I must have watched the trailer online half a dozen times now - is Barrichello's crash the one that's in the trailer, dubbed with Senna saying something like, 'if you're not prepared to take risks, then you're not a racing driver'?
We seem to be delving deeper and deeper into the history of the sport, and this week, a mere quarter of a century after my co-blogger, I got round to watching the 1985 European Grand Prix. It's on BBC F1's excellent classic F1 feature - keep your eyes open for Nigel Mansell's dad...
This week's classic F1 features Paul di Resta's top 5 favourite races, and as he's barely driven 5 grands prix in his career he's naturally picked some old stuff. The one they've gone with, as we are going to the circuit that bears his name, is one of Gilles Villeneuve's classic drives, the 1979 French Grand Prix.
And it's raining in Montreal.
Wednesday, 16 June 2010
Tyre degradation is more interesting than you think
Phil: Well, I managed to avoid the news between the race on Sunday evening and my finally managing to watch it on iPlayer on Tuesday evening, so the result was a surprise. And a very pleasant surprise: I have to say I enjoyed watching this race probably more than any other so far this season (with the exception of Monaco, naturally, when I was joined by my co-blogger). I'd forgotten what a great and challenging track the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is.
In the first 15 laps we had enough excitement for several races: Hamilton and Alonso going wheel-to-wheel in the pitlane, a visit to the Wall of Champions, Schumacher taking to the grass, Massa and Liuzzi colliding no less than three times in the first corner, Kovalainen in the Lotus running as high as seventh, and even a dash of overtaking. No less than five drivers led the race: Hamilton, Vettel, Webber, Alonso, and, for the first time in his career, Sebastian Buemi. The Red Bulls, who started on the hard tyres, fought a race-long battle with Alonso and the McLarens, who started on the soft tyres, and Alonso fought his own battle with Hamilton, starting with the nail-bating pitlane moment I've already referred to. I'd agree with my co-blogger's synopsis, however, that on balance the five drivers who lead the championship - Hamilton, Alonso, Button, Webber and Vettel - were the only ones likely to win this race, and I agree that one of them will be world champion. Which one is that this stage anyone's guess, as all of them, except I think Vettel, have at one stage led the title charge. When was the last time we had a five-horse race for the title?
Montreal is a track that's so challenging for the drivers that it perhaps wouldn't be fair to name a Skiver of the Day, not even one of the many who nominated themselves by picking up a penalty or two for pitlane speeding or some other dodgy driving misdemeanour. Except that there is a very obvious candidate, and he is the most succesful driver in the history of the sport. Martin Brundle called this the worst race of Schumacher's career. It's not clear whether this means his post-comeback career, or his career since 1991, but the latter wouldn't be unfair. Scrapping with Kubica after his first pitstop was messy, particularly cutting across the grass to avoid conceding the place, but probably just about within the rules. Shunting his former protégé Massa and breaking his front wing in an effort to retain a place his pace didn't really justify was unsportsmanlike. Giving away his points on the last lap but letting both Sutil and Liuzzi pass him was just plain crap. If only he'd stuck to passing Alonso behind the safety car at Monaco - at least that was classic Schumacher rule-bending. This looked like plain incompetence. If you saw this race, and only this race, you would never believe he had been world champion seven times. Hopefully preparing for next year means asking Top Gear if he can go back to being The Stig.
Normally I agree with almost everything my co-blogger writes, and given the depth of his knowledge about Formula 1 there's every reason to, but I have to disagree with his point about Jacques Villeneuve's rumoured comeback. Schumacher's comeback has shown every semi-retired Formula 1 driver how hard it is, and I would suggest has given the likes of Villeneuve plenty of food for thought. Could we really expect Villeneuve to do better, given that he has been away much longer, and arguably reached his peak longer ago than Schumacher? Kimi Raikkonen, who has been linked to a seat at Renault next season, should be thinking along the same lines, although I think his future now lies in rallying.
In the first 15 laps we had enough excitement for several races: Hamilton and Alonso going wheel-to-wheel in the pitlane, a visit to the Wall of Champions, Schumacher taking to the grass, Massa and Liuzzi colliding no less than three times in the first corner, Kovalainen in the Lotus running as high as seventh, and even a dash of overtaking. No less than five drivers led the race: Hamilton, Vettel, Webber, Alonso, and, for the first time in his career, Sebastian Buemi. The Red Bulls, who started on the hard tyres, fought a race-long battle with Alonso and the McLarens, who started on the soft tyres, and Alonso fought his own battle with Hamilton, starting with the nail-bating pitlane moment I've already referred to. I'd agree with my co-blogger's synopsis, however, that on balance the five drivers who lead the championship - Hamilton, Alonso, Button, Webber and Vettel - were the only ones likely to win this race, and I agree that one of them will be world champion. Which one is that this stage anyone's guess, as all of them, except I think Vettel, have at one stage led the title charge. When was the last time we had a five-horse race for the title?
Montreal is a track that's so challenging for the drivers that it perhaps wouldn't be fair to name a Skiver of the Day, not even one of the many who nominated themselves by picking up a penalty or two for pitlane speeding or some other dodgy driving misdemeanour. Except that there is a very obvious candidate, and he is the most succesful driver in the history of the sport. Martin Brundle called this the worst race of Schumacher's career. It's not clear whether this means his post-comeback career, or his career since 1991, but the latter wouldn't be unfair. Scrapping with Kubica after his first pitstop was messy, particularly cutting across the grass to avoid conceding the place, but probably just about within the rules. Shunting his former protégé Massa and breaking his front wing in an effort to retain a place his pace didn't really justify was unsportsmanlike. Giving away his points on the last lap but letting both Sutil and Liuzzi pass him was just plain crap. If only he'd stuck to passing Alonso behind the safety car at Monaco - at least that was classic Schumacher rule-bending. This looked like plain incompetence. If you saw this race, and only this race, you would never believe he had been world champion seven times. Hopefully preparing for next year means asking Top Gear if he can go back to being The Stig.
Normally I agree with almost everything my co-blogger writes, and given the depth of his knowledge about Formula 1 there's every reason to, but I have to disagree with his point about Jacques Villeneuve's rumoured comeback. Schumacher's comeback has shown every semi-retired Formula 1 driver how hard it is, and I would suggest has given the likes of Villeneuve plenty of food for thought. Could we really expect Villeneuve to do better, given that he has been away much longer, and arguably reached his peak longer ago than Schumacher? Kimi Raikkonen, who has been linked to a seat at Renault next season, should be thinking along the same lines, although I think his future now lies in rallying.
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